became the patroness of the family Mengs. She sang, and played on the
piano, and indeed composed a couple of operas, "Thalestris" and "Il
trionfo della fidelita," and the former was actually put on the stage.
Sir Charles Williams in 1747 wrote that, in spite of her profession that
in her eyes no woman ought to meddle in the affairs of state, he
ventured to prophecy, she would rule the whole land in the name of her
unfortunate husband.
Nor was he wrong. The moment that her father-in-law died, she put her
hand on the reins. She was not likely to meet with resistance from her
husband, he was not merely a cripple in body, but was contracted in his
intellect; he was amiable, but weak and ignorant. Sir Charles Williams
says that he once asked at table whether it was not possible to reach
England by land--_although_ it was an island.
Frederick Christian began to reign on 5th October 1763, and immediately
orders were given for the increase of the army to 50,000 men. Maria
Antonia was bent on becoming a queen, and for this end she must get her
husband proclaimed like his father, King of Poland. She was allied to
all the Courts of Europe, her agreeable manners, her energy, gained her
friends in all quarters. She felt herself quite capable of wearing a
royal crown, and she wrote to all the courts to urge the claims of her
husband, the Elector, when--the unfortunate cripple was attacked by
small-pox, had a stroke, and died December 17th. Small-pox had carried
off his ancestor John George IV., and in that same century it occasioned
the death of his brother-in-law, Max Joseph of Bavaria, and of the
Emperor Joseph I.
He left behind him four sons, his successor, Frederick Augustus, and the
three other princes, Charles, his mother's favourite, Anthony, and
Maximilian Joseph, the third of whom died the same year as his father.
He had also two daughters.
The death of her husband was a severe blow to the ambition of the
Electress; her eldest son, Frederick Augustus, was under age, and the
reins of government were snatched from her hands and put into those of
the uncle of the young Elector, Xavier, who had been his mother's
favourite, and in favour of whom his elder brother had been urged to
resign his pretensions. Xavier was appointed administrator of Saxony,
and acted as such for five years.
When, at the age of eighteen, Frederick Augustus III. assumed the power,
he endeavoured to fulfil his duties with great diligence and
conscientiousness, and allowed of no interference. He had, indeed, his
advisers, but these were men whom he selected for himself from among
those who had been well tried and who had proved themselves trusty.
The Electress-mother had, during the administration of Prince Xavier,
exercised some little authority; she now suddenly found herself
deprived of every shred. Her son was too firm and self-determined to
admit of her interference. Moody and dissatisfied, she left Dresden and
went to Potsdam to Frederick II., in 1769, apparently to feel the way
towards the execution of a plan that was already forming in her restless
brain. She does not seem to have met with any encouragement, and she
then started for Italy, where she visited Rome in 1772, and sought Mengs
out, whose artistic talents had been fostered under her care.
Under the administration of Prince Xavier, the Electress Dowager had
received an income of sixty thousand dollars; after her son had mounted
the throne, her appanage was doubled, more than doubled, for she was
granted 130,000 dollars, and in addition her son gave her a present of
500,000 dollars. This did not satisfy her, for she had no notion of
cutting her coat according to her cloth, she would everywhere maintain a
splendid court. Moreover, she was bitten with the fever of speculation.
The year before her son came of age and assumed the power, she had
erected a great cotton factory at Grossenhain, but as it brought her in
no revenue, and cost her money besides, she was glad to dispose of it in
1774. The visitor to Dresden almost certainly knows the Bavarian tavern
at the end of the bridge leading into Little Dresden. It is a tavern now
mediævalised, with panelled walls, bull's eye glass in the windows, old
German glass and pottery--even an old German kalendar hanging from the
walls, and with a couple of pretty Bavarian Kellnerins in costume, to
wait on the visitor. There also in the evening Bavarian minstrels
jodel, and play the zither.
This Bavarian tavern was established by the Electress Mother, who
thought that the Saxons did not drink good or enough beer, and must be
supplied with that brewed in her native land.
But this speculation also failed, and her capital of five hundred
thousand dollars was swallowed up to the last farthing, and to meet her
creditors she was obliged to pawn her diamond necklace and the rest of
her jewels. This happened in Genoa. When her allowance came in again she
redeemed her jewelry, but in 1775 had to pawn it again in Rome. Unable
to pay her debts, and in distress for money, she appealed repeatedly,
but in vain, to her son.
Frederick Augustus was, like his father, of feeble constitution, and
moreover, as he himself complained later on in life, had been at once
spoiled and neglected in his youth; and he was unable through weakness
to ascend a height. He did not walk or ride, but went about in a
carriage. The January (1769) after he came to the Electoral crown, he
married Amelia Augusta of Zweibrücken, sister of Max Joseph, afterwards
first King of Bavaria. She was only seventeen at the time.
The favourite son of his mother was Charles. This prince had been hearty
and in full possession of his limbs in his early age, but when he
reached the years of eleven or twelve, he became crippled and doubled up
like his father. Wraxal says that beside him Scarron would have passed
as a beauty. He was so feeble and paralysed that he could only be moved
about on a wheeled chair. He died in 1781. His elder brother, the
Elector, though not a vigorous man, was not a cripple.
One of the attendant gentry on the Electress Mother, in Rome, was the
Marquis Aloysius Peter d'Agdolo, son of the Saxon Consul in Venice,
Colonel of the Lifeguard, and Adjutant General to Prince Xavier whilst
he was Administrator.
Agdolo advised the Electress Mother to raise money to meet her
difficulties by selling to her son, the Elector, her claims on the
Bavarian inheritance. Her brother, Maximilian Joseph, was without
children; and the nearest male claimant to the Electoral Crown of
Bavaria was the Count Palatine of Sulzbach, only remotely connected. It
was, therefore, quite possible that Bavaria might fall to a sister. Now
on the death of her brother, the Dowager Electress of Saxony certainly
intended to advance her claims against any remote kinsman hailing
through a common ancestor two centuries ago. But whether she would be
able to enforce her claim was another matter. She might sell it to her
son, who would have the means of advancing his claim by force of arms
and gold. This was in 1776. Maria Antonia was delighted with the scheme
and at once hastened to Munich to put it in execution, taking with her
all her diamonds which she had managed to redeem from pawn.
Whilst she was on her way to Munich, Agdolo was despatched to Dresden,
to open the negociation with her son, not only for the transference of
her rights on Bavaria, but also for the pawning of her diamonds, to her
son.
She had urgent need of money, and in her extremity she conceived an
audacious scheme to enable her at the same time to get hold of the
money, and to retain her rights on Bavaria. The plan was this:--As soon
as she had got the full payment from the Elector for the resignation of
her claims in his favour, she had resolved suddenly to proclaim to the
world that he was no son at all of the late Elector Frederick
Christian--that he was a bastard, smuggled into the palace and passed
off as the son of the Elector, much as, according to Whig gossip, James
the Pretender was smuggled into the palace of James II. in a warming
pan, and passed off as of blood royal, when he was of base origin.
Frederick Augustus thus declared to be no son of the House of Saxony,
the Electoral crown would come to her favourite son Charles, who was a
cripple. The Elector was not deformed--evidence against his origin;
Charles was doubled up and distorted--he was certainly the true son of
the late Elector, and the legitimate successor.
If Maria Antonia should succeed--she would rule Saxony in the name, and
over the head of her unfortunate son Charles, and her rights on Bavaria
would not have been lost or made away with.
Arrived in Munich, she confided the whole plan to her ladies-in-waiting.
She told them her hopes, her confidence in Agdolo, who was gone to
Dresden to negociate the sale, and who was thoroughly aware of her
intentions.
Agdolo, as all the ladies knew, was a great rascal. He had been
pensioned by Prince Xavier with six hundred dollars per annum, and he
had what he received from the Electress Mother as her
gentleman-in-waiting. He was married to the Princess Lubomirska, widow
of Count Rutowska, had quarrelled with her, and they lived separate, but
he had no scruple to receive of an insulted wife an annual allowance.
All these sources of income were insufficient to meet his expenses; and
no one who knew him doubted for a moment that he would lend himself to
any intrigue which would promise him wealth and position. The plot of
the Dowager Electress was a risky one--but, should it succeed, his
fortune was assured.
At Dresden he was well received by the Elector; and Frederick Augustus
at once accepted the proposition of his mother. He consented to purchase
Maria Antonia's resignation in his favour of her claims on the allodial
inheritance of the family on the extinction of the Bavarian Electoral
house in the male line, and to pay all her debts, and to find a sum
sufficient to redeem the diamonds, which were represented as still in
pawn at Rome.
Maria Antonia and her confidant appeared to be on the eve of success,
when the plan was upset, from a quarter in which they had not dreamed of
danger. Among the ladies of the court of the Dowager Electress was one
whose name does not transpire, who seems to have entertained an ardent
passion for Agdolo. He, however, disregarded her, and paid his
attentions to another of the ladies. Rage and jealousy consumed the
heart of this slighted beauty, and when the Electress Mother confided to
her the plan she had formed, the lady-in-waiting saw that her
opportunity had arrived for the destruction of the man who had slighted
her charms. She managed to get hold of her mistress' keys and to make a
transcript of her papers, wherein the whole plan was detailed, also of
copies of her letters to Agdolo, and of the Marquis's letters to her.
When she had these, she at once despatched them--not to the Elector of
Saxony, but to Frederick II. at Berlin, who stood in close relations of
friendship with the Elector of Saxony. She had reckoned aright. Such
tidings, received through the Court of Prussia, would produce a far
deeper impression on Frederick Augustus, than if received from her
unknown and insignificant self. It is possible also that she may have
known of her mistress having been at Berlin and there thrown out hints
of something of the sort, so that Frederick II. would at once recognise
in this matured plan the outcome of the vague hints of mischief poured
out at Potsdam a few years before.
All was going on well at Berlin. Adolphus von Zehmen, Electoral
Treasurer, had already started for Munich, furnished with the requisite
sums. He was empowered to receive the deed of relinquishment from the
Dowager Electress, and also her diamond necklace, which, in the
meantime, was to be brought by a special courier from Rome. Maria
Antonia, on her side, had constituted Councillor Hewald her
plenipotentiary; she wrote to say that he would transact all the
requisite negociation with the Treasurer Zehmen, and that the diamond
necklace had arrived and was in his hands.
Agdolo received orders from the Electress Mother on no account to leave
Dresden till the middle of September, 1776, lest his departure should
arouse suspicion.
The conduct of the Marquis was not in any way remarkable, he moved about
among old friends with perfect openness, often appeared in Court, and
was satisfied that he was perfectly safe. He was not in the least aware
that all his proceedings were watched and reported on, not by order of
the Elector, but of his own mistress, who received regular reports from
this emissary as to the behaviour and proceedings of the Marquis, so
that she was able to compare with this private report that sent her by
Agdolo, and so satisfy herself whether he was acting in her interest, or
playing a double game.
This bit of cunning on her part, was not surprising, considering what a
man Agdolo was, and, as we shall see, it proved of great advantage to
her, but in a way she least expected.
The Marchese d'Agdolo had paid his farewell visit to the Elector, and
received leave to depart. Frederick Augustus had not the remotest
suspicion that his mother was playing a crooked part, and he seemed
heartily satisfied with the negociation, and made the Marquis a present.
On September 15, 1776, Agdolo was intending to start from Dresden, on
his return to Munich, and the evening before leaving he spent at the
house of a friend, Ferber, playing cards. Little did he suspect that
whilst he was winning one stake after another at the table, the greatest
stake of all was lost. That evening, whilst he was playing cards, a
courier arrived from Berlin, in all haste, and demanded to see the
Elector in person, instantly, as he had a communication of the utmost
importance to make from Frederick II. He was admitted without delay, and
the whole of his mother's plot was detailed before the astonished
Elector.
"The originals of these transcripts," said the courier, "are in the
hands of the Marchese d'Agdolo, let him be arrested, and a comparison of
the documents made."
The Privy Council was at once assembled, and the papers received from
Frederick II. were laid before it. The members voted unanimously that
the Marquis should be arrested, and General Schiebell was entrusted with
the execution of the decree. No surprise was occasioned by the entry of
General Schiebell into the house of Ferber. It was a place of resort of
the best society in Dresden; but when the General announced that he had
come to make an arrest, many cheeks lost their colour.
"In the name of his Serene Highness the Elector," said the General, "I
make this man my prisoner," and he laid his hand on the shoulder of
Agdolo, who had served under him in the Seven Years' War. He was taken
at once to his own lodgings, where his desks and boxes--already packed
for departure--were opened, and all his papers removed. The same night,
under a strong guard, he was transported at 10 o'clock, to Königstein.
In that strong fortress and state prison, perched on an isolated
limestone crag, the rest of his life was to be spent in confinement.
But the Marchese, like a crafty Italian, had made his preparations
against something of the sort; for among his papers was found a
communication addressed by him to the Elector, revealing the whole plot.
It was undated. If the search of his rooms and the discovery of his
papers had been made earlier, the Elector might have believed that the
man had really intended to betray his mistress, but, he had postponed
the delivery of the communication too late.[17]
A few days later, the Marchese received a sealed letter from the
Elector; and he was treated in his prison without undue severity; his
pension was not withdrawn; and the Elector seems never to have quite
made up his mind whether Agdolo really intended to make him aware of the
plot at the last minute, or to go on with the plan after his mistress's
orders.
After some years, when Agdolo began to suffer in his chest, he was
allowed to go to the baths of Pirna, under a guard. His wife never
visited him in prison. She died, however, only two years later, in 1778,
at the age of fifty-six. Agdolo lived on for twenty-three years and a
half, and died August 27, 1800. All his papers were then sent to
Frederick Augustus III., who read them, dissolved into tears, and burnt
them.
We must return for a moment to Munich. No sooner had the emissary of the
Electress Mother heard of the news of the arrest of Agdolo, than he
hastened to Munich with post horses as hard as he could fly over the
roads. Maria Antonia, when she heard the news, at once made fresh
dispositions. She sent word that same night to Hewald to make off, and
in another half hour he had disappeared with the diamonds.
Next day the completion of the resignation of claims was to be made. The
Electress Mother requested the Treasurer Zehmen to go to the dwelling of
her Councillor Hewald, who, as we can understand, was not to be found
anywhere. Herr von Zehmen was much surprised and disconcerted, and the
Dowager Electress affected extreme indignation and distress, charging
her plenipotentiary with having robbed her of her diamonds, and bolted
with them. Then she took to her bed, and pretended to be dangerously
ill. Next day the news reached Zehmen of what had occurred at Dresden,
and with the news came his recall. She saw the treasurer before his
departure, and implored him to get both Agdolo and Hewald arrested and
punished, because, as she declared, they had between them fabricated a
wicked plot for her robbery and ruin.
Hewald went to Frankfort with the jewels, where he was stopped and taken
by an officer of Frederick Augustus, and brought on Jan. 27, 1777, to
Dresden. He was sent to the Königstein, but was released in 1778.
In 1777 died the Elector of Bavaria, but his sister was unable to obtain
any recognition of her claims; and she died 23rd April, 1780, without
any reconciliation with the eldest son. Next year died her favourite
son, the cripple, Charles.
FOOTNOTE:
[17] This is supposed to have been the contents of the packet addressed
to the Elector, the contents have never been revealed.
Suess Oppenheim.
On December the sixteenth, 1733, Charles Alexander, Duke of Würtemberg,
entered Stuttgart in state. It was a brilliant though brief winter day.
The sun streamed out of a cloudless heaven on the snowy roofs of the old
town, and the castle park trees frosted as though covered with jewels.
The streets were hung with tapestries, crimson drapery, and wreaths of
artificial flowers. Peasants in their quaint costume poured in from all
the country round to salute their new prince. From the old castle towers
floated the banners of the Duchy and the Empire--for Würtemberg three
stag-horns quartered with the Hohenstauffen black lions. The Duke was
not young: he was hard on fifty--an age when a man has got the better of
youthful impetuosity and regrets early indiscretions--an age at which,
if a man has stuff in him, he is at his best.
The land of Würtemberg is a favoured and smiling land. At the period of
which we write, it was not so ample as the present kingdom, but
fruitful, favoured, and called the Garden of the Empire. For twenty
years this Duchy had been badly governed; the inhabitants had been
cruelly oppressed by the incompetent Duke Eberhardt Ludwig, or rather by
his favourites. The country was burdened with debt; the treasury was
exhausted. It had, as it were, lain under winter frost for twenty years
and more, and now though on a winter day laughed and bloomed with a
promise of spring.
And every good Würtemberger had a right to be glad and proud of the new
duke, who had stormed Belgrade under Prince Eugene, and was held to be
one of the bravest, noblest minded, and most generous of the German
princes of his time.
As he rode through the streets of Stuttgart all admired his stately
form, his rich fair hair flowing over his shoulders, his bright
commanding eye, and the pleasant smile on his lip; every Würtemberger
waved his hat, and shouted, and leaped with enthusiasm. Now at last the
Garden of Germany would blossom and be fruitful under so noble a duke.
But in the same procession walked, not rode, another man whom none
regarded--a handsome man with dark brown hair and keen olive eyes, a
sallow complexion, and a finely moulded Greek nose. He had a broad
forehead and well arched brows. He was tall, and had something noble and
commanding in his person and manner. But his most remarkable feature was
the eye--bright, eager, ever restless.
This man, whom the Würtembergers did not observe, was destined to play a
terrible and tragic part in their history--to be the evil genius of the
duke and of the land. His name was Joseph Suess Oppenheim.
Joseph's mother, Michaela, a Jewess, had been a woman of extraordinary
beauty, the only child of the Rabbi Salomon of Frankfort. She had been
married when quite young to the Rabbi Isachar Suess Oppenheim, a singer.
Joseph was born at Heidelberg in 1692, and was her child by the Baron
George of Heydersdorf, a soldier who had distinguished himself in the
Turkish war, and with whom she carried on a guilty intrigue. From his
father Joseph Suess derived a dignified, almost military bearing, and
his personal beauty from his mother.
The Baron's romance with the lovely Jewess came to an end in 1693, when
he held the castle of Heidelberg against the French. He surrendered
after a gallant defence; too soon, however, as the court-martial held on
him decided; and he was sentenced to death, but was pardoned by the
Emperor Leopold, with the loss of all his honours and offices, and he
was banished the Empire.
Suess had a sister who married a rich Jew of Vienna, but followed her
mother in laxity of morals, and, after having wasted a good fortune in
extravagance, fell back on her mother and brother for a maintenance. He
had a brother who became a factor at the court of Darmstadt. They lived
on bad terms with each other, and were engaged in repeated lawsuits with
one another. This brother abjured Judaism, was baptised, and assumed the
name of Tauffenberg. Joseph Suess was connected, or nominally connected,
through Isachar, his reputed though not his real father, with the great
and wealthy Jewish family of Oppenheim. The branch established in Vienna
had become rich on contracts for the army, and had been ennobled. One
member failed because the Emperor Leopold I. owed him many millions of
dollars and was unable to pay. Joseph began life in the office of the
court bankers and army contractors of his family at Vienna. Here it was
that he obtained his first ideas of how money could be raised through
lotteries, monopolies, and imposts of all kinds. But though Joseph was
put on the road that led to wealth, in the Oppenheim house at Vienna, he
missed his chance there, and was dismissed for some misconduct or other,
the particulars of which we do not know.
Then, in disgrace and distress, he came to Bavaria, where he served a
while as barber's assistant. Probably through the influence of some of
the Oppenheims, Joseph was introduced into the court of the family of
Thurn and Taxis, which had acquired vast wealth through the monopoly of
the post-office. Thence he made his way into an office of the palatine
court at Mannheim.
This was a period in which the German princes were possessed with the
passion of imitating the splendour and extravagance of Louis XIV.
Everyone must have his Versailles, must crowd his court with
functionaries, and maintain armies in glittering and showy uniforms.
Germany, to the present day, abounds in vast and magnificent palaces,
for the most part in wretched repair, if not ruinous. The houses of our
English nobility are nothing as compared in size with these palaces of
petty princes, counts, and barons.