Art. VI.—The order shall be worn with a pink ribbon, striped with silver. The gentlemen shall wear it round the neck, and the ladies fasten it in the shape of a bow on the left breast.
Art. VII.—On the death of any lady or gentleman decorated with it, the heirs are expected to send the insignia of the order to the queen.[142]
The badge itself consisted of a round medallion, with the letters C. M. set in costly diamonds, the royal crown over it, and a laurel wreath round. The king and queen, the queen dowager, and the hereditary Prince Frederick, were the first royal personages who assumed the new order. The others to whom it was given on the day of its institution, were Count Rantzau-Ascheberg, Privy Councillor von der Osten, Lieut.-General von Gähler, Chamberlain Enevold Brandt, Struensee, Baroness von Schimmelmann, Frau von Gähler, and the Countess Holstein zu Holsteinborg. The evident object was to indicate the queen's adherents by this distinction, but Struensee's enemies asserted that he had despised the Dannebrog, but did not yet dare demand the Elephant, and hence the new order was instituted. There was nothing remarkable, however, in Caroline Matilda founding an order, as well as other queens before her.
The new rulers, however, did not at all forget, through the festivities on the royal birthday, to extend to the court the proposed system of retrenchment in the expenses of the state. It was seen to be absolutely necessary that the expenditure of the court should undergo strict revision. Struensee and Brandt tried together to induce Councillor of Legation Texier, who had accompanied the king on his tour as treasurer, to undertake the duties of a court intendant. But this clear-sighted man declined the offer most politely, and Struensee had to look elsewhere for assistance.
It was quite useless to expect any good from Count Moltke, the court marshal and son of Frederick V.'s favourite, for he was preternaturally stupid. Abuses and foolish expenses had been multiplied under his rule, and there were the most valid reasons for getting rid of him; but, on the other hand, he had one of the prettiest and least strict wives at court. Struensee had a weakness for her, and considered her necessary for the new tone he wished to give the court. He therefore resolved on a mezzo termine, and sent for a Lieutenant-Colonel von Wegener, who had taught the princes of Hesse mathematics, and was at present at the head of Prince Charles's household, into which he had introduced great regularity. Struensee gave him the title of Intendant of the Court, with charge of the expenses, while Count von Moltke would retain the introductions, the ceremonial, and do what is called the honours. On the king informing Moltke of all the details of which he relieved him, while leaving him his salary, the latter became very violent, demanded his dismissal, obtained it, insisted on his wife accompanying him to his paternal estate, and died on arriving there. A rumour was spread that his wife had poisoned him; but she justified herself by having an autopsy performed, accompanied by a regular report from the physicians. This fact struck people greatly, and the patriotic party concluded that morals were hopelessly ruined, as such atrocious suspicions could be conceived.[143]
Shortly after, however, two dismissals took place at court, which were not at all connected with the economical system. Page of the Chamber Von Köppern was so impudent as to speak disrespectfully about Struensee to the king, and thus caused his own fall. Chamberlain von Warnstedt, too, who had hitherto been a favourite of the king, and stood in confidential relations with Struensee, was suddenly dismissed from court. A single incautious remark about Struensee proved his ruin. On his birthday, in February, Warnstedt received a letter from the king, in which the monarch intimated that being aware of Warnstedt's inclination for a military life, he discharged him from court with a pension of 800 dollars, and had nominated him second-lieutenant in the Schleswig dragoons, with orders to join his regiment without delay.[144]
But dismissals were the order of the day, not only at court but among the government officials. This fate first befell the two oldest directors of the General Staat, Conferenzrath von Schrödersee and Etats-rath Holm, who were both discharged without pension. They were followed by the bailiff and under-bailiff of Copenhagen: the former because he was alleged to behave too severely, the latter too mildly, to the peasants. The dismissal of these two officials was ascribed to General von Gähler, but unjustly so. Struensee was accustomed to confer with the general frequently, who had many enemies. The sudden dismissals were not confined to the capital and its immediate vicinity, but extended to all parts of the monarchy. The most important of them was the removal of Privy Councillor von Benzon, viceroy of the kingdom of Norway. This universally respected old gentleman was dismissed on February 8; the post of an alter ego of the king in the second kingdom was not filled up for the present, and the management of the business, which had hitherto been transacted by the viceroy, was left to the bailiffs. After the viceroy, the next victim was Bürgermeister von Wasmer of Bergen, who was discharged for disobedience and insubordination. As, afterwards, many shared the same fate without the causes for their dismissal being imparted to them, it was natural that the most honest and valued officials no longer felt secure. On the other hand, it is indubitable that from this time the business of the state was carried on with greater attention and industry than before.[145]
A decree that aroused general satisfaction appeared on February 12. It consisted of a circular to the government colleges, in which they were informed that in future no lackey who had waited on a master must be proposed for a public office. In this way the hateful lackeydom was abolished, and a permanent obstacle raised against the repeated neglect of scientifically-educated men, on behalf of fellows who had driven a carriage or stood behind it.
The administration of the navy was not forgotten among the reforms. Privy Councillor Count Haxthausen was ordered to confer with Etats-rath Willebrandt, and draw up a new organization for the Admiralty College.
About this time a friend of Struensee made his appearance at Copenhagen, whose cruel fate, after the catastrophe of 1772, will for ever remain a blot on Danish justice. Seneca Otho von Falckenskjold was descended from an old noble Danish family, and was born, in 1738, at Slagelse, on Seeland. Intended by his father, who held high rank in the army, for a military career, he entered the service in his thirteenth year. On leaving the cadet school four years later, when the Seven Years' War broke out, Falckenskjold, instead of intriguing at Copenhagen with women and valets, entered the service of France, served in Alsace, was slightly wounded at Bergen, but so severely at Clostercamp, where Maréchal de Castries defeated the Hanoverians, that he was rendered incapable of serving for some time. When his country was threatened with a Russian war in 1762, Falckenskjold returned home, and received a company in the Delmenhorst regiment, and afterwards a command in Norway. When his corps was disbanded, Falckenskjold resided for some time at Altona, where Rantzau inspired him with a taste for politics. Shortly after, being animated with a lively desire for information, he travelled through Sweden, Germany, France, and England, in order to become acquainted with the institutions of those countries and learn their language. On his return to Copenhagen he was appointed aide-de-camp and chamberlain to the king. When, in 1768, the war broke out between Russia and the Porte, he entered the Russian service, was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the engineers, served, in 1769, under Prince Galitzin, and was present at the capture of Khotzim. In the following year, being employed with the army of which Count Romanzow took the command, he distinguished himself at the battle of Larga, received the cross of St. George for being the first man to enter the Turkish entrenched camp, and was one of the first twelve knights of this order, which had been recently founded. He also distinguished himself at the battle of Kahul, and was appointed a full colonel, with the commission and rank of a brigadier.