r- 
 
 [ 1 ■ ; 
 
 II 
 
 !^
 
 vv I U(^ 
 
 PRIVATE ANECDOTES 
 
 OF 
 
 FOREIGN COURTS, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE PRINCESSE DE LAIMBALLE ;" 
 
 TO WHICH ARE SUBJOINED, 
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 EXTRACTED FROM 
 
 THE PORTEFEUILLE OF THE BARON DE M- 
 
 WITH 
 
 ANECDOTES OF THE FRENCH COURT 
 
 BY THE 
 
 PREFECT OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1827.
 
 lAUK AKY 
 DNIVERSITY OF CALIPORNi_« 
 ■V. SANTA BAl4BAiiA 
 
 fttu . 
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 Memoir-writing is a part of history no 
 longer confined to France. The Marchioness de 
 
 S , herself an Englishwoman, to whom we 
 
 are indebted for a considerable quantity of the 
 anecdotes contained in the following Volumes, 
 has shown in her former work, " IMemoirs of 
 the Princesse de Lamballe," that she can relate 
 Courtly Anecdotes with all the grace, spirit, and 
 piquancy of the French writers of 3Iemoires ; 
 and that production at once proved the facili- 
 ties she enjoyed of obtaining the most secret 
 anecdotes of the highest personages, and show- 
 ed the familiar and confidential intercourse 
 which their condescension permitted between 
 themselves and the Authoress. The anecdotes
 
 vi editor's preface. 
 
 in the present Volumes, derived from the same 
 source, are likely, the Editor thinks, to excite 
 the same attention, and to be read with the 
 same eagerness as the " INIemoirs of the Prin- 
 cesse de Lamballe." That a knowledge of them 
 was acquired by means of personal introduc- 
 tions of the highest order and value, is evident 
 from the writer's own statement; and the 
 living names which she cites are so illustrious 
 in rank, as to forbid the possibiHty of a doubt 
 of the truth of her assertions. The piquant 
 and personal nature of many of the facts and 
 incidents she records, sufficiently accounts for 
 the secrecy in which they have hitlierto been 
 buried ; the Ught and ludicrous nature of 
 others, told of several grave and official charac- 
 ters, would not have allowed them to be deco- 
 rously related in the countries where the fact 
 occurred ; and it would not, perhaps, have been 
 safe for a native to have disclosed the hidden 
 and trifling springs, which in foreign countries, 
 as in our own, have produced the most impor- 
 tant political events.
 
 EDITORS PREFACE. Vll 
 
 The Northern Courts, particularly that of 
 Russia, which seems destined to act so strikino- 
 a part in deciding the future fate and mark- 
 ing the future divisions of Europe and Asia, 
 have been all visited by the Marchioness of 
 S ; and their Sovereigns, Ministers, Gene- 
 rals. Courtiers, Literary ]\Ien, and Artists, 
 have all passed under a review which is no less 
 remarkable for its freedom than its vivacity. 
 
 Independently, however, of the opportu- 
 nities which the writer of this part of the 
 " Private Anecdotes of Foreign Courts" en- 
 joyed, of discovering the secret history of 
 Northern politics, it cannot but be curious 
 to trace the effects of foreign usages, man- 
 ners, and personal intercourse, upon the mind 
 of an Englishwoman, transplanted from her 
 free and native soil to a despotic Court. 
 In this point of view the book possesses an 
 important moral interest, joined to that which 
 it deserves to enjoy as a repository of curious 
 anecdote. 
 
 It would be unjust, however, to omit to
 
 viii editor's preface. 
 
 characterize as eminently faithful and ve- 
 racious, and as replete with interest of the 
 strongest kind, the anecdotes, chiefly relating 
 to the Prussian Court, which have been con- 
 tributed to the present work by the Baron 
 de M * * * * From the portfolio of that di- 
 plomatist, these Volumes have been enriched 
 with many facts and personal sketches, equally 
 important and curious. The Editor would 
 have been happy to have given the name of the 
 Author at length, which would at once have 
 stamped this part of the book with authen- 
 ticity ; but the writer, with a natural deli- 
 cacy, solicited the Editor, in his case, " to 
 preserve I'anonyme ;" and respect for the feel- 
 ings of a disgraced Minister, at once decided 
 him to grant the request, even at the hazard 
 of diminishing the authority of the Volumes. 
 
 The very curious and amusing anecdotes of 
 the Court of Naples, will present perpetual 
 subjects of interest to English readers, inde- 
 pendent of their own intrinsic value. In a 
 Court influenced by two personages so mar-
 
 editor's preface. ix 
 
 quans as T^ord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, 
 and about whom so much has been said, the 
 writer would necessarily find much to tell : 
 and accordingly some very strange particulars 
 in the lives of both are in this department 
 of the " Private Anecdotes" unfolded. The 
 romantic story of Murat, the frequent insur- 
 rections of the rebel chiefs, the characteristic 
 sketches of cruel and profligate ministers, com- 
 bine with its peculiar English interest, to ren- 
 der the Italian Anecdotes not the least piquant 
 portion of these various and amusing volumes. 
 The second division of the work is con- 
 fined to the Court of Napoleon ; and contains 
 perhaps more facts tending to throw a strong 
 light upon the mysterious character of that 
 illustrious Individual, than even the more 
 elaborate and pretending compositions to 
 which his death has given rise. Some of the 
 facts relative to the secret history of the 
 divorce of Josephine, are now for the first 
 time given to English readers; the personal 
 habits and manners of Bonaparte are un-
 
 X editor's preface. 
 
 veiled witliout extenuation or malice ; his 
 private conversations and remarks are faith- 
 fullv recorded bv a kind of Court Boswell, 
 who relates even his own disgraces; and the 
 authority of w^hose work is guaranteed, not 
 only by tlie tone of frankness, fidelity, and 
 naivete, whicli characterize it, but by the fact 
 that he held the situation of Prefect of the 
 Palace from 1805 till the period of the Em- 
 peror's abdication of the throne of France. 
 
 The EnnoR.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 COURT OF RUSSIA. 
 
 Origin of the marriage of the Princess Sophia of Anhalt- 
 zerbst, afterwards Catherine II. to Peter III. — Intrigues of* 
 the Princess Anhaltzerbst to secure the match for her 
 daughter. — Friendly conduct of EHzabeth. — The negotia- 
 tion aided by Frederick the Great. — Mutual attachment of 
 Peter and the Princess Sophia. — Sudden malady of the 
 former. — Its effects. — Dissimulation of Catherine. — The 
 marriage takes place. — Prudent conduct of Catherine. — 
 The arrogance and intrigues of the Princess of Anhalt 
 causes her banishment from Russia. — The first amour of 
 Catherine with SaltikofF. — Amusements at PeterhofF. — 
 Declaration of SaltikofF. — His departure to, and return 
 from Moscow. — Address and presence of mind of Cathe- 
 rine. — Her interview with the Empress. — Confidence 
 restored on the part of Elizabeth and the Grand-duke. 
 
 Page 1—27.
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Rivalry between the Empress and Catherine. — Dissolute 
 character of the former. — Her accession to power through 
 crime. — Abolition of capital punishment. — Caprice and 
 extravagance of Elizabeth on the subject of dress. — Cha- 
 racter of Catherine. — Reply of Princess DaschkofF to the 
 Empress. — Birth of Paul, and hatred of Catherine towards 
 the infant. — Humane conduct of the Princess Daschkoff. 
 — Military innovations of Peter III. — They furnish the 
 party of Catherine with a pretext for dethroning him. — 
 The plan adopted for this purpose — Project formed by 
 the Emperor. — His visit to Prince Ivan. — The conspira- 
 tors, headed by the Princess DaschkofF, gain over the 
 troops at Saint Petersburgh, and proclaim Catherine. 
 — Degradation and sufferings of the dethroned Emperor. 
 — His assassination. — Hypocrisy of Catherine on that oc- 
 casion. — Reflections on the conduct of the Empress.— 
 The Princess Daschkoff exonerated from any share in the 
 murder of Peter III. Page 28—51. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The licentious gallantries of Catherine II. — Her mode of 
 selecting new lovers. — Etiquette observed on these occa- 
 sions. — Obligations imposed on the favourites of the Em- 
 press. — Abruptness of their dismissal, — Catherine's libe- 
 rality. — Anecdote of MomonofF and his wife. — Power and 
 influence of Prince Potemkin. — Anecdote of Marchesi, the 
 opera singer. — Conduct of the Empress on the occasion. 
 — Violent cApduct of Potemkin towards Catherine. — They 
 live on terms of harmony after their separation. — Anomaly 
 in the character of the Empress. — Her attention to public 
 affairs. — -The famous domestic edict. — Its salutary efFect. 
 — Brutal conduct of the Duke of Wurtemburg to his wife. 
 — Encouragement given to foreigners by Catherine. 
 
 Page 52 — 70.
 
 CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Accession of Paul.— Reciprocal hatred between him and 
 Catherine. — He rejects the whole of her household. — Pre- 
 cautions adopted to prevent himself from being poisoned. — 
 Eccentricities which marked the first days of his reign. — 
 Singular address to the murderers of his father. — Treat- 
 ment of Platon ZoubofF.— The part which this favourite of 
 Catherine is supposed to have taken in the assassination of 
 Paul. — Exile of the Princess DaschkofF. — Character of the 
 Princess. — System of Catherine with regard to the children 
 of Paul. — Some account of his first wife, the Princess of 
 Hesse Darmstadt. — Cruel conduct of Catherine towards 
 the Princess. - Page 71— 82. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Introduction of Stanislaus Poniatowsky at the Court of Saint 
 Petersburgh. — He attracts the notice of Catherine. — Their 
 intimacy promoted by the Princess Daschkoff. — Stanislaus 
 excites the jealousy of the courtiers, and is ordered to quit 
 the capital. — Intrigue to bring him back. — He is named 
 Plenipotentiary, and returns. — Farther observations on the 
 abandoned character of the Empress Elizabeth. — Conduct 
 of the Grand-duke Peter. — Adventure at Oranienbaum. — 
 Statements of Dalolio relative to the birth of Paul and the 
 Princess Anne. — Conduct of Catherine towards her former 
 lover. — Contrasted with that of Paul. — Death of Stanis- 
 laus. — Honour paid to his memory. — Character and vir- 
 tues of the last King of Poland. — Partition Scheme. — Its 
 retroactive effect. — Anecdote relative to the last partition 
 of Poland. — Secret motives of Catherine. — Declaration of 
 Stanislaus to the patriot Kosciusko. — Prince Radzivil's 
 opinion of Mr. Gardiner. — Brutal conduct of Stackelberg 
 towards Stanislaus. Page 83 — 112.
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 COURT OF DENMARK. 
 
 Arrival at Copenhagen. — Reception by the Crown Prince 
 and royal family. — Amusements and society of the Danish 
 capital. — Details relative to the persecution of Queen 
 Caroline Matilda. — Character of the Queen Dowager 
 Juhana Maria. — Marriage of Matilda to the Crown Prince, 
 — Attachment of the latter for his wife. — Measures taken 
 by Juliana to separate them. — The Crown Prince is re- 
 commended to travel. — His sudden return to the capital. 
 — New machinations of Juliana Maria. — Their effect on 
 the health and feelings of the royal couple. — The mind of 
 the Crown Prince poisoned against his wife. — He is in- 
 duced to sign an order for the arrest of traitors ; the name 
 of Matilda is included. — Plan of the Queen Dowager and 
 Goldberg to prevent an interview between Matilda and 
 her husband. — Trial and condemnation of the Queen and 
 her alleged paramour. — She is divorced and banished from 
 Denmark. — Cruelty and injustice of the trial. — Extra- 
 ordinary policy of George HI. — Statement of Sarti, the 
 Composer. — Usurpation of all the power by Juliana and 
 her satellites. — Death of Matilda Christian VH. — Admi- 
 rable conduct of the Crown Prince, now Frederick VI.- — 
 Juliana and her accomplices removed from power. — Depar- 
 ture for Stockholm. — Singular conversation with an old 
 seaman. Page 113 — 138. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 COURT OF SWEDEN. 
 
 Journey from Helsenburg to Stockholm. — Face of the coun- 
 try. — Arrival in the Swedish capital. — Count Erval Fersen. 
 — Drottingholm and review. — Gustavus III. — The Princess 
 Sophia Albertina. — Court drawing-room. — Introduction 
 to the Princess Frederica of Baden. — Her Highness' Dame 
 (lildiiueur. — Royal marriage, and splendid banquet at the
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Vicks Saal. — Ludicrous incident The Takel Tanse. — 
 
 Magnificent representation of the celebrated drama of 
 " Gustavus Vasa." Page 139 — 155. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Natural characteristics of the Swedish territory. — Its expor- 
 tation of dried fish. — Relative modes of preparing it prac- 
 tised in Sweden and in Scotland. — Preference of the latter. 
 — Successive territorial losses. — Personal peculiarities of 
 the Swedes. — Swedish inns, and hospitality. — Gustavus 
 III. and the Empress Catherine of Russia. — Committee of 
 
 dress. — The Princesses DaschcofF and Baratinzky Lally, 
 
 the violinist. — His dismay on receiving a compliment from 
 Gustavus. — Explanation of the Abbe Vogler. — Marriage of 
 Gustavus. — His singular conduct towards his wife. —The 
 Count de Munck. — Alleged illegitimacy of the heir to the 
 throne. — Ulrica, the Queen Mother. — Her sedulous cspi- 
 onnage of the proceedings of the King and his confidential 
 servant. — Ambitious and vindictive character of this Prin- 
 cess. — Atrocious reports disseminated by her, respecting 
 the morals of her two eldest sons. Page 156 — 171. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The authoress encounters, at the baths of Carlsbad, in Bo- 
 hemia, the Duchess of Mecklenburgh Schwerin and her 
 suite. — Arrival of a courier from the Duke. — Contents of 
 the despatches. — Invitation of the Duchess. — Character of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, successor of Gustavus HI. — His pro- 
 jected marriage with the Princess of Mecklenburgh pro- 
 hibited by Catherine the Great. — Departure of the King 
 for St. Petersburgh, with his uncle, the Duke of Suder- 
 mania. — The Empress proposes her niece to Gustavus 
 Adolphus. — Mutual affection of the parties. — Attempted 
 treachery of Catherine, and restraint of the King of Swe- 
 den. — He refuses to sign the marriage contract, and de-
 
 Xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 parts for Stockholm Astonishment and dismay of the 
 
 Courtiers. — Surreptitious treaty between Catherine and 
 Gustavus III.— Intrigues of the Duke of Sudermania, 
 afterwards Charles XIII. Page 172—182. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The British Army at Bremen. — Extortion and insolence of 
 an innkeeper and a magistrate. — Disorderly conduct, and 
 disasters of the English troops. — High-road to Hamburgh 
 and Hanover. — Advantages of Macadamization. — Lud- 
 wigslust and its ceremonials. — Etiquette in the minor 
 German States.— The Red Deer at Munich. — Method of 
 ablution there. — Hotels of Vienna. — A German bed, and 
 one of its occupants. Page 183 — 192. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Further particulars relative to the Court of Stockholm. — 
 Influence of Frederick the Great in regulating the succes- 
 sion to the Swedish throne. — The Princess Ulrica, sister 
 to Frederick ; her personal deformity, and how occasion- 
 ed. — Advice of Louis XW to the Duchess of Parma. — 
 Intrigues of Ulrica after the death of her husband, Adol- 
 phus Frederick. — Sterility of the Duchess of Sudermania, 
 and fruitfulness of the Princess Sophia Albertina. — A 
 stratagem and a disappointment. — The woolly-headed in- 
 truder, and the cushion-baby Reconciliation of Gustavus 
 
 in. to his bride, and consequent birth of Gustavus Adol- 
 phus. — Behaviour of the Queen-dowager on the occasion. 
 — The Duke of Austragozia in the South of France. — 
 His communication to the Authoress. — Baron d'Armfeldt 
 and the Princess De Rohan. — Interesting facts gathered 
 from a correspondence between the Baron and Count 
 Fersen, &c. Page 193— 212.
 
 CONTENTS. XVll 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Characteristic Sketch of Count Erval Fersen, — His dis- 
 interested attachment to Gustavus III. — Accompanies 
 that Monarch to the various Courts of Europe. — His 
 eclat at Versailles. — The King of Sweden and Marie An- 
 toinette. — Defeated manoeuvre of Gustavus. — Count Fer- 
 sen left behind, as ambassador to the French Court. — 
 Confidence reposed in him by Louis XVI. — Glance at the 
 earlier days of the French Revolution. — Specimens of the 
 vacillating character of Louis. — The Queen at the Opera. — 
 Prompt behaviour of Fersen. — Her Majesty accomplishes 
 her retreat from the theatre. — Plot of the Crown Monopoly. 
 — Real intentions of Louis in quitting France. — Scheme 
 projected for that purpose by Fersen. — Frustrated by the 
 violence of the mob. — Count Mirabeau. — Fersen partakes 
 the flight and return of the Royal Family, and afterwards 
 escapes from France. — Previous quarrel on his account, 
 between the Princess de Lamballe and the Duchess d'Or- 
 leans. — Fersen nominated by his Sovereign Governor of 
 Upsal. — His mission to Carlsbad, and its results. — Murder 
 of a Republican emissary, and accusation of the Count. — 
 His innocence manifested. — Congress at Rastadt, and po- 
 licy of Sweden at that period. — Conduct of Fersen re- 
 lative to the disputes between Gustavus Adolphus and 
 Charles XIII. — Dethronement of the former. — Fersea's 
 spirited remonstrance and subsequent insurrection.— His 
 death, and that of the Prince of Augustenberg. 
 
 Page 213—241. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 COURT OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 Axiom of Frederick the Great.— The appeal of General 
 Swieten, and its reception — The old Widow and her Se- 
 venteen sons. — ^The veteran malcontent, and his flight. — 
 Vol. I. b
 
 Xvill CONTENTS. 
 
 Frederick and Marshal Loudon at Potsdam. — The sign of 
 " the Prasrue." — The Countess de Vosse and the Baroness 
 de Knoblsdroff.— Frederick I. and Charles VI.— A true 
 Prophecy.— The Page and the cherries. — The Jew Banker. 
 — A certificate for " value received." — Prussian coinage 
 during the Seven Years' War. — A royal method of " Rais- 
 ing the Wind." Page 242—257. 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COURT OF PRUSSIA continued by BARON DE M. 
 
 Intrigues of the Baron de Stein in 1808. — ^The Embassy of 
 the Assessor Hope. — Imprudent conduct of that individual. 
 — His arrest, and seizure of his despatches. — Curious let- 
 ter to Prince Wittgenstein from Baron de Stein and the 
 Countess Voss. — ^Trepidation of Marshal Soult's inter- 
 preter. — Behaviour of the Marshal. — The anti-Gallican 
 parrot. — Colonel de Gautherot's embassy to Paris, and re- 
 turn to Berlin. — His interview with Napoleon to transmit 
 the substance of the intercepted letters. — Deportment of 
 the French Emperor. — Soult's remarks thereupon. — The 
 " Delicate Investigation." — Disavowal of the King and 
 Queen of Prussia. — Disgrace of the Baron de Stein, and 
 his outlawry by Napoleon. — He subsequently enters into 
 the service of Russia. Page 258 — 269. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Marshal Soult's administration at Berlin. — His popularity 
 with all classes. — His gentleness and generosity as con- 
 trasted to the severity of his predecessor, Victor. — The 
 House of Cadets. — The inspector of this Institution, and 
 Colonel L. — Their reception by Marshal Soult. — A whole 
 estal)lishment on the point of perishing from hunger. — 
 The Marshal's bounty, and the singular expression of gra- 
 titude produced by it. — Acknowledgments on the part of
 
 CONTENTS. Xix 
 
 the King of Prussia of the Marshal's benevolence. — His 
 recal and the appointment of Marshal Davoust. — ^That 
 Commander detects a correspondence between the Prince 
 of Orange and Major Schill. — His considerate conduct. — 
 Hostile preparations of Austria. — General Andreossi ; and 
 his dispatches. — Conference between Marshal Davoust and 
 the author. — General St. Hilaire. — Count de St. Marsan 
 — His liberal behaviour and its happy result. 
 
 Page 270 — 282. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Justus Gruner, President of the Prussian Police. — His aug- 
 mented powers, and the confidence placed in him by the 
 King. — His treacherous proposal to Frederick-William 
 and Alexander. — His consequent disgrace. — He is found 
 upon the Austrian territory and imprisoned. — His release 
 demanded by the monarchs of Russia and Prussia. — His 
 restoration to the favour of Alexander. — His rigorous con- 
 duct as Civil Governor of Berg. — Counsellor Bein. — Gru- 
 ner at the head of the Secret Police in Paris, during its 
 occupation by the Allied Sovereigns. — His rejection by the 
 King of Saxony as Ambassador from Prussia. — His death. 
 — Character, both public and private. — Marshal Blucher 
 and the Prince de Hardenberg. — ^The Marshal's passion 
 for gambling. — " A New Way to Pay Old Debts.'' — Blu- 
 cher's opinion as to who won the battle of Waterloo. — 
 Counts Haugwitz and Schullenbourg. — Corruption and 
 manoeuvring of the former. — Policy of Napoleon. — Count 
 SchuUenbourg's perfidy and ingratitude. Page 283 — 300. 
 
 CHAPTER XVH. 
 
 Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg. — His conferences at Stut- 
 gard, with the Emperor Napoleon. — Mission of the Prince 
 to his relative and Sovereign, the King of Prussia. — His 
 interview with that Monarch, and the Emperor Alexander
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 at Potsdam. — Indignation of the latter. — Departure of Eu- 
 gene for Berlin. — His explanation to the Author. — He ad- 
 dresses a letter and memorial to Frederick-William. — His 
 recall. — Fatal results of the battle of Jena. — Memoir of 
 Duke Louis of Wurtemberg. — His brother Henry. — That 
 Prince's lavish expenditure upon his regiment. — Breach of 
 promise on the part of the King of Prussia. — Quarrel 
 between his Majesty and Duke Henry. — Their recon- 
 ciliation. — Mademoiselle Caroline Alexi, daughter of the 
 director of the theatre at Oels. Page 301 — SI 2. 
 
 CHAPTER XVHI. 
 
 Apologetic Mission of Marshal Duroc. — -Influence of theQueen 
 of Prussia over her husband. — Her attachment to the Rus- 
 sian Imperial Family. — Manoeuvres of Duroc and the 
 
 . French ambassador at Berlin, to counteract the influence of 
 the Queen. — Mademoiselle Augusta Schultz. — Plot formed 
 against her by the Prussian officers of the garrison. — 
 Interposition of the King in her favour. — Intrigues found- 
 ed upon the latter circumstance. — Interview between the 
 King and Augusta in the gardens of Charlottenbourg. — 
 Rumours consequent thereupon. — Remonstrance of the 
 Queen. — Her Majesty's precipitate departure for Pyrmont. 
 — Personal sketches of the Prussian Royal Family. — 
 Prince Louis Ferdinand, and his fate. — Prince Augustus 
 and Madame Wichman. — Napoleon and the Duchess of 
 
 Saxe Weimar.— Mission of the Canon Tam First entry of 
 
 Bonaparte into Berlin.— His reception of the Prussian 
 ministers. — Cause of the rupture between France and 
 Prussia, which was followed by these events. — Unrelent- 
 ing hatred of Frederick William to Napoleon, and his 
 equally earnest affection for the Emperor Alexander. 
 
 Page 3 13— -334.
 
 CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Misrepresentations respecting the death of the Queen of 
 Prussia. — Authentic account of her indisposition, and its 
 fatal result. — Her Majesty's last moments. — Her inter- 
 ment in a Chapel built for the purpose at Charlottenbourg. 
 — The Grand-duke Constantine of Russia. — His popu- 
 larity at the Court of Berlin. — A scene at the Opera. — 
 Mademoiselle Hentchel. — Her beauty, and the intimation 
 of a visit to her from Constantine. — Preparations for 
 his Imperial Highness's reception. — The Grand-duke's 
 disappointment, and precipitate retreat. — Departure of 
 Major Schill from Berlin in 1805. — Interviews between 
 him and the Author. — His presage of his own fate. — ^The 
 female patriot, Madame Obermann. — Biographical sketch 
 of her Royal Highness the present Duchess of Cumber- 
 land. Page 335—350. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Farther anecdotes relative to the Grand-duke Constantine. — 
 The famous Russian General Souwarrow. — His peculiari- 
 ties on the field of battle. — His treatment of a Secretary 
 of Legation. — Scene on parade between him and the Empe- 
 ror Paul. — The Emperor Napoleon and Count Mankow. — 
 An evening party at St. Petersburgh. — Prince Lapuchin. — 
 Klopstock the poet. — His eulogiums of the Emperor Alex- 
 ander. — His disinterested spirit. — Feodora, the fair exile 
 of Siberia. — Her journey to St. Petersburgh. — Alexander's 
 generous behaviour. Page 351 — 364. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Rupture between the King of Prussia and Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, thedeposed King of Sweden. — Martial Despatches. — 
 Order of the Black Eagle. — Interposition of the Emperor 
 Alexander. — Manoeuvres of his Envoy. — Amicable Ar- 
 rangement. — Causes of Bonaparte's Indignation at Gusta-
 
 XXil CONTENTS. 
 
 vus Adolphus. — Intrigues of his Agents at Stockholm. — 
 Abdicatiou of theKing. — Personal description of the famous 
 Count de Munck. — Interview and Treaty between him and 
 his reputed Son, Gustavus. — Conference on the Tilsit Raft. 
 — Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia. — Origin of Bona- 
 parte's choice of Maria Louisa. — Extracts from a Letter 
 of that Princess to Count Edling. — Marshal Loudon at the 
 Siege of Belgrade. — Sketch of the Marshal's early life. 
 
 Page 365—384. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 COURT OF NAPLES, &c. 
 
 Character and Memoir of Alviso Mocenigo. — Journey of the 
 Authoress to the Tyrol. — ^The Archduchess Marianna, and 
 Marchesi the castrato. — Chagrin of the latter at his cold 
 reception at Inspruck. — Pacchierotti at a private concert 
 of the Queen of France. — Observations on the style of 
 that celebrated Soprano. — The Elector of Bavaria, Charles 
 Theodore. — Incidents met with by the Authoress at his 
 Court. — The Count de Sahano. — Compliment paid by 
 Haydn to the Authoress. — ^The late King and Queen of 
 Bavaria. — Biographical Sketch of his Majesty. — Presump- 
 tuous conduct of Madame Catalani. 
 
 Page 384—404. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Marriage of Ferdinand IV., late King of Naples, with the 
 Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. — Sinister policy 
 of the Austrian Cabinet. — Ineflfectual chagrin and dismis- 
 sal of Tanucci. — His successor, the Marquis de Sambuca. 
 — Introduction of Acton, the favourite of the Queen. — 
 Breaking out of the French Revolution. — Conduct pursued 
 by Caroline. — Singular condition of the Court of Naples at
 
 CONTENTS. XXIU 
 
 the period. — The Junta of State. — Its incarceration of 
 several unoffending youths, and its abolition. — Another 
 sanguinary tribunal established. — Vanni, its president, and 
 his retributive fate. — General Mack, and his conduct when 
 prisoner of war in France. — Assassination of a messenger 
 despatched by the Queen to Nelson. — Retirement of the 
 Court to "Sicily. — Imputed orders of her Majesty. — Con- 
 flagration of the Neapolitan fleet. 
 
 Page 405—419. 
 
 o 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Remarks on the emigration of the Court to Sicily. — The 
 " Parthenopean Republic." — Roger de Damas and the 
 Cardinal de RufFo. — The cruelties of Mammone Gaetano, 
 a Royalist chieftain. — Sketch of the belligerent Cardinal. 
 — Atrocities perpetrated on the delivery of Naples into 
 the hands of the Royalists. — Capitulation of Chateau Neuf. 
 — The violation by Caroline and her creature Acton. — 
 Observations on the conduct of Lord Nelson. — ^Treachery 
 of the Commander of the French troops. — Characteristic 
 sketches of Queen Caroline, of Lady Hamilton, and of 
 Acton. — The principal victims to the violation of the 
 treaty. Page 420 — 441. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Nomination of Joseph Bonaparte to the throne of Naples. — 
 Description of this Prince. — His favourite ministers, Sali- 
 cetti and Roederer. — Arrival of Joseph's Family. — Surprise 
 of the Neapolitans at his recall. — Nomination of Joachim 
 Murat. — ^Thoughts on certain portions of the policy of 
 Napoleon. — Murat's peculiar character and talents.— He 
 entertains all his poor relations at a banquet, upon his
 
 XXiv CONTENTS. 
 
 being invested with the title of Prince of the French Em- 
 pire-General characteristics and mistakes of Bonaparte s 
 kinc^s-Joachim's love of personal display-Predomi- 
 nance of the military during his reign-Caroline Murat. 
 -Opinion entertained of her by Talleyrand.-Murat s de- 
 termination to hold himself independent of Napoleon.- 
 Bad faith evinced towards him by the French Emperor.- 
 Retort of Joachim.-Mock invasion of Sicdy by Murat.- 
 Unfortunate piece of neglect, compromising the safety ot 
 the Neapolitan army.-Sir Hudson Lowe.-The Pnnce of 
 Canisa -Death of Murat.-Latter days of Carohne Murat 
 at Naples.-Her conciliating and admirable behaviour- 
 Temporary incredulity of the Neapolitans as to Joachim s 
 fate.-Explanatory sketch of the sect of the Carbonari. 
 
 Page 44-2 — 469
 
 PRIVATE ANECDOTES 
 
 OF 
 
 FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 COURT OF RUSSIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Origin of the marriage of the Princess Sophia of Anhalt- 
 zerbst, afterwards Catherine II. to Peter III. — Intrigues 
 of the Princess Anhaltzerbst to secure the match for her 
 daughter. — Friendly conduct of Elizabeth. — The negotia- 
 tion aided by Frederick the Great. — IMutual attachment 
 of Peter and the Princess Sophia. — Sudden malady of the 
 former. — Its effects. — Dissimulation of Catherine. — The 
 marriage takes place. — Prudent conduct of Catherine. — 
 The arrogance and intrigues of the Princess of Anhalt 
 causes her banishment from Russia. — The first amour of 
 Catherine with SaltikofF. — Amusements at Peterhoff — De- 
 claration of Saltikoff. — His departure to, and return from 
 Moscow.— Address and presence of mind of Ca,therine. 
 — Her interview with the Empress. — Confidence restored 
 on the part of Elizabeth and the Grand-duke. 
 
 I INTRODUCE my Anecdotes by several curi- 
 ous particulars relative to the intrigues, private 
 VOL. I. li •
 
 2 ANECDOTES OF 1 OllEIGN COURTS. 
 
 and political, of the Court of Russia, at which 
 I was for some time resident. 
 
 All Europe has been deceived as to the real 
 cause of the matrimonial alliance which took 
 place between Peter the Third, while he was 
 Grand-duke, and the Princess Sophia of An- 
 haltzerbst. It has been attributed to the great 
 influence which Frederick, King of Prussia, 
 exercised over the mind of Peter. That the 
 Prussian monarch was anxious for their union 
 there is no doubt ; yet it will be proved that 
 this marriage, which originated in a sentiment 
 of mutual affection, almost conceived at first 
 sight by both parties, and which ended so tra- 
 gically to the one, and triumpliantly to the 
 other, did not, as Tsome writers have asserted, 
 take i)lace in consequence of the supposed in- 
 trigues of Frederick. 
 
 The truth is, that the Empress Elizabeth, 
 long before she had been raised to the sove- 
 reignty, had, during her father's life, been pro- 
 mised in marriage to the Prince of Holstein 
 Eutin, brother to the reigning Princess of An- 
 haltzerbst, the mother of Princess Sophia. This 
 jirince, whom she tenderly loved, was unfortu- 
 nately carried off' by sudden death, on the very 
 eve of their intended union. Tims cruelly dis- 
 appuintid in all her hopes, Elizabeth made a
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH. 3 
 
 VOW of never after entering into the matrimo- 
 nial state, a resolution which she kept publicly, 
 though it did not prevent her from a more 
 than ordinary indulgence in those excesses for 
 which so many of her contemporaries w^ere 
 celebrated. Indeed, ill-nature has gone so far 
 as to assimilate her habits and character to one 
 of the wives of the Emperor Clodius, adding, 
 that, like another Messalina, the gratification of 
 her passions knew no bounds. Notwithstand- 
 ing the amorous predilections of Elizabeth, 
 she always looked back with the fondest recol- 
 lection on the object of her first attachment, 
 and never spoke of him without shedding 
 tears, even to the last days of her life. 
 
 The Princess of Anhalt w^as, therefore, well 
 aware of Elizabeth's attachment to the memory 
 of her late brother ; and when she became Em- 
 press, resolved to profit by the circumstance, in 
 securing the Imperial crown for her daughter. 
 This project being communicated to the great 
 Frederick, he applauded the scheme, and pro- 
 mised to aid her with all his influence. The 
 Princess of Anhalt soon after took her daugh- 
 ter to the court of Saint Petersburgh, where 
 they were received with open arms, and treat- 
 ed in the most friendly manner by Elizabeth. 
 The young stranger, who was then considered 
 
 B 2
 
 4 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 handsome, and adorned with all those graces of 
 art so interesting in early life, did not fail to 
 make the desired impression on the mind and 
 heart of the Grand-duke, this being indeed 
 the great object in view, and sole motive of the 
 visit to the court of Elizabeth, 
 
 Peter, the presumptive heir, though without 
 any graces of person, was a fine well-grown 
 young man, with a good figure, to which he 
 added amiable manners and a pleasing address ; 
 so that the attachment thus formed was soon 
 observed by the court, and, to the satisfaction 
 of the two mothers, it seemed to be reciprocal. 
 Agreeably to the part she had proposed to her- 
 self, no sooner had the Princess of Anhalt 
 perceived the effect produced on the Grand- 
 duke by the society of her daughter, than she 
 seized the first favourable moment of throwing 
 herself at the feet of Elizabeth, and imploring 
 her protection for the two lovers ; taking care 
 to remind the Empress of the passion for the 
 late Prince of Holstein, which she herself had 
 never been able to conquer, and entreating her 
 Imperial Majesty to complete the happiness of 
 the niece of him w^hose loss she still so bitterly 
 deplored. 
 
 Whether it arose from a sentiment of grati- 
 tude toAvards the memory of her departed lover, 
 or some other motive connected with the poll
 
 MALADY OF THE GRAND-DUKE. 5 
 
 tical intrigues of the day, Elizabeth appeared 
 to have anticipated the wishes of the Princess ; 
 for she not only heard the proposal with plea- 
 sure, but mingled her tears with those of the 
 suppliant, embraced her, and terminated the in- 
 terview by promising that her daughter should 
 be Grand-duchess of Russia. 
 
 On the following day, the Empress being at- 
 tired in her imperial robes, announced to the 
 senate and council of state, as well as to the 
 Princes and nobles of the empire, the choice 
 she had made for the future consort of her 
 nephew, and presenting Catherine as Grand- 
 duchess of Russia, invited the foreign ambas- 
 sadors to sanction the marriage by their pre- 
 sence at the approaching ceremonies. This 
 being determined, and a day fixed for carrying 
 the same into effect with all that Eastern pomp 
 and magnificence which Elizabeth was so fond 
 of displaying on such occasions, the whole 
 court was filled with joy and gaiety at the pro- 
 mised felicity of the Imperial couple, as the 
 natural result of mutual affection so rarely 
 combined in royal marriages ; when all parties 
 were suddenly thrown into the greatest alarm 
 for the life of the Grand-duke, who was attacked 
 with a violent fever, the precursor of a still more 
 dangerous disease — the small-pox ; so that Ca- 
 therine, like Elizabeth, was also on the point of
 
 6 ANECDOTES ()F FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 losing her lover. He, however, recovered : but 
 the malady had left such cruel traces, as to 
 cause the most disagreeable metamorphosis* 
 leaving Peter not merely a wreck of what he 
 had lately been, but almost hideous to the 
 sight. 
 
 During the Grand-duke's illness, his intend- 
 ed bride was not allowed to approach the apart- 
 ment ; but she was regularly informed of the 
 progress of the malady by her mother, who, 
 perceiving the extraordinary change effected by 
 the disease, became so much alarmed at the pro- 
 bable consequences on the mind of the young 
 Princess, whenever they should meet, that she 
 determined to prepare her for the first interview, 
 by telling her that the Grand-duke had become 
 the most frightful and ugly being she ever be- 
 held. This repulsive intimation was accom- 
 panied by an urgent recommendation that she 
 would dissimulate her disgust, and not betray 
 any <nitward symptoms of disappointment or 
 surprise. 
 
 This seasonable advice was not thrown away ; 
 inex])erienced as she was, the young Princess 
 had lived long enough in courts to know how 
 to restrain her feelings, whenever an object was 
 to be gained. Accordingly, when the inter- 
 view took j)lace, she ran to meet the Duke 
 with open arms, and congratulating him on his
 
 DISS^IMULATION OF CATHERINE. 7 
 
 fortunate recovery, expressed the greatest joy 
 at the prospect of their approaching union. 
 Notwithstanding the above artful manifestation 
 of outward joy, the Princess had scarcely re- 
 tired to her own apartments, before her real 
 feelings were betrayed, for she sank on a sofa, 
 became convulsed, and was confined to her bed 
 several days. 
 
 However violent the internal struggles of 
 the young Princess may have been, she made 
 no attempt to impede or protract the solem- 
 nization of the nuptial ceremony, while the 
 Empress seemed quite overjoyed to find her 
 jyrotegee so reconciled to the Grand-duke's total 
 loss of personal attraction. The Princess of 
 Anhalt, on the other hand, aware of the in- 
 ward sentiments of her daughter, and dreading 
 the consequences, felt daily more anxious to 
 see the marriage concluded. But the subse- 
 quent history of Catherine renders it probable 
 that she had already anticipated her future 
 greatness by this alliance; no wonder, there- 
 fore, if her motives lor wishing to hasten the 
 ceremony were somewhat different from those 
 of her mother and the Empress. 
 
 Such being the auspices under which the 
 marriage took place, it could scarcely be ex- 
 pected that much domestic harmony or real 
 affection was likely to follow in its train.
 
 8 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Indeed the sudden and unalterable aversion 
 which was soon after evinced by Catherine, 
 has been attributed to another cause in addi- 
 tion to the Grand-duke's loss of personal at- 
 traction. It was even said at court, that while 
 the bride blended her contempt for her hus- 
 band with a sentiment of commiseration, by 
 no means usual on such occasions, a feeling of 
 shame and disappointment on his part, at being 
 unable to consummate the marriage, could only 
 find a refuge in debauchery and intoxication. 
 
 The conduct of Catherine in this dilemma, 
 which would have overwhelmed most of her 
 sex, was marked by the greatest prudence. 
 Closely adhering to the lessons and injunc- 
 tions of the Princess, her mother, she retired 
 from the intrigues of the court of Elizabeth 
 to the palace of Peterhoff, where her whole 
 time was occupied in studying how to increase 
 her popularity among all classes, and forming 
 a party among the most powerful nobles of 
 the empire. Those amorous predilections, for 
 which she was afterwards so celebrated, were 
 completely concealed at this period, that they 
 might not interfere with the paramount ob- 
 ject of realizing her future plans ; and if, dur- 
 ing her seclusion from the court, Catherine 
 did not succeed in gaining either the friend-
 
 BANISHMENT OF THE PRINCESS. 9 
 
 ship or confidence of the Empress, she con- 
 ducted herself in a manner to deserve her 
 esteem. 
 
 It is a singular fact, with regard to the Prin- 
 cess of Anhalt, that, while she acted as so 
 prudent an adviser and guide to her daughter, 
 her own conduct was so impolitic and over- 
 bearing towards the nobility and foreign mi- 
 nisters, that the Empress, in order to put a 
 stop to the cabals which she was constantly 
 creating, and prevent an open rupture, was 
 compelled not only to withdraw her friendship 
 from the Princess, but banish her from the 
 Russian dominions altogether.* 
 
 This separation was at first apparently a 
 source of deep regret to Catherine ; but the bril- 
 liant prospect, which seemed already to burst 
 forth, added to some secret amours and a va- 
 riety of public amusements, soon consoled her 
 for the absence of her mother, with whom, 
 however, a correspondence was kept up for 
 
 * This Princess died at Paris in 1760 in great distress. 
 It will scarcely be credited that Catherine, Avhose muni- 
 ficence and liberality to men of genius and talent were almost 
 proverbial, not only peremptorily refused to pay her mo- 
 ther's just debts, but suffered her to pine in want, though 
 repeatedly a])plied to on the subject by the ministers of 
 France and Russia resident at the respective courts.
 
 10 .\NK(^DOTES OF FOIIEIGN COUllTS. 
 
 some years through the medium of the Baron 
 de Breteuil, Freneh ambassador at the court of 
 Saint Petersburgh. 
 
 Among the young noblemen who formed the 
 court of the Grand-duke, and most of whom 
 were occupied in those continual orgies of dis- 
 sipation adopted by the Prince himself, there 
 was one, at least, who distinguished himself 
 from the rest of this dissolute crew, as much by 
 his good taste in cultivating the fine arts, as by 
 the urbanity of his character, and his manly per- 
 sonal qualifications. This was the young Prince 
 SaltikofF, the Grand-duke's principal chamber- 
 lain, and who, though a constant companion of 
 his excesses, yet blushed in secret for the frailties 
 of his master. Although still very young, Sal- 
 tikoff had become conspicuous in several affairs 
 of gallantry ; and though somewhat effeminate, 
 such was his ambition to shine in this way, that, 
 while his personal courage was not unfrequently 
 called in question by an offended husband or 
 brother, he had often carried his boldness so far 
 as to risk beini^ sent to Siberia. The idol of 
 the Russian ladies, and anxious to render him- 
 self still more distinguished, no wonder that 
 the attentions of Saltikoff should have been 
 early directed to tlie Grand-ducliess. How- 
 ever this design may have been favoured by
 
 PRINCE SALTIKOFF AND CATHERINE. 11 
 
 the general circumstances of the court, and the 
 well-known neglect shown towards Catherine 
 by her husband, caution was necessary to avoid 
 suspicions which must have proved fatal to all 
 his future hopes. He therefore commenced his 
 new career of conquest by studiously observing 
 the character of her whom he had marked out 
 as a fit object to crown all his previous tri- 
 umphs. 
 
 Those to whom Nature has given a tact for 
 observation, cannot have a better school for 
 its improvement than a court. The experi- 
 ence of SaltikofF had already enabled him to 
 perceive, that, notwithstanding all the arts of 
 Catherine and her studied hypocrisy, she was 
 only assuming a part, in pretending to court 
 privacy and retirement, for which neither na- 
 ture nor inclination ever intended her ; and al- 
 though masked under that thick veil of dissi- 
 mulation, for which she was so distinguished 
 throughout her long reign, he was, perhaps, 
 the first to discover the unlimited ambition of 
 this extraordinary woman, as well as that she 
 was imposing the most painful restraint on her 
 feelings by confining herself within the walls of 
 a country palace, while in her heart she lan- 
 guished for publicity and power. With all his 
 profligacy, it formed a part of the Grand- duke's
 
 12 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 policy to prevent the influence which a woman 
 of Catlierine's address and manner might have 
 obtained at court ; and though she submitted 
 to her present seclusion with the best possible 
 grace, she evidently declined in health and spi- 
 rits. This appeared an auspicious moment for 
 SaltikofF, who, in order to cover his real designs, 
 determined to adopt an expedient which had 
 no immediate connection with them. One day 
 in addressing the Grand-duke, he took occasion 
 to notice the murmurs and complaints of the 
 officers of his household, at their being kept in 
 the country, deprived of those gaieties and di- 
 versions which enlivened the court of her Im- 
 perial Majesty, humbly suggesting, as a means 
 of reconciling them to PeterhofF, that occasional 
 balls and masquerades should be given, as at 
 Saint Petersburgh. This recommendation of 
 the chamberlain was listened to with much 
 more indulgence than he anticipated from the 
 strict economy enjoined by the Empress, and 
 Saltikoff had the additional satisfaction of be- 
 ing appointed to superintend the proposed 
 f^tes. lie was thus enabled, inider pretext of 
 dissipating the tedious hours of the Grand- 
 duke and his officers, to open a new source of 
 recreation to Catherine, and thus insensibly led 
 the w.iy to the distinction with which he was
 
 PRINCE SALTIKOFF AND CATHERINE. 13 
 
 subsequently honoured ; for it is scarcely to be 
 doubted that the young aspirant found means 
 to insure to himself the merit of having led to 
 this animated innovation on the dull monotony 
 of Peterhoff. 
 
 The Grand-duchess did not long remain in- 
 sensible to the respectful, the self-evident marks 
 of attention of the Prince ; who, being besides 
 favoured with a fine person and seducing man- 
 ners, could hardly fail making a lively impres- 
 sion on the heart of one who had been thus 
 abandoned by her natural protector. While 
 Saltikoff was inwardly exidting in the success 
 of his assiduities, he felt convinced tliat the 
 object of his ambition was not to be attained 
 without great risk, and that, consequently, new 
 precautions were called for as his advances pro- 
 ceeded. Foreseeing, therefore, the danger of 
 an open avowal of his sentiments, since it 
 might lead to the ruin of his hopes, the favourite 
 continued in that painful state of suspense, 
 unwilling to recede and fearful of advancing, 
 which is only known to those who have been 
 placed in a similar situation. While harassed by 
 the fear of detection on one side, and the mor- 
 tification of being supplanted by some more 
 fortunate rival, a most propitious and rather 
 unlooked-for event suddenly drew him out of
 
 14 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 all liis perplexities. The death of his father at 
 Moscow having rendered his presence necessary 
 in that city, he applied for leave of absence, 
 and obtained it — on condition, however, that 
 he should resume his situation of chamberlain 
 after paying the last sad offices to his deceased 
 parent ; and made such other arrangements as 
 were required by the recent melancholy event. 
 Among the ceremonies usual on such occa- 
 sions, were those of taking formal leave of the 
 Empress and Grand-duchess, then in the me- 
 tropolis. On appearing before the latter, to 
 quit her for the first time, Saltikoff could not 
 refrain from expressing his regret at being se- 
 parated from her presence, and thus rendered 
 incapable of fulfilling those duties of his of- 
 fice which he flattered himself had not been 
 disagreeable to her Imperial Highness. The 
 Princess, on perceiving an emotion which 
 spoke something more than the regret of a 
 First Chamberlain, was scarcely less moved by 
 the motive which, it was too plain, had given 
 rise to it; and fixing her eyes on Saltikoff, in a 
 manner that could not be mistaken, urged him 
 to hasten his return to Saint Petersburgh, 
 where he woidd, no doubt, soon forget the late 
 domestic calamity amidst the varied pleasures
 
 PRINCE SALTIKOFF. 15 
 
 and cheerful society of the capital.* Scarcely 
 had SaltikofF time to express his gratitude for 
 this unexpected demonstration of sympathy on 
 the part of Catherine, when she added, with 
 still more warmth and assurance, that " she did 
 not anticipate any satisfaction from the amuse- 
 ments of PeterhofF during his absence." The 
 effect produced by these consoling words 
 may be easily conceived, even in one of less 
 vanity than Saltikoff was known to possess. 
 Hastening to JMoscow, the advice of the 
 Grand-duchess had made too deep an im- 
 pression on the Chamberlain's mind, to ad- 
 mit of his devoting much time to the object 
 of his visit. So that he had no sooner depo- 
 sited the remains of his parent in the family 
 vault, and taken possession of the inheritance, 
 than he bent his way back to Saint Peters- 
 burgh. While on the road, and ruminating on 
 
 * It has been reported by many of her confidential friends, 
 that notwithstanding her seeming attachment to Saltikoff, 
 Catherine had already possessed other lovers at Saint Peters- 
 burgh, particularly a Neapolitan Marquess and a Piedmon- 
 tese Count, who were both dismissed from the Russian terri- 
 tory by order of the Empress Elizabeth, while the Grand- 
 duchess herself was exiled to the palace of Peterhoff during 
 pleasure. This circumstance is said to have taken place 
 soon after the banishment of the Princess her mother.
 
 16 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the happiness which awaited him at Peterhoff, 
 a tliousaud contending cniotions disturbed the 
 imagination of Saltikoff. • AVhile, however, his 
 passion, and that ambition which spurred him 
 on to achieve a conquest, commenced under 
 such favourable auspices, afforded new sources 
 of joyous anticipation ac every step, the fears 
 of a discovery, and those consequences which 
 would inevitably follow in its train, filled him 
 witli the greatest alarm. He called to mind 
 the frequent instances of exile, perpetual im- 
 prisonment, and even death, which had attend- 
 ed similar acts of temerity ; while, on the other 
 hand, he dared not flatter himself that Cathe- 
 rine could so far forget the dignity of her own 
 rank, or the duty she owed her husband, as to 
 receive in his stead the embraces of a simple 
 chamberlain. Such were the reflections which, 
 by tiu'ns, occupied his mind till he reached the 
 capital. That they still continued to agitate 
 the feelings of Saltikoff, may be inferred from 
 a conversation held with his sister and only 
 confidant, the Princess Narishkin, soon after 
 his arrival. " If," said he, " I am ever happy 
 enough to succeed, and she condescends to 
 avow her affection, how will it be possible to 
 elude, or deceive the penetrating eyes of the 
 jealous courtiers who surround her, and watch
 
 AMOUR OF CATHERINE WITH SALTIKOTF. 17 
 
 all her movements? How can I any longer 
 cherish, or encourage a guilty passion which 
 threatens me with eternal dishonour, and to 
 which my life itself may be sacrificed ? I am 
 terrified and tremble at the thought of my pre- 
 sumption : I will think no more of it, and am 
 resolved to renounce every idea of so hazardous 
 an intrigue." Such were the reflections and 
 resolutions of SaltikofF, as they generally are of 
 all those who struggle against a similar passion, 
 when the object which inspired it is no longer 
 present.* 
 
 It has been truly observed, that there is no 
 better mode of overcoming scruples like these 
 of SaltikofF, than consulting a female oracle. 
 The reply of his sister operated as a talisman, 
 and from that moment he only thought of ac- 
 complishing the object of his wishes. While the 
 Duke and Duchess were passing the summer 
 months at Oranienbaum, the Empress usually 
 
 * The above conversation was communicated to me by the 
 Princess Narishkin herself. She was, at the time, the inti- 
 mate friend, and afterwards secret confidant of all Catherine's 
 amours. The reply she made to her brother proved that she 
 was no novice in the art of love. " My dear brother," said 
 the Princess, " these sorts of reflections from a man in love 
 are like icicles before they feel the effect of the sun ; and 
 like them, will evaporate the moment that luminary sheds its 
 
 rays ! 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 18 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 occupied the Palace of Peterhoff, which liad long 
 been celebrated as the great focus of court in- 
 trigue, whether it related to politics or gallantry. 
 
 It was in one of these summer excursions 
 that SaltikofF effected what he had so long 
 sighed for, and became the happiest of mortals. 
 The better to conceal that intercourse which 
 he had now so successfully commenced, he 
 feigned indisposition, in order that he might 
 be exempted from attending the court cere- 
 monies and amusements of the Empress. Ca- 
 therine naturally caught the disease of her 
 lover; and the better to avoid impertinent 
 curiosity, she also contrived to keep her room 
 until he was sufficiently convalescent to resume 
 his duties. As to the Grand-duke, he was 
 so blinded with regard to the real object of his 
 cliamberlain's pursuits, that he was the first to 
 encourage him in partaking the solitude of his 
 wife's residence, and employing all the means in 
 his power towards diverting her attention from 
 those intense studies, which might be otherwise 
 so prejudicial to her health. There is little 
 doubt but Saltikoff joyfully obeyed the in- 
 junctions of his master ; so that the lovers were 
 thus left to the unrestrained enjoyment of all 
 their wishes. 
 
 But the horizon of their felicity was soon
 
 AMOUR OF CATHERINE WITH SALTIKOFF. 19 
 
 overcast. Scarcely had Catherine time to re- 
 flect on the false step, before she became over- 
 whelmed with the consequences of her weak- 
 ness. As might well be expected, the situation 
 in which she now found herself, threw the 
 Grand-duchess into a state of the utmost 
 agitation; she trembled at the thought of a 
 discovery, which appeared inevitable, and lost 
 no time in communicating the fatal truth to 
 Saltikoff. Instead, however, of participating 
 in her fears, the Chamberlain, as if suddenly 
 animated by those stratagems which love alone 
 can inspire, at once suggested an expedient, 
 calculated, above all others, to calm the per- 
 turbed feelings of Catherine. He promised to 
 lose no time in obtaining for her some private 
 nightly interviews with the Grand-duke ; and 
 this being accomplished forthwith, what she 
 had so greatly apprehended as the precursor of 
 ruin, terminated to the entire satisfaction of all 
 parties. 
 
 As already observed, the Grand-duke gave 
 himself up to the excesses of the table to such 
 a degree, that he seldom rose from dinner 
 without feeling the effects of having indulged 
 much too freely in wine. During these mo- 
 ments of hilarity, he would frequently deplore 
 the calamity which excluded him from the 
 
 c 3
 
 20 aNECDOTKS of FOEEir.N COUHTS. 
 
 bridal couch, and in a few instances even ex- 
 ])atiatcd on the cause. Saltikoff, having been 
 one of liis most confidential friends, was fully 
 aware of the obstacle, and no sooner ascertained 
 the situation of Catherine than he determined to 
 remove it. Previously, however, to carrying his 
 scheme into effect, it was necessary to obtain the 
 consent of the Empress. As this was a point 
 of some delicacy, although of infinite import- 
 ance at such a moment, it required consider- 
 able tact to bring it about so as to avoid creat- 
 ing suspicion as to the motive. Love, which is 
 fertile in expedients, was not dormant on this 
 occasion, and soon presented the Chamberlain 
 with a most favourable opportunity for making 
 the proposed communication. 
 
 The Princess Narishk in, when far advanced 
 in pregnancy, happening to be seated at one of 
 the card-tables, in a court-party given by the 
 Empress, her Majesty complimented her on 
 the happiness she was about to enjoy in giving 
 birth to an heir, and added, in the hearing of 
 Saltikoff her brother, " I wish, my dear Narish- 
 kin, you could communicate your felicity to 
 the Grand-duchess." The Chamberlain, adroit- 
 ly availing liimself of this incident, very plainly 
 hinted at the cause whicli prevented the wishes 
 of her Imperial Majesty from being realised, add-
 
 AMOUR OF CATHERINE WITH SALTIKOFF. 21 
 
 ing, that, with her approbation, he thought he 
 had sufficient influence with the Grand-duke to 
 induce him to consent to the removal of the ob- 
 stacle in question, and which was not less pain- 
 ful to the feelings of his Imperial Highness, than 
 prejudicial to the interests of the state. No sooner 
 had he concluded, than the Empress instantly 
 consented with the greatest joy to approve of 
 any step likely to accomplish the object she had 
 so long wished for. Nothing could have been 
 more propitious to the views of Saltikoff than 
 this conversation, and he determined to lose no 
 time in profiting by it. Accordingly, having 
 made the necessary arrangements, and confided 
 his project to those friends whose co-operation 
 was necessary, the Chamberlain took care to 
 have every thing in readiness on the following- 
 night. Having, with his chosen friends, attend- 
 ed at the supper of the Grand-duke, he wait- 
 ed till his Highness had taken the usual quan- 
 tity of wine, and then caused the conversation 
 to turn upon connubial happiness : as he anti- 
 cipated, the Grand-duke did not hesitate to ex- 
 press his regret at the circumstance which de- 
 prived him of the bliss to which all married 
 men so naturally aspired ; whereupon Saltikoff 
 and his friends immediately addressed the 
 Prince in a body, and implored him at once to
 
 22 ANECDOTES OF FOUEIGN COdRTS. 
 
 put an end to their anxiety, and crown the 
 wishes of the whole nation, which looked for 
 an heir to his vast domains with such earnest 
 solicitude, by Consenting to the only means by 
 which that desideratum could be obtained. 
 These simultaneous entreaties produced the de- 
 sired effect ; the Grand-duke seemed to feel the 
 full force of the arguments now adduced, and, 
 stammering something like an acquiescence, no- 
 thing more was required on the part of Salti- 
 koff, who instantly called in Boerhaave the 
 court physician, already in attendance, with an 
 able surgeon, for the purpose, when the Grand- 
 duke, having been so closely pressed, and with- 
 out any means of escape, quietly submitted to 
 the proposed operation. The Empress was im- 
 mediately apprised of the event, and, as a mark 
 of her satisfaction, she presented the chamber- 
 lain with a most valuable diamond ring, for his 
 diligence and ingenuity on the occasion. 
 
 Saltikoff had, however, too long enjoyed the 
 triumph of his intrigue, not to meet with some 
 reverses. Catherine had also been less cautious 
 in her conduct towards the Chamberlain ; while 
 the courtiers, ever prying and envious, began 
 to betray their jealousy at the preference shown 
 towards him by the Grand-duchess ; nor were 
 they long in discovering the real cause of their
 
 AMOUR OF CATHERINE WITH SALTIKOFF. 23 
 
 malady and absence from court. The dangers 
 of Saltikoff 's new position were greatly height- 
 ened by the fact of his most intimate friends 
 being those who appeared foremost in secretly 
 denouncing him to the Empress, who, till then, 
 never suspected the amours of the Grand- 
 duchess and her paramour. 
 
 Elizabeth, though one of the most depraved 
 and libidinous women of her time, affected to 
 be highly incensed at the discovery of her 
 niece's conduct, and in the first impulse of her 
 wrath, declared her determination to send the 
 culprits to Siberia ; adding, that as the Grand- 
 duke was now perfectly restored, he could ex- 
 ercise the rights of a husband, and she therefore 
 insisted that the Grand-duchess should submit 
 to the ancient forms of the empire, by giving 
 the usual proofs of having preserved her vir- 
 ginity up to the approaching consummation of 
 the marriage. 
 
 Apprised of the fresh dangers with which 
 Catherine and himself were now threatened, 
 the Chamberlain contrived matters in such a 
 way, as also to satisfy her Majesty on this 
 point ; and there being no time to lose, it occur- 
 red to him, that the best way of avoiding the 
 coming storm, was boldly to face his accusers. 
 Assuming, therefore, an air of confidence,
 
 24 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 wlilcli had all the appearance of outraged inno- 
 cence, he flew to the Grand-duke to complain 
 of the calumnies his enemies had dared to cir- 
 culate against tlie fidelity and loyalty of his 
 character ; artfully reminding his master, that 
 he had never thought of visiting the Grand- 
 duchess but by the special orders of his Impe- 
 rial Highness himself; and protesting most 
 solemnly, that he had ever treated the Princess 
 with the utmost deference and respect. To 
 the above plausible declaration, SaltikofF added, 
 that those who thus sought to be revenged on 
 him, through envy and hatred at the marks of 
 favour with which he was honoured at court, 
 were thereby slandering the irreproachable con- 
 duct of the Grand-duchess, and even insidiously 
 attacking the very heir of the Empire ! — " In 
 order, however," said the much-injured Cham- 
 berlain, " to avoid all farther suspicion, and 
 remove every future pretext for calumny, I 
 entreat that your Imperial Highness will grant 
 me permission to withdraw entirely from court 
 and retire to Moscow, where my time can be 
 passed in tranquillity and repose." 
 
 This address, and its ingenious climax, not 
 only deceived the credulous Prince, but in- 
 duced him to imagine that, so far from allow- 
 ing the Chamberlain to depart, he ought to use
 
 AMOUR OF CATHERINE WITH SALTIKOFF. 25 
 
 his influence with the Empress for him to re- 
 main near the person of the Grand-duchess. 
 Having, therefore, expressed his displeasure and 
 resentment against the calumniators of Saltikoff 
 to Elizabeth, he assumed the defence of his 
 Chamberlain with so much zeal, that her Im- 
 perial Majesty became a convert to his opinion, 
 and he easily obtained her entire sanction for 
 the Chamberlain's continuing to perform the 
 duties of his office. Thus the affair, from which 
 Saltikoff anticipated total ruin, terminated in 
 the Empress and Grand-duke being persuaded 
 that the whole story was a mere invention on 
 the part of the invidious courtiers. 
 
 While these scenes were passing in the apart- 
 ments of the Empress, the Grand-duchess was 
 not idle. She was, indeed, more interested in 
 checking the reports so industriously circulated 
 than any of the other parties, since conviction 
 would have been fatal to all her future plans, 
 while the dexterity already shown by her lover, 
 rendered his preservation near her person an 
 object of the greatest solicitude. Being duly 
 informed by the Princess Narishkin of the for- 
 tunate issue of her brother's interview with the 
 Grand-duke, it became high time for Catherine 
 to commence her part in the drama. With this 
 view, she presented herself before the Empress
 
 26 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 with the utmost confidence, and at once throwing 
 off* the mask of mildness and reserve for which 
 slie had liitherto been so remarkable, demanded 
 in a firm and peremptory tone, what farther ex- 
 planations her Imperial Majesty required for the 
 vindication of her injured honour, besides having 
 absented herself from the court, and leading a 
 life of the closest seclusion ; adding, that it was 
 difficult to say who deserved most blame on 
 the present occasion; those who spread such 
 scandalous reports, or others who listened to 
 them with complacency ! Having thus ex- 
 pressed herself, Catherine suddenly changed her 
 tone to one of supplication and humility, en- 
 treating, with tears in her eyes and frequent 
 sobs, that the Empress would believe her in- 
 capable of the conduct imputed to her. These 
 protestations of innocence, supported as they 
 were by the most persuasive language and a 
 studied eloquence, seemed to penetrate all the 
 hearers, and at length reaching the heart of 
 Elizabeth, produced every effect that could be 
 wished. Raising the Grand-duchess from the 
 ground, where she had continued to kneel dur- 
 ing the whole of her pathetic appeal, she com- 
 manded her to forget all that had been said to 
 her prejudice, and, as a farther proof of being 
 perfectly satisfied with the explanation just 
 
 i'
 
 AMOUR OF CATHERINE WITH SALTIKOFF. 27 
 
 given, the Empress insisted on Catherine's com- 
 ing to court that very evening. This gracious 
 summons was of course obeyed ; and from the 
 flattering reception, as well as marked attention, 
 shown to the Grand-duchess, it was evident 
 that her triumph and that of SaltikoiF was 
 complete. With respect to the favourite Cham- 
 berlain, if any thing more was required to 
 achieve his victory, it must have been found in 
 an act of the most gracious condescension on 
 the part of the Empress. Her Majesty ap- 
 proaching the card-table at which he was seated, 
 asked, loud enough to be heard by those around, 
 " Well, SaltikofF, I hope you are happy ?" '' I 
 can never be so, Madam !" replied the Chamber- 
 lain ; upon which her Majesty rejoined, " I am 
 sorry for it. I am told you wish to abandon 
 the court, and quit the service of the Grand- 
 duke. I can scarcely believe this, and I re- 
 quest you will remain at your post ; as, be as- 
 sured, if your enemies are induced to attack 
 your character a second time, I shall know how 
 to defend it."
 
 2S ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Rivalry between the Empress and Catherine. — Dissolute 
 character of the former, — Her accession to power through 
 crime. — Abolition of capital punishment. — Caprice and 
 extravagance of Elizabeth on the subject of dress. — Cha- 
 racter of Catherine. — Reply of Princess DaschkofF to the 
 Empress — Birth of Paul^ and hatred of Catherine towards 
 the infant. — Humane conduct of the Princess Daschkoff. — 
 IMilitary innovations of Peter IH. — They furnish the party 
 of Catherine with a pretext for dethroning him. — The plan 
 adopted for this purpose. — Project formed by the Emperor. 
 —His visit to Prince Ivan. — The conspirators, headed by 
 the Princess DaschkofF, gain over the troops at Saint Pe- 
 tersburgh, and proclaim Catherine. — Degradation and suf- 
 ferings of the dethroned Emperor. — His assassination. — 
 Hypocrisy of Catherine on that occasion. — Reflections on 
 the conduct of the Emi)ress. — The Princess Daschkoff ex- 
 onerated from any share in the murder of Peter IH. 
 
 Notwithstanding the forbearance and ap- 
 parent generosity of Elizabeth's conduct on 
 til is occasion, it was scarcely possible for a 
 woman of her habits and ambition not to feel 
 occasional jealousy at the growing ascendency
 
 DISSOLUTE CHARACTER OF ELIZABETH. 29 
 
 of the Grand-duchess ; indeed, their attendants 
 and contemporaries, to some of whom I am 
 indebted for these details, assured me that it 
 was by no means uncommon to see the favours 
 of the old Empress and her youthful rival con- 
 ferred on the same object. As might well be 
 expected, this species of emulation was not a 
 little calculated to excite those bickerings, and 
 even violent quarrels, which increased with the 
 age of her Imperial Majesty. 
 
 As I have already observed, Elizabeth was, 
 perhaps, one of the most dissolute women of 
 her time ; and when it is farther added, that 
 her court and government presented a scene of 
 corruption, avarice, disorder, and misrule, un- 
 equalled in any other part of Europe, it be- 
 comes a just subject of astonishment, how 
 Russia could have made any advance in civi- 
 lization and power under such a system. Like 
 too many of her predecessors, Elizabeth could 
 only ascend the throne through a series of 
 crimes, of which the dethronement of the 
 Regent Anne, and perpetual imprisonment of 
 her son. Prince Ivan, (afterwards cruelly mur- 
 dered in the dungeons of Schlusselburg,) form, 
 it is to be feared, but a very small portion. 
 The famous law, by which capital punishment 
 was abolished throughout the Russian states.
 
 30 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 and which exhibits sucli an extraordinary ano- 
 maly in tlie legislation of a barbarous people, 
 while it continued among all the other nations 
 of Europe, is supposed to have originated in 
 a desire to palliate her usurpation of the Im- 
 perial crown. In other hands, this admirable 
 law might have been a source of incalculable 
 benefit to mankind ; but, as history has but too 
 truly proved, the crimes, without which usur- 
 pers have scarcely ever been enabled to attain 
 power, are almost invariably followed up by 
 violence and excesses, such as were presented 
 during the whole reign of Elizabeth. Thus 
 it was, that while a law, for the general esta- 
 blishment of which the greatest philosophers 
 and legislators of ancient and modern times 
 have sighed, was suddenly promulgated in 
 Russia, a system of secret murder, mutilation, 
 imprisonment, and exile, was adopted to an 
 extent never before known in that vast empire. 
 The system of exiling malefactors and state 
 prisoners to Siberia, which became so prevalent 
 after the abolition of capital punishment, was 
 really mild when compared with the tortures 
 and mutilations which were still tolerated, and 
 increased to such a degree, as to make it 
 doubtful whether any real advantage was de- 
 rived from that celebrated edict. Some idea
 
 ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 31 
 
 may be formed of the other parts of the Rus- 
 sian code, when it is stated, that among the 
 victims of Elizabeth's vengeance, a beautiful 
 young female of noble family, previous to her 
 exile, underwent the torture of the knout, and 
 had her tongue cut out in the public market- 
 place of Saint Petersburgh ! 
 
 To the infliction of the knout, by which im- 
 mense numbers have perished, was frequently 
 added the loss of the ears and part of the nose : 
 that of the tongue was only incurred in cases of 
 treason. Such was the criminal code of Russia 
 in the reign of Elizabeth ; and though reformed 
 during the reign of Catherine, it is still one of 
 the most barbarous and imperfect in Europe. 
 
 While at the waters of Carlsbad, I met the 
 late Duke of Courland,* who had himself passed 
 
 * This Prince, whom Catherine had deprived of his sove- 
 reignty, was father to the present Duchess of Sagan, so cele- 
 brated throughout Europe for her gallantry, and liberal en- 
 couragement of the fine arts. Unlike many of her contem- 
 poraries, the Duchess has sustained her character by marry- 
 ing the objects of her affection, and, like the late Czarine, 
 discards them when the charm of domestic felicity is dis- 
 solved. The intimacy of the Duchess with an English No- 
 bleman, who lately held a high diplomatic situation at the 
 Court of Vienna, and her abandonment of his Lordship for 
 the arms of a German Prince, now in the confidence of the 
 Emperor Francis, is probably not unknown to many of my 
 readers.
 
 32 ane<;:dotes of foreign courts. 
 
 many years as an exile in Siberia. Amono- the 
 curious facts which I heard tlie Duke relate, 
 he said, that it was formerly customary for 
 those who were sent there as exiles, to be 
 chained on sledges drawn by large mastiffs, 
 and thus conducted to the scene of exile, with- 
 out permission to communicate with any hu- 
 man creature on the road, or being suffered to 
 quit the vehicle for a single instant, until they 
 reached their destination. 
 
 While this singular Princess paid the most 
 minute attention to all that was passing in her 
 extensive govermnent, and examined every act 
 of her ministers with scrupulous exactness, her 
 domineering spirit and caprice on the subject 
 of dress were objects of equal dread and ridi- 
 cule among the courtiers. It is a well-known 
 fact, that, though moving in the midst of all 
 the affected luxury of the East, she interdicted 
 her female attendants, and those ladies who fre- 
 quented the court, from appearing in a dress of 
 the same form or stuff worn by herself, until 
 her's had been thrown aside ; and in this her 
 Majesty's caprice was carried to such an extra- 
 vajrant excess, that several new robes would 
 oftentimes be changed in the same day. Con- 
 trary to the usual custom at other courts, Eliza- 
 beth was never known to give any of her wear-
 
 CHARACTER OF CATHERINE. 33 
 
 ing apparel to the attendants ; and such was 
 the accumulation occasioned by this circum- 
 stance, that innumerable robes of various de- 
 scriptions are said to have been found in the 
 Imperial wardrobe after her death. 
 
 Such was the predecessor of Catherine, to 
 whose history I hasten to return, as being more 
 immediately connected with the object of these 
 memoirs. It has often been observed, that if 
 Catherine the Second had been destined for the 
 stage, no woman on earth would have sur- 
 passed her : for there was no part of the po- 
 litical drama, whether tragedy or comedy, in 
 which she did not excite equal astonishment, 
 by the ease and dexterity with which she ful- 
 filled whatever part she thought proper to as- 
 sume. This was doubtless derived from that 
 rare flexibility of temperament, and profound 
 hypocrisy, without which it would have been 
 preposterous to think of one of the poorest 
 petty Princesses of Germany ascending the 
 Imperial throne, or acquiring the celebrity 
 which fell to the lot of this extraordinary 
 woman. How far the character thus generally 
 ascribed to Catherine is justified b}'^ her public 
 and private conduct, will be seen from the fol- 
 lowing facts, communicated to me by indi- 
 viduals who had either filled confidential situa- 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 ANECDOTES OF FOIIEIGN COURTS. 
 
 tions round the person of the Empress, or been 
 attentive observers of passing events during 
 her long reign. 
 
 Allusion has been already made to the disso- 
 lute conduct and repvilsive personal appearance 
 of the Grand-duke, heightened as his natural 
 imperfections were by the ravages of the small- 
 pox. The contrast thus formed between him- 
 self and the two individuals who were regard- 
 ed as the most polished and attractive men in 
 the Russian Court, SaltikofF and Poniatowsky, 
 was too striking not to be observed by the 
 young and sprightly Catherine ; nor did much 
 time elapse after the marriage before Elizabeth 
 perceived the aversion she had imbibed for her 
 nephew. Having one day addressed the Prin- 
 cess Daschkoff, her principal lady of honour, on 
 the subject, and intimated that a continuance 
 of tlie partiality shown towards the above- 
 named noblemen would lead to the worst con- 
 sequences, the Princess, who had become ex- 
 tremely intimate with Catherine, very ingenu- 
 ously replied, by observing, that " she had 
 taken her Imperial Majesty as a model." — 
 " How can that be ?" replied the Empress. — 
 " Why," said tlie Princess, " all the world 
 knows, that notwithstanding your Majesty's 
 predilection for Kazoumoffsky, the private
 
 BIRTH OF PAUL. 35 
 
 staircase has not been always barred to others." 
 — " But he was not publicly declared my hus- 
 band," answered Elizabeth. — " So much the 
 worse," said Princess DaschkofF; " a woman 
 may be pardoned at our court for a faux pas 
 towards her husband, but never to her lover." 
 
 The freedom with which this Princess was 
 in the habit of addressing her Imperial mis- 
 tress greatly contributed to the silence which 
 she afterwards maintained with regard to the 
 conduct of the Grand- duchess. As to the latter, 
 having once surmounted the perils with which 
 she was threatened on the discovery of her in- 
 trigue with SaltikofF, and, more especially, re- 
 conciled all parties to her pregnancy, (the great 
 object of her marriage,) she seemed to give an 
 unrestrained loose to her passions, which con- 
 tinued to be freely indulged during the rest of 
 her life. 
 
 Notwithstanding the notoriety of Catherine's 
 partiality for SaltikofF, and her reported predi- 
 lection for Poniatowsky, it excited the greatest 
 astonishment at court, that the fruit of her first 
 pregnancy should have been so unlike either. 
 Catherine herself was so mortified and disap- 
 pointed at having given birth to a " Calmuc 
 monkey," as she apostrophised the infant Paul, 
 that she was for several days quite undecided 
 
 D 2
 
 36 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUHTS. 
 
 whether she would see him a second time. In- 
 deed it required all the eloquence of the Prin- 
 cess Narishkin, the mother of a numerous fa- 
 mily, to overcome the scruples of the Grand- 
 duchess on this subject. Having pointed out 
 the impolitic and unnatural tendency of not 
 cherishinix a child destined to become the inhe- 
 ritor of a vast empire, with various other argu- 
 ments of a similar tendency, they at length 
 prevailed. I was confidently informed by an 
 eye-witness, that Catherine fainted on seeing 
 the baby brought in. My informant added, 
 that, had it not been for the firmness of the 
 Princess Daschkoff, Paul would never have 
 worn the Imperial crown, nor Russia been go- 
 verned by one of her most capricious despots. 
 
 Whether the Princess foresaw that the pre- 
 servation of the infant was necessary to the 
 future designs of Catherine, with which she 
 had by this time become very well acquainted, 
 or that she was influenced by a sentiment of 
 humanity, it is well known that she watched 
 over its earlier moments with the most assi- 
 duous care; and by having it frequently 
 brought into the presence of Catherine, accus- 
 tomed her to look on tlie child with somewhat 
 less disgust. She would even console the 
 Grand-ducliess witli tlic liope of a second child,
 
 CONDUCT OF nUNCESS DASCHKOFF. 37 
 
 who might efface the painful recollection of 
 the first. It was most probably in the course 
 of their conversation on this subject, that the 
 idea of giving up her own lover to the em- 
 braces of Catherine, was first conceived. 
 
 " The Princess Daschkoff," said Madame Na- 
 rishkin, " in renouncing her favourite Orloff, 
 had two great objects in view, particularly 
 after she discovered that an intrigue had ac- 
 tually commenced between him and the Grand- 
 duchess. The first was, that of ingratiating 
 herself still more into the good graces of a 
 woman whose future power she already pre- 
 dicted ; and the second, that of retaining him 
 as a friend at court, ready to support the in- 
 fluence she had acquired over the mind of Ca- 
 therine." As but too frequently happens, she 
 was cruelly deceived in both these objects ; 
 Orloff soon forgot the debt of gratitude, and 
 Catherine, though she profited by the treason, 
 despised the traitor. Her abhorrence was not, 
 however, openly manifested, until the Princess 
 had been made subservient to her ambitious 
 design of usurping the throne, in which memo- 
 rable transaction she was destined to play a 
 most conspicuous and important part. 
 
 It is well known that Peter III. previous to 
 his accession, was an enthusiastic admirer of
 
 / . 
 
 38 ANECDOTES OF FOllEICxN COURTS. 
 
 the great Frederick of Prussia. When he be- 
 came Em])eror, his passion for imitating the 
 Prussian king was immediately evinced in a 
 determination to introduce the system of dis- 
 cipHne which had enabled that extraordinary 
 monarch to achieve such wonders. Peter was 
 so intent in pursuing this object, that he 
 neglected every other, save his favourite pas- 
 times of smoking, drinking, and visiting the 
 Countess WoronzofF, who had long been his 
 reputed and favourite mistress ; never dream- 
 ing of the storm which was gathering round 
 him, in consequence of thus shocking the pre- 
 judices of a people, not less attached to their 
 ancient habits than to their religious dogmas. 
 
 Catherine, who had already begun to exercise 
 considerable influence, and felt the superiority 
 of her intellect over that of her husband, was 
 naturally mortified at not being consulted on 
 state affairs, and soon formed the design of un- 
 dermining all his measures. The first expe- 
 dient to which she resorted, was that of form- 
 ing a party to oppose and render the military 
 innovations unpopular. For this purpose, the 
 Princess DaschkofF was required to dress her- 
 self in the old national costume as worn at Mos- 
 cow ; this was the signal for others, who were 
 in the secret, to follow her example ; and in a
 
 VISIT TO PEINCE IVAN. 39 
 
 short time nearly all the courtiers of both sexes, 
 together with many of the leading nobility, ap- 
 peared clad in the same way. This demonstra- 
 tion of public feeling was followed by a general 
 outcry against Prussia, and Prussian discipline, 
 which was described as being derogatory to the 
 national character of Russia, and therefore an 
 object of hatred rather than imitation. 
 
 Such were the insinuations spread by the 
 emissaries of Catherine ; and, as she anticipated, 
 they produced all the effect that covdd be wish- 
 ed ; so that an immense party was soon found 
 in her favour, both at St. Petersburgh and 
 Moscow, before the Emperor was awakened to 
 a sense of his danger, or took any steps to 
 check the threatened storm. Convinced, at 
 length, of the necessity of adopting measures of 
 precaution, he probably for the first time re- 
 curred to the infidelities of Catherine, and se- 
 riously thought of changing the succession in 
 favour of Prince Ivan, whom Elizabeth had 
 excluded from the throne, and shut up in the 
 castle of Schlusselburg. Peter had previously 
 seen this vmfortunate Prince in his prison, where 
 he found him totally deprived of every com- 
 fort, almost in a state of nudity, with scarcely 
 the appearance of a human being, and exposed 
 to the most cruel treatment. After conversing
 
 40 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 with the captive Prince for some time, and en- 
 couraging him to hope for better fortime, direc- 
 tions were given to his keepers to treat him 
 with all the attention due to a state prisoner of 
 the highest rank, preparatory to his being re- 
 moved to another situation ; " perhaps," added 
 the Emperor, " to the palace of his ancestors." 
 
 Having imprudently avowed his intentions 
 •with regard to Ivan, and even confided his 
 doubts as to the legitimacy of Paul, as well as 
 hinted at a divorce, (to be followed by Cathe- 
 rine's imprisoiUTient,) to some of the courtiers 
 who were secretly in the interest of the Em- 
 press, the effect produced in her own mind and 
 tlic minds of her friends by this information, 
 may be readily imagined.* 
 
 * It was also reported by the promoters of the revolution, 
 that Peter intended to get rid of Catherine, in order to marry 
 his mistress, the Countess WoronzofF. With respect to his at- 
 tempt at new inodolling the army on the Prussian system, 
 Frederick II. in one of his private letters, enjoined him to 
 act with great caution before he adopted the proposed plan, 
 or that of divorcing Catherine, which he considered to be 
 fraught with great danger. In writing subsequently to Vol- 
 taire, and lamenting the fate of Queen Matilda, Frederick 
 says, " Ah ! Catherine knew how to manage these matters 
 better ; before she ventured to put the crown on her own 
 head, she took away the life of him who wore it. Half mea- 
 sures never succeed ; and those who have not nerve enough 
 to proceed to the end of their work, must cv^er expect the 
 consequences of their irresolution and folly."
 
 CATHERINE VISITS THE MIEITARY. 41 
 
 No sooner, therefore, had the above report, 
 whether true or false, reached the ears of the 
 Princess Daschkoff and of Orloff, than these 
 faithful agents of Catherine met for the pur- 
 pose of consulting on the best mode of antici- 
 pating the intentions of the Emperor, by put- 
 ting the influence of their party to the test. 
 A plan of operations was therefore decided on, 
 to be carried into immediate execution. Hav- 
 ing apprised their emissaries and friends of 
 what was about to take place, the Princess 
 dressed herself in the uniform of the old Im- 
 perial Guard, and accompanied by OrlofF, vi- 
 sited all the military quarters, where she ha- 
 rangued the soldiery on the degraded condition 
 to which they were reduced by the late inno- 
 vations ; and by the aid of a plentiful supply 
 of tvoodka* great numbers threw their caps 
 into tlie air, and said they were ready to exe- 
 cute her orders. Thus attended, she next pro- 
 ceeded to the house of the principal civil au- 
 thorities, and invited them to join the soldiery ; 
 and with this accession of strength, she re- 
 paired to the Palace, whereto Catherine had 
 been brought in the greatest haste from |Peter- 
 
 * A strong spirit resembling gin, and of which great 
 quantities are consumed by the Russians of all classes. 
 
 t One of Catherine's contidential attendants assured me, 
 while I was at Moscow, that the Princess Daschkoff and her
 
 42 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 hoff. Tlie first step now adopted, was to 
 dress tlic Empress in a suit similar to that 
 assumed by the Princess DaschkofF; after 
 wliicli, both were placed on superb chargers, 
 wliilc all the Prussian uniforms that could be 
 found, were tied to the tails of other horses, 
 and followed the two modern amazons, who 
 rode through the city amidst loud cries of 
 " Long live Catherine the Second !" The ])o- 
 ])idation of the capital was, by this time, ap- 
 prised of the revolution, and heartily joined in 
 the shouts of exultation it produced. It only 
 remained to bring over the Imperial Guard. 
 This was effected much more easily than the 
 conspirators anticipated. OrlofF, seizing the 
 reins of the two chargers on which Catherine 
 and her confidant were mounted, led them into 
 the barrack-yard, followed by the troops and 
 an immense concourse of people : but scarcely 
 had he time to utter a word, when the officers 
 and men, falling on their knees, unanimously 
 coincided in proclaiming Catherine. Nothing 
 
 friends had proceeded thus far in their operations, without 
 there being time to consult the Empress, who Avas not even 
 aware of the extent to whicli the conspiracy had been carried 
 until a few days before, when the mother of OrlofF was sent 
 to bring lier from Peterhoff, where she had been kept al- 
 most as a prisoner by order of the Emperor.
 
 ARREST OF THE EMPEROR. 43 
 
 more was required to complete the revolution, 
 in the progress whereof not a single life had 
 been sacrificed ; and such was the popularity 
 of the change, that the guards had no sooner 
 declared themselves, than the whole city and 
 suburbs were apprised of the event, before the 
 Emperor, who had left his retreat at Oranien- 
 baum to proceed to Peterhoff, knew any thing 
 of what had taken place. 
 
 None of the conspirators thought of repose 
 either on this or the following night: their 
 whole time being occupied in sending off cou- 
 riers and concerting measures for the security 
 of the new sovereign. Among these, it was 
 determined that her husband should be arrested 
 and closely confined. In pursuance of this de- 
 cision, the Emperor was taken from his bed, 
 and, without being allov/ed even time to dress 
 himself, conducted to a dungeon. The Coun- 
 tess Woronzoff, who happened to be with 
 Peter at the time of his arrest, was treated 
 much in the same way, though soon after libe- 
 rated from the prison of Peterhoff, and merely 
 exiled to her country seat. 
 
 There are very few examples of so great a 
 change as the one effected on this occasion, 
 without those excesses generally resulting from 
 similar events, even in the most civilized coun-
 
 U ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 tries : nor is it supposed that the murder of 
 Peter, which was not considered necessary by 
 the best pohticians in Russia, would have been 
 perpetrated, but to allay the fears of the con- 
 spirators, who thought his death requisite for 
 their own safety. 
 
 Of all the trials to which human nature is 
 exposed, there is perhaps no spectacle so painful 
 or humiliating as tliat of a monarch who falls 
 from the height of power into the opposite ex- 
 treme of degradation and suffering. When the 
 Emperor Peter recovered from the first effects 
 of the revolution, and his grief had subsided in 
 some deo-ree, he wrote a letter to Catherine in 
 a tone of the greatest submission, entreating 
 her mercy in favour of the Countess WoronzofF, 
 and informing her of the cruel treatment to 
 which he had been subjected. He begged par- 
 don if he had involuntarily offended her ; and 
 concluded witli a promise, that if she spared his 
 life, he would make every reparation she re- 
 quired for past errors by his future conduct. 
 As these concessions and supplications were of 
 course connnunicated to the friends of Cathe- 
 rine, they only tended to aggravate the evils of 
 liis situation, so that Peter continued a close pri- 
 soner till within a few days of his murder, when, 
 in order to render the deed more easy of execu-
 
 CONSPIRACV OF ORLOFF, &cC. 45 
 
 tion, and blind those who might have still re- 
 tained any sympathy for the dethroned Empe- 
 ror, he was removed to better apartments, and 
 treated with greater mildness. This change 
 was also intended to deceive the monarch him- 
 self, and threw him off his guard ; it was even 
 intimated to Peter, that he might consider these 
 new arrangements as the preludes of a still bet- 
 ter fate. 
 
 The Imperial prisoner, therefore, began cre- 
 dulously to flatter himself that his letters had 
 produced the desired effect ; this consolatory 
 feeling was strengthened in a few days after, 
 when he heard that a sumptuous dinner had 
 been ordered, though, as it soon proved, this 
 was the last of which his enemies intended he 
 should partake. In order to cover their design 
 still more plausibly, the assassins, TeplofF, Bara- 
 tinski, and OrlofF, sent an emissary to inform 
 Peter that they were coming to dine with his 
 Majesty, and concert a plan not only for his 
 escape, but for his restoration to power ; alleg- 
 ing that, Catherine having disgusted the great 
 body of the people, deputies were continually 
 arriving at court to remonstrate against her 
 having so unlawfully usurped the rights of her 
 husband. 
 
 Having presented themselves on the appoint-
 
 46 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ed day, tlie whole party were assembled in a 
 closet adjoining the dining-room, and preparing, 
 according to the custom in Russia, to take a 
 glass of woodka before dinner ; and while the 
 unsuspecting monarch was engaged in talking 
 of their mission, which they stated to have re- 
 ceived from the leading inhabitants of the capi- 
 tal, one of them changed the bottle that lay 
 on the table for one in which a strong dose of 
 poison had been infused. From this, Teploff 
 poured out a glass, which he presented to the 
 ICmperor, and on seeing it drunk, was about to 
 offer another, had not Peter, who instantly per- 
 ceived the potent nature of the liquor, refused 
 to take any more. Thus roused from the fatal 
 confidence into which the assassins had lulled 
 him, the unfortunate Prince at once accused 
 them of their intentions ; on which a violent 
 scuffle ensued between Orloff and himself. In 
 the course of this, the former had his cheek-bone 
 completely fractured from a blow levelled at 
 him by the Emperor. The murderers, finding 
 themselves discovered, had no alternative but 
 in a recourse to physical strength, and therefore 
 instantly proceeded to carry their final design 
 into execution. TeplofF was the next to seize 
 hold of l*eter, and, like his predecessor, was 
 soon felled to the ground. Seeing the critical
 
 MURDER OF THE EMPEROR. 47 
 
 situation of his accomplices, Baratinski, who 
 stood hehind the monarch, threw a napkin over 
 his head, while Orloff, already on the floor, 
 pulled the Emperor down, and getting the 
 upper hand, knelt on his breast till the purpose 
 was efl*ected by strangulation. 
 
 When assured of the Emperor's death, and 
 that they hnd nothing more to fear, the body was 
 stretched iix the same room, and having covered 
 it with a cloth, they sat down to dinner, which 
 was concluded amidst frequent libations to the 
 triumph and glory of the new Empress, just 
 as if they were commemorating some act of 
 heroism and virtue. 
 
 Every obstacle to Catherine's ambition being- 
 no w removed, the next grand object was how 
 to announce the death of Peter, so as to re- 
 move the suspicions that would naturally fall 
 on the conspirators. The mode in which this 
 was brought about was communicated to me at 
 Moscow, in the presence of an Englishman 
 named Maddox, resident there, by a Catholic 
 priest, who collected all the particulars from the 
 dying confession of a servant who attended the 
 assassins, without, however, taking an active 
 part in the murder. After relating the facts 
 already detailed, the penitent proceeded to state, 
 that the corpse of the Emperor was carefully
 
 48 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 concealed till farther orders should be given as 
 to its future disposal, while the murderers re- 
 paired to St. Petersburg!! to report what they 
 had done. Tliere it was decided, in a council 
 of ministers, that the body should be concealed, 
 and the death of Peter kept a secret till the 
 first levee day, when it might be publicly an- 
 nounced, with the solemnity called for by such 
 an event. 
 
 The day being fixed, and matters fully pre- 
 pared by the actors who were to conclude this 
 atrocious drama, Catherine appeared on a mag- 
 nificent throne, surrounded by the whole court, 
 a large concourse of the nobility, and all the fo- 
 reign ambassadors, when Orloff suddenly entered 
 in a travelling dress, and, falling on his knees be- 
 fore her Imperial Majesty, with a countenance 
 full of grief, announced that the Emperor had 
 been suddenly attacked by a violent cholic, 
 which carried off his Majesty, after an illness 
 of only a few liours, on the preceding night ! 
 
 This was the signal for a display of that hy- 
 pocrisy and duplicity, for which Catherine 
 was so pre-eminently distinguished. No sooner 
 were the sad tidings communicated, than Ca- 
 therine, as if seized by convulsion, fell back 
 senseless on the throne. The confusion attend-
 
 FEIGNED ILLNESS OF THE EMPRESS. 49 
 
 ant on this circumstance was greatly augment- 
 ed by the spectators perceiving that the efforts 
 made to restore Catherine were ineffectual, 
 until at last it became necessary to remove her 
 to a private apartment, where she was borne 
 on the arms of several pages, care having been 
 previously taken to throw a white handker- 
 chief over the face, in order that the ingenious 
 delusion might not be discovered. 
 
 Nothing could have been better managed 
 than this piece of acting ; but in order to com- 
 plete what had been so well commenced, it be- 
 came necessary for the Empress to remain shut 
 up for some days. This seclusion was, how- 
 ever, attributed as much to her anxiety to as- 
 certain the state of public opinion on the mys- 
 terious death of her husband, as to motives of 
 assumed delicacy. 
 
 As, happily for mankind, crime does not 
 always silence conscience, there might have 
 been some degree of remorse mixed up with 
 this affectation of grief; and, with all his fail- 
 ings, Catherine knew that Peter's close affinity 
 of blood to his namesake and ancestor, the 
 great benefactor of Russia, could not fail to 
 excite a considerable share of sympathy in his 
 favour. But a well-chosen distribution of re- 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 wards soon consigned the memory of her mur- 
 dered husband to oblivion ; and the next time 
 she appeared on the throne, was to receive ad- 
 dresses of condolence, and to be finally pro- 
 claimed as Empress of all the Russias ! 
 
 The exact degree of Catherine's participation 
 in the murder of her husband is still involved 
 in that secrecy which usually attends such acts. 
 Like Elizabeth, in the case of the ill-fated 
 ^lary, she is said by her partisans to have been 
 forced to yield to the spirit of party ; and, 
 altliough she must have given her sanction to 
 the crime, they pretend that she wished the 
 execution of the sentence, resolved on by her 
 ministers, to be suspended for an indefinite 
 period. With respect to the Princess Dasch- 
 kofF, it is due to her memory to declare, that 
 she was exonerated by her contemporaries and 
 accomplices in the revolution from any share 
 in the murder, and that her remonstrances on 
 its impolicy and injustice, formed the first 
 cause of the irreconcilable quarrel which after- 
 wards took place between herself and the Em- 
 press. From the subsequent treatment expe- 
 rienced by the Princess, as well as her frequent 
 avowals, there is no doubt of her having deeply 
 repented the conspicuous part she had taken
 
 THE PRINCESS DASCHKOir. 51 
 
 in bringing about the elevation of Catherine. 
 But she adds another instance to the many 
 already on record, of what jealousy and am- 
 bition will effect in female minds. The grow- 
 ing ascendancy of her sister, the Countess 
 Woronzoff, over Peter, and consequent fear of 
 being supplanted in power, induced her not 
 only to sacrifice her lover, Alexis Orloff, to 
 the wishes of the Empress, but to become the 
 most active agent and strenuous promoter of 
 the conspiracy. 
 
 E 2
 
 •^2 ANECDOTKS OF I'OllEIGN COURTS. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 The licentious gallantries of Catherine II. — Her mode of 
 selecting new lovers. — Etiquette observed on these occa- 
 sions. — Obligations imposed on the favourites of the Em- 
 press. — Abruptness of their dismissal. — Catherine's libe- 
 rality. — Anecdote of MomonofF and his wife. — Power and 
 influence of Prince Potemkin. — Anecdote of Marchesi, the 
 opera singer. — Conduct of the Empress on the occasion. — 
 Violent conduct of Potemkin towards Catherine. — They 
 live on terms of harmony after their separation. — Anomaly 
 in the character of the Empress. — Her attention to public 
 affairs. — The famous domestic edict. — Its salutary eflfect. 
 — Brutal conduct of the Duke of Wurtemburg to his wife. 
 — Encouragement given to foreigners by Catherine. 
 
 I HAVE already alluded to the licentious gal- 
 lantries of the Empress Elizabeth, and which 
 continued without intermission till her death. 
 Those of her successor were carried to a still 
 greater excess, and have been the theme of all 
 her biographers, though 1 believe the etiquette 
 observed in the selection of her numerous 
 favourites has not been hitherto detailed. As
 
 GALLANTRIES OF THE EMPRESS. 53 
 
 the following data are derived from a former 
 attendant of Catherine, they may not be unac- 
 ceptable to my readers. 
 
 Whenever the Empress, who was constantly 
 on the look out for some new object, saw any 
 man at Court whose appearance pleased her, 
 she lost no time in ascertaining every circum- 
 stance calculated to throw a light on his situa- 
 tion and character. The next step was to have 
 him invited by the Princess Narishkin, or some 
 other confidant, when her Imperial Majesty 
 would take care to be present. When the 
 stranger was announced, and ushered into the 
 Imperial presence, etiquette required that the 
 rest of the company should withdraw, thus giv- 
 ing the Empress an opportunity of freely con- 
 versing with the neAv candidate. The first in- 
 terview was usually devoted to a conversation 
 upon general subjects, by which she was enabled 
 to judge of the capacity and intellect of her 
 man : if these answered the wishes of Catherine, 
 he was commanded to present himself the fol- 
 lowing day at a private door of the palace, and 
 which led to a suite of apartments especially ap- 
 propriated to the favourites for the time being. 
 When once admitted, his probation was often 
 continued for several days, during which, though 
 not permitted to commvmicate with any person
 
 54 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 except the attendants appointed by the Etyi- 
 press, he was pampered with all the delicacies 
 of the Imperial kitchen, as well as the clioicest 
 wines the palace could afford. The preparatory 
 and precautionary measures resorted to on such 
 occasions being ended, he was ushered into the 
 Imperial presence, and soon after experienced 
 still more substantial proofs of confidence and 
 distinction. 
 
 No sooner had the new minion been initiated, 
 than he assumed the minor duties of his office ; 
 these consisted principally in standing behind 
 the chair of the Empress at court, or while at 
 the opera, which at once gave him the rank of 
 an officer of the Imperial presence, and private 
 amanuensis to the Empress. This was quite 
 sufficient to mark the distinguished place he 
 occupied within the precincts of the palace, as 
 well as to make him be looked up to as the great 
 dispenser of court patronage and favour. 
 
 Among the precepts to be observed by her 
 favourites, as the price of Catherine's protec- 
 tion, they were most strictly enjoined never to 
 be familiar with, or adch'ess, any female who 
 was present, without her special orders ; never 
 to dine or sup where tliere were any women, 
 and generally to abstain from every act that 
 was in the least likely to derogate from the
 
 MODE OF DISMISSING FAVOURITES. 55 
 
 exalted station to which they had been raised. 
 By way of compensation for these trifling sa- 
 crifices, it is but too well known, that honovu's 
 and emoluments of every kind were lavished 
 on the minion and his family with an unsparing 
 hand. This state of things lasted in proportion 
 to the good fortune or fascination of the favou- 
 rite, and when it was decided that a new can- 
 didate should take his place, the door which 
 communicated with the Imperial apartments 
 was locked, care having been previously taken 
 to place a passport and a considerable sum for 
 travelling expenses on his table, with an in- 
 junction to quit the capital forthwith, and pro- 
 ceed in any direction that might be most agree- 
 able to his wishes. It is needless to add, that 
 no other explanations were given on these 
 occasions, while remonstrance would have been 
 attended with very disagreeable consequences. 
 
 The number of Catherine's favourites after 
 her accession, beginning with the Orloffs, of 
 whom there were five brothers, and ending with 
 Platon and Valerian ZoubofF, amounted to se- 
 venteen. Some idea may be formed of her pro- 
 digality in rewarding these men, none of whom, 
 with the exception of Potemkin, had much more 
 than the capricious partiality of this singular 
 woman to recommend them, when I add that
 
 56 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the amount of property, whether in estates, 
 jewels, or money received from her, exceeded 
 ninety millions of roubles. 
 
 MomonofF, notwithstanding the immense 
 treasures he amassed, and the authority he ex- 
 ercised over Catherine, had formed an intimacy 
 with one of her ladies of honour, the Countess 
 Sherbatoff. The intrigue being reported to the 
 Empress, she determined to be convinced of the 
 fact by putting her faithless favourite to the 
 test ; for which purpose, she caused one of her 
 richest subjects, the Countess of Bruce, to be 
 presented at court, in order to marry her to 
 Momonoff. When pressed to accede to the 
 proposal, he fell on his knees, and avowing his 
 previous attachment, implored the forgiveness 
 of Catherine. Upon this, very contrary to his 
 expectation, he was ordered to marry her and 
 instantly to depart for Moscow. 
 
 They had not been long married before 
 MomonofF was so indiscreet as to disclose a 
 number of curious anecdotes relative to his 
 former intercourse with Catherine, to his bride, 
 which she had the imprudence to repeat to 
 others, until they at last reached the ears of 
 the P^mprcss. Determined to avenge this 
 breach of confidence, the following was the 
 mode adopted by the wily Czarina to effect her
 
 MOMONOFF. 57 
 
 object. Soon after the new couple were snug- 
 ly established in their sumptuous palace at 
 Moscow, the head of the police, accompanied 
 by six of his myrmidons, attired in women's 
 clothes, entered their bed-room in the dead of 
 night, and producing a written authority, or- 
 dered the Countess to get up; on her obey- 
 ing, with fear and trembling, she was seized 
 and severely scourged, while the terrified hus- 
 band, who had been ordered to fall on his 
 knees during the castigation, was not only con- 
 demned to witness the cruel operation, but 
 even forced to sign a certificate of its havmg 
 been duly executed, pursuant to the instruc- 
 tions of his Imperial mistress ! Having thus 
 fulfilled his singular mission, the agent of po- 
 lice told MomonofF that it was merely on con- 
 sideration of the manner in which he had been 
 formerly distinguished by the Empress, that 
 himself and his wife were thus mildly treated ; 
 adding, that the next offence would be punished 
 with perpetual exile to Siberia. He then took 
 his leave.* 
 
 * Instances not very dissimilar to the above mode of 
 chastising the nobility have frequently occurred in Russia. 
 During the reign of the Empress Anne, when Prince Gallit- 
 zin became a convert to the Catholic faith, she caused him 
 to be paraded about the streets of Saint Petersburgh in a
 
 58 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 But of all the favourites of Catherine, Po- 
 temkin was the most powerful, while the selec- 
 tion of such an extraordinary character did in- 
 finite credit to her penetration ; for, although 
 exhibiting a more striking contrast of virtues 
 and vices than any other statesman of modern 
 times, it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, 
 to have found his parallel, either in Russia or 
 any other part of Europe. 
 
 This individual was so despotic and over- 
 bearing during his long career of favour, that 
 he inspired more terror, and was treated with 
 much greater respect, than the Empress herself. 
 His influence over Catherine was of the most 
 unbounded description ; and though some- 
 times baffled in his projects of petty ven- 
 geance against those individuals who happened 
 to excite his anger, or wourj^ his self-love, 
 there were moments in which he is said to have 
 
 wooden cage, placed on the back of an elephant, and fol- 
 lowed by a large concourse of the populace, of whom num- 
 bers were seated in sledges drawn by pigs, dogs, and goats. 
 But this was not all ; having determined that the apostate 
 should marry, she selected a wife for him from the lowest 
 dregs of the people, and placing her by his side in the cage, 
 the procession terminated at the celebrated Ice palace, near 
 the Neva, where the bride and bridegroom were absolutely 
 <)bliged to pass the first night of wedlock in a bed formed by 
 that chilly substance !
 
 MAKCHESI. 59 
 
 treated Catherine with the greatest brutality — 
 not unfrequently resorting to acts of personal 
 violence. The following anecdote will serve 
 to show how the Empress was sometimes ena- 
 bled to moderate the rage of her " favourite 
 Cossack," as he was usually styled by the 
 courtiers. 
 
 Marchesi, the celebrated soprano singer, had 
 been engaged by Catherine to perform at the 
 Italian Opera House of Saint Petersburgh ; 
 and it being customary for first-rate singers to 
 make their dehut at the private concerts of the 
 Empress, Marchesi, when commanded to at- 
 tend with the other performers, thought proper 
 to have himself drawn to the Palace in a coach- 
 and-six, a privilege which in Russia is only en- 
 joyed by ambassadors and foreigners of distinc- 
 tion. This proceeding gave great offence to 
 Potemkin, who did not fail to communicate his 
 anger to Catherine, who was so delighted with 
 the singing of the offender, that she heard the 
 complaint without making any reply ; so that 
 the matter passed off for this time without 
 farther discussion ; but Marchesi happening to 
 repeat the experiment, and appear at the next 
 concert with still greater pomp than before, 
 the rase of Potemkin knew no bounds. He 
 waited, however, till the performance was over,
 
 60 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 and then approaching the Empress in the ut- 
 most agitation, thus addressed her : — " How 
 can you expect your laws and regulations to be 
 observed, when you allow them to be so shame- 
 fully violated and trampled under foot by so 
 degraded a beino- as an Italian CastratoV To 
 Avhich Catherine good-humouredly replied; 
 " My dear Prince, 1 made these laws, it is true, 
 but I never contemplated including his spe- 
 cies. They were intended for men such as 
 yourself. Let this poor devil, therefore, come 
 to the concerts with twelve horses if he pleases, 
 they will never bring him on a level with 
 you !"* 
 
 Prince Narishkin assured me, that the fate 
 of Peter III. induced Potemkin peremptorily 
 to refuse becoming the husband of Catherine, 
 after she had been rejected by a previous fa- 
 
 * Marches! was as notorious for ignorance and presump- 
 tion in his intercourse with society as he was celebrated for 
 his great vocal powers. He had the merit of bringing out 
 Madame Catalani, and several other singers of eminence. 
 The first-named, whose success in this country has been so 
 rarely equalled, is remarkable for having not only imbibed 
 the excellencies of her master, but imitated his faults ; which 
 circumstance has always operated most detrimentally to her 
 fame in Italy.
 
 JEALOUSY OF POTEMKIN. 61 
 
 vourite, Stanislaus Poniatowski.* Even in Na- 
 rishkin's presence, he told her that he would 
 never take the place of Stanislaus but as a ^j/'o- 
 tempore employ ment.f There is little doubt of 
 this fact, since it was well known to many of 
 Potemkin's most intimate friends, to whom he 
 was frequently in the habit of saying, that he 
 found it much more easy to govern a mistress 
 than he could an Imperial wife. 
 
 During the first years of their intimacy, Po- 
 temkin was subject to violent fits of jealousy 
 against the fickle Catherine, and, as I was often 
 informed, not without frequent cause. On 
 these occasions it was not unusual for him to 
 leave marks of his rage on the person of her 
 Imperial Majesty, which sometimes prevented 
 her from appearing in public for a few days, 
 and at others, rendered it necessary for her to 
 wear long gloves on those delicately formed 
 arms which she was in general very fond of ex- 
 posing to the court gazers. 
 
 When, however, his appetite became cloyed 
 
 * If I have been silent with regard to this celebrated cha- 
 racter, it is because his life and vicissitudes are intended 
 to be referred to in a future portion of these memoirs, 
 wherein several additional facts relative to the Court of 
 Saint Petersburgh will be detailed. 
 
 t The Princess DaschkoiF told me, that whenever Cathe- 
 rine was displeased with her son Paul she would threaten
 
 62 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 by long enjoyment, and he wished to devote 
 himself to public affairs, Potemkin was known 
 to be the principal promoter of that passion 
 for variety in which the Empress indulged du- 
 ring the last years of her life. Aware of his 
 activity and talents for governing, Catherine, 
 in return for his considerate complaisance, left 
 him in full possession of the whole executive 
 power ; and though she was, to the last, inde- 
 fatigable in superintending the concerns of her 
 vast empire, she lived on terms of almost unin- 
 terrupted harmony with her old paramour till 
 the period of his death. 
 
 The singular anomaly by which this extra- 
 ordinary woman combined such a course of 
 licentious habits, with the most abstruse cares 
 of legislation and government, has been a theme 
 of great astonishment with her contemporaries, 
 as it must become to posterity. I was inform- 
 ed by the Princess Narishkin, that when the 
 Empress discontinued her visits to the Prince 
 Potemkin, her evenings w^ere frequently passed 
 in the society of Platon Zuboff, I^ord Whit- 
 worth, and the Princess Jerebzoff, with whom 
 his Eordship is said to have had a liaison of a 
 
 him by saying, — " I will marry Prince Potemkin^, if it is only 
 to be revenged on you, and deprive you of the crown^ by 
 having a legitimate heir !"
 
 ASSIDUITY OF THE EMPRESS. 63 
 
 very tender nature, during his embassy to the 
 court of Russia. Whist was the usual game, and 
 her Majesty would often say to the ambassador, 
 " My lord, I may surely indulge in another 
 rubber, after having been occupied so inces- 
 santly during the day." Such indeed was her 
 assiduity whenever couriers were about to be 
 despatched, that she has often had her dinner cut 
 by an attendant, and ate with one hand while 
 she continued to write with the other. " There 
 is no example," said the Princess Narishkin one 
 day, " of her ever having neglected an imme- 
 diate answer to any letters or despatches which 
 required it; and sometimes when indisposed, 
 or compelled to keep her bed, she would dic- 
 tate to her secretaries, if unable to write her- 
 self ; so that neither the foreign nor domestic 
 concerns of the state ever suffered the smallest 
 interruption." 
 
 Although so dissolute in her own habits, 
 Catherine was not inattentive to the improve- 
 ment of public manners, which were on her 
 accession in a most barbarous state. Among 
 other customs, which had been consecrated by 
 time, it was by no means uncommon for women 
 of the first rank to receive frequent corporal 
 punishment at court, and even in the presence 
 of the sovereign, from their husbands, if the
 
 64 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 latter felt themselves aggrieved either through 
 jealousy or any other cause. To have openly 
 decreed the abolition of this custonn, brutal as 
 it was, might have been almost as perilous as 
 the innovations which proved so fatal to the 
 late unfortunate Emperor. In order, therefore, 
 to avoid offending the aristocracy, and at the 
 same time to ensure the object in view, she 
 very ingeniously promulgated a decree, by 
 which it was ordered that no man should beat 
 his wife till after ten o'clock at night, at which 
 hour, she well knew the nobles were all in bed, 
 as they generally supped between six and 
 seven, and retired about nine. This admirable 
 contrivance produced all the effect that could 
 be wished, except in a few instances, and may 
 thus be said to have led to a most salutary im- 
 provement of manners in Russia. 
 
 After having related the circumstances con- 
 nected with the above celebrated decree, the 
 Princess Narishkin added : — " I am truly sorry 
 to be obliged to place the Duke of Wurtem- 
 berg among the exceptions to which I have 
 before alluded." She then proceeded to in- 
 form me, that being then the husband of the 
 eldest daughter of the late Duchess of Bruns- 
 wick, he was, on the second marriage of the
 
 JEALOUSY AND BRUTALITY OF THE DUKE. 65 
 
 Grand-duke Paul to his sister,* invited to visit 
 the Court of Saint Petersburgh, together with 
 his wife. The young couple had not been 
 many weeks at court before every body was 
 struck with the cpntrast between them ; for 
 while the manners of the Duke were haughty, 
 uncouth, and violent, those of the Duchess 
 endeared her to all parties. This circumstance 
 was quite sufficient to rouse the jealousy of her 
 husband, who, by a strange perversion of rea- 
 son and sense, could not bear to see his wife 
 an object of admiration and esteem with Ca- 
 therine and her attendants. It is also probable 
 that the marked attention such a woman could 
 not fail to receive from the courtiers, operated 
 on the jaundiced mind of the Prince. Be this 
 as it may, he one day took occasion to find 
 fault with her in the midst of a full court, and 
 had even the brutality to strike her in the face 
 while speaking to the Empress ! The effect 
 produced on all who witnessed this atrocious 
 act may be readily conceived. Catherine was 
 so shocked by it, that he was instantly ordered 
 to quit Russia, and never appear there again. 
 
 * The present Empress-dowager, mother to Alexander, 
 and who is supposed to have had so great a share in the 
 recent events at Saint Petersburgh. 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 AVhile jjerforming this duty, not less required 
 by her own dignity than merited for the gross 
 violation of her famous domestic edict, the 
 Empress would have most gladly retained the 
 much-injured Duchess at her court.* 
 
 This ill-fated Princess was, however, the 
 mother of three children, whom she could not 
 abandon to the care of such a father; and, 
 therefore, with tears acknowledged her high 
 sense of gratitude for the generous offer of 
 the Empress, which she declined only on that 
 account.-j- 
 
 * Sir N. Wraxall has given a different account of the 
 above transaction. In the first place, the Duke was never 
 in the Russian service, nor could he be, as the heir-apparent 
 to the dukedom of his father. It was one of his brothers, of 
 whom he had several. Prince Ferdinand, whom I frequently 
 saw at Vienna, while governor of that city, was a very dif- 
 ferent character to the heir-apparent : there were three other 
 brothers, in the service of Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia. 
 Nor did the Duchess of Wurtemburgh die in Russia, as 
 asserted by the above-named writer. I am farther justified 
 in saying that Catherine had no hand in the foul business 
 of her untimely death : on the contrary, the Empress would 
 have saved her had she remained at Saint Petersburgh. 
 
 t The three children, for whom this amiable woman made 
 such sacrifices, are the present King of Wurtemburg, Prince 
 Paul, and the Princess Catherine, the late short-lived Queen 
 of Westphalia, who has assumed the title of Duchess of iMont- 
 fort, and is living with her husband, Jerome Bonaparte, at 
 Shennau, near Vienna. 
 
 There
 
 ENCOURAGEMENT GIVEN TO FOREIGNERS. 67 
 
 The encouragement given by Catherine to 
 foreigners of talent (no matter what their po- 
 
 There is no reason whatever even to suspect the Empress 
 Catherine of having anticipated, much less been accessory, 
 in any degree, to the death of the late Duchess of Wurtem- 
 burg. I have the best reason on earth for contradicting the 
 insinuations and calumnies which have gone abroad on this 
 subject, in the testimony of her own mother, with whom I 
 had a conversation on the subject at a nover in 1705, and at 
 which the late Earl of Bristol happened to be present. In 
 this interview, the Duchess of Brunswick, after lamenting 
 the result of her daughter, the Princess of Wales's marriage, 
 and the terms on which she lived with her husband, observed, 
 — "I am, indeed, truly unfortunate with respect to both 
 my daughters. The other, poor thing ! fell a sacrifice to the 
 jealousy of her husband, who, after having led her a most 
 wretched life, not satisfied with his brutal treatment during an 
 existence, which was certainly shortened by ill-usage, calum- 
 niated her memory in the grave." It may be readily sup- 
 posed, that in a conversation like the above, continued for 
 some time, the Duchess would not have omitted to make 
 some allusion to Catherine, had there been the smallest mo- 
 tive for doing so ; while, on the contrary, I well recollect her 
 Highness having alluded to the memory of the Empress, and 
 her great kindness to her daughter, in terms of warm appro- 
 bation and gratitude. 
 
 In speaking of the late unfortunate Queen Caroline, the 
 Duchess said,—" I am convinced my daughter Caroline must 
 have injured herself very much in the estimation of several 
 of the British royal family, for having been too candid rela- 
 tive to the cruel treatment of her sister, when the Duke mar- 
 ried the Princess Royal of England, on the propriety of 
 which match, her opinion had not been asked." 
 
 F 2
 
 68 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 litical principles or religious tenets were), has 
 been a warm subject of panegyric with all the 
 historians of her reign ; while its great effect in 
 promoting science and civilization cannot be 
 doubted. Without waiting for the arrival of 
 men who could not be supposed to have any 
 particular inducement to visit the frozen re- 
 gions of the North, it was a favourite maxim 
 of the Empress to invite all those whom she 
 thought likely to contribute to the improve- 
 ment of her empire and its institutions. These 
 she almost invariably rewarded with pensions, 
 privileges, or lucrative employments. When- 
 ever it occurred that those who came to Saint 
 Petersburg!! did not possess all the talents ne- 
 cessary to answer the views of her Imperial 
 Majesty, they were provided with ample means 
 for returning to their own country, and often 
 received valuable presents : Catherine observ- 
 ing, on such occasions — " People do not come 
 here for change of air, but to better their for- 
 tunes, it is therefore but fair that they should 
 not be disappointed in their expectations, after 
 the trouble and fatigue of so long a journey." 
 
 If by chance any artists or professors of sci- 
 ence came to the capital unsought for, she 
 would inuuediately inquire who they were, 
 and what were their abilities ? If eminent in
 
 ENCOURAGEMENT GIVEN TO FOREIGNERS. 69 
 
 their professions, she would say to Potemkin, 
 " We must show ourselves sensible of their 
 merits by our liberality, and thus induce them 
 to stop and instruct our uncivilized subjects." 
 — If, on the contrary, they were reported, 
 (though she did not wholly rely on report, 
 but would herself examine the persons before 
 she gave a final decision,) not to be above 
 mediocrity, she then said; "AVell, something 
 must be done for these poor people, to enable 
 them to return from whence they came, so 
 that they may speak well of us, and thus in- 
 duce others of greater abilities to visit us here- 
 after."* 
 
 It has been truly observed, that the selection 
 of La Harpe as the tutor to her grandson, 
 Alexander, is of itself a singular proof of the 
 
 * The celebrated satirist, Casti, author of the Aiiimali 
 Parlanti, was among those men of genius who were invited 
 to visit the court of Catherine ; but this was not the element 
 for such an elastic and volatile mind ; so that he went back 
 to Vienna in disgust. It was here, and under the immediate 
 auspices of Joseph II., his early patron and friend, that Casti 
 wrote his Crema di Tartaro, a cutting satire on Catherine and 
 her ministers, every stanza of which was shown to the Em- 
 peror as it came from the poet's brain. Happening to meet 
 Casti a few years after at Paris, he told me, that on returning 
 his manuscript, Joseph said, — " Print it by all means; but 
 rest assured I shall not offend you, lest you should serve me 
 in the same way !'
 
 70 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 liberality and discrimination of Catherine, while 
 it does more towards ensuring the glory she 
 may have acquired in her political capacity, 
 than the most brilliant conquests could have 
 effected.
 
 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 71 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Accession of Paul. — Reciprocal hatred between him and 
 Catherine. — He rejects the whole of her household. — Pre- 
 cautions adopted to prevent himself from being poisoned. — 
 Eccentricities which marked the first days of his reign. — 
 Singular address to the murderers of his father. — Treat- 
 ment of Platon Zouboff.— The part which this favourite of 
 Catherine is supposed to have taken in the assassination of 
 Paul.— Exile of the Princess DaschkoiF.— Character of the 
 Princess. — System of Catherine with regard to the children 
 of Paul. — Some account of his first wife the Princess of 
 Hesse Darmstadt. — Cruel conduct of Catherine towards 
 the Princess. 
 
 Paul, the son and successor of Catherine 
 II., has been very justly regarded as at once 
 the most vicious and vindictive Prince who 
 was ever entrusted with the reins of govern- 
 ment, either in Kussia or any other country. 
 His despotic turn of mind and hatred of his 
 fellow-creatures extended even to his mother, 
 whose name he could never hear pronounced
 
 72 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 without horror. But this dislike was mutual ; 
 for even in his earliest youth, she was wont to 
 say, " He was as brutal in his manners, as he 
 was disgustingly ugly in his countenance:" — 
 as to Paul, he parodied this favourite exclama- 
 tion by observing of the Empress, that she was 
 not more insensible to maternal feeling, than 
 despotically tyrannical as a sovereign ; frequent- 
 ly accusing her of the miu'der of his father, 
 and usurpation of his own rights to the sove- 
 reignty.* 
 
 The madness and folly which marked the 
 whole reign of Paul, commenced with the first 
 day of his accession to power. Scarcely had 
 the death of Catherine been annovmced to him, 
 when orders were given to disinter the bones 
 of his father the late Emperor ; a proclama- 
 tion was at the same time issued, commanding 
 that all the nobility of the capital, military 
 staff, and public functionaries, should meet the 
 mouldered remains of Peter III., which they 
 did, bareheaded, in the most inclement season ; 
 Paul and his family leading the way for many 
 
 * Tins fact is fully confirmed in the very interesting Me- 
 moirs of IMadame Campan, who gives a lively description of 
 the sentiments expressed by Paul, relative to the treatment 
 of his father, to Louis XVI., when he was at Versailles with 
 his wife the Grand-duchess.
 
 FUNERAL OF PETER III. 73 
 
 versts on the road to PeterhofF. On meeting; 
 the funeral procession, the whole of the persons 
 thus assembled, including the Imperial family, 
 fell on their knees in the midst of the snow, 
 and remained in that position till the hearse 
 had passed, when they rose and followed it in 
 profound silence to Saint Petersburgh, where 
 it was placed in one of the most magnificent 
 rooms of the Palace. Here the urn, or sar- 
 cophagus, covered with an Imperial mantle, and 
 accompanied with all the insignia of Peter's 
 rank as autocrat, were, according to ancient cus- 
 tom, exposed to the public for several days, 
 while the body of Catherine remained in an 
 adjoining apartment without any pomp, and 
 but very little noticed ! 
 
 This mockery of filial gratitude and affec- 
 tion had the double effect of proving the ha- 
 tred of Paul to his mother, and removing every 
 idea, on the part of the public, that he did not 
 believe himself to be actually the son of the 
 monarch whose remains were thus honoured. 
 So deep-rooted was his antipathy to Catherine, 
 that he rejected the attendance of any of the 
 individuals in her household. And such was 
 his fear of being poisoned, that orders were 
 given to Rostopchin, his chamberlain, to send 
 for his own private cook to prepare the food
 
 74 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 in a separate kitchen, as well as that all those 
 who had been concerned in its preparation, 
 should taste of every dish before it was laid on 
 the Imperial table : a practice which Prince 
 Narishkin told me was intended to be scrupu- 
 lously observed during the whole of this reign. 
 The Prince, to whom I was indebted for 
 the above details, farther informed me, that on 
 Paul's entering the state-room, (on the occasion 
 above alluded to of his father's exhumation,) 
 which was crowded to excess by persons of all 
 ranks, who had come to witness the remains of 
 the departed sovereigns, the first persons who 
 more particularly attracted his attention, were 
 Teploff, Baratinski, and Alexis OrlofF, the as- 
 sassins of Peter III., upon which he thus ad- 
 dressed them : " I am not unacquainted with 
 the active part you took in the last moments 
 of my late unhappy parent, and shall therefore 
 consign the guardianship of his remains to your 
 especial care, until they are again interred, not 
 as they were by the infamous wretches who 
 employed you to perpetrate the murder, but as 
 the long-neglected and much injured Czar of 
 all the Russias, by his affectionate son, who in 
 silence bewailed his untimely death, and now 
 takes the first opportunity of doing homage to 
 his memory."
 
 TREATMENT OF PLATON ZOUBOFF. 75 
 
 Both the Princes YiirussofF and Narishkin, 
 who stood near the new Emperor while he de- 
 livered the above singular address, assured me 
 that the tears gushed from his eyes before the 
 sentence was concluded, and prevented his utter- 
 ance for some moments. The effect on those 
 who had no share in the revolution, was that of 
 exciting sentiments of admiration and pity ; 
 while the aiders and abettors of the conspiracy, 
 of whom numbers were present, naturally trem- 
 bled for themselves ; and it is not improbable 
 that the proceedings on this occasion laid the 
 foundation of a new plot, by which Paul was 
 destined to experience a fate similar to that of 
 his father. As to the assassins, they submitted 
 in silence to the extraordinary duty imposed on 
 them, and having remained near the bones 
 of their victim, until entombed in the vaults of 
 the Czars, they were sent into perpetual exile, 
 and, as I was informed, never heard of after- 
 wards. 
 
 Platon ZoubofF (the last paramour of Cathe- 
 rine) was treated at first precisely in the same 
 way. Paul having also discovered him among 
 the assembled nobles, said, " Prince Zouboff, I 
 am fully aware of the intimacy which subsist- 
 ed between you and my late unnatural mother, 
 and I cannot, therefore, entrust her mortal re-
 
 76 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 mains to better custody than that of one who 
 valued her so higlily while living."* 
 
 The subsequent treatment of ZoubofF was, 
 however, very different from that of the mur- 
 derers. After having performed the last offices 
 to his departed mistress, he contrived to ingra- 
 tiate himself to such a degree into the good 
 graces of Paul, that he was entrusted with the 
 command of the household troops, one of the 
 most important posts in the empire. 
 
 The most accredited reports concerning the 
 death of Paul, state that Platon ZoubofF was 
 the principal instrument in bringing about the 
 event. The folly and cruelties of this Empe- 
 ror were not, as it is well known, confined to 
 the nobility and ministers ; the members of his 
 own family were also the frequent objects of 
 his caprice or wrath. This hostiUty is said to 
 have been stimulated to such a degree by his 
 mistress, Madame Chevalier, that he not only 
 contemplated their exile to Siberia, but had 
 actually made arrangements for carrying the 
 threat into execution. This project was, of it- 
 self, quite sufficient to prove the deranged state 
 of the despot's intellects, without any reference 
 
 * These facts, tliough not so minutely detailed^ are fully 
 confirmed in Wraxall'a JNIemoirs.
 
 TREATMENT OF PLATON ZOUBOFF. 77 
 
 to his general policy. So that Zouboff was con- 
 fidently believed to have given his sanction to, 
 and even actively co-operated with, the party 
 who had determined to deprive Paul both of 
 his life and crown.* 
 
 * Lord Whitworth, when I saw him at Paris, speaking of 
 the affairs of Russia that took place soon after my quitting 
 St. Petersburgh, assured me, among other circumstances 
 respecting the premature death of Paul, that, whatever 
 might have been said at the time, or since, no degree of guilt 
 could be fairly attached to his late Majesty the Emperor 
 Alexander. He added, that his death was not intended 
 even by those who were commissioned to enforce his abdica- 
 tion in Alexander's favour : but the moment they had ap- 
 prised him of their mission, like a madman, he seized hold of 
 a sword, in order to stab Platon ZoubofF. In the struggle 
 which ensued, Paul fell upon a marble slab on the side of his 
 head, with such violence that nothing could save him. The 
 blow was mortal, in consequence of the quantity of blood 
 that issued from his mouth, nose, and ears, as well as from 
 the wound itself. When one of the party removed his sash, 
 for the purpose of using it to stop the effusion, Paul became 
 furious, entangled himself therein, and died from strangu- 
 lation. 
 
 Lord Whitworth's authorities for this story, it appears, were 
 Platon Zouboff himself, and his sister, with whom he is said to 
 have had a liaison. Paul is said to have compassed the de- 
 struction, or at least, the imprisonment, of his wife and 
 children, owing to their remonstrances against the influence 
 of his mistress, Mad. Chevalier, a French actress. He is 
 reported to have actually contemplated placing this woman 
 on the throne, after deposing hia lawful wife. Alexander
 
 78 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Though among the last objects of his resent- 
 ment, Paul did not forget the conspicuous 
 part played by the Princess Daschkoff in the de- 
 thronement of his father. This Princess, who 
 had survived her ungrateful mistress, had re- 
 tired to Moscow before the death of Catherine, 
 and vainly imagined she had escaped the pro- 
 scription, when orders were issued for her ar- 
 rest and exile. One of the confidential female 
 attendants of the Princess, who was present at 
 the time, told me, that when the officer charged 
 to signify the Emperor's orders entered her 
 room, she looked at him with an air of the ut- 
 most contempt, and, turning to my informant, 
 coolly observed, — " Well ! I have certainly 
 deserved this, for having prevented his mo- 
 ther from strangling the ugly monster in his 
 cradle!" Then going towards the fire for a few 
 minutes, and rubbing her hands, she rang the 
 bell, and on the entry of her valet-de-chambre 
 said, with the greatest composure, — " Prepare 
 every thing for a long journey." Upon which 
 
 eubsequently behaved to Mad. Chevalier in the most ge- 
 nerous manner, allowing her to depart from his capital for 
 France, with all her ill-gotten wealth ; although the Rus- 
 sian nobility, greatly incensed, demanded her merited punish- 
 ment, for the evil deeds to which she had but too obviously 
 swayed the weak mind of her lover.
 
 CHARACTER OF THE PRINCESS DASCHKOFF. 79 
 
 she hastened to take leave of those friends 
 who were immediately aboii^t her person, and 
 set out for Siberia, as if she was goino- on an 
 ordinary visit. 
 
 This enterprising woman, to whom Cathe- 
 rine was so mainly indebted for her elevation 
 to the Imperial throne, had been on terms of 
 the most confidential intimacy with the Em- 
 press, ever since her marriage with Peter. 
 When introduced to her by the Princess Wal- 
 konski, at Saint Petersburgh, I was particu- 
 larly struck by the elegance of her address and 
 polished manners, and not less astonished at 
 observing all the vivacity of youth in a woman 
 who had then attained her seventieth year. I 
 was afterwards freqviently amused by the unre- 
 served manner in which she spoke of the ingra- 
 titude and ill-treatment experienced from her 
 Imperial ^wotegee, as she would call Catherine. 
 She deeply lamented the part she had taken in 
 the revolution, and was so full of resentment 
 at the return made by the Empress, that she 
 often congratulated me on not having come to 
 Russia before Catherine's death, lest my con- 
 nexion with the royal family of another coun- 
 try, and the missions with which I had been 
 charged, might have also made me an object of 
 jealousy or suspicion.
 
 80 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 As if Catherine had entertained an early pre- 
 sentiment of the wild and ungovernable cha- 
 racter of her son, she took every precaution to 
 prevent his children from imbibing the hate- 
 ful qualities of their father. This was more 
 especially the case with the heir presumptive, 
 Alexander, who was, while yet an infant, taken 
 from the Grand-duchess his mother, and brought 
 up under the immediate direction of the Em- 
 press. Indeed Paul and his wife scarcely ever 
 resided at St. Petersburgh, except during the 
 time necessary for the latter's accouchement^ after 
 which they returned to their country residence, 
 leaving the children under the eyes of Cathe- 
 rine, who, notwithstanding her own irregu- 
 larities, devoted the utmost attention to their 
 health and education. 
 
 The first wife of Paul was one of the three 
 Princesses of Hesse-Darmstadt,* who, though 
 very plain, and consequently not likely to ex- 
 cite the jealousy of Catherine, then in the hey- 
 
 * One of the sisters was married to the late King of Prus- 
 sia, and was the mother of the present King. The other 
 was the first wife of the late King of Bavaria. Of two 
 (laughters, the fruits of the latter marriage, one is the widow 
 of Eugene Beauharnois, and the other wife to the Emperor 
 of Austria.
 
 CRUELTY OF CATHERINE. 81 
 
 day of her gallantries, was nevertheless sacri- 
 ficed to her hatred and resentment. 
 
 The cause of Catherine's dislike is not exactly 
 known, but it is attributed to a report circu- 
 lated, when the Grand-duchess was far advanced 
 in her first pregnancy, that she had shown a 
 partiality for Count RosamufFski. On it reach- 
 ing the ears of the Grand-duchess, this mali- 
 cious story had such an effect on her health and 
 spirits, that she was observed to decline in both 
 daily, and at the time of her accouchement , 
 nothing less than her own death could save 
 the infant. To this alternative the Grand-duke, 
 who was very much attached to her, perempto- 
 rily objected; and, the fruit being destroyed to 
 save the tree, the object of Catherine's vindic- 
 tive solicitude was saved for this time at least. 
 She, however, it is said, had recourse to mea- 
 sures which were likely to be more effectual. 
 Owing to the mismanagement, or want of skill, 
 in her medical attendants, it was almost officially 
 reported to the Empress, that the Grand-duchess 
 would probably never be in a state to give 
 an heir to the empire ; upon which Catherine, 
 glad of a pretext, lost no time in signifying to 
 her son, that it was highly necessary for their 
 mutual interests, and in order to secure the suc- 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 cession in a direct line, that his present wife 
 should be repudiated. There being no specific 
 charge made against his wife's fidelity, Paul 
 resisted the proposition of his mother, on the 
 ground of its injustice and the strength of his 
 affection, until some proofs of her criminality 
 could be adduced. These reasons were no sooner 
 given, than documents were forged for the pur- 
 pose of overcoming all his scruples ; and, being 
 no longer able to resist the resolution of the 
 Empress, his unhappy wife was left to her fate, 
 and soon perished, the innocent victim of Im- 
 perial vengeance. 
 
 How well her solicitude has been repaid with 
 regard to Alexander, whose sudden death has 
 lately excited so many surmises, and totally 
 changed the aspect of European politics, if it 
 has not marked the era of a revolution through- 
 out his vast dominions, has been proved by a 
 mode of government wherein it would be an 
 act of injustice to deny, that if he did not 
 evince any very great talents as a soldier or 
 statesman, he is entitled to the praise of hav- 
 ing displayed much greater virtue and mode- 
 ration than any of his predecessors.
 
 INTRODUCTION OF PONIATOWSKY. 83 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Introduction of Stanislaus Poniatowsky at the Court of Saint 
 Petersburgh. — He attracts the notice of Catherine. — Their 
 intimacy promoted by the Princess DaschkofF. — Stanislaus 
 excites the jealousy of the courtiers, and is ordered to quit 
 the capital. — Intrigue to bring him back. — He is named 
 Plenipotentiary, and returns. — Farther observations on the 
 abandoned character of the Empress Elizabeth — Conduct 
 of the Grand-duke Peter. — Adventure at Oranienbaum. — 
 Statements of Dalolio relative to the birth of Paul and the 
 Princess Anne. — Conduct of Catherine towards her former 
 lover. — Contrasted with that of Paul. — Death of Stanislaus- 
 — Honour paid to his memory. — Character and virtues of 
 the last King of Poland. — Partition Scheme. — Its retro-ac- 
 tive effect. — Anecdote relative to the last partition of Po- 
 land. — Secret motives of Catherine. — Declaration of Sta- 
 nislaus to the patriot Kosciusko. — Prince Radzivil's opinion 
 of Mr. Gardiner. — Brutal conduct of Stackelberg towards 
 Stanislaus. 
 
 The elevation of Stanislaus Poniatowsky to 
 a throne, and his precipitate fall, brought about 
 by the very hand which raised him from a pri- 
 vate station, furnish a strong illustration, if any 
 
 G 2
 
 84 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUHTS. 
 
 were wanting, of the instability of fortune, and 
 capricious uncertainty of court favour — more es- 
 pecially when exercised by a woman of Cathe- 
 rine the Second's temperament and dissolute 
 habits. 
 
 Nothing could be more favourable than the 
 auspices under which Stanislaus arrived at Saint 
 Petersburgh. With a fine person, fascinating 
 manners, and a knowledge of several languages, 
 greatly improved by foreign travel, he came 
 to Russia as the private secretary and friend 
 of Sir Hanbury Williams, the British Ambassa- 
 dor. The removal of SoltikofF, and efforts made 
 by tlie Chancellor Bestucheff to prevent his 
 return, were highly favourable to the success 
 of Foniatowsky, who was soon allured from his 
 diplomatic labours by the varied amusements 
 of the court, where his appearance could not fail 
 to attract the notice of Catherine. Nor was 
 Stanislaus himself long in perceiving the impres- 
 sion he had made on the heart of the Grand- 
 duchess. '*' 
 
 As might well be expected, the growing in- 
 timacy of Catherine and Stanislaus excited the 
 jealousy of the courtiers : this was so openly 
 manifested, that, but for the ingenuity and ad- 
 dress of the Princess Daschkoff, the happiness 
 which they had promised themselves might
 
 STANISLAUS QUITS THE CAPITAL. 85 
 
 have been protracted to an indefinite period, if 
 not prevented altogether. As anxious to encou- 
 rage the passions, as to promote the ambitious 
 views, of her mistress, the Princess, aided by an 
 ItaUan Secretary, enabled the lovers to enjoy an 
 unreserved intercourse for some time ; but it 
 was impossible to elude the vigilance of the spies 
 whom the enemies of the Grand-duchess had 
 employed to watch her conduct, and having 
 made reiterated complaints to the Empress, she 
 was at length forced to take the matter up ; 
 and though indulging in the most shameless 
 excesses herself, Elizabeth suddenly issued an 
 order for Stanislaus to quit Russia. It was in 
 vain to remonstrate against this mandate, and 
 the discontented lover was under the necessity of 
 setting out before he scarcely had time to take 
 leave of his mistress. As to Catherine, though 
 deeply affected for a time, her characteristic 
 hypocrisy was soon put into requisition ; she ap- 
 peared reconciled to her fate, and knowing that 
 old BestuchefF, who then guided the councils 
 of Elizabeth, could not entertain the same 
 jealousy against Poniatowsky that he did with 
 regard to SoltikofF, she determined to leave no- 
 thing untried to gain over the Chancellor, and, 
 through his means, bring her lover back to 
 court. Having put every spring in motiofi for
 
 86 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 this purpose, and being powerfully seconded by 
 Sir Hanbury AVilliams, BestuchefF was induced 
 to write to the Count de Brubl, first minister 
 to Augustus, the reigning King of Poland, and 
 who, being anxious to cultivate the friendship 
 of so influential a character in Russia, readily 
 entered into the views of the Chancellor. His 
 first step, in furtherance of the above object, 
 was to decorate Stanislaus with the order of the 
 White Eagle ; he was then named Ambassador 
 extraordinary to the Court of Saint Petersburgh ; 
 and this with the full consent of the British 
 and Prussian ministers at the court of Augustus. 
 The new nomination was, however, so highly 
 disapproved of by the cabinets of Paris and 
 Vienna, that Durand, charge d'affaires to the 
 former, no sooner heard of it, than he hastened 
 to make the most violent remonstrances against 
 a measure which could not fail to exasperate 
 France ; since it was of the utmost consequence 
 for the safety of Poland, to conciliate the ca- 
 binets of Versailles and Vienna, it being noto- 
 rious that Russia continued to entertain views 
 highly dangerous to its independence. 
 
 While tlic Covmt de Bruhl loudly protested 
 that he had no share in the recent nomination, 
 the most minute instructions were prepared for 
 the regulation of Poniatowsky's conduct, and 
 
 i . 
 
 #i»
 
 RETURN OF STANISLAUS AS AMBASSADOR. 87 
 
 SO anxious was the Polish minister to insure 
 the success of the mission, that he placed a 
 considerable sum in the hands of the new ple- 
 nipotentiary, to be secretly advanced to Cathe- 
 rine, whenever she should stand in need of as- 
 sistance ; an event of very frequent occurrence, 
 owing to the limited allowance made by the 
 Empress, as well as the extravagant habits 
 in which she continually indulged. 
 
 On reaching his destination, Stanislaus did 
 not fail to make the best possible use of the 
 Count de Bruhl's counsels and liberality ; he 
 was of course received with open arms by the 
 Grand-duchess, and left no art untried to gain 
 the confidence of her husband, with whom he 
 soon become a great favourite. Indeed, to do 
 this, it was only necessary to smoke, drink, and 
 applaud the military system of Frederick II., 
 who had now become the idol of Peter in all 
 things. He thus succeeded for some time in 
 lulling the suspicions of the Grand-duke, who 
 entertained the highest opinion of Stanislaus, 
 while the numerous spies placed over the con- 
 duct of Catherine vainly endeavoured to open 
 his eyes to her criminal proceedings. 
 
 According to the testimony of the Princess 
 Narishkin, the court of Elizabeth had by this 
 time become the most debauched in Europe ; 
 
 \
 
 88 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the Empress herself exhibiting a disgusting con- 
 trast of sensuality and superstition, at one time 
 indulging in the most shameless excesses, while 
 at others she appeared to be absorbed in the 
 reveries of a religious devotee. With such an 
 example before her eyes, no wonder if Cathe- 
 rine considered her own frailties as innocent 
 pastimes compared with those of the Empress ; 
 nor did she fail, whenever any person ventured 
 to suggest a more circumspect line of conduct, 
 to point at what was passing at court. 
 
 When the intercourse of Catherine and Po- 
 niatowsky became so notorious, that he was 
 almost publicly said to be the father of her 
 second child, the Princess Anne, (who died soon 
 after her birth,) it was impossible any longer 
 to tolerate a circumstance which threatened 
 the tranquillity of the state ; so that the Grand- 
 duchess, without being openly accused, was 
 merely removed from Saint Petersburgh to the 
 palace of Oranienbaum, where she resided in a 
 species of exile. It was during her stay here, 
 that an adventure occurred to Stanislaus, which 
 might have produced the most serious conse- 
 quences, instead of merely contributing, as it 
 did, to the amusement of the court. 
 
 As Peter continued to indulge all his own 
 excesses in a different part of the palace, Ca-
 
 DETECTION OF STANISLAUS. 89 
 
 therine conceived that she had also a right to 
 some recreation, and having consulted her con- 
 fidential attendants, the Princesses DaschkofF 
 and Narishkin, they contrived occasionally to 
 manage secret interviews between her and 
 Poniatowsky. These had not been often en- 
 joyed, before the spies of the Grand-duke dis- 
 covered the circumstance, and hastening to 
 communicate it to their master, he determined 
 to be revenged on one of the parties at least. 
 Accordingly, on his next visit, Stanislaus had 
 scarcely entered the avenue in which he was in 
 the habit of meeting Catherine, than one of the 
 guards came up, and insisted on knowing Avho 
 he was, and what were the objects of his being 
 in that unfrequented spot. Upon this sudden 
 interruption, Poniatowsky, with great presence 
 of mind, replied, that he was a German taylor, 
 and merely going to take measure of some 
 officers stationed at the palace. " Tliat may 
 be," rejoined the Commissary, " but I have 
 orders to conduct all who trespass here to the 
 guard-house." It was in vain that Stanislaus, 
 who had by this time become alarmed for his 
 safety, endeavoured to disengage himself from 
 the intruder, who, after some farther alterca- 
 tioUj threw a handkerchief round his neck, 
 and forcibly took him into custody : nor was
 
 90 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 it without considerable difficulty that the 
 Ambassador-extraordinary obtained his release. 
 So incensed was Peter at these visits, that he 
 seriously deliberated with his friends on the 
 propriety of making an example of Poniatow- 
 sky; but on their representing the impolicy 
 of giving farther publicity to the affair, and, 
 moreover, that he had been sufficiently pu- 
 nished by the recent humiliation, the affair 
 was suffered to pass off without farther notice, 
 except ari admonition to Stanislaus never to 
 repeat the offence, on pain of incurring the 
 highest penalties of the law.* When the re- 
 sentment of Peter was somewhat assuaged, 
 and the friends of Poniatowsky ventured to 
 express their surprise at the ignominious man- 
 ner in which a foreign ambassador, and the 
 representative of a crowned head, had been 
 treated, he assumed an air of surprise, and 
 affected to be totally ignorant of what had 
 happened. This did not, however, prevent 
 
 • I was informed by Madame Narishkin, that Krezinski, 
 the friend and companion of Poniatowsky, found it necessary 
 to prevail on his mistress, the Countess Romanzolf, who was 
 a great favourite with Elizabeth, to intercede with the latter 
 for the release and pardon of Stanislaus. Even the good 
 offices of the Countess Woronzoff are said to have been also 
 put in requisition.
 
 CATHERINE AND STANISLAUS. 91 
 
 him from frequently alluding to the circum- 
 stance at his own table, and he generally took 
 care to do so when the Grand-duchess was 
 present. 
 
 The attachment of Catherine for Stanislaus 
 was so strong, that it outlived the mere gra- 
 tification of her passions. There is great rea- 
 son to believe that she contemplated his ele- 
 vation to the throne of Poland, even before 
 her own accession to power. At all events, 
 a constant correspondence was kept up be- 
 tween the lovers after the return of Poniatow- 
 sky to Warsaw. This intercourse, which also 
 required to be carried on with great precau- 
 tion, was managed through the medium of the 
 Baron de Breteuil, the French ambassador. 
 
 Dalolio, the celebrated violoncello player, 
 who had been attached to the suite of Stanis- 
 laus, on his nomination to the embassy, and 
 followed his fortunes when raised to the 
 throne of Poland, assured me that there must 
 have been some secret motive for the long con- 
 tinuance of the intercourse which took place 
 between his master and Catherine, quite un- 
 known even to the spies who were appoint- 
 ed to watch their movements. He likewise 
 informed me, that Stanislaus, when questioned 
 by one of his most confidential friends relative
 
 92 ANECDOTES OF FOllEIGN COURTS. 
 
 to the infant Princess Anne, (of whom he was 
 considered as the father by the whole court,) 
 instead of denying the charge, artfully turned 
 the conversation on another subject, which had 
 been frequently spoken of as involving great 
 mystery. This related to a story, circulated 
 with the utmost secresy, and only known to 
 a few individuals, which stated the singular 
 fact of the Empress Elizabeth's having caused 
 a child of her own by Razoumoffsky to be 
 substituted for that of Catherine at her first 
 accouchement; and this supposition was greatly 
 strengthened by the excessive fondness at all 
 times shown towards the infant by her Im- 
 perial INIajesty. The circumstance of Paul's 
 bearing a much more striking resemblance to 
 the Cossack favourite and Elizabeth than to 
 cither of his reputed parents, was an additional 
 motive for crediting the above assertion. On 
 questioning my informant, as to what became 
 of the real child of Catherine, he replied, that 
 it had either been sent off to a distant province 
 or strangled ; adding, that in a country where 
 so little ceremony was used in disposing of the 
 sovereign himself, it was not likely that much 
 importance would be attached to the existence 
 of a new-born infant. 
 
 Dalolio adverted to another anecdote which,
 
 CATHERINE AND STANISLAUS. 93 
 
 he said, convinced him there must be some 
 truth in the foregoing story. When, at a sub- 
 sequent period, an ineffectual attempt had been 
 made by the Princess DaschkoflP and her friends 
 to brine: about a reconciUation between Cathe- 
 rine and the Empress, Poniatowsky, in order 
 to try the feehngs of the latter, advised the 
 Grand-duchess to request permission to with- 
 draw from Russia altogether, and reside in 
 some part of Germany. This experiment, 
 made at a time when matters had proceeded 
 so far that Catherine was considered as totally 
 ruined by the whole court, produced all the 
 effect which Stanislaus anticipated. Instead of 
 her departure from Petersburgh, the Grand- 
 duchess was sent for to court, and after mutual 
 explanations, followed by every assurance of 
 protection and kindness from Elizabeth, she 
 appeared at the theatre in the evening, accom- 
 panied by young Paul, upon whom, as well 
 as herself, the Empress lavished every possible 
 mark of tenderness. As to Poniatowsky, to 
 whose ingenuity this happy event was due, he 
 was most graciously treated by her Imperial 
 Majesty, and received a magnificent present on 
 taking his leave to return to Warsaw, whence 
 he had come for the express purpose of effect- 
 ing an object in which every body else had 
 failed.
 
 94 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Another circumstance, said Dalolio, which oc- 
 curred during the visit of my late master to St. 
 Petersburgh, tended still more strongly to 
 confirm his suspicions as to the birth of Paul. 
 On Catherine's communicating what had taken 
 place at Schlusselberg, between Peter and the 
 unfortunate Prince Ivan, to the Empress, the 
 latter appeared very unexpectedly at the the- 
 atre on the same evening, merely accompanied 
 by her confidential courtiers, Catherine and 
 Paul. Seeing that the audience was very small, 
 she ordered her chamberlain to call in the sol- 
 diers of her guard, which soon filled the house, 
 upon which she took the child in her arms, and 
 held him up to the view of the veterans who 
 had placed herself on the throne. As if this 
 demonstration was perfectly understood by the 
 soldiery, it had no sooner taken place, than the 
 whole house rang with the loudest plaudits, in 
 which " Jjong live the Empress, and Paul Pe- 
 trovitz !" was repeated by every voice. As in- 
 directly connected with the history of Paul's 
 birth, it is worthy of remark, that Catherine 
 was herself suspected (as has been already said) 
 of having been concerned in tlie circumstances 
 which led to the death of his first wife, and 
 wliich resulted from the treatment experienced 
 durino- her accouchement !
 
 CATHERINE'S ATTACHMENT TO STANISLAUS. 95 
 
 It was said to have been tlie intention of Eliza- 
 beth to set aside Peter, and proclaim Paul in 
 his place, in which case Catherine would have 
 probably become Regent, Death, however, put 
 an end to her schemes, and left the field open 
 to a still more able intrigante. The solici- 
 tude shown by the Empress about Paul, con- 
 trasted with the hatred and disgust manifested 
 by Catherine from the moment of his birth to 
 her own death, has been regarded as quite cor- 
 roborative of the above singular story. 
 
 I was credibly informed by Dalolio, that Ca- 
 therine had for many years looked up to Sta- 
 nislaus for advice in every situation of diffi- 
 culty, and that although separated from her, 
 and succeeded by so many rivals, she never 
 undertook any important measure without first 
 consultino- her former lover. This was more 
 particularly the case, in all the steps which 
 led to her usurpation of the Imperial crown, as 
 well as in the affaii' of the ill-fated Princess 
 TarrakanofF, whose inhuman treatment by Or- 
 loff has excited the indignation of so many 
 writers.* 
 
 * The whole of the circumstances connected with this atro- 
 cious transaction, were minutely related to me at Leghorn, 
 in 1793, by a Russian resident of that place, who was an 
 eye witness of the affair. His story did not materially differ 
 
 ^
 
 96 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. ' 
 
 Stroner as the attachment of Catherine cer- 
 tainly was, and powerful as her motives were, 
 in all probability, for raising Poniatowsky to 
 the throne, there is no act in the life of that 
 extraordinary woman which tends to show her 
 character in a more odious light, than her con- 
 duct to Stanislaus during the last years of his 
 reign, up to the execrable partition of his 
 kingdom, and it may be said, his own imprison- 
 ment at Grodno. While this conduct of Ca- 
 therine proves that she must have been totally 
 destitute of any generous feeling, it furnishes 
 another illustration of the effects of ambition, 
 in destroying all those virtues which give dig- 
 nity to our nature. 
 
 On a first view of the subject, the elevation 
 of Poniatowsky to a throne by his mistress, was 
 peculiarly calculated to excite the applause of 
 her contemporaries, so far as the personal feel- 
 ings of Catherine were concerned ; but when 
 her subsequent proceedings in shackling all the 
 measures of the new King, and placing such 
 men as Stackelberg near his person, with the 
 
 from that of Castera, as repeated by Wraxall^ except that, 
 unlike the latter writer, he entertained no doubt whatever of 
 the criminal conduct of Sir John Dick, who lent himself to 
 the villanous design of Orloff, and was perhaps the cause of 
 its being crowned with such complete success.
 
 THE EMPEROR PAUL A>JD STANISLAUS. 97 
 
 title of ambassador^ but virtually to govern his 
 kingdom until the plan of spoliation and par- 
 tition should be finally ripened, are considered, 
 it is impossible to acquit the Empress of hav- 
 ing been at once the most consummate hypo- 
 crite and unprincipled woman ever entrusted 
 with political power. 
 
 If the conduct of Catherine towards her early 
 friend and lover has tended to cover her me- 
 mory with opprobrium, that of Paul, as regards 
 the same individual, really displays his charac- 
 ter, otherwise so repulsive, in a most favour- 
 able point of view. There was something so 
 truly noble and generous in his inviting the 
 dethroned monarch to St. Petersburgh, and not 
 only allotting a palace for his future residence, 
 but showing Stanislaus all the respect due to a 
 sovereign, that it is scarcely possible to recon- 
 cile it with the various follies of his reign. It 
 was this treatment, on the part of Paul, which 
 induced the dethroned monarch to tell his 
 friends that he felt himself more a king at St. 
 Petersburgh, than he had ever done while at 
 Warsaw. 
 
 The demeanour of Stanislaus on his arrival in 
 the Russian capital, and that affability of man- 
 ner which he manifested towards all those who 
 approached him, soon endeared the dethroned 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 monarch to the public, and greatly tended to 
 increase tiieir sympathy in his favour. Hap- 
 pening to be at St. Petersburg!! soon after the 
 arrival of Stanislaus, I frequently saw him in 
 public, and was particularly struck by the dig- 
 nity of his appearance. He still possessed a 
 most imposing figure, while his countenance 
 retained a great portion of that expression 
 which had formerly caused him to be regarded 
 as one of the handsomest men in Europe. 
 
 Naturally anxious to know more of a prince 
 who had experienced such trying vicissitudes, 
 1 gladly availed myself of the kind offer of an 
 introduction made me by Lord Whitworth, to 
 whom I had brought letters of introduction 
 from INIr. Hailes, our ambassador at the court 
 of Stockholm, and had been invited to accom- 
 pany his lordship to the first party given by 
 Stanislaus, who was passionately fond of music. 
 
 It was on the morning of the day on which 
 I anticipated this treat, and when preparing to 
 go to the Catholic church to hear mass, that 
 the Duke de Sera Capriola, the Neapolitan am- 
 bassador, came to inform me that the King of 
 Poland had been attacked during the night 
 with a fit of apoplexy, that he was quite 
 speechless, and not expected to survive twen- 
 ty-four hours. Having accompanied the Duke
 
 THE DEATH OF STANISLAUS. 99 
 
 to the house of Princess Narishkin in the even- 
 ing, we found nearly all those who were invited 
 to visit the unfortunate King deploring the un- 
 looked-for malady of a Prince who, but a few 
 hours before, had been busily occupied in giving 
 directions relative to the approaching soiree ! As 
 generally occurs on such occasions, the virtues 
 of Poniatowsky, and the persecutions he had ex- 
 perienced, became the general theme of conver- 
 sation ; and when at a later hour Lord Whit- 
 worth entered to announce his death, it was 
 instantly buzzed about the rooms that he must 
 have been poisoned, an insinuation upon which 
 every body expatiated according to his own 
 way of thinking. The reasonings on this sub- 
 ject had not however proceeded far, before the 
 British ambassador, who had been the constant 
 companion of Stanislaus, ever since his arrival 
 at St. Petersburgh, declared there was no foun- 
 dation whatever for such a report, and that the 
 Monarch's decease was alone caused by the 
 attack of apoplexy, to which I have already 
 alluded. 
 
 The death of Stanislaus afforded Paul a fresh 
 opportunity of showing his respect for the un- 
 fortunate Prince. No sooner was the melan- 
 choly event announced, than orders were issued 
 to pay all the honours of royalty to the re- 
 
 H 2
 
 100 ANFXDOTES OF FOUEIGN COURTS. 
 
 mains of the deceased monarch. The corpse, 
 having been accordingly placed in a coffin orna- 
 mented with the insignia of royalty, remained 
 the usual number of days laid out in the state 
 apartments, which were magnificently hung 
 with tlie richest black velvet curtains, and 
 lighted with a profusion of wax tapers. When 
 these preparations were completed, Paul, ac- 
 companied by Prince Narishkin, proceeded to 
 the scene of mourning, and, kneeling close to 
 the coffin, prayed very fervently for some time ; 
 after which he directed that the rooms should 
 be thrown open to the public })revious to the 
 final ceremony. After being exposed the usual 
 number of days, the body was removed on a 
 splendid hearse, constructed for the purpose, to 
 the cathedral, where a solemn requiem, composed 
 by Sarti for the occasion, was chanted. Mi- 
 nute guns were heard from without, and shook 
 the roof of the edifice, which was thronged 
 with persons of every rank and condition. In- 
 deed, the universal and ardent sympathy mani- 
 fested at the funeral of Stanislaus was of itself 
 an unequivocal testimony in favour of the cha- 
 racter and virtues of the departed monarch. 
 
 It was remarked as a singular coincidence, 
 that the circumstances attendino; the death of 
 Stanislaus were very similar to those of Catlie-
 
 STANISLAUS. 101 
 
 rine herself. Their age was nearly the same ; 
 he also was attacked by apoplexy, and Imgered 
 about the same number of hours before his dis- 
 solution. 
 
 Although there can be little doubt but that 
 the ambitious views of Russia, with regard to 
 Poland, might be traced to a much earlier date 
 than the election of Stanislaus ; he possessed 
 qualities of the head and heart which would 
 have made him very popular with his new 
 subjects ;* but from the system of intrigue 
 pursued by Russian agents, who were constant- 
 ly occupied in fomenting internal dissensions, 
 by which the life of the monarch was fre- 
 quently exposed to the greatest danger, and 
 a species of perpetual civil war kept up, his 
 title of king was a mere mockery from the be- 
 ginning. 
 
 The apathy with which those powers who 
 did not join in the partition scheme witnessed 
 the extinction of a monarchy, whose existence 
 
 * Stanislaus is said to have excited a great deal of discon- 
 tent, in consequence of his having been the first Sarmatian that 
 caused himself to be crowned in the French royal robes, in- 
 stead of the ancient Polish dress previously used on such 
 occasions. As this was considered as an indication of still 
 greater changes, it created the utmost jealousy among the 
 principal nobility, not excepting some of the King's own re- 
 lations.
 
 102 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 was SO necessary for maintaining the balance of 
 power in Europe, has been, as it ever must be, 
 a just source of astonishment and indignation 
 with the patriots and politicians of every coun- 
 try. But the almost inevitable consequences of 
 political innovations, founded on injustice, were 
 perhaps never so strongly exemplified as in the 
 case of this ill-fated nation. Scarcely had the 
 crime been perpetrated, when the colonists of 
 North America, as if roused to avenge its enor- 
 mity,* shook off the yoke of the mother coun- 
 try ; hence a sanguinary war, in which immense 
 blood and treasures were sacrificed. The French 
 Revolution followed soon after : it is needless 
 to dwell on the result of a struggle so unex- 
 ampled in the history of mankind, to which 
 that event gave rise. None, however, but 
 those who are determined to shut their eyes to 
 the lessons of history, will deny the analogy 
 wliich exists between an act that seemed at 
 once to destroy all confidence between the 
 rulers and the governed, and the subsequent 
 efforts made by almost every people in Europe 
 to obtain guarantees which might secure them 
 against both foreign and domestic aggressions. 
 
 * It has been truly observed, that the resistance to a 
 trifling tax levied at a single sea-port, was rather the pretext 
 than the real cause of the American Revolution.
 
 KOSCIUSKO, ETC. 103 
 
 During my stay in the Russian capital I 
 was confidently informed, that from the gene- 
 ral spirit which pervaded the Poles, the slight- 
 est demonstration of physical aid and co-opera- 
 tion from France or England, would have pro- 
 duced such an effect in uniting them, that they 
 might have easily resisted all the power of 
 Russia; but seeing themselves abandoned, their 
 spirits naturally flagged and were soon broken; 
 though the efforts of Kosciusko, Zajonerek and 
 their friends, are on record to prove that Po- 
 land was not sacrificed without a struggle on 
 the part of her brave but unfortunate sons. 
 
 The only manifestation of sympathy towards 
 the Poles consisted in the authority received 
 by Tapper, the banker of Warsaw, from a fo- 
 reign cabinet, to advance whatever sums Sta- 
 nislaus might require for carrying on a defen- 
 sive war. From what quarter this authority 
 was derived has never transpired, as on its 
 reaching the knowledge of the Russian ambas- 
 sador, Tapper was murdered by a party of as- 
 sassins, who waylaid him as he was coming out 
 of his own house. 
 
 With respect to the motives which actuated 
 the conduct of Catherine towards her former 
 paramour, they were variously stated to me 
 while at Saint Petersburgh. Among others,
 
 104 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the Princess Dasclikoff told Mr. Gardiner, who 
 was for many years British ambassador in Po- 
 land, and the intimate friend of Stanislaus, that, 
 independent of her well-known views of am- 
 bition, the Empress was stimulated to the first 
 partition by her desire to humble the pride of 
 Poniatowsky, in consequence of his refusal to 
 consent to a private marriage ; adding, that 
 she would have most probably dethroned him 
 then, had not the Count de Vergennes, French 
 minister at Warsaw, induced the Porte to take 
 up the cause of Poland, and march a large 
 body of troops towards the Crimea. Some 
 threatening movements made by Gustavus III. 
 of Sweden, on the side of Finland, at the same 
 time, and also the interference of France, in- 
 duced Catherine to suspend her project till a 
 more favourable opportunity. On coming to 
 this determination, the Empress observed to 
 her confidant,— " Well, since he will not be 
 my husband, he shall never be at peace till he 
 has become my prisoner. He may then per- 
 haps change his mind." 
 
 That the reported anxiety of Catherine to 
 marry Poniatowsky was believed by Kosciusko, 
 1 have reason to know from the Patriot him- 
 self. Happening to meet him at Paris, while
 
 ANECDOTE OF STANISLAUS. 105 
 
 attaclied to the regiment of Prince Joseph Po- 
 niatowsky, he related, among other anecdotes 
 connected with the last king of Poland, a con- 
 versation which took place soon after his de- 
 thronement, in the presence of Count Macro- 
 nosko and his father-in-law, Prince Sanguska, 
 and on the estate of the latter. Having al- 
 luded to the unhappy fate which had befallen 
 their common country, and sympathized with 
 the sufferings of his master, the indignant Pa- 
 triot said; — "But, Sire, had you played your 
 cards as you might have done, your Majesty 
 would have long since been Emperor of Russia 
 as well as King of Poland, in which case the 
 forces of one country would have always sup- 
 ported your throne in the other." — " That may 
 be," replied Stanislaus ; " but I had promised 
 Catherine never to marry if she was assured 
 of a legitimate heir to the crown of Russia. 
 There being soon after no doubt of the Grand- 
 duke Paul succeeding to it, I had no idea of 
 changing my sentiments on the subject. Be- 
 sides, from the capricious character of the Em- 
 press, and disposition of those around her, I 
 felt convinced that I should soon have shared 
 the fate of her first husband ; whereas, by de- 
 clining the marriage, I gave no immediate
 
 106 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 cause of jealousy to her courtiers, being so far 
 removed from the intrigues and cabals which 
 constantly occupied their time." 
 
 Both the Princess Daschkoff and Narishkin 
 have often assured me that, notwithstanding the 
 persecution experienced by Poniatowsky from 
 his mistress and her agents, Catherine never felt 
 so much attached to any of her favourites ex- 
 cept Lanskoi. There is, however, no doubt but 
 that the first named of the above ladies, aided 
 by OrlofF, warmly encouraged the elevation of 
 Stanislaus, as the only means of destroying his 
 growing influence over the Empress. Aware of 
 her love of novelty, they knew that it was only 
 necessary to remove him from the scene of his 
 triumph, in order to fill his place with some 
 person who would be less likely to interfere 
 with their own views. 
 
 INIadame Narishkin once told me, that hap- 
 pening to be closeted with Catherine, soon after 
 she had decided the fate of Stanislaus, the Em- 
 press dc})lored the necessity of dethroning him 
 in the most feeling terms, and even shed tears, 
 as if she could not have adopted a different 
 line of policy. She at the same time expressed 
 a wish that he would soon make some over- 
 tures relative to their former intimacy : on ano- 
 ther occasion, and when there had been suffi-
 
 CATHEEINE AND STANISLAUS. 107 
 
 cient time for the expected communications, 
 Catherine spoke in a totally different tone, and, 
 after reproaching the fallen monarch with his 
 indifference and pride, she exclaimed — " Be it 
 so ! if he is as headstrong as Essex, he shall find 
 me as determined as Elizabeth !" On perceiving 
 the effect produced by the silence of Stanislaus, 
 and being anxious to meet the wishes of her 
 mistress, the Princess Narishkin despatched her 
 husband in all haste to Grodno, with a view of 
 persuading the dethroned King to propitiate 
 the Empress by a more conciliatory line of con- 
 duct; but, whether it arose from the resent- 
 ment excited by the injuries he had akeady 
 experienced, or his want of confidence in Ca- 
 therine, Stanislaus could never be persuaded to 
 make the smallest concession. It was this dig- 
 nified conduct which induced one of his friends 
 to say, " that he was a real king when dethroned, 
 and a slave vmder a diadem." 
 
 As T have already observed, though his last 
 residence at Saint Petersburgh was so short, his 
 aimable manners, good humour, and philoso- 
 phic resignation to his situation, had endeared 
 Stanislaus to all those who approached his person; 
 while his humanity and numerous charities ren- 
 dered him extremely popular with the public. 
 In speaking of the dethroned King, Mr. Gar-
 
 108 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 diner used to say, that he " was grand in his de- 
 portment ; handsome and manly in his person ; 
 accompUshed and elegant in conversation ; di- 
 vested of pride or ostentation ;" adding, " that 
 he invariably conducted himself towards indivi- 
 duals of every rank with the dignity which 
 became a king." 
 
 Stanislaus seldom assumed the Polish cos- 
 tume, except to gratify the wishes of some 
 favourite lady. I was informed by the Princess 
 Radzivill, that on his first entering into society, 
 and when thus dressed, he was by far the hand- 
 somest man she ever beheld. It was in his 
 national dress and fur cap that Sir Hanbury 
 Williams first presented Poniatowsky at the 
 court of Elizabeth. His fine person and fasci- 
 nating manners made such an impression on 
 the old Empress, that she immediately offered 
 to give him a place at court ; and if the reports 
 I heard were true, lie might have aspired to 
 still more flattering proofs of regard.* 
 
 * I heard from the Princess Narishkin, that at a mask- 
 ed ball given soon after Poniatowsky*s presentation, on 
 which occasion lie again appeared in his Polish costnme, the 
 Empress said to Sir Hanbury Williams, loud enough to be 
 heard by the young stranger, " I should like, above all 
 things, to have such a dress as that," pointing to Stanislaus ; 
 upon which Poniatowsky went up and replied, " Your Ma- 
 jesty's wish shall be instantly gratified." " Then I will re-
 
 \ 
 
 ANECDOTES OF STANISLAUS. 109 
 
 Madame Radzivill,* who seemed to be inti- 
 mately acquainted with the private history of 
 Stanislaus, assured me, that, had he lived, it 
 was his intention to have married a lady named 
 
 tire, and prepare to put on the dress at once," rejoined 
 Elizabeth. It was probably expected that Stanislaus should 
 have attended to present the suit in person ; instead, how- 
 ever, of this, he merely sent it by an attendant, and conti- 
 nued to amuse himself in dancing or walking with Cathe- 
 rine and the ladies of the court. JMadame Narishkin added, 
 that the Empress was so disappointed at Poniatowsky's want 
 of gallantry, that she did not make her appearance any more 
 during the remainder of the evening, and that the dress was 
 returned the next day, as being too large ! 
 
 * This lady was the mother of Prince Radzivill, who mar- 
 ried a daughter of Prince Ferdinand of Prussia, and who is 
 said to be very nearly related, on the maternal side, to the 
 late King of Poland. On the birth of the above Prince, Sta- 
 nislaus is said to have signified his joy by conferring a title, 
 with the revenue of twelve villages, on the mother, with 
 whom he had been on terms of close intimacy for some years 
 
 before. 
 
 It is certain that, after the death of Poniatowsky at the 
 battle of Leipsic, Napoleon directed his attention to Prince 
 Radzivill, as being the most proper person to succeed him, 
 in the event of his famous plan with regard to the re-estab- 
 lishment of Poland being realized. The motives of Napo- 
 leon for this choice, which he imagined would be highly ac- 
 ceptable to the Poles, who still venerate the memory of the 
 Prince's reputed father, was communicated to several of the 
 Patriots in the late French Emperor's visit to Wilna, during 
 the disastrous campaign of 1812.
 
 110 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Sebrosky, by wliom he had ah-eady had several 
 children, and that she would have been ac- 
 knowledfjed as his wife at the court of Paul. 
 Indeed Madame Radzivill one day pointed out 
 to me, among the guests who dined at her own 
 Palace, a very fine-looking young man, as the 
 son of Poniatowsky by the above-named lady. 
 I have since heard, on the French army enter- 
 ing Poland, a number of his friends made every 
 effort to persuade this individual to present 
 himself before Napoleon ; but he could not be 
 prevailed on to do so, and is, I believe, stiU in 
 the Russian service. I understand that, during 
 the pleasure of the Emperor Paul, he was al- 
 lowed a liberal pension ; for it is among the 
 most admirable traits in the character of his re- 
 puted father, that though more than thirty 
 years a king, with the revenue of a great king- 
 dom at his disposal, he arrived at Saint Peters- 
 burgh in very straitened circumstances, and 
 left no worldly inheritance, save an inconsidera- 
 ble quantity of plate and jewels !* 
 
 • One of the biographers of Catherine II. has erroneously 
 styled the fatlier of Poniatowsky an adventurer. He cer- 
 tainly held a situation in the house of Count IMizielky, but 
 he was not the less distinguished in his own country, where 
 his talents might have made him a second Napoleon, had he 
 Ijeen equally ambitious. Besides his intimacy witli Charles
 
 ANECDOTES OF STANISLAUS. Ill 
 
 In speaking of the humiliations to which 
 Stanislaus had been exposed while a monarch, 
 Madame Radzivill stated, that during the em- 
 bassy of Stackelberg, he has been known to 
 enter the theatre when the performance was 
 almost concluded, and although the sovereign 
 was present, he would order the recommence- 
 ment of the piece. Mr. Gardiner being in the 
 royal box on one of these occasions, was so 
 shocked with the brutal conduct of Stackel- 
 berg, that he quitted the house, determined 
 never to remain in it again when the Russian 
 agent was there. Although the British envoy 
 resented this gross outrage, and pointed it out 
 to the other ambassadors resident at Warsaw 
 as an insult to the whole diplomatic body, it 
 does not appear that Stanislaus, or his minis- 
 ters, attempted to remonstrate against such 
 barbarous conduct. 
 
 The above story of Stackelberg's brutality 
 was afterwards fully confirmed to me by Mr. 
 
 XII. of Sweden, the elder Poniatowsky was the confidential 
 adviser of the unfortunate Leczinsky. He subsequently be- 
 came the friend of Augustus;, who gave him the Princess 
 Czartorinski in marriage a proof that he was neither re- 
 garded as an adventurer, nor of low extraction. Stanislaus 
 was only one of a numerous progeny, to which this marriage 
 gave rise.
 
 112 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Gardiner himself, whom I met at Warsaw 
 living as a private gentleman. He spoke in 
 terms of the warmest admiration of the unfor- 
 tunate Stanislaus, and regretted that he had 
 been ever induced to oppose the only party in 
 Poland which could have enabled him to de- 
 feat the Machiavelian intrigues of the Russian 
 court, where the plan of partition and spolia- 
 tion alone originated, as neither Austria nor 
 Prussia would have dared to move in such a 
 nefarious transaction, unless urged on by 
 Russia. INIr. Gardiner added his conviction, 
 that, if Stanislaus had acted with more decision, 
 and openly declared against the interference of 
 Catherine, before matters had been carried to 
 the last extremity, England and France would 
 have made any sacrifice in his favour, since it 
 was evidently the interest of those two powers 
 to preserve the integrity of the Polish territory 
 inviolate.
 
 ARRIVAL AT COPENHAGEN. 113 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COURT OF DENMARK. 
 
 Arrival at Copenhagen. — Reception by the Crown Prince 
 and royal family. — Amusements and society of the Danish 
 capital. — Details relative to the persecution of Queen 
 Caroline Matilda. — Character of the Queen Dowager 
 Juliana Maria. — Marriage of Matilda to the Crown 
 Prince. — Attachment of the latter for his wife. — Measures 
 taken by Juliana to separate them. — The Crown Prince is 
 recommended to travel. — His sudden return to the capi- 
 tal. — New machinations of Juliana Maria. — Their effect 
 on the health and feelings of the royal couple. — The mind 
 of the Crown Prince poisoned against his wife. — He is in- 
 duced to sign an order for the arrest of traitors ; the name 
 of Matilda is included. — Plan of the Queen Dowager and 
 Goldberg to prevent an interview between Matilda and 
 her husband. — Trial and condemnation of the Queen and 
 her alleged paramour. — She is divorced and banished from 
 Denmark. — Cruelty and injustice of the trial. — Extra- 
 ordinary policy of George HI. — Statement of Sarti, the 
 Composer. — Usurpation of all the power by Juliana and her 
 satellites. — Death of Matilda. — Christian VII.— Admir- 
 able conduct of the Crown Prince, now Frederick VI. — Ju- 
 liana and her accomplices removed from power. — Departure 
 for Stockholm. — Singular conversation with an old seaman. 
 
 There are very few events in the domestic 
 annals of Europe, which have attracted more 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 attention, or excited more sympathy, than 
 the treatment experienced by Caroline Ma- 
 tilda, Queen of Denmark, and sister to George 
 III. The following details, relative to that atro- 
 cious persecution, were collected from contem- 
 poraries and eye-witnesses of all that occurred, 
 during a residence of some months at Copen- 
 hagen in the year 1796, while the subject was 
 still a frequent topic of conversation in that city. 
 Previously to commencing these details, it 
 may be necessary to state, that before my visit, 
 there had been scarcely any friendly inter- 
 course between the courts for many years. 
 Having been honoured with letters of intro- 
 duction from the late lamented Duchess of 
 York, and his Royal Highness the Duke of 
 Cambridge, I am induced to believe, from the 
 very flattering reception I experienced from 
 the Crown Prince, his sister, and indeed all the 
 other members of the royal family, that I had 
 some share in renewing a correspondence which 
 the treatment of the unfortunate Caroline had 
 so long interrupted. On the other hand, the ea- 
 gerness with which I was interrogated on every 
 point connected with tlie British royal family, 
 convinced me of the high estimation in which 
 all its members were held by that of Denmark, 
 as well as their anxiety to cultivate the closest
 
 AMUSEMENTS AT COPENHAGEN. 115 
 
 friendship and intimacy with the court of Saint 
 James's. 
 
 Soon after my arrival, the Grand-chamber- 
 lain, Houch, sent me a general invitation to 
 visit all the places of public amusement, as 
 well as the royal palaces : I was also favoured 
 with the use of a box at the theatre. These 
 privileges, together with the various other acts 
 of hospitality so peculiar to the Northern courts, 
 rendered my stay at Copenhagen truly agree- 
 able ; nor, on my arrival, had I any idea of the 
 taste and elegance which prevailed in the va- 
 rious societies of the Danish capital, to which 
 I had the honour of being invited. Though 
 necessarily on a smaller scale than those of Ber- 
 lin and Saint Petersburgh, the balls, concerts, 
 and masquerades given by the Crown Prince 
 and his royal sister, were conducted in a very 
 splendid style and numerously attended. Both 
 Sabieno and Sarti, two of the most celebrated 
 composers of the day, had resided at this court. 
 The last named, whom I afterwards met in 
 the Russian capital, had been the instructor of 
 Queen Matilda, and would probably have been 
 sacrificed to the implacable vengeance of Maria 
 Juliana, had he not been apprised of the danger 
 and made his escape. 
 
 Of all the domestic calamities which can befall 
 
 1 2
 
 IIG ANECDOTES OF FOUEIGN COURTS. 
 
 a court or a nation, it would be difficult to 
 name any so great, as that of an intriguing and 
 ambitious princess, whose ruling passion is to- 
 tally unchecked by virtue, and, if entrusted 
 with power, does not hesitate to commit the 
 greatest crimes, when they are likely to pro- 
 mote the objects of her wishes. Such a wo- 
 man was Juliana Maria, the late Queen Dow- 
 ager of Denmark, who, like her prototype, 
 Catherine de Medicis, never seemed happy ex- 
 cept while occupied in destroying the peace 
 and happiness of others, more especially the 
 members of her own family. 
 
 Juliana was a princess of the house of Bruns- 
 wick, a family with which the sovereigns of 
 Denmark had been long in the habit of form- 
 ing matrimonial alliances before her marriage 
 to the King, Frederick V. Scarcely had she 
 given birth to her first child, the crook-backed 
 Richard of the North, as he was styled from 
 his deformity, when she resorted to the most 
 diabolical means, in order to ruin the Crown 
 Prince in the estimation of the King his father. 
 Unable to alienate the affections of a parent 
 from a son, who was the hope of his country, 
 she surrounded the young Prince with the 
 most abandoned and dissipated individuals, 
 who led him into every vice, and, owing to his
 
 MARRIAGE OF THE CROWN PRINCE. 117 
 
 inexperience, succeeded but too well in cor- 
 rupting his morals and undermining his health. 
 — It was in that state he first saw the Princess 
 Caroline Matilda of England, who was, on her 
 arrival in Denmark, young, handsome, sprightly 
 and accomplished, possessing all those amiable 
 qualities which were calculated to win the heart 
 of her intended husband ; and from the sudden 
 change produced in the manners and habits of 
 the Crown Prince after their marriage, there is 
 no doubt but that the union would have been 
 blessed with happiness, had not the machina- 
 tions of Juliana frustrated this hope, and ren- 
 dered the future life of both one continued 
 scene of sufi^ering and sorrow. 
 
 Aware, therefore, of the consequences which 
 must result from allowing the young couple to 
 remain together, the Queen-dowager and her 
 emissaries determined to bring about a tempo- 
 rary separation, as the only means of carrying 
 their final plan into effect. To accomplish this 
 object, the court physician was bribed by Ju- 
 liana to advise the king to travel for the benefit 
 of his health, which she herself had used every 
 art to destroy ; and his departure was hastened, 
 when she heard, contrary to her hopes, that the 
 Queen had become pregnant. This event, so 
 gratifying to the nation, as might well be ex-
 
 118 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 pected, filled Juliana with rage and disappoint- 
 ment, more especially as she had fully cal- 
 culated, that the excesses into which the mo- 
 narch liad been formerly led by her directions, 
 would have effectually removed the possibility 
 of his becoming a father ! 
 
 The appalling prospect of an heir to the 
 throne determined Juliana to change her sys- 
 tem, and she accordingly began to take mea- 
 sures for depreciating and blackening the cha- 
 racter of the young Queen, in the hope that 
 matters would be sufficiently matured on his 
 return to bring forward charges, which, if not 
 substantiated, might at least create an irrecon- 
 cileable breach between them. It occurred to 
 her, on the other hand, that, if unsuccessful in 
 this new project, and the expected child proved 
 a boy, the King might be easily put out of the 
 way, in which case she coidd take advantage 
 of Matilda's youth, and get herself declared 
 Regent, as being the elder branch of the royal 
 family, and jointly with her own son. Those 
 who knew the character of Juliana, assured me 
 that the above project, had it been successful, 
 was closely connected with another, — that of 
 hatching up a plot by which the minor should 
 be excluded from the throne on some plea of
 
 MACHINATIONS OF JULIANA. 119 
 
 ineligibility, to be invented by the Queen- 
 dowager herself. 
 
 All these plans were, however, interrupted 
 by the sudden return of the King from his 
 travels, when he found Matilda greatly im- 
 proved in mind and person, while the attach- 
 ment of the people towards himself and the 
 Queen was greatly increased by the birth of 
 a son during his absence. The young couple 
 continued to live on terms of the utmost har- 
 mony, when the birth of a Princess* greatly 
 added to their popularity, and rendered them 
 still more dear to each other. It is scarcely ne- 
 cessary to say, that this state of things was 
 inexpressibly galling to the Queen-dowager, 
 who had never for a moment relinquished her 
 dreams of ambition or hopes of success. Hav- 
 ing failed in producing the effect she had anti- 
 cipated on the mind of the King, who became 
 daily more attached to his wife, Juliana deter- 
 mined to try whether she could not excite the 
 jealousy and resentment of Caroline Matilda, 
 by recounting all the early amours and excesses 
 
 * This was the beautiful Louisa Augusta, now Duchess 
 of Augustenburg, mother to the wife of the Crown Prince, 
 and who visited England some time ago in company with her 
 husband.
 
 120 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 of her husband, mstigated by Juliana herself, 
 to which more recent acts of infidelity were of 
 course added. While this plan was pursued 
 with regard to Matilda, similar calumnies were 
 industriously communicated to the King. 
 Every effort being thus made to create jea- 
 lousy and disgust between the Crown Prince 
 and his wife, the Queen -dowager took care to 
 surround both with emissaries, who were in- 
 structed to poison their minds against each 
 other, and, if possible, persuade them that re- 
 taliation was perfectly justifiable in such cases ! 
 Such were the arts by which Juliana Maria 
 hoped to effect her nefarious designs, and, as 
 the sequel unhappily proved, they were but 
 too successful ; for while the unsuspecting INIa- 
 tilda imagined that the insinuations relative 
 to the conduct of her husband proceeded from 
 pure friendship, and that Juliana's apparent 
 commiseration was merely the effect of sym- 
 pathy, the efforts used to poison the King's 
 mind were not less calculated to excite suspi- 
 cion, which it only required a little additional 
 fanning to swell into that violent flame of 
 jealousy that ultimately deprived him of reason, 
 and drove his Queen into exile. In thus call- 
 ing the most powerful passions of the human 
 heart into action, Juliana was aware that the
 
 JEALOUSY OF THE CROWN PRINCE. 121 
 
 feelings of the young King and Queen would 
 be acute in proportion to their natural suscep- 
 tibility, and the warmth of attachment for each 
 other ; so that, Avhile the former became a prey 
 to melancholy and grief, the King's health and 
 spirits were soon affected to such a degree, that 
 Juliana already began to calculate either on his 
 falling a victim to his wounded feelings, or 
 such an alienation of mind, as would afford an 
 opening for carrying her ultimate designs into 
 speedy execution. 
 
 Various circumstances rendered it necessary 
 for Juliana to hasten the cUnouemefit of her in- 
 fernal drama. The growing popularity of the 
 Queen might soon excite a party in her favour 
 that would for ever destroy the hopes of her 
 enemies, and even involve the Queen-dowager in 
 destruction, while it was of infinite importance 
 to make use of the King's authority in bringing 
 about the disgrace of Caroline Matilda. Pur- 
 suant to these notions, fresh plans were adopted, 
 and new calumnies invented, until the mind of 
 the King was worked up to such a pitch of jea- 
 lousy and indignation, that he seemed prepared 
 to adopt any measure that should be proposed. 
 Availing themselves of this propitious moment, 
 Juliana Maria and her confidential agent, the 
 minister Goldberg, having made out a list
 
 122 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 of those whom they intended to proscribe, and 
 drawn up an act of accusation, seized the first 
 favourable opportunity to induce his Majesty, 
 who had already betrayed frequent symptoms 
 of derangement, solely caused by the doubts 
 which had been raised in his mind as to the 
 conduct of the Queen, to sign a general order 
 for the arrest of all persons suspected of trea- 
 sonable practices against the State. Once in 
 possession of this document, no time was lost 
 in commencing the work of proscription. A 
 list of the intended victims had been akeady 
 prepared, though never presented to the King. 
 One of these, which was intended to accompany 
 the warrant of arrest, in addition to the names 
 of Brandt, the Court Physician, and the JNIinister 
 Struensee, contained that of the Queen ! 
 
 The mode adopted for carrying the first act 
 meditated against Caroline Matilda into effect, 
 was aggravated by all the cruelty and barbarity 
 which persecution could devise. The order 
 for arrest had been confided to Count de Shack, 
 a creature of the Queen-dowager, and carried 
 into execution in the dead of night, to prevent 
 the consequences which might have attended 
 such an outrage in open day. The minister of 
 vengeance, accompanied by a party of soldiers, 
 entered the apartments of Matilda's female atten-
 
 THE QUEEN ACCUSED OF ADULTERY. 123 
 
 dants, and told them that they must immedi- 
 ately awake the Queen, as he had a communi- 
 cation to make from his JNIajesty : on their show- 
 ing some hesitation, and alleging that their 
 mistress had retired very much fatigued, for she 
 had been at a party that very night, where Juli- 
 ana was also present, and familiarly conversing 
 with her, — the Count rushed forward, forced the 
 door, and, on entering the royal chamber, saw 
 Matilda lying in bed, with the young Princess 
 Louisa lying in her arms. This did not, how- 
 ever, prevent him from signifying to the affright- 
 ed Queen, that she was his prisoner, and instantly 
 ordering his myrmidons to seize her as guilty 
 of high treason, in having had an adulterous 
 intercourse with Brandt and Struensee. On 
 the Queen's remonstrating against this unex- 
 pected outrage on her honour, and loudly pro- 
 testing her innocence of the charge. Shack 
 said, — " It is useless, INIadam, to deny the 
 fact, as Struensee has not only confessed his 
 crime with regard to your Majesty, but also 
 asserted that you are engaged in a conspiracy 
 against the life of the King !" — " That is im- 
 possible, Count Shack," replied Matilda : " I 
 know that Struensee is too loyal towards his 
 master, and jealous of my honour, to confess 
 a falsehood so glaring." — " But Struensee will
 
 124 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 forfeit his life, JNIadam,'' rejoined the Count, 
 " if you persist in refusing the King's autho- 
 rity." The unfortunate Queen had by this 
 time fallen into the arms of one of her attend- 
 ants quite senseless ; and, on recovering, she 
 said to Shack, — " If I confess myself the cause 
 of his misfortune, will that save the life of 
 Struensee ?" " Undoubtedly, Madam," was 
 the reply. " Then draw up a paper to this 
 effect," rejoined the Queen, " and I will take 
 the whole charge on myself, conscious that I 
 shall be able to confound my enemies by fully 
 proving my innocence before the King and 
 the nation." Shack, who came prepared with 
 the necessary document, drew it from his 
 pocket and presented it to Matilda, who could 
 scarcely sustain herself while she looked over 
 its horrid contents ; and it was in a state bor- 
 dering on mental derangement, produced by 
 the perusal, that Shack, faithful to his orders, 
 took the hand of the Queen and guided it in 
 signing the fatal instrument ; upon which the 
 mock tribunal, summoned to try the accused, 
 founded the legality of Matilda's divorce, and 
 sent tl)e alleged traitors to a scaffold. It will 
 scarcely be credited, that the whole of these 
 cruel sentences were decided on and pro- 
 nounced, without the Queen being either in-
 
 BANISHMENT OF THE QUEEN. 125 
 
 terrogated personally or heard by counsel ; so 
 that her signature, obtained in a moment of 
 terror and mental distraction, was not only 
 considered as sufficient to condemn herself, 
 but operated as incontestable evidence against 
 the lives she wished to save. The only cir- 
 cumstance, from which the guilt of Struensee 
 could be inferred, was that of his cloak being 
 found in the Queen's apartment, and which 
 had been lent to Matilda on the eveninsr of 
 her arrest, in order to be thrown over her 
 masquerade dress. With respect to Brandt, the 
 physician and friend of Struensee, the Queen 
 dowager knew that, unless implicated with the 
 other victims, he was, from his influence and 
 character, in a situation to expose the whole 
 of her machinations, and turn them agfainst 
 her own guilty head. This is said to have been 
 her principal motive for sacrificing Brandt. 
 ^No sooner had the unhappy Matilda's hand 
 been affixed to the document produced by 
 Shack, than she was hurried off to the Castle 
 of Cronenberg, on the coast of Denmark, 
 some leagues from the capital. Not a soul 
 except those who were concerned in the arrest 
 knew any thing of it till next day ; even the 
 King himself was kept in total ignorance of 
 the proceedings till he was called upon to sign
 
 126 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the act of accusation and order for lier trial, as 
 well as that of the other victims. I was cre- 
 dibly informed, that, before he could be pre- 
 vailed on to give his sanction to the foul per- 
 secution which had been thus so nefariously 
 commenced, the vmfortunate monarch expressed 
 his conviction .that the Queen was innocent, 
 and declared his determination to have a per- 
 sonal interview, and interrogate her on every 
 point, previous to sanctioning the proceedings. 
 Having, accordingly, given orders to his at- 
 tendants to prepare for the intended journey, 
 the effect of this determination on the mind 
 of Juliana JNlaria and her accomplices may be 
 readily imagined : they were aware of the 
 Queen's innocence, and knew how easy it 
 would be to convince her husband, if they were 
 permitted to meet ; they therefore trembled for 
 the consequences, and resolved at all hazards to 
 prevent the interview. The stratagem em- 
 ployed for this purpose was quite worthy of 
 the actors in this atrocious drama. AVhile 
 Juliana assented, with the greatest apparent 
 deference, to the wishes of the King, Goldberg 
 was sent off post haste to Cronenberg, for the 
 purpose of immediately transferring Matilda to 
 another prison, while all those who kept houses 
 on the road ^vere arrested ; so that on reaching
 
 CONDEMNATION OF BRANDT, &C. 127 
 
 the first stage, the monarch found it impossible 
 to proceed, and was persuaded to return by his 
 attendants, who represented that there might 
 be still greater inconvenience, if not positive 
 danger, in going any farther. 
 
 The above circumstance proved to the ene- 
 mies of Matilda, that there was no time to be 
 lost ; new efforts were therefore made to over- 
 come the scruples of the King ; and no sooner 
 had his consent been given, or rather extorted, 
 than the trial was concluded with the greatest 
 precipitation. In a process where all the forms 
 of equity and justice were set at defiance, there 
 could be no difficulty in obtaining whatever 
 sentence the persecuting party thought proper 
 to suggest. Thus it was, that while Brandt 
 and Struensee were condemned to lose their 
 heads, the judges of this mock tribunal con- 
 tented themselves with divorcing the unhappy 
 JNIatilda, and banishing her for ever from the 
 kingdom. 
 
 The only motive Juliana Maria had for not 
 attempting to bastardize the children of Ma- 
 tilda, is said to have originated in her being 
 apprised, that such a step would rouse the 
 people, and lead to a discovery of the persecu- 
 tion. She may have also been deterred from a 
 fear of the result in England, where, notwith-
 
 128 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Standing the passive manner in which the treat- 
 ment of Matilda was regarded at court, the 
 sympathy of the public was loudly expressed 
 in her favour. 
 
 It is said that his late INIajesty had, on this 
 melancholy occasion, sacrificed his fraternal 
 feelings to motives of state policy, and pre- 
 vented the return of his royal sister to Eng- 
 land, lest her presence, for she was still young 
 and fascinating, might have excited the indig- 
 nation of a people who have ever been remark- 
 able for their readiness to come forward in 
 support of oppressed innocence, more especially 
 when the object is a woman ! Whatever may 
 have led to a line of policy which must ever be 
 regarded as most extraordinary, under all the 
 circumstances of the case, it is certain that the 
 only boon poor Queen Matilda could obtain, 
 was the permission to reside at Zell, a town 
 which belonged to her brother's Hanoverian 
 dominions. 
 
 It may not be irrelevant to observe, that 
 every thing connected with the persecution of 
 Queen Matilda, which I heard at Copenhagen, 
 was fully confirmed to me by Sarti the com- 
 poser, whom I met in the following year at 
 Saint Petersburgh. After having recounted 
 all the foregoing facts, he added, that the cir-
 
 STATEMENT OF SAUTI. 129 
 
 cumstance of Juliana Maria's attempt to impli- 
 cate him in the affair, not less than the course 
 of his own observations, convinced him that all 
 the charges, whether relating to his royal pupil 
 or the other victims, were entirely groundless, 
 and invented for the sole purpose of gratifying 
 the vindictive passions and insatiable ambition 
 of the Queen-dowager. Previous to his being 
 named as one of the alleged conspirators, 
 Sarti told me that he had been frequently tam- 
 pered with by Juliana and Goldberg, as to the 
 Queen's conduct ; and that from their general 
 mode of interrogation, he saw that it was mere- 
 ly necessary to meet their wishes in criminating 
 her Majesty, in order to escape all farther mo- 
 lestation, if not to be handsomely rewarded. 
 But so far from admitting that he ever ob- 
 served the smallest irregularity, he invariably 
 maintained that nothing could be more deco- 
 rous or correct than the conduct of his royal 
 mistress, who, he said, had always treated 
 him with the greatest kindness and generosity. 
 It is scarcely necessary to add, that the same 
 system of subornation and perjury, from which 
 scarcely any state-persecution recorded in his- 
 tory is exempt, was resorted to throughout the 
 proceedings against Queen Matilda and the un- 
 fortunate individuals who were proscribed by 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 ANFXDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Juliana Maria. Nor need it be matter of sur- 
 prise, if tliose who lent themselves to her ma- 
 chinations met witli the usual reward of perfi- 
 dy. Some were requited with secret assassina- 
 tion, while others fled to avoid a similar fate, 
 and many went into voluntary exile until the 
 first authors of the villany had ceased to exist. 
 Whenever the Queen-dowager and her princi- 
 pal accomplice, Goldberg, found any difficulty 
 in getting rid of a troublesome satellite, it was 
 easy to make a fictitious charge, upon which 
 they could be arraigned and transferred to the 
 gallies, or some distant colony. 
 
 With respect to the fate of poor Queen Ma- 
 tilda, she had not been long at the scene of 
 exile, before her affable manners and numerous 
 charities endeared her to the whole country. 
 It would appear from various reports circu- 
 lated at the time, as well as what I heard dur- 
 ing my visit to the Danish capital, that the 
 spirit of persecution which caused her fall did 
 not cease on her departure from Cronenberg; 
 and there were many who entertained a belief 
 that Juliana Maria was not unacquainted with 
 the causes of her premature death, while others 
 fully accused her of having contributed to it 
 by the foulest means. This event, which took 
 placo wliile tlie unfortunate Queen was still in
 
 AXFCDOTE OF CHRISTIAN. 131 
 
 the prime of life, was deeply lamented by all 
 those who had the honour of approaching her 
 while at Zell, and more especially by the indi- 
 gent and helpless, to whom she had been a 
 steady and munificent benefactress. 
 
 The exile of Caroline Matilda, and execution 
 of Brandt and Struensee, having removed the 
 obstacles which had hitherto impeded the 
 wishes of the Queen-dowager, she lost no time 
 in usurping all the authority of the state, tak- 
 ing care to exclude her son-in-law from all 
 share in the administration, and, as may be 
 imagined, ruling with an iron and despotic 
 hand, till the Crown Prince became of age, and 
 was enabled to assert his rights. 
 
 I was told by persons who had been eye- 
 witnesses to the events of this period, that 
 when Juliana first seized the reins of power, 
 while they were yet nominally in the hands of the 
 late King, she would, for form's sake, sometimes 
 send a portion of the decrees and other public 
 documents to him for the sign manual ; and 
 that on one of these occasions, his signature 
 was given as follows : — " Christian VII. by 
 the grace of God, King of Denmark, &c. in 
 company with Juliana Maria and others, by 
 the grace of the Devil /" Goldberg, w ho pre- 
 sented these papers, having remonstrated on 
 
 K 2
 
 132 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the impossibility of issuing them in this state, 
 and requested that his JNlajesty would adopt 
 the usual method, the enraged INIonarch re- 
 plied, " Nothing but the devil could have 
 formed her ; and I tell you, whom I look upon 
 as one of his imps, that I wish the world to 
 know from whence she derives her authority ; 
 I shall therefore make no alteration whatever." 
 It is needless to add, that his Majesty's sig- 
 nature was dispensed with ever after. 
 
 Although incapable of governing when I 
 visited Copenhagen, Christian VII. had fre- 
 quent lucid intervals, and even held courts 
 occasionally ; for the Crown Prince, who was 
 then Regent, paid every attention which filial 
 affection could dictate, to the wants and wishes 
 of his parent. I had the honour of being pre- 
 sent at one of these levees, and was much struck 
 by the venerable appearance of the monarch, 
 as well as the marked homage and respect with 
 which he was treated by the whole court. The 
 return of his malady evinced itself in a singu- 
 lar manner. While in the midst of the most 
 cheerful conversation, and when quite collected, 
 he would suddenly run across the apartment 
 and salute the first person he met with a vio- 
 lent slap on the face, so that it was necessary 
 for the courtiers and ministers, for he made no
 
 CONDUCT OF THE CROWN PRINCE. 133 
 
 distinction of rank or person, to be constantly 
 on their guard. 
 
 Notwithstanding the crimes of Juliana Ma- 
 ria and her continued persecution of himself 
 and his sister the Princess Louisa, nothing 
 could exceed the moderation and forbearance 
 with which the Crown Prince treated her, even 
 after his assuming the reins of government. 
 Both the Queen-dowager and her favourite 
 Goldberg had totally mistaken the character of 
 the young Prince ; for while they considered 
 him, from the apparently circumscribed state 
 of his intellect, as totally unfit to govern, he 
 was, from a very early age, deeply impressed 
 with a sense of their iniquitous conduct, and 
 did not lose a moment, on coming of age, in 
 taking such steps as should for ever exclude 
 them from any farther share in the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 As one of the first measures of the Crown 
 Prince was a decree to exclude the Queen- 
 dowager, and all her creatures, from power, 
 it appeared so unexpectedly, and while she 
 had no conception of what was preparing, that 
 she attempted to resist the Prince's orders ; nor 
 was it until a demonstration of military inter- 
 ference was made, that Juliana would recog- 
 nise the new authority. When once stripped
 
 134 ANECDOTES OF FOIIEIGN COURTS. 
 
 of iier usurped and ill-gotten influence, she 
 could hardly persuade herself, that the person 
 who an hour before held the power of life and 
 death in her hands, and made thousands trem- 
 ble, could, in her turn, be thus suddenly re- 
 duced to the condition of a private individual. 
 The removal of the detestable cabal, formed by 
 this woman, and which had exercised an iron 
 sway over Denmark for so many years, was 
 followed by several other salutary measures, 
 which equally proved how mifch Juliana and 
 her accomplices had mistaken the character of 
 the Crown Prince. Besides a general amnesty 
 in favour of those who had been objects of per- 
 secution since the exile of his mother, and an 
 act of oblivion with regard to political opinions, 
 whether they regarded his own person or the 
 state, Count Bernsdorff, one of the most dis- 
 tinguished victims of the Queen-dowager's re- 
 sentment, justly celebrated for his patriotism, 
 was recalled, and reinstated in all his honours. 
 Such was the nature of the measures which 
 first distinguished the early administration of 
 the Crown Prince's power, and a continuance 
 of which has justly endeared him to all classes 
 of his subjects as Frederick VI.* 
 
 * Frederick succeeded to the throne of Denmark on the 
 death of his father Christian VII. which took place in 
 1H08.
 
 IIETIREMENT OF JULIANA. 135 
 
 Though excluded from power, Juliana Maria, 
 and even her favourite Goldberg, were allowed 
 to remain quietly in the capital. Unable how- 
 ever to bear the pang attendant on her fall 
 from power, or the disappointment of her cri- 
 minal hopes, perhaps some remorse for her 
 crimes, and, above all, the detestation of the 
 public, of which she could not entertain any 
 doubt, induced this abhorred character to quit 
 Copenhagen, and take up her abode in a dis- 
 tant province, where the remainder of her days 
 were passed in such bitter reflections as never 
 fail to attend the victims of ambition and 
 abettors of crime. 
 
 I have omitted to state, that when Frederick 
 V. brother to the present king, married Juliana 
 Maria, he had been left a ^widower by his first 
 wife, an admirable princess, daughter of George 
 II. by whom he had three children — the 
 Crown Prince, afterwards Christian VI., and 
 two Princesses, one of whom* was married to 
 the late unfortunate Gustavus III. of Sweden, 
 and the other to the Landgrave of Hesse Cas- 
 
 * This was the mother of the scarcely less fortunate Gusta- 
 vus, whose opposition to Napoleon led to his dethronement, to 
 give place to Bernadotte, and whose eccentricities^ under the 
 assumed title of Count Gottorp, are well known to the Eu- 
 ropean public.
 
 136 ANECDOTES OF EOllEIGN COUllTS, 
 
 sel, SO famous for supplying mercenaries to all 
 the sovereigns of Europe, as well as the United 
 States of North America. 
 
 On my leaving Copenhagen for Stockholm, 
 I was accompanied by the two Dutch envoys, 
 Huygens and Duden, who were going to com- 
 pliment the young King Gustavus Adolphus, 
 on his marriage to the Princess Frederica of 
 Baden Durlach ; having been also furnished 
 with letters of introduction to the Princess So- 
 phia Albertina, aunt to the King, from her 
 Royal Highness the Duchess of York, who 
 had been co-abbess of Gutemberg with her 
 highness. On our arrival at Elsineur, we hired 
 two boats, one for the conveyance of our car- 
 riages, servants, and luggage, and the other for 
 ourselves. AYe had scarcely set sail from Hel- 
 senburg, on tlie opposite coast of the Sound, 
 the usual landing-place in Sweden, when one 
 of the sailors, hearing us converse in the Eng- 
 lish language, thus addressed us with all tlie 
 frankness of his profession: — "There," said he, 
 pointing to the castle of Cronenberg, which 
 was distinctly seen as we cleared the port, " is 
 the fortress in which tlie unfortunate and per- 
 secuted Queen INIatilda was shut up by tliat 
 infernal old beldame Juliana Maria. I hope 
 she is now in a ])lacc where all the water in
 
 RECITAL OF AN OLD SAILOR. 137 
 
 this world cannot quench the fire which sur- 
 rounds the execrable old wretch ! Poor Queen 
 Matilda ! God rest her soul ! she educated three 
 of my sons, and one of my daughters, for 
 whom she had the condescension to become 
 godmother, and who died of grief when her 
 benefactress was exiled. I have since that 
 time," continued the old man, "entered the 
 Swedish service, determined never to set a foot 
 in a land which I detest ; since it has been so 
 cruel and unjust towards the poor departed 
 Queen, who was condemned on the false evi- 
 dence of individuals under the horrors of the 
 rack, because they were persuaded that if they 
 criminated her Majesty, their own lives would 
 be saved ! Poor Brandt ! poor Struensee ! they 
 little thought that while compelled to accuse 
 their generous Queen, they were only sealing 
 their own destruction ! I never think of those 
 dreadful times with a dry eye, though it is now 
 near thirty years since that horrid transaction 
 degraded and disgraced the national character 
 of the Danes." And indeed there was no hy- 
 pocrisy in the old seaman's recital, for the tears 
 ran copiously down his furrowed clieeks while 
 he thus artlessly gave vent to his feelings. 
 
 On reaching Helsenburg we made a point of 
 inquiring relative to the old man's story, and
 
 138 ANF.CDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 found that there was every reason to believe in 
 its veracity ; as the officers of the customs were 
 perfectly acquainted with the circumstances 
 which led to his entering the service of Sweden, 
 and spoke iiighly of his character. They add- 
 ed, that though so frequently at Elsincur, he 
 was never known to land, but always remained 
 in his boat, firmly resolved not to break through 
 his resolution. On taking our leave of this 
 honest son of Neptune, to whom each of the 
 party gave some token of remembrance, we 
 could not help contrasting his fidelity and gra- 
 titude with the conduct of those who have 
 much greater reason to exercise these virtues ; 
 or asking each other, how many of those who 
 revel in the sunshine of royal favour would 
 evince such sincere and heartfelt sympathy for 
 fallen Majesty !
 
 JOURNEY TO STOCKHOLM. 139 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 COURT OF SWEDEN. 
 
 Journey from Helsenburg to Stockholm. — Face of the country. 
 — Arrival in the Swedish capital. — Count Erval Fersen. — 
 Drottingholm and review. — Gustavus III. — The Princess 
 Sophia Albertina. — • Court drawing-room. — Introduction 
 to the Princess Frederica of Baden. — Her Highness' Dame 
 d'Honneur. — Royal marriage, and splendid banquet at the 
 Vicks Saal. — Ludicrous incident. — The Takel Tanse. — 
 Magnificent representation of the celebrated drama of 
 " Gustavus Vasa." 
 
 The road from Helsenburg to Stockholm, 
 though kept in very good order, generally runs 
 through desolate tracts, displaying few signs of 
 cultivation, and is very thinly inhabited. In- 
 deed the whole country exhibited a striking and 
 melancholy contrast to the smiling landscapes 
 and variegated scenery of France and Italy, to 
 which I had been hitherto accustomed. The 
 accommodations at this period were not more in- 
 viting than the aspect of nature; and had it not
 
 140 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 been tliat my travelling companions had taken 
 the precaution to provide a stock of provisions, 
 together with some excellent wine, we should 
 have frequently gone without our dinner. As 
 it was, we were on one occasion obliged to sleep 
 in our carriages, there being no beds at the 
 wretched post-house where we halted for the 
 night. It should, however, be observed, to the 
 credit of the Government, that nothing can ex- 
 ceed the security enjoyed by travellers in Savc- 
 den,* it being exceedingly rare to hear of high- 
 way robberies ; while the people of every class 
 are remarkable for their kindness and urbanity 
 to strangers. 
 
 Stockholm, composed as it is of various small 
 islands, and surrounded by the Gulf of Bothnia 
 and the Baltic, presents some of the most de- 
 lightful natural views ever seen. Owing to the 
 nvmiber of visitors who had come from all parts 
 of the kingdom to witness and partake of the 
 festivities which were preparing for the ap- 
 
 • Nothing can be better regulated than posting in Sweden , 
 while the expense is incredibly moderate, when compared 
 with the same mode of travelling in other countries. No 
 postilion is allowed to depart without having his name and 
 the hour of setting out registered in a book kept for the pur- 
 pose. The distance, which is limited, except in cases of ne- 
 cessity, must be performed within a given time, and com- 
 plaints of travellers are always treated with immediate at- 
 tention.
 
 STOCKHOLM. COUNT ERVAL FERSEN. 141 
 
 preaching royal nuptials, we had considerable 
 difficulty in finding apartments at any of the 
 hotels. Having, however, at length succeeded, 
 my first care after the repose rendered necessary 
 after such a fatiguing journey was to send a 
 note to my old and particular friend. Count 
 Erval Fersen, upon whose good offices I had 
 fully calculated previous to my arrival. Nor 
 was I mistaken, as he answered the note in per- 
 son, and not only made an unlimited offer of 
 his services, but acted with the most marked 
 politeness towards the two envoys, to 
 whom I introduced him as having shown me 
 so many attentions during the whole of our 
 journey. 
 
 Under any circumstances, it would have been 
 a great advantage to meet such a guide as the 
 Count,* but it was rendered doubly valuable 
 now, from his not holding any official situation, 
 while his credit at court, and the manner in 
 which he was looked up to by his countrymen, 
 afforded the utmost facility for my seeing what- 
 ever was worthy of examination, under his aus- 
 pices. Having insisted on our dining with him 
 the day after our arrival, he conducted us after 
 the repast to an evening party at the house of 
 
 * I shall have occasion to speak more at length of this 
 distinguished character in a future chapter.
 
 142 ANECDOTES 01' FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 a friend, where I had the pleasure of meeting 
 several near relatives of the late Count d'Arm- 
 feldt, with whom I had been acquainted at 
 Florence and Naples. Before taking leave of 
 our kind host, he invited us to accompany him 
 to a review of the Royal Guards, which was 
 to take place the following day at the palace 
 of Drottingholm. 
 
 This edifice, by far the most sumptuous in 
 Sweden, and modelled exactly on that of Ver- 
 sailles, is built in a very fine situation, within a 
 short distance of the capital. We reached it in 
 time to visit the apartments, which are on a 
 magnificent scale. They were now preparing 
 for the reception of the young Queen, as it was 
 arranged that the royal couple should take up 
 their abode here immediately after the nuptials. 
 Having, througli the interest of our conductor, 
 obtained a seat in one of the balconies of the 
 grand saloon, we had an excellent sight of the 
 review, and were much struck by the fine order 
 in which the troops, principally cavalry, ap- 
 peared, both as to dress, and the performance of 
 their various evolutions. These were directed 
 by the King in person. Gustavus had just at- 
 tained his majority, and seemed to be very po- 
 pular with the army. He wore the uniform of 
 a field-marshal, was profusely decorated with
 
 PRINCESS SOPHIA AI.BERTINA. 143 
 
 orders ; and, mounted on a superb white charger, 
 displayed great activity in superintending the 
 various manoeuvres. Having remained to vs^it- 
 ness the last of these, we returned to Stockholm, 
 and passed the remainder of the evening at our 
 hotel, where the Count favoured us with his 
 company at dinner. 
 
 My next visit was paid to the Princess 
 Sophia Albertina, to whom I had forwarded 
 my letters of introduction the day after our 
 arrival. Her Highness sent one of her attend- 
 ants soon after, to inform me that she would 
 be glad to see me when 1 had sufficiently reco- 
 vered from the fatigues of travelling. She re- 
 ceived me with the greatest affability, and after 
 inquiring very affectionately respecting the 
 Duchess of York, as well as all the other mem- 
 bers of the British Royal Family, her Highness 
 expressed a hope that I intended to go to the 
 levee, or rather court drawing-room, on the fol- 
 lowing day, when she would feel much plea- 
 sure in presenting me to the Queen Mother, 
 who was to preside. On my informing her 
 that I had met an old and intimate friend in 
 Count Erval Fersen, her Highness paid some 
 flattering compliments to the high character of 
 that nobleman, adding, that I could not be in 
 better hands.
 
 144 ANECDOTES OF EOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 There was a brilliant assemblage at court 
 next day, the drawing-room being held for the 
 purpose of introducing the young Queen Frede- 
 rica to her future subjects. On being present- 
 ed to the Queen Mother, her Majesty welcom- 
 ed me to Stockholm, and invited me to remain 
 for the purpose of witnessing the ensuing fetes, 
 as she would take care that cards should be 
 sent to me by the Grand-chamberlain. Hav- 
 ing expressed my sense of gratitude for this 
 gracious mark of attention, I added, that it 
 would afford me the utmost satisfaction to avail 
 myself of her JNIajesty's condescending and po- 
 lite invitation. 
 
 Being desirous of paying my respects to the 
 Princess Frederica in her own apartments, I 
 found no difficulty in gratifying this wish, 
 through the influence of Count Fersen, who 
 was not only well known to the Princess her- 
 self, but the confidential friend of her father, 
 the Grand-duke of Baden, to whom he had 
 been frequently sent on missions during the 
 life of the late King, her great friend and 
 patron. Kti(iuette requiring that we should 
 first see the dame cVhonneur^ who had ac- 
 companied the Princess from Baden, we were 
 ushered into her apartment, which, to my 
 great astonishment, consisted of an entresol^
 
 PRINCESS FREDEllICA. 145 
 
 miserably furnished with Httle more than a 
 small bed without curtains, two or three chairs, 
 and a deal table. It soon appeared, that her 
 Excellency was far from being pleased with her 
 accommodations, for the Count had scarcely 
 time to introduce me, when she began to 
 inveigh bitterly against the arrangements by 
 which such a wretched place was allotted to a 
 person of her high rank. From her own trou- 
 bles she digressed to those which could not fail 
 to attend her dear mistress, when left to herself 
 in a country where there seemed to be neither 
 sufficient attention to the comforts of life, nor 
 adequate means of creating them. The good 
 Count, who evidently felt the justice of these 
 remarks, as applied to herself, sympathized 
 warmly in the great lady's sufferings, and, after 
 expressing his conviction that the inconveni- 
 ence she now suffered would be merely tempo- 
 rary, and only until a better suite of rooms 
 could be prepared, took the liberty of remind- 
 ing her of the object of our visit. This well- 
 timed hint put an end to the recapitulation of 
 grievances, and we were immediately ushered 
 into the presence-chamber, where we found the 
 young Queen, in an elegant undress, looking 
 infinitely more beautiful than she had done the 
 day before, when adorned with all the orna- 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ments of her court-dress. She received us most 
 graciously, and after the ceremony of kissing 
 hands was over, her INIajesty, entering very 
 freely into conversation, spoke of the coming 
 fetes and the various preparations that were 
 making, with great sprightliness ; inquii'ed 
 whether I intended to prolong my stay at 
 Stockholm ; and, after conversing with the 
 Count on some matters connected with her fa- 
 ther, the Grand-duke, as well as other members 
 of the family, about whom she made inquiries, 
 we retired, highly gratified with our reception, 
 and fully convinced that the accounts which 
 had been circulated of the amiable Princess, 
 whether relating to the charms of her mind or 
 person, were by no means exaggerated. 
 
 On reaching the hotel I found a card of 
 invitation from the First Chamberlain, Baron 
 Edelcrantz, for the banquet to be given next 
 day, in honour of the royal nuptials ; so that 
 the remainder of the evening was devoted to 
 preparing my dress, and making arrangements 
 as to the best mode of witnessing the ceremo- 
 nies of the following morning. 
 
 The procession from the Palace to the Ca- 
 thedral was an imposing and magnificent spec- 
 tacle. The celebration of the marriage was 
 followed by chanting Te JDenm; after which
 
 SPLENDID BANQUET. 147 
 
 the whole procession returned to the palace in 
 the same order. A general illumination took 
 place in the evening, while a great number of 
 the nobility and gentry were invited to the 
 Ric]£s Saal, or Senate House, containing one 
 of the largest saloons in Europe. This was 
 laid out with three long tables, and prepared 
 for the reception of five hundred guests. They 
 sat down at five o'clock, and consisted of the 
 grand dignitaries of church and state, minis- 
 ters, foreign ambassadors, naval and military 
 officers, together with the most distinguished 
 members of the nobility and gentry of the 
 kingdom. At the head of the centre table a 
 rich state canopy, with hangings of crimson 
 velvet, and decorated with all the insignia of 
 royalty, was prepared for the King and Queen, 
 the remainder of the royal family being placed 
 on each sidej according to their rank in senio- 
 rity. All the foreign envoys, including some 
 of the ministers, dignitaries, and their wives, 
 were also at this table. The royal couple, re- 
 splendent with diamonds, and surrounded on 
 every side by an infinite variety of dresses, all 
 remarkable for their richness and magnificence; 
 while a numerous band of music at the lower 
 end of the saloon, which was brilliantly lighted, 
 continued to play during the whole repast, the 
 
 L 2
 
 148 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 whole forming by far the most striking sight I 
 ever beheld. 
 
 Previously to the commencement of dancing, 
 a concert of vocal and instrumental music* was 
 performed under the direction of the Abb^ 
 
 * Among northern musical instruments, perhaps the most 
 curious is the Russian horn ; the Russians call it cor or 
 corne. Its shape resembles that of a German tobacco-pipe, 
 and it varies in size from a moderate one to three or four 
 feet. Each instrument is capable of one intonation only, 
 which is either a tone or semi -tone. 
 
 This instrument is generally played by Russian peasants, 
 who are for the most part slaves. I have heard them per- 
 form thirty notes in a bar, in proper time. One of the band 
 professes to beat time, but in such a manner as would con- 
 found any well-educated musician. 
 
 Most of the Russian nobility have one of these bands, 
 which generally play during dinner-time in an adjoining 
 saloon. When I first visited St. Petersburgh, many a meal 
 have I lost for the gratification of my curiosity. 
 
 There is much singularity of natural talent attached to 
 the character of the Russian peasants. They are purchased 
 with the land, and are totally ignorant of every thing ex- 
 cept the herds they feed. The proprietor, after leaving a 
 certain number of them for the cultivation of the soil, sets 
 aside the rest, rough and uncouth as they are, to be in- 
 structed in the several arts and sciences ; and those of both 
 sexes become, in a very short time, excellent in their dif- 
 ferent vocations. In other nations, this excellence is com- 
 monly held to be the result of genius : in Russia, it chiefly 
 owes its existence to the knout.
 
 LUDICROUS ANECDOTE. 149 
 
 Vogler, composer to the Court, and several of 
 his pieces were played on this occasion. I 
 was much pleased. Here, as at the banquet, I 
 was also indebted to the exertions of Count 
 Fersen for an excellent seat ; but a circum- 
 stance occurred, which made me regret its being 
 so conspicuous. Although the robe I wore was 
 in perfect conformity to the Swedish costume, 
 I had inadvertently placed a profusion of 
 ostrich feathers in my hat, this being the latest 
 and most fashionable mode at London and Paris, 
 without knowing, that though not absolutely 
 prohibited, feathers were, by a well understood 
 etiquette, never worn at court. On removing 
 into the ball-room, where the celebrated Tackel 
 Tance was about to be performed, a lady of 
 our party said, " I did not like to speak to 
 you during the banquet or concert, about your 
 head-dress, for I hoped it would have escaped 
 notice ; as, however, I could perceive it at- 
 tracted the marked attention of some persons 
 who sat near the royal family, I shall no longer 
 conceal from you, that the use of ostrich fea- 
 thers is contrary to the etiquette of our court. 
 If this has not been mentioned by some one 
 else, it is from motives of dehcacy, there being 
 no difficulty in recognizing you to be an Eng- 
 lishwoman." As may be easily supposed.
 
 150 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUKTS. 
 
 I felt exceedingly embarrassed at the blunder 
 I had thus inadvertently committed ; but being 
 determined to remedy it at once, I gently re- 
 proached the lady for not apprising me of the 
 circumstance before, and instantly taking out 
 the feathers, handed them to the Count, with 
 a request that he would conceal them under 
 his court dress till we retired. From what oc- 
 curred on the following day, it would appear 
 that the removal of my plume had not only 
 attracted the notice of the King and Queen, 
 but called forth their approbation ; for I re- 
 ceived a note from the Grand Chamberlain 
 early next morning, politely stating, that he 
 had it in command from their Majesties, to in- 
 vite me to a second banquet and ball, to be 
 given that very day in the royal palace. On 
 Count Fersen's calling at a late hour, he told 
 me that nothing could be more flattering than 
 the mode of sending this invitation, and that 
 he had no doubt it arose from the promptitude 
 with which the plume had been removed on 
 the preceding evening, when I heard it was 
 contrary to etiquette.* 
 
 * This was the second time I had unintentionally adopted 
 a head-dress which did not accord with etiquette or national 
 feelings ; but the first transgression might have been at- 
 tended with much more serious consequences than it was.
 
 THE TACKEL TANCE. 
 
 151 
 
 I had often heard of the famous Tackel 
 Tance of Sweden, and which is also peculiar to 
 other countries in the north of Europe. From 
 its extreme singularity, I should imagine that 
 this curious dance must have originated at a 
 very remote period of civilization. The fol- 
 lowing is the mode of performing the Tackel 
 Tance, as nearly as I can recollect. It com- 
 mences by a number of pages and other offi- 
 cers of the royal household marching two and 
 two, each bearing a large wax taper lighted in 
 his hand. They thus march round the room 
 to a slow and martial air, bowing to the com- 
 pany as they pass, and followed by the dancers, 
 
 It occurred at Paris, soon after the declaration of war against 
 Austria^ and when the revolutionary frenzy was at its height. 
 Havino; received a white satin cloak and bonnet, the latter 
 ornamented with three feathers, (then called the Prince of 
 Wales's plume,) I wore them for the first time at the Opera, 
 but had not been long in the house, before the disapprobation 
 of the audience was loudly expressed, and an officer of the 
 municipality came to our box soon after, to ask whether I 
 was not aware that the *' cocarde blanche" and the royal 
 emblems had been abolished ; concluding his question with a 
 peremptory order that I would either quit the theatre, or 
 take off the articles of dress which gave such offence to the 
 "citizens." It is scarcely necessary to add, that his wishes 
 were complied with. I was then suffered quietly to witness 
 the remainder of the performance.
 
 152 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 who perform a species of minuet step to the 
 same music, and also make occasional obeisances 
 to the spectators, all of whom join in the pro- 
 cession in their turn, as one couple resumes 
 theh' seat each time after making the round of 
 the saloon — thus leaving room for the next in 
 succession. 
 
 The first couple that stood up on this oc- 
 casion was the young King, who opened the 
 dance, or rather solemn procession, with his 
 aunt, the Princess Sophia Albertina; next 
 came the Queen, led by the Duke of Suder- 
 mania, who afterwards dethroned her, and 
 usurped the crown as Charles XIII. The 
 royal partners closed with the Duchess of Su- 
 dermania and Duke of Austragozia. 
 
 The young Queen, who resumed her place 
 imder the canopy after the first round, seem- 
 ed much more weary and fatigued from the 
 dull monotony of the Tackel Tanse, than she 
 Avould have been by a sprightly Hungarian 
 or German waltz. Although these were en- 
 joyed by the rest of the company, they were 
 considered as imsuited to the dignity neces- 
 sary to be maintained on so solemn an occasion. 
 The conclusion of this singular procession ap- 
 pears to have been the signal for the royal pair 
 to retire, as they withdrew immediately after.
 
 REPRESENTATION OF GUSTAVUS VASA. 153 
 
 and were attended to the entrance of their pri- 
 vate apartments by a long train of the nobility 
 of both sexes, attached to the household. 
 
 The principal point of attraction on the fol- 
 lowing evening, was the celebrated opera of 
 " Gustavus Vasa," which had been some time 
 in preparation, as a part of the nuptial fetes. 
 This drama, said to have been written by Gus- 
 tavus III. to commemorate the exploits of the 
 hero to whom Sweden is indebted for her li- 
 beration from the Danish yoke, is by far the 
 most popular of the national dramas, and ge- 
 nerally performed during all great festivals. 
 AYhen it was first produced at Stockholm, 
 the Abbe Vogler, who composed the music, in- 
 formed me that Gustavus and his two royal 
 brothers superintended the naval and military 
 evolutions in person. 
 
 On the present occasion, the house was splen- 
 didly decorated, so as to represent as nearly 
 as possible an amphitheatre of antiquity ; the 
 pit being raised from the orchestra to the se- 
 cond tier of boxes, in which a canopy of state 
 was prepared for the King and Queen, while 
 the others were appropriated for the recep- 
 tion of the household, foreign ambassadors, 
 ministers, and nobility. The remainder of the 
 theatre was thrown open to the public, with
 
 I5i ANECDOTES OF FOKEIGN COURTS. 
 
 the exception of those tickets of admission 
 distributed by the Grand-chambeiiain. It was 
 also arranged that an abundant supply of re- 
 freshments should be handed round between 
 the acts. 
 
 It is quite impossible to do justice to, or con- 
 vey an adequate notion of, the splendour and 
 magnificence with which the celebrated spec- 
 tacle was prepared. It far exceeded all the 
 theatrical representations I had ever witnessed, 
 either in France, Italy, or any of the other 
 great capitals of Europe. Besides the efforts 
 which were made to render the interior of the 
 house worthy of the occasion, it must be con- 
 fessed that a great deal of the effect was de- 
 rived from the singular arrangement by which 
 the fine port of Stockholm, and Gulph of Both- 
 nia, were thrown open to the spectators in the 
 last scene, when this extraordinary sight was 
 rendered still more attractive by the novel ex- 
 hibition of a mock sea-fight, performed by 
 divisions of the Swedish fleet. The effect of 
 such a sight as this on a stranger may well be 
 imagined. AVhen the firing commenced, and 
 the land and sea forces were closely engaged, 
 several of the females uttered loud shrieks, 
 while others, and one lady in particular, the 
 Grande l^ame (V H.onneu}\ to whom allusion
 
 REPRESENTATION OF GUSTAVUS VASA. 155 
 
 has been already made, and with whom the 
 Queen was conversing, threw a shawl over 
 her head, and endeavoured to conceal herself 
 in a corner of the box. Indeed, this example 
 was followed by many more of the audience. 
 
 The opera of " Gustavus Vasa" contains as 
 much of the historical details upon which it 
 is founded, as can well be represented in a 
 melo-di'ama, aided by musical composition. 
 Except the singing, which was execrable com- 
 pared with what 1 had been accustomed to 
 hear in Italy, the performance went off with 
 great eclats and received immense plaudits 
 from a most crowded audience. It is need- 
 less to add, that owing to the local advantages 
 of the theatre, there is no other in Europe that 
 could do justice to this magnificent spectacle 
 and truly national drama.
 
 156 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUllTS, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Natural characteristics of the Swedish territory. — Its expor- 
 tation of dried fish. — Relative modes of preparing it prac- 
 tised in Sweden and in Scotland. — Preference of the latter 
 — Successive territorial losses. — Personal peculiarities of 
 the Swedes.— Swedish inns, and hospitality. — GustavusIII. 
 and the Empress Catherine of Russia. — Committee of dress. 
 — The Princesses DaschcofF and Baratinzky. — Lally, the 
 violinist. — His dismay on receiving a compliment from Gus- 
 tavus. — Explanation of the Abbe Vogler. — Marriage of 
 Gustavus. — His singular conduct towards his wife. — The 
 Count de Munck. — Alleged illegitimacy of the heir to the 
 throne. — Ulrica, the Queen IMother. — Her sedulous espi- 
 oniiage of the proceedings of the King and his confidential 
 servant. — Ambitious and vindictive character of this Prin- 
 cess — Atrocious reports disseminated by her, respecting 
 the morals of her two eldest sons. 
 
 Sweden is, perhaps, t\\e j)ooresi kingdom in 
 Europe, in all substantial advantages, and the 
 richest in barren-looking, snowy mountains, par- 
 ticularly on the road from Stockholm through 
 Finland, which province possesses abundant
 
 SWEDEN. 157 
 
 mines of different metals, large forests of rude 
 timber, with plenty of water, both fresh and 
 salt, which how^ever is not very productive of 
 fish. Cod-fish forms, it is true, a considerable 
 article of Swedish commerce ; but, from the 
 way in which it is cured and dried, is found to 
 be decidedly inferior to that prepared for ex- 
 portation in England or Scotland ; the former 
 is cured only with sea-w'ater, the latter with 
 rock-salt. The Swedish sort is called schtoak 
 fish, a very appropriate name, as it requires 
 " much castigation" from a good stout stick, 
 before it is tender enough to be boiled with 
 any chance of becoming palatable. 
 
 Having said that this crude and unsavoury 
 article is a principal one in Swedish trade, it 
 will scarcely be matter of surprise w^ien we re- 
 peat that Sw^eden is, when regarded as a Mng- 
 dom, the most unimportant and destitute of 
 resources of all the sovereignties of the Conti- 
 nent; especially since the loss it sustained in 
 the time of Charles XII., of Courland, Carlia, 
 and other provinces, which, during a course 
 of two centuries, have been ravished from the 
 Swedish territories by Russia ; and more par- 
 ticularly still, since the loss of the entire pro- 
 vince of Finland, the richest of its possessions 
 in point of population, navigation, inland
 
 158 ANFX'DOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 trade, and, the greatest is behind, of industry 
 and enterprize. Finland, too, was one of the 
 strongest natural barriers that Sweden formerly- 
 presented against the encroachments of her 
 powerful and ambitious neighbour ; and its 
 cession, consequently, tends to endanger the se- 
 curity and independence of the kingdom, in- 
 asmuch as Russia has now unimpeded access 
 to it on all sides, and will without doubt avail 
 herself thereof. Norway offers but a sorry in- 
 demnity for the detachment of this most im- 
 portant portion of the ancient domains of the 
 Swedish monarchy. 
 
 Sweden is, generally speaking, a very ro- 
 mantic country ; and in many parts, its bare 
 rocks, precipitous mountains, and impetuous 
 rivulets, together with the character of the 
 climate, remind the traveller of Swiss scenery. 
 The natives of the land have ever been re- 
 garded as a warlike race. They are of fair com- 
 plexion ; yet not pallid, or of a deathy hue, 
 like the Danes. The men are rather above the 
 middle height, and well made, with expres- 
 sive features : the women somewhat more in- 
 clined to be masculine than is customary with 
 those of the northern countries, having com- 
 monly the high cheek bones of the Scotch 
 mountain females ; clear, healthy con]plexions ;
 
 INNS OF SWEDEN. 159 
 
 a candid character of expression ; speaking- 
 eyes ; and a good deal of symmetry in the 
 figure. The personal characteristics of this 
 nation have not been modified, like those of 
 many others, by frequent invasion and conse- 
 quent intermixture. 
 
 The government of Sweden has undergone 
 many changes ; — from monarchy to democracy 
 — from aristocracy to individual despotism. At 
 present, it is composed of four orders ; the 
 king, the nobles, the clerg}^, and the peasant ; 
 each of which latter three is duly represented 
 by delegates, at the general meeting of the 
 National Senate. 
 
 I have, in the preceding chapter, taken occa- 
 sion to commend the provisions established in 
 this country with regard to travelling. The 
 roads, in general, are tolerably good, and the 
 posts well supplied w^ith cattle. The horses 
 are sure-footed and swift, though small. But 
 the i7ins, if so they may be called, on the whole 
 route from Denmark to Stockholm, and even 
 on to St. Petersburgh, are quite horrible, the 
 rooms are complete holes ; and in Finland, have 
 scarce elevation enough to admit of a mode- 
 rate-sized woman standing upright. Neither 
 the Swedes nor Danes pique themselves much 
 on their Iwspifaliti/ : but, as we personally found
 
 160 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 no lack of tliat virtue, the old proverb is appli- 
 cable — " ubi bene, ibi patria." 
 
 Gustavus III., King of Sweden, in one of 
 his visits to Catherine the Second, took the 
 liberty to observe to her Imperial Majesty, 
 that he thought it would add much to her 
 already high celebrity, if she made some salu- 
 tary regulations regarding the dress of the 
 lower orders of her subjects, particularly of the 
 postilions and such-like, " who," said he, " ge- 
 nerally appear, in winter, in a filthy undressed 
 sheep-skin jacket and trowsers, wear long beards, 
 and have their hair quite matted together, which 
 appointments, joined to their native ugliness, 
 give these men the appearance, to foreigners, of 
 beasts of the wilderness rather than of human 
 beings ;" and concluded by urging her Ma- 
 jesty to follow up, in this instance, the plans of 
 civilization which she had brought about in so 
 many others. " INIy dear brother," replied the 
 Empress, " )^our INIajesty has no idea of the 
 bigotry of the Russian character. Tartars, Cal- 
 mucks, Cossacks, and, indeed, all the various 
 barbarous races of the Don, are more attached 
 to their beastly sheep-skins and yet beastlier 
 beards, than to their very lives ! My poor dear 
 husband was desirous, poor soul ! (and here 
 her Imperial Majesty tried to look sentimental,)
 
 DRESS OF THE RUSSIANS. 161 
 
 of just getting them to shave, and to shorten 
 their exuberant hair ; and they soon shortened 
 his days, and pkniged him into an untimely 
 grave." The Princess Daschcoif (who was 
 yet in the confidence of the Empress) being 
 present, Gustavus, addressing her, said, " No 
 doubt, Princess, you must have also been much 
 affected, as well as the Empress, at the occur- 
 rence of that cruel circumstance." — " II faut 
 etre philosopJie, mon P?ince T answered she. 
 " Yes," rejoined Gustavus, " but we manage 
 things differently in Sweden (alluding to the 
 bloodless revolution he had himself brought 
 about at Stockholm) ; we strangle the regicides 
 in the cradle, before they arrive at sufficient 
 maturity for king-killing."* 
 
 The Princess DaschcofF, leaving the apart- 
 ment, met the Princess Baratinzky, (whose 
 husband had been a principal agent in the 
 horrid murder of Peter III.,) and laughing 
 aloud, exclaimed, " I am ready to burst at 
 
 * Little thought Gustavus III., when he made this ob- 
 servation, that at Stockholm, in the very capital of his own 
 dominions, dwelt the regicide Ankerstrom, destined so soon 
 to put a period to his life, whilst in the midst of his subjects 
 at a public entertainment ; and without any provocation, as 
 the murderer confessed, except his having been refused un- 
 merited preferment. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 witnessing the farce which the Empress is 
 performing before that comical king." On 
 their both returning to the Empress's cabinet, 
 the name of Baratinzky being announced, Gus- 
 tavus said to Catherine, in a jocular tone, 
 " Well, Madam, console yourself ; for here I 
 see is another lady, who naturally feels for the 
 same cause which excites your Majesty's grief." 
 But Catherine was not over fond of being 
 rallied upon this theme, and hastily answered, 
 " Let us change the subject." 
 
 " Well then," returned Gustavus, adverting 
 to his former suggestion ; " however difficult 
 your Majesty may think this project of mine, 
 as regards its adoption in Russia, I will send 
 you, within a month after my arrival at Stock- 
 holm, whither I am now going, the model of 
 a national dress which I mean to introduce 
 there — and that without the employment of 
 force ; which will at any rate exemplify the dif- 
 ference of national character between the two 
 countries." 
 
 In truth, this eccentric man had scarcely 
 reached his own capital, when he himself. Count 
 Erval Fersen, Armfeldt, Springporten, &c., all 
 appeared at the levde in a dress dictated by the 
 caprice of the moment, something like that 
 commonly worn in Spain. It appears that liis
 
 THE VIOLINIST LALLY. 163 
 
 Majesty meant this only as an experiment 
 on the spirit and disposition of the few nobles 
 of his household, without having previously 
 determined whether it should be a partial gala 
 court-dress, or a general costume for all who 
 were to be admitted at the levee. But Gus- 
 tavus was at that period so popular, that there 
 was not the least necessity for his commanding 
 a change of the ancient Swedish habit. The 
 new one became at once general, and on the 
 next court-day, no one presented himself other- 
 wise dressed. The renounced Swedish habit 
 was similar to that worn by the Dutch skip- 
 pers in North Holland, which consists of a loose, 
 clumsy, short jacket, and veryv^idie small-clothes: 
 a di'ess now totally obsolete in Sweden. 
 
 Gustavus, on returning to Sweden after his 
 travels in France and Italy, was anxious to 
 promote the civilization of his subjects, by en- 
 couraging men of genius and of moral worth 
 to visit his capital. Among others, he invited 
 the celebrated violinist Lally, although he knew 
 him only by reputation. The Abb6 Vogler 
 (at that time composer and director of the con- 
 certs about to be established,) presented M. 
 Lally before the commencement of his per- 
 formance to the King, whispering to his Ma- 
 jesty as he did so, that in order to retain a man 
 
 M 2
 
 164 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 of Lally's celebrity, it would be necessary to 
 flatter his amour j)roprc by some direct mark 
 of royal favour. " Lakse'^L-moi faire^ said the 
 King. 
 
 As soon, therefore, as the artist began tuning 
 his instrument, the King and aU the royal fa- 
 mily set up an enthusiastic acclamation; and 
 the astonished violinist, not vmderstanding the 
 precise meaning of this kind of compliment, 
 in some trepidation let fall liis bow. The 
 Abbe Vogler picked it up, and perceiving the 
 reason of this mortification on the part of 
 Lally, he exclaimed, standing as he did near 
 the King and the rest of the royal connoisseurs, 
 " Don't be surprised, M. Lally, it is the politic 
 custom, in these remote climates, to applaud 
 performers generally before they begin, for very 
 few who have visited Sweden have deserved 
 it afterwards. I say this, just to give you an 
 idea of Northern politeness. Begin your con- 
 certo : you cannot but succeed ! They are all 
 higlily excited by your reputation, and the 
 mere smell of the resin of your bow^ will intoxi- 
 cate them quite !" 
 
 Nor was Vogler wide of the mark. When 
 Lally, who was without doubt a very great 
 performer, had finished, the King presented
 
 MARRIAGE OF GUSTAVUS THE THIRD. l65 
 
 him with a most elegant snuff-box, set with 
 diamonds and filled with gold. 
 
 The marriage of Gustavus III. (when Crown 
 Prince) to the Princess of Denmark, his first 
 cousin, and sister of Christian VII., was not 
 from choice, but in consequence of the in- 
 fluence which his mother, Ulrica, the Queen- 
 dowager, exercised over this prince, especially 
 during his minority. She enforced it as neces- 
 sary in order to strengthen the Swedish mo- 
 narchy, by alliance with a Danish princess, 
 against the unlimited ambitious views of the 
 Russian autocrat; but it was pretty well known 
 among: the ladies and gentlemen of the roval 
 household, that, like his uncle, the great Frede- 
 rick, he had abstained from consummating his 
 marriage. Frederick was, from the violence of 
 his father, compelled to marry the Princess of 
 Brunswick, grand-aunt to the late Queen Ca- 
 roline of England : and Gustavus is said to 
 have imitated, from the very nuptial ceremony, 
 the conduct observed on that occasion by his 
 uncle — each of these curious bridegrooms po- 
 litely conducting his bride to the door of her 
 bedchamber, wishing her, with profound re- 
 spect, "Good Night!" and then leaving her, un- 
 interrupted, to her private meditations. It has
 
 166 ANECDOTES OF FOIIEIGN COURTS. 
 
 been affirmed that Frederick, during the whole 
 course of his life, never once swerved from his 
 first resohition, and had no interview with his 
 Queen except in public on levde days, or in 
 presence of his generals and household. He 
 always treated this sacrificed Princess, however, 
 with the greatest respect and attention, with 
 this single exception, of not consummating the 
 marriage — which he pertinaciously forbore to 
 do, as it was one contrary to his inclination ; 
 he having been long attached to the Princess 
 Amelia, (daughter of King George li.,) who 
 died at an advanced age, unmarried, although 
 it is said, from living proof, not a maiden lady. 
 But the King of Sweden neglected his young 
 bride almost wholly from the aversion he had 
 taken to his mother; — fearing that, as they were 
 related, the latter might teach his consort to 
 endeavour to thwart her husband's power. It 
 was natural, however, that when convinced of 
 his error, and assured that no suspicious inti- 
 macy existed between these ladies, he should 
 avail himself of his union with a woman whose 
 qualities, although not brilliant, were of a na- 
 ture to ensure the more solid comforts of con- 
 nubial life. 
 
 The admirable conduct of this youthful 
 Queen also tended to fix the erratic regard of
 
 SCANDALOUS STORY OF GUSTAVUS. 167 
 
 Gustavus. She was unshaken in her devotion 
 to his slightest wishes, and obedience to his 
 most capricious injunctions, to which she sub- 
 mitted without a murmur. It was impossible 
 for any man, who had not the heart of a stone, 
 to resist those sweet appeals; and penetrated 
 at length by so much goodness, Gustavus deter- 
 mined on becoming, though unavowedly, the 
 real husband of the Danish princess. 
 
 Such were the unfortunate circumstances 
 which gave rise to the much-disputed question 
 of the legitimacy of the Queen's offspring. 
 The enemies of Gustavus assert, that he was 
 resolved, whatever might or might not ensue 
 from his reconciliation with his wife, to have 
 the credity at least, of giving an heir to the 
 Swedish monarchy ; and that, for this purpose, 
 he was abandoned enough himself to introduce, 
 in his nocturnal visits to the Queen, a sort of 
 double, in the person of the Count de Munck. 
 It was further said, that Munck had been the 
 party who had, by certain disclosures, paved the 
 way for this sudden and mysterious change of 
 conduct on the part of Gustavus, toward his 
 long-neglected and almost-forgotten bride. 
 
 The intrigues of courts, if fairly and fully 
 exposed, would, we are inclined to think, un- 
 fold some of the most revolting and abomina-
 
 168 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ble scenes of depravity upon record. The 
 Queen-mother of Sweden, Uh'ica, had exer- 
 cised over her husband, during the latter years 
 of his reign, almost unlimited control ; and she 
 still held the desire of domineering, in like 
 manner, over the proceedings of her son. To 
 this, however, Gustavus III. decidedly object- 
 ed ; and, as it has already appeared, so jealous 
 was he of any the least interference with his 
 power, that he abjured even the society of his 
 wife, fearing that she had been inoculated by 
 her mother-in-law with rebellious principles, 
 although in other respects he was not slow to 
 acknowledge her estimable qualities. 
 
 Ulrica was of a nature altogether base and 
 vindictive. Havin^c conceived some resentment 
 against her brother, the great Frederick of 
 Prussia, on account of that prince's expostu- 
 lations respecting her impudent attempt to ride 
 her son as she had done his father, she propa- 
 gated concerning him an infamous report, in 
 which she mixed up (to her eternal disgrace be 
 it mentioned, both as a mother, a sister, and a 
 female,) her own royal son, and subsequently 
 his brotlier, tlie Duke of Sudermania, who liad, 
 on discoverino; the intrimies of his duchess 
 (seduced by the Queen-dowager), withdrawn 
 from her apartment, and attached himself more
 
 SCANDALOUS STORY OF GUSTAVUS. 169 
 
 closely to the society of his brother Gustavus. 
 For this report there does not appear to have 
 been the slightest foundation, and it doubtless 
 had its origin in a feeling of revenge enter- 
 tained by Ulrica, on account of her fraudulent 
 intrigues having been discovered and defeated. 
 These intrigues were not only directed against 
 the King's power, but were set on foot to screen 
 the frequent pregnancy of another branch of 
 her family, which nevertheless was well known 
 to many persons about the palace, whom, from 
 their situations, it was impossible wholly to 
 blind. The " woolly-headed intruder," and the 
 " cushion business," are themes we shall come 
 to anon, and the purport of whicii is sufficiently 
 attested by individuals still residing at Stock- 
 holm. 
 
 For some of these private anecdotes we can 
 ourselves vouch ; others we relate as an indiffer- 
 ent traveller, merely as they have been commu- 
 nicated to us ; whether true or false, they have 
 gained general credence, and, from our personal 
 experience of courts, we can testify at any rate 
 to their verisimilitude. 
 
 The reconciliation of the King and Queen of 
 Sweden went far to crush these machinations ; 
 but, curiously enough, the very circumstance 
 that was meant to avert the evil of an ille-
 
 170 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 gitimate offspring sitting upon the Swedish 
 throne, was used to propagate the rumour that 
 such an evil was actually impending. The 
 King, as we have already stated, being under- 
 stood to be accompanied in his secret visits to 
 his consort, by Munck, the Queen-mother em- 
 ployed spies to watch the movements of the 
 latter, by whom he was discovered occasionally 
 to go in and out of the Queen's apartments with- 
 out his royal master ; a circumstance contrived, 
 it is said, by the eccentric Gustavus, by way of 
 a blind to his mother, of whose conduct he was 
 well aware. 
 
 Ulrica therefore entertained a conviction that 
 there existed an amour between her daughter- 
 in-law and her son's chamberlain, not being 
 able to conceive that Munck was nothing more 
 than the depositary of his royal master's se- 
 cret ; and full of this imagined discovery, she 
 stated her belief to Gustavus, who, far from 
 approving her zeal, repulsed it decidedly, and 
 enjoined upon her silence respecting her un- 
 worthy suspicions, and deference for the cha- 
 racter of his wife. Hence it was, that Ulrica 
 herself originated the scandal that her son had 
 played the pander to his own spouse; and it 
 was even added, that in order to quiet the 
 scruples of the young Queen, his Majesty had
 
 DETHRONEMENT OF GUSTAVUS. 171 
 
 privately divorced himself from her, and com- 
 pelled her to contract a left-handed marriage 
 with Count Munck — the consequence of whose 
 nocturnal visits is said to have been Gustavus 
 Adolphus IV., who, however strange and im- 
 probable this story may appear, chiefly owes to 
 its circulation his own dethronement, and the 
 exclusion of his posterity !
 
 172 ANECDOTES OF FOKEIGN COURTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Authoress encounters, at the baths of Carlsbad, in Bohe- 
 mia, the Duchess of Mecklenburgh Schwerin and her 
 suite. — Arrival of a courier from the Duke. Contents of 
 the despatches. — Invitation of the Duchess. — Character of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, successor of Gustavus III.- — His pro- 
 jected marriage with the Princess of JNIecklenburgh pro- 
 hibited by Catherine the Great. — Departure of the King 
 for St. Petersburgh, with his uncle, the Duke of Suder- 
 mania. — The Empress proposes her niece to Gustavus 
 Adolphus. — iMutual affection of the parties. — Attempted 
 treachery of Catherine, and restraint of the King of Swe- 
 den. — He refuses to sign the marriage contract, and de- 
 parts for Stockholm. — Astonishment and dismay of the 
 courtiers. — Surreptitious treaty between Catherine and 
 Gustavus III. — Intrigues of the Duke of Sudermania, 
 afterwards Charles XIII. 
 
 Being at Carlsbad, in Bohemia, on her way 
 to Berlin, in the year 1794-5, the Authoress 
 accidentally met there with her Serene High- 
 ness the Duchess of Mecklenburgh Schwerin, 
 who had been on a visit to her royal relatives
 
 THE DUCHESS OF MECKLENBURGH. 173 
 
 in England* From the reception she met 
 with, this princess became very much attached 
 to the manners and customs of the British 
 nation as well as to its natives ; and the writer, 
 being recognized by her Serene Highness as 
 an English lady, had the honour of being dis- 
 tinguished from the rest of the bathing and 
 watering visitors, and of accompanying the 
 duchess in several of her morning rambles. 
 
 In one of these, her Serene Highness was 
 accosted by a courier, who had come from the 
 Duke of Mecklenburgh with the glad tidings 
 that the Regent of Sweden, Charles Duke of 
 Sudermania, had fixed on her Serene High- 
 ness's daughter as the bride of the young King 
 Gustavus Adolphus. 
 
 This selection, although now first duly an- 
 nounced, had been for some time anticipated 
 in the German newspapers : but the duchess 
 had too nice a sense of delicacy to make any 
 public allusion to it until the intelligence was 
 no longer doubtful. Turning to me on this 
 occasion, she imparted the tidings with which 
 the courier was charged, and observed, in ad- 
 
 * As a Princess of Saxe-Gotha, her Serene Highness was 
 nearly allied to the mother of George III.
 
 174 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 dition, — " It is now almost a century since a 
 former Princess of Mecklenburgh was elevated 
 to the Swedish throne." As she spoke, her 
 Serene Highness graciously handed me the 
 packet containing both the Duke's letter and 
 the Swedish despatch. " There," continued 
 she, " you will see that his Majesty has been 
 highly pleased with the picture of the Princess, 
 my daughter, and has condescended to send her 
 his in return." 
 
 Her Serene Highness could not fail to ob- 
 serve the sympathy which was excited in me 
 by her communication of this pleasing news. 
 It was, indeed, expressed, I believe, on every 
 feature of my countenance. Before, however, 
 I could give utterance to these feelings, she 
 said, — " Well, if you really sympathise in the 
 good fortune of my family, promise me that 
 you will come to Ludwigslust and be pre- 
 sent at the ceremony. It will not be much 
 out of your way to England ; and I will, pre- 
 vious to quitting this to-morrow, give you 
 letters to the Duchess of York, the Duchess 
 of Brunswick, and the Courts of Dresden and 
 Berlin." 1 received these gracious offers with 
 due respect, but under the condition that I 
 should not find it necessary immediately to 
 embark for England. Her Serene Highness,
 
 CHARACTER OF CUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 175 
 
 however, would hear of no conditional pro- 
 mise ; and it was agreed that I should be 
 present at the royal nuptials. 
 
 I cannot avoid, here, exhibiting a slight 
 sketch of the true character of that dethroned 
 monarch and singular man, Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, which, I trust, Avill tend in some mea- 
 sure to give the reader a very different opinion 
 of him from that under which he has hitherto 
 laboured. He will hence appear to have been 
 almost a voluntary and devoted victim to the 
 love and attachment which he bore to the 
 country over which he reigned ; — not like 
 several other modern princes, whom I could 
 name, who have certainly forfeited their rights, 
 in running from the scene of action, abandon- 
 ing their subjects, and conceiving nothing wor- 
 thy of regard but the preservation of their 
 own precious and most holy persons. 
 
 Every thing had been settled for the Prin- 
 cess of Mecklenburgh to take her departure 
 from Schwerin for her new residence at Stock- 
 holm ; and while preparations were making 
 for her long journey, the contemplated nup- 
 tials were announced at the Court of Saint 
 Petersburgh, and were there immediately in- 
 terdicted, as will hereafter be more fully 
 shown. Gustavus had no power to dispute
 
 176 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the imperial mandate ; but was, on the con- 
 trary, compelled, in order to avert from Swe- 
 den the threatened horrors of a Russian in- 
 vasion, to quit his own independent domi- 
 nions, and repair, in propria persona, to Saint 
 Petersburgh, accompanied by his uncle, the 
 Duke of Sudermania, then Regent and the 
 King's tutor. 
 
 At Saint Peter.'^burgh, all the requisite dis- 
 positions had been made, and it was determin- 
 ed that Gustavus should espouse the Grand- 
 duchess, sister to his present Majesty the Em- 
 peror Nicholas ; but "though a mere boy at the 
 time, and under the despotic influence of his 
 royal uncle, and the still more compulsory dic- 
 tation of Catherine II., finding some articles 
 inserted in the marriage contract which were 
 in opposition to the spirit of the Swedish laws, 
 Gustavus manfully renounced his second be- 
 trothed and her awakening regard, rather than 
 compromise or endanger the national weal. To 
 the present object, too, he was himself warmly 
 attached, which was not the case as respected 
 the Princess of Mecklenburffh, whom he had 
 never seen. His heart had been, so far, disen- 
 gaged, and it was the feelings of the indepen- 
 dent sovereign alone that had been outraged : 
 but here, the matter was different. — The Grand-
 
 ANECDOTE OF GUSTAVUS. 177 
 
 duchess luid excited his love, and he was most 
 anxious to become the possessor of so much 
 youth, amiabiUty, and beauty ; yet all these 
 fascinations Gustavus was content to sacrifice 
 for the peace of his conscience, and the good of 
 his country. We will relate the circumstances 
 attending this renunciation a little more parti- 
 cularly. 
 
 The capital of Saint Petersburgh resounded 
 with the news of these illustrious nuptials, and 
 nothing else indeed had been tlie subject of 
 conversation in that dissolute city for a long- 
 time past. The King had consented that his 
 future Queen should be fully at liberty to pur- 
 sue her own religious exercises : a draught was 
 therefore ordered to be drawn up of these ar- 
 ticles, and presented to Gustavus; but the con- 
 tract itself was not to be laid before the royal 
 Swede, until the moment when it was to be 
 signed at the altar. Catherine, in this arrange- 
 ment, had estimated the probable unwilling- 
 ness which " the boy" (as she was wont to dis- 
 tinguish him) would feel, to interrupt a mar- 
 riage so much desired by all parties, at the very 
 instant when the Imperial bride stood in rea- 
 diness to complete it. She reckoned wholly on 
 the rashness and thoughtlessness of his cha- 
 racter ; and thus confiding, insidiously dictated 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
 1/
 
 178 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the insertion of a fresh article. But she was, 
 in this instance, deceived: when the proper 
 officers of the Imperial Palace, waited by the 
 command of her Majesty upon Gustavus, to an- 
 nounce that his presence was expected ^thereat, 
 he requested that the marriage contract might 
 first be sent him for perusal. At sight of the 
 article surreptitiously introduced, he declined to 
 sign the instrument ; and while the Empress, 
 the Grand-duke and Duchess, and the bride, 
 ^ere anxiously awaiting his arrival, surrounded 
 by all the flower of the Russian empire, Gusta- 
 vus was coolly employed in taking notes of his 
 marriage contract ! Indeed, so disgusted was 
 he at the trick thus attempted to be played off 
 upon his youth, that he intimated to her Im- 
 perial Majesty, without delay, his absolute re- 
 fusal to attend her summons unless the obnox- 
 ious articles were expunged. 
 
 At this unexpected rebellion against the 
 mandate of the all-powerful Catherine, (who 
 had never before experienced a negative) the 
 whole court became alarmed for probable con- 
 sequences : her Imperial Majesty lost the power 
 of speech ; the bride went into violent hyste- 
 rics ; the Grand-duke and Duchess stared at 
 each other with petrified looks ; the popes and
 
 ANECDOTE OF GUSTAVUS. 179 
 
 priests who were collected to officiate, trembled 
 at the altar ; the ministers were at a loss how 
 to negotiate ; whilst the grandees and princes 
 of the empire, with chattering teeth and qui- 
 vering lips, stood in awful expectation of what 
 might ensue. 
 
 A faithful picture of this curious scene was 
 repeatedly exhibited to Gustavus, but without 
 the least effect ; all which the successive mes- 
 sengers could obtain, was the following reply : 
 " That the contract contained clauses he was not 
 prepared to meet, nor could he sign them with- 
 out the consent of his senate, they being un- 
 constitutional and against the laws of the Swe- 
 dish nation. Catherine now despatched a whole 
 troop of ambassadors, to endeavour to gain 
 over this restive king, but to no better pur- 
 pose ; and it is believed she was on the point 
 of ordering her body guard to surround his 
 apartment, and compel him to obedience. In 
 making this tardy resolution, however, her Im- 
 perial Majesty was too late : for even while the 
 question was deliberating, the bird had flown ! 
 Gustavus set off, accompanied by his uncle, the 
 Duke of Sudermania, with all speed, for Fin- 
 land, and thus terminated this famous second 
 betrothal of Gustavus Adolphus, from the happy 
 
 N 2
 
 180 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 conclusion of which, the Empress had promis- 
 ed lierself so many advantages over the " boy 
 king," and the whole Swedish nation. 
 
 This circumstance undoubtedly hastened her 
 death. The shock which her pride had under- 
 gone on being thus foiled by a stripling, and 
 the fatigue she encountered in attending, at 
 her advanced age, all the previous fetes and en- 
 tertainments, contributed to bring on a fixed 
 melancholy, which nothing could divert. In 
 public, it is true, every nerve was strained in 
 order to enable this haughty woman to mask 
 and conceal the feelings which in reality op- 
 pressed her; but the consequent reaction in 
 her more retired hours was extremely violent. 
 Her private reflections must, indeed, have been 
 bitter enough, on many accounts ; and she at 
 length fell vmder the weight in a fit of apo- 
 plexy. 
 
 To justify " Catherine the Great" in the 
 eyes of Europe, for her conduct towards the 
 Swedish sovereign, a treaty was hatched up, 
 and promulgated by her ministers, purporting 
 to have been formerly set on foot between her 
 Imperial Majesty and Gustavus the Third ; but 
 which, in fact, never had any absolute exis- 
 tence, save in the intrigues of the King's unna- 
 tiual uncle and guardian^ the Duke of Suder-
 
 rOLlCV OF THE DUKE OF SUDERMANIA. 181 
 
 mania, who was constantly plotting against 
 him. The motives of this Prince for objecting, 
 as he did, to his nephew's union with the Prin- 
 cess of JNIecklenburgh, arose from the popula- 
 rity into which the anticipation of that match 
 had brought the youthful monarch — the peo- 
 ple being instinctively averse to a matrimonial 
 alliance with Russia. Now, the popularity of 
 Gustavus Adolphus was exceedingly prejudi- 
 cial to the sinister designs of his ambitious 
 uncle; and to counteract it, he fabricated 
 this treaty, with which he despatched General 
 Springporten to Saint Petersburg!!, calculating 
 on the well-known policy of the Russian Auto- 
 crat to second his machinations. Thus he pro- 
 posed to himself a double chance ; either to in- 
 cense the Empress against Gustavus, and win 
 her to his individual interests, should the King 
 persist in his choice ; or to alienate from him 
 the affections of his people, in case he should 
 intermarry with a Grand-duchess of Russia. 
 Catherine, as we have seen, summoning both 
 luicle and nephew to her capital, started the 
 alliance with her grand-daughter, which was so 
 abruptly terminated. 
 
 Can there, we would ask, be a more grati- 
 fying, a more noble spectacle, than that of a 
 young prince subjecting himself from patriotic
 
 182 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 motives, to the hostile caprices of a despot, far 
 more powerful than himself; and not only do- 
 ing this, but — harder task ! controlling and 
 subduing his own passions — all ranged on that 
 despot's side !
 
 THE BRITISH ARMY AT BREMEN. 183 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The British Army at Bremen. — Extortion and insolence of an 
 innkeeper and a magistrate. — Disorderly conduct, and dis- 
 asters of the English troops. — High-road to Hamburgh 
 and Hanover. — Advantages of Macadamization — Ludwigs- 
 lust and its ceremonials. — Etiquette in the minor Ger- 
 man States. — The Red Deer at Munich — Method of ablu- 
 tion there. — Hotels of Vienna. — A German bed, and one of 
 its occupants. 
 
 About the time we left Carlsbad, or shortly 
 after, General Brune invaded Holland, and 
 compelled the British army to retreat to Bre- 
 men. General Motz, a most worthy Hessian 
 gentleman, who was one of the commissaries- 
 general, and a very particular friend of mine, 
 seeing our arrival from Italy notified in the 
 German papers, apprised several old English 
 friends thereof, whom we had not met for some 
 years, and whom we were urgently invited 
 to visit in their military quarters ; and we had
 
 184- ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 scarcely, in consequence of this invitation, ar- 
 rived at Bremen, when we received from the 
 Duchess of JNIecklenburgh a despatch, where- 
 in her Serene Highness specified the time at 
 whicli she should expect the fulfilment of our 
 promise made at the Baths. 
 
 I will take the present opportunity of 
 communicating some curious anecdotes respect- 
 ing the ingratitude of the magistrates of Bre- 
 men towards our countrymen, when travel- 
 ling there, in consequence of the reverses of the 
 British army and the successes of the French. 
 
 Our tavern-keeper having sent in an exor- 
 bitant bill, we requested the commissary -gene- 
 ral, Motz, our particular friend, to make a suit- 
 able remonstrance. No redress, however, was 
 procured, an attempt being made, in answer, to 
 justify the demand. The commissary-general, 
 not feeling by any means satisfied, requested 
 that every item should be distinctly set down. 
 So far, however, from this producing the de- 
 sired effect, the landlord, with inconceivable as- 
 svirance, protested that the sum, when reckoned 
 in detail, would amount to at least twenty 
 crowns more. Upon this, ^I. JNlotz imme- 
 diately represented the matter to General 
 Dundas ; and tlie general, without loss of 
 time, sent for a magistrate, who positively de-
 
 DISASTERS OF THE ENGLISH. 185 
 
 dined interfering, saying that he had no autho- 
 rity to do so, unless there had been a written 
 agreement. " AVhy," exclaimed the astonished 
 general, " if this extortion should become 
 known amongst the British army, they will set 
 fire to your town." — " Well," answered the 
 other quite coolly, *' the French are at hand, 
 and will soon put it out again!" We were 
 ultimately obliged to make a merit of neces- 
 sity, and paid about fifty crowns for what, on 
 the Bath-road, in the height of the season, 
 would not have cost ten ! 
 
 The immense loss sustained by the British 
 armament on this occasion, both in men and 
 baggage, is pretty generally known. We were 
 informed on the spot, that it arose almost 
 wholly from their own careless and disorderly 
 conduct. The INIoor-Dyke was covered with 
 ice, and fairs held thereupon ; and large parties 
 of English, not clearly comprehending the in- 
 structions given them by the Dutch, strayed 
 out of their way upwards of fifty miles. Being 
 very much attached, also, to the Dutch gin, 
 they took it by wholesale, and getting so in- 
 toxicated as to fall asleep, perished in that 
 state by hundreds, in consequence of the 
 intense cold. Those who were sufficiently 
 wary to avoid paying these profuse libations
 
 186 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 to the rosy god, arrived safe and sound at 
 Bremen. 
 
 The high way from Bremen to Hamburgh, 
 and from Hamburgh to Hanover, is of a nature 
 to beggar all description ! The barbarians of 
 the country call it a road, but as the Irish 
 soldiers said, " 'Tis no road at all, at all ! ex- 
 cept to an witimely grave /" At that season 
 of the year, it must, indeed, have been truly 
 horrible : to do it strict justice, it can only be 
 compared to those mountains of loose stones 
 which we now see heaped up together by the 
 Macadamizing gentry, in the streets of London. 
 Louis the XIV. obtained fame, and properly 
 too, by making all the high roads out of Paris 
 streets ; whilst our authorities are, vice ve^'sa, 
 seeking renown by turning the streets of the 
 metropolis into high roads. Old women and 
 children are, it is true, owing to the greater 
 swiftness and lesser noise of the vehicles, con- 
 stantly run over ; but, yiimporte ! it is perhaps 
 considered, that this, as we shall never have 
 another war, is a good and effectual means of 
 checking the superabundant population. 
 
 To return to our delightful journey. From 
 Bremen, in a light phaeton and four, Avithout 
 any luggage, we travelled at the rate of twenty 
 miles per day in twelve hours. When it pleased
 
 NUPTIAL CEREMONY. 187 
 
 Providence, we arrived at Ludwigslust, with 
 sound bones, it is true, but not with whole 
 skins, which were most unmercifully bruised, 
 scratched, and discoloured, in this our peni- 
 tential pilgrimage. All these inconveniences 
 were, however, amply compensated by the 
 polite and gracious reception we experienced 
 from their Serene Highnesses the Duke and 
 Duchess of Mecklenburgh, their illustrious 
 family, and, in a word, from the whole Court. 
 We had, therefore, the honour of being pre- 
 sent at the nuptial ceremony, which took place 
 at the palace of Ludwigslust, between the 
 Princess of Mecklenburgh and the Count de 
 Morner, as proxy for the young King, Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus. 
 
 The sequel of this story has already been laid 
 before the reader. Notwithstanding the youth- 
 ful King of Sweden had fully compromised 
 himself in this matter, by causing his union to 
 be solemnized in the face of all Europe ; he 
 was compelled^ although professing to be So- 
 vereign of an independent state, to bend the 
 knee before a foreign power, and recall his own 
 acts of declaration. In all probability, Gusta- 
 vus Adolphus retained the recollection of this 
 galling necessity at the moment in which he 
 flatly refused to conclude the marriage treaty.
 
 188 ANF.CDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 (on the Empress's own terms,) with the grand- 
 daughter of Catherine. 
 
 Ludwigslust is the only village we met 
 Avith, in all our travels through Europe, south, 
 east, west, and north, where money had no 
 value. Being nothing more, in fact, than the 
 country residence of the Duke of JNlecklen- 
 burgh, there was no public inn in the place ; 
 nor could any thing be procured, either to eat 
 or drink, except in the few private houses of 
 those attached to the Court. 
 
 We alighted at the hotel of one of the court 
 musicians, called Celestini, who lodged us hos- 
 pitably for the night; and would have kept 
 us longer, had not we been removed by order 
 of the duchess, and supplied with every re- 
 quisite. 
 
 Notwithstanding the smallness of its terri- 
 tory, and consequent narrowness of its revenue, 
 every thing about this Court is found, thougli 
 in miniature, the same as about those of Vi- 
 enna or St. Petersburgh. 
 
 In some of the minor states of Germany — 
 Hanover for instance, the inhabitants of which 
 are perhaps at once prouder and poorer than 
 any of their fellow-countrymen — there are no 
 less than six classes or orders of nobility ; and 
 the females uniformly enjoy the titles of their
 
 ABLUTION AT MUNICH. 189 
 
 husbands, not only in these ranks, as is com- 
 mon, but in the other grades of society : — thus, 
 for example, the wife of a parson is called 
 Frau Prediger ; of a physician, Frau INIedicus ; 
 a tailor's lady is Frau Schneiderin ; a cobler's, 
 Frau Schumacherin ; a general's, Frau Gene- 
 ralin; and all these J'rmis feel themselves highly 
 offended if not duly distinguished according to 
 their husband's vocation ! 
 
 In some of the most refined cities of Ger- 
 many, civilization does not seem to have made 
 the slightest progress during the last seven 
 centuries. At Munich, for instance, the ca- 
 pital of Bavaria, at the principal hotel (The 
 Red Deer) frequented by citizens of the first 
 respectability, as well as by officers, both civil 
 and military, of his Majesty's household, they 
 bring you, if you ask for a towel in the morn- 
 ing, a piece of linen fit only for a razor-rag ; if 
 you require water to wash yourself, a small 
 wine-glass full is presented on a saucer ! An 
 Italian gentleman, who had been accustomed 
 in his own country to wash in a Christianlike 
 manner, with a sufficiency of water, having de- 
 sired the waiter at the said hotel to bring him 
 some, and seeing the man approach with a glass 
 and saucer, very innocently said, " I don't 
 want it to drinle, but to wash with." " Well !"
 
 190 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 answered the fellow, pertly enough, " and there 
 it is /" " Why ! how the deuce," rejoined the 
 other, " is a man to wash himself in a spoonful 
 of water ?" " Lord bless you !" exclaimed the 
 waiter, taking the fluid into his mouth, and 
 then spitting it on his hands and rubbing his 
 face therewith, *' That's the way for any man 
 to wash his face !" 
 
 In the chief inns of Vienna — and, in short, 
 throughout Austria generally — instead of a 
 bolster at the head of a bed, you find a sack, 
 either of oats, corn, or chopped hay. The 
 bedstead itself is not unlike the boxes wherein 
 the poor are conveyed, when dead, to be bu- 
 ried by the parish — just big enough to hold 
 one small-sized person, and certainly not suf- 
 ficiently large to accommodate a moderately- 
 sized man. The consequence is, that an indi- 
 vidual of six feet or so, must knock out the 
 foot-board, and place the half of his legs upon 
 a chair, in order to stretch himself at his ease, 
 which the savages of the country say is only 
 necessary after a man is dead. The coverlid 
 of this horror, which they absurdly term a bed- 
 stead, is only large and long enough to lay 
 upon the surface of the machine, and the upper 
 sheet is commonly sewed all round it ; so that,
 
 BRITISH OFFICER AND HIS BED. 191 
 
 when inside this bed, the air obtrudes itself on 
 all sides, unless you have a pair of sheets of 
 your own to wrap round you. At Hanover, 
 the coverlid is a linen bag filled with feathers, 
 sufficient to smother those who have not been 
 used to such a thing ; and the sight of it re- 
 minds one of the cruel operation formerly prac- 
 tised upon poor wretches in the last stage of 
 hydrophobia. 
 
 A curious circumstance fell under the writer's 
 personal observation at the hotel wherein we 
 were lodged at Hanover. Just about the time 
 that the Marquis of Huntley was returning 
 from Corsica to England, a British officer, who 
 wished to go thither, was desirous of joining 
 his lordship's party. Understanding that they 
 were gone to Cuxhaven, and not speaking a 
 single word of German, he was obhged to wait 
 for some companion who might serve him as 
 interpreter. He was shown, at night, into an 
 apartment adjoining ours, in tlie hotel in ques- 
 tion ; and our door happening to be ajar at the 
 moment, we became auditors of the following 
 curious address to the waiter : — " I say, mv 
 man, I see you sleep here as we do aboard ship 
 — one above the other ; but I don't relish the 
 fashion. I'll pay for the two beds ; and here's
 
 192 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 a half-crown for yourself. So take care that 
 no big fellow of a German comes tumbling 
 over me in the nic^ht !" 
 
 The war continuing, instead of returning 
 to Italy, as was intended, we took our route 
 toward the North, and arrived just in time to 
 be present at the third, and only real marriage 
 of Gustavus Adolphus ; a full description of 
 which we have given in Chapter VII.
 
 COURT OF STOCKHOLM. 19^ 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Further particulars relative to the Court of Stockholm. — 
 Influence of Frederick the Great in rea-ulating the succes- 
 sion to the Swedish throne. — The Princess Ulrica, sister to 
 Frederick ; her personal deformity, and how occasioned. — 
 Advice of Louis XV. to the Duchess of Parma.— Intrigues 
 of Ulrica after the death of her husband, Adolphus Fre- 
 derick. — Sterility of the Duchess of Sudermania, and fruit- 
 fulness of the Princess Sophia Albertina. — A stratagem 
 and a disappointment. — The woolly-headed intruder, and 
 the cushion-baby. — Reconciliation of Gustavus III. to 
 his bride, and consequent birth of Gustavus Adolphus. — 
 Behaviour of the Queen-dowager on the occasion. — The 
 Duke of Austragozia in the South of France. — His com- 
 munication to the Authoress. — Baron d'Armfeidt and the 
 Princess De Rohan. — Interesting facts gathered from a 
 correspondence between the Baron and Count Fersen, &c. 
 
 We have introduced our readers to some 
 of the principal personages who figured in 
 recent dates at the court of Stockhohn. That 
 they are not of a more amiable nature, is no 
 
 VOL. T. O
 
 194 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 fault of ours ; but the truth is, and experience 
 has abundantly proved it to the writer of these 
 pages, that the atmosphere of a court is the 
 least calculated of any to foster the growth of 
 estimable feelings or qualities. 
 
 A number of royal persons connected with 
 Sweden have briefly passed in review before 
 us, and we will now turn back, and add such 
 other anecdotes and data of various kinds, 
 as have come to our knowledge, and may 
 serve to illustrate and bring into stronger re- 
 lief the different characters of whom we have 
 treated. 
 
 Adolphus Frederick, King of Sweden, was 
 exalted to the throne of the ancient Vasas, 
 merely through the preponderating influence 
 of Frederick II. of Prussia, — having been 
 previovisly a Prince of Holstein. It is not 
 perhaps generally known, that, at the precise 
 juncture at which Elizabeth of Russia consti- 
 tuted her nephew, Peter III. her heir, that 
 Prince was called on to take possession of 
 the crown and sceptre of Sweden. These he 
 renounced for the imperial diadem, and by that 
 renunciation made room for his uncle, the Bi- 
 sliop of Liiback, who was elected, as observed 
 above, through the influence of the King of 
 Prussia, on condition tliat he (Adolphus Fre-
 
 DEFORMITY OF PRINCESS ULRICA. 195 
 
 derick) should marry Ulrica, Frederick the 
 Great's favourite sister. 
 
 The overture of a crown is seldom met by 
 obstacles on the part of him to whom it is made; 
 and accordingly, Adolphus readily complied 
 with this proviso, notwithstanding the princess 
 in question was afflicted with lameness, — a mis- 
 fortune entailed on her through the violence of 
 her own father. It is notorious to all readers 
 of modern history, that the Great Frederick was 
 at one time sentenced by his sire to the prison 
 of Spandau ; and it is said that, owing to her 
 interference on her brother's behalf, Ulrica in- 
 curred the hot displeasure of the king. Ano- 
 ther story attributes her losing the parental af- 
 fection, to her having entertained a strong par- 
 tiality for. the famous Baron Trenck; others, 
 again, to her being privy to an intrigue her 
 sister, the Margravine of Anspach, had with 
 the Baron. Be this, however, as it may, certain 
 it is that Ulrica bore undoubted marks of her 
 father's resentment to the grave ; and the pre- 
 valent account is, that these marks were got in 
 being thrown out of the window of her apart- 
 ment, after which she was taken up lifeless, and 
 remained defective in shape to her dying day. 
 
 This lady was married in the year 1751, to 
 the before-mentioned monarch, Adolphus Fre- 
 
 o 2
 
 196 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 derick of Sweden, and by him she had four 
 children: — Giistaviis, who succeeded his father, 
 and was treacherously murdered at a masque- 
 rade at the theatre of Stockholm, by the regi- 
 cide Ankerstrom ; Charles, Duke of Suderma- 
 nia, who, having dethroned his nephew, reigned 
 under the usurped title of Charles XIII. ; Fre- 
 derick, Duke of Austragozia, who died at Mont- 
 pelier, in France ; and a princess called Sophia 
 Albertina, who was co-abbess with her late 
 royal cousin, the Duchess of York. 
 
 In the year 1796, when I was about making 
 my northern tour, her Royal Highness the 
 Duchess of York, as I have before stated, ho- 
 noured me with letters for the Princess Sophia, 
 Avliich procured me at the Court of Sweden a 
 most gracious reception, and much informa- 
 tion, the substance whereof is thus desultorily 
 communicated. 
 
 The eldest son of Adolphus Frederick and 
 Ulrica, Gustavus III., having in his turn in- 
 termarried with a Danish princess, abstained, 
 as we have already seen, from the chaste bed 
 of his newly married Queen, and hence, after a 
 considerable la])se of time, it appeared that there 
 was a small cliance of lieirs to the royal house 
 of Sweden — tlie young bride not choosing to 
 adopt the suggestion of Louis ^Y. who, on
 
 DUCHESS OF SUDERMANIA's STERILITY. 197 
 
 receiving from his sister, the Duchess of Parma, 
 a complaint that her husband had acted in a 
 similar respectful manner, told her Highness 
 that a prudent princess could never stand in 
 need of an heir. 
 
 It is true, the maternal solicitude of Ulrica 
 was not bounded by the achievements or defal- 
 cations of her eldest son. Prince Charles, his 
 brother, had likewise entered the '' holy" state 
 of matrimony. But, alas ! here was little ac- 
 cession of comfort ! for the Duke and Duchess 
 of Sudermania had no better fortune than the 
 King and Queen ; whilst the youngest, the 
 Duke of Austragozia, exhibited a frail and 
 delicate constitution, from which nothing de- 
 sirable could be anticipated, even had he as- 
 sumed the bands of wedlock. 
 
 This deficiency of successors in the male line 
 of the Swedish Royal Family, was however 
 abundantly compensated, as far as numbers 
 went, by the prolific qualities of that tender- 
 hearted lady, Sophia Albertina. The Queen 
 Dowager, grown hopeless at length of any heirs 
 on the part of her sons, and naturally desirous 
 to prevent the crown from lapsing into the 
 hands of a stranger, sagaciously turned her 
 thoughts towards this fruitful quarter. The 
 lady abbess had, according to report, been
 
 198 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 privately married to an officer in the King's 
 Guards, and, whether this on dit be correct or 
 not, a becoming and courtier-like faith in the 
 matter will be at any rate most charitable. 
 
 Ulrica therefore, perfectly well aware of the 
 exactitude of her daughter's rehgious observ- 
 ance of the sacred command " Increase and 
 multiply," prevailed on the princess no longer 
 to destine the fruits of her labours to her bro- 
 ther's army, but to set aside the next comer 
 as a future candidate for his throne. This ad- 
 vice she urged the rather, perceiving the Lady 
 Abbess to be then in a promising way ; and to 
 insure success, she persuaded her daughter-in- 
 law, the Duchess of Sudermania, to affect a 
 virtue which she had not, and counterfeit both 
 the appearance and conceits of pregnancy, a 
 manoeuvre which the pride and vanity of this 
 young princess, excited on the prospect of be- 
 ing believed to bear a successor to the throne, 
 induced her to give in to. Readily, therefore, 
 did she sustain the dead weight of hidden 
 cushions until the living substitute should be 
 brought to light. 
 
 All went on precisely as might be wished. 
 The important fact of the duchess being en- 
 ceinte was hailed by the rejoicing populace with 
 every demonstration of satisfaction. The no-
 
 FRUITFULNESS OF SOPHIA ALBERTINA. 199 
 
 bility were on the alert. Prayers were offered 
 up in every temple throughout the Swedish 
 dominions, for the personal safety and prospe- 
 rous delivery of the siiffeting princess ; and, in 
 a word, the entire kingdom resounded with 
 joyful acclamations. 
 
 Meanwhile, *' the real Simon Pure" lived in 
 complete retirement, totally secluded from the 
 prying eye of impertinent curiosity. And 
 now it becomes necessary for me to allude to a 
 circumstance which must be known in order 
 to understand what follows. Among the gen- 
 tlemen whom Sophia had occasionalhj honoured 
 with her favourable notice, was one of African 
 origin. It may be thought strange by some 
 that the princess should have exhibited this 
 specimen of bad taste, and still stranger that 
 she should not have been aware that the result 
 of such a liaison could not possibly answer the 
 end proposed by the Queen. She might pro- 
 bably have placed small confidence in what 
 blind Chance might effect. Certain, at any 
 rate, it is, that while the anticipative fetes and 
 prayers were going on, while the Queen-mo- 
 ther was lauding her two obedient children, 
 and while the sick duchess was assiduously 
 fainting in public places, as becomes ladies in 
 her supposed condition, an event occurred of
 
 200 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 a nature to overthrow all the plans of the con- 
 spirators. The Princess Sophia was rather pre- 
 maturely brought to bed of — a black child ! a 
 complete woolly-headed monster ! What was 
 to be done ? This, as was plain, could never be 
 attempted to be palmed upon the Swedish na- 
 tion, however passive and complying ; and in a 
 fit of absolute despair the enraged mother, who 
 had calculated on giving birth to a future mo- 
 narch, is said to have got rid both of the ob- 
 ject of her own shame and her mother's disap- 
 pointment, by consigning the unlooked-for in- 
 truder to the flames ! Thus terminated the 
 princess's actual and the duchess's feigned 
 pregnancy. But to keep up the farce to the last, 
 prayers were now offered up in the churches 
 for the restoration of her, whose life, it was 
 said, had been endangered by giving birth to 
 a still-born child. 
 
 AVhether Gustavus and his brother, or either 
 of them was aware of this scheme on the part 
 of their royal mother, to introduce contraband 
 goods, and save them the trouble of provid- 
 ing lieirs from their own loins, has never been 
 clearly demonstrated. The circumstances, how- 
 ever, are no secret at Stockliolm, and were 
 communicated to the writer by a relation of
 
 THE QUEEN ENCEINTE. 201 
 
 the late Baron d'Armfeldt, whilst she was pre- 
 sent upon the scene of action. 
 
 yVe have previously touched upon the cir- 
 cumstances attending the reconciliation of 
 Gustavus III. to his unoffending bride, and 
 his mysterious visits to her chamber. We 
 have seen how tlie Count de JMunck, then per- 
 haps the handsomest young man about court, 
 was implicated by the emissaries of the Queen- 
 mother, in consequence of his constant atten- 
 dance upon his royal master on these nightly 
 excursions. The reports she caused to be cir- 
 culated regarding this subject have been abun- 
 dantly disproved, and that by the authority of 
 those whose knowledge of the facts cannot be 
 questioned, from their having been in the 
 perfect confidence of Gustavus — namely, the 
 Duke of Austragozia and others. 
 
 On receiving from his Queen an intimation 
 that her INIajesty felt herself in that state 
 wherein " all ladies wish to be who love their 
 lords," Gustavus lost no time in communicating 
 the important intelligence to the Queen-dow- 
 ager, his other royal relatives, the courtiers, 
 and, in fact, by proclamation, to the king- 
 dom at large. He would even at reviews 
 tell his guards, the common soldiers, of his
 
 202 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 good luck, which, although tardy, seemed at 
 length certain. His enthusiasm and joy on the 
 occasion was commensurate, indeed, in its ex- 
 travagance, with the eccentricity of his pre- 
 vious conduct. It resembled somewhat that 
 of the unfortunate Queen of France, Marie An- 
 toinette, who, after having waited in fond ex- 
 pectation for some time, when she really found 
 herself about to become a mother, was anxious 
 that the very stones in the street should know 
 that she was no longer to be numbered among 
 the sterile and barren of the earth. She said 
 to Mad. de Noailles, " Now I shall die happy, 
 since I have given an heir to France !" It is 
 melancholy to reflect on the fate of this long- 
 wished-for son ; who, poor child ! had no soon- 
 er passed his infancy, than, after seeing both 
 his parents brought to the scaffold, and his 
 family dispersed and proscribed, perished in 
 a loathsome dungeon, surrounded by those 
 who mocked, instead of sympathising with his 
 misery. 
 
 When the spouse of our Swedish monarch 
 drew near her accouchement^ he requested his 
 mother. Queen Ulrica, to be present, with the 
 rest of the royal family, at the labour of her 
 Majesty, in order that she, the Queen-dowager, 
 might be the first to present him with his child.
 
 CONDUCT or THE DOWAGER. 203 
 
 This, however, she peremptorily refused in the 
 following words, addressed to Count Fersen 
 and Baron d'Armfeldt, who w^ere the King's 
 messengers on the occasion : — " I shall not sanc- 
 tion with my presence the birth of a spurious 
 heir, who has no affinity to the royal house 
 of Sweden. I am too well acquainted with 
 the constitutional defects of the King to be 
 thus imposed on !" As this reply was given 
 before several others of the courtiers, besides 
 those two already mentioned, it did not long 
 remain a secret. 
 
 This extraordinary fancy on the part of a 
 mother to blacken the characters of two of her 
 children, (for, as before hinted, the Duke of 
 Sudermania had his share of the scandal,) 
 broke off, as a matter of course, all further cor- 
 respondence between them and Ulrica. It 
 gave rise to a vast number of floating rumours, 
 each of a darker tint than the former, which 
 were industriously promulgated against the 
 two princes ; while, in the judgment of all 
 fair-minded persons whom the author has ever 
 heard advert to the topic, these rumours had 
 no better foundation than the groundless aver- 
 sion of the amiable dowager, who would fain 
 have exercised over Gustavus III. and his 
 brothers, the same authority by which she em-
 
 204 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 bittered her liiisbancrs life, and wliich the 
 superaniuiated in years and intellect are too 
 often fond of striving to fasten upon those still 
 in the prime and vigour of life and thought. 
 We have already observed, that it is not ac- 
 curatelv known whether or not Gustavus was 
 aware, at the time, of the scheme manufactured 
 by the Queen-dowager to introduce the off- 
 spring of her daughter Sophia. The great pre- 
 sumption is, that he v/as. Most certainly 
 he instituted, directly after, a strict system of 
 espionnage, both over the conduct of his mother 
 and the lady abbess. 
 
 The Duke of Austragozia, who was one of 
 the best-bred princes and most gentlemanly 
 men of his time, and whom the Authoress met 
 many years after these disgraceful family broils, 
 while his Royal Highness was stopping for his 
 health in the South of France, assured her that 
 his brother, the Duke of Sudermania (the late 
 Charles XIII.) was so disgusted with the du- 
 chess his wife, when the knowlege readied him 
 of her having connived at the nefarious prac- 
 tices of Ulrica and Sophia, that he was desirous 
 of being divorced, and having her confined for 
 life. The King, however, objected to any pub- 
 lic investigation of tlie suspected fraud ; for, 
 altlioiigh wishing so far to prove the intrigues
 
 LETTER OF FREDEKICK THE GREAT. 205 
 
 of his mother, as to feel justified in dooming her' 
 to a constant residence at her country seat, he 
 was unwilling to press a charge of conspiracy, 
 which would have seriously implicated all three 
 of the princesses. 
 
 This moderation on the part of Gustavus 
 was highly approved of, when made known to 
 his royal uncle, the Great Frederick of Prussia, 
 who wrote to Queen Ulrica, recommending her 
 to live in harmony with her children, and par- 
 ticularly with Gustavus himself, telling her, at 
 the same time, that she could have no claim 
 in the sympathies or services of a brother, if 
 she overlooked the duty owed by her, both as 
 mother and subject, to the King of Sweden. 
 " This letter," added the Duke of Austragozia, 
 " had a powerful effect on the futvire conduct 
 of her Majesty the Queen Ulrica," who, having 
 presumed that Frederick would protect her 
 against Gustavus, became, when she discovered 
 her error, less intriguing and more cautious, 
 howbeit she was never thoroughly reconciled 
 to either of her calumniated sons. Aware that 
 she was watched in all her movements, she 
 now rarely came, even on a visit, to the royal 
 palace at Stockholm ; and her indulgent son, 
 requiring nothing more than this reasonable 
 forbearance, continued to allow her, during the
 
 206 ANF.CDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 remainder of her life, every privilege appertain- 
 ing to her royal birth and station. 
 
 In short, the dark and foul miscellaneous in- 
 trigues of a court can scarcely be credited but 
 by such as have mixed in the crowd and bustle 
 thereof. That most diabolical of passions, am- 
 bition to rule, poisons all the sources of gene- 
 rous or virtuous feeling, chills the kindly cha- 
 rities of kindred, and places the heart of a de- 
 mon within the bosom which should enshrine 
 humanity. 
 
 In the year 1803, being at Paris, and, dining 
 at a French banker's, T encountered there my 
 old acquaintance. General Baron d'Armfeldt, 
 at that time the clier ami of the Princess de 
 Rohan, better known by her own title, the 
 Duchess of Sagan. This accomplished and 
 beautiful lady, daughter of the last Duke of 
 Courland, and to whom also I was well known, 
 sent me an invitation to dine with them at 
 their magnificent hotel in the Rue Royale, 
 and I went rather early, in order to have a 
 long conversation, we not having met since 
 the year 1794, at Naples. 
 
 The Duchess not having returned from her 
 morning ride, the Baron proposed to take a 
 drive before dinner as far as tlie Bois de Bou- 
 logne. After having discussed at full the se-
 
 BARON d'armfeldt. 207 
 
 vera! merits and fortunes of our Italian ac- 
 quaintances, (the topic generally uppermost in 
 the Baron's mind,) the affairs of Sweden na- 
 turally suggested themselves. D'Armfeldt, as 
 might have been anticipated, inveighed most 
 strongly against the treatment he had expe- 
 rienced at the hands of the Duke of Suder- 
 mania, who, whilst Regent of Sweden, had 
 banished him, confiscated a considerable por- 
 tion of his estate, and forbidden him, on pain 
 of death, to return to his native country. Pro- 
 clamations to this effect were issued by the go- 
 vernment at Stockholm, and posted at various 
 places on the confines of the kingdom, where 
 he was obliged to separate from his wife, the 
 Countess Delagardi, and their family. 
 
 Having discoursed of his own affairs. Baron 
 d'Armfeldt adverted to others of a more gene- 
 ral nature, which he prefaced by producing cer- 
 tain letters from Count Erval Fersen and others, 
 in one of which, Fersen observes, "Armfeldt 
 will one day be sacrificed to this man's thirst 
 for power," (meaning the Duke of Sudermania) 
 " as well as myself." These letters described 
 in detail the intrigues instituted by Charles, 
 for thwarting the marriage of his nephew with 
 the Princess of Mecklenburgh, as has hereto- 
 fore been explained, and add that, at first the
 
 208 ANKCDOTES OF FOKEIGN COUKTS. 
 
 Empress Catherine, whilst she thanked the 
 Duke for his friendly zeal, declined acting 
 upon it, alleging as her reason, that the Rus- 
 sian Grand-duchess was not yet of a marriage- 
 able age. JNIeanwhile, the contract with the 
 Princess of Mecklenburgh arrived at the Swedish 
 capital, to the great joy of its inhabitants, who 
 viewed in the proposed match a union conso- 
 nant to the true interests of Sweden as an in- 
 dependent state, since a connexion with Meck- 
 lenburgh could not, in all probability, be sad- 
 dled with any injurious influences, such as 
 those had been with Prussia and Denmark. 
 As for Russia, the people combined to view 
 an alliance with that overgrown empire with 
 the most jealous eyes, as calculated to interfere 
 with, and ultimately perhaps to annihilate, the 
 independence of their country. 
 
 The process of this business has already been 
 laid before the reader in a straight-forward 
 way. What we are aiming at here, is to give 
 him the advantage of such side-winds as may 
 waft a more complete and intimate acquaintance 
 with the less obvious circumstances attendant 
 on it. The character of Charles, Duke of Suder- 
 mania, subsequently Charles XIII., will hence be 
 more clearly developed, and stand up, as is fit, 
 to public execration. It might surely have been
 
 CATHERINE OF RUSSIA. 209 
 
 expected that, after suffering himself through 
 the artful intrigues of a near relative, he would 
 abstain from visiting upon his comparatively- 
 helpless charge a similar course of evils. But 
 no ! from the very commencement of the ex- 
 ercise of his delegated functions, to the mo- 
 ment when he gained the summit of his am- 
 bition by ascending the throne of Sweden, he 
 was the constant, unvarying, and unrelenting 
 enemy of the nephew whom he was bound 
 by every law, human and divine, to protect, 
 but whom, on the other hand, he never ceased 
 to vilify, to persecute, and defame. 
 
 Having failed in his first overture to the 
 great Autocrat of Russia, Charles, fearing the 
 completion of the agitated nuptials, (so well 
 calculated to enhance the growing popularity 
 of the young king,) made a second effort, in 
 which he artfully excited the ambition of Ca- 
 therine, by representing how much the project- 
 ed union would tend to annul, or at least ren- 
 der ineffectual, that authority " which," said 
 he, " your Imperial Majesty has a right to ex- 
 ercise over the affairs of Sweden." Catherine 
 took fire at the voluntary concession of this 
 imaginary right, by the Regent, who professed, 
 in explanation thereof, to have discovered a 
 document signed by his late royal brother, 
 
 vol.. I. p
 
 210 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Gustavus III., wherein he expresses in une- 
 quivocal terms, his will that his son and heir 
 should not intermarry with any other Princess 
 until the Empress had formally refused to give 
 him the Russian Grand-duchess. This pre- 
 tended document has been since proved to be a 
 mere forgery of Charles. 
 
 Catherine, as we have seen, now thought 
 proper to interfere. Gustavus repaired to the 
 Russian capital, and the charms of his new 
 mistress, together with the caresses lavished 
 on him by the Empress, soon induced him to 
 merge every other consideration in that of the 
 indulgence of his choice. 
 
 The Duke now began to breathe freely, un- 
 der the firm persuasion that his nephew had 
 swallowed the bait, and entangled himself in 
 the meshes of that net which was to draw him 
 on to his destruction. Well convinced of the 
 odium which Gustavus would incur by prose- 
 cuting this Russian alliance, he wrote secretly 
 to Stockholm, intimating his apprehension that 
 the King had become so infatuated with the 
 Empress's grand-daughter, as not only to have 
 compromised the established religion of Swe- 
 den, but to have actually apostatized to the 
 Greek Church ; concluding by an entreaty to 
 his friends, to exert all their influence over
 
 MACHINATIONS OF CHARLES. 211 
 
 the clergy of Sweden, for the purpose of op- 
 posing this violation, on the part of his Ma- 
 jesty, of their ancient laws and worship. 
 
 To Catherine herself he held out language 
 very different. When she wished to be in- 
 formed how far she might enforce the interest 
 of the bride-elect in matters of rehgion, the 
 crafty Duke advised her to say nothing to 
 Gustavus on the subject, but (as has been seen) 
 to get a clause to that effect subsequently 
 and surreptitiously introduced, hoping that the 
 king might thus be overreached ; in which 
 event this Richard of the North would doubt- 
 less himself have protested against his nephew, 
 and proclaimed him to have vacated the throne. 
 He ultimately obtained what he sought for, 
 but not in this instance, wherein his machina- 
 tions were frustrated by the spirit and promp- 
 titude of Gustavus, whose hasty flight from 
 Saint Petersburgh appears to have been stimu- 
 lated by certain unguarded expressions that 
 dropped from one of the courtiers, whereby he 
 was led to believe that his uncle purposed leav- 
 ing him as a hostage in the hands of the Russian 
 Government, should he persevere in resisting 
 the Empress. The Duke had indeed previ- 
 ously offered to cede to Catherine perpetually, 
 the entire province of Finland, in case any 
 
 p 2
 
 212 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 unforeseen accident happening to Gustavus, 
 should place it in the power of the Empress to 
 guarantee him (Charles) quiet possession of the 
 remaining dominions of Sweden. 
 
 Such was the substance of these interesting 
 communications, from which the Baron d'Arm- 
 feldt politely suffered the Authoress to make 
 such extracts as she deemed, coming from so 
 undeniable a source, likely to prove interesting 
 to the general reader.
 
 COUNT ERVAL FERSEN. 213 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Characteristic Sketch of Count Erval Fersen. — His dis- 
 interested attachment to Gustavus III. — Accompanies 
 that Monarch to the various Courts of Europe. — His 
 eclat at Versailles. — The King of Sweden and Marie An- 
 toinette. — Defeated manoeuvre of Gustavus. — Count Fer- 
 sen left behind, as ambassador to the French Court. — 
 Confidence reposed in him by Louis XVI. — Glance at the 
 earlier days of the French Revolution. — Specimens of the 
 vacillating character of Louis. — The Queen at the Opera. — 
 Prompt behaviour of Fersen. — Her Majesty accomplishes 
 her retreat from the theatre. — Plot of the Crown Monopoly. 
 — Real intentions of Louis in quitting France. — Scheme 
 projected for that purpose by Fersen. — Frustrated by the 
 violence of the mob. — Count ]\Iirabeau. — Fersen partakes 
 the flight and return of the Royal Family, and afterwards 
 escapes from France. — Previous quarrel on his account, 
 between the Princess de Lamballe and the Duchess d'Or- 
 leans. — Fersen nominated by his Sovereign Governor of 
 Upsal. — His mission to Carlsbad, and its results. — Murder 
 of a Republican emissary, and accusation of the Count. — 
 His innocence manifested — Congress at Rastadt, and po- 
 licy of Sweden at that period. — Conduct of Fersen re- 
 lative to the disputes between Gustavus Adolphus and 
 Charles XIII. — Dethronement of the former. — Fersen's 
 spirited remonstrance and subsequent insurrection. — His 
 death, and that of the Prince of Augustenberg. 
 
 Before we quit the present division of our 
 subject, I will give a brief sketch of the life
 
 214 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 and character of an individual who figured 
 in a most prominent manner on the scene of 
 the French Revolution — Count Erval Fersen, 
 whose name has already occurred in these 
 pages, and of whom so mucli has been said, 
 both of good and evil. 
 
 It seems to be the inevitable lot of distin- 
 guished men to excite in others some of the 
 worst passions of our common nature — misre- 
 presentation and slander. " Be thou as pure as 
 snow," says Hamlet to Ophelia, " thou shalt 
 not escape calumny." If, therefore, " these 
 things be so," it is at once the privilege and 
 duty of the honest biographer to strip off the 
 veil wherewith the hand of malice may have 
 obscured the good qualities of a man, and set 
 them forth as conspicuously as a due regard to 
 the dictates of immortal truth may sanction. 
 
 Count Erval Fersen was the confidential 
 companion and sincere friend of Gustavus III. 
 We are aware that to apply the name of 
 friend to the attendant of a king is hazard- 
 ous. Princes seldom attract sufficient sympa- 
 thy to give rise to the genuine feehngs of 
 friendship, a sentiment of tender growth, and 
 wliich requires, in its cultivation, a degree of 
 affectionate familiarity incompatible with the
 
 COUNT ERVAL FERSEN. 215 
 
 relative situations of sovereign and subject. 
 Kings too are apt to resent any thing at all 
 resembling in its nature the levelling principle ; 
 and hence it is at once singular and agreeable 
 to reflect on the unremitting assiduity where- 
 with Fersen attended the fortunes of his royal 
 master, whom he accompanied in all his travels 
 through Germany, France, and Italy : his po- 
 lished manners, affkbility, and general know- 
 ledge of mankind, added to his great erudition, 
 soon becoming the theme of every cultivated 
 and fashionable circle. It is therefore not to 
 be wondered at, that a man adorned with these 
 qualifications, to which were superadded all the 
 graces of person, should be received with pecu- 
 liar complacency at the sparkling and luxurious 
 Court of Versailles. 
 
 Gustavus, though apparently flattered and 
 pleased at the reception of his favourite, was 
 notwithstanding somewhat mortified on ob- 
 serving the marked preference shown to that 
 favourite in his own royal presence. He had, 
 besides, (for kings are no more exempted from 
 the frailties of nature than meaner men,) con- 
 tracted a sort of tender liaison for the capti- 
 vating Queen of Louis XVI., and found it pe- 
 culiarly inconvenient to be constantly accom-
 
 216 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 panied by a man whose personal and mental 
 accomplishments were decidedly superior to his 
 own. 
 
 One day, therefore, he contrived some mes- 
 sage wherewith to despatch Fersen to the 
 Duke de Penthievre, and, in the Count's ab- 
 sence, screwed up his courage to the sticking- 
 place, and made immediate way, unaccom- 
 panied and uninvited, from the French metro- 
 polis to Versailles. He knew that I^ouis was 
 gone to RambouUet, and buoyed up his imagi- 
 nation with hopes of tete-a-tete dinner with the 
 then all-fascinating Marie Antoinette. " No- 
 thing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice," 
 should be the imvarying motto of historians, 
 whether great or little. It is impossible we 
 should determine what the precise views of 
 this northern aspirant were ; but certain it is, 
 that he was received with as much coldness 
 and austerity as the sweet nature of JNIarie An- 
 toinette would permit her to exercise toward 
 her equal in rank ; and the intrusive monarch 
 exhibited evident marks of confusion when 
 Madame dc Lamballe was commanded by the 
 Queen to make one of the party. (See Mar- 
 dame de Campan's work on tliis subject.) 
 
 Gustavus ap])ears to have felt too nmch re- 
 buked on this occasion to hazard the presenting
 
 COUNT ERVAL FERSEN. 217 
 
 himself a second time in this particular manner, 
 and he seems subsequently to have contentedly 
 witnessed the preference almost universally 
 awarded to his elegant courtier. When his Ma- 
 jesty was on the point of quitting Paris, on his 
 return to Stockholm, Count Erval Fersen was 
 left behind, at the especial instance of Louis 
 XVI., as Swedish Ambassador of the French 
 court, and hence it was that he became mixed 
 up in those portentous events which shortly 
 after shook to its basis the whole fabric of civi- 
 lized society in our quarter of the globe, and 
 which have undoubtedly (however much it 
 may be to the interest of the members of the 
 Holy Alliance to conceal the fact,) operated, 
 like a thunder-storm in the natural world, to 
 clear the political atmosphere of Europe. 
 
 Count Fersen had not resided long at Paris, 
 in his new capacity, before his characteristic 
 foresight enabled him to perceive the coming 
 tempests, and he enlisted himself among the 
 most confidential and ardent friends of the 
 royal family. Happy had it been for that fa- 
 mily, (perhaps for France,) had Louis been as 
 ready to adopt the advice of his best and most 
 sensible adherents as he was to apply for it; but 
 his general want of vigour and promptitude, 
 joined to his inherent aversion to reform abuses
 
 218 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 sanctioned by long- usage, prevented any chance 
 of salutary effects springing from those sugges- 
 tions which were kindly meant, and evinced 
 both the wisdom and zeal of the advisers. He 
 was in the habit, unfortunate man ! of seeking 
 counsel from persons of different interests, by 
 which he was of course impelled opposite ways, 
 perplexed, confused, and rendered more inde- 
 cisive than he was by natural constitution. He 
 had at no period confidence in his own judg- 
 ment ; and through another modification of the 
 same weakness, he did not hesitate to compro- 
 mise his real friends and advisers, by betraying 
 their counsels, not with malice prepense, but in- 
 advertently. 
 
 Louis XVI., born and bred in the most 
 despotic principles, and surrounded by all the 
 splendour and aristocracy of la Grande Nation, 
 was, at the period when he first conceded to all 
 Frenchmen the right of liberty, himself the 
 only Frenchman in a state of bondage. A 
 great deal of allowance must be made on ac- 
 coimt of the jealousy wherewith all his actions 
 were scrutinized, although it must be admitted 
 that this very jealousy sprang from the know- 
 ledge so universally imbibed of the King's va- 
 cillation. Thus, on the occasion of his Majesty 
 accepting and signing the constitution, the
 
 COUNT ERVAL FERSEN. 219 
 
 Parisians were loud in expressing their doubts 
 of the King's sincerity, nor would they be sa- 
 tisfied of the adhesion of the Royal Family, 
 unless they, as usual, showed themselves at the 
 theatres and other places of public amusement. 
 
 On the intimation of this wish on the part 
 of the citizens of Paris, the courtiers were all 
 taken aback, not knowing what to advise, and 
 fearful of committing the royal family to the 
 doubtful emotions of an excited populace. In 
 the midst of this uncertainty, the Count Erval 
 Fersen had the firmness to step forward from 
 among those whose stations or sentiments at- 
 tached them to the court, and boldly recom- 
 mended the Queen to brave the possible danger, 
 in the hope of allaying the obvious ferment. 
 He expatiated on the evident ill consequences 
 of a protracted refusal, and enforced his argu- 
 ment with so much earnestness and good sense, 
 that it was triumphant. I am desirous to lay 
 the more stress on this circumstance, inasmuch as 
 it proves, that while Fersen was in his inmost 
 heart devoted to the interests and safety of the 
 Royal Family of France, he was not the less 
 anxious to conciliate the esteem of the people, 
 and to ensure general peace and harmony. 
 
 The Queen, therefore, was at his instance 
 prevailed on ; and yielding, though contrary
 
 220 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 to her own wishes and feelmgs, to the sound- 
 ness of Count Fersen's reasoning, went one 
 night to the Opera. She was dressed in a sim- 
 ple white robe, trimmed with deep red ribbons, 
 and ornaments of a similar colour decorated 
 her head-dress. Scarcely had she entered her 
 box, when a universal cry arose from all quar- 
 ters of the house, of " Down with the bloody 
 colours ! Down with her who is decorated 
 with the emblem of the blood of Frenchmen !" 
 Fersen, who, with some other gentlemen of the 
 co7ys diplomatique, was stationed behind her 
 Majesty in the same box, assisted Marie An- 
 toinette in divesting herself of these offensive 
 ornaments, and laid them aside. His fii'st im- 
 pulse was, indeed, to throw them into the pit 
 among the malcontents ; but the Queen, lay- 
 ing her hand upon his arm, exclaimed, — " For 
 Heaven's sake, Sir, abstain ! They would then 
 be still more vociferous, and say / tread under 
 foot the blood of the nation." 
 
 On the royal party leaving the theatre, after 
 having supported the most scurrilous abuse 
 to the end of the performance, the National 
 Guards, in order to prevent the brutal mob 
 from committing still farther outrage, formed, 
 with their drawn swords, a complete arch, be- 
 neath whicli the unfortunate Queen passed on
 
 COUNT ERVAL FERSEN. 221 
 
 to her carriage. Fersen, having been near her 
 Majesty the whole of the evening, and being 
 much mortified and extremely indignant at 
 what he had witnessed, was unable to conceal 
 his chagrin. He spake not with words, it is 
 true ; but his expressive countenance suffi- 
 ciently demonstrated the state of his feelings. 
 " I hope now. Count," observed Marie An- 
 toinette, in a sad voice, " you will be convinced 
 that I can no longer appear in public with any 
 safety." — " I am grieved," replied he, " in being 
 compelled to admit that your Majesty is right. 
 Nevertheless, I feel equally certain, that had 
 your Majesty not appeared at the theatre, the 
 ferment would have been still more dangerous. 
 The insults you have received to-night, how- 
 ever galling and unprovoked, are at the same 
 time, only transitory, and your good sense will 
 teach you to despise them. The torrent, if 
 further dammed up, might have forced a vent, 
 fatal, perhaps, instead of annoying, to you and 
 your family." 
 
 This scene at the theatre had, I have reason 
 to know, a considerable influence in deciding 
 the French King to withdraw from his capital. 
 In taking that step, the Count Erval Fersen 
 was the individual to whom Louis applied to 
 procure him the necessary passports. The
 
 222 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Count, who was at the time in the fullest con- 
 fidence of the ill-fated monarch, has repeat- 
 edly declared, that whatever might be the ge- 
 neral impression, it was by no means Louis's 
 intention to quit France altogether, but merely 
 to place his wife and family out of danger. 
 His Excellency often, subsequently, in the 
 most solemn manner, affirmed, that had the 
 King succeeded in conducting his beloved 
 cliarge safely to Brussels or Vienna, his purpose 
 was firmly bent to return ; and, as he would 
 then have had nothing to fear but for him- 
 self,— to march, at the head of his army, against 
 both foreign and domestic foes ; against all 
 those whose views were directed to the disturb- 
 ance of the internal tranquillity of France. 
 
 Fersen, therefore, to avoid giving any cause 
 of suspicion to the National Assembly, and at 
 the same time better to serve the Royal Fa- 
 mily, carefully abstained from publicly joining 
 any of the Queen's parties, whilst, however, he 
 became assiduous in his attendance on another 
 illustrious victim, the late Princess de Lam- 
 balle. This lady might really have been termed 
 the very shadow of the Queen, or rather the life 
 and soul of every thing affecting the interest 
 or comfort of her royal ])atroness. Slie may 
 indeed be said to have been the only true
 
 COUNT ERVAL FERSEN. 223 
 
 female friend that daughter of Imperial Austria 
 ever had. Fersen's attentions to her must not 
 be misconstrued. They partook not of the cha- 
 racter so common to the regards of courtiers ; 
 they wore not the impress of idle gallantry. 
 They were sacred to disinterested friendsliip ; 
 to heroic endeavours for the service of a help- 
 less, persecuted Queen : a solicitude greatly in- 
 creased on the discovery of the Palais lloyal con- 
 spiracy, levelled especially at Marie Antoinette, 
 and a knowledge of which was sufficient to 
 prompt any really humane man to oppose with 
 all his might the machinations of those who 
 abused the term of Liberty, by making it a 
 cover for the most atrocious licence. 
 
 In order to obtain as much information as 
 possible, tlie Count expended considerable sums 
 upon several subordinate members of that un- 
 holy plot, and through their agency discovered 
 the details of the infamous scheme. It appears 
 that the object was, to reduce to starvation the 
 whole population of Paris, by a scandalous mo- 
 nopoly of corn, which monopoly they imputed 
 to tlic Queen, causing their emissaries to as- 
 sume her liveries. This plan was defeated by 
 Fersen, who communicated it to all the minis- 
 ters residing in Paris, both French and foreign. 
 
 Disappointed in their views, these wretches,
 
 224 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 in revenge propagated a report that Fersen 
 had become the received paramour both of the 
 Queen and Madame de Lamballe, while in 
 honest truth he was nothing more than the 
 common impartial friend of humanity, in ex- 
 posing to public scorn and ignominy the real 
 projectors of the abominable crime of starv- 
 ing, for vile party purposes, the inhabitants of 
 a great capital. By his prompt, energetic, and 
 fearless conduct, he, in fact, was the instru- 
 ment of preventing much suffering, and of 
 saving an almost incalculable number of vic- 
 tims, who would otherwise have perished for 
 want of bread. 
 
 Ill-founded as it was, however, this report 
 touching the gallantry between Madame de 
 Lamballe and the Count de Fersen, occasioned 
 an open rupture between that lady and her 
 sister-in-law, the Duchess of Orleans, two prin- 
 cesses who had been warmly attached to each 
 other. So offended was the formei* at the 
 countenance given by her relative to these un- 
 just insinuations, that she absolutely forbade 
 the visits of the children of Madame d'Orleans, 
 who up to that time had been in the constant 
 liabit of visiting their aunt. 
 
 Fersen himself, the Queen, and the Duke 
 de Penthievre, father-in-law to Madame de
 
 MADAME DE LAMBALLE. 225 
 
 Lamballe, all of them opposed this sudden re- 
 solution on her part ; the latter, in particular, 
 who loved the princess as though she were his 
 own child, and by whom he was beloved with 
 similar earnestness. Indeed, Madame de Lam- 
 balle never, after the untimely death of her 
 young husband, quitted the duke, his father, 
 (except to do her duty at court,) until that 
 fatal 10th of August 1792, when they were 
 separated to meet no more in this sublunary 
 state. Fersen foresaw all the scandal and evil 
 consequences likely to result from this obvious 
 breach between the sisters, both of whom stood 
 so forward in the public eye — a breach which 
 certainly was one of the chief causes and pre- 
 tences for the barbarous murder of the princess. 
 The Duchess of Orleans had, it is true, been 
 from the first no less apprehensive of evil, and 
 implored the Queen's mediation : but Madame 
 de Lamballe persisted, and told the Queen that 
 her motives were prudential and not vindictive. 
 Be this as it may, however, the anti-royal party 
 from that time threw aside all reserve, and openly 
 studied every description of insult which they 
 could accumulate upon the unfortunate Royal 
 Family whenever either of its members appear- 
 ed at the windows, or in the garden of the 
 Tuileries. 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Under these circumstances, therefore, Louis 
 renewed his entreaties to the Swedish ambas- 
 sador, to procure the passports; and Fersen 
 himself, persuaded that no time was to be lost 
 in the present critical situation of things, readily 
 undertook to make the necessary arrangements 
 for the Royal Family to quit the metropolis. 
 This, it is true, was not very easily to be exe- 
 cuted ; but when a man's interest is truly awa- 
 kened, particularly if he is a man of energy, 
 and if his best feelings are enlisted in the cause, 
 his courage and resolution are likely to increase 
 with increasing difficulty. 
 
 And these difficulties were neither few nor 
 slight. General de la Fayette was then in com- 
 mand of the National Guards, who, by virtue 
 of an ordinance of the Assembly, were changed 
 every hour. No plan of assistance could there- 
 fore be trusted to them, since, if the universal 
 agent, gold, had been put freely into action, 
 there was no time for it to work. The scru- 
 ples of Mirabeau were, it is pretty generally 
 understood, overcome by such means, and, on 
 the payment of a considerable sum, he entered 
 into the project of their escape. Aware that 
 this fact has been often disputed, I am ready 
 to vouch for its accuracy ; and were M. La- 
 borde living, he could name the exact amount,
 
 PLAN FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY'S ESCAPE. 227 
 
 since it passed through that gentleman's hands. 
 Mirabeau cared not, abstractedly, a single franc 
 for the safety of either member of the Royal 
 Family at that period, although he afterwards 
 became so much interested for the person of 
 the Queen, merely that through her Majesty he 
 might influence the measures of the King, in 
 case his plans had succeeded for the overthrow 
 of the National Assembly. I do not here ad- 
 vance a single syllable which I have not heard 
 from the mouths of parties who actually treated 
 with Count Mirabeau for the price of his ab- 
 juration. 
 
 A nobleman called Pisani, ambassador from 
 the Venetian republic to the court of Versailles, 
 had a town house, the gardens of which com- 
 municated with those of the Tuileries. With 
 this man Fersen was extremely intimate, and 
 without stating his motives, he reqviested the 
 loan of the residence in question during Pisani's 
 absence in the country. The wish was no sooner 
 expressed than it was conceded, and a garden key 
 handed to the Count, by means of which egress 
 and ingress might be commanded to and from 
 the gardens of the palace. This was precisely 
 what Fersen wanted. 
 
 The Royal Family, grown timid and nervous 
 in consequence of the repeated cruel persecutions 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 to which they had been exposed by the hired 
 bravoes of the factious parties, and the wretches 
 of sans culottes, had latterly abstained from 
 walking in the gardens until the hour had ar- 
 rived at which they were cleared and the gates 
 shut. Fersen had taken eare to provide car- 
 riages to go and come to and from the house of 
 Pisani for several preceding days, in order that 
 there should be no singularity apparent when 
 these vehicles were really put in requisition for 
 the meditated purpose. Indeed, every precau- 
 tion that thoughtfulness or prudence could dic- 
 tate was adopted, for the Swedish nobleman was 
 not a man to engage hotly in any measure, and 
 to cool as quickly as he had been ignited. 
 
 Through the house of Pisani, it was ar- 
 ranged that Louis, Marie Antoinette, and their 
 family, were to pass to the carriages in wait- 
 ing, instead of returning from their evening 
 promenade into the apartments of the palace. 
 Every thing w^as prepared, and the time fixed ; 
 but, unfortunately, the whole scheme was frus- 
 trated in the following manner. On the very 
 day agreed upon, the mob had been so violently 
 exasperated against Monsieur and INladame VetOy 
 as they denominated the royal couple, that the 
 Queen was obliged to have her bed-chamber 
 surrounded by National Guards, and dared not
 
 ROYAL FAMILY LEAVE THE TUILERIES. 229 
 
 leave its sanctuary from fear of assassination, 
 much less was she in a condition to take her 
 customary exercise for three or four days fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 The weak-minded and unfortunate King was 
 now so thoroughly terrified, that he lost all 
 power of judgment or discretion. Impelled 
 by his fears, he no sooner found his wife at all 
 able to join the expedition, than he determined 
 on hazarding it. The necessary arrangements 
 were this time planned by himself, and were 
 characterized by no one principle of caution or 
 foresight. The carriages were ordered to at- 
 tend at a given hour, at one of the gates of 
 the palace itself, and their preparation and arri- 
 val were thus known to at least fifteen or six- 
 teen individuals. Through the apartments of 
 the Duke de Villequier the sad party proceeded 
 to embark on their fatal purpose, and took their 
 seats in the several carriages with little more 
 secrecy than if they had been going to the 
 Opera ! 
 
 We have no intention to expatiate on scenes 
 which, it may be fairly supposed, are already 
 familiar to our readers. The French Revolu- 
 tion, in all its stages, is now pretty well under- 
 stood, at all events with regard to its general 
 features, although the filling-up of the picture
 
 230 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 has given rise to a huge mass of misrepresenta- 
 tion and prejudiced mistake. It is only so far 
 as the hero of the present sketch is involved in 
 its early progress, that we are desirous of re- 
 verting to circumstances which a well-regu- 
 lated mind cannot fail to think of with regret 
 and indignation. 
 
 Fersen, then, had only been apprised of the 
 second meditated escape of the Royal Family, in 
 sufficient time to enable him to take his seat 
 on the coach -box and drive them out of Paris. 
 In short, so ill-concerted was the whole affair, as 
 to render it by no means a subject of wonder, 
 that the fugitives were stopped before they 
 could cross the French frontier. When the 
 Royal Family were confusedly making their 
 way through the long gallery of the Tuileries^ 
 it was past ten ; ere the carriages had cleared 
 off, it was near eleven ; and a very little after 
 midnight, all the bells of Paris were set in 
 motion to give the alarm of the flight of the 
 descendant of St. Louis from the capital of his 
 forefathers, to which he was shortly after re- 
 conducted, like a vanquished prisoner ; while 
 Fersen thought himself happy in effecting his 
 own retreat from a country wherein his royal 
 friends were captives, subjected to every species 
 of insult ; and a dungeon would soon have
 
 JACOBIN HATllED OF COUNT FERSEN. 231 
 
 been considered the only fitting receptacle for 
 himself. 
 
 I shall never forget that night on which 
 Louis XVI., his wife, and children, were 
 brought back to Paris. Several confidential 
 friends of Fersen, Madame de Stael, Monsieur 
 de Chenon, the late Duke of Richlieu, and 
 myself, all witnessed the melancholy scene. 
 Fallen majesty has been proverbially held to 
 excite compassion and respect ; but, alas ! in 
 the present instance, the stern and unrelenting 
 fury of the populace was but too sure a prog- 
 nostic of the approaching destruction of its 
 victims. 
 
 It became now almost universally known to 
 the heads of the revolutionary faction, that 
 Count Erval Fersen was one of their most 
 active, as well as most determined opponents ; 
 that it was by his means the plot respecting 
 the corn monopoly was detected and defeated ; 
 that he had been the principal agent in drawing 
 over Mirabeau to the royal interest ; and, finally, 
 that he was prominently instrumental in aiding 
 the projected flight of the King and his family. 
 It will not, therefore, appear singular that he 
 should be regarded by the Jacobins with a vin- 
 dictive eye. 
 
 It has been commonly affirmed, that the
 
 232 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS, 
 
 passports provided by the Count were made 
 out in the name of a Madame Scabrasky. That 
 lady, however, was herself never in France ; 
 she was the last favourite of Stanislaus Ponia- 
 towski, and known to Fersen, at whose request 
 an English lady assumed her title, and applied 
 for the passports. 
 
 All these circumstances combined, as I be- 
 fore stated, to induce the Swedish ambassador 
 to withdraw himself, as soon as he possibly 
 could, from the French territory. Pisani, the 
 Venetian ambassador, Madame de Stael, Mon- 
 sieur de Chenon, and the fictitious Madame de 
 Scabrasky, were the only persons who saw him 
 after his fatal return from Varennes to Paris, 
 which latter place he left on foot, to travel 
 to St. Denis, whence, changing his route, he 
 journeyed on to join the late King, Louis 
 XVIIl., and his present Majesty, Charles X. 
 
 This most interesting period of the event- 
 ful life of Fersen exhibits many other circum- 
 stances of moment, which, " if I list to speak," 
 might, witli considerable effect, be placed be- 
 fore the reader. But they are so mixed up 
 with matters relating to the royal branch of 
 Orleans, that I forbear, from a feeling of grati- 
 tude and respect for its existing members. 
 Mine is not a disposition to forget any acts of
 
 ESCAPE OF FERSEN FROM FRANCE. 233 
 
 kindness extended to me, whether from the 
 exalted in rank, or from those " of low estate ;" 
 and the cordial hospitality I experienced at the 
 hands of the Orleans family, during my resi- 
 dence at Palermo, renders me anxious to avoid 
 giving them the slightest ground of offence* 
 By this feeling I was influenced in repressing 
 many parts and softening others, of the MS. 
 of my ever-to-be-lamented friend and bene- 
 factress, their late aunt, the Princesse de Lam- 
 balle, to whose virtuous memory I am proud 
 to attribute the attentions with which I was 
 honoured. 
 
 Fersen's figure was calculated to strike any 
 body who had once seen it, he being remarkably 
 handsome, and upwards of six feet high. To 
 conceal it, therefore, when accomplishing his 
 escape from France, he assumed the disguise of 
 a beggar, wearing a bandage over one eye, and 
 having a wooden leg fastened to one of his 
 knees. Thus, lame and blind, he was engaged 
 for several days in traversing the country, un- 
 til, finding himself out of danger, he procured 
 a carriage, and was safely conducted to Stock- 
 holm. Pisani, thinking himself in some de- 
 gree compromised, lost no time in departing 
 from Paris for the coast, where, with his three 
 children, he embarked for London. 
 
 A"
 
 234 ANECDOTES OF FOKEIGN COURTS. 
 
 Fersen, on arriving at his birth-place, was 
 received by the King of Sweden, Gustavus 
 Adolphus, in the most gracious and distin- 
 guished manner, and soon after appointed to 
 the government of Upsal. Here he resided 
 until, for the benefit of his health, he came to 
 Carlsbad in Bohemia, and thence proceeded on 
 a private mission from his sovereign to the 
 Duke and Duchess of Baden, the Queen's fa- 
 ther and mother.* By mere accident he found 
 himself at the country residence of these po- 
 tentates, where was carried on the first famous 
 mock congress between the French Republic 
 and the German Princes. It is well known 
 that one of the democratical envoys of the Re- 
 public was, doubtless from some political mo- 
 tive, waylaid and murdered on his return from 
 Radstadt to Paris ; but it is perhaps not so 
 generally understood, that this abominable 
 crime was perpetrated by his own partisans, 
 
 * Frederica, formerly Princess of Baden, and now Queen 
 de jure of Sweden, is sister to the Empress-consort of Russia, 
 (widow of the late Alexander) and also to the existing Queen 
 of Bavaria. Her brother was first Grand-duke of Baden, 
 which augmentation of title he received at the hands of Na- 
 poleon, in consequence of his having assisted in the arrest of 
 the Duke d'Enghien, and married a niece of Josephine. — 
 Queen Frederica is now living, with the Princesses her 
 daughters, at Carlsruhe, her birth-place.
 
 CHARGES AGAINST FERSEN. 
 
 235 
 
 who were probably of opinion that he had 
 scrutinised too much, and become acquainted 
 with more than it was intended he should 
 learn. 
 
 The hatred felt by the French Revolutionists 
 to all kingly governments, and to all subjects 
 who retained their allegiance, induced them to 
 charge the commission of this murder upon 
 the other members of the corps diplomatique 
 generally, and upon their old enemy. Count 
 Erval Fersen, in particular, although that no- 
 bleman was at the time exercising no public 
 function, and could not, therefore, be imagined 
 to feel any lively interest in the hfe or death 
 of the whole diplomatic body; and although 
 his character for honour and humanity was 
 high even amongst his political opponents. 
 Yet, though his innocence, and indeed that of 
 the entire body of plenipotentiaries, was clearly 
 established by the subsequent arrest of the real 
 hired assassin, this circumstance, together with 
 his proved friendship for the late unfortunate 
 family of Louis XVI. has frequently since 
 given cause for Count Fersen to be accused 
 of some conspiracy or other, of which he had 
 never even dreamt ! — As soon as his freedom 
 from the foul charge before alluded to was sa- 
 tisfactorily shown, he departed from Baden for
 
 236 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Stockholm, and then resumed his station as 
 governor of Upsal. 
 
 On the second congress being assembled at 
 Radstadt, Count Fersen was prevailed on by his 
 sovereign, Gustavus, to represent that monarch. 
 He was charged not only to exert all his diplo- 
 matic ability for the preservation of the King's 
 German provinces, but also to use the strongest 
 endeavours to secure the independence of Italy ; 
 Gustavus Adolphus perceiving that the subju- 
 gation and parcelling out of that fine coun- 
 try, either by France or Austria, would tend 
 materially to affect the balance of power in 
 Europe, and give an unjust preponderance 
 to whichever of these great powers should 
 succeed in obtaining the desired prize. He 
 had compared and deduced, and from that pro- 
 cess saw, from these evils entailed on the North 
 of Europe by the partition of Poland, that a 
 similar train would be attendant in the South, 
 on the division of Italy. 
 
 Fersen, having submitted these considera- 
 tions, went on to show, by means of the sound- 
 est logic, how pernicious must be the result to 
 all Europe, if either Austria or France were 
 allowed to wield exclusive sovereignty over 
 the Italian States, demonstrating how beneficial 
 the freedom and independence of those States
 
 CONGRESS OF RADSTADT. 237 
 
 would be to every trading nation of Europe. 
 He enlarged on the commercial value of their 
 ports, especially those of the Adriatic, of the 
 Grecian Islands belonging to the Venetian 
 States, and that of Genoa in the Mediterra- 
 nean. 
 
 He called particularly on the British Govern- 
 ment to consider the situation and facilities of 
 those ports ; which facilities, he observed, would, 
 under Austria, be entirely engrossed by the 
 plodding inhabitants of Trieste, to the utter 
 loss of the merchants of the United King- 
 dom. 
 
 Finding all the influence of his disinterested 
 sovereign, together with his own arguments, 
 unavailing, in consequence of the powerful po- 
 litical majority enrolled against him, he left the 
 Congress, disgusted with the opposition he had 
 encountered to the politics of the North : and 
 on his return to Sweden, reassumed his post 
 at Upsal, where he quietly continued to the 
 great advantage of the King's service. His 
 enlarged experience, benignant disposition, and 
 general knowledge of men and things, afforded 
 to those under his management the most solid 
 benefit, until he was once more called upon to 
 take part in a more active scene, on account of 
 the differences which began to manifest them-
 
 238 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 selves between Gustavus Adolphus and his un- 
 cle, the Duke of Sudermania. 
 
 Every tie of personal attachment, regard for 
 the memory of the King's father, his ancient 
 friend, and conviction that the cause of Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus was that of justice, combined 
 to induce Count Fersen to adopt the royal in- 
 terest. He knew the manner in which Charles 
 had tyrannised over his nephew's boyhood, and 
 the unfounded rumours that he had never scru- 
 pled to disseminate, even from the moment of 
 the late King's death, against the character of 
 his unoffending charge — exaggerating every 
 trifling fault, and stamping the overboilings of 
 youth with the character of confirmed depravity. 
 
 When arrived at the scene of action, how- 
 ever, Fersen soon perceived that the party en- 
 listed under the banners of the ambitious Duke 
 against the King's authority, was too powerful 
 for him to entertain any hope of overcoming it. 
 He therefore calmly submitted to the circum- 
 stances of the times with the philosophical re- 
 signation natural to a man whose experience 
 had been so great in the vicissitudes of human 
 affairs. 
 
 No sooner had the Duke of Sudermania, un- 
 der the title of Charles XIII. obtained supreme 
 power in Sweden, than, not content with de-
 
 PATRIOTISM OF FERSEN. 239 
 
 throning his nephew, he abused the authority 
 he had usurped, by excluding the innocent issue 
 of that nephew from succeeding, at any future 
 day, to their father's lost inheritance ; for which 
 purpose he nominated, as his son-in-law and 
 heir, the Prince of Augustenberg. 
 
 Had not this atrocious and wanton wrong 
 been perpetrated, it is most possible that Fersen 
 would never have taken an active part against 
 the usurper. He thought that Charles would 
 have limited his wishes to the sphere of his 
 own personal enjoyment, and left the succession 
 to the children of Gustavus ; flattering himself, 
 too, perhaps, that, as the uncle was much the 
 older man, Gustavus Adolphus himself might, 
 on his death, reascend his forfeited throne, pu- 
 rified by adversity, and summoned by the ac- 
 clamations of the people. 
 
 As it was, soon after this exclusion was pro- 
 claimed. Count Erval Fersen entered the royal 
 palace, and on his knees implored Charles XIII. 
 not to obscure the first moments of his reign 
 by an act of such glaring injustice, in thus set- 
 ting aside the son of Gustavus Adolphus : for 
 which act of spirited benevolence (miserable 
 presumption !) he was severely repulsed, and 
 even threatened with the punishment of instant 
 death.
 
 240 ANFXDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Fired with indignation, and animated by the 
 justice of his cause, he quitted the palace, and 
 aware, in these circumstances, of the imminent 
 danger of delay, proceeded to summon such of 
 his friends as he had reason to think still pre- 
 served in their hearts fidelity to their rightful 
 sovereign. A party was in this way soon form- 
 ed, to save their country from the dishonour of 
 concurring in so cruel an act as setting aside 
 the legitimate prince to exalt a foreigner. This 
 band of loyal subjects was however soon over- 
 powered by a mercenary troop brought over 
 through means of that all-powerful argument, 
 an increase of pay ; Fersen himself falling in 
 the contest at Stockholm, and thus closing a 
 life of honour and generous self-devotion by a 
 death truly consistent, and a sacrifice to the 
 principles of good faith. 
 
 And, as if so ordained by the Supreme Be- 
 ing, on the same day, and in that very contest, 
 fell also the Prince of Augustenberg, who had 
 been destined to succeed, in the honours he 
 had rifled from another, this unnatural uncle — 
 this " cutpurse of the empire and the rule !" 
 Nor should we stop here in our reflections, but to 
 call to mind that John Charles Bernadotte, the 
 man who, by French influence, was appointed 
 to stand in place of this same Prince of Angus-
 
 JOHN CHAELES BERNADOTTE. 241 
 
 tenberg, ungratefully contributed, by joining, 
 from selfish motives, the Allied Princes, to 
 root out the main stock of usurpers, his own 
 patron. Napoleon Bonaparte, whose once pow- 
 erful hand had raised him to the throne of 
 Sweden. 
 
 VOT I. R
 
 242 ANECDOTES OF FOEEIGN COURTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 COURT OF PRUSSIA, 
 
 Axiom of Frederick the Great. — The appeal of General 
 Swieten, and its reception. — The old Widow and her Se- 
 venteen sons. — The veteran malcontent and his flight. — 
 Frederick and Marshal Lowden at Potsdam. — The sign of 
 " the Prasue." — The Countess de Vasse and the Baroness 
 de Knoblsdroff. — Frederick I. and Charles VI, — A true 
 Proi)hecy. — The Page and the cherries. — The Jew Banker. 
 — A certificate for " value received." — Prussian coinage 
 during the Seven Years' War. — A royal method of 
 " Raising the Wind." 
 
 Frederick of Prussia, commonly called the 
 Great, was wont to say, " No war was ever 
 carried on without spies, and no administration 
 without corruption ;" and he certainly evinced 
 his faith in this doctrine, by the measures he 
 pursued. His favourite, General Swieten, who 
 used to take considerable liberties on the strength 
 of his favouritism, was bold enough to observe 
 to the King one day, when the troops were in
 
 OLD WIDOW AND HER SONS. 243 
 
 want of necessaries, and complaining,^ — that his 
 Majesty spent more money in spies than he 
 did in bread and clothing for his army. " You 
 are a fool !" answered the King ; " a downright 
 fool ! One piece of information, of the worth 
 of 500 rix-doUars, has saved me a million of 
 money and 10,000 men ! Don't talk to me of 
 bread and clothing! — talk to me of advancing 
 without bloodshed, and of saving my men. 
 Their wants will be easily supplied when I 
 know where the enemy's magazines are. My 
 death's heads will soon fill their empty stomachs 
 and purses too. You great fool ! how did I 
 take possession of Saxony ? Not with my 
 army, but with a gold cabinet-key." 
 
 During the Seven Years' War, an old widow- 
 woman came to Frederick to beg alms, telling 
 him she had had twenty-four children, seven- 
 teen of them sons, many of whom had served, 
 and were then serving, in his Majesty's army. — 
 "There's fifty dollars," said the King; "and 
 come to Berlin, where you shall be well pro- 
 vided for." 
 
 The anecdotes of this powerful monarch 
 and singular man are extremely numerous, 
 and scattered through a great variety of works. 
 In adding her little quota, the Authoress will 
 scrupulously confine herself to such as she has 
 
 R 2
 
 244 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 pretty good reason to believe have not hitherto 
 been made public. 
 
 When the King was besieging Prague, after 
 having been repulsed in several successive en- 
 gagements by Marshal Lowden, and compelled 
 to make a very precipitate retreat, one of his 
 old generals told him, one day, that the troops 
 were murmuring, and beginning to be extremely 
 restless. Frederick made no reply, as was cus- 
 tomary with him when in any kind of uncer- 
 tainty ; but scarcely had the sincere general 
 taken his departure, than, disguising himself 
 as effectually as possible, the eccentric monarch 
 sallied out among his forces, to satisfy him- 
 self if the report was correct. He found that it 
 was but too true; and interrogating one of the 
 soldiers as to the cause of this discontent, — 
 " Why," replied the man, " the cause is pretty 
 plain. We were beaten on Monday, on Tues- 
 day, and again to-day ! By my soul ! if the 
 same thing happen to-morrow, 1 11 fly the 
 camp ! For old Frederick is no more to be seen, 
 and some young booby of an ensign commands 
 us." 
 
 Frederick threw open his cloak, and, show- 
 ing who he was, said, "Give me your hand, my I 
 good fellow! only wait till Friday, and if we 
 are beaten — egad ! we '11 fly the camp togetlier.'
 
 VETERAN MALCONTENT. 245 
 
 And, sure enough, they were beaten again, and 
 Frederick was compelled to sound a retreat in 
 the greatest possible disorder. 
 
 As soon as the army was out of reach of the 
 Austrians, Frederick inquired after the indivi- 
 dual whose escape he had promised to partici- 
 pate, and found that he had been killed in the 
 hottest of the engagement, after dealing out 
 death to several of the enemy. " Poor fellow !" 
 exclaimed the King ; " he has fled farther than 
 I, although I have ridden hard. I envy him 
 so glorious an exit, and fear a similar one will 
 never be mine ! Besides, what is worse, he has 
 made me out a liar, for I promised him that 
 we would fly together." " What !" said Swie- 
 ten, " did your Majesty encourage desertion ?" 
 " Why," rejoined Frederick, " when a common 
 soldier had knowledge enough to tell me that 
 my army was commanded by a parcel of boobies, 
 it was time for me to take to my heels. Had 
 a general told me as much, I would have had 
 him shot !" " In that case," said Swieten, 
 " pray place me for the future in the ranks, 
 that I may find myself at liberty to tell you of 
 your faults." " Go to the devil !" replied Fre- 
 derick ; " I see them now myself. My promise 
 to my poor soldier was but indifferently kept ; 
 to his family I have made no promise, and
 
 246 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 therefore will endeavour to keep it.'' And he 
 lost no time in providing for the veteran's sur- 
 vivors. 
 
 When the Seven Years' War was ended, and 
 peace had been concluded, signed, and ratified 
 between the great contracting powers of Aus- 
 tria, France, and Prussia, the King invited 
 Marshal Lowden to pass some time in his com- 
 pany at Potsdam, where he was received with 
 all the honours due to his rank and merits. 
 On the King entering the banqueting-room 
 the first day they dined together, the JNIarshal 
 made a retrograde movement, to allow his Ma- 
 jesty to pass. — " No ! no !" exclaimed Frede- 
 rick, " I have had you too often akeady at my 
 heels. Take your seat opposite me, that we 
 may look one another in the face, like honest 
 men. I like to have the enemy in front.'" 
 
 While Frederick's army Avas in Silesia, his 
 INIajesty would often go and chat with the 
 common peasants, as well for entertainment as 
 information, for he was of a disposition to ex- 
 tract both the one and the other from whatever 
 materials lay within his reach ; and at the first 
 grand review which took place at Berlin, ob- 
 serving one of his soldiers, whom he knew to 
 be a brave man, but who, as Cowslip says in 
 the " Agreeable Surprise," " would go any
 
 SIGN OF "THE PRAGUE." 247 
 
 lengths for beer or ale," — to be very much slash- 
 ed and cut in different parts of his body : " I 
 say," asked the King, " at what tavern did you 
 get those beautiful marks ?" — " At the sign of 
 the Prague,'' answered the man, nothing daunt- 
 ed, " where your Majesty paid the reckoning." 
 — (It was at this city that Frederick was 
 so signally defeated by Marshal Lowden.) — 
 *' Bravo ! 3Ir. Captain /" replied Frederick, 
 whose humour led him to approve of these 
 sallies in the privates, although one of higher 
 rank would have been most unceremoniously 
 checked ; " Bravo ! M7\ Captain /" — And he 
 did not use the term idly, for a commission 
 was actually prepared in compliment at once, 
 to the services and wit of his interlocutor. 
 
 The Countess de Vasse and the Baroness de 
 KnoblsdrofF, when his INIajesty was at Berlin, 
 were in habits of great familiarity at Court. 
 One morning they met in the King's ante- 
 room, when his Majesty was somewhat out of 
 humour, in consequence of receiving intelli- 
 gence that the Empress of Russia had declared 
 war against him, he being at the same time 
 embroiled with the Empress Maria Theresa. 
 ** Lord ! Fritz !"* exclaimed the Countess, on 
 
 * The familiar abbreviation of Frederick, in the German 
 language.
 
 248 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 his INIajesty's issuing from his cabinet, " how 
 you are altered!" — "I declare," echoed the 
 Baroness, *' you look quite shockingly this 
 morning." — " How the devil should I look 
 otherwise ?" replied Frederick ; " I defy any 
 man either to look or to feel well, bothered as 
 I am between two ivomenr 
 
 The father of the Great Frederick compelled 
 him to marry a princess of Brunswick against 
 his inclination, and to which he only consented 
 through the mediation of the Emperor Charles 
 VL, who interfered on finding that Frede- 
 rick was about to be confined in the fortress 
 of Spandau, which, as the prince was then in 
 a state of ill health, might have been fatal to 
 him. " Take care," said the father, on receiv- 
 ing his Imperial Majesty's remonstrance, " that 
 you do not one day or other repent of this in- 
 tercession." And, sure enough, could Charles 
 have lived to witness the inveterate opposition 
 raised against his daughter, INIaria Theresa, by 
 the prince he had probably saved, he would 
 doubtless have recollected, with some bitter- 
 ness, the half-prophecy of Frederick I. 
 
 Frederick II. used frequently to tell his fa- 
 ther — " You may compel me to marry, it is 
 true, but it is out of your power to ensure the 
 consummation of this marriage, and therefore
 
 THE PAGE AND THE CHERRIES. 249 
 
 you will be disappointed with respect to the 
 royal heir you so anxiously look for." And he 
 kept his word, though in all other respects he 
 treated his virgin- wife with every mark of 
 distinction and solicitude, never addressino- her 
 vrithout taking off his hat, and remaining 
 uncovered all the time they were conversing, 
 even though this should be in the open air and 
 under the most inclement winter sky. 
 
 The first fruits from the royal conserves, and 
 indeed a part of the greatest delicacies brought 
 to his IMajesty's table, were generally sent to 
 his consort every day. But she is universally 
 held to have lived and died, (some years after 
 her husband,) as she originally came to Berlin, 
 a virgin-queen. And when the tongue of scan- 
 dal is silent regarding a woman of her high 
 rank, and under her peculiar circumstances, it 
 may fairly be inferred that there is really no 
 ground even for suspicion. 
 
 The following little story was communicated 
 to me by the Countess de Vasse. Some fine 
 cherries had been brought, unusually early in 
 the season, from the hot-house at Potsdam ; 
 and the King, upon their being served in the 
 dessert, took a few from the plate, and directed 
 the late General Clist (at that time one of the 
 royal pages) to carry them, with his Majesty's
 
 250 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 respects, to the apartments of the Queen. The 
 thoughtless youth, strongly tempted by the 
 look of the glowing fruit before him, and never 
 contem])lating the possibility of the circum- 
 stance reaching the King's ear, diminished half 
 of them before he reached the landing-place 
 leading to her Majesty's suite ; and then, half 
 ashamed of presenting so scanty a number, and 
 powerfully urged by the imp of mischief, he 
 scrupled not to consume the remainder. 
 
 But, alas ! unluckily for the page, it was 
 customary for his Majesty to receive the 
 Queen's grateful acknowledgments on every 
 occasion whereon he had shown her any mark 
 of politeness ; and this had been so uniformly 
 the case, that Frederick at length naturally 
 looked for its occurrence. In the present in- 
 stance, his Majesty having met his spouse two 
 or three times without the slightest mention of 
 the cherries, he began to think the omission 
 rather strange, and the next time they encoun- 
 tered each other, said, " I fear your JMajesty 
 did not find the cherries to your liking, as 1 
 had hoped ?" Upon this, the Queen expressed 
 her surprise, saying she had received none. 
 " What !" rejoined the impatient monarch, 
 " did you not get the plate-full I sent you 
 the other day, through Clist ?"— " No, Sire !"
 
 THE PAGE AND THE JEW. 251 
 
 — " Well, well," said the King, " that rogue of 
 a page shall get something for dinner to-day 
 more substantial than fruit ;" and on his return 
 to his cabinet, he wrote as follows to the Ser- 
 jeant of the royal guard : — " Give the bearer 
 twenty-five lashes." The note being duly 
 sealed and directed, Clist was summoned to 
 take it just as his Majesty was about to sit 
 down to dinner ; but the shrewd page, guess- 
 ing (perhaps from the King's manner) that all 
 was not right, and most likely a little con- 
 science-stricken or so, determined that he would 
 despatch the suspicious mandate in some other 
 way ; a resolution in which he was fortified 
 by the consideration that Frederick generally 
 chose the dinner-hour to correct a disorderly 
 page, thereby furnishing additional mortifica- 
 tion to the culprit, and amusement to his com- 
 panions. 
 
 Scarcely had Clist reached the gate of the 
 palace, before one of the King's rich Jew 
 bankers di'ove by. Struck with a sudden no- 
 tion of the probable humour of the thing, he 
 determined on making this man his substitute ; 
 and, beckoning to him to stop, handed the 
 letter, requesting that it might be forthwith 
 delivered, and urging the matter as a private 
 favour, alleging that he ought to have deli-
 
 252 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 vered it before, and was now prevented from 
 doing so, as he was necessitated to attend the 
 King at table. 
 
 The unsuspecting Jew, always eager to curry 
 favour with those immediately about the royal 
 person, readily took the letter, and assured 
 Chst, to the no small gratification of the mali- 
 cious youth, that he would not fail to deliver 
 it in person on his way home. " By the bye," 
 added Clist, " pray don't say ant/ thing about 
 it ; indeed, I think I may trust you ?" — " Oh, 
 never fear," exclaimed the honest Israelite; 
 " you know I am so fond of you devils of 
 pages, that I would do any thing to oblige 
 you — except, indeed, taking the flogging with 
 which you are sometimes visited for your wild 
 freaks among the women ;" and giving the nod 
 to his coachman, off flew the banker with his 
 whij)ping mandamus. 
 
 On his arrival at the guard-house, the Ser- 
 jeant having read the King's orders, imme- 
 diately called out the guard, who presented 
 arms. The banker, tiiinking it a mark of dis- 
 tinction, said, '* Bah ! bah ! I don't want all 
 this." " Very probably not," returned the pre- 
 cise officer ; " nevertheless, his Majesty's com- 
 mands must be obeyed." 
 
 The carriage was surrounded in a twinkling,
 
 CERTIFICATE FOR VALUE RECEIVED. 253 
 
 and its astonished inmate speedily taken out 
 and tied to the whipping-post, where execution 
 was done upon him with true military exact- 
 ness. On the conclusion of this unwelcome 
 operation, not knowing whether he was most 
 terrified or hurt, he was hobbling with all pos- 
 sible speed to his carriage, when the serjeant 
 cried out, " I must trouble you a little farther, 
 Sir." " Oh, for Heaven's sake, let me off!" ex- 
 claimed the Jew, fearful of some additional 
 infliction, and handing, at the same time, his 
 purse to the officer. " No, no," answered the 
 other, " it is not that we want. You must 
 give us a receipt for what you have taken, 
 which I must register in a book we keep for the 
 purpose, and send the original to-morrow to 
 his Majesty, who accumulates all such, and has 
 them bound every year in a portfolio, from 
 which, when in a good humour, and among 
 his old comrades, he reads after dinner, for 
 their entertainment and his own. Among the 
 many receipts thus collected, we have one from 
 no less a personage than the celebrated ]M. de 
 Voltaire, who was whipped for having written 
 some poetical lampoon upon his Majesty.' 
 There was no appeal, and the poor banker, 
 having w4th a grave face made the requisite 
 testimonial, was suffered to depart.
 
 254 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 The consequences, however, were like to 
 have been of a less laughable nature. This 
 man was extremely rich, and in the habit of 
 making advances to the Government, with 
 which it could scarcely dispense. Upon the 
 matter coming to Frederick's ears, although 
 the whimsicality of the thing struck him so 
 forcibly that he professed himself unable to 
 punish the planner, yet the danger immedi- 
 ately occurred to him, that the Jew might, in 
 the heat of his exasperation, leave the Prussian 
 dominions. This was a contingency which the 
 King could not endure to contemplate; and 
 it is confidently asserted that he found him- 
 self compelled to wait in person on tlie of- 
 fended Israelite, and employ his own royal 
 rhetoric in order to bring him to terms. Whe- 
 ther or not the mischievous page was ulti- 
 mately punished, does not clearly appear. 
 
 In truth, the Prussian Cabinet was often 
 hard pushed for money, particularly during 
 the Seven Years' War. So immense were the 
 sums required at that period, both for domes- 
 tic and foreign purposes, that the royal mint 
 found it convenient to issue very questionable 
 money ; and malicious persons have said that 
 the value of a silver spoon was sometimes held 
 sufficient to lacker a whole boiler of base coin.
 
 ROYAL " RAISING THE WIND.'' 255 
 
 The circulation of this dross was stopped by 
 Frederick, on the conclusion of peace, nearly 
 to the ruin of most of his Majesty's loving 
 subjects, who had been accustomed to pass it 
 as current, to its full nominal amount. In- 
 deed, the whole of Germany would have suf- 
 fered severely, had not the Confederation of 
 German Princes started another description of 
 coin to supply its loss. By the edict which 
 authorised this substitution, all Prussian coins 
 were strictly excluded : time, however, increas- 
 ing influence, and a purer composition, have 
 combined to enable Prussia again to dissemi- 
 nate freely her silver currency, — though at its 
 ifitrinsic value, the alloy being deducted. 
 
 Whilst the war lasted, Frederick was con- 
 stantly making important promotions in the 
 army ; but, on the return of peace, he dis- 
 covered his treasury to be so completely ex- 
 hausted, and that his subjects had suffered so 
 much privation from excess of taxation, from 
 external invasions, and internal plunder, that 
 it would be highly impolitic to add to the 
 weight of the public burden for the purpose of 
 providing for the individuals promoted. In 
 this dilemma, Frederick hit upon the following 
 curious expedient. 
 
 He issued a circular to all the wealthy Jews
 
 256 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 residing in his capital, (and they were nume- 
 rous,) whereirj he stated, that in order to re- 
 ward them for their proved fidehty and at- 
 tachment to his person, it was his purpose to en- 
 noble their posterity, by marrying their daugh- 
 ters to the several valiant general-officers of 
 his army, yet in a state of " single blessedness," 
 who had so well merited his Majesty's best 
 remuneration : still, however, that those fa- 
 thers who might be averse, from religious or 
 other scruples, to contracting such an alliance, 
 were fully at liberty to declare their senti- 
 ments, and might exempt themselves from 
 conforming to the royal will in this case ex- 
 pressed, on giving the respective officers an 
 equivalent, in cash, to the daughter's fair and 
 proper dowry. " Thus," said the circular, " both 
 parties will, in either way, have reason to feel 
 themselves satisfied, whether by intermarrying 
 or desisting therefrom." I need not add, that 
 this alternative was embraced without hesita- 
 tion by most of the Israelites, who, driven to 
 choose between two evils, submitted to sacri- 
 fice a portion of their wealth rather than to 
 renounce at once their children's society, and 
 endanger their integrity regarding matters of 
 faith. The King laid them accordingly under 
 pretty heavy contributions, and was quite de-
 
 ROYAL "RAISING THE WIND.' 257 
 
 lighted at the success of his stratagem, where- 
 by the fortunes of several of his favourites 
 were amply made, without the expenditure of 
 a single shilling from the royal treasury. 
 
 Such was the wanton violence exercised over 
 the property of a certain class of his subjects, 
 by the philosophical and " Great" Frederick. 
 The warm admirers of his conduct will per- 
 haps scarcely think it credible ; but " facts are 
 stubborn things." 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 258 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COURT OF PRUSSIA CONTINUED. 
 
 FROM THE PORTFOLIO OF THE BARON DE M * * * 
 
 Intrigues of the Baron de Stein in 1808. — The Embassy of 
 the Assessor Hope. — Imprudent conduct of that individual. 
 — His arrest, and seizure of his dispatches. — Curious let- 
 ters to Prince Wittgenstein from Baron de Stein and the 
 Countess Voss. — Trepidation of Marshal Soult's inter- 
 preter. — Behaviour of the INIarshal. — The anti-Gallican 
 parrot. — Colonel de Gautherot's embassy to Paris, and re- 
 turn to Berlin. — His interview with Napoleon to transmit 
 the substance of the intercepted letters. — Deportment of 
 the French Emperor. — Soult's remarks thereupon. — The 
 "Delicate Investigation." — Disavowal of the King and 
 Queen of Prussia. — Disgrace of the Baron de Stein, and 
 his outlawry by Napoleon. — He subsequently enters into 
 the service of Russia. 
 
 It was in the month of August, 1808, that 
 the Baron de Stein, Minister of State to the 
 King of Prussia, sent from Konigsberg, where 
 lie was stopping with the royal family, M.
 
 ARREST OF M. HOPE. 259 
 
 Hope, a young assessor, with important dis- 
 patches addressed to the Prince de Wittgen- 
 stein, who was then at Hamburgh, busied in 
 certain matters connected with the Prussian 
 Court. The courier, either ill instructed or ill 
 advised, instead of taking the road through 
 Prussian Pomerania, Colberg, and Schwerin, 
 took that of Berlin ; and on his arrival in that 
 city, (occupied at the time by the 4th division 
 of the French army, commanded by Marshal 
 Soult,) so far from behaving with the circum- 
 spection which a due regard to the trust con- 
 fided to him required, he lodged under the 
 linden-trees in a grand hotel partly occupied 
 by persons attached to the staff of the Com- 
 mandant-general, St. Hilaire. Here he com- 
 mitted sundry vagaries, and, in short, behaved 
 so imprudently altogether, that his dispatches, 
 which formed a thick folio, were taken from 
 him and placed at the direction of the Com- 
 mandant-general, who hastened to transmit 
 them to Marshal Soult, governor of Berlin. 
 
 The courier himself was thrown into prison, 
 where he was denied communication with any 
 other individual, and treated not as a simple 
 bearer of letters, but with all possible care and 
 secrecy. 
 
 The next day, the 30th of August, the Mar- 
 
 s 2
 
 260 ANECDOTES OF FOllEIGN COURTS. 
 
 shal, at 6 o'clock in the morning, summoned 
 his confidential interpreter, and handed to him 
 all these letters, which were written in German. 
 On opening that of Baron de Stein to the 
 Prince de Wittgenstein, which took up four 
 pages, written closely, and duly signed, the 
 Marshal said to him : — " Stop, let us begin with 
 this." The interpreter, who was at heart great- 
 ly attached to the royal family of Prussia, on 
 first rapidly casting his eye over the paper, 
 turned pale, and betrayed such evident marks 
 of embarrassment, that it could not fail to 
 attract the attention of the Marshal, who ex- 
 claimed briskly, " Come, am I to hear the con- 
 tents of this pretty epistle ?" — The secretary 
 replied, trembling, " Pardon me, your Excel- 
 lency ! I was certainly both surprised and 
 confused : — I could never have believed that a 
 INImister of State would have the audacity to 
 write such a letter ; and, if I did not know the 
 Baron's hand, should have hesitated long before 
 supposing him capable of so much perfidy at 
 once toward his own sovereign and the Em- 
 peror Napoleon." — " I will dispense with your 
 comments. Sir," interrupted the Marshal ; " in- 
 form me of the contents of the letter, and that 
 quickly : we have no time to lose." 
 
 The secretary obeyed ; and the verbal trans-
 
 BARON DE stein's LETTER. 261 
 
 lation being completed, the Marshal, opening 
 the door of his cabinet, said " Go, Sir, and with- 
 out delay render this letter into French : but," 
 added he, " in the name of God ! abstain from 
 the least amplification : rather modify the ex- 
 pressions, for otherwise the Emperor will be 
 furious, and this same royal family of Prussia 
 is already sufficiently unfortunate. Heavens ! 
 what will become of it, should it be unable to 
 exculpate itself from taking a share in this 
 shameful conspiracy !" 
 
 This letter of the Baron de Stein was in sub- 
 stance as follows : — • 
 " My dear Prince, 
 
 " I have received all your letters by B ^ 
 
 and hasten to answer them through a confiden- 
 tial man, the assessor Hope, whom I have dis- 
 patched in order to secure the due and faithful 
 delivery of my packet. 
 
 " The news which we have received from 
 Prince William at Paris affords no consolation. 
 Notwithstanding his amiable character, and all 
 the efforts he has used to obtain from Napo- 
 leon some decrease of the exorbitant contribu- 
 tion for which he has stipulated, both in the 
 treaty of Tilsit and the succeeding conventions, 
 this prince has been able to effect nothing, and 
 we are under the horrible necessity of submit-
 
 262 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ting, without appeal, to all which Napoleon has 
 arranged and concluded with respect to us. 
 
 ** As we see, from the last advices, that no- 
 thing is to be hoped from this man, it appears 
 necessary to send to Prince William at Paris, 
 a confidential servant, for the purpose of ap- 
 prising his Highness, that the King's intentions 
 are, that he should quit France as secretly as 
 possible, and return to Konigsberg, in order, 
 that having heard him personally, we may con- 
 sult upon taking other measures for our re- 
 demption. 
 
 " All my hopes and all my anxiety are now 
 turned upon the affairs of Spain. It is certain 
 that Napoleon is about to repair thither, and in 
 that country the grand blow will undoubtedly 
 be struck. In Spain I have many friends, men 
 of enterprise and capability : let your connex- 
 ions be joined to mine ; and, in one way or ano- 
 ther, we may yet accomplish our end. 
 
 " You will find, my Prince, in the packet, 
 two blank drafts, signed by the King. The 
 Elector of Hesse writes us from Prague, that 
 he has given orders to his bankers at Ham- 
 burgh to advance such funds as we may stand 
 in need of, for the execution uf our projects 
 in Spain. Use your utmost endeavours to pro- 
 cure as much as possible, and send it to us
 
 COUNTESS DE VOSS'S LETTER. 263 
 
 by Hope, for we are destitute in this place of 
 all means whatsoever. 
 
 " Adieu, dear Prince ; be guarded and at 
 the same time active ; and believe that I am 
 Your very devoted servant, 
 
 (Signed) The Baron de Stein." 
 
 " Konigsberg, August, 1808." 
 
 This letter having been disposed of, Marshal 
 Soult drew another from the same packet, 
 which was from the Countess Voss, first lady 
 of honour to the Queen of Prussia. This 
 epistle was, in its nature, still more offensive 
 than that of the minister ; it ran as follows : — 
 " My dear Prince, 
 
 *' The Queen commands me to write and 
 inform you, that she has received all your let- 
 ters ; and to thank you for the care and pains 
 you have taken to ameliorate, so far as possible, 
 our unfortunate destiny. You will learn from 
 the Baron de Stein, that Prince William has 
 been able to obtain nothing at Paris from this 
 fellow, Napoleon ; and that our affairs are con- 
 sequently not in the least advanced. We are 
 all desirous of seeing this amiable Prince again 
 as speedily as possible ; he may otherwise be 
 exposed to some danger. 
 
 Our hopes are at present founded upon the
 
 264 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 state of things in Spain ; if at length these, as 
 well as other things, should Tail us, we must 
 have recourse to our chocolat de Sante, to re- 
 cruit our nerves. 
 
 " The Prince of Hesse, our friend at all 
 times, will furnish the means necessary to af- 
 ford you a chance of success in the enterprises 
 we meditate. 
 
 " I salute you, dear Prince, with all my 
 heart, and am 
 
 " Your very devoted friend, 
 
 (Signed) The Countess de Voss." 
 
 " Konigsberg, August, 1808." 
 
 P. S. " Apropos, my dear Prince ! I forgot 
 to tell you that the Queen has very recently re- 
 ceived from an English officer, who comes from 
 the Indies, a most beautiful parrot who prattles 
 to admiration. He amuses us greatly with his 
 " God-dam Napoleon !" which he repeats (as 
 if to prevent mistake) fifty times a-day. — Oh, 
 the charming parrot ! — Adieu, Prince !" 
 
 The above little epistle, written with the 
 Countess's own hand, was, hke the preceding, 
 translated into French, as was also another from 
 the Privy-counsellor Hacke; and the same 
 evening, as soon as Marshal Soult had finished
 
 GAUTHEROT'S embassy to PARIS. ii65 
 
 his dispatch to the Emperor, he sent his Aid- 
 du-camp, Colonel Gautherot, with the whole to 
 Paris. 
 
 An individual in the service of a neighbour- 
 ing Prince, but greatly attached to the royal 
 family of Prussia, having been apprised of all 
 that had occurred to the courier Hope, hastened 
 to find a sure hand by which to transmit to the 
 King at Konigsberg an account of these pro- 
 ceedings. After long seeking, he found a fe- 
 male, the widow Obermann, of Berlin, who, full 
 of patriotism and attachment towards her sove- 
 reign, engaged to provide a confidential person 
 (Captain A.) who would carry to the royal 
 family a letter containing information of the 
 foregoing untoward events. 
 
 One may readily conceive the consternation 
 of the Court on the receipt of this intelligence ; 
 and their fears acquired additional earnestness 
 from the consideration that, in all probability. 
 Prince William was still in the French capital. 
 
 Captain A. was at length secretly sent back 
 from Konigsberg to Berlin, to conjure the ge- 
 nerous personage before alluded to, to continue 
 his friendly zeal, and to inform the King of 
 every thing calculated to affect the lot of his 
 family. 
 
 At the expiration of ten days. Colonel de
 
 5,66 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Gautherot returned to Berlin from Paris ; and 
 on their first meeting. Marshal Soult said to 
 him hastily, " Ah, you are here ! hand me over 
 the dispatches !" The Colonel answered, " I 
 have none : I was presented to the Emperor by 
 INIarshal Berthier, and had the honour of deli- 
 vering your letter personally. His Majesty, on 
 reading it, showed evident tokens of wrath, 
 cursed and swore, and in short seemed almost 
 beside himself. For the first time in my life, 
 I underwent the sensation of fear. The Em- 
 peror directed Marshal Berthier to command the 
 immediate presence of Prince William, but that 
 personage had already departed." 
 
 Soult observed : — " The Emperor, then, was 
 exceedingly annoyed on reading the contents of 
 my dispatch ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," replied Gautherot ; " I never saw 
 his Majesty evince so much agitation. He tore 
 the papers, stamped with his foot, and swore." 
 
 " Did he strike you ?" 
 
 " No, your Excellency ; I was kept both by 
 respect and fear, at too great a distance." 
 
 " Ah ! then lie was not so much disturbed as 
 you imagine. Go and refresh yourself." 
 
 Fifteen days subsequently to this, M. de 
 Bausset, and another individual, arrived at 
 Berlin from Paris, with orders and instructions
 
 THE DELICATE INVESTIGATION. 267 
 
 from the Emperor Napoleon to seek, both at Ko- 
 nigsberg and BerUn, mformation touching the 
 affair of the courier Hope and his dispatches. 
 
 A Council was accordingly formed, consist- 
 ing of Marshal Soult, Count Daru, General St. 
 Hilaire, General Compan, and M. de Bausset. 
 It was decided that the latter should repair to 
 Konigsberg, to trace the matter to its founda- 
 tion, and discover whether the dispatches of 
 Hope had been written and sent by the Baron 
 de Stein and the Countess de Voss, with the 
 consent of the King and Queen. 
 
 The result of these investigations was some- 
 what in favour of their Majesties, who both 
 declared, in the most solemn manner, that they 
 had no knowledge whatever of the contents of 
 the letters in question. The King, on his part, 
 offered abundant proof that, in signing the 
 carte blanchey he had no other view but to 
 procure, in the most open manner, a sum for 
 his own purposes, upon credit from the old 
 Prince of Hesse-Cassel at his Hamburgh ban- 
 kers. Beyond this, he protested entire igno- 
 rance as to the mission of the courier Hope. 
 
 To give more force to this protestation on 
 his part, his Majesty on the instant dismissed 
 the Minister Stein, ordering him to return his 
 porte-feuille to Count Goltz, and to quit Ko-
 
 268 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 nigsberg. The Queen, at the same time, took 
 measures of a severe kind against the Coun- 
 tess Voss, punishing her for her imprudence — I 
 should rather say for her perfidy — by banish- 
 ment from Court. 
 
 The French Commissioners returned to 
 Berlin, where they renewed their investigations. 
 Nevertheless, although there existed sundry 
 malignant enemies of the royal family, who 
 had put into requisition all sorts of intrigues, 
 to make it believed that the King was in reality 
 an accomplice, although counterfeit letters were 
 fabricated from Stein and the Countess to 
 Prince Wittgenstein, inculpating their Majes- 
 ties—in spite, I say, of all these perfidious 
 machinations. Marshal Soult and the Count 
 Daru preserved an undeviating confidence in 
 the sincerity and innocence of Frederic- Wil- 
 liam and his consort, and a detailed report was 
 transmitted, to this effect, to the Emperor at 
 Paris. 
 
 Napoleon did not hesitate to follow up the 
 vigorous measures which had been instituted 
 by the King of Prussia against the transgress- 
 ing minister, whom he outlawed, confiscating 
 all his estates situated upon the Rhine. The 
 Baron took refuge in some secluded spot in the 
 neighbourhood of Memel ; but no sooner had
 
 STEIN ENTERS THE RUSSIAN SERVICE. 269 
 
 hostilities been declared between Napoleon and 
 Alexander, than, emerging from his hiding- 
 place, he entered into the service of Russia, 
 and was made a counsellor of state. 
 
 The journals of the time made sufficient 
 mention of the conduct of this same Stein, as 
 well during his ministry as during his provi- 
 sional administration in the Duchy of Berg, 
 and likewise when he was chief of the order 
 of the Tugenbund. It will not, therefore, be 
 necessary for me to retrace those steps. The 
 foregoing circumstances, however, are by no 
 means generally understood.
 
 270 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUHTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 IMarshal Soult's administration at Berlin. — His popularity 
 with all classes. — His gentleness and generosity as con- 
 trasted to the severity of his predecessor, Victor. — The 
 House of Cadets. — The Inspector of this Institution, and 
 Colonel L. — Their reception by Marshal Soult. — A whole 
 establishment on the point of perishing from hunger. — 
 The Marshal's bounty, and the singular expression of gra- 
 titude produced by it. — Acknowledgments on the part of 
 the King of Prussia of the IMarshal's benevolence. — His 
 recal and the appointment of JMarshal Davoust. — That 
 Commander detects a correspondence between the Prince 
 of Orange and ]\Iajor Schill. — His considerate conduct. — 
 Hostile preparations of Austria. — General Andreossi ; and 
 his dispatches. — Conference between Marshal Davoust and 
 the author. — General St. Hilaire. — Count de St. Marsan. 
 — His liberal behaviour and its happy result. 
 
 The writer of these memoirs, having en- 
 joyed the esteem and full confidence of the 
 French chiefs of the provisional government 
 established at Berlin, was enabled to see that 
 nothing could be more fortunate for the in- 
 habitants of the Prussian capital, at that ])eriod,
 
 soult's administration at berijn. 271 
 
 than the nomination of IMarshal Soult as Go- 
 vernor-general ; since, without forgetting his 
 duty toward his sovereign, he always extended 
 to the people of the subjected country as much 
 indulgent and generous treatment as he could. 
 
 Amidst a whole multitude of generous traits 
 which signalized Marshal Soult's short adminis- 
 tration in the Prussian capital, I shall content 
 myself with specifying one only which will 
 serve to exemplify the Marshal's feeling and 
 grandeur of soul, even toward his enemies. 
 
 At the end of the month of August, 1808, a 
 number of unfortunate persons who had suf- 
 fered under the rigorous administration of his 
 predecessor, IMarshal Victor, presented them- 
 selves one morning at his levee, to supplicate 
 him for some alleviation of their unhappy cir- 
 cumstances. Among them, appeared Colonel 
 L., and another officer. Inspector of the Esta- 
 blishment of Cadets. Both these men were 
 advanced in years, and had grown grey under 
 the weight of their services in the wars of 
 Frederick the Great. The Marshal distin- 
 guished them from the crowd, arose, and going 
 to meet them, took each by the hand, and in 
 the most gracious manner made them sit by 
 him, whilst with winning kindness he demand- 
 ed the nature of their solicitations.
 
 272 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Col. L. handed the Marshal a memoir, writ- 
 ten in German, which Soult immediately or- 
 dered his translating secretary would construe 
 verbally. It set forth that the administration 
 of the House of Cadets had been so overlooked 
 and neglected by his Excellency's predecessor. 
 Marshal Victor, that its inmates found them- 
 selves on the point of famishing with hunger, 
 — including four or five hundred children whose 
 fathers had perished for their king and country. 
 They had received nothing by way of provi- 
 sion, on the part of the Prussian government, 
 except certain sums in a species of assignats, 
 payment of which had been refused. 
 
 No sooner had this memorial been duly 
 translated, than these veteran soldiers (as if to 
 heighten the force of their appeal) exclaimed, 
 in as good French as they were masters of, 
 their eyes meanwhile swimming in tears, — 
 " Ah, Marshal ! have pity on us ! We shall 
 perish with hunger, — we, and our poor infants, 
 if you abandon us." INIarshal Soult, extremely 
 touched at the hard situation of these respect- 
 able officers, cried with the deepest emotion — 
 " No, no ! my dear comrades ! you shall never 
 die of hunger whilst 1 have bread. Wait here 
 a moment."
 
 HIS POPULARITY WITH ALL CLASSES. 273 
 
 He passed into his cabinet, and shortly re- 
 turned, bringing with him two rouleaux of 
 fifty louis-cVor each. He then anew summon- 
 ed his translating secretary, and said in a tone 
 of sensibility, " Tell these two worthy officers 
 that, in the course of the day, I will take 
 measures for the due supply of the House of 
 Cadets with every requisite, including both 
 money and provisions ; and that meanwhile 
 I beg them to accept, at the hands of a 
 comrade, this little sum for their immediate 
 wants : and let them never hesitate to apply 
 directly to me when they wish either my ad- 
 vice or assistance." Having shaken hands with 
 these same officers, he desired the present 
 writer to accompany them to the gate of the 
 mansion, which he did with the greatest plea- 
 sure. 
 
 No sooner had they left the audience hall, 
 than the two veterans, turning both towards 
 the author, exclaimed with emotion : " And 
 is this governor a Frenchman, and a general 
 of Napoleon ?" — " Assuredly," replied he, smil- 
 ing at their earnestness : — " May Heaven pro- 
 tect and preserve him !" responded they : " we 
 were never so well treated in our misfortunes 
 by one of our own generals, as we have been 
 
 VOL. 1. T
 
 27']- ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 by the Marslial ; God bless him ! This is the 
 first time we Iiave offered prayers for an ene- 
 my, but they are not the less sincere." 
 
 The Governor-general strictly fulfilled his 
 promises, and the same day arranged matters 
 with the [ntendant-general. Count Daru, and 
 the other proper authorities, for a due provi- 
 sion in every way for the House of Cadets. 
 
 Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Berlin, 
 and to their great regret. Marshal Soult was 
 summoned by Napoleon to Erfurt, from whence 
 he was sent into Spain to take the chief com- 
 mand of the French army in that country. 
 
 The King of Prussia, who always remain- 
 ed at Konigsberg, was faithfully informed of 
 all which the IVIarshal Duke of Dalmatia had 
 done to lighten the hardships of his suffering 
 people. He was extremely touched by so 
 many proofs of generosity ; and on several oc- 
 casions testified to the Marshal his sense there, 
 of; more especially in 1815; for when Soult 
 was included in the lists of the proscription, he 
 received from the royal family of Prussia an 
 invitation to fix upon Berlin, or some other 
 town in his IMajesty's dominions, as a place of 
 residence ; together with assurances that no 
 pains should be spared to soften the rigour of 
 his exile.
 
 MAJOR SCHILL's COllRESPONDENCE. 275 
 
 Some weeks after the departure of Marshal 
 Soiilt, Marshal Davoust arrived at Berlin to 
 replace him. Although the administration of 
 this officer was not quite so gentle as that of 
 his worthy predecessor, it was nevertheless far 
 from rigorous ; for several circumstances oc- 
 curred so as to warrant the exercise, on the 
 part of the Marshal, of a good deal more se- 
 verity than was absolutely used by him ; as, for 
 example, in the following instance : 
 
 The French police established at Berlin, was 
 not ignorant that a certain dangerous connexion 
 existed between the family of the Prince of 
 Orange, which was residing in that capital, and 
 the brave and celebrated INIajor Schill, v/ho oc- 
 cupied Colberg and its environs with a small 
 corps d'armde consisting of about 6000 men, 
 with which he distinguished himself in sundry 
 engagements with the French, who were block- 
 ading the town above-mentioned. It was made 
 clear to Marshal Davoust, by means of certain 
 letters that had been intercepted in the lit- 
 tle town of Stargard, that this understanding 
 really existed. The Marshal, however, took 
 no other steps in consequence, than to go with 
 these letters to the palace of the Prince of 
 Orange's mother, to whom he made known 
 what he had learnt on the subject of this clan- 
 
 T 2
 
 276 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 destine correspondence, promising, that if the 
 Princess would engage, on the part of her chil- 
 dren, that it should be immediately disconti- 
 nued, he would take no farther notice of the 
 affair, notwithstanding his instructions warrant- 
 ed him in visiting the parties with measures of 
 severity : but that if, on the other hand, any 
 fresh instance of such perfidy came to his 
 knowledge, he should not hesitate to act in 
 full conformity to those instrvictions, however 
 great the rank or distinction of the persons 
 offending. 
 
 This remonstrance had the desired effect, for 
 the communications were at once almost wholly 
 dropped ; indeed, to all appearance, they ceased 
 entirely ; and were kept up, if at all, only 
 in an indirect manner, and through the me- 
 dium, principally, of the Prussian officers, 
 
 Ch— t, A , M g, and H g, who 
 
 successively repaired from Berlin to Konigs- 
 berg. This kind of communication, there is 
 reason to believe, lasted even until the moment 
 in which the French forces evacuated the capi- 
 tal, whereupon Major S chill entered it with the 
 Prussian troops in the month of December, 
 1809. 
 
 It is well known, that towards the end of 
 1808, Austria made preparations for recom-
 
 MARSHAL DAVOUST AND THE AUTHOR. 277 
 
 mencing hostilities against France. JNlarshal 
 Davoust, who was then in communication with 
 General An dreossi, Ambassador from France to 
 the Court of Vienna, contented himself with 
 the intelligence that came officially from the 
 general, and paid no attention whatsoever to 
 the rumours wherewith the Prussian metropo- 
 lis was filled on the subject of the movements 
 of Austria. 
 
 The author having been one day summoned 
 by the INIarshal to Charlottenburg, repaired thi- 
 ther with all speed; and, after the customary 
 compliments had passed, was asked — if he had 
 received no news from Vienna. He replied, 
 that he had — as well from a brother of his who 
 was there, as from the Prince de L. ; who 
 had both informed him, that the preparations 
 making in all the Austrian States, especially at 
 Vienna, Prague, Presbourg, Pest, &c., were so 
 active, and on so large a scale, that nobody 
 could longer doubt of the renewal of war in 
 the beginning of the year 1809 ; that, in all 
 probability, the Archduke Charles would take 
 the command of the Emperor's forces, which 
 were likely to amount to 400,000 men, com- 
 prehending the landwehr; and that the Princes, 
 Counts, &c., possessing wealth, were about to 
 raise, at their own proper cost, several corps in
 
 278 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Austria, in Bohemia in Hungary, and in Sty- 
 ria: in a word, every thing presaged a, war 
 against France, and one too of tlie most ter- 
 rific description. 
 
 The Marshal, on hearing this, entered into 
 many details with the author : he told him that 
 he knew not what to think ; that, in truth, the 
 Ambassador Andreossi had apprised him of 
 these grand preparations, but had added that 
 they were merely demonstrations ; that Avistria 
 was, in fact, in no state to undertake a new 
 war ; that, besides this, he had received official 
 assurances, on the part of the Austrian Govern- 
 ment, that the peace should not be disturbed, 
 and that whatever was in course, of a military 
 nature, was solely intended to complete regi- 
 ments. 
 
 The author nevertheless, feeling that he went 
 upon sure grounds, persisted in maintaining 
 his opinion, and assured the Marshal that he 
 did not in the least think with General Andre- 
 ossi, an individual who appeared to him either 
 deaf, blind, utterly incapable, or — a traitor. 
 AVhilst this conversation was going forward, 
 and to throv/ farther light on the discussion, 
 which passed in the garden of the chateau, the 
 commandant of the toAvn, General St. Hilaire, 
 with several officers attached to the Marshal's
 
 MARSHAL DAVOUST AND THE AUTHOR. 279 
 
 staff, entered to pay their respects to his Ex- 
 cellency ; who, as soon as he saw them ap- 
 proach, said, " Ma foi. Messieurs ! you arrive 
 extremely apropos ; a full hour have I spent 
 
 in endeavouring to dissuade M. de , who 
 
 will have it that Austria is determined, on the 
 ensuing spring, to wage against us a war of 
 the most terrible nature ; and that the prepa- 
 rations which are this moment making in all 
 the Austrian States, are pushed forward with 
 the utmost rapidity, and with a direct, although 
 unavowed, purpose." 
 
 General St. Hilaire, who was in complete 
 amity with the author, replied laughing ; " It 
 is quite useless for your Excellency to perplex 
 
 yourself with all that INI. de has told 
 
 you on this subject ; he was brought up at the 
 court of Vienna ; all his relations reside there ; 
 and although he may neither be an Austrian 
 by birth, nor even in the service of the Em- 
 peror of Austria, he is not the less interested 
 at such a season as the present, in every thing 
 which concerns the honour and welfare of that 
 power ; and hence his proneness to give cre- 
 dence to whatsoever is rumoured on the sub- 
 ject." 
 
 " But," interrupted the Marshal, " you seem 
 to overlook, General, that it is not in this case.
 
 280 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the effect of prejudice on the mind of M. 
 
 de ; it is by facts he has supported his 
 
 assertions ; so far as my Avishes go, I should be 
 glad to think otherwise ; but as it is, notwith- 
 standing the pacific assurances held out by our 
 ambassador, I much fear that the opinions of 
 M. de — ■ have too sure a foundation." 
 
 General St. Hilaire upon this, putting his 
 hand upon the shoulder of the author, said ; 
 " Is it not true, my dear friend, that you are in 
 the habit of placing faith in almost every pass- 
 ing rumour ?" and was answered, " General, 
 from the attachment which I bear you, I heart- 
 ily hope that you may not pay with your life, 
 at the first battle, for the incredulity manifest- 
 ed by you on this occasion." The sequel but 
 too fatallv illustrated the reasonableness of the 
 speaker's deprecations ; for this most intrepid 
 officer was mortally wounded at the battle of 
 Aspern, on the 22nd of May, 1809. 
 
 The consequence of the above discussion 
 was, that IMarshal Davoust, struck by the force 
 of the author's information and remarks, chang- 
 ed all his previous dispositions, and instead of 
 conducting his army into Hanover, took up at 
 Erfurt a most advantageous position. 
 
 It will not be out of place here, to say a 
 
 >• 
 
 *
 
 COUNT DE ST. MARSAN. 281 
 
 word or two respecting the Count de St. Mar- 
 san, Ambassador from Paris to Berlin, during 
 all the time that Prussia was occupied by the 
 French armies, and even after the return of 
 the Royal Family ; that is to say, from October 
 1806, to the end of 1809. The conduct of the 
 Count throughout this period was so honest, 
 generous, and high-minded, that it acquired for 
 him at once the esteem of the Royal Family, 
 the consideration of the ministry, and the love 
 of the whole population of Berlin. This am- 
 bassador presented to Europe the rare instance 
 of a man enabled, throughout a diplomatic 
 career, to acquire and preserve, without losing 
 sight of the interests of his sovereign, both 
 attachment and respect in a court, the con- 
 nexion whereof with the power which he re- 
 presented was altogether suspended. 
 
 M. de St. Marsan was, however, on two oc- 
 casions exposed to imminent peril. The first 
 time was when IMajor Schill quitted Berlin 
 with his troops, and involved himself in a kind 
 of guerilla warfare against the subjects of Na- 
 poleon. There was, at that juncture, for the 
 moment, such an effervescence in the Prussian 
 capital, that Count de St. Marsan and M. Cail- 
 lard, his secretary of legation, were both so
 
 282 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 terrified, as to be induced to take the resolu- 
 tion of departing for Stettin, which was oc- 
 cupied by the French. 
 
 The second time that the life of this valu- 
 able man was put in jeopardy, was when intelli- 
 gence arrived at Berlin that the Ai'chduke 
 Charles, at the head of the Austrian army, had 
 completely defeated the French at Aspern ; 
 on receiving which news, the inhabitants of 
 Berlin seemed disposed to manifest their ani- 
 mosity in no gentle manner against all the 
 French subjects who remained in that metro- 
 polis. In this instance, however, the Count St. 
 Marsan continued firm, reposing upon the con- 
 sciousness that he could not reproach himself 
 with doing any thing calculated to draw down 
 on him personally the hate or vengeance of the 
 citizens. He therefore remained where he was, 
 receiving, besides, an assurance from the Prus- 
 sian Marshal Lestocq, and the President of 
 Police, that his person and office should be 
 respected.
 
 EVACUATION OF BERLIN. 283 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Justus Gruner, President of the Prussian Police. — His aug- 
 mented powers, and the confidence placed in him by the 
 King. — His treacherous proposal to Frederick- William 
 and Alexander. — His consequent disgrace. — He is found 
 upon the Austrian territory and imprisoned. — His release 
 demanded by the monarchs of Russia and Prussia. — His 
 restoration to the favour of Alexander. — His rigorous con- 
 duct as Civil Governor of Berg. — Counsellor Bein. — Gru- 
 ner at the head of the Secret Police in Paris, during its 
 occupation by the Allied Sovereigns. — His rejection by the 
 King of Saxony as Ambassador from Prussia. — His death. 
 — Character, both public and private. — Marshal Blucher 
 and the Prince de Hardenberg. — The Marshal's passion 
 for gambling. — " A New Way to Pay Old Debts." — Blu- 
 cher's opinion as to who won the battle of Waterloo. — 
 Counts Haugwitz and Schullenbourg. — Corruption and 
 manoeuvring of the former. — Policy of Napoleon. — Count 
 SchuUenbourg's perfidy and ingratitude. 
 
 Immediately on the evacuation of Ber- 
 lin by the French army, and of the three 
 Marches of Brandenburgh, the old Marslial de 
 Lestocq took upon himself the functions of
 
 284 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Governor of the French capital ; Colonel Ches- 
 sot, those of Commandant ; and the famous 
 Justus Gruner, those of President of Police. 
 These three personages had previously been 
 named by the King of Prussia, and had been 
 already at Berlin several months previous to 
 the evacuation. 
 
 We shall pass over in silence all the transac- 
 tions of these three chiefs up to the period of 
 the royal family's arrival, the journals of the 
 time having made sufficient mention of them, 
 and proceed to notice, that the king had in- 
 vested the President of Police with a degree 
 of power considerably greater than was ever 
 wielded by his predecessors. Frederick-M^il- 
 liam had, in fact, so full a confidence in this 
 man, that he was in the habit of approving all 
 his acts, however despotic they might be. He 
 was, in the sequel, nominated Counsellor of 
 State, and became the colleague of the grand- 
 Chancellor, Baron de Hardenberg; and when 
 the royal family and the government were 
 a second time obliged to qidt Berlin, and re- 
 paired to Breslau, Justus Gruner still follow- 
 ed his Majesty, with whom he continued up to 
 the moment in which he forfeited the royal 
 confidence, by making a proposal to his sove- 
 reign and the Emperor of Russia, the nature of
 
 PROPOSAL OF JUSTUS GRUNER. 285 
 
 which is now for the first time laid open, and 
 which, although neither avowed nor known at 
 the period, is not the less true. 
 
 After the rout of the Russian and Prussian 
 forces in 1813, the two sovereigns, who were 
 at the time in Prussian Silesia with the 
 wreck of their armies, strained every nerve to 
 engage the Emperor of Austria (then at Top- 
 litz, in Bohemia) in a new coalition against 
 Napoleon. His Imperial Majesty, however, re- 
 jected all their propositions, not wishing to 
 enter so precipitately into a state of warfare 
 with his son-in-law. Such was the state of 
 things, when this same Justus Gruner, in a 
 conference whereto he was admitted with the 
 two sovereigns, said that he had still means 
 reserved by which to ensure the adherence of 
 the Emperor Francis, notwithstanding his for- 
 mal rejection of their overtures. " Well !" said 
 the Emperor Alexander, " let us hear these 
 means." Justus Gruner replied : — " If your 
 Majesties will only give me your consent, and 
 a sufficient armed force, I will pledge myself 
 to make the Emperor of Austria accept your 
 propositions, in spite of his Aulic counsellors." 
 In a word, this loyal and worthy counsellor of 
 state, Justus Gruner, offered to kidnap his 
 Majesty the Emperor of the French, from the «
 
 286 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 chateau which he inhabited at Toplitz, and 
 bring him to the Prussian head-quarters, which 
 were estabhshed upon the frontier, and where 
 Napoleon might be compelled to sign what- 
 ever their Majesties chose to dictate. 
 
 The Russian Emperor was greatly offended 
 at this audacity, and the proposed breach of ho- 
 nourable warfare, and he dismissed the propo- 
 ser without hearing his plan to an end. The 
 King of Prussia likewise expressed his great 
 dissatisfaction at the liberty which Gruner had 
 taken, and enjoined him on no account to re- 
 peat any thing of the same kind. 
 
 However confidential the above conference 
 was intended to be, the Emperor of Austria, 
 or his ministers were put in possession of this 
 fine project of Justus Gruner ; and the first 
 time, subsequently, that he dared to set his foot 
 upon the Austrian territory, he was arrested, 
 thrown into prison, and afterwards conducted 
 to the nearest fortress in Hungary, where he 
 was treated not as the counsellor of a friendly 
 court, but as a criminal. In this state of du- 
 rance, he remained up to the very moment 
 when the Emperor Alexander and the King 
 of Prussia combined to demand his liberation, 
 which they obtained ; but upon the express
 
 ENTEES THE RUSSIAN SEIIVICE. 287 
 
 condition that he should never again appear in 
 the Austrian territory. 
 
 Some time after, Gruner entered in Hke 
 manner, as Counsellor of State, into the service 
 of Russia; a pretty evident proof that, how- 
 ever sharp the anger of Alexander, it was by 
 no means of an enduring character. He was 
 now sent, (under the orders of his intimate 
 friend. Baron de Stein,) as Civil Governor, into 
 the States of Berg, which were provisionally 
 occupied and ruled by the Russian Govern- 
 ment. Notwithstanding Justus Gruner was a 
 native of this country, he ruled in it with 
 more rigour than the most bitter enemy would 
 have done. He levied, during his adminis- 
 tration, upward of four millions of florins, ex- 
 clusive of contributions both of food and cloth- 
 ing for the Russian troops. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander, who, like most 
 other politicians, considered the exigencies of 
 his service as superior to all natural or social 
 ties, felt called upon to recompense this faith- 
 ful civil governor, gave him, at the end of the 
 year 1814, a considerable sum of money, toge- 
 ther with the Order of St. Anne, which was 
 conveyed to him by one of his counsellors, 
 Counsellor Bein, another sanguinary instru-
 
 288 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ment of the police of Berlin, who had been 
 sent by Justus Gruner to St. Petersburgh, to 
 render an account of his exploits and of his 
 administration generally in the Duchy of Berg. 
 
 This same Counsellor Bein, whilst on his 
 journey to Frank fort-on-the-Maine, vaunted 
 of having himself caused the arrest of 127 in- 
 dividuals, all fathers of families, convicted of 
 the crime of having been friendly to the French 
 and to the government of the Grand-duke 
 of Berg. Those poor people were all punished 
 with the utmost severity. 
 
 Counsellor Bein also received, in considera- 
 tion of the services rendered by him in the 
 Grand Duchy, the insignia of a Russian Order. 
 He is at this day to be found in the police- 
 department at Berlin, where he is equally 
 known and despised. As to his worthy chief, 
 the famous Justus Gruner, he accompanied 
 Frederick-William to Paris, where he had the 
 direction of the secret police during all the 
 sojourn in that metropolis of the Allied So- 
 vereigns. A little time after, Justus Gruner 
 was named by his royal master, JNIinister Ple- 
 nipotentiary to the Court of Dresden: but 
 the King of Saxony, advised of the whole con- 
 duct of this man, and of the various trans- 
 actions in which he had been mixed up, abso-
 
 COUNSELLOR JUSTUS GRUNER. 289 
 
 lutely refused to receive him, whilst his Mi- 
 nister of State expressed his astonishment in 
 an official dispatch to Prince Hardenberg, at 
 the selection which the King of Prussia had 
 made, of such a man to represent him at the 
 Court of Saxony. 
 
 But as the Prince de Hardenberg had des- 
 tined Gruner to the diplomatic career, and felt 
 indisposed to be thwarted in this particular, he 
 suggested to Frederick William to send Jus- 
 tus as minister plenipotentiary into Switzer- 
 land, where he died, to the best of the author's 
 knowledge, a death precipitate rather than 
 gradual. 
 
 The Counsellor Justus Gruner was a man by 
 no means destitute of merit. He was beyond 
 dispute an excellent director or minister of 
 police ; in fact, Prussia never possessed one 
 more able ; and had his exertions been confined 
 to this branch of administration, he would most 
 probably never have had the hardihood to com- 
 mit the extravagant and despotic acts which 
 marked the sway of himself and his subalterns. 
 There are many men calculated to be emi- 
 nently useful in a certain way, who, take them 
 out of their proper sphere, become on the other 
 hand mischievous ; and such a one was Gru- 
 
 VOL. I. u 

 
 290 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ner. He was a distinguished orator ; and his 
 speeches delivered in the civic assemblies of 
 Berlin, full of energetic eloquence, were highly 
 instrumental in awakening those patriotic dis- 
 positions manifested in all parts of the king- 
 dom by the young people of every class. It 
 was the addresses of Justus Gruner which pro- 
 duced among these same youths an intermi- 
 nable hatred of the French, together with a 
 generous inclination to make every sacrifice for 
 the public good. 
 
 The private life of this man was, by all ac- 
 counts, of the most depraved character. He 
 married, in the first instance, a Bavarian female 
 of respectable family, by whom he had four 
 or five children, and whom he quitted in order 
 to espouse a woman of pleasure (INIademoi- 
 selle Claus), who died in her first confinement. 
 Gruner then entered into the bonds of wed- 
 lock with a lady of Coblentz, whom in turn 
 he abandoned for the purpose of uniting him- 
 self to a Frenchwoman. He died even under 
 the premature age of forty. 
 
 The author thinks it may not be unaccept- 
 able, after having offered the foregoing details 
 respecting the conduct of Justus Gruner, to 
 subjoin a few general reflections upon two 
 other personages, who, in those disastrous
 
 HARDENBERG AND BLUCHER. 291 
 
 times, had each of them the confidence of the 
 King of Prussia. 
 
 It is known by most of those who have had 
 the honour of a personal acquaintance with his 
 Majesty the King of Prussia, that this sove- 
 reign had presented, ever since the commence- 
 ment of his reign, the image of a human being 
 graced with as many virtues as any man in 
 his dominions. Within the precincts of his 
 palace reigned the most precise order ; and 
 there was nothing which Frederick- William 
 more detested than men of a dissipated cast, 
 incurrers of debt, and in general all persons 
 who are wanting in a regular adjustment of 
 their particular affairs. 
 
 It was therefore by a singular fatality that 
 his Majesty experienced, in this respect, from 
 those about him the most contrary disposition 
 possible ; even on the part of such as, from their 
 high offices, were placed in more especial con- 
 tact with his person. Among these, two in- 
 dividuals stood most prominent. Prince Har- 
 denberg, his Majesty's Chancellor, and Marshal 
 !| Blucher. Few persons at all conversant with 
 t affairs of this character, are ignorant that up to 
 1 1 the year 1814, the Prince was so embroiled with 
 1 respect to his finances, that he was obliged, in 
 I order to procure a necessary supply of money, 
 
 u 2
 
 292 ANF.CDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 to have recourse to an Israelite of the name of 
 Gans, one of the most notorious usurers then in 
 existence. His excellency was compelled to 
 seek the relief afforded by this man, at various 
 times, until the year 1814, when he was gene- 
 rously recompensed by his Sovereign, and re- 
 ceived likewise, by way of presents, considerable 
 sums in cash, both from the Emperor of Russia 
 and the government of France. 
 
 With respect to Prince Blucher, his circum- 
 stances were still worse than those of Harden- 
 berg. He was in fact almost constantly over 
 head and ears in debt, and so enslaved by a 
 passion for play, that he knew no higher enjoy- 
 ment than that of remaining night and day 
 seated at a gaming-table, either at faro^ rouge 
 et noir, or roulette. In 1795, when he came to 
 Frankfort-on-the-Maine with a small corps of 
 observation, he lost at play, not only all he pos- 
 sessed, but even the money which had been 
 confided to him. In 1812, the author of these 
 Memoirs, then on the eve of his departure from 
 Schwerin, was charged by one of his friends, 
 the Baron I^utzen de Hohentrutz, to follow 
 Marshal Blucher to Berlin for the sum of sixty 
 Frederics d'or, which he owed the Baron in 
 cash, as also for a similar sum due on account 
 of a saddle-horse which Blucher had forcibly
 
 MARSHAIi BLUCHER. 293 
 
 abstracted from Routz after his defeat at the 
 famous affair of Liibec, in 1806. 
 
 When the author arrived at Berlin, he placed 
 an authority for the receipt of these sums in 
 the hands of his Commissary of Justice, M. 
 Rurcke, who, on application for payment to 
 the Marshal, was addressed as follows: — 
 " Write to Baron Lutzen that he had better 
 come to Berlin in person upon this business, in 
 order that, to satisfy fairly the pretensions of 
 both parties, we may between us get up a 
 raffle" In effect, the friend of Lutzen, in com- 
 mon with many other persons similarly com- 
 missioned, could never get a single franc of the 
 money due to his principal. 
 
 When Marshal Blucher returned from Lon- 
 don into Germany, he made a fortnight's stay 
 at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, where the people 
 pressed daily to see him, as well as his carriage, 
 a coach accommodating four persons, which 
 had belonged to Bonaparte, and was captured 
 with several other equipages, after the battle 
 of Waterloo. During this fortnight, the Mar- 
 shal was busied every evening in receiving his 
 ancient friends of the gambling table, and par- 
 ticularly the banker thereof, M. Kohl, with 
 whom he generally made up a party. 
 
 The author, who had known Marshal Blu-
 
 294 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 cher for thirty years past, happening to be at 
 Frankfort at the time of the Marshal's arrival, 
 hastened to pay his respects to his Excellency 
 at his hotel, the White Swan. One evening, 
 being alone with him and conversing on seve- 
 ral political matters, more particularly on the 
 subject of the battle of Waterloo, " Prince," 
 said he, " I have read not only all the offi- 
 cial accounts, but almost every description 
 published of that glorious affair, still I do 
 not consider myself perfectly au fait as to the 
 subject. Pray tell me, was it you and your 
 brave army, my dear Prince, that gained the 
 battle, or were Wellington and the English the 
 conquerors ?" With the greatest affability, the 
 Prince led his querist to a window of the sa- 
 loon, and answered in German, " Would you, 
 my friend, learn the fact of the case ? If so, let 
 me tell you, that neither Wellington nor my- 
 self gained the battle. Napoleon lost it: — and 
 what is extraordinary, this same Napoleon, who 
 is one of the greatest tacticians of our day, has 
 lost it from a false step in tactics. Grouchy 
 and Bulow, BuIoav and Grouchy, those are the 
 wheels upon which turned the fortunes of the 
 day." 
 
 As I have spoken above of the depredations 
 and perfidy of Justus Gruner, I ought not to
 
 PERFIDY OF COUNT HAUGWITZ. 295 
 
 omit making known likewise the conduct of 
 the two ministers, Comit Haugwitz and Count 
 SchuUenbourg : but I shall observe, in the first 
 place, that it is easy for any judicious man 
 to see how the King of Prussia must suffer, on 
 finding himself under the necessity of being 
 surrounded, counselled, and guided by men 
 who, although capable of filling their several 
 functions with ability, were so unlike himself 
 in their personal conduct. 
 
 In 1805, after the arrival of the Emperor 
 Alexander at Berlin, in the month of Novem- 
 ber, the King of Prussia hastened to assemble 
 in the environs of the capital an army of sixty 
 thousand men, who came from Eastern Prussia, 
 and whom his Majesty had promised, in a secret 
 convention, to join to the Russian and Austrian 
 armies then in Moravia : but previous to taking 
 this last step, his Majesty sent to the Emperor 
 Napoleon at Vienna his ultimatum, which he 
 entrusted to his INIinister of State, Count Haug- 
 witz. This ultimatum purported, that the 
 French armies should immediately evacuate 
 Vienna and aU the Austrian States, and that 
 the respective powers should nominate ple- 
 nipotentiaries to treat respecting a definitive 
 peace. 
 
 The Emperor Napoleon, on perceiving the
 
 296 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Count, without permitting him to say a word, 
 addressed his Excellency thus : — " Eh hien ! 
 your King, it appears, is sadly angry with me. 
 I know all. I know that he talks of uniting 
 sixty thousand men to the armies of my enemies. 
 Be it so. I shall conquer sixty thousand men 
 more, and my glory will be so much the greater." 
 After a pause, he added, " I have no desire, at 
 the same time, to go to war with your King : 
 — I know what he wishes. There ! take an or- 
 der to the commander of my troops in Hanover, 
 by which he is enjoined to evacuate the Elec- 
 torate, and place it again under the power of 
 the King of Prussia. As to yourself. Count, 
 I am not ignorant that you are much burdened 
 with debt. Do me the favour to accept a draft 
 upon my treasury for the sum of one hundred 
 thousand crowns. Here are articles of conven- 
 tion between your King and me, quite ready 
 for signature ; affix yours, and all is accom- 
 plished ; and your King shall, be assured, have 
 every reason to feel fully satisfied." 
 
 Haugwitz hesitated not : he signed the 
 papers and quitted Vienna, after receiving his 
 quota of cash. No sooner had he signed in 
 duplicate this convention, which he had en- 
 tered into with Napoleon, than the latter dis- 
 patched one of his aides-de-camp with a copy
 
 PERFIDY OF PRINCE HAUGWITZ. 297 
 
 to the Emperor of Austria, who was residing 
 at Brunn in Moravia, that his Imperial Ma- 
 jesty might see what had been transacted ; and 
 that it was in vain for him to count upon any 
 assistance from the Prussian army. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander was promptly in- 
 formed of this perfidy of Haugwitz, by a 
 faithful servant of his, established at Vienna. 
 His Majesty immediately sent Prince Dolgo- 
 rucky to Berlin, to acquaint the King with 
 the traitorous proceedings carried on by his 
 Minister with the French Emperor ; and to 
 solicit, that, by way of repairing this error, the 
 Prussian army of 60,000 men should be placed 
 under the command of Marshal Mollendorf 
 and Duke Eugene of Wurtemberg, and put 
 in march to rejoin his own. He further sug- 
 gested, that Frederick- William should send 
 another minister to Napoleon, wherever he 
 may be found, in Vienna or elsewhere, who 
 should be instructed to require adherence 
 to the King's ultimatum, which the Minister 
 Haugwitz had so unworthily infringed. 
 
 The King of Prussia, without the least delay, 
 dispatched to Vienna General Count de Zas- 
 trow, with instructions to annul every thing 
 which the perfidious Haugwitz had concluded 
 contrary to the orders of his Sovereign, and to
 
 298 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 insist on those conditions for the continuation 
 of the peace, which were stipulated in the ulti- 
 matum that had been confided to Haugwitz. 
 
 This new envoy. General Zastrow, repairing 
 to Vienna with the utmost celerity, encounter- 
 ed at Prague his predecessor Haugwitz, who 
 was on his way back to Berlin. He commu- 
 nicated the orders of the King, and was pro- 
 ceeding on his route, when Haugwitz gave 
 him to understand that this step would be 
 absolutely useless ; that he bore in his portfolio 
 what would thoroughly content and satisfy the 
 King ; and that, besides, Napoleon had quitted 
 Vienna, and was gone to rejoin his army for 
 the purpose of giving battle to the two Em- 
 perors, the result of which battle could scarce- 
 ly be doubtful. The General was, in the end, 
 persuaded by Count Haugwitz, with whom he 
 returned in company to Berlin. 
 
 Napoleon, immediately after the departure 
 of Haugwitz, had, in point of fact, repaired to 
 his army in Moravia, and knowing the strength 
 of the Russian forces, as likewise the irresolu- 
 tion which the absence of the Prussian troops 
 would occasion in the councils of the Emperor 
 of Austria, he fought the celebrated battle of 
 Austerlitz, whereat the Russian army was ut- 
 terly destroyed.
 
 TREACHERY OE SCHULLENBOURG. 299 
 
 The Minister Haugwitz was, on his arrival 
 at Berlin, received, both by the King and the 
 public in general, with those expressions of 
 feeling which his conduct had so justly merited. 
 One evening, when he was known to be in his 
 palace near the Tribunal, called the Camerge- 
 richt, the populace, instigated by several persons 
 of distinction, (amongst whom were the Prince 
 
 L and the Count de H ,) repaired 
 
 thither in a crowd, forced the gates, pillaged, 
 and committed every possible excess. The 
 faithless Minister found himself compelled to 
 seek safety in flight ; he therefore got out of 
 the house clandestinely, through the garden, 
 which was situated at the back of his house, 
 and led into the open country. Thus he ma- 
 naged to quit Berlin, where he was universally 
 abhorred. 
 
 The treason of Haugwitz was still more evi- 
 dently proved at a later date, inasmuch as he 
 paid his creditors in Napoleons d'or, and with 
 the same species of coin redeemed sundry mort- 
 gages wherewith his estates were burdened. 
 
 The political culpability of the minister 
 Count de SchuUenbourg, father-in-law of the 
 Prince de Hartzfeldt, toward his benefactor and 
 his king, is pretty generally understood : — not 
 so, however, the fact that, in 1807 and 1808, he
 
 300 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 puslied his ingratitude to so great a point as to 
 turn informer, and denounce to the French 
 Government in Hanover all the particular 
 property belonging to the royal family there — 
 especially in the environs of Magdebourg. In 
 consequence, also, of similar pointing out by 
 him, the estates of several Prussian gentlemen 
 who had remained faithful to the King their 
 master, were confiscated. 
 
 His Excellency i at length, entered openly 
 into the service of Jerome Bonaparte, then 
 King of Westphalia, and manifested on all 
 occasions an unaccountable antipathy to the 
 person and family of his ancient sovereign.
 
 PRINCE EUGENE. 301 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg. — His conferences at Stut- 
 gard with the Emperor Napoleon, — Mission of the Prince 
 to his relative and Sovereign, the King of Prussia. — His 
 interview with that monarch and the Emperor Alexander 
 at Potsdam. — Indignation of the latter. — Departure of Eu- 
 gene for Berlin. — His explanation to the Author. — He ad- 
 dresses a letter and memorial to Frederick- William. — His 
 recall. — Fatal results of the battle of Jena. — Memoir of 
 Duke Louis of Wurtemberg. — His brother Henry. — That 
 Prince's lavish expenditure upon his regiment. — Breach of 
 promise on the part of the King of Prussia. — Quarrel 
 between his Majesty and Duke Henry. — Their recon- 
 ciliation. — Mademoiselle Caroline Alexi, daughter of the 
 director of the theatre at Oels. 
 
 Before the battle of Austerlitz, the Em- 
 peror Napoleon, being at that time at Stut- 
 gard, had several conferences with Prince Eu- 
 gene of Wurtemberg, (then a general in the 
 service of Prussia,) relative to the views with 
 which the King was about to enter into the 
 coalition proposed to him by the two Em- 
 perors, of Austria and Russia. The result of
 
 302 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 these conferences was, that Prince Eugene was 
 to depart in all haste for Berlin, where he 
 would probably find also the Emperor Alexan- 
 der, and immediately to put into action all his 
 influence and zeal to dissuade the King from 
 acceding to the propositions of his old allies. 
 There can be no doubt that great promises 
 were made by Buonaparte to the Prince, in 
 case he should succeed in abstracting Frederick 
 William from the cause of the coalesced mo- 
 narchs. 
 
 Eugene had no sooner arrived in Berlin, 
 than he commenced his efforts. He went to 
 present himself to the King, who was, together 
 with his august friend, the Russian monarch, 
 at Potsdam. No sooner did Frederick Wil- 
 liam become conscious of the Prince's purpose, 
 than he ran into Alexander's apartment to in- 
 form him thereof. The Russian monarch was 
 extremely surprised that his uncle. Prince Eu- 
 gene, should suffer himself to be entangled in 
 the meshes of Napoleon, and was in fact so 
 much offended at his presuming to charge 
 himself with such a commission, that he re- 
 fused to see him, and requested the King to 
 send him back on the instant to Custrin, the 
 head-quarters of the Prussian army of reserve, 
 whereof the Prince was Commander-in-chief.
 
 PRINCE EUGENE. 303 
 
 Extremely vexed at the ill success of his 
 mission, and still more so at the bad interpre- 
 tation which his august relatives had put upon 
 it, the Prince returned to Berlin, and lodged 
 under the linden-trees, at the same hotel with 
 the author of these sketches ; who, having en- 
 joyed for a long period the confidence of Prince 
 Eugene, and indeed of all the Royal Family of 
 Wurtemberg, was honoured with an immedi- 
 ate invitation. He hastened to pay his respects 
 to the Prince ; and having been made acquaint- 
 ed with the motives which had brought his Se- 
 rene Highness hither, could not help express- 
 ing his great surprise that, as imcle of the 
 Emperor of Russia, and brother-in-law of the 
 Emperor of Austria, he should have charged 
 himself so zealouslv with the interests of their 
 common enemy, and descended into a kind of 
 hawker of diplomacy for Napoleon. But find- 
 ing from the explanations of the Prince, that 
 he had undertaken this embassy with the purest 
 intentions, in order to save his King in these 
 ca'itical moments, wherein his throne and king- 
 dom were so greatly endangered ; — considering 
 that the Emperor Francis was already obliged 
 to abandon his capital, and leave it in the power 
 of the conqueror ; — and that the Russian army 
 would not be in a condition sufficiently strong
 
 ,'J04 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUllTS. 
 
 to face that of Bonaparte, even in case of its 
 reinforcement by the sixty thousand Prussian 
 troops ; — under all these circumstances, the au- 
 thor changed his opinion, and suggested that 
 Prince Eugene should address a memorial to the 
 King, which he would himself luidertake to get 
 delivered to his Majesty. 
 
 That same evening the Prince began to draw- 
 up his memorial, to which he added a very pa- 
 thetic letter. He detailed in it all the con- 
 ferences which he had entered into with the 
 French Emperor ; he exposed the views of this 
 conqueror with respect to Austria, Russia, and 
 Prussia; stated the strength of Napoleon's armies 
 already in the field, and of those which were in 
 a state of preparation to reinforce him : remarked 
 upon the confidence entertained by that poten- 
 tate in his good fortune, however great might 
 be the obstacles opposed ; and added his (the 
 Prince's) own conviction that, all things consi- 
 dered, the star of Napoleon would undoubtedly 
 retain the ascendancy. Under these circum- 
 stances, he could not avoid presaging for the 
 King, whom he considered as his master, a 
 series of disasters, should he decide on taking 
 part in the war ; and consequently felt it his 
 duty, as a faithful servant, to declare the ex- 
 tent of his apprehensions. In conclusion, the
 
 CONDUCT OF M. BEYME, 305 
 
 Prince implored his Majesty to regard this 
 statement as proceeding from nothing but the 
 most sincere attachment ; and to pause whilst 
 yet there was time to avert the evils which 
 seemed to overhang and threaten the safety 
 and well-being of his dominions. 
 
 On the ensuing morning, the author received 
 this memorial from the hands of Prince Eu- 
 gene, and having perused the paper, took it to 
 the privy counsellor, M. Beyme, who, having 
 previously been made aware of the reception 
 his Majesty had given to his illustrious rela- 
 tive, declined taking charge of it. The author 
 conjured him, at any rate, to look over the 
 document before he refused to forward it, and 
 see if he discovered any thing which appeared 
 improper. " Well," replied Beyme, " I have 
 no objection to this. Leave the memorial with 
 me ; return in two hours, and I shall mean- 
 while have come to a decision, which I will 
 frankly communicate to you." 
 
 At the stipulated time, the author repaired 
 again to M. Beyme, who received him with 
 ardour, and said : — "I have read the memoir 
 and letter of the Duke Eugene of Wurtem- 
 berg ; both have touched me sensibly ; and 
 I now regard it as a sacred duty which I owe 
 to the King, to lay them before him this very 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 night ; and have every cause to think that his 
 JMajesty will pay attention to their contents, 
 and appreciate duly the weighty reasons therein 
 advanced to dissuade him from joining the 
 proposed coalition." The memorial and letter 
 were then sealed, and taken to the monarch 
 without delay. 
 
 Frederick William, after having perused 
 these documents in the presence of his privy 
 counsellor, M. Beyme, was so affected and 
 penetrated by the motives whereby the Duke 
 Eugene had been palpably actuated, that he 
 summoned his Serene Highness again to Pots- 
 dam, and expressed deep regret that he had 
 been before so ungraciously received. In the 
 sequel, he tranquillized his worthy general as 
 much as possible: but nevertheless remained 
 firm in adhering to his prior intentions, and 
 ordered Eugene to repair immediately to his 
 corps d'arm^e, which was stationed at Castria 
 and its environs. 
 
 Prince Eugene had given the most decided 
 proofs of foresight, and every thing which he 
 predicted in his memorial unfortunately came 
 to pass. The King of Prussia, in consequence 
 of the steps then taken by him in opposition to 
 the counsel of his best friends, lost in one day
 
 BATTLE OF JENA. 307 
 
 at Jena, in the course of the following year, 
 1806, his throne and kingdom. 
 
 This same Duke Eugene of Wurtemberg 
 commanded at the battle of Jena, on the 14th 
 of October 1806, the corps de reserve of the 
 Prussian army. This corps was, in common with 
 all the rest, attacked by the French cavalry 
 with such impetuosity, tliat it was completely 
 destroyed in the course of a few hours ; and its 
 unfortunate leader was obliged to seek safety 
 in flight, leaving to the French a portion of his 
 equipage : and, to add to his chagrin, not only 
 the officers and soldiers of the army in general, 
 but even the hussars of his own proper regi- 
 ment, reproached him as having betrayed his 
 sovereign, and sold himself to Napoleon — an 
 assertion, which, however false, when once 
 started, irritated the troops to such a degree 
 that they wilfully damaged and broke up the 
 residue of his personal equipment. 
 
 This prince was married to a princess of 
 Stolberg Gedern, by whom he had several chil- 
 dren. And at length, in 1807, he received, in 
 common with his four brothers, the commands 
 of Napoleon to retire into their native country 
 of Wurtemberg — a command which was slight- 
 ed by Duke Ferdinand, a Marshal in the Aus- 
 
 X 2
 
 308 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 trian service, and Duke Alexander, a General 
 in that of Russia. 
 
 It is singular enough, that there appears to 
 have always been some misunderstanding exist- 
 ing between the King of Prussia and these 
 princes of Wurtemberg — especially those who 
 were in that monarch's own service, namely, 
 Louis, Eugene, and Henry. The first-men- 
 tioned was proprietor of a regiment of cuiras- 
 siers, and had so involved himself in debt on 
 account of this regiment, that he was obliged 
 to part with his land at Wallisford, in Silesia, 
 for the satisfaction of his creditors, and to re- 
 tire into Russia, where he obtained from his 
 nephew, the Emperor Alexander, the most fa- 
 vourable reception. This prince, after being 
 separated from his first wife, (a princess 
 Czartoriska,) married the virtuous and beauti- 
 ful princess Henrietta, of Nassau Wuilbourg, 
 by whom he had several children, and amongst 
 others, the present Queen of Wurtemberg. He 
 died some years ago in circumstances of great 
 privation, and in a species of exile into which 
 he professed himself to have been driven on ac- 
 count of his debts. 
 
 Prince Henry was also in the Prussian ser- 
 vice, being colonel of an Hussar regiment can- 
 toned at Oels, in Silesia. Like his brother
 
 PRINCE HENKY OF VVUllTEMBURG. 309 
 
 Louis, he was anxious to rival all other cavalry 
 regiments in beauty and magnificence of equip- 
 ment ; and in his endeavours to accomplish 
 this object, spent not only the whole of his 
 personal property, but likewise the sums which 
 he had received by way of presents from his 
 sister, the Empress-mother of Russia, and from 
 the Emperor Alexander. Nor was all sufficient 
 to prevent him from involving himself in pecu- 
 niary difficulties. It is true, that he had one 
 reasonable motive which induced him to make 
 these outlays ; the King, at a review that took 
 place in Silesia, was so struck with the excel- 
 lent appearance of his kinsman's troops, that he 
 exclaimed in a loud tone : — " My cousin, I 
 must do you the justice to say that your regi- 
 ment is the most beautiful, the best mounted, 
 and the best exercised in my service ; and in 
 order to afford you some recompense, I hereby 
 nominate you its proprietor after the death of 
 its actual chief. General Dolft." The Duke, 
 full of pride and satisfaction at this public 
 promise of his Majesty, employed all his means 
 to embellish his corps still farther, with the full 
 hope and confidence that, either in a few years, 
 or in some arrangement with the present in- 
 cumbent, he should find himself its positive 
 ri master.
 
 310 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Never was a wiser injunction given than 
 " Put not your trust in princes." A few 
 months only had elapsed, when General Dolft 
 expired, and the King of Prussia scrupled not 
 to bestow his regiment upon another indivi- 
 dual, overlooking entirely the honest claim of 
 Duke Henry, who, on receiving the intelli- 
 gence, forgot all former relations between him- 
 self and the oblivious monarch, and thought of 
 nothing but the act of injustice wherewith he 
 had been thus visited. Repairing to Berlin, 
 he demanded an audience of the King ; but his 
 Majesty, for reasons which the reader will not 
 be backward in conceiving, did not judge it 
 convenient to grant one. Not a whit intimi- 
 dated, the Duke absolutely forced his entrance 
 into the palace, penetrated to the royal closet, 
 and reproaching his Majesty in no measured 
 terms, concluded by demanding his conge, ex- 
 claiming that he would no longer serve a 
 sovereign who had so little respect for his 
 pledged word. 
 
 Kings cannot well brook defiance at any 
 time, and least of all when conscious they have 
 acted unworthily. Frederick William, there- 
 fore, took refuge in anger from a sense of his 
 own injustice. He retired, and gave orders for 
 the dismissal of Prince Henry from his service;
 
 PRINCE henry's difficulties. 311 
 
 at the same time enjoining the Governor of 
 Silesia to take measures for compelling the 
 Prince to make good all his pecuniary engage- 
 ments, which amounted to the sum of 30,000 or 
 40,000 crowns, chiefly expended in the vain 
 labour of remounting and otherwise beautify- 
 ing his favourite corps. These orders of Fre- 
 derick William were so scrupulously fulfilled, 
 that an execution was actually carried into the 
 chateau inhabited by the Duke and his family, 
 and levied even upon the very wardrobe of 
 his wife. 
 
 It may readily be imagined, that this Prince, 
 of a strong, and at the same time, sensitive 
 character, uncle of one emperor and brother-in- 
 law of another, was quite indignant at this 
 treatment, and no sooner became aware of it, 
 than he gave the civil officers so smart a recep- 
 tion as to incapacitate them from executing 
 their purpose. 
 
 An arrangement endued, by virtue whereof 
 the debts of this Prince were gradually can- 
 celled, being made chargeable ..upon the various 
 branches of his estate ; and he retired, in the year 
 1799, to Hamburgh, with his wife and family. 
 When, at a subsequent period, the Empress- 
 mother of Russia conceived a wish that her 
 brother should become reconciled to the King,
 
 312 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 and re-enter his service, she charged the author, 
 on his return from St. Petersburgh, with the 
 expression of this desire to the illustrious par- 
 ties concerned, and he is happy to say, that the 
 result was most fortunate, and honourable to 
 the conciliating disposition of his Prussian Ma- 
 jesty. In the year 1805, the King invited 
 Duke Henry to come to Berlin on the occasion 
 of Prince Ferdinand's birth-day, and received 
 and treated him with the same condescension 
 and amenity as if their amicable relations had 
 never been suspended. 
 
 Prince Henry was married at Oels, in pre- 
 sence of his two brothers, to Mademoiselle 
 Caroline Alexi, daughter of the director of the 
 theatre in that town, on whom he settled a 
 pension, upon condition of his quitting the 
 country. The Duke had, by this marriage, 
 four or five children. In 1807, conformably to 
 the orders of Napoleon, he retired into the king- 
 dom of Wurtemberg, and fixed his residence in 
 his chateau of Wiblingen, near Ulm.
 
 MISSION OF MAKSHAL DUIIOC. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Apologetic Mission of Marshal Duroc, — Influence of the Queen 
 of Prussia over her husband — Her attachment to the Rus- 
 sian Imperial Family. — Manoeuvres of Duroc and theFrench 
 ambassador at Berlin, to counteract the influence of the 
 Queen. — Mademoiselle Augusta Schultz. — Plot formed 
 against her by the Prussian oflicers of the garrison. — 
 Interposition of the King in her favour. — Intrigues found- 
 ed upon the latter circumstance. — Interview between the 
 King and Augusta in the gardens of Charlottenbourg. — 
 Rumours consequent thereupon, — Remonstrance of the 
 Queen. — Her Majesty's precipitate departure for Pyrmont. 
 — Personal sketches of the Prussian Royal Family. — 
 Prince Louis Ferdinand, and his fate. — Prince Augustus 
 and Madame Wichman. — Napoleon and the Duchess of 
 Saxe Weimar. — Mission of the Canon Tam. — First entry of 
 Bonaparte into Berlin. — His reception of the Prussian 
 ministers. — Cause of the rupture between France and 
 Prussia, which was followed by these events- — Unrelent- 
 ing hatred of Frederick William to Napoleon, and his. 
 equally earnest aflfection for the Emperor Alexander, 
 
 In the year 180.5, Marshal Duroc was sent 
 by the French Emperor to Berhn, charged with 
 apologies for the violation of the Prussian ter-
 
 314 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ritory by Marshal Beniadotte, who, on his way 
 from Boulogne, had marched his corps d'armde, 
 without permission asked, through the duchies 
 of Anspach and Bayreuth, in order to rejoin, 
 with greater promptitude, his Imperial master, 
 who was with his troops in Swabia. 
 
 This same Marshal Duroc, as well as the 
 French ambassador at Berlin, perceived that 
 Frederick- William was greatly influenced by 
 her Majesty, the Queen, and as the latter was 
 known to be very much attached to the Em- 
 peror of Russia, and the whole of that august 
 family, these two Frenchmen resolved to occa- 
 sion, if possible, a little rupture between the 
 King and Queen, for the purpose of counteract- 
 ing this influence. However difficult this 
 might seem at first sight, they had still hopes 
 of effecting it through intrigues of some kind 
 or other ; and after waiting some time for cir- 
 cumstances to arise favourable to their scheme, 
 they decided on taking advantage of the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 Mademoiselle Augusta Schultz, daughter of 
 the musician of that name, first-dancer at the 
 opera of Berlin, a young female at once beauti- 
 ful and skilful in her art, had excited the disap- 
 probation of the officers of the garrison, in con- 
 sequence of shutting the doors of her house
 
 MADEMOISELLE SCHULTZ. 315 
 
 against their intrusive visits. In order to re- 
 venge this supposed affront, the high-spirited 
 officers determined to hiss the poor girl the 
 next time she should appear in public ; but, 
 that every thing might proceed with due order 
 and precision, the meditated step was prefaced 
 by addressing a letter on the subject to Made- 
 moiselle, in the name of the whole regiment — 
 but without signature. 
 
 The poor young woman, who was generally 
 beloved in Berlin for her mild and respectable 
 conduct, was so terrified at these menaces that 
 she knew not how to act, in order to ward off 
 an affront that seemed to her as inevitable as 
 ruinous. On communicating with her friends, 
 they counselled her to seek the interference of 
 the Queen, who, they said, would doubtless ex- 
 tend protection to an accomplished and vir- 
 tuous female. She accordingly repaired to the 
 royal palace : but, on presenting herself as a 
 candidate for admission, mistook the directions 
 that were given, and instead of pursuing her 
 way to the apartments of the Queen, found 
 herself suddenly in the presence of Frederick- 
 William himself. His Majesty, after having 
 heard her story, inquired, — " When do you 
 next propose to perform ?" She replied, '* The 
 day after to-morrow. Sire, in the ballet of ' Le
 
 31() ANECDOTES OE EOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Voyage de Cyth^re.' " *' Fear nothing," re- 
 sumed the King, " dance away ; I shall be at 
 the theatre." 
 
 Mademoiselle Schultz, perfectly tranquillized, 
 went and commenced rehearsal and other pre- 
 parations, to enable her to appear with more 
 iclat than ever ; whilst, on the other hand, the 
 gallant officers, ignorant of what had passed, 
 and still more enraged at her neglect of their 
 letter, resolved to pelt her with oranges and 
 rotten apples, if she should have the audacity, 
 as they termed it, to come forward. 
 
 Next morning, the King, attending at the 
 parade, caused all the officers to assemble, and 
 informed them through the commandant of 
 the town, General Gotz, that his INIajesty had 
 been made aware of their mean plot against the 
 opera-dancer, Mademoiselle Schultz, and that 
 he was both surprised and ashamed at it. He 
 ordered that all the officers who were not en- 
 gaged upon duty, should attend the theatre in 
 the evening, when he should himself be pre- 
 sent; and added, that the first among them who 
 should be guilty of interrupting public order in 
 the slightest degree, should be arrested by the 
 ])olice, and punished with the utmost severity. 
 l*articular instructions were jiivcn also to the
 
 INTERPOSITION OF THE KING. 317 
 
 President of Police, and every precaution taken 
 to prevent the least disturbance. 
 
 On the night of the ballet, the King and 
 all his family went to the theatre. The com- 
 mandant of the town, Baron de Gotz, and Ge- 
 neral Euslen, were in their boxes, and the chief 
 police-officers occupied one near to that of the 
 King. During the overture to the ballet, his 
 Majesty, contrary to his usual custom, showed 
 himself conspicuously to the audience; the 
 curtain rose, and a few minutes after, Made- 
 moiselle Schultz made her entrance : but in- 
 stead of hisses, instead of a regular bombard- 
 ment, she was received with universal applause, 
 in which the King himself condescended to 
 join. Such is the omnipotence of royalty ! 
 
 The intrigue of the Prussian officers thus 
 fell to the ground; not so, however, that of 
 the French authorities, which arose, phcenix- 
 like, from its ashes. They paid court to Made- 
 moiselle Schultz, whom they instructed to 
 think that the King was smitten with her 
 charms, adducing as a proof of this, the ad- 
 venture of the theatre. In short, they led this 
 simple-minded young woman to beheve that 
 the time was arrived when her fortune was in 
 I her own hands, if she chose to grasp it. In a
 
 318 ANECDOTES OF FOJIEIGN COURTS. 
 
 subsequent interview, they persuaded her that 
 she might reasonably aspire to be the King's 
 avowed mistress, and would, in all probability, 
 be elevated to the rank of the nobility, and 
 created baroness, countess, or, in a word, what- 
 ever she chose, if she would follow the advice 
 of her friends. As she was poor, they supplied 
 her with money, in order that she might be 
 enabled to take an airing occasionally in the 
 gardens of Charlottenbourg, and thence be 
 under the eye of the King. Every thing was 
 well arranged, and it turned out that, quite ac- 
 cidentally, she was one day met by his Majesty, 
 who, recognizing his old acquaintance, began 
 to converse with her — no doubt, respecting 
 matters of the most general and indifferent 
 kind. The plot was now in a state to explode. 
 Two days after, Berlin resounded with the 
 rimiour that IVIademoiselle Augusta Schultz 
 was declared the regular mistress of the King ; 
 that she was to have a chateau at Charlotten- 
 bourg and another at Potsdam, besides a town 
 house ; and the poor girl, who was, despite her 
 charms, a little destitute of understanding, re- . 
 garded all as matter-of-fact, and reckoned in 
 consequence upon future grandeur. 
 
 Kumouif of tins nature soon reached tlie 
 ears of the Queen. Her INIajesty was not slow
 
 INTRIGUES OF THE FRENCH. 319 
 
 in recollecting the interest which her consort 
 had taken in the concerns of this poor girl, nor 
 was she sujSered to remain ignorant of the im- 
 portant fact, that the King had met her in his 
 promenade, and had entered into conversation 
 with her. 
 
 Her Majesty, fully convinced that these 
 rencontres were nothing more than accidental, 
 and that the floating rumours were merely sup- 
 positions destitute of any foundation, believed » 
 nevertheless, that it was her duty to speak to 
 her august spouse, and to warn him of what 
 the public of every class augured respecting all 
 these incidents. 
 
 As it happened, the King, instead of being 
 piqued at her representations, treated the 
 Queen's story with nonchalance, laughed there- 
 at, and appeared to regard it simply as matter 
 of amusement. It was quite otherwise on the 
 part of his spouse, who viewed the affair in the 
 most serious light ; and it is generally sup- 
 posed that this little altercation was the first 
 which these illustrious persons had undergone 
 since their union. 
 
 The discussion, in all probability, must have 
 been rather of a sharp nature, since the Queen, 
 who never either travelled without the com- 
 pany of her spouse, or abandoned her childrenj
 
 320 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 departed alone and in haste for the baths of 
 Pyrmont. But, contrary to all expectation, the 
 King, getting scent of these unworthy intrigues, 
 and thinking, in consequence, that his wife 
 had some cause to feel hurt, proceeded in- 
 stantly to rejoin her at Pyrmont, and brought 
 her back again to the metropolis. 
 
 The Prussian police penetrated all this 
 scheme instituted by the French envoys, and 
 unveiled its secret agents, several of whom 
 were denounced by INlademoiselle Schultz her- 
 self, who received a sharp reprimand, quitted 
 the theatre, and some time after married a mer- 
 chant at Hamburgh. 
 
 The good understanding between this illus- 
 trious couple was never after interrupted, until 
 the sorrowful moment when death snatched 
 away her JNlajesty the Queen, whose virtues 
 and grandeur of soul would have done honour 
 to the proudest throne in the world. 
 
 It is known, that the brother of the great 
 Frederick left two sons, the youngest of whom. 
 Prince Ferdinand, remained with all his family 
 at Berlin during the occupation of the king- 
 dom by the French ; and this venerable indi- 
 vidual deported himself the whole time in a 
 manner so sage and circumspect, that there was
 
 PRINCE LOUIS FERDINAND. 321 
 
 never the least complaint raised against him by 
 the French authorities. 
 
 This Prince had three childi-en, Louis Fer- 
 dinand, Augustus, and a princess, who married 
 a member of the house of Radzivil, remarkable 
 at once for his handsome person and his po- 
 verty. 
 
 Prince Louis Ferdinand, the first-born, was 
 proprietor of an infantry regiment cantoned at 
 Magdeburg and Breslau ; he was the most ac- 
 complished of all the Royal Family, and his 
 amiability made him beloved and admired by 
 every one who approached him. Unfortu- 
 nately, however, he was always backward in 
 money matters, being kept poor by inordinate 
 fondness for pleasures. He had five or six 
 children by one of his mistresses ; and in the 
 full zest of enjoyments of various kinds, he 
 altogether overlooked the increasing demands 
 upon his coffers. In 1798, he came to Ham- 
 burgh, where he played sundry strange pranks 
 with a certain Prince and Princess Poninsky. 
 The King, informed of all, despatched Colonel 
 de Massenbach to Hamburgh to aiTCst Louis 
 Ferdinand and place him in confinement at 
 Magdeburg. As the Prince was exceedingly 
 precipitate in character, they were rather fear- 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ful of proceeding to extremities with him ; but 
 at the time of Colonel Massenbach's arrival, his 
 Serene Highness was in bed — and not alone. 
 He received his unwelcome visitor with the 
 greatest coolness, as he did also the commands 
 of the King, simply requesting the Colonel to 
 allow him two days' reprieve to arrange his 
 affairs, at the termination of which, he followed 
 his conductor to Magdeburg, and awaited re- 
 signedly the ultimate orders of the King, 
 
 Prince Louis Ferdinand cherished at all 
 times the most bitter animosity against the 
 King; and when, in September 1806, he soli- 
 cited a command in the Prussian army, then in 
 march, his INIajesty, acting somewhat in the 
 spirit of David toward Uriah, attached him to 
 the advanced-guard, where he was killed in an 
 affair of out-posts upon the borders of the Saal, 
 in the very flower of his age. 
 
 His brother. Prince Augustus, was likewise 
 in the military service, and lived publicly with 
 Mademoiselle Wichman, daughter of the sculp- 
 tor of that name, by whom he had five or six 
 children. At the solicitation of his mother. 
 Princess Ferdinanda, the King raised Mademoi- 
 selle Wichman to the dignity of the peerage, 
 under the title of Baroness, with remainder to 
 her descendants.
 
 THE PRINCESS DE RADZIVIL. 323 
 
 The Princess de Radzivil, only daughter of 
 Prince Ferdinand, was beloved, not only by 
 the Queen and Court, but generally by all 
 classes of the inhabitants of Berlin. She had 
 a large family, and her husband being poor, 
 while, at the same time, to keep up his rank as 
 cousin to the King, he was compelled to live 
 in an expensive way ; he hence grew much em- 
 barrassed in his circumstances, and it was by 
 no means rare to encounter in his antichamber 
 landreuters, or bailiffs. The nobility of the 
 metropolis were accustomed to attribute this 
 straitened condition of the Prince's pecuni- 
 ary matters to the narrowness of his father-in- 
 law, who would not assist him with a single 
 crown beyond the annual sum settled in the 
 contract of marriage, as his daughter's dowry ; 
 whilst the King, knowing that his fair cou- 
 sin's father was extremely rich, declined con- 
 tributing any thing for their relief. 
 
 After the battle of Jena, Napoleon proceed- 
 ed to Weimar. Entering the palace of the 
 reigning Duke, who was then attached to the 
 Prussian cause, and commanding one of the 
 corps d'arm^e of Frederick-William ; he found 
 the Duchess, at the head of her little court, 
 drawn out with all due ceremony to receive him. 
 Napoleon, without exhibiting the least mark of 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 complaisance, said to the Grand-duchess, in 
 a rouffh tone, " Make me some tea." Her Se- 
 rene Highness, at once surprised and indignant 
 at this ungallant reception, turned to one of 
 her chamberlains, and requested him to order 
 tea to be served to his Majesty the Emperor. 
 
 Napoleon, recollecting afterwards that he 
 had been wanting in courtesy to this lady, 
 went to pay her a visit, and in the conversa- 
 tion which ensued, remarked both spirit and 
 judgment in the Duchess. Asking her how it 
 came that her husband was so imprudent as to 
 serve in the army of his enemy, and thereby to 
 expose thus his family, his country, and his 
 subjects to the evils of war, the Duchess re- 
 plied with great candour, " Sire, my husband 
 has been in the service of the King of Prussia 
 ever since his infancy. We owe every thing 
 to that sovereign : what would you have 
 thought of the Duke, Sire, if he had aban- 
 doned the Prussian cause at the moment when 
 the King had most need of his services ?" The 
 Emperor was charmed with these representa- 
 tions. He gave orders that, as much as pos- 
 sible, the state of Weimar, and especially the 
 residence of its Sovereign, should be respected 
 and spared. After having taken leave of her 
 Serene Highness, he said to Marshal Berthier, 

 
 INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCESS. 325 
 
 " If the Duke of Saxe Weimar is animated by 
 the same principles and sentiments as this ami- 
 able woman, I regret deeply having given him 
 any cause to complain of me." 
 
 Soon after this same battle of Jena, the 
 King of Prussia, being on the road from Cus- 
 trin to Konigsberg, summoned to him the cele- 
 brated canon Tam, who then dwelt at Pots- 
 dam, and lived in close amity with the cabinet 
 counsellor M. Beyme, and who, besides, had 
 been several times introduced to the presence 
 of the Royal Family. As the canon spoke 
 French fluently, His Majesty charged him to 
 go and solicit a presentation to the Emperor 
 Napoleon, and request, in the name of the 
 King, the victor's clemency in behalf of the 
 Prussian capital and its unfortunate inhabit- 
 ants. The canon accordingly sought and ob- 
 tained an interview with the all-powerful Cor- 
 sican, whom he came up with in a little se- 
 cluded village near Wittenberg, in Saxony. 
 
 Napoleon listened complacently to the repre- 
 sentations of this envoy, and gave orders in his 
 presence to Marshal Berthier, that the corps 
 d'armee destined for the occupation of Berlin 
 should be diminished in number, and that the 
 commander-in-chief should be instructed to 
 visit the necessary evils of war upon the people
 
 326 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 of the capital as lightly as circumstances per- 
 mitted. 
 
 The canon Tam, delighted at the success of 
 his embassy, returned in haste to communicate 
 the same to his Prussian Majesty, who, at once 
 affected and reassured, continued his route for 
 Eastern Prussia, always preceded by the Queen 
 and her children. 
 
 This same diplomatist Tam has for several 
 years past quitted the service of Prussia, and 
 is now engaged in that of the King of Eng- 
 land, holding a commission in the 60th re- 
 giment. 
 
 When Napoleon made his first entry into 
 Berlin, by the Brandenburgh gate, at the head 
 of a numerous staff, and amidst an immense 
 crowd, which pressed forward on all sides to 
 obtain a glance at the hero of the day ; a cry 
 arose of " Long live the Emperor !" but Na- 
 poleon, feeling annoyed, instead of compli- 
 mented, by these vmmeaning acclamations, 
 which, in truth, proceeded chiefly from the 
 agents of the police, said aloud to one of his 
 aides-de-camp, " Silence that man !" 
 
 Arrived at his chateau, he found, amongst 
 others, the Prussian ministers Hatzfelt, Voss, 
 and Beyme, who had remained in Berlin, and 
 formed, previously to the entry of the French,
 
 NAPOLEON ENTERS BERLIN. 327 
 
 a sort of provisional government. As they 
 knew nothing of the mission, akeady alluded 
 to, of the canon Tarn, they began sedulously to 
 recommend to the favourable notice of the Em- 
 peror, the " good city" and citizens of Berlin. 
 Napoleon, having heard them out, rejoined, in 
 a tone of severity, " It is you, gentlemen, who 
 are the occasion of this war ; you alone do I 
 accuse ; your King, I am persuaded, 'would 
 never have undertaken it but for your insinua- 
 tions. You have caused prayers to be offered 
 in the churches, and songs to be chanted in 
 the theatres, recommending the war with Na- 
 poleon, and calling it a just and a proper war. 
 Well ! you have had it, and here I am, you 
 fools ! 40,000 French soldiers shall be quar- 
 tered for three months at Berlin, and you Avill 
 afterwards be able to tell me whether or not 
 this war is proper. Hence ! begone !" 
 
 This harsh reception did not well agree with 
 the promises made by the victorious Emperor 
 to the canon Tam, only a few days previously ; 
 it is, however, not the less matter of fact, and 
 can be vouched both by the canon himself, who 
 is now in London, and by Marshal Victor, who 
 at that moment was in the presence of Na- 
 poleon. 
 
 It is a well-established fact, familiar to all
 
 328 ANECDOTES OE FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 who had the honour of any intercourse vvitli 
 the Prussian King and Royal Family, or with 
 his ministers of that period, that every effort 
 was previously used to avert the necessity of a 
 breach with the French government. Spite of 
 the representations which the King often re- 
 ceived from the English Cabinet, more particu- 
 larly in 1804, when his Britannic Majesty sent 
 a great Embassy to Berlin (of which, the la- 
 mented Mr. Canning made a part) : spite of 
 the renewed solicitations of the Emperors of 
 Russia and Austria, who exliausted every art 
 to win over Frederick- William ; the King re- 
 mained thoughout firm to his pacific princi- 
 ples, and determined not to hazard the well- 
 being of his people, and probably the safety of 
 his throne, to serve the views or gratify the 
 splenetic disposition of others. Thus, notwith- 
 standing the army of Eastern Prussia, which 
 was on a war establishment, received orders to 
 put itself in march for Berlin, Frederick- Wil- 
 liam would in all probability not have depart- 
 ed from the line of conduct he had traced out, 
 had not the Emperor Napoleon committed the 
 great injustice, as has already appeared, of vio- 
 lating the Prussian territory. 
 
 A dispatch announcing this circumstance 
 was sent to the metropolis by General Tauen-
 
 CONDUCT OF EERNADOTTE. 329 
 
 zein, (commander-in-chief of the Duchies of 
 Anspach and Bayreuth,) wherein every detail 
 was given of the offensive transaction, which 
 Bernadotte had considerably aggravated by his 
 hauteur and menaces. The King was so sur- 
 prised and so disconcerted upon receiving in- 
 telligence of this unfair proceeding on the part 
 of a prince avowedly his friend, that he was 
 unwilling for some time to accord it full cre- 
 dence : he commissioned an officer of the ord- 
 nance to go to the spot and bring a correct 
 account of the whole affair; but scarce had 
 this individual departed on his mission, before 
 a second dispatch arrived from General Tauen- 
 zein, announcing that Bernadotte had com- 
 pelled him to retire, and had passed with all 
 his division to rejoin Napoleon at Augsbourg. 
 
 It will be readily imagined that the two 
 sovereigns, Alexander and Francis, as well as 
 the English ministry, knew how to profit by 
 this ill-timed occurrence. They blew the inci- 
 pient sparks of anger and resentment enter- 
 tained by Frederick- William into a flame ; 
 they dwelt upon the perfidy of this step, and 
 the abject spirit which would be manifested by 
 submitting to it ; whilst, on the other hand. 
 Napoleon, aware that this would be the policy 
 of the coalesced monarchs, commissioned JMar-
 
 330 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 shal Duroc, as we have already seen, to convey 
 an autograph letter from him to the King of 
 Prussia, to make excuses and explain the mo- 
 tives which had induced him to commit this 
 breach of good faith. 
 
 But his Prussian IMajesty, after reading the 
 letter, and giving audience to Marshal Duroc, 
 instead of being satisfied thereby, became still 
 more irritated, and commenced a reply in the 
 following terms : 
 
 " That his Majesty could not help observdng, 
 that the motives and reasons alleged in the 
 letter of the Emperor Napoleon to excuse his 
 violation of the Prussian territory, in the mid- 
 dle of peace and of a union most perfect, are 
 still more offensive than the violation itself: 
 that his Majesty, after experiencing such treat- 
 ment at the hands of the French Emperor, 
 should feel called on to renew his relations 
 with the neighbouring powers, in order to con- 
 cert in common measures calculated to guaran- 
 tee his preservation in future from similar 
 vexations ; and that he would lose no time in 
 forwarding his ultimatum to the Emperor Na- 
 poleon, wherein he would state on what con- 
 ditions pacific and amicable relations may con- 
 tinue to exist between his Majesty and the 
 French nation."
 
 FOKMIDABLE PREPARATIONS OF PRUSSIA. 331 
 
 We have already seen the result of the mis- 
 sion wherewith Haugwitz had been charged 
 by the Prussian monarch ; but, notwithstand- 
 ing the armies of the two Emperors had been 
 completely defeated at the battle of Austerlitz, 
 and notwithstanding the political situation of 
 these sovereigns became daily more and more 
 critical, the King of Prussia persisted in the 
 sentiments of animosity which had now been 
 awakened in his bosom against his former ally ; 
 and, urged on by his ministers, his great ambi- 
 tion was to bring into the field an army more 
 formidable than any previously under the com- 
 mand of the Prussian government, even in the 
 days of Frederick the Great. Every prepara- 
 tion, indeed, was made for a conflict of the 
 most furious description. 
 
 The indignation aroused in the mind of Fre- 
 derick-William by the imprudent conduct of 
 Bernadotte, or rather of Napoleon, was never 
 after subdued. Neither the disastrous termi- 
 nation of this war, nor the friendly conferences 
 between the sovereigns at Tilsit, after the bat- 
 tle of Friedland, nor the delicate and gene- 
 rous behaviour of Napoleon toward the Queen ; 
 nothing, in fact, could reproduce that sentiment 
 of friendship which he once entertained for the 
 Emperor of the French. All the transactions?
 
 332 ANECDOTES OF TOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 and all the measures, apparently amicable, 
 which subsequently went on at the cabinet of 
 Berlin ; as well as the convention of Neu- 
 brandebourg, in the duchy of Strelitz, (in 1812,) 
 when the French armies were making towards 
 the frontiers of Russia, — all were the effects 
 either of constraint or fear : for it was the uni- 
 versal conviction in the metropolis, that in case 
 his Prussian Majesty had not adhered at the 
 latter epoch to the propositions of Bonaparte, 
 Marshal Davoust would have commenced his 
 operations by seizing upon Priegnitz and Prus- 
 sian Pomerania, in order to reach with greater 
 facility the frontiers of the great Northern Em- 
 pire, whilst the grand army would in like man- 
 ner have taken possession of the three marches 
 of Brandenbourg, in order to penetrate through 
 them to the borders of the Vistula. 
 
 The justness of these reflections is in some 
 measure illustrated by the exploits and conduct 
 of General Gorck, who commanded the auxi- 
 liary forces of Eastern Prussia, and Avho, on the 
 occasion of Napoleon's overthrow in Russia 
 and disastrous retreat from Moscow, ranged 
 himself on the side of the triumphant party, 
 and contributed with hearty zeal to destroy 
 utterly the armies of the French emperor, with
 
 EMPEROR Alexander's conduct. 333 
 
 whom, only a few months before, an amicable 
 convention had been concluded by his sove- 
 reign. 
 
 The Author cannot forbear remarkins" in this 
 place, that the ultimate safety of the Prussian 
 monarchy, and perhaps of the whole of Europe, 
 was in a great degree owing to the friendship 
 originated between the Emperor of Russia and 
 Frederick- William at their interviews at Mem el, 
 and afterwards at Berlin, in 1805. It was owing 
 alone to the zealous interposition of the former 
 potentate that Napoleon was prevailed on to 
 leave his Prussian Majesty in possession of the 
 greater part of his dominions. These affection- 
 ate ties were also strengthened through the in- 
 timacy which the Queen had contracted with 
 the Emperor Alexander and the Grand-duke 
 Constantine; and still more during the six 
 weeks' sojourn of the Prussian Royal Family at 
 St. Petersburgh. Finally, the two sovereigns 
 became so fondly attached to each other, that 
 no consideration whatever was sufficiently pow- 
 erful to disunite them. 
 
 To this may be added, that the Prince de 
 Hardenberg likewise contributed, by his sage 
 and prudent conduct, by his open-heartedness 
 and persuasive manners, with various confer-
 
 3i^'i ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ences between the sovereigns, and still more, 
 by his eloquence at the general congress, to 
 ameliorate on all occasions the lot of his 
 sovereign and the august 'Royal Family, as 
 well as to maintain the honour of the Prussian 
 crown.
 
 DEATH OF THE QUEEN OF PRUSSIA. 335 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Misrepresentations respecting the death of the Queen of 
 Prussia. — Authentic account of her indisposition, and its 
 fatal result. — Her Majesty's last moments. — Her inter- 
 ment in a chapel built for the purpose at Charlottenbourg. 
 — The Grand-duke Constantine of Russia. — His popu- 
 larity at the Court of Berlin. — A scene at the Opera. — 
 Mademoiselle Hentchel. — Her beauty, and the intimation 
 of a visit to her from Constantine. — Preparations for 
 his Imperial Highness's reception. — The Grand-duke's 
 disappointment, and precipitate retreat. — Departure of 
 Major Schill from Berlin, in 1805. — Interviews between 
 him and the Author. — His presage of his own fate. — The 
 female patriot, IMadame Obermann. — Biographical sketch 
 of her Royal Highness the present Duchess of Cumber- 
 land. 
 
 The public in general, and more especially 
 the malignant or ignorant part thereof, have 
 attributed the fatal disorder and premature 
 death of the late Queen of Prussia to some 
 sinister cause. This unworthy insinuation will 
 be sufficiently disproved by the following rela-
 
 336 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 tion, which was comraimicated to the Author 
 by M. Heym, physician in ordinary to her 
 Majesty, and by whom she was never quitted 
 during the whole course of her malady. 
 
 In the month of June 1810, the Queen, 
 finding herself a little indisposed, in order to 
 enjoy a purer and more salubrious air, quitted 
 Charlottenburg, and, accompanied by the King, 
 repaired to the summer residence of her fa- 
 ther, the Duke of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, at 
 Hohenzieritz, one hundred and twenty miles 
 from Berlin. The King returned to the me- 
 tropolis, and received every day an account of 
 the health of his august spouse, as well from 
 herself as from the physicians in attendance. 
 These successive tidings, although they ful- 
 filled not the wishes and hopes of his Majesty, 
 were, on the other hand, by no means of an 
 alarming nature; until, on the 18th of July, a 
 courier extraordinary arrived at Berlin, by 
 whom M. Heym announced to his Majesty, 
 that the illness of the Queen had assumed an 
 alarming character, and that his Majesty was 
 implored, if he was desirous of having a last 
 interview with his illustrious consort, to repair 
 with the utmost possible promptitude to Ho- 
 henzieritz. 
 
 Frederick- William, penetrated with the
 
 DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 337 
 
 most sincere and profound grief, departed from 
 Berlin the same evening, leaving orders that 
 his children should follow in the course of a 
 few hours. After a very rapid journey, he ar- 
 rived at six o'clock in the morning, at the 
 chateau, where he was received by the Duke, 
 his father-in-law, and the sons of that poten- 
 tate ; all plunged in the deepest affliction. His 
 Majesty immediately entered the apartment of 
 the Queen, who met him with a tender and 
 complacent smile. She expressed her surprise 
 at his speedy arrival. " Am I then," said she, 
 pressing his hands in her own — " am I so ill, 
 that you have been obliged to travel all night 
 to see me ?" The King, in order to tranquil- 
 lize her, answered, that he had been induced to 
 travel by night, in order to avoid the extreme 
 heat. The august couple had been alone toge- 
 ther for the space of an hour, when the Queen 
 was suddenly seized with strong convulsions. 
 Her family, and the physician in waiting, ap- 
 proached the bed of the sufferer, to receive 
 her last sighs ; but regaining her conscious- 
 ness, and seeing the King, together with her 
 father and brothers, gathered around, she took 
 her husband's hand, and made a sign for the 
 rest to v/ithdraw. A few minutes after, she 
 said to his Majesty, " I am indeed very ill, 
 VOL. I. z
 
 338 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 and perceive that my end approaches." She 
 then made sundry requests, all of which the 
 King ])romised strictly to fulfil ; and scarcely 
 had the royal patient manifested these her 
 wishes, when the agonies of death supervened. 
 The King called aloud for assistance : his kins- 
 men and attendants re-entered ; and the 
 Queen, after having earnestly pronounced the 
 name of her beloved husband, rendered up her 
 soul to God, in the arms of her inconsolable 
 spouse. 
 
 It is said that, among other final requests, 
 the Queen conjured her husband not to marry 
 a second time ; but, by abstaining from so do- 
 ing, to honour her memory ; that she begged 
 also not to be interred in the royal cemetery, 
 but that a chapel might be erected over her re- 
 mains in an alley of weeping willows, in the 
 gardens of Charlottenburg. 
 
 The King, quitting this melancholy scene, 
 descended into the grounds attached to the 
 chateau, in a state impossible to be described ; 
 and while he was almost suffocated with sobs, 
 his children arriving from Berlin, and seeing 
 their father in the garden, requested permission 
 of him to have access to their mother. *' You 
 have no mother!" exclaimed the bereft hus- 
 band, weeping hysterically : " you are orphans:
 
 FUNERAL SOLEMNITIES. 339 
 
 we have lost all that was most dear to us in the 
 world !" 
 
 Next day, after giving orders respecting the 
 conveyance of the Queen's remains, Frederick- 
 William departed from this place of desolation, 
 and returned to Berlin, where he continued six 
 days shut up with his children. 
 
 Directions were issued at Berlin, not only 
 by the military governor, but by the civil au- 
 thorities also, respecting the arrangement of the 
 funeral solemnities: and on the 2!8th of July, 
 towards, two o'clock in the afternoon, the 
 mournful procession reached the Brandenbourg 
 gate, preceded and followed by regiments of 
 the body-guard, and of cuirassiers. Words 
 cannot express the deep affliction and grief 
 wherein all the inhabitants of the metropolis 
 appeared to be plunged, when the mortal re- 
 mains of this adored Queen were brought 
 amongst them. They were received by his 
 Majesty and the royal family at the foot of the 
 grand staircase of the palace ; and, after lying- 
 in state three days and three nights, were 
 transferred to the church appertaining to the 
 court, until the chapel was completed at Char- 
 lottenbourg, according to the last wishes of the 
 deceased. 
 
 A great deal of misrepresentation has taken 
 
 z 2
 
 340 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 place respecting the conduct of the Grand- 
 duke Constantine, during his sojourn in Ber- 
 lin, in the year 1805. On this subject, the 
 Author feels himself enabled to speak with con- 
 fidence ; inasmuch as he was witness to many 
 of the circumstances thus mistated. 
 
 The Grand-duke visited Berlin for the pur- 
 pose of seeing if the necessary activity was on 
 foot to prepare for the war of the coalition. 
 Whilst there, his Imperial Highness captivated 
 all hearts by his amiable manners, attracting 
 particularly the esteem and good opinion of the 
 Queen, who was delighted with his vivacity, 
 loved his society, and appeared with him at 
 most of the public places. 
 
 One evening, these illustrious personages 
 were at the opera together ; the Grand-duke, 
 from respect, and according to his usual cus- 
 tom, keeping behind the Queen's chair. Thb 
 ballet was " Armide," in which Mademoiselle 
 Hentchel, among the other performers, distin- 
 guished herself so highly as to receive the loud- 
 est acclamations. Dining the representation, 
 some talk occurred between her INIajesty and 
 her Imperial companion, touching the pecu- 
 liar talent of this dancer; and as her Ma- 
 jesty seemed to prefer Mademoiselle Augusta 
 Schultz, (before spoken of,) the Grand-duke,
 
 MME. HENTCIIEL AND CONSTANTINE. 341 
 
 who had been much fascinated by the rival 
 performer, took her part earnestly, and, in the 
 little debate which ensued, used somewhat too 
 much volubility, and elevated his voice inso- 
 much that he became audible in the pit. Four 
 individuals, who found or fancied themselves 
 annoyed by this, had the indecorum to attempt, 
 by hissing, to impose silence on the Queen and 
 the Grand- duke. Her Majesty, indignant at 
 this instance of presumption, communicated it 
 to the President of Police, who immediately 
 took steps calculated to render those fastidious 
 persons more respectful in future towards their 
 sovereign. 
 
 Constantine, quite intoxicated v/ith the 
 beauty of Mademoiselle Hentchel, and charmed 
 by the talent and grace which she displayed 
 in the i-epresentation of " Armide," sent word 
 to the young actress that in two days he pro- 
 posed to pay her a visit " after leaving the thea- 
 tre." Mademoiselle Hentchel, who, although 
 extremely handsome, had no great sharpness 
 of apprehension, was quite in raptures at this 
 announcement, placing the anticipated honour 
 of the Grand-duke's visit purely to the ac- 
 count of the ability she had manifested in her 
 profession. She therefore made every prepa- 
 ration to receive this instance of Imperial ho-
 
 342 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 mage in due form. She caused a magnificent 
 collation to be provided, and invited several 
 persons to meet and welcome his Highness ; 
 amonsrst others the Baron de Mertens and 
 the Author ; and, that no portion of cere- 
 mony should be wanting, she illuminated every 
 step of the staircase that conducted to her 
 apartments. 
 
 At the appointed hour Constantine arrived, 
 and nothing doubting that his intimation had 
 been "properly understood," (although somewhat 
 startled by the lights on the staircase,) he entered 
 the apartments of the fair dansetise, accomipsimed 
 by his aid-de-camp, Colonel Alexandroff, both 
 carefully wrapped in huge cloaks. As soon as 
 Mademoiselle Hentchel came to receive him, 
 the Grand-duke, without the slightest cere- 
 mony, and with his accustomed liveliness of 
 manner, addressed to her a whole string of 
 compliments. He then turned to a harpsicord 
 which stood in the room, and endeavoured to 
 draw a few notes from it ; perceiving which. 
 Mademoiselle Hentchel asked if he would like 
 her to play the overture of the ballet of 
 " Armide," wherewith he had expressed himself 
 so much pleased. Constantine answered in the 
 affirmative ; and, charmed with her powders of 
 execution, grew still more lavish in praise of
 
 LUDICROUS INCIDENT. 348 
 
 his fair enslaver. Indeed, he waxed warmer 
 and warmer in his addresses, and would in all 
 probability have swiftly manifested the real 
 purpose of his visit, had not Mademoiselle pro- 
 posed an adjournment into the next room, 
 wherein refreshments were set forth. The 
 gentlemen complied; but what was his sur- 
 prise and disconcertment, when, on the folding 
 doors being thrown open. Baron de Mertens 
 presented himself, and a whole bevy of com- 
 pany appeared ranged behind him! This re- 
 ception was more than his Highness had bar- 
 gained for. Hastily wishing Mademoiselle Hent- 
 chel good-night, he summoned AlexandrofF, 
 snatched up his cloak, and retired " in the ut- 
 most disorder." In descending the staircase, 
 which they did with great precipitation, the 
 trains of their mantles caught the ropes where- 
 to the lamps were affixed, and down came the 
 whole apparatus ; glasses, and oil, and garlands 
 tumbling in " confusion dire," and with no 
 small uproar, about the feet of the adventurous 
 pair. Having reached the street, they jumped 
 into a coach and disappeared. This incident 
 gave birth to a good deal of raillery, and not a 
 little misrepresentation. 
 
 The circumstances which attended, we may 
 say occasioned, the departure of Major Schill
 
 344 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 from Berlin, have hitherto remained undis- 
 closed. The Author became acquainted with 
 them in a way which will, he thinks, be admitted 
 an authentic one, as he knew the Major inti- 
 mately, and, in truth, took himself a part in the 
 execution of that measure. 
 
 According to the convention of 1808, it was 
 stipulated that the French should evacuate 
 Berlin, which was to be immediately re-occu- 
 pied by the Prussian forces. It was JMajor 
 Schill, who, with his little corps of from four 
 to five thousand men, went to take possession 
 of the capital, in the month of December 1809- 
 Some time after, part of the city authorities, in 
 concert with certain high persons, prevailed on 
 the INlajor to commence a war of partisans 
 against the French wdth his small cotys (Varmee 
 and to march upon Magdebourg, where he was 
 to join an Austrian corps stationed in the envi- 
 rons of that fortress. 
 
 Schill, thus excited, and stimulated moreover 
 by daily reports, that in the country towns and 
 villages his signal and presence were alone want- 
 ing to urge them to insurrection ; — informed 
 likewise that, after a very short interval, he 
 would find himself at the head of twenty thou- 
 sand men, and that even at Magdebourg and in 
 the duchy of Mecklenburgh, all the population
 
 EMBARRASSMENT OF MAJOR SCHII-L. 345 
 
 was animated in his favour, — set at length, in 
 good earnest, about making preparations for a 
 renewal of activity. 
 
 In the midst of his preparations, however, 
 this intrepid soldier did not overlook the pru- 
 dential point of investigating whether the re- 
 ports that were delivered to him were correct. 
 He accordingly despatched emissaries in the 
 directions mentioned, and learned on their re- 
 turn that the facts were diametrically op- 
 posite. Surprised, disappointed, and embar- 
 rassed, he sought the Author, and addressed 
 him as follows : — " My dear friend, affairs are 
 not so encouraging as we have been led to 
 imagine. I have received precise information, 
 and such as 1 can rely on, to the contrary ; 
 however, the prevailing wish seems to be, 
 that I should undertake the enterprise : but I 
 am too sensible of the duty imposed on me, 
 not to hazard wantonly the lives of my brave 
 soldiers. Send me, I pray you, .under some 
 pretext or other, to Konigsberg, where I may, 
 before any step is taken, have an audience of 
 the King." 
 
 The Author replied, that this was beyond his 
 power, since there were certain persons parti- 
 cularly designated to carry communications to 
 and from his Majesty; adding, that every thing
 
 34-6 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 wliich regarded warlike operations was out 
 of liis jurisdiction. He therefore advised the 
 major to consult with the military authori- 
 ties. 
 
 " Well !" rejoined Schill : " but there is 
 another matter equally important — I have no 
 money." " I will do my utmost," replied his 
 interlocutor, '* to procure a supply for you :" 
 and, in the sequel, he succeeded in getting from 
 Madame Obermann the sum of six thousand 
 crowns. 
 
 A few days afterwards, the major came to 
 make his adieux. His air was gay, yet there 
 seemed to lurk underneath an emotion of sor- 
 row and restraint. " It is decided!" exclaimed 
 he : " they are resolved that 1 shall depart. 
 Farewell, my friend ! we shall see each other 
 no more !" — Next morning, under pretext of 
 exercising the troops — for it was necessary to 
 use every precaution, since there was still at 
 Berlin a French military depot — he left the 
 capital never to return. 
 
 The subsequent brief career of this courage- 
 ous and amiable man is pretty generally known. 
 Conducting his little troop in the direction of 
 Magdebourg, he fell in with a Westphalian 
 corps d'ormee : this he engaged ; but being 
 shortly after surrounded by three divisions,
 
 7 
 
 MADAME OBERMANN. 347 
 
 which came from three several points, he was 
 compelled to retire in disorder to Stralsund, 
 where he met his death. Fourteen of his of- 
 ficers, taken prisoners in that town, were con- 
 ducted to Wesel, and there shot. 
 
 The French government was no sooner ap- 
 prised of this event, than they instituted a com- 
 mission to ferret out whether his Prussian Ma- 
 jesty, or his ministers, took any part in the en- 
 terprise of Schill : but they found means effec- 
 tually to conceal the fact, and place the entire 
 onus of this breach of the convention upon the 
 shoulders of the unfortunate major. 
 
 The name of JVIadame Obermann has been 
 more than once mentioned in these Memoirs. 
 She was one of the persons whom the King of 
 Prussia, on his return to his capital after three 
 years' absence, particularly took care to recom- 
 pense. The zeal and activity of this woman, 
 in the cause of her lawful sovereign, are worthy 
 of the most honourable mention, and tend to 
 prove how much an humble individual, and 
 that a female, is able to accomplish, when 
 actuated by pure and ardent feelings. Heed- 
 less of the risk she ran, Madame Obermann 
 had always sums of money ready to be ad- 
 vanced to those who were engaged, openly 
 or secretly, in the service of the King. Her
 
 348 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 hotel resembled the head-quarters of an army, 
 or an established place of conference, rather 
 than a tavern ; and it was through means 
 provided by this spirited woman that expresses 
 were carried from his well-wishers at Berlin 
 to Frederick-William, whether at Konigsberg 
 or at Memel. So much address and cu'cum- 
 spection characterised her proceedings, that, 
 during the whole three years, no individual 
 employed by her was compromised, nor any 
 discovery made even by the watchfid secret 
 police established by the French authorities. 
 Frederick-\Villiam, as has been stated, was 
 fully sensible of this bold and patriotic con- 
 duct on the part of Madame Obermann,' and 
 not only repaid her whatever she had advanced 
 on account of his service, but bestowed upon 
 her the beautiful domain of Lintz, near Bres- 
 lau, in Silesia, of the value of near fourteen 
 thousand pounds sterling. The Author wishes 
 he could add, for the credit of Frederick- Wil- 
 liam, that similar acknowledgements had been 
 made to all those who were distinguished for 
 undeviating zeal and fidehty in his JMajesty's 
 service :— in saying thus much, unfortunately 
 for himself, he speaks feelingly. He is not 
 desirous to vaunt of services undertaken in the 
 honourable spirit of loyalty, stiU, it is but
 
 DUCHESS OF CUMBERLAND. 349 
 
 justice to observe that, thanks to the shameful 
 conduct of certain infamous emploijes of the 
 Prussian police, he has been altogether unre- 
 compensed, and worse than unrecompensed, by 
 the Prussian government. 
 
 The refusal of the late Queen Charlotte of 
 England to receive her daughter-in-law, the 
 spouse of the Duke of Cumberland, is univer- 
 sally known. This princess had previously 
 drawn on herself the dis-esteem of the King 
 of Prussia, whose brother Louis had been her 
 first husband. She was sister to the Queen of 
 Prussia, by whom she appears to have been 
 very tenderly beloved. After the decease of 
 Prince Louis, the Princess Frederica, at a 
 period considered somewhat early, contracted 
 marriage with a member of the house of Solms, 
 at that time captain of a company of Dutch 
 guards, and a remarkably handsome man. 
 This hasty union, from some secret cause, was 
 urged on by the Queen herself. On the cir- 
 cumstances of the case coming to the know- 
 ledge of Frederick- William, he was so indig- 
 nant that he would not consent to see the 
 princess, and still less her new husband : but, 
 in the course of time, the Queen found means 
 so far to mollify his Majesty's resentment, as 
 io procure from him a residence for her sister.
 
 350 AN i:C DOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 together with an increase of the pension en- 
 joyed by her as widow of one of the royal 
 princes. By this second union, the princess 
 had five or six children, which, as well as 
 their mother, are said to have been recom- 
 mended by his wife, upon her death-bed, to 
 the protection of the Prussian monarch. 
 
 After the decease of the Prince of Sohns, 
 the Princess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 
 entered, for the third time, into " the holy 
 bands of matrimony" with his Royal High- 
 ness the Duke of Cumberland — a union which 
 is well known to have been offensive in the 
 highest degree to that illustrious personage 
 who was at once mother to the gentleman 
 and aunt to the lady. The motives of this 
 strongly grounded antipathy have already 
 been alluded to, and require no farther men- 
 tion or comment.
 
 THE GllAND-DUKE CONSTANTINE. 351 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Farther anecdotes relative to the Grand-duke Constantine. — 
 The famous Russian General Souwarrow. — His peculiari- 
 ties on the field |of battle. — His treatment of a Secretary 
 of Legation. — Scene on parade between him and the Em- 
 peror Paul. — The Emperor Napoleon and Count Mankow. 
 An evening party at St. Petersburgh. — Prince Lapuchin. — 
 Klopstock the poet. — His eulogiums of the Emperor Alex- 
 ander. — His disinterested spirit. — ^Feodora, the fair exile 
 of Siberia. — Her journey to St. Petersburgh. — Alexander's 
 generous behaviour. 
 
 The real character of the Grand- duke Con- 
 stantine of Russia is not generally understood. 
 He has been denominated cruel, vicious, and 
 half-civilized — a man regardless at once of his 
 self-respect and the esteem of others. This is 
 not the fact. The Grand-duke is not without 
 his failings : his nature is impetuous ; and the 
 kind of education given to the son of a north- 
 ern despot is not calculated to remedy the de- 
 fect. But he has proved himself capable of the 
 kindest and most tender-hearted, and sometimes
 
 352 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUilTS. 
 
 of the most noble actions. The unhappy sel- 
 dom appealed to him in vain : his own means, 
 and his intercession with his Imperial brother, 
 were always ready to be employed on behalf of 
 such as advanced the double claims of merit 
 and misfortune. 
 
 The following circumstance will serve as an 
 instance of the zeal and pains wherewith this 
 prince sought out all those whom he consider- 
 ed likely to contribute to the amelioration of 
 the Russian cavalry, at the head of w^hich he 
 had been placed by his brother. 
 
 On the morning of a certain grand review of 
 this branch of the service, the Grand-duke, who 
 had for some time previous honoured the Au- 
 thor with his regard, requested him to attend, 
 in order to view the progress w^hich the Rus- 
 sian cavalry were making in their general tac- 
 tics. The Author accordingly went upon the 
 ground, accompanied by one of his friends, the 
 Baron de Hamerstein, an able officer in the 
 Hanoverian cavalry, and son of the eminent 
 general of that name. At the commencement 
 of a rapid evolution, the Author found himself 
 at some little distance from his friend, whom he 
 therefore called in a tone of voice sufficiently 
 loud to attract the observation of the Grand- 
 duke, who was galloping by. His Imperial
 
 GHAND-DUKE CONSTANTINE. 353 
 
 Highness quickly returned, and demanded with 
 the utmost eagerness : '* Whom are you call- 
 ing? — Hamerstein? Who is this Hamerstein, 
 and where is he ?" On being informed, he re- 
 quested the author to wait on him at the palace 
 next morning. On presenting himself, his Im- 
 perial Highness made inquiries touching the way 
 in which the Baron de Hamerstein was situated 
 at the time. " I entreat you," said he to the 
 author, " to engage your friend, if possible, to 
 take a commission in my cavalry. They are of 
 a good stock, these Hamersteins ; and to have 
 one of them attached to my service will be 
 most advantageous. Go, and do your best." In 
 effect, the Baron waited upon Constantine, and 
 received from his Imperial Highness the com- 
 mission of Major in a regiment of Dragoons. 
 
 Whenever, indeed, the author, or any other 
 individual enjoying the Grand-duke's confi- 
 dence, paid a visit to either part of Germany, 
 his Highness requested them to seek out for 
 him good cavalry officers ; and on the arrival 
 of any such at St. Petersburgh, Constantine 
 was never backward in making good those pro- 
 mises by holding out which he had induced 
 the officers to go thither. 
 
 A great deal has been said about the al- 
 leged rough treatment by Constantine of his 
 
 VOL. I. 2 a
 
 354 ANECDOTES OF lOUETGN COURTS. 
 
 first wife, a Princess of Saxe Coburg : but 
 those who were in the habit of seeing this 
 imperial couple in their domestic hours, can 
 bear witness that the misunderstanding which 
 existed between them, and embittered their 
 comfort previous to her Highness's return to 
 her native country, was at least as much 
 owing to the imprudent levity of the lady as 
 to the abrupt manners of the gentleman. 
 
 Among the Russian generals of the last and 
 present age, few have attracted more notice 
 than Souwarrow. The eccentricities of this 
 man were very great. His first celebrity was 
 acquired at the siege of Ismail, before which 
 fortress he had been left by the commander-in- 
 chief, Prince Potemkin, with express orders to 
 undertake nothing until the Prince's return. 
 Disliking inaction, however, and aware of the 
 importance attached by Catherine to the cap- 
 ture of this fortress, Souwarrow, as soon as 
 Potemkin's back was turned, attempted its re- 
 duction, and in succeeding, laid the foundation 
 of his future fortunes although Potemkin ex- 
 exerted his well-known influence with the Em- 
 press to impede him. Had Souwarrow been 
 unfortunate in his daring enterprise, he would 
 no doubt have been held inexcusable for dis- 
 obeying the commands of his superior — but suc- 
 cess sanctions every thing.
 
 GENERAL SOUWARROW. 355 
 
 It must have been curious to see this man, in 
 the midst of an engagement seated, as was his 
 wont, on some little neighbouring eminence, — 
 with a small Turkish sabre in his hand, and 
 crying out, " Koli ! Koli !" — a Russian word 
 signifying " kill ! kill !'' which injunction he 
 would repeat whenever his aid-de-camp came 
 to report movements or receive orders. 
 
 When Souwarrow had surrounded and was 
 bombarding Alexandria, in Italy, the Russian 
 ambassador at Berlin sent him one of his secre- 
 taries of legation with a duplicate of certain 
 despatches received from St. Petersburgh, and 
 which required an answer from the general. 
 The secretary departed in all haste; and on 
 arriving at the camp, was introduced to Sou- 
 warrow, who, upon opening the despatch, was 
 quite ennuy6 at its length. He treated the 
 messenger with some incivility ; and when told 
 that he was not a mere courier but secretary of 
 legation to his Majesty the Emperor, — " Bah !" 
 exclaimed Souwarrow, in evident anger : " I 
 care not what the designation of these scribbling 
 fellows is:" he then ordered two officers to take 
 the secretary into the entrenchments. 
 
 As it happened, on this day there was a very 
 warm attack made upon the place : the se- 
 cretary, quite unaccustomed to scenes of this 
 
 2 A 2
 
 S5^ ANECDOTES OE FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 nature, remonstrated earnestly against being 
 taken to any such position as the entrench- 
 ments ; but his conductors told hhn that they 
 had express orders from the Marshal to conduct 
 him into the lines of circumvallation. " I wish 
 you and your Marshal were at the devil toge- 
 tlier," exclaimed the vmfortunate secretary ; 
 " What have I to do with the lines of circum- 
 vallation ?" All remonstrance, however, was 
 unavailing : to the lines he was taken, and 
 heard, to his manifest horror, a most terrible 
 cannonading, whilst on all sides the soldiers 
 fell even by dozens at a time. 
 
 At length, the terrified young man found 
 means to prevail on his conductors to relieve 
 him from this distressing situation. He was 
 led back to the camp, and taken into the Mar- 
 shal's presence, where he protested against the 
 violence wherewith he had been treated, and 
 demanded a reply to his despatches. 
 
 " I have something else to do," said Souwar- 
 row, " than to write despatches like you gen- 
 tlemen. The Minister of War sends me two 
 secretaries within eight hours, to know what I 
 am about ! Well, you have seen me ! You 
 have likewise witnessed something of my pro- 
 ceedings ; you will therefore be able to report 
 accordingly to the Minister. Tell him that
 
 EMPEROR PAUL AND SOUWARROW. 357 
 
 Marshal Souwarrow bombards and is bombard- 
 ed in turn, and that in three days time he will 
 be within the fortress." 
 
 Among other pranks of the Emperor Paul, 
 he once took it into his head, to adopt the 
 Prussian military costume, and to put every 
 thing in his own army on a similar establish- 
 ment to that of his neighbour. His burlesque 
 Majesty himself dressed a-la-mode de Frede- 
 rick the Second, and general orders were issued 
 prohibiting any officer from coming to parade 
 habited in any other than the new fashion. 
 
 Souwarrow was not of a disposition to sacri- 
 fice his own humour to that of any body else. 
 He came boldly to parade, in the old costume of 
 a general of the days of Catherine the Great, 
 namely, without queue, without powder, and 
 with uncurled hair. (According to court-regu- 
 lation, the queue was to be a foot and a half in 
 length.) Paul, seeing on his arrival that Sou- 
 warrow and his aids- de-camp had infringed the 
 orders respecting costume, stamped and swore, 
 and played a hundred of those sensible tricks 
 for which he was so eminent : whilst the of- 
 fending general, accustomed to see the Em- 
 peror in his moments of anger, said, nothing 
 daunted, " Sire, these are mere trifles : a queue 
 is not a cannon, curls are not fusils, nor hair-
 
 358 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 powder, gun-powder : — I have beaten the 
 Turks Avithout any such ornaments." The 
 Emperor, however, thought the offence of a 
 forbidden costume quite enough to outweigh 
 the services of many campaigns, and sent Sou- 
 warrow and his veteran aids-de-camp into Si- 
 beria. 
 
 The stern unbending character of their cli- 
 mate seems to have communicated itself to 
 other Russians of distinction besides Souwar- 
 row. The behaviour of Count Markow to 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, at whose court he was 
 ambassador, affords a striking example of 
 this. 
 
 In the year 1803, the Marquis d'Entraigues, 
 a French emigrant, but counsellor of state in 
 the Russian service, was sent on a mission 
 from St. Petersburgh to Rome, where he was 
 arrested and thrown into prison by order of 
 Napoleon. As soon as the Emperor Alex- 
 ander was made aware of this circumstance, 
 lie sent an express to Count Markow to de- 
 mand tlie liberation of EntraiQues. The Count 
 made official re})rcsentations accordingly ; but 
 these where wholly disregarded. One Sunday, 
 when there was public audience given to the 
 diplomatic body at the Tuileries, the First 
 Consul, addressing himself to the Marquis de
 
 COUNT MARKOAV. 359 
 
 Lucchecini, ambassador from Prussia : — " What 
 think you, Marquis," said he ; " Russia is 
 striving even to protect the emigrants." — 
 Count Markow, immediately interposing, ob- 
 served, " Sir, if his Majesty the Emperor of 
 Russia, my august master, wills to extend pro- 
 tection to any one, I am sure he has both right 
 and reason." Upon this, Bonaparte, looking at 
 Markow, with an air of extreme disdain, said, 
 *' It was not to you. Count, I spoke." — " Sir," 
 answered the Russian, " if any one speaks in 
 my presence of my Sovereign, I always reply^' 
 Having said this, he turned his back upon the 
 First Consul, and left the audience. 
 
 Bonaparte, extremely irritated, gave orders 
 to his minister that Count Markow should be 
 forthwith sent back to Russia ; but the latter, 
 on this command being signified to him, at 
 once refused, saying that he would not stir 
 from Paris until his master recalled him. Both 
 he and the First Consul despatched respec- 
 tively messengers to St. Petersburgh with de- 
 tails of this affair ; Bonaparte requiring the 
 recal of the ambassador : whereupon Alex- 
 ander sent M. Oubriel to replace him ; but, as 
 a mark of his Majesty's satisfaction at the spi- 
 rited conduct of Markow, he transmitted to 
 the Count, by the hands of his successor, the
 
 360 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 insignia of a Russian order, (enriched with 
 diamonds) and an vikase conferring on him a 
 pension of fifty thousand rubles. Oubriel was 
 instructed to demand anew the release of the 
 Marquis d'Entraigues, which was ultimately 
 conceded by Bonaparte. 
 
 When, subsequently. Count Markow met 
 the Grand-duke Constantino at a party at St. 
 Petersburgh, that Prince said to him, " Upon 
 my honour. Count, you must possess great 
 courage to speak in such terms to Bonaparte. 
 They say that man jokes not : what w^ould 
 you have done, had he by any chance laid 
 hands upon you ?" — " 1 would have chastised 
 him on the spot," replied the courageous Mar- 
 kow. 
 
 The same evening on which this question 
 and answer took place. Prince Lapuchin, who 
 had been some days previously created Minister 
 of Justice, leaving the assembly took by ac- 
 cident anotlier man's hat instead of his own, 
 which was almost worn out, whilst the one he 
 lighted upon Vv^as quite new. The proprietor 
 of the new beaver, not relishing the exchange, 
 wliicli he got a glimpse of as the Prince 
 passed to go down stairs, followed, and came 
 up with him whilst stopping to speak to 
 the Gnind-duke. Upon making his business
 
 KLOPSTOCK, 361 
 
 known, Lapuchin offered excuses, and return- 
 ed the hat, whilst Constantine cried out, laugh- 
 ing, " Upon my word, a pretty Minister of 
 Justice my brother has selected ; he enters on 
 his office by committing a theft !" " Not a 
 theft, my Prince," replied Lapuchin, *' but 
 merely a mistake /" '* Oh, you legal gentle- 
 men," exclaimed Constantine, " always like to 
 elude plain terms. If my friend here had not 
 caught it in your hand, you would doubtless 
 have argued him out of the fact of possessing 
 his hat at all." 
 
 The late Emperor Alexander was very fond 
 of the writings and character of Klopstock, 
 author of " The Messiah." He deputed some of 
 his most eminent subjects, at the time when 
 they were travelling through foreign countries, 
 for the purpose of noticing whatever was excel- 
 lent and worthy of admiration in their several 
 Institutions, to call upon the poet, and bear him 
 personally the Emperor of Russia's regards. 
 Klopstock, old and infirm, declined for some 
 time receiving these individuals, but was at 
 length prevailed on to consent. The conversa- 
 tion soon grew spirited, running generally on 
 literary subjects, until some one, turning it 
 upon Klopstock's great work, told him that it 
 had been translated into the Russian language.
 
 362 anp:cdotes of foreign courts. 
 
 " AVhat !" exclaimed the poet, with a transient 
 expression of dissatisfaction, "who can have 
 rendered my poem into that barbarous tongue V* 
 His informant smiled, and overlooking the bad 
 compliment, replied, " If my countrymen relish 
 so highly a translation of this book, what 
 would be their pleasure, could they understand 
 the original ?" " Very well said. Sir," remark- 
 ed Klopstock, apparently conscious of his pre- 
 vious want of courtesy. On the Russian gen- 
 tlemen quitting his apartment, he said, " After 
 my death, among my papers will be found cer- 
 tain INISS. wherein my opinion and prediction 
 concerning your Sovereign will distinctly ap- 
 pear." 
 
 Klopstock on several occasions eulogised the 
 Emperor Alexander : and it is but fair to count 
 him honest in doing so, since, strange to say, 
 he refused sundry presents offered him on the 
 part of the Russian monarch ; and this, not- 
 withstanding he was old and poor. 
 
 The accession of Alexander to the throne 
 was hailed with the greatest marks of satisfac- 
 tion by all classes, as a signal of hope and de- 
 liverance. Every heart in the wide Russian 
 dominions might, without much colouring, be 
 said to bound with joy ; and even the unfortu- 
 nate exiles dwelling in the remote tracts of Si-
 
 COLONEL FEODOR. 363 
 
 beria, participated in the sentiment. It was at 
 this period a fact occurred, which has been 
 since woven both into di'ama and romance. 
 
 The Emperor Paul, during his reign, had 
 sent Colonel Feodor, for some trivial offence, 
 to Kamschatka, the most forlorn of all the Si- 
 berian settlements and at a distance of 13,200 
 versts from St, Petersburgh ; and the whole 
 family of this unfortunate man accompanied 
 him into exile. When the news reached them 
 of the death of Paul, and the succession of 
 Alexander, whose character was already high, 
 a ray of consolation shot across the minds of 
 these poor people, and lightened more parti- 
 cularly that of the amiable Feodora, the Co- 
 lonel's eldest daughter. This young girl im- 
 mediately set about making active preparations 
 for undertaking a journey to St. Petersburgh, 
 in order to throw herself at the feet of the Em- 
 peror, and implore his JNlajesty's grace for her 
 ill-starred parents. 
 
 This scheme she entered upon in secrecy, 
 and actually accomplished ; arriving, after a 
 painful and hazardous journey, which occu- 
 pied an entire year, in the environs of the 
 capital. Here the want of a passport for 
 a while impeded Feodora's progress ; but ac- 
 cident favoured this excellent young woman.
 
 364 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 and brought the Emperor himself into the 
 neighbourhood. With great difficulty, and by 
 the benevolent assistance of an officer, she suc- 
 ceeded in penetrating the crowd, and reached 
 her Sovereign, falling at whose feet, in a voice 
 choked by tears, she entreated favour and par- 
 don for her father. 
 
 Alexander, much affected by the wasted ap- 
 pearance and strong emotion of his suppli- 
 cant, raised her, and inquired into the particu- 
 lars of her suit: upon learning which, and 
 finding that she had made so tremendous a 
 pilgrimage, he said, " And who, my poor girl, 
 has been your conductor through this toilsome 
 route ?" " God and filial love have supported 
 me ;" answered the heroic daugher of Feodor ; 
 who had soon afterwards the happiness of re- 
 ceiving an order for her father's liberation, 
 and was by Alexander himself presented to his 
 Empress Mother.
 
 KINGS OF PRUSSIA AND SWEDEN. 365 
 
 n 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Rupture between the King of Prussia and Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, the deposed King of Sweden. — Martial Despatches. — 
 Order of the Black Eagle. — Interposition of the Emperor 
 Alexander — Manoeuvres of his Envoy. — Amicable Ar- 
 rangement. — Causes of Bonaparte's Indignation at Gusta- 
 vus Adolphus. — Intrigues of his Agents at Stockholm. — 
 Abdication of the King. — Personal description of the famous 
 Count de Munck. — Interview and Treaty between him and 
 his reputed Son, Gustavus. — Conference on the Tilsit Raft. 
 — Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia. — Origin of Bona- 
 parte's Choice of Maria Louisa. — Extracts from a Letter 
 of that Princess to Count Edling. — Marshal Landon at the 
 Siege of Belgrade. — Sketch of the Marshal's early life. 
 
 The circumstances which led to the rupture 
 between Frederick WilHam of Prussia and the 
 unfortunate Gustavus Adolphus the Fourth, 
 then King of Sweden, are not generally under- 
 stood. 
 
 In the year 1804, the King of Prussia sent 
 to Napoleon, newly constituted Emperor, the 
 Order of the Black Eagle. No sooner had in-
 
 366 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 telligence of this circumstance reached Stock- 
 holm, than his Swedish majesty wrote to Fre- 
 derick William the following letter : — 
 
 " Sire, — So long as the Order of the Black 
 Eagle was an honourable decoration, destined 
 as a mark of friendship between Sovereigns, 
 and as a recompense to ministers distinguished 
 by their fidelity, I regarded myself happy in 
 bearing it ; but since your Majesty has thought 
 proper to invest with the insignia of this 
 order the greatest usurper and destroyer of 
 modern times, it has no longer any value in 
 my eyes, and I have ordered my charge d'affaires 
 at Berlin to return it. 
 
 '* I pray God, &c." 
 
 This letter was despatched by Gustavus 
 through one of his aids-de-camp, ]M. Peyron. 
 On receiving it, the King of Prussia was so 
 piqued at its contents, that, without the slight- 
 est hesitation, he recalled his own ambassador 
 from Stockholm, and sent away the Swedish 
 plenipotentiary, residing at his court. Not 
 satisfied with this, he instructed Marshal Kal- 
 kreuth to march upon the frontiers of Swedish 
 Pomerania, at the head of 30,000 men, and to
 
 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 36? 
 
 demand, in this hostile way, whether or no the 
 King of Sweden was desirous of breaking up 
 the amicable relations between the two coun- 
 tries. Nothing daunted, however, Gustavus 
 Adolphus advanced likewise at the head of his 
 troops, and met his adversary, " beard to 
 beard," the two armies being divided solely by 
 the little river Penn. 
 
 While matters were in this frowning condi- 
 tion, as if presageful of a deadly quarrel be- 
 tween the monarchs, a third party appeared on 
 the field, namely, the Emperor Alexander, who 
 visited Berlin, in order to consolidate his al- 
 liance with Frederick William. Being inform- 
 ed of this rupture, and fearing that it would 
 prove an obstacle to the coalition already pro- 
 jected between Russia, Austria, Prussia, and 
 Sweden, the rather as one of his corps-cr armde 
 was already in march, and ought to disembark 
 in the port of Stralsund ; whilst Gustavus 
 Adolphus might, in consequence, withhold his 
 quota of 30,000 men. Alexander, foreseeing 
 these contingencies, did every thing in his power 
 to effect a reconcihation between the two kings 
 
 Frederick William became, after a while, 
 somewhat mollified ; and yielding to the exi- 
 gencies of the period, professed himself, how- 
 ever deeply his feelings had been wounded,
 
 368 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COUUTS. 
 
 ready to renew his former ties witli Sweden, 
 on the express condition that an apologetic let- 
 ter should be written by Gustavus Adolphus ; 
 and that this letter might not fail to hit his 
 Prussian Majesty's taste, a model for it was 
 drawn up by the minister Hardenberg, at Ber- 
 lin, and despatched to Stockholm by an envoy 
 appointed for the purpose. 
 
 Gustavus continued firm. He professed 
 himself no way disinclined to write to the King 
 of Prussia, but it must be after his mm fashion : 
 and when his minister, M. Wetterstadt, sug- 
 gested a few phrases, the king imperatively 
 cried : " Leave me alone ! I have no need of a 
 schoolmaster : I know what I have to write, 
 and will write it."* In effect, he produced an 
 epistle of a nature widely different from " the 
 model," and calculated to irritate rather than 
 to conciliate. To make all sure, he put this 
 into the hands of one of his aids-du-camp, who 
 accompanied the envoy back. 
 
 Arrived at Potsdam, as the letter was under 
 a loose seal, the Envoy persuaded his com- 
 panion that it might be as well to show it, in 
 the first place, to the Emperor Alexander ; and 
 
 * It is a pity that this firmness of character was not united 
 to greater depth of understanding.
 
 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 369 
 
 that monarch, seeing from its tenor, that if 
 duly delivered, it would only have the effect of 
 making matters worse, put it very coolly in his 
 pocket, and commanded his messenger to re- 
 turn to Greissuald, at which place the Swedish 
 sovereign was at the time, and bring back ano- 
 ther letter. 
 
 No sooner had these circumstances been 
 made known to the choleric Swede, than he 
 commenced by putting his aid-de-camp imme- 
 diately under arrest, for having thus failed in 
 the execution of his orders : but having by 
 this time somewhat cooled upon the subject ji^ 
 general, and begun to perceive the inconveni- 
 ences consequent, particularly at that junc- 
 ture, upon an open breach with Prussia, he 
 yielded to the repeated solicitations of his con- 
 fidential servants, and forwarded a communi- 
 cation to Berlin ; which (although not exactly 
 in the prescribed terms) it was thought alto- 
 gether most prudent to acknowlege in a friend- 
 ly way. 
 
 The chief subject of these proceedings. Na- 
 poleon Bonaparte, has not hitherto appeared 
 upon the scene ; but he was, by no means, a 
 man to hear of the conduct of Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, and not to resent it. All the circum- 
 stances of the affair were soon put in his pos- 
 
 VOL. I. 2 b
 
 
 h 
 
 370 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 session, and he is thought to have decided at 
 once on avenging the insult shown him, by the 
 expulsion of Gustavus and his dynasty from 
 the throne of Sweden. 
 
 The suspicion of that prince's illegitimacy 
 had been extensively entertained, ever since his 
 birth. It was, however, checked from time to 
 time ; and had his talents been greater, and his 
 temper more conciliating, he might to this day 
 have sat upon the throne of Sweden. But now, 
 Bonaparte instructed his Ambassador at Stock- 
 holm to revive the old rumours with all pos- 
 sible activity, and to insinuate to the grandees 
 and even the people in general, that it was 
 scandalous in the eyes of all Europe for the 
 ancient Swedish nation to suffer the domina- 
 tion of a bastard. In effect, by intrigue and 
 menace the Queen-mother was induced to 
 give assent to the report, that Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, her son, was not the offspring of her 
 royal spouse, but of the Count de IMunck. 
 
 This avowal produced all the result that Na- 
 poleon was anxious for. Piqued and indig- 
 nant thereat, the entire nation arose with one 
 consent, and forced the King to abdicate. 
 They, however, steadily refused at that period 
 to adopt Napoleon's suggestion of nominating 
 JNIarshal Bernadotte as Crown Prince : but, on
 
 GUSTAVUS AND DE MUNCK. 371 
 
 the premature decease of the Prince of Hol- 
 stein Augiistenburg, these recommendations 
 were renewed witli eventual success. 
 
 Previous to the events which deprived Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus the Fourth of his crown, he 
 had (perceiving that he should otherwise be 
 constantly subject to raillery) made an arrange- 
 ment with his reputed father, the Count de 
 Munck, by virtue of which the Count con- 
 sented to part with all his property in Sweden, 
 and never again to enter that country ; whilst 
 the King, on his part, agreed to pay De Munck 
 a sufficient sum (6000 louis) to enable him to 
 purchase an estate in Italy, and he accordingly 
 bought the house and lands near Massacarrara, 
 which had belonged to Maria Beatrix D'Este, 
 widow of the Archduke Ferdinand. 
 
 This treaty took place at Hamburg, which 
 city was visited by Gustavus incognito, for the 
 purpose, and where the Author was at the time 
 residing at the same hotel with the Count, 
 whose excellent conduct and gentlemanly man- 
 ners had rendered him an universal favourite. 
 Its conditions were strictly fulfilled on both 
 sides : and so well did Gustavus express him- 
 self pleased with the discreet and delicate de- 
 portment of De Munck on the occasion, that 
 he presented him, among other splendid trin- 
 
 3 B 2
 
 372 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 kets) with a portrait of himself, richly set in 
 diamonds, which the Count ever after wore 
 withinside his vest. 
 
 As the Author was intimately acquainted 
 with the Count De Munck, and also knew the 
 person of Gustavus well, he can speak to the 
 fact of there having been a striking resem- 
 blance between them. Thus much may with 
 safety be asserted, whatever becomes of the 
 broader part of the question. 
 
 When, in the year 1807, after the battle of 
 Friedland, an interview was arranged between 
 Napoleon, Alexander, and Frederick- William, 
 to take place upon a raft in the midst of the 
 river Tilsit, in order to preserve the requisite 
 etiquette, it was arranged, among other things, 
 that at a given signal the sovereigns should 
 embark in their sloops from the respective 
 banks, in order that they might reach the float 
 critically at the same time, and neither be kept 
 at all waiting for the other. 
 
 Whether by accident or design, however, it 
 so fell out that Napoleon, with his suite, was 
 first in arriving at the raft; the other two 
 monarchs being a few moments behind-hand. 
 Neverthek^ss, Napoleon advanced to meet Alex- 
 ander, to wliom he paid tlie customary compli-
 
 MEETING OF THE SOVEREIGNS. 37^ 
 
 ments ; but a little reserve being visible in his 
 address, the Russian Emperor, with great 
 heartiness of manner, cried, " Pardon, Sire, if 
 I arrive a little late : I assure your Majesty, that 
 I am not the less delighted to salute you." 
 
 Alexander then presented his friend, the 
 King of Prussia ; but Napoleon, observing 
 witli surprise, that Frederick- William received 
 his compliments with marked coolness, was so 
 annoyed thereat, that he turned to his Mar- 
 shals, who stood behind him, and said, " Do 
 you see how he treats me ?" 
 
 During the period that the sovereigns were 
 sojourning in the little town of Tilsit, where 
 they were employed in arranging various mat- 
 ters of the highest importance — more espe- 
 cially to the King of Prussia, — the French 
 Emperor several times expressed a strong de- 
 sire to see her Majesty the Queen, who was 
 then with her children at Memei. This lady's 
 repugnance to Napoleon was, however, so great, 
 that they were obliged to put him off, from 
 day to day, with feigned excuses for the delay 
 of her arrival; until his natural impetuosity, 
 no longer to be restrained, led him to say to 
 the Emperor Alexander, " Eh hietiy Sire ! it 
 would seem that, in order to be indulged with
 
 374 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 an introduction to this beautiful Queen, I 
 should send Marshal Davonst with his corps 
 d'armee to fetch her." * 
 
 Alexander saw that there was no more room 
 for trifling ; and it was concerted between him 
 and Frederick that a chamberlain should be 
 forthwith despatched to Memel, to represent 
 to her Majesty the absolute necessity for her 
 appearance. Upon the receipt of this intelli- 
 gence, she reluctantly fixed an hour upon which 
 to commence the journey, and was met at a 
 certain point of the road by the three so- 
 vereigns. 
 
 Napoleon was captivated at sight of this 
 lovely woman, and took an opportunity just 
 after of observing to IMarshal Duroc, " You 
 have told me true, Duroc; she is indeed a 
 beautiful creature." Next day, he gave a din- 
 ner to her Majesty of the most sumptuous 
 description. On bringing in the dessert, an 
 open letter appeared on a salver, which was 
 placed before the Queen of Prussia, addressed 
 to her Majesty. " A letter for me !" exclaimed 
 the Queen, on perceiving it, in great surprise. 
 " Yes, Madame," replied Bonaparte ; " be 
 pleased to look at it.' Her Majesty took it 
 up, and found enclosed another, addressed to 
 Jerome Bonaparte, then commanding the French
 
 NAPOLEON AT VIENNA. 375 
 
 forces in Prussian Silesia. This epistle con- 
 tained an autograph order from Napoleon, di- 
 recting the King of Westphalia to deliver up 
 immediately to the nearest Prussian chief, that 
 part of Silesia which had been reserved by the 
 French Emperor in the secret treaty of Tilsit ; 
 which territory was to be placed under the sole 
 controul of the Queen of Prussia. 
 
 Her Majesty, deeply affected by this delicate 
 and noble behaviour, exclaimed, " Certainly, 
 never did monarch bestow a gift with so much 
 dignity and grace. I pray your Majesty to 
 accept my best thanks." — " Nay, Madame," re- 
 joined Napoleon, " is it not just that I should 
 indemnify you for the expenses of a journey 
 from IMemel to Tilsit ?" 
 
 When the Emperor of the French, in 1809, 
 visited Vienna as a conqueror, he took up his 
 residence in the beautiful castle of Schoen- 
 brunn, in the environs of the capital. One 
 morning, accompanied by Meyer, one of the 
 castle inspectors, he Avent over the apartments 
 of this magnificent edifice, which had been 
 hastily quitted, some weeks before, by the Im- 
 perial family. In one apartment hung the 
 portraits of the Emperor Francis's daughters, 
 Maria-Louisa, Leopoldina, and Clementina. 
 Napoleon, after a short pause, pointing to that
 
 376 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 of Maria-Louisa, wliich he considered with the 
 deepest attention, asked of the inspector, if her 
 Imperial Highness was really so handsome as 
 there represented. The old man replied, *' Oh 
 yes, your Majesty, she is indeed : and, what 
 is more, as amiable as handsome." — " Well," 
 rejoined Napoleon, " let the picture be placed 
 in my cabinet, immediately fronting the writ- 
 ing-table." He subsequently took it with him 
 to Paris, and it was found in the Emperor's 
 closet by the Archduchess Maria-Louisa, on 
 her marriage. 
 
 The Emperor Francis, at the time he con- 
 cluded upon consenting to this match, was not 
 ignorant of the animosity entertained by his 
 daughter and wife towards his intended son-in- 
 law. He consequently had not courage to 
 open the matter to Maria-Louisa herself ; and 
 the first governess to the Archduchess, was 
 commissioned to make it known to her. 
 
 This lady, however, had no success whatever 
 in her attempts to reconcile Maria-Louisa to 
 her destiny, for the Archduchess had no 
 sooner been told that her father had affianced 
 her to Napoleon Bonaparte, than she fell upon 
 the sofa, screaming, and crying out that she 
 woidd never consent to marry such a monster !
 
 MARIA-LOUISA BEFORE MARRIAGE. 377 
 
 Francis was now fain to make personal endea- 
 vours to prevail on his daughter to comply 
 with the proposed arrangement, and for that 
 purpose announced his wish to have an inter- 
 view with Maria Louisa at a given hour. 
 
 He repaired to the Princess's apartment, at- 
 tended by his two youngest daughters, and 
 with the candour and tenderness characteristic 
 of him, represented the necessity of such an 
 alliance, as the only means left to save the 
 Imperial Family and the whole Austrian do- 
 minions from subjection. The windows of the 
 room in which they were, looked out upon 
 the ruined walls and demolished forts of 
 Vienna; Maria Louisa took the Emperor by 
 the hand, led him to the view of this desolate 
 scene, and said — " Father, can you give the 
 hand of your beloved child to the author of all 
 this destruction ?" — " It is to prevent still 
 greater horrors," answered Francis, deeply mov- 
 ed, " that I require this sacrifice from you ;" 
 and he urged his solicitations in so powerful 
 and affecting a way, that his daughter at length 
 exclaimed, " Tranquillize yourself, my dear 
 father ; to procure you peace, I will do what- 
 ever you ask of me."* 
 
 * It is asserted by the Princess's governess;, who was pre- 
 sent at this interesting interview, that the young Princess
 
 ^78 ANECDOTES OF FOIIEIGN COURTS. 
 
 Maria-Louisa, liowever, subsequently found 
 tliat her sacrifice turned out to be not quite so 
 heroic; she seems, on the contrary, to have 
 been greatly pleased Avith her new situation. 
 A letter addressed by her, in the month of 
 June, 1810, to the old Count Edlin, her late 
 governor, and despatched to Vienna by one of 
 the chamberlains of her father's covirt, (who 
 Iiad accompanied her Imperial Highness to 
 France,) was seen and copied (with the consent 
 of the Count) by the Author. It gives an in- 
 teresting statement of her feelings so soon after 
 her marriage. The following are extracts : — 
 
 " I confess to you, my dear Count, that 
 from the first moment I met and saw the 
 Emperor Napoleon, my august and most be- 
 loved husband, he has shown me on every oc- 
 casion the highest attention. Indeed, I should 
 be unjust and ungrateful, were I insensible to 
 all his care, regard, and truly noble behaviour 
 
 Leopoldina, then about twelve years oldj saw her sister so 
 much averse to the proposed, match, she said with extreme 
 naivete, " Dear papa, since my good sister seems so greatly 
 shocked at this union, I will go in her place, and be married 
 to Napoleon. I have no dislike to the Emperor, and I dare 
 say it will be the same thing to him." — " You are a little 
 fool," replied Francis, tenderly smiling, " and know not 
 what you say."
 
 MARSHAL LOUDON. 379 
 
 to me. In one word, my dear Count, I am 
 happier than you can conceive. 
 
 " Believe not that this letter is written by 
 any order or compulsion on the part of my au- 
 gust spouse, who, although at this very moment 
 by my side, will not look at it. No ! these 
 sentiments are dictated by my own heart ; and 
 the letter goes from my hands into those of 
 Count Joseph,* by whom it will be handed 
 to you." 
 
 One of the most distinguishing traits in the 
 character of Napoleon, was decision. This was 
 a quality which, as he was conscious of possess- 
 ing himself, he prized very highly in all the 
 military men employed by him. The famous 
 Marshal Loudon, in the service of Austria 
 during the reign of the Emperor Joseph, would 
 have been a great favourite of Bonaparte, had 
 they lived at the same epoch. 
 
 In 1789, when Loudon was commencing the 
 siege of Belgrade, he wanted bridges to en- 
 able him to pass the Danube. He therefore 
 summoned two officers of great talent, and con- 
 fided to them the service of getting two flying 
 bridges constructed, at points designated by 
 
 * Count Joseph Metternich, brother of the Prime Mi- 
 nister.
 
 380 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the Marshal. The officers answered, that they 
 would immediately set about making iwepara- 
 tions, and that in three days, at farthest, the 
 bridges would be complete. " In three days !" 
 exclaimed tlie Marshal, " that won't serve my 
 turn. I must have them finished this very 
 night." " Impossible, your Excellency !" cried 
 they ; " according to general rules, the con- 
 struction would require nearly a week ; but by 
 great exertion we may perhaps get them ready 
 by the day after to-morrow." The JNIarshal 
 reiterated his wishes, and stated that it was his 
 design to cross the river by midnight ; but to no 
 better effect ; the thing was represented to be 
 altogether out of question. At length Loudon, 
 suddenly assuming a great coolness of manner, 
 addressed the two officers thus : — " Gentlemen, 
 all I have to say is, that if these two bridges 
 are not finished by twelve o'clock, I will hang 
 you both within an hour afterwards." This 
 announcement sufficed to alter both the tone 
 and opinions of the other parties, and so briskly 
 did they conduct matters, that, in effect, the 
 INlarshal found himself able to get to the op- 
 posite shore by the time he had mentioned. 
 When, subsequently, these two officers sent a 
 memorial to the Emperor, complaining of the 
 arbitrary behaviour and threats of the Mar-
 
 MARSHAL LOUDON. 381 
 
 shal, his Majesty told them in reply, that they 
 had reason to congratulate themselves on finding 
 means to execute the orders given them ; for 
 that he knew Marshal Loudon well, and was 
 confident that he would otherwise have kept 
 his word. 
 
 The history of Loudon's early life is suffici- 
 ently curious. He was a native of Scotland, and 
 entered, young, as a soldier of fortune into the 
 service of the Elector of Bavaria, wherein he 
 held the rank of captain. Having had the mis- 
 fortune to kill his colonel in a duel, he was 
 obliged to quit Bavaria very precipitately; he 
 went to Berlin, and requested a commission from 
 the King of Prussia, but Frederick the Great 
 received him very cavalierly, and said to him, 
 among other bad compliments : " You have 
 more the air of a monk than of a soldier ; and 
 besides, I have no fancy for English officers." 
 
 Loudon now made way for Vienna, where 
 he did his utmost to procure an appointment 
 from the Minister of War; but unsuccessfully : 
 until at length, wearied of making applications, 
 he left the capital, and took a lodging in one of 
 the faubourgs, at the house of a shoemaker named 
 Pancrace, where he remained some time in a 
 state of great destitution, and supported by his 
 landlord out of mere charity. It happened, at 
 this epoch, that Marshal Daun, Avho command-
 
 382 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ed the Austrian army in Silesia against the 
 King of Prussia, wrote to the Empress Maria- 
 Theresa, and to the Prince de Lichtenstein, to 
 obtain good officers, accustomed to a war of 
 partisanship, having none such attached to his 
 corps. On a conference following between the 
 Empress and Prince, the latter bethought him 
 of Loudon, who had been represented to him 
 as skilful in his particular branch, but whom, 
 he told the Empress it would now be difficult 
 to find. — " Is he in the Austrian dominions, 
 think you ?" inquired Maria-Theresa. — " There 
 is no doubt of it," answered the Marshal. 
 " Well then," rejoined her Majesty, " I think 
 we may get at him. Give orders to post up a 
 description of this same Loudon, and promise 
 a thousand ducats to whosover will find out 
 his abode.'' 
 
 The Empress's commands were executed 
 next morning, and before the day closed, bills 
 to this effect were stuck up in almost every 
 street of the metropolis. Pancrace, who had 
 gone into the city to get work, observing so 
 many of these bills, which attracted general 
 notice, read one of them, and without going 
 any farther, he returned to his house, and find- 
 ing his lodger there, said, " You are a pretty 
 fellow ! no doubt, some great criminal ; if I
 
 LOUDON AND THE COBLER. 383 
 
 had known you before, yon should never have 
 come mto my house." Loudon, who was con- 
 scious of no other offence than owing his land- 
 lord money, replied, " My dear Pancrace ! you 
 know well that I can't pay you just now ; 1 
 have not even a sous." — " Oh, it is not about 
 the money I am speaking just now. All I 
 want is for you to quit my house. There is a 
 ducat for you. Begone ! If I were malignantly 
 disposed, I might obtain a thousand ducats by 
 denouncing you. But, no ! I will not stain my 
 hands with your blood. Away ! j'^ou have no 
 time to lose." 
 
 Loudon, more astonished than ever, demanded 
 of his host what he meant ; and when Pancrace 
 related the fact of his being advertised for in 
 the manner above-mentioned, penetrating the 
 whole affair, he cried out, " My dear Pancrace, 
 this is the best news for us in the world ! They 
 want me for the military service ; go to the 
 office of the Minister of War, and say that I 
 am lodging with you, but am too badly 
 clothed to appear myself. After a short inter- 
 val, the Minister himself arrived at the shoe- 
 maker's habitation, gave him the promised re- 
 ward, and furnished Loudon with means to 
 equip himself properly. He was then pre- 
 sented to the Empress, who gave him the ap-
 
 384) ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 pointment of colonel, and sent him to the army, 
 where he distinguished himself so highly, as to 
 become, at the end of four years, a field-mar- 
 shal. He lived to beat, repeatedly, Frederick 
 the Great, by whom his services had been re- 
 fused ; and who frequently, when speaking of 
 Loudon to his friends, lamented that he should 
 have committed the .egregious blunder of turn- 
 ing such an officer away.
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY AxNECDOTES. 
 
 COURT OF NAPLES, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Character and memoir of Alviso Mocenigo. — Journey of the 
 Authoress to the Tyrol. — The Archduchess IMarianna, and 
 Marchesi, the castrate. — Chagrin of the latter at his cold 
 reception at Inspnick. — Pacchierotti at a private concert of 
 the Queen of France. — Observations on the style of that 
 celebrated Soprano. — The Elector of Bavaria^ Charles 
 Theodore. — Incidents met with by the Authoress at his 
 Court. — The Count de Sahano. — Compliment paid by 
 Haydn to the Authoress. — The late King and Queen of 
 Bavaria. — Biographical Sketch of his Mijesty. — Presump- 
 tuous conduct of IMadame Catalani, 
 
 Previous to visiting Denmark, Sweden, and 
 Russia, we spent some time at the different 
 German courts, some of which, as we formerly 
 hinted, although of the most insignificant pro- 
 portions and revenue, affect all the pomp and 
 ceremony of royalty. 
 
 But before 1 proceed to give some account 
 of my travels there, I will advert to my resi- 
 dence at Venice, (from whence I started,) and 
 
 VOL. I. 2 c
 
 386 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 lay before the reader a sketch of a Venetian 
 family, called Mocenigo, well known in many 
 of the courts of Europe on account of their 
 immense wealth, distinguished rank, and the 
 general odium attached to them, which pursued 
 the whole race (and seldom unjustly) from 
 father to son. 
 
 The last legitimate scion of this stock (better 
 known by his self-assumed designation of 
 Alvisopoli) was nephew to the Chevalier Mo- 
 cenigo, once Ambassador from Venice to the 
 Court of Versailles, and recalled by the Repub- 
 lic, in consequence of certain reports in which 
 his character was very deeply involved. 
 
 Alviso Mocenigo, the nephew, was by birth 
 a patrician ; but by profession, patriot, demo- 
 crat, municipalist, royalist, or imperialist, accord- 
 ing as his interest swayed him, though already 
 rich, and destitute of heirs. Nay, so far was 
 he influenced by the spirit of avarice, and lust 
 after gain, as to be induced, at various times, 
 to become a dealer in common-articles of trade ; 
 once, at Copenhagen, absolutely vending gloves, 
 a quantity of which he brought with him into 
 Germany, where I myself purchased several do- 
 zens for his Excellency's servants. 
 
 During this worthy's absence on some of 
 liis commercial expeditions, he was, evidently
 
 ALVISO MOCENIGO. 387 
 
 (tlirougli that awkward practice of keeping 
 dates) without any trouble on his part, Messed 
 with an heir to his name and property. Alviso 
 was not, on his return, however, so easily re- 
 conciled to this kind of thing as General 
 
 r) s is said to have been, who, coming back 
 
 to England from the Continent, and finding a 
 similar circumstance had taken place in his own 
 family, merely observed, with an air of vexa- 
 tion, that " his wife's company had drunk almost 
 all his old wine !" Neither did the Venetian 
 bear joking on the subject with the same phi- 
 losophical complacency as was exhibited by 
 Lord M , who v/as occasionally thus ad- 
 dressed by Lord E , when riding in Hyde 
 
 Park : " Good morning, my Lord ; how are 
 your wife and my children ?" — Every man in 
 his humour ! 
 
 Mocenigo, as we have said, viewed matters 
 differently. When the French took possession 
 of Venice, after their second conquest of the 
 Austrians, Alviso was nominated by Napoleon 
 Governor of Novara, and at this period it was 
 that the affair was cautiously disclosed to him. 
 He, however, grew restive, and hesitated not 
 in the most public manner to expose his wife, 
 to brand her issue with the stain of illegitimacy, 
 and, the better to quash all hopes of his re- 
 
 2 c 2
 
 388 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 turning favour, previously to departing from 
 Venice, made over his property by will, to 
 the Mocenighetto's, a collateral branch of the 
 family. His wife, meanwhile, went to Vienna, 
 where she was denominated by an odd kind of 
 anomaly, " Vhonmte crimineller 
 
 On Bonaparte's departing for Egypt, and 
 the Austrians becoming momentary masters of 
 Italy, Mocenigo contrived to make up matters 
 with his hetter half ; became reconciled to the 
 increase of his family ; and, with the hope of 
 intriguing at Vienna to get himself made Graf 
 (Earl) of Puffendorf, took his dear Lucietta, 
 and her chopping boy, to the Austrian capital, 
 where the latter was placed to be educated. 
 He soon found, however, that he had reckoned 
 without his host ; and disappointed by his want 
 of influence at the Imperial court, he, after 
 the battle of Marengo, once more turned Bona- 
 partist, in consequence of which revolution of 
 sentiment^ his wife was named dame d'Jionneur 
 to Josephine. 
 
 Such Avas Alviso Mocenigo, whose name has 
 been so much bruited about both in Germany 
 and Italy. He died at Venice, as he had lived, 
 respected by none ; and to the great joy of his 
 wife. 
 
 From Venice we took our route through the
 
 ARCHDUCHESS MARIANNA. 389 
 
 Tyrol, and arrived at Inspruek, where resided 
 Marianna, Archduchess of Austria, and of 
 which town the Count de Bissinges was Go- 
 vernor. There was nothing about either the 
 person or character of the Archduchess to me- 
 rit particular notice; she was distinguished, 
 however, as being the only one of her illus- 
 trious house who had not been driven from 
 their dominions by the armies of Revolu- 
 tionary France. At the period to which I am 
 alluding, the Tyrol remained free from any in- 
 terference on the part of Napoleon, by whom 
 it was subsequently severed from Austria, and 
 attached to the tenitories of Bavaria. This 
 lady, therefore, passed her life in a state of ex- 
 emption from all disturbance or vicissitude : in 
 perfect tranquillity, indeed, except when her 
 fancy was wrought on by some handsome 
 young officer of the garrison, whom she might 
 view from the window of her palace. 
 
 Report states that Marianna was an indulgent 
 lady, and no unworthy member of the fruitful 
 house of Hapsburg. Joseph II., like the Great 
 Frederick, was in the habit of regarding wo- 
 men merely as conducive to the increase of po- 
 pulation for purposes of carrying on his wars 
 abroad and his agriculture at home ; and on 
 this account, both he and his brother Leopold 
 
 «<
 
 390 ANECDOTES OF FOllEIGN COURTS. 
 
 looked with an eye of pitiful consideration on 
 the trespasses of kind couples, whose labours 
 were calculated to produce this effect. The 
 Empress JNIaria Theresa was, on the contrary, 
 as became her sex, very severe regarding slips 
 of this nature, particularly when they occurred 
 among the higher classes of the nobility. Du- 
 ring her reign, the convents were filled with 
 nuns and novices, doomed by their parents or 
 guardians to the monastic life, whether agree- 
 able to their own feelings or otherwise; but 
 no sooner had Joseph II. succeeded, upon her 
 demise, than, finding so many poor creatures 
 doomed to perpetual seclusion, he, with a feel- 
 ing at once of humanity and wisdom, opened 
 the gates of the convents to all who chose to 
 quit them, both male and female. 
 
 When I had the honour to be presented to 
 her Imperial Highness the Archduchess Ma- 
 rianna, she was certainly an extremely plain 
 woman ; but I have been told by those who 
 knew her at the time she was proposed in mar- 
 riage to Louis XV., that she was the most beau- 
 tiful of all the daughters of Maria Theresa. 
 That proposal, by the by, excited in no slight 
 degree the apprehension of her sister, Marie 
 Antoinette, then Dauphine, lest she should 
 herself be eclipsed by the splendour attendant
 
 ARCHDUCHESS MARIANNA. 391 
 
 on her sister becoming Queen of France, — the 
 narrative of which circumstances I have given 
 in another work, the Memoirs of the Princess 
 de Lamballe. 
 
 The Archduchess having heard a great deal 
 respecting Marchesi, the celebrated singer, who 
 was then engaged at the Italian Opera at Vienna, 
 and anxious to see this unfortunate human noun 
 adjective, more especially since she had heard of 
 the great success he had met with among the 
 Austrian ladies in general, and the widows 
 and unmarried ones in particular, her Imperial 
 Highness wrote to Vienna, requesting that, on 
 Marchesi quitting that capital to return to 
 Milan, he should be furnished with the neces- 
 sary letters of introduction to her court. Mar- 
 chesi was perhaps the most insolent of all that 
 race which leaves no race behind it. In the 
 present instance, he was filled with hopes of 
 effecting a new conquest, and imagined that on 
 his arrival at Inspruck, the very doors would 
 fly off their hinges to admit him into the Im- 
 perial palace. What was his surprise and cha- 
 grin, then, on discovering that the Archduchess 
 had left Inspruck in order to pay some visit, 
 and that it was necessary he (Signor Marchesi) 
 should wait her Imperial Highness's return ! 
 
 By the by, it is really surprising how very
 
 39^2 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 self-sufficient and haughty this description of 
 men are. They are in general the offspring of 
 the most wretched and depraved of the human 
 species, who absolutely sell them to some mu- 
 sician, by whom they are duly qualified for this 
 purpose, and disqualified for every other. They 
 are purchased in the way of experiment : — if 
 they prove to have fine voices, they are brought 
 out at the Italian theatres ; if not, they are 
 sent to Spain or Portugal, or hired to sing in 
 the churches (women not being permitted to do 
 so) or employed as instrumental performers. 
 One should suppose that persons thus un- 
 happily circumstanced, would in all probability 
 be imassuming, thoughtful, and desirous, by a 
 strictly amiable deportment, to conciliate the 
 good-will and sympathy of those about them. 
 15ut no such thing ! Supremely ignorant, and 
 objects of the most humiliating sentiments of 
 pity, they are pretending, vain, and coxcombical. 
 They may truly be said to be deprived of their 
 humanity, in more ways than one; for the 
 same process which is found to make brute 
 beasts more tractable, uniformly renders these 
 additionally turbulent and savage. Pacchie- 
 rotti was one of the most civilized of the whole 
 class. He liad, by great good luck, an excel- 
 lent natural capacity, to which he was careful
 
 PACCHIErtOTTI THE CASTRATO. 393 
 
 to administer food, by courting the society of 
 refined and intellectual men. When enffaged to 
 sing upon the London boards,* Pacchierotti was 
 accompanied by his friend Signor Ferdinand 
 Bertoni, the celebrated composer. He travelled 
 through France, and was provided with letters 
 of recommendation to the ill-fated Marie An- 
 toinette, who never having heard him, signified 
 her royal pleasure, on his presentation, that he 
 should take part in a private concert, previous- 
 ly to his quitting the Continent for England. 
 
 A performance was therefore arranged to 
 take place at Versailles, under the management 
 of the distinguished musician Sacchini, (the 
 Queen's music-master,) and Viotti, the eminent 
 violinist. Marie Antoinette, ever anxious to 
 amuse the Parisians, invited all the young no- 
 bility v/ho had never heard any of these soprani, 
 including some who did not even know the 
 meaning of the term. Pacchierotti was a man 
 whose peculiarity of figure excited considerable 
 notice. His stature exceeded six feet: his 
 countenance was pale, his cheek-bones high and 
 broad, his head of hair immense, and tied in a 
 
 * To the honour and credit of the French character and 
 government be it mentioned, that persons of this description 
 are not permitted there to sing, either at the theatres, or at 
 the public concerts^ but in the King's private chapel only.
 
 394 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 manner resembling a great club. Such an ap- 
 parition, accoutred as it was on the present oc- 
 casion in a full court dress, which descended 
 nearly to his heels, and pendant from his awk- 
 ward high shoulders, looked as if hung upon a 
 wooden horse, could not fail to awaken the 
 merriment of the whole brilliant assembly ; and 
 when from this uncouth, mountainous figure 
 issued the shrill womanish voice, the surprise 
 and mirth of the company became quite exces- 
 sive. It was almost unprecedented in those ele- 
 gant saloons, amidst the well-known politeness 
 and urbanity of the anc'ien regime of France, 
 and was unrestrainable even by considerations 
 of court etiquette. 
 
 Pacchierotti was constitutionally timid ; so 
 much so, indeed, that on singing in any new 
 piece, it was difficult for him to raise his voice 
 to the proper pitch : and he has been frequently 
 known to sing throughout an entire opera a 
 note too low; the orchestra accommodating 
 itself to the performer, on account of being 
 aware of the cause of this effect, or rather 
 " of this defect." In the instance we are speak- 
 ing of, he was exceedingly confused and some- 
 what terrified by the laughter which his odd 
 figure had occasioned : on perceiving which, 
 her Majesty, the Queen, with her customary
 
 PACCHIEROTTI, THE CASTRATO. 395 
 
 delicacy of feeling and benevolence of heart, 
 graciously approached the performer and en- 
 couraged him to proceed ; and by her giving 
 the first example of such condescension, caused 
 Pacchierotti to be loudly applauded, and in- 
 duced the Princess de Lamballe, the Duchess 
 d'Orleans, the Duke de Penthievre, who had 
 been acquainted with the singer at the Court of 
 Turin, and the Duchess de Polignac, to unite 
 in bestowing warm commendations. 
 
 The recitative ended, Pacchierotti com- 
 menced the air ; and his expression and skill 
 in singing it occasioned involuntary tears to 
 flow from the eyes of his auditors. It was a pa- 
 thetic song, and happened to touch some chord 
 in the sensitive bosom of Madame de Lamballe, 
 which vibrated to such a degree as to cause 
 her Royal Highness suddenly to faint. " Ecco 
 la fine !" exclaimed the Queen, on learning this 
 accident, " il gran trionfo di Pacchierotti !" 
 
 Pacchierotti, many years after, when I was 
 on a visit to him at his house in Padua, while 
 singing with me from the original score of one 
 of Sarti's operas, which had been composed 
 for him at Venice, related the above anecdote. 
 He was one of the most defective singers I 
 ever heard; having an organ by no means 
 good, destitute of much compass, and without
 
 396 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 brilliance ; and he sang through the nose. Ex- 
 pression was his strong point: the notes he 
 uttered came evidently from his own heart, 
 and went direct to those of his hearers, and in 
 this particular and eminent quality, he was, 
 perhaps — certainly by any singer of his day — 
 unapproached. Another great excellence in 
 Pacchierotti was, that his articulation was clear: 
 this is so rarely the case with modern singers, 
 that people now, as it were by common con- 
 sent, neglect the words of a song from mere 
 despair of ever making them out. Composers? 
 too, are in the habit of writing according to 
 their own peculiar taste and notions, without 
 consulting the genius or capabihties of the per- 
 sons who are to perform their compositions. 
 Hence, we constantly find the most outrageous 
 malapropriations, and the most disagreeable in- 
 stances of incapability. Nor is there scarce one 
 singer who has a style of his own ; and, what 
 is worse still, the defects rather than the excel- 
 lencies of the model, are adopted by the imi- 
 tator. 
 
 To return to her Imperial Highness the 
 Archduchess INIarianna, and Signor Marchesi. — 
 On her return to Inspruck, the Signor con- 
 cluded he should be forthwith summoned to 
 the Princess's boudoir : instead thereof, how-
 
 ARCHDUCHESS MARlANNA AND MARCHESI. 397 
 
 ever, she sent out a gentleman in waiting, to 
 order him (as was sometimes done in the case 
 of the officers who garrisoned the citadel) to 
 walk to and fro before the palace, as her Im- 
 perial Highness was only curious to see the 
 Signor, on his passage from Vienna. The 
 haughty Austrian had doubtless heard some ru- 
 mours of the presuming demeanour of the so- 
 prano, who, on receiving this humiliating mes- 
 sage, instead of presenting his beardless coun- 
 tenance to the Archduchess, turned on his heel, 
 and exhibited to her Imperial Highness that 
 part which a court wit once displayed to Charles 
 II. on receiving an injunction from his Majesty 
 " never to let him see his face again." 
 
 From Inspruck we proceeded to Munich ; 
 and having been early in my youth attached 
 to that court, and well known to the late Kinsr 
 (when his Majesty was in the service of France), 
 I and my friends were received by that esti- 
 mable monarch with all the graceful and gra- 
 cious politeness so characteristic of him. 
 
 The late King of Bavaria was, in truth and 
 de facto, the father of his people. Her Majesty 
 the Queen, although many years had passed 
 since I received letters of introduction to her 
 two august sisters^ the Empress of Russia and 
 Queen Frederica of Sweden, kindly condes-
 
 398 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 cended to interrogate me as to the result of my 
 visits to those courts. No sovereigns, in fact, 
 could possibly be more generous and conciliat- 
 ing than were those of Bavaria, to all personally 
 known to them. The then Crown Prince, now 
 the worthy heir of his illustrious father's crown 
 and virtues, was absent from Munich, and con- 
 sequently I had not the honour to be presented 
 to him, as I was to all the other members of 
 his family, among whom were Prince Eugene 
 Beauharnois (formerly Viceroy of Italy) and 
 his amiable and beautiful consort, the Princess 
 AmeUa. 
 
 The present King of Bavaria is married 
 to the daughter of the Prince of Saxe Hil- 
 brockhausen. Her Majesty's mother was sister 
 to the late much-lamented Queen of Prussia, 
 and to her "Royal Highness the Duchess of 
 Cumberland. The Prince of Mecklenburg, 
 brother to the late Queen Charlotte, had four 
 daughters, who were thus allianced : — one mar- 
 ried the present King of Prussia; another 
 Prince I^ouis, the King's brother, and subse- 
 quently his Royal Highness the Duke of 
 Cumberland ; the third, the Prince of Tour 
 and Taxis ; and the fourth, the Prince above- 
 mentioned. 
 
 Nothing occurred in the course of our jour-
 
 ANCIENT BEAU AT A CONCEET. 399 
 
 ney from Vienna to Munich at all worth de- 
 tailing. Bad roads, bad inns, bad food, bad 
 accommodations, bad beds, very bad horses, 
 and still worse postilions, are all generally com- 
 plained of, and justly, by the English traveller 
 for the first time on the Continent. These de- 
 ficiencies are, in fact, pretty readily accounted 
 for. The word comfort, which is really multum 
 in parvo, containing so much meaning in two 
 small syllables, is not to be found in any other 
 language but the English. Our countrymen 
 would therefore do well, so far as lies in their 
 power, to seek it when abroad within them- 
 selves. 
 
 During my former residence at Munich, at 
 the court of the late Elector, Charles Theodore, 
 (the best-informed prince of his time,) there 
 was an ugly old nobleman of eighty, the Count 
 de Sahano, who took it into his head to fall 
 desperately in love with the reader's humble ser- 
 vant, at that period wife to one of the handsom- 
 est men of his time, young, well-informed, and 
 in disposition most amiable. I was myself scarce 
 out of my teens, and therefore revelling in the 
 enjoyment of that treasure which we none of 
 us know how to prize thoroughly until it has 
 slipped away from us— youth. In the frolic- 
 some mood so characteristic of that happy era,
 
 400 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 I sought and found abundant amusement in 
 quizzing and tormenting this ancient admirer, 
 upon whom all sorts of girlish tricks and man- 
 oeuvres were played off, under the patronage of 
 the Elector, and with the consent of my hus- 
 band. I made appointments, and sent people 
 to watch whether my superannuated swain was 
 punctual in keeping them; which circumstances, 
 naturally enough, soon became the common 
 theme of conversation at court. Count Sahano 
 was of a most miserly and miserable tempera- 
 ment ; and it was therefore a point with us, to 
 resort to every imaginable artifice to cause him 
 to part with some of his hoarded treasure. 
 Among other pranks, I recollect once removing 
 some parts out of the score of an oratorio, which I 
 knew the Count, in his quality of master of the 
 ceremonies, would have on the instant, (for there 
 was to be a concert that same evening), and at 
 his own proper cost, to get copied out again. 
 The rage of the unfortunate director on this 
 occasion was extreme, and amused his Serene 
 Highness, who, with several familiar friends, 
 were present at the rehearsal, infinitely. He 
 bounced about here and there, half frantic, 
 u})set all the instruments in the orchestra, and 
 actually fell himself into the case of the dou- 
 ble bass, which, as his figure was originally
 
 ANCIENT BEAU AT A CONCERT. 401 
 
 very small, and shrunken through age, held him 
 quite conveniently ; whilst, in his clumsy en- 
 deavours to get out, he became still more inex- 
 tricably involved, on account of the case turn- 
 ing over and over, until the assistance of some 
 of the servants put an end at once to his tor- 
 ments and our mirth, 
 
 I may be forgiven, perhaps, if, in the fond 
 recollection of scenes which distinguished my 
 youth, I mention, that at this same concert I 
 sang, by the particular request of the Elector, 
 the celebrated scena written for Marchesi, from 
 the opera of PieiTo, wherein I was twice en- 
 cored, to the no small satisfaction of my vanity, 
 and corresponding vexation of my lungs. In- 
 deed, I had frequently compliments paid me on 
 account of my musical powers ; but the great- 
 est I ever experienced was one at Vienna, where 
 the immortal Haydn was accompanying the 
 Countess de Hartzfelt and myself in a duet. 
 He at one time suspended his accompaniment 
 during several passages, and upon our at length 
 pausing, he said, addressing himself to me, 
 " Pardon me, Madame, I have been thus far 
 seduced to play the listener only to your rare 
 powers : if you will have the goodness to re- 
 commence, I will, with the greatest pleasure, 
 accompany you." 
 
 VOL. I. 2d
 
 402 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 As a proof of the high estimation in which 
 I had the good fortune to be held by the Elec- 
 tor, at that period when the excesses of Revo- 
 lutionary France caused other European pow- 
 ers to adopt such precautionary measures as 
 they deemed necessary for the tranquillity 
 of their several states, the Bavarian sovereign 
 deemed it prudent to prohibit the public im- 
 portation of all foreign inflammatory newspa- 
 pers. Immediately on hearing this, 1 forbade 
 mine : and the circumstance shortly after com- 
 ing to his Serene Highness's knowledge, he 
 was good enough to say, " I am aware of the 
 sacrifice an English lady must make to the 
 policy of the country she is honouring by a 
 visit, in stopping her journals ; and I can only 
 say, that Madame is at liberty at any time to 
 go into my cabinet, where she will find them 
 all." The same liberal-minded politeness was 
 extended to me subsequently at Prussia, during 
 the reign of the late King; and thus, from 
 never talking of politics, and thus never abus- 
 ing the confidence reposed in me, I was suffered 
 to travel tliroughout Europe at a period of the 
 greatest possible excitement, perfectly unmo- 
 lested. 
 
 I recollect the late King of Bavaria telling 
 mc an instance of the presumption of Madame
 
 PRESUMPTION OF CATALANI. 403 
 
 Catalan!, when that once-celebrated singer was 
 engaged to perform at the marriage of his 
 Majesty's daughter with Prince Eugene Beau- 
 harnois. Catalani had been so much in the 
 habit of singing before sovereigns, that she at 
 length began to fancy she might lift herself into 
 their actual society ; and on the present occa- 
 sion, entering the concert-room previous to the 
 assembly of the court, she very unceremonious- 
 ly seated herself in one of the loges set apart 
 for such members as v/ere expected of the Im- 
 perial and Hoyal families of France and Aus- 
 tria. On the entrance of the King she was of 
 course ejected, to her no small mortification, 
 and the great amusement of the court. I took 
 the liberty of observing to the King, after I 
 had heard this anecdote, " I trust your Majesty 
 will condescend to make some allowance for the 
 vanity almost inseparable from a woman of dis- 
 tinguished talents." "Assuredly," replied he, 
 " for her vanity, but not for her presumptiotiy 
 
 Few princes have experienced more, both of 
 the smiles and frowns of fate, than this amiable 
 monarch. In the commencement of his career, 
 as a cadet of the illustrious house of Deux- 
 Ponts, he served in the French army, in which 
 station he was both beloved and respected, at once 
 by his brother officers and by the unfortunate 
 
 2 D 2
 
 404 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Louis XVI. This employment he lost, toge- 
 ther with his German patrimony, on the occur- 
 rence of the French Revolution ; but his uncle, 
 Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria (of whom 
 I have been already speaking), dying without 
 issue, he succeeded as legitimate heir. He 
 was subsequently elevated, througli the influ- 
 ence of Napoleon, to the kingly dignity, with 
 a considerable augmentation of territory, and 
 was father both of the late Vice-queen of Italy 
 and of the present Empress of Austria.
 
 FERDINAND IV. OF NAPLES. 405 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Marriage of Ferdinand IV., late King of Naples, with the 
 Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. — Sinister policy 
 of the Austrian cabinet. — Ineffectual chagrin, and dismis- 
 sal, of Tanucci. — His successor, the Marquis de Sambuca. 
 —Introduction of Acton, the favourite of the Queen.— 
 Breaking out of the French Eevolution. — Conduct pursued 
 by Caroline — Singular condition of the Court of Naples at 
 the period. — The Junta of State. — Its incarceration of 
 several unoifending youths, and its abolition. — Another 
 sanguinary tribunal established. — Vanni, its president, and 
 his retributive fate. — General Mack, and his conduct when 
 prisoner of war in France. — Assassination of a messenger 
 despatched by the Queen to Nelson. — Retirement of the 
 Court to Sicily. — Imputed orders of her Majesty. — Con- 
 flagration of the Neapolitan fleet. 
 
 Among all the extraordinary events which 
 distinguished the march of the French Revo- 
 lution, from its commencement to the second 
 restoration of the Bourbons, none were more 
 singular, various, and interesting than those 
 which regarded the kingdom of Naples. The 
 late King, who, in consequence of his father
 
 406 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 succeeding to the crown of Spain, ascended the 
 tln*one in his minority, (which, however, was 
 fixed to expire at the age of sixteen,) espoused, 
 in his eighteenth year, Maria CaroHna of Aus- 
 tria, daughter of the illustrious Empress Ma- 
 ria Theresa, and sister of JMarie Antoinette of 
 France. 
 
 This union gave promise to the Neapolitan 
 people that they should no longer see the 
 Austrian Imperial Family pretending to the 
 throne of Naples, or suffer from that power 
 any interruption of the national tranquillity. 
 But from the same moment terminated the 
 influence, both public and private, of the court 
 of Madrid ; for, mark the insinuating policy of 
 Austria : — in the marriage contract between 
 Ferdinand and Caroline, it was stipulated, that 
 after the birth of their first son, the young 
 Queen should have a seat in the council, 
 should in fact constitute an integral part there- 
 of, and have a voice and vote in its delibera- 
 tions — rights which she did not fail fully to 
 claim and exercise so soon as the appointed 
 time arrived. It was then that Tanucci, the 
 minister of the day, perceived the false step he 
 had made in permitting the introduction of 
 such a clause — remarkable in him, who had the 
 reputation, under the former King, (Charles
 
 THE MINISTER TANUCCl. 407 
 
 III.,) of being one of the wisest and most pru- 
 dent statesmen in Europe. Experimentally 
 discovering liis error, he was anxious to elude, 
 as much as possible, its dangerous results ; but 
 he had to deal with an individual resolved 
 to press her advantage to the utmost. The 
 Queen, equally penetrating and ambitious, soon 
 saw through the intrigues of the minister, and 
 exercised her influence over her husband, (which 
 every day grew stronger,) to procure his dis- 
 missal, wherein she speedily succeeded. The 
 weakness of Ferdinand's character is pretty ge- 
 nerally understood ; nor will it afford matter 
 for much surprise, when the reader is informed 
 that his brothers all partook, more or less, of 
 this weakness ; the one immediately older than 
 himself, having been regularly disqualified 
 from succeeding to the crown of Naples, on ac- 
 count of his natural imbecility. 
 
 Tanucci displaced, a minister was sought to 
 succeed him more compliant with the wishes 
 and views of the ambitious Caroline ; and such 
 an one was soon found in the ]\Iarquis de Sam- 
 buca, who, coming after Tanucci, presented a 
 true picture of mediocrity following excellence. 
 From this moment, the credit and power of 
 Caroline were firmly estabhshed, and she be- 
 came in fact the real sovereign of Naples, her
 
 408 ANECDOTES OE FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 easy spouse caring for little more than the 
 quiet enjoyment of his constitvitional indolence 
 and trifling pursuits. At this period the ne- 
 cessity of an efficient naval force was strongly 
 impressed upon the active mind of the Queen, 
 both for the purpose of protecting the com- 
 merce of the kingdom, and defending its coasts 
 against the audacity of the African corsairs. 
 The chief point was, to meet with an able sea- 
 man to direct the incipient efforts of the Nea- 
 politans in this respect, and the private in- 
 terests of the Queen dictated that such a per- 
 son should not be sought either in Spain or 
 France. The Chevalier Acton was at length 
 pitched on. He had great reputation, and ap- 
 pears in some degree to have deserved it. He 
 had, it is true, been once for some time attach- 
 ed to the French marine ; but had become dis- 
 gusted with that service, withdrawn himself 
 from it, and was at that time commander of 
 the naval forces of Tuscany. He was proposed 
 to the female ruler of the destinies of Naples, 
 and accepted, as was proved by the sequel, in 
 a double sense. 
 
 Such were the two individuals, who had for 
 a long series of years wielded all the resources 
 of this beautiful kingdom. Whether their 
 administration was, in the aggregate, good or 
 
 f
 
 CAROLINE OF NAPLES. 409 
 
 evil, it is not our province to decide. We are 
 not writing history, we are merely grouping 
 together the most interesting circumstances and 
 personages that have figured in our own time. 
 
 Acton was at this period stiU young, with 
 more ambition than genius, and with know- 
 ledge limited almost to the concerns of his 
 nautical employment. For this want, whether 
 of capacity or information, he made up, how- 
 ever, by great aptitude and a fascinating ad- 
 dress. He perceived that his plan was to se- 
 cond at all risks the views and wishes of the 
 Queen, upon whose ascendancy his own alto- 
 gether depended. 
 
 Caroline, aspiring from her birth, had all the 
 earnest spirit of her brother Joseph, but was 
 destitute alike of his talent, philosophy, and 
 perseverance. 
 
 On the breaking out of the French Revolu- 
 tion, that political convulsion which agitated 
 the whole of Europe, and menaced the con- 
 tinuance of all kingly authority, Carohne was 
 not backward in displaying her wonted ac- 
 tivity. Being on a journey through Italy 
 with her brother, the Emperor Leopold, she 
 instigated; that prince against the infant re- 
 public, and induced him to form a coalition 
 with Sardinia, Spain, and Switzerland. This
 
 410 ANECDOTES OF FOUEIGN COURTS. 
 
 treaty, however, of which several writers have 
 spoken, and which was concluded at Mantua, 
 in concert with an individual sent thither by 
 the emigrant French princes, was never put 
 into execution. The famous treaty of Pilnitz 
 took place several months afterward, between 
 the same Leopold, and Frederick William, 
 King of Prussia. 
 
 In all the states of Italy revolutionary prin- 
 ciples had, by the time this treaty was signed, 
 obtained great precedence. The victories with 
 which the arms of the Republic were crowned, 
 obtained for it enthusiastic admu'ers ; and the 
 measures adopted by the several governments 
 to check this feeling were inconsistent, in 
 many cases, either with justice or true policy. 
 Thus, at Rome, in a commotion excited by 
 a public sermon, and by the priests secretly 
 fomented, an agent of the Republic was mas- 
 sacred in his own house, and all the French 
 residing in the town might have shared in the 
 same fate, had not the fears of the dastardly 
 assassins been excited by the sudden appear- 
 ance on the coast of a small French squadron. 
 
 The greater part of the French in Rome 
 and the Papal States, finding their security 
 thus problematical, fled for refuge to Naples, 
 where, however, tliey had even less chance of
 
 CAROLINE OF NAPLES. 411 
 
 escaping persecution. The victories of Napo- 
 leon Bonaparte in the Italian peninsula caused, 
 it is true, the effects of the hatred of the Nea- 
 politan Court to be for awhile concealed ; but 
 it was not, in its nature, the less deadly ; and 
 though apprehension induced them to sign a 
 separate treaty of peace with the Republic, 
 they secretly longed to have an opportunity 
 of wreaking upon the victims in thek power 
 the full bitterness of their indignation and 
 ^vrath. 
 
 The spectacle presented by this Court at the 
 period alluded to was extremely curious. It 
 was the seat of irresolution and confusion. 
 The Queen alone, constant in her projects of 
 ambition, seemed personally steadfast and fear- 
 less : she usurped the little remains of autho- 
 rity possessed by her husband, and found in 
 Acton a ready instrument for the execution of 
 all her scliemes. Though not, like Catherine 
 of Russia, the author of her husband's natural 
 death, she rendered him, beyond doubt, poli- 
 tically defunct. As for her subjec^^s, she had 
 acquired the habit of regarding them in the 
 mass, as no other than partisans of the all- 
 feared and all-hated Republic, and as preg- 
 nant with the spirit of revolution. Her fa- 
 vourite surrounded himself with foreigners.
 
 412 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 whose sole merit consisted in their tractahility 
 and abjectness towards him, which equalled his 
 own towards the Queen. Places, pensions, and 
 emoluments of every description, were lavished 
 prodigally upon these ; whilst native talent 
 and true worth were cast into the background 
 or scornfully repressed. 
 
 In this state of things, tortured with appre- 
 hension, natural enough after the commission 
 of so much injustice, the two persons who 
 governed the kingdom thought it advisable 
 to organise a political inquisitioUj to which 
 they gave the appellation of Junta of State. 
 One might readily foresee what would be the 
 operation of this tribunal of blood, which com- 
 menced by arresting and throwing into infec- 
 tious dungeons a great number of young men 
 of the most honest families. The feeling of 
 indignation was general and deep, although at 
 first not loudly expressed ; after a while, how- 
 ever, a body of venerable magistrates waited 
 on the King, and represented that the incar- 
 ceration of a number of imprudent youths* 
 
 • These youths, who had been educated in the public 
 schools, had read political and philosophical works, and, in 
 the enthusiasm natural to their time of life, hoped to see 
 their country one day free and powerful : they had probably 
 viewed with interest the great, and, in many respects, useful
 
 M. VANNI. 413 
 
 was not calculated either to save or to tranquil- 
 lize the state. Ferdinand, however, King only 
 in name, was unable to afford the applicants any 
 succour, and it was not until the popular voice 
 grew tumultuous against this institution that 
 it was suppressed. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Court was determined not 
 to forbear from dealing out its measures of 
 coercion. Another tribunal was quickly set on 
 foot, at the head of which was placed the infa- 
 mous Vanni, whose name, together with that 
 of his sub-colleague, Guidobaldi, have escaped 
 from their natural obscurity only to be held up 
 to the undying scorn and ignominy cast by all 
 weU-constituted minds upon the originators or 
 instruments of cruelty and oppression. 
 
 This Vanni was never other than the tool 
 and creature of Acton ; and as soon as the mi- 
 nister discovered that his agency was more in- 
 jurious than beneficial to the interests of the 
 Court, he scrupled not to sacrifice him. Vanni 
 was deprived of his office, and sent into exile. 
 Thus deceived in his projects of aggrandize- 
 
 changes that had taken place in the social condition of the 
 French ; but it is not fair to infer that they ever entertained 
 an idea of conspiring against the King, as was imputed to 
 them, and of which there does not appear to have been the 
 slightest proof.
 
 414 ANECDOTES OP^ FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 ment, he sank into a profound melancholy. 
 At the time when the Court first removed itself 
 into Sicily, on the approach of the French 
 army, this man entreated permission to seek an 
 asylum there also from the probable vengeance 
 of the invaders. It was refused him. And on 
 receiving this refusal, he determined to die. 
 The following is a transcript of the letter writ- 
 ten by him previously to striking the fatal 
 blow: — "The ingratitude of a perfidious court; 
 the approach of a triumphant enemy ; the de- 
 nial to me of a place of refuge — all decide me 
 to put an end to a life become insupportable. 
 May no one be accused of my destruction ; and 
 may my example render the other state-inqui- 
 sitors more discreet" 
 
 It is impossible to describe the exultation 
 wherewith, on the renewal of hostilities with 
 France, the Neapolitan Court regarded its 
 army of 70,000 men, commanded by the illus- 
 trious INIack. The Queen herself, dressed in 
 the style of an amazon, assisted at the review 
 of this fine armament several days before its 
 departure. She sought both by voice and ges- 
 ture to animate the soldiers, to inspire them 
 with the same ardour whereby her own bosom 
 was expanded. AVhen the troops marched 
 away, acclamations and warlike sounds were
 
 GENERAL MACK. 415 
 
 universally spread around. Pomp and display 
 delight the inhabitants of Naples ; and it was 
 imagined that the handful of French then in 
 Italy, (not exceeding 16,000 men) would soon 
 be exterminated by this splendid array. How 
 great, then, was the terror and consternation 
 when, " a little month" afterwards, the inhabi- 
 tants of the metropolis saw its feeble relics 
 return to their city, destitute both of cannon 
 and baggage. The King, who had followed it, 
 was compelled to quit Rome with the utmost 
 precipitancy ; while General Mack ran about 
 from one place to another, issuing in the course 
 of an hour twenty different orders, and utterly 
 ignorant on what to determine. A few days 
 previously he had affected all the airs of a con- 
 queror and liberator, of one who was in a con- 
 dition to defy every European state. In a mo- 
 ment, as it were, he lost both his power and 
 pride. No longer formidable to others, he ap- 
 peared even to lose all confidence in himself.* 
 
 * When Mack subsequently, in utter dismay, sought 
 refuge in the French camp from the fury of the Lazzaroni, 
 he presented his sword to General Championnet, who refused 
 it. " Keep it. General," said he, laughing ; " my Govern- 
 ment permits me not to receive presents of English manufac- 
 tured It is said, that Championnet never considered Mack 
 as a prisoner of war ; and that he even gave him a passport
 
 41() ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Intelligence of these disasters of the army 
 preceded its return to the capital, whose po- 
 pulation was, as I have said, filled with ap- 
 prehension, wherein the Court abundantly par- 
 took. A fatality seemed to hang over its mea- 
 sures, and urge it to take all manner of false 
 steps. A proclamation was published, wherein 
 the people were invited to rise eii masse, in 
 order to save their King and country : accord- 
 ingly, they ran to arms, and demanded nothing 
 
 and an escort, to enable him to proceed to Milan : but the 
 French Directory had him arrested and conducted to Paris. 
 He was afterwards liberated on parole ; breaking which, he 
 departed for Germany, in the company of his favourite mis- 
 tress. 
 
 Is it not inexplicable, almost incredible, that this same 
 Mack, who, after his conduct as commander-in-chief of the 
 Neapolitan army, should have entirely forfeited his reputa- 
 tion as a general, and, after his flight from France, should 
 have lost his character as a gentleman also, obtained in the 
 sequel the highest offices in the armies of Germany ? In 
 1804 he had the command of the Bavarian forces. At the 
 approach of Napoleon, he retreated and shut himself up in 
 Ulm, to which place the Emperor immediately laid siege. 
 After suffering a blockade for two months. Mack accepted 
 the most ignominious capitulation recorded in military an- 
 nals. The whole of his army, excepting only himself and his 
 personal staff, remained prisoners of war. 
 
 Such was the leader whom the King of Naples opposed to 
 Macdonald, to Championnet, and Kellermann!
 
 EMIGRATION OF THE COURT. 417 
 
 but to be led to battle. Ferdinand should have 
 profited by this burst of enthusiasm : at the 
 head of liis faithful subjects, a spirit might 
 have expanded similar to that felt in France at 
 the commencement of the invasion of its ter- 
 ritory, in which case victory would have been 
 equally certain. Instead of pursuing this course, 
 however, he listened to the suggestions of timid 
 and perhaps sinister counsellors ; and on the very 
 heels of the proclamation above-mentioned, (as 
 if afraid of the excitement himself had stimu- 
 lated,) decided to pass over into Sicily. A pe- 
 culiar circumstance hastened his departure. A 
 courier, who had been despatched by the Court 
 to Admiral Nelson, was stopped by the popu- 
 lace on the mole, at the instant that he was 
 about to embark to gain the English fleet. He 
 was believed to be an agent of some treasonable 
 practice against the royal family ; and, having 
 been cruelly massacred, his body was dragged 
 under the windows of the royal palace. In 
 doing this, it seems to have been the intention 
 of the blind mob to give their sovereign proofs 
 of attachment and fidelity : — on the contrary, 
 the occurrence filled him and his family with 
 fear and horror. Ferdinand resolved, v/ithout 
 loss of time, to withdrav/ himself from a people 
 whom he conceived to have become quite bar- 
 
 VOL. I. 2 E
 
 418 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 barous, and disposed to act over afresh at Naples 
 the scenes which had disgraced the refined ca- 
 pital of Paris. Upwards of twenty millions of 
 ducats, in coin and ingots, together with the 
 most precious moveables about the royal palaces, 
 and the rarest monuments of antiquity, were 
 speedily embarked, in order to be transported 
 to Palermo. 
 
 The following I heartily wish may not be 
 true, for the honour of human nature in ge- 
 neral, and of that sex, in particular, to which 
 Maria Caroline belonged. I hope it is nothing 
 more than a fable invented by calumny. It is, 
 however, said, and has been bruited about with 
 the utmost confidence, that this Queen, this 
 woman, caused, on leaving Naples, orders to be 
 given to her secret agents, by virtue of which 
 the populace of that city, already in a state of 
 high fermentation, were to be stimulated and 
 goaded to the greatest excesses, and, in fact, 
 incendiaries employed to fire, in different quar- 
 ters, this town, which she detested, and regard- 
 ed as nothing else than a hot-bed of revolution 
 and treason. Let us not load her memory with 
 such an ineffaceable stigma ! but (which ap- 
 pears more probable) there is little reason to 
 doubt that it was by lier orders," and those of 
 her minister, fire was put to the s]ii])ping in the
 
 CAROLINE OF NAPLES. 419 
 
 harbour, which their precipitate flight did not 
 enable them to carry with them, and which 
 they feared would otherwise fall into the hands 
 • of their enemy. A few hom*s were sufficient to 
 consume those wooden structures which it had 
 been the work of years to build, and which 
 were almost the only \iseful result of so many 
 imposts unpitiably levied. Witnesses of the 
 spectacle of this vast conflagration, an immense 
 crowd, which covered the shore, stood dumb 
 with consternation and horror. 
 
 2 E 2 
 
 #
 
 420 ANECDOTES OF FOliElGN COURTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Remarks on the emigration of the Court to Sicily. — The 
 " Parthenopean Republic." — Roger de Damas and the 
 Cardinal de Ruffo. — The cruelties of Mammone Gaetano, 
 a Royalist chieftain. — Sketch of the belligerent Cardinal. 
 — Atrocities perpetrated on the delivery of Naples into the 
 hands of the Royalists. — Capitulation of Chateau Neuf. — 
 The violation by Caroline and her creature Acton. — Ob- 
 servations on the conduct of Lord Nelson. — Treachery of 
 the Commander of the French troops. — Characteristic 
 sketches of Queen Caroline, of Lady Hamilton, and of 
 Acton. — The principal victims to the violation of the 
 treaty. 
 
 The Court of Naples has been almost uni- 
 versally blamed for having removed themselves 
 from their continental dominions, and songlit a 
 *• city of refuge" in Palermo. Undoubtedly, as 
 we have already observed, the King appears 
 thereby to have lost a chance which the excite- 
 ment and enthusiasm of his people at the mo- 
 ment rendered a probable one. 15ut it is well 
 to pause before we decide in this case. Cer- 
 
 i
 
 THE PARTHENOPEAN REPUBLIC. 421 
 
 tainly, if the Royal Family deemed it wise to 
 withdraw from the capital at all, they could 
 not have done better than take shelter from 
 the attacks of their enemies in an island defend- 
 ed by English vessels, and wherein plans might 
 be safely concerted to enable them, in due sea- 
 son, conveniently to regain what they had lost. 
 For this purpose, it was no doubt well ma- 
 naged to excite, in the vast province of Calabria, 
 an insurrection against the ephemeral govern- 
 ment introduced by the French after the de- 
 sertion of the King, and to which was given 
 the odd designation of " the Parthenopean Re- 
 public." The emigrant Roger de Damas was of 
 gTcat service in organising in the provinces 
 movements similar to those put in practice in 
 La Vendue. But of all the partisans of the 
 Royalist party in the kingdom of Naples, at 
 this period, the most daring and extraordinary 
 was the Cardinal RufFo, who, with the cross in 
 one hand, and the sword in the other, marched 
 at the head of certain troops of brigands, which 
 he had found no difficulty in getting together, 
 through holding out prospects of pillage, and 
 promising gratis the advantages of absolution. 
 The French armies were busy elsewhere ; and 
 there was consequently little to impede success 
 on the part of Damas and Ruffo in their strug-
 
 422 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 gle against a republic liastily formed, and not 
 yet in an organised state ; nevertheless, we are 
 forced upon the belief that the words " liberty, 
 constitution, and popular government," had 
 gained great power over the minds even of 
 the most ignorant men, since th^ two royalist 
 generals, in those places which did oppose 
 them, encountered a desperate resistance. 
 
 But the ravages which the Royalist bands 
 made in those parts of the country which were 
 slow in yielding them obedience cannot be 
 recounted without horror. To give a general 
 idea of their barbarity, I will lay before the 
 reader some account of one of their chiefs, 
 Mammone Gaetano. Originally a miller, he 
 was become by his high deeds, that is to say, 
 his crimes, general-in-chief of the insurgents 
 of Sora. During the period of two months 
 rhat he commanded a very small extent of 
 country, he caused no less than three hundred 
 and fifty men to be shot, and at least twice that 
 luinibor were slaughtered by his satellites. I 
 will not speak of the pillage, burnings, and 
 violations, dictated or permitted by him in a 
 spirit of demoniacal mirth, nor will I men- 
 tion the incredible number of persons who were 
 thrown into horrible dungeons. So great was 
 this monster's thirst for blood, that he always
 
 CARDINAL RUFFO. 423 
 
 drank, wlien it was within his power, that of 
 the victims whom he had caused to suffer. 
 Whenever he dined, he had generally upon his 
 table a head newly severed from the body, 
 and a skull served him for a goblet. It was to 
 such an individual as this that Ferdinand IV. 
 wrote from Sicily, addressing him, " My Ge- 
 neral and mij Friend /" 
 
 Cardinal RufFo, born in 1744, was already 
 old, and even infirm, when he took the charge 
 of this perilous enterprise. His zeal and cou- 
 rage would demand the highest commendation, 
 had he not soiled his victories by atrocities simi- 
 lar to those we have mentioned. 
 
 After the first return of Ferdinand to Naples, 
 in 1801, he nominated Ruffo his minister at 
 Rome. On the Pope's being carried off from 
 that city to France, the Cardinal was summon- 
 ed to Paris by Bonaparte, by whom he was re- 
 ceived with distinction, and presented with the 
 cross of an officer of the Legion of Honour. 
 But shortly after, from some motive not well 
 understood, he removed him from about the 
 Court, and restricted him to a village in the 
 vicinity of Paris. " This Cardinal," says the 
 author of the Modern Biography, *' passed for 
 a man of spirit and information, and as pos- 
 sessing knowledge of a various character. He
 
 424 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 has written on subjects the most diversified. ; 
 on the manoeuvres of troops, and the equip- 
 ages of cavahy ; on fountains and canals ; and 
 on the manners of various sorts of pigeons. He 
 has the faults of a speculative man, but does 
 not the less preserve the merited reputation of 
 being the most able economist of Italy. All 
 foreigners of distinction seek the Cardinal 
 Ruffo ; and as for himself, he appears now to 
 love the French with considerable fervour. 
 He has recovered his possessions in the king- 
 dom of Naples, where he passes the greatest part 
 of his time in planting rare trees, and reduc- 
 ing to practice his theoretical knowledge re- 
 specting agriculture and domestic economy." 
 Strange ! that a man who had revelled in such 
 scenes of violence as those wherein Ruffo was 
 engaged, should yet preserve a taste for the 
 pure and simple gratification arising from the 
 study of nature and the " planting of trees !" 
 
 The French government, as we before hint- 
 ed, had been compelled precipitately to recall 
 its army of Naples, in order to reinforce there- 
 with its grand army opposed to the forces 
 then inundating the western parts of Europe, 
 from the banks of the Wolga and of the Neva. 
 RufFo had therefore a clear theatre for his 
 ult€Tior ])roceediiigs ; and on the 13th of June,
 
 ATROCITIES BY THE ROYALISTS. 425 
 
 1799, a battle was fought in one of the fau- 
 bourgs of Naples, between the patriots, as they 
 were called, and the Royalist troops. The 
 latter were successful, and penetrated into the 
 city, where they were joined by a licentious 
 horde of the populace, who only waited to see 
 which party was likely to get the upper hand. 
 The pencil of the historian would be requisite 
 to paint, in any thing like due colours, the hor- 
 rors which, at the instant we speak of, deluged 
 that most unfortunate metropolis : it does not 
 resemble the annals of a society of men, but 
 of tigers with human faces. 
 
 Whoever had been a patriot, or was even 
 suspected of having been so by vindictive or 
 interested persons, was immediately attacked, 
 and a general massacre ensued. Neither sex, 
 nor age, neither virtue nor genius, nor mis- 
 fortune, was spared. In this huge city, there 
 remained but two classes, executioners and vic- 
 tims. The rich were immolated at the thres- 
 hold of their palaces ; the poor, upon the steps 
 of the churches. IMany were literally torn in 
 pieces by a gang of cannibals, who devoured 
 eagerly their quivering flesh ; whilst others, 
 having been dragged through the streets, were 
 thrown, either dead or dying, into heaps of 
 faggots lighted in the most public places of
 
 426 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the city. llufFo was witness of these gliastly 
 atrocities ; but he either wished not, or dared 
 not, to terminate them. 
 
 The cries of the wounded and the dying 
 reached the ears of that portion of the patriot 
 band wliich liad sought shelter in the different 
 forts of the metropolis. They no longer doubted 
 the fate which was reserved for themselves; and 
 preferring death with arms in their hands, to 
 falling under the blows of the assassins of their 
 comrades, resolved to defend their strong-holds 
 to the last extremity. They sustained, with 
 rare vigour, the several attacks of the Koyal- 
 ists ; but at length, overpowered by numbers, 
 and reduced to a state of extreme weakness 
 and suffering, they surrendered to their van- 
 quishers upon honourable terms of capitula- 
 tion. 
 
 This capitulation was signed not only by 
 lluffo and by INlicheroux, (one of the generals 
 of the King,) but also by Commodore Ford, 
 commander of the English fleet, by all the 
 chiefs of the Allied troops, and by Colonel 
 Mejean, commander of the French forces, in 
 the name of his government, which had been 
 styled " Protector of the Neapolitan Republic." 
 lluffo, in fact, gave hostages for its execution. 
 Policy and humanity combined to dictate the
 
 CONDUCT OF LORD NELSON. 427 
 
 terms of this solemn treaty, whilst honour and 
 the laws of nations alike forbade its violation. 
 But, who could think it ? the daughter of Ma- 
 ria Theresa— a woman, and a Queen — less hu- 
 mane than warriors, and more inflexible than 
 priests, announced her disapproval of an act set 
 on foot to spare the blood of her subjects ! 
 
 CaroUne was at Palermo with her spouse. 
 Scarcely was the capitulation known there, be- 
 fore this lady, still enjoying the most absolute 
 influence over the heart of her husband, swore 
 that none of its conditions should be observed. 
 She declared that she would infinitely rather 
 endure the loss of all her dominions, than stoop 
 to capitulate with rebels. 
 
 Lady Hamilton, spouse of the English mi- 
 nister, and avowed mistress of Admiral Nelson, 
 had not quitted Caroline on her retiring into 
 Sicily, where they lived together on terms of 
 great intimacy. The Queen prevailed on this 
 woman to seek forthwith her illustrious ad- 
 mirer, and use her ascendancy over him to in- 
 duce him to withhold his sanction from the 
 capitulation, wherein she succeeded. 
 
 This warrior^ whom his valour and good for- 
 tune had conspired to render the hero, and, as 
 it were, the champion of his country, disgraced 
 himself and his nation in this instance, by
 
 428 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 complying with the soUcitations of a woman 
 , whom lie should have ceased to love as soon 
 as she urged him to an act of dishonour. Not- 
 withstanding her prayers and entreaties, he 
 liesitated some time ; but the blandishments of 
 his mistress ultimately prevailed over the inte- 
 rests of humanity, the claims of justice, and the 
 glory of an hitherto untarnished reputation. 
 
 Nelson declared, that the treaty concluded, 
 until it received his sanction, was utterly null ; 
 and added that this sanction could not be 
 granted ! — and yet, at the very time he made 
 this declaration, he was in possession of the 
 forts of Naples, by virtue alone of an article of 
 this same treaty, the force of which he thus 
 disavowed. 
 
 Nor was the English admiral the only of- 
 fender on this occasion against truth and jus- 
 tice. The commander of the French garrison, 
 who, by virtue of his strong position, had it in 
 his power to require the fulfilment of the sti- 
 pulated terms, and to whom the hostages had 
 been delivered by lluffo, remained a careless 
 spectator of all the menaced violence of the 
 government. In good truth, he made a secret 
 treaty, wherein he engaged to surrender up 
 all the patriots who had taken refuge near 
 him ; and, in ])roof of his honest intentions to
 
 CAROLINE OF NAPLES. 429 
 
 do SO, sent back the hostages alluded to. He 
 did more than this : several of the unfortu- 
 nate Neapolitan republicans had assumed the 
 French uniform, and ranged themselves in the 
 French ranks. The colonel, suspecting this, 
 caused the troops to pass him in review, and 
 made a strict scrutiny, by which he was ena- 
 bled to discover these intruders, who were ac- 
 cordingly delivered to the vengeance of the 
 royalists ! 
 
 Such were the parties principally concerned 
 in the violations of this treaty, so great a blot 
 upon the page of Neapolitan history. The 
 great prime author thereof was undoubtedly 
 Queen Caroline. This woman, of whom his- 
 tory will find it difficult to trace a faithful 
 portrait, exhibited in herself the most opposite 
 qualities. Without being so beautiful as her 
 sister, Marie Antoinette, she had much dignity 
 of manner, and an exquisite arm, the motions of 
 which were regulated with consummate grace : 
 her regard was keen, but rather harsh ; her gait 
 noble, although somewhat pompous ; she spoke 
 much and readily, in several languages ; said 
 witty things, and sometimes unreasonable ones. 
 She was extremely fond of using her pen ; and 
 the writer of these sketches has seen long memoirs 
 of hers, written in easy French, and with scarcely
 
 430 ANECDOTES OF FOUEIGN COURTS. 
 
 any erasures, and which were understood to 
 have been produced with uncommon facility 
 and quickness. She was at once prudent and 
 rash, mild and aiTOgant, a prude and a co- 
 quette, a philosopher and a fanatic. She had 
 tlie reputation, throughout her life, of enter- 
 tainiiig principles the most dissolute, and of 
 squariiig her actions to them ; yet her children 
 were educated in the most rigorous and even 
 puritanical manner. The writer has frequently 
 seen her at the theatre divert the attention of 
 her daughters from the stage, lest they should 
 witness some scene of an amorous nature. Ge- 
 nerous even to prodigality, she every week 
 gave to deserving poor families the fruits of 
 her economy ; but at the same time she would 
 lavish benefits on persons altogether unworthy, 
 upon her favourite minister and his spies, and 
 upon the vilest public informers. She believed, 
 without examination, all the reports which 
 were made to her respecting the evil disposi- 
 tion of the people, and no one could please her 
 better than by proving to her that she was an 
 object of general dislike. 
 
 Her confidante, Lady Hamilton, was, whilst 
 Miss Harte, quite odious to Caroline. Proba- 
 bly, the extreme beauty of this young stranger 
 had excited in her breast a feeling of jealousy ;
 
 LADY HAMILTON. 431 
 
 but, be that as it may, she more than once ex- 
 pressed herself in a tone of great discontent, 
 that a man, honoured with an important mis- 
 sion, an EngUsh minister, should live publicly 
 with a prostitute taken from the very streets 
 of London. Sir William Hamilton, in fact, 
 received her into his house, led her triumph- 
 antly to the theatres and other places of public 
 assembly, even to the groves and thickets of 
 Caserta. But this minister espoused his favou- 
 rite, and then presented her at Court. From 
 that moment, consistently with her characte- 
 ristic inconsistency^ Caroline made the bride her 
 friend; whilst Lady Hamilton, almost trans- 
 ported beyond sense at finding herself thus 
 admitted to intimacy with a queen, was careful 
 to study her ruling traits, and inflamed, instead 
 of seeking to soften, her implacable passions.* 
 
 * The life of Lady Hamilton is too generally known to 
 require us to dwell long upon it. It seems altogether a ro- 
 mance. Neither the date nor place of her birth is accurately 
 made out. She is generally believed to have been the 
 daughter of an humble domestic, and was herself, up to the 
 age of sixteen, a servant in London. She became, shortly 
 after, lady's maid in a family, where she had opportunities of 
 reading a great many novels, and where she occasionally fre- 
 quented the theatres, and acquired the habit of representing 
 with extraordinary exactitude, by her attitudes and gestures, 
 the various passions of the soul. Disgraced by her mistress,
 
 432 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 This woman is generally held to have been 
 the chief instigator of those cruelties which 
 accompanied the first restoration of Ferdinand 
 in 1799. Indeed, as she had been subjected to 
 a great deal of hauteur and disdain, even after 
 she had become the favourite of the Queen, 
 from those who plumed themselves upon 
 
 she fell into a state of abject poverty, and took to prome- 
 nading the streets. In this situation, her beauty attracted 
 the attention of a fellow, who associated with lier, and by 
 whom she was offered as a model to artists. A celebrated 
 painter (Romney) fell in love with her, and multiplied her 
 individual likeness in his portraits, in every variety of form. 
 Shortly after, she found means to attract the regards of Lord 
 Grenville, nephew of Sir William Hamilton, by whom she 
 had several children. In 1789, Lord Grenville, whose 
 finances were then in a ruined state, sent his innamorata (most 
 likely in order to get rid of her) to Naples, to solicit succour 
 from his uncle, who was ambassador at that Court. Sir 
 William Hamilton, infatuated with her charms, kept her 
 near himself, completed her education, and at length, in the 
 year 1791, made her his wife. JMiss Harte must have been, 
 at that period, twenty-six years of age, and her husband 
 sixty-one. 
 
 The Queen of Naples, as Ave have already observed, soon 
 as the beautiful mistress of Plamilton was made an " honest 
 woman," received her at the assemblies of the Court, whereof 
 she constituted the principal ornament. She was admitted 
 into tlie Queen's private parties and 'pctlts soupers with 
 Acton, and often slept in the chamber of Caroline, It was 
 at Naples that Lady Hamilton lirst saw Nelson.
 
 THE MINISTER ACTON. 433 
 
 strictness of character, it is not matter of 
 much surprise that a heart so depraved as hers, 
 should seek, when gifted with power, to wreak 
 its vengeance. To her is likewise commonly- 
 attributed the atrocities perpetrated on Carac- 
 ciolo, together with the torments of other vic- 
 tims of high rank. 
 
 The minister Acton, who, like Lady Hamil- 
 ton, occupied a place which he merited not 
 either by his education or worth in any way, 
 used his influence, like her, in fanning in- 
 stead ]'of allaying the exacerbation of feeling 
 common to his royal mistress. Nothing grand 
 or virtuous appears to have occupied this man's 
 thoughts ; and he was both hated and despised 
 by the nation he had so long governed. 
 
 Acton was born at Besan^on, in the year 
 1757, and was son of an Irish physician who 
 had established himself in that town. He was 
 employed by the Grand-duke of Tuscany in an 
 expedition against the Algerines ; and to this 
 circumstance his subsequent good fortune may 
 fairly be attributed. The Neapolitan govern- 
 ment sought him out: the Queen patronised, 
 and without doubt loved him ; and from that 
 time his power knew no bounds. 
 
 Having bestowed a glance upon the authors 
 of this shameless violation of a solemn treaty, 
 
 VOL. I. 2 F
 
 434 ANECDOTES OF lOllEIGN COUllTS. 
 
 we now proceed to say a word or two respect- 
 ing their most distinguished victims. These 
 were ahnost all eminent either for talents or 
 virtue ; they perished by the hands of the exe- 
 cutioner, upon a lofty gallows elevated near 
 the sea-shore. The English vessels were within 
 sight; and from on board one of them the 
 cruel Lady Hamilton contemplated with com- 
 placency the massacre of a whole crowd of me- 
 ritorious men, most of whom she had known ; 
 for many of whom she had professed friend- 
 ship ; and amongst whom there were several 
 who had celebrated her charms in verse, and 
 had perhaps at the same time complimented 
 her for sweetness of disposition and humanity. 
 Poets are allowed much licence, but would be- 
 come intolerable on departing so widely from 
 truth and reality. 
 
 Manthone. — This man had been minister of 
 War under the republican government. When 
 the Judge Speziale, interrogating him, asked 
 how he had been engaged in the time of the 
 Republic, he answered in the following brief 
 but significant manner — " I have capitulated." 
 To no other question would he vouchsafe the 
 slightest reply. They advised him to make 
 preparations for his defence. " If the capitu- 
 lation," said this lieroic man, " defends me not.
 
 VICTIMS OF THE TREATY. 435 
 
 I should blush to have recourse to any other 
 
 means." 
 
 CmiLLO. — They inquired of this patriot 
 what his profession had been ? "A physician," 
 was the reply. " But during the Republic ?" 
 " A representative of the people." And, before 
 me, what art thou ?" pursued the Speziale, with 
 a leer of triumphant malice. " Before thee V 
 rejoined Cirillo — " a hero !" 
 
 Cirillo was well known throughout Europe, 
 by his numerous works, as a medical man of 
 high reputation. He was in the enjoyment of 
 a considerable fortune, which he employed no- 
 bly for the advancement of science. His su- 
 perb botanical garden included plants both of 
 the rarest and most useful kinds. 
 
 More than once had he supplied the resources 
 of his art to Lady Hamilton, and even to 
 Nelson himself; and yet he perished. It is 
 true, conditions were proposed to him, but 
 such as appeared to him to be dishonourable. 
 He preferred death. 
 
 Pasquale Baffi was perhaps one of the 
 ablest scholars in Europe. He has published 
 a translation, with the original text, from the 
 Greek IMSS. of Philodemus, found amongst 
 the ashes of Herculaneum. 
 
 When this man was condemned by the 
 
 2f 2
 
 436 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Junta, a friend offered him opium. He refused 
 it ; but soon proved that his refusal did not 
 proceed from want of courage : like Socrates, 
 he thought that every man upon the earth re- 
 sembles a soldier upon his post, and that to 
 abandon it wilfully could not but be culpable. 
 
 Francisco Caracciolo. — The best marine 
 officer in the service of Naples. To the aggran- 
 disement and wise regulation of the Neapolitan 
 navy his entire soul was directed. Ferdinand 
 esteemed and loved him. 
 
 AVhen the proper officers came to read to 
 Caracciolo the sentence of death, he was seated 
 upon the deck of a ship, explaining to several 
 sailors, who surrounded him, the peculiarities 
 in the construction of an English vessel which 
 lay alongside them. Having received the fatal 
 intelligence, he continued his explanatory dis- 
 course without betraying any symptoms of dis- 
 composure. They hung him at the yard-arm, 
 and his body was thrown into the sea. Next 
 day the corpse floated close to the flag-ship of 
 Lord Nelson, where it was perceived by the 
 King, who recognised, doubtless with feelings 
 of extreme horror, the remains of his old 
 friend. 
 
 Francisco Confortt. — The most skilful 
 jurisconsult in the kingdom. He was the Gian-
 
 VICTIMS OF THE TREATY. 437 
 
 none, the Sarpi of our age ; had rendered the 
 most important services to the Court of Naples, 
 by combating, in his learned works, against the 
 pretensions of the Court of Home, and in thus 
 regaining for the royal treasury upwards of 
 fifty millions of ducats. 
 
 Francisco Mario Pagano. — This unfor- 
 tunate man made, for the use of the republic 
 which had been established in his native coun- 
 try, a project of a constitution, which has been 
 frequently printed, and merits well to have 
 been, as it was, the object of several critical 
 dissertations. 
 
 Mario Pagano was, a few years only before 
 his death, universally considered one of the 
 most enlightened legislators Naples had ever 
 produced; he cultivated besides both poetry 
 and tlie dramatic art. Amongst the theatrical 
 pieces composed by him, a tragedy is particu- 
 larly distinguished, entitled Corrad'mo^ full of 
 situations the most interesting for a Neapolitan 
 reader or spectator. The plot is taken from a 
 portion of the national history. 
 
 But his prepossession was always towards 
 politics, and he predicted at an early period, 
 with remarkable correctness, the numerous 
 evils that followed in the train of the French 
 Revolution.
 
 438 ANECDOTES OF EOllEIGN COURTS. 
 
 The second edition of his Sag'gi Politici (Po- 
 litical Essays) appeared during this unhappy 
 period, and made a great sensation in a city 
 where people read but little, and where even 
 meditation is regarded as a fatigue. 
 
 Ignazio Ciaja. — A young litterateur and 
 poet, whose compositions were replete with 
 sweetness, with grace and philosophy. His hu- 
 manity was perhaps the cause of his fall, and 
 that of his forlorn companion. They might, 
 before they were yet completely blockaded 
 in the fort wherein they sought refuge, have 
 sallied forth, sword in hand, and fled into the 
 Roman States : this was, in fact, the opinion 
 and wish of the majority. Ciaja opposed him- 
 self to the execution of this project, resolved, 
 as he said, not to leave without defenders a 
 crowd of women and children who had placed 
 themselves under their protection to escape the 
 fury of the populace. 
 
 ViNCENzo Russo. — This man exercised, by 
 his eloquence, an almost irresistible influence 
 over the multitude. Arrived at the place of 
 execution, he spoke for a considerable length 
 of time to the people, and produced, as usual, 
 a vivid effect upon their spirits. " Near five 
 months after his death," says M. S. Cuoco,* " I 
 
 * Saggio sulla Eivoluzione di Napoli; p. 298.
 
 VICTIMS OF THE TREATY. 439 
 
 have heard officers who assisted at the mourn- 
 ful occasion, repeat word for word, with deep 
 emotion, his last address." 
 
 Eleanora Fonseca Pimentel. — In her 
 youth, this woman obtained and merited, by 
 her literary talent, the encomiums of Metas- 
 tasio. At the epoch of the Revolution, she 
 edited the " Moniteur Napolitain," a journal 
 throughout which breathed the most ardent 
 love of her country. This was the cause of 
 her death. Before going to execution, she re- 
 quested and drank a dish of coffee, and then 
 walked to the scaffold not only with courage, 
 but with apparent indifference. 
 
 Several other females besides herself perished, 
 for pardon was accorded neither to sex nor age, 
 and amongst others the unhappy Santa-Felice. 
 This truly respectable woman had never mixed 
 herself up with political affairs ; but, happening 
 to obtain intelligence of the conspiracy hatched 
 against the Republic by Bacher, she regarded 
 it as her duty to unfold the same to the Go- 
 vernment. The conspirators had plotted to 
 deliver Naples up to pillage, and conflagration, 
 and massacre ; and Santa-Felice could not be- 
 lieve that it would be right to conceal this in- 
 famous intention, and guard a secret so fraught 
 with horror. In this disclosure lay the whole
 
 440 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 extent of her crime against the Royal Go- 
 vernment. 
 
 We cannot follow up this painful but inte- 
 resting catalogue, which would itself fill a vo- 
 lume. In the provinces, thanks to the zeal of 
 the emissaries of the Junta, who traversed them 
 under the name of visitors, the extermination 
 of the patriots was pursued with corresponding 
 ferocity. Upwards of 4000 victims have been 
 held to have perished, selected always from 
 amongst the most noble, the wisest, and most 
 distinguished of the nation. 
 
 The cries of the unfortunate sufferers still 
 filled the air, when the Court, under the aus- 
 pices of the infamous Lady Hamilton, re-en- 
 tered Naples in triumphal array. Never was 
 there seen a succession of more brilliant fetes. 
 The Rev. Mr. Eustace, who was at Naples at 
 this epoch, has devoted several pages of his 
 work to the description of the illuminations, 
 balls, and spectacles, which took place upon 
 this solemn occasion. The English were co- 
 vered with favours and distinctions. The 
 King, it is true, owed to them his crown, in 
 the same way as Naples owed to Lord Nel- 
 son the rupture of the capitulation, and to the 
 Queen the massacres commanded by the Junta. 
 In fact, it was at Palermo the list was di'awn
 
 VICTIMS OF THE TREATY. 441 
 
 out of those persons who were predestined to 
 condemnation, whatever might be their line of 
 defence. 
 
 But not only did the cries of these unhappy 
 victims fill the air — they ascended to the hea- 
 vens ; and a few years only passed before the 
 merciless Royal Family were again hurled 
 from their throne, driven into exile, and their 
 heritance placed in the hands of a stranger: 
 and so penetrated were their subjects with 
 horror and detestation at the inhumanity and 
 injustice which had marked their previous re- 
 turn, that they accepted with joy the domina- 
 tion of new masters.
 
 443 ANF.CDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Nomination of Joseph Bonaparte to the throne of Naples. — 
 Description of this Prince. — His favourite ministers, Sali- 
 cetti and Rcederer. — Arrival of Joseph's Family. — Surprise 
 of the Neapolitans at his recall. — Nomination of Joachim 
 Murat. — Thoughts on certain portions of the policy of 
 Napoleon. — Murat's peculiar character and talents. — He 
 entertains all his poor relations at a banquet, upon his 
 being invested with the title of Prince of the French Em- 
 pire. — General characteristics and mistakes of Bonaparte's 
 Kings. — Joachim's love of personal display. — Predomi- 
 nancel of the military during his reign. — Caroline Murat. 
 — Opinion entertained of her by Talleyrand. — Murat's de- 
 termination to hold himself independent of Napoleon. — 
 Bad faith evinced towards him by the French Emperor. — 
 Retort of Joachim. — Mock invasion of Sicily by Murat. — 
 Unfortunate piece of neglect, compromising the safety of 
 the Neapolitan army. — Sir Hudson Lowe. — The Prince of 
 Canisa — Death of Murat. — Latter days of Caroline Murat, 
 at Naples. — Her conciliating and admirable behaviour. — 
 Temporary incredulity of the Neapolitans as to Joachim's 
 fate. — Explanatory sketch of the sect of the Carbonari. 
 
 After Napoleon had declared, in conse- 
 quence of the double-dealing shown towards him
 
 SALICETTI. 44S 
 
 by the Neapolitan Court, that he was again in 
 a state of war with that country, he added, in 
 the usual emphatic style which characterised 
 the announcement of his decisions, that " the 
 dynasty of the Bourbons, in Naples, had ceased 
 to reign." A French army rapidly traversed 
 Italy, and appeared before the gates of the 
 capital ; and the weak-minded Court again de- 
 parted, on the news of its approach. 
 
 Joseph Bonaparte, who was destined, in the 
 first place, by his then all-potent brother, to 
 succeed the self-exiled royal family, was not 
 highly qualified to conduct any great measure. 
 During the struggle which it was necessary 
 to make in Calabria, for the purpose of esta- 
 blishing his power, Joseph remained at Naples, 
 occupied certainly, in some degree, in the or- 
 ganization of his new kingdom, but still more 
 intently in his amours and other pleasures. 
 He left, for the most part, to his ministers the 
 burden of public affairs. Two men, who had 
 followed him to Naples, Salicetti and Rcederer, 
 had the greatest influence over his mind. 
 
 Salicetti, a Corsican like his master, and a 
 man at once subtle and ambitious, was charged 
 with the administration of the police. In or- 
 der to render himself necessary to the sove- 
 reign forms of his colleague, he appeai'ed to
 
 444 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 exercise the greatest zeal in laying snares for 
 tlic discovery of plots and plotters against 
 the new order of things. The greatest part of 
 these plots were merely imaginary, or, if ex- 
 isting at all, secretly fomented by his own 
 agents. Having originated them, he punished 
 witli severity the parties concerned, or alleged 
 to be concerned ; and the short reign of Joseph 
 was marked by a great number of executions. 
 
 It was not to be imagined that a man could 
 thus trifle with the feelings and lives of his 
 fellow-creatures, without arousing a sentiment 
 of vengeance. Although Salicetti was ready 
 enough in discovering conspiracies which had 
 no existence, his art availed him not to detect 
 one which was really formed, and which proved 
 all but fatal to. himself and his family. In the 
 middle of the night a kind of mine was sprung, 
 which had been constructed underneath his 
 palace, part of which was thereby blown into 
 the air. Salicetti was not killed ; but he re- 
 ceived, as did likewise his two daughters, 
 wounds which put their lives in danger. 
 
 The most influential of Joseph's ministers, 
 after Salicetti, was Roederer. This man, who 
 liad acquired some reputation in his native 
 country by his talents in literature and in 
 matters relative to finance, and who possess-
 
 CHARACTER OF RQJDERER. 445 
 
 ed at the same time wit, taste, and firmness, 
 was certainly by far the most distinguished 
 person who followed Joseph Bonaparte to 
 Naples, and the one who did most, or rather 
 who did any thing at all, for the benefit of 
 the realm. He proposed salutary reforms, and 
 plans of organization well combined, but suffi- 
 cient time was not allowed him to put them 
 fully into execution. 
 
 Whatever other talent, however, this minis- 
 ter possessed, he certainly had not the art to 
 render himself beloved. He was rouefh in 
 manner, wanted urbanity, and was harsh in 
 his measures towards men whom it was requi- 
 site to manage^ and to attach as much as pos- 
 sible to a new government. Instead of ex- 
 citing their love, therefore, he drew upon him- 
 self their aversion — an aversion reflected from 
 himself upon his master. 
 
 The arrival of Joseph's family at the capital, 
 together with the perspective operations of his 
 government, all combined to make it believed 
 that the new King was destined by his brother 
 to possess definitively the throne to which he 
 had been nominated. It was not, therefore, 
 without surprise, that the inhabitants of Naples 
 learned, a short time after, that Napoleon had 
 summoned his brother to Bayonne, and pur-
 
 446 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 posed to encircle his brow with a diadem still 
 more brilliant. Joseph, in announcing his new 
 destination, made it known, at the same time, 
 that his successor was to be Joachim IVlurat, 
 his brother-in-law. 
 
 He did not quit Naples without having be- 
 stowed on it a constitution which might serve 
 as a model for future sovereigns. But there is 
 small certainty of a man's designs and provi- 
 sions being put in execution, when he himself 
 is no longer on the spot personally to overlook 
 and direct them. 
 
 The talents, policy, and kindness of his bro- 
 ther, had called Joseph Bonaparte to play a 
 splendid part upon the theatre of the world ; 
 but he did not show himself worthy of the 
 favours lavished on him by fortune. He had 
 received at Pisa a good education, had ac- 
 quired much useful knowledge, and possessed 
 an interesting figure. During his embassy at 
 Rome, and in the negotiations at Luneville, 
 he had appeared to considerable advantage. 
 But, withdraAVTi from his proper sphere, and 
 mounted to a rank too elevated for his powers, 
 he was incapable of commanding either the 
 good-will or respect of the people submitted 
 to his sway. 
 
 Of all the brothers of Bonaparte, this (the
 
 CHARACTER OF JOSEPH BONAPARTE. 447 
 
 eldest, though by a single year) was the one 
 on whom, wdth a sort of blind confidence, he 
 rested the hopes of forwarding his own am- 
 bitious views. Joseph was however nothing 
 more than an instrument in the hands of Na- 
 poleon. He had passed successively through 
 several honourable employments, and had been 
 entrusted with sundry important diplomatic 
 missions before he was made a king. In 1797 
 it was, that Joseph filled the situation of Am- 
 bassador at Rome, where he conducted him- 
 self, as has been said above, with a good deal 
 of spirit and judgment. The foUow^ing year he 
 was a member of the Council of Five Hundred ; 
 subsequently Counsellor of State; and then 
 Minister Plenipotentiary to the Government 
 of North America. In 1802, he concluded the 
 treaty of Amiens; which, had it been observed, 
 would have wrought much benefit to France, 
 and spared a good deal of blood and treasure to 
 various other parts of Europe. AVhen the Im- 
 perial Government was estabhshed in France, 
 Joseph was nominated Prince and Grand Elec- 
 tor ; two or three years after, he was installed 
 as Sovereign of Naples ; and, after a little 
 farther lapse of time, seated upon the uneasy 
 throne of Spain. 
 
 Of a character calm and reflective, he passed
 
 448 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 for being the sage, the pliilosopher of his fa- 
 mily ; yet this reflective turn was a good deal 
 dashed, on his accession to the Neapohtan 
 crown, by a course of dissolute pleasure. His 
 administration in that country was, however, 
 of too short duration, to enable one to form 
 any decisive ideas respecting it. 
 
 It seems to me to have been an impolitic step 
 in Napoleon to surround himself with, and 
 attempt to consolidate his power by a number 
 of new kings. Instead of interfering openly to 
 overturn, in foreign states, their ancient poli- 
 tical institutions, he should have left them to 
 form new ones for themselves. The influence 
 of his great empire must have spread widely 
 and deeply ; and he might then have had re- 
 quisitions for his brothers, brothers-in-law, and 
 generals, instead oi forcing them, as it were, 
 upon his neighbours. To impose new kings in 
 place of those who had been chased by the 
 growth of popular opinions from their thrones, 
 and to establish a new aristocracy of his own, 
 was calculated, as the event proved, to alienate 
 both popular affection and confidence. 
 
 By a proclamation dated at Bayonne, Joseph, 
 as we have seen, announced to the Neapolitans 
 his fresh destination and the new sovereign 
 wliom his brother had imposed upon them.
 
 CHARACTER OF MURAT. 449 
 
 The inhabitants of this king-worn metro- 
 polis, habituated, for some eight centuries past, 
 to a constant change of masters, to see their 
 ancient monarchs give place to others, then 
 return, and perhaps again quit, to return again ; 
 grown indifferent to this species of novelty, 
 and even perhaps at length admiring it, receiv- 
 ed King Joachim with the liveliest transports. 
 This sovereign could not boast of illustrious 
 ancestors : born in the very lowest rank of so- 
 ciety, he owed his fortune altogether to the 
 marriage which he concluded with the sister of 
 Napoleon. But, with a handsome person, in 
 the very flower of his age, brave even to rash- 
 ness, lively in manners, and given to enjoy- 
 ment, he needed not the additional gift of pro- 
 found judgment to render him acceptable to 
 the gayest and most ardent nation of Italy. 
 He was, in truth, as active as Joseph had been 
 indolent ; and loving power through natural 
 pride, gave himself up to pleasure through na- 
 tural temperament. He had a complete pas- 
 sion for glory ; and perceived that it was ne- 
 cessary to signalize, by some striking act of 
 valour and audacity, his accession to a throne, 
 in order that he might inspire the love of the 
 people, the dread of malcontents, and the re- 
 spect of enemies. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 G
 
 450 ANECDOTES OF FOTIEIGN COURTS. 
 
 It must be confessed, tliat Bonaparte was 
 never seconded by any one, in his gigantic pro- 
 jects, so blindly and so daringly, as by Murat. 
 It was he who had the shameful honour of 
 causing Charles IV. of Spain to abdicate, and 
 of drawing him, with his family, to Bayonne, 
 where he fell into the lure which Napoleon 
 had spread. Thus did Joachim pave the way 
 along which Joseph Bonaparte marched to 
 take possession of the throne of Spain ; and 
 was himself rewarded by the crown of Naples. 
 If Joachim was capable, however, of executing 
 grand projects, he had not a similar power in 
 conceiving them ; he was a hand, not a head ; 
 an excellent soldier, but not a man of genius. 
 
 Murat had a good deal of vanity ; neverthe- 
 less he could sometimes play the modest man, 
 of which we will furnish the reader with an 
 example. Having been admitted as a member 
 of the Imperial family, witli the title and dig- 
 nity of prince, he repaired into the department 
 wherein he was born, and where his connex- 
 ions still resided. Having gathered them to- 
 gether, rich and poor, he treated them with an 
 excellent dinner. He detailed his successes in 
 life, and the splcndoiu' of his present situation. 
 Many of his auditors were humble enough in 
 rank, and miserable enough in appearance ; but
 
 CHARACTER OF MURAT. 451 
 
 he shunned no one. The new prince had indeed 
 already acquired the lordly quality of blush- 
 ing at nothing. Every one, even the most dis- 
 tant of his kinsmen, found in his benefactions 
 a new sort of existence. We leave it to those 
 versed in casuistry to decide whether his actions 
 exhibited most clearly the arrogance of ostenta- 
 tion, or the frankness of an open-hearted sol- 
 dier. 
 
 If the abstract principle of the right of con- 
 quest be admitted, the Emperor of the French 
 had an undoubted claim to dispose of the throne 
 of Naples. Nevertheless, one cannot help feel- 
 ing astonishment at the decree by which Bona- 
 parte put his " dear and well-beloved cousin, 
 the Prince Joachim Napoleon," in possession of 
 the " crown of Naples and Sicily," and provided 
 for a long succession thereto. Now, that this 
 extraordinary family has fallen into its original 
 obscurity, their audacity is really matter of the 
 greatest surprise. How strange to see them 
 parody, in their acts, the forms and styles of 
 ancient diplomacy; compose brilliant courts; 
 follow, even in the minutest details, the pre- 
 scriptions of Gothic etiquette ! If these new 
 prince^ had been possessed of true merit ; if they 
 had been worthy of the elevated rank which they 
 
 2 G 2
 
 452 ANECDOTES OV EOUEIGX COUJII S. 
 
 were called to occupy ; they would have fol- 
 lowed a wholly different road. They would 
 have accustomed the nations to their dominion 
 by degrees, and adopted a style of manner sim- 
 ple and frank. It was not for them to affect 
 the absurd and humiliating etiquette in use 
 in the courts of other khigs, and which, at this 
 time of day, no longer imposes even on the 
 most uninformed. They should have shunned 
 these outworn things; and replaced fantastical 
 denominations, and the formula of ancient ser- 
 vitude, by a code of manly politeness and ra- 
 tional distinction. Instead of being grotesque 
 copyists of former kings, (and they could be 
 no other than grotesque,) they should have as- 
 pired to become models for future ones. But 
 they seem to have had no clear judgment either 
 of their peculiar situation, or of the requisitions 
 of their age. 
 
 Thus, before arriving at Naples, Murat 
 caused himself to be preceded by a proclama- 
 tion, wherein, after having passed, in the true 
 kingly strain, several high-flown compliments 
 to " the glorious nation over which he was 
 called to preside," he announced tliat in the 
 course of a few weeks he should be " in the 
 midst of his people, with his august spouse,
 
 PROCI AMATION OF MUBAT. 453 
 
 the Prince Royal, Achllle Napoleoji, and his 
 little family, whom he should with pleasure con- 
 fide to their love and fidelity." 
 
 He promised faithfully to observe the con- 
 stitution proclaimed by his " august predeces- 
 sor" (Joseph) ; but this is precisely what he for- 
 got to do during the six years of his reign. It 
 was only two or three days previous to his com- 
 plete overthrow that he seemed to recollect, that 
 if a constitution was generally a benefit to the 
 people, it might upon occasion be the safeguard 
 of a king. He therefore published one, which 
 is a new monument both of his valiity and of 
 the tyrannical cunning in which his " august 
 brother-in-law" had doubtless given him les- 
 sons. The prerogatives of the kingly power 
 are there detailed at full length : there is like- 
 wise a section devoted to the " grand officers 
 of the crown," which list includes the grand 
 almoner, the grand chamberlain, the grand 
 equerry, the grand marshal, the grand hunts- 
 man, and the grand master of the ceremonies. 
 What ! could not the son of the innkeeper of 
 Cahors contrive to reign in Naples without 
 such an idle train as this ? 
 
 A king of the Bonaparte school was almost 
 necessarily a lover of pageantry and form. Mu- 
 rat, always dressed in the showy style of a
 
 454 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 tlieatrical monarch, delighted to exhibit him- 
 self as a spectacle in all the grand solemni- 
 ties that went forward. His court was spark- 
 ling and voluptuous ; but this pomp and lux- 
 ury cost the nation dear. It was necessary to 
 augment the taxes in order to provide for these 
 expensive follies, and the people naturally mur- 
 mured ; this was the sure means to make them 
 cast back their eyes to their former rulers, whom 
 they might, in the fondness of desire, imagine 
 were at length purified through misfortunes 
 from their failings. 
 
 Nevertheless, some of the acts of Joachim 
 were doubtless worthy of eulogium. He had 
 too strong a predilection for the soldiery;* but, 
 
 * The disorders committed by the soldiers of Murat were 
 excessive. In the provinces the military commanders were 
 true despots ; tlieir will, even their caprice, was law : the 
 officers of the legions recently organized, presuming upon 
 their new privileges., were daily guilty of the most atrocious 
 acts of violence and insolence toward their fellow-citizens : it 
 might be said that their excesses made the people look back 
 M'ith regret even to those epochs, generally considered so 
 disastrous, when the system of feudal domination existed. 
 
 In the very capital, under the eyes of IMurat, his body- 
 guard gave themselves up to all manner of license, and they 
 resembled an undisciplined corps of janissaries rather than 
 any other. The civil power was not only overruled, but 
 defied. The writer one day saw several officers of police 
 assailed at their post, bound, and dragged rudely through
 
 MADAME muhat. 455 
 
 ill other branches of the administration, effect- 
 ed very beneficial alterations. He saw that to 
 throw tclat upon his government, he should 
 appear, at least, to be the protector of men of 
 letters, and in reality did something for their 
 encouragement. During several years thou- 
 sands of hands were employed in the excava- 
 tions of Pom])eii. The Queen, Caroline Murat, 
 interested herself particularly in the discoveries 
 which were made in that ancient town. She 
 loved those monuments of art, decorated her 
 palace therewith, and generously remunerated 
 those who brought them. 
 
 The character of Caroline Murat, like that of 
 her rival and namesake, the wife of Ferdinand, 
 does not seem to be very well understood. She 
 has been generally thought ambitious : yet, 
 even if so, her ambition was of a more rea- 
 sonable complexion than that of her ill-starred 
 husband. Thus, when he left Naples to head 
 his army, after the return of Napoleon from 
 
 the most populous streets, even under the windows of the 
 royal palace, for no other reason than because they had found 
 themselves compelled to arrest one of the comrades of these 
 turbulent officers;, who had disturbed, by his insolence, the 
 public tranquillity at a solemn fete ! Constantly was the 
 peace of the city violated by contests between the guardsmen 
 and other troops belonging to the garrison, and blood was shed 
 unhesitatingly.
 
 456 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 Elba, and when his views were undoubtedly 
 advanced to the regaining of the independence 
 of all Italy, and the nomination of himself as 
 its sovereign, she professed herself altogether 
 averse to the measure, saying repeatedly, to a 
 man who esteemed and wished her well, — " Is 
 it not enough for a peasant of Cahors to oc- 
 cupy the finest throne in Italy ? — No ! he 
 would have the entire peninsula." 
 
 " Madame Murat had the head of Cromwell 
 upon the body of a well-shaped woman. Born 
 with much grandeur of character, strong mind, 
 and sublime ideas ; possessing a subtle and de- 
 licate wit, together with amiability and grace, 
 seductive beyond expression ; she was deficient 
 in nothing but in the art of concealing her 
 desire to rule ; and when she failed in attain- 
 ing her end, it was because she sought to reach 
 it too quickly." 
 
 Such was the sketch drawn of this interest- 
 ing ^^'oman by a masterly pencil, that of tiie 
 Prince of Eenevento, (Talleyrand,) whose ge- 
 neral shrew^dness, and opportunities of inter- 
 course with tlie person he is characterising, 
 renders his testimony extremely valuable. 
 
 It is, however, pretty generally thought, 
 that Caroline was often the soiu'ce of dissen- 
 sions between IMurat and her brother, in whose
 
 CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON. 457 
 
 eagerness for power, she, beyond question, 
 largely shared. She would have had her hus- 
 band play the part performed by Bacciocchi, in 
 Tuscany. Napoleon, who always accorded to 
 his brother-in-law the quality of great courage, 
 had nevertheless judged indiscreetly of him in 
 other respects ; he thought to have swayed 
 him as easily as he did his brother Louis in 
 Holland. He had imagined, that the Sarig- 
 liano would become, like tlie Elbe, nothing 
 else than one of the arteries of the grand em- 
 pire ! But both brother and sister were mis- 
 taken in their man : Murat, whilst he v/as 
 King, appeared resolute to bear no interference 
 with the internal regulations of his kingdom. 
 
 If Napoleon had uniformly used good faith 
 in his conduct to Murat ; if, in 1813, instead of 
 ordering him to put all the Neapolitan army 
 under the command of Eugene Beauharnois, 
 he had placed Joachim at the head of the entire 
 French army in Italy, Murat (as all the French 
 officers then in tlie service of Naples attest) 
 would have sacrificed even his crown to sus- 
 tain the interests of France. Joachim would, 
 in that case, have conducted liis whole force 
 into Upper Italy ; and what might not have 
 been effected by a consolidation of troops so 
 considerable ! The three armies, French, Ita-
 
 458 ANECDOTES OF EOUEIGN COURTS. 
 
 lian, and Neapolitan, united, miglit have in- 
 spired the greatest apprehensions for the safety 
 of the capital of Austria, and the affairs of 
 Europe have once more undergone a change ; 
 but to require that his brother-in-law should 
 commit the army he had himself organised to 
 an inferior Prince, and remain almost wholly 
 undefended at Naples, exposed to the constant 
 attacks of the Anglo-Sicilians, was so singular 
 a piece of injustice and folly, as to strengthen 
 the universal idea, that towards the last years 
 of his reign, Bonaparte's giddy elevation had 
 operated to divest him not only of fair dealing, 
 but of common sense. 
 
 In fact, his jealousy of Joachim, whom he 
 had himself invested with power, was displayed 
 in sundry remarkable ways. Having consum- 
 mated his marriage with a daughter of Austria, 
 and every thing appearing to proceed accord- 
 ing; to his most sanouine wishes, and far be- 
 yond even his most ambitious expectation, he 
 formed a design of reconciling to him one of his 
 oldest and most implacable enemies, and by 
 that means at once aggrandizing his power, and 
 removing the subject-king, wlio had given 
 indications of a refractory disposition. With 
 this view, he actually opened a correspondence 
 with Caroline, wife of Ferdinand.
 
 CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON TO MUEAT. 459 
 
 Murat no sooner became acquainted with this 
 extraordinary circumstance, (which at first he 
 could scarcely credit,) than he perceived how 
 dangerous the prosecution of such a corre- 
 spondence would be to his own power. He 
 saw before him the prospect of being bereft of 
 his crown, even by the same hand that had 
 placed it on his head ; and resolved to take, 
 without delay, such measures as might appear 
 best calculated to preserve him from such a 
 reverse of fortune. 
 
 From this moment, all the Frenchmen who 
 were residing in his territory became objects 
 of suspicion to the ephemeral King of Naples. 
 He saw in each an agent destined by his bro- 
 ther-in-law to contribute to his political extinc- 
 tion. Under these impressions, he issued the 
 famous decree, by virtue whereof it was or- 
 dained, that all the French, resident at Naples, 
 should naturalise themselves in the country, on 
 pain of exclusion from such offices as they 
 miffht be filling. 
 
 Some of these individuals tarried not until 
 this order was signified to them ; they desisted 
 from their employments, and returned to France. 
 Others refused to comply with the provision, 
 and were expelled. In vain did the Queen, as 
 well as the minister of war, oppose themselves
 
 460 AXKCDOTES OF FOllEIGX COURTS. 
 
 to this measure. Joachim, irritated, dismissed 
 the latter, and intimated his will that he should 
 quit the kingdom. Discussions, and those of 
 a very warm character, ensued, as may be sup- 
 posed, between Joachim, his wife, and Napo- 
 leon himself, which would doubtless have re- 
 sulted most unfortunately for Murat, had not 
 a matter of far greater importance (the invasion 
 of Russia) called off the attention of the Em- 
 peror, and indeed of all parties, from the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Another specimen of the French Emperor's 
 growing jealousy of his brother-in-law, was his 
 forbidding him to put his threats into execu- 
 tion of invading Sicily, v/hich, at the time that 
 his power was strongest, he seems inclined to 
 have done. Napoleon willed not that one of his 
 own generals should undertake in his absence 
 so important an enterprise. 
 
 He had des])atched, in the situation of com- 
 mander of the French troops employed in the 
 kingdom of Naples, Tiieut.-General Grenier, 
 with secret instructions that the King of Na- 
 ples should not be permitted to compromise, 
 by his temerity, the French forces committed 
 to him. There was, doubtless, a still more se- 
 cret motive for these instructions, whereto we 
 have given the reader a clew. We will add a
 
 napoleon's jealousy of muhat. 461 
 
 few details of the debarkment which really did 
 take place upon the Sicilian shores, and which 
 was at the time so abundantly talked of. 
 
 The end proposed by the French Emperor, 
 in suffering Sicily to be menaced, had been 
 fulfilled, since the English were compelled to 
 abandon their views upon the Isle of Corfu. 
 The breaking up of the camp of Piale, and the 
 departure of Joachim for Naples, were there- 
 fore about to ensue. But, in order to restore 
 the King to his good humour, which had suf- 
 fered much in consequence of his being thwart- 
 ed in his ulterior designs, it was concerted be- 
 tween Grenier and himself, that, previous to 
 sending the army into its cantonments, they 
 should make, in the night, the feint of a de- 
 scent on the Sicilian shore, whereby observa- 
 tions may be made of the gTeatest possible ser- 
 vice in guiding the King's operations at some 
 future period, when the drama they were now 
 rehearsing should be really acted — that is to 
 say, when Bonaparte should give his permis- 
 sion. In order clearly to understand the exe- 
 cution of the project concerted between Murat 
 and Grenier, it is necessary to take a hasty 
 glance at the relative disposition of the troops 
 collected in the Straits of Messina. 
 
 The French divisions, comprising the elite of
 
 462 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 the troops of that nation, together with the 
 Neapolitan Royal Guard, occupied the heights 
 stretching from the battery designated Torre- 
 cavallo, to the village of Catone. The Neapo- 
 litan division, under the orders of General Ca- 
 vagniac, occupied Reggio and its neighbour- 
 hood, as far as the battery of Pentimela, and, in 
 consequence of this position, was at a distance 
 of eight or nine miles from the French troops. 
 
 The generals of both corjDs d'armee received 
 orders that, upon such a day, and on such an 
 hour of the evening, all the troops should be 
 sent on board the vessels in attendance, which 
 were to be ready to set sail at a given sign 
 from the royal camp at Piale. 
 
 But the division of Cavagniac, situated, as 
 has been already mentioned, at a distance from 
 the centre of the operations, and which, it was 
 thought, must be intended to act elsewhere by 
 way of a diversion, received particular instruc- 
 tions. The general himself was directed to 
 embark his corps towards ten o'clock, p. M. and 
 to make for the opposite shore, between Sca^- 
 letta and IMessina ; above all things, to be at- 
 tentive to the signals which should be made 
 at Piale ; and that if he should perceive the 
 fire of two or three rockets, he should arrest 
 his progress, and return to Pentimela, where
 
 MURAT'S expedition against SICILY. 463 
 
 he had embarked ; because this signal would 
 import that the main army had not put to sea. 
 
 Before two o'clock, a. m. the whole of the 
 troops under Murat's command were embarked 
 — the King and all his personal staff on board 
 the superb royal gondola. All the Neapoli- 
 tan world believed that the expedition was at 
 length determined on, so well was the secret 
 kept. The soldiers prepared their arms, and 
 thought of nothing but conflict ; the chiefs of 
 the main body alone were aware that all these 
 manifestations announced a departure, instead 
 of an expedition. 
 
 But, by some incomprehensible fatality,* 
 the signals concerted to announce to General 
 Cavagniac the necessity for returning to Penti- 
 mela were never made. The unfortunate Nea- 
 politan division, therefore, proceeded on its 
 way, and disembarked, unsupported, upon the 
 Sicilian shore. What ensued, it is not our 
 purpose to recount. 
 
 The famous Sir Hudson Lowe, the guardian 
 of Napoleon in the Isle of St. Helena, com- 
 
 • It is said, indeed, that the general officer entrusted with 
 discharging the rockets was asleep, and awoke not until broad 
 day, when the time for making the signal was altogether 
 gone by.
 
 464 ANECDOTES OF FOEEIGN COURTS. 
 
 manded Capri, when Murat conceived and exe- 
 cuted the project of reducing it. He was then 
 Colonel of the royal Corsican regiment, corn- 
 loosed of deserters and emigrants from that island. 
 Sir Hudson had himself created and organised 
 this regiment, which formed, together with the 
 royal Maltese regiment, the garrison of Capri. 
 Tiie too-celebrated Prince of Carosa occupied, 
 at the same time, the Isle of Ponza. It was in 
 these two islands that various plots are said to 
 have been got up against the power of Murat, 
 and the French influence in Italy altogether ; 
 and it w^as even reported, that the destruction 
 of the house of Salicetti (Joachim's minister 
 of police) was likewise projected here. 
 
 The fate of Joachim Murat, the first and 
 last king of his race, is well known, through 
 several interesting accounts. He died denying 
 the authority of the commission whereby he 
 was condemned, and refusing to appear before 
 it. Indeed, setting aside his claims (whatever 
 they may amount to) as a sovereign, his rank, 
 as a Marshal of France, should have been suffi- 
 cient to preserve him from the dictation of a 
 set of very inferior officers. Thus, however, 
 perished a man, Avliom nothing but a revolution 
 without ])arallel in tlie history of the world,
 
 CONDUCT OF CAROLINE ISIURAT. 465 
 
 could have elevated to the rank he once held. 
 His character we have already attempted to 
 sketch, as well as that of his Queen. 
 
 The circumstances of the latter days passed 
 by Caroline Murat at Naples, have a melan- 
 choly interest. Six days before the embark- 
 ation, which was to convey her away for ever 
 from that country wherein she had acted, during 
 so many years, a splendid part, she received, 
 in the morning, the officers of the fleet, and in 
 the evening took an airing in public. She was 
 seated in a calash drawn by six white horses ; 
 her countenance was unruffled ; her salutations, 
 both to the right and left, numerous and grace- 
 ful. She was followed by the chevaliers of the 
 national guard, whose hussar uniforms, blue 
 and silver, made a very striking show. Even in 
 losing her power, the Queen rendered herself 
 conspicuous by the affability and easy gracious- 
 ness of her manners and address. Her reso- 
 lution was evident, in remaining, at such a 
 period, without any troops of the line, in a 
 city wherein it is so easy to excite a bloody 
 revolution. Naples, in fact, owes to her pre- 
 sence the calm which then spread itself through- 
 out that vast metropolis. She gave a new im- 
 pulse to the national guard, which only a few 
 days previously had passed in review before 
 
 VOL. I. 2 H
 
 
 466 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 her. She was then on horseback, and the 
 colours of her dress were uniform with those 
 worn by her body-guard. She found some 
 kind word to address to each officer, excited 
 universal acclamations, and interested every 
 heart possessing the least spark of feeling, in 
 the fate of a woman so accomplished and so 
 unfortunate. 
 
 When, having despatched her children to 
 Gaeta, she renounced all farther claim to the 
 regency of the kingdom, she was sent on board 
 the Tremendous, from which vessel she could 
 hear the cannon which celebrated the entry 
 into the capital of that family which came to 
 displace and supersede her own ; she could hear 
 the shouts of that fickle populace which had so 
 often applauded herself. On the evening of 
 that, to her, sorrowful day, she could see Na- 
 ples illuminated, and not Naples alone, but all 
 the other towns on the coast. In that gay me- 
 tropolis she was no longer anything, and the 
 day of her departure was one of tumultuous 
 rejoicing. How many illusions must be renoun- 
 ced in descending from a throne ! The diadem 
 casts a shade before the eyes of its w^earer, 
 which, in falling, discloses bitter truths ! 
 
 The final enterprise, the judgment and ex- 
 ecution of Murat, were candidly and imme- 

 
 SECT OF THE CARBONARI. 467 
 
 diately communicated by the government to 
 the nation whose destinies he had co recently 
 swayed. When the relation had been made 
 public throughout that realm, the factions (if 
 any still existed) were struck with astonish- 
 ment; and, in spite of the evident authenti- 
 city of a narrative thus promulgated, Joachim's 
 death, for some period of time, passed for fabu- 
 lous in a large portion of the kingdom. 
 
 We will conclude this division of our sub- 
 ject, by giving some account of the sect of the 
 Carbonari, which Murat at first persecuted in 
 the most violent manner; but which, during 
 the latter period of his reign, he found it eligi- 
 ble to conciliate, becoming, in fact, their chief- 
 tain and lawgiver, and endeavouring to press 
 into their ranks all his officers, both civil and 
 military. 
 
 This curious caste, which was originated 
 nearly twenty years ago in the kingdom of 
 Naples, and has since spread not only through 
 the other parts of Italy, but into the adjacent 
 countries, is a species of masonic society ; but 
 it is likewise a sect, inasmuch as evangelical 
 doctrines serve amongst its members as a poi?it 
 d'appui for the introduction of political opi- 
 nions and projects. It is from hence its great 
 influence is doubtless derived. Jesus Christ is
 
 468 ANECDOTES OF FOREIGN COURTS. 
 
 considered by them as a type, which they view 
 in a way calculated to inspire a particular emo- 
 tion ; namely, as having been the victim of the 
 cruellest tyranny. Hence it comes, also, that 
 every class of people, the lazzaroni of Naples, 
 the inhabitants of the country, and even the 
 friars and other priests, constantly joined the 
 Carbonari, and professed themselves to receive 
 the greatest edification at their meetings. To 
 these meetings they gave the name of Vendite^ 
 a place of merchandise, or market. It is the 
 trade in coal which furnishes them with many 
 symbolical terms, as, in the same manner, the 
 art of building gives to Freemasons the ex- 
 pressions and formulae used and practised in 
 their lodges. 
 
 The principal object for which the Carbonari 
 originally associated themselves, pui'ported to 
 be, freeing the country from the wolves where- 
 Avith it was infested ; by which term they ty- 
 pified all tyrants, or enemies to public liberty. 
 They have sundry technical words and sym- 
 bols amongst which the cross predominates. 
 When they take the hand of another person, 
 they trace upon the palm with their thumb 
 this holy figure. 
 
 In the assemblies of this singular body, 
 every thing tends to democracy. They profess
 
 THE CARBONARI. 469 
 
 to adopt, in all their primitive purity, the 
 maxims of the evangelists. The devotees of 
 the sect recount, with infinite satisfaction, 
 the miraculous changes which have been ope- 
 rated by it. In the metropolis, the fiercest 
 lazzaroni, in the mountains of Calabria and 
 Abruzzi, the most desperate bandits are stated 
 to have been won over, by initiation into the 
 sect, to acts the most elevated, and humanity 
 the most tender. 
 
 It is beyond doubt, that the first purpose for 
 which this society was instituted, was to dis- 
 cover and denounce to the French (then mas- 
 ters of the country) the enemies of the Repub- 
 lic, dangerous because unavowed. It quickly, 
 however, lost this particular character, and 
 took, as we have seen, a more expansive one. 
 
 END OF VOLUME I. 
 
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