Struensee's next important enemy was Lieutenant-General von Gähler, with whom he had formerly stood on intimate terms, and who had greatly assisted in overthrowing the old form of government, but had been indisposed toward the cabinet minister since his appointment. Yet there was no open breach between the two men, for the general and his wife, who had both received the Order of Matilda, belonged to the queen's immediate entourage.
Von Berger, the physician in ordinary, and Councillor of Legation Sturtz, also formerly adherents of Struensee, were now becoming more and more estranged from him. Sturtz's dissatisfaction dated from the downfall of Bernstorff, with whom he maintained a regular correspondence; but though he was displeased with the favourite, he equally detested Rantzau, in whom he saw a personal foe.
But even the man who owed everything to Struensee, whom the latter had made what he now was at court—Count Brandt—was not at all a trustworthy friend. Having long been tired of his position at court, he wrote to Struensee, and proposed to him to appoint Colonel von Falckenskjold in his place as permanent attendant on the king. At the same time, he applied personally to Von Falckenskjold, and offered him his post and a sum of 20,000 dollars. But the colonel again declined, even though Struensee urged his acceptance, alleging his invincible repugnance for court offices. They therefore resolved to recall Reverdil, whom the king liked, and who was a mutual friend of Brandt and Struensee, and appoint him reader and librarian to the king.
During the king's journey in 1768, Reverdil heard from several quarters that his ex-master spoke of him without bitterness, and with esteem. Schumacher, Reverdil's successor in the post of cabinet secretary, an honest man and no courtier, solicited his predecessor to pay his court at Paris or Strasburg. Reverdil heard from all quarters that the king, since his return, was entirely changed, that he had corrected his causticity, and dismissed those who had an audience quite satisfied. All this induced Reverdil to write the king a letter of congratulation on his return to his states, and he learned that this letter was favourably received, and that the king would have answered it had he not been dissuaded from doing so by Holck. When this favourite was dismissed, Reverdil received an autograph letter from his Majesty, in which he stated that he had not forgotten Reverdil's good services, and begged him to transmit any reflections which his retirement had suggested to him.
Not receiving any further orders, Reverdil remained quiet till he was surprised by a letter from Struensee, to the effect that the king desired his return; that he wished to resume with him the operation of enfranchising the serfs, and to employ him in drawing up other laws he projected, and that Reverdil had only to propose his conditions. Reverdil raised some objections, which gave him time to consult a friend in Copenhagen, in whom he placed the most perfect confidence, and who had been promoted by Struensee, and to ask the advice of Count von Bernstorff, who had such cause to complain of the favourite. The answers were precisely the contrary of what might have been expected. The man promoted by Struensee sent a long list of persons removed, transferred, and dismissed, in less than a year, and gave Reverdil to understand that he need not calculate on greater stability. Bernstorff, on the other hand, urged him to return. The letter is in every respect worthy of quotation:—
"Of everything I have hitherto seen of Struensee nothing has so much surprised and struck me, sir, as the letter written to you, for it is the only one of his actions and measures that has caused me pleasure. I confess that I did not at all expect it. You are aware of the reasons which persuaded me that, far from recalling you, you were one of the men whose absence would be most desired. I see that I was mistaken, but I do not see the causes of my error, and though I have reflected during the two or three days that have elapsed since the receipt of your letter, I cannot discover them. If I could flatter myself that they had changed their plans, that their intentions had become pure, that they were seeking in good faith to revive the mind and the heart; that they consented to share merit and confidence; that they had determined to reopen a door, hitherto triply bolted against those who have not taken an oath of fidelity in their favour, and adopted their deplorable principles; if, I say, I could conceive any shadow of a hope of this nature, I could understand the invitation that has been made you as the most natural, most just, and best conceived thing in the world; but I do not see in the other measures that are daily taken, anything authorising me to form such an opinion, or anything announcing an alteration in the maxims hitherto established and followed. Favour, credit, politics, and administration, are still founded on principles diametrically opposed to yours and to your way of thinking. What, then, can be the object that determines them to recall you who are free, virtuous, and humane; you, who, thinking as you do, cannot and will not play the part of a silent witness of the scenes which may take place in your presence, and to bring you nearer the person of a king who, in his heart, esteems you more than all those who surround him, and from whom, moreover, they keep every thinking and feeling being aloof with an exaggerated affectation? It is true, and I do this justice to the favourite, and those who share his confidence, that their intentions are sincere in favour of the liberty of the serfs, for this liberty does not cross any of their views. Hence, this is a good thing they have resolved to do, the more securely because, having resolved mortally to afflict the other orders of the state, they are seeking a support in the affection of the people and the troops. It is very possible that in this respect they sincerely desire the aid of your zeal and information; but can they imagine that you will be satisfied with sharing with the members of the commission already established the painful labour of the infinite arrangements and details of this operation, and applaud the rest of their manœuvres? I repeat, that I do not at all understand it, unless Divine Providence, which has possibly destined you to recall the claims of virtue and humanity at a spot where they are only remembered to be jeered at, and which gains its ends even by the ministration of its most avowed enemies, has ordered their prevailing passions to fall asleep, and prepare the way for your return. This idea is the sole one which I like, and which I believe I ought to cling to. Please Heaven that the event may justify it.
"You see, sir, from what I have just told you, that my information will be of but slight use to you, and that my heart, filled with esteem, tenderness, and confidence for you, could not venture to advise your return to the unfortunate country to which I am alluding: but that it passionately desires that, without its advice, you may form the resolution of doing so. If there is, in these deplorable conjunctures, a man who is capable of being useful to the king, and through him to the state, it is yourself. But God alone knows, as yet, whether He has granted this succour to a prince, so long the object of our affection, and now of our tears. On this point, I am unable to form any opinion. Still, without fear of committing myself, I can applaud what you have hitherto done, and the measures you have taken. Your friend and mine, the elder Carsten, who has remained pure amid the corruption, will tell you more. He sees things closely, and being, perhaps, a little less affected and touched than myself, he will represent to you more fully that of which I can only afford you a glimpse, and which my mental emotion prevents me from expressing more clearly. He will, above all, counsel you to preserve your liberty in a country where the philosophic tone is to preach licence in morals and despotism, in every case where it is important for men not to depend on the will of another: and it is in this sole hint that I sum up all the advice you have requested me to give you. Go to Copenhagen, appear at court, but do not enter into engagements, till you have reconnoitred the ground for yourself. If you can do good, do not refuse to do it to a country that needs it, and may Heaven deign to grant you the merit and glory of it. But, if you see that the means are refused you, do no allow yourself to be drawn into any subaltern, doubtful, and odious employment, directed by harsh and evil-doing natures. Do not suffer your name to be associated with those of men, about whom the nation is already weeping, and posterity will weep for a long time.
"You see, my dear sir, that I brave the risks of the post, in order, faithfully, to respond to the confidence with which you honour me, and to carry out the duties of the friendship I have vowed to you. This motive obliges me to add one word to my long letter. Among the number of unfortunate men who believe themselves so happy now, because they have the power and pleasure of rendering others wretched every day, you will find two, who call themselves your friends: if they were ever worthy of being so, it is not for me to decide; but what I can not and must not conceal from you, is, that they are no longer so, and do not deserve to bear the name:[160] you will recognise the truth of my remarks when you see them.
"May my fears be unfounded, and be proved false by the result! But I am afraid lest the answer you are expecting from the favourite may not be such as you have the right to have; and that, falling back into his usual character, he may impede rather than facilitate your return; I impatiently long to hear that I am deceived.
"It will be pleasanter to me to see you again than I am able to express. Grant me and mine this pleasure, and be assured that you have no warmer friend or more faithful servant than myself, &c.