From the year 1774 to 1777, I journeyed through England and France. I
was intimate with Dr. Franklin, the American Minister, and with the
Counts St. Germain and de Vergennes, who made me proposals to go to
America; but I was prevented by my affection for my wife and children.
My friend the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, who had been Governor of
Magdeburg during my imprisonment, offered me a commission among the
troops going to America, but I answered--"Gracious prince, my heart beats
in the cause of freedom only; I will never assist in enslaving men. Were
I at the head of your brave grenadiers. I should revolt to the
Americans."
During 1775 I continued at Aix-la-Chapelle my essays, entitled, "The
Friend of Men." My writings had made some impression; the people began
to read; the monks were ridiculed, but my partisans increased, and their
leader got himself cudgelled.
They did not now mention my name publicly, but catechised their penitents
at confession. During this year people came to me from Cologne, Bonn,
and Dusseldorf, to speak with me privately. When I inquired their
business, they told me their clergy had informed them I was propagating a
new religion, in which every man must sign himself to the devil, who then
would supply them with money. They were willing to become converts to my
faith, would Beelzebub but give them money, and revenge them on their
priests. "My good friends," answered I, "your teachers have deceived
you; I know of no devils but themselves. Were it true that I was
founding a new religion, the converts to whom the devil would supply
money, your priests, would be the first of my apostles, and the most
catholic. I am an honest, moral man, as a Christian ought to be. Go
home, in God's name, and do your duty."
I forgot to mention that the recorder of the sheriff's court at Aix-la-
Chapelle, who is called Baron Geyer, had associated himself in 1778 with
a Jew convert, and that this noble company swindled a Dutch merchant out
of eighty thousand florins, by assuming the arms of Elector Palatine, and
producing forged receipts and contracts. Geyer was taken in Amsterdam,
and would have been hanged, but, by the aid of a servant, he escaped. He
returned to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he enjoys his office. Three years ago
he robbed the town-chamber. His wife was, at that time, _generis
communis_, and procured him friends at court. The assertions of this
gentleman found greater credit at Vienna than those of the injured
Trenck! Oh, shame! Oh, world! world!
My wine trade was so successful that I had correspondents and stores in
London, Paris, Brussels, Hamburg, and the Hague, and had gained forty
thousand florins. One unfortunate day destroyed all my hopes in the
success of this traffic.
In London I was defrauded of eighteen hundred guineas by a swindler. The
fault was my brother-in-law's, who parted with the wine before he had
received the money. When I had been wronged, and asked my friends'
assistance, I was only laughed at, as if they were happy that an
Englishman had the wit to cheat a German.
Finding myself defrauded, I hastened to Sir John Fielding. He told me he
knew I had been swindled, and that his friendship would make him active
in my behalf; that he also knew the houses where my wine was deposited,
and that a party of his runners should go with me, sufficiently strong
for its recovery. I was little aware that he had, at that time, two
hundred bottles of my best Tokay in his cellar. His pretended kindness
was a snare; he was in partnership with robbers, only the stupid among
whom he hanged, and preserved the most adroit for the promotion of trade.
He sent a constable and six of his runners with me, commanding them to
act under my orders. By good fortune I had a violent headache, and sent
my brother-in-law, who spoke better English than I. Him they brought to
the house of a Jew, and told him, "Your wine, sir, is here concealed."
Though it was broad day, the door was locked, that he might be induced to
act illegally. The constable desired him to break the door open, which
he did; the Jews came running, and asked--"What do you want,
gentlemen?"--"I want my wine," answered my brother.--"Take what is your
own," replied a Jew; "but beware of touching my property. I have bought
the wine."
My brother attended the constable and runners into a cellar, and found a
great part of my wine. He wrote to Sir John Fielding that he had found
the wine, and desired to know how to act. Fielding answered: "It must be
taken by the owner." My brother accordingly sent me the wine.
Next day came a constable with a warrant, saying, "He wanted to speak
with my brother, and that he was to go to Sir John Fielding." When he
was in the street, he told him--"Sir, you are my prisoner."
I went to Sir John Fielding, and asked him what it meant. This justice
answered that my brother had been accused of felony. The Jews and
swindlers had sworn the wine was a legal purchase. If I had not been
paid, or was ignorant of the English laws, that was my fault. Six
swindlers had sworn the wine was paid for, which circumstance he had not
known, or he should not have granted me a warrant. My brother had also
broken open the doors, and forcibly taken away wine which was not his
own. They made oath of this, and he was charged with burglary and
robbery.
He desired me to give bail in a thousand guineas for my brother for his
appearance in the Court of King's Bench; otherwise his trial would
immediately come on, and in a few days he would be hanged.
I hastened to a lawyer, who confirmed what had been told me, advised me
to give bail, and he would then defend my cause. I applied to Lord
Mansfield, and received the same answer. I told my story to all my
friends, who laughed at me for attempting to trade in London without
understanding the laws. My friend Lord Grosvenor said, "Send more wine
to London, and we will pay you so well that you will soon recover your
loss."
I went to my wine-merchants, who had a stock of mine worth upwards of a
thousand guineas. They gave bail for my brother, and he was released.
Fielding, in the interim, sent his runners to my house, took back the
wine, and restored it to the Jews. They threatened to prosecute me as a
receiver of stolen goods. I fled from London to Paris, where I sold off
my stock at half-price, honoured my bills, and so ended my merchandise.
My brother returned to London in November, to defend his cause in the
Court of King's Bench; but the swindlers had disappeared, and the lawyer
required a hundred pounds to proceed. The conclusion was that my brother
returned with seventy pounds less in his pocket, spent as travelling
expenses, and the stock in the hands of my wine-merchants was detained on
pretence of paying the bail. They brought me an apothecary's bill, and
all was lost.
The Swedish General Sprengporten came to Aix-la-Chapelle in 1776. He had
planned and carried into execution the revolution so favourable to the
King, but had left Sweden in discontent, and came to take the waters with
a rooted hypochondria.
He was the most dangerous man in Sweden, and had told the King himself,
after the revolution, in the presence of his guards, "While Sprengporten
can hold a sword, the King has nothing to command."
It was feared he would go to Russia, and Prince Charles wrote to me in
the name of the monarch, desiring I would exert myself to persuade him to
return to Sweden. He was a man of pride, which rendered him either a
fool or a madman. He despised everything that was not Swedish.
The Prussian Minister, Count Hertzberg, the same year came to
Aix-la-Chapelle. I enjoyed his society for three months, and accompanied
this great man. To his liberality am I indebted that I can return to my
country with honour.
The time I had to spare was not spent in idleness; I attacked, in my
weekly writings, those sharpers who attend at Aix-la-Chapelle and Spa to
plunder both inhabitants and visitants, under the connivance of the
magistracy; nor are there wanting foreign noblemen who become the
associates of these pests of society. The publication of such truths
endangered my life from the desperadoes, who, when detected, had nothing
more to lose. How powerful is an innocent life, nothing can more fully
prove than that I still exist, in despite of all the attempts of wicked
monks and despicable sharpers.
Though my life was much disturbed, yet I do not repent of my manner of
acting; many a youth, many a brave man, have I detained from the gaming-
table, and pointed out to them the most notorious sharpers.
This was so injurious to Spa, that the Bishop of Liege himself, who
enjoys a tax on all their winnings, and therefore protects such villains,
offered me an annual pension of five hundred guineas if I would not come
to Spa; or three per cent. on the winnings, would I but associate myself
with Colonel N---t, and raise recruits for the gaming-table. My answer
may easily be imagined; yet for this was I threatened to be
excommunicated by the Holy Catholic Church!
I and my family passed sixteen summers in Spa. My house became the
rendezvous of the most respectable part of the company, and I was known
to some of the most respectable characters in Europe.
A contest arose between the town of Aix-la-Chapelle and Baron Blankart,
the master of the hounds to the Elector Palatine: it originated in a
dispute concerning precedence between the before-mentioned wife of the
Recorder Geyer and the sister of the Burgomaster of Aix-la-Chapelle,
Kahr, who governed that town with despotism.
This quarrel was detrimental to the town and to the Elector Palatine, but
profitable to Kahr, whose office it was to protect the rights of the
town, and those persons who defended the claims of the Elector; the
latter kept a faro bank, the plunder of which had enriched the town; and
the former Kahr, under pretence of defending their cause, embezzled the
money of the people; so that both parties endeavoured with all their
power to prolong the litigation.
It vexed me to see their proceedings. Those who suffered on each side
were deceived; and I conceived the project of exposing the truth. For
this purpose I journeyed to the court at Mannheim, related the facts to
the Elector, produced a plan of accommodation, which he approved, and
obtained power to act as arbitrator. The Minister of the Elector,
Bekkers, pretended to approve my zeal, conducted me to an _auberge_, made
me dine at his house, and said a commission was made out for my son, and
forwarded to Aix-la-Chapelle--which was false; the moment he quitted me
he sent to Aix-la-Chapelle to frustrate the attempt he pretended to
applaud. He was himself in league with the parties. In fine, this silly
interference brought me only trouble, expense, and chagrin. I made five
journeys to Mannheim, till I became so dissatisfied that I determined to
quit Aix-la-Chapelle, and purchase an estate in Austria.
The Bavarian contest was at this time in agitation; my own affairs
brought me to Paris, and here I learned intelligence of great
consequence; this I communicated to the Grand Duke of Florence, on my
return to Vienna. The Duke departed to join the army in Bohemia, and I
again wrote to him, and thought it my duty to send a courier. The Duke
showed my letter to the Emperor; but I remained unnoticed.
I did not think myself safe in foreign countries during this time of war,
and purchased the lordship of Zwerbach, with appurtenances, which, with
the expenses, cost me sixty thousand florins.
To conclude this purchase, I was obliged to solicit the referendary,
Zetto, and his friend whom he had appointed as my curator, for my new
estate was likewise made a _fidei commissum_, as my referendaries and
curators would not let me escape contribution. The six thousand florins
of which they emptied my purse would have done my family much service.
In May, 1780, I went to Aix-la-Chapelle, where my wife's mother died in
July; and in September my wife, myself, and family, all came to Vienna.
My wife solicited the mistress of the ceremonies to obtain an audience.
Her request was granted, and she gained the favour of the Empress. Her
kindness was beyond expression: she introduced my wife to the
Archduchess, and commanded her mistress of the ceremonies to present her
everywhere. "You were unwilling," said she, "to accompany your husband
into my country, but I hope to convince you that you may live happier in
Austria than at Aix-la-Chapelle."
She next day sent me her decree, assuring me of a pension of four hundred
florins.
My wife petitioned the Empress to grant me an audience: her request was
complied with: and the Empress said to me: "This is the third time in
which I would have made your fortune, had you been so disposed." She
desired to see my children, and spoke of my writings. "How much good
might you do," said she, "would you but write in the cause of religion!"
We departed for Zwerbach, where we lived contentedly, but when we were
preparing to return to Vienna, and solicited the restitution of part of
my lost fortune, during this favour of the court, Theresa died, and all
my hopes were overcast.
I forgot to relate that the Archduchess, Maria Anna, desired me to
translate a religious work, written in French by the Abbe Baudrand, into
German. I replied I would obey Her Majesty's commands. I began my work,
took passages from Baudrand, but inserted more of my own. The first
volume was finished in six weeks; the Empress thought it admirable. The
second soon followed, and I presented this myself.
She asked me if it equalled the first; I answered, I hoped it would be
found more excellent. "No," said she; "I never in my life read a better
book:" and added, "she wondered how I could write so well and so
quickly." I promised another volume within a month. Before the third
was ready, Theresa died. She gave orders on her death-bed to have the
writings of Baron Trenck read to her; and though her confessor well knew
the injustice that had been done me, yet in her last moments he kept
silence, though he had given me his sacred promise to speak in my behalf.
After her death the censor commanded that I should print what I have
stated in the preface to that third volume, and this was my only
satisfaction.
For one-and-thirty years had I been soliciting my rights, which I never
could obtain, because the Empress was deceived by wicked men, and
believed me a heretic. In the thirty-second, my wife had the good
fortune to convince her this was false; she had determined to make me
restitution; just at this moment she died.
The pension granted my wife by the Empress in consequence of my
misfortunes and our numerous family, we only enjoyed nine months.
Of this she was deprived by the new monarch. He perhaps knew nothing of
the affair, as I never solicited. Yet much has it grieved me. Perhaps I
may find relief when the sighs wrung from me shall reach the heart of the
father of his people in this my last writing. At present, nothing for me
remains but to live unknown in Zwerbach.
The Emperor thought proper to collect the moneys bestowed on hospitals
into one fund. The system was a wise one. My cousin Trenck had
bequeathed thirty-six thousand florins to a hospital for the poor of
Bavaria. This act he had no right to do, having deducted the sum from
the family estate. I petitioned the Emperor that these thirty-six
thousand florins might be restored to me and my children, who were the
people whom Trenck had indeed made poor, nothing of the property of his
acquiring having been left to pay this legacy, but, on the contrary, the
money having been exacted from mine.
In a few days it was determined I should be answered in the same tone in
which, for six-and-thirty years past, all my petitions had been
answered:--
"THE REQUEST OF THE PETITIONER CANNOT BE GRANTED."
Fortune persecuted me in my retreat. Within six years two hailstorms
swept away my crops; one year was a misgrowth; there were seven floods; a
rot among my sheep: all possible calamities befell me and my manor.
The estate had been ruined, the ponds were to drain, three farms were to
be put into proper condition, and the whole newly stocked. This rendered
me poor, especially as my wife's fortune had been sunk in lawsuits at Aix-
la-Chapelle and Cologne.
The miserable peasants had nothing, therefore could not pay: I was
obliged to advance them money. My sons assisted me, and we laboured with
our own hands: my wife took care of eight children, without so much as
the help of a maid. We lived in poverty, obliged to earn our daily
bread.
The greatest of my misfortunes was my treatment in the military court,
when Zetto and Krugel were my referendaries. Zetto had clogged me with a
curator and when the cow had no more milk to give, they began to torture
me with deputations, sequestrations, administrations, and executions.
Nineteen times was I obliged to attend in Vienna within two years, at my
own expense. Every six years must I pay an attorney to dispute and
quarrel with the curator. I, in conclusion, was obliged to pay. If any
affair was to be expedited, I, by a third hand, was obliged to send the
referendary some ducats. Did he give judgment, still that judgment lay
fourteen months inefficient, and, when it then appeared, the copy was
false, and so was sent to the upper courts, the high referendary of which
said I "must be dislodged from Zwerbach."
They obliged me at last to purchase my naturalisation. I sent to Prussia
for my pedigree; the attestation of this was sent me by Count Hertzberg.
Although the family of Trenck had a hundred years been landholders in
Hungary, yet was my attorney obliged to solicit the instrument called
ritter-diploma, for which, under pain of execution, I must pay two
thousand florins.
By decree a Prussian nobleman is not noble in Austria, where every lackey
can purchase a diploma, making him a knight of the Empire, for twelve
hundred wretched florins!--where such men as P--- and Grassalkowitz have
purchased the dignity of a prince!
Tortured by the courts, terrified by hailstorms, I determined to publish
my works, in eight volumes, and this history of my life.
Fourteen months accomplished this purpose. My labours found a favourable
reception through all Germany, procured me money, esteem, and honour. By
my writings only will I seek the means of existence, and by trying to
obtain the approbation and the love of men.