shall be found necessary for his information and assistance, so long this gentleman may have some appearance of power."[152] [152] Gunning's despatch, February 12, 1771. 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. CHAPTER XVII. THE REFORMER. 1770-1771.