THE
SECRET HISTORY
OF THE
COURT OF BERLIN

a — 2

Edition strictly limited to 500 copies.
Five extra copies have been printed on Japanese vellum, but
are not offered for sale.

THE

SECRET HISTORY

COURT OF BERLIN

THE CHARACTER OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA,
HIS MINISTERS, MISTRESSES, GENERALS,
COURTIERS, FAVOURITES, AND
THE ROYAL FAMILY
OF PRUSSIA
WITH NUMEROUS ANECDOTES OF THE POTENTATES OF EUROPE,
ESPECIALLY OF THE LATE FREDERICK II.

COUNT MIRABEAU

Ee'ifoL vvC 0

LONDON
H. S. NICHOLS & CO.
3 SOHO SQUARE and 62* PICCADILLY W.

Printed and Published by
H. S. NICHOLS AND CO.,
AT 3, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

This work, which forms the fifth in our
Collection of Court Memoirs, is of the
utmost importance, and the fact that most of the
copies have already been subscribed for, even
before issue, is sufficient proof of the eagerness
with which it is awaited, and of the great
interest it has already aroused.
The French edition was condemned by the
laws in France, and had its funeral oration pro
nounced by M. Seguier, and was then publicly
burnt by the common hangman.
In the original edition, issued in England
in 1789, all the names were left blank. We have
filled in these names in almost every instance;
but in cases where they still are left blank,
they are so in both the French and English
editions. With regard to the omitted passages, indi
cated by asterisks, these existed only in Mirabeau's

vm publishers' note
original MS., and have never been printed, and
as, unfortunately, the MS. was burnt, they never
can be printed.
The sixth work in this Collection, which will
be issued during next month, will be "The Secret
History of the Court and Cabinet of St. Cloud,"
in a series of letters from a Gentleman in Paris to
a Nobleman in London, written during the months
of August, September, and October, 1805.
London, 5th April, 1895.

EDITOR'S PREFACE
To "The Secret History of the Court of Berlin," and to the
"Key" of that History.

Mirabeau, exiled to Prussia on a secret mission, has
left behind him, in the following work, a curious
account of his sojourn at the Court of Frederick the
Great. It is generally supposed that these letters
were addressed to Calonne.
The last moments of Frederick are therein depicted
in a vivid and lifelike manner, and every portrait that
Mirabeau essayed to paint bears the mark of a master's
hand. However, Frederick dies, and the writer has no
longer anything but low intrigues to depict, as he is
now surrounded only by little men and little interests.
If he is reproached with including in this work
several scandalous revelations, it must be remembered
that "The Secret History" was never intended to see
the light of day, and that it was quite contrary to the
author's wishes that it was published. It was also in
direct opposition to his wishes that the "Lettres a Sophie,"
and others of his productions, were issued.
The manuscript of "The Secret History" was
stolen, sold to Malassis, a printer of Alencon, and
published by him as a work by an unknown traveller

x editor's preface
who had died about a year previously in a village in
Germany. Twenty thousand copies of the book were
speedily disposed of.
The original manuscript, in Mirabeau's handwriting,
remained in the printer's possession, and great care was
taken that, in every edition issued by him, all the
names and certain passages were suppressed and indi
cated by asterisks only. Unfortunately, the manuscript
was subsequently burnt. M. Dubois-du-Desert, who
had the privilege of inspecting' this manuscript before
its destruction, has communicated to us all the names,
of which he had taken a note. This it is that is
known as the "Key" to "The Secret History." A
very small number of the names have been lost, and
it is impossible for us, after this long interval, to re
pair these omissions.
The following are some appropriate reflections in
cluded in the Preface, written by M. Brissot-Thivars,
for the edition of 182 1 : —
"The ministerial modesty, which so easily recon
ciled itself to the secret picture of the licentiousness
of a neighbouring Court, grew much alarmed at the
prospect of a similar picture of their own Court being
exhibited to the public gaze. The Government re
ceived orders to confiscate the book and to prosecute
the author, who had disappeared under an anonymous
name. Meanwhile the public were much rejoiced at
the ill-humour displayed by the Court.
"The Etats-Generaux were convoked, the nobility
repulsed Mirabeau, the Commons welcomed him with
open arms, and the privileged classes heaped insults

EDITOR s preface XI
and abuse upon the head of the author of 'The Secret
History.' "
Amongst the most noticeable pamphlets issued at
this period was one entitled " L'Examen politique et
critique de V Histoire secrete de la Cour de Berlin," par
Frederic, Baron de Trenck.1
" The Baron de Trenck was a Prussian, and had,
therefore, some right to enter the lists. It was also
to his interest to do so, as for some time he had been
in bad odour with his Government, and he was only
too rejoiced to purchase his pardon by breaking a lance
in honour of his country.
" Mirabeau pretends that the Prussians are a dull
people. The Baron de Trenck admits that this is the
case; but, he adds, they are so systematically.
" Mirabeau hints that the two sons of Prince
Ferdinand are really the sons of the Comte de
Schmettau. The Baron de Trenck replies that he has
closely examined the children of Princess Ferdinand.
'' They are,' he says, ' destined to occupy gloriqus posi
tions in the House of Brandenburg. I would never
guarantee,' he adds, ' the birth of any man ; all that I
can certify is that he is the son of a man. It is to
be hoped that, in certain EuropeanNxoyal families,
they will act as they do in England \pwards the
racehorses. It is unnecessary and absurd to try and
discover who are the fathers of the kings who- rule
i " Political and Critical Examination of the Secret History
of the Court of Berlin," by Frederic, Baron de Trenck. A thick
8vo volume. The Baron de Trenck was known by his misfor
tunes and by his sundry writings.

EDITORS PREFACE

over us. It is often much better that they owe their
existence to wise and vigorous plebeians than to a
self-styled "noble" race, which is in no way superior
to others, save by an opinion based upon absurd
prejudices. I heartily congratulate Prince Ferdinand
on being the head of so interesting a family.'
" Mirabeau, having related some amorous scenes
of Frederick William, the Baron gravely examines the
two following questions : —
"i. Is it true that the King of Prussia is fond
of women ? Nobody doubts it.
"2. Is this a crime in a king?- William, in love,
is capable of a tender attachment. He understands
how to value his mistress. Refined and sensitive, it
is by the personal interest that he inspires, that he
endeavours to find favour in the eyes of the woman
he loves. He puts aside all rank and power. It is
solely for himself that he would win the lady's affection.
Mademoiselle de Voss resisted his wooing during
twenty months. The tardy gratification of his desires
did not cool his passion. In the present condition of
Prussia, the King may prefer the myrtles of Cupid to
the laurels of Mars.
" Did the reputation of Baron de Trenck re-establish
Frederick William and the Prince Ferdinand — the one
in his paternal rights, and the other in the respect and
veneration which a virtuous monarch has the right to
expect from his subjects ? We do not think it did.
It appears to us, on the contrary, that it will remain
proved that Mirabeau had correctly observed, and that
he stated the truth, since his adversary is reduced to

EDITOR S PREFACE xiii
representing concubinage and adultery as the accus
tomed pastime of the nobility and as the legitimate
resource of a monarch. Mirabeau's statements, there
fore, must have been based largely on facts, since
there did not exist any other means of extenuating
the scandal. "In the absence of logic and reason, Baron de Trenck
had recourse to abuse of Mirabeau, whom he vilified as
an impostor and a spy. Such insults, however, prove
nothing ; and, even at the present time, there are those
who firmly believe in the truth of Mirabeau's assertions.1
"At the date "of the publication of 'The Secret
History,' time had strongly confirmed nearly all of
Mirabeau's predictions — the invasion of Holland, the
ridiculous combinations of the French Cabinet, &c, at
the present day — after a lapse of thirty years. Some
personages who are still living are attacked ; for instance,
he says, on page 176, ' The Duke of York arrived here
this evening. This Duke is a great sportsman, fond of
laughter, but without grace, deportment, or politeness ;
and, judging from external appearances, he possesses
many of the moral and physical features of the Duc de
Luynes. I do not think that there is any question of
his marriage with Princess Caroline of Brunswick,
who is very amiable, intellectual, handsome, and
vivacious.' "

1 In all matters apart from the Prussian monarchy, or ministry,
and any facts relating to either. Baron de Trenck renders full justice
to Mirabeau ; he even admits the accuracy of Mirabeau's estimates
of political affairs, and of his profound knowledge of the actual state
of Europe.

XIV EDITOR S PREFACE
The Princess Caroline, who was married in 1759
to the Prince of Wales, was divorced after he had
become King of England.
" It must be admitted, however, that Mirabeau was
sometimes mistaken in his judgments. He judged man
kind ; and, for good or for evil, the human species is
subject to variations. Time and education modify the
character, and alter the inclinations. The horoscope that
Mirabeau cast of the Prince Royal of Prussia, the present
reigning monarch, was it realized ? Did that Prince re
suscitate the great Frederick ? "
Mirabeau recommends l'Abbe de Perigord to M. de
Calonne. " L'Abb6 de Perigord," he says, " combines
a talent of a rare order and great experience with a pro
found circumspection and an unfailing secrecy. It would
be impossible for you to choose a man who is more
anxious to do good, and who would be more eager to
show his gratitude." Prince Talleyrand, before the
Revolution, bore the name of l'Abbe de Perigord.
Amongst the curious facts relating to this work, we
should not omit to give a copy of the Decree ordering
it to be burnt. We reproduce this document as an
example of the jurisprudence of the period.
" Decree of the Court of Parliament, the Chambers
assembled, the Peers being present, condemning a printed
book entitled : ' The Secret History of the Court of Berlin ;
or, the Correspondence of a French Traveller " (Count
Mirabeau, Depute de la S'enechaussee d 'Aix aux Etats-
Generaux), to be torn and burnt by the Public
Executioner."

EDITOR S PREFACE XV
Extract from the Parliamentary Register of the 10th of
February, 1789.
" This day the Court, the Chambers assembled, the
Peers being present, and the King's representatives
being admitted, M. Antoine-Louis Seguier, Advocate
to the King, opened the proceedings in the following
words :
" ' Gentlemen, — Justly indignant at the impression
produced by a libel as surprising as it is atrocious, the
King, in placing in our hands the two printed works
which we have brought before you, relies upon the
vigilance of the Ministry to denounce and condemn
them. " ' This libel, which has spread itself throughout
the Capital, has already caused the greatest sensation.
It has been received with a cry of indignation, the
public verdict has been given, and this work of darkness
has already been stamped with the seal of universal
reprobation. " ' It is within the rights of Justice to proscribe,
with the strongest qualifications, a correspondence which
the author seeks to disown by announcing it as the secret
agent of a Minister who wishes to remain unknown. In
denouncing this clandestine work, therefore, we propose
to proceed against both the author and the printer, if
it is possible to discover them.
" ' You will doubtless feel some surprise that our
Ministry, so long a dumb recipient of the complaints
addressed to it by all the Orders of the State, was not
to be awakened out of its voluntary inaction, excepting
by the command of the King himself. But at this

XVI EDITOR S PREFACE
critical moment, when every day sees some fresh pro
duction, alternately extravagant and wise, violent and
moderate, circumspect and licentious, dictated by party-
spirit and inspired by patriotism ; in this universal
madness, when the indefinite liberty of the Press
distributes with equal profusion the fruits of knowledge,
of ignorance, and of frenzy; in this total inversion
of principles, it required nothing less than an order
emanating from the Throne to decide us to fulfil those
functions which would be indispensable under all other
circumstances, but which it seemed to us prudent to
suspend, in the midst of the fanaticism of opinions. There
are moments when, by a kind of public discretion, or
decency, the magistrate should not consult the oracle
of the Law.
'"There is no need for dissimulation on our part,
and we regard with an unfeeling eye the product of
resentment and vengeance. The past is a guarantee
for the future. We have no fear in making this avowal
in the presence of magistrates who, whilst demanding
the legitimate liberty of the Press, are very far from
countenancing the publication of the deluge of anony
mous sheets, and the seditious and scandalous pamphlets,
with which France is inundated. Tolerance degenerates
into abuse, impunity encourages licence, and licence has
reached its last stage. Nothing is respected ; rank, posi
tion, services rendered are forgotten ; the nobles, and
even crowned heads themselves, become objects of
derision and satire. The evil is so widespread that
one fears to augment the epidemic in attempting to
stay its progress.

EDITOR S PREFACE XV11
" ' The slightest prohibition of a work is sufficient to
make the author celebrated, to accelerate its sale, at
double the original price, and to give a wider publicity
to imposture and calumny.
" ' The work which we are now denouncing was not
written with the intention of still further fertilizing the
germs of discord which are already too much scattered
throughout the Kingdom, but it is of a nature likely to
influence the reception, and the mode of existence, of the
French nobility at foreign Courts ; and far from con
firming the high opinion which it has always gained for
its generosity, far from being characterized by that frank
and loyal spirit of ancient chivalry, which led it on to
honour and glory, this vile and infamous production
cannot but inspire the strongest prejudice against a
people _at once polite, natural, complaisant, and quick
to familiarize itself wherever it finds an opportunity of
displaying its wit, or of captivating hearts by the charm
of mat sociability which distinguishes it from the other
European nations.
" ' This work, in two volumes, is entitled: " The Secret
History of the Court of Berlin; or, Correspondence of a French
Traveller, from the month of July, 1786, until the igth Jan
uary, 1787. Posthumous work, 1789"; without the names
of either author or printer, nor the place where printed.
" ' This title would seem to indicate that the author
was no longer in existence, and that the work was
therefore published without his knowledge or consent;
but supposing, as the title-page states, that the Secret
History is the result of observations made by a writer
who had ceased to exist, if it has taken two entire b

XVU1 EDITOR S PREFACE
years to print and distribute a work of this nature, is
it not obvious that the publisher is even more culpable
than the author, since he has given publicity to a
correspondence written under the seal of confidence,
and which, therefore, was never intended to become
a means of defamation, or to supply food for the
scandal-mongers ?
" ' The period at which this Secret History com
mences will be for ever memorable in the annals of
Germany. The short space of time which it includes
was full of events likely to affect the policy of many
a monarchy. Frederick II., whose name alone was
sufficient to preserve that balance of power which
assured to Europe general peace and happiness,
Frederick still reigned ; but this prince was fast de
clining, and his power and fame, which did not abandon
him during life, seemed to await him even at the tomb.
"'It was at this moment that the self-styled
" Voyageur frangois" endeavoured to ingratiate himself
with the greatest personages of the State, in order
to gather any stray scraps of conversation, and to
endeavour, in the midst of the trouble and commo
tion caused by the unforeseen changes of a new ruler,
to surprise ministerial secrets, to detect the aims and
ambitions of the nobles, to expose the intrigues of
courtesans, and to fathom the plots of the Court.
" ' If one is to believe this disguised observer, his
ability surmounts all obstacles. He is at once wel
comed, and, far from being suspected, he seems to
have obtained almost general confidence. Princes treat
him with kindness ; the ministers put him in posses-

EDITOR S' PREFACE XIX
sion of State secrets ; the nobles admit him into their
society; the political veil is rent asunder for his
benefit ; Frederick dies, Frederick William succeeds
him ; the army has not yet taken the oath of alle
giance, and yet this attentive politician is aware of
the spirit, the character, and the resources of those
in authority. The plan of administration is no longer
a mystery, and even the King himself, who suspects
his mission, does not take offence at his assiduity or
his liaisons. ' ' ' After having explained the system upon which the
correspondence would be based : after having explained
the sources from which he proposes to draw his informa
tion ; in fact, after having exposed his relations and
his intimacy with the principal members of the Royal
Family, the first object with which the author has
thought it his duty to concern himself, is the panegyric
on the king which Prussia has just lost. He eulogizes
that great man, and he is nearly the only person of
whom he speaks highly, or even of whom he does not
speak ill, in a Secret History, which has no other
authenticity than that of the observations, estimates,
and the combinations, true or false, of a writer who
possessed neither title nor qualification.
" ' And how was it that he did not render to
Frederick II. the justice that was his due ? Worthy
of the admiration of his century, our soldiers were sent
to be instructed in his schools, to study his manoeuvres
and his evolutions, and, above all, his military dis
cipline, in the hope of transferring to France some
portion of that genius which had founded a new school

XX EDITOR S PREFACE
of tactics, and which had, in some sort, revolutionized
the art of war. Amongst the homage which truth
sometimes forces from this mysterious correspondent,
one discovers reproaches against the memory of the
greatest man in Europe ; but, notwithstanding this
critical observer and his remarks, his reflections and
his criticisms, Frederick, the friend of science and the
protector of literature, legislator and philosopher, pro
found politician and indefatigable warrior, combined in
his person, and displayed on his throne, all the gifts of
a hero and a king. His name, even before his death,
was inscribed in the temple of Immortality.
"'Why did not the author of this correspondence
show the same respect for a Prince of the same blood,
animated by the same spirit, and endowed with the
same talents ? Did not Prince Henry prove himself
to be a general worthy of commanding his august
brother, to second his views, and to execute his pro
jects ? Frederick himself, on learning of his success,
could not suppress a feeling of rivalry. The greatest
generals and the most famous captains are sometimes
at fault; the ablest have their reverses. Alone exempt
from the common destiny of mankind, fortune seems,
in his case, to have renounced its natural inconsistency,
or rather, the experience of Prince Henry enabled him
to control the caprices of fortune, and to fix the victory
under his standard. Could we but examine here the
witnesses of his brave deeds, the companions of his
glory, the only true judges of his merit, they would
say, with one voice, that, gentle and affable in the
every-day affairs of life, intrepid and at ease in action,

EDITOR S PREFACE

humane and compassionate after the combat, by a most
happy accord of the most eminent qualities, he com
bined the activity of Hannibal, the prudence of Fabius,
and the wisdom of Scipio.
" ' But is it necessary for us to call witnesses to
prove the bravery and genius of a Prince whose name
is revered by both officers and soldiers ? It is for the
French Army to avenge the insults. A magistrate, a
friend of peace, is not the proper man to pronounce
his eulogy ; and the Minister of Justice would hardly
dare to add his voice to the general acclamations of
this celebrated Prince.
" ' One is tempted to believe that, from the midst
of his " nebulous position," the author has taken upon
himself to open the floodgates of his malice and
animosity on all those whose positions and characters
are above suspicion, and who are worthy of his respect.
It is not enough to have showered invectives on the
uncle of the new King, the King himself, his august
family, the Princesses of the blood, and the Ministry,
in fact, the whole Court is treated with such a criminal
indecency, that we should blush to repeat the infamous
expressions of which the author has made use.
" ' His " amphibious existence " enables him some
times to wander from his native land ; his imagination
transports him to far distant countries, to Austria, to
Poland, and to the northernmost lands ; and it is
always with the same culpable purpose of collecting
fresh horrors, of filling his correspondence with untruth
ful statements, and to circulate with his discoveries
the blackest calumnies.

xxii EDITOR'S PREFACE
" ' What opinion can one form of this Secret
History, which is even more abominable than that of
the historian Procopius, who, when criticizing an em
peror, did at least refer to his merits as well as his
demerits ? It presents us with nothing but a collection
of shameful impostures, highly improbable and easily
invented, more for the purpose of gratifying the mania
of the author, than for attracting the curiosity of the
reader in search of knowledge.
" ' It is a collection of portraits in which the artist's
imagination is largely predominant. His hand has
mixed the colours with the bitter spleen with which
his brush was already filled ; and if we are told that
he painted his subjects as they appeared to him, it
must be remembered that his prejudiced eye enveloped
them in that shade in which he was himself obscured.
" ' It is an assemblage of reflections based indis
criminately upon malicious conversations, upon lying
reports, upon fictitious secrets, and upon facts which
have since been proved untrue. All these have been
written down without thought or hesitation, and the
author has no fear in asserting that they are veritable
facts, because it was the only return he could make for
the treatment he received, of the mediocrity of which
he is constantly complaining.
" ' It is most unfortunate to possess great talent
when one has not sufficient force of character to apply
it to good purposes. If the corruption of the soul
stifle the sentiment of honour and the cry of conscience,
genius is a disastrous gift from Nature. What are we
to think of a writer who voluntarily adopts the r61e of

EDITOR S PREFACE XX1U
anonymous accuser ; who settles himself in a foreign
Court with that frankness, that ease, that amenity,
which leads to the forming of liaisons ; and who, ere
long, abusing the sentiments which he had inspired,
dares to reveal particulars which he has learnt in the
most intimate confidence ; who dares to slander all
those who have received him with kindness, dares to
make insinuations and suggestions concerning them
which are entirely unjustifiable ; and who even carries
his audacity to the length of insulting, with a brutal
cynicism, those whose station is so greatly above that
of this " agent subalterne " (for so he styles himself) that it
is difficult to place any confidence in his assertions ;
because, if they were true, his relations with people
of rank must have been most intimate — in fact, they
must have treated him as an equal. Again, what man
would wish to expose himself before his equal ? The
noble may lay aside their rank in their own households ;
it is frequently necessary for them to do so. But a
king, or a prince, or a man of dignity, always knows
how to respect himself before a stranger ; should any
familiarities or confidences be accorded to him, it is
done with suspicion and is but temporary.
" 'What must have been the result, therefore, when
this stranger himself admits that he is regarded as a
spy ? And if he is suspected of wishing to find out
the secrets of the Government, would not a wise cir
cumspection suggest the advisability of deceiving him
by making a pretence of that confidence which he is
so eager to abuse ?
" ' Let us suppose, nevertheless, that the author,

XXIV EDITOR S PREFACE
deceived by false reports or by feigned contrivances,
believed that he was really a witness of all that he
inserted in his correspondence : the entire work would
still be a violation of the Law of Nations, an abuse of
hospitality, an infamy the more unpardonable in that
familiarity was with him but the cloak of perfidiousness,
and that the closest friendship became the instrument of
treachery. " ' These reflections lead necessarily to the pro
nouncement of judgment both upon the author of this
pretended posthumous work and upon the work itself.
And, in the first place, it is by simple and by sure
rules that the author may be judged without error.
" ' Has he placed himself beyond the laws of honour
and probity ? Has he gone beyond the bounds of
decency ? Has he so far forgotten himself as to
violate public morality ? Has he been wanting in that
respect of which the French are ever ready to accord the
most touching proofs to their King — respect impelled
as much by love as by duty, but respect that every
Frenchman owes to other nations, whether they are
friends or enemies of France ; which every man owes
to other meD, and which everyone owes to himself?
This writer has an unruly spirit. His natural per
versity makes him rash, violent, and passionate; and
after having broken down all the barriers that prudence
opposes to his licence, he only brings trouble and re
morse into the hearts of those who are unfortunate
enough to allow themselves to be entrapped by his
fables, his lies and his calumnies.
" ' We are, nevertheless, bound to admit that if

editor's PREFACE XXV
this unknown author only fulfilled the particular mission
which he pretends to have received ; if the letters which
compose this Secret History were written by him only
to be sent direct to their destination ; if he made no
copies of them ; if it was not by his act that they were
made public ; in fact, if he is entirely innocent of the
printing of this work, however ignominious may be the
obscure person who played this part, it is for him alone
to reproach himself with his baseness and crime, and
justice cannot hold as a crime the publication of his
correspondence. The publisher only merits prosecution,
and the printer, equally guilty, should share the punish
ment of an offence which is as contrary to public honesty
as it is to the Law of Nations.
" 'With regard to the work itself, it is difficult to
consider this " correspondence" otherwise than as a defama
tory libel worthy of all the rigour of the law. By a
species of fatality, writings of this nature generally
excite the curiosity ; the more they are vicious, the
more they are sought after. The human heart permits
itself to be so easily attracted towards that which is
evil. In censuring the writer, one gives publicity to
his libels. The malicious smile, the honest man con
tents himself with a sigh, and the defamation remains
unpunished ; whereas general indignation should de
nounce and prosecute the slanderer. " The Secret
History of the Court of Berlin " has not received the
same indulgent treatment. Public opinion was shocked,
and it measured the insult, not by the man who uttered
it, but by the elevated position of those against whom
it was directed. The disparity of rank seemed to add

XXVi EDITOR'S PREFACE
to the gravity of the outrage. The libel was regarded
as sufficient to excite the indignation of all the Powers,
should the law not hasten to proscribe the work.
" ' It is by the King's command that we have de
nounced this fictitious correspondence ; it is in his name
that we demand its condemnation ; and after having
consigned it to the flames, we call upon the ministry
to employ every effort for the discovery of the author,
publisher, and printer.
" ' This, then, is the conclusion of our indictment,
which we place before the Court, together with the
two volumes referred to, of which the following is a
faithful description : —
" ' A printed work, in two volumes, entitled : " The
Secret History of the Court of Berlin ; or, Correspondence
of a French Traveller, from the month of July, 1786, until
igth January, 1787. A posthumous work, 1789"; without
names of either the author or printer, containing —
Vol. i., 318 pages ; vol. ii., 376 pages.'
[Conclusion of the indictment of the Procureur-general of
the King. Follows the decision of the Court.]
" The Court orders that the two volumes be de
stroyed and burnt in the court-yard of the palace, at
the foot of the grand staircase, by the public executioner,
the Court being of the opinion that the volumes contain
defamatory and slanderous libels, which are contrary to
the respect due to other Powers, and in opposition to
our laws and those of other nations. The Court calls
upon all those who possess copies of this work to deliver
them up to the clerk of this Court in order that they

EDITOR S PREFACE XXV11
may be destroyed. It also strictly prohibits all printers
and booksellers from printing or selling copies of this
work, and all colporteurs and distributors from hawking
or distributing it, under penalty of prosecution and
punishment with such rigour as the law may permit.
And the Court further ordains that, at the request of
the Procureur-general of the King, information may be
heard against the author, printer, and publisher, before
the Conseilleur-rapporteur that the Court .may appoint,
for the witnesses at Paris ; and before the Lieutenant-
xriminel des bailliages et senSchaussees du ressort, for such
witnesses as may reside in the provinces, having regard
to the printing and distributing of this work. The Court
ordains that the present decree be printed and posted up
in all public places, and that copies may be sent to all
bailliages et senechaussees du ressort, for a similar purpose.
The Court enjoins upon the deputies of the Procureur-
general du roi to give this matter their attention, and to
report to the Court within a month from this date.
Given in Parliament, fully assembled, the Peers being
present, the tenth day of February, the year Seventeen
hundred and eighty-nine. " (Verified) Clutton.
" (Signed) Isabeau.
" And the same date (ioth February, 1789), at the
rising of the Court, the aforesaid work, entitled ' The
Secret History of the Court of Berlin ; or, Correspondence of a
French Traveller,' was destroyed and burnt by the public
executioner, at the foot of the grand staircase in the
Palace, in the presence of me, Dagobert-Etienne Isabeau,

XXV111 EDITOR S PREFACE
esquire, one of the clerks of the Grande Chambre, assisted
by two ushers of the Court. " (Signed) Isabeau."
At the end of the Secret History will be found a
letter addressed by Mirabeau to Frederick William II.,
on the day of his ascension to the Throne. He was the
nephew of the great Frederick, and the father of the
present King.
This Prince is not much known as a soldier, his only
experience in the art of warfare being during the invasion
of Champagne in 1792. He received Mirabeau's letter
with kindness, but he did not foresee the destiny which
the " Voyageur frangais " had traced for him.
C. Y.

THE
SECRET HISTORY
OF THE
COURT OF BERLIN

LETTER I1
July $th, 1786.
Sir, — I have the honour to write to you by
the first post, to inform you that the Berlin mail,
for which I waited before I would enter my carriage,
has brought me no letter. It is possible, but not
probable, that the letter of my correspondent has
been sent too late for the post. It is also possible,

1 This letter is evidently addressed to a minister, who
had given the traveller some secret commission to execute.
It seems evident to us that this minister was M. de Calonne ;
and the following letter is extremely curious, as it leads to
prove that, from the beginning of the year 1786, M. de
Calonne was determined on the assembly of the Notables ;
whom he convoked and directed, in 1787, with so much
perilous and fatal precipitation.
vol. 1 1

the secret history of

and very likely, nay, if the Count de Vergennes
has received no intelligence it is almost certain,
that the great event either approaches or is past ;
for I hold it as infallible, that when death becomes
inevitable the couriers will be stopped. This, sir,
deeply engages my attention, and I shall hasten
with all expedition to Brunswick, where I shall
gain certain information ; — there I shall remain
several days if the King is living.
I have at present only to add, I shall think
no labour, time or trouble too great if I can but
serve you, sir, and the cause of the public.
I shall not repeat any of our conversations,
but shall take the liberty to offer you my advice,
solely founded on my personal attachment ; of
which you cannot doubt, since, independent of
that amiable seduction which you exercise with
power so irresistible, our interests are the same.
The torrent of your affairs, the activity of cabals,
the efforts of every kind which you so prodigally
are obliged to make, render it impossible that you
should yourself class and arrange the grand pro
jects which your genius has brought to maturity,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 3
and which are ready to bud and bloom. You
have testified some regret that I, for the present,
declined performing this office for you. Permit
me therefore, sir, to name a person who is in
every respect worthy of this mark of your con
fidence. The Abbe de Perigord, to consummate and
practical abilities, joins profound circumspection
and inviolable secrecy. You never can select a
man more to be depended upon ; or one who will
with more fervent piety bow before the shrine
of gratitude and friendship ; who will be more
anxiously active in good, less covetous of others
fame, or one with superior conviction that fame
is justly due to him, only, who has the power to
conceive and the fortitude to execute.
He possesses another advantage. His ascen
dancy over Panchand represses the defects of the
latter, which have been so described to you as
to inspire fears, and sets all his great qualities
and uncommon talents, which daily become more
necessary to you, in action. There is no man
who can guide and rule Mr. Panchand like the
Abbe de Perigord, who will momentarily become

4 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
more valuable to you the better to effect a grand
money measure, without which no other measures
can be effected. You may confide that delicate
business to the Abbe de Perigord, which, especially
in the present moment, ought not to be trusted
to clerks. The noble, the enlightened, the civic
project of drawing inferences from the numerous
false statements that infest the accounts of
ministers (and which, being compared to the
true statements, caused, or rather obliged, the
King to determine that decisive measures should
give France a national credit, and consequently
a legal constitution) cannot be better realized than
by the joint labours of these two persons. One
of them has long been devoted to you ; and the
other will be, whenever any single act of benevo
lence shall excite his emulation. Condescend to
believe, sir, that you cannot act more to your
own interest.
I was desirous of writing thus to-night,
because it would neither be delicate nor decent
for the person interested to read what I have
written; and this letter is the last you will
receive, that must not pass through the hands

THE COURT OF BERLIN

of a third person. My attachment, sir, to you,
and your fame, induces me to hope you will
place some confidence in this counsel, if I may
so venture to call it ; and that it will not be
ranked among the least of the proofs of the most
devoted respect with which I am, &c.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER II
Brunswick, July 12th, 1786.
That the King is very ill is very certain ;
but he is not at the point of death. Zimmer
mann, the famous Hanoverian physician, whom
he sent for, has declared that, if he would be
careful, he might still live ; but he is incorrigible
on the article of abstinence. He still mounts his
horse, and he even trotted fifty paces, some days
since, with a man on each side of him ; , but it
is nevertheless true that he has the dropsy ; and,
in reality, he has not been any better since my
departure. I shall not see the reigning Duke of Bruns
wick before this evening : he is in the country.
He has powerfully supported the election which
the chapters of Hildesheim and Paderborn have
lately made of a coadjutor. M. Furstemberg has
been elected. Vienna caballed exceedingly in
favour of the Arch-Duke Maximilian. It appears
that the Duke wishes to promote peace, since

THE COURT OF BERLIN 7
he endeavours, by every means, to strengthen the
Germanic confederation, which certainly has that
only for its end, though the means may give
room for reflection. I have my reasons for being
of that opinion, which I shall explain on some
other occasion. To-day I am at the mercy of
the courier.
Parties are very busy at Berlin ; especially
that of Prince Henry, who is eternally eager,
without well knowing what he wishes. But all
is silence in the King's presence ; he still is
King, and so will remain to the last moment.
As the immediate death of the King is not
expected, I shall continue at Brunswick some
days, in order to prepare him for my return
(much more premature than I had announced)
and that I may more nearly study the Duke.
The coinage continues to be an object of
contention, and exaggerated discredit. I think it
would be of use to publish apologetic reasons
concerning the gold coin, confessing its too high
rate ; (for wherefore deny that which is demon
strated ?) and justificatory proofs, relative to the

8 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
silver, the crowns of sixty-nine, and those since
1784, still remaining prohibited.
You no doubt know that the Duke, Louis
of Brunswick,1 has quitted Aix-la-Chapelle, and
is retired to Eisenach. The troubles of that
petty republic may perhaps explain his retreat ;
but these do not seem to me sufficient motives
for his new abode, and for this single reason,
that the Duchess of Weymar is his niece.
1 Not the reigning Duke of Brunswick, just before
mentioned, but his uncle, the late prime minister of the
Stadtholder ; or rather the late effective regent of the
United Provinces.

«?¦

THE COURT OF BERLIN

LETTER III

July 14th, 1786.
I dined and supped yesterday with the Duke.
When we rose from table, after dinner, he took
me aside to the window, where we conversed for
about two hours, with much reserve at first, on his
part, afterward with more openness, and at last
with an evident desire to be thought sincere.
An expression of esteem for the Count de
Vergennes, and fear for his approaching retreat,
gave occasion to this private conversation. The
expression alluded to was immediately followed
by the question (which was asked in a tone of
affected indifference, and betrayed a very strong
degree of curiosity) — " No doubt M. de Breteuil
will be his successor ? " The Duchess was of
our party. I answered, lowering my voice, but
articulating with great firmness — " I hope and
believe not." — It was after I had said this that
he led me to the window, at the far end of the
apartment. He presently began to converse, with
all the energy of which his slowness and native

IO THE SECRET HISTORY OF
dignity admit, of the inquietude which the Ger
manic body could not avoid feeling, should M.
de Breteuil, who was at the head of the Austrian
party, and who has long been a servant and
friend of the cabinet of Vienna, succeed to the
place of first minister.
I replied (speaking of the Count de Vergennes
with every respect, and of the generous and
pacific intentions of the King with great confi
dence) that, should the Count de Vergennes retire,
it would probably be of his own free will ; and
that no one would have greater influence than
himself in the choice of his successor; that
consequently, whether he remained in office or
went out, the first minister would not be of the
Austrian party ; and, though most assuredly the
probity of the King, and the moral of his
politics, would continue to render the connections
between the Courts of Vienna and Versailles
respected, as they would all others, yet, that the
interest of Europe, and of France in particular,
was so intimately united to the continuance of
peace, that these connections, far from inciting
war, could but contribute to render peace durable;

THE COURT OF BERLIN II

that France was suifficently puissant, from innate
strength and from the state of her affairs, honour
ably to own that she dreaded war, which she
would take even- care to shun ; that I did
not think sudden war probable, especially when,
studying the administration of the Duke of Bruns
wick, I perceived that he had performed his
duties, of prince and father, with so much
assiduity and success ; that, however natural it
might be for man to seek that career, in which
he was indubitably the first, I could not believe
he (the Duke) would sacrifice to the desire of
military renown, so much of which he had already
acquired, his favourite work, his real enjoyments,
and the inheritance of his children ; that all
circumstances called him to supreme influence over
the affairs of Prussia, after the death of the
great King, and that, Prussia being at this time
the pivot on which continental war or peace
were balanced, he (the Duke of Brunswick) would
almost singly decide which was to ensue ; that
he had formerly sufficiently shone the hero of
war, and that I was convinced he would here
after remain the angel of peace.

12 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
He then forcibly denied ever having been
fond of war ; even at the time when he had
been most fortunate. He shewed, independent of
his principles, how ardently his family and per
sonal interest would induce him to beware of
war. — " And if it were necessary," added he, " in
an affair so important, to consult nothing further
than the despicable gratification of self-love, do
I not know how much war is the sport of
chance ? I have formerly not been unfortunate.
I might hereafter be a better general, and yet
niight not have the same success. No prudent
man, especially one who is advanced in life, will
risk his reputation in so hazardous a pursuit,
if it may be avoided."
This part of his discourse, which was long,
animated, energetic, and evidently sincere, was
preceded by a phrase of etiquette and remon
strance, in which he assured me that he never
should possess, and was far from desiring to
possess, any influence in Prussia. To this phrase
I reverted ; and, by a rapid sketch, proving to
him that I was well acquainted with Berlin, the
principal actors there, and the present state of

THE COURT OF BERLIN 13
men and things, I demonstrated (which he most
certainly knows better than I do) that his interest,
the interest of his house, of Germany and of
Europe, made it a duty in him to take the helm
of state in Prussia ; to preserve that kingdom
from the hurricane most fatal to states, the
strength of which principally depends upon
opinion. I mean from petty intrigues, petty
passions, and want of stability and consistency of
system. " Your personal dignity," added I, " which
is truly immense, and a thousand times more
elevated than your rank, however eminent that
may be, no doubt forbids you to tender your
services ; but it is your duty, I will not say not
to refuse, no, I repeat, it is your duty to take
measures, and employ all your abilities, all your
powers, to gain an ascendancy over the successor,
and to seize the direction of affairs."
This mode of treatment greatly developed the
man. He spoke with truth, and consequently
with a degree of confidence, of Berlin. He told
me Count Hertzberg had not let him remain
ignorant of our intimacy : he depicted many of
the persons who have influence, such as I know

14 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
them to be. I clearly saw that there was a
coolness, founded on some unknown subject,
between him and the Prince of Prussia 1 ; that
he (the Duke of Brunswick) neither loved nor
esteemed Prince Henry ; and that his (the Duke's)
party was as powerfully formed as it could be, in
a country hitherto little in the habit of cabal,
but which, perhaps, will presently be initiated. I
purposely assumed much faith in the warlike dis
positions of the cabinet of Berlin. The Duke
gave good proofs that, independent of the Heir
Apparent, who, though personally brave, was not
warlike, as well because of his manners and habits
as of his prodigious stature, that it would be mad
ness to begin ; that the moment of acquisition by
arms, which, perhaps, still was necessary to
Prussia, was not yet come ; and that it was
necessary to consolidate, &c, &c. All this was
very serious, very sensible, and very circum
stantial. The Oriental system, Russia, Poland, Cour
land, all passed in review.
They still ^ have their fears concerning the
i The Heir Apparent.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 15
Oriental system ; that is to say, concerning the
part that we might take. They seem to believe
that Russia will never powerfully second the
Emperor, except in support of the Oriental system,
and whatever may contribute to its success.
Poland is to reconstruct. We remitted speaking
of it, as well as of Courland. Suddenly, and by
a very abrupt transition — (It seems to me he
employs transitions to surprise the secrets of those
with whom he converses, and on whom he
earnestly fixes his eyes while he listens) — he
asked what I meant to do at Berlin. — " Complete
my knowledge of the North," answered I, " which
I have had little opportunity of studying, except
at that city ; since Vienna and Petersburg are to
me forbidden places. And who knows ? We
always presume on our own powers. It may be
hoped that, the subject being so grand, the soul
may elevate the genius. I, perhaps, shall dare
to snatch the portrait of Csesar from the daubers
who are so eager to besmear." — This answer
seemed satisfactory. I found it easy to interlard
my discourse with agreeable compliments. I told
him he had rather conquered than vanquished us ;

l6 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
that we regarded the fate of Germany as rest
ing on his shoulders, &c, &c ; and that there
fore the design of writing the most brilliant
period of the history of the age in which I
lived had placed me, even before I was ac
quainted with him, in the rank of one of his
most ardent admirers. I know not whether he
did or did not believe that I solely occupied
myself with literature ; but the supposition that I
shall write history will perhaps render him more
accessible to me, and acquire me more of his
confidence ; for he appears to possess the love, and
even the jealousy, of fame to the utmost degree.
I am pressed by the courier because, not
having quitted the Court all yesterday, I could
not write before this morning ; and the courier
departs at eleven o'clock. Writing in cypher is
very tedious ; I therefore omit a thousand par
ticulars which lead me to believe —
i. That the English will not, by any means,
be so quickly successful in their artifices in the
North as might be feared ; if the Court of Berlin
may at all depend on the Court of Versailles.
2. That it is time to speak a little more

THE COURT OF BERLIN 17
openly to the former ; and not to confound
mystery and secrecy, finesse and prudence, am
biguity and policy.
3. That the Duke of Brunswick, whom I
believe to be by much the most able Prince of
Germany, is sincerely desirous of peace ; and that
he will inspire the Cabinet of Berlin with the
same sentiments, if but the least restraint be laid
on the Emperor; who, said he to me, has spoken
in outrageous terms, in the presence of seven or
eight witnesses beside myself, of the Prince of
Prussia. 4. That the intention of the Duke is to
govern Prussia, and to obtain great confidence
and superior influence in Europe ; that he would
dread lest these would not be augmented by war,
which he is convinced ought to be avoided, at
Berlin ; and that war is not really to be feared,
except as far as France shall encourage the
Emperor, who without us will not be anything.
I have not time to-day to give more than
a sketch of the Duke such as he appears to me,
who certainly will not be thought a common
man even among men of merit. His person
VOL. I 2

THE SECRET HISTORY OF

bespeaks depth and penetration, a desire to
please tempered by fortitude, nay by severity.
He is polite to affectation ; speaks with preci
sion, and with a degree of elegance ; but he is
somewhat too careful to speak thus, and the
proper word sometimes escapes him. He under
stands the art of listening, and of interrogating
according to the very spirit of reply. Praise,
gracefully embellished and artfully concealed, he
finds agreeable. He is prodigiously laborious,
well-informed, and perspicuous. However able his
first minister Feronce may be, the Duke super
intends all affairs, and generally decides for
himself. His correspondence is immense, for
which he can only be indebted to his personal
consideration ; because he cannot be sufficiently
wealthy to keep so many correspondents in pay ;
and few great Courts are so well informed as he
is. All his affairs are in excellent order. He
became the reigning Duke of Brunswick in 1780,
and found his principality loaded with debts, to
the amount of forty millions of livres : his adminis
tration has been such that, with a revenue of
about one hundred thousand pounds sterling, and

THE COURT OF BERLIN ig
a sinking fund in which he has deposited the
savings of the English subsidies, he will, in 1790,
not only have perfectly liquidated the debts of
the sovereignty, but, also, those of the state. His
country is as free as it can be ; and is happy
and contented, except that the trading class
regret the prodigality of his father. Not that the
reigning Duke is less sensible to elegant pleasures
than another ; but, severely observant of decency,
and religiously faithful to his duty as a Prince,
he has perceived that economy was his only
resource. His mistress, Madam Hartfeld, is the
most reasonable woman at Court : and so proper
is this attachment that, having a short time since
discovered an inclination for another woman, the
Duchess leagued with Madam Hartfeld to keep
her at a distance. Truly an Alcibiades, he
delights in the pleasures and the graces ; but these
never subtract anything from his labours or his
duties, not even those of prudence. When he
is to act as a Prussian general, no one is so
early, so active, so minute as himself. It is a
mark of superior character and understanding,
in my opinion, that the labour of the day
2 — 2

20 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
can be less properly said to be sufficient for
him than he is for the labour of the day :
his first ambition is that of executing it well.
Intoxicated by military success, and universally
pointed out as a great general (especially since
the campaign of 1778, during which he all the
winter maintained the feeble post of Troppau, to
which the King of Prussia annexed a kind of.
vanity, against every effort of the Austrians), he
appears effectually to have quitted military glory,
to betake himself to the cares of government.
Everywhere made welcome, possessed of un
bounded curiosity, he still is capable of assiduously
confining himself to Brunswick, and attaching
himself to business. He is, in fine, a man of an
uncommon stamp ; but too wise to be formidable
to the wise. He delights much in France, with
which he is exceedingly well acquainted, and
appears to be very fond of whatever comes from
that country. His eldest son, returning from
Lausanne, has passed through Franche - Comte,
Languedoc, and Provence, and is very desirous to
return to France. I shall soon know if he is to
be sent back. In my opinion the son cannot be

THE COURT OF BERLIN 21
treated with too much respect there, so as to
testify confidence in the father ; which it seems
to me would give the latter pleasure, by which
he would certainly be sufficiently confirmed and
flattered, to keep this treatment in memory.
I cannot at present speak of the supper, when
the Duke removed me from the place of honour,
opposite the Duchess, where I sat at dinner, to
seat me beside himself, which is always at the far
end of the table. The conversation was lively,
and absolutely individual, but not political. (We
had listeners.) He questioned me much concern'
ing France. I am to dine with him to-day, and
to sup with the Duchess Dowager, at Antoinetten-
Ruh. I could not avoid this tax on propriety,
which deprives me of an opportunity of supping
with the Duke ; a favour he rarely grants, and
which appeared to be much remarked here, yester
day, where I am observed with anxiety. Perhaps
I am supposed a place hunter.
The continuance of Zimmermann at Potsdam
is prolonged, more than it was supposed it would
have been. He writes that the dropsy is not con
firmed, and he again talks of an asthma. This is

22 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
medical cant. He is the creature of the King,
not of the public. Certain it is that he has
gained no victory over eel pies and polenta ; that
there are no longer any wrinkles in the face ; and
that the parts are all inflated and cedematous.
Prince Henry, however, is returned to Rheins-
berg, where the youthful and handsome R  ,
as it is said, occasions rain and fair weather.
I can warrant it as a fact that a Scotchman,
who is first physician to Catherine II. of Russia,
being lately at Vienna, dined at the table of the
Emperor, and was seated by his side. Indeed,
this was avowed in the Gazettes ; but it was not
there avowed that, while this physician remained
at Vienna, Cobenzl (the Austrian Ambassador to
the Court of Petersburg, but then at Vienna)
having been ordered to show the physician a
pleasure house in the vicinity of the metropolis,
the Emperor on horseback happened to meet the
doctor on the road, and continued in conversation
with him, at the coach window, for the space of
more than two leagues.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 23
LETTER IV
July 16th, 1786.
To-day I was three hours alone with the
Duke, after rising from dinner. The conversation
was animated, frank, and almost confidential : it
confirmed me in most of the opinions I gave in
my last letter (Number III.), but it has inspired
me with much fear, concerning the situation of
Prussia after the death of the King. The
successor seems to have every symptom of the
most incurable weakness : the most corrupt among
the persons by whom he is surrounded, of whom
the gloomy and visionary Bishopswerder may be
ranked as first, daily increase in power. There
is a coolness said to prevail between the Heir
Apparent and his uncles. The coadjutorship of
the order of St. John, bestowed with great
solemnity on Prince Henry, the eldest son of
Prince Ferdinand, which deprives the successor
of more than fifty thousand crowns per annum, is
the most recent cause of this coolness. It should
seem that there have been very powerful intrigues

24 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
for the establishment of these two young Princes,
whom both city and Court regard as the children
of Count Schmettau. The measures taken to
effect this were strengthened at the very moment
when the King was supposed to be expiring, so as
to bind the successor, of whom they consequently
have testified their suspicion. To the King's
brother, Prince Henry, the half at least of all
this appertains ; nor has the Heir Apparent
attempted to conceal his dissatisfaction. Thence
it results that all the subaltern parties, and their
dirty cabals, become more active ; so that the
respect in which the Court of Berlin has been
held, and in which consists its greatest, power,
depends, perhaps, but too much on the life of the
King ; unless the Duke of Brunswick should seize
the reins of government, the burthen of which he
seriously appears to dread. In effect, a kingdom
like this, which has no constituent foundation, will
be cruelly' agitated, should the winds of Court
begin to blow ; and should the Duke, who has
formed himself without having studied in the
school of adversity, and whose reason and sagacity
it is impossible to speak too highly of, fear to

THE COURT OF BERLIN 25
reverse the whole system of his mode of life. But
he does not start at difficulties ; and he is too
much interested in the prosperity of Prussia not
to seek to obtain influence there.
It does not appear to me probable that the
first six months, or even the first year, should
produce any change, or do more than prepare for
change. The Duke has repeatedly assured me
that all the Protestant powers of Germany, and a
great part of the Catholic, would incontrovertibly
be in the interest of France, whenever the latter
should fully convince the Germanic body of her
amicable intentions : and when I asked what
pledges should be given us that the high part
with which the Elector of Hanover was invested,
in the confederation of the Princes, should not
sway the Cabinet of Berlin to the side of the
English, and should not become an invincible im
pediment to any sincere union between Versailles
and Prussia, he clearly showed me, so as not to
admit of reply, that the Germanic league would
never have existed, or at least would never have
assumed its present form, had it not been for the
ambiguity of our conduct, relative to the Schelde,

26 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
to Bavaria, and to the Oriental system. He
added, that the Elector of Hanover, and the King
of England, were two very distinct persons ; and
that the English and the Germans were great
strangers to' each other.
Here I ought to observe that, in my opinion,
the Duke overacts his part, whenever he speaks of
depressing England, which I well know he loves ;
and that perhaps because he feels his family con
nections may, in this respect, render him more
liable to suspicion. In a word, I cannot too often
repeat that they do not appear to have confidence
in us, but that such confidence is very sincerely
desired ; and that the more because the Emperor,
unsupported by France, is not held in the least
dread, and that there is a reigning conviction he
will not dare to take a single step, when the
Cabinet of Versailles shall say — " We will not
suffer any infraction."
Be it however remarked, that the incoherent
conduct of the Emperor, and hi's abrupt vagaries,
often unhinge all the combinations of reason. The
Duke has to-day learnt a fact of this kind, which
may well incite meditation.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 27
The Baron of Gemmingen, some time since,
wrote a very violent pamphlet against the German
confederacy. Dohm, an excellent Prussian civilian,
answered in a strong and victorious manner. The
ministry of Vienna, in consequence, requested our
ministry to entreat the Court of Berlin to suffer
wordy hostilities to cease : the latter consented ;
but there has just appeared (printed indeed at
Munich, but indubitably coming from Vienna) a
satirical and bitter reply to Dohm. Verbal wars
are rarely insignificant at Vienna ; where they are
never begun but under the auspices of government.
The following is another fact of serious
import, if true. The Duke has received advice,
from Vienna, that between four and five thousand
Russians have entered Poland, where the Diet
threatens to be very turbulent. The Duke is de
sirous we should take a decisive part, concerning
and against all new arrangements tending to the
further dissolution or dismemberment of Poland.
I have not knowledge sufficient of this country to
enter into any circumstantial detail ; but I spoke
to him on the subject of Courland, explaining my
ideas, relative to the late proceedings of Russia in

28 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
this country, such as they will be found in my
memorial : and I introduced my discourse as if
arising out of the conversation. He was ardently
attentive to what I said, and promised to write
according to my sense of the danger to Count
Hertzberg. I well comprehend that the circum
stances of the moment are nothing less than
favourable ; and the assent which was warmly
given by a most excellent politician emboldens
me to entreat that my memorial may be taken
into consideration, though it should only be practi
cable in future, and that some instructions may be
sent me, on the manner in which I may sound
the Duke of Courland on this head, whom I
shall meet at Berlin, and the principal persons of
Courland, with whom I may easily correspond ;
my trade of traveller being known, and my desire
to collect facts and to deduce consequences giving
great opportunities to enquire and speak concern
ing all subjects.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 29

MEMORIAL1 •
Sent to the Court of France, concerning the declara
tion made by Russia to Courland, and published
in the "Leyden Gazettes," from the 20th of May
to the 3rd of June, 1786.
Courland has lately been officially menaced
with the indignation of the Sovereign of all the
Russias ; on the supposition that the report, re
lative to the abdication of the Duke of Courland
in favour of the Prince of Wurtemberg, a general
in the Prussian service, should be true.
The reigning Duke, Ernest John, a ferocious
man, so much abhorred in his own country as
not to be able to remain there, although he should
not dread any violence from the ministry of
Petersburg, is known to be the son of the famous
Biron, who was reinstated Duke of Courland, in
1760, by the influence, or rather through the fear
of Russia, which power, with the aid of forty
1 This is apparently the memorial which is mentioned
in the preceding letter.

30 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
thousand men, expelled Prince Charles of Saxony,
the uncle of the Elector and the legitimate Duke,
to restore the former favourite of Elizabeth,1
whom a Court faction had lately recalled from
Siberia. It is also known that this Ernest John has
more than once felt the whole weight of the re
sentment of Catherine II. ; that he has been near
twenty years banished into Siberia ; that he has
no influence whatever in Courland ; and that his
abdication is universally wished.
But it is not known, or rather it is kept
secret, that he was enjoined, by a Ukase (or
Edict) six years ago, to resign his duchy to
Prince Potemkin ; and that by the advice of the
Chancellor Taube, and of the Chamberlain Howen,
he averted the storm by remitting to Prince
Potemkin (whose affairs ever were and are in
i This is a mistake. Biron was the favourite of the
Empress Anne Ivanowna ; was banished to Siberia by Anne
of Mecklenburg,- the Princess Regent of Russia ; was soon
recalled from Schlusselburg and sent to Yaroslaf by the
Empress Elizabeth; was restored to freedom by Peter III, ;
and, after the assassination of the latter, to his duchy by
Catherine II.; not to confer a favour on Biron, but to wrest
the duchy from Poland, and render it dependent on herself.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 3 1
disorder) two hundred thousand ducats. Rason,
the ministerial secretary of the Duke, was en
trusted to carry him this sum.
Whether it be that Potemkin, while waiting
for the execution of his grand projects, which
perhaps relate to the Oriental system, or to cir
cumstances that are yet immature, wishes to
acquire this accession of power ; whether it be
that he is in want of money ; or more especially
whether it be that the Duke of Courland, since
his situation has been so precarious, is known in
consequence of his avarice to have become one
of the richest Princes in Europe, and that, ren
dered effeminate by adversity, old age, and the
daily importunities of his last wife, who has
acquired some influence over him, he is en
deavouring to place himself beyond the reach of
ill-fortune ; be it which of these causes it may, a
similar crisis is again returned.
The Cabinet of Petersburg is ignorant of none
of these things. It doubtless fears that the Court
of Berlin is speculating, concerning the province
of Courland ; hoping, by the aid of a new Duke,
to have it entirely at its disposal. The conditions

32 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
which gave Poland a right of protection over
Courland having ceased, when power became law,
and at the moment the oppressed republic found
it impossible to fulfil those conditions, it is not
absurd to apprehend that Prussia will surrepti
tiously take the place of Poland, and thus to its
own profit confirm the right by the deed.
Courland is in reality far from a contemptible
country. Its climate, being in the 57th degree of
latitude, though sufficiently is not insupportably
cold. Its extent in length is eighty leagues, and
in breadth fifty. Its soil is fertile, and its natural
products are very necessary for all the commercial
and maritime powers. Two principal and navi
gable rivers divide it, from east to west, the Aa and
the Windau : several brooks and canals intersect it
in every direction. It has two ports, Windau and
Liebau on the Baltic. In its present impotent
and indolent state, its commerce active and
passive does not employ less than from six to
seven hundred vessels, of three, four, and as far
as eight hundred tons burthen. It contains seven
or eight small towns, and its population is esti
mated at more than a million and a half of

THE COURT OF BERLIN 33
inhabitants. The land -holders may be supposed
not to be in a state of wretchedness, since the
revenues of the reigning Duke, whose influence in
the republic is so small, annually amount to two
hundred thousand pounds sterling. Such is the
outline of the situation of Courland.
It would be of little use to prove, in this
place, that the republic, being a free state, the
Prince of which is purely elective, so that though
he may abdicate he cannot transfer his privileges.
Russia cannot legally interfere in the affairs of
Courland, which ought to be as independent as
are its rights. This word rights is totally stripped
of meaning when opposed to the word power.
Russia has long been in the habit of vexing
Courland, internally and externally ; of dictating
the choice of its governors ; of laying its suffrages
under restraint ; and of extorting or forcibly seizing
on its money, its produce and its men. The
Monarchs of Petersburg have always made it ,a
principle to familiarize the Courts of Europe to
the supposition that Courland has no political
existence except such as Russia shall please to
bestow. All this is well known.
vol. 1 3

34 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
The points I should wish briefly here to
examine are : —
i. Whether it is not evidently our interest to
introduce a new order of affairs ; and —
2. Whether we have not the means so to do.
Courland, kept back and oppressed by every
kind of exterior and interior tyranny, possesses no
one species of manufacture. It abounds in naval
stores ; for which reason there is an affinity, re
sulting from circumstances, between Courland and
France, which latter holds the first rank among
industrious nations, or an affinity between their
mutual products, the direct barter of which would
give birth to the most advantageous kind of trade.
In reality, there exists at present a species of
barter between Courland and France; but in so
indirect a manner that it is carried on at second
or third hand, by the intervention of the English,
the Dutch, the Swedes, the Danes, the Prussians,
the Hans-Towns, &c.
This intervention absorbs and destroys all the
benefit which a trade so advantageous would be of
to France, and which certainly ought abundantly
to procure us, and at a moderate price, a price un-

THE COURT OF BERLIN 35
known in our dock-yards and markets, ship-timber,
masts, spokes, fellies, veneering wood, &c, &c. ;
grain, ship-beef, salt-fish, vegetables, &c, &c.
The natural returns for these would be the produce
of our industry, from the coarsest to the finest
articles (for nothing is manufactured in Courland)
which the Courlanders (whose consumption is
great, and who are very desirous of articles of
luxury, and even of finery) would then obtain from
us at a moderate price, still infinitely lucrative to
our traders.
The advantage of this direct trade would not
be confined merely to money ; for, beside the
influence which such intimate connections with
Courland would give us in the Baltic and the
North, where we should become the mediators
between Prussia, Russia, and Poland, which last
state must necessarily soon undergo some new
change, France, by a commercial treaty with
Courland, would ascertain two ports on the Baltic,
which would at least remain neuter and almost
exclusive to herself. These would be useful to us,
both in war and peace, as depository places for
stores, and most of the materials which are
3—2

36 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
requisite for the royal and mercantile marine ;
and would highly compensate the disadvantage
which continually increases, and which is- preparing
for us in the North, relative to our marine, in
consequence of the strict connections between
England and Russia.
To the attentive observer, England presents
every symptom which can menace, the possessions
of the Dutch in the East, and which can fore
bode the desire of revenge. Russia can at any
time rob France of a great part of the naval
supplies of war, in the European seas.
This order of affairs cannot too soon be
reversed. Let it be attentively observed that there is
no question here of a new treaty, but the revival
of an ancient one : for the Cardinal de Richelieu
made a treaty with Courland, in 1643, which was
registered by the Parliament of Paris, in 1647 ; so
that, should we at present treat with Courland,
we can decisively affirm, and demonstrate, we are
committing no innovation.
This seems to me to be a very important
remark, which ought not a little to influence the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 37
resolution that may be taken ; and the form given
to that resolution, when once it is taken.
The states of Courland desire this political
affinity between the two countries. The Chamber
lain Howen, of whom I have spoken, is a man
of the greatest influence in the republic ; and, of all
the Courlanders, the most anti-Russian ; because
that, while an envoy from Courland to the Court
of Warsaw, he was carried off, by order of the
Empress, and banished into Siberia. His nephew
was indirectly, but formally, charged to question
the government of France on this subject. I
positively know he has spoken to the Count de
Vergennes, and that the only answer he received
from the minister was —
i. That, he being minister for foreign affairs,
this was a subject that did not appertain to his
department. 2. That it was requisite that the Duke of
Courland and the states, conjointly and officially,
should make a proposition to the King, concern
ing a treaty of commerce.
To this I reply —
i. That, most certainly, the minister for

38 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
foreign affairs ought to consult with the minister
of finance, on whatever relates to commercial ,
treaties ; but that this does not therefore appear
to me a sufficient reason to reject either the
project or the proposal.
2. That it would be absurd to suppose that
Courland, bowed as it is under the iron rod of
present circumstances, would expose itself, by
taking any open step, without first being certain
its propositions should be favourably received, and
that the country should be protected against that
power which, possessed of strength and in the
habit of taking its will for law, should make every
effort to counteract, and prevent, whatever might
tend to impart solidity to the constitution of
Courland, and to render its political independence
respectable. I see no hope that any power, except Prussia,
should interest itself in the affairs of this province.
And this is the second point which it is my
intention to prove, in this memorial.
1. Because the situation of the Prussian
states is such that, the stability and prosperity
of Courland ought no less to influence the King

THE COURT OF BERLIN 39
of Prussia than if this country was one of his
own provinces.
2. Because he cannot prudently covet Cour
land, which Russia would never leave him in
peaceable possession of, and which would but in
crease the length of his provinces, already too
much extended, without rendering his power more
real or more compact.
This latter point is self-demonstrative ; and
as to the advantages which Prussia might derive
from the future stability of Courland, and from
the increase of its energy and industry, these are
evident from a mere view of the map. Between
the states of Brandenburg and Russia there is
only the dismemberment of Poland, which at
present forms part of Prussian Lithuania and
of Courland, of which the King of Prussia,
politely speaking, would become the useful pro
prietor that very day on which he should become
its guardian and protector. Russia, therefore,
necessarily and indubitably is formidable to none
of the powers of Europe, Prussia excepted, on
which kingdom she can bring evil, and which can
do her no injury.

40 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
On the other part, it is known that there is
"only a very narrow slip of Polish Lithuania
between the states of Prussia and Courland,
which barely extends from five to six leagues.
Here Prussia might easily make legal and amicable
acquisitions, sufficient to open a very advantageous
transport trade on the Memel, and the canals that
might be cut between that river and the rivers of
Courland, descending to the ports of the Baltic, of
which I have spoken.
Either I am much deceived or the ministry of
Berlin might easily be made to comprehend that,
instead of forming projects of ambition on this
republic, its real interest would be to declare, in
some manner, Prussia to be the representative of
Poland in her engagements towards Courland, as
stipulated by the pacta conventa and the pacta
subjectionis, which have been actually and neces
sarily destroyed. Prussia might find a hundred
reasons of public right to allege, independent of
her dignity and safety. This proposition, and that
of acceding to our treaty of commerce with Cour
land, would therefore contain nothing imprudent ;
it would perhaps be a good means of depriving

THE COURT OF BERLIN 41
the House of Brandenburg of all fears, relative
to our Northern politics. Nor does it seem to be
impossible but that the King of Prussia would,
on this condition, support the declaration we
might make to the Court of Petersburg, that
it was our determination to protect Courland ;
and not to suffer a free country, allied to France
by ancient treaties, to be humbled, over which
we would not permit any direct and legislative
influence to be exerted by any court.
Such a declaration, softened by every diplo
matic formality, which is so easily practised,
would at this time be sufficient, in my opinion,
especially if made in concert with the Court of
Berlin, to repel the projects of usurpation con
ceived by Russia over Courland.
Be these things as they may, this small
country, too little known, together with Poland
and the Germanic body, claim the serious atten
tion of the King of France ; who, if my opinion
be right, has no other general interest, on the
continent, than that of maintaining peace and
the reciprocal safety of states.

42 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
LETTER V
July xcjth, 1786.
Yesterday morning, before my departure, the
Duke granted me an audience for the space of
about three hours ; or rather personally indicated a
conference, under the pretence of remitting letters
to Berlin, and which, indeed, he committed to
my care. We again spoke of general affairs, and
of the particular situation of Prussia ; of the
suspicions which he pretends it is impossible to
avoid entertaining, concerning our intentions and
our system ; (how should I answer him when
such is the disorder of our finances that it is
impossible we should have any system ?) of the
dread that daily increases, which the Emperor
necessarily inspires, who does good awkwardly,
but who does enough to acquire great power, the
basis of which is magnificent, and highly dis
proportionate to that of any other monarchy,
France excepted ; of the impossibility of finding
any counterpoise to this power, except in the
prudence of the Cabinet of Versailles ; of the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 43
little hope that the new regulations of Prussia
should be wise ; of the various directions which
the various factions that were fermenting at Berlin
might take ; of the military vigour and the am
bitious fumes which intoxicate the Duke of Wey-
mar, who aspires to enter into the service of
Prussia, and to embroil parties ; of the necessity
which there was that the Cabinet of Versailles
should send a man of merit to Berlin, there to
inspire awe and give advice, keep watch over the
factious and the turbulent, &c, &c, &c.
At length, questioning me with an air of fearing
what he was going to say was an absurdity, he
asked whether I should think the project of an
alliance between France, England and Prussia an
impracticable chimera ; the end of which, solemnly
avowed, should be to guarantee, throughout Europe,
to each Prince his respective possessions ; a
measure in itself noble, and worth}' of the two
first powers, which should command all others
to remain at peace ; founded on the evident and
combined interest of the two rivals, and the
greatest obstacle to which would be that no one
would dare to put it in execution.

44 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
The idea, on which I have for these seven
years been ruminating, is too sublime not to be
seductive. It would infallibly immortalize the
sovereign by whom it should be realized, and the
minister by whom it should be promoted. It
•would change the face of Europe, and totally
to our advantage : for, once again, commercial
treaties, however advantageous to England, would
never make the English anything more than our
carriers and our most useful factors.
The Duke has permitted me to correspond
with him ; he even desired me so to do, and
I find I have obtained almost that very place
in his opinion which I myself could have wished.
July 21st, 1786.
First Postscript. — I am arrived, and perhaps
I shall learn but little to-day. The dropsy is in
the stomach ; nay, in the lungs. He was informed
of it on Thursday. He heard it with great mag
nanimity, say some ; others affirm he treated the
physician, who was too sincere,' very ill. He
might drag on life, if he would take advice,
Doctor Baylies says, another year ; but I suspect

THE COURT OF BERLIN

45

he will never give up eel-pies. Count Hertzberg
has been at Sans-Souci this week past ; he had
never before been sent for. Two days previous
to that on which the King made him this kind
of honourable reparation, if, however, it be any
thing else than the necessity of giving breath to
those who are obliged to converse with him, and
of enlivening his conversation, the Heir Apparent
dined with the Count at his country seat, and
passed best part of the evening with him and the
Prince of Dessau. This has bewildered the parties
that are hotly animated against this estimable
minister, in and for whom, according to my
opinion, our embassy has always testified too
little confidence and respect.
Second Postscript. — I have intelligence, from
what I believe to be a very certain and profound
source, wholly independent of the Cabinet of
Berlin, that the Emperor has made preparations
which greatly menace those parts of Moldavia
and Wallachia that would be convenient to him
to possess ; that he is immediately expected to
repair to those frontiers in person ; and that such

46 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
motions cannot otherwise be explained than by
re-acting the conquest of the Crimea in those
countries. This information, combined with the
ultimatum which Russia has delivered in to the
Porte, seems to me to be of sovereign importance.
I do not know the precise intentions of the Court
of France ; but, if the indefinite aggrandizement
of the Emperor and particularly the execution of
the Oriental system are as formidable to us as I
suppose them to be, I entreat deliberations may
be held whether it befits the dignity of the King
to suffer the tragedy of Poland to recommence, the
interest of the state to lose the Levant trade, or
prudent policy to temporize, when the match is
putting to the touch-hole. I cannot for my own
part doubt but that our inactivity, in such a case,
must be gratuitous ; because that the Emperor
would most certainly not brave us ; and fatal also,
since we are precisely the only power who have at
once the interest and the strength to impede such
attempts. England will trouble herself little con
cerning them, and without us Prussia is nothing.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 47
LETTER VI
July 21st, 1786.
An odd incident has happened to me. I am
just returned from the French ambassador's, who
sent me word he could not have the honour of
receiving my visit, because he was busy. To feel
the whole import of this act, it is necessary to
know that there has lately appeared an article in
the Hamburg Gazette, affirming in express terms
I had received orders to quit France. You will
further recollect that, in general, the ambassador
of France is eagerly desirous of receiving the
visits of French travellers. Such is the present
combination of circumstances that this, which
would only, on any other occasion, be an affair
of rather serious impoliteness, is at this moment
a very embarrassing affectation. I believe I have
no need to tell you I am far superior to punctilio ;
but this is not mere form. The natural prepon
derance of France is such that the respect in
which a native of that country is held cannot be
wholly independent of the reception he shall meet

48 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
from the ambassador. What then must be thought
when he shall be envied, suspected and watched ;
and when pretences are sought to render his
character equivocal ? And what must be his
situation, when, far from seeking to quarrel with
the ambassador, it is his duty and his wish, on
all occasions, to preserve appearances, and to pro
tect him from becoming instead of making him
ridiculous ?
You will have no difficulty in comprehending
that it is an intricate affair, and that I must well
reflect on the part I have to take. At present
I must dissemble, and expose myself to a new
refusal to-morrow ; but it will be impossible to
suffer this new refusal to remain unnoticed.
I write you word of this in order that, in any
case, and rather too soon than too late, you
should inform M. d'Esterno it is not the in
tention of government that I should be treated
in a disrespectful manner, and still less as a
proscribed person. He i's so much of a timid
trembler, that he may have been imposed upon
by the Hamburg paragraph. I do not think him
sufficiently cunning to have written it himself.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 49
He certainly appeared ridiculously disturbed at
my return, and entirely departed from his silent
circumspection, that he might discover, by ques
tioning those whom he supposed intimate with me,
what were my intentions. Some of the numerous
persons who do not love him, especially among
the corps diplomatique, have amused themselves
with inventing tales relative to my views, similar
to those of the " Thousand and One Nights." His
brain is in a state of fermentation upon the
subject ; and the more so as he is acting out
of character. I may in consequence of this be
very ill-situated here : to prevent this you will
take proper measures. — I shall tell you more before
I seal this letter : he is not a person who will
oppose the least ministerial insinuation.

vol. 1

JO THE SECRET HISTORY OF
LETTER VII
July 23rd, 1786.
There is nobody here, consequently I shall for
some days lead an inactive life. There is no
Court, except that of Prince Ferdinand, which is
always insignificant : he is at present on the
recovery.1 Prince Frederick of Brunswick knows
nothing. The English Embassy caress and sus
pect me. Count Hertzberg still remains at
Sans-Souci ; I must therefore satisfy myself with
the sterility of the moment. I imagine I have
discovered that the real occasion of the threaten
ing declaration of Russia, respecting Courland,
was a secret proposal of marriage between the
Countess of Wurtemberg, the natural daughter of
the Duke, and a Prussian ; and the increasing
intimacy of the Duke with the Heir Apparent,
who has found in the purse of this savage
Scythian that pecuniary aid with which he ought
long since to have been supplied by France. The
1 Prince Ferdinand had just then escaped from a
dangerous fit of sickness.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 51
Duke of Courland departed, soon after the menace
of Petersburg appeared, with his wife, who is
said to be pregnant, to drink the Pyrmont waters.
According to all appearances, instead of remaining
at Berlin on his return, he will go to Mittau. He
still continues to make acquisitions in the Prussian
dominions : he has lately bought the county of
Sagan, in Silesia ; and the King, who was not a
little vexed to see the Prince of Lobkowitz spend
the revenues of this fine estate at Vienna, treats
the Duke of Courland with great favour. Beside
remitting the manor fees, he consented to alienate
or at least to entail the fief on female descendants,
which before was reversible to the crown on the
want of male heirs ; so that the Duke, who has
no son, found that, by his carelessness, or a very
strange kind of ignorance, he had risked six hun
dred thousand German crowns on a chance the
most hazardous.
It is indubitable that Prince Potemkin is, or
appears to be, more in favour than ever. It has been
found necessary to approve his disobedience. There
are reports that he has sought a reconciliation with
the Grand Duke, which he has accomplished. 4—2

52 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
The new minister of Petersburg (the son of
Field-Marshal Romanzow) is not successful here:
intelligent people, however, affirm he possesses
understanding and information. I know he has
strong prejudices against me, which I shall en
deavour to remove, and to gain his intimacy ;
for he is of such a nature that much may be
derived from his acquaintance. But you must feel
I stand in need of some instructions, or at least
of a series of questions, which shall serve me as a
compass, and by which I may obtain the customary
intelligence. General politics have for some years
been very incoherent, for want of possessing some
fixed system. — Which of the two alliances, that
of the House of Austria, or that between the two
Imperial Courts, Austria and Russia, ought to be
regarded as stable, sacred, and subordinate to the
other ? Is France resolved to quit her natural
train, I mean to say her continental system, for
the maritime ? If so, whether wisely or not, this
will at least explain our extreme cautiousness, in
what relates to the projects of the Court of Vienna.
The man who wants this knowledge can do
little more than wander at a venture ; he may,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 53
with more or less intelligence, write a gazette,
but, not having a sufficient basis to build on,
cannot be a negotiator. I entreat it may not be
supposed I have the presumption to interrogate :
I only mean to explain, in very few words, such
of the reasons which, exclusive of my own want
of capacity, and of the few means my situation
affords me, infinitely circumscribe that utility
which I wish and labour to be of to my country.
I hope I shall not be suspected of supposing
any importance annexed to those extracts from
the German newspapers, which I shall in future
send by every courier. It is purely an object of
curiosity, but which I thought might be agreeable
in a country where, I believe, not a single German
gazette is received ; and into which so many am
bassadors send no other despatches than those
obtained on the authority of these gazettes. I
shall only speak in my extracts of the news of
the North. First Postscript. — Advice yesterday arrived com
manding Lord Dalrymple to depart, and bear the
order of the garter to the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel.

54 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
Second Postscript. — I have received a very
friendly letter from Sans-Souci. The King seems
to hope he shall still live long, he appears, however,
to be much more occupied concerning himself and
his pine-apples than by foreign affairs. Astonish
ment is testified (this is a surprising affair !)
though in a very obliging manner, that the son
of the Count de Vergennes should pass through
Hamburg, Dresden, Vienna, &c, without any hope
of seeing him at Berlin. I have answered I was
very grateful, in behalf of my nation, for the im
portance annexed to the topographical peregrina
tion of the son of our minister for foreign affairs ;
and that I imagined nothing could be more
flattering to his father ; but that, for my own
part, I was wholly uninformed on the subject ;
though I was persuaded that, if the Court of
Berlin was reserved as the last place to be
visited, it would only be from a love of the Cres
cendo. I said the same to Count Goertz, by
whom I was warmly questioned.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 55

LETTER VIII

Berlin, July 26th, 1786.
The fine weather supports the life of the
King, but he is ill. On Wednesday he was for
some minutes wheeled about in his chair, by
which he was much incommoded, and suffered
greatly during and after the exercise. His pains
increased on Thursday, and yesterday he was no
better. I persist in my opinion that the period
of his existence will be towards the month of
September. The Heir Apparent does not quit Potsdam,
where he keeps on the watch. Still the same
respectful passion for Mademoiselle Voss.1 During
a short journey that she lately made with her
brother, a confidential valet-de-chambre followed
her carriage at a distance, and if the beauty,
who in my opinion is very ordinary, testified
the least desire (to eat white bread, for example)
before she had proceeded half a league further,
1 At present the Countess of Ingenheim.

56 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
she found everything she wished. It appears in
dubitable that she has not yet yielded. No great
use can be made either of her uncle or her
brothers. Frenchwomen arrive daily ; but I doubt
much whether there will be any great advantage
derived from them, except to innkeepers and mil
liners. The Duke of Courland has lent the Heir
Apparent money to pay his debts at Berlin ;
they are supposed to be all discharged, except
those of his Princess, which they are not very
anxious to liquidate, from the fear of giving her
bad habits.
I have spoken at large with Struensee. He
supposes the project of the bank to be a grand
and superb operation, which cannot but succeed.
He asks timely information, and promises to place
and cause to be placed in it a considerable sum ;
but the secret must only be known to him, and
the subject treated only between ourselves.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 57
LETTER IX
July 31st, 1786.
I suppose in reality that, in this commence
ment of correspondence, my letters are waited for,
in order to write to me ; however, if my letter of
the 23rd of July (Number V.) has been well de
ciphered and considered, it cannot be disowned
that I stand in need of instructions. Politics are
at a crisis. I repeat, politics are at a crisis. It
is impossible they should continue as they are ;
whether it be from endeavours to accelerate or
efforts to retard. Everything denotes the Oriental
system to increase in vigour. I have no doubt
but that, soon or late, it will be destructive of
that of the West ; and the danger is immediate, is
instantaneous. If Turkey in Europe, speaking in
political and commercial language, be one of our
colonies, if we are not resolved to leave it to its
fate, is it not time to pay it some attention, and
because that it is so, the general system of Europe

58 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
out of the question? Were the King of Prussia
ten years younger, he would well know how to
restore the equilibrium ; for he would take as much
from Poland as others might take elsewhere : but
he dies and has no successor. For my own part,
it is easy to conceive I shall consume my time
in barren efforts ; and, after taking much more
trouble, shall be much less useful than if I knew
what track to follow, and where to gain infor
mation. The King is in daily danger of death, though
he may live some months. I persist in my
autumnal prognostics. Prince Henry having sent
for me to Rheinsberg by a very formal and friendly
letter, it would appear affectation in me not to go ;
and I shall set off on Wednesday, after the de
parture of the courier. I shall not remain there
longer than a week, where I shall have good
opportunities of intelligence concerning the state
of the King, and of gaining information on various
matters. Postscript. — The King is sensibly worse : he
has had a fever these two days ; this may kill

THE COURT OF BERLIN 59
him, or prolong his life. Nature has continually
done so much for this extraordinary man, that
nothing more is wanting to restore him than a
hemorrhoidal eruption. The muscular powers are
very great.
The English Embassy has received advice
from Vienna that the Emperor is in Transylvania,
and that the world is ignorant of what he is
doing, what he intends, or even to what place he
is gone. All the boats on the Danube are taken into
his service. The maritime company wished to monopolize
the sale of snuff and tobacco in Sweden, offering
to pay half- a -million annually to the King; but
the Swedish states have totally refused to forbid
the cultivation of tobacco in the kingdom, and
this was the condition, sine qua non. The actions
of this Monarch decline greatly, on all occasions ;
another Diet like the present, and monarchical
power would once more fall in Sweden. It
appears to be undoubted that the rumour of his
having turned Catholic, on his journey to Rome,

60 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
has alienated the whole nation. But are we to
impute nothing to the intrigues of Russia, in the
present fermentation ?
Struensee repeats that, if the bank be estab
lished, he and his friends are ready ; that is to
say, the most monied men in the kingdom : and
probably, under a new reign, the government 'itself.
This man ought to be cherished : it would be of
importance were I often empowered to give him
good information respecting the state of the place.
Meditate on this. His resources are in himself,
and will probably survive his administration. He
has gained immensely, by speculating in the
English funds : he ought to be weaned of this, to
which he is self- inclined, for he feels and owns
that chances in the English funds are exhausted,
for the remainder of his life.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 6l

LETTER X
Atigust 2nd, 1786.
Written before my departure for Rheinsberg.
The King is evidently better, at least with
respect to pain, when he does not move ; he has
even left off the use of the taraxicum, or dandelion,
the only thing Zimmermann prescribed, who, con
sequently, is in despair. He simply takes a
tincture of rhubarb mixed with diarrhoetics, which
give him copious evacuations. His appetite is
very good, which he indulges without restraint.
The most unhealthy dishes are his greatest
favourites. If indigestion be the consequence,
as it frequently is, he takes a double aperitive
dose. Frese, his physician of Potsdam, still con
tinues in disgrace, for having dared to whisper
the word dropsy on the question being asked him,
and an appeal made to his conscience, what was
the name and character of the disease. The King

62 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
is exceedingly chilly, and is continually enveloped
in furs, and covered by feather-beds. He has not
entered his bed these six weeks, but is removed
from one arm-chair to another, in which he takes
tolerably long sleeps, turned on his right side.
Inflation augments ; the scrotum is exceedingly
tumid. He perceives this, but will not persuade
himself, or appear to believe, that it is anything
more than the inflation of convalescence, and the
result of great feebleness.
This information is minutely exact, and very
recent. There is no doubt of his unwillingness to
die. The people best informed think that, as
soon as he believes himself really dropsical and
at the point of death, he will submit to be
tapped, and to the most violent remedies, rather
than peaceably resign himself to sleep with his
fathers. He even desired, some time since, in
cisions might be made in his hams and thighs ;
but the physician feared to risk them. With
respect to his understanding, it is still sound;
and he even continues his labours.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 63

LETTER XI
August 8th, 1786.
The King is dangerously ill ; some affirm he
has not many hours to live, but this probably
partakes of exaggeration. On the fourth, the
erysipelas with blisters on the legs made their
appearance : this prognosticates bursting, and soon
after gangrene. At present there is suffocation,
and a most infectious smell. The smallest fever — ¦
and the curtain must drop.

64 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XII
August 1.2th, 1786.
The King is apparently much better. The
evacuation, which was the consequence of the
apertures in his legs, has caused the swelling to
abate, and given ease ; but has been followed by
a dangerous excess of appetite. He cannot con
tinue in this state. You may expect to receive
a grand packet at my return from Rheinsberg.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 65

LETTER XIII
August 15th, 1786.
I am just returned from Rheinsberg, where I
have lived in the utmost familiarity with Prince
Henry. I have numerous modes of communica
tion, which will develop themselves as time and
opportunity shall serve ; at present I shall only
state consequences.
Prince Henry is in the utmost incertitude,
concerning what he shall or shall not be under
the new reign. He greatly dreads, and more
than he wishes to appear to dread, though his
fears are very visible, the influence of Count
Hertzberg, who is still detained at Sans-Souci,
but, as I think, only for the sake of his conversa
tion — at least, as far as respects the old King.
This Count Hertzberg has openly espoused the
English system ; but though the flatteries of
Ewart1 and his secret arts have much profited
1 Then Secretary to the Embassy, and now the English
Ambassador at Berlin.
VOL. 1 5

66 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
by the long contempt in which the French Em
bassy have held this minister, I believe his
principal reason for attaching himself to England
is because that Prince Henry, his implacable
enemy, is the avowed and fanatical protector of
the French system ; and because the Count
imagines he cannot otherwise make himself indis
pensably necessary to the opposite party ; for
which reason he clothes himself in the uniform
of the Stadtholder.
In consequence of this, and persuaded as I
am that Prince Henry has not sufficient influence
over the successor (who is weary of avuncular
despotism) to displace Hertzberg, who will con
tinually batter his enemy in breach, by boasting,
by meannesses, by a faithful portrait of the
Prince's creatures, and by the jealousy with
which he will inspire the new King against Prince
Henry, who, if he be anything, will be master;
convinced also that he (Hertzberg) is useful to
France, which is influenced by the uncle because
he holds the English system in abhorrence, I have
exerted every effort to induce Prince Henry (who
wants nothing but dissimulation) to reconcile him-

THE COURT OF BERLIN 67
self with Count Hertzberg, and thus put his
nephew out of fear. This he might with the
greater security do, because that Hertzberg, rela
tive to him, could be nothing more than a first
clerk, who, if he should act uprightly, would make
as good a clerk as another ; and who, should he
endeavour to deceive, might be the more easily
crushed, after having been admitted a colleague.
I have had much difficulty in persuading him,
for Baron Knyphausen, the brother-in-law of
Hertzberg, and his irreconcilable enemy, because
that their interests clash, is possessed of the entire
political confidence of the Prince ; of which he
is worthy, for he is a very able man, and perhaps
the only able man in Prussia; but as he is in
danger of a confirmed palsy as his mind and body
both decay, and as the Prince himself perceives
they do, I was able to effect my purpose by
dwelling on all these circumstances, while I
heaped exaggerated praise on Baron Knyphausen,
and expressed infinite regret for his situation ;
so that I have prevailed on the Prince, and have
personally received a commission to negotiate an
accommodation, between him and Hertzberg; for
5—2

68 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
which purpose I shall go the day after to-morrow
to Potsdam. What may I augur from all this ? Weakness
only and in coherency. It appears indubitable that
petty cabals, the fine arts, the blues, the subalterns,
the wardrobe, and particularly the mystics, will
engross the new King. I have anecdotes innumer
able on this subject, by which I shall endeavour to
profit, and which I shall communicate in good
time. Has he any system ? I believe not. Any
understanding ? Of that I doubt. Any character ?
I cannot tell : my present opinion is that no con
clusions, for or against, ought yet to be drawn.
To memorials exceedingly well-drawn up by
Prince Henry and Baron Knyphausen, all tending
to demonstrate that, should Prussia attach itself
to the English system, fifteen years hence Frederick
William will be the Marquis of Brandenburg, he
gives replies which are slow, vague, laconic, and
hieroglyphic. He wrote the other day, for example
(I saw the letter), " The Prince of the Asturias is all
English." Baron Boden, however, who is his confi
dential correspondent, and who has lately remained
shut up with him a whole week in his garden at

THE COURT OF BERLIN 69
Potsdam, has protested that the dispositions of
the successor are wholly French, and that he had
charged him to endeavour to convert Hertzberg.
Remark this. Remark, still further, that Boden is
a man of low cunning, who may wish to deceive
Prince Henry, in whose service he formerly was,
with whom he quarrelled, and to whom he is
now reconciled ; Heaven knows by what means.
Observe, once again, that the Prince of Salm-
Kirburg has also been (nearly about the same
time) a week concealed at Potsdam. What
inconsistency !
It is the advice of Prince Henry that Boden,
who is returned to Paris, should be tampered with.
He also wishes (for your great men do not disdain
little means) that a lady should be sent hither, of
a fair complexion, rather fat, and with some
musical talents, who should pretend to come from
Italy, or anywhere but France ; who shall have
had no public amour ; who should appear rather
disposed to grant favours than to display her
poverty, &c, &c. Some elegant trifles would not
be amiss ; but take care not to forget the man is
avaricious. The French letters, at least those

70 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
which I shall shew, ought to speak well of him ;
and to report that the King has spoken favourably
of him; particularly that he has said — "This
Prince, like me, will be a worthy man." Repetition
might be made of the success of Prince Henry in
France ; but in this I would advise moderation,
for I believe Prince Henry has spoken too much
himself on that subject ; he has pretended to pro
phesy concerning the new reign, and predictions
are disagreeable. Let me add it is affirmed that,
could the new King be gained, he would become
the most faithful and the most fervent of allies :
to this his uncle Henry pledges his honour and
his head ; and, indeed, the Prince of Prussia has
never forfeited his word. It is added, as you may
well believe, that it is neither possible nor proper
to require more, for in fine we are suspected,
and with good reason, &c, &c.
You will imagine France has not been thus
treated without any pleadings in the behalf of
Prussia ; and the advocates have pretended to
prove (the map on the table) alike by military
and political details, that the alliance of Prussia
would be much more effectual to France, against

THE COURT OF BERLIN 71
England, than that of Austria. If it be requested,
I will draw up a memorial, according to the
grounds that have been given me. Nor is it at
all required that we should quarrel with Vienna :
nothing more is asked than a treaty of confra
ternity, agreeable to the guarantee of the treaty of
Westphalia ; a treaty well known at all Courts,
and with this only secret article that, should
there be any infringement of the peace, we then
should go further ; and if at the present a treaty
should be refused, reciprocal letters between the
two Kings, sealed and so left till some event
should happen, would be deemed satisfactory. In
short, a pledge is demanded against the Austrian
system; and the written word of honour of the
King of France will be accepted. No subsidies
are or will in any case be asked ; perhaps even
Prussia will pay subsidies to Brunswick and
Hesse. Great complaints are made of France for
having permitted and even favoured the German
confederation. " For must not Germany, soon or
late, assume some consistent form ? Must not
Prussia acquire a frontier ? And what other
means are there than those of secularization,

72 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
which by this confederacy are interdicted ? How
otherwise arrange the affairs of Saxony than by
Westphalia and Liege ? " This latter phrase ap
peared to me very remarkable.
* * * * *
I do not nor cannot at present mean to
send anything more than the great outlines.
Prince Henry is French, and so will live and die.
Will he have any influence ? I know not. He
is too pompous ; and the Duke of Brunswick, of
a very different complexion, is the man necessary
to the King and the country, though he is not
loved by the former. However, I am supplied
with the secret means of correspondence, enquiry,
and success; and it could not be more made a
common cause between us. I am promised that
my services to my country shall be amply repaid
on the day an alliance is concluded with France,
&c, &c.
I forgot a curious fact. The Heir Apparent
wrote to Boden, before his journey to Berlin, to
enquire what the people of Paris thought of
him. "That you will be feeble, indolent, and
governed," was the substance of Boden's reply.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 73
The Prince, as he read the letter, stamped with
his foot, and exclaimed, " F  1, I have
suffered by myself and I will reign by myself."
Postscript. — By the natural discharge of the
water from the legs, which may be calculated at
a pint per diem, the swelling of the scrotum
has disappeared : the patient imagines the general
inflation is diminished. It is probable he is
feverish every night ; but of this he endeavours
to remain ignorant. His appetite is so extra
ordinary that he generally eats of ten or twelve
of the highest dishes. His supper and breakfast
consist of smoked tongues, bread, butter, and a
large quantity of peppeT. If he feel his stomach
oppressed by its load, which is usually the case,
he has recourse an hour or two after dinner to
a dose of anima rhei. He wishes to have six or
seven motions in the twenty-four hours, exclusive
of clysters. From all this you may gather the
result, which is that we are incontestibly at the
last scene, more or less protracted.
1 An obscene, dirty French exclamation.

74 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XIV
A ugust iyth, 1786.
All is over ! — Frederick William reigns — and
one of the grandest characters that ever occupied
the throne has burst one of the finest moulds that
nature ever organized !
The vanity of friendship was highly interested
that you should be the first informed of this
event ; and my measures were all most carefully
taken. On Wednesday, at eight in the morning,
I knew he was as ill as possible ; that the pre
ceding day the hour of appointment for the day
following was noon, instead of eleven o'clock, as
was before customary ; that he had not spoken
to his secretaries till mid -day, who had been
waiting from five in the morning ; that, however,
the dispatches had been clear and precise ; and
that he still had eaten excessively, and particularly
a lobster. I further knew that the prodigious foul
ness of the sick chamber, and the damp clothes

THE COURT OF BERLIN 75
of the patient, which he wore without changing,
appeared to have brought on a species of putrid
fever ; that the slumbers of this Wednesday
approached lethargy ; that every symptom fore
boded an apoplectic dropsy, a dissolution of the
brain ; and that, in fine, the scene must close in a
few hours. At one o'clock I took an airing on horseback,
on the road to Potsdam, impelled by I know not
what foreboding, and also to observe the mean-
derings of the river, which is on the right, when
a groom, • riding full speed, came for the physician
Zelle, who received orders to make all haste, and
who instantly departed. I soon was informed that
the groom had killed a horse.
I was thrown into some perplexity. That the
city gates would be shut was certain ; it was even
possible that the draw-bridges of the island of
Potsdam would be raised the moment death
should take place, and should this happen my
uncertainty would continue as long as it should
please the new King. On the first supposition —
how send off a courier? There were no means of
scaling the ramparts or the palisadoes, without

76 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
being exposed to a fray, for there are sentinels at
every forty paces behind the palisadoes, and at
every fifty behind the wall. What was to be
done ? I had not received, could not receive any
orders ; I could only use my own resources. And
ought I to expose myself to ridicule, by sending
intelligence already known, or concerning an event
so well foreseen ? Was the loss or gain of a week
worth the expense of a courier ? Had I been
ambassador, the certain symptoms of mortality
would have determined me to have sent off an
express before death. For what addition was the
word death ? How was I to act in my present
situation ? It certainly was most important to
serve, and not merely to appear to have served.
— I hastened to the French Ambassador. He was
not at home : he dined at Charlottenburg. No
means of joining him at Berlin. I dressed myself,
hurried to Schoenhausen, and arrived at the
palace of the Queen as soon as the ambassador.
He had not been informed of particulars, and did
not imagine the King was so ill ; not a minister
believed it ; the Queen had no suspicion of it ; she
only spoke to me of my dress, of Rheinsberg, and

THE COURT OF BERLIN 77
of the happiness she had there enjo)'ed when
Princess Royal. Lord Dalrymple, with whom I
am too intimate to admit of dissembling what my
opinion was, assured me I was deceived. " That
may be," replied I : but I whispered to our ambas
sador that I had my intelligence from the sick
couch, and that he ought to believe stock-jobbers
had as good information as the diplomatic body.1
I know not whether he believed me ; but, like
me, he would not sit down to play, and left
the company soon enough to send news of the
approach of death.
I still had great reason to be diffident of the
activity of our embassy. How did I act ? I sent
a man, on whom I could depend, with a strong
and swift horse to a farm, four miles from Berlin,
from the master of which I had some days before
received two pair of pigeons, an experiment on the
flight of which had been made ; so that, unless
the bridges of the isle of Potsdam were raised, I
acted with certainty : and, that I might not have
a single chance against me, for I thought the news
i It will here be perceived this was intended to give the
French Ambassador to understand that he had no competitor.

78 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
tardy in arriving, I sent M. de Nolde by the
daily stage, with orders to wait at the bridges of
the island. He was acquainted with the station
of my other man ; the raising of the bridges
would speak plainly enough ; he had money suffi
cient to push forward ; there was no human power
apparently that could counteract me, for my gentry
had not a single Prussian post to pass, and
were to proceed to Saxony, taking care not to go
through any fortified place ; and they had their
route ready traced.
M. de Nolde was departing at half-past six in
the morning, with the stage, when General Goertz,
aide-de-camp to the late King, arriving full speed,
called aloud — • " In the King's name, lower the
portcullis," and M. de Nolde was obliged to turn
back ! Five minutes after, I was on horseback ;
my horses had passed the night saddled ; and,
that I might omit nothing, I hastened to the
French Ambassador. He was asleep. I wrote to
him immediately that I knew a certain mode of
conveyance, if he had anything to send. He
answered, and I keep his note as a curious proof
if, which however to me appears impossible, the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 7g
Count de Vergennes keeps no courier1 — "The
Count d'Esterno has the honour to return thanks
to Mirabeau, but cannot profit by his obliging
offer." I then reflected, either he had sent off a
courier, who only could convey the news of the
King's extreme danger, consequently there must
be something to add, or he had received orders
not to send any ; otherwise his apathy was wholly
inconceivable. I, moreover, knew that the Saxon
envoy had sent off his chasseur on the eve, so
that he was twenty hours and forty leagues in
advance with me ; it therefore was wholly im
probable that M. de Vibraye at Dresden should
not hear of the King's danger. The same might
be conjectured of the aide-de-camp Wittinkoff, who
bore the news to the Duchess Dowager of Bruns
wick, and would certainly spread it, so that
nothing was left for me till absolute death should
happen. After considering, I did not find we were
rich enough to throw a hundred guineas away ;
I therefore renounced all my fine projects, which
i The Count de Vergennes first read the news in the
Leyden Gazette.

80 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
had cost me some thought, some trouble, and
some guineas ; and I let fly my pigeons to my
man with the word return.
Have I done well, or ill ? Of this I am
ignorant ; but I had no express orders, and some
times works of supererogation gain but little
applause. I have thought it my duty to send you
this account ; first, because it may be of service
(observe that several prizes have thus been gained);
and secondly, to prove that I wanted neither zeal
nor activity, but effrontery.
The new King remained all Thursday at Sans-
Souci, in the apartment of General Moellendorf.
His first act of sovereignty was to bestow the
order of the Black Eagle on Count Hertzberg.
At five in the morning, His Majesty was busy
with the secretaries of the late King. This morn
ing he was on horseback in the streets of Berlin,
accompanied by his eldest son. Thursday pre
sented a spectacle worthy of observation.

There were many wet eyes, even among
foreign ambassadors ; for they were all present,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 8l
the French excepted, when the troops took the
oath of allegiance.
The ceremony is awful, and would be more so
if the oath, which the soldiers repeat word by
word, were not so long. Yet this vast military
paraphernalia, that multitude of soldiers, who all
the morning swarmed in the streets, and the pre
cipitate administering of the legionary oath, seem
but to me too exclusively to proclaim the military
power : seem but to say — I am more especially
the King of the soldiers. I commit myself
TO my army, because I am not certain of
possessing a kingdom. — I am persuaded these
military forms will be mitigated under the new
reign.

VOL. I

82 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XV

August 18th, 1786.
Prince Henry received information of the
decease somewhat late ; not till yesterday, the
seventeenth, at midnight. But this, perhaps, was
occasioned by their desire to send him one of his
favourite officers, who was a very bad horseman.
The letter of the King was a page and a half in
length, written by his own hand, and inviting the
Prince to come, who arrived to-day at three in
the afternoon. As soon as it was dark, his aide-
de-camp came for me ; and what follows is the
substance of the Prince's narrative.
He has had an interview of an hour and a
half with the King, but is no further advanced in
the knowledge of what he shall hereafter be. The
King was devoid of ostentation in his behaviour
to his family ; and was very much moved with
the Prince, says the latter, but no way communi
cative. The uncle only attempted to speak of
foreign politics. His request in behalf of his

THE COURT OF BERLIN 83
favourite, Tauensien, captain and aide-de-camp to
his Royal Highness, was immediately granted.
" Resolved on the French system, but desirous
of seeing "— " Why ? "— " Dignity, prudence, the
alarming discontents of Holland." — "Are you brother
or King ? — As brother interest yourself — As King
do not interfere, you will but have the greater
influence." — " Your father, whose name you cannot
pronounce without weeping, was as much French
as I am ; this I will demonstrate by his letters." —
" Oh, I have seen proofs of that," replied the King,
" in those of the Queen of Sweden."
" Vienna." — " Advances it is supposed will be
made ; they will be accepted ; the war of peace
will actually be concluded."
" The English system ? " — " God preserve me
from it."1 — " Russia ? " — " It has scarcely been
thought on."
The whole day passed in well- managed
artifice. The King was on horseback with his
eldest son ; he addressed his generals with
caresses of every kind — " If you serve less faith-
1 It is Hertzberg who debates warmly for Holland ;
and beneath this mask the tip of the English ear appears.
6—2

84 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
fully than formerly, I, by being obliged to punish,
shall be the person punished." He spoke a little
more seriously to the ministers, with whom, not
withstanding, he dined. — Severely to the secretaries
— " I well know you have been guilty of indis
cretions : I would advise you to change your
behaviour." Hertzberg hitherto preserves all his conse
quence. The King has not once pronounced his
name to Prince Henry, nor the Prince to the
King. His Majesty, however, tenderly embraced
Count Finckenstein, a true French knight errant,
and the only person, after Knyphausen, in whom
Prince Henry confides ; that is to say, willingly. —
" I thank you," said the King, " for the eminent
services you have been so indefatigable in render
ing my uncle ; and I request you will act in the
same manner for my interest  ." It is to be
noted that Count Finckenstein is the implacable
enemy of Hertzberg, but the uncle of the dearly
beloved Mademoiselle Voss.
The will is to be opened to-morrow, in presence
of those interested. The King will not attempt
to alter a single line, one article excepted, the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 85
necessity of erasing which he will submit to his
uncles. The old Monarch has been generous.
He has bequeathed Prince Henry two hundred
thousand crowns and a handsome ring, exclusive
of what will revert to him by the family agree
ment. The rest are likewise well treated, but not
so magnificently. The funeral ceremony afforded Prince Henry
a proper excuse for remaining ; it is to be per
formed at Potsdam. The King will depart thence
to receive homage in Prussia and Silesia ; this is
an old custom of the country. Prince Henry will
come to an explanation previous to his journey ;
but he is determined to wait as long as possible,
that the King may begin the subject himself.
Speaking of me, his Majesty said — " I suspect
he is ordered to observe me; his love1 for the
Emperor probably will not expose him to the
temptation of speaking ill of me, when there is
nothing ill to be spoken."
Prince Henry fears that, the mode of life
excepted, the method and especially the cere
monies of government will be continued. He
1 This is ironical.

86 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
has charged me to mention that Count d'Esterno
is much too cold, too distant, too entirely an
ambassador, for the new King. He entreats our
ministry not to be tedious in bargaining concern
ing the pledges of confidence.
It is said, and I forgot to ask Prince Henry,
who perhaps does not know whether it be or be
not true, that the King has sent for the Duke
of Brunswick. The minister, Schulemburg, is in
danger. Prince Henry, by whom he has so long
been hated and decried, is resolved to give him
support. Schulemburg only returned this morn
ing. He has composed, or rather made Struensee
compose, an apologetic memorial, adroit and
sophistical, in which he has imputed to the late
King that order of affairs which he proposes to
remedy. He declaims against monopolies : he,
who is himself at the head of all the monopo
lies ; but he endeavours to prove they cannot be
suddenly reformed, especially that of the maritime
company.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 87

LETTER XVI

August 22nd, 1786.
Prince Henry is singularly well satisfied with
the new King, who the day before yesterday (Sun
day) spent the greatest part of the afternoon with
his uncle. The latter went to him in the morning
to know the watchword. He pretends his nephew
indicates an entire confidence in him ; but I fear
he interprets compliments into pledges of trust.
He affirms the downfall of Hertzberg approaches ;
this I do not believe. "I and my nephew," said the
Prince, " have been very explicit " ; but I doubt the
nephew has deceived the uncle. The conciliating
temper of the King, and his good-nature, which
induce him to receive all with kindness, may like
wise lead to error, without intending deception ;
and these rather prove he possesses sensibility
than strength of mind.
Prince Henry affirms the King is entirely
French. He requests that no attention may be
paid to the sending of Colonel or Major Geysau
to London, with accession compliments ; these, he

88 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
affirms, relate only to the family. The King has
beside been deceived : he was told that the Court
of St. James had sent compliments at the death
of King George, which is not true. This, it is
added, is an artifice of Count Hertzberg. Prince
Henry did not arrive soon enough to prevent the
thing being done ; were it to do again it should be
otherwise. (Remark, it is the Prince himself who
speaks.) No one has been sent either to Vienna
or to Petersburg. (Not to Vienna, to the chief
of the empire, who is almost as near a relation
as the King of England. And as to Petersburg,
Romanzow has made such bitter complaints
that Count Finckenstein, moderate as he is, de
manded whether he had received orders from his
Court to speak in that style.) But it is singular
enough that envoys have been sent everywhere
else ; and particularly Count Charles Podewils
(brother of him who is at Vienna) is gone to bear
the news to Sweden. This is departing from the
old system, to which, it is said, the King means,
in other respects, to adhere ; for the King of
Sweden was held in aversion by the late King ;
nor is he less hated by Prince Henry. Count

THE COURT OF BERLIN 89
Stein, a kind of domestic favourite, is gone to
Saxony, Weymar, Deux-Ponts, &c.
Prince Henry wishes the minister for foreign
affairs should write, and immediately, that the
Court of France hopes the new King will confirm
the friendship his predecessor began ; and should
give it to be understood that all the Prussian
ministers are not supposed to mean as well,
toward France, as the King himself — (I am not
at all of this opinion ; for this would be to dis
tinguish Hertzberg, and to render the war against
our Cabinet more inveterate. If the downfall of
this minister be necessary, it can only be effected
by taxing him with governing the King) — and
that the. reciprocity of goodwill and good offices
may, and ought to, produce a more intimate con
nection. He wishes M. de Calonne might write
soon to him (Prince Henry) a friendly and
ostensible letter, but which ought to be sent by
safe hands ; that it should be recommended to
Count d'Esterno to smooth his brow; and he is
particularly desirous a mode of somewhat calming
the affairs of Holland should be found, and that
this act should be much praised and insisted on.

go THE SECRET HISTORY OF
The Duke of Brunswick has been sent for,
and is to arrive on Thursday. It is said he
brings another will, which was deposited in his
hands. The first was not read before the family,
but only in presence of the two uncles and the
two ministers. The legatees have all received' their
bequests. The date of this will is 1769. It is
in a pompous style, and is written with labour
and declamation. The King has been exceeding
attentive to specify that his legacies are made
from the savings of his privy purse.
The following is a sketch of his donations.
The Queen has an annual augmentation to her
income of ten thousand crowns. Prince Henry
has the gross sum of two hundred thousand
crowns, a large green diamond, a lustre of rock
crystal estimated at fifteen thousand crowns, a
set of eight coach-horses, two led horses richly
caparisoned, and fifty anteaux, or small casks of
Hungarian wine. Prince Ferdinand the gross sum
of fifty thousand crowns, and some Hungarian
wine. Princess Ferdinand ten thousand crowns
annually (the reason of this was that, in 1769,
she was the only Princess , of her house who had

THE COURT OF BERLIN gi
any children) and a box. Princess Henry six
thousand crowns annually. The Duchess Dowager
of Brunswick ten thousand crowns annually. The
Princess Amelia ten thousand crowns annually,
and all the personal plate of the late King. The
Princess of Wurtemberg the gross sum of twenty
thousand crowns. The Duke of Wurtemberg a
ring. The Landgrave of Hesse the gross sum of
ten thousand crowns. Prince Frederick of Bruns
wick the same. The reigning Duke of Brunswick
the same, with eight horses (among others, the
last that Frederick mounted) and a diamond
ring, estimated at twenty-two thousand crowns,
&c, &c, &c.
The King has confirmed all this with a very
good grace. The only article that he will not
agree to was a strange whim of the late King,
relative to the interment of his body ; he wished
to be buried beside his dogs. Such is the last
mark of contempt which he thought proper to
cast upon mankind.1 I know not whether the will

1 The tongue of scandal very publicly, that is to say,
in Prussia, gives a far different reason; but it is one so
revolting, so atrocious, that not only charity but probability

t>

92 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
that is coming will be equally respected with that
already opened, even though they should not be
contradictory. As to the situation of the Court, I believe the
truth to be that Prince Henry exaggerates his
ascendancy; and that he is in absolute ignorance
of the King's intentions. They prattle much
together, but there is no single point on which
they have yet come to any stipulation. True it
is that five days are scarcely yet elapsed. But
wherefore presume ?  The Prince supports the
minister, Schulemburg ; and I know that Schulem-
leads us to suspect the truth of such an accusation. Still,
his love for his dogs while living, his manner of treating
them, and his last request to be buried by their side, are
very strange, or, in a man like him, very whimsical facts.
One of these favourites, a greyhound bitch, was taken at
the battle of Sorr, when the baggage was plundered by
Trenck and Nadasti. Regardless of inferior losses, the
King was in the act of writing to Nadasti, to request his
bitch might be restored, when the Austrian general, knowing
his love for the animal, which was itself greatly attached
to him, he sent it back ; the bitch, unperceived by the
Monarch, leaped upon the table while he was writing, and,
as usual, began to caress him, at which he was so affected
that he shed tears. The day before he had cut off many
thousands of men, and charged his dear children to give no
Saxon quarter.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 93
burg found the King dry and cold. He had one
choice for the French Embassy ; and I know the
King has another, which he has not even con
cealed from the Prince. The Monarch hears
all, but is in nothing explicit. Bishopswerder
himself perhaps does not know what he is to
be, and, if he be prudent, will not be in too great
haste. I have twice seen Count Hertzberg, and found
him still the same, a small portion of dissimula
tion excepted. He very positively denied being
English. He does not seem to me to think he
has the least need of Prince Henry, whom he has
not been to visit (which is very marked, or rather
indecent, behaviour) since his promotion to the
order of the Black Eagle. I wished to insinuate
to him that it would be easy to consult the uncle
by the aid of the nephew; this he declined, but
gave me an apologetic memorial for Prince Henry,
relative to his personal discussions with Baron
Knyphausen. Either Prince Henry or Hertzberg,
or both, are much deceived. Hertzberg certainly
sups almost every night with the King ; and the
opinion of some well-informed people is that this

94 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
minister, and General Moellendorf, will be ap
pointed to educate the Prince of Prussia.
The Marquis of Luchesini is continued in his
place by the present King ; but hitherto he has
only been desired to write the poem for the
funeral. The secretary of Prince Henry, it is said,
is to compose the music ; and this is one of the
things which turn the uncle's brain.
I have sent the King my grand memorial1 ;
he has only acknowledged having received it,
adding that I might remain persuaded whatever
should come from me would give him pleasure;
and that, of all the obliging things that were said
to him, none flattered him more highly than
mine. P.S. — The ministers took the oath of alle
giance yesterday, about three o'clock ; hence, no
probable changes for some time to come. Count
Arnim Boytzemburg, sent for by the King, arrived
with all haste, and passed the evening with His
Majesty. I believe him proper for nothing but
i The memorial found at the end of the second volume.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 95
a place about Court ; it may, however, have
relation to the embassy to France, but more
probably to the place of grand marshal, or that of
minister of the Landschafft, a kind of president
of the provinces, who greatly influences the assess
ments of the taxes, and other internal arrange
ments.

96 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XVII
August 26th, 1786.
I fear my prophecies will be accomplished.
Prince Henry appears to me to have gained
nothing but bows from his nephew. One article
of the will of the King's grandfather disposed of
the succession of certain bailliages, so as to be
queath an accession of income, of about forty or
fifty thousand crowns, to Prince Henry ; including
an augmentation of the revenue of Prince Ferdi
nand. Circumstances not being exactly the same
now as supposed by the testator, the ministers
(that is to say, Hertzberg) have pretended that
this bequest no longer was legal ; and the King,
eluding to grant the legacy, has made a pro
posal to his uncle to have the suit determined
either in Germany, France or Italy. The Prince
has written an ingenious and noble letter to him,
but in which he indicates the enemy. The King
has redoubled his outward caresses for his uncle,
and has submitted to three judges, who have

THE COURT OF BERLIN 97
been nominated by the Prince. I hence conclude
that the uncle will gain the suit of the bailliages,
but never that of the regency.
Hertzberg, however, has commissioned me to
make some advances from himself to the Prince,
and this I think is a sign that he is not in
perfect security. I never could prevail on the
Prince to comply; sometimes inflated, sometimes
agitated, he neither could command his counte
nance nor his first emotions. He is deceitful, yet
knows not how to dissemble ; endowed with ideas,
wit, and even a portion of understanding, but has
not a single opinion of his own. Petty means,
petty councils, petty passions, petty prospects ; all
is diminutive in the soul of that man. While
he makes gigantic pretensions, he has a mind
without method ; is as haughty as an upstart, and
as vain as a man who had no claim to respect ;
he can neither lead nor be led. He is one of
too frequent examples that insignificance of cha
racter may stifle the greatest qualities.
The thing the new King fears the most is
being thought to be governed ; and in this respect
Prince Henry, of all men, is the least adapted

vol. 1

98 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
to the Monarch ; who I believe would consent
not to reign, provided he might only be supposed
to reign. Remarkable change ! — The general directory is
restored to the footing on which it was under
Frederick William I.1 This is a wise act. The
result of the madness of innovation, under
Frederick II. was that, of all the Kings in
Europe, he was the most deceived. The mania
of expediting the whole affairs of a kingdom in
one hour and a half, was the cause that the
ministers were each of them absolute in their
departments. At present, all must be determined
in a committee ; each will have occasion of the
consent and sanction of all the rest. In a word,
it is a kind of council. This, no doubt, will
have its inconveniences ; but how are inconveni
ences to be avoided ?
The edict for suppressing the Lotto is signed,
as I am assured. I shall at least have done
this much good to the country.2 — But the King
has permitted the last drawing, which is wrong ;
i The predecessor of the late King.
2 See the before-mentioned memorial.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 99
there ought to have been none under his reign.
Perhaps it is only popular report.
The Duke of Brunswick arrived this evening.
M. Ardenberg- Reventlau, a man of merit and
his favourite minister— (though M. Feronce is
the principal) — preceded him, and was here at a
quarter after four. The Duke was admitted to
see his Majesty, who rises at four o'clock ; at
half after six he was on the parade. The King
received him neither with distance nor ardour.
Perhaps nothing more is meant by this journey
than politeness. Necessity only could make such
a man prime minister, who will not trouble him
self with fruitless efforts, but who will be very
tenacious in his grasp. I shall not converse
with him till to-morrow. The will he brings will
probably be burnt ; it is said to be of a much
earlier date than the other, and as far back as
1755- The Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, it is affirmed,
is coming; also the Duke of Weymar, the Prince
of Deux-Ponts, and even the Duke of York. Of
the latter I doubt.
Hertzberg pretends that the King, by becoming

THE SECRET HISTORY OF

the pledge of the Stadtholder, ought to make us
easy concerning Holland, but he has not told us
who shall make the pledge respected.
Prince Henry wishes advice should be sent
that Count Hertzberg, who has not the good
word of all the world, appears to have gained the
entire confidence of the King, and even to act
the master. This last imputation is probably the
most effectual method to procure the downfall of
any man, under the present reign.
There are many small Court favours granted,
but no considerable place bestowed. I have at
tempted to reconcile Hertzberg and Knyphausen,
which I was in a train to accomplish, by demon
strating to them that their coalition would erect a
throne which could not be shaken. Knyphausen
refused, because, alleged he, Hertzberg is so de
ceitful it can never be known whether the recon
ciliation is or is not sincere ; " and it is better,"
said the Baron, "to be the open enemy than the
equivocal friend of a man whose credit is superior
to our own."
I am inclined to think Hertzberg must be
displaced, if we wish the Prussians should become

THE COURT OF BERLIN IOI
French. Three months are necessary to draw any
conclusions that should be at all reasonable. I
again repeat, if you have any grand political views,
relative to this country and Germany, put an end
to the democratical quarrels of Holland ; which
are only the disputes of cunning, profitable to
those who have their fortunes to make, but not
to those whose fortunes are made.

102 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XVIII

August 2gth, 1786.
To prophesy here daily becomes more difficult;
time only can afford any rational prognostics. The
King apparently intends to renounce all his old
habits ; this is a proud undertaking. He has
made three visits to Schoenhausen,1 nor has he
cast one look on Mademoiselle Voss : no sem
blance of an Orgia ; not one woman's bosom
touched since he has sate on the throne. One of
his confidants proposed a visit to Charlottenburg.
— "No," replied he; "all my former allurements
are there." — He retires before ten in the evening,
and rises at four ; he- works excessively, and
certainly with some difficulty. Should he persevere,
he will afford a singular example of habits of
thirty years being vanquished. This will be an
indubitable proof of a grand character, and shew
how we have all been mistaken. But even, the
supposition granted, which is so far from probable,
1 The Queen's palace.

THE COURT OF BERLIN

IO3

how deficient are his understanding and his means.
I say how deficient, since even his most ecstatic
panegyrists begin by giving up his understanding.
The last day that he exercised the troops, he was
ridiculously slow, heavy, and monotonous. The
men were four times ranged in columns, and
concluded with parading. This continued three
hours ; and in the presence of a general such as
is the Duke of Brunswick. — Everybody was dis
satisfied. — Yesterday, the first Court day, he was
ill; he forgot some of the foreign ministers, and
uttered nothing but a few commonplace phrases,
hasty, embarrassed, and ill - chosen ; this scarcely
continued five minutes. He immediately left us
to go to church : for he does not miss church ;
and religious zeal, homilies and pulpit flatteries
already begin to be everywhere heard and seen.
Prince Henry has gained his suit, concerning
the bailliages, as I had foreseen ; in other respects,
he has not advanced a step ; consequently, has
gone backward. He dines every day with the'
King, and does wrong ; he affects to whisper with
him, and does wrong; he speaks to him of public
affairs incessantly, and does wrong. The King

IO4 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
goes alone to visit the Duke of Brunswick; and
also goes in company with Hertzberg, or meets
him at the Duke's. The latter pretends to inter
fere only with the army ; the sole thing which,
according to him, he understands. I have never
yet seen him in private, but he has appointed me
an audience on Wednesday morning.
The English faction continues very active, and
this proves there are difficulties to encounter. In
reality, it is an alliance so unnatural, when com
pared to ours, that it seems to me we should not
suffer ourselves, though the King should commit
blunders, to be routed by his mistakes.
The Monarch becomes very difficult effectually
to observe. He reverts to the severe ceremonies
of German etiquette. It is imagined he will not
receive foreigners, at least for some time. I know
all that can be learnt from subaltern spies ; from
valets, courtiers, secretaries, and the intemperate
tongue of Prince Henry ; but there are only two
modes of influencing ; which are to give, or rather
to give birth to, ideas in the master, or in his
ministers. In the master ! — How, since he is not
to be approached ? In the ministers ! — It is

THE COURT OF BERLIN IO5
neither very easy nor very prudent to speak to
them on public affairs, I not being in a public
character ; and the discussions which chance
affords are short, vague and incomplete. If I
am supposed capable of business, I ought to be
sent to some place where I should have a public
character. I am afraid I shall here cost more
than I am worth.
Count Goertz goes to Holland ; I know not
whether instead of Thulemeyer or ad tempus. He
is followed by the son of Count Arnim, who is a
young shoot for the corps diplomatique. Goertz
is not a man without talents : when sent into
Russia, under every kind of disadvantage, he
obtained a good knowledge of the country ; he is
cold, dry and ungracious ; but subtle, master of
his temper, though violent, and a man of observa
tion. That he is of the English party is certain ;
he is loyal to Hertzberg,' and convinced that the
alliance of Holland and France is so unnatural
it must soon end. I own I think as he does,
especially should we abuse our power.
A new ambassador is appointed, in petto, for
France. I have not yet been able to discover

THE SECRET HISTORY OF

who; but Hertzberg supports the ridiculous Goltz
with all his power. Schulemburg daily declines in
favour. The maritime company have already lost
their monopoly of coffee, of which there are four
millions and a half pounds, weight consumed in the
various provinces of the Prussian monarchy. Hence
we may observe that the free use of coffee, which
daily becomes general in Germany, is the cause
that the consumption of beer is gradually and
much less. The same company may be deprived of
a prodigious profit on sugars ; but it will be in vain
to destroy old monopolies only to substitute new,
though they should be for the profit of the King.
The personal debts of his Majesty are paying
off by the minister, Blumenthal ; it is said there
are tolerably great reductions made, but not un
justly, as I imagine, for there are no complaints
on the subject. Exclusive of the royal treasury,
Frederick II. has left savings so great that they
will scarcely be absorbed by the personal debts.
of Frederick William II. It is said he will pay
off his Italian opera, and everybody believes there
will be a French opera instead. This certainly
would be no trifling means of support to intrigue.

THE COURT OF BERLIN I07
The freedom of scrutiny is restored to the
academy, and the Germans are henceforward to
be admitted members. I regard the curatorship of
this body as a favour conferred on, and a tolerable
resource of power for Hertzberg; who will be cura
tor by title, and president in reality. The presi
dency of the academy is so truly ministerial that
the late Frederick exercised it himself, after the de
cease of the restless and morose Maupertuis. Count
Hertzberg said to me, at Court — " You are a com
pliment in my debt." — " On what occasion ?" — " I am
curator of the academy ; which title gives me greater
pleasure, and in my opinion is more honorable than
a ribband." — Forty persons heard our discourse. —
"Certainly," replied I, "he who is the minister of
knowledge may well be called the prime minister."
The King will not ruin himself in gifts ; he
has hitherto bestowed only prebendaries, which
cost him nothing, except a pension of three hun
dred crowns on General Levald. I am informed
that he has just granted one of eight hundred
crowns — to the poet Rammler. It would perhaps
have been- more delicate not to have begun by
pensioning fame, and her trumpet.

108 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XIX

September 2nd, 1786.
All circumstances confirm my predictions.
Prince Henry and his nephew have almost quar
relled. The uncle is inconsolable, and thinks of
retiring to Rheinsberg. He will almost certainly
return during the journey of the King through
Prussia and Silesia. Probably we shall have no
great changes before the Monarch has performed
these journeys, if then. There is one, however,
beside those I have before spoken of, which is
remarkable ; and that is, a commission to examine
the administration of the customs — what is to be
abrogated, what preserved, and what qualified,
especially in the excise.
M. Werder, a minister of state, and the intimate
friend of Hertzberg, the enemy of Schulemburg
who brought him into place, and father-in-law to
the secretary of the English Embassy, or perhaps
to his wife, is at the head of this commission.
The other members are ridiculously selected ; but

THE COURT OF BERLIN IOg
the very project of such a reform is most agreeable
to the nation ; as much so as the pension of eight
hundred crowns granted to the poet Rammler,
and the promise of admission of Germans into
the academy is to the distributors of renown. It
remains to be seen whether the people have not
been led to hope too much ; and whether it is
not requisite to be certain of substitutes, previous
to the promise of relief.
The King goes to Prussia attended by Mes
sieurs Hertzberg (for the King to be attended
by a minister out of his department is un
exampled), Goltz, surnamed the Tartar, Boulet,
a French engineer, General Goertz, Gaudi, and
Bishopswerder. This Goltz the Tartar is he who, in the
last campaign of the seven years' war, raised an
insurrection of fifty thousand Tartars, in the
Crimea and the neighbouring countries ; who were
marching to make a diversion in favour of the
King of Prussia, and had arrived at Bender,
when peace was concluded. Notwithstanding this,
Goltz can boast of but little abilities ; except
that he is a good officer, and ardently active.

110 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
He was indebted for his great and singular suc
cess to a Dutchman named Biskamp, whom he
met with in the Crimea. He attached himself to
this very able and enterprizing man, who under
stood the language, knew the country, and served
Frederick II. according to his wishes; by whom,
indeed, he was well paid. This Biskamp is at
Warsaw, and there forgotten, which is very
strange. I have supposed the relating this anec
dote, which is but little known, might be inter
esting. Boulet is an honest man, for whom the King
shews some affection, and to whom he is indebted
for all he knows concerning fortification.
General Goertz is the brother of the Goertz
who is going to Holland, but not his equal; he
is artful and subtle, and his good faith is of a
suspicious complexion.
Gaudi is the brother of the celebrated general
of the same name; little known hitherto as the
minister of the Prussian department, but capable,
well-informed, firm, decided, and indubitably the
man most proper to influence interior arrange
ments in reconstructing the grand directory.

THE COURT OF BERLIN III
Bishopswerder you are acquainted with ; he
and Boulet each lately received the commission of
lieutenant-colonel. The King has told Schulemburg that, on his
return from Prussia, he will determine which of
his nine departments he shall be deprived of. He
and his wife are the only ministerial family who
are not invited to Court. The probabilities all are
that Schulemburg will demand leave to resign,
should his colleagues continue to humble him, and
the King to treat him with contempt. But
Struensee probably will keep his place, and he
then proposes to act, in concert with us, in our
public funds ; especially should the King, as is
apparent, commit to his charge the four millions
of crowns (about sixteen millions of French livres,
or near seven hundred thousand pounds sterling)
which he means to set apart, for the operations
of previous finance. Struensee is the only man
who understands them. This is a subject not to
be neglected, as it hitherto has been, even so far
as to render it impossible for me to act with pro
priety. We might profit by him, during peace ;
but if unfortunately the news which is whispered

112 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
be true, concerning the increasing ill-health of the
Elector of Bavaria, depend upon war, for I then
hold it inevitable. Is this a time for us to exist
from day to day, as we do, when each month (for
there is a probability, at any time, that he should
die within a month) menaces all Europe with
inextricable confusion ?
M. de Larrey, sent from the Stadtholder to
compliment the King, openly affirms it is impos
sible the disputes of Holland should be appeased
without effusion of blood ; and the speculations
of Hertzberg upon this subject are boundless ; but
the secret is well kept by those who surround
the King.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 1 13

LETTER XX

TO THE DUKE DE

September 2nd, 1786.
By what fatality, my Lord, has it happened
that I have not received your letter, dated the
sixteenth, till this day ? And, still more especially,
why was it not written some weeks sooner ? The
importance of the proposition with which it con
cludes will never be fully understood ; and which,
made at any other time, except when the King
was dying, would have been willingly accepted.
It will never be known, had it been presented
soon enough, how much it might have effected,
impeded and indicated, relative to a Prince whose
understanding perhaps is not great, but who pos
sesses gratitude, and who will much more certainly
be an honest man than a great King; so that his
heart, rather than his mind, ought to have been
appealed to ; and that at a time when he was far
otherwise accessible than at present ; walled in,
as he is, by system and intrigue. How does it

vol. 1

II4 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
happen that you are the only person of the
country you inhabit who conceived this plan ?
How could the Cabinet of Versailles give up the
merit of offering trifling sums to Serilly ? How
could it permit the Duke of Courland to secure
the claim of having hushed the loud cries of
creditors to silence ? How impolitic and disastrous
are the sordid views, the confined plans, and
short-sighted prudence of certain persons ! In
what a situation would such an act have placed
us, as it would me personally, in his opinion !
All things then would have been possible, would
have been easy to me. But of this we must
think no more ; we must only remember this is
a new proof that reason is always on your side.
Since the death of the King I have sent
supplies of information to your Cabinet, respecting
the Aulic phases,1 and my dispatch of to-day, a
great part of which no doubt our common friend
will read to you, is a statement, according to the
best of my abilities, of present and future contin
gencies. You will there perceive Prince Henry
has accomplished his own destiny ; that his trifling
i Court changes, or appearances.

THE COURT OF BERLIN II5
character has, on this occasion, weighty as it was,
been stranded on the rock of his excessive vanity,
as it has before so often been ; that he has at
once displayed an excessive desire of power, dis
gusting haughtiness, insupportable pedantry, and
a disdain of intrigue, at the same time that his
conduct was one continuation of petty, low, dirty
cabal ; that he has despised the people in power,
while he himself is surrounded by no creature who
is not evidently either foolish, knavish or con
temptible — one sole man, Baron Knyphausen, ex
cepted — and he is in daily danger of being carried
off by apoplexy ; that, in fine, no man can be
more out of favour, and particularly of confidence,
or can have put himself into a situation in which
confidence and favour will be more difficult to
regain. I therefore persist in my opinion that the
Duke of Brunswick, who is master of himself, by
no means ostentatious, and who is possessed of
profound talents, will be the man ; not of the
present moment, but of the moment of necessity.
My reasons are numerous, and so deduced as, in
my opinion, not to admit of contradiction, the
8—2

Il6 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
order of events and circumstances, which I see
and foresee considered. All this does but render
the execution of your project the more necessary,
and which I regard as very practicable, with some
small exceptions, if executed by the persons in
whom you ought to confide ; should you, with
your natural dexterity, and irresistible seduction,
pursue the plan of interesting the vanity of the
Master, so as to make it his own act, and, as
you have so well expressed it, that it shall be he
himself who shall inform his ministers of his
intentions. I repeat, your project is the more immediately
necessary because that England cabals, with great
industry, in her own behalf, under the pretence of
the interests of Holland, which are very much at
heart, in the Cabinet of Berlin. I own that what
I have often insinuated here, namely, that the
Prussian power is not sufficiently consolidated,
and that, if opposed to stand the shock of France
and Austria combined, it must be reduced to
powder, is a proposition not so unanswerable, but
that, thanks to Russia, there are many objections
to be made ; and so there always will be, even

THE COURT OF BERLIN 117
in suppositions the most unfavourable to Prussia.
i. Because this would but be commencing a
deplorable career of sanguinary contentions, under
the direction of the Emperor, who is so little
able to direct that he may be affirmed to be
the least military of men.
2. That the utmost success would leave a
Prince without counterpoise in Europe, who has
claims and pretensions of every kind.
Lastly, and more especially, this would be
painfully to seek that which the nature of events
spontaneously offers ; like as spring makes the
apparently dry and sapless tree bud and bloom.
There are some errors in cyphering, which
are the cause that I do not perfectly understand
the grounds of your dissension with me, concern
ing the maritime system ; but I too well know the
extreme justness of your mind, which does not
remain satisfied with phantoms, to imagine our
opinions are very opposite. And, for my own
part, I have never pretended to say that we ought
not to maintain a navy which should make our
commerce respected. The question to determine
is — What ought the extent of this commerce to

Il8 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
be, which is to be effectually protected ? You,
like me, perceive that no alliance -with England
can be solidly established but by a commercial
treaty, which should have exact, clear and dis
tinct lines of demarcation ; for, were unlimited
freedom of trade permitted, they would be the
sufferers. How might they support the rivalship ?
And, if we do not cut away the voracious suckers
from the root of the tree, how shall we prevent
the Indies and Antilles from eternally continuing
the apple of discord ?
Be this as it may, my Lord, do not suffer
yourself to be discouraged or disgusted by diffi
culties. Ascend the height with a firm though
measured step, and with inflexible constancy. You
have found the only unbeaten track which, in
these times, can lead to political fame, and which
best may tend to the pacification cf the earth.
How admirable is it to unite the talents of the
hero, the principles of the sage, and the projects
of the philosopher ! By a single diplomatic act to
reverse all the obsolete forms, all pitiable rubrics,
all the destructive arts of modern politics, would
be to gain no vulgar crown ; and a prospect so

THE COURT OF BERLIN Iig
magnificent must be a most powerful support to
your fortitude.
I need not repeat how much I am devoted
to you, or how entirely you may dispose of me.

120 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXI

September $th, 1786.
It is impossible that I should send you intel
ligence more exact, concerning the situation of
Prince Henry with the King, than that which my
preceding letters contain. The Prince himself no
longer conceals the truth ; and, like all weak
men, passing from one extreme to the other, he
clamourously affirms the country is undone ; that
priests, blockheads, prostitutes, and Englishmen
are hastening its destruction ; and, by the intem
perance of his language, confirms what the indis
cretion of Chevalier d'Oraison, and the personal
confidence of the uncle to the nephew, when he
was only Prince of Prussia, probably before but
too certainly told Frederick William II. I repeat, he
has completed his disgrace, in the private estima
tion of the King. It is my opinion that, if he
may be permitted, he will either quit this country,
in which he has not one friend, one parasite,
except in the most subaltern and abject class, or
will become insane, or will die : such is my augury.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 121
Not that I am convinced that the administra
tion must always be committed to subalterns. The
King has too much dread of seeming to be governed
not to have the necessity of being governed.
Why should he be the first man who should
pretend to be what he is not ? Frederick 1 1., who
by nature was so perfectly designed to govern,
never testified a fear of being governed ; he was
certain of the contrary. The present King
fears he shall, and therefore shall be. While
public affairs are transacted separately, he will
not seem to be ; for nothing is more easy in
this country than to receive and to pay. The
machinery is so wound up that the surplus of
revenue is great indeed. It is easy to pay some
attention to detail, to keep watch over the police,
to make some subordinate changes, and to coquet
with the nation. And here be it said, by the
way, there seems a determination of humbling
the vanity of foreigners ; so that, as I have
always affirmed, the gallomania1 of Prince Henry
has been very prejudicial to us. Some good will
i Enthusiasm in favour of France.

122 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
be done ; for it is not here as in other kingdoms,
where the passing from evil to good is sometimes
worse than evil itself, and where there is terror
in resistance. All is here done ad nutum. Beside,
the cords are so stretched they cannot but relax:
the people have been so oppressed, have suffered
such vexation, such extortion, that they must find
ease. All will proceed, therefore, and almost with
out aid, while foreign politics shall continue calm
and uniform ; but, whenever a gun is fired, or
even at the first lowering storm, with what a petty
crash will this scaffolding of mediocrity come to
the ground ! How will these subaltern ministers
shrink ; from the slave at the oar to the terri
fied steersman ? How will they call for a pilot's
aid? Who must be this pilot ? — The Duke of
Brunswick. Of this I have no doubt. Every
little accident, in the day of trouble, is only an
additional aptitude to fear. Beside that the Prince
is, of all men, him who best can conduct little
vanity: he will satisfy himself with appearing the
servant of servants ; the most polite, the most
humble, and indubitably the most adroit of

THE COURT OF BERLIN I23
courtiers; while, at the same time, his iron hand
will fetter all paltry views, all trifling intrigues,
all inferior factions. Such is the horoscope I
draw ; nor do I think, at present, one more
rational can be erected.
Hertzberg is the man who must be managed
in the state ; and for this Count d'Esterno is
not qualified, because he formerly deserted him
too much ; and he well perceived it would have
been indelicate and stupid to have veered too
suddenly. Hertzberg, however, may ruin himself
by his boasting, and even by his ostentation.
This is a mode of effecting the fall of ministers
which the courtiers will not fail to employ,
because of the character of the King, and which
may succeed.
But Holland and her convulsions are the
subject of present consideration. There is a
conviction that we can do what we please ; and,
though I am far from thinking this to be in
controvertible, I still think that, were we to say
to the party that has gained so much ground,
probably from a conviction that we were ready
to march up to their support — (For how would

124 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
they have dared to make themselves responsible,
if they had possessed no securities for such
future contingencies as may be expected ?) — I
repeat, were we to say, you must go no further,
we should be obeyed. It will be supposed, I
neither pretend nor wish to give advice. I am
too far removed from truth, which I can only
inspect through the magnifying glass of passion ;
and Count d'Esterno informs me of nothing :
but I can distinctly perceive that the hurricane,
which is forming in those marshes, may extend
to other countries. The French Embassy of
Berlin will not say thus much to you, because
they do not see things in the same light, but
are persuaded that the interest of the brother
will have no influence on the connections of the
King. Of this I doubt, and have good reason
so to doubt. Hertzberg is wholly Dutch, for it
is the only decent manner in which he can be
English ; and he may greatly influence foreign
politics, although he does not understand them.
As, the other day, he was rehearsing his eternal
repetition of — The King will be the pledge
of the Stadtholder — I said to him, " I respect

THE COURT OF BERLIN

I25

the King too much to ask who shall be the
pledge of the pledge ; but I dare venture to
ask — How will the King make his pledge respected?
What shall happen when France shall demon
strate that the Stadtholder has broken engage
ments entered into under her sanction ? The
King is not the brother-in-law of Holland ; and
the affair of Naples is sufficient proof that family
interventions may be eluded ? What can the
King accomplish against Holland ? And is he not
too equitable to require us, who cannot wish that
the Dutch should become English, to risk our
alliance for the knight-errant of the English ?" —
To all this Hertzberg, who beholds nothing on
this sublunary earth but Hertzberg and Prussia,
made vague replies ; but, at the words, " What
can the King accomplish against Holland ? " he
muttered, with a gloomy air, " Holland will not
defy him, I believe." Once again, beware of Hol
land ; where, by way of parenthesis, the English
legation affirms that we have bought the town of
Schiedam ; that M. de Calonne, in particular,
inundates the country with gold ; and, in a word,
that he is personally the brand of discord.

126 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
I have reserved the questions with which
your letter begins, to conclude with ; first, because
they relate to affairs the least pressing ; since it
appears impossible that the Emperor should make
any attempts on Turkey in Europe before the
coming spring ; and next, it was necessary I should
previously recollect myself; the concurring circum
stances of the death of the King, and the accession
of Frederick William, being the subjects which
have almost exclusively demanded my attention,
and induced me to defer more distant objects to
future consideration. Still, I fear mine is a barren
harvest, Prussia not having any continued inter
course with these wide lying countries, which are
more than four hundred leagues distant ; for she
has neither any great merchant, nor any system
of politics, because that the corps diplomatique of
Prussia is extremely deficient.
As to those individuals that are met with in
society, they are ignorant, and can afford no
information. Buckholz, the Prussian envoy to
Warsaw, a man of ordinary capacity, but active,
and Huttel, who is in the same capacity at
Petersburg, an intelligent person, write word that

THE COURT OF BERLIN 127
Russia is more pacific than Turkey ; and that
the internal Ottoman provinces call for war. The
frontier provinces, appertaining to the Tartars,
certainly are not friendly to Russia. Moldavia
and Wallachia are governed by Hospodars, who,
being Greeks, most certainly are sold to whoever
will purchase them, consequently to Russia. The
Emperor deceives them, and is hated there, as
elsewhere. I shall speak further of this, and shall
endeavour to give a sketch of a journey along the
frontiers of these countries, which should be under
taken in the disguise of a trader, and kept rigidly
secret, by which the state of the frontiers, the
magazines, the propensities of the people, &c, &c,
might be known, and what is to be hoped or
feared, if it be found necessary to arm (in which
case it is very probable Prussia would voluntarily
aid us with all her powers) ; that is to say, if the
Emperor should determine to pay no respect to
our remonstrances, as he has twice done before-
Perhaps I might be more useful employed in
such a journey than at Berlin, where at every step
I tread on danger, and shall so continue to do,
unless I have credentials, at least as an assistant ;

128 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
which perhaps would be the more proper, because
it sometimes happens that such an interlocutor is
spoken to with greater freedom than an ambas
sador ; for the refusals he meets, or the proposals
he makes, have no ministerial consequences ; and
thus each party gains information, without either
being offended.
Pay serious attention to this, I request. In
vain you recommend me to act privately ; permit
me to inform you that, in despite of all my
efforts, this is impracticable. I have too much
celebrity, too much intercourse with Prince Henry,
who is a true Joan of Arc, and who has no secrets
of any kind. I am made to speak when I am
silent ; and when I say anything it is unfaithfully
repeated. It is impossible to conceive all that has
been attributed to me since the King's death ;
that is to say, since an epocha when I have taken
advantage of the interruption of social meetings
to keep myself recluse, and to labour only by
mining. Count d'Esterno discredits me all in his
power. The English Embassy exclaims " Fcenum
habet in cornu, longe fuge." The favourites keep me
at a distance ; the wits, the priests, and the

THE COURT OF BERLIN I2g
mystics have formed a league, &c, &c. Each
fears an invasion of his domains, because my real
business is not known. I cannot remain and be
of any utility, unless you shall find means to in
form Count Finckenstein that I am only a good
citizen and a good observer ; but that these I am,
and that I am authorized to give my opinion.
I cannot doubt but that this minister is very
desirous these few words should be said. I am,
however, in conscience obliged to repeat, the part
I have to play daily becomes more difficult and
more invidious ; and that, in order to be truly
useful, I must have some character given me, or
be employed elsewhere.
Prince Henry at present reads his recantation ;
he again pretends Hertzberg has received his death
blow, and that his downfall will be instantaneous.
He relates miracles of the Duke of Brunswick,
and flatters himself he shall, soon or late, have
great influence — " He will be in no haste. He
will ply to windward six months." He affirms
the English projects are absolutely abortive.
Hertzberg, he is confident, acts as if he had lost
all understanding, and precisely as if he, Prince
vol. i 9

130 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
Henry, had counselled him, in order to render
his fall more headlong, &c, &c, &c. In fine,
his discourse is a mixture of enthusiasm and
rhodomontade, of presumption and anxiety ; a flux
of words that confirm nothing ; or of half-phrases
without any determinate meaning, except of exag
geration and tumour. Hence, it is difficult to
conjecture whether he deceives himself or wishes
to deceive ; whether he maintains the cause of
vanity, feasts on illusion, or if he has recently
any ray of hope ; for, as I have said, it is not
impossible but that Hertzberg, by his boasting,
should effect his own ruin. Prince Henry presses
me to request the Court to send me some cre
dentials, while the King shall be in Prussia and
Silesia ; or, at least, to write concerning me to
Count Finckenstein, by whom the intelligence may
be communicated to the King.
No change in the new habits of the Monarch.
Madam Rietz has been but once to see him ; but,
on Saturday last, he wrote to his natural son by
that woman, and directed his letter : " To my
son, Alexander Count de la Marche.1 " He has
1 Meaning one of the Marches of Brandenburg.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 131
ennobled, and even made a Baroness of the
mistress of the Margrave of Schwedt (Baroness
of Stoltzenberg, which is the title of a Barony,
worth about eight thousand crowns a year, given
her by the Margrave), who is nothing more than
a tolerably pretty German girl, formerly an actress,
by whom the Margrave has a son. It was not
thought proper to refuse the only thing this old
Prince of seventy-seven wished to or could request.
Perhaps, too, it was a pretext to do as much for
Madam Rietz. The husband of this lady is
Erzkaemmerer,1 a place nearly corresponding to
that of first valet-de-chambre, and treasurer of the
privy purse ; but it is supposed he will do nothing
more than get rich ; his wife hitherto has never
had any serious influence.
The Court marshal, Ritwitz, having suddenly
become raving mad, after a quarrel with one of
the provision officers, Marwitz, who is a totally
insignificant person, has been proposed to the
King. " He will do as well as another," replied
the Monarch. Is this thoughtlessness, or is it
fear of importance being annexed to a place
1 Arch-Chamberlain. 9—2

132 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
which in reality but little merits importance ?
This question it is impossible to answer.
Lucchesini increases in his pretensions ; he
demands a place in the finance or commercial
department ; perhaps the direction of the Maritime
Company, but this would be a very lofty stride.
Annexed to wit and information, he has some
qualities to which ambition is seldom allied ; at
most they will entitle him to become a member
of the corps diplomatique, of which he is capable.
I believe this Italian to be one of the most ardent
in keeping me at a distance from the King, who
will not indeed be easy of access before the winter.
The commission of regulations has hitherto
rather appeared a caustic than a healing and
paternal remedy. There is much more talk of the
sums, the employment of which cannot be justified,
than of easing the excise. Verder, the president,
is beside known to be the personal enemy of some
of the members of the tax administration. This,
perhaps, has occasioned suspicions. Verder, how
ever, was proposed by the Duke of Brunswick,
who, in fact, had need of his aid in some affairs
that relate to his country.

THE COURT OF BERLIN I33
Hertzberg has certainly been in a storm, and
the credit of Count Finckenstein appears to be
augmented, though I confess the shade of in
creasing favour is scarcely perceptible. I persist
in believing that Hertzberg is immovable, unless
by his want of address.

134 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXII

September 8th, 1786.
The sixth, at a review of the artillery, I dis
mounted my horse to attend the King, in the
front of the ranks. The Duke of Brunswick joined
me; and, as we talked of mortars, bombs and
batteries, we gradually removed to a distance. As
soon as we were alone, he began to speak to me
of the prodigious knowledge I had of the country;
giving me to understand he had read my memorial
to the King. He then reverted to the new reign ;
and suddenly afterward to foreign politics. Having
entered at length into the subject, and spoken
more than is necessary here to repeat, he added
— " In God's name, arrange affairs in Holland ;
free the King of his fears. Must the Stadtholder
never be other than ad honores ? You are in full
credit there, and this credit you cannot lose ; if
you did, the party by which you obtained it
would be too much exposed to danger. I repeat,
put us at our ease, and I will answer on my head
for everything else : but use despatch, I conjure

THE COURT OF BERLIN

135

you. On Sunday I shall depart for Brunswick;
come and visit me, while the King is gone into
Silesia ; we can converse freely there, and no- •
where else. But write to your friends that they
ought to exert all their influence to engage the
French ministry to use moderation with the Prince
of Orange, who cannot be proscribed without state
convulsions. Things are not ripe for his abolish
ment ; give him protection. France cannot render
a greater service to Europe. What, is your Court
yet to learn those forms which effect no change, but
which give every support ? " Here we separated,
because the subject began to be too interesting.
But tell me — ought I not to go to Brunswick ?
To this I should add that Count Goertz has
taken eight chasseurs with him, who are to convey
letters to the frontiers of the Prussian states, in
order that no despatches may be sent by land, nor
pass through foreign hands. The Duke of Bruns
wick has repeated what Prince Henry had told me,
and which I forgot to inform you of, that one of
the principal motives for selecting Count Goertz
was his former friendship with M. de Veyrac.
From my conversation with the Duke, I con-

136 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
elude that he is or soon will be master of affairs ;
and this explains the new fit of joy, hope, and
presumption which has seized on Prince Henry,
who has been persuaded by the cunning Duke
that, if he will but have patience, the sceptre
will devolve on him ; and that he, the Duke,
will be no more than high constable. It is said
Koenigsberg will be appointed field-marshal. This,
added to the smooth turn which the Duke has
given discussions and pecuniary matters, has turned
the Prince's brain, who told me the other day —
"That the Duke was the most loyal of men, and
his best friend ; that he owned a fortnight ago he
was of a different opinion ; but that, &c." So that
the metamorphosis has been produced within this
fortnight. In truth, there is no real difference be
tween a fool and a man of understanding, who
thus can suffer himself to be deceived ; as little is
there between a fool and a man of understanding,
who can be persuaded that a fool is a man of
understanding. Both these things daily happen to
Prince Henry. On the thirteenth he departs for
Rheinsberg and is to return the day before the King.
The fervour of the novice appears somewhat

THE COURT OF BERLIN I37
to abate. I have good reason to believe that
Mademoiselle Voss is ready to capitulate. Ogling,
frequent conversations (for the present assiduity
at Schoenhausen is not paid to the Queen
Dowager), presents accepted (a canonicate for her
brother), and an attempt at influence. (It is she
who placed Mademoiselle Vierey in the service of
the Princess Frederica of Prussia.) To ask is to
grant. Since the accession all circumstances de
note how dazzling is the lustre of a diadem ; but
so much the better, for her fall only can render
her but little dangerous. She is wholly English,
and is not incapable of intrigue. When we reflect
that the credit of a Madam du Troussel had the
power, under a Frederick II. , to bestow places of
importance, we may imagine what may happen
under another King, as soon as it shall be dis
covered that intrigue may be employed at the
Court of Berlin, as well as at other Courts.
Madam Rietz yesterday received a diamond
worth four thousand crowns : she will probably be
put on the invalid list, with some money, and
perhaps a title.
Her son, at present, has publicly the title of

I38 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
Count de la Marche (or Count Brandenburg), and
has a separate establishment.
General Kalckstein, disgraced by the late King,
and regretted by everybody, has received a regiment.
At present, and till I hear other news rela
tive to Berlin, accept the following important
anecdote ; and which I think it necessary to send
in the now doubtful state of the health of the
Empress of Russia. — About six years ago a young
foreigner, and a gentleman, in the service of
France, was presented to the Grand-Duchess, by
a lady who had been educated with her, and
who has remained her intimate friend. It was
the intention of this young gentleman to enter
into the Russian service : he was presented to
the Grand Duke by the Grand - Duchess, who
warmly solicited, and while he was present, a
place for the youth in service of her husband.
The young favourite, well-formed and hand
some, often visited the Grand - Duchess. Invited
to her palace, feasted, distinguished, and con
tinually receiving new favours, he fell in love ; of
which the Grand - Duchess was informed by his
extreme confusion. One grand Court-day, at a

THE COURT OF BERLIN I39
masked ball, in the evening, she had him con
ducted by one of her women into an obscure
apartment, and sufficiently distant from those
where the Court was held. In a little time the
conductress quitted him, and advised him to wait ;
and the Grand-Duchess arrived in a black domino.
She removed her mask, took the youth by the
hand, led him to a sofa, and made him sit down
by her side. The Grand-Duchess then told him
this was the moment for him to choose between
the service of France and the service of Russia.
A certain time, however, was allowed him to come
to a decision. Coquetry and even caresses suc
ceeded. Wavering, taken by surprise, distracted
between love and fear, the youth behaved with
excessive awkwardness at the beginning of the
interview. The Grand-Duchess, however, encou
raged him, inspired him with audacity, and made
him every advance, till at length he vanquished
his timidity, and indeed became very daring.
To this scene of transports, adieus suddenly
succeeded, which partook as much of terror, and
of despotism, as of love. The Grand -Duchess
commanded the youth, in the most tender but

140 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
the most absolute tone, to inform the Grand Duke
that he could not accept the rank of captain,
which was intended to be given him. She added
that he must depart, instantly depart ; and that
his head must answer should the least circum
stance transpire. She at the same time pressed
him to demand some mark of remembrance. • The
terrified youth, confused and trembling, requested
a black ribband, which she took from her domino.
He received the pledge, and so totally lost all
recollection, that he left the ball, and quitted
Petersburg, without contriving any means of
correspondence, arrangements for the future, or
precautions of any kind, in favour of his fortune.
In a few days he left Russia, travelling day and
night, and did not write to the Grand Duke till
he had passed the frontiers. He received a very
gracious answer; and here the affair ended.
This person is returned to, and is now in, the
service of France. He has little firmness, but
does not want understanding. Were he guided he
might certainly be useful ; at least, attempts might
be made after so extraordinary an accident. But
for this it would be necessary he should go to

THE COURT OF BERLIN 141
Russia before there is any change of Monarch,
and should tempt his fortune, now that the Grand-
Duchess has not so much fear. I am not person
ally acquainted with him, but I can dispose of his
most intimate friend, in whom every dependence
may be placed. I have not thought proper to
name the hero of the romance, whom it is not
necessary to know, unless it should be intended to
afford him employment. If, on the contrary, it
should be thought proper for him to pursue any
such plan, I will name him instantly.
The Elector of Bavaria is certainly not in
good health ; he may not live to see winter ; and
it is scarcely probable he will reach the spring.
I shall go from hence to Dresden, that I may not
appear to absent myself purposely for the Duke
of Brunswick. I shall remain there seven or eight
days, as long at Brunswick, and three or four
weeks in the whole. My journey will be exactly
of the same duration as that of the King, in
whose absence there is nothing to be learnt, and
I shall certainly profit by my peregrinations, and
learn more at Brunswick in a week than I should
here divine in three months.

I42 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
My letter is too long to speak of Turkey in
Europe. I doubt the Emperor cannot be pre
vented, if he is not destitute of all capacity, of
marching any day he shall please to the mouth
of the Danube ; but on the same day he must
become the natural enemy of Russia, who will
find in his presence one too many on the Black
Sea, and this may render the combined projects
abortive. I am assured that Moldavia and
Wallachia desire to be under the Emperor's
government. This I cannot believe, since his own
peasants fly their country, and even go to Poland,
rather than remain in his power. But the before
mentioned provinces are absolutely unprotected,
and I think no opposition can be 'made, except
in Roumelia and Bulgaria. In fine, I believe we
only, by promises or threats, are able to prevent
the Emperor from labouring at this grand demo
lition. If we believe the rhodomontadoes of
Petersburg, Russia is singly capable of the work.
But, were she to attempt it, what would she be
on the succeeding day ? You are not ignorant she
has received some check ; that Prince Heraclius
has been obliged to desert her cause ; that she is

THE COURT OF BERLIN I43
once again reduced to defend Mount Caucasus as
a frontier ; that she cannot at present march into
the heart of the Ottoman territories ; and that
perhaps this would be the best moment for re
covering the Crimea. Should all these particulars
be true, and these conjectures well founded, it is
impossible that I should know any one of them so
perfectly as you do yourself.
The dispute, relative to the bailliage of
Wusterhausen, has been very nobly ended by the
King. He has retaken it, but has made an annual
grant of fifty thousand crowns to Prince Henry ;
seventeen thousand of which the latter is obliged
to pay to Prince Ferdinand. The bailliage does
not produce more than about forty-three thousand.
Prince Ferdinand at present recants the re
nunciation to the Margraviate of Anspach. As it
is known that Prince Ferdinand has no will of
his own, it is evident he receives his impulse from
Prince Henry, and the more so, because this is
the manet altd mente repostum against Count Hertz
berg. It would be difficult to imagine anything
more silly, or better calculated eternally to embroil
him with the King.

I44 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
I have always regarded the singularity of
Romanzow, of not going into mourning, and his
violence with Count Finckenstein concerning not
sending a complimentary envoy to Petersburg,
which occasioned the Count to demand whether
he had orders from his Court to speak in such
a style, as the effervescence of a young man ;
especially since Baron Reeden, the Dutch envoy,
did not likewise go into mourning from economy,
which shews it was not considered as a matter
of any great importance. As these debates very
ridiculously occupied the corps diplomatique for a
week ; and as the Count d'Esterno, who has
conducted himself well on the occasion, must
have mentioned it, I thought it to no purpose to
write on the subject. But as Romanzow, of
all the foreign ambassadors, did not attend the
funeral at Potsdam, this mark, either of thought
lessness or dissatisfaction, was felt ; and, the
time necessary to receive orders being past, I
send information of the fact, to which I do
not, however, pay so much attention as the
good people in the pit, though it has greatly
displeased the boxes. The Cabinet of Berlin

THE COURT OF BERLIN I45
must long have known that friendship, on the
part of Russia, is hopeless till the accession of
the Grand Duke ; but it is impossible to butt
with more force, or greater disrespect, than
Romanzow has done.

VOL. 1

J46 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
LETTER XXIII
September 10th, 1786.
The following are some particulars concern
ing what happened, on the day of interment, at
Potsdam. The King arrived at seven o'clock. At half-
past seven he went with the Princesses Frederica
and Louisa of Brunswick, the young ladies Knisbec,
Voss, &c, to see the chamber of Frederick. It was
small, hung with violet-coloured cloth, and loaded
with ornaments of black and silver. At the far
end was an alcove, on which the coffin was placed,
under the portrait of the hero. This coffin was
richly ornamented with cloth of silver, laced with
gold. Toward the head was a casque of gold,
the sword that Frederick wore, his military staff,
the ribband of the Black Eagle, and gold spurs.
Round the coffin were eight stools, on which were
placed eight golden cushions, meant to sustain : —
1. The crown.
2. The golden globe and cross.
3. The gold box containing the seal.

THE COURT OF BERLIN I47
4. The electoral cap.
5. The sceptre.
6. The order of the Golden Eagle, of diamonds
and other precious stones.
7. The royal sword.
8. The royal hand.
The balustrade was hung with violet-coloured
velvet. A splendid glass chandelier was in the
centre, and on each side was a mutilated pyramid
of white marble veined with black ; that is to
say, of white cloth, marbled with great art. The
chamber appeared to me to want light.
His Majesty afterwards passed into the canopy
saloon, hung with black, and adorned with plates
of silver from the Berlin palace ; and next into
the grand hall, hung with black. Eight artificial
black columns had been added to this immense
hall. Its only embellishments were garlands of
cypress, and here again there was too little light.
In about half- an -hour the King returned to
his apartments; and, at half- past eight, Prince
Henry, Prince Ferdinand and the Duke of Bruns
wick came to see the same apartments, where
they only remained five minutes. 10 — 2

148 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
At a quarter -past nine the King went to
Prince Henry. The regiments of guards formed
under their windows. The canopy was brought ;
it was of black velvet, surrounded by cloth of
gold, and laced with a crape fringe. On the
cloth of gold were black eagles. Twelve posts,
covered with velvet, supported the canopy ; and
over them were twelve silver eagles, each a foot
high, which produced a good effect. •
After the canopy came the state coach1; very
large, very low, hung with white satin edged with
gold fringe, and drawn by eight horses covered
with black velvet.
To the state coach succeeded a chariot, in
black velvet, on which was a black crown, drawn
by eight cream-coloured horses, in black velvet
harness, on which were fixed black eagles, em
broidered in gold. The livery servants, chamber
lackeys, heydukes, running footmen, huntsmen and
pages followed.
The Princesses, ushered by Messieurs Goertz
and Bishopswerder, were at church.
1 Corbillard. Perhaps the word is here used to signify
a hearse.

THE COURT OF BERLIN I49
At ten o'clock the procession began. The
place of assembly was the grand hall with the
eight columns. A gentle descent had been made
from the grand canopy to the door, to which the
state coach was drawn up to receive the coffin.
The road from the palace to the church was
planked, and covered with black cloth. The pro
cession was truly superb, and conducted with
great order. The troops formed two lines.
The church was illuminated with wax candles
and small lamps ; and the coffin was deposited
under a cupola, supported by six pillars of white
marble. The organ began to play and the funeral
service was performed, which continued half-an-
hour. The return was not disorderly, but it was
not made in procession.
When the guests came back to the palace,
the tables were ready spread, and the courses
were served up at noon. The guests rose from
table at half-past one. The King, Prince Henry,
the Duke of Brunswick, and the Princesses, went
to Sans-Souci. Such was the manner in which
the morning was spent.
There was no comparison to be drawn be-

150 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
tween this and the funerals of the church of
Notre Dame with respect to magnificence, taste,
or splendour ; but they did everything that could
be done, the country and the time considered.
There was much order from the commence
ment to the close. The music was indifferent,
had no effect, no energy, no charm, and was
ill - executed : not one good voice, Concialini
excepted, who did not sing well.
The tables were well supplied, the viands
abundant and select, the servants numerous and
orderly. Each of the aides-de-camp general did
the honours of a table. French, Rhenish and
Hungarian wines were served in profusion.
The King, going to table, led Prince Henry.
On every occasion His Majesty saluted with
dignity. His countenance was neither serious nor
too cheerful. He testified his satisfaction to Reck, who
replied Captain Gonthard had regulated the whole;
and that he had no other merit except that of
having procured him everything of which he stood
in need. The King wore the grand uniform of the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 151
guards. The Princes were booted. Prince Goethen
had mourning spurs, which was remarked.
The King went and returned in company
only with the Duke of Brunswick.

152 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXIV

September 12th, 1786.
The King departs to-morrow. The order of
his journey has undergone no change. He will
be back on the twenty -eighth, and again set out
on the second for Silesia. I shall probably have
a good opportunity, on his return, to speak of
finance and of substitutes. Previous to this,
Panchaud must absolutely unite with me to form
a good plan of speculating in our funds — good for
the finances, and in particular good for the King,
who is to be allured. Remember the importance
of this Monarch.
Bishopswerder increases in credit, which he
carefully conceals. Welner, a subaltern creature,
endowed with understanding, management, and
knowledge of interior affairs ; a mystic, when
mysticism was necessary to please, and cured of
his visions, since the King has required these
should be kept secret; active, industrious, and,
what is more, sufficiently obscure to be employed

THE COURT OF BERLIN I53
without creating jealousy ; Welner, I say, appears
to gain prodigious influence. He has the qualities
necessary to succeed, and even to outwit all his
competitors.1 I again repeat, Boden ought not to be ne
glected, by the way of insinuation. He is vain,
and should be capable of corruption : for, always
suspected of the most insatiable avarice and the
basest means, he has lost a place of eight thou
sand German crowns by the death of the Land
grave of Hesse-Cassel ; and, it is said, is driven to
expedients. He corresponds with the King, and
rather intimately ; that which he should often
repeat must produce an effect. He is the hero to
slay Hertzberg, who, I may add, has not been
successful concerning Holland ; and in despite of
whom Thulemeyer may still be recalled.
Prince Henry still feeds on hopes. I have no
doubt that he is cajoled by the Duke of Brunswick.
But he is exactly at the same point, except that
Hertzberg is not so powerful. The King intends
Alvensleben for the French Embassy ; a man of
high birth, sense and wisdom, as it is affirmed.
1 He is at present absolutely the principal minister.

I54 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
He is at Dresden. I shall endeavour to study
him and shall take him letters.
No person is satisfied ; civil and military,
courtiers and ministers, all pout. I imagine they
expected it would rain gold. I have nothing to
add to my prognostics, which may be reduced to
this alternative — The nation sacrificed, while affairs
continue tranquil, that we may persuade ourselves
we govern — The Duke of Brunswick, should perils
intervene, and the storm begin to blow.
In the name of business and of friendship,
do not forget a plan of operations for finance.
Schulemburg is supported, and I have reasons
to believe he will not be dismissed. Should I
acquire influence in the finance, I would not be
his enemy. He will be more serviceable than any
other, Baron Knyphausen only excepted, who will
never be anything while Hertzberg is in power.
Remember that you have an incapable envoy
in Bavaria; and that this will become an embassy
of importance at the death of the Elector. If it
be meant to place me, which must be meant if
I am to serve, had not I best make my first
appearance here ?

THE COURT OF BERLIN I55

LETTER XXV

Dresden, September 16th, 1786.
I shall say nothing particular to you yet of
this country, as you may suppose ; for who can
run and read ? Beside, I find the inconvenience
of having no credentials, and consequently have
not been able to speak with propriety on affairs,
except in very general and metaphorical terms.
Stuterheim, the minister for foreign affairs,
with whom I have dined, is said to be a very
well, a labyrinth of secrecy ; and it follows that
his subalterns are exceedingly reserved. The
ministers here rather give in their reports than
act. Give in their reports, is the consecrated
phrase. But I have been so well convinced, by
what I have seen under Frederick II. , that the
King, who governs most himself, is so little the
master, and is so infinitely deceived, that I am
perfectly aware of the degree of credit which these
Court dicta deserve.
I have seen Alvensleben. Should he go to
France, I do not think he will live long ; he is

I56 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
worn out, and only keeps himself alive by extreme
abstinence, and an almost total sequestration from
society. He is well acquainted with Germany, is
said to act with prudence and propriety, is
successful in what he undertakes, and has a good
moral character. He is not, however, without art,
and perhaps he wishes to be cunning. He is not
precisely the man for France ; but he is a
specimen of the fruit of the country ; and, for
any other use, is some- of the best it produces.
I imagine you will find him agreeable.
I shall endeavour to get into the currency of
the country ; but I repeat, while I shall have no
credentials, and am left so much in ignorance
concerning home affairs, I shall be much more
proper to collect literary and written opinions
than for any other business ; and the thoughts
of men are not written in their faces. Nor do
you, for example, find in any book that a prime
minister has confided his eldest son, on his travels,
to such a blockhead as G  ; or to a Chevalier
du Vivier, who never utters a word that he does
not utter an absurdity, and perhaps some that
are dangerous. But why has he related that he

THE COURT OF BERLIN I57
waited at Hamburg five weeks for permission to
take the Viscount de Vergennes to Berlin, on
occasion of the accession of the King, and that
this was refused ? Is he afraid that they should
be insensible at Berlin of the affectation of having
avoided that Court ? I should never finish were I
to cite all the incoherencies he utters, the least of
which is ridiculous in the extreme. . . .
In reality, if I am to commence as a subaltern
in the diplomatic corps, I have no objection to
Hamburg ; where, exclusive of the great intercourse
of the commerce of the North, with which we are
unacquainted, and of which we do not sufficiently
participate, since we wish to have an envoy there,
we ought to have an active person, instead of one
from whom nothing is so desirable as that he
should be deaf and dumb.
The vast connections there are between the
grand emporiums of trade are such, that these
posts are never things of indifference. Why do
not they bestow a sinecure on M. du Vivier ?

158 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXVI

Dresden, September igth, 1786.
There are few men here, yet is the machine
tolerably well regulated : nothing can better prove
that order and constancy are more necessary for
good government than great talents.
The extreme credit of Marcolini is to be re
garded as a popular rumour. He is a favourite
without ascendency (as without merit) at least in
the Cabinet ; his influence does not extend beyond
the Court. At present he is in Italy, and the
routine of affairs is the same. Probably some
favours which pass through his hands, and which
the excessive devotion of the Elector rather
bestows on Catholics than on Lutherans, are the
real cause of these murmurs ; which, however,
are sufficiently believed to occasion the Emperor
to make a stupid blunder. He has sent here one
of the silliest of ambassadors ; one O' Kelly, an
Irishman ; because that Marcolini had married his
niece. He thought by this means to have governed
everything ; but the trap was so palpably gross

THE COURT OF BERLIN 159
that no one has taken the trouble to remove
the bait.
The ministers who have real influence are
Stuterheim and Gudschmidt. The first is very
infirm, but prudent, sage, and with understanding
enough to know on what subjects he is ignorant,
to ask information, and to consult others. He,
however, draws near his end. The second does
not shew himself to the world. He is affirmed to
be a man of the greatest merit ; that he has
infinite knowledge ; that not a single pamphlet, in
any language throughout Europe, escapes him ;
that his judgment is sound, his understanding per
spicuous and penetrating, and his temper com
municative ; which last quality is in him the more
compatible with discretion, because he possesses
its piety, without its superstitions. He ranks first
in the confidence of the Elector; but it must be
added he is sixty years of age, and has ill-health.
Among the ministers, we must also enumerate
M. Worm, a well-informed man, who possesses
some principles of political economy, with infor
mation not very common on the general relations
of commerce ; together with industry, activity, and

l6o THE SECRET HISTORY OF
great quickness of apprehension ; but, as it is
said, rarely with much justness of understanding.
His moral character is suspected. He is accused
of not keeping his hands pure from bribery; but
it is not the less true that he is of great service
to internal government. He appeared to me to
be artful, communicative, ironical, subtle, satirical
and crafty ; but very proper for business in all
countries.1 Of all the foreign ambassadors, I believe
M. Saftzing, from Sweden, to be the only one
above, or rather not below, mediocrity. I except
the English envoy, who has the character of being
an able man, but whom I have not yet any
proper opportunity of examining. He is open and
complaisant, even to affectation, considering that
his character is English. If we except Alven
sleben, not one of the remainder deserves the
honour of being mentioned.
The Elector is a man distinct from Princes in
general, yet he appears to partake of the character
i No wonder governments, and consequently nations,
are vicious, when such are supposed, even by men of con
siderable abilities, to be the proper qualities for governors.'

THE COURT OF BERLIN l6l
of the King of England. The consistency of his
mind, which is entire, has a small alloy of obsti
nacy. I spoke but little to him, because of the
confusion of the dinner. Etiquette is observed
at the table of the Elector ; consequently I paid
every care and attention to seat M. de Vergennes
near the Prince. He speaks with intelligence and
precision, but his voice is harsh, sharp and shrill.
His dress and countenance seemed to indicate
devout and wheedling, but acute and implacable,
jealousy. The very ill education of the Electress,
her noisy mode of speech, and her unreserved
freedom, greatly occupy this Prince to his dis
advantage ; for, beside that such kind of vigilance
ever bears somewhat of the stamp of ridicule,
his crabbed figure, rendered more disagreeable by
a paralytic affection in the eyes, becomes at such
moments restless, disturbed and hideous.
Such, and so ungracious, as he is here
depicted, he is a Prince who, from many con
siderations, is worthy esteem and respect. Since
the year 1763, his desire to do good, his economy,
his indefatigable labours, his innumerable priva
tions, his perseverance, and his industry, have not
vol. 1 n

l62 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
for a moment relaxed. He has paid all the
personal debts of the Electors ; and is advanced
in the liquidation of the debts of the state. He
pursues his plans with inflexible punctuality.
Slow, but not irresolute ; difficult in accomplish
ing, but intelligent ; with few resources at a first
view, but possessed of aptitude, and the gift of
meditation, his only weakness arises from his
religion, which yet does not occasion him to
exaggerate his rights, or to neglect his duties.
One step further and he would have been a bigot,
and one step backward and he would no longer
be a devotee. It is much to be doubted whether
his confessor, Hertz, has the least influence, except
in the distribution of some footmen's places. The
Elector supports his ministers with uncommon
firmness, against all, and to all. In a word, but
for him the country had been undone ; and,
should he have the good fortune to see a duration
of peace, he will render it very flourishing. Popu
lation visibly increases ; the annual surplus of
births over deaths amounts to twenty thousand ;
and the number of the people is less than two
millions. Trade, which might be better, is not

THE COURT OF BERLIN 163
bad. The army imitates that of Prussia, over
which it has the advantage of being purely
national ; but, to say the truth, Saxony is the
least military of all the provinces of Germany.
Credit is good, and even great. The paper cur
rency is at par, or nearly ; and the interest of
money at four per cent. The Cabinet of Dresden
is the only one in Europe which has adopted the
true principles of coinage. Agriculture is in a
state of passable respectability. Manufactures are
free ; the rights of the people are uninfringed ;
justice is impartially administered ; in a word, all
things considered, it is the most happy country in
Germany. Yet this is a remarkable circumstance,
and excites admiration when we recollect the
terrible scourges1 which have successively, and
sometimes collectively, laid this fine, but ill-
situated country, desolate.
1 The principal scourges to which the Author alludes,
by the epithet of ill-situated, is war ; by which its sufferings
have indeed been dreadful. Charles V., the Thirty Years'
War, Charles XII., and still more flagrantly, the late
Frederick, have been its tormentors. That it should re
cover, as it continually has recovered, from such periodical,
such renovating destruction, is a fact remarkable in history,
worthy the attention of the philosopher and the highest
eulogium on the country. 11 — 2

164 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
They are persuaded here that we instigate the
Turk ; that there is a coolness between the two
imperial Courts ; and that Russia is in want of
men, money and horses. It must be frankly
owned that her bank operations have a gloomy
appearance. It is supposed we shall endeavour,
should it be absolutely necessary, to effect a diver
sion in Germany, without interfering, except by
coming to the aid of those who should be too
much exposed to danger. For no one imagines
we shall suffer Germany to devolve on one single
head, nor even to be divided between two. And,
with respect to Turkey in Europe, it is thought
that our interest, conjointly with that of England,
will, by one means or other, avert the destruction
with which it is menaced.
On enquiry, I find the Elector of Bavaria has
not properly had an attack. He has only changed
his mistress ; and when he does so, he alters his
regimen to excite venery. It happens on these
occasions that he has nervous affections, which
resemble false attacks, and which will some day
bring on a paralytic stroke. His life is not de
pended upon.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 165
The hostilities of the Stadtholder have pro
duced an effect here greatly to his disadvantage.
For my part, I do not think his affairs in so
disastrous a state as they seem to be believed.
Should we embroil province with province, we
shall lose our advantages ; it will in vain be urged
that the Stadtholder is master of Guelderland ;
the nobility is numerous in that province, and they
form a public opinion.
I send you the state of the military in the
electorate of Saxony, which is no secret ; but I
shall also add, by the next courier, that of the
public stores, which I procured by a singular
accident, the particulars of which it would be
useless here to relate. I shall only remark that
the custom which the Elector has for several
years adopted in his offices, of employing super
numeraries without salaries, might give place to
discovery, however well secrets may here be
kept. I shall commit to M. de Vibraye, who is
returning to Paris, all the minutes of my cyphers,
well and duly sealed, and addressed to you.

l66 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
He does not expect to return hither, and has
hopes of the Swedish Embassy.
May not the changes which will take place
in the corps diplomatique, by the vacancy of
M. d'Adhemard, afford an opportunity of giving
me something more agreeable and less precarious
than a secret commission, which must end, of
course, with the life of a minister who is hasten
ing toward the grave ? I hope your friendship
will not slumber. You must own others might
act with less diligence. If you will take the
trouble again to read my despatches as they are
here sent, not in cyphers but correct, and will
at the same time consider all the difficulties of
various kinds that I have had to surmount, and
the few means which my cloudy situation can
afford, you will not be dissatisfied with my corre
spondence. Since, for example, Zelle has published
the history of the King's disease, I have the satis
faction to perceive the information I sent you was
exact. True it is that, under the late King, at
at the conclusion of so long a reign, a man knew
to whom to address himself; whereas at present
it is necessary to discover which are the doors at

THE COURT OF BERLIN I67
which you must knock. Yet I think I have given
a passable picture of men and things. And what
could I not effect of this kind, what could I not
discover, had I credentials ?

THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXVII

Dresden, September 21st, 1786.
I have several times mentioned, and particu
larly in Numbers XI. and XIX., this Boden ;
I can only refer you to the circumstances you will
there find.
As to the person named Dufour, whose real
name is Chauvier, and who was a journeyman
barber in France, had I thought it of any import
ance, I should have spoken before, and given his
character at full ; for he is one of the circuitous
paths pointed out to me by Prince Henry. He
certainly had influence over the Heir Apparent,
which he obtained : —
1. Because he was persecuted by the late
King, by whom he had been expelled J ; so that,
in order to return, he was obliged to take the
name of Dufour, which is that of a family of the
French colonists. And —

1 The Author does not say whether from the Court, or
from the country.

THE COURT £>F BERLIN 169
2. That he might aid to banish the spleen.
He often dined in private with the Prince, who
was so familiar with him, some time before his
accession, that when wearied with his discourse
he would drily bid him hold his tongue.1 Dufour
was one of those with whom I should have made
myself intimate, had the King continued to live
some time longer ; and he was among the persons
and things that occasioned me to project a journey
to Potsdam. But death suddenly interposed, and
I should have sought his intimacy too abruptly ;
not to mention that subaltern influence has, on
the King's accession, totally disappeared.
The person named Chapuis is a man who
is not deficient in understanding and address.
He was born in French Switzerland. He is the
governor of the natural son of the King, and
the well-beloved of Madam Rietz. Thinking his
acquaintance might be valuable in many respects,
I consequently sought it, under the pretence of
1 It is not very clear, from the original, whether it
was the Prince who bade Dufour, or Dufour who bade
the Prince, hold his tongue. The word presomtif, we believe,
can only be applied to an Heir Apparent, or we should
have reversed the reading.

170 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
literature only ; but at present Chapiiis has not
in himself any one point of contact. To run
after such people, so circumstanced, would but
be to render myself suspicious to no purpose. I
mentioned to you, on my. return from Rheinsberg
(Number XI). — " I have numerous modes of com
munication, which will develop themselves as time
and opportunity shall serve." — But these have
been retarded by the accession. Applications of
this secret kind can only be made in the depth
of winter, and during the Carnival, with utility
and safety.
These, generally, are rather tools proper for
a spy to work with than the engines of influence.
Should such people ever have power over foreign
politics, the puissance of Prussia must draw to a
conclusion. This country must not be estimated
by France ; there is not here the same margin
in which to insert follies, or to correct. And as
in general man remains at that point where it is
necessary he should be fixed, the King of Prussia
will act with circumspection in what relates to
foreign affairs.
Not that this should prevent us from recol-

THE COURT OF BERLIN 171
lecting that we ought to guard with extreme
caution against a coalition between Prussia and
Austria ; for this system also is capable of defence.
It is even the easiest of execution, and the most
splendid ; nor would Prince Henry be so averse
to it as he himself supposes, should he perceive
the least glimmering of hope. Hitherto, indeed,
I have not noticed anything that could give sus
picion ; but I shall more carefully examine what
ever might occasion such an event, on my return
to Berlin. There can be little danger that I
should become languid in the pursuit of this
object, having four years ago published my fears
of such an event, and having begun to send my
static tables of Austria, only that you might
attentively consider the immense basis of power
which the Emperor possesses, and whose alliance
with France I cannot but consider as the master
piece of Prince Kaunitz, and the type of our
indelible levity.
It may be that this, power of the Emperor is
as much overrated elsewhere as it is the reverse
in France; but even this is a reason which may
lead to prefer, instead of the perilous honour of

172 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
being the champion of the Germanic liberties, the
easy and deceptive advantage of dividing the spoils.
Therefore, delay appears to me more unseasonable
than it has been : for it is probable that the King
of Prussia, having once pledged himself, will not
recede ; which seems to be warranted by his
personal probity, his hatred of the Emperor, the
antipathy that exists between the two nations,
and the universal opinion which prevails that the
chief of the empire is a perfidious Prince.
Your project concerning Brunswick is certainly
excellent, and I shall spare no labour that may
tend to give it success. But the man is very
circumspect, Hertzberg very vehement, and the
crisis equally urgent.
I have conversed with several of the English
who are returned from the Emperor's reviews : he
behaved there with great affability, and was very
talkative. He particularly distinguished a French
officer, who had travelled on horseback, that not
a single military position might escape him, on
his route. The Austrian troops in general ma
noeuvre well, by companies ; and even tolerably
by regiments ; but collectively, their inferiority to

THE COURT OF BERLIN I73
the Prussian army is prodigious. Opinions on
this point are unanimous. They were not capable
of keeping their distances, even when filing off
in the presence of the Emperor. This grand
pivot, on which tactics turn, is unknown to the
Austrians ; whereas the Prussians so habitually,
so religiously, observe their distances, that any
failure of this kind is an error unheard of.
The inferiority of the Austrian army, com
pared to the Prussian, is attributed : —
1. To the want of a sufficient number of
officers and subalterns, compared to the number
of soldiers. 2. To the economy, totally anti-military, of
the Emperor ; who, while the companies nominally
consist of two hundred men, does not maintain
more than fifty or sixty under arms, and sends
the others home, even against their will ; so that
three-fourths of the soldiers are never disciplined.
3. To the troops being dispersed, kept in
petty detachments, and never exercised as a whole;
except when they are encamped, where even then
they are disciplined by detail.
4. To the very great inferiority of the officers.

J74

THE SECRET HISTORY OF

The corps of captains forms the soul of the
Prussian army, and at the same time is the dis
grace of the Austrian, &c.
It is generally affirmed that, should the two
nations go to war, there is little doubt concerning
which would have the advantage; for that there
is no equality between them, even supposing their
generals to be equal ; and that the contest most
certainly would be favourable to the Prussians,
during the first campaign. But this equality of
generals is not true. Laudon, though still vigor
ous, cannot wear much longer ; beside that, he
has often said he never would command an army,
unless at the distance of four hundred miles from
the Emperor. The abilities of Lacy are sus
pected, though he enjoys the entire confidence of
Joseph II. ; and, as it is rumoured, has rendered
himself singularly necessary, by the complication
of the military machine. No commander in the
Austrian army can contend against the Duke
of Brunswick, nor even against Kalcreuth, or
Moellendorf. Persons who have come very lately from
Russia affirm that the Empress is in good health;

THE COURT OF BERLIN 175
and that Ermenow has obliterated her long sor
rows for the death of Lanskoi. It is also said
that Belsborotko gains ground upon Potemkin ;
but of this I more than doubt.
I have no belief in the facility with which
the fifth despatch may be deciphered ; I think
that in general the cyphers have rather been
conjectured than divined. The way by which
they are commonly known is the official com
munication of writings, which is made from one
Court to another, and which the minister has
sometimes the ill address to send without his
accustomed cypher, on a known day. This is
a quicksand of which I am not in danger. It is
necessary, however, to have a variety of cyphers,
and I entreat you will not neglect any occasion
of sending me some that are new and more
complete.

176 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXVIII

Dresden, September 24th, 1786.
Your letter of the fourth of September,
which, by mistake, your secretaries have dated
the fourth of August, came to hand very late,
and I shall reply without written references and
solely from memory, in the annexed sheet, to
the principal points. I had, indeed, previously
answered them ; nor do I believe anything has
escaped me that it was in my power to learn,
or that I have any reason to repent of having
sacrificed too much to respect and to probabilities,
at the time of the death of the King. Had I
pursued my plan, I should have been four days
sooner than any of the diplomatic couriers ; but
I request you will answer me whether it was
possible to divine the conduct of our embassy. I
disregarded the minute circumstances of death, as
I had done that of the news itself: nor could I
divine that these, being no longer secret, and
having become so easy to examine and describe,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 177
should yet have remained secrets to you. I sus
pected it the less because that certain ambassadors
(indeed, most of them) appeared to me so embar
rassed, by the completing of their despatches,
that I should not have imagined they would have
disdained a supply, which was to be obtained with
so much facility. Satisfied also with having
informed you, thanks to lucky circumstances, of
the progress of the disease, in such a manner as
few ministers were informed, I despised those
particulars that were become public. But there
were some that were sufficiently interesting, rela
tive to the two last days of the King, from which
a banquet might be prepared at an easy expense ;
and the poignancy of which not death itself could
destroy ; relating as they did to a mortal so ex
traordinary, both in body and mind.
His disease, which would have killed ten men,
was of eleven months' continuance, without inter
ruption, and almost without relaxation, after his
first fit of an asphyxic apoplexy, from which he
was recovered by emetics, and after which the
first word he uttered, with an imperious gesture,
was Silence. Nature made four different efforts
vol. 1 12

I78 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
to save this her rare composition ; twice by
diarrhoeas, and twice again by cuticular eruptions.
Hence it might be said, by the worshippers of
a God, that this His image was broken by the
Creator himself; and that nature did not abandon
one of the most beauteous of her works, till the
total destruction of the organs, exhausted by age,
had been effected ; nor till after a continual war
fare between body and mind 1 during forty-six
years ; till after fatigues and agitations of every
kind which signalised this fairy reign, and after
the most ruinous disease.
This man died on the seventeenth of August, at
twenty minutes past two in the morning ; and on the
fifteenth, when, contrary to his constant custom, he
slept till eleven o'clock, he transacted his Cabinet
business, though his feebleness was excessive,
without any want of attention ; and even with a
conciseness scarcely perhaps to be found in any
other prince in good health. Thus when, on the
sixteenth, the reigning Monarch sent orders to Zelle
1 The French reads — " Contention continuelle d'ame et
d' esprit" ; or of soul and mind: the translator has the mis
fortune not to understand the distinction.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 179
to repair instantaneously to Potsdam, because the
King had remained insensible almost since the
noon of the day before, and because he was in a
lethargic sleep, the physician, arriving at three
o'clock, and finding Frederick II. with animation
in his eyes, sensibility in his organs, and so much
recollection, not being called, durst not make his
appearance. Zelle judged he was past recovery
less from the cadaverous odour which exhaled
from his wound than because he, for the first
time during the whole course of his reign, did
not recollect that he had not expedited the affairs
of the Cabinet. The conclusion was sagely-drawn ;
dying only could he forget his duty. . . . Two-
thirds of Berlin at present are violently declaim
ing, in order to prove that Frederick II. was a
man of common, and almost of mean capacity.
Ah ! could his large eyes, which obedient to his
wishes seduced or terrified the human heart, could
they but for a moment open, where would these
idiot parasites find courage sufficient to expire
with shame ?

12 — 2

l8o THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXIX

Dresden, September 26th, 1786.
Conversing with a well-informed man who
is returned from Russia, I learnt a fact totally
strange to me, though no doubt known to the
Count de Vergennes ; but, whether or no, one
which appeared to me proper to make you ac
quainted with ; and more especially because the
project is pursued with greater ardour than ever.
When Hyder Ali, having advanced beyond
the Orixa, was at the height of his prosperous
success, the inhabitants of the North of Bengal,
interrupted in their customary commerce by the
conflict between the English and their enemies,
brought their iron as far as the frontiers of
Siberia, there to find a market. This extraor
dinary fact was the cause of a remarkable
attempt made by Russia, in 1783. She sent
a fleet to Astracan, to seize on Astrabat, there
to form an establishment, on the northern coast
of the Caspian Sea, and thence to penetrate into

THE COURT OF BERLIN l8l
the interior parts of India. The enterprise failed ;
but is so far from being abandoned that, at
this very moment, a plan may be seen in relief
at Petersburg, of the works by which it is intended
to fortify Astrabat.
Of all the gigantic projects of Russia this is,
perhaps, the least unreasonable; since it is pointed
out by the nature of things, and since there is
already an inland navigation completely carried on
from Astracan, on the Volga, the Mita, the Lake
Jemen, the Wologda, the Canal of Ladoga, and
the Neva, to Petersburg. Should this plan ever
be pursued with activity and success, it must
either happen that England will seriously think of
an alliance with us, against the system of the North,
or she must suffer every sort of advantage to be
obtained over her at Petersburg: for the interest
of the Russians must then become totally opposite
to those of the English ; and hence may arise
dreadful hurricanes, that may sweep away their
puissance in the East.
How many revolutions, how much strife be
tween men and things, shall be occasioned by the
development of the destiny of that empire, which

l82 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
successively overawes and enslaves all surrounding
nations ? It must, indeed, be owned that her
influence in each place ought to decrease in an
inverse proportion to the multiplicity of these
places. But how great is the influence of these
augmenting points of contact, relative to Europe !
And, without prematurely divining the fate of
Turkey in Europe, with an intent to overcharge
the picture, should Russia seize on the Polish
Ukraine, as the manner in which she is arming
on the Black Sea, and disposing of her commerce,
seem to indicate and to threaten, how much
greater shall they still be ? What species of
understanding must the Emperor possess, if it be
impossible to make him perceive that the Turks
and the Poles are less dangerous neighbours than
those strange people ; who are susceptible of all,
capable of all, who become the best soldiers in the
world, and who, of all the men that inhabit the
globe, are the most malleable?
The various ideas I have acquired here,
where I have made a tolerable harvest, will be
comprised in a particular memorial. They are
not immediately necessary, and are too numerous

THE COURT OF BERLIN 183
to be inserted in my despatches. But there was
one temptation, which was rather expensive, that
I could not resist. The Elector has employed his
engineers in the topography of Saxony. Twenty-
four maps have already been laid down : they are
kept in great secrecy, and yet, by paying some
louis for each map, I can have them copied.
True it is I recollected that, since I could, M. de
Vibraye perhaps has — but, as we rarely do all we
may, or even all we ought to do, it is exceedingly
possible this should not be so ; and then I should
have lost an opportunity that never more could be
recovered. This reflection determined me, in the
hope that the intent of the act would be its
apology ; and, as I have not put government
to the least fruitless expense, or which did not
appertain to the better execution of the office I
have undertaken, my surplus accounts, I suppose,
will be passed.
The Elector of Bavaria is not ill. His new
mistress seems only to have been the whim of a
day, and his favour again reverts to his former,
Madam von Torring Seefeld, originally Minuzzi.

184 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXX

Dresden,1 September 30th, 1786.
You have been informed, no doubt, by the
courier of Tuesday, of what happened on Monday,
at the first Court held by the Queen; but, as I
think it is proper I should add some reflections
on this subject, I shall begin by relating what
passed. The Princess Frederica of Prussia, who im
agined that, according to the very sensible custom
of the country, the Queen would sit down to play
with natives, and not with foreign ambassadors,
had placed the Count d'Esterno at her table; for
it was she who arranged the parties. She asked
the Queen whom she appointed for her own table.
The' Queen named Prince Reuss, the Austrian
Ambassador, and the Prince of Goethe ; but, this
species of infantine elephant having, after some
consideration, declared that he did not know any
one game, the Queen substituted Romanzow, the
1 The scene of this and the two following letters, though
dated at Dresden, is Berlin.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 185
Russian Ambassador. The Princess Frederica was
exceedingly surprised, but either dared not, or
would not make ¦ any remonstrances ; and, the
Queen's party sitting down to play, the Count
d'Esterno, with great positiveness, energy, and
emphasis, refused to sit down at the table of the
Princess ; declaring he certainly would not play.
He immediately withdrew.
Everybody blames the Queen and the Count.
The first for having committed an unexampled
blunder, and the second, say the people of Berlin,
ought not to have refused the daughter of the
King. Perhaps this judgment is severe ; though
I own I should not myself have refused ; because,
in my opinion, we should not shew we are in
sulted, except when we wish to be supposed
insulted. And, as I think, it would have been
very thoughtless to have taken serious notice of
the absurd mistake of a Princess who is the most
awkward of all the Princesses in Europe. Neither
had Count d'Esterno, rigorously speaking, any
greater cause of complaint than any other of the
royal ambassadors, among whom there is no claim
of precedency. Perhaps, too, it would be impru-

l86 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
dent to endeavour to establish any such claim ;
for this would be very certainly to call that in
question which tradition and universal tolerance
have granted to us. And here let me observe
that, as soon as Lord Dalrymple knew Count
d'Esterno had been to complain to Count Fincken
stein, he declared he made no demand of pre
cedency whatever ; but neither would he suffer
precedency from anyone. I should, therefore, have
accepted the party of the Princess ; but should
have said aloud, and pointing to the table of the
Queen — " I see we are all here without distinction
of persons ; and certainly fortune could not have
been more favourable to me." (The Princess may
really be called handsome.) Had I thought I
still owed more to my sovereign, I should, on
the next Court-da}', have refused the nomination
of the Queen ; though it must have been a
violent and hazardous step, and reparation must
have become a public topic ; instead of which it
is the insult only that is talked of, and that
considerably, in the world.
Will the Count d'Esterno, or will he not, at
present, accept the first invitation he shall receive?

THE COURT OF BERLIN 187
Should he comply, it will remain on record that,
having resented the procedure, he has acknow
ledged himself second. Yet how may he refuse ?
I have proposed to Prince Henry, who is the
mezzo termine, that there should be a Court held
by the Queen Dowager, who, from her circum
spection and native dignity, is more respected than
the reigning Queen ; and that Count d'Esterno
should be of her party, with the Emperor's
Ambassador ; which distinction would be the more
marked because that this Queen never yet played
with foreign ministers. If her mourning for her
husband does not counteract this project, it seems
to me the best under the present circumstances.
The Queen has written a letter to Count Fincken
stein, which must have been read to Count
d'Esterno, in which is inserted the word excuse,
and wherein she requires the King should not be
informed of the affair. But it is answered the
offence was public, and excuses are wished to be
kept secret, since silence is required.
The most important and incontestably certain
fact is, that there was no premeditation in the
matter; that it was the silly giddiness of the

185 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
Queen in which it originated; that Count Fincken
stein and the whole Court are vexed at the affair;
that should the King hear of it he will be very
much offended with the Queen, whom he has
not seen for these six weeks, and whom he thwarts
on all occasions : that he has reversed all the
arrangements which in the rapture of accession
she had made with the Master of the Household ;
and that, in fine, never had Queen of Prussia^
that is to say, the most insignificant of Queens,
less influence.
If, therefore, it be true, on the one part, that
the place of every man in this world is that which
he himself shall assign to himself, that our rank,
already much on the decline in the public opinion,
has no need to sink lower; and that Russian in^
solence, which takes indefatigable strides, has need
of being watched and traversed ; it is perfectly
certain on the other, also, that the proceeding of
Monday was distinct and unmeaning, which ought
not to be regarded with a lowering brow, under
circumstances which may lead from lowering to
cold distance, and from the latter to great
changes ; or, at least, to decisively false steps, tor

THE COURT OF BERLIN 1 89
which the Courts of Vienna and London are
desirous of giving birth, and by which they will
not fail to profit.
Such is my advice, since I have had the
honour to have this advice asked. Permit me to
add, that Berlin is not any longer an indifferent
embassy, but that it is necessary there to be
active, yet cautious ; amiable, yet dignified; firm,
yet pliant ; faithful, yet subtle ; in a word, to
unite qualities which do not often meet. M. de
Vibraye means to ask this embassy, should Count
d'Esterno retire, or be sent elsewhere. I speak
uninterestedly, since I have no reason to presume
that,- should it be determined to send me on any
embassy, I should begin by one of so much con
sequence ; but it is my duty to say that M. de
Vibraye, and particularly his lady, are not the
proper persons.- His understanding is heavy and
confined ; rather turbulent than active ; and timid
than prudent. He is more the giver of dinners
than the representative of monarchy; he has
neither manners, elocution, nor eyes. Madam de
Vibraye, who does not want understanding, would
be too gay even for Paris ; and, to speak plainly,

igO THE SECRET HISTORY OF
she has little propriety, and less decency. But as
she is enterprising, she makes pretensions to dignity
with all the behaviour of thoughtlessness ; and, as
she moulds her husband as she pleases, by suffering
him to believe he is absolute master, she renders
him morose, uncivil, and rude. Beside which, she
sequesters him from the world : and such sequestra
tion must everywhere, and particularly at Berlin, be
totally disadvantageous to an ambassador of France.
This is one of the errors of Count d'Esterno.
The following is the chief intelligence I hear
concerning the King and his administration,
relative either to his absence or his return. He
is exceedingly dissatisfied with the Stadtholder. It
is affirmed you ought to accept the declaration of
Count Goertz. I repeat incessantly, that this is
the very time when our intentions ought no longer
to be suspected ; since assuredly, if we wish the
destruction of the Stadtholdership, the Prince of
Orange has given us a fine opportunity. Prince
Henry affirms that, provided he was restored to
the right of maintaining order, and not of giving
order, at the Hague, and was in possession of
a little money, the King would be contented.

THE COURT OF BERLIN I9I
I believe he, the King, feels the necessity of not
making a false step at the beginning of his
political career. One fact, I can assure you, is
certain, which is that it was the advice of Hertz
berg to march ten thousand men into Holland ;
and that there was on this occasion a very warm
contention between him and General Moellendorf,
in the King's presence. By this you may judge
of what is to be expected from the violence of
such a minister. Still, however, this has not pre
vented him from being created a Count in Prussia;
and, if I am not mistaken, his influence continues.
With respect to domestic affairs, whatever
Prince Henry may say to the contrary, the credit
of Schulemburg is on the decline : were it only
that he no longer appears in the transaction of
public business. It is, however, affirmed that he,
with many others, is soon to be made a Count,
for they are not economists of their titles. The
commission for the regulation of the customs
begins to strike bold strokes ; but they alight on
individuals, and are not aimed at general reforma
tion. Launay has received information that the
King henceforth can only give him six thousand

ig2 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
crowns per annum, in lieu of twenty thousand,
the sum he before had ; and that he must accept
this or resign. Launay, enraged, and the more
so because that he has long since demanded his
dismissal, loudly declares he will print an esti
mate,1 which will prove not only that, in justifi
cation of each of his acts, he has a letter from
the late King, the fiscal temper of whom he has
moderated much oftener than he has provoked,
but that he likewise has refused twenty bargains,
offered him by Frederick II. , which would have
acquired him tons of gold. The scandal of this
estimate, should he dare to publish it, will be
very great ; and the analysing of it will rather
be a commission of enquiry into the conduct of
the late King than of the present state of the
customs, which might easily have been foreseen
were thus regulated. The commissioners have
dismissed Roux, the only able man among the
collectors, with a pension of five hundred crowns ;
and Groddard, a person of insignificance, with a
like sum. They have bestowed their places on
Koepke and Beyer, with a salary of three thou-
i Compte rendu.

THE COURT OF BERLIN I93
sand crowns, neither of whom know anything ;
with this difference, that the last is exact, assidu
ous, and laborious ; but both of them are without
information, and devoid of principles. Generally
speaking, the commissioners themselves have
none ; nor have they the least knowledge of how
they ought to act. Commissions here will all be
the same ; for, exclusive of the inconveniences that
are annexed to them in every country, there is
in this the additional one that men of knowledge
are very scarce, and they must, therefore, long
continue ill-sorted. But the King wishes to
satisfy some, bestow places on those who have
protectors, and particularly not to have any prime
minister. There must be an embargo on business
while it remains in this state ; and I have many
reasons for supposing that no person will, for
some months to come, have found his true place,
or that which he is destined to keep; we must
not, therefore, be in haste to judge.
But we may affirm that the King has ex
ceedingly displeased the people: less in refusing
to partake of the festival prepared for his return
than in avoiding the street where the citizens
vol. 1 J3

194 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
had assembled to see him pass. — " He treats us
as his uncle did, on his return from the Seven
Years' War," say the mob; "but, before imitating
him in this, he ought to have imitated the great
actions of his uncle." — It must be owned good
sense is sometimes on the side of the multitude.
With respect to the domestic affairs of the
palace, anyone may remark at the first glance
that they are totally in disorder. No master,
no one to give directions, no funds assigned ;
footmen and the household officers govern all.
Dufour, or Chauvier (I before explained to you
that this was one and the same person), like
all the other subordinate confidants without any
influence whatever, is rather ill than well treated.
Colonel Vartensleben, formerly banished into
Prussia because of his intimacy with the heredi
tary Prince, is supposed to increase in favour.
But the two men to be observed are — Welner,
to whom it is affirmed are communicated all
ministerial papers, the reports on all projects,
and the revisal of all decisions ; and Bishops
werder, who, beside universal suspicion, talks
with too much affectation of having no influence

THE COURT OF BERLIN I95
over the King, not to betray himself, in a country
where people are not artful enough to say
they do not possess a thing which they really
do not possess in order that it may be supposed
they do.
With respect to pleasures, they are improved
upon. One very remarkable arrangement is, that
a cook has been appointed for the Princess
Frederica of Prussia, the King's daughter by his
first Queen ; thus she is to have a kind of house
hold ; which, if I am not mistaken, is nothing
more than a mode, and none of the most moral,
of procuring frequent and decent interviews with
Mademoiselle Voss, who is capitulating; for she
has declared that no hopes of success must be
entertained as long as Madam Rietz shall continue
to be visited. The latter went to meet the King
on his return ; then, passing through the city with
an arrow's speed, she flew to Charlottenburg,
whither the King came, and where she lives.
She acts the prudent part of taking charge
herself of the pleasures of his Majesty; who
apparently sets a great price on any new enjoy
ment, be it of what kind it may. 13—2

I96 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
It is secretly rumoured, though I cannot
warrant its truth, that England is prodigal in
caresses, and reiterated offers of a treaty of com
merce, on the most advantageous terms ; and that
Russia itself spares no advances. Certain it is that
our enemies and their partisans loudly proclaim
that we have lately disbanded ten thousand men ;
which is sufficient proof, say they, that we have no
thoughts of holding the two imperial Courts in awe.
I can also certify that the Grand-Duke and
the Grand -Duchess, who long had ' afforded no
signs of existence to Prince Henry, have lately
written him very charming letters ; but these are
no impediments to the licentious discourse of
Romanzow, who, on the eve of the King's funeral,
asked, in a public company, whether there would
not be rejoicings on the morrow ; and who has
bestowed the epithet of the illumination of the
five candles on the night of the second, on
which homage was paid to the new King,
and when a general illumination was ordered.
Apropos of homage, Prince Henry is permitted
to make written oath, and this favour has not a
little redoubled his fumes ; he still wagers that

THE COURT OF BERLIN

197

Hertzberg will be disgraced. This Hertzberg
yesterday read a pompous account to the academy
of his journey into Prussia, and he was suffocated
with incense by all the candidates. Nothing could
be more completely silly.
I shall conclude with a word concerning
Saxony. I do not believe the health of the
Elector to be good ; he withers visibly ; and this
is promoted by the violent exercise which he takes
from system, and in which he perseveres with all
his invincible obstinacy. He will leave no sons,
and there is no imagining the hypocritic imbe
cility of his brothers, who are not married ; the
result of which is that this fine country is danger
ously menaced by future contingencies. Marco
lini, as I have said, is on his journey through
Italy ; and it is supposed that one of his commis
sions is to seek a wife for Prince Anthony. Prince
Henry, who fears lest choice should be made of
a Tuscan Princess, or some other of the Austrian
alliances, has conceived the project of bestowing
the hand of the Princess of Conde on him, by
which we should secure the Electorate and the
Elector. I give this as I received it.

ig8 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
First Postscript. — Let me add that, with re
spect to the map I determined to have secretly
copied, it is the map of the most important part
of Saxony ; and one which all the foreign ambassa
dors, without exception, with M. de Vibraye at
their head, are convinced the Elector will not
permit his brother to see. I have had a windfall
much more valuable ; that of the land-survey of
1783, made with great exactitude, and containing
a circumstantial division of territorial wealth. I
shall have it copied in haste, for which I do not
imagine I shall be blamed. M. de Vibraye is;
quitting Dresden, whither he does not wish to
return. It is a pleasant post, and a very excel
lent one from which to observe the Emperor and
the King of Prussia.
Boden is on the road hither ; he is imagined
to be presumptuous enough to solicit the French
Embassy. Either he will be disappointed or the
Court of Berlin will act improperly. The King
still continues in the intention of sending you
Alvensleben. I spoke to you of him when at
Dresden, where I conversed much with him ; he'
is certainly a man of information and understands

THE COURT OF BERLIN igg
ing. M. d'Entragues was intimately acquainted
with him, and this friendship has continued. It
would be very easy to send for M. d'Entragues,
who is at Montpellier ; whether it were to con
duct or to watch his entrance on the scene of
action. Second Postscript. — Prince Henry was sent
for by the King this morning, on business, and
invited to go and dine at Charlottenburg. This
he has acquainted me with, and desired me to
come to him at five o'clock. I can add nothing
to this enormous length of cyphering, except that
I wish to repeat that the intelligence of the ten
thousand men proposed by Hertzberg is fact. It
has appeared so important to me, when com
bined with the affairs of Hattem and Elburg,
which seemed to give invincible demonstration
that Count Hertzberg had long promised, in the
secret correspondence of which I have spoken,
the aid of the army of the new King. I say
this information appeared so important that I
thought it my duty to make it known to the
Count d'Esterno, by a channel which he cannot
suspect is derived from me.

200 THE SECRET HISTORY- OF
With respect to Court intrigues here, I have
proof that Prince Henry tells everything to Prince
Ferdinand, who tells everything to his wife, who,
lured by the tempting bribes she receives in
ready money, betrays Prince Henry. Luckily
the excessive stupidity of this Princess deadens
her influence, and congeals the good-will which
the King wishes to entertain for her.

THE COURT OF BERLIN

LETTER XXXI

Dresden, October 3rd, 1786.
I have had very little time for the courier of
to-day, having spent all day yesterday, from six
o'clock in the morning till night, at, and in the
affairs of, the Court. The ceremony of rendering
homage was awful, notwithstanding the narrow
ness of the place in which the states were
received. As moral ideas have a great influence,
even unperceived by us, on our physical sensa
tions, this tribute of respect, paid by armed
despotism to the nation it governs, this species
of paternal colloquy between the Monarch and
the deputies, here called the states, establishing
in some manner a correlative engagement, to
which only a little more dignity on the part of
the deputies, and at least the appearance of
deliberation are wanting to give pleasure to the
heart, fill the mind with sublime and affecting
reveries. To a Prince capable of reflection, I would
only wish this ceremony to be contrasted with the
military oath, and the different emotions they

202 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

excite to be analysed, in order to lead him to
examine whether it be true that a monarchy de
pends wholly upon force, and whether the pyramid
ought to rest upon its basis or upon its point.
After the discourse of the minister of justice
(Reek) to the states, after the harangue of the
first order (the ecclesiastics), conducted by Prince
Frederick of Brunswick, provost of the chapter of
Brandenburgh, and after the oath* of the nobility,
the declaration and confirmation of privileges, the
enumeration of titles to be bestowed, made by
the minister Hertzberg (the minister Schulemburg
is one among the number of new Counts), the
King advanced, on a projecting balcony, over
which a very fine canopy had been raised, to
receive the oaths and the homage of the people.
The citizens were assembled, by companies, wards,
and trades, in the square opposite the palace.
The symptoms of tumultuous joy are here, as
elsewhere, the effects of sympathy (I had almost
said contagious) between a great multitude of
men, assembled to behold one elevated superior
to them all, whom they called their Monarch and
their Master, and on whom, in reality, depends

THE COURT OF BERLIN 203
the greatest part of the blessings or the woes that
await them.
It must, however, be remarked that the order
was much greater all the day, and at night, than
could have been hoped in any other large metro
polis. It is true that they distribute here neither
wine, cervelats,1 nor money. The largesses are
distributed to each quarter, and pass through the
hands of the pastor and the magistrate. It is
equally true that the passions of this are scarcely
so strong as the emotions of other nations.
The King dined upwards of six hundred
people. All who were noble were invited. When
the proposal was made to me to remain, I replied
that, apparently, only the national nobility was
meant ; and that, had it been intended to admit
foreigners to that favour, they no doubt would
have had the honour of receiving such an inti
mation. All the English, and almost all the
French, like me, and with me, retired.
The illuminations were not very great. One
was remarked where all the small lamps were
covered over by crape, so that the light appeared
1 A species of large sausage.

204 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
dim, gloomy, and truly funereal. This was the
invention of a Jew, and it was in the front of
his own house that it took place. It calls to my
mind a beautiful passage in the sermon which
preceded the ceremony, and which was preached
in the Lutheran church. The minister of the
prevailing religion long invoked, and with con
siderable pathos and energy, the blessings of
toleration — " That happy and holy harvest, for
which the Prussian provinces are indebted to the
family by which they are governed."
I send you the best medals that were struck
on the occasion. They are your own. Others
are to be distributed among the foreign ambassa
dors, who, no doubt, will send them home. There
were some in gold, but I thought them too dear,
the workmanship considered. Each general in the
service was presented with a large medal, the
price of which is forty crowns. Each commander
of a regiment received a small one, of the price
of six ducats. The large are good, the small very
indifferent. I speak of those that were distributed
yesterday ; and only of the likeness.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 2O5
October 4th, 1786.
The day of homage and its preparations have
wholly consumed the time, and obstructed all
society, since the last courier ; for which reason
I have at present little to say. Prince Henry
was invited, the other day, principally, as I
believe, let him say what he will, because M. de
Custine the father, dined with the King. How
ever, His Majesty, before dinner, spoke to the
Prince concerning Holland, and complained that
the discourse of M. de Veyrac, who had informed
Goertz he could not interfere, was in exact con
tradiction to the promises of the Cabinet of
Versailles. The subject of Holland puts him out
of temper, as it naturally must ; and yet, as I
have incessantly repeated — " When could we find
a better opportunity of acting disinterestedly than
at present ; now that the Stadtholder, contrary to
reason and all propriety, has taken a violent and
decisive part, a few days before the arrival of
the advice which was intended to be sent him
¦ by the King ? "
I have had a very impassioned scene, con
cerning Holland, with Count Hertzberg : patience,

2o6 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
firmness, and something of cunning, on my part ;
violence, passion, and want of reason, on his. It
is evident to me that he is pursuing some secret
project concerning Holland.
Apropos of M. de Custine ; he made the
King wait an hour for him at dinner. It is a
melancholy circumstance 'for France that she
should continually be, in some measure, repre
sented by certain travellers, when political affairs
are in a delicate state. Our Duke de la F  ,
amidst an assembly of our enemies, said to the
Duke of Brunswick — " Apropos ; pray has your
Highness ever served ? " — At Dresden, a cere
monious and circumspect place, where our embassy
has given much dissatisfaction, this same pitiable
interrogator, having been shewn a collection of
precious stones, the most magnificent that exists
in Europe, said to the Elector, at high dinner —
" Very good ! Yes, indeed, very good ! Pray how
much did the collection cost your Highness ? "1
i A good account of this collection of baubles, which
existed in all its splendour under Augustus II., Elector of-
Saxony, and by which and similar expenses, equally wise,
a country so flourishing and industrious was overwhelmed
in debt, may be seen in " Hanway's Travels," vol. i.,

THE COURT OF BERLIN

207

A certain M. de P  , a week before the death
of the King, dining at Potsdam with the Prince
of Prussia, hearing the name of M. de H 
mentioned, exclaimed, " Apropos ; I forgot that
I have a letter from him, which I am to give
you." — And this letter he threw to the Prince
across the table. He no doubt imagined such
familiarity was exceedingly natural — he who, at
Prague, taking leave of the Emperor, seized and
shook him by the hand, testifying the great
satisfaction he had received at having seen his
manoeuvres, and renewed his acquaintance with
him. And, what is better, it is M. de  who
relates this anecdote here ; which there are
chap. 95. The porcelain collection, in splendour and folly,
equals that of the jewels. The same Augustus purchased
forty-eight china vases of the cunning and covetous Frederick
William I. of Prussia, the great merit of which was their
great bulk, at the price of an entire regiment of dragoons.
The late King of Prussia used, in contempt, to call
Augustus III. the Porcelain King; and informs us, in the
"History of his own Times" that, when acting in conjunction
with the Saxons to conquer Moravia for the benefit of this
Augustus, having demanded artillery to besiege Brunn, the
Elector replied he had no money to purchase artillery ;
yet he had lately expended 400,000 crowns on a large
green diamond 1

208 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
Englishmen enough would take care should not
have been forgotten, had he not with so much
precaution treasured it up in his memory. Where
fore permit such people to travel, whom, by means
of the places they enjoy, it is easy to detain at
home ? There is no possibility of exaggerating
the evil which such ridiculous pasquinades pro
duce, at a moment when the ill-designing are so
numerous, and who wish that the nation should
be judged by such specimens.
Suffer me further to remark, of Messieurs de
Custine, that, foolish as the father is, physically
a fool, a fool unmeasurable and disgusting,, equally
is the son a man of great hopes, and appears in
all companies with universal success. Not any
man so young, with whom I am acquainted, unites
so much modesty, so much reason, and such
decent timidity, to so great a talent for observa
tion ; or, to manners so agreeable and mild, so
much caution and wise activity. There is no
doubt but that the extravagances of the father
display these qualities to advantage in the son ;
but they exist, and on the most solid basis ; for,
in all probability, he has taken an aversion for,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 209
by being a continual spectator of, the follies of his
father. He is one of the scions whom, of all the
young men I have known, is most proper to be
transplanted into the diplomatic nursery.
The King, all yesterday, was cold and taci
turn ; not an emotion, not a gracious word, not
a smile. The minister Reek, who harangued
the states in the name of the Sovereign, pro
mised, in his discourse, that no new tax should
be imposed, during the present reign ; but that,
on the contrary, those that existed should be
diminished. Was he commanded to make this
promise, or did he venture to make it uncom-
manded ? Of this I am ignorant, and it is a
matter of doubt.
The day before yesterday, the King had
some domestic brawls, and a scene of jealousy,
at Charlottenburg, to support from Madam Rietz.
The remembrance perhaps remained with him
yesterday ; whether or no, the discourse of his
minister of justice spoke more pleasingly than his
countenance, however agreeable it may in reality
be. He is to depart on the fourth for Silesia,
and does not return till the seventeenth.
vol. 1 14

210 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
A part of the palace is at present furnishing,
but in a simple style.
Public notice has been given that those per
sons who had been promised reversions of fiefs
should appear ; that their reversions were annulled,
and that they were not allowed to solicit till first
there should be a vacant fief, and not for the
reversion of fiefs.
I have seen a narrative of what passed in
Prussia. The person who wrote it has employed
very sounding expressions to depict the enthusiasm
of the public, and among them the following
phrase of the King: "I have found Prussia very
ill, but I will cure her."
Count Katzerling, who had suffered great
losses during the Seven Years' War, and met
with very ill treatment from the late Monarch,
after having been very graciously received by him,
has accepted a loan of one hundred and fifty
thousand crowns, for thirty years, without interest.
It is said the Bishop of Warmia will be here
within three weeks. He is a very amiable man,
with the levity of a Pole ; and was much in the
favour of the Prince of Prussia. The King seems

THE COURT OF BERLIN 211
to remember this ; he has been treated with much
greater kindness than any other person in Prussia.
In November, the King is to balance the
statements of expense and receipt.
First Postscript. — I forgot to inform you that,
for so cloudy a day, Prince Henry was yesterday
highly caressed. He dined and supped with His
Majesty, and singly attended him to see the
illuminations. Second Postscript. — I return from Court, the
ambassadors were mingled promiscuously ; but, as
the ministers of the two Imperial Courts were
together, the King proceeded in rather a singu
larly retrograde manner. It so happened (because
of the number of Englishmen that were to be
presented) that Lord Dalrymple was the nearest
to the King's door, and preceded the Imperial
Ambassadors. The King began with the latter.
He then returned to Lord Dalrymple ; after which
he descended much lower toward Count d'Esterno
and spoke no further to him than by thanking, in
general, the foreign Ambassadors for their illumi
nations. Should this neglect of customary forms
14 — 2

212 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
continue, I think it would be right to let it be
understood that it gives displeasure ; for the
rumour of the hatred of the King for the French
is daily strengthened ; and rumour sometimes in
reality produces the event it proclaims.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 213

LETTER XXXII

Dresden, October 4th, 1786.
It appears extremely probable that habit will
be the conqueror ; and that Frederick- William
will never be more than what his penetrating
uncle had foreboded. No terms are too hyper
bolical to express the excessive negligence of his
domestic affairs, their disorder, and his waste of
time. The valets dread his violence ; but they
are the first to turn his incapacity to derision.
Not a paper in its place ; not a word written at
the bottom of any of the memorials ; not a letter
personally opened ; no human power could induce
him to read forty lines together. It is at once
the tumult of vehemence and the torpor of inanity.
His natural son, the Count of Brandenburg, is the
only one who can rouse him from his lethargy ;
he loves the boy to adoration. His countenance
brightens the moment he appears, and he amuses
himself, every morning, a considerable time with
this child,1 and this, even of his pleasures, is the
1 He died last year.

214 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
only one in which he is regular ; for the remain
ing hours are wasted in absolutely inexplicable
confusion. His ill -humour the other day, for
example, which I had supposed was occasioned
by the quarrel at Charlottenburg, induced me to
enquire into particulars. It was nothing more
than a musical dispute. The King would have a
chamber concert. He ordered two - and - twenty
musicians to be assembled. It was his intention
to have performed himself ; his violoncello was
uncased and tuned. Fourteen musicians only
came ; and passions, threats, intemperance suc
ceeded. The valets de chambre laid the blame
on Kalikan, whose business it was to summon
the musicians. Kalikan was thrown into prison.
Duport, the famous violoncello player, and con
sequently the favourite musician, came to the aid
of Kalikan, and gave the King the letter which
the valets de chambre had intercepted. His
choler then became outrageous ; everybody fled ;
but no further effects have followed this subaltern
prevarication. Poor King ! Poor country ! 1

i The late despot made drummers of M. Mara (the
husband of the celebrated singer) and another' musician,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 21$
I am persuaded of two particulars ; the one
that His Majesty has conceived the idea and the
hope of becoming a great man, by making himself
wholly and purely German, and by hectoring
French superiority ; the other, that he is already
in his heart determined to resign business to a
principal minister. He has not perhaps yet owned
the fact to himself ; but at least he is inwardly
convinced it must be so. In this case his last
resource will be to call in the aid of the Duke of
Brunswick, or of my uncle.
The first of these plans is the work and the
masterpiece of Count Hertzberg. He has said,
and justly said : " There is only one mode of
acquiring reputation ; which is to impart an im
pulse to your nation, that under your reign a new
kind of glory may take date. This impulse you
can only give by acting determinately. What can
you ever effect as the partisan of France ? You

whose name we have forgotten, for having the spirit to
disobey an arbitrary mandate ; and drummers for hours
they remained, to their disgrace, as was intended ; but
to the disgrace of himself, in reality, and of the nation
that will suffer such tyrants, petty as the instance was,
to exist.

2l6 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
can only be the feeble imitator of Frederick II.
As a German you will be an original, personally
revered throughout Germany, adored by your
people, vaunted by men of letters, respected by
Europe, &c, &c." The explication of the enigma
is, that Count Hertzberg imagined this to be the
shortest road to make himself prime minister.
But the necessities of accident demand, or
will soon demand, a different person. Servile as
the country is, it is not habituated to ministerial
slavery ; and Hertzberg, long a subaltern, rather
crafty than able, deceitful than cunning, violent
than determined, vain than ambitious, old, infirm,
and not promising any long duration of life, will
not bend the people to this servility. They must
have (for as this Welner, who is so much attended
to at present, and whose influence near spectators
only can discover, may push his pretensions),
I repeat, they must have a man whose rank can
quell subordinate candidates ; and the number of
such men is not great. I can discover but two
men of this kind : Prince Henry, and the Duke of
Brunswick. To the ^disadvantage of not living in
the country, the latter adds that of being neces-

THE COURT OF BERLIN 217
sarily formidable to a feeble and indolent, but
vain and jealous, Prince ; and who may imagine
that Prince Henry will not commit the same
injury on his, the Sovereign's, reputation as a
Prince who cannot leave his own country, and
reside here constantly as prime minister, without
being undoubtedly and conspicuously such. For
which reason the credit of Prince Henry daily
strengthens, in spite of his ill address. However,
he has boasted less within some few weeks ; and,
instead of not returning from Rheinsberg, whither
he again goes during the absence of the King, till
the middle of December, as was his intention, he
will be here on the same day as his nephew.
Yet, exclusive of the personal defects of Prince
Henry, and the errors of which he will indubitably
be guilty, how shall we reconcile the German
system and the Monarch's hatred of the French
to the confidence granted this Prince ? The
symptoms of such hatred, whether systematic or
natural, continually increase and correspond. The
King, when he dismissed Roux and Groddart, said,
" Voild done de ces B  dont je me suis defait." 1
1 " I have rid myself of these  ." The epithet must

2l8 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
The real crime of Roux, perhaps, was that he kept
a Jewess whom the Prince of Prussia wished to
possess, and obstinately refused to listen to any
kind of accommodation. A French merchant
brought some toys1 to shew him, to whom he
harshly replied, " I have baubles already of this
kind to the amount of seven millions." He then
turned his back, and did not utter another word,
except to bid him not go to the Queen, for if
he did, he should not be paid. The action was
far from blameable; it is the manner only that I
notice. Boden was passably well received, except
that the only consolation he found for his fever
was — " Go to Berlin, and keep yourself quiet, for
you have a companion that will stay by you these
three months." — Boden said to him, " I should
have had thousands of messages to your Majesty,
had I dared to take charge of them." — " You did
well to refuse," replied the King ; and in so rough
a tone that Boden durst not even give him the
letters of Dusaulx and Bitaube.
be left with the reader ; there is no danger he should be
more indelicate than the original.
t Des gentillesses, probably jewels.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 2ig
Launay is treated with severity, and even
with tyranny. He was confined to his chamber
while his papers were examined, independent of
a general prohibition not to leave Berlin. One
Delatre, his personal enemy, has been opposed to
him on all occasions, and has been sent for to
become an informer against him ; a man devoid
of faith or honour ; suspected of great crimes ;
a dissipator of the King's money ; an unbridled
libellist, and as such denounced by our Court to
that of Berlin, which officially returned thanks,
two years ago, for our behaviour on that subject.
I say he was sent for ; because, owing as he does,
eighty thousand crowns to the King, would he
have ventured to come without a passport, or
being asked ? It is evident that Launay is per
secuted as a farmer of the taxes, and as a
Frenchman. It is believed that the collectors
and farmers-general will all be dismissed1 at the

i Congedier la regie. — The late King introduced the
French into Prussia, to farm and collect the taxes, at the
beginning of his reign. It was one of the most odious of
the acts of his internal administration ; in which, whenever
his own revenues were out of the question, he endeavoured
to act for the good of the people. Endeavoured, but most

220 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
festival of the Trinity ; the time when those
accounts that shall actually be settled are to be
examined. This is the grand sacrifice that is to
be offered up to the nation. But what is to
supply the deficiency in the revenue ? For in
fine, the farmers, last year, paid six millions eight
hundred thousand German crowns ; and it is not
only impossible to replace this immense sum, but,
knowing the country, it is easy to foresee that
the German farmers of finance will scarcely collect
the half of the amount.
Of what will the convocation of the provincial
and finance counsellors, and the deputies of the
merchants, be productive ? Of complaints, and
not one project which will not be distinct, partial,
and in contradiction to the general system ; or
such as the nature of things presents as a system ;
for in reality not any as yet exists.
I return, and say, all these projects are con
trary to the personal hopes of Prince Henry. Will
he make all his passions subservient tS his ambi
tion ? (He is far from possessing that degree of
frequently did not ; of this, his innumerable monopolies are
proofs incontestable.

THE COURT OF BERLIN

fortitude.) Or, does he dissemble that he may
obtain power ? Of this I do not believe him
uniformly capable. I rather fear he is once again
the dupe of caresses ; which, however, it must be
confessed, are more substantial and more marked
than they ever had been before. I particularly
fear he should be in too great haste, and too
eager to gather the harvest before it be ripe ;
neglecting the care of providing seed for futurity.
The King has given the Minister of Justice,
Reek, a box of petrified shells, splendidly en
riched with diamonds, estimated to be worth
twelve thousand crowns ; a similar box to the
minister Gaudi, and ten thousand crowns ; another
of the same kind to General Moellendorf ; a fine
solitaire to the Marquis di Luchesini ; and a
diamond ring to Philippi, the lieutenant of the
police. He has farther broken up three boxes
set with diamonds, of which thirty rings have
been made ; these he has taken with him to dis
tribute in Silesia.
Take good note, that Launay has not had the
alternative of accepting a salary of six thousand
crowns, or his dismission ; he has merely received

222 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
information, under the form of an order, that his
salary was reduced to six thousand crowns.
Count Hertzberg, this day, gave a grand
dinner to foreigners, to which the new Spanish
Ambassador was invited, but neither Count
d'Esterno nor any Frenchman ; which affectation
was the more remarkable since all the English,
Piedmontese, Swedish, and not only foreign am
bassadors but complimentary envoys, were there
assembled. Count d'Esterno takes a proper
revenge ; he gives a grand dinner to-morrow, to
which Count Hertzberg is invited.
Postscript. — Mr. Ewart, the secretary of the
English Embassy, said to me yesterday, in the
presence of fifteen people, Count Hertzberg support
ing him with voice and gesture, in these precise
terms, " The Stadtholder is, by the constitution,
the executive power in Holland ; or to speak more
intelligibly, he is precisely in Holland what the
King is in England." — I replied, in the most
ironical and dry tone, "It is to be hoped he
will not be beheaded by his subjects." — The
laughers were not with Mr. Ewart.1
i The laughers were blockheads.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 22^
Boden has sent your packets. The extracts
from the pleadings of Linguet, which are excellent
(I speak of the extracts), have been perfectly suc
cessful. I entreat you will not fail to send me
the continuation. You cannot find a better means
of procuring me customers than by things of this
kind. There is a demur concerning Alvensleben. It
is Hertzberg who supports Goltz.
Number LXXVIII. of the Courier of the
Lower Rhine is so insolent, relative to the King
of France and his ambassador, that I imagine it
would be proper to make a formal complaint.
This might somewhat curb Hertzberg, who is the
accomplice of Manson, and who may do us many
other favours of a like nature, should this pass
with impunity. You are not aware of the influence
these gazettes have in Germany.

224 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXXIII
Magdeburg, October gth, 1786.
Leaving Berlin, I by chance discovered the
person who has remained four days shut up
in the apartment of the Prince of Hesse (of
Rothembourg), who is no other than that Croisy,
formerly St. Huberty, and once the husband of
our celebrated St. Huberty,1 whose marriage was
annulled ; Counsellor Bonneau2 of the Prince of
Prussia ; and relative to his own wife, a bankrupt,
1 The first singer at the French opera.
2 Bonneau is a sea term, in the French language, and
signifies buoy. But the word was chosen by Voltaire,
because it was an apt metaphor, as the name of a Pandar.
From him it is here borrowed, and is several times so
applied in this work.
Done, pour cacher comme on put cette ajfaire,
Le Roi choisit le Conseiller Bonneau,
Confident sur, et tris bon Tourangeau.
II eut I'emploi, qui certes n'est pas mince,
Et qu'a la cour, oil tout se peint en beau.
Nous appellons etre Vami du prince,
Mais qu'a la ville, et surtout en province,
Les gens grossiers ont nomme Maquereau.
— La Pucelle. Chant prem.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 225
a forger, in a word, a knight of industry, of the
most despicable order, and concerning whom all
foreigners ask, " Is it possible such a man can
be an officer in the French service ? " I am no
longer astonished that the Prince of Hesse should
be coldly received by the King. To come
expressly to lay the train to the mine of cor
ruption ; and to depend upon it as a certainty
that the combustibles should catch fire, from -a
knowledge of the errors of the Sovereign ; to found
hopes of success on the ill opinion we have of
him, and in a manner to proclaim this know
ledge, by a rapid journey from Paris to Berlin,
destitute of all other pretext ; since the Prince of
Hesse and his minion have stayed only five days,
and are already gone back to Paris ; this is at
once to display foolish cunning and contemptible
conduct. I imagine it is of importance that we
should tell the King aloud, and with the strongly
marked, ironical tone of disdain, which shall make
him feel, without debasing ourselves to speak more
openly, that this manoeuvre was totally unknown
to our Cabinet ; for I am persuaded, from some
half-phrases which I have heard those who wish us
vol. i 15

226 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
ill drop, that they do not desire anything better
than to fix this blot upon us.
I have travelled through Brandenburg to
Magdeburg with Count Hatzfeldt, who had been
sent by the Elector of Mayence to compliment
the King on his accession, and Baron Geilling,
sent for the same purpose by the Duke of Deux-
Ponts. The latter, formerly a captain of hussars
in our service, is a handsome blockhead, who
could only have been chosen because he is the
brother of Madam Eixbeck, the Duke's mistress.
Count Hatzfeldt is a man of great urbanity, and
whose knowledge and understanding are deserving
of esteem. It seems he will remain some time
at Berlin, that he may discover what shall be
created out of the chaos. I conversed much on
Mayence ; the Elector is better, but does not
promise any length of life. The two persons who,
in all appearance, are most likely to succeed him
are Feckenberg and Alberg. The first is wholly
Austrian, the latter a man of abilities, of whom
the highest opinion is entertained, whose political
inclinations are little known, and who dissembles,
like Sixtus V. while yet a monk.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 227
That Court at present seems to be exceedingly
averse to the Emperor, who every day, indeed, by
a multitude of traits, both private and public, and
which are really inconceivable, increases universal
hatred. It is impossible to depict the effect which
his answer to the request of the Hungarians pro
duced — (Pueri sunt pueri : pueri puerilia tractant) —
together with the violent abolition of all their
privileges. But, on the one hand, the great
landholders are at Vienna, there enchained by their
places, and almost kept under a guard, so that
they are in truth the hostages of the slavery of
the Hungarians ; and, on the other, the aristocracy
being excessively odious to the people, there is in
this superb and formidable country neither unity
of interest, nor centre of concord. The regular
troops are, beside, posted, and provided with
artillery, supported by veterans, colonists, &c, &c.
An Englishman, very much my friend, and
a man of excellent observation, whom I have
happened to meet with here, and who has visited
all the camps of the Emperor, while speaking in
raptures of those formidable pillars of his power,
Hungary, Moravia, Bohemia, and Galicia, ¦ &c,
15—2

228 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
confesses that the inferiority of his troops,
compared with the Prussian army, has infinitely
surpassed his expectation. He affirms it is im
possible, either relative to the individual or collec
tive information of the officers or to the military
talents of the Emperor, which are in reality null,
insomuch that he appears incapable of con
ceiving such complicated evolutions — he affirms, I
say, it is impossible to compare the two nations :
with this difference, that the Emperor, like
Cadmus, can make men spring out of the earth ;
and that the Prussian army, once annihilated, will
be incapable of renovation, except from its treasury.
Should a man once be seated upon the Austrian
throne, there will be an end to the liberties of
Europe. The health of the Emperor is supposed
not to be good ; his activity gradually decreases ;
he still, however, surpasses his real strength, but
his projects seem like the wishes of an expiring
patient who raves on recovery. He is supposed
at present to be on very cool terms with the
Empress of Russia.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 22g
LETTER XXXIV
Brunswick, October i\ih, 1786.
Though I ride post, you perceive it is not in
the spirit of dissipation. Alas ! what mode of life
in reality less corresponds with 'my natural incli
nation than that indolent activity, if so I may
call it, which hurries me into every tumult, and
among the proud and fastidious, to the utter loss
of time ! For such is the general consequence of
the confusion of society among the Germans, who
converse as they call it between themselves although
thirty persons should be present. Thus am I
robbed of study, deprived of my favourite pur
suits, my own thoughts, and forced incessantly to
comply with forms so foreign, not to say odious,
to my nature. You yourself, who lead a life so
full of hurry, but who, however, associate with
the chosen few, in despite of all the gifts of
nature, you must feel how difficult it is abruptly
to pass from the buzz of men to the meditations
of the closet. Yet is this indispensably necessary,
in order to manage the aside speeches, by which

23O THE SECRET HISTORY OF
the current news of the day is acquired and conse
quences divined. We must gallop five days with the
Prince, and pursue all the physical and moral mean-
derings of the man, in public and in private, before
we can obtain the right, or the opportunity, to ask him
a question ; or, which is better, to catch a word, which
may be equivalent to both question and answer.
But who knows this better than you ? I only
wish you to understand my excursions are not the
effect of chance, and still less of whim. Let me
add that each of my journeys improves my local
knowledge, a subject on which I have made it a
law not to be easily satisfied. I hope that, among
others, you will perceive by my memorial on
Saxony, and by that on the Prussian States, which
are, in reality, works of labour, and which you will
not have a sight of for some months to come, that
I have profoundly studied the countries which I
wished to understand, and as ardently in men as
in books ; with this difference, however, that I
scarcely dare confide in the mere assertion of the
best informed man, unless he brings written proofs.1
1 Are there not, cceteris paribus, as many written as
related lies ?

THE COURT OF BERLIN 23I
The necessity of that species of superstitious
conscientiousness with which I am almost me
chanically impressed, whenever I take up the pen,
has been demonstrated to my own mind too often
for it ever to forsake me.
Yet whither am I travelling in this painful
road ? If I may depend on the few reports which
your friendship has deigned to make me of the
sensation which my despatches have produced,
when corrected, arranged and embellished by you
(for how is it possible for me to correct that which
I write at the moment, by snatches, with lightning
like rapidity, and without having time to read?), they
have given satisfaction. If I judge by the reiterated
symptoms of the extreme inattention which long
silence supposes, on questions the most important,
on requests the most instantaneous, and some
times of absolute forgetfulness of the greatest part
of these things, I should be induced to believe
that my letters are read, at the most, with as
much interest as a packet would be, the materials
of which are tolerably clear and orderly, and that
the reading produces not the least ultimate effect.
Should this be so, is it worth the trouble (I put

232 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
the question to you, whose energetic sentiments
and high thoughts so often escape, notwith
standing all the contagion of levity, carelessness,
egotism, and inconsistency which exhale out of
every door in the country which you inhabit), is
it right, I say, that I should sacrifice, to an
interest so subordinate as that of curiosity, my
inclinations, my talents, my time, and my powers ?
I believe you know me to be no quack ; you know
it is not my custom to speak of my pains, and
of my labours, in fustian terms. Permit me then,
my good and dear friend, to protest that they
both are great. I keep three men totally occupied
in mechanically copying the materials I have
arranged. I am assisted by the labour and the
knowledge of several ; all my moments, all my
thoughts are there, thence depart, and thither
return. Should the product be no greater (and
I may say to you that you cannot yet estimate
the whole product, for the greatest of my labours
are still in my desk),1 it must either be the fault
of my own incapacity or of my situation ; perhaps

1 The author no doubt refers to his " Histoire de la
Monarchie prussienne."

THE COURT OF BERLIN

233

of both, and perhaps also of the latter only. But
here I am wholly, and as a man of thirty-seven
ought not to be wholly, devoted to nullities ; for
nullities they are if nothing be produced, nothing
effected, either in behalf of myself or others.
If, therefore, anything be produced, afford me
some proof of it ; and when, for example, I ask
any question, for the purpose of more effectually
executing my trust, let it be answered. When I
say it is necessary I should have a plan of opera
tions of such or such a kind to propose, because
that I shall be immediately questioned on the
subject, and shall lose an opportunity which
probably may never be recovered should I be
caught unprovided, let such a plan of operations
be sent me.
If all this is to have any good effect in my
favour, let me be told so ; for in my present
situation I have great need of encouragement, if
it were but to empower me to yield without mad
ness to the impulses of my zeal. I say without
madness ; for, to speak only of the vilest, but
notwithstanding the most palpable of wants, when
I perceive that I am very unable to make my

234 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
accounts balance with my present appointments,
ought I not to clog the down-hill wheel ? And
what have I to hope from these appointments,
when I recollect how much they are in arrear;
and that a change of ministry may increase my
personal debts with the sums which my friends
have advanced me, for the service of those who
cannot be ignorant I am myself incapable of
making such advances ? Yet, should I stop, is
there not an end to all utility from what I have
hitherto effected ? Shall I then have anything
remaining except regret for time lost, and the
deep, the rankling affliction of having attached
people to my fortunes for whom I can do nothing,
but what must be an ill compensation, and at my
own expense, for all which they have done for me?
Pardon these expansions of the heart. To
whom may I confide my anxieties, if not to you,
my friend, my consolation, my guide, and my
support ? To whom may I say, what is all this
to me, since it does not produce me even money ?
For that I expend in the business I have under
taken, and not in private gratifications. In truth,
I should be susceptible of no other, were the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 235
hoped futurity come, and I had no dependents.
You well know that money to me is nothing, at
least when I have any. Where am I going,
whither leading others ? Have I made a good
bargain by bartering my life, stormy as it was, but
so mingled with enjoyments of which it was not
in human power to deprive me, for a sterile
activity, which snatches me even from the frequent
and delightful effusions of your friendship ? You
are to me but a statesman ; you, for the pressure
of whose hand I would relinquish all the thrones
on earth. — Alas I am much better formed for
friendship than for politics.
Post Scriptum, began at Helmstadt, and finished
at Brunswick, October 14th, 1786.
They write from Silberberg, in Silesia, that
the King's carriage has been overturned, and that
he has received contusions on the head and on
the arm. The coachman, it is added, expired on
the place. The news reached me yesterday, at
Magdeburg, and the same has been written to
General Prittwitz ; it probably exceeds the truth,
but is not wholly without foundation. The extreme

236 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
agitation of the Duke of Brunswick and my own
emotions made me profoundly feel the fortunes that
rest on this Monarch's head. The Duke imme
diately sent off a courier ; and, as I shall follow
him to Brunswick, where he wishes to speak to
me at large concerning Holland, I shall learn more
circumstantial intelligence, and such as will be
indubitable. I have not time to add a single
word ; I write while the horses are changed.
From Brunswick, October 14th, 1786.
Not having found an opportunity of sending
off these few lines, I continue.
I arrived here two hours before the Duke. As
soon as he came to Brunswick, he wrote to me
with a pencil, on a slip of paper —
" I spoke yesterday evening, before I departed,
with the minister Count Schulemburg, who had
left Berlin on the eleventh. He is in absolute
ignorance of the alarming intelligence by which
we were so much affected ; and, as I have heard
nothing on the subject since, I begin to have better
hopes. I expect my courier will arrive early in

THE COURT OF BERLIN 237
the morning. I write you this, Monsieur le Comte,1
from my mother's, and I hope you will do me the
favour to come to me early to-morrow morning
and dine with us."
It appears to be very probable that no material
harm has happened to the Sovereign.
The splendour of the talents and urbanity of
the Duke appeared perfect at Magdeburg. Nothing
could be more awful than his manoeuvres, nothing
so instructive as his school, nothing so finished,
so connected, so perfect, as his conduct in every
respect. He was the subject of admiration to a
great number of foreigners, who had crowded to
Magdeburg, and he certainly stood in no need of
the contrast which the Duke of Weimar and the
Prince of Dessau afforded ; the latter the weakest
of men, the former industriously labouring to be
something, but ill provided with requisites, if we
are to judge him by appearances. He might and
ought to become a Prince of importance. Accord-

1 My Lord would be too strong an expression : there
are but few foreign Counts who in wealth and dignity
are equal to the idea which the English word Lord con
veys ; and the epithet Count, when the courtly Duke of
Brunswick speaks, would be too familiar.

238 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
ing to all probabilities, however, Saxony will devolve
on him for want of children in the Electoral
branch ; and it is an afflicting perspective to con
template the destruction of all the labours of the
worthy Prince who at present governs the country;
and who, tormented in his childhood, unhappy in
youth, and truly respectable in manhood, will per
haps descend to the tomb with the bitter affliction
of feeling that all the good he has done will be
rendered ineffectual.

I have learnt a fact which will afford some
pleasure to M. de Segur, if he be still living. A
foundry has been built at Hanover, at a great
expense, which has cost the King of England
near one hundred thousand livres (upwards of
four thousand pounds sterling). The Duke of
Brunswick, not being satisfied with his own
foundry, had two cannon cast at Hanover ; and
they were so ill cast that they were soon obliged
to be laid aside. It is not to be supposed, when
we recollect the connexions between the Duke
and the King of England, that this was occasioned

THE COURT OF BERLIN 239
by any trick in the founders ; the fact therefore
is a proof that they are bad workmen.
By the next courier I hope to send you the
exact result of the dispositions of Berlin, and the
Duke, relative to Holland. He has promised me
a precise statement of the propositions which
appear to him necessary, and he did not conceal
the extreme desire he had that they should be
accepted by France. These Dutch disturbances
daily present a more threatening aspect for the
repose of Europe ; if not at the present moment,
at least from future contingencies, and the cool
ness and distrust to which they will give rise.

24O THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXXV
*
Brunswick, October 16th, 1786.
The two conversations I have had with the
Duke have hitherto been but vague respecting
Holland, and indeed almost foreign to the subject.
His courier, having brought him the news of
hopes of an accommodation, and of the retreat
of the person who of all those concerned with
M. de Veirac was supposed to be the chief fire
brand, having in fine brought him details which
lead him to imagine that his interference will
not be necessary, or not yet wanted in Holland,
he passed rapidly over the country to come to
one which is of infinitely greater importance to
him ; I mean to say Prussia. He only discovered
himself to be greatly averse to the party of the
Stadtholder, and well convinced that the right of
presentation ought to remain such as it was in its
origin ; that the constitution of Gueldres, Friese-
land, and Utrecht, evidently was in want of
reformation, with respect to the inconceivable
regulation of the magistrates, who are revocable

THE COURT OF BERLIN 24I
ad nutum; that, in a word, the Prince, who from
absolute monarchical authority, which he in reality
possessed, was sunken into absolute discredit, by
conduct the most abject, and the folly of having
claimed that as a right, in contempt of all law,
all decency, and all popular prejudice, which he
effectually possessed, was not deserving of the
least support. But that, from respect to Prussia,
and particularly to retard commotions, it was
requisite to restore him the decorum of pageantry;
except that watch should be kept over his con
nections. And here he explained himself on the
subject of Harris, and even concerning Prince
Louis of Brunswick, nearly in the manner I
should have done myself. In conclusion, however,
he not only did not inform me of anything on
the subject, but he imperceptibly declined that
debate which a few days before he had provoked.
I repeat, there is some news arrived of which
I am ignorant that has occasioned this change in
his proceedings. My information is in general much
too confined. Thus for example it is very singular,
nor is it less embarrassing, and, to speak plainly, it
is tolerably ridiculous, that it should be the Duke

vol. 1

16

242 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
who should inform me of the treaty of commerce
signed between France and England, not one of
the articles of which I am acquainted with, and
on which occasion I know not what face to wear.
As my usual method is not to conceal myself behind
any veil of mystery, which hides the insignificance
of certain ambassadors, the part I had to act was
not a little difficult. I should learn a thousand
times more were I myself better informed. In
this, as in everything else, fortune follows the suc
cessful. Returning to Prussia, it was quite a different
affair, for of this I know as much as the Duke.
His confidence was the less limited and the more
profuse, because I presently set him at his ease
with respect to Prince Henry, whom he neither
loves nor esteems. I perceive with inquietude that
his opinions and fears are similar to my own. He
is dissatisfied with most of the proceedings and
public acts of the King, with that crowd of titles,
and that mass of nobility, which has been added
so prodigally; insomuch that it will be hence
forward much more difficult to find a man than a
nobleman in the Prussian States ; with the promise

THE COURT OF BERLIN 243
made to the Prince of Dessau (whose only merit is
such an excess of enthusiasm for mysticism and
visionaries that, when Lavater came to Bremen,
he addressed the most earnest supplications to him
to come and pay him a visit, in order that he
might adore him), and perhaps with that given to
the Duke of Weimar (who to the same inclinations,
and more lively passions, adds greater understand
ing; but who is too much in debt for his military
projects to be otherwise regarded than as a money
speculation), to restore the one to and admit the
other into the Prussian service ; by which rank in
the army will be violated, and the army dis
couraged and vitiated ; a system very opposite
to that of Frederick 1 1., who said of the few
grandees who were employed in his time, " In
the name of God, my dear Moellendorf, rid
me of these Princes." The Duke is equally dis
satisfied with that fluctuation which occasions
essays to be made on twenty systems at once ;
with the most of the persons chosen ; with
domestic disorder ; with nocturnal rites ; and with
the anecdotes the augury of which from day to day
becomes more inauspiciously characteristic, &c, &c.
16 — 2

244 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
In a word, should I transcribe our conversation, I
should but send new copies of old dispatches.
" Believe me," said he, " I may, in a certain
degree, serve you as a thermometer, for if I per
ceive there are no hopes of a firm and noble
regimen, and that therefore the day of the house
of Brandenburg is come, I shall not be the last
to sound a retreat. I never received money from
the King of Prussia, and I am well determined
never to accept anything from him, though I mean
to remain in the service. It has, as you have
seen, been a dear service to me. I am indepen
dent. I wish to pay a tribute of respect to the
memory of the great man who is no more, and
am ready to shed my blood, if that might cement
his work ; but I will not, even by my presence,
become the accomplice of its demolition. Our
debts never exceed our abilities. I shall provide
in the best manner in my power for my country
and my children ; these I shall leave in great
order. I keep up my family connections. We
perhaps shall be the last who will be smote by
the overthrow of the Germanic body, because of
the confraternity which unites us to the Elector

THE COURT OF BERLIN 245
of Hanover. I, therefore, shall no further follow
the destiny of the Prussian monarchy than as its
government shall maintain its wisdom, its dignity,
&c, &c."
At present the Duke despairs of nothing; and
in this he is right. He supposes that no person
has yet found his proper place : I think like him,
and I perceive he hopes his turn will come ; of
this neither can I doubt, unless the annihilation
of the Prussian power has been decreed by fate.
He has informed me of the very singular fact
that M. de Custine, the father, has demanded to
be admitted into the service of the King of
Prussia, and has pretended to disclose all the
hostile plans of the Emperor, whose alliance,
nevertheless, this same M. de Custine loudly
affirms will terminate, with France, the day that
Prince Kaunitz dies.
The Duke is very far from being relieved of all
his fears concerning the projects of the Emperor,
whose puissance and advisers he holds in infinite
dread. True it is that his inconsistency should
render his designs and the execution of them
abortive ; that the irrationality of his personal

246 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
conduct should hasten his end ; that the Afch-
Duke Francis appears to be a cypher ; that among
the persons who have influence there is not one
formidable man, especially in the army ; and that
Alventzy and Kinsky, the one manufacturer for
the infantry, and the other for the cavalry, possess
only ambiguous abilities, &c. But men start up
at the moment when they are the least expected ;
accident only is necessary to rank them in their
proper place. Conde, Spinola, and the Duke of
Brunswick himself, prove that it is possible to be
born a general. There is a Prince of Waldeck in
the Austrian army, who, it is said, announces
grand talents.
The numerous trifling anecdotes which the
Duke and I have mutually related to each other,
would be too tedious for insertion, and out of
their place also here. An anecdote, merely as
such, is equally devoid of propriety and informa
tion ; such will have their turn hereafter ; but
there is one which relates too much to the
Russian system for it to be passed over in
silence. The Czarina has, for some months past, ap-

THE COURT OF BERLIN 247
propriated to herself the possession and the
revenues of the posts of Courland, leaving a
small part only to the Duke, in order that this
branch of administration might not appear to be
wholly in the hands of foreigners. Thus does this
same Russia, that maintains an envoy at Courland,
although there is none at Courland from Peters
burg, and that here, as in Poland, proclaims her
will to the Duke and to the states, by her
ambassador, who is the real sovereign of the
country ; this Russia, that, for some years past,
has unequivocally and openly declared a certain
canton of Courland appertained to her, and with
out seeking any other pretext than that of giving
a more uniform line to her limits, makes no secret
of not understanding any other code, any other
claims, any other manifestoes, than those which
the Gauls alleged to the Etruscans — " Our right
exists in our arms. Whatever the strong can
seize upon that is the right of the strong." — She
will one of these days declare Courland is hers,
that the Polish Ukraine is hers, and that Finland
is hers. And, for example, this latter revolution,
which will be a very salutary one to her because

248 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
that she will then truly become unattackable, and
almost inaccessible, to all Europe united, will be
effected, whenever she shall make the attempt, if
we do not take good heed. Be the day when
it will that I shall be informed of this having
taken place, and even of the new system of
Sweden being totally overthrown, I shall not feel
any surprise.
The Duke also told me that the Emperor
is greatly improving his artillery ; that his six-
pounders are equivalent in force to our former
eight-pounders ; and to this advantage they add
that of lightness, in so great a degree, that only
four horses are necessary to draw them, while
even in Prussia six are still requisite. As well
as I remember he attributes this double improve
ment to the conical1 construction of the chamber.
I only relate this that you may verify the truth
of the fact, by people who are acquainted with
such affairs ; the diminution of two horses in
eight being a thing of infinite importance, and
the more so as there would be a servant the less.
The manner in which I have been received
1 Faite en poire (made in in the form of a pear).

THE COURT OF BERLIN 24g
by the Duke was infinitely friendly on his part,
though somewhat participating, as far as relates
to freedom of conversation, of my equivocal mode
of existence at Berlin. I believe I may without
presumption affirm I am not disagreeable to this
Prince, and that, were I accredited by any com
mission whatever, I should be one of the most
proper persons to treat with him with efficacy.
This able man appears to me to have but one
weakness, which is the prodigious dread of having
his reputation injured, even by the most contemp
tible Zoilus. Yet has he lately exposed himself to
vexatious blame in deference to his first minister,
M. von Feronce, which I cannot comprehend.
This M. von Feronce, and M. von Munchausen,
grand master of the Court, a man who is reported
to have little delicacy concerning money matters,
have farmed the lottery, an action shameful in
itself, and which I cannot reconcile to Feronce,
who is really a man of merit. Two merchants,
named Oeltz and Nothnagel, have gained a
quaterne, which is equivalent to the sum of
eighteen thousand crowns. The payment of this
has not only been refused, but as it was neces-

250 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
sary to act with fraud to effect their purpose, the
merchants have undergone numerous oppressions ;
they have even been imprisoned ; all which acts
they have lately published in a printed case,
which contains nothing but ¦ the facts concerning
the suit, and have laid an appeal against the
Duke, or against his judges, before the tribunal
of Wetzlar ; I own I do not understand this
absence of firmness, or of circumspection. October lyth, 1786.
Postscript. — I have just received authentic
intelligence concerning the King of Prussia. It
was one of his chasseurs to whom a very serious
accident happened ; the Monarch himself is in
good health, and will arrive on the eighteenth or
the nineteenth at Berlin.
I learn, at the same time, that Count
Finckenstein is dying of an inflammation of the
lungs, with which he was seized after a very
warm altercation with Count Hertzberg, on the
subject of Holland. His life is despaired of, and
his loss to us will be very great ; as well because
he was absolutely ours, as because that, being a

THE COURT OF BERLIN 251
temporizer by nature, he would have acted as the
moderator of Prince Henry. He would also have
directed the conduct of Mademoiselle Voss, after
the fall of virtue ; and finally because Hertzberg
will no longer have any counterpoise. With
respect to the latter point, however, I am not
averse to suppose that the time when this pre
sumptuous man shall be in absolute discredit may
but be the more quickly accelerated. Yet, not to
mention the sterility of subjects by which this
epocha may be retarded, who shall answer that a
man so violent, and wholly imbued as he is with
the hatred which the Germans in general bear
the French, will not venture to make some very
decisive false steps ?
The Duke of York arrived here this evening,
and had he been the Emperor he could not have
been treated with more respect, especially by the
Duchess and the courtiers. She indeed is wholly
English, as well in her inclinations and her prin
ciples as in her manners ; insomuch that her
almost cynical independence, opposed to the
etiquette of the Courts of German Princes, forms
the most singular contrast I know. I do not,

252 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
however, believe that there is any question con
cerning the marriage of the Princess Caroline, who
is a most amiable, lively, playful, witty, and
handsome lady ; the Duke of York, a puissant
hunter, a potent drinker, an indefatigable laugher,
destitute of breeding and politeness, and who
possesses, at least in appearance, much of the
Duke de Lausun, as well in mind as in person,
is inspired with a kind of passion for a woman
married to a jealous husband, who torments him,
and will not suffer him to fix his quarters. I
know not whether he will go to Berlin. The
versions relative to him are various. Some affirm
that, after having been an unbridled libertine, he
feels a returning1 desire of doing his duty. For
my own part, I find in him all the stiffness of a
German Prince, with a double dose of English
insolence, but wanting the free cordiality of that
nation. 1 The attention this young Prince at present pays to
his public duties, civil and military, and the independent
firmness with which his public conduct has so recently been
stamped, are the best commentary to this text.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 253
LETTER XXXVI
Brunswick, October 2jth, 1786.
I here send you the continuation and con
clusion of the preceding dispatch, to which I add
the translation of a pamphlet, the singularity of
which is increased by having appeared at Vienna,
with the permission of the Emperor, who, to the
communication made by the censor, has added
these very words — " Let this pass among others."
This is but a trifle compared to that caprice
which three days afterwards induced him to re
lease the unfortunate Szekely, whom the most
powerful remonstrances could not save, and whose
cause is here1 ill enough defended. For what
conclusions might he not have drawn from the con
fidence with which he imparted to the Emperor
the situation of his accounts, from the disorder by
which they had been brought into this state, from
the ardent supplications he made him to purchase
for the public a well-tried chemical secret at such
t — —
1 By the word here, the author means in the pamphlet,
to which the reader will immediately come.

254 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
a price as would have completed the deficiency
in his accounts (I say completed, for Szekely and
his family had paid the greatest part of the de
ficiencies), and from the answer of the Emperor
himself. — " Do you address yourself to me as to
a friend, or as to the Emperor? If to the former,
I cannot be the friend of a man who has not
been faithful to his trust. If as Emperor, I would
advise you to go in person and make your declara
tion to the courts of justice."
This fact, which I have learnt since my arrival
at Berlin, attended with most aggravating circum
stances, is one of the most odious I can recollect,
yet might I relate fifty of the same species.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 255

Free Observations on the Crime and Punishment of
Lieutenant-Colonel Szekely, of the Guards, by a
Friend of Truth, 1786.
Let the voice of truth be heard, let her at
present be seen without disguise, without veil, in
all her awful nakedness. Hear, ye incorrupt1
judges. I am about to speak of the crime and
punishment of Szekely. My heart melts, but my
words shall be impartial. Hear and pronounce
sentence on me, on Szekely, and on those who
pronounced sentence on him.
Szekely announces a deficiency in the regi
mental chest of the guards, and the disorder
of his accounts ; and after some pretended exami-
1 From the life of Baron Trenck, from the present
fact, and from numerous others, it appears that the appeal
and the apostrophe are absurd. Trenck informs us that
his judges, after having held their offices for a succession
of years, were at last condemned to be the common
scavengers of Vienna. The picture he gives of their
intrigues, their corruption, and their vices, is beyond con
ception horrible. How can man dare to vaunt of the
wisdom of the age, which has not yet discovered that
justice, in its most extensive sense, is the most necessary,
as well as the sublimest, attribute of man ?

256 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
nations is brought before the Council of War.
Ninety-seven thousand florins of the empire have
disappeared ; but Szekely had placed his whole
confidence in the Sieur Lakner, who is deceased,
and who was the only keeper of the keys of the
chest. Szekely had more than once declared that
he himself was a very improper person to have
pecuniary matters committed to his charge, and
that he never had revised nor verified the accounts
of the regimental chest confided to his care. He
therefore cannot be suspected of personal fraud,
especially when his regiment renders justice to
the goodness of his manners, and unanimously
points out the cashier Lakner as a person who
was debased by meannesses, and rendered sus
picious by incurring expenses infinitely above his
fortune. This, it is very true, was an exceedingly
culpable negligence, but such was the only crime
of Szekely; and it was for this reason that the
council of war condemned him to be imprisoned
six years in a fortress. The punishment was
doubtless in itself sufficient, since Szekely, in
effect, and according to the language of the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 257
civilians was Nee confessus nee convictus of any
prevarication ; yet was it aggravated by the
Aulic1 council of war, which was commanded to
make a revision of the process, and which in
creased his detention to a duration of eight years.
Was this tribunal ignorant, then, that it is a
custom with our most gracious Monarch himself
to increase the severity .of all sentences pro
nounced against criminals ? Let us, therefore,
believe that the judges, on this occasion, were
only obedient to the rigour of the laws ; but the
after decision of the Emperor will most assuredly
appear inconceivable, The following is the judg
ment which this Monarch uttered — yes ! uttered,
yet did not blush : —
" Szekely must without hesitation be broken,
declared incapable of military service, and de
livered over to the civil officer, who shall convey
him to the place where the crime was committed
in Vienna, where he shall stand in the pillory for
three successive days, and remain two hours each
day on a scaffold, in the high market-place, that
1 We cannot find a better parallel to this Aulic
council than our formerly infamous Court of Star Chamber.
VOL. 1 17

258 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
his example may be of public utility. As a favour,
and in consequence of his age, I limit the eight
years' imprisonment to which he is condemned to
four, during which he shall be confined at Segedin,
a penal prison of the civil power of the Hungarian
states, where he shall receive the same allowance
for food as is granted to other criminals."
The court of justice made remonstrances to
the Emperor, in which it proved that the punish
ment was much too severe, and entirely contrary
to law and to equity ; but the Emperor continued
inflexible, and thus confirmed his sentence : —
" All superintendents of military chests might,
like Szekely, plead that they knew not what was
become of the money, even though it should have
been stolen by themselves. Whenever there is a
deficiency in any chest, and especially of a sum
so considerable as ninety-seven thousand florins,
there is no necessity for the judge to prove that
the money has been taken by the accused person,
but the accused person must show that it has not
been taken by him ; and whenever he cannot
demonstrate this he himself is the thief. As soon
as Szekely shall have been broken, and shall be

THE COURT OF BERLIN 259
no longer an officer, the sentence against him shall
be put in execution, and a paper shall be fixed
round his neck, on which shall be written — -An
unfaithful steward."
Let us take an attentive retrospect of these
supreme decisions.
Szekely is punishable for having been exceed
ingly negligent ; he is the same for having bestowed
his whole confidence on a dishonest cashier, of
whose pompous luxury he could not be ignorant,
since it gave offence to the whole corps of the
guards. It Was easy to conclude that such a man
could not live at an expense so great on his
paternal income. It is even probable that Szekely
himself, perceiving the disorder of his accounts,
and the deficiency in his chest, and terrified by
the infamy and punishment inflicted on such
crimes, sacrificed much to alchemy and the occult
sciences, in the hope of making gold, and of thus
freeing himself from his embarrassments. This, no
doubt, was a folly at which all men of sense would
grieve ; it is not, however, the less possible. It is
certain that the love of chemistry was the ruling
passion of Szekely, and that he indulged his incli-
17 — 2

26o THE SECRET HISTORY OF
nations the more because he expected some time
thus to recover his losses. To this excuse let us
add the extreme ignorance of which he accused
himself in all that related to pecuniary affairs.
True it is that, with such a conviction of his
own incapacity, he never ought to have taken
charge of a regimental chest ; but were all those
who are in possession of places the duties of
which are far beyond their abilities, obliged to
abdicate them, what vast deserts would our public
offices afford ! Rabner encourages three different
species of men,1 by saying, " On whom God
bestows an office he also bestows a sufficient
degree of understanding for the exercise of that
office." Szekely would not indubitably have
adopted this opinion, could he have foreseen the
evil consequences of his presumption.
Was not that flattering letter which was
addressed to him by Maria Theresa, of glorious
memory, in which, while she gave the highest
praises to his probity and loyalty, this august
Sovereign confided to his care, without any pre-
i I know not why three different species, or what
three ; I can but follow my author.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 26l
caution, the regimental chest of the guards, an
authentic testimony in behalf of his honour ?
Has it been meant by the forgetfulness of this
distinction to add a new outrage to all the
ingratitudes with which some have sullied them
selves, relative to this immortal Empress ? Was
it intended to tax her with that levity, that silly
credulity, which blind confidence produces ? Alas !
in despite of all the defects which envy so gra
tuitously imputes to her, Maria Theresa never
was surrounded by such an army of knaves as
those from whom all the rigour of the present
Sovereign cannot preserve us. So true is it that
gentleness and love, from a Prince toward his
subjects, are more efficacious means, to preserve
them within the bounds of duty, than all the
violent acts tyranny can commit.
I return to Szekely and affirm it is impos
sible that this letter from the Empress Queen,
though in some sort the pledge of the fidelity of
Szekely, can serve as an excuse to the Prince
of Esterhazy, whose personal negligence cannot
be justified. Did not his right, as chief of the
guards, impose it on him as a law to examine

262 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
the regimental chest of Szekely ? And is not such
an infraction of the duties of his place most
reprehensible ?
Still less can be offered in defence of the
fault committed by the Hungaro-Transylvanian
chancery ; since, according to its instructions, it
was in like manner bound to inspect the ad
ministration of Szekely. But none of the acts
of this superior Court ought to inspire astonish
ment, since it is no longer distinguished, except
by disorder and ill faith ; since its responsibility
is no longer anything but a word ; and since its
ideas of exact calculation, and of receipt and
expense, are , exactly as just as those of Brambille1
are on physic.
Judges, ye have condemned Szekely. Be it
so. Act worthy of your office. Punish his super-
i This Brambille is first surgeon to the Emperor, by
whom he has been ennobled, and who has made him in
spector of the medical and chirurgical academies. He is
said to be an ignorant quack, and a violent satire has
lately been written against him, which if report speak
truth is very pleasant. This satire has been licensed and
publicly sold at Vienna, which is another singular fact,
and tends to prove that pasquinades will be much rather
suffered, in Austria, than instructive and free works.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 263
intendents also, who have by a non-performance
of their duty placed him on the brink of that
abyss into which you headlong plunged him,
without humanity, and void of shame.
The Kings of Europe have all reserved to
themselves the most benevolent of prerogatives ;
that of pardoning the guilty, or of softening the
pains the sentence inflicts by which they are
condemned. Joseph alone persists in other prin
ciples, more conformable to the feelings of his
heart. He aggravates the punishment of the
wretched. Alas ! this no doubt is but to enjoy
the ecstatic pleasure of terrifying his people, by
the exercise of the most unlimited despotism.
Unfortunate Szekely ! ill-starred man ! I pity thee.
Thou fallest a victim to the splenetic temper of
the Monarch ! Perhaps, at the very instant when
he pronounced thy doom, a troublesome fly stung
his brow, and thy dishonour was his vengeance.
Deplorable sacrifice of a tyrannical and barbarous
heart, yes, I pity thee ! Men of worth, men of
justice, what must the Monarch be who can add
to the rigour of the judge ? — A tyrant ! — What can
the Monarch be who tramples under foot the

264 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
rights of humanity ?¦ — A tyrant ! ! — What can the
Monarch be who can make the laws and the
justice of his kingdom his sport ? — A tyrant ! ! ! —
What can the Monarch be who in criminal de
cisions shall act only according to his caprice ? —
A Joseph ! ! ! !
A Joseph !— Oh, God ! Great God ! What
then is man ? A poor and feeble creature, whom
an imperious oppressor may at any moment
reduce to dust ; or may rend his heart, extort
his last sigh, by the seven thousand raging tor
ments which the Hydra with seven thousand
heads in sport inflicts-
Dreadful image ! Ignominious to humanity,
yet wofully true, wofully exact, wofully confirmed
by experience ! — Does not a Sovereign who in
creases the rigour of sentences openly proclaim —
" Ye judges, whom I have appointed to judge
according to law and equity, ye are prevaricators ;
ye have betrayed your trust, falsified your con
sciences, and have endeavoured to practise deceit
upon me " ? — Such magistrates, therefore, ought not
to be continued in office ; for, to suffer them
still to be judges is to approve their conduct,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 265
and confirm their judgment. But, destructive as
the thunderbolt, the Monarch, addressing them,
exclaims — " Your sentence is too mild ! It is my
will arbitrarily to increase punishment, that I may
prove myself the master of life and death ! " —
What language, oh, God ! from the mouth of a
• King whom thou hast appointed to be our pro
tector, and not our tyrant !
Szekely would never have been condemned,
had he not been intimately connected with the
Freemasons. When the Emperor pronounced
sentence against this unfortunate man, he forgot
himself so far as to say, " I will let those gentry
(the Freemasons) understand there is no efficacy
in their protection."
Where then is the equity of a Monarch who
thus prostitutes the power he is in possession of,
to the destruction of one of the members of a
society which he detests ? Who would not smile
contemptuously at the poor malice of a peasant
who should go in search of his neighbour, after
twilight, that he might unseen give him a fillip
on the nose, run away, and divert himself with
having played him so cunning a trick. Oh,

266 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
Justice ! Justice ! Shalt thou for ever have eyes
that thou mayst not see ?
Yes, debased, corrupted was the mouth which
increased the rigour of the sentence of Szekely,
who previously had been destined to languish
eight years in prison. — Joseph has diminished the
term of his detention. And are these then thy
favours, sceptred executioner ? Yes, this favour
granted to a man of quality, who was for three
successive days exposed in the pillory, resembles
that which a criminal, condemned to the gallows,
should receive from thee, whom thou shouldst
permit to be racked upon the wheel, because he
was too feeble to mount the ladder.
Couldst thou have survived the shame of
such a crime, had not thy people themselves
applauded thy fury ? The curiosity with which
all Vienna enjoyed the spectacle the wretched
Szekely afforded, proves that the manners of thy
subjects already partake of thine own barbarity.
But let them tremble, slaves as they are, bowed
beneath the yoke. A new Nero promises new
crimes, new horrors !

THE COURT OF BERLIN 267

LETTER XXXVII

Brunswick, October 18th, 1786.
I fear there are some waverings in the mind
of the King, relative to Holland ; for the Duke,
after the arrival of his courier, and receiving in
formation of the danger of Count Finckenstein,
again spoke to me on the subject, with a degree
of inquietude which was far from dissembled.
The following were his proper words : " Holland
will certainly occasion a war, especially should the
death of the Elector of Bavaria intervene ; do you
act therefore as mediators to smother the rising
flames. Come, come, the Stadtholder must have
a council, without which he can perform nothing ;
and how shall this council be selected ? "
I replied to the Duke, that I was not sufficiently
acquainted with those affairs to give any opinion
on the subject, but that I was going to make him
a proposition which he must only regard as ideal,
and coming from myself, although it might by no
means be impracticable : —
" Now that I know how far I can depend upon

268 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
your prudence and your principles," continued I,
" I an? certain that you will see the affairs and
the conduct of the Stadtholder in their true light ;
that you will not imagine friendship in politics
can have any other basis than interest ; or that
we ought to renounce our alliance with Holland,
in order that the Princess of Orange may nightly
enjoy more agreeable dreams ; that you cannot
but comprehend how much it is impossible for us
to place any confidence in Count Hertzberg, who,
relative to us, is frenetic, and how much our
distrust may be increased should our sole coun
terpoise to this violent minister disappear by the
death of Count Finckenstein. I shall, therefore, -
thus far, willingly step forward to say that it
appears to me very probable France will be
inclined to treat on this affair with you singly,
should the King of Prussia consent that you should
be solely trusted with the business on his behalf;
and, as I may say, should you be made arbitrator.
I feel how important it is to you, to us, and to
all, that you should not endanger yourself in the
opinion of His Majesty. There are already but
too many causes of distance existing between you,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 269
and the country is entirely lost if the necessities
of the times do not oblige you to take the helm.
But, should you find the crisis so alarming as to
dread decisive events should be the consequence,
it appears to me that then it will no longer be
proper to keep beating against the wind. For, if
the King of Prussia be fated to commit irreparable
faults, it would be as well for all parties that he
should begin to-morrow, in order that we might
the sooner augur what his reign shall be, and
choose our sides in consequence. It is for you,
therefore, to know in what degree of favour you
are with the King. He cannot love you ; for
never yet did the weak man love the strong. He
cannot desire you should be his minister, for never
yet did a vain and dark man desire to possess
one who was himself illustrious and luminous.
But it is neither his friendship nor his inclination
that are necessary to you ; it is power. You
ought to acquire that ascendancy over him which
a grand character and a vast genius may ever
acquire over a confined understanding and an
unstable mind. If you have enough of this as
cendancy to inspire him with fears for his situa-

,270 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
tion; to convince him that he is already betrayed
to danger ; that the sending of Goertz, in your
despite (or, rather, without your knowledge, for
you were not then at Berlin), is a blunder of
magnitude, which has been committed without
possessing the least pledge of docility on the part
of the Stadtholder ; that the inconsiderate letters
of Hertzberg form another equal blunder; that
this minister pursues his personal interests, and
those only, at the hazard of depriving his master
of personal respect, even from the commencement
of his reign ; since it is very evident that, if he
persist in his thoughtless interference (be supposi
tions as favourable, nay, almost as romantic, as
you please), he will only have played the cards of
the English, although they have spoilt their own
game — if you can make him sensible of all this,
you will easily be able to persuade him that he
will but be too fortunate in accepting your media
tion. And, although mediation is not exactly the
phrase which may be employed, because that it
does not exactly square with the rule of propor
tion, such is the esteem in which you are held
by the Cabinet of Versailles that, should this

THE COURT OF BERLIN 271
negotiation once be committed to your care, all
difficulties will vanish of themselves. Such a
measure, therefore, would have the double advan
tage of accommodating the affair, which you regard
as the brand of discord, and of teaching the King
to feel that he presumes too much if he imagines
that, by the sole magic of the abrupt and tudescan1
French of Count Hertzberg, he will be able to
preserve the same respect for his Court which a
succession of great acts, heroical prosperity, vigilant
activity and perseverance, even to a miracle, for
forty-six years, have procured it ; that he has need
of a man whose name abroad and whose influence
at home should attract confidence and serve as
the key-stone to an arch which, according to its
dimensions, has but little solidity ; or, to speak
without a metaphor, a kingdom ill-situated, ill-
constituted, ill-governed, and which possesses no
real strength, except in opinion, since its military
position is wretched and its resources precarious.
For, with respect to the treasury, it will vanish if
a hand of iron, yet not a hand of avarice, should
not guard it ; and, as to an army, who can be
i German.

272 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
more convinced than you are, that years scarcely
are sufficient for its formation ; but that six
months of relaxed discipline may degrade it so
that it shall no longer be cognisable ? "
This discourse, which fixed the attention of
the Duke, and which was particularly intended to
divine what he himself imagined he might be able
to accomplish, and what he might become, ap
peared to produce a very great effect. Instead of
beginning, as he always does, by ambiguous and
dilatory phrases, which may serve any purpose he
shall please, he immediately entered into the spirit
of my discourse ; and after having felt and owned,
with an effusion of heart and a penetrating tone,
that I presented him a prospect of the greatest
honour his imagination could conceive, and which
he should prefer to the gaining of six victories,
he joined with me in endeavouring to find some
means of making the overture to the King.
" I do not imagine," said he, " my situation
will authorise the attempt without previous
measures. I am more afraid of injuring the
cause than of injuring myself; but it is certainly
necessary the project should be conveyed to him ;

THE COURT OF BERLIN 273
and, should he afford the least opportunity, I will
explain everything. Cannot you speak to Count
Finckenstein, should he recover ? "
" No, for he strictly confines himself to his
department. Neither is this anything more than
an idea of my own, and of small diplomatic
value, since I have no credentials."
" You have but few opportunities of speaking
in private to Welner ? "
" Very few. Beside, how can that man ever
be devoted to you ? He determines to act the
principal part himself. He is industrious for his
own interest, being very sensible that, because of
his obscurity, he has an immense advantage over
you. Not to mention that he is the intimate
friend of your brother, who does not wish your
company at Berlin."
In fact, this brother hates the Duke, by whom
he is despised, and hopes for favour and influence
under the reign of mysticism.
We had proceeded thus far in our discourse
t-
when the whole Court, leaving the opera for
supper, and the Duke of York, by entering with
out any precursor, obliged us to break off. He

vol. 1

274 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
has appointed to meet me this morning, the day
of my departure, at nine o'clock, and to him I
am now going.

The Duke, as I expected, was shaken to-day
in his resolution of having himself named to the
King. I say as I expected, for his brilliant
imagination and ambitious energy easily catch fire
at his first emotions, although he should betray
no exterior symptoms except those of tranquillity.
But the rein he has so long put upon his
passions, which he has eternally had under com
mand, and in which habit he has been most
persevering, reconducts him to the hesitation of
experience, and to that superabundant circum
spection which his great diffidence of mankind,
and his foible, I mean his dread of losing his
reputation, incessantly inspire. He made a cir
cumstantial display of the delicacy with which the
petty glory, or, to speak plainly said he, the vain
glory of the King must be managed.
Taking up the conversation at the point
where we had left it, he assured me that, with
respect to Welner, I was deceived ; that he was

THE COURT OF BERLIN 275
one of the persons in Berlin on whom he de
pended, and who rather wished to see him in
power than any other ; that I might easily speak
with him at the house of Moulines (his resident,
an artful man, but too ostensibly artful ; ready to
serve that he may better perform his office of spy,
but proffering his services with too much facility ;
appointed to take part in the education of the
Prince of Prussia, but hitherto without any title ;
a deserter from Prince Henry, since it has become
pretty evident the Prince will never be in power ;
inclined to serve France, in general, and indeed
too visibly, for he is styled the privy counsellor of
Count d'Esterno, but in his heart solely attached
to himself) ; that Welner goes there very often ;
that he certainly would not speak openly, at first,
but that he would at length repeat whatever I
should say, to the King.
The Duke often reiterated that he thought it
useless and dangerous for him to be named ; and,
in fine, although with difficulty, and, as I may
say, against his inclination, he gave me the true
reason. In a fortnight he was to be at Berlin,
or perhaps sooner ; for (take particular notice
18—2

276 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
of what follows) IT APPEARS THAT THE HOPE
afforded by Sir James Harris (the English
ambassador at the Hague) of a powerful and
efficacious succour, should the klng of
Prussia resolve, with an armed force, to
create himself umpire of the affairs of
Holland, has inspired the King with a wish
to confer with his servants. I literally
repeat the words the Duke pronounced, who
fixed his eyes upon me, but whom I defy not
only to have observed the least trait of emotion
in my countenance, but still more not to have
been struck with a smile, almost imperceptible
and very ironical, as if I had known and con
temned the fact. My only reply at the end of
his sentence was, shrugging up my shoulders : —
" There is little need I should remark to you,
my Lord, that the conquest which Louis XIV.,
Turenne, Conde, Luxembourg, Louvois, and two
hundred thousand French, could not make of
Holland, will never be effected by Prussia, watched
by the Emperor, on that same country, now that
it is supported by France."1
1 Here it must be confessed the traveller was a false

THE COURT OF BERLIN 277
The Duke therefore is going, or wishes to
make us believe he is going, to Berlin ; where
deliberations are to be held on the propositions
of England. So be it. So much the better. Do not be
alarmed. The Duke is rather German than
Prussian, and as good a statesman as he is a
great warrior. He will prove such a proposition
to be so absurd that it is probably no more than
the personal conception of the audacious and
artful Harris, who wishes, at any expense, to
make his fortune, and in a fit of madness to
poniard his nation, which is more able than sage.
Still, however, I think my journey to Bruns
wick is a lucky accident ; for I confess, and with
great pleasure, I found the principles of the Duke
to be moderate, prudent, and, politically speaking,
wholly French. I depicted the affair, or rather
affairs, as a whole, under new points of view ;
and if, as I persist in believing, or rather as I
have believed more strongly, since I have known
that he depends upon Welner for strengthening
prophet ; but whether it was precisely his fault still re
mains to be enquired.

278 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
his party, his measures have long been taken (for
Welner has been a canon at Halberstadt, where
the regiment of the Duke remains), if I say, the
necessity of accident should oblige him to take
the helm, I shall have acquired the greatest
advantages to treat with and make him a party
in our designs.
He has desired I would give Count d'Esterno
the very good advice, should Count Finckenstein
die, or even should he not, to demand to treat
on the affairs of Holland, and on all that relates
to them, immediately with his Majesty. This is
the most certain means of battering Hertzberg in
breach, who certainly has been controverted with
great firmness in these affairs by the King, and
to obtain that which we shall seem only to expect
from the judgment and personal will of the
Monarch. It is a proceeding which is successful
with all Kings, even with the greatest. Vanswieten
obtained from Frederick II. himself the most
important concessions, by acting thus ; and this
is certainly a much more safe, as it is a more
noble mode, than all the deceitful efforts which
flattery can employ with Prince Henry, whose

THE COURT OF BERLIN 279
glaring protection is more injurious to the French
embassy than it ever can be productive of good,
under the most favourable of future contingencies.
For I am not very unapt to believe, as the Duke
affirms without disguise, that this partition Prince,1
were he master of affairs, would be the most
dangerous of the enemies of Germanic freedom.
I must conclude, for I have not time to cypher ;
the remainder Of this inestimable conversation will
be sent you hereafter. Inform me, with all pos
sible expedition, how I ought to act under the
present circumstances, and be persuaded that, if
you can find any means whatever of giving me
secret official credit with .the King, or even with
the Duke, you will act very wisely.
A dditional Note.
If you do not imagine I am totally doting,
mark me. I conjure you to read, and cause this
to be read, with the utmost attention ; and not
1 Ce Prince partageur : alluding, no doubt, to the dis
memberment of Poland, in which he was as laudably active
as the just, the philosophic, the great King, his brother,
and from motives equally pure, as will be seen from the
anecdote of the statue, related in the second volume.

280 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
to suffer me to wait a single moment for an
answer, even though it should be absolutely
necessary, for this purpose, to borrow some few
hours from the levity of the country, or to be
consistent for a whole day together.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 28l

LETTER XXXVIII

Berlin, October 21st, 1786.
I arrived at half-past five in the morning.
The King was to exercise his cavalry at six. I
immediately mounted my horse, that I might dis
cover the state of his health, observe what aspect
he wore, and if possible to find some person to
whom I might address myself. His health is
good, his brow cloudy ; the troops were obliged
to wait a considerable time, and after two charges
he very abruptly and very ridiculously retired.
Nothing sufficiently new or important has come
to my knowledge, to prevent my employing the
few remaining moments, before the departure of
the courier, and which are greatly abridged by
your eight pages of cyphers, in resuming the
consequences which I have drawn from the very
interesting conversation, an account of which I
gave you in my last despatch. It is impossible
I should send you a complete and circumstantial
narrative of all that passed, because that the
Duke, an hour after I had left him, having sent

282 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
me his minister for foreign affairs (M. von Ardens-
berg von Reventlau), I have too much to add.
Four particulars appeared to me evident.
I. — That, during the confidential conference
with the Duke, a great complication of sensation,
emotion, and design was mingled. He wishes
we should aid him in becoming prime minister of
Prussia ; but that we should act with caution.
He is not convinced that we desire to see him in
that post (I did everything in my power to per
suade him of it), yet perfectly satisfied that any
interference in the affairs of Holland would be a
stupid error, he is anxious that Prussia should act
with propriety ; and that, in this affair at least,
we should acquire influence. He, therefore, while
he informed me, endeavoured to discover if I al
ready had any information, and whether we were
determined in the pursuit of our projects. To
the same purport were the after commentaries of
Ardensberg, his deceptive confidences, and Gazette
secrets; the recall not only of M. de Coetloury, 1
but also of M. de Veirac ; our desertion of the
i I dare not positively affirm, but I am almost certain
this name ought to be spelt Couette-Toury ; and that the

THE COURT OF BERLIN 283
patriotic party, &c, &c— to all which particulars
I replied with a smile.
II-— That the great inquietude of the Duke
arises from not knowing whether we are or are
not Austrians ; or whether we are merely so un
decided on the subject as that the errors, or the
cold distance, of the Cabinet of Berlin will be
sufficient to induce us, at the hazard of all that
can happen, to second the Emperor in his designs
against Germany. In my opinion, were the Duke
freed from his apprehensions on this very capital
article, he would be French ; for he is strongly
German, and the English can only set Germany
in flames ; we alone have the power of main
taining it in peace. Should his connections with
England appear to be strengthened, it is but, as I
think, because, he distrusts the destiny of Prussia ;
for he well knows that his English calculations are
rather specious than solid, and that the Prussian,
though perhaps somewhat more subaltern, are
much less hazardous.

person meant is the same who is mentioned in the second
volume (during the conference between the author and
Baron Reede) as the confidential friend of M. de Calonne.

284 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
III. — He and his minister have so often
demanded, and redemanded, on what basis I
imagined the pacification of Holland might be
established, that I have supposed the Duke pro
bably thinks, should we exclude the Prince of
Prussia from the Nassau alliance, there might be
a necessity of choosing his daughter, the Princess
Caroline of Brunswick, as a consort for the
Prussian heir. The supposition is founded on
circumstances so fugitive that it is impossible to
give them written evidence, or perhaps probable ;
especially because that, not having received any
instructions on such a subject, I have not dared
to make any advances. I therefore only give it
for what it is worth. The being but little in
formed of the affairs of Holland has, in every
respect, been highly injurious to* me on this
occasion. Might I have spoken more freely, I
might even have drawn the well dry. The only
positive proposal which he made on the subject
was a kind of coalition-council of regency, with
out which the Stadtholder could effect nothing,
and in which should be included Gislaer, Van-
berckel, &c, &c. ; but among whom also must

THE COURT OF BERLIN 285
be seated M. Van Lynden, the governor of the
children of the Stadtholder, &c, &c To my
eternal objection — " How will you support those
measures which shall be taken under the pledge
of your aid?" — he continually replied — "Should
the Stadtholder counteract these arrangements, we
will abandon him." — " But how far ? " I replied.
" And, if but amicably, how will he be injured,
should he be thus abandoned ? " — — In a word, I
continued, with a kind of mysterious obstinacy,
to maintain that the Stadtholder would never be
brought to reason, unless it should be declared to
him that the King of Prussia would forsake his
party ; though his consort might be secretly in
formed such was not the real intent.
IV. — It appeared to me that the Duke was
ruminating on some grand project for the recon
struction of the Germanic edifice ; for this able
Prince perceives the antique ruinous building
must be propped in order to be preserved, and
even in many parts repaired. The sole wish
which he clearly testified was the separation of
the electorate of Hanover from the English
monarchy, and the secularisation of certain pro-

286 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
vinces, which might one day form an equivalent
for Saxony. He supposes the first point might
be gained, and even without any great difficulty,
should our politics become anglicised ; and that
the second might be accomplished, though con
trary to the confederation of the Princes, because
at the death of the Elector of Mayence there will
be an opportunity of retouching the league, as
well as a natural and proper occasion of coming
to an explanation with the ecclesiastical Princes,
who, more interested than any others in the
liberties of Germany, are always the first to ter
giversate, &c, &c. Hence, we at least may learn
that, however attached he may appear to be to
the confederation, means may be found of in
ducing him to listen to reason concerning modifi
cations. The instructions which are necessary for me
at present, are : —
I. — Whether we ought, on this occasion, to
bring him on the stage, which would be the real
means of driving him from it ; and I certainly do
not think the latter to be our interest, for he is
more prudent, more able, and less susceptible of

THE COURT OF BERLIN 287
prejudice and passion, than any other who can be
made minister.
II. — Whether his party ought to be encouraged
and strengthened, which will be to act directly con
trary to the party of Prince Henry ; for the plan
of the Duke is exclusive ; and to confess the truth,
he appears tacitly so convinced that the Prince can
effect nothing, that he has greatly fortified my own
opinion on this subject.
III. — What is the degree of confidence I ought
to place in him ? For it is impossible to obtain
the confidence of, without placing confidence in,
such a man ; and in my apprehension he had
better be told than suffer to divine.
Count Finckenstein is recovering.
The King arrived on the eighteenth, at eight
in the morning, after having left Breslau, on the
seventeenth, at seven in the morning. This was
incredible diligence ; no person could keep pace
with him. He went on the same day to visit
the Queen Dowager, and thus gave occasion to
attribute the rapidity and danger of the journey
to Mademoiselle Voss. She is said to be preg
nant ; but, in the first place this cannot be

288 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
known, and, in the second, I do not believe the
haste would have been so great, had it been
truth. According to report, she has demanded
two hundred thousand crowns. Should this be so,
the circle of her career will not be very ample.
The King made a multitude of nobles in
Silesia, as elsewhere. But, without loading my
letter, the Gazettes will tell you enough of their
names. He is to remain a week at Potsdam,
which is to be dedicated to his military labours.
Great changes in the army are spoken of, such
as will be favourable to the subalterns, and the
reverse to the captains.
The Dantzicers, who, according to appear
ances, supposed Kings were hobgoblins, were so
enraptured to meet with one who did not eat
their children that, in the excess of their enthusi
asm, they were willing to put themselves without
restraint under the Prussian government. The
magistrates eluded the folly of the populace as
well as they could, under the pretence that
Dantzic was dependent on Poland ; but so great
and so violent was the tumult, that Prussian and
Polish couriers were sent off. This event will no

THE COURT OF BERLIN 289
doubt rouse the Emperor and Russia; a favourable
circumstance to our affairs in Holland.
Count Hertzberg, who has indulged himself
in very headlong acts in Silesia, and particularly
in his discourse on the day of homage, in which
he really braved the Emperor in a very indecent
manner, as if it was not in his nature to accom
modate himself to a peaceable order of affairs ;
Hertzberg, I say, has had the influence to retard
the nomination of Alvensleben for the French
Embassy, which had been announced by the King
at supper. How might I have expected to be
thus deceived, since, when I sent you the intelli
gence, I supposed it to be an affair so public that
I did not even write it in cypher ?

vol. 1 I9

2gO THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XXXIX
October 24th, 1786.
I shall begin my despatch with an anecdote,.
the truth of which is undoubted, and which
appears to me the most decisive of all I have
learnt concerning the new reign. Recollect that,
in Number XVIII., August 29, I wrote,
" The King apparently intends to renounce all
his old habits. This is a proud undertaking. He
retires before ten in the evening, and rises at four.
Should he persevere, he will afford a singular ex
ample of habits of thirty years being vanquished.
This will be an indubitable proof of a grand
character, and shew how we have all been mis
taken." When I spoke thus, I, like the rest of the
world, judged by appearances. The truth is that
at half after nine the King disappeared, and
was supposed to be gone to rest ; whereas, in
the most retired apartments of the palace, like
another Sardanapalus, he held his orgies till night

THE COURT OF BERLIN 2gi
was far advanced. Hence it is easy to understand
why hours of business were obliged to be inverted.
Health would not allow him to be equally active
upon the stage and behind the scenes.
Prince Henry regards himself as kept at a
distance as well from system as from inclination.
He is, or believes himself to be, persuaded that
the innumerable follies which will result from his
absence, for in his opinion the country without
his aid is undone, will occasion recourse to be
had to his experience and his abilities, and he
then intends to refuse that tardy succour which
his genius will be implored to yield. Even
granting him the truth of all these vain dreams,
he does not recollect that the expression of an
undone country is only true relative to a certain
lapse of time, and that therefore, in all proba
bility, he will be dead before the want of his
assistance will be perceived. He comes to reside
four months at Berlin ; there, according to him,
to suffer martyrdom, that it may not be supposed
he has deserted the public cause. His places of
asylum are afterward to be Rheinsberg, the Lake
19 — 2

292 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
of Geneva, and France ; but such he will easily
find everywhere. Consolation will not be wanting
to him, since consolation can be found at playing
at blind man's-buff, or hot-cockles, with actresses
more insipid than the very worst of our pro
vincial companies can afford.
The distribution of influence continues the
same. Hertzberg violently seizes on the King,
who probably has more esteem for Count
Finckenstein ; but whom, not being so eternally
hunted by him, he leaves in a subaltern degree of
credit, which from apparent may become real, the
easy temper of the master considered. The re
maining ministers are held to be so many cyphers.
Welner daily increases his jurisdiction, and
Bishopswerder his influence, but he does not
appear to exercise this influence either as a man
of ostentation or a dupe. He neither asks for
titles, ribands, nor places. At most he will but
make ministers ; he will never be one. Three
hundred thousand livres (twelve thousand five
hundred pounds sterling) for each of his daughters,
an excellent fief for himself, with military rank
(he is said to be a good officer) — these are what

THE COURT OF BERLIN 293
he wishes, and these he most probably will obtain.
In the meantime no person has anything ; neither
he nor Welner nor Goertz, who lives by borrowing.
Bowlet ? — The influence of a mason-engineer,
and no other ; for of no other is he capable.
Goltz the Tartar ? — Artful, sly, dexterous ;
perhaps ambitious, but very selfish and covetous.
Money is his ruling passion, and money he will
have. He will probably have the greatest influence
over military affairs, unless the Duke of Brunswick
should take them to himself. The memorials
relative to fortification are transmitted to him.
Colonel Wartensleben is evidently kept at a
distance, and probably because of his family con
nexions with Prince Henry ; who, to all his other
disadvantages, adds that of having every person
who is about the King for his enemy.
Subalterns ? — Their kingdom is not come. It
should seem that having long, while Prince of
Prussia, been deceived by them, the King knows
and recollects this ; although from compassion he
wishes not to notice it, at least for a time.
The master ? — What is he ? — I persist in
believing it would be rash, at present, to pro-

294 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
nounce, though one might be strongly tempted to
reply King Log. No understanding, no fortitude,
no consistency, no industry ; in his pleasures the
Hog of Epicurus1 and the hero only of pride ;
which perhaps we should rather denominate con
fined and vulgar vanity. Such hitherto have the
symptoms been. And under what circumstances,
in what an age, and at what a post ? I am
obliged to summon all my reason to divine, and
to forget it all again to hope. The thing which
is really to be feared is lest the universal contempt
he must soon incur should irritate him, and de
prive him of that species of benevolence of which
he shews signs. That weakness is very formidable
which unites an ardent thirst after pleasures, desti
tute of choice or delicacy, with the desire of keeping
them secret in a situation where nothing can be
kept secret.
Not that I here am writing a second part to
Madam de Sevigne ; I do not speak ill of
Frederick- William because he overlooks me, as
she spoke well of Louis XIV., because he had
lately danced a minuet with her.
i Epicuri de grege porcum. — Hor.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 295
Yesterday, at the Court of the Queen, he
three times addressed himself to me, which he
never before did in public. — " You have been at
Magdeburg and Brunswick." — "Yes, Sire." — "Were
you pleased with the manoeuvres ? " — " Sire, I was
in admiration." — " I ask to be informed of the
truth, and not to be complimented." — " In my
opinion, Sire, there was nothing wanting to com
plete the splendour of this exhibition, except the
presence of your Majesty." — -"Is the Duke in
good health ? " — " Exceedingly good, Sire." — " Will
he be here soon ? " — " Your Majesty, I imagine,
is the only person who knows." — He smiled.
This is a specimen. You will well imagine it
was, personally, very indifferent to me what he
should say to me before the whole Court, but it
was not so to the audience; and I note this as
having appeared to make a part of the arranged
reparation to France, which reparation was as
follows. (From this, imagine the wit of the Court
of Berlin ; for I am convinced there was a real
desire of giving satisfaction to Count d'Esterno.)
First it was determined the Queen should
have a Lotto, and not a private party, in order

296 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
that the company at her table might be the more
numerous. After all the Princesses, Prince Henry,
Prince Frederick of Brunswick, and the Prince of
Holsteinbeck, had been invited, and taken their
places, Mademoiselle Bishopswerder, the maid of
honour who regulated the party, named Count
d'Esterno. The Queen then, perceiving Lord
Dalrymple, beckoned him, and at the same
moment desired him to sit down. The am
bassadors of France and England were the only
foreign ministers that were of the party, so that
Princes Reuss and Romanzow were now excluded,
as they before had appeared to have been
favoured. It would be difficult to imagine any
thing more awkward, or more inconsistent ; and
this increases my regret at remembering that
Count d'Esterno thought himself obliged to take
offence on the first Court day of the Queen ; for,
after the absurdity of yesterday, I can see no
possible hope of reparation, which would not be
slovenly daubing.
I am certain, however, that, far from wishing
to wound, they were desirous to heal; and, to
treat the subject less petitely, I am persuaded it is

THE COURT OF BERLIN 297
wrong to affirm the King hates the French. He
hates nothing; he scarcely loves anything. He has
been told that he must become wholly German,
in order to pursue a new and glorious track, and
he descends to the level of his nation, instead of
desiring to elevate his nation superior to itself.
His conduct is the result of the narrowness of
his views. If he have a cordial dislike to any
thing, it is to men of wit ; because he imagines
that, in their company, it is absolutely requisite
he should hear wit, and be himself a wit. He
despairs of the one, and therefore hates the other.
He has not yet learnt that men of wit only are
the people who can appear not to possess wit.
He seems to have made a determination to treat
all persons in an amicable manner, without
haughtiness or threat. The Stadtholder always
receives two very different accounts from Berlin,
and does not fail to believe that which flatters
his ruling passion.
A mile from this place some very secret
experiments are making on the artillery, which
are confided to Major Tempelhoff. A small num
ber of superior officers are admitted ; captains

298 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
are excluded. The ground is covered by tents,
and guarded by sentinels, night and day. I shall
endeavour to learn the particulars.
I forgot to write you word, from Brunswick,
that the Duchess informed me the Prince of Wales
was consulting the most able civilians in Europe,
to learn whether, by marrying a Catholic, the
positive laws of England, the laws of any other
nation, or the maxims of the civil laws of Europe,
would disinherit an heir, and particularly an Heir-
Apparent. There appears to be much imprudence
in this appeal of an Heir -Apparent from the
opinions of Great Britain to those of the civilians.1
An anecdote less important, but perhaps more
poignant, is that the Margrave of Baden-Baden has
sent M. von Edelsheim here as his complimentary
envoy, the brother of one of his ministers who is
called the Choiseul of Carlsruhe. The following is

1 The political conduct of the Prince appears to rise
with, and become equal to, political exigencies. There are
strong symptoms in his late behaviour of a fortitude that
is equal to the glorious heroism of despising self when self
and the welfare of mankind are at warfare. Love, the
crimes of which, if so crimes can be, are venial, has yielded
to a less seductive, but more noble passion.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 299
the history of this complimentor, who has arrived
long after all the others.
At a time when the prolific virtues of the
father of the five royal children were held in
doubt, there was a wish to bestow a lover on a
lady (the afterwards divorced Queen, banished to
Stettin), who, had they not done so, would have
made bold to have bestowed one on herself. The
care of choosing was committed to the brothers of
the Duke of Brunswick. They descended a little
too low, and in consequence an eye was cast on
Edelsheim, who was publicly enough charged with
this great work. He was afterwards sent to
Paris to execute another commission,1 of which
1 Frederick II., dreading the tediousness of the proposed
congress at Augsburg, wished to send a private emissary to
sound the Court of France. For this purpose he chose
Edelsheim as a person, according to the King's account,
least liable to suspicion. The project of Frederick was to
indemnify the King of Poland by robbing the ecclesiastical
Princes of Germany. This the pious Louis XV. rejected.
Edelsheim returned with his answer to Frederick at Frey-
berg, whence he afterwards departed for London, made his
communications, and was once again sent back to Paris, on
pretence that he had left some of his travelling trunks
there ; and the Bailli de Froulay, the ambassador of the
Knights of Malta, being persuaded the French were effec-

3OO THE SECRET HISTORY OF
he acquitted himself ill. I have been assured he
was thrown into the Bastille. On his return he
was disgraced, but afterwards employed, and sent
to various Courts of Germany in 1778. And this
is the man whom, in his high wisdom, the
Margrave selected for his envoy to the King of
Prussia. The Monarch himself, when he saw him,
could not forbear laughing.
Postscript. — Yesterday, at eleven in the morn
ing, the King, hid in a grey coach, went alone to
Mon-Bijou, where he remained an hour, whence
he returned in a great glow. What does this
mean ? Is this the triumph of the lady Voss ?
It is impossible at present to know. Neither has
anything transpired concerning the letters which
M. von Calenberg has brought from the Stadtholder.
Muller and Landsberg, private secretaries
of the Cabinet, demanded their dismission with
tually desirous of peace, was, as he had been before, the
mediator. The Bailli was deceived. The Duke de Choiseul,
indecently enough, threw Edelsheim into the Bastille in
order to search his papers, which, however, Edelsheim had
taken care to secure. The emissary was released on the
morrow, but obliged to depart the kingdom, by the way of
Turin. Such is the story as related by the King, in
Chapter XI. of the Seven Years' War.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 3OI
considerable chagrin ; their services not being
apparently necessary, said they, since they were
not thought worthy of being instructed concern
ing the answers they had to return, and since
the letters were sent ready composed to the
King. They remain in their places, and the
accommodation was effected by Bishopswerder.
It appears that he is in league with Welner
against Hertzberg, which he does not take any
great precautions to conceal. The King will not
go to Potsdam to make the military arrangements
before Friday, in order, as it is supposed, to give
the Duke time to arrive. The attempting to ac
count for all the caprices of Kings is a strange
kind of frenzy.

302 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
LETTER XL
October 28th, 1786.
I passed yesterday evening with Prince Henry.
The King had dedicated almost the whole after
noon of the day before to this palace; for, after
having been with the Prince, he visited the
Princess, where he played, and drank tea with
Mademoiselle Voss, among other ladies of honour.
This kind of reconciliation with the Prince
(which, however, is nothing more than a simple
act of courtesy, as is evident from the suc
ceeding visit to the Princess, whom the Prince
regards as his most cruel enemy), this reconcilia
tion (which is nearly an accurate phrase ; for the
coolness between them was very great) appears
to be the political work of Welner, who wishes,
in his struggle against Hertzberg, if not the
support, at least the neutrality of the Prince ;
and the hatred of this feeble mortal is so blind
in effect that, united with the hopes of his
ambition, of which he is not easy to be cured,
it was sufficient to induce him once more meanly

THE COURT OF BERLIN 303
to offer his services to the King ; consequently to
cast himself, if possible, to a greater distance.
Not that he himself places any great dependence
on this type of peace, which is the more sus
picious because it happened on the eve of a
succeeding fortnight's absence, after which it will
not be difficult to find pretences not to meet
again for some time longer, should the King
think proper. But the Prince imagines his
enemy dead, and he enjoys himself, and chuckles
like a child, without recollecting that this is
the very way to promote his resurrection.
In reality Count Hertzberg appears to have
cast his own die. He had a tolerable run of
ill-luck in Silesia : abrupt disputes, contradictions,
the chagrin of seeing the name of the brother
of his former mistress struck off from the list
of Counts; he ought, even while in Prussia, to
have perceived that his sounding speeches gave no
pleasure. On the day of receiving homage, he
read over the names of the Counts, and when
he came to his own stopped, that the King,
seated on his throne, might pronounce it himself;
and the Monarch was malicious enough to re-

304 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
main silent, so that the inauguration of Count
Hertzberg did not take place till the day after,
and in the ante-chamber. .
But what probably has occasioned his down
fall, if fallen he has, was his haughty behaviour
to Welner, the least forgetful of men, and who,
amid his ambitious projects, needed no such
cause of rancour to occasion him to hate and
injure the minister. Hertzberg has made him
wait for hours in his ante-chamber, has received
and kept him standing, spoken to him but a
very short time, and dismissed him with airs
which are only proper to give offence. Welner
vowed his destruction, and he is seconded by
Bishopswerder. Such, at least, are probabilities, according to
every acceptation of the word influence ; and I
should have divined them to-day from the very
politeness of Hertzberg. He gave a grand dinner to
foreigners, among whom for once Count d'Esterno
and myself were invited. His attention seemed
all directed to us. Such proceedings are awkward
and mean. This mixture of stiffness and twining
is a strange singularity by which half-formed

THE COURT OF BERLIN 3O5
characters ruin themselves. Machiavel rightly
affirms that " all the evil in the world originates
in not being sufficiently good, or sufficiently
wicked." Whether my conjectures are or are not
true, still it is certain Count Hertzberg has been
very dryly and positively forbidden all inter
ference, direct or indirect, in the affairs of
Holland, from which country Callenberg does
not appear to have brought any remarkable
intelligence. He is really come to obtain admis
sion into the Prussian service, and his letters
were only recommendatory.
It is not the influence of Hertzberg that
prevents the recall of Thulemeyer, but that of
Count Finckenstein. The mother of the envoy
has had a lasting and tender friendship for the
Count; and indeed it was her husband who pro
cured the Count a place in the ministry. In fact,
it appears to me to be a matter of little moment,
for the present, whether Thulemeyer should or
should not be recalled. His embassy ended on
the arrival of Goertz, nor do I believe he sends
any despatches.
The destiny of Launay was decided the day
vol. 1 20

306 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
before yesterday by a very severe letter. He is
no longer allowed to act, and they only offer him
a pension of two thousand crowns to retire on,
with the proviso that he shall remain in the
Prussian states. It must be owned his estimate1
is a chef-d'oeuvre of egotism and folly, and that
he might be completely refuted ; although the
memorial of the commissioners who have under
taken his refutation is a pitiable performance. He
has proved two facts, the one of which is curious,
and the other decisive against his own adminis
tration. First, that, in the space of nineteen
years, he has brought into the King's coffers a
surplus of forty -two millions six hundred and
eighty -nine thousand crowns of the empire (or
upward of seven millions sterling) exclusive of the
fixed revenue, which annually amounted to five
millions of crowns. What dreadful oppression ! —
The second, that the collecting .of the customs is
an annual expense of more than one million four
hundred thousand crowns (or near two hundred
and fifty thousand pounds sterling), which, on a
first view of the business to be transacted, and
i Compte rendu.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 307
of local circumstances, might at least be reduced
two-thirds. But not one man is at this moment
employed who appears to understand the elements
of his profession. It is a fact that they have not
yet been able to make any general statement of
debtor and creditor, nor to class any single
branch of the revenue ; so that there is not one
object, not even the King's dinner, which is yet
regulated. This is a chaos, but it is a chaos at rest.
Finance, military and civil, are each alike in a
state of stagnation ; and such a state in general
would indeed be better than the rage of governing
too much, in a country with a fixed constitution,
in which individual prudence might preponderate
over public folly. But men are here so accustomed
to see their King active, or rather exclusively ac
tive ; they are so little in the habit of doing what
he leaves undone ; though, having once issued his
orders, they very well understand the art of de
ceiving him ; they even think so little of laying
any proposals before him, that the stagnation is
a real clog on the machine. But how injurious
may this clog become in a kingdom which rests
20 — 2

308 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
on so brittle a basis, though inhabited, indeed, by a
people so tardy, so heavy, so unimpassioned, that it
is scarcely possible a sudden shock should happen ?
The vessel, however, must continue to sink, more
or less sensibly, if some pilot does not come on
board, although she will not suddenly founder.
Wait we must : it would be an act of temerity
to attempt to look into this darkness visible. I
repeat we must wait before we can know whether
the King will, or will not, have the courage to
take a prime minister. Such an appointment
would be equal to a revolution; and, well or ill,
would change the whole face of affairs.
The Duke of Brunswick is the person who
ought to be narrowly watched, if we wish to
foretell the fate of this Government ; although he
should not be the person appointed, and should
there be any appearance of a shipwreck. This
Prince is only fifty, and is indisputably ambitious.
Should he ever resolve on hazardous and daring
designs, and should he no longer depend on
Prussia, he would shake all the German combina
tions as the north wind shakes the reed. His
manners and his prudence are incompatible with

THE COURT OF BERLIN 309
the English party. Neither can England act on
the Continent except accidentally. But I can
imagine circumstances under which I think him
capable of going over to the Emperor, who would
receive him with open arms. And what might
not the Duke of Brunswick perform at the head
of the Austrian army ? How great would be the
danger of Germany ! How vast a prospect for
him whose passions might be unbridled, should he
be obliged to act a desperate part ; for he almost
hates his sons, unless it be his youngest, who
promises not to be so stupid as the others.
The best manner of securing him has been missed,
which would have been to have placed him
unconditionally at the head of the Germanic
Confederation. Should he desert it, I greatly fear
he will be its destroyer.
Baron H  is arrived, and has not been
received by the King equal to his expectations.
A certain musical demoniac, named Baron Bagge,
is also at Berlin.1 I imagine they are all in too
1 This Baron is a very pleasant gentleman, at least
to the musical world. He performs on the violin, but so

310 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
much haste. The King is in the high fervour of
the German system, and anxious to have it
known that the ship is to be differently trimmed.
Since his accession, the banker of La Valmour
has received orders to send in his account, that
it may be discharged, and to stop all future pay
ments to that girl who had formerly so much
power over him. It is said he is to return from
Potsdam on the third, and I imagine it will be
found that he only goes there to the chase. The
Prince of Dessau is to arrive there to-morrow
evening, and I have no doubt there is to be a
calling of the faithful.1

vilely, and with such ridiculous vanity, that there is not
a great city in Europe in which he is not mimicked by the
musicians; who, however, take good care to flatter him,
and to serve whom he devotes his time and his income.
His usual residence is at Paris, where he keeps open house
for all who can hold a fiddle, and does not scruple, there
and elsewhere, to invite the men who have gained most
reputation in the practice of their art to take lessons of
him and acquire absolute perfection.
i Evocation d'dmes.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 311

LETTER XLI

October 30th, 1786.
At the request of Struensee, I have sent him
the following information. First on the possi
bility of public loans to France, and secondly
on the treaty of commerce, and on the manner
of placing money in the French funds.
There are two species of public funds in
France ; those the interest of which is fixed and
certain, and which does not vary with circum
stances ; and those which produce dividends, or
a participation of gain, subject to vicissitudes
and to rise or fall.
The public and favoured companies principally
appertain to this last class. Such as the Caisse
d'Escompte, the Paris water- works, and French
East India Company ; the prices of stock in
which have successively, or all together, been
agitated by every frenzy of stock-jobbing. All
true estimate of their real value and their effective
gains has been as it were lost, that men might
yield to the rage of gambling in funds which

312 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
never could be reduced to any exact valuation.
These jobbers have been less occupied by en
deavours to reduce the price of shares to their
true value than artfully to affect their price, by
disputes and pretended reasonings on the impossi
bility of delivering all the shares that had been
sold. Monopoly has succeeded to monopoly,
association to association ; some to raise, others
to lower the price ; to effect which every imaginary
species of deceit, cabal, and cunning has been
practised ; and, though this gambling mania has
not continued' more than two years, many people
have already been ruined, and many others dis
honoured, by taking shelter under the laws to
elude their engagements.
The other species of public funds, and the
only one perhaps which merits the name, consists
in contracts, and royal effects, properly so called.
The contracts yield an interest of from five and
a half to six per cent, at the utmost. One only
fund, the stock of which is paid at sight, is more
productive. This is the loan of one hundred and
twenty-five millions. Shares are only sold, at
present, at an advance of two per cent., although

THE COURT OF BERLIN 313
there are nine months' interest due, and that the
real interest amounts to nearly seven per cent.
The stock cannot remain long at this price ; and,
whether the purchasers wish to be permanent
stock - holders, or only to speculate for some
months, this loan merits a preference to any
other. Its advantages annually increase, since,
while receiving a uniform interest of five per cent.,
a part of the capital is to be periodically repaid.
In January, 1787 and 1788, these reimbursements
are to be made at the rate of fifteen per cent.
on the capital advanced. They are afterwards
to proceed to pay off twenty per cent., and at
intervals of three years to twenty-five, thirty,
thirty-five, forty, forty-five, fifty per cent ; till, in
the last year, the whole will be repaid, indepen
dent of the interest of five per cent, to, and
including, the years of reimbursement, the last
year of payment only excepted. The stock-holders
may either have bills payable at sight, according
to the original plan, or if they please may receive
contracts in their stead, without any change
taking place in the order of reimbursement.
Those who buy in with a design of remaining

314 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
stock-holders must prefer contracts, because these
are neither liable to be stolen, burnt, nor destroyed.
Those who purchase stock on speculation, intend
ing to sell out, should rather receive bills, because
the transfer would then be subject to none of the
delays of office.
We ought to regard the public loans of France
as at an end, all the debts of the war being paid ;
so that, if any loans henceforth should take place,
they can probably be only for small sums1 to pay
off the annual reimbursements with which the
finances will, for five or six years to come, be
burdened. But these loans can only offer trifling
advantages to the moneyed men. The rate of
interest must have a natural tendency to fall,
because of the general prosperity of the kingdom,
and consequently the loan of one hundred and
twenty-five millions presents the probability of
rising in price ; which rise is each day liable to
take place, and which variation cannot be profited
by, unless stock is immediately purchased. This
probability might even be called a certainty, when
1 The world at that time was ignorant of,' nor could it
divine, the sublime invention of gradual and successive loans.,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 315
on the one part we recollect the nature of the
loan, which is the most wise, solid, and advan
tageous to the moneyed men, and in every respect
the best that has ever been imagined ; and on the
other the concurrence of circumstances, which all
uniting lead us to presume that the credit of
France, and the public confidence in its royal
effects, must daily increase.
On the Commercial Treaty.
It appears that the Treaty of Commerce is
highly acceptable to both parties. The English
perceive in it a vast market for their woollen
cloths, wrought cottons, and hardware ; we depend
on the great exportation of our wines, linens, and
cambrics ; and probably both nations are right,
but under certain modifications, the value of which
can only be taught by time.
The treaty, in general, seems to have held a
principle as sacred which has too often been mis
understood ; which is, that moderate duties are
the sole means of preserving the revenue, and
preventing illicit trade. Thus the English mer
chandise is rated at from ten to twelve per cent.

316 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
Should the advantage for some years appear to be
wholly on the side of the English, still it is
evident the French trade will gain ground, since
nothing can prevent our manufactures gradually
imitating the products of English industry; where
as, Nature having refused soil and climate to
England, our wines cannot be made there, and in
this respect the English must always depend
on us. True it is that the wines of Portugal will
continue to be drank in England in great quan
tities, but the rising generation will prefer the
wines of France. Of this Ireland affords a proof,
in which ten times the quantities of French
wines are drank to the wines of Portugal. The
French wines henceforth are only to pay duties
equivalent to those which the wines of Portugal
at present pay in England ; that is to say, forty
pounds sterling per ton, or about one shilling per
bottle. Our wines of Medoc may there be sold
cheap, and will be preferred to the wines of
Portugal. The English, it is true, are allowed to
lower the present duties on the wines of Portugal,
but they will fear to diminish them too sensibly,

THE COURT OF BERLIN 317
lest they should injure the revenue arising from
their beer, which is the most essential of their
excise duties, and annually produces more than
one million eight hundred thousand pounds
sterling. The treaty, in fact, will incontestably be
advantageous to both countries. It will procure
an increase of enjoyment to the people, and of
revenue to their respective Monarchs. Its ten
dency is to render the English and French more
friendly, and in general it is founded on those
liberal principles which are worthy two such great
nations, and of which France ought to be the
first to give an example, since, of all countries on
earth, it would, from its natural advantages, be
the greatest gainer, should such principles be
universally established in the commercial world.

318 THE SECRET HISTORY OF

LETTER XLII
October 31st, 1786.
They have also affirmed (that is, Prince
Ferdinand has) that it was I who refuted the
estimate 1 of Launay. From that moment I have
daily left my card at the house of Launay, and
have declared that to torment people seemed to
me to be a thing so unnecessary that, exclusive
of the cowardice of wantonly striking a man under
misfortunes, none but a fool could have invented
so silly and malicious a tale.
On the reply to the refutation of his estimate,
Launay received so severe a letter that he imme
diately demanded permission to retire. The King
answered this should be granted him, when the com
mission should have no more need of his assistance.
It is loudly rumoured here, after having been
long whispered, that a treaty is concerting between
Russia, Austria, and Prussia ; the pretext for
which is the pacification of Holland. I own
1 Compte rendu.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 3I9
that at present I do not see the least proba
bility of truth in the report. Neither the King,
nor any of his ministers, appear to me to have
an understanding sufficiently enlarged for such a
project. Not but we most assuredly ought to
pay very serious attention to the rumour.
As I was finishing my phrase, I received
information that Doctor Roggerson, the favourite
physician of the Czarina, the same whom she sent
to Vienna, and of whom I spoke to you in my
former despatches, is just arrived. Now or never
is the time for an eye war ; but this kind of
tilting can be performed only by ambassadors ;
they alone possess the means, were we to exclude
every other except the all-puissance of supper
parties, which are the very sieves of secrets.
Roggerson returns from England by way of
Amsterdam, and Berlin was entirely in his road.
Still, I repeat, we ought watchfully to observe
Vienna and Petersburg ; convinced as I am at
present that the Emperor is only spreading nets
for this country. I must further add that I
imagine I very clearly , perceive the Gallomania
of Prince Henry is on the decline. But this to

320 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
him will be of no advantage, for it is to oppose
the Prince that they are Anti-Gallican here. It
is not to oppose the French that he is opposed.
Prince Henry is turbulent, false, and perfidious.
He formerly was successful at Petersburg. He
may flatter himself that, should there be any
need of that Court, he may be employed ; and
never will there be a better resemblance of the
morality of the late Erostratus.1
The Duke of Brunswick arrived on Saturday
at Potsdam. This is a kind of secret at Berlin.
Nothing had been done on Sunday, except listen
ing to music and looking at reviews; but two
couriers were certainly sent off, from the Sunday
to the Tuesday. I know nothing more. I am
in want of pecuniary and other aid. The do
mestic disorder is a thing so inconvenient, some
of the favourites are so interested to put an end
to it, or to certain parts of it, since they have
not a sixpence, and it is carried to such excess
in the palace, that I cannot help supposing there
i Meaning the late King, who fired not only temples,
but would have willingly extended the conflagration to the
universe, could he have thrown on the oil without being
scorched by the gust of the flames.

THE COURT OF BERLIN 32 1
is some grand object which employs the whole
attention of the King, and the few moments he
can prevail on himself to dedicate to business.
There has been a quarrel in the household,
in which the master has committed some violence
on himself. One of his favourite ushers, Rumpel,
a man naturally very insolent, insomuch that at
a review he once struck a gentleman without any
serious notice being taken of the affair, has had' a
very passionate brawl with Lindenau, the new first
usher, who is a Saxon, and the friend of Bishops
werder, who procured him the place. Lindenau
put the insolent favourite under arrest, and gave
an account of his proceeding to the King. The
Monarch started with astonishment ; but, after a
momentary silence, he not only approved of the act
of Lindenau, but confirmed the arrest in a very cool
manner, and for an indefinite term. By this he
has given some energy to the head servants, and
somewhat tempered the, insolence of the subalterns.
Discord, on the other hand, reigns among the
favourites. Goltz and Bishopswerder had a very
serious dispute in Silesia. The King, having made
some new appointments, in favour of I know not
VOL. I 2I

322 THE SECRET HISTORY OF
whom, Goltz kept so cool a silence that the King
insisted on knowing the reason of this tacit dis
approbation. Goltz replied, " Your Majesty is
overflowing the land with Saxons, as if you had
not a subject of your own." — Bishopswerder came
in, a few moments afterwards, and proposed
another Saxon, on which the King very abruptly
exclaimed, "Zounds! you never propose any
body but Saxons." — Probably, in the explanation
which succeeded this pettishness, the King told
what Goltz had said. Certain it' is that Bishops
werder and Goltz have been very warm. The
wall is whitewashed over, but we may with good
reason conclude that Goltz, the Tartar, and
Bishopswerder, the debonnaire, neither do, nor
ever will, cordially esteem each other. It was
the latter who brought the insignificant Duke of
Holsteinbeck hither, and who is endeavouring to
advance him to the command of the guards, that
he may deprive the former favourite, Wartensleben,
of the place.
To descend a step lower, it appears that
Chauvier is regaining credit. He imagined, at
the beginning of the reign, that the Surliness qf

THE COURT OF BERLIN 323
the secretary would promote his interest. It did
the reverse. Apparently he has altered his route,
and is in the pandar department, submits to sub
altern complaisance, and even to act the spy, in
which he finds his account.
The King returns on Wednesday, as it is
said, to depart again on Thursday. I cannot
understand what this means, unless it should be
to keep Prince Henry at a distance, without
openly quarrelling. The Prince will remain igno
rant of affairs by not knowing where to find the
King. The minister, Blumenthal, has rather
resolutely demanded his dismission, complaining
that His Majesty, having bedizened some of his
servants, who were not of so long a standing as
himself, with ribands, had not bestowed on him
that mark of honour. His retreat, which is not
granted, is a matter of little moment ; though it
is affirmed the King could not be better pleased,
for he would then have a place to bestow. I have
heard, and from a good quarter, that this place,
or rather a place of principal trust, will very soon
be given to a remarkable man, to the dissatisfac
tion of everybody. I can neither divine who this

324 THE COURT OF BERLIN
man is, nor believe the King has the fortitude to
dissatisfy everybody. The credit of Hertzberg, if
not ruined, is still on the decline. It is certain
that he has not dined with the King since the
return from Silesia.
Welner is at Potsdam.
Do not suffer your ambassador to persuade
you that there is nothing to apprehend from
Austria ; I am convinced the King is undeter
mined, that the Emperor is sounding him, and
that there is something in agitation with which
we are unacquainted. For my own part, nothing
would appear less extraordinary to me. I own
I am .surprised at all the intelligence I obtain,
however little that all may be. But nothing can
here be kept secret from a French ambassador,
who is neither in want of money nor industry.
I have just been told that General Rodig has
sent a challenge to Count Goertz. I have not
learnt what was the cause of quarrel, and the
truth of the news scarcely appears to be probable ;
yet it comes from a person who should know,
though he is a young man.
end of vol. 1

3 9002 00713 3029