Christian VII., who had fretted under the yoke of the Council of State, especially when he first came to the throne (when the ministers who composed it strove by every means to prevent him from governing and to keep the power in their own hands), was quite ready to carry out the daring policy of its abolition, though that policy was dictated to him by Struensee. The King did not see that he was exchanging the tyranny of King Log for that of King Stork. He always wearied of those who dictated to him, whether ministers or favourites. He had wearied of Moltke, he wearied of Bernstorff, and in the same way he wearied of Sperling and Holck; and the time was coming when he would weary most of all of Struensee and Brandt. But at present he was indifferent to everything; he had long since ceased to take the initiative, and only asked to be relieved of the burden of state. Sunk into premature dotage--a listless gazer at the drama of life--so long as he was left in peace to enjoy the few things he still cared about, he recked nothing of his government, his kingdom, or the world. By the abolition of the council he had become in theory the most absolute autocrat in Europe. He had only to speak the word, or sign a paper, for the word and the writing to immediately become law; but in fact he was an imbecile, who let his whole power and authority drift into the hands of another--nominally, into those of the Queen, in reality of Struensee, who greedily snatched at every atom of power. In his muddled brain Christian VII. still clung to the belief that he was rendering himself equal to his great exemplar, Frederick the Great. The King of Prussia had found a way of diminishing the power of his ministers by becoming his own minister, and by signing the decree abolishing his Council of State Christian VII. imagined that he was acting on a similar plan. But, needless to say, there was no resemblance between the two monarchs; Frederick the Great did everything himself, but the Danish King did nothing, and the stereotyped answer he made to everyone at this time was: "Apply to Struensee". Struensee had become a sort of Grand Vizier.