Armed with this Wraxall left Celle the following day, and returned to Hamburg where he reported his progress to Baron Bülow (who met him at a retired spot on the ramparts) and gave him back his seal. Bülow immediately recognised the Queen’s handwriting on the envelope, which was Wraxall’s credential, and, when he had learned all that had passed, he said he would communicate with his associates, and inform Wraxall again.
Wraxall remained at Hamburg a week, and then received instructions to return to Celle. His message to Queen Matilda, as before, was only verbal, though he was authorised to put it on paper when he reached Celle. It was to the following effect: The Danish nobility thanked the Queen for her gracious reply to their communication, and were quite satisfied with it. With regard to her request for further information, Baron Bülow, in addition to himself and Baron Schimmelmann the younger, was empowered to answer for the Viceroy of Norway, who would secure that kingdom and its capital, Christiania, for the Queen; for Baron Schimmelmann the elder, who, though he refused to take any active part in the enterprise, or to risk by any overt act his safety and vast fortune, was sincerely attached to the cause; for the Governor of Glückstadt, one of the most important fortresses in Holstein, who was disposed to aid the Queen; for certain officers in Rendsburg, the key of Schleswig, which would open its gates (as the party had secret adherents in the garrison, who would declare themselves on the Queen’s side) when the moment arrived; and for numerous friends who, he declared, were powerful in the army, the navy, the guards, in the metropolis, and even about the person of the King himself. For the rest, the Queen’s friends entreated her to be content with the assurances of the Baron Bülow, their spokesman, and not ask for a list of all the names, which would be dangerous. They also urged her to write to the King of England as soon as possible, and ask him not only whether he would approve of the plan to restore his sister, but if he would grant some pecuniary assistance towards it. During the forthcoming winter they would prepare everything to carry out their plans, and strike the blow in the spring, as soon as the two Belts should be free of ice.
Fortified with this message, Wraxall again went to Celle, entering the town this time incognito, and lodging under an assumed name in a little inn in the suburbs. He communicated immediately with Seckendorf, who came to him the following morning, informed him the Princess of Brunswick was no longer at Celle, and took his letters and messages to deliver to the Queen. A few hours later Seckendorf came back, and told Wraxall to go immediately to the French garden outside the town, where the Queen would meet him. Wraxall repaired thither without delay, and a few minutes later the Queen drove up in a coach. She sent away her carriage and all her attendants except one lady, who discreetly retired to a pavilion. The Queen gave Wraxall an hour’s interview. During the greater part of the time they paced up and down between the avenue of limes in a secluded part of the garden. The Queen spoke quite unreservedly. She said that she was satisfied with the names mentioned, and, for the rest, she would trust the good faith of Baron Bülow. That she would write to the King of England with great earnestness, and ask him to send a minister to Copenhagen, friendly to her restoration, and also to help the cause with money; for herself, she regretted that she could not contribute, owing to her limited income, which only sufficed for her needs, and she had no jewels, as everything had been robbed from her when she left Denmark. That she was quite willing for her part to visit her friends in disguise, but she was convinced that the King her brother would never permit her to do so. “Still,” she added, “could I come, or did I come disguised, nobody would know me, as I am much altered since I was in Denmark.” This was true, as the Queen since her residence at Celle had become very stout. She determined that Wraxall should go to London to endeavour to obtain an audience of the King, and the Queen gave him very minute instructions as to how he was to behave. “You must,” she said, “go very quietly to work with my brother. If you manage with address, he will favour the attempt, but it will be tacitly, not openly.” When the conversation was ended the Queen took Wraxall to the summer-house, where her lady was waiting, and a dessert of fruit was laid; here he took his leave. The Queen mentioned during the audience that no less than three emissaries from Copenhagen had reached her since she came to Celle, but as they were all either suspicious or worthless she refused to have anything to say to them.
Acting on the Queen’s commands and the instructions of Bülow, Wraxall started the following day for England, via Osnabrück; he arrived in London on November 15. The Queen had told him to go first either to Lord Suffolk or to the Baron von Lichtenstein, grand marshal of the court of Hanover, then in London, who was highly esteemed by the King, and who had shown her much kindness: she had written to them both. Wraxall first called on Lord Suffolk in Downing Street, but that nobleman either would not, or could not, see him, urging in excuse that he was ill with the gout. So Wraxall repaired to Lichtenstein’s lodgings in Pall Mall, where he was more fortunate. He gave Lichtenstein the Queen’s letter, and the Hanoverian promised that he would try to find an opportunity to put the matter before the King; but he advised Wraxall not to call again on Lord Suffolk until he had seen the King. He then asked Wraxall several questions, which the latter answered to the best of his ability, and gave him the fullest account possible of the project, and of everybody connected with it.
Three days later Lichtenstein saw Wraxall again, and told him that he had talked to the King at “Queen’s House” on the subject, and that the King had given him positive injunctions that Wraxall was not to see Lord Suffolk, but to consider Lichtenstein the sole medium through which all communications were to pass to the King. The King was at present considering the Queen’s letter, and until he had considered it he did not think fit to grant Wraxall an audience; but he commanded him to put on paper a full and complete account of the project, including the names of every one connected with it directly or indirectly. Wraxall thereupon drew up another long document, which was duly transmitted to the King through Lichtenstein, and on December 5 he received the King’s answer through the same medium. George III. was very cautious: he gave a general approval of the plan to effect the Queen’s restoration, but he refused to lend any direct assistance; he therefore declined to advance any money at present, and finally he would not be induced by any entreaties of the Queen, or by any supplications of the Danish nobility, to affix his signature to any paper promising aid, or expressing general approbation. This unsatisfactory reply Wraxall transmitted to Bülow by cipher at Hamburg, and he also wrote to the Queen through Baron Seckendorf. From Seckendorf he received an answer on January 3, 1775, expressing the Queen’s satisfaction with the King’s approval, though regretting the qualifications which accompanied it. On January 20 he received an answer from Bülow, in which he adjured Wraxall to return to Hamburg as soon as possible, with the King’s approbation authenticated in whatever way might be practicable. He added that his friends were busily preparing everything to strike the decisive blow, and they were sanguine of success. These letters Wraxall at once communicated to Lichtenstein, who submitted them to the King. On February 2 Wraxall received through Lichtenstein a letter from the King to his sister, and a paper containing four articles, which the Baron drew up in Wraxall’s presence, and affixed his seal and signature to them—so empowered by the King. These articles ran as follows:—
“First: His Britannic Majesty gives his consent and approval to the plan concerted by the adherents of his sister, the Queen of Denmark, for restoring her to the throne.
“Secondly: His Majesty insists that in the execution of it no blood be spilled, nor any measures of severity exercised towards the personal administration in Denmark, except such as are indispensable to maintain the counter-revolution.
“Thirdly: His Britannic Majesty guarantees the repayment of all the money advanced or expended in a necessary prosecution of the Queen of Denmark’s revolution.
“Fourthly: His Britannic Majesty will authorise and empower his resident at the court of Copenhagen to declare in the most public manner, as soon as the revolution in favour of the Queen is accomplished, that the King of Great Britain approves of it, and will maintain it against all opposition.”
LOUISE AUGUSTA, PRINCESS OF DENMARK AND DUCHESS OF AUGUSTENBURG, DAUGHTER OF QUEEN MATILDA.