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.
While Struensee thus continued to augment the number of his enemies,
he, however, began to take some measures of security. The palace guard
at Hirschholm which had hitherto been commanded by a non-commissioned
officer, was raised to thirty-two men of the flying corps, who were fed
from the royal kitchen, and received a day's pay of five schillings,
which, at that period, when the line soldier only received three
schillings a-day, was very high. When the king and queen, in whose
vicinity Struensee remained as much as he could, proceeded to the
capital, their carriage was always surrounded by a powerful escort, two
men riding on either side, and when they remained in town, either at
the palace or the playhouse, the guards were doubled.
At Sorgenfrie policemen kept the people from pressing too closely upon
the royal carriage, and these guardians of the public peace were also
ordered to tear down each morning the pasquinades and caricatures
posted against the houses during the night. In addition, their
Majesties drove from their summer residence to Copenhagen at an unusual
rate, and hardly any one in the city was aware of their arrival till
they passed through one or the other gate. If they passed a guard, the
latter usually shouldered arms, but did not offer any of the usual
honours. Their Majesties and suite, when they visited the French plays,
did not enter the theatre by the grand door, but went up a flight of
stairs on the side, and never before had the royal couple been seen
with so heavy an escort as on the night of October 17, when they
proceeded from the theatre to Rosenborg gardens, in order to witness
the fireworks.
The disbandment of the flying corps of two squadrons, which had been
suspected of insubordination, also gave rise to ugly rumours. Shortly
after, their commander, Colonel and Chamberlain von Numsen, a man who
was known to be talented and powerful, but is represented by Suhm
as given to drink, and amours, and of a treacherous character, was
transferred to Jütland as commandant of a dragoon regiment, and ordered
to set out at once. Among the public this removal aroused the greater
attention, because the colonel was regarded as a faithful adherent
of Struensee, and seemed very necessary now as a courageous defender
of the count. A part of the men were sent to Jütland also, and the
rest were placed under Major von Adeler, but were disbanded early in
November. It was rumoured that Struensee was suspicious of the flying
corps, though he had founded it himself, because not only the officers,
but also a majority of the Guardsmen, were Danes. The regiment of
Zeeland dragoons, commanded by Major-General von Eickstedt, was
selected to take the place of the disbanded Guards, and in October two
squadrons of them marched into Copenhagen, under the command of Major
von Carstenskjold, one of which was told off to Hirschholm to mount
guard over the court. The other two squadrons followed shortly after.
The report about the disbandment of the flying squadron was, therefore,
in all probability, purposely spread, because the new regiment called
in consisted almost entirely of Danes. To complete the military
measures of precaution, nearly all the Norwegian sailors were sent on
furlough.
Lastly, the government found it necessary to put a check on the
impudent attacks of the press. A rescript was issued, in which it was
stated that the government saw with anger that evil-minded persons
took advantage of the decree of September 14, 1770, to print offensive
documents, and thus make an improper use of the liberty of the press
which had been granted. By royal order, therefore, Struensee on October
3, requested an opinion from the Danish Chancery as to what measures
would be best adapted to keep down the licence of the press, and on the
7th of the same month an edict appeared addressed to the authorities
throughout the kingdom, containing "Stricter Regulations for the
Publication of Books and Pamphlets without Censorship." In this edict
the king declared that, as it could not be tolerated that a criminal
use of the granted liberty of the press should be made in contravening
other civil laws, all insults, pasquinades, and seditious writings
would be subjected to legal punishments. In order to prevent the misuse
of the press henceforth, every author of a work would be responsible
that it contained nothing contrary to the existing laws and orders.
Hence all printers would be for the future prohibited from printing
books whose author's name they could not supply, or reprinting any work
on whose title-page the name of the author or printer was not stated.
For it would be an utter misapplication of freedom from censorship if
it were to be regarded as synonymous with perfect impunity for printed
insults and offences.[18]
This restriction of the hitherto existing liberty of the press was
carried out most humanely. No prosecution for libels took place
in Denmark or Norway during Struensee's ministry, and only in the
duchies an exchequer process was instituted against Count Waldemar von
Schmettau for the "Pages for the Love of Truth," published by him.
Struensee's own father, the superintendant-general of the duchies,
denounced the author to the chief consistory of Gluckstädt as a
blasphemer.
The new regulations at first kept the literary partisans in some
check, and toned down the former coarse and unbridled attacks on
the government. But the libellers soon found out a way of employing
their satirical powers without fear of punishment, and the sharpest
pasquinades appeared in succession, whose mere titles were sufficient
to make the reader comprehend their drift. Other pamphleteers contrived
to wrap up their attacks on Struensee and his ministry in such an
artful way as not to infringe on the new regulations.[19]
Such were the precautionary measures which Struensee took in the
autumn of 1771 to protect the royal couple, himself, and his ministry.
In other respects, he took all imaginable trouble to render the king's
life pleasant. Reverdil was requested to keep his Majesty _au courant_
with French literature, and to be his regular companion. It was not
Struensee's object, however, to gain a support for his power in
Reverdil; for though he considered him a thoroughly honest man, he kept
rather aloof from him, as he feared his integrity and correct judgment.
About two months after Reverdil's return, an ex-favourite of the
king, Chamberlain von Warnstedt, who had been removed very suddenly,
was recalled to court. This gentleman, however, did not succeed in
regaining the king's favour, and Struensee, therefore, appointed a new
page, in the person of Von Schack, to wait on the king, who pined for
change.
In the meanwhile, Professor Berger continued to watch the king's
health carefully, and ordered him to continue drinking the waters from
September till December. On his morning visits to hand the patient his
medicine he spoke but little, and when he noticed that these visits
did not please the king, he left them off. As we have said, Berger had
begun also to become cold toward Struensee.
The same servants still waited on the king who had done so before
Struensee's appearance at court. The king's usual society consisted
of the two boys, who were obliged to drive away ennui by all sorts of
tricks, and certainly did not receive any confidence on the part of
Struensee.[20] The king's immediate _entourage_, consequently, could
hardly be regarded as instruments of the minister, and it was no more
difficult than under the previous minister to obtain an audience of the
king. There is no absolute proof that officials and others who could
claim access to the king requested an audience in vain.
Hitherto it had been Brandt's duty to find the king amusement.
But just as this gentleman was beginning to hesitate in his former
friendship for Struensee, he now sank more and more in the king's
favour. There had been a time when the king repeatedly said to Brandt,
that no one knew him so well as he did, or was so like him. But this
connexion was now greatly altered, and ere long a scene occurred
between the two which, though apparently of slight consequence in the
life of such a king, was destined to have the most serious results for
Brandt. Christian VII. expected that those persons who were his daily
associates should have their heart in the right place, as he used to
say, and prove it to him. According to the king's will, however, this
courage consisted in fighting and wrestling with their master, although
the law sentenced any man to death who dared even to stretch out a hand
against his Majesty's sacred person. The king had frequently tried his
strength with Holck and Warnstedt. As he had seen no proofs of Brandt's
personal courage, although he had repeatedly challenged him, he one day
in November insisted on Brandt trying his strength with him.[21]
At the queen's breakfast-table, in the presence of eight or ten
persons, the king, who hardly ever joined in the conversation, after
muttering to himself for some minutes, suddenly raised his voice, and
imitating a favourite actor, said:
"I will give you a sound thrashing. I am speaking to you, Count, do you
hear?"
This insult was unprovoked, and Brandt, as a thorough courtier,
concealed the impression it made upon him. The hearers of it held
their tongue. A moment after, the queen and Struensee, drawing the
king aside, spoke to him very sharply. On a later occasion, when the
favourite again expostulated, the king repeated: "Brandt is a thorough
coward if he will not fight with me." He also said to Brandt, that if
he had known what a cur he was, he would have hidden behind the door
and killed him when he came in.
Struensee and Brandt consulted as to what was best to be done.
Struensee was of opinion that the wisest thing would be for Brandt to
go into the king's apartment in the evening, and say, "As your Majesty
is determined to fight with me, I am now here at your service. So if
you want anything, come on."
On the day before the execution of this plan, Brandt incautiously
concealed a riding-whip inside a pianoforte that stood in the royal
ante-room, with the intention of frightening his opponent with it, but
changed his mind.
In the evening, Brandt entered the king's chamber quite calmly, ordered
the two boys to retire, and bolted the door after them. Then he turned
to the king, saying, that his Majesty desired to have a specimen of his
courage on his own person: he was quite ready. The king having declined
pistols and swords in turn, they agreed to fight with fists. Up to
this point it was an extravagance, authorised, to a certain extent, by
the example of former favourites; but during the fight Brandt behaved
cowardly. He forgot both the consequences his brutality might have, and
the respect due to his master as sovereign: he beat him unmercifully,
and bit his fingers. The poor king yelled for quarter, which Brandt
at length granted him, and left him terribly bruised, and even more
frightened.
Brandt proceeded to the queen's apartments, where the company were
seated at the card table. When the game was over, he told Struensee
what had happened, to which the latter replied: "Well, I am glad of
that, as we shall be at peace for the future; but do not tell any one
about it."
They were, however, compelled to inform the valet, who found the king's
throat grazed, and the result was, that other persons soon heard of the
affair. From this time, however, Brandt behaved more submissively to
the king, in order to keep him in check. This did not please the king,
and Struensee effected a species of reconciliation between them. As a
consequence of it, Brandt was appointed, on November 26, Maître de la
Garderobe du Roi, which satisfied his vanity, as it procured him the
title of Excellency.
The instructions the new officer received from Struensee were to the
effect that henceforth he would have, in addition to the direction of
the theatre, the orchestra, and the court amusements, the management
of all the king's household--the pages, valets, lackeys, hairdressers,
&c.--so that the servants might perform their duties with accuracy. In
addition, the king's wardrobe would be entirely in his charge; and he
would regulate all the household expenses, save in the matter of pens,
ink, and sealing-wax, which would in future be supplied in kind from
the expeditions cabinet. To such trivialities did the all-powerful
minister condescend.
By this appointment Brandt was more than ever attached to a court
which he desired to leave. It seems that Struensee tried to satisfy him
in every possible way, for he offered him Von der Osten's ministry, a
post for which Brandt did not possess the slightest ability; although
that, after all, was of little consequence, as Struensee expedited all
the foreign affairs himself.
At the queen's court two new ladies-in-waiting, Fräuleins von
Kalkreuter and Von Thienen, were appointed in November, and soon gained
Caroline Matilda's attachment. Frau von Schimmelmann, Generaless von
Gähler, Countess von Holstein, and Conferenz-räthinn Fabricius, were
the queen's most intimate friends toward the close of the year; and as
a proof of her special favour, she presented Frau von Gähler with a set
of carriage-horses, Countess Holstein with a saddle-horse, and Frau von
Fabricius with a solitaire.
The court amusements were now arranged on a settled plan for every
day of the week. In September, there was every Wednesday at court at
Hirschholm, and after the court, an Italian operetta. Twice a week, on
Tuesday and Friday, French plays were performed at the Royal Theatre
in Copenhagen, which the king and queen were accustomed to attend, and
to which persons of rank and respectable citizens had free admission.
But by Brandt's orders there were separate seats for the nobility and
the bourgeoisie. In order to complete the troupe, Captain Düval was
sent to Paris to engage actors. Thrice a week there were hunts, for the
chase was the chief amusement of the court, and the queen managed her
horse like a first rate equestrian. At times the royal party appeared
on the parade-ground of the dragoons; and in October they were present
at the races, when a royal huntsman thrice won the highest prize.
The royal couple also witnessed the fireworks given to the public at
Rosenborg, under the management of Chamberlain Gabel; and went thence
to the palace of Frederiksberg to see Brambilla's "pantomimic games"
and exercises in the "higher art of balancing."
We see that there was no want of amusements and diversions at court.
But as the king was growing more and more averse to business, this
was probably chiefly carried out for the purpose of cheering him up,
although he evidently only vegetated from one day to the other.
On November 30 the court quitted the summer residence of Hirschholm,
as a rather severe winter had already set in, but did not proceed at
once to the Christiansborg, but in the first instance to Frederiksberg
Palace, outside the city. It was perfectly well known in public that
the royal pair had selected this palace for their temporary residence,
and that the reason they had not come to it before was, because a new
road was being made from it to the city, and was only just completed;
but Struensee's enemies saw in the lengthened residence at Hirschholm
only a proof of the favourite's fear to approach the capital.
At Frederiksberg there was a court every Monday, on Thursday and
Friday a French play at the Royal Theatre, and on Wednesday an Italian
opera at the Danish playhouse. At times there was a hawking party
outside the Norderthor, at which the king and queen were often present
on horseback with Struensee. At home the king played draughts, read
novels, or walked about the park with his new page of the chamber, Von
Schack, to whom he had taken a liking. The queen also frequently went
out with the harriers.
At Frederiksberg, military arrangements were also made for the security
of the court. A squadron of dragoons was quartered in the outbuildings,
and not only mounted guard, but patrolled the surrounding country.
When the king and queen drove to town, their coach was guarded by
forty dragoons with drawn sabres. At the same time, Struensee tried to
provide for the safety of the city.
The minister was not pleased with Colonel von Sames, the commandant,
for he knew that he was an intimate friend of Rantzau-Ascheberg;
interfered in many things that did not concern him; and, in addition,
annoyed the favourite with all sorts of plans for improving the
city, in which he proposed to pull down entire quarters. Struensee,
also, did not consider it in accordance with military rules that a
cavalry colonel should command a garrison consisting of seven infantry
regiments, while the king had to pay seventy general officers. He
therefore consulted Falckenskjold, who proposed to him the Prince
of Bevern, governor of Rendsberg at the time, as commandant of the
capital. But Struensee did not want so influential a man for the post,
and was of opinion that a major-general of infantry should be selected.
There was, consequently, only a choice between the two generals Schuell
and Gude; and as the former commanded in Norway, the latter was
chosen.[22]
At last Struensee saw that it was necessary to protect himself
against the people, in the event of their daring to get up a tumult.
He therefore gave the new commandant orders to hold everything
in readiness, so as to maintain peace by force if necessary. The
heaviest guns in the arsenal were planted on the walls in front of the
guard-house and the town gates. The guns on the walls were pointed
at the city every evening after tattoo. The soldiers had thirty-six
cartridges apiece served out to them, and there was an extraordinary
quantity of patrolling. Even loaded cannon were drawn up in front of
the palace; and any one who had business to transact there was led in
and out by two soldiers.
The king was surprised at this, and asked Count Struensee what was the
meaning of these terrible preparations? He replied to the king that all
this was done for the protection of his beloved person, as his subjects
were aroused against his Majesty; hence it was feared lest the king
might meet with the same fate as the unhappy Peter III. The king was
terribly alarmed on hearing this; he clasped his hands, and exclaimed,
"My God! what harm have I done that my dear and faithful subjects
should hate me so?"[23]
Unfortunately, these very precautions served as weapons for the
favourite's enemies; and they did not fail to employ them. A report was
already spread that it was his intention to dethrone the king, or get
rid of him; that he would marry the queen, and be declared protector of
the kingdom. The display of loaded guns was regarded as a threatening
arrangement, intended to intimidate the people at the moment when the
minister's projected revolution was about to break out. A report was
spread that Struensee had proposed to disarm the bürger guard, and that
the colonel commanding it had replied, that if his men were deprived of
their muskets they would defend the king with paving stones. Lastly,
the disposition to envenom everything was so great, that Struensee,
having set up his own carriage at this time, this novelty was also
misinterpreted. It was declared to be the state coach, in which he
would figure on the day of the revolution.[24]
In this earnest season, which afforded abundant scope for discouraging
reflections, Struensee was, in some incomprehensible way, so busied
with court festivities, that he began to neglect those duties connected
with the government. Business of importance was left unsettled, and
so rapidly accumulated, that the minister decided everything without
consideration. It was evident that the blindness of this man, who
trusted to his luck, was increasing. We have a confirmation of this in
the enterprise which he finally ventured, and which deprived him of the
last ray of his favour among the populace, as well as the good opinion
of the better classes, and hence was precisely of a nature to hasten
his downfall.
A good deal of ill-blood had already been produced by the disbandment
of the Horse Guards, and all the officers of the Guards being placed
on a level with those of the army and navy. But now Struensee
resolved to disband the battalion of Foot Guards, under the pretext
that its existence had a deleterious effect on the rest of the army.
Falckenskjold, at first, opposed this design, but at length gave way.
On December 21, Struensee issued a cabinet order to the College of the
Generalty, by which the five companies of the battalion of Foot Guards
were to be changed into so many grenadier companies, and attached to
five of the regiments composing the garrison of Copenhagen. The cabinet
order was forwarded to the college on the following day; and, though it
was Sunday, the members at once assembled in council, but considered
the affair of such consequence that they requested to be supplied with
the king's written authority. Struensee then requested Falckenskjold to
talk the matter over with General von Gähler; he told the latter that
the minister would be offended if they refused to carry out the order,
and urged the immediate despatch of the necessary commands to the
commandant, General Gude, and to the colonel of the Guards, Count von
Haxthausen.
Gähler, however, refused to give way, but, instead, joined his
colleagues in drawing up a most submissive answer, in which they
requested an order signed by the king in person, without which they
must decline to execute the cabinet decree, which they considered
extremely dangerous. Instead of being induced to reflect over this
indirect good advice from experienced men as to the danger of his
meditated enterprise, and wisely giving way before this first instance
of a refusal to obey a cabinet decree signed by himself alone, the
favourite at once obtained the required authority from the king, and
forwarded it to the War Department, who immediately yielded.
On the next morning, December 24,--from which the ensuing quarrel was
called the Christmas Eve fight,--the palace guard was relieved by the
king's regiment, of which Falckenskjold was commander, and the whole
battalion of Guards drawn up in line on the the Great King's Market:
its effective strength only amounted to three hundred men. The king's
order for their disbandment and incorporation with other regiments was
read to them, and the officers were present who would take them over.
But when the Guards saw that their colours were being taken from them,
they rushed forward in a body, and seized them again by force, shouting:
"Those are our colours: we swore obedience upon them! We will risk our
lives for them!"
They also said that the agreement with them must be kept, and that it
was contrary to that agreement to make them serve in other regiments.
Hence, they demanded their discharge, and formation into a fresh corps.
The Guards had always regarded themselves as a corps quite distinct
from the line: for they ranked with non-commissioned officers of the
army, and such punishments as flogging and running the gauntlet could
not be inflicted on them.
All the representations of the officers were of no effect. The
majority of the mutineers proceeded with the colours in front of
the palace: a non-commissioned officer assumed the command, as the
officers had withdrawn. Just as the insurgents were about to march
off, a courageous staff officer, Chamberlain Lersker, drew his sword,
in order to force them to go to their barracks: but the mutineers fell
on him and threw him into the gutter. When the commandant also tried
to oppose them, they plucked off his peruke, and on hearing him say to
the officers of the Guards: "Such fellows certainly deserve flogging,"
they squeezed him against a wall. They seized Colonel von Sames by the
breast, when he also tried to draw his sabre and assist the commandant.
On arriving in front of the locked palace gate, they burst it open,
drove the company of the king's regiment out of the corps de garde,
occupied their posts, and closed the entrance gate of the palace.
In the meanwhile, the line troops attempted to arrest the Guardsmen
who remained on the market-place, but the latter offered resistance:
the picket stationed at the main guard, which was situated on the
market-place, advanced, and there was a free fight. The majority of the
Guards, however, cut their way through, and the pickets only succeeded
in seizing a few loiterers, and carrying them to the main guard. But
the escaped men no sooner saw this than they turned back and dashed
at the main guard, in order to liberate their arrested comrades.
Being received, however, by the pickets with levelled bayonets, they
desisted, and fighting with the other soldiers, forced their way
through the streets to the palace, in order to join their confederates.
In the course of this disturbance, a Guardsman was killed, and several
soldiers wounded.
During this period, Falckenskjold hastened with the news of the mutiny
to Frederiksberg Palace, and alarmed the whole court. Count Brandt and
Baron von Bülow hurried into the city and to the palace, and made every
possible effort to appease the rebellious Guards, but with as little
success as the two colonels. The Guards gave the categorical reply,
"Remain Guards or our discharge."
After this, the Guards resolved that a party of them should proceed
to Frederiksberg, and request an interview with the king. The party
set out, found the western gate closed and held; but at the northern
gate, the officer of the guard, who was a boy, allowed them to pass.
As they were going along the fortifications they met Falckenskjold, to
whom the disbandment of the corps was publicly imputed. They consulted
together about killing him, but not being quite certain that it was
he, they allowed him to pass. A moment after they met the king in his
small English calèche, a postilion and an equerry forming his entire
escort as usual, and Reverdil being alone with him in the carriage. The
soldiers formed a line to let him pass: one of their officers, who had
followed them so far, persuaded them to do so, and not to disturb the
king, who might be frightened at their sudden appearance, and impute
violent designs to them. Neither his Majesty nor Reverdil had received
any news about what was going on, and the submissive air of this small
company was far from occasioning any idea of a mutiny.[25]
When the Guards reached Frederiksberg, the alarm felt at the small
body of mutineers was as great as that produced at Hirschholm by the
Norwegian sailors, so that hurried preparations were made for flight.
A detachment of dragoons had in the meanwhile arrived to reinforce
the palace guard. The latter surrounded the mutineers, but in no way
terrified them, but were told by the latter that they wished to speak
with the king. One of their own officers, Major von Ahrenfeld, who was
a favourite of the Guards, and had hurried to the palace, was sent out
to the mutineers, to ask them in the king's name what they wanted. They
repeated their former answer, "Remain Guards, or our discharge;" and
added, that in the latter case they wished to go wherever they thought
proper. The major assured them that he would report their demand to the
king, and soon after returned from the palace with a reply that, as the
king did not wish to keep any men in his service by force, they were at
liberty to go where they pleased.
Satisfied with this answer, the Guards returned to the capital for
the purpose of reporting it to their comrades, who were holding the
royal palace. But the latter refused to place any confidence in a
merely verbal promise, and insisted on a regular discharge for each
man before they surrendered the palace. It produced no effect on them
that this palace was surrounded by three regiments of infantry and
three squadrons of dragoons; on the contrary, they only allowed their
own officers to go in and out. At length General von Gähler, fearing
lest the scene might have a sanguinary issue, went to Frederiksberg,
and brought back a discharge duly signed and sealed for the whole body.
But the soldiers, imagining that there was some deception, raised
exceptions to the form of the order given them. On hearing this,
Struensee said to the Council of the Generalty, "You are soldiers, and
must know the means of obtaining obedience; the king insists on the
mutineers being removed from the _corps de garde_ before midnight."[26]
How greatly the mutineers had public opinion with them, was seen by
the fact that the citizens supplied them with provisions, wine, and
spirits, of which a large stock had been laid in for the Christmas
festivities. These provisions were lavished on the insurgents, whose
cause appeared to the lower classes, and even to three-fourths of the
higher classes, that of the nation. The sailors, another turbulent
band, but who generally quarrelled with the soldiers, offered their
help to the mutineers; and it was publicly reported that the gunners
had let them know privately that they would receive them into the
arsenal, and join them.
The reason for all this manifestation lay in the reports which had
been maliciously spread. It was alleged that the battalion was composed
of Norwegians, whose well-known and invincible fidelity to the king
would have been an obstacle to the minister's designs. He was going to
entrust the defence of the king and the palace to German mercenaries,
and so on. Even Reverdil is ready to acknowledge the absurdity of such
rumours. Not more than one-half of these men were Norwegians; their
service and duty had no connection with the king's personal safety;
none of them had been on guard at Hirschholm during the summer, and the
king was quite accessible to ill-disposed persons, if such existed.
He was peculiarly at the mercy of those to whom evil designs were
attributed. At Copenhagen the porters alone had orders to keep away
suspicious persons; and if the pretended conspirators had been the
ordinary inhabitants of the palace, the porters' guard was as useless
as that of the soldiers. There were avenues which were not guarded, and
the keys of which were held by the chief personages. The palace could
be entered through the stables and the playhouse; lastly, any odious
suspicion is destroyed by the fact, that the asserted disbandment of
the Foot Guards never took place. They were to have been attached to
the different regiments as light companies, but retain their officers
and their high pay.[27] In that case they would have mounted guard in
their turn.
The garrison remained under arms the whole night, and patrols marched
through the streets until the requisite number of printed discharges,
signed by the king, had been filled up, and one handed to every
Guardsman, with a promise that three dollars should be paid him, and
any advance he owed would be wiped off. In this way everybody was
contented, and on the Christmas morning the disbanded Guards left the
palace of Christiansborg, after holding it for twenty-four hours, and
started for their homes. On the next day the Norwegians assembled in
the streets, and took leave of the citizens, who collected in mobs
round them, while the sailors and populace uttered angry cries for
revenge.
When the commandant arrived with an escort of general officers and
adjutants to order peace, he was dragged from his horse and hurled
on the ground, while his suite were ridiculed, and some of them also
maltreated. The discharged Guards, however, took no part in these fresh
excesses, but the populace carried them on, and continued to keep the
town in a state of excitement for some time after the departure of the
Norwegians. How great was the terror at court is proved by the fact
that no attempt was made to disarm the Guards, but they were allowed to
depart with their arms and accoutrements.
At last tranquillity appeared to be restored in the capital. The
king and queen attended divine service on this morning, which, under
existing circumstances, appeared significant, as they rarely went to
church; and on this Sunday evening, too, they were not present at the
French play, as was usually the case.
For the third time, then, Struensee had proved himself a bold reformer
at his desk, but a cowardly and undecided opponent of the embittered
populace. To the prevalent hatred was now added a high degree of
contempt for his capacity of resistance. This bitterness was not aimed
against the person of the king, who was regarded as a prisoner in the
hands of his minister. On the other hand, no one was disposed to say
a word on behalf of the queen, for the most scandalous reports about
an illicit connection between her and Struensee were spread about,
which found most ready credence among the mob, who are always willing
to ascribe their own bad conduct to the higher classes, and were even
gladly listened to in better society, as affording an admirable scope
for the most exciting scandal.
In this menacing state of affairs the English envoy, Colonel Keith,
thought it dangerous to keep silence any longer. Although he held but
an insignificant position at court, and slight attention was paid to
his representations and proposals, he was determined to interfere, so
that he might, at least, secure the safety of his monarch's sister,
as he foresaw what was hanging over the detested minister unless he
entirely altered his plans. Hence he went to Struensee, showed him the
precipice on whose edge he was standing, and offered him a large sum of
money if he would resign his office and leave the country. Struensee
seemed affected by the minister's language, but considered that duty
compelled him to remain at his post.[28]
Thus matters stood at court at the end of the year 1771. Black clouds
were gathering over the heads of Caroline Matilda, Struensee, and
Brandt, and ere long the storm would burst and crush them all three.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 18: The original decrees will be found in Höst, vol. iii.]
[Footnote 19: As an instance of this, take the questions proposed for
solution in the "Magazine of Periodical Literature"--Is it possible
that the lover of a woman can be her husband's sincere friend and
faithful adviser? And if the husband accepts him as his confidant, what
consequences will result from it for all three and for the children?]
[Footnote 20: The reader is aware that the king was already quite
imbecile, and had frequent attacks of mania. But, in order to remove
the slightest doubts about Christian VII.'s condition of mind at this
time, I will quote the following instances from Molbeck's "Historic
Journal for 1852:"--
"One Sunday, during divine service, when the queen was diverting
herself in the riding-house in the rear of Christiansborg Palace,
the king was standing on the balcony over the gateway with his black
and his white boys, and threw from thence logs of fire-wood, tongs,
shovels, books, papers, and entire drawers, down into the court-yard,
and at last wanted to hurl his favourite Gourmand and the negro boy
over the balustrade. Among the papers thrown down was a secret list
of the fleet and the condition of each ship, which the lackey of a
foreign minister found and carried to his master. In the following June
the king broke all the windows in his own and the queen's apartments
at Hirschholm, smashed looking-glasses, chairs, tables, and costly
china vases, and threw the fragments through the windows into the
yard, in which his playmates helped him with all their might. At first
such amusements on the part of the sovereign excited great surprise
among the public, but they soon grew accustomed to them through their
frequent repetition."]
[Footnote 21: One of the king's amusements was to fight with his young
companions, and as he himself tried to hurt and even kill them, they
generally leagued against him; but he was never beaten, except by his
own express wish.--_Reverdil._]
[Footnote 22: It is rather difficult to decide about this old
soldier's character. According to Reverdil and other authorities,
he was a regular old woman, and was solely appointed as a cover for
Falckenskjold, who was the real commander. Still, Wiwet, in his
indictment of Struensee, states that Gude was a man "who could frighten
the whole city by his loud voice and savage looks."]
[Footnote 23: I give this anecdote on the authority of a pamphlet
published in Amsterdam in 1773, under the title of "Die Struensee und
Brandtische Kriminalsache," a translation of a pamphlet published on
behalf of the British ministry in Copenhagen during the previous year.]
[Footnote 24: Reverdil, p. 307.]
[Footnote 25: Reverdil, p. 312.]
[Footnote 26: Reverdil, p. 314. During Struensee's trial much use was
made of the form of this order and the absence of the king's signature.
The order in itself was most imprudent, for the queen dowager and her
son were living in the palace which it was proposed to storm.]
[Footnote 27: Reverdil, p. 309.]
[Footnote 28: That Sir R. M. Keith was strongly prejudiced against
Struensee is seen in his Memoirs. After expressing his dissatisfaction
at remaining at a post when he was prohibited from mixing himself up
in the internal administration, he adds, "If I am ordered to grapple
with these gentry, I already feel (thank God) the superiority which
honesty has over low cunning. I am sure, if I had _carte blanche_, I
could already have dismissed half a dozen of the most worthless fellows
alive."]