The northern courts; containing original memoirs of the sovereigns of Sweden and Denmark, since 1766, including the extraordinary vicissitudes in the lives of the grand-children of George the Second

Front matter

Gc

929.78

BBln

Dedication

CAPTAIN RICHARD GAINE JANVERIN, R. N. i o** r: or* •

SIR,

Although, without permission, I borrowed your features to draw the picture of a Post Captain as he should be, in the first number of my Naval Advocate, it is neither your professional capacity, intrepidity, hospitality, nor humanity, that have induced me to offer you this unequivocal mark of public homage and grateful attachment ; but that proud and unbending public spirit by which you are distinguished beyond most of your equals or superiors in rank. It is that noble quality, which, in a naval officer, is far more b

Preface

The present Work was originally intended by the Author to have been a miscellany ; and the sketches of the reigns of the different sovereigns were to have been given as an Appendix, made up of selections. Eleven or twelve sheets were printed ere that plan was abandoned, and an original work determined on. It was next discovered that one volume would not contain the matter that was indispensibly necessary, which was then divided into two volumes; but such was its redundancy, that the lives of the late and present kings of Sweden, and the late and present kings of Denmark, as well as some intended comments on the political opinions respecting Russia, by Mr. Leckie and Lieut.-General Sir b2

PREFACE.

Robert Wilson, were necessarily omitted ; they must otherwise have been reduced to the limits of an index.

In December last, a pause occurred in the execution of the work, during which, the Author endeavoured to procure, from various sources, those authentic and original facts which were

ntial i" complete his work, and calculated to distinguish it from a mere compilation.

The Swedes are eminent for hospitality and every social virtue; and their character has been wilfully assailed, or casually misunderstood, by British tourists. In the hour of persecution, Mr. Brown found a secure and most agreeable asylum there. It was an act of duty to those whose friendship he had enjoyed to publish the criticisms on the works of travellers in Sweden, which appear in th« Becond volume, not with a view to decry tin general merits of the authors alluded to, but to display their local errors, and correct their too frequent acerbity.

The sources, whence he borrowed matter for

PREFACE.

his work, are so generally given with the quotations, that he is not conscious of a single omission of importance.

From the causes recited, the life of Charles the Fourteenth John (as well as others) could not be given, but the plate is still prefixed, because the secret of his elevation is first developed in these pages, and the Author intends to translate from Swedish authorities a third volume, that shall contain the extraordinary and eventful life of that monarch.

London, May 9th, 1818.

Chap. III

Character and the person of Christian the Seventh. -Demoralized by his cruel step-mother. -Portrait of Caroline Matilda at fifteen years of age.— Reflections on, and instances of the unhappiness of royal females. —Secret Memoirs of Gustavus the Third, and his queen,— The Princess Albertina.- Unhappy love.— An extraordinary expedient, Us detection. -The secret history of the birth of Gustavus Adolphus the Fourth, now Count Gottorp i!

-\ii • ir.Ms.

CHAP. IV. Matildas reception in Denmark. — The machina

Juliana Maria. Weakness and depravity

of Chrishun the Sevenths—His motive for setting out

on his tracts. — His adventures in Amsterdam and

London 48

Chap. V

Queen Mat it, (a.— The Counts St ruensee and Rantzau.— Court intrigues.— Peter the Third, Count Rant? zau the cause of his death.— Madjame Gohler.— First confidential interview between Queen Mai, /da and Struensee.- -Its result.— Reflections on their comparative criminality 70

CHAP. \ I.

Melancholy stale of the king.— A royal tour to the duchies of Bolstein and Sleisw 1 ,/ Rantzau's a •'<. History of Gourmand, the king's favor['r ' 0) the court— A ( ircassian Prim . ■ i. \th red manners of Queen Matilda: wears leathern small-clothes, and sits her horse like a man.— oeritymore difficult to endure than adversity.— I Brandt admonished by t 'ount Ranzau. iew: a dream.— The arrest of Matilda, Struensee, and Brandt ' ,,.,

CONTENTS.

Chap. VII

Critical situation of Juliana Maria, Count Rant- ;au, and the other conspirators.— The courage of Queen Matilda.— Cowardice of Struensee.— A singular riot : its source developed.— The execution of Brandt and Struensee

Chap. VIII

Character and conduct of Count Rantzau.—His Disgrace. — Benevolence of Matilda. — Gratitude.— Lex-taliones.— Sensibility and gratitude.— A fascinating mistress— Visit to Zell.—A fair penitent.— Reconciliation of Matilda and Rantzau.— Their deaths. 164

Chap. IX

The Danish court after the fall of Struensee.— Wise and dignified conduct of George the Third.— Memoir of Count Andreas Petrus Bernstorff.—A celebrated tourist quoted, and censured.— Violation of the Danish flag.— Source of that abuse.— Its consequence. — The armed neutrality of the northern powers- Count Bemstorjf retires.— The Crown Prince Frederick seizes the reins of government. — Count Bernstorff restored 235

XIV CONTENTS.

t

Chap X

CHAP. XL

Soph in Magdalena, consort ioGustavus the Third. — A uspiciqus commencement of his reign. — His secresy and 8elf-comman !. — Profound, dissimulation. — The diet of 1771. — Farther proofs of deep hypocrisy. — Out-

tke senate. — Overthrows the Oligarchy in 1772. — His gross impiety on that occasion. — Anecdote of Count Uggla8.—Gu8tavus tiers apart from his

i. — The Duchess of Sodermanland. — A royal exit.— Increased splendor of the court. — Gustavus encourages trade and manufactures.— Becomes a monopolist of brandy distilleries. — General discontent. — Insurrections. — Failure of his commercial speculations. 307

CHAP. XII. VastproQ /' ler the Great. — Their progres

realization.- Gustavus attempts to counteract

/iuss/'a. — Catherine the Second and Gu8taVU8.- Their apposite views and prepara I ions .— G n a I national undertakii or completed by Gustavus at Carls-

crona and Sveaborg. — I risits his provinces. Reforms

local a1, uses, and punishes several uujus! judges. —

His great and varied talents and acquirements. —

Effei his court.- Honors paid by Gustavus

to the memory of Sir Charles Liune. Suffers his invaluable collection In be sold .- -Embellishes Stockholm. —

Practises the utmost profusion.— Recommends frugality tq his subjects.- Sumptuary laws. — Corrupts the national manners. Lavishes his treasures on idle

• / 327

CONTENTS.

VOLUME II.

Chap. I

" A journey to Petersburg.— Royal reconciliation. —Birth of an heir. — Melancholy catastrophe. — Popuar discontent. — Degradation of the senate. — Northern confederacy. — Alliance with Denmark and Russia. — Gustavus travels to Spa.— Family discord and family secrets. — Louisa Ulrica.- — Her death, and character. — Catherine the Second. — Gustavus the Third. — Mutual hatred, and reciprocal duplicity. — Gustavus travels through Italy. — Some interesting particulars of his tour. — His magnificent collection of statues and paintings. — Returns by way of Paris. — Arrival of Gustavus at Stockholm

Chap. II

The diet of ]786.— Conduct of Colonel Armfelt. — Precocious attainments of the crown prince. — Jarring politics of the Northern Courts. — War between Sweden and Russia. — Anecdote of Russian naval officers. — Gustavus the Third commands the army of Finland. — A formidable mutiny. — Denmark joins Russia. — Gustavus returns to Stockholm. — Progress of the Danes in Sweden. — Gustavus sets off suddenly for Dalcarlia. — Character of the Dalkarls. — Courage and activity of the king. — British mediation. — Armistice between Denmark and Sweden 40

I INTENTS.

CIL\I\ III.

campaigns

tin of the Swedish navy. —

! lofeqfthe I Impress

1 ' Secona subsi-

against the

' ' Pitt, related by

1 lavas the Third

' ranee.

! 'ive to

\th of Gustavus the Third.

CH IP. I\

■'. as a patron of

is account given

I ■ I : his

iicali 'cetchqfSer-

,/,,>-.— The principal

1 '- m Hi. 'Character of

i in Sweden.- lllihe-

1 i I 's criticism

' I to architecture.

Travels in Sm

■ . now Charles the J-'uur- ■it's principal works.

i i

CONTENTS. Xvll

vered by Sergell. — Swedish painters and architects patronised by Gustavus the Third, Desprez, Piper, Tempelman, Roslin, Sir C.F. Von Breda, a pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds. — Comparative state of painting and sculpture in Sweden and England. — Comparative state of engraving.' — Anecdotes of Gustavus the Third 216

CHAP. V.

The governess and physician j or difference of opinion. — Governors and tutors. — Intolerant principles early inculcated. — Bigotry, political and religious. — Machinations of General Baron Armfelt. — The wise government of the regent. — Retrenchment and reform. — The flight, trial, conviction, and, outlawry, of General Baron Armfelt. — Russian political intrigues and intriguers. — Imperial Russian gallantry. — A royal tour. — The king and regent at Petersburg. — A state secret. — Plots and counter -plots. — Firmness of the young king. — A disappointed bride. — The royal strangers return to Sweden. — Comparison between the policy of Catherine the Second and the ex-Emperor of the French. — Expiration of the Regency. — The recall of Armfelt, and change of system at court 262

CHAP. VI.

The marriage of the king. — His extraordinary demeanor. — Northern confederacy. — Despotism of Gustavus IV. — His jiersonal character and habits. — n rs.

i : military incapacity. — His dis-

I . ' Essen and ihe king. —

tarda Napoleon Bonaparte

I lery and cowardice

■slit ion— Description

. first audience. — Brigadier-

St. Joachim.—

Porter made knights

I icature of the king.

iition.—Gv8tavu8 IV. su Britain.— Anecdote of Admiral ' ■'■ uis XVIII— Anecdote of

'■ ' ' ( tdvtis Jl'.

- of the Swedish

Perceval. — The Duke of

den.— The

■/avusir.

tnd death of the Prince of

1 of the Prince of

■ ! Gustavus IV.

Q

ERRATA.

VOL. I.

The Author requests the reader to dele all references to the Appendixes— vide Preface ; and f.,r ogliarch to read oligarch, where it occurs in the translated papers, Chap'. I. " Reflections on the Danish Revolution of 1660."

Page 25— line 16, for our read your. 104— last line, for Woff r, Wolff. 107, 108, and 131, for Messenin r. mezzanine. 109 — 1. 4, for eat r. a£. 112—1 9, for 1776 r. 1771. 116 — 1. 13, for noblemen r. nobleman. 117 — 1. 3, for physically r. mentally. 118 — 1. 12, r. and abandoned. 125 — I. 16, r. two o'clock. 130 — 1. 20, for second r. sword. 192 — 1. 3, note, r king's palace at Stockholm. 222 — 1. 7, r sat absorbed. 303—1. 1, for is r. are. 340—1. 21, for 6-stre-Gbtland r. Ostra Gothland.

OF VASA.

hich in Swedish is called Vasa, or Wase.

unsellor of State Mans Carlsson, !th January, 1528, d. 1560.

Princess

. Christina, b. 1626; Queen I, abdicated 1654; d. at Rome, 1G89.

a ark.

II. Ulrica Ei eokora, b. 1688;

d< ath of Charles

XII.; abdicated, in favour of her

husband,Frederick, Prince of Hesse

' Grand Duke Michael,

I

OF THE

COURTS OF SWEDEN AND DENMARK.

CHAP. I.

Reflections on the Danish Revolution of 1660 *

OUR historians inform us, that in the seventeenth century, the tyranny, insolence, and rapacity of the nobles had attained such a height that, to deliver themselves from the humiliating and oppressive yoke, the clergy, burgers, and peasantry surrendered to the crown all their rights and privileges; making the monarch absolute, and themselves and posterity slaves! But why do I

* This interesting portion of the Secret History of the Courts cf Sweden and Denmark was copied and translated from a Danish MS. found on board the United States merchantman, the Clyde, Alcorn master, laden with French and Dutch colonial produce, and hound from New York to Amsterdam ; detained off the Start by the Dapper gun-brig, Lieutenaot Gardner commander, and sent into Plymouth, February 1807.

B

2 EtET HISTORY OF THE

saj posterity! Can the rights of the unborn to freedom be done away by the folly or baseness of their ancestors ? Certainly not: and we have now a greater right to restore the freedom of

ark, than our weak and infatuated foreriad to lay it at the foot of Frederick I bird. Of all the stains on our annals, this is most disgraceful. It is also one of the most extraordinary events recorded in modern history. There is no doubt but some creatures of the crown, playing upon the exasperated feelings of the burgers, persuaded them that the , effectual mode of avenging their wrongs consisted in making the monarchy absolute ! Yet, it still seems incomprehensible how a race of men illuminated by the reformation, who were far from illiterate, well versed in their political rights, and who had recently covered themselves with glory in defending the metropolis, could be so comj letel) infatuated as t<> act in this base and wicked manner. Their infamy is the more appa-

as they were inured to war, were flushed l>\ victory, had their weapons still in their hands, and their vile oppressors were cooped up within

. /alls <>t their city! By the same effort of mind, and al a Less personal risk than it required ■ duce themselves and posterity to the condition of slaws, they might have humbled the

rsed ogliarchy that devoured and degraded

aarkj have stripped them of their territorial hpfils, their feudal rights — as their tyrannies were improperly called ; and every other usurpation ; and, with all facility, have elevated themselves to the rank of freemen : — while borrowing from England that representative system which our ancestors, the Goths, carried thither in their first expeditions, they might have laid the deep and broad foundations of a free commonwealth, with a constitutional king at its head : by which means Denmark would at this day have equalled England in wealth, power, and fame ! The crown was at that moment elective : and the ogliarchs lorded it with equal insolence over the king and the people. If, therefore, this base conspiracy on the part of the commonalty, had been discovered by the aristocracy, time enough to have prevented its execution; the fierce, haughty, vindictive ogliarchs, would have washed out the crime meditated by the silly commoners with their blood ! Not so, if they had aimed at establishing a government altogether republican ; because, under that system, the nobles would not have been subjected to the king, who was before subjected to them ; and it was the sole object of the burgers to reduce the nobles to a state of slavery and degradation ! The heroism displayed by Frederick the Third, in defending his capital against the Swedes, had rendered him deservedly popular, whilst the nobles were detested on account of the disaffection, if not cowardice, that many of them had displayed in the unfortunate wars with Sweden. The king, to secure his b 2

\ SFXE1 T HISTORY OF THE

crown from tl c of the nobles, would no

lvc readily entered into the views of the

,..; and have ratified their freedom in return

ring the crown hereditary, and inde-

• , ; the ogliarchy. Instead of acting

nobly and wisely,— with a frantic hand they

the laurels from their brows, and surrendered

•nditionally and without any equivalent— for

• is there equivalent to such a sacrifice?

their lives, their liberty, property, honor, to the

sting him and his heirs male for ever

the uncontrolled power to wage war, nego-

11 the blood of his people by unne-

wars,- by the axe of the executioner;

, into solitary dungeons, there to

. --. without the king or his ministers

a countable to any human being! Stu-

lous folly and wickedness ! I blush as I

writ. aeracy of my ancestors. This

polluting, and degrading revolution was

brought about by a few of the leading burgers in

Copenl (1 by the blind confidence and

the lowest classes, and aided

by 1 luenc< . the gold, and the power of

crown. The blow was struck; the liberties

t, or to be born, were clan-

: el) sui I; and the crown elevated

on the ruins of liberty, ere the great mass of the

•. thai the dire expedient was in

i ! In a delirium of joy the burgers of

Copenhagen sung < lo Paeans,' that the tyranny of the nobles was no more. Silly wretches! A short time taught them that the crown, to prevent the enraged ogliarchs from calling in the Swedes, made a compromise, and left that obnoxious class of privileged men all their territorial domains, however acquired ; all their feudal claims and exactions. They could no longer dictate to the king, but each could play the petty tyrant on his own estates, and spread desolation and misery among their unhappy dependants, who were stall left subjected to their insolence and power. A short time opened the eyes of the infatuated burgers, but the mischief was done ; and a standing army protected the throne which the stupid burgers had made absolute, and rendered their regrets and remorse alike unavailing.

Our historians in vain endeavour to palliate this act of political suicide. Amongst innumerable attempts to extenuate its infamy, they pretend that so transcendently great were the merits of Frederick the Third, that the nation had no other means of affording him an adequate proof of its gratitude and devotion ! Silly casuistry ! Contemptible sophists ! What individual had so much to lose as the king ? Certainly no one ; and consequently no one had a stimulant equally strong to propel him to great exertions. His wisdom, fortitude, valour, were admitted and admired by friend and foe ; by the Swede and by the Dane. He preserved his throne and his metropolis.

6 RET HISTORY" OF THE

The glory of the achievement, and the love and N of his people, and of posterity, offered the on]} recompense to which he ought to have red.

The same historians*, as an excuse for this Bad monument of popular frenzy and delinquency, tell us that the nobles were corrupt, tyrannical, and oppressive ; that, in their legislative capacity, they hvied enormous burthens on the labouring hmd, and the industrious citizens, from winch those drones not merely remained exempted ; but contrived, m their capacity as generals, governors, or ministers, to intercept a large o of those taxes wrung from the hard hand of the tod-worn, sinewy labourer, and his half-famished family. Our timeserving historians rt, thai this foul ogliarchy tto get rid of which i estilence our liberties were all destroyed) nn it!i one baud oppressed and controlled the crown, obtruding their creatures and partisans into all high trust and great emolument; whilst, with theother they scourged, debased, plundered, a1"' enslaved the people. Tins venal class of privileged nun. met with mockery and contempt to remonstrance and petitions of the commonalty, insolently denying the truth of self- < vi« I. lit grievances; and not merely denying them redress, and adding insult to their wrongs, but bem with still heavier burthens, and

' Holberg, dr.

COURTS OF SWEDEN AND DENMARK. I

laying' them under more humiliating restraints ! Hence, om courtly historians infer, that there remained no other way of getting rid of those accursed devourers, than by making the crown of Denmark arbitrary and hereditary. The people, from one extremity of the Danish dominions to the other, should have destroyed the power of those despicable and cruel ogliarchs ; levelled their moated and turreted castles with the earth ; and set the bondsman free : thus should they have got rid of that ogliarchy which, like a huge and loathsome wen on the human body, impaired its strength and disfigured its beauty. Instead of which, surely in a moment of general madness, to gratify an absurd spirit of vengeance, the citizens of Copenhagen established— despotism bylaw! That their posterity have not suffered by the folly and delinquency of their ancestors in an equal degree with those unhappy nations whose harder destiny bowed their necks to a Bourbon yoke, has arisen from the superior quality of our princes, who, since this scandalous revolution, have ruled Denmark and its dependencies. Possessing unlimited sovereignty in the fullest and most ample meaning of the term, it redounds to the glory of our autocrats ; for such are our kings, as well as the czars of Russia, that they have permitted us to be governed by law, instead of a ukase ; that they have allowed us the liberty of discoursing or writing with freedom on political subjects, instead of shedding our blood on scaffolds ; or, a la

Bourbon, throwing us into lonesome cells, and there leaving us to perish. But this clemency, honourable to our illustrious kings, has the dangi rows tendency of rendering despotism less odious, less frightful, less disgusting, than it appears when hung round by chains and implements of torture ; by letters de cachet and Bastilles, which decorated the splendid despotisms of the Bourbons, c re their merited fall and eternal banishment from France. It is to the mercy of our kings, and not to the -prudence of our ancestors, that we are indebted lor an exemption from most of the evils attendant on despotism. The example of justice nn. I moderation afforded by our mild monarchs, e;i<h of whom, had lie been a Nero in heart, might, like Nero, have wallowed in the blood of tin' most illustrious citizens, goes a considerable length towards establishing the justice of Pope's dubious aphorism : —

•• Onfornu of government let fools contest, Whatever s best administered, is best"

One of the greatest calamities that can befal any nation; one of the most certain omens of its dj lall, is the declining suae of the labouring classes on whose labour the wealth of every superior class is grounded. That degrading revolution, which calls a blush into my cheeks as I of its baseness, reduced the political, but atrial, power of our nobles— was '" "l"- poor hinds; for the monarchs, assumof pomp unknown to their electoral

COURTS OF SWEDEN AND DENMARK. i)

predecessors, fearful of offending the wealthy burghers, increased the burthens of the agriculturists, and the weight of this cumbrous pomp fell principally on the labouring peasant. The nobleman, driven from the court and the treasury, forced into an involuntary rustication, sought, by increasing his exactions in every possible way, to gain in wealth what he had lost in power ; whilst our poor peasantry fared even worse than the beast of the field belonging to his lord ; for having a property in the beast, the lord had an interest in providing it with provender and shelter from the severity of our northern winters. Not so with the poor hind ! he was left to struggle with famine and taxation. His sole inheritance was ignorance and bondage. From his birth, in some squalid hovel, he has heen, till lately, exposed to privations of every kind, to humiliations of the most debasing description. If nature blessed the wife or daughter with beauty, the lust of his lord demanded its possession. In his cheerless hut reigned want and wretchedness. Filthy in his habits, base in his propensities, he exhibited the bitter fruits of aristocratical despotism in its most appalling form ; and his whole life, from his cradle to his grave, was but one continual scene of wretched, and hopeless servitude.

The two greatest errors of our monarchs have been these : the too great splendor of their courts, and the too great extent of their standing army: that dreadful pressure and incessant drain on the feeble resources of their country. The splendor of our court in the last reigns, and the early part of this,* illustrated the truth of that bold assertion made by a celebrated American writer, that in despotic states, and voluptuous regal courts, the mere trappings and embellishments of a monarchy cost more money, than, under a frugal system of republican government, would suffice for all the expences of the state ! Yet, how few of our kings have really exercised the sovereignty conferred on them in 1GG0 ! During all the latter part of the reign of Frederick the Fifth, he was a mere automaton ; governed by Count, alias King Molckte, or, by his ambitious consort, Juliana Maria. As to the present king (Christian the Seventh,) it was only during a very short interval that he really reigned. A Iloleke, a Struensee, Juliana Maria, by turns possessed and abused the sovereignty. In short, he that wears a despotic crown is seldom the person who ( .< ( rein 8 the sovereign power : and after all, I am decidedly of opinion, that the President of the United States enjoys, under the sanction of the law, more real political power then any despotic prince in cither of the four quarters of the globe. Copenhagen, 1804. V. D.

' Christian VII.

CHAP. II.

Frederick the Fifth. — His Character. — The Cause of his Intemperance. — Character and Anecdotes of Juliana Maria. — Anecdotes of Christian the Seventh, when Crown Prince.

Frederick the Fifth, the father of our present monarch (Christian the Seventh) was a wise, magnificent, liberal prince; the patron of men of genius, science, and learning, and the idol of a grateful people. Suddenly, a marked change took place in his habits and his manners : he lost all relish for those exalted pursuits to which he had been attached, and gave himself up to excessive and continual inebriety, whereby he impaired his faculties, physical and mental, and shortened his days. Whilst the memory of this solitary vice, that sullied his character, is generally known, the secret and powerful cause that led to this melancholy alteration, (except to a few, who, during the life-time of his second queen, dared not give it utterance; and most of whom have since descended to the grave), has remained buried in oblivion. This accomplished monarch had two consorts ; the first, and

•vedly the best beloved, was the English princess Louisa, daughter of George the Second, by whom he had the wretched and imbecile prince who yet bears the title of king of Denmark ; and Sopliia .Majfhilena, married to Gustavus the Third of Sweden, who fell by the hand of Ankarstrom: for his second wife, our favorite monarch, in an evil hour, took Juliana Maria, daughter of Ferdinand Albert, duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle ; an unhappy choice that was the source of many an I heavy domestic calamities.

i I passions will obtrude into palaces as well

ittages, and when they chance to obtain full possession of a queen, they are likely to hurry her to acts more atrocious than a female of hum- Mr rank, because her power to commit wickedly so much greater. The events of common life too often exhibit the most lamentable scenes rm-niL;- from the jealousy and hatred of callous and unfeeling step-mothers who oppress the children of their predecessor. Such was the character of Maria Juliana. She hated the presence of the children <>f the deceased queen; and, if she had dared, would have quickly sent them to follow their mother to the grave : for the propensities of her nature ware mostly of a seltish and ambitious kind. At an early age, iu her father's petty court, she was labbler in political intrigues: in her temper sullen, cruel, and vindictive; extremely penurious; forgetful of benefits, but seldom failing to an injury tenfold; above all, a most profound dissembler, and able to wear a smile on her face, and shew all manner of civilities to the person most mortally hated, and whose destruction, at that very moment, she might be planning.

Such was the step-mother whom Frederick the Fifth, placed over the children of Queen Louisa! The king possessed great sensibility, and in spite of ail the pretended fondness of his new consort, he soon ascertained that she did not love theui. Frederick often indulged his feelings so far, as to have the children brought to him, whom he caressed with every mark of strong affection : on these occasions the crafty step-mother would participate in his affectionate regard of the innocent babes, whilst her black heart cherished the most deadly rancour. Finding herself pregnant, she flattered her ambition with the hope of presenting her lord with a new object of affection, that should not fail to wean his regards from the fair and white haired boy of Louisa, who was the king's darling. Instead, however, of a child calculated to prove a successful rival to the beautiful Christian, the cruel and envious queen brought forth a weakly, deformed, infant ; whose appearance was calculated to excite commisseration mingled with disgust, rather than love. This deformed child, contrary to expectation, lived ; and as its strength and size encreased, it shewed a disposition the exact reverse of Christian's; and, owing perhaps to organic defects, was cross, sullen, and unmanageable. This was a source of m row to the good and humane king, and of unutterable misery to the queen, whose aversion towards Christian increased as she saw the healthy, playful, volatile boy becoming more and more the pride ami hope of his fond father, who, nevertheless, did not neglect the deformed Frederick, nor fail to bestow upon him proofs of a regard truly paternal.

At length, to such a pitch did that wicked woman suffer malice and envy to carry her, that, to secure the crown for her deformed son, she resolved to cut off the blooming young Christian by poison. Having determined to commit murder, she soon found, what she believed to be, a favorable opportunity. The young prince happened to be indisposed. The cruel step-mother, under the specious pretext of fondness, was frequent in her visits ere an opportunity of attempting the horrid deed presented itself. At length she found the prince's favorite nurse preparing some gruel for her young charge over a •ilver Lamp, and there was no other attendant in tin chamber. She ordered the nurse to go to her closet to fetch her something; and as soon as the dour closed she approached the lamp, and instantly infused a mineral poison into the gruel, a small part of w hich, if it had been swallowed by her unconscious victim, would have occasioned his death. The nurse in question was named, , by birth a Norwegian; and had been many years a confidential servant of the royal family. She attended Queen Louisa, at the birth of Prince Christian ; she strove to sooth the last moments of her existence, and she really felt towards her children, all the affection of a mother. Having long entertained suspicions of the queen's intentions, she was ever suspicious and watchful of Juliana Maria's proceedings that in any way affected the young prince. At