Shortly afterwards Kainz was dismissed from the Hof Theater at Munich. As long as the King lived he hoped to be recalled; but the hope was not destined to be fulfilled. When, later, Ludwig heard him spoken of he would abruptly change the topic of conversation; and when he read his name in the newspaper would lay the latter aside, or throw it into the waste-paper basket.
Kainz’s conduct proved that he had been unworthy of his friendship; nobody perhaps abused his confidence more than he did. The King had hardly drawn his last breath before the young actor sold all his letters to a Berlin newspaper. Ludwig had in these letters allowed him to glance into his inward life, and their publication immediately after the benefactor’s death was not only unseemly but heartless. The general opinion of his conduct is expressed in the following verse:—
“Hat Ludwig dir in königlicher Grösse
Gezeigt des Herzens Tiefen ohne Scheu.
Du warst gewiss, da du sie bloss jetzt legest,
Dem todten, hohen Freunde wenig treu.”