In the Crown Prince's hours of recreation he was neglected, and allowed to keep bad company. His chief companions were two youths employed about the court; one was Sperling, a page of the chamber and a nephew of Reventlow; the other was Kirschoff, a servant of the chamber, and a friend of Sperling. Both these youths were vicious and corrupt. They were older than the Crown Prince and acquired great influence over him. They set him a bad example by their evil habits, they poisoned his mind by retailing all the scandals of the court, and they corrupted his heart by mocking at everything good and noble. It has been well said that they occupy the same place in the history of Denmark as Louis XV.'s infamous servants Bachelier and Le Bel do in the history of France. It stands to Juliana Maria's credit that she objected to these youths as playmates of the Prince and to Reventlow's system of education, and remonstrated with the King, but Frederick V. would not listen to her. Later Bernstorff made similar representations and with more success, for when Christian was eleven years of age a change took place for the better. A Swiss named Reverdil[27] was appointed to instruct the Crown Prince in mathematics and French, and he gradually extended his teaching to other branches of learning. Reverdil was an upright man, and did his duty according to his lights. He saw clearly that the boy's physical and mental health was being ruined by Reventlow's barbarous methods, and did what he could to improve things. But well meaning though he was he made his pupil's life unhappier by introducing a new torture in the form of public examinations. The Crown Prince was examined twice yearly in the knight's hall of the Christiansborg Palace[28] in the presence of the King, the Ministers, and the _corps diplomatique_, and if we may judge from the courtly reports of the foreign envoys he acquitted himself well. Yet, this testimony notwithstanding, it is certain that he was not well educated, for he was ignorant of solid acquirements. But he could dance a minuet with much grace and could play the flute, sing, ride and fence well. He was a fair linguist and spoke German and French. More important still he was taught the Danish language, which had been neglected at the Danish court, and the household of the Prince, except his French and German tutors, were forbidden to speak to him in other language but Danish. [27] Reverdil was born in 1732 in the Canton of Vaud, and educated at the University of Geneva. He became professor of mathematics at the University of Copenhagen in 1758, and two years later was appointed assistant tutor to the Crown Prince Christian. He has left a record of his experiences at the Danish court in a book entitled _Struensee et la cour de Copenhague 1760-1772, Mémoires de Reverdil_. To this work I am indebted for much valuable information.