and in her's ? I hesitated, not knowing what answer
to return ; but she interrogated me in so many diffe-
rent ways, that I confessed it at last. The difficulty
with which she had extorted this confession, gave her
a good opinion of my discretion. She first made me
some false confidences, to try whether I should divulge
them ; and perceiving that I had kept her secret, she
felt no longer any hesitation in opening herself to me.
Taking me one day aside, she said, "I am satisfied
with you; and as you seem now to be capable of
judging for yourself, I wish to treat you as a grown-
up person, and to have you always about me ; but I
insist upon your not making any more reports to
Miss Letti, If she ask you any questions concerning
what has passed, tell her you paid no attention to
it. Do you understand me ? Will you promise to do
so ?" 1 answered in the affirmative. " In that case,"
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 39
said she, " I shall confide in you ; but you must be
discreet, and promise to attach yourself exclusively to
me." This I most solemnly promised.
The queen afterwards related to me all the intrigues
of the prince of Anhalt, the disgrace of madame de
Blaspil, in short, all that I have written on this sub-
ject ; adding, that she ardently wished me to be set-
tled in England, and that I should be very happy if I
married her nephew. When she told me that her
favourite was confined at Spandau, I could not help
shedding tears. I had been very fond of that lady,
and T learned that she was at her country-seat. My
sensibility wrought upon the queen, and she spoke to
me farther concerning Miss Letti, and asked, " Whe-
ther she did not receive daily visits from colonel
Forcade, and a French refugee clergyman, named
Founeret?" I answered, that it was true indeed.
"Do you know her motive?" rejoined the queen;
'* she has been bribed by prince Anhalt, who employs
these two individuals to intrigue with her." I at-
tempted to take her part, but the queen bade me be
silent. Young as I was, I meditated much upon what
I had just learnt. Though I wished to exculpate Miss
Letti, I judged, from many circumstances, that the
queen's information was correct. I passed the even-
ing under much embarrassment ; I dreaded Miss Letti
extremely, for she frequently used to beat me, and
treat me very harshly.
As soon as I reached my room, she inquired, as
usual, for the news of the day. I was sitting with
her in a window upon a platform of two steps. I re-
turned the answer which the queen had dictated to
me. She was not satisfied with it, and asked me so
many questions, that she fairly perplexed me. She
was too clever not to remark that I had been in-
structed, and in order to be certain of it she lavished
upon me every species of endearment. But when she
saw that she obtained nothing by gentle means, she
40 MEMOIRS OF THE
put herself into a horrible passion, gave me many
blows on the arm, and threw me down the steps. My
agility saved me from a broken arm or leg, and I
escaped with a few contusions.
This scene was repeated the next day, but with
much more violence : she threw a candlestick at my
head, which had well nigh killed me ; my face was all
covered with blood. My cries attracted my good
Mermann, who snatched me from the claws of that
fury ; she chid her severely, and threatened to inform
her majesty of what had happened, if she did not as-
sume a different behaviour towards me. Miss Letti
was now, in her turn, somewhat afraid : my face was
all lacerated, and she did not know how to extricate
herself from the dilemma. Throughout the night she
applied a quantity of cephalic water to my poor head,
and the next day I made the queen believe I had met
with a fall.
The whole winter was passed in the same way. I
had no longer a day of rest, and my poor back was a
continual sufferer; but, on the other hand, I insi-
nuated myself so well into the good graces of the
queen, that she withheld none of her secrets from
me. She requested permission of the king to take
me with her wherever she went. His majesty gladly
consented, and ordered likewise that my brother
should follow him everywhere. We went out for the
first time in the month of June, when their majesties
removed to Charlottenburgh, a magnificent summer-
palace near Berlin. Miss Letti was not of the party,
and I was intrusted to madame de Kamken. I have
already observed, that this lady was a person of infi-
nite merit, but though she had constantly lived in the
great world, yet she had not imbibed its manners ;
she might be called an excellent countrywoman,
abounding in good sense, but destitute of wit. She
was very devout, and made me say my prayers for
two or three successive hours, which tired me very
MARGRAVINE OF BA11EITII. 41
much : afterwards I repeated my catechism, and
learned psalms by heart ; but I was so absent, that I
was scolded every day.
The king celebrated the anniversary of my birth ;
he gave me some handsome presents, and there was a
ball in the evening. I was entering my eleventh
year ; my understanding was rather beyond my age,
and I began to indulge in reflections.
From Charlottenburgh we went to Wusterhausen.
On the evening of our arrival there, an express came
from Berlin to inform the queen that my second bro-
ther had a dysentery. This intelligence created much
alarm. The king and queen would have returned to
Berlin, had they not been afraid of the contagion.
The next day, a second express informed their majes-
ties, that my sister Frederica laboured under the same
disease. It raged at Berlin like a plague : most people
died of it on the thirteenth day ; they even barricaded
the houses where the disease was, to prevent it being
communicated. The queen had not yet arrived at
the end of her troubles ; a few days after, the king
likewise fell dangerously ill, being afflicted with the
same cholic which he had some years before at Bran-
denburgh .
I never suffered so much as I did during his malady.
The heat was as great and oppressive as it can possi-
bly be in Italy. The room in which the king was
confined was kept close, and with a blazing fire.
Young as I was, I was forced to stay in it all the day.
My place was near the chimney. T was like a person
in a violent fever, and my blood was in so great an
agitation, that my eyes were almost ready to start
from their sockets. I was so overheated that I could
not sleep. As the noise which I made at night
awakened mad am e de Kamken, she gave me psalms
to learn, to tranquillize me ; and when I attempted to
represent to her that I was not sufficiently calm for
it, she scolded me, and complained to the queen that
I had not the fear of God. Then I had a fresh chid-
E 2
42 MEMOIRS OF THE
ing to encounter. At length I sunk under all these
fatigues and vexations, and had the dysentery in my
turn. My faithful Mermann immediately acquainted
her majesty with the circumstance. The queen would
not credit it ; and though I was already very ill, she
forced me to go out, and would not listen to my
nurse's representations, till I was at the point of
death.
I was removed, dying, to Berlin. Miss Letti came
to receive me at the top of the staircase. " Ah !
my princess (said she), is it you? Do you suffer
much ? Are you very ill ? You must take good care
of yourself; your brother has just breathed his last
this morning, and I think your sister will not get
through the day." This fine speech of hers grieved
me very much ; but I was so low, that I did not feel
it so acutely as I should have done at any other time.
I continued in the utmost danger for a whole week.
Towards the end of the ninth day my disease began to
abate, but I recovered very slowly. The king and my
sister were better before me. The bad treatment of Miss
Letti delayed my convalescence ; she did nothing
but use me ill in the day-time ; and at night she hin-
dered me from sleeping, for she swore like a common
trooper.
In the mean time the queen returned to Berlin, and
though I was still very weak, she ordered me to go
out. Her majesty gave me a very kind reception,
but she scarcely looked upon Miss Letti. The latter,
irritated at seeing herself despised, revenged herself
upon me : blows and kicks were my daily bread.
Language affords no invective that she did not em-
ploy against the queen ; she commonly called the
queen " the great ass;" and every person in her reti-
nue had a nickname, as well as her majesty. Madame
de Kamken was " the big cow ;" madame de Sonsfeld
"the foolish brute;" and so on. Such was the ex-
cellent pattern which she afforded me. I was so
angry and vexed, that the bile at last ran into my
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 43
blood, and I was afflicted with the jaundice in eight
days after my first going out. My malady lasted two
months, and I only recovered from it, to fail into
another much more dangerous disease. It began by
violent fever, which two days after turned into a
purple one. I was continually delirious, and my ill-
ness increased so much on the fifth day, that it was
expected I had only a few hours to live. The affec-
tion of the king and queen for me prevailed over the
care for their own preservation : they came to see me
at midnight, and found me senseless. I have been
told since, that their grief was excessive. They gave
me their blessing under a flood of tears ; and it was
only by main force that they could be removed from
my bed. I had fallen into a kind of lethargy. The
pains that were taken to rouse me, and the goodness
of my constitution, recalled me to life; my fever
abated towards morning, and two days after I was
pronounced out of danger. Would to heaven I had
been permitted peaceably to have quitted this world !
I should have been much happier; but I was doomed
to endure a train of misfortunes, such as the Swedish
prophet had foretold.
As soon as I was somewhat able to converse, the
king paid me a visit. His majesty was so delighted
to see me out of danger, that he ordered me to ask a
favour : " I intend to gratify your wishes," said he,
" and I will grant you whatever you desire." I had
a great share of ambition : I was vexed to see myself
treated as a child. I took my resolution instantly,
and begged of bis majesty to be treated in future as
a grown-up person, and to lay aside my frocks. The
king laughed very much at my idea. " Well," said
he, " you shall be satisfied ; and I promise you shall
no longer wear a frock."
I never felt greater joy ; it was near bringing on a
relapse, and it was with extreme difficulty that my
first emotion could be moderated. How happy we
are at that age the smallest trifle amuses and elates
44 MEMOIRS OF THE
us ! The king, however, kept his word ; and, not-
withstanding the obstacles which the queen raised, he
insisted upon my dress being changed.
I was not able to leave my room before the year
1720. I felt supremely happy at having left oil'
frocks. I placed myself before a glass to view myself,
and thought I looked uncommonly well in my new
dress. I studied my gestures and my gait, that I
might have the appearance of a grown-up person ; in
short, I was superlatively satisfied with my little
figure. I went down with a triumphant mien to the
queen, from whom I expected to have met with a
highly gracious reception. I had gone there like a
Caesar, and returned like a Pompey. As soon as the
queen perceived me at a distance, she exclaimed,
"Oh, heavens, how she looks! a pretty figure in-
deed ! as like to a dwarf, as one drop of water to
another 1" I stood petrified with astonishment, my
little vanity was greatly disappointed, and vexation
brought tears into my eyes. To say the truth, the
queen would have been perfectly right if she had con-
tented herself with the little mortification she had
given me ; but she scolded me severely, for having
applied to the king for any favour. She told me she
would not allow any such thing ; reminded me, that
she had ordered me to attach myself to her exclu-
sively ; and that if ever I applied to the king on any
occasion, she would be excessively angry. I apolo-
gized as well as I could, and behaved so submissively,
that I at last obtained her pardon.
Hitherto 1 have sufficiently pourtrayed the hasty
temper of Miss Letti ; but I must not omit relating
an affair, which, though childish in itself, was im-
portant in its consequences. There was before the
windows of my room an open wooden gallery, which
formed the communication between the two wings of
the palace. This gallery was always filled with dirt,
which caused an abominable stench in rny rooms. It
proceeded from the neglect of Eversmann, the keeper
MARGRAVINE OF BA11EITH. 45
of the palace. This man was a favourite with the
king, who had the misfortune to have none but rude
fellows ahout him. Eversmann was a real imp of
Satan : he delighted in nothing so much as doing
harm, and was concerned in every cabal and intrigue.
Miss Letti had several times requested him to get the
gallery cleaned ; he never took any notice of her re-
quest. Her patience at length was exhausted : she
sent for him one morning, and began to abuse him.
He replied; and they quarrelled to such a degree,
that, had not madame de Rokoule luckily arrived at
the moment, and separated them, they would have
proceeded to blows. Eversmann vowed to be re-
venged, and found an opportunity for it the very next
day. He told the king, that Miss Letti paid no at-
tention to my education ; that she was the mistress of
colonel Forcade and Mr Fourneret, with whom she
was closetted all the day; that I learned nothing more
with her; and that, to convince himself of the truth
of his assertion, his majesty needed only to exa-
mine me.
Eversmann's report was true in every respect, but
Miss Letti was innocent with regard to his last accu-
sation, I had been ill for six months, which had
thrown me considerably back ; and, ever since my
recovery, I had not been able to resume my studies,
having constantly been with the queen, to whose
room I used to go at ten o'clock in the morning, and
never leaving it before eleven at night.
The king, who wished to ascertain the truth, asked
me one day several questions concerning my religion.
I stood the examination very well, and gave him satis-
faction on every question he asked; but I was not
perfect in the Ten Commandments, which he ordered
me to recite. I confused myself, and never could re-
peat them. This put the king into such a passion,
that he was very near beating me. My poor tutor
became the sufferer. He was dismissed the next day.
Neither was Miss Letti spared. The king ordered
46 MEMOIRS OF THE
the queen to give her a severe reprimand, and to for-
bid her, under penalty of incurring his utmost dis-
pleasure, to admit the visits of any gentleman, or
even clergyman. The queen obeyed with pleasure,
and was glad of a pretence to mortify her. Miss
Letti apologized as well as she could ; she complained
of me, saying, that I had neither respect nor regard
for her; that I did exactly the reverse of what she
ordered me ; and that, being hardly ever with me, she
could not be answerable for my conduct. The queen
used me very ill, and employed expressions so harsh,
that they almost drove me to despair. Young as I was,
they made a strong impression upon me. " What !"
said I to myself, " does a want of memory deserve so
many reproofs ? 1 disobeyed Miss Letti, it is true
I would not make her any reports ; she never could
get from me the secrets with which I had been en-
trusted by the queen. I have obeyed the commands
of her majesty in every point, and yet she now im-
putes it to me as a crime. I have endured all possi-
ble vexations on her account, I have submitted to
blows, and this is my reward ?"
A moment after I repented of my kindness towards
Miss Letti. I was at liberty to complain to the queen
of her bad treatment ; and, I confess, I hesitated for
a short time whether I should betray the queen or
my teacher. But the goodness of my disposition
overcame these vindictive thoughts, and I determined
to continue silent.
My way of life was now completely changed : ray
lessons commenced at eight o'clock in the morning,
and lasted till eight at night. I had no intervals but
the hours of dinner and supper ; and these, too, were
passed in hearing reprimands from the queen. When
I returned to my room, Miss Letti recommenced her
reproaches ; her rage, at not being allowed to receive
any visits, vented itself upon me ; few clays passed
without her exercising the strength of her formidable
fists upon my poor body. I spent my nights in weep-
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 47
ing I was in continual despair; I had not a moment
of recreation, and I grew quite stupid ; my vivacity
vanished ; and, in short, I was no longer the same,
either in body or mind.
This kind of life lasted six months ; at the end of
which we went to Wusterhausen.
I was beginning to regain the queen's good graces,
and consequently to enjoy a little more repose. She
even shewed me some confidence, and imparted to me
all her thoughts. Before we returned to Berlin, she
one day said, " I have informed you of all the sor-
rows I have hitherto endured, hut I have only made
you acquainted with a few of the persons who caused
them. I will now name them all to you ; hut I for-
bid "you, on pain of death, ever to speak to, or to
have any communication with those persons. Drop
them a courtesy : that is all that is necessary." At
the same time, she named three-fourths of the inha-
bitants of Berlin, whom she said were her enemies.
" I would have you take care, also," added she, " not
to expose me. If you are asked why you do not
speak to those persons, answer merely that you have
your motives for not doing so."
I punctually obeyed the queen's commands, and
alienated every one from me. In the mean time Miss
Letti began to be tired of the constraint in which she
lived ; the king's prohibition had prevented her con-
tinuing her love and state intrigues. The credit of
prince Anhalt was considerably lowered since the ad-
venture of madame de Blaspil, which deprived Miss
Letti of the presents she had all along received from
that prince. He no longer mentioned my marriage
with the margrave of Schwedt. All this induced her
to request her patroness, lady Arlington, to intercede
in her behalf with the queen, and to obtain for her
the title of governess, with the prerogative attached
to that office ; intreating her, in case of a denial, to
procure her the same situation with the princess of
England.
48 MEMOIRS OF THE
Lady Arlington wrote her a letter, which, she might
show to the queen. It contained great promises of
an establishment in England, together with an enu-
meration of the good qualities of Miss Letti. She
pitied her that her merits were so badly acknow-
ledged at Berlin ; advised her to ask distinctions and
rewards for the pains she had bestowed upon my edu-
cation ; and, in case of a refusal, to solicit her dis-
missal, and to come to a country where justice was
more readily done to merit. All this was but a feint
to induce the queen to grant what she asked. Miss
Letti sent lady Arlington's letter to the queen ; she
annexed a very impertinent epistle of her own. She
wished, she said, to obtain what she demanded, or her
dismissal. The queen felt herself very much embar-
rassed, as she was obliged to keep upon good terms
with Miss Letti, lest she should disoblige the indivi-
dual who had recommended her, and who was all-
powerful with the king of England. She therefore
employed several persons to dissuade Miss Letti from
her purpose, but in vain. She at last mentioned it
likewise to me, and I was in the utmost surprise, as
Miss Letti had kept secret the step she had taken :
the queen questioned me much concerning her beha-
viour to me. I praised her very much, and earnestly
entreated her majesty not to shew her letter to the
king, as she intended, before I had spoken to her.
" If you can prevail upon her to alter her determina-
tion," said the queen, " within four and twenty
hours, it is well ; but after that time it will be too
late." As soon as I had returned to my own room,
I spoke to Miss Letti. My tears, my entreaties, and
my endearments moved her, or rather she was glad
of a decent pretence to retract. She therefore wrote
a second letter to the queen, in which she petitioned
her majesty not to show her first letter to the king.
Things were thus settled for this time : the friend-
ship which I had manifested for her on this occasion,
procured me a fortnight's calm ; but the subsequent
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITII. 49
storm was the more violent for it. During six months
I suffered the torments of purgatory. My good Mer-
mann, who saw me beaten every day, wished to inform
the queen of my sufferings ; but I always prevented
it. To complete her wickedness, the fury washed my
face with a certain water, which she had purposely
got from England, and which was so strong that it
corroded the skin. In less than a week my face was
covered with pimples, and my eyes were as red as
blood. My nurse seeing the dreadful effect of this
water, though I had used it but twice, threw the
bottle out of the window ; else my eyes and my com-
plexion would have been destroyed for ever.
The beginning of the year 1721 proved as unfortu-
nate for me as the preceding : my torments continued
still. Miss Letti wished to revenge herself for the
denial given to her by the queen ; and as she was
firmly resolved to quit me, she wished to leave some
marks upon me that should make me remember her.
I think that if she could have broken either an arm
or a leg of mine, she would have done so : but the
fear of detection prevented her. She therefore did all
she could to spoil my face : she frequently hit my
nose with such a violence that I bled like an ox.
Meanwhile another answer arrived to a second
letter "which she had written to lady Arlington. This
lady encouraged her to come to England, where she
offered her her patronage, and engaged to obtain her
a pension. Miss Letti therefore applied a second time
to the queen for her dismission ; and the letter which
she wrote to her majesty exceeded the former in in-
solence. " I clearly see," she stated, " that your
majesty is unwilling to grant me the prerogatives
which I claim. My resolution is unshaken. I en-
treat your majesty to grant me my dismission. I shall
leave a barbarous country, where I have found neither
wit nor sense, to end my days in a happy climate
where merit is rewarded, and where the sovereign is
not apt to distinguish scurvy officers, as is the fashion
50 MEMOIRS OF THE
here, and to despise persons of talents." Madame de
Roukoule was present when the queen received this
letter : her majesty communicated it to her, and could
scarcely moderate her anger. " For heaven's sake 1"
exclaimed maclame de Roukoule, " let that creature
go ; it is the best thing that could befal the princess.
The poor child suffers martyrdom 'with her ; and I
am afraid she will some day be brought to you with
her ribs broken, for she is beaten like mortar, and
runs the risk of being maimed every day : her nurse
will be best able to inform your majesty." The queen
surprised, sent for my good nurse, who confirmed all
that madame de Roukoule had stated ; adding, that
she durst not acquaint her majesty with the circum-
stance before, having been intimidated by the great
credit which Miss Letti boasted of enjoying with the
queen, and by her menaces to cause her to be driven
away. The queen, therefore, did not hesitate any
longer to shew her letter to the king. He was so in-
censed at it,, that, in the first ebullition of his passion,
he would have sent her to Spandau, had not the
queen prevented it. Her majesty was embarrassed
about the choice of the person to whom I was to be
entrusted : she proposed, however, two ladies to the
king (I never learnt who they were), but his majesty
refused them both, and appointed madame de Sons-
feld to the situation. I cannot sufficiently acknow-
ledge the kindness of my father.
Madame de Sonsfeld is of a very illustrious origin,
connected with every great family in the empire ; her
ancestors have distinguished themselves by their ser-
vices, and by the high dignities with which they have
been invested. A more able pen than mine would
but feebly sketch her portrait : her disposition will
be manifested in the course of these memoirs. It
is a very uncommon one : a compound of virtues and
sentiments ; a powerful understanding, great firm-