A VIEW OF ELSINORE, SHOWING THE Castle of Kron- THE CASTLE OF CELLE: THE APARTMENTS OF QUEEN QUEEN MATILDA. From the Painting formerly at Celle. AUGUSTA, PRINCESS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK, SISTER OF QUEEN MATILDA. From the Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds. LOUISE AUGUSTA, PRINCESS OF DENMARK AND DUCHESS THE MEMORIAL ERECTED TO QUEEN MATILDA IN THE FREDERICK, CROWN PRINCE OF DENMARK (AFTERWARDS CHAPTER I. THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 1771. STRUENSEE had now reached the highest pinnacle of power, but no sooner did he gain it than the whole edifice, which he had reared with consummate care, began to tremble and to rock; it threatened to collapse into ruins and involve in destruction not only the man who built it, but those who had aided him in the task. The winter of 1770-1771 had been a very severe one in Denmark, and the harvest of the summer that followed was very bad. In the country there was great distress, and in Copenhagen trade languished, largely in consequence of the new order of things at court, which had caused so many of the nobles to shut up their town houses and retire to their estates. The clergy did not hesitate to say that the bad harvest and the stagnation of trade were judgments of heaven upon the wickedness in high places. The nobles declared that until the kingdom were rid of Struensee and his minions, things would inevitably go from bad to worse. In every class there was discontent; the people were sullen and ripe for revolt; the navy was disaffected, and the army was on the verge of mutiny. All around were heard mutterings of a coming storm. But Struensee, intoxicated by success, would not heed, and so long as he was sure of himself no one dared to dispossess him. The rats were already leaving the sinking ship. Rantzau was the first to break away; he had never forgiven either Struensee or the Queen for having so inadequately (as he considered) rewarded his services. He had expected a more prominent post in the Government, and failing this had demanded that his debts, which were very heavy, should be paid. But to his amazement and anger, Struensee had refused. Rantzau was jealous of the Privy Cabinet Minister for having arrogated to himself all power and all authority. He could not forget that this upstart favourite, this ex-doctor, had been a creature of his own making, employed by him not so long ago for base purposes, and he hated and despised him with a bitterness proverbial when thieves fall out. Rantzau had often traversed the dark and slippery paths of intrigue, and, finding that nothing more was to be got from the party in power, he resolved to traverse them once again. Not being burdened with consistency, this time they led him in the direction of the exiled Bernstorff, whom he had been instrumental in overthrowing. It seemed to him that if Bernstorff would but return to Copenhagen, supported as he was by the powerful influence of Russia and England, and the whole body of the Danish nobility, Struensee would surely be overthrown. But Bernstorff, though he lamented the evil days that had fallen upon Denmark, refused to have anything to do with a scheme in which Rantzau was concerned. "He knows," said Bernstorff, "that I cannot trust him, and I would rather remain here in exile than return to office through his means." Rantzau then determined on another plan; he shook the dust of the Struensee administration off his feet; he took formal leave of the King and Queen while they were at Hirschholm, and ostentatiously went to live in retirement. This was only a preparatory move, for he now determined to gain the confidence of the Queen-Dowager and her party, to which he felt he naturally belonged. After all he was the inheritor of a great and an ancient name, and his family was one of the most considerable in the kingdom. His place was rather with the nobles, who were his equals, than in filling a subordinate position in the councils of a mountebank minister. The Queen-Dowager, like Bernstorff, listened to all that Rantzau had to say, but, unlike Bernstorff, she did not repulse him. On the other hand, she refused to commit herself to any definite plan, for she knew well the character of Rantzau as a liar and traitor. He was the very man to carry out some desperate attempt, but Juliana Maria had not yet made up her mind whether her cause would be better won by waiting or by a coup d'état. At present she was inclined to agree with Catherine of Russia, who repeatedly said that if Struensee had rope enough he would hang himself before long, and so save others the trouble. Osten also had differences with Struensee, which at one time he carried to the point of sending in his resignation.1 But he was "told that his services in the post he now filled could not be dispensed with, that he was not only useful but necessary, and that he might be assured his remonstrances would always have their weight"." So Osten, though he hated and despised Struensee quite as much as Rantzau did, consented to remain, and, wily diplomatist that he was, performed the difficult task of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. For he saw more clearly than any one that the present administration could not last long, and he therefore determined, while taking all he could get from Struensee, to put himself in the right with the other side, so that when Struensee's ship went down in the tempest, he would ride on the crest of the wave. To this end he paid assiduous court to the English and Russian envoys, though careful to keep on good terms with those of France and Sweden. He also managed to convey to the Queen-Dowager and her party the idea that he wished them well, and that he only remained in his present post under protest, for the good of the country. General Gahler, the minister for war, was also disaffected, and had frequent quarrels with Struensee on matters connected with the army. But Gahler 1 Gunning's despatch, Copenhagen, June 15, 1771. 2 Ibid. |