l£UX£TVERJi^J

YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

A VAGABOND COURTIER
VOL. I

' Cet homxue a fait assez de bruit dans le monde, pour que j'en dise un mot."
Margravine Wj.lhelm.ina of Bayreuth.
" Volupte, volupte, qui fus jadis maitresse,
Du plus bel esprit de la Grece,
Ne rae dedaigne pas, viens ten loger chez moi,
Tu n'y seras pas sans emploi ;
J'aime le jeu, l'amour, les livres, la musique,
La villa et la campagne, eofin tout ; il n'eat rien,
Qui ne me soit souverain bien. . ." Fontaine,

./)*? '{/ ~/s///sswj. . /let/} el I i^yn \~y&//?U/k

VAGABOND COURTIER
FROM THE MEMOIRS AND LETTERS OF
BARON CHARLES LOUIS VON POLLNITZ

BY

Mrs. EDITH E. CUTHELL, F.R.Hist.S.
AUTHOR OP " WH,HELMINA, MARGRAVINE OP BAYREUTh/'
" AN IMPERIAL VICTIM I MARIE LOUISE," ETC. ETC. ETC.

WITH A PHOTOGRAVURE PLATB AND 16 OTHER
ILLUSTRATIONS, INCLUDING SEVERAL FROM THE
COLLECTION OF MR. A. M. BROADLEY

Vol. I

New York
BRENTANO'S 1913

PRINTED IN GBEAT BKITAIN

FOREWORD
The story of Pollnitz bristles with morals for us moderns ;
or it would not have been written. For, beyond the
sunny shallows where he basks, the giddy rapids where
he whirls, we hear the thunder of the Niagara of Revolu
tion. For help in tracing his varied career my best thanks
are due to the present head of his family, Dr. Max,
Freiherr von Pollnitz ; to the Director of the Eoyal
Prussian Family Archives for hitherto unpublished
letters ; and also to Mr. A. M. Broadley for generously
placing at my disposal many engravings from his
unrivalled collection. Edith B. Cuthell.
Goldhill Lodge,
May 1913.

CONTENTS VOL. I
FACIE
Introductory  xi
PART I
The Apprentice ...... 1
PART II
The Vagrant  *7

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VOL. I
Karl Ludwig, Feeiheee von Pollnitz . Frontispiece
From his Memoirs. FACING PAGE
Palace op Chaelottenburg, Berlin ... . xii
From a contemporary engraving.
Charles XII op Sweden ...... 16
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
Feedeeic, Fiest King of Peussia  32
Sophia, Electeess-Dowagee op Hanovee ... 48
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
"Madame," Elizabeth Charlotte, Dowager-Duchess
of Orleans  64
Louis le Geand  80
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
The Chateau of Veesailles  96
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
The Speing at Aix-la-Chapelle  112
From " Les Amusemens des Eaux d'Aix-la-Ohapelle, par le Baron de Pbllnita."
Feedeeic Augustus I, Elector op Saxony and King of
Poland ... ..... 128
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
Louis XV  160
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.

x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PACING PAGE
Feedeeic, Fiest King op Prussia  176

The Eegent Orleans  192
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
Old Dresden  208
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
The Chateau op Versailles ...... 224
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
Eoyal Palace, Madrid  288
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.
Winter in Holland ....... 336
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.

INTRODUCTORY

The Debut

Time : the first year of the eighteenth century — a
pleasant autumn day.
Scene : the first Queen of Prussia's new palace,
in its fine gardens, running down to a bend in the
Spree. A recent acquisition this of Sophia Charlotte's.
The Grand Master of her Household had built a country-
house in the village of Liitzelburg, to the west of the
city of Berlin, beyond the King's great " hunting
garden." It takes the Queen's fancy one day when
she drives down to see him ; she buys it, and, like all
the Kings and Queens in Europe of the moment,
begins to build. A severe and stately Eenaissance
pile has arisen ; but Her Majesty is not satisfied.
Eosander von G-oethe is busy enlarging, adding; but
the completion she will not see. Sorrowing, her hus
band will rename the great palace Charlottenburg.
But to-day all workmen's trowels and mallets
are hushed, for Sophia Charlotte is giving a " gar
den-party " to her pleasure-loving lord and master.
Frederic has rumbled over from his suburban " Orange
palace " across the river. For the first King and
Queen of Prussia are reposing, each in their favourite
vilhggiatura, after the toil of their coronation in far
Konigsberg — the long mid- winter journey, the lengthy
ceremonies, thereunto appertaining.
The King is sitting in his apartment overlooking
the gardens Le Notre laid out, all in their autumn

xii INTRODUCTORY
beauty. Terrace, straight paths, carp-pond, and canals
to the river ; square lawns which stiff plants edge in
serried rows, while, as sentinels, stand stone vases
and trim orange-trees, the latter released from their
winter quarters in the huge Orangery close by.
Prussian Majesty, square, bulky, round-faced, round-
eyed, heavy-mouthed, expressionless, has awoke from
his siesta, after his long and heavy midday meal,
considerably less lengthy and ceremonious, however,
than at the Berlin Schloss.
With him his only hopeful, a thirteen-year-old
rough young cub, the darling of his mother, and whom
that erudite and accomplished lady is attempting to
tame. Frederic Wilham has been let out for the day
from the Schloss, where he is kept at his studies and
his drills, in honour of the " garden-party." With
him he has brought a juvenile relation, the Duke of
Courland, and his household of boy-companions, whom
they have formed into two military companies, which
they each command. Later to-day, with a selection
of them, they will act a little French play before the
Queen. Around the King are his half-brothers; the eldest,
Charles, a quiet, grave Prince, with difiiculty lured
from his fine castle of Schwedt on the Oder, beyond
Berlin. Of the three others — gay, good-looking young
fellows — Philip, Grand Master of Artillery, has covered
himself with glory by the fine fireworks and illuminated
set-piece, " Jason carrying off the Golden Fleece,"
with which he made Berlin glitter the night of the
royal return from Konigsberg.
The courtiers are in attendance. Old Wartensleben,
one of the Great Elector's Field-Marshals ; young
Leopold, Prince of the Anhalt-Dessau tiny princi
pality hard by — a fine figure, proud, severe, yet simple ;
not long married to the Queen's maid of honour,
Fraulein von Fohsen. His mother, of Orange-Nassau,
had packed him off on a tour in Italy, to forget her.
" But time and absence had not had upon him the

PALACE OF CHARLOTTENBURG, BERLIN.
From a contemporaiy engraving.

LNTRODUCTOEY xiii
usual effect it has upon lovers ; he came back as much
in love as when he started." But, " born a warrior,
he longs to be one." Patience " young Dessauer,"
the elder, war-clouds are lowering : Turin, Kesselsdorf,
the " Three Cotillons' War," are in the lap of the gods !
The thick-set young man, with purring manners,
evolved from his Paris training, is Chamberlain Count
Grumbkow — also husband of a maid of honour — of a
chameleon, mole-like character he.
That self-effacing civilian is Private Secretary Ilgen,
" solid, brilliant, hard-working as a day-labourer,
but reserved, equivocal," with no birth, " no friend
but himself " ; he began as secretary to Minister
Meinders, Baroness von Pollnitz's second husband.
He will go further.
The two cousins von Kamecke are, of course, present.
The " grand Kamecke," ci-devant page, and now Grand
Master of the Wardrobe, quiet and commonplace, is as
much in royal favour, as the " petit Kamecke," witty,
livery, brilliant, polite, " a courtier le flus raffine,"
ambitious and cunning to boot. He is deep in a
game of chess with His Majesty, an honour now of
almost daily occurrence.
Rather askance at him looks Wartenberg, the Prime
Minister. For he has a shrewd suspicion that the
"petit Kamecke" had a hand in those satirical songs,
which Manteuffel, the Saxon courtier, has indited
about the Prussian Court, the great Count Wartenberg,
ne Kolbe, not excluded. Little Kamecke keeps his
bright eye on the Premier, as the latter will find out
later, to his cost. For the Kameckes have the Queen
on their side, and the tall one has special oppor
tunities, as Wardrobe Master, for influencing the King.
But to-day Wartenberg seems omnipotent. He
began as an obscure Palatinate gentleman, coming to
Berlin in the train of the Princess of Simmerin, who
asked for him some small post at the Great Elector's
Court. Slowly and inconspicuously he has worked
himself up. But his wife is his " Achilles' heel."

xiv INTRODUCTORY
The recently made Countess, however, neither fair
nor attractive, merely immoral, is not at Liitzelburg
to-day. Only at formal cercles has the daughter of
the Ehine boatman, the widow of the King's valet,
the late mistress, and now the wife of the Prime
Minister, the coveted entree. It was difficult enough
to secure. Sophia Charlotte proudly held out for
long. Her concession was the price she paid to
Wartenburg for arranging for her that little trip with
her mother, the Electress Sophia, to visit Dutch
Wilham at Loo, in order to secure his adhesion to
that raising of the Elector of Brandenberg to be King
of Prussia on which Frederic had set his heart. But
Sophia Charlotte revenges herself, when obhged to
address the late Frau von Kolbe, by speaking only
the court language, French, of which the Rhine
boatman's daughter does not understand one word.
The Court laughs up its wide sleeves at her. Yet,
such is the Wartenburg influence, male and female,
with weak old Frederic, that his late valet's children
have been ennobled as Barons of Asbach, and a cabal
to crush the Prime Minister has just woefully failed.
To this group of court gentlemen, in their full-
bottomed wigs, wide-skirted coats, huge cuffs and
ruffles, enters, very nervously, a small boy of nine,
with a heavy burden on his mind, a petition in
his hand, and. a lump in his throat. His dress is a
copy in miniature of that of his elders, except that
his fair hair is caught back with a bow, and heavily
plastered with powder.
An anxious glance round hardly reassures the httle
lad. On the Prince Royal, his young comrade-in
arms, he knows he cannot, for a surety, count for
support ; for Frederic William, as he has found to
his cost, is a bully at heart. The presence of the
great Wartenberg makes him quake inwardly ; for
is not the Prime Minister author of all his woe ?
A delay follows ; hard to bear. Then the King tri
umphantly check-mating — he always does, the " petit "

INTRODUCTORY xv
sees to that — looks up from the chessboard. Frederic
beckons kindly to the little petitioner.
The boy comes of a race of soldiers ; between his deep
bows — " he bows very gracefully," said Louis XIV
of him later on — between his obeisances, he plucks
up his courage. But if his heart would only stop
thumping ! Shall he ever find his voice ?
Then he thinks of his mother, and his spirit comes
back to him. His poor mother ! They were so happy
together, she and her two fatherless boys, when the
rich old step-father died, after six months' marriage,
leaving them that fine house in the Molk-Markt. But
the King, egged on by the Wartenberg, must needs
arrange, at twenty-four hours' notice, a good match
for that lady's late lover, gay young Chamberlain
von Wense. A court cabal to overthrow the Prime
Minister uses Wense as a catspaw. The plot ship
wrecks. Wense is lying in Spandau, a state prisoner ;
his wife and step-sons' future ruined ; house, furniture —
all sequestered by order of the King.
The only hope of hberty, of livelihood, lies in the
favourable result of one small boy's tact and per
suasion. So he thinks of his poor mother, suffering
for no fault of her own. And he finds his voice.
High and quavering rings through the lofty apart
ment the humble petition, in his mother's name, that
His Majesty would be pleased to have the seals taken
off her effects, the guards removed from her house,
and would graciously appoint a commission to judge
her husband, that he may be punished if guilty, and
set at hberty if innocent.
Bravely the boy reads through till the end. Then,
suddenly, the King and the courtiers, the sunlit garden
behind them, all become a misty blurr. The lump
in his throat wins the mastery, and he sobs aloud.
Good-natured Majesty is visibly touched. Kindly
he looks down on the boy, and speaks :
" I will do what your mother wishes, but only
out of consideration for her; I sympathize with her

xvi INTRODUCTORY
troubles ; but her husband has so deserved my wrath
that I cannot prevent myself from making him feel
it. But," he adds, more kindly still, to the weeping
little lad, " I am very pleased to see that you are
good-hearted enough to petition in favour of a man
who, I know, has not acted well towards your mother
and yourself, in spite of the orders I laid upon him.
when I married him to your mother."
The soldier's son lifts a tear-stained face, and speaks
up, brave and loyal.
" I have no cause of complaint, Sire, against my
step-father, and, even if I had one," he adds warmly,
with another choke, " it would be enough for me to
see my mother's grief in order to beg for his hberty."
" Very praiseworthy, these feelings," says the King,
rising to end the interview. " Go and tell your mother
from me that she shall be satisfied ; and be sure," he
adds, laying a fat, kindly hand on the boy's shoulder,
as the latter bends to embrace his knees, " that /
will take care of you ! "
Prussian Majesty waddles off to take a look in the
gardens at the improvements. Comes a message from
the Queen, commanding the httle lad to her study.
Sophia Charlotte is resting upon a sofa in a room
covered, walls and ceiling, with priceless china arranged
with her own hands — you may see it intact there to
day. Over her head hang lustres of gold, by her side
her coffee-table, cups, and coffee-pot — all of solid gold.
Fair, fat, stately, "proud yet polite," Sophia
Charlotte, in manner, as in character, is every inch
a Queen, though her errant sister-in-law did dub her
in her love-letters " La Boule." No stranger is she to
the boy, now himself again; for does he not often
come down with the Prince Royal and his little com
rades to Liitzelburg, and drill before the Queen, " who
likes to see in the Prince, her son, these promises of a
warlike spirit " ; and is he not to act that very evening
in one of those French plays with the Prince Royal,
whom his mother tries in this wise to refine ?

INTRODUCTORY xvii
The only other person present with the Queen is
her favourite lady-in-waiting, Henrietta Charlotte von
Pollnitz, sitting on the floor at the end of the sofa.
The boy's father's cousin, she, at this time of day,
whatever the years may bring, is quite a good friend
to him.
Both the ladies are eagerly awaiting the report
of the momentous interview.
Kindly, the Queen first asks after the mother's
health. " I order you," she says, " to assure her of
my esteem and my friendship."
Then she asks how the petition fared. The little
lad repeats the King's gracious words.
" I am very pleased," replies the Queen, " at the
good mind the King seems in towards you. Make
the most of it," she adds ; " study to deserve his favour.
I, on my part, will do all that lies in my power to sup
port you in it, and in me you will always have a
real protectress."
Thus did nine-year-old Pollnitz make his debut as a
courtier, and receive his first lesson in court-craft.

I— &

PART I
THE APPRENTICE
" n y a un pays ou les joies sont visibles, mais fausses, les chagrins
caches, mais reels. Les spectacles, le repas, la chasse, les ballets,
les carnavals et les autres divertissements, a quoi servent-ils le plus
souvent, sinon a cacher les interets, les passions, les soins, les craintes,
les esperances, et les inquietudes. Qu'a la verite, celui qui a vu la Cour,
a vu du monde ce qui est le plus beau, et le plus orne." La Bbttykre.

I— I

CHAPTER I
Tradition attributes the granting of the patent of
nobility to the Polnitz family to the great Duke of
Saxony and Thurmgia, Henry the Fowler, elected
King of Germany in 918. Modern genealogical books
of German nobility make this tradition a fact. In any
case, the family appears from the thirteenth century
onwards in the Thuringian land. The ancestral castle
was certainly that of Nieder-Pollnitz, now a ruin, near
the village of that name, between Gera and Triptis.
Ober-Pohnitz, a httle to the north-west, is also a fine
old castle ; but Nieder-Pollnitz seems to have been the
chief seat of the family till it was sold in the fifteenth
century. Our hero's first ancestor of distinction was one of six
sons, who was chancellor to the Electors of Saxony
in the early seventeenth century. In his hands, at the
beginning of the Thirty Years War, often lay important
decisions affecting the destinies of Germany and
Bohemia. An extremely influential man, it was prob
ably owing to him that his youngest brother — who, as
Saxon Deputy, was assassinated at the Diet of Regens-
burg in 1622 — came to be the Saxon envoy at Brussels
to the Archduke Albert, Governor of the Austrian
Netherlands. He married a Dutchwoman, Anne Petro-
nella van Hell, left three sons and a daughter, who
married Edwart Morgan, Heer of Landumnij, a colonel
in the service of the King of England, who took refuge
with his brothers-in-law on the family estates at Asch-
bach, near Bamberg, during the English Eevolution.
Of these three brothers-in-law, Ernst left only a
daughter, wife of the celebrated Hans Adam von Ofen,
3

4 A VAGABOND COURTIER
who, in 1686, did yeoman service against the Turks
with his 3,000 Brandenburgers— though the Duke of
Lorraine had the glory — and who died a Saxon Field-
Marshal. His brothers, Gerhardt and Christoph, received in 1670
from the Emperor Leopold I, for themselves and their
descendants, the patent of Reichsfrei and Pannerherrn.
This patent conferred upon them independence of all
authority save that of the Emperor and the Empire.
It was bestowed upon princes and great nobles from
the twelfth century onwards. Panner is a German
corruption of the French banniere. Originally the
General, or Lord of the Land, had the right of unfurling
the Banner, in order to summon all vassals to war. But,
with the development of the feudal system, the high
title of Bannerherr was given to the chief vassal. How
ever, when, at the end of the seventeenth century, it
was conferred upon the Baron von Polnitz it was no
longer anything but an honorary title of distinction.
According to the patent, the spelling of the name is
always Pomitz, with only one "1." Though various
members and branches of the family, with the ortho
graphical licence of the period, seem to have varied it,
the younger branch adhered to this spelling ; but our
hero always signed himself with two " Fs." King
Louis II of Bavaria, when the question was submitted
to liim in 1884, expressly recommended that Polnitz
should be considered the correct version.
Gerhardt Bernhard, the youngest brother, our hero's
grandfather, took service with the States-General of
the Low Countries. He, too, married a Dutchwoman,
Helianore, Countess of Nassau, a natural daughter of
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, the great soldier,
by Madame de Mechelen; with her two brothers, and
some other half-brothers and sisters, Hehanore was
legitimised, all receiving the titles of counts and
countesses. Now the first wife of Frederic Wilham, the Great
Elector of Brandenburg, was Louisa Henrietta of

THE APPRENTICE 5
Orange ; he himself had been educated in Holland, and,
when he succeeded to the Electorate, evinced a great
predilection for everything Dutch, and liked to have
Dutchmen about him. So it came about that, on the
strength of his wife's left-handed relationship to the
Electress Louisa Henrietta, as well as of his own mother's
Dutch origin, Gerhardt Bernhard achieved a most suc
cessful career. In 1657 he is described as Chamberlain
to His Electoral Highness of Brandenburg, and Colonel
of the Mounted Life Guards. From 1657 he was in
command of the Foot Guards, a colonel ranking above
the general-sergeant-majors, and subsequently became
Governor of Berlin, War Minister, and Master of the
Horse to the Great Elector.
In addition to considerable military service — for his
expedition to Fehrbellin with Frederic William see the
Hohenzollern Chronicle — the Great Elector entrusted
him with important diplomatic missions, and on June
26th, 1660, Gerhardt Bernard was sent by him to
England to congratulate Charles II on his Restoration.
As Governor of Berlin Gerhardt Bernhard befriended
the fugitive French Huguenots when they settled in
that city, and their first meeting-place for divine service
was in his antechamber.
His Dutch marriage, however, was not a happy one,
" very ill-assorted," writes his grandson.
" My grandmother was proud, stingy, and jealous ;
her husband was fond of spending money, and also of
the fair sex. Such opposite characters caused between
them a misunderstanding not far removed from hatred.
My grandfather, however, shortly before his death,
did not hesitate to ensure to her the enjoyment of all his
wealth. He repented him of the sorrow he had caused
her, and imagined that this generosity would sufficiently
repair it ; but it only served to add to her impatience
to become a widow. She had not even the kindness to
conceal it from him, and the last words he heard were
neither consolatory nor Christian."

6 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Gerhardt Bernhard left four children. His second
son died early, a Captain in the Foot Guards, leavmg a
daughter, Henrietta Charlotte, who became the cele
brated maid of honour to the Electress Sophia of Han
over and her daughter, the Queen of Prussia. Disagree
able and sharp-tongued, Henrietta Charlotte was well
hated by her young cousins, and by the Queen's daughter
Wilhehnina, against whose marriage with the Prince of
Wales she worked with all her power. A "poisonous
dragon," the English envoy called her.
Of Gerhardt's daughters, the younger, Henrietta
Eleonora, married, first, von Schulemburg, Chamberlain
to the Elector of Brandenburg and Grand Marshal and
Equerry to the Margrave of Baireuth, and, secondly, the
Marquis Francois Duhamel, major-general of cavalry
to the Elector of Brandenburg. Mortified in his ambi
tions, the Order of the Black Eagle failed to soothe him.
He left the Prussian service and entered that of the
Venetian Republic as Commander-in-Chief of their
army. Gerhardt's eldest son, Wilham Louis, was brought up
with the Electoral Prince — not Frederic, who became
the first King of Prussia, but Charles Emil, who was
supposed to have been poisoned by his stepmother, the
Great Elector's second wife. Wilham Louis married
Louisa Katharine, Baroness von Eulenburg, of the
now well-known " princely house."
By the merest chance their son, our hero, missed
being born an Englishman, and probably chronicling
the earlier Georges instead of the HohenzoUerns, for
his father took service under William of Orange, after
wards King of England. But, aggrieved at being passed
over for promotion, William Louis returned to Berlin.
When William of Orange became King of England he
remembered von Pollnitz.
" The first time," writes his son, " that William the
Third came to inspect the army after ascending the
throne, he found my father at the head of a cavalry

THE APPRENTICE 7
regiment, and mvited him to come over to England
with him, offering him letters of naturalization, and
promising to raise his rank. But my father, speaking
to him with a frankness which it does not befit me to
blame, replied : ' Your Majesty broke his word to me
once, when he was Prince of Orange ; what might he not
do now that he is King ? ' "
William Louis died in winter-quarters at Maestricht
in 1694, leaving two little sons — the younger, Charles
Louis, but two years of age — to the guardianship of
their uncle by marriage, the Marquis Duhamel.
Charles Louis was born on February 25th, 1692, at
Issuin, a village near Cologne, where his father was
quartered ; his godmother was Sophia Charlotte of Han
over, Electoral Princess of Brandenburg. At his father's
death his mother found herself in very straitened
circumstances. The Dutch grandmother, as we have
seen, had become possessed of all the family property,
and, exhibiting her national characteristic of miserliness,
gave no share of it to her widowed daughter-in-law.
But for the Elector's assistance the latter's position
would have been very sad ; but he recalled her to
Berlin and gave her a pension. Further, he quickly
arranged a second marriage for her with rich old Franz
von Meinders, his Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ten months later she was a widow again. Now one of
the richest women at Court, she relinquished the pension
she felt she no longer needed, and took up her abode
in a large house in the Molk-Markt. Always devoted
to her sons, especially to the younger, she kept him
close to her, and Charles Louis was brought up in the
atmosphere of the most brilliant Court in Germany.
Berlin was fast becoming a fine city. Frederic I and
his wife were both great builders, and were busy over
palaces and bridges, and in erecting statues. The grim,
mediaeval castle of his ancestors on an island in the
Spree Frederic was adorning and enlarging into a magni
ficent palace with archways, porticoes, long galleries

8 A VAGABOND COURTIER
and sculpture, a step-less grand staircase up which a
coach could drive, and the amber-panelled study set
with mirrors. Pesne, the French artist, was painting
with the scenes of Frederic's victories the ceilings of the
vast and lofty halls, " where," writes Charles Louis, " I
never saw in any palace in the world such a prodigious
quantity of silver tables, console-tables, candelabra,
screens, frames of mirrors, arm-chairs, everything of the
precious metal." Frederic left £700,000 weight of
silver. In the Hall of the Knights was a buffet, extend
ing the entire length of one side, covered with huge
silver-gilt basins and bowls. Pollnitz hved to see it all
melted down during the Seven Years War !
The little old stables had been altered into barracks
for the guards and over them Frederic had located his
picture-gallery and the Academy of Arts and Sciences,
founded by his erudite wife. There was the observatory
behind it, with the newest inventions, and Frederic
had his collection of antiquities, his chemical laboratory,
his royal library full of treasures.
The Friedrichstadt was the new and fashionable
suburb, across the river, close to the long avenue of
the Linden, planted by Frederic's mother, "the most
pleasant quarter of the town," mentions Pollnitz.
Outside Berlin Frederic had built the palace called
Oranienburg, in memory of his mother, in the midst of
meadows and Dutch canals, " with the finest garden in
Germany," says Pollnitz ; " the china vases in the palace
unequalled in Europe." Both Frederic and his wife
were great china -maniacs ; the discovery of China had
made a craze for collecting all over Europe. To the
Great Elector's castle at Potsdam this " most expensive
King " was now adding. For his wife he was building,
beyond the wood into which the Linden Avenue led, the
" lordly pleasure-house " of Charlottenburg, where to
this day may be seen her golden table and coffee-set,
and the walls of the rooms decorated with china by her
own hands.
Sophia Charlotte was daughter of the Great Electress,

THE APPRENTICE 9
Sophia of Hanover, and sister of our George I. That
lady, the friend of Leibnitz and of Bayle, clever and
ambitious, a dabbler in philosophy, had brought up her
daughter creedless, that she might make the best
marriage possible, either Roman Catholic or Protestant.
To the Prussian Court under its rather silly, vain, and
pleasure-loving middle-aged monarch, Sophia Charlotte
imparted an atmosphere of intellectuality and art. Her
sister-in-law, the unfortunate wife of George I, had nick
named her in her secret letters to her lover, Konigs-
mark, " la Boule," for she was short, and too plump.
But an enthusiastic Irishman, secretary to the British
Minister, describes her as " the most beautiful princess
of her time . . . her reading infinite . . . her wit inimit
able . . . hers the art of combining merit with learning."
While her vain old husband was spending his money
on palaces and in fetes in imitation of Louis XIV, Sophia
Charlotte was engaged in the difficult task of training her
only surviving child, Frederic William, a rough young
cub, as unlike herself as possible.
Frederic was always under the thumb of favourites,
male and female. At the time young Pollnitz came to
Berlin Kolbe stood highest in the King's favour. His
wife, the daughter of a Rhine boatman, had been the
King's mistress when he was Electoral Prince. But
she and Kolbe had now, by royal patronage, blossomed
into Count and Countess von Wartenberg, and the
lady's head was so turned that she was the laughing
stock of the whole Court, up their sleeves.
The machinations of Countess von Wartenberg to be
admitted to the Queen's receptions, the intrigues of
Frederic himself with the Emperor, the King of England,
and the Princes of the Empire, to have the Electorate
of Brandenburg raised to a Kingdom, and the reflex
of the struggle for the crown of Poland which agitated
the European Courts — in this gusty atmosphere Charles
Louis found himself as a boy. More immediately im
portant to himself was his mother's third marriage.
This was arranged by the Elector and Electress them-

10 A VAGABOND COURTIER
selves. The husband selected was one of their chamber
lains, a young Christian Louis von der Wense. " Neither
love nor mterest had any part in this marriage," writes
Charles Louis. Von Wense, though of a good family in
Zell, had only inherited a small property, which he had
to share with many brothers.
" My mother had never spoken to him before she
married him, and had only seen him when he was per
forming his duties as first maitre d'hotel. The Elector
himself arranged the marriage at the instance of the
Countess von Wartenberg. She had been much in
love with Von Wense (perhaps she loved him still) and,
in making him marry a rich wife, she may have wished
to reward him for the attentions he had paid her. It
was not necessary to use much persuasion with the
Elector to induce him to mix himself up with match
making ; his fancy was always to arrange marriages,
good or bad ; if only he saw people married it was all the
same to him."
He himself, and Frau von Wartenberg, suggested it
to Frau von Meinders, who at first protested. He
came to her and told her that for her sons' sake she
ought to marry a third time, and promised that they
should gain rather than lose by it, and gave her twenty-
four hours to consider the matter. The Elector then
left her, forbidding her to escort him out, and went
straight to her mother-in-law, the redoubtable Eleanora,
to whom he gave such a glowing account of the pro
spective son-in-law that he won her over.
" Till the next day my mother remained very irreso
lute, and then the Elector came back again, as he had
promised. As it is with difficulty that one resists a
sovereign's orders, my mother, though always opposed
to a new alliance, seemed yet to consent to the marriage,
which took place a few days later," at Konigsberg,
where the Court then was. The Elector honoured it by

THE APPRENTICE 11
his presence, but all the relations were so angry with
the bride that, when she returned to Berlin, none of
them came to see her. The Baroness Eleanora von
Pollnitz, who had reconsidered her opinion, " made
the greatest noise."
"Her great age, and the honour she had had of
serving the late Electress, mother of the Elector,
gave her liberty to tell the Prince what she thought
about it. She grew so angry with him, even to
childishness, telling she was broken-hearted at not
being strong enough to strangle him, because he had
given von Wense as a husband to her daughter-in-
law. To appease her, the Elector said he would do
so much for Frau von Wense that this marriage, far
from doing us the least harm, would be very advanta
geous to us. Indeed, as he left her, he appointed von
Wense Marechal de Cour."
By the end of the century the Elector Frederic had
obtained his darling wish. The Emperor at last had
bestowed the coveted dignity, and the Elector set off
to be crowned at Konigsberg, the old Prussian capital.
Von Wense, by virtue of his new appointment, accom
panied Frederic, but his wife, owing to her approaching
confinement, was obliged to stay behind. Her little
eight-year-old son, Charles Louis, however, she sent
with her husband, as a sort of page. The memory of
this impressive journey lingered in his mind. It cost
the new King immense sums. To the firing of cannon
and the pealing of the beUs of all the churches in Berlin,
the long procession, preceded by gorgeous heralds,
filed out under the castle-archway on the long mid
winter journey across the Posen wastes — a procession so
long that 30,000 post-horses were required in addition to
those of the royal stables.
Pollnitz describes at length the various details of the
elaborate ceremony of the coronation, which was per
formed by three Lutheran and three Calvinist ministers.

12 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" Though there is no altar in the Reformed Church, the
King had one, and even presented a magnificent crucifix
for it, in order to show how much he wished to honour
the two Protestant Churches."
All passed off just as the King, much of a stickler
for ceremonial, would have it.
" It was only the Queen who drew down upon herself
a little reprimand over a pinch of snuff. She had long
been watching for a moment when she could not be
seen by the King, whose throne was opposite hers, and,
thinking it had come, furtively drew out her snuff-box.
At this moment the King happened to glance at her ;
she endeavoured to hide it ; but the King's look showed
her well enough that he had noticed it, and, indeed, the
Prince, who was not amenable in such a matter, in
stantly ordered one of his gentlemen who was behind
him to go and ask the Queen, from him, ' if she remem
bered the place she was in, and the position she held
there ? '"
The Court kept carnival at Konigsberg — the ancient
city in a whirl of festivities, and the envoy of the King
of Poland coming to present his master's compliments,
though the Republic of Poland never recognized the
monarchy of Prussia. Then, on March 8th, the great
train turned homewards again, obliged to go round by
Danzig, because of the sudden thaw on the Vistula,
and received there with great fetes. Only early in May
did Berlin, gay with flowers and triumphal arches,
receive its first King, and then abandon itself to merry
makings till the Court broke up, and the King went
to Oranienburg and the Queen to her favourite
Liitzelburg. Only Frederic William, Crown Prince as he now was,
was left in Berlin, to go on with his military drill.
" Care had been taken," writes Pollnitz, " to arrange
a Court for him of some size, all composed of young

THE APPEENTICE 13
people of his own age. The young Prince had formed
two companies out of all these youths ; he commanded
the first himself, and the Duke of Courland the other.
I was in this second company, and we sometimes went
and drilled at Liitzelburg before the Queen, who liked
to see these sparks of a military spirit in her son. We
also acted some plays before her. It was thus that
this Princess endeavoured to imbue the Prince, her son,
with taste and delicacy even in amusements."
Thus early did Charles Louis become the comrade
of Frederic Wilham, only four years his senior, and to
whom, in spite of some passing difficulties and estrange
ments, he was to remain steadfastly attached for life.
Doubtless he had to put up with the young Prince's
ungovernable outbursts of tyrannical temper, from which
even the latter's own children had to suffer in later
years. Frederic William was a naughty boy, and
doubtless bullied Charles Louis and his elder brother,
Frederic Maurice, as much as he did his cousin the
Electoral Prince of Hanover (George II of England)
when he went on a visit to his grandmother. We also
hear of him rolling the httle Duke of Courland on the
ground by the hair, and throwing a chamberlain down
stairs, all without so much as a reprimand from his
fond mother. Sadly, however, did she write to Fraulein
von Pollnitz, our hero's cousin and her favourite lady :
" I have much trouble, my dear Pollnitz, and I must
comfort myself by telling you about it . . . the young
man whom I only thought lively and impetuous has
given proofs of a callousness which certainly arises from
a bad heart. 'No,' says von Biilow [another of her
ladies] ' it is only avarice.' Dieu I tant pis ! avaricious
at such a tender age ! One can correct oneself of other
vices, but that one goes on increasing ; and then how
serious it is, because of the consequences that ensue
from it ! Can compassion and pity find access to a
heart dominated by interest ? "

14 A VAGABOND COURTIER
At ten years old Frederic William began to keep, with
minute exactness, an account-book of his daily expendi
ture. It is a pity that, in this respect, Charles Louis did
not follow the example set him by bis comrade, and
acquire habits of economy which would have saved
him much trouble and harass all his life long !
Shortly after Wartenberg's elevation to the post of
Chief Minister a cabal was formed against him, led by
Count Lottum. Count Wense, as he now was, was
chosen by the plotters to fire the fuse, otherwise to
undermine the King's real attachment to Wartenberg.
Though bound by all ties of gratitude to the Minister,
and especially to his wife, who had arranged such a
good marriage for him, von der Wense was flattered at
being selected for such a dehcate task, demanding not
only much courage, but also, as it transpired, more tact
and more favour with the King than he possessed.
One day, when the King was speaking sharply of
Wartenberg, who was not exempt from the effects of
his master's irritability, Wense thought the occasion
propitious, and proceeded to enlighten the King upon
the Minister's abuse of the monarch's name, his rapacity
and injustice, and his wife's extravagances, Warten
berg's table expenses being larger than the King's. The
latter listened attentively, and Wense fancied that he
had made an impression.
However, Frederic repeated these calumnies to his
favourite, and the Minister conceived a deadly resent
ment against Wense. One day, being alone with the
King in his coach when they were driving to the hunting-
box at Goltz, he took the opportunity of stirring up
Frederic against Wense ; so much so that, when they
arrived at Goltz, every one saw what a hot temper the
King was in.
" Contrary to his custom," relates Pollnitz, " he spoke
to no one, and he ordered my step-father to have dinner
served. When he sat down to table he had hardly
touched his bread ere he declared that it was bad. He

THE APPRENTICE 15
complained to von Wense, who had charge of all that
concerned the Royal Commissariat. Wense replied to
the King that it was true that the bread was not as good
as usual, because the baking-cart had broken down
upon the road, and that the baker, who was a little
late, had not had time to bake. The King, not satisfied
with his reply, said he was tired^of being badly served
and that he maintained that every one must do their
duty. At the same time he threw down his napkin.
Von Wense, having fetched another, presented it to the
King, who would not receive it; he ordered him im
mediately to quit his presence. Two hours later Wense
was arrested by a police-officer of the Bodyguard, who
took him in his coach, escorted by guards, to Ciistrin."
Here he was treated as a state prisoner, and the
Aulic-councillor was ordered by the Minister to seal
up his effects in his wife's house.'
" She was in the country, my brother was at church
with his tutor, so that I was alone in the house when
the pohce came to execute their orders. They showed
them to me, and asked me to point out my step-father's
room that they might set seals everywhere. I hastened
to show them, and they left a document with me when
they went away, which was an order to my mother
not to appear at Court, nor to ask for my father's liberty.
I set out at once and fetched my tutor, who took this
unpleasant news to my mother. Her grief was as great
as her surprise ; she had a real affection for her husband,
and she was unaware of his schemes against the Minister,
to whom she thought him stiU devoted. As the order
tied her hands and prevented her appearing at Court
herself, I was made to go and beg for my step-father's
hberty." It was an onerous and delicate task for a boy of nine !
We have described the interview, in which, to judge
by the impression he made upon the King and the

16 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Queen, he must have acquitted himself with a grace
and tact beyond his age, and given promise of a capacity
for courtiership which later years did not belie.
In high hopes Charles Louis returned to the Molk-
Markt and his anxious mother. But, alas ! they were
not speedily realized. It took infinite toil and trouble,
interest and influence, ere she could obtain her husband's
freedom, and that only after he had undergone no less
than seven months' imprisonment, and been sentenced
to a fine of £2,000. No such severe punishment was
meted out to the other conspirators, who had made
Wense their catspaw.
Witgenstein, a creature of Wartenberg's, was ap
pointed Grand Marshal of the palace in Wense 's place.
The latter's disgrace involved much sorrow and suffering
to his family. His wife followed him to his estate near
Zell, and her sons, removed both from the Crown Prince's
entourage and from Berlin, were sent with a tutor to
Liineburg to finish their education.
Their outlook on life was indeed not promising !
But worse followed. Wense had been granted three
months' grace to pay his fine. His wife's property was
made security. But it proved insufficient, and, as the
fine remained unpaid, Frau von Wense's fine house in the
Molk-Markt, with its magnificent furniture, was seized
and sold and the house turned into a gold and silver
lace factory.

CHARLES XII OF SWEDEN.
From the Collection of A, M. Broadley.

CHAPTER II
If Frederic the First was weak and easily led, he was
kind-hearted. Not for long did he forget the sons and
grandsons of the two soldiers who had served his house
so well, and who were related to him. Presently he
recalled the two Pollnitz boys from Liineburg, " lest
their mother, who was a Lutheran, should bring them
up as such." The Prussian royal family were staunch
Calvinist, or Reformed, and it was left to Frederic's
successor to smooth the animosities between the rival
sects. In the case of Charles Louis, however, as will be
seen, the King's care was not destined to bear lasting
fruit. Frederic had just founded in the Konigliche Strasse
his Academie des Nobles, a well-meant institution, " to
bring up young nobles of the Court in a manner suitable
to their birth." The King gave the nominations ; the
fees were seventy-five pounds a year, which included
board, lodging, and instruction. He paid the surplus
expenses, and the best masters had been collected. In
this Academy he placed Frederic Maurice and Charles
Louis von Pollnitz.
The lads were present at the unveiling of the statue
of the Great Elector the King had erected on Kurfiirsten
Briicke. They must also have seen "Milord Marl
borough " when he came on a visit to Berlin, fresh from
the victory of Blenheim, and thus have become infused
with military ardour, which soon demanded a sphere
of action.
Directly Marlborough left, the Queen went to Hanover
to see her mother. On the journey she caught cold ;
but, recovering on arrival, attended a ball. This caused
1—2 J7

18 A VAGABOND COURTIER
such a serious relapse that all hope was soon abandoned.
From his cousin, her favourite lady-in-waiting, who
was present with her to the end, Pollnitz gleaned
details of the peaceful last hours of her who had been
brought up creedless.
" The Queen, though in the flower of her age, saw
death approach without fear. She wrote to the King
a letter full of affection, in which she thanked him for
the kindness he had always shown her, and recommended
her servants to his care. She herself comforted Ernst
Augustus, her brother, who was in real despair at the
state she was in. ' There is nothing so natural as
death,' she said to him. ' It is inevitable ; though, at
my age, I might have hoped to hve a few years longer,
yet I have no regret at dying.'
" M. de la Bergerie, the Minister of the French Church,
who helped her at her last moments, was so surprised
at the strength of mind and calmness which she showed
that he listened to her rather than exhorted her. ' I
have made a serious study of my religion for the last
twenty years ; I have read attentively books about it,
in order to be in doubt of what I ought to think about
it. You cannot tell me anything that I have not read,
and what you tell me will certainly not add anything
to my feelings. ' Then, turning to my cousin, who was
on the other side of the bed, ' Alas ! ' she said, ' what
useless ceremonies they are going to perform over this
body ! ' Seeing Fraulein von Pollnitz burst into tears,
she asked, ' Why do you weep ? Do you think I am
immortal ? ' At the same time she held out her hand
to Duke Ernst, her brother, saying, ' My dear brother,
I am suffocating ! ' and she died at once."
By this news the King " was so shocked that he fell
several times into a fainting fit," says Pollnitz, adding
sadly and gratefully, " I myself, and also all my family,
lost a firm and real protectrice."
" The idea of rendering to the Queen all the honours
due to her rank stayed for a while the King's grief," he

THE APPRENTICE 19
adds. Frederic ever loved pomp and ceremony. He
gave Sophia Charlotte a magnificent funeral, which,
begun by the Elector at Hanover, was carried on
through Zell to the frontiers of Brandenburg, and into
Berlin. The lads from the Academie des Nobles of
course attended, and Pollnitz was impressed by all the
royalties in their long black cloaks, while the Parliament
of Orange, sheltering at Berlin from Louis XIV's orders
for compulsory conversion, appeared, by the King's
desire, in their red robes.
Shortly after this the Pollnitz boys took the principal
parts in another funeral ceremony, that of a member of
their own family, in which they acted as chief mourners.
Their guardian, the Marquis Duhamel, had died in the
Morea, fighting the Turks, as generalissimo of the Vene
tian army. His wife, their father's sister, who was with
him, returned to Venice, intending to go back to Berlin.
But, upon disembarking, she was put into quarantine,
and died in the lazaretto. As she had expressed a wish
to be buried in her native city, her two nephews, only
now fourteen and thirteen, and one of her nieces, who
were her heirs — for she died childless — undertook the
long journey through Southern Germany and Austria
to carry out their aunt's last wishes. Thus it came
about that Charles Louis first imbibed a taste for travel
ling, and that his glimpse of Venice, then the gayest city
in Europe, whetted his appetite for pleasure resorts.
They buried their aunt Henrietta under the new Re
formed Church, " in the catacombs, recently built,"
says Pollnitz, " to bury any who desired it."
The Queen's death hardly affected the pleasures at
Court. Prussia was now at peace, but the war of the
Spanish Succession raged in Southern Europe and the
Low Countries, and that of the Polish Succession de
vastated Poland and Saxony, and Charles of Sweden was
" carrying fire and sword wherever he went." The
Prussian troops hired out to fight in North Italy and
Flanders earned the praise of Prince Eugene, and one
can well imagine that the youths at the Academy of

20 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Nobles burned with military ardour, and fretted against
the court pageants of which they had more than enough.
Doubtless Charles Louis, with the rest, worshipped
from afar the soldier heroes of the day — Marlborough,
whom they had seen at the Berlin Court, young Leopold
of Anhalt-Dessau, beau sabreur, winning his laurels
under Prince Eugene. But what of that other preux
chevalier, Charles of Sweden, the invincible victor over
the Muscovites, now planting his heel on Saxony ? In
his camp at Altranstadt Charles received the ambassadors
of nearly all the Powers of Christendom. Some, includ
ing Marlborough, came to beg him to quit the dominions
of the Empire ; others, to attack the Emperor himself.
Early in 1706 Frederic despatched a special envoy,
his Minister von Printzen. Imagine Charles Louis's
delight at being selected to accompany him as page.
Charles had already sent to Berlin to ask the King to
recognize Stanislaus Leczinsky as King of Poland.
Frederic had been magnificently hospitable, but evasive.
Charles was equally evasive, but his reception of the
Prussians " quite simple and altogether military. One
might have applied to him the verses which Crebillon
in Rhadamislus puts into Parasmane's mouth :
" ' La nature maratre de ce3 affreux climats,
Ne produit, au lieu d'or, que du fer, des soldats.' "
Even at that age Pollnitz had a natural eye for dress.
He noted that the King and the Swedes alike —
" Wore great plain hats with a brass button ; the tight
jacket, dark blue waistcoat, and breeches, chamois
colour, or elk-skin. They mostly wore gloves of elk-
skin, or some other thick skin, which covered the sleeves,
which were small as the Swedes still wear them."
A great contrast to the gay Prussians in full-skirted,
gold-braided coats and full bottomed wigs.
" The King was always booted and spurred, with the
tails of his coat buttoned up, as if ready to mount his

THE APPRENTICE 21
horse. He was well-built, above ordinary height,
supple below ; he had broad shoulders, and altogether
was a fine man. He held himself very upright, and
had an imposing air ; when he walked he dragged one
leg a little, since, in consequence of a fall from his horse
at Cracow, he broke his thigh. No one sat a horse
better than he did. He covered eight to ten German
miles a day simply for a ride."
The hero gave audience in a barn which made a large
hall, the walls and ceiling of which were covered with
carpets. Charles was at the end of the hall, leaning
against a table. His hat was on his head ; he uncovered
at the first bow the ambassador made him. Then, the
King and the ambassador having covered themselves,
the latter spoke, but only said the usual compliments.
Charles answered in a few words. After the audience
the ambassador asked permission to present his suite.
' If they wish to see the King of Sweden,' he replied,
' let them come to Stockholm ; here they will only see
a soldier.' He looked at us, gave us a gracious nod, to
which we replied by a low bow. The ambassador dined
with the King ; as for his suite, we were asked to dine
with Count Piper, who treated us very civilly. The am
bassador came to us just as we had got to the soup.
The King had only been half an hour at table."
" Charles XII treated M. von Printzen with kindness
and confidence when at his camp ; as for us, we con
gratulated ourselves much on the civilities and kind
welcome the Swedes gave us."
But Printzen was no luckier in his negotiations for
Augustus than Charles's envoy had been at Berlin for
Stanislaus. To Blenheim succeeded Ramillies, Marlborough
writing to congratulate Frederic on the fine share the
Prussian troops had had in that victory. After
Ramillies, the defence of Turin, which gave occasion

22 A VAGABOND COURTIER
for the " distinguished valour " of the Prince of Anhalt ;
"the Prussians show great bravery, and suffer much,
especially the Grenadiers, worthy of praise and the
admiration of everybody," writes the Duke of Savoy.
Patriotic feelings and a thirst for glory mounted high at
the Academie des Nobles. But there were more court
junkettings for Pollnitz to go through ere he received
his baptism of fire.
The pleasing news of Ramillies reached the King at
Hanover, where he was arranging the marriage, planned
by his wife before her death, of the Prince Royal with
his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea, daughter of the
Elector, afterwards George II, and of the unfortunate
Dorothea, who, interned long years ago in her lonely
castle of Ahlden, was to have no part nor lot in her
daughter's magnificent wedding.
Pollnitz, with his eye for millinery, relates that the
bride had —
" A trousseau the like of which had never a princess
of Germany before. The purchases had been made in
Paris, Madame, the Duchess of Orleans, the bride's
aunt, having chosen and ordered them. She showed
them all to Louis XIV, who, on seeing them, remarked
that it was to be wished, for the Paris shopkeepers, that
all the princesses of Germany were fitted out in that
same way."
Sophia Dorothea had a magnificent reception at
Berlin. She was " of much beauty and with an agree
able conversation . . . her figure the most beautiful
in the world," chronicles the British Minister. The
marriage at the Schloss chapel was followed by a supper,
and a ball opened by the bridal pair in the torchlight
polonaise round the great hall, marched to the strains
of kettledrums and trumpets. For six weeks the
" expensive old king " surpassed himself with his fetes.
His brothers —

THE APPRENTICE 23
" The Margraves Albert and Christian Louis danced a
ballet, ' Beauty triumphing over Hero,' with all the
youth of the Court. I took part in it," writes Pollnitz,
"and I recollect that the first-mentioned Prince, who was
arranging it, and who took gay things very seriously,
had alternations of anger and reconciliation with the
ballet-master during the preparations for the enter
tainment, which were for us a kind of play more amusing
than the entertainment itself."
It was an age of extraordinary credulity, and Pollnitz
tells a story of the Court about this time which exempli
fies it. In the intervals of diplomacy Lord Raby, the
British Minister (renewing, chiefly by means of the
Countess Wartenberg, whose friend of the moment he
was, the alliance between Prussia and England) was
duped by an adventurer, calling himself Count Cajetan
of Naples. He introduced him to Counts Witgenstein
and Wartenberg, who were both seeking the philosophers'
stone. These told the King about him, and assured
Frederic that this adept would coin millions for him.
" Expensive Frederic " wished to see this prodigy ; he
spoke to him, and, as Cajetan " had the gift of the gab,
the King was easily persuaded that in a short time he
would surpass the Mogul in riches." Presents flowed
in upon Cajetan, and, at the end of a few months, he
was pressed to give a proof of his art.
" This took place in a room in the Schloss, in the
presence of the King, the Prince Royal, the Grand
Marshal, the Grand Chamberlain, and two or three others.
The Prince Royal, naturally suspicious, had undertaken
to supply all the utensils necessary for the great work.
The crucible was on the stove, the Prince Royal put
into it the metal which was to be changed into gold.
Cajetan having given him a phial containing a reddish
liquid, he poured a few drops into the crucible ; then,
with a brass stick, he stirred the substance which was
in the crucible, and after half an hour ordered it to

24 A VAGABOND COURTIER
be taken off the fire. They let it get cold, after which
the goldsmith and officers of the mint were called in,
who discovered that the transmutation was real, and
that there was over a pound's weight of fine gold. From
this moment the expert was looked upon as a messenger
from Heaven ; he was put up at the Maison des
Princes, or at the Hotel des Ambassadeurs ... all
his expenses were paid, and he was created a major-
general of artillery. (!) But his good luck did not
last long ; he asked for an advance of fifty thousand
crowns to buy, so he said, the original substance which
was to produce immense sums. This gave rise to
suspicions, and he was watched. Meantime news came
that he had already taken in the Electors of Bavaria
and the Palatinate. He got word of this and disap
peared, carrying off his presents. Taking refuge at
Frankfurt, he was claimed by the King and clapped in
Ciistrin, where he was hung in a Roman toga of gilt
paper, bearing an inscription setting forth his crimes.
He died, maintaining to the end that he possessed the
art of making gold. His followers regarded him as a
martyr. I know some who still stood up for him a long
time after his execution, but the King was so ashamed
that he forbade any mention of Cajetan's name in his
presence."

CHAPTER III
Frederic Maurice von Pollnitz, when he left the
Academie des Nobles began his military career as
cornet in the elite company of the Royal Gendarmes,
the most aristocratic of the Prussian cavalry regiments,
in which every private was of noble birth and ranked
as an officer, and which was only abolished later when
the Garde du Corps was formed. The Eoyal Gendarmes
left for the front in the spring, when the Duke of Marl
borough and Prince Eugene reopened the campaign
in Flanders, where the Duke of Burgundy had seized
Ghent and Bruges and the forts near Ostend.
Charles von Pollnitz was now employed about the
Court. But the King, who had had a serious illness in
the winter, went off to the waters of Carlsbad ; so Charles,
who could not endure to be left behind, asked and
received permission to accompany the Gendarmes as a
volunteer. The regiment joined the main army at
Louvain, and was placed under Count Lottum, to whom
Charles was attached.
" I was with him all the campaign and enjoyed it •%
very much. Prince George of Hesse also came to the
army as a volunteer, under Marlborough, and distin
guished himself greatly."
Prince Eugene now joined Marlborough, and the two
generals planned to dislodge the French from the posi
tions they occupied, and by which they threatened the
navigation of the Scheldt, and were masters of the rich
tract of country of Vaes. Pollnitz modestly describes
the action which followed : 25

26 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" The army of the Allies crossed the Dendre at Lessines
and the Scheldt at Oudenarde ; and, above that town,
the French crossed the Scheldt and came and camped in
sight of Oudenarde, so that the two armies were face to
face. Gradually they came into touch and the battle
was joined, the French brigades forming up and charging
incessantly. The Allies had to fight without artillery ;
they had only four pieces, which had to suffice them, the
rest of the guns and the baggage not having arrived. On
either side the action became very hot ; with the greatest
obstinacy they fought for several hours, and always
with so much loss on the enemy's side that the infantry
was put to rout. A great number of squadrons of the
Maison du Roi of France, who had advanced to support
their infantry, were cut to pieces, and the disorder became
so great, and the firing went on in so many places at
once, that it was impossible to distinguish between the
Allies and the enemy. Then the order was given to
cease fire till the morning, and rather to let the enemy
escape than to risk putting our army into confusion.
The action, which had begun about four in the afternoon,
having lasted till the summer dusk, the French retired,
part towards Ghent and Denise, with baggage and
artillery, and part towards Courtray.
" That evening, being at a little distance from the
Prussian Guards with a few Guards officers, I saw a
horseman coming towards us at full gallop.
Messieurs, M. le Due de Vendome orders you to
retire to Ghent.'
" I cannot express his surprise when, for all answer,
we told him that he was a prisoner.
' Kill me ! ' he at once exclaimed. ' I will not
survive what has befallen me ! '
' We comforted him as well as we could, and took him
to the Count de Lottum, whom he told that he was
M. Duplante, aide-de-camp to M. le Due de Vendome.
What had deceived him was the Prussian uniform, which
differs very little from that of the French.
" It is said that M. de Vendome's opinion was for

THE APPRENTICE 27
passing the night on the field in order to begin the fight
again next day ; but that M. le Due de Bourgogne and
the generals were in favour of an opposite course. And
they were right, for, having lost nearly twelve thousand
killed, wounded, and prisoners, they would have found
themselves in a worse plight than the evening before.
" The Prussians helped to gain this victory ; but it
cost them dear. Von Natzmer, Lieutenant-General and
Field-Marshal, was wounded in the head. Baron von
Caustein, Colonel of the Gendarmes, was killed; his
regiment charged the Maison du Roi, and was very
badly cut about. He lost two-thirds of his men. Ziethen,
cornet of this corps, received severe wounds in defending
the standard, which he lost at last ; but the Gendarmes
took one from the Maison du Eoi, which, during the rest
of the campaign, they used instead of the one which
had been taken from them.
" There were in the two opposing armies two rivals
for the throne of England, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges,
and the Electoral Prince of Hanover ; the one sup
ported by France as the King of England, and the other
by the English nation as the lawful successor of their
reigning Queen. The Pretender fought at the head
of an Irish squadron, and the Electoral Prince com
manded the English cavalry. Each was praised by
their party.
" The day of Oudenarde was all the more glorious
for the Allies because the victory was won over the
Due de Bourgogne, who commanded the French army.
He had with him the Due de Berri, his brother, and the
Chevaher de Saint-Georges. These Princes were present
against the advice of the Due de Vendome, who was
not listened to ; the cabals which influenced the Due de
Bourgogne's mind prevented the plans of this famous
general [Vendome] from being followed, and caused
the loss of the battle."
It was a terrible baptism of fire for the lad of sixteen,
this duel between his own regiment, which so greatly

28 A VAGABOND COUETIER
distinguished itself, and its counterpart in the French
army, the Maison du Roi. But no doubt his strictures
are the result of conversations some years later, when,
in the idleness of the galleries of Versailles, the Princes of
the Blood fought their battles o'er again ; or, perhaps,
of hob-nobbings at Sans Souci with grand old Ziethen,
who, the halo of the Seven Years War round his hoary
head, would recall to his old friend Pollnitz how he won
his spurs at Oudenarde.
" Two days later, at ten at night, Lottum was de
tached from the main army with forty squadrons and
thirty battalions. Without meeting with any resistance
he took, and at once razed, the lines the French had
thrown between Comines and Varneton, and spread
requisitioning parties over Flanders and Artois. He
then rejoined the main body, and on the 19th a thanks
giving service was held for the victory which had been
won ; cannon were fired, and there was a triple salvo of
all the musketry."
A council of war decided that Prince Eugene should
now carry the war into the enemy's country and besiege
Lille. Charles's war experience was to be very com
plete. " On the 26th milord Marlborough, who was only
awaiting the arrival of a convoy of heavy artillery to
begin the siege of Lille, sent a detachment to Brussels,
where there were a great many guns. . . . This march
was covered by twenty thousand men of Prince Eugene's
army, commanded in person. Safely the great convoy
reached Lille, which was invested on August 13th.
As this siege was the greatest which had taken place for
a long time, and as a very stout resistance was expected
from Marechal de Boufflers, who commanded the
fortress, volunteers flocked from all sides to assist at it.
Two great Princes, both great commanders, thought it
worth while to be present; these were the King of

THE APPRENTICE 29
Poland and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, who had
lost two sons in the war, and still had four with the
army. They were present at the opening of the trenches
on the night of the 22nd-23rd of August.
" The army of observation with which I was on this
campaign as a volunteer with Count Lottum, was
over seventy thousand men. It was encamped a league
from the bridge of Espieres, and covered the besiegers,
to whom it could always give assistance ; also it could
receive convoys which came from Brussels, Ath, Oude
narde, etc. The headquarters of Prince Eugene were
at the Abbey of Loas, also a league from Lille. I am
careful not to write particulars of this siege ; I know
only too well that to treat of war you must be in the trade,
and I do not wish to put a weapon into the hands of
any who may wish to wield it against me.
" Directly the artillery had arrived — two hundred
batteries, sixty-two mortar-guns, of which twenty
were howitzers — a park was marked out between the
Deuthe and the Marque on which all this artillery was
placed until the lines of circumvallation were made, and
the fascines and gabions had been got ready for the
trenches. " During the interval a very extraordinary accident
happened. The Prince of Nassau-Orange, Stadtholder
of Frisia, was having his cravat tied by his valet when
a cannon-ball fired from the outermost works of the for
tress carried off the servant's head. The Prince, covered
with blood which had spouted out over him, retired into
another room and changed both his clothes and his
quarters. " On the night of the 22nd-23rd August the trenches
were opened ; two assaults were led by the engineers
Desroaques and May, French refugees in the service
of the States, and who both, according to the opinion
of the generals of the army, were much inferior to the
Coehorns and the Vaubans. While these former gentle
men pushed on the siege rather slowly, we heard that
the Due de Berri, coming up with his army on the

30 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Moselle, had joined that of the Due de Bourgogne. This
news caused Prince Eugene to come and confer with the
Duke of Marlborough. These two generals decided
that the army of observation should close upon Lille,
encamping behind the Marque, where it would be
protected by a marsh. The French also advanced,
wishing to gain the plain at the source of the Marque.
This movement of the enemy decided the allied generals
to go across this plain under good escort to examine the
ground at Phalempin, an abbey lying at the head of a
brook which runs into the high Deule. They recon
noitred the ground they wished to occupy, and the
army took up a position there, reinforced by twenty-six
battalions and seventy-six squadrons drawn from the
besieging force. In three hours they were ranged in
order of battle, cavalry to the front, to await the enemy,
and entrenched themselves. Directly these precautions
had been taken the troops taken from the siege were
sent back to it.
" But the Due de Bourgogne, accompanied by his
brother, the Due de Berri, and the Chevalier de Saint-
Georges and the Due de Vendome, came to reconnoitre
our entrenchments. They came so close that the Prince
Eugene ordered a few cannon-balls to be shot at them.
The same day we heard that de ChamiUard,Minister of
War, had arrived at the French army from Versailles
to see what was going on. This Minister decided that
it would be rash to attack our entrenchments. The
French generals only endeavoured to cut off the convoys
which came to us from Brussels ; in order to do this they
marched to Tournai, where they crossed the Scheldt,
and posted themselves behind it, thus cutting off all
our communications with Brussels. Only the ford of
Ostend was left open, by which were to arrive the
munitions the Queen of England was sending, together
with fourteen battalions. Milord Marlborough detached
De Wit, English major-general, with twelve battalions
to go to meet this convoy, upon which depended the
reduction of Lille. This convoy was attacked by the

THE APPRENTICE 31
Comte de la Mothe. This general was at the head of
twenty thousand men, and had a hundred pieces of
artillery in the wood of Vinnendahl, where the Allies
had posted themselves to cover the convoy which was
defiling behind them. The action was sharp and lasted
till night. The French were three times repulsed, but
they rallied and charged the escort ; but they could
not prevent the greater part of the convoy from getting
through. The rest was obliged to retire on the road to
Ostend. Notwithstanding their superiority of numbers,
it is certain that the French were defeated. They lost
great numbers, and retreated with their general to
Bruges, whence they had set out.
" A few days before the affair of Vinnendahl the
Chevaher de Luxemburg, afterwards Prince of Tingri,
son of the celebrated Marechal Luxemburg, and eventu
ally himself a Marshal of France, got a reinforcement
into Lille. The chevalier, having sent word to Boufflers
that he would be at the gate of Notre Dame, took with
him on a very dark night two thousand five hundred
horsemen, or dragoons. With him was an officer who
spoke Dutch well. When they reached the gate of the
besiegers' camp, the advanced sentry called out to him
in Dutch : ' Who goes there ? ' The officer replied in
the same language that they came from Marlborough's
army and were a detachment. They were allowed to
advance as far as the gate, where the captain on guard
questioned them very narrowly. Unabashed, the officer
rephed to all the questions, so the captain let them
through, and they filed off in a great hurry. Half had
already passed through, when a French officer shouted
to some troopers who had fallen out of line, ' Serrez !
Serrez ! '
" Instantly the captain on guard ordered those who
were outside the gate to halt, and, as they would not
obey, he fired on them, which exploded the powder the
troopers were carrying. The noise which ensued sent
the Witgenstein dragoons running up, armed indeed,
but only in their shirts. The cavalry which was under

32 A VAGABOND COURTIER
the command of the Prince of Prussia mounted their
horses and pursued the enemy which had got in as well
as that which was in retreat on Douai ; but it could
not catch one or the other. Some hundreds of French
got into the town, a great many were blown up, and the
rest ran away as best they could.
" This adventure had been preceded by another,
which narrowly escaped carrying off the Prince Eugene.
This Prince had been wounded by a shot above the
left eye ; he had not yet recovered from the wound.
One day, when he was giving orders at the Abbey of
Marque, he received a packet of letters ; on opening
it a very greasy paper fell out, which he let lie without
opening it. An officer picked it up, and, having examined
it, felt very ill. Immediately it was tested on a dog ;
his nose was rubbed with it, and he died a quarter of an
hour afterwards. Thus did God desire to guard this
hero from the basest of treachery.
" The affair made a great noise. Every one congratu
lated Prince Eugene ; but he treated it as a joke, and
said that if he received such a missive again he would
come to think himself a very important personage,
because they were afraid to let him live.
" There was so little fear of being attacked that most
of the generals left the main army in order to be present
at the assault of the counterscarp, which took place on
the night of 7th-8th September. Our people carried
it with much loss, and took up their position on it. The
attack over, we started to rejoin the main army.
" Unfortunately for us, the guide who had led us
thither had fled, and, as it was then only an hour or two
after midnight, we found ourselves in rather an un
pleasant predicament, and we happened to take just
the very road which led us into the midst of the enemy.
I was riding a hundred feet perhaps behind Count
Lottum, who was in his coach. Suddenly I heard a
shout : ' Qui va la ? '
" I confess I felt a little surprised ; nevertheless, I
comforted myself with the thought that perhaps it

FREDERIC, FIKST KING OF PRUSSIA.

32]

THE APPRENTICE 33
might be a sentry of some Walloon regiment of the
Spanish troops. So I rephed, ' Officers.'
" We were in a road with hedges mixed with trees,
which prevented me making use of a faint moonlight
by which I could have reconnoitred whom we had to
do with. So it happened that I still rode on. I was no
sooner out of the bushes than I found myself near enough
to a body of cavalry to see that it could not possibly
belong to us, for it was too near the fortress, and. it was
facing us.
" Perceiving the danger we were in I retired as quickly
as possible to Count Lottum and told him what I had
seen. Von K  , his senior aide-de-camp, told me I
had seen ghosts. Kraut, the second aide-de-camp,
treated me much the same. Indeed, a little more, and
I should have been ordered back as mad.
" Count Lottum, however, thought it best not to
risk anything. He ordered his coachman to turn back,
and the Ordnance Officer was detached to see if I had
made a mistake. The truth of the fact having been
confirmed, Messieurs the aides-de-camp were seized
with an extraordinary fright ; they made me all sorts of
apologies, promising any reparation they could, if we
were lucky enough to get out of the danger with which
we were threatened. At last we escaped ; how I do not
quite know, for if only the enemy had advanced we
should certainly have slept inside the fortress.
" This is the most noteworthy of what passed after
the assault of the counterscarp. On the 11th there was
a movement on the part of the enemy, who advanced
close to our entrenchments. On our side we prepared
to receive them. Their army passed the night under
arms, and the next day at dawn it drew up in order
of battle, all in vain, against our attack. The Princes
of France, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the Due de
Vendome and many generals contented themselves
with reconnoitring our camp; but, as they came a
little too near our trenches, we were obliged to fail in
respect to such great Princes, and to send them a few
1—3

34 A VAGABOND COURTIER
cannon-shots, upon which they deemed it advisable to
retire. "... I should much have liked to be present at the
taking of Lille ; but I was obliged to leave the army
some time previously. Dankelmann, my guardian,
had received an order from the King to recall me to
Berlin. His Majesty intended to give me a post at Court,
and, as he was thinking of marrying again, he destined
me for an appointment with the new Queen."

CHAPTER IV
While Anhalt-Dessau and his gallant Prussians were
winning laurels in Flanders, the Court at Berlin was
rent with intrigues for the remarriage of the King, now
nearly fifty, but in better health for his Carlsbad cure.
It was in reahty a plot of the minister Wartenberg—
though he sedulously kept in the background — against
the Prince Royal's party. The Duchess of Zeitz, the
King's widowed sister, who lived in Berlin, was put
forward to suggest a third wife to Frederic, as there
seemed httle probability of the Princess Royal having
a family. But she bore her husband nine children !
Frederic was, as usual, phable, and a bride was found
in Louisa Dorothea of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, less than
half his age. There was a marriage by proxy, a grand
entry to Berlin, and fetes to follow. In Charles von
Pollnitz's opinion they lacked entrain, as the new
marriage was not popular. "What I found most
worthy of notice was a fight of wild beasts at which
Their Majesties were present ; the Queen killed a bear
from her box with an arquebus-shot."
Charles, as we know, had been recalled from the
army by the promise of an appointment in the new
Queen's household; but when he reached home he
found all the places already filled up, and himself left
out. He complained to the Grand Marshal of the way
in which he had been treated. " He told me not to
trouble myself, that in a little while he would get me
some appointment with the King " ; and, indeed, at
the end of that year Pollnitz was made a Gentleman
of the Chamber.
That very day he heard of the death of his step-
35

36 A VAGABOND COURTIER
father. Von Wense had never regained favour with
the King, nor his position at Court, and died in exile on
his estate at Zell. " I felt his death very much," writes
his step-son, " especially on account of the grief it caused
my mother." Louisa Katherine had been forced to
marry this husband, to whom she had never spoken ;
but she had learnt to love him, had stood loyally by
him in adversity, as in prosperity, and she " never, for
the rest of her hfe, got over his loss."
Not unnaturally young Charles waxes spiteful over
the composition of the Queen's household. It had been
made up by Witgenstein, who had given the chief and
best-salaried posts to his mother-in-law and sister-in-
law. " The former had never been out of the depths of
Wetteravia, except to go to the fair at Frankfurt, where
she had put on all the pride of a countess of the Empire,
and, though well married, was better fitted to figure
at Wetzlar than at Court. . . . Though of the best
families, not one of the six maids of honour had ever
been at Court; nor were they well-mannered, young,
or endowed with any knowledge of the world, yet so
fine that they were almost impertinent."
The Grand Master of the Household, Count Schwerin,
though well-mannered and used to good society, was
not the man to give advice to "a strange princess,
little used to the whirl of a big Court." Many of the
chamberlains and gentlemen, all of good families, were
not counts.
" Which was not to the liking of Counts Wartenberg
and Wartensberg, and Witgenstein, though the two
first were only simple gentlemen by birth. But the
pride of these new Counts had risen to such a height
that, in order to set a value on their titles, it was
prohibited to any one who was not a Count to dine at
the table of the maids of honour, because they were

THE APPEENTICE 37
Countesses, though many of these girls would have been
delighted to marry mere gentlemen."
Pollnitz was ever keenly conscious of his own birth,
and, moreover, his step-father's death had awoke the
old resentment against Wartenberg, cause of Wense's
ruin. Pollnitz describes his daily round of duty as Gentle
man of the Chamber in the Berlin Schloss, where the
King aped the life of the Grand Monarque. Now that
he was growing old Frederic rose later, and his gentle
men did not come on duty till they were told by the
valets that " day had dawned in His Majesty's apart
ment," which was between five and six o'clock ! They
were followed by the doctors, and then by footmen, with
the gold table and coffee-set. The beverage was handed
round by pages "to all people of quality present at
the levee. It was absolutely necessary to have two
cups, or one ran the risk of incurring displeasure."
After half an hour's talk, "the King saluted with his
nightcap, and all retired," while he was dressed.
The ceremonial of the midday dinner, which followed
upon the morning despatch of business with the Ministers
and Council, was elaborate and stately in the extreme.
Pollnitz enters into every detail. The amount of
etiquette which had to be endured ere Their Majesties
could take a bite or a sup — for which they must have
been more than ready — is really astonishing. One
sometimes wonders if eighteenth-century Eoyalty was
quite human. It is a relief to hear that His Majesty
took an hour's snooze in his study after dinner, like
any other old gentleman.
" When he awoke the Gentlemen of the Chamber came
into the study of His Majesty. Sometimes the Queen
came to see him, sometimes the Prime Minister. ... In
summer the King went out and amused himself with
a walk, or with fishing, or else he went hunting, particu
larly hawking, of which he was very fond.

38 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" In the evening, at six o'clock, His Majesty went to
the Queen and stayed there an hour ; he then returned
to his apartment, to a room called the Tabagie, because
it was there that he smoked. Many noblemen had the
honour of smoking with him. The King never had
supper except upon special occasions. He amused
himself playing chess. When the game was finished
he conversed very familiarly with the Chamberlain, the
Gentlemen of the Chamber, and some privileged courtiers.
When the King wished the conversation to cease, he
gave orders to the Grand Master of the Wardrobe as to
the suit he wished to wear next day ; then every one
retired, and the valets of the chamber and the wardrobe
came to put His Majesty to bed. This was the routine
of the service at Court. Never any alterations in the
hours which the King had arranged for his doings, unless
he was not well."
No wonder that young Charles, fresh from the excite
ment of war, the freedom of camp life, and eager for the
pleasures of youth, became, as we shall see, exceedingly
bored with his daily mill-horse round, of which he
thought that " this account, though perhaps rather
long, would be less tiresome than that of all the Litanies,
and other prayers, at which the Queen was very assiduous
all the year."
For, shortly after marriage, Louisa Dorothea, who
had enjoyed gaiety at her brother's Court, became
exceedingly devote, under the influence of her confessor,
Prebendary Borst, and of Franke, Professor of Theology
at Halle University, who had started among the
Lutherans a sect called the " Pietists."
" The Court of the Queen soon became like a convent,"
relates Pollnitz, " no one seen there but priests, and
prayers and sermons going on continually. ... All the
mummeries displeased the King. An ardent Pietist,
she was so zealous for her religion that she thought
there was no salvation possible for those who professed

THE APPRENTICE 39
any other. I remember, one day, she was talking about
religion to the King, and that she said that she was
very grieved at his belonging to the Reformed Church,
as therefore he could not be saved. The King seemed
rather astonished at this compliment. ' What % ' he
said, ' you think I shall be damned ? How, then, will
you speak of me after my death ? For you could not
say the selige [blessed, or saved] King.'
" The Queen was a little embarrassed, and, after a few
moments' reflection, she said : ' I would say the dear,
deceased King.'
" This reply annoyed the King, who shortly afterwards
retired to his apartment. I was that day on duty,
and therefore in the King's room with some other noble
men. With some irritation the King told us of the
conversation he had had with the Queen. He felt it all
the more because he was then seriously considering
the reunion of the Protestant churches."
So Frank was sent back to Halle, and Borst " advised
not to busy himself so much about the Queen's
salvation." The winter of 1708-9 was a very severe one all over
Europe. It brought famine and pestilence to Prussia,
so prosperous and industrious. Pollnitz avers that
some two hundred thousand souls died of the plague ;
but his figures cannot be credited.
While the Queen held prayer-meetings in her apart
ments and plunged the Court into gloom, the King sent
succour to the starving districts, and established quaran
tine stations on the frontier to prevent the pestilence
from spreading.
By way of a little distraction, Frederic, who loved
amusing himself, betook himself, with Queen and Court,
to the New Year's Fair at Leipzig, much to his young
Kammerherr's delight.
The Leipzig fairs were the excuse for an informal and
lively outing for German rulers bored with the stiff and
monotonous ceremonial they imagined themselves

40 A VAGABOND COURTIER
obliged to keep up at their Courts. This year no less
than forty-four princes and princesses of ruling houses,
including Augustus the Strong, now His Majesty of
Poland, and his Queen, foregathered at the great com-
mercial centre of southern Germany. The two Kings
and the two Queens put up at the house of a rich mer
chant, named Apel, who had a magnificent garden
outside the gates.
By whichever way you entered Leipzig, "the jewel
of Saxony," Pollnitz found its situation charming.
The town itself was small, and, though fortified, of no
account as a fortress, though the citadel was garrisoned.
But, beyond the fine new stone gates, with their Roman
military columns, lay the large suburbs, with Apel's
and Pose's gardens, and promenades, " which," says
Pollnitz, with the artificial taste of his period, " though
natural, are not the less pleasing." Those in the valley
of the Rous, made of fourteen alleys with a fine large
lawn in the middle, each alley commanding a different
pretty view, were more to his liking. The merchant
Pose's garden was full of rare plants cultivated with the
greatest care.
" The Leipzig gardens," says Pollnitz, " are the best
in Germany, and pride themselves on forcing nature.
... At the Easter fair, fruits and flowers and vegetables
of all seasons are to be seen. The asparagus is delicious,
and extraordinarily large. Another delicacy in Leipzig
are the larks ; they are sent all over Germany, Poland,
Holland, and Denmark. I have been told, though I will
not vouch for the truth, that the toll levied on larks
coming into Leipzig brings in 12,000 crowns [£3,000]
a year. ... In no country in the world are so many
larks caught. From Michaelmas to Martinmas the
country is covered with them. Another peculiarity is
the quantity of nightingales in which the woods round
Leipzig abound. Many are caught and put in cages.
The girl in the house in which I lodged had seven, and
I saw many in other houses.

THE APPRENTICE 41
" The streets of the town are straight, the houses
well built in hewn stone but too overloaded with
carving, five or six stories high, the ground-floors consist
ing of shops in which the foreign merchants display the
goods they bring to these annual fairs, at New Year,
Easter, and Michaelmas. The rents are very high, and
it is difficult to get lodgings at fair times, when the town
is so crowded."
Besides its fairs Leipzig is celebrated for its old
university, the rival of Halle, but far more expensive ;
and Pollnitz found the students addicted to a gay life
and extravagance.
When spring came there was much talk of rejoining
the armies, in Italy, or Flanders. The Prince Royal
left his young wife, expecting her second child, and
went off with Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, being present
at glorious but bloody Malplaquet, which, with the
capture of Mons and Tournay, sent a thrill through
Berlin. " I wished very much to go on this campaign," writes
young Charles, envious of seeing his brother and his
comrades escape from the tedium of court life. " But
when I asked leave to start, His Majesty refused me,
saying that he had other views for me than the taste
for war."
Doubtless the old King, worried with his gloomy
spouse, and regretting the enjoyment of days gone by,
was reluctant to lose the company of his amusing young
Gentleman of the Chamber.
" I was flattered by his reply, as I was young and
therefore somewhat given to vanity. I was fool enough
for a few days to think myself in high favour. But I
soon saw good reason to perceive my mistake. This is
what occurred to undeceive me. The appointment of
Gentleman of the Chamber with which the King had
honoured me entailed my riding before his coach each
time that His Majesty went out or that he went into

42 A VAGABOND COURTIER
the country. I was for some time so unwell that it
was impossible for me to get on a horse. Ill-luck would
have it that the King, going from Charlottenburg to
Berlin, noticed that I was not at my post. This set
him so against me that, when I advanced to receive his
hat and stick on his arrival, he said the severest things
possible to me, the least, of which was that, if I neglected
my duty a second time he would deprive me of the
honour of serving him. Judge how humiliated I felt at
such an outburst before eight or ten people who were
in the King's room. Indeed, I had some difficulty in
stomacking it, and at first thought of resigning my
appointment. " I spoke to Count Witgenstein about it, who some
what smoothed my bad temper ; he showed me that,
in behaving as my impulse prompted, I should have
to resign all prospect of promotion in the service of
my sovereign — service always preferable to any success
one might find under a foreign prince. He promised
to reinstate me in the King's good graces, and he kept
his word.
" For, three days later, the King having returned
from Charlottenburg, I found myself alone with him in
his room with the chamberlain on duty. His Majesty
did me the honour to inquire if I was still angry ?
" I replied only by a low bow. The King asked
me the second time : ' I ask if you are still angry because
I scolded you a few days ago ? '
" I replied, with all possible respect, that indeed I had
felt extremely the having given reason to His Majesty
to be displeased with me ; that no one was more desirous
to serve him well, and if I have been unfortunate enough
lately to fail in my duty, it was in consequence of a very
serious indisposition.
' What ! ' said the King, ' you should have told me !
I would not have found fault with you. After all, if
I did so it was only to try you. I was not really as angry
as I seemed to be.'
" Jackal, the king's jester, who was present at this

THE APPRENTICE 43
conversation, took up the parable and remarked to the
King : ' Good, good Sire, the illness he alleges is an
illness to order : the real reason is that he has no riding-
horses, because he has no means of keeping any.'
" ' Well,' replied the King, ' I will give him the means.
The Grand Chamberlain shall give you an order for
forage,' he added, addressing himself to me ; ' go and
find him.'
" I approached to kiss the King's skirts, but he drew
back, and, as I bent down, he put his hand on my head,
and said :
' You're young. Be good, and I'll see after you.'
" A few days later, and my order was sent me, made
out for me to send to Michlemhaft, where it was given
out to the other courtiers who had received the same
favour." Towards the end of June the Court was enlivened
by two royal visitors, King Frederic IV of Denmark,
and the great Augustus of Poland, the former on his way
home from sight-seeing in Italy, via Dresden. They
had agreed to pay His Prussian Majesty a visit, and,
that there might be no difficulty as to precedence, they
drew lots as to which was to have the pas, and kept to
it during the visit, which was spent partly at Potsdam
in the beautiful and enlarged Schloss, and partly at
Berlin. A very gay time ensued, not unmixed with
serious business, for, on the very day that Charles XII
was routed at Pultava, the three Kings signed an
alliance. At this time a daughter was born to the Prince Royal.
The Court was convulsed with delight. Poets celebrated
the little princess's birth and "adulated her even to
idolatry ; one presented verses to the King in which he
compared the new-born Princess to the Child Jesus,
and the three monarchs who were present at her baptism
to the three Magi."
Charles von Pollnitz was doubtless not particularly
interested in the baby ; but in years to come he was

44 A VAGABOND COURTIER
to become very much so, in the Princess Wilhelmina.
Between them grew up a real friendship founded on
mutual tastes in art and literature, and the Mar
gravine, however caustic she might be about others,
always wrote kindly to, and of, her " old Baron."
There was a great scene at this baptism, a dispute as
to precedence between the redoubtable Countess Warten
berg and the wife of the Dutch envoy, " who changed
the system of Europe.
"... In all court ceremonies Countess Wartenberg
was wont to walk first after the Princesses of the Blood
ever since the Duchess of Holstein-Beck had yielded
her the pas upon payment, by the King, of ten
thousand crowns. Never had envoy's wife dreamed
of contesting precedence with the wife of the Prime
Minister. " But the Dutchwoman hid behind a door-curtain
as the procession of ladies, headed by the Margravine
of Schwedt, carrying the infant, left the Princess Eoyal's
apartments. She rushed out of her ambush and cut off
the precedence of the Countess Wartenberg, who was
following the Margravine."
The Countess inheriting the physique of her father,
a Rhine boatman, "seized the interloper by her dress
and stopped her. The Dutchwoman, less powerful, but
more agile, finding herself unable to move on, adroitly
began to make a remark, sprang forward lightly, and
disarranged the Countess's coiffure." The latter did not
belie her origin, but " retaliated with some fisticuffs.
The scandal would have gone further had not the Grand
Master of the ceremonies separated the combatants.
The honours of the field, however, lay with the Countess,
who carried off as trophy a feather from her enemy's
headdress." Then followed mutual recriminations and appeals to
the Kings, and even to the Dutch States-General.
Matters even went so far that Frederic threatened to
withdraw his troops from Flanders ! Finally, the States
gave way, and Lintlo had to apologize to the all-powerful

THE APPRENTICE 45
Countess, whose arrogance increased considerably after
this victory. But pride was soon to have a fall.
Charles von Pollnitz, however, was not to be there
to see the ruin of those who had wrecked his step
father's fortune. He himself was to feel, not perhaps
wholly undeservedly, the fickleness of royal favour. He
left Court in consequence of " some very hard words
which the King said to me one day when I had failed
to appear on duty as Gentleman of the Chamber."
What brought about this dereliction was Pollnitz's
preference for the society of the Margrave Philip of
Schwedt, the King's step-brother, who resided chiefly at
his fine house at Schwedt on the Oder. His wife, a
Princess of Anhalt-Dessau, sister to the great captain
"and that fine Louisa, the Great Elector's first wife,"
daughter of a Princess of Orange, was connected with
Pollnitz through the latter's grandmother. Highest
in rank at Court after the Queen, the Margravine was
a charming woman, " an ornament to the Court," he
writes. " Nothing could exceed her graciousness to
strangers. One pays one's respects to her quite as
much from inclination as from duty."
The Margrave was the eldest surviving son of the
Great Elector by his second wife. " Nothing," writes
Charles, " could equal his wisdom, his uprightness, his
sincerity, and the purity of his morals." The pair were
very kind and hospitable to their young orphan relative,
and Schwedt was a kind of home to him during those
years. " I was with the Margrave as much as I possibly
could, and, indeed, I was not with him as much as I
should have wished, for I do not think there ever was
a prince to whom one could pay one's court with more
pleasure and freedom. As the Margrave was nearly
always at Schwedt, it happened one day that, being on
duty with the King, I decided to remain at the Mar
grave's Court, instead of going and doing my duty;
thus it occurred that whoever was in waiting was obliged

46 A VAGABOND COURTIER
to stay on some time longer. The King having inquired
the reason, the gentleman replied that it was because
of me, and that I had not even had the consideration to
warn any one to take my duty. The King, who was
well aware that I missed my service only on account of
my attachment to the Margrave, his brother, asked me,
directly I entered his presence, if I served his brother
or himself, and why I did not do my duty better. I
was so bewildered at the manner in which the King
spoke those few words to me that, in truth, I do not know
what I said to excuse myself; but, whether the King
thought my reasons good or bad, he made me no reply.
I was so put out by this honour the King did me before
several people that, in order to digest my resentment,
I determined to go away for a time.
" I asked His Majesty for permission to travel ; I had
no difficulty in obtaining it, on condition that I did not
go to France, with which country the King was at war."

PART II
THE VAGRANT
"... Un nouvel Oreate poursuivi par le Sort dans differens Pays ? "
Pollnitz.

4?

SOPHIA, ELECTRESS-DOWAGER OF HANOVER.
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.

CHAPTER I
Having taken leave of His Majesty, Pollnitz went to
spend a few days with his friends at Schwedt, where he
bade what was to be a last farewell to the Margrave.
The Margravine suggested to him to set out on his
travels by paying his respects to the Princesses, her
sisters, at Dessau. Pollnitz, always exploiting his
Orange connection for all it was worth, was nothing loth.
" Dessau was a little independent principality, about
the size of Huntmgdonshire, but with woods instead
of bogs ; revenue of it perhaps not £20,000, or even
£10,000, in Leopold's time. It lies some fourscore
miles from Berlin, attainable by post-horses in a day.
Leopold, as his father had done, stood by Prussia as
if wholly native of it. Lying in such neighbourhood,
and being in such affinity to the Prussian House, the
Dessauers may be said to have had in later times their
headquarters at Berlin. The Leopolds, without neglect
ing the principality, held by the Prussian army as their
main employment. Not neglecting Dessau either ; but
going thither in winter, or on call otherwise."
The young Baron found the princesses at Oranien-
baum, built by their Orange mother, " a magnificent
chateau, worthy of the princess who had erected it."
He stayed there a week or so, and then went on by
Halle to Halberstadt on his way to Hanover. Pollnitz
had bethought him of his interest at the Court of the
Electress Sophia, through his cousin Charlotte, her
favourite lady-in-waiting.
From Halberstadt to Wolfenbiittel, " a poor town
all of wood, except the palace and a fine library ; " the
1—4 49

50 A VAGABOND COURTIER
octogenarian Duke of Brunswick at Salzdahl three miles
off; Pollnitz drove down the league-long avenue to
pay his respects. He was received with special gracious
ness, and kept to dinner, finding the Duke with the
clearness and vivacity of a man of thirty — great on
Roman History, and having translated Racine and
Corneille and French novels, and with a good taste in
architecture, as his new castle of Salzdahl evinced,
with its treasures of pictures and collections. Duke
Anthony Ulric, though of a Lutheran house, had
gone over to Rome, coveting, scandal said, the Bishopric
of Hildersheim — occasionally held by laymen! — and
that of Cologne, vacant by ban. Pollnitz, however,
maintains that his conversion was the fruit of years
of reflection. May it have been that their intercourse
sowed in the young Baron's mind the first seeds of his
own apostasy ?
It was Duke Anthony's granddaughter's great
marriage which led finally to his conversion. When
she was betrothed to the Kaiser, Charles VI, a com
mission of the cleverest theologians in Germany arrived
at Wolfenbiittel to convert the timid young girl to
what, writes Pollnitz, " was the only sure salvation."
To encourage her, her grandfather promised to change
his rehgion also ; his Prime Minister followed suit. The
Duke, though Roman Catholic at heart, hesitated.
Not till his granddaughter had reached Barcelona, on
her way to Madrid, did her persuasive letter finally
determine him. " He showed his granddaughter,"
unctuously writes Pollnitz, " that, in obtaining for her
one of the first crowns in the world, he had, at the
same time, laboured to secure her another more
valuable, and of longer duration."
Pollnitz went on to Brunswick, only six miles along
a straight, tree-planted road, to the old, old town, added
to by Henry the Fowler. One of the Hanseatic cities,
it had lost its liberty but some thirty years previously,
conquered by the Duke of Wolfenbiittel. There was
only one palace to see, and the lofty monument opposite

THE VAGRANT 51
to the church of S. Alaise, to Duke Henry, surnamed
the Lion, and surmounted by the statue of his pet
lion. " The Duke having died and been buried in the
church, the lion went to the church door, and, finding it
shut, tried with all his might to get in. It was found
impossible to remove him, and finally he died on the
same spot of grief at having lost his master," chronicles
our Baron.
He went on to Zell to see his mother, who was living
in retirement on her third husband's estate and where
his connection, Count Schulemburg, was Governor for
King George. The capital of the little duchy, which
had passed to the Elector of Hanover by his marriage
with the only child of the last Duke, was the most
tolerant of towns, " where," writes Pollnitz, " both
Catholics and Protestants compose the cathedral chapter,
and use the same fane." Even his most Protestant
Majesty of Prussia, when he came on a visit to Zell, both
listened to a sermon, assisted at mass, and was blessed
by the Blessed Sacrament."
Society at Zell was pleasant, and, for the first time,
Charles von Pollnitz found himself in a French atmo
sphere not uncongenial to him. The Provencal Duchess,
Eleonore d'Olbreuse, had attracted many of her country
men to her Court, and there were both French Roman
Cathohe and French Protestant churches. Indeed, so
French was the society that Pollnitz could quite believe
an anecdote told him of the late Duke's reign. Twelve
guests were dining at the palace, when one remarked
that all were French but the host : " Indeed, Mon-
seigneur, this is rather amusing : only you are a foreigner
here ! "
A few miles from Zell the late Duke's heiress, the
daughter of the popular French Duchess, languished in
her lonely little country-house among the fens. Im
prisoned by her ruthless husband, separated from, and
unknown to, her children, plundered by her servants,
she was to drag out for another ten years her life-in-
death, to die a shrieking maniac, to be refused, first

52 A VAGABOND COURTIER
sepulchre, and then Christian burial by the implacable
George. Such was the shadow which hung over pleasant
little French Zell.
Pollnitz, as we have seen, had determined to seek
the help of his father's cousin, Charlotte von Pollnitz, at
Hanover. Taken on as lady-in-waiting by the Electress
Sophia after the death of the Queen of Prussia, Charlotte
had as much influence with the mother as she had had
with the daughter. Her cousin hoped she might secure
him an appointment at Court.
In less than five hours he drove across the heath-
land from Zell and found Hanover a pleasant town upon
the Aller, which divided it into two quarters, the old
and the new. A few years previously the Elector had
finished his country palace of Herrenhausen, "not in
proportion," thought Pollnitz, "to the magnificent
gardens which surround it, undoubtedly the finest in
Europe. There is a fountain to be seen which spurts
higher than the famous fountain at S. Cloud, always
considered the highest in the world."
Between Herrenhausen and the city he saw the two
other country-houses, the Fantasie and Monbrilhant,
built by two sisters-in-law : one by Frau von Kilman-
segg, the mistress of the Elector, and the other by
Countess Platen (" the ornament of Hanover," says
Pollnitz), who had occupied the same position with his
father. She was the jealous enemy who contrived the
ruin of the " Duchess of Ahlden " and the murder of
her lover. Pollnitz blinks at the moral failings of
these " two ladies, who really did credit to Germany
by their beauty, their manners, and their characters." (!)
The Hanoverian family consisted of the Elector — his
wife shut up at Ahlden, and Frau von Kilmansegg in
possession of him — his son George, with his pretty, clever
young wife, Caroline of Anspach (who had had the
moral courage to decline to be Empress of Germany, as
she would have been obliged to change her religion),
who was spending the happiest years of her life at her
father-in-law's Court with her little girls and her son

THE VAGRANT 53
Frederic, the heir, afterwards Frederic, Prince of
Wales. But we have left the most commanding figure of the
Court of Hanover to the last. The Electress Sophia
was heiress presumptive to the throne of England,
through her Stuart mother, Elizabeth, "Queen of
Hearts," daughter of James I, and wife of the hapless
" Winter King " of Bohemia, turned adrift on Europe
after a year's reign, while his Rhenish patrimony was the
battleground of the religions during the Thirty Years
War. The Electress was eighty years of age when Pollnitz
first went to Hanover, " but she did not feel any of those
infirmities which are inseparable from great age." She
was very erect, a great walker — at seventy-four she
walked for two hours every day — and quoted about
herself the Dutch proverb, " Creaking wagons go on for
a long time." " She had. kept," writes Pollnitz, " a
vivacity of mind and a memory which was really pro
digious. She spoke French, English, Italian, as well as
her native language. She had, moreover, a fine intellect,
which she had cultivated by much reading." He
hardly does justice to what Spittler, in his " History of
Hanover," calls her " fundamentally Germanic, superior
to princes' enlightenment " (Teuschgrundliche uberfiirst-
liche Aufkldrung).
Sophia, in her youth, spoke six languages, and had
read and studied much at her brother's Court at Heidel
berg, where she found refuge after the wanderings of
her stormy childhood. At the palace of Osnabriick,
her home as wife of the heir to Hanover, she discoursed
with von Helmont ; in her son's gardens at Herren
hausen she walked and talked with Leibnitz the philo
sopher. She read Spinoza, Montaigne, Clarendon's
" History of England " (which she liked because " she
knew the people he mentioned "), all the memoirs and
novels of the period, and worthy Bishop Burnett,
" good enough to skim through, but not to read."
Grote, the author and diplomatist, was her friend. To

54 A VAGABOND COURTIER
visit her came Marlborough, "the easiest, most civil,
most obliging," and Peter the Great, who talked mathe
matics, while " she held her tongue."
She was, however, no real metaphysician or theologian.
Her philosophy was only ethical. A Calvinist, though
her husband had been a Lutheran, she communicated
four times a year, hated Roman Catholics, and upheld
her daughter-in-law for refusing Charles VI. Much
attached to her daughter, the Queen of Prussia, after
the latter's death Caroline somewhat filled the gap.
Her niece, the Raugravine Louise, one of her brother's
many children by Louise von Degenfeld, lived with her,
and she corresponded voluminously with the latter's
half-sister at Versailles, widow of Monsieur, the brother
of Louis XIV. With her son she had no influence;
he probably never forgot that she had planned his
marriage with the errant Dorothea of Zell ; but her
son-in-law Frederic of Prussia — " that fool," she called
him — always listened eagerly to advice from his astute
" most gracious mamma."
The acquaintance of this clever old lady, and his
intercourse with her, must have been an education in
itself to the eighteen-year-old, nimble-witted young
Pollnitz, eager to absorb from his surroundings. He
appreciated her wit and intelligence, her versatility, and,
above all, the keen sense of humour with which, she
sparkled. Sophia, on the other hand, liked the lad,
finding him congenial. After her husband's death she
lived entirely at Herrenhausen at the Orangery. We
can picture Pollnitz pacing by the side of the handsome
old lady with the aquiline nose and the abundant grey
hair, in the greenhouse, the largest in Europe, or along
the just-finished Dutch garden-paths, among the summer-
houses and grottoes, between the clipped hedges sur
rounding the out-door theatre, and through the " wilder
ness," listening to the nightingales, watching the swans
and ducks.
Just at the time of Pollnitz's visit Sophia was very
busy withJEnglish politics, trimming between the " wigs "

THE VAGRANT 55
and the Tories. Her one remaining ambition — for her
wish to see her husband live to be Elector had been
gratified — was to die Queen of England. She missed
it by a few weeks.
The young Baron enjoyed himself at Hanover. The
Elector was naturally hospitable, " and during the stay
I made at Court seemed to honour me with his special
protection." Carnival time soon came on, the " season "
at the German Courts of the eighteenth century, and
which lasted from Christmas to Easter, and Pollnitz
describes the whirl of amusement.
" The opening was the second day of January by a
French play, after which there were cards and a reception
at Madame l'Electrice till ten at night. The next day
was the ' ridotto,' an imitation of those of Venice [in
which gayest city of Europe the Elector had sojourned
much] that is to say, a public ball where every one can
come, provided they are masked and unarmed. The
ball was held in the Town Hall ; there was one every day
during the Carnival. One played at ombre and at
piquet in the ridotto room ; in another, bassette was
played. There was a third, in which a contractor pro
vided refreshments, and a fourth room adjoined where
one could get coffee, chocolate, and liqueurs, etc. I
went in greatly for all the amusements of the Carnival ;
I was of an age when pleasures form one's principal
business, especially if one had money enough to be
beyond the reach of the uneasiness which the lack of
this precious metal causes. I had collected a goodly
store, with which I cut a fine enough figure ; but soon I
was obhged to pull in my horns, and that in consequence
of an unfortunate experience of which I was the victim.
I wished to tempt Fortune by gambling. At first I
played with a good deal of luck, but the chances turned,
and I soon found myself personally much embarrassed,
unable either to continue my travels or to turn my steps
backwards, and still less to remain at Hanover. I then
did what most young men usually do in a similar plight ;

56 A VAGABOND COURTIER
that is to say, I made several borrowings, always to my
disadvantage. " At last I was obliged to confess my situation to my
mother, under whose guardianship I still was. I had
much trouble in extracting from her the money I re
quired." Probably Countess von Wense was not uninfluenced
by the reports she received of her son from her cousin.
Charlotte von Pollnitz was in possession of all her Dutch
mother's fortune and estates as the last survivor of
the latter's family. Her heirs were Maurice and Charles,
but the masterful lady kept a firm grip on her money,
and had no notion of letting any of it fall into the sieve
like hands of her gambling young cousin.
However, he wrote to his mother " such touching
letters, that she felt she was still a mother, and, after
having kept me waiting a httle while, she was kind
enough to give me the sums I had need of."
" This little upset came very mal a propos. Madame
l'Electrice had been so kind as to ask Madame de France
for a passport, that I might get leave to go to Paris ;
but, as it was only granted for two months, it was im
possible for me to use it, having been obliged to spend all
the time in setting my money affairs in order."
Pollnitz had not been many weeks at Hanover when
he heard a piece of news from Berlin, imparted direct
by the King to his " most gracious mamma," which must
have pleased him immensely, to wit, the downfall of
the man who had wrecked the family fortunes.
When the King returned from a visit to Augustus at
Dresden, writes Pollnitz, he found —
"The Queen in a furious state of displeasure with
Countess Wartenberg, who, since her victory over the
Dutch ambassadress, forgot herself more than ever
with the Queen ; so far that the Queen one day ordered
her out of the room, and never to re-enter it.

THE VAGRANT 57

<< <

Ha ! we shall see about that ! ' was the reply.
" The incensed Queen ordered her to be thrown out
of window. Happily no one was there, so that she had
time to retire."
After that she had another skirmish with another
diplomat's wife. The King began to have enough of her
airs and graces, and the determined enemy of the Warten-
bergs, the Prince Royal, was working ceaselessly to
undermine them. But their downfall was accomplished
by the two Kameckes, one Grand Master of the Ward
robe, and the other his clever courtier-cousin who
wormed himself into the King's favour by letting him
beat him at chess, and got himself made Minister of
State. The Wartenbergs were arrested, clapped into Spandau,
and then exiled to their estates. They had come to
Court with nothing. The pair left it with millions,
besides a pension of 24,000 crowns so long as they
hved at Frankfurt. The Countess carried off 50,000
crowns' worth of diamonds, of which more later on.
Wartenberg made a present of his little gem of a palace
on the river-bank to the King, who, however, insisted
on paying for it, and the Crown Prince gave it to his
wife, who called it Montbijou. " It was the only thing,"
writes Pollnitz, " that the Wartenbergs could not carry
off. " The money my mother had had the kindness to
send me put me in a position to continue my travels."
Just at that moment Joseph I died, and a meeting of
the Electors was called for August at Frankfurt to elect
a new Emperor. Pollnitz was seized with the wish to
attend the great ceremony. Meanwhile, as Paris, the
Mecca of the gilded youth of the period, was out of the
bounds of possibility, he decided to make a tour in the
Low Countries, where The Hague was then a great
resort of pleasure-seekers.

CHAPTER II
Pollnitz set out for his first tour outside the Empire
by way of Minden, a strong fortress, Herford, Lipstadt,
Horn, and struck the Rhine at Wesel, " one of the
strongest fortresses in Europe, which the King was
still strengthening." Thence by boat to Nimeguen,
and, without stopping to Utrecht and Leyden. This
he thought the finest city in the United Provinces,
with its long, broad streets, " extremely clean,"
divided by canals, a valuable hbrary, a Hall of
Anatomy —
" Where one sees freaks of all descriptions. . . . But,
though the town is very fine, I think that it must be one
of the dullest places to live in, in all Holland : every
where there reigns a certain look of sickness, which
makes one melancholy. It is not that the townsfolk
are not as healthy as elsewhere ; but their custom of
always being in their dressing-gowns and walking in the
streets dressed like that makes one take them for con
valescents." He went on the twelve miles to The Hague, equally
pretty either by road or by canal, between fine country-
houses and beautiful gardens on either hand. " The
Hague," he writes, " one may well call the finest village
in Europe, for neither walls nor ramparts are to be seen,
and it is of the pleasantest spots in Holland. A stay
there is delightful."
The young Baron spent a month there, enjoying life
exceedingly. He found himself among kith and kin,
the three branches of Nassau cousins, all descended
58

THE VAGRANT 59
from his great-grandfather, Maurice of Nassau, and his
mistress, Anne of Mechelin, to wit the Counts Ovver-
kerke, Zeist, and Laleck. Other reigning houses had
followed the example of Louis XIV and legitimized
their bastards.
Further, there was much affinity between the Prussian
and the Dutch nobility, and the young Gentleman of the
Chamber to King Frederic found himself welcomed
in society.
" In this town the inhabitants are well-mannered,
more sociable, and more amenable than in the rest of
Holland. The aristocracy is looked up to, and merit
does not count for naught. The ladies look well, dress
well, and have something better than mere beauty as
an attraction. . . . Most gentlefolk meet every evening
alternately at each other's houses. Their assemblies
would be more brilliant than they generally are if they
were less mixed ; but the freedom of the country, the
wealth of the inhabitants, place the townspeople on a
level with, and sometimes even above, the gentlefolk."
He thought the houses plain and irregular, except
the Stadtholder's palace, where the States-General met,
with its fine halls all hung with flags and standards
which the Republic had taken from its enemies.
" But there are no houses which looked like a man
sion. The interiors are very common, and not very
comfortable ; anterooms are unknown ; the servants
spend their time in the kitchen or in the hall.
As for a porter, no such thing is seen except at an
ambassador's. " There are many Jews at The Hague, who make a
great show. It is the Portuguese Jews who spend the
most money : these gentlemen have carriages like an
ambassador's, magnificent houses and gardens, and
they very often entertain with all the delicacies and
magnificence possible. They are received everywhere,
and only differ from Christians because they have more

60 A VAGABOND COURTIER
wealth and spend more money. I knew one of them,
named Duliz, who was very much liked ; he was kind
and generous, extremely charitable, assisting every one
who was in want without troubling very much if he
was a Jew or a Christian who shared his largesse. I
know that he even gave money to keep up a church, as
if it had been a synagogue."
Pollnitz took a turn from The Hague to Delft. A road
paved with brick and bordered by elms led thither, but
he chose the water-way, the usual route, and to him a
novelty, taking one of the canal-boats which plied
regularly. He visited the tomb of the murdered Great
Stadtholder, William the Silent, saw the china-factory,
and slept at Rotterdam, after " walking about the
beautiful quays planted with fine avenues, and bordered
on either side with fine houses." He saw what was to
be seen at Dordrecht, and then took boat again from
Rotterdam to Amsterdam, " the most famous town
in all Holland. Its size, its immense trade and its
wealth are the admiration of all visitors."
His King being expected on a visit to The Hague,
Charles carefully arranged to be back again there before
his arrival. The Hague was in the eighteenth century
a diplomatic Clapham Junction, a political clearing
house. At the present time it was seething with
parleyings. Louis XIV, weary of war and the world,
was wishful for peace. The trend of feeling in Europe
was leading up to the Congress of Utrecht, and the
object of Frederic's visit was to finally adjust with
Prince John William of Nassau, the heir of William of
Orange, the long-disputed heritage of that sovereign.
King Frederic came by Rotterdam, saluted by guns,
to Delfshavn, where he found his yacht and many
others, which had come round from The Hague. In
this gaily-painted vessel, with its high prow and great
weather-board, he sailed to Delft, where coaches were
in readiness. At The Hague he drew up at the Palais
de la Vieille Cour, bequeathed to him by William III

THE VAGRANT 61
of England. It was a large building at the bottom of
a courtyard formed by two projecting wings, fronted
by high arcades joined by balustrades which separated
the court from the street. Inside there were fine
rooms with good pictures, and behind a large garden,
which Frederic, a great gardener, had much improved.
A guard was mounted at the palace, and the next
day, the King, after attending a sermon, received a
deputation from the States-General. They were saluted
by the guard, and at the foot of the staircase received
by the Grand Marshal of the Household, the chamber
lains and gentlemen of the chamber. Of the latter
Pollnitz was one, back again in favour and on duty,
though temporarily, and went with the King next day
to Houstardyk, another house, ten leagues out of
Amsterdam, which Frederic had inherited from William
of Orange.
Here the King awaited the Prince of Frisia, the
Stadtholder, who was coming to meet him from the
army in Flanders. Instead of the Prince, however,
came a courier with the overwhelming news that John
Wilham had been drowned in crossing a ford at Maerdijk,
near Dordrecht. Pollnitz gives details which he heard :
" The boat had capsized by a sudden furious gust
of wind when only thirty or forty feet from land. As
the sea was rough and the Prince could not swim, he
could not reach land. He clung for a while to the mast,
but was swept away, and the weight of his clothes and
the waves caused him to sink, and he disappeared at
the moment that a boat was approaching to save him.
His body was not found till eight days later. . . . One
cannot express the regret that this unexpected death
caused in Holland. There was universal mourning."
The kind-hearted old King was very much shocked
by the news, all the more as it was announced to him
suddenly by a too-zealous courtier, " who did not know
his high-mindedness," and thought that he might not

62 A VAGABOND COURTIER
be sorry to be rid of a Prince with whom he was in
litigation. He was so upset that the doctors deemed
it advisable to bleed him. He was filled with remorse
lest the wish he had expressed to see the Prince at The
Hague might not have caused him to hurry his journey
in bad weather, and at once sent a courier to condole
with the widowed Princess who was left with one child,
a daughter, but who was enceinte. He offered a division
of the estates in dispute between himself and the
Princess, which, however, she eventually would not
accept. Whereupon the King put off all settlements
till her son, who was born in September, should be of
age. He withdrew to the country-seat of Dieren, to
which he considered himself entitled. Pollnitz went
with him, " having had the honour of paying his respects
to him scrupulously all the time that His Majesty
passed at The Hague. At Dieren I took leave of the
King, little thinking that it was to be for ever."
This death was followed by another which also was
much felt by Frederic. It was that of Wartenberg.
The King had been hankering after the disgraced
favourite all during his Dutch tour, and had written to
him offering him his recall if he would return without
his impossible wife. " But Wartenberg," says Pollnitz,
" declined to give up a woman who was dear to him,"
and died soon afterwards. By his own wish he was buried
at Berlin in the Reformed Church, close to Henrietta
Duhamel, whose sister-in-law, Countess Wense, he
had so injured. King Frederic, who had been very
fond of him, wept when he saw the funeral pass.
Pollnitz moved on towards Frankfurt and Imperial
ceremonies, via Dusseldrop, where, as a courtier of the
King of Prussia, he was well received by the Elector
Palatine, who had just taken up his residence there.
Whereas former Electors had preferred to live at
Heidelberg or Mannheim, John William liked Diissel-
dorf best, where, like other German and Italian prince-
lets of the day, he had built himself a copy of Versailles.
It stood in a charming situation five leagues from the

THE VAGRANT 63
city, on a hill in a forest commanding a bird's-eye view
of Cologne and the Rhine Valley. It was erected by
Italian workmen, for the Elector's wife was Italian;
but the rooms, his guest found, uncomfortably arranged,
as in Italy, " a magnificent house, but full of defects."
Pollnitz admired the large collection of pictures, which
included some Rubens and other Dutch masters, and
especiaUy a " Last Judgment " of Rubens painted
out of gratitude for Duke Wolfgang of Neuburg, the
Elector's ancestor, who had extricated the artist from
the clutches of the Holy Office in Spain.
At Dusseldorf Pollnitz spent a pleasant time, laying
the foundations of future introductions to various
Courts. For the Elector had married the daughter of
Cosmo III, Duke of Tuscany, and one of his sisters the
Emperor Leopold I, and another Charles II of Spain.
Pollnitz found Frankfurt one of the largest cities
in Europe, but full of anomalies. To begin with, it was
built chiefly of wood, stuccoed over. Hence frequent
conflagrations occurred, chiefly owing to the Jews.
For these, who constituted a large proportion of the
inhabitants, were locked up every evening in their
own quarter of the town, packed in tall houses, and
dared not open their gates for fear of being robbed.
So it was impossible to render them any assistance
during a fire. On the other hand, they were permitted
to have fine synagogues, while the Roman Catholics,
who possessed all the churches, sent the Reformed
Protestants across the river to Hanau to hold their
services and have their children baptized.
As a town to stay in Pollnitz thought " that there
was no place more boring, and few German cities
where the people are so coarse. The bourgeois have
an unsurpassed affectation, and their language is in
supportable." But the excitement caused by the Imperial Election,
the great concourse of electors, ambassadors, princes
and visitors, was quite to the Baron's mind. The
narrow old streets were full of grand equipages of

64 A VAGABOND COURTIER
divers notabilities of many nationalities, Pollnitz was
pleased to find that Count Dohna, the Prussian envoy,
outshone all the others, with his five coaches drawn
by six horses apiece, his forty gentlemen, his seventy-
two pages, forty-eight valets, and two beadles — which
latter item strikes one as rather inadequate compared
with the rest. There was such rivalry and dispute
between Dohna and the Prussian Government repre
sentative who had accompanied him that the latter
died of chagrin and apoplexy in a few hours.
All the Electors were present except those of Cologne
and Bavaria, kept away by the war, in which they
had sided with France, and protesting fiercely, but in
vain, against the legality of the election in their absence.
So high did the feeling against them run at the Council
that the Bohemian envoys calmly proposed that their
chairs should be broken up to show their disgrace.
The Council of the Electors opened on August 25th.
It was preceded by a difficulty with the Papal Nuncio,
who arrogated to himself the first place, and then
declined to recognize the new Protestant Electors of
Prussia, Hanover and Brunswick, or to meet any of
them. Informal conversations took place in a garden.
Finally, alarmed by threats that the Prussian troops
in North Italy should march into the Papal States, he
gave way. More informal discussions till October.
Augustus of Poland wanted the Imperial crown for his
son, and England had a finger in the pie unofficially.
Things had gone so badly with Archduke Charles in Spain,
and the expense of settling him on that throne would
be so great, that " a new policy had been adopted by
the English Minister : they were treating secretly
with France, and determined to recompense Charles
for Spain by giving him the Imperial throne." There
fore, " it was unnecessary," adds Pollnitz, " for the
Electors to sing Veni Creator, etc., to inspire them in
their choice. They had resolved to elect Charles."
On October 10th all foreigners, except those in the
suites of the Electors, were ordered out of the city

'MADAME," ELIZABETH CHARLOTTE, DOWAGER-DUCHESS OF ORLEANS.
"II est bon, puis qu'on voit mon visage et mes yeux
Que Ton apprenne aussi quel est mon caraelere
Quand il s'agit des droits de mon rang glorieux
J'ai l'Sme delicate, et quelques fois altiere
Et mon cceur en revanche au foible, au malheureux
Ne se montre jamais que tendre, et de bonnaire."

THE VAGRANT 65
before sunset. The Papal Nuncio, obliged to retire,
went to sulk at Aschaffenburg. Next day all the church
bells rang simultaneously for five hours ! The garrison
and citizens lined the streets. All the Electors and
envoys drove in pomp and state, and in full dress —
except the Bohemians, in mourning for the late Kaiser
— to the Romerhall. There they changed into semi-
ecclesiastical ermine-lined robes, and, with the envoys,
rode, all in due precedence, on superbly accoutred
horses, to S. Barthelmi, and heard mass. During the
Elevation the Protestant Electors retired into the
Chapel of the Conclave. Then there was a solemn
oath-taking on the gospel of all the Electors, and a
three-hours' conference, all being shut up in the chapel.
They then returned to the church and took up a
position on a scarlet-draped stand in red velvet and
gold chairs. When the loud shouts of " Long live the
Kaiser ! " rang through the church, and the cannon
thundered on the ramparts, and the soldiers fired
salvoes in the streets, it was Charles they were acclaim
ing as " King of the Romans and of Spain."
Directly the election ceremonies were over Pollnitz
hurried off on a sad errand. Louisa Katharine von
Wense's chequered life had come to an end. She
was but in early middle age, and her youngest and
favourite son had not been with her at her last moments.
Though Charles had not allowed this sad event to
interfere with his enjoyment of the great occasion — he
never allowed anything, at any time, to do that — he writes
that " this death touched me very much, all the more
as it was the first thing in my life which really seriously
grieved me." Into the lad's egotistical, self-centred,
frivolous existence had come the first sorrow — a sorrow
probably not untinged with remorse for the trouble he
had but recently caused his mother in worrying her for
money. Pollnitz went off to Zell, where his brother was, and
remained there some time winding up their mother's
estate. But when he heard that the coronation of the

66 A VAGABOND COURTIER
new Emperor was fixed for Christmastide, he returned
to Frankfurt by way of Cassel.
In the army of Flanders he had soldiered with the
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel — connected by marriage
with the house of Brandenburg — and his two sons. So
Pollnitz was made welcome in the old palace in the
pretty town on the Fulda, surrounded by ramparts,
with its orange-tree-clad castle terrace. But, if the
young Baron's visit gave pleasure, it also gave pain.
He was the bearer, almost straight from Holland, of the
sad details of the tragedy on the Maerdijk which had
widowed the Landgrave's daughter. The Hesse-Cassel
family circle was a large one, often meeting at the Land
grave's Court, " making it," says Pollnitz, " one of the
most brilliant in Germany, not only by the grand style
of the family, but still more by their pleasant manners
to every one, especially to strangers. I left Cassel with
regret." He reached Frankfurt a few days before the Emperor,
and describes at length his reception and the elaborate
ceremonies of the coronation at S. Barthelmi, the
Emperor in crimson and ermine robes like the Electors,
and with the diamond cross of his ancestors and the
mantle and sword of Charlemagne.
Certain prophets, tells Pollnitz, drew portents from
certain incidents they observed. The first was that the
Kaiser made his entry into the city in deep mourning
for his brother Joseph. They foretold that it was
mourning because he knew that he should be the last
Emperor of his house. The second was that, as Charles
left the church, arrayed with all the symbols of Empire,
the sword of Charlemagne nearly fell out of its sheath.
The Elector of Treves — of the house of Lorraine —
caught it, and replaced it before it had quite fallen.
The same dealers in prophecy foretold, anent this, that
the Emperor would never enjoy peace, but would always
find himself obliged to draw the sword in his own defence.
At one of the windows of the Romerhall stood
Charles VI, and gazed on the throng which crowded at

THE VAGRANT 67
the windows and which overflowed the square. Below
Count Pappenheim, Viceroy of Saxony, as Grand
Marshal of the Empire, played his part.
" Mounted on a very fine horse, he galloped into a
pile of corn in a corner of the square ; he filled a silver
measure with it, returned to the middle of the square,
and threw the corn and the measure to be scrambled for
by the populace. Then appeared the Elector Palatine,
surrounded by his guards and preceded by his Court :
he rode into a kitchen, built specially in the great square,
found there an ox on the spit, cut it into bits, and, placing
it on a golden dish, carried it to the Emperor's table.
Count Zinzendorff, deputy of the Elector of Hanover,
Treasurer of the Empire, with Imperial Guards rode
round the square throwing special gold and silver
medals from sacks of cloth-of-gold, hanging from his
pommels. Count Dohna, representing the Elector of
Brandenburg, with all his retinue and the Imperial
Guard, rode into the middle of the square, where was set
on a table a basin and a jug of silver-gilt full of water
and a wet napkin, which he took to the banqueting-
hall and gave to the Emperor to wash with. Count
Kinsky, envoy of the King of Bohemia, cup-bearer of
the Empire, took a gold goblet, and, fetching wine from
a fountain in the shape of an Imperial eagle, set up in
the middle of the square, gave it to the Emperor to
drink." Then followed the ultra-ceremonious banquet in the
Romerhall. Pollnitz was on the point of leaving Frankfurt when
he received the sad news of the death of the Margrave
Philip of Schwedt. He says that King Frederic's envoy,
to avoid the expense of mourning-coaches and liveries,
kept back the news of the death, and did not inform
the Emperor till the day before he left. Pollnitz himself
" felt very much the loss I have sustained, as I was
attached to this Prince," who, indeed, had been a good
friend to the young man.

68 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" He died at Schwedt, where he usually resided, and
was all the more regretted as none was worthier of a
long life. He was always sincerely fond of the King ;
he loved his country ; and, if his advice had been followed,
the power of the Ministers would have been curbed,
and the people been happier."
Death has now removed the only two people who could
check the young man in his headlong plunge into the
whirlpool of Paris dissipation. Directly he had heard
that he had been granted a passport for France, he
started off for the Mecca of his desire. He halted at
Diisseldorf, where he found the Court returned from
the coronation, and went on to Cologne, where he was
welcomed by a fellow-countryman, one Hoppe, the
king's revenue officer for those parts. " He put me up
and treated me very well." But Pollnitz was in a fever
to reach Paris. Cologne did not appeal to him from the
first. He was annoyed by the custom-house authorities.
" A few companies of inferior soldiers on guard at
the gates, and at the Town Hall, insolently search the
trunks of new arrivals. This is indeed the greatest
inconvenience, for, only two hundred yards from the
inn one has to unfasten one's trunks, which they
rummage, putting one's things topsy turvy. One is
obliged to put everything right again, and then those
who have caused the confusion have the impertinence
to ask you for a drink. In other towns a clerk accom
panies you to the inn where you are going to stay, and
you show him what you have. But the Imperial cities
always wish to do everything in a peculiar way."
The young Baron found Cologne the dullest city in
Europe —
" Dirty, and badly paved. . . . One hears nothing but
the sound of church bells, one sees no one but priests,
monks, and students, many of whom earn alms by

THE VAGRANT 69
singing. . . ." The cathedral "would be the largest
and finest edifice in Europe, were it finished, but the
state of it does little credit to its chapter, the most
illustrious in Germany, all the canons being Princes or
Counts of the Empire, and proving sixteen quarterings."
As for the famous relics of the Three Kings, Pollnitz
thought " the devotion of the inhabitants for them so
extraordinary that it would not be well to doubt their
authenticity when in company of a gathering of the
citizens." The only society was that of the canons,
keeping their residence. " The people were coarse.
There are rich merchants who feed well and drink better.
Perhaps they also amuse themselves. I did not try if
they did ; you know our German pride does not allow
of our humbling ourselves down to them."
At Cologne Pollnitz received his passport, and lost
no time in starting. But the war in Flanders obliged
him to reach France by a roundabout route. He took
boat by the Rhine to Dordrecht, thence by canal to
Antwerp, " the finest city in the Netherlands," the
cathedral a " treasure-house of pictures," mostly to be
destroyed by fire a few years later.
Thence to Brussels, " the capital of Brabant," the
people more civil than in any other city in the Low
Countries ; people of quality coming in from the country
to winter at their " hotels." The Palais Royal very
large, on a hill, with a fine view over the Park and
gardens ; the Hotel de Ville very fine. But —
" All the houses old, except that, and the churches, not
a building worth speaking about. A great discomfort
the inequality of the ground ; one is always obliged to
be going up or down hill . . . one might indeed call it
the Monte Cavallo ; also the city uncomfortable, so few
police about ; one is always either in the mud, or stifled
in the dust."
At Valenciennes Pollnitz found himself at last upon

70 A VAGABOND COURTIER
French soil. For it was the capital of Hainault, French
Flanders. Here he made his first acquaintance with
French officers, his late foes. "The Prince de Tingri
was governor, son of the celebrated Marechal de Luxem
burg, whose glory our writers have tried to tarnish by
accusing him of having won so many victories by being
in league with the devil." The Prince de Tingri, as
Chevalier de Luxemburg, had greatly distinguished
himself during the late war, especially at the siege of
Lille, at which Pollnitz had assisted.
" He got a convoy into the town during the night,
which helped much to make the siege drag on. Every
officer considers him the most distinguished general in
France. ... I cannot help relating his politeness and
gracious manners, and I have great reason to congratu
late myself on the kindness he showed me."
Tingri presented the young Baron to the Archbishop
Elector of Cologne, who, having taken sides with France,
had been forced to find a refuge in French dominions.
" His Highness gave me a most gracious welcome. He
remembered knowing my father," who had been
quartered near Cologne at the time of Charles's birth.
" I saw in course of conversation that he would much
rather have been in his city of Bonn than in a French
fortress." Three days did Pollnitz stay with the Archbishop,
then went on by Courtray, S. Quentin, and Compiegne,
through royal forests, to S. Denis. As he drove out of
the little town under the shadow of the great abbey,
Pollnitz " at last had the pleasure of seeing what I had
so long passionately desired, the famous city of Paris."

CHAPTER III
" Ce pays est mon centre ! " wrote Pftllnitz, after years
of Paris.
Ardently had he longed to reach it, eagerly had he
yearned for its brilliancy, its pleasures. Paris, for
nearly half a century, had been the centre of the solar
system over which the Roi Soleil shone.
No such worship as was paid to Louis le Grand has
ever been accorded to monarch, before or since. To
penetrate even into the outer courts of his temple was
an ambition, a delirious dream of bliss. Louis, as far
as he possibly could, had centralized everything. France
was Paris ; Paris was the King.
Great aristocrats of ancient race, of vast estates,
owning thousands of serfs, men whose grandfathers had
ruled almost as sovereigns on their domains, ate their
hearts out when exiled to them away from Court. To
haunt the halls of Versailles, to hold a ewer or a napkin
for the King, was the giddy height of their ambition.
There were no longer any nobles, only courtiers. Court
was the only way to royal favour, to advancement.
Assiduity or talent in camp, study, or bureau was of
httle avail compared with the attendance in the mon
arch's ante-chamber. " I do not see him often at
Court," was Louis's cold rejoinder to the advocacy of
an applicant for office.
Our young Baron was heart and soul a courtier,
" never happy away from Court, and yet never happy
in it." He had already had a foretaste of Versailles in
Courts where the rulers aped it. Now, at last, he found
himself in the Holy of Holies.
He did not linger long in Paris itself —
71

72 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" The first city in the world, as it is the capital of the
first realm in Christendom. ... I was too anxious to
see the celebrated chateau of Versailles. I had conceived
such a great idea of this chateau ; I was so convinced
that everything there must be in gold and azure."
He drove up by the magnificent broad avenue, and
between the stables, and " saw a sight which gave some
idea of the master of these sumptuous buildings." But
the interior astonished him most, ". . . many chateaux
joined together." The whole Royal Family, still, in
that year, fairly numerous, was comfortably lodged
with guard-rooms, anterooms, apartments, bedrooms,
studies, dressing-rooms. Also comfortably lodged were
their head officials, the Princesses' ladies ; the majority
of the nobles of the Court had their apartments there
also, cramped, indeed, but comfortable. " Indeed, I
was assured that, when Louis XIV was at Versailles,
some twenty thousand persons slept each night in the
chateau, and in the outbuildings. The apartments so
well arranged that all this army was not uncomfortable."
Pollnitz had not thrown away his time at Hanover by
ingratiating himself with the clever old Electress.
Through her he had been specially recommended to her
niece, Madame, of France, widow of Monsieur, Louis's
only brother, the Duke of Orleans.
Forty years before Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of
Charles, Elector Palatine, a plain, plump German
Mddchen, something of a tomboy, and dubbed Liselotte
by her family, had come across the Rhine to marry the
French Prince she had never seen, and who was not
unsuspected of being cognizant that his first wife,
Henrietta of England's, recent death was due to poison.
She had been the baby born at Exeter during the stress
of the civil war, carried, off by a disguised lady-in-waiting
to France, and whom her father, Charles I, never saw.
A faithful, loyal spouse to a very faithless husband, the
shrewd, common-sense, rather downright and caustic, wife
of a foolish fop, Charlotte Elizabeth had also, till the

THE VAGRANT 73
advent of Madame de Maintenon, enjoyed both the
friendship of her brother-in-law — " notre grand homme,"
she calls him— and had a certain amount of influence over
him. Both loved dogs and horses and hunting, and
Liselotte was never so happy in her younger days as when
following the royal chase in the forests of Fontainebleau.
But Louis did not consider her feelings when he carried
fire and sword into her Palatinate, driving her brother
from his capital.
She was a strange mixture, as she had painted herself
in her innumerable letters, of irreproachable morals in
a vicious atmosphere, and of a startling lack of decorum
and modesty. The Due de Saint-Simon, her son's
intimate friend, calls her —
" Much more of a man than a woman. She was
very brave, German to her finger-tips, frank, straight
forward, kind, benevolent, noble, and well-bred in her
manners ; minute to the last degree as to what was
due to her position. Unsociable, always shut up
writing letters, hard, blunt, easily taking aversions —
withal capable of loving and. inviolable friendship . . .
would have made a perfect ' gentleman.' "
She received young Pollnitz most graciously, and
for two reasons. The first, that he was recommended
by the Electress, her aunt, to whom she was deeply
attached all her life long, though they never met after
her marriage. The second, that he was a German —
"Mein Landsmann," was always her name for him.
Forty years of exile had not cooled her love for her
country. " Her honest heart," says Thackeray, " was
always with her friends and dear old Deutschland,
though her fat little body was confined at Paris, Marly,
and Versailles."
"Allemande et peu Francaise," her brother-in-law
said of her, bearing her no grudge for it. She was " greatly
pleased at being told I have a German heart and that
I love my country. My heart is still German. I cannot

74 A VAGABOND COURTIER
console myself for what has happened in the Palatinate.
. . . Germany is always dear to me, and I am little
suited to France."
When Pollnitz was presented she was delighted to
see the young fellow's German face, and to hear her
native tongue once more. " This Princess," he said,
" who had always retained a special liking for Germans,
received me with more kindness than she generally
showed to those of that nation" — which speaks for
Pollnitz's personal attraction, as well as for his modesty.
" Certainly young Polnitz (sic) is in Paris," she wrote,
soon after his arrival, to the Duchess of Hanover —
" And he often comes to see me. I have already
written to you how well-bred I think him, for all the
other young men, when they have answered one, stand
there motionless, make one a deep bow, and do not
say anything more; but with him it is different. It
does one good to talk to him ; he talks as much as one
likes, and he talks well. I have not yet heard him
play the braggart."
Pollnitz found her " very affable," though " not
easily patronizing people." She appointed him her
Chamberlain, liked to see him about her daily, welcoming
him with a " Guten Morgen, mein Landsmann," inquiring
after him if he did not appear, and always speaking
German with him. For, as she writes in one of her
innumerable letters, written in German, that she was
" afraid German, in time, will leave off being a language
at all, through being corrupted by foreign idioms ... a
silly habit people here have adopted, as if one could
not express everything in German. Your trick of
putting French words in your letters shocks me
greatly." When the young Baron entered her service Madame
was nearly sixty, and " fat and round as a globe and
with a nose of the fashion of a zenith," says Visconti,
and had been ten years a widow. " Pas de couvent ! "

THE VAGRANT 75
she had exclaimed vehemently when her husband died,
and had stayed on at the French Court, partly because
she had no other home to turn to, and partly because
she was too poor to move. Times had changed, and
life had not gone well with her. She had lived to see
Madame de Maintenon all in all to Louis — Madame de
Maintenon, who had started as governess to the Due
de Maine, the King's son by the Montespan ; Madame
de Maintenon, the " old toad," " the old beast," who
had been instrumental in arranging the marriage of
Maine's sister to the Duke of Orleans, her son. Madame
never forgot nor forgave this " eternal shame," and
boxed her son's ears before all the Court when he an
nounced his betrothal to her.
As time went on she withdrew more and more into
herself and her eternal letter-writing, becoming blase
and grumbling, both in speech and in pen. Brought
up a Lutheran, compulsorily converted officially to
Roman Catholicism as the condition of a splendid
marriage, she had passed through every phase of
religious thought. In correspondence with Leibnitz
she dabbled in free-thinking, glad that he should give
her " the great consolation to know that animals do
not perish, on account of my dear little dogs." She
went officially to mass every Sunday morning, to the
play in the evening. Tolerant like her father, she had
friends of all persuasions. In her old age she veered
back to the faith of her childhood and the Heidelberg
Catechism, was delighted to hear a workman, painting
the house, singing Marot's psalms, and, despite the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the Unigenitus
" never missed reading my Lutheran Bible every day."
"She loved talking," writes Pollnitz, "and talked
well. Specially did she like speaking her native tongue,
which nearly fifty years in France did not make her
forget ; and which was the reason why she was de
lighted to see gentlemen of her own nation, and to
keep up a correspondence with them."

76 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Letter-writing was now the great occupation and
resource of a rather narrowed and embittered life. For
years she had written every day of the week to a different
Court in Europe — to her aunt, at Hanover, to her
daughters, the Duchess of Savoy, the Queen of Spain,
and the Duchess of Lorraine ; and, after her aunt's
death, to her cousin the Raugravine Louisa.
" And it was not little letters that she generally
wrote," remarks her young chamberlain ; " she filled
quite twenty to thirty sheets of paper. I have seen
several which deserved to be made pubhc, and I have
never seen anything so well written in German. And,
indeed, this Princess did nothing but write from morning
to night. First, after her levee, which was about ten
o'clock, she began her toilette ; after that she went
into her study, when, after having spent some time
at prayers, after a while she sat down to write till it
was time for her mass. After mass she wrote till
dinner, which did not last long. Madame returned
afterwards to write, and went on like that till ten
o'clock at night. About nine o'clock one presented
oneself in her study. One found the Princess seated
at a large table and surrounded by papers ; there was
a card-table for the household near hers, where her
ladies played. From time to time Madame watched
the play ; sometimes she gave advice as she wrote ;
at others she conversed with those who were paying
their respects to her. I once saw the Princess fall
asleep, and, a moment after, wake up with a start
and go on writing. This was the ordinary life of
Madame when she was at Versailles. Sometimes she
accompanied the King out hunting, dressed en amazone,
or else she went to the opera. This Princess loved
plays, and when, after the death of Louis XIV, the
Court came to Paris, she often had French or Italian
actors on the stage at the Palais Royal. As for rank,
no Princess maintained it better than Madame. She
was extremely punctilious as to what was due to her,

THE VAGRANT 77
and on her side gave every one the honours which
belonged to them."
Her own description to her cousin, the Raugravine,
throws a side-light on Pollnitz's official life as her
Chamberlain, in constant attendance.
"You seem to think," writes Madame, from Fon-
tainebleau, " that I spend my life in amusements and
gaieties. To cure you of this idea I will describe my
life to you. I rise generally at nine o'clock. Then I
say my prayers and read three chapters of the Bible,
one of the Old Testament, one of the New, and a psalm.
After this I dress and receive those who wish to see
me. At eleven I enter my study, where I write or
read. At noon I go to chapel, lunching quite alone,
for I think nothing can be worse than being by oneself
at table watched by a dozen servants, who stare all
the time, and, although I have been here forty-three
years, I have not yet become used to this country's
detestable cooking. After lunch I generally begin
writing, and continue till the King's supper ; some
times my ladies come and play a game of cards with
me. Madame d'Orleans, the Duchesse de Berri, and
sometimes my son, come to see me from nine to ten.
At a quarter to eleven we go to table to await the King,
who sometimes delays coming till half-past eleven.
During supper no one says a word ; afterwards we
pass into the King's study, where we stay for as long
as it would take one to say ' Our Father.' Then the
King bows and goes to his apartment, where we follow
him ; then the King talks to us ; at half-past twelve
he bids us good-night, and each returns to his or her
chamber. I go to bed, the Duchesse begins playing
cards, and sometimes they sit playing in her apartments
till the next morning. When the theatre is open I
go there from seven till supper. The hunts always
start at one o'clock. If I go [she now followed in a
coach], I get up at eight and go to chapel at eleven,"

78 A VAGABOND COURTIER
A short time after his appointment, writes our
Baron —
" Madame did me the honour to present me to the
King one evening after supper. ... I will not describe
the august head of this illustrious family," he con
tinues, with bated breath. " A pen more adept than
mine would be necessary to treat with suitable dignity
such a lofty subject. All I can have the honour of
telling you of Louis XIV is that, if the crown of France
went to the possessor of a fine presence, this great
Prince would have deserved it as much on that score
as by that of his birth. He was already advanced in
age when I had the honour of seeing him in 1712, and
yet he still had more dignity and a more distinguished
air than any man in the kingdom."
The presentation took place in the King's bedchamber.
It was next to the old bedchamber of Louis XIII,
which Louis had used as his own when the palace was
first finished, which was half of what is the (Eil de
Bceuf, and then divided into two.
" The King remembered my name and did me the
honour to ask me if I was the son of a Pollnitz who
had been sent to his Court by the Elector of Branden
burg. [France did not recognize the Kingship of
Prussia till after the Treaty of Utrecht.] When I
told him I was the grandson, he said to me : ' You did
indeed seem too young, for it to be believed that you
were his son.'
" His Majesty next asked me if I should stay long
in France. I replied that I was delighted to find
myself at the feet of the greatest of monarchs, and
that I should have the honour of paying my respects
to him as long as I possibly could. The King seemed
satisfied with my reply, and, turning to Madame, he
said to her, speaking of me : ' He speaks French well.'
"He then did me the honour to bow to me, and

THE VAGRANT 79
said to me as he retired that it would be a pleasure to
him to be of any service to me."
This gracious reception of the newly arrived young
Prussian did not pass unnoticed by the courtiers.
The next day, in the Great Gallery, Pollnitz was ap
proached by the Due de D  , first Gentleman of the
Chamber, with every possible politeness. He told
him that he should be very pleased with the welcome
the King had given him, " and still more with what he
had said of me when I had withdrawn, that, of all the
foreigners presented to him, none had bowed with better
grace, or with less embarrassment, than the Margrave
of Anspach and myself."
The day following Madame presented Pollnitz to
the Royal Family, the Duke of Burgundy, the Dauphin
and Dauphine, the Duke and the Duchess of Berri the
granddaughter of Madame —
" Who neither said a word to me. But I was very
well received by the Duke and Duchess of Orleans. It
was difficult to know this Prince without liking him ;
his affable manners, supported by a brilliant and
cultivated mind, attracted all those who had the
honour of approaching him. This Prince was very
assiduous at Court and also had for Madame, his mother,
the most respectful attentions. He never missed a
day without paying his respects to this Princess ;
every evening he went to her at eight o'clock and
played chess till the King's supper-time ; only during
the game did he sit down ; as he came in, and as he
retired, he always kissed Madame's hand."
But Pollnitz, in spite of this gracious reception, was
somewhat disillusioned. He had reached Paris, indeed,
but only in time for the sunset. The Roi Soleil was
declining in watery vapours. The disastrous wars had
bled the country of men and money. The currency was

80 A VAGABOND COURTIER
depreciated, agriculture not prosperous, trade dis
ordered. Louis was straining every nerve for peace,
ready to grant the Allies even more than they eventually
took at the peace of Utrecht.
The year before the Dauphin had died of small-pox.
The promising Duke of Burgundy, the pupil of good
Bishop Fenelon, and his delightful wife, a most attached
and worthy young couple, were now Dauphin and
Dauphine. The King, a completely reformed character,
since his marriage with the widow Maintenon, had
given up plays and amusements, and spent most of the
time in his ¦wife's apartments, on the same floor as his
own, transacting affairs with his Ministers at her fireside,
while she did needlework and threw in tactful advice.
Louis's conscience was in the keeping of the Jesuit
Letellier, his confessor, as both Protestants and Jan
senists found to their cost, and religious controversies
and retaliations worried his last years.
" The Court of France, though very brilliant from the
number of Princes and Princesses of which it is composed,
was not so gay as I had imagined," found Pollnitz.
With the throng of other idle courtiers he wandered
about the sumptuous palace, admiring the marble-
panelled walls, the pictures of old masters, framed in
gold and bronze, and interspersed with splendid mirrors ;
but since the disasters of war and the famine of the
winter of 1709, marble and gilt tables and chandeliers
had replaced those in solid silver, which had been sent to
the Mint.
Most of all was Pollnitz impressed with the Royal
Chapel, which was where the Salon d'Ercule and the
room beneath it now are.
" Nothing can be finer or in better taste. The prin
cipal picture represents God the Father in all his glory,
as perfectly as the weakness of man may conceive it. I
never grew tired of admiring this piece of painting, and
I always looked at it again with renewed pleasure."

LOUIS LE GRAND.
From the Collection o£ A. il. Broadley.

SO]

THE VAGRANT 81
The King sat in a box facing the altar, and high
above it the organ, the orchestra, and the choir. Directly
the King entered with his cardinals and nobles in fine
procession, the splendid band struck up. The Body
Guard and a hundred of the Swiss Guard, in the gallery
and the body of the chapel, played drums and fifes till
His Majesty was seated. When the Princes and Prin
cesses came, which was unusual, they all knelt on the
same bench, but not near the King. The courtiers in
the chapel below turned their backs on the altar and
faced the King. (!) " The King appeared to pray to God,
and the Court to pray to the King." (!) When the King
communicated the chapel was spread with four carpets
up to the altar, and the Swiss Guard ranged in two
files behind him and the courtiers surrounded him. At
sermon-time, when Bossuet, Massillon, and Bourdaloue
alternately thundered at or flattered him from the pulpit,
the King sat in an arm-chair facing it, and the royal
Princes on either side on camp-stools.
Pollnitz thought the gardens of Versailles one of the
marvels of the age. " I do not think that the vaunted
gardens of Semiramis could be as fine." He wandered
about among the fountains, strolled in the bosky Trianons,
and stared at the wild beasts in the menagerie.
Life at the Court of Versailles during the last years
of the Grand Monarque —
" Was the most regular in the world. The hours of
the King were drawn up by rule, and, having seen one of
his days, you have seen them for a year," writes Pollnitz.
" The King rose at nine or ten o'clock ; the Princes and
all the courtiers were present at his levee. When he
was dressed he prayed on his knees on a square of black
velvet; he was surrounded by his chaplains and the
Bishops who were at his levee, and who also knelt. When
prayers were finished the King passed into his study ;
sometimes the Ministers came to talk business with
him. While waiting, the courtiers walked in the Grande
Galerie. The King passed through to mass; it was
1—6

82 A VAGABOND COURTIER
then that all the courtiers pressed forward to be noticed
by the King. I never saw any nation more eager to
pay their respects than the French. I have seen several
courtiers, who thought that they had escaped the
Prince's eye, go on ahead into another hall, and so on,
till they had been lucky enough to be noticed.
" After mass the King went back to bis study. Some
times he held a council ; then he dined alone. Again,
during dinner one could notice the eagerness of the
courtiers to be seen by him. The King had a good
appetite, and it seemed to me that he ate enormously.
His dinner lasted three quarters of an hour. Some days
he had music. After dinner the King went down by a
little staircase, and got into his coach to go and hunt
in the park of Versailles, which was full of small game.
He came back in the dusk, and went to Madame de
Maintenon's room, where only a few people of the old
Court were present. Usually it was only women, like
Madame de Caylus, a relation of Madame de Maintenon,
or Marquise de Dangeau, who played at berlan with
the King, when the Ministers were not there ; in that
case, instead of playing they talked affairs, and fre
quently it was then that everything was settled.
" At ten at night it was announced that His Majesty
was served ; the King went to table. The Princes and
Princesses never failed to be present. The Duchesses
were placed behind the Princes' camp-stools, on either
side of the table ; the other women of quality stood
behind on the right of the King's arm-chair. His
Majesty saluted first the Princes and Princesses and all
the ladies, and then seated himself in his arm-chair.
Then the Princes and Princesses sat down, and the
Duchesses. The ladies who were not entitled to do so
passed into an adjoining salon, where they were per
mitted to seat themselves. The supper lasted no
longer than the dinner ; the King talked little ; some
times he made a remark to Madame, or the Duchesse
d'Orleans. I have never seen him talk to the Dues de
Berri or Orleans, nor with the Duchesse de Berri.

THE VAGRANT 83
" After supper the King, preceded by the Princes,
passed into his bedchamber, where he found the ladies
who were not Duchesses : he bowed to them, and then
placed himself on the side of the balustrade which was
before his bed, where he stayed till the Princesses and
Duchesses had entered the room. I noticed that the
ladies of the old Court made a deep curtsy to the
King's bed on entering the room, which the young
ladies did not do ; apparently more proud of their
youth and of their charms, they thought themselves
absolved from so much respect.
" The Duchesses who had been present at supper
having entered the room, the King bowed to them, and
also to the other ladies ; then, preceded by the Princes
and followed by the Princesses who had supped with
the King, he passed into his study, where the Princes
and Princesses of the Blood were also present. His
Majesty conversed with them some time ; during that
time the Duchesses and the other ladies withdrew. At
last the King dismissed the Princes and Princesses and
went to bed."

CHAPTER IV
A very monotonous and boring routine this, which he
has described, for a young fellow of twenty, eager to
amuse himself ! Pollnitz found himself dancing attend
ance on an aged bigot and his elderly sister-in-law.
Escaping from the Scylla of the Berlin Schloss, he was
menaced by the Charybdis of Versailles. We have
seen how bitterly disillusioned he felt over the Court
of Louis. But there were alleviations — the swing of
the pendulum, the revers de la medaille. Can we wonder
that he seized upon them with an avidity that brought
about a life-long existence of impecuniosity ?
" When the King went to bed the courtiers then
divided. Some went to the coucher of the Due de Berri,
others to that of the Due d'Orleans. Those who were
paying court to that Prince were very well received
there ; as for myself, I went as often as I possibly could,
not so much to make my court to Madame, as because
of a real liking I had for this Prince.
" Thus the King passed his life. The courtiers, on
their part, had no very lively pleasures ; gambling was
almost their only occupation. One generally gathered at
the Prince Armagnac de Lorraine's, the Grand Equerry,
where we played in the afternoon. Foreigners were
also excellently received by him, as well as by the
Cardinal de Rohan. This latter lived in great magnifi
cence. One met the most distinguished men in France
at these two noblemen's."
As is so often the case in the lull after a great war,
which has lasted long, a mania for gambling had seized
84

THE VAGRANT 85
the upper classes in France and the nations which
imitated them. It was the same during the Regency in
England after the stress of the Napoleonic campaigns,
and, quite recently, we have witnessed the same here
again. The vacuous, idle life, devoid of serious occupation or
interest, without healthy outdoor pursuits — the royal
" hunts " hardly counted — to which the courtiers at
Versailles were condemned, was an excellent forcing-
ground for the vice. We must recollect, however, that
the eighteenth century did not consider gambling as
such ; it regarded it as a pastime, faute de mieux.
Louis himself, in his youth, had never played much,
or for large stakes ; but he had liked the excitement of
watching high play. Now, in his old age, while he was
himself content with berlan or trictrac in the Main-
tenons' room, his Court was a veritable gambling-hell.
As, in the very centre of the raging cyclone which is
dealing disaster to every ship within its circle, there is
one small spot of complete calm, so round the aged Louis,
the perfect gentleman in manners and dignity, whom
passion, bereavement, disaster, had apparently left
unmoved, there surged a very whirlpool of gambling,
vice, intrigue, fanaticism, and persecution.
The Abbe Primi Visconti has left us a sketch of the
aristocratic gambling-table of the period. Hoca, lans
quenet, hombre, were out of fashion among the games
of chance, and bassette was the rage.
" This game collected such a strange assembly that
it was painted even on fans. One saw the Comtesse
de Soissons in a great arm-chair with a number of little
dogs round her. Madame de Vertanon was cutting the
cards, Madame de Ramburses was tearing some of them.
The Marquis de Gordes was looking on, an eyeglass in
his hand. The Due de Vendome was taking snuff ;
the Comte de Grammont was tearing his wig, the Cheva
lier de Vendome was beating the table with his fists, the
Due de Cfequy was torning up his sleeves, the Comte de

86 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Roye was kicking his feet, the Marquis de Seignelay was
swearing, and all were making gestures according to
the grief or dissatisfaction which fate was dealing them
out." He tells us that the Marquis de Beaumont lost ten
thousand pistoles without saying a word. The Duchess
of Cleveland staked two million francs in playing with
the Chevalier ChatiUon. Primi himself once put on
one pistole and won three hundred in two hours. " The
Comtesse de Soissons followed his luck, and the Duchesse
de Bouillon and others won large sums, so that the
Ambassador Giustiniani, who was cutting, lost six
thousand pistoles in a few minutes."
There was a great mixture at the card-table.
" It had been in vogue for a long time in France,"
writes Pollnitz. " I remember hearing Madame say
that, her husband being at S. Cloud for a few days, she
went to see him from Versailles. She found him playing
lansquenet with twenty-two players ; she only knew two
of them. When the game was over she asked Monsieur
if he knew with whom he had been playing. ' They are
quite well-mannered people,' replied the Prince, ' good
merchants of Paris who play high and boldly.' Madame
added to this that she had not then been long in France,
and she had been so shocked to find Monsieur, her hus
band, in such company that she could not help blaming
him. But the Prince only laughed, saying : ' That is a
remains of your German pride, and in time you will get
over it.' "
Madame herself, Pollnitz soon found, was always
unlucky at cards, and " did not like follies." She tells
a correspondent that —
" Here fabulous sums are staked, and the players are
like raving maniacs. They howl ; one strikes the table
with his fist so hard that the whole room resounds with

THE VAGRANT 87
the blow ; a third blasphemes so as to make one's hair
stand on end ; all are beside themselves, and frightful
to behold."
Into the midst of this Bedlam burst a bomb-shell.
Great hopes had been built on the Duke of Burgundy,
now Dauphin. Carefully educated by the saintly
Fenelon, he " was of exemplary life and serious purpose."
" He knew," writes Pollnitz, " how to unite the calm of
the cloister with the bustle of the Court, and, always
assiduous in the great business of his salvation, he yet
considered, and with reason, that the study of the
affairs of State should enter into his religious exercises."
His bride had come to him over the Alps sixteen years
before, daughter of the Duke of Savoy. Charming,
dainty, lovely, she instantly won the heart of her grand-
father-in-law, and kept it through times of stress and
trouble when he and her father were at war. For her
he collected the menagerie at Versailles, with her he
became a child again, watching Madame and the ladies
play with her at blind-man's buff. Maintenon educated
her, taking her to classes at S. Cyr. At twelve she had
a grand wedding ; the Duke was fifteen. The young
couple were happy and attached. The life and soul of
the royal circle, a gleam of sunshine in Louis's sad old
age, she passed unscathed through the fiery ordeal of
court life, and, when war came, bore herself " with the
dignity of the first lady in the land, the feelings of a
Roman woman for Rome, and the agitation of a soul
which desires good with an ardour beyond her age."
"From time to time history shows us seductive
personalities who draw the reader into love with them.
Often Providence removes them from the world adorned
by the charms that time effaces, and hopes that it
would have realized. The Duchess of Burgundy was
one of these gracious apparitions.
"An astrologer had foretold her that she should
die at twenty-seven. She often spoke of it to her

88 A VAGABOND COURTIER
husband, asking him if he would remarry : ' I hope
God will not punish me enough to see you die,' he
rephed ; ' but if this calamity does happen to me, I
shall never remarry, for in eight days I shall follow
you to the grave.' "
However, the young Duchess seemed very well and
gay. But, doubtless, Versailles, overcrowded and ill-
ventilated, was no very healthy habitation, even in
those drain-less days. Suddenly she sickened of what
was termed a malignant fever, and died after a few
days' illness, " almost in the arms of the Duchess of
Orleans, whom she had asked to stay with her."
" The King felt this death keenly," writes Pollnitz.
Saint-Simon says this sorrow " was the only one which
really touched him in his life." He moved instantly to
Marly, " where Louis XIV liked to be," and, in the most
beautiful of all the royal gardens and grounds, to lay
aside much of pomp and ceremony.
With him went the bereaved young husband,
staggering under the blow he had received. Scarcely
had he reached Marly when he too fell ill, and of the
same disease.
" He received his sentence of death," says Pollnitz,
" with a truly Christian courage, and in the height of
his fever was often heard to ejaculate : ' My God ! save
the King and the State.'
" The evening before his death he had a great desire
to hear mass ; it was very difficult to make him under
stand that the rules of the Church do not permit of
mass being said at that hour. As he continued to ask
for it, directly midnight had struck, it was said in his
room at an altar placed at the foot of his bed. Monsieur
le Due was very calm, he did not cease praying to God
till his strength gave way more and more, and he died "
— just six days after his wife !
" I am so staggered that I cannot get over it," hastily
scribbled Madame, the same day, " and I hardly know

THE VAGRANT 89
what I am saying. You, who are kind, will surely
pity us, for the sadness which reigns here cannot be
described." " The King," writes Pollnitz, " needed all his courage
to bear so many sorrows, blow upon blow. The Royal
Family were in the utmost consternation. They tried
to persuade the King to go away for a time for change of
air ; but he replied with courage that he was in the hand
of God, and so he would stay where he was."
On February 22nd the bodies of husband and wife were
borne from Versailles to S. Denis on the same car.
Never did Pollnitz " see a sadder sight."
Worse was to follow. The Dauphin had left two
sons, the eldest known as the Duke of Brittany. For
three weeks was he Dauphin, and then the same fell
disease carried him off also. The hopes of France now
rested upon one delicate baby !
" This time of desolation," wrote Voltaire years
afterwards, " made on all sides such a deep impression
that, during the long minority of Louis XV, I have seen
many people who wept in speaking of these losses."
It was in keeping with the age that rumours of poison
ing ran riot over the stricken land. Fingers were pointed
at Madame's son, the Duke of Orleans, between whom
and the throne now stood only the childless Duke of
Berri and one fragile httle life.
Philip, the King his uncle had said of him, was " a
braggadocio of vice," a drunken, profligate infidel,
dabbling, after the fashion of his day, in chemistry and
black magic. On the day of the funeral he was hooted
in the streets with cries of " See the murderer ! "
" He was shunned in the royal apartments, and, if he
approached a group of courtiers, one after another
slipped away, till he found himself alone." But he was
not cast in the mould of a Richard III — weaker, un-

90 A VAGABOND COURTIER
ambitious — and posterity has failed to find an iota of
evidence against him.
The disease was epidemic both in Paris and the
provinces. In the city Voltaire says it carried off five
hundred people in a month, of all classes.
The Duke was overwhelmed with the calumny, and
so was his mother. He even went so far as to obtain a
lettre de cachet from the King ordering him to the Bastille
to await a formal trial ; but Madame persuaded Louis
to withdraw it. " On the face of the accusation," says
Voltaire, " was the stupid idea that any one could make
away with all these lives, and yet let the one survive
who could avenge them."
Following upon this series of sudden and unexpected
deaths came dire news from Berlin to Pollnitz. For
some time his King had been in failing health, and the
Queen, victim of religious mania, in an even worse
condition. Pollnitz describes how, in one of her fits
of insanity, she rushed, dishevelled and half-dressed, by
a secret staircase into the King's apartment. Bursting
through a closed glass door, she threw herself, bleeding,
upon the poor old invalid, dozing in his chair. He
woke up with a start, thinking he saw the " White
Lady "—
" A phantom clothed in white which, an old tradition
tells, appears in the palaces of the House of Brandenburg
shortly before the death of a member of that family.
This dire story is believed also in the margravates of
Brandenburg, Baireuth, and Brandenburg- Anspach. It
relates that Joachim I, wishing to enlarge his castle at
Berlin, forced an old woman to sell him her house. She
did not wish to leave it, and, out of spite, threatened to
be a bird of ill-omen to Joachim and his descendants."
Frederic took to his bed, never to leave it, and died
soon afterwards.
Pollnitz felt his death, for his King had been a good
friend to him.

THE VAGRANT 91
" He loved and protected the sciences and arts,"
he writes, " but, the great qualities of his mind, the
love he bore to his people, and the consideration he
had for the nobility, will make him live for ever in the
hearts of those of his subjects who know what gratitude
demands."

CHAPTER V
The French Court was in deepest mourning, " all joys,
pleasures, amusements over, and every kind of charm
eclipsed," wails Saint-Simon. But, with the first ap
proach of spring, it moved to lovely Fontainebleau.
The truce with the English and Dutch, the victory of
Denain, and the certainty that peace was in the air,
revived every one's spirits.
" Not so magnificent as Versailles," Pollnitz yet
thought Fontainebleau had " the air of a chateau, which
Versailles lacked. Moreover, Nature and Art seem to
have worked in concert to plan the splendid buildings
which many kings have erected at Fontainebleau,
whereas, at Versailles, it seems as if Nature had not
entered into the scheme, all is artificial and too elaborate.
... In the town most of the nobility have mansions
where they put their servants and carriages, for the
custom of the Court of France is that every nobleman
attached to it must be lodged in the King's palace, and
the French are so infatuated with this custom that a
nobleman would prefer to be quartered in a rat-hole in
the palace than to be comfortable in a fine apartment
in his mansion at Versailles and Fontainebleau."
" No public calamities," writes Pollnitz, " affected
the gambling." The younger members of the Royal
Family and the Court plunged yet deeper into play, which
took place at the Duchesse de Berri's and the Duke
d'Antin's, and of which he tells a characteristic story.
" The game was twelve players at lansquenet, who
92

THE VAGRANT 93
started with four louis and finished with rouleaus of a
hundred louis-d'or. One evening I won, in less than
an hour, the possession of seven hundred louis; more
over, Madame la Duchesse de la Ferte rooked me of a
good hundred, besides eighty which she borrowed from
me, and which she never has repaid me. Perhaps she
thought herself obhged to recoup herself for the trouble
she had kindly taken in putting my money on the table,
as the great number of ladies prevented me approaching
it." The Due d'Orleans' notorious daughter, plunging,
says her grandmother, " into every imaginable folly,"
was one of the most inveterate gamblers.
" I have seen," writes Nemeizt, another German
traveller staying in Paris, " in the apartment of Madame
la Duchesse de Berri, all the Princes and Princesses of
royal blood, with other illustrious courtiers, sitting at a
great round table, playing for pistoles, while the Duchesse
herself, nearing her time, has laid herself on a state bed,
in front of which was a table of hombre, many people
of middle-class standing behind the aforementioned
great personages to throw louis-d'or in their turn on
the table."
No wonder that Madame wrote of " the existing
state of things. Young men are frightfully vicious, and
do not deprive themselves of the pleasure of lying and
cheating; they think that to be a man of honour is
a ridiculous thing." She should have included the
women. Madame took a motherly interest in her young lands-
mann. She was evidently perturbed by his gambling,
and feared he was going to the bad. The change of
rulers in Prussia probably suggested to her the idea
that Pollnitz would be better at home than in Paris,
for she wrote to the Duchess of Hanover about him
soon after King Frederic's death.

94 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" Herr von Polnitz (sic) has not yet taken service
here. I doubt if it can be done. He would much have
liked to borrow money of me and of my people, but I
refused to allow him to do either. I, myself, have none
just at present, and if I were to order my people to
advance him some I should have to go bail for him, and
God knows whereto that would lead me, for one cannot
trust a gambler. He declines to change his religion,
but wishes to join a regiment which is quite full of
Lutherans and reformed. It seemed to me odd that
he is trying to take service just at the time when there
is talk of peace. I told him as much ; but he says he
has fallen into such disgrace with the Prince Royal
that he cannot think of staying at the Court of Berlin."
The Due de  , First Gentleman of the Chamber,
who, on the day after Pollnitz's presentation to Louis, had
told him of the favourable impression he had made upon
the King, " showed me attentions I shall never forget."
He had suggested that the Baron should enter the French
army, and even promised to obtain a colonelcy for him
if he would become a Roman Catholic. Pollnitz's com
ments are interesting when read by the hght of his
subsequent conduct. It was frivolity, not faith, which,
at this moment, determined his refusal to accept the
condition. " While thanking him for his kind offers, I assured
him that interest would not make me change my rehgion.
I was still full of the prejudices of the Protestants against
the Catholics ; moreover, I was then of an age when
serious reflections do not appeal to one. Pleasure
occupied me entirely, and, indeed, it was not difficult to
give oneself up to amusement ; all the kingdom, especi
ally Paris, breathed an air of gaiety which was
irresistible." Peace, the longed-for, was on the point of ratification ;
to the volatile French mind Denain seemed to avenge

THE VAGRANT 95
Blenheim. France and England exchanged envoys to
arrange terms. The Due d'Aumont, though well
received, writes Pollnitz, by the court party in London,
was insulted by the Opposition and the populace, who
would not hear mention of peace. The Duke's hotel
was set on fire, " and he lost a great deal, for the Duke,
to make a fine show, had borrowed furniture from
several people, and the Duke of Orleans lost a fine
tapestry and several rare pictures."
Foreign visitors enlivened Fontainebleau, the Elector
of Bavaria, brother of the first Dauphine ; and the
English envoy, St. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke,
was made much of by the King in a very pronounced
manner. " I was one day," writes Pollnitz, " at His Majesty's
dinner, when there was to be music. Directly it began
the King stopped it saying, aloud : ' I hear M. St. John
dines with the Due d'Antin ; let my band go and play
there, and say that I send it, and hope they will enjoy
it.' You may judge how the courtiers, in imitation of
the King, vied with each other in welcoming the English
Minister, who, moreover, on his part, well deserved the
attention paid him.
" All this time no one did anything but enjoy them
selves. Amusements succeeded each other. The hunts
were particularly fine. The ladies in the suites of the
Duchesse de Berri or Madame, on horseback, or in
carriages. So many pretty women on horseback, all
splendidly dressed, the King in a light chaise, surrounded
by mounted courtiers, the turn-out of the hunt — all this
made a great show in the fine forest of Fontainebleau.
" On days when there was no hunting the King drove
in an open chaise along the grand canal, the ladies
following. In the evening there was a comedy, or a
reception, at the Duchesse de Berri's, where lansquenet
was played. On non-hunting days one met at several
noblemen's. I noticed that most of the lords were more
inclined to be civil to one at Fontainebleau than at

96 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Versailles ; if one was known as a man of birth, one
easily procured the loan of the King's horses for hunting,
which is never done except in France and Lorraine,
though I have sometimes seen the same thing done at
the court of Bavaria, but rarely."
But, after a while, however, attendance at Court began
to pall upon Pollnitz. He seems to have had no salary
from Madame, though dependent on her protection and
favour. The old lady was becoming more of " a hermit,"
as she said of herself, and her giddy young country
man went off to have a fling in the wider dissipation of
Paris itself. But almost directly he had settled himself
there, he fell so ill as to be " within an inch of the grave."
However, Helvetius, the celebrated Dutch doctor, father
of the famous philosopher, brought him round. When
he was well enough to go out, Pollnitz was ordered air
and exercise in the gardens of the Luxembourg Palace,
the best open space among the narrow streets of old
Paris within easy reach. At first the air really did him
good, " but soon it became very pernicious to me."
For, one day, as he sat on the terrace, he saw afar
off two ladies of very distinguished, grand carriage,
and mien, and most attractive in their deshabille — the
short, hooped skirts, and half-concealing hoods over
unpowdered hair — of the period.
" They came towards the Terrace where I was walking.
I sat down on a bench to see them pass by. I confess
that they seemed to me as pleasant as their deshabille
was grand and gay. When they passed me by, one of
them, perhaps by chance, let her handkerchief drop ; I
picked it up at once and presented it to her. She
received it with much politeness. I paid her a compli
ment to which she replied with wit. Gradually we fell
into conversation, which in truth only lasted a quarter
of an hour, but which, nevertheless, cost me dear ;
I fell in love, and more in love than I can express. These
Ladies asked me my name. You can imagine I did not

THE CHATEAU OF VERSAILLES.
From the Collection of A. il. Broadley.

THE VAGRANT 97
require telling twice to give it, all the more as I hoped
that they, in return, would be kind enough to tell me
theirs. But, however much I pressed them about it
they would not ever satisfy me. The one who had at
first struck me most told me, in very good German, not
to trouble to find out who they were, as I should not fail
to see them again if only I remained in Paris. She
told me that as she was leaving. I gave her my hand
to escort her to her coach, which seemed to me very well
turned out. I also saw two tall, well-dressed Footmen.
All this confirmed me in the surmise that they were
either Ladies of Quality, or, at least, courtesans expen
sively provided for.
" I would have given everything in the world to be
told exactly which it was ; but it was quite impossible
to find out anything. The Valet I had with me was a
German, even more of a foreigner than myself, and,
moreover, very unfitted to manage such discoveries. I
therefore remained in a deadly disquietude which was
like to bring back the inflammation of the brain I had
had during the illness from which I was recovering.
Every day I did not miss going back to the Luxembourg,
and I stayed there from nine in the morning till evening,
except for a moment when I went home to dine. All
these goings and comings lasted for about a fortnight,
at the end of which I found myself no more advanced
than at first. At last, when I was in despair at not
discovering my Fair One, I was very surprised to see
her in a place where I little dreamt of meeting her.
" One day I accompanied Mesdames de V  and
D  to the theatre, where the Cid was to be played.
The elder Quinault came on as ' Rodrigue.' Imagine
my surprise when I saw the Object of my passion also
in the Piece, in which she was playing the part of
' Chimene.' In all my life I had never felt so em
barrassed. I did not know if I ought to pursue such a
love-affair. I felt some repugnance at being fond of a
person whom I saw in a profession which is usually not
compatible with the feelings of delicacy which well-
1—7

98 A VAGABOND COURTIER
bred men always seek in love. The decision I came to
was truly that of a young fellow of nineteen ; that is
to say, I did exactly the opposite of what I ought to
have done. I abandoned myself madly to my passion ;
hardly could I bear to wait for the interval between the
long and the short Play, to go to the Foyer.
" There I found my Fair One surrounded by several
men of my acquaintance, whom at first I took for as
many rivals ; so that, not satisfied with being in love,
I also became jealous. I spoke to the D  (that was
the actress's name) ; but I saw my conversation made
her ill at ease, and I noticed that she had to consider
a gentleman of the long robe who was beside her. I
was not mistaken ; it was B  , a Parliamentary
Lawyer, who contributed to the Lady's expenses, and
who acted more as a Financier than as a Magistrate. I
was conceited enough to determine to oust this Lover,
or, at least, I hoped to give him some points. In order
to succeed in doing this I began to frequent the Theatre
very assiduously, and I soon had the consolation of not
signing in vain.
" The difficulty was to meet ; but love and luck soon
provided the means. Young G  , the Sister of the
D  , and who lived with her, fell ill of small-pox ;
the Lawyer, who was very afraid of it, instantly removed
the D  , and gave her apartments at the Hotel d'En-
tragues. The Actress informed me of her new abode,
and the same day I took a room in the same Hotel, taking
with me only one Servant, the Confidant of my httle
secrets. There, despite the inconvenient Argus, I was
easily able to see his Mistress."
The ancient rivalry between the noblesse de I'epee and
the noblesse de la robe, added piquancy to the intrigue,
and the D  was fair game. But a few years later
was not poor Adrienne Lecouvreur, the star of the Paris
stage, the beloved of Marshal Saxe, of Voltaire, denied
upon her death-bed " benefit of clergy," and, a social
outcast, buried like a dog ?

THE VAGRANT 99
" But the Lawyer became suspicious, and began
investigations, and very soon discovered enough to
satisfy his curiosity. ... It is easy to imagine the
fury of this outraged Lover. Like another Roland, he
wreaked his vengeance for the unfaithfulness of his
Angelique on whatever was to hand ; he broke, he
smashed everything, he even tore off his Fair One's
wig and vowed to exterminate every one. The young
Lady only met all this noise by tears, which at last were
efficacious in soothing this enraged Lover. Becoming
calmer, he mingled bitter reproaches with tender senti
ments ; he even played upon her weak point, and
offered increased munificence in return for a promise
of inviolable fidelity. The Fair Frail swore that hence
forth nothing should make her swerve from the path
of duty, and, bursting into tears, consented to receive
two thousand crowns more, so that her gains came to
twenty thousand livres. With much joy on either side,
this treaty was ratified ; but yet it was not carried out
in all its rigour. I continued to see the young Lady,
till, at last, her sister having recovered from her illness,
she returned to her own house. The difficulties I met
with there satiated me quite as much as my own fickle
ness. I had but little trouble in curing myself of a
passion which was not founded upon respect ; perhaps
even, but for the pleasure of enraging the Limb of the
Law, I should have retired sooner.
" The love-affair I had had with the actress had not
prevented my going much into society, and I may
venture to say that I shone with some success in a
land where all that is not French is easily considered
barbaric." In succession to St. John, the Duke of Shrewsbury,
a favourite and distinguished statesman under Anne
and George I, was sent as English envoy to Paris. But
he did not spend much money, or make a great show in
any way, for he was blind with one eye and unimposing.
" But for the Order of the Garter he wore," Pollnitz

100 A VAGABOND COURTIER
would hardly have taken him for a nobleman. His wife
was an Italian, Adelhida, sister of the Marquis Pagliotti,
" celebrated for his extravagances and his tragic end
in England," and she cut the oddest figure at Court.
After being presented to the King, " she came on to
see Madame, where she found a large company as
sembled out of curiosity to see her. It was there that
I had the honour of meeting her. At first she seemed as
embarrassed as if she had never lived in a Court, but
gradually she grew more lively, talked well, and with
wit. " That same evening Madame Shrewsbury was present
at the King's supper; she was placed in the row of
Duchesses immediately behind the Due de Berri. She
talked a great deal to this Prince, though she had only
seen him for a moment at the Duchesse, his wife's.
Nevertheless, all supper-time, she kept pulling him by
the sleeve to warn him not to eat too much. Every one
was amused at this familiarity, and I noticed that M. le
Due de Berri was not a little embarrassed by it.
" On the other hand, the King treated her with a
politeness which verged on scrupulosity. He had come
to table and passed her without seeing her. As he was
sitting down M. de Livry, the first maitre d' hotel, informed
him that Madame l'Ambassadrice d'Angleterre was
present at his supper. The King instantly returned to
the place where she was, and said that he had passed
her without bowing to her because he had not noticed
her, and that he thought she would have been tired
with all the visits she had paid that day and would
have retired. The King begged her to go and rest,
but she excused herself, saying no one was ever tired
when they were able to pay their respects to such a
great King as His Majesty."
One day Pollnitz was at the Hotel de Soissons, where
the Duke and Duchess of Shrewsbury were staying.
A pleasure-loving Duchess was using every means to

THE VAGRANT 101
persuade the ambassadress to give a ball. " For Lady
Shrewsbury had that in common with her husband,
she did not like expense." In vain the Duchess dis
coursed on sorrows and bereavements, on the anxiety of
years of war, in France, and said that every one hoped
that the ambassadress who brought peace would also
bring about the return of amusements to dispel sadness.
Lady Shrewsbury only replied that she quite hoped that
people in Paris would amuse themselves, but that it
appeared to her that the happy tidings Lord Shrewsbury
brought were quite enough to remove the gloom of past
misfortunes without it being asked of him to arrange
other amusements. " So there was no hope of a ball
from that quarter."
The reader will, no doubt, " be surprised to hear
who it was, instead of the English ambassador, who
gave the first ball. It was I who awoke Paris out of the
lethargy into which it seemed to have fallen. I gave
a dance at the Carneaux, or, rather, Mesdames de la
M  D  , and de V  gave it for me. These
Ladies had asked me for a dance most politely. At first
I had begged to be excused, as a Foreigner, in that it was
not for me to set fetes going, especially upon the occasion
of a Peace which could be of no advantage to me.
Besides which, other reasons, somewhat to the taste of
Madame de Shrewsbury, prevented me consenting to
the expense of a Ball which I foresaw would cost me a
great deal. These reasons were listened to readily
enough, but yet, as those Ladies absolutely intended to
have a ball, they suggested to me to give them only ten
louis [under £10], assuring me that with that sum the
ball could be given, without my having anything more
to do except tell people at the Opera and the Theatre
that there would be a dance at Carneaux on such a day.
This I did not fail to do, and I found people everywhere
ready to come to this assembly. On their part, the
ladies hired the great hall at the Carneaux, which they
had splendidly lighted up; they sent a fairly good

102 A VAGABOND COURTIER
band, and had the Ball opened by their Waiting-women
and Valets.
" That evening I supped with the Ladies, to whom
I confessed, ingenuously enough, that I did not know
what sort of a sum such a Ball would cost in Paris.
After having joked about it for a long time, we had
ourselves carried thither in our chairs after supper, and
never in my life have I seen so many Masqueraders. We
were carried from the door of the Courtyard right into
the Hall, which was hot enough to kill one, and it was
impossible to know to whom to apply for a drop of
water. Every one was swearing at the Ball, and at him
who had given it. Happily no one knew who bore the
burden of such a Fete. However, I had taken the pre
caution of having some refreshments brought for the
Ladies I was escorting, and they were not unneeded.
This Ball whetted my appetite for giving another ten or
twelve of this kind of Entertainment, also devoid of
refreshments. Yet, in spite of the thirst which the
company suffered, and of the imprecations I overheard
against the Donor, there was always an innumerable
crowd of Masqueraders.
"... Thus I spent my time in Paris. I frequented
the best society and the beau monde; I played with
some luck, which enabled me, with what I received from
home, to live in princely fashion. Every day I made
new acquaintances, who gave me fresh amusements."
Though the sad news he had heard of the death of his
sovereign, and of the complete change in the regime of
the Prussian Court, showed Pollnitz, to his sorrow, that
there was nothing more to be hoped for in his own
country, his grief, though sincere, did not last long.
" I had not, indeed, a brilliant career to look forward
to, but my extreme youth made me sanguine enough to
believe that I could not but get on. My birth and my
position also reassured me, and, moreover, to be quite
frank about the situation in which I found myself, I

THE VAGRANT 103
was in love, and at Paris, a reason specious enough to
dispel any prolonged melancholy.
" It was at the fair at S. Germains that I contracted
this new amourette. I had no reason to blush over my
choice, and might flatter myself to have found every
thing that could satisfy a gallant. I abandoned myself
entirely to my new passion, and, as I was naturally
inclined to be extravagant, I spent so lavishly that my
friends were frightened. Carriages, clothes, liveries, all
were of the utmost splendour ; the presents I gave
frequently were very handsome. Very soon I found
myself obliged to consider seriously how I was going
on. I had only myself to blame, for Mademoiselle de
S  (this was the name of my adored one) would
certainly have been content with a less extravagant
lover, so that, with a little economy, I could have cut
a fairly fine figure in Paris. But my new passion
prevented me from looking closely into my affairs.
They got into such a bad state that I found myself
obliged to consider a journey home. Very hard did I
find it to fix the date of a departure which I could not
contemplate without sorrow. My dear mistress and
her mother, on the other hand, both melting into tears,
urged me to set about this most imperative journey.
The one wished it for my good, the other for her
daughter's sake ; for this good mother was as eager
about the money as her daughter was disinterested."
At last the sad day came. Pollnitz left without any
farewells except to Madame and the Duke of Orleans.
As he expected to be absent for so short a time, he
left all his people behind and took with him only one
servant, who knew all about his affairs.
At five in the same evening he reached Roye, in
Picardy, and was delayed there waiting for post-horses,
for the Spanish ambassador, going to the congress at
Utrecht, had taken them all. Therefore he decided to
drive on with those he had, and stopped at a wretched
inn between Roye and Peronne. His aching head was

104 A VAGABOND COURTIER
so full of agitating thoughts and worries and conflicting
emotions, that he did the best thing in the circumstances,
and went straight to bed.
But in bed it was worse, for he gave himself up to his
sorrow. One moment he longed to go back to Paris,
where love called. The next he felt the sad necessity
of proceeding on his journey. A thousand different
thoughts succeeded each other.
" At last, after long debate, I decided to return to
Paris. It was two hours after midnight when I came
to this mad resolve. I rose at once, and called my
valet ; but, as he was in a separate building to me, I
thought that, instead of losing time calling for him, I
had better go and wake him myself. So I left my room.
Unfortunately for me, I had not noticed, or, rather, in
my agitation I did not remember, that the door of my
room opened on to a gallery which ran round the house.
This balcony was in course of construction, and there
had not been time to put up a balustrade, so that, before
I had gone two paces, I turned as good a somersault as
I have ever turned in my life.
" I fell into the courtyard, but, by good luck, lighted
upon a dung-hill, which saved me from being hurt, or
perhaps killed. I had no further harm than the shock
and the finding myself on as disgusting a mattress as
one can imagine.
" My worst difficulty was then how to get out of where
I was and back into my room. The night was so dark,
and I knew so little of the house, that I had no hope
of extricating myself alone. So I began to call my
valet with all my might. The rascal took care not to
hear me. A little later I was made aware that he had
got drunk, and was sleeping off his wine in a deep
slumber. Finding that I had to do with a deaf man,
I betook myself to calling over, in a loud shout, the
names of Marie, Catherine, Jeanne, and others, hoping
that there was some servant-maid in the house whom
this name would suit.

THE VAGRANT 105
" I was right. One came to my rescue, but the girl,
taking me for a ghost, gave a scream of ' Jesu-Marie ! '
and disappeared instantly.
" I was in a great dilemma ; from the way things
were going I foresaw that I should have to pass the
rest of my night on my dung-hill, waiting patiently
till the house woke up. I dreaded this misadventure
all the more because, though it was summer-time, the
nights were cold, and I had nothing on but a silk
dressing-gown. " So I began to shout and to swear again, so much so
that, at last, some of the household came running to
see what was happening, but each one, following the
example of the maid-servant, thought I was a ghost
and dared not come near me.
" All this noise at last awoke my valet, who came
running in his shirt. At first he thought that I was
being murdered, but when I told him to have the horses
put to my chaise, he concluded that I had gone off my
head. I reiterated the order to him to have the chaise
got ready that I might leave at once. My valet, who
could not get over the amazement an order of this sort
caused him, said to me :
" ' Ha ! Monsieur, be easy ; it is now only two in the
morning. At five you shall start.'
"As he was one of those valets who readily grow
familiar with masters who treat them kindly, he flatly
refused to obey me ; he replied that I did not mean
it, and that, because I could not sleep, I wanted to
prevent others doing so ; that in the daytime I was
dragged along in a good chaise, and he, most of the
time, on very bad horses ; that the long and short of
it was, that he wanted to go to bed, and that he would
not start until he had had another two hours' sleep and
a good breakfast.
" I was minded to get angry, but, seeing that that
would have no effect, we compromised our own difference
of opinion ; he gave way to me in that he should not
go to bed again, and I allowed him to have some break-

106 A VAGABOND COURTIER
fast. When he thought fit to have finished, I got into
my chaise and ordered the postilhon to take the Paris
road. " Then it was that my valet thought that I had quite
taken leave of my senses ; he told me that I was making
a mistake, and that it was the road to the Low Countries
that we were to take. I told him to hold his tongue
and to start. The poor fellow, even more sure than
ever that I had gone mad, became very anxious indeed ;
at each change of horses he came to the window of my
chaise with a sorrowful look on his face, and asked me
how I did, and if I required anything.
" At last I reached Paris. All those who had known
that I was leavmg were very astonished at seeing me
back again. I made believe that I had felt very unwell,
and had returned for fear of falling ill, preferring to
be ill in Paris to anywhere else. No one would believe
me ; they thought affaires de cceur were the only cause
of my precipitate return.
" I stayed three months in Paris, and all that time
I did not go to Versailles. I was afraid of Madame,
who ' did not like follies ' ; on my part I did not like
lectures, so that I thought it wiser to keep away.
" However, the same reasons which determined me
to go home the first time still held good, and I at last
left Paris again, having made up my mind, however,
to be away as short a time as I possibly could."

CHAPTER VI
Pollnitz went by way of Brussels to Breda, one of the
most important fortresses in the Dutch Brabant, and
thence, crossing the Waal at Gorkum, to Utrecht —
" A city with a very ancient look. I fancy the walls
of Jericho, which fell at the sound of the redoubtable
trumpets of Israel, resembled those of this town. ... A
pleasant place, well built, with cheerful streets, and
better air than elsewhere in Holland, as it is less relax
ing." After The Hague Utrecht, " the best residence
for a gentleman ; many nobility and rich private people."
Peace had been signed, but the Congress was still
sitting. Puns, he found, were going round about the
three treaties of peace which had recently been concluded
in the United Provinces. Nijmegen, they said, meant
" take everything," Ryswick, " seize everything," and
Utrecht, " out of right." " If one considers things,"
commented Pollnitz, " this might be fairly true ; but
the punsters would not be on the side of the Allies."
Directly the Baron reached Utrecht he went to call on
the Prussian envoys, Counts Dohnhof, Metternich, and
Biberstein, to hear news of the Fatherland. There were no
inns in Utrecht, and the envoys were very poorly lodged,
and that not for lack of paying for it, for several of them
might have bought the homes they occupied for what
they paid in rent during the time of their mission."
Pollnitz found another old friend, or rather, enemy,
at Utrecht. The Countess Wartenberg had retired
thither after her husband's death at Frankfurt. If
King Frederic had wept when his old friend's funeral
107

108 A VAGABOND COURTIER
passed the Schloss, " the Countess had been more self-
possessed, and was careful to give way to no sad thoughts.
On the contrary," comments Pollnitz, " she was pleased
at finding herself in possession of great wealth, and,
what pleased her even more, at being her own mistress."
Utrecht being for the time the gayest city she could
find, she took up her residence there, and embarked in
intrigues. Chevalier de B  had been her friend of
the moment, and he had just left to carry the terms of
peace to Paris.
Pollnitz did not trouble himself to call upon the
daughter of the Rhine boatman, especially as he found
he would have been the only one of the Prussian Court
then at Utrecht to pay her any civility. However, by
chance they met. She had brought with her a young
French lady whom he had known well in Berlin. As
the latter was very amusing, and as he was anxious to
glean some gossip of the Countess's doings, he renewed
his acquaintance while quite declining to call upon the
Wartenberg. " However, the young lady took upon
herself to inform the Countess of my visit, and to tell
that she thought I much resembled the Chevalier de
B  ." This was enough. The Countess, despite his
refusals, wished to see him. So, one day, when he was
calling on the young lady, she came into the room.
" As you are too haughty," she began, " to come and see
me, I come to see you," and, without giving him time
to reply, continued : " You are much improved in looks.
You are like the Chevalier de B  as two peas ; the
most perfect resemblance, even to the very voice ! "
" Nothing," says Pollnitz, " was less true. The Com
mander was handsome and well-made, and I was never
foolish enough to think myself that." All these com
pliments of the Countess seemed so odd that he was
" as embarrassed as a schoolboy just left college," and
hardly knew what he was saying. He gave her his
hand to escort her back to her rooms, where, but for
the timely announcement of a visitor, one of the French
plenipotentiaries, " without taking upon myself the air

THE VAGRANT 109
of a man of bonne fortune, or of an indiscret, it would
only have depended upon myself to have been taken
for the Chevalier, body and soul." After this kind of
visit he arranged matters so as to avoid a similar one
during the short time he stayed at Utrecht.
Thence he went by Wesel to Magdeburg and Branden
burg, to Berlin.
" On the day I arrived I was so tired at having
travelled night and day that I stayed in bed till the
evening, when I had the honour of saluting the Queen ;
. . . the King was at Potsdam. Her Majesty still
kept her room, as she had not yet got up after her con
finement. ... I was received with a coldness which led
me to judge that I could not hope to be in favour at
Court, or, at least to be in harmony with its tone. It
was not the same with the Mesdames the Margraves ;
they received me with every possible expression of
kindness. Madame la Margrave Dowager " (Philip of
Schwedt 's widow) " especially assured me that she would
continue the protection with which she had always
honoured me. As for the city of Berlin, it had not
recovered from the loss it has sustained in the death of
King Frederic" ("the gute Herr," his granddaughter
writes), "regretted and wept by the whole kingdom.
The King, his son, indeed gives rise to great hopes ; but
the changes he has introduced in the Court make people
regret the late King."
Pomp and circumstance had vanished. The flowing
perukes gave place to helmets. All who wished to
curry favour with the new King donned, as his daughter
puts it, " sword and cuirass." Frederic William's one
passion was for soldiers. His father, he averred, " kept
no sword with which to enforce his pen." So —
" He reduced his household accordingly, and at once,
to the lowest footing of the indispensable, and discharged
a whole regiment of superfluous official persons, court

110 A VAGABOND COURTIER
flunkeys — inferior, superior, supreme — in the most ruth
less manner. He does not intend keeping any Oberhof-
marschall, or the like idle person, henceforth ; thinks a
minimum of gold-sticks ought to suffice every man . . .
eight lackeys at six shillings a week, three active pages,
instead of three dozen idle ones . . . thirty saddle-
horses, instead of a thousand . . . shaved down every
thing to half a thaler. Even the incomes of the Royal
Family he cut down, and only kept ten thousand a year
for himself."
Small chance for poor young Baron von Pollnitz !
Despite their boyhood's comradeship in the mimic
regiment and the French theatricals, our butterfly hero
at once perceived that he had nothing in common with,
or to hope for, from Frederic Wilham. For years to
come this indeed was the case. Then the levelling hand
of 'lime asserted itself.
Pollnitz beat a retreat from Berlin. He decided to
settle his money matters as speedily as possible, and
then to hie him back to the more congenial atmosphere
of Paris.
He went to Zell to look into accounts with the lawyer
to whom he had entrusted his interests in his mother's
estates. There he found matters anything but to his
liking. Countess von Wense had bequeathed the
greater part of her fortune to the children of her third
marriage, so that Charles came into very much less
than he had expected. This was a great blow, in view
of debts in Paris, and fine plans for a gay life there
in the future. All Charles could look forward to was
the reversion of his grandfather's property which was
settled on his brother, and the stony-hearted cousin,
Henrietta Charlotte, at Hanover.
From Zell Pollnitz went to Hamburg. He had been
there as a boy, but had not seen the sights. Life in that
wealthy city was more lively than in the other Hanseatic
towns, and he spent some days pleasantly enough.
Most of the German Princes had residents at Hamburg,

THE VAGRANT 111
who kept up a fairly good opera all the year round.
Each of these envoys attended to one department of
it, " so that one saw M. d'A. presiding at rehearsals ;
M. de W. arranging the ballets ; M. S. ordering dresses,
wigs, rouge, and patches for the actresses."
The Dutch gardens, just without the gates, were a
great joy to the inhabitants, the promenades charming,
especially that on the Alster basin, tree-planted, with a
double avenue commanding a fine view of the river and
the country-houses in gardens, and woods and meadows.
There were several well-born people to be known —
" Where one is well received, and one has good com
pany, sees a good deal of each other, dines, sups, and
lives well. The merchants are affable and polite, and
travelled. AU that I find to say against them is that
they treat their wives after the fashion of the East,
where the women go nowhere except to the mosques.
Here, they hardly go anywhere except to the churches,
or, if they go for a walk, it is accompanied by their
husbands. A stranger is rarely admitted to their
assembhes ; when he puts in an appearance these poor
women are quite surprised, as a Sultana might be on
seeing a Capuchin enter the harem."
Pollnitz made the acquaintance of a Herr Brocks, a
magistrate and a poet. " His works do him honour,
and should convince a stranger who understands German
that one can say as fine things in that language as in
any other," adds the Baron, with an unwonted praise
of his native language as a literary vehicle, which he
failed, however, to put in practice himself.
" A cannon-shot from Hamburg hes Altona," in Danish
Holstein, " notable," thought Pollnitz, " for the variety
of its religious edifices and for offering an asylum to
bankrupts." The name, meaning " all too near,"
given in derision by a King of Denmark to protesting
Hamburg councillors when he was building the city at
their gates. Only the year before Pollnitz's visit it had

112 A VAGABOND COURTIER
been burnt by the Swedes, and still lay desolate. He
left Hamburg only just in time, for a few days later the
plague broke out there, and the Elector of Hanover
forced the city to put itself in quarantine.
Pollnitz drove the twelve miles across the moors to
Zell, over a shocking road, and, without stopping there,
to Aix-la-Chapelle, arriving in time for the famous
exhibition of the relics, which only takes place once
every seven years. " The ceremony was held on the
top of the Tower of the city, while the people knelt in
the square below, and in the adjoining streets, for only
people of quality are allowed on the Tower and to inspect,
but not touch, the relics." From all the provinces of
Germany, even from distant Hungary and the Tyrol,
had pilgrims journeyed. " The only reward these poor
people had was spying these things from afar. The
city of Aix feasts them, but mostly they return without
knowing what they have seen."
Our hero was not superstitiously inclined, and the holy
relics made but little impression upon him. He only
remembers —
" A chemise which, they assure me, belonged to the
Virgin. The marks one sees on it are those said to be
of the milk when she was suckling the Saviour of the
world. This chemise seemed to me to be without seam,
and of a material which I cannot well describe, for it
was neither linen nor cotton."
Nor was he more credulous as to the " extraordinary
story of the resurrection of S. Manolph and S. Goudulph
at the consecration, in the presence of Charlemagne, by
Leo III of the Church of Our Lady," despite the " au
thentic testimony " to it in the church of Maestricht,
" for it seemed to me, without desiring to penetrate this
mystery, that if these two bishops really were saints it
was useless for the Pope to give them the Benediction,
as they were older saints than the Holy Father."

THE VAGRANT 113
It was as a fashionable watering-place that Aix
appealed to the gay young Baron, rather than as a
holy city.
" Of all the place where one takes the baths, none is
more pleasantly situated than Aix, surrounded by hills
forming a pretty valley. One is excellently fed and
lodged there. At Bougy's house, near the springs, the
Royalties of Denmark and their suites were well lodged.
During the summer the assembhes and balls take place
there. The town of Aix is famous for its hot baths,
and the waters which are drunk twice a year, in spring
and autumn. At these two seasons a great number of
visitors arrive. The waters are hot and have a very
bad taste ; they smell of rotten eggs, which makes it
difficult to take them the first day, but after that one
becomes used to them, and they do one good. The
Baths are excellent for the shrinkage of nerves and for
wounds. There is no place where one can drink the
waters more comfortably ; one finds in abundance all
one can desire, and, above all, good company ; the
vicinity of Brabant, Liege, France, Holland, and Ger
many attracts a great deal of society, and thus one
amuses oneself very well indeed."
His experiences at Aix he was, in later years, to turn
to good account.
Pollnitz went on from Aix through Maestricht and
Louvain, and reached his Mecca " more in love than
ever. I was received by my beloved with every mark
of affection, which led me to believe that I was the
happiest of mortals. I was indeed, because, till then,
my happiness consisted in being in her favour. But
my natural fickleness soon altered my opinion."
" I met the Marquise de P  ." Pollnitz is really
tantalizing with his mysterious initials. Was it the
fascinating de Prie, mistress of the Due de Bourbon,
" extraordinarily pretty and a good figure," tells Saint-
1—8

114 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Simon, " with much wit, and astonishingly well-read ? "
Or the Regent's " httle black crow, whose heart was
never vacant," the Marquisede Parabere, "who," his
mother writes, " retails folhes which amuse my son
and make him forget his work ";..." a drunkard " ?
Or again, the dainty little Marquise de Polignac, who
out-heroded them all in " the disordered mad life at
Paris, which became daily," Madame thought, " more
hateful and more horrible " ; the Polignac to whom the
son of the Turkish ambassador said that her reputation
had reached even to Constantinople — "and I see,
Madame, that we were told the truth." Not one of
these ladies but might have cast a favouring, though
passing, glance on the attractive young German Baron.
He " ingenuously confesses that all my deep feelings
for S  cooled down. I found that nothing could
equal my passion. S  soon discovered my incon
stancy and reproached me with it ; but reproached me
without the bitterness which love alone can inspire.
My passion awake again, and I felt on this occasion :
" Qu'une flamme mal eteinte
Est facile a allumer,
Et qu'avec peu de contrainte,
On recommence d'aimer."
" My feelings as a gentleman coincided with those of
affection. I asked myself what cause for dissatisfaction
could I have had with S  . At last I came to the
conclusion against myself, as it were, that, without
ingratitude, I could not give up such a sweet charmer.
1 took measures gradually to withdraw from the Mar
quise de P  . I had little trouble in stifling a passion,
which, after all, was, so to say, but a flash in the pan."
Pollnitz made a few months' stay in Paris, which was
gay at this time with a great double royal wedding —
between the Bourbons and Contis.
But the hero of the hour was Marshal Villars, the

THE VAGRANT 115
victor of Denain, " whose two victories and one success "
at the end of the war had been as balm in Gilead to the
wounded pride of the French.
"Clear-minded, clever, supple, hard-working, brave,
a fine soldier and a lucky captain, he was," says Pollnitz.
" Slander added that he was avaricious, like the Duke
of Marlborough, and proud. I saw something of that.
The Marshal was dining with D'Argenson, Grand
Equerry of France ; I was present." The jovial-faced,
well-set-up veteran, with his bright brown eyes, a great
talker, held forth on his exploits. He had returned
from the campaign with much loot. Pollnitz listened
attentively. " He noticed that I was observing him ; he did not
know who I was. He asked M. le Grand Ecuyer in a
whisper. Then the Marechal, hearing that I was a
German, said some civil things. After that he went on
with his conversation, and, speaking to me of his victory
at Denain, in a tone which showed great satisfaction,
asked : ' But why did your people drown themselves ?
I am merciful, I would have given them quarter ; they
should have asked me for it.'
" I confess that my Teutonic honour over-mastered
me. The terms of ' clemency ' and ' quarter ' seemed
to me insulting to my nation. I was young and rash ;
I very nearly made him an unsuitable reply. But I
recollected myself, and only at the second or third
attack did I at last answer him, ' that it seemed to me
that he should not be surprised at what the German
troops had done, because, till the day of Denain, they
had known of his valour, but had not experienced his
clemency.' " I saw that my reply did not please him ; he changed
the conversation, and did not speak to me again all the
day. " Some time after the peace, I made it up with him.
It was at the Duchesse de Lude's, lady-in-waiting to
the Duchesse de Bourgogne. There was a large com-

116 A VAGABOND COURTIER
pany, the Marechal de Villars among others. Con
versation turned on the custom of the ancients to give
surnames to their heroes, and we blamed the moderns
for not imitating them. ' And what name should we
give M. le Marechal ? ' said the Duchesse de Lude.
" I spoke, and said : ' It would not be difficult. It
seems to me that there is no title would suit M. le Mare
chal better than that of Germanicus Francais.'
" This reply was quite to the Marshal's taste. He
looked at me smiling, and said many kind things to me."
After Pollnitz had been some months in Paris, advice
from Berlin told him that the new King was about to
set up his household, and that Charles could not do better
than come and offer his services. It does honour to his
patriotism that, happy though he was at Paris, he
soon made up his mind as to what he ought to do.
" I had always been brought up in the feeling that
one should prefer the service of one's own sovereign to
that of any other ; besides, I felt myself allied by
nature to the blood of our Kings. So I decided to quit
Paris yet once more. From my character the reader
will judge that I felt some pain in forming such a resolve.
I confess frankly that I was deeply moved at leaving
a place where I enjoyed pleasures such as I well knew
I should not find elsewhere ; but in the end I listened to
the call of duty, and the tears I saw shed melted me,
indeed, but had no power to induce me to change my
plan." Pollnitz went by Wesel to Hanover, where he fell ill.
" My design had been to remain incognito, but the
state in which I was obliged me to call in a doctor.
For a while I thought all remedies would be in vain,
and that I must indeed think of making the Long
Journey."

THE VAGRANT 117
Cousin Charlotte Henrietta heard of her young rela
tive's arrival, and informed the Electress, " who kindly
sent to inquire news of me, and continued to do so twice
a day while I was ill. This Princess has always shown
me kindness for which I shall be eternally grateful."
" Directly I was able to go out I did not fail to go
and present my very humble thanks to Madame the
Electress." She received the young man better than
he had dared to hope, and the interest she had shown
in him led Charlotte Henrietta, and also the Countess
Kilmannsegg, to suggest that " if I were to solicit per
mission to enter her service I should easily receive it."
Though Pollnitz doubted of his success, these ladies
persuaded him to try ; but experience showed that he
was right. He made his petition by letter, which he
thought afterwards had been a sottise, as it gave the
Electress time to ask advice. Which she did, and
unluckily she consulted Frau von B  . " This lady
could not abide me, and I have since found out the
reason of her aversion." The Baron had perpetrated
another sottise.
For he had told Madame, who had written to the
Electress, with whom she corresponded at least once a
week, that the Electoral Prince George was paying
particular attention to this lady. " This was enough to
set violently against me a person who, exteriorly,
professed the most austere virtue." Frau von B 
was delighted to find means of revenging herself on
being consulted by the Electress. She managed to
persuade the latter not to receive Pollnitz into her
service, finding plenty of good reasons to allege, " the
desire for revenge," moralizes our hero, " always
furnishes specious pretexts enough to injure one's
enemy." The Electress took her advice, but the refusal was
most kindly put.
" She could not imagine," she wrote, " that, after
having served a King, I should desire to serve an old

118 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Princess like herself; that the service of the Elector,
her son, would suit me better, and that she would be
pleased to help me to enter it, but, for herself, she
would reserve the pleasure of receiving me into her
service till she was Queen of England ; because, if that
happened, she would be more in a position to advance
my career."
Over a refusal so kindly put, Pollnitz could feel no
bitterness. He says he only took the step to please
his cousin, who " was keenly annoyed by the Electress's
conduct, not so much out of love for me (I knew where I
was on that score) as from wounded pride. Her vanity
suffered greatly ; she thought herself in favour, and she
perceived that she had no influence." Her resentment
went so far that she prevented Pollnitz taking leave of
the Electress, who left a few days later for Gohre and the
Baron for Berlin. The clever old lady and the amusing
lad to whom she had been kind were not to meet again.
Disappointment was again to dog Pollnitz's footsteps
when he reached the capital. Frederic Wilham was
strenuously at work, as King, farmer, and drill-sergeant.
The whole of Europe was being ransacked for recruits
for his giant Grenadier regiment. These " long fellows "
became " channels to the favour," as his daughter puts
it, of the " rugged Orson." Prince Leopold of Anhalt-
Dessau has such influence that, Pollnitz writes, he per
suaded the King to cut down his household and suite
almost to " the level of that of a private person," in
order that there might be more money to spend on the
army. When Pollnitz reached Berlin nearly all the few
appointments were already given away.
Relying on " auld lang syne," he appealed to von Print
zen, who had known him so well as a boy when Printzen
was tutor to Frederic William, and who had taken him
as a page on the mission to Charles XII. But times had
changed. In this austere, parsimonious Court, where
there was to be all work and no play, there was no niche
for a lively, amusing young fellow, a delightful com-

THE VAGRANT 119
panion, a wit, and a raconteur, with a good head for,
and much experience at, lansquenet and bassette.
Printzen, who belonged to the old regime, did his
best and spoke for Pollnitz ; but his request was
refused, and the refusal hurt Pollnitz all the more in
that it was very far from being couched in the flattering
language which had sweetened the similar bitter pill
which he had been obliged to swallow at Hanover. He
felt aggrieved, and through no fault of his own. Frederic
William was filling his Court with parvenus. Of the
three new Ministers, Kreuz had been known to Pollnitz
as Advocate-General of the Prince Royal's regiment in
the old days, and his new elevation to the ranks of the
nobility " had not made him lose his bourgeois appear
ance ; " while Kraut, the Paymaster-General, had been
a tradesman in Berlin, had "sold goods by the yard,"
and owed his title to his wealth.
" I felt very much," writes Pollnitz, " the conduct of
the Court towards me ; I had never done anything
that should bar me from an appointment among my own
class ; my ancestors had always served there, and had
held a position sufficiently distinguished for me to
hope that some consideration might be shown me ;
moreover, I had had the honour of being Gentleman
of the Chamber to the late King, yet I had the chagrin
of seeing people who had never been to Court, and who
were mostly of obscure birth, preferred before me.
Seeing myself, therefore, without any hope of succeeding
with regard to the Court, I thought I ought to try my
luck elsewhere."
Shaking the dust of Prussia off his feet, Pollnitz con
sidered taking service with the King of Poland.

CHAPTER VII
It was to Count Flemming, the Prime Minister and
Field-Marshal of Saxony, that Pollnitz owed the sug
gestion of entering the service of Augustus the Strong,
Elector of Saxony, now, at last, firmly seated on the
uneasy Polish throne.
Pollnitz gives a clear portrait of the man who had
been mainly instrumental in assuring that much-f ought-
for but questionable possession to his master.
Flemming was a remarkable man, of a family which
had branches in Poland, Sweden, Germany, and Scot
land. At that time Lord Wigton was the head of the
Scottish branch. Flemming's father had been head of
the Swedish Regency in Pomerania, where his son was
born. The latter studied at Frankfort-on-the-Oder and
at Utrecht, " learning to speak Latin elegantly." He
took service under the Elector of Brandenburg, and
saw fighting in Piedmont. Then he entered the ser
vice of Saxony, and commanded the Imperial troops
against the Turks. At the peace he was sent to Poland,
and, by means of family connections added to good
luck and ability, brought about Augustus's election to
the throne. Flemming fought against Charles XII in
Lithuania, and married a Sapieha, one of the first
families. Charles, when he carried all before him,
demanded that Flemming, as his subject born, should be
given up to him. But the Count escaped to Branden
burg till the storm blew over, and there met Pollnitz at
Frederic's Court. On his return to Saxony there was
for a while fierce rivalry between him and Schulemberg,
the senior Saxon Lieutenant-General. Then the latter,
after his defeat by the Swedes at Frauensdorf, passed
120

THE VAGRANT 121
over to the Venetian service, and Flemming reigned
supreme in his master's favour. He was accused of
having instigated Augustus to deliver up Potkul, the
Russian envoy, to Charles ; " and, if Augustus had
not been more generous than Flemming, Charles would
himself have been arrested " on that strange surprise
visit he paid to Augustus at Dresden. When Charles
was overthrown, and Augustus's Polish sovereignty
secured, Flemming devoted himself to arranging the
Northern League and the subsequent peace, and to
marrying Augustus's son to the Emperor's daughter.
At the time when Pollnitz again met Flemming in
Berlin —
" He was rather king's courier between Dresden,
Berlin, and Warsaw than acting as envoy and Prime
Minister. ... All his life he had been seeking his own
ends first, and those of the King, his master, secondly,
and I am not aware that I wrong him," adds Pollnitz,
" in saying that he was more the Minister of the King
of Prussia than of the King of Poland."
Very tall, with hawk's eyes, a mocking smile and a
haughty air, proud and inordinately ambitious, Flem
ming was an indefatigable worker and an equally
arduous pleasure-seeker. Two hours' sleep sufficed him.
" All means were alike to him if only he succeeded in
his designs. Perjury, deceit, politeness, lavishness — all
served him in turn ; but his manners were in truth those
of a captain of dragoons rather than of Field-Marshal
and Prime Minister."
This was the man into whose hands poor, disappointed,
chagrined Pollnitz now entrusted his fortunes. " I
made most of my friendship with him, and paid my
respects to him zealously. This Minister seemed to
have every intention of doing me a service, and he pro
mised to speak for me to the King, his master." Flem
ming left Berlin for Warsaw at the end of November,

122 A VAGABOND COURTIER
1713, and Pollnitz followed him. He was presented to
the King, and to all the nobility of the Court.
Augustus the Strong was then forty-four, a fine figure,
handsome, stately, a charming mixture of strength and
valour with gentleness and politeness.
" Never was Prince more magnificent, or more lavish,
never one who accompanied his gifts with more gracious
ness. Soldier and politician, modest in prosperity, firm
in adversity, he has been seen, even in the depths of
misfortune, to speak to his enemies with the pleasant
and contented air which men used to dealing with
great affairs know how to assume under the most cruel
mortifications." In his youth Augustus had travelled much, and
Pollnitz recounts a strange incident which occurred to
him when amusing himself in the gay city of Venice.
Wishing to consult a celebrated astrologer, Augustus
went to him " accompanied only by two gentlemen, and
all three very simply dressed. The Prince, in order not
to be recognized, had hidden his brown hair under a
flaxen wig, and was the last to enter the astrologer's
study, and made as if he were following the others.
Yet the astrologer spoke to him, calling him Monseigneur
and Highness," in spite of the Prince's disclaimers. He
then showed him a magic mirror. " Look in here," he
said to the Prince, " and you will see the principal
events of your life." Augustus beheld himself clad
first in Electoral robes, then with a crown on his head,
and finally, wounded, and covered with blood. Pollnitz
had this story from a courtier who was told it by the
King himself, and goes on to say that a stone-mason
had predicted to Madame de Maintenon, when she was
widow Scarron, her future rank and fortune, " and I
could tell of other examples, quite as strange," adding,
sceptical as usual, " which surprise but do not convince
me." Nothing could have been better, he thought, than his

THE VAGRANT 123
debut at the Court of Poland. The French temperament
of the Poles, and that of their gorgeous, pleasure-loving,
and easy-going monarch, were precisely to his liking.
" I was patronized by the man who cut the finest figure
after the King, which was the reason why every one
was so civil to me."
But the King soon left for Germany. In spite of all
he had gone through " to gain and then to recover the
Polish crown," his life at Warsaw did not really suit
him. " There," says Pollnitz, " he has only the vain pomp
of kingly majesty ; he is more limited than any other
monarch in the world ; the least innovation, the smallest
act of independent authority, causes the Poles to cry
out, and they think themselves at once absolved from
any obedience they owe him. Every one of gentle birth
there is independent ; the nobles make the Kings, and
only appear at Court in order to ask favours, and if they
receive them they depart ungrateful, and if they are
refused they leave with the intention of revenging
themselves upon the first occasion. The climate is
severe, the people are barbarous, and the King, adored
in Saxony, is barely liked in Poland."
As Pollnitz deemed it best to await Augustus's return
from Germany before speaking to him of his own affairs,
he remained at Warsaw, " and spent his time most
agreeably. I was soon acquainted with all the Polish
nobility, who were full of every civility for me."
" Polite Polish society," as Rulhiere remarks, " felt
itself in a most halcyon condition, given up to the
agreeable, and that only." Pollnitz found " Paris over
again, in the same politeness, and in a certain ease of
manner of which the French think they are the sole
possessors. The Polish ladies are very pleasant, they
all have esprit, and are very lively. It can easily be

124 A VAGABOND COURTIER
imagined that, with these qualities, they are not in
different to pleasure ; in fact, I noticed in them a delicacy
and a taste for everything that can be called amusement.
They are passionately fond of music, and still more of
plays. At Warsaw there is plenty to satisfy them ;
the King is a prince as gallant as he is magnificent, and
likes everything done at his Court in a manner worthy
of a great king. He maintains French actors, and
often gives balls and concerts. To these amusements
are generally added beautiful fetes which the King
gives to the ladies of his Court, at which this Prince
is always admired for his good looks and for the affability
which accompanies all his actions. . . . The Polish
nobles are not so fine as their ladies, by any means, nor
are they equal to them in taste and arrangements. The
servants and the carriages are usually badly turned out ;
their tables are, indeed, profusely laden, but without
refinement, owing, I believe, to lack of good maids and
clever cooks, for otherwise Poland is the best country
in the world for good living. The butchers' meat is
delicious, the fish excellent and plentiful ; no wine grows
in the country, but one does not notice it amongst the
Polish nobility, where the Hungarian wine, though very
dear, is drunk like water. I noticed something among
most of them which does not befit with the grandeur
on which they pride themselves ; it is that the master
of the house and his particular friends drink very good
wine indeed, while the other guests are obliged to content
themselves with rather common wine. It is noticeable
that, though Poland produces in abundance all that is
necessary for life, it is a country very uncomfortable
for travellers, especially for those who are unable to
carry everything with them. I have never seen any
place where the inns were so badly furnished ; one scarcely
finds a chair to sit on. Therefore travellers of a certain
position take care to carry about with them all they
require. The Duke of York, when Bishop of Osnabriick,
remarked with reference to this practice that there is no
country he knew of where one is so at home as in Poland,

THE VAGRANT 125
because when one travels one always finds oneself
with one's own furniture."
When he heard that the King was about to return
to Germany Pollnitz at once left Warsaw in company
with Count Hoyhm, Minister of State, called the
Maecenas of Saxony, " one of the most polite of the
Ministers, who is the greatest scholar, and who most
patronizes literary people, in his splendid Hotel at
Dresden, one of the largest buildings in that city."
They went by way of Breslau.
" A fine large city, with many nobility in residence
in winter. ... As Count Flemming was staying two
days, I stayed there also, and saw very good company,
especially at the Princess of Teschen. This fair lady,
a Fraulein von Lubomirski, a former favourite of the
King and mother by him of the Chevalier de Saxe,"
was " a very grande dame, who entertained with much
magnificence." Fain would the Baron have lingered a day or two
longer at Breslau, but deemed it wise not to lose sight
of Flemming, on whom he had built all his hopes. So
they went together to Leipzig to the famous fair. The
Saxon Royalties always graced these gatherings with
their presence, as Leipzig was in their country, and, as
Augustus had been some time out of his hereditary
dominions, there was a great gathering of Princes of
the Blood, legitimate, legitimized, and recognized, and
many people of quality came to pay their respects.
Saxony at that period was, after Austrian dominions,
the largest and most important of all the States of the
Empire. Its capital, though not very large, was well
fortified, " and well planned with high, solid houses,
wide, straight streets, well paved, clean, and well lighted
at night, to be ranked among the finest towns in the
world," thought Pollnitz. In his day it consisted ol

126 A VAGABOND COURTIER
two quarters, divided by the Elbe, and joined by a
stone bridge. /
Pollnitz came by way of Meissen, of porcelain fame,
the factory started for Augustus by an alchemist, whom
he immured in his castle of Konigstein to make gold,
but who turned him out what was quite as lucrative,
the finest china in the world.
" Dresden was the pleasure-centre of Germany, and
entertainments make a stay there scarcely different
to Paris." Magnificent were the fetes given during
carnival time, for Pollnitz had arrived at a propitious
moment —
" And all who were present were even more delighted
with the King's pleasant manners than with the loveli
ness of the scene and the magnificence of the feasts.
. . . Though the King divides his time between his
kingdom and his Electorate, it is true that he appears
to enjoy himself better in Saxony than in Poland. It
is his hereditary country, and he is absolute there ;
his will is that of his subjects, by whom he is adored
rather than beloved. Saxony provides him with the
means of keeping up his dignity, and offers all that can
contribute to the pleasure of a great monarch. His
Court " (now that Louis XTV had grown old and devout,
and austere Frederic William reigned at Berlin) " was
the most brilliant in Europe, full of magnificence,
stateliness, and pleasure."
The Baron haunted the noble Palais des Indes et
d'Hollande, where his friend Flemming lived in much
state, for he had abundantly feathered his nest.
" All the rooms of the three floors were so many
china cabinets, filled with Japanese and Chinese porce
lain. ... I do not think that all the shops of Amster
dam put together can furnish such old and rare china
as is here. They say it is worth one million crowns.
The furniture of the house is from India. There is one

THE VAGRANT 127
decoration which I have never seen elsewhere ; it is
of feathers, all of different colours, and all natural,
worked together with so much art that one mistakes
it for satin with bouquets of flowers."
The garden, sloping down to the Elbe, was adorned
with statues from Rome, much admired in Dresden,
" but not greatly so at Rome."
Pollnitz went to the wild-beast fights in the Arena, of
" lions, tigers, bears, the fiercest beasts the four quarters
of the world can supply." He saw the Green Vaults,
with their immense collection of jewels, of ornaments,
and apparel, " one of the finest spots in the world ... if
I described them all I should write a volume." The
Zwinge-Garten of the palace he thought the Tuileries
of Dresden. He saw the Palais de Turquie in the
suburbs, entirely furnished in oriental style. He went
over Moritzburg, at which Augustus was still at work,
Bot, the Bernini of the period, the architect.
Pollnitz was in Dresden in time for the wedding of
the King's son, Maurice of Saxe, which was celebrated
with great splendour. Imitating the example of
Louis XIV, Augustus had legitimized four natural
sons and three daughters. Of these Maurice was the
eldest, the best beloved, and the one who in tempera
ment most resembled his father, but surpassed him in
military genius, " one of the most delightful of noble
men," Pollnitz calls him. His mother, the beautiful
Aurora von Konigsmarck, sister of the lover of Dorothea
of Zell, was living in retreat as Prioress of the abbey of
Quedlemburg. " Of all the King's favourites," writes
Pollnitz, " she was the one whose favour lasted longest "
(a mistake : it lasted under a year ! ) " and who in her
retreat knew how to retain His Majesty's esteem and
consideration." When Maurice de Saxe, young, gay, handsome, and
gallant, a beau sabreur, returned at fifteen from the
campaign in Flanders, where he had served his appren
ticeship to war, he lacked money. His mother schemed

128 A VAGABOND COURTIER
to marry him to " the priceless jewel," the rich heiress,
Victoria von Loben, who, at eight years old, had been
betrothed to Count von Friesen. Her father dies, her
mother marries again, a Baron Gersdorf, who induces
her to betroth the heiress to his nephew of the same
name. Young Gersdorf elopes with Victoria, aged nine ;
great scandal in Saxony and Poland, and Friesen raises
a clamour. Aurora von Konigsmarck now saw her
chance. She induced the King to summon Victoria
and her mother ; the marriage was declared void. The
child was removed from her mother's control, as the
latter had been party to the abduction ; Gersdorf was
made to give up his wife, and Friesen married off to
one of the King's daughters by Countess Cosel. The
way was now clear for Maurice.
But he was only sixteen and athirst for glory. An
early marriage had no attractions for him ; but money
had. " Soit ! " he exclaimed to his mother, " epousons
la Victoire ! "
" I made love as I made war." The heiress suc
cumbed. The young couple wrote love-letters to each
other ("tres fidele jusqu'a la mort") and poetry.
But the King, thinking them too young, deferred the
marriage. Countess Cosel, his favourite, now attempted to
estrange him from Aurora's influence and secure the
heiress for one of her sons. But the lovers approached
the King together, and he gave his consent to their
prayers. The wedding took place at Moritzburg ; the bride
fifteen, the bridegroom a year older. It was a very
fine affair, chronicles Pollnitz, all the Court present,
and fetes following for many days. But the match
turned out ill ; the young couple led a cat-and-dog life
for a short time ; their son died, and they separated,
after Maurice had run through all his wife's large fortune.
" When the King was at Dresden pleasure abounded
there : plays, masquerades, balls, banquets, tilting at the

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FREDERIC AUGUSTUS I, ELECTOR OF SAXONY AND KING OF POLAND.
Prom the Collection of A. il. Broadley.

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THE VAGRANT 129
ring, sleigh-races, tourings, hunting-parties . . . most
of the fetes public. The plays and masquerades open
to any one who was well dressed. . . . The Saxons are
naturaUy frivolous, but nothing do they like better than
women and play," writes Pollnitz.
The Margravine of Bayreuth writes of the profligate
Augustus's dissipated Court as " the island of Cythere,
where the King kept a harem of the most lovely women
of all countries, and where every one f ollowed his example
. . . and where Bacchus and Venus were the fashionable
divinities." Pollnitz found that the Saxons, " loving display and
extravagance, more than all Germans, affected to
imitate the French, with whom they sympathize most,
particularly in the changes of fashion, in the ease
with which they make acquaintances and form friend
ships, and also, perhaps, in the fickleness with which
they cease to be friends. . . . The fair, white Saxon
women have," thought Pollnitz, " the most beautiful
faces in the world. Most of them have fine figures,
which is what strikes one most. . . . They are tall and
slender, they dance well, dress richly, are lively and
playful, gentle, but cunning and shrewd. ... A sepa
rate volume would be necessary to describe all the
amusements at Dresden."
NaturaUy the young Baron was fascinated with that
beautiful, brflliant, eccentric creature, the Countess
Orselska, a Pole, the King's favourite natural daughter.
She much resembled him, loving dress and display and
pleasure, and usuaUy dressed in a riding-habit, or like
a man. " It was in this costume I first saw her," writes
Pollnitz. " She was riding, wearing a coat of purple
braided with gold, and the Blue Ribbon of Poland. I
was alone, and so could not ask who she was. I took
her for some young stranger lord that I had not yet
1-9

130 A VAGABOND COURTIER
seen. I had never seen any one ride better, nor look
more attractive ; many ladies would have liked a lover
like her. The same evening I saw her at a court baU,
stul dressed as a man ; the richest coat, short hair, weU
frizzed. Love was not more beautiful when he appeared
to Psyche. Her good looks and the grace with which I
saw her dance a minuet led me to ask who the hand
some young man was. Count Botofski (her half-
brother) heard me. ' That young man whom you
admire so much would not do you much harm if you
were a woman, but he might do you some now. Come '
— and he took me by the hand — ' I wiU present you to
him, and you can get out of it as weU as you can.'
" Botofski said to his sister : ' My sister, here is a
cavalier who wiU give you what is due to your charms,
and I can guarantee that he will be ready to serve you
in all you may require from him.'
" Mademoiselle Orselska smfled at this. I saluted with
all the respect due to her rank, and she received me in the
pleasantest way possible."
Next day he saw her dressed as a woman and found
her even more delightful. " I see her daffy, and, the more
I see of her, the more I think a cadet of the Holstein
house, to whom she is betrothed, happy to be her
husband." Poor Orselska ! there was little happiness about the
marriage. The bridegroom married her to obtain
employment of Augustus, but after the latter's death he
left her, and even stripped her of her wealth.
The main reason why Pollnitz thought himself likely
to be successful in his application for a court appoint
ment at Dresden was Flemming's weU-known liking,
as a foreigner himself, for foreigners.
" The chief posts at this Court were held by strangers,
and the Saxons themselves have very little part in the
affairs of State. It is a debt they owe to Count Flem-

THE VAGRANT 131
ming. This Minister, vain, haughty, overbearing, wishes
all to bow before him. He finds such submission more
from foreigners than from Saxons, naturally proud and
averse to being under the yoke. . . . Flemming seemed
much pleased with the attention that people paid me,
or, perhaps, I was not perspicacious enough to discover
that it was quite immaterial to him. It was excusable
in me not to suspect his duplicity towards me ; up till
then I had but reason to be pleased with his generosity
and with the good-wiU he evinced in helping me. But
people took pains to disillusion me, and a short time
afterwards I discovered for myself that the fine promises
he had made me were but what is called ' court holy
water. . . .' I should doubtless have taken more
pleasure in all these amusements had I been able to
be satisfied about the state of my affairs. I had always
reckoned much on Flemming's promises, but when I
was at Dresden matters assumed another aspect. I
reminded him of his promise, he replied with a gay air
which showed me that I must not hope much from
him. Yet, in order to have nothing to reproach myself
with, I continued to profess great friendship for him.
I did not faff to meet with several rebuffs, which, how
ever, did not repel me. I had aU the more reason to
bear my m-luck patiently because I knew that he
treated his most devoted followers in the same way.
" At last, unwnling to do anything for me himself,
he sent me to M. de Louvendahl, Grand Marshal of the
Court. A Dane by birth, who lived in great state and
kept a good table, he was very civil to foreigners. He
sent me to Vitzthum, the King's favourite. I was de
lighted with the politeness and good manners of this
latter ; never, I think, was there a favourite more
obliging, or who gave himself less airs. He did not
daUy with me, but made me aware of the impossibility
of obtaining any appointment at Court unless the King,
by a special favour, could do me an act of kindness ;
which could only be at the expense of several Polish
nobles who were all begging for places to which their

132 A VAGABOND COURTIER
birth gave them a special claim. StUl, I did not lose
hopes of succeeding, and, as this favour could only be
granted through the channel of Flemming, I again had
recourse to him. I had no reason to be pleased ; doubt
less I spoke to him about my business at the wrong
moment, when he was, perhaps, busy with other affairs
of more consequence ; finaUy, he repulsed me so severely
that nothing more was necessary to make me relinquish
my expectations. I took leave of the King and Queen
and set about returning to Berlin."
But, ere Pollnitz could leave for Berlin, an incident
occurred to him which, added to the chagrin he felt at
not having succeeded in his plans, combined to make
his stay in Dresden as unbearable as it had been at first
delightful. He had drawn at the fair at Leipzig a note
of hand of 300 crowns, payable to bearer. The day
before he was to start a merchant in Dresden, who was
authorized to receive it, sent to him for payment, as the
time of the note had just expired. Pollnitz not being
at home, this man made use of a custom, much in vogue
in Saxony, which is to seize any one who fails to pay up
a bUl of exchange on the stipulated day. So, when
PoUnitz was getting into his post-chaise at ten o'clock
at night, he was arrested. Having lost a great deal of
money at play during the carnival, he had not the
necessary cash by him. His only resource was Flem
ming, to whom he did not apply in vain. " It was the
only time that I can remember that he did me any
service. I repaid him shortly after my arrival in
Berlin." Pollnitz did not long remain in his native city. He
spent a few days on the outskirts, on an estate of his
own, some six mUes off. Here he was bored to death,
the boredom such as only the born courtier knows,
" neither happy at Court, nor happy out of it." Once
more his thoughts and wishes turned towards Paris,
though he stUl intended seeking employment either at
Berlin or elsewhere. He was only twenty-one, and

THE VAGRANT 133
luck was terribly against him. There was no one to
hold out a helping hand to him ; his brother away with
his regiment, cousin Charlotte anything but friendly.
A further misfortune now happened to him.
" I was a new Orestes pursued by Fate from one
country to the other." As he was starting on his
journey he had a fall from his horse, and broke his leg.
He was terribly afraid of having it badly set and being
lame for life. He did indeed halt a little ever after ;
" notre boiteux satyre," Frederic the Great dubs him.
However, after suffering a great deal of pain, it happUy
healed enough in nine days for him to be carried into
Berlin, as he could not drive either in post-chaise or
coach. " I was carried by porters, which made my entry
most comical. This new turn-out astonished aU who
saw it, especially the children, who, unused to such an
equipage, foUowed me from the outskirts of the town
to my lodging, and, as the handful went on increasing,
my cortege consisted of quite two hundred people by
the time that I reached my house."
But the move had been an unwise one. His leg in
flamed, an abscess formed, and for twenty days Pollnitz
was laid up in great pain. Directly he was able to go
out he went to pay his respects to the Queen. He
found the Court in a great state of delight at the news
of the accession of the Elector of Hanover to the throne
of England, as Queen Anne had just died. After a
stay of a few days in Berlin, Pollnitz took leave of the
Queen and went to Hamburg.
Here he was warmly welcomed by his friend L  ,
whom he had known when he was of small estate, but
who now, risen in the world, was Prussian envoy to the
Circle of Lower Saxony, and, by means of ability and of
money, on the high road to be a Minister of State and a
Chamberlain. He was delighted to exhibit his wealth and splendour

134 A VAGABOND COURTIER
to Pollnitz, but, unfortunately, his very rich wife was
very old and very disagreeable, and he could not per
suade her to live up to his position. An invitation to a
supper-party gave Pollnitz the opportunity of criticizing
her taste in furniture and appraising her character.
" The first room was decorated in black and gold
leather, with chairs of green taffetas trimmed with
pink flowers. The second apartment was produced in
a greeny tapestry, the seats were black velvet, gaUooned
in gold, everywhere were hung glass sconces. At the
end of the room was an alcove hung with white and
gold leather, in the middle of the alcove a bed of extra
ordinary construction : it had no curtains, four columns
held up the canopy, all was inlaid with mother-of-pearl
and tortoise-shell ; a cornice of gUt wood surmounted
it all. The bed was covered with a counterpane of
black velvet gaUooned in gold. In the four corners of
the alcove were four statues of white marble, each
holding a candle. There were other candles on gold
sconces, and a rather fine chandelier. The whole looked
like a lying-in-state room, rather than one in which one
was to make merry.
" The charming hostess would not appear at table,
but hid behind a door in the alcove, and peeped at us
through the crack." Suddenly, however, whUe they
were all a-supping, " from the bottom of the alcove
came a rather ugly figure all draped in white. I was
the first to see it, and really, if I had faith in ghosts,
I would have thought to see one. It was all like the
scene of the Commander in the Festin de Pierre, except
that we were not honoured by the slightest bow. I
heard swearing and cursing at the servants, which made
me suspect it to be the mistress of the house. I was
not mistaken. We owed this apparition to a candle
which was guttering into a black velvet chair. The
lady had noticed it, and, hoping that a servant would
also see it, had kept quiet ; however, as no one paid
any attention, she came to the assistance of the chair."

THE VAGRANT 135
This apparition caused a great disturbance : excuses
of the preoccupied servants, animated discussion be
tween mistress and valets, all the guests, who had
risen to their feet, kept standing, out of respect, the
husband endeavouring to soothe his beloved spouse.
At last, without the slightest greeting, she sat herself
down to table. But the storm was not over. A foot
man, annoyed by the scolding, made a blunt remark;
the mistress flew into a rage and tried to box his ears
soundly, but only struck a plate which he held up as
a shield. This reduced her to sUence for a while. Then
worse ensued. The valet was dismissed on the spot,
and the lady was so affected by the blow she gave
herself that she was obliged to retire. No sooner had
she vanished than all burst out laughing, headed by the
husband, who begged his guests to speak their minds
freely. Which they did. " But the lady had only
hidden behind the door again, and revenged herself by
cutting the dessert off, and the master had not sufficient
authority to give us any."
Pollnitz " was so pleased with this delightful meal "
that, in dread of a second invitation, he left next day
for Hanover, arriving just as the Elector was starting
to take possession of the English Crown. The King
and the Prince of Wales had a great send-off from
Herrenhausen, and the Princess and her daughters
foUowed him shortly. But Frederic was left behind to
brighten up Hanover, the King assuring his subjects
there that it would not be long ere he returned.
Pollnitz went off to the baths at Aix to cure his
leg, and from thence to Paris, via Maestricht. He tells
a story of one of his ancestors, at that place, a Count
Ouwerkerke, a natural son of Maurice of Orange, and
a Dutch Field-Marshal. He was riding on the bridge
over the Meuse by the side of the coach of his lady-love,
MademoiseUe de Feldtbriick, and pleading his cause.
Wearied with his importunity, she at last deigned to
reply that lovers did not spare words, but that, when
it came to the proof, the instabUity of their affection

136 A VAGABOND COURTIER
was to be seen. " For instance, Monsieur, I bet that,
if I asked you to jump off this bridge into the river,
you would not do it ! "
The cavalier's only rejoinder was to set spurs to his
horse, which sprang into the Meuse. HappUy the eager
lover was not thrown, and so stout was his steed that
it carried him to an island, whence he was rescued in
a boat. " After a proof of this kind the young lady
could indeed boast either of being much beloved, or,
of a very mad lover."
From Maestricht, by Louvain and Ghent, and his old
battle-ground of LUle six years before, Pollnitz, like
another mad lover, hurried on to Paris, burning to see
his beloved S  again.

CHAPTER VIII
The Baron, immediately on reaching Paris, after a visit
to a bath, went to pay his respects to Mademoiselle
de S  . Absence had made the heart grow fonder,
and one of the joys in seeing Paris again was to find
her he loved.
What was his surprise when her mother received him
aU in tears, and told him, weeping, that her daughter
had died a month before on an estate in Perigord,
where she had gone to visit friends.
" I was so thunderstruck with this news that I could
not utter a word. I fainted. I was carried back
home, and instantly bled, but it failed to revive me.
After a long time I returned to consciousness, but only
to give way to my grief. It was not sorrow kept to
myself ; nothing was heard from me but cries, mingled
with sobs, tUl at last all those who came to see me
thought there was no hope for me, but that I should
lose my mind with this attack. Indeed they were
right, for I was half-way towards doing so. For five
days I remained like this."
Then appeared the mother of S  , who informed
him that her daughter was not dead after all, but would
shortly be in Paris.
" This sort of resurrection was as joyful a piece of
news as the first had been overwhelming ; it gave me
such a surprising turn that I think, were it possible
to die of sorrow, or of joy, I had had in a short time
enough to finish me off. But I was reserved for other
adventures," 137

138 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The fair, but fickle S  and her mother, however,
were but duping the poor young feUow, for there was
bigger game afoot than an impecunious young foreigner,
over head and ears in debt, who could not keep his
fingers away from cards.
At a mutual acquaintance's he met a Madame de
R  , a friend of S  's, who —
" Hated her husband more than a woman of sixteen
generally does a husband over sixty. I had seen her
before, but she was so young that I had not noticed her
much. Happy had I always regarded her with equal
indifference ! But when we met again after her mar
riage, her beauty, her weU-bred air, her fine manners,
made a deep impression upon me. They set me to play
at berlan with her and another lady, and all through
the game she did nothing but tease me about my love
for S  , insinuating several times that that young
lady did not deserve the affection I had for her.
" As I did not know whither all this talk was tending,
when the game was over I foUowed the lady into the
recess of a window, where I begged her to speak plainly.
For a long time she demurred, excusing herself under
the pretext that she should be obhged to give me painful
news. All this dallying made me only more and more
wishful to know what it might be, and I pressed her so
that, at last, she agreed to enlighten me somewhat.
" ' You insist upon knowing ? ' said she. ' Very weU,
then, I must satisfy you. But blame yourself only if
I tell you things which wUl cause you mortal grief, for
I know your temperament, and I am aware that you
love her. You imagine,' she continued, ' that S 
is in the country. You have been deceived ; she is in
Paris, and has never left it. She loves the Marquis de
V  as much as he loves her ; she sees no one but him,
for two months she has never left the Faubourg St.
Antome, where she went to stay when she heard that
you were arriving. She did not wish to lay herself
open to your reproaches, and, as she hoped you would

THE VAGRANT 139
forget her, she had you told that she was dead. But,
when she heard that you were giving way to grief, she
was sorry for you, and had you told that she was still
alive, and that she would shortly return to Paris. In
deed, you wUl see her very soon, but it wUl only be
to receive your dismissal and to hear from her that
she prefers V  I know all this through one of my
lady's-maids, whose sister is in Mademoiselle de S  's
service. As for me, since I have married M. de R  ,

it is no longer suitable for me to know her. You had
better give her up ; you wUl find better than she ! '
" As she said these last words, she glanced at me and
blushed instantly. I wished to reply, but she left me
brusquely, and carefuUy avoided me for the rest of the
evening. " I returned home with my mind cruelly agitated ;
hatred, love, vengeance, scorn — in one word, all the
passions of a lover, despised on one side and flattered
on the other, played their part. Imagine the state I
was in, a prey to such conflicting emotions. At last
scorn triumphed over my love for S  . The beaux
yeux of Madame de R  made me forget my fickle
fair. " But I soon perceived that I had been only cured
of one mad passion to fall into another of the same kind.
The last words of R  seemed very flattering, and
I really thought that she was not indifferent to me. I
soothed myself with these pleasing ideas and found an
immense delight in entangling myself. But soon I
became quite as much the dupe of this new conquest
as of the former one. Madame de R  was one of the
most beautiful of women, and without doubt one of the
most coquettish in Paris, capricious into the bargain,
and more selfish than most women of that sort generally
are ; but she wished to be loved, and I went headlong
into this new entanglement, and for some time I thought
myself the happiest man in the world. My friends were
as deceived as I was, and for a long time they thought
me the only favoured one,"

140 A VAGABOND COURTIER
But these " sUly pleasures," as Pollnitz calls them
from the point of view of more mature years, did not
prevent him seeking the furtherance of the plan he
had at heart. Soon after his return to Paris he went
to Versailles, and paid his respects to the King, the
Princes, and " Madame."
He found the old lady had felt very much the death
of her aunt the Electress, though she wrote that " now
she is free from all pain, and, as we are bound to believe
as Christians, in possession of the Beatific Vision."
She had grown more shut up in herself, no longer on
such terms of friendship with the King, which she
attributed to the " old toad's " influence, quoting with
reference to Madame de Maintenon " the German
proverb which says that, if the devU cannot go to a
place himself he sends an old woman ; the truth of this
is patent to all us members of the Royal Family."
Madame was sad and lonely. To her sister Louise
she wrote about this time :
" I live in this Court like a hermit. ... I never play,
I never remain in the drawing-room where aU assemble.
... I am aU the time in my rooms — where I read and
write ; my only joy, and my only consolation, consisted
in writing to my Aunt the Electress, and that day is
over. Think what my life is now ! "
A little later :
" I live as though I were quite alone in the world.
I shall never see my daughter again. My son is absorbed
in his own family, and only comes to see me when
others are by, or when I have many letters to write. He
comes then, so as to avoid seeing me in private. But
I am resigned to this state of things. I aUow him and
his family to act according to their fancy, and I meddle
in nothing. I go to visit his wife and daughter as
though they were foreign princesses,"

THE VAGRANT 141
Again :
" After dinner I walked about my room for half an
hour, amused myself with my pets, for I have here with
me two parrots, a canary, and eight little dogs."
The unexpected reappearance of her young " lands-
mann " must have cheered the old lady, distressed by the
dissipated doings of her son and her granddaughter. He
brought her gossip of foreign Courts, and amused her with
his stories.
" She received me," he writes, " with such strong
marks of kindness that I thought I could count on her
support. I told her of the design I had of asking His
Majesty for employment. I begged her kindly to
recommend me. She promised to do so, and she kept
her word ; not only did she speak herself, but she also
made the Due d'Orleans speak to M. Voisin, Ghancellor
and Minister of War."
The latter promised to think of posting Pollnitz,
whom Madame had presented to him by one of his
officers. " He received me with the gruffest air I have seen.
He was buried in an immense wig, which prevented him
seeing or hearing, which moreover was not unnatural to
him. He only listened to me, moreover, out of respect
for Madame. He told me that the King had made a
large reduction in his army, and was about to make
another, that he saw no hope of any opening for me."
This reply was so different to the promise that he
had given to Madame and the Duke that Pollnitz
reported it to them, and the Duke replied : " ' That's
nothing. I'll speak to him yet again, and I am sure that
you wiU be satisfied.' He did indeed speak again, but
Voisin did no more, no less."

142 A VAGABOND COURTIER
However, PoUnitz was grateful to Madame and to
the Duke, and continued to be very assiduous in his
attentions to them, with which they seemed pleased.
The recent death of the Due de Berri had completely
altered the Duke of Orleans's position. As the nearest
male relative, he was now assured of the Regency when
the little Dauphin Louis should succeed his aged and
faUing great-grandfather. But this probabUity was as
yet hardly realized. Pollnitz often went to the Duke's
coucher, " but his Court was not numerous then, and,
except those of his own household, I was very often the
only one there. . . . Few people treated the Duke as the
rising sun, the respect they had for the King attached
all his courtiers to him ; a reign so long and so glorious
seemed to them as if it would never end."
When the mourning for the Due de Berri was over
came a recrudescence of spectacles and amusements
for some distinguished visitors to Paris. The entry of
the Persian ambassador " was most splendid," and so
was his reception by the King, though Pollnitz thought
that the ambassador himself made " a pitiable show " :
poor coaches, wretched horses, badly dressed servants ;
" nor were the presents he brought worthy of him who
sent, or him who received them."
Out of curiosity people crowded to Charenton, where
the ambassador was lodged, and Pollnitz went with a
friend. The interpreter told them that one of them
must make him a polite speech, and so they drew lots
with bits of straw as to which it was to be. It feU to
Pollnitz to make a short harangue, to which the am
bassador replied; but, upon further questions, they
discovered that he had never even been to Ispahan or
seen the Grand Sophy, his master. He regaled them
on coffee and sweetmeats.
With regard to ceremonial, he was not amenable,
giving the Baron de BreteuU, who had been put in
charge of him, much trouble, because he refused to
comply with the usual etiquette observed by all who
had an audience of the King. Never had PoUnitz

THE VAGRANT 143
" seen such a concourse as watched his procession, a
crowd from the first gate of the Faubourg S. Antoine
to the Hotel des Ambassadeurs ; there were stages
erected on either side, full of people," and a crowd
foUowed him when he went to the bath, or for a walk,
and people were so inquisitive that he could hardly get
along. PoUnitz was present at the grand reception the King
gave him in the Grande Galerie at VersaUles : Louis,
on his high throne, aU embroidered in gold, wearing
brown velvet and mUlions of livres of jewels ; by his
side the little Dauphin, in cloth of gold and pearls
and diamonds ; the Duke of Orleans on the left, in
blue velvet with gold point d'Espagne lace, sewn with
pearls and diamonds ; all the Princes of the Blood
of aU ages, and aU the royal ladies, surrounding the
King. On tiers of seats to the right were ladies, on
the garden side of the gaUery gentlemen, aU gorgeously
dressed. Priceless carpets strewed the gaUery down
to the marble staircase ; the courtyards were filled with
Guards, French and Swiss, Bodyguard, musketeers, and
the Household, in order of battle. But, alas ! the
appearance of the troops was unluckUy spoilt by a
downpour aU day.
The object of this magnificent spectacle brought but
poor presents with him, considering " that they were
sent by the most powerful monarch in Asia " : some
turquoises, a sword studded with jewels, a box of scent
which he said was very delicious. All the time he
stayed in Paris he was the guest of the Court. At first
he used the King's horses, " but, as he stayed so long,
and, moreover, as he ruined them all, they only let
him have them on hire." After a while he came to
the opera, where the amphitheatre had been specially
prepared for him and his suite. " Here he smoked at
his ease, in spite of there being a distinguished company
present." With another distinguished visitor to Paris Pollnitz was
already acquainted. The Electoral Prince of Saxony

144 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" came incognito, and was presented to the King by
Madame as a German guest of good famUy." He gave
a magnificent ball at the Hotel de Soissons, crowded
with masqueraders, and PoUnitz, who went to it, had
an amusing adventure. Again his mysterious initials
are provoking. For R  may we read the " httle
Due de Richelieu, the archidebauche," Madame calls
him, " believing neither in God, nor his word . . .
ugly little toad, and far from agreeable in manner . . .
aU the ladies in love with him " ? He was only
twenty. To the baU came one whom PoUnitz describes only
as the Duchesse, who had been madly in love with
R  , who had deserted her for Madame de S  .
She saw R  enter the ballroom with V  , his
intimate friend, who had acted as their go-between.
" The Duchesse was masked, but was instantly recog
nized by her faithless swain ; she attempted to waylay
him, but he cleverly managed to escape in the crowd,
with his friend. Fearing the Duchesse's reproaches, he
decided to change his domino. V  also changed ;
he took the one I had, and gave me his. R  showed
me the spot where he had seen the Duchesse and begged
me to pass before her but not to answer her if she wished
to talk to me. I promised everything he wished, but I
was determined to talk if occasion offered. This soon
occurred. " I must teU you that I was very like M. de V 
in figure, so that the Duchesse took me for him without
a moment's hesitation. She drew me aside, and, stUl
very annoyed that R  had not wished to speak
to her, made me a general disclosure of their intrigue.
While she was thus in full swing of making me different
confessions which I thought she might be sorry for
when she knew to whom she was speaking, I interrupted
her by saying that I was not V  .
" ' What's the use of this nonsense ? ' she replied,
bluntly. ' Hear me to the end ; this is no time for

THE VAGRANT , 145
joking. You know,' she went on, ' that I granted
everything to the ungrateful fellow ! '
" I interrupted her again.
" ' Ma foi ! Madame ! I did not know a word of aU
that ! '
" She laughed at me for pretending to be ignorant of
what she said, and continued to talk to me with a
clearness and candour one rarely finds in those sort of
recitals. " After saying a great deal she added : ' Well, what
do you say now ? Speak ; exculpate your friend to
me ! '
" ' I think,' I replied, ' that R  is a wretch not to
value as he should the kindness you show him ; far
from exculpating him to you, I intend to take him to
task. I shaU repeat to him aU you have done me the
honour to tell me to-night. I am certain, though I
am not V  , nor a particular friend of R  's, that
he wiU give heed to what I have to say.'
" ' Why, Monsieur,' replied the Duchesse, ' why
disguise your voice ? Why deny who you are ? What
have I done that I should be treated like this ? '
" ' Ma foi ! ' I said to her. ' I am not imposing on
you. See for yourself ! ' and, so saying, I took off my
mask. " I cannot tell you how great was the Lady's astonish
ment. She remained speechless, and, in her confusion
at having made such a frank confession as she had just
given me, she hesitated as to whether to speak to me
or to withdraw.
" Her state of mind made me feel quite sorry for her,
and I did all I could to reassure her. I begged her to
be convinced that I should maintain an inviolable
sUence as to what she had said, and that I felt quite as
much as she did how important it was not to divulge
news of that kind. The good lady gradually began to
be more easy, and after that we had talked together
for rather a long time, she begged me to give her my
hand, and to find her her coach. It was impossible to
I— 10

146 A VAGABOND COURTIER
discover either her coach, or mine, so she decided to get
into a hackney carriage. I escorted her to her hotel ;
she begged me to be kind enough to go back to the baU,
and to tell the ladies I had seen her with that she was
not feeling well. I carried out her orders exactly, and
I did not faU to call upon her next day. This visit led
to others, which gave me an opportunity of forming
rather an intimate acquaintanceship. I had the honour
of being very much her friend, and I have found her
to possess many accomplishments which made her the
best company in the world.
" What was so amusing in this adventure was that
R  had a furious quarrel with the Duchesse for having
had such a long conversation at the baU with a mask.
He made believe that he was jealous, and wrote to her
a scathing letter next day, in which he gave her to
understand that he broke with her utterly.
" On the other hand, Madame de R  , with whom
I had come to the ball, and with whom I was stUl madly
in love, made use of the conversation I had had with
the Duchesse to make believe to be jealous (I have since
discovered that she was not reaUy so). She exaggerated
the sorrow such a long conversation had given her. I
was fool enough to believe that she was speaking truth
fully, and, further, to be delighted to have made her
jealous. I reassured her as to her doubts, in that I said
everything a lover says who is really in love, and who
wishes to convince his beloved. She seemed satisfied
with my protestations ; but, however, instead of re
sponding to the feelings I had for her, she continued
to annoy me all the rest of the winter. Her very
coquettish behaviour aggrieved me, and moreover I did
not like to meet the Marquis de V  so often at her
house. " For a long time I had owed this Marquis a grudge ;
it was he who had taken S  from me, and no sooner
was I in Madame de R  's good graces than he found
a way of insinuating himself into them. I was so
annoyed at finding him always at my heels that I picked

THE VAGRANT 147
a quarrel with him one day at C  , where we met at
the President de Novion's. We had already come to
blows, when Madame de C  came and separated us.
V  assured me that he had no intentions with regard
to Madame de R  ; he promised me that he would
leave off visiting her if I wished it. He did indeed keep
his word, and I was very pleased with him ; but not so
Madame de R  . I quite saw that I was being
deceived. Every day I discovered fresh grounds for sus
pecting her ; but, in spite of it all, I hugged the fetters
witli which she enslaved me, and in so doing I belied
the opinion of those who affirm that one loves but once.
Yet I should have reflected over this new passion, for
it was quite ruinous to me.
" Madame de R  loved extravagance, and, to suc
ceed with her, one had to make a lavish outlay. To
keep myself afloat I borrowed money hither and thither,
and soon I found it impossible to find any one to lend
me any; on the contrary, my creditors began to pay
me frequent visits. Weary of the constant remittances
I doled out to them, they decided to have the law of
me, and at last they obtained a warrant for my arrest.
" I was much upset by the news, and, in order to avoid
their wrath, I thought it best to keep my room for a
few days, tUl M. de Novion had got for me an injunction
of arrest. I began to breathe freely again, and at the
same time I considered means of raising money. I
knew the difficulty there was of drawing from home a
sum large enough to satisfy them ; all my property was
entaUed on my brother and Mademoiselle de Pollnitz,
who had no intention of giving her consent to any
security on my estates.
" However, as this was the only means of getting out
of the difficulty, I set my friends to work to influence
her. They served me so well that at last she agreed
to give her consent ; the loans were negotiated and I
got out of my plight happUy. The trouble I had been
in made me wiser ; I curtailed my expenditure. I
perceived that this was not the way to retain Madame

148 A VAGABOND COURTIER
R  's good graces ; but what was to be done ? To
plunge into debt again, to risk having another bad
business on my hands — I could not make up my mind
to that. At the same time I obtained a pension of two
thousand livres, but, as for an appointment, it was
impossible to wring that out of the War Minister."
Pollnitz was so disgusted at his want of success that,
in spite of his devotion to Paris and to Madame de
R  , he determined to try his luck at obtaining a
commission in the army elsewhere. Hanover, Paris,
Berlin, Dresden, Berlin and Paris again, aU had been
drawn blank. There remained the Imperial service.
He wrote to the Prince de H  , in one of the Emperor's
Guards, and colonel of an infantry regiment, and, as
such, entitled to distribute the commissions in it. He
replied most obligingly that he would be delighted to
take Pollnitz into his regiment, but that, unluckUy,
the only vacancy in it was that caused by the projected
retirement of an old captain who would seU his company
for two thousand crowns. " To find the two thousand
crowns was, in the phght I was now in, like finding the
philosopher's stone."
Pollnitz made up his mind to try what verbal per
suasion would effect with the aged warrior, and he
hied him to Bruges, where the Prince de H  was
quartered with his regiment. But he found the captain
adamant ; it must be money, or old sUver plate. Prince
H  , really well disposed to PoUnitz, and who knew
how his affairs stood, wrote to Charlotte Henrietta to
induce her to consent to a fresh loan. Pollnitz also
wrote himself.
But all these efforts were of no avaU. Fraulein von
Pollnitz sent answers " fuU of wit, in which she described
me very frankly, and was clever enough to persuade
the Prince that he might as well arm a lunatic as give
me leave to borrow more money."
So Pollnitz left the company to which he had been
temporarily attached pending his buying it, and quitted

THE VAGRANT 149
Bruges, vowing it " one of the dullest places to stay in
for a man who is not a merchant." In describing it he
incidentally mentions that " Charles II sought refuge
there when his subjects rebelled against him, and he
was so weU received that, when he was peacefully on
his throne, he showed his gratitude by allowing the
Brugeois to come annuaUy with fifty vessels to the
herring fishery off the Enghsh coast."
With the Prince and Princess de H  the Baron
went to Nieuport, where the former's regiment had a
detachment, and inspected the field where his great
ancestor, Maurice of Orange, had won a notable victory
over the Spanish. Thence, with the Dutch Governor,
the Prince of Holstein, he went on to Ypres, a frontier
garrison of the Dutch, and then drove to Lille, and
back to Paris.

CHAPTER IX
When Pollnitz returned to Paris he once more came
across the enemy of his boyhood, whose olive-branch he
had recently found himself obhged to dechne. Countess
Wartenberg had betaken herself to Paris, and was
figuring there as The Lady of the Diamonds, because
her gems were so many and so large. Pollnitz relates
the story of her latest adventures, which were con
vulsing Paris.
" She had followed the Chevalier de B  to Paris,
and he had given her a signed promise of marriage, at
Utrecht, where it will be remembered that she had
fallen in love with him during the Congress. At
Versailles, where she had the honour of paying her
respects to the King, she appeared wearing a bracelet
with the portraits of three monarchs. This she showed
to the King, and informed him that, after having had
three Kings at her feet, she came from the depths of
Germany to throw herself at his. This compliment
surprised the King ; he looked at her, . but made no
reply. A few days later she appeared at the theatre
all bristling with diamonds. The gUded youth of
society plotted to pull some off, and every cadet of good
family fancied that diamonds would become him quite
as well as the Countess. A few were indeed niched
from her, which caused her to be a httle more reserved
in her parade of them. Nevertheless, notwithstanding
the care she took of them, the Chevalier de B 
cleverly managed one day to remove them all from her.
It was at the time when he was considering the with
drawal of the contract of marriage which he had signed ;
150

THE VAGRANT 151
his family were pressing him to extricate himself. But,
not knowing how to set about retrieving of a promise
which the lady declined to give up, he made use of a
rather uncommon expedient.
" One day, when he was at Versailles, he took post-
horses and came to Madame de Wartenberg. He said
that the King had just received a courier from Berlin,
by whom the King of Prussia begged him to arrest her
and seize her diamonds and other effects, as they had
been stolen from the King, his father.
" ' I have just been informed about this,' said
the Chevaher, 'by M. de T  , who, knowing how
interested I am in all that concerns you, wished
to give me a chance of being useful to you, in pro
tecting you from the misfortune with which you are
threatened.' " The Countess was startled by this news. With
much emotion she exclaimed to the Chevalier : 'Eh!
Mon Dieu ! What shall we do ? '
' You must entrust me with your diamonds,' he
rephed ; ' your interests and mine are the same. I do
not think that you suspect me, and I will take them
to my father, where they will be safe. Moreover, do
not be uneasy about yourself. For M. de T  says
that they are only after your valuables, and will not
arrest you.'
" Madame de Wartenberg believed all this, and,
taking the Chevaher for her guardian angel, she handed
him over all her diamonds and everything precious
she possessed. B  went off with the booty. The
Countess thought she had done a good stroke in thus
placing her valuables in safety, but ere long she saw
that she had acted foolishly.
" For three or four days B  did not appear. The
Countess was surprised at his absence, and wrote him
note after note without receiving a single reply. At
last, on the fifth day, B  came and somewhat re
assured the good lady. He told her that her jewels

152 A VAGABOND COURTIER
were in safety, and that she could have them when she
liked, on one small condition, which was to return him
the marriage promise he had given her. The Countess
was extremely surprised at this compliment, and told
him that a Countess of the Empire was not to be treated
in this guise, and that she had come to Paris because
he had given her his word that he would marry her,
and that she could easily force him to do so.
" B  , who had made up his mind to break with
her at any price, told her that she was free to choose
one of the two offers he made, which were, either to go
to law, in which case she would infallibly lose her jewels,
or, to recover them by returning to him the paper he
asked for.
" He demonstrated that, by a law-suit, he hoped easily
to win, as much on account of the justice of his case as
by his parents' great influence, and that, as to the jewels,
as there had been no witnesses when she handed them
over to him, he should take a bold line with her and
deny that he had ever received them ; yet, that he
should sell a part of them in order to be able to go
to law.
" The Countess, perceiving that the Chevaher was a
man likely to act as he said, and that she had nothing
to gain, decided to return the promise of marriage.
B  at once brought back her diamonds, and this
good faith on his part prompted Madame de War
tenberg to make him a present of a ring, valued at
twenty thousand livres. Thus ended her intimacy
with B  .
" The Countess, in order to console herself for the
loss of one lover, decided to have others ; but she was
not happy in her different choices. They were aU
unreliable people, she said, mostly rather thievish ; in
short, she gave up all intercourse with the French,
thinking them too clever for her, and fell to praising
Germans in such matters, saying they were the best
in the world.
" However, she soon had experience to the contrary,

THE VAGRANT 153
and at her own expense. Having made the acquaint
ance of a fine, handsome young Teuton, they promised
each other to get married directly they found them
selves in a Protestant country. A contract was soon
signed. The cavaher thought that, after the signature,
the nuptial benediction was quite an unnecessary
ceremony in order to enter into community of goods,
and that his rights began directly the conditions were
signed. On this principle he thought well to carry off
all his future spouse's jewels. He left Paris, and set
out to reach Lorraine.
" The Countess was soon informed of his departure.
Her lover's perfidy caused her a mortal anguish, but
the danger her diamonds were in went most to her
heart. Happily she knew the road her lover had taken,
and sent after him. He was found at Meaux, where
he had imprudently halted, and was brought back to
Paris, where the Countess, denying any contract of
marriage with this young man, was ready to get him
into trouble. The Electoral Prince of Saxony, however,
under whose protection the young fellow was, stopped
aU the proceedings against him, and had the jewels
returned to Madame de Wartenberg. She did not
insist on the performance of the promise of marriage
made by this last lover, for, not being of a nature to
remain long idle, she had already contracted a secret
alliance with F  . These different little affairs,
however, following so quickly one upon the other, made
so much talk that the Countess thought it as well
not to make a longer stay in Paris, and went back to
HoUand." Pollnitz was in Paris at the time of the death of
Louis XIV, of which he gives a description. He says,
however, that Madame de Maintenon returned to the
King's death-bed, which she had left when he fell into a
deep stupor, from which it was thought he would not
revive, and tells us that she was present at the end.
As PoUnitz was unbiased, being of the opposite camp

154 A VAGABOND COURTIER
to " the old woman," his testimony may remove an
aspersion of heartlessness which her enemies have cast
upon her.
He was struck by the promptitude with which the
courtiers, directly the breath was out of Louis's body,
flung themselves at the feet of the Duke of Orleans, " as
the only fountain of favours," though the coUeagues
with whom Louis's will had provided the Duke "had
tied his hands in such fashion as to leave him only a
shadow of the Regency." Time showed, however, that
he was clever enough to hold his own, and to go his own
way. There were many changes in court life. After the
Lit de Justice inaugurating the new reign, at which
Philip d'Orleans asserted himself so masterfully, the baby
King returned to Vincennes, where he had hved during
his great-grandfather's lifetime, tiU the TuUeries was
ready for him. The Regent and the Royal Princes
returned to Paris, and to their own hotels. The Regent
hved at the Palais Royal, Madame with him, and the
Luxembourg Palace was given to the widowed Duchesse
de Berri, the Regent's favourite chUd, who immediately
set up great state. She demanded a captain of guards.
Hitherto only the Queen had had this privilege . Madame,
hearing of it, promptly appointed Captain von Hartwig,
her Captain of Guards. She loved to have Germans
about her, and he was the son of her old governess, and
had been her page as a boy. Moreover, in spite of the
Duchess's pretensions to it, she insisted on retaining
her old title of plain " Madame," and the daughter-
in-law and granddaughter had to add their own titles
to the " Madame." The headstrong young Duchess,
" the best Princess in the world," Pollnitz calls her, " so
accessible, also had herself preceded by cymbals and
trumpets when in state." But she was no stickler on
ceremony with most of the ladies, allowing them to come
to her in scarves, for she did not care about dressing
herself. Madame, on the other hand, was more par
ticular. She always wore court dress and never allowed

THE VAGRANT 155
any one except old or invahd ladies to visit her in any
thing else.
The Regent introduced many changes in adminis
tration and taxation, which, especially the tax on gens
d'affaires, made him very unpopular. People began to
regret the old King, and the Regent knew it. "I was
one day at Madame's," writes Pollnitz, " when the
Prince said, out loud : ' Six months ago I was adored
in Paris ; to-day I am hated. I should very much like
to know why.' "
Another reason was the restriction of currency, and
the introduction of a paper-money system, the Billets
d'Etat. Moreover, there was no method or stability
at the Palais Royal. The good-natured Regent pro
mised everything to everybody, but rarely kept his
word. He was naturally disinclined to business, hurry
ing through affairs in the mornings, that he might have
the late afternoons and the nights free for his saturn
alia. Cardinal Dubois, " the confounded priest, the
evU toad, the greatest liar and impostor in Paris "
(Madame never forgave him for arranging her son's
marriage), reaUy governed France and the Regent.
By a side-wind, these financial reforms, by means
of which the Regent was striving to pay for the
extravagance and the debts of the late King, affected
poor Pollnitz, though he was in the Regent's favour.
For pensions granted by the late King were suppressed,
and among them that of PoUnitz —
" Which I had had such difficulty in obtaining. . . .
I made several efforts to re-estabhsh myself. But all
that I could obtain was that my pension should soon
be restored to me. That promise has yet to be fulfiUed !
The withdrawal of pensions, added to the large reduc
tions made in the army, reduced many people to beggary.
At that time I saw Knights of St. Louis waiting till
dusk in order to ask for alms in the public square. From
this extreme misery ensued, as may well be imagined,
robberies and murders, so that all that time Paris was
rather like a wood. Dread of sharing the common

156 A VAGABOND COURTIER
impecuniosity led me to be more assiduous than ever
with Madame."
Despite her new position as mother of the Regent,
much sought after, the old lady was depressed and
grumbling. " Every day," she wrote, " brings me a flood of bores
who are a veritable plague ; each one wishes me to
intercede in his favour. When I am at table I am sur
rounded by a hundred faces, and I have to talk whether
I am grave or gay. All through the day people come
and disturb me at my reading or writing, and I am
forced to entertain them. This lasts tiU eight in the
evening ; in short, I am pestered and vexed."
Pollnitz implored her very urgently to use her interest
with the Regent on his behaff. But to him she answered,
as to the rest, that her son discouraged any interference,
that she was powerless. However —
" She told me that I need not be uneasy, because it
was not necessary for her to speak to the Prince, her son,
about me, as he was naturaUy inclined to favour me ;
but that, at present, he was so overwhelmed with business
and requests that I really must have patience, and wait
some time yet. I rephed that I would willingly wait
as long as His Royal Highness pleased, but that I
feared very much that I should not be in a position
to wait long. Madame rephed :
" ' There is a cure for everything. Be present in
my study to-morrow, when my dinner is over.'
" I obeyed her order punctually. I found her alone ;
when she saw me she said : ' I am a poor widow who
cannot do much good, but I mean to please you.'
" Then she ordered me to open a desk of which she
gave me the key, and to take out of it a bag which was
in a corner, and in which there were more than a thou-

THE VAGRANT 157
sand hvres in gold. I thanked her with all possible
gratitude, and this new proof of kindness attached me
to Her Royal Highness more than ever."
But if Madame did not interfere with her son, she
continued to criticize the behaviour of her flighty grand
daughter quite as sharply as in the days when the old
King was wont to call her in to his aid to lecture the
headstrong Duchesse de Berri. If Madame demanded to
the last iota what was due to her own rank, she con
ceded as much to those to whom it was due.
" I heard her once speak very sharply on this subject
to Madame la Duchesse de Berri," chronicles Pollnitz,
" and in truth no one but Madame would have taken
this tone with this Princess. Madame de Berri came
one evening to Madame in a scarf (head unpowdered
and undressed). When she had been there half an
hour she asked her lady, Madame de Mouchy, the time.
Madame asked why she was inquiring of Madame de
Mouchy. Madame de Berri replied that she was going
to the TuUeries, and wished to know the time.
" ' What ? To the TuUeries ? ' said Madame. ' Are
you going to walk about by torchlight ? '
" ' No, Madame,' said Madame de Berri, ' I'm going to
see the King.'
" ' The King ? ' said Madame. ( Please allow me
to teU you how surprised I am ! To the King, Madame,
dressed like that ? I think you must know too well
what is due to him. Do not do such a thing, Madame,
I beg you. Render to the King the respect you owe
him, and then you will be able to demand that every
one shall render you what is due to you.'
" Madame de Berri, not pleased, wanted to reply.
Madame interrupted her.
" ' No, Madame, nothing can excuse you ; you can
at least dress, on the rare occasions you go to the King,
as I dress every day — I, who am your grandmother.
Say frankly, it is laziness prevents you doing what is

158 A VAGABOND COURTIER
in keeping with your age and rank. A princess should
be dressed as a princess ; a soubrette as a soubrette.'
" Madame de Berri, unaccustomed to receive such
scoldings, was very much taken aback by this lecture.
She then did what she was in the habit of doing when
anything displeased her, and good manners did not allow
of her showing haughtiness ; she rose, made a deep
curtsey, and went out.
" Madame began writing again while going on talking
on the same subject, and still with some heat. She
said, looking at all those who were present : ' But am
I wrong in speaking thus to the Duchesse de Berri ?
What do you say ? '
" You can imagine that every one kept a solemn
silence, and, as she went on talking in the same way,
it was very embarrassing for all those who were in the
study. But Madame the Princesse de Conti came in,
which changed the conversation."
Poor old Madame ! She was straining at a gnat.
She, against whose moral character slander had never
breathed a word, was lecturing, on a trivial breach of
etiquette, a granddaughter whose notorious profligacy
was a byword in Paris, the theme of the lampooners
of the day. What a sidelight on the eighteenth century
worship of " the divinity that doth hedge a King " !
To much the same point of view as that of Madame
were due the wrangles between the Dukes and the
Peers and the Parliament over precedence and etiquette,
which sent some of the nobility to the Bastille ; like
wise the limiting the precedence of the Legitimized
Princes of the Blood to their lifetime, though Louis had
made it hereditary and even granted right of succession
to the Crown. Feeling ran high at Court, which was
rent in parties over these questions.
Then there came the disastrous expedition of the
Chevalier de St. Georges to Scotland. Pollnitz attri
butes James's failure to his intolerance, which alienated
the Scottish Protestants who had joined him in great

THE VAGRANT 159
numbers. He mentions that he heard that one day, in
Scotland, he got up from dinner because an Anglican cleric
had said grace ! Pollnitz was present when a report
of this was made to the Regent. " ' If that is all true,'
he replied, ' it is not surprising that he has not succeeded,
and I consider him a lost Prince.'
" At the same time," writes Pollnitz, " I noticed on
his face and on that of Madame's a certain expression
of satisfaction, which showed that that day they were
pleased that the Elector of Hanover had become even
more firmly seated upon the throne of England." Louis
had supported James II and his son, and had intended,
eventuaUy, to have the Crown restored to them. But
the Regent, in this, as in other matters, reversed his
uncle's pohcy.
The Chevaher, on his return, passed through France
incognito, and took refuge at Avignon. The Regent,
though he did not yield to pressure from England, and
arrest him, broke the Enghsh and Irish officers in his
service who had foUowed James to Scotland.
In Paris PoUnitz found there was great pity felt for
Mary of Modena, the Queen-mother — ¦
" Who had ruined some of her friends who had made
great efforts to meet the expenses of the ill-starred
expedition. . . . Though the House of Orleans was not
very sympathetic over the misfortunes of the Chevalier
de St. Georges, it did not deter Madame from going to
ChaUlot to condole with the Queen over her fresh mis
fortunes. I was at the Palais-Royal when Madame
returned from this visit, and she honoured me by telling
me that she had just wept copiously. I pretended not
to be aware of the cause of her tears, and I took the
hberty of asking her what could have troubled her.
" ' The poor Queen of England,' she said to me, ' has
just made me feel very sorry for her. I have just wept
with her.'
" I could not help showing to Madame how surprised
I was over this grief, fancying that she was more inter-

160 A VAGABOND COURTIER
ested in the House that ruled England than in a Prince
who was no relation to her, and, moreover, used to
misfortune. " ' You are right,' Madame replied to me, ' aU those
who belong to my late aunt are dear to me, and I wish
them well. But this poor Queen is so upset it seems
as if she were even now losing the Crown of England.
What can be done % She must, indeed, console herself ;
her destiny is not to be happy, and, if any one is to be
unfortunate, I would rather it were she than the King
of England. But one must not say so.'
" Madame de Berri having come in a moment after,
Madame told her that she had been to see the Queen of
England, and that she might as weU have been to see
the nymph Arethusa.
" Madame la Duchesse rephed that it was not surpris
ing to see people in such grief as the Queen weeping.
" ' Well,' replied Madame, ' after thirty years of mis
fortune one ought to be used to it ! '
" And thus the Princess dried the tears she had just
so abundantly shed."
When the summer came Madame left Paris, which
she always disliked, saying the smoke made her feel iU,
for S. Cloud, which she loved — " the most beautiful
grounds " — taking with her her step-granddaughters.
Pollnitz often went out to S. Cloud to her.
" I spoke to her of my position and implored her to
intercede for me with the Duke, her son. She always
promised me, and never did so, yet she told every one
who spoke of me that she was weU inclined towards
me. On the other hand Madame, who actuaUy disliked
a Prussian nobleman named S  , pleaded his cause
vigorously with M. le Due, her son, in order that he
might do something for him. When M. le Due had gone
out she called to me, saying : ' You heard the interest
I took in S  , yet I assure you that he does not deserve
it.' She then said the most astonishing things against

^fari4 Cii*z I.l-~ ¦ -" ¦ >"rS' t-> ¦¦¦['«-' .tit-n^n iftl^H.

LOUIS XV.
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.

160]

THE VAGRANT 161
S  . I took the liberty of defending him, and of
assurmg Her Royal Highness that she had been given
false reports about him.
What ! ' said Madame, ' dare you deny that he
had his wrist cut off for having forged the signature
of the King of Denmark ? '
" As I knew the story of S  at the Court of Den
mark, and that there was no question of anything of
that kind, and that, moreover, I knew that he had lost
his arm from a f aU he had had, I represented to Madame
that they thought it sufficient to cut off S  's wrist
for the crime she suspected him of, yet he had lost his
arm at the shoulder.
" ' Ah ! ' said the Princess to me, ' that is because it
was cut off twice ! '
" ' But, Madame,' I replied at once, ' Your Royal
Highness would not patronize a man capable of such a
deceit ? '
" ' I have reasons for that,' she replied, and I dared
not push my curiosity any further. But, in the end, M.
de S  , extremely disliked, obtained what he wanted,
whilst, as for me, to whom they were all weU inclined,
it was impossible for me to get a definite refusal, which,
at least, would have made me give up all hopes, and
turn my attention elsewhere."
The Duchesse de Berri was now also in villeggiatura.
"The model of every vice, barring avarice," as the Due
de St. Simon, her father's great friend, writes of her,
she had but changed the scene of her shameless doings
from the Luxembourg palace to a chateau at Meudon.
Here she reveUed with her lover, squandering an income
of seven hundred thousand hvres, kept eight hundred
servants, and gave entertainments at which thirty-one
soups were served, and one hundred and twenty side-
dishes. " She is such a glutton," writes her grandmother.
" Every night she sits down to table at nine and eats
till three in the morning. . . . She is sick because she
has eaten enormously, and drunk too much brandy."
I— II

162 A VAGABOND COURTIER
She rarely went to bed sober, and gambling was her
great amusement. At this time she was but httle over
twenty !
Her father the Regent refused her nothing, and " with
her patronage one was certain to succeed."
The Duchess was kind and generous, willing to ask
favours, and Pollnitz neglected no opportunity of paying
his respects. The atmosphere at Meudon was more
congenial to him than that of S. Cloud, with its elderly
mistress, whose righteous soul was vexed every day.
" I am more troubled every day by all I see and hear
round me. I wonder that the fate of Sodom and Gor-
morrah does not descend from Heaven upon France."
The scandal of the liaison between the Duchess and
Riom was at its height. Pollnitz had known him when,
a plain, stout young man — " toad's-head," Madame
called him — he was but then a lieutenant in the King's
regiment, in rather poor circumstances. Through his
sister, the lady-in-waiting, Riom had been introduced
to the Duchess and appointed captain of her guards.
Gradually he insinuated himseff into the gay young
widow's graces, but without giving himself airs. Pollnitz
always found him as kind and polite as ever to old
friends, and willing to help them, being now extremely
wealthy and magnificent. The Duchess had given him
the command of several regiments, of which he sold
the commissions at a good profit.
Nothing throws more hght upon the tone and cus
toms of society under the Regency than Pollnitz's
dissertation, written many years later, upon the
lackeys of Paris at that time.
" They form," he writes, " such a large body that
many kings have not such a numerous army. More
over, these people have such extraordinary luck, and
often rise so rapidly from valets to masters, and even
nobles, that really they should not be confused with
the mass of valets in Europe. Those among them who
are clever enough to pass as dandies, as many do (among

THE VAGRANT 163
the liveried folk of Paris are some of the best figures and
handsomest faces), those, I say, who are in some young
lord's service, are generally the equals and the com
panions of their masters. There are others who are
men a bonne fortune, and, if scandal may be believed,
and even, perhaps, appearances, there are many high
born ladies who do not always treat them as lackeys
or servants. It is true that, for the most part, they
keep them in hvery, and, in order to have them near
their persons, make valets de chambre of them. Nothing
is too fine for these favourites of Venus ; they dress up
like princes, and, to see one of these lucky lackeys,
you would take him for a distinguished man. It is
true that there are some who ape gentlemen to the hfe,
and often have better manners than their masters. An
appearance of importance, a look of a lord, is born with
a Frenchman. Others enjoy the favour of their young
masters in such an unusual fashion that one does not
know what to think, and often these noblemen, for
getting what they owe to themselves and their birth,
make up supper-parties with their people, at which it
seems to me that the pleasure of conversation can have
no part. But such is the spirit of debauchery which
has taken possession of the greater part of the youth of
the Court.
" It is not that the excess of dissipation is to the
taste of the nation. On the contrary, a Frenchman is
born moral, and he dies moral, lucky if he can escape
with four or five years of a hot youth, and overcome
the tumult of passions which his great vivacity kindles
in his heart, and makes him do things at twenty
which he hates and abhors at thirty. I maintain
that even the greater part of Frenchmen are not
vicious from inclination. The nobleman is infinitely
more so than the bulk of the nation ; I do not know
what it is seduces him — bad company, bad advice ; he
thinks it fine to be dissolute, and many are more so in
word than in deed.
" It does not seem to me that it is the same with

164 A VAGABOND COURTIER
the women (I speak of those who do not strictly adhere
to virtuous principles). They always maintain a very
correct exterior, which deceives those who do not know
them. Their talk is not licentious, and if they do wrong
it is only in tete-a-tete. It is true that little justice is
done to French ladies among us. Many of our young
men who return from Paris wishing to pose as dandies,
relate such unfavourable stories that most Germans,
and especially our ladies, think just the opposite of what
they ought to think. Virtue and modesty are found
among the fair sex here, as elsewhere, and those dandies
who say the opposite often do not know a lady of quality
by name, and have never entered an anteroom. Certainly
there are women of quahty who have lifted their masks,
but their number is so smaU that the fair sex should
not be held contaminated by their bad behaviour. I
wager that there are ladies here, beautiful, young, and
made to charm, whom scandal respects. It seems to
me that one can ask for no more. It is the same with
young men ; the greater number are very dissipated, but
there are some who have kept to the paths of virtue. A
La Trimouille, Luxembourg, Boufflers, and many others,
show an example to our young men, who would perhaps
be as worthless as the French youths if they went into
society so young, and found themselves in the centre
of pleasures and amusements."
Two new comets appeared in the Paris firmament
about this time, each to run a short but briUiant career,
and to end in tragedy and darkness. From the provinces
came the beautiful, spiritueUe Adrienne Lecouvreur,
to shed a soft radiance which has never been surpassed
over the Parisian stage. The other was the hard-headed
Scotsman of figures, appearing at the critical moment
when the lavish extravagance of the reign of the Grand
Monarque seemed about to bear fruit in national bank
ruptcy. The Regent gave him permission to establish
in Paris the first bank, similar to those at London and
Amsterdam, and Law shortly afterwards obtained large

THE VAGRANT 165
grants of land in the newly discovered Louisiana, and
floated the Mississippi and the East India Companies^
MeanwhUe, the httle King, the hope of France, had
been taken out of the hands of women and placed in
charge of the old Marshal Villeroi, " who taught him
not only to walk, but to think as a King."
" I recall," writes Pollnitz, " an incident which
showed that he was quite convinced that he was the
only master in his kingdom, and also that there was no
one superior to himself. Madame had come to the
TuUeries to pay her respects, but only made a short
visit, as she was going to hear mass. As she withdrew
she said to the King that she was going to see a greater
Lord than himself. The little eight-year-old monarch
seemed surprised, but, after reflecting for a moment,
he rephed to Madame : ' Doubtless, Madame, you are
going to pray to God.' On another occasion, when
the Comedie Francaise played the tragedy of Athalie
before His Majesty, it was related that the Prince could
hardly endure to see young Joas sitting on the throne ;
he fancied it was a second King. He would not even
applaud the child who acted the part of Joas very well
indeed. These incidents showed that he had been
inspired by feelings suitable to his dignity, and perhaps
he will be equal to his august great-grandfather."

CHAPTER X
Pooe Pollnitz's private affairs showed no change for the
better. In spite of his solicitations, and the Regent's
fair promises, he was no further advanced than when
he came to France, and had much less money.
" However, the ardent wish that I had to enter the
French Army prevented me from being rebuffed, and,
though there was little appearance of any success, I
began again with my petitions. My sojourn in France
was extremely ruinous to me, and those who knew me
intimately could not understand how I managed to
maintain myself."
Cousin Charlotte Henrietta soon learnt that her young
relative had failed to obtain any appointment in France,
but that he was stUl deterrnined to hve there. She
grudged all the outlay she knew that he must be making,
and, as his property was all entailed on her, " she fancied
that aU the money that I was spending in France was
as good as stolen from her."
So she determined to have Pollnitz removed from
Paris, knowing that he could live more inexpensively
anywhere else. She therefore begged the Princess of
Wales, who was one of Madame's numerous corre
spondents —
" To write to Her Royal Highness and to beg her not
to protect me any longer, as I did not deserve her kind
ness. The letter, a strong one, for my cousin was weU
served, was written and forwarded to Madame, who,
however, told me of its contents, and assured me that
166

THE VAGRANT 167
it would not affect her opinion of me, but that she would
always continue to be kind to me."
Thanking the Princess very humbly, Pollnitz with
drew, very angry with his cousin. In his first outburst
against her, he wrote her a letter in which he did not
spare her. Cousin Charlotte Henrietta, " who had really
a very pretty wit, replied in the same strain." Pollnitz
rejoined, and she answered him, and there followed a
lively correspondence " in which we each said very
pretty things."
" To crown my happiness, I was now attacked by
jaundice. This illness brought me to the brink of the
grave." Simultaneously with the growth of infidelity in the
early eighteenth century, and with the widespread moral
depravity, raged fierce religious feuds between various
sects. In Protestant Germany we have seen how the
Lutherans and Calvinists hated each other ; France
was rent between the Jansenists and the Jesuits. It
was indeed a war only of the pen, a shock of scholastic
lances. But the influence of Jansenism, which was
great among the upper classes, was also a healthy one,
for they preached and practised austerity and simplicity
of life, and endeavoured to bring about a much-needed
reform of morals.
When Pollnitz lay upon a bed of sickness his friends
did not neglect him, especially the celebrated Jansenist,
the Abbe d'Asfeld. Pollnitz was too quick and keen
in absorbing new ideas to escape the Jansenist influence.
The Abbe seized the opportunity of rescuing this brand
from the burning. " The devil was sick, the devU a
monk would be." The impressionable young man lis
tened to his saintly adviser. D'Asfeld not only brought
him back to rehgion, but also converted him to the
Roman Cathohe communion.

168 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" My friends did not neglect me, and, among others,
the Abbe d'Asfeld was the one to whom I am most
indebted. He begged me to consider my situation
seriously, and, as he knew that I was not a Cathohe, and
that the prejudices in which I had been brought up
inclined me very much to the contrary side, he implored
me to allow him to talk to me about rehgion for an
hour a day. I gladly assented. Every one knows with
what force and unction he speaks. He continued these
visits during aU my illness, which gradually passed
away. I was so much impressed with what he told me
that I promised him that I would be instructed directly
I had recovered. I kept my word as soon as I was able
to go out. He introduced me to Pere Denys, a Bare
footed Carmelite. A few discussions with the good
Father completed what the Abbe had begun, so that,
in a short time, I made my pubhc confession of faith
before Pere Denys in the church of his convent, in the
presence of a great number of distinguished people.
M. le Marquis d'Asfeld, and the Abbe, his brother, were
my witnesses, and signed after me my confession of
faith. When the ceremony was over I was attacked
on every side by the embraces of a quantity of people,
of whom three quarters were unknown to me, but who,
out of their zeal for rehgion, wished to demonstrate to
me the joy my reception into the bosom of the Church
gave them. I received the Communion the same week,
All Saints' Day. Finally, I went to visit the Cardinal
de Noailles, who gave me a very fine address, exhorting
me to be firm in the religion I had embraced."
News of Pollnitz's conversion soon spread to Germany.
Kind cousin Charlotte did not faU to raise an outcry
against this step —
" As vehemently as Luther or Calvin would have done.
The same Princess, who had already recommended me
to Madame " (the Duchess of Hanover, sister-in-law of
Electress Sophia ?), " wrote to teU her that she need not

THE VAGRANT 169
be surprised at my changing my religion, as I had
already done so two or three times before ! "
On Madame, however, this last hint made no more
impression than the first ; but, in order not to hear
any more about his enemies, Pollnitz ceased to frequent
the Palais Royal, whither Madame had returned for
the winter. His action entirely disposed of the asser
tion that he had sold his faith for the sake of worldly
advantage. The winter of 1717 was an unpleasant one for him.
Paris, " without money, is duUer than the most remote
desert." He was soon obliged to put down his coach,
and next to seU part of his wardrobe, in order to satisfy
his most pressing creditors. Yet he could not escape
the disgrace with which he was overwhelmed by one
" hungrier than the rest." In spite of having promised
to wait a month, this creditor had Pollnitz arrested
in the httle market of the Faubourg S. Germain, and
removed to the Abbaye prison.
This might have turned out ill for Pollnitz had not
the Councillor of Parhament, Novion, to whom he at
once sent news of his incarceration, come to his aid.
Novion himself arrived immediately and offered to be
security for the debt. But the creditor, who wanted
only money down, refused bail. Whereupon Novion,
much annoyed by the refusal, wrote a line to his relative,
the First President, asking that Pollnitz might be set
at hberty. This was at once ordered, without the money
being paid. Novion, moreover, obtained an injunction
of arrest, so that Pollnitz's creditors gave him no more
trouble. Such was justice in Paris under Louis XV !
But no sooner was our Baron out of one trouble than
he landed himself in another, " less annoying, indeed,
but very funny." Two years previously he had be
come —
" Acquainted in the salon of the wife of the President
de P  with a rich, ugly, avaricious, mad old widow,
who, to complete her attractions, loved law-suits to

170 A VAGABOND COURTIER
distraction. These great qualities did not deter a
number of pleasant men from trying to woo her, aspiring
to a marriage which seemed to them advantageous. . . .
The lady was forty years older than I was; patches,
rouge, and white, daily renewed her attractions. One
had to be twenty-two, like me, not to be scared by her
charms. The eight thousand hvres' income I had in
view induced me, however, to take for natural every
thing that was artificial, and I do not know that I
would not have sworn that my charmer was fifteen.
" For two years we were very attentive to each other.
The widow, however, would not make her choice ; not
because she did not wish to get married, but because
she insisted on such extraordinary conditions that the
gallants retired at once." Madame la Presidente de
P  , who knew the lady, and also of Pollnitz's sad
plight, advised him to try his fate, and said she would
help him. Her efforts and Pollnitz's endeavours to
please were not in vain. The lady offered him a
suite of rooms in her house, and threw out hints that
he might have hopes.
The difficulty was Pollnitz's lack of money ; for he
wished to appear at the house weU turned out. " HappUy
my hostess, who was one of those schemers with whom
Paris swarms, helped me out of my dilemma." She
saw what was the matter, and, with the assistance of
an Italian valet whom he had had for some time, easUy
provided all he wanted in order to make a fine show.
PoUnitz engaged more servants, set up fine liveries, and
in a few days his equipage was as fine as ever, " aU on
credit, indeed, but soon my old woman, stingy though
she was, helped me out of my difficulty."
On the other hand, Pollnitz was obliged to play a
rather embarrassing role, " pretending to be the lover of
one of the most disagreeable women in the universe, just
when I was still in love with Madame de R  , who
was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful persons
you could see."

THE VAGRANT 171
Further, the lady, aping people in society, pretended
to be jealous. She had Pollnitz watched everywhere,
and he could hardly leave her for a moment.
" GeneraUy we went out together, and at eight in the
morning were at the Palais de Justice, irritating lawyers
and solicitors. The good lady went home, and began
her toUette. I was present in an arm-chair, where I had
plenty of time to bore myself. It is true that, for the
first few days, I was somewhat amused by the close
acquaintance with the means by which a very unpleas-
ing physiognomy can be made passable. Everything
about my old woman was artificial, and I do not think
that more colours could be used to paint a portrait
than were necessary to patch up her face."
Bored, and horribly disgusted, only the thought of the
predicaments into which his extravagance had led
liim induced Pollnitz to reflect that it was to his interest
not to break off playing the lover's part. At last,
when he was nearly dead of boredom, she began to
speak of marriage, and he consented.
" The lady had two sons, who might have been
my fathers. Messieurs, my step-sons, were warned, I
do not know by whom, of the understanding between
me and their mother. They came and flung themselves
at her feet, imploring her not to do them and their
chUdren (they were married) this injury by marrying me.
My fiancee was shaken, and I appeared at the moment
that she was about to promise her sons what they asked.
My presence reassured her, and I induced her to triumph
over her weakness.
" But my sons employed means which was far from
useless. Their mother was a coquette, but she was also
devout. She gave to God the time that she was not
with me, or at her toilette. Her sons handed her over
to a priest of S. Sulpice. The holy man seized his
opportunity when I was not in the house. I had not
foreseen the step, or the porter — all the servants were

172 A VAGABOND COURTIER
in my pay — would certainly not have allowed him in.
So well did he acquit himseK of ] his mission that he
brought about the decision that the signature of the
marriage contract, which was to take place next day,
should be postponed for three months. I learnt this
news without much grief, for I confess that my conceit
was such that I did not think the lady could escape me.
From the portrait I have drawn you of my charmer,
you can well imagine that I was not much in love with
her. The scruples which the priest of S. Sulpice had
aroused did not change her attitude towards me. We
were stiU good friends, but yet I dared not speak of
anything which would settle matters for me. She made
me handsome presents, and I disposed of them as fast
as I received them. To suggest the drawing up of a
wiU to a sweetheart of sixty-two would have been an
odd love-making, and the way to lose all.
" But ill-luck befell me just when I least expected
it. One morning I entered my charmer's chamber to
find her at her toilette. She complained of a violent
headache, and told me that she was very unweU ; that
she had asked people to dine, but was not fit to receive
them. She begged, me to do the honours of the house.
I advised her to tell those she had mvited that she was
UI, and to beg them to put the party off tiU another day.
She agreed. I went out for a turn, promising to come
back and dine with her.
" When I returned I found her more made up than
usual. She told me that her headache had quite gone
after that she had drunk some coffee, and that she had
dressed to please me. We dined together ; she ate very
httle, and soon began to complain again. I had her
put to bed, and, drawing a chair by her bed-side, took
up a book to read her to sleep. All at once I felt my
hand seized. I turned towards the bed, and saw my
fiancee expire, clasping my hand. I called for help;
people came ; surgeons, doctors came. They bled her,
but all was in vain. ' Not twice does one stand on
the verge of death.'

THE VAGRANT 173
" This tragedy so shocked me that I did not think
of putting my effects in safety. I went to my room,
and, hardly had I been there a few moments, when
they came and told me that one of the deceased's sons
was there with a police-officer, putting seals on every
thing. I did not object, and, in truth, I had no right
to do so. But my urbanity only made the son most
masterful. He even came into my room to seal the
things which belonged to me. I told him that, if he did
not leave, I would have him put out by my people and
those of the deceased, who were very fond of me.
" WhUe this was going on, M. de Novion, the Par
liamentary CounciUor, who was a great friend of mine,
came to see me ; he advised me to turn out as soon as
possible, and to have everything that belonged to me
removed, at once. He offered me his house to put my
furniture and my baggage in. I accepted his offer, and
everything was carried away in a few hours. The sons
wished to go to law with me ; but, as they had no proof
of what I was indebted to their mother, they did not
dare to begin to annoy me. Had I been older and wiser,
I should have regretted for a long time the loss I had
experienced. For, besides a good friend — a rare and
precious thing — I lost the prospect of a brilliant future."
There was nothing for it now but for Pollnitz to go
to Berlin and to try and arrange his affairs by selling
his estates, if his cousin aUowed him. He delayed his
departure a while to be in Paris during the visit of the
Czar, which made a great stir, though Peter declined
to receive a pubhc entry. He only reached the Louvre,
chronicles Pollnitz, at ten at night, not too pleased not
to be welcomed by the King, and to be told that the
latter was too young to sit up so late. He was very
cross all the evening, dechned any supper, and only took
a glass of beer. He refused to stay at the Louvre, say
ing that the furniture of his rooms was too magnificent,
and that his people, who were slovenly, might spoU it.
At one in the morning he turned out of it. The Marshal

174 A VAGABOND COURTIER
de Tesse, who had been attached to him during his stay,
had luckily furnished the Hotel de Lesdiguieres; but
even that was too sumptuous, and the Czar would not
sleep in the fine bed he had prepared, but had a camp-
bed put up in a dressing-room.
Next day he received a visit from the Regent, and
then the King came in state to see him. The Czar
received httle Louis as he descended from his coach, and
took him in his arms, with an ecstasy of affection which
seemed to surprise the chUd somewhat. The latter
made a speech of welcome, and the two passed, hand in
hand, into the audience-chamber. The visit only lasted
a very short time. When the King took his leave the
Czar, at the coach-door, lifted him up in his arms,
higher than himself, saying that he wished for him
that his grandeur and power might surpass that of the
King Louis XIV.
Next day the Czar returned the visit, and was very
much pleased with the state and ceremonial of his
reception. Later he paid visits to the Regent and to
Madame. The latter talked to him for two hours in
her favourite German, and he rephed to her in Dutch.
When he had taken his leave, he remarked to M. de S 
that the old lady was extraordinarily inquisitive, and
had asked him too many questions ; but that, in the end,
he had not told her anything he did not wish her to
know. The Czar saw the sights of Paris with the insatiable
curiosity and the indefatigableness of a modern American,
starting at dawn and wearing out many of poor M. de
Tesse's coach-horses, which he used in order to pass
unnoticed. The Court spared no pains to entertain him.
A grand review was held of all the King's regiments, the
French and Swiss Guards, in the avenue de Roule, and
which overflowed into the Champs l£lysees. But the
Czar only rode quickly down the line, hardly noticed
the troops, and then, without any salute to the Regent,
set spurs to his horse and galloped back to Paris ; thence
at once to S. Ouen, where a fete, got up by the Due

THE VAGRANT 175
de Tremes, Governor of Paris, appeared to amuse him
more than the review, though he only noticed one lady,
Madame de Bethune, the Duke's daughter. The
Regent had prepared a fete at S. Cloud, but the Czar
had an attack of illness, and could not be present. Ver-
saiUes seemed to please him ; he had a plan of it drawn
out, and enlisted a number of workmen to construct a
similar palace in Russia. The Regent allowed them
to leave, but most of them found the promises the Czar
had made them were not performed, and were glad to
get back to France.
" This Prince was not liberal," remarks Pollnitz, " and
his presents, when he made any, were only valuable
because given by such a great monarch. I saw a poor
soldier at the Invalides present him with a plan of the
Hotel. The Prince seemed pleased with the beautiful
work, which had taken ten years to complete, yet the
veteran received but a small reward. But the King of
France showed how different the French character is
to that of the Russian by giving him handsome presents."
The Czar, however, was pleased with his reception
in France, where his stay had attracted a great concourse
of visitors ; never had Paris seemed so full. New
amusements were much in demand.
" I was given a suggestion which would have yielded
me a large sum could I have carried it out ; it was the
offer of a substantial commission if I could obtain the
privUege of setting up public balls and gambling-tables
in the Champs Ililysees, where booths could have been
erected. I spoke to the Regent about it, who, at first,
as usual, promised fair. But d'Argenson, then only
the Head of the Police, induced him to change his mind
by telhng him that the balls would infallibly lead to
great licentiousness. The objection was specious, and
bore some verisimilitude ; but, in fact, such a scheme
would not have increased disorder, especiaUy in a spot

176 A VAGABOND COURTIER
where it had long been the fashion to walls: about at
night, so much so that there were often more coaches
in the courtyards after midnight than during the day.
Moreover, it would have been possible to prevent dis
order which was foreseen. But d'Argenson liked neither
novelties nor to please any one."
Had Pollnitz's little scheme, which does him but httle
honour, succeeded, it would have enabled liim to spend
a httle longer time pleasantly in Paris. When it faffed
his one idea was to return to Berlin. As he was prepar
ing to start, he saw Count Rothenburg, who had come
from Berlin, and was returning shortly, entrusted with
French business. He encouraged Pollnitz to return
home, assuring him that nothing would be easier than
to sell his estates now. Frederic William, dealing with
a high hand with his nobles, had just wrested from them
the immemorial right of exemption from taxation. On
the other hand, he had removed the entails and aUowed
every one to dispose of their property as they hsted.
Further, Rothenburg offered to take Pollnitz back with
him, and to lend him money.
But the advance was made in Law's new paper
currency, the Billets d'Etat. " Taking advantage of my
necessities, he forced me into the most ruinous bargain
I ever struck." Pollnitz discounted his notes, and,
with what was left of the money, set out for Strasburg,
where he was to join Rothenburg, who had gone round
by Burgundy to visit some estates he had there.
For nearly a month Pollnitz dawdled at Strasburg,
awaiting Rothenburg. Nothing but lack of money
induced him to do so. At last Rothenburg arrived,
but only to announce that he could not possibly take
Pollnitz with him to Berlin, because there was no room
in his coach. " It is true that his equipage was fuU,
but there were some inside who should have been out
side," says the Baron.

FREDERIC, FIRST KING OF PRUSSIA.

176]

CHAPTER XI
While waiting for money to be sent him from Berlin,
PoUnitz found little to see and do at Strasburg. This
city, since it had passed at the Treaty of Utrecht
from the Emperor to France, was in the hands of the
Romanists, and Lutherans were excluded from all
pubhc employment. There was a large French garrison,
and Marshal Dubourg was the Governor ; he had been
tutor to Madame's husband, the Due d'Orleans, and
thus PoUnitz had an introduction to him, and attended
his receptions, such as they were. The Governor lived
in more seclusion than is usual with persons in high
official position. He received the officers of the garrison
in the morning, and made them sit round in a circle.
" A solemn silence reigned, which would have dispelled
the prejudice of foreigners that French people chatter
too much." After about half an hour every one went
off to dine where he liked, which, probably, in the
present state of our Baron's finances, was not exactly
to his taste. But the Marshal only entertained on the
rare occasions when some distinguished visitors came
from the French Court, or when the Archbishop, Cardinal
de Rohan, was in residence. " Otherwise," writes
Pollnitz, " a stay at Strasburg is very dull, especially
for those," he adds, with a moral unctuousness which
we may surmise proceeded rather from the depletion
of his purse than from any natural conviction, " not
addicted to the usual dissipations of youth ; the latter
always find wherewith to amuse themselves, and,
indeed, I saw for myself that the young men of Stras
burg are very dissolute, and the bourgeoisie very easy to
become acquainted with."
I— 12 »'

178 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The nobUity of Strasburg were few in number, and
poor. The canons of the cathedral, aU princes or counts,
were not an asset in society, as they were only in the
city during their three months' compulsory residence.
But the officers of the garrison were pleasant; —
" Knowing both how to do their duty and how to
amuse themselves at the right time. ... A fine and
brilliant set of young men, whose fingers itch to fight.
Never have I seen such fine infantry as the French, is
to-day. The cavalry are fine men, but not mounted
hke ours. You know it is the fashion with us to say the
French are ruined and played out. I do not know U
this is the case, but, to judge by appearances, it cannot
be. The troops have never been better clothed, better
paid, more active, or finer. The officers are weU
dressed ; they gamble among themselves, hve weU.
It does not appear to me that this is the life of men
in a poor way. If so, I should like to be poor aU my
life. " The garrison maintains a company of actors. The
captains and commandants pay, but the subalterns are
aUowed in free. The town keeps up a theatre, one of
the prettiest in the provinces. The man who likes
grisettes can amuse himself here. The race is a very
fine one ; one notices that the prettiest girls are
Lutheran. It is said that the fair sex is very sympa
thetic here ; which makes me think that it would not
be the place to lose one's heart in.
" Many of our young Germans come here to learn
French and fencing. They do not seem any the better
for it. The fencing-masters are not superior to those
in many German towns, and, as for French, it is very
badly spoken here. The inhabitants speak German,
and the young men, delighted to talk their own language,
forget to learn any other. Besides, they are always
together, and only pass on their vices and their visitors.
Not knowing what to do with themselves, they spend
their time in cafes, at billiards, and sometimes in less

THE VAGRANT 179
reputable places, for Strasburg is one of the most dis
sipated towns in Europe."
Money having reached Pollnitz, he started as quickly
as possible for Berlin, passing through Heidelberg,
Darmstadt, and Frankfort. At Hanau he stayed to
pay his respects to the Count, whose wife was a Princess
of Brandenburg-Anspach, sister to the Princess of
Wales. The Count was a mighty hunter.
"It is an unpardonable crime to kill a stag on his
lands. The smaU game, rabbits and hares, are no less
highly preserved ; all these animals ravage the country
side, but they afford amusement to the Count. The poor
peasant is reduced to paying taille and holding his
tongue." The Count of Hanau, Count of the Empire, the last
of his line, Pollnitz found living in his very old, finely
furnished palace in the old quarter of the town, so called
to distinguish it from the new quarter built by the
Protestant WaUoons, who settled there when exiled by
the persecutions of Alva. But he often resided in the
magnificent chateau of Phillipsruhe, a mile or two off,
buUt by his late brother. He kept up a large house
hold and suite, and Pollnitz would fain have lingered
there some days. For the Princess was an excellent
hostess, everything so well managed, yet —
" One enjoyed at her Court all the freedom one could
wish for. When I arrived I was assigned a room; a
lackey was ordered to wait upon me. Every morning
an official arrived to ask what one wanted for breakfast
. . . then if one wished to hunt, one sent to the Head
Huntsman for a gamekeeper, and to the Count's stables
for horses. If one returned too late for dinner, it was
served very nicely in one's room. In the evening,
after one had retired, the butler took care to provide
one with beer and wine. Visitors' servants were fed

180 A VAGABOND COURTIER
with those of the Count, whose own table is of the best ;
usually eighteen covers are laid, and a second table
served with equal profusion. . . . The rooms are
splendid, and magnificently furnished, and the gardens
are in good taste and beautifully situated."
Pollnitz tore himself away from this delightful Liberty
Hall, and went to the dirty httle town of Fulda, where
he dined at the famous Benedictine Abbey with the
Prince-Abbot, Chancellor by right of birth to the
Emperor, and Primate of Abbots. " I do not think
that, on the whole, it is necessary to have a very sincere
vocation to be a monk at Fulda. These gentlemen
enjoy all that one could wish for to lead a very pleasant
life." This Abbot, an ambitious man, had added very
largely to the Abbey, and it " was hke the palace of a
great King rather than a monastery . . . the Abbey and
the adjoining church of cut stone, some of the finest
buildings in Germany." The Abbot kept up a great
household and several regiments, and a large stable,
all well appointed. PoUnitz —
" Would have had good reason to be satisfied with
the welcome he gave me had he not made me drink so
much. Few rulers in Germany keep a better table.
Nothing is lacking ; one drinks good wine, but in such
a quantity that one is soon not in a condition to know
what one is drinking. Here, I think, must be the best
drinkers in Europe. As I, on the contrary, am one of
the worst, I decided that Fulda was not the place for me
to pitch my tent. I dined with the Prince, came back
drunk to mine inn, and slept. Had I stayed any longer
I might well have left for a longer journey than to
Berlin. ..."
From Fulda, " over one of the most disagreeable
roads in all Germany, and in a country not well sup
plied with provisions — I nearly starved to death in the
inns " — to Eisenach, " situated at the foot of horrible

THE VAGRANT 181
mountains." Pollnitz had little eye for grandeur in
natural scenery. The Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, of the
Weimar branch, was away, and, as there was nothing
to see in the residenzstadt, Pollnitz hurried on to Gotha.
The Duke here, of another of the Saxon families, was a
wise and kindly ruler, the father of his people, but
reserved and inaccessible to strangers. A learned man
and a great reader, he was little addicted to society
and entertaining. Gotha was an un-VersaiUed capital,
a little oasis among the pleasure-seeking Courts of
Germany, and hardly congenial or accessible to Pollnitz,
who passed on to Erfurt " over one of the worst roads
I ever saw," and thence to Leipzig. The Michaelmas
Fair was being held at Leipzig, the King of Poland, as
usual, staying at the Apel's house, because it was
nearer the fair-ground than the castle. But Pollnitz
was too anxious to reach Berlin to be delayed even by
this attraction, and passed onward.
On his first arrival at Berlin he kept very quiet, for
he perceived how uncongenial the changed Court would
be to him. However, he could not long remain hidden ;
gratitude for so much kindness in the past drove him to
pay his respects to the widowed Margravine at Schwedt.
She received him so kindly, and presently spoke so
favourably of him to the King, that he wished to see
him. " By Grumbkow he ordered me to go and speak
with him at Charlottenburg, and to have myself an
nounced by one of his valets de chambre, Ast. I would
rather have avoided obeying this order, but it was too
explicit, as His Majesty had even specified the hour
at which I was to wait upon him. So I went to Char
lottenburg on the day appointed ; I sent for Ast, who
came to receive me, and led me to a gallery, where he
begged me to wait a while. I had only been there a
quarter of an hour when the King came in, followed
by La Fourcade, brigadier-general, and Commandant
of Berlin.

182 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" His Majesty came straight towards me, and asked
me with some quickness where I came from, and why
I had returned to Berlin. I replied that I came from
France, and was recalled to Berlin by my private busi
ness. This Prince continued to question me about my
affairs, and seemed very pleased with what I had the
honour to reply to him, and, turning to La Fourcade,
said to him that he would never have recognized me
unless he had been told it was me. He then told me
that he looked upon me as a Frenchman. I rephed that
I should consider myself most unfortunate if His Majesty
thought this of me, and that, however far I might
be from his Person and his States, I should always think
myself honoured by caUing myself one of his subjects,
and that I should always retain for my King and. my
country the feelings of respect and fidelity in which I
have been brought up.
" The King next asked me if I was planning to sell
my estates. I confessed that this was the only means
I had left by which to put myself in a position to satisfy
my creditors. I even begged him to interpose his
authority, so as to compel Fraulein von Pollnitz to
consent to this sale. The King said he would give
his orders with regard to that to M. de C  , in order
that she might be brought round about it, and then
dismissed me graciously."
Pollnitz returned to Berlin, and did not faU to thank
the Margravine for her kind offices with the King. A
few days later, when the Queen had returned from
Charlottenburg, he went to pay his respects, and was most
kindly received. " When it became known how Their
Majesties had received me, it was sufficient to make the
courtiers pay me attentions which I otherwise should
not have dared to hope for."
However, he " cared little for these gentlemen's
civilities," and set about concluding the great business
for.Vhich he had come. He offered cousin Charlotte
very reasonable terms, in order to gain her consent.

THE VAGRANT 183
The King ordered her to be written to, at Hanover,
informing her that he considered them very moderate,
and that she would please him by accepting them.
Pollnitz went himself to Hanover to try and win her
over. But neither these good recommendations nor
the visits he paid her had any effect, and the " poisonous
dragon " remained obdurate.
When the Baron returned from Hanover the King
sent for him again. He was introduced into the
Tabagie by one of the favourites, and found the King
playing tric-trac, and the Prince of Anhalt and other
generals and officers present.
" The King rose when he had finished his game and
came towards me and talked very graciously. Then,
seating himself, he ordered all those present to do the
same, and each sat down, without any regard to rank.
The King was smoking, as were most of those in the
study. Happily no one offered me a pipe, which was
a great joy to me, for never in my life have I been able
to smoke.
" The King talked to me much about my affairs.
Ere long I perceived that my cousin had won this Prince
over to her side ; for, directly it was a question of my
estate, he told me very frankly that I should not do
weU in getting rid of it, even should my cousin give her
consent ; that, far from paying my debts with the
money that would accrue to me from this sale, I should
spend it on my own pleasures ; that it was time to think
of something else, which, while giving me occupation,
would place me in a position to pay my debts. He
added that, however, if I persisted in wishing to sell my
estates, he would write again to Fraulein von Pollnitz
to induce her to consent to it ; that it was all he could
do for me in any circumstances, as, in justice, he could
not compel her to give her consent to what she thought
would be injurious to her.
" After talking a httle more about my private affairs
His Majesty touched on the rumour that had been spread

184 A VAGABOND COURTIER
in Berlin about my change of religion, and asked me
if it were true that I was a Papist. I replied to him
that I was of the same religion as my fathers.
" I will now confess, to my shame, that I had not
courage to announce publicly that I was a Catholic.
Moreover, I thought that, under such pressure of cir
cumstances, I could get out of the dilemma by an
ambiguity. The doctors do the same ; this moral is
very well thought of among them. The ambiguity
consisted in that, by ' the religion of my fathers,'
I meant that which my grandfather and my great
grandfather had professed — and, indeed, aU my ancestors
had been Catholics. My grandfather was, but he
embraced the New Religion in order to swim with the
stream. The King beheved, from what I said, that I
stUl adhered to the Reformed Faith, and did not insist
on my saying any more on this subject.
" But the Prince of Anhalt was not so easy to satisfy ;
he told His Majesty that, to assure himself of the truth
of what I had just said, it would be necessary to force
me to make my Communion at the cathedral. The King
quite agreed with him, but the advice had no effect.
" When I left the King, the Prince of Anhalt, who
seemed anxious to know the truth about my conversion,
put it on my conscience ; he blamed me very much for
not having confessed that I was a Cathohe. As I was
not sure which way these remonstrances tended, I
took care not to open my heart to this nobleman, and
stuck to my negative."
Pollnitz's audience with the King had pleased the
latter so much, and he spoke so well of him one day
among his courtiers, that Pollnitz's friends advised him
to seize this ray of favour, and beg for an appointment.
So he wrote to the King at Potsdam, and two days later
came a reply, signed with the King's own hand.
" I have received your letter of January 9th, 1718.
In reply, I will tell you that I will grant you the first

THE VAGRANT 185
salary of Gentleman of the Chamber which falls
vacant. " Frederic William."
Much impressed with the King's kindness, Pollnitz
hastened to thank him directly he returned from Berlin.
The King replied that it was not worth while for such
a trifle. " It seemed to me good enough to begin with for a
man unused to seeing his plans succeed. The courtiers
vied with each other in every possible welcome ; from
aU sides I received congratulations, which convinced
me that I was in favour.
" But my star did not long allow me to remain in
peace, and soon a storm arose which drove me farther
from my haven than I had hitherto been blown."
When, early in 1718, Frederic William recaUed Baron
Kniphausen from the embassy at Paris, Pollnitz was
one of those who applied for the post, which would have
suited him exactly, and for which he was not unfitted.
Moreover, he offered to take it without much expense
to the State, at a reduction of two hundred crowns a
month of the usual salary. The Minister, Grumbkow,
was pleased with the suggestion, and promised to
further it with the King. Pollnitz himself discussed
it with Ilgen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose daughter
was married to Kniphausen.
Ilgen received PoUnitz with all possible politeness,
promising on oath to serve him in this matter, and
adding that he was but too pleased to show his respect
and veneration for Pollnitz's family. Ilgen was a man
of no birth, brilhant, hard-working, " whose own brains
had raised him, but cold, calculating, and selfish, whose
words meant nothing. This great civility on his part
made Pollnitz suspicious. Further, the Minister in
sisted upon seeing him down to his coach. The Baron

186 A VAGABOND COURTIER
demurred with him on the doorstep, imploring him to
escort him no farther, as it was pouring with rain. It
was useless ; the great Minister remained at the coach-
door till it moved off. " That was all he did for me !
For, far from helping me with the King, he did quite the
contrary." Pollnitz was subsequently informed that Ilgen was
annoyed with him for asking a reduction of salary, as
his son-in-law, a very extravagant man, was always
writing from Paris that what he received was not enough
to live upon.
" To crown my happiness, the King received an
anonymous letter assuring him that I was indeed a
Catholic." With it was enclosed the authentic attesta
tion of Pere Denys, into whose hands Pollnitz had
entrusted his confession of faith. " The King seemed
angry with me, and complained that I had deceived
him. Several people exaggerated the alarm of the
royal displeasure."
At first Pollnitz was not frightened, thinking that
the talk was only in order to get him away from Court,
and that the King was not so angry with him as was
made out ; but, at last, he received a warning that the
King might have him arrested. One H  , who was
an aUy of M  , a favourite of the King, came to bring
Pollnitz the warning.
" In honour I thought he could not do me an UI
turn. For this H  was a wretch, who, after having
run through a large fortune, hved on a smaU salary the
King gave him because he had served with the King
of Sweden at Stralsund, and on an office few would
have accepted ; as his salary was not enough to hve
upon, several people helped him. I may, indeed, say
that, though not in easy circumstances myself, I had
been of some use to him. But I can declare that he
repaid me with ingratitude. It was he who exaggerated
the report, which, in itself, was not enough to force me
to leave Court, but the way in which he put it led me

THE VAGRANT 187
to beheve that I was irretrievably ruined if I insisted
on staying in Berlin.
" He came to my room one day with a horrified ex
pression, and told me that he had just learnt from
Herr von M  that directly the King returned I
should infaUibly be arrested. His remarks were accom
panied by such an expression of emotion that I believed
every word he said. I decided to leave. The difficulty
was to raise the money, and that I only succeeded in
doing by making many bad agreements which put me
in great difficulties later."

CHAPTER XII
Having turned everything that he could into money,
Pollnitz left Berlin by night, giving out that he was
going to Hanover. But directly he was outside the
city he took the Leipzig road. After a few days' stay
there he went to Mainz, where he had a cousin in the
Elector's service, who received him kindly and pre
sented him to the Prince- Archbishop, the first Elector
of the Empire, and Count of the Schonborn family. He
was a feeble, kind old man, adored by bis subjects and
very zealous for the weal of the Empire.
But Pollnitz did not linger at Mainz :
" Like all cities under an ecclesiastical ruler, it is very
dull. There is a large aristocracy, but they only meet
ceremoniously. Men see very little of the ladies ; wine
appeared to be more to their taste. The great amuse
ment of the inhabitants is to go in summer-time and
drink the waters at Wiesbaden, Schwalbach, and
Schlangenbad. During that season Mainz, Frankfurt,
and Darmstadt are deserts."
At the Court of the Duke of Wiirtemberg Pollnitz
had another relation, and perceived another opportunity
for obtaining free board, lodging, and entertainment at
yet another palace. For a von Pollnitz, one of the
Saxon branch, was a member of the Duke's Privy
Council, or Cabinet. Moreover, the Hereditary Prince
of Wiirtemberg had married Henrietta, daughter of
PoUnitz's old protector, the Margrave Philip of Schwedt.
But the Baron did not stay at Stuttgart. For the
old ducal Schloss, with its matchless orangery, was de-
188

THE VAGRANT 189
serted, its only inhabitant the forlorn Duchess, who
hved in great seclusion, her only comfort the frequent
visits of her only son. For twenty years past Duke
Eberhard had been under the thumb of her proud
and successful rival, Countess von Gravenitz. Extra
ordinary seemed such devotion to Pollnitz, accustomed
to the fickle and fleeting amours of the period.
In vain had the Emperor himself tried to detach
Eberhard from his mistress. The Duke had married
her to Count Wurben, and then despatched him to
Vienna as ambassador. The Gravenitz, unable to
dislodge the Duchess from the castle at Stuttgart, had
induced the Duke to build for her the magnificent
country palace of Ludwigsburg. Here she held court,
and aU bowed before her imperious will. No effort had
she spared to become Duchess, indeed, she was it in all
but name, and at forty still all-powerful with the
infatuated old man.
Pollnitz, however, upon this occasion did not pay
a visit to this " German Pompadour." He followed the
Duke, who was at the baths of Wildbad, or WUdsbadt,
with his son and daughter-in-law. Wildbad Pollnitz
thought " one of the most horrid places in Germany,"
but its waters were of much repute for sciatica and
nerves. He found the fat, jolly Duke, bathing, with his
son and other gentlemen he had invited, in the big bath,
which held twenty people. After the bath they all
rested. About noon they assembled in the Duke's
apartment, and passed into that of the Hereditary
Princess, who lodged at a house opposite. There was
a table laid for sixteen, the guests and the household,
etc., with the Duke, who was affable and popular. "Few
Princes live so familiarly with their courtiers. After
dinner the Duke rides, or has ridden before him, some of
his highly trained horses." Never had Pollnitz seen
" horses so fine or so weU kept." The Duke himself
" stUl rode perfectly ; he was a finished adept at all
bodUy exercises. Sometimes it amused him to drive
his coaches himself. I have seen him drive eight horses,

190 A VAGABOND COURTIER
without a postillion, and make them perform as if it
were one horse."
In the evening the company assembled for cards at
the Hereditary Princess's tUl supper-time. The Prince
was a gentle, kind-hearted little fellow, who had traveUed
much about Europe ; he was passionately fond of dis
play, dancing, the theatre, music, and who, though he
was not robust, rode seven or eight horses every morning.
His wife was a fine woman, with distinguished manners,
very grave, and little inclined to court amusements,
but very fond of dress, and dancing splendidly ; " ex
tremely gracious, and pohte to every one, but particularly
to those whom she had known at the Court of Prussia.
She did me the honour to converse with me sometimes,
and I found she had much sense, and opinions suit
able to her birth." As the Duke was a Lutheran, his
daughter-in-law Reformed, and the heir-presumptive
after the Hereditary Prince (who had only one daughter),
his cousin, Prince Alexander, was a Cathohe, there were
no less than three chapels at this Court.
Whether it was that the waters of WUdbad did not
suit Pollnitz, he became so UI of a malady which had
troubled him for some years that, instead of going, as
he had intended, to Vienna, he returned to Strasburg,
hoping to find a clever surgeon to operate upon him.
On the advice of the Governor, Marshal Dubourg, he
consulted the one in charge of the Great Hospital.
" I do not know if he be a clever surgeon, but I am
sure he is a very dangerous doctor. He took it into his
head to give me drugs in order to prepare me, he said,
for the operation, but which nearly despatched me into
the other world. Happily, I found out his ignorance
soon enough not to give him time to kiU me."
Discontinuing his prescriptions, Pollnitz, when he
was sufficiently recovered to stand the journey, decided
to return to Paris, " as the headquarters of the most
experienced surgeons."

THE VAGRANT 191
Staying a few days at Saverne, he was hospitably
welcomed by the great Cardinal de Rohan, who was
entertaining a large company. Thence he went to
LuneviUe. Here, since the last war, when the French
had taken Nancy, the Duke and Duchess of Lorraine and
Bar kept court, as the town had been given as part of
her dowry to the Duchess, the only daughter of Madame.
So here again Pollnitz found a friend.
The Duke hved in great state. His first Minister
was Prince Craon, high in favour, who had married his
daughter to the Prince of Lixen, formerly known as the
Chevaher de Lorraine, who had been the boon com
panion of Monsieur in his wild youth, and Madame's
enemy. The Baron found the Princesse de Lixen very
pleasant, and so, he says, did the Duke, for he spent his
afternoons with her during Pollnitz's visit. The Duke
and Duchess had rebuUt and enlarged and beautified the
chateau of LunevUle, in imitation of that of Versailles,
and were stUl at work on it. Soon afterwards it was
almost entirely burnt down.
Pollnitz went to Paris by Nancy, Toul, and on by
Louis XIV's grand new road through the forest of Haye
to Bar-le-Duc, Chalons, Chateau Thierry, and Meaux.
After a few days spent in paying visits of friendship and
duty, he put himself in the hands of the famous La
Peronie for the operation. It was, of course, long
before the days of anaesthetics, and, though La Peronie
was as clever as possible, poor Pollnitz " suffered
cruelly." " During my illness, which lasted some time, my
friends bore me company faithfuUy, and took care to
keep me informed of all that was going on ; and, if I
had been allowed to betray them, or, if I had not been
bound by duty to the Government, I could have given
some advice which would have been to the Regent's
advantage, and he could have stifled at ignition a
conflagration which he was able to extinguish more by
good luck than good management."

192 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The Regent, indeed, had his hands fuU. France was
in the crisis of the struggle between the Government
and the Parhament, "which is," writes Madame, "an
endless trouble to my son, and excites the citizens and
populace of Paris against him more than ever. . . . Law
is extremely unpopular." She feared the Due de
Maine and " The Dwarf," his wife, " plotting treacher
ously against the Regent."
Orleans was anxious about the Emperor's war against
the Turks, Alberoni's aggressions in SicUy and Sardinia,
and the naval war between Spain and England. He
was employing every means to induce the King of
Spain to peace ; but they all failed, and finaUy he
prepared to declare war.
Then suddenly, at this moment, the Regent happUy
discovered " a plot smouldering against him in the heart
of the kingdom." Voltaire says that —
" The King of England had already warned him that
something was machinating. . . . The Regent had no
doubt, but what all these intrigues were fomented by
Cardinal Alberoni, and he had the Prince of CeUamare,
the ambassador of Spain, closely watched. . . . Nothing
less than the Duke's removal from the Regency was
afoot. The Spanish Minister had collected a body of
men in France who wandered about the kingdom as if
they were smugglers, hawking salt and other merchan
dise. These troops, on a certain day, were to enter
Paris, invest the Palais Royal, and secure the Regent
in person. The plot was only discovered just at the time
when it was to have been carried out. Not that I suspect
the Prince of CeUamare to have betrayed the Cardinal,
but perhaps he did not sufficiently mistrust those with
whom he had to deal ; for I have been told that a packet
containing all the story of the plot and the names of
the conspirators was placed in the hands of the Abbe
Portocarrero, in the presence of two servants whose
fidelity was not proof against the louis d'or of the
Palais Royal. Besides this, the Abbe, though a man

THE REGENT ORLEANS.
From the Collection of A. M. Broadley.

192]

THE VAGRANT 193
of parts, was not experienced enough, or prudent enough,
to carry out safely such a delicate business."
Pollnitz's version is that the Abbe Portocarrero
" started for Madrid laden with despatches which held
the fates of many people, and had not gone far before
bis post-chaise broke down crossing a ford." The Abbe
Anquetal, in his Memoirs, says that —
" The implicative papers were placed in the false
bottom of the post-chaise ; that the Abbe was misguided
enough to take a German as travelling companion ; that
the latter was stopped by the police, and, the chaise
being searched for his belongings, the Abbe's papers were
discovered." PoUnitz narrates that the Abbe thought he was
going to be drowned, yet, in spite of his danger, seemed
more concerned for his papers than his own life. This
care for the preservation of his precious box seemed
suspicious to those who were driving him ; the detectives
that the Duke had set round Portocarrero warned the
former in time for orders to reach the Commandant of
Poitiers to arrest him, which was done, and he was
brought back to Paris.
Prince CeUamare, being warned of what had hap
pened, demanded the despatch-box, as containing the
Embassy papers. It was hinted to him that the authori
ties were in no mind to take his word for it. The box
was opened at the Palais Royal, and the whole plot was
found in it, and the names of all concerned.
PoUnitz says that —
" What the Regent felt most was the finding of the
names of persons whom he had loaded with favours. His
Royal Highness acted with such moderation under
these delicate circumstances, and his conduct was so
moderate, that it was hardly apparent that anything
extraordinary had occurred in France. He had the
Abbe Portocarrero released, as being of no value. As
for the Prince of CeUamare, he was invited to a con-
I— 13

194 A VAGABOND COURTIER
sultation at the Palais Royal, and directly he had
arrived there everything at his own house was put under
seal." The Ministers conducted him back to his Hotel, where
he was surprised to find a guard, ordered to be responsible
for his person. A few days later his papers were ex
amined in his presence, and then boxes were filled with
them, were sealed, and carried to the Louvre tUl the King
of Spain should send reliable people to take them out.
At last, on December 13th, the Prince of CeUamare left
Paris under escort. As for the smugglers, they dis
appeared directly the plot came to light.
On December 29th Madame took up her pen :
" I am so troubled that my hand trembles as I write.
My son has just come and told me that he has decided
to have his brother-in-law and his wife arrested. All
has been discovered. Papers have been seized at the
Paris Embassy, and those arrested have made complete
avowals. The Duchesse has been sent to Dijon, her
husband to the castle of Doubes. AU the others to the
Bastille." The Maines were the head and front of the plot in
France. The Duke had never forgiven nor forgotten
that Philip of Orleans had been made Regent instead
of himself.
" The Due de Maine," writes Pollnitz, " had been the
evening before to pay a visit to bis sister, the Duchesse
d'Orleans, and had stayed three hours ; he had returned
to Sceaux, and was arrested next morning early, and
taken under a strong guard to the castle of Doubes.
The same day, very early, his wife was arrested, almost
in bed, by the same officer whom she had been enter
taining to supper till the small hours only the night
before, and who found, on his return home, the lettre de
cachet appointing him to a job he would willingly have
got out of. The Duchesse was taken to the castle of
Dijon, her head servants to the BastUle and Vincennes.

THE VAGRANT 195
The Cardinal de Polignac [favourite of the Duchesse]
was exUed to his Abbey of Anchin, the Prince de Douches
and the Comte d'Eu to Eu."
Meanwhile, in Spain the King had been insulting
the French ambassador, d'Aignan. The latter had
taken his leave of the King and Queen — the former
was dangerously ill — but remained a few days to see
how the illness would turn. It seems that the King
having told him that, in the event of his death, he had
appointed Alberoni Regent, the Duke replied that
wills like that of Louis XIV can be broken. This so
displeased the Cardinal that d'Aignan was ordered to
leave Madrid in twenty-four hours. Nine hours later
he and the Duchess were awoke out of bed and escorted
by the Bodyguard out of the town.
" Alberoni, who did not yet know if his plot was
discovered, wrote in haste to CeUamare to tell him
how he had dismissed d'Aignan, but that CeUamare
was to stand firm in Paris, unless removed by force,
protesting. The Cardinal added : ' Supposing your
ExceUency is obliged to leave, you will first set a
match to the mines,' not knowing that they had already
exploded. " This letter, which was of course opened, confirmed
the plot of CeUamare, and the affronts offered to the
ambassador of the Very Christian Majesty clenched
the Regent's opinion that the Spanish monarch wished
to proceed to the last extremity. War was declared
on both sides, and Spain did not come out of it with
honour." Now as to how these startling events affected Pollnitz
himself. For once in a way his luck had been good.
He had been safer in La Peronie's hands, however cruel,
than he would have been out of them.
" Although I was not among those in the plot, I

196 A VAGABOND COURTIER
appeared as if I was ; several councUs had been held by
my sick-bed ; I was friends with those who were in
volved in the affair ; at last, partly from caution,
partly from panic, I made up my mind to fly. I
left Paris somewhat precipitately, intending to go to
the Palatine Court, and to stay there tiU the storm
should entirely have blown over ; and to reach Germany
by way of Lorraine, which I had much difficulty in
doing. I had no passport, and the orders of the Court
were to detain every one without one. I decided to
make use of stratagem. A league out of Toul, which
is the last fortress in France, I pretended to be UI, in
order to have a pretext for stopping and sending back
my postilhon. I spent the night in a village, and, on
rising very early in the morning, I told my hostess
that I was going into Toul on foot, and begged her to
send my boots to an address I gave her. My plan was
to enter Toul as if I were a man belonging to the town ; I
hoped that, being on foot and not looking hke a traveUer,
I should pass without being detained.
" Not at all. The guard stopped me, and asked
me who I was and whither I was going. I said that I
was a German, and had been a valet de chambre to a
German lord who had died in Paris, and that I was
going home. The sergeant took me to the Commandant,
who seemed to me a surly feUow. Nevertheless, I
thought that I should be wrong to complain, and made
out that I was a valet, and indeed he treated me as
such. He asked me several questions, to which I still
replied as a very humble valet, hoping to soften his
black looks ; but nothing could protect me from his
harshness. You are not a valet, my friend,' said he. ' You
are probably, I think, some bankrupt. You must teU
me the truth, or I shall have you put in the ceUs.'
" I still maintained that I was a valet ; but the man
was not satisfied with my replies, and had me removed
to the guard-room, where he left me for five or six hours,
at the end of which time he sent to tell me that I could

THE VAGRANT 197
go to an inn. A soldier took me there, but did not leave
me. Next day the same soldier took me again to the
Commandant, who had me brought into his study, and
told me that it was useless to conceal any longer who
I was, as he had just been informed by a man who
knew me.
" I confess that I began to feel alarmed, but yet I
maintained my thesis with all possible boldness. He
then called one of his servants and told him to bring
the man who said that he knew me. Happily, this
man existed only in his imagination. Nevertheless, he
grew very impatient when he did not come. At last
he told me that I must go back to the guard-house,
and that I must stay there till I had given him clearly
to understand who I was.
" I thought of an expedient which succeeded. I told
him that I was willing to remain under arrest till I had
received a reply from the landlady, in whose house my
master had died, who would confirm what I had asserted.
He gave me paper, and I did indeed write to my land
lady in Paris, in the name of a valet de chambre I had
left at her house. As she had a nimble wit, and as she
knew my writing, I was sure she would easily make out
what was the matter.
" My letter written, I remitted it to the Commandant.
He read it, and told me that he would undertake to
have it sent, and to obtain a reply. Meantime he sent
me back to my inn, and two hours later he sent to tell
me that I could proceed on my way.
" You may be sure that I did not need telling twice.
I left Toul afoot, hired a horse in a village belonging to
the Prince of Elboeuf, and went to Nancy, where I
took the precaution of obtaining a passport. The host
where I lodged got one for me in the name of a Nancy
shopkeeper. " Not deeming it wise to pass by Strasburg, where I
might have been recognized, I made for Hagenau,
thence for Fort S. Louis, where I crossed the Rhine,
and at last arrived at Heidelberg early in 1719."

CHAPTER XIII
For over a hundred years previous to Pollnitz's visit,
Heidelberg, so beautifully situated among the moun
tains, in a wooded gorge of the Neckar, had suffered
terribly by fire and sword. It had undergone five sieges,
and in the sack by Tilly its famous library had been
stolen and sent to the Vatican. Madame's grandfather,
the luckless " Winter King," in grasping at the shadow
of Bohemia, had lost his ancestral substance, the Rhine
Palatinate. Four times had Louis XIV's armies over
whelmed it, finaUy blowing up half the Electoral Palace
on the hiU, and burning the town. Madame's brother,
the Elector Charles, over a quarrel about a church in
which he had to give way to his Protestant subjects,
removed, in dudgeon, his capital to Mannheim. His
successor, however, of the Neuburg branch, occasion-
aUy inhabited his half-ruined castle, and it was there
that Pollnitz found him.
Our Baron admired the view from it because it was
that of " the most beautiful plain in Germany," and not
of the mountains he detested. But the building was
not to his liking, " not being in the taste of this century ;
moreover, not one of the four wings of which it is
composed remained undamaged by the French."
" The architecture I can hardly define ; it is neither
Gothic nor modern, it is a rhapsody of all the orders,
heaped one upon the other, built rather to cost a great
deal, without thought if it were to be bad or good. . . .
Inside it was no more regular than without, being full
of little steps, leading from room to room. The gardens,
once the finest in Germany," were desolate.
198

THE VAGRANT 199
But Pollnitz enjoyed himself at Heidelberg; all the
more, probably, on account of his recent lucky escape.
The Elector kept a large and splendid Court, was himself
" the dehght of his household," and of his servants,
generous, affable, gentle, yet dignified, though he liked
to be spoken to frankly. A man " of irreproachable
morals, he was by no means an enemy of pleasure . . .
he loved dancing above everything; he danced too
weU, even for a Prince."
His only child was married to the Prince of Sulzbach,
and she was very musical, " dancing and singing with
much charm, especially Italian airs, which she accom
panied on the clavecin to perfection." The Prince,
her husband, was grave, even to severity, but very polite,
especiaUy to foreigners.
The Elector's mode of hfe was peculiar for his day.
He rose extremely early, and had got through state
business, mass, and a game of billiards before the mid
day dinner of the period. This was a very lengthy
meal. " Sometimes one drank a little — and no blame to
one, for the wine was delicious." After dinner, when
the Elector had escorted his daughter to her apart
ments, his matutinal hours, and his good Rhine wine,
produced their effect upon him, and he undressed and
went to bed for some hours. Between five and six he
rose and dressed again, gave audiences, and went into
the Hall of Assembly, to the Princess and the Court, and
played piquet or tric-trac. When his game was over
he went to bed again, and the Princess supped.
During the afternoon, her husband generally follow
ing his father's example and reposing, the Princess held
receptions in her lady-in-waiting's apartments, and there
was music. She sang herself, accompanied by one of
her ladies. Signora Claudia, and some of the musicians
of the Elector's orchestra, took part in the httle con
cert, " one of the most perfect I have ever heard."
Both the Elector and his son were most kind to
Pollnitz, though, upon one occasion, he could not but
consider their hospitality somewhat overdone.

200 A VAGABOND COURTIER
In one of the cellars of the castle is the famous Big
Tun of Heidelberg, holding forty-nine thousand gaUons,
and over fifty years old in Pollnitz's day.
" The Elector often gave drinking-parties on the
platform above it. I confess I cannot understand that
people can find any pleasure in parties in such a place,
where one is not very comfortable," writes Pollnitz.
" Even if one is not very taU, one's head touches the
vaulting of the cellar, which, moreover, is very dark.
" One day, at table, the Elector asked me if I had
seen the Great Tun, and, when I replied in the negative,
this Prince, the most gracious Sovereign in the universe,
told me he would show it me. He suggested to the
Princess, his daughter, that they should go there after
dinner. She agreed. Trumpets sounded the march,
and the Court followed with great ceremony. Having
mounted the platform above the tun, the Elector did
me the honour to drink Wilkom [sic] in a sUver-gilt
cup of great size. He emptied it, and, having had it
filled again in his presence, he presented it to me by a
page. Good manners, and the respect I owed to the
Elector's orders, did not permit of my declining this
chalice ; all the grace I asked was that I should be allowed
to empty it at my leisure, and in several draughts.
This was granted me.
" Meanwhile the Elector was chatting with the ladies.
I made use of his absence, and did not deem it against
my conscience to deceive him. I threw a good part of
the wine under the tun, another on the ground, and I
drank the smallest part. I was lucky enough not to be
detected in my trickery. The Elector was very pleased
with me. Several other large glasses were drunk ;
the ladies moistened their lips and contributed to our
defeat. " I was one of the first to lose control of myself. I
felt convulsive movements by which I was threatened
if I continued to drink ; I stole away, and got down
from the platform as best I could, I sought the door of

THE VAGRANT 201
the ceUar ; but, when I showed myself, I found two of
the Bodyguard, who shouted at me with presented
carbines : ' Halt ! No one passes here ! '
" I implored them to let me pass ; but my words fell
on deaf ears. I found myself in a great predicament.
To get up on the tun again was to go to death. W"hat
was to become of me ?
" I shoved myself under the tun in the hope that I
could remain there hidden. Useless precaution ! One
does not escape one's fate. Mine was to be carried out of
the cellar without knowing that I was carried. For the
Elector had noticed my desertion.
" I heard him say : ' Where is he ? What's become
of him ? Look for him, and bring him here, alive or
dead ! '
" The guards at the door were questioned. They said
that I had appeared in order to go out, but that they
had sent me back. All these inquisitions, which I over
heard in my niche, made me draw back still farther.
I had covered myself with two planks which I had
happened to find, and, unless it were a cat, or a devU,
or a page, it would have been difficult to discover me.
" But a very smaU page, who was both devil and page,
did find me ; and began to scream like a lunatic : ' Here
he is ! Here he is ! '
" They came and dragged me out of my hiding-place.
You can imagine what a fool I felt. I was taken before
my Judge, who was the Elector. I took the liberty of
objecting to him, to him and to all the gentlemen of
the suite, as being also in the same line of business.
" ' Ah ! my httle gentleman ! ' the Prince said to
me. ' You object to me as Judge. I am going to give
you others. We will see if you do any better ! '
" He appointed the Princess, his daughter, and her
ladies to try me. The Elector was my prosecutor. I
pleaded my cause ; it was put to the vote. I was
unanimously condemned to drink till death supervened.
" The Elector said that, as the Sovereign, he would
mitigate my sentence ; that I was to drink that day

202 A VAGABOND COURTIER
four large glasses, each holding half a tankard, and so on
for fifteen consecutive days. I was to drink at his
table, after eating my soup, another such glass to his
health. Every one admired the Elector's clemency ; I
had to do as the others did, and thanked him for it.
" I next underwent my capital sentence. I did not
lose my life, but only, for a few hours, my powers of
speech and my senses. I was carried on to a bed,
where, when I came to my senses some time later, I
learnt that all my accusers had been served in like
manner to myself, and that aU had quitted the cellar in
another manner to that in which they had entered it.
" The next day the Elector had the kindness to miti
gate the remainder of my sentence. He let me off the
task to which I had been condemned, and was satisfied
with the promise which I gave him to eat for a month at
his table."
The courtiers at Heidelberg followed their master's
example and were very civil to Pollnitz. He was invited
to aU the best houses. " Every day great banquets and
new pleasure-parties. I spent the short time I stayed at
Heidelberg very well." He was so happy at this Court
that he thought he would ask for a post there, and made
use for that purpose of the best interests he could find.
However, in spite of assiduous attentions, he found
a cabal against him, which stood in his way. " It
was headed by very influential persons, who preferred
to see only people obtain appointments whom they
knew would grovel to them. The Grand Chamberlain
was the most opposed to my advancement."
Pollnitz drew down upon his head the indignation
of this official by one of his foolish, hot-headed impulses.
One day, as he was accompanying the Elector from the
Princess's apartments to his own, the Baron, by mistake,
strayed into a room into which, by court etiquette, only
the Grand Chamberlain penetrated. Of this custom
Pollnitz was unaware. An official ordered him out rather
impatiently. The Baron inquired if this order came

THE VAGRANT 203
from the Elector. He was told that it came from the
Grand Chamberlain. On hearing which he answered
the official in a manner which somewhat surprised the
latter, and gave him " a message to carry, which, doubt
less, the Grand Chamberlain did not find much to his
taste. I inveighed against the Chamberlain and his
chque in a way which, while it indeed cooled down my
wrath, was the reason why I could not enter the service
of one of the best princes in the world."
Pollnitz took his leave of the Elector, who gave him
a large present, and, what was more, letters of introduc
tion to his sister, the widowed Empress Eleanora, at
Vienna, where the Baron intended to seek employment.
But, as he was preparing to start, he received a letter
from Paris telling him that the storm he had so much
dreaded was overpast, and that his fears had been
ill-founded. The Regent, far from suspecting him in
any way, was, on the contrary —
" More, favourably inclined than ever before to show
me the good effects of his patronage, and that, therefore,
I was advised to return. As this information came
from a very good quarter, I had no scruple about re
turning to Paris.
" I presented myself at the Palais Royal as before,
and Madame welcomed me in a manner which confirmed
me in the hope that I should obtain something from the
French Court."
Pollnitz's informant was right. A letter more than
usuaUy caustic from Madame to her step-sister, the
Raugravine Louise, in January 1719, shows that she did
not think that her protege's sudden disappearance from
Paris had anything to do with politics. But the shrewd
old lady was not deceived about his character.
"... P.S. I must add yet this. Pellnitz (sic) is a
swindler. He cannot show his face in France, because
he has cheated every one, and he owes money to God
and the devil. . . ."

204 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Pollnitz found Paris a city of unrest. The war with
Spain and the Mississippi Bubble were in full swing, but
both Law and Alberoni were marching to their dooms.
Law and his great scheme had fascmated the Regent, and
both were losing their heads over it, and whirling France
with them. Speculation had replaced gambling. Early
in 1719 the " chimerical value of the shares was worth
eighty times all the money which could circulate in
the kingdom " ; and still Law schemed. Shrewd old
Madame grew uneasy :
" Everything has doubled in price since last year —
furniture, clothes, food. . . . The cause of all this financial
difficulty is the increase of speculation. I have often
been told you don't care for gambling ; therefore you
are no good for anything."
Then the Regent backed up Law further. An edict
was issued forbidding more than a hundred francs to be
paid in specie. Bank-notes were made obligatory as
currency. Hundreds of thousands of new shares were
issued, and the Mississippi Company was boomed.
Princes of the Blood and the great nobles spent their
days in the office of the Company in the Rue Quin-
campoix ; the narrow old street was weU-nigh im
passable. Glowing accounts came from the new colony.
Madame " quite tired of hearing money and shares
talked about and around me . . . 250,000 more people
in Paris than a month ago. Stories have to be added
to the houses, and the streets are so fuU of coaches that
people get run* over. ..."
The Due de Richelieu was arrested by the Regent,
a letter he had written to Alberoni having been dis
covered. " All the women in Paris plunged in grief,"
writes Madame, for their " curled darling," including
her own granddaughter, Mademoiselle de Valois.
Pollnitz haunted the Regent's antechamber aU day,
begging for a post ; to enliven himseh, he went some
times to Madame de R  's. " But these visits were

THE VAGRANT 205
no longer the result of an ardent passion, but only the
sad resource of the situation in which I found myself."
His friends now pointed out to him what little hope
of success he had at the French Court. But once again
good Abbe Asfeld came to the rescue, and, taking
advantage of the anxiety in which he found Pollnitz,
" hunted me, so to speak, from a place where I was
wasting my time and the little money I had."
" I must confess," wrote Madame at this time, " that
I am surprised that Paris is still on its feet, and has
not been swallowed up, for everything here people do is
so awful, night and day, that it makes my hair stand
on end."
The Abbe was quite right. Paris, at this moment,
was no place for Pollnitz ; however, in sending his
protege away, he took care that he should remain under
the influence of Mother Church. Armed with the
Palatine's introductions, the Baron was now to try his
luck with the Emperor.
In order to avoid importunate questions from the
Commandant of Toul, Pollnitz travelled by way of Metz.
Here he found good company, rich parliamentary people,
a large garrison, a hospitable Commandant and pro
vincial Governor, and would fain have lingered had his
httle affairs permitted. So he crossed the Rhine at
Spiers, and went by Heidelberg and Stuttgart to Ulm,
Thence to Augsburg, with an adventure on the way.
" The road was a very bad one for travellers, but,
thanks to the snow which had smoothed the roads, I was
not very uncomfortable. On the other hand, I nearly
perished in the same snow, as such a quantity had fallen
during the last two days that one could not find the
way. On one stage I found my postillion had lost it,
though he had grown grey on the same road. Every
moment I saw I was in danger of being upset in some
ditch, when, having reached the entrance of a hollow

206 A VAGABOND COURTIER
road, the postiUion blew his horn in order to make any
chaise that might be coming towards us get out of the
way. " A voice emerged out of the cutting shouting to the
postillion : ' Is that you, Stephen ? '
" ' Ho ! ' shouted my postillion. ' Is that you,
Christoph ? God be praised that you're here ! ' Then,
turning to me, very pleased : ' Now you are out of
danger ; here is a blind man who wUl guide us to the
post-house where we want to go.'
" I thought the wag was making fun of me ; but, a
few steps farther on, I did see a poor wretch without
any eyes, who offered to lead us safely. I gave myself
up to him ; he walked so quickly in front of my post-
chaise that the horses followed at a slow trot, and led
me without any mishap to the post-house.
" He told me that, fifteen years before, he had lost
both his eyes through an abscess, which burst, after
causing him ten months' frightful suffering ; so much so
that he thought himself lucky to lose his sight. But
when I asked him if he was not very grieved at losing
his sight he said that, at first, it did trouble him very
much, but that he always comforted himself by re
calling the pain that he had endured whilst losing it,
and said to himself that it was better to be blind and weU,
than to see and suffer as he had suffered. Now that he
was accustomed to his condition, it did not trouble
him. " I asked him if he would not be very glad to see
again. He told me that he would, if it were possible,
but that, if he had to suffer the same pain to recover it
as he had endured in losing it, he would a hundred
times rather remain blind.
"When I told him how surprised I was that he had
found the way better than those with sight, he told me
that, since he had become blind, he came regularly on
Sundays and Festivals to hear mass at the place where
we were, and so the road was very famihar to him. He
added that he sometimes went alone to beg, three or

THE VAGRANT 207
four leagues from his vUlage, which was a quarter of a
league from the hollow road where I had found him.
" I dismissed the man after giving him some alms,
and admired Divine Providence, Who, in afflicting the
poor wretch with what seemed to me worse than death,
gave him courage to bear his misfortune with patience."
At the inn where Pollnitz stayed at Augsburg, " The
Three Kings " (" The Three Moors " ?), there was a fine
haU, weU lighted, where there were cards —
" A supper a picnic, and after supper a ball. ... It
should occasion no surprise that the aristocracy should
hold their Assembly at an inn. It is one of the finest
houses in Germany, and the most magnificent inn in
Europe . . . One could not have been better served."
Munich PoUnitz thought one of the most brUliant
Courts in Europe. He describes at length the city, the
fine churches, the Electoral Palace, which he thought
only surpassed by the TuUeries ; but the gardens, sur
rounded by a large arcade, " not in the taste of this
century." He describes the Orangery, the Menagerie,
with the lions, etc., and one of the finest riding-schools
he had ever seen. The palace was connected by a
gaUery with the superb opera-house, which the Elector
was very fond of. Even in those days the rulers of
Bavaria were the enthusiastic patrons of musical drama.
" No money spared ; scenery, machinery, dresses, all
magnificent andweU arranged." Really Pollnitz might
have been writing a century and a half later ! Specially
was he struck by a chandelier of enormous size let down
through the roof of the theatre at the opening on gala
nights, and then, at once, drawn up again. He could
never find out the reason of this performance.
The Baron greatly enjoyed life at the Court of the
Elector Maximilian. His first wife had been a daughter
of the Emperor Leopold ; his second of John Sobieski.
She preferred a quiet life, and was immersed in good

208 A VAGABOND COURTIER
works. The Electoral Prince had served his appren
ticeship in war against the Turks. A good linguist,
and of much charm, he had a great social reputation
at Vienna. Little did Pollnitz think, as he enjoyed
himself at Munich, with this attractive young man as
leader in all the amusements, that he should see him,
a sickly invalid, crowned Emperor, for a short, unhappy
reign, his country over- run, and. his capital in the
enemy's hands.
Charles's younger brothers were Ferdinand, very
handsome, and Clement, Bishop of Munster. All three
were mighty hunters.
Never had the Court of Bavaria been so splendid
as under Maximilian ; it was almost as ceremonious
as that of Vienna, " the most gaUant and pohte in
Germany." Next to music the Elector loved cards —
passe and faro, and other games of chance. There were
receptions three times a week, either in the Electress's
apartments, when ladies appeared in court dress, or in
the great Orangery, when they could wear cloaks ; and
at the card-tables no rank was observed. Every day
there were French plays, balls, and gambling. Three
days a week a concert, aU the company masked. After
the concert, dancing and cards.
" These pubhc Assembhes, where the Elector and aU
the Court are present, are a great source of revenue
to the valets de chambre of the Elector, for, besides the
entrance fees, they have also the card-money, and are
interested in nearly aU the banks to such an extent that
these servants have nearly aU the money of the nobility,
with which they are not averse to making a show."
During Pollnitz's stay he saw one of the Elector's
daughters take the veil, a ceremony of much pomp,
attended by aU the Court.
" Besides these pleasures we have also quieter ones ;
I mean those which are to be found in good society.

OLD DRESDEN.
Prom tbe Collection of A. SI. Broadley.

THE VAGRANT 209
These exist here more than in other German towns, but
chiefly among foreigners in the Elector's service rather
than among Bavarians. The latter are generally proud ;
it is true that they are so more because they think it
good style than because they are so naturally. They
become more amiable when shown that one is not
impressed by their grand airs."
Bavaria was " one of the most prosperous States
of the Empire, and, next to the King of France, the
Elector possessed the greatest number of the most beau
tiful country houses — Schleissheim, Taco, Furstenriet,
Starnberg, and Nymphenburg." To the latter Pollnitz
followed the Court when the fine weather came on,
" an enchanted spot," which Maximilian had greatly
enlarged, adding stables and superb gardens and a
pavilion with baths. " After the gardens at Versailles,
there are none so fine as Nymphenburg."
One of the amusements of the Court when there was
driving in hght, open, pair-horse chaises, a gentleman
driving, and two ladies inside, one or two gentlemen
standing behind them. Then there were gondola
parties on the grand canal in the gardens, fishing parties,
smaU-game shooting in the little park, and stag-hunting
in the immense woods which surrounded it. Pollnitz
fancied himself " in an enchanted isle."
During Pollnitz's visit to Munich he found a Prince
he knew weU in Paris making a lengthy stay at the
Electoral Court, on his return from the war against
the Turks in Hungary. The Comte de Charolais was the
son of the head of the Conde branch of the Bourbons,
the Due de Bourbon, who had died some years before.
Left fatherless, the hare-brained Charolais, who re
sembled his maternal grandmother, the Montespan, was
one of the worst specimens of the roues of the Regency,
young in years but old in vice. In him profligacy
almost amounted to insanity. His mad freaks were
unaccountable. He had, however, shown some ability
during the war, to which he escaped without the know-
I— 14

210 A VAGABOND COURTIER
ledge of his mother or the Regent. Giving out that
he was going out hunting very early, and taking with
him only two attendants, he gaUoped seven stages
without drawing rein on his brother the Duke's horses,
and had reached Imperial Flanders when he was thought
to be stiU at the chase in the forest of ChantiUy. He
passed through Germany and Vienna without presenting
himself to the Emperor, and reached Prince Eugene
at the siege of Belgrade.
At Munich the Elector was entertaining this flighty
guest in great style, only servants who spoke French
being appointed to wait on him. But the Prince —
" Having picked up German in a very short time, soon
made the peasants understand him better than they
did me. . . . One day, out shooting, he told me to ask
a peasant something ; but he only stared. The Comte
laughed at me, and, asking the man what he wished to
know, was answered at once because he spoke the
Bavarian accent so well."
In May the Baron, with many regrets and full of grati
tude to the Elector and his sons, went on his way to
Vienna by Passau.
Here he spent Whit-Sunday — aU the world in its
best, the little bourgeoise in black velvet with scarlet
petticoats with rows of gold braid, many beads, neck
laces, and jewelry. PoUnitz took the Sacrament at the
Cathedral, thus, on approaching the Austrian frontier,
demonstrating his adhesion to his new communion,
an adhesion not hkely to be unmarked at Vienna,
" where they loved converts."

CHAPTER XIV
When Pollnitz came to Vienna the city had not long
been restored, almost rebuilt, after the damage done
by the Turks during the siege. The Imperial Palace,
the Burg, struck him only by its size and its gloom.
" A stranger who saw this palace at Vienna, not knowing
what it was, would hardly fancy it the habitation of
the first Prince of Europe." Nor did he think La
Favorite, in a suburb, any finer ; a convent-like building,
it stood on the high road., and lacked even a fore-court.
Schonbrunn was still little more than the hunting-box
of the Emperor Matthias, and the improvements of
Joseph I were yet unfinished. On the other hand, he
found some of the hotels of the aristocracy very magnifi
cent, especially that of Prince Eugene, with its fine
garden and rich hbrary, the delight of the owner's
leisure. The Prater he called " the Bois de Boulogne of Vienna.
In the gardens of the Emperor lay the ruins of a fine
palace, burnt by the Turks ; but the garden was so in
fested by an appalling cloud of insects from the Danube,
as to be deserted by promenaders."
A few days after his arrival Pollnitz was presented
to the Kaiser, Charles VI. His Court, thought Pollnitz,
" the simplest and yet, at the same time, the most
magnificent in Europe . . . plain, and even lugubrious,
with its black liveries with yellow and white stripes."
But yet the ceremonial, on what were called gala occa
sions, appeared elaborate and punctilious to an extreme,
even to one accustomed to the pomp of the Grand
Monarque. Society gathered, after the Emperor's supper, at the
211

212 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Assembly, which was held at Madame de Rabutin's.
There all the beau monde was to be seen, old Prince
Eugene coming every evening, and playing piquet with
the Countess Budiani and other ladies. It broke up
about eleven. Supper-parties were the exception, for
the greater part of the entertaining was at dinner, and
the dinner-hour was extremely late.
The operas were well put on, and connoisseurs assured
the young Baron, who is always modest as a musical
critic, that the music was excellent. " As for me, I
found them as dull as most Italian operas, because they
are not accompanied by dancing and other amusements."
Later in life Pollnitz's taste altered. We find him
devoted to the melodious Italian opera of the day, and,
as Royal Impresario, producing the same at the Royal
Opera-house at Berlin; but he always took care to throw
in a ballet.
The Baron had a great eye for punctilio, which was
to stand him later in good stead ; he had already a good
deal of experience in court ceremonial, and describes
that of the Imperial Court voluminously.
" The Etiquette — suchis the namegiven to theancient
customs — gives the Court an air of constraint which is
not seen anywhere else. . . . AU the world cries out
at this etiquette ; the Emperor even seems sometimes
bored with it. Yet it is carried out as if it were a dogma
of faith, and as if an Oecumenical Council were neces
sary to repeal it. . . . Nevertheless, a well-born stranger
(birth is necessary here) finds a pleasure at this Court
which he will not find in Paris or London ; I mean the
ease of making acquaintances. When one has paid
one's respects to Their Majesties, an introduction to one
house only is necessary in order to be free of all the
rest, with the advantage that everywhere German,
French, Italian, and Spanish is spoken, whereas a
stranger must perforce speak French in Paris and
English in London. With German one manages very
well at Vienna. ... It is very easy to kiss the hands

THE VAGRANT 213
of Their Imperial Majesties, and even to obtain a private
audience." Genuflexions formed a great part of court etiquette.
" One knelt to kiss hands, one knelt when Their
Majesties passed to dinner. These genuflexions were
necessary at a private audience, or on approaching or
retiring from the Emperor, who only nodded in return."
There were no less than three Empresses living at
Vienna during Pollnitz's visit — two Dowagers, and the
Emperor's wife. To each of the three the Baron had
letters of private recommendation, which launched him
instantly at the Imperial Court. For the reigning Em
press was a Princess of Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel, whose
grandparents had received him so hospitably at their
Court, whilst, of the Dowagers, one was the Hanoverian
Princess, niece by marriage of the Electress Sophia, the
other a Princess Palatine, sister of Pollnitz's late bibulous
host at Heidelberg.
The wife of the Emperor Charles VI was " the most
beautiful person at her Court," gorgeous in her dress,
and especially in her diamonds, of which she had several
millions' worth. " This number increases daily, because
of the handsome presents the Emperor gives her.
Charitable, generous, of sound faith," she was also now
" a good Catholic without hating the Protestants, con
vinced that the love of one's neighbour is one of the
things commanded by God to man, and that charity
and good example are the best means of bringing those
back to the Church who are separated from it."
The Emperor was orthodox to bigotry. Roman
Cathohcism was the only faith tolerated in his do
minions, but the envoys of Protestant Powers were
permitted to have their chapels. " I have seen,"
writes PoUnitz, " the Emperor, when he met the Host
(escorted in the street always by the guards, who make

214 A VAGABOND COURTIER
the people kneel) descend from his coach and follow
it to the church."
" It was impossible to see a more perfect union than
that which existed between His Imperial Majesty
Charles VI and his wife. During her dangerous illness
he nursed her himself, rising at night to give her medi
cine." The one cloud over their marriage was that
they had but two daughters ; a third was born after
Pollnitz's visit to Vienna, but never a son, and hence
much trouble in Europe.
The two Dowager-Empresses hved in a perpetual
state of mourning ; their apartments were hung with
black, black their dresses, their liveries, their coaches.
They could attend no plays, baUs, or concerts. Their
seclusion was almost as great as that of an Indian
widow. " In losing their husbands they had to give up
all the amusements of life." The Empress Wilhelmina
wintered in a convent in Vienna and spent the summer
at Schonbrunn. " Her girlhood had been spent at the
Courts of Versailles and Modena. She was a good
linguist, of fine appearance, a great reader, and weU
endowed with inteUect. During her husband's life-time
she had loved amusement, but now, though stiU weU-
preserved and dignified, she was entirely occupied with
rehgious observances and in good works."
Herself a convert from the Reformed Faith, she was
interested in Pollnitz, who often paid his respects to her
at Schonbrunn. She was very kind to him, giving him
" substantial favours," which he sorely needed, and
he was " very grateful to her, and I could not look at
her without feeling the profound veneration I had for
her sacred person."
Charles VI, short, very stout, sunburnt and ruddy,
with his bright eyes and Austrian lower lip, the Baron
found, upon closer acquaintance, more affable and
benign than his grave appearance would lead one to
suppose. He loved hunting, and the Empress some
times accompanied him. Sometimes they rode to
gether in the riding-school. The Emperor loved music,

THE VAGRANT 215
reading it easily at sight, and was also a composer. An
opera he had written had been performed by some of
the nobility, the Empress playing the accompaniments
and their two daughters dancing, while a small and
select audience looked on, including, one is glad to note,
the much-secluded Dowagers.
A grand figure in Viennese society was Prince
Eugene, covered with glory and wealth. Polite to all,
he was yet cold and reserved; but he entertained
munificently. Especially splendid were his evening
parties in the summer-time, when his beautiful garden
and orangery were brUhantly illuminated, and his fine
menagerie on view. Personally the great little general
was UI dressed, and hated pomp, ceremonial, and re
straint. After his audience with the Emperor and the Imperial
family, Pollnitz was presented to all the ministers —
" And thus, in a short time, I knew all the Court.
I was lucky enough to make influential friends there,
who did not wait for me to pay them assiduous atten
tions before giving me marks of their good-will. They
begged Prince Eugene to employ me. I had the honour
of saluting him, and of presenting the letters of recom
mendation which the Elector Palatine had given me
for him. The Prince received me with much kindness,
but said that he could not promise to find me a post,
because the colonels disposed of all the commissions in
the regiments ; but added that he would be pleased to
do all in his power for me.
" Indeed, shortly afterwards he kindly spoke of
me to Count Maximilian von Stahrenberg (lieutenant-
general of the Imperial Army, colonel of an infantry
regiment, and Deputy Governor of Vienna), who gave
me a company in his regiment, which was in Sicily.
" With this present I was delighted, and I fancied
that luck was weary of always being against me. Never
theless, after the first feelings of delight, I made some
serious cogitations, which threw me back into my old

216 A VAGABOND COURTIER
despondency. I had no friends, and I foresaw that
I should have to make a considerable outlay. Besides,
I had some little debts which I would have liked to
pay off before leaving Vienna ; it was necessary to do
up my travelling carriage, which was somewhat delapi-
dated ; finally, I must journey to Sicily, — all of which
meant much expense.
" It was at this juncture that I received fresh marks
of my friends' attachment to me ; each one interested
themselves efficaciously on my behalf. Fraulein von
Klenck had been with the Dowager-Empress Wil-
helmina as maid of honour ever since she came to
Vienna, and was very much attached to her. ... If
the epithet of ' good fellow ' may be applied to the sex,
Fraulein von Klenck deserves it more than any one
else ; no one can be more upright or more liberal. . . .
She obtained for me a present from Her Imperial
Majesty. The Countess of W  , to whose reception
I went daily, made me an advance of a thousand ducats,
telling me that I might pay her back whenever I could,
or, rather, when I was a lieutenant-general ! She
accompanied this most generous gift with such a wise
and Christian speech that it seemed to emanate more
from a mother than a friend. This lady had been
much touched by my change of faith, and she helped
me all the more readily to wind up my affairs because
she feared that I might succumb to the temptation of
turning Protestant again in order to obtain employment
in my own country."
Pollnitz criticizes shrewdly the women of Vienna, in
court society and in the lower ranks, his opinions the
result of his present stay in the Imperial capital, and
of subsequent visits.
" They are tall and well-made, walking weU, but
bowing so badly that you would say they were going to
injure themselves internally when they make a curtsy."
Though they dressed with more magnificence than
taste, they hardly wore rouge, much less white ; patches

THE VAGRANT 217
were not in fashion, and they were not coquettes.
" Frank, but not easy to make friends with, cold, as
are all Germans, they are less prone to gallantry than
to gambling, luxury, and extravagance." Neglectful
house-wives, they know of —
" No book save their prayer-books, and are extremely
punctilious in church-going and in religious obser
vances. The least devout hear mass at least once a
day. After mass there is a little gossip in church ;
calls tiU dinner-time ; coffee ; playing at quinze till
evening ; then to Court ; after that the Assembly, and
piquet or quadrille. Then to bed, quite satisfied with
a day spent in nonchalance and indolence.
" They are as devoted to Vienna as the Parisians
to Paris. ' Away from Vienna, no salvation ! ' When
interested in any one they are good friends, and faith
ful. . . . Gallantry was more the fashion under the late
Emperor Joseph than it is to-day," probably owing to
the exceUent example of conjugal fidelity set by the
Imperial pair.
Among people of the second rank Pollnitz found
very good hving, the Austrians setting great store by
a good table. Such abundance pertained that Pollnitz
had known Austrian youth —
" Declare that one did not fare well in Paris, because
two calves' tongues are not served in one dish. ... A
great expense is the many varieties of wines, for foreign
wines are dear. You must have ten kinds at least ; I
have been at houses where there were eighteen. A
shp of paper is placed under every plate, on which is
written the different wines on the buffet."
Austrian pride struck Pollnitz very much.
" As their sovereign holds the first rank among the
Princes of Christendom, so they think themselves also
the first nation in the world. . . . Nothing is more con-

218 A VAGABOND COURTIER
ceited or more insupportable than a young Austrian
whose father has an appointment at Court ; they are
inebriated with pride and presumption, and, as they
feel they are rich, and their fathers great personages,
they imagine that they can despise every one, and neglect
pohte and good manners, which would be in keeping
with their birth. ... A craving of the Austrian gentry
of all the Hereditary States of the Emperor is to bear
the title of Count. Gentlemen buy it, and beg for it
as a great favour. . . . Gentlemen, by the by, are
so common that one never meets any one else . . . the
late courier of the Emperor Joseph bought the title of
Baron, and his children are beginning to mingle in the
grand monde."
Upon the Emperor's return from the war in Spain,
many Spaniards who had attached themselves to him
at Barcelona came with him, and he loaded them with
marks of gratitude for their late services.
Pollnitz's insatiable love of pleasure and excitement
was again to work him ill. Though now equipped with
the means to take up his post in SicUy, he lingered in
Vienna to see two great spectacles, the arrival of the
Turkish ambassador and the marriage of the Emperor's
niece, daughter of the late Emperor Joseph, with the
Electoral Prince of Saxony.
" The Turkish Court was not very much " ; there was
a certain oriental magnificence of tents and drapery,
and of fine men, but the escort was UI dressed and. the
carriages shabby. The camp where the ambassador
stayed was ten miles outside the city ; it was aU in
confusion, camels, horses, oxen, aU peU-meU, servants
dirty and half-dressed. Pollnitz and some friends " drove
out to the camp . . . sat on crimson satin and gold-
embroidered cushions and fine carpets, and were given
coffee and jam."
The ambassador and his suite, with horse-tail
standards, defiled in procession solemnly through the
city, and the Emperor and Empress watched them

THE VAGRANT 219
from La Favorite palace. They lodged at a house in
the suburbs, " for, according to a custom easily ex
plained, no Turkish ambassador ever stays in Vienna."
The Turks flooded the wine-shops during their
ambassador's stay, every day creating disturbances and
giving the inhabitants unpleasant surprises. Pollnitz,
one morning, watched one enter St. Stephen's Cathedral.
Mass was over, and he wandered aimlessly about,
noticing everything. Especially was he struck by a
fine lamp over the middle of the choir. Finally he
puUed it down by its rope, took a long pipe out of his
pocket, and lit it at the sacred lamp, which he again
puUed back into place !
Much more to the Baron's liking was the Imperial
wedding. He describes every detail of the ceremonies,
from the entry of the Saxon and Polish ambassadors,
to ask for the Archduchess's hand, the Princess's re
nunciation of the succession, to the arrival of the bride
groom, his meeting with the Empress and the bride at
a convent, to the great marriage solemnity itself, in the
court chapel, foUowed by a state banquet. The next
evening there was a gala performance of a new opera,
which PoUnitz thought " very dull, too long, and, besides,
it was awfully hot." Then another state banquet, and
the departure of the bridal pair for Dresden.
Whither Pollnitz must foohshly follow them ! He
had not had enough of spectacles — he never had !
Moreover, soldiering in Sicily means exile from court
hfe of any description. He must have a final " fling."
" When the Princess had gone, I thought of the long
journey before me to join my regiment in Sicily, and,
as it would naturally take me away from my native
land, I wished first to settle my affairs. So I asked for
a month's leave, and went to Dresden, ordering my
man of business to meet me there. I preferred to stay
at Dresden rather than Berlin, not only on account of
the arrival of the Princess, which I was very glad to
see, but because my enemies at the Prussian Court

220 A VAGABOND COURTIER
might have set some wheels in motion to make mischief
with the King about me."
Pollnitz reached Dresden the same day as the bridal
pair, who had come down the Elbe in a magnificently
appointed gondola, modeUed on the Bucentaure of
Venice. He gives a minute account of the receptions,
processions, fetes, balls, wild-beast fights, operas, plays,
banquets, etc., with which Augustus was delighted to
welcome an Emperor's daughter as his son's bride,
surpassing himself in the magnificent entertainments
he was such an adept at arranging.
When all was over Pollnitz was obhged to hurry
away to Munich to place himself in the hands of a surgeon
for the old trouble. The Elector's own doctor treated
him, but Pollnitz hardly took care of himself. He went
out hunting with the Princes and the Comte de Charolais,
who was stiU lingering at Maximilian's Court.
These four young men made up a party to go and see
a new Italian opera which the Archbishop of Salzburg
was producing on his birthday. The two Princes
went on ahead, and put up at a poor inn in the suburbs,
because they wished, to be incognito. Charolais and
PoUnitz left at eight o'clock at night, with only one
gentleman. Driving all night, they reached Salzburg
the following evening and got down at the same inn.
At once they went to the opera, which had already begun.
For this Pollnitz was sorry —
" For it deserved to be seen as a whole. Never have
I seen anything so extraordinary : theatre, actors, play,
all supremely comic. The hall was crammed, and the
actors' heads nearly touched the ceiling. . . . What
amused me the most was the entr'actes, played by the
Archbishop's pages. The first was of shepherds. One
recognized them by their dress ; they carried crooks,
and, from time to time, sheep appeared upon the stage.
The next was of hunters ; they had hunting-horns, and,
while some danced, others, with machinery, made
hare-skins stuffed with straw skip about. The third

THE VAGRANT 221
was of fishermen, who carried long lines to which trout
were fastened ; others carried nets full of live fish . . ,
a unique performance. . . . Meanwhile, large goblets of
wine or beer were handed round. The Princes were
much amused by this piece, and for a long time could
not forget the Archiepiscopal play. As for me, I cannot
think of it without laughing."
Despite their incognito, the arrival of the Princes was
made known to the Archbishop, who sent to invite them
to supper. Charolais declined, and so the others did not
like to accept, which grieved Pollnitz, " f or a look round
the wretched inn where we were did not promise much,
and I should have been delighted to go to the Arch
bishop's." However, they paid a short, informal visit to the great
ecclesiastical Prince in his huge and splendid palace,
which took thirty-two years in building, full of beautiful
marble haUs with superb rock-crystal chandeliers and
lustres, rich furniture, fine damasks, plate, pictures,
portraits, bronzes. The stables, finer than those of
Versailles, held a hundred and fifty horses, and there was
a riding-school, quite unique, cut out of the solid rock
upon which Salzburg is built ; it had two tiers of boxes
for spectators, like a Roman amphitheatre.
Then back, starving, to the inn, for Charolais and
Pollnitz had tasted nothing for twenty-four hours.
" A dish of crabs, an iU-cooked hare, sent back to be
made into a ragout — and even that the cook did not
seem to be able to manage— two ducks, and four thrushes,
completed the frugal repast, which, however, lasted far
into the night."
Then the Princes went to bed, but Charolais and
PoUnitz started back for Munich at once, going round
by Alt Ottringen to see the treasures in the miraculous
Chapel of the Virgin there. " We could boast of having
travelled three days and three nights, and of having
done forty German leagues to see the most wretched
opera that can be imagined."

222 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Needless to say that this wild goose chase did PoUnitz
a great deal of harm. We are not surprised, after this
escapade, to hear that the Munich surgeons declined to
treat him any longer, and his friends advised him to
go to Paris to La Peronie.
Pollnitz was far from anxious to do this. He feared
that if he delayed any longer to join his regiment he
should get into trouble. But he was so UI that he de
cided to go to Paris, writing, however, to Count Stahren-
berg, and promising to stay at Paris no longer than was
necessary for his cure. " I do not know if my reasons
appealed to him, for I received no reply."

CHAPTER XV
" For the first time in my life I started on the journey
to Paris with regret."
Pollnitz no longer cared for the gay city which had
once so enchanted him ; " the failure of aU my schemes
had disgusted me with it."
The surgeon, La Peronie, however, set him right in a
month. " My friends came to keep me company
whilst I was laid up, and from them I heard astounding
news, of which, indeed, I had been informed by letter,
but which I could hardly beheve."
The craze for speculation, the greatest, maddest, the
world has ever seen, had reached its zenith. " It is an
incredible thing," writes Madame, " the immense wealth
now in France. People only talk in millions. I do not
know anything about it, but I see that the god Mammon
reigns despotically in Paris."
PoUnitz sings of the great god Law, and the frenzy
his system had excited. BREVET
DE CONTROLEUR GENERAL DES FINANCES
Pour le Se. Jean Law
De par le Dieu Porte-marotte,
Nous General de la Calotte,
Attendu que le Regiment
Est oblige^ sensiblement
Au Sr. Law de qui la science
Et conduite dans la Finance
Nous a doune' maints Calotins,
En inventant les Bulletins,
Autrement dits Billets de Banque,
Pour servir au jeu de la Blanque,
Jeu non renouvelle' des Grecs,
223

224 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Comme le fade jeu de l'Oye,
Mais imagine' tout expres
Pour exciter I'tiomme a la joie ;
Temoins les plaisans vivement,
Et continuels changemens
Que Ton a vu dans le Royaume,
De Quinquempoix et de Venddme,
Et Principaut^ de Soissons.
Ou l'Achat et le Dividende
Causoient une rumeur si grande,
Qu'on ne vit jamais tant de rats
Obs6der gens de tous 6tats ;
Mari, femme, gar9on, et fille,
Laquais, servante, la famille,
En un mot, sans rien excepter
Venoit jouer et blanqueter,
Et s'y portoit de telle sorte,
Qu'il falloit Gardes a la porte
Pour renvoyer chacun chez soi,
Apres les trois coups de Beffroi,
La de tout Pays et Provinces,
Marchants, Magistrats, Artisans,
Prelats, Guerriers, et Courtisans,
Dues et Pairs, et meme des Princes,
Nom du Pays, mais bien forains,
Accouroient comme des Essains,
Malgre vent, gr61e, pluys et crotte,
Pour y jouer a la marotte,
En beaux et bons deniers comptant,
Contre des valeurs calotines,
Dont la France et Terres voisines
Se pourront souvenir long-terns.
A ces causes, vu l'abondance
Des Calotins qui sont en Prance
De tous rangs et de tous 6tats,
Par le moyen dudis Sieur Las,
Nous lui confions nos Finances.
Voulons que sur ses Ordonnances
Nos Fonds soient oeconomissez,
Augmentez et realisez ;
Afin que selon son m^rite
Chacun ait part, grosse ou petite,
Dans nos immerises Revenus,
Tant de gros Fonds que des menus.
Or comme un pareil Ministere
Est fort 6tendu dans sa sphere,
Lui donnons pour premier Commis,
Nom par, qui, des moins endormis,
Connoit la manoeuvre diverse
De la Finance et du Commerce.
Lui donnons pour profits et Droits,

7, ,'

9 °

THE VAGRANT 225
Pensions, Gages et Salaires,
Le quart de tous les angles droits
Que couperont les Commissaires
Au papier qui sera vise,
Et duquel un homme avis6
II a si bien grossi le nombre,
Que la France y seroit a 1' ombre,
Si tous les Billets rassemblez,
Et les uns aux autres cellez
On en pouvoit faire une Tente ;
Au surplus de la-dite rente
Lui donnons notre grand Cordon,
Passant de la droite a la gauche,
Ainsi qu'une legere ebauche
De sa droiture, dont le fond
Va si loin, que Terrasson meme
Grand Calculateur du systeme,
Ne pourroit pas le mesurer.
En outre, pour mieux honorer
Le Chef de ce grand Personage
Qui fit bouquer tout homme sage,
En soit disant docte et profound
Lui donnons calotte de plomb,
De la haute et premiere classe ;
Et pour surcroit de telle grace,
Joignons a ces Coqs dont la voix
Chanta la justice aux Fran§ais,
Papillons, Rats et Girouettes,
Hannetons, grelots et sonnettes.
En memoire d'un si beau chant,
Qu'au sortir de France on publie
Qu'il va chanter en Italie,
Ou sans doute il aura beau champ
Pour exercer son grand genie,
Et connoissance infinie
Dans l'art d'ecupler les Fonds
Par Billets payable a vue,
Desquels aujourd'hui nous voyons
En France une si bonne issue.
Ordonnons a tous les Pays
De notre vaste dependance,
De l'ecouter dans ses avis,
Surtout dans l'Art de la Finance ;
Art qu'il possede eminemment,
Fait au Conseil du Regiment.
" There was no longer in Paris," writes a contempor
ary, " either business or society. The artisan in his shop,
the merchant in his counting-house, the magistrate and
the literary man in his study, were occupied only with
i— IS

226 A VAGABOND COURTIER
the price of shares. The news of the day was their
rise and fall. People asked what it was before bowing
to each other. There was no other conversation in
the clubs, and the game of shares had replaced every
other. . . . Like gamblers, people were mercUess and
cruel. One who had just been ruined by a faU did not
hesitate to cut his friend's throat by suggesting to him,
before he was aware of their faU, to take some shares.
There were suicides, murders, and aU the crimes which
cupidity and despair can produce."
The Rue Quincampoix was " the hub of the universe.
It was enough to get near that happy street in order to
make one's fortune." It was almost unapproachable;
the offices of the Mississippi Company were in a state
of siege. The Duke of Bourbon, his mother, and the
Prince of Conti, whose gains amounted to millions,
" do not stir from the Rue Quincampoix," writes
Madame. About the Prince an epigram ran over Paris :
" Prince, elites-nous vos exploits,
Que faites-vous pour votre gloire !
Taisez-vous, sots ! Lisez l'histoiie,
De la Rue Quincampoix."
Lord Stair, the English ambassador, abused Law and
his system, but made thousands of pounds out of it.
The Due d'Antin, one of Louis XIV's legitimized Princes,
gained the most of all the royalties, but Saint-Simon says
he cheated.
Madame writes that her son was seeking a Duchess
" to accompany his daughter, bride of the Prince of
Modena, to Genoa. Some one who happened to be pre
sent said to him : ' If you desire to have a choice of
Duchesses, Monsieur, why not go to Law's ? You wiU
find them there all assembled together.' "
As it was impossible to get into the offices of the
Company —

THE VAGRANT 227
"A hunchback, whose hump formed a gentle slope,
hired it out as a desk for people to sign their names on,
and in a short time made fifty thousand crowns. . . .
It would be difficult to describe the kind of frenzy which
seized people's minds at the sight of the fortunes made
with as great a rapidity as they were enormous. One
who had begun with one Billet d'Etat, by means of ex
changes for money, for shares, for other billets, in a few
weeks found himself with miUions. The Rue Quin
campoix, a long and narrow street, was the rendezvous
of the shareholders and the scene of their mania. On
Monday one saw servants arrive behind their master's
coach, and on Saturday return inside it. The crowd was
so great that many persons were stifled.
The air was fuU of lampoons and verses over these
lightening-made fortunes.
"Lundi je pris des actions,
Mardi je gagnai des millions,
Mercredi je pris equipage,
Jeudi j'arrangai mon menage,
Vendredi je m'en fus au bal,
Et Samedi a l'hopital."
" Depuis qu'un Juif venu d'Ecosse^
S'est enrichi de notre argent ;
Tous les gredins roulent carosse,
Et qui fut riche est indigent."
" The population has diminished lately in Paris,"
wrote Madame, in February 1720. " The high prices
have caused many to leave. Gold and silver are worth
nothing, notes and tenpenny coins are the only things
accepted. I am thoroughly tired of hearing millions,
shares, business, subscriptions, talked of round me.
Every one in France is fearfully grasping, with the
exception of my son ... all the others, especially the
Princes and Princesses of the Blood, are frightfully self-
interested. They even fought hand to hand with the
clerks belonging to the Bank of France. There is a
saying that money rules the world ; this is certainly true
pf this place."

228 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" People no longer talk except in millions," chronicles
Pollnitz. " Some one who is a lackey to-day finds
himself a great lord on the morrow. It is enough merely
to show oneself in the celebrated Rue Quincampoix in
order to be favourably looked upon by the tutelary
Divinity, and you do not leave without immense wealth."
Of course the Baron was badly bitten by the pre
vailing craze.
" I was advised to do as the rest did, and to see if
luck would be always against me. I was told by name
of a number of people who really possessed milhons now,
and who had come to the Rue without anything. This
was exactly my case. The hope of success tempted me
to try my luck, directly I was well enough to go out.
" I put in an appearance, and joined the ranks of the
votaries of chance. I began excellently, and, without
exactly knowing how it happened, I found myself in a
little while with a large sum. I dare not tell you how
much it amounted to, for I must have been mad not to
be satisfied with it. But, anyhow, I began weU!
" I should have thought it cowardly not to increase
my shares. So I went on in my usual way, but soon
felt that I had made a grievous mistake in not with
drawing ; my millions gradually disappeared in the same
way that they had come ; that is to say, without my
knowing the why or the wherefore, and I found myself
empty-handed. Evidently it was compulsory to me to
abandon finance."
So, directly he felt himself able to travel, PoUnitz
left Paris to go to Sicily. Not well enough to post,
he went by easy stages to Dijon.
" The desire to drink good wine had brought me down
the road by Dijon, instead of the high road to Lyons by
Tarare. My greediness was rewarded as it deserved.
I was taken in, and I have not had a good glass of wine

THE VAGRANT 229
in any inn on my road, which otherwise has been pleasant
enough." The ancient capital of Burgundy, of which the Due
de Bourbon, M. le Due, was Governor, Pollnitz found
dull: " I have seen many smaller towns gayer and pleasanter.
There was a pubhc concert, to which I went malgre
moi ; I had a feeling that it would be none of the best,
and I was only too right. The hall was splendid and
the company large and good, and the concert would
have been very good, too, had there been any musicians.
One might call it a notable charivari."
Rameau and Lully in Paris, had made Pollnitz
critical. Pollnitz was pointed out the prison of the Duchess
of Maine. Fallen from her proud position, " the little
devil of a dwarf," as Madame, exasperated over the
plot against her son, called her, was " reduced," says
the Baron, " to live in a vilain chateau, her only company
her waiting- women." What a change from the hilarious
dehghts of the nuits blanches at Sceaux, her entertain
ments which Pollnitz had so often enjoyed !
Through the luxuriant vineyards of Burgundy
PoUnitz drove to Chalons. Here he found a dihgence
for Lyons, along " as beautiful a road as one could
see, running on the banks of the Saone, with views as
charming and diversified as one can imagine."
On reaching Lyons Pollnitz, in the absence of the
Governor, the Due de Villeroi, was taken to the Provost
of the Merchants, who was next in authority —
" Not because he is particularly gracious to strangers
who arrive by post. One is taken to his quarters and
examined as if one was on the stool of repentance. I
was obliged to conform to this custom, and he made me
wait a long time in an anteroom filled with all sorts of

230 A VAGABOND COURTIER
people ; at last he made his appearance, with an air of
authority to which he was not born. The questions
he put me and my replies were most laconic, and I
fancy he was not more pleased with me than I with
him. The office is changed every three years, but when
the holder has been agreeable to the Court he is usuaUy
confirmed in his appointment. The passing grandeur
of these gentlemen should naturaUy make them less
proud. Strip them of their office and they are only
like an actor who has just discarded the Roman Toga,
in which he has been playing Mithridates or Pyrrhus."
The Baron was as much pleased with M. Poultier, the
High Steward, as he had been annoyed by Perichon, the
Provost. With the former he exchanged calls and,
during the four days he stayed at Lyons, he spent the
evenings at his house, seeing the best company in the
city— " Where there is good society, but very little aristo
cracy. When a stranger is once known he can find
amusements, the Lyonnais are friendly and estimable,
and not too devoted to commerce to neglect fine manners.
They are very hospitable, and live weU. They love cards,
are not indifferent to the fair sex, and stUl less to wine.
The play is passable, and as much patronized as if it
were good. The actresses nearly all have luck in this
town, and if they do not accumulate money, at least
they collect a fine wardrobe. In the drawing-rooms of
these ladies a captain is obliged to give precedence to
a counter-jumper." There is an old actress here who, for forty years, has
been the joy of the greater part of Lyons. People
with good taste would like to see her banished from the
theatre ; but there is no way of preventing this aged
beauty from exhibiting her antique charms. She is the
manageress of the theatre, which brings her in twenty-
five thousand livres a year. They wanted to reduce this
salary which, in reality, could have been better spent ;

THE VAGRANT 231
but Mademoiselle Marez — that is the matron's name —
represented that she could not live on less than twenty
to twenty-five thousand livres a year ; that, her lover
not being in a position to provide her with more than
eleven thousand, she would be an outcast were her
salary reduced. Such cogent reasons prevailed, and it
was deemed unnecessary to drive Mademoiselle M. to
extremities. A great lady of the province, who was
here, remarked jokingly, on hearing that the Marez'
lover only gives her eleven thousand a year : ' Oh !
the wretch ! She must be burnt ! She takes the bread
out of the mouths of more than fifteen honest women ! ' "
PoUnitz took boat down the Rhine by Vienne, Valence,
Pont S. Esprit, to Avignon — " the charming and fertile
country seemed to lack nothing but inhabitants." He
posted to Aix, the capital of Provence, and stayed
five or six days, enjoying the beautiful town, the seat of
an archbishop, a university, and a parliament, and its
walks and squares with avenues and fountains, " where
the nobility live in good style, with card-parties and
promenades, and, on certain days, concerts — strangers
allowed to enter gratis, the performers being paid by
a certain number of people of position who keep up the
orchestra." Yet how Madame de Sevigne, the century
before, had pitied her daughter, exiled as the wife of
the Governor of Provence !
The situation of MarseiUes delighted Pollnitz, and its
fine harbour, great inner basin, with the forts defending
it, and the Arsenal. In the harbour lay the King's
galleys, with their unhappy inmates, who did nearly all
the work of the port, says Pollnitz, loading and unloading
the ships. " Some were free to walk and trade in the
town, but were obhged to pay a man to escort them,
and to return to sleep on board. Others, with great
crimes to their account, are chained, two and two, or
four and four, which, however, does not entirely hinder
them from earning their hving by work." As for
PoUnitz, he enjoyed MarseiUes, its look of opulency —

232 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" in few places do you get such good food, or does a
gentleman wish to pass his time more pleasantly . . .
theatres, concerts, promenades. . . ."
In the country round lay over two thousand little
houses called bastides, surrounded by vineyards and
lovely gardens. Hither, he was told, most of the in
habitants retired during the last epidemic of the plague
in Provence, which lasted long enough to kih a great
part of the people. The devastation would have been
worse had not the Regent arranged to place MarseUles
in quarantine.
Like his modern compatriots, Pollnitz fully appreci
ated the Sunny South. He thought Provence —
" A splendid country, and a beautiful spot to stay
in, at any time, but especiaUy in the winter. It is just
then that the weather is finest, and one sees days which
may really be called summer days. I remember walk
ing on the quay at Marseilles at this season for two or
three hours, and having been obhged to go in on account
of the heat. Yet I noticed that a few days later a
wind blew (the people of the country call it the Mistral)
which is very cold, and I felt it all the more as it is not
easy to get warm in this country. AU their fuel consists
of roots and branches of olive-trees, which do not make
a good fire. Moreover, most of the rooms, especiaUy at
the inns, have no chimneys, so that one is obliged to
use a brazier, which is very uncomfortable for those not
used to warming themselves in this way."
After vainly looking for a vessel sailing direct to Sicily,
" and finding it impossible to discover one," the Baron
decided to take one to Genoa or Livorno. He was
told that the passage was nothing, and only took a few
days. But a contrary wind kept the ship a fortnight
in harbour, and when they did set sail they only made
the little harbour of La Cieuta in Provence. For three
days Pollnitz waited for a favourable wind to continue
his voyage, and then decided to leave his trunks and

THE VAGRANT 233
his servants on board and to proceed by land. He
slept at Toulon, where he found a polite welcome at the
Assembly-room of the naval officers ; then, in four
days, by way of Frejus and Antibes, he reached the King
of Sardinia's frontier on the Var, at Nice. Here he
noticed " the first orange-trees, in the open fields, bear
ing fruit summer and winter" — so different from the
specimens to which he was used in the orangeries of
kings' palaces.
As the weather was fine, Pollnitz was advised to take
boat at Nice, " in order to avoid the bad roads over the
mountains," of La Turbie. In his day the Corniche
road did not exist, and only mule-tracks connected the
various little ports of the Ligurian coast.
So he—
" Got into a little bark, guided by only two men. I
soon repented having done this, for, half an hour after
my embarkation, a storm arose which nearly caused
me to perish, and it was only by a kind of miracle that
I landed at ViUafranca, which is only remarkable for
containing the King of Sardinia's six galleys.
" There was an awful storm the night I spent in the
town. The next day the weather grew calmer, but the
sea was too rough and I would not risk myself. The day
foUowing seeming to me as fine as one could wish, I put
out to sea, only to find myself again in a similar peril to
that which I had gone through. The winds, or rather
all the devils, were let loose against me. I confess that
I was terribly frightened, especially when I saw my
conductors lose countenance. Nevertheless, I put on a
brave face, and showed them that the danger was not
so great as they fancied, and that we must not lose
heart. Anyhow, I do not quite remember what it was
that I said to them ; perhaps my harangue was not as
clear as if I had been on terra-firma. However, I arrived
safely at Monaco."
How Pollnitz would have enjoyed staying there a
century and a half later ! But he passed on to San

234 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Remo, the first town in the Genoese Republic, and took
boat to Savona. Here he was —
" So bored by the sea that I took mules to reach
Genoa. Two-thirds of the way are hardly practicable ;
one is continually going up and down hiU, which is very
fatiguing. The only pleasure I found was that one
was always on the edge of the sea, which was covered
with vessels and was a fine sight. When you arrive
within a few leagues of Genoa the journey becomes
very pleasant ; for the road is quite level, and one sees
a great number of fine houses, with gardens and terraces
which form as fine an amphitheatre as one can see, aU
the way to Genoa."
The situation of La Superba, of course, struck Pollnitz,
while the streets of splendid palaces, " gaUeries rather
than streets," appealed to his love of architecture.
But— " When you go into some of the finest and largest of
these palaces, you do not find a soul in them. It appears
that sometimes there are no servants, and that one has
difficulty in discovering the master of the house ; indeed,
the great houses of Genoa are real deserts except on
certain reception-days. These are held every evening,
sometimes at one nobleman's and sometimes at another's.
The apartments are then splendidly lit up, and aprofusion
of aU sorts of refreshments are served. It is in these
sort of assemblies and in a poor Italian opera that the
amusements of Genoa consist, so that a stranger has
ample time to be bored. Moreover, there are few meals
given, the foreign envoys, who generally are those who
entertain most, conforming to the local characteristic
at Genoa, which is not to give any one anything to
eat or drink. In my time it was only the Enghsh envoy
who did not follow this custom, and he delighted in
having people at his house. . . . There is more society
in Genoa than at Venice ; the nobles are more accessible
there.

THE VAGRANT 235
"I do not think that those who accuse the Italians
of jealousy can possibly include the Genoese. In few
countries in the world have the women more liberty ;
nor do they sin more — at least, in appearance."
" Sea without fish, mountains without trees, men
without faith, women without shame," runs the Tuscan
saying of Genoa and the Genoese.
" A woman," chronicles our Baron, " must possess
few charms to have only two or three declared lovers —
cicisbei, they are called. These men never leave their
ladies, and make love rather uncomfortably, being
obliged to trot along by the side of the sedan-chair of
their mistress, so that it is by the sweat of their brows
that they earn a glance from the fair one. There are
ladies who have even five or six adorers, who accom
pany them everywhere. What is lucky is that all these
rivals hve in good understanding. It is true that, if
they took to quarrelling, they would be obliged to resort
to fisticuffs, for the nobility do not carry swords.
" They are dressed like the lawyers in France ; but
they always wear short silk mantles, and I wish that
Messieurs the Councillors of Parliament in France would
do the same, in order to distinguish them from tailors
and counter-jumpers. . . . The people of quality dress
weU here, and the Genoese of either sex are much better-
looking than the Florentines or the Romans, and they
have a courtly air which is not usual among the Italians.
In general, the Genoese have savoir-vivre, and never
commit a solecism.
" I was very happy in this town. I went to two re
ceptions given on the occasion of the marriage of a
nobleman ; and I have never seen anything more
splendid ; kings could not have given anything more
magnificent. I was introduced by the Emperor's
envoy, the Conte Guiciardi."
The Baron was lucky enough to be in Genoa during
the election of a new Doge. The office is held for two

236 A VAGABOND COURTIER
years, for " the Doge of Genoa is a living example of the
mutability of human greatness," and Pollnitz gives an
account of the solemn procession on foot to the cathedral,
the city fathers in black velvet robes, and the religious
ceremony, followed by what was, for that period, " a
very great banquet, of three hundred people."
But far more interesting was the arrival in Genoa
of the great Cardinal Alberoni after his disgrace. The
Republic sent a galley to fetch him from Spain, and
Pollnitz witnessed his landing. He received a gracious
reception, and fancied himself in safety. " But," as
he said, " I have lost the friendship of the King and
gained the enmity of the Pope ! " And he fled into hiding
in Switzerland.
After a stay of some time at Genoa, Pollnitz went
on to Salzana, among the vines and ohves, and where
a sergeant, on guard at the gate, asked alms of him, as
a little tribute paid there by strangers. Thence to
Pisa, where he saw the sights, and on, in a day, to
Florence. " One sees Florence from afar, and, indeed, it is a
beautiful view, that of this fine city, in a lovely vaUey
among hills which rise gradually tUl they culminate
in high mountains ; the hills are so populated that they
may be considered as faubourgs of Florence. Through
the city and valley flows the river Arno. Rightly is
Florence, among all the towns of Italy, named The
Beautiful, for it possesses everything that can be
desired of a rich and prosperous large town."
Pollnitz enlarges on the sights, especially on the
churches, that of San Lorenzo, built as a mausoleum
for the Medici, but then, after a hundred and fifty years,
still unfinished.
The Baron was received by the aged Grand-duke,
Cosmo III, in his splendid palace, to which Pollnitz
thought the descriptions did not do justice. He passed
through the vast gallery, with its portraits, china,

THE VAGRANT 237
antiques, and jewelled tables. But what jarred upon
his naturally cheerful temperament were two models
in wax, " of rare beauty ; but the artist has chosen the
saddest of subjects — one depicted a cemetery, and the
other a village afflicted with the plague. One cannot
look at these two pictures without feeling at the same
time admiration and horror."
In the octagon-room, with the marble floor of different
colours, the walls hung with red velvet, and the ceiling
covered with mother-of-pearl, he saw the model of the
Duchess's celebrated diamond. The gem itself, weighing
a hundred and thirty-nine and a half carats, had
been last exhibited, some ten years previously, and to
the King of Denmark ; since then only the model has
been shown, " which led people to assume that the gem
was no longer in Florence." In fact, many people told
Pollnitz that it had been sold to the Grand Signior (the
Sultan). The Baron was introduced by the Prime Minister,
and found the Grand-duke alone in his room, standing
leaning against a table lighted by two candles. Cosmo
was a hale old man, with white hair and a charming
manner —
" Which attracted the hearts and the veneration of
aU who approached him. . . . When I had saluted him he
put on a cap, and begged me to cover myself. I im
plored him to aUow me to remain uncovered in conse
quence of the deep respect that I had for His Highness.
Whereupon he took up his hat and begged me to put on
mine, which I did directly he had covered himself . . .
on the great principle," adds the Baron, who was a
stickler for etiquette, " that private persons should
maintain the posture demanded of them by princes.
Yet I must confess that I felt some regret in talking to
a Prince of that age, and of the rank of Grand-duke,
with my hat on.
" The Prince began, before entering into conversation,
by asking me if I spoke Italian."

238 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The Baron replied that he spoke a httle, but not
enough to undertake to converse in that language in
the presence of so great a Prince. The latter replied :
" ' And I, I splutter a httle French ! ' yet did me
the honour to talk to me a long time in that language,
and with much kindness."
The following day Pollnitz was presented to the Grand
Prince, who received him very kindly. He remembered
seeing Fraulein von Pollnitz at the late Queen's at
Berhn, and to have been to the house of PoUnitz's
mother, Frau von Meinders, during his stay in Germany,
where he had married a Princess Saxe-Lauenburg, widow
of the Prince Palatine of Neuburg, brother of the Elector
Palatine, while his sister had married the Elector
Palatine, John Wilham of Neuburg.
The Grand Prince received the Baron with much
kindness and promised him aU the protection he might
require. PoUnitz also paid his respects to the widowed
Electress, who, childless, had returned to her father's
Court, where she lived in great seclusion, " almost con-
tinuaUy at her orisons." She recoUected the Baron's
visit to her at Diisseldorf, early in his wanderings, at
the fine palace in the forest overlooking the Rhine,
where he spent " such a pleasant time," and she loaded
him with attentions and kindness.
From Florence Pollnitz went to Rome by Siena.
A midwinter journey over the Apennines was no trifle
in those days, " though the roads in the Tuscan States
were well kept up, and an endeavour had been made to
make them als practicable as possible, by smoothing
the slope of the mountains. But when one enters the
Ecclesiastical States the roads are terrible, and one can
hardly get along."
Bad weather and a heavy fall of snow detained the
Baron at the post-house at Montefiascone.
" At the same time there was such a gale and such
terrible cold that the inhabitants told me that they had

THE VAGRANT 239
never felt anything so violent. I had no difficulty in
believing them, especially after what happened to me
at the post-house.
" The postmaster showed me up into a great room,
where I found two gentlemen, one an Italian and the
other a German, coming from Rome, but forced like
me, by the weather, to halt at Montefiascone. We
began to talk over the fire. I became aware of a con
tinuous movement, as if some one was rocking us. As
I had never felt an earthquake, I thought it was one ;
but the Italian told me that the movement was too
regular, and that it must come from some other cause.
" Indeed, after a few minutes we became convinced
that it was the gale which was shaking us thus. As
we were afraid of perishing among the ruins of the house,
we asked the landlord to put us in another place where
we should be less in danger of our lives. The man
began to laugh over our fright, and, to reassure us, told
us that for thirty years the house had shaken like this,
without having been damaged.
" AU these reasons did not convince me of the solidity
of the house ; on the contrary, in my opinion, thirty
years of shaking ought to end in a speedy dissolution,
and besides, as luck is always against me, it was prudent
not to meet accidents half-way. So I decided to go
downstairs, and the two gentlemen with me did the
same, and our host led us to a house opposite ; but only
to be worse off.
" For the fire was no sooner lighted than we thought
that we should be suffocated by the smoke. It was
absolutely necessary to open the window to get some
air ; but the violence of the wind did not long allow
of our remaining in this place, and we were obliged to
change our abode a second time.
" We went into the town in the hope of being better
off. We tumbled upon the most detestable inn in the
world ; nevertheless, we made up our minds to stay
there, because, happily, there was a chimney which did
not smoke. At first we imagined that we should recoup

240 A VAGABOND COURTIER
ourselves for the cold we had felt in all these changes,
but it was fated that we should not pass the day without
encountering fresh disagreeables : the chimney caught
fire. The town was alarmed, every one collected, and
happily the fire was soon extinguished. But that did
not prevent the people rising against us, and I fancied,
for a moment, that we were going to be put in prison as
incendiaries. But we escaped with only a fright and
the scattering of some coin. But, in consequence of
this tumult, we were forbidden to have a fire in our room,
so that we had to put up with one in the dirtiest kitchen
in the world."

CHAPTER XVI
Halting his post-chaise on a height above where the
Tiber flows under the Ponte Mole, the Baron let his eyes
revel over the first sight of the Eternal City, enjoying in
prospect the delight of exploring its quarters.
Crossing the river, he drove along a paved road, bor
dered by gardens and by villas, and entered by the
Porto del Popolo into the celebrated piazza with its
twin churches and the famous obelisk of Sixtus X.
Then came the custom-house. " Directly the clerks had
finished turning my boxes upside down," he went on his
way to the Piazza di Spagna, " with its fountain used
as a drinking-trough," and put up at the Hotel di
Monte Doro.
Next day he took a guide, whom he calls " an anti
quarian," and began at once to do the sights, which
he describes at length, not omitting to mention — good
German as he always is at heart— that the Vatican
Library had been much enriched by the spoil of that of
Heidelberg. Next he paid caUs, armed with letters of introduction
from Florence, was received by a Duke and a Marquis
(initials only given) with great civility, and introduced
to the parties.
" At a Madame de B  's I found a very fine gather
ing of ladies and cavaliers, and especially of good-
looking Abbes, who could have given the most complete
dandies points in the art of flirting. The ladies were
very well dressed and mostly very agreeable, but not
easy of access to those who had not the honour of
wearing the petit collet — the clerical coUar. The young
i— 16 241

242 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Abbes had taken care to get hold of them, so that it
seemed out of one's power to approach them. Time
passed in talking and in drinking much chocolate, after
which we went into another room and began to play
different games. It was then that I felt how very
advantageous it would have been for me to be M.
l'Abbe. .
" Each of these gentlemen easily made up his game ;
as for me, as no one did me the honour to offer me any
cards, I found myself very idle, and, without my intro
ducer, to whom I talked from time to time, I should have
cut a very foolish figure. I did not think it advisable to
wait for the end of this assembly, and was very pleased
to find myself outside."
However, the Baron tried again. The Duke took
him to another party. Here he found —
" The company not large, and moreover, quite as
unamusing as the first into which I had been introduced.
I found few ladies, again many Abbes, and hardly any
gentlemen of the sword. I quite understood that the
Roman receptions were none of the most amusing for
a foreigner, and made up my mind to occupy myself
with the sights of the city."
The Baron, however, was better pleased with Roman
society at Cardinal Corsini's, to which he was taken by
the Marquis A  . Every evening His Eminence held
a reception, and welcomed Pollnitz most graciously.
" The Cardinal did the honours of his house perfectly,
and was careful to see that every one was amused, either
with cards or conversation," and each evening during
his stay in Rome Pollnitz did not fail to appear at his
reception. He found his lack of Italian and the Romans' httle
partiality for speaking French rather a handicap in
society. " Many ladies speak and understand French, but will
not speak it, either from malice or timidity. One day

THE VAGRANT 243
I addressed a rather pleasant lady ; I spoke French, as
I did not know Itahan then ; but she replied, in good
French : 'I do not understand or speak French,
Monsieur.' Then she turned aside, and, at that moment,
I saw a good-looking Abbe enter, who talked to her in
whispers all the evening. Apparently he spoke a lan
guage she understood.
" A Protestant Colonel in the French service, an
Italian by birth, came often to see me in the mornings.
One day he said to me that he saw that I had adopted
French habits. I asked him why. He replied that it
was because I changed my shirt daily.
" Slovenliness, however, is not general. People are
as scented here as elsewhere, and a Roman dandy is
quite as much the fop as a French one. True, they
are rarer, because young men under twenty are not
admitted into society here."
The Baron's next move was to be presented to the
Pope. Clement XI was very old, but still wily. Dubois
was haggling with him for the Cardinal's hat, but the
Regent was not popular with His Holiness, exasperated
with the long quarrels in France on the Bull Unigeni-
tus, and " Paris was Jansenist to the core." So Pollnitz
did weU to rely upon Imperial support.
" As a German, I made my call first on Cardinal de
Giudice, who was in charge of the affairs of the Empire,
and to whom I had introductions. His palace was
one of the few with modern furniture. After waiting
a few moments in his anteroom, I was introduced to his
presence by one of his gentlemen. As the prelate was
not well that day, I found him in a dressing-gown on
a sofa. He rose when he saw me enter, and advanced
a few steps to meet me. Then he sat down, and made
me take an arm-chair opposite his sofa. When the
audience was over he rose and led me to the door of
his room. There I found two of his gentlemen, who
escorted me to the grand staircase ; one went down
with me and accompanied me to my coach."

244 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The Baron also had an introduction to Cardinal
Gualtieri, who gave him —
" A most obliging reception. He gave me audience
in his study. After the first politenesses he sat in an
arm-chair, and made me sit down also, and obliged me
to put my hat on. This I was very loth to do, but
at last I was obliged to comply, and remained in that
condition for quite an hour. I was charmed with the
manners of this prelate. Of all the Cardinals, he had
least of the usual arrogance of Eminences. The kind
ness he showed me led me to make friends with him,
and I paid my respects to him very assiduously all the
time I was in Rome. He had me taken by one of his
gentlemen to Cardinal Ottoboni, to whom I also had an
introduction ; he was protector of French interests.
I found him in his study. He was standing when I
came in, and remained so all the time of my visit ; and
I was escorted out, when I retired, in the same manner
as at Cardinal del Giudice's."
Pollnitz found an old acquaintance in another delight
ful prelate, Cardinal Grimani, " an ecclesiastic of great
virtue, whose morals are sound, his manners simple and
polite." Pollnitz had known him as Internuncio at
Brussels, as Nuncio at Cologne, then in Poland, and
at Vienna, where he was residing when raised to the
purple. He had now come to Rome to receive his
hat ; and Pollnitz found him the same as when only
Internuncio. " Honours," he says, " alter only mean
souls." Having thus smoothed the way, the Baron was pre
sented to the Pope by Cardinal Giudice.
" He had an audience alone before introducing me,
after which I was told to enter. According to custom,
I knelt in the door-way ; then, rising, I advanced to
the middle of the room, and was preparing for a second
genuflection, but the Pope stopped me and beckoned
to me to approach him, saying, ' Avanti, avanti.'

THE VAGRANT 245
" I obeyed. I advanced to his feet, knelt down, and
kissed the embroidered cross on His Holiness's slippers.
The Pope gave me his blessing, and ordered me to rise.
He did me the honour to talk to me a long time about
my happiness in embracing the Catholic Religion ; he
even inquired about some details of my conversion, and
seemed to feel the grace which God had vouchsafed me
so deeply that he could not help shedding a few tears.
" He then asked for information about the state of
religion in Germany, and he gave great praise to the
Elector Palatine for the zeal he was evincing for the
Cathohe faith. He ended by exhorting me to remain
firm on the side I had been happy enough to embrace.
When he dismissed me His Holiness presented me with
several Agnus, with two httle medallions, one of gold
and the other of silver, and with a dispensation to eat
meat in Lent."
ToUnitz stayed at Rome over Easter. Thanks to
Cardinal Gualtieri, he had an excellent place from
which to view all the ceremonies of Holy Week. He
notes how full the churches were — " crowded to suffoca
tion " — but he did not think that the Italians attended
them only for devotional purposes ; it seemed to him
that the exceUent music, rather than religion, was the
attraction. Immediately after Easter the Baron left Rome, with
several other foreigners, by post, for Naples. Especially
was he struck with the view from the balcony of the
Viceroy's palace there. " Never have I seen anything
so extensive, nor so beautifully varied : the splendid
gardens ; the harbour ; the Arsenal ; the high moun
tains ; terrible Vesuvius."
Cardinal Schrotenbach, then Viceroy, was unpopular,
" keeping a small and poorly attended Court," and
rarely appearing among a people who hke to see a
nobleman filling with pomp an office which they hold
to be above all others." Pollnitz was told of a Nea
politan lady who, at an audience of the King of Spain,

246 A VAGABOND COURTIER
told the latter that she hoped, as a crown of happiness,
God would be pleased one day to make him Viceroy of
Naples. At Naples the Baron found Prince T  , whom he
had known in Vienna, and who offered to take him to
some parties, which offer Pollnitz accepted with pleasure
on the assurance that they would be unlike those at
Rome. He made acquaintance with several Nea
politan nobles, who showed him the sights. EspeciaUy
was he delighted with the magnificent promenade of
the Chiaja, and the number of coaches, more French
in appearance than those of Rome, except that they were
drawn by mules, or very poor horses.
After driving a supper-party was suggested, and
good fare and good company promised. Pollnitz saw
that they had not deceived him.
" The food was most dehcate, and very agreeable
ladies were of the party. I should have been reaUy
delighted to talk to them, but for lack of knowing
Italian I could only converse by signs — a mode of
conversation very uncomfortable, for people would
have asked nothing better than to talk. After supper
a game of faro was suggested. Prince T  offered
to deal, which he did with every possible UI luck ; in
a short time I saw him lose very large sums. For my
part, I won two hundred and sixty pistoles, which he
sent me next morning with a large basket of green peas
and many fruits."
Of course the Baron did not fail to visit " the terrible
Vesuvius." " But when I found myself on the top of the dreadful
mountains, I was very sorry to have come there. I
thought I should have been rewarded for the trouble I
had had in ascending it by the sight of something
wonderful when I was on the summit. Not at all. I
saw nothing but smoke coming out of several very large

THE VAGRANT 247
holes, which it would have been unwise to approach.
This I was not tempted to do, and I shortly afterwards
went back as wise as I came. All that I noticed which
was at all remarkable was that, in kicking one's foot
against the ground, I heard a noise hke that of an
empty barrel. That is all that I can tell you about
Mount Vesuvius.
" As for the shape of this mountain, it would be
useless to describe it, as it changes every time it erupts.
I had much more difficulty in descending than I had in
ascending ; the quantity of baked earth, calcined
stones, bituminous matter, and cinders, made the
descent so difficult that, when I reached the bottom, I
could hardly get back to my horse. I noticed that the
soft boots which I wore were quite burnt, doubtless by
the sulphur and the lime of which this mountain is
composed. " I was told that it was a long time since there had
been an eruption ; but that one would occur shortly,
because so many new craters were to be seen, and
that the ground was sinking visibly. Such a neighbour
struck me as being uncomfortable for such a large city
as Naples ; but the Neapolitans do not seem to think
much about it. It is true that, directly the flames
appear, they are no longer the same people. They run
in crowds to the churches, every one is seen at their
prayers, they solemnly promise to alter their hves ; but,
when they think themselves again in safety, they are
as dissipated as ever. Like those strong-minded people
who, when in good health, seem to despise death, but,
when they feel it approaching, show signs of weakness
which belie their assumed courage."
Pollnitz drove through the famous tunnel of Possi-
lippo, in which two coaches can pass, the drivers shout
ing in the darkness from time to time to avoid a collision.
He saw the usual dog asphyxiated in the sulphureous
Grotto del Cane, and was unimpressed with the ruins of
Puzzuoli, " not a vestige of its ancient splendour. I do

248 A VAGABOND COURTIER
not know why visitors make a sort of matter of prin
ciple to go there ; there are nothing but old crumbling
waUs, which do not mean anything."
Pollnitz was little of a classic, and archaeology was
not much to the taste of his century ; but thirty years
later his friend, the Margravine of Bayreuth, was scramb
ling on hands and knees about the ruins in ecstasy.
It will be remembered that Pollnitz had written from
Munich to his patron, Count Stahrenberg, the Com
mander-in-Chief, explaining the reason of the delay
in his joining the regiment in Sicily to which Stahren
berg had posted him. Pollnitz only waited in Naples
long enough to receive a reply to a second letter he
had sent to him in Sicily on arrival, " pleading that
business of the utmost importance prevented me having
the honour of joining him as soon as I should wish."
The truth was that several of his Neapohtan friends
dissuaded him from the idea of soldiering in Sicily.
The fighting was over, the Austrian troops only en
gaged in the dull monotony of occupying it. The letter
in which Count Stahrenberg rephed to PoUnitz only
confirmed the latter in his friends' view. " He took
a tone which displeased me, and the lesson he was
pleased to read me decided me not to lay myself open
to receiving any more."
Pollnitz was ever averse to discipline. He rephed
to Stahrenberg that he could " dispose of his com
mission, as his affairs did not permit of his taking service
so soon." He then made up his mind to try his luck
at the Court of Spain, which he had long wished to
visit. However, he was not to find himself any happier
there than in so many others.

CHAPTER XVII
Next to Paris, Venice was the gayest city in Europe at
this period. Not having found society in Rome and
Naples sufficiently lively, the Baron was burning to see
Venice again, and made up his mind to take it on his
way to Spain. So he hurried back through the States of
the Church, stopping at Loretto to see the magnificent
church which contains the famous chapel which was the
House of the Virgin.
" One is surprised at first," he writes sceptically, " to
find in Italy a house originally built in a country so re
mote from that which it inhabits to-day ; but, on hearing
a little of its history, one is the more astonished, for,
before finding its domicile in the Marches of Ancona,
this house has changed its dwelling-place several times.
First, from Nazareth, which was really its native country,
it was borne, they say, by angels to Dalmatia, where it
remained three years. After that time the angels
caught it up a second time, and brought it to the territory
of Recantati in the Marches of Ancona. But, as much
was heard in those days of murders and brigandage in
that country, the angels, alarmed at such a locality,
caught up the house the third time, and placed it at
a httle distance from where it is now. But it did not
long remain there, for the two brothers to whom the
ground belonged on which it had been placed disputed
so warmly as to who should be the master of it that
the angels ended the quarrel by carrying the building to
the spot where it is to be seen to-day."
Pollnitz visited the Treasury, with all the wonderful
249

250 A VAGABOND COURTIER
gifts which countless pilgrims had showered upon the
Holy House, and then left by Rimini for Bologna.
Here he stayed several days to see his old friend
Cardinal Grimani, now governing Bologna, the second
city of the Papal States, as Legate. A pleasant time
he spent in " Bologna the Fat," so caUed because of
the fertUity of its soil. There were —
" Plenty of aristocracy, very forthcoming, fine pic
tures, excellent concerts, opera and theatre, dehghtful
promenades, pleasant country-houses, aU that one can
desire in life. . . . One hves in better style and with
more freedom than in other places in Italy, and, to
express myself in one word as to what I think about this
city, I would say that it is the only one I would live in
had I to settle in Italy."
On starting for Venice Pollnitz took the daily boat,
called the Messenger, down the Reno —
" The most detestable means of conveyance which
a gentleman can use ; but one had to put up with it.
Scarcely had we got under way, however, than, a few
miles from Ferrara, the water became too low. AU who
were in the boat were landed, the baggage was put on to
wagons, and we were made to get into a sort of coach,
very like the French diligences. I felt a great repug
nance to enter this equipage, whose exterior did not
promise well. The driver seemed to have a httle wine
in his head, and, the horses he had to drive being ex
tremely restive, required a coachman with aU his wits,
and a little more, about him."
However, there was no alternative except to do the
rest of the journey afoot.
" We went off at a pace which made me very uneasy
on the road, but our driver got weU out of the most
difficult places, and we rumbled along happily to Fer-

THE VAGRANT 251
rara. But hardly had we entered the town than our
driver, apparently wishful to exhibit his skill, whipped
up his horses at the precise moment in which we were
turning into a street ; the horses, thus urged, wheeled
with such impetuosity that, having taken too short a
turn, a hind-wheel went over a rather high stone-post,
and upset the coach so violently that two persons sitting
next the door were killed instantaneously. As for me, I
escaped with a blow on the head, which gave me a swollen
cheek for a week or so. My servant, who was opposite
me in the coach, had his wrist dislocated. Indeed, out
of the eight souls that we were, not one but had some
cause of complaint. What surprised me most was that I
was the least hurt of them all ; it is perhaps the first
time that I have found some one more unfortunate than
myself. As my swollen cheek did not permit of my
promenading about Ferrara as I should have wished, I
put my baggage on a boat, that took me to Venice,
which I reached at midnight."
This was Pollnitz's second visit to Venice. Thirteen
years before he had been there to remove the body of hia
aunt, the Marquise Duhamel, from the lazaretto where
she died, to Berlin for burial.
In consequence of his accident he was obliged to keep
his room for a few days, but when he was fit to go out
he went about the city as much on foot as in a gondola.
" This last way of travelling, though very smooth,
is always alarming to people unused to it ; one fancies
one is often in danger of drowning, especially when one
turns from one street to another. It seems as if one
must be thrown into the canal, which, indeed, could
well happen with less experienced oarsmen than the
Venetian gondoliers."
Probably his recent accident must have shaken the
Baron's nerves, never very strong. He evidently pre
ferred to thread his way afoot through narrow alleys and

252 A VAGABOND COURTIER
over the bridges, but especially did he like to walk in the
Piazza, caUed the Broglio, where the aristocracy dis
ported themselves in front of the Doge's palace. " This
walk, not roofed in, and without any green grass, was
yet very pleasant on account of the vicinity of the sea,
which was always in sight, and which makes a charming
coup d'ceil. . . . The Venetians look upon the Adriatic
as a possession which is specially their own," as is shown
by the ancient custom of the Marriage of the Sea by the
Doge on Ascension Day.
" The crowd of vessels, of galleys, of gondolas, coming
and going, present a spectacle all the more amusing
as it is very varied . . . and moreover, one can discern
many little islands, inhabited only by the religious
orders, who have fine churches and convents on them."
On this visit to Venice Pollnitz did not see the Doge,
who seemed to him " an imaginary Prince, and really the
head slave of the Republic." He found the Venetian
nobihty " as scrupulous over political matters as the
Romans over ceremonies." They even went so far, as
Pollnitz found by his own experience, as to have no
intercourse with any one affecting the society of an
ambassador. "... Politics, mistrust, suspicion, are the tyrants
of the nobility of Venice, but still more of ambassadors,
whom every one shuns as suspected persons, and whom
a stranger can hardly associate with without giving up
all intercourse with the nobles. Thus an ambassador
is reduced to amusing himself in his own domesticity,
or in the company of foreign visitors, of whom there
are always a great many in this city. No nobleman
may visit him without the express permission of the
Senate." The rise of the sea-power of England and Holland
had shaken that of the Repubhc ; she was jealous and

THE VAGRANT 253
suspicious, and on her guard against the European
Powers ; while the Turks, having wrested the Morea from
her, had curtailed her influence in the Mediterranean.
Now, as the Baron met in Venice Q  , whom he
knew at the Hanoverian Court, and G  , whom he
had met at Vienna, he imagined that, in order to be
introduced into good houses, he could not do better than
to call upon them. He did so, and was politely received ;
but when his visit was returned next day he perceived,
in the course of a short conversation, that they had
noticed that he much affected the society of the Imperial
Ambassador, Count Colloredo, whose wife, a Blaspiel,
had a brother in the household of the King of Prussia.
The Baron, on his part, showed plainly that he had no
mind to sacrifice the ambassador's house, where he met
aU that was most distinguished among the foreigners at
Venice. The visit of the Hereditary Prince of Modena, who
was about to marry Mademoiselle de Valois, daughter of
the Regent, and wished for a last little jaunt en gar con,
was the excuse for —
" A sort of carnival, which gave the town an air it
usuaUy lacks. . . . Also it gave me the pleasure of
seeing the Venetian ladies in all their finery ; otherwise,
I should have left without seeing a single one of them.
The jealousy of their husbands keeps them nearly
always shut up, and only at carnival time, or on fetes,
is it possible to see them. ... I was surprised at the
rnagmficence of these ladies, especially at the quantity
of their jewels, for the rest of their costume had some
thing, I know not what, rather extraordinary, such as
is always to be seen in the dress of all Itahans. They
were very assiduous at the balls given for the Prince."
A new form of amusement to Pollnitz was the —
" Regatta, a race of little boats, in four quadrilles
[squadrons ?] distinguished by little flags of different

254 A VAGABOND COURTIER
colours, each quadrille led by a large boat, richly gUt
and painted. . . . These quadrilles competed one against
the other to win a prize awarded to the one which
arrived first. The Prince of Modena seemed very
pleased with this fete."
Masquerades were more in fashion in Venice than
elsewhere. " People went masked to the promenade, to the play,
to balls. It was the favourite amusement both of the
grandees and of the populace, and led to adventures,
and to making acquaintances which would otherwise
have been difficult to pick up without this disguise."
Pollnitz became acquainted on the Piazza of S. Mark
with two ladies, among the highest in the land. They
were masked, and the Baron wore a rather voyant rose-
coloured domino, trimmed with sUver, a costume but
little seen in Venice. It attracted the attention of all
the masqueraders in the square, among others that of
these two ladies, one of whom pulled him by the sleeve,
remarking :
" ' Mask ! by your appearance, which surpasses that
of our cavaliers, my friend and I know that you are a
foreigner ; and we easily perceive that you are not a
common man. We shall be dehghted to talk to you,
if you will take a turn on the Piazza with us. . . .'*
" ' You do me more honour than I deserve, fair
Mask,' I replied, as I walked, ' and what you teU me
about my appearance flatters me still more, as you
yourself are quite the most perfect mask here. If my
costume leads you to think that I am not a man of the
people, your appearance convinces me that I have the
honour to address ladies of quality. . . .'
" ' You are not mistaken,' the lady replied to me,
' the Mask you see with me is Madame M  , and I am
the wife of Monsieur C  . You see,' she continued,

THE VAGRANT 255
' that we bear names not unknown in Venice. But, after
having told you who we are, may we ask what your
name is ? '
" I satisfied their curiosity by taking off my mask,
as I thought it due to their position. Scarcely had I
mentioned my name than the lady to whom I had not
yet spoken, said to me : ' You are not such a stranger
to us as you fancy ; your name is very well known to
me, and the late Madame Duhamel, your aunt, whose
husband was generahssimo of our troops, was one of my
greatest friends, and often confided to me how she
wished to have you near her. This comfort was denied
her ; she followed her husband to Corfu, where he died,
not without suspicions that he had been poisoned. He
was accused of being too good a Frenchman. Your
aunt died whUe undergoing quarantine in our port,
having returned from Corfu with the intention of ending
her days in Berlin. You bore her body thither, and
you were one of her heirs. Without wishing to seek your
gratitude, I will tell you that it is to my good offices
that you owe this inheritance ; I took your part against
an infinite number of the Marquise Duhamel's relations.
The affection I had for your aunt led me to persuade
M. M  to interest himself on your behalf ; he was
successful, and induced the Senate to prefer the re
commendations of the King of Prussia and the Elector of
Hanover, who were protecting you, to the solicitations
which the Ambassador of France was making in the
name of his master for the Messieurs Duhamel. I was
delighted,' Madame M  continued, ' to have been
able to do you this service, and you can rely upon it
that M. M  and I will always be deeply interested
in all those who belong to our deceased friend.'
" I rephed to M. M  in the strain which the kind
things she had said to me demanded, and I asked
her permission to come and pay my respects to her.
She replied charmingly that she would send her husband
to me, and then, after that, she would, with much
pleasure, receive me at her house. The next morning,

256 A VAGABOND COURTIER
as I was ready to go out to M. M — ¦ — 's, to whom I
thought I owed a visit after the kind things his wife had
said to me, I was told that he was at my door, asking
to see me. I went to meet him and found him as
civil as his wife. He suggested that he should take
me to see some of the sights of Venice till it was time
to go to his wife. We went to see some churches to
gether. He then conducted me to his house, where I
found Madame M  , who received me with every
possible pohteness.
" She was a woman of about forty, but who had many
remains of beauty. With her was Madame C  ,
with whom she had been on the Piazza of S. Mark the
evening before. I have never seen a more beautiful
creature, and one with such distinguished manners. She
was still under twenty, and had been married five years
before to the ugliest of men ; but who had contrived,
by his pleasant ways, to make her love him.
" I fell in love with Madame C  directly I saw
her, and, when I saw her husband, I was presumptuous
enough to imagine that my attentions might not be
disagreeable to the lady. But it was not long ere I
perceived that she was not the sort of woman to listen
to me ; I had to abandon all hope, and, as hope is a
lover's only sustenance, I ceased to be in love directly
I had no more hope. I cast my nets in another direction,
and with more success.
" M. M  took me to a country-house he had near
Padua. I do not think I ever enjoyed myself so much.
One should see the Venetians at these country-houses.
They are quite different from what they are in the town ;
they cast off the grave and serious manner they affect,
and live in better style, are sociable, pohte, well-bred.
As these country-houses are near each other, the gentle
men to whom they belong visit each other a great deal,
and one is almost always together. It is not quite the
same in Venice, where one lives under more restraint."
Pollnitz had been rowed up to Padua, through the

THE VAGRANT 257
fertile plain, by the same gondolier he had hired during
his stay in Venice. Says the local proverb : " Bologna
la grassa, Padua la passa " (Bologna is fat, but Padua
surpasses it). But, during a hurried visit, it was chiefly
the diet and the poor architecture which struck Pollnitz,
though he thought the churches fine. He passed on
to Ferrara, through the Marches of Padua, the roads
very bad. With enormous difficulty he reached Ferrara,
where he took boat, afraid of the roads to Bologna. He
left the latter place the same day that he arrived, reach
ing Modena by an easy road through a pleasant country.
The Baron went to pay his respects to the Duke,
who was connected by marriage with the Emperor,
and who was stUl in mourning for the latter's mother,
the Empress Eleanor, who had died since Pollnitz left
Vienna. " The Duke received me standing," writes the
Baron, with his keen eye for etiquette, and also for what
was due to his rank, " and directly I had saluted him put
on his hat, and absolutely compelled me to do the same.
He talked for some time with much kindness, and I was
very well pleased with my audience."
Modena he found dirty and ill-paved ; the high
street the only passable one. The Duke's palace was
stiU in buUding, and a suite of apartments there pre
paring for Mademoiselle de Valois, the Regent Orleans's
daughter, who had been married by proxy to the
Hereditary Prince, and to whom it was intended to give
a fine reception.
We hear much of this young lady, the flighty daughter
of a vicious father, from the frank pen of her grand
mother, Madame. How, from a pretty child, she grew
up plain, "with a great aquUine nose," which, her
grandmother thought, came from being allowed to take
snuff too early ; of how, like her notorious sister, the
Duchesse de Berri, she continually overate herself ; of
how, at seventeen, she had grown up " entirely deceitful,
rarely truthful, and a frightful flirt," and likely " to
cause us much sorrow still." There had been talk of
marrying her to her cousin, the Prince of Sardinia, but
I-17

258 A VAGABOND COURTIER
then came that " horrible flirtation " with " that devU,
the Due de Richeheu, ugly little fop ; all the Paris women
run after him . . . the archidibauche, a good-for-nothing, a
coward, false, and a liar," boasting of his amours real and
imaginary. He had left the Princess's letters to him,
making assignations, lying about, and all the young
men had read them. Next she wished to marry her
cousin, the Comte de Charolais, but that could not be
managed, for " aU the Princes and Princesses of the
Blood, who are related, hate each other like the devil."
Very averse had been the bride to this Modena match ;
her grandmother pitied her " with aU her soul," but
the Prince, a weak, nervous young man, was very
pleased with her portrait ; she had good eyes and skin,
but prominent teeth, and a bad figure and gait, says
Madame ; " some days ugly, some days good-looking."
However, the present of fine diamonds from Modena,
and the sight of her forty new dresses, somewhat com
forted her. Madame wished the marriage had taken
place some years before, though " we shaU not die of
grief when she leaves."
But, though the marriage by proxy took place in the
late winter, and Modena was all agog with preparations
to receive her, the bride was in no hurry to arrive,
determined to make the most of the smaU chance to
travel which fell to the lot of even royal women in those
days. She dragged herself, and the King's ladies and
gentlemen with her, through Provence, at great expense,
and did not reach Modena tUl midsummer. " She's
a scatterbrain ! " remarks Madame, heaping all the
faults of her granddaughters upon her detested daughter-
in-law, and further upon the latter's mother, the more
detested Montespan.
One cannot help wondering if, in Pollnitz's " satis
factory audience " with Mademoiselle's prospective
father-in-law, the conversation turned upon the bride.
He had known her as a girl, had been in Paris during
all the Richelieu scandal. But the Baron was nothing
if not tactful ; the audience was " satisfactory," though

THE VAGRANT 259
he prophesied no happy future for this hare-brained
young woman at Modena.
" She will need all her cleverness to make something
of her hfe at the Court of Modena. For nothing can be
quieter ; one may even say that one breathes there an
air which conduces to melancholy, especially when one
comes from so brilliant a Court as that of France. The
hfe here is hke life in a monastery. One rises very early,
one goes to mass, one dines early, one goes for a turn
after dinner, in the evening one plays for a little while,
one sups at eight, and by ten one is in bed. At least
that was the ordinary way of life of the Court, any
how when I was there ; perhaps the arrival of the Prin
cess may change somewhat the boring monotony of
existence." Pollnitz's forebodings were true. Madame writes,
eighteen months after the marriage, that the Princess
wandered from room to room all day long, exclaiming :
" Ah ! que je m'ennuis ! Ah ! que je m'ennuis ici ! "
But she was getting on better with her husband than
at first.
After Modena the Baron spent three days at Parma.
He notes that " connoisseurs make much of the pictures
in the cathedral." He found the nobility numerous, but
" so Itahan that it was difficult to get on with them."
The Court " was no gayer than that of Modena," but
Pollnitz, with an eye to the Spanish journey he planned,
did not faU to pay his respects to the Duke Francesco
Farnese, who, " by a dispensation of which the Catholic
Church gives few examples, had married his brother's
widow," whose daughter, by her first husband, was
Elizabeth, Queen of Spain.
By Piacenza, " almost a desert, no one in the streets,"
to Milan, where he spent a sociable time. The nobility
hved in grand style, in fine houses, richly furnished —
" Rooms with a grand and noble air, such as the
Italians do not generaUy pride themselves upon. People

260 A VAGABOND COURTIER
of quality have plenty of society ; an assembly every
evening at different houses, where one enjoys great
hberty. Each one does what he likes ; some talk, some
play ; after cards a supper together, and sometimes
a ball follows ... a very agreeable place to stay in.
I omitted to mention one of the best qualities of the
Milanese : they are not at all jealous. I do not know
how it is that they manage to avoid one of the chief
Italian characteristics."

By Caserta the Baron moved on to the Court of Victor
Amadeus, the first King of Sardinia. His wife was
Madame's step-daughter. Both their daughters, the
Queen of Spain, the first wife of Philip V, and the charm
ing Duchess of Burgundy, such a short time Dauphine,
were now dead.
The Baron paid assiduous court to all the Royal
Family, and was very well received by them. EspeciaUy
was he struck with the Princess of Carignano, wife of
the first Prince of the Blood, and a daughter of
Louis XIV, who was very gracious to him, but left
soon after his arrival to join her husband in Paris. The
Court at Turin was not duU. Cercle at six or seven,
in full court dress in the Queen's apartments, then at
the Queen-mother's, Madame Royale. After that the
nobility assembled at the Princess de ViUafranca's for
play — many tables of ombre, lansquenet, etc.
" I was very lucky at play, as indeed I had been
during the whole of my Italian journey. I paid the
expenses of that journey entirely by play, so that when
I crossed the mountains I had still some two hundred
pistoles in my pocket to the good."
There were many foreigners at Turin, in the King's
service. The lieutenant-general of the army was
Count Schulemburg, whom Pollnitz had known at
Dresden,

THE VAGRANT 261
" The young men here seem less frivolous than else
where. I do not know if they are any wiser, but they
seem to be, at least in public. Had I any advice to give
the father of a family, it would be to send his sons here
to the Academy ; I doubt if there is a better one in
Europe, as much on account of the fencing-master as for
the way in which the young men are managed. They
are lodged, fed, and taught in every kind of science and
exercises. They are divided into two classes : one only
studies law ; these pay less ; but all must be gentlemen.
They are only allowed out once a week, on a certain day ;
but they may go to Court, or go anywhere, except into
the gambling-houses."
This hardly seems to fall into line with Pollnitz's
self-confessed gambling propensities ; but we must re
member that, at the period, a line was drawn between
pubhc gambling and card-playing in society, though
the stakes at the latter were often enormous. Gambhng
in society was considered a pastime, and not a vice.
DaUy the Baron promenaded on the Esplanade,
between the city and the Citadel —
" Where there were very fine avenues, and one often
met very pretty people. The air here is exceeding
good, and aU the fair Piedmontese are very lively and
are born with much intelligence. I was very sorry to
leave them, but it is a necessary evil , one needs must
when the order is pressing."
The Baron tells the story of an adventure that made
much stir at the Sardinian Court. The lover of a very
beautiful maid of honour was in despair at being
repulsed, and threatened to kiU himself. " Well,
Monsieur, do so ! " she exclaimed. " I don't care ! "
So he determined to give her a fright. Hurrying from
her presence, he bought a bladder full of blood, and
secreted it under his shirt. Then he returned to plead
his cause once more. Upon receiving the same reply,

262 A VAGABOND COURTIER
he again exclaimed : " You want to kiU me, Made-
moiseUe ! Then I will satisfy you ! "
And, plunging his sword through the bladder, fell as
if dead.
The young lady screamed for help, terrified at the
blood. But the young man, when they raised him,
showed no signs that the sacrifice he had made cost
him much. What was far worse for him was that
Madame Royale was immediately informed, and had the
young man taught a lesson of how to behave in her
anteroom, by having him shut up in a castle near Turin
for two years.
Paris-ward bound, the Baron approached, by way of
Susa, in fear and trembling, " the terrible Mont Cenis,"
and prepared to cross it. The day foUowing —
" I had my post-chaise taken to pieces, and, with my
boxes, loaded on mules ; then I seated myself in a sort
of arm-chair, and two men, reheved from time to time
by two others, carried me over in five hours. When
I reached the summit of the mountain I halted, hoping
to see a great stretch of country ; but the only view
was of a fine meadow and a large lake, and fields, which
afford exceUent pasturage. On the top of Mont Cenis
there was also an inn, where the muleteers and porters
refreshed themselves. It is the most dismal spot in
the world ; and is really in the midst of a frightful
desert, always covered with snow for at least nine
months of the year. One thing must be noted, that,
in the midst of such a solitude, and surrounded by
people one does not know, one never has anything
stolen." At Lansleburg the Baron's chaise was put together
again, as the coach road began, and he drove to Cham-
bery. " The road is buried in mountains and rocks, and one
sees precipices that give one a fright. There are indeed

THE VAGRANT 263
railings, but these are so shght that they could not stop
a chaise. I saw a cart drawn by four horses faU over
one of these precipices ; the horses were kUled, and the
cart and its entire load, which consisted of china and
mirrors belonging to the Princess of Carignano, broken
in pieces. The driver, though the loss of his cart was
not his fault, wanted to kill himself ; he drew his knife
and was about to stab himself, if my postilhon and
others had not prevented him doing so."
Chambery, the capital of Savoy, Pollnitz found a
pleasant old town, with many nobles, who, though
impecunious, kept a good table, and were sociable.
The ladies were beautiful, the men well made, and the
common people quiet and polite, and " on the whole,
the Savoyards are nice folk. They are, indeed, accused
of being too economical . . . but when, with small means,
you have to keep up your position, you must do the
best you can with your housekeeping."
The Baron went on to Geneva, and was very in
terested in the little Repubhc, " mistress, as it thinks
itself, of its lake, as Venice of the Adriatic ! . . . and
existing by virtue of the jealousy of the neighbouring
sovereigns," yet maintaining fortifications, arsenal,
militia — all useless, he thought, if one of these rulers did
reaUy attack the city, and another did not come to its
assistance. As to the houses, furniture, and stuffs,
there was even a decree of the Senate which forbade the
using of gold on them, " apparently in fear lest the
luxury which ruined the old Roman Republic should
cause a similar decadence in this little State. ... In
matters of religion the Genevese are very careful to
tolerate no other sect than the Reformed Rehgion."
As for the merchants, the Baron has not a good word
to say for them, for he had a little difficulty with one
who had been pointed out to him as the most important
of his class, but who gave him " a poor opinion of their
honesty." When he was leaving Geneva he had some four

264 A VAGABOND COURTIER
hundred pistoles in old, or Spanish money, which was
not allowed to pass in France. He was advised to get
rid of these in exchange for a biU on Lyons. With
" the most honest banker in Geneva," to whom he had
been sent, he stipulated that, under no circumstances
whatever, should he be paid in paper money in Lyons,
as notes had already much depreciated. The banker
gave a verbal promise in reply to this appeal, and added
that, should the Lyons banker refuse to convert the bill
of exchange into hard cash, he would do so himself if
Pollnitz returned it to him.
The Baron believed his word, and started with but a
httle cash for the travelhng expenses. On reaching
Lyons the banker there refused to pay him except in
notes, saying that he was in no way bound by the ar
rangement the other in Geneva had made. So Pollnitz
returned the bill of exchange to Geneva, as he had
settled. " It was such a long time before any reply came that
I thought I was on the way to lose both notes and coin,
and was, in consequence, in rather a sad predicament, as
the small sum I had kept for my journey to Lyons was
soon spent. But, at the end of three weeks, the Geneva
banker returned his bill of exchange, denying that
he had ever arranged to pay it except in currency,
which was notes."
Pollnitz had to make the best of a bad bargain, took
the notes, and started for Paris by post.

CHAPTER XVIII
" During the ministry of Law," writes a contemporary,
" there have been nothing but notorious and arrant
cheatings, a general upheaval of the State, and the
ruin of nearly aU the private bonds. ... It is a game of
thimble-rig which lasted two years, in order to draw all
the money of the kingdom into the royal coffers."
The slump had come in Paris, and that in spite of the
Regent's bolstering up of Law. In eight months he
had issued thirty-eight decrees arbitrarily fixing the
value of the billet d'etat. But he could not stave off
the catastrophe.
Madame grew uneasy.
" The Regent gave another large sum of money, but
financial difficulties are rife. The offices of the Missis
sippi Company are crowded with shareholders anxious
to turn their paper into gold. They are suspicious of
notes, though only a few weeks before they had realized
enormous sums by speculations in this same paper."
In May 1720 she writes that —
" The Regent issued a decree to restrain the panic,
but which only increased it; also the feeling of inse
curity, for it reduced the Mississippi shares and bank
notes to half their nominal value. The population
hates Law."
A week later —
" My son has been obhged to withdraw Law from his
post. Once that man was looked upon as a god, now
265

266 A VAGABOND COURTIER
his life is hardly safe, and they have been obhged to
give him a company of the Guards to protect him from
the fury of the mob. . . . The goldsmiths decline to work,
and sell all their goods at three times their proper value
because of the bank-note business. I have often wished
that a big bonfire could be made of these notes, for they
are a cause of great trouble to my son, and it would be
impossible to explain to you all the mischief they have
wrought in this country. . . . According to the universal
rumours everything is going on as badly here as possible.
I wish that Law and his system were with the devU,
and that he had never set foot in France."
In the middle of July the Bank suspended payment
after several days' run. The Regent revoked the
decree, " but the people were angry with him for the
edict." Her ladies came rushing in to Madame a few
days later, to teU her that the mob had invaded the
gardens of the Palais Royal, bringing with them the
bodies of three men trampled to death in front of the
Bank during the run. Law had to fly in disguise, his
coach smashed up. Madame, at S. Cloud, received
letters threatening to burn the Palais Royal. " My
son was much beloved. Since the advent of that
accursed Law he has been hated."
It was to this state of things that PoUnitz returned
in the summer. The notes went down daUy. Law
had scattered eight millions' worth of paper among the
public ; it was more than the Bank had in cash. The
Regent had, indeed, paid off one biUion of debts, but
France was ruined.
" It was now," writes Pollnitz, " that the term ' to
realize ' became the favourite catchword of the time . . .
most private people tried to change their notes, not
for money, which seemed to have hidden itself in the
bowels of the earth, but for real articles ; some bought
diamonds, some silver plate, others goods ; in short,
the most prudent got rid of their paper. Nobles became

THE VAGRANT 267
merchants. The Due de la Force opened a large shop
of coffee, candles, groceries, and the like, to sell again. . . .
In this crisis of the reduction of notes I reached Paris.
This city was then like a wood in which one only hears
talk of robbers and murders. Indeed, the ease with
which many people carry their fortune in their pocket-
book is a great temptation to thieves. Madame writes
of the " disordered hfe of Paris, every day more horrible
and detestable. Every time it thunders I tremble for
this city."
A story is told of how the depreciation of the shares
obsessed every one. A doctor was called to the bedside
of a sick lady. As he sat there some one remarked that
the Mississippi shares had fallen stiU lower. Now the
doctor held a great many, and was so startled that,
even when feehng his patient's pulse, he kept muttering
to himself : " Going down, down, down ! "
The poor woman began to moan, " So I am surely
dying, doctor ? "
But the doctor awoke from his reverie, looked up, and
said : " Your pulse is regular. I was thinking of the
Mississippi shares ! "
Yet, despite the lack of money, luxury, dissipation,
gambling had reached their extreme height and " the
young profligates went to the most frightful excess in
order to seize something to satisfy them." The murder,
for filthy lucre, by a young Count Horn, of very dis
tinguished family, of a poor clerk who earned his living
by jobbing shares, threw a lurid hght on the depravity
of Paris. The Regent refused to pardon Horn, and he
and his accomplices were executed.
The appearance of the plague at Marseilles added
another disaster to poor France. The Baron was at
the Regent's levee when the announcement of the bad
news spread consternation among the Duke's boon
companions and cronies, the due de Saint-Simon, the
Cardinal de Polignac, the Marquis de Nesle, the Abbe
de Grancy, his chaplain, d'Effiat, and de Conflans.

268 A VAGABOND COURTIER
But the scare " was soon forgotten," writes the Baron,
" and people gave themselves up more than ever to
pleasure, good living, gallantry, and so on. Only gamb
ling seemed to suffer a little, because ready money was
necessary for it, notes having only a fictitious value. . . .
As for business, if notes were refused there was no sale ;
so either alternative was ruinous to trade."
Pollnitz passed the worst of this terrible time at a
friend's country-house near Orleans, and suffered but
vicariously from the appalhng state of things. He only
returned to Paris to prepare for his journey to Spain,
and went by way of Lyons and Languedoc, in order to
pay visits to different friends on their estates, passing
from Lyons to Vienne, and then over the Rhone again
by the Vivarez to a chateau near Nimes, where he
stayed a month, " and saw the famous arena which is
the precious remains of Roman antiquity." (Is he
aUuding to that at Aries ?)
Thence he went to Montpellier. People had just
begun to discover the Sunny South, the Cote d'Azur.
The Baron spent some time at this fashionable place,
the forerunner of the Riviera health resorts, " in my
opinion one of the most agreeable cities of the Kingdom,
and the one in which, after Paris, there is the most
beau-monde." He found it charmingly situated, not
far from the sea, surrounded by very fertile valleys,
which make pretty views ; the houses iU-built, but
inside very clean and weU furnished. The streets were
so narrow as to be difficult for carriages, and our Baron
was carried about in a sedan-chair, and admired the
beautiful environs, the promenades on the sea-shore,
in the tree-shaded square, and on the terrace under the
great equestrian statue of Louis XIV.
Of Beziers he quotes the local saying : " If God
wished to choose a dwelling-place on earth, He would
chose Beziers." He had heard that the aristocracy
were renowned for having more mind and better
manners than those anywhere else. But the Baron's
experience in different Courts of people who hailed

THE VAGRANT 269
from Beziers gave him another opinion, " for they were
indeed the most frivolous in the world."
By Castelnaudry he went to Toulouse, pleased with
Languedoc, " no province in France pleasanter to
travel in," fine roads, and good inns, weU supplied, and
very reasonable. The streets of their capital were very
iU-kept, but the Toulaisians very witty, " though, un
fortunately, they know it, which is a pity for them."
Pohte to strangers, PoUnitz had never been better
entertained at table ; " they all had cheerful sallies."
As with the Irish, probably, —
" The accent of the dialect, especially among the
women, gives a certain charm to all they say, and makes
the commonest remarks seem witty. The little songs
and ballads are also racy ; every one makes them, and,
if these are not equally good, they are always quite as
weU received by reason of the knack displayed in
making them appreciated."
Then on to Pau. At that day it consisted of but one
long street, with the very old castle at the end, and out
side the gates on that side a thick wood on a terrace,
which formed a magnificent promenade with views of
the Pyrenees, and of a wide valley divided by a beauti
ful river, and strewn with villages.
Then, by diligence, over bad roads, with detestable
inns, Pollnitz passed to the Spanish-looking old city
of Bayonne.
His first care on arrival was to call upon the Com
mandant, a French Canadian, of the King's Normandy
regiment, who had been rapidly promoted by the Regent
at the beginning of the war with Spain. As he was not
at Bayonne at the time, the Baron was civiUy received
by bis deputy, one Dadoncourt, appointed by the
Regent as a man he could rely upon. Pollnitz informed
him that he meditated crossing into Spain, and Dadon
court informed him that he could do as he pleased, and
that he saw no hindrance to his going. The next day
he caUed on the Baron, and invited him to dinner.

270 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The company did not seem well assorted, and there
was conversation which displeased Pollnitz very much.
At his first meeting with Dadoncourt PoUnitz had
spoken to him of a visit he had paid to the Comte de
S  , in Languedoc. During dinner Dadoncourt re
ferred to this visit more than once, and confessed that
he was much surprised that the Regent had set S 
at hberty, instead of cutting off his head as he deserved.
" ' Yes, indeed,' he added, with a vehemence to
which I think wine had contributed not a httle, ' His
Royal Highness has been too lenient ; aU the swine
who had dared to wallow in the affair of Prince CeUa
mare ought to have had their heads cut off ! '
" I was much astonished at the man's vehemence,
and gently pointed out to him that the Regent had dis
played a great deal of prudence in his conduct, and
that it would have been too cruel to kill people of
position, whose blood would, perhaps, have found an
avenger. " ' Well, Monsieur,' he replied, ' what could they have
done ? The Due d'Orleans was sure of his troops, his
fortresses, every one would certainly have taken his
part in the provinces ; I myself should have hung the
first gentleman who stirred.'
" Seeing that I had to do with a redoubtable sateUite,
and moreover perceiving that he was in his cups, I
left him free scope to exaggerate the devotion that he
pretended to have for the Regent, promising myself
not to see any more of a man with such sanguinary
sentiments." After dinner Pollnitz proceeded to an audience with
the Dowager Queen of Spain, the widow of Charles II
and sister of his jovial host at Heidelberg, the Elector
Palatine, and of the late Empress Eleanor. During her
husband's last years she had worked zealously for the
German succession to the throne of Spain, as against
that of France. When she had finaUy been worsted,

THE VAGRANT 271
and Louis XIV was sending his grandson Philip to take
possession of the Spanish Crown, the wise old monarch,
in the instructions he drew up for the young King's
guidance, had specially warned him against Maria
Anna and her intrigues.
" Have no dealing with the Queen-Dowager that you
can avoid. Arrange that she leaves Madrid, but does
not quit Spain. Whatever place she may be in, have
her conduct watched, and prevent her meddling in any
business. Suspect all who have any dealings with
her." When Elizabeth Farnese had come to Spain seven
years before, Maria Anna went from Bayonne to Pau
to meet the niece who was to sit upon the throne from
which fate had driven her, a childless widow. Though
poor and in exile, she had brought the bride an offering
of pearls and diamonds and a magnificent carriage.
Perhaps she hoped, through Ehzabeth's influence, to
be permitted to return to Spain. " The two Queens
spent a pleasant twelve days together," Elizabeth in no
hurry to meet the uxorious, jealous Philip, who was
to treat her hke a prisoner. Aunt and niece " hunted
and danced together, they slept in the same room at
uncomfortably close quarters ; the old Queen would
sing, while her niece played the clavecin." No doubt
they discussed the political situation, and the necessity
of ousting from her position of chief favourite and
virtual ruler of Spain, Madame des Ursins, who had
been instrumental in keeping Maria Anna in exile.
The Dowager saw her niece as far as the frontier.
" Elizabeth Farnese has been criticized for not allow
ing her aunt to return to Spain. Leave was more than
once granted, and, according to the custom, certain
towns assigned as a residence. But she was never
satisfied with the suggestions of others, and was one of
those unhappy, middle-aged ladies whom nobody
wants. Between Ehzabeth, her mother and her

272 A VAGABOND COURTIER
aunt, there is much acrimonious correspondence upon
the subject, and the Duke of Parma is pathetic in his
terror at her design of retiring to his capital. The
widow of Charles II had not borne a good name in
Spain ; and she seemed ultimately to have consoled
herself by marrying secretly a French commercial
traveller. Yet she was a kindly, hospitable soul. . . ."
Elizabeth Farnese, having ousted, not only Madame
des Ursins, but also Cardinal Alberoni, to whom she
owed her crown, reigned supreme in Spain, fighting
the Emperor and the French for her children's interests
with the tenacity and the fury of a tigress. Maria
Anna had, of course, been in the opposite camp, a close
correspondent of " Madame " her kinswoman, worrying
the latter " with commissions, compliments, and peti
tions for bishoprics and captaincies of the guards,
pensions, and abbeys for her favourites. But she
worked for the good understanding of my son with the
King of Spain."
For the last nine years the poor Dowager had lived
at Bayonne, under the eye of the French, and not
aUowed either to return to Madrid or to go back to her
native land. Pollnitz found her in her palace, " which
was nothing more than a rather poor house." The
equerry took him to a waiting-room, whence he was
conducted to the Duchess of Liguares, the Queen's lady-
in-waiting, who was very civU, but, as she could only
speak Spanish, conversation was impossible. She could
but make signs, and the Baron reply by many bows.
Happily, each was rid of the other by Pollnitz being
ushered into the Queen's presence.
She was dressed in black, in Spanish fashion, and
received the Baron standing, alone in her room, though
divers maids of honour, also in mantiUas, peeped through
the half-open door.
The Queen was very gracious to Pollnitz, and evi
dently was dehghted to meet a German so weU ac
quainted with the native land she had always loved,

THE VAGRANT 273
and with so many of her relations. She asked for news
of the Elector and of the Princes, her brothers, and
Polhiitz was able to give her plenty. After an audience
which, lasting over an hour, must have been a welcome
break to the poor, proud, lonely old lady, eating her
heart out in monotonous semi-captivity, he was dis
missed, and kneeling, kissed, according to Spanish
custom, the Queen's hands.
Next day, and for several days after, Pollnitz paid
his respects to Maria Anna, sometimes when she went
to mass at the Capuchins' convent, or at that of the
Franciscans, where she attended Benediction every
afternoon, and sometimes in a garden behind the house,
where she walked after dinner. She always talked to
him with " a delightful kindness and familiarity, very
pleased to be quit of ceremonial as uncomfortable for
her as for those admitted to her audience."
One day she asked him if he was not surprised to see
her so badly lodged, and with so poor a household. He
confessed he had been a little surprised that she had
not chosen the old castle in the town, which looked
more like a palace than the house she was in.
" But," she replied, " I have got used to my little
home, and I cannot make up my mind to leave it. I
retired here during the troubles between the House of
Austria and France, in order not to be obliged to see
so many people, which I must have done had I in
habited the castle. Every one coming to France, or to
Spain would, no doubt, have asked to see me ; all these
visits would infallibly have given umbrage to one of the
two Parties, and perhaps to both, and I had good
reasons to keep on good terms with them."
On another occasion Pollnitz spoke of Spain and
Germany, and took the liberty to inquire why the
Queen had chosen to stay at. Bayonne rather than in
either of these countries, where she would have had
more power, and have been attended by a larger number
of people of position.
I— 18

274 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" As for people of position," rephed the Queen, " I
do not care much about them. For royalty aU men are
equal ; they are only great the nearer they are to us,
and in proportion as we honour them with our trust.
A man you call a nobody, if I give him to-morrow an
appointment and admit him to my service, is, in my
eyes, as great a lord as if his forefathers had held the
same employment all their hves. As for hving in
Spain or Germany, I have strong reasons against it.
In Spain, I should be obhged to go into a convent,
which I should much dislike. In Germany, I should,
indeed, be among my own family, but the Court of
Spain would, perhaps, dislike my being there, and
would make trouble about my jointure, which I am
very glad to keep."
Pollnitz thought that, beside these reasons, her long
stay at Bayonne had made her like the place, and that
this sort of sohtude pleased her better than a large
Court, " where Princes and courtiers often bore each
other mutually."
The air of freedom about this httle Court, and the
kindness of the Queen in conversing with him so often,
induced Pollnitz, to his undoing, to defer his departure
for Spain from day to day. However, at last he seri
ously made up his mind to start. AU was ready, he
had but to take leave of the Queen, when an incident
occurred which made him hate his stay at Bayonne as
much as he had hitherto enjoyed it. Some jokes he
had imprudently made drew down upon him the wrath
of the Commandant, who took advantage of a specious
pretext to avenge himself.
The Queen was under the thumb of a woman named
Laborde, " of somewhat free maimers," the widow of
a shopkeeper, but who had since secretly married the
Queen's major-domo. This woman had wormed herself
into the favour of Maria Anna, who saw her daily.
She allowed her to be seated in her presence, which so
turned her head that she quite forgot her origin, and,

TOE VAGRANT 275
putting on the airs of a princess, was hated not only
by the Court, but also by all Bayonne. The Com
mandant was the only person friendly to her, and he
only because, having arrived at Bayonne in rather low
water, he had been obhged to have recourse to the
assistance of the kind and generous Queen, which he
succeeded in doing through Laborde.
Now the odd figure of the Commandant, and the
peculiar style of dress affected by Laborde, furnished an
inexhaustible fund of amusement to the little Court,
sorely in need of enlivening. It was, of course, im
possible that a humorist like Pollnitz, who had a real
talent for seeing the funny side of things, should not add
his quota to fun.
" It was impossible to keep from laughing at the
sight, on one hand, of the frizzled old head of the Com
mandant — commonly dubbed 'The Eternal Father,' and,
on the other, of this Dame Laborde, usually attired in
three or four different- coloured dressing-gowns, one on
top of the other, one shorter than the other; her favourite
headdress soiled mob-caps, poppy red ; further, she
wore at her side a huge bouquet of flowers, fastened
by a flame-coloured ribbon ; and, on the other, the
portrait of some saint or other, also fastened by a flame-
coloured bow. A little lackey, as funny as his mistress,
held up the taUs of aU these dresses."
At a supper-party the Baron was unwise enough
to make some rather witty jokes over this charming
couple. The Commandant was told of it, and Pollnitz
was warned by a German Franciscan, the Queen's
confessor, that he intended to arrest him.
As Pollnitz felt quite innocent of any crime, he
thought the warning was only intended to frighten him.
However, he went to Dadoncourt, and told him about
it. The latter took God to witness that there was no
such plan afoot, and that Pollnitz could leave whenever
he liked. He had, however, no sooner returned to his

276 A VAGABOND COURTIER
inn than the provost-marshal of the fortress entered,
with two soldiers with bayonets on their muskets, and
told the Baron that he arrested him in the King's Name,
and that he was ordered to take him and his valet to the
citadel. He demanded the keys of Pollnitz's trunks,
all his papers, and put his baggage in charge of the
landlord.

CHAPTER XIX
On being taken to the citadel, Pollnitz was locked into
one room and his valet into another. When supper was
brought him in the evening he asked for paper and ink
to write to the Commandant to inquire the reason of
his arrest. Also he asked for leave to write to France
to the Regent, and to his friends.
The Commandant rephed next day that Pollnitz's
statements to him, in the presence of witnesses, about
his friendship with the Comte de S  showed him that
Pollnitz might quite possibly have been implicated in
CeUamare's conspiracy. He, therefore, considered it
his duty to detain him, pending a reply to a letter that
he had written to the Court, and ended his letter with
assurances of friendship and protestations of desire to
serve him.
Under these circumstances there was nothing to be
done but to await developments. The Baron stayed
in bed as much as possible for the next few days, and
whUed away the time in sleep, for when he was awake
he racked his restless brain with useless schemes for
extricating himself from this predicament.
After a few days an officer, with a sergeant and four
men with fixed bayonets, entered his room. He bade
Pollnitz foUow him to the Major of the citadel, who was
ordered to interrogate him. The Baron deemed it
wisest to be very docile. The Major, who was seated
in a chair, was very civil, apologizing for not rising,
as he was ill with the gout and could not move. He
asked Pollnitz all sorts of questions about himself, to
which he received very laconic replies. Then the
prisoner was taken back to his room.
277

278 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Two days later his valet was set at liberty and allowed
to wait upon him, and a German Capuchin, Father
Thomas, was ordered to visit him. These favours
raised poor Pollnitz's hopes, and " every time I heard
the key turned I thought my captivity had come to an
end," and that orders had come from the Due d'Orleans
to set him free.
But it was quite the contrary. Dadoncourt wrote
him a note to say that he had been ordered to keep him
in yet stricter confinement. This he did, and even, in
Pollnitz's opinion, overdid. The valet was removed ;
FatherThomas came no more, and "it was not the Duke's
fault that I did not die of hunger and cold." His pro
visions were reduced by half, his fuel entirely cut off,
lest he should burn down the citadel. In reply to a
letter of remonstrance on the subject, the Commandant
only said that a Prussian should not feel the cold in
Guienne, " adding impertinently that, if I was reaUy
cold, he advised me to stay in bed."
Nor was this all. Dadoncourt forbade the Bank
to cash the few notes which Pollnitz had left him,
fearing apparently lest, having ready money, he should
attempt to bribe his guards. Further, he so abused
bis authority as to have Pollnitz's baggage, which had
been left at the inn, sold to pay his biU there. He would
not aUow him to send any one to attend the sale on
his behaff, and the things were bought by Dadoncourt's
valet at an eighth part of their value.
Very enraged by this treatment, the irate Baron
wrote several letters, to the Due d'Orleans, to M. Le
Blanc, Minister of War, and sent them to the post at
Acqs, by a soldier whom he bribed with money through
a chink in the door. AU this produced no result. It
was the same with a letter to the Queen of Spain, " who
looked upon me as a state prisoner, and would not
take an interest in me." This last failure put poor
Pollnitz into such a state of despair and melancholy
that he feU iU, " and they were cruel enough to refuse
me a doctor."

THE VAGRANT 279
At this time the Baron de Montbel chanced to pass
through Bayonne on his way to Spain. French by
birth, he had taken refuge at the Prussian Court upon
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and had been
a captain in the regiment of guards commanded by
Pollnitz's father. Hearing that the son was shut up in
the Citadel " he asked permission to visit me." Dadon
court refused point-blank. Montbel asked that, at
least, he might send his compliments by Pollnitz's
valet. This was allowed, but only to add another
insult. On entering the citadel the valet was searched
from head to foot to see if he were carrying any letter
from the Baron. As he denied that he had any letter
on him, he was clapped into the cells and told that he
should stay there for the rest of his life unless he con
fessed to have given letters to his master.
Pollnitz was reaUy in a very sad phght : arrested
under false pretences, suffering cold and hunger, and
deprived of all help from a Princess from whom he had
hoped so much. Under such a persecution he fell into
a state of melancholy from which he roused into such
paroxysms of anger that he thought he should go off
his head. Happily he ended " by arguing that, to die
of grief was the greatest folly I could commit," and
phUosophicaUy making up his mind " to pass his time
tranquiUy in the citadel till the majority of Louis XV."
Just as he had become accustomed to the solitude
and silence — for a man of his temperament the hardest
things he had to bear — on January 31st Dadoncourt's
valet came to inform him that he was free. He said
that his master had orders to send him out of the citadel,
but that, as it was late, he begged him to spend the night
there, and on the morrow to go where he chose. Pollnitz
agreed, but next morning Dadoncourt went back on
what he had said, sending to ask when PoUnitz was
going to Spain, as he had orders not to let him stay in
Bayonne. Pollnitz sent back word to say that he could not
leave without discounting his bank-notes, the only

280 A VAGABOND COURTIER
money he had, and adding that, if he were not to be
allowed to cash them himself, he asked at least to be
allowed to go to Holland, where he would find friends
and relations to help him.
Dadoncourt replied haughtily that he was neither
a banker nor money-changer, that Pollnitz could not
remain in the citadel, as his (Dadoncourt's) orders were
that he was to leave it ; and, finaUy, that he could not
let him go to Holland, as his orders were to send him
across to Spain. The impertinent, famihar style of
this reply further enraged the Baron, who saw himself
obhged to start for Spain with only a ragged staff in
his hand.
Happily, Father Thomas came to the rescue and
provided forty pistoles for two thousand louis in bank
notes. His baggage did not cause Pollnitz much
trouble ; Dadoncourt, as we have shown, had seen to
that. As the journey to Spain was considered a matter
of the greatest urgency, Pollnitz was given a guard to
the frontier. There he was shown the orders from the
Court, a letter addressed to Dadoncourt by Le Blanc,
Minister of War.
" His Royal Highness is quite willing, Monsieur, to
grant his liberty to the Sieur Baron de Pollnitz, now
detained in the Citadel of Bayonne, on condition that
he leaves the kingdom, and that is why I beg you to
have him escorted to the frontier of Spain."
Unless, as Pollnitz himself suggests, the whole
affair was the result of the frizzle-headed old Com
mandant's personal spite, it is inexphcable. For PoU
nitz had left Paris only a few months before on the
best terms with the Regent, having been present at his
levees. Moreover, the intelligence between France and
Spain was daily growing better, and the former was
unlikely to stir up the dead embers of the CeUamare plot.
Pollnitz crossed the mountains to Pampeluna, finding
" the passes of the Pyrenees very different to those of
the Alps." But everywhere he found —

THE VAGRANT 281
" Detestable inns, which looked like robbers' caves.
The inhabitants of these mountains have a something
about their faces which alarms the traveller. I found
myself obhged to spend the night with my valet in a
drinking-shop with about a score of these folk ; we
made up our minds not to go to sleep, and I think we
were wise, for these mountaineers looked hke real
cut-throats. I left this humble halting-place as early
as I could, reaching Pampeluna by evening. I alighted
at the inn pointed out to me as the best in the town,
but which I found as bad as those I had come across on
my way from Bayonne. The bread, the wine, the meat,
the bed, was aU horrible. But, as life seemed to me more
secure than in the mountain taverns, I made up for the
night that I had sat up by sleeping the sleep of the just
till the morrow."
PoUnitz caUed upon the Viceroy of Navarre, the
Prince of CasteUane, and explained his plight to him.
The Prince was very civil and sympathetic, and offered
Pollnitz anything he required. As to the latter's treat
ment at the hands of the Commandant he was not sur
prised. PoUnitz was not the only one who had suffered,
and the Prince said that he did not understand how the
Regent could allow the injustice which was perpetrated
in Bayonne to go on. He suggested to Pollnitz to write
an exact account of what he had gone through. " Even
if it does not bring you any reparation, I am sure it
wiU bring down a lecture upon the Commandant."
Pollnitz followed the Viceroy's advice, but —
" I had been painted in such black colours to the
Regent and the Minister that, not content with leaving
my letters unanswered, they wrote to M. de M  ,
the French charge d'affaires at Madrid, to do all he
could against me. The latter faithfully carried out
his orders, not only from obedience to his Prince, but
also on account of the pleasure it gave him to do
harm."

282 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The Viceroy showed the sights of Pampeluna to
Pollnitz, and they walked outside the town, " which is
in a very fine position," and recently more strongly
fortified by Cardinal Alberoni. Then Pollnitz went on
his way to Madrid, " along an unpleasant road, through
an arid land, with here and there dilapidated villages,
and, what was worse, inns where one could hardly find
enough to hve upon."
On entering Castille it was worse. The rooms were
poorly furnished, one was obhged to provide one's own
food, and to prepare it. However, it was cheap enough,
and Pollnitz went through the country without meeting
with any misadventure, which was not a httle sur
prising, as murders and robberies were very common
in Spain.
The entrance to Madrid struck him as having a
fictitious resemblance to that of Rome by the Porta
del Popolo. But the resemblance did not last long.
Three bifurcating streets led to the heart of the city,
and Pollnitz took one which led him to the Plaza di
S. Domingo, where he had been told of a French inn.
As he was getting out of his post-chaise he found
himself warmly embraced by a man he had known
in the service of King Stanislaus of Poland, and later
at Paris. He had been obhged to fly thence from the
hands of justice, having been accused of the robbery
and murder of an Abbe, and in his absence he had been
executed in effigy. Having found his way to Madrid,
then the Alsatia for Frenchmen, he had changed his
name from Le G  to that of the Baron D — — .
Pollnitz instantly recognized him when he approached
to greet him, but, remembering the affair in Paris,
did not respond, and feigned not to know him.
" What ! are you not the Baron de Pollnitz ? Don't
you remember seeing me in Berlin, and also at Hanover,"
etc., the man continued, and recalled the past, and his
stay in Paris.
Pollnitz remained on the defensive, but graduaUy,
weary of his reminiscences, he let the man see that he

THE VAGRANT 283
recollected him faintly, called him by the name of
several people whom they had met, and, finally, " after
much apparent groping, I decided to give him pleasure,
and exclaimed hesitatingly : ' But, Monsieur, might
you be M. le G  ? ' "
" At this the man changed countenance, coloured,
and withdrew without a reply, and I proceeded to
look for a room. When I came down in the evening
to supper at the table d'hote, I found some officers there
who had seen M. le G  speaking to me. They in
quired who he was, and I, unaware that he had changed
his name, made no bones about saying that he was
Le G  . No sooner had I mentioned the name than
one of the company exclaimed : ' Eh ! Morbleu !
It's Abbe V  's murderer ! What ! a man like that
asking for an apartment here ! '
" I then saw that I had made a mistake in men
tioning Le G  's name, but, at the same time, I thought
that Le G  had made a worse by placing me under
the necessity of doing so. I tried to explain away what
I had said, but no one would listen. Every one was
enlarging on the story of the pretended Baron's flight
from France, and, in the end, it was spread about
that he left Madrid, and went, it is said, to Portugal,
where he did well."
The Baron had not long been at Madrid ere he found
old acquaintance. The day after his arrival no less
than twenty officers, French and German, whom he had
known at different Courts, came to call upon him. The
discovery of Cellamare's plot had driven many French
men across the frontier, besides others who had been
implicated in the abortive risings in Brittany, and who
were ruined.
" These were received in Spain as men who had
sacrificed everything for King Philip. Cardinal
Alberoni had made them all colonels, without even

284 A VAGABOND COURTIER
knowing if they had ever served. Others, who had
abandoned larger estates, were so unfortunate as to be
the least rewarded."
At his hostel Pollnitz found the Baron de Montbel,
who had taken so many steps, though in vain, to in
quire after his health when he was incarcerated in the
citadel of Bayonne. In fact Pollnitz soon found " even
more acquaintances than I wished for, as I had not
come here to amuse myself, but to seek employment."
His first care was to be presented to the King and Queen.
His audience with the former was secret. " The pubhc
audiences are for people of small account, and are held
in the presence of the grandees, the King merely reply
ing to the petitions presented to him by a ' I will see.
I'll attend to it.' "
Then the private secretary, who is the introducer,
announced a private audience ; the grandees retired,
and the doors of the hall were closed. Pollnitz found
the King alone in his room. Philip was now middle-
aged and had grown very stout and indolent. The
Baron made him three genuflexions, and, as he ap
proached the King, knelt down. He told His Most
Christian Majesty that, having heard of his great piety
and zeal for the Catholic Faith, he thought he could do
no better than to throw himself at his feet and offer
his humble services ; he mentioned how he had in
curred his sovereign's displeasure, and lost aU hope of
serving with comfort in his own land, because of the
New Religion which he had embraced. He laid before
Phihp the attestation signed by Cardinal NoaiUes, and
also the letter of the King of Prussia, appointing him
gentleman of the chamber, which appointment would,
doubtless, but for his change of religion, have been
confirmed. The King looked at both, and then gave
them back to him, saying : "I will attend to what
you ask, and I will send to you soon." PoUnitz then
{)resented a memorial he had in his pocket, rose, and
eft the room backwards, with three genuflexions.

THE VAGRANT 285
Now that she had driven away Alberoni, the
stepping-stone by which she had reached her present
high position, it was Elizabeth Farnese — the homme-
femme, de NoaiUes called her — who ruled Spain, and who
was the fountain of favours. Philip had been but as
wax in her hands from the first moment he set eyes
upon his graceful young bride, brimming over with
life and spirits, the exact opposite of himself. Though
Alberoni's far-flung schemes for the aggrandisement of
Spain had faUed, because too impracticable, Spain was
reaping the fruit of his wiser internal administration.
She was at peace again, in a better condition than her
neighbours, and her alliance was courted. Elizabeth,
" veritablement une femme furieuse," said d'Argenson,
was scheming to estabhsh her sons in what had been
the Spanish possessions in Italy, and in her own duchy
of Parma, when the male hne should die out ; she was
now beginning to feel hopeful of success. Pollnitz
knew that he must plead his cause with Elizabeth.
He was introduced by the major-domo. He found
the Queen, tall and thin, innocent of rouge, dressed
ready to go hunting with the King. Her riding
habit set off her fine figure, and she was a good sports
woman, a good shot, bringing down game, large and
smaU, from her saddle. In a uniform of blue and silver
she had ridden compaigning with the King during the
war in Navarre.
A few ladies were present at the interview, and
through an open door Pollnitz caught sight of the Prince
of the Asturias and the other royal children. The
marriage of Philip and Elizabeth was a model one ;
their Court set an example to all others in Europe, and
maternal instinct was very strong in " the termagant
of Spain."
To the Queen Pollnitz repeated the same words that
he had used to the King, " and she replied kindly that
it would always be a pleasure to do anything for me
that lay in her power." But it is doubtful if, despite the
Palatine influence (her mother was a Neuburg) which,

286 A VAGABOND COURTIER
doubtless, the Baron brought to bear, that he was the
kind of man to appeal particularly to this masculine,
straightforward, rather bluff and very outspoken lady,
who hated every kind of affectation, her only weakness
being that of taking snuff.
However, Pollnitz thought that he had started well
at the Spanish Court. But the next thing was to find
some hard cash ; for, as we know, he had but httle
with him, and nothing on which he could raise any
money, and, if he was to go much into society, he would
soon come to an end of his supplies. But the favourable
welcome of the King and Queen raised his hopes ; he
found old friends, made new ones, had luck at cards —
which he thought a good omen — aU of which enabled
him to make his appearance with a certain air of pros
perity. The Ministers he found most civil ; they
were few of them Spaniards, for Spain did not seem
able to produce men of talent in administration, and
the courtiers held aloof from politics ; the government
really centred in Philip, which is to say, in Ehzabeth.
The Marquis Grimaldo, of Genoese extraction, an old
favourite of the King's, and Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
was busy on the French double marriages. He was
reputed an honest man, and one to be believed if he
declared that the King was interested in any one, as in
deed, he did declare to Pollnitz. Castelar, just made
Minister of War, Pollnitz thought the mostpohte minister
he had ever met ; " what was more, one who did not
delay in giving favours or refusals, and did both
pleasantly." Old Father Daubenton, the King's confessor, shared
with the Queen the ascendency over Phihp, and was, in
all but name, Prime Minister in Spain. He was for the
Italian party, as Grimaldo was for the French. Pollnitz
apphed to Daubenton, as to every one else, only to find
him haughty and very brusque where his own interests
were not concerned ; and he was angling for the Roman
Scarlet. " But he knew so well how to dissimulate that
pohteness, sometimes humihty, was depicted in his

THE VAGRANT 287
face ; one could not imagine any one more sincere."
Both the Regent and Alberoni had lured him with the
coveted hat, but the longed-for prize never came within
his grasp.
PoUnitz also waited on Cardinal Borgia, much in
royal favour. The butt of the Court, he was utterly
unsuited for his high ecclesiastical position ; he could
hardly read. Pollnitz found him too indolent to be of
any use. " I do not think there is any man who pos
sesses this characteristic to such an eminent degree."
He was very devout, but quite uneducated ; Pollnitz
was told that he did not know a word of Latin.
Our Baron left no stone unturned, and was indefatig
able in besieging aU and every one of influence with his
petitions. Then he began to see a gleam of sunhght.
Either his " numerous friends had indeed spoken for
him, or the King had been touched by what he had
suffered for his faith." Philip gave him a commission
as heutenant-colonel a la suite of the Sicilian regiment,
with a soldo vivo of about sixteen pistoles a month. The
soldo vivo was a concession, the result of recent reforms.
Not long before the Spanish army was only paid when
it fought ! The soldo vivo meant that, in peace, the pay
was the same as on active service. To Pollnitz it
seemed very good pay indeed. He found out that an
officer could live in his garrison upon it, and he began
to make plans of economizing, having learnt wisdom
by sad experience. With what came from home, and
with what he was to draw from Spain, he thought he
could do up his dilapidated carriage a little, and appear
in a more suitable manner, tiU better times dawned.
He went to offer his thanks to Their Majesties, speak
ing in German. Then he set off for Aragon, where his
regiment was quartered. But he soon had to return,
to ask for a httle present, tUl his pay came in, for he
had only reached Spain, as we know, with very httle
ready money. Some of his friends advised him to ask
boldly for a good sum down, or a salary on some mono
poly, because he could not depend upon his pay in

288 A VAGABOND COURTIER
order to live, " for in Spain," he says, " more than any
where else, this is often a year, and sometimes two or
three, in arrears, unless one bothers some Mmister, or
greases the Treasurer's palm."
This prospect somewhat alarmed PoUnitz. He saw
that, perhaps, his luck might be as bad in Spain as else
where. But he plucked up his courage and went to
the Minister of War, who sent him to Father Daubenton.
The latter told him that it was no affair of his. Pollnitz
knocked at every door ; they were shut in his face, or
opened without any good result. So he decided to
appeal direct to the King, and presented a petition
explaining his plight, caused by the fall in bank-notes,
and by the strange conduct of the Commandant at
Bayonne. He went to Aranjuez, the favourite residence of
Philip and Ehzabeth, and where the Court then was. It
was also Pollnitz's favourite resort during his stay in
Spain ; he enjoyed the beautiful gardens and the avenues
of Charles V on the borders of the Tagus.
The King's only reply was his habitual " I will
attend to it." Grimaldo was the only Minister present,
and to him Pollnitz applied later for news of the result of
his placet. After much humming and hawing, and many
delays, the Marquis sent him back to the Father Con
fessor. Pollnitz's humble request to the latter was ill
received. Daubenton had other matters to attend to
than the Baron's placet, and told him so bluntly.
Pollnitz remarked that Grimaldo had sent him to him.
" Oh ! Grimaldo ! " he interrupted, and, going into his
study, shut the door in Pollnitz's face. The two favourites
hated each other.
Pollnitz thought best to await a more favourable
opportunity. " Next day I placed myself in the posture of a suppliant
in the corner of his hall. His Jesuit companion, seeing
me, begged me to step into the anteroom. This I
forbore to do, saying it was too much honour. The

THE VAGRANT 289
truth was that I wished to be sure of getting speech of
the confessor, for I noticed that the Reverend Father
often played a school-boy trick on those waiting in the
anteroom : he would pass out by a little door which
opened actually into the hall in which I stood.
" I waited a good hour, and then I thought I saw my
man come out by the bolt-hole. I seized him as he
passed, and found him in a better frame of mind. I Was
told to call to-morrow to hear the King's reply. I did
not fail to appear, but only to be told that it had been
impossible for him to speak to the King about it, but
he would do so next day, without fail.
" These days passed insensibly into weeks, and weeks
into months ; I grew despairing. No one could accuse
me of not petitioning. Not a morning did I miss taking
a turn in the confessor's anteroom. He saw me well
enough, and sometimes honoured me with a slight nod,
at others only swept me a proud glance. Finally, after
aU this assiduity, I only obtained a formal refusal."
WhUe thus wasting his time in Father Daubenton's
ante-chamber, the Baron had ample opportunity for
seeing all that was to be seen in Madrid in the way of
sights, as well as of observing the way of life at the
palaces at Madrid and at Retiro, which were so neglected
that the rats had eaten some of the finest tapestries.
He makes in his Memoirs no mention of the famous
Velasquezs or Murillos, but notes that some of the
best pictures had been cut in quarters to get them into
one of the haUs of the palace. The gardens were poor.
The King and Queen rose late, and took their chocolate.
Their Secretary Grimaldo came, and they transacted
business. After that the levee. Then Father Daubenton,
staying often a good hour with the King. Audiences and
Councils foUowed, and then dinner, quite in private
with the Queen. After that the royal pair went out
shooting, and returned late. A cold collation of part
ridges, or something of the kind, was served, at which
Grimaldo was permitted to be present.
I-I9

290 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Then audiences in the study to foreign Ministers
and other persons of distinction. The King usually
stood, without his hat ; the Queen did not retire.
Elizabeth was far too clever to leave her husband un-
guided, even for a moment. She hid behind a screen,
whence she could hear all that passed. Afterwards the
King worked a httle with his Ministers, and then spent
the rest of the evening with his children and the ladies
of the palace. Sometimes there were cards tiU supper,
to which Scotti, the fat, jolly Mmister of Parma, much
in favour now, was generaUy mvited, to converse with
Their Majesties, who went to bed directly afterwards.
" In the country the amusements were not much
hveher than at Madrid. I have seen the Court several
times at Aranjuez ; I noticed that the afternoons were
spent in shooting, or in a promenade in the gardens of
the chateau. During these walks Their Majesties shot
at rooks with httle arquebuses, which carried extra
ordinarily far. The Queen generally shot better than
the King. While Their Majesties shot on one side, the
Prince of the Asturias and his brother, the Infant
Carlos, and their tutors, shot on the other, and only came
home in the evening."
The snub that Pollnitz had received from Daubenton
staggered him. He found himself without money,
without credit, and without knowing how to borrow
enough to carry him on till his quarter's pay was due.
Luckily for him, he made the acquaintance of Colonel
William Stanhope, who had been for some years British
Minister at Madrid. He was high in favour with Philip,
" who loved him personally, and was wont to say that he
was the only Minister who never told him a falsehood."
Pollnitz became acquainted with Stanhope through
his secretary, a German from Berlin, whose brother was
valet de chambre to the King of Prussia. Anxious to
show his gratitude for some services which my relatives
had done this brother, he effected the introduction.

THE VAGRANT 291
Stanhope the Baron found most polite, " one of the
most honest and wisest men in the world ; gentle, modest
and hberal, very upright. At first sight he appears
cold, but he improves upon acquaintance." He took
steps for Pollnitz even with the confessor and with
Scotti, aU-powerful with the Queen ; but he had no
success. " However, he did all in his power : he pressed me to
accept his table, he offered me his carriages, he advanced
me some money ; in short, he treated me as a good friend
might have done, and I may say that I am very specially
indebted to him, as, without his help, I should have
spent the rest of my days in Spain."
Pollnitz passed Holy Week and Easter at Madrid, and
watched the famous procession from the palace of the
Retiro, where it passed before the Royal Family.
" Quite frankly I may say that I have never seen
anything more contemptible, not to say scandalous,
than these processions. It seemed as if the intention was
to turn into ridicule the most sacred thing in the world.
The Passion and Death of Our Lord were represented
in such a burlesque manner that I really wonder that
the Tribunal of the Inquisition, which often condemns
people to the flames for imaginary crimes, does not
punish very severely those who take part in these
Festivals. ... I speak of these Ceremonies as I saw
them myself. I had had them very truthfully described
to me, but I took it all for a libel, invented on purpose
to defame the worship which the Church of Rome offers
to the Greatest of our Mysteries, especially as it was
Protestants who described them to me. I wished to see
for myself if all that I had been told was observed in
the Ceremonial of the Church in Spain. Therefore I
followed the Processions with much eagerness, and I
was really scandalized to see in reality what I had
imagined were the fabrications of the enemies of the

292 A VAGABOND COURTIER
Roman Church. ... I do not know if my animosity
against these superstitions was not increased by the
unpleasantness of walking about the streets of Madrid
. . . filthy beyond what one sees in towns with even the
fewest police. A quantity of all sorts of garbage are
flung out of the houses, which decays, it is said, during
the night, as the air of Madrid is so corrosive. . . . But
I experienced the contrary, and felt extremely upset
by the stench which the filth disseminates. The diurnal
smell is, however, nothing to that which one has to
endure on Feast-days ; for usuaUy the streets are then
swept, and everything in them is stirred up, and it is
difficult to put up with it, especiaUy if the weather
should be dry. For everything is decayed and changed
into a fine dust ; the air one breathes, and even every
thing one eats, is infected by this dust, which penetrates
everywhere. I heard an Italian Doctor say, on this
subject, that a foreigner, however isolated he might hve,
could not pass three or four years without being attacked
by an illness which we look upon with horror, but which
the Spaniards do not think much of, as they maintain
that it is hereditary in their families. This Doctor
maintained that all one breathed, and aU one ate, was
poisoned by the filth of Madrid."
Yet Pollnitz found that large sums were spent in
cleaning the streets. Probably the inherent Spanish
laziness was the cause of their condition.
" I know of no nation upon earth which is so fond
of doing nothing. I am sure that if they inhabited a
less fertfle country than their own they would die of
hunger. In winter they spend their time in walking
in the sun, which is a dehght to them. The summer
days they pass asleep or in drinking iced waters, and
keep their promenades for night-time. . . . The peasants
in Spain are as lazy as the townsfolk . . . satisfied to
scratch the soil. The Spanish indolence forbids any
kind of exercise in the least active. ... So they are

THE VAGRANT 293
devoted to the theatre, the most amusing thing to be
found in Madrid. . . . The theatre a horrible place . . .
so dark, rows of benches hke an amphitheatre, above,
barred boxes for ladies . . . the stage hke a Roman
stage, a row of porticoes closed by curtains through which
the players go in. All very ill-lighted, and, what
shocked me most — and I smelt it at once, though I could
not see it at first in the dark — -a drain ran down the
middle of the parterre causing an unbearable stench.
The actors badly dressed, ugly, bad figures, the plays
no better than the performers . . . mostly sacred pieces,
even the Mysteries of our Rehgion are performed. One
of my friends assured me that he had seen the Holy
Sacrament administered to a sick person. If this be
true I wonder that the Inquisition, usually so severe,
can tolerate such abuses."
Strange to say, the Baron, in describing his Madrid
sojourn, does not refer to the women of Spain.
With his keen eye for the fair sex, both as to their
persons and their minds, it appears an omission rather
unique in his descriptions of foreign Courts. But it is
not surprising. The Spanish women of the upper
classes at that period were so uneducated, stupid, and
dull that Ehzabeth Farnese found it impossible to
endure their society. Conversation with them was
impossible ; they were monosyllabic, and she turned to
that of men.
A few days after his arrival Pollnitz saw something
of the horrors of the Holy Inquisition. Several people,
accused of being Jews, were burnt at the stake, among
them a girl of eighteen or twenty, " one of the most
beautiful I had seen in Spain. She went to the stake
with joy shining in her face, and died with courage
such as is attributed to our martyrs."
Shortly after that there was a great Jew hunt through
out Spain. In one night forty people were arrested
in Madrid. Among them was a famous doctor named
Paralta, whom Pollnitz knew a little, a very well-bred

294 A VAGABOND COURTIER
man ; but a bigoted Jew. His mother was in prison
at his birth, and perished soon after in the flames,
praying that her son might die in like manner. Paralta
was brought up a Roman Catholic, but at thirty was
accused and convicted of Judaism. He escaped the
first time with three years' imprisonment, but the second
time his mother's wishes were reahzed. PoUnitz was
glad to have left Madrid before his execution.
At Aranjuez he took his leave of the King. He
feared up to the last that the King might not give him
leave to go, lest he should change his religion. How
ever, two words from Daubenton quieted his scruples :
" It is the only obligation I had to the Reverend Father."
" The King, however, ordered me to return as soon as
I could. I promised, and indeed I intended to do so,
but Fortune, always contrary to my plans, made me
take a very different road."
Stanhope, who had been generous to liim, again
gave the Baron timely help, and lent him forty pistoles
for his journey, and he left Madrid with a young Baron
di V  , who was going to his uncle at BUbao. V 
was an impulsive young fire-eater, always on the look
out for insults.
The first day, in the middle of a thick wood, they
perceived four well-armed men, two on either side of the
road, and, as it was necessary to pass between them,
Pollnitz warned his companion to look to his pistols.
" Seeing us make a stout show, they let us pass. We
thought that they were French, which induced the
Baron di V  to stop the chaise and ask them who
they were. They replied that they were French officers,
who had fled from their country over a duel. They
asked for news from Madrid, and, as they talked, I
noticed that they gradually drew closer to our chaise.
Therefore I interrupted the conversation and ordered
the postillion to move on, and at a good pace, because

THE VAGRANT 295
we were in a hurry. The pretended officers broke into
a trot, in order to rejoin us, but, happily for us, on
reaching the top of a little hill, we saw a convoy of forty
mules with several horsemen, coming towards us. No
sooner had our escort caught sight of them than they
turned back with a promptitude which confirmed us in
my idea that they were robbers. There was no longer
any room for doubt, when, later on, we met several
pohce-patrols who were beating the country-side to
catch four men, whom we easily recognized from their
description as those with whom we might have had
to deal."
" The second day I thought that we should fall out
between ourselves on the subject of payment. As it
was I who saw to the cooking, and as never in my life
have I wished to die of hunger, the Baron thought me
not sufficiently economical, and, at first, refused to
pay his scot. In the end he yielded, but this expense
went so to his heart that he looked askance at me all
the rest of the journey. He even made believe not to
talk to me at all. As for me, when I saw him in that
mood, I also decided on silence, and, not having anything
better to do, slept peacefully. My travelling companion
did not begin to speak again till we reached Burgos,
where PoUnitz noted that ' the cathedral was a fine
bunding, but entirely in the Gothic style,' which was
not to the taste of the eighteenth century."
From Burgos onward through Navarre he " seemed
to have entered a new world . . . the country fine and
weU cultivated, the villages more populated ... a
certain amount of activity among the peasants which
is not found among the Spaniards."
Vittoria stands in a very fertile plain, the streets very
narrow —
" The houses all of wood, and so projecting that you
can shake hands from one to the other. We put up
at the Posthouse, where we fared better than in any

296 A VAGABOND COURTIER
other place in Spain. But, when it was a case of paying,
there was yet another scene to get through. As for me,
I paid my share without a murmur, because I have
always noticed that, however one sets to work, it is
always the same in the end. So, having given what
they told me I owed, I busied myself in my room seeing
that I had forgotten nothing, when, suddenly, I heard
a great noise in the courtyard, and was obhged to put
my head out of window. I was very surprised to see
my Baron in conflict with the landlady and three or
four of her maidservants, who were giving him a good
hiding ; I ran down as quickly as I could to rescue him
from the hands of these Bacchantes, and arrived very
a propos. " For the landlady had seized a great kitchen-knife,
with which she was going to stab him. I separated
the combatants, and, with a little money, the hostess
calmed down. The origin of the quarrel was that the
Baron quite declined to pay what was asked of him,
and was ready to leave without paying at aU. The
landlady, who would not stand any nonsense, had
seized his collar, and he, to get free of her, had boxed
her ears. The landlady demanded satisfaction for the
affront she had received, and at last, after a great deal
of noise, let us start.
" We left the post-chaise at Vittoria to take to
horseback, on account of the bad roads which led to
Bilbao. . . . The country is very wooded, nothing but
mountains to be seen on all sides, and forests, which
harbour many robbers. We dismounted at a lonely
tavern in the middle of a wood, and soon found our
selves surrounded by seven or eight armed men, who
really looked like cut-throats. They asked us if we
were officers, and if we were alone. I had the presence
of mind to reply that we were ahead of a troop of cavalry
which would reach this inn shortly ; consequently I
ordered hay to be got ready for their horses. I do not
know if this news frightened them, but they promptly
left the tavern and disappeared into the wood. We

THE VAGRANT 297
mounted our horses and set off on our road. About a
league from the inn we found the highest mountains
I had ever yet beheld ; they were so steep that the paths
had to be cut in zigzags, and wide enough for two mules
to pass."
At the foot of this pass they descended into a pretty,
populated valley, " full of forges, where the best iron
in Spain is hammered," and which led them to Bilbao.
Here PoUnitz was detained longer than he had in
tended, seeking a vessel to take him to Holland. Bilbao
was a very busy place, exporting quantities of wool to
Holland, England, and France. But Philip V had
taken away its privileges as a free port by establishing
customs, which so irritated the inhabitants that riots
ensued. These the King suppressed, " hanging a few
of the ringleaders, despite the ancient privilege by which
a Biscayian cannot suffer capital punishment except for
high treason or heresy — a privilege of which, by the
by, Philip also stripped Catalonia when he reconquered
it." To pass the time, the Baron ascended a high mountain
near BUbao to visit a miracle-working image in a chapel.
He was struck by the altarpiece, a splendid wood carving,
the work, he was told, of an artist who had subsequently
been burnt as a Jew. " In truth the Inquisition might
have pardoned him on account of his art ! "

CHAPTER XX
Failing to find any ship sailing for HoUand, PoUnitz,
probably not altogether unwillingly, took one bound
for London. For the acquaintance with Stanhope, and
the kindness he had received at the ambassador's hand,
must have influenced him favourably with regard to
England and the English. Moreover, there occurred a
chance, to Pollnitz irresistible, of gathering fresh im
pressions of an unknown country.
After a six days' voyage he found himself in the
Channel. He was much struck by the beauty of the
scene, and the crowd of fine vessels going and coming.
And, indeed, in those days, the Straits of Dover, filled
with billowing masses of white sail, must have been a
sight the loss of which we can but regret.
Nothing finer had the Baron seen than the estuary
and the banks of the Thames " which gave a great idea
of all the riches of England." Into other European
capitals he had driven through suburbs, and gateways.
The approaches had only prepared him for the cities
themselves. But here, Pollnitz felt, it was not only
London, but England itself, which he had reached.
" Everywhere fine houses and beautiful gardens ; the
great Arsenal, and foundry of cannon-bombs and bullets ;
the King's great yacht at anchor, aU gilded and carved,"
ready to convey him across to Holland for his beloved
Hanover. " The splendid Greenwich Hospital, equal
to many royal palaces, not yet finished." Then, on
both sides, the river fringed with a crowd of shipping
at anchor on its broad bosom — brigs, frigates, barques,
going up and down with the tide, " a splendid sight.
I cannot believe it possible that a stranger should
298

THE VAGRANT 299
not be struck with the perpetual movement on this
river." One regrets that the foreign visitor no longer
approaches London by the Thames, now girdled with
its miles of docks !
The Baron passed under " famous London Bridge,
one of the finest in the world . . . but spoilt by the mean
houses and shops on either side of it." He recalls how
Queen Elizabeth stuck up Essex's head on one of the
towers. He landed at Whitehall stairs ; the Palace had been
burnt almost to the ground years before, " only the
grand Pavilion, of fine architecture, remains, used as a
chapel." Like Mr. Alfred Jingle, he noticed the window
through which Charles I passed to his execution. The
horror of that monarch's fate preyed much upon the
minds of eighteenth-century courtiers, permeated with
the worship of Royalty.
He drove through St. James's Park, " to London what
the TuUeries is to Paris, and as full of people. . . . But
what spoils the promenading is that the crowd is so
mixed, livery and the commonest folk walking there as
weU as people of quality." He thought the " canal "
which ran through the Park fine, and the alleys well-
kept, especially that called "the Mail" (sic), but the
old palace of St. James, where the King lived, " like the
convent it was formerly, rather than a Royal Palace."
The guards on duty both at St. James's and White-
haU— " The smartest I have ever seen, such fine figures,
and not, as elsewhere, parade soldiers ; on enlisting they
must show a certificate of having seen service — the
Body-guards in scarlet with gold on the seams, always
booted when on duty ; the Horse Guards the same, but
with pale blue caps on which are embroidered in gold and
silver the order of the Garter. The Halberdiers' uniform
most extraordinary, dressed in old-world fashion, scarlet
with a galoon of the King's livery of blue velvet with a
gold braid in the centre, black velvet cap with white

300 A VAGABOND COURTIER
plumes ; the Foot Guards in scarlet with blue facings
and badges of their colonel's colours."
The Baron had been recommended to lodge in the
quarter of St. Anne (Soho ?) with some French
refugees — pleasant people — and, after taking a few days
to recover from his voyage, made ready to appear at
Court. But all his efforts for presentation were in vain.
For once in his life Pollnitz found himself debarred from
crossing a royal threshold. His dear cousin, Henrietta
Charlotte, had, he says, set the King and the German
courtiers against him. However, the Princess of Wales
remembered old days, not only those when the Baron
was welcomed at the Electress Sophia Charlotte's Court,
but earlier, at the Prussia Court, where, on the death
of her parents, she had been so well brought up by her
aunt, the wife of Frederic I. She sent Pollnitz a present ;
but the Germans at Court followed their master's ex
ample, and so he had perforce to content himself with
English society, finding several old friends he had
known in Paris, who showed him the sights of London.
The above is the Baron's own version of his ostracism
from court circles during his first visit to England in
1721. But there is another side to the medal. Lack
of money had driven him to an expedient to raise some,
which hardly does him credit.
He had, as we know, been much at ZeU, and was
therefore in full possession of aU the circumstances
connected with the imprisonment at Ahlden, near by,
of the errant Dorothea, wife of George I. Pollnitz
now conceived the audacious idea of blackmailing the
King, by raising the veil of mystery which the latter
had thrown over his wife's fate. Under the title of
Cunegunde, Princesse des Cherusques, he wrote her
story, but thinly disguised. The Government became
alarmed. The Hanoverian King was none too popular
in Great Britain, and the recent Jacobite rising, though
abortive, had shown how zealous and powerful was the
Stuart party. The British Resident at the Hague

THE VAGRANT 301
got wind of Pollnitz's design. He wrote to the Secretary
of State, Townshend, that a certain Baron von Pollnitz
was coming to England, with defamatory papers con
cerning the King, and advised that they should be
confiscated. George had no desire that his treatment
of his wife, cruel even to inhumanity, should be made
known. Pollnitz was therefore cold-shouldered in London.
Townshend would not answer his letter. Then he
tried his luck with the ladies of the Opposition, the
Duchess of Marlborough, and " milady Q— — ," who,
doubtless he thought, would be greedy for scandal about
the Hanoverian Court. But he had no better luck,
and " Cunegunde " retired into obscurity for many
years. Though full of magnificent buildings, in Pollnitz's
opinion London could not be counted among the fine
cities. " Its streets are dirty and ill-paved ; its brick
houses are very low, without architectural ornament,
and blackened by the pitUess coal-smoke, which gives
it a gloomy air, and detracts from its pleasantness."
The sightseeing began with St. Paul's, " the largest
and finest Church in Europe after S. Peter's at Rome."
But, of course, he did not approve of the Gothic towers
added to the Renaissance facade, and wished, as we all
do nowadays, that the site of the cathedral had been
such as to do it full justice. As for Queen Anne's
statue outside, " she holds in her right hand a sceptre,
which resembles a wax candle ; one would say she was
making an amende honorable " before a French
Court of Justice.
The interior of the cathedral struck the Baron as
plain as the exterior was fine ; only the choir painted,
and that in grey, and the sculpture poor. The choir
he thought too small in proportion to the nave ; it was
" surrounded by little boxes, like the boxes at a theatre " ;
he is speaking probably of the stalls, for our Baron
is not au fait in church arrangements. He calls the
Bishop's seat, " raised on a dais, like that of cathedral

302 A VAGABOND COURTIER
bishops," the throne of the Archbishop of " Cantor-
bery," and the Dean's seat, by the entrance to the
choir, that of the Bishop of London.
Upon leaving St. Paul's the Baron and his guide
took hackney coach to Westminster. " These are very
common conveyances in London, but, as they have no
springs, they are unbearably rough. Otherwise they
are useful for getting over the ground in a short time ;
the horses, which are fairly good, nearly always go at
a gallop, and that over the worst pavement in Europe."
Twenty years later the Baron was instrumental in
introducing hackney coaches in Berlin.
As he jolted over the London cobbles of the period he
regretted the paving-stones of Paris, and tells us how
Louis XIV offered to exchange paving-stones for
gravel with Charles II. " Had he done so the King of
England would have had by far the best of the bargain,
for he would have paved all the streets of his capital,
while the King of France would only have secured
gravel paths for his gardens."
At Westminster Abbey, " which has no beauty but
its bulk," Pollnitz was shown St. Edward's Coronation
Chair, which he confuses with the stone of Scone. In a
cupboard near by was an effigy of General "Manck" (sic),
and in a chapel not far off the wax statue of Charles II,
in his garter and robes, and of her Grace of Richmond
in her ducal robes. But of the chapels and the tombs
few struck him as worthy of " notice." (!)
" Among the relics " was one which Pollnitz did not
think " could be equalled for antiquity, as it is the
stone which Jacob used as a pUlow when the mysterious
ladder appeared to him in a dream. This precious
relic is much neglected, and I do not know how pious
King James II could leave it thus. The English
should present it to the Venetian Republic, as it would
match well with the Stone of Moses in S. Mark's Cathedral.
Cardinal Cienfuegos, during my last visit to Rome,
showed me a piece of it ; he said he had stolen it when

THE VAGRANT 303
he passed through London, charged with a mission
from the Emperor to George I. He added that it
was the only theft that he had committed in his life,
and that he would have scrupled to do it had the stone
been honoured in England as it should be. But seeing
it so neglected and despised, he could not help saving
a piece, and had seized a moment when the guide's back
was turned, when he had been lucky enough to knock
off a piece with a key, and had kept it. I told him that
he need not have been over-scrupulous about the theft,
as, for not more than a guinea, he could have had a
much larger piece, and perhaps they would have let
him carry off the whole stone. ' Ah ! Dieu ! ' ex
claimed the Cardinal, raising his eyes to heaven, ' I
wish I had bought it ! ' "
In the Abbey the Baron ran against an old acquaint
ance, an Enghsh nobleman, who took him to the Houses
of Parhament. He was lucky enough to see the King
come in state, in a coach and six, and his royal robes, to
prorogue the Parliament.
" Except on such occasions," says the Baron, " he is
carried in a sedan-chair, footmen precede him, and six
halberdiers walk on either side." Special to the English
Court he thought "the black velvet caps, like hunts
men's caps, which the King's livery servants wear."
The sight of the King upon his throne, the Prince
of Wales at his side, and his peers on benches on either
hand, much impressed the Baron.
" When I saw the best and most just of Monarchs
come to confirm what the peers of his kingdom, or
rather, the fathers of the people, had decided, methought
to see Augustus at the Capitol ratifying the decrees of
the Senate, and the Senate applauding the acts of the
Emperor. Yet the Parliament does not always ac
quiesce in the wishes of the King ; on the contrary, it
knows how to oppose them firmly when they impugn

304 A VAGABOND COURTIER
public liberty. It is true that, since the last Revolution,
which deprived the House of Stuart of the throne, the
Kings have always been on good terms with their
Parliaments. Such is the temperament of the Nation ;
a King mild and just is loved and respected by it, he
finds minds as docile as the tyrannical King finds them
the opposite. All those who censure the English for
their want of loyalty to their King have not read
history well, or else advocate slavery ; and those who
pity a King of Great Britain for not being absolute
have an erroneous idea of Royalty. A King of England
can do as much good as any King in the world, but he
can do no wrong. What can a gentlemanly King
(forgive me the expression, this title is not unworthy
of a King) want more ? Is it not enough to satisfy
his ambition 1 And can a man be pitied for not having
the power to make millions miserable ? As for me
I think that the English who do not stand up for their
laws and their liberty are as criminal as those who
oppose their Sovereign's wishes in a State where Des
potism is established."
After the King had passed by, the Baron went " to dine
with mUord  , whose brother I had known in Spain."
With him he stayed all the afternoon, and then mUord
took him to the Opera, which delighted Pollnitz very
much, " the best voices in Europe, and the orchestra
could not be better, or larger." But he preferred the
Paris opera, because there was no baUet, or only a very
poor one, in London. The dresses, indeed, were much
richer, " but without that good taste which only a
Frenchman can boast of possessing supremely." The
house struck him as very plain, the chorus and supers
collected from anywhere, " and often looked siUy or
embarrassed." But, though the candles dazzled and
detracted from the effect of the stage, the fact that
every one, even in the pit, had seats, and the horse-shoe
arrangement, by which people sat face to face, found
approval in the Baron's eyes. The King was at the

THE VAGRANT 305
opera, in a plain box to the right, talking all the time
to three ladies.
As the Baron did not speak any English on this,
his first visit to England, he could form no opinion
about the play when he went to the theatre, though, to
judge by their appearance, the actors and the actresses
seemed good.
Pollnitz went all over the town, admired the squares
— more of them than in any other city — though the
centres were enclosed by railings ; admired the great
houses — Montague House, its garden, staircase, and
frescoes ; the magnificent " hotel of my lord Marl
borough," with its pictures, especially the Van Dyck's.
He climbed the Monument on Fish Hill, for the view ;
admired the Royal Exchange, and criticized the statues
of Royalty. That of Charles II he praises, and tells
the story of that of Charles I, knocked down by Crom-
weU's order, bought by a royalist, a worker in metal,
under pretext of melting it down, buried in the ground
for safety, and, finally, replaced in position at the
Restoration. Such a triumph of the monarchical senti
ment was quite to our Baron's mind.
He visited the Tower, which he calls " the Bastille
of London," " though it is not so easy for a King of
England to fill it as it is for a King of France to fill
the Bastille." He saw the lions which were then kept
there — why or wherefore, is not now quite evident—
and the Arsenal, " one of the most comple.te and the
best kept up in Europe." This tradition is well main
tained at the present day, for though that part of the
Armoury which is open to the public is merely a museum
of ancient and curious weapons, there are stowed away
in the vaults beneath the White Tower a considerable
amount of arms of all sorts of quite up-to-date con
struction. PoUnitz gazed on the Regalia and describes the crowns.
It was not long after Colonel Blood's attempt to steal
it, and Pollnitz noted how carefully they were enclosed
in a stout iron grille. This has quite recently, since the
I — 20

306 A VAGABOND COURTIER
loss of the Irish Crown Jewels, been strengthened, and
the precautions for security elaborately improved.
The Horse Armoury, he notes, contains figures of
all the Kings of England on horseback in armour, from
William the Conqueror downwards. Now the Tower
does contain one of the finest, if not the finest, coUec-
tions of armour in the world, but can hardly be said
to contain the armour of all our Kings.
To a mind like that of PoUnitz, always maintaining
that " the study of mankind is man," the Enghsh
people were more interesting than the sights of their
capital. With his usual perspicacity he studied them
attentively during his stay, and describes them very
faithfully. At home, the Englishman seemed to him what a
Frenchman is when out of his own country — proud,
scornful, admiring nothing. In like manner the English
man abroad is like the Frenchman at home, gentle,
well-bred, affable. It appeared to him that, of aU foreign
nations, the English " only really liked the Itahans,
French and Germans being fairly well hated." The
dislike of the latter, he thought, had originated since the
Hanoverian succession, " because the people thought
that English money was being spent in Germany."
They seemed to think that " we had not a sou before they
invited the House of Hanover to govern them."
As to the dislike of the French, it appeared to Pollnitz
of much longer standing ; "it was in the blood, and
extended to small things, such as dress. It was enough
for any fashion to be French, for people in England to
wear the opposite," which Pollnitz thought a pity.
" For they have no taste in clothes ... no nation dresses
so badly as the English, and it is only because they
are as well built as they are that they can wear such
costumes." Equally wanting in the instinct for dress the Baron
thought the English ladies, " though with good figures,
mostly pretty, and pleasant to become acquainted
with. . . . Though always very neat and clean, they seem

THE VAGRANT 307
to try to disfigure themselves." However, the long
cloak with slits for arms, and the hood tied under the
chin, Was not unbecoming to pretty people. It was
used " for going out when en deshabille, especially by
the bourgeoisie, and also by gay ladies going to rendez
vous at inns by the river in mysterious boats, covered
and hned with scarlet cloth, and rowed by boatmen as
discreet as the Venetian gondoliers."
Strange as it may appear, Pollnitz, though so used to
the French, and the vivacious southern nations, speaks
of the Enghsh populace as lively and fond of amusing
themselves. In other countries he found it was only
the rich who had pleasures. " Next to play, fights
amuse them most," such as bull-fights and cock-fights,
which he describes at length, adding that " no other
nation in the world hkes to bet as much as the English."
He also saw gladiatorial combats, as he calls them,
" wretches fighting with naked swords, and often wound
ing each other, a very popular exhibition." It is difficult
to understand exactly what Pollnitz means ; is he con
fusing fencing and prize-fighting % On a summer's
evening in the St. James's district, he saw quarterstaff
and wrestling, both of which led to considerable betting.
He went down to Hampton Court, " a fine country-
house, but not much in comparison to the royal country
residences in France." He liked Kensington Palace,
where alterations were being made, and the pictures it
contained, but the gardens he thought not fine enough. (!)
The smaU hope that Pollnitz had of obtaining any
employment at the English Court, and the fact that
his money was running out, made him in a hurry to
leave London. After but a month's stay he left for
Holland. It took him five days to cross, as he was
becalmed half way, and then off the mouth of the Meuse
he met with a violent gale. From Rotterdam he went
to The Hague the same day, to renew his wardrobe and
refit his carriage. For this it was necessary to borrow
money.

CHAPTER XXI
Charles and Maurice von Pollnitz had stiU been under
age at the death of their grandmother, Eleanora of
Nassau, who had bequeathed her fortune between these
two grandsons and her niece, Henrietta Charlotte. The
latter, as the eldest of the family, claimed the right of
receiving the income from it ; it was paid over to her
entirely, for her receipt. She then handed over a third
to Charles and Maurice respectively, continuing to do so
even after these two had attained their majorities.
Upon this income the Baron, on arriving at The
Hague, gave assignments to a money-lender. He
gladly accepted these, but he required a further
guarantee that Henrietta Charlotte would pay them.
Pollnitz begged him to write to her on the subject —
" But, as this kind relative never wished me any
good, she thought well to cross me about the scheme
that I had planned to make money. She did not
honour me myself with any reply, but wrote to my
creditors, and warned them not to trust me ; saying
that I was only trying to take them in, that I had no
share in this income, and that what I told them about
it was a lie. My money-lenders were aghast at such
news, and thought that they were dealing with a thief
who was laying a trap for them, and against whom they
would be powerless if I managed to escape. On my part
I did all I could to reassure them. I told them that
Fraulein von Pollnitz had not spoken the truth, and that
I was doing my best to make her cancel the letters that
she had written. Further, I offered to pay them out of
the money I was going to draw from my estates. But
308

THE VAGRANT 309
all I said to them had no effect ; their suspicions were
so deeply rooted that, in order to make sure of their
debts, they decided to have me arrested.
" This they did, and, one Sunday morning, I saw very
ungracious visitors arrive to beg me to betake myself
with a good grace to the prisons of The Hague, unless
I wished to be removed thither by force. I was some
what staggered by this visit, foreseeing myself losing my
liberty, and for a long time, when Madame Pyll, a Hague
shopkeeper, to whom I already owed something, was
kind enough to advance me what was necessary to pay
off my creditors, and so I extricated myself from their
importunate grip.
" But, a few days after this adventure, other creditors,
who had got wind of what had happened, thought that
if they acted in the same way they would infallibly be
paid. So they also decided to have me arrested.
" In fact, at six in the morning I was warned that
something was on foot against me, and that constables
were approaching to seize me. I had my boots on and
was in my dressing-gown, but I thought it best not to
amuse myself by finishing dressing, and as I knew that
there were not many people about in the streets of The
Hague at that hour, I decided to escape in my dressing-
gown. I fled to my dear Madame Pyll. I should have
wished this kind shopkeeper to have again appeased
these mad dogs, but I dare not suggest it to her. I only
asked her to keep me hidden for a time. This she did
with pleasure. But I soon had to flee again. The
constables had been told of my retreat, and were coming
to drag me out of it, when the shopkeeper let me out by
a back door. She lent me a cloak in which to wrap
myself, and, thus disguised, I thought only of getting
out of The Hague.
" I got into the boat for Delft, and sought out Texena,
a, rich Portuguese, who had a house a league out of the
town." Texena proved a generous friend to Pollnitz, lending

310 A VAGABOND COURTIER
him money, and sending him to the chateau of Houslar-
dyck, where he stayed two days. The wife of the porter
there had been lady's maid to Pollnitz's mother, and did
all in her power for him. She went to Mme Pyll and told
her where the Baron was. The latter brought him his
luggage. Afraid of returning to the town to deal with the
creditors who were foUowing him, lest others should
appear and demand a settlement, PoUnitz decided to
go to Germany. Thence he could write home and settle
his affairs, for, on account of some unknown reason, he
was still forbidden to go to Berlin.
He made up his mind to seek out Count L  , to
whom he had lent two hundred ducats seven or eight
years before, and who was in the Elector Palatine's
service. Pollnitz had been told that the Count was
quartered at Aix-la-ChapeUe. He went by Bois-le-Duc,
thence, " in a vehicle they call a diligence " to Maes
tricht. There he fell in with an Englishman, on his
way to drink the waters at Aix, and " evidently over
loaded with guineas, as every moment he exclaimed
about the cheapness of things on this side of the sea."
But a little adventure at Maestricht made him change
his mind. He went out alone when they arrived,
saying that he was going to take a walk.
Falling into doubtful company at a tavern —
" When he had emptied several bottles he laid down
a guinea. The hostess demanded another. The English
man demurred, and grew angry over the price asked.
Doubtless he faUed in respect towards the good company
in which he found himself. The angry landlady threw
herself upon the Enghshman like a lunatic. This fury
was abetted by two others, and all three beat the Enghsh
man, tore his cravat, and turned him out of the door
without returning him his wig.
" To make matters worse it poured, was pitch dark,
and he could not see his way. He did not know how to
ask it, and moreover, had forgotten the name of his inn,

THE VAGRANT 311
and that of the street in which he had alighted. Tired
of running about the streets in such weather, he began to
knock at every door, only receiving abuse in reply.
The watch surprised him while he was making all this
noise, and took him to the guard-room. . . . Happily the
officer on duty believed his story, and lent him a cloak
and an escort. They went round knocking at several
inns, which were not the one he wanted, and, unless he
had had the escort with him there would certainly have
been an uproar. Finally, as they were wandering about
seeking an inn, which neither one nor the other knew,
the Enghshman's servant, who was himself looking for
his master, met him and brought him home."
But the adventure caused Pollnitz a very bad night.
The Englishman was to sleep in his room, and the Baron,
very tired, had gone to bed directly after supper.
" The Englishman's servant, who was waiting for his
master in my room, annoyed me awfully ; finding it
growing late and his master not returned, he came,
from time to time, to consult me as to what he should do,
and it was I, who, in order to get rid of him, suggested
that he should go out and look for him. But, directly
they returned, I had to hear the whole story of the
adventure. The servant waxed exceedingly wroth with
the good people who had insulted his master ; he
suggested that they should sally forth at once, break
in the doors, and throw everything out of window.
However, his master thought it better to bear his insults
with patience, and to rest from his fatigues."
Pollnitz did not find Count L  at Aix ; he was in
the Palatinate. So he bade adieu to his Enghshman,
and went to Cologne, "the dullest town in Europe,
nothing heard but the ringing of bells, and monks and
students, singing for alms. There are more houses than
people. But the inhabitants are well lodged. The
citizen must be poor indeed who does not live in a house

312 A VAGABOND COURTIER
to himself." Bonn was infinitely preferable as a residence
to the ecclesiastical city, and hither the Bishop, the
exiled Elector, whom the Baron had visited when he was
living under French protection during the war, at
Valenciennes, had returned. A very martial Bishop,
wearing, to every one's surprise, a long sword, as the
Head of a Military Order, but withal a nice-looking,
good-living man, fond of hunting, in moderation. The
Electorate of Cologne was the bulwark of Romanism
among Protestant States.
When the Elector returned he found his good town
of Bonn in a terrible state from the devastations of the
war, houses destroyed, the palace ruined. He restored
everything, built a new palisade round the city, and,
later on, built the peculiar chateau at Popalsdorf, in
the shape of a circle.
At Cologne Pollnitz f eU ill with fever ; but he pushed
on up the Rhine by boat " to avoid the disagreeable
mountains of Wataravia," and was not tired, only rather
bored, though stopping at Linz to refill his canteen with
some of the good Rhine wine of that district, which he
had much appreciated at Liege. Then on to Andernach.
" Here the Rhine becomes restrained by high mountains,
high enough to recall to me unpleasant memories of the
Alps. These furious rocks are cultivated to their
summits, and produce exceUent wines." The river at
Andernach was crowded with great rafts of timber being
propelled down stream on their journey to Holland, by
boatmen, who lived in little sheds buUt on them. Ander
nach was a great place for the sale of bottles and stone
jars containing the mineral waters of Dunchstein, to
drink with the wine. Across the Rhine PoUnitz was
pointed out the ruined castle of the Count of Neuwied,
" where the vulgar think the Devil lives." The Count of
Neuwied's wife was an acquaintance of the Baron's,
being a daughter of Count Dohna, tutor to Frederic
William in the old days when he and PoUnitz were boys
together at the Academie des Nobles.
But our Baron was not in health for society. At

THE VAGRANT 313
Andernach the fever returned, and he was so ill that
he could proceed no farther. The hostess of the inn
suggested a clever doctor a few leagues off, and Pollnitz
" dragged himself thither." In a fortnight the fever
had left him. So he went on to Coblenz, where Count
Schonborn, Bishop of Treves, lived in the palace below
Ehrenbreitstein. There he felt worse than ever, and
went down again to the same doctor, where he spent
another fortnight. He grew worse, however, his head
" became as weak as his body," and he thought he should
never recover where he was. Moreover, he took a great
dislike to the doctor. He declined to see him any more,
and, in spite of all warnings against attempting to
travel, put himself back in the boat for Cologne. Here
he went to a doctor he knew, whose drugs, " either
because of their virtue or because of the strength of
my imagination," gradually cured the fever.
When quite well again Pollnitz rowed up the Rhine
once more to Mainz. He chronicles the fortress of
Rheinfels, above S. Goar, with a long and glorious
history of defence, and then strongly garrisoned by the
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel ; but, with the singular
insensibility of his century to beauty of scenery, is
sUent with regard to his journey up the most lovely
part of the Rhine Valley. The Bingenloch is only " the
faU of the Rhine between two rocks, the most dangerous
passage of aU the Rhine ; but there is nothing to fear,
unless your rowers are drunk, which is common enough
here, where the juice of the grape is to be had for next
to nothing." He dechned, with his usual scepticism,
to beheve the story of the " Rats' Tower and the bar
barous prelate," and his rowers told him that he " was
not a good Catholic."
The Baron is far more interested in the different
brands of Rhenish wine.
" Bingen has the best in all the Rheingau. The wine
at Bacharach, sung by the French in drinking songs, is
out of fashion with gourmets, who are so delicate here

314 A VAGABOND COURTIER
that they will tell you the year and the brand by only
moistening their lips. It is said that Ridelsbach and
Johannesberg are the best ; my taste, not so delicate,
found Bacharach quite good, and I could make myself
happy if obliged to drink nothing else."
Pollnitz had hoped to find his relations at Mainz,
but they were on their estates in Franconia, " which
embarrassed me very much, for I really did not know
what to do." So he decided to go to his brother at
Zell, and happily found a vehicle at Frankfurt, going
to Hanover. No question of post-chaises now ! But,
when he reached ZeU, he found his brother was at
Berlin !
Pollnitz decided to go there, but, upon consideration,
not wishing to be seen at Berlin, went to Leipzig, whence
he wrote to his man of business, " to know how matters
stood, and if it were not possible to put my affairs in
some order."
The reply was that no arrangement was possible so
long as the estates were attached. That, indeed, a loan
might enable his client to arrange with the creditors,
but that he did not see his way to raising one, as Fraulein
von Pollnitz, on whom the Baron's property was en
tailed, would not agree to it. He ended by saying that
the only way was to obtain a Letter of Command from
the King of Prussia.
" I knew as well as he did that a Letter of Command
was the shortest way of extricating me from my pre
dicament ; but how to get it, when I had not permission
to appear at Court ! However, I thought that I ought
to leave no stone unturned in order to obtain this per
mission, which had been refused me so often."
So Pollnitz decided to implore the patronage of the
Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, who, with his sister, had so
often been kind to their relative. He went to Dessau,
which is only six leagues from Leipzig.

THE VAGRANT 315
The Prince was not expected home till the evening,
but the Duchess of Radzivil, his eldest sister, in response
to poor Pollnitz's prayers, kindly sent one of her people
to him, promising to do all she could for him, and asking
for a letter to show her brother. Pollnitz had great
hopes, which, however, were soon to be shattered.
Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau was Frederic William's
great friend, straightforward to bluntness, austere,
hke himself. His only reply was to suggest to his sister
to get Pollnitz out of Dessau as soon as possible, as, if
he stayed there, he should be obliged to arrest him !
The Duchess couched this reply in as gracious terms as
she could, and added a sum of money of which she made
no doubt that PoUnitz had need.
The latter knew the bluff soldier with whom he had
to deal. He doubted not that his acts would follow
quickly on his threats, and so promptly ordered a chaise
to convey him to the Court of the Duke of Saxe-Weissen-
fels, where he had a friend.
" But I could find neither horse nor chaise in all the
little town of Dessau ; no one would stir on account
of the sanctity of the day (it was the fourth Sunday
in Advent). But so much was I in dread of the Prince's
anger that I determined to start on foot. I took my
portmanteau, then my only baggage, put it on a man's
shoulder, and walked with him to a little town in the
Duchy of Magdeburg, where I took a chaise for Barbi."
Here Pollnitz was well received by his old friend
the Baron de Chaselac. He was a native of Guienne,
one of the many French refugees who had sought shelter
in Prussia in the seventeenth century, and had been
appointed tutor to the fatherless young Prince Leopold
of Anhalt-Dessau. Pollnitz tells a story of the re
lationship between tutor and pupil which does credit
to both.
Chaselac found the young Prince to be of an im
petuous temperament which he had some difficulty in

316 A VAGABOND COURTIER
moderating. He took him for a tour in Italy. Now
Leopold had fallen desperately in love with a Fraulein
von Fohsen at the Court of Prussia. This inclination
did not please his mother, the Princess of Orange, who
imagined that, by sending him away, she could cure him
of his passion.
" Chaselac, who has been my special friend, and whose
memory I hold dear, has told me that the great vivacity
and unruliness of the Prince often gave him much
trouble ; but that yet, notwithstanding any excesses into
which the Prince fell, he could always bring him back by
appealing to his honour and his ambition. He told me
in reference to this, how, when at Venice, the Prince
came in one morning drunk, after having spent the night
in debauchery. M. de Chaselac upbraided him for his
conduct in perhaps too strong terms, at least the young
Prince thought so.
" He ran and seized a pistol, and, pointing it at his
tutor, cried : ' Dog ! I must kUl you ! '
" M. de Chaselac, without being disconcerted, looked
straight at the Prince : ' Very well, kih me,' he rephed.
' But think what a blot it will be on history when people
read that a Prince of Anhalt, a Prince of a family which
has given Emperors to Germany, has assassinated his
tutor ! '
" These words, spoken authoritatively, made a deep
impression upon the young Prince.
Ma foi ! ' he said, putting up his pistol. ' You're
right. I was going to do a vile deed ! ' "
Leopold, it may be added, returned from Italy as
much in love with. Fraulein von Fohsen as ever. He
married her at twenty-two, and they had a large famUy.
The man who could thus check Anhalt was not
likely, if he thought it right, to spare poor Pollnitz,
now in chastened mood, and in very low water. Though
he received him " as well as he could have wished," he
scolded him on the state of his affairs, and advised him

THE VAGRANT 317
to go and find his brother, and to concert with him
suitable steps about their property. He lent Pollnitz
forty crowns for the journey, and kept him with him tUl
over Christmas, by which time Maurice von Pollnitz
Was back at Zell.
Charles found his brother well disposed towards him.
Maurice raised his suspicions about his man of business,
advising him to change him for his own, who was
reliable. Charles gave his brother full powers to ex
amine his lawyer's accounts, and Maurice pointed out
to him where he had been cheated. But he went
further. He gave Charles money, and put his affairs on
such a footing that, in a short time, the latter was able
to satisfy his creditors, and yet keep sufficient to live
upon. " It was then a question of knowing which way to
turn that one might be able at least to say that one
had done something in this world. I should have liked
the army, but there was no war, nor any sign of any
soon." Pollnitz had knocked in vain at the door of too many
palaces to wish to begin again. " I might indeed have
returned to Spain, where I had found employment, but
what was to become of me when the salaries were in
arrears, and I had to keep up appearances ? "
There seemed no career open, no profession that he
could adopt. Then some one suggested the Church.
" This proposal seemed to me, at first, a httle odd ;
yet, when I began to think about it, I perceived that,
perhaps, it would not be a bad line to take, that, sooner
or later, I should not fail to obtain something ; in short,
a number of very human motives gave birth in my mind
to a plan which could not have been other than a
vocation." (!)
After this extraordinary statement we learn that the
Baron was advised to pay his respects to the Cardinal

318 A VAGABOND COURTIER
de Saxe, who was at Regensburg. This Prince, himself
a Lutheran who had become a Catholic, made much of
converts. Maurice von Pollnitz accompanied his brother as far
as Brunswick. At that Court, also well inclined to
any one who had foUowed the Duke's example and
become a Romanist, they remained some days. Then
Pollnitz went to Barbi, to de Chaselac. The latter was
delighted with the arrangements Charles had made with
his brother, and with the frame of mind in which he
found him. After spending a few days with his friend,
PoUnitz went by Leipzig, Zeizt, Hof, Bayreuth, and
Erlangen to Nuremberg.
After two days' stay " in one of the duUest towns in
Europe," he went on to Eichstadt, having a letter of
introduction to the Prince-Bishop of that see.
The Bishop received Pollnitz very graciously, and with
much ceremony, " sending one of his coaches to fetch
me. He was seated because he was suffering severely
from gout, and begged me to be seated also. After a
long conversation, he invited me to supper." An ex
cellent concert by his large band afterwards took place
in his room.
For five or six days Pollnitz, full of his newly con
ceived ecclesiastical project, paid his respects at Eich
stadt —
" And when I left the Bishop presented me with a
large snuff-box, weighing twenty-five ducats, which he
took out of a cabinet he showed me, and where I saw
a quantity of valuable jewels, including a cross of
diamonds worth five or six hundred florins. This prelate
had the politeness to defray my biU at the inn, so that
I was much astonished, when I came to settle, to find
that I owed nothing, except to this Prince."

CHAPTER XXII
The Baron spent four months at Regensburg, pay
ing his court to the Cardinal Commissioner of the
Emperor to the Diet, in the hope of receiving from
that functionary some ecclesiastical preferment, in re
turn for which he was quite in the mood to take the
tonsure. Cardinal de Saxe was a brother of the Duke of Saxe-
Zeizt, one of the several branches of the house of Wettin.
Both the brothers were converts to Roman Catholicism.
At the death of the Duke, who left only a daughter,
the duchy, which should have passed to the Cardinal
and one of his nephews, was wrested from them by
an article in the Treaty of Westphalia, on account of
their change of rehgion. The King of Poland, as head
of the Saxon family, took possession of the duchy, pay
ing the debts of the late Duke, and granting a sum of
money to the Cardinal and the young Princes. He
governed the httle State by a Regency.
Austria, ever favourably disposed to converts, had
not only bestowed upon the Cardinal the coveted purple,
but also had appointed him Imperial Commissioner to
the Diet, the most distinguished piece of patronage in
the Emperor's hands. The Commissioner yielded pre
cedence to no monarch, nor to any delegate to the Diet.
His pomp and state were in keeping with his dignity.
He kept guards and was served by gentlemen, and
when he gave audience to the Electoral Envoys he did
not receive them upon terms of equality, and the coveted
arm-chair played an important part in the ceremony.
The delegates of the Free Cities of the Empire were only
aUowed a straight-backed seat. When the Commissioner
319

320 A VAGABOND COURTIER
entertained the envoys of the Electors and Princes at
dinner, he himself sat in the chief place.
Several of these latter spoke to the Cardinal in P6U-
nitz's favour, and it appeared to them that he was well
inchned to our hero. But time slipped away, and nothing
came of the Cardinal's civility. Pollnitz, therefore,
determined to bring him to the point.
" The Cardinal was kind enough not to refuse me
to my face ; he sent me word, by the envoy of an Elector
who had been interpolating on my behalf, that it was
no use my waiting at Regensburg, as he could do nothing
for me. He even added, without giving any reason,
that, even if the whole Diet should intercede in my
favour, he could not help me. This speech did not
appear to me sufficiently ambiguous for me to continue
my appeal."
The Baron, however, could not tear himself away
before the great entertainment with which Count
Plattenberg, whom he had met when at Cologne, was
about to celebrate his master the Bishop of Minister's
elevation to the coadjutorship of Cologne, and at the
same time the marriage of the same master's brother,
Charles Albert, Electoral Prince of Bavaria — Pollnitz's
companion on the Salzburg trip — to the Emperor's
niece, daughter of the late Emperor Joseph. For the
occasion Plattenberg had a haU built and several tents
put up outside the gates of Regensburg. The Cardinal
de Saxe was present, all the Envoys and their wives,
and the beau monde of the city of the Diet. There
was supper in the hall, cards in the tents, fireworks, and
a ball which lasted till dawn.
The following day the Cardinal left for Hungary,
to preside as Primate of the Diet at Buda. It had been
specially convened to arrange about the succession.
The Emperor Charles VI had only two daughters, and
it was important that the eldest, Maria Theresa, should
inherit the Hapsburg hereditary dominions.

THE VAGRANT 321
PoUnitz took his leave of the Electoral Ministers and
Envoys. " I had received all sorts of kindnesses from these,
and most of them were not content with treating me as
pohtely as possible ; they had gone further, and, knowing
the situation of my affairs, had acted towards me with
a generosity of which I shall retain an eternal grati
tude, happy if some day I could afford them proof of it !
The only I can now give is to mention them by name."
Count von Konigsfelt, whom the Baron had known
during the merry summer he had spent at his master's
Court at Munich and at Nymphenberg, " was one of
those who worked hardest with the Cardinal to try and
gain for me what I wished. This Mmister spent money
lavishly at Regensburg," and hved in great splendour.
Baron von Kirchner, the Deputy of the Cardinal Com
missioner, who bore the title of the Commissioner of
the Diet, Herr von Finsberg, Envoy of Hanover, Dur-
renberg, Envoy of Hesse-Cassel, von Hagen, Envoy of
the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, all Courts where Pollnitz
had been weU received and appreciated, warmly sup
ported Kirchner's appeal for him, and, what was more,
freely opened their purses to him.
Business now caUed PoUnitz to Diisseldorf to confer
with his brother over a lawsuit which they and their
cousin Henrietta Charlotte had undertaken together.
On his way the Baron stayed a few days at Wiirz-
burg. It was the Festival of St. Kilian, the patron
saint of the great cathedral, famous for its magnificent
tapestries of stories of the Old Testament, its solid
silver vases, candelabra, and images of the saints.
The Duke-Bishop of Franconia was the richest and
the most distinguished of the three great ecclesiastical
rulers in Central Germany, and during the five years of
his episcopate one of the most magnificent of the pre
lates who had ever occupied the see. The Baron saw
him in aU his glory, " his Court and Household larger
I— 21

322 A VAGABOND COURTIER
than that of any other German Prince," go in grand
procession to the cathedral.
A man of great taste and a lover of art, this magnificent
Duke-Bishop was building on to the cathedral a chapel
lined with marble, and full of gilt bronze; on it
Italian workmen were engaged, working in great haste,
" because," as the Bishop told. Pollnitz, " I intend it
for my burial-place."
As the road leading up to the old castle on the hUl
above the town was too steep for coaches, this princely
prelate was also busy building the vast Renaissance
palace which we admire to-day. He had designed it
himself, but in four years only two-thirds of the huge
building had been completed, and, though roofed in,
it was unfinished at his death.
The Bishop showed Pollnitz the plan of the palace
as it was to be when completed, " one of the finest
in Europe . . . three hundred and fifty feet front
age, and five great courtyards. . . . The staircase to
be of marble, likewise the chapel, guard-room, and
state apartments." In order to lay out the gardens,
the Bishop was throwing down ramparts and filling
ditches. Immense, massive, splendid, the palace ap
pears to us to-day more imposing than VersaiUes.
Pollnitz saw the fine hall in the Grand Hospital, with
sculpture, gilded and painted, where the Bishop, on
Holy Thursday, was wont to wash the paupers' feet
and serve them at meals. There were sixteen of these
hospitals in Wurzburg, used not only for the sick, but
also as almshouses, or workhouses, for the poor. BuUt
by a former Bishop, " it looked more hke the palace of
a Prince." Behind lay beautifully kept gardens for
walking in, with an orangery and fountains.
Our Baron toiled up the steep hUl to the old castle,
and inspected first the well-stored arsenal, holding
arms for some forty thousand men, " a temple of Mars
rather than the palace of a Minister of Peace." He
then descended into the vast cellars.
If the arsenal was —

THE VAGRANT 323
" FiUed with all that Mars and Bellona have invented
for the destruction of man, the ceUars are provided with
aU that can satisfy an army of drunkards. If you are
coming here, and your curiosity leads you to these ware
houses of Mars and Bacchus, I advise you to begin with
the arsenal, especially should you be escorted by any
gentleman of this Court, who, though very polite, con
sider that every visitor owes it to them to lose his
wits in these cellars. I speak from experience.
" Three days ago, I happened to say to the Bishop
that I wished to see the castle. The Prince, to do me
honour, ordered one of his gentlemen to accompany
me thither. This good man, apparently afraid lest
I should be bored by a tete-a-tete, made up a parti carre ;
he chose two drinkers whom Silenus would, not have
disowned for his offspring. Being unaware of these
gentlemen's eminent qualities, I abandoned myself
into their hands without the slightest suspicion of any
misfortune. They showed me everything — state apart
ments, arsenal, fortifications, and then took me to the
ceUar, which I found lit up like a chapelle ardente
which was to be used for my funeral. This latter was
conducted with all pomp. The clink of the glasses
served as bells ; for tears, wine was poured forth ; and
at last, when the service was over, two Hungarian
haiduks bore me to a coach, and thence to my bed,
which was to be my grave.
" I rose again, but I am not sure yet if I am quite
sober. It is true that this does not trouble me, for,
since I have been staying here, I have adopted the
laudable custom of getting drunk twice a day. You
perceive that I benefit by my travels, and adopt the
good habits of the countries where I make some stay.
I hope you will find me much improved, and for the
better. Nothing forms character so much as travel;
you can judge of it by the life I lead here.
" I rise at ten o'clock, my head still very hot from
the wine I have drunk the night before. I take a great
deal of tea, I dress, and I go and pay my respects to

324 A VAGABOND COURTIER
the Bishop. The Baron von Pechtelsheim, the Court-
Marshal, invites me to dine with this Prince. He
promises, and even swears, that I shaU not drink. We
sit down to table at noon. The Bishop does me the
honour to drink two or three times to my health. The
Baron von Zobel, Grand Equerry, and the Baron von
Pechtelsheim drunk the same ; I have to drink with
fourteen people who are at table. I find myself sub
merged before I begin to eat. We rise, I accompany
the Prince to the door of his chamber, he retires, and I
hope to do the same, when I find myself the prisoner
in the anteroom of the Grand Equerry and the Court-
Marshal, who, with big glasses in their hands, drink to
the Prince's health, ' and to the eternal prosperity of
the most worthy Chapter of Wurzburg.'
" I protest that I am the Bishop's humble servant,
and that I have much respect for the most worthy
Chapter, but that to drink to their health impairs my
own ; and I implore them to aUow that I do not comply
with their request. Vain words ; I am obhged to drink
these two healths, or to appear as not being a weU-
wisher to the Prince and his Chapter. Happy if I get
off with this !
" But Herr Zobel, one of the most intrepid drinkers
of our century, seizes my hand and says to me, with a
most sincere and cordial manner : ' You are too de
voted to our Prince not to drink to the iUustrious House
of Houtten ! '
" After these touching words he empties a large glass
as witness of his zeal for his master's kin. An officious
haiduk brings me a glass, and, inspired by the spirit
which pervades this Court, he assures me that this wine
cannot harm me, because it is the same which the Prince
drinks. Reassured by such a good reason, I drink ;
the next moment I reel and am helpless ; then, to
finish me off, Pechtelsheim, one of the best-bred men
of our time, but also the hardest drinker I know, accosts
me with a smiling air, saying : ' Allons ! my dear
Baron ! one more glass to our friendship ! '

THE VAGRANT 325
" I implore him to grant me quarter ; he embraces
me; kisses me, calls me his dear brother. How can I
resist such loving words ? At last I arrive at such a
state that I can only walk in zigzags. I find a way of
escape, I get down the stairs as best I can, and stuff
myself into a sedan-chair. I reach home, my people
receive me like a corpse, and place me on a bed to
await my funeral.
" I sleep for three or four hours, awake miraculously,
pay visits, or receive them ; but, whichever I do, I
soon find myself in a condition of not being able to walk
alone. There is never a tete-a-tete here but the bottle is
always admitted as en tiers. I am inclined to the belief
that the inhabitants of this place are the descendants
of Silenus, and that their ancestral drunkard left them,
as a legacy, the gift of drinking, just as St. Hubert has
left to his family the gift of curing madness.
" I dined yesterday with the Reverend Fathers the
Scotch Benedictines. They gave me a good table and
some excellent wine, called Stein wine, apparently
because it grows on a rock."
Life at Wurzburg was gay. During Carnival the
Prince-Bishop entertained the nobility at great banquets,
gave baUs, and even masquerades, at Court, though he
himself was a cultivated, intellectual man who did not
care for pomp, but rose early in the morning and de
voted himself to affairs of State with his Council and
his Ministers. But he had perforce to maintain the
traditions of the Court. During the winter society
assembled at different houses for cards, and in Carnival
time there was a ball three days a week in a house kept
by a caterer, and supported by subscription; but
visitors were allowed in free.
" AU this was pleasant enough if the company had
not sometimes been disturbed by drunkards. It is
true that these do not trouble the inhabitants very
much — they are used to it ; even the ladies, who else-

326 A VAGABOND COURTIER
where avoid these sort of people, do not seem here
to have any particular repugnance to them. Visitors
have really every reason to be satisfied with the civility
of the Prince and his courtiers. As for me, I had reason
to be exceedingly pleased with the attentions paid me.
The Prince loaded me with kindness, and the nobility
with civility. But for being obliged to drink, I should
have enjoyed myself much in this city."
Pollnitz was rowed down the Main, admiring the
lovely views of smUing vineyards and fine country-
houses, to Frankfort. Here he received a piece of news
which could not have sorely afflicted him. Cousin
Henrietta Charlotte was dead. She had bequeathed
her estates to Charles and Maurice, but the rest of her
fortune to her mother, who was yet ahve.
But, on arriving at Diisseldorf, the Baron found his
brother's satisfaction at having inherited the property
somewhat damped, for they had lost the suit on
which they and their cousin had embarked. " My
brother was in a very bad temper with the Judges who
had decided against us. As for me, ever accustomed
to ill-luck, I endeavoured to comfort him. ... It is
evidently not in the order of Providence that we are to
enjoy the good things of this life."
He advised his brother to go to Berlin and sell the
property there. " The death of our dear cousin had
given us the power of undertaking this sale, as the
entail rested now only between my brother and me."
So Maurice went off to Berlin, and Charles betook
himself to Hamburg, there to await the result of the
sale. Here he spent a joyous winter. It was gayer
than usual ; most of the aristocracy who had houses
in the neighbourhood came to them, and, in addition,
there were several ministers, accredited to the Circle of
Lower Saxony, who were pleasant and distinguished
people. Count Nat, a lieutenant-general in the Em
peror's service, and late Minister to the Duke of Holstein,
with his charming wife, entertained lavishly ; Count

THE VAGRANT 327
Guldenstein made a great show and kept a very good
table. Dining out daily at different houses, gambling
all the rest of the day, with an occasional break for the
opera, which was well performed by a good orchestra,
" there was no time to be duU in a city where there was
never any question of anything but amusement from
morning tiU night."
With a good many other people in Hamburg society,
Pollnitz went for three weeks to the fair at Kiel, leaving
the city a desert, for there was business done as well as
pleasure at Kiel, which was so crowded that it was
difficult to find rooms. The nobility assembled every
evening at a house for cards, made up supper-parties,
sometimes foUowed by a ball ; in addition there was a
German theatrical company. Pollnitz paid a few days'
visit to a friend's estate nine miles from Kiel.
After Easter he heard from his brother at Berlin that
no purchaser was forthcoming for the estates there at
the price they asked. So he decided to go thither
himself to arrange matters with Maurice. He kept his
incognito as much as he could, meeting only two or three
friends and his lawyers. When all was settled the
brothers left for Zell, tUl the season had arrived for
Charles to go and take the waters at Carlsbad, a pro
ceeding doubtless necessitated by his drinking bouts at
Wurzburg the preceding summer.
On the way thither the Baron spent some time at
the Court of Blankenburg. He was well received by the
Duke, in the much improved palace in the town, sur
rounded by a fine park, where the Duchess, a rather
notorious lady, had a home-farm dairy, having imported
a number of cows from Switzerland, which she kept in
exceedingly clean stables.
" My plan of becoming a priest had now entirely
evaporated, and I found myself free to consider seriously
all the projects which passed through my head. That
of entering the service of the Duke of Blankenburg was
one, and directly I thought of it I took steps to carry

328 A VAGABOND COURTIER
it out. The Privy Councillor undertook to speak for
me ; at first he received favourable replies, but in the
end this attempt shared the fate of all the others : I
received many compliments, but I was refused."
So, after a long visit, the Baron took his leave, pre
senting the Duchess with two fine dogs he had brought
with him, as she was such a lover of animals. In return
she gave him a very good likeness of her husband on a
gold medal, which was valued at twenty-five ducats.
Passing by Barbi, Pollnitz paid his respects to fat
John Adolphus, Duke of Saxe- Weissenf els, in the latter's
fine new palace. The Baron had known him when he was
in the Prussian service under Frederic I. Thence, by
Leipzig, he reached Carlsbad.
Very wearisome did PoUnitz find the way of drinking
the waters at Carlsbad.
" You must be shut up in a room, however hot it is,
have the stoves lighted, torture yourself with two or
three pints of water, which is about as much as twenty
cups of chocolate, walk about a great deal, and pour
down with sweat. The ennui of the morning is com
pensated for by the good company one sees during the
day . . . many visitors, especially nobles of Bohemia
and Austria. ... A public promenade, a large haU where
one meets, one plays, dines, and walks tUl evening.
Then those who wish to follow the regime retire tiU
supper. ... To make yourself comfortable at Carlsbad
you must bring three things : a bed, some wine, and a
cook. However, a bachelor can dispense with a cook,
because he is almost continually invited to dinner by the
Austrian and Bohemian nobility, who entertain largely,
and delight in receiving people. I have much amused
myself during the season I passed there, and I have
made good acquaintances who may be useful to me at
Prague." Pollnitz took both the Sprudal and Miihlbad springs,

THE VAGRANT 329
the latter only recently recommended by a doctor who
had found it efficacious for bathing animals in.
" What I find so disagreeable is that one has to take
the waters in one's room, which one must take care to
shut up tightly, because the Sprudal makes one perspire
very much, and if one were to take cold one would risk
getting rheumatism. One does not generally go out
till about three quarters of an hour after one has drunk
it ; the rest of the day one has to walk about very much,
to avoid going to sleep, which is very dangerous after
dinner." The walks were limited in extent. " There are
nothing but rocks, whichever way you turn," and
rocks were not compatible with the high-heeled foot
gear of the period.
" The finest promenade is a tree-planted square with
avenues of lime-trees. In front is a house where society
gathers on fine evenings at five o'clock, and plays till
eight, which is supper-time. One must be careful to be
very sober at tbis repast, as a regime is one of the most
necessary things when one is taking the waters."
To make up for the boredom which he had undergone
at Carlsbad, the Baron, when his cure was over, betook
himself to Prague, for some of those grand court cere
monies in which his soul delighted.
The Emperor Charles VI was much occupied in en
deavouring to secure the succession of the eldest of his
two daughters, Maria Theresa, to his hereditary do
minions, planning, in fact, what is called the Pragmatic
Sanction, which he hoped to induce all the Great Powers
to sign. The Diet of Hungary, as we have already
seen, had sworn fealty to its future Queen. Charles and
his wife were now about to be crowned King and Queen
of Bohemia, in order that the succession might be passed
on in due time.

330 A VAGABOND COURTIER
PoUnitz arrived at the capital of the Czechs the day
before the magnificent entry of the Imperial pair,
which was followed by the usual court fetes. He saw
all the sights of the city, noting especially the fine hotels
of the Bohemian nobles, and enjoyed himself at Prague.
" The Bohemians are the pleasantest people in the
world, and Prague one of the cities of the Empire where
one can best choose one's society. The ladies are
agreeable. Play, which one may caU the universal
amusement, can be carried to any length one wishes in
the houses of the aristocracy, where each evening a
company collects of either sex. . . . There was a passable
Italian opera ; in winter splendid sleigh-drives ; much
masquerading, one dances oneself out of breath ; and
there are public balls which are very weU arranged, and
could be compared to the Haymarket balls in London, if
anything could be compared with them. ... In the
summer the meeting-place is in Prince Schwarzenberg's
garden, where one plays, talks, and walks. Then to
some house to supper. ... In the country-houses one is
very well entertained . . . hunting of all kinds. Many
nobles have packs of hounds, others have shooting.
Most of them have a band — for the Bohemians are very
musical — so that whatever the weather is, one is amused ;
besides, one enjoys a complete liberty."
But, after spending some time at Prague and finding
that the coronation would not take place for a while,
Pollnitz decided to leave. For —
" The outlay I was making at Prague was very great,
and I considered that, if I stayed there any longer, it
would no longer be in my power to carry out the ar
rangements I had made. I had left Berlin with a large
sum, and my plan was that, as I was now in a position
to do so, I should satisfy all those from whom I had
borrowed money."

CHAPTER XXIII
Pollnitz began the meritorious work of paying his
debts by appeasing his " mad dogs " in Holland.
He went by way of Cleves and Nijmegen. Thence
to Rhenen —
" Four or five leagues on narrow, winding dykes, very
broken by wet weather. The road seemed made for
the destruction of the human race, especially as I had
a stupid coachman, shying horses, and so was in danger
of breaking my neck, for in Holland public conveyances
are made to upset easily. Whoever invented them must
have studied what was most uncomfortable and best
adapted to kUl people. Imagine a cursed chariot
enormously high, one mounts by an iron ladder, placed
between the wheels, which are at most two feet apart.
The body is covered with wooden trellis like an arbour,
which is covered with oil-cloth, and is so low that, at
the least jolt, one knocks against the top. This infernal
machine, doubtless invented for the entry of Persephone
to Hades, instead of a pole has a hook, with a raised end,
by which the coachman, generally drunk, guides the
carriage by leaning one foot upon it, while he holds on
with the other to the neck of one of his horses, which
almost touch the chariot. In this fearful shandrydan
eight people are seated, who, as the height of abomina
tion, make such a noise that every head whirls."
In the province of Utrecht he passed many chateaux,
which were also to be found in Gelderland and Overyssel,
he heard, as land is not so dear in these less fertile parts.
Leyden University much impressed him.
331

332 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" There are at this moment three great professors
here : Vitriarius for law, Boerhaven for medicine, and
S'Gravesande for mathematics. The first-named, by
his learning and his way of lecturing, attracts to Leyden
all the young nobility from Bohemia and Austria. Of
aU the Protestant Universities, excepting those of
England, I know of none where the students are less
dissipated and noisy than at Leyden. There is no town
so suitable for studying in ; there is no squandering,
one is at the fountain-head for books, and living is not
dear. The students do not pride themselves, as in
Germany, on their magnificence in dress; many are
hardly ever out of a dressing-gown, which is the favourite
costume of the townsfolk. It made me think that
there was some epidemic prevalent in the town."
PoUnitz went on to The Hague and stayed there tUl
February. " I first paid a caU on my dear Pyll, who had behaved
so well to me that I felt I must satisfy her first. I then
made many little payments on one side or the other, and
soon cleared off the debts I had contracted in this
country, and, finding myself stUl with my purse well
lined, I spent my time as weU as I could in this most
brilliant Court. My debts paid off in Holland, the ease
with which I set in order my other obligations farther
away gave me a peace of mind such as I had not enjoyed
for a long time ; and so, without having as yet any
settled position, I found it was a pleasant thing to be a
man who owes nothing."
At The Hague PoUnitz found many cousins, descended,
like himself, from Maurice of Nassau.
" Of all the blood of Nassau-Orange, of the Prince
who founded the Republic, only one young Prince
remains, the Stadtholder of Frisia, besides the Counts of
Ouvverkerke, Zeist, Laleck — of the left hand."

THE VAGRANT 333
Society at The Hague was good. It —
" Was the easiest place in Europe to make acquaint
ances. . . . Assemblies, plays, promenades. . . . The
Voorhout on summer evenings full of the coaches of the
beau monde . . . the drive to the sea at Scheveningen along
fine avenues paved with bricks, and bordered with a
double line of yew-trees cut pyramid shape. . . . Charming
walks every way, and even inside the town. ..."
Society was cosmopolitan at The Hague. There were,
besides the ambassadors of many nations, " my lady
d' Albemarle," widow of the Count of that name, page
to WUliam of Orange. She was the first lady at The
Hague. The Lieutenant-General of the States, Keppel,
made a great show, and had a brilliant house. " My
lady Cadogan," widow of the Duke of Marlborough's
faithful friend, and mother of the Duchess of Richmond,
the favourite of Charles II, lived at The Hague, as did
also Pollnitz's old acquaintance the Countess Wartenberg,
turning night into day and day into night, her house
always open to foreign visitors, and very high play
there. She said of herself that it was easier to count the
sheUs on the beach at Scheveningen than for her to count
her lovers. But she had now lost aU her beauty, and
had become coarse in looks and manners. She died at
The Hague, lonely and neglected, her funeral followed
only by a few servants.
During this visit of PoUnitz to The Hague much
alarm was caused in HoUand by a plague of worms
gnawing the dykes which protected the lowlands from
the sea. It was hoped that the ice might stay their
damage, but in the meantime the States ordered public
prayers, and forbade any theatrical performances.
Yet there were plenty of actors, and more than one
opera company. A serious-minded Jew had sent for one
of these from Paris, in order to oppose the comedies
when the theatres were open. An Anabaptist, zealous
for comedy, supported the theatre. All The Hague sided
with one or the other party.

334 A VAGABOND COURTIER
" It showed," says Pollnitz, " the footing on which
Jews are here. The Portuguese Jews are very generous ;
they make a great display, are admitted to the Assembly,
entertain largely, give much in charity ; in fact, only
differ from others in that they go to synagogue."
Amsterdam interested the Baron greatly, though,
aristocrat to his finger-tips, Pollnitz did not approve of
the Republic and of the republican taste and bourgeois
tone of —
" This modern Tyre, this mistress of trade, this shop
of the world . . . her edifices, sacred and profane, are fine
enough ; but also, to speak frankly, they are somewhat
bourgeois in taste, which one does not find in the
buildings in Venice and Genoa, where taste is more
refined because the nobles govern. Amsterdam is the
only town in the world which can be compared in any
way with Venice ; for, though it is not built like the latter,
in the middle of the sea, it is also buUt on pUes. Like
Venice, it is composed of a quantity of islands, and the
principal streets are canals ; with this advantage, that
they are edged with wide quays planted with trees,
whilst at Venice the water is only confined by the houses
themselves. That is, I think, the only resemblance
between these two rivals of commerce ; for, as for the
beauty of the buildings, there is no comparison at aU ;
a Grand Canal and a Canale Reggio are worth more
in this respect than all Amsterdam. There, there are
palaces ; here there are houses, clean, neat, pretty,
without architectural style and buUt of brick."
Mediaeval style did not appeal to eighteenth-century
taste. " In old days the manner of building of the Amsterdam
folk was most extraordinary. Most of the old houses
stUl left are mounted on stUts. The front of the first

THE VAGRANT 335
floor above the ground-floor is usually all windows,
separated by pillars of wood, which support the masonry
of the other floors, happily very light, for it is unusual
for a wall to be more than two bricks thick, and the
ceilings are nothing but planks ; so that one has the
advantage of not being able to speak on the first floor
without being heard on the second floor. I will not
criticise the arrangement of the rooms, though, in truth,
the architects do not understand anything about it,
nor of how to set up the chimneys, which nearly all
smoke. It is true that the inhabitants are not much
troubled about this, and could as well do without them.
(This mode of life applies only to the people, and not
to persons of a certain rank, or to some of the merchants.)
The women warm themselves all day long with a peat
which they place into a little earthenware pot and put
under their petticoats, where they sit on them as a hen
does on her chickens. The men, when at home, are
always in dressing-gowns lined with flannel and wrapped
up in two or three thick jackets. If the cold is very
severe they also use a stoof, as the heater is called which
I have just said the ladies use ; or else they warm them
selves in the kitchen, where there is never too much
bustle to prevent one getting near the hearth ; and I
wager that there are many people comfortably off who
only put the soup-pot on once a week. No nation is
so badly fed as the Dutch : butter, milk, cheese, salt
fish, are their usual dishes.
" But I am getting away from my subject, their
manner of buUding. I do not know how such lightly
built houses can hold together : therefore there are
some which have a bending appearance, which I prefer
more in a danseuse than in a house. A good many have
lately been restored. One of these gables, like a sugar-
loaf, has unfortunately fallen down, and killed three
people passing in the street. The Government, very
anxious to avoid any accident, has ordered the landlords
to puU down these sloping pyramids, and one is no
longer in danger of having one's head broken, and the

336 A VAGABOND COURTIER
town is all the finer. Their principal decoration is
window ; there is no country which has such fine glazing,
and in many houses the panes are of very good glass.
In the palaces of Venice and Genoa the painting and
the gUding of the ceilings alone are worth more than
the finest house in Amsterdam. I do not deny that
there are houses here on the building of which no ex
pense has been spared ; but usuaUy they are smaU ;
none have more than five windows in front, others four,
and the most only three. One enters by steps of a
sort of marble, or black stone. In houses of the usual
size one finds a narrow hall with a floor of white marble,
and often the walls are paneUed to a certain height with
it." (Does Pollnitz allude to Dutch tUes ?) " The
house usually consists of two rooms on the ground-floor,
a little courtyard beyond, a second detached building
only one room deep, with a view into the garden. At
Venice or Genoa a merchant (I do not take noblemen
into account) would have at least an apartment of three
or four rooms. At Amsterdam the furniture is cleaner,
in Italy finer. Here there will be a fine Flemish tapestry,
a small room with pictures, fine mirrors, a quantity of
china and beautiful knick-knacks from India ; the floor
will be covered with a fine Persian carpet, but you wiU
not find furniture upholstered in velvet, embroidered
with gold, chandeliers of rock-crystal, abundance of
pictures, of antique busts, of vases, of statues in marble
and bronze. Finally, I will tell you, to wind up this
long comparison, that if the Itahan palaces were as
clean as the Amsterdam houses they would be unsur
passed, and if the houses at Amsterdam were as neglected
as those in Italy no one would look at them.
" However small a house is here, there is always one
room not lived in, and it is the best room in the house.
It is a Sanctuary of which the head maid-servant in the
house is the High Priestess. She has such respect for
this reserved spot, that she never enters it without taking
her shoes off for fear of soiling the floor, for which they
have such a veneration that they devote a sort of

33li]

WINTEtt IN HOLLAND.
From the Collection of A. it. Broadley.

THE VAGRANT 337
worship to it ; it is the lares penates, and you draw down
upon yourself the indignation of the mistress of the
house and of the maids if you have not as much respect
for their floors as they have. Before entering a house,
you must wipe your feet well on a mat you find outside
the door ; then you must not spit, even if you should
choke, unless you find a httle utensil full of sand in
tended for this purpose ; you must let nothing fall
that can stain it, otherwise I will not answer for it, that
the Priestess does not immolate the delinquent to their
idol, and that the fable of Orpheus and the Bacchantes
is not brought to hfe again. On certain days of the
year the Priestesses allow their masters to enter the
Sanctuary, and even to receive company there ; but the
next day this spot, which is caUed in the language of
the country Beste Kamer (the fine room), is washed and
purified as our churches are when they have been
profaned. I do not exaggerate when I say that there
are rooms which I am sure are not opened more than
four times a year, unless it be to air the furniture. It
is the same with thousands of beautiful things in Amster
dam, which are not used for fear of spoiling them.
People live in the midst of abundance and riches, with
out any satisfaction from them. However, for the last
few years they begin to enjoy life somewhat ; they
launch out into carriages, furniture, into country excur
sions, and their wives into dress and furniture. The
old people exclaim at the new habits; they say the
Republic is on the down-grade. In that they resemble
one of our Emperors, who, noticing that his Equerry had
changed the rope-traces which were in use at Court for
better ones, exclaimed : ' that luxury would ruin his
family and his State.'
" Amsterdam is as large as Naples, five hundred
thousand inhabitants. Its situation is one of the
marvels of the world. It is built on such low ground
that it would be in constant danger if the people had not
made embankments as high as the waves which always
seem ready to overwhelm it."
I -22

338 A VAGABOND COURTIER
The gently flowing Amstel, the fine bridges, the
canals, brick-edged and bordered with lime and elm,
the shining doorsteps, the ghstening big windows — all
excited his admiration, and especially the clean streets.
" They are carefully washed once a week. Apropos
of that I will tell you that there is no place where washing
is in so much favour as Amsterdam ; every week they
never miss washing the interior of the house, and aU the
cooking utensUs, so that the washing is never-ending.
Indeed, otherwise everything would grow mouldy and
spoil. But I think that, unless they were obliged to
wash, the Dutch would not waste time over it, for other
wise I have not seen them plume themselves upon
cleanliness. The gentlemen wear a shirt fifteen days,
under a greasy, very disgusting woollen jacket. Their
manner of eating is not very clean. Mostly they know
of no other forks than their fingers, with which they
fish for salad swimming in vinegar, which is usuaUy
their favourite dish."
The Town Hall, though its seven porticoes were too
narrow, Pollnitz thought the finest public buUding. He
saw over the dungeons, in the adjoining vaults to the
Treasury, " very clean, well lighted, the prisoners less
iU-treated than elsewhere ; they are fed, and not left
lying in filth." (!)
The busy life of the merchant on 'Change in the
Square struck him much. " To see them running to
and fro aU over this Square, there is no one in the world
but would take them for madmen."
The Admiralty was a little town to itself. The
seventy men-of-war were superior to those of the
Venetians, and there were materials to bund more. He
admired the India House, a great building —
" Full of spices, masses of valuable things. I was
embalmed like a mummy after an hour's walk through it.

THE VAGRANT 339
A corpse put there would not decay, joking apart.
The India Company is a Republic in a Republic ; ap
points and dismisses officers and soldiers. In the
Indies the Governor lives better than his masters here.
One might say to a director of the Company, ' I wish
you may one day be Governor in Batavia,' as a Nea
politan lady wished at Madrid to Philip the Fourth,
that he might be one day Viceroy of Naples.
" I did not see the House of Correction or any of the
numerous Hospitals, because I have a great dislike of
prisons, and the name of a hospital alarms me. I see
I am going there fast, and it will be time enough to see
it when I take up my abode there.
" Since it began to freeze I hold my assizes on the
ice to see the skaters slide — a favourite exercise of the
Dutch, which they do marvellously well. Their skates
are rather thin little pieces of wood, smooth as knitting-
needles, except where the heel and the flat of the foot
should rest, which is a little wider. The rest is thin,
and turned up at the end, so that the iron below may
the more easily break through snow and avoid irregulari
ties and obstacles. Thus one goes very regularly, but
not without danger of breaking one's arms or one's legs
or of drowning. The Dutch learn to skate before they
can walk. It is the amusement of the common people,
and of the very young. Adults and gentlefolk go in
sleighs as we do, caUed here ' Narren,' meaning to
behave as a fool. It seems true.
" On the Amstel outside the Utrecht gate several
thousand people run on skates so fast that they seem
to fly. If one of these were to appear in Switzerland,
he might share the fate of Brioche, the marionette-
player, and be burnt as a wizard by the Helvetians.
"The skaters are a great resource to me, as I am
very bored in this town. It is not the place for those who
are not in business. The foreign visitor does not know
what is to become of him. His only refuge is a dull
cafe, or the promenade. In the first, one is smoked
out, or deafened by the poor remarks on the newspapers,

340 A VAGABOND COURTIER
on the price of pepper and ginger ; in the other, one
is alone.
The play is a poor resource for those who do not
know the Dutch language, which, like our own, is not
suited to the drama. The actors are pitiable, the dresses
bad, the scenery good, and the theatre large and fine.
I do not know why the Magistrates wiU not allow
French comedy to be played in this town. It appears to
me that it would do more good than harm, would polish
up the young men, and keep them from dissipation,
which idleness and the difficulty of knowing where to
spend the evenings lead to. D'Argenson, when he
was Head of the Police, told me that there were more
disorders and debauchery in Paris during the fortnight
at Easter when the theatres were closed, than in four
months when they were open. It would soon be the
same at Amsterdam, where the lazy young men, with
parents, blind in their kindness, always ready to kiU the
fatted calf, are left to themselves ; they are usually edu
cated with httle principle, and abandon themselves to
excesses, the result of passion. These youths prefer
driving a chaise to aU other forms of exercise ; they
wish to play the dandy. You can imagine how they
set about it.
" The assemblies in society are not attractive. The
faces are pretty, but the owners wUl not say a word, at
least to a stranger. One takes tea, a turn at ombre or
quadriUe, and then one seeks for supper.
" Parties where there are no ladies are even duller.
You smoke and drink a great deal, discuss trade or
politics, and then wish bad luck to the Powers who have
prevented useless Dutch goods going into their States !
' ( The only remedy against idleness is reading. Amster
dam is the centre of bookseUers, officious bookseUers,
who lend books to people hke myself, who cannot
burden themselves with a library. I divide my time
between reading, the cafe, and the promenade ; but
the walks are far off. . . . The canals here make nice
walks, because the banks are planted ; but the pavement

THE VAGRANT 341
is unpleasant. The view from the bridge which joins
the embankment of one side of the Amstel to the other,
and which is six hundred and sixty feet long, by seventy-
five feet wide, is comparable to the Pont Royal at Paris.
" There are two synagogues here, one for Portuguese
and one for German Jews. Both are Jews, but they
differ in heart and feelings. The first are the less ugly ;
they wear their beards tidily trimmed, and are well-
mannered people. I saw one who was a good-looking
young man, and a dandy. He had been brought up a
Christian, and seemed a faithful one ; but when he was
in Paris, in the suite of an ambassador, he fled, and
came to Amsterdam, where he Judaized as if he had
never heard our Lord named.
" Whenever I went into society in Holland I was
looked upon as a curiosity. Yet I am not a dandy,
and my face evokes nothing but indifference. The
Fair Sex in this country is very handsome ; the peasants
have the complexions of ladies ; the country beauties
are aU fair, with an indolent look, as if they would not
refuse their heart to a young swain who asked it. For me,
who am no longer of an age for adventures, I contented
myself with admiring these nymphs."
Pollnitz thought the Dutch so honest and straight
forward and friendly — unless they had to open their
purses. He got on excellently with them. " If you
treat them weU, they do what you like. As Charles V
said : ' You must speak fair words to the Dutch, leave
them a shadow of liberty, but make them pay up well.' "
They are miserly, but, on the other hand, charitable, and
wish people to be able to live. They do not possess
" that which to-day outweighs everything — a brilhant
inteUect," but he thought that they had plenty of good
common sense.
Often, in the canal boats, he listened to conversation,
and was surprised to hear how the common people
talked, of trade, of the interests of the State, of other
countries, of manners of other nations, of the history of

342 A VAGABOND COURTIER
their own land, far more intelligently, perhaps, than the
epigram-makers, the weavers of rondeaux and bouts-
rimes, did elsewhere.
The people can be insolent, but, if a stranger does
not annoy them by his haughtiness, they wiU not come
out of their phlegm.
" They do not fleece the stranger, except in a hole hke
Hallevoetsluis, or at Rotterdam, where one Carpentier, a
French refugee, keeps the tavern ' Marechal de Turenne,'
but not in good towns. If a visitor wUl be human,
and hve at a table d'hote, he will know what he is spending.
The ordinary is by rule ; wine, lodging, are a fixed price.
Only supper makes a breach in your purse. Carriages
by land and water are charged for, except in the ice
season." Pollnitz went to Haarlem, where the only thing he
noticed was a sort of rosette of muslin trimmed with
lace, which his guide pointed out to him tied to some
of the doors. " It was a mark that a woman was lying-
in in the house, and her husband is therefore entitled to
the privilege of not being arrested for debt during the
six weeks that his wife is laid up."
At Saardam he saw thousands of windmills at work,
sawing wood. " The wide trousers of the people would
make a coat for other nations. They wear huge silver
buttons, and the women gold and silver jewelry."
In Pollnitz's time the national dress was stiU the rule.
He knew a young man whose father refused to recognize
him because he came on the Bourse at Amsterdam in
French clothes. END of vol. 1

Printed hy Hcuell, Watson £ Viney, Li., London and Ayltttury, England.