THE RESTORATION PLOT.
1774-1775.
[94] This chapter is based upon Sir N. Wraxall's _Posthumous Memoirs_,
vol. i., where a more detailed narrative will be found.
Altona, then a town in Danish territory, was only half a mile from the
free city of Hamburg, and at the time of Wraxall's visit was thronged
with partisans of the deposed Queen. Many of them had been exiled
from Copenhagen after the palace revolution of 1772; several belonged
to the Danish nobility, and chief among these was Baron Bülow, who
had formerly held the post of Master of the Horse to Queen Matilda.
Owing to the unpopularity of the Queen-Dowager's rule at Copenhagen,
their numbers were increasing daily, and already a plan was under
consideration to effect another palace revolution, abolish Juliana
Maria and her adherents, and restore Matilda. But so far the plan
existed on paper only; no steps had been taken to carry it into effect.
Things had not gone well with the Danish Government at Copenhagen
since Matilda had sailed from Kronborg more than two years before.
The Queen-Dowager quickly found that it was one thing to seize power
and another to maintain it; her spell of popularity was brief, and
before long she became the most hated woman in Denmark, not always
very justly, for according to her lights she seems honestly to have
tried to do her duty. Before long the conspirators who, under her,
had effected the palace revolution fell out among themselves, and the
Government was split into two factions, with Rantzau and Köller-Banner
on one side, Eickstedt and Guldberg on the other, and Osten trimming
between the two. It was not long before the Guldberg faction triumphed.
Rantzau was compelled to resign all his offices, and dismissed with
a pension to his estates in Holstein, but, as he showed a desire to
return to Copenhagen, he was eventually exiled.[95] Osten was banished
to Jutland, where he was living in retirement.[96] Köller-Banner was in
disgrace, and dismissed from his posts on a suspicion of treasonable
correspondence with the French and Swedish envoys. The Queen-Dowager
tried to recall him, for he was a favourite with her, and succeeded
for a time; but he was eventually overthrown.[97] Thus retribution had
fallen on some of Matilda's chief enemies, and though others, like
Eickstedt and Beringskjold, remained, their authority was shaken, and
the whole power had insensibly passed into the hands of Guldberg, who
acquired the unbounded confidence of the Queen-Dowager. Guldberg was
very clever, and a far more cautious man than Struensee, though he
did not possess either his genius or his aspirations. The first step
of the new Government had been to establish the old _régime_, and to
abolish all the reforms brought in by Struensee,[98] and place the
power once more in the hands of the privileged classes. But the people,
having once tasted the sweets of liberty, did not take kindly to the
re-imposition of their former yoke, and the Government grew daily more
unpopular. Much though they had disliked Struensee, they had approved
of many of his reforms: it was not so much what he did, as the way he
did it, to which they objected.
[95] Rantzau went to the south of France. He died in 1789, in his
seventy-second year.
[96] A few years later Osten was recalled, and appointed President of
the Supreme Court in Copenhagen, but he fell again with Juliana Maria's
Government, and died in 1797 at the age of eighty years.
[97] Köller-Banner died at Altona in 1811.
[98] The only one that remains of Struensee's institutions to this day
is the foundling hospital, which was so bitterly attacked at the time
of its foundation.
The King, who was theoretically the source of all power, was tightly
held in the grasp of the Queen-Dowager, whom he had now come to hate
quite as much as he used to hate Struensee and Brandt. But he was
powerless to free himself from this thraldom, though at times he showed
flashes of insubordination. For instance, in one of his comparatively
lucid intervals he signed a state paper as follows: "Christian VII. by
the grace of God King of Denmark, etc., in company with Juliana Maria
by the grace of the devil." He often lamented the loss of Matilda,
whom he said he had been forced to divorce against his will, and
wished her back again. He had probably discovered that this annoyed
the Queen-Dowager more than anything else, and so he spoke of his wife
in the most affectionate terms. Of his divorce he said it was the
only one on record effected when neither of the parties wished it. In
the popular mind, too, a strong reaction had set in in favour of the
exiled Queen. She had always been kind and affable to the people, and
she was credited with whatever was beneficial to them in Struensee's
legislation. The picture of her torn from her children and forced
to live in exile powerfully appealed to the public imagination, and
now that Struensee was out of the way her popularity returned with
threefold force. Her sufferings and sorrows were attributed to the
vindictiveness of the Queen-Dowager; all Matilda's shortcomings were
forgiven on the score of her youth and inexperience; it was declared
that she was the innocent victim of a cruel plot, and she gradually
became vested in the eyes of the people with the attributes of a
saint and a martyr. The Queen-Dowager was aware of this and sought
to win over the malcontents. "The suspected partisans and friends of
the unfortunate [Queen] have many of them been caressed this winter,"
writes Woodford, "and some have received places."[99] But her efforts
did not meet with great success. Those of the Danish nobility who
favoured Matilda's cause were aware of the popular feeling, and did
their utmost to encourage it, for they counted on the young Queen's
personality as their most powerful weapon to overthrow the Guldberg
ministry and the domination of Juliana Maria.
[99] Woodford's despatch, Copenhagen, July 18, 1773.
Such, then, was the state of affairs in Denmark when Wraxall arrived
at Hamburg after his visit to Matilda at Celle. The opera, the theatre
and all public amusements were at Hamburg; it consequently offered
great attractions to the Danish families at Altona, and many of them
were constantly to be found in the places of amusement at Hamburg, and
in the houses of its wealthy citizens. Wraxall dined with Hanbury,
the English consul, on September 28, and among the company present
were several Danes, including Baroness Bülow, Baron and Baroness
Schimmelmann and M. le Texier, who had been treasurer to Christian
VII. during his tour in England. He also saw at the opera the next
night the beautiful Countess Holstein, who had taken refuge in Altona.
He says: "I examined her through my glass. She is doubtless pretty,
though not in my opinion so divinely fair as fame says. Her history at
Hirschholm is well known. There was no gallantry, I thought, marked
in her features, though it is said she certainly has that quality in
her constitution. I thought of the unhappy Brandt as I looked at her."
Wraxall was well received by several of the first families at Hamburg,
and one night, when he was supping at the house of a brother-in-law of
Le Texier, where several of the Danish nobility were present, he spoke
of his recent visit to Celle, and expressed himself strongly in favour
of Queen Matilda, and spoke of his eagerness to avenge her wrongs. He
was a young man of mercurial temperament, and had probably supped too
freely, but his words made an impression on the Danes who were present.
A few days later Le Texier called upon Wraxall, and with an air of
secrecy asked him if he really meant what he said the other evening,
and whether he would be willing to serve the Queen of Denmark, because,
in that case, he could put him in the way of doing so. Wraxall was
momentarily overcome with astonishment at being taken at his word, but
he soon recovered himself, and declared with all the enthusiasm of
youth that he was willing to risk his life, if need be, for the sake of
the young Queen. Le Texier within the next few days introduced him to
the eldest son of Baron Schimmelmann, and then to Baron Bülow. These
two were the leaders of a project to restore the Queen. So far they
had not been able to communicate with Matilda, for though Celle was
only eighty miles distant from Hamburg and Altona, they were surrounded
by spies from the court of Copenhagen, who reported every movement
they made. At Celle, too, there were spies, who would assuredly have
reported the arrival of any Dane there. Wraxall, therefore, a young
Englishman travelling apparently for his pleasure, was the very
agent they wanted to open up communications with the Queen. Baron
Bülow having sworn Wraxall to secrecy, unfolded at some length the
plan which had been formed, and bade him acquaint the Queen with it
verbally, since they were afraid to put anything on paper. He gave
Wraxall his seal as his credentials to prove to the Queen that he came
from Bülow. Wraxall was instructed to go to Celle and tell the Queen
that a numerous and powerful party were anxious to restore her to the
throne, and were willing to incur the dangers of such an enterprise if
she on her part would agree to the following conditions:--
First: She must assure them of her willingness to return to Denmark and
take up the reins of government, which the King was incapacitated from
holding in his own hands.
Secondly: She must co-operate with, and assist, her adherents in every
way in her power.
Thirdly: She must endeavour to induce her brother, the King of England,
to extend his powerful protection and assistance to the enterprise.
This last condition was adjudged the most important, for according to
Woodford, who followed Keith at Copenhagen, the idea which discouraged
the partisans and well-wishers of the unfortunate Queen was that: "His
Majesty is too offended ever to permit his royal sister to return again
to this country."[100]
[100] Woodford's despatch to Suffolk, Copenhagen, October 17, 1772.
Thus authorised and instructed, Wraxall set out from Hamburg on the
evening of October 8, and by travelling all night reached Celle
the evening of the following day. He learned to his regret that
the Princess of Brunswick was still at the castle, for Bülow and
his friends had warned him that she was not to be trusted in this
matter, as she was the niece by marriage of Juliana Maria; also they
feared that Matilda might confide in her sister too freely. Wraxall,
therefore, determined to say that he had come back from Hamburg to
Celle as the bearer of a letter from Mr. Matthews, the British minister
there, to the Queen. The letter, it need scarcely be said, was not from
Matthews, but from Wraxall, in which he informed the Queen, without
mentioning names, of the proposed plan for her restoration. On the
first page of the letter he wrote a warning, in which he entreated
the Queen to consider what followed as secret, and to be especially
careful not to arouse the suspicions of the Princess of Brunswick.
The following morning Wraxall waited upon the Queen's chamberlain,
Baron Seckendorf, and told him he had a letter for her Majesty from
the English minister at Hamburg, relative to a company of travelling
comedians whom he understood the Queen wished to act at Celle, and
he would like to deliver it into her own hands. Seckendorf shortly
returned with a message from the Queen, saying that she would be
pleased to see Mr. Wraxall at dinner at two o'clock the same day. At
that hour he presented himself at the castle, and awaited the Queen
with her household in the long gallery. Presently the Queen and the
Princess of Brunswick came together out of the Queen's apartments, and
the Queen, advancing towards Wraxall, said: "I am glad to see you here
again. I understand that you have a letter for me from Mr. Matthews."
Wraxall presented it, and the Queen withdrew to the window to break
the seals. The Princess of Brunswick also welcomed Wraxall cordially,
and he tried to keep her in conversation while the Queen was glancing
over her letter. He noticed the Queen start when she read the first
lines, and she hastily put the paper into her pocket, her face showing
considerable agitation, but as dinner was announced at that moment her
confusion did not attract attention. What followed had better be told
in Wraxall's own words:--
"At table Caroline Matilda recovered herself, and conversed with her
usual freedom and gaiety. The Queen and Princess were seated in two
state chairs, separated nearly five feet from each other. When the
dessert was brought the Queen, unable any longer to restrain her
curiosity and impatience, took the letter from her pocket, and, placing
it in her lap, perused it from the beginning to the end; from time
to time she raised her eyes, and took part in the conversation. The
distance at which she was from the Princess of Brunswick rendered it
impossible for the letter to be overlooked." After taking coffee the
Queen and the Princess withdrew, and Wraxall returned to the little inn
where he lodged.
A few hours later Wraxall received a visit from Seckendorf, who
told him that the Queen had informed him of the whole business, and
had sent him as her confidential agent. She was fully alive to the
necessity of caution, and she therefore feared she would not be able
to receive Wraxall in private audience while her sister was there,
as the Princess scarcely quitted her for a moment, but if he would
send his credentials through Seckendorf she would communicate with
him further. Wraxall then gave to Seckendorf Bülow's signet-ring, and
acquainted him with the names of those from whom he came. The following
day Seckendorf came back with the Queen's answer, which he delivered
verbally. It was to the following effect: That the Queen, as she was
living under the protection of her brother, the King of England, could
not commit herself to any plan without first obtaining his consent
and approbation. That, if she consulted only her own happiness and
peace of mind, she would never return to Copenhagen, but her duties
as a mother and a queen compelled her to overlook the wrongs she had
suffered, and resume her station in Denmark if a proper opportunity
offered. That, as far as she herself was concerned, she agreed to the
propositions made by the Danish nobility if it could be proved to her
that they were sufficiently numerous and powerful to carry out their
plans with any hope of success; on this point she desired they would
give her more information. She would then write as strongly as possible
to the King of England, and ask him to lend his assistance towards her
restoration. She returned Bülow's seal, which she had enclosed in an
envelope addressed in her own handwriting to Baron Bülow, and sealed
with one of her own seals; she had also written her initials "C. M." on
the envelope, but beyond this she wrote nothing.
Armed with this Wraxall left Celle the following day, and returned to
Hamburg where he reported his progress to Baron Bülow (who met him
at a retired spot on the ramparts) and gave him back his seal. Bülow
immediately recognised the Queen's handwriting on the envelope, which
was Wraxall's credential, and, when he had learned all that had passed,
he said he would communicate with his associates, and inform Wraxall
again.
Wraxall remained at Hamburg a week, and then received instructions to
return to Celle. His message to Queen Matilda, as before, was only
verbal, though he was authorised to put it on paper when he reached
Celle. It was to the following effect: The Danish nobility thanked the
Queen for her gracious reply to their communication, and were quite
satisfied with it. With regard to her request for further information,
Baron Bülow, in addition to himself and Baron Schimmelmann the younger,
was empowered to answer for the Viceroy of Norway, who would secure
that kingdom and its capital, Christiania, for the Queen; for Baron
Schimmelmann the elder, who, though he refused to take any active
part in the enterprise, or to risk by any overt act his safety and
vast fortune, was sincerely attached to the cause; for the Governor
of Glückstadt, one of the most important fortresses in Holstein, who
was disposed to aid the Queen; for certain officers in Rendsburg,
the key of Schleswig, which would open its gates (as the party had
secret adherents in the garrison, who would declare themselves on
the Queen's side) when the moment arrived; and for numerous friends
who, he declared, were powerful in the army, the navy, the guards, in
the metropolis, and even about the person of the King himself. For
the rest, the Queen's friends entreated her to be content with the
assurances of the Baron Bülow, their spokesman, and not ask for a
list of all the names, which would be dangerous. They also urged her
to write to the King of England as soon as possible, and ask him not
only whether he would approve of the plan to restore his sister, but
if he would grant some pecuniary assistance towards it. During the
forthcoming winter they would prepare everything to carry out their
plans, and strike the blow in the spring, as soon as the two Belts
should be free of ice.
Fortified with this message, Wraxall again went to Celle, entering the
town this time _incognito_, and lodging under an assumed name in a
little inn in the suburbs. He communicated immediately with Seckendorf,
who came to him the following morning, informed him the Princess of
Brunswick was no longer at Celle, and took his letters and messages to
deliver to the Queen. A few hours later Seckendorf came back, and told
Wraxall to go immediately to the French garden outside the town, where
the Queen would meet him. Wraxall repaired thither without delay,
and a few minutes later the Queen drove up in a coach. She sent away
her carriage and all her attendants except one lady, who discreetly
retired to a pavilion. The Queen gave Wraxall an hour's interview.
During the greater part of the time they paced up and down between the
avenue of limes in a secluded part of the garden. The Queen spoke quite
unreservedly. She said that she was satisfied with the names mentioned,
and, for the rest, she would trust the good faith of Baron Bülow. That
she would write to the King of England with great earnestness, and ask
him to send a minister to Copenhagen, friendly to her restoration, and
also to help the cause with money; for herself, she regretted that she
could not contribute, owing to her limited income, which only sufficed
for her needs, and she had no jewels, as everything had been robbed
from her when she left Denmark. That she was quite willing for her part
to visit her friends in disguise, but she was convinced that the King
her brother would never permit her to do so. "Still," she added, "could
I come, or did I come disguised, nobody would know me, as I am much
altered since I was in Denmark." This was true, as the Queen since her
residence at Celle had become very stout. She determined that Wraxall
should go to London to endeavour to obtain an audience of the King,
and the Queen gave him very minute instructions as to how he was to
behave. "You must," she said, "go very quietly to work with my brother.
If you manage with address, he will favour the attempt, but it will
be tacitly, not openly." When the conversation was ended the Queen
took Wraxall to the summer-house, where her lady was waiting, and a
dessert of fruit was laid; here he took his leave. The Queen mentioned
during the audience that no less than three emissaries from Copenhagen
had reached her since she came to Celle, but as they were all either
suspicious or worthless she refused to have anything to say to them.
Acting on the Queen's commands and the instructions of Bülow, Wraxall
started the following day for England, _via_ Osnabrück; he arrived
in London on November 15. The Queen had told him to go first either
to Lord Suffolk or to the Baron von Lichtenstein, grand marshal of
the court of Hanover, then in London, who was highly esteemed by the
King, and who had shown her much kindness: she had written to them
both. Wraxall first called on Lord Suffolk in Downing Street, but that
nobleman either would not, or could not, see him, urging in excuse
that he was ill with the gout. So Wraxall repaired to Lichtenstein's
lodgings in Pall Mall, where he was more fortunate. He gave
Lichtenstein the Queen's letter, and the Hanoverian promised that he
would try to find an opportunity to put the matter before the King; but
he advised Wraxall not to call again on Lord Suffolk until he had seen
the King. He then asked Wraxall several questions, which the latter
answered to the best of his ability, and gave him the fullest account
possible of the project, and of everybody connected with it.
Three days later Lichtenstein saw Wraxall again, and told him that he
had talked to the King at "Queen's House" on the subject, and that
the King had given him positive injunctions that Wraxall was not
to see Lord Suffolk, but to consider Lichtenstein the sole medium
through which all communications were to pass to the King. The King
was at present considering the Queen's letter, and until he had
considered it he did not think fit to grant Wraxall an audience; but
he commanded him to put on paper a full and complete account of the
project, including the names of every one connected with it directly
or indirectly. Wraxall thereupon drew up another long document,
which was duly transmitted to the King through Lichtenstein, and on
December 5 he received the King's answer through the same medium.
George III. was very cautious: he gave a general approval of the plan
to effect the Queen's restoration, but he refused to lend any direct
assistance; he therefore declined to advance any money at present, and
finally he would not be induced by any entreaties of the Queen, or
by any supplications of the Danish nobility, to affix his signature
to any paper promising aid, or expressing general approbation. This
unsatisfactory reply Wraxall transmitted to Bülow by cipher at
Hamburg, and he also wrote to the Queen through Baron Seckendorf. From
Seckendorf he received an answer on January 3, 1775, expressing the
Queen's satisfaction with the King's approval, though regretting the
qualifications which accompanied it. On January 20 he received an
answer from Bülow, in which he adjured Wraxall to return to Hamburg
as soon as possible, with the King's approbation authenticated in
whatever way might be practicable. He added that his friends were
busily preparing everything to strike the decisive blow, and they were
sanguine of success. These letters Wraxall at once communicated to
Lichtenstein, who submitted them to the King. On February 2 Wraxall
received through Lichtenstein a letter from the King to his sister, and
a paper containing four articles, which the Baron drew up in Wraxall's
presence, and affixed his seal and signature to them--so empowered by
the King. These articles ran as follows:--
"First: His Britannic Majesty gives his consent and approval to the
plan concerted by the adherents of his sister, the Queen of Denmark,
for restoring her to the throne.
"Secondly: His Majesty insists that in the execution of it no blood be
spilled, nor any measures of severity exercised towards the personal
administration in Denmark, except such as are indispensable to maintain
the counter-revolution.
"Thirdly: His Britannic Majesty guarantees the repayment of all the
money advanced or expended in a necessary prosecution of the Queen of
Denmark's revolution.
"Fourthly: His Britannic Majesty will authorise and empower his
resident at the court of Copenhagen to declare in the most public
manner, as soon as the revolution in favour of the Queen is
accomplished, that the King of Great Britain approves of it, and will
maintain it against all opposition."
[Illustration: LOUISE AUGUSTA, PRINCESS OF DENMARK AND DUCHESS OF
AUGUSTENBURG, DAUGHTER OF QUEEN MATILDA.]
Lichtenstein told Wraxall that it was the King's pleasure that he
should first go to Celle to deliver the letter to the Queen, and show
her the articles signed by Lichtenstein; then, after he had seen
the Queen, he was to proceed to her Danish adherents at Hamburg.
Accordingly, Wraxall left London on February 3, 1775, and after a
long and troublesome journey arrived at Celle a fortnight later, on
February 17.[101] He entered the town as before under an assumed name,
and went to an obscure inn. The next morning he received a visit from
Seckendorf, who received him with pleasure, and told him that the Queen
was most impatient to see him, and would give him an audience that
afternoon. "When you hear the palace clock strike four," Seckendorf
said, "set out from the inn on foot for the castle. Mantel, the Queen's
valet, will wait to receive you, and conduct you to her." Accordingly,
Wraxall gave Seckendorf his despatches, and went to the castle at the
hour named. Mantel was waiting for him, and admitted him through a side
door, probably in the western wing. He was led through a great number
of rooms to a small apartment, and there left alone; at the end of it
were stairs leading to the Queen's chamber.[102] A minute later the
Queen came into the room, and welcomed Wraxall most graciously. Their
interview is best told in his own words:--
"We conversed till about ten minutes past six entirely alone, and
in the most unreservedly undisguised manner. Her Majesty made me
the recital of her reign--of the revolution--of her own conduct on
that fatal night when she lost her crown. I listened in silence and
astonishment. What a recapitulation did she not make me! Her words
are for ever engraven on my heart; I could repeat her story almost
verbatim. I know what scarce any other man on earth can know. I must
own her unreserve, her goodness, her minute detail of circumstances
the most concealed in their nature, my situation quite alone with
her, superadded to some consciousness still more affecting, made me
more than once forget I was talking to a queen. She was dressed in a
brown silk polonaise, trimmed with green silk, her hair powdered, a
locket on her bosom. Her under-lip is too large, but her teeth are
fine, and that family violence in speaking becomes her; her nose
is finely shaped, and her eyes are eloquent; she is thinner in the
face than she was last October. She showed me his Majesty's letters
to her, and permitted me to carry an extract from one away with me.
She was obliged to leave me soon after six, which otherwise she
seemed in no way inclined to do. Her talents are very good, and in
mimicry she excels; her specimen of Prince Frederick of Denmark was
excellent."
[101] In his private journal Wraxall gives a long account of the
hardships of this journey, but, as they concern himself rather than the
Queen of Denmark, I omit them here.
[102] I have seen this room--a small, dark apartment. It was the
garde-robe (or dressing-room), and is on the way from the Queen's
bedroom and the chapel.
After another interview with Seckendorf Wraxall was conducted out of
the castle as secretly as he came. The next day he went to Hamburg,
where, after an inclement journey, he arrived on February 21. At
Hamburg he remained three weeks, and saw a good deal of Baron Bülow,
to whom he communicated the result of his visit to England and
many messages from Queen Matilda. The articles drawn up and signed
by Lichtenstein on behalf of George III., which Wraxall had first
submitted to Matilda, he now handed to Bülow, who received them with
mingled feelings. The first two articles he wholly approved, but he
regretted that George III. would not advance any pecuniary assistance
and still more he lamented the fourth article, which promised that the
English envoy at Copenhagen would only support and avow the revolution
_after_ it had been effected, instead of avowing it while it was
actually in progress.
Bülow forwarded the articles to his confederates in Copenhagen, and
also had many consultations with his friends at Altona. It was not
until March 14 that he received an answer from Copenhagen, which was
much as Bülow had anticipated: all the conspirators objected to the
fourth article, and all agreed that it would be well to get the King
of England to reconsider his decision on that point. What they asked
was that the British envoy should come forward at the time they were
effecting the counter-revolution, and publicly avow it on behalf of the
King, his master. Bülow therefore resolved that a letter to the King of
England should be drawn up to this effect, and Wraxall should convey it
to London.
On March 20 Bülow gave Wraxall the letter to the King. His instructions
were that he should take this document first to Celle, submit it to the
Queen, and ask her to enclose it in a letter written by herself to the
King of England, in which she would urge their plea by every means in
her power. Wraxall was also to acquaint the Queen with the plan of the
revolution, which was now settled, and was as follows: On the day fixed
certain of the conspirators would repair to the palace, obtain access
to the King (Christian VII.), and induce, or compel, him to affix his
name to documents already drawn up. These documents would include an
order to the Queen-Dowager to retire to her own apartment until the
King's further pleasure were known, and to Prince Frederick to remove
to one of the country palaces--probably that of Frederiksborg. At
the same time, by virtue of a similar order, the ministers would be
dismissed, or arrested, and a messenger sent off to Celle to invite the
Queen to return to Denmark to resume her proper rank and authority.
That their measures would be so well concerted and so rapidly executed
as to produce the counter-revolution in a space of a few hours. That
they trusted, therefore, Queen Matilda on her part would repair with
all possible expedition to Copenhagen. A proper escort, becoming her
dignity, would be formed to accompany her from Altona through the
Danish territories, and her adherents calculated that she might, with
despatch, reach Copenhagen in four days from the time of her quitting
Celle, if no extraordinary impediment arose in her crossing the two
Belts. Her presence in the capital of Denmark would animate the courage
of her friends, cover her enemies with consternation, and complete the
counter-revolution.
Wraxall arrived at Celle on March 22 with the same secrecy as on
former occasions. As the Princess of Brunswick was at the castle he
was unable to see the Queen for two days, and then he was taken to the
Queen secretly on the night of Friday, March 24, and had an audience
with her after the Princess of Brunswick had retired to rest. It was a
dark and stormy night when Wraxall set out from his lodgings, and he
waited for some little time at the entrance of the drawbridge over the
moat, sheltering himself as well as he could from the wind and rain.
At last Mantel came, and led him in silence over the drawbridge, under
the portico, and into the courtyard of the castle, and thence by a
side door up a private staircase and along a corridor into the Queen's
library or boudoir. "Two candles were burning," says Wraxall, "and the
book-cases were thrown open, as it was uncertain at what hour the Queen
would come to me." He waited some time alone, and then Mantel brought
him a note from Seckendorf, saying that the Queen was in the Princess
of Brunswick's apartments, and would come directly she had retired. As
this was his last interview, it had better be told in his own words:--
"I had scarcely perused the note when I heard the Queen's footstep
on the staircase; a moment afterwards she entered the room. She was
charmingly dressed, though without diamonds; she had on a crimson
satin sacque and her hair dressed. I drew a chair, and entreated her
to allow me to stand and receive her commands while she was seated,
but she declined it, and we both stood the whole time. Our interview
lasted about two hours. It was a quarter past eleven when I asked
her Majesty if I should retire, and she signified her pleasure that
I should. She approved of the letter drawn up by the Danish nobility
to the King of Great Britain, as well as the request contained in
it, which she confessed to be natural and just, though she doubted
his Britannic Majesty's consent to it. 'I will, however,' she
added, 'write to my brother the letter requested before I go to bed
to-night, enforcing as far as I am able the petition of the nobility.
You shall receive it from Baron Seckendorf to-morrow morning, and at
the same time that of the Danish nobility shall be returned to you.'
"Her Majesty ordered me to assure Baron von Bülow by letter that she
was satisfied with all I communicated to her on his part, and that
she should be ready on the shortest notice to mount on horseback in
men's clothes, in order more expeditiously to reach Copenhagen, there
to encounter every difficulty with her friends."
The Queen thanked Wraxall very warmly for his zeal in her service, and
said she would commend him to the King her brother, who, she doubted
not, would recompense him properly. She told him to write to her freely
from England, and then bade him adieu. "When the Queen was about to
withdraw," says Wraxall, "she opened the door, but held it a few
minutes in her hand as if she had something to say; she then retired."
He was conducted from the castle as secretly as he had entered it, and
the next morning left Celle on his way to England.
Wraxall arrived in London on April 5, and at once went to
Lichtenstein's lodgings, but to his dismay found that the Baron had
gone to Hanover ten days previously. He had, however, left him a
letter, directing him to wait upon Herr von Hinuber, the Hanoverian
_Chargé d'Affaires_. Accordingly Wraxall went to Hinuber, who told him
he had "the King's directions to take from Mr. Wraxall any letters
he might have, and send them immediately to the King at the 'Queen's
House'". Wraxall therefore gave him two packets addressed to the King,
one from Queen Matilda, and the other from her Danish adherents. He
also added a letter from himself, in which he again prayed the King to
give him a private audience.
To these letters George III. returned no reply, and Wraxall, after
waiting a fortnight in London, wrote to Baron Bülow telling him how
matters stood, and asking for instructions; he also wrote to the Queen
at Celle. Then followed another interval of silence. It was not until
May 10 that Wraxall received a letter from Bülow, in which he informed
him that the state of affairs at Copenhagen was extremely critical,
and he could not give him further directions until the return of Baron
Schimmelmann the younger, who had gone to Copenhagen. In the meantime
he besought him not to leave London, either for Celle or Hamburg,
unless he received instructions from George III.
But no word came from the King, and, while Wraxall was waiting, the
London journals announced the death of the Queen of Denmark, which had
taken place on May 11 at Celle.
This was the first intimation Wraxall received of the melancholy
event, and he was quite overcome, for it meant not only the loss of
the Queen, for whom he felt a chivalrous devotion, but the death-blow
to all his hopes of reward and promotion. On May 25 Wraxall received
a letter from Seckendorf, in which he lamented the loss of a kind and
gracious mistress at a moment when they had hoped her troubles were
nearing an end. The letter also informed him of an important fact,
namely, that George III. had written to Queen Matilda an answer to
the letter in which she urged the request of the Danish nobility that
the English envoy at Copenhagen should avow the revolution while it
was in progress. Whether the King refused her prayer, or granted it,
will never be known, for the letter arrived at Celle when Matilda was
either dying or dead, and it was returned to the King unopened. The
probability is that he refused, and preferred to send his refusal to
her direct rather than through the agency of Wraxall. The fact that he
declined to see Wraxall, or recognise him in any way, goes to show that
he regarded the plot with very dubious approval. Of the existence of
the plot there is no doubt, but Wraxall's version of it, and especially
of the part he played, needs some corroborative evidence. This is
afforded by a confidential letter which George III. wrote some years
later to Lord North, in answer to Wraxall's repeated demands that some
reward should be given him for the services he had rendered to the
King's sister. The letter (dated February 9, 1781) ran as follows:--
"You may settle with Mr. Wraxall, member for Hinton, in any just
demands he may have. Undoubtedly he was sent over by the discontented
nobility of Denmark previous to the death of the late Queen, my sister,
with a plan for getting her back to Copenhagen, which was introduced to
me with a letter from her. Her death and my delicate situation, having
consented to her retiring to my German dominions, prevented me from
entering eagerly into this proposal."[103]
[103] Stanhope's _History of England_, 3rd edition, 1853, vol. vii.,
Appendix xxxii. Further corroborative evidence has been furnished by
the publication of some letters of Bülow, in which he mentions that he
employed Wraxall as his agent in the plot to restore the Queen.
Wraxall considered himself very shabbily treated by George III., who
turned a deaf ear to his demands for years. It was not until 1781, when
Wraxall had won a seat in the House of Commons, and with it a useful
vote to the Government, that the Prime Minister, Lord North, gave him,
on behalf of the King, a thousand guineas for his services to the Queen
of Denmark, together with the promise of a seat at the Board of Green
Cloth. Wraxall's support was purchased for a time, but two years later,
when he gave a vote against the Government, he forfeited all chance of
further favours from the King, and the promised appointment vanished
for ever. But a thousand guineas was surely a sufficient reward for a
young and unknown man, admittedly in quest of adventure, who did little
but carry a few letters between Hamburg, Celle and London, and it was
rather for Baron Bülow and the Queen's adherents, whose agent he was,
to reward him than for George III.
Shortly after the Queen's death Wraxall states that he received a
letter from Bülow, who said that the revolution was on the point of
fruition when the ill news from Celle came to scatter consternation
among Matilda's adherents. It would seem, therefore, that Bülow and
his friends would have proceeded with their plan whether George III.
had granted their request or not. It is idle to speculate whether
they would have succeeded in their undertaking. All things were
possible in Denmark at that time to those who could seize the person
of the King. But it must be remembered that Christian VII. was closely
guarded. Moreover, there is no evidence to show that the conspirators
had the army on their side, and, without the help of the army, though
they might have effected a revolution, they would have been unable to
maintain it.