Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/93

Rh he thus expressed his private feelings:—"In the meantime I heartily consign that old harridan, Etiquette, with all her trumpery, to the lowest underling of all possible devils."

A fatal necessity soon occurred for Keith to give all these jealous court restrictions to the winds, and hurl defiance at the very throne of Denmark. To understand this the most important event of his life, we must premise that the Danish sovereign, Christian VII., had for his queen, Matilda, sister of George III. But Christian, unfortunately, was a strange compound of idiot and madman, such as Europe had scarcely seen, even in the worst days of the Roman empire. In the course of his travels he had picked up a certain physician, Struensee, whom he ennobled and appointed to the first place in the government; and so implicitly did he put trust in his favourite, that every measure, whether of court or kingdom, was wholly regulated by the parvenu Count Struensee. It is easy to imagine with what feelings both nobles and people regarded his elevation; but as if their united dislike had been insufficient for the ruin of the luckless stranger, Christian himself aggravated their hatred of the man of his choice, by the incredible fooleries in which it was his pleasure to indulge. Among these, one of his royal pastimes was to go down on all fours, and play the part of a horse! and not content to top his part by gamboling and neighing, he must needs also complete the resemblance by receiving a due portion of the kicks and cuffs too often bestowed upon the nobler animal which he aspired to imitate. Count Brandt, the friend of Struensee, who was compelled to play the part of the surly groom on this occasion, by being threatened with the punishment of a traitor if he disobeyed, was afterwards beheaded for his compliance. Such was the husband of Matilda! But this was not the utmost of her calamity; for an ambitious and unprincipled queen mother was also dominant in the court of Copenhagen; one who had studiously perverted poor Christian both in mind and body from infancy, that she might pave the way for the succession of her son, Prince Frederick, and was now bent upon the ruin of Matilda, as one by whom her aims were likely to be defeated. It was by this Ate that the court was set against the young and beautiful queen, and her husband, who really loved her, withdrawn from her society ; and when Matilda, thus forsaken, was obliged in self-defence to form a coalition with the powerful minister, it was foully insinuated that their meetings were for the purpose of adulterous intercourse. She was thus traduced, that she might be the more easily and effectually destroyed. Even the high talents which Struensee undoubtedly possessed, and his superior accomplishments and manners, were quoted to confirm the accusation. To seize the queen and minister was now the aim of their enemies; but although several schemes were laid for the purpose, they were always defeated by accident. At length a masked ball was given one night at the palace; and amidst the rest and security that usually follow a revel, the conspirators entered the king's bed-chamber, and by frightening him with the report of a conspiracy against his life, obtained from him an order for the instant arrest of the queen, Count Struensee, and their followers. Struensee and Brandt were seized in their beds, and hurried off to the citadel of Copenhagen; Matilda, in her night-dress, was apprehended in her own bed-chamber, and after an agonizing struggle to gain access to the king, which was prevented by the guards with their crossed muskets, was incarcerated in the fortress of Cronenburg. On the following morning the streets of Copenhagen rang with huzzas of mob-loyalty, and in the evening they were lighted with