infancy, when the king Frederic I. had taken refuge
at Hanover, against the persecutions of the electress
Dorothea, his mother-in-law. Their regrets were
still greater when they learned, shortly after, that
the British monarch had really intended to conclude
my marriage, and to solemnize it at Hanover. The
prince his son was proclaimed king of Great Britain,
and the duke of Gloucester assumed the title, of
prince of Wales.
In the mean time, the frequent debaucheries into
which Sekendorff betrayed the king, began to prey
upon his health ; his hypochondria returned with all
its melancholy _ symptoms : and Mr Frank, the
76 MEMOIRS OF THE
famous methodist, and founder of the orphan-house
in the university of Halle, contributed much to in-
crease it. This clergyman delighted in making
scruples of conscience respecting the most innocent
actions. He condemned every diversion, even hunt-
ing and music, as damnable. Nothing was to be
spoken of but the word of God ; any other discourse
was prohibited. It was always he who acted the fine
speaker at table, where he performed the office of
lecturer, as in the dining-room of convents. The
king preached a sermon to us every afternoon ; his
valet began to sing a hymn, in which we all joined ;
we were forced to listen to this sermon with as much
attention as if it had been that of an apostle. My
brother and I were often inclined to laugh, and some-
times we could not help bursting out. But we were
instantly overv/helmed with all the anathemas of the
church, to which we were obliged to attend with a
contrite and penitent air, which we found it difficult
to affect. In short, the tedious Frank made us live
like the monks of La Trappe. This excess of bigotry
led the king to thoughts still more extraordinary :
he resolved to abdicate the crown in behalf of my
brother. " He would (he said) reserve, ten thousand
dollars a year for himself, and retire with the queen
and his daughters to Wusterhausen. There (added
he) 1 shall worship God, and superintend my farm ;
whilst my wife and daughters regulate the concerns
of the house." " You are clever (said he to me) ;
you will take care of the linen and washing : Fre-
derica, who is avaricious, shall be the storekeeper ;
Charlotte shah 1 go to market to provide and purchase
provisions ; and my wife will nurse the little ones,
and cook." He even began to write some instruc-
tions for my brother, and to take several steps, at
which Grumkow and Sekendorfffelt seriously alarm-
ed. They vainly used all their rhetoric to dissipate
these singular ideas : but as they saw that the pro-
jects of the king proceeded from his temper, they
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITIT.
feared he might execute them, if he were not opposed,
and resolved to try to divert his thoughts.
The court of Saxony having always been in strict
alliance with that of Austria, they turned their views
to that quarter, and persuaded him to take a journey
to Dresden : and as one idea commonly brings
another in its train, this project gave birth to that
of marrying me to Augustus king of Poland.
This monarch was then forty-nine years old. He
had always been famous for his gallantry : he pos-
sessed shining qualities, but they were tarnished by
great faults. His excessive love of pleasure made
him neglect the happiness of his people, and his at-
tachment to the bottle betrayed him, when intoxi-
cated, into indignities which will for ever be an
indelible stain upon his memory.
Sekendorff, in his younger days, had been in the
Saxon service ; and, as I have already observed,
Grumkow was on very good terms with the king of
Poland. They both applied to count Flemming, a
favourite of the Polish monarch, to endeavour to
open a negociation on that subject. Count Flem-
ming was a man of superior merit ; he had frequently
been at Berlin, and knew me very well. He was
delighted with the proposal, and sounded the king of
Poland upon it. The monarch appeared favourably
inclined to the alliance, and sent the couiit to Berlin
to invite the king of Prussia to pass the Carnival at
Dresden. Grumkow and his Pylades imparted their
designs to the king. Charmed to meet with so
brilliant an establishment for me, he gladly assented
to their wishes : he returned a very obliging answer
to count Flemming, and set out for Dresden in the
middle of the month of January 1/28.
My brother was extremely chagrined at not being
of the party. He was to remain at Potsdam during
the absence of the king ; which did not at all please
him. He acquainted me with his disappointment;
and as I delighted in nothing so much as in promoting
H 2
78 MEMOIRS OF THE
his pleasure, I promised to contrive it so that he
might follow the king. We returned to Berlin, where
the queen held her drawing-rooms as usual. I saw at
court the Saxon minister, M. de Summ, whom I knew
extremely well, and who was friendly to my brother.
I delivered the prince royal's compliments to him,
and mentioned to him the regret of the prince at not
having been invited to Dresden. " If you wish to
do him a favour," added I, " contrive it so that the
Polish monarch may prevail with the king of Prussia
to send for him. 1 ' Summ immediately dispatched an
express to his court to acquaint the king his master
with my wishes. The latter did not fail to induce my
father to send for my brother, who received orders to
join him ; which he did with uncommon pleasure.
The reception given to the king of Prussia was
worthy of the two monarchs. As the Prussian mo-
narch was not fond of ceremonies, everything was re-
gulated according to his inclinations. He had re-
quested to be lodged at the house of count Wakerbart,
for whom he entertained a high esteem. The man-
sion of this general was superb ; the king found an
apartment truly royal : unfortunately, it was con-
sumed by fire the second day after his arrival. The
conflagration was so sudden and violent, that it was
not without extreme difficulty that the king was saved.
The beautiful mansion was reduced to ashes. The
loss would have been very considerable to count
Wakerbart, had not the Polish monarch presented him
with the Pirna palace, which still excelled in sump-
tuousness.
The court of Dresden was then the most brilliant
in Germany : its magnificence was carried to excess.
As it was the seat of all pleasures, it might justly be
styled the island of Cytherea. The women were all
lovely, and the courtiers uncommonly polite. The
monarch kept a kind of seraglio of the most beautiful
females of his dominions. At his death it was calcu-
lated that he had three hundred and fifty-four children
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 79
by his mistresses. The whole court was modelled
after his example : luxury there had its throne, and
the two presiding divinities were Bacchus and Venus.
The king of Prussia was not long there before he for-
got his devotion ; the debauches of the table and the
wines of Hungary soon revived his good humour.
The obliging manners of the Polish monarch made
him contract an intimate friendship with that prince.
Grumkow, who did not forget his interest in the
midst of pleasure, wished to avail himself of these
good dispositions to inspire the king with a taste for
mistresses : he imparted his design to the monarch of
Poland, who undertook-its execution.
One evening, when they had sacrificed to Bacchus,
the king of Poland insensibly led the king of Prussia
to a very richly decorated room, the furniture and or-
naments of which were of exquisite taste. The king of
Prussia, delighted with what he saw, stopped to con-
template all its beauties ; when on a sudden a tapestry
was rolled up, which procured him a very novel sight.
It was a lovely female in a state of nudity, carelessly
reclined on a couch. Her beauty excelled that of the
finest pictures of Venus and the Graces ; her body
seemed of ivory, whiter than snow, and better shaped
than that of the Venus de Medicis at Florence. The
closet which contained this treasure, was illuminated
with so many wax tapers that their dazzling light
added a new splendour to the beauty of the nymph.
The authors of this comedy had no doubt but this
object would make some impression upon the heart of
the Prussian monarch ; they were however disap-
pointed. Scarcely had the king cast his eyes on the
fair one, than he turned about with indignation ; and
seeing my brother behind him, he rudely pushed him,
out of the room, and left it immediately after in a vio-
lent irritation against the trick they had attempted to
practise upon him. He mentioned it to Grumkow in
very angry terms that evening, and declared that if
such scenes were repeated, he would leave Dresden
80 MEMOIRS OF THE
instantly. The case was different with my brother.
In spite of the king's vigilance, he had had time to
contemplate the Venus of the closet, who did not
cause him so much horror as she had done to his fa-
ther. He obtained her in a singular manner of the
Polish monarch.
My brother had fallen passionately in love with the
countess Orzelska, who was at once a natural daughter
and a mistress of the king of Poland : her mother was
a French milliner at Warsaw. Countess Orzelska
owed her fortune to count Rodofski her brother, whose
mistress she had been, and who had introduced her
to the king of Poland her father, who, as I have al-
ready observed, had so many children that he could
not provide for them all. However, the monarch was
so struck with the charms of the countess, that he
immediately acknowledged her as his daughter ; his
passion for her was unbounded. The attentions of
my brother to this lady inspired him with a bitter
jealousy. To break off this intrigue, he offered him
the beautiful Formera, on condition that he should
renounce countess Orzelska. My brother promised
whatever was required, to obtain possession of the
handsome Formera, who was his first mistress.
My father, in the meantime, did not forget the ob-
ject of his journey. He entered into a secret treaty
with king Augustus, the conditions of which were
nearly these : the king of Prussia engaged to furnish
a certain number of troops to the king of Poland to
force the Poles to render the crown hereditary in the
electoral house of Saxony. He promised to marry me
to the Polish monarch, to lend him four millions of
dollars, and to give me a considerable portion. The
king of Poland, on his part, was to assign Lusatia to
him as a mortgage for the four millions. A dowry of
two hundred thousand dollars was to be settled for
me upon that province, and after the king's death I
should be permitted to reside where I might choose.
I was to have the free exercise of my religion at
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 81
Dresden, where a chapel was to be built for me.
Lastly, all these articles were to be signed and con-
firmed by the electoral prince of Saxony. As my fa-
ther had invited the king of Poland to Berlin to be
present at the review of his troops-, the signature of
the treaty was delayed to that time. The Polish mo-
narch had solicited this delay, to prepare the mind of
his son, and to persuade him to consent to what was
required of him.
The king my father left Dresden, highly satisfied
with his journey ; as likewise was my brother. They
were both equally zealous in launching out before us
in praise of the king of Poland and his court.
While all these things were going forward, I was
cruelly persecuted at Berlin by the princess Amelia,
who was continually sowing discord betwixt the queen
and me. Her ill-usage was incessant. I submitted
with deference to the unjust proceedings of the queen ;
but those of her favourite drove me at times into a
violent rage. The countess treated me with an "in-
o &
sufferable haughtiness ; and though she was but two
years older than myself, she yet pretended to direct
my conduct. Notwithstanding all the provocations
I received from her, I was obliged to constrain my-
seJf and to put on an air of civility, which was more
painful than death ; for I detest dissimulation : my
sincerity has been the frequent source of the many
sorrows I have experienced. It is, however, a failing
which I do not wish to lay aside. My maxim is, that
we ought always to follow the straight path ; and that
we cannot grieve when we have nothing to reproach
ourselves with.
A new monster was starting up as a favourite, and
sharing the good graces of the queen with countess
Amelia. Her name was Ramen : she was one of the
waiting- women of the queen, and the same^who un-
expectedly assisted her in her labour when she was
delivered of my sister Amelia. This woman was a
widow ; or rather, she followed the example of the
82 MEMOIRS OF THE
Samaritan woman, and had as many husbands as there
are months in the year. Her pretended devotion, her
affected charity for the poor, and the care which she
had taken to cloak her dissolute life, had induced
madame de Blaspil to recommend her to the queen.
She began to insinuate herself into her good graces by
her dexterity at several works which amused her ma-
jesty ; but it was only by the reports which she made
her about the king that she reached the high degree
of favour which she was then enjoying. The queen
placed a blind confidence in this woman, whom she
trusted with her affairs and her most secret thoughts.
Two rivals for glory could not long agree. The
countess Amelia and Mrs Ramen became sworn ene-
mies : but, as they were afraid of each other, they
concealed their animosity.
Shortly after the king had returned from Dresden,
count Flemming, accompanied by princess Radzivil, his
consort, arrived at Berlin as envoy-extraordinary of
the king of Poland. The countess was a young per-
son without education, but very lively and ingenious ;
extremely agreeable, though not handsome. The king
noticed her very much, and ordered the queen to do
the same. Countess Flemming manifested a great
attachment for me ; I felt a great friendship for her
husband, who had known me from infancy. As he
was advanced in years, the queen had given him leave
to visit me whenever he chose : he assiduously availed
himself of this permission, and came every morning
with his lady, who paid me very great attentions.
My dress was highly ridiculous ; my hair and my gar-
ments were, by order of the queen, in the same fashion
as they had been worn by my old grandmother in her
youth. The countess de Flemming represented to
her majesty that they would laugh at me at the court
of Dresden, if they saw me thus accoutred. She
made me dress in the new style, and every one allowed
that I was no longer the same person, and appeared
much handsomer than before ; my shape began to be
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 83
fine and slender, which improved my appearance.
The countess repeated a thousand times a day to the
queen, that I must become her sovereign. As both
the queen and myself were unacquainted with the
treaty of Dresden, we took her observations for mere
jests. The count resided two months at Berlin, and
came to take leave of me the day before his departure,
under repeated assurances of a sincere respect. " I
hope," said he, " I shall soon be able to give your
royal highness proofs of my inviolable attachment,
and render you as happy as you deserve to be. I
think I shall have the honour of seeing you again in
a short time, with the king my master." I did not
understand the meaning of his words; I simply
thought he would apply to promote my marriage with
the prince of Wales. I returned him a very obliging
answer, and he withdrew.
We set out for Potsdam a few days after ; I should
have been vexed with this journey at any other pe-
riod ; but I was glad to leave Berlin at that time. I
hoped to regain the good graces of the queen, who
had been so much prejudiced against me, that she
could no longer endure me.
The affairs of England were in a tolerably tranquil
state. The queen, my mother, was incessantly pur-
suing measures to effect my marriage, without making
any progress in the business ; while she suffered her-
self to be imposed upon by every idle promise. All
this put her into an ill-humour against me. She would
say, " if you had been better educated, you would
have been married some time ago." During the ab-
sence of countess Amelia, I hoped to dispel all these
prejudices, which were of her suggesting ; but I was
disappointed. The mind of the queen was so embit-
tered against me, that my situation was not more com-
fortable at Potsdam than it had been at Berlin. The
queen was even on the point of complaining to the
king of my governess and myself, and of intreating
him to intrust the care of my person to another ; but
84 MEMOIRS OF THE
she was withheld by fear. She knew the particular
regard which the king professed for madame de Sons-
feld ; this made her apprehensive that the attempt
would not he crowned with success. Count Finck
himself, to whom she mentioned it, dissuaded her
very much from venturing on such a step. This ge-
neral was unacquainted with the ambitious views of
his daughter, and his probity besides was too strict to
approve of them ; he earnestly addressed the queen,
on behalf of myself and of madame de Sonsfeld, and
urged so many representations on the harshness of her
behaviour towards her and me, that she relinquished
her intention. She even talked to me in the after-
noon, and told me all the grievances which she sus-
tained on my account. She condemned the confidence
which I reposed in my governess ; a confidence which,
she said, she altogether disapproved of. She also
regretted that I blindly followed the advice of that
lady ; and added many similar complaints. I cast
myself at her feet, and observed, that the knowledge
which I had of the character of madame de Sonsfeld,
would not allow me to keep anything from her ; that
I intrusted her with my own secrets, but never with
those of others ; and that this very knowledge of her
merit induced me to follow her advice, as I was sure
she would never give me any but what was good ; that
besides I was only obeying the commands which I had
received from her majesty. I intreated her to do jus-
tice to madame de Sonsfeld, and not to drive me to
despair by withdrawing that kindness with which I
had always been honoured. The queen was some-
what disconcerted at my answer. She was searching
for some ill pretence to complain of my behaviour.
I made many submissions, and was at length par-
doned. Two days after I was more in favor than
ever, and madame de Sonsfeld, whom she had studi-
ously mortified, was better treated.
I should now have been perfectly tranquil, had not
my brother disturbed my peace ; ever since his return
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 85
from Dresden, he was plunged into a gloomy melan-
choly : this change of his disposition operated upon
his health ; he was visibly falling away, and frequently
fainting ; which made us fear he had become con-
sumptive. The queen and myself did all in our power
to divert him ; I loved him passionately : whenever I
inquired into the cause of his sorrow, he attributed it
" to the ill-treatment he met with from the king."
I endeavoured to comfort him in the best manner I
could ; but in vain. His disease at last increased so
rapidly, that it was necessary to inform the king of it.
His majesty ordered the surgeon of the regiment to
watch over the health of the prince, and to examine
into his illness. The report which the surgeon gave
of the state of my brother greatly alarmed the king ;
he said that the prince was very ill ; that he had a
sort of slow fever, which would terminate in a con-
sumption, if he did not take care of himself, and use
some remedies. The heart of the king was naturally
good : although Grumkow had filled his mind with
strong prejudices against the poor prince, and not-
withstanding the just causes of complaint which he
thought he had against him, nature pleaded for him
with a voice too powerful to remain unheard. The
king upbraided himself as having thrown his son into
his present deplorable condition, by numerous sorrows
and vexations, to which he had subjected him ; and
he endeavoured to atone for the past, by lavishing his
caresses and kindness upon him : but ail this was of
no avail, and the cause of his disorder remained un-
discovered : at length it was conjectured that it pro-
ceeded from love. He had been inclined to libertinism
since he had resided at Dresden ; the constraint under
which he lived prevented his abandoning himself to
it; and his constitution could not bear up against this
privation. Some officious persons informed the king
of it, and advised him to have the prince married,
else his life would be in danger, or he might indulge
in excesses which would ruin his health. The king
I
86 MEMOIRS OF THE
answered, in presence of some young officers, that he
would give one hundred ducats to the person v/ho
should inform him that his son was afflicted with a
disgraceful malady. The endearments and kindnesses
which he had shown him, gave way to reprimands and
rebukes ; count Finck and colonel Kalkstein were
ordered to watch more strictly than ever the conduct
of the prince ; hut it was not till a long time after that
I was acquainted with these circumstances.
The death of the British monarch had completely
disengaged the king, my father, from the grand alli-
ance ; he at last concluded a treaty with Austria,
Russia, and Saxony. He, as well as the two latter
powers, engaged to assist the emperor of Germany
with ten thousand men, whenever he should want
them ; the emperor, on his part, engaged to guarantee
to Prussia the duchies of Berg and Juliers. The
queen was excessively vexed at seeing all her plans
miscarry ; neither could she conceal her resentment,
the whole weight of which fell upon Sekeridorff and
Grumkow. The king frequently mentioned his treaty
with the emperor at table, and never failed to reproach
the king of England ; and his invectives were always
addressed to the queen. Her majesty immediately
vented her's against Sekendorff. Her vivacity would
not suffer her to keep within bounds; she treated
this minister in a very harsh and offensive manner,
sometimes imprudently reminding him of certain traits
in his past conduct, which should have been passed
over in silence. Sekendorff, in the meanwhile, could
hardly contain his resentment ; but he listened to the
queen's abuse with a feigned moderation, which highly
pleased the king : but there was nothing lost, for he
knew how to revenge himself otherwise than by
words.
As the time appointed for the visit of the king of
Poland drew near, we returned to Berlin in the begin-
ning of May. The queen there found letters from
Hanover, which informed her that the prince of Wales
MARGRAVINE OF BAREITII. 87
had resolved to go incognito to Berlin, with an inten-
tion of availing himself of the tumult and confusion
that would prevail in that metropolis, during the re-
sidence of the king of Poland, to obtain a sight of me.
This news gave unspeakable joy to the queen ; and
she immediately communicated it to me. As I was
not always of her opinion, my satisfaction was not
equal to her's. I have always possessed some share
of philosophy ; ambition is no failing of mine ; I pre-
fer happiness and tranquillity to grandeur; I hate
constraint of any kind ; I am fond of the world and
its pleasures ; but I approve not of dissipation. My
character, such as I have described it, did not suit the
court for which the queen destined me. Of this I
was fully sensible, and it made me afraid of being
settled in England.
The arrival of several ladies and gentlemen from
Hanover, made the queen suppose that the prince of
Wales was among them. There was neither ass nor
mule but what she took for her nephew ; she would
even have sworn that she had seen him in the crowd
at Mon-Bijou. But a second letter from Hanover
convinced her of her mistake ; she was informed that
the rumour had been spread in consequence of some
jocose remarks which the prince of Wales had made
one evening at table, and which had occasioned the
belief that he would go to Berlin.
The king of Poland arrived on the 29th of May.
He*immediately paid a visit to the queen, who received
him at the door of her third anti-room. The Polish
monarch gave her his hand, and conducted her into
her audience hall, where we were presented to him.
This monarch, who was then fifty years old, had a ma-
jestic appearance and countenance, affability and po-
liteness shone in every movement, and were visible
in all his actions; his constitution was much impaired