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

The details which Reverdil gives us about the habits of the court are very curious. When they did not go hunting, they assembled to breakfast between eleven and twelve o'clock. The king, the queen, Counts Struensee and Brandt, with some of their male and female favourites, were always present; and when the state of the weather allowed it, breakfast was followed by a walk, in which Struensee gave his arm to the queen; the king, to the only maid-of-honour who was admitted to this familiarity; each of the other gentlemen to a lady; and chance did not decide the selection. From time to time, the same party dined at some summer-house, a distance away. Etiquette was banished from these parties; and the newly-appointed pages waited at table. They only entered when a bell was rung, and left the room when they had done what was wanted. On these excursions, the queen drove out in the same carriage with the king and Struensee. She placed herself between them at table; and if the king misbehaved himself, Reverdil led him out of the room. The queen even returned at night alone with the favourite. This princess, who, on her arrival from England, had been extremely affable and ingenious in finding occasions to say agreeable things to everybody, now only spoke with eagerness to the favourite; and if before and after dinner she addressed any one, whether male or female, Struensee was listening.

With this exception, the indecent tone supposed by the public did not prevail in this company; they resembled the servants of a large house who had sat down to table in their master's absence. A new comer must have been struck by the familiar tone, and at seeing a court where there were no great noblemen, and hardly any gentlemen.

Reverdil was astonished at not hearing a word about the queen dowager and her son, who lived at Fredensborg, about nine miles from Hirschholm. There seemed a settled determination to keep Prince Frederick apart from his brother; no appanage was granted him, though it was full time to think about it, nor was he initiated into affairs of state. Reverdil resolved to do what he could to satisfy the queen dowager by inducing the king to drive over and see her; but the latter would not consent. Hence the estrangement came from Christian, and not from the queen dowager.

We have seen how Prince Frederick was kept out of the king's box at the play; and Brandt was blamed for it, although it was done by the monarch's express order. Equal anger was felt because Brandt did not invite the prince to the private theatricals and dancing which filled up a portion of the evenings at Hirschholm. For this, so Reverdil says, Struensee was mainly to blame. He had seen at London and Berlin the princes paying their court to the king, and mixing themselves up with the grandees in the ante-chamber. On his return, he was shocked by the old Danish fashion, by which the courtiers did not come to the king's ante-room till they had paid their respects to the royal princes and princesses, who were thus placed on a level with the sovereign. He therefore resolved to make Prince Frederick undergo these humiliations until he had learned his duty.

It required a great occasion for the queen dowager and her son to be invited, at lengthened intervals, to dine at Hirschholm. When they arrived, they were kept waiting; and the frigid reception granted them left them but little doubt that their presence was disagreeable. They were not angry with the king, and did not explain this contempt by his caprices or his indolent apathy, but they blamed the young queen and her adherents. Hence serious aid frivolous subjects combined to foment the misunderstanding in the royal family and between relations. The lightest insults are not those which hurt the least.

Serious complaints were being raised about this time at the court of the queen dowager, in the capital and the provinces, about the education of the prince royal, or rather, because his education was not yet begun. He was said to be left in the gardens of Hirschholm to the inclemency of the seasons and his own imprudence, with no other society but that of two lads of the lowest rank. The most reasonable and the warmest patriots said bitterly, that a retarded education was a great fault in the case of a boy whose majority began at the age of thirteen; as if the natural progress of a boy could be accelerated in accordance with human institutions.

Such were the universal prejudice, and the language of the most moderate men. At the court, on the contrary, they were so satisfied with the method adopted, that the queen and Struensee actually had drawings made of the childish amusements of their young Emile, which were engraved and published. He could be seen in them entering his cold bath, playing at ball, or using his little rake and spade. They fancied that the entire universe would applaud this unique example of a truly royal education.

The queen might be mistaken as to her son's education, as it was carried on by a man of systems, but she was an excellent mother, and paid as much attention to her children as her position allowed. When on any rainy day the court was obliged to remain in-doors, the queen did not fail to appear after dessert, carrying her daughter on one of her arms, and leading her son by the other hand, while his two little playmates clung to her skirt. She seemed thoroughly to enjoy the happiness of being a mother. The prince was neither timid, nor indocile, nor fretful; but his education was very much behindhand. At the age of nearly four years, he did not yet know any language, but had made a jargon of Danish and German, which he had learned from his two playmates. The conclusion at which Reverdil arrives, though displaying an evident bias, is probably correct:—

"If the temperature had been less damp; if the young prince had had a sufficiently strong constitution to withstand these trials; if an intelligent and almost imperceptible but continued inspection had caused his amusements to help in developing his reason, this education would have been worth more than that of all his ancestors."

But this inspection was not made, owing to the jealousy of Struensee, who considered everything badly done that did not pass through his hands, and who had undertaken this inspection himself, like all the rest, without reflecting that he already had a great deal more work than he could do in the course of the day.

END OF VOL. I.

INDEX TO VOL. I.,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.

Academicians, of Paris, dine with King Christian, 180.
Administration, retrenchment in the, 329.
Administrative changes in Denmark, 318.
Adultery, punishment for, mitigated, 326.
Agricultural Commission, appointed by Christian VII., 7.
Agnate and cognate, the different lines of succession explained, 50, 51.
Algiers, Danish war with, and naval expedition against, 260, 261, 262.
Altona, Caroline Matilda's enthusiastic reception at, 47, 48.
Anne, Queen, governed by her favourite women, 4, note.
Aristocracy, murders committed by the, 12.
Arnould, Sophie, the celebrated prima donna of Paris, 179.
Arts and sciences become an object of attention to Struensee, 332.
Augusta, Princess of Brunswick; her marriage, 39.
Augusta, Princess of Wales, (see Wales, Princess of).
Augustenburg, duke of, his genealogy and family connexions, 75.
Auteroche, Comte de, anecdotes of, 174.

Baltimore, Lord, his vicious eccentricities, 9.
Beauveau, Madame de, 169.
Berger, von, surgeon, accoucheur, and favourite of Struensee, 346.
Berkentin, Frau von, appointed governor of Prince Christian, 50;
dismissed from the Danish Court, 117.
Bernis, cardinal, 172.
Bernstorff, count, the Danish minister, 75, 76;
court triumvirate formed by, 77;
appointed director of the Sound dues, 81;
his influence, 111;
his servility, 115;
declines in favour, 229;
his dismissal, 268;
his character, 269;
his kindness, 303;
anecdote of, 362;
his advice to Count Reverdil, 365.
Bestucheff, Madame, 303.
Binet, Sieur, 166.
Bishop militant, 24.
Bontemps, the fortune-teller, 173.
Brockdorf, nurse to Prince Christian of Denmark, 55.
Brandenburg Kulmbach, dowager Margravine of, 127.
Brandt, Enevold, page of the chamber, and a court favourite, 121;
biographical notices of, ib.;
his character, 122;
his charges against Count Holck, 122, 124;
his visit to Paris to see the king, 210;
his promotion, 231;
his policy, 285;
court festivities arranged by, 342, 343;
his beloved Frau von Holstein, 344;
made a Danish count, 352;
public hatred of, 370.
Bülow, von, 230.
Bute, lord, his influence over the Princess of Wales, 15;
his frequent visits to Leicester House, and scandals about him, 27, 28, 31.

Cabal, the, 252.
Cagliostro, the charlatan, 173.
Caroline Matilda, Princess; birth of, 15;
account of her youth, 33;
her vivaciousness and sweetness of temper, 34;
her manners and person, 35;
her education, ib.;
her character, 35, 36;
her correspondence, 37-43;
proposal of marriage on behalf of, 40;
her feelings, 41;
makes her public appearance at Court, ib.;
her letter to the Princess Mary of Cassel, 42;
public opinion favourable to her marriage, 43;
message from the crown for a grant upon the occasion of her marriage, 44;
her marriage solemnized at the Chapel Royal of St. James', ib.;
her departure for Copenhagen, 45;
her anxious feelings, 45, 46;
her letter to her brother, the Duke of York, 45;
her enthusiastic reception at Altona, 47;
loyal addresses to, 48;
her youth and inexperience, 48, 49;
her arrival at Copenhagen, 81;
her marriage, 84;
her warm reception, 85;
warnings respecting her 86, 87;
her household, 88;
feelings of the royal family of Denmark towards, 88, 89;
various festivals and amusements in honour of, 90;
her own account of the journey to Copenhagen, written to her brother, the Duke of York, 92 et seq.;
her description of Holstein and Copenhagen, 94, 96;
her coronation, 98;
her first quarrel, 99;
her letter to her brother previous to his death, 101;
letter to her mother, the Princess Dowager of Wales, 102;
insulted by her husband, 103, 104;
gives birth to a son and heir, Frederick VI., 108;
her ladies and maids of honour, 126;
her life at home during her husband's absence, 159 et seq.;
her letter to Princess Amelia, respecting her husband's dissolute life, 161;
her letter to Princess Mary of Hesse Cassel, 196;
visit of her brother, the Duke of Gloucester, 198;
greatly humiliated by the insignificant part she played at court, 213;
her acquaintance with Dr. Struensee, 215 et seq.;
her familiarities with him create suspicion, 226, 227;
accompanies her husband in his journey to Schleswig and Holstein, 228;
her incautious levity, 232;
interview with her mother, the Dowager Princess of Wales, 248, 249;
coldness of, towards her brother, George III., 249, 250;
her favourite residence, the palace of Frederiksborg, 250, 251;
her free and easy manners and masculine dress give offence, 264;
her fondness for hunting, 282, 283;
her costume and personal improvement, 283;
her beautiful appearance described in the recollections of an old chamberlain, 284;
mad freaks of her husband, 291, 292;
her dissipated habits, 292, 293;
establishes the Order of Matilda, 314;
gives birth to a princess, 345;
her close intimacy with Struensee, 377;
an affectionate mother but neglectful of her son's education, 380.
Casanova, the cabalist, 173.
Cassel, Princess Mary of, Caroline Matilda's letter to, 42.
Castries, Mary, de, anecdote of, 174.
Catherine II., Empress of Russia, 238, 301, 302.
Chanceries, subjected to reorganization, 325.
Charles, Landgrave of Schleswig, 230, 231;
his account of the queen's levity of conduct, 232, 233.
Charles, Prince of, Denmark, 74, 75.
Charles II. of England, governed by his mistresses, 4, note.
Charlotte Amelia, Princess of Denmark, her character, 89;
the benefactress of the poor, 345.
Chartres, Duchesse de, her profligacy, 171.
Chassé, the comedian, 172.
Chateauroux, Duchesse de, 163.
Choiseul, duc de, 176.
Christian V., King of Denmark, 254.
Christian VII. of Denmark, his proposed marriage with the Princess Caroline Matilda of England, 40;
his accession to the throne on the death of Frederick V., 43;
married by proxy to Caroline Matilda, 44;
biographical notice of, 50;
his hereditary claims to the Schleswig Holstein duchies, 50, 51;
suspected plots against his life, 55;
his education, 56 et seq.;
his sarcasms, 58;
Reverdil's account of him when twelve years old, 61 et seq.;
his progress in the polite arts, 64;
proclaimed King of Denmark, 69;
his religious notions, 72;
court anecdotes of, 73, 74;
under the influence of a triumvirate, 77;
pleasant anecdote of, 79;
marriage of his two sisters, 81;
his marriage in contemplation, 82;
affianced to Princess Caroline Matilda, ib.;
sees her for the first time at Roeskilde, 83;
traits of his character and person, 84;
his entry with the princess into Copenhagen, 84;
their marriage and festivities, 84, 85;
various festivals and amusements introduced by, 90;
his coronation, 98;
his first quarrel, 99;
his journey to Holstein, 100;
insults his wife on his return, 103;
his dissolute orgies, 104, 105;
birth of his son and heir, Frederick VI., 108;
appoints a general commission for agricultural improvements, 111;
his debaucheries and dissipated career, 112;
his domestic orgies, 113;
list of his ministry, 114;
his court favourites, 121 et seq.;
his travels in foreign parts, 126 et seq.;
his journey through Jütland, Schleswig, and Gottorp, 127;
his presents to Voltaire, who sang the praises of his benefactor, 131;
his visit to Hanau and his brother-in-law, Landgrave Charles, 132;
sails down the Rhine, ib.;
visits Amsterdam, the Hague, and Brussels, 133;
his arrival in England, ib.;
his visit not agreeable to George III. 134;
his cold reception, 135 et seq.;
list of the royal suite, 136;
his stay in London, 137;
Walpole's satirical sketches of his visit and its amusements, 137 et seq.;
his interview with the Princess Dowager, 139;
his journey to Yorkshire, 142;
his visits to Cambridge, and also to Oxford,
where he received the honorary degree of D.C.L., 143;
magnificently entertained by the City of London, 144, 148;
entertained at Richmond Lodge, Carlton House, &c., 148, 149;
his sarcasm against the Princess Dowager, 149;
gives a grand masked ball at the Opera House, 149, 150;
his departure from England, 151;
execrable verses on, ib.;
sketches of his private life and character, 152-158;
his adventure with the money lender, 154-6;
Walpole's character of him, 157;
his wife's letter respecting him, 161;
his journey to France, and arrival at Paris, 175;
his reception by Louis XV., 175;
his private interview with him, 177;
his reception at Paris, and his visits to the various institutions, 178 et seq.;
dines with the Academicians, 180;
his high opinion of Paris, 182;
his munificence, 183;
his return home, 185;
his joyous reception, 187;
the members of his ministry, 188;
distressed state of the country on his return, 191;
his trip to Schleswig and Holstein with the queen, 228;
dismisses his court, 235;
state of his court, 240-2;
state reforms effected by his minister, 270 et seq., (see Denmark);
his madness and hopeless condition, 290, 291;
his freaks of madness, 291, 292;
suppresses his council by public decree, 305;
becomes absolute, 307;
celebration of his birthday, 314;
his administrative changes and reforms, 318 et seq.;
appoints Struensee privy cabinet minister, with all the power of grand vizier, 347, 350;
his insanity clearly manifested, 374, 375.
Christiansborg, palace of, 311.
Chudleigh, Miss, at the fancy ball, 31.
Civic council of Copenhagen, reorganization of the, 325.
Condé, prince de, 181.
Conti, prince de, 172.
Copenhagen, institutions and laws of extensively reformed, 325 et seq.;
"Court and Town Council" of established, 327. (See Denmark, and Christian VII.)
Council of Conferences, established after the suppression of the Privy Council, 307.
Court of Denmark, state of the, 240-2
changes and reductions in the, 327, 328;
amusements of the, 84, 85;
intrigues connected with the, 29, 77, 80, 122 et seq., 363, 364.
Court language of Denmark, 309.
Court reforms in Denmark, 277.
Cresset, the favourite of the Princess Augusta, 20;
anecdote of, 22.
Cumberland, duke, anecdote of, 16.

Dames de la Halle, 183.
Damiens, execution of, 173.
Danish language, complaints against the disuse of, 359, 360.
Danneskjold Samsöe, count, 75;
his genealogy, 75, note;
his court intrigues and influence, 76;
his dismissal, 109.
Danneskjold Laurvig, count von, the Danish minister, 188;
his high character, 190;
his daughter married to Count Holck, 198.
—— admiral, dismissed, 271.
Dehn, baron von, 47.
Denmark, Caroline Matilda's journey to, 47;
court of, 50;
the royal family of, and right of succession to the throne, 51;
possession of Schleswig-Holstein vital importance to, 51, 52, note;
government of, under Frederick V., 68;
subsidies paid to, 68;
ruinous condition of, 69;
names of the royal family of, 78;
and their feelings towards Caroline Matilda, 88, 89;
various festivals and amusements introduced into, 90;
enactment for the punishment of fanatics and murderers, 107;
protection extended to the Society of Arts at Copenhagen, ib.;
composition of the ministry, 114;
heavy debts of, when Christian VII. ascended the throne, 127;
state of the kingdom, 128, 129;
the members of the ministry, 188;
public discontent, 190;
depressed state of, 193;
existence of serfdom in, 193;
changes at court, 195;
state of the court, 240-2;
general anarchy of the kingdom, 243;
state of, under Struensee, 253;
historical retrospect of, 254 et seq.;
the Lex Regia, ib.;
foreigners in, 254;
titles and honours bestowed, 256, 257;
useless expenses incurred, 257, 258;
her increasing debt, 258;
war with Algiers, 260, 261;
her naval expedition against Algiers, 261;
abolition of the censorship, 262;
great changes and proposed reforms, 270, 271;
her foreign affairs, 273;
Russian alliance with, 273;
her home affairs, 274;
collection of the taxes, 275;
court reforms, 277;
public morals, 278;
the council of state reorganised, 279;
changes in the privy council, 281;
levity of the court, 285;
bad harvest in, 294;
visit of the princes of Sweden to, ib.;
letter of the government to the Empress of Russia, 297;
reorganisation of the privy council, 304;
council suppressed by royal decree, 305;
council of conferences established, 307;
the king becomes absolute, ib.;
reforms in, 308;
freedom of the press, ib.;
the court language of, 309;
great reforms in every department of the state, 324 et seq.;
state debts of, 330;
negotiations with Russia, 340;
Struensee's absolute power, 348, 353;
dissatisfaction with the government measures., 348, 359;
her foreign relations, 357.
Desnoyers, the French dancing master, 1.
Divorces, number of, in George the Third's reign, 11.
Dorchester, lady, ex-mistress of George II., anecdote of, 8.
Dorset, Sackville, duke of, 192.
Dubarry, Madame, the mistress of Louis XV., 168, 169.
Dubois, cardinal, 172.
Duras, duc de, presents to the, 183.
Düring, Major, 120.
Durfort, duc de, 171.

Edwin, Lady Charlotte, 17.
Eighteenth century, habits and manners of the, 7-9;
excessive gambling of the, 9;
vices of the, 10 et seq.
English, poetical sketch of the, 186.
Ennui, arises from etiquette, 218.
Etioles, Madame de, 166;
afterwards Madame Pompadour, 167.
Executions, for robbery and murder in the 18th century, 12.
Eyben, Fräulein von, 88.

Fair Amazon, the, 165.
Falckenskjold, Seneca Otho von, biographical notices of, 320;
employed by Struensee in diplomatic matters with Russia, 321 et seq.
Filosofow, major-general, chevalier, the Russian diplomatist, insults Struensee, 221;
intrigues of, 244, 245;
appointed minister plenipotentiary of Russia, 253.
Finances, college of, 330;
deputies appointed to, 331.
Flavecourt, Madame de, 178;
valuable present to, 184.
Flaxboom, curious mistake in the translation of, 310.
Foreign affairs of Denmark, 273.
Foundling Hospital, established by Struensee, 295.
France, wretched state of, in 1745, 163;
the degraded noblesse of, 163, 164;
all the signs of an impending revolution manifested under Louis XV., 167;
destruction of the ancien regime, 168;
matrimony entirely disregarded in, 171;
universal libertinism in, 171 et seq.;
prevalence of superstition in, 173;
chivalry of, 174.
Frederick, crown prince of Denmark, his refractory temper, 286;
his course of education, 287 et seq.;
at court, 378.
Frederick, Prince of Wales (see Wales, prince of).
Frederick III. of Germany, 254.
Frederick V. of Denmark, surnamed "the Good," 52;
anecdote of, ib. note;
inconsolable at the loss of his wife, 52, 53;
married to the Princess Juliana Maria of Wolfenbüttel, 53;
his illness, 65;
his death, 43, 66;
sorrow caused thereby, 67;
his government, 68.
Frederick VI. of Denmark, birth of, 108.
Frederiksberg and Frederiksborg, the distinction between, 311, 312.
Frederiksborg, palace of, 250, 251.
Frederikson, the money lender, 154;
King Christian's adventure with, 155.
Funerals, expenses of, curtailed, 326.

Gabel, Frau von, her acquaintance with Dr. Struensee, and intrigues with the king, 216.
Gähler, General von, wife of, 222;
the enemy of Struensee, 363.
Gambier, Admiral, 151.
Gambling of the eighteenth century, 9.
Gardes du corps, 336.
Garrick's interview with King Christian, 150.
George I., his mistresses, 8;
coarseness of manners introduced by, ib.
George I. and II., their family life one long offence against propriety, 8;
the feeling of hatred betwixt them, ib.
George II., his detestation of his son, 3;
his character, 3, 4;
lampoon on, 4, note;
his unforgiving spirit, 4.
George, Prince of Wales (afterwards George III.), 14;
anecdotes of his early life, 16 et seq.;
his governors and tutors, 20 (see George III.).
George III., his first speech after ascending the throne, 3;
vices of his reign, 10;
character of, 25;
anecdotes of, 26;
his speech respecting the marriage of Caroline Matilda, 40;
his dislike to Christian VII., 134;
his cold reception of him, 135 et seq.;
Walpole's sarcastic account of the meeting, 137, 138;
treated with coldness by his sister Caroline Matilda, 249;
his feelings and impressions respecting his sister's conduct, 250.
German, the language of Denmark, 209;
Struensee's use and abuse of, ib.
Gesvres, duc de, 172.
Gleichen, von, the Danish envoy to France, 68, 176.
Gloucester, duke of, juvenile anecdotes of, 16.
Gottorp, von, raised to the rank of count, 129.
Government, mode of, by different sovereigns, 4, note.
Grafton, duke of, and Nancy Parsons, 11.

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

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INDEX TO VOL. I.,