CHAPTER VIII.
JOHN FREDERICK STRUENSEE.
THE INTERIM MINISTRY—STATE OF THE NATION—THE KING'S HEALTH—THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER—STRUENSEE—HIS EDUCATION AND CAREER—HIS FRIENDS—SHACK ZU RANTZAU—THE TRAVELLING SURGEON—THE COURT DOCTOR—THE PARTIES AT COURT—PLANS OF CAROLINE MATILDA.
The three ministers who had managed the affairs of state during the King of Denmark's absence, were Counts von Thott and Moltke, and Herr von Rosenkrantz. The first attended to home affairs; the second occupied the post of foreign minister, rendered vacant by Bernstorff's absence; and the third was at the head of the War Office. The Admiralty had recently lost a respected chief, through the removal of old Count von Danneskjold Samsöe, and Count von Danneskjold Laurvig, who took his place, was far from filling it worthily. Of these four men, Rosenkrantz was the only one to whom the attention of those who sought a party leader could be turned. He was a thorough man of the world; a noble air, insinuating politeness, elegant manners, a polished mind, a great propensity for intrigue, and an artistic suppleness, were the principal qualities of this man, and rendered him well fitted to play a part in court intrigues. But it was as yet too early to think of forming a party. The first period of the king's government had offered too many examples that the highest favour and the lowest fall were too near together for any one to place confidence either in his own good luck, or that of another person.
The three other men I have mentioned, regarded the court quarrels as intrigues that were beneath them. Count von Thott, an honest and well-informed man, had a rich source of consolation against any blow of fate in himself and his acquirements. In every conjuncture he proved equal to himself and his merits. He accepted whatever fortune offered him without arrogance, and lost it without despondency. Such a man was not born for political intrigue. Count von Moltke had played such a brilliant part in the last reign; he had so carefully and cautiously profited by the favouring circumstances of that day; he was so highly respected throughout the kingdom, that there was reason for believing that, under all circumstances, he would be alone able to withstand any opposition offered him by the court. It is true, that his ambition was notorious. It was known that he regarded pomp as an indispensable accompaniment of happiness. But people also reflected that there is an age when the spur of ambition becomes blunted, and when a man does not care to sacrifice the pleasant repose of undisturbed happiness to imaginary and uncertain prospects.
Count Laurvig had only the manner and acquirements which are attained by long practice and intimacy with high society. He had also ever sacrificed his reputation to his pleasures; and, in some affairs, had behaved with such recklessness, that he had forfeited the general respect which he possessed before these errors. With such principles, no man can advance far on the path of ambition. From the last three members of the government, therefore, no complicated court intrigues could be anticipated.
The Danish people, at this time, were in a state of sullen discontent. They were dissatisfied with the maintenance of the poll tax, which they had been promised should be soon abolished, when it was established in 1762, on the occasion of an impending war with Russia; but they were probably more dissatisfied with the way in which the money was spent than with the tax itself. The Norwegians, more especially, were very angry, and broke into complaints, whose tone was extremely serious. This dissatisfaction had hardly been appeased, and the people were beginning to endure the burden more patiently, when a new source of sorrow and anger was opened for the nation. This was the king's costly tour, which exhausted the finances, and caused a suspension of all the outlay, by which the nation had previously profited. Road-making, the maintenance of the royal palaces, the proposed augmentation of the army, were all prevented. Ready money was sent out of the country; the rate of exchange with Hamburg rose enormously; trade began to sink, and credit almost disappeared.[87]
In this sad condition, Christian found his kingdom on his return. His fickle mind, which dwelt on nothing that did not relate to his own insignificant amusements, prevented him from weighing the serious nature of these facts, and destroyed in him every feeling that should have called his attention to them. On the other hand, we must allow, that all who now saw the king again, were struck by the favourable change which the tour had produced in him. He had acquired an elegant manner, and laid aside many of his bad habits. At the same time, he had really examined much abroad, and thus gained wider views. Hence, Bernstorff was complimented on the good results of the royal trip, and people seemed quite to overlook the fact that Holck was still Christian's intimate friend; and that, on the 25th August last, the king had appointed him Grand Maître de la Garderobe et des plaisirs, by which the count was raised to the rank of a privy councillor, only nine months after his nomination as a gentleman of the bed-chamber. In fact, the king's attachment to his favourite had attained such a height, that one day, in England, by Christian's orders, the couriers' horses were almost ridden to death, solely to bring up the count in time to be present at a large party, where he would meet the new lady of his love. For Count Holck had been left a widower after only a few weeks' marriage with the delicate Fräulein von Stockfleth, but speedily contrived to console himself. He fell in love with Lady Bel Stanhope, and Christian himself interposed on his behalf. The mother was not averse, but Lady Bel very sensibly refused. His rival was Sackville, afterwards Duke of Dorset, of whom, as Walpole tells us, he said "ce gros noir n'est pas beau," which implied, that he thought his own whiteness and pertness charming. Amusing tales were whispered about the intimacy of the king and the master of the wardrobe, and their amours during the tour; and, in truth, after the first impression had worn off, the king's state of health, which had never been satisfactory, proved of what nature the amusements of the friends must principally have been. The incessant variety of stupifying amusements, and, at the same time, an excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures, had evidently exhausted the king, and undermined his moral and physical powers.
We can quite understand how the complaints about augmentation of the taxes grew louder when it was found that the chief object of the tour, the moral improvement of the young king, had been an utter failure. Enormous sums had to be found to pay for the articles purchased in England and France, and fresh loans, as a necessary result, raised. Matters now came to such a pitch that the Treasury was unable to satisfy the current expenses, which caused great embarrassment. And it must be borne in mind that the Danish population was not in a condition to endure any increased taxation. Prince Charles of Hesse gives us a dreadful picture of the country as it remained from the time when he first visited it up to the reign of Frederick VI. The peasant was a serf in Denmark in the fullest meaning of the term. There was no justice for him; no protection against his owner. Many of the latter had been the bailiffs, who had ruined their absent masters, and eventually purchased their estates. The wretched Danish peasant stood under the merciless whip of these vile men. He was at the mercy of his master, who compelled him to take a poor farm and put it in order, and when he had got it into a good state by the sweat of his brow and his industry, drove him out to do the same at another farm. The master forced him to marry whomsoever he thought proper. At the slightest opposition, he handed over the wretch to the militia, or sold him for 50 crowns to a captain, on condition that he would never again be allowed to set foot in his native province.
Jütland was the most trampled province; but in Zeeland affairs were worst of all, for there the peasant was almost quite brutalized. He possessed a number of small horses, which, in winter, supported themselves almost exclusively on grass or roots, which they scratched from under the snow; little carts in which the boors took a small lot of grain to market; huts that resembled those of savages—such was the almost hideous aspect of this fair province. The only market which even the most distant farmers could attend was held at Copenhagen. They came to market, made their sales, ran to the tavern to drink, started home drunk, and with loosened rein, but stopped punctually at every pothouse, of which there was one every mile, so that they might not emerge from the only happy condition they knew. At the same time, Denmark derived everything from abroad; and Hamburg was the entrepôt of articles of luxury, delicate eating, and dainty vegetables.[88] From such a sketch, we can easily understand why the nation groaned in spirit at the extravagant outlay entailed by the king's hopeless tour.