QUEEN AND EMPRESS.

1770-1771.

The keynote of Struensee’s foreign policy was to free Denmark from outside interference, and the greatest offender in this respect was Russia. The inauguration of the new regime, therefore, was the occasion of a violent quarrel with the Russian court, to which a personal element gave additional bitterness. Russia at this time meant Catherine the Great, for the imperious Empress gathered all the reins of government, both foreign and domestic, in her hands. She had come to regard the King of Denmark as almost her vassal, and her first instinct was to crush any signs of revolt against her influence. The Empress was minutely informed of the changes at the Danish court and the causes which had led to them. She knew all about the intrigue between Matilda and Struensee. But she had no sympathy with the young Queen of Denmark, whose career, in some respects, offered a curious parallel to her own. Like Matilda, Catherine had been brought from a foreign country, when little more than a child, and married to a weak and vicious prince, in whose character there was a strain of madness; like Matilda, she had been left alone in a strange and dissolute court, outraged and neglected by her husband, ignored and set aside, and exposed to every temptation. Catherine had found consolation in a lover, and plotted with him and others. The outcome of her intrigues was the deposition and subsequent murder of her husband, and the Empress’s elevation to the sovereign power. Rumour said that she was privy to the assassination, but that must always remain a mystery. Of course, before this point had been reached the parallel between the two women ended, for Matilda, though she had undoubtedly intrigued with Struensee to get the power into her own hands, was not of the same calibre as Catherine. She was incapable of either her crimes or her vices; she had neither her soaring ambitions nor her consummate powers of statecraft. Though a woman of more than average ability, she had none of the genius of the Russian Empress; and her heart would always hinder her from playing a great part upon the world’s stage.

The weakness of Matilda’s position was her love for Struensee. At first she wished him to take no part in politics. “If Struensee had taken my advice, and had not become a minister, it would have been much better,” she said, two years later in bitter retrospect, but he overruled her in this as in all else. Everything he did was right in her eyes, and though she sometimes trembled at the perilous path he was treading, when he talked to her of his future policy and his sweeping reforms she believed that he would be hailed as the saviour of the country. She could not see that he was ignorant of statecraft, and made mistakes which a little forethought would have avoided, for she worshipped his commanding talents, and believed him to be a king among men. The Danish Queen’s all-absorbing passion for one man was regarded with contempt by the Empress Catherine. It is needless to say she did not condemn it from a moral point of view, for she was a very Messalina in her passions, but because she considered it a fatal weakness in a Queen who apparently aspired to reign over her husband’s kingdom and to inaugurate a new system of policy. So far from the similarity between the trials of Catherine’s early married life and the Queen of Denmark’s sorrows enlisting her sympathy, the Empress regarded Matilda with dislike, mingled with contempt. “I have had the opportunity of seeing the Empress of Russia’s sentiments expressed in her own handwriting relative to what is passing in Denmark,” wrote Woodford. “The Empress, in a letter to her correspondent, of September 24, says upon the changes in Denmark, ‘that allowances are always to be made for the follies of youth, but accompanied with the marks of a bad heart they excite even a public indignation’.”[145]

There was undoubtedly some jealousy mingled with this dislike of the Empress Catherine for a woman she had never seen. “The Semiramis of the North” regarded herself as one to whom the ordinary rules of life and conduct did not apply, nor even the immutable laws of right and wrong. She was a woman of destiny, a sublime figure, above, beyond and apart from all meaner mortals. Yet this foolish Matilda with her bourgeois favourite and paltry intrigues had presumed to challenge comparison with one who was incomparable, and even to imitate her idiosyncrasies. Like Catherine, Matilda rode astride in masculine attire; like Catherine, she donned the uniform of a colonel, marched at the head of her regiment, and fired a musket with unerring aim. True, Matilda had only one favourite where Catherine had many, but he was one who gathered up (in her estimation and his own) the charm of a Poniatowski, the bravery of an Orloff, the genius of a Panteomkine, the ardour of a Korssakof, and the beauty of a LanskÖi.[146] Struensee was responsible for this somewhat burlesque imitation of the Empress; he held before the Queen’s dazzled eyes the vision of another woman ruling her people with consummate ability to the admiration of Europe, and Matilda was weak enough to listen to his flattery.

Catherine regarded the attempts of the Queen of Denmark to follow in her steps as preposterous, and the anti-Russian policy as impertinent. The Empress did not at first treat it seriously, but the limit of this presumptuous folly (in her opinion) was reached when the news came to St. Petersburg that her former co-conspirator and later her declared enemy, Count Rantzau, had been taken into favour by the Danish court, and given an appointment in the Government. Then the anger of Catherine, as Bernstorff predicted, knew no bounds. She regarded the appointment of Rantzau as an insult, and sent instructions to Filosofow to represent her displeasure in the strongest terms to the court of Copenhagen. Filosofow, who was already goaded to the point of madness by the humiliations heaped on him by Struensee, performed his mistress’s behest with such violence and so many expletives that the Queen strongly resented his bullying tone, and his further residence at Copenhagen became impossible. For this, as the English envoy wrote, “they [the court of St. Petersburg] will be in a great measure indebted to their own conduct—disgusting this court by an open attack on Monsieur Rantzau, whose character, let his intentions be what they will, ought to have been too well known to them to give rise to any great apprehensions”.[147] Filosofow demanded his recall, which was granted, and before leaving requested a private audience of the King. But this was refused by Struensee, who had made up his mind that henceforth foreign envoys should have no more private audiences with the King behind his back. Filosofow was told that he could only see the King at an ordinary court, when he could take leave of his Majesty. The haughty Russian replied that his health would not allow him to be present, and he left Copenhagen without taking leave of any of the royal family. Thus was Struensee avenged upon his enemy.

Gunning rightly regarded the Russian envoy’s withdrawal from the Danish court as the result of an intrigue, which had its origin in the insult offered to Struensee a year before.

“This intrigue,” he wrote, “sprang originally from an insuperable disgust her Danish Majesty conceived against the person of M^r Saldern and latterly against that of M^r Filosofow.... The latter, though a man of great honour and worth, from a want of sufficient knowledge of the world, and from being perhaps too sensible of the splendour and power of the Empress, his mistress, studied not enough that refinement of behaviour which was to be expected in a public character, and through absence and inattention committed a piece of rudeness on a certain occasion to the Favourite which his self-love (as indeed the self-love of any other man might have done) induced him to impute to design. The wound rankled in his heart, and I will venture to say the sense of it was not confined to his own feelings. Her Danish Majesty was pleased to think much the worse of M^r Filosofow for it. In short the affront was never forgiven, and the second Russian minister became equally, nay, more, obnoxious to the Queen than the first.”[148]

Struensee, now that he had gratified his personal animosity, had no wish to become embroiled in a war with Russia. He thought that the dispute had gone far enough, and it would be better to build for the Empress Catherine a golden bridge, over which she might retreat with dignity from a position which had become untenable. But unfortunately for his plans he resolved to conduct the negotiations himself, for he had not yet appointed a Foreign Secretary to take the place of Bernstorff. It was only in the department of foreign affairs that Struensee found himself at sea, not in regard to his policy, for his mind was clear as to that, but with regard to the forms and phrases usually observed in communications between courts and monarchs. He had no training for this kind of work, and until the last two years had no communication, direct or indirect, with princes and potentates. His ignorance of forms and etiquette was equalled by his contempt for them. But it could not be supposed that the King, his master, was ignorant of these forms, and since communications with foreign sovereigns had to be made nominally through him, errors of this nature revealed either that the King had not been consulted, or he had not written the letters issued with his name. Christian VII. perhaps took a malicious pleasure in Struensee’s ignorance, or he was too indifferent to correct the glaring errors in letters signed by him, for many absurd mistakes occurred.

Struensee thought that a personal letter from the King of Denmark would appease the anger of Catherine, and he therefore drew up one of these strange documents which purported to come from Christian. But he was so ignorant of the ordinary usage that he began it “Madame” instead of “Madame my sister,” and ended as though it had come from a subject, “I have the honour to be, Madame, your Imperial Majesty’s very humble and obedient servant,” a preposterous ending to a letter from one sovereign to another. The letter contained a good deal of irrelevant matter, but the gist of it was an apology for the King’s refusal of a private audience to the Empress’s minister, “under the pretext,” writes Gunning, “that one having been already denied to the Swedish minister, it could not have been consistently granted to the Russian minister, and further, that the audiences which have been so often given, and were now almost claimed by the Russian minister, ought to have been considered more as a matter of courtesy than that of right. But had Monsieur Filosofow appeared in the court circle, his Majesty would probably have called him into the closet.” The English envoy adds: “Though perhaps this apology will not bear the test of a too strict examination, yet as it shows an earnest desire of acceding on his Danish Majesty’s part, it may be wished the Empress may suffer herself to be appeased by it”.[149]

So far from the Empress being appeased by the King of Denmark’s letter, she received it with derision. The form, the manner, the style, the contents, all showed her that it was not composed by her royal brother of Denmark, but, as she coarsely said to her whole court, by the Queen’s cicisbeo. The relations between the courts of Copenhagen and St. Petersburg were strained to breaking-point and Struensee was at a loss what to do next. It was at this juncture that he appointed Count Osten to the foreign office at Copenhagen.

Osten was a Dane of noble family, but poor. He was educated at court as a page in the household of Christian VII.’s father. As the youth showed much ability, Count Moltke, who was then Prime Minister, sent him to Leipsic to study languages, with the view of making use of him in the diplomatic service. During his residence at Leipsic, Osten made the acquaintance of Count Stanislaus Poniatowski (afterwards King of Poland), and the two became great friends. On returning to Copenhagen Osten became involved in some petty palace intrigue, which was directed against the men who had benefited him, Moltke and Bernstorff. They overlooked his ingratitude in consideration of his talents, but, thinking it advisable that he should leave Copenhagen, they sent him to St. Petersburg, as an attachÉ to Malzahn, at that time Danish minister in Russia. Malzahn died suddenly, and the secretary to the legation being ill at the same time, Osten seized the opportunity to receive and answer despatches, and to confer with the Russian ministers. So well did he acquit himself that Bernstorff appointed him Danish envoy at St. Petersburg, and told him that he must humour the Grand-Duchess (later the Empress) Catherine, whose favour, as he was a handsome and a brilliant youth, he had already won. Bernstorff already foresaw the elevation of the Grand-Duchess to a prominent position in councils of state. Osten paid his court assiduously to Catherine, and during his residence at St. Petersburg Poniatowski came there. The friendship between the two young men was renewed, and when there sprang up an intrigue between Poniatowski and Catherine, Osten acted as a go-between, and the lovers used to meet at his house.

Perhaps because of the part he had played in this matter, the Danish court found it necessary to remove Osten from St. Petersburg to Dresden, so that he had nothing to do with the plots which led to the assassination of the Emperor Peter, and the elevation of Catherine to the throne. But as soon as the Empress found her position assured, she asked the King of Denmark to send Osten back to St. Petersburg as Danish envoy, and her request was at once complied with. The handsome young diplomatist returned, and for two years enjoyed the friendship of the Empress, who not only admitted him to her confidence, but even allowed him sometimes to be present at the councils which she held with her ministers and her generals. Suddenly, without warning, Osten fell out of favour. The Empress wrote to the King of Denmark to request his instant recall, and the Russian minister for foreign affairs informed all the foreign envoys at St. Petersburg by a circular note that the Empress had withdrawn her favour from Count Osten, and regarded him as “a vile and odious person”. The cause of Osten’s disgrace was not a political one, but referred to some secret infamy.

Bernstorff did not wish to bring Osten back to Copenhagen, as his talent for intrigue was so great that he might prove dangerous, nor did he wish to lose his services altogether, for he had proved himself a very able diplomatist; he therefore sent him as Danish envoy to Naples. Osten went there for a time, but he never ceased to agitate for his promotion from a post which he considered to be exile. Eventually Bernstorff promised Osten the post of minister at The Hague; but before his promise could be fulfilled, the once-powerful minister was himself dismissed from office by Struensee and the Queen.

The office of minister of foreign affairs rendered vacant by the dismissal of Bernstorff, whose knowledge of the tangled threads of European diplomacy was very great, was no easy one to fill—at least, from such material as Struensee was able to command. Rantzau, who wanted it, was impossible, and Struensee at first thought of keeping it in his own hands; but after the ridicule poured upon his letter by Catherine, which threatened to make the Danish court the laughing-stock of Europe, Struensee came to the conclusion that there were some things he did not know, and he must find some one who was, at any rate, conversant with forms. No statesman of repute in Denmark would accept the post on Struensee’s terms, so he went through the list of Danish envoys at foreign courts, and finding in Osten a man whose record was unscrupulous enough for his purpose, he recalled him from Naples and placed him at the foreign office in the hope that he would bring the Empress Catherine to reason.

Osten’s appointment was regarded as a notable accession of strength to Struensee’s administration. His knowledge of Russian affairs was unrivalled—a great advantage at this juncture—and Gunning, the English envoy, who had a high opinion of the new foreign minister’s abilities, seems to have thought that he would not only restore friendly relations with Russia, but would aid him in bringing about an alliance between England and Denmark. “I think him well qualified for the post he is in,” he wrote, “and the only one here capable of retrieving the affairs of this unhappy country.”[150] Osten, who had to take office on Struensee’s terms, was really desirous of establishing good relations with Russia, and one of his first acts was to write a statesmanlike despatch to St. Petersburg, “with such representations as he hoped would dispel the Empress’s scruples regarding the late transactions of this court, would explain all suspicious appearances, and satisfy her Imperial Majesty”.[151]

Though Osten’s despatch was treated with more respect by the court of St. Petersburg than the King of Denmark’s [so-called] letter, the Empress refused to be mollified. Her pride had been wounded by the flouting of her representative at Copenhagen, but as her interference in the internal affairs of the Danish court had been quite unwarranted, she could not well ascribe her resentment to the fact that it was no longer permitted. She therefore seized upon Osten’s appointment as an excuse for maintaining her irreconcilable attitude, and declared that if the conduct of foreign affairs continued in the hands of that “vile and odious person,” she would break the treaty of 1768, and end all negotiations with Denmark. Osten did not heed the Empress’s abuse; he knew from experience that her outbursts of passion did not last long, and believed that in time she would take a more reasonable view. But Rantzau and Gahler urged Struensee to anticipate Russia by a declaration of war, and Struensee was half-persuaded, for he knew that at the moment Russia was unprepared. Osten used all his eloquence to convince Struensee of the folly of such a proceeding, which would give offence to England as well, and probably bring the King of Prussia into the quarrel. In this he was ably supported by Falckenskjold, who had great knowledge of Russian affairs, but for a time it seemed that Osten would not succeed. As Gunning wrote: “The hopes I for some time entertained of M^r Osten gaining a proper ascendency over the Favourite are not greatly raised by the manner in which I see the former is obliged to act. It seems to manifest M^r Struensee’s aim, whom every circumstance deigns to favour, to grasp the whole power of the administration into his own hands, and as his experience in business is of a very short date, so long as Count Osten’s knowledge and abilities shall be found necessary for his information and assistance, so long this gentleman may have some appearance of power.”[152]

In the end Osten and Falckenskjold won, and Rantzau and Gahler were defeated. But matters remained in an impasse: on the one hand, the Empress Catherine refused to receive any communications through Osten; on the other, the King of Denmark refused to remove him, as that would be to submit to an arbitrary interference on the part of Russia in the internal affairs of Denmark. It was at last resolved that Falckenskjold, who was persona grata at the Russian court, should be sent to St. Petersburg to patch up the quarrel. Falckenskjold’s mission was not very successful, for the Empress declared she would only carry out the treaty of 1768, the territorial exchange, if Bernstorff were recalled to the Danish foreign office, and Osten and Rantzau were dismissed from the Government. An open breach however with Russia was for the moment avoided. Falckenskjold returned to Copenhagen, and when he told Struensee that the Empress insisted on the dismissal of the two ministers, Struensee, on Osten’s advice, said, and did, nothing. The Empress, on learning that her demands had not been complied with, tried the effect of threats, and alarming rumours reached Copenhagen that she had determined to bombard the city, and for this purpose was equipping six ships of the line and four frigates, which would immediately set sail from Kronstadt. In this crisis Struensee came out well. He knew that, though Russia might have the ships, she could not at the time furnish a sufficient number of sailors to equip a fleet. He therefore betrayed no panic and uttered no threats, but without ado fitted out three ships of the line and two frigates, and gave orders to build several others as a counter-demonstration. The ships were manned with great rapidity, and Copenhagen was soon defended from every point. Catherine, seeing that her threats were of no avail, forebore from provoking Denmark to the point of open hostilities. Her hands were at that moment full of more important matters, and so she declared “if the present rascally advisers of the King of Denmark had rope enough they would hang themselves”. In the end her foresight was justified, but at the time the victory was with Struensee. By his firmness he freed Denmark from the intolerable interference of foreign ministers, which had been going on for the last twenty years, and the fact stands to the credit of his administration.