The same Honours and Respects are paid to the Empress Dowager as to the Empress Regent. She has her separate Houshold, and her own Guards. She has an Apartment in the Palace, but commonly lives in a Convent of her own founding in one of the Suburbs, and does not come to Town except on the great Festivals or for some extraordinary Function.
You know, without doubt, that the Empress Dowagers can never quit Mourning; their Apartments must be always hung with Black, and their Coaches and Liveries are of the same Colour: Nor can they be present at any Play, Ball, or Concert. In short by losing their Husbands they must renounce the Pleasures of this Life. These severe Obligations on a Widow are fully discharg'd by the Empress Dowager. Being retir'd to a Convent where she is almost continually prostrate before the Altars in Prayer and Supplication, she makes her Mansion a Place of Piety and Peace, and never appears in public but when Conveniency requires. This Princess was always an Example of the most uncommon Virtue. In the Life-time of her Husband the Emperor Joseph, she lov'd Pleasures and Grandeur; but when she became a Widow she renounc'd all, and only employ'd herself in Works of Piety, and in the Education of the two Arch-Duchesses her Daughters, whom she has now the Comfort of seeing marry'd to two powerful Princes of the Empire[94]. There's not a Person that draws near her Imperial Majesty but admires her eminent Qualities. I have not yet had the Honour this Journey of casting my self at her Feet, but the first Time I was here I had the Advantage of paying my Duty to her at Schonborn, where she then pass'd the Summer. I was receiv'd by her with such Proofs of her Kindness as charm'd me, and which I shall always remember with Pleasure and Respect. This Princess is the Daughter of John-Frederic Duke of Brunswic-Hanover and of Henrietta-Benedictine Princess Palatine. After the Death of the Duke her Father, who left no Son, she went with the Duchess of Brunswic to France, where this Princess was very glad to retire to her Sister the Princess of Condé. The Empress who was
then the Princess Amelia, spent some Years in France, where she learned the Language and Politeness of that Nation to perfection, and in short acquir'd that Merit and Virtue for which she is now so much admir'd, and which perhaps have contributed equally with her illustrious Extraction to gain her possession of the first Throne in Christendom. The Marriage of her elder Sister to Renaud d'Este Duke of Modena obliging the Dutchess of Brunswic to leave France, and go and settle at Modena, the Princess Amelia follow'd her also into Italy. She had no reason to be sorry for her leaving France, and rejecting the Addresses of a French Nobleman who had presum'd to court her, for not long after her Arrival at Modena she was marry'd to the King of the Romans, afterwards the Emperor Joseph. This Empress is not only endow'd with the Christian but all the Moral Virtues, and there are few Princesses of a more generous Soul, of greater Courage, or of a Genius more sublime, more refin'd, or more adorn'd. There was a Time when she might be rank'd among the most beautiful Princesses of Europe: she still retains all the Marks of it; and therewith preserves such a majestic Air that whenever I behold her it revives the profound Veneration I have for her sacred Person.
The Emperor Charles VI. is of a middling Stature, and in good Plight of Body: He is of a swarthy hale Complection, has a brisk Eye, and thick Lips, for which last his Family in general have been remarkable. This Monarch is the second Son of the Emperor Leopold by Eleonora of Newbourg, and the fifteenth Emperor[95] of his Family. Being design'd when a Minor for Successor to Charles II. King of Spain, he had a grave Education suitable to the People whom he was one day to govern. This
made him contract an Air of Seriousness, which, to those who have not the Honour of Access to him, favours of Severity; yet he is affable and very humane. He hears those with Attention that speak to him, and his Answers are full of Good-nature. When he attain'd to an Age hardly ripe enough for the Crown of Spain, he met with various Fortune in that Kingdom; but he supported himself in every Event with an heroic Magnanimity, being always submissive to the Will of that Providence which he knew was the Master of the Fortune of Kings. The Adversitys with which it pleas'd God to try his Patience by the Siege of Barcelona which he carry'd on in Person, and by the Loss of the Battle of Villa Viciosa, only serv'd to confirm his Constancy, and his natural Integrity, a Principle which renders him even more venerable than the Splendor of his Crowns and the vast Extent of his Power. Heaven, which always rewards Virtue, has granted this Monarch one of the best and most fortunate Reigns that any Emperor has had since Germany has been the Seat of Empire. He wants nothing to crown his Happiness but a Male Heir, which is so much the Desire of the People, as well as of the Emperor and the most virtuous Empress the World ever saw, that God grant he may have one.
This Princess is descended from the august House of Brunswic, to which Europe is at this Time oblig'd for two Empresses[96], one King[97], and a Queen[98]. She is the Daughter of Lewis Rodolph Duke of Brunswic-Blankenbourg[99] by Christiana-Louisa Princess of Oetingen, of whom I gave you
an Account in my Letter from Blankenbourg. The Character of this august Princess for her Affability and Goodness is so well known in the World that 'tis needless to speak of it here. You know likewise how beautiful and handsome she was when she was marry'd to the Emperor. And notwithstanding the Pimples in her Face and her present Corpulency she may still be reckon'd in the number of the beautiful Princesses. Such an Air of Modesty, Mildness, and Majesty, accompanies every thing she does, as inspires those that approach her with equal Courage and Respect. Her Duty is her Law, and her principal Care is to please the Emperor, whose Wisdom she knows to be sufficient to govern his Dominions, and to him she therefore leaves all Affairs. Indeed she is very earnest with him to get Favours for those who petition her, which she thinks a Happiness to obtain, and she bestows them in such manner as is very affecting to the Receivers. This Princess is charitable, generous, and magnificent. She maintains her Dignity without Conceit, and supports her solid Piety without Ostentation. She was educated in the Lutheran Religion, but abjur'd it at Bamberg when she came thither in her Way to be marry'd to the Emperor, then King of Spain, and is now a good Catholic, yet without any Hatred to the Protestants; being convinc'd that the Love of one's Neighbour is one of the Duties which God most strictly enjoins upon Mankind, and that Charitableness and good Examples are the best Means to reconcile those to the Church who are separated from it.
In the same sublime Sentiments of Virtue does the Empress educate the Archduchesses her Daughters, and those young Princesses are like to make worthy Proficients. The eldest Archduchess Mary Theresa is brought up in the agreeable Prospect of being one day Mistress of the vast Dominions possessed
by the Emperor[100]. This young Princess has very much of the Air of the Empress her Mother; and if Heaven designs her for the Sovereignty of the Empire, God grant she may also resemble her in her Virtues!
The Emperor has three Sisters. The eldest is the Archduchess Mary Elizabeth Governess of the (Austrian) Netherlands; the second is Mary-Anne Queen of Portugal; and the third is the Archduchess Mary Magdalen, who 'tis said is intended to be Governess of Tirol. The intire August House of Austria consists at present of the sacred Person of the Emperor and of eight Princesses[101], of whom three are married; and God grant it may be augmented by the Birth of a Prince; for without setting up here for a zealous Subject, I don't think that the Houses of Austria and Bourbon ought ever to be extinct, both of them having made the Fortunes of an infinite Number of Gentlemen.