Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/737

 720

LUCAN— LUCCA.

day the Cardinal received in com^ mmdam the church of S. Lorenzo in Damaao.

LUCAN (Eabl op). The Eight Hon. Gboboe Chasles Bingham, G.C.B., elder son of the second earl, whom he succeeded June 30, 1839, bom April 16, 1800, was educated at Westminster, entered the army at the usual age, and served as a volunteer with the Bussian army under Gen. Diebitsch in the Turkish campaign in 1828. He was one of the representatives of the county of Mayo, in the Conservative interest, from 1826 till 1830, and was chosen one of the Representative Peers for Ireland in 1840. He served in the Crimea in 1854-5, in command of a division of cavalry, and took part in the battles of the Alma, Sept. 20, Balaklava, Oct. 25, and Inkermann, Nov. 5, 1854. Owing to some mis- apprehension of Lord Baglan's orders, that heroic but fatal charge of the Light Brigade in which so many lives were lost was made in the battle of Balaklava. LordLucan, who was colonel of the 8th hussars till Feb. 22, 1865, when he became Colonel of the 1st regiment of Life Guards, was made a Lieutenant- General in 1858, and General Aug. 28, 1865 ; was nominated a E.C.B. for his Crimean services, and G.C.B. in 1869 ; is Commander of the Legion of Honour, Knight first-class of the Medjidie, and a Knight, second- class, of St. Anne of Russia.

LUCCA, Pauline, the daughter of poor but worthy parents, who on accoimt of reduced circumstances were unable to educate their chil- dren, was born at Vienna, in 1840. Her name was originally Lucas, and her parents were of the Jewish faith, which she abandoned. A profes- sional sineer, named £rl, who acci- dentally discovered that she pos- sessed a most promising voice, very generously imdertook to give her instruction ; and, when fifteen years of age, she obtained an eng^agement at the Karinther Thor Theatre, and assisted in the Sunday services at

the Karl Kirche. At the latter place, the unavoidable absence of a leading vocalist, in 1856, gave the youthful aspirant an opportunity for distinguishing herself, and the sen- sation she created was so great that means were devised by the principal musicians in Vienna to enable her to complete her training. Her im- provement was rapid and decided, and having accepted an engage- ment to sing Italian parts at the' Olmiitz Theatre, she appeared in Sept., 1859, for the first time, as Elvira, in Verdi's "Emani," with such success that brilliant offers were immediately made her from many parts of Germany. She pre- ferred, however, to renew her en- gagement at Olmiitz, during which she met with an adventure that tended very considerably to increase her popularity. Having been in- sulted by a female artiste of the same theatre, she at once informed the manager that unless she re- ceived an ample apology, nothing should induce her to appear again at Olmiitz. That gentleman having threatened her with imprisonment upon the terms of his contract if she persisted in her resolution, she deliberately walked to the citadel, gave herself up, and remained in durance for four-and-twenty hours. The commotion this conduct occa- sioned induced the manager to use his influence with the offending lady to submit to Mdlle. Lucca's demand. On leaving her prison, she at once terminated her engagement at Ol- miitz, and proceeded to Prague, where, in March, 1860, she appeared as Valentine in the " Huguenots," and in "Norma," and at once secured the patronage of the Princess Col- loredo, sister of the Governor, the Count Clam-Gallas, &c. Shortly be- fore her appearance at Pra^e, Meyerbeer, who, as the director of the Berlin Hof-opera Theatre, was at that time seeking for a prima donna competent to fill the part of the heroine in his last werk, " L'Afri- caine," had his attention directed