LIFE AND TIMES
OF
HER MAJESTY CAROLINE MATILDA.
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
HER MAJESTY
CAROLINE MATILDA,
QUEEN OF DENMARK AND NORWAY,
AND
SISTER OF H. M. GEORGE III. OF ENGLAND,
FROM FAMILY DOCUMENTS AND PRIVATE STATE ARCHIVES.
BY
SIR C. F. LASCELLES WRAXALL, BART.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
WM. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W.
1864.
[_All Rights reserved._]
LEWIS AND SON, PRINTERS, SWAN BUILDINGS, MOORGATE STREET.
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
CHAPTER I.
A GATHERING STORM.
PAGE
The Anonymous letter--Incendiary Placards--The Sailors at
Hirschholm--Alarm at Court--The Feast of the Bœuf Roti--The
Conspiracy--Falckenskjold's Advice--Struensee's Alarms--Brandt's
Levity--The Second Letter--Brandt's Resolution 1
CHAPTER II.
THE SINKING SHIP.
Brandt's Letter of Complaint--Struensee's Dignified Answer--A
False Friend--The Proposed Plot--Freedom of the Press--Insulting
Pamphlets--The Queen Dowager--Rumoured Intrigues--Attempted
Reconciliation--Struensee's Self-Conceit--Fresh Changes at Court 27
CHAPTER III.
THE MUTINY OF THE GUARDS.
Restrictions on the Press--The Pamphleteers--The King at
Home--The Fight with Brandt--The Master of the Wardrobe--Court
Amusements--The Town Commandant--Public Disaffection--The Foot
Guards--The Mutiny--Visit to Frederiksberg--Behaviour of the
Citizens--Struensee Gives Way--Colonel Keith 54
CHAPTER IV.
THE CONSPIRACY.
Struensee's Blindness--Dangerous Rumours--We are Seven--Von
Beringskjold--A Conspirator--The Queen Dowager's Assent--Secret
Meetings--The Masked Ball--A Fatality--Rantzau's Vacillation--The
Visit to the King--The Order to Arrest Caroline Matilda 80
CHAPTER V.
SHARING THE SPOIL.
Arrest of Struensee and Brandt--Falckenskjold's Prison--A
Lady's Perils--Caroline Matilda--A Terrible Scene--Osten's
Persuasion--Arrival at Kronborg--The Queen's Despair--The King in
Public--Popular Excesses--Rewards--General von Huth 106
CHAPTER VI.
THE NEW GOVERNMENT.
The Te Deum--A Warning Voice--Hitting a Fallen Man--A good
Hater--Court Festivities--The Alarm at the Theatre--Banishment of
Beringskjold--Retirement of Reverdil--The Two Counts--Struensee's
Despair--Attempted Suicide--The Commission--The Cabinet Council The
Privy Council of State 128
CHAPTER VII.
WHAT THEY SAID IN ENGLAND.
Colonel Keith--Bad News from Copenhagen--Death of the Princess
of Wales--The Public Press--Junius's Letter--Atticus--A Foul
Libel--The Earl of Bute Denounced--Another Appeal for the
Queen--The State of Public Opinion--The approaching Trial 158
CHAPTER VIII.
STRUENSEE IN PRISON.
Struensee's Confession--A Hopeless Defence--Brandt's Firmness--Dr.
Münter--Materialism--Death of Bernstorff--A Pious Letter--A Roman
Mother--The Convert--D'Alembert--Struensee's Apology--The other
Prisoners 178
CHAPTER IX.
THE QUEEN'S TRIAL.
The Queen's Letters--An Extorted Confession--The High Court
of Inquiry--The Indictment--Statement of Witnesses--Revolting
Details--Amateur Detectives--The Maids in Waiting--Fräulein
von Eyben--Sentiments--Presents--The Verdict
Demanded 203
CHAPTER X.
THE QUEEN'S DEFENCE.
Caroline Matilda's Feelings--Advocate Uldall--The Defence--The
Queen's Innocence--A Fair Trial Demanded--Character of the
Evidence--The Law of Adultery--Value of Evidence--Struensee's
Favour--Fräulein von Eyben--Trifles Light as Air--The Queen's
Attendants--A Flaw in the Argument--Reverdil's Appeal--The
Sentence 231
CHAPTER XI.
A JEALOUS ADVOCATE.
The Indictment of Struensee--Historical Introduction--Coarse
Jests--Brandt's Assault on the King--Treatment of the
Prince Royal--The Minister of State--Abolition of the
Council--Disbandment of the Guards--Alleged Forgery--The
Queen's Bouquet--The Sentence Demanded 255
CHAPTER XII.
A LUKEWARM DEFENCE.
Uldall's Speedy Reply--Breach of the Law--Weak
Arguments--Personalities Appealed Against--Explanations--An Appeal
to Mercy--Falckenskjold's Opinion of the Affair--Reverdil
speaks his Mind--Conduct of the Favourites--The Bribe to
Holck--Count Bernstorff--The Fiscal General's Reply--A Savage
Opponent 297
CHAPTER XIII.
STRUENSEE'S APOLOGY.
The Travelling Doctor--Count Holck--The Foreign Tour--Struensee
at Court--The Queen's Confidence--The Mutual Friend--The
Holstein Progress--Holck Dismissed--The Ministry--The
King's Advisers--Count von Rantzau--The Russian
Alliance--The New Cabinet--Struensee's Advice--The Cabinet
Minister--Education of the Prince Royal 328
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
CAROLINE MATILDA.
CHAPTER I.
A GATHERING STORM.
THE ANONYMOUS LETTER--INCENDIARY PLACARDS--THE SAILORS AT
HIRSCHHOLM--ALARM AT COURT--THE FEAST OF THE BŒUF ROTI--THE
CONSPIRACY--FALCKENSKJOLD'S ADVICE--STRUENSEE'S ALARMS--BRANDT'S
LEVITY--THE SECOND LETTER--BRANDT'S RESOLUTION.
When Brandt had got rid so cleverly of his oppressive duties in
constantly attending on the king, it might have been supposed that he
would have nothing to trouble his mind henceforth, but would take the
goods the gods provided him in a happy frame of mind. But Brandt had
one of those private skeletons which are said to be in every house, and
his took the shape of an anonymous letter in French, which was sent to
him early in July. Although the writer had disguised his hand, he had
taken no great trouble to remain unknown, as the seal bore the initial
letters of his name, and in the letter itself there were plenty of
allusions to enable Brandt to guess the writer. This was Conferenz-rath
Braëm, deputy of the College of the Generalty.
SIR[1],
Perhaps you may wonder to receive a letter without a name on a matter
of so great importance, from a friend who formerly used to tell you
the truth before your face: but the times we live in now will not
justify a man in exposing himself to danger, without seeing any good
arising from it.
The two last court days I sought for an opportunity at Hirschholm to
speak a few words to you in private, but I found it was impossible.
You might have observed that if you had been at all attentive: but
I found you so much engaged with another object that I could not
approach near enough to you to make you understand what I wanted, and
I thought it inadvisable to go to Hirschholm on purpose to pay you a
visit.
Once, sir, you showed that you had the honour of your master at
heart.[2] It was then asserted that neither zeal nor attachment was
the mainspring of your actions, but ambition and interest, because
you hoped that if you could bring Count Holck into disgrace, you
might succeed him in the favour and honour he enjoyed. However,
the bulk of the people thought your intentions noble and without
self-interest. Perhaps the immediate consequences of this transaction
have made so great an impression on you, that you think you dare not
venture on such another. And yet the final issue of the affair has
shown, that even your ill-success in it has been more advantageous
than detrimental to you. Therefore, sir, do not think that this
was the mere effect of accident, but rather that a higher hand has
guided this matter. I do not know what your notions of God may be, or
whether you believe in a God at all, or in a mere stoical fate. It
would be very superfluous to discuss a matter of so great importance
here. The time will come, when experience will teach you that there
is a God, who sees and knows everything, who either early or late
rewards virtue and punishes vice.
My intention is not at present to make you a Christian. It is only to
remind you of your duty--that duty by which even an honest heathen
thought himself bound toward his king, his country, himself, and his
family. The heathen even demanded this of every subject and of every
man who laid any claim to honour.
You see, sir, in what manner your king and benefactor is used.
You see the indecent things that are done before his eyes, and in
which you, yourself, are so much concerned. You see that in the
whole kingdom everything is turned upside down. Consider, sir, and
recover your senses, and you will not be at a loss how to act. If
it be true (and it is but too true) that the life of the king is in
danger, or at least that preparations are being made to take away
his liberty, you certainly must know it. The sense of the nation on
this head cannot be unknown to you, and that one time or another you
will have to account for the life and liberty of your sovereign.
You, sir, since you are constantly with him, and since you see and
know everybody, be assured that your head will be answerable for it
either sooner or later. Think of your own safety, I conjure you by
the friendship I entertain for you. It is in your power to do it. You
see plainly from the king's desire to avoid the place and company in
which he is ill-used, and from his aversion to return to it, that
he is sensible of the ill-treatment. Some day the king will deliver
himself from you, or good fortune will rid him of you, and what
will then be your fate? Would it not be best for you to save your
head and do your duty at the same time? To build your happiness on
a solid and noble foundation, which you will then owe to your zeal,
your faithfulness and attachment to your king, who will reward you
with riches and honour; and the nation will not think even this an
equivalent for your services. You and your present welfare depend on
the caprice of a wretch who will abandon you as soon as he is above
your assistance. At present he makes the same use of you as the
monkey did of the cat, and I fancy you have found this out more than
once, if you will not impose on yourself.
If the king should come to town, I advise you to act in the
following manner: Prevail on him to go to the palace, and persuade
him to call for one or two of his faithful servants, in order to
consult on the best way of proceeding. It is unfortunate enough that
the number of these faithful servants is so small, and reduced,
perhaps, to one or two persons; for the best and cleverest men have
been carefully removed. You will easily guess who these persons are,
without my naming them. Perseverance, honesty, and experience, are
characteristics by which you can know them. I could name them, but
would avoid the least suspicion of self-interest. However, I must
tell you that it must be neither Rantzau nor Gähler, for both are
detested by the nation in an equal degree. You will forfeit your head
if you do not follow this advice, which I give you as a friend, and
a faithful servant of the king. If you do not heed it, but neglect
your duty toward your king and benefactor, you may be sure it will
cost you your life, your honour, and everything that is dearest to
an honest man; and, moreover, no one will pity you. If, on the other
hand, you do what your duty requires, and save your king from those
wicked hands into which he has fallen, you may be sure that there is
no honour or prosperity to which you will not be entitled, and this
with the consent of the king, and all his faithful subjects.
Perhaps you will think proper to show this letter to your friend
Struensee, in order to give him a proof of your fidelity at the
expense of those obligations which you have sworn to your king,
and to induce him to grant new favours to the husband of Countess
von Holstein; and perhaps he might do so, in order to deceive you,
and keep you in his interest. But I assure you that when they have
deposed the king, you will be wretched, and perhaps the guilt will
fall on you.
I repeat again, that your head shall answer for the safety of the
king. You are continually about him. You accompany him; you are
entrusted with his person; and lest you may plead ignorance, I assure
you on my honour, that in such a case a copy of this letter shall be
produced against you, at the proper time and place. And for fear you
should mistake in this respect, I desire you to notice the seal of
this letter, which contains the initial letters of my name, and which
will also be produced against you.
The life and health of the king, together with the welfare of the
kingdom, are in your hands: act in such a manner as you can answer
for before your fellow-citizens. I do not say before God, for I do
not know what your idea of God may be; though I have reason to think,
from what you told me once in your apartments at Christiansborg, and
afterwards at Hirschholm, that your notions are not altogether what
they should be.
You see I am not afraid of your guessing who I am, and I assure you,
that if you act in the way I expect from your birth, you will find me
to be your faithful and devoted servant.
_July 8, 1771._
It had always been hitherto assumed as an historical fact that the
Copenhagen Palace Revolution was concocted only a few days before the
catastrophe of January 17, 1771, by the Queen Juliana Maria; but it is
sufficiently evident, from the above anonymous letter, that six months
previously a plot existed among men of position, to overthrow Struensee
at any cost, and they seem even to have uttered the blood sentence,
which condemned their victim to death and ruin. The threatening letter
does not appear to have produced the intended effect on Brandt; but he
became very serious, concealed the contents of the letter even from
Struensee, and carefully kept it in his pocket-book. As he gradually
became more and more melancholy, he lost the king's favour to the same
extent.
With what boldness the conspirators dared to act, even at this period,
is evidenced by the numerous threatening and abusive documents which
were sent to the cabinet minister's house, placarded on the walls of
the palace and the theatre, and even thrown into the Hirschholm garden.
As a specimen of the tone and contents of them, we may here reproduce
a placard, supposed to have been composed by Brandt's father-in-law,
Conferenz-rath Lüxdorph, which was found one morning posted up in the
principal street of the capital.[3] The literal translation is to the
following effect:--
"As the traitor Struensee continues to ill-treat the beloved king,
to mock his faithful subjects, and to daily seize, with force and
injustice, more and more of the royal authority which the subjects have
entrusted to the king, the before-mentioned Struensee and his adherents
are hereby declared free as birds (outlawed), and the man who puffs out
this treacherous soul, shall receive as reward 5,000 dollars, his name
be kept secret, and in any case a royal pardon be granted him."
The dissatisfaction of the people of Copenhagen, which was partially
justified, being fanned in this way, began, ere long, to display itself
actively.
The bomb-ketches intended to be sent against Algiers were not yet
finished, and the sailors brought from Norway to man them roamed about
the capital in idleness; moreover, the government neglected to pay
them. The political creed of the Norwegians at that time was composed
of two dogmas:--first, that the king is never unjust; secondly, that
the king must be blindly obeyed, provided that the order emanate from
him. The corollary was, that acts of injustice were committed by the
king's subordinates, and that by application to their master redress
was certain.[4]
As early as June 10 many ship-carpenters had struck work, after in
vain asking double wages for working on Sunday, which was considered
necessary to get the fleet off. Two days after this event, a squadron
of dragoons was posted in front of Hirschholm Palace; but, as no
further excesses occurred, this picket was removed toward the end of
July. On September 10, however, a band of from two hundred to three
hundred sailors set out for Hirschholm; they had been waiting eight
weeks for their pay, were almost starving, and had sent in repeated
petitions, to which no answer was returned. As they now saw that no
relief was to be obtained in this way, they formed the bold resolution
of laying their request before the king personally.
When they arrived in the vicinity of the palace, a naval officer went
to ask them what they wanted? "We wish to speak to our father," was the
reply; "he shall hear us, and help us." The aide-de-camp hastened with
this message back to the palace, but the whole court had already fled
by a back-door to the estate of Sophienberg, about two miles distant.
Here the question was discussed between the queen, Struensee, Brandt,
Falckenskjold, and Bülow, whether the flight should be continued to
Elsinore. At this moment the sailors arrived here, and demanded speech
with the king. They were answered that the king was out hunting, but
the intruders did not believe it, and were preparing to force their way
into the palace, when Colonel Numsen came up with a troop of dragoons
and tried to drive them back. The sailors laid their hands on their
knives, and declared they would defend themselves if the soldiers
attacked them. Fortunately, some firmer and wiser gentlemen represented
that the men did not look like insurrectionists, and that by signifying
to them from the king through a naval aide-de-camp that they must
return and justice would be dealt them, an odious and sanguinary
scene, perhaps a real sedition, would be avoided. On the pledge of the
aide-de-camp the sailors went back to Copenhagen as peacefully as they
had come, and the court returned to the summer residence. Still, the
alarm the sailors had caused lasted all night, because everybody felt
persuaded that they would return furious and better armed.
The queen ordered that her horses should be kept in readiness; she
went to bed bare-headed and in disorder, had her riding-habit laid
in readiness by her side, and a moment after rose hurriedly to have
her jewellery packed up. She also requested a colonel, in whom she
placed confidence, to sleep at the palace. The dragoons, however, who
patrolled all night, discovered nothing, and so the court became calm,
and did their best to hide the fright they had suffered.
Struensee gave way; the sailors on their arrival in Copenhagen were
treated with spirits, and temporarily appeased by a payment on account,
while the whole arrears were paid up a few days later. The chief of the
naval division, however, to which they belonged, Herr von Rumohr, was
dismissed the service, on the charge of not having attempted to quell
the tumult.
The bad example which the Norwegian sailors had given, and the fact
that they were not punished for it, soon induced other men to bring
forward less just claims in a similar way. A fortnight later, some one
hundred and twenty silk weavers proceeded from Copenhagen to Hirschholm
to complain that they were starving, because the royal silk factories
had been closed. This request was also taken into consideration by
the alarmed court, and an order was issued to continue the work
in the factories till the men obtained other employment. As these
demonstrations, however, raised apprehension of others, from this
time guards were posted round the palace, the manège, and the palace
gardens, by Falckenskjold's advice, which naturally led to many bitter
comments.
But the greatest fear was entertained at court about the dockyard-men,
who were known to be still angry at their exclusion from the king's
birthday rejoicings, and the loss of their perquisites. In addition
to the sailors obtained expressly from Norway, there were generally
five thousand more in Copenhagen, divided into five detachments,
of ten companies each; some were intended to man the ships, while
others were employed as carpenters, caulkers, and labourers of every
description in the navy dockyards. These men were also dissatisfied
with the new regulations introduced in the yards, as in every other
department, and it was consequently resolved to give them a "festival
of reconciliation," for which September 29 was selected. When the day
arrived, all the dockyard-men went in procession, with their wives and
children, to the riding-school of Frederiksberg Palace, where they
were to be regaled in the open air. Of course a roast ox again formed
the staple dish; but as it was not sufficient to fill all the empty
stomachs, six sheep, twelve pigs, and an infinity of geese, ducks,
and fowls, were also roasted and distributed. To wash this food down,
upwards of thirty tuns of beer, and a quart of rum per man, were
distributed. Any one who liked to smoke received a charged pipe, and
all were paid their wages as for an ordinary working-day. Dancing and
music concluded the festival.
Struensee, in his abject terror, had not duly reflected how uncertain
is the permanent effect of popular demonstrations, or to what remarks
they give rise. But the mistake led to even more ugly consequences.
It had not only been announced that the court would be present at the
festival, but the diplomatic corps, and all the dignitaries of the
state, had been invited as well. Fifty men of the flying corps of
guards were to form the king's escort, and had been told off, when a
rumour reached the court that a design on the favourite's life would
be carried out at the feast of the roast ox. In the terrible confusion
which this rumour caused at Hirschholm, the advice of the experienced
Falckenskjold was demanded. Struensee was afraid of being murdered, and
said in Brandt's presence to Falckenskjold, that the fate of Concini
might be hanging over him. The colonel advised him to mix among the
populace at the festival, and display an undaunted demeanour, but took
advantage of the opportunity to urge him to be more cautious, and not
to arouse his enemies further. He told him that the dissatisfaction
with his government was now extending to his friends, and reminded him
of the fate of Counts Corfix Ulfeld and Griffenfeldt, whom the court
had been compelled to sacrifice to their enemies.
"Such is the fate," Struensee's best friend concluded his far-sighted
warnings, "by which you are also threatened, and, if they can, they
will drag you to the scaffold. So, at any rate, take care that your
papers are in order."
"My papers are arranged," Struensee coldly answered him; "from that
side I have nothing to fear, if they will only behave fairly in other
respects."
Brandt joined in Falckenskjold's warnings, and urged Struensee not to
be so obstinate, but to give way, and yield to circumstances.
"No!" Struensee answered him, with considerable violence; "no! I will
give up nothing of what, according to my conviction, promotes the
welfare of the state."
"The time will come," Brandt said, prophetically, "when we shall be
compelled to give way."
Struensee retired silently to his cabinet. But, a few minutes after,
Falckenskjold received a note from him, in which he asked whether he
could be present at the festival without risk. Falckenskjold answered
him, that he was able to stay away if he felt afraid.[5]
Neither Struensee nor their Majesties appeared at the festival of the
roast ox: the preparations for their reception proved a farce. The
proceedings passed off tranquilly, with the exception that some of the
sailors remarked that it was not the ox that had been promised them--in
allusion to Struensee's corpulence. The citizens were very much annoyed
at not having been shown their king, whom they were growing accustomed
to talk about as an automaton. They were even more indignant when they
learned that fear had retained their Majesties at Hirschholm, and this
distrust with which the king was inspired against his subjects was a
fresh crime with which the favourites were accused. But though it is
certain that the king had nothing to fear, it is equally certain that
he had not been inspired either with fear or distrust; in the whole
affair he was passive and indifferent.[6]
There can be little doubt but that Struensee was quite right in
staying away from the festival of September 29, for there was a regular
conspiracy; it was formed under the auspices of Juliana Maria, and
managed by the head man of the caulkers, Captain Winterfeldt, who was
eventually rewarded for his good will. In 1774, Baron von Bülow gave
Mr. Wraxall a detailed account of the plot to murder Struensee and his
partisans on this occasion.
The favourites were not at all reassured by the tranquillity of the
people and the sailors, for a dull fermentation was going on, of which
they could not be ignorant. Projects for leaving the country, and
the results which might ensue from obstinately despising the danger,
frequently occupied them. The cabinet minister even one day mentioned
his disgust to Reverdil, who was in no respect his confidant, and the
latter expressed his surprise that he put up with it. Struensee replied
that he had often thought of retiring, and was only prevented by his
devotion to the queen, who had ever been before his time a victim of
the intrigues and malice of the favourites, and would be so after him.
On another occasion, when he assured Reverdil that the king was the
sole author of the reforms he had accomplished, he added, "I will not
say otherwise under torture." Brandt, who frequently complained of
his lot, said, with respect to some reproaches he received from the
queen, "that alone is a hell." Brandt, who pretended to be seriously
affected by an anonymous letter, confirmed his friend, however, in his
resolution of remaining. "To what place could you go," he said to him,
"where you would be prime minister and favourite of the king and queen?"
On other occasions, Brandt's incredible levity inspired him with jests
as to the fate they had to fear. One day, after making some rather
malicious remarks about the marshal of the court, he added: "After all,
though, Biälke is the wisest of us, for he is taking advantage of the
present time to settle down; he is making a wealthy marriage, and when
we are in prison, I flatter myself that he will have pity on us, and
send us every now and then some good soup." At another dinner, Brandt
began talking about the proposition of September 29 of all flying
together, and asked each of the guests what profession he would choose
to gain a livelihood. The queen said that she would turn singer; and,
indeed, she had a very agreeable voice. Struensee said that he would
take a distant farm, and live on it as a philosopher. Brandt proposed
to carry on, on his own account, his trade as manager of a theatre;
"and you, my fair lady," he added to one of the guests, "cannot fail to
succeed; with your form, you need only offer yourself as a model at an
academy." The lady was certainly very beautiful, but hid with a great
deal of art a defect in her shape, which she thought no one knew.[7]
Still, these anxieties which Brandt treated so gaily in company,
affected him, nevertheless, in secret. "I wish all this would come to
an end," he said one day to Falckenskjold, "for I have a foreboding
that this government will speedily be overthrown."
"You will fare badly if it is," Falckenskjold answered.
"Oh!" said Brandt, with a flash of his old levity, "as far as that
is concerned, I have studied law, and shall be able to answer for
myself."[8]
About this time, Brandt received another anonymous letter in the same
handwriting as the first:--
Well, sir, what I foretold you has happened, and you feel already
the effects of your bad conduct. You have been faithless to your
king, and you are now treated by others in the same manner. They
use you as the monkey did the cat. You are deceived, and since they
find they can do with you whatever they please, they laugh at you
now, and it will not last long before they send you with contempt
about your business, and lest you should tell tales, they may very
likely imprison you for life, or send you by some means or the other
into another world. This will be the due reward of your treachery,
cowardice, and mean actions. I prognosticated all these things to you
in my last letter of July 8: since that time my friendship for you,
of which I have given you undeniable proof, has grown very cool. You
do not deserve that it should continue, since you have been unable to
follow good advice, and to do what your honour and your duty require
of you. You have, on the contrary, chosen to persevere in your wicked
course of life. If you at that time had followed my advice, you would
have set the king at liberty, by saving him, and your praise would
have been immortal. You would then have satisfied the duties of a
good subject, a faithful servant, and an honest man: you would have
gained the applause not only of your countrymen, but even of all
Europe: they would all have united to procure you rewards according
to your merit, and proportionate to the services done to the king and
to your country. And certainly nobody would have been more deserving
of rewards. But now you are detested through the whole kingdom, and
are everywhere laughed at. Much was expected from your loyalty, your
love for the king, and from a sense of your own duty; but people were
mistaken. You are now punished. You are infamous among the whole
nation, and your name is mentioned with horror. At court you are
laughed at and entertained with vain hopes; an imaginary greatness
is shown you. You are treated with the empty title of Count, which
will remain a monument of your want of faith, your weakness, your
meanness, and your reproachful conduct. In the meantime, Struensee
insults the king and the whole of the royal family, not because they
have offended him, but only to show his unlimited power. He arrogates
all honours to himself; he makes himself master of the kingdom, the
concerns of the government, and of the king, whom he dishonours
before the whole world; he disposes of the revenues of the kingdom
in a despotic manner, and against all order. This wretch dares to
place himself on a level with his master by drawing up an order, by
which the signature of his name acquires the same authority that, by
the constitution of the kingdom, only belongs to the signature of
the king. Your meanness and unwarrantable conduct have assisted to
raise him so high; you could have prevented this, and, therefore,
you will be answerable for the consequences. He commits crimes and
assassinations, and he does it to retain the reins of government; but
you contribute your share by obeying the orders of this Cromwell, who
is ready to sacrifice the life of the king a thousand times over,
if possible, so that he may obtain his wicked ends, and provide for
his own security. Instead of acquainting the king with things which
nobody knows better than you (for you are cunning enough when it
concerns your own interest), you assist this Diedrich Slagheck[9] in
arrogating to himself royal authority; in keeping his master under
guardianship; in degrading him in the eyes of his subjects, that
their love may cease, or at least decrease; and, lastly, as every one
says, "in using him personally ill in the bargain."
You who can prevent all this and save the king from the hands of
this good-for-nothing wretch, and yet are not willing to do it--you,
sir, are accountable for it, and deserve greater punishment than the
traitor himself; and believe me, as sure as that there is a God, you
sooner or later shall pay for it with your head.
You see how preposterously business is managed; everything is
overthrown and jumbled together in the strangest manner and blended
with the highest inconsiderateness, of which there is no parallel
instance to be met with in history. The most honest people who have
served the kingdom such a long while, and so faithfully that even
envy itself could not blame them, are removed to a great distance;
they are turned away in the most shameful manner if they will not
fall in with the measures of this doctor of physic. As if he were
afraid of their honesty, their places are filled up with wretches who
know nothing of the constitution of the kingdom and the situation of
affairs; who know nothing of the business annexed to their offices;
in short, people of whom nobody so much as dreamed that they were
acquainted even with the first principles of the art of government.
For God's sake! what is the meaning that an Oeder and a Struensee,
professor of mathematics at Liegnitz, are placed at the head of
the board of finances? These men enjoy an annual salary of 3,000
rix dollars, while others who have served forty and fifty years
without blame, are now starving, because they could not betray the
king and their country, and would not be employed in promoting bad
and destructive ends. Yet these ignorant men dare to take on their
shoulders a burden under which, particularly in these unhappy times,
a man of courage, ability, and experience, would have trembled.
However, the wise man knows the danger, and therefore will not
hazard the welfare of the nation and his good character, but the
ignorant man, who has nothing to lose, does not perceive the unhappy
consequences of his inability and ignorance.
You see, sir, that the nation is acquainted with the wretchedness of
this present administration, that it feels the bad consequences of
it, which will drive it at last to extremities. You may be the more
assured of the truth of this, as discontent discovers itself in a
public and alarming manner. You know all this, but you conceal it
from the king, though you are the only man that converses with his
Majesty, while access to the throne is denied to all the rest of his
subjects. You, alone, can inform the king of the dangerous situation
himself and his kingdom are in, and the inconceivable indifference
wherewith the best and worthiest of his Majesty's subjects are
treated. I hear that a certain kingdom (Norway) may soon become
alienated: so that in a short time everything may be hopelessly lost,
if the king continues to listen to such bad advice.
You see, sir, how the department of foreign affairs is managed, and
how, by the intrigues and incapacity of our great prime minister, who
has the audacity to interfere, everything is confused, so that the
name of the Danes is now a subject for ridicule.
You see, sir, and you know how arbitrarily his excellency, our great
prime minister, Count Struensee, disposes of the finances,--the pure
blood of the poor subjects.
You, sir, are a Dane of noble extraction, beloved by our king, to
whom you and your family owe so many favours, and yet you keep
silence! Do you not blush? and are you not convinced in your
conscience that you ought to fall the first sacrifice of such
conduct, since you might have prevented it, or had, at least, a
thousand opportunities to set matters to rights again? If tumult and
rebellion (which God forbid) should be the consequences, whom do you
think the exasperated populace would attack first? Would they not
secure you first, as you are at least as culpable as Struensee? And
do not you expose your life, sooner or later, to the greatest danger
by this conduct, which is not consistent with the character of an
honest man?
Reflect, sir, and return to your duty: I conjure you by the ashes
of your father, whom you never knew; by the tears of your virtuous
mother, who weeps, perhaps, already on account of your approaching
untimely death; and what is still more, I conjure you, by the tears
which may some day be shed on your account by the king, the royal
family, and your afflicted country.
You are not afraid to disagree with the doctor prime minister when
it concerns your private interest: but you are mean enough to be
reconciled by a present of 10,000 rix dollars, of which he had robbed
the king and the nation to give them to you. Are you not ashamed of
such a meanness? and are you not afraid of this man in matters that
concern the welfare of your king and your country? These traitors
and villains who defend a bad cause, would not have the courage to
oppose you, through fear of endangering their heads, which already
sit loosely on their shoulders. You would save your king and your
country: you would deserve rewards, and would have a right to claim
them: they would follow you, of course, since nobody would refuse
them: I, myself, who write this letter, would be the first to
contribute toward loading you with riches. With what tranquillity and
inward satisfaction would you enjoy your fortune, your prerogatives,
and your honour, if you should gain this by the consent, and even
agreeably to the wishes of your king, your country, and your
fellow-citizens. I desire you, sir, to consider this well, though I
entertain a better opinion of your generosity, than to suppose that
you can be instigated to perform noble actions only by mercenary
motives.
In my opinion, you must begin this most important business in
the following manner: You are frequently alone with the king: you
take a walk in the evening with his Majesty, as I was informed last
Wednesday, at Hirschholm: you have found that the king is weary
of the guardianship he is kept under. Make use, sir, of such a
favourable moment, or occasion it yourself, since you have sufficient
understanding for it. Represent to him the unhappy situation he is
in, and how inconsistent it is with those obligations under which
his royal dignity lays him. Tell him that he, by signing the order
of July 15, has divided the throne and his royal authority between
himself and Struensee: that he himself, the royal family, the
kingdom, all his subjects, his revenues, the life and the property
of every one, are left to the arbitrary disposal of this arch-grand
vizier, who is a man without experience, honour, religion, or
fidelity: who does not regard laws, who is a master over all, even
over the life of the king. You know that great crimes are ofttimes
productive of still greater ones, or that we may at last fear that
it might happen. When you have explained this to the king, then
represent to him the despair his subjects are in, and to what they
might be driven by such a destructive administration, and by such
misery. Show him what danger threatens him and his kingdom, if this
wretch has time enough to turn everything upside down. If you should
have put the heart of the king in emotion, and have convinced him
how absolutely necessary it was to think of the preservation of his
royal person, his family, and his kingdom, then propose to him to go
directly to Copenhagen, where he will be quite safe: to go to the
palace, and send for two or three noblemen who can give good advice,
according as the circumstances require: that he might not take false
steps (which could be of consequence) at the time when the nation
should attempt to revenge itself, and to show its hatred against
the authors of its misfortunes and its miseries. I could name these
persons, but the nation will do it for me; they ought to be persons
acquainted with government, that they may advise according as the
present situation of affairs requires: but it must not be Rantzau, or
Gähler, or Von der Osten, for these three the nation equally detests,
and they, therefore, would frustrate the whole design.
For God's, your king's, your country's, your family's, your own
sake--consider all this well; and do not delay any longer to hasten
to the assistance of your unhappy country. Save the nation, the king,
and your own head.
The contents of this hypocritical letter are in so far of importance,
because they comprise all the charges raised by Struensee's opponents
among the higher officials. The writer of the two threatening letters
was not publicly considered a man of bright intellect, as indeed
his Jeremiads sufficiently prove; but still he was supposed to be
thoroughly honest. Although he proved himself the contrary, as the
result will show, still Brandt appears to have paid some attention to
his repeated efforts to save his Danish countryman. The letters, the
alarm at the late tumult, and his own melancholy forebodings, at last
made Brandt form a desperate resolution. He determined openly to impart
his feelings and wishes to Struensee, and hence addressed the following
appeal to his noble colleague.[10]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: This and the following letter were found in Brandt's
pocket-book when he was arrested, and were first published by Dr.
Jörgen Hee, in his account of his penitent's conversion.]
[Footnote 2: An allusion to Brandt's letter to the king, intended to
overthrow Holck.]
[Footnote 3: The original is preserved in the Royal Library at
Copenhagen.]
[Footnote 4: Reverdil, p. 283.]
[Footnote 5: "Mémoires de Falckenskjold," pp. 151-2.]
[Footnote 6: Reverdil, p. 287.]
[Footnote 7: Reverdil, p. 290. Though these details may appear trivial,
they are worth notice, because Brandt's caustic manner procured him
many enemies, and rendered the efforts made to save him of no effect.]
[Footnote 8: "Mémoires de Falckenskjold."]
[Footnote 9: The uncle of Dieveke, the mistress of Christian II.,
who induced the king to commit the massacre of Stockholm, under
circumstances of the greatest treachery and barbarity.]
[Footnote 10: The letters contained in the following chapter, the
originals of which are in the Copenhagen secret archives, have not been
published before. Only some passages of them were quoted by Fiscal
General Wiwet in his prosecution of Brandt. Hence it is probable that
Struensee returned them as requested, and that the letters were found
among Brandt's sealed-up papers.]