o| 3 = THE LIFE and CHARACTER RISE and CONDUCT, Count BRUHL, PRIME MINISTER To the KING of P O L A N D, ELECTOR of SAXONY ; In a SERIES OF LETTERS; By ail Eminent Hand.. THE LIFE and CHARACTER, R I S E and C O N D U C T, O F Count BRUHL, PRIME MINISTER To the KING of P O L A N D, ELECTOR of SAXONYJ < N A SERIES of LETTERS, By an Eminent Hand. Throwing a Light on the re;il Origin of five pail and prcfent War in GERM A N Y, AND THE Intrigues of Several Powers. Carefully Tranflated from the GERMAN Original* Si populo confulh, remove te a Jufficione aJifujus, tut commodi fac fdem, te nibil, nifi prpull uiilit.the following account given of the diftrefs of Saxony, and the minif- ta's 2007928 ter's luxury, by the virtuous and in- telligent Mr. Hanway, in the fecond volume of his travels. " The diftrefled condition of the " Electorate of Saxony, is occafioned " not more by war and invasion,- and " the general depravity of the in- " habitants, than by the iniquity " of a few. In wealth and pow- < er count Bruhl is incomparably " the greateft man in Saxony. He .b B o [ a] of Cuftrin, or the honeft ruftics in thofc parts of Brandenburg where the Ruffi- ans committed fuch horrid outrages. Yes, my woi thy friend, the cataftrophe of Drefden powerfully revives in me all the melancholy fenfations with which my heart has laboured for the diftrefles of the innocent of cither fide, during this war. Surely my friend cannot doubt, but that the wife and gracious prince, who now lies before Drefden, than whom a truer friend to mankind never exiftcd, has the fame compaffionate fcnfe of the miferies of that city, as you or I can have ; I mould wrong you in qm ftion- ing it ; you have too much difcernment ftot to perceive in the hero and the king that benign and elevated heart which comprehends all mankind within the circle of its benevolence 3 and fo energeti- cally difplayMby the Philofopher of Sans Souci, in his immortal poems, which certainly were no: writ to be published in in the prefent war; yet, however he may feel, neither his own prudence, no nor the duty which he owes to himfelf and his dominions, permit him toad other- wife ; his implacable and unjuft enemies, by their overt rejection of the offers of peace which he publickly made to them, have left him without any refourcc for his own prefervation, and the welfare of his fubje&s, but in his perfonal valour, and the celerity and vigour of his enter- prifes. Unqueftionably, very different v/ould the ftate of affairs have been from what we fee it, had not this glorious prince followed the impulfe of his humanity, inftcacl of availing himfelf of fome me- thods in war, which had received the fan&lon of precedent. Had he, in imi- tation of the Ruffians at Cuftrin, been difpofed to have laid Prague andOlmuU in afhes, can you imagine that he would have been obliged to have raifcd the fiege of thofe places ? B t We [4] We mould be much out in our pre- dictions did we fuppofe tliat theAuftrian commandant at Drefden will be induced to a timely furrcnder for the fake of preventing the total definition of the city j not in the kaft, if he be a man of Spirit and refolution, the ruin of the ci- tizens, as a matter in which the Auftrian intcreft is little concerned, will hardly prevail with him to be wanting in any part of an obftinate defence. He is doubtlefs aware of the great importance to his fovereign that Drefden be main- tained under her dominion, and that a refolute defence will either give count Daun time to haften to its relief, or put into his hands an opportunity of over- running Silefia; which, at the fame time, will render it neceffary for the king of Pruffia to decamp from Drefden. But how tender the Auftrians, in their mili- tary undertakings are, of hurting Saxo- ny, though an ally, and an ally whofe Zealand firmiiefs are fcarcely to be pa- /ailed, having to its alliance with Auftria .abfolutely tn abfolutely facrificed the intire M elfare of all its fevcral ftates, is manifeft from Zittau laid in afhes by the Auftrian forces ; and many other occurrences. There is the higheft probability that thefc compaiTionate regrets which we both feel for the cataftrophe of Drefden, arc little known to count Bruhl. If, at the time of my prefcnt writing, he has advice of the fiege of Drefden, he will not be at any lofs for glowing and ner- vous expreffions on this difafter of Dref- den j for a mafter of words he confef- fedly is; but a little penetration will ferve to difcover in him an ardent wifh that the Auftrian governor may bravely hold out to the laft extremity, whatever becomes of poor Drefden. I don't know whether my worthy friend has viewed the conduct of this minifter, before and fmce the prefent \var, by the light which a judicious po- licy naturally offers : If count Bruhl did* B 3 not [6 ] not forfce that his maxims would infalli- bly draw after them the whole ruin of Saxony, the dcik of a copying clerk is too good for him. Could he doubt one iingle inftant, but that Saxony would be the theatre of the prefcnt war ; and thus, in the moft dreadful manner, ra- vaged and dcfoiated by friend and foe? A child might have feen, that the clan- Jeitiire machinations of the courts .of, Vi- tnnn, Peterfburg, and Drcfdcn againft his Pruffian Majeily tranfpiring, this prince would firft fall on Saxony ; and, from the precedent in 1745, he might have known in how fhort a time Saxony would be in the hands of Pruffia. What- ever might follow in the courfe of the war, the very recovery of Saxony im- plies its being always the chief theatre of action ; and of this what could be the refult, but unavoidable and irreme- diable ruin, in its moft collective fcnfe ? Poffibly, you will here obje<5i, that thefe apprehenfions did by no means efcape count Bruhl, it being manifeftly proved, from [7 1 from the papers found in the cabinet at Drefden, and afterwards made public, that Saxony was not to take part in the war againft Prufiia, till the king of Pruffia fhould be, in a great meafure, reduced ; or, according to count Uhle- fcld's phrafe, till the knight was unhorfed-, and thus count Bruhl (lands difculpatcd :: things, by. the untimely detection of this fecret league, having taken a turn quite different from his original fchcme. But, Sir, this is the very point where- in count Bruhl is moft culpable; in not forefeeing that the king of Pruffia might tome to the knowledge of this fecret league, before it was ripe for execution ; It being the capital quality of a ftatef- man to forefee all poffible incidents, and provide againft them. Were not this the eflcnce of policy, where would be its great difficulty and excellence ? Otherwile an old woman, or hare- brained {tripling, might make a mini- fter of (late. For, to accumulate wealth, B 4 or [8 1 or to fquarrder away the revenue of a nation, requires no great depth of wif- 3'1 So that, after drinking the waters,"and taking my morning ramble about the woods and meadows, I am at a lofs how- to employ my fclf; for as to what books I have here, f have read them all over -and over, that I have no relief left me but to take pen in hand ; and, unlefs your next brings me a prohibitory mandate, I'll fend you writing enough, that you'll be little inclined to continue your com- plaints about the ihortnefs of my letters. I was juft doling this, when I am fa- voured with yours of the 2 ift, wherein you acquaint me, that the liege of Drcf- den goes on, and that the Auftrian go- vernor is determined to hold out to the utmoft; and that, on the approach of the Pruiiian army, he had fet fire to all -the remaining fuburbs, not fparing the orphan-houie itfelf ; and, that this may- be depended on for certain truth, you having it from a relation juft come from the neighbourhood of Drefden. Indeed [ *+] Indeed I little thought that before I Jiad made an end of this letter, I mould receive from your hands any accounts which fo ftrongly corroborate the re- marks I had made in the beginning, on the -difpofitions of the Auftrians. You cannot but recoiled what I writ to you about two years firice, concerning the loud clamours with which the Auftrians made all Europe ring againft the Pruf- fian commandant, who, when the Auftri- an forces drew near, had caufed part of the fuburbs of Drcfden to be fet on fire. I think my words were, That whatever -fricndlhip for Saxony the Auftrians might pretend, they would not fcruple doing the like, if they were to defend Drefden againft aPruffian army. Now you plain- ly lee they have fully anfwered my con- jecture, tho' little did I then imagine, that ever it would have been in their power, to give this proof of their equity and grateful moderation. lam, LETTER II, Dear Sir, I Have a propofal to make to you, which will fave me the trouble of writing, and you of reading the long letter with which I threatened you in my laft. Suppofe you were to make me happy for a month, by enlivening my doleful folitude with your company : lake it into conftderation ; one or other of the armies may pay your quarters a vifit; and then think what trouble, dif- guft, apprehenfions, and expcnce, you " lave yourfelf by being from home : the length of the way can be no objection ; fixtecn miles* are but two days moderate travelling, and I'll fend a nag to meet you at L , and though the wdrfl half way, it lhall eafily amble you hi^ ther between fun and fun. Only weigh my requeft with good will, and all thfi apparent difficulties and impediments * One German mile is five Englifli. C will [26] will vanifh, or means for furmounting them will occur to you. Bring your coufin, or whom you pleafe, the more of fuch perfons as your friends, the bet- ter company we lhall be. With thefe pleafing expectations, I return to my promife of laying before you my reflexions on the modern hif- tory of Saxony, in which you will fee how much, and how long, this unhap- py country has fuffered by a feries of mal-adminiftration ; but the hopes of expatiating on this fubjet in pleafing colloquy with you, will fo far aifed this letter, that I mall reduce it within a much narrower compafs than I propo- fed when I was writing my laft. The whole fucceflion of the electors of the Albert line, the two firft, Mau- rice and Auguftus, excepted, appear to have been but indifferently fitted for government, blindly following the infti- gations of ill-chofen minifters, and very- little little concerned about the welfare of tlieir fubje<5h. Maurice, to whom his family owed the ele&orate, comparted it indeed by the moft refined ft rains of policy, but with no lefs injury towards the Erneft line ; and, as for the Prote- flant religion, of which he made pro- feflion, his real zeal for it may be feen in his fiding with Charles the Vth, who aimed at the extirpation of Proteftants. Herein he inanifeftly trampled on all the obligations of religion and confan- guinity ; and, as far as in him lay, pro- moted the abolition of the former; and of this iniquity the wages were the E- le&orate, of which, by an unwarrant- able aft of dcfpotifm, Charles deprived the Erneft line, contrary to the conftitu- tion of the empire, and all the laws of natural juftice. It muft, however, be owned, that by his fubfequent conduct he made amends for the detriment which religion had fuftained thro' his means, compelling the Emperor to a toleration of Protcftantifm ; yet, herein, the im- C 2 probity [28 ] probity of his politics appears the more flagrantly. If to take arms againft the Emperor was fuch a crime as to deferve the confifcation of eftate, and forfeiture of honours ; if, for this caufe the elec- toral cap was taken from the Erneft line to dignify his head, with what right or conference could he wear it, after in- curring the very fame guilt, with this difference only, that the current of the times, and fome incidents were more fa- vourable. His brother and fucceflbr Auguftus, was worth all the other fovereigns of the Albert line put together ; a real father of his fubje^ts, ardent for their welfare, a wife ruler and magnanimous prince ; very circumfpeft in the choice of his minifters, and of fuch an excellent oeco- nomy, that without any fordid parfi- inony, or in the leaft fqueezing his fub- Jefts, he redeemed all mortgages and ali- enations of the electoral lands, and aug- mented his revenue above one half. Had [ Z9 J Had it pleafed heaven to blefs Saxony with only fuch fovereigns, how happy for the people, and what a different fi- gure would the reigning family have made ! But, of all the fucceeding electors, the two Chriftians, and the four John George's, little good can be faid, and fome parts of their conduct are very cen- furable. Princes of little penetration ;, making a bad choice of their officers and minifters; driven to and fro, like a reed, by the court cabals and intrigues; implicitly complying with every fug- geftion of their minifters and favourites,, and indolently 'conniving at their enor- mous accumulation of wealth, drawn from the marrow of the land ; princes totally void of any particular affeclioa for their fubjecls ; and, inftead of tak- ing the reins of government into their hands, wantoning in fenfuality and luxu- ry ; and fome not even free from that fcandalous vice of drunkcnnefs. Such C 3 were were thefe electors ; and, if my friend thinks the portraiture charged, I can refer him to authentic hiftories, and fame of them printed with the moil gracious licence of his Polilh Majefty, Ele<5ior of Saxony : And give me leave to add a few concife remarks on the whole interval of thefe weak, I may fay, vicious princes. The whole hiftory of the thirty years war *, fwarms with inilanccs of the fad imbeciility of the Saxon court. Thefe eledors were almoft the only check in * So called from the term of its long durati- on : was originally owing to the Emperor Fer- dinand II. in order to abolifti Proteftantifm in Germany ; but cardinal Richlieu, with a view of weakening the Houfe of Auftria, fupported the German Proteftants, tho'at the fame time he was labouring to extirpate them in France. Guftavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, from purer motives, took the Proteftant caufe in hand> marched into Germany, and was in a fair way of bringing the bigotted Houfe of Auftria to terms, when he fell at the battle of Lutzen, in which, however, his troops obtained the victory; but his death was a fatal event to the Proteftants. all t 3 1 all Germany, againft the defpotifm which the emperor Ferdinand II. me- ditated ; and fuch umbrage did their pov/er give him, that had the throne of Saxony been, at that time, filled by a wife and refolute prince, who would have fignified to the emperor that he would fuffer no injury to be done to the liberties of Germany, and have kept himfelf in a pofture to make good his words, very probably the thirty years war would never have been heard of ; a year had brought the troubles in Bohe- mia to a period, without involving all Germany in them. Whereas the Saxon minifter, bribed by the Spanim gold of Auftria, made ufe of their envy a- gainft the Elector Palatine, on account of his rank as Direttor of the Evangeli- cal body ; and a groundlefs and impo- litic rancour againft the reformed, to prepoflefs his mafter againft the Eleftor Palatine, and draw him in, not only publicly to approve of the tyrannical procedures of the Imperial Court againft C 4 that [ 3*'] that dlftrefTecl prince, but powerfully to aflift the Emperor, and fupport him in all his under takings, though in the high- eft degree unjuftinable, dcfpotic, and pernicious to the Proteftant religion. No fooner did Ferdinand II. imagine that he had no longer need of this weak and venal court, than he treated it with contemptuous haughtinefs ; and, in re- turn for its imprudent aflifta'nce towards the oppreffion of Germany, came and laid fiege to Leipfick, than which Sax^ ony had not a more opulent and confi- flerable city. Now the court of Saxo- ny faw itfelf neceffitated to throw Itfelf into the arms of the king of Sweden, whofe overtures for an alliance, contra- ry to all found policy, and to the great detriment of the Proteftant caufe, it had before publicly rejectee!. Here it gave another fpecimen of its wrong-headed- iiefs ; engaging to pay that monarch a very confiderable fum, to fend him the ele&oral prince as an hoflage, evacuate Witten- [33] Wittenburg, and punifh the evil-mind- ed minifters ; however, raoft of thefe onerous articles the king of Sweden ge- neroufly remitted. Again, fcarce had the glorious vi&ory at Leipiick deliver- ed Saxony from its fears of the Imperi- alifls, than the Saxon minifhy, through folly or corruption, or very pofiibly both, diverted their fovereign from im- proving the advantage, by advancing into the Emperor's hereditary domini- ons, as had been concerted with the Swcdim hero, thus giving the Emperor time to recover himfelf ; and not long after, that du&ile court, O nefas diftuf openly veered about to the lawlefs Em- peror's interelL Had die Lutheran eleftors of the Houfe of Saxony been endued with the fpirit of prophecy, could they have fore- feen that their defendants, like the dog to the vomit, would have returned to Po- pery, their conduft, almoft on all occa- fions, could not well have been more dif- C 5 favourable [34] favourable to Proteftantilm. The peace of Prague which Saxony took on itfelf to conclude with the Emperor in behalf of the whole Proteftant caufe, what a ftroke was it to Lutheranifm ! By this peace the Proteftant religion could pro- inife itfelf a duration only of forty years, juft as if it had been then determined, that Saxony fhould depart from Luther- anifm at that term ; and, when matters were mended by the happy peace of Weftphalia, which eftablifhed the fafety of theProteftant religion onafolid foun- dation, what did that unaccountable court do, but openly proteft againft it I A motf perverfe meafure, or wretched blunder, both in regard to.theProteftant caufe, or policy. If the eonduft of the Saxon court in regard of the Proteftant religion be fo very culpable, not more wifdom or fteadincfs has it ever fhewn in. the affair of the {ucceffion to the duchy of Ju- s^ and all other pretenfions of the EleaoraL [ 351 Electoral Houfe ; but whilft the fofe aim of minifters is to enrich themfelves,, things will ever go on at this fcandalous rate j and this will be the fate of every nation, when the helm of fovereignty is in weak hands. Take a view of all .the families in Saxony diftinguifhed for riches, then proceed to their genealogy, and you will find that the architcft of this opulence was fbme voracious favou^ rite or minifter. Under fuch management, and it took place on the demife of Auguftus I. now near two hundred years ago, what could be expected but extreme confufion, and deficiencies- in- the finances of Saxony? and thefe increafcd fo, that about the year 1660, the treafury became infol- vable, and made a formal bankruptcy. What a pity it is that the prefent down- fall of the Saxon finances had not been retarded only fixteen years longer, as then this fecond failure might have fer- ved to celebrate the jubilee of the former. But 1 36] But it is not minifters only who have fucked the blood of Saxony ; the mif- trcffes alfo have infatiabty gorged them- felves with it. John George IV. will ever ftand branded in hiftory for his fervilc clevotednefs to one of thefe fe- male leeches, which was fuch as is fcarce to be accounted for by the ordinary workings of human nature ; and, ac- cording to the genius of that age, not a few looked on it as the effect of tome forcery. At the fame time, VonHoymb * * This minifier did his pillaged country juf- tice on himfelf, by putting an end to his life, with an handkerchief faikned to'an hook, and left, this note upon his table, for his two fewanfs ' who attended on him at the callle of Kouigfteiu v here ke had been committed piifoner. " EC prudent, make no noife or alarm ; im- ** tie me immediately, put me to bed, and then *' ihut the dooi* after you, by bolting it when " you are out, \vhich you may do by means of " this packthread; by this nobody will know " that you have been in my chamber. The '" world \vill, doubtlefs, believe I dyed of an ' apoplexy; if you perform my orders direftly *' and faithfully, my family will pay you jooo ** ducats 011 fight of tlus note^" the [ 37] the prime minifter drained the country of its fuperabundant blood, with which his defccndanfs now fupport their title in fuch wanton luxury. This blood- fucker, by an odd imitation of good ceconomifts, who keep a regular account of receipts and iflues, had a diary of his extortions, and of prcfents made to him with this fingular title, A lift of all who have been obliged to pay me homage. But this was a regifter he had occafion af- terwards woefully to rue, when called to an account by the fucccflbr of John George, afterwards king Frederic Au- guftus. This has been a warning to fucceeding miniftcrs, who now pill and poll without a remembrancer to rife in judgment againft them. It might reafonably have been expeft- ed, that king Frederic Auguflus, after his fcvere profecutions of his deceafed, brother's minifter and miftrefs, would have carefully guarded againft fuch ab- nfes i for were not this his determined refolutioiu [ 38 ] refolution, there was little equity orge- nerofity in his procedure; but the hifto- ry of this prince is fo frefh in your me- mory, that you cannot but know that never prcftitute had a more fervile cull, nor minifter a more indolent matter. The count of Cofel had an unlimitted afcendant over him ; and as count Flem- ming impatiently put in for an equal fhare of the booty, this competition pro- duced a perpetual enmity between thofe prefumptuous minifters. It was this prince's daily tafk, to be reconciling his minifters and miftrefles, whereas it be- came him to hold a ftrift rein over both. The immenfe fums Squandered away by that king on his group of miftrefles are well known, and the accumulations o the minifters are no fecret. Flemming alone, befides the large eftates of Ritz- thum, Wackerbach, and Watzdorff, left 1 2 ton * of gold in fpecie, and the har- veft of many other minifters come little Ihort of his. * A ton of gold is fomething above 10/300 Ii According [39] According to the moft moderate computation, under this bleficd govern- ment, miftrcffes and minifters coft the good-natured Saxons not lefs than twen- ty millions, befides twenty-three millions which, under the fame government, the king of Sweden drew from Saxony ; and to thefe premifcs may be added the charges of an unfortunate war of eigh- teen years with Sweden, not to mention the prodigious magnificence and pro- fufenefs of this king ; that it is incon- ceivable how fo fmall a country as Saxo- ny could furnilh fuch fupplies. * * Saxony, which is the north divifion of Ger- many, and itfelf divided into the Upper and Lower Circles, Hes between laf. 50 and 55, N, long. 8 and 18, E. Of the 2707 liorfe, 13,192 foot, or 82,891 German florins (each 40 pence) which, by the matricula, the Circles are to fur- uifh for the fervice of the Empire, the Upper Circle of Saxony contributes 278 horfe, 1167 foot, or 7272 florins, and the Lower 321 foot, 1053 horfc, or 8992 florins. The forces ufually kept on foot, even in peace, by the Elcftor of Saxony, amount to between 25 and 30,000 men, befides io,oco belonging to the feveral dukes of Saxony. Kings, Kings, indeed, are men, and it can- not with any reafon be defired that they fhould raife themfelves above human, nature, and affume the fpirituality of angels. Accordingly, my great quarrel with fovercigns is not fo much at their keep- ing miftreflcs, and procuring the moft exquiilte enjoyments of life, but this I think unpardonable in them, that they fhould be fo weak as to give their mif- treffes and favourites fuch power over them, fo that the welfare and defKnyof the fubjecl (hall lie at their clifcretion. Perhaps, my friend never heard of a paf- fage of the regent duke of Orleans : A miftrcfs of his once taking upon her to interfere in ftate affairs, and the difpo- fal of favours, he led her up to a look- ing-glafs, faying, View this pretty poll of tbine, it is indeed finely turned far kve t lut, ly the mafs, was never defignedforftate affairs* The [4. ] The Saxon writers were once in a humour of giving the furname of Great to this king, though known in hiftory only by his difafters, defeats, 'and wrong meafures, the very beft part of his cha- racter being magnificence ; but that a- dulatory epithet was foon dropped. Had fuccefs attended his army, had he not humbled himfelf to the king of Swe- den with a pufillanimity icarce heard of before, yet his fcandalous weakncfs to wards his miftrefs and minifters exclude him from the furname of Great. How becoming was the open familiarity of count Fleming with this king, of which baron Loen relates this pretty inftance : Brother, fays this minifter to his Lord and Sovereign, if thou ftandcfl not to thy word, Iwa/b my hands of ihee. The cafy Saxons felt the grandeur of the former government in the greatnefs of the fums levied on them ; yet is it a truth which maybe demonllratcd, that the country was not half fo much taxed as [42 ] as it has been under the miniftry of count Bruhl, and long before the pre- fent war : At the expiration of the for- mer government, great were the expec- tations from the prefent, and the coun- try univerfally exulted in the hopes of the golden days which it was to enjoy under his prefent Majefly's aufpicious reign. That the hopes of the then Elec- toral Prince were extremely brilliant, appears, among other things, from the pleafant adventure of the nominal prince Liefgen, which cannot be un- known to you ; for, I believe, there has not been a foul living within twelve miles of Drefden for this thirty years pafr, who has not heard of it ; and, if I am not miftaken, this romantic prince Liefgen ended her days about twelve years fmce in the houfe of correftion at Waldheim. As it is rare to find an individual fa- tisfied with his condition, the fame dif- temper is feen in aggregate bodies in nations. [43 ] nations, who are never in thorough good humour with the government for the time being ; and this, in reality is what gives birth to the exec/five ideas of a blefled change ; hence it is that our ears are every-where filled with fuch pretty anecdotes about the fucccflbr; all tend- ing to ftrengthen the flattering notions entertained of his prudence, mildnefs, courage, and other amiable princely qualities ; and though, out of ten cafes, the people have found themfelves un- happily miftaken in nine, yet will not the befotted herd be brought off from their delufive expectations, till ftates and rulers fhall be no more. But, whither am I roving ? I quite for- get that this letter was not to be of the length of the laft ; therefore I fhall clofe my remarks on the Saxon hiftory with reminding you, that count Bruhl had a predeceflbr, and in fome refpefts, a col- legue in the miniftry, who was by no means to feek in the fcicncc of making hay [ 44] hay while the fun fhines. You know before-hand, that I mean the count now the prince of Sulkowfky, who, at the beginning of this reign was only page to the prefent king of Poland, and a captain of foot, yet the fame year faw him minifter and general j and who can doubt of his qualifications for thefe eminent pofts, having within four years raifed a fortune of four millions ? Yet is this a trifle, when compared with fqme other acquifitions. I conclude with afTuring you of my perpetual ef- teem and affection, longing to exchange the faint expreffions of the pen for a cordial embrace ; and, in a paffionate expectation of you, remain, Sir, &c t . ^y *5> 1760. [45] LETTER III. HOW are all my rapturous hopes qualli'd by yours of the 8th in- ftant ! Full of defire, and in a certain confidence of your compliance with my affectionate requelt to embrace you here, I eagerly unfealed the letter ; but, as I read the preliminaries with which you foftcn your refufal, a dark cloud over- fpread the hilarity of my mind ; and when I came to your decifive declara- tion, that for the prcfcnt it was utterly impoflible for us to enjoy that mutual happincfs, I became loft in a gloomy night of melancholy. One part of your preliminaries is no more than I forefaw, yet allow me to fay, I do not think it of fufficient weight; this is your objection about the harveft. Though you arc better ikilled in the management of an eftate than I pretend to, and keep your lands in your own hands, liands, yet I know you to be wifer in the choice of your fervants than our princes before-mentioned, they being ail honefl induftrious people, which, with the excellent order and method you obferve in all things, will fafely al- low of your abfence in harveft time. Bcfides, I thought that in thefe calami- tous times, when all the landed gentle- men arc very great fufTcrers, you would overlook a petty inconveniency. But it is fomething particular that the very circumftance on which I grounded my hopes of your confent, you make your chief plea againft it; namely, that the operations of the armies may extend to your country. You fay that this ap- prehennon requires the utmoft difpatch for getting in the harveft ; and that for any land owner willingly to be abfent from his eftate at fuch a juncture, would be very much landing in his own light; it being known from general experience that thofe lands are always infinitely worfe [47 1 \vorfe treated by friend and foe, whole owners are not on the fpot. Thejuft- nefs of this motive I now acknowledge, though nothing of it occurred to me be- fore; but, at the fame time, I declare that you are an example above my imi- tation ; for, indeed, 1 would rather lofe half my cflate, than expofe myfelf to the feveral outrages I might meet with from Huflars, Croats, Pandours, Ulans, Tol- patchcs,Coflacks, Calmucks, and others of fuch favage names, with which, to the misfortune of Germany , we are come to be fo well acquainted. Thus I muft renounce the hopes of thofe agreeable hours which I had pro- mifed myfelf in the converfation of my worthy friend : You formally fentence me fco divert my leifure hours by writ- ting long letters, then add this lenitive; that, if it will be of any comfort to me, you promife to give my letters two or three readings over. But [48 ] But there is fomething very merry in your intimation that one of the belt amufements of my folitude, will be to write the life of count Bruhl, as of be- nefit to the world in general, and a juft revenge of thofe diftreffcs which he has brought on whole provinces. I fet up for an author ! Would not you in your heart fay, IVliat does Saul among the Prophets? Did I feel in niyfelf the talents of an author, I would fcarce en- gage in fuqh a critical affair j you know I ftillhave fome tenures in Saxony, and fo me way or other it might tranfpire, that I was the author; now can I expert from the generality of the world that it will make good to me any damage which may refuit from my patriotical zeal for the public welfare ? Little would count Bruhl imitate cardinal Mazarine. A man of letters had publimed many home truths againft him with a great afperity of ftile, the cardinal fent for him ; he appeared, all pale, and trembling for fear, [49] Tear, exposing a prifon atleaft; where- as, after fpeaking to him with the great- eft affability and apparent candour, and cxcufing himfclf that he had not before rewarded a perfon of his learning and merit, being obfedcd by .crouds of boi- flerous creatures, who, as it were by downright violence, w retted all favours out of his hands, immediately gave him a good fat benefice, and thus difmifled the author, and turned the acrimonious fatyrift into a zealous cncomiaft. -No indeed fuch gentlencfs and policy ;s not to be cxpecled in count Bruhl : I know his temper tobe rather that of car- dinal Richlieu,and other defpotic mini- #ers,with whom it was an unpardonable crime to difplay in lively colours the tyranny which they exercifcd over their fellow creatures, reducing noblemen to fuch (freights as might enfeeble the na- tural vigour of their minds, and the in- duftrious artificer to penury, fprcading indigence and mifcry through all ranks D to I So ] . to compafs fomc execrable political 'view ; whereas the welfare of the people in peace and plenty, is the higheft po- licy. Bruhl has already given fufficient indications, what any who exercife their wit on his character are to expect ; you remember that promifing genius, our fellow-ftudent at Leipfick, about twenty-four years ago, the favourite of all the profeflbrs, and the delight of all polite companies ; and who, we heard in Holland, was, in 1740, obliged to leave Leipfick, for a fatyr of his com- pofing againft count Bruhl ; and the poor printer and publisher were both -Severely foufed for their fhare in it. Where can this tranfcendent perfon, now be ? It was then given out that he had taken the way to Geneva ; but, from .his filence, I conclude that he is difchar- -ged from this life, Elfe, what a promi- nent object for his nervous pen would he now have in count Bruhi's life ! If, at that time, this minifter afforded mat- ter [5' 1 ter for fa'tire, his account of guilt is now moft cnormouny fvvclled. There was a man qualif ed to write the life of his Illustrious and Noble Excellence; and moft willingly would I furnifh him with ^all the materials within my knowledge. * But your defire is, that being not in- difpofed for writing long letters,! mould entertain you with all that I know of the minifter : that I can lend an ear to. You fay that having lived continually in the country, you never fo much as faw the perfon of this minifter, and that all you heard of him, except in the public pa- pers, fcems to come from fuch, as you think, have been but fuperficially in- formed. I chearfuliy enter on every- thing for your entertainment ; but I muft prcviouily conjure you, by the fa- crcd bands of our friendfhip, that no perfon in the world, not even your lady, may have a fight of thefe letters, though her curiofity never out-runs her difcre- tion. I pray either burn them, or tie D 2 them I 5' ] them up in a packet with thofe of the charming S , once the adored idol of your inamoured heart. Thefe I am fure you carefully conceal; and thus, within them, mine will reft fecure from difcovery. HENRY Count BRUHL, Prime Minifter, by public declaration, to the King of Poland, Elc<%r of Saxony, and who, at the fame time, holds almoft all the other confiderable pofts of Saxo- ny, and to whom belong a great num- ber of baronies, lordfhips, and -eflates, both in Poland and Saxony, is the young- eft fon of .Mr. Bruhl, privy counfdlor to the duke of WehTenfels ; and having advanced himfelf to a height, and in a manner fcarce to be parallelled in the \vhole world, promoted his three eldeft brothers to the dignity of counts, and conferred en them the moft lucrative and honourable employments j one was a privy counfellor, and lived at Martin- -.ikirchen; the fecond mafter of the liorfe, and [ 53' ] and the third general and commander of- the 'Teutonic order; but the two laft are gone to receive the reward of their righteoufnefs ; and whether the privy counfellor is yet among the living, is \vhat I cannot pofitively fay. The family of Bruhl inufl be allowed fome degree of nobility, however mifm- formed or fplenetic -perfons have given him out to be of much meaner; lineage ;. and this efpecially prevails abroad ; But this is an inconfequential point, Nobility of blood, A fandy bottom, and fallacious good ; The nobleman is lie, whofe noble mind Is fill'd with in-born worth, unborro\v'd from his kind. and I think pope Sixtus V. pleafantly ' ridiculed the pride of birth, when the word illuRrious was ufed of any family ; the old gentleman who you know, when a boy, drove hogs, To fono di una ill*f- triffima cafa, alluding to his father's cot- tage being fo out of repair that the lurr -Muftratcd every part of it - 3 and thefe 1 D 3 words [54] words which Ovid puts in the mouth of UlyrTes, are what every man of fenti- ment and fpirit will fubfcribe to ; At genus & ptoavos, & quae non fed- mus i-pjl., Vix ea noftra i-oco. The original cltate of the family of Bruhl was Ganglofs-Sommern, a conli- derable" manner near Wei lie nfec inThu- ringeiij this family, however, became reduced, and the father of our prime minifter faw himfelf under a ncceflity of felling all his remaining land to his ibvereign the duke of WehTenfels ; but the line of WehTenfels coming to fail, and his eftatcs reverting to the Electoral Houfe, count Bruhl was not wanting to intimate his defire of being in porTeflion of the original family-eftate ; and his bountiful fovereign the king of Poland not only granted him Ganglofs-Sommern but added to it thegreateft half of the bailiwic of Weiffenfels, the villages- of whichlaynear the Bruhl eftatc, likewife . a lake of feveral miles in extent, which the laft duke had caufed to be drained* [55] Thu;Ganglofs-Sommern might pafsfor, a confiderable lordfhip, and according- 1 ly, fuch it was declared. It is a {landing maxim, allowed by all civilians, that the domains of electorates and principalities cannot be legally ali- enated ; thefe, and many other acquifi- tions, fettled on count Bruhl, fiom the Saxon domains, fhew that he muft have relied on two future contingencies as certain : That the fuccdTors in the Elec- torate of Saxony would be a fett of in- dolent drones, without any concern a- bout their finances, and the good of the ftate ; and that the helm of government and the minifterial authority, would re^ main in his family, which would be as the Mairesdu Palais ^ndcr the weak kings of theMerovingian line in France. For,had he not made a certain account of this, had he imagined that, after him, another minifter might arife, and of a different family, this ingroffment of the Electoral domains, was one of the moft unadvife, D 4 able able tilings he could fet about; as, in cafe of a fall, this was a capital charge againft him 3 or, after his death, even againft his family : that lie, who. by virtue of his oath, as prcfident of the trcafury, was bound to the confervation, of the Electoral domains, had obtained fuch alienations of them for himfelf.. Unquestionably, you have been told, that theBruhl family is originally of Po- land ; but, with fubmiffion to the com- plaifantPolilh nobility, and their folenm acknowledgements of it at the Dyet, I. afllire you, that you or I might as well claim kin with Poland. In Thuringen, where feveral noble families, are by the female fide allied to that of Bruhl, this genealogy is made a mere jeft of. About eighteen years ago, I had in my hands the genealogical tree of the Verlepfes, \vho can boaft the fame perfon for their grandfather, as the Moft Noble and PuiffantLord, His Excellency the Prime Minifter, Count Bruhl j and, though it goes- [57l_ goes up to eight generations, not a word is there of any Polifh anceftor. But now, perhaps, it is moulded, according to this new genealogy ; and the Poliih nobles thcmfelves have their gybes on this new-fangled piece of vanity, and the purchafe of it, which was between 20, or 30,000 rix dollars, every deputy having been prevailed on- by the ufual argument. Some received favours im- mediately from the king, others had i,- 2, or 300 ducats for their vote, juft as they knew how to make their market.. Having mentioned the Dyet, behoLi the figure it made at the election of his prefent Majefty's father : The Palatine* to the number of above 100,000, met in the field of election * nearWarfaw; all the noblefle were on horfeback, exc . fome too poor to buy a horfe, who ap- peared on foot, with old rufty fcythes in their hands, diftinguillied only by the loftincfs of their looks, which fpoke their high fenfe of their dignity : Thefe were gained over toAuguftus, by a lufty dram and a-crown to each. The. Csfc] In this genealogy, his illuftrious ex- cellency had a double drift ; as his fa- mily obtained not only the denization, but was admitted, in the moft folenin manner, an antient Polim family ; lie and his fons became capable of holding any crown offices, and ftarofties, or go- vernments, in Poland ; and it was not long before he and his eldeft fon were created ftarofts, bcfides other prefer^ raents. This was turning the penny pretty well ; to lay out twenty or thirty thou- fand rix dollars, when only the annual produce of the offices and ftarofties, a- mounted to the latter fum ; the Itarofty of Warfaw,, which was conferred on the minifter's eldeft fon, is ofitfelf, a very lufcious bit. The miniftcr's fecond fcope here was, that his Excellence and his family, Jby virtue of the great priviledge of the Po- liih nobility, were fecured, at all events^ .fliould [593 fhould the king's fuccdTors happen to open their eyes, and call him or his fa- mily to an account ; not that his Excel- lency had any caufe for fuch an appre- henfion, but it is better to be armed a- gainft exigencies, which, not unfrc- quently, break forth contrary to all ap- pearances. If fuch an alteration fhould come to pafs, his Excellency, as a Polifh nobleman, would be fafe; for ho we vet: his brother nobles might ftand aifcded towards him, they would not be wanting to oppofe any breach of their privi- ledges, left it ihould'be brought into a precedent^. His Excellency, in his early youth,, was a page at the court of WehTenfels, and afterwards went in the fame quality to the court of the late king 'of Poland, Frederic Auguftus 5 where he was fooii appointed a page of the prefence. This, was the fpring whence flowed all his lubfequcnt grandeur; thefe are certain and known to be fo ail over the- world y> world j a medal was ftriick in Holland', about twenty-three years ago, repre- fenting the three chief minifters at that time, of the king of Poland ; as it were- fupporting the throne, with this infcrip- tion : Es find unfrer drey, Tivcy Pagen ttnd ein Laquay.. Which may be dins Engliihed, though now fo mighty, in us three, yivo Pages and a Skip you fee. Count Sulkowfky likewile owes his fortune to his having been a page; arncft as for count Hennicke ; he is known ID have wore a livery till his thirtieth yea--, when, his- inafter procured him to bc- inade a receiver in the excife ; on which he had the farther good fortune to marry a maid of ; honour, the prefcnt countcfs of Hennicke. Now we foon fee him furveyor of the exciie at Lut- zen,\vliere I myiclf have converted with fome pcrfons, now pretty well 'in years, \vho uied to be daily in company with him, and they have often told me, that ihtv. few nothing in him above other men, except that he was a ftout toper. Thence lie was made a commiffioncr of the ex- cifc, one cf the trcafury of Zcits, after- wards firft treafurer-gciierafj till lie gra- dually rofe to the mihiftry ; and he, as fome proof of his capacity, when lie was called away to give an account* of his ftcwardlhip, left in land and money near a million, which he had found means to fquecze out of poor Saxony.. Thus provTdence always wile and gracious, i ports with fubl unary digni- ties, perhaps that we may be the more fenfible of their incxpreffible littlencfs, and convince us that our real nobility and elevation can confift on'y in moral perfections, and mental pre-eminence. 1 will not take upon me to aficrt that the circumftance of the abovc-mention'd iatyrical medal is in every rcfpccft true, though I have it from men of veracity, who laid they had feen more than one of them. We know that Craut, parity under under that difcerning princ Frederic I;. of Pruffia, rofe from a boy behind the compter to be paymafter-general of the army, and at length minifter of ftate ; but he was to have been called to an account ; this fiorm he diverted by a well-a&ed lunacy, and dying left an immcnfe eftate ; however the king laid his hands on a considerable mare of it^ by way of restitution. We are fometimes told, and I remem- ber to have met with it in print, that Bruhl ftudied at Leipfick, but this I take upon me to contradict j a worthy old gentleman, a relation of mine, who ftill holds an employment in the court of Weiflenfels,. and knew the prefent count Bruhl all the firft part of his life, having told me about twenty years ago, that he went from the court of Weifiln- fels dire&ly to that of Drefden j and it is little probable that a page of the pre- fence mould be at the univcrfiy ; that would have been a phenomenon in- deed,. [63] deed, fo that this report does him more- honour than he dcferves ; as to the* count's vaft and fplendid library, which exceeds all that can be imagined of it,, that I conclude he collected, not fo much: as a fcholar, but for a piece of furniture, that he might be wanting in no part of magnificence and profufion.. You have read Plutarch's fine treatife on the utility of learning to a prince ; his arguments carry the itrongeft con- vicYion with them ; but if this be appli- cable to fovereigns, how much more ne-r ceffary may learning be laid to be to mi- niflcrs ?. Ail a prince has to do, is to maintain things in their proper relations but the miniiler is to forefce events, to penetrate into the grounds of all occur- rences, and to know and felecl: the ne- ceffary meafures, and the bcft manner and time of executing them. Who can be equal, to this without knowledge ? and, in my opinion, the inoft valuable knowledge is that of things and their properties;) properties, together with their relations' and reciprocal influences. None but a pedant will fay that the beft place of acquiring this knowledge is the univcrfity; however, whether the moll: ready avenue to- it- beconverfatioiY with the world, or reading choice au- thors, it is an implement which minif- ters, who would not be in danger of committing errors every iuflant, muft indi-fpenfibly furnifti thcmfeivcs with; Efpecially, I do not fee how a minifler can be without a know ledge of hiftory, which, in its maxims, and the connec- tions of events, can alone inftru& lu'm in planning mealures, and forefecing confequcnces , but- this is not of the kind that is to be learnt by converfation, no more than the laws of nations, and their feveral interefts and conftitutions-, and other branches of knowledge which it. would be abfurd to fuppofe may be clifpenfed with in a miniftcr : It is to the want of this knowledge that are chiefly ovidnsc: [ *5 T mving moft of the faltc fkps comniittccf by ftatefmen ; and a critical enquiry into count Bruhl's meafurc?, through- out the whole courie of his miniftry, would plainly ihc\v him an utter ftran- gcr to this knowledge. Indeed, how ihould he have come by it ! Brought up amidft the ge\vga\\ s, and tumult of a court, and early engaged in political in- trigues and the purfuits of ambition, it would be a wonder if he had hufbanded time to turn overbooks. Count Bruhl immediately became a favourite of the late king of Poland ; he rapidly paft through the honours of lord of the bed-chamber, and groom of the ftool, till he made his way to the miniftry ; there goes a tale concerning the fpecimen of his abilities, by which he gained the preference in the favour of the late Frederic Auguftus.. It is faid that a courier came oner with difpatchcs of the higheft import- ance [66] a nee, and which he was ordered to de- liver into no other hands than thofe of the king himfelf, and an immediate an- f.vcr was to be returned. Bruhl being at that time page of the prefcnce, the king fent him away for Pauli, fecrctary to the cabinet council ; but the latter he found fo overcome with wine, that it would have been in vain to have brought him. Bruhl, perceiving the king to be, in an extreme perplexity, offered to. draw up the anfwer to the difpatches ;, and, it feems did it fo much to his ma- jefty's fatisfa&ion, that from that hour Frederic Auguftus diftinguifhed him in. his favour. The truth of this ftory, my worthy friend, is very problematic j Pauli, fc- cretary to the cabinet, and of great in- fluence there, alib prefident of the col- lege of war, was exceffively given to- drinking ; it was grown habitual with, him at entertainments, or if alone, to indulge himfelf in intemperate draughts, and this was not unknown to the king, who [ 6? ] who ufed to fay, That it 10 as only in the forenoon that hs had a Fault ; and this was not of that focial kind of .imbrlation, very common among the minifters and fccrctarics at Vienna, by a brilk circu- lation of glafles at dinner, and never carried to the total extinction of reafon. No, Pauli's drunkcnnefs was fo beaftly, that it unfitted him for any kind of bu- finefs ; and, at latf, proved fatal to him, for one afternoon, in one of thcfe ex- ceftes, lie fell from a window into the ih'cct, where he ignomimouily expired. Allowing the truth of the circum-. fiance of fecretary Pauli's drunkennefs, yet the other part I much queftion ; Frederick Auguftus, the late king of Poland, was not a prince who would conclude on any thing, without the joint advice of his minifters j confe- qucntly, the more important the cafe was the fooner would he fend for them ; and, within that time, fomebocly furcly would be found capable of framing the au- Snfwcr : Further, it is not eafy to ima- gine any affair fo very urgent, as not to* bear a delay of a few hours j I have all" fecn fever.il French letters, written by count Bruhl's own hand, fince he came to. be minifter j the ftile, I own, is not to be found fault with ; but, on the other hand, I faw nothing of that Attic ele- gancy, that force of expreffion, as to- make a man of fenfe fo hugely taken- with the writer ; and, when a page, it is not to be fuppofed that he was matter of fuch a captivating phrafeology ; cer- tainly his ftile muft have been polifhed and improved by the long praftice and variety of affairs, is which it has fince been exercifed. . There is no need of any fuch tales to - make known the method or accident by which count Bruhl became ingratiated, with the late king of Poland ; though- hisftature be very far below the middle iize, yet is he perfectly well ihaped and, of a mofl winning carriage*. His. [6 9 ] His affability to all his inferio-nrs knows no bounds; they ftand equally charmed and amazed at his condetcen- fion ; at leaft, fuch I knew him about twelve years ago ; what alteration time may have wrought in him I know not ; from tlidc prcfulions of courtefy to per- ibns of -lower rank, it is eafy to con- ceive his abjecl deportment towards his fcvcreign ; his Ibllicitude to prefervc himfelf in favour: If, to thcie attractive practices, you add his agreeable pcrfbn, the gracefulnefs of his attitude, and a lively wit, there is no need of any tales to make us conceive how lie could infi- nuatc himftlf into the favour of a mo- narch, with whom appearances took, and who did not trouble himfelf about puu'trating into the receiTcs of the hu- man mind, I muft own, that the firft time I wait- ed on this minifkr, I was more charm'd with him than with any perfon I ever knew in the whole world; nothing came from from him, but Tour intirely devoted and bumble fervant ; Ton may command me in any thing : Thefe were his very words, and frequently repeated ; an opportu- nity of ferving me, and teftify ing h is re- gard for me, would be above all things, moft welcome. You know that, when 'at the univerfity, I did not ufe to be du- ped by fair words; but here I was de- ceived by my own maxims. Since I was eighteen years of age, it has been rny cuftom, when any one made me ex- traordinary proteftations of fricndlhip and good will, to take a fiirvey of their phyfiognomy ; I examined all their li- neaments, and pierced into their gri- maces; thefe generally betray the heart; but here all appeared candour and inte- grity, for a more honeft countenance, and a'more pleafing afpe<5l than that of count Bruhl, there cannot be in the world. But, in my farther transactions with him both relatively to my own private concerns, E 7' 1 -concerns, and the affairs of the comwif- fion with which I was honour'd, I foon perceived, that all thefe animated prote- jftations were mere founds ; I found that the flood of politenefles with which he continued to deluge me, were no more than fo many mechanical motions, to which his body had been long habituat- ed, without his foul having any mean- ing in them ; and it was more than once on my lips, to fay to him, / lefeccb your Excellency fizver compliments, and :r.;rejln- terity. I have afterwards hnd frequent occafion of obfcrvingjthat all who carry thcircivi- lity tocxcefs,and make life of high flown compliments, are one and all, of fuch a raft, that the more we promife ourfelvcs any thing from them, the more we mall be difappointed; and, tome, there is no- thing more mufeous, than that flow of compliments which rifcs above all pro- - bability and difcretion. To every man of fenfe fuch a behaviour is a downright affront ; 1 72-'] -pffront; as, in thcfe unmeaning efFu- iions, a minifter, in effect, fays, " I look " on thcc to be a fun pie fellow, who " wilt greedily fwallow thefe words/' However, it is only obfcrving the profeffions of fuch people, and they will be found thcmfe'lves to betray the little fhare their 'heart lias in their compli- ments. I was once with a late fecretary at war in ail eminent court; lie likewiie dealt much in over-ftrained compli- ments, and exceflive politencft: Word was brought that a young foreign prince whofe father was a major in the fervice of that ft ate, was coming to wait on him. I was for with-drawing ; " 1'oh, poh, " (laid the minifter) it is only a young " prince ;" But, on this young prince's making his appearance, the minifter rc- fpeclf ally moved to wards him, faying ; " I am covered with confuiion, that ' your Illuftrious Highnefs iliould pre- " vent me in my duty ; it was juft in " my thoughts inofl humbly to have " laid [731 *' laid myfelf at your Highncfs's feet?* And at this rate he went on, over- whelming the young prince, who was a genteel difcreet youth, about 1 3 years of age, and his tutor, with fuch a flood of compliments, that they fcarce knew what to anfwer ; but this, at the fame time, was a ufeful document to me, what ftrefs I had to lay on all the aflur- ances of affeftion, and friendlhip, whicli he had juft poured forth to me, in the in the very fame breath. \Vhilft the late king-of Poland was liv- ing, count Bruhl feems to have had ve- ry little fhare in the good graces of the prefent king ; the knowing courtiers pretend, that the then electoral prince even carried it coldly to his father's fa- vourite ; and, on the other hand, that count Bruhl feemed not at all felici- tous in making his court to the prefum- ptive fucceflbr. The heart of the elec- toral prince was at that time pofieiTed by count Sulkowfky, groom of the bed- chamber, [ 74] chamber, -and captain of foot; ancl who as a page, having grown up together with the prince, had now an unlimitted afcendant over him : And ns thefc two favourites of the father and the fon fhewed little inclination towards an in- timacy, it was the opinion of the court that count Brulil's fortunes had reached their zenith, at the demife of Auguftus the Second, But greatly miftakemvere they in this calculation j at the time of the deceafe of Auguftus II. which happened in Po- land in the beginning of the year 1733, count Bruhi was alfo in that kingdom : Inftcad of finking at fo unexpected a ftroke as the lofs of the moft bountiful of matters, he turned his thoughts to fe- cure his footing under the new govern- ment ; and finding means to lay hands on the crown, and other regalia of Po- land, he reached Saxony before the ma- gnates of the kingdom could take any meafures on fuch a fubitnneous event. [ 75] The electoral prince, now Elector of Saxony, muft naturally look with a pro* pitious eye on the author of fuch a no- table piece of fervice, as delivering up to him the regalia of Poland ; and who, withal, allured him, that he had con* certed meafures with his friends to tutn the fcale of eleftion in his Royal High- nefs's favour : Count Bruhl further ad- drefled himfelf to count Sulkow/ky, the prince's minion, in the ftrongeft expref- fions, at which he has a moft bewitching gift, of the moft perfect friendship and devotednefs, and that there was nothing in which he fhould not account it an ho- nour to be employed as his inilruinent* Count Bruhl very prudently perceiv'd that count Sulkowfky would rife to a refplendent fortune-, and to oppofe it would be working his own deftrucUon ; he confidered, that this count being a papift, agreeable to the profeffion of the late king, was incapable of any minifts- rial or national employment : that the E a " -ft 1 76] poft of firft lord of the bed-chamber, which hehimfelf had held undcrthehte king, would be moft futiable to count Sulkowfky's view; accordingly he made an offer to the count to reiign that very honourable poft, leaving the equivalent to his majefty's pleafure. This pleafcd, and count Bruhl was nominated firft commifTioner of the treaiury, andgcne- ral-dire&or of the excife. For this cir- cumftance, that count Bruhl himlelf made the firft offer of refig ring his poft, my authority is the peribn to whom the prefent prince of Sulkowlky told it. This was the expedient by which count Bruhl made count Sulkow/ky himfelf the inftrument of his promotion under the prefent government ; it was far from Sulkowfky's thoughts to appre- hend any-thing from Bruhl ; the pre- ference in the favour of his prince he imagined fecured to him beyond the attempts of any competitor ; and, as for count Bruhl, inveigled by his foothing blandiih- [77 J blandifhments, he promifed himfelf that he fhould find him a fteady friend, and ufeful inftrument. But time has Ihewn him to be extremely difappointed in fuch conclufions, not knowing the man with whom he had to do_ Here, Sir, I have given you a fuccincl /ketch ofthehiftory of count Bruhl, till the acceffion of his prefent majefty to the crown of Poland ; if you have met with any-thing new in it, if this amufe- ment of mine has given you any enter- tainment, the continuance of it depends on your commands ; but, at prefent, my weary fingers call for fome refpite. But I forgot j how is this ! You tell me that you are a ftranger to the fiory of the prince Leifgen *. Is it poffiblc ! lince ten or twelve years, when this fie- ry had not yet loft its novelty, have you been fo little inquifitive ? And have all your vifitors been inlenfible to that ge- * A diminutive of Elizabeth, as Betty, inEnglifli. E 3 neral r 78] general fondnefs of telling fnmething new and drole ? Tho' really the greater! wonder of all is, that I myfelf, in our intimate conventions, have not related it to you : and, I verily thought, that I did not know a.ftory worth telling, which I had not brought on the carpet ; how- ever ftrange thefe things are, it muft be fo, fincc you affurc me, that prince Li- efgen is a perfon you never heard of j therefore my next will give you this 4iiftory in its full detail ; but, at prefent, all I can prevail ifpon my fingers to do, is not to conclude, without alluring you of the perpetual and unreferved friend* ihip, with which I ihall ever be, Sir, <&c. F t,July 31, 1760. LETTER IV. SCarce was my former letter gone to the poft-houfe, when I received the favour of yours of the 24th of luly, wherein you acquaint me, that the fiege of Drefden was raifed ; that there had been been fuch a report in your parts foifr days before ; but that you was unwill- ing to lay anything of it, oppofite ac 1 - counts being come, and both with par- ticular circumftances : Thcfe oppofite reports were both true in. certain re- fpetf s ; the king of Pruilia has raifed the iiege, yet fUll remains near Drefdcn ; and this natnrally gave rife to contra- dictory accounts, which alfo have reach- ed this neighbourhood. All accounts agree, that the beautiful city of Drefden, which, no leis than Leipfic, deferves to be called the jewel rf Saxony, is almoft entirely buried in its ruins, particularly the Old Town ; and this calamity the wretched inhabi- tants can impute to no other than their very good friends the Auftrians; though his Pruffian majefty, by the many ex- amples of the enemy atCuftrin,Schweid- nitZj Zittau, and even at Guhrau, and other open towns in Silefia, was incon- teltably warranted to fet the city on fire, E 4 yet yet he had nofuch intention, as declar- ed in the Magdeburg gazette, and it was the walls and works only which were fired, at till the Auftrians, having con- verted the Crofs Church tower into a bat- tcrty, then it became neceflary to make life of bombs for diflodging them. It is fcarce to be conceived that tire Auftrian commandant could be fo void of refkcYion, as not to forefee the cala- mity to which he thereby expofed the city, yet it is afuppofition at which na- ture revolts ) and, if well-grounded, is a fcandal to humanity, that he fhould deliberately involve the refidence of his miHrefs's moft firm ally, in fuch a ca- taflrophe; yet if he was not aware of the confequences which would attend the unprecedented ufe he made of the Crofs Tower, he does not deferve to carry a halberd in a company of militia. In all who are not Grangers to thefenti- inents of philanthropy, or the laws of war among mong civilized nations, the conduft of the Auftrians in this war muft excite de- teftation ; the Auftrian miniftry openly trampled on all the dilates of rcafon, and the rights of nations, violating faith and compa&s, and,- to the fliame of our enlightened times-, even recommended to the ftates of the Empire, to fecond their perfidy by a like injurious conduft; their generals- fecm to overlook all' the humane ufages of war, obferved a- mong civilized people, committing fuch barbarities as brand the Auftrian name with perpetual infamy. To be fure, you have by this time read all the circumftances of the recent in- ftance of Auftrian inhumanity againft the miferable town of Landfhut. Not to mention the general pillage in which the poor inhabitants were ilript of the very cloaths on their back, fuch was the rage of thcfe favages, that, without re- gard to religion, age, or lex, they maf- facred. innocent unarmed perfons, beg- E 5. ing, girtg for life on their knees, and holding: out crucifixes j my blood riles againft fuch fanguinary cut-throats. I had en- tertained pleafing ideas of the mildnefs and refinements of the age I lived in, and I believe you have more than once heard me, with fome degree of tranfport, fay. Prifcajuvent altos f ego me mine denique na- tum Gratulor, baec alias mcrikus a^ta meis. but alas! innumerable tranfutfioHs llicw that thefe times may be clafled with thofe of the Goths and Herulians. What a frivolous excufe is it to fay, that in fuch occafions, the foldicr can- not be retrained : How ! A general not keep his men within bounds, in an open defencelefs place, where not an enemy is left? Were I to hear this palliative irom fuch a defpieable man himfelf, I _fhould make no fcrupie of telling him, that he might be fit to head a band of Hottentots, or Iroquois, but had neither the head nor heart to be a general iu an European nation... Geue- General Laudohn, in particular, feems as if he would make his court to theEm- prefs, by his diftinguifhed ravages and barbarities in the Prufiian territories ; bnt if this general by his deportment, and the Auftrian miniftry by its conni- vance, would have the world believe, that fuch defolations are acceptable to the Emprefs, they do not reflect what a difgrace they bring, on her, in the eyes of all feniible and virtuous perfom. If fuch inhuman procedures are in- sonfiftcnt with humanity, no lefs are they exploded by the common rules of po- licy. Do they tend to creat in the Sile- fian a longing to return under the do- minion of Auilria ? One obfervatioiii which I have often eccafion to make in reading hiliory, is that a general who -indulges his foidiery in carnage, and the impulfcs of their brutal paffions, is feldom or ever knowiv to* [84] to die a natural death j or fome ftrikiftg trouble or diftrefs overtakes him before his end ; let me entreat you, fhould you outlive me, to have an eye on Laudohn,and obferve the eircumftances of his life ; I never was fond of fctting- up for a prophet, but, here I will ven- ture on one predi&ion, that the cries of fo much innocent blood will roufe the punitive wrath of God, and that it will not fail, one way or other, to dif- charge itfrlf on him in t-he prefent life,* the mercy and juftice of the fupremc being wilt not altovv me to think that fuch inhumanities againft a quiet inno- cent people, will go unpunished.. If I- have here exhibitted only mourn- ful fccnes, be pleafed to attribute it to a melancholy companion, are fentful zeal, which, amidft fnch transitions, he who feels for mankind, can hardly flip- prefs ; but 1 , now Fll make you amends-, by communicating to you the flory of the prinee Betty, which,.! promifc my- fcfc [ 8/j] felf, will difpel all the gloomy imagery raifed by the premifcs. This ftory, in feveral refpe&s, is not without inftru&ion ; anmong other things, it Ihcws, that, to ad the part of a prince in the world, is not a point of fuch great difficulty ; for here you will fee it done by a perfon without birth or education ; and none of the whole no- bility, for feveral miles round, could obferve, in this impoftor, any grounds for a fufpicioiu In the year 1717, or 1718, when the prefent king of Poland, then elec- toral prince, in the courfe of his travels, came to Vienna; there lived iu Wolckenftein, a little place among the Mine Mountains, in Saxony, a clo- thier's daughter then in her 2zd. or 23d. year, whofe chriftian-name was Elizabeth, but her fur-name 1 have forgot. Her condition, it feems, fat t very uneafy on the girl, being obliged, day f 86 ] day after day, to work hard at the loom*, befides, fhe had -to do with none of the moft indulgent fathers, that fhe was ever contriving how fhe fhould free herfelf from this infupportable bond- age, and procure fometl}ing more to her liking. What ihe was moft out of humour Vith washerfex,and fhewould frequent- ly exclaim againft providence for not making a man of her : thefe difpofitions, at length, produced a fcheme to fteal out of her father's houfe, and in the difguife of a man, endeavour to mend her circumftances ; a favourable junc- ture, for her elopement, offered, her father, at that time a widdower, being- gone from home. He had taken with him his every- day cloaths, that nothing remained for her but his fuit of black, in which, to appear like a creditable burgher, he ufcd to go to the facrament,. or fune- rals ?. Tals ; this happened to fit her, fo fhe put on one of her father's fhirts, and crammed two others in tlie pockets, and in this garb, recommending hcrfelf to providence, Ihe, one night left her father's houfe,and her drefs pat her oil palling for an ejected fchool-mafter. After wandering through feverat parts of the country, where me picked up fomething among the gentry and clergy, fhe came at laft to Auguftuf- burg-houfc, where Mr. Gunther, as furveyor of the king's fitheries, refided, a great number of the king's ponds lying in that neighbourhood. This gentleman being then at home, fhe re- quefted his benevolence, as an ejected fehool-mafter : the furveyor of the filhery, fancied that he faw in this^ ejected fchool-mafter fome glimpfe of the then electoral prince, now king df Poland ; and, in reality, between thefc two very different perfons, there was, a referablance, though not very great: Mr, [88] Mr. Gunther put feveral queftions to this fchool-mafter, which Mils Betty anfwered with a compofcdnefs and gra- vity, that the furveyor of the fiihcries conftrued to be inborn ftatelinefs and dignity ; at length he began to furmifc, that this perfon might be the electoral prince himfelf. Before you laugh at the Purveyor's Simplicity,, be pleafed to recoiled what I laid in my letter, of the 25th of July r about the fang.uine hop.es which the Saxons entertained of the then electoral prince, exulting in ideal perfpe<5Hves of the bleffings which were to diftinguifli his reign, when their burthens mould be lightened, every grievance be re- dreffed, and all things be fet on aright footing ; it is impoffible to conceive what ftories thefe hopes had given rife to, particularly that the electoral prince went about the country incognito, the better to inform himfelf of the conditii- on of his future fubjc<5h j and thus take [89] take effc&ual meafures for their prof- perity. Particularly a report went current, that the electoral prince was not de- tained fo long on his travels, but, with- out his father's privity was taking a tour all about the country, that he might fee every thing with his own ryes, and that people might not fuffer by falfc reprefentations ; indeed, few at court gave any heed to fuch tattle, but, the furveyor of the filheries happened to be one of thofe, who, being pleafed with the ftory, readily believed it. , Mr. Gunther, in his profound faga- city, thought that if this was the ele&o- ral prince, his bufinefs was to entertain him well, as that would certainly make his fortune; the whole ftory declares him to be a man of a very narrow grafp j yet, was he ambitious of making a great figure in the fucceeding reign. It is a very juft obfervation that men offen- der [ 9 ] der parts are moft fond of courts ; men, of fublime fentiments, and ajuft way of thinking, having a better idea of happi- neis, than to'feek for it-, in thofe feencs of intrigue and fallacy. However, he was for proceeding wa^ rilyj and taking the fham fchool-m after into his parlour, after giving him a large cup of wine, he entered into talk with him on feveral fubje&s, and in every thing Mifs Betty ihewed an acutenefs and underftanding which to the furvey- or feemed above the fphere of a poor fchool-mafter ; and he .imagined that with his pcrfpicacious eyes he faw a princely majefty beam forth in all her expreffions and deportment ; thus he became perfuaded that theperfon before him could be no other then the eleclo- ral prince ; in this conceit, without any further hefitation, he ventured to fay to Mifs Betty, that if he was not much mLftaken, it was a very different perfon from a School-mailer, whom he faw [9' 1 faw in this difguife : At this, Mifs whofe heart went pit a pat for fear of a. difcovcry, coloured ; but her fpirit re- vived when the furvey or Continuing his difcourfc, faid that tho' his apparel was none of the beft, in his opinion it co- vered a perfon of the higheft rank. This honour (he declared did not be- long to her, but it was with fuch confti- fion as only confirmed Mr. Gunther's prepofleffion ; in a word, her blufhes with the manner of her waving any pre- tence to quality, left not the leaft doubt in him but that his guelt was the eledto'- ral prince of Saxony. The Surveyor thought himfelf ex- tremely happy that heaven Ihould put fo fair an opportunity into his hands of advancing himfelf, and that mould he let it flip, he Ihould deferve to be pott- ed for a fool, inftead of being counted a wife man which he had always affect- ed ; and rifing up, faid to him, that he was not ignorant of the noble motives of [9* 3 f)f his Royal Hi^hncfs's going about the country in that dif;uife, but that he fhould fee his ends might be fuffi- cieii'ly anfwered, if he pleafed to honour his houfe fome time with his prefence, and at the fame time, he made a tender, that every thing in it, was at his Royal Highnefs's entire dif- pofal. Mil's Betty who had left her father's houfe to feek her fortune, and who wiiht for nothing more than a life of cafe and merriment, thought this a propofal ofwhich it behoved her to avail herfelf, and at the fame time was fen- fible that her cafe required prudence and caution ; accordingly, Ihe defired the furveyor to mention no fuch high titles to her, not but that Ihe held her- felf much obliged to him for his kind offer. Mr. Gunther replyed, that fince it was his Royal Highnefs's pleafure, he would [93] 'would forbear titbs, as his intention was to be linkriovwi, but again repeated the offer of his houfe and every thing in his power ; and Mifs Betty at his many hum- ble inftances, confented to fpend fome days there, if it would not be too great a trouble; one of the chief cautions on which Mifs Betty refolved in this farce, was never to fay that ilie was the electo- ral prince, but by a refcrv'd ferious be- haviour dril him on in his chimerical * imaginations, and this Ihe pleaded be- fore the late king Frederick Auguftus and the commiffioner of enquiry; and the furveyor himfclf did her the juftice to own that ilie had never pretended to \)C the prince, nor dirctfly countenanc. cd his fuppofitions of her being that royal perfon. The firft night this honourable perfon hy in Mr. Gunther's houfe, his joy kept him waking ; nothing was more certain with him, than that it now only depended on his making a due life of this fortunate [94] adventure, to be amongft the firft of the mini dry in the next reign ; a thought which doubtlefs was accompanied with an ejaculation of thankfgiving; he moft wifely fuppofed that the greater obliga- tions he laid the prince under, the greater would be his advancement. His fortune being very confiderable, he was peiiiiade'd that this was the feafon to few plentifully, as fure to reap an exuberant harvefl. The next morning he propofed to the prince to change his apparel for that of a higher rank, as better anfwering his end of remaining unknown ; for the meaner his appearance, the fooner would a keen eye fee through the difguife, as dignity of carriage could not be long laid afidc, fo as to efcape dete&ion. Th/'s perhaps Mr. Gunther meant as a com- pliment to his own penetration j he ad- ded, that he thought the rank of count was the beft adapted to his Royal High- nefs's driftj as not being attended with [ 9S 1 the conftraint of royalty, which hinder- ed a p'jrijnal rlnfpeciion into every- : nor, which v/ouki b the cafe of a lo.v i\:nk, did it exclude him from the company of the nobility and gentry ; \vhofe free fentiments he might thus hear, and judge of their manners - further, Mr. Gunthcr, concluding that his Royal liighnefs might not be pro- vided for the expcnce of new drefles, he humbly rcqueftcd him to make ufe of his money, which Mas entirely at his iervice ; and this from mere reipeft to his Royal Highnefs, without any view of returner recompcnce, which he nei- ther wanted or dcfired. To tins offer prince Betty made feve- ral objections j fignifying that it, by no means, fquared with his views; however -at the preffing intrcatics of the furvey- or, he intimated to him, that he might give orders for what he thought pro- per. Mr. Gunther, without delay, or- dered three or four very rich fuits, hir- [96] ed four fervants for the prince, and made him a prcfent nf a fuperb coach, with fix horfes, which he fuid the prince would want for vifiting the feveral parts of the country j and that the prince might be fuitably provided with the grand requifitc, he with the moft reve- rential humility, humbly offered him a gold purfe with 300 ducats, and would not defift till hisRoyalHighnefs was'gra- cioufly pleafed to accept of it. Prince Betty being thus equipped for his rank of count, as this was Mr.Gun- ther's project, he alfo conferred the title which the prince was to bear ; and bor- rowed it, if I miftake not, from a Hol- ftein family 5 every thing being no\v fettled, Mr. Surveyor invites all the neighbouring nobility and gentry to his houic, for the entertainment of the prince, who was made known to every one under the fictitious title of count, but Mr. Gunther was not wanting pri- vately, and with the moft earnetf re- queft [97 ] of fecrefy, to whifpcr to all hisvi- iitors, that his gucft was no other than the Electoral Prince ; fuch an honour they could not but eiteem a fure prefago of the moft glorious fortune. As to this, I believe you will not much cenfurc Mr. Gunther, it being no more than a very common inclination ; mod mea would make little account of any riches or honours were they to enjoy them without others knowing any thing of their profperity. Thcie vilits of the neighbouring no* bility at the furveyor's houfe went on for near a month ; all crowded thither with a view of getting into the favour of Saxony's riling fun, and his favourite Mr. Von Gunther ; thus for his money lie, at ieaft, had for fome time the flat- tering pleafure of being furrounded by perfons of rank, all courting his friend- Ihip, and he had already a forecaft of the incenfe which probably would have been offered to him had all his fuppofitions been real. F On On all occafions prince Betty topped her part, fhe did not in the leaft dif- grace the title of count, and the referv- ednefs which fhe conftantly kept to, with the country nobility, patted for the ftamp of royalty, which under this inferior difguife feemed., to dignify eve- ry part of her behaviour ; in ihort there was not one who harboured the Icaft ,'-.., t io ] The king asked prince Betty who me wasPfhe, without theleaft difcompofure, gave him a full account of her family, lex, and all the circumftances which had occafioned her being the objeft of the furveyor's liberality, and the ad- miration of the nobles, without her ever having pretended to be the elec- toral prince. Not a letter of her ac- count could be difproved, and even Gunther himfclf acquiefccd in the truth of all Ihe had dcpofed ; the king however, fufpe&ing this errantry to have been the confcquence of fome a- incurs at home, had prince Betty fearch- ed by midwivcs, who unanimoufly de- clared her to be a pure virgin. Hereupon, the king himfelf pro- nounced this fentence; that prince Bet- ty, -as a due punimmcnt of the fur- veyor, ihould keep every tiling that he had given her, and as it were forced on her ; but, that rhe-fhould be confined, during during life, in Waldheim bridewell, tho* not put to any labour ; and, that Gun- ther mould allow her a rix dollar per diem, as long as me lived. This has been fulfilled in every ar- ticle : as for prince Betty, feveral of my acquaintance have feen her at Waldheim, arid talked with her } Ihe had her own clean room in the houfe, boarded with the keeper, and generally wore a gen- teel kind of amazon habit ; ihe was ever fprightly, merry, and faying, her life was a heaven, to that Ihe led at home, tinder her morofe father, and Having like a common hireling : however, I fancy that his majefty's fentence occa- fioncd many reflections, but the fheet is full, and fcarce leaves me room to allure you of the eternal friendihip with- which I am, SIR, fc-V. F /, Auguft 2, 1760 LETTER V. Dear Sir, I Am favoured with your's of the nrft inftant, in which you lay your commands .on me to go on with Count Bruhl's life ; and, in this you are fo pe- remptory, that I may keep my medita- tions on the occurrences of the world to myfelf, till I have put the rimming hand to that narrative ; you urge, that, as I profefs only to write to pleafe you, there rcfides an indifputable right in to appoint what I lhall write. With fubmiffion, not fo indifputable, ibme weighty objections lay againft it : by a parity of reafon, the men have an indifputable right of regulating the modes of the fair fex j for that they drefs only to pleafe vis, is manifeft; moft heartily do I wim you could make this argument prevail every where, I would collea [ "=3 ] all the votes of the men in tnfs country, that thofe ridiculous car cafes which difguife fo many charming faces, and certainly were the fpiteful invention of fomc homely piece envious of beauty, ihould be fentenced to die, that is, to be looked on as old famioned. However, you have another, more indifputable right of dilating what I Ihall write, I mean our long and fincere friendihip ; and to Ihew you the readi- nefs of my obedience, I'll buckle to, without any farther cavil or preamble. I have brought my delineation of count Bruhl, to the acceffion of his pre- &nt majefty to the crown of Poland ._ I have mewn you by what means he- kept his footing under the prefent go- vernment, his intereft not having fuf- fered the leaft diminution, or rather by the artful exchange he made of his employment with the then fupreme &vpurite, he acquired a greater in- F 3 fluence- [ io 4 ] fiuence on affairs ; they who had but a faperfrcial knowlege of the court, immagined -that count Sulkow/ky, and count Bruhl, had agreed to fhare the king's favour; but with them who knew the.infide of the court, it was no fecret, that the fcale of the king's favour very much preponderated towards Sulkow- Ay. 'This was moft evidently feen in the "cltfpofal of all confiderable employ- ments ; if, on a vacancy, count Sul- kowfky gave his promifc, it might be depended on as done; whereas count .Bruhl, after afluring his very beft friends of fome pofts, that fell vacant, often was obliged to excufe himfelf to them. Not a month before the fall of count Sulkowfky, Bruhl was thoroughly fen- fible that he had the upper hand of him in the king's favour j for, about that r 105 1 that time, a handfome poft in the king's gardens falling, count Bruhl had pro- mifed it to count B , but hearing that Mr. M , who flood very well with count Sulkowfky, put in for it, he fent for Mr. M ., and told him, that he knew he would get the poft by count Sulkowlky 's recommenda- tioiij but, that he defined he would truft to his generofity, and drop his felicitations for the place; that, not knowing any thing of his intentions, he. had promifed it to count B , otherwife, he had fuch an efteem for him, that no perfon living mould have got a promife from him to his preju- judice ; but, if he would be fo kind as to give him an opportunity of fulfilling liis promife, he might reft allured, that he would take care he mould be no lofer, and foon return it by fomething. much better.. Mr.. [ io6 ] Mr. ' made no difficulty of complying, but count Sulkowfky did not much relifh fuch an obfequioufnefs to count Bruhl ; on count Sulkowfky 's fall, which as I faid followed within a month, Mr. faid to one of his intimates, that now he hugged himfelf for having yielded to count Bruhl's plea- fure ; fo you may, anfwer'd his friend, when count Bruhl has given you proofs that he has that generofity on which he defired you to depend ; but this never was the cafe; for count Bruhl after keep- ing Mr. in a long attendance turned him adrift only with, a barren title. If it be certain that count Sulkowfky Kad a greater fw-ay over the king than? count- Bruhl, it would have been no dif- ficult matter for him, had he been fo in- clined, fo have given count Bruhl a foil ; andtharhe did not, {hews an uncommon- generofity in count Sulkowfky, efpeci- ally as he''focn. perceived that count Eruhl Bruhl was very far from the attachment he had vowed to him, openly traverf- ing him in many occurrences, be- fides his fecret machinations to under- mine him, which were not unknown to count Sulkowfky ; but, conceiving his predominance in the king's, heart to be immoveable, hefufTercd count Bruhl quietly to hold all his employments. Some days indeed before his fall, count Sulkowflcy mov'd the king to dif- mifs count Bruhl from his fervice, as a perfon olfenfive to all good fubjecls ; tliis is no more than was well known to all acquainted with the fecret tranfafti- ons of the court at that time ; but if count Sulkow/ky did fo, it was not till he had the moil unqueftionable informations, that count Bruhl was working his ruin. Here, Sir, I conclude you are for knowing by what expedients count Bruhl,! I would 'not fay , tlbow'd count Sul- k.o\v/ky out of the king's favour, for that F 6 I be- I believe he never loft, but deprived him of his pofts ; the mines which count Bruhl fprung on this occafion are thefe. His Polifh majefty, has the beft heart in. the world ; fuch a heart as provi- dence, were it not for the punifhmeni of nations and other wife ends, would never have placed on a throne j hearts of this caft being always abufed, to the aiifery of a people, by corrupt and fla- gitious men who are continually obfed- ing the fovereigu ; from this very good- nefs of heart it is that his Poliih ma.- jefty, befides an unlmitcd confidence in his two chief miniftcrs, is filled with the niofi implicit devotednefs to his c.onfort the queen; a. devotednefs, which wo- men of underftanding eafily fecure, when they have a fond hufband to work, on. It was one of count Bruhl's chiof artifices to have his fecrct fpies about the king and queen, and even about count C *9 ] count Sulkowfky ; thefe watched ere- ry minute circumftance, and made particular reports, that her majefty was not thoroughly pleafed with count Sul- kow/ky, as on ibme occafion?, this mi- nifter gave it for his opinion that a com- pliance with, the queen's pleafure would be of ill confequence. Count Bruhl was too vigilant not to fee, that this dif- pleafure of the queen againfl count Sul- kowfky, however now only light and defultory, might, by the agency of a dexterous inltrument, become> an op^ portunity of overthrowing his benefac- tor. - His f rft rlcp was previously to in- creaie the queen's indignation againft count Sulkowiky ; when he knew that the count was unavoidably obliged to take one particular meafure, he had hi-s engines for infilling oppofite ideas in- to the queen, and working her up to a vehement rcfolution of carrying her point. And [no] And here my friend I could fpecify to you fome very artful practices of fuch fiheffe as might be reckon'dmafter- pieces of court craft, only they would detain me too long from the main na- rative, but when that is gone through, remind me of thefe artifices and you fhall have them in a proper light. At the fame time he entered into, an* intimacy with the queen's confcflbr, fa- ther Guarini, who had an abfolute power over the queen's mind. The bait for catching a jcfuit ; count Bruhl welt knew was the power of the order and the extenfion of the Roman Catholic religi- on ; he accordingly reprefented to fa- ther Guarini, that by making ufe of his power over the queens mind to fupplant count Sulkowfky, the infolcnt oppofer of her fchemcs being removed, his om- nipotency with the queen would in ef- fei put into his hands the controul of of all affairs both in Poland and Saxony;, at the fame time, he prornifed, that not only. [ III ] only he himfelf would turn papift, but by all means poffible he would promote the catholic intereft in Saxony, as far as it could be done confident with the tranquillity of the empire. In thefe clandcftine negotiations was the fail of count Sulkowfky refolved on, and the queen fet about alienating her confort from his favourite. It is a mif- talve to think that the jefuits are in a perfect agreement among themfelves, being men like ourfelves, the very fame hatred, envy, and every malignant paf- fton prevail among them; and what- ever unity may appear, when the intereft of their fociety is to be fupport- cd againft a foreign enemy, this is not owing to their poliponing private views and paffions to the good of the fociety, but the real caule is the dcfpotic govern- ment under which they are; as a fingle letter from the general can at once de- flroy the whole fortune of any fingle je- fuit i thus through fear they are oblig- ed [ 1"] ed apparently to let the advantages of their order take the lead of their pri- vate paffions. Accordingly, count Sulkowiky has: been known to tell feveral of his friends, that another jefuit, namely, the kings father confeflbr continually advifed him. of what was carrying on againft him; and he now faw the weaknefs of giving credit to count Bruhl's protections;, and, eager to repair his error he left no ftone unturned for getting count Bruhl. removed from court ; : but it was now. too late, and of thefe very endeavours, die queen made a handle to irritate her confort againft him, and fo peremptory, were her remonstrances that the king found himfelf obliged to difmifs count Sulkow/ky.; and he was ftript of all his employments except the generalfhip. However, it appeared on feverat occafions afterwards that the king was rather deprived of count Sulkow/ky, than. [ "3 I than the latter had loll the royal favour; good tempers, againft their own incli- nations, and views, are often fcen, for the fake of peace and quietncfs, to fuffer themfelvcs to be led to any thing; and to this was owing the difgrace of count Sulkow/ky. It muft be own'd that the removal of this minifter caufed fomc joy all over Saxony, but that thcfe ex- ultations were premature, the fubfe- quent times muft have fufficiently con- vinced the giddy Saxons ; it is tlie uni- verfal fate of favourites to be hated by the people, at lead, in all my travels, I have not met with one exception ; and this hatred extends fo far that even they who have partook of his favours or feel the fweets of being employed as his in- firuments, execrate him in their hearts. Another objection moft popular, I don't fay well grounded, againft count Sulkowfky, was his not being a Saxon.. Count Sulkoufky, indeed, cannot, be ac- [ "4] accufed of any negleft of himfelf, hay- ing, in the fhort courfc of his miniftry, which was not quite two years, pv.t at leaft, two millions in his pocket*; yet, cosiiparcd with count Bruhl, he muft appear a minifter of great probity and difmtereftednefs j befides, in him there appeared a manifeft poffibility of his raifing fuch a large fortune, without fleecing the country ; the annual a- mount of all liis employments being little Ihort of one hundred thoufand dollars, and lie living at the rate only of four thoufand. In the year 1736, I was fevcral times at his houfe, and all his fervants, of both fexes, did not exceed ten, and, of thcfe, only four in livery ; if to thefe vaft favings be added, the prefents for the various pofls and ftarofties, which became vacant, from time to time ; for ? if the king of Poland is fworn not to accept of any prefents on that account, his minifters take no fuch oath -, it is plain r "s i plain that Saxony contributed very lit- tle to count Sulkow/ky's wealth; but, count Bruhl would make a wretched %ure, were he thus to difclofe the fourccs which furnifh means for fuch enormous diffipations, and, at the fame time, fuch immenfe accumulations. The fall of count Sulkowfky drew after it the deplorable end of colonel Schmiikal j for the favourites of princes are never without their favourites, and fuch was Mr. Schimikal of count Sulkowfky ; while he was a gentleman of the bed-chamber, and captain, Mr. Schmifkal was lieutenant of his conv pany, and extremely countenanced by kis captain; in confequence of which, as count Sulkow/ky, with unexampled celerity, rofe from captain to general of the foot; he took care that Mr. Schmifkal's fortune fliould keep pace with his, that, from a Lieutenant, he foon faw himfelf a colonel. On [ "6] On count Sulkowfky's being removed from court, count Bruhl procured a warrant from the king to put this colo- nel under an arreii; and, he being probably of a melancholy temper, and giving over himfelf and his patron for loft, funk into clefpair, and fhot him- felf. Mr, Schmifkal alfo, was not free from the amor feeler at us habendi ; for, when a lieutenant, he was not worth a ducat, and, by his powerful recom- mendations to count Sulkowiky, at the time of his filicide, was matter of abovt 50,000 dollars j and in fome other ar- ticles he cannot be exculpated ; but, it was with a very ill grace that count Bruhl could bear fo very hard on fuch fail- ures, when all poor Schmiikal's guilt, collectively, was but a mole hill, in comparifon of what had been commit- ed by himfelf, his private fecretaries, and favourites. Perhaps count Bruhl's behaviour, in feveral particulars here related, will ap- pear t '?'] pear to have been far frorn-praife wor- thy : I am intircly of your mind ; fe- veral perfonal affronts were put on count Sulkov/fky, and fuch infolence was fo far from being chaftifed, that it was nritter of lauglitcr to count Braiil. Among other infults, one of the king's forefters in Lufatia, thinking, thereby to curry favour with count Bruhl, fhot a pretty favourite dog of count Sulkow/ky, as it was running by his coach. Thus it was that count Bruhl difpof- fefled his rival of the king's favour j and removed the grand obftacle to his eugro fling the arbitrary rule over Saxony and Poland. It now re- mained to fulfil the articles, in con- iidcratton of which, father Guarinihad .performed this meritorious good office for him, as otherwise he might \\-cll ex- pe that a demile would caufe no alteratioia in his fortune. Thus count Bruhl fccms to poffeis, in the higheft degree, that magic, which the countels of An- cre owned in a public court of judica- ture ; faying, That Ihe had governed tiie queen of France by magic, but, h was that, by which fu peri or minds- rule the wt.ik. But, with regard to Bruhl, 1 think the companion will run- better, if \\L lay, that magic, by which? fraudulent minds icduce the It is now high time to conclude for the prefent; which I do, with the cuftomary, yet, fmcere affurance, that I am, Sir, &c. F tjdugujl^, 1760. LETTER VI, SIR, T"T 7 Ithout any introdu&ory compli- VV ments, I proceed in the narra- tive you defired. King Philip IV. of Spain, fupincly gave hinofelf up to be guided in all things [ 37 1 tilings by the duke of Lerma ; till, one day, fitting down at table, he found under his plate a note, with this infcrip- tion, To Den Philip, once k. : ng of Spain and the Indies ; at prefent in the fervice of the Duke c/f Lerma. This poignant ad- drefs made an impreflion where the moft iblid and pathetic reprefentations had failed : and foon after fell the mighty duke of Lerma. The writer of this note did not ex- prefs himfelf improperly, for, if we en- ter into the reallity of things, and do not take up with bare appellations, the minifter, who arbitrarily governs the prince and his dominions, is, in eifeft, the real fovereign and ruler ; and, as for the king, he feems only a friend of this real Sovereign, who allows him to fpend his income in indolence and pleafure. That the minijlrijfimus is the actual ruler, appears from the concurring tef- timony of hiftorians and political wri- ters i [ '33 ] ters : how often do we meet with thefe cxprcfiions ? under the adminiftraiiw of cardinal Richlieu j under the adminijlra- tion cf cardinal Mazarine ; accordingly, in tliis letter, I (hall entertain my friend with the adminiftration of his excellency count Bruhl. When a king, commits the go- vernment to his minifter, and thus, as it were, betakes himfelf to hk reft, the whole conftitution of the government becomes altered. This regeiH-minifter 9 for to fuch an inverted ftate of things, -a contradictory term is moft adapted ; this regent-minifter, I fay, takes upon him what no human ability is equal to : A prince, of the moft comprehen- 'five wifdom, finds it a fufficicnt em- ployment to maintain the connection of irrferefts, and to enter only into a gene- ral view of all concerns, according to the proper duty of a ruler ; but, the regent-minifter, bcfides this vaft bur- then, pretends alfo to difcharge .the fe- veral [ '39 1 veral funcYions of minittcr, to penetrate- into every circumftance of occurrences, forefce events, obviate difficulties, in every exigency ftrike out fuitable mca- fures, and fuperintend the execution of them, with numberlefs other ardu- ous points of government. Were fuch a rcgent-minifler the wifeft man living on the face of the earth, had lie the undcrftanding of an angel, and a forcfight of unmeafureable com- pafs, yet, herein he takes upon himfeif a burthen too heavy for his fhoulders ; now, it being the fure fign ofanar- .row genius to undertake things beyond its ability ; and, as true wifdom is very feldom to be met with in thofe who arc pufhing their fortunes at court, and ever buttling in the purfuit of fuch a difficult ttation, fo the uplhot is always found to be, that the minifter regent, after grafping at the fole direction ot all afiairs, finds himfeif not able to ex- ecute half. And ' And, what is the confequence of this infufficiency ? That lie muft delegate a part to his fecretary, or fome other un- der-ftrappers, who thus become tiie mimfters of the regent-minifter j and", he being, in effect, the real fovereign, fo liis fecretary is the real minifter of flate, whilft tlie other titular minifters of the court, are mere cyphers, kept, as it were, for fhow, no bufmcfs of any confequence coming before them. This is the change which the govern- ment of every ftate undergoes on the creation of a regent minifter ; and, it is evident how pernicious fuch a change muft be. Should we fuppofe the ftate of the world to be fo very deplorable, that every one, without exception, is for enriching himfclf as opportunities offer ; and, that the titular minifters are not lefs rapacious than the fecreta- ries to the mintffrijfimus; yet, is it certain, that glory and reputation, are very power- powerful incentives with miniflers, to act for the good of their country, and difdain any notorious bribery and cor- ruption. But, to thefe motives the fe- cretaries are utterly infenfiblc ; as every thing which they do or propoie for the good of their country, is made a merit of to the miniiier, and placed to his accouir, they are intent only on (pending and hoarding ; and the miwf- irijfiiuns being obliged, as we have Ihewn, to rely on them, the concerns of the ftate are in very bad hands. This, as it is no more than the na- tural cohfequcnce of things, has been the cafe wj-.lcr count Bruhl's adminif- tration. Incapable of going through fuch a variety of bufmefs, fome was *o be intruded to his fecretaries, who arc, in effed minifters of the regent- minifter; that, in Saxony, whether -an inferior minifter, or the chief com- miffioner of a board, the prefcnt con- fiftorial prefident excepted, be ones friend [ '4* ] friend or foe, is of very little fignlri* cation ; whereas the countenance or oppofition of count Bruhl's fecretaries, turns the fcale ; on them depend grants or denials. However unjuft or difficult a cafe may be, yet, he who, with a brace of hundred ducats, has opened to himfelf one of thcfe channels, may be afiured of carrying every thing before him. All this tribe confider, is their own in* tcreft, and of this I am going to give you a fmgular inftance; the magiftracy of all dyet towns in Saxony have a right of filling up any vacancy in the colleges, by a majority of votes in a free election } this right is one of the mo ft eflcntial priviledges of the Saxon towns, and at the commencement of a new regency it receives the moft folcmn confirmation* Yet would I venture on a confidera* ble wager, that there is not afmglecor- poBation in all Saxoaiy which has not their I '43 ] ihcir burgo-maftcrs and otlier members of their magiftracy obtruded on them, by recommendations and fometimcsby direct injun&ions from the court $ and on enquiry by what means thefc obtruded members came to be fo favoured by thd court, there is always found at the bot- tom fome fecrctary or inferior tool of the mininrijjimus ; this you will fay muft bring plenty of grift to the fecretary'S mill ; I could name you eight or ten of count Bnihl's minifters and favourites vho have fcraped together fome half, fome a whole tun of gold, and fome ' even more. There was Hennick, pri- vate lecretary to count Bruhl, or rather prime miniftcr to the regent minifter, purchafed an cftate of fifty thoufand dollars in Upper Lufatia,and laid out as much in a houfe and fuch rich furni- ture, as, though a count was above his rank ; befides a vaft quantity of fpecie, as he himfelf had the weakncfs to boaft. 1 don't I- [ 144] Don't imagine thefc to be fruit? of par- fimony; for, in profufionhe egregioufly aped his matter, he had fonr footmen in gold laced liveries, and in all manner of cxpences, cclipfed many counts of antient families. The cream of the jeft- was that once this petty prime miniiter and his maf- ter had a falling out, but whether his high and noble excellency the grand prime minifter firft became difpleafed with his private fecretary, or whether this petty prime minifter firft grew out of humour with his fovereign is not pub- lickly known, but this much is certain, thr.t the fecretary carried it fomething too cavalierly towards his mafter. On this rupture the minifter re- gent fent him word that he might look out for any employment in the country that he would j to which he anfwcrcd, that it behoved the count to give him an employment, and that [ 145] that he himfclf would fee whether it fuited him i at leaft count Hennick has boafted in a houfe where I am very in- timate, that lie fent fuch an anfwer, withal giving the company to under- ftand, that if he was ill ufed he could blab; the grounds of his petulance would have been no myftery, if he had not faici a word about, it. Mr. Giobig, who, afterwards, for feveral years, difcharged the functions of private fecretary, muft have fhewn more difcrction, the regent miniftef having married hhn to his brother's daughter, -and raifed him to the dig- nity of confiftorial prcfidcnt. IIow- ever, thefe metamorphcf:s arc always fymptoms of a diftsmpered flate ; they are the chara&eriftlcs of an irregular and defpotic government. If Mr. Giobig was before a judge and coun- fellor of ft ate, it Was, at the fame time, known to the world, that, in eflfetf. With regard to actual bulincfs, he was H no no more than a fecretary to count Bruhl. Amazing as fuch promotions are, they are fo frequent, that the enume- ration of them all, would, alone, fill this meet. His excellency's running- footman was appointed fecretary to the ordnance at Drefden, an employment of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, in order to make thrc fellow, in (bine refpe&s, a match for the daughter of the chief furveyor of the mills, one of the greateft fortunes in that city. A clerk of the kitchen, fell into diigrace from the pique of -an under fecretary, and, befides, had been but a Ihort time in the family, the count difmifled him 5 and, as a punifhment of his milbehavi- our, made him only general infpe&or of the excife at Drefden, as in compa- rifon of the provision made for other officers of the houfhold, this poft was, indeed, a puniihment ; the produce of it being only 6 or 8 hundred dollars a year. It C '47 1 It is a (landing maxim with his ex* cellency to fettle fome lucrative employ- ment on every officer before he parts with him ; a common lacquey, after wearing his Ihnery fome years, is en- titled to afk an emolumentous of- fice ; and the number of the count's do- meftics, in or out of livery, is fuch, that the belt employments in the coun- try are filled from that feminary of place- men ; whilft the inferior pofts are the portion of the domeftics of his excel- lency's brothers, and the loweft are dif- tributed among the fervants of other relations, and creatures of this mono- polizing family. From this, and the whole tenour of this miniiter's conduct, one would think, him almoft poflefled with a notion, that the ftate of Saxony refted intirely on his family ; and that all the lands and revenues were intended only for the aggrandizement of his relations and do- me-flics ; Had he not been infatuated with II 2 fuch fuch ideas, fome proper reflections muft have intervened i he would have ihewn fome regard for the efteem of the world j whereas all his a&ions mew, as clear as the fun at noon-day, that the opinion of mankind has never given the leaft concern. . Count Bruhl's fervice, you muft think, is of courfe very much courted ; and, I can affure you, that there is not fo much felicitation for a fervice in the royal family ; it has not been known, that a man who could get the king's or the count's livery, ever pre- ferred the former. In the king's livery, when age comes on, all that can be ex- f>eded, is a penfion of half the wages j whereas, he who once gets within the count's livery, may fafely promife him- felf fome comfortable employment, tho' it fliould.not be his good, fortune to be particularly liked by his lord or lady ; and, if. there is an inftancc or two of a domeitic being calliierd without any. pro- t 149- } provision, their crime muft have been very great. There is the like difpofition in gen- tlemen j fome parents not having a fufficient eftatc to fhnd ftri lofer, by offices of all kind being fill- H 3 cd *il out of his retinue : Very far from it ; there are ways, and very mean and contemptible, of getting under count Bruhl's roof; a drefler, a chamberlain, a running-footman, canprocure a fer- vice to fuch as they pleafe. There are very odd inftaaces of men, who, after being turned away -from other fervices, for their rufticity and incorrigible ignorance, have, by iuch channels, got into count Bruhl'g family, and become fecretaries cham- berlains, and the like ; and, within two I years, have been jquite amazed at hearing the lucrative pofts fuch wretches now enjoy. In fhort, the capital and fole maxtm of his excellency's whole admin iftra- tion, is, the making of his family and domeftics ; this is the Cynofura, the pole fiar, by which all the concerns and affairs of Saxony are conduced. I wifli I could could alfo give you an account of whaf this minifter lias done, towards the im- provement of agriculture ; what manu- factures owe their introduction to him, and how he has extended commerce; but, after all ray inquiries, I could hear nothing of thefe things- j he is orvner of two towns, Forfler, Pforten, and here it is known, all over Saxony, that he let flips no opportunity of erect- ing manufactories and fabricks on his own account, or promoting them j to thefe, no encouragement is wanting, and the moft advantageous patents* under the fign manual are no fooner afked than granted. As to Pforten. though a very fmall place, he has fet up two pofts there, which go three times a week to upper and lower Lufatia ; if this be a great conve- nience to his manufactures and fabrics in that place ; it is withal a detriment to the pott office, which defrays all the charges. It were eafy to point out to* H 4 his his excellency fame confidcrable places- in Saxony, where trade fuffers in the want of a regular intercourfe ; and to eftablifh pofis would be a general bene- fit and a certain advantage to the re- venue ; but, if the advantage of the Bruhl family be not connected with, any fcheme, it is in vain to think of if. I know feveral instances of towns, and noblemen who have jointly peti- tioned for new poiU, and fuch as bid. fair to increafe the revenue, but no- thing came of it j they were fcarce al- lowed a hearing. "o- If a minifter or general lias perform- ed important fervices to the ftate, iome indulgence is due to their interefted- jiefs. When Richlieu, by his admira- ble prudence, raifed the crown of France, both at home and abroad, to the higheft pitch of glory and profpe- rity, when a Colbert by an indefatigable application, caufed new branches of commerce and manufactures to fhoot up, up, and flourifri beyond all expe&a- tion ; when Marlborough, Eugene, Sa'xe, and fuch heroes, by their fignal victories procured the moft important advantages to their fovereign and their country, who grudged the riches, which they left to their families ? But could Demofthenes, Cicero, Pliny,' and other celebrated orators be brought from the filent regions of death, to exert their eloquence in favour of count Bruhl; yet would they not be able to ihew the world any one thing which this miniftei has done for the benefit or reputation of Saxony ; far from it, by his weak and wicked meafures he has involved Saxony in three difgraceful wars ; and his enormous diffipations have driven great numbers of fubjefts. out of the country. To thofe who have not feen the pro- fufion and falfe magnificence of this regent minifter, the accounts of them H 5 will E 154 ] wilt appear fcarce credible. If I re- member right, I told you in my letter/ of the 23d of July r that in the courts of fome kings there is not the fupernui- ty and ihow which is feen in this mini f- ter's houfe. I was at Drefden fro mi 744 to 1 747, and all. that time never lefs than- 30 dimes of meat were ferved up to count Bruhl-s table, and that with fuch wafte, that fervants eafily found means to fmuggle very coftly things out of the houfe 5 the flandard of a. private treat was 50 dirties, and every publick en- tertainment at leaft confifted of 80 o* i.oo ; fmce that time I have been at tha courts of kings where the flated. num- ber of difhes. for the royal table was, onr-. ly 12, and when the fovereign dined in publick it did not exceed 24 or 30. Count EnuM's family, officer? and Servants included, did not amount to lefs than 200 peribns; he had 1 2: cham- berlains, 12 pages, equerries, flewards-, krjks. of the kitchen, and yeomen of the- [ '55 ] fhe cellar: with all the train of* various denominations found in themoft fplen- did court ; in the kitchen are head cooks, 1 2 inferior, with fcullions to the number of about 30; to the cellar and confectionary belong very near a much like number ; and as for the fervants ii* livery they exceed a hundred. If count Bruhl has no gentlemen of- the bedchamber, yet is he not without a particular clafs of -officers of ftate, all gentlemen by birth, who lead her lady- ihip and perform other honours of the houfe; thefe have handfomefalaries,and are better provided for than the gentle- men of the bed-chamber, either to the. prince or king.. Now after - a moderate computation" of this exorbitant fplendor, and taking into account the vail richnefs of f he furniture of his feveral houfes', which exceeds all imagination, together with His overgrown library, his mufacum^ and! and gallery of paintings; be pleafed to weigh whether all this canpofiibly be defrayed with a million a year. I am fure I would not contract to fupply the mi miter's expence for that fum ; yet,, amidft all fuch prodigious difiipations,. to heap up as prodigious a ftock of wealth ; this is an art, which, fince courts have exifted, no man was ever known to be pofleffed of -, and which for the ho- nour of human nature, it is hoped will die with his excellency- At the time when I faw with my own. eyes, and not without concern, this op- prdFive diifipation, the imminent fai- lure of the exchequer was but too well known to count Bruhl ; for, before I Left Drefden, the whole affair broke out ; yet, will you believe it, though by the difcontinuance of paying the intcrctis 'of the government's fecurities, multi- tudes of worthy perfons, widows, and orphans, whofe whole fortunes were in thofe funds, became reduced to the moft dc- ['57]' deplorable indigence and dtftrefs ; not the leaft dimunltion was feen in the count's oftcntation. What is ftill more, and not to be thought of without indignation, in or- der to fupport fuch unreafonable mag- nificence, and in fome meafure patch up the credit of the fteiier, all the courts of judicature in Saxony were ordered to remit to the fteuer trcafury what monies had been depofited tlicre, and accept of bills in lieu r thus monies advanced on the public faith and credit, thefubftance of orphans and minors, which all good governments hold inviolable, was made a fpoil of; thefe fteuer bills foon lofmg all their little value. It was talk'd that a like order had been fent to all churches and charitable foundations, to deliver up their capitals, and even the very al- tars would not be.fpared ; but, if any fuch thing was really intended, I am inclined to think it was never carried, into execution ; the church havfng ever been 1 158 ] been found an edged tool. Really I fhudder to think that there fhould be fuch a mifcreant exifting, who had ra- ther caft his fellow creatures, of the fame nature with himfelf, into the moil de- plorable wretchednefs, and as it were, wrench the bread out of their mouths r than curtail his monftrous luxury ; this is a tyranny and inhumanity not to be- exceeded., I' make no doubt but my friend has- read the pamphlet which came out fome years ago, in vindication of Saxony and count Bruhl, under the title of Ephraim jiiflijied ; it afFccls in a turgid flile, not without art to prove the ridiculous po- fition that the prodigality of the court,- and confequently that of count Bruhl, is advantageous to Saxony 5 as encoura- ging trade, imploying artificers, and caufmg circulatioiL of money*. If there be any truth in this aflertion, it is on this fuppofition, that all the fub- jets are at their eafe, and taxes very [ '59 1 moderate ; for he muft have ftrange ide- as of the welfare of nations, to maintain, that the prodigality of the court pro- motes trade, when, at the &me time r the taxes are fo high that half the fub~ jffts are ftamng, artificers fly the country, and trades people fhut up Ihop. But allowing this pofition tobe true irr its moft extenfive fenfe, yet, certainly the traders in Saxony are little beholden to count Bruhl's diffipations; his fhoes come from Paris, i oo pair at once, and his wiggs by dozens ; and even his tarts ufed to be fent pofl from the fame city, that mother of tbe abominations of the earth. Drefden and Leipfic make very good chocolate, but that for his excel- lency muft come from Rome or Vienna; in ihort, I icarce faw any thing in his houfe which was cither the product or. manufacture of Saxony.. It will perhaps be fkui, that amid It ftich various expenditures, many things tdieramufl be > .which cannot be had from: [ 160 J foreign countries ; be it fo, but count Bruhl's cuftom is fo managed, that the artificers and tracking part of Saxony are never the better for it. Tradefmen and artificers muft flay fome years before they prcfume to bring in their bills ; and they Ihould not ex- peft to be cleared immediately ; but I have feen them by dozens in the fartheft anti-chamber, and fome fo obftreperou.s in theirmurmurings, that they have been made to take themfelves away ; and, if after t\vo or three years attendance they have their money, * they muft come down to the fecretaries and other officers of the houiliold; after which, where arc their profits ?. Thus you fee what migh- ty benefits accrue to the trades people iii Saxony from count Bruhl's profufi- on. I could fay a great deal more on count Bruhl's adminiflration and mea- furcs, but you muft give me leave to conclude ; an unufual drowfmefs over- comes. comes me this evening, as you will fee- by the irregularity of the five proceed- ing lines ; fo bon repot ; from LETTER VIL Sir, nPO-morrow I lhall have a vifitor. * count B takes this diftrift in his- way to > ; I had no fooner notice of it, than I fent him a letter of invi- tation to fpend a couple of days with me ; though there never was any great intimacy between us, he has been fo kind as to comply with my defire, and, is to be here to-morrow, which will be fome ihor-t relief in my folitude; on this account it is that tho' this letter goes not away till after to-morrow, I write it to-day. The [ 162] The fubjcft of it will be count Bruhl*s ceconomy, with regard to the revenues and finances of Saxony ; and here, me- thinks, I fee my friend fmile, as this, indeed, is the moft droll part of the minifter-regcnt's conduct} and if fo 'many creditable people, fo many wi- dows and orphans had not fuffered by his financial meafures, they would, afford ample matter for laughter. Such a fquanderer at the head of a treafury ! Yet, this was count Bruhl's poft before he came to be declared .primier miniftre ; really, that was one of the moft diverting fights that could be j it was juft like making a liquorim boy keeper of a confedionai-y, or appoint- ig the moft abandoned proftitute an abbcfs to keep the nuns clofe to a life of aufterlty and devotion, If we confider the nature of the feve- ral governments in the world, a humane heart rnuft be tenderly concerned ar the fate of whole nations, whofe wel- fare is fo wantonly fported with. The ambitious, by the moft bafc, finiftcr, andcriminalcabals, thruft thcmfelves into important charges oftheftate; charges on which depends the well-being of millions, and this without the leaft tincture of the requisite knowlege or talents. Believe me, I have feen mimfters of commerce unacquainted with the very firft rudiments of trade ; I have known a prefident of mines, who did not know common lead ore; mimfters of finances, -without any ideas of the end and con- ftitution of the financial fyftem ; alfo minifters for foreign affairs, who have betrayed the moft abfurd and ill- grounded conceptions of the intereft, both of their own country,, and -the, neighbouring ftates. You muft in my former letters have obfervcd in what manner count Bruhl canic came to be minifter of the finances. Count Sulkowfky being defirous of the poft of f rft lord of the bed-chamber, the beft, indeed, he was capable of hold- ing, as a papift. Count Brahl was created minifter of the finances, which, to the eafe of the people, was a mat- ter of as much indifference, as if two aftors on the ftage had changed dreffes- with each other. Whether count Briihl was converfant with the nature of the finances, or whether he was qualified to promote the good of Saxony, in fuch a ftation, is not the point ; it was fufficieht that this barter fuited the ac curfed ambition of two men, who, to the misfortune of the people, have had the addrefs to gain ah afcendancy over two fucceflive monarchs, father and fon. But where fhould count Br&hl acquire any knowlege of the finances ? he was early entered at court, and foon mingled in all intrigues within his fphere ; that he had neither time nor inclination for ftudy and literature ; and having never had had a feat in the offices of the revenue^ lie can have learned nothing from ex- perience, the beft teacher, and little from uncertain information ; that, im- lefs lie has received his knowlege by infpiration, it is impoffible he mould have any in fight into that momentous employment. Is it your opinion, alfo, that he is thus ignorant ? If not, I can aft are you, that I once brought him on this topic, by fuch an alluring overture as awaken- ed all his attention, yet, not the leaft ray of financial knowlege did then ap- pear in him. Alas ! Experience has too much Ihevvn his contemptible incapacity to be at the head of a national revenue. It would be greatly wronging this minifter to fay that he has adopted any- fixed maxims in any one branch of, affairs, except it be his avarice and diffi- [ 166 ] diffipatlon. If his conduft in the ma- nagement of the finances of Saxony be reduced to one Tingle maxim, it was thi>, to fpend on and fupport his own profufion, and -that of the court, by running in debt whilft the ftcuer had any creait; and, afterwards, for the continuance of thefe diiTipations, his Juccedaneum has been to faddle the fub- jefts \vith an exorbitant load of im- ports. . Of all the finances in Europe, I know of none that are in fo terrible a confu- fion as thefe of Saxony ; and here I do not fo much fpeak of the debts, which muft, indeed, be owned, to be a very lamentable cafe, but of its in- ward conftitution and arrangement ; the fchock or contribution fchcme is fuch a chaos, that the very oldeft offi- cers of the excife and fteuer, grope in Egyptian darknefs, without one glimpfe of light to help them along ; that, that, to make fure, they take wherever any thing is to be found. Not a finger has count Bmhl moved for remedying this terrible confufion ; the fum and lubftance of all his orders to the ftcuer and the excife office, ever turn on this fingle point j that they niuft procure money. It is an axiom praclifed by every pcafant, that to enjoy the benefit of a thing, it muft be preferved, and, of courfe, the diiburfements for prcferv- ing it, are the moft neceflary, and to take place of all others -, but, even of this common principle, count Bruhl feems ignorant j for, rather than make any retrenchment in the lavith expenccs of the court, or only in his own, all the future incomes of the Saxon dominions may run to irretriev- able ruin. the Of this,afingular inftance now comes into my mind. About fifteen days ago, 1 paid a vifit, in the electoral circle, to , where happened to be Mr. B. , * who, in table talk, {aid, that about a year before, the dykes being out of repair, it was apprehended the Elbe would make a breach, overflow fome royal domains, and lands of pri- vate perfons, to the damage of above four tons of gold j and, befides, the courfe of the river would be divert- ed fome miles into the territory of > He had made as exaft a calculation, as poffible, of the charges, of repairing the dykes, which, in the whole, came only to 1500 dollars, and tranfmitted it to th: treafury of Drefden. All the coromiffioners agreed in the great ne- cefiity of the repair; yet, one of them, in a private letter, allured him, that * " This paflage I have been obliged to " mutilate left fome worthy perfons might fuffer f by it." The Editor. the .( l6 9 1 the treafury could notfurnifh the fum; all monies, as faft as they came in, being delivered up to the court, without any excufe to the contrary. But a propofal being made to him by the whole board, that if he would advance the money, they jointly and feperately engaged that he fhould be fatisfied ; he, from a con- cern of the public good, came into it, and took the repair in hand. What a blelled condition muft the finances be in, when the treafury of a king and eleftor is not able to furnifh 1,500 dollars, to prevent a damage of feveral tons of gold, or cannot fo much as venture to make fo fmall a defalcation from the monies appropriated to the luxury of the court and minifler j that, in all probability, the damage would adhially have happend, had not the worthy perfon agreed to ftay two years for his money, and immediately fenced the weaken: parts. Under fuch wild management it could not be otherwife, but, at the long- I run 1 17 ] run, the debts of all the offices in Sax- ony, muft rife to fuch fums, as to pay neither capital nor intereft, fo that the fteuer, which had the bcft credit, abfolutely failed ; for, in four or five years before the failure became mani- feft, fuch was the reputation of the fteuer, that people were glad to lodge their money there, and exchanged it, at a confiderable lofs, for fteuer fpecie, fo called, becaufe no other money was received there; but, unhappily, this was building on a fandy foundation. This deftru&ive iflue, fuch a weak politician as I could forefee ; and three or four years before, it was my happi- nefs, by my dhTuaiions, to fave two fa- milies from the general calamity ; fuch a forefight required no great wifdom for what elfe had Saxony to expcd from the boundlefs profufion both of the court and the minifter. Indeed, under a rational adminiftra- tion, this failure of the fteuer could ne- ver [ '7i J Vef have happened ; for, fince the com* mencement of count Bruhl's miniftry,, not a dyet has been held in Saxony, in which the quarterly and pfennig fteuers befides many other impofts, have not been increafed, befides frefh grants of the knights fees. In defence of this augmentation of taxes, it was always alledged, that the produce of this or that tax had fallen ftort of the eftimate. Now as the country had liberally made up thefe deficiencies by this increafe of the taxes, what fatisfadory caufc can be. adduced for fuch an overwhelming debt ? There are not wanting perfons, and they very expert in public affairs, who are perfuadcd that the'downfal of the fteuerwas a premeditated defign of count Bruhl, for the further enriching of him* felf by filhing in troubled water,and buy ing up the ftever bills at a verylovv rate, as he knew how to get them paid at par ; but as, for the honour of our nature, I would not think the very worft of men, I 2 where t '7* ] where their aftions will admit of anothef conftrudion, fo I take upon me to differ from thefe gentlemen. So far I believe 5 that count Bruhl ne- ver gave himfelf any thought or concern about thefe confequences to Saxony of his boundlefs expences, and thofe of the court. Was it ever known that a fpend- thrift troubled himfelf about the upfhot of his extravagancies, and what would be come of him when all his refources were exhaufted ? How much lefs will any one, who is inclined to profufenefs lay to heart what may be the confequcncs of his diffipations to the country,, or other people. The fteuer having failed,! will not de- ny but the minifter might have taken ad- vantageof that event; there are many cir- cumftances which favour fuch a lurmife : We all know that he did not grieve him- . felf to death at it ; and if it fo much as gave him any concern he muft have con- cealed cealed it deep in his heart, for it never appeared in his looks j in that gloomy jun&urc, not a cloud was feen to fhade the gay fcrenity of his countenance. Let us, however, fee what meafures count Bruhl took, when the failure of the fteuer broke out ; feveral very folid projefts were laid before him, by which the public credit might have been re- ftored, and firmly eftablilhed within a few years. But none were approved of : Some very probably debarred the court, and of courfc count Bruhl, from finger- ing the produce of fcvcral branches of the revenue. On the contrary, an airy fchcme of a 'Tontine with annuities was embraced with applaufe, as' its tendency was t > promote new debts, without any abfolute neceflity of liquidating the former. Mountains of gold were promifed to the fubfcribers to this Tontine, the interefts were not only to increafe to thefurvivor, I 3 but [ '74] but the benefits extended to their heirs, even to the tenth generation, Count Bruhl and the fchemcr muft- Lave thought the world very fimplc, if they expeded to cate.h birds with fuch gilded lime twigs : the whole projeft was no more nor lefs, than if a broken tradefinan, before making up matters with his creditors, mould promife 50 fer cant, intereft, to all, who for the fake of bis fair looks, mould advance him. money to clear with his creditors ; but as fcarcc any one perfon would be thus grofsly taken in, fo the TW//;*Wcheme vanim'd likewife into its primordial nihility. This produced the neceffity of a more folid fcheme, and in what could this be intitled to preference, but as it fpared the poor fubje, yet it is known to the whole world, that within thefe 10 years no creditor, whether foreign or na- tive, have received a fingle heller of his capital, nor fcarce one tenth part of ther interett, except the fubje&s of Pruifia, and what thefe have received, does not make a million; I would fain know what is become of the other thirty-two- millions. But behold another myftery; during the reign of the late king Frederick Au- guftus and the miniftry of the prefent prince of Sulkowfky, the debts of Saxo- ny might be about twenty millions, I am well allured not more ; whereas fuch has been the ceconomy of count Bruhl, that the court fieuer and treafury debts; are fwell'd to above a hundred millions. The revenue of Saxony in the reign of the above- [ i8o] above mentioned prince \va.s t ccmmunibus annis, little more or lefs than fix millions of dollars : With this a very fplendid court was maintained, both minifters and miftreiTes filled their pockets ; yet, were the feverai interefls of the thirty millions of debts pun&ually paid ; whereas count Bruhl, by his inceflant augmentation of taxes, has fcrewed up the ordinary revenue of Saxony to eight millions, exclufive of the p'roduce of the capitation and land-tax ; yet, for the" laft 10 years, fince the bankruptcy of the ileuer, not the tenth part of the intercii has been paid, Thus, in whatever light count Bruhl be viewed, he is really a prodigy ihould a private pcrfon poflbfled of a hundred and fifty* thoufand dollars in lands, run in debt a hundred thoufand dollars, and afterwards flop payment of intereft, then borrow thirty-two thou- fknd dollars under pretence of dif- charging his debts and apply only on^ thou" thoufand to that ufe ; ought not he to be declared incapable of managing his fortune, and his eftate to be fequeftered for the benefit of his creditors, with a fcanty allowance to himfelf. But here fuch a one fits at the helm of the ftate ; and it is not with his own fubftance that he commits fuch extra- vagancies, but with the fubftance of the whole country, with the blood and fweat of the diftrefTed fubjecls ; by his mifmanagcmentjfamilies who have liv'd in reputation, the widows of creditable hufbands, and orphans, after being well brought up, fee themfelves reduced to the ut in oft necefiity ; and as for thofe born to labour and poverty, the rigour of his taxes deprives them of the finall fruits of their induftry, and all this or penly ; think what indignation the tur- pitude and inhumanity of fuch a con- du&, raifes in the generous part of man- kind j but that's what he little minds. For [ *"] For my part, I cannot think on fuch a Leviathan; the account I have given you of him caufes fuch an emotion in> me, that I muft give over, and fo remain Sir, dv, F< t,Auguft $, 1760* LETTER VIII. SIR, TO be fure, the bombardment witfc which general Laudohn has vifit- ed Breilau, is by this time known in your parts, I have it from good hands, that above eighty houfes, and among thefe, feveral palaces, are reduced to allies. This bombardment was begun without any formal attack, or fo much as opening the trenches ; confequer.tly he could not, rationally, have any hopes of making himfelf matter of Breflau Ereflau ; that this deftru&ion was pure- ly for the fake of deftroying it, as a revenge for Drefden ; but, how does> this revenge difgrace the perpetrator ! At Drefden, a formal attack was car- ried on, nothing was done contrary to the received rules and practices of war; and, as for its deplorable fate, the fault muft chiefly lye on the Au- ftrian governor. But, the bombard- ment of Breilau, is without any of thefe circumftances ; on which fide fo- ever it be viewed, it betrays a furious thirft of revenge, the criterion of a fordid mind* Would you believe Oh for- give me ! I recoiled your ibricl: com- mand, to forbear my obfervations on, either civil or military occurrences, till I had clofed my narrative of count Bruhl ; and, as I promifed a punctual compliance with your mandate, I'llcrofi: the whole foregoing paragraph. But, [i8 4 ] But, does my friend know, that it is in my power to fruftrate your com- mand, without your charging me with non-compliance ? I can wonderfully Ihorten my narration, and can confi- dently write, as I now do, in optima for- ma juris, that I know nothing more; and that, in this letter, I take my leave of -count Bruhl, fuppofing withal, that I had ftill the moft fccret and diverting particulars in referve for your enter- tainment ; therefore, I hope you will grant me a fmall difpenfation, and al- low me, by way of variety, to inter- mix my obfervations on public affairs, leaft, in the mean time, they may grow ftale ; or, according to Sancho Pancho's phrafe, turn rotten upon my bunds. What I mall now entertain you with, is the conduct of his excellency count Bruhl, in ftate affairs j and I hope to- convince you, that the minifter has in nothing made a worfe figure, than in thefe j you will every-where meet with an [ 1*5] an aftonifhing want of all policy ; you will fee him always groping about fear- ful, and wavering, and his eyes clofed, as the facetious Swift reprefents John, in the Tale of a Tub. With exceptions, however, of any cafe where his own in- t.Teft is concerned, for here, and here only, count Brulil has never b-*cn want- ing, either in prudence or ftedfaftnefs. The war whicli followed the elec- tion of his PoJifh majefty, and the af- fairs of thofc times, I pafs over in filence, as it might be obje&ed, that they mould be placed to count Sulkow- fty's account, as the pilot of Hate af- fairs in thofe times ; and, it is, indeed, my opinion, that the latter had by far the greateft fhare in thofe tranfac- tions. The firft important occurrence in the general concerns of Europe, un- der count Bruhl, was the conduft of the court of Saxony, at the demife of the emperor Charles VI. and the fuc- ceeding war for the Auftrian fuccef- fion. fion. Now let us fee how our count began his miniftry. Of all the claimants to the Auftrian fucceffion, Saxony had the beft right. That which the houfe of -Bavaria de- duced from the will of Ferdinand I. and the emperor Charles VI. as married to a daughter of the emperor Jofeph, fhould have been poftponed to the king of Poland, whofe confort was Jofeph's eldeft daughter. As for Spain, I be- lieve nobody before dreamed, that the Spaniih line, of the Houfe of Bourbon, could have any pretenfion to the Au- ftrian fucceffion ; and the argument ad- duced by Spain, made more for France, whofe king is not only a defcendant of thofe very princefies of Spain, from whom Philip V. derives his right, but is, befides, the eldeft line. But the Saxon claim is inforced by feveral confiderations. It has. been a coiiftaiit law in the Auftrian family, that [ ,8 7 ] that if two archdukes, brothers, die, without male hTue/the daughters of the eider brother, exclude thofe of the younger, even though he were the pofteriorfovercign ; and this raleof fuc- cerTion Ferdinand II. exprefly confirm- ed : Further the emperor Charles VI. entered into a folemn convention with his brother Jofeph, that the female iilue of Jofeph fhouid faceted prefer- &bly to his : Thus the emperor Charles VI. had no right to make any prag- matic fan&ion in favour of his daugh- ter. There were few people, I believe, oF any knowlege in the affairs of Europe, who did not forefee, with all the cer- tainty which future events will allow of r that immediately on the dcmife of the emperorCharl.es VI. France, which, for two centuries paft,has been the rancorous enemy of thehoufe of Auftriaandl might fay of the whole Germanic body, would not let flip this opportunity of the ex- tin&ion [ 188 ] tin&ion of the Auftrian male-line, for curtailing the power of that houfe j confequently it was with no lefs certainty forefeen, that the pragmatic fandVion would be of no force but what it Ihould derive from the chance of war. Thde things being fo eafily forefeen, and the houfe of Saxony having a folid claim to the Auftrian fucceflion, what were count Bruhl's meafurcs ? Six months after the death of the em- peror Charles VI. when the drift of France to difmeaiber the power of Au flria, no longer admitted of any doubt, he renew'd his engagements withRuffia relative to the pragmatic fan&ion, and gave this court the ftrongeft affurances of adhering to it, which was fuch a folecifm in politicks, as could not be thought to come from a minifter of ftate. Whether he had purpofed or not that the Saxon court mould put in its claim to the Auftrian fucceffion,yet was this ftep unpardonable in a minifter : Was it in- tended to aiTert the claim, he then fhould not have renewed the engagements ; if no claim was intended, he ihould not have taken on himfelf the guaranty of a fucceflion againft which fuch a for- midable ftorm was gathering. Is it faid that count Bruhl, as it is not unufual with ftatcfrncn, meant nothing by all -thofe affurances ? Then it is difficult to fee of what benefit the renewal of thofe engagements could be to the court of Saxony : Statefmen who make a jeft of .prom ifes and engagements at random, without the view of any advantage, judging them even by the rules of cor- rupt policy, are fhallow fuperficial creatures, as deficient in true wifdom and ikill, as in probity. "What was count Bruhl's next ftep ? he claimed the vote of Bohemia for the electoral prince of Saxony ; if the mo- tive to this claim was not fome private intereft [I 9 0] intereft of the count's, as this lie would have a vote more to fell to France, it appears to be a fecond trefpafs againft found politics. Such a claim could not be made without giving the court of Vienna to perceive that fome defigns againft it were in agitation, and that theclaimants to the Auflrian inheritance would be increafed in favour of its enemies : But as the claim of the vote for Bohemia was only by reafon of the incapacity of the fe- male defcendant, the queen of Bohemia and Hungary, this was virtually to ac- knowledge the queen, in other refpe&s, the legal heirefs of Charles VI. and this proceeding, by the by, was fo contra- di(5l0ry to the intended claim, thereby iafficiently intimated ; that the^ whole of this ill devifed pretenfion could be pro- , du&ive of no manner of advantage to Saxony. Had count Bruhl formed any fixed plan of conduft in either cafe, he would have proceeded otherwife, but hi* his excellency fccms to have been in a total irrefolution what he mould do -and it is manifeft from fome particular circumfiances, that this fluctuation con- tinued till within a few weeks before the Saxon Troops marched into Bohe- mia j fuch vacilations, in my opinion, always betray a great want of genius : If circumftances are often fo equivocal that nothing can with prudence be re- folved on ; yet the wife man has always prcvioufly deliberated, how he will act in all contingencies, and he orders his meafures fo, that whatever party he takes, whatever be the turn of affairs, he will ftill be fccure, as far as the un- certainty of fublunary things allow ; but here is not the leaft madow of any fuch deliberation / When count Bruhl had brought him- felf to act againft Auftria, any wife mi- nifter, in his place, would have judged it ncceflary, to have immediately en- tered into the clofeli engagements v,-th the the king of Pruffia, for he could not rea*- fonably exped that France would have the intereft of Saxony much at heart ; this court having fo recently incur'd its refentment in the election of the king of Poland; with Bavaria it alfo flood on indifferent terms, that elector peremp'- torily claiming the whole Auftrian fucceffion. Though an alliance with France and Bavaria was what he could not avoid, yet according to all the rules of policy, the capital point was the cleareft and molt clofe and confidential engagement with Pruffia ; of all the Auftrian domi- nions it laid claim only to Silefia ; at that time no cordial harmony exifted between Pruffia and Saxony, yet had Pruffia no manner of intereft to favour Bavaria more than Saxony. But count Bruhl had no thoughts of entering into fuch a conjunction with Vruffia, though by that only, he could pro- [ '931 promife himfelf fome advantage, if the war proved fuccefsful ; yet, for a quar- ter of a year, after the Saxon troops had inarched into Bohemia, it was not known what might be expe&ed from Pruffia, whether it was friend or foe. See here a flagrant inftance of this. On the taking of Prague, in the clofe of November 1741, lieutenant general Birkholtz, with a body of Saxons, and lieutenant general Pallaftron, with ano- ther of French and Bavarians were fent to drive out of Bohemia the Auftrian -army, which lay encamped atTeutfch- brocl : whilft the Saxon camps on the one fide, and the French on the other, were in motion : To this end, a body of 8000 Pruflians, under lieutenant ge- neral Kalckftein, fince field marlhal, came and encamped on one fide of the Saxons towards Chrudin. . The Saxon general immediately fent advice of this unexpected arrival of the K Pruffian [ 94 1 Prufllan corps, which threw the court into great perplexity, how to a& j with regard to this, it was recommended to the chevalier de Saxe, and he ordered genera^ Birkholtz to found the Pruf- fian general concerning his intent in taking poft fo near the Saxons. Accordingly a quarter mafter, a man of addrefs, was fent with Fouriers to Chrudin,as it were to prepare quarters ; and, at the fame time, it was to be ilgniiied to the Pruffian general, that the operations of the Saxon army, made it neceflary to take poiTeilion of Chru- din ; in my opinion, this method of founding, was going a wrong way to work, and if it be count Bruhl's inven- tion, it does him little honour ; what- ever might be the difpoiltions of Pruflia this was a very ridiculous inuendo ; for if the Saxons laid that the opera- tions of their army required them to take pofTeffion of Chrudin, thePrufiians might anfwer, that: their operations re- [ '95 1 required them to keep pofTefiion of that place ; what abfurdity to expeft that an' enemy, on fuch a compliment, Ihould' immediately quit Chrudin, and, with a friend, it was dealing very difcourte- ouily. But fo it is, Sir, your narrow fight- ed minds make policy to confift only in cvafions and fetches ; they never keep the ftrait road, and though their fcope lies direftly before their eyes, they will take by-ways. Where was the neceflity of this low Contemptible fetch ? Why not fignify to general Kalckftcin, that Pruffia being likewife at war with An- flria, it was hoped that this general had no orders to obftrucl the allies, and that nothing was to be apprehended from this approach of the Pruflians. General Kalkftein, for his part, alib paid little regard to this fubterfuge ; he \vas a gentleman of great plainnefs and honour -, and, agreeable to thil charac- K2 tera { i 9 6] ter, anfwered, that he faw the drift of this compliment; and fent word to the Saxon generals that he would not in the Icaft impede their operations, but that the manner and import of the com- pliments was what he could not but be a little furprized at, and he was very forry that the Saxon generals fhould have no better thoughts of him, than that he would evacuate Chrudin on fuch i a .Commiffiori ; adding, that it was what he would not do. This incident happened in Decem- ber 1741, and but too clearly mows that there was then no good underftand- ing between the courts of Pruffia and Saxony, as count Bruhl had little to ex- pect for the advantage of his court from France and Bavaria, of which they had given him open evidences in the fed' K.I treaty for the future partitions of the Auftrian territories ; (in whLh th-:-y are very liberal of what was not thelr'oWfi)) Bohemia, the only country lying the moft [ "97 ] moft convenient for Saxony, and which only could have been any rrr.l addition to its ftrength, was atfigncd to Bavaria, he precipitately embarked on the tem- peftuous fca of war, in acrazy iron-fick veflel. The way to have procured fome advantage to Saxony, was immediately on the death of the emperor Charles VI. to have joined with Pruffia or France, and have fleered a quite different courfe^ whereas now, whatever fuccefs had at- tended the arms of the confederates, Sixony could promife itfelf nothing. In the beginning of the year 174,2, the court of Saxony entered into fuch rr clofe coalition with that of PrulTia, that it even put its army under the command of his Pruflian nriajefty, but before a month was at an end count Brum"s ideas- were altered; the Auftrians in 1742 ..having penetrated into Bavaria, and re- duced it, the Saxon minifter's heart foiled him, and 'his fraudulent genius which imagines all flate policy to con- K 2 lift '{ *9 3 lift In duplicity, put him upon being beforehand with the other allies, in a clandeftine negotiation with the court of Vienna. nteqo Thefe clandeftine negotiations were .conduced by her Poltfh majcfty, but certainly not without the privity and co-operation of count Bruhl ; you re- member the myfterious interviews be- tween father Guarint, mentioned in one of my former letters 5 but, what is more, this clandestine negotiation of the queen with the court of Vienna was fet on foot with very little forecast; the difpatches patting through the hands of the poft-mafter-general of the Saxon army, one Jacobi, and confequen.tly, through the whole ar.rayj and hence arofe a fmall incident, which, to avoid digreffions, 1 lhall refcrve for another time. i oJ sw i(nox2 'Chcfe .test aegottal&ns j^ t $k^xa [ J 99 ] of j befides, nothing could be more am- biguous than cardinal Fleury's conduft in this war ; and his difpofition to cir-r cumvent his allies, had appeared towards Spain and Sardinia fome years before, in the war occafioned by the ele&ion of his Polifh majefty ; thus, how is the king of Pruffia to be blamed, if after the vic- tory of Zeailau, he preferred a fafe and honourable peace tofuch fickle and per- il dious allies. Notwithftanding this behaviour of the Saxon court, -notwithfta-nding count Bruhl, fo early as 1742, had withdrawn the Saxon troops from the Pruffian ar- my to the borders of Saxony, by which they loft allifhare.in the victory at Zeaf- lau, yet, at the peace, his Pruffian ma- jefty was not -unmindful of Saxony. It is now known, that by a private ar- ticle ia the preliminaries of Breflau y Saxony was to have fome adjacent circles of 'Bohemia ; how this article came to fee rateawd at the peace of Berlin, is beft K 4 known; [ ipcM] known to his excellency ; as I write no- thing to you but what I am certain of, I will not determine whether this was owing to an error of judgment, or of corrupt will. The court ofVienna having, after the peace of Berlin, infulted the head of the empire in a very extraordinary man- ner, and giving fufficient evidence of its defign to recover Silefia,- the king of Pruffia, by virtue of the union of Franc- fort, was obliged to march his army in- to Bohemia, in defence of the opprefled head of the empire, and in fupport of -the unanimous choice of the electors, which the court of Vienna had the con- fidence openly to declare illegal, and of no force. Now count Bruhl, inveigled into the alliance of Warfaw, was pleafed to fide with Auftria ; and I muft own that at firft, I faw nothing to objed a- gainft this proceeding. From [ 201 ] From my confiderations on human nature, I am much inclined to judge tenderly of men; and extenuate, if not quite over-look their failings ; and if I can discover any one commendable mo- tive for their procedures, I perfuade myfclf that was uppermoft .in their minJs'j accordingly, the fuccefsful pro- grrfl'cs of the Aurtrian arms, from the year 1742 to 1744, and the flrength of the alliance by the acceffion of Great- Britain. Holland, and Auftria appeared to me very cogent motives. I even thought I faw in this alliance a moft admirable ftroke of policy. The fecond war between PruiTia and Auftria rendered it probable, that a permanent enmity would take root in both houfes, and occafioir many future wars, when the alliance of Saxony would be of the ntnioft importance? to both the bellige- rant powers, it being,' as it were, the only door through which either houfe could penetrate into the heart of the K 5 other's [ 202 ] other's dominions. I fuppofcd count Bruhl had made Auftria pay dear for the alliance, and not fuffered himfe&tb be fed with delufory affurances of fu- ture acquifitions, but had fecured to hinifelf two of the circles of Bohemia, as did the king of Sardinia in the Mi- lanefe. Nay, what is flill more, count Bruhl feemed to- me to tread in the fteps of the Houfe of Savoy, to ad up to its diT- tinguUhed policy j fonietimes ailifting Prulfia, then Auftria, but ever making the price of Saxony's alliance fame fub- advantage in hand, and not pro- g it for fallacious expectations ; and concluding that this prudence would raifc Saxony to a profperity and repu- tatieyn not inferior to that which the be- fore-mentioned Haufe has acquired, io as to be now enrolled among the mo- earclis of Europe., c ' ^onshniq 3id -But moft terribly have I been deceived iii thefe fine fuppofitions. Confequences have Ihewn that not one of thefe motives was in count Bruhl's head at the time of the treaty of Warfaw ; he was, by the moft romantic promifes, by a treaty for dividing the lyon's ikin before he was taken, drawn in to plunge Saxony into a new war j which, in charges and con- tributions to Pruflia, has at leaft coft this harrafled country twenty millions* With the leaft attention to the real in- tereft of Saxony in that airy treaty for the partition of future conquefts, would he not, in the convention of Warfaw, have at leaft ftipulated for the circles of Bohemia on this iide the Eger, as conti- guous to Saxony, agreeable to the fe- crct article of the Breflau preliminaries,^ in cafe of no conquefts being made on Pruffia ? And if fuch a cafe did not oc- cur to him, what muft be thought of his prudence ? Had not Sardinia fet him a. fair example of fuch policy in the treaty of Worms. He [20 4 1 He had no reason to doubt of ftria's coming into thofe conditions. The afliftance of Saxony was then of fuch abfolute neceftTity to that.houfe, that otherwife the only alternative was. either to fee all Bohemia and Moravia, wrefted from it, or to yield up the inir perial dignity to France and Bavaria. Had. Auftria objected to thefe condi- tjons, Great Britain, as its ally by the treaty of Worms, would have procured her aflent, as feeing that, without the affiftanee of Saxony, Auftria, to which that crown had already facrificed fo. much., would be totally ruined. Under the guarantee of the maritime powers, Saxony might alfobe fure that Auftria inufl fulfil the articles, as it had been obliged with Sardinia-. Certainly the Auftrian mmi-fters muft have laugh- ed in their ileeves, t-hat, in the greateft plunge in which Auftria ever found it- fclf, they .had met w ith fuch very tract- able miuiiters, as to furm{h them with twenty- twenty-four thoufand auxiliaries, on the moft vifionary expectations ; nay, who fuffered laws to be prescribed to him concerning the very fcanty pittance al- lotted to Saxony out of future con- quefts ; and this at a juncture, when Auftria, inftead of meditating con- quefts, was fighting pro arts Qifocis, and might think itfelf very happy in repell- ing an enemy bent on its deftruftion. But what am I faying ? Count Bruhl was not at all blind, at leaft to his own intereft. I could fpecify to you the fums with which Great Britain allured him into the treaty of Worms : and you may poflibly remember to have read at that time, in the public papers, of the queen of Hungary's prefentingthecoun- tefs of Bruhl with a confiderable lord- iliip in Bohemia. Here you have the true and proper motives by which the Saxon mtniftcr was induced to conclude the treaty of Warfaw i [106-J- Warfaw ; and the welfare and advan- tage of Saxony was no farther confider-. ed than, in cafe Heaven ihotild be f<* very lavilh of its favours, as to profpei* their prefumptuous treaty of partition. Thus is the welfare of nations fported with. Eternal Providence ! how hap- py {hall I be when the neceffiry of fucli iTiinifters to the connexion of affairs' lhall be laid open to me. Poffibly Saxony might have fufTered lefs, had count Bruhl, in the progrefs of the war, purfued thofe meafiires which, common fenfe feemed to point out. Saxony was for being confidered only as. an auxiliary j and the principles of the law of nations, in Che opinions "of civili- ans, clifagreeing in this- point, a$ Pruf- fia, under the like title, marched its ar- my in fupport of -the emperor Charle? YII. yet Saxony, as no more than an auxiliary, was fecure againft any attack from Prufiia ; and I think it WHS plain- ly the electorate's concern, carefully u> ha.ve [20 7 ] hare wrapped itfelf up in that cloak, till by. a ferles of decifive fuccefles againft Pruffia, it might be thrown aiide with fafety. . But very different was the fate of the war; the lofs of three fignal battles, of which the damages were too great to be concealed, muft have taught count Bruhl that the whole projeft of dividing the lion's ikin had been founded on dif- appointed prefumption : Uiould he not then have endeavoured to prevent the increafe of the misfortunes of Saxony, and carefully have kept to the title of auxiliary ? On the contrary, this raih and un* fortunate project \vas formed to attack the king of Pruffia in the heart of his. dominions, by an irruption from Sax- pny, andofcourfe the mantle of aux.- Hiary was to be abfolutely thrown afidc, and general Grurm's corps was ac-> cordingly ordered into Saxony. This ['208 ] project I call rafh and unfortunate, as there was not theleaft probability of its fucccfs. The territories of Pruffia bor- dering upon Saxony were not uncover- ed ; befides that PrufTian army which had three times fucceffively made the Auftrians and Saxons turn their backs, there was another corps of obfervation, fufTiclcnt for the defence of the Prufrlaii territories. The confequence of fuch inconfideiate meafures could not be other than what it proved, extreme diftrcfs and difgrace- to Saxony ; of which, if cotmt Bruhl had any feeling,. it would have produced an alteration of meafures, which has never been feen. Tims wife and glorious have been the Specimens which his excellency has given us of his politics, relatively to the affairs of Saxony, that it is your opinion lie will hardly be delivered down to pofterityasa pattern of minitferial abi- litiei. Of this too, perhaps, I could write a great deal to you , butbepleaf- d [ 20 9 ] cd to remember what I faid above, in optima juris forma, namely, That in this letter I would take my leave of count Bruhl j and really, for one letter, the prefent-is long enough in conference ; fo that all I have further to fay is, that I fhall ever be, with the moll perfect efteem, SIR, Tour afftftionate friend ', and humble fervant. F-> /, Auguft 12, 1760. POSTSCRIPT. This moment your favour of the 9th comes to hand j fo you fet up for a champion of count Bruhl's; really that's pleafant enough : yet through all your affe&ed gravity I perceive, now-and- then, a limpering which lets me into your drift. By your objections to my narrative, [210] narrative, you would fet me in a flame againrl this author of Saxony's misfor- tunes ; I fee plainly you are for irritat- ing me, that I may lay him open on all fides, and paint him in his natural co- lours. Well then, couch your lance to affert the honour of your giant or magician, for which he is I really know not, and be allured that I fhall not be fparing of my fh'okes in the refcue of the beautiful princefs Saxottia, whom this monftrous giant Grifamler keeps as a captive in heavy chains, or poffibly has totally faf- cinated her. Methinks, I already fee you tumbled from the faddle s - late to you, whenever you own your- fclf overcome* .'mil ^;? lo.wobitt -}on " i cr: ' -^ ' 1A ; 8fe [.211 ] But one objection you introduce with fuch a folemn ferioufnefs, as provokes me; fo that I fhould not have any reft, did I not refute it inftantly, without waiting till the next poft. You fay that all thefe ftupendous fums which 1 mentioned, which were necefla- ry to fupport fuch profufenefs, the king of Poland, from his royal munificence, may have given to count Bruhl ; and that, both with relation to the donor, and the donatee, fuch donations arc not unprecedented : But very thin fown ao