The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

and the Goodness of her Temper, have procured her both Love and Reverence.

Having now treated of the Princes of the Royal Family, I proceed to give you an account of the chief Noblemen of the Court; and in the first place, of the Ministers of the Cabinet.—These are, 1. Waldemar Baron de Lowendahl Grand Marshal, Knight of the Saxon Order of the White Eagle, and of the Danish Order of the Elephant, who by his Post of Grand Marshal holds the first Rank at the Court of Saxony, because the Elector is Arch Grand Marshal of the Empire. He is a Dane by birth, and is descended from a Count of Guldenlowe, a natural Son of the Blood-Royal of Denmark. He spent his youthful Days in the Service of the States-General, and was made a Captain in the Blue Guards; which he afterwards quitted, and went into the Service of the Emperor Leopold, and distinguish'd himself in quality of a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1683, at the raising of the Siege of Vienna; after which he return'd to Denmark, where he serv'd with Honour. But leaving that Court upon some Disgust, he came into Saxony, where Augustus II. declared him President of the Chamber, which Office he held when the King of Denmark recall'd him home. It was with the Approbation of his Master the King of Poland that he return'd to Copenhagen, where his Danish Majesty gave him the Command of his Army in Norway against the Swedes; which Commission he discharged with so much Honour, that he was dignify'd with the Order of the Elephant, as he had already been by that of Dannebroc. He might, had he pleased, have enjoy'd the greatest Offices in Denmark; but he had promised Augustus II. not to forsake him, so that he refus'd all the Advantages which Frederic IV. offer'd him, and return'd into Saxony. After the death of the Count de Phlug, the late King appointed him Grand Marshal, which Office he still

executes with Honour. Tho' he is now advanced in years he has a sound Constitution, and the Air, Behaviour, and Way of Thinking of a Man of his Quality. Being affable and polite, he does the Honours of the Court in a Gentleman-like manner, for which the Courtiers reverence him, and the King professes an esteem for him. His Majesty is the sixth King whom this Minister has serv'd. He has married to his second Wife a Lady of the Family of Rantzau, in the Country of Holstein, who bears a valuable Character, and is as polite as can be desired, speaking French as well as if she was born at Versailles. The Grand Marshal has two Sons by his first Marriage with a Lady of Revenclau: his youngest, viz. Woldemar Baron de Lowendahl is Major-General of the King's Armies, Inspector General of the Saxon Infantry, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. He was fourteen years old when the Grand Marshal sent him to Denmark; where he made a Campaign at Sea under Admiral Tordenschild. At his return to Dresden he carried a Musket, and afterwards pass'd through all the subaltern Degrees. When he was but a Lieutenant he accompany'd General Seckendorf to Vienna, where the Marshal Count Guido de Staremberg gave him a Company in his Regiment, and he distinguish'd himself in a particular manner at the Sieges of Temiswaer and Belgrade, and in Sicily. Since that, he enter'd into the Service of Augustus II. who gave him a Regiment. Afterwards he made two Campaigns as a Voluntier with the Imperialists in Corsica; and upon all occasions manifested that Valour, Skill, and Prudence, as he did lately in the Defence of Cracow; where, with a weak and sickly Garrison, he not only made a vigorous stand against the Attacks of the Primate's Polish Adherents, but also obliged them to retire. This General is so fond of signalizing his Bravery, that he was scarce return'd from Poland,

but he went to make the Campaign as a Voluntier, with the Imperial Army on the Rhine. He lives magnificently, keeps a good Table, and is very civil to Foreigners.

2. Anthony Count de Lutzelbourg, who is by birth a Lorrainer, and an exemplary Professor of the Roman Catholic Religion, is Lieutenant-General of the Forces, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, and General of the Horse. He is pretty tall, and has a chearful Countenance, with a noble easy Behaviour, which shews the Man of Quality. His Merit procured him the Honour of being the King's Governour after the Decease of the Count de Costa, which Post he held 'till his Majesty came of age, when he was appointed Steward of his Houshold, and was as much esteem'd by their Royal Highnesses as he is valued by the Courtiers, and belov'd by the Domestics of the Prince who are under his command: but his frequent Ailments oblig'd him to quit that Office: Nevertheless he was last year at Vienna, where he receiv'd for the King his Master the Investiture of the Feudatory States of the Empire, and concluded the Treaty of Alliance still subsisting between the two Courts.

3. Henry-Frederic Count of Friesland, is Great Chamberlain, General of the Infantry, Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He is descended from a Family which has for a long time been of illustrious Rank in Saxony. He spent part of his Youth in the Service of Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy, and signaliz'd his Valour very much at the Battle of Pultowa; where Charles XII. King of Sweden in a few Hours lost all the fruit of nine years Toil, and of an infinite number of Victories. Soon after this great Battle he shew'd his Wisdom to be equal to his Bravery at the Battle of Pruth; which though it did not turn out so much to the Czar's Honour,

was altogether as fortunate to him, since it extricated that Prince out of the worst scrape that perhaps ever King was reduced to. He enter'd afterwards into the Service of the late King; who being sensible of his Merit, raised him to the greatest Dignities of his Court, and married him to one of the Daughters that he had by the Countess of Cosel. The Great Chamberlain, who has the Looks and Behaviour of a Man of Quality, thinks and acts too like a Nobleman. Few Persons surpass him in Politeness and Learning: He is perfect Master of several Languages, and of every thing that forms the Minister and the General. He loves Literature and the Arts, and was always their Supporter. He lives handsomely, and has such a Presence as commands the Veneration of all that have to do with him.

4. Joseph Count de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour, the adopted Son of the Velt-Marshal Augustus Christopher Count de Wackerbarth who succeeded Marshal de Flemming in the chief command of the Troops in Saxony, and was not only Marshal, but a Minister of State, Grand Master of the Artillery, Governour of Dresden, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. The Father was born of a good Family in Mecklembourg; but from his very youth he attach'd himself to the Elector of Saxony; and by his own Merit, and the Friendship of his Predecessor Count Flemming, he was raised to the chief Posts in the Army and the Court. In 1709 he had the Command of the Saxon Troops before Tournay, as he had in 1715 before Strahlsund, when 'twas besieg'd by the Kings of Denmark and Prussia, and defended by Charles XII. King of Sweden. M. de Wackerbarth was made Count of the Empire by the King his Master, while that Prince was Vicar of the Empire, after the death of the Emperor Joseph. After being grac'd with this Dignity,

the Count de Wackerbarth was employ'd in sundry important Negotiations, especially at Vienna; where he married a Piedmontese Lady, the Dowager of Charles Margrave of Brandenbourg, Brother to Frederic I. King of Prussia, who when he was but very young at the University of Turin; married her by the Left-hand, as you know is the Fashion among our Princes when they marry below themselves. However the Lady went by the Name of Madame de Brandenbourg to the very day that the Count de Wackerbarth married her, being so proud of the Title that she was resolv'd never to part with it 'till she was married again: Notwithstanding the advantageous Offers made to her from the King of Prussia to engage her to renounce it, her refusal of which was the more generous because it was at a time too when she was in narrow Circumstances; yet her constant Answer was, that nothing in the Universe should tempt her to debase herself; and that she had rather be poor, and pass for the Wife of the Margrave of Brandenbourg, than be rich, and pass for his Mistress. Before she became Madame de Brandenbourg she was the Widow of a certain Count de Salmour, by whom she had a Son whom she engaged the Count de Wackerbarth, when she married him, to adopt for his own. I confess I never saw this Lady; for at the time of my former Voyage hither she was at Vienna; and now she is dead. They talk of her still as one of the acutest Women of her time. But to return to the Marshal; he is very civil, lives with great Splendor, and his House is open to all Foreigners. He is mighty intimate with the Count de Flemming, Prime Minister and Favourite of the King; so that they fully contradicted the Proverb, That Fire and Water can't agree; for Count Flemming was lively almost to the Degree of a Fury, whereas the Count de Wackerbarth, on the contrary,

abounds with Phlegm[66]. We go back now to his adopted Son Joseph above-mention'd, a Piedmontese, at present one of the Ministers of the Cabinet[67].