On September 13, 1770, the king wrote an autograph letter to Bernstorff, in which he thanked him for past faithful services, but at the same time intimated that, in consequence of intended changes in the system of government, he no longer required his advice, and therefore dismissed him with a pension of 6,000 dollars. Bernstorff was seated at his writing-table when this letter was handed to him. He read the contents in silence, and then rose with a look of pain. To Councillor of Legation Sturtz, who was present, the count said calmly, "I am dismissed from office," and added, with his eyes raised to heaven, "Almighty, bless this country and its king!" On October 3 he quitted the capital, accompanied by Klopstock, who was residing with him. Bernstorff thought that the most suitable place to which he could retire was his estate of Borstel, in Holstein, which had come to him through his wife, and where he allowed his mother-in-law, Frau von Buchwold, to reside. He had always been received there with open arms, whenever he had found time to escape from business; and such had been the case in this very year. As the château was large, and could contain several families, he sent an upholsterer to get two rooms ready for him. Frau von Buchwold turned out the upholsterer, and refused to receive her son-in-law, who, through his facile generosity, had given up his own house to her. The disgraced minister spent the winter in Hamburg, and the following summer at his château of Wotersen, in Lauenburg.[128] Bernstorff's fate aroused general sympathy. It is true that he had fostered the extravagance of the court, favoured foreigners, and repeatedly allowed the state to be swindled by projectors. Nor could he be acquitted of a certain vanity; but still he was a man of noble character, and honestly desired the welfare of the state. He had sacrificed a large portion of his fortune in the service of his adopted country, and the prospect of a permanent peace with Russia was his work. The incorporation of the ducal estates of Plön, when this line died out, with the royal portion of Holstein, was owing to his exertions; he had materially raised the prestige of the kingdom at foreign courts, by carrying through the profitable free trade, and creating a maritime trade in the Mediterranean and the Levant. He was a true father to the poor, and hence we can understand that the whole nation regretted his fall, and that general respect accompanied him on his departure.