With regard to the private life of the king, his secluded habits are
a source of general complaint. The Bavarians, and especially the
citizens of Munich, would like him to mix freely with his people in
the streets and at places of public resort, as Ludwig I. was in the
habit of doing, and to settle down with wife and children around
him, after the manner of good King Max; to head all their festive
processions, preside at the opening of their annual fairs, and lend
himself to legendary customs which have long lost their significance,
and to social gayeties in which he can find no pleasure. And because
he refuses to take his airings in the crowded streets, to head
the processions on Corpus Christi and St. John's Day, to wash the
disciples' feet on Holy Thursday, to preside at the Michaelmas
horse-races and puppet-shows, and to marry for the sake of increasing
the brilliancy of the court and perpetuating the Wittelsbach dynasty,
he is denounced alike by devotees and worldlings, who judge him, not
by what he does that is good and useful, but by what he does not do
to gratify them. Because he spends the greater part of the year in
retirement at his castles in the country, coming to Munich only for
the session of Parliament in the winter, he is accused of indifference
to the prosperity of his state and the welfare of his subjects.

But he himself says, "It is incumbent upon a prince to meditate upon
the duties of his calling, which he can surely do better when alone
with God and Nature than in the confusion of a court." His ministers
and all who have occasion to approach him in a business capacity
declare that at every such interview they are surprised at his
thorough knowledge of the subject under discussion, as also at his
keen insight into character and motives.

To an unprejudiced observer--say to an intelligent foreigner who