therefore, urged some, she was worthy of death. The other alternative was perpetual imprisonment, and this seems to have been seriously considered, for the preparations at the fortress of Aalborg-a storm-beaten town at the extreme edge of Jutland -were pushed on with all speed. In theory, the last three months Matilda had been residing at one of her husband's country palaces, for Kronborg was a royal palace as well as a fortress; she was now to be stripped of every appurtenance of her rank, and sent to Aalborg. Once there she would probably have died mysteriously. But Keith, who had interfered to prevent the Queen from being publicly disgraced, now interfered again, with even more determination, to mitigate her punishment. He could not prevent the divorce, but he could prevent the punishment. The King, the Grand Chamberlain had informed the foreign ministers, had no longer a consort; Denmark had no longer a Queen; Matilda was dead in law. This declaration gave Keith his opportunity. Though, he argued, it might please the King of Denmark to declare that Matilda was no longer his wife or his queen, it must be remembered that she was still a princess of Great Britain, and the sister of the King of England. Since the King, her consort, had repudiated her, it followed that the King, her brother, became her guardian, and her interests and future welfare were his care. By the sentence of divorce she had passed entirely out of the jurisdiction of Denmark to that of her native country; she became an English subject, and as an English subject was free as air. Osten shuffled and changed his ground from day to day, but Keith became more and more insistent, and his tone grew more and more menacing. He sent home the most urgent despatches, describing the unfairness of the Queen's trial, and the danger she was in through the malice of her enemies. In default of particular instructions, he could do nothing but threaten in general terms; but his intervention secured a respite. The Queen remained at Kronborg; her punishment was still undecided, and her fate uncertain. CHAPTER IX. THE TRIALS OF STRUENSEE AND BRANDT. 1772. THE Queen's case being ended, it was resolved to proceed without delay against the other prisoners, and chief among these were Struensee and Brandt. Struensee was tried first. The day of his trial was originally fixed for April 10, the day after the sentence of her divorce had been communicated to the Queen at Kronborg, but, as the advocate appointed to prosecute Struensee was not quite ready with his brief, the trial was deferred for eleven days. Struensee had now been in prison more than three months, and had ample time for reflection. Seven weeks had passed since his shameful confession compromising the Queen, but he made no sign of recanting it; on the contrary, he imagined that it would tell in his favour. Struensee was now a broken man; the signs of premature decay, which first made themselves manifest in the days of his prosperity, had, since his imprisonment, developed with great rapidity. He had shown himself unable to bear prosperity; he was even less able to cope with adversity. Every now and then a flash of the old Struensee would assert itself, but for the most part he was a feeble creature who brooded day after day in his dungeon, and bore but little resemblance to the once imperious minister. All Struensee's thoughts were now concentrated on a craven desire for life— life at any cost-and to this end he offered up in sacrifice not only the woman who had done everything for him, but all the principles and ideals which had guided him throughout his career. The Queen-Dowager, who had affected so much concern for the welfare of Queen Matilda's soul, was equally interested in the soul of Struensee. Perhaps she thought that spiritual terrors might induce him to amplify his already too detailed confession. From the first days of his imprisonment Struensee had been urged to see a clergyman, but had always refused. After his confession of adultery with Matilda, which was taken as a sign of grace, the Queen-Dowager insisted that he should receive a ghostly counsellor, even against his will. To that end she appointed Dr. Münter as the fittest instrument to effect Struensee's conversion. The choice He was the of Dr. Münter was of course designed. most fanatical and violent of all the preachers in Copenhagen, and had shown himself a bitter opponent of Struensee and the Queen. He had denounced them from the pulpit in the days of their prosperity, and from the same sanctuary he had savagely gloated over them in the days of their ruin. It was a refinement of cruelty, therefore, to send him, of all others, to the miserable prisoner now. Münter entered upon his task with alacrity. He took a professional pride in his work, and apparently felt much as a doctor would feel who had before him a difficult case; if he could effect a cure, it would be a great triumph for him. But, apart from this, there is no doubt that Münter was perfectly sincere. By nature a bigot, and by education narrow-minded, he had all the thoroughness born of that same narrowness. To him it was all-important that he should save Struensee's soul: the greater the sinner, the greater would be his salvation. Therefore, Münter set to work to make Struensee confess everything, heedless, or oblivious, of the fact that, while he was labouring to effect the miserable man's conversion, he was (by repeating his confessions) helping his enemies to complete his ruin.1 I. Münter paid his first visit to Struensee on March 1 Münter wrote a full and particular account of his efforts, entitled, Narrative of the Conversion and Death of Count Struensee, by Dr. Münter. This book was translated into the English by the Rev. Thomas Rennell: Rivingtons, 1824. It contains long and (to me) not very edifying conversations on religion which are alleged to have taken place between Struensee and the divine. But since these are matters on which people take different views, it is only fair to say that Sir James Mackintosh awards the Narrative high praise as a "perfect model of the manner in which a person circumstanced like Struensee ought to be treated by a kind and considerate minister of religion" (Misc. Works, vol. ii.). To support this view he suggests that "as Dr. Münter's Narrative was published under the eye of the Queen's oppressors, they might have caused the confessions of Struensee to be inserted in it by their own agents without the consent, perhaps without the knowledge, of Münter". But even he is fain to admit that the "internal evidence" does not favour this preposterous hypothesis. The confessions extorted by Münter from Struensee were used not only against the wretched man, but to the prejudice of the Queen. |