[88] "Mémoires de mon Temps." pp. 8, 9.
[89] It was on one of these occasions that Reverdil, on some courtiers bringing to the palace a morning star they had taken from a watchman, and boasting loudly of their exploit, uttered the sarcastic words, "Voilà un beau chemin à la gloire." This remark had something to do with his dismissal.
[90] "Northern Courts," p. 82.
[91] In a life of Carl August von Struensee, by Held, I find that the origin of the Struensee family was as follows:—One of his ancestors, of quite a different name, was, during the time of the Hanseatic League, a pilot of Lübeck. During a frightful storm, in which no other man dared to venture out to sea, he brought a richly laden fleet into port; acquired respect and credit in his native city for doing so; and, in memory of his courageous deed, received from the Lübeck magistracy the name of Strouvensee, which means a dark, stormy sea.
[92] In a tolerably impartial life of Struensee, published at Copenhagen while he was under sentence of death, the following portrait is drawn of him:—"He was a tall and very broad-shouldered fellow, almost of the height for the Guards; was not ill-looking, had a rather long nose, a merry look, playful and penetrating eyes, a free carriage, and sat his horse very well. Liberty followed all his movements, and he was as little affected in the presence of the king and among the courtiers, as if he were a born gentleman and had been educated at court. In short, through the qualities of his mind and person he might have been an amiable courtier and excellent statesman, if his heart had only been better."
[93] "Authentische Aufklärungen."
[94] "Besondere Nachrichten von den Opfern der Staaten," &c. Pelim. 1772. This was a town in Siberia, to which Marshal Münnich was banished; but I doubt whether it contained a printing press.
[95] "Besondere Nachrichten von den Opfern," &c.
[96] This name was probably derived from a conical mound, apparently an ancient tumulus, in the centre of the gardens, on which very fine ash trees grew.
[97] Reverdil, pp. 61, 62.