THE SECRET HISTORY
OF THE
COURT OF BERLIN
THERE are suspicions — which are daily Strengthened—of a secret negotiation between the Emperor and Prussia; or at least that propositions have been made, either by the first or reciprocally, on which deliberations are held. I neither have the money nor the requisite means to discover what they are. An ambassador can effect anything of this kind, and with impunity. But, though I even possessed the great engine of corruption, what danger should I not be in, should I set it in motion ? I have no credentials, direct or indirect. An act of authority might dispose of me and my papers, in an instant; and I should be ruined, here and elsewhere, for my too inconsiderate zeal. Spur on your ambassador, therefore, or hasten to oppose to this puissant coalition, which nothing could resist on this side of the Rhine, the system of union with England, the basis of which you have traced out, and which shall be the salvation of the world. Think on Poland, I conjure you. What they have done (if they did not extend their acquisitions it was in fact because they would not) they will again do, and that even without the intervention of Russia; of that sleeping giant, who, waking, may change the face of the globe.
In truth, it is the coolness between the two imperial Courts which most confirms the suspicions of a new system. All that I can imagine, concerning its foundation, is that its pretext is the election of a King of the Romans, and its purport a strict alliance, which shall destroy the Germanic confederation. As this confederation was the work of the King, while Prince of Prussia, or as he wishes to believe it his, and as he regards it as a masterpiece, it may be doubted whether the Emperor will succeed. But, if the news of yesterday be true, there is a great point gained. Advice is received that the Electress Palatine is beyond hope. Should she die the Elector would marry again on the morrow, and affairs may and must assume a different face. If I am not mistaken, it is difficult to reflect too seriously on this subject, For my own part, unless my instructions and my means are amplified, I only can observe, according to the best of my power, the internal acts of government and the Court.
The reason that Count Schulemburg, one of the ministers of state, has demanded to retire is, in part, that he was charged to carry the capitation tax into execution, which he neither conceived nor approved, and which he truly regarded as a very unpopular, if not a very odious office. This minister, a man of understanding, and who would have again been at the head of affairs if, at his first cause of disgust, he had determined to resign his place, is infinitely disagreeable to the domestic agents. The long favour he has enjoyed, his rapid fortune, and his watchful perspicacity, have angered or disturbed all his rivals. Neither is he one of those pliant instruments that will bend into any form. The incapacity of most of the other ministers afforded him the pretence of being obstinate in opinion. The absurdities of the courtiers, not to say their extravagant follies, embolden him to return that contempt which the reputation of his abilities incites with usury. For what will not such a reputation eradicate, especially in a country where men are so scarce? But if, as it is said (I have not yet had time to verify the fact), there be a coalition between Struensee and Welner, Schulemburg is undone, for they will no longer stand in need of him. As he made illness his pretence, the King, in a very friendly letter, only accepted his resignation per interim, and on condition that his signature should sanction whatever related to his department.
Meantime the Aulic[1] system, that of mysticism, and the favour of the mystics are continued, or, rather, increased and adorned. The Duke of Weimar arrived here last night. He has the apartments of the Duke of Brunswick at the palace. This Prince, the great apostle of the fashionable sect, and of whom I spoke in my despatches from Brunswick and Magdeburg, had long had the character of being only an arbiter elegantiarum; a zealous promoter of letters and arts; an economist by system; and a spendthrift by temperament. I some months since suspected him of military enthusiasm. It is now avowed. He comes to enter into the Prussian service. Such generals will never renew the War of Seven Years.
In other respects affairs continue the same. The King invited himself to sup with Prince Henry to-day. The Prince, who continues his awkward plans, stifling his pent-up rage, has informed the foreign ambassadors that the doors of his palace would be opened every Monday, and that, if they thought proper to form card-parties there, he should receive them with pleasure. He wishes to change the custom which hitherto has prohibited all who appertain to the Corps Diplomatique from eating with princes of the blood, and insensibly to invite them to his suppers. His credit is at the lowest ebb; yet I still believe, would he persevere in silence, abstain from all pretensions, impatience, and avidity of power, he would highly embarrass the opposite party, and would at length be triumphant.
Murmurs become general against the obscure agents of the Cabinet; and the nobility, now neglected to make room for the Saxons, would be better pleased to behold a prince at the head of administration than obscure clerks, who never can acquire great and acknowledged fortunes, except by great changes. Yet the aristocracy is little dependent on such subalterns, and holds them in little dread.
The Duke of Courland is soon to arrive. As he is to be reimbursed considerable sums, it is to be presumed that the whole of the debts of the Heir-Apparent, which it is not decent to have left unpaid for several months after his accession, will then be discharged. This fact, combined with the suppers of the procuresses, the number of which suppers increases at the Princess Frederica’s, and for which purpose her establishment has evidently been granted, seriously attain the moral character of the King.
Madam de F——, who would not depart for Warsaw without making some attempt, yesterday had a very gay audience of the King; an audience of anecdote, at which he complained of his tiresome trade, and was earnest in his desires that she should remain at Berlin; reproached her with having stolen the portrait of Suck from him; and complained to her of the impoliteness and blunders of the Prince de P———, who thought his very daughter, the Princess Frederica, ugly and slatternly. This continued an hour, and probably, if Madam de F—— had come hither with greater precaution and for a longer time, she might have had some success. But it is a being so perverse, so avaricious, and so dangerous, that it is perhaps best she should travel with her talents elsewhere : to Paris, for example, where she is known, where she would not increase licentiousness, and never could obtain any important influence; whereas, if admitted to the privy council of kings, she might set Europe in flames, to obtain money, or even for her own private diversion. I took advantage of the moment that she thought proper to depart from the route I had traced out, to reiterate my information that her proceedings might have consequences much more serious than result from wounded vanity, and to declare I no longer should be a party concerned.
1. Because it did not become me to risk my character, in an affair where my advice was not followed.
2. And because the ambition of ladies has not, cannot have, the same motives, principles, proceedings, and conclusion, as that of a man who has a respect for himself.
Should she succeed, which appears to me impossible, she is too much in my power to escape my influence.
Postscript.—Lord Dalrymple, it is reported, is recalled, and Ewart remains at the head of the Embassy without a superior. Dalrymple is a man of honour and sense ; sometimes wearisome, because he is continually wearied, but endowed with more understanding than will be believed by those who have not carefully observed him; and also with generous, liberal, and fixed principles. If pacific coalition be sincerely intended, it is necessary to bring Dalrymple ambassador to Paris. With respect to Ewart, I believe the Cabinet at St. James’s finds it convenient to maintain a spy here, who is the intimate friend of one minister, and the son-in-law of another. But what can be alleged in excuse of the Cabinet of Berlin, that shall tolerate such an encumbrance ? This is but public report, which I suspect.
Commissions of enquiry begin to be fashionable ; one has lately been appointed to examine the monopoly of sugars. The people of Hamburg offered to supply the same articles at less than half price.
Another to examine the cloth manufactory.
Another the wood monopoly, which is to be reduced to half its present price (independent of the suppression of the company, by which it is furnished). But how ? By what means ? The change is assuredly one of the most urgent, and the most profitable that could be made for the country; but the abolition of all these monopolies, sugar excepted, which is granted to an individual,[2] supposes the destruction of the Maritime Company, that strange firm, which has promised the proprietors a dividend of ten per cent., be circumstances what they may. This fantastic superstructure cannot be pulled down, unless by a very able hand, without risk of danger from its ruins. Therefore, in his letter to the minister Schulemburg, the King renounces this project, and commands that it should be contradicted in all the public papers. What a fluctuation of plans, orders and intentions ! What poverty of power and of means !
1 Aulic, i.e., Court.
2 Splittgerber and Co., who had not only the monopoly of all the refining-houses, but also a foundry for muskets, small arms, sword-blades, &c. &c., a manufactory for hardware, cutlery, &c. &c., and another for braziery; all monopolies that have existed for many years, and all granted by Frederick II., the King who is so emphatically, and so falsely, held up as the mirror of wisdom, and the demigod to whom future ages are to erect statues, build temples, bum incense, fall down and adore.
Count Hertzberg has made a new attempt to interfere in the affairs of Holland, which had been interdicted him by the King, and has presented a memorial on the subject, in which he pretends to prove that crowned heads have several times stood forth as mediators between the States and the Stadtholder; and that the insidious reply of France stated that as fact which was in dispute. Prince Henry believes this memorial has produced some effect. I have my reasons for being of a different opinion; however, I informed him that, if he could procure me a copy, its futility should soon be demonstrated. I doubt whether he has even thus much power.
Here let me remark, we are reconciled. I refused two invitations, and he has made every kind of advance to me, which decorum requires I should receive with politeness.
The journey of the Duke of Weimar certainly had no other end but that of his admission into the Prussian service, which is to strengthen the rising fame of the Germanic confederation. This Prince in reality warmly protects the system of those who find, in the depth of their mystical abilities, rules for governing a kingdom. The favour in which these systems are held continually increases in fervour; or rather, is become visible, for it never was cool. The brother of the Margrave of Baden, a fashionable enthusiast, has a natural son, for whom he wishes to provide. This is the great affair of which he is come hither personally to treat, and he has met a miraculously kind welcome.
Business is not quite so well. There is so much confusion in domestic affairs that the King only issues money on account to the various officers of the household. It is determined that all his debts, while Prince of Prussia, are to be paid; that the Prince Royal shall have an establishment, and a table of ten covers; that the Princess Frederica shall have another, equal to the establishment of the Queen; and that the period when these arrangements are to take place is to be after the statements of expense have been formed.
The army is discontented.
1. Because the King appears on the parade only once a week.
2. Because commissions of major and lieutenant-colonel are multiplied to satiety (for example, all the captains who have been in actual service have obtained them ; this is the second chapter of titles, and patents of nobility, by scores); a favour which never was formerly granted, not even at the solicitation of the greatest princes.[3]
3. Because much is talked of, little done; because that few are punished, and little is required ; and, in a word, because that the army does not now, as formerly, absorb the whole attention of the Sovereign.
It does not appear that Manstein diminishes the credit of the aide-de-camp Goltz, who is become a Count, and who, in what relates to military affairs, has evidently more influence than his rivals. He has great abilities, without having such as are necessary to that place, which, in fact, is equivalent to that of minister for the war department.
It is subject of astonishment to the few men of observation who are attentive to whatever may lead to a knowledge of the moral character of the new King, that he should behave so coldly to one of his aides-de-camp named Boulet, whom I have before several times mentioned. Boulet is a French refugee of no superior understanding; an honest man, with little ambition; a very ordinary engineer, though here a distinguished one, because here there are none. He has been twenty years attached to the Monarch, but never was admitted a party in his secret pleasures, which were formerly almost necessary to support the solitude of Potsdam and the hatred of the late King. He neither increases nor diminishes in favour, and his influence is almost a nullity. Such a repugnance for a man of some consequence in his profession, and who neither can offend nor disgust, is enigmatical.
It is nearly certain that the capitation plan will be rejected. This hasty expedient would not have been a substitute equal to their wants. But you must feel how much so many variations will diminish all confidence in the subaltern and concealed administrators, who act instead of ministers; and how every circumstance concurs to render a prime minister necessary. Nothing seems determined on except a desire to change. There is no system; for I cannot call the vague desire of easing the people by that term; nor any regular plans, formed from knowledge, examination, and reflection.
None of the difficulties, for example, had been foreseen that arise from the suppression of the monopoly and administration of tobacco, which afforded an asylum to twelve hundred invalids, army subalterns, and even lieutenants. These invalids must live, and be maintained by the King. Nor is this all. Shares in the tobacco company originally cost a thousand crowns, and brought in eleven per cent.; the price afterwards rose to fourteen hundred crowns. The contract granted by the late King was to be in force to the year 1793. Should the King buy in these shares, at a thousand crowns each, this would be unjust; since they have been purchased at fourteen hundred, on the faith of a contract of which seven years are unexpired. If he should pay interest for them, at the rate of eight per cent, till the year 1793, he must then himself become a loser. Would it not have been better not to have made any change till the contract should expire of itself, or till he had found a proper substitute ? The effects which are the representatives of the capital, consist in utensils, warehouses, houses, carriages, &c. &c. These cannot all be sold without loss, which must likewise fall on the King. The monopoly was burdened with pensions, bestowed on persons by whom they had been merited; or, if you please, obtained for that very affair which paid those pensions.[4] They must hereafter be discharged by some other fund, &c.
Heaven forbid I should pretend such difficulties ought not to be surmounted ! Improvement would then never be accomplished. But they ought to have been foreseen, which they have not; so that the public only perceives, in this suppression, a real evil in return for an unasked good. This mania to undersell the smugglers, or to destroy illicit trade, if great care be not taken, will be more injurious to the people than the trade itself was to the state.[5] Opposition to contraband trade ought to be the consequence of one comprehensive system; and those are short-sighted views which endeavour to correct partial abuses, that appertain to the general vices of administration. The refining of sugar, the fabricating of arms, silk, gauze, stuffs, cloths, in a word, whatever relates to industry, all are directed by regulations destructive to commerce. But may all this vanish by a single act of volition? Impossible; without producing convulsions in the state. And thus are truth and benevolence discredited, and kings discouraged. Woe to him who pulls down without precaution !
The principles of the two Kings, concerning their personal dignity, appear to be so different as to give room for reflection, relative to this country. When Frederick II. established the coffee monopoly, the citizens of Potsdam were daring enough to load a cart with coffee-pots and coffee-mills, to drive it through the town and overturn it into the river. Frederick, who was a spectator of this burlesque procession, opened his window and laughed heartily. Here we have an anecdote of him whom they call the Tiberius of Prussia. The following is another of the Prussian Titus.
The day before yesterday, the clerk of a merchant, named Olier, was imprisoned; and he was not informed, till the morning after, that the cause of his imprisonment was some trifling speech, relative to the King; and that, should he commit a similar offence, the dungeon would give a good account of him ! Such are the firstfruits of a gloomy internal administration, of which the vanity and poverty of mind of the King have been productive. What a foreboding of tyranny; whether it be royal, or, which is worse, subaltern ! Under what circumstances, and in what a country ! There, where the master, whose vanity is so irascible, wishes to appear good ; and where there is no counterpoise to his power, in the public opinion ; for the public has no opinion !
The commission of enquiry, sitting on Launay, remains silent, retards its proceedings, forces or seeks for facts, and decides on nothing. Du Bosc is very industrious. Two merchants are arrived from each province, who are to give their advice, relative to the best manner of rendering trade flourishing. It is not yet known here that, though merchants only should be trusted with the execution of a commercial plan, they never should be consulted concerning a general system; because their views and their interests are always partial. One of them, however, has given advice which is very sage, in the present state of affairs; and that is to forbid the silk manufactories, which are all on the royal establishment, to make any but plain silks. Should they determine so to do, the King of Prussia may supply Sweden, Poland, and a part of Russia.
The Princess Elizabeth, the divorced consort of the King, has requested to have a place five miles from Berlin, and that His Majesty would appoint the ladies and gentlemen who shall be her attendants. It is supposed that the attempts this Princess makes have been suggested to her by an adroit and intriguing officer ; but it is not she who will become formidable to the Queen, though I really dare not say so much for Mademoiselle Voss. What must be the destiny of a country which soon is to be divided among priests, mystics, and prostitutes ?
In despite of all my diligence to divine what is in treaty with the Court of Vienna, I can only form conjectures. However, when I reflect that the Prussian ambassador to Austria is an incapable person, Count Podewils; and that the Emperor’s ambassador, Prince Reuss, has not altered his conduct; that Prince Henry, though generally ill-informed, would have some positive intelligence, if anything positive had been done, and that he has only vague suspicion, I scarcely can believe any important or probable revolution is on the tapis. Did the Prince (Henry) possess but one of the twenty wills of which he is composed, and which do not all form the equivalent of a whole, so that he could expend his money properly, and act with consistency, his superior information must give him a great ascendancy in the Cabinet.
But why do we not rid ourselves of this complication of political affairs, by at once changing our foreign system, and breaking down the only opposing barrier ? I mean to say, by respectable arrangements and sincere advances. Why do we not stifle commercial jealousy, that mother of national animosity, which has silenced good sense, and pompously predicted, supported by the sophisms of mercantile cupidity, that total ruin, whether it be for France or England, must be the result of the unfavourable balance to which a freedom of trade could not fail to give birth? Is it, then, so difficult to demonstrate that the trade of France might be much more advantageous to Great Britain than that of any other country, and vice versa ? Who that will but open his eyes will not see the reason ? It is in the will of Nature, by which those monarchies are nearer each other than they are to other countries. The returns of the trade which might be carried on between the southern coast of England and north-west of France, might take place five or six times a year, as in the more internal commerce. The capital employed in this trade might therefore, in both countries, be productive of five or six times its present quantity of industry, and might afford employment and subsistence to six times as many inhabitants as the same capital could effect in most other branches of foreign trade. Between those parts of France and Great Britain which are most distant from each other, the returns might at least be made once a year; and would consequently be thrice as profitable as the trade, formerly so much vaunted, with North America; in which the returns usually took place only once in three, and very frequently only once in four or five years. The sage Smith asks, «If we consider its population, wants, and wealth, is not France at least a market eight times more extensive (for England), and, by reason of its quick returns, twenty-four times more advantageous than ever was that of the English colonies of North America ?»[6] It is not less, or rather, it is more evident that the trade with Great Britain would be in an equal degree useful to France, in proportion to the wealth, population, and proximity of the two countries. It would eventually have the same superiority over that which France has made with her colonies. Oh, human folly ! What labours do we undertake to deprive ourselves of the benefits of Nature ! How prodigious a difference between that trade which the politics of the two nations have thought it right to discourage, and that which has been the most favoured ! It appears to me that a work which should develop these ideas, and which begin no longer to be thought monstrous by the English, would be very useful, and could not be entrusted to a man of too great abilities.
Postscript.—I have circumstantial evidence that the King is more than ever indolent. Letters are answered in eight or ten days, and in a more long and careful manner than under the late King; which sufficiently proves that secretaries have great interference. Yet what must we say of a cabinet in which the King never acts, although it is impossible to cite any minister whose influence has effected such or such a thing ? Even into the assembly of the general directory, which sits twice a week, the King never comes. And this is the king who wishes to change the fiscal system ! None but a Hercules can cleanse the Augean stables.
3 Rank in the Prussian service was formerly confined to seniority.
4 The author is here, as in many other places, obscure. The meaning most probably is that they were pensions granted in return for the sums that were risked at the establishment of the monopoly.
5 In what does the difference between the state and the people consist ? The question is asked to induce the young, not the well-informed, reader to reflect.
6 Either we have not been fortunate enough to find the passage the author quotes, or he has taken the sense of various passages. Smith says, «A capital employed in the home trade will sometimes make twelve operations, or be sent out and returned twelve times, before a capital employed in the foreign trade of consumption has made one. If the capitals are equal, therefore, the one will give four-and-twenty times more encouragement and support to the industry of the country than the other.»—Smith’s "Wealth of Nations,"—.vol. ii, p, 61, edit. 1786.
PEOPLE are not agreed concerning the kind of services which the committee of merchants, convoked from the different provinces, may render Government. These good folks are highly astonished to hear themselves consulted on affairs of State; for there is as great a distance between them and Mont-Audouin and Prémores, as there is between the Prussian ministers and our Sully and Colbert. The question should be to reverse the general and fundamental system, and they seek only palliatives. The blood is infected, and instead of purifying it, they endeavour but to heal this or that ulcer. They will inflame the gangrene, and render the virus more envenomed.
There are great disputes concerning the manufactures. But, good God! ought they to begin with these? And, should they well and clearly have determined which were necessary to preserve, and which to neglect, ought they not, before they prescribe rules, to assume as a datum—that Berlin is not a place for manufacturers; because that the dearness of labour, local and national inconveniences, &c. &c., are there united; and because that the establishment of manufactures must there become a disastrous extravagance ? for which reason the manufacturers themselves carry on a contraband trade, and sell French for Prussian stuffs. As they have no competitors, they affix what price they please on their merchandise; and, as nothing is easier than to smuggle, they take a part of their goods to the fairs of Frankfort, which they sell or do not sell, as it shall happen, and purchase Lyons silks, to which they affix Berlin stamps, and enter them without any other precaution, or the least risk; since the custom-house officers of the barriers, who are invalids either of the Court or army, cannot distinguish whether what is shewn them be taffeta or satin; still less, whether it be woven at Lyons or Berlin. This city neither possesses industry, emulation, taste, genius, nor money, to effect such changes. Another age, and I know not how many transitions among the Germans, are necessary for them to imitate that luxury of embellishment for which they have the folly to wish. Incapable of choosing between that which is possible and proper, and that which is chimerical and injurious, without means, principles, or system, the present attempts of these men, to which they owe their ephemeral existence, will have no other effect than that of leading, the King first, and afterward the vulgar and the foolish, to believe that the evil is irreparable.
The inheritance of the margraviate of Schwedt is an affair at this moment, which, in other hands, might have important consequences. The Margrave approaches his end. After the partition of Poland, the late King wrote to his brother, Prince Henry, that he was desirous of bestowing him a peculiar mark of his friendship and gratitude, for the service he had rendered the State. Frederick thought he should have rid himself of his promise by a statue; but he was privately given to understand that fame was left to the care of posterity, and that the present question was an increase of possession. A few months afterward, the Margrave of Schwedt, brother of the present Margrave, died; the King seized the occasion to release himself from his word. In a very authentic patent, and at a long term, he conferred on Prince Henry the reversion of the margraviate, on condition that he should discharge all the burdens with which this great fief is loaded. Frederick dies, and his successor declares that all survivances, and donations in futuro, &c., are null, and that he will not confirm them. Prince Henry finds himself among the number of those on whom reversions were bestowed. There is little probability these lands will be given him. The question is, will he or will he not have any compensation ?
Prince Henry certainly has pretences to exclaim against ingratitude, and exclaim he will. There it will end. Melancholy mad at one moment, he will rave the next; and thus, giving vent to his griefs, will save his life ; for mute affliction only is dangerous.
Those, however, who are not among his partisans, will observe this proceeding with the greater inquietude, because it begins to appear that even the personal promises of the King are susceptible of wavering. I spoke to you in one of my despatches of the restitution of some bailliages to the Duke of Mecklenburg, which had been promised to the envoy of the Duke by the King himself. He has since withdrawn, or at least suspended, his promise. So much facility in departing from recent engagements, combined with the clamours of the people, and the exclusive contracts that are trodden under foot without pity, appear to be but ill omens. It has been inserted, for example, by command, in the public papers, «that the King declares to all the army clothiers that, from paternal motives,»—all of which have been announced with emphasis, as you will see in every gazette,—«the King annuls their contracts; even those that had been recently confirmed.» Which clause is the more gratuitously odious and absurd, as he had not confirmed anyone; he, therefore, need not have taken the trouble solemnly to inform his subjects that he knew very well how, when occasion should serve, solemnly to break his word.
The King spoke to me yesterday concerning the woollen manufactory. I endeavoured to make him understand that, before we pulled down our house, we should know where to find a lodging, or how we might dispose of the ruins. He answered me laughing, «Oh ! Schmits is your banker.» (He is the contractor for this manufactory.) «Very true, Sire,» replied I; «but he has not hitherto made me a present of the money which has been remitted me through his hands.» This may show you what engines are set at work to keep me at a distance. The following is a more circumstantial proof :
I was six days very ill, and did not make my appearance at Court, which I the less regretted because that nothing is learned in such grand company. The day before yesterday, the King said at his Lotto, «Where is the Count de Mirabeau? It is an age since I saw him.» «That is not astonishing, Sire,» said one of the household. «He passes his time at the house of Struensee, with Messrs. Biester and Nicolai.» You must understand that Biester and Nicolai are two learned Germans, who have written much against Lavater and the mystics; that they never enter the house of, nor are they, as, I believe, personally acquainted with Struensee. The Intention was to lead the King to suppose I was an anti-mystic.
The appointment of Count Charles Brühl to the place of governor of the Prince Royal has made the party more than ever triumphant. To the merit of appertaining to that honourable sect, Count Leppel, the most incapable and ridiculous 01 men, is indebted for his Swedish embassy; as are Baron Doernberg for favours of every kind, Prince Frederick for his intimacy, the Duke of Weimar, the brother of the Margrave of Baden, and the Prince of Dessau for their success, and the courtiers that surround the King for their influence and favour. It looks like a tacit confederacy; and that there is a determination to admit none but proved and fervent sectaries into administration. No one dares combat them; everybody bows before them. The slaves of the Court and the city, who were not the first to yield, mutter disapprobation, and by degrees will range themselves on the side of the prevailing party.
There is no parasite, however great, that attempts to excuse the prostitution of titles, patents of nobility, ribands, academical places, and military promotions, which daily is aggravated. Seventeen majors, for example, have been made, merely in acquittal of vague and inconsiderate promises; and that there may be the semblance of recollecting, at little expense, hopes that had been given when every little aid was acceptable.
The King makes himself too public not to talk very idly. It would be better that, at the commencement of a reign, the Prussian Monarch should not find time daily to have a tiresome concert, or a more languid Lotto; especially when the world knows the nothings, or the worse, that employ his mornings. He more and more, every day, constitutes himself the redressor of the wrongs committed by his uncle. Those colonels or generals that were dismissed return to the army with promotions or appointments that recompense their sufferings. The counsellors that formerly were degraded, concerning the affair of the miller Arnold, have been reinstated in their functions. To say the truth, their punishment was one of the most iniquitous of the acts[7] of Frederick II. But his principal victim, the Chancellor Fürst, has hitherto been forgotten. His great age, indeed, will not permit him to occupy any post. But some solemn mark of good-will, some flattering recompense of strict justice, while so many other recompenses are granted, which are favours that are often more than suspicious—would this be impossible ?
Under the late reign, the mines solely depended on the minister of that department. An arrangement has just been made, according to which four tribunals, erected in the provinces, greatly moderate his authority; and this was very necessary in a country where the public right of the mines was the most revolting tyranny. But the arrangement does not announce the disgrace of Heinitz. He has, on the contrary, had several new departments committed to his charge within this fortnight; and particularly some that belonged to Schulemburg. It is a part of the plan to restore all things to the state in which they were left by Frederick William in 1740. This criticism on the last reign may be vengeance dearly purchased. At least it is necessary to be consistent; and, since the grand directory has been restored according to its first institution, it ought not to be left in indolence, and in a state of humiliating insufficiency. The dismission of the minister Gaudi is reported, who is the man by whom Government might best profit, if he were employed. This conspiracy against capacity and knowledge, with good reason, alarms those who know the persons that inspire predilection.
If I am not mistaken, there is here, at this moment, an acquisition to be made, worthy of the King of France, and M. de Calonne is the very man who ought to lay the proposal before His Majesty. The illustrious La Grange, the greatest mathematician that has appeared since Newton, and who, by his understanding and genius, is the man in all Europe who has most astonished me; La Grange, the most sage, and perhaps the only true practical philosopher that has ever existed; worthy to be commended for the pertinacious calmness of his mind, his manners, and his conduct; in a word, a man affectionately respected by the small number of men whom he would admit to be of his acquaintance; this La Grange has lived twenty years at Berlin, whither he was invited, in his youth, by the late King, to succeed Euler, who had himself pointed him out as the only man proper to be his successor. He is much disgusted, silently but irremediably disgusted, because that his disgust originates in contempt. The passions, brutalities, and lunatic boastings of Hertzberg; the addition of so many with whom La Grange cannot, as Academicians, without blushing, associate; the very prudent dread of seeing himself held in painful suspense, between the philosophic repose which he regards as the first good, and that respect which he owes himself, and which he will not suffer to be insulted ; all induce him to retire from a country where the crime of being a foreigner is not to be forgiven, and where he will not support an existence which will only be tolerated. It cannot be doubted but that he would willingly exchange the sun and the coin of Prussia for the sun and the coin of France, the only country on earth where men pay homage to the genius of science, and confer lasting fame ; the only country where La Grange, the grandson of a Frenchman, and who gratefully recollects that we have made him known to Europe, would delight to live, if he must renounce his old friends and the abode of his youth. Prince Cardito di Laffredo, ambassador from Naples to Copenhagen, has made him the handsomest offers, in the name of his Sovereign. He has received pressing invitations from the Grand Duke and the King of Sardinia. But all these proposals would easily be forgotten, if pot in competition with ours. And will not the King of France likewise, aided by a worthy comptroller-general, at the time when he would extend that empire of benevolence which appertains to him alone-would not the King of France endeavour to acquire a man whose merit is known to all Europe ? La Grange here receives a pension of six thousand livres, And cannot the King of France dedicate that sum to the first mathematician of the age ? Is it beneath Louis XVI. to invite a great man, from a miserable academy, who is there misunderstood, misallied, and thus, by the most noble warfare, to extirpate the only literary corps that has wrestled against his proper academies ? Would not this act of generosity be superior to those that are usually performed ? France, with pernicious policy, has been the asylum of princes, with whose necessities she was burdened. Why will she not welcome a great man, who would but add to her worth ? Has she so long enriched others with her losses, and will she not enrich herself by others’ errors? In fine, to speak of the minister I love, one De Boynes has given eighteen thousand livres a year, for a useless place, to one Boscovich,—a man despised by all the learned of Europe, as a literary quack of poor abilities; and why will not M. de Calonne grant a pension of two thousand crowns to the first man in Europe of his class, and probably to the last great genius the mathematical sciences shall possess ; the passion for which diminishes, because of the excessive difficulties that are to be surmounted, and the infinitely few means of acquiring fame by discovery ?
I have the hope exceedingly at heart, because I think it a noble one, and because I tenderly love the man. I entreat I may have an immediate answer; for I own I have induced M. de la Grange to suspend his declarations on the propositions that have been made him, till he has heard what ours may be. I need not repeat that-lie whose hands are tied must call for help.
7 We ought to read private acts.—Arnold held a mill of Count Schmettau; and, being in arrear for several years’ rent, the mill was seized and sold. Arnold laid a false complaint against one Gersdorf, for having robbed him of the water by which his mill had been supplied and his family maintained. The King ordered the sentence that had condemned Arnold to lose his mill for the payment of arrears, to be revised. His orders were obeyed. The judgment was confirmed. Without proper examination the King sent for the judges, deprived them of their places, condemned them to pay the costs of Arnold, sentenced Gersdorf to restore the water or build a windmill, sent them to the prison for malefactors, ordered Baron Zedlitz to see punishment inflicted or to beware of punishment himself, ruined them all, and, without hearing him, commanded his Grand Chancellor, Fürst, who came to prove that he could not be guilty because he had no concern in the trial, to march I and degraded him from all his dignities. The facts were, that the pond of Gersdorf, which Arnold affirmed had been dug to his detriment, had been a pond for ages ; that Gersdorf was neither his landlord nor his prosecutor, but Schmettau; that Arnold actually paid no rent; and that the proofs of the legality of the sentence, by which he had been cast, were evident to all the judges, none of whom could have any interest in giving a false judgment. This act of tyranny was echoed with applause through all Europe, and among others by the English newspapers, magazines, annual registers, &c., most of which, with equal piety and patriotism, hoped in good time to see justice thus righteously administered in England.
ON the 29th, between one and two o’clock, a person from Courland came to me and asked for the Baron de Noldé. He said he was charged with some secret commission, and delivered him a letter from M. Rummel, his brother-in-law, a Syndic of the nobility, and fifty Prussian gold Fredericks. The letter desired Noldé would give faith to what the bearer should relate, and informed him that the Regency of the Republic intended to confer on him the place of assessor, if he would repair to Courland that he might be put in nomination; and that the appointment was to be made at the beginning of the year. The bearer of the letter said he had known the Baron Noldé when a boy. The Baron supposed him to be an advocate, or a notary, of whom he had some confused idea. He neither told his name, where he lodged, how he travelled, when he came to Berlin, nor where he was going. Hamburg, Lübeck, Vienna, Munich, &c., are places through which he has passed, or means to pass. His journey has been very secret, very enigmatical, very mysterious. He only gave it to be understood that great changes would soon be seen in Courland, and that Woronzow was there to enact a grand part, of which he spoke so as to make it suspected he might become Duke. Such are the chief points of this odd interview.
We must combine this with the return of the Duke, who arrived three days ago, and with innumerable indications which demonstrate that a revolution is either in agitation or preparing, in Courland. Consternation has seized on the Duke. It is only whispered, but it appears evident that the States have stopped the payment of his revenues, because he does not expend the money in the country; and this is the least of the griefs, entertained at Petersburg, against this detested man. Certain it is that he has sent his wife, who is far advanced in her pregnancy, to Mittau, whither he dares not return himself; hoping she shall be delivered of a male child, and that this presumptive heir will reconcile him to his country.
Add, further, that Baron Noldé is of one of the first houses of Courland; that his uncle, the Chamberlain Howen, a capable and enterprising man, is at present first minister, or land-marshal; that all affairs pass through his hands, and that he is in the greatest credit; which, to say truth, may be reduced to this: that he has the power of selling, with more or less meanness, this fine but unfortunate province; which, however, should it be abandoned by all its neighbours, cannot act otherwise than to bestow, rather than suffer itself to be seized upon. It is very possible that the family of Noldé, which knows how much this studious young Baron has continually preferred a civil to a military life, has only thought of placing him advantageously. (The post of assessor, which is worth from four to five thousand livres of Courland, per annum, is the post of preferment.) But it is equally possible, and, all circumstances considered, very probable, that his assistance is wished for in effecting a revolution.
This young Baron is possessed of honour, information and understanding; has a great respect for the rights of mankind, an utter hatred for the Russians, and an ardent desire his country should rather appertain to any other Power. From his infancy the sport of chance, ruined by misfortunes of every kind, which all had a worthy origin; disgusted with the gloomy rank of subaltern officer, which impedes the progress of his studies, and moderate in his desires, he would accept a place which should bestow on him the otium cum dignitate; but he would not be the slave of Russia. He loves France, and is attached to me, to whom he thinks himself obliged. He is desirous of serving his country, the cabinet of Versailles, and his friend. The indecision of his mind must have been afflicting, especially under circumstances when, labouring for these six months like a galley-slave, and certainly in a manner more useful than had he been mounting guard, you have even neglected to prolong his furlough. This, at least, was perplexing. I have decided for him.
Making myself responsible for this prolongation, which it would be so iniquitous to refuse, and which surely will be granted if it be only out of respect to me, who find his coadjutonhip necessary; imagining he still has the right of returning into Courland by throwing up his commission, or even without throwing it up, by suffering another nomination to take place; convinced that no one can inform us more exactly of the situation of the country in which he has so many relations; persuaded that this is an important step for several reasons, the principal of which I shall presently demonstrate, and not believing (independent of the expense of a journey of more than four hundred leagues) I should be justified in absenting myself without having received express orders; confiding in the honour of this affectionate young gentleman, as well because of the recommendations of those to whom he is intimately known, as from having myself proved his principles and his conduct; and still farther convinced that confidence is the most powerful of motives with men of honour,—I have thought it the most prudent mode to suffer him immediately to depart on his promise of sending me information of whatever passes, and of returning to Berlin within two months. It has seemed to me that this will conciliate his interest and ours,—the latter because we shall be perfectly informed of whatever we wish to know concerning Courland, of which many things are to be learned, and by which step, at all events, we shall make a party in the country, where the simple title of consul, or the permission only of wearing our uniform, with a small pension, will secure to us a man of merit, should he determine to accept the offers of the regency; first, because Baron Noldé will inform himself, by this journey, what is the, degree of stability and profit of the place they propose for him, and because, if he be not satisfied with this, he may again return to the service of France, with the recommendation of additional labours and strong zeal in her behalf; and, should he be satisfied with the offers of Courland, he may accept them, while we may better his situation and augment his respect and safety, by suffering him to wear our uniform, &c., &c.
Summarily, this young gentleman, who has served at the sieges of Port-Mahon and Gibraltar; who is esteemed and beloved by his commanders; who for six months has laboured, under my direction, with uncommon zeal, and assiduity not less uncommon ; I repeat, this gentleman would certainly merit such a mark of favour, though it had been on his own business solely that he had made a journey into Courland. But the truth is I send him thither, because I am strongly invited by circumstances, and am convinced of two things. First, that were it only perfectly to understand this part of the politics of Russia, it is of importance to us at once to know at what to estimate the worth and destiny, as well as the changes of which this country is susceptible; which, independent of all interior circumstances, stands by situation the sentinel of Poland and of the Baltic, now that Sweden, our arm of the north, is so seriously menaced. My second conviction is that Baron Noldé is the properest of men faithfully to send us this information. Wherefore not afford him aid ? Wherefore not preserve such persons ?
You must have seen, but perhaps you have not remarked, in the thirty-second abstract from the gazettes, that Springporten, formerly a colonel in the service of Sweden, has lately entered into the service of Russia, with the rank of major general; that he is the man who best knows Finland; that the Empress has granted him three thousand roubles for his equipment, an estate of six hundred peasants, in White Russia, and the key of chamberlain; that he is incessantly to make a journey into the Crimea, &c., &c. Though by acquiring such men, with the knowledge and connections which they bring with them, preparations are made for the execution of the greatest projects, still, by the same methods, such projects are rendered abortive.
There was not time, last post, to write the postscript in cypher, which contains a curious fact, of which Panchand will probably make use and application.[8]
I informed you in No. VI “that they have lately interdicted discounting bills of ex change at the bank, &c.” This fact has not been verified. The merchants indeed required it might be done, but their request has not been granted, and it was opposed by Struensee. But to the news of the day.
There are two versions concerning Mademoiselle Voss. Both are derived from excellent sources, and probably the real one will be that which may be composed from the two.
1. There will be no marriage. Miss will depart in a month, for I know not where ; and afterward will return to Potsdam. “I know,” said she, “that I dishonour myself. All the compensation I ask is not to see any person ; leave me in profound solitude; I neither wish for riches nor splendour.” It is certain that, if she can keep him thus, she will lead him much the farther.
2. Wednesday, the 22nd of last month, was the remarkable day on which Mademoiselle Voss accepted the King’s hand, and promised him her own. It was determined the Queen should be brought to approve the plan of the left-handed marriage as a thing of necessity, should she obstinately display too much repugnance. It is singular that, for the consummation of this rare business, the arrival of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar was waited for, who is the brother-in-law of the Queen. The King thus will be father to four sorts of children.[9] The priests, who have been consulted on the manner of reconciling the claims of heaven with the pleasures of earth, have decided that it will be better to concentrate his enjoyments by an extraordinary marriage, than incessantly to wander from error to error. Nothing has transpired concerning the manner in which this arrangement is to be made known to the uncles ; of the name the new Princess is to bear ; or of her future establishment, &c., &c. In all probability she soon will Interfere in public affairs; and, should she do so, the credit of Bishopswerder will diminish. She neither him nor his daughters. Her party is, besides, very opposite to that of the mystics, gains ground in a very fearful manner. I am going to relate a recent anecdote on that which happened in the last months of Frederick II., and which it is infinitely important, at least for my security while I remain here, to keep secret; of the irrevocable authenticity of which you yourself will judge; and which will show you whither tends this imaginary theory of the mystics connected with the Rosicrucian-Freemasons, whom among us some look upon with pity, and others treat as objects of amusement.
There is a rumour whispered about which terrifies worthy people, and which, true or false, is a faithful indication of the public opinion. It is affirmed that Prince Henry, the Duke of Brunswick, and General Moellendorf, mean to quit the army. The two first probably do not yet think of such a step ; but the latter is indubitably the most discontented of the three. Rich, loyal, simple, firm, he possesses virtues which would do honour to a soil on which virtue is more fruitful. He certainly has not been treated either as he himself expected, or as good citizens have wished. They were desirous, indeed, to create him a Count; but among so many counts, what need had he of such a title ? For which reason this respectable man replied, “What have I done ?” This artless, noble question was too severe—on the herd of nobles and the multitude of that have sprung up, warmed by the breath of royal munificence—to be agreeable. His modest and antique manners are become reproachful to the Court; yet is the only reform truly and universally approved, under the new retort, the work of this general. I mean the abolition of that iniquitous contribution called grass forage, which subjected the open country to pillage, during three months of the year, under the pretense of accustoming the cavalry to forage. He has not since been consulted on any subject, or he has had no influence. I should not be surprised should he retire to his country seat; and it is impossible to exaggerate the unamiable light in which such a tacit profession of faith would place the King and his Government.
Three months more of similar proceedings, and he will have no respect to lose,—at least, in his own country. Every corrupt symptom is manifest. Rietz, a rascal, avaricious, chief-pimp, and an avowed Giton, insomuch that Ipse confitetur, sibi cum Rege, dum princeps Borussiœ esset, apud eius amicam stupri commercium fuisse. In a word, Rietz, the vilest and the most debased of men, manages the royal household, and enjoys a great part of the Court favour. Here it ought to be noted that he is very susceptible of being bought; but he must be dearly bribed, for he is covetous and prodigal, and his fortune is to make, should ever France have occasion to direct the Cabinet of Berlin. So long as the King shall have any power, Rietz and Prince Frederick of Brunswick are the two men most liable to temptation.
The following is an anecdote of a very low species, but very characteristic for those who know the country. The Italian and French dancers have received orders to dance twice a week, at the German theatre. The purport of such a capricious injunction was to give disgust to this species of people, who are expensive enough, and to find a pretence for dismissing them. They have been well advised, and will dance; but such is the low spirit of cunning which presides over the administration. Politics are treated as wisely as theatrical matters.
I this moment learned that Heinitz, one of the ministers of state, a man of mediocrity, but laborious, has written a letter to the King, of which the following is nearly the sense : “Being a foreigner, not possessed of any lands in your states, my zeal cannot be suspected by your Majesty. It is consequently my duty to inform you that the projected capitation tax will alienate the hearts of your Majesty’s subjects ; and proves that the new regulators of the finances are, at present, little versed in public business.” The King said to him two days after, “I thank you,” and made no further enquiries. Irresolution not exclude obstinacy, although obstinacy is far from being resolution. I should not be astonished were the tobacco and snuff company to remain on its former footing. As for the respect which government should preserve, that must take care of itself.
It was an attempt similar to that of Heinitz which produced the last military promotion, to the disadvantage of General Moellendorf. The General wrote, with respectful but firm dignity, against the nomination of Count Brühl, and entreated the King would show less indifference for the army. Thanks were returned, accompanied with these words : “The place has been promised a year and a half”; and two days after seventeen majors were created. Since this time, coldness toward the General has increased, and civility has been substituted for confidence. The letter is not thought well of. It is said that he ought to have reserved this vigorous blow for some occasion on which he should not appear to be personally interested ; and it is he himself who seemed most proper to fill the place of governor.
The Duke of Weimar is preparing to make a very pompous wolf-hunt, on the frontiers of Poland. The orders and adjustments for this party of pleasure do not very well agree with the projects and ceremonials of economy. Twelve hundred peasants are commanded to be in readiness ; sixty horses have been sent, and eight baggage-waggons, with the masters of the forests, gentlemen, huntsmen, and cooks for this hunt, which is to continue six days.
At present, I am nearly certain that my second version, relative to Mademoiselle Voss, is the true one ; and that the Queen is coaxed into the measure. The King never lived on better terms with her. He has often visited her within this week, pays her debts, and has given her a concert. Probably she has made a virtue of necessity. It appears evident that this connection of the King highly deranges the plan of the mystic administrators. The family of Mademoiselle Voss wishes to profit by her elevation; and their advice no way agrees with that of the present favourites. Bishopswerder, far from gaining upon the King, declines in his esteem. In a word, revolution may come from that side. Will public affairs be the gainer ? This question it is impossible to answer. We can only turn the telescope toward the spot; or rather the microscope; for, in truth, we are in the reign and the country of the infinitely minute.
[Postscript, mentioned in the body of the letter.]
The current coins in Poland were formerly as Follows : The mark of fine silver of the Cologne weight was coined at 13-3 r. or 80 fl. of Poland.
As to gold coins, there were none but Dutch ducats that had any nominal value : that is to say—
At the royal treasuries, they were taken for 16¼ k.
By the public, for 18 k.; both of which rates were fixed by decrees of the Diet.
In the Diet of 1786, the ducats were universally raised to 18 k. each.
The assay of the silver consequently cannot any longer be maintained; and it is affirmed there is a determination, hereafter, to coin the fine mark at 14 r. or 84 fl.
But neither can this coinage support itself; for, should Berlin coin at 14 r., Poland will be obliged to keep up an equal value at a greater expense, because of carriage.
Under the present circumstances, it might be advantageous to draw on Poland for ducats at 3 r. if the assay of silver is at 14 r.
But, if the relative value of gold should fall, comparatively to that of silver, silver may be there bought with profit.
Generally speaking, it appears to me that the recent operations on gold should lead us to reflect on the state of the silver, especially in Spain, should that Power persist in the folly which, with the greatest part of Europe, it has given into, of keeping two species of coin, and hoarding the gold.
Second Postscript.—The King, attended by a single lackey and much disguised, has been to the corn and straw warehouses, where he enquired of the soldiers who worked there what their wages were. “Five groschen.” A moment after he put the same question to the superintendents. “Six groschen.” Three soldiers being called to confront the superintendents, and the fraud being proved, a subaltern and three soldiers were ordered to conduct the two superintendents to Spandau, a civil prison; and there they are to be tried. The fact is very praiseworthy. He makes evening peregrinations almost unattended, and addicts himself to the minute enquiries of a justice of the peace. At least this is the third time he has acted thus. Some of his attendants imagine he means to imitate the Emperor. After what has passed between them, this perhaps would be the most severe symptom of absolute incapacity.
8 The last letter has no postscript. The author probably means the fact contained in the paragraphs to be found a few pages forward, which begin with the words—Postscript mentioned in the body of the letter.
9 Those of his first Queen, Elizabeth, from whom he was divorced, as before mentioned ; those of his present Queen ; his natural children, by Madame Rietz ; and his half-bastard, half-legitimate, by Mademoiselle Voss, had this marriage taken place.