The Life and Adventures of Baron Trenck Volume I Part 10

I since have learnt that Frederic, no doubt by the false representations of Reimer, was highly irritated, and what afterwards happened proves his anger pursued me through every corner of the earth, till at last I fell into his power at Dantzic, and suffered a martyrdom most unmerited and unexampled.

The Prussian envoy, Goltz, indeed, made complaints to Count Bestuchef, concerning this Dantzic skirmish, but received no satisfaction. My conduct was justified in Russia, I having defended myself against a.s.sa.s.sins, as a Russian captain ought.

Some dispa.s.sionate readers may blame me for not having avoided this rencontre, and demanded personal satisfaction of Lieutenant N---. But I have through life rather sought than avoided danger. My vanity and revenge were both roused. I was everywhere persecuted by the Prussians, and I was therefore determined to show that, far from fearing, I was able to defend myself.

I hired the servant of the lieutenant, whom I found honest and faithful, and whom I comfortably settled in marriage, at Vienna, in 1753. After my ten years' imprisonment, I found him poor, and again took him into my service, in which he died, at Zwerbach, in 1779.

CHAPTER X.

And now behold me at sea, on my voyage to Riga. I had eaten heartily before I went on board; a storm came on; I worked half the night, to aid the crew, but at length became sea-sick, and went to lie down. Scarcely had I closed my eyes before the master came with the joyful tidings, as he thought, that we were running for the port of Pillau. Far from pleasing, this, to me, was dreadful intelligence. I ran on deck, saw the harbour right before me, and a pilot coming off. The sea must now be either kept in a storm, or I fall into the hands of the Prussians; for I was known to the whole garrison of Pillau.

I desired the captain to tack about and keep the sea, but he would not listen to me. Perceiving this, I flew to my cabin, s.n.a.t.c.hed my pistols, returned, seized the helm, and threatened the captain with instant death if he did not obey. My Russians began to murmur; they were averse to encountering the dangers of the storm, but luckily they were still more averse to meet my anger, overawed, as they were, by my pistols, and my two servants, who stood by me faithfully.

Half an hour after, the storm began to subside, and we fortunately arrived the next day in the harbour of Riga. The captain, however, could not be appeased, but accused me before the old and honourable Marshal Lacy, then governor of Riga. I was obliged to appear, and reply to the charge by relating the truth. The governor answered, my obstinacy might have occasioned the death of a hundred and sixty persons; I, smiling, retorted, "I have brought them all safe to port, please your Excellency; and, for my part, my fate would have been much more merciful by falling into the hands of my G.o.d than into the hands of my enemies. My danger was so great that I forgot the danger of others; besides, sir, I knew my comrades were soldiers, and feared death as little as I do." My answer pleased the fine grey-headed general, and he gave me a recommendation to the chancellor Bestuchef at Moscow.

General Lieuwen had marched from Moravia, for Russia, with the army, and was then at Riga. I went to pay him my respects; he kindly received me, and took me to one of his seats, named Annaburg, four miles from Riga.

Here I remained some days, and he gave me every recommendation to Moscow, where the court then was. It was intended I should endeavour to obtain a company in the regiment of cuira.s.siers, the captains of which then ranked as majors, and he advised me to throw up my commission in the Siberian regiment of Tobolski dragoons. Peace be to the names and the memory of this worthy man! May G.o.d reward this benevolence! From Riga I departed, in company with M. Oettinger, lieutenant-colonel of engineers, and Lieutenant Weismann, for Moscow. This is the same Weismann who rendered so many important services to Russia, during the last war with the Turks.

On my arrival, after delivering in my letters of recommendation, I was particularly well received by Count Bestuchef. Oettinger, whose friendship I had gained, was exceedingly intimate with the chancellor, and my interest was thereby promoted.

I had not been long at Moscow before I met Count Hamilton, my former friend during my abode at Vienna. He was a captain of cavalry, in the regiment of General Bernes, who had been sent as imperial amba.s.sador to Russia.

Bernes had been amba.s.sador at Berlin in 1743, where he had consequently known me during the height of my favour at the court of Frederic.

Hamilton presented me to him, and I had the good fortune so far to gain his friendship, that, after a few visits, he endeavoured to detach me from the Russian service, offering me the strongest recommendations to Vienna, and a company in his own regiment. My cousin's misfortunes, however, had left too deep an impression on my mind to follow his advice.

The Indies would then have been preferred by me to Austria.

Bernes invited me to dine with him in company with his bosom friend, Lord Hyndford, the English amba.s.sador. How great was the pleasure I that day received! This eminent statesman had known me at Berlin, and was present when Frederic had honoured me with saying, _C'est un matador de ma jeunesse_. He was well read in men, conceived a good opinion of my abilities, and became a friend and father to me. He seated me by his side at table, and asked me, "Why came you here, Trenck?" "In search of bread and honour, my lord," answered I, "having unmeritedly lost them both in my own country." He further inquired the state of my finances; I told him my whole store might be some thirty ducats.

"Take my counsel," said he; "you have the necessary qualifications to succeed in Russia, but the people here despise poverty, judge from the exterior only, and do not include services or talents in the estimate; you must have the appearance of being wealthy. I and Bernes will introduce you into the best families, and will supply you with the necessary means of support. Splendid liveries, led horses, diamond rings, deep play, a bold front, undaunted freedom with statesmen, and gallantry among the ladies, are the means by which foreigners must make their way in this country. Avail yourself of them, and leave the rest to us." This lesson lasted some time. Bernes entered in the interim, and they determined mutually to contribute towards my promotion.

Few of the young men who seek their fortune in foreign countries meet incidents so favourable. Fortune for a moment seemed willing to recompense my past sufferings, and again to raise me to the height from which I had fallen. These amba.s.sadors, here again by accident met, had before been witnesses of my prosperity when at Berlin. The talents I possessed, and the favour I then enjoyed, attracted the notice of all foreign ministers. They were bosom friends, equally well read in the human heart, and equally benevolent and n.o.ble-minded; their recommendation at court was decisive; the nations they represented were in alliance with Russia, and the confidence Bestuchef placed in them was unbounded.

I was now introduced into all companies, not as a foreigner who came to entreat employment, but as the heir of the house of Trenck, and its rich Hungarian possessions, and as the former favourite of the Prussian monarch.

I was also admitted to the society of the first literati, and wrote a poem on the anniversary of the coronation of the Empress Elizabeth.

Hyndford took care she should see it, and, in conjunction with the chancellor, presented me to the sovereign. My reception was most gracious. She herself recommended me to the chancellor, and presented me with a gold-hilted sword, worth a thousand roubles. This raised me highly in the esteem of all the houses of the Bestuchef party.

Manners were at that time so rude in Russia, that every foreigner who gave a dinner, or a ball, must send notice to the chancellor Bestuchef, that he might return a list of the guests allowed to be invited. Faction governed everything; and wherever Bestuchef was, no friend of Woranzow durst appear. I was the intimate of the Austrian and English amba.s.sadors; consequently, was caressed and esteemed in all companies. I soon became the favourite of the chancellor's lady, as I shall hereafter notice; and nothing more was wanting to obtain all I could wish.

I was well acquainted with architectural design, had free access to the house and cabinet of the chancellor, where I drew in company with Colonel Oettinger, who was then the head architect of Russia, and made the perspective view of the new palace, which the chancellor intended to build at Moscow, by which I acquired universal honour. I had gained more acquaintance in, and knowledge of, Russia in one month, than others, wanting my means, have done in twelve.

As I was one day relating my progress to Lord Hyndford, he, like a friend, grown grey in courts, kindly took the trouble to advise me. From him I obtained a perfect knowledge of Russia; he was acquainted with all the intrigues of European courts, their families, party cabals, the foibles of the monarchs, the principles of their government, the plots of the great Peter, and had also made the peace of Breslau. Thus, having been the confidential friend of Frederic, he was intimately acquainted with his heart, as well as the sources of his power. Hyndford was penetrating, n.o.ble-minded, had the greatness of the Briton, without his haughtiness; and the principles, by which he combined the past, the present, and the future, were so clear, that I, his scholar, by adhering to them, have been enabled to foretell all the most remarkable revolutions that have happened, during the s.p.a.ce of six-and-thirty years, in Europe. By these I knew, when any minister was disgraced, who should be his successor. I daily pa.s.sed some hours improving by his kind conversation; and to him I am indebted for most of that knowledge of the world I happen to possess.

He took various opportunities of cautioning me against the effects of an ardent, sanguine temper; and my hatred of arbitrary power warned me to beware of the determined persecution of Frederic, of his irreconcilable anger, his intrigues and influence in the various courts of Europe, which he would certainly exert to prevent my promotion, lest I should impede his own projects, and lamented my future sufferings, which he plainly foresaw. "Despots," said he, "always are suspicious, and abhor those who have a consciousness of their own worth, of the rights of mankind, and hold the lash in detestation. The enlightened are by them called the restless spirits, turbulent and dangerous; and virtue there, where virtue is unnecessary for the humbling and trampling upon the suffering subject, is accounted a crime, of all others the most to be dreaded."

Hyndford taught me to know, and highly to value freedom: to despise tyrants, to endure the worst of miseries, to emulate true greatness of mind, to despise danger, and to honour only those whose elevation of soul had taught them equally to oppose bigotry and despotism.

Bernes was a philosopher; but with the penetration of an Italian, more cautious than Hyndford, yet equally honest and worthy. His friendship for me was unbounded, and the time pa.s.sed in their company was esteemed by me most precious. The liberality of my sentiments, thirst after knowledge and scientific acquirements gained their favour; our topics of conversation were inexhaustible, and I acquired more real information at Moscow than at Berlin, under the tuition of La Metri, Maupertuis, and Voltaire.

CHAPTER XI.

Scarcely had I been six weeks in this city before I had an adventure which I shall here relate; for, myself excepted, all the persons concerned in it are now dead. Intrigues properly belong to novels. This book is intended for a more serious purpose, and they are therefore here usually suppressed. It cannot be supposed I was a woman-hater. Most of the good or bad fortune I experienced originated in love. I was not by nature inconstant, and was incapable of deceit even in amours. In the very ardour of youth I always shunned mere sensual pleasures. I loved for more exalted reasons, and for such sought to be beloved again. Love and friendship were with me always united; and these I was capable of inciting, maintaining, and deserving. The most difficult of access, the n.o.blest, and the fairest, were ever my choice: and my veneration for these always deterred me from grosser gratifications. By woman I was formed; by the faith of woman supported under misfortunes; in the company of woman enjoyed the few hours of delight my life of sorrows has experienced. Woman, beautiful and well instructed, even now, lightens the burden of age, the world's tediousness and its woes; and, when these are ended, I would rather wish mine eyes might be closed by fair and virgin hands, than, when expiring, fixed on a hypocritical priest.

My adventures with women would amply furnish a romance: but enough of this, I should not relate the present, were it not necessary to my story.

Dining one public day with Lord Hyndford, I was seated beside a charming young lady of one of the best families in Russia, who had been promised in marriage, though only seventeen, to an old invalid minister. Her eyes soon told me she thought me preferable to her intended bridegroom. I understood them, lamented her hard fate, and was surprised to hear her exclaim, "Oh, heavens! that it were possible you could deliver me from my misfortune: I would engage to do whatever you would direct."

The impression such an appeal must make on a man of four and twenty, of a temperament like mine, may easily be supposed. The lady was ravishingly beautiful; her soul was candour itself, and her rank that of a princess; but the court commands had already been given in favour of the marriage; and flight, with all its inseparable dangers, was the only expedient. A public table was no place for long explanations. Our hearts were already one. I requested an interview, and the next day was appointed, the place the Trotzer garden, where I pa.s.sed three rapturous hours in her company: thanks to her woman, who was a Georgian.

To escape, however, from Moscow, was impossible. The distance thence to any foreign country was too great. The court was not to remove to Petersburg till the next spring, and her marriage was fixed for the first of August. The misfortune was not to be remedied, and nothing was left us but patience perforce. We could only resolve to fly from Petersburg when there, the soonest possible, and to take refuge in some corner of the earth, where we might remain unknown of all. The marriage, therefore, was celebrated with pomp, though I, in despite of forms, was the true husband of the princess. Such was the state of the husband imposed upon her, that to describe it, and not give disgust, were impossible.

The princess gave me her jewels, and several thousand roubles, which she had received as a nuptial present, that I might purchase every thing necessary for flight; my evil destiny, however, had otherwise determined.

I was playing at ombre with her, one night, at the house of the Countess of Bestuchef, when she complained of a violent headache, appointed me to meet her on the morrow, in the Trotzer gardens, clasped my hand with inexpressible emotion, and departed. Alas! I never beheld her more, till stretched upon the bier!

She grew delirious that very night, and so continued till her death, which happened on the sixth day, when the small-pox began to appear.

During her delirium she discovered our love, and incessantly called on me to deliver her from her tyrant. Thus, in the flower of her age, perished one of the most lovely women I ever knew, and with her fled all I held most dear.

All my plans were now to be newly arranged. Lord Hyndford alone was in the secret, for I hid no secrets from him: he strengthened me in my first resolution, and owned that he himself, for such a mistress, might perhaps have been weak enough to have acted as I had done. Almost as much moved as myself, he sympathised with me as a friend, and his advice deterred me from ending my miseries, and descending with her, whom I have loved and lost, to the grave. This was the severest trial I had ever felt. Our affection was unbounded, and such only as n.o.ble hearts can feel. She being gone, the whole world became a desert. There is not a man on earth, whose life affords more various turns of fate than mine. Swiftly raised to the highest pinnacle of hope, as suddenly was I cast headlong down, and so remarkable were these revolutions that he who has read my history will at last find it difficult to say whether he envies or pities me most. And yet these were, in reality, but preparatory to the evils that hovered over my devoted head. Had not the remembrance of past joys soothed and supported me under my sufferings, I certainly should not have endured the ten years' torture of the Magdeburg dungeon, with a fort.i.tude that might have been worthy even of Socrates.

Enough of this. My blood again courses swifter through my veins as I write! Rest, gentle maiden, n.o.ble and lovely as thou wert! For thee ought Heaven to have united a form so fair, animated as it was, by a soul so pure, to ever-blooming youth and immortality.

My love for this lady became well-known in Moscow; yet her corpulent overgrown husband had not understanding enough to suppose there was any meaning in her rhapsodies during her delirium.

Her gifts to me amounted in value to about seven thousand ducats. Lord Hyndford and Count Bernes both adjudged them legally mine, and well am I a.s.sured her heart had bequeathed me much more.

To this event succeeded another, by which my fortune was greatly influenced. The Countess of Bestuchef was then the most amiable and witty woman at Court. Her husband, cunning, selfish, and shallow, had the name of minister, while she, in reality, governed with a genius, at once daring and comprehensive. The too pliant Elizabeth carelessly left the most important things to the direction of others. Thus the Countess was the first person of the Empire, and on whom the attention of the foreign ministers was fixed.

Haughty and majestic in her demeanour, she was supposed to be the only woman at court who continued faithful to her husband; which supposition probably originated in her art and education, she being a German born: for I afterwards found her virtue was only pride, and a knowledge of the national character. The Russian lover rules despotic over his mistress: requires money, submission, and should he meet opposition, threatens her with blows, and the discovery of her secret.

During Elizabeth's reign foreigners could neither appear at court, nor in the best company, without the introduction of Bestuchef. I and Sievers, gentlemen of the chamber, were at that time the only Germans who had free egress and regress in all houses of fashion; my being protected by the English and Austrian amba.s.sadors gave me very peculiar advantages, and made my company everywhere courted.

Bestuchef had been resident, during the late reign, at Hamburg, in which inferior station he married the countess, at that time, though young and handsome, only the widow of the merchant Boettger. Under Elizabeth, Bestuchef rose to the summit of rank and power, and the widow Boettger became the first lady of the empire. When I knew her she was eight and thirty, consequently no beauty, though a woman highly endowed in mind and manners, of keen discernment, disliking the Russians, protecting the Prussians, and at whose aversions all trembled.

Her carriage towards the Russians was, what it must be in her situation, lofty, cautious, and ironical, rather than kind. To me she showed the utmost esteem on all occasions, welcomed me at her table, and often admitted me to drink coffee in company with herself alone and Colonel Oettinger. The countess never failed giving me to understand she had perceived my love for the princess N---; and, though I constantly denied the fact, she related circ.u.mstances which she could have known, as I thought, only from my mistress herself; my silence pleased her; for the Russians, when a lady had a partiality for them, never fail to vaunt of their good fortune. She wished to persuade me she had observed us in company, had read the language of our eyes, and had long penetrated our secret. I was ignorant at that time that she had then, and long before, entertained the maid of my mistress as a spy in her pay.

About a week after the death of the princess, the countess invited me to take coffee with her, in her chamber; lamented my loss, and the violence of that pa.s.sion which had deprived me of all my customary vivacity, and altered my very appearance. She seemed so interested in my behalf, and expressed so many wishes, and so ardent to better my fate, that I could no longer doubt. Another opportunity soon happened, which confirmed these my suspicions: her mouth confessed her sentiments. Discretion, secrecy, and fidelity, were the laws she imposed, and never did I experience a more ardent pa.s.sion from woman. Such was her understanding and penetration, she knew how to rivet my affections.

Caution was the thing most necessary. She contrived, however, to make opportunity. The chancellor valued, confided in me, and employed me in his cabinet; so that I remained whole days in his house. My captainship of cavalry was now no longer thought of: I was destined to political employment. My first was to be gentleman of the chamber, which in Russia is an office of importance, and the prospect of futurity became to me most resplendent. Lord Hyndford, ever the repository of my secrets, counselled me, formed plans for my conduct, rejoiced at my success, and refused to be reimbursed the expense he had been at, though now my circ.u.mstances were prosperous.

The degree of credit I enjoyed was soon noticed: foreign ministers began to pay their court to me: Goltz, the Prussian minister, made every effort to win me, but found me incorruptible.