You see I am not afraid of your guessing who I am, and I assure you, that if you act in the way I expect from your birth, you will find me to be your faithful and devoted servant. _July 8, 1771._ It had always been hitherto assumed as an historical fact that the Copenhagen Palace Revolution was concocted only a few days before the catastrophe of January 17, 1771, by the Queen Juliana Maria; but it is sufficiently evident, from the above anonymous letter, that six months previously a plot existed among men of position, to overthrow Struensee at any cost, and they seem even to have uttered the blood sentence, which condemned their victim to death and ruin. The threatening letter does not appear to have produced the intended effect on Brandt; but he became very serious, concealed the contents of the letter even from Struensee, and carefully kept it in his pocket-book. As he gradually became more and more melancholy, he lost the king's favour to the same extent. With what boldness the conspirators dared to act, even at this period, is evidenced by the numerous threatening and abusive documents which were sent to the cabinet minister's house, placarded on the walls of the palace and the theatre, and even thrown into the Hirschholm garden. As a specimen of the tone and contents of them, we may here reproduce a placard, supposed to have been composed by Brandt's father-in-law, Conferenz-rath Lüxdorph, which was found one morning posted up in the principal street of the capital.[3] The literal translation is to the following effect:-- "As the traitor Struensee continues to ill-treat the beloved king, to mock his faithful subjects, and to daily seize, with force and injustice, more and more of the royal authority which the subjects have entrusted to the king, the before-mentioned Struensee and his adherents are hereby declared free as birds (outlawed), and the man who puffs out this treacherous soul, shall receive as reward 5,000 dollars, his name be kept secret, and in any case a royal pardon be granted him." The dissatisfaction of the people of Copenhagen, which was partially justified, being fanned in this way, began, ere long, to display itself actively. The bomb-ketches intended to be sent against Algiers were not yet finished, and the sailors brought from Norway to man them roamed about the capital in idleness; moreover, the government neglected to pay them. The political creed of the Norwegians at that time was composed of two dogmas:--first, that the king is never unjust; secondly, that the king must be blindly obeyed, provided that the order emanate from him. The corollary was, that acts of injustice were committed by the king's subordinates, and that by application to their master redress was certain.[4]