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.
The next care of the new government was the amusement of the
weak-minded king, who was now a helpless tool in all matters connected
with the administration. Juliana Maria proposed to him, in turn,
various persons to take Brandt's place; but he continually answered
"No" to all the names mentioned, until the queen dowager at last
came to Von der Osten, the minister of foreign affairs. At this
name the king exclaimed with pleasure, "Yes: I will have him." As
this gentleman, however, did not feel at all disposed to exchange
his pleasant post for the dignity of a companion to a half-childish
monarch, but preferred the comforts of his own palace, Lieut.-General
von Köller, Queen Juliana Maria's declared favourite, was appointed to
the office. We do not know how the poor king liked this coarse soldier
in the place of the polished Brandt, so intimate as he was with all the
details of court life.
In order to acquire the best men of business for the new government,
one of the nocturnal accomplices, Major Malleville, was sent to Privy
Councillor Count Thott to invite him to take part once more in the
business of the state, and a similar invitation was forwarded to Privy
Councillor Schack-Rathlau and the Stifts-amtmann Scheel, who had both
been removed by Struensee. The ex-premier, Count John Hartwig von
Bernstorff, was also thought of: Carstens and Schumacher spoke in his
favour, but Von der Osten and Rantzau were opposed to it, because
both hated him. The matter was disposed of, however, by the two royal
personages, who did not particularly like the count, and by Guldberg,
who feared a dangerous rival in the practised statesman. Hence, neither
Bernstorff nor Moltke was recalled; although among all the remaining
candidates for office there was not one who possessed Bernstorff's
experience in affairs of state. Conferenz-rath Shumacher was also
reappointed private secretary to the king, while retaining his post as
deputy in the Chancery.
On January 19, the first Sunday after Struensee's downfall, thanks were
offered to Heaven from all the pulpits in Copenhagen and the vicinity
for what had happened; and, of course, the sermons were filled with
all kinds of allusions to the overthrown godless government. On the
following Sunday, the third after Epiphany, there was, in obedience to
a royal circular, a general Te Deum in the churches of the capital, and
this afforded another excellent opportunity for again insulting the
fallen. Instead of offering up a prayer of love and charity for the
sinner, the clergymen only spoke of the "fearful vengeance of the Lord
upon the godless people, as a cause for rejoicing and thanks-giving."
Nor did they even spare her Majesty, who was still reigning, but poured
out the vials of their wrath upon her, and were not ashamed to urge
their congregations "to hate and execrate the queen."
How great the bitterness of the clergy at the freedom of religion
granted in the hitherto strictly Lutheran country by Struensee must
have been, is proved more clearly by the fact, that even the celebrated
theologian and converter, Dr. Münter, joined in their cry. "Godless
men ruled over us," he said from the pulpit of the palace chapel, "and
openly defied God. They, to whom nothing was sacred, either in heaven
or on earth, despised, ridiculed, and mocked the creed to which we
belong. They, doubtless, were meditating violent measures, in order to
secure themselves for ever. But thanks be to God, that He did not yield
us up as a prey to their teeth: that He overthrew their faithless and
blood-thirsty schemes (for they could not have been otherwise), and
gave us tranquillity and peace again, at the moment when murder and
rebellion were close at hand. Our king, to whom access was entirely
precluded; for whose sacred person we often felt anxious, because we
knew in what hands he was; our king is once more ours: we are again his
people."[48]
It was in all probability this sermon which caused Münter to be
selected to hear Struensee's last confessions and attempt his
conversion.
Still, almost immediately after the catastrophe, there were respectable
authors who dared unhesitatingly to oppose the zealotry of the clergy,
although this was accompanied by double danger at the time. "Religion,"
so wrote one of them, "is employed as a cloak, for the purpose of
deceiving the nation about the events that have occurred. The bought
voices of clergymen who deserve punishment, mix up with praises of the
Supreme Being the evident lies of calumny. Struensee was to be held up
as a regicide, and the deluded people were expected to thank Heaven for
saving the king from a peril which had never existed."
But what could these isolated protests effect against the fanatical
fury of the priests in a time of universal excitement, when not only
the new governing party gave their protection to the worst zealotry,
but even other respected men took the part of the revolution in word
and writing? Among all these men, none carried matters so far as
the well-known historian, Suhm, who was chamberlain to the queen
dowager. He published an open letter to the king, whose contents are an
everlasting brand on the name of an otherwise esteemed literary man:--
"Long enough," we read in the beginning of this pamphlet, "have
religion and virtue been trampled under foot among us; long enough
have honesty and integrity been turned away from our frontiers. A
disgraceful mob of low people had seized on the person of the king and
rendered access to him impossible for every honourable man. He only saw
and heard with their eyes and ears--while the country swam in tears,
while the Danish land had become a name of shame, and men, when abroad,
did not dare express that they belonged to it; while the rich were
plundered, the sun of the royal house turned pale, and everything was
given up to ignominious robbers, blasphemers, and enemies of humanity.
And while all this was going on the king was cheerful and happy, in the
belief that the welfare of his subjects was being promoted."
After a fulsome panegyric of the queen dowager and her son (of whom
Suhm says in a foot-note: "Theologians will decide whether these names
designate glorified angels or angels still living on earth"), the
writer proceeds to thank all the patriots "who with firm intention
helped to tear the bandage from the king's eyes which prevented him
from seeing, who raised up the king and country again, risked their
lives to save the land, and restored the king his true and legitimate
power." After which effusion of gratitude the zealous chamberlain burst
into fresh assertions: that it was the highest time for the work of
salvation to be carried out, for the capital would perhaps have become
within a few days the prey of the flames--one immense ruin; while
Denmark and Norway might have been happy under a king who entertained
the most fervent wishes for their welfare.
This famous rubbish terminated with a warning appeal to the king,
"to let the blood of so many kings that flowed in his veins warm his
heart, and make him look at his people himself. Thus Christian IV. and
Frederick IV. had acted. But he must not allow himself to be persuaded
by flatterers that he was already what those kings had been, but
strive to become as they." Then came a tremendous flourish. "From God
and your nation you have received the autocracy: you are, therefore,
also responsible to God and the nation for the use you have made of
this power. You must set bounds on your own might, by regarding God
as possessing a higher authority than your own, and by choosing the
worthiest man for your government: the most worthy you have in your
brother.[49] You must mercifully chastise those who have some claim to
be treated graciously, but punish justly and without mercy the men who
have dishonoured the king and the country.... You ought to fear God,
love your people, take the government into your own hands, and believe
your brother."
One more passage, and I will close this pamphlet.
"Who would not praise and esteem that dangerous but honourable night!
Future Homers and Virgils will sing its praises, and so long as
there are any Danish and Norwegian heroes left, the glory of Juliana
Maria and Frederick will endure, but cannot be augmented, as that is
impossible. Sooner shall the world fall into nothingness than their
glory pass away."
In such a fashion as this, an otherwise honourable and educated man
ventured to address his monarch, to heap up the heaviest charges and
most manifest insults on men who were imprisoned but not yet sentenced,
and even went so far as to urge on the sovereign who would decide their
fate the inhuman request that he should mercilessly punish them. For
all that, this public letter was praised by the majority as a proof of
patriotic zeal, and of worthy liberality; and Counts Bernstorff and Von
Reventlow even thanked the author in writing for his patriotic deed.
Probably encouraged by praise from such high quarters, the same author
issued shortly after a second pamphlet, bearing the title, "To my
Countrymen: Danes, Norwegians, and Holsteiners." In it he declared that
it was only a reasonable feeling "if every body hated Struensee and
desired vengeance upon him; for all the nations of Europe would regard
a people that allowed itself to be governed by a Struensee, as a vile
and cowardly people, and not call the man a barbarian who removed such
a monster."
Justiz-rath Langebeck, keeper of the archives, a well-known historian,
also accused Struensee in a pamphlet, "Liberal Thoughts on the Day of
Requital," of the most scandalous things, and at the same time abused
the fallen party in a truly Danish fashion, selecting his complimentary
titles from the infernal regions and the entire animal kingdom, calling
them sometimes murder-fiends and firebrands of hell; at others, goats,
apes, brute beasts, wolves, tigers, &c. "But Juliana Maria's renown
would last to the end of time, and far, far surpass that of Semiramis."
A third sample of the literary cynicism prevailing at that time
in Denmark was supplied by Etats-rath Tyge Rothe, ex-tutor of the
hereditary prince, whom Struensee had appointed, in the first place,
burgo-master, and then deputy of the finances. In a poem, bearing the
title of "On the Day of January 17, 1772," which was published by order
of the government, we read: "In later times the fury against divinity
had been truly Pharaonic, and persons wallowed in Capreæan pleasure;"
but "those men of fine mind and cool courage, possessed of strength and
fiery souls--they, O people, prepared this festival for you." By such
flattering terms the writer alluded to men like Rantzau, Eickstedt,
Köller, and Beringskjold.
A multitude of anonymous pamphlets flooded town and country, such
as "Thanksgiving of the twin Kingdoms," "Evening Thoughts upon the
17th of January--a Day so memorable for both Kingdoms," "The Hymn
of Victory of the Copenhagen Citizens," "The Joy of the Israelites
at their Liberation from the Claws of Haman," &c. In all these
miserable pamphlets Struensee was represented as "the great northern
thief," "Apollyon, or the great dragon," "the ex-barber and traitor,"
whose crimes and misdeeds were so horrible that they "could not
be sufficiently punished by blows, or by sulphur, tar, or the
executioner's sword."[50]
The amusements of the court were in no way interrupted by the events
that had occurred, although the previous behaviour had been discovered
to be so godless. Accompanied by his brother, or, speaking correctly,
under his charge, the weak-minded king took frequent drives through the
streets of the capital to Frederiksberg, and to the island of Amack;
and as a great deal of snow had just fallen, sleighing parties were got
up. The queen dowager, also, often drove to Frederiksberg, in order to
enjoy her authority in the apartments of her overthrown rival.
As early as January 23, there was a state dinner and ball at the
Christiansborg, and a _Cour_ on the following day. These festivals were
numerously attended, but especially that on January 29, the anniversary
of the king's twenty-third birthday. In addition to the three royal
personages, only twelve selected guests sat down to the banquet in
the Rittersaal. After dinner the king proceeded with his suite to the
palace theatre, where two new French vaudevilles[51] and a ballet were
performed. At night there was a grand supper of seventy-five covers in
the Rittersaal, to which the foreign envoys and the most distinguished
of the nobility were invited. On the following day there was a masked
ball at the palace, and three days after a _bal paré_. The royal party
did not stay away from any festivity, and it was evident that they
wished, by these uninterrupted revelries, to convince the king of
the universal feeling of joy at what had happened. For not only did
the newspapers contain frequent accounts of the amusements at court,
but the king appeared at the great city theatre to witness Danish
performances, which was a most unusual event.
The two boys and the young negro girl, who had formerly constituted
the domestic amusements of his most gracious Majesty, were, however,
removed from the palace immediately after the downfall of Struensee
and Brandt. Even the king's favourite dog, Gourmand, who had a carriage
for his sole use when the king travelled and a lackey to attend him;
who was served with food from the king's table, and was often fed
by his royal master's hand--even this dog shared the fate of the
favourites, and was returned to the nobleman who had presented him to
the king.
Although there was an attempt at court to lead to the belief that
nothing had happened, a certain uneasy apprehension began to be felt,
when it was rumoured that the lower classes were beginning to grow
dissatisfied, and an almost ludicrous occurrence at the royal theatre
revealed to the public the fact, that at times a guilty conscience can
induce even great personages to lose their countenance.
A few evenings after the eventful January 17, while the whole court
were at the French play, there was a disturbance in the upper boxes,
which continually increased, and was only augmented by those who
tried to restore peace. One rumour followed the other, and in the
end it was even stated that the convicts had broken prison and
joined their friends and the sailors, for the purpose of creating a
riot and an opportunity for plundering. This news ran like wildfire
from box to box, through the pit and gallery, and all the audience,
royal personages and court included, were in a fearful state of
excitement. All began running to the doors, in order to get out and
save themselves. The king, too, rushed from his box with wild looks,
the hereditary prince followed his example, and the queen-mother
tried in vain to keep them back, until she, overcome by terror, fell
in a fainting fit. Similar scenes took place in the other boxes, and
fainting ladies might be seen everywhere. The news of the affair had
reached the city by this time, and curious persons collected round the
theatre and tried to force their way in against those who were pouring
out, until some cooler men discovered the origin of the whole business.
A woman had taken her child with her into the gallery, and the
latter disturbed the more immediate spectators by crying. They began
quarrelling in consequence with the nurse, and in this way a general
disturbance was brought about in the upper part of the playhouse.[52]
The confusion produced by this interlude caused Biälke, the marshal
of the court, to issue an order on January 23, by which, in future,
children would not be allowed to be present at performances in the
royal theatre, and grown-up persons would only be admitted on showing
their tickets, to the amphitheatre, the pit-boxes, and the second tier.
At the same time, he warned all those who wished to visit the theatre
to behave themselves in the way which the presence of the royal family
dictated, and not to disturb the performances by loud talking or noise.
Any one who did so must expect to be refused admission to the theatre
in future.
The alarm displayed by the three royal personages and their intimate
adherents in the theatre, had, however, been too great and too
public for them to be satisfied with the above order. Hence, police
regulations were made to prevent mobs and street riots. The masters
were ordered to keep their apprentices at home at night, or otherwise
be responsible that no street disturbance was produced by them.
Further, it was prohibited to illuminate the houses henceforth on the
birthdays of the king and the prince royal. The order against sitting
in pot-houses after ten o'clock, which Struensee had revoked, was again
established, and everybody was warned against letting off guns and
pistols in the streets, shooting rockets, or throwing crackers. The
city gates, which had been left open, were now again locked at night,
and this order was soon after extended to the hours of divine service.
Lastly, it was ordered that the passports of all persons leaving the
city must be issued by the Danish Chancery, and all house owners were
requested to give immediate notice to the police of the arrival of
strangers and travellers.
The persecution of Struensee's adherents, and the distribution of
rewards among near and distant participators in the _coup d'état_
were not interrupted by all these matters, and several of the deposed
officials were again placed on active service.
On the days immediately following January 17th, arrests, reprimands,
and dismissals occurred in rapid succession. On the 18th, Lersner, the
master of the hounds, was arrested, and although he was released again
soon after, it was with orders to quit Copenhagen and Danish territory
within thrice twenty-four hours. He had hardly reached Roeskilde, when
a government courier caught him up with orders to hurry his departure
from the king's territory as much as he could.
The minister's younger brother, Lieutenant Struensee, was ordered
to leave the Danish states with the same speed. As his name was his
sole proven crime, and he was poor, he was given 200 dollars for his
travelling expenses, and a pass as a law student, and he quitted
Copenhagen at the same time as the master of the hounds. Five years
after, he was permitted to reside with his parents at Schleswig, but on
the condition that he must not show himself in the Danish portion of
the kingdom. He afterwards received an appointment in Prussia, through
the interest of his brother, the Justiz-rath, who eventually became the
Prussian Minister of Finances.
Captain Charles Düval, of the Norwegian king's regiment stationed in
Copenhagen, met with the same fate. As, however, he was able to prove
his perfect innocence, he was recalled and given a company in the
Borncholm regiment. As we have seen, Brandt employed him to engage
actors in Paris for the king's playhouse; and he had been recommended
to the cabinet minister as a trustworthy man. By what means the captain
succeeded in cleansing himself from the stigma of trustworthiness to
his late employer, is not known.
It excited attention that about the same time one of the conspirators
received orders from the king to quit Copenhagen. This was the amply
rewarded Beringskjold, who was commanded to select as his residence
the little town of Wordingborg, at the southern extremity of Seeland,
and was told that he must not leave it under the king's most serious
displeasure. His offence is stated to have consisted in calling the
minister of foreign affairs, Von der Osten, a rogue, because he had
intrigued against Chamberlain Kragh being removed from his office
of governor of Laaland, so that Beringskjold might take his place.
It is probable, however, that a motive of greater weight led to his
banishment from the capital. As the reward he received in cash did
not satisfy him, he spread a report that he had foiled the plan of
excluding the king's children from the succession to the throne, and
this statement of his was repeated to the people in authority. For the
fact that the queen dowager at first entertained such plans in order to
elevate her beloved son to the throne, is as certain as that Guldberg
opposed them, for he was sensible enough to see that such a daring
scheme would be immediately followed by a protest from the nation and
the foreign powers, England at their head.
Of the other arrested persons, General Gude, and the three cabinet
clerks, Von Zoëga, Martini, and Panning, were soon after set at
liberty, and no further measures were taken against them. Frau von
Gähler, who had numerous friends, was removed from the citadel to her
own house as state prisoner, while her husband remained in prison. The
servants of the two counts, Struensee and Brandt, were set at liberty,
as innocent creatures beneath revenge.
On the other hand, the Chief Equerry Baron von Bülow, whose pretty
wife was regarded as an intriguing lady, received peremptory orders
to quit the capital at once, and as the couple were compelled to stay
on the road in Seeland, in order that the lady might get over her
accouchement, a second order was sent after them to hurry their journey
to Holstein. Herr von Bülow had drawn the hatred of the hereditary
prince on himself, by giving the prince's horses a stall separated from
the royal stables.
Queen Matilda's two maids of honour, Von Kalkreuth and Von Thienen, who
were so devoted to their mistress, were sent off to the German duchies,
and even the queen's hairdresser was compelled to quit the capital.
Chamberlain von Warnstedt voluntarily went out of the way of the storm;
returned to Schleswig, and was eventually appointed chief forester
there.
The next man who fell under proscription was excellent Reverdil, who
has supplied so much curious information about the court of Christian
VII. If he had not believed in the guilt of Caroline Matilda, I should
have liked him better; but as it is, I will not let him drop out of
this history without giving some account of his overthrow.
At six o'clock on the morning of January 17, Reverdil heard a knocking
at his door, and a voice exclaiming, "Do not be frightened; no harm
will be done you; it is I, your friend, Colonel Köller." When Reverdil
let him in, he handed him a note from the king to the following effect:
"I shall not see you for the next few days; circumstances oblige
me to this." Reverdil spent the day among his friends, picking up
information, and went that night to the French play, where the royal
family were present. The next morning, Köller came from the king to
arrest him for disobedience of orders. The conversation between the two
was capital.
"May I know what procures this arrest?"
"I do not know. How do you stand with Count Osten?"
"Neither well nor ill."
"It was he who gave me this message, as he came out of the king's
cabinet."
"But what have I done since yesterday morning?"
"You went to the play; and the king, who wrote to you that he did not
wish to see you, saw you there,----or might have seen you."
"Oh, come, that is impossible; he is too short-sighted; and then I was
under his box; besides, I could not give that meaning to the order you
brought me."
It was all of no use; Reverdil remained under arrest, in his rooms,
till the 23rd, when the cabinet secretary, Shumacher, set him at
liberty, and said that the king, presuming he would prefer living
in his own country, was willing to pay him 1,000 dollars for his
travelling expenses. Shortly after, the queen dowager requested an
audience of Reverdil. When he entered the room, she said:
"I cannot tell by what mistake you were arrested. I only heard of it
yesterday. I had given orders that you should not be; and last Friday,
when you came to see me, I said to myself, 'At any rate, he will not
be disturbed.' I only wish I could have spared the rest. But the queen
had forgotten everything that she owed to her sex, birth, and rank.
Still, my son and I should have refrained, had not these irregularities
affected the state. The kingdom was in trouble, and going to ruin. God
supported me; I felt neither alarm nor terror."
The queen dowager then spoke with some detail about her son's
grievances; the insolence the favourites displayed toward him; the
impenetrable secrecy he kept before the 17th; and the courage he showed
in the execution. Reverdil heard from the queen one of the instances of
harsh behaviour toward her son. He was fond of riding on horseback, and
this exercise was necessary for his health. In rainy and snowy weather
he could only satisfy this taste in the riding school. The palace one
was an academy three days in the week; on the other three days it was
reserved for the royal family. Queen Matilda and Struensee, since their
return to Copenhagen, occupied it on these three days, and had the
entrance closed against the king's brother.
Still Reverdil's liberty caused Osten and Rantzau some alarm. They both
feared lest, by regaining his intimacy with the king, he might employ
his credit on behalf of the prisoners. Count von der Osten, whose
principal talent was espionage in the palace and intriguing with the
pages and valets, was informed of Reverdil's interview with the queen
dowager, and was afraid that he might re-suggest the plan of recalling
to court Count von Bernstorff or Prince Charles of Hesse, with whom he
maintained a correspondence. Hence Von der Osten advised Reverdil to
leave "for his own sake;" and the Swiss, who was only too glad to shake
off the dust of a palace, left Copenhagen about a week after.
For a while, Reverdil resided at Nyon, but eventually entered the
service of the Helvetic Republic, and died in 1808, the same year when
Christian VII., driven by the English out of his capital, ended his
wretched existence in Rendsburg. After Reverdil's dismissal, Jacobi,
whose mother was bed-chamber woman to the queen dowager, was appointed
reader to the king, and Nielsen director of the king's private library.
The number of prisoners was augmented by a few other disagreeable
persons, who, however, were nearly all set at liberty again. Among
the latter were Gabel, the owner of the destroyed hotel, and his
step-daughter. The brother of Chamberlain Falckenskjold, though he had
been asleep during the revolution, and was promoted like his comrades,
was obliged to put up with several days' arrest at the main guard,
because he ventured to make some harsh remarks about his brother's
treatment. However, he was soon after set at liberty again, and
eventually rose to the rank of colonel in the army.
Legations-rath Sturtz was at first left untroubled. He had lately
drawn away from Struensee, and written the latter, shortly before his
arrest, a letter, in which he reproached the minister for meditating
the recall of Bernstorff's pension, and pointed at the great services
of the discharged minister. That Sturtz felt no apprehension on his own
account upon Struensee's fall, is proved by the fact that he arranged
for his marriage with the daughter of Major Mazar de la Garde to take
place on January 24, and placed none of his papers in safety. But as
he ventured to suggest the recall of Bernstorff to the new holders
of power, he had ere long to pay dearly for this want of caution.
On January 20 he was dismissed from his post with a pension of 500
dollars, and ordered to live in a small town of Seeland.
Unfortunately for Sturtz, one of the officers watching Falckenskjold
happened to mention his name to the prisoner. The latter asked eagerly,
had he been arrested too? No more was required: the question was
reported, and armed men were at once sent to Sturtz's house. His door
was burst open, his papers were sealed up, and he was himself removed
to the main guard, in default of another prison, on the very day of
his intended marriage. His father-in-law having been seen under the
windows of his prison, bars were placed on it so brutally that Sturtz
was attacked by convulsive fits, and became dangerously ill.[53]
I have already mentioned the removal of Colonel von Falckenskjold from
the barracks to the Navy prison, only intended for vulgar criminals.
This was but a counterpart of the inhuman treatment of the two chief
culprits, and a further proof of the revengeful sentiments of the party
in power.
On the evening of January 17 the fetters were brought from the forge
with which Counts Struensee and Brandt and Justiz-rath Struensee were
to be chained. The fetters of the two counts weighed eighteen pounds
apiece, ran from a manacle on the right hand to a similar one on the
left leg, and thence with a length of three yards to the wall, in which
they were fixed. The furniture of the close, gloomy cells consisted of
a night-stool and a settle; but afterwards a chair and a small table
were added. After the prisoners had been deprived of everything that
might be considered dangerous, strait-waistcoats were put on them. They
were not entrusted with knives and forks to eat with, but the turnkeys
were ordered to cut up their food and carry it to their mouths. They
were not allowed to be shaved, even when they offered to let their
hands be held. At first only half a dollar per diem was allowed them
for food; but it was afterwards increased to one dollar.
A curious circumstance, which I find only in one pamphlet,[54] is,
that the smith at the citadel was a slave whom, about a year before,
Struensee had seen in the streets of the capital chained. This man
had asked him for alms, and begged him to intercede with the king to
procure his liberty. At that time the minister gave him alms, and
said to him, "You do not wear this chain on account of your virtue."
When this fellow put the chain on his prisoner, he remarked: "Your
excellency, I do not put this chain on you on account of your virtue."
Shut up in this awful dungeon, Struensee, who had so suddenly been
hurled from power into the lowest state of misery, and was unable
to endure the contrast between the past and present, revolved means
for putting an end to his existence. Pretending to be suffering from
toothache, he begged the turnkey to send some one to his cabinet,
where he would find some tooth-powder in paper, which would lull the
pain. This powder, on being examined by Von Berger the physician,
proved to be a dangerous poison, and hence it was not given to the
prisoner.
Struensee then resolved to starve himself to death; for three days he
was allowed to do as he pleased; but on the fourth the commandant gave
orders that he was to eat and drink, and unless he did so of his own
accord, he was to be thrashed until his appetite returned. Certainly,
a very Danish mode of creating an appetite; but this desperate conduct
on the part of the prisoner was a natural result of his insupportable
arrest; for had it been rendered more humane, it would not have been
necessary to threaten him with such barbarity.
After awhile, Struensee promised to behave himself better, and a bed
was given him on which he could lie down. But all the buttons were cut
off his clothes, because he had twisted off and swallowed a couple of
them. His shoe and knee buckles were also removed, and he was made to
wear an iron cap, so that he could not dash his brains out against the
wall. At last the hope of saving his life gained the victory over the
prisoner's desperation; he began to occupy himself with reading, and
thus calmed his outraged feelings.
Count Brandt endured his terrible fate with a perfectly different
temper. He was always cheerful, and almost merry, played the flute,
his favourite air being one from the "Déserteur," beginning "Mourir
c'est notre dernier ressort," and saved six schillings out of the
twenty-four he received daily, which he intended as a present for his
future executioner. One of his favourite expressions was, "A small mind
may allow itself to be depressed by trifles, but a great one raises its
head high above fate." Brandt also had a chain three yards long given
him, so that he might lie down on a bed.[55]
Justiz-rath Struensee was also laid in fetters in his cell, but was not
fastened to the wall. Luckily for Professor Berger, there were no more
chains ready, and so he was allowed to walk about his cell at liberty
till they were made. But neither of these prisoners was allowed the
use of knives and forks, or of his own bed, although the barber was
permitted to shave them, their hands being held the while.
On January 21, a Commission of Inquisition, consisting of eight high
officials, was appointed, to whom a ninth member was eventually added,
whose duty it was to conduct the investigation of the twelve prisoners,
and pass sentence upon them. Still, five weeks passed ere the
examination of witnesses was commenced. All Europe looked with horror
on these unheard-of events at Copenhagen, and anxiously awaited the end
of a state trial which had begun with the imprisonment of a young queen.
The members of the commission had the reputation of being enlightened
and honourable men, but were not selected on that account to try
the prisoners, but, because their sentiments, as regarded Struensee
and his adherents, were perfectly well known. At the same time as
this commission was established, Lieut.-General von Köller-Banner,
Councillor of Conference Schumacher, Chamberlain Suhm and Guldberg,
received orders to examine the papers of the prisoners, and send them
to the proper quarter, but to pay over all moneys found to the Royal
Exchequer. A proclamation of January 27, ordered all persons who were
in possession of money, papers, and other matters belonging to the
persons arrested on January 17, and the following days, to deliver up
such within eight days to the Commission of Inquisition, which sat
daily from 9 A.M. till 4 P.M., at the Christiansborg Palace.
During the five weeks that passed ere the Commission had made all the
requisite preparations for examining the prisoners of state, the new
rulers appointed the officers who would henceforth constitute the
government. Immediately after Struensee's removal, a Privy Cabinet
Council was instituted under the presidency of Prince Frederick. The
other members of it were Count Thott, Privy Councillor Schack Rathlau,
Admiral Römeling, and Lieutenant-Generals von Eickstedt and Von
Köller-Banner. On January 23, this cabinet council met for the first
time, but its installation was not made generally known by public
proclamation. The chief president, Von Holstein, who was disliked,
resigned his post, and left the capital with his wife, in order to
resume his former office of bailiff.
On February 13, however, public notice was given that the king had
thought proper to establish a government college under the title of the
Privy Council of State. It was the king's will--so the proclamation
ran--that in future all matters should be first laid before the
college, which would examine them, and then have them decided by men
who were well acquainted with the laws and constitution of the country.
In consequence of this, he had resolved on establishing a Privy Council
of State, and giving it the proper instructions. In addition to Prince
Frederick, the council of state would consist of the following members:
Count Thott, General Count zu Rantzau-Ascheberg, Privy Councillor
Schack Rathlau, Admiral Römeling, Lieutenant-General von Eickstedt,
and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Count von der Osten, who would
wait on the king upon certain days of the week. No other member of the
council but the Minister of Foreign Affairs was allowed to be head of a
department. Should the king think proper to issue resolutions otherwise
than through the council of state, to prevent the confusion which
would result from the colleges interested being unacquainted with the
contents of such resolutions, the holder of such a resolution would be
expected, ere he made use of it, to inform the college interested of
it, so that a most submissive report might be drawn up by the latter,
and the formal expedition take place through the Secretary of State's
office. All requests, representations and reports, with the exception
of those relating to the German lands, were in future to be drawn up
in the Danish language, and all reports handed in by the colleges be
discussed in the privy council of state, where they would receive the
royal sanction.
By this restoration of the privy council of state, the at first
intended institution of a cabinet council, which too much resembled
Struensee's hated government, was avoided; and as the overthrown
minister had drawn such odium on himself by despising the language of
the country, the new ministers certainly acted prudently and wisely in
restoring it. Ere long, they made a further improvement by introducing
Danish instead of German in the army drill. The members of the new
council of state were also all natives of the monarchy, which would not
have been the case had Bernstorff and Moltke been introduced into it.
By the last regulation of the instructions for the future course of
business in the council of state, the king's signature was deprived
of all force and validity, except in council. It is true that this
restriction might be regarded as emanating from the king himself, and
be used to avoid any possible forgery of his signature. Still, it was
quite certain that, henceforth, the king could undertake no affair of
state that had not previously received the sanction of the council.
And yet it was regarded as a crime worthy of death in Struensee, that
he issued instructions to the colleges in his Majesty's name, and his
enemies appealed to paragraphs three and twenty-six of the _Lex Regia_.
These may be as well quoted, once for all, as frequent reference will
be made to them:--
Sec. III.--Hence the king shall have alone the highest power and
authority, both to issue and explain laws and regulations according to
his will, to make them invalid, to pass others in their place, and even
to abrogate laws passed by himself or his ancestors (always excepting
this royal law, which must always remain immutable and uninjured as
the right foundation of the royal authority and a fundamental law).
The king can also liberate and exempt any person he pleases from the
general law.
Sec. XXVI.--... And as both daily experience, as well as the lamentable
examples of other kingdoms, sufficiently prove how injurious and
ruinous it is if the clemency and kindness of kings are so misused,
that their power and authority are cut away from them almost invisibly
by one or the other, and, at times, even by their most privy ministers;
and, through this, both the commonwealth and the kings themselves
suffer the greatest detriment.... We therefore wish to recommend this
earnestly to our successors, the hereditary rulers in Denmark and
Norway, that they should take special care to protect their hereditary
right and sovereign rule; that is to say, preserve the supreme
monarchical power perfect and unlessened, as we have left it to them
for an eternal inheritance in this our royal law. And hence we order
and decree, for its further confirmation, that if any one, no matter
who, should venture to desire or appropriate anything which could be
injurious to the sovereign rule and monarchical power in any way,
everything obtained in this manner shall be declared null and void,
and those who have got possession of such things shall be punished
as insulters of majesty, because they have impudently committed the
greatest crime against the supremacy of the royal monarchical power.
According to these paragraphs, the writers of the instructions for the
new council of state who had extorted the king's signature, and the
members of the council who obeyed the instructions, must indubitably be
regarded as guilty of high treason, while the instructions, even after
the king's signature had been obtained, must be considered null and
void, according to the letter of the _Lex Regia_.
The members of the privy council received in their patents the title of
Ministers of State and Excellencies. Count Thott became reporter for
the two Chanceries; Privy Councillor Schack Rathlau for the Treasury;
Count von der Osten for Foreign Affairs; Count Rantzau-Ascheberg for
the Army; and Admiral Römeling for the Navy. Count Thott, as president
during the king's absence, had a salary of 6,000 dollars; the other
members 5,000. The question was long discussed whether a secretary
should not be attached to the council in the person of Chamberlain
Suhm, the writer of the famous open letter to the king; but they
altered their mind at the eleventh hour, and resolved not to keep any
report of the proceedings of the council.
Köller was not taken into the council, because two representatives
of the army could not sit in it. On the day when the council was
established, however, he was made a Danish nobleman, and an unfurled
banner was given him as his coat of arms.
Guldberg, who drew up the instructions, still contented himself
with the mere title of Etats-rath, but, for all that, was the most
influential man in the government, and esteemed Eickstedt. Rantzau, on
the other hand, soon remarked that his authority was departing.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 48: This grand sermon was duly printed, and is lying before
me, but I mercifully spare the reader further extracts. I may mention,
however, that the text was taken from St. Matthew, chap. viii. 1-13.]
[Footnote 49: This lad was but seventeen years of age, and nothing was
known as yet of his capacity.]
[Footnote 50: Among other insults to Struensee, may be mentioned
his portrait being placed in the shops, with the following couplet,
containing a reference to his name, beneath it:--
"Sic regi mala multa STRUENS SE perdidit ipse,
Jam victus claustris, qui modo victor erat."
Which, for the benefit of the ladies, may be translated: "Thus the man
who prepared much evil for the king destroyed himself; and he now lies
in prison, who was shortly ago lord of all."]
[Footnote 51: The titles were _L'Ambilieux_ and _L'Indiscret_, either
by accident or through a vile eagerness on the part of the comedians.]
[Footnote 52: "Authentische Aufklärungen," p. 271.]
[Footnote 53: Reverdil, p. 363. Sturtz wrote to him afterwards that
this affair had seriously injured his health; and, in fact, he died at
the early age of forty years.]
[Footnote 54: "Gespräch im Reiche der Todten," a very virulent Danish
pamphlet, with the motto,
"Aude aliquid brevibus gyaris et carcere dignum,
Si vis esse aliquid; probitas laudatur et alget."
]
[Footnote 55: "Die Struensee und Brandtische Kriminalsache".]