MEMOIRS
OF THE
Baron de Pollnitz.
Vol. III.

To Madame de ——

The Family I am descended from was originally of Thuringia. My Grandfather, after having turn'd Protestant, came and settled in the Electorate of Brandenburg, where he was kindly receiv'd, and advanc'd to the chief Employments by the Elector Frederic-William, who made him Master of the Horse, Minister of State, Chamberlain, Major-General, Colonel of his Guards, and Commandant at Berlin. His Brother who came along with him had also a share of his Favor; for he was made Colonel of a Regiment of Horse, Lieutenant-General, and Governor of Lipstadt. They both married, but the only one that left Male Issue was my Grandfather, who by Eleonora of Nassau, Daughter to Prince Maurice of Orange, had two Sons, and two Daughters. This however

prov'd a very unsuitable Match; for my Grandmother was imperious, frugal, and jealous, whereas her Husband was extravagant, and an Admirer of the Fair Sex: which Tempers so opposite to each other created a Misunderstanding between them, that amounted almost to a staunch Hatred. Yet my Grandfather, some time before he died, settled all his Estate upon her, repented of the Vexation he had given her, and he thought this Generosity of his would have made her easy, but it only render'd her the more impatient to be a Widow, insomuch that she had not the Complaisance to conceal it from him; and the very last Words he liv'd to hear her pronounce, were neither comforting nor Christian.

Soon after the Death of my Grandfather my Uncle died, who was my Father's own Brother. The only Issue he left was a Daughter, who was chief Maid of Honour to the Queen Sophia Charlotte, whose Bounties to her render'd her a Person of no small Note in Germany.

My Father married the Daughter of Baron D—— by whom he had my Brother in 1690. I was born thirteen Months after him, viz. the 25th of February 1692, at Issouin, a Village in the Electorate of Cologn, where my Father then lay with his Regiment in Winter-Quarters. The Electoress was my God-mother, and I was christen'd Charles-Lewis. Before I was full two years of Age I had the misfortune to lose my Father, who died at Maestricht, and left my Mother a Widow with three Children, and a very little Estate to maintain us. My Grandmother, who, as I had said before, had all my Grandfather's Estate, was so extremely penurious, that she had not the heart to part with any of it to my Mother, whose Situation would have been

very melancholy had it not been for the Generosity of the King (at that time only Elector). This Prince sent for her back to Berlin, and gave her a Pension; and in a little time after, my Relations help'd her to another Husband, viz. M. de M—— Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who tho' he died at the end of ten Months left her so warm a Widow, that me might very well pass for one of the best Fortunes at Court; and then she threw up her Pension, rather than keep it to the prejudice of other Persons that stood more in need of it, which she thought was an Abuse of the Elector's Bounty.

My Mother's Fondness for me would not suffer her to part with me, so that I was brought up under her Wing, and at a Court which was at that time the most splendid in Germany.

Frederic-William, when he died, left five Princes, viz. the Elector, whom he had by Louisa-Henrietta of Nassau Princess of Orange; and the Margraves Charles, Philip, Albert, and Christian, by Dorothy Princess of Holstein, Dowager of the Duke of Zell. These Princes, at an Age more proper for Pleasure than Business, studied how to be most agreeable. Being frank and generous they adorn'd the Court, even more by their personal Qualities than by their Magnificence; and the Elector himself contributed to the splendor of it, by giving frequent Feasts, tho' he was reproach'd with being too much addicted to them, too scrupulous in the Ceremonies he requir'd to be observ'd at them, and more expensive in them than elegant. Nevertheless, this is what strikes Foreigners more than any thing; and 'tis Entertainments of this kind that give a Court its fullest Lustre. The true Ornament of ours was