for his age. In the gratification of his excessive de-
baucheries he had met with an accident in his right
foot, which impaired his walking, arid rendered him



88 MEMOIRS OF THE

unable to stand for any length of time. The wound
was always kept open and extremely painful; it had
even mortified, and the foot had only heen saved
by the amputation of two toes. The queen imme-
diately offered him a chair, which he would not accept
for a long while, but at last by dint of entreaties he
took a stool, and the queen sat down upon another
opposite. As we remained standing he made many
apologies to my sisters and me about his impoliteness;
he examined me very attentively, and said something
obliging to every one of us. He left the queen after
an hour's conversation. She wished to attend him
out of the rooms, but he would not allow it.

The prince royal of Poland came soon after to pay
his respects to the queen. This prince is very tall
and stout, his face is regularly handsome, but not pre-
possessing ; an air of embarrassment accompanies all
his actions, and, in order to conceal this embarrass-
ment he has recourse to a very disagreeable forced
smile. He speaks little, and does not possess the talent
of making himself affable and obliging like his father.
He may even be taxed with inattention and rudeness.
Under this uninviting exterior however he conceals
great qualities which have displayed themselves since
he became king of Poland. He values himself on
being a truly honest man, and his whole attention is
devoted to the happiness of his subjects. Those who
incur his displeasure might still consider themselves
fortunate if they were in any other country. Far
from doing them any harm he dismisses them with
large pensions ; he never has forsaken those on
whom he had once placed his affection ; he leads a
very regular life and cannot be reproached with any
vice, and the good understanding which prevails be-
tween him and his spouse merits the greatest praise.
This princess was uncommonly plain, and had no ac-
complishment to make amends for her want of beauty.
The prince did not stay long with the queen. After
this short visit we sunk again into our nothingness, and



MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 89

passed the evening as usual, fasting and in solitude;
I say fasting, for we had scarcely as much as would
assuage our hunger. But let us reserve the descrip-
tion of our way of life for some other place.

The king and the prince of Poland supped each in
private. The next day, which was Sunday, we all went
after church into the state-rooms of the palace. The
queen, accompanied by her daughters, the princesses
of the blood and her court, entered the gallery at one
end, and the two kings approached by the other. I
never beheld a finer sight. All the ladies of Berlin,
magnificently attired, ranged themselves in a row along
the gallery. The king, the prince of Poland, and
their retinue, which consisted of three hundred great
personages of their respective courts, Polanders as
well as Saxons, were superbly dressed. The con-
trast between them and the Prussians was striking;
the latter were simply clad in regimentals, and their
singular appearance excited attention. Their coats
are so short that they could not have served as fig
leaves to our first parents ; and so strait, that they
did not dare to move for fear of rending them. Their
summer small-clothes are of white linen, as well as
their spatterdashes, without which they must not ap-
pear. Their hair is powdered, but not curled, and
twisted behind with a ribband into a queue. The
king himself was dressed in the same manner. After
the first compliments, the strangers were ah 1 presented
to the queen, and then to me. Prince John Adolphus
of Weissenfeld, a lieutenant-general in the Saxon ser-
vice, was the first to whom I was introduced, many
others followed, such as count de Saxe, and count Ru-
dofski, both actual sons of the king; M. de Libki,
since then primate and archbishop of Cracow; counts
Manteufel, Lagnasko, and Briihl, favourites of the
king ; count Solkofski, favourite of the electoral prince,
and several other persons of the first distinction whom
I pass over; count Flemming was not of the number;

i 2



90 MEMOIRS OF THE

he had died three weeks before at Vienna, universally
regretted.

We dined in state ; the table was long ; the king of
Poland and my mother sat at one end, my father had
the king of Poland on one side, and the electoral prince
on the other ; next in order were the princes of the
blood and the strangers ; I sat near the queen, having
my sister near me, and below us the princesses of the
blood, according to their rank ; many toasts were
drank, but little was said, and the dinner was alto-
gether very tiresome. After the repast, every one re-
tired to his apartment. In the evening the queen held
a grand drawing-room. The countesses Orzelska and
Bilinska, natural daughters of the king of Poland,
came to court, as well as Mrs Potge, so famous for
her dissolute manners. The first, as I have already
observed, was mistress to her own father, a circum-
stance which makes one shudder with horror; though
not a regular beauty she possessed an agreeable per-
son, her shape was a perfect model, and there was a
something altogether prepossessing in her air and man-
ner j her heart was not enslaved by her superannuated
lover, she loved her brother count Rudofski, who
was the son of a Turkish female that had been a wait-
ing-maid to the countess Koenigsmark, mother to the
count de Saxe. Countess Orzelska was uncommonly
magnificent in her dress, particularly in jewels, the
king having presented her with those of his late
queen. The Polish gentlemen who had been presented
to me in the morning, were much surprized to hear
me pronouncing their uncouth names, and to see that
I knew them again. They were delighted with my
attentions, and declared aloud " that I must be their
queen."

The following day there was a grand review. The
two monarchs dined together in private, and we did
not appear in public. The day after there was a grand
illumination in the town, which we were permitted to



MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 91

see, I never beheld anything more beautiful ; all the
houses of the principal streets were decorated with
mottos, and illuminated with such a prodigious number
of coloured lamps, that one's eyes were completely
dazzled. Two days after this we had a grand ball in
the state-rooms ; we drew for partners, and the king
of Poland happened to be mine. The next day there
was a fete at Mon-Bijou, and the green-house was
illuminated, which had a very pretty effect.

Festivities ceased at Berlin, and recommenced at
Charlottenburgh, where we had several splendid en-
tertainments. I had but little share in them; the bad
opinion which my father entertained of the sex in
general kept us under great restraints ; arid the queen
was forced to be incessantly on her guard, by reason
of his jealous disposition. On the day fixed for the
departure of the Polish monarch, the two kings had a
friendly dinner (table de confiance). It is thus called,
because none but chosen friends are admitted. The
table is constructed in such a manner that it may be
let down with pulleys. No servants attend; dumb-
waiters placed near the guests supply their place.
Every one writes on the top of the waiter what he
wants, the dumb-waiter is let down, and is hoisted up
again with what was demanded. The repast lasted
from one o'clock in the afternoon till ten at night ;
frequent libations were made to the god of wine, of
which the effects were visible in the two monarchs ;
on leaving the table they went to the queen, and here
two hours were passed at play ; I played with the king
of Poland and the queen. The monarch said many
obliging things to me, and cheated on purpose to give
me the opportunity to win. When the game was
over he took leave of us, returned to his libations, and
set out that very night, as I observed before. The
duke of Weissenfeld had been very assiduous about me
all the time of his stay at Berlin. I had considered
his attentions as the mere effects of politeness, and
never could have supposed that he dared to entertain



92 MEMOIRS OF THE

the idea of marrying me. He was a younger son of a
house which, though very ancient, does not rank
among the illustrious houses of Germany ; and though
my heart was free from ambition, it was also free from
meanness. I did not harbour the smallest suspicion
concerning the real sentiments of the duke. I was
however mistaken, as will be seen hereafter.

I have not mentioned my brother since our depar-
ture from Potsdam. His health began to return ; but
he affected to be worse than he really was, that he
might be excused from appearing at the state-dinner
which was to be given at Berlin, as he did not wish
to yield precedency to the electoral prince of Saxony,
which the king my father would certainly have re-
quired. He arrived the Monday after. The plea-
sure which he felt on meeting again with countess
Orzelska, and the good reception she gave him when
he visited her in secret, completed his cure. In the
mean time the king my father set out for Prussia.
He left my brother at Potsdam, and gave him leave
to go twice in a week to Berlin, to pay his respects to
the queen. We passed our time very agreeably during
the king's absence. A great concourse of strangers
rendered the court very brilliant, and the king of Po-
land sent his most skilful amateurs to the queen.
Among these were the famous Weiss, whose perform-
ance on the lute has never been surpassed ; and those
who come after him will only have the glory of imi-
tating him ; Bufardin, celebrated for his excellence on
the flute ; and Quanta, a performer on the same in-
strument, a great composer, and whose taste and ex-
quisite skill drew from the flute sounds equal to those
of the finest voice.

Whilst our days were gliding away in tranquil plea-
sures, the king of Poland was endeavouring to per-
suade his son to sign the articles of the treaty which
concerned my marriage, but all his intreaties proved
vain ; the prince constantly refused his signature. The
king of Prussia having no security for the advantages



MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 93

stipulated on his and my behalf, annulled all that had
been agreed upon, and broke off the match. It was
not till a considerable time after that the queen and
myself were informed of the circumstance. My mother
was glad that this negociation had failed ; she was still
intriguing with the French and English ministers, who
acquainted her with all their proceedings, and as she
kept spies near the king, she in her turn communi-
cated to them all that was reported to her. But the
king, on his part, had likewise his spies about the
queen ; Mrs Ramen, her favourite waiting- woman, was
his faithful emissary. The queen kept nothing from
this woman ; she every night trusted her with her
most secret thoughts and with whatever she had done
during the day. The wretch instantly communicated
this information to the monarch, through the infamous
Eversmann, and the contemptible Holtzendorf, ajiew
monster, high in the king's favour. Mrs Ramen was
even connected with Sekendorff; this I heard from
my faithful Mermann, who saw her every day entering
that minister's house in the dusk. Count de Rotten-
bourg, the French ambassador, had long since sus-
pected that there were traitors who acquainted Seken-
dorff with all his plans; he set so many people to watch
him that he discovered Mrs Ramen's practices. He
would have informed the queen of her perfidy had it
not been for the English envoy 1\I. de Bourguai and
the Danish minister called Leuvener; they were all
three in a terrible passion at being thus duped.
Count Rottenbourg one day mentioned it to me in
very bitter terms; "the queen," said he "has dis-
concerted all our plans* We are resolved not to con-
fide in her any more; but we shall apply to you,
madam ; we are convinced of your discretion, and
you will give us as much information as her majesty."
"No, sir," answered I, "I beg you will never trust
me with any secret ; I am very sorry when the queen
communicates anything to me ; I wish to have nothing
to do with state affairs, they come not under my de-



94 MEMOIRS OF THE

partment, and I trouble myself only with my own con-
cerns." '* Our schemes are however for your happi-
ness," replied the count, " for the happiness of your
brother, and of the whole nation." " I am inclined
to believe you," said I, " but I do not care for the
future ; my ambition fortunately is limited, and my
ideas on those matters are perhaps widely different
from those of others." This was the way in which I
freed myself from the importunities of that minister.
The king in the mean time was exceedingly offended at
the intrigues of the queen ; but, in spite of his violent
temper, he dissembled his anger. On the other hand,
Grumkow and Sekendorff were not a little perplexed
at my marriage with the king of Poland being broken
off. To attain their ends, it was absolutely necessary
that they should find an establishment for me. They
rightly thought that as long as I remained unmarried
the king would not fully enter into their views. My
father was still wishing for my marriage with the
prince of Wales, and unwilling to break entirely with
the king of England. They therefore set their heads
together to concert a new plan.

In the mean time, the king returned from Prussia ;
and six weeks after we attended him to Wusterhau-
sen. Our happiness at Berlin had been too great to
be lasting ; from the paradise in which we had lived
we fell into purgatory. Our sufferings began a few
days after our arrival at this dismal place. The king
had a private conversation with the queen : my sister
and myself were sent to an adjoining room. Although
the door was closed, I soon conjectured, from the
tone of their conversation, that they were having a
violent quarrel. I even heard my name frequently
repeated ; at which I felt greatly alarmed. The con-
versation lasted an 'hour and a half ; at the end of
which the king left the room in a furious passion.
I immediately went to the queen, whom I found in
tears. As soon as she saw me she embraced me,
and held me a long time inclosed in her arms with-



MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 95

out uttering a single word. " I am in the utmost
despair, (said she at length) the king wants to marry
you, and he has fixed upon the worst match that
could possibly be found. He intends to unite you to
the duke of Weissenfeld, a poor younger son, who
lives on the bounty of the king of Poland : my grief
would kill me, if you should have the meanness to
consent to it." I fancied myself in a dream, so
strange did the queen's information appear to me. I
wished to dispel her fears by remarking that the
king could not possibly be serious ; and that he had
only said so to make her uneasy. " But, good
heavens ! ' added she, " he will be here in a few
days at latest, to solicit your hand : you will need
some fortitude ; I shall support you as much as I am
able, provided you will second me with your own
efforts." I promised religiously to conform to her
will ; being firmly resolved not to marry the person
who was destined for me. I confess 1 made very
light of it : but I altered my opinion that very even-
ing; the queen having received letters from Berlin
which confirmed that delightful intelligence. I passed
a dreadful night, forseeing the terrible storms that
would ensue, and the cruel misunderstanding which
would be introduced into the family. My brother,
who was a sworn enemy to Sekendorff and Grumkow,
and entirely in favour of England, remonstrated with
me in very strong terms on the subject. " You will
ruin us all," said he to me, ' if you contract this
ridiculous marriage. I clearly see that your resist-
ance will overwhelm us with sorrows ; but it is better
to endure anything than to fall into the power of our
enemies : we have no support but England ; and if
your marriage with the prince of Wales be broken off,
we are all undone." The queen and my governess
used the same language : but I stood in no need of
their exhortations ; reason sufficiently pointed out
what I had to do.

The amiable prince, destined to be my" husband,



96 MEMOIRS OF THE

arrived on the 27th September, in the evening. The
king came to inform the queen of his arrival, and
ordered her to receive him as a prince who was to be
her son-in-law ; for he was determined to betroth
me to him immediately. This intelligence occasioned
a fresh quarrel, which terminated without any altera-
tion in the sentiments of either party. The next day
being Sunday, we went to church in the morning ;
the duke did not take his eyes off me during the
whole service. I was in a great agitation. Ever
since this business had been started, I had not ea-
joyed any repose either night or day.

When we returned from church, the king presented
the duke to the queen. She did not open her lips,
and turned her back upon him. I had run off to
avoid his approach. I could not eat anything ; and
the alteration of my face, joined to the offensiveness
of my behaviour, gave sufficient indications of what
was passing in my heart. In the afternoon, the
queen had another dreadful interview with the king.
As soon as she was left alone, she sent for count
Finck, my brother, and my governess, to deliberate
with them concerning what she was to do. The
duke of Weissenfeld was known to be a prince of
great merit, but of no very extensive genius : all were
of opinion that the queen should address herself to
him. Count Finck undertook the commission. He
represented to the duke, by order of the queen, that
she would never consent to her daughter's marriage
with him ; that I felt an insupportable aversion for
him ; that he would indubitably create much discord
in the family if he persisted in his design ; that the
queen was determined to affront him in every possible
way, if he continued obstinate ; but that she was per-
suaded he would not drive her to such extremities ;
that she had no doubt but, like an honest man, he
would desist from his pursuits rather than render me
unhappy ; and that, in this case, there was nothing
that she would leave undone to give him convincing



MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 97

proofs of her esteem and gratitude. The duke re-
quested count Finck to tell the queen, that he was
actually captivated with my charms, that, however,
he should never have dared to aspire to the happiness
of obtaining my hand, had he not been induced to
indulge confident hopes : but that, since the queen
and myself were averse to him, he would himself be
the first to dissuade the king from his project ; and
that the queen might he perfectly at ease in regard to
his pretensions. Indeed, he kept his word, and wrote
to the king pretty nearly what he had told count
Finck j with this single difference, that he requested
the monarch, in case the hopes which his majesty
still entertained of bringing about my marriage with
the prince of Wales should vanish, to give him the
preference before any prince that might sue for me,
excepting, however, crowned heads.

The king, surprised at the duke's behaviour, went
a moment after to the queen, and vainly endeavoured
to persuade her to consent to my establishment.
Their quarrels were renewed ; the queen wept,
screamed, and intreated the king so much, that he
agreed not to pursue matters farther at this time, on
condition, however, that she should write to the
queen of England for a positive declaration with re-
gard to my marriage with the prince of Wales. " If
the answer be favourable," said the king, " I break
any engagement but what T have entered into with
England : but if it be not couched in positive terms,
the English may rely upon it, I shall not be their
dupe any longer ; they will find me determined; and,
in that case, I insist upon being at liberty to marry
my daughter to whom I choose. Do not flatter your-
self, madame, that your tears and screams will pre-
vent me from following my own plans. I leave you
the care of persuading your brother and your sister-
in-law ; they will settle our quarrel." The queen
declared herself ready to write to England, and
doubted not but the king her brother and the queen

K



98 MEMOIRS OF TPIE

her sister-in-law would comply with her wishes.

TJiat we shall see," said the king; " I once more
tell you, that I shall be inexorable to your daughter,
if I am not satisfied ; and as for your dissolute son,
do not expect that I shall ever marry him to an
English princess. I want no daughter-in-law that
gives herself airs, and fills my court with intrigues as
you do ; your son is but a saucy boy, who wants to
be corrected rather than married : I detest him ; but
I shall know how to tame him ; (this was the usual
expression of the king). By heavens ! if he does not
change for the better, I shall treat him in a manner
which he does not expect." He added many more
abuses against my brother and myself, and then
withdrew.

When he was gone, the queen considered on the
step she was going to take. We presaged nothing
good from it, being aware that the king of England
would never consent to my marriage without that of
my brother. As the queen loved to flatter herself,
she felt angry at us for making her apprehensive of
obstacles ; and when I represented to" her the sad
situation to which she and I should be reduced, if the
answer from England were not conformable to her
wishes, she flew into a passion, and said, " that she
clearly saw I was already intimidated, and resolved to
marry the corpulent John Adolphus ; but that she
had rather see me dead than married to that prince ;
that she would curse me a thousand times, if I were
capable of forgetting myself so far ; and that if she
could think that I had the smallest intention of doing
so, she would strangle me with her own hands." In
the mean time, she sent for count Finck to consult
with him. This general having made to her the same
representations as I had ventured to do, she began to
be alarmed ; and after having reflected for some time,
she suddenly exclaimed : "A thought strikes me,
which I consider as infallibly calculated to relieve us ;
but it rests with my son to insure its success. He



MARGRAVINE OF BAREITH. 99

must write to the queen of England, and give her his
solemn promise to marry her daughter, on condition
that she promotes the marriage of the prince of Wales
with his sister. This is the only way to make her
consent to our wishes." My brother entered just
at that moment : the queen proposed the matter to
him, and he readily consented. We all kept a gloomy
silence, and I disapproved very much a step which I
foresaw would prove fatal, but which I could not
avert. The queen urged my brother to write his
letter immediately. To this she added one of her
own, and sent them both off by a messenger whom
M. de Bourguai, the English minister, dispatched
secretly. She wrote another letter, which she showed
to the king, and which was sent by the mail. The
duke of Weissenfeld freed us also from his irksome
company ; which afforded us time to breathe, but did
not remove our fears.

The king was constantly with Sekendorffand Grum-
kow ; they had frequent revels together. At one of
their drinking parties, a large goblet was introduced
in the shape of a mortar, which the king of Poland
had presented to my father. This mortar was silver
gilt and engraved ; it contained another goblet, silver
gilt, the lid of which was a gold bomb set in diamonds.
These two goblets, which were handed round, were
several times emptied. Heated by wine, my brother
fell on the neck of the king, and repeatedly embraced
him. Sekendorff wished to prevent it ; but he rudely
repulsed him, and continued caressing his father, as-
suring him that he felt the tenderest affection for him ;
that he was convinced of the goodness of his heart ;
and that he ascribed the disgrace, with which he con-
stantly overwhelmed him, to the wicked counsels of
certain individuals who endeavoured to profit by the
discord which they sowed in the family : that he
would love and respect the king, and be submissive to
him as long as he lived. This ebullition gave great
satisfaction to the king, and procured my brother some



100 MEMOIRS OF THE

relief for a fortnight. But to this short calm suc-
ceeded fresh storms : the king began anew to treat
him in a most cruel manner. The poor prince had
not the smallest relaxation. Music, reading, sciences,