THE BIRTH OF A PRINCE.
1768.
Queen Matilda gave birth to a son and heir--the future King Frederick
VI.--on January 28, 1768. Titley thus records the event: "Yesterday
the Queen of Denmark fell in labour, and about ten o'clock at night
was happily delivered of a prince, to the extreme satisfaction of her
royal consort and the whole court. The Queen, God be praised, and the
new-born prince are this morning both as well as can be expected. This
very important and much desired event happened but an hour or two
before the anniversary of the King of Denmark's own birthday, and we
are now celebrating the double festivity. The birth of an heir male to
the Crown has completely fulfilled the ardent wishes and prayers of the
public, and consequently spread a real joy through all ranks of the
people here."[85]
[85] Titley's despatch, Copenhagen, January 29, 1768.
A few days later the infant prince was christened by the name of
Frederick. The ceremony took place in the Queen's bedchamber, and
nobody was admitted except the ministers and council--the English
envoy was not invited. Queen Juliana Maria, to whom the birth of this
prince was the death-blow of her hopes, and the Princess Charlotte
Amelia (represented by proxy), were the godmothers, and Prince
Frederick, the King's brother, was the godfather. The King had wished
for a public ceremonial, but the babe was sickly and ailing, and it
was deemed necessary to baptise him as soon as possible. During her
illness the Queen was fenced round by the most rigid etiquette by
Madame de Plessen; she was attended in turn by Madame de Plessen, a
lady-in-waiting, and the wife of a Knight of the Elephant. The infant
was attended by two court ladies, who were changed according to rank,
and this absurd formality continued until all the court ladies had
shared the privilege. The Queen, a short time after her confinement,
had also to undergo the ordeal of sitting up in bed (the royal infant
in a bassinet by the side of the bed) and receiving the congratulations
of the court ladies and gentlemen, who filed through the room in
procession. The fatigue of this levee, or perhaps Madame de Plessen's
wearisome formalities, made the Queen seriously ill. Gunning, who never
lost a chance of attacking his arch-enemy, wrote to Lord Weymouth:--
"Her Danish Majesty has been very much indisposed for some days, but
her physicians, who own that they were not without apprehensions, now
assure me that all danger is over. It is with the greatest concern that
I think myself obliged to acquaint your lordship with my fears that her
Majesty's indisposition has been occasioned, in some measure, by the
imprudent conduct of the lady who is her _grande maîtresse_. I thought
it my duty to acquaint General Conway with the character of Madame de
Plessen immediately after her nomination to a post that I could wish
she had never filled, expressing at the same time my desire that her
Majesty might be informed of it. And in some despatches subsequent to
the Queen's arrival here, I applied for instructions with regard to my
explaining this matter to her Majesty, but not having had any orders
to do so, I could not with propriety, and consistent with my duty,
venture upon it, though I daily saw the fatal effects of the ascendant
this lady acquired. Her Majesty's sweetness of disposition and her
natural vivacity could not but, as indeed it did, attract the esteem
and affection of a young Prince who had so great a share of the latter.
Had she been allowed to follow the bent of her own inclinations, it
would have been so firmly established that nothing could have shaken
it. But this would not have answered the end of those who advised a
different conduct. The Queen's influence and ascendant would then
have been too great, and she herself would not have been subject to
that of others.... An attention to the situation her Majesty has been
in of late has prevented the King's executing the resolution he has
long taken of removing her _grande maîtresse_, but as soon as the
Queen's health is thoroughly established, I understand this is to take
place."[86]
[86] Gunning's despatch, Copenhagen, February 17, 1768.
Gunning proved right in his conjecture, for a few weeks later Madame
de Plessen was suddenly dismissed. The King would hardly have dared
to take this step if others had not come to his assistance. Madame
de Plessen had made many enemies by her tactless conduct, but her
political intrigues were the direct cause of her fall. So long as the
French party was in the ascendant all went well with her, but during
the last year Russia had grown in power and influence at the Danish
court. Russia, through her two envoys, Saldern, the envoy in Holstein,
and Filosofow, the envoy in Copenhagen, had gained the ear of the
Prime Minister, Bernstorff, and other persons holding high office,
notably of Baron Schimmelmann,[87] Grand Treasurer. Moreover, Saldern
was a personal friend of the King, and joined him in many of his
wildest dissipations; and it is probable that he won Christian over
to Russia by giving him money to defray his extravagancies. Saldern
was a terrible man, a semi-barbarian, with rough brutal strength and
domineering will that bore down all opposition. He knew that Reventlow,
the Queen's chamberlain, and Madame de Plessen were on the side of
France; he determined to get rid of them, and to this end used all his
influence with the King. Reventlow was dismissed with ignominy, and
Sperling, his nephew, soon followed; but Madame de Plessen remained,
and until she was gone Saldern could not feel safe against French
intrigues. He regarded the Queen's household as the centre of the
French party, and he hated Matilda because she supported Madame de
Plessen. A letter of Saldern's, written about the end of January, 1768,
gives an insight into the character of the man. "My great torment," he
wrote, "comes from the Queen. She has lost her right arm in Reventlow,
but she still has the left in Plessen, a mischievous woman, but I will
deprive her of this arm also.... When the King goes to see the Queen
she tells him he ought to be ashamed of himself, and that the whole
city says he lets himself be governed by me. She only says this out of
revenge, because I sent away her flea-catcher (_sa preneuse de puces_).
The King tells me all this, and I show him _mon égide_, and we laugh
together."[88]
[87] Schimmelmann was a German-Jew by birth, and a type of the rogue
now called a "financier". After a career as a money-lender, during
which he amassed a fortune, he arrived in Denmark. He possessed great
financial ability, and made himself so useful to the Danish Government
that he was given first the title of Baron, then the Order of the
Elephant, and lastly appointed Grand Treasurer.
[88] _Mémoires de Reverdil_, pp. 122-23.
All the same it was some months before Saldern could screw up the
King's courage to the point of dismissing Madame de Plessen, but at
last he succeeded. As soon as the Queen was convalescent the King ran
away with Saldern to Frederiksborg, and from the safe shelter of that
retreat he despatched a signed order to Madame de Plessen commanding
her to quit the palace immediately on its receipt, without taking leave
of the Queen. As the King was all-powerful, there was nothing for
Madame de Plessen to do but obey; indeed she feared for her life if
she remained in Copenhagen. So she fled with all speed, the same day
she received the order, to her estate of Kokkedal, on the Sound.
[Illustration: QUEEN MATILDA RECEIVING THE CONGRATULATIONS OF THE COURT
ON THE BIRTH OF THE CROWN PRINCE FREDERICK.
_From a Contemporary Print._]
Bernstorff was ordered to acquaint the Queen with the King's resolution
and declare it to be irrevocable. When the Queen was told that her
first lady had gone, there was a most painful scene--she burst into
tears and refused to be comforted. Her anger and resentment against the
King knew no bounds, and she declared she would never forgive him. The
whole of the Queen's household was now changed; all her friends were
sent away, and nominees of Holck and Saldern put in their places. The
King wished to appoint as chief lady, Madame von Berkentin, who had
intrigued against Madame de Plessen, but the Queen absolutely refused
to admit her to her presence, and so, after much angry recrimination
the vacant post was bestowed upon Madame von der Lühe, who was not any
more pleasing to the Queen from the fact that she was the sister of
Count Holck. But Madame von der Lühe proved more satisfactory than the
Queen expected, and gradually won her confidence; the worst appointment
was that of Fräulein von Eyben as maid-of-honour. This woman, who had
by no means an unsullied reputation, was false and untruthful--a spy
who sought opportunity to betray her mistress.
Madame de Plessen was pursued with relentless severity, and two days
after her dismissal from the Danish court she was ordered to quit the
kingdom. She withdrew to Hanoverian territory, and finally settled
at Celle. She was forbidden to hold any communication with her former
mistress, but it is probable that she managed to evade this order. The
separation was a bitter grief both to the Queen and her chief lady.
Despite her domineering disposition and want of tact, Madame de Plessen
dearly loved her young mistress, and would have died, had it been
necessary, for her sake. She was by nature hard and undemonstrative,
but the helpless little Queen had found a tender spot in her heart, and
the maternal love she felt for her mistress was all the more fierce
because of its concentration; in shielding her from the contamination
of the court she was like a tigress guarding her young. Perhaps it
was the very fierceness of her devotion which led her into errors of
judgment, but great though these were, if she had avoided political
intrigue, she might have retained her place.
To Matilda the loss of this good woman, for she was a good woman
despite her unamiable qualities, was irreparable. Surrounded as she was
by spies and enemies, beset by perils and temptations, she knew that
she had in her chief lady a disinterested friend, and she clung to her
all the more because she had not strength of herself to stand alone.
Had Madame de Plessen remained with the Queen, the errors and follies
of after years would never have been committed. In the dangerous path
Matilda had to tread, beset by pitfalls on every side, she needed some
one who would guide her stumbling feet, and lead her in the way she
should go.
Queen Matilda was not allowed much time to indulge in her grief, for
within ten days of Madame de Plessen's dismissal she had to hold
a court, at which she received the congratulations of the foreign
ministers and Danish nobility on the birth of her son. The day was
observed as a general holiday, and in the evening there was a banquet
and ball at the Christiansborg Palace. If she wrote to England to
complain of the hard treatment she had suffered in thus being deprived
of one in whom she placed confidence, she probably received little
comfort from her brother. We find Lord Weymouth writing to Gunning
before Madame de Plessen's dismissal: "The King would not be sorry to
hear of her removal,"[89] and after it: "I assure you that the King is
thoroughly sensible of the zealous and dutiful motives which engaged
you to see with so much concern the dangerous tendency of that lady's
influence".[90]
[89] Lord Weymouth's despatch to Gunning, March 18, 1768.
[90] _Ibid._, May 4, 1768.
In the same despatch (May 4, 1768) Lord Weymouth announced the death
of the Princess Louisa Anne, and enclosed a sealed letter from George
III. to the Queen, whose sorrows now came upon her thick and fast,
for her sister's death was the second bereavement she had sustained
within a few months, in addition to the loss of her faithful Plessen.
Louisa Anne, who had once been put forward as a possible Queen of
Denmark, had been always an invalid, and was so diminutive in stature
that, though she completed her nineteenth year before she died, she
looked like a sickly child of thirteen. There is nothing recorded
of her beyond that she was a lover of literature, and of an amiable
disposition.
The death of her sister furnished the Queen with an excuse for not
appearing at court festivities, which became wilder and more dissolute,
and were attended by many persons of ill-fame, both men and women.
Prominent among them was "Catherine of the Gaiters," who had now gained
great influence over the King, and led him (or he led her) into the
wildest excesses. It was one of Christian's peculiarities that he liked
to see women dressed as men, and to humour him "Milady" disguised
herself in the uniform of a naval officer and accompanied the King
and his friends on their night adventures. During her varied career
"Milady" had made several enemies among women of her own walk in life:
they were jealous of her prosperity and spoke ill of her. To revenge
herself she induced the King and his party to enter the houses where
these women lived, smash the windows and throw the furniture into the
street. The watchmen had secret orders to take no notice of these
proceedings, but they often found it difficult to prevent the populace
from rising in indignation. Reverdil, who viewed the _liaison_ between
the King and "Milady" with disgust, once saw Christian returning to the
palace, boasting loudly of his exploits, and he could not refrain from
uttering the sarcasm, "_Voilà un beau chemin à la gloire_". The King
was exceedingly angry, and said, "Do not mock at me. Scold me if you
will, but do not mock at me."
Reverdil did not heed the warning, and a few evenings later at the
palace theatre he saw "Milady" sitting in a prominent box and covered
with jewels; below her were the maids of honour, and facing her was
the Queen. Reverdil was standing near Holck, who was responsible for
this arrangement, and he thus gave vent to his indignation. "Sir,"
said he, "though a hundred times you have turned into ridicule what I
have said, I say again that a man can be neither a good subject, nor a
good servant, who does not weep to see such a creature thus defy the
Queen, and the King make himself, to the great peril of the state, the
_greluchon_ of a foreign minister." Holck turned on his heel. The next
morning Reverdil received a written order from the King commanding him
to leave Copenhagen within twenty-four hours. The out-spoken Swiss lost
no time in obeying the order, and left the country. When he returned to
Copenhagen three years later the situation had changed.
Reverdil was not the only one who entered a protest against the
ascendency of "Catherine of the Gaiters". She had induced the King to
buy her a palace, create her a baroness, and promise her a pension,
but in the hour of her triumph she fell as suddenly as she had risen.
The shameful scenes in the streets had so moved the honest people
of Copenhagen to indignation that they threatened to rise in revolt
unless the woman was dismissed. So threatening was their attitude and
so loud were their murmurs that at last the ministers resolved to act.
They sought the assistance of Schimmelmann and Saldern to convince the
King that matters had reached danger-point. The latter then went with
Bernstorff to the King, and by trading on his fears, persuaded him to
sign an order commanding Catherine to quit the kingdom at once. The
King signed without much difficulty; perhaps he was frightened, perhaps
he was already weary of her. Catherine was arrested at her house
and conducted across the frontier to Hamburg, where the obsequious
municipality put her into prison.[91]
[91] There she remained for some years. Eventually Struensee set her at
liberty, but she never returned to Copenhagen.
Dismissal and banishment now formed the order of the day at Copenhagen.
Prince Charles of Hesse had left the capital under the cloud of the
King's displeasure, and though he was later given as a consolation the
vice-royalty of the duchies, he was for a time in exile. Reventlow, by
making friends with the Russian party, had managed to crawl back into
office, but not to a place in the household of the Queen. Brandt soon
followed Sperling into banishment. He became jealous of the reigning
favourite Holck, and wrote the King a private letter containing severe
reflections on Holck's conduct. As might have been expected the King
showed the letter to Holck, with the result that Brandt was commanded
to quit the capital within twenty-four hours, and Danish territory
within eight days. Holck was more in favour than before, and the
Queen's position more unhappy.
The King, now that he was deprived of the society of "Milady," and
a check put upon his follies, suffered from _ennui_, and determined
to travel. He proposed to visit England and France, and to be absent
from Denmark six months. His ministers, who at another time would have
opposed the idea of the King being away from his dominions for so long,
now thought it advisable that he should go. The situation had become
intolerable. The King was most unpopular with his people, and if he
travelled for a time it would not only give an opportunity for scandal
and bitter feeling to die down, but it was possible that he would gain
wisdom, and return a saner and better man. The question of expense was
a considerable one, but in this matter Schimmelmann proved useful--he
advanced a loan.
When Matilda heard of her husband's intended tour, she pleaded hard to
accompany him, especially as he was going to England. The desire to see
again her family and native country made her put aside her pride, and
beg this favour of the King with all the eloquence in her power. But he
refused on several grounds, the real reason being that he did not want
her with him. She then prayed that Madame de Plessen might come back to
her during the King's absence, and it was said that Christian, before
he started, promised to grant this, but when he had gone a little
way on his journey he withdrew his promise. Under the circumstances
the Queen came to the wise resolution of retiring from the capital
altogether during the King's absence. It was necessary for her to be
on her guard, for it was rumoured that an intrigue was set on foot to
deprive her of the regency in the event of the King's demise.[92] No
doubt Juliana Maria thought that the post of regent should be filled
either by herself, or her son Frederick, whose chances of succession
to the throne had been greatly lessened by the birth of Matilda's son.
There had been some idea of appointing a regent during the King's
absence from his dominions, but the claims of the rival Queens were
too delicate to decide, and the difficulty was avoided by appointing
a council of regency composed of Counts Thott and Moltke and Baron
Rosenkrantz.
[92] Gunning's despatch, Copenhagen, May 14, 1768.
Christian VII. left Copenhagen in May, 1768, on his tour; his suite
consisted of no less than fifty-six persons, chief among them being
Bernstorff, the principal Secretary of State. The King travelled south
through Schleswig, where he remained some little time; the two Russian
envoys, Saldern and Filosofow, were there, and weighty diplomatic
matters were discussed. The treaty by which Russia exchanged her
claims on ducal Schleswig and Holstein for the counties of Oldenburg
and Delmenhorst was arranged there--a treaty of great importance to
Denmark.[93]
[93] Peter III. of Russia had made a claim upon his hereditary states
of Holstein-Gottorp in 1762, and was preparing to enforce it when he
was deposed and assassinated. His consort and successor, Catherine the
Great, agreed to an amicable settlement of the affair by exchange.
The King then proceeded through the southern part of his dominions
_viâ_ Kiel to Ahrensburg, near Hamburg. Here, without knowing it, he
took one of the most important steps of his life. He appointed John
Frederick Struensee, a doctor of Altona, his travelling physician, and
Struensee joined the King's suite forthwith.
A few days later Christian quitted Denmark. After paying a visit of
reconciliation to his brother-in-law, Prince Charles of Hesse, at
Hanau, near Frankfort, he travelled down the Rhine to Cologne, and
thence to Amsterdam and Brussels. From Brussels he journeyed to Calais,
where his brother-in-law, George III., had sent the _Mary_ yacht to
convey him to England.