Life and Times of Her Majesty Caroline Matilda, Vol. 3 (of 3): Queen of Denmark and Norway, and Sister of H. M. George III. of EnglandWraxall, Lascelles, Sir
History
Life and Times of Her Majesty Caroline Matilda, Vol. 3 (of 3): Queen of Denmark and Norway, and Sister of H. M. George III. of England
Wraxall, Lascelles, Sir
Caroline Mathilde, Queen, consort of Christian VII, King of Denmark, 1751-1775; Denmark -- History -- Christian VII, 1766-1808
At home, Caroline Matilda appeared to have dropped out of memory with
her landing at Stade. Her name is never found in the journals of the
time. Grub-street alone took possession of her memory. In those days
many literary scoundrels earned a precarious livelihood by deliberately
forging pamphlets on topics of interest at the moment, and thought
nothing of trying to enhance their veracity by assuming names and titles
to which they had not the slightest claim. One of these hungry gentry
received a severe discomfiture, and must have felt ashamed, if he could
feel shame, from honest Reverdil, in the July number of the _Monthly
Review_. Reverdil's letter, written in English, is tremendously to the
point. The lie, with a circumstance, bore the title of--"The real Views
and Political System of the late Revolution of Copenhagen. By Christian
Adolphus Rothes, formerly Councillor of Conference, Secretary of the
Cabinet to his Majesty Christiern (_sic_) VII., and Great Assessor of the
Supreme Council at Altona."
To which Reverdil quietly makes answer:--
1. As I am pretty well acquainted with the Danish service, I can assure
you that there is not in Denmark, Norway, or any of the Danish dominions,
such a man as Mr. Christian Adolphus Rothes, in any employment whatever.
2. The dignity of Councillor of Conference being merely titular, there is
no _formerly_ Councillor.
3. The present king, Christian VII., has had three secretaries of the
cabinet: the first is now in London (himself); the second, who followed
his master on his voyage, is in the Court of Chancery at Copenhagen; the
third was beheaded on April 28.
4. There is no supreme council at Altona; that town, being no capital,
hath but a corporation, and no other council. In that corporation there
is no assessor, great or little.
To this crushing reply Reverdil adds that every circumstance in the book
is absolutely false, and grounded on facts and a state of things that
never existed. For instance, the conduct of the queen dowager in the
king's council is very circumstantially described; but she never sat in
the king's council.[46]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 34: De Flaux: "Du Danemarc."]
[Footnote 35: "Memoirs of an Unfortunate Queen," p. 94.]
[Footnote 36: _General Evening Post_, May 14.]
[Footnote 37: "Walpole's Journal of the Reign of George III.," vol. i.
pp. 89-91.]
[Footnote 38: Sir R. M. Keith's "Memoirs," vol. i. p. 287.]
[Footnote 39: Coxe's "Travels," vol. v. p. 113.]
[Footnote 40: "Memoirs of an Unfortunate Queen," p. 98.]
[Footnote 41: "Authentische Aufklärungen," p. 252.]
[Footnote 42: The following interesting account, which I have found
in a pamphlet published under the title of "Sittliche Frage," was not
sufficiently authenticated to be embodied in my text. Still I do not
think it should be passed over, as it affords an idea of the sentiments
of the queen's party.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account