The second of the criminal three was Colonel and Chamberlain von Falckenskjold. According to the opinion of the commission, he was the man who, next to Brandt, stood in the closest intimacy with Struensee. Perhaps, however, Falckenskjold's notorious dislike of the hereditary prince, and his bold and manly behaviour in the presence of the commission, had their share in prejudicing his judges against him, so that they, through personal hatred, behaved in the most unscrupulous way toward a man of honour. Professor Sevel acted as inquisitor, and seemed to find a pleasure in insulting the fallen friend of Struensee by all sorts of cruel questions. We can form an idea of this man's moral value on seeing that Sevel, in his examination, so far forgot what he owed to himself as a judge, as to express his regret that Struensee had not been murdered by the sailors. In their report, the commissioners first made Falckenskjold's intimacy with Struensee a capital offence, and asserted that he had sought to maintain this intimacy so eagerly, because he and Brandt had received the greatest benefactions from Struensee. The latter not only conferred on him offices and honorary posts, but also gave him money out of the royal treasury.
Thus, Falckenskjold, although on May 2, 1771, he had received from the cabinet treasury, in payment of his travelling expenses to Petersburg, the usual sum of 400 dollars, obtained on the 19th of the same month 2,000 dollars more, under the same excuse, from the private treasury, and, after his return, or in a period of three months, a further sum of 3,500 dollars. Of these amounts, Struensee paid him 1,000 dollars under the false allegation that Falckenskjold had spent them on the journey from his private means, while the 2,000 dollars were paid him without the king's cognizance. How he had earned these presents, neither he nor Struensee would have been able to specify, and the assertion that the king had promised to pay Von Falckenskjold's debts by degrees, was only an empty pretext, for the latter had deposited 2,000 dollars with the minister of finances, and therefore could only have had debts to the amount of 400 dollars; and moreover, he never expressed the proper thanks to his Majesty for such large gifts in money. The commission consequently assumed that Struensee desired to acquire Falckenskjold's gratitude, and declared in their report that they had strong grounds for believing that it had been arranged between the couple, that Struensee should be supported under all circumstances, and guarded against any possible surprise, on which Falckenskjold's own fortunes also depended.
In understanding with Struensee, he proposed the abolition of the Chevalier guard, and no other had been more busy than Falckenskjold in setting at work the cabinet order of December 21. If any event occurred, and Struensee believed himself in danger, Falckenskjold was immediately at hand; he had not merely proved his devotedness to Struensee in this way, but also, for the sake of pleasing the minister, had neglected the reverence due to the hereditary prince, and in this had gone so far that he had furnished proofs of it in the presence of the entire public. Two facts had convinced the commission of this daring sentiment of Falckenskjold, which was based on affection for Struensee, namely, the removal of the prince's regiment, and more especially the occurrence on the walls. The latter event, the commission represented as follows:—
In the spring of 1771, the prince was, one day, riding along the walls at the moment when Colonel Falckenskjold was "exercising" his band, composed of hautboists and fifers; the colonel blocked the road, and marched straight upon the prince. Both majors of the regiment called his attention to the fact, that the prince was coming toward them; but Falckenskjold let his men march on. A groom of the prince's now rode up, and requested room for his royal highness to pass. The adjutant reported it to the colonel, and asked whether the band should not leave off playing, and room be made for the prince? but Falckenskjold answered: "No, not even if the good God were to come along Himself." He allowed the band to continue playing, and the prince, in order to pass, was compelled to ride close to the parapet.
Falckenskjold alleged, in his excuse, that he had orders to let the band play in public places, especially when the king came past, and for this reason there would have been an impropriety in his stopping the band on the arrival of the prince. The colonel also observed that, in France, where he had served a long time, an officer was rarely on guard without hearing the sentinel shout, "Aux armes! le bon Dieu arrive!" when the Catholic priests passed with the host, and hence it had grown into a habit to confirm a negative by saying, "No, I would not do it, even if le bon Dieu were to come." The commission, however, considered that this sort of defence contradicted itself, and the colonel ought certainly to have made way for the prince.
Colonel Falckenskjold's crime, consequently, consisted in his having sold himself to Struensee, in having always had an understanding with him, in having advised the reduction of both Guards, in having expressed himself for Struensee's conservation, in having given proofs, on every occasion, how anxious he was that Struensee should escape a surprise, and lastly, in having tried, for the sake of pleasing Struensee, to cause annoyance to his Royal Highness Prince Frederick, and, for this object, having been so audacious as to neglect the respect due to his royal highness. Without dwelling on Falckenskjold's numerous and high services to the king and country, the commission concluded their report with the disgraceful statement, that they could not refrain from seeing in Colonel and Chamberlain von Falckenskjold a foolhardy, detrimental, and the more dangerous man, because he would do anything for money.
The third and last upon whom the commission had to express an opinion was Justiz-rath Struensee. As he had only been released from his chains by special favour, after his brother's execution, it might have been expected that the commission would depict him as a great criminal. It was quite different, however, though through no love of truth and justice on the part of the Inquisition, but in consequence of commands from higher quarters. For Frederick II. of Prussia, who had kept Struensee's place, as professor at Liegnitz, open for him, while he went to try his luck, allowed his minister, Herr von Arnim, whose tutor Struensee had been, to employ his master's name in claiming him.[28]
The report on this prisoner of state, after opening with the statement that Justiz-rath Struensee, though he only possessed a theoretical knowledge of the laws and constitution of Denmark, readily accepted a seat as deputy in the Financial Department, and had the special inspection of the Mint, the Bank, and the course of Exchange—in the hope of obtaining a better knowledge of these branches of the administration by industry and work—acknowledged his irreproachable conduct in the latter respect, and added the remark, that the commission could express this with the greater confidence, as the College of Finances, at their request, had had the matter examined by an authority on the subject. As concerned his functions as deputy of the finances generally, however, the commission must blame Justiz-rath Struensee for a tendency to foolhardy boasting about services which he had not rendered, and arbitrariness in financial matters, as he wrote to a friend that all the others in the Financial College understood nothing, and eventually strove to become Contrôleur Général des Finances.