poor queen protested my innocence ; she uttered a
thousand imprecations against Katt for having asserted
such an untruth, and ordered madame de Kamken to
u 2
186 MEMOIRS OF THE
ask me how the matter stood. I was in a cruel em-
barrassment. It should be recollected, that I had not
dared to show to the queen the only letter which Katt
had given me, because it contained invectives against
Mrs Ramen. I thought it was now all over with me,
when I saw myself on the point of having the queen
also for mine enemy. Considering, however, that
nearly twelve months had elapsed since, I determined
to outface the matter. I therefore replied to madame
de Kamken, " that the queen had probably forgotten,
that I had shown her that letter, which contained
nothing mysterious ; that the manner in which Katt
had given it me was tantamount to a justification,
since he had delivered it to me publicly ; that I had
indeed committed the letter to the flames, but that
I had so distinct a recollection of it, that if the king
commanded, T could transcribe it word for word." My
answer was immediately conveyed to the king, who
retired a moment after to confer again with those who
were still assembled in his room.
The queen then came to me. Madame de Sonsfeld
seconded me so well, that we persuaded her that she
had been informed of the statement I had sent to the
king. She transmitted me his orders under a flood
of tears, strongly recommending an absolute silence
concerning the writing-desk, and a resolute persever-
ance in denying the fact. We afterwards took an
affectionate leave of each other ; she held me a long
while encircled in her arms. I begged her to be calm ;
assuring her that I was perfectly resigned to the will
of God and the king; and that the greatest misfortune
I dreaded was to be removed to a distance from her
majesty. Tt required some violence to tear her from
my arms. I was carried to my room in a sedan chair
through a crowd of people, who had assembled in the
palace-yard.
As the apartments of the queen were on the ground-
floor and the windows had been left open, the popu-
lace were spectators of the scene, and could distinctly
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 187
hear and see every particular. As things of this kind
are generally magnified, it was reported that I was
dead, as well as my brother; which caused much
anxiety all over the town.
As soon as I had gained my room, the sentries at
all the avenues were doubled, and the officer on duty
went his round seven or eight times a-day. Madame
de Sonsfeld and Mrs Mermann were the two faithful
companions of my misfortune. I passed a wretched
night ; the most dreadful thoughts rushed upon my
imagination. My own fate did not create a moment's
uneasiness ; my mind from infancy had been habitu-
ated to vexations and troubles, and I looked forward
to death as the boundary of my sorrows. But the fate
of so many individuals dear to me gave me so much
concern, that I suffered a thousand deaths for one,
when I adverted to their respective situations. The
next day I was unable to stir out of bed ; I could not
support myself on my legs, and was tortured with a
most violent head-ache, in consequence of the blows
I had received.
Mrs Ramen, with a sad and affected countenance,
came to bring me word from the queen, that 1 was to
be examined on that day by the same personages who
the day before had examined Katt. She exhorted me
to be very careful of what I said, and particularly to
remember the promise I had given her. This injunc-
tion was calculated to effect my ruin, since it gave Mrs
Ramen to understand that I was acquainted with cir-
cumstances of importance to the queen. But I
quickly replied : " Give my dutiful respects to her
majesty, and tell her, that it is the most acceptable
intelligence I could have heard ; that I shall answer
\vith sincerity to whatever I may be asked ; and that
I shah 1 so firmly establish my innocence, that no blame
will attach to me." " The queen is however under
great apprehensions concerning your examination,
madam ; her majesty is afraid your fortitude will
forsake you." " We need no fortitude, when
.,
188 MEMOIRS OF THE
we have nothing to reproach ourselves with."
" The king has dreadful deeds in contemplation,"
continued she ; " he is determined, madam, to send
you to a convent called the Holy Sepulchre ; where
you are to he treated as a state-criminal, separated
from your governess and domestics, and under a dis-
cipline so severe, that I heartily pity you." " The
king," I replied, " is my father and my sovereign ; he
may dispose of me as he pleases ; my confidence is in
the Almighty, who will not forsake me." " You
affect so much fortitude," rejoined she, <e merely be-
cause you fancy these to be idle menaces. But I have
seen the sentence of your banishment with my own
eyes, signed with the king's sign-manual ; and, to con-
vince you of the truth of what I assert, poor madame
de Bulow has just been expelled from court; she and
all her relations are banished to Lithuania ; lieutenant
Span has been broken and sent to Spandau ; a mis-
tress of the prince-royal has been publicly whipped
and exiled ; Duhan, the tutor of your brother, is ba-
nished to Memel; Jacques, the librarian of the
prince, has experienced the same fate, and madame
de Sonsfeld would be dealt with worse than any of
these, had she not been on bad terms with the queen
last summer."
It ought to be observed, that the queen had been
vexed at madame de Sonsfeld, merely because she
maintained that it was wrong to attempt the dismis-
sion of Grumkow before I was married; that my
marriage ought to have been realized first, and that
the minister might have been removed afterwards.
I know not how I could endure the impertinent
discourse of Mrs Ramen. However, my countenance
saved me, and made the old wretch believe, that
either I was innocent, or that I should not be intimi-
dated. At length she freed me from her odious pre-
sence. When she was gone, I tore off the mask of
dissimulation : my heart sickened at the misfortunes
of so many excellent individuals. I buried my anguish
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 189
in the bosom of madame de Sonsfeld. Our separation,
with which I had been threatened, drove me to
despair. I know not how I have been able to survive
so much misery. The day was passed in grief and
tears. I expected those who were to interrogate me ;
the smallest noise heightened my alarms. My expec-
tation was vain ; no one came.
On the next day, the officious Mrs Ramen repeated
her visit. She again exhorted me to fortitude by
order of the queen ; and told me, that my examina-
tion had not taken place the day before, because the
king had thought proper to send for the prince royal
to confront him with Katt and me ; that the prince
would be brought to town in the dusk of the evening,
to prevent any tumult; and that, on the following
day, I was to be prepared to answer the accusations
that would be preferred against me. I was not in the
least disconcerted. " Give my dutiful respects to the
queen," I answered, " and tell her, that if I am
examined, I shah 1 not disguise anything of what I
know ; that I beseech her majesty to be quiet, since
I am perfectly guiltless."
My answers, in the mean time, distressed the
queen ; she imagined that fear and sorrow had dis-
ordered my brain, and that I should, at the very first
interrogation, disclose the secrets of which I was the
depositary. To ascertain the matter, she in the after-
noon dispatched to me her faithful valet Bock. I was
charmed to see that domestic. I complained bitterly
to him of the behaviour of the queen, who wantonly
exposed me to the greatest misfortunes by the mes-
sages she sent me by Mrs Ramen. I told him to
assure the queen of my discretion, and to beg her
majesty not to send to me so frequently, lest it might
create suspicions ; and particularly not to entrust any
one with any communication but himself, who alone
was acquainted with the adventure of the writing-
desk, concerning which I could not enter upon an
explanation with Mrs Ramen. I was obliged to have
190 MEMOIRS OF THE
recourse to this subterfuge, that I might not offend
the queen, who would have been highly incensed
against me, if she had perceived that I distrusted her
favourite.
I passed the whole day at the window, in the hope
of seeing my brother pass by. The mere idea of
beholding this beloved brother, made me wish to
have an interview with him. However I was disap-
pointed.
The king altered his mind, and sent him on the
5th of September to Custrin, a fortress on the Warthe
in the new mark of Brandenburgh.
The prince royal had first been taken to Mitten-
walde, a town in the neighbourhood of Berlin, where
Grumkow, Derschow, Milius, and Gerber, examined
him for the first time. My brother was very much
frightened at Gerber. Having seen him alight from
his carriage wrapped up in a red cloak, he thought
he was the executioner who was sent to put him to
the rack. He was sitting on a trunk for want of a
chair, and had been obliged to sleep all along on the
floor. He went through his examination with great
firmness : his answers corresponded with those of
Katt. The contents of his writing-desk were pro-
duced to him, and he was asked whether the letters
and articles it contained before were all in it yet ?
My brother had the presence of mind to say that he
missed none of the letters, but that he saw several
trinkets which he did not know.
This answer opened Grumkow's eyes, and led him
to suspect the trick which we had practised ; but there
was no remedy. He rightly judged that neither
menaces nor severities would make us confess the
contents of the letters. He pressed my brother on
several points, but obtained only haughty and harsh
answers : which so exhausted his patience, that he
threatened the prince with the rack. My brother
has since owned to me, that his blood was chilled at
the declaration. But he dissembled his fright and
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 191
replied, " that an executioner like Grumkow could
alone find pleasure in speaking of his trade ; that he
did not fear his threats, having confessed everything ;
which he was however sorry to have done, because
it did not behove him, the prince, to condescend to
give any answer to a scoundrel like Grumkow."
Having been removed next day to Custrin, the
prince was deprived of his domestics and his effects ;
nothing was left him but what he had on his body.
A bible and a few religious books were all he was
suffered to read, and his daily allowance was fixed at
four groschen, or sixpence sterling. The chamber in
which he was confined received its light through a small
grated window : he remained air the evening in the
dark, and had no candle-light allowed but during his
supper, which was brought to him at seven o'clock.
What a horrible situation for a young prince, the idol
and only hope of his country ! He was again examined
a few days after. It ought to be remarked that, on
those examinations he was always called colonel
Frederic, and I simply Lady Wilhelmina. Grumkow
was too shrewd not to discern that the imaginary
crime of the prince was, after all, the mere frolic of a
young man, which, on considering the circumstances
in which my brother had been placed, could scarcely
be condemned ; he therefore persuaded the king to
give the business another turn, and to treat the prince
as a deserter, according to martial law.
My brother was so exasperated at the indignity
with which he was treated, that the commissaries
could get nothing from him but insults and invec-
tives. Enraged at their disappointment, they turned
their fury upon Katt, whom they wished to put to
the rack. Field-marshal Wartensleben, his grand-
father, who was intimate with Sekendorff, prevented
it by his repeated intreaties to that minister.
My lot, in the mean time, continued unchanged.
Every evening I used to take an affectionate leave of
madame de Sonsfeld and Mrs Mermann, uncertain
192 MEMOIRS OF THE
whether I should see them again the next day. I
secretly sent my jewels and everything valuable to
the queen ; and having thus taken every precaution,
I awaited my fate with fortitude.
At length the king left us. The queen came to see
me the very same evening : our interview was ex-
tremely affecting. She said, she thought me safe
against being examined or sent to a nunnery, the king
not having mentioned anything about it latterly.
She also informed me, that Keith owed his safety to
the prince of Anhalt, who had sent him word of my
brother's arrest through his page. Prince Anhalt
had changed entirely for the better since his quarrel
with Grumkow ; he was no longer concerned in any
intrigue, and endeavoured to oblige every one. I had
had the good fortune to reconcile him with the queen
and the prince royal, to whom he was cordially de-
voted. As the king could not wreak his vengeance
' upon Keith, he had him hanged in effigy, and ap-
pointed his brother a sergeant in a marching regiment,
to punish him for having brought horses to the prince
royal. The queen also acquainted me with a very
interesting circumstance, as will be seen by the sequel.
This was the marriage of my fourth sister with the
hereditary prince of Bareith, which the king had
announced the day before. " Heaven be thanked ;"
added the queen, " I have nothing more to apprehend
for you on that score : it is a good match for Sophia ;
but it did not suit you." Shortly after, she told me
with an air of satisfaction that this prince of Bareith
had died at Paris of a fever. " I am sorry for it,"
said I; "it is indeed a pity: every one spoke un-
commonly well of him, and my sister would have
been happy with him." " I am rather glad of his
death," replied the queen ; "I was always afraid
there might be some underhand dealing; it is one
uneasiness less." The intelligence however was false;
he had been very ill ; but he recovered from his
fever.
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 193
On the 13th of September, the queen set out for
Wusterhausen. At parting, we both shed abundance
of tears. We agreed to let our letters pass through
the hands of Bock, the valet, to whose wife they
were to be delivered at Berlin.
I began to be tolerably well reconciled to my con-
finement. The life which I had hitherto led was not
unpleasant. Now and then I had the visit of my
sisters and of the ladies of the queen's household :
my time was so well regulated, that it never hung
heavily upon me. I read ; I wrote ; I composed some
music, and undertook some trifles in needlework to
amuse myself : but all this served to divert me only
for some moments ; my brother's situation, which
was continually present to my mind, plunged me into
a deep melancholy. My health also was very in-
different ; I had retained such a weakness in my
nerves, that I could scarcely walk, and I trembled so
that I could not lift up my arms.
One afternoon I was sitting in a pensive mood,
when my good Mrs Mermann broke in upon me un-
expectedly. She was pale as death, and I perceived
in her countenance all the symptoms of terror:
" Heaven! " said I ; " what ails you ? Is my sen-
tence pronounced ? " " No, madam ; but my doom
perhaps will soon be signed. I am in a dreadful
embarrassment. A sergeant of the horse guards
came this morning early to my husband to give him,
by M. de Katt's command, a parcel of great conse-
quence, he said, for your royal highness. My husband,
who is already suspected as having been acquainted
with Katt, would not accept of it, and requested the
sergeant to come again to-night. Your royal high-
ness is to determine what my husband is to do. You
know my attachment for you : I am resolved to run
any risks to convince you of it." I was very fond of
my nurse, who was most certainly an excellent woman ;
the risk which she was incurring kept me for some
time in suspense. Madame de Sonsfeld, who was
194 MEMOIRS OF THE
present, asked whether she knew what the parcel
contained. " The sergeant," answered Mrs Mer-
mann, " told my husband that it was a portrait."
" Oh ! Heavens ! " exclaimed my governess, " it
is the portrait of your royal highness, which I gave
to the prince royal, and which he left with Katt, as
he told me. You are undone, madam, if it fall into
the hands of the king : he already accuses Katt of
having been your lover ; should he find this portrait,
he will punish you without any farther examination,
and treat you cruelly. We must absolutely get it
back," continued she, addressing Mrs Mermann ;
" you hazard no more by accepting than by refusing
it : the former is therefore the most eligible, since,
by doing so, you have nothing to apprehend but the
indiscretion of the sergeant ; whilst, in the second
case, your misfortune is certain : for if the princess
be ruined, we shall be ruined with her ; and her
innocence and ours will be of no avail." Mrs Mer-
mann hesitated no longer, and returned me my
portrait in the evening. The matter remained secret,
the sergeant luckily proving an honest man.
A few days after, my poor nurse had a fresh un-
easiness as great as this. An unknown person had
given her a letter. But what were her alarms, when,
on tearing the cover, she found it contained another
letter from my brother to me ! She immediately
brought it to me ;. it was written with a black-lead
pencil. I have carefully preserved it till this moment;
it runs thus :
" MY DEAR SISTER,
" I am going to be declared a heretic, by the court-
martial which is assembling ; for not to conform in
every respect to the sentiments of the master is
enough to incur the guilt of heresy. You therefore
may easily judge how prettily I shall be dealt with.
I little care for the excommunication which will be
thundered at me, provided I know that my amiable
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 195
sister protests against it as unmerited. How sweet
it is, that neither bars nor bolts can prevent my as-
suring you of my undiminished friendship ! Yes,
my dear sister, in this almost entirely perverted age,
there are still some honest people who procure me
the means of expressing my affection for you. Yes,
my dear sister, provided I know you are happy, my
prison will be to me the abode of felicity and pleasure.
Chi ha tempo ha vita ! Let that comfort us. I heartily
wish I may no longer need any interpreter to con-
verse with you, and that we may see those happy days
when your prlncipe and my pr'mcipessa * will sweetly
harmonize ; or, to speak more plainly, when I shall
have the pleasure to address you in person, and to
assure you that nothing in the world can diminish
my friendship for you. Adieu !
" THE PRISONER."
This letter pierced me to the heart : my tears bereft
me for awhile of the power of speech. I could not
account for the sportive turn of my brother's epistle.
If its style dispelled my gloom for a few moments, it
was merely to plunge me again into still greater
anxieties. The court-martial to which he alluded,
and of which I had heard nothing, threw me into a
terrible agitation. In vain I intreated madame de
Sonsfeld to allow me to answer the letter : she re-
mained inflexible, and it was with great difficulty that
she made me sensible of the justice of her denial.
My situation changed a few days after.
On Sunday the 5th of November 1730, I was
quietly in my bed, when I was informed that Evers-
mann had a message for me from the king. I ordered
him to be introduced, and concealed my confusion as
* My brother had given this name to his flute : observing
that he uever should be truly in love with any princess but
this. He frequently indulged in pretty witticisms about it,
which used to make us laugh ; and it was by way of reply
that I called my lute my prince, saying that it was his rival.
196 MEMOIRS OF THE
well as I could. " I come from Wusterhausen," said
Eversmarm ; " I am commanded by his majesty to
tell you, that hitherto he has treated you with lenity
and indulgence. He would not have you examined,
lest you might be found guilty ; particularly since
the prince royal and Katt have confessed that you
were their accomplice j " (this was absolutely false :)
" but he requires of you, in return, that you shall
decide which of the two princes, he has so often pro-
posed to you, you will chuse. Beware, madam, of
the answer you give me ; the life of the prince royal,
and perhaps your own, are depending upon it. The
king is terribly exasperated against the prince, and
talks of having him beheaded. I dare not tell you
the fatal projects he harbours in his mind against you
both. I shudder when I think of them ; and you
alone can avert them. Consider well. This message
is only a preamble. The king will send you other
persons, who will bring you to your senses, if you do
not give me a favourable reply."
I sat upon thorns during the whole of this dis-
course, and I should have been uncertain what answer
to return, had not the end of his address suggested a
proper one. " The king," I replied, " is master ;
he may dispose of my life, but he cannot render me
guilty when I am innocent. I ardently wish to be
examined : my innocence would then shine in ah 1 its
splendour. With regard to the two proposed princes,
they are both so hateful to me that it would be diffi-
cult to chuse betwixt them : however, I shall sub-
mit to his majesty's commands whenever he agrees
with the queen." He set up a very insolent laugh.
" The queen !" exclaimed he " The king has per-
emptorily declared that he will not suffer her to in-
terfere in anything." " Yet he cannot prevent her
continuing my mother, nor deprive her of the autho-
rity which that character gives her over me. How
wretched is my fate ! What occasion is there to marry
me ; and why do my parents not agree concerning
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 197
the person whom I am to marry ? My lot is most
miserable : alternately threatened with the curses of
my father and mother, I do not know what to re-
solve, as I cannot obey one without disobeying the
other." " Well, then ! " continued Eversmann,
" prepare for death ; I must no longer conceal any
thing from you. There is to be a second trial of the
prince royal and Katt, in which you will be still more
implicated ; the king's wrath demands a victim ;
Katt alone will not suffice to extinguish his rage, and
he will be glad to save your brother at your ex-
pense." " You delight me ! " I exclaimed; " I am
weaned from the world ; the adversities which I have
experienced have taught me the vanity of all terres-
trial things : I shall receive death with joy, and
without fear, since it will conduct me to a happy
tranquillity of which I cannot be deprived." " But
what would then become of the prince royal?"
replied Eversmann. " If I can save his life, my felicity
will be complete ; and if he die, I shall not feel the
misery of surviving him." " You are inflexible,
madam ; but those whom the king will send to you
after me, will teach you submission. I am moreover
expressly commanded by the king to forbid your
communicating any part of what I have told you to
the queen." Thus ended this distressing conversa-
tion.
I remained a prey to the most piercing anguish,
being impressed with the idea that I might injure
my brother's cause by my obstinacy. I had been
induced to believe that the court-martial had con-
demned him to one year's imprisonment, and that
Katt had been confined in a fortress for the remainder
of his life. However, I grew somewhat more easy
when I considered that I was still mistress of his fate,
and at liberty to return what answer I thought
proper to those who were sent to me by the king ;
though I did not wish to reply anything positive to a
wretch like Eversmann.
s 2
198 MEMOIRS OF THE
I immediately related all these circumstances to
madame de Sonsfeld. We both agreed that it was
proper to acquaint the queen with them. Convinced
that I should be watched, I did not dare to risk
giving my letter to Mrs Bock, lest it might be inter-
cepted ; I therefore had recourse to madame de Kam-
ken's daughter, whom the queen had taken again,
instead of madame de Bulow. This young lady pos-
sessed uncommon merit and solidity, united to an
excellent understanding.
Owing to some neglect, no sentry had been placed
in a small passage which formed the communication
between my sisters' apartment and mine; this had
procured me the pleasure of seeing them. Madame
de Kamken came secretly to me by that passage.
The difficulties which she started did not deter me.
I bethought myself of cramming my letter into a