On March 14, Baron von Bülow came to Mr. Wraxall and informed him that the expected answer from Copenhagen had arrived. "It is," he said, "exactly such as I predicted and anticipated. Our friends had hoped that his Britannic Majesty would have authorised his Resident to have come forward at the time that they were effecting the counter-revolution; and that, as representing the king his sovereign, he would, in that critical and decisive moment, have been empowered openly to avow and justify it. This is the only request they make. They know that they are powerful enough to accomplish the queen's recall, but to maintain it may be their difficulty."
After a little further conversation, the baron added:
"At the instant when the queen dowager and her son, Prince Frederick, are put under confinement in their own apartments, when the principal ministers are arrested, and the King of Denmark's order obtained for Queen Matilda's immediate return to Copenhagen, all eyes will be turned upon the conduct of the British Resident. If he shuts the gates of his hôtel, and remains a silent or a passive spectator of so great a change, men will naturally conceive that his court and his master are unacquainted with, if not adverse to, the enterprise itself. It is even possible that, encouraged by such inaction on the part of the English representative, the adherents of the queen dowager may attempt, while the counter-revolution is yet scarcely completed, to overturn it, or to excite the populace of Copenhagen to insurrection. We may be the victims of the King of England's reserve.
"But if, on the contrary, while Queen Matilda's friends are achieving the counter-revolution, the English Resident goes to the palace, avows his master's approbation of it, and adds, that every attempt to overturn it, or to impede his sister's recall, will excite the resentment of his Britannic Majesty, who will support it, if necessary, by force: all ranks of men will remain in profound submission. The party is, therefore, determined to draw up a letter to the above effect, addressed to the King of England in their joint names, and to limit their requests to this single point. That granted, they are ready, without delay, to proceed to action."
Before they parted, it was settled that Baron von Bülow should draw up the letter in question, and that as soon as matters were arranged Mr. Wraxall should return once more to Celle, and thence to England.
As George III. had made choice of Baron von Lichtenstein as the medium through which all immediate communications to him on the subject of the queen his sister should pass, it was highly important to apprise the baron of this intention. Mr. Wraxall accordingly wrote to him on the same day by the post, expressing in very few words that, on account of some circumstances which had arisen, he would probably see Mr. Wraxall again in London early in the ensuing month. The writer added, that if, unfortunately, the baron should have quitted England before his return, he relied on his leaving accurate directions in writing how to proceed in the affair. Mr. Wraxall also wrote to Baron von Seckendorf, apprising him that he might be expected again in Celle in a few days.
On March 20, Baron von Bülow delivered Mr. Wraxall the letter for the King of Great Britain. It was not signed by him or by any of the party, on account of the danger incurred by such a signature. But it expressed in very strong terms the united entreaties of the queen's adherents on the single point already stated. This letter Mr. Wraxall was empowered to deliver to the queen on his arrival at Celle, to request her to peruse it, and afterwards to enclose it in a letter from herself to her brother, supporting every argument contained in it by her entreaties. Mr. Wraxall was, as on the two previous occasions, to draw up a letter to the queen, and his further instructions for her were to the following effect:—
"To assure her Majesty, on the part of the Danish nobility engaged in her cause, that they were unremittingly occupied in concerting measures for her restoration. That they were so numerous and powerful a body, possessed of such means, and inspired by motives so strong, as to render their success almost infallible. That the consent of the King of Great Britain to the only request preferred by them would, indeed, accelerate, as his refusal might retard, the accomplishment of the projected enterprise, but that nothing could prevent its ultimate execution. That even a discovery of the design would not frustrate it; and that, if the executioner should strike off ten heads or twenty, a number sufficient would still survive to seat her on the throne. That the plan, when ripe, would be carried into execution in the following manner:—
"On the day fixed, certain of them would repair to the palace, obtain access to the king, and either induce or compel him to affix his name to an instrument ready drawn up for the purpose. The instrument would simply contain an order to the queen dowager to retire to her own apartment till his further pleasure was known; and to Prince Frederick, to remove to one of the palaces, probably that of Frederiksborg, about twenty miles from Copenhagen. That at the same time, by virtue of a similar order, the ministers would be dismissed or arrested; and a messenger sent off to invite the queen to return, without an instant's delay, to Denmark, to resume her proper rank and authority. That their measures would be so well concerted and so rapidly executed as to produce the counter-revolution in the space of one or two hours.