Life and Times of Her Majesty Caroline Matilda, Vol. 1 (of 3) / Queen of Denmark and Norway, and Sister of H. M. George III. of England

It cannot be denied that such a system of government, in many respects, agreed with the principal wants of society and the country at that day. Still it must be carried out without precipitation, with caution, and a thorough knowledge of the country and the national character. Two points in this advice to the king deserve comment, however. In his opinion about the nobility, Struensee showed himself to be a man who had but slight confidence in himself, and was more competent to form great schemes than carry them out. A statesman displays his weakness when he shows a fear of that class of his fellow-citizens who are able to weigh his actions properly. In the hands of a wise regent and a clever minister the service of the nobility must be the principal support of the state, and not the object of ignoble apprehension. As regards Struensee's views about morality, and its influence in the welfare of the state, he was one of those sciolists who derive their principles neither from reason nor virtue, and who, under the deceptive mask of respect for the rights of society, give admission to the utmost irregularity.

The general overthrow, which had not spared any class of officials, and had hurled the highest of them from office, aroused an indescribable alarm in every mind. The queen dowager quietly watched this terrible storm from a distance: her dissatisfaction at it was as uncertain as it was of little consequence; she merely made a point of meeting those persons, on whom the ruinous blows had fallen, with the greatest expressions of sympathy and friendship on every occasion. In the meanwhile, the young queen and her adviser enjoyed the advantages they had acquired; the confidential union and peace in which they lived was heightened by the most agreeable amusements, and their happy days were passed in undisturbed delight. Still they did not forget to insure the permanency of this state of things, and followed a very cleverly-devised plan. Struensee, whose far-sighted schemes aimed at getting the whole royal authority into his hands and the queen's, felt that this was impossible so long as the power was not brought into one hand, and that hand must be the king's.

The king was certainly an absolute ruler, but there was a serious obstacle to the proposed scheme in the traditional respect felt for the council of state, which had grown, as it were, into a law of custom. Through Bernstorff's fall the council had certainly received a shock, but the earnest Thott, the experienced Moltke, and the clever Rosenkrantz, were still members of it, and possessed numerous partisans. The privy council aroused a certain degree of reverence, both because it was established on the introduction of absolutism into Denmark in 1660, and because it had always consisted of members of the highest aristocracy. Hence it seemed a serious matter to abolish it all at once, and Struensee, therefore, resolved upon an expedient.

After Bernstorff's dismissal the privy council was not called together for eleven days, and on September 24 a royal rescript to the following effect was sent to its members. As it was the king's wish, the rescript ran, to have the council of state organised in the best manner, he requested that on the first occasion of their usual meeting they should properly consider the matters laid before them, and leave the final decision to his Majesty, for the privy council, in a monarchical state, was intended to offer the king all possible assistance in governing. With respect to this, the king expected the members of the council of state ever to reflect that in a sovereign state like Denmark the narrowest limits must be given to subordinate authority, so that there might be no encroachment on the sovereign power, which was solely represented by the person of the king. The privy councillors must therefore never forget that the king did not grant them any power of decision in any matter that was ventilated, and much less any legislative and executive authority, and that the council of state was merely established in order to place the matters intrusted to it for consultation in a clear light, and lay an opinion before the king. Hence, in judicial matters, no appeal to the privy council would hereafter be permitted, and the Danish and German chanceries would henceforth report directly to the king, as would the departments of foreign affairs and the finances.[133] The privy council would meet once or twice a week, and when important matters had to be discussed the king would preside in person, but in his absence the council would send in a report in writing about its session to the king.

About this period the salt tax was repealed, which had produced great dissatisfaction among the poorer classes, and even caused an outbreak in the island of Bornholm. The abolition of this tax was effected at a time when government had heavy extraordinary expenses to defray on account of the expedition against Algiers. But Struensee, who, in spite of all his faults, always thought of alleviating the necessities of the poor, considered this tax, which only oppressed the lower orders, so unjust, that he proposed its immediate abolition. Ere long, other reforms followed.

Although in most of the other Protestant countries the excessive number of religious holidays had been done away with, they were still kept in Denmark and the crown lands, and were spent in idleness and excesses. In consequence, there appeared, on October 26, a decree, which abolished the previous three days' holiday at Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide, Twelfth day, St. John's and Michaelmas days, All Saints, the Purification, Visitation and Transfiguration of the Virgin Mary, and the annual Te Deums for the repulse of the attack on the capital on February 11,[134] and the great fire of October 23. This regulation caused great annoyance among the large clique of pietists, who considered the Christian religion deeply injured by the abolition of superfluous holidays.

On the same day a second cabinet order appeared, which purposed to prevent the filling up of offices of state by favour and simony, as it was desired that future candidates should have their abilities subjected to a strict examination.

It must not be supposed, however, that it was all work and no play at Hirschholm. The queen became about this time excessively fond of hunting, and the court, magnificent in everything, kept up three establishments; and for each of these there was a very costly uniform. That for the king's stag hunt was a buff coat with light-blue collar and cuffs; the coat was trimmed all round with silver lace, and lined with blue; the blue waistcoat was also laced; the breeches were of leather; and the cocked-hat laced, with a black cockade. The uniform for the hare hunt was a green velvet coat and waistcoat, leathern breeches, brown top-boots, and cocked-hat with green cockade. The falcon or hawk hunt uniform was the most magnificent of all, being crimson velvet, with green cuffs and collar trimmed with gold lace, leathern breeches, gold-laced cocked-hat, and green cockade. Matilda, when she hunted, was attired, I am sorry to say, exactly like a man. Her hair was dressed with less powder, and pinned up closer, but in the usual style, with side curls, toupet, and turned up behind; she wore a dove-colour beaver hat with a deep gold band and tassels, a long scarlet coat faced with gold all round, a buff gold-laced waistcoat, frilled shirt, a man's neckerchief, and buckskin small clothes and spurs. She looked splendidly when mounted and dashing through the woods, but when she dismounted the charm was, to a great degree, dispelled, for she appeared shorter than she really was; the shape of her knees betrayed her sex, and her belt seemed to cut her in two.[135]

But when Caroline Matilda was dressed in the manner becoming her sex, incessu patuit dea, she was every inch a queen. She had grown much taller and stouter since her arrival in Denmark, and any one who had not seen her for the last four years would hardly have recognised her. She was always gay and tasteful in her dress, and combined a happy mean between London and Paris fashions. Her complexion was exquisitely fair, and it was a disadvantage to her beauty that the fashions of the day obliged her to hide the colour and texture of her fine silver tresses under a load of powder and pomatum. The best description of Caroline Matilda I have met with, and one which exactly corresponds with the portraits of her that I have seen, will be found in a work published in Denmark a few years ago, which, though in the form of a novel, bears evident traces of being what it represents to be—the "Recollections of an Old Chamberlain:"—

"Over a marble table hung a portrait in a broad gilt frame. It represented a lady in a dress of bluish satin, embroidered with gold and edged with lace, the sleeves and puffs over the full bosom being of brownish brocade. Round her neck was a closely-strung necklace of pearls, and similar rings were in her ears. The hair was turned up and powdered; it occupied a height and breadth which, agreeably to the fashion of the times, exceeded that of the whole face, and was decorated with a gold chain, enamels and jewels, entwined with a border of blonde, which hung down over one ear. The face was oval, the forehead high and arched, the nose delicately carved, the mouth pretty large, the lips red and swelling, the eyes large, and of a peculiar light blue, mild, and at the same time serious, deep, and confiding. I could describe the entire dress, piece by piece, and the features trait by trait; but in vain should I endeavour to convey an idea of the peculiar expression, the amiable loftiness, or lofty amiability, which beamed from that youthful face, the freshness of whose colour I have never seen surpassed. It needed not to cast your eye upon the purple mantle, bordered with ermine, which hung over her shoulder, to discover in her a queen; she could be nothing of inferior rank. This the painter, too, had felt, for the border of the mantle was so narrow as to be almost overlooked. It was as though he meant to say: 'This woman would be a queen without a throne.' But she was more," the author adds; "she was an angel, and the Danes still cling with affectionate regard to the memory of the lovely being thus portrayed."

Although I do not believe entirely in the accounts of the orgies at Hirschholm, as described by the author of the MS. in "Northern Courts," I cannot help allowing that much happened there which offered cause for regret. The old court had been austere and devoted, the new one became futile and impious, as the preachers called it. Sunday had been in former times given to the Lord, and the Saturday employed in preparation for it; but now these days were purposely selected for pleasure. As if this were not enough, Brandt was guilty of the inconceivable folly of ascending the pulpit of the palace chapel and delivering an absurd sermon to the assembled court. As a fresh amusement, Equerry von Warnstedt got up horse-races, at which the king offered a prize of 600 dollars. All this folly naturally strengthened the game of the queen dowager, who, though she kept quiet, was incessantly on the watch for her opportunity.

CHAPTER XI.

The following methods were employed to overcome the boy's weakness:—He was given very simple fare, consisting of vegetables, rice boiled in water, bread, water, milk and potatoes, but all cold. At first, he was bathed twice or thrice a day in cold water; and he soon became so fond of it that he went into the bath of his own accord. When he was not with the queen, he remained in a cold room, wore light silk clothes, and generally ran about barefooted. He had only one playmate of his own age, the natural son of a surgeon, called little Karl. No difference was made between them; and they helped each other in dressing and undressing. They climbed about; shouted; broke whatever they liked; and did what they pleased generally, care being taken to remove anything with which they might hurt each other. If the little prince cried for anything, it was not given him unless he really wanted it; but he was not consoled or reproved. If one of the boys fell, he had to get up by himself, and never thought of making a fuss about it.[136] Generally, the lads were allowed to help themselves. If one of them was hurt, nobody pitied him; and if they quarrelled, they were allowed to fight it out, while none of the valets were suffered to speak or play with them. So strictly was the latter rule kept, that one day, at the Frederiksberg Palace, the young prince, happening to fall in the garden and hurt himself, Struensee's favourite valet picked him up, and ventured to soothe him. For this, the culprit was sent to the Blue Tower, a civic prison for disorderly persons.

The two little men frequently contended for the mastery. Once, when they had fought with greater fury than usual, Frederick asked Karl how he dared raise his hand against his prince?

"A prince!" the other answered; "I am as much a prince as you."

"Yes; but I am a prince royal," Frederick rejoined, and fell upon his opponent again, after he had owned himself conquered. The queen, hearing of this, sent for the lads to her apartment, and insisted on Frederick begging his playmate's pardon. Frederick refused to submit; and the queen, provoked by his stubbornness, beat him severely. He was conquered, but not subdued. By such severity, there is reason to fear that Caroline Matilda lost her son's affection in his childhood; so much so, that if he were very unruly, his attendants, as much, perhaps, from malignity as ignorance, used to threaten to take him to the queen. There is no doubt that Struensee had advised this strict treatment of the crown prince, and that his royal mother fully agreed in his views, even though she had not read "Emile," probably, and was no admirer of the paradoxes of Jean Jacques.

Still, Struensee found objections raised to the exaggeration of his treatment of the crown prince by his colleague Berger; and, owing to the latter, the prince was allowed to wear shoes and stockings; received warmer clothing; and had his rice boiled in broth. In the cold season, his room was slightly warmed in the morning; and he had meat soup twice a week for dinner.

It seems that the servants, in their indolence, at times greatly neglected their duties to the young prince. In the autumn of 1770, while the court were enjoying the chase, the stag ran to the woods of Frederiksborg and Fredensborg, which were about fifteen miles to the north of Hirschholm. The hunting party returned home at a late hour; and when the young prince was looked after, he was found breathless, and half dead with cold. He was put to bed with a woman, who took him in her arms, and gradually brought him round. The crown prince's room at Hirschholm consisted of a ground-floor apartment, forty feet in length. On the garden side, it was closed in by an iron trellis-work, which gave Struensee's accusers an opportunity for alleging that he shut the heir to the throne up in a cage. After the favourite's downfall, a wooden bowl was shown as a relic, in which it was stated that the food was given to the crown prince while at Hirschholm.

The best proof of what little real value these charges had, is simply found in the fact that the future king, Frederick VI., was able to endure fatigue at a very advanced age which completely knocked up younger men; he indubitably owed this to the early hardening of his frame and the frugality of his mode of life when a child. While his grandfather and great-grandfather only lived to the age of forty odd, he attained the ordinary range of human life. It is evident, too, that the prince, long after he had grown his own master, must have considered his early moderation in eating and drinking as good for him, because he adhered to it through his youth; and even when he became king, his table was remarkable for its simplicity. But we shall have an opportunity of reverting to this subject when excellent Reverdil returns to court next year.

At the end of October, the court removed to the palace of Frederiksberg. Here it was arranged that, on every Monday afternoon, there should be a court at the Christiansborg Palace, in town, and on every Thursday evening a concert in the park of Frederiksberg. For a long time, no court had been held; and the king only appeared there for a few minutes, and addressed nobody. Hence the queen had to receive the respects of the company alone, and make her observations on the faces of the ladies and gentlemen.

The condition of Christian had by this time become hopeless, and arrangements had to be made to keep the people as much as possible from a sight of a king of this sort. Adam Oehlenschläger, in his "Life Recollections," has given us the following characteristic traits of the king's malady:—At times it was found difficult to induce him to perform the royal duty of signing; but when the word "deposition" was menacingly whispered in his ears, the poor simpleton became terrified, and signed anything and everything. Precautions were taken to prevent any violent outbreaks of his mania. Thus the pages were instructed to hold his chair at table, where he at times tried to rise and prevent others from eating. It was forbidden at court to speak to or answer him, in order to prevent any unpleasant expressions of that absolutism which still nominally existed. At times, though, remarkable claims were made upon him; thus an impudent page once drove the king into a corner, and said to him there, "Mad Rex, make me a groom of the chamber." Another time the king really created a chamberlain. He had been compelled to sign an appointment as chamberlain for a man he could not bear. A moment after one of the stove-heaters came into the room, dressed in his yellow jacket, and with a bundle of wood on his back.

"Listen, you fellow," said the king; "will you be a chamberlain?"

"H'm! that wouldn't be so bad; but how am I to manage to become one?"

"Oh, nothing is easier; come with me." And the king took the man, just as he stood, by the hand, and led him from his cabinet into the hall, where the whole court was assembled. He walked with his client into the middle of the assembly, and shouted in a loud voice, "I appoint this man a chamberlain."

As the fiction that Christian VII. was absolute ruler must be kept up, they had to acknowledge this appointment, in which the humour of insanity was expressed; but the title was bought back of the lucky fellow at the price of a small freehold farm.

The king was generally left to the company of a black boy, introduced by Brandt, who became Christian's inseparable companion. Children and fools, it is notorious, have an equal propensity for mischief. Christian consequently found great delight in smashing the windows and china, with the black boy's assistance, and beheading the statues in the garden. As a change, he rolled on the floor with the lad, biting and scratching him. From time to time, however, there was something that resembled a lucid interval. Thus the king one evening suddenly appeared at a court party, waved his hand to the company, and imperiously ordered "silence." The whole of the guests stopped and stared, and then the poor gentleman delivered, with great earnestness and deep pathos, Klopstock's warning ode "to the princes." This finished, he clapped his hands, burst into a loud laugh, turned on his heel, and went away.

After reading such an account of the husband to whom Caroline Matilda was unhappily bound, we can hardly feel surprised that she sought refuge in dissipation, and for this Struensee amply provided. The Royal Theatre was enlarged and embellished, and Sarti, the Capellmeister, was ordered to get up operas under the superintendence of Brandt. Further on in the season performances were also given on Sunday, which caused great annoyance among the clergy, and justly so; for though Struensee, as a German, was accustomed to such a desecration of the Sabbath, Caroline Matilda had been brought up in the Anglican faith, and ought not to have sanctioned such proceedings by her presence. The only way in which this sudden change in the queen, which was so utterly at variance with her previous blameless life, can be accounted for, is, that she was intoxicated by the homage that now surrounded her, and formed such a contrast with the early part of her reign.

A regulation about the boxes at the Royal Theatre produced a fresh grievance among the already disunited family. A separate box was given to the hereditary Prince Frederick, who had hitherto been accustomed to sit with the king; because, so the excuse was, the king did not care to have the prince's suite about him. On this affair a correspondence took place between the prince's chamberlain and Brandt, but the regulation was not rescinded. On the other hand, Struensee and Brandt appeared in the royal box, sometimes seating themselves behind the king and queen. Masquerades were now also given in the king's theatre, and on the 18th December the king gave one, to which everybody was admitted. Probably with the object of extending public liberty, persons in carriages and on foot, without distinction, were allowed to use torches at night. Mobs, doubtless hired for the purpose, once took advantage of this permission to make a riot, but did so only once, as the police interfered very sharply. From this time only few employed the permission granted them.

During the last year the country had suffered from a bad harvest, in consequence of which the price of bread and flour reached an unheard-of height. In order to prevent the threatening results of this evil as far as possible, Struensee issued, early in November, an edict against exporting corn, while the importation from the duchies, and from one inland province to another, was encouraged. Many thousand loads of grain of every description were brought from the provincial granaries to the capital, and, when a severe winter followed, Struensee sold flour at half the ordinary price to the inhabitants, caused bread to be sold at the same rate to the poor, and prohibited the distillation of spirits from corn.

In this period of universal necessity the court received a visit from the crown prince of Sweden, the future king, Gustavus III., and his younger brother, the hereditary prince, Frederick Adolphus. The princes were present at a masquerade, and in honour of them some of Holberg's plays were performed, and other court festivals arranged. The elder prince was not particularly pleased at his reception; having been invited to dine at the king's table with one or two merchants' wives, he asked if there were not Jews in the company too. One of these ladies having scolded him politely for not paying her a visit, though she was his neighbour, he replied, that he would severely reprimand the minister of his court, whom he had requested to present him to all ladies of distinction.[137] After a fortnight's stay, the princes continued their journey to Paris, but paid a visit of some days to their relations at Gottorp. To them they expressed their dissatisfaction at their reception in Copenhagen; but though it had been cooler than it should have been between such close connexions, it was explained by the fact that the Prince of Sweden neglected his wife most shamefully, and this was well known in Copenhagen.

The reforms which had been interrupted by this visit, were carried on with increased zeal after the departure of the royal guests. Struensee appears to have had great sympathy with suffering humanity, as a decree of December 7, 1770, proves. In it the establishment of a hospice for 600 poor children of both sexes was ordered, and to cover the expense a tax was laid on all carriage and saddle horses in the capital.

The next steps that Struensee took appear to me to have been of a very serious nature, and to have resulted from his erroneous views about population. It is quite true that secret births, infanticide, and the exposure of infants, were common in Copenhagen. In order to prevent these unnatural crimes, Struensee ordered a drawer containing a mattress to be placed at a window of the Lying-in Hospital looking on the street, in which unfortunate mothers could lay their children to be taken care of by the state. After this had been carried into effect, twenty-four children were placed in the crèche during the first four days. Aiding foundlings is a duty which government cannot neglect without violating the laws of humanity, but detecting and punishing parents who desert their children is no less obligatory. The clergy were therefore in the right when they denounced the new state of things, and stated that it favoured debauchery and indolence, degraded marriage, and enfeebled the advantages and rights that ought to encourage it: that it was rearing, at the cost of the industrious classes, a race of wretches, who would only increase the duties of the police and the expenses of the state. But Struensee was of the same opinion as Frederick the Great, who only saw in the human species a mode of producing soldiers: taking the increase or diminution of the population as a positive index of a state of prosperity or decay, Struensee—instead of merely favouring it indirectly, by causing good order and diminishing the impediments that checked the industry of private persons, and prevented them from attaining a competency—persuaded himself that the increased multiplication of children was the most efficacious method of augmenting the public prosperity; or, in other words, he confounded the effect with the cause. Hence it is a remarkable circumstance that the Foundling Hospital was almost the only one of Struensee's institutions that survived his fall.

Foreign affairs had during the last year attracted general attention. The insulting pretensions of the Court of Petersburg had been broken by Bernstorff's dismissal. Up to this time, Filosofow only required to utter the threat, "Well, the treaty for the exchange of territory will not be ratified," in order to obtain what he required. Now, the arrangement by which the foreign envoys had to apply in writing to the king, cut off all opportunity for personally approaching the king, and we have seen how angry Filosofow was at the change. At the same time as he sent off his courier to Petersburg, however, the Danish government despatched Aide-de-Camp von Warnstedt with a letter from the king to the empress, notifying the dismissal of Bernstorff, and containing the assurance that the change would in no way affect the friendly relations between the two courts.

Struensee, who drew up the letter, was so ignorant of usages, or neglected to follow them to such an extent, that he simply began "Madam," instead of "Madam, my sister," and ended in the ordinary style, "I have the honour to be, Madam, your Imperial Majesty's very humble and obedient servant." The real writer of the letter could not refrain, either, from displaying in it the superiority of his views, for he mixed up in it some salutary lessons on politics. Such was the apparent message; but Warnstedt was secretly entrusted with letters for the Orlows, who were the enemies of Panin, the Russian minister, and friends of Filosofow and Saldern. He talked foolishly about the latter commission, so that it reached the ears of Mestmacher, the Russian chargé d'affaires at Copenhagen, and the Petersburg court knew before Warnstedt arrived of what letters he was the bearer.

When the envoy arrived at St. Petersburg, he learned that the empress was so unfavourably disposed toward Denmark, that for some time past she had not invited the Danish ambassador, Count Scheel, and his wife to her evening circle. The envoy extraordinary could only obtain a public audience from the empress, who received the letter from his hands, and conversed graciously with him, but no answer was given him. As for the private letters, very good care was taken that they should not be delivered. When Warnstedt returned to Copenhagen he was put under arrest, as a satisfaction for the Russian minister, though it was publicly stated that he had spoken incautiously about Christian VII. while in Petersburg. He was, however, liberated soon after.

This treatment of Warnstedt led to the belief in Copenhagen that the government was angry at the answer received from Petersburg; and Count Rantzau, the old foe of the Petersburg cabinet, began publicly rejoicing that the Russian yoke which Denmark had borne too long, was now shaken off. But Struensee behaved in the affair with statesmanlike demeanour and caution, so that Filosofow quite lost his head, and even displayed traces of insanity. He requested his recall, and it was granted. Before he left, he desired a private audience from Christian, and was told that he could only see the king in the apartment, and could take leave there. He replied that his health did not allow him to be present, and he went away without taking leave of a single member of the royal family.[138]

The Foreign Office was next given to Count von der Osten, who had been Danish envoy at Naples. As he plays an important part in the narrative, I will say a few words here about his birth and chequered fortunes.

Being without a patrimony, he was educated at court as page in the house of Frederick V. As he evidenced talent and cunning, Count von Moltke granted him a pension to study abroad. During his first journey to Leipzig, he made the acquaintance of Count Stanislaus Poniatowski, afterwards King of Poland, and they even slept in the same bed. On returning home, the first use Osten made of his talents was to induce the page of the chamber to deliver to the king a memorial against Count von Moltke and his administration, and against Bernstorff, who had the confidence of the king and his favourite. The king, instead of dismissing his favourite and his minister, showed them the libel, and as they soon saw that the person who handed it in was not capable of composing it, they urged him to reveal the real author. Moderate and honourable as they were, they took no further vengeance than sending their young adversary to take some lessons in politics, and for this purpose entrusted him to Malzahn, at that time minister in Russia.

Although Von der Osten was not given an official post, he contrived to seize on one. Malzahn died, and the secretary to the embassy being ill, Osten took upon himself to seal up the archives, receive despatches, and confer with the Russian ministers. Bernstorff confirmed him in the appointment he had seized, and sent him his instructions, which were, among other things, that he must humour the grand duchess, whose elevation the Copenhagen cabinet already foresaw. Von der Osten paid his court to her, by telling her all he could learn about foreign politics. This young princess was silently preparing to play a part, though I cannot affirm whether she flattered herself with the hope of managing her husband, or that she thought even then of getting rid of him.

As the grand duchess had no children, the Empress Elizabeth declared to her some time after that there must absolutely be a successor to the empire, and pointed out to her the man who might cure her sterility. This proposal at first revolted Catharine, and she rejected it as an insult. But when it was added that such respectable scruples might cause her to be sent away, her hesitation ceased, and after awhile there was no necessity to force lovers upon her. While Von der Osten was envoy at Petersburg, he received a visit from the young Poniatowski, whom he had known at Leipzig. Poniatowski was at first only a simple companion and intimate friend of Hanbury Williams, the English envoy; but during a lengthened residence at Petersburg he was entrusted with a commission by Augustus III. of Poland. He was handsome, well-informed, eloquent—in a word, made to please; and the grand duchess accepted his homage. Von der Osten was their confidant, and either acting in conformity with the intentions of his court, or through friendship for Poniatowski, he did not refuse them his good offices, but offered to cover the liaison, by lending his hotel as their rendezvous. Poniatowski came there incognito, and the princess, disguised as a man, escaped from her palace, and got into a hired carriage, in which the Secretary von der Osten received and accompanied her.

An intrigue, or some other cause, removed Von der Osten from Petersburg, but he was employed at Dresden in 1762. When the revolution rendered the empress independent, and removed the necessity for mystery, she begged the King of Denmark to send Von der Osten back to her court. For two years she not only granted him greater access and favours than a foreign minister could claim, but consulted him on the affairs of the empire, and admitted him to the conferences held in her presence between her ministers and her general officers. He fell from this elevation most suddenly; the Russian minister informed all the foreign envoys, by a circular note, that the empress had withdrawn her favour from Herr von der Osten, and regarded him as a vile and odious person. He remained some time at Petersburg, going to court, where nobody spoke to him, and not seeking to justify himself. Business no longer passed through his hands: the secretary to the embassy received the despatches from his court, and answered them without Osten's participation.

This took place in 1764, or about the period of the Polish throne being vacant. Von der Osten had received orders to make common cause with the dissidents, who desired the election of Stanislaus; but he was of a different opinion, and worked against his old friend in favour of a Count Oginsky, who was younger and handsomer, and whom he tried to please by dyeing his red eyebrows black. This attachment so blinded him, that, in the ante-chamber of the empress, and at the time when he was in favour, he offered to bet on the election of Oginsky against that of Stanislaus. Oginsky paid him for such warm protection, and I have no doubt gave but slight attention to the colour of his eyebrows. The publicity which the Russian court gave to Osten's disgrace refers to some secret infamy, and not to the two Polish rivals. It is supposed that, having succeeded in attaining a position by the help of Madame Bestucheff, who was a Dane, he eventually committed some signal act of treachery against her husband. It must have been during the period of his favour at Petersburg that Osten obtained the title of Count, for he was not so by birth. At the same period he asked for the order of the Dannebrog, but Bernstorff answered him that he had been a page too recently; and for this refusal Von der Osten never forgave the Danish minister.

After so many causes of bitterness, old and new, Bernstorff, not wishing to avenge himself by disgracing Osten, or recall to court an enemy whose talent for intrigue had become notorious, sent the count to Naples. After awhile, as the count did not cease to complain of an employment which he regarded as an exile, the minister had the complaisance to nominate him for Paris vice Von Gleichen; but at the first hint the French court received of this, it ordered the Marquis de Blosset to protest at Copenhagen against this choice. Then Bernstorff destined him for the Hague; but, his own power ceasing shortly after, he saw himself succeeded by the man whose friendship he had only been able to gain by such indulgence and kindness.

Von der Osten's conduct in his new post was not deficient in skill or dignity, but Struensee's hope of moving the Russian court by this appointment failed. The new minister's first measure on taking office was one in which his character could be plainly read. He wished to flatter the Russian court, and yet not displease the party that ruled at his own. He sent to the former a species of apology about the great changes that had taken place at his court, and displayed considerable eloquence in it. This document met with a better fate at Petersburg than the king's letter, and many people applauded it. It may be assumed that the Russian court, whose pride had been terribly hurt by the loss of its influence in Danish affairs, was glad to avenge itself on the King of Denmark by this little humiliation, and to be able to withdraw from the whole affair with an appearance of honour; at any rate, the empress adhered to her decision, and declared openly that so long as foreign affairs were in the hands of Von der Osten, the alliance and negotiations with Denmark would be broken off.

After the rescript about the new organization of the privy council had been issued, Privy Councillor Schack, Lieutenant General Gähler, Vice Admiral Römeling, and Count Rantzau-Ascheberg, were formed into a committee to make a further proposition about it. By this rescript the power of the council had been considerably restricted, and further limitations appeared to be impending. Schack opposed this reform, and when he found it was of no use, he retired without a pension to his estate in Jütland. As we stated, the discussions and proposals of the privy council were to be sent in writing to the king, and when Struensee was appointed Maître des Requêtes, on December 18, 1770, it was his duty to read to the king the reports of the privy council. But a very few days later, the council received a death-blow through the following decree written and signed by the king:—

We, Christian VII., by grace of God King of Denmark, Norway, of the Goths and Wends, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn and the Dittmarsches, Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, &c., decree and announce herewith. As the affairs of state in an absolute government are only confused and delayed when many persons of high rank take part in them, owing to the respect which the latter acquire with the course of time, and the settlement of business is thus retarded: we, however, who have nothing so much at heart as a zealous promotion of the public welfare, will not let ourselves be checked or hindered in those measures and arrangements that tend to this object: we have therefore thought proper to abolish and absolutely suppress our former privy council; in doing which, our object is to restore to the constitution of the state all its purity and to maintain it. Thus, then, the said form of government will be and remain exactly as it was handed to our ancestors of glorious memory by the nation, and not the slightest appearance will be left, as if we wished to depart from the sense and intention with which the nation transmitted it to our ancestors. In further confirmation of the above, we have had the present decree drawn up in duplicate, in Danish and German, and the articles shall be preserved for ever in the archives of the Chanceries. Given under our royal hand and seal, at our castle of Frederiksberg, this 27th December, 1770.

Christian.
FABRICIUS. A. G. CARSTENS

This singular edict was generally attributed to Rantzau, but the avowed motive lay as much in the king's character as in Struensee's: neither of them liked people of consequence, but how could they suppose that they had disarmed the nobility, by discharging those who had acquired credit and consideration? After all, it is power that rules, and this power must be in the hands of somebody. Frederick the Great found a way of diminishing the power of his ministers, by being his own minister, and this was what was intended at Copenhagen. But what resemblance was there between the two kings? Struensee, by making himself the inspirer, could not hope to remain long concealed; in fact, everybody saw his movements already. The king, who eagerly took up the idea of imitating his brother of Prussia, ere long had a stereotyped answer for everything: "Apply to Struensee." Hence, there was a Grand Vizier, and surely the nation did not gain much by suppressing four ministers assembled in council, and giving the power to one man.

This decree appeared to be greeted with applause by all save the old nobles, for the heavy taxes which weighed down the country, were placed to the account of the privy council, and people were offended by the arrogance with which several members looked down on other persons, while they did not hesitate to render themselves the tools of licentious favourites. With the suspension of the council, the members were dismissed from their other offices as well. Rosenkrantz alone received a pension, which he owed to the intercession of his friend Frau von Gähler,—a proof of the still existing influence of certain ladies of the court on public affairs, although it had been announced that firm principles would be followed in everything. Rosenkrantz was also 14,000 dollars in debt to the Treasury. After their dismissal, the four ministers quitted the capital and retired to their estates.[139]

On the day after the suppression of the privy council, a privy council of conferences was established. The idea of this council seems to have been derived from what took place in Russia during the reign of the Empress Anne, but it never attained any importance. The members met whenever requested to do so by the king, and then expressed their opinion about matters laid before them.

The power was now once more collected in the sole person of the king, as had been the case with the first absolute monarch of Denmark and Norway, in 1660. His advisers in public business were, on the one hand, a man of bourgeois birth, who had not been trained as a statesman, but had risen rapidly; on the other, men, who liked reforms, and hence were regarded with hateful glances by all those whose interests they attacked. The results, however, attained by these advisers displayed some amount of talent. It seemed as if fresh life and order were being re-introduced into the state, if we can admit that such things ever before existed. A very wide field was also opened for ideas by the free Press. Still, months passed ere people ventured to employ it in discussing affairs of state. Numerous pamphlets appeared, but were of slight value. Gradually, however, learned men took up the pen, in order to take advantage of the liberty granted them, and publicly discussed important state matters, such as serfdom, corvées, the system of guilds, monopolies, the bank, the army, the university, Norway, Zeeland, &c. Most of these litterateurs were anonymous, but among them were men of scientific reputation, such as Jacob Baden, Fleischer, Schumacher, &c. The majority of these essays clearly proved, however, how few sound and correct views about government had gained admission into Denmark at that period. That the press should also produce a countless number of pasquinades and abusive pamphlets, was only what was expected, and the good sale of such things, although their price was raised, at any rate furnished proof of a desire to read being aroused among the people, which in the end led to the perusal of better literature.

But the general joy at the liberty of the press and other excellent regulations was greatly damaged by the fact that all the cabinet orders appeared in German. It is true that the court had been, for centuries, the centre of Germanism in Denmark, and this fact, even in the reign of Christian VI., had caused a German to remark to that king, who was a Dane all over, "It is strange that your Majesty should be the only foreigner in your own house;" and under the seventh Christian, it was also the fact that the higher classes could neither speak nor write Danish; while there were high officials, who, in spite of a lengthened residence in Copenhagen, could not speak Danish. The army was drilled and commanded after the German regulations; and the courts-martial were minuted in German. As, however, the public were aware that the present king spoke and wrote Danish well, and as it had not hitherto been customary to publish any decrees or government regulations, save those intended for the duchies, in German, an insult to the Danish nation was seen in Struensee's German decrees, as he addressed them in a foreign language. Hence it was natural that this mistake produced Struensee many enemies, who, solely on that account, became his political opponents. Struensee apologized for his error by saying that he had no time to learn Danish; but surely there was nothing to prevent him from having his cabinet orders translated into Danish.

A curious instance of a mistake occasioned by Struensee's use and abuse of German is preserved for us by Reverdil. An individual in Norway, whose house stood on a very rapid river, down which wood was floated to the sea, had put up in front of his house a stockade to stop the wood, and agreed with the woodmen as to the price they should pay for the use of his establishment. The persons interested, desiring to render their contract more solemn, requested the king to ratify it, according to a received custom. This request was sent from the Danish Chancery to the cabinet with a favourable report. The clerk who had to translate the documents into German did not understand the word flaxboom, by which the stockade was designated; and as he saw that the affair related to the right of passage on the river, and as flachs meant flax in German, he assumed that these persons were arranging a tax to be paid on all flax brought down the river. This offended Struensee, who at once addressed a reprimand to the Chancery, on its proposition to establish a toll which would be very onerous upon the flax trade, and contrary to all the principles of political economy. The Chancery replied, that his Majesty had doubtless been deceived by his German translator; that no flax came down the river; and, in a word, cleared up the misunderstanding. The explanation gained the department a fresh reprimand, for having the audacity to suppose that his Majesty had Danish reports translated, and did not understand his own language.

CHAPTER XII.

At the beginning of 1771, the court quitted the palace of Frederiksberg,[140] and returned to the Christiansborg Palace.

Christiansborg, built by Christian VI., was an enormous edifice. It consisted of six stories above the vaults,—three of these were extremely large and lofty, and dedicated to state purposes; three other stories ran between, not more than eight feet high, called Mezzanines, where the state ministers and royal attendants had suites of rooms. The queen's apartments were in the grand or east front, on the second great story; the king's were on the same floor, further to the south; the royal chapel formed another division of this vast palace; a lower structure, or wing, under which was one of the entrances to this huge edifice, formed a continuation of the Mezzanine story. Struensee's apartments were in the Mezzanine, opening into the grand passage leading to the royal chapel, and next to the queen's apartments; Count Brandt's rooms were on the same story, adjoining Struensee's, but next the chapel.[141] The queen dowager and Prince Frederick occupied the whole of the third floor when they were residing in Copenhagen.

The first measure taken by Struensee in this year was the appointment of Professor Oeder, who had hitherto been a member of the agricultural commission, as Councillor of Finances and member of the Financial Deputation. This was a title hitherto unknown in Denmark; but Oeder justified the choice, although he had been hitherto better known as a botanist and author of a "Flora Danica." He took a considerable share in Struensee's cabinet labours, and expressed his opinion about state affairs and reforms openly when invited to do so. He often opposed Struensee's views; still more often warned him against precipitate and violent measures; and the favourite was more disposed to listen to Order than to many others.

On January 12, the Prussian bank director, Koes, received permission to establish a royal Danish lottery for a term of six years. For the privilege, an annual sum of 25,000 dollars was to be paid into the king's private exchequer. The farmer and his partners published a plan of subscription, containing two hundred and fifty shares of 500 dollars each; and ten per cent. profit was guaranteed the shareholders. The directors of the lottery appointed two thousand collectors all over the country; and a drawing took place every three weeks.

The introduction of the lottery justly aroused great public reproach. For all that, the following Danish governments found this institution so profitable, that they undertook the direction of it, and it was not until public opinion began to become very decided about this corruption offered to the poorer classes, that it was entirely abolished in the reign of Christian VIII. Struensee only authorised the establishment of the lottery, it is urged, because at that time the country swarmed with pedlars, who sold tickets of foreign lotteries, by which a great deal of money was drawn out of the country, and he tried to prevent this by starting a home lottery for gamblers. A number of pamphlets at once appeared in Copenhagen and other towns of the kingdom, in which the ruinous results of lottery gambling were shown, though without any effect. When the lottery was established at Copenhagen and Wandsbeck, the people were attacked by a perfect mania for gambling, and while formerly the conversation in the houses of citizens turned on the weather and town scandal, they now talked about the best way of playing, about ambos, ternes, and quaterns, &c.

The king's birthday, January 29, was employed by the new government as a favourable opportunity for gaining the favour of the populace. For this purpose, an antique fountain was erected in the manège behind the Christiansborg Palace, from which red and white wine flowed. Everybody was allowed to fetch it away, except the sailors of the navy. From the balcony over the fountain a herald threw gold and silver medals among the crowd, bearing on the obverse the king's bust, and on the reverse the date, "January 29, 1771," with the king's motto, "Gloria ex amore patriæ." At the same time, a roast ox and sundry roast sheep were cut up and distributed. It seems as if the intention were to throw some lustre upon the throne, which would compensate for the nimbus with which the now removed high-born ministers and great gentlemen had formerly invested it in the eyes of the populace.

The king's birthday was, however, glorified in another manner. The reigning queen established on this day a new order, called the Order of Matilda. The statutes, which were drawn up in French, were to the following effect:

Art. I.—The order shall be called the Order of Matilda.

Art. II.—It shall be conferred on both ladies and gentlemen; but the number must never exceed twenty-four, the queen, its founder, included.

Art. III.—It shall only be conferred on persons who have deserved the particular attention of the queen, independently of merit or services rendered.

Art. IV.—It is forbidden to ask for the order; and those ladies and gentlemen who act contrary to this rule, will deprive themselves for ever of the hope of obtaining it.

Art. V.—Those ladies or gentlemen who, on receiving the Order of Matilda, may possess that of the Perfect Union of the late queen, Sophia Magdalena, shall deliver the insignia of the latter to the queen.

Art. VI.—The order shall be worn with a pink ribbon, striped with silver. The gentlemen shall wear it round the neck, and the ladies fasten it in the shape of a bow on the left breast.

Art. VII.—On the death of any lady or gentleman decorated with it, the heirs are expected to send the insignia of the order to the queen.[142]

The badge itself consisted of a round medallion, with the letters C. M. set in costly diamonds, the royal crown over it, and a laurel wreath round. The king and queen, the queen dowager, and the hereditary Prince Frederick, were the first royal personages who assumed the new order. The others to whom it was given on the day of its institution, were Count Rantzau-Ascheberg, Privy Councillor von der Osten, Lieut.-General von Gähler, Chamberlain Enevold Brandt, Struensee, Baroness von Schimmelmann, Frau von Gähler, and the Countess Holstein zu Holsteinborg. The evident object was to indicate the queen's adherents by this distinction, but Struensee's enemies asserted that he had despised the Dannebrog, but did not yet dare demand the Elephant, and hence the new order was instituted. There was nothing remarkable, however, in Caroline Matilda founding an order, as well as other queens before her.

The new rulers, however, did not at all forget, through the festivities on the royal birthday, to extend to the court the proposed system of retrenchment in the expenses of the state. It was seen to be absolutely necessary that the expenditure of the court should undergo strict revision. Struensee and Brandt tried together to induce Councillor of Legation Texier, who had accompanied the king on his tour as treasurer, to undertake the duties of a court intendant. But this clear-sighted man declined the offer most politely, and Struensee had to look elsewhere for assistance.

It was quite useless to expect any good from Count Moltke, the court marshal and son of Frederick V.'s favourite, for he was preternaturally stupid. Abuses and foolish expenses had been multiplied under his rule, and there were the most valid reasons for getting rid of him; but, on the other hand, he had one of the prettiest and least strict wives at court. Struensee had a weakness for her, and considered her necessary for the new tone he wished to give the court. He therefore resolved on a mezzo termine, and sent for a Lieutenant-Colonel von Wegener, who had taught the princes of Hesse mathematics, and was at present at the head of Prince Charles's household, into which he had introduced great regularity. Struensee gave him the title of Intendant of the Court, with charge of the expenses, while Count von Moltke would retain the introductions, the ceremonial, and do what is called the honours. On the king informing Moltke of all the details of which he relieved him, while leaving him his salary, the latter became very violent, demanded his dismissal, obtained it, insisted on his wife accompanying him to his paternal estate, and died on arriving there. A rumour was spread that his wife had poisoned him; but she justified herself by having an autopsy performed, accompanied by a regular report from the physicians. This fact struck people greatly, and the patriotic party concluded that morals were hopelessly ruined, as such atrocious suspicions could be conceived.[143]

Shortly after, however, two dismissals took place at court, which were not at all connected with the economical system. Page of the Chamber Von Köppern was so impudent as to speak disrespectfully about Struensee to the king, and thus caused his own fall. Chamberlain von Warnstedt, too, who had hitherto been a favourite of the king, and stood in confidential relations with Struensee, was suddenly dismissed from court. A single incautious remark about Struensee proved his ruin. On his birthday, in February, Warnstedt received a letter from the king, in which the monarch intimated that being aware of Warnstedt's inclination for a military life, he discharged him from court with a pension of 800 dollars, and had nominated him second-lieutenant in the Schleswig dragoons, with orders to join his regiment without delay.[144]

But dismissals were the order of the day, not only at court but among the government officials. This fate first befell the two oldest directors of the General Staat, Conferenzrath von Schrödersee and Etats-rath Holm, who were both discharged without pension. They were followed by the bailiff and under-bailiff of Copenhagen: the former because he was alleged to behave too severely, the latter too mildly, to the peasants. The dismissal of these two officials was ascribed to General von Gähler, but unjustly so. Struensee was accustomed to confer with the general frequently, who had many enemies. The sudden dismissals were not confined to the capital and its immediate vicinity, but extended to all parts of the monarchy. The most important of them was the removal of Privy Councillor von Benzon, viceroy of the kingdom of Norway. This universally respected old gentleman was dismissed on February 8; the post of an alter ego of the king in the second kingdom was not filled up for the present, and the management of the business, which had hitherto been transacted by the viceroy, was left to the bailiffs. After the viceroy, the next victim was Bürgermeister von Wasmer of Bergen, who was discharged for disobedience and insubordination. As, afterwards, many shared the same fate without the causes for their dismissal being imparted to them, it was natural that the most honest and valued officials no longer felt secure. On the other hand, it is indubitable that from this time the business of the state was carried on with greater attention and industry than before.[145]

A decree that aroused general satisfaction appeared on February 12. It consisted of a circular to the government colleges, in which they were informed that in future no lackey who had waited on a master must be proposed for a public office. In this way the hateful lackeydom was abolished, and a permanent obstacle raised against the repeated neglect of scientifically-educated men, on behalf of fellows who had driven a carriage or stood behind it.

The administration of the navy was not forgotten among the reforms. Privy Councillor Count Haxthausen was ordered to confer with Etats-rath Willebrandt, and draw up a new organization for the Admiralty College.

About this time a friend of Struensee made his appearance at Copenhagen, whose cruel fate, after the catastrophe of 1772, will for ever remain a blot on Danish justice. Seneca Otho von Falckenskjold was descended from an old noble Danish family, and was born, in 1738, at Slagelse, on Seeland. Intended by his father, who held high rank in the army, for a military career, he entered the service in his thirteenth year. On leaving the cadet school four years later, when the Seven Years' War broke out, Falckenskjold, instead of intriguing at Copenhagen with women and valets, entered the service of France, served in Alsace, was slightly wounded at Bergen, but so severely at Clostercamp, where Maréchal de Castries defeated the Hanoverians, that he was rendered incapable of serving for some time. When his country was threatened with a Russian war in 1762, Falckenskjold returned home, and received a company in the Delmenhorst regiment, and afterwards a command in Norway. When his corps was disbanded, Falckenskjold resided for some time at Altona, where Rantzau inspired him with a taste for politics. Shortly after, being animated with a lively desire for information, he travelled through Sweden, Germany, France, and England, in order to become acquainted with the institutions of those countries and learn their language. On his return to Copenhagen he was appointed aide-de-camp and chamberlain to the king. When, in 1768, the war broke out between Russia and the Porte, he entered the Russian service, was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the engineers, served, in 1769, under Prince Galitzin, and was present at the capture of Khotzim. In the following year, being employed with the army of which Count Romanzow took the command, he distinguished himself at the battle of Larga, received the cross of St. George for being the first man to enter the Turkish entrenched camp, and was one of the first twelve knights of this order, which had been recently founded. He also distinguished himself at the battle of Kahul, and was appointed a full colonel, with the commission and rank of a brigadier.

This was a man whom Struensee could employ, and therefore he recalled him, in order to entrust to him the reform of the Danish army, and employ him in the negotiations with Russia for the pestilent exchange of territory. Falckenskjold was reluctant to quit the Russian service, where he had the best prospects of speedy promotion; but he yielded to Struensee's wishes, as a speedy return to the Russian service was promised him, but chiefly that he might offer his assistance in the diplomatic negociations between the two kingdoms.

On arriving in Copenhagen, Falckenskjold was nominated proprietor and colonel of the regiment of Foot Guards, and attached to the commission appointed to renew the suspended negociations with Russia, about which Struensee was extremely anxious. As Falckenskjold was thoroughly acquainted with Russian affairs, he was sent to Petersburg with the embassy intended to press for the fulfilment of the treaty signed in 1768, and, disappointed in his expectations, returned at the period when the menacing storm was rapidly gathering over Struensee. Brandt insisted on his being appointed marshal of the court, but Falckenskjold could not be persuaded to accept the office, and contented himself with being the confidential adviser of Struensee, and in that capacity repeatedly warned him to take his measures against any sudden change of fortune—advice which, unfortunately, was not listened to by the dazzled favourite, who was constantly engaged with fresh schemes.

At the time when Falckenskjold reached Copenhagen, Rantzau's faction were urging an open war with Russia, in consequence of the non-fulfilment of the treaty; and even Struensee did not consider such a war desperate. But Falckenskjold was violently opposed to it, and when Struensee declared that the bomb-ketches built to attack Algiers could be employed to batter Cronstadt, and that the king would not hesitate to sacrifice all his plate to defray the expenses of such an expedition, the old soldier brought forward some pregnant facts. He reminded Struensee that a resource of this nature, employed by Louis XIV. daring the war of the Succession, only produced 450,000 livres. He then entered into a detail about the expense of a single campaign against Russia, and compared it with the present resources of Denmark, the condition of her armaments, and the assistance she might expect from foreign powers. Besides, supposing that the king, though he (Falckenskjold) was far from admitting the fact, was strong enough to attack such an enemy with a hope of success, the maritime powers, especially England, would not suffer their relations to be interrupted in the Baltic, or allow ports advantageous to their trade, and from which they derived a great portion of their naval equipment, to be destroyed. Falckenskjold also urged that, there was reason to apprehend that the King of Prussia would interfere in the quarrel to the prejudice of Denmark, in order to carry out his designs upon Holland.

These considerations produced an effect on Struensee, but Rantzau and his partisans did everything to efface the impression they had produced. The threatening tone which they openly assumed in talking about Russia, and which they rendered the fashion in Copenhagen, was carried to so insulting a point, that the Russian chargé d'affaires repeatedly told Falckenskjold that he would have left long before were it not for the hopes that he (Falckenskjold) gave him. This indiscreet bravado on the part of the Rantzau faction greatly displeased Struensee, however, and gave weight to Falckenskjold's remonstrances.

In the meanwhile, Struensee's reforms went on uninterruptedly; and various ameliorations in the law courts appeared one after the other. Thus a regulation was issued relating to the corvées on the noble estates, by which the poor serf ceased to be a helpless tool in the hands of his owner. Certain days and hours in the week were set apart for compulsory service, but the remaining time was left at the disposal of the peasantry. The latter were placed under the protection of the law, and all the privileges which belonged to them as men and citizens, were secured to them.

In order to prevent the delay in judicial investigations through chicanery or neglect, a list was ordered of all persons under arrest for criminal offences, with a statement of their crimes, the time they had been detained, and the names of their judges. The names also of those judges were reported who had proved negligent in the performance of their duties.

In order that trustees might not carry on usury with the property of their wards, or squander it, but that heirs and creditors might receive their funds in due course, a list was ordered to be sent to the government of all the estates of deceased persons and bankrupts, the names of the trustees and assignees, and the period when the latter were appointed.

The two chanceries were subjected to a reorganization, the almost sovereign heads of these colleges dismissed, and in their stead the Danish Chancery had four, the German three, deputies, and the same number of departments.

The civic government of Copenhagen also underwent reorganization. The complaints raised on all sides about the misuse of authority, the slow course of business, and the maladministration of the town revenues and neglect in providing the city with provisions, were the ostensible reasons for these reforms. The magistracy would, in future, consist of a chief president, two bürgermeisters, a town syndic, a town physician, four councillors, and two representatives. But even in this simple matter court intrigues prevailed,—Count Holstein zu Holsteinborg was appointed president; one of those men with whom a great name and a little charlatanism hold the place of merit. He had been recalled from Tondern, where he was bailiff, because his wife was considered worthy of adorning the new court, and Brandt distinguished her.

This change, however, was not effected without considerable dissatisfaction, for it was an encroachment on the privileges which the city had obtained at various times from the kings, and especially for its glorious defence against the Swedes in 1759. Still it was a notorious fact that the magistracy misapplied their power, and did not trouble themselves at all about the proposals of the council of thirty-two notables, and hence the new regulations found as many approvers as opponents.

The police of Copenhagen were next subjected to a different organization. They were most severely prohibited from interfering any more in the domestic affairs of the inhabitants, or troubling themselves about what did and did not take place in private houses on Sundays, so that the citizens of Copenhagen could henceforth say with the Englishman: "My house is my castle."

In order to check the usual expense of funerals, which were frequently carried on so extravagantly that the survivors were ruined, an order was issued to the effect that, in future, all burials should take place between one and six o'clock in the morning; but this period was afterwards extended to nine o'clock. In Struensee's time there were streets in Copenhagen without a name: the houses were not numbered, and the lighting of the streets was in a wretched state. Orders were therefore given to alter this at once, and light all the streets daily with reverbère lamps from dusk till daylight.

The repulsive custom by which persons condemned of adultery were exposed in the pillory and reprimanded by the clergyman of their parish in the presence of the whole congregation, was prohibited; and it was ordered by a royal decree that illegitimate birth should no longer be regarded as dishonouring. Such a child would be christened precisely in the same way, and within the same period, as legitimate children; its birth would no longer be regarded as a lasting stain, or prevent it from learning a trade, or carrying on business. At the same time, the domestic peace was protected against calumny and denunciation by an order that no one but the offended party should make a complaint about adultery.