[Illustration: MINNA ENCKEN, _Countess of Lichtenau_.] THE CONFESSIONS OF THE CELEBRATED _COUNTESS OF LICHTENAU_, LATE MRS. RIETZ, NOW CONFINED IN THE FORTRESS OF GLOGAU AS A STATE-PRISONER. _DRAWN FROM ORIGINAL PAPERS_, TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN. WITH AN _Engraved Portrait of the Countess_, AFTER AN ORIGINAL PAINTING in the Possession of the COUNTESS MATUSKA. London: PRINTED BY J. W. MYERS, FOR W. WEST, NO. 27, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1799. TO MR. L----S H----Y, at BATH. DEAR SIR, I avail myself of the departure of an English gentleman, who intends to set out for your city in a few days, to transmit you the translation of a pamphlet which has lately appeared in German, and which is read with great avidity. If the perusal of it should afford you any amusement, it will amply repay the few moments that I devoted to friendship. It consists chiefly of the confessions of a woman, whose beauty first ushered her into notice, and whose intrigues enabled her to maintain the conquests which her personal charms had made, even when visibly on the decline. Had she confined herself to the private circles of her amours, we might have heard little more of her than other modern _Thaises_, but her ambition extended to politics, and the fatal effect of her influence in that line has been felt, I am afraid, by more nations than one in the present unhappy contest with the demagogues of France. The original papers which were found in the possession of the Countess when she was arrested, and from which these confessions have been drawn, were communicated to the Author of this pamphlet by a Member of the Committee appointed to enquire into the transactions of this intriguing woman. The language, however, was so gross and indelicate, that, out of respect to religion and morality, it was necessary to omit them. It was also thought proper to omit many political passages, and wait till a proper opportunity presented itself to bring them to light. Then you will be surprised to find the part this infamous woman and her creatures acted in many of the scenes which have lately been exhibited in Europe. There never was a person, perhaps, whose fall has been less lamented by all parties. She was, as she states herself in her confessions, the daughter of a trumpeter; she lived, for some time, as a maid servant with her eldest sister, who was early initiated into all the mysteries of Venus; but the sister treated her so ill, that she was obliged to return to her mother’s, where she was first noticed by a young man of the _highest_ rank. At this period she was about fifteen years of age. Her protector ordered lodgings to be provided for her, and proper masters to instruct her in reading and writing; and, as she was of a very apt disposition, he taught her French himself, and was highly gratified with the progress of his pupil in other polite accomplishments, such as dancing, drawing, etc. Such was her ascendancy