The Little Kamcke, his Cousin, was of a Temper quite different. He was not only a Person of a piercing sparkling Wit, but had all the Politeness of the most elegant Courtier. Being ambitious and vain, but always with Temper; he was cut out for those delicate Undertakings to which the Success alone gives a Sanction; and what is seldom to be found in so young a Man, he had all the Management and Dissimulation necessary for Execution. The Count de Wartemberg had always hated him; for he suspected him to have had a hand in those Ballads which M——, afterwards the King of Poland's Minister, had
made upon the whole Court, and in which the Count and Countess were very ill treated; but Little Kamcke, who never despair'd of his Success, still continued to make his court to the King, without seeming to take the least Notice of the Minister's Ill-will. His assiduous Attendance was at length rewarded; the King begun by granting him the Honor of playing with him every Night at Chess; which was a Favor this young Courtier so artfully improv'd, that in a little time after, his Majesty made him a Minister of State. The Count de Wartemberg was mortify'd in two Respects by the Advancement of Little Kamcke; for he did not expect such a Favor to be convey'd by any Canal but himself; and besides it was granted to a crafty Enemy, whose rising Credit might well give him Umbrage. Kamcke for his own part believing that he was only obliged to his own Merit for his Preferment, had even less regard for the Prime Minister than before. They star'd upon one another at first, without venturing to make an Attack; but by degrees they came to high Words; and at length Kamcke being puff'd up with his Favor; and being moreover supported by all good Men, he vow'd the Destruction of the Prime Minister, and his Creature, the Grand Marshal. He was so cunning as to engage his Cousin Kamcke in the Scheme, because the latter being Great Master of the Wardrobe, cou'd give the Prime Minister the fatal Blow with more Ease than any other Person; and he succeeded happily; for he aggravated to his Majesty the Complaints of the People, and the Murmurings of the whole Court. The Queen too being prejudic'd by the Kamcke spoke sharply against the King, who at last consented to the removal
of a Minister, whom till then he had thought he could not be without.
This great Scene was open'd by the Disgrace of the Count de Witgenstein, the Grand Marshal of the Court, and the Prime Minister's Creature, who was arrested in his House on the 27th of December at 10 o'clock at Night, by a Lieutenant of the Guards and ten Grenadiers. Next day, about 9 in the Forenoon, M. de Gersdorf, Colonel of the Regiment of Guards, accompanied by Stoffius, Treasurer of the Order of the Black Eagle, came from the King to demand his Ribban. He presently restor'd it, assuring them that he was wrongfully maltreated; but that nevertheless he did not complain of the King, and that they were only his Enemies who had impos'd upon his Majesty's Goodness to ruin him. Not long after an Officer of the Guards came in and told him, that he had Orders to carry him to Spandau. He made answer, that he was ready to go wherever the King commanded him; only he desir'd Leave to write to his Mother-in-law, who was the Queen's Lady of Honor. The Officer told him, that he was forbid to let him speak or write to any Person whatsoever; and then he took him with him into a Coach that was attended by 12 Life-Guard Men.
The Noise of his Confinement being presently spread throughout the Town, a Multitude of People gather'd in a trice before his House, every one crying out against the Grand Marshal, calling him the People's Blood-sucker, and the Author of all their Taxes. When they saw him put into a Coach to be carried to Spandau[16], their Shouts, were doubled; but the Grand Marshal, without
being shock'd, let down the Glasses of his Coach, and told the furious Rabble, that he had been a faithful Servant to his King, and that he had never done any thing in his Administration that could be laid to his Charge; but the Clamours of the People hinder'd him from being heard, and he went out of Town, laden with Curses.
The Hatred that was manifested against him, came from a Source which always touches the People in the most sensible part; he was suspected to have had a hand in the Creation of several Taxes; and to have been the Projector of the Insurance-Office from Fire. The Establishment of this Office was very well design'd; for it undertook to indemnify private Persons for the Loss they might have sustain'd by Fire; and for this purpose, every one was tax'd in a certain Sum of Money, that there might always be a Fund sufficient to answer the Losses by Fires. Frauds were soon committed in the Management of the Moneys that seem'd to be appropriated for a very good Use; and by degrees that Establishment, which was erected for the Relief of the People in their extreme Necessities, serv'd only to oppress them.
The Disgrace of the Grand Marshal was soon followed by that of the Prime Minister. Two days after the Confinement of the former, the King ordered M. d'Ilgen one of his Ministers, and principal Secretary of State, to demand the Seals of his Prime Minister, and to order him in his Name to have nothing more to do with the Affairs of the Government. He receiv'd this News with Courage, and said to the Secretary of State, that he never had any other Will but his Majesty's, and that therefore he was ready to obey his Orders. The next day he received
Orders to quit the Palace, and to retire to his Estate at Wolfersdorff, a few Leagues from Berlin. He immediately made ready to be gone; but before he set out, he sent to desire the King to give him leave to wait on him, to thank him for all the Favors he had receiv'd at his Majesty's hands; to which the King consented, and the Prime Minister appear'd with an Air suitable to the situation of his Affairs. He put every Wile in practice that is possible to be of service to a Minister who has had long experience of a Court, and a perfect Knowledge of his Master's Temper; he pray'd, he wept, but contrary to his own Expectation and that of the whole Court, the King continu'd stedfast, and dismiss'd him, tho' with all the possible marks of Friendship and Affection; for when he was going out of his Closet the King call'd him back, and taking a Ring of twenty thousand Crowns from his Fingers, he gave it to him, and said that he desir'd him to keep it as a mark of his Esteem. Thus did the King to his regret dismiss a Person, whom if he had pleas'd he might still have kept in his Service.
The Prime Minister, the moment he went from the King, set out for Wolfersdorff, from whence he wrote a very moving Letter to his Majesty to desire him to accept of that Estate for a Present, together with his Wife's Garden which is now the Queen's, (they call it Monbijou[17]) and all his Porcellane Ware. The King return'd him a very obliging Answer, and accepted of the Presents he offer'd him, on condition however to pay him for them; and indeed not long after the Count de Wartemberg receiv'd the Value of them. Yet notwithstanding this mark of Esteem