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diff --git a/38128.txt b/38128.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..332e79d --- /dev/null +++ b/38128.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10414 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Memoirs of Leonora Christina, by Leonora +Christina Ulfeldt, Translated by F. E. Bunnètt + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Memoirs of Leonora Christina + Daughter of Christian IV. of Denmark; Written During Her Imprisonment in the Blue Tower at Copenhagen 1663-1685 + + +Author: Leonora Christina Ulfeldt + + + +Release Date: November 24, 2011 [eBook #38128] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF LEONORA CHRISTINA*** + + +E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) from scanned images of public domain material +generously made available by the Google Books Library Project +(http://books.google.com/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38128-h.htm or 38128-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38128/38128-h/38128-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38128/38128-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + the the Google Books Library Project. See + http://books.google.com/books?vid=MaYBAAAAQAAJ&id + + +Transcriber's note: + + Obvious typographical errors have been corrected, but + otherwise the original spelling has generally been retained, + even where several different spellings have been used to + refer to the same person. + + The printed book contained footnotes and endnotes. The + endnotes have been treated as footnotes, and marked with + anchors prefixed by E, as in [E01]. When one endnote is + referenced twice, the second occurence is marked by adding + a b, as in [E12b], and the text of the endnote is repeated + in the appropriate place. + + The printed book contained a few features, such as Greek + text and illustrations, that could not be reproduced in this + format. These have been marked in the text using {curly + braces}. + + A list of corrections is at the end of this e-book. + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF LEONORA CHRISTINA + +Daughter of Christian IV. of Denmark + +Written During Her Imprisonment in the Blue Tower at Copenhagen +1663-1685 + +Translated by F. E. Bunnett + + + + + + + +London +Henry S. King & Co., 65 Cornhill +1872 + +London: Printed by +Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square +and Parliament Street + +All rights reserved + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In placing the present translation of LEONORA CHRISTINA ULFELDT'S +Memoirs before the English reading public, a few words are due from +the Publishers, in order to explain the relation between this edition +and those which have been brought out in Denmark and in Germany. + +The original autograph manuscript of Leonora Christina's record of +her sufferings in her prison, written between the years 1674 and +1685, belongs to her descendant the Austrian Count Joh. Waldstein, +and it was discovered only a few years ago. It was then, at the +desire of Count Waldstein, brought to Copenhagen by the Danish +Minister at Vienna, M. Falbe, in order that its authenticity might be +thoroughly verified by comparison with documents preserved in the +Danish archives and libraries, and known to be in the hand-writing of +the illustrious authoress. When the existence of this interesting +historic and literary relic had become known in Denmark, a desire to +see it published was naturally expressed on all sides, and to this +the noble owner most readily acceded. + +Thus the first Danish edition came to light in 1869, promoted in +every way by Count Waldstein. The editor was Mr. Sophus Birket-Smith, +assistant librarian of the University Library at Copenhagen, who +enriched the edition with a historical introduction and copious +notes. A second Danish edition appeared a few months later; and in +1871 a German translation of the Memoir was edited by M. Ziegler, +with a new introduction and notes, founded partly on the first Danish +edition, partly on other printed sources, to which were added +extracts from some papers found in the family archives of Count +Waldstein, and which were supposed to possess the interest of +novelty. + +The applause with which this edition was received in Germany +suggested the idea of an English version, and it was at first +intended merely to translate M. Ziegler's book into English. During +the progress of the work, however, it was found preferable to adopt +the second Danish edition as the basis of the English edition. The +translation which had been made from M. Ziegler's German, has been +carefully compared with the Danish original, so as to remove any +defects arising from the use of the German translation, and give it +the same value as a translation made direct from the Danish; a new +introduction and notes have been added, for which the Danish editor, +Mr. Birket-Smith has supplied the materials; and instead of the +fragments of Ulfeldt's Apology and of an extract from Leonora +Christina's Autobiography found in the German edition, a complete +translation of the Autobiography to the point where Leonora's Memoir +of her sufferings in prison takes up the thread of the narrative, has +been inserted, made from the original French text, recently published +by Mr. S. Birket-Smith. As a matter of course the preface of Count +Waldstein, which appears in this edition, is the one prefixed to the +Danish edition. The manuscript itself of the record of Leonora +Christina's sufferings in prison was commenced in 1674, and was at +first intended to commemorate only what had happened during the +preceding ten years of her captivity; it was afterwards extended to +embrace the whole period down to 1685, and subjected to a revision +which resulted in numerous additions and alterations. As, however, +these do not seem to have been properly worked in by the authoress +herself, the Memoir is here rendered, as in the Danish edition, in +its original, more perfect shape, and the subsequent alterations made +the subject of foot notes. + + + + + PREFACE + TO + THE DANISH EDITION. + + +When, in the summer of 1858, I visited the graves of my Danish +ancestors of the family of Ulfeldt, in the little village church at +Quaerndrup, near the Castle of Egeskov, on the island of Fyn, I +resolved to honour the memory of my pious ancestress Leonora +Christina, and thus fulfil the duty of a descendant by publishing +this autograph manuscript which had come to me amongst the heirlooms +left by my father. + +It is well known that the last male representative of the family of +Ulfeldt, the Chancellor of the Court and Realm of Her Majesty the +Empress Maria Theresia, had only two daughters. One of them, +Elizabeth, married Georg Christian, Count Waldstein, while the +younger married Count Thun. + +Out of special affection for her younger son Emanuel (my late +father), my grandmother bequeathed all that referred to the Ulfeldts +to him, and the manuscript which I now--in consequence of requests +from various quarters, also from high places--give to publicity by +the learned assistance of Mr. Sophus Birket-Smith, thus came to me +through direct descent from her father: + +'Corfitz, Count of Ulfeldt of the holy Roman Empire, Lord of the +lordships Koeltz-Jenikau, Hof-Kazof, Broedlich, Odaslowitz, and the +fief Zinltsch, Knight of the Golden Vliess, First Treasurer of the +hereditary lands in Bohemia, Ambassador at the Ottoman Porte, +afterwards Chancellor of the Court and the Empire, sworn Privy +Councillor and first Lord Steward of his Imperial and Royal Majesty +Carolus VI., as well as of His Imperial Roman and Royal Majesty of +Hungary, Bohemia,' &c. + +We add: the highly honoured paternal guide of Her Majesty the Queen +Empress Maria Theresia, of glorious memory, during the first year of +her government, until the time when the gifted Prince Kaunitz, whose +genius sometimes even was too much for this, morally noble lady, +became her successor. + +I possess more than eleven imposing, closely written folio volumes, +which contain the manuscripts of the Chancellor of the Empire, his +negociations with the Sublime Porte, afterwards with the +States-General of the Netherlands, as well as the ministerial +protocols from the whole time that he held the office of Imperial +Chancellor; all of which prove his great industry and love of order, +while the original letters and annotations of his exalted mistress, +which are inserted in these same volumes, testify to the sincere, +almost childlike confidence with which she honoured him. + +But this steady and circumspect statesman was the direct grandson of +the restless and proud + +CORFITZ, first Count of Ulfeldt of the Roman Empire, High Steward of +the Realm in Denmark, &c., and of his devoted and gifted wife LEONORA +CHRISTINA, through their son + +LEO, Imperial Count Ulfeldt, Privy Councillor, Field-marshal, and +Viceroy in Catalonia of the Emperor Carl VI., and his wife, a born +Countess of Zinzendorf. + +I preserved, therefore with great care this manuscript, as well as +all other relics and little objects which had belonged to my Danish +ancestress, whose exalted character and sufferings are so highly +calculated to inspire sympathy, interest, and reverence. Amongst +these objects are several writings, such as fragments of poems, +prayers, needlework executed in prison (some embroidered with hair of +a fair colour); a christening robe with cap worked in gold, probably +used at the christening of her children; a very fine Amulet of +Christian IV. in blue enamel, and many portraits; amongst others the +original picture in oil of which a copy precedes the title page, &c. +&c. + +Considering that the manuscript has been handed down directly from my +ancestors from generation to generation in direct line, I could not +personally have any doubt as to its genuineness. Nevertheless I +yielded to the suggestions of others, in order to have the +authenticity of the manuscript thoroughly tested. In what way this +was done will be seen from the Introduction of the Editor. + +Though the final verdict of history may not yet have been given on +Corfitz Ulfeldt, yet--tempus omnia sanat--yon ominous pillar, which +was to perpetuate the memory of his crime into eternity, has been put +aside as rubbish and left to oblivion. Noble in forgetting and +pardoning, the great nation of the North has given a bright example +to those who still refuse to grant to Albert, Duke of Friedland--the +great general who saved the Empire from the danger that threatened it +from the North--the place which this hero ought to occupy in the +Walhalla at Vienna. + +But as to the fiery temper of Corfitz and the mysterious springs +which govern the deeds and thoughts of mankind, it may be permitted +to me, his descendant, to cherish the belief, which is almost +strengthened into a conviction, that a woman so highly gifted, of so +noble sentiments, as Leonora appears to us, would never have been +able to cling with a love so true, and so enduring through all the +changes of life, to a man who was unworthy of it. + + JOH. COUNT WALDSTEIN. + + Cairo: December 8, 1868. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTION 1 + + AUTOBIOGRAPHY 31 + + A RECORD OF THE SUFFERINGS OF THE IMPRISONED COUNTESS:-- + + PREFACE (TO MY CHILDREN) 87 + + A REMINISCENCE OF ALL THAT OCCURRED TO ME, LEONORA + CHRISTINA, IN THE BLUE TOWER, FROM AUGUST 8 OF THE + YEAR 1663, TO JUNE 11 OF THE YEAR 1674 102 + + + + + MEMOIRS + OF + LEONORA CHRISTINA. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Amongst the women celebrated in history, LEONORA CHRISTINA, the +heroine as well as the authoress of the Memoirs which form the +subject of this volume, occupies a conspicuous place, as one of the +noblest examples of every womanly virtue and accomplishment, +displayed under the most trying vicissitudes of fortune. Born the +daughter of a King, married to one of the ablest statesmen of his +time, destined, as it seemed, to shine in the undisturbed lustre of +position and great qualities, she had to spend nearly twenty-two +years in a prison, in the forced company--more cruel to her than +solitary confinement--of male and female gaolers of the lowest order, +and for a long time deprived of every means of rendering herself +independent of these surroundings by intellectual occupation. She had +to suffer alone, and innocently, for her husband's crimes; whatever +these were, she had no part in them, and she endured persecution +because she would not forsake him in his misfortune. Leonora +Christina was the victim of despotism guided by personal animosity, +and she submitted with a Christian meekness and forbearance which +would be admirable in any, but which her exalted station and her +great mental qualities bring out in doubly strong relief. + +It is to these circumstances, which render the fate of Leonora so +truly tragic, as well as to the fact that we have her own authentic +and trustworthy account before us, that the principal charm of this +record is due. Besides this, it affords many incidental glimpses of +the customs and habits of the time, nor is it without its purely +historical interest. Leonora and her husband, Corfits Ulfeldt, were +intimately connected with the principal political events in the North +of Europe at their time; even the more minute circumstances of their +life have, therefore, a certain interest. + +No wonder that the history of this illustrious couple has formed, and +still forms, the theme both of laborious scientific researches and of +poetical compositions. Amongst the latter we may here mention in +passing a well-known novel by Rousseau de la Valette,[01] because it +has had the undeserved honour of being treated by a modern writer as +an historical source, to the great detriment of his composition. +Documents which have originated from these two personages are of +course of great value. Besides letters and public documents, there +exist several accounts written by both Corfits Ulfeldt and Leonora +referring to their own life and actions. Ulfeldt published in 1652 a +defence of his political conduct, and composed, shortly before his +death, another, commonly called the 'Apology of Ulfeldt,' which has +not yet been printed entirely, but of which an extract was published +in 1695 in the supplement of the English edition of Rousseau de la +Valette's book. Some extracts from an incomplete copy discovered by +Count Waldstein in 1870, in the family archives at the Castle of +Palota, were published with the German edition of Leonora's Memoir; +complete copies exist in Copenhagen and elsewhere. Leonora Christina, +who was an accomplished writer, has composed at least four partial +accounts of her own life. One of them, referring to a journey in +1656, to be mentioned hereafter, has been printed long ago; of +another, which treated of her and Ulfeldt's imprisonment at Bornholm, +no copy has yet been discovered. The third is her Autobiography, +carried down to 1673, of which an English version follows this +Introduction; it was written in the Blue Tower, in the form of a +letter to the Danish antiquarian, Otto Sperling, jun., who wished to +make use of it for his work, 'De feminis doctis.'[02] + + [01] _Le Comte d'Ulfeld, Grand Maistre de Danemarc._ _Nouvelle + historique_, i.-ii. Paris, 1678. 8vo. An English translation, with + a supplement, appeared 1695: _The Life of Count Ulfeldt, Great + Master of Denmark, and of the Countess Eleonora his Wife._ Done out + of French. With a supplement. London. 1695. 8vo. + + Another novel by the same author, called _Casimir King of Poland_, + is perhaps better known in this country, through a translation by + F. Spence in vol. ii. of _Modern Novels_, 1692. + + [02] It is by a slip of memory that Mr. Birket Smith, in his first + Danish edition of Leonora Christina's memoir of her life in prison, + describes this work under the name of _De feminis eruditis_. + +About a century ago a so-called Autobiography of Leonora was +published in Copenhagen, but it was easily proved to be a forgery; in +fact, the original of her own work existed in the Danish archives, +and had been described by the historian Andreas Hoeier. It has now +been lost, it is supposed, in the fire which destroyed the Castle of +Christiansborg in 1794, but a complete copy exists in Copenhagen, as +well as several extracts in Latin; another short extract in French +belongs to Count Waldstein. Finally, Leonora Christina wrote the +memoir of her sufferings in the prison of the Blue Tower from +1663-1685, of which the existence was unknown until discovered by +Count Waldstein, and given to the public in the manner indicated in +the Preface. + +In introducing these memoirs to the English public, a short sketch of +the historical events and the persons to whom they refer may not be +unwelcome, particularly as Leonora herself touches only very lightly +on them, and principally describes her own personal life. + +_Leonora Christina_ was a daughter of _King Christian IV._ of Denmark +and _Kirstine Munk_. His Queen, Anna Catherine, born a princess of +Brandenburg, died in 1612, leaving three princes (four other children +died early), and in 1615 the King contracted a morganatic marriage +with Kirstine Munk, a lady of an ancient and illustrious noble +family. Leonora was born July 18 (new style), 1621, at the Castle of +Fredriksborg, so well known to all who have visited Denmark, which +the King had built twenty miles north of Copenhagen, in a beautiful +part of the country, surrounded by smiling lakes and extensive +forests. But little is known of her childhood beyond what she tells +herself in her Autobiography. Already in her eighth year she was +promised to her future husband, Corfits Ulfeldt, and in 1636 the +wedding was celebrated with great splendour, Leonora being then +fifteen years old. The family of Ulfeldt has been known since the +close of the fourteenth century. Corfits' father had been Chancellor +of the Realm, and somewhat increased the family possessions, though +he sold the ancient seat of the family, Ulfeldtsholm, in Fyen, to +Lady Ellen Marsvin, Kirstine Munk's mother. He had seventeen +children, of whom Corfits was the seventh; and so far Leonora made +only a poor marriage. But her husband's great talents and greater +ambition made up for this defect. Of his youth nothing is known with +any certainty, except that he travelled abroad, as other young +noblemen of his time, studied at Padua, and acquired considerable +proficiency in foreign languages.[03] He became a favourite of +Christian IV., at whose Court he had every opportunity for displaying +his social talents. At the marriage of the elected successor to the +throne, the King's eldest son, Christian, with the Princess Magdalene +Sibylle of Saxony, in 1634, Corfits Ulfeldt acted as marechal to the +special Ambassador Count d'Avaux, whom Louis XIII. had sent to +Copenhagen on that occasion, in which situation Ulfeldt won golden +opinions,[04] and he was one of the twelve noblemen whom the King on +the wedding-day made Knights of the Elephant. After a visit to Paris +in 1635, in order to be cured of a wound in the leg which the Danish +physicians could not heal, he obtained the sanction of the King for +his own marriage with Leonora, which was solemnised at the Castle of +Copenhagen, on October 9, 1636, with as much splendour as those of +the princes and princesses. Leonora was the favourite daughter of +Christian IV., and as far as royal favour could ensure happiness, it +might be said to be in store for the newly-married pair. + + [03] La Valette's account of his participation in the Thirty Years' + War is entirely fictitious, as almost all that he tells of + Ulfeldt's travels, &c. + + [04] See _Caroli Ogerii Ephemerides sive, Iter Danicum, Svecicum, + Polonicum, &c._ Paris, 1656. 8vo. p. 36, 37, 40, by D'Avaux's + secretary, Ogier. + +As we have stated, Ulfeldt was a poor nobleman; and it is +characteristic of them both that one of her first acts was to ask him +about his debts, which he could not but have incurred living as he +had done, and to pay them by selling her jewels and ornaments, to the +amount of 36,000 dollars, or more than 7,000_l._ in English +money--then a very large sum. But the King's favour soon procured him +what he wanted; he was made a member of the Great Council, Governor +of Copenhagen, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. + +He executed several diplomatic missions satisfactorily; and when, in +1641, he was sent to Vienna as special Ambassador, the Emperor of +Germany, Ferdinand III., made him a Count of the German Empire. +Finally, in 1643, he was made Lord High Steward of Denmark, the +highest dignity and most responsible office in the kingdom. He was +now at the summit of power and influence, and if he had used his +talents and opportunities in the interests of his country, he might +have earned the everlasting gratitude of his King and his people. + +But he was not a great man, though he was a clever and ambitious man. +He accumulated enormous wealth, bought extensive landed estates, +spent considerable sums in purchasing jewels and costly furniture, +and lived in a splendid style; but it was all at the cost of the +country. In order to enrich himself, he struck base coin (which +afterwards was officially reduced to its proper value, 8 per cent. +below the nominal value), and used probably other unlawful means for +this purpose, while the Crown was in the greatest need of money. At +the same time he neglected the defences of the country in a shameful +manner, and when the Swedish Government, in December 1643, suddenly +ordered its army, which then stood in Germany, engaged in the Thirty +Years' War, to attack Denmark without any warning, there were no +means of stopping its victorious progress. In vain the veteran King +collected a few vessels and compelled the far more numerous Swedish +fleet to fly, after a furious battle near Femern, where he himself +received twenty-three wounds, and where two of Ulfeldt's brothers +fell fighting at his side; there was no army in the land, because +Corfits, at the head of the nobility, had refused the King the +necessary supplies. And, although the peace which Ulfeldt concluded +with Sweden and Holland at Broemsebro, in 1645, might have been still +more disastrous than it was, if the negotiation had been entrusted to +less skilful hands, yet there was but too much truth in the +reproachful words of the King, when, after ratifying the treaties, he +tossed them to Corfits saying, 'There you have them, such as you have +made them!' + +From this time the King began to lose his confidence in Ulfeldt, +though the latter still retained his important offices. In the +following year he went to Holland and to France on a diplomatic +mission, on which occasion he was accompanied by Leonora. Everywhere +their personal qualities, their relationship to the sovereign, and +the splendour of their appearance, procured them the greatest +attention and the most flattering reception. While at the Hague +Leonora gave birth to a son, whom the States-General offered to grant +a pension for life of a thousand florins, which, however, Ulfeldt +wisely refused. In Paris they were loaded with presents; and in the +Memoirs of Madame Langloise de Motteville on the history of Anna of +Austria (ed. of Amsterdam, 1783, ii. 19-22) there is a striking +_recit_ of the appearance and reception of Ulfeldt and Leonora at +the French Court. On their way home Leonora took an opportunity of +making a short trip to London, which capital she wished to see, while +her husband waited for her in the Netherlands. + +If, however, this journey brought Ulfeldt and his wife honours and +presents on the part of foreigners, it did not give satisfaction at +home. The diplomatic results of the mission were not what the King +had hoped, and he even refused to receive Ulfeldt on his return. Soon +the turning-point in his career arrived. In 1648 King Christian IV. +died, under circumstances which for a short time concentrated +extraordinary power in Ulfeldt's hands, but of which he did not make +a wise use. + +Denmark was then still an elective monarchy, and the nobles had +availed themselves of this and other circumstances to free themselves +from all burdens, and at the same time to deprive both the Crown and +the other Estates of their constitutional rights to a very great +extent. All political power was virtually vested in the Council of +the Realm, which consisted exclusively of nobles, and there remained +for the king next to nothing, except a general supervision of the +administration, and the nomination of the ministers. Every successive +king had been obliged to purchase his election by fresh concessions +to the nobles, and the sovereign was little more than the president +of an aristocratic republic. Christian IV. had caused his eldest son +Christian to be elected successor in his own lifetime; but this +prince died in 1647, and when the King himself died in 1648, the +throne was vacant. + +As Lord High Steward, Ulfeldt became president of the regency, and +could exercise great influence on the election. He did not exert +himself to bring this about very quickly, but there is no ground for +believing that he meditated the election either of himself or of his +brother-in-law, Count Valdemar, as some have suggested. The children +of Kirstine Munk being the offspring of a morganatic marriage, had +not of course equal rank with princes and princesses; but in +Christian IV.'s lifetime they received the same honours, and Ulfeldt +made use of the interregnum to obtain the passage of a decree by the +Council, according them rank and honours equal with the princes of +the royal house. + +But as the nobles were in nowise bound to choose a prince of the same +family, or even a prince at all, this decree cannot be interpreted as +evidence of a design to promote the election of Count Valdemar. The +overtures of the Duke of Gottorp, who attempted to bribe Ulfeldt to +support his candidature, were refused by him, at least according to +his own statement. But Ulfeldt did make use of his position to extort +a more complete surrender of the royal power into the hands of the +nobility than any king had yet submitted to, and the new King, +Fredrik III., was compelled to promise, amongst other things, to fill +up any vacancy amongst the ministers with one out of three candidates +proposed by the Council of the Realm. The new King, Fredrik III., +Christian IV.'s second son, had never been friendly to Ulfeldt. This +last action of the High Steward did not improve the feelings with +which he regarded him, and when the coronation had taken place (for +which Ulfeldt advanced the money), he expressed his thoughts at the +banquet in these words: 'Corfitz, you have to-day bound my hands; who +knows, who can bind yours in return?' The new Queen, a Saxon +princess, hated Ulfeldt and the children of Kirstine Munk on account +of their pretensions, but particularly Leonora Christina, whose +beauty and talents she heartily envied. + +Nevertheless Ulfeldt retained his high offices for some time, and in +1649 he went again to Holland on a diplomatic mission, accompanied by +his wife. It is remarkable that the question which formed the +principal subject of the negotiation on that occasion was one which +has found its proper solution only in our days--namely, that of a +redemption of the Sound dues. This impost, levied by the Danish Crown +on all vessels passing the Sound, weighed heavily on the shipping +interest, and frequently caused disagreement between Denmark and the +governments mostly interested in the Baltic trade, particularly +Sweden and the Dutch republic. + +It was with especial regard to the Sound dues that the Dutch +Government was constantly interfering in the politics of the North, +with a view of preventing Denmark becoming too powerful; for which +purpose it always fomented discord between Denmark and Sweden, siding +now with the one, now with the other, but rather favouring the design +of Sweden to conquer the ancient Danish provinces, Skaane, &c., which +were east of the Sound, and which now actually belong to Sweden. +Corfits Ulfeldt calculated that, if the Dutch could be satisfied on +the point of the Sound dues, their unfavourable interference might be +got rid of; and for this purpose he proposed to substitute an annual +payment by the Dutch Government for the payment of the dues by the +individual ships. Christian IV. had never assented to this idea, and +of course the better course would have been the one adopted in +1857--namely, the redemption of the dues by all States at once for a +proportionate consideration paid once for all. Still the leading +thought was true, and worthy of a great statesman. + +Ulfeldt concluded a treaty with Holland according to his views, but +it met with no favour at Copenhagen, and on his return he found that +in his absence measures had been taken to restrict his great power; +his conduct of affairs was freely criticised, and his enemies had +even caused the nomination of a committee to investigate his past +administration, more particularly his financial measures. + +At the same time the new Court refused Leonora Christina and the +other children of Kirstine Munk the princely honours which they had +hitherto enjoyed. Amongst other marks of distinction, Christian IV. +had granted his wife and her children the title of Counts and +Countesses of Slesvig and Holstein, but Fredrik III. declined to +acknowledge it, although it could have no political importance, being +nothing but an empty title, as neither Kirstine Munk nor her children +had anything whatever to do with either of these principalities. +Ulfeldt would not suffer himself to be as it were driven from his +high position by these indications of disfavour on the part of the +King and the Queen (the latter was really the moving spring in all +this), but he resolved to show his annoyance by not going to Court, +where his wife did not now receive the usual honours. + +This conduct only served to embolden those who desired to oust him +from his lucrative offices, not because they were better patriots, +but because they hoped to succeed him. For this purpose a false +accusation was brought against Ulfeldt and Leonora Christina, to the +effect that they had the intention of poisoning the King and the +Queen. Information on this plot was given to the Queen personally, by +a certain Dina Vinhowers, a widow of questionable reputation, who +declared that she had an illicit connection with Ulfeldt, and that +she had heard a conversation on the subject between Corfits Ulfeldt +and Leonora, when on a clandestine visit in the High Steward's house. +She was prompted by a certain Walter, originally a son of a +wheelwright, who by bravery in the war had risen from the ranks to +the position of a colonel, and who in his turn was evidently a tool +in the hands of other parties. The information was graciously +received at Court; but Dina, who, as it seems, was a person of weak +or unsound mind, secretly, without the knowledge of her employers, +warned Ulfeldt and Leonora Christina of some impending danger, thus +creating a seemingly inextricable confusion. + +At length Ulfeldt demanded a judicial investigation, which was at +once set on foot, but in which, of course, he occupied the position +of a defendant on account of Dina's information. In the end Dina was +condemned to death and Walter was exiled. But the statements of the +different persons implicated, and particularly of Dina herself at +different times, were so conflicting, that the matter was really +never entirely cleared up, and though Ulfeldt was absolved of all +guilt, his enemies did their best in order that some suspicion might +remain. If Ulfeldt had been wise, he might probably have turned this +whole affair to his own advantage; but he missed the opportunity. +Utterly absurd as the accusation was, he seems to have felt very +keenly the change of his position, and on the advice of Leonora, who +did not doubt that some other expedient would be tried by his +enemies, perhaps with more success, he resolved to leave Denmark +altogether. + +After having sent away the most valuable part of his furniture and +movable property, and placed abroad his amassed capital, he left +Copenhagen secretly and at night, on July 14, 1651, three days after +the execution of Dina. The gates of the fortress were closed at a +certain hour every evening, but he had a key made for the eastern +gate, and ere sunrise he and Leonora, who was disguised as a valet, +were on board a vessel on their way to Holland. The consequences of +this impolitic flight were most disastrous. He had not laid down his +high offices, much less rendered an account of his administration; +nothing was more natural than to suppose that he wished to avoid an +investigation. A few weeks later a royal summons was issued, calling +upon him to appear at the next meeting of the Diet, and answer for +his conduct; his offices, and the fiefs with which he had been +beneficed, were given to others, and an embargo was laid on his +landed estates. + +Leonora Christina describes in her Autobiography how Ulfeldt +meanwhile first went to Holland, and thence to Sweden, where Queen +Christina, who certainly was not favourably disposed to Denmark, +received Ulfeldt with marked distinction, and promised him her +protection. But she does not tell how Ulfeldt here used every +opportunity for stirring up enmity against Denmark, both in Sweden +itself and in other countries, whose ambassadors he tried to bring +over to his ideas. On this painful subject there can be no doubt +after the publication of so many authentic State Papers of that time, +amongst which we may mention the reports of Whitelock, the envoy of +Cromwell, to whom Ulfeldt represented that Denmark was too weak to +resist an attack, and that the British Government might easily obtain +the abolition of the Sound dues by war. + +It seems, however, as if Ulfeldt did all this merely to terrify the +Danish King into a reconciliation with him on terms honourable and +advantageous to the voluntarily exiled magnate. Representations were +several times made with such a view by the Swedish Government, and in +1656 Leonora Christina herself undertook a journey to Copenhagen, in +order to arrange the matter. But the Danish Government was +inaccessible to all such attempts. + +This attitude was intelligible enough, for not only had Ulfeldt left +Denmark in the most unceremonious manner, but in 1652 he published in +Stralsund a defence against the accusations of which he had been the +subject, full of gross insults against the King; and in the following +year he had issued an insolent protest against the royal summons to +appear and defend himself before the Diet, declaring himself a +Swedish subject. But, above all, the influence of the Queen was too +great to allow of any arrangement with Ulfeldt. The King was entirely +led by her; she, from her German home, was filled with the most +extravagant ideas of absolute despotism, and hated the free speech +and the independent spirit prevailing among the Danish nobility, of +which Ulfeldt in that respect was a true type. Leonora Christina was +compelled to return in 1656, without even seeing the King, and as a +fugitive. It is of this journey that she has given a Danish account, +besides the description in the Autobiography. + +It may be questioned whether it would not have been wise, if +possible, to conciliate this dangerous man; but at any rate it was +not done, and Ulfeldt was, no doubt, still more exasperated. Queen +Christina had then resigned, and her successor, Carl Gustav, shortly +after engaged in a war in Poland. The Danish Government, foolishly +overrating its strength, took the opportunity for declaring war +against Sweden, in the hope of regaining some of the territory lost +in 1645. But Carl Gustav, well knowing that the Poles could not carry +the war into Sweden, immediately turned his whole force against +Denmark, where he met with next to no resistance. Ulfeldt was then +living at Barth, in Pommerania, an estate which he held in mortgage +for large sums of money advanced to the Swedish Government. Carl +Gustav summoned Ulfeldt to follow him, and Ulfeldt obeyed the summons +against the advice of Leonora Christina, who certainly did not desire +her native country to be punished for the wrongs, if such they were, +inflicted upon her by the Court. + +The war had been declared on June 1, 1657; in August Ulfeldt issued a +proclamation to the nobility in Jutland, calling on them to transfer +their allegiance to the Swedish King. In the subsequent winter a most +unusually severe frost enabled the Swedish army to cross the Sounds +and Belts on the ice, Ulfeldt assisting its progress by persuading +the commander of the fortress of Nakskov to surrender without +resistance; and in February the Danish Government had to accept such +conditions of peace as could be obtained from the Swedish King, who +had halted a couple of days' march from Copenhagen. By this peace +Denmark surrendered all her provinces to the east of the Sound +(Skaane, &c.), which constituted one-third of the ancient Danish +territory, and which have ever since belonged to Sweden, besides her +fleet, &c. + +But the greatest humiliation was that the negotiation on the Swedish +side was entrusted to Ulfeldt, who did not fail to extort from the +Danish Crown the utmost that the neutral powers would allow. For +himself he obtained restitution of his estates, freedom to live in +Denmark unmolested, and a large indemnity for loss of income of his +estates since his flight in 1651. The King of Sweden also rewarded +him with the title of a Count of Solvitsborg and with considerable +estates in the provinces recently wrested from Denmark. Ulfeldt +himself went to reside at Malmo, the principal town in Skaane, +situated on the Sound, just opposite Copenhagen, and here he was +joined by Leonora Christina. + +In her Autobiography Leonora does not touch on the incidents of the +war, but she describes how her anxiety for her husband's safety did +not allow her to remain quietly at Barth, and how she was afterwards +called to her mother's sick-bed, which she had to leave in order to +nurse her husband, who fell ill at Malmo. We may here state that +Kirstine Munk had fallen into disgrace, when Leonora was still a +child, on account of her flagrant infidelity to the King, her +paramour being a German Count of Solms. Kirstine Munk left the Court +voluntarily in 1629,[05] shortly after the birth of a child, whom the +King would not acknowledge as his own; and after having stayed with +her mother for a short time, she took up her residence at the old +manor of Boller, in North Jutland, where she remained until her death +in 1658. + + [05] La Valette's account of a lawsuit instituted by the King + against Kirstine Munk, in which she was defended by Ulfeldt--of + Ulfeldt's duel with Hannibal Sehested, afterwards his + brother-in-law, &c.--is entirely fictitious. No such things took + place. + +Various attempts were made to reconcile Christian IV. to her, but he +steadily refused, and with very good reason: he was doubtless well +aware that Kirstine Munk, as recently published diplomatic documents +prove, had betrayed his political secrets to Gustav Adolf, the King +of Sweden, and he considered her presence at Court very dangerous. +Her son-in-law was now openly in the service of another Swedish king, +but the friendship between them was not of long duration. Ulfeldt +first incurred the displeasure of Carl Gustav by heading the +opposition of the nobility in the newly acquired provinces against +certain imposts laid on them by the Swedish King, to which they had +not been liable under Danish rule. Then other causes of disagreement +arose. Carl Gustav, regretting that he had concluded a peace, when in +all probability he might have conquered the whole of Denmark, +recommenced the war, and laid siege to Copenhagen. But the Danish +people now rose as one man; foreign assistance was obtained; the +Swedes were everywhere beaten; and if the Dutch, who were bound by +treaty to assist Denmark, had not refused their co-operation in +transferring the Danish troops across the Sound, all the lost +provinces might easily have been regained. + +The inhabitants in some of these provinces also rose against their +new rulers. Amongst others, the citizens of Malmo, where Ulfeldt at +the time resided, entered into a conspiracy to throw off the Swedish +dominion; but it was betrayed, and Ulfeldt was indicated as one of +the principal instigators, although he himself had accepted their +forced homage to the Swedish King, as his deputy. Very probably he +had thought that, if he took a part in the rising, he might, if this +were successful, return to Denmark, having as it were thus wiped out +his former crimes, but having also shown his countrymen what a +terrible foe he could be. As it was, Denmark was prevented by her own +allies from regaining her losses, and Ulfeldt was placed in custody +in Malmo, by order of Carl Gustav, in order that his conduct might be +subjected to a rigorous examination. + +Ulfeldt was then apparently seized with a remarkable malady, a kind +of apoplexy, depriving him of speech, and Leonora Christina conducted +his defence. She wrote three lengthy, vigorous, and skilful replies +to the charges, which still exist in the originals. He was acquitted, +or rather escaped by a verdict of Not Proven; but as conscience makes +cowards, he contrived to escape before the verdict was given. Leonora +Christina describes all this in her Autobiography, according to which +Ulfeldt was to go to Lubeck, while she would go to Copenhagen, and +try to put matters straight there. Ulfeldt, however, changed his plan +without her knowledge, and also repaired to Copenhagen, where they +were both arrested and sent to the Castle of Hammershuus, on the +island of Bornholm in the Baltic, an ancient fortress, now a most +picturesque ruin, perched at the edge of perpendicular rocks, +overhanging the sea, and almost surrounded by it. + +The Autobiography relates circumstantially, and no doubt truthfully, +the cruel treatment to which they were here subjected by the +governor, a Major-General Fuchs. After a desperate attempt at escape, +they were still more rigorously guarded, and at length they had to +purchase their liberty by surrendering the whole of their property, +excepting one estate in Fyen. Ulfeldt had to make the most humble +apologies, and to promise not to leave the island of Fyen, where this +estate was situated, without special permission. He was also +compelled to renounce on the part of his wife the title of a Countess +of Slesvig-Holstein, which Fredrik III. had never acknowledged. She +never made use of that title afterwards, nor is she generally known +by it in history. Corfits Ulfeldt being a Count of the German Empire, +of course Leonora and her children were, and remained, Counts and +Countesses of Ulfeldt. This compromise was effected in 1661. + +Having been conveyed to Copenhagen, Ulfeldt could not obtain an +audience of the King, and he was obliged, kneeling, to tender renewed +oath of allegiance before the King's deputies, Count Rantzow, General +Hans Schack, the Chancellor Redtz, and the Chancellor of the +Exchequer, Christofer Gabel, all of whom are mentioned in Leonora's +account of her subsequent prison life. + +A few days after, Corfits Ulfeldt and Leonora Christina left +Copenhagen, which he was never to see again, she only as a prisoner. +They retired to the estate of Ellensborg, in Fyen, which they had +still retained. This was the ancient seat of the Ulfeldts, which +Corfits' father had sold to Ellen Marsvin, Leonora Christina's +grandmother, and which had come to Leonora through her mother. In the +meanwhile it had been renamed and rebuilt such as it stands to this +day, a picturesque pile of buildings in the Elizabethan style. Here +Ulfeldt might have ended his stormy life in quiet, but his thirst for +revenge left him no peace. Besides this, a great change had taken +place in Denmark. The national revival which followed the renewal of +the war by Carl Gustav in 1658 led to a total change in the form of +government. + +It was indisputable that the selfishness of the nobles, who refused +to undertake any burden for the defence of the country, was the main +cause of the great disasters that had befallen Denmark. The abolition +of their power was loudly called for, and the Queen so cleverly +turned this feeling to account, that the remedy adopted was not the +restoration of the other classes of the population to their +legitimate constitutional influence, but the entire abolition of the +constitution itself, and the introduction of hereditary, unlimited +despotism. The title 'hereditary king,' which so often occurs in +Danish documents and writings from that time, also in Leonora's +Memoir, has reference to this change. Undoubtedly this was very +little to Ulfeldt's taste. Already, in the next year after his +release, 1662, he obtained leave to go abroad for his health. But, +instead of going to Spaa, as he had pretended, he went to Amsterdam, +Bruges, and Paris, where he sought interviews with Louis XIV. and the +French ministers; he also placed himself in communication with the +Elector of Brandenburg, with a view of raising up enemies against his +native country. The Elector gave information to the Danish +Government, whilst apparently lending an ear to Ulfeldt's +propositions. + +When a sufficient body of evidence had been collected, it was laid +before the High Court of Appeal in Copenhagen, and judgment given in +his absence, whereby he was condemned to an ignominious death as a +traitor, his property confiscated, his descendants for ever exiled +from Denmark, and a large reward offered for his apprehension. The +sentence is dated July 24, 1663. Meanwhile Ulfeldt had been staying +with his family at Bruges. One day one of his sons, Christian, saw +General Fuchs, who had treated his parents so badly at Hammershuus, +driving through the city in a carriage; immediately he leaped on to +the carriage and killed Fuchs on the spot. Christian Ulfeldt had to +fly, but the parents remained in Bruges, where they had many friends. + +It was in the following spring, on May 24, 1663, that Leonora +Christina, much against her own inclination, left her husband--as it +proved, not to see him again alive. Ulfeldt had on many occasions +used his wealth in order to gain friends, by lending them +money--probably the very worst method of all. It is proved that at +his death he still held bonds for more than 500,000 dollars, or +100,000_l._, which he had lent to various princes and noblemen, and +which were never paid. Amongst others he had lent the Pretender, +afterwards Charles II., a large sum, about 20,000 patacoons, which at +the time he had raised with some difficulty. He doubted not that the +King of England, now that he was able to do it, would recognise the +debt and repay it; and he desired Leonora, who, through her father, +was cousin of Charles II., once removed, to go to England and claim +it. She describes this journey in her Autobiography. + +The Danish Government, hearing of her presence in England, thought +that Ulfeldt was there too, or hoped at any rate to obtain possession +of important documents by arresting her, and demanded her +extradition. The British Government ostensibly refused, but underhand +it gave the Danish minister, Petcum, every assistance. Leonora was +arrested in Dover, where she had arrived on her way back, +disappointed in the object of her journey. She had obtained enough +and to spare of fair promises, but no money; and by secretly giving +her up to the Danish Government, Charles II. in an easy way quitted +himself of the debt, at the same time that he pleased the King of +Denmark, without publicly violating political propriety. Leonora's +account of the whole affair is confirmed in every way by the light +which other documents throw upon the matter, particularly by the +extracts contained in the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, +of the reign of Charles II., 1663-64. + +Leonora was now conducted to Copenhagen, where she was confined in +the Blue Tower--a square tower surmounted by a blue spire, which +stood in the court of the royal castle, and was used as a prison for +grave offenders (see the engraving). At this point the Memoir of her +sufferings in the prison takes up the thread of her history, and we +need not here dwell upon its contents. + +As soon as Ulfeldt heard that the Brandenburg Government had betrayed +him, and that sentence had been passed on him in Copenhagen, he left +Bruges. No doubt the arrest of Leonora in England was a still greater +blow to him. The Spanish Government would probably have surrendered +him to the Danish authorities, and he had to flee from place to +place, pursued by Danish agents demanding his extradition, and men +anxious to earn the reward offered for his apprehension, dead or +alive. His last abode was Basle, where he passed under a feigned +name, until a quarrel between one of his sons and a stranger caused +the discovery of their secret. Not feeling himself safe, Ulfeldt left +Basle, alone, at night, in a boat descending the Rhine; but he never +reached his destination. He was labouring under a violent attack on +the chest, and the night air killed him. He breathed his last in the +boat, on February 20, 1664. The boatmen, concluding from the gold and +jewels which they found on him that he was a person of consequence, +brought the body on shore, and made the matter known in Basle, from +whence his sons came and buried him under a tree in a field--no one +knows the spot. + +Meanwhile the punishment of beheading and quartering had been +executed on a wooden effigy in Copenhagen. His palace was demolished, +and the site laid out in a public square, on which a pillar of +sandstone was erected as an everlasting monument of his crimes. This +pillar was taken away in 1842, and the name was changed from Ulfeldt +Square to Greyfriars Square, as an indication of the forgetting and +forgiving spirit of the time, or perhaps rather because the treason +of Ulfeldt was closely connected with the ancient jealousy between +Danes and Swedes, of which the present generation is so anxious to +efface the traces. + +His children had to seek new homes elsewhere. Christian, who killed +Fuchs, became a Roman Catholic and died as an abbe; and none of them +continued the name, except the youngest son Leo, who went into the +service of the German Emperor, and rose to the highest dignities. His +son Corfits likewise filled important offices under Charles VI. and +Maria Theresa, but left no sons. His two daughters married +respectively a Count Waldstein and a Count Thun, whose descendants +therefore now represent the family of Ulfeldt. + +Leonora Christina remained in prison for twenty-two years--that is, +until the death of Sophia Amalia, the Queen of Fredrik III. This +King, as well as his son Christian V., would willingly have set her +at liberty; but the influence of the Queen over her husband and son +was so strong that only her death, which occurred in 1685, released +Leonora. + +The Memoir of her life in prison terminates with this event, and her +after-life does not offer any very remarkable incidents. +Nevertheless, a few details, chiefly drawn from a MS. in the Royal +Library at Copenhagen, recently published by Mr. Birket Smith, may +serve to complete the historical image of this illustrious lady. The +MS. in question is from the hand of a Miss Urne, of an ancient Danish +family, who managed the household of Leonora from 1685 to her death +in 1698. A royal manor, formerly a convent, at Maribo, on the island +of Laaland, was granted to Leonora shortly after her release from the +Blue Tower, together with a sufficient pension for a moderate +establishment. + +'The first occupation of the Countess,' says Miss Urne, 'was +devotion; for which purpose her household was assembled in a room +outside her bed-chamber. In her daily morning prayer there was this +passage: "May the Lord help all prisoners, console the guilty, and +save the innocent!" After that she remained the whole forenoon in her +bedchamber, occupied in reading and writing. She composed a book +entitled the "Ornament of Heroines," which Countess A. C. Ulfeldt and +Count Leon took away with them, together with many other rare +writings. Her handiwork is almost indescribable, and without an +equal; such as embroidering in silk, gold embroidery, and turning in +amber and ivory.' + +It will be seen from Leonora's own Memoir that needlework was one of +her principal occupations in her prison. Count Waldstein still +possesses some of her work; in the Church of Maribo an altar-cloth +embroidered by her existed still some time ago; and at the Castle of +Rosenborg, in Copenhagen, there is a portrait of Christian V. worked +by Leonora in silk, in return for which present the King increased +her annual pension. Miss Urne says that she sent all her work to +Elizabeth Bek, a granddaughter of Leonora, who lived with her for +some years. But she refused to send her Leonora's Postille, or manual +of daily devotion, which had been given Leonora on New Year's Day, in +the last year of her captivity, by the castellan, Torslev, who is +mentioned in Leonora's Memoir, and who had taught her to turn ivory, +&c. This book has disappeared; but amongst the relics of Leonora +Christina, the Royal Library at Copenhagen preserves some leaves +which had been bound up with it, and contain verses, &c., by Leonora, +and other interesting matter. + +Her MS. works were taken to Vienna after her death. It is not known +what has become of some of them. A copy of the first part of the book +on heroines exists in Copenhagen. Miss Urne says that she possessed +fragments of a play composed by her and acted at Maribo Kloster; also +the younger Sperling speaks of such a composition in Danish verse; +but the MS. seems to be lost now. + +Several of Leonora's relations stayed with her from time to time at +Maribo; amongst them the above-mentioned Elizabeth Bek, whose mother, +Leonora Sophie, famous for her beauty, had married Lave Bek, the head +of an ancient Danish family in Skaane. After Ulfeldt's death Lave Bek +demanded of the Swedish Government the estates which Carl Gustav had +given to Ulfeldt in 1658, but which the Swedish Government had +afterwards confiscated, without any legal ground. Leonora Christina +herself memorialised the Swedish King on the subject, and at least +one of her memorials on the subject, dated May 23, 1693, still +exists; but it was not till 1735 that these estates were given up to +Lave Bek's sons. Leonora's eldest daughter, Anne Catherina, lived +with her mother at Maribo for several years, and was present at her +death. She had married Casetta, a Spanish nobleman, mentioned by +Leonora Christina in her Memoir, who was with her in England when she +was arrested. After the death of Casetta and their children, Anne +Catherina Ulfeldt came to live with her mother. She followed her +brother to Vienna, where she died. It was she who transmitted the MS. +of Leonora's Memoir of her life in the Blue Tower to the brother, +with the following letter, which is still preserved with the MS.:-- + + 'This book treats of what has happened to our late lady mother in + her prison. I have not been able to persuade myself to burn it, + although the reading of it has given me little pleasure, inasmuch + as all those events concern her miserable state. After all, it is + not without its use to know how she has been treated; but it is + not needful that it should come into the hands of strangers, for + it might happen to give pleasure to those of our enemies who + still remain.' + +The letter is addressed 'A Monsieur, Monsieur le Comte d'Ulfeldt,' +&c., but without date or signature. The handwriting is, however, that +of Anne Catherina Ulfeldt, and she had probably sent it off to Vienna +for safety immediately after her mother's death, before she knew that +her brother would come to Maribo himself. Miss Urne says, in the MS. +referred to, that the King had ordered that he was to be informed +immediately of Leonora's demise, in order that she might be buried +according to her rank and descent; but she had beforehand requested +that her funeral might be quite plain. Her coffin, as well as those +of three children who had died young, and whose coffins had been +provisionally placed in a church at Copenhagen, was immured in a +vault in the church of Maribo; but when this was opened some forty +years ago, no trace of Leonora's mortal remains could be found, +though those of the children were there: from which it is concluded +that a popular report, to the effect that the body had been secretly +carried abroad, contains more truth than was formerly supposed. Count +Waldstein states that in the family vault at Leitsmischl, there is +one metal coffin without any inscription, and which may be hers. If +so, Leonora has, as it were, after her death followed her husband +into exile. At any rate, the final resting-place of neither of them +is known with certainty. + + + + + AUTOBIOGRAPHY + OF + LEONORA CHRISTINA + + 1673. + + + + +AUTOBIOGRAPHY. + + +Sir,[06]--To satisfy your curiosity, I will give you a short account +of the life of her about whom you desire to be informed. She was born +at Fredericksborg, in the year 1621, on June 11.[07] When she was six +weeks old her grandmother took her with her to Dalum, where she +remained until the age of four years; her first master there being +Mr. Envolt, afterward a priest at Roeskild. About six months after +her return to the Court, her father sent her to Holland to his +cousin, a Duchess of Brunswick, who had married Count Ernest of +Nassau, and lived at Lewarden. + + [06] This autobiographical sketch is written in the form of a + letter to Dr. Otto Sperling the younger, the son of Corfits + Ulfeldt's old friend, who was for some years Leonora's + fellow-prisoner in the Blue Tower. + + [07] It is curious that Leonora seems for a long time to have been + under a mistake as to the date of her birthday. The right date is + July 18, new style. + +Her sister Sophia, who was two years and a half older than herself, +and her brother, who was a year younger, had gone to the aforesaid +Duchess nearly a year before. I must not forget to mention the first +mischances that befell her at her setting out. She went by sea in one +of the royal ships of war; having been two days and a night at sea, +at midnight such a furious tempest arose that they all had given up +any hope of escaping. Her tutor, Wichmann Hassebart (afterwards +Bishop of Fyn), who attended her, woke her and took her in his arms, +saying, with tears, that they should both die together, for he loved +her tenderly. He told her of the danger, that God was angry, and that +they would all be drowned. She caressed him, treating him like a +father (after her usual wont), and begged him not to grieve; she was +assured that God was not angry, that He would see they would not be +drowned, beseeching him again and again to believe her. Wichmann shed +tears at her simplicity, and prayed to God to save the rest for her +sake, and for the sake of the hope that she, an innocent girl, +reposed in Him. God heard him, and after having lost the two +mainmasts, they entered at dawn of day the harbour of Fleckeroe,[08] +where they remained for six weeks. + + [08] On the South Coast of Norway. + +Having received orders to proceed by sea, they pursued their route +and arrived safely. Her sister being informed of her arrival, and +being told that she had come with a different retinue to +herself--with a suite of gentlemen, lady preceptor, servants and +attendants, &c.--she burst into tears, and said that she was not +surprised that this sister always insinuated herself and made herself +a favourite, and that she would be treated there too as such. M. +Sophia was not mistaken in this; for her sister was in greater favour +with the Duchess, with her governess, and with many others, than she +was herself. Count Ernest alone took the side of M. Sophia, and this +rather for the sake of provoking his wife, who liked dispute; for M. +Sophia exhibited her obstinacy even towards himself. She did all the +mischief she could to her sister, and persuaded her brother to do the +same. + +To amuse you I will tell you of her first innocent predilections. +Count Ernest had a son of about eleven or twelve years of age; he +conceived an affection for her, and having persuaded her that he +loved her, and that she would one day be his wife, but that this must +be kept secret, she fancied herself already secretly his wife. He +knew a little drawing, and by stealth he instructed her; he even +taught her some Latin words. They never missed an opportunity of +retiring from company and conversing with each other. + +This enjoyment was of short duration for her; for a little more than +a year afterwards she fell ill of small-pox, and as his elder +brother, William, who had always ridiculed these affections, urged +him to see his well-beloved in the condition in which she was, in +order to disgust him with the sight, he came one day to the door to +see her, and was so startled that he immediately became ill, and died +on the ninth day following. His death was kept concealed from her. +When she was better she asked after him, and she was made to believe +that he was gone away with his mother (who was at this time at +Brunswick), attending the funeral of her mother. His body had been +embalmed, and had been placed in a glass case. One day her preceptor +made her go into the hall where his body lay, to see if she +recognised it; he raised her in his arms to enable her to see it +better. She knew her dear Moritz at once, and was seized with such a +shock that she fell fainting to the ground. Wichmann in consequence +carried her hastily out of the hall to recover her, and as the dead +boy wore a garland of rosemary, she never saw these flowers without +crying, and had an aversion to their smell, which she still retains. + +As the wars between Germany and the King of Denmark had been the +cause of the removal of his aforesaid children, they were recalled +to Denmark when peace was concluded. At the age of seven years and +two months she was affianced to a gentleman of the King's Chamber. +She began very early to suffer for his sake. Her governess was at +this time Mistress Anne Lycke, Qvitzow's mother. Her daughter, who +was maid of honour, had imagined that this gentleman made his +frequent visits for love of her. Seeing herself deceived, she did not +know in what manner to produce estrangement between the lovers; she +spoke, and made M. Sophia speak, of the gentleman's poverty, and +amused herself with ridiculing the number of children in the family. +She regarded all this with indifference, only declaring once that she +loved him, poor as he was, better than she loved her rich +gallant.[09] + + [09] Count Christian Pentz, to whom Sophia was married in 1634. + +At last they grew weary of this, and found another opportunity for +troubling her--namely, the illness of her betrothed, resulting from a +complaint in his leg; they presented her with plaisters, ointments, +and such like things, and talked together of the pleasure of being +married to a man who had his feet diseased, &c. She did not answer a +word either for good or bad, so they grew weary of this also. A year +and a half after they had another governess, Catharina Sehestedt, +sister of Hannibal.[10] M. Sophia thus lost her second, and her +sister had a little repose in this quarter. + + [10] Hannibal Sehestedt afterwards married Leonora's younger sister + Christiana; he became a powerful antagonist of Ulfeldt, and is + mentioned often in the following Memoir. + +When our lady was about twelve years old, Francis Albert, Duke of +Saxony,[11] came to Kolding to demand her in marriage. The King +replied that she was no longer free, that she was already betrothed; +but the Duke was not satisfied with this, and spoke to herself, and +said a hundred fine things to her: that a Duke was far different to a +gentleman. She told him she always obeyed the King, and since it had +pleased the King to promise her to a gentleman, she was well +satisfied. The Duke employed the governess to persuade her, and the +governess introduced him to her brother Hannibal, then at the Court, +and Hannibal went with post-horses to Moen, where her betrothed was, +who did not linger long on the road in coming to her. This was the +beginning of the friendship between Monsieur and Hannibal, which +afterwards caused so much injury to Monsieur. But he had not needed +to trouble himself, for the Duke never could draw from her the +declaration that she would be ready to give up her betrothed if the +King ordered her to do so. She told him she hoped the King would not +retract from his first promise. The Duke departed ill satisfied, on +the very day the evening of which the betrothed arrived. (Four years +afterwards they quarrelled on this subject in the presence of the +King, who appeased them with his authority.) + + [11] Frantz Albrecht, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, the same who in the + Thirty Years' War alternately served the Protestants and the + Imperialists. In the battle of Luetzen he was near Gustav Adolf when + he fell, and he was regarded by many as the one who treacherously + fired the fatal shot. + +It happened the following winter at Skanderborg that the governess +had a quarrel with the language-master, Alexandre de Cuqvelson, who +taught our lady and her sisters the French language, writing, +arithmetic, and dancing. M. Sophia was not studious; moreover, she +had very little memory; for her heart was too much devoted to her +dolls, and as she perceived that the governess did not punish her +when Alexandre complained of her, she neglected everything, and took +no trouble about her studies. Our lady imagined she knew enough when +she knew as much as her sister. As this had lasted some time, the +governess thought she could entrap Alexandre; she accused him to the +King, said that he treated the children badly, rapped their fingers, +struck them on the hand, called them bad names, &c., and with all +this they could not even read, much less speak, the French language. +Besides this, she wrote the same accusations to the betrothed of our +lady. The betrothed sent his servant Wolff to Skanderborg, with +menaces to Alexandre. At the same time Alexandre was warned that the +King had sent for the prince,[12] to examine his children, since the +father-confessor was not acquainted with the language. + + [12] That is, the King's eldest son Christian, who was elected his + successor, but died before him. + +The tutor was in some dismay; he flattered our lady, implored her to +save him, which she could easily do, since she had a good memory, so +that he could prove by her that it was not his fault that M. Sophia +was not more advanced. Our lady did not yield readily, but called to +his remembrance how one day, about half a year ago, she had begged +him not to accuse her to the governess, but that he had paid no +attention to her tears, though he knew that the governess treated +them shamefully. He begged her for the love of Jesus, wept like a +child, said that he should be ruined for ever, that it was an act of +mercy, that he would never accuse her, and that from henceforth she +should do nothing but what she wished. At length she consented, said +she would be diligent, and since she had yet three weeks before her, +she learnt a good deal by heart.[13] Alexandre told her one day, +towards the time of the examination, that there was still a great +favour she could render him: if she would not repeat the little +things which had passed at school-time; for he could not always pay +attention to every word that he said when M. Sophia irritated him, +and if he had once taken the rod to hit her fingers when she had not +struck her sister strongly enough, he begged her for the love of God +to pardon it. (It should be mentioned that he wished the one to +strike the other when they committed faults, and the one who +corrected the other had to beat her, and if she did not do so +strongly enough, he took the office upon himself; thus he had often +beaten our lady.) + + [13] In the margin the following addition is inserted: 'She had at + that time an unusual memory. She could at one and the same time + recite one psalm by heart, write another, and attend to the + conversation. She had tried this more than once, but I think that + she has thereby spoilt her memory, which is not now so good.' + +She made excuses, said that she did not dare to tell a lie if they +asked her, but that she would not accuse him of herself. This promise +did not wholly satisfy him; he continued his entreaties, and assured +her that a falsehood employed to extricate a friend from danger was +not a sin, but was agreeable to God; moreover, it was not necessary +for her to say anything, only not to confess what she had seen and +heard. She said that the governess would treat her ill; so he replied +that she should have no occasion to do so, for that he would never +complain to her. Our lady replied that the governess would find +pretext enough, since she was inclined to ill-treat the children; and +anyhow, the other master who taught them German was a rude man, and +an old man who taught them the spinette was a torment, therefore she +had sufficient reason for fear. He did not give way, but so persisted +in his persuasion that she promised everything. + +When the prince arrived the governess did not forget to besiege him +with her complaints, and to beg him to use his influence that the +tutor might be dismissed. At length the day of the examination having +come, the governess told her young ladies an hour before that they +were to say how villanously he had treated them, beaten them, &c. The +prince came into the apartments of the ladies accompanied by the +King's father-confessor (at that time Dr. Ch(r)estien Sar); the +governess was present the whole time. + +They were first examined in German. M. Sophia acquitted herself very +indifferently, not being able to read fluently. The master +Christoffre excused her, saying that she was timid. When it came to +Alexandre's turn to show what his pupils could do, M. Sophia could +read little or nothing. When she stammered in reading, the governess +looked at the prince and laughed aloud. There was no difference in +the gospel, psalms, proverbs, or suchlike things. The governess was +very glad, and would have liked that the other should not have been +examined. But when it came to her turn to read in the Bible, and she +did not hesitate, the governess could no longer restrain herself, and +said, 'Perhaps it is a passage she knows by heart that you have made +her read.' Alexandre begged the governess herself to give the lady +another passage to read. The governess was angry at this also, and +said, 'He is ridiculing me because I do not know French.' The prince +then opened the Bible and made her read other passages, which she +did as fluently as before. In things by heart she showed such +proficiency that the prince was too impatient to listen to all. + +It was then Alexandre's turn to speak, and to say that he hoped His +Highness would graciously consider that it was not his fault that M. +Sophia was not more advanced. The governess interrupted him saying, +'You are truly the cause of it, for you treat her ill!' and she began +a torrent of accusations, asking M. Sophia if they were not true. She +answered in the affirmative, and that she could not conscientiously +deny them. Then she asked our lady if they were not true. She replied +that she had never heard nor seen anything of the kind. The +governess, in a rage, said to the Prince, 'Your highness must make +her speak the truth; she dares not do so, for Alexandre's sake.' + +The Prince asked her if Alexandre had never called her bad names--if +he had never beaten her. She replied, 'Never.' He asked again if she +had not seen nor heard that he had ill-treated her sister. She +replied, 'No, she had never either heard or seen it.' At this the +governess became furious; she spoke to the prince in a low voice; the +prince replied aloud, 'What do you wish me to do? I have no order +from the King to constrain her to anything.' Well, Alexandre gained +his cause; the governess could not dislodge him, and our lady gained +more than she had imagined in possessing the affection of the King, +the goodwill of the Prince, of the priest, and of all those who knew +her. But the governess from that moment took every opportunity of +revenging herself on our lady. + +At length she found one, which was rather absurd. The old Jean +Meinicken, who taught our lady the spinette, one day, in a passion, +seized the fingers of our lady and struck them against the +instrument; without remembering the presence of her governess, she +took his hand and retaliated so strongly that the strings broke. The +governess heard with delight the complaints of the old man. She +prepared two rods; she used them both, and, not satisfied with that, +she turned the thick end of one, and struck our lady on the thigh, +the mark of which she bears to the present day. More than two months +elapsed before she recovered from the blow; she could not dance, nor +could she walk comfortably for weeks after. This governess did her so +much injury that at last our lady was obliged to complain to her +betrothed, who had a quarrel with the governess at the wedding of M. +Sophia, and went straight to the King to accuse her; she was at once +dismissed, and the four children, the eldest of which was our lady, +went with the princess[14] to Nikoping, to pass the winter there, +until the king could get another governess. The King, who had a good +opinion of the conduct of our lady, who at this time was thirteen +years and four months old, wrote to her and ordered her to take care +of her sisters. Our lady considered herself half a governess, so she +took care not to set them a bad example. As to study, she gave no +thought to it at this time; she occupied herself in drawing and +arithmetic, of which she was very fond, and the princess, who was +seventeen years of age, delighted in her company. Thus this winter +passed very agreeably for her. + + [14] Namely, Magdalena Sybilla of Saxony, then newly married + (October 5, 1634) to Prince Christian, the eldest son and elected + successor of Christian IV. M. Sophia's wedding to Chr. Pentz was + celebrated on the 10th of the same month. + +At the approach of the Diet, which sat eight days after Pentecost, +the children came to Copenhagen, with the prince and princess, and +had as governess a lady of Mecklenburg of the Blixen family, the +mother of Philip Barstorp who is still alive. After the Diet, the +king made a journey to Glueckstad in two days and a half, and our lady +accompanied him; it pleased the King that she was not weary, and that +she could bear up against inconveniences and fatigues. She afterwards +made several little journeys with the King, and she had the good +fortune occasionally to obtain the pardon of some poor criminals, and +to be in favour with the king. + +Our lady having attained the age of fifteen years and about four +months, her betrothed obtained permission for their marriage, which +was celebrated (with more pomp than the subsequent weddings of her +sisters), on October 9, 1636. The winter after her marriage she was +with her husband at Moen, and as she knew that her husband's father +had not left him any wealth, she asked him concerning his debts, and +conjured him to conceal nothing from her. He said to her, 'If I tell +you the truth it will perhaps frighten you.' She declared it would +not, and that she would supply what was needful from her ornaments, +provided he would assure her that he had told her everything. He did +so, and found that she was not afraid to deprive herself of her gold, +silver, and jewels, in order to pay a sum of thirty-six thousand +rix-dollars. On April 21, 1637, she went with her husband to +Copenhagen in obedience to the order of the king, who gave him the +post of V.R.[15] He was again obliged to incur debt in purchasing a +house and in setting up a larger establishment. + + [15] V.R. probably stands for Viceroy, by which term Leonora no + doubt indicates the post of Governor of Copenhagen. + +There would be no end were I to tell you all the mischances that +befell her during the happy period of her marriage, and of all the +small contrarieties which she endured; but since I am assured that +this history will not be seen by anyone, and that you will not keep +it after having read it, I will tell you a few points which are +worthy of attention. Those who were envious of the good fortune of +our lady could not bear that she should lead a tranquil life, nor +that she should be held in esteem by her father and King; I may call +him thus, for the King conferred on her more honours than were due to +her from him. Her husband loved and honoured her, enacting the lover +more than the husband. + +She spent her time in shooting, riding, tennis, in learning drawing +in good earnest from Charles v. Mandern, in playing the viol, the +flute, the guitar, and she enjoyed a happy life. She knew well that +jealousy is a plague, and that it injures the mind which harbours it. +Her relations tried to infuse into her head that her husband loved +elsewhere, especially M. Elizabet, and subsequently Anna, sister of +her husband, who was then in her house. M. Elizabet began by +mentioning it as a secret, premising that no one could tell her and +warn her, except her who was her sister. + +As our lady at first said nothing and only smiled, M. Elis... said: +'The world says that you know it well, but that you will not appear +to do so.' She replied with a question: 'Why did she tell her a +thing as a secret, which she herself did not believe to be a secret +to her? but she would tell her a secret that perhaps she did not +know, which was, that she had given her husband permission to spend +his time with others, and when she was satisfied the remainder would +be for others; that she believed there were no such jealous women as +those who were insatiable, but that a wisdom was imputed to her, +which she did not possess; she begged her, however, to be wise enough +not to interfere with matters which did not concern her, and if she +heard others mentioning it (as our lady had reason to believe that +this was her own invention) that she would give them a reprimand. M. +Elis... was indignant and went away angry, but Anna, Monsieur's +sister, who was in the house, adopted another course. She drew round +her the handsomest women in the town, and then played the procuress, +spoke to her brother of one particularly, who was a flirt, and who +was the handsomest, and offered him opportunities, &c. As she saw +that he was proof against it, she told him (to excite him) that his +wife was jealous, that she had had him watched where he went when he +had been drinking with the King, to know whether he visited this +woman; she said that his wife was angry, because the other woman was +so beautiful, said that she painted, &c. + +The love borne to our lady by her husband made him tell her all, and, +moreover, he went but rarely afterwards to his sister's apartments, +from which she could easily understand that the conversation had not +been agreeable to him; but our lady betrayed nothing of the matter, +visited her more than before, caressed this lady more than any other, +and even made her considerable presents. (Anna remained in her house +as long as she lived.) + +All this is of small consideration compared with the conduct of her +own brother. It is well known to you that the Biel... were very +intimate in our lady's house. It happened that her brother made a +journey to Muscovy, and that the youngest of the Biel... was in his +suite. As this was a very lawless youth, and, to say the truth, badly +brought up, he not only at times failed in respect to our lady's +brother, but freely expressed his sentiments to him upon matters +which did not concern him; among other things, he spoke ill of the +Holstein noblemen, naming especially one, who was then in waiting on +the King, who he said had deceived our lady's brother. The matter +rested there for more than a year after their return from this +journey. The brother of our lady and Biel... played cards together, +and disputed over them; upon this the brother of our lady told the +Holstein nobleman what Biel... had said of him more than a year +before, which B. did not remember, and swore that he had never said. +The Holstein nobleman said insulting things against Biel.... + +Our lady conversed with her brother upon the affair, and begged him +to quiet the storm he had raised, and to consider how it would cause +an ill-feeling with regard to him among the nobility, and that it +would seem that he could not keep to himself what had been told him +in secret; it would be very easy for him to mend the matter. Her +brother replied that he could never retract what he had said, and +that he should consider the Holstein nobleman as a villain if he did +not treat B. as a rogue. + +At length the Holstein nobleman behaved in such a manner as to +constrain B. to send him a challenge. B. was killed by his adversary +with the sword of our lady's brother, which she did not know till +afterwards. At noon of the day on which B. had been killed in the +morning, our lady went to the castle to visit her little twin +sisters; her brother was there, and came forward, laughing loudly and +saying, 'Do you know that Ran... has killed B...?' She replied, 'No, +that I did not know, but I knew that you had killed him. Ran... could +do nothing less than defend himself, but you placed the sword in his +hand.' Her brother, without answering a word, mounted his horse and +went to seek his brother-in-law, who was speaking with our old +friend,[16] told him he was the cause of B.'s death, and that he had +done so because he had understood that his sister loved him, and that +he did not believe that his brother-in-law was so blind as not to +have perceived it. The husband of our lady did not receive this +speech in the way the other had imagined, and said, 'If you were not +her brother, I would stab you with this poniard,' showing it to him. +'What reason have you for speaking thus?' The good-for-nothing fellow +was rather taken aback at this, and knew not what to say, except that +B... was too free and had no respect in his demeanour; and that this +was a true sign of love. At length, after some discussion on both +sides, the brother of our lady requested that not a word might be +said to his sister. + + [16] The old friend is Dr. Otto Sperling, sen., a physician in + extensive practice at Copenhagen, and intimate friend of Ulfeldt. + Mr. Biel... signifies most probably a certain Christian Bielke, + whose portrait still exists at Rosenborg Castle, in Copenhagen, + with an inscription that he was killed in a duel by Bartram Rantzau + on Easter eve 1642. If this date is true, Bielke cannot have + accompanied Leonora's brother Count Valdemar on his journey to + Russia, as this journey only took place in 1643. Count Valdemar was + to marry a Russian princess, but it was broken off on his refusing + to join the Greek church. + +As soon as she returned home, her husband told her everything in the +presence of our old friend, but ordered her to feign ignorance. This +was all the more easy for her, as her husband gave no credence to it, +but trusted in her innocence. She let nothing appear, but lived with +her brother as before. But some years after, her brother ill-treated +his own mother, and her side being taken by our lady, they were in +consequence not good friends. + +In speaking to you of the occupations of our lady, after having +reached the age of twenty-one or thereabouts, I must tell you she had +a great desire to learn Latin. She had a very excellent master,[17] +whom you know, and who taught her for friendship as well as with good +will. But she had so many irons in the fire, and sometimes it was +necessary to take a journey, and a yearly accouchement (to the number +of ten) prevented her making much progress; she understood a little +easy Latin, but attempted nothing difficult; she then learnt a little +Italian, which she continued studying whenever an opportunity +presented itself. + + [17] Dr. Otto Sperling, senior. + +I will not speak of her short journeys to Holstein, Jutland, &c.; but +in the year 1646 she made a voyage with her husband by sea, in the +first place to Holland, where she gave birth to a son six weeks after +her arrival at the Hague. From thence she went with her husband to +France, first to Paris and afterwards to Amiens; there they took +leave of the King and of the Queen Mother, Regent, and as they were +returning by Dunkirk she had the curiosity to see England, and +begged her husband to permit her to cross over with a small suite, to +which he consented, since one of the royal vessels lay in the roads. +She took a nobleman with her who knew the language, our old friend, a +servant, and the valet of the aforesaid nobleman, and this was the +whole of her retinue. She embarked, and her husband planned to pass +through Flanders and Brabant, and to await her at Rotterdam. As she +was on the vessel a day and night, and the wind did not favour them, +she resolved to land and to follow her husband, fancying she could +reach him in time to see Flanders and Brabant; she had not visited +these countries before, having passed from Holland by sea to Calais. + +She found her husband at Ostend, and travelled with him to Rotterdam; +from thence she pursued her former plan, embarked at Helvoot-Sluys, +and arrived at Duns, went to London, and returned by Dover, making +the whole voyage in ten days, and she was again enceinte. She was an +object of suspicion in London. The Prince Palatine, then Elector of +Heidelberg,[18] belonged to the party opposed to the beheaded King, +who was then a prisoner; and they watched her and surrounded her with +spies, so she did not make a long sojourn in London. Nothing else was +imagined, when it was known she had been there, but that she had +letters from the King of Dan... for the King of Engl.... She returned +with her husband to Dan.... + + [18] Prince Ruprecht, Duke of Cumberland, nephew of Charles I. + +In the year 1648 fortune abandoned our lady, for on February 28 the +King was taken from her by death. She had the happiness, however, of +attending upon him until his last breath. Good God, when I think of +what this good King said to her the first day, when she found him +ill in bed at Rosenborg, and wept abundantly, my heart is touched. He +begged her not to weep, caressed her, and said: 'I have placed you so +securely that no one can move you.' Only too much has she felt the +contrary of the promise of the King who succeeded him, for when he +was Duke and visited her at her house, a few days after the death of +the King, finding her in tears, he embraced her, saying: 'I will be a +father to you, do not weep.' She kissed his hand without being able +to speak. I find that some fathers have been unnatural towards their +children. + +In the year 1649 she made another voyage with her husband to Holland, +and at the Hague gave birth to a daughter. When her husband returned +from this journey, he for the first time perceived the designs of +Hannibal, of Gerstorp, and Wibe, but too late. He absented himself +from business, and would not listen to what his wife told him. Our +old friend shared the opinion of our lady, adducing very strong +reason for it, but all in vain; he said, that he would not be a +perpetual slave for the convenience of his friends. His wife spoke as +a prophet to him, told him that he would be treated as a slave when +he had ceased to have authority, that they would suspect him, and +envy his wealth; all of which took place, though I shall make no +recital of it, since these events are sufficiently known to you. + +We will now speak a little of the events which occurred afterwards. +When they had gained their cause,[19] our lady feared that the strong +party which they had then overcome would not rest without ruining +them utterly at any cost; so she advised her husband to leave the +country, since he had the King's permission to do so,[20] and to save +his life, otherwise his enemies would contrive some other invention +which would succeed better. He consented to this at length, and they +took their two eldest children with them, and went by sea to +Amsterdam. At Utrecht they left the children with the servants and a +female attendant, and our lady disguised herself in male attire and +followed her husband, who took the route to Lubeck, and from thence +by sea to Sweden, to ask the protection of Queen Christina, which he +received; and as the Queen knew that his wife was with him in +disguise, she requested to see her, which she did. + + [19] Namely, the process against Dina. _See_ Introduction. + + [20] Ulfeldt had not really the permission of the King to leave the + country in the way he did. These words must therefore be understood + to mean that the favourable termination of the trial concerning + Dina's accusations had liberated Ulfeldt from the special + obligation to remain in Copenhagen, which his position in reference + to that case imposed upon him. + +The husband of our lady purposed to remain some time in Pomerania, +and the Queen lent him a vessel to convey him thither. Having been +three days at sea, the wind carried them towards Dantzig, and not +being able to enter the town, for it was too late, they remained +outside the gates at a low inn. An adventure fit for a novel here +happened to our lady. A girl of sixteen, or a little more, believing +that our lady was a young man, threw herself on her neck with +caresses, to which our lady responded, and played with the girl, but, +as our lady perceived what the girl meant, and that she could not +satisfy her, she turned her over to Charles, a man of their suite, +thinking he would answer her purpose; he offered the girl his +attentions, but she repelled him rudely, saying, she was not for him, +and went again to our lady, accosting her in the same way. Our lady +got rid of her, but with difficulty however, for she was somewhat +impudent, and our lady did not dare to leave her apartment. For the +sake of amusing you, I must tell you, what now occurs to me, that in +the fort before Stade, the name of which has escaped me, our lady +played with two soldiers for drink, and her husband, who passed for +her uncle, paid the expenses; the soldiers, willing to lose for the +sake of gaining the beer, and astonished that she never lost, were, +however, civil enough to present her with drink. + +We must return to Dantzig. The husband of our lady, finding himself +near Thoren, desired to make an excursion there, but his design was +interrupted by two men, one who had formerly served in Norway as +Lieutenant-Colonel, and a charlatan who called himself Dr. Saar, and +who had been expelled from Copenhagen. They asked the Mayor of the +town to arrest these two persons, believing that our lady was Ebbe +Wl....[21] They were warned by their host that these persons said +they were so-and-so, and that these gentlemen were at the door to +prevent their going out. Towards evening they grew tired of keeping +guard, and went away. Before dawn the husband of our lady went out of +the house first, and waited at the gate, and our lady with the two +servants went in a coach to wait at the other gate until it was +opened; thus they escaped this time. + + [21] That is, Ebbe Ulfeldt,--a relative of Corfitz who left Denmark + in 1651 and afterwards lived in Sweden. + +They went by land to Stralsund, where our lady resumed her own +attire, after having been in disguise twelve weeks and four days, and +having endured many inconveniences, not having gone to bed all the +time, except at Stockholm, Dantzig, and Stettin. She even washed the +clothes, which inconvenienced her much. The winter that they passed +at Stralsund, her husband taught her, or rather began to teach her, +Spanish. In the spring they again made a voyage to Stockholm, at the +desire of Queen Chr.... This good Queen, who liked intrigue, tried to +excite jealousy and to make people jealous, but she did not succeed. +They were in Sweden until after the abdication of the Queen, and the +wedding and coronation of King Charles and Queen Hedevig, which was +in the year 1654. They returned to Pomerania for a visit to Barth, +which they possessed as a mortgage. There, our lady passed her time +in study, sometimes occupied with a Latin book, sometimes with a +Spanish one. She translated a small Spanish work, entitled _Matthias +de los Reyos_; but this book since fell into the hands of others, as +well as the first part of _Cleopatre_, which she had translated from +the French, with matters of greater value. + +In the year 1657,[22] her husband persuaded her to make a voyage to +Dannem... to try and gain an audience with the King, and see if she +could not obtain some payment from persons who owed them money. Our +lady found various pleas for not undertaking this voyage, seeing a +hundred difficulties against its successful issue; but her husband +besought her to attempt it, and our old friend shared her husband's +opinion that nothing could be done to her, that she was under the +protection of the King of Sweden, and not banished from Dan... with +similar arguments. At length she yielded, and made the journey in the +winter, travelling in a coach with six horses, a secretary, a man on +horseback, a female attendant, a page and a lacquey--that was all. +She went first to see her mother in Jutland, and remained there three +days; this was immediately known at the Court. + + [22] This date is erroneous; the journey took place in November and + December 1656. + +When she had passed the Belt, and was within cannon-shot of Corsor, +she was met by Uldrich Chr. Guldenl...,[23] who was on the point of +going to Jutland to fetch her. He returned with his galley and +landed; she remained in her vessel, waiting for her carriage to be +put on shore. Guld... impatient, could not wait so long, and sent the +burgomaster Brant to tell her to come ashore, as he had something to +say to her. She replied that if he had anything to say to her, he +ought to show her the attention of coming to her. Brant went with +this answer; awaiting its issue, our lady looked at her attendants +and perceived a change in them all. Her female attendant was seized +with an attack from which she suffers still, a trembling of the head, +while her eyes remained fixed. The secretary trembled so that his +teeth chattered. Charles was quite pale, as were all the others. Our +lady spoke to them, and asked them why they were afraid; for her they +had nothing to fear, and less for themselves. The secretary answered, +'They will soon let us know that.' Brant returned with the same +message, with the addition that Gul... was bearer of the King's +order, and that our lady ought to come to him at the Castle to hear +the King's order. She replied that she respected the King's order +there as well as at the castle; that she wished that Gul... would +please to let her know there the order of His Majesty; and when +Brant tried to persuade her, saying continually, 'Oh! do give in, do +give in!' she used the same expression, and said also, 'Beg Gul... to +give in,' &c. At length she said, 'Give me sufficient time to have +two horses harnessed, for I cannot imagine he would wish me to go on +foot.' + + [23] U.C. Gyldenlove, illegitimate son of Christian IV. and + half-brother of Leonora. + +When she reached the castle she had the coach pulled up. Brant came +forward to beg her to enter the castle; she refused, and said she +would not enter; that if he wished to speak to her he must come to +her, that she had come more than half-way. Brant went, and returned +once again, but she said the same, adding that he might do all that +seemed good to him, she should not stir from the spot. At length the +good-for-nothing fellow came down, and when he was ready to speak to +her, she opened the coach and got out. He said a few polite words to +her, and then presented her with an order from the King, written in +the chancery, the contents of which were, that she must hasten to +depart from the King's territory, or she would have to thank herself +for any ill that might befall her. Having read the order she bowed, +and returned him the order, which was intended to warn her, saying, +'That she hoped to have been permitted to kiss the King's hand, but +as her enemies had hindered this happiness by such an order, there +was nothing left for her but to obey in all humility, and thanking +His Majesty most humbly for the warning, she would hasten as quickly +as possible to obey His Majesty's commands. She asked if she were +permitted to take a little refreshment, for that they had had +contrary winds and had been at sea all day. Gul... answered in the +negative, that he did not dare to give her the permission; and since +she had obeyed with such great submission, he would not show her the +other order that he had, asking her at the same moment if she wished +to see this other order? She said, no; that she would abide by the +order that she had seen, and that she would immediately embark on +board her ferry-boat to return. Gul... gave her his hand, and begged +her to make use of his galley. + +She did so. They went half the way without speaking; at length Gul... +broke the silence, and they entered into conversation. He told her +that the King had been made to believe that she had assembled a +number of noblemen at her mother's house, and that he had orders to +disperse this cabal. They had a long conversation together, and spoke +of Dina's affair; he said the King did not yet know the real truth of +it. She complained that the King had not tried to know it. At length +they arrived by night at Nyborg. Gul... accompanied her to her +hostelry, and went to his own, and an hour afterwards sent +Scherning[24] to tell her that at dawn of day she must be ready, in +order that they might arrive at Assens the next evening, which it was +impossible to do with her own horses, as they did not arrive till +morning. She assented, saying she would act in obedience to his +orders, began talking with Scherning, and conversed with him about +other matters. I do not know how, but she gained his good graces, and +he prevailed so far with Gul... that Gul... did not hasten her +unduly. Towards nine o'clock the next morning he came to tell her +that he did not think it necessary to accompany her further, but he +hoped she would follow the King's order, and begged her to speak with +Kay v. Ahlefeld at Haderslef, when she was passing through; he had +received orders as to what he had to do. She promised this, and +Gul... returned to Copenhagen, placing a man with our lady to watch +her. + + [24] Probably Povl Tscherning, a well-known man of the time, who + held the office of Auditor-General. + +Our lady did not think it necessary to speak to Kay v. Ahlefeld, for +she had nothing to say to him, and she did not want to see more +orders; she passed by Haderslef, and went to Apenrade, and awaited +there for ten days[25] a letter from Gul... which he had promised to +write to her; when she saw that he was not going to keep his word she +started on her way to Slesvig, halting half way with the intention of +dining. Holst, the clerk of the bailiwick of Flensborg, here arrived +in a coach with two arquebuses larger and longer than halberds. He +gave orders to close the bar of Boy..., sent to the village, which is +quite close, that the peasants should hold themselves ready with +their spears and arms, and made four persons who were in the tavern +take the same arms, that is, large poles. Afterwards he entered and +made a long speech, with no end of compliments to our lady, to while +away the time. The matter was, that the governor[26] desired her to +go to Flensborg, as he had something to say to her, and he hoped she +would do him the pleasure to rest a night at Flensborg. + + [25] In order to understand how she could wait for ten days at + Apenrade, it must be borne in mind that the duchy of Slesvig was at + that time divided into several parts, of which some belonged to the + King, others to the Duke of Gottorp. Haderslev and Flensborg + belonged to the King, but Apenrade to the Duke; in this town, + therefore, she was safe from the pursuit of the Danish authorities. + + [26] The governor of Flensborg at that time was Detlef v. Ahlefeld, + the same who in 1663 was sent to Koenigsberg to receive information + from the court of Brandenburg on the last intrigues of Ulfeldt. + +Our lady replied that she had not the pleasure of his acquaintance, +and therefore she thought he took her for someone else; if she could +oblige him in anything she would remain at Slesvig the following day, +in order to know in what she could serve him. No, it was not that; he +repeated his request. She ordered Charles to have the horses put to. +Holst understood this, which was said in French, and begged her for +the love of God not to set out; he had orders not to let her depart. +'You,' said she, in a somewhat haughty tone, 'who are you? With what +authority do you speak thus?' He said he had no written order, but by +word of mouth, and that his governor would soon arrive; he begged her +for the love of God to pardon him. He was a servant, he was willing +to be trodden under her feet. She said: 'It is not for you to pay me +compliments, still less to detain me, since you cannot show me the +King's order, but it is for me to think what I ought to do.' + +She went out and ordered her lacquey, who was the only determined one +of her suite, to make himself master of Holst's chariot and +arquebuses. Holst followed her, begging her a hundred times, saying, +'I do not dare to let you pass, I do not dare to open the bar.' She +said, 'I do not ask you to open;' she got into the coach. Holst put +his hand upon the coach-door and sang the old song. Our lady, who had +always pistols in her carriage when she travelled, drew out one and +presented it to him saying, 'Draw back, or I will give you the +contents of this.' He was not slow in letting go his hold; then she +threw a patacoon to those who were to restrain her, saying, 'Here is +something for drink; help in letting the carriage pass the fosse!' +which they immediately did. + +Not a quarter of an hour after she had gone, the governor arrived +with another chariot. There were two men and four guns in each +chariot. Our lady was warned of the pursuit; she begged her two +coachmen, whom she had for herself and her baggage, to dispute them +the road as much as they could; she ordered Charles always to remain +at the side of her carriage, in order that she might throw herself +upon the horse if she saw that they gained ground. She took off her +furred robe. They disputed the road up to the bridge, which separated +the territory of the King from that of the Duke. + +When she had passed the bridge she stopped, put on her robe, and +alighted. The others paused on the other side of the bridge to look +at her, and thus she escaped again for this time.[27] But it was +amusing to see how the secretary perspired, what fright he was in; he +did not afterwards pretend to bravery, but freely confessed that he +was half dead with fear. She returned to Barth, and found her husband +very very ill. Our old friend had almost given up all hope of his +recovery, but her presence acted as a miracle; he was sufficiently +strong in the morning to be taken out of bed, to the great surprise +of our old friend. + + [27] The clerk Holst was shortly after, when the Swedes occupied + Flensborg, put to a heavy ransom by Ulfeldt, in punishment of his + conduct to Leonora. Documents which still exist show that he + applied to the Danish Government for compensation, but apparently + in vain. + +Just as our lady was thinking of passing some days in tranquillity, +occupied in light study, in trifling work, distillations, +confectionery, and such like things, her husband mixed himself in the +wars. The King of Sweden sent after him to Stettin; he told his wife +that he would have nothing to do with them. He did not keep his word, +however; he did not return to Barth, but went straight off with the +King. She knew he was not provided with anything; she saw the danger +to which he was exposed, she wished to share it; she equipped herself +in haste, and, without his sending for her, went to join him at +Ottensen. He wished to persuade her to return to Hamburgh, and spoke +to her of the great danger; she said the danger was the reason why +she wished to bear him company, and to share it with him; so she went +with him, and passed few days without uneasiness, especially when +Friderichsodde was taken; she feared for both husband and son. There +she had the happiness of reconciling the C. Wrangel and the C. +Jaques,[28] which her husband had believed impossible, not having +been able to succeed. She had also the good fortune to cure her +eldest son and eight of her servants of a malignant fever named +Sprinckeln; there was no doctor at that time with the army, our old +friend having left. + + [28] Count Jakob Casimir de la Gardie, a Swedish nobleman. Count + Wrangel was the Swedish General. + +When her husband passed with the King to Seeland, she remained at +Fyen. The day that she had resolved to set out on the following to +return to Schone, a post arrived with news that her mother was at the +point of death and wished to speak to her; she posted to Jutland, +found Madame very ill and with no hope of life. She had only been +there one night, when her husband sent a messenger to say that if she +wished to see him alive she must lose no time. Our lady was herself +ill; she had to leave her mother, who was already half dead; she had +to take her last farewell in great sorrow, and to go with all speed +to seek her husband, who was very ill at Malmoe. Two days afterwards +she received the tidings of her mother's death, and as soon as the +health of her husband permitted it, she went to Jutland to give the +necessary orders for her mother's funeral. She returned once more to +Schone before the burial; after the funeral[29] she went to +Copenhagen and revisited Malmoe one day before the King of Sweden +began the war for the second time and appeared before Kopenh.... + + [29] The funeral took place with great pomp in the church of St. + Knud, at Odense, on June 23, 1658, together with that of Sophia + Elizabeth, Leonora's sister, who is mentioned in the beginning of + the Autobiography. + +In the year 1659 the King of Sweden ordered her husband to be +arrested at Malmoe. She went immediately to Helsingor to speak to the +King, but had not the happiness of speaking to him; on the contrary, +the King sent two of his counsellors to tell her that she was free to +choose whether she would return to her estates and superintend them, +or go back to Malmoe and be arrested with her husband. She thanked +His Majesty very humbly for the favour of the choice; she chose to +suffer with her husband, and was glad to have the happiness of +serving him in his affliction, and bearing the burden with him which +would lighten it to him. + +She returned to Malmoe with these news; her husband exhibited too +much grief that she was not permitted to solicit on his behalf, and +she consoled him as well as she was able. A few days after, an +officer came to their house and irritated her husband so much by his +impertinent manner that he had a fit of apoplexy. Our lady was +overwhelmed with sorrow; she sent for the priest the next morning, +made her husband receive the holy communion, and received it herself. +She knew not at what hour she might be a widow; no one came to see +her, no one in consequence consoled her, and she had to console +herself. She had a husband who was neither living nor dead; he ate +and drank; he spoke, but no one could understand him. + +About eight months after, the King began to take proceedings against +her husband, and in order to make her answer for her husband they +mixed her up in certain points as having asked for news: whence the +young lady was taken whom her husband brought to Copenhagen? who was +Trolle? and that she had kept the property of a Danish nobleman in +her house.[30] Since her husband was ill, the King graciously +permitted her to answer for him; thus they proceeded with her for +nine weeks in succession; she had no other assistance in copying her +defence than her eldest daughter, then very young. She was permitted +to make use of Wolff, for receiving the accusations and taking back +the replies, but he wrote nothing for her. If you are interested in +knowing the proceedings, Kield[31] can give you information +respecting them. + + [30] The young lady was Birgitte Rantzau, who was engaged to + Korfits Trolle, a Danish nobleman, who had been very active in + preparing the intended rising of the citizens of Malmoe against the + Swedes. Ulfeldt was accused of having favoured and assisted this + design (_see_ the Introduction), and he had brought Trolle's bride + over to Copenhagen, or accompanied them thither. + + [31] Wolf and Kield were servants of Ulfeldt. + +When the proceedings had lasted so many weeks, and she had answered +with regard to the conversations which it was said her husband had +had with one and another, they fancied that her husband feigned +illness. Four doctors were sent with the commandant to visit the sick +man, and they found that he was really ill; not content with this, +they established the Court in his house, for they were ashamed to +make her come to them. They caused the city magistrate to come, +placing him on one side of the hall, and on the other the Danish +noblemen who were under arrest, all as witnesses; eight Commissioners +sat at a round table, the lawyer in front of the table and two clerks +at another table; having made these arrangements, our lady was +desired to enter. + +We must mention, in the first place, that two of the delinquents who +were executed afterwards, and another, together with one of the +servants of her husband, were brought there. The principal +delinquents were summoned first, and afterwards the others, to take +an oath that they would speak the truth. We must mention that these +gentlemen were already condemned, and were executed a few days +afterwards. When the lawyer had said that they had now taken their +oaths according to the law, our lady said, 'Post festum! After having +proceeded against my husband so many weeks, having based everything +on the tattle of these delinquents, you come, after they are +condemned to suffer for their trespasses, and make them take an oath. +I do not know if this is conformable to law!' + +The lawyer made no reply to this, and, thinking to confuse our lady, +said that he found things contrary the one to the other, cited +passages, leaves, lines, and asked her if she could make these things +agree. She, having at that time a good memory, remembered well what +her own judgment had dictated to her, and said that they would not +find her replies what the lawyer said, but so-and-so, and asked that +they should be read openly, which was done. The lawyer made three +attempts of the same kind; when they saw there was nothing to be +gained by this, the Commissioners attacked her three at a time, one +putting one question and another, another. She said to them quietly, +'Messieurs, with your permission, let one speak at a time, for I am +but one, and I cannot answer three at once!' At which they were all a +little ashamed. + +The principal point to which they adhered was, that her husband was a +vassal by oath, and a servant of the King, with which assertion they +parried every objection. She proved that it was not so, that her +husband was neither vassal nor a servant; he had his lands under the +King just as many Swedes had elsewhere, without on that account being +vassals; that he had never taken an oath of fidelity to the King of +Sweden, but that he had shown him much fidelity; that he owed him no +obligation--this she showed by a letter from the King, in which he +thanked him for his services, and hoped so to act that he would +render him still more. She shut the mouth of the delinquent,[32] and +begged the Commissioners to reflect on what she had said. + + [32] The person alluded to is a Bartholomaeus Mikkelsen, who was + executed as ringleader of the conspiracy. + +When all was over, after the space of three hours, she requested that +the protocol might be read before her. The President said that she +need have no doubt the protocol was correct, that she should have a +copy of it, that they now understood the matter, and would make a +faithful report of it to the King. No sentence was passed, and they +remained under arrest. The King of Sweden died, and peace was +concluded, but they remained under arrest. A friend came to inform +them, one day, that there was a vessel of war in the roads, which was +to take them to Finland. When she saw her husband a little recovered, +that he could use his judgment, she advised him to escape and go to +Lubeck. She would go to Copenhagen and try to arrange the matter. He +consented to it, and she contrived to let him out in spite of all +the guards round the house (thirty-six in number). + +When she received the news that he had passed and could reckon that +he was on his way to Lubeck, she escaped also, and went straight to +Copenh.... Having arrived there, she found her husband arrived before +her; she was much surprised and vexed, fearing what happened +afterwards, but he had flattered himself so with the comfortable hope +that he would enter into the good graces of the King. The next day +they were both arrested and brought to Borringh...[33]; her husband +was ill; on arriving at Borr... they placed him on a litter and +brought him from the town to the castle, a distance of about two +leagues. + + [33] Bornholm. (_See_ the Introduction.) + +It would weary you to tell you of all that passed at Borr... If you +take pleasure in knowing it, there is a man in Hamburgh who can tell +it you.[34] I will tell you, however, a part and the chief of what I +remember concerning it. At Ronne, the town where they disembarked at +Borringh----, our lady wrote to the King and to the Queen in the name +of her husband, who was ill, as I have already said, and gave the +memorials to Colonel Rantzou, who promised to deliver them, and who +gave hopes of success.[35] There Fos arrived and conveyed them to the +Castle of Hammershuus. The governor Fos saw that our lady had a small +box with her, and was seized with the desire to know what was in it +and to possess himself of it. He sent one Dina, the wife of the +warder to our lady, to offer to procure a boat for their escape. +There is no doubt she accepted the offer, and promised in return +five hundred crowns. This was enough for Fos; he went one night with +the Major to their apartment, thundered like a madman, said that they +wished to betray him, &c.; the end of the farce was, that he took the +box, but, for the sake of a little ceremony, he sealed it with her +husband's seal, promising to keep it for its safety. + + [34] She refers no doubt to a servant who accompanied them of the + name of Pfluegge. + + [35] The original of this letter to the King exists still. + +About three weeks after, he took the two prisoners to walk a little +in the fields; the husband would not go, but the wife went out to +take the air. The traitor gave her a long history of his past +adventures, how many times he had been in prison, some instances of +how great lords had been saved by the assistance of those they had +gained over, and made their fortune. He thought they would do the +same. She said she had not much to dispose of, but besides that, they +would find other means for rewarding such a service. He said he would +think of it, that he had nothing to lose in Dan.... + +After various discussions from day to day, her husband wished her to +offer him 20,000 rix-dollars; this sum seemed to him too little, and +he asked 50,000 dollars. She said that she could easily promise it, +but could not keep her word, but provided it was twenty she would pay +it. He asked for a security; her husband had a note which would give +security, but our lady did not think it good that he should see this +note, and told Fos that in her box there was a letter that could +secure it; she did not know that he had already opened the box. Some +days after, she asked him if he had made up his mind? He said, 'I +will not do it for less than 50,000, and there is no letter in your +box which would secure it to me. I have opened it; to-morrow I will +send it to Copenh....' She asked him quietly if he had done right in +breaking her husband's seal; he answered rudely that he would take +the responsibility. + +Towards autumn, Hannibal and the other heirs of our lady's mother +sent to her husband to notify to him that they could not longer delay +dividing the inheritance, and since they knew that he had in his +possession papers of importance, they requested to be informed of +them. Her husband stated in his reply that Fos had taken his letters, +and that in a rude manner. This answer having been read in the +presence of Fos, he flew in a thundering rage, used abusive language +first to the husband and then to the wife, her husband having firmly +promised our lady not to dispute with this villain, for she feared +some evil might result, but to leave her to answer, for Fos would be +answered. + +She was not angry; she ridiculed him and his invectives. At length he +told her that she had offered him 20,000 dollars to induce him to +become a traitor; she replied with calmness, 'If it had been 50,000, +what then?' Fos leapt into the air like an enraged animal, and said +that she lied like a ----, &c. She was not moved, but said 'You speak +like an ass!' Upon this he loaded her with abuse, and then retracted +all that he had just said. She said quite quietly, 'I am not going to +appeal to these gentlemen who are present (there were four) to be +witnesses, for this is an affair that will never be judicially +settled, and nothing can efface this insult but blood.' 'Oh!' said +he, seizing his sword, and drawing it a little out of the scabbard, +'this is what I wear for you, madam.' She, smiling, drew the bodkin +from her hair, saying, 'Here are all the arms at present which I +have for you.' He manifested a little shame, and said that it was not +for her but her sons, if she still had four.[36] She, moreover, +ridiculed him, and said that it was no use his acting the brave +there. In short, books could be filled with all the quarrels between +these two persons from time to time. He shouted at times with all his +might, he spoke like a torrent, and foamed at the mouth, and the next +moment he would speak low like another man. When he shouted so +loudly, our lady said, 'The fever is attacking him again!' He was +enraged at this. + + [36] It will be remembered from the Introduction that Fuchs was + killed two years after by one of Leonora's sons at Bruges. + +Some weeks afterwards he came to visit them, and assumed a humble +manner. Our lady took no notice of it, and spoke with him on +indifferent subjects; but her husband would not speak to him, and +never afterwards was he able to draw from him more than a few words. +Towards Christmas, Fos treated the prisoners very ill, more so than +formerly, so that Monsieur sent the servant to beg him to treat him +as a gentleman and not as a peasant. Fos went to them immediately, +after having abused Monsieur's servant; and as he entered, Monsieur +left the apartment and went into another, and refused to give him his +hand. Fos was enraged at this, and would not remain, nor would he +speak a word to our lady, who begged him to hear her. A moment after, +he caused the door to be bolted, so that they could not go out to +take the air, for they before had free access to a loft. At every +Festival he devised means of annoying them; he closed all the +windows, putting to some bars of iron, and to others wooden framework +and boxes; and as to their food, it was worse than ever. They had to +endure that winter in patience; but as they perceived that Fos's +design was that they should die of hunger, they resolved to hazard an +escape, and made preparation through the winter, in order to escape +as soon as the thaw would set in. + +Our lady, who had three pairs of sheets that her children had sent +her, undid some articles of clothing and made cordage and a sail; she +sewed them with silk, for she had no thread. Her husband and the +servant worked at the oars. When the moon was favourable to them in +the month of April, they wished to carry out the plan they had been +projecting for so long a time. Our lady was the first to make the +descent: the height was seventy-two feet; she went on to the ravelin +to await the others. Some time elapsed before her husband came, so +she returned, and at last she heard a great noise among the ropes, +her husband having lost a shoe in his descent. They had still to wait +for the valet; he had forgotten the cord, and said that he could not +carry it with him. + +It was necessary to descend the rampart into the moats, which were +dry; the height is about forty feet. Our lady was the first to +descend; she helped her husband, for his strength was already +failing. When they were all three in the fosse, the moon was obscured +and a little rain fell. This was unfortunate, as they could not see +which road to take. Her husband said it would be better to remain +where they were till daylight, for they might break their necks in +descending the rocks. The servant said he knew the way, as he had +observed it when the window was free; that he would go in front. He +went in advance, gliding in a sitting position, after him our lady, +and then her husband; they could not see an inch before them; the man +fell from an incredible height, and did not speak; our lady stopped, +shouted to him, and asked him to answer if he was alive. + +He was some time before he answered, so she and her husband +considered him dead; at length he answered, and said he should never +get out of this ravine; our lady asked him if he judged the depth to +be greater than one of the cords could reach? She would tie two +together, and throw the end to him to draw him up. He said that one +cord would be sufficient, but that she could not draw him up, that +she would not be strong enough; she said she could, she would hold +firm, and he should help himself with his knees. He took courage, and +she drew him up; the greatest marvel was, that on each side of her +there was a precipice deeper than that over which he fell, and that +she had nothing by which to support herself, except a small +projection, which they believed to be of earth, against which she +placed her left foot, finding no resting-place for the right one. + +We can truly say that God had granted her his protection, for to +escape from such a danger, and draw another out of it, could not have +been done by unaided man. Our fool Fos explained it otherwise, and +used it for his own purposes, saying that without the assistance of +the devil it would have been impossible to stand firm in such a +place, still less to assist another; he impressed this so well on the +Queen, that she is still of the opinion that our lady exercises +sorcery. Fos would take the glory from God to give it to the devil, +and this calumny has to be endured with many others. But let us +return to our miserable fugitives, whom we left in the fosse. Our +lady, who had shouted to her husband not to advance, as soon as she +heard the valet fall, called to him to keep back, turn quietly, and +to climb upwards, for that there was no passage there; this was done, +and they remounted the fosse and kept themselves quiet. Her husband +wished that they should remain there, since they did not know which +road to take. + +While they were deliberating, the moon shone forth a little, and our +lady saw where she was, and she remembered a good passage which she +had seen on the day when she walked out with the governor; she +persuaded her husband to follow her; he complained of his want of +strength; she told him that God would assist him, and that he did not +require great strength to let himself glide down, that the passage +was not difficult, and that in ascending on the opposite side, which +was not high, the valet and herself could assist him. He resolved, +but he found it difficult enough; at length, however, they succeeded; +they had then to go half a quarter of a league to reach the place +where the boats were. + +Her husband, wearied out, could not walk, and begged her, for the +love of God, to leave him where he was; he was ready to die; she +consoled him, and gave him restoratives, and told him that he had but +a little step to make; he begged her to leave him there, and to save +herself with the servant: she would find means afterwards to rescue +him from prison. She said no, she would not abandon him; that he knew +well the opportunities she had had to escape before, if she had +wished to forsake him; that she would never quit him nor leave him in +the hands of this tyrant; that if Fos ventured to touch him, she was +resolved on avenging herself upon him. + +After having taken a little breath, he began again to proceed. Our +lady, who was loaded with so many ropes and clothes, could scarcely +walk, but necessity gave her strength. She begged her husband to lean +on her and on the valet, so he supported himself between them, and in +this way arrived where the boats were; but too late, for it was +already day. As our lady saw the patrol coming in the distance, she +begged her husband to stop there with the valet, saying that she +would go forward in advance, which she did. She was scarcely a +musket-shot distant from a little town where the major lodged, when +she spoke with the guard, and asked them after the major. One of them +went for the major, whose name was Kratz. + +The major saw our lady with great consternation; he asked after her +husband. She told him where he was, and in a few words she requested +that he would go to the castle and tell Major-General Fos that his +ill-treatment had been the cause of the desperate resolution they had +taken, and to beg him not to ill-treat them; they were at present +sick at heart; they could not endure anything; she begged him to +consider that those who had resolved to face more than one form of +death, would not fear it in any shape. Kratz conducted the prisoners +to his house, mounted his horse, and went in search of the governor, +who was still in bed, and told him the affair. + +The governor got out of bed like a furious creature, swore, menaced; +after having recovered a little, the major told him what our lady had +begged him to say. Then he was for some time thoughtful, and said, 'I +confess it; they had reason to seek their liberty, for otherwise +they would never have had it.' He did not immediately come for the +prisoners, for he had another apartment prepared for them. As he +entered, he assumed a pleasant manner, and asked if they ought to be +there; he did not say an unkind word, but, on the contrary, said he +should have done the same. They were conducted to the Royal Hall to +warm themselves, for they were all wet with the rain; our lady had +then an opportunity of speaking to the valet, and of taking from him +the papers that he had, which contained all that had passed during +the time of their imprisonment,[37] and she counselled the valet to +lay aside the arms that he had upon him, and that if he had anything +which he wished to secure that he would deliver it up to her keeping. +The valet gave her what she asked, followed her orders, threw away +his arms, but as regarded his own papers he would not give them up, +for he did not share her fears; but he knew afterwards, for Fos +caused him to be entirely stripped, and took away everything from +him, and made him pay well for having noted down the dishes that they +had on the first day of the Festivals, and on the rest. + + [37] This account of what happened during their imprisonment at + Hammershuus, written by Leonora herself, is also mentioned in her + Record of her prison-life in the Blue Tower. But no copy of it has + yet come to light. Uhlfeldt's so-called apology contains much + information on this subject. + +At length towards evening our lady and her husband were conveyed into +another apartment, and the valet into the body-guard loaded with +irons. They were there together thirteen weeks, until Fos received +orders from the Court to separate them; meanwhile, he encased the +prisons in iron. I may well use such a term, for he caused plates of +iron to be placed on the walls, double bars and irons round the +windows.[38] When he had permission to separate them, he entered one +day to begin a quarrel, and spoke of the past; our lady begged him +not to say more, but he would go on; he was determined to quarrel. He +said to her, 'Madame, you are so haughty, I will humble you; I will +make you so--so small,' and he made a measurement with his hand from +the floor. 'You have been lifted up and I will bring you down.' She +laughed, and said, 'You may do with me whatever you will, but you can +never humble me so that I shall cease to remember that you were a +servant of a servant of the King my father;' at last, he so forgot +himself as to hold his fist in her face. She said to him, keeping her +hand on her knife which she had in her pocket, 'Make use of your foul +mouth and accursed tongue, but keep your hands quiet.' He drew back, +and made a profound bow in ridicule, calling her 'your grace,' asked +her pardon, and what he had to fear. She said, 'You have nothing to +fear; if you take liberties, you will meet with resistance--feeble +enough, but such as I have strength to give you.' + + [38] Fuchs' own report on this subject still exists, and in it he + estimates the iron employed at three tons. + +After some further invectives, he said farewell, and begged they +might be good friends; he came once more and conducted himself in the +same manner, but less violently. He said to a captain who was +present, of the name of Bolt, that he did it expressly in order to +have a quarrel with her husband, that he might revenge himself for +her conduct upon him, but that her husband would not speak to him. At +length the unhappy day of their separation came, and Fos entered to +tell them that they must be prepared to bid each other a final +farewell, for that he had orders to separate them, and in this life +they would never see each other again; he gave them an hour to +converse together for the last time. You can easily imagine what +passed in this hour; but as they had been prepared for this +separation weeks before, having been warned of it by their guard with +whom they could talk, it did not surprise them. Our lady had gained +over four of the guards, who were ready to let them escape easily +enough, but her husband would not undertake it, always saying that he +had no strength, but that she might do it. Well, they had to abide by +it; after this sad day[39] they were separated, he in one prison +below and she in another above, one above another, bars before the +windows, he without a servant, and she without a waiting woman. + + [39] The precise date was June 15, 1661, but the order for their + separation is dated already on the 4th of April. + +About three weeks after, our lady fell ill; she requested a woman or +girl to wait upon her, and a priest. Fos sent answer, with regard to +a woman or girl to wait upon her, he did not know anyone who would do +it, but that there was a wench who had killed her child, and who +would soon be beheaded, and if she wished for her, she could have +her. As to a priest, he had no orders, and she would have no priest +even if death were on her lips. Our lady said nothing but 'Patience; +I commend it to God.' Our lady had the happiness of being able to +give her husband signs daily, and to receive such, and when the wind +was not too strong they could speak to one another. They spoke +Italian together, and took their opportunity before the reveille. +Towards the close of the governorship of this villain, he was +informed of this. He then had a kind of machine made which is used to +frighten the cattle from the corn in the summer, and which makes a +great noise, and he desired the sentinel to move this machine in +order to hinder them hearing each other. + +Fifteen days before Count Rantzow came to Borringholm to treat with +them, Fos had news of it from Copenhagen from his intimate friend +Jaques P...; he visited our lady, told her on entering that her +children had been expelled from Skaane by the Swedes; our lady said, +'Well, the world is wide, they will find a place elsewhere.' He then +told her that Bolt had come from Copenhagen with the tidings that +they would never be let at liberty; she replied, 'Never is a long +time; this imprisonment will not last a hundred years, much less an +eternity--in the twinkling of an eye much may change; the hand of +God, in whom are the hearts of kings, can change everything.' He +said, 'You have plenty of hope; you think perhaps if the King died, +you would be free?' She replied, 'God preserve the King. I believe +that he will give me liberty, and no one else.' He chatted about a +great many things, and played the flatterer. + +At length Count Rantzow came and made a stay at Borringh... of eleven +weeks. He visited the prisoners, and did them the favour of having +the husband to dine with him, and in the evening our lady supped with +him, and he conferred with them separately. Our lady asked him of +what she was accused; he replied, 'Will you ask that? that is not the +way to get out of Borringholm; do you know that you have said the +King is your brother? and kings do not recognise either sisters or +brothers.' She replied, 'To whom had I need to say that the King is +my brother? who is so ignorant in Denmark as not to know that? I have +always known, and know still, the respect that is due to the King; I +have never given him any other title than my King and Lord; I have +never called him my brother, in speaking of him; kings are gracious +enough to recognise their sisters and brothers as such; for example, +the King of England gives the title of sister to his brother's wife, +although she is of very mediocre extraction.[40] Rantzow replied, +'Our King does not wish it, and he does not know yet the truth about +Dina's affair.' She said, 'I think the King does not wish to know.' +He replied, 'Indeed, by God he desires with all his heart to be +informed of it.' She answered, 'If the King will desire Walter to +tell him, and this with some earnestness, he will be informed of it.' +Rantzow made no reply. + + [40] Leonora alludes to the wife of the then Duke of York, + afterwards James II., who was the daughter of Lord Edward + Clarendon. + +When he had concluded everything with her husband, whom he had +obliged to yield up all his possessions, Rantzow acquainted our lady +with the fact; she said that her husband had power to give up what +was his, but that the half belonged to her, and that this she would +not give up, not being able to answer for it before God nor before +her children; she had committed no crime; liberty should be given to +her husband for the half of their lands, and that if the King thought +he could retain her with a good conscience she would endure it. +Rantzow with a serious air replied, 'Do not think that your husband +will ever be set at liberty, if you do not sign with him.' She said +that the conditions were too severe; that they should do better for +their children to die as prisoners, God and all the world knowing +their innocence, than to leave so many children beggars. Rantzow +said, 'If you die in prison, all your lands and property are +forfeited, and your children will have nothing; but at this moment +you can have your liberty, live with your husband; who knows, the +King may still leave you an estate, and may always show you favour, +when he sees that you yield to his will.' Our lady said that since +there was no other prospect for her husband's liberty, she would +consent. Rantzow ordered her husband and herself separately to place +in writing the complaints they had to bring forward against Fos, and +all that had happened with regard to their attempt at escape; which +was done. Our lady was gracious in her demeanour to Fos, but her +husband could not make up his mind even to speak to him. Rantzow +returned to Copenh... and eighteen days afterwards the galley of +Gabel came with orders to the new governor (Lieutenant-Colonel +Lytkens, a very well-bred man and brave soldier, his wife a noble +lady of the Manteuffel family, very polite and pretty), that he +should make the prisoners sign the papers sent, and when the +signature was done, should send them on together. + +The governor sent first to the husband, as was befitting, who made +difficulties about signing because they had added points here and +there, and among other things principally this, that they were never +to plead against Fos. The husband said he would rather die. The good +governor went in search of the wife and told her everything, begging +her to speak to her husband from the window; when he knew that she +had spoken to him, he would return. She thanked the governor, and +when he had gone out she spoke to her husband, and persuaded him to +sign. Then the governor made her sign also; and after that, towards +nine o'clock in the evening, her husband came to her, having been +separated just twenty-six weeks.[41] They were separated on a +Saturday, and they met again on a Saturday. Fos was still at the +castle; it is easy to believe that he was in great rage. Time does +not permit to dwell on it. Two days afterwards they embarked and came +to Copenhagen, and were received on the Custom-house pier by C. +Rantzow and Gabel. The Queen knew nothing of it. When she was told of +it she was so angry that she would not go to table. In a few words +the King held his ground, and as she would not accept the thanks of +Monsieur and his wife, the King ordered her to receive them in +writing. They spent the Christmas of 1660 in the house of C. Rantzow. +Afterwards they went to Fyen, to the estate of Ellensborg, which was +graciously left to them.[42] + + [41] The apology of Uhlfeldt contains an account of this whole + transaction. He states that when he asked his wife through the + window whether they ought to sign and live rather than die in + prison, which would otherwise be their lot, Leonora answered with + the following Latin verse: + + Rebus in adversis facile est contemnere mortem, + Fortius ille facit, qui miser esse potest. + Accidit in puncto, quod non speratur in anno. + + [42] Ellensborg was the ancient seat of the Ulfeldt family, which + had been sold to Ellen Marsvin, Leonora's grandmother, and Leonora + inherited it from her mother. It is now called Holckenhavn, and the + seat of Count Holck. + +Her husband having permission to go to France to take the waters for +eighteen months, left Ell... with his family in the month of June +1662, and landed at Amsterdam. Our lady went from thence to Bruges to +hire a house, and returned to Amsterdam. Her daughter Helena fell ill +of the small-pox; she remained with her, and her husband and the +other children went to Bruges. When her daughter had recovered, she +went to rejoin her husband and children. She accompanied her husband, +who went to France. Having arrived at Paris, the doctors did not +find it advisable that he should take the waters, and he returned to +Bruges. Her husband begged our lady to make a journey to England, and +to take her eldest son with her. She raised obstacles, and showed him +plainly that she should obtain nothing; that she should only be at +great expense. She had examples before her which showed her that the +King of England would never pay her husband. He would not have been +turned from his purpose at this time but for their son's rencontre +with Fos, which prevented the journey that winter, and postponed the +misfortunes of our lady, though it did not ultimately prevent them. + +But towards the spring the same design was again brought forward; our +lady was assisted by the nobleman who followed her afterwards[43] in +dissuading her husband; but no reasoning could avail; he believed the +King could not forget the benefits received, and refuse to pay his +cousin. Our lady prepared for her departure, since her husband wished +it. The day that she bade him her last farewell--a fatal day, +indeed--her husband's heart did not tell him that these would be the +last embraces he would give her, for he was so satisfied and so full +of joy that she and all were astonished. She, on the contrary, was +sad. The last day of their intercourse was May 24, 1663. She had many +contretemps at first, and some time elapsed before she had the honour +of speaking to the King. + + [43] Namely Casetta, a Spanish nobleman, who afterwards married + their daughter Anna Katherine, but both he and their children died + soon. (_See_ the Introduction.) + +The King greeted her after the fashion of the country, treated her as +his cousin,[44] and promised her all sorts of satisfaction; that he +would send his secretary[45] to her to see her papers, which he did. +The secretary made her fine promises, but the time was always +postponed. The minister resident, Petkum, minister of the King of +Danem..., came to visit her (he had placed some obstacles in the way +of her demands, from what was told her). She showed him her papers, +informed him of the affair, told him that the King of Denmark had had +all the papers in his hands, and had graciously returned them. The +traitor made a semblance of understanding the affair, and promised +that he would himself help in securing the payment of her demands. +But this Judas always intended to betray her, asking her if she did +not like to make excursions, speaking to her of beautiful houses, +gardens and parks, and offering her his coach. But our lady was not +inclined to make excursions. + + [44] Charles the Second's Grandmother, Anna, the Queen of James I. + was sister of Leonora Christina's father, Christian IV. + + [45] Sir Henry Bennet, afterwards Lord Arlington. + +When he saw that he could not catch her in this way, he obtained an +order to arrest her. Our poor lady knew nothing of all this; she had +letter upon letter from her husband requesting her return. She took +leave of the King by letter, gave her papers to a lawyer[46] upon a +receipt, and set out from London. Having arrived at Dover, and +intending to embark the same evening for Flanders, a lieutenant of +the name of Braten[47] appeared, who came to show her an order from +the King of Anglet... which she read herself, the purport of which +was that the governor was to arrest such a lady, and to place her in +the castle till further orders. She asked the reason why. He said +that she had left without permission from the King. She told him +that she had taken leave of the King by letter, and had spoken the +day before her departure with the Prime Minister and Vice-Admiral +Aschew,[48] who had bade her farewell.[49] + + [46] A certain Mr. Mowbray. + + [47] Elsewhere she writes the name Broughton. + + [48] Sir George Askew. + + [49] Compare with this account the following extracts in the + _Calendar of State Papers_, domestic series, 1663, 1664, pp. 196, + 197, 200:-- + + 1663--_July 8._--Warrant to Captain Strode, governor of Dover + Castle, to detain Elionora Christiana, Countess of Uhlfeldt, with + her husband, if he be found with her, and their servants; to keep + her close prisoner, and secure all her papers, according to + instructions to be given by Thos. Parnell. + + _July 8._--Warrant to Thos. Parnell to observe the movements of the + said Countess of Uhlfeldt; to seize her should she attempt to embark + at Gravesend with her papers, and to detain her close prisoner. + + (_July_).--Instructions (by Sec. Bennet) to Thos. Parnell, to go to + Dover Castle to deliver instructions, and assist in their execution, + relative to a certain lady (the Countess of Uhlfeldt), who is not to + be permitted to depart, whether she have a pass or not; but to be + invited, or if needful compelled, to lodge at the castle, where the + best accommodation is to be provided for her. It is suspected that + her husband lies concealed in the kingdom, and will also try to pass + with his lady, but he also is to be detained, and her servants also. + + _July 11._--Thos. Parnell to Williamson. 'Found the Countess (of + Uhlfeldt) at Dover, and by the aid of the Lieut.-Governor sent the + searcher to her inn, to demand her pass. She said she had none, not + knowing it would be wanted. She submitted patiently to be taken to + the castle, and lodged there till a message was sent to town. The + Regent's gentleman, the bearer will give an account of all things.' + +When she came to the castle, the emissary of Petkum presented +himself, by name Peter Dreyer. Then the Lieutenant said, 'It is the +King of Danemarc who has ordered you to be arrested.' She asked the +cause. He replied, 'You undoubtedly set out incognito from +Danemarck.' She replied to this that the King of Danem... had given +her husband leave of absence for a term of eighteen months, which had +not yet expired. They ordered her boxes and those of the nobleman who +accompanied her to be opened, and they took all the papers. +Afterwards Dreyer spoke to her, and she asked him why she was +treated thus? He said he did not know the real cause, but that he +believed it was for the death of Fos, and that she was believed to +have been the cause of his death. They always mentioned this to her, +and no other cause. + +This double traitor Braten enacted the gallant, entertained her, made +her speak English (as she was bolder in speaking this language than +any other), for she had just begun to learn it well, having had a +language-master in London. One day he told that they intended +conducting her to Danemarck. She told him there was no need to send +her to Danem...; she could go there very well by herself. He said, +'You know yourself what suits you; if you will not go there +willingly, I will manage so that you may go to Flanders.' She did not +see that this was feasible, even if he was willing; she spoke with +him as to the means, saw that he did not satisfy her, and did not +trust his conversation; as he was cunning, he made her believe that +the King wished her to go secretly, and that he would take it all +upon himself; that the King had his reasons why he did not wish to +deliver her into the hands of the King of Danem.... + +This deception had such good colouring, for she had written several +times to the King during her arrest, and had begged him not to reward +her husband's services by a long arrest, only speaking of what she +had done at the Hague for him: she had taken her jewels and rings and +given them to him, when his host would not any longer supply him with +food.[50] Her claim was not small; it exceeded 20,000 patacoons.[51] + + [50] Several letters written by Leonora during her imprisonment at + Dover to Charles II., Sir Henry Bennet, &c., are printed in a + Danish periodical, _Danske Samlinger_, vol. vi. + + [51] Reckoning the patacoon to 4s. 8d., this claim would be nearly + 5,000_l._ + +Our lady allowed herself to be persuaded that the King of England +wished her to leave secretly. The traitor Braten told her that he +thought it best that she should disguise herself as a man. She said +that there was no necessity she should disguise herself; that no one +would pursue her; and even if it were so, that she would not go in +disguise with any man who was not her husband. After having been +detained seventeen days at Dover, she allowed herself to be conducted +by Braten, at night, towards the ramparts, descended by a high ladder +which broke during her descent, passed the fosse, which was not +difficult; on the other side there was a horse waiting for her, but +the nobleman, her attendant, and the nobleman's valet, went on foot; +they would not allow her valet to go with them; Braten made an excuse +of not being able to find him, and that time pressed; it was because +they were afraid that there would be an effort at defence. + +When she arrived where the traitors were, her guide gave a signal by +knocking two stones one against another. At this, four armed men +advanced; Petkum and Dreyer were a little way off; one held a pistol +to her breast, the other a sword, and said, 'I take you prisoner.' +The other two traitors said, 'We will conduct you to Ostend.' She had +always suspected treachery, and had spoken with her companion, in +case it happened, what it would be best to do, to give herself up or +to defend herself? She decided on allowing herself to be betrayed +without a struggle, since she had no reason to fear that her life +would be attempted because her son had avenged the wrong done to his +parents. Thus she made no resistance, begged them not to take so much +trouble, that she would go of herself; for two men held her with so +much force that they hurt her arm. They came with a bottle of dry +wine to quench her thirst, but she would not drink; she had a good +way to go on foot, for she would not again mount the horse. + +She showed some anger towards her guide, begged him in English to +give her respects to the governor,[52] but to convey to the traitor +Braten all the abuse that she could hurriedly call to mind in this +language, which was not quite familiar to her. She advanced towards +the boat; the vessel which was to convey her was in the roads, near +the Downs. She bade farewell to the nobleman. She had two bracelets +with diamonds which she wished to give him to convey to her children; +but as he feared they would be taken from him, she replaced them +without troubling him with them. She gave a pistol to her servant, +and a mariner then carried her to the boat; she was placed in an +English frigate that Petkum had hired, and Dreyer went with her.[53] +She was thirteen days on the road, and arrived near the Custom-house +pier on August 8, 1663, at nine o'clock in the morning. + + [52] Leonora did not know that the governor of the castle was in + the plot. + + [53] Additional light is thrown on the arrest of Leonora Christina + at Dover by the following extracts in the _Calendar of State + Papers_, p. 224, 225:-- + + _August 1_, _Whitehall_.--(Sec. Bennet) to Capt. Strode. The King is + satisfied with his account of the lady's escape and his own + behaviour; continue the same mask, of publishing His Majesty's + displeasure against all who contributed to it, especially his + lieutenant, and this more particularly in presence of M. Cassett, + lest he may suspect connivance. Cassett is to continue prisoner some + time. The Danish Resident is satisfied with the discretion used, but + says his point would not have been secured had the lady gone to sea + without interruption. + + _August 1_?--Account (proposed to be sent to the Gazette?) relative + to Count Uhlfeldt--recording his submission in 1661, the present + sentence against him, his further relapse into crime after a solemn + recantation, also signed by his wife who was his accomplice, though + her blood saved her from sharing his sentence, but who has now + betrayed herself into the hands of the King of Denmark. She was in + England when the conspiracy against the King of Denmark's life was + detected. The King of England had her movements watched, when she + suddenly went off without a pass, for want of which she was stayed + by the Governor of Dover Castle, who accommodated her in the castle. + The Resident of Denmark posted to Dover, and secured the master of a + ship then in the road, with whom he expected her to tamper, which + she did, escaped through the castle window, and entering a shallop + to go on board, was seized and conveyed to Denmark. With note (by + Lord Chancellor Clarendon) that he is not satisfied with this + account, but will prepare a better for another week. + +[The remaining part of the Autobiography treats of the commencement +of her imprisonment in the Blue Tower, which forms the subject of the +following Memoir.] + + + + + A RECORD + OF + THE SUFFERINGS OF THE IMPRISONED COUNTESS + LEONORA CHRISTINA. + + + + +PREFACE. + +_TO MY CHILDREN._ + + +Beloved children, I may indeed say with Job, 'Oh, that my grief were +thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! +For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea.' My sufferings +are indeed great and many; they are heavy and innumerable. My mind +has long been uncertain with regard to this history of my sufferings, +as I could not decide whether I ought not rather to endeavour to +forget them than to bear them in memory. At length, however, certain +reasons have induced me, not only to preserve my sorrow in my own +memory, but to compose a record of it, and to direct it to you, my +dear children.[54] + + [54] In the margin is added: 'As I now hope that what I write may + come into your hands, my captivity during the last three years also + having been much lightened.' + +The first of these reasons is the remembrance of the omnipotence of +God; for I cannot recall to mind my sorrow and grief, my fears and +distresses, without at the same time remembering the almighty power +of God, who in all my sufferings, my misery, my affliction, and +anxiety, has been my strength and help, my consolation and +assistance; for never has God laid a burden upon me, without at the +same time giving me strength in proportion, so that the burden, +though it has weighed me down and heavily oppressed me, has not +overwhelmed me and crushed me; for which I praise and extol through +eternity the almighty power of the incomprehensible God. + +I wish, therefore, not alone to record my troubles and to thank God +for His gracious support in all the misfortunes that have befallen +me, but also to declare to you, my dear children, God's goodness to +me, that you may not only admire with me the inconceivable help of +the Almighty, but that you may be able to join with me in rendering +Him thanks. For you may say with reason that God has dealt +wonderfully with me; that He was mighty in my weakness and has shown +His power in me, the frailest of His instruments. For how would it +have been possible for me to resist such great, sudden, and +unexpected misfortunes, had not His spirit imparted to me strength? +It was God who Himself entered with me into the Tower-gate; it was He +who extended to me His hand, and wrestled for me in that prison cell +for malefactors, which is called 'the Dark Church.' + +Since then, now for almost eleven years, He has always been within +the gate of my prison as well as of my heart; He has strengthened me, +comforted me, refreshed me, and often even cheered me. God has done +wonderful things in me, for it is more than inconceivable that I +should have been able to survive the great misfortunes that have +befallen me, and at the same time should have retained my reason, +sense, and understanding. It is a matter of the greatest wonder that +my limbs are not distorted and contracted from lying and sitting, +that my eyes are not dim and even wholly blind from weeping, and from +smoke and soot; that I am not short-breathed from candle smoke and +exhalation, from stench and close air. To God alone be the honour! + +The other cause that impels me is the consolation it will be to you, +my dear children, to be assured through this account of my sufferings +that I suffer innocently; that nothing whatever has been imputed to +me, nor have I been accused of anything for which you, my dear +children, should blush or cast down your eyes in shame. I suffer for +having loved a virtuous lord and husband, and for not having +abandoned him in misfortune. I was suspected of being privy to an act +of treason for which he has never been prosecuted according to law, +much less convicted of it, and the cause of the accusation was never +explained to me, humbly and sorrowfully as I desired that it should +be. Let it be your consolation, my dear children, that I have a +gracious God, a good conscience, and can boldly maintain that I have +never committed a dishonourable act. 'This is thankworthy,' says the +apostle St. Peter, 'if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, +suffering wrongfully.' I suffer, thank God, not for my misdeeds, for +that were no glory to me; yet I can boast that from my youth up I +have been a bearer of the cross of Christ, and had incredibly secret +sufferings, which were very heavy to endure at such an early age. + +Although this record of my sufferings contains and reveals nothing +more than what has occurred to me in this prison, where I have now +been for eleven years, I must not neglect in this preface briefly to +recall to your minds, my dear children, my earlier misfortunes, +thanking God at the same time that I have overcome them. + +Not only you, my dear children, know, but it is known throughout the +whole country, what great sorrow and misfortune Dina and Walter, with +their powerful adherents, inflicted on our house in the year 1651. + +Although I will not mention the many fatiguing and difficult +journeys, the perils by sea, and various dangers which I have endured +in foreign countries, I will only remind you of that journey which my +lord requested me to undertake to Denmark, contrary to my wish, in +the year 1657.[E01] It was winter time, and therefore difficult and +dangerous. I endured scorn and persecution; and had not God given me +courage and taken it from him who was to have arrested me, I should +not at that time have escaped the misery of captivity. + + [E01] This journey really took place in November and December, + 1656. + +You will remember, my dear children, what I suffered and endured +during fourteen months in custody at Malmoe; how the greatest favour +which His Majesty, King Charles X. of Sweden, at that time showed me, +was that he left it to my free will, either to remain at liberty, +taking care of our property, or to be in prison with my lord. I +acknowledged the favour, and chose the latter as my duty, esteeming +it a happiness to be allowed to console and to serve my anxious +husband, afflicted as he subsequently was by illness. I accepted it +also as a favour that I was allowed (when my lord could not do it +himself on account of illness) to appear before the tribunal in his +stead. What anxiety and sorrow I had for my sick lord, what trouble, +annoyance and distress, the trial caused me (it was carried on daily +for more than nine weeks), is known to the most high God, who was my +consolation, assistance, and strength, and who inspired me with +heart and courage to defend the honour of my lord in the presence of +his judges. + +You will probably not have forgotten how quickly one misfortune +followed another, how one sorrow was scarcely past when a greater one +followed in its track; we fared, according to the words of the poet: + + Incidit in Scyllam, qui vult vitare Charibdin. + +We escaped custody and then fell into strict captivity, without doubt +by the dispensation of God, who inspired my lord with the idea of +repairing, contrary to our agreement, to Copenhagen instead of +Luebeck. No pen can describe how sorrowful I was when, contrary to all +expectation, I met my lord in Copenhagen, when I had imagined him +escaped from the power and violence of all his enemies. I expected +just that which my lord did not believe would happen, but which +followed immediately--namely, our arrest. The second day after my +arrival (which they had waited for) we were apprehended and conveyed +to Bornholm, where we were in close imprisonment for seventeen +months. I have given a full description of what I suffered, and this +I imagine is in your keeping, my dear children; and from it you see +what I and my sick lord endured; how often I warded off greater +misery, because my lord could not always brook patiently the bad +treatment of the governor, Adolf Foss, who called himself Fux. + +It was hard and bitter indeed to be scorned and scoffed at by a +peasant's son; to have to suffer hunger at his will, and to be +threatened and harassed by him; but still harder and more bitter was +it to be sick beneath his power, and to hear from him the words that +even if death were on my lips no minister of God's word should come +to me. Oh monstrous tyranny! His malice was so thoroughly beyond all +bounds, that he could not endure that we should lighten each other's +cross; and for this reason he contrived, after the lapse of eleven +months, to have us separated from each other, and to place us each in +the hardest confinement. + +My husband (at that time already advancing in years) without a +servant, and I without an attendant, was only allowed a light so long +as the evening meal lasted. I cannot forbear bitterly recalling to +mind the six months of long and hard separation, and the sad farewell +which we took of each other; for to all human sight there was no +other prospect than that which the governor announced to us--namely, +that we were seeing and speaking with each other for the last time in +this world. God knows best how hard our sufferings were, for it was +He who consoled us, who gave us hope contrary to all expectation, and +who inspired me with courage when the governor visited me and +endeavoured to fill me with despair. + +God confirmed my hope. Money and property loosened the bonds of our +captivity, and we were allowed to see and speak with each other once +more. Sad as my lord had been when we were separated at Borringholm, +he was joyous when two years afterwards he persuaded me to undertake +the English journey, not imagining that this was to part us for ever. +My lord, who entertained too good an opinion of the King of England, +thought that now that he had come to the throne he would remember not +only his great written and spoken promises, but that he would also +bear in mind how, at the time of his need and exile, I had drawn the +rings from my fingers and had pawned them for meals for him and his +servants. But how unwillingly I undertook this journey is well known +to some of you, my dear children, as I was well aware that from an +ungrateful person there is nothing else to be expected but +ingratitude. I had the example of others by whom to take warning; but +it was thus destined to be. + +Bitter bread was in store for me, and bitter gall was to fill my cup +in the Blue Tower of Copenhagen Castle; thither was I to go to eat it +and drink it out. It is not unknown to you how falsely the King of +England acted towards me; how well he received me on my arrival; how +he welcomed me with a Judas kiss and addressed me as his cousin; and +how both he himself and all his high ministers assured me of the +royal favour, and promised me payment of the money advanced. You know +how cunningly (at the desire of His Majesty the King of Denmark) he +had me arrested at Dover, and subsequently sent me word through the +traitor Lieutenant Braten that he would let me escape secretly, at +the same time delivering me into the hand of the Danish Minister +Simon Petcon, who had me arrested by eight armed men; keeping aloof, +however, himself, and never venturing to come near me. They held +sword and pistol to my breast, and two of them took me between them +and placed me in a boat, which conveyed me to a vessel held in +readiness by the said Minister; a man of the name of Peter Dreyer +having received orders to conduct me to Copenhagen. + +From this period this record of my suffering begins. It contains all +that happened to me within the gates of the Blue Tower. Reflect, my +dear children, on these hard sufferings; but remember also God's +great goodness towards me. Verily, He has freed me from six +calamities; rest assured that He will not leave me to perish in the +seventh. No! for the honour of His name, He will mightily deliver me. + +The narrative of my sufferings is sad to hear, and must move the +hardest heart to pity; yet in reading it, do not be more saddened +than can be counterbalanced by joy. Consider my innocence, courage, +and patience; rejoice over these. + +I have passed over various petty vexations and many daily annoyances +for the sake of brevity, although the smallest of them rankled sore +in the wounds of my bitter sorrow. + +I acknowledge my weaknesses, and do not shrink from confessing them +to you. I am a human being, and am full of human imperfections. Our +first emotions are not under our own power; we are often overhasty +before we are able to reflect. God knows that I have often made +myself deaf and blind, in order not to be carried away by passion. I +am ashamed to mention and to enumerate the unchaste language, bad +words and coarse invectives, of the prison governor Johan Jaeger, of +Kresten Maansen, the tower warder, of Karen the daughter of Ole, and +of Catharina Wolff; they would offend courtly ears. Yet I can assure +you they surpass everything that can be imagined as indecent, ugly, +churlish and unbecoming; for coarse words and foul language were the +tokens of their friendliness and clemency, and disgusting oaths were +the ornament and embellishment of their untruthfulness; so that their +intercourse was most disagreeable to me. I was never more glad than +when the gates were closed between me and those who were to guard me. +Then I had only the woman alone, whom I brought to silence, +sometimes amicably, and at others angrily and with threats. + +I have also had, and have still, pleasant intercourse with persons +whose services and courtesies I shall remember as long as I live. +You, my dear children, will also repay them to every one as far as +you are able. + +You will find also in this record of my sufferings two of the chief +foes of our house, namely Jorgen Walter and Jorgen Skroder,[E02] with +regard to whom God has revenged me, and decreed that they should have +need of me, and that I should comfort them. Walter gives me cause to +state more respecting him than was my intention. + + [E02] This man was a German by birth, but settled in Denmark, where + he was nobilitated under the name of Loevenklau. His bad conduct + obliged him to leave the country, and he went to Sweden, where he + had lived before he came to Denmark, and where Ulfeldt, then in + Sweden, procured him an appointment as a colonel in the army. This + kindness he repaid by informing the Danish Government against + Ulfeldt in 1654, in consequence of which he was not only allowed to + return to Denmark, but even obtained a lucrative office in Norway. + Here he quarrelled with the viceroy, Niels Trolle, and tried to + serve him as he had served Ulfeldt; but he failed to establish his + accusations against Trolle, and was condemned into the forfeiture + of his office and of his patent of nobility. He then left Denmark + at least for a season, and how he came to apply to Leonora + Christina for assistance is not known, as she has omitted to + mention it in the Memoir itself, though she evidently intended to + do so. + +Of the psalms and hymns which I have composed and translated, I only +insert a few, in order that you, my dear children, may see and know +how I have ever clung steadfastly to God, who has been and still is +my wall of defence against every attack, and my refuge in every kind +of misfortune and adversity. Do not regard the rhymes; they are not +according to the rules which poets make; but regard the matter, the +sense, and the purport. Nor have I left my other small pastime +unmentioned, for you may perceive the repose of my mind from the fact +that I have had no unemployed hours; even a rat, a creature so +abominable to others, affording me amusement. + +I have recorded two observations, which though they treat of small +and contemptible animals, yet are remarkable, and I doubt whether any +naturalist hitherto has observed them. For I do not think it has been +recorded hitherto that there exists a kind of caterpillar which +brings forth small living grubs like itself, nor either that a flea +gives birth to a fully-formed flea, and not that a nit comes from a +nit.[55] + + [55] A pen has afterwards been drawn through this paragraph, but + the observations occur in the manuscript. + +In conclusion, I beg you, my dear children, not to let it astonish +you that I would not avail myself of the opportunity by which I might +have gained my freedom. If you rightly consider it, it would not have +been expedient either for you or me. I confess that if my deceased +lord had been alive, I should not only have accepted the proposal, +but I should have done my utmost to have escaped from my captivity, +in order to go in quest of him, and to wait on him and serve him till +his last breath; my duty would have required this. But since he was +at that time in rest and peace with God, and needed no longer any +human service, I have with reason felt that self-obtained liberty +would have been in every respect more prejudicial than useful to us, +and that this would not be the way to gain the possessions taken from +us, for which reason I refused it and endeavoured instead to seek +repose of mind and to bear patiently the cross laid upon me. If God +so ordains it, and it is His divine will that through royal mercy I +should obtain my freedom, I will joyfully exert myself for you, my +beloved children, to the utmost of my ability, and prove in deed that +I have never deviated from my duty, and that I am no less a good and +right-minded mother than I have been a faithful wife. Meanwhile let +God's will be your will. He will turn and govern all things so that +they may benefit you and me in soul and body, to whose safe keeping I +confidently recommend you all, praying that He will be your father +and mother, your counsellor and guide. Pray in return for me, that +God may direct me by His good spirit, and grant me patience in the +future as heretofore. This is all that is requested from you by, + +My dearly beloved children, your affectionate mother, + + LEONORA CHRISTINA, V.E.G. + +Written in the Blue Tower, anno 1674, the 18th of July, the eleventh +year of imprisonment, my birthday, and fifty-third year of my +age.[56] + + [56] The conclusion of the Preface, from the words 'Meanwhile let + the will of God,' etc. has afterwards been erased, when the + manuscript was continued beyond the date assigned in the Preface; + and the following paragraphs, 'I bear also in mind,' etc. were + intended to form a new conclusion, but do not seem to have been + properly worked in. + + * * * * * + +I bear also in mind, with the greatest humility and gratitude, our +gracious hereditary King's favour towards me, immediately after His +Majesty came to the throne. I remember also the sympathy of our most +gracious Queen Regent, and of Her Highness the Electoral Princess of +Saxony in my unfortunate fate; also the special favour of Her Majesty +the Queen. + +I have also not forgotten to bear duly in mind the favour shown +towards me by Her Majesty the Queen Mother, the virtuous Landgravine +of Hesse. + +I have also recorded various things which occurred in my imprisonment +during the period from the year 1663 to the year 1674, intending with +these to conclude the record of my sufferings; as I experienced a +pleasure, and often consoled myself, in feeling that it is better to +remain innocently in captivity than to be free and to have deserved +imprisonment. I remember having read that captivity has served many +as a protection from greater dangers, and has guarded them from +falling into the hands of their enemies. There have been some who +have escaped from their prison and immediately after have been +murdered. There have also been some who have had a competence in +prison and afterwards have suffered want in freedom. Innocent +imprisonment does not diminish honour, but rather increases it. Many +a one has acquired great learning in captivity, and has gained a +knowledge of things which he could not master before. Yes, +imprisonment leads to heaven. I have often said to myself: 'Comfort +thyself, thou captive one, thou art happy.' + +Since the year 1674 constituted only half the period of my captivity, +I have added in this record of my sufferings some facts that occurred +since that time within my prison-gates. I am on the eve of my +liberty, May 19, 1685. To God alone be the honour, who has moved His +Royal Majesty to justice! I will here mention those of whose death I +have been informed during my captivity. + +1. The Prime Minister of His Majesty, Count Christian of +Rantzow[E03], died in the month of September, 1663. He did not live +to drink the health of our Princess and of the Electoral Prince of +Saxony at the feast of their betrothal. Still less did he live long +enough to see a wooden effigy quartered in mockery of my lord, +according to his suggestion. Death was very bitter to him. + + [E03] This Count Rantzow was the same who had negotiated the + compromise with Ulfeldt and Leonora at Bornholm in 1661, and in + fact brought it about. It was currently reported in Copenhagen at + the time that he had received a large sum of money from Ulfeldt on + that occasion, and he afterwards showed his friendly disposition + towards him by promising him to intercede with the King for + Christian Ulfeldt when the latter had killed Fuchs. Leonora, + however, speaks of him as an enemy probably because he presided in + the High Court of Appeal which condemned Ulfeldt as a traitor. But + the facts of the case left him scarcely any other alternative than + that of judging as he did, nor would it have been surprising if + Ulfeldt's last conduct had altered Rantzow's feelings towards him. + Rantzow also presided in the commission which examined Leonora in + the Blue Tower. + +2. The Mistress of the Robes of the Queen Dowager, who was so severe +on me in my greatest sorrow, had a long and painful illness; she said +with impatience that the pain of hell was not greater than her pain. +Her screams could often be heard in the tower. She was carried on a +bed into the town, and died there. + +3. The death of Able Catherine was very painful. As she had formerly +sought for letters on the private parts of my person, so she was +afterwards herself handled by the surgeons, as she had boils all over +her. She was cut and burnt. She endured all this pain, hoping to +live, but neither the art of the surgeons nor the visits of the Queen +could save her from death.[E04] + + [E04] Abel Catharina is mentioned in the Memoir itself as the + person who searched Leonora when she first entered her prison, and + did so in a very unbecoming manner; she acted, however, under the + orders of the Mistress of the Robes, M. v. Haxthausen. Abel + Catharina is otherwise chiefly known as the founder of a charity + for old women in Copenhagen, which still bears her name. + +4. Secretary Erich Krag, who had displayed the malice of his heart in +my imprisonment in the 'Dark Church,' was snatched away by death in a +place of impurity. He was lively and well, had invited guests to +dinner, sat and wrote at his table, went out to obey the necessities +of nature, and was found dead by his attendants when they had waited +some time for him. + +5. Major-General Fridrich von Anfeldte,[E05] who had more than once +manifested his delight at my misfortunes, died as he had lived. He +was a godless man and a blasphemer. He fell a victim to jealousy, and +went mad, because another obtained an honorary title which he had +coveted; this was indeed little enough to deprive him of sense and +reason. He would hear nothing of God, nor would he be reconciled with +God. Both Queens, the Queen Dowager and the Queen Regent, persuaded +him at length to be so. When he had received the sacrament, he said, +'Now your Majesties have had your desire; but what is the good of +it?' He continued to curse and to swear, and so died. + + [E05] This name is mis-spelt for Ahlefeldt. This officer received + Leonora on her arrival at Copenhagen, as she relates herself. He + had distinguished himself in the siege of Copenhagen in 1659, and + died as a Lieutenant-General. + +6. General Schak died after a long illness. + +7. Chancellor Peter Retz likewise. + +8. His Royal Majesty King Friedrich III.'s death accelerated the +death of the Stadtholder Cristoffer Gabel. He felt that the hate of +the Queen Dowager could injure him greatly, and he desired death. God +heard him.[E06] + + [E06] Christoffer Gabel is mentioned several times in the + Autobiography. He was an influential man at the time, in great + favour at court, and he had a great part in effecting the release + of Ulfeldt from the prison at Bornholm, for which he, according to + Leonora's statement, received 5,000 dollars from Ulfeldt. Both he + and Reedtz were members of the court which condemned Ulfeldt. + +9. It has pleased God that I should be myself a witness of Walter's +miserable death; indeed, that I should compassionate him. When I +heard him scream, former times came to my mind, and I often thought +how a man can allow himself to be led to do evil to those from whom +he had only received kindness and honour. + +10. Magister Buch, my father-confessor, who acted so ill to me, +suffered much pain on his bed of languishing. He was three days +speechless before he died. + +11. When the rogue and blasphemer, Christian, who caused me so much +annoyance in my captivity, had regained his liberty and returned to +his landlord, Maans Armfeld in Jutland, he came into dispute with the +parish priest, who wanted him to do public penance for having seduced +a woman. The rogue set fire to the parsonage; the minister's wife was +burnt to death in trying to save some of her property, and all the +minister's possessions were left in ashes. The minister would not +bring the rogue to justice. He commended him to the true Judge, and +left vengeance to Him. The incendiary's conscience began to be +awakened; for a long time he lived in dread, and was frightened if he +saw anyone coming at all quickly, and he would call out and say +tremblingly, 'Now they are going to take me!' and would run hither +and thither, not knowing where to go. At length he was found dead on +the field, having shot himself; for a long rifle was found lying +between his legs, the barrel towards his breast, and a long ramrod in +his hand, with which he had touched the trigger. He did not, +therefore, die in as Christian a manner as if he had perished under +the hand of the executioner, of which he had so lightly said that he +should not care for it at all, so long as he could bring someone else +into trouble. + + + + +A RECORD OF SUFFERING; + +_OR, A REMINISCENCE OF ALL THAT OCCURRED TO ME, LEONORA CHRISTINA, IN +THE BLUE TOWER, FROM AUGUST 8 OF THE YEAR 1663, TO JUNE 11[57] OF THE +YEAR 1674._ + + [57] Afterwards altered to anno 1685, the 19th of May. + + +The past is rarely remembered without sorrow, for it has been either +better or worse than the present. If it was more joyous, more happy, +and full of honour, its remembrance justly saddens us, and in +proportion as the present is full of care, unhappiness, and +dishonour. If past times were sadder, more miserable, and more +deplorable than the present, the remembrance of them is equally +sorrowful, for we recover and feel once more all the past misfortunes +and adversities which have been endured in the course of time. But +all things have, as it were, two handles by which they may be raised, +as Epictetus says. The one handle, he says, is bearable; the other is +not bearable; and it rests with our will which handle we grasp, the +bearable or the unbearable one. If we grasp the bearable one, we can +recall all that is transitory, however sad and painful it may have +been, rather with joy than with sorrow.[E07] So I will seize the +bearable handle, and in the name of Jesus I will pass rapidly through +my memory, and recount all the wretchedness and misery, all the +grief, scorn and suffering, contempt and adversity, which have +befallen me in this place, and which I have overcome with God's help. +I will, moreover, in no wise grieve over it; but, on the contrary, I +will remind myself at every step of the goodness of God, and will +thank the Most High who has been constantly near me with His mighty +help and consolation; who has ruled my heart, that it should not +depart from God; who has preserved my mind and my reason, that it has +not become obscured; who has maintained my limbs in their power and +natural strength, and even has given, and still gives me, repose of +mind and joyfulness. To Thee, incomprehensible God, be honour and +praise for ever! + + [E07] The passage alluded to occurs in Epictet's Encheiridion, + chap. 43 (in some editions chap. 65), where he says: 'Every matter + has two handles, one by which it may be carried (or endured), the + other by which it cannot be carried (or endured). If thy brother + has done thee injury, do not lay hold of this matter from the fact + that he has done thee an injury, for this is the handle by which it + cannot be carried (or endured); but rather from this side: that he + is thy brother, educated with thee; and thou wilt lay hold of the + matter from that side from which it may be managed.' It is easily + seen how Leonora makes use of the double meaning of the Greek word + {phoretos}, which is equally well used of an object which can be + carried in the literal physical sense, and of a matter which can be + endured or borne with. + + {Illustration: + DAS ALTE SCHLOSS IN COPENHAGEN MIT DEM BLAUEN THURM. + THE OLD CASTLE OF COPENHAGEN. + SHOWING THE BLUE TOWER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK-GROUND.} + +And now to proceed with my design. I consider it necessary to begin +the record of my sufferings with the commencement of the day which +concluded with the fatal evening of my captivity, and to mention +somewhat of that which befell me on the vessel. After the captain had +cast anchor a little outside the pier of St. Anna, on August 8, 1663, +at nine o'clock in the forenoon, he was sent on shore with letters by +Peter Dreyer, who was commissioned by Petcon, at that time the +minister resident in England, of his Majesty the King of Denmark, to +take charge of me. I dressed myself and sat down in one of the cabins +of the sailors on the deck, with a firm resolution to meet +courageously all that lay before me;[58] yet I in no wise expected +what happened; for although I had a good conscience, and had nothing +evil with which to reproach myself, I had at various times asked the +before-mentioned Peter Dreyer the reason why I had been thus brought +away. To this question he always gave me the reply which the traitor +Braten had given me at Dover (when I asked of him the cause of my +arrest); namely, that I was, perhaps, charged with the death of +Major-General Fux, and, that it was thought I had persuaded my son +to slay him; saying, that he knew of no other cause. At twelve +o'clock Nils Rosenkrantz, at that time Lieutenant-Colonel, and Major +Steen Anderson Bilde, came on board with some musketeers. +Lieutenant-Colonel Rosenkrantz did not salute me. The Major walked up +and down and presently passed near me. I asked him, en passant, what +was the matter? He gave me no other answer than, 'Bonne mine, mauvais +jeu;' which left me just as wise as before. About one o'clock Captain +Bendix Alfeldt came on board with several more musketeers, and after +he had talked some time with Peter Dreyer, Dreyer came to me and +said, 'It is ordered that you should go into the cabin.' I said, +'Willingly;' and immediately went. Soon after, Captain Alfeldt came +in to me, and said he had orders to take from me my letters, my gold, +silver, money, and my knife. I replied, 'Willingly.' I took off my +bracelets and rings, gathered in a heap all my gold, silver, and +money, and gave it to him. I had nothing written with me, except +copies of the letters which I had addressed to the King of England, +notes respecting one thing or another relating to my journey, and +some English vocabularies; these I also gave up to him. All these +Alfeldt placed in a silver utensil which I had with me, sealed it in +my presence, and left the vessel with it. An hour, or somewhat more, +afterwards, Major-General Friderich von Anfeldt,[59] Commandant in +Copenhagen, arrived, and desired that I should come to him outside +the cabin. I obeyed immediately. He greeted me, gave me his hand, and +paid me many compliments, always speaking French. He was pleased to +see me in health, he feared the sea might have inconvenienced me; I +must not allow the time to seem long to me; I should soon be +accommodated otherwise. I caught at the last word and said, smiling, +'Monsieur says otherwise, but not better.' 'Yes, indeed,' he replied, +'you shall be well accommodated; the noblest in the kingdom will +visit you.' I understood well what he meant by this, but I answered: +'I am accustomed to the society of great people, therefore that will +not appear strange to me.' Upon this, he called a servant and asked +for the before-mentioned silver utensil (which Captain Alfeldt had +taken away with him). The paper which Captain Alfeldt had sealed over +it was torn off. The Major-General turned to me, and said: 'Here you +have your jewels, your gold, silver, and money back; Captain Alfeldt +made a mistake--they were only letters which he had orders to demand, +and these only have been taken out, and have been left at the Castle; +you may dispose of the rest as you wish yourself.' 'In God's name,' I +answered, 'am I, therefore, at liberty to put on again my bracelets +and rings?' 'O Jesus,' he said, 'they are yours; you may dispose of +them as you choose.' I put on the bracelets and rings, and gave the +rest to my attendant. The Major-General's delight not only appeared +in his countenance, but he was full of laughter, and was overflowing +with merriment. Among other things he said that he had had the +honour of making the acquaintance of two of my sons; that he had been +in their society in Holland; and he praised them warmly. I +complimented him in return, as was proper, and I behaved as if I +believed that he was speaking in good faith. He indulged in various +jokes, especially with my attendant; said that she was pretty, and +that he wondered I could venture to keep such a pretty maiden; when +Holstein ladies kept pretty maids it was only to put their husbands +in good humour; he held a long discourse on how they managed, with +other unmannerly jests which he carried on with my attendant. I +answered nothing else than that he probably spoke from experience. He +said all kinds of foolish jokes to my servant, but she did not answer +a word. Afterwards the prison governor told me that he (von Anfeldt) +had made the King believe, at first, that my attendant was my +daughter, and that the King had been long of that opinion. At length, +after a long conversation, the Major-General took his leave, saying +that I must not allow the time to seem long to me; that he should +soon come again; and he asked what he should say to his Majesty the +King. I begged him to recommend me in the best manner to their +Majesties' favour, adding that I knew not well what to say or for +what to make request, as I was ignorant of what intentions they had +with regard to me. Towards three o'clock Major-General von Anfeldt +returned; he was full of laughter and merriment, and begged me to +excuse him for being so long away. He hoped the time had not appeared +long to me; I should soon get to rest; he knew well that the people +(with this he pointed to the musketeers, who stood all along both +sides of the vessel) were noisy, and inconvenienced me, and that +rest would be best for me. I answered that the people did not +inconvenience me at all; still I should be glad of rest, since I had +been at sea for thirteen days, with rather bad weather. He went on +with his compliments, and said that when I came into the town his +wife would do herself the honour of waiting on me, and, 'as it seems +to me,' he continued, 'that you have not much luggage with you, and +perhaps, not the clothes necessary, she will procure for you whatever +you require.' I thanked him, and said that the honour was on my side +if his wife visited me, but that my luggage was as much as I required +at the time; that if I needed anything in the future, I hoped she +might be spared this trouble; that I had not the honour of knowing +her, but I begged him, nevertheless, to offer her my respects. He +found various subjects of discourse upon Birgitte Speckhans[E08] and +other trifles, to pass away the time; but it is not worth the trouble +to recall them to mind, and still less to write them down. At last a +message came that he was to conduct me from the vessel, when he said +to me with politeness: 'Will it please you, madame, to get into this +boat, which is lying off the side of the ship?' I answered, 'I am +pleased to do anything that I must do, and that is commanded by His +Majesty the King.' The Major-General went first into the boat, and +held out his hand to me; the Lieutenant-Colonel Rosenkrantz, Captain +Alfeldt, Peter Dreyer, and my attendant, went with me in the boat. +And as a great crowd of people had assembled to look at the +spectacle, and many had even gone in boats in order to see me as they +wished, he never took his eyes off me; and when he saw that I turned +sometimes to one side and sometimes to another, in order to give them +this pleasure, he said, 'The people are delighted.' I saw no one +truly who gave any signs of joy, except himself, so I answered, 'He +who rejoices to-day, cannot know that he may not weep to-morrow; yet +I see, that, whether for joy or sorrow, the people are assembling in +crowds, and many are gazing with amazement at one human being.' When +we were advanced a little further, I saw the well-known wicked +Birgitte Ulfeldt,[E09] who exhibited great delight. She was seated in +an open carriage; behind her was a young man, looking like a student. +She was driving along the shore. When I turned to that side, she was +in the carriage and laughed with all her might, so that it sounded +loudly. I looked at her for some time, and felt ashamed of her +impudence, and at the disgrace which she was bringing on herself; but +for the rest, this conduct did not trouble me more than the barking +of the dogs, for I esteemed both equally.[60] The Major-General went +on talking incessantly, and never turned his eyes from me; for he +feared (as he afterwards said) that I should throw myself into the +water. (He judged me by himself; he could not endure the change of +fortune, as his end testified, for it was only on account of an +honorary title which another received in his stead that he lost his +mind. He did not know that I was governed by another spirit than he, +which gave me strength and courage, whilst the spirit he served led +him into despair.[61]) When the boat arrived at the small pier near +the office of the Exchequer, Captain Alfeldt landed and gave me his +hand, and conducted me up towards the castle bridge. Regiments of +horse and foot were drawn up in the open place outside the castle; +musketeers were standing on both sides as I walked forwards. On the +castle bridge stood Jockum Walburger, the prison governor, who went +before me; and as the people had placed themselves in a row on either +side up to the King's Stairs, the prison governor made as if he were +going thither; but he turned round abruptly, and said to Alfeldt, +'This way,' and went to the gate of the Blue Tower; stood there for +some time and fumbled with the key; acted as if he could not unlock +it, in order that I might remain as long as possible a spectacle to +the people. And as my heart was turned to God, and I had placed all +my confidence in the Most High, I raised my eyes to heaven, sought +strength, power, and safety from thence, and it was graciously +vouchsafed me. (One circumstance I will not leave unnoticed--namely, +that as I raised my eyes to heaven, a screaming raven flew over the +Tower, followed by a flock of doves, which were flying in the same +direction.) At length, after a long delay, the prison governor opened +the Tower gate, and I was conducted into the Tower by the +before-mentioned Captain Alfeldt. My attendant, who was preparing to +follow me, was called back by Major-General von Anfeldt, and told to +remain behind. The prison governor went up the stairs, and showed +Alfeldt the way to a prison for malefactors, to which the name of the +'Dark Church' has been given. There Alfeldt quitted me with a sigh +and a slight reverence. I can truly say of him that his face +expressed pity, and that he obeyed the order unwillingly. The clock +was striking half-past five when Jockum closed the door of my prison. +I found before me a small low table, on which stood a brass +candlestick with a lighted candle, a high chair, two small chairs, a +fir-wood bedstead without hangings and with old and hard bedding, a +night-stool and chamber utensil. At every side to which I turned I +was met with stench; and no wonder, for three peasants who had been +imprisoned here, and had been removed on that very day, and placed +elsewhere, had used the walls for their requirements. Soon after the +door had been closed, it was opened again, and there entered Count +Christian Rantzow, Prime Minister, Peter Zetz, Chancellor, +Christoffer von Gabel, at that time Chancellor of the Exchequer, and +Erich Krag, at that time Secretary, all of whom gave me their hands +with civility. The Chancellor spoke and said: 'His Royal Majesty, my +gracious master and hereditary king, sends you word, madame, that His +Majesty has great cause for what he is doing against you, as you will +learn.' I replied: 'It is much to be regretted by me, if cause should +be found against me; I will, however, hope that it may not be of such +a kind that His Majesty's displeasure may be lasting. When I know the +cause I can defend myself.' Count Rantzow answered: 'You will obtain +permission to defend yourself.' He whispered something to the +Chancellor, upon which the Chancellor put a few questions: first, +Whether on my last journey I had been in France with my husband? To +which I answered in the affirmative. Then, What my husband was doing +there? To which I replied, that he was consulting physicians about +his health, whether it would be serviceable to him to use the warm +baths in the country, which no one would advise him to do; he had +even been dissuaded from trying them by a doctor in Holland of the +name of Borro,[E10] when he had asked his opinion. Thirdly, What I +had purposed doing in England? To this I replied that my intention +had been to demand payment of a sum of money which the King of +England owed us, and which we had lent him in the time of his +misfortune. Fourthly, Who had been in England with me? I mentioned +those who were with me in England--namely, a nobleman named Cassetta, +my attendant who had come hither with me, a lacquey named Frantz, who +had remained in England, and the nobleman's servant. Fifthly, Who +visited my husband in Bruges? I could not exactly answer this, as my +lord received his visits in a private chamber, where I was not +admitted. Count Rantzow said, 'You know, I suppose, who came to him +oftenest?' I answered, that the most frequent visitors among those I +knew were two brothers named Aranda,[E11] the before-mentioned +Cassetta, and a nobleman named Ognati. Sixthly the Chancellor asked, +With whom I had corresponded here in the country? To which I +answered, that I had written to H. Hendrick Bielcke, to Olluff +Brockenhuuss, Lady Elsse Passberg, and Lady Marie Ulfeldt;[E12] I did +not remember any more. Count Rantzow enquired if I had more letters +than those which I had given up? To which I answered in the negative, +that I had no more. He asked further, Whether I had more jewels with +me than those he had seen? I answered that I had two strings of +small round pearls on my hat, and a ring with a diamond, which I had +given a lieutenant named Braten in Dover (it was he who afterwards +betrayed me). Count Rantzow asked, How much the pearls might have +been worth? This I could not exactly say. He said, that he supposed I +knew their approximate value. I said they might be worth 200 +rix-dollars, or somewhat more. Upon this they were all silent for a +little. I complained of the severity of my imprisonment, and that I +was so badly treated. Count Rantzow answered, 'Yes Madame, His Royal +Majesty has good cause for it; if you will confess the truth, and +that quickly, you may perhaps look for mercy. Had Marechal de +Birron[E13] confessed the matter respecting which he was interrogated +by order of the King, when the royal mercy was offered to him if he +would speak the truth, it would not have fared with him as it did. I +have heard as a truth that the King of France would have pardoned him +his crime, had he confessed at once; therefore, bethink yourself, +madame!' I answered, 'Whatever I am asked by order of His Majesty, +and whatever I am cognizant of, I will gladly say in all submission.' +Upon this Count Rantzow offered me his hand, and I reminded him in a +few words of the severity of my imprisonment. Count Rantzow promised +to mention this to the King. Then the others shook hands with me and +went away. My prison was closed for a little. I therefore profited by +the opportunity, and concealed here and there in holes, and among the +rubbish, a gold watch, a silver pen which gave forth ink and was +filled with ink, and a scissor-sheath worked with silver and +tortoiseshell. This was scarcely done when the door was again +opened, and there entered the Queen's Mistress of the Robes, her +woman of the bed-chamber, and the wife of the commissariat clerk, +Abel Catharina. I knew the last. She and the Queen's woman of the +bed-chamber carried clothes over their arm; these consisted of a long +dressing-gown stitched with silk, made of flesh-coloured taffeta and +lined with white silk, a linen under-petticoat, printed over with a +black lace pattern, a pair of silk stockings, a pair of slippers, a +shift, an apron, a night-dress, and two combs. They made me no +greeting. Abel Cath. spoke for them, and said: 'It is the command of +Her Majesty the Queen that we should take away your clothes, and that +you should have these in their place.' I answered, 'In God's name!' +Then they removed the pad from my head, in which I had sown up rings +and many loose diamonds. Abel Cath. felt all over my head to see if +anything was concealed in my hair; then she said to the others, +'There is nothing there; we do not require the combs.' Abel Cath. +demanded the bracelets and rings, which were a second time taken from +me. I took them off and gave them to them, except one small ring +which I wore on the last joint of my little finger, and which could +not be worth more than a rix-dollar, this I begged to be allowed to +keep. 'No,' said the Mistress of the Robes, 'You are to retain +nothing.' Abel Cath. said, 'We are strictly forbidden to leave you +the smallest thing; I have been obliged to swear upon my soul to the +Queen that I would search you thoroughly, and not leave you the +smallest thing; but you shall not lose it; they will all be sealed up +and kept for you, for this I swear the Queen has said.' 'Good, good, +in God's name!' I answered. She drew off all my clothes. In my +under-petticoat I had concealed some ducats under the broad gold +lace; there was a small diamond ornament in my silk camisole, in the +foot of my stockings there were some Jacobuses', and there were +sapphires in my shoes. When she attempted to remove my chemise, I +begged to be allowed to retain it. No; she swore upon her soul that +she dared not. She stripped me entirely, and the Mistress of the +Robes gave Abel Cath. a nod, which she did not at once understand; so +the Mistress of the Robes said: 'Do you not remember your orders?' +Upon this, Abel Cath. searched my person still more closely, and said +to the lady in waiting: 'No, by God! there is nothing there.' I said: +'You act towards me in an unchristian and unbecoming manner.' Abel +Cath. answered: 'We are only servants; we must do as we are ordered; +we are to search for letters and for nothing else; all the rest will +be given back to you; it will be well taken care of.' After they had +thus despoiled me, and had put on me the clothes they had brought, +the servant of the Mistress of the Robes came in and searched +everywhere with Abel Cath., and found every thing that I had +concealed. God blinded their eyes so that they did not observe my +diamond earrings, nor some ducats which had been sown into leather +round one of my knees; I also saved a diamond worth 200 rix-dollars; +while on board the ship I had bitten it out of the gold, and thrown +the gold in the sea; the stone I had then in my mouth.[62] + + [58] In the margin is added: 'I had a ring on with a table-diamond + worth 200 rix-dollars. I bit this out, threw the gold in the sea, + and kept the stone in my mouth. It could not be observed by my + speech that there was anything in my mouth.' + + [59] That is the Aulefeldt mentioned in the Preface under the name + of Anfeldt. + + [E08] Birgitte Speckhans was the wife of Frants v. Speckhans, + master of ceremonies, afterwards Privy Councillor, &c. She had + formerly been in the service of Leonora Christina, who was then at + the height of her position, and ever afterwards proved herself a + friend of her and Ulfeldt. It was in her house that they stayed + after escaping from Malmoe, and she kept some of their movable + goods for them during their imprisonment at Hammershuus. + + [E09] Birgitte Ulfeldt was a younger sister of Corfitz, who, in a + letter to Sperling, declares her to be his and Leonora's bitterest + enemy. What is known of her life is certainly not to her advantage. + + [60] In the margin is added: 'The sorrow manifested by many would + far rather have depressed me; for several people, both men and + women, shed tears, even those whom I did not know.' + + [61] This paragraph was afterwards struck out, the contents being + transferred to the Preface. + + [E10] This is the famous Jos. Borro or Burrhus, physician and + alchymist. He is often mentioned in books of the seventeenth + century, on account of his wonderful cures and alleged knowledge of + the art of making gold. In 1667 he came to Denmark, where King + Fredrik III. spent considerable sums on the establishment of large + laboratories for him, in a building which is still known as 'The + Gold-house.' + + [E11] D'Aranda was one of the most influential families in Bruges. + One of them, by name Bernard, was some time in the Danish army, + afterwards secretary to Corfitz Ulfeldt, and employed by him in + diplomatic missions. He died in 1658, but when Ulfeldt came to + Bruges in 1662 he lived for some time with one of Bernard's + brothers. + + [E12] H. Bielke was Admiral of the realm; his wife was an Ulfeldt, + and it was he who procured Corfitz Ulfeldt his leave of absence in + 1662, of which he made such regretable use. He, too, was one of the + judges that convicted him. Oluf Brokkenhuus was Corfitz Ulfeldt's + brother-in-law; Elizabeth Parsbjerg was the widow of his elder + brother Lauridts Ulfeldt. Marie Ulfeldt was sister of Corfitz. + + [E13] Charles de Goutant, Duc de Biron, a celebrated French + General, some time favourite of Henry IV. King of France, was found + guilty of conspiring against his master with the courts of Spain + and Savoy. Henry IV. forgave him, but he recommenced his intrigues. + It is supposed that the King would have forgiven him a second time + if he had confessed his crime; but he refused to do so, and was + beheaded in 1602. + + [62] This passage was afterwards altered thus: 'God blinded their + eyes so that they did not perceive my earrings, in each of which + there is a large rose diamond, and from which I have now removed + the stones. The gold, which is in form of a serpent, is still in my + ears. They also did not perceive that something was fastened round + my knee.' + +The Mistress of the Robes was very severe; they could not search +thoroughly enough for her. She laughed at me several times, and +could not endure that I sat down, asking whether I could not stand, +and whether anything was the matter with me. I answered, 'There is +only too much the matter with me, yet I can stand when it is +necessary.' (It was no wonder that the Mistress of the Robes could so +well execute the order to plunder, for she had frequently accompanied +her deceased husband. Colonel Schaffshaussen[E14], in war.) When she +had searched every part thoroughly, they took all my clothes, except +a taffeta cap for the head, and went away. Then the prison governor +came in with his hat on, and said, 'Leonora, why have you concealed +your things?' I answered him not a word; for I had made the +resolution not to answer him, whatever he might say; his qualities +were known to me; I was aware that he was skilful in improving a +report, and could twist words in the manner he thought would be +acceptable, to the damage of those who were in trouble. He asked +again with the same words, adding 'Do you not hear?' I looked at him +over my shoulder, and would not allow his disrespect to excite me. +The table was then spread, and four dishes were brought in, but I had +no appetite, although I had eaten little or nothing the whole day. + + [E14] This lady is known under the name of Haxthausen; and + Schaffshausen is probably a mistake on Leonora's part, although of + course she may have been married to an officer of this name before + she married N. v. Haxthausen. She was a German by birth. + +An hour afterwards, when the dishes had been carried away, a girl +came in named Maren Blocks, and said that she had orders from the +Queen to remain the night with me. The prison governor joked a good +deal with the before-mentioned Maren, and was very merry, indulging +in a good deal of loose talk. At last, when it was nearly ten +o'clock, he said good night and closed the two doors of my prison, +one of which is cased with copper. When Maren found herself alone +with me, she pitied my condition, and informed me that many, whom she +mentioned by name (some of whom were known to me) had witnessed my +courage with grief and tears, especially the wife of H. Hendrick +Bielcke[E12b], who had fainted with weeping. I said, 'The good people +have seen me in prosperity; it is no wonder that they deplore the +instability of fortune;' and I wished that God might preserve every +one of those from misfortune, who had taken my misfortune to heart. I +consoled myself with God and a good conscience; I was conscious of +nothing wrong, and I asked who she was, and whom she served? She said +she was in the Queen's private kitchen, and had the silver in her +keeping (from which I concluded that she had probably to clean the +silver, which was the case). She said that the Queen could get no one +who would be alone with me, for that I was considered evil; it was +said also that I was very wise, and knew future events. I answered, +'If I possessed this wisdom, I scarcely think that I should have come +in here, for I should then have been able to guard myself against +it.' Maren said we might know things and still not be able to guard +against them. + + [E12b] H. Bielke was Admiral of the realm; his wife was an Ulfeldt, + and it was he who procured Corfitz Ulfeldt his leave of absence in + 1662, of which he made such regretable use. He, too, was one of the + judges that convicted him. Oluf Brokkenhuus was Corfitz Ulfeldt's + brother-in-law; Elizabeth Parsbjerg was the widow of his elder + brother Lauridts Ulfeldt. Marie Ulfeldt was sister of Corfitz. + +She told me also that the Queen had herself spoken with her, and had +said to her, 'You are to be this night with Leonora; you need not be +afraid, she can now do no evil. With all her witchcraft she is now in +prison and has nothing with her; and if she strikes you, I give you +leave to strike her back again till the blood comes.' Maren said +also, 'The Queen knows well that my mind has been affected by acute +illness, and therefore she wished that I should be with you.' So +saying she threw her arms round my neck as I was sitting, and +caressed me in her manner, saying, 'Strike me, dear heart, strike +me!' 'I will not,' she swore, 'strike again.' I was rather alarmed, +fearing that the frenzy might come on. She said further that when she +saw me coming over the bridge, she felt as if her heart would burst. +She informed me with many words how much she loved me, and how the +maid of honour, Carisius, who was standing with her in the window, +had praised me, and wished to be able to do something for my +deliverance, with many such words and speeches. I accepted the +unusual caress, as under the circumstances I could not help it, and +said that it would be contrary to all justice to offer blows to one +who manifested such great affection as she had done, especially to +one of her sex; adding, that I could not think how the Queen had +imagined that I struck people, as I had never even given a box on the +ears to a waiting-woman. I thanked her for her good opinion of me, +and told her that I hoped all would go well, dark as things looked; +that I would hold fast to God, who knew my innocence, and that I had +done nothing unjustifiable; that I would commend my cause to Him, and +I did not doubt that He would rescue me: if not immediately He would +do so some day, I was well assured. + +Maren began to speak of different things; among others of my sister +Elizabeth Augusta[E15], how she had sat in her porch as I had been +conveyed past as a prisoner, and had said that if I were guilty there +was nothing to say against it, but that if I were innocent they were +going too far. I said nothing to this, nor did I answer anything to +much other tittle-tattle. She began to speak of her own persecution, +which she did with great diffuseness, interspersing it with other +stories, so that the conversation (in the present circumstances) was +very wearisome to me; I was besides very tired, and worn out with +care, so I said I would try to sleep and bid her good-night. My +thoughts prevented me from sleeping. I reflected on my present +condition, and could in no wise reconcile myself to it, or discover +the cause of such a great misfortune. It was easy to perceive that +somewhat besides Fux's death was imputed to me, since I was treated +with such disrespect. + + [E15] Elizabeth Augusta, a younger sister of Leonora, married Hans + Lindenow, a Danish nobleman, who died in the siege of Copenhagen, + 1659. + +When I had long lain with my face to the wall, I turned round and +perceived that Maren was silently weeping, so I asked her the reason +of her tears. She denied at first that she was crying, but afterwards +confessed that she had fallen into thinking over this whole affair. +It had occurred to her that she had heard so much of Lady Leonora and +her splendour, &c., of how the King loved her, and how every one +praised her, &c., and now she was immured in this execrable thieves' +prison, into which neither sun nor moon shone, and where there was a +stench enough to poison a person only coming in and out, far more one +who had to remain in it. I thought the cause of her weeping was that +she should be shut up with me in the terrible prison; so I consoled +her, and said that she would only remain with me until another had +been fixed upon, since she was in other service; but that I for my +part did not now think of past times, as the present gave me +sufficient to attend to; if I were to call to mind the past, I would +remember also the misfortunes of great men, emperors, kings, +princes, and other high personages, whose magnificence and prosperity +had far exceeded mine, and whose misfortunes had been far greater +than mine; for they had fallen into the hands of tyrants, who had +treated them inhumanly, but this king was a Christian king, and a +conscientious man, and better thoughts would occur to him when he had +time to reflect, for my adversaries now left him no leisure to do so. +When I said this, she wept even more than before, but said nothing, +thinking in herself (as she declared to me some days afterwards) that +I did not know what an infamous sentence had been pronounced upon my +late lord,[E16] and weeping all the more because I trusted the King +so firmly. Thus we went on talking through the night. + + [E16] That Leonora here speaks of her husband as her 'late lord,' + is due only to the fact that the Memoir was not written till after + his death; at the time of these events he was still alive. + +On the morning of August 9, at six o'clock, the prison governor came +in, bade me good morning, and enquired whether we would have some +brandy. I answered nothing. He asked Maren whether I was asleep; she +replied that she did not know, came up to my bed, and put the same +question to me. I thanked her, adding that it was a kind of drink +which I had never tasted. The prison governor chattered with Maren, +was very merry considering the early hour, told her his dreams, which +he undoubtedly invented merely for the sake of talking. He told her, +secretly, that she was to come to the Queen, and ordered her to say +aloud that she wished to go out a little. He said that he would +remain with me in the meanwhile, until she returned, which he did, +speaking occasionally to me, and asking me whether I wished for +anything? whether I had slept? whether Maren had watched well? But +he got no answer, so that the time seemed very long to him. He went +out towards the stairs and came back again, sang a morning psalm, +screamed out sometimes to one, and sometimes to another, though he +knew they were not there. + +There was a man named Jon who helped to bring up the meals with +Rasmus the tower warder, and to him he called more than forty times +and that in a singing tone, changing his key from high to low, and +screaming occasionally as loud as he could, and answering himself +'Father, he is not here! by God, he is not here!' then laughing at +himself; and then he began calling again either for Jon or for +Rasmus, so that it seemed to me that he had been tasting the brandy. +About eight o'clock Maren came back, and said that at noon two women +would come to relieve her. After some conversation between the prison +governor and Maren, he went out and shut the doors. Maren told me how +the Queen had sent for her, and asked her what I was doing, and that +she answered that I was lying down quietly, and not saying anything. +The Queen had asked whether I wept much. Maren replied, 'Yes indeed, +she weeps silently.' 'For,' continued Maren, 'if I had said that you +did not weep, the Queen would have thought that you had not yet +enough to weep for.' Maren warned me that one of the two women who +were to watch me was the wife of the King's shoemaker, a German, who +was very much liked by the Queen. Her Majesty had employed her to +attend Uldrich Christian Gyldenlowe in the severe and raving illness +of which he died, and this woman had much influence with the Queen. +With regard to the other woman, Maren had no idea who she might be, +but the last-mentioned had spoken with the Queen in Maren's presence, +and had said that she did not trust herself to be alone with me. The +women did not come before four o'clock in the afternoon. The prison +governor accompanied them, and unlocked the door for them. The first +was the wife of the shoemaker, a woman named Anna, who generally +would not suffer anybody else to speak. The other was the wife of the +King's groom, a woman named Catharina, also a German. After greeting +me, Anna said that her Majesty the Queen had ordered them to pass a +day or two with me and wait upon me. 'In God's name,' I answered. + +Anna, who was very officious, asked me, 'Does my lady wish for +anything? She will please only say so, and I will solicit it from the +Queen.' I thanked her, and said that I should like to have some of my +clothes, such as two night-jackets, one lined with silk and another +braided with white, my stomacher, something for my head, and above +all my bone box of perfume, which I much needed. She said she would +at once arrange this, which she did, for she went immediately and +proffered my request. The things were all delivered to me by the +prison governor at six o'clock, except my box of perfume, which had +been lost, and in its place they sent me a tin box with a very bad +kind of perfume. When the time arrived for the evening meal, +Catharina spread a stool by the side of my bed, but I had no desire +to eat. I asked for a lemon with sugar, and they gave it me. The +prison governor sat down at the table with the two women, and did the +part of jester, so much so that no one could have said that they were +in a house of mourning, but rather in one of festivity. I inwardly +prayed to God for strength and patience, that I might not forget +myself. God heard my prayer, praised be His name. When the prison +governor was tired of the idle talking and laughing, he bade good +night after ten o'clock, and told the women to knock if they wanted +anything, as the tower warder was just underneath. After he had +locked both the doors, I got up, and Catharina made my bed. Anna had +brought a prayer-book with her, from which I read the evening prayer, +and other prayers for them; then I laid down and bid them good night. +They laid on a settle-bed which had been brought in for them. I +slumbered from time to time, but only for short intervals. + +About six o'clock on the morning of August 10 the prison governor +opened the door, to the great delight of the women, who were +sincerely longing for him, especially Catharina, who was very stout; +she could not endure the oppressive atmosphere, and was ill almost +the whole night. When the prison governor, after greeting them, had +inquired how it fared with them, and whether they were still alive, +he offered them brandy, which they readily accepted. When it was +seven o'clock, they requested to go home, which they did, but they +first reported to the Queen all that had happened during the half-day +and the night. The prison governor remained with me. + +When it was near nine o'clock, he brought in a chair without saying +anything. I perceived from this that visitors were coming, and I was +not wrong; for immediately afterwards there entered Count Rantzow, +prime minister, chancellor H. Peter Retz, Christoffer Gabel, the +chancellor of the exchequer, and secretary Erick Krag, who all shook +hands with me and seated themselves by my bed. Krag, who had paper, +pen and ink with him, seated himself at the table. Count Rantzow +whispered something to the chancellor. The chancellor upon this began +to address me as on the previous occasion, saying that his Majesty +the King had great cause for his treatment of me. 'His Majesty,' he +went on to say, 'entertains suspicion with regard to you, and that +not without reason.' I inquired in what the suspicion consisted. The +chancellor said, 'Your husband has offered the kingdom of Denmark to +a foreign lord.' I inquired if the kingdom of Denmark belonged to my +husband, that he could thus offer it, and as no one answered, I +continued and said, 'Good gentlemen, you all know my lord; you know +that he has been esteemed as a man of understanding, and I can assure +you that when I took leave of him he was in perfect possession of his +senses. Now it is easy to perceive that no sensible man would offer +that which was not in his own power, and which he had no right to +dispose of. He is holding no post, he has neither power nor +authority; how should he, therefore, be so foolish as to make such an +offer, and what lord would accept it?' + +Count Rantzow said: 'Nevertheless it is so, madame; he has offered +Denmark to a foreign potentate; you know it well.' I answered, 'God +is my witness that I know of no such thing.' 'Yes,' said Count +Rantzow, 'your husband concealed nothing from you, and therefore you +must know it.' I replied, 'My husband certainly never concealed from +me anything that concerned us both. I never troubled myself in former +days with that which related to his office; but that which affected +us both he never concealed from me, so that I am sure, had he +entertained any such design, he would not have held it a secret from +me. And I can say, with truth, that I am not the least aware of it.' +Count Rantzow said: 'Madame, confess it while the King still asks you +to do so.' + +I answered, 'If I knew it I would gladly say so; but as truly as God +lives I do not know it, and as truly am I unable to believe that my +husband would have acted so foolishly, for he is a sick man. He urged +me to go to England in order to demand the money that had been lent; +I undertook the journey, unwillingly, chiefly because he was so very +weak. He could not go up a few steps of the stairs without resting to +get his breath; how should he, then, undertake a work of such labour? +I can say with truth that he is not eight days without an attack, +sometimes of one kind sometimes of another.' Count Rantzow again +whispered with the chancellor, and the chancellor continued: 'Madame, +say without compulsion how the matter stands, and who is privy to it; +say it now, while you are asked freely to do so. His Majesty is an +absolute Sovereign; he is not fettered by law; he can do as he will; +say it.' I answered: 'I know well that his Majesty is an absolute +Sovereign, and I know also, that he is a Christian and a +conscientious man; therefore, his Majesty will do nothing but what he +can justify before God in heaven. See, here I am! You can do with me +what you will; that which I do not know I cannot say.' + +Count Rantzow began again to bring forward the Marechal de Birron, +and made a long speech about it. To this I at length replied, that +the Marechal de Birron in nowise concerned me; that I had no answer +to make on the matter, and that it seemed to me that it was not a +case in point. Count Rantzow asked me why, when I was demanded with +whom I had corresponded in the kingdom, I had not said that I had +written to him and to the treasurer Gabel. To this I replied that I +thought those who asked me knew it well, so that it was not necessary +for me to mention it; I had only said that of which they probably did +not know. Count Rantzow again whispered to the chancellor, and the +chancellor said: 'In a letter to Lady Elsse Passberg you have written +respecting another state of things in Denmark,' (as he said this, he +looked at Count Rantzow and asked if it was not so, or how it was); +'what did you mean by that, madame?' I replied that I could not +recollect what cause her letter had given me to answer it in this +way; what came before or what followed, would, without a doubt, +explain my meaning; if I might see the letter, it would prove at once +that I had written nothing which I could not justify. + +Nothing more was said with regard to it. Count Rantzow asked me what +foreign ministers had been with my lord in Bruges. 'None,' I +answered, 'that I am aware of.' He asked further whether any Holstein +noblemen had been with him. I answered, 'I do not know.' Then he +enumerated every Prince in Germany, from the Emperor to the Prince of +Holstein, and enquired respecting each separately whether any of +their Ministers had been with my husband. I gave the same answer as +before to each question, that I was not aware that any one of them +had been with him. Then he said, 'Now, madame, confess! I beg you; +remember Marechal de Birron! you will not be asked again.' I was +somewhat tired of hearing Birron mentioned so often, and I answered +rather hastily: 'I do not care about the Marechal de Birron; I +cannot tell what I do not know anything about.' + +Secretary Krag had written somewhat hurriedly it seemed, for when at +my desire he read aloud what he had written, the answers did not +accord with the questions; this probably partly arose from hurry, and +partly from malice, for he was not amicably inclined towards my late +lord. I protested against this when he read the minutes. The +chancellor agreed with me in every item, so that Krag was obliged to +re-write it. After this they got up and took their leave. I requested +to beg His Majesty the King to be gracious to me, and not to believe +what he had been informed with regard to my husband. I could not +imagine they would find that he had ever deviated from his duty. +'Yes,' answered Count Rantzow, 'if you will confess, madame, and tell +us who is concerned in this business and the details of it, you might +perhaps find him a gracious lord and king.' I protested by the living +God that I knew nothing of it; I knew of nothing of the kind, much +less of accomplices. With this they went away, after having spent +nearly three hours with me, and then the prison governor and the +women entered. They spread the table and brought up the meal, but I +took nothing but a draught of beer. The prison governor sat down to +table with the women. If he had been merry before, he was still more +so now, and he told one indecent story after another. + +When they had had enough of feasting and talking he went away and +locked the door; he came as usual again about four o'clock in the +afternoon, and let the women go out, staying with me until they +returned, which generally was not for two hours. When the women were +alone with me, Anna told Catharina of her grief for her first +husband, and nothing else was talked of. I behaved as if I were +asleep, and I did the same when the prison governor was alone with +me, and he then passed the time in singing and humming. The evening +meal was also very merry for the women, for the prison governor +amused them by telling them of his second marriage; how he had wooed +without knowing whom, and that he did not know it until the +betrothal. The story was as ludicrous as it was diffuse. I noticed +that it lasted an hour and a quarter. + +When he had said good night, Anna sat down on my bed and began to +talk to Catharina, and said, 'Was it not a horrible story of that +treacherous design to murder the King and Queen and the whole royal +family?' Catharina answered, 'Thank God the King and Queen and the +whole family are still alive!' 'Yes,' said Anna, 'it was no merit of +the traitors, though, that they are so; it was too quickly +discovered; the King knew it three months before he would reveal it +to the Queen. He went about sorrowfully, pondering over it, unable +quite to believe it; afterwards, when he was quite certain of it, he +told the Queen; then the body-guard were doubled, as you know.' +Catherina enquired how they had learnt it. Anna answered, 'That God +knows; it is kept so secret that no one is allowed as much as to ask +from whom it came.' I could not help putting in a word; it seemed to +me a pity that they could not find out the informer, and it was +remarkable that no one ventured to confess having given the +information. Catherina said, 'I wonder whether it is really true?' +'What do you mean?' answered Anna; 'would the King do as he is doing +without knowing for certain that it is true? How can you talk so?' I +regarded this conversation as designed to draw some words from me, +so I answered but little, only saying that until now I had seen +nothing which gave credibility to the report, and that therefore I +felt myself at liberty not to believe it until I saw certain proof of +it. Anna adhered to her statement, wondered that there could be such +evil people as could wish to murder the good King, and was very +diffuse on the matter.[E17] She could be at no loss for material, for +she always began again from the beginning; but at last she had to +stop, since she spoke alone and was not interrupted either by +Catharina or by me. + + [E17] When the sentence on Ulfeldt had become publicly known, the + most absurd rumours circulated in Copenhagen, and found their way + to foreign newspapers. For instance _the kingdom's_ Intelligencer, + No. 33, Aug. 10-17, 1663, says, in a correspondence from Hamburg: + 'They say the traitors intended to set Copenhagen on fire in divers + places, and also the fleet, to destroy the King and family, to blow + up the King's palace, and deliver the crown over to another.' The + Government itself, on hearing of Ulfeldt's plots, made great + military preparations. + +I got up and requested to have my bed made, which Catharina always +did. Anna attended to the light during the night, for she was more +watchful than Catharina. I read aloud to them from Anna's book, +commended myself to God, and laid down to sleep. But my sleep was +light, the promenades of the rats woke me, and there were great +numbers of them. Hunger made them bold; they ate the candle as it +stood burning. Catharina, moreover, was very uncomfortable all night, +so that this also prevented my sleeping. Early on the morning of +August 11 the prison governor came as usual with his brandy +attentions, although they had a whole bottle with them. Catharina +complained a good deal, and said she could not endure the oppressive +air; that when she came in at the door it seemed as if it would +stifle her; if she were to remain there a week she was certain that +she would be carried out dead. The prison governor laughed at this. + +The women went away, and he remained with me. He presented me +Major-General von Anfeldt's compliments, and a message from him, +that I 'should be of good courage; all would now soon be well.' I +made no reply. He enquired how I was, and whether I had slept a +little; and answered himself, 'I fancy not much.' He asked whether I +would have anything, again answering himself, 'No, I do not think you +wish for anything.' Upon this he walked up and down, humming to +himself; then he came to my bedside and said: 'Oh, the dear King! he +is indeed a kind master! Be at peace; he is a gracious sovereign, and +has always held you in esteem. You are a woman, a weak instrument. +Poor women are soon led away. No one likes to harm them, when they +confess the truth. The dear Queen, she is indeed a dear Queen! She is +not angry with you. I am sure if she knew the truth from you, she +would herself pray for you. Listen! if you will write to the Queen +and tell her all about the matter, and keep nothing back, I will +bring you pen, ink, and paper. I have no wish, on my soul! to read +it. No, God take me if I will look at it; and that you may be sure of +this, I will give you wax that you may seal it. But I imagine you +have probably no seal?' As I answered him not a word, he seized my +hand and shook it rather strongly, saying, 'Do you not hear? Are you +asleep?' I raised my head threateningly; I should like to have given +him a box on the ears, and I turned round to the wall. + +He was angry that his design had failed, and he went on grumbling to +himself for more than an hour. I could not understand a word beyond, +'Yes, yes! you will not speak.' Then he muttered somewhat between his +teeth: 'You will not answer; well, well, they will teach you. Yes, by +God! hum, hum, hum.' He continued thus until the tower warder, +Rasmus, came and whispered something to him; then he went out. It +seemed to me that there was someone speaking with him, and so far as +I could perceive it must have been someone who asked him if the ink +and paper should be brought up, for he answered, 'No, it is not +necessary; she will not.' The other said, 'Softly, softly!' The +prison governor, however, could not well speak softly, and I heard +him say, 'She cannot hear that; she is in bed.' When he came in again +he went on muttering to himself, and stamped because I would not +answer; he meant it kindly; the Queen was not so angry as I imagined. +He went on speaking half aloud; he wished the women would come; he +did nothing else but beg Rasmus to look for them. + +Soon after Rasmus came and said that they were now going up the +King's Stairs. Still almost an hour passed before they came in and +released him. When they had their dinner (my own meal consisted of +some slices of lemon with sugar) the prison governor was not nearly +so merry as he was wont to be, though he chattered of various things +that had occurred in former times, while he was a quarter-master. He +also retired sooner than was his custom. The women, who remained, +talked of indifferent matters. I also now and then put in a word, and +asked them after their husbands and children. Anna read some prayers +and hymns from her book, and thus the day passed till four o'clock, +when the prison governor let them out. He had brought a book with +him, which he read in a tolerably low tone, while he kept watch by +me. I was well pleased at this, as it gave me rest. + +At the evening meal the prison governor began amongst other +conversation to tell the women that a prisoner had been brought here +who was a Frenchman; he could not remember his name; he sat +cogitating upon the name just as if he could not rightly hit upon it. +Carl or Char, he did not know what he was called, but he had been +formerly several years in Denmark. Anna enquired what sort of a man +he was. He replied that he was a man who was to be made to sing,[63] +but he did not know for a certainty whether he was here or not. +(There was nothing in all this.) He only said this in order to get an +opportunity of asking me, or to perceive whether it troubled me. + + [63] That is, give information. + +He had undoubtedly been ordered to do this; for when he was gone Anna +began a conversation with Catharina upon this same Carl, and at last +asked me whether we had had a Frenchman in our employ. I replied that +we had had more than one. She enquired further whether there was one +among them named Carl, who had long been in our service. 'We had a +servant,' I answered, 'a Frenchman named Charle; he had been with us +a long time.' 'Yes, yes,' she said, 'it is he. But I do not think he +has arrived here yet; they are looking for him.' I said, 'Then he is +easy to find, he was at Bruges when I left that town.' Anna said she +fancied he had been in England with me, and she added, 'That fellow +knows a good deal if they get him.' I answered, 'Then it were to be +wished that they had him for the sake of his information.' When she +perceived that I troubled myself no further about him she let the +conversation drop, and spoke of my sister Elizabeth Augusta, saying +that she passed her every day. She was standing in her gateway or +sitting in the porch, and that she greeted her, but never uttered a +word of enquiry after her sister, though she knew well that she was +waiting on me in the Tower. I said I thought my sister did not know +what would be the best for her to do. 'I cannot see,' said Anna, +'that she is depressed.' I expressed my opinion that the less we +grieved over things the better. Other trifles were afterwards talked +of, and I concluded the day with reading, commended myself to the +care of Jesus, and slept tolerably well through the night. + +August 12 passed without anything in particular occurring, only that +Anna tried to trouble me by saying that a chamber next to us was +being put in order, for whom she did not know; they were of course +expecting someone in it. I could myself hear the masons at work. On +the same day Catharina said that she had known me in prosperity, and +blessed me a thousand times for the kindness I had shown her. I did +not remember having ever seen her. She said she had been employed in +the storeroom in the service of the Princess Magdalena Sybille, and +that when I had visited the Princess, and had slept in the Castle, I +had sent a good round present for those in the storeroom, and that +she had had a share in it, and that this she now remembered with +gratitude. Anna was not pleased with the conversation, and she +interrupted it three times; Catharina, however, did not answer her, +but adhered to the subject till she had finished. The prison governor +was not in good humour on this day also, so that neither at dinner +nor at supper were any indecent stories related. + +On August 13, after the women had been into the town and had +returned, the prison governor opened the door at about nine o'clock, +and whispered something to them. He then brought in another small +seat; from this I perceived that I was to be visited by one more +than on the previous occasion. At about ten o'clock Count Rantzow, +General Skack, Chancellor Retz, Treasurer Gabel, and Secretary Krag +entered. They all saluted me with politeness; the four first seated +themselves on low seats by my bedside, and Krag placed himself with +his writing materials at the table. The Chancellor was spokesman, and +said, 'His royal Majesty, my gracious Sovereign and hereditary King, +sends you word, madame, that his Majesty has great cause for all that +he is doing, and that he entertains suspicions with regard to you +that you are an accomplice in the treason designed by your husband; +and his royal Majesty had hoped that you would confess without +compulsion who have participated in it, and the real truth about it.' + +When the Chancellor ceased speaking, I replied that I was not aware +that I had done anything which could render me suspected; and I +called God to witness that I knew of no treason, and therefore I +could mention no names. Count Rantzow said, 'Your husband has not +concealed it from you, hence you know it well.' I replied, 'Had my +husband entertained so evil a design, I believe surely he would have +told me; but I can swear with a good conscience, before God in +Heaven, that I never heard him speak of anything of the kind. Yes, I +can truly say he never wished evil to the King in my hearing, and +therefore I fully believe that this has been falsely invented by his +enemies.' Count Rantzow and the Chancellor bent their heads together +across to the General, and whispered with each other for some time. +At length the Chancellor asked me whether, if my husband were found +guilty, I would take part in his condemnation. This was a remarkable +question, so I reflected a little, and said, 'If I may know on what +grounds he is accused, I will answer to it so far as I know, and so +much as I can.' The Chancellor said, 'Consider well whether you +will.' I replied as before, that I would answer for him as to all +that I knew, if I were informed of what he was accused. Count Rantzow +whispered with Krag, and Krag went out, but returned immediately. + +Soon afterward some one (whom I do not know) came from the +Chancellor's office, bringing with him some large papers. Count +Rantzow and the Chancellor whispered again. Then the Chancellor said, +'There is nothing further to do now than to let you know what sort of +a husband you have, and to let you hear his sentence.' Count Rantzow +ordered the man who had brought in the papers to read them aloud. The +first paper read was to the effect that Corfitz, formerly Count of +Ulfeldt, had offered the kingdom of Denmark to a foreign sovereign, +and had told the same sovereign that he had ecclesiastical and lay +magnates on his side, so that it was easy for him to procure the +crown of Denmark for the before-mentioned sovereign. + +A paper was then read which was the defence of the clergy, in which +they protested that Corfitz, Count of Ulfeldt, had never had any +communication with any of them; that he had at no time shown himself +a friend of the clergy, and had far less offered them participation +in his evil design. They assured his royal Majesty of their fidelity +and subjection, &c. Next, a paper was read, written by the +Burgomaster and council in Copenhagen, nearly similar in purport, +that they had had no correspondence with Count Corfitz Ulfeldt, and +equally assuring his royal Majesty of their humble fidelity. Next +followed the reading of the unprecedented and illegal sentence which, +without a hearing, had been passed on my lord. This was as unexpected +and grievous as it was disgraceful, and unjustifiable before God and +all right-loving men. No documents were brought forward upon which +the sentence had been given. There was nothing said about prosecution +or defence; there was no other foundation but mere words; that he had +been found guilty of having offered the crown of Denmark to a foreign +sovereign, and had told him that he had on his side ecclesiastical +and lay magnates, who had shown by their signed protestations that +this was not the case, for which reason he had been condemned as a +criminal. + +When the sentence with all the names subjoined to it had been read, +the reader brought it to me, and placed it before me on the bed. +Everyone can easily imagine how I felt; but few or none can conceive +how it was that I was not stifled by the unexpected misery, and did +not lose my sense and reason. I could not utter a word for weeping. +Then a prayer was read aloud which had been pronounced from the +pulpit, in which Corfitz was anathematised, and God was prayed not to +allow his gray hair to go to the grave in peace. But God, who is +just, did not listen to the impious prayer of the unrighteous, +praised be His name for ever. + +When all had been read, I bemoaned with sighs and sorrowful tears +that I had ever lived to see this sad day, and I begged them, for +Jesus' sake, that they would allow me to see on what the hard +judgment was based. Count Rantzow answered, 'You can well imagine, +madame, that there are documents upon which we have acted: some of +your friends are in the council.' 'May God better it!' I said. 'I beg +you, for God's sake, to let me see the documents. Les apparences sont +bien souvent trompeuses. What had not my husband to suffer from that +Swede in Skaane, during that long imprisonment, because he was +suspected of having corresponded with his Majesty, the King of +Denmark, and with his Majesty's ministers? Now, no one knows better +than his Majesty, and you my good lords, how innocently he suffered +at that time, and so this also may be apparently credible, and yet +may not be so in truth. Might I not see the documents?' To this no +answer was given. I continued and said, 'How is it possible that a +man who must himself perceive that death is at hand should undertake +such a work, and be so led away from the path of duty, when he did +not do so at a time when he acknowledged no master, and when such +great promises were made him by the Prince of Holstein, as the +Prince's letters show, which are now in his Majesty's hands.' Count +Rantzow interrupted me and said, 'We did not find those letters.' +'God knows,' I replied, 'they were there; of that I am certain.' I +said also, 'At that time he might have done something to gratify a +foreign sovereign; at that time he had power and physical vigour, and +almost the entire government was in his hands; but he never looked to +his own advantage, but pawned his own property to hasten the King's +coronation, so that no impediment might come between.[64] This is his +reward! Good gentlemen, take an example of me, you who have seen me +in prosperity, and have compassion on me. Pray his royal Majesty to +be mild, and not to proceed to such severity.' + + [64] In the margin the following explanatory note is added: 'When + his Majesty (Christian IV.) was dead, there was no prince elected, + so that the States were free to choose the king whom they desired, + wherefore the Duke of Holstein, Duke Frederick, promised my + deceased lord that if he would contrive that he should be elected + king, the land of Fyen should belong to him and a double alliance + between his children and ours should be concluded. But my lord + rejected this proposal and would not assist in dispossessing the + son of Christian IV. of the kingdom. The prince had obtained + several votes, but my lord contested them.' + +The Chancellor and Treasurer were moved by this, so that the tears +came into their eyes. Count Rantzow said to the General and the +Chancellor, 'I think it is a fortnight ago since the sentence was +published?' The Chancellor answered, 'It is seventeen days ago.'[E18] +I said, 'At that time I was still in England, and now I am asked for +information on the matter! Oh, consider this, for God's sake! and +that there was no one present to speak on my husband's behalf.' Count +Rantzow enquired whether I wished to appeal against it? I replied, +'How am I to appeal against a judicial decree? I only beg for Jesus' +sake that what I say may be considered, and that I may have the +satisfaction of seeing the documents upon which the sentence is +based.' + + [E18] The sentence on Ulfeldt was given on July 24, but probably + not published till a few days later. + +Count Rantzow answered as before, that there were documents, and that +some of my friends had sat in the council, and added that all had +been agreed, and that not one had had anything to say against it. I +dared not say what I thought. I knew well how matters are done in +such absolute governments: there is no such thing as opposition, they +merely say, 'Sign, the King wishes it; and ask not wherefore, or the +same condemnation awaits thee.'[65] I was silent, and bewailed my +unhappiness, which was irremediable. When Krag read aloud the minutes +he had written, namely, that when I was asked whether I would +participate in my husband's sentence, I had answered that I would +consider of it. I asked, 'How was that?' The Chancellor immediately +replied, 'No, she did not say so, but she requested to know the +accusation brought against her husband.' I repeated my words +again,[66] I know not whether Krag wrote them or not; for a great +part of that which I said was not written. Krag yielded too much to +his feelings in the matter, and would gladly have made bad worse. He +is now gone where no false writings avail; God took him away suddenly +in an unclean place, and called him to judgment without warning. And +Count Rantzow, who was the principal mover and inventor of that +illegal sentence, the like of which was never known in Denmark, did +not live to see his desire fulfilled in the execution of a wooden +image.[E19] When this was done, they rose and shook hands with me. +This painful visit lasted more than four hours. + + [65] It had happened as I thought. There were some in the council + who refused to sign, some because they had not been present at the + time of the procedure, and others because they had not seen on what + the sentence was founded; but they were nevertheless compelled to + sign with the others, on the peril of the king's displeasure. + [Marginal note.] + + [66] In the margin is added, 'and asked whether I was permitted to + appeal against this sentence. All were silent.' + + [E19] A line has been drawn in the MS. through the two last + paragraphs, and their contents transferred to the continuation of + the Preface. + +They went away, leaving me full of anxiety, sighing and weeping--a +sad and miserable captive woman, forsaken by all; without help, +exposed to power and violence, fearing every moment that her husband +might fall into their hands, and that they might vent their malice on +him. God performed on that day a great miracle, by manifesting His +power in my weakness, preserving my brain from bewilderment, and my +tongue from overflowing with impatience. Praised be God a thousand +times! I will sing Thy praise, so long as my tongue can move, for +Thou wast at this time and at all times my defence, my rock, and my +shield! + +When the gentlemen were gone away, the prison governor came and the +women, and a stool was spread by the side of my bed. The prison +governor said to me, 'Eat, Leonora; will you not eat?' As he said +this, he threw a knife to me on the bed. I took up the knife with +angry mind, and threw it on the ground. He picked up the knife, +saying, 'You are probably not hungry? No, no! you have had a +breakfast to-day which has satisfied you, have you not? Is it not +so?' Well, well, come dear little women (addressing the two women), +let us eat something! You must be hungry, judging from my own +stomach.' When they had sat down to table, he began immediately to +cram himself, letting it fall as if inadvertently from his mouth, and +making so many jokes that it was sad to see how the old man could not +conceal his joy at my unhappiness. + +When the meal was finished, and the prison governor had gone away, +Anna sat down by my bed and began to speak of the sorrow and +affliction which we endure in this world, and of the joy and delights +of heaven; how the pain that we suffer here is but small compared +with eternal blessedness and joy, wherefore we should not regard +suffering, but should rather think of dying with a good conscience, +keeping it unsullied by confessing everything that troubles us, for +there is no other way. 'God grant,' she added, 'that no one may +torment himself for another's sake.' After having repeated this +remark several times, she said to me, 'Is it not true, my lady?' +'Yes, certainly it is true,' I replied; 'you speak in a Christian +manner, and according to the scriptures.' 'Why will you, then,' she +went on to say, 'let yourself be tormented for others, and not say +what you know of them?' I asked whom she meant. She answered, 'I do +not know them.' I replied, 'Nor do I.' She continued in the same +strain, however, saying that she would not suffer and be tormented +for the sake of others, whoever they might be; if they were guilty +they must suffer; she would not suffer for them; a woman was easily +led away, but happiness was more than all kindred and friends. + +As she seemed unable to cease chattering, I wished to divert her a +little, so I asked whether she were a clergyman's daughter; and since +she had before told me of her parentage, she resented this question +all the more, and was thoroughly angry; saying, 'If I am not a +clergyman's daughter, I am the daughter of a good honest citizen, and +not one of the least. In my time, when I was still unmarried, I never +thought that I should marry a shoemaker.' I said, 'But your first +husband, too, was also a shoemaker.' 'That is true,' she replied, +'but this marriage came about in a very foolish manner,' and she +began to narrate a whole history of the matter, so that I was left in +peace. Catharina paced up and down, and when Anna was silent for a +little, she said, with folded hands, 'O God, Thou who art almighty, +and canst do everything, preserve this man for whom they are seeking, +and never let him fall into the hands of his enemies. Oh God, hear +me!' Anna said angrily to her, 'Catharina, do you know what you are +saying? How can you speak so?' Catharina answered, 'Yes, I know well +what I am saying. God preserve him, and let him never fall into the +hands of his enemies. Jesus, be Thou his guide!' She uttered these +words with abundant tears. Anna said, 'I think that woman is not in +her senses.' Catharina's kind wish increased my tears, and I said, +'Catharina shows that she is a true Christian, and sympathises with +me; God reward her, and hear her and me!' Upon this Anna was silent, +and has not been so talkative ever since. O God, Thou who art a +recompenser of all that is good, remember this in favour of +Catharina, and as Thou heardest her at that time, hear her prayer in +future, whatever may be her request! And you, my dear children, know +that if ever fortune so ordains it that you can be of any service +either to her or her only son, you are bound to render it for my +sake; for she was a comfort to me in my greatest need, and often took +an opportunity to say a word which she thought would alleviate my +sorrow. + +The prison governor came as usual, about four o'clock, and let the +women out, seating himself on the bench and placing the high stool +with the candle in front of him. He had brought a book with him, and +read aloud prayers for a happy end, prayers for the hour of death, +and prayers for one suffering temporal punishment for his misdeeds. +He did not forget a prayer for one who is to be burnt; in reading +this he sighed, so religious had he grown in the short time. When he +had read all the prayers, he got up and walked up and down, singing +funeral hymns; when he knew no more, he began again with the first, +till the women released him. Catharina complained that her son had +been ill, and was greatly grieved about it. I entered into her +sorrow, and said that she ought to mention her son's illness to the +Queen, and then another would probably be appointed in her place; and +I begged her to compose herself, as the child would probably be +better again. During the evening meal the prison governor was very +merry, and related all sorts of coarse stories. When he was gone, +Anna read the evening prayer. I felt very ill during this night, and +often turned about in bed; there was a needle in the bed, with which +I scratched myself; I got it out, and still have it.[67] + + [67] In the margin: 'The feather-bed had an old cover, and was + fresh filled when I was lying in the roads; the needle, in the + hurry, had therefore been left in.' + +On August 14, when the prison governor opened the door early, the +women told him that I had been very ill in the night. 'Well, well,' +he answered, 'it will soon be better.' And when the women were ready +to go to the Queen (which they were always obliged to do), Anna said +to Catharina, outside the door, 'What shall we say to the Queen?' +Catharina answered: 'What shall we say, but that she is silent and +will say nothing!' 'You know very well that the Queen is displeased +at it.' 'Nevertheless, we cannot tell a lie;' answered Catharina; +'she says nothing at all, so it would be a sin.'[68] Catharina came +back to the mid-day meal, and said that the Queen had promised to +appoint another in her stead; in the afternoon, she managed secretly +to say a word to me about the next chamber, which she imagined was +being put in readiness for me and for no one else; she bid me good +night, and promised to remember me constantly in her prayers. I +thanked her for her good services, and for her kind feeling towards +me. + + [68] In the margin: 'I myself heard this conversation.' + +About four o'clock the prison governor let her and Anna out. He sang +one hymn after another, went to the stairs, and the time appeared +long to him, till six o'clock, when Anna returned with Maren Blocks. +At the evening meal the prison governor again told stories of his +marriage, undoubtedly for the sake of amusing Maren. Anna left me +alone, and I lay quiet in silence. Maren could not find an +opportunity of speaking with me the whole evening, on account of +Anna. Nothing particular happened on August 15 and 16. + +When the prison governor let out Anna in the morning and afternoon, +Maren Blocks remained with me, and the prison governor went his own +way and locked the door, so that Maren had opportunity of talking +with me alone. She told me different things; among others, that the +Queen had given my clothes to the three women who had undressed me, +that they might distribute them amongst themselves. She asked me +whether I wished to send a message to my sister Elizabeth. I thanked +her, but said that I had nothing good to tell her. I asked Maren for +needles and thread, in order to test her. She replied she would +gladly procure them for me if she dared, but that it would risk her +whole well-being if the Queen should know it; for she had so strictly +forbidden that anyone should give me either pins or needles. I +inquired 'For what reason?' 'For this reason,' she replied, 'that you +may not kill yourself.' I assured her that God had enlightened me +better than that I should be my own murderer. I felt that my cross +came from the hand of the Lord, that He was chastising me as His +child; He would also help me to bear it; I trusted in Him to do so. +'Then I hope, dear heart,' said Maren, 'that you will not kill +yourself; then you shall have needles and thread; but what will you +sew?' I alleged that I wished to sew some buttons on my white +night-dress, and I tore off a pair, in order to show her afterwards +that I had sewn them on. + +Now it happened that I had sewn up some ducats in a piece of linen +round my knee; these I had kept, as I pulled off the stockings myself +when they undressed me, and Anna had at my desire given me a rag, as +I pretended that I had hurt my leg. I sewed this rag over the +leather. They all imagined that I had some secret malady, for I lay +in the linen petticoat they had given me, and went to bed in my +stockings. Maren imagined that I had an issue on one leg, and she +confided to me that a girl at the court, whom she mentioned by name, +and who was her very good friend, had an issue of which no one knew +but herself, not even the woman who made her bed. I thought to +myself, you keep your friend's secret well; I did not, however, make +her any wiser, but let her believe in this case whatever she would. I +was very weak on those two days, and as I took nothing more than +lemon and beer, my stomach became thoroughly debilitated and refused +to retain food. When Maren told the prison governor of this, he +answered, 'All right, her heart is thus getting rid of its evil.' +Anna was no longer so officious, but the prison governor was as merry +as ever. + +On August 17 the prison governor did not open the door before eight +o'clock, and Anna asked him how it was that he had slept so long. He +joked a little; presently he drew her to the door and whispered with +her. He went out and in, and Anna said so loudly to Maren, that I +could hear it (although she spoke as if she were whispering), 'I am +so frightened that my whole body trembles, although it does not +concern me. Jesus keep me! I wish I were down below!' Maren looked +sad, but she neither answered nor spoke a word. Maren came softly up +to my bed and said, 'I am sure some one is coming to you.' I +answered, 'Let him come, in God's name.' Presently I heard a running +up and down stairs, and also overhead, for the Commissioners came +always through the apartments, in order not to cross the square. My +doors were closed again. Each time that some one ran by on the +stairs, Anna shuddered and said, 'I quite tremble.' + +This traffic lasted till about eleven. When the prison governor +opened the door, he said to me, 'Leonora, you are to get up and go to +the gentlemen.' God knows that I could hardly walk, and Anna +frightened me by saying to Maren, 'Oh! the poor creature!' Maren's +hands trembled when she put on my slippers. I could not imagine +anything else than that I was to be tortured, and I consoled myself +with thinking that my pain could not last long, for my body was so +weary that it seemed as if God might at any moment take me away. When +Maren fastened the apron over my long dress, I said: 'They are indeed +sinning heavily against me; may God give me strength.' The prison +governor hurried me, and when I was ready, he took me by the arm and +led me. I would gladly have been free of his help, but I could not +walk alone. He conducted me up to the next story, and there sat Count +Rantzow, Skack, Retz, Gabel, and Krag, round the table. + +They all rose when I entered, and I made them a reverence as well as +I was able. A small low seat had been placed for me in the middle, in +front of the table. The Chancellor asked me whether I had not had +more letters than those taken from me in England. I answered that I +had not had more; that all my letters had been then taken from me. +He asked further, whether I had at that time destroyed any letters. +'Yes,' I answered, 'one I tore in two, and threw it in a closet.' +'Why did you do so?' enquired Count Rantzow. 'Because' I replied, +'there were cyphers in it; and although they were of no importance, I +feared, notwithstanding, that they might excite suspicion.' Count +Rantzow said: 'Supposing the pieces were still forthcoming?' 'That +were to be wished,' I replied, 'for then it could be seen that there +was nothing suspicious in it, and it vexed me afterwards that I had +torn it in two.' Upon this the Chancellor drew forth a sheet of paper +upon which, here and there, pieces of this very letter were pasted, +and handed it to Krag, who gave it to me. Count Rantzow asked me if +it were not my husband's handwriting. I answered that it was. He +said: 'A part of the pieces which you tore in two have been found, +and a part are lost. All that has been found has been collected and +copied.' He then asked the Chancellor for the copy, who gave it to +Count Rantzow, and he handed it to me, saying, 'See there what is +wanting, and tell us what it is that is missing.' I took it, and +looked over it and said: 'In some places, where there are not too +many words missing, I think I can guess what is lost, but where a +whole sentence is wanting, I cannot know.' + +Most of the letter had been collected without loss of intervening +pieces, and it all consisted of mirth and jest. He was telling me +that he had heard from Denmark that the Electoral Prince of Saxony +was to be betrothed with the Princess of Denmark;[E20] and he joked, +saying that they would grease their throats and puff out their cheeks +in order that with good grace and voice they might duly trumpet +forth each their own titles, and more of the same kind, all in high +colouring. He described the way in which Count Rantzow contrived to +let people know his titles; when he had a dinner-party, there was a +man employed to read aloud his titles to the guests, asking first +each separately, whether he knew his titles; if there was anyone who +did not know them, the secretary must forthwith come and read them +aloud. + + [E20] Leonora refers to the betrothal of Prince Johan George of + Saxony and Anna Sophia, the eldest daughter of Fredrik III., of + which an account occurs in the sequel. + +It seemed that Count Rantzow referred all this to himself, for he +asked me what my husband meant by it. I replied that I did not know +that he meant anything but what he had written; he meant undoubtedly +those who did such things. The Chancellor averted his face from Count +Rantzow, and his lips smiled a little; Gabel also did the same. Among +other things there were some remarks about the Electoral Prince, that +he probably cherished the hope of inheriting the Crown of Denmark; +'mais j'espere ... cela ne se fera point.' Count Rantzow enquired as +to the words which were wanting. I said, if I remembered rightly, the +words had been, 'qu'en 300 ans.' He enquired further as to the +expressions lacking here and there, some of which I could not +remember exactly, though they were of no importance. I expressed my +opinion that they could easily gather what was wanting from the +preceding and following words; it was sufficiently evident that all +was jest, and this was apparent also to Gabel, who said, 'Ce n'est +que raillerie.' But Count Rantzow and the General would not allow it +to pass as jest. + +Skack said: 'One often means something else under the cloak of jest, +and names are used when others are intended.' For in the letter there +was something said about drinking out; there was also an allusion +made to the manners of the Swiss at table, and all the titles of the +canton nobles were enumerated, from which Skack thought that the +names of the cities might have another signification. I did not +answer Skack; but as Count Rantzow continued to urge me to say what +my husband had meant by it, I replied that I could not know whether +he had had another meaning than that which was written. Skack shook +his head and thought he had, so I said: 'I know no country where the +same customs are in vogue at meals as in Switzerland; if there are +other places where the same customs prevail, he may perhaps have +meant these also, for he is only speaking of drinking.' + +Gabel said again, 'It is only jest.' The cyphers, for the sake of +which I had torn the letter in two, were fortunately complete, and +nothing was missing. Count Rantzow gave me a sheet of paper, to which +pieces of my lord's letter were pasted, and asked me what the cyphers +meant. I replied, 'I have not the key, and cannot solve them out of +my head.' He expressed his opinion that I could do it. I said I could +not. 'Well, they have been read,' he said, 'and we know what they +signify.' 'All the better,' I answered. Upon this, he gave me the +interpretation to read, and the purport of it was that our son had +written from Rome, asking for money, which was growing short, for the +young nobleman was not at home. I gave the paper back to Count +Rantzow without saying anything. Count Rantzow requested the +Treasurer that he should read the letter, and Rantzow began again +with his questions wherever anything was wanting, requesting that I +should say what it was. I gave him the same answer as before; but +when in one passage, where some words were missing, he pressed me +hard to say them, and it was evident from the context that they were +ironical (since an ironical word was left written), I said: 'You can +add as much of the same kind as pleases you, if one is not enough; I +do not know them.' Gabel again said, 'Ce n'est que raillerie.'[E21] + + [E21] A copy of the fragments which had been recovered of this + letter is still in existence. + +No further questions were then made respecting the letters; but Count +Rantzow enquired as to my jewels, and asked where the large diamond +was which my husband had received in France.[E22] I replied that it +had long been sold. He further asked where my large drop pearls +where, which I had worn as a feather on my hat, and where my large +pearl head-ornament was. 'All these,' I replied, 'have long been +sold.' He asked further whether I had then no more jewels. I +answered, 'I have none now.' 'I mean,' he said, 'elsewhere.' I +replied, 'I left some behind.' 'Where, then?' he asked. 'At Bruges,' +I replied. Then he said: 'I have now somewhat to ask you, madame, +that concerns myself. Did you visit my sister in Paris the last time +you were there?' I replied, 'Yes.' He asked whether I had been with +her in the convent, and what was the name of the convent. I informed +him that I had been in the convent, and that it was the Convent des +Filles Bleues. At this he nodded, as if to confirm it. He also wished +to know whether I had seen her. I said that no one in the convent +might be seen by anyone but parents; even brothers and sisters were +not allowed to see them.[E23] 'That is true,' he said, and then rose +and gave me his hand. I begged him to induce his gracious Majesty to +have pity on me, but he made no answer. When the Treasurer Gabel +gave me his hand, I begged the same favour of him. He replied, 'Yes, +if you will confess,' and went out without waiting for a reply. + + [E22] Ulfeldt received this present probably in 1647, when in + France as ambassador, on which occasion Queen Anna is known to have + presented to Leonora a gold watch set with diamonds of great value. + + [E23] The lady alluded to is Helvig Margaretha Elizabeth Rantzow, + widow of the famous General Josias Rantzow, who died as a marechal + of France. She had become a Romanist, and took the veil after her + husband's death. Subsequently she founded the new order of the + Annunciata. In 1666 the first convent of this order, of which she + was abbess, removed to Hildesheim, where she died in 1706. + +For more than three hours they had kept up the interrogation. Then +the prison governor came in and said to me: 'Now you are to remain in +here; it is a beautiful chamber, and has been freshly whitewashed; +you may now be contented.' Anna and Maren also came in. God knows, I +was full of care, tired and weary, and had insufferable headache; +yet, before I could go to rest, I had to sit waiting until the +bedstead had been taken out of the 'Dark Church' and brought hither. +Anna occupied herself meanwhile in the Dark Church, in scraping out +every hole; she imagined she might find something there, but in vain. +The woman who was to remain with me alone then came in. Her pay was +two rix-dollars a week; her name is Karen, the daughter of Ole. After +the prison governor had supped with the woman and Maren, Anna and +Maren Blocks bade me good night; the latter exhibited great +affection. The prison governor bolted two doors before my innermost +prison. In the innermost door there is a square hole, which is +secured with iron cross-bars. The prison governor was going to attach +a lock to this hole, but he forebore at Karen's request, for she said +she could not breathe if this hole were closed. He then affixed locks +to the door of the outer chamber, and to the door leading to the +stairs; he had, therefore, four locks and doors twice a day to lock +and unlock. + +I will here describe my prison. It is a chamber, seven of my paces +long and six wide; there are in it two beds, a table, and two stools. +It was freshly whitewashed, which caused a terrible smell; the floor, +moreover was so thick with dirt, that I imagined it was of loam, +though it was really laid with bricks. It is eighteen feet high, with +a vaulted ceiling, and very high up is a window which is two feet +square. In front of it are double thick iron bars, besides a +wire-work, which is so close that one could not put one's little +finger into the holes. This wire-work had been thus ordered with +great care by Count Rantzow (so the prison governor afterwards told +me), so that no pigeons might bring in a letter--a fact which he had +probably read in a novel as having happened. I was weak and deeply +grieved in my heart; I looked for a merciful deliverance, and an end +to my sorrow, and I sat silent and uncomplaining, answering little +when the woman spoke to me. Sometimes in my reverie I scratched at +the wall, which made the woman imagine that I was confused in my +head; she told this to the prison governor, who reported it to the +Queen, and during every meal-time, when the door was open, she never +failed to send messengers to enquire how it fared with me, what I +said, and what I was doing. + +The woman had, however, not much to tell in obedience to the oath +she, according to her own statement, had taken in the presence of the +prison governor. But afterwards she found some means to ingratiate +herself. And as my strength daily decreased, I rejoiced at the +prospect of my end, and on August 21 I sent for the prison governor, +and requested him to apply for a clergyman who could give me the +sacrament. This was immediately granted, and His Majesty's Court +preacher, Magister Mathias Foss, received orders to perform for me +the duties of his office, and exhorted me, both on behalf of his +office and in consequence of the command he had received, not to +burden my conscience; I might rest assured, he said, that in this +world I should never see my husband again, and he begged me to say +what I knew of the treason. I could scarcely utter a word for +weeping; but I said that I could attest before God in heaven, from +whom nothing is hidden, that I knew nothing of this treason. I knew +well I should never see my husband again in this life; I commended +him to the Almighty, who knew my innocence; I prayed God only for a +blessed end and departure from this evil world; I desired nothing +from the clergyman but that he should remember me in his prayers, +that God might by death put an end to my affliction. The clergyman +promised faithfully to grant my request. It has not pleased God to +hear me in this: He has willed to prove my faith still further, by +sending to me since this time much care, affliction, and adversity. +He has helped me also to bear the cross, and has Himself supported +its heaviest end; His name be praised for ever. When I had received +the Lord's Supper, M. Foss comforted me and bid me farewell. + +I lay silently for three days after this, taking little or nothing. +The prison governor often enquired whether I wished for anything to +eat or drink, or whether he should say anything to the King. I +thanked him, but said I required nothing. + +On August 25 the prison governor importuned me at once with his +conversation, expressing his belief that I entertained an evil +opinion of the Queen. He inferred it from this: the day before he had +said to me that His Majesty had ordered that whatever I desired from +the kitchen and cellar should be at once brought to me, to which I +had answered, 'God preserve His Majesty; he is a good sovereign; may +he show clemency to evil men!' He had then said, 'The Queen is also +good,' to which I had made no answer. He had then tried to turn the +conversation to the Queen, and to hear if he could not draw out a +word from me; he had said: 'The Queen is sorry for you that you have +been so led away. It grieves her that you have willed your own +unhappiness; she is not angry; she pities you.' And when I made no +answer, he repeated it again, saying from time to time, 'Yes, yes, my +dear lady, it is as I say.' I was annoyed at the talk, and said, +'Dieu vous punisse!' 'Ho, ho!' he said, misinterpreting my words, and +calling Karen, he went out and closed the doors. Thus unexpectedly I +got rid of him. It was ridiculous that the woman now wanted to oblige +me to attend to what the prison governor had said. I begged her to +remember that she was now not attending on a child (she had before +been nurse to children). She could not so easily depart from her +habit, and for a long time treated me as a child, until at length I +made her comprehend that this was not required. + +When I perceived that my stomach desired food and could retain it, I +became impatient that I could not die, but must go on living in such +misery. I began to dispute with God, and wanted to justify myself +with Him. It seemed to me that I had not deserved such misfortune. I +imagined myself far purer than David was from great sins, and yet he +could say, 'Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my +hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and +chastened every morning.' I thought I had not deserved so exceedingly +great a chastisement as that which I was receiving. I said with Job, +'Show me wherefore thou contendest with me. Is it good unto thee that +thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine +hands?' I repeated all Job's expressions when he tried to justify +himself, and it seemed to me that I could justly apply them to +myself. I cursed with him and Jeremiah the day of my birth, and was +very impatient; keeping it, however, to myself, and not expressing it +aloud. If at times a word escaped me, it was in German (since I had +generally read the Bible in German), and therefore the woman did not +understand what I was saying. I was very restless from coughing, and +turned from side to side on the bed. The woman often asked me how I +was. I begged her to leave me quiet and not to speak to me. I was +never more comfortable than in the night when I observed that she was +sleeping; then, unhindered, I could let my tears flow and give free +vent to my thoughts. Then I called God to account. I enumerated +everything that I had innocently suffered and endured during my life, +and I enquired of God whether I had deviated from my duty? Whether I +ought to have done less for my husband than I had done? Whether the +present was my recompense for not having left him in his adversity? +Whether I was to be now tortured, tormented, and scorned for this? +Whether all the indescribable misfortunes which I had endured with +him were not enough, that I had been reserved for this irremediable +and great trouble? I do not wish to conceal my unreasonableness. I +will confess my sins. I asked if still worse misfortunes were in +store for me for which I was to live? Whether there was any +affliction on earth to be compared to mine? I prayed God to put an +end to my sufferings, for it redounded in no wise to his honour to +let me live and be so tormented. I was after all not made of steel +and iron, but of flesh and blood. I prayed that He would suggest to +me, or inform me in a dream, what I was to do to shorten my misery. + +When I had long thus disputed and racked my brains, and had also wept +so bitterly that it seemed as if no more tears remained, I fell +asleep, but awoke with terror, for I had horrible fancies in my +dreams, so that I feared to sleep, and began again to bewail my +misery. At length God looked down upon me with his eye of mercy, so +that on August 31 I had a night of quiet sleep, and just as day was +dawning I awoke with the following words on my lips: 'My son, faint +not when thou art rebuked of the Lord; for whom the Lord loveth he +chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.' I uttered the +last words aloud, thinking that the woman was sleeping; possibly she +awoke at the moment, and she asked me whether I wished for anything. +I answered 'No.' 'You were speaking,' she said, 'and you mentioned +your stockings; I could not understand the rest.' I replied, 'It must +have been then in my sleep. I wish for nothing.' + +I then lay quietly thinking. I perceived and confessed my folly, that +I, who am only dust and ashes, and decay, and am only fit for the +dunghill, should call God to account, should dispute with my Creator +and his decrees, and should wish to censure and question them. I +began to weep violently, and I prayed fervently and from my heart for +mercy and forgiveness. While I had before boasted with David, and +been proud of my innocence, now I confessed with him that before God +there is none that doeth good; no, not one. While before I had spoken +foolishly with Job, I now said with him that I had 'uttered that I +understood not; things too wonderful for me which I knew not.' I +besought God to have mercy on me, relying on his great compassion. I +cited Moses, Joshua, David, Jeremiah, Job, Jonah, and others, all +highly endowed men, and yet so weak that in the time of calamity +they grumbled and murmured against God. I prayed that He would in his +mercy forgive me, the frailest of earthen vessels, as I could not +after all be otherwise than as He had created me. All things were in +his power; it was easy to Him to give me patience, as He had before +imparted to me power and courage to endure hard blows and shocks. And +I prayed God (after asking forgiveness of my sins) for nothing else +than good patience to await the period of my deliverance. God +graciously heard me. He pardoned not only my foolish sins, but He +gave me that also for which I had not prayed, for day by day my +patience increased. While I had often said with David, 'Will the Lord +cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy +clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God +forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in anger shut up his tender +mercies?' I now continued with him, 'This is my infirmity, but I will +remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.' I said also +with Psalm cxix.: 'It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that +I might learn thy statutes.' + +The power of God was working within me. Many consolatory sentences +from the Holy Scriptures came into my mind; especially these:--'If so +be that we suffer with Christ, that we may be also glorified +together.' Also: 'We know that all things work together for good to +them that love God.' Also: 'My grace is sufficient for thee, for my +strength is made perfect in weakness.' I thought especially often of +Christ's words in St. Luke, 'Shall not God avenge his own elect, +which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I +tell you that he will avenge them speedily.' I felt in my trouble how +useful it is to have learned psalms and passages from the Bible in +youth. Believe me, my children, that it has been a great consolation +to me in my misery. Therefore, cultivate now in your youth what your +parents taught you in childhood; now, while trouble visits you less +severely, so that when it comes, you may be ready to receive it and +to comfort yourselves with the Word of God. + +I began by degrees to feel more at peace, and to speak with the +woman, and to answer the prison governor when he addressed me. The +woman told me sundry things, and said that the prison governor had +ordered her to tell him everything that I spoke or did, but that she +was too wise to do such a thing; that she understood now better than +she had done at first how to behave. He went out, but she remained +shut up with me, and she would be true to me. And as it appeared that +I did not at once believe what she said, she swore it solemnly, and +prayed God to punish her if ever she acted falsely towards me. She +stroked and patted my hand, and laid it against her cheek, and begged +that I would believe her, using the words, 'My dearest lady, you can +believe me; as truly as I am a child of God, I will never deceive +you! Now, is not that enough?' I answered, 'I will believe you;' +thinking at the same time that I would do and say nothing but what +she might divulge. She was very glad that she had induced me to +speak, and said, 'When you lay so long silent, and I had no one with +whom I could speak, I was sad, and determined that I would not long +lead this life, even if they gave me double as much, for I should +have become crazed. I was afraid for you, but still more for myself, +that my head would give way.' + +She went on talking in this way, introducing also various merry +stories. When she was young she had been in the service of a +clergyman, who encouraged his domestics in the fear of God, and there +she had learned prayers and sentences from the Bible by heart; she +knew also the Children's Primer, with the explanatory remarks, and +sang tolerably well. She knew in some measure how she should walk +before God and behave towards her neighbour; but she acted contrary +to her knowledge--for she had a malicious temper. She was an elderly +woman, but she liked to reckon herself as middle-aged. It appeared +that in her youth she had been pretty and rather dissolute, since +even now she could not lay aside her levity, but joked with the +tower-warder, and the prison governor's coachman, a man of the name +of Peder, and with a prisoner named Christian (more will presently be +said with regard to this prisoner; he was free to go about the +tower).[69] + + [69] When I took my meals, the woman had opportunity of talking + with the three men. The coachman helped the tower-warder Rasmus to + bring up the food. [Marginal note.] + +Maren Blocks often sent me a message through this coachman, besides +various kinds of candied sugar and citron, letting me know from time +to time whether anything new was occurring. All this had to be done +through the woman. One day she came in when the doors were closed, +and brought me a message from Maren Blocks, saying, 'My lady, if you +will now write to your children in Skaane, there is a safe +opportunity for you to do so.' I answered, 'My children are not in +Skaane, yet if I can send a message to Skaane, I have a friend there +who will probably let me know how it fares with my children.' She +gave me a piece of crumpled paper and a pencil. I wrote a few words +to F. Margrete Rantzow,[E24] saying that she probably knew of my +miserable condition, but supposing that her friendship was not +lessened by it, and begging her to let me know how my children were, +and from what cause they had come to Skaane, as I had been informed +was the case, though I did not believe it. This was what I wrote and +gave to the woman. I heard nothing further of it, and I imagine that +she had been ordered to find out to whom I wrote, &c. (They have been +busy with the idea that some of you, my dear children, might come to +Skaane.) I sewed up the letter or slip of paper in such a manner that +it could not be opened without making it apparent. I asked the woman +several times if she knew whether the letter had been sent away. She +always answered that she did not know, and that with a morose +expression, and at last she said (when I once more asked her to +enquire of Peder), 'I suppose that the person who ought to have it +has got it.' This answer made me reflect, and since then I asked no +further. + + [E24] Margrete Rantzow was the sister of that Birgitte Rantzow to + whom there is an allusion in the Autobiography of Leonora, where + she relates the examination to which she was subjected at Malmoe. + Margrete's husband was Ove Thott, a nobleman in Skaane, who had + taken an important part in the preparations for a rising against + the Swedes, in which Corfitz Ulfeldt was implicated. + +I remained all this time in bed, partly because I had nothing with +which to beguile the time, and partly because of the cold, for no +stove was placed in my prison till after the New Year. Occasionally I +requested the woman to manage, through Peder, that I should have a +little silk or thread, that I might beguile the time by embroidering +a piece of cloth that I had; but the answer I received was that he +dared not. A long time afterwards it came to my knowledge that she +had never asked Peder for it. There was trouble enough, however, to +occupy my thoughts without my needing to employ the time in +handiwork. + +It was on September 2 that I heard some one moving early overhead, so +I asked the woman if she knew whether there was a chamber there (for +the woman went up every Saturday with the night-stool). She answered +that there was a prison there like this, and outside was the rack +(which is also the case). She observed that I showed signs of fear, +and she said, 'God help! Whoever it is that is up there is most +assuredly to be tortured.' I said, 'Ask Peder, when the doors are +unlocked, whether there is a prisoner there.' She said she would do +so, and meanwhile she kept asking herself and me who it might be. I +could not guess; still less did I venture to confess my fear to her, +which she nevertheless perceived, and therefore increased; for after +she had spoken with Peder, about noon,[70] and the doors were locked, +she said, 'God knows who it is that is imprisoned there! Peder would +tell me nothing.' She said the same at the evening meal, but added +that she had asked him, and that he would give no answer. I calmed +myself, as I heard no more footsteps above, and I said, 'There is no +prisoner up there.'[71] 'How do you know that?' she asked. 'I gather +it from the fact,' I said, 'that since this morning I have heard no +one above; I think if there were anyone there, they would probably +give him something to eat.' She was not pleased that my mind was +quieted, and therefore she and Peder together endeavoured to trouble +me. + + [70] I could not see when she spoke with any one, for she did so on + the stairs. [Marginal note.] + + [71] In the margin is added: 'There was none.' + +On the following day, when the doors were being locked after the +mid-day dinner (which was generally Peder's task), and he was pulling +to my innermost door, which opens inside, he put in his head and +said, 'Casset!' She was standing beside the door, and appeared as if +she had not rightly understood him, saying, 'Peder spoke of some one +who is in prison, but I could not understand who it is.' I understood +him at once, but also behaved as if I had not. No one knows but God +what a day and night I had. I turned it over in my mind. It often +seemed to me that it might be that they had seized him, although +Cassetta was a subject of the King of Spain; for if treason is +suspected, there is no thought given as to whose subject the man +suspected may be. I lay in the night secretly weeping and lamenting +that the brave man should have come into trouble for my sake, because +he had executed my lord's will, and had followed me to England, where +we parted, I should say, when Petcon and his company separated us and +carried me away. + +I lay without sleep till towards day, then I fell into a dream which +frightened me. I suppose my thoughts caused it. It came before me +that Cassetta was being tortured in the manner he had once described +to me that a Spaniard had been tortured: four cords were fastened +round his hands and feet, and each cord was made secure in a corner +of the room, and a man sometimes pulled one cord and sometimes +another; and since it seemed to me that Cassetta never screamed, I +supposed that he was dead, and I shrieked aloud and awoke. The woman, +who had long been awake, said: 'O God! dear lady, what ails you? Are +you ill? You have been groaning a long time, and now you screamed +loudly.' I replied, 'It was in my dream; nothing ails me.' She said +further, 'Then you have had a bad dream?' 'That may well be,' I +answered. 'Oh, tell me what you have dreamt; I can interpret +dreams.' I replied, 'When I screamed I forgot my dream, otherwise no +one can interpret dreams better than I.' I thank God I do not regard +dreams; and this dream had no other cause than what I have said. When +the door was locked after the mid-day meal, the woman said of herself +(for I asked no further respecting the prisoners), 'There is no one +imprisoned there; shame on Peder for his nonsense!' I asked him who +was imprisoned there, and he laughed at me heartily. 'There is no one +there, so let your mind be at peace.' I said, 'If my misfortunes were +to involve others, it would be very painful to me.' + +Thus matters went on till the middle of September, and then two of +our servants were brought as prisoners and placed in arrest; one Nils +Kaiberg, who had acted as butler, and the other Frans, who had been +in our service as a lacquey. After having been kept in prison for a +few weeks and examined they were set at liberty. At the same time two +Frenchmen were brought as prisoners: an old man named La Rosche, and +a young man whose name I do not know. La Rosche was brought to the +tower and was placed in the witch-cell; a feather-bed had been thrown +down, and on this he lay; for some months he was never out of his +clothes. His food consisted of bread and wine; he refused everything +else. He was accused of having corresponded with Corfitz, and of +having promised the King of France that he would deliver Crooneborg +into his hands.[72] This information had been given by Hannibal +Sehested, who was at that time in France, and he had it from a +courtesan who was then intimate with Hannibal, but had formerly been +in connection with La Rosche, and probably afterwards had quarrelled +with him. There was no other proof in favour of the accusation. +Probably suspicion had been raised by the fact that this La Rosche, +with the other young man, had desired to see me when I was in arrest +in Dover, which had been permitted, and they had paid me their +respects. It is possible that he had wished to speak with me and to +tell me what he had heard in London, and which, it seemed to him, +excited no fears in me. But as I was playing at cards with some +ladies who had come to look at me, he could not speak with me; so he +asked me whether I had the book of plays which the Countess of +Pembroke had published.[E25] I replied, 'No'. He promised to send it +me, and as I did not receive it, I think he had written in it some +warning to me, which Braten afterwards turned to his advantage. + + [72] Did not this accord well with the statement that my lord had + offered the kingdom of Denmark to two potentates? [Marginal note.] + + [E25] The book in question is probably Philip Sidney's work, 'The + Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia,' a famous book of its time, which + Leonora, who does not seem to have known it, has understood to be a + book by the Countess of Pembroke. It is true, however, that + Philip's sister, Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, had translated + a French play, Antonius (1592, and again 1595). + +However all this may be, La Rosche suffered innocently, and could +prove upon oath that he had never spoken with my lord in his life, +and still less had corresponded with him.[73] In short, after some +months of innocent suffering, he was set at liberty and sent back to +France. The other young man was confined in an apartment near the +servants' hall. He had only been apprehended as a companion to the +other, but no further accusation was brought against him.[E26] At +first, when these men were imprisoned, there was a whispering and +talking between the prison governor and the woman, and also between +Peder and her; the prison governor moreover himself locked my door. I +plainly perceived that there was something in the wind, but I made no +enquiries. Peder at length informed the woman that they were two +Frenchmen, and he said something about the affair, but not as it +really was. Shortly before they were set at liberty the prison +governor said, 'I have two parle mi franco in prison; what they have +done I know not.' I made no further enquiries, but he jested and +said, 'Now I can learn French.' 'That will take time,' said I. + + [73] In the margin is noted: 'I had never seen La Rosche nor his + companion till I did so at Dover.' + + [E26] La Roche Tudesquin had some time been in the Danish army, but + had returned to France when Hannibal Sehested, while in Paris as + Ambassador from the King of Denmark, received information from a + certain Demoiselle Langlois that La Roche was implicated in a + conspiracy for surrendering the principal Danish fortresses to a + foreign prince. He and a friend of his, Jaques Beranger, were + arrested in Brussels in September 1663, but not, as Leonora says, + immediately brought to Copenhagen. The Spanish Government did not + consent to their extradition till the following year, and they were + not placed in the Blue Tower till June 1664. La Roche seems to have + been guilty of peculation while in the Danish service, but the + accusation of treason seems to have been unfounded. + +In the same month of September died Count Rantzow. He did not live to +see the execution of an effigy, which he so confidently had hoped +for, being himself the one who first had introduced this kind of +mockery in these countries.[E27] + + [E27] In the MS. a pen is drawn through this paragraph, of which + the contents were to form part of the Preface. The date of Count + Rantzow is moreover not correctly given; he died on November 8, + five days before the execution of Ulfeldt's effigy. + +On October 9 our Princess Anna Sophia was betrothed to the Electoral +Prince of Saxony. On the morning of the day on which the festivities +were to take place I said to the woman, 'To-day we shall fast till +evening.' For I thought they would not think of me, and that I should +not receive any of the remains until the others had been treated, at +any rate, to dinner. She wished to know the reason why we were to +fast. I answered, 'You shall know it this evening.' I lay and thought +of the change of fortune: that I, who twenty-eight years ago had +enjoyed as great state as the Princess, should now be lying a +captive, close by the very wall where my bridal chamber had been; +thank God, that it afflicted me but little. Towards noonday, when the +trumpets and kettledrums were sounding, I said, 'Now they are +conducting the bride across the square to the great hall.' 'How do +you know that?' said the woman. 'I know it,' I said; 'my spirit tells +me so.' 'What sort of spirit is that?' she asked. 'That I cannot +tell you,' I replied. And as the trumpets blew every time that a new +course of dishes and sweets were produced, I mentioned it; and before +they were served the kettledrums were sounded. And as they were +served on the square in front of the kitchen, I said each time, 'We +shall have no dinner yet.' When it was nearly three o'clock, the +woman said, 'My stomach is quite shrunk up; when shall we have +dinner?' I answered, 'Not for a long time yet; the second course is +only now on the table; we shall have something at about seven +o'clock, and not before.' It was as I said. About half-past seven the +prison governor came and excused himself, saying that he had asked +for the dinner, but that all hands in the kitchen were occupied. The +woman, who had always entertained the idea that I was a witch, was +now confirmed in her opinion.[74] + + [74] In the margin is added: 'The prison governor told the woman + about the magnificence of the festivity and Peder also told her of + it, so that it seemed to her that I could know somewhat from + customs of former times.' + +On the following day knights were dubbed, and each time when the +trumpets blew I did not only say, 'Now they have made a knight' (for +I could hear the herald calling from the window, though I could not +understand what he said), but even who had been made a knight; for +this I guessed, knowing who were in the Council who were not knights +before; and because it was as I said, the woman believed for certain +that I was an enchantress. I perceived this, as she put questions to +me concerning things which I could not know, and to which I often +gave equivocal answers. I thought perhaps that the fear she had that +I could know what would happen might hinder her from entangling me +with lies. Since then she whispered much less with the prison +governor. She told of a person whom she regarded as a witch, whose +power, however, consisted in nothing else than in the science of +curing French pox, and causing the miscarriage of bad women, and +other improprieties. She had had much intercourse with this woman. + +Some time after the departure of the Electoral Prince it was +determined that a wooden effigy should be subjected to capital +punishment, and on the forenoon my chamber was opened, swept, +cleaned, and strewed with sand.[75] When it was opened, towards noon, +and the woman had been on the stairs, talking with the coachman, she +came in, and walking up to my bed, stood as if startled, and said +hurriedly, 'Oh, Jesus! Lady, they are bringing your husband!' The +news terrified me, which she observed; for as she uttered it, I +raised myself in the bed and stretched out my right arm, and was not +able to draw it back again at once. Perhaps this vexed her, for I +remained sitting in this way and not speaking a word; so she said, +'My dearest lady, it is your husband's effigy.' To this I said, 'May +God punish you!' She then gave full vent to her evil tongue, and +expressed her opinion that I deserved punishment, and not she, and +used many unprofitable words. I was quite silent, for I was very +weak, and scarcely knew where I was. In the afternoon I heard a great +murmuring of people in the inner palace square, and I saw the effigy +brought across the street by the executioner on a wheelbarrow, and +placed in the tower below my prison. + + [75] The Queen wished that this wooden statue should be brought + into my outer chamber, and so placed in front of the door that it + would tumble into me when my inner door was opened; but the King + would not permit it. [Addition in the margin.] + +The next morning, at about nine o'clock, the effigy was wofully +treated by the executioner, but no sound came from it. At the mid-day +meal the prison governor told the woman how the executioner had cut +off its head, and had divided the body into four quarters, which were +then placed on four wheels, and attached to the gallows, while the +head was exhibited on the town hall. The prison governor stood in the +outer chamber, but he narrated all this in a loud tone, so that I +might hear it, and repeated it three times.[E28] I lay and thought +what I should do; I could not show that I made but little of it, for +then something else perhaps would be devised to trouble me, and in +the hurry I could think of nothing else than saying to the woman with +sadness, 'Oh, what a shame! speak to the prison governor and tell him +to beg the King to allow the effigy to be taken down and not to +remain as it is!' The woman went out, and spoke softly with the +prison governor; but he answered aloud and said, 'Yes, indeed, taken +down! There will be more put up; yes, more up;' and kept on repeating +these words a good while. + + [E28] The execution took place on November 13. The King's order + concerning it to the prison governor, Jochum Waltpurger, exists + still. It is to this effect: 'V. G. T., Know that you have to + command the executioner in our name, that to-day, November 13, he + is to take the effigy of Corfitz, formerly called Count of Ulfeldt, + from the Blue Tower where it is now, and bring it on a car to the + ordinary place in the square in front of the castle; and when he + has come to the place of justice, strike off the right hand and the + head, whereafter he is to divide the body into four parts on the + spot, and carry them away with him, whilst the head is to be placed + on a spike on the Blue Tower for remembrance and execration.' The + order was afterwards altered in this particular, that the head was + to be placed on the town hall, and the four parts of the body one + at each of the gates of the city. The executioner was subsequently + ordered to efface the arms of Corfitz and his wife wherever they + occurred in the town; for instance, on their pews in the churches. + Leonora states in her Autobiography that the prison governor some + time after told her that the Queen had desired that the effigy + should be placed in the antechamber of Leonora's prison, and that + she should be ordered to see it there; but that the king refused + his consent. + +I lay silently thinking; I said nothing, but indulged in my own +reflections. Sometimes I consoled myself, and hoped that this +treatment of the effigy was a token that they could not get the man; +then again fear asserted its sway. I did not care for the dishonour, +for there are too many instances of great men in France whose +effigies have been burnt by the executioner, and who subsequently +arrived again at great honour. + +When the door was unlocked again for the evening meal, there was a +whispering between the prison governor and the woman. A lacquey was +also sent, who stood outside the outer door and called the prison +governor to him (my bed stands just opposite the doors, and thus when +all three doors are opened I can see the staircase door, which is the +fourth). I do not know what the woman can have told the prison +governor, for I had not spoken all day, except to ask her to give me +what I required; I said, moreover, nothing more than this for several +days, so that the prison governor grew weary of enquiring longer of +the woman; for she had nothing to communicate to him respecting me, +and she tormented him always with her desire to get away; she could +not longer spend her life in this way. + +But as she received no other consolation from him than that he swore +to her that she would never get away as long as she lived, for some +days she did nothing else than weep; and since I would not ask her +why she wept, she came one day up to my bedside crying, and said, 'I +am a miserable being!' I asked her why? what ailed her? 'I ail +enough,' she answered; 'I have been so stupid, and have allowed +myself to be shut up here for the sake of money, and now you are +cross with me and will not speak with me.' I said, 'What am I to say? +you wish perhaps to have something to communicate to the prison +governor?' Upon this she began to call down curses on herself if she +had ever repeated to the prison governor a word that I had said or +done; she wished I could believe her and speak with her; why should +she be untrue to me? we must at any rate remain together as long as +we lived. She added many implorations as to my not being angry; I had +indeed cause to be so; she would in future give me no cause for +anger, for she would be true to me. I thought, 'You shall know no +more than is necessary.' + +I let her go on talking and relating the whole history of her +life--such events as occur among peasants. She had twice married +cottagers, and after her last widowhood she had been employed as +nurse to the wife of Holger Wind, so that she had no lack of stories. +By her first husband she had had a child, who had never reached +maturity, and her own words led me to have a suspicion that she had +herself helped to shorten the child's days; for once when she was +speaking of widows marrying again, she said among other things, +'Those who wish to marry a second time ought not to have children, +for in that case the husband is never one with the wife.' I had much +to say against this, and I asked her what a woman was to do who had a +child by her first husband. She answered quickly, 'Put a pillow on +its head.' This I could only regard as a great sin, and I explained +it to her. 'What sin could there be,' she said, 'when the child was +always sickly, and the husband angry in consequence?' I answered as I +ought, and she seemed ill at ease. Such conversation as this gave me +no good reason to believe in the fidelity which she had promised me. + +The woman then took a different tack, and brought me word from the +coachman of all that was occurring. Maren Blocks sent me a +prayer-book through her, and that secretly, for I was allowed no book +of any kind, nor any needles and pins; respecting these the woman had +by the Queen's order taken an oath to the prison governor. Thus the +year passed away. On New Year's day, 1664, the woman wished me a +happy year. I thanked her, and said, 'That is in God's hands.' 'Yes,' +she said, 'if He wills it.' 'And if He does not will it,' I answered, +'it will not be, and then He will give me patience to bear my heavy +cross.' 'It is heavy,' she said, 'even to me; what must it not be to +you? May it only remain as it is, and not be worse with you!' It +seemed to me as if it could not be worse, but better; for death, in +whatever form, would put an end to my misery. 'Yes,' she said, 'is it +not all one how one dies?' 'That is true,' I answered; 'one dies in +despair, another with free courage.' The prison governor did not say +a word to me that day. The woman had a long talk with the coachman; +she no doubt related to him our conversation. + +In the month of March the prison governor came in and assumed a +particularly gentle manner, and said, among other things, 'Now you +are a widow; now you can tell the state of all affairs.' I answered +him with a question, 'Can widows tell the state of all affairs?' He +laughed and said, 'I do not mean that; I mean this treason!' I +answered, 'You can ask others about it who know of it; I know of no +treason.' And as it seemed to him that I did not believe that my +husband was dead,[E29] he took out a newspaper and let me read it, +perhaps chiefly because my husband was badly treated in it. I did not +say much about it--nothing more than, 'Writers of newspapers do not +always speak the truth.' This he might take as he liked. + + [E29] The date of Ulfeldt's death is variously given as the 20th or + the 27th of February, 1664. The latter date is given in a letter + from his son Christian to Sperling, and elsewhere, (for instance, + in a short Latin Biography of Ulfeldt called 'Machinationes + Cornificii Ulefeldii,' published soon after); but the better + evidence points to the earlier date. Christian Ulfeldt was not, it + seems, at Basle at the time, and may have made a mistake as to the + date, though he indicates the right day of the week (a Saturday), + or he may have had reason for purposely making a misleading + statement. In Copenhagen the report of his death was long suspected + to be a mere trick. + +I lay there silently hoping that it might be so, that my husband had +by death escaped his enemies; and I thought with the greatest +astonishment that I should have lived to see the day when I should +wish my lord dead; then sorrowful thoughts took possession of me, and +I did not care to talk. The woman imagined that I was sad because my +lord was dead, and she comforted me, and that in a reasonable +manner; but the remembrance of past times was only strengthened by +her consolatory remarks, and for a long time my mind could not again +regain repose. Your condition, my dearest children, troubled me. You +had lost your father, and with him property and counsel. I am captive +and miserable, and cannot help you, either with counsel or deed; you +are fugitives and in a foreign land. For my three eldest sons I am +less anxious than for my daughters and my youngest son.[E30] I sat up +whole nights in my bed, for I could not sleep, and when I have +headache I cannot lay my head on the pillow. From my heart I prayed +to God for a gracious deliverance. It has not pleased God to grant +this, but He gave me patience to bear my heavy cross. + + [E30] Ulfeldt and Leonora had twelve children in all, of which + seven were alive when Corfitz died; and it so happened as, + explained before, that the youngest, Leo, was the only one who + continued the name. It is from him that Count Waldstein, the owner + of the MS., is descended. + +My cross was so much heavier to me at first, as it was strictly +forbidden to give me either knife, scissors, thread, or anything that +might have beguiled the time to me. Afterwards, when my mind became a +little calmer, I began to think of something wherewith to occupy +myself; and as I had a needle, as I have before mentioned, I took off +the ribands of my night-dress, which were broad flesh-coloured +taffeta. With the silk I embroidered the piece of cloth that I had +with different flowers worked in small stitches. When this was +finished, I drew threads out of my sheet, twisted them, and sewed +with them. When this was nearly done, the woman said one day, 'What +will you do now when this is finished?' I answered, 'Oh, I shall get +something to do; if it is brought to me by the ravens, I shall have +it.' Then she asked me if I could do anything with a broken wooden +spoon. I answered, 'Perhaps you know of one?' After having laughed a +while, she drew one forth, the bowl of which was half broken off. 'I +could indeed make something with that,' I said, 'if I had only a tool +for the purpose. Could you persuade the prison governor or Peder the +coachman to lend me a knife?' 'I will beg for one,' she answered, +'but I know well that they will not.' That she said something about +it to the prison governor I could perceive from his answer, for he +replied aloud, 'She wants no knife; I will cut her food for her. She +might easily injure herself with one.'[76] + + [76] In the margin is this note: 'Once when I asked the prison + governor for some scissors to cut my nails, he answered, and that + loudly, "What! what! her nails shall grow like eagles' claws, and + her hair like eagles' feathers!" I know well what I thought--if I + had only claws and wings!' + +What she said to the coachman I know not (this I know, that she did +not desire me to obtain a knife, for she was afraid of me, as I +afterwards discovered). The woman brought the answer from the +coachman that he dared not for his life. I said, 'If I can but have a +piece of glass, I will see what I can make that is useful with the +piece of spoon.' I begged her to look in a corner in the outermost +room, where all rubbish was thrown; this she did, and found not only +glass, but even a piece of a pewter cover which had belonged to a +jug. By means of the glass I formed the spoon handle into a pin with +two prongs, on which I made riband, which I still have in use (the +silk for this riband I took from the border of my night-dress). I +bent the piece of pewter in such a manner that it afterwards served +me as an inkstand. It also is still in my keeping. As a mark of +fidelity, the woman brought me at the same time a large pin, which +was a good tool for beginning the division between the prongs, which +I afterwards scraped with glass. + +She asked me whether I could think of anything to play with, as the +time was so long to her. I said, 'Coax Peder, and he will bring you a +little flax for money and a distaff.' 'What!' she answered, 'shall I +spin? The devil may spin! For whom should I spin?' I said, 'To +beguile the time, I would spin, if I only had what is necessary for +it.' 'That you may not have, dear lady,' said she; 'I have done the +very utmost for you in giving you what I have done.' 'If you wish +something to play with,' said I, 'get some nuts, and we will play +with them.' She did so, and we played with them like little children. +I took three of the nuts, and made them into dice, placing two kinds +of numbers on each, and we played with these also. And that we might +know the {circled dot} which I made with the large pin,[77] I begged +her to procure for me a piece of chalk, which she did, and I rubbed +chalk into it. These dice were lost, I know not how; my opinion is +that the coachman got possession of them, perhaps at the time that he +cheated the woman out of the candles and sugar left. For he came to +her one day at noon quite out of breath, and said she was to give him +the candles and the sugar which he had brought her from Maren Blocks, +and whatever there was that was not to be seen, as our quarters were +to be searched. She ran out with the things under her apron, and +never said anything to me about it until the door was locked. I +concealed on myself, as well as I was able, my pin, my silk, and the +pieces of sewing with the needle and pin. Nothing came of the search, +and it was only a _ruse_ of the coachman, in order to get the +candles that were left, for which she often afterwards abused him, +and also for the sugar. + + [77] I removed my nails with the needle, scratching them till they + came away. I let the nail of the little finger of my right hand + grow, in order to see how long it would become; but I knocked it + off unawares, and I still have it. [Marginal note.] + +I was always at work, so long as I had silk from my night-dress and +stockings, and I netted on the large pin, so that it might last a +long time. I have still some of the work in my possession, as well as +the bobbins, which I made out of wooden pegs. By means of bags filled +with sand I made cords which I formed into a bandage (which is worn +out), for I was not allowed a corset, often as I begged for one; the +reason why is unknown to me. I often beguiled the time with the piece +of chalk, painting with it on a piece of board and on the table, +wiping it away again, and making rhymes and composing hymns. The +first of these, however, I composed before I had the chalk. I never +sang it, but repeated it to myself. + +A morning hymn, to the tune, 'Ieg wil din Priiss ud Synge'[E31]:-- + + [E31] This hymn-tune is still in use in the Danish Church. + + I + + God's praise I will be singing + In every waking hour. + My grateful tribute bringing + To magnify his power; + And his almighty love, + His angel watchers sending, + My couch with mercy tending, + And watching from above. + + II + + In salt drops streaming ever + The tears flowed from my eyes; + I often thought I never + Should see the morning rise. + Yet has the Lord instilled + Sleep in his own good pleasure; + And sleep in gracious measure + Has his command fulfilled. + + III + + Oh Christ! Lord of the living, + Thine armour place on me, + Which manly vigour giving, + Right valiant shall I be, + 'Gainst Satan, death, and sin. + And every carnal feeling, + That nought may come concealing + Thy sway my heart within. + + IV + + Help me! Thy arms extending; + My cross is hard and sore: + Support its heaviest ending, + Or I can bear no more. + Too much am I oppressed! + My trust is almost waning + With pain and vain complaining! + Thine arrows pierce my breast. + + V + + In mercy soothe the sorrow + That weighs the fatherless; + Vouchsafe a happier morrow, + And all my children bless! + Strength to their father yield, + In their hard fate respect them, + From enemies protect them; + My strength, be Thou their shield. + + VI + + I am but dust and ashes, + Yet one request I crave: + Let me not go at unawares + Into the silent grave. + With a clear mind and breast + My course in this world closing, + Let me, on Thee reposing, + Pass to Thy land of rest. + +I composed the following hymn in German and often sang it, as they +did not understand German; a hymn, somewhat to the air of 'Was ist +doch auff dieser Welt, das nicht fehlt?' &c.:-- + + I + + Reason speaketh to my soul: + Fret not Soul, + Thou hast a better goal! + It is not for thee restricted + That with thee + Past should be + All the wrongs inflicted. + + II + + Why then shouldst thou thus fret thee, + Anxiously, + Ever sighing, mournfully? + Thou canst not another sorrow + Change with this, + For that is + Which shall be on the morrow. + + III + + Loss of every earthly gain + Bringeth pain; + Fresh courage seek to obtain! + Much was still superfluous ceded, + Nature's call + After all + Makes but little needed. + + IV + + Is the body captive here? + Do not fear: + Thou must not hold all too dear; + Thou art free--a captive solely; + Can no tower + Have the power + Thee to fetter wholly? + + V + + All the same is it at last + When thou hast + The long path of striving past, + And thou must thy life surrender; + Death comes round, + Whether found + On couch hard or tender. + + VI + + Courage then, my soul, arise! + Heave no sighs + That nought yet thy rest supplies! + God will not leave thee in sorrow: + Well He knows + When He chose + Help for thee to borrow. + +Thus I peacefully beguiled the time, until Doctor Otto Sperling[E32] +was brought to the tower; his prison is below the 'dark church.' His +fate is pitiable. When he was brought to the tower his feet and hands +were chained in irons. The prison governor, who had formerly not been +friendly with him, rejoiced heartily at the doctor's misfortune, and +that he had fallen into his hands, so that the whole evening he did +nothing but sing and hum. He said to the woman, 'My Karen, will you +dance? I will sing.' He left the doctor to pass the night in his +irons. We could hear that a prisoner had been brought in from the +murmuring, and the concourse of people, as well as from the locking +of the prison, which was below mine (where iron bolts were placed +against the door).[78] The joy exhibited by the prison governor +excited my fear, also that he not only himself opened and shut my +door, but that he prevented the woman from going out on the stairs, +by leaning against the outermost door of my prison. The coachman +stood behind the prison governor making signs; but as the prison +governor turned from side to side, I could not rightly see him. + + [E32] Dr. Otto Sperling, the elder, is often alluded to in the + Autobiography of Leonora as 'notre vieillard;' he was a faithful + friend of Ulfeldt, and in 1654 he settled in Hamburg, where he + educated Corfitz's youngest son Leo. He was implicated in Ulfeldt's + intrigues, and a compromising correspondence between them fell into + the hands of the Spanish Government, which placed it at the + disposal of Hannibal Sehested when he passed through the + Netherlands on his way home from his mission to France in 1663. In + order to obtain possession of Sperling's person, the Danish + authorities used the ruse of sending a Danish officer to his house + in Hamburg, and request him to visit professionally a sick person + just across the Danish frontier, paying in advance a considerable + fee. Sperling, who did not suspect the transaction, was arrested + immediately on crossing the boundary, and brought to Copenhagen. He + was condemned to death July 28, 1664; but the sentence was + commuted, and he died in the Blue Tower December 25, 1681. Otto + Sperling, jun., to whom Leonora sent the MS. of her Autobiography, + and who often visited her at Maribo, was his son. + + [78] The prison cell is outside that in which the doctor is + immured. It is quite dark where he is. [Note in the margin.] + +On the following day, at about eight o'clock, I heard the iron bolts +drawn and the door below opened; I could also hear that the inner +prison was opened (the doctor was then taken out for examination). +The woman said, 'There is certainly a prisoner there; who can it be?' +I said: 'It seems indeed that a prisoner has been brought in, for the +prison governor is so merry. You will find it out from Peder; if not +to-day, another time. I pity the poor man, whoever he may be.' (God +knows my heart was not as courageous as I appeared.) When my door was +opened at noon (which was after twelve o'clock, for they did not open +my door till the doctor had been conveyed to his cell again), the +prison governor was still merrier than usual, and danced about and +sang, 'Cheer up! courage! It will come to pass!' + +When he had cut up the dinner, he leaned against the outer door of my +prison and prevented the woman from going out, saying to me, 'I am to +salute you from the Major-General von Alfeldt; he says all will now +soon be well, and you may console yourself. Yes, yes, all will now +soon be well!' I behaved as if I received his words in their apparent +meaning, and I begged him to thank the Major-General for his +consolation; and then he repeated the same words, and added, 'Yes, +indeed! he said so.' I replied with a question: 'What may it arise +from that the Major-General endeavours to cheer me? May God cheer him +in return! I never knew him before.' To this the prison governor made +no answer at all. While the prison governor was talking with me, the +coachman was standing behind him, and showed by gestures how the +prisoner had been bound hand and foot, that he had a beard and a +calotte on his head, and a handkerchief round his neck. This could +not make me wiser than I was, but it could indeed grieve me still +more. At the evening meal the woman was again prevented speaking with +the coachman, and the coachman again made the same signs, for the +prison governor was standing in his usual place; but he said nothing, +nor did I.[79] On the following morning the Doctor was again brought +up for examination, and the prison governor behaved as before. As he +stood there ruminating, I asked him who the prisoner below was. He +answered that there was no one below. I let the matter rest for the +time, and as we proceeded to speak of other things, the woman slipped +out to Peder, who told her quickly who it was. Some days went by in +the same manner. When sentence had been pronounced on the Doctor, and +his execution was being postponed,[80] and I said nothing to the +prison governor but when he accosted me, he came in and said: 'I see +that you can judge that there is a prisoner below. It is true, but I +am forbidden to tell you who it is!' I answered: 'Then I do not +desire to know.' He began to feel some compassion, and said: 'Don't +fret, my dear lady; it is not your husband, nor your son, nor +daughter, nor brother-in-law, nor any relative; it is a bird which +ought to sing,[81] and will not, but he must, he must!' I said: 'I +ought to be able to guess from your words who it is. If the bird can +sing what can ring in their ears, he will probably do so; but he +cannot sing a melody which he does not know!' Upon this he was +silent, and turned away and went out. + + [79] In the margin is added: 'When the prison governor was singing + to himself on those first days, he said, "You must sing, my bird; + where is your velvet robe?" laughing at the same time most + heartily. I inferred from that song who it was.' + + [80] In the margin is added: 'In order to grieve the Doctor and to + frighten him, the prison governor unlocked his cell early on the + morning after sentence had been passed, and behaved as if the + priest were coming to him.' + + [81] That is, give information. + +By degrees all became quiet with regard to the Doctor, and no more +was said about the matter, and the prison governor came in from time +to time when the door was opened, and often made himself merry with +the woman, desiring her to make a curtsey to him, and showing her how +she should place her feet and carry her body, after the fashion of a +dancing-master. He related also different things that had occurred in +former times, some of them evidently intended to sadden me with the +recollection of my former prosperity: all that had happened at my +wedding, how the deceased King had loved me. He gave long accounts of +this, not forgetting how I was dressed, and all this he said for the +benefit of no one else but myself, for the woman meanwhile stood on +the stairs talking with the tower warder, the coachman, and the +prisoner Christian. + +Maren Blocks, who constantly from time to time sent me messages and +kept me informed of what was going on, also intimated to me that she +was of opinion that I could practise magic, for she wrote me a slip +of paper[82] with the request that I should sow dissension between +the Lady Carisse and an Alfelt, explaining at length that Alfelt was +not worthy of her, but that Skinckel was a brave fellow (Carisse +afterwards married Skinckel). As the letter was open, the coachman +knew its contents, and the woman also. I was angry at it, but I said +nothing. The woman could easily perceive that I was displeased at it, +and she said, 'Lady, I know well what Maren wishes.' I replied, 'Can +you help her in it?' 'No,' she declared, and laughed heartily. I +asked what there was to laugh at. 'I am laughing,' said she, 'because +I am thinking of the clever Cathrine, of whom I have spoken before, +who once gave advice to some one desiring to sow discord between good +friends.' I enquired what advice she had given. She said that they +must collect some hairs in a place where two cats had been fighting, +and throw these between the two men whom it was desired to set at +variance. I enquired whether the trick succeeded. She replied, 'It +was not properly tried.' 'Perhaps,' I said, 'the cats were not both +black?' 'Ho, ho!' said she, 'I see that you know how it should be +done.' 'I have heard more than that,' I replied; 'show her the trick, +and you will get some more sugar-candy, but do not let yourself be +again cheated of it by Peder as you were lately. Seriously, however, +Peder must beg Maren Blocks to spare me such requests!' That she as +well as Maren believed that I could practise magic was evident in +many ways. My own remarks often gave cause for this. I remembered how +my deceased lord used to say (when in his younger days he wished to +make anyone imagine that he understood the black art), that people +feared those of whom they had this opinion, and never ventured to do +them harm. It happened one day at the mid-day meal, when the prison +governor was sitting talking with me, that the woman carried on a +long conversation on the stairs with the others respecting the +witches who had been seized in Jutland, and that the supreme judge in +Jutland at that time sided with the witches and said they were not +witches.[E33] When the door was locked we had much talk about +witches, and she said, 'This judge is of your opinion, that it is a +science and not magic.' I said, as I had before said, that some had +more knowledge than others, and that some used their knowledge to do +evil; although it might happen naturally and not with the devil's +art, still it was not permitted in God's Word to use nature for evil +purposes; it was also not fair to give the devil the honour which did +not belong to him. We talked on till she grew angry, laid down and +slept a little, and thus the anger passed away. + + [82] In the margin is added: 'Peder had some time before thrown + into me eight ducats in a paper, saying, as he closed the door, + "Your maid!" And as the woman knew it, I gave her one of them and + Peder one. I know not whether my maid had given him more; she had + many more concealed on her person.' + + [E33] The name of this judge was Villum Lange, and it is a curious + coincidence that a letter from him of a somewhat later time (1670), + has been found in one of the archives, in which he speaks of this + very affair, and in which he expresses himself very much in the + sense here indicated. + +Some days after she said: 'Your maid is sitting below in the prison +governor's room, and asks with much solicitude after you and what you +are doing. I have told Peder of what you have sewed, and of the +ribbons you have made, but he has promised solemnly not to mention it +to anyone except to Maren, Lars' daughter; she would like so much to +be here with you.' I replied: 'It would be no good for her to sit +with me in prison; it would only destroy her own happiness; for who +knows how long I may live?' I related of this same waiting-maid that +she had been in my employ since she was eight years old, all that I +had had her taught, and how virtuous she was. To this she replied, +'The girl will like to see what you have sewed; you shall have it +again directly.' I handed it to her, and the first time the doors +were unlocked she gave it to the prison governor, who carried it to +the Queen. (Two years afterwards the prison governor told me this +himself, and that when the King had said, 'She might have something +given her to do,' the Queen had answered, 'That is not necessary. It +is good enough for her! She has not wished for anything better.') I +often enquired for the piece of sewing, but was answered that Peder +was not able to get it back from the girl. + +Late in the autumn the prison governor began to sicken: he was ill +and could not do much, so he let the coachman frequently come alone +to lock and unlock both the doctor's door below and mine. The iron +bars were no longer placed before the outermost prison below, but +four doors were locked upon me. One day, when Peder was locking up, +he threw me a skein of silk,[83] saying, 'Make me some braces for my +breeches out of it.' I appeared not to have heard, and asked the +woman what it was that he had said. She repeated the same words. I +behaved as if I did not believe it, and laughed, saying, 'If I make +the braces for him, he will next wish that you should fasten them to +his breeches.' A good deal of absurd chatter followed. As meal-time +was approaching, I said to the woman, 'Give Peder back his silk, and +say that I have never before made a pair of braces; I do not know how +they are made.' (Such things I had to endure with smiles.) + + [83] In the margin is added: 'As my linen was washed in the + servants' hall, it once happened that a maid there must unawares + have forgotten a whole skein of thread in a clean chemise, at which + I said to the woman: "You see how the ravens bring me thread!" She + was angry and abused me; I laughed, and answered her jestingly.' + +At the time that our former palace here in the city (which we had +ceded by a deed when we were imprisoned at Borringholm) was pulled +down, and a pillar (or whatever it is) was raised to my lord's shame, +the prison governor came in when he unlocked at noon, and seated +himself on my bed (I was somewhat indisposed at the time), and began +to talk of former times (I knew already that they were pulling down +the palace), enumerating everything the loss of which he thought +might sadden me, even to my coach and the horses. 'But,' he said, +'all this is nothing compared with the beautiful palace!' (and he +praised it to the utmost); 'it is now down, and not one stone is left +on another. Is not that a pity, my dear lady?' I replied: 'The King +can do what he will with his own; the palace has not been ours for +some time.' He continued bewailing the beautiful house and the garden +buildings which belonged to it. I asked him what had become of +Solomon's temple? Not a stone of that beautiful building was now to +be found; not even could the place be pointed out where the temple +and costly royal palace had once stood. He made no answer, hung his +head, and pondered a little, and went out. I do not doubt he has +reported what I said. Since that day he began to behave himself more +and more courteously, saying even that His Majesty had ordered him to +ask me whether I wished for anything from the kitchen, the cellar, or +the confectioner, as it should be given me; that he had also been +ordered to bring me twice a week confectionery and powdered sugar, +which was done.[84] I begged the prison governor to thank the King's +Majesty for the favour shown me, and praised, as was proper, the +King's goodness most humbly. The prison governor would have liked to +praise the Queen had he only been able to find cause for so doing; he +said, 'The Queen is also a dear Queen!' I made no answer to this. He +came also some time afterwards with an order from the King that I +should ask for any clothes and linen I required: this was written +down, and I received it later, except a corset, and that the Queen +would not allow me. I never could learn the cause of this. The Queen +also was not well pleased that I obtained a bottle-case with six +small bottles, in which was sprinkling-water, headwater, and a +cordial. All this, she said, I could well do without; but when she +saw that in the lid there was an engraving representing the daughter +of Herod with the head of St. John on a charger, she laughed and +said, 'That will be a cordial to her!' This engraving set me thinking +that Herodias had still sisters on earth. + + [84] In the margin is added: 'I wrote different things from the + Bible on the paper in which the sugar was given me. My ink-bottle + was made of the piece of pewter lid which the woman had found, the + ink was made from the smoke of the candle collected on a spoon, and + the pen from a fowl's feather cut by the piece of glass. I have + this still in my possession.' + +The prison governor continued his politeness, and lent me at my +desire a German Bible, saying at the same time, 'This I do out of +kindness, I have no order to do so; the Queen does not know it.' 'I +believe that,' I replied, and thanked him; but I am of opinion that +the King knew it well. Some days afterwards Maren Blocks sent for her +prayer-book back again. I had taught the woman a morning and evening +prayer by heart, and all the morning and evening hymns, which she +repeated to me night and morning. I offered to teach her to read if +she would procure an A B C. She laughed at this jeeringly, and said, +'People would think me crazed if I were to learn to read now.' I +tried to persuade her by argument, in order that I might thus get +something to beguile the time with; but far from it; she knew as much +as she needed. I sought everywhere for something to divert my +thoughts, and as I perceived that the potter, when he had placed the +stove, had left a piece of clay lying outside in the other room, I +begged the woman to give it to me. + +The prison governor saw that she had taken it, but did not ask the +reason. I mixed the clay with beer, and made various things, which I +frequently altered again into something else; among other things I +made the portraits of the prison governor and the woman, and small +jugs and vases. And as it occurred to me to try whether I were able +to make anything on which I could place a few words to the King, so +that the prison governor should not observe it (for I knew well that +the woman did not always keep silence; she would probably some time +say what I did), I moulded a goblet over the half of the glass in +which wine was brought to me, made it round underneath, placed it on +three knobs, and wrote the King's name on the side--underneath the +bottom these words ... il y a un ... un Auguste.[E34] + + [E34] The words 'under the bottom ... to ... Auguste,' inclusive, + have been struck out in the MS., and it has been impossible to read + more than what here is rendered. In the Autobiography, where the + same occurrence is related, Leonora says that she put on it the + names both of the King and of the Queen; that on the bottom she + wrote to the Queen, and that it was the Queen who discovered the + inscription; from which it would appear that the Queen at all + events was included in her ingeniously contrived supplique. + +I kept it for a long time, not knowing in what way I could manage to +get it reported what I was doing, since the woman had solemnly sworn +to me not to mention it: so I said one day: 'Does the prison governor +ask you what I am doing?' 'Yes, indeed he does,' she replied, 'but I +say that you are doing nothing but reading the Bible.' I said: 'You +may ingratiate yourself in his favour and say that I am making +portraits in clay; there is no reason that he should not know that.' +She did so, and three days after he came to me, and was quite gentle, +and asked how I passed my time. I answered, 'In reading the Bible.' +He expressed his opinion that I must weary of this. I said I liked at +intervals to have something else to do, but that this was not allowed +me. He enquired what I had wanted the clay for, which the woman had +brought in to me; he had seen it when she had brought it in. I said, +'I have made some small trifles.' He requested to see them. So I +showed him first the woman's portrait; that pleased him much, as it +resembled her; then a small jug, and last of all the goblet. He said +at once: 'I will take all this with me and let the King see it; you +will perhaps thus obtain permission to have somewhat provided you for +pastime,'[85] I was well satisfied. This took place at the mid-day +meal. At supper he did not come in. The next day he said to me: +'Well, my dear lady, you have nearly brought me into trouble!' 'How +so?' I asked. 'I took the King a petition from you! the Queen did not +catch sight of it, but the King saw it directly and said, "So you are +now bringing me petitions from Leonora?" I shrank back with terror, +and said, "Gracious King! I have brought nothing in writing!" "See +here!" exclaimed the King, and he pointed out to me some French +writing at the bottom of the goblet. The Queen asked why I had +brought anything written that I did not understand. I asserted that I +had paid no attention to it, and begged for pardon. The good King +defended me, and the _invention_ did not please him ill. Yes, yes, my +dear lady! be assured that the King is a gracious sovereign to you, +and if he were certain that your husband were dead, you would not +remain here!' I was of opinion that my enemies well knew that my +husband was dead. I felt that I must therefore peacefully resign +myself to the will of God and the King. + + [85] In the margin is added: 'The prison governor told me + afterwards that the clay things were placed in the King's + art-cabinet, besides a rib of mutton, which I used as a knife, + which he also gave to the King; hoping (he said) in this way to + obtain a knife for me.' + +I received nothing which might have beguiled the time to me, except +that which I procured secretly, and the prison governor has since +then never enquired what I was doing, though he came in every +evening and sat for some time talking with me; he was weak, and it +was a labour to him to mount so many steps. Thus we got through the +year together. + +The prison governor gradually began to feel pity for me, and gave me +a book which is very pretty, entitled 'Wunderwerck.'[E35] It is a +folio, rather old, and here and there torn; but I was well pleased +with the gift. And as he sat long of an evening with me, frequently +till nine o'clock, talking with me, the malicious woman was +irritated.[86] She said to Peder, 'If I were in the prison governor's +place, I would not trust her in the way he does. He is weak; what if +she were now to run out and take the knife which is lying on the +table outside, and were to stab him? She could easily take my life, +so I sit in there with my life hanging on a thread.' + + [E35] This book was doubtless the German translation of Conr. + Lycosthenes' work, 'Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon.' It is an + amusing illustrated volume, much read in its time. The translation + in question appeared in Basle, 1557. + + [86] In the margin is added: 'The day that the prison governor had + taken away the clay things the woman was very angry with me, + because I gave him a small jug which I had made; she said it was + made in ridicule of her, the old slut with the jug! I ought to have + given him the cat which I had also made. I said, "I can still do + so."' + +Absurd as the idea was, the knife was not only in consequence hidden +under the table, but the prison governor for a long time did not +venture to come to me, but sat outside by my outermost door and +talked there just as long as before, so that I was no gainer.[87] (I +did not know what the woman had said till three years afterwards, +when it was mentioned by the prisoner Christian, who had heard the +woman's chatter.) + + [87] In the margin is added: 'At first when the prison governor's + fear was so great, he did not venture to be alone in the outer + room. Peder and the tower warder were not allowed both to leave him + at the same time. I did not know the reason for this.' + +One day when the prison governor intended to go to the holy +communion, he stood outside my outermost door and took off his hat, +and begged for my forgiveness; he knew, he said, that he had done +much to annoy me, but that he was a servant. I answered, 'I forgive +you gladly!' Then he went away, and Peder closed the door. The woman +said something to Peder about the prison governor, but I could not +understand what. Probably she was blaming the prison governor, for +she was so angry that she puffed; she could not restrain her anger, +but said: 'Fye upon the old fool! The devil take him! I ought to beg +pardon too? No' (she added with an oath), 'I would not do it for +God's bitter death! No! no!' and she spat on the ground. I said +afterwards: 'What does it matter to you that the prison governor asks +me for my friendship? Do you lose anything by it? If you will not +live like a Christian and according to the ordinances of the Church, +do not at any rate be angry with one who does. Believe assuredly that +God will punish you, if you do not repent of what evil you have done +and will not be reconciled with your adversaries before you seek to +be reconciled with God!' + +She thought that he had done nothing else than what he was ordered to +do. I said, 'You good people know best yourselves what has been +ordered you.' She asked, 'Do I do anything to you?' I answered, 'I +know not what you do. You can tell any amount of untruths about me +without my knowing it.' Upon this she began a long story, swearing by +and asserting her fidelity; she had never lied to anyone nor done +anyone a wrong. I said: 'I hear; you are justifying yourself with the +Pharisee.' She started furiously from her seat and said, 'What! do +you abuse me as a Pharisee?' 'Softly, softly!' I said; 'while only +one of us is angry, it is of no consequence; but if I get angry also, +something may come of it!' She sat down with an insolent air, and +said, 'I should well imagine that you are not good when you are +angry! It is said of you that in former days you could bear but +little, and that you struck at once. But now'----(with this she was +silent). 'What more?' I said. 'Do you think I could not do anything +to anyone if I chose, just as well as then, if anyone behaved to me +in a manner that I could not endure? Now much more than then! You +need not refuse me a knife because I may perhaps kill you; I could do +so with my bare hands. I can strangle the strongest fellow with my +bare hands, if I can seize him unawares, and what more could happen +to me than is happening? Therefore only keep quiet!' + +She was silent, and assumed no more airs; she was cast down, and did +not venture to complain to the prison governor. What she said to the +others on the stairs I know not, but when she came in, when the room +was locked at night, she had been weeping.[88] + + [88] In the margin is added: 'Some time after this dispute I had a + quarrel with her about some beer, which she was in the habit of + emptying on the floor, saying, "This shall go to the subterraneous + folk." I had forbidden her to do so, but she did it again, so I + took her by the head and pushed it back with my hand. She was + frightened, for this feels just as if one's head was falling off. I + said, "That is a foretaste."' + +On Sunday at noon I congratulated[E36] the prison governor and said: +'You are happy! You can reconcile yourself with God, and partake of +His body and blood; this is denied to me (I had twice during two +years requested spiritual consolation, but had received in answer +that I could not sin as I was now in prison; that I did not require +religious services). And as I talked upon this somewhat fully with +the prison governor, I said that those who withheld from me the +Lord's Supper must take my sins upon themselves; that one sinned as +much in thought as in word and deed; so the prison governor promised +that he would never desist from desiring that a clergyman should come +to me; and asked whom I wished for. I said: 'The King's Court +preacher, whom I had in the beginning of my troubles.' He said: 'That +could scarcely be.' I was satisfied whoever it was. + + [E36] This custom of congratulating persons who intend to + communicate, or just have done so, is still retained by many of the + older generation in Denmark. + +A month afterwards I received the holy communion from the German +clergyman, M. Hieronimus Buk, who behaved very properly the first +time, but spoke more about the law than the gospel. The prison +governor congratulated me, and I thanked him, for he had brought it +about. + +1665. In this year, on Whitsun-eve, the prison governor ordered +May-trees to be placed in my inner prison, and also in the anteroom. +I broke small twigs from the branches, rubbed off the bark with +glass, softened them in water, laid them to press under a board, +which was used for carrying away the dirt from the floor, and thus +made them flat, then fastened them together and formed them into a +weaver's reed. Peder the coachman was then persuaded to give me a +little coarse thread, which I used for a warp. I took the silk from +the new silk stockings which they had given me, and made some broad +ribbons of it (The implements and a part of the ribbons are still in +my possession.) One of the trees (which was made of the thick end of +a branch which Peder had cut off) was tied to the stove, and the +other I fastened to my own person. The woman held the warp: she was +satisfied, and I have no reason to think that she spoke about it, for +the prison governor often lamented that I had nothing with which to +beguile the time, and he knew well that this had been my delight in +former times, &c.[89] + + [89] In the margin is added: 'I made the snuffers serve as + scissors. When Balcke came to me and brought me at my desire + material for drawers, and requested to know the size, I said I + could make them myself. He laughed, and said, "Who will cut them + out?" I replied I could do it myself with the snuffers. He begged + to see me do it, and looked on with no little astonishment.' + +He remained now again a long time with me after meals, for his fear +had passed away, or he had, perhaps, forgotten, as his memory began +to fail him. He said then many things which he ought not. He declined +perceptibly, and was very weak; he would remain afterwards sitting +outside, reading aloud, and praying God to spare his life. 'Yes,' he +would say, 'only a few years!' When he had some alleviation, he +talked unceasingly. Creeping along the wall to the door, he said, 'I +should like to know two things: one is, who will be prison governor +after me? The other is, who is to to have my Tyrelyre?' (That was +Tyre, his wife.) I replied: 'That is a knowledge which you cannot +obtain now, especially who will woo your wife. You might, perhaps, +have already seen both, but at your age you may yet have long to +live.' 'Oh!' said he, 'God grant it!' and looked up to the window. +'Do you think so, my dear lady?' 'Yes, I do,' I replied. A few days +afterwards, he begged me again to forgive him, if he had done me any +wrong since the last time, for he wished to make reconciliation with +God before he became weaker, and he wept and protested, saying, 'It +indeed grieves me still that I should have often annoyed you, and you +comfort me.' On Sunday at noon I congratulated him on his spiritual +feast. + +Thus he dragged on with great difficulty for about fourteen days, +and as I heard that two men were obliged almost to carry him up the +stairs, I sent him word that he might remain below on the ground +floor of the tower, and that he might rest assured I would go +nowhere. He thanked me, crawled up for the last time to my door, and +said, 'If I did that and the Queen heard of it, my head would answer +for it.' I said: 'Then confess your weakness and remain in bed. It +may be better again; another could meanwhile attend for you.' He took +off his cap in recognition of my advice, and bade me farewell. I have +never seen him again since then. One day afterwards he crawled up in +the tower-chamber, but came no farther. + +A man of the name of Hans Balcke was appointed in his place +to keep watch over the prisoners. He was very courteous. He +was a cabinet-maker by trade; his father, who had also been a +cabinet-maker, had worked a good deal for me in the days of my +prosperity. This man had travelled for his trade both in Italy and +Germany, and knew a little Italian. I found intercourse with him +agreeable, and as he dined in the anteroom outside, in the tower, I +begged him to dine with me, which he did for fourteen days. One day, +when he carved the joint outside, I sent him word requesting him to +come in. He excused himself, which appeared strange to me. + +After he had dined, he said that Peder the coachman had jeered at +him, and that he had been forbidden to dine with me. When he +afterwards remained rather long with me talking, I begged him myself +to go, so that this also might not be forbidden. He had on one +occasion a large pin stuck in his sleeve, and I begged him for it. He +said, 'I may not give it you, but if you take it yourself, I can't +help it.' So I took it, and it has often been of use to me. He gave +me several books to read, and was in every way courteous and polite. +His courtesy was probably the reason why the prisons were not long +entrusted to him, for he was also very good to Doctor Sperling, +giving him slices of the meat which came up to me, and other good +food. In his childhood he had been a playfellow of the doctor's +children. He talked also occasionally a long time with the doctor, +both on unlocking and locking his door, which did not please the +servants.[90] The prison governor lay constantly in bed; he +endeavoured as often as he could to come up again, but there was +little prospect of it. So long as the keys were not taken from him, +he was satisfied. + + [90] In the margin is added: 'While Balcke filled the place of + prison governor, he drank my wine at every meal, which had formerly + fallen to the tower warder, the coachman, or the prisoner + Christian, when the old prison governor had not wished for it, so + that this also contributed to Balcke's dismissal.' + +My maid Maren, Lars' daughter, had risen so high in favour at court, +that she often sat in the women's apartment, and did various things. +One day the woman said to me, 'That is a very faithful maiden whom +you have! She speaks before them up there in a manner you would never +believe.' I replied: 'I have permitted her to say all she knows. I +have no fear of her calumniating me.' 'Have you not?' she said +ironically. 'Why does she throw herself, then, on her bare knees, and +curse herself if she should think of returning to you?' I said: 'She +wished to remain with me (according to your own statement), but she +was not allowed; so she need not curse herself.' 'Why then do you +think,' said she, 'that she is so much in favour at court?' 'Do you +mean,' I replied, 'that if anyone is in favour at court, it is +because their lips are full of lies? I am assured my maid has +calumniated no one, least of all me; I am not afraid.' + +The woman was angry, and pouted in consequence for some time. Some +weeks afterwards Maren, Lars' daughter, was set at liberty, and +became waiting-maid to the Countess Friis: and Balcke brought me some +linen which she still had belonging to me. The woman was not a little +angry at this, especially as I said: 'So faithful I perceive is my +maid to me, that she will not keep the linen, which she might easily +have done, for I could not know whether it had not been taken from +her with the rest.' + +All my guards were very ill satisfied with Balcke, especially the +woman, who was angry for several reasons. He slighted her, she said, +for he had supplied a basin for the night-stool which was heavier +than the former one (which leaked); but she was chiefly angry because +he told her that she lived like a heathen, since she never went to +the sacrament. For when I once received the holy communion, while +Balcke was attending to me, he asked her if she would not wish to +communicate also, to which she answered, 'I do not know German.' +Balcke said, 'I will arrange that the clergyman shall come to you +whose office it is to administer the Lord's Supper to the prisoners.' +She replied that in this place she could not go with the proper +devotion: if she came out, she would go gladly. Balcke admonished her +severely, as a clergyman might have done. When the door was closed, +she gave vent to puffing and blowing, and she always unfastened her +jacket when she was angry. + +I said nothing, but I thought the evil humour must have vent, or she +will be choked; and this was the case, for she abused Balcke with the +strongest language that occurred to her. She used unheard-of curses, +which were terrible to listen to: among others, 'God damn him for +ever, and then I need not curse him every day.' Also, 'May God make +him evaporate like the dew before the sun!' I could not endure this +cursing, and I said, 'Are you cursing this man because he held before +you the word of God, and desires that you should be reconciled with +God and repent your sins?' 'I do not curse him for that,' she said, +'but on account of the heavy basin which the accursed fellow has +given me, and which I have to carry up the steep stairs;[91] the +devil must have moved him to choose it! Does he want to make a priest +of himself? Well, he is probably faultless, the saucy fellow!' and +she began again with her curses. + + [91] In the margin: 'It is indeed a bad flight of stairs to the + place where the basin was emptied.' + +I reproved her and said: 'If he now knew that you were cursing him in +this way, do you not think he would bring it about that you must do +penitence? It is now almost two years since you were at the Lord's +table, and you can have the clergyman and you will not.' This +softened her a little, and she said, 'How should he know it, unless +you tell him?' I said, 'What passes here and is said here concerns no +one but us two; it is not necessary that others should know.' With +this all was well; she lay down to sleep, and her anger passed away; +but the hate remained. + +The prison governor continued to lie in great pain, and could neither +live nor die. One day at noon, when Balcke unlocked (it was just +twenty weeks since he had come to me), a man came in with him, very +badly dressed, in a grey, torn, greasy coat, with few buttons that +could be fastened, with an old hat to which was attached a drooping +feather that had once been white but was now not recognisable from +dirt. He wore linen stockings and a pair of worn-out shoes fastened +with packthread.[92] Balcke went to the table outside and carved the +joint; he then went to the door of the outer apartment, stood with +his hat in his hand, made a low reverence, and said, 'Herewith I take +my departure; this man is to be prison governor.' I enquired whether +he would not come again to me. He replied, 'No, not after this time.' +Upon this I thanked him for his courteous attendance, and wished him +prosperity.[93] + + [92] In the margin is added: 'Gabel had said (I was afterwards + informed) that I was frightened at the appearance of the man, and + thought it was the executioner. I did not regard him as such, but + as a poor cavalier, and I imagined he was to undertake the duties + which Peder the coachman performed.' + + [93] In the margin: 'Balcke has waited upon me for twenty weeks, + and he was accused of having told me what happened outside. In + proof of this it was alleged that he had told me that Gabel had + been made Statholder, to whom I afterwards gave this title in M. + Buck's hearing. Balcke one day could not restrain himself from + laughing, for while he was standing and talking with me, the woman + and the man were standing on the stairs outside, chuckling and + laughing; and he said, "Outside there is the chatter market. Why + does not Peder so arrange it that it is forbidden? You can get to + know all that goes on in the world without me."' + +Peder the coachman locked the door, and the new prison governor, +whose name was Johan Jaeger,[E37] never appeared before me the whole +day, nor during the evening. I said to the woman in the morning, 'Ask +Peder who the man is;' which she did, and returned to me with the +answer that it was the man who had taken the Doctor prisoner; and +that now he was to be prison governor, but that he had not yet +received the keys. Not many days passed before he came with the Lord +Steward to the old prison governor, and the keys were taken from the +old man and given to him. The old man lived only to the day after +this occurred. In both respects his curiosity was satisfied; he saw +the man who was to be prison governor after him (to his grief), and +the doctor who attended him obtained his Tyrelyre before the year was +ended. + + [E37] It was a Colonel Hagedorn that entrapped and arrested Dr. + Sperling, and Jaeger played only a subordinate part in that + transaction. He is stated to have been a cousin of Gabel, and to + have been formerly a commander in the navy. He was appointed prison + governor on June 12, 1665, and Balcke therefore doubtless only held + the appointment provisionally. + +The new prison governor Jaeger[E37b] did not salute me for several +weeks, and never spoke to me. He rarely locked my doors, but he +generally opened them himself. At length one day, when he had got new +shoes on, he took his hat off when he had opened the door, and said +'Good morning.' I answered him, 'Many thanks.' The woman was very +pleased while this lasted. She had her free talk with Peder the +coachman (who still for a couple of months came to the tower as +before) and with the prisoner Christian, who had great freedom, and +obtained more and more freedom in this prison governor's time, +especially as Rasmus the tower-warder was made gatekeeper, and a man +of the name of Chresten was appointed in his place. Among other idle +talk which she repeated to me, she said that this prison governor was +forbidden to speak with me. I said, 'I am very glad, as he then can +tell no lies about me.' I am of opinion that he did not venture to +speak with me so long as Peder brought up the food to the tower, and +was in waiting there; for when he had procured Peder's dismissal on +account of stealing, he came in afterwards from time to time. The +very first time he was intoxicated. He knew what Peder had said of +Balcke, and he informed me of it.[94] + + [E37b] It was a Colonel Hagedorn that entrapped and arrested Dr. + Sperling, and Jaeger played only a subordinate part in that + transaction. He is stated to have been a cousin of Gabel, and to + have been formerly a commander in the navy. He was appointed prison + governor on June 12, 1665, and Balcke therefore doubtless only held + the appointment provisionally. + + [94] In the margin is added: 'While Balcke waited on me, a folding + table was brought in for the bread and glasses, and also for the + woman's food, which she did not take till the doors had been + locked. There was nothing there before but the night-stool to place + the dishes on: that was the woman's table.' + +Before I mention anything of the prisoner Christian's designs +against me, I will in a few words state the crime for which he was in +prison. He had been a lacquey in the employ of Maans Armfelt. With +some other lacqueys he had got into a quarrel with a man who had been +a father to Christian, and who had brought him up from his youth and +had taken the utmost care of him. The man was fatally wounded, and +called out in the agonies of death: 'God punish thee, Christian! What +a son you have been! It was your hand that struck me!' The other +lacqueys ran away, but Christian was seized. His dagger was found +bloody. He denied, and said it was not he who had stabbed the man. He +was sentenced to death; but as the dead man's widow would not pay for +the execution, Christian remained for the time in prison, and his +master paid for his maintenance. He had been there three years +already when I came to the prison, and three times he was removed; +first from the Witch Cell to the Dark Church; and then here where I +am imprisoned.[95] When I was brought here, he was placed where the +Doctor is, and when the Doctor was brought in, Christian was allowed +to go freely about the tower. He wound the clock for the +tower-warder, locked and unlocked the cells below, and had often even +the keys of the tower. + + [95] In the margin is added: 'At that time there was a large double + window with iron grating, which was walled up when I was brought + here; and Christian told me afterwards how the maids in the + store-room had supplied him with many a can of beer, which he had + drawn up by a cord.' + +I remember once, when Rasmus the tower-warder was sitting at dinner +with the prison governor in my outermost cell, and the prison +governor wished to send Peder on a message, he said to Rasmus: 'Go +and open! I want Peder to order something. 'Father,' said Rasmus, +'Christian has the key.' 'Indeed!' said the prison governor; 'that is +pretty work!' And there it rested, for Rasmus said, 'I am perfectly +sure that Christian will not go away.' Thus by degrees Christian's +freedom and power increased after Peder the coachman left, and he +waited on the prison governor at meals in my outermost room. + +One day, when the woman had come down from above, where she had been +emptying the utensils in my room, and the doors were locked, she said +to me: 'This Christian who is here has been just speaking with me +upstairs. He says he cannot describe the Doctor's miserable +condition, how severe is his imprisonment, and what bad food he gets, +since Balcke left. He has no longer any candle except during +meal-time, and no light reaches him but through the hole in his door +leading into the outer room. He begged me to tell you of it; his eyes +were full of tears, such great pity had he for him.' I said: 'That is +all that one can do, and it is the duty of a Christian to sympathise +with the misfortune of one's neighbour. The poor man must have +patience as well as I, and we must console ourselves with a good +conscience. The harder he suffers the sooner comes the end; he is an +old man.' + +Two days afterwards she came again with some talk from Christian. The +Doctor sent me his compliments, and he asked constantly if I was +well; she said also, that Christian would give him anything I liked +to send him. I regarded this as a snare, but I said that Christian +could take a piece of roast meat when the prison governor was with +me, and that he should look about for something into which wine could +be poured, and then she could secretly give some from my glass, and +beg Christian to give my compliments to the Doctor. This was +accepted, and I had rest for a few days. Christian conformed entirely +to the woman, caused a dispute between her and the tower-warder, and +made it immediately right again; so that there was no lack of +chatter. At last she said one day: 'That is an honest fellow, this +Christian! He has told me how innocently he got into prison and was +sentenced. He is afraid that you may think he eats and drinks all +that you send to the Doctor. He swore with a solemn oath that he +would be true to you, if you would write a word to the Doctor.[96] I +hope you do not doubt my fidelity!' and she began to swear and to +curse herself if she would deceive me. She said, he had taken a no +less solemn oath, before she believed him. I said: 'I have nothing to +write to him. I do not know what I have to write.' 'Oh!' said she, +'write only two words, so that the old man may see that he can trust +him! If you wish for ink, Christian can give you some.' I replied: 'I +have something to write with, if I choose to do so, and I can write +without ink and paper.' + + [96] In the margin is this note: 'Christian had at that time given + me some pieces of flint which are so sharp that I can cut fine + linen with them by the thread. The pieces are still in my + possession, and with this implement I executed various things.' + +This she could not understand; so I took some pieces of sugared +almonds, and made some letters on them with the large pin, placing on +four almonds the words: _non ti fidar_! I divided the word _fidar_, +and placed half on each almond. I had in this way rest for a day, and +somewhat to beguile the time. Whether the Doctor could not see what +was written on the almonds, or whether he wished to test Christian's +fidelity, I know not, but Christian brought the woman a slip of paper +from the Doctor to me, full of lamentations at our condition, and +stating that my daughter Anna Cathrina, or else Cassetta, were the +cause of his misfortune. + +I wished to know more of this, so I wrote to him desiring information +(we wrote to each other in Italian). He replied that one or the other +had left his letter lying somewhere on the table, where it was found +and despatched; for that a letter of his was the cause of his +misfortune. I wrote back to him that it was not credible, but that he +was suspected of having corresponded with my lord, and hence his +letters had been seized. The more I tried to impress this upon him +the more opinionated he became,[97] and he wrote afterwards saying +that it was a scheme of Cassetta's to get him into the net, in order +to bring me out of it. When he began to write in this way, I acquired +a strange opinion of him, and fancied he was trying to draw something +out of me which he could bring forward; and I reflected for some days +whether I should answer. At last I answered him in this strain, that +no one knew better than he that I was not aware of any treason; that +the knowledge as to how his correspondence with my lord had become +known was of no use to him; that I had no idea why he was sentenced, +and that no sentence had been passed on me. Some weeks elapsed before +the Doctor wrote. At last he communicated to me in a few words the +sentence passed upon him, and we corresponded from time to time with +each other. + + [97] In the margin is added: 'Such is his character.' + +The prison governor became gradually more accessible, came in at +every meal-time, and related all sorts of jokes and buffooneries, +which he had carried on in his youth: how he had been a drummer, and +had made a Merry Andrew of himself for my brother-in-law Count Pentz, +and how he had enacted a dog for the sake of favour and money, and +had crawled under the table, frightening the guests and biting a dog +for a ducat's reward. When he had been drinking (which was often the +case) he juggled and played Punch, sometimes a fortune-teller, and +the like. + +When Chresten the tower-warder, and Christian the prisoner, heard the +prison governor carrying on his jokes, they did the same, and made +such a noise with the woman in the antechamber that we could not hear +ourselves speak. She sat on Christian's lap, and behaved herself in a +wanton manner. One day she was not very well, and made herself some +warm beer and bread, placing it outside on the stove. The prison +governor was sitting with me and talking, Chresten and Christian were +joking with her outside, and Christian was to stir the warm beer and +bread, and taste if it was hot enough. Chresten said to Christian, +'Drink it up if you are thirsty.' The words were no sooner said than +the deed was done, and almost at the same moment the prison governor +got up and went away. When the door was locked, the woman seemed to +be almost fainting. I thought she was ill, and I was fearful that she +might die suddenly, and that the guilt of her death might be laid on +me, and I asked quickly, 'Are you ill?' She answered, 'I am bad +enough,' confirming it with a terrible oath and beginning to unbutton +her jacket. Then I saw that she was angry, and I knew well that she +would give vent to a burst of execrations, which was the case. + +She cursed and scolded those who had so treated her; a poor sick +thing as she was, and she had not had anything to eat or drink all +day. I said, 'Be quiet, and you shall have some warm beer.' She swore +with a solemn oath, asking how it was to be got here? it was summer +and there was no fire in the stove, and it was no use calling, as no +one could hear. I said, 'If you will be silent, I will cause the pot +to boil.' 'Yes,' and she swore with another fearful oath, 'I can +indeed be silent, and will never speak of it.' So I made her take +three pieces of brick, which were lying behind the night-stool, and +place on these her pot of beer and bread (everything that she was to +do was to be done in silence; she might not answer me with words but +only with signs, when I asked her anything). She sat down besides the +pot, stirring it with a spoon. I sat always on my bed during the day, +and then the table was placed before me. I had a piece of chalk, and +I wrote various things on the table, asking from time to time whether +the pot boiled. She kept peeping in and shaking her head. When I had +asked three times and she turned to me and saw that I was laughing, +she behaved herself like a mad woman, throwing the spoon from her +hand, turning over the stool, tearing open her jacket, and +exclaiming, 'The devil may be jeered at like this!' I said, 'You are +not worthy of anything better, as you believe that I can practise +magic.' 'Oh (and she repeated a solemn oath) had I not believed that +you could practise magic, I should never have consented to be locked +up with you; do you know that?' I reflected for a moment what answer +to give, but I said nothing, smiled, and let her rave on. + +Afterwards she wept and bemoaned her condition. 'Now, now,' I said, +'be quiet! I will make the pot boil without witchcraft.' And as we +had a tinder-box, I ordered her to strike a light, and to kindle +three ends of candles, which she was to place under the pot. This +made the pot boil, and she kissed her hand to me and was very merry. +Once or twice afterwards I gave her leave to warm beer in this way: +it could not always be done, for if the wind blew against the window +(which was opened with a long pike) the smoke could not pass away. I +said, 'Remember your oath and do not talk of what takes place here, +or the lights will be taken from us; at any rate we shall lose some +of them.' She asserted that she would not. I heard nothing of it at +the time, but some years afterwards I found that she had said that I +had taken up two half-loose stones from the floor (this was +afterwards related in another manner by a clergyman, as will be +mentioned afterwards). She had also said that I had climbed up and +looked at the rope-dancers in the castle square, which was true. For +as Chresten one day told the woman that rope-dancers would be +exhibiting in the inner castle yard, and she informed me of it and +enquired what they were, and I explained to her, she lamented that +she could not get a sight of them. I said it could easily be done, if +she would not talk about it afterwards. She swore, as usual, with an +oath that she would not. So I took the bedclothes from the bed and +placed the boards on the floor and set the bed upright in front of +the window, and the night-stool on the top of it. In order to get +upon the bedstead, the table was placed at the side, and a stool by +the table in order to get upon the table, and a stool upon the table, +in order to get upon the night-stool, and a stool on the night-stool, +so that we could stand and look comfortably, though not both at once. +I let her climb up first, and I stood and took care that the bed did +not begin to give way; she was to keep watch when I was on the top. I +knew, moreover, well that the dancers did not put forth their utmost +skill at first.[98] + + [98] In the margin is added: 'These rope-dancers did things that I + had never seen before. One had a basket attached to each leg, and + in each basket was a boy of five years of age, and a woman fell + upon the rope and jumped up again. But during the time of the other + woman, I saw a man suspended by his chin and springing back upon + the rope.' + +I could see the faces of the King and Queen: they were standing in +the long hall, and I wondered afterwards that they never turned their +eyes to the place where I stood. I did not let the woman perceive +that I saw them. During this woman's time I once had a desire to see +the people go to the castle-church and return from it. The bed was +again placed upright, and I sat for a long time on the top, until +everyone had come out of church. The woman did not venture to climb +up; she said that she had been afraid enough the last time, and was +glad when she had come down. + +The first time I received the holy communion during this prison +governor's time, two brass candlesticks which did not match were +brought in, with tallow candles. This displeased the woman, though +she said nothing to me. But when at length she was compelled to take +the sacrament, after more than three years had elapsed since she had +been at the Lord's table, she begged Chresten, the tower-warder, to +go to her daughter (who was in the service of a carpenter in the +town), and to get the loan of a pair of beautiful brass candlesticks +and a couple of wax candles. If she could also procure for her a fine +linen cloth, she was to do her best; she would pay for it. + +Whether the woman had before thought of the candlesticks and candles +which had been placed for me, or whether Chresten himself thought +that it would not be proper to provide better for her, I know not, +but shortly before the priest came, Chresten unlocked the outer door +of my prison and said, 'Karen, hand me out the candlestick you have, +and two candles.' Her behaviour is not to be described: she asked if +he had not spoken with her daughter, and much of the same kind (I did +not at the time know what she had desired of Chresten). He made no +reply to her question, but asked for the candlestick and candles. For +a long time she would not give them, but cursed and scolded. I was +still lying down, and I asked her if I should be her maid, and should +do it for her? whether she could withhold from him what he requested? +So she handed them to him through the hole of the inner door, with so +many execrations against him that it was terrible to listen to. He +laughed aloud, and went away. This made her still more angry. I did +my best to appease her, telling her that such conduct was a most +improper preparation, and holding before her the sinfulness of her +behaviour. She said she thought that the sin belonged to him who had +given cause for it. I asked her, at last, in what the Lord's Supper +consisted? whether it consisted in candlesticks and candles? I +rebuked her for looking to externals and not to the essential; and I +begged her to fall on her knees and pray heartily to God for +forgiveness of her sins, that He might not impute her folly to her. +She answered that she would do so, but she did not do it at once. + +I imagine that the clergyman[99] was well informed by Chresten of all +that concerned her, as he put to her so many questions: where she was +born? whom she had served? and more of the same kind, and finally, +whether she had her certificate of confession, and how long it was +since she had received the Lord's Supper? After this he confessed her +in a strange manner; at first as one who had deserved to do public +penance for great sins, then as a criminal under sentence of death +who was preparing for her end; at last consoling her, and performing +his office. When all was over and she came in to me, I wished her +joy. 'Joy, indeed' (she answered); 'there is not much good in it! +This does me more harm than good! If I could only get out, I would +indeed go straight to the sacrament; I reckon this as nothing!' I +interrupted her quickly, and said: 'Reflect upon what you are saying! +blaspheme not God--I will not hear that! You know well what God's +Word says of those who receive Christ's body and blood unworthily and +have trodden under foot his body?' 'Under foot?' said she. 'Yes, +under foot!' I said, and I made a whole sermon upon it. She listened +decently; but when I was silent, she said: 'He looked upon me as a +malefactor, and as one under sentence of death. I have never murdered +anyone (I thought, we know not what);[100] why should I die? God +Almighty grant'----and with this she was silent. I preached to her +again, and said that she had deserved eternal death on account of her +sins, and especially because she had so long kept aloof from the +Lord's table. 'This confession,' she said, 'I have to thank Chresten +for; Balcke was also probably concerned in it.' And she began to +curse them both. I threatened her with a second confession, if she +did not restrain such words. I told her I could not justify myself +before God to keep silence to it, and I said, 'If you speak in this +way to Chresten, you may be sure he will inform against you.' This +kept her somewhat in check, and she did not go out upon the stairs +that noon.[101] + + [99] In the margin is added: 'This was the priest who attended to + the prisoners, and as he confessed her in the anteroom, I heard + every word said by him, but not her replies.' + + [100] In the margin is added: 'Her child.' + + [101] In the margin is added: 'She was in every respect a malicious + woman, and grudged a little meat to any prisoner. A poor sacristan + was my neighbour in the Dark Church, and I gave her a piece of meat + for him. She would not take it to him, which she could easily have + done without anyone seeing. When I saw the meat afterwards, I found + fault with her. Then she said, "Why should I give it to him? He has + never given me anything. I get nothing for it." I said, "You give + nothing of your own away." This sacristan was imprisoned because he + had taken back his own horse, the man to whom he had sold it not + having paid him. He sang all day long, and on Sunday he went + through the service like a clergyman, with the responses, &c.' + +After that time she was not so merry by far with the man. She often +complained to me that she was weak, and had strained herself lifting +the new basin which Balcke had given her; she could not long hold +out, she said, and she had asked the prison governor to let her go +away, but that he had answered that she was to die in the tower. I +said, 'The prison governor cannot yet rightly understand you; ask +Chresten to speak for you.' This she did, but came back with the same +answer. One day she said: 'I see well, dear lady, that you would be +as gladly free of me as I should be to go. What have I for all my +money? I cannot enjoy it, and I cannot be of service to you.' I said: +'Money can do much. Give some money to the prison-governor, and then +he will speak for you. Request one of the charwomen to carry the +basin instead of you, and this you could pay with very little.' She +did the latter for some weeks; at length one day she said to me, 'I +have had a silver cup made for the prison governor. (Her daughter +came to her on the stairs as often as she desired, and she had +permission to remain downstairs the whole afternoon, under pretext of +speaking with her daughter. Whether she gave him presents for this, I +know not, but I was well contented to be alone. She was, however, +once afraid that I should tell the priest of it.) The fact was, the +prison-governor did not dare to speak for her with the King. She +asked my advice on the matter. I said, 'Remain in bed when the +dinner is going on, and I will go out and speak with the +prison-governor.' This was done. At first he raised some +difficulties, and said, 'The Queen will say that there is some trick +at the bottom of it.' I said they could visit and examine the woman +when she came out; that we had not been such intimate friends; that I +knew the woman had been sent to wait on me; when she could do so no +longer, but lay in bed, I had no attendance from her, and still less +was I inclined to wait on her; she did her work for money, and there +were women enough who would accept the employment. + +Three days afterwards, when the King came from Fridrichsborg, the +prison-governor came in and said that the woman could go down in the +evening; that he had another whom Chresten had recommended, and who +was said to be a well-behaved woman (which she is). + +Karen the daughter of Ole therefore went down, and Karen the daughter +of Nels came up in her place. And I can truly say that it was one of +the happiest days during my severe imprisonment; for I was freed of a +faithless, godless, lying[102] and ill-behaved woman, and I received +in her stead a Christian, true, and thoroughly good (perhaps too +good) woman. When the first took her departure, she said, 'Farewell, +lady! we are now both pleased.' I answered, 'That is perhaps one of +the truest words you have ever spoken in your life.' She made no +reply, but ran as fast as she could, so that no weakness nor illness +were perceptible in her. She lived scarcely a year afterwards, +suffering severe pain for six weeks in her bed, before she died; the +nature of her malady I know not. + + [102] In the margin is added: 'She had begged Chresten, for more + than half a year before she left, to tell the prison-governor that + her life hung on a thread; that I had a ball of clay in my + handkerchief, and that I had threatened to break her head to pieces + with it (I had said one day that a person with a ball of that kind + could kill another). She invented several similar lies, as I + subsequently heard.' + +On the day after this Karen's arrival, she sat thoroughly depressed +all the afternoon. I asked her what was the matter. She said, 'Oh! I +have nothing to do, and I might not bring work with me! I weary to +death.' I enquired what work she could do. 'Spinning,' she answered, +'is my work principally; I can also do plain needlework and can knit +a little.' I had nothing to help her in this way; but I drew out some +ends of silk, which I had kept from what I cut off, and which are too +short to work with, and other tufts of silk from night-jackets and +stockings; I had made a flax-comb of small pins,[103] fastened to a +piece of wood; with this I combed the silk and made it available for +darning caps; and I said to her, 'There is something for you to do; +comb that for me!' She was so heartily pleased that it was quite a +delight to me. I found from her account of this and that which had +occurred in her life, that she had a good heart, and that she had +often been deceived owing to her credulity. She had also known me in +my prosperity; she had been in the service of a counsellor's lady who +had been present at my wedding, and she could well remember the +display of fireworks and other festivities; she wept as she spoke of +it, and showed great sympathy with me. She was a peasant's daughter +from Jutland, but had married the quarter-master of a regiment. By +degrees I felt an affection for her, and begged her to speak to +Christian and to enquire how the Doctor was; I told her that +Christian could occasionally perform small services for us, and could +buy one thing or another for us; for he had a lad, in fact sometimes +two, who executed commissions for him, but that I had never trusted +the other woman, so that he had never bought anything for me; +besides, the other woman had not cared to spin; but that Christian +should now procure us what we wanted in return for our candles. And +as she did not care to drink wine (for at each meal the woman +received at that time half-a-pint of French wine), I said: 'Give +Chresten your wine as I give wine to Christian, then Chresten can let +it stay with the cellar-clerk and can take it weekly, which will give +him a profit on it, and then he will see nothing even if he remarks +anything.' + + [103] In the margin is added: 'The pins I had obtained some time + ago from the first woman. She had procured them with some needles, + and, thinking to hide them from me, she carried them in her bosom + in a paper and forgot them. In the evening when she dropped her + petticoat to go to bed, the paper fell on the floor. I knew from + the sound what it was. One Saturday, when she went upstairs with + the night-stool, I took the pins out of her box, and she never + ventured to ask for them; she saw me using them afterwards, and + said nothing about them.' + +This was done, and Christian got us two hand-distaffs. Mine was but +small, but hers was a proper size. I spun a little and twisted it +into thread, which is still in my possession. Christian procured her +as much flax as she desired, and brought her up a whole wreath in his +trousers. She spun a good deal on the hand-distaff, and I arranged my +loom on a stool, which I placed on the table, fastening one beam with +ribbon and cord which I had made myself, so that when the key was put +into the staircase-door, I could in one pull loosen my loom and +unfasten the other beam which was fastened to myself, and put all +away before the inner door was opened. I made myself also a wooden +skewer (I had before used a warp), so that I could weave alone; I had +also obtained a real weaver's comb; so we were very industrious, +each at her own work. + +The prison governor was full of foolish jokes, and played tricks such +as boys enjoy; he tried to jest with the woman, but she would not +join him. Almost every day he was drunk at dinner-time when he came +up. Afterwards he came rarely of an evening, but sent a servant +instead, who would lie and sleep on the wall in the window. He wanted +to jest with me also, and opened his mouth, telling me to throw +something in and see if I could hit his mouth. I laughed and said, +'How foolish you are!' and begged him to come nearer, and I would see +if I could hit him. 'No, no,' said he; 'I am not such a fool; I +daresay you would box my ears.' One day he came up with a peculiar +kind of squirt, round in form like a ball, and he placed a small tube +in it, so small as scarcely to be seen; it was quite pretty. When +pressed in any part, the water squirted out quite high and to a +distance. He was saucy, and squirted me. When he saw that I was +angry, he came to me with the squirt, ran away and sat down with his +mouth as wide open as possible and begged me to squirt into it if I +could. I would not begin playing with him, for I knew his coarseness +well from his stories, and I gave him back the squirt. When Karen was +bringing in the meat, the prison governor had the squirt between his +legs, and was seated on a low stool, from which he could squirt into +the woman's face; he was some distance from her, and the ball was not +larger than a large plum. She knew nothing of the squirt (she is +somewhat hasty in her words), and she exclaimed, 'May God send you a +misfortune, Mr. governor! Are you insulting me?' The prison governor +laughed like an insane man, so pleased was he at this. + +By degrees he became less wild; he rarely came up sober, and he would +lie on the woman's bed and sleep while I dined, so that Chresten and +the woman had to help him off the bed when they had woke him. The +keys of the prisons lay by his side, and the principal key close by +(did he not take good care of his prisoners?).[104] He was not afraid +that I should murder him. One evening he was intoxicated, and behaved +as such; and began, after his fashion, to try and caress me, +endeavouring to feel my knee and seized the edge of my petticoat. I +thrust him away with my foot, and said nothing more than: 'When you +are intoxicated, remain away from me, and do not come in, I tell +you.' He said nothing, got up and went away; but he did not come in +afterwards when he was tipsy, but remained outside in the anteroom, +lying down in the window, where there was a broad stone bench against +the wall; there he lay and slept for some time after my doors were +locked, then the coachman and Chresten came and dragged him down. +Occasionally he came in when he was not drunk, and he gave me at my +request some old cards, which I sewed together and made into a box. +Christian covered it with thin sticks of fir, which I afterwards +stitched over, and I even secretly contrived to paint it. I have it +in my possession. The prison governor saw it afterwards, but he never +asked where the covering had come from.[105] In this box (if I may +call it so) I keep all my work and implements, and it stands by day +on my bed. + + [104] In the margin is noted: 'I said one day to the woman, "Were + it not for the Queen, who would make the King angry with me, I + would retaliate upon the prison governor for having decoyed Doctor + Sperling. I would take the keys when he was sleeping, and wait for + Chresten to come with the cups, and then I would go up the King's + stairs and take the keys to the King, just as the lacquey did with + the old prison-governor. But I should gain nothing from this King, + and perhaps should be still more strictly confined."' + + [105] In the margin is noted: 'At first, when this Karen did not + know the prison governor, she did not venture so boldly to the + prisoners in the Dark Church to give them anything, for she said, + "The prison governor stares at me so." I said, "It is with him as + with little children; they look staring at a thing, and do not know + what it is." It is the case with him, he does not trouble himself + about anything.' + +Christian's power increased. He waited not only outside at dinner, +but he even locked my door in the face of the tower-warder. He came +with the perfuming-pan into my room when the woman took away the +night-stool; in fact, he subsequently became so audacious that he did +everything he chose, and had full command over the prisoners below. +Chresten availed himself also of the slack surveillance of the prison +governor, and stayed sometimes the whole night out in the town, often +coming in tipsy to supper. One evening Chresten was intoxicated, and +had broken some panes of glass below with his hand, so that his +fingers were bloody; he dashed my wine-cup on the ground, so that it +cracked and was bent; and as the cup was quite bloody outside when he +came in to me, and some blood seemed to have got into the wine, I +spoke somewhat seriously with the prison governor about it. He said +nothing but 'The man is mad,' took the cup and went himself down into +the cellar, and had the cup washed and other wine put in it. How they +afterwards made it up I know not. The indentations on the cup have +been beaten out, but the crack on the edge is still there; this suits +the cellar-clerk well, for now scarcely half a pint goes into the +cup. Christian held his own manfully against the prison governor, +when he had a quarrel with some of the prisoners below; and Chresten +complained of this to the prison governor, who came in and wanted to +place Christian in the Witch Cell; but he thrust the prison governor +away, and said that he had nothing to do with him, and that he had +not put him into the prison; and then harangued him in such a style +that the Governor thanked God when he went away. Christian then +called after him from the window, and said, 'I know secret tricks of +yours, but you know none of mine.' (One I knew of, of which he was +aware, and that not a small one. There was a corporal who had stabbed +a soldier, and was sought for with the beating of drums: the prison +governor concealed him for several weeks in the tower.) On the +following morning Christian repented, and he feared that he might be +locked up, and came to my door before it had been opened[106] (it +often happened that the anteroom was unlocked before the food was +brought up, and always in the winter mornings, when a fire was made +in the stove outside), and he begged me to speak for him with the +prison governor, which I did; so that things remained as they were, +and Christian was as bold as before. + + [106] In the margin is added: 'The hinges of my outer door are so + far from the wall that they are open more than a hand's breadth, so + that I have got in large things between them; and above they are + still more open, and when I put my arm through the peep-hole of the + inner door and stretch it out, I can reach to the top of the outer + one, though the woman cannot.' + +The woman and I lived in good harmony together. Occasionally there +were small disputes between Christian and her, but at that time they +were of no importance. I quieted his anger with wine and candles. +This woman had a son, who died just after she had come to me, and a +daughter who is still alive; at that time she was in the service of a +tailor, but she is now married to a merchant. The daughter received +permission occasionally to come and speak with her mother on the +stairs. This annoyed Christian, as he thought that through her all +sorts of things were obtained; and he threatened often that he would +say what he thought, though he did not know it, and this frequently +troubled the woman (she easily weeps and easily laughs). I could soon +comfort her. We spent our time very well. I taught her to read, +beginning with A B C, for she did not know a single letter. I kept to +fixed hours for teaching her. She was at the time sixty years of age. +And when she could spell a little,[107] she turned the book one day +over and over, and began to rub her eyes and exclaimed, 'Oh God, how +strange it is! I do not know (and she swore by God) a single letter.' +I was standing behind her, and could scarcely keep from laughing. She +rubbed her eyes again, and (as she is rather hasty with her words) +she pointed quickly to an O, and said, 'Is not that an O?' 'Yes,' I +said, and I laughed when she turned to me. She then for the first +time perceived that she was holding the book upside down; she threw +herself on the bed and laughed till I thought she would burst. + + [107] In the margin: 'She has a curious manner of spelling. She + cannot spell a word of three syllables; for when she has to add the + two syllables to the third, she has forgotten the first. If I urge + her, however, she can read the word correctly when she has spelt + the first syllable. She spells words of two syllables and reads + those of four.' + +One day when she was to read, and did not like to lay aside her +distaff, it did not go smoothly, and she gave it up, and said, 'Am I +not foolish to wish to learn to read in my old age? What good does it +do me? I have spent much money on my son to have him taught to read, +and see, is he not dead?' I knew how much she was able to do, and I +let her go on speaking. She threw the book on her bed, sat down to +her work, and said, 'What do I need to learn to read in a book? I +can, thank God, read my morning and evening prayer.' (I thought to +myself, 'badly enough.' She knew very little of her catechism.) I +said (gently): 'That is true, Karen. It is not necessary for you to +learn to read a book, as you can read very nicely by heart.' I had +scarcely said this than she jumped up, took her book again, and began +to spell. I neither advised her nor dissuaded her, but treated her +like a good simple child.[108] + + [108] In the margin: 'Once she asked me whether she could not get a + book in which there was neither _q_ nor _x_, for she could not + remember these letters. I answered, "Yes, if you will yourself have + such a book printed."' + +I fell ill during this year,[109] and as the prison governor no +longer came in to me and sent the servant up of an evening, I begged +the woman to tell him that I was ill, and that I wished a doctor to +come to me. The woman told him this (for by this time he understood +Danish, and the woman understood a little German), and when she said, +'I am afraid she will die,' he answered, 'Why the d---- let her die!' +I had daily fevers, heat, but no shivering; and as an obstruction was +the chief cause of my illness, I desired a remedy. The prison +governor ridiculed the idea. When I heard this, I requested he would +come to me, which he did. I spoke to him rather seriously; told him +that it was not the King's will that he should take no more care of +me than he did, that he had more care for his dog than for me (which +was the case). Upon this his manner improved, and he enquired what I +wished for, and I said what I desired, and obtained it. I had become +rather excited at the conversation, so that I felt weak. The woman +cried and said: 'I am afraid you will die, dear lady! and then the +bad maids from the wash-house will wash your feet and hands.' (One of +the maids below had sent very uncivil messages to me.) I replied that +I should not say a word against that. 'What?' said she angrily, 'will +you suffer that? No,' she added with an asseveration, 'I would not! I +would not suffer it if I were in your place.' So I said, like that +philosopher, 'Place the stick with the candlestick at my side, and +with that I can keep them away from me when I am dead.'[110] This +brought her to reason again, and she talked of the grave and of +burial. I assured her that this did not trouble me at all; that when +I was dead, it was all one to me; even if they threw my body in the +sea, it would, together with my soul, appear before the throne of God +at the last day, and might come off better perhaps than many who were +lying in coffins mounted with silver and in splendid vaults. But that +I would not say, as the prison governor did in his levity, that I +should like to be buried on the hill of Valdby, in order to be able +to look around me. I desired nothing else than a happy end. We spoke +of the prison governor's coarseness; of various things which he did, +on account of which it would go badly with him if the Queen knew it; +of his godlessness, how that when he had been to the Lord's Supper, +he said he had passed muster; and other things. There was no fear of +God in him. + + [109] In the margin of the MS. is added: 'When this Karen came to + me she left me no peace till I allowed her to clean the floor; for + I feared that which happened, namely that the smell would cause + sickness. In one place there was an accumulation of dirt a couple + of feet thick. When she had loosened it, it had to remain till the + door was opened. I went to bed, threw the bed-clothes over my head, + and held my nose.'[E38] + + [E38] 'Anno 1666, soon after Karen, Nil's daughter, came to me, we + first discovered that there was a stone floor to my prison chamber, + as she broke loose a piece of rubbish cemented together, and the + stones were apparent. I had before thought it a loam floor. The + former Karen, Ole's daughter, was one of those who spread the dirt + but do not take it away. This Karen tormented me unceasingly, + almost daily, that we must remove it everywhere, and that at + once--it would soon be done. I was of opinion that it would make us + ill if it was done all at once, as we required water to soften it, + and the stench in this oppressive hole would cause sickness, but + that it would be easier and less uncomfortable to remove one piece + after another. She adhered to her opinion and to her desire, and + thought that she could persuade the prison governor and the + tower-warder to let the door remain open till all had been made + clean. But when the tower-warder had brought in a tub of water, he + locked the door. I went to bed and covered my face closely, while + she scraped and swept up the dirt. The quantity of filth was + incredible. It had been collecting for years, for this had been a + malefactors' prison, and the floor had never been cleaned. She laid + all the dirt in a heap in the corner, and there was as much as a + cartload. It was left there until evening at supper-time, when the + doors were opened. It was as I feared: we were both ill. The woman + recovered first, for she could get out into the air, but I remained + in the oppressive hole, where there was scarcely light. We gained + this from it, that we were tormented day and night with numbers of + fleas, and they came to her more than to me, so much so that she + was often on the point of weeping. I laughed and made fun of it, + saying that she would now have always something to do, and would + have enough to beguile the time. We could not, however, work. The + fleas were thick on our stockings, so that the colour of the + stockings was not to be perceived, and we wiped them off into the + water-basin. I then discovered that one flea produces another. For + when I examined them, and how they could swim, I perceived that + some small feet appeared behind the flea, and I thought it was a + peculiar kind. At last I saw what it was, and I took the flea from + which the small one was emerging on my finger, and it left behind + evidences of birth: it hopped immediately, but the mother remained + a little, until she recovered herself, and the first time she could + not hop so far. This amusement I had more than once, till the fleas + came to an end. Whether all fleas are born in this manner I cannot + tell, but that they are produced from dirt and loam I have seen in + my prison, and I have observed how they become gradually perfect + and of the peculiar colour of the material from which they have + been generated. I have seen them pair.' + + It is scarcely necessary to say that, as far as natural history is + concerned, Leonora has committed a mistake. + + [110] In the margin is added: 'On the stick there was a tin + candlestick, which was occasionally placed at the side of my bed. I + used it for fixing my knitting.'[E39] + + [E39] Leonora alludes to an anecdote told by 'Cicero in Tuscul. + Quaest. lib. i. c. 43.' He recounts that the cynic Diogenes had + ordered that his body should not be buried after his death but left + uninterred. His friends asked, 'As a prey to birds and wild + beasts?' 'Not at all,' answered Diogenes; place a stick by me, + wherewith I may drive them away.' 'But how can you?' rejoined + these; 'you won't know!' 'But what then,' was his reply, 'concern + the attacks of the wild beasts me, when I don't feel them?' + +I requested to have the sacrament, and asked M. Buck to come to me at +seven o'clock in the morning, for at about half-past eight o'clock +the fever began. The priest did not come till half-past nine, when +the fever heat had set in (for it began now somewhat later). When I +had made my confession, he began to preach about murder and homicide; +about David, who was guilty of Uriah's death, although he had not +killed him with his own hand. He spoke of sin as behoved him, and of +the punishment it brings with it. 'You,' he said, 'have killed +General Fux, for you have bribed a servant to kill him.' I replied, +'That is not true! I have not done so!' 'Yes, truly,' he said; 'the +servant is in Hamburg, and he says it himself.' I replied: 'If he has +so said, he has lied, for my son gave Fux his death-blow with a +stiletto. I did not know that Fux was in Bruges until I heard of his +death. How could the servant, then, say that I had done it? It was +not done by my order, but that I should not have rejoiced that God +should have punished the villain I am free to confess.' To this he +answered, 'I should have done so myself.' I said: 'God knows how Fux +treated us in our imprisonment at Borringholm. That is now past, and +I think of it no more.' 'There you are right,' he said, as he +proceeded in his office. When all was over, he spoke with the prison +governor outside the door of my anteroom, just in front of the door +of the Dark Church, and said that I made myself ill; that I was not +ill; that my face was red from pure anger; that he had spoken the +truth to me, and that I had been angry in consequence. Christian was +standing inside the door of the Dark Church, for at this time there +were no prisoners there, and he heard the conversation, and related +it to me when I began to get up again and spoke with him at the +door. + +Some time afterwards Christian said to me, quite secretly, 'If you +like, I will convey a message from you to your children in Skaane.' I +enquired how this could be done. He said: 'Through my girl; she is +thoroughly true; she shall go on purpose.' He knew that I had some +ducats left, for Peder the coachman had confided it to him, as he +himself told me. I accepted his offer and wrote to my children, and +gave him a ducat for the girl's journey.[111] She executed the +commission well, and came back with a letter from them and from my +sister.[E40] The woman knew nothing of all this. + + [111] In the margin: 'The girl was a prostitute to whom he had + promised marriage, and the tower-warder--both the former one and + Chresten--let her in to Christian, went out himself, and left them + alone.' + + [E40] This sister was Hedvig, who married Ebbe Ulfeldt, a relative + of Corfitz Ulfeldt. He was obliged to leave Denmark in 1651, on + account of irregularities in the conduct of his office, and went to + Sweden, where he became a major-general in the army. He is the + person alluded to in the Autobiography. Several of Leonora's + children lived in Sweden with their relatives after the death of + Corfitz Ulfeldt; but in 1668 the Danish Government obtained that + they were forbidden the country. + +By degrees Christian began to be insolent in various ways. When he +came with his boy's pouch, in which the woman was to give him food, +he would throw it at her, and he was angry if meat was not kept for +himself for the evening; and when he could not at once get the pouch +back again, he would curse the day when he had come to my door and +had spoken with me or had communicated anything to me. She was sad, +but she said nothing to me. This lasted only for a day, and then he +knocked again at the door and spoke as usual of what news he had +heard. The woman was sitting on the bed, crossing herself fifteen +times (he could not see her, nor could he see me). When he was gone, +she related how fearfully he had been swearing, &c. I said: 'You must +not regard this; in the time of the other Karen he has done as much.' +His courage daily increased. The dishes were often brought up +half-an-hour before the prison-governor came. In the meanwhile +Christian cut the meat, and took himself the piece he preferred +(formerly at every meal I had sent him out a piece of fish, or +anything else he desired). The stupid prison governor allowed it to +go on; he was glad, I imagine, that he was spared the trouble, and +paid no attention to the fact that there was anything missing in the +dish. I let it go on for a time, for it did not happen regularly +every day. But when he wanted food for his boy, he would say nothing +but 'Some food in my boy's pouch!' We often laughed over this +afterwards, when he was away, but not at the time, for it grew worse +from day to day. He could not endure that we should laugh and be +merry; if he heard anything of the kind outside, he was angry. But if +one spoke despondingly, he would procure what was in his power.[112] +One day he listened, and heard that we were laughing; for the woman +was just relating an amusing story of the mother of a schoolboy in +Frederichsborg (she had lived there); how the mother of the boy did +not know how to address the schoolmaster, and called him Herr +Willas.[E41] He said, 'I am no Herr.' 'Then Master,' said the woman. +'I am no Master either,' he said; 'I am plain Willas.' Then the woman +said: 'My good plain Willas! My son always licks the cream from my +milk-pans when he comes home. Will you lick him in return, and that +with a switch on his back?' While we were laughing at this, he came +to the door and heard the words I was saying: 'I don't suppose that +it really so happened; one must always add something to make a good +story of it.' He imagined we were speaking of him, and that we were +laughing at him. At meal-time he said to the woman, 'You were very +merry to-day.' She said, 'Did you not know why? It is because I +belong to the "Laetter"'[E42] (that was her family name). 'It would be +a good thing,' he said, 'to put a stop to your laughter altogether; +you have been laughing at me.' She protested that we had not, that +his name had not been mentioned (which was the case); but he would +not regard it. They fell into an altercation. She told me of the +conversation, and for some days he did not come to the door, and I +sent him nothing; for just at that time a poor old man was my +neighbour, and I sent him a drink of wine. Christian came again to +the door and knocked. He complained very softly of the woman; begged +that I would reprove her for what she had said to him, as he had +heard his name mentioned. I protested to him that at the time we were +not even thinking of him, and that I could not scold her for the +words we had spoken together. I wished to have repose within our +closed door. 'Yes,' he answered; 'household peace is good, as the old +woman said.' With this he went away. + + [112] In the margin: 'In the time of his good humour he had + procured me, for money and candles, all that I desired, so that I + had both knife and scissors, besides silk, thread, and various + things to beguile the time. This vexed him afterwards.' + + [E41] The title 'Herr' was then only given to noblemen and clergy. + Master means 'magister,' and was an academical title. + + [E42] The original has here an untranslatable play upon words. + _Leth_ is a family name; and the woman says 'I am one of the Letter + (the Leths),' but laughter is in Danish 'Latter.' + +Afterwards he caused us all sorts of annoyance, and was again +pacified. Then he wished again that I should write to Skaane.[113] I +said I was satisfied to know that some of my children were with my +sister; where my sons were, and how it fared with them, I did not +know: I left them in God's care. This did not satisfy him, and he +spoke as if he thought I had no more money; but he did not at that +time exactly say so. But one day, when he had one of his mad fits, he +came to the door and had a can with wine (which I gave him at almost +every meal) in his hand, and he said: 'Can you see me?' (for there +was a cleft in the outermost door, but at such a distance one could +not clearly see through). 'Here I am with my cup of wine, and I am +going to drink your health for the last time.' I asked: 'Why for the +last time?' 'Yes,' he swore, coming nearer to the door and saying: 'I +will do no more service for you; so I know well that I shall get no +more wine.' I said, 'I thank you for the services you have rendered +me; I desire no more from you, but nevertheless you may still get +your wine.' 'No!' he said; 'no more service! there is nothing more to +be fetched.' 'That is true,' I answered. 'You do not know me,' said +he; 'I am not what you think; it is easy to start with me, but it is +not easy to get rid of me.' I laughed a little, and said: 'You are +far better than you make yourself out to be. To-morrow you will be of +another mind.' + + [113] In the margin: 'Immediately after the girl had been in + Skaane, he gave her a box full of pieces of wax, on which were the + impressions of all the tower keys; and amongst them was written, + "My girl will have these made in Skaane." I had this from the + woman, who was just then carrying up the night-stool, and on the + following Saturday I gave the box back with many thanks, saying I + did not care to escape from the tower in this way. This did not + please him, as I well saw.' + +He continued to describe himself as very wicked (it was, however, far +from as bad as he really is). I could do nothing else but laugh at +him. He drank from the can, and sat himself down on the stool +outside. I called him and begged him to come to the door, as I wanted +to speak with him. There he sat like a fool, saying to himself: +'Should I go to the door? No,' and he swore with a terrible oath, +'that I will not do! Oh yes, to the door! No, Christian, no!' +laughing from time to time immoderately, and shouting out that the +devil might take him and tear him in pieces the day on which he +should go to my door or render me a service. I went away from the +door and sat down horrified at the man's madness and audacity. Some +days passed in silence, and he would accept no wine. No food was +offered to him, for he continued, in the same way as before, to cut +the meat before the prison governor came up. As the prison governor +at this time occasionally again came in to me and talked with me, I +requested him that Christian, as a prisoner, should not have the +liberty of messing my food. This was, therefore, forbidden him in +future. + +Some days afterwards he threw the pouch to the woman on the stairs, +and said: 'Give me some food for to-night in my lad's pouch.'[114] +This was complied with with the utmost obedience, and a piece of meat +was placed in the pouch. This somewhat appeased him, so that at noon +he spoke with the woman, and even asked for a drink of wine; but he +threatened the woman that he would put an end to the laughing. I did +not fear the evil he could do to me, but this vexatious life was +wearisome. I allowed no wine to be offered to him, unless he asked +for some. He was in the habit every week of procuring me the +newspapers[E43] for candles, and as he did not bring me the +newspapers for the candles of the first week, I sent him no more. He +continued to come every Saturday with the perfuming-pan, and to lock +my door. When he came in with the fumigating stuff, he fixed his eyes +upon the wall, and would not look at me. I spoke to him once and +asked after the doctor, and he made no reply. + + [114] In the margin is added: 'At this time there was a peasant + imprisoned in the Dark Church for having answered the bailiff of + the manor with bad language. I sent him food. He was a great rogue. + I know not whether he were incited by others, but he told Karen + that if I would write to my children, he would take care of the + letter. I sent him word that I thanked him; I had nothing to say to + them and nothing to write with. The rogue answered, "Ah so! Ah + so!"' + + [E43] The newspapers in question were probably German papers which + were published in Copenhagen at that time weekly, or even twice a + week; the Danish _Mercurius_ (a common title for newspapers) was a + monthly publication. + +Thus it went on for some weeks; then he became appeased, and brought +the woman the papers from the time that he had withheld them, all +rolled up together and fastened with a thread. When the prison +governor came in during the evening and sat and talked (he was +slightly intoxicated), and Chresten had gone to the cellar, the woman +gave him back the papers, thanking him in my name, and saying that +the papers were of no interest to me; I had done without them for so +many weeks, and could continue to do so. He was so angry that he tore +the papers in two with his teeth, tore open his coat so that the +buttons fell on the floor, threw some of the papers into the fire, +howled, screamed, and gnashed with his teeth. I tried to find +something over which I could laugh with the prison governor, and I +spoke as loud as I could, in order to drown Christian's voice.[115] +The woman came in as pale as a corpse, and looked at me. I signed to +her that she should go out again. Then Christian came close to my +door and howled, throwing his slippers up into the air, and then +against my door, repeating this frequently. When he heard Chresten +coming up with the cups, he threw himself on the seat on which the +prison governor was accustomed to lie, and again struck his slippers +against the wall. Chresten gazed at him with astonishment, as he +stood with the cups in his hand. He saw well that there was something +amiss between the woman and Christian, and that the woman was afraid; +he could not, however, guess the cause, nor could he find it out; he +thought, moreover, that it had nothing to do with me, since I was +laughing and talking with the prison governor. When the doors were +closed, the lamentations found free vent. The woman said that he had +threatened her; he would forbid her daughter coming on the stairs and +carrying on her talk, and doing other things that she ought not. I +begged her to be calm; told her he was now in one of his mad fits, +but that it would pass away; that he would hesitate before he said +anything of it, for that he would be afraid that what he had brought +up to her would also come to light, and then he would himself get +into misfortune for his trouble; that the prison governor had given +her daughter leave to come to her, and to whom therefore should he +complain? (I thought indeed in my own mind that if he adhered to his +threat, he would probably find some one else to whom he could +complain, as he had so much liberty; he could bring in and out what +he chose, and could speak with whom he desired in the watchman's +gallery.) She wept, was very much affected, and talked with but +little sense, and said: 'If I have no peace for him, I will--yes, I +will--.' She got no further, and could not get out what she would do. +I smiled, and said at last: 'Christian is mad. I will put a stop to +it to-morrow: let me deal with him! Sleep now quietly!' + + [115] In the margin: 'It was wonderful that the governor did not + hear the noise which Christian made. He was telling me, I remember, + at the time, how he had frightened one of the court servants with a + mouse in a box.' + +She fell asleep afterwards, but I did not do so very quickly, +thinking what might follow such wild fits. Next day towards noon I +told her what she was to say to Christian; she was to behave as if +she were dissatisfied, and begin to upbraid him and to say, 'The +devil take you for all you have taught her! She has pulled off her +slippers just as you do, and strikes me on the head with them. She is +angry and no joke, and she took all the pretty stuff she had finished +and threw it into the night-stool. "There," said she, "no one shall +have any advantage of that."' At this he laughed like a fool, for it +pleased him. 'Is she thoroughly angry?' he asked. 'Yes,' she replied; +'she is indeed.' At this he laughed aloud on the stairs, so that I +heard it. For a fortnight he behaved tolerably well, now and then +demanding wine and food; and he came moreover to the door and +related, among other things, how he had heard that the prince (now +our king) was going to be married. I had also heard it, though I did +not say so, for the prison governor had told me of it, and besides I +received the papers without him. And as I asked him no questions, he +went away immediately, saying afterwards to the woman, 'She is angry +and so am I. We will see who first will want the other.' He +threatened the woman very much. She wished that I would give him fair +words. I told her that he was not of that character that one could +get on with him by always showing the friendly side.[116] As he by +degrees became more insolent than could be tolerated, I said one day +to the prison governor that I was surprised that he could allow a +prisoner to unlock and lock my doors, and to do that which was really +the office of the tower-warder; and I asked him whether it did not +occur to him that under such circumstances I might manage to get out, +if I chose to do so without the King's will? Christian was a +prisoner, under sentence of death; he had already offered to get me +out of the tower. The prison governor sat and stared like one who +does not rightly understand, and he made no reply but 'Yes, yes!' but +he acted in conformity with my warning, so that either he himself +locked and unlocked, or Chresten did so. (I have seen Christian +snatching the keys out of Chresten's hand and locking my door, and +this at the time when he began to make himself so angry.) + + [116] In the margin is added: 'He enticed the prison governor to + throw a kitten that I had down from the top of the tower, and he + laughed at me ironically as he told the woman of his manly act, and + said, "The cat was mangy! the cat was mangy!" I would not let him + see that it annoyed me.' + +If Christian had not been furious before, he became so now, +especially at the time that Chresten came in with the perfuming-pan +when the woman was above. He would then stand straight before me in +the anteroom, looking at me like a ghost and gnashing his teeth; and +when he saw that I took the rest of the fumigating stuff from +Chresten's hand (which he had always himself given me in paper), he +burst into a defiant laugh. When the doors were unlocked in the +evening, and Christian began talking with the woman, he said: 'Karen, +tell her ladyship that I will make out a devilish story with you +both. I have with my own eyes seen Chresten giving her a letter. Ay, +that was why she did not let me go in with the perfuming-pan, because +I would not undertake her message to Skaane. Ay, does she get the +newspapers also from him? Yes, tell her, great as are the services I +have rendered her, I will now prepare a great misfortune for her.' +God knows what a night I had! Not because I feared his threat, for I +did not in the least regard his words; he himself would have suffered +the most by far. But the woman was so sad that she did nothing but +lament and moan, chiefly about her daughter, on account of the +disgrace it would be to her if they put her mother into the Dark +Church, nay even took her life. Then she remembered that her daughter +had spoken with her on the stairs, and she cried out again: 'Oh my +daughter! my daughter! She will get into the house of correction!' +For some time I said nothing more than 'Calm yourself; it will not be +as bad as you think,' as I perceived that she was not capable of +listening to reason, for she at once exclaimed 'Ach! ach!' as often +as I tried to speak, sitting up in bed and holding her head between +her two hands and crying till she was almost deluged. I thought, +'When there are no more tears to come, she will probably stop.' + +I said at length, when she was a little appeased: 'The misfortune +with which the man threatens us cannot be averted by tears. Calm +yourself and lie down to sleep. I will do the same, and I will pray +God to impart to me His wise counsel for the morrow.' This quieted +her a little; but when I thought she was sleeping, she burst forth +again with all the things that she feared; she had brought in to me +slips of paper, knife and scissors, and other things furnished by him +contrary to order. I answered only from time to time: 'Go to sleep, +go to sleep! I will talk with you to-morrow!' It was of no avail. The +clock struck two, when she was still wanting to talk, and saying, 'It +will go badly with the poor old man down below!'[117] I made as if I +were asleep, but the whole night, till five o'clock and longer, no +sleep came to my eyes. + + [117] In the margin is added: '1666. While Karen, Nil's daughter, + waited on me, a Nuremberger was my neighbour in the Dark Church; he + was accused of having coined base money. She carried food to him + every day. He sang and read day and night, and sang very well. He + sang the psalm 'Incline thine ear unto me, O Lord,' slowly at my + desire. I copied it, and afterwards translated it into Danish. And + as he often prayed aloud at night and confessed his sins, praying + God for forgiveness and exclaiming again and again, 'Thou must help + me, God! Yes, God, thou must help me, or thou art no God. Thou must + be gracious;' thus hindering me from sleep, I sent him word through + Karen to pray more softly, which he did. He was taken to the Holm + for some weeks, and was then set at liberty. + +When the door was unlocked at noon, I had already intimated to her +what she was to say to Christian, and had given her to understand +that he thought to receive money from her and candles from me by his +threats, and that he wanted to force us to obey his pleasure; but +that he had others to deal with than he imagined. She was only to +behave as if she did not care for his talk, and was to say nothing +but 'Good day,' unless he spoke to her; and if he enquired what I had +said, she was to act as if she did not remember that she was to tell +me anything. If he repeated his message, she was to say: 'I am not +going to say anything to her about that. Are you still as foolish as +you were last night? Do what you choose!' and then go away. This +conversation took place, and he threatened her worse than before. The +woman remained steadfast, but she was thoroughly cast down when our +doors were locked; still, as she has a light heart, she often laughed +with the tears in her eyes. I knew well that Christian would try to +recover favour again by communicating me all kind of news in writing, +but I had forbidden the woman to take his slips of paper, so that he +got very angry. I begged her to tell him that he had better restrain +himself if he could; that if he indulged his anger, it would be worse +for him. At this he laughed ironically, and said, 'Tell her, it will +be worse for her. Whatever I have done for her, she has enticed me to +by giving me wine: tell her so. I will myself confess everything; and +if I come to the rack and wheel, Chresten shall get into trouble. He +brought her letters from her children.' (The rogue well knew that I +had not allowed the woman to be cognisant neither of the fact that he +had conveyed for me a message to Skaane to my children, nor of the +wax in which the tower keys were impressed; this was why he spoke so +freely to her.) When our doors were locked, this formed the subject +of our conversation. I laughed at it, and asked the woman what +disgrace could be so great as to be put on the wheel; I regarded it +as thoughtless talk, for such it was, and I begged her to tell him +that he need not trouble himself to give himself up, as I would +relieve him of the trouble, and (if he chose) tell the prison +governor everything on the following day that he had done for me; he +had perhaps forgotten something, but that I could well remember it +all. + +When the woman told him this, he made no answer, but ran down, kept +quiet for some days, and scarcely spoke to the woman. One Saturday, +when the woman had gone upstairs with the night-stool, he went up to +her and tried to persuade her to accept a slip of paper for me, but +she protested that she dare not. 'Then tell her,' he said, 'that she +is to give me back the scissors and the knife which I have given her. +I will have them, and she shall see what I can do. You shall both +together get into trouble!' She came down as white as a corpse, so +that I thought she had strained herself. She related the conversation +and his request, and begged me much to give him back the things, and +that then he would be quiet. I said: 'What is the matter with you? +are you in your senses? Does he not say that we shall get into +trouble if he gets the scissors and knife back again? Now is not the +time to give them to him. Do you not understand that he is afraid I +shall let the things be seen? My work, he thinks, is gone, and the +papers are no longer here, so that there is nothing with which he can +be threatened except these things. You must not speak with him this +evening. If he says anything, do not answer him.' In the evening he +crept in, and said in the anteroom to her, 'Bring me the scissors and +the knife!' She made no answer. On the following morning, towards +noon, I begged her to tell him that I had nothing of his; that I had +paid for both the scissors and knife, and that more than double their +value. He was angry at the message, and gnashed with his teeth. She +went away from him, and avoided as much as possible speaking with him +alone. When he saw that the woman would not take a slip of paper from +him, he availed himself of a moment when the prison governor was not +there, and threw in a slip of paper to me on the floor. A strange +circumstance was near occurring this time: for just as he was +throwing in the paper, the prison governor's large shaggy dog passed +in, and the paper fell on the dog's back, but it fell off again in +the corner, where the dog was snuffling. + +Upon the paper stood the words: 'Give me the knife and scissors back, +or I will bring upon you as much misfortune as I have before rendered +you good service, and I will pay for the knife and scissors if I have +to sell my trousers for it. Give them to me at once!' For some days +he went about like a lunatic, since I did not answer him, nor did I +send him a message through the woman; so that Chresten asked the +woman what she had done to Christian, as he went about below gnashing +his teeth and howling like a madman. She replied that those below +must best know what was the matter with him; that he must see he was +spoken with in a very friendly manner here. At noon on Good Friday, +1667,[118] he was very angry, swore and cursed himself if he did not +give himself up, repeating all that he had said before, and adding +that I had enticed him with wine and meat, and had deceived him with +candles and good words. That he cared but little what happened to +him; he would gladly die by the hand of the executioner; but that I, +and she, and Chresten, should not escape without hurt. + + [118] In the MS. this date '1667' is in the _margin_, not in the + text. + +The afternoon was not very cheerful to us. The woman was depressed. I +begged her to be calm, told her there was no danger in such madness, +though it was very annoying, and harder to bear than my captivity; +but that still I would be a match for the rogue. She took her book +and read, and I sat down and wrote a hymn upon Christ's sufferings, +to the tune 'As the hart panteth after the water-springs.'[119] + + [119] In the margin is added: 'This very hymn was afterwards the + cause of Christian's being again well-behaved, as he subsequently + himself told me, for he heard me one day singing it, and he said + that his heart was touched, and that tears filled his eyes. I had + at that time no other writing-materials than I have before + mentioned.' + +Christian had before been in the habit of bringing me coloured eggs +on Easter-Eve; at this time he was not so disposed. When the door was +locked, I said to Chresten, 'Do not forget the soft-boiled eggs +to-morrow.' When the dinner was brought up on Easter-Day, and the +eggs did not come at once (they were a side dish), Christian looked +at me, and made a long nose at me three or four times. (I was +accustomed to go up and down in front of the door of my room when it +was unlocked.) I remained standing, and looked at him, and shrugged +my shoulders a little. Soon after these grimaces, Chresten came with +a dish full of soft-boiled eggs. Christian cast down his eyes at +first, then he raised them to me, expecting, perhaps, that I should +make a long nose at him in return; but I intended nothing less. When +the woman went to the stairs, he said, 'There were no coloured eggs +there.' She repeated this to me at once, so that I begged her to say +that I ate the soft-boiled eggs and kept the coloured ones, as he +might see (and I sent him one of the last year's, on which I had +drawn some flowers; he had given it to me himself for some candles). +He accepted it, but wrote me a note in return, which was very +extraordinary. It was intended to be a highflown composition about +the egg and the hen. He tried to be witty, but it had no point. I +cannot now quite remember it, except that he wrote that I had sent +him a rotten egg; that his egg would be fresh, while mine would be +rotten.[120] He threw the slip of paper into my room. I made no +answer to it. Some days passed again, and he said nothing angry; then +he recommenced. I think he was vexed to see Chresten often receive my +wine back again in the cup. At times I presented it to the prison +governor. Moreover, he received no food, either for himself or his +boy. One day he said to the woman, 'What do you think the prison +governor would say if he knew that you give the prisoners some of his +food to eat?' (The food which came from my table was taken down to +the prison governor.) 'Tell her that!' The woman asked whether she +was to say so to me, as a message from him. 'As whose message +otherwise?' he answered. I sent him word that I could take as much as +I pleased of the food brought me: that it was not measured out and +weighed for me, and that those who had a right to it could do what +they liked with what I did not require, as it belonged to no one. On +this point he could not excite our fear. Then he came back again one +day to the old subject, that he would have the scissors and the +knife, and threatening to give himself up; and as it was almost +approaching the time when I received the Lord's Supper, I said to the +woman: 'Tell him once for all, if he cannot restrain himself I will +inform against him as soon as the priest comes, and the first Karen +shall be made to give evidence; she shall, indeed, be brought +forward, for she had no rest on his account until I entered into his +proposals. Whether voluntarily or under compulsion, she shall say the +truth, and then we shall see who gets into trouble.' He might do, I +sent word, whatever he liked, but I would be let alone; he might +spare me his notes, or I would produce them. When the woman told him +this, he thought a little, and then asked, 'Does she say so?' 'Yes,' +said the woman, 'she did. She said still further: "What does he +imagine? Does he think that I, as a prisoner who can go nowhere, will +suffer for having accepted the services of a prisoner who enjoys a +liberty which does not belong to him?"' He stood and let his head +hang down, and made no answer at all. This settled the fellow, and +from that time I have not heard one unsuitable word from him. He +spoke kindly and pleasantly with the woman on the stairs, related +what news he had heard, and was very officious; and when she once +asked him for his cup to give him some wine, he said sadly, 'I have +not deserved any wine.' The woman said he could nevertheless have +some wine, and that I desired no more service from him. So he +received wine from time to time, but nothing to eat.[121] On the day +that I received the Lord's Supper, he came to the door and knocked +softly. I went to the door. He saluted me and wished me joy in a very +nice manner, and said that he knew I had forgiven those who had done +aught against me. I answered in the affirmative, and gave no further +matter for questions; nor did he, but spoke of other trivialities, +and then went away. Afterwards he came daily to the door, and told me +what news he had heard; he also received wine and meat again. He told +me, among other things, that many were of opinion that all the +prisoners would be set at liberty at the wedding of the prince (our +present king) which was then talked of; that the bride was to arrive +within a month (it was the end of April when this conversation took +place), and that the wedding was to be at the palace. + + [120] What he meant by it I know not; perhaps he meant that I + should die in misery, and that he should live in freedom. That + anticipation has been just reversed, for his godless life in his + liberty threw him subsequently into despair, so that he shot + himself. Whether God will give me freedom in this world is known to + Him alone. + + [121] In the margin is added: 'He could not prevent his boy Paaske + from having a piece of meat placed for him in front of the door.' + +The arrival of the bride was delayed till the beginning of June, and +then the wedding was celebrated in the palace at Nykjobing in +Falster. Many were of opinion that it took place there in order that +the bride might not intercede for me and the doctor.[122] When the +bride was to be brought to Copenhagen, I said to Christian: 'Now is +the time for you to gain your liberty. Let your girl wait and fall on +one knee before the carriage of the bride and hold out a +supplication, and then I am sure you will gain your liberty.' He +asked how the girl should come to be supplicating for him. I said, +'As your bride--' 'No (and he swore with a terrible oath), she is not +that! She imagines it, perhaps, but (he swore again) I will not have +her.' 'Then leave her in the idea,' I said, 'and let her make her +supplication as for her bridegroom.' 'Yes,' he said, in a crestfallen +tone, 'she may do that.' It was done, as I had advised, and Christian +was set at liberty on June 11, 1667. He did not bid me good-bye, and +did not even send me a message through the tower-warder or the boy. +His gratitude to the girl was that he smashed her window that very +evening, and made such a drunken noise in the street, that he was +locked up in the Town-hall cellar.[123] He came out, however, on the +following day. His lad Paaske took leave of his master. When he asked +him whether he should say anything from him to us, he answered, 'Tell +them that I send them to the devil.' Paaske, who brought this +message, said he had answered Christian, 'Half of that is intended +for me' (for Christian had already suspected that Paaske had rendered +services to the woman). We had a hearty laugh over this message; for +I said that if Paaske was to have half of it, I should get nothing. +We were not a little glad that we were quit of this godless man. + + [122] In the margin is added: 'The bride had supplicated for me at + Nykjobing, but had not gained her object. This was thought to be + dangerous both for the land and people.' + + [123] In the margin is added: 'It was a Sunday; this was the honour + he showed to God. He went into the wine-house instead of into God's + house. He came out about twelve o'clock.' + +We lived on in repose throughout the year 1668. I wrote and was +furnished with various handiwork, so that Chresten bought nothing for +me but a couple of books, and these I paid doubly and more than +doubly with candles. Karen remained with me the first time more than +three years; and as her daughter was then going to be married, and +she wished to be at the wedding, she spoke to me as to how it could +be arranged, for she would gladly have a promise of returning to me +when the woman whom I was to have in her stead went away. I did not +know whether this could be arranged; but I felt confident that I +could effect her exit without her feigning herself ill. The prison +governor had already then as clerk Peder Jensen Totzloff,[E44] who +now and then performed his duties. To this man I made the proposal, +mentioning at the same time with compassion the ill health of the +woman. I talked afterwards with the prison governor himself about it, +and he was quite satisfied; for he not only liked this Karen very +much, but he had moreover a woman in the house whom he wished to +place with me instead. + + [E44] His name was Torslev; see the Introduction and the + Autobiography. + +Karen, Nils' daughter, left me one evening in 1669, and a German +named Cathrina ----[E45] came in her place. Karen took her departure +with many tears. She had wept almost the whole day, and I promised to +do my utmost that she should come to me when the other went away. +Cathrina had been among soldiers from her youth up; she had married a +lieutenant at the time the prison governor was a drummer, and had +stood godmother to one of his sons. She had fallen into poverty after +her husband's death, and had sat and spun with the wife of the prison +governor for her food. She was greatly given to drinking, and her +hands trembled so that she could not hold the cup, but was obliged to +support it against her person, and the soup-plate also. The prison +governor told me before she came up that her hands occasionally +trembled a little, but not always--that she had been ill a short time +before, and that it would probably pass off. When I asked herself how +it came on, she said she had had it for many years. I said, 'You are +not a woman fit to wait upon me; for if I should be ill, as I was a +year or somewhat less ago, you could not properly attend to me.' She +fell at once down on her knees, wept bitterly, and prayed for God's +sake that she might remain; that she was a poor widow, and that she +had promised the prison governor half the money she was to earn; she +would pray heartily to God that I might not be ill, and that she +would be true to me, aye, even die for me. + + [E45] The name is in blanco; she was probably the Catharina Wolf + which is mentioned in the Preface. + +It seemed to me that this last was too much of an exaggeration for me +to believe it (she kept her word, however, and did what I ordered +her, and I was not ill during her time). She did not care to work. +She generally laid down when she had eaten, and drew the coverlid +over her eyes, saying 'Now I can see nothing.' When she perceived +that I liked her to talk, she related whole comedies in her way, +often acting them, and representing various personages. If she began +to tell a story, and I said in the middle of her narrative, 'This +will have a sorrowful ending,' she would say, 'No, it ends +pleasantly,' and she would give her story a good ending. She would do +the reverse, if I said the contrary. She would dance also before me, +and that for four persons, speaking as she did so for each whom she +was representing, and pinching together her mouth and fingers. She +called comedians 'Medicoants.' Various things occurred during her +time, which prevented me from looking at her and listening to her as +much as she liked.[124] + + [124] In the margin is added: 'A few months after she had come to + me, she had an attack of ague. She wept, and was afraid. I was well + satisfied with her, and thought I would see what faith could do, so + I wrote something on a slip of paper and hung it round her neck. + The fever left her, and she protested that all her bodily pains + passed all at once into her legs when I hung the paper round her + neck. Her legs immediately became much swollen.' + +It happened that Walter,[E46] who in consequence of Dina's affair had +been exiled from Denmark, came over from Sweden and remained +incognito at Copenhagen. He was arrested and placed in the tower +here, below on the ground floor. He was suspected of being engaged +in some plot. At the same time a French cook and a Swedish baker were +imprisoned with him, who were accused of having intended to poison +the King and Queen. The Swede was placed in the Witch Cell, +immediately after Walter's arrest. Some days elapsed before I was +allowed to know of Walter's arrival, but I knew of it nevertheless. +One day at noon, when Walter and the Frenchman were talking aloud +(for they were always disputing with each other), I asked the prison +governor who were his guests down below, who were talking French. He +answered that he had some of various nations, and related who they +were, but why they were imprisoned he knew not, especially in +Walter's case. + + [E46] Walter's participation in the plot of Dina is mentioned in + the Introduction. He was then ordered to leave the country, but + afterwards obtained a pardon and permission to return. He does not + seem to have availed himself of this till the year 1668; but his + conduct was very suspicious, and he was at once arrested and placed + in the Blue Tower, where he died towards the end of April 1670. + +The two before-mentioned quarrelled together, so that Walter was +placed in the Witch Cell with the Swede, and the Frenchman was +conveyed to the Dark Church, where he was ill, and never even came to +the peep-hole in the door, but lay just within. I dared not send him +anything, on account of the accusation against him. Walter was +imprisoned for a long time, and the Frenchman was liberated. When M. +Bock came to me, to give me Christ's body and blood, I told him +before receiving the Lord's Supper of Walter's affair, which had been +proved, but I mentioned to him that at the time I had been requested +to leave Denmark through Uldrich Christian Gyldenlove. Gyldenlove had +sworn to me that the king was at the time not thoroughly convinced of +the matter, and I had complained that his Majesty had not taken pains +to convince himself; and I requested the priest to ask the +Stadtholder to manage that Walter should now be examined in Dina's +affair, and that he and I should be confronted together in the +presence of some ministers; that this could be done without any +great noise, for the gentlemen could come through the secret passage +into the tower. The priest promised to arrange this;[125] he did so, +and on the third day after Walter was placed in the Dark Church, so +that I expected for a long time every day that we should be examined, +but it was prevented by the person whose interest it was to prevent +it.[E47] + + [125] In the margin is added: 'When the priest left me, he spoke + with Walter in front of the grated hole, told him of my desire, and + its probable result. Walter laughed ironically, and said, "My hair + will not stand on end for fear of that matter being mooted again. + The Queen knows that full well. Say that too!" While Walter was in + the Witch Cell hole, he had written to the Queen, but the King + received the paper.' + + [E47] Leonora alludes, no doubt, to the Queen Sophia Amalia. + +Walter remained imprisoned,[126] and quarrelled almost daily with +Chresten, calling him a thief and a robber. (Chresten had found some +ducats which Walter had concealed under a stool; the foolish Walter +allowed the Swede to see that he hid ducats and an ink-bottle between +the girths under the stool, and he afterwards struck the Swede, who +betrayed him.) Chresten slyly allowed Walter to take a little +exercise in the hall of the tower, and in the meanwhile he searched +the stool. It may well be imagined that at the everlasting scolding +Chresten was annoyed, and he did not procure Walter particularly good +food from the kitchen; so that sometimes he could not eat either of +the two dishes ordered for him; and when Walter said one day, 'If you +would give me only one dish of which I could eat, it would be quite +enough,' Chresten arranged it so that Walter only received one dish, +and often could not eat of that. (This was to Chresten's own damage, +for he was entitled to the food that was left; but he was ready to +forego this, so long as he could annoy the others.) + + [126] In the margin is noted: 'I looked through a hole in my + outermost door at the time that Walter was brought up in the Dark + Church. He wept aloud. I afterwards saw him once in front of the + hole of the door of his cell. He was very dirty, and had a large + beard full of dirt, very clotted.' + +Once Chresten came to him with a dish of rice-porridge, and began at +once to quarrel with him, so that the other became angry (just as +children do), and would eat nothing. Chresten carried the porridge +away again directly, and laughed heartily. I said to Chresten, in the +prison governor's presence, 'Though God has long delayed to punish +Walter, his punishment is all the heavier now, for he could scarcely +have fallen into more unmerciful hands than yours.' He laughed +heartily at this, and the prison governor did the same. And as there +is a hole passing from the Dark Church into the outer room, those who +are inside there can call upstairs, so that one can plainly hear what +is said. So Walter one day called to the prison governor, and begged +him to give him a piece of roast meat; the prison governor called to +him, 'Yes, we will roast a rat for you!' I sent him a piece of roast +meat through Chresten; when he took it, and heard that I had sent it +to him, he wept. + +Thus the time passed, I had always work to do, and I wrote also a +good deal.[127] The priest was tired of administering the Lord's +Supper to me, and he let me wait thirteen and fourteen days; when he +did come, he performed his office _par maniere d'acquit_. I said +nothing about it, but the woman, who is a German, also received the +Lord's Supper from him; she made much of it, especially once (the +last time he confessed her); for then I waited four days for him +before it suited him to come, and at last he came. It was Wednesday, +about nine o'clock. He never greeted us, nor did he wish me joy to +the act I intended to perform. This time he said, as he shook hands, +'I have not much time to wait, I have a child to baptise.' I knew +well that this could not be true, but I answered 'In God's name!' +When he was to receive the woman's confession, he would not sit down, +but said 'Now go on, I have no time,' and scarcely gave her time to +confess, absolved her quickly, and read the consecrating service at +posthaste speed. When he was gone, the woman was very impatient, and +said that she had received the holy communion in the field from a +military chaplain, with the whole company (since they were ready to +attack the enemy on the following day), but that the priest had not +raced through God's word as this one had done; she had gained nothing +from it. + + [127] In the margin is added: 'From books which had been secretly + lent me, and I did so with the pen and ink I have before mentioned, + on any pieces of paper which I happened to procure.' + +I comforted her as well as I could, read and sang to her, told her +she should repent and be sorry for her sins, and labour to amend her +ways, and not be distracted by the want of devotion in the priest; +she could appropriate to herself Christ's sufferings and merits for +the forgiveness of her sins, for the priest had given her his body +and blood in the bread and wine. 'Yes,' she answered, 'I shall, with +God's will, be a better Christian.' I said 'Will you keep what you +have promised me?' Her vow was, not to drink herself tipsy, as she +had once done. I will not omit to mention this. She received, as I +have before said, half a pint of French wine at each meal, and I half +a measure of Rhine wine. She could drink both portions without being +quite intoxicated, for at her meal she drank the French wine and lay +down; and when she got up in the afternoon she drank my wine.[128] In +the evening she kept my wine for breakfast, but once she had in her +cup both my wine and her own, so that at noon she had two half-pints +of wine; she sat there and drank it so quietly, and I paid no +attention to her, being at the moment engaged in a speculation about +a pattern which I wanted to knit; at length I looked at her because +it was so long before she laid down; then she turned over all the +vessels, one after another, and there was nothing in them. I accosted +her and said, 'How is it? have you drank all the wine?' She could +scarcely answer. She tried to stand up, and could not. 'To bed, you +drunken sow,' said I. She tried to move, but could not; she was sick, +and crept along by the wall to fetch a broom. When she had the broom, +she could do nothing with it. I told her to crawl into bed and lie +down; she crawled along and fell with her face on the bed, while her +feet were on the ground. There she was sick again, and remained so +lying, and slept. It is easy to imagine how I felt. + + [128] In the margin is noted: 'Chresten was not well satisfied with + the woman, for in her time he never received a draught of wine, so + that he once stole the wine from her can and substituted something + impure in its place; at this she made a great noise, begged me for + God's sake to give her leave to strike Chresten with the can. She + did not gain permission to do so; she told Chresten afterwards that + she had not dared to do it, for my sake. She had a great scar on + one cheek, which a soldier had once given her for a similar act.' + +She slept in this way for a couple of hours, but still did not quite +sleep off her intoxication; for when she wanted afterwards to clean +herself and the room, she remained for a long time sitting on a low +stool, the broom between her knees and her hair about her ears. She +took off her bodice to wash it, and so she sat with her bosom +uncovered, an ugly sight; she kept bemoaning herself, praying to God +to help her, as she was nigh unto death. I was angry, but I could +scarcely help laughing at this sad picture. When the moaning and +lamenting were over, I said angrily, 'Yes, may God help you, you +drunkard; to the guards' station you ought to go; I will not have +such a drunkard about me; go and sleep it out, and don't let me hear +you talk of God when you are not sober, for then God is far from you +and the d----l is near!' (I laughed afterwards at myself.) She laid +down again, and about four o'clock she was quite sober, made herself +perfectly clean, and sat quietly weeping. Then she threw herself with +great excitement at my feet, clung to them, howled and clamoured, and +begged for God's sake that I would forgive her this once, and that it +should never happen again; said how she had kept the wine &c.; that +if I would only keep her half a year, she would have enough to +purchase her admission into the hospital at Luebeck. + +I thought I would take good care that she did not get so much again +at once, and also that perhaps if I had another in her place she +might be worse in other things. Karen could not have come at this +time, for her daughter was expecting her confinement, and I knew that +she would then not be quiet. So I promised her to keep her for the +time she mentioned. She kept her word moreover, and I so arranged it +six weeks later that she received no more wine, and from this time +the woman received no wine; my wine alone could not hurt her. She was +quite intimate with Walter. She had known him formerly, and Chresten +was of opinion that he had given her all his money before he was ill; +for he said that Walter had no money any longer. What there was in it +I know not. Honest she was not, for she stole from me first a brass +knitting-pin, which I used at that time; it was formed like a bodkin, +and the woman never imagined but that it was gold. As my room is not +large, it could soon be searched, but I looked for three days and +could not find the pin. I was well aware that she had it, for it is +not so small as not to be seen, so I said afterwards, 'This brass pin +is of no great importance; I can get another for two pence.' The next +day she showed me the pin, in a large crevice on the floor between +the stones. But when she afterwards, shortly before she left, found +one of my gold earrings which I had lost, and which undoubtedly had +been left on the pillow, for it was a snake ring, this was never +returned, say what I would about it. She made a show of looking for +it in the dirt outside; she knew I dared not say that I had missed +it. + +The prison governor at this time came up but rarely; Peder Jensen +waited on me.[129] His Majesty was ill for a short time, and died +suddenly on February 9, 1670. And as on the same day at twelve +o'clock the palace bell tolled, I was well aware what this indicated, +though the woman was not. We conversed on the subject, who it might +be. She could perceive that I was sad, and she said: 'That might be +for the King, for the last time I saw him on the stairs, getting out +of the carriage, he could only move with difficulty, and I said to +myself that it would soon be over with him. If he is dead, you will +have your liberty, that is certain.' I was silent, and thought +otherwise, which was the case. About half-past four o'clock the fire +was generally lighted in the outside stove, and this was done by a +lad whom Chresten at that time employed. I called him to the door and +asked him why the bell had tolled for a whole hour at noon. He +answered, 'I may not say; I am forbidden.' I said that I would not +betray him. He then told me that the King had died in the morning. I +gave free vent to my tears, which I had restrained, at which the +woman was astonished, and talked for a long time. + + [129] In the margin is added: 'At this time I had six prisoners for + my neighbours. Three were peasants from Femeren, who were accused + of having exported some sheep; the other three were Danish. They + were divided in two parties, and as the Danes were next the door, I + gave them some food; they had moreover been imprisoned some time + before the others. When the Danes, according to their custom, sang + the morning and evening psalms, the Germans growled forth with all + their might another song in order to drown their voices; they + generally sang the song of Dorothea.' [E48] + + [E48] The song of St. Dorothea exists in many German and Danish + versions. + +I received all that she said in silence, for I never trusted her. I +begged her to ask Chresten, when he unlocked the door, what the +tolling intimated. She did so, but Chresten answered that he did not +know. The prison governor came up the same evening, but he did not +speak with me. He came up also the next day at noon. I requested to +speak with him, and enquired why the bell had sounded. He answered +ironically, 'What is that to you? Does it not ring every day?' I +replied somewhat angrily: 'What it is to me God knows! This I know, +that the castle bell is not tolled for your equals!' He took off his +hat and made me a bow, and said, 'Your ladyship desires nothing +else?' I answered, 'St. Martin comes for you too.'[E49] 'St. Martin?' +he said, and laughed, and went away and went out to Walter, standing +for a long time whispering with him in front of the hole; I could see +him, as he well knew.[130] He was undoubtedly telling him of the +King's death, and giving him hope that he would be liberated from +prison. God designed it otherwise. Walter was ill, and lay for a long +time in great misery. He behaved very badly to Chresten; took the +dirt from the floor and threw it into the food; spat into the beer, +and allowed Chresten to see him do so when he carried the can away. +Every day Chresten received the titles of thief and rogue, so that it +may easily be imagined how Chresten tormented him. When I sent him +some meat, either stewed or roasted, Chresten came back with it and +said he would not have it. I begged Chresten to leave it with him, +and he would probably eat it later. This he did once, and then +Chresten showed me how full it was of dirt and filth.[131] + + [E49] The feast of St. Martin is supposed the proper time for + killing pigs in Denmark. It is reported that when Corfitz Uldfeldt, + in 1652, had published a defence of his conduct previously to his + leaving Denmark the year before, he sent a copy to Peder Vibe, one + of his principal adversaries, with this inscription:-- + + Chaque pourceau a son St. Martin; + Tu n'echapperas pas, mais auras le tien. + + [130] In the margin is added: 'As I was to receive clothes, I asked + for mourning clothes. Then the prison governor asked me for whom I + wished to mourn, and this in a most ironical manner. I answered: + "It is not for your aunt; it is not for me to mourn for her, + although your aunt has been dead long. I think you have as good + reason for wearing mourning as I." He said he would report it. I + did not receive them at once.' + + [131] In the margin is added: 'Chresten showed me once some bread, + from which Walter had taken the crumb, and had filled it full of + straw and dirt, in fact, of the very worst kind.' + +When Chresten had to turn Walter in bed, the latter screamed so +pitifully that I felt sympathy with him, and begged Chresten not to +be so unmerciful to him. He laughed and said, 'He is a rogue.' I +said, 'Then he is in his master's hands.' This pleased Chresten well. +Walter suffered much pain; at length God released him. His body was +left in the prison until his brother came, who ordered it to be +buried in the German Church. When I heard that Karen could come to me +again, and the time was over which I had promised the other to keep +her, Cathrina went down and Karen returned to me. This was easily +effected, for the prison governor was not well pleased with Cathrina; +she gave him none of her money, as she had promised, but only empty +words in its place, such as that he was not in earnest, and that he +surely did not wish to have anything from her, &c.[132] The prison +governor began immediately to pay me less respect, when he perceived +that my liberation was not expected. + + [132] In the margin is added; 'The prison governor also severely + reprimanded the woman because she had told me that the King was + dead; that it would not go as well with me as I thought. She gave + him word for word.' + +When the time came at which I was accustomed to receive the holy +communion, I begged the prison governor that he should manage that I +should have the court preacher, D. Hans Laet, as the former court +preacher, D. Mathias Foss, had come to me on the first occasion in my +prison. The prison governor stated my desire, and his Majesty +assented. D. Hans Laet was already in the tower, down below, but he +was called back because the Queen Dowager (who was still in the +palace) would not allow it; and the prison governor sent me word, +through Peder Jensen, that the King had said I was to be content with +the clergyman to whom I was accustomed, so that the necessary +preparation for the Lord's Supper was postponed till the following +day, when Mag. Buck came to me and greeted me in an unusual manner, +congratulating me in a long oration on my intention, saluting me +'your Grace.' When he was seated, he said, 'I should have been glad +if D. Hans Laet had come in my place.' I replied, 'I had wished it +also.' 'Yes,' he said, 'I know well why you wished it so. You wish to +know things, and that is forbidden me. You have already caused one +man to lose his employ.' I asked him whether I had ever desired to +know anything from him? 'No,' he replied, 'you know well that you +would learn nothing from me; for that reason you have asked me +nothing.' 'Does the Herr Mag, then,' I said, 'mean that I desired D. +Hans Laet in order to hear news of him?' He hesitated a little, and +then said, 'You wanted to have D. Hans Laet in order that he might +speak for you with the King.' I said, 'There may perhaps be something +in that.' Upon this he began to swear all kinds of oaths (such as I +have never heard before),[133] that he had spoken for me. (I thought: +'I have no doubt you have spoken of me, but not in my favour.') He +had given me a book which I still have; it is 'St. Augustini +Manuali;' the Statholder Gabel had bought it, as he said more than +once, protesting by God that it had cost the Herr Statholder a +rix-dollar. (I thought of the 5,000 rix-dollars which Gabel received, +that we might be liberated from our confinement at Borringholm, but I +said nothing; perhaps for this reason he repeated the statement so +often.) I asked him whom I had caused to lose his employ. He +answered, 'Hans Balcke.[134] He told you that Treasurer Gabel was +Statholder, and he ought not to have done so.' I said, 'I do not +believe that Balcke knew that he ought not to say it, for he did not +tell it to me as a secret. One might say just as well that H. +Magister had caused Balcke to lose his place.' He was very angry at +this, and various disputes arose on the subject. He began again just +as before, that I wanted to have D. Laet, he knew why. I said, 'I did +not insist specially on having D. Laet; but if not him, the chaplain +of the castle, or another.' He asked, 'Why another?' I replied, +'Because it is not always convenient to the Herr Magister. I have +been obliged to wait for him ten, twelve, and even fourteen days, and +the last time he administered his office in great haste, so that it +is not convenient for him to come when I require him.' He sat turning +over my words, not knowing what to answer, and at last he said; 'You +think it will go better with you now because King Frederick is dead. +No, you deceive yourself! It will go worse with you, it will go worse +with you!' And as he was growing angry, I became more composed and I +asked gently why so, and from what could he infer it? He answered, 'I +infer it from the fact that you have not been able to get your will +in desiring another clergyman and confessor; so I assure you things +will not be better with you. If King Frederick is dead, King +Christian is alive.' I said: 'That is a bad foundation; your words of +threatening have no basis. If I have not this time been able to +obtain another confessor, it does not follow that I shall not have +another at another time. And what have I done, that things should go +worse with me?' He was more and more angry, and exclaimed aloud +several times, 'Worse, yes, it will be worse!' Then I also answered +angrily, 'Well, then let it come.' + + [133] In the margin is added: 'Among his terrible curses was one + that his tongue might be paralysed if he had not spoken for me. The + following year God struck him with paralysis of the tongue; he had + a stroke from anger, and lived eight days afterwards; he was in his + senses, but he was not able to speak, and he died; but he lived to + see the day when another clergyman administered the holy communion + to me.' + + [134] In the margin is added: 'I saw now that this was the cause of + Balcke's dismissal.' + +Upon this he was quite silent, and I said: 'You have given me a good +preparation; now, in God's name!' Then I made my confession, and he +administered his office and went away without any other farewell than +giving me his hand. I learned afterwards that before M. Buck came to +me he went to the prison governor, who was in bed, and begged him to +tell Knud, who was at that time page of the chamber,[E50] what a +sacramental woman I was; how I had dug a hole in the floor in order +to speak with the doctor (which was an impossibility), and how I had +practised climbing up and looking out on the square. He begged him +several times to tell this to the page of the chamber: 'That is a +sacramental woman!'[135] + + [E50] This Knud was the favourite of King Christian V., Adam Levin + Knuth, one of the many Germans who then exercised a most + unfavourable influence on the affairs of Denmark. + + [135] In the margin is added: 'Chresten, who was ill satisfied both + with Karen and with me, gave us a different title one day, when he + was saying something to one of the house-servants, upon which the + latter asked him who had said it? Chresten answered, 'She who is + kept up there for her.' When I was told of this, I laughed and + said, 'That is quite right, we are two "shes."' + +In the end of April in the same year my door was opened one +afternoon, and the prison governor came in with some ladies, who kept +somewhat aside until he had said, 'Here are some of the maids of +honour, who are permitted to speak to you.' There came in first a +young lady whom I did not know. Next appeared the Lady Augusta of +Gluecksburg, whom I recognised at once, as she was but little altered. +Next followed the Electoral Princess of Saxony, whom I at once +recognised from her likeness to her royal father, and last of all our +gracious Queen, whom I chiefly looked at, and found the lineaments of +her countenance just as Peder Jensen had described them. I saw also a +large diamond on her bracelet, and one on her finger, where her glove +was cut. Her Majesty supported herself against the folding table as +soon as she had greeted me. Lady Augusta ran up and down into every +corner, and the Electoral Princess remained at the door. Lady Augusta +said: 'Fye, what a disgusting room this is! I could not live a day in +it. I wonder that you have been able to endure it so long.' I +answered, 'The room is such as pleases God and his Majesty, and so +long as God will I shall be able to endure it.' She began a +conversation with the prison governor, who was half tipsy, and spoke +with him about Balcke's marriage, whose wedding with his third wife +was taking place on that very day; she spoke against marrying so +often, and the prison governor replied with various silly speeches. +She asked me if I was plagued with fleas. I replied that I could +furnish her with a regiment of fleas, if she would have them. She +replied hastily with an oath, and swore that she did not want them. + +Her question made me somewhat ironical, and I was annoyed at the +delight she exhibited at my miserable condition; so when she asked me +whether I had body or wall lice, I answered her with a question, and +enquired whether my brother-in-law Hanibal Sehested was still alive? +This question made her somewhat draw in, for she perceived that I +knew her. She made no answer. The Electoral Princess, who probably +had heard of my brother-in-law's intrigues with Lady Augusta,[E51] +went quickly up to the table (the book lay on it, in which Karen used +to read, and which she had brought in with her), took the book, +opened it and asked whether it was mine. I replied that it belonged +to the woman whom I had taught to read, and as I gave the Electoral +Princess her fitting title of Serene Highness, Lady Augusta said: +'You err! You are mistaken; she is not the person whom you think.' I +answered, 'I am not mistaken.' After this she said no more, but gave +me her hand without a word. The gracious Queen looked sadly on, but +said nothing. When her Majesty gave me her hand, I kissed it and held +it fast, and begged her Majesty to intercede for me, at any rate for +some alleviation of my captivity. Her Majesty replied not with words, +but with a flood of tears. The virtuous Electoral Princess cried +also; she wept very sorrowfully. And when they had reached the +anteroom and my door was closed, both the Queen and the Electoral +Princess said, 'It is a sin to treat her thus!' They shuddered; and +each said, 'Would to God that it rested with me! she should not stay +there.' Lady Augusta urged them to go away, and mentioned it +afterwards to the Queen Dowager, who said that I had myself to thank +for it; I had deserved to be worse treated than this. + + [E51] Hannibal Sehested was dead already in 1666, as Leonora was no + doubt well aware. The whole passage seems to indicate that he is + supposed to have had some love-intrigue with the duchess. Nothing + has transpired on this subject from other sources, but it is + certain that her husband, Duke Ernst Gynther, for some time at + least, was very unfriendly disposed to Hannibal Sehested. + +When the King's funeral was over, and the Queen Dowager had left the +castle, I requested the prison governor that he should execute my +message and solicit another clergyman for me, either the chaplain of +the castle or the arsenal chaplain, or the one who usually attended +to the prisoners; for if I could get no other than M. Buck, they must +take the sin on their own heads, for that I would not again confess +to him. A short time elapsed, but at length the chaplain of the +castle, at that time M. Rodolff Moth, was assigned me. God, who has +ever stood by me in all my adversity, and who in my sorrow and +distress has sent me unexpected consolation, gave me peculiar comfort +in this man. He consoled me with the Word of God; he was a learned +and conversable man, and he interceded for me with his Majesty. The +first favour which he obtained for me was, that I was granted another +apartment on July 16, 1671, and Bishop D. Jesper's postil. + +He afterwards by degrees obtained still greater favours for me. I +received 200 rix-dollars as a gift, to purchase such clothes for +myself as I desired, and anything I might wish for to beguile the +time.[136] + + [136] In the margin is noted: 'Some of my money I expended on + books, and it is remarkable that I obtained from M. Buck's books + (which were sold by auction) among others the great Martilegium, in + folio, which he would not lend me. I excerpted and translated + various matters from Spanish, Italian, French, and German authors. + I especially wrote out and translated into Danish the female + personages of different rank and origin, who were mentioned with + praise by the authors as valiant, true, chaste and sensible, + patient, steadfast and scholarly.' [E52] + + [E52] The Martilegium was probably a German history of Martyrs, + entitled 'Martilogium (for martyrologium) der Heiligen' (Strasburg + 1484, fol.). The extracts to which she refers were no doubt her + earliest collections for her work on Heroines. + +In this year her Majesty the Queen became pregnant, and her Majesty's +mother, the Landgravine of Hesse, came to be with her in her +confinement. On September 6 her Serene Highness visited me in my +prison, at first wishing to remain incognito. She had with her a +Princess of Curland, who was betrothed to the son of the Landgravine; +her lady in waiting, a Wallenstein by birth; and the wife of her +master of the household. The Landgravine greeted me with a kiss, and +the others followed her example. I did not at that time recognise the +wife of the master of the household, but she had known me formerly in +my prosperity at the Hague, when she had been in the service of the +Countess Leuenstein, and the tears stood in her eyes. + +The Landgravine lamented my hard fate and my unhappy circumstances. I +thanked her Serene Highness for the gracious sympathy she felt with +me, and said that she might help much in alleviating my fetters, if +not in liberating me from them entirely. The Landgravine smiled and +said, 'I see well you take me for another than I am.' I said, 'Your +Serene Highness's deportment and appearance will not allow you to +conceal your rank, were you even in peasant's attire.' This pleased +her; she laughed and jested, and said she had not thought of that. +The lady in waiting agreed with me, and said that I had spoken very +justly in saying that I had recognised her by her royal appearance. +Upon this the Landgravine said, 'You do not know her?' pointing to +the Princess of Curland. She then said who she was, and afterwards +who her lady in waiting was, and also the wife of the master of the +household, who was as I have before mentioned. She spoke of the pity +which this lady felt for me, and added 'Et moy pas moins.' I thanked +her 'Altesse tres-humblement et la prioit en cette occasion de faire +voir sa genereuse conduite.' Her Serene Highness looked at the prison +governor as though she would say that we might speak French too long; +she took off her glove and gave me her hand, pressing mine and +saying, 'Croyez-moy, je fairez mon possible.' I kissed her Serene +Highness's hand, and she then took leave of me with a kiss. + +The virtuous Landgravine kept her word, but could effect nothing. +When her Majesty the Queen was in the perils of childbirth, she went +to the King and obtained from him a solemn promise that if the Queen +gave birth to a son I should receive my liberty. On October 11, in +the night between one and two o'clock, God delivered her Majesty in +safety of our Crown Prince. When all present were duly rejoicing at +the Prince's birth, the Landgravine said, 'Oh! will not the captive +rejoice!' The Queen Dowager enquired 'Why?' The Landgravine related +the King's promise. The Queen Dowager was so angry that she was ill. +She loosened her jacket, and said she would return home; that she +would not wait till the child was baptised. Her coach appeared in the +palace square. The King at length persuaded her to remain till the +baptism was over, but he was obliged to promise with an oath that I +should not be liberated. This vexed the virtuous Landgravine not a +little, that the Queen should have induced her son to break his +promise; and she persisted in saying that a king ought to keep his +vow. The Queen Dowager answered, 'My son has before made a vow, and +this he has broken by his promise to your Serene Highness.' The +Landgravine said at last: 'If I cannot bring about the freedom of the +prisoner, at least let her, at my request, be removed to a better +place, with somewhat more liberty. It is not to the King's +reputation that she is imprisoned there. She is, after all, a king's +daughter, and I know that much injustice is done to her.' The Queen +Dowager was annoyed at these words, and said, 'Now, she shall not +come out; she shall remain where she is!' The Landgravine answered, +'If God will, she will assuredly come out, even though your Majesty +may will it not;' so saying, she rose and went out. + +On October 18 the lady in waiting, Wallenstein, sent for Peder Jensen +Totzloff, and delivered to him by command a book entitled, D. +Heinrich Mueller's 'Geistliche Erquickstunden,'[E53] which he gave me +with a gracious message from the Landgravine. On the same day I sent +her Serene Highness, through Totzloff, my dutiful thanks, and +Totzloff took the book back to the lady in waiting, with the request +that she would endeavour to prevail on her Highness to show me the +great favour of placing her name and motto in the book, in +remembrance of her Highness's generosity and kindness. I lamented my +condition in this also, that from such a place I could not spread +abroad her Serene Highness's praise and estimable benefits, and make +the world acquainted with them; but that I would do what I could, and +I would include her Serene Highness and all her family in my prayers +for their welfare both of soul and body. (This I have done, and will +do, so long as God spares my life.) + + [E53] 'Hours of Spiritual Refreshment.' This very popular book of + devotion was first published in 1664, and had an extraordinary run + both in Germany and, through translations, in Denmark. The last + Danish extract of it was published in 1846, and reached the third + edition in 1856. + +On October 23 I received the book back through Totzloff, and I found +within it the following lines, written by the Landgravine's own +hand: + + 1671. + + Ce qui n'est pas en ta puissance + Ne doit point troubler ton repos; + Tu balances mal a propos + Entre la crainte et l'esperance. + Laisse faire ton Dieu et ton roy, + Et suporte avec passience ce qu'il resoud pour toy. + + Je prie Dieu de vous faire cette grace, et que je vous puisse + tesmoigner combien je suis, + + Madame, vostre tres-affectionee a vous servir, + {Monogram} + +The book is still in my possession, and I sent word through Totzloff +to the lady in waiting to request her to convey my most humble thanks +to her Highness; and afterwards, when the Landgravine was about to +start on her journey, to commend me to her Serene Highness's favour. + +In the same year, 1671, Karen, Nils' daughter, left me on account of +ill health. For one night a woman was with me named Margrete, who was +a serf from Holstein. She had run away from her master. She was a +very awkward peasant woman, so towards evening on the following day +she was sent away, and in her place there came a woman named Inger, a +person of loose character. This woman gave herself out as the widow +of a non-commissioned officer, and that she had long been in service +at Hamburg, and nursed lying-in women. It happened with her, as is +often the case, that one seeks to obtain a thing, and that to one's +own vexation. Chresten had spoken for this woman with the prison +governor, and had praised her before me, but the prison governor took +upon another recommendation the before-mentioned Margrete. So long as +there was hope that the Landgravine might obtain my freedom, this +woman was very amenable, but afterwards she began by degrees to show +what was in her, and that it was not for nothing that she resembled +Dina. + +She caused me annoyance of various kinds, which I received with +patience, thinking within myself that it was another trial imposed by +God upon me, and Dina's intrigues often came into my mind, and I +thought, 'Suppose she should devise some Dina plot?' (She is capable +of it, if she had only an instigator, as Dina had.) Among other +annoyances, which may not be reckoned among the least, was this: I +was one day not very well, having slept but little or not at all +during the night, and I had lain down to sleep on the bed in the day; +and she would give me no rest, but came softly past me in her socks, +and in order to wake me teased a dog which I had,[137] so that he +growled. I asked her why she grudged my sleeping? She answered, 'I +did not know that you were asleep.' 'Why, then,' I said, 'did you go +by in your stockings?' She replied, 'If you saw that, then you were +not asleep,' and she laughed heartily by herself. (She sat always in +front of my table with her back turned to me; whether it was because +she had lost one eye that she sat in that position to the light, I +know not.) + + [137] In the margin is added: 'This dog was of an Icelandic breed, + not pretty, but very faithful and sagacious. He slept every + afternoon on the stool, and when she had fallen asleep, she let her + hands hang down. Then the dog would get up and run softly and bite + her finger till the blood came. If she threw down her slippers, he + would take one and sit upon it. She never got it back again without + a bloody finger.' + +I did not care for any conversation with her, so I lay still; and +when she thought I was asleep, she got up again and teased the dog. I +said, 'You tax my patience sorely; but if once my passion rises, you +will certainly get something which will astonish you, you base +accursed thing!' 'Base accursed thing,' she repeated to herself with +a slight laugh. I prayed to God that he would restrain me, so that I +might not lay violent hands on this base creature. And as I had the +other apartment (as I have before mentioned),[138] I went out and +walked up and down between four and five o'clock. She washed and +splashed outside, and spilled the water exactly where I was walking. +I told her several times to leave her splashing, as she spilled the +water in all directions on the floor, so that I made my clothes +dirty, and often there was not a drop of water for my dog to drink, +and the tower-warder had to fetch her water from the kitchen spring. +This was of no avail. One day it occurred to her, just as the bell +had sounded four, to go out and pour all the water on the floor, and +then come back again. When I went to the door, I perceived what she +had done. Without saying a word, I struck her first on one cheek and +then on the other, so that the blood ran from her nose and mouth, and +she fell against her bench, and knocked the skin from her shin-bone. +She began to be abusive, and said she had never in her life had such +a box on her ears. I said immediately, 'Hold your tongue, or you will +have another like it! I am now only a little angry, but if you make +me really angry I shall strike you harder.' She was silent for the +time, but she caused me all the small annoyance she could. + + [138] In the margin is this note: 'In the year 1672, on the 4th + May, one of the house-servants was arrested for stealing. Adam + Knudt, at that time gentleman of the chamber, himself saw him take + several ducats early one morning from the King's trousers, which + were hanging against the walls. He was at first for some hours my + neighbour in the Dark Church. He was then placed in the Witch Cell, + and as he was to be tortured, he received secret warning of it + (which was forbidden), so that when the executioner came he was + found to have hung himself. That is to say, he was said to have + hung himself, though to all appearance this was not possible; he + was found with a cloth round his neck, which was a swaddling-cloth + belonging to one of Chresten, the tower-warder's, children. + Chresten became my neighbour, and was ostensibly brought to + justice, but he was acquitted and reinstated in his office. + +I received it all with gentleness, fearing that I might lay violent +hands on her. She scarcely knew what to devise to cause me vexation; +she had a silver thimble on which a strange name was engraved; she +had found it, she said, in a dust-heap in the street. I once asked +her where she had found some handkerchiefs which she had of fine +Dutch linen, with lace on them, which likewise were marked with +another name; they were embroidered with blue silk, and there was a +different name on each. She had bought them, she said, at an auction +at Hamburg.[139] I thought that the damage she had received on one of +her eyes might very likely have arisen from her having 'found' +something of that kind,[E54] and as I soon after asked her by what +accident she had injured her eye, she undoubtedly understood my +question well, for she was angry and rather quiet, and said, 'What +injury? There is nothing the matter with my eye; I can, thank God, +see with both.' I let the matter rest there. Soon after this +conversation she came down one day from upstairs, feeling in her +pocket, though she said nothing until the afternoon, when the doors +were locked, and then she looked through all her rubbish, saying 'If +I only knew where it could be?' I asked what she was looking for. 'My +thimble,' she said. 'You will find it,' I said; 'only look +thoroughly!' And as she had begun to look for it in her pockets +before she had required it, I thought she might have drawn it out of +her pocket with some paper which she used, and which she had bought. +I said this, but it could not be so. + + [139] In the margin is added: 'She was so proud of her knowledge of + German that when she sang a morning hymn (which, however rarely + happened) she interspersed it with German words. I once asked her + if she knew what her mother's cat was called in Danish, and I said + something at which she was angry. + + [E54] It was a common superstition that persons who understood the + art of showing by magic the whereabouts of stolen goods, had the + power, by use of their formulas alone, to deprive the thief of an + eye. + +On the following day, towards noon, she again behaved as if she were +looking for it upstairs; and when the door was closed she began to +give loose to her tongue, and to make a long story about the thimble, +where it could possibly be. 'There was no one here, and no one came +in except us two;' and she gave me to understand that I had taken it; +she took her large box which she had, and rummaged out everything +that was in it, and said, 'Now you can see that I have not got it.' I +said that I did not care about it, whether she had it or no, but that +I saw that she accused me of stealing. She adhered to it, and said, +'Who else could have taken it? There is no one else here, and I have +let you see all that is mine, and it is not there.' Then for the +first time I saw that she wished that I should let her see in the +same manner what I had in my cardbox, for she had never seen anything +of the work which I had done before her time. I said, 'I do not care +at all what you do with your thimble, and I respect myself too much +to quarrel with you or to mind your coarse and shameless accusation. +I have, thank God, enough in my imprisonment to buy what I require, +&c. But as you perhaps have stolen it, you now imagine that it has +been stolen again from you, if it be true that you have lost it.' To +this she made no answer, so that I believe she had it herself, and +only wanted by this invention to gain a sight of my things. As it was +the Christmas month and very cold, and Chresten was lighting a fire +in the stove before the evening meal, I said to him in her presence, +'Chresten, you are fortunate if you are not, like me, accused of +stealing, for you might have found her thimble upstairs without +having had it proclaimed from the pulpit; it was before found by +Inger, and not announced publicly.' + +This was like a spark to tinder, and she went to work like a frantic +being, using her shameless language. She had not stolen it, but it +had been stolen from her; and she cursed and swore. Chresten ordered +her to be silent. He desired her to remember who I was, and that she +was in my service. She answered, 'I will not be silent, not if I were +standing before the King's bailiff!' The more gently I spoke, the +more angry was she; at length I said, 'Will you agree with me in one +wish?--that the person who last had the thimble in her possession may +see no better with her left eye than she sees with her right.' She +answered with an oath that she could see with both eyes. I said, +'Well, then, pray God with me that she may be blind in both eyes who +last had it.' She growled a little to herself and ran into the inner +room, and said no more of her thimble, nor did I. God knows that I +was heartily weary of this intercourse. + +I prayed God for patience, and thought 'This is only a trial of +patience. God spares me from other sorrow which I might have in its +stead.' I could not avail myself of the occasion of her accusing me +of theft to get rid of her, but I saw another opportunity not far +off. The prison governor came one day to me with some thread which +was offered for sale, rather coarse, but fit for making stockings and +night-waistcoats. I bought two pounds of it, and he retained a pound, +saying, 'I suppose the woman can make me a pair of stockings with +it?' I answered in the affirmative (for she could do nothing else but +knit). When he was gone, she said, 'There will be a pair of stockings +for me here also, for I shall get no other pay.' I said, 'That is +surely enough.' The stockings for the prison governor were finished. +She sat one day half asleep, and made a false row round the stocking +below the foot. I wanted her to undo it. 'No,' said she, 'it can +remain as it is; he won't know but that it is the fashion in +Hamburg.'[140] + + [140] In the margin is added: 'There was no similar row on the + other stocking. The prison governor never mentioned it.' + +When his stockings were finished, she began a pair for herself of the +same thread, and sat and exulted that it was the prison governor's +thread. This, it seemed to me, furnished me with an opportunity of +getting rid of her. And as the prison governor rarely came up, and +she sent him down the stockings by Totzloff, I begged Totzloff to +contrive that the prison governor should come up to me, and that he +should seat himself on the woman's bed and arrange her pillow as if +he wanted to lean against it (underneath it lay her wool). This was +done. The prison governor came up, took the knitting in his hand, and +said to Inger, 'Is this another pair of stockings for me?' 'No, Mr. +Prison governor,' she answered, 'they are for me. You have got yours. +I have already sent you them.' 'But,' said he, 'this is of my thread; +it looks like my thread.' She protested that it was not his thread. +As he went down to fetch his stockings and the scales, she said to +me, 'That is not his thread; it is mine now,' and laughed heartily. I +thought, 'Something more may come of this.' + +The prison governor came with the scales and his stockings, compared +one thread with the other, and the stockings weighed scarcely half a +pound. He asked her whether she had acted rightly? She continued to +assert that it was her thread; that she had bought it in Hamburg, and +had brought it here. The prison governor grew angry, and said that +she lied, and called her a bitch. She swore on the other hand that +it was not his thread; that she would swear it by the Sacrament. The +prison governor went away; such an oath horrified him. I was +perfectly silent during this quarrel. When the prison governor had +gone, I said to the woman, 'God forbid! how could you say such words? +Do you venture to swear a falsehood by the Sacrament, and to say it +in my presence, when I know that it is the prison governor's thread? +What a godless creature you are!' She answered, with a half +ridiculous expression of face, 'I said I would take the Sacrament +upon it, but I am not going to do so.' 'Oh Dina!' I thought, 'you are +not like her for nothing; God guard me from you!' And I said, 'Do you +think that such light words are not a sin, and that God will not +punish you for them?' She assumed an air of authority, and said, 'Is +the thread of any consequence? I can pay for it; I have not stolen it +from him; he gave it to me himself. I have only done what the tailors +do; they do not steal; it is given to them. He did not weigh out the +thread for me.' I answered her no more than 'You have taken it from +him; I shall trouble myself no more about it;' but I begged Totzloff +to do all he could that I should be rid of her, and have another in +her place of a good character. + +Totzloff heard that Karen had a desire to return to me; he told me +so. The prison governor was satisfied with the arrangement. It was +kept concealed from Inger till all was so settled that Karen could +come up one evening at supper-time. When the prison governor had +unlocked the door, and had established himself in the inner room, and +the woman had come out, he said: 'Now, Inger, pack your bundle! You +are to go.' 'Yes, Mr. Prison governor,' she answered, and laughed, +and brought the food to me, and told me what the prison governor had +said, saying at the same time, 'That is his joke.' 'I heard well,' I +answered, 'what he said; it is not his joke, it is his real +earnestness.' She did not believe it; at any rate she acted as if she +did not, and smiled, saying, 'He cannot be in earnest;' and she went +out and asked the prison governor whether he was in earnest. He said, +'Go! go! there is no time for gossip!' She came into me again, and +asked if I wished to be rid of her. I answered, 'Yes.' 'Why so?' she +asked. I answered: 'It would take me too long to explain; the other +woman who is to remain here is below.' 'At any rate,' said she, 'let +me stay here over the night.' ('Ah, Dina!' I thought.) 'Not a quarter +of an hour!' I answered; 'go and pack your things! That is soon +done!' She did so, said no word of farewell, and went out of the +door. + +Thus Karen came to me for the third time, but she did not remain an +entire year, on account of illness.[141] + + [141] In the margin is noted: 'I must remember one thing about + Karen, Nil's daughter. When anything gave her satisfaction, she + would take up her book directly and read. I asked her whether she + understood what she read. "Yes, of course," she answered, "as truly + as God will bless you! When a word comes that I don't understand, I + pass it over." I smiled a little in my own mind, but said nothing.' + +In the year 1673 M. Moth became vice-bishop in Fyn. I lost much in +him, and in his place came H. Emmeke Norbye, who became court +preacher, and who had formerly been a comrade of Griffenfeldt; but +Griffenfeldt did not acknowledge him subsequently, so that he could +achieve nothing for me with Griffenfeldt.[E55] He one day brought me +as answer (when I sent him word among other things that his Majesty +would be gracious if only some one would speak for me), 'It would be +as if a pistol had been placed at the King's heart, and he were to +forgive it.' + + [E55] Griffenfeldt, who was then at the height of his power, was + the son of a wine-merchant, by name Schumacher, but had risen by + his talents alone to the highest dignities. He was ennobled under + the name of Griffenfeldt, and was undoubtedly the ablest statesman + Denmark ever possessed. Eventually he was thrust from his high + position by an intrigue set on foot by German courtiers and backed + by foreign influence. He was accused of treason and kept in prison + from 1676 to 1698, the year before he died, to the great, perhaps + irreparable damage, of his native country. The principal witness + against him was a German doctor, Mauritius, a professional spy, who + had served the Danish Government in this capacity. The year after + the fall of Griffenfeld, he was himself arrested on a charge of + perjury, forgery, and high treason, and placed in the Blue Tower; + he was convicted and conducted to Bornholm, where he died. But + Griffenfeldt, who had been convicted on his false testimony, was + not liberated. Griffenfeldt's ability and patriotism cannot be + doubted, but his personal character was not without blemish; and it + is a fact that in his prosperity he disclaimed all connection with + his earlier friends, and even his near relations. + +In the same year my sister Elisabeth Augusta sent me a message +through Totzloff and enquired whether I had a fancy for any fruit, as +she would send me some. I was surprised at the message, which came to +me from my sister in the tenth year of my captivity, and I said, +'Better late than never!' I sent her no answer. + +One funny thing I will yet mention, which occurred in the time of +Karen, Nil's daughter. Chresten, who had to make a fire in the stove +an hour before supper (since it had no flue), so that the smoke could +pass out at the staircase door before I supped, did not come one +evening before six o'clock, and was then quite tipsy. And as I was +sitting at the time near the stove in the outer apartment on a log of +wood, which had been hewed as a seat, I said it was late to make the +fire, as he must now go into the kitchen. He paid no attention to my +gentle remark, until I threatened him with hard words, and ordered +him to take the wood out. He was angry, and would not use the tongs +to take the wood out, nor would he permit Karen to take them out with +the tongs; but he tore them out with his hands, and said, 'Nothing +can burn me.' And as some little time elapsed before the wood was +extinguished, he began to fear that it would give little satisfaction +if he so long delayed fetching the meal. He seated himself flat on +the ground and was rather dejected; presently he burst out and said, +'Oh God, you who have had house and lands, where are you now +sitting?' I said, 'On a log of wood!' He answered, 'I do not mean +your ladyship!' I asked, 'Whom does your worship mean, then?' He +replied, 'I mean Karen.' I laughed, and said no more. + +To enumerate all the contemptuous conduct I endured would be too +lengthy, and not worth the trouble. One thing I will yet mention of +the tower-warder Chresten, who caused me great annoyance at the end +of this tenth year of my imprisonment. Among other annoyances he once +struck my dog, so that it cried. I did not see it, but I heard it, +and the woman told me it was he who had struck the dog. I was greatly +displeased at it. He laughed at this, and said, 'It is only a dog.' I +gave him to understand that he struck the dog because he did not +venture to strike me. He laughed heartily at the idea, and I said, 'I +do not care for your anger so long as the prison governor is my +friend' (this conversation took place while I was at a meal, and the +prison governor was sitting with me, and Chresten was standing at the +door of my apartment, stretching out his arms.) I said, 'The prison +governor and you will both get into heavy trouble, if I choose. Do +you hear that, good people?' (I knew of too many things, which they +wished to hide, in more than one respect.) The prison governor sat +like one deaf and dumb, and remained seated, but Chresten turned away +somewhat ashamed, without saying another word. He had afterwards some +fear of me, when he was not too intoxicated; for at such times he +cared not what he said, as regards high or low. He was afterwards +insolent to the woman, and said he would strike the dog, and that I +should see him do so. This, however, he did not do. + +Chresten's fool-hardiness increased, so that Peder Totzloff informed +the prison governor of his bad behaviour, and of my complaints of the +wild doings of the prisoners, who made such a noise by night that I +could not sleep for it, for Chresten spent the night at his home, and +allowed the prisoners to do as they chose. Upon this information, the +prison governor placed a padlock upon the tower door at night, so +that Chresten could not get out until the door was unlocked in the +morning. This annoyed him, and he demanded his discharge, which he +received on April 24, 1674; and in his place there came a man named +Gert, who had been in the service of the prison governor as a +coachman. + +In this year, the ---- May, I wrote a spiritual 'Song in Remembrance +of God's Goodness,' after the melody 'Nun ruhen alle Waelder.' + + I. + + My heart! True courage find! + God's goodness bear in mind, + And how He, ever nigh, + Helps me my load to bear, + Nor utterly despair + Tho' in such heavy bonds I lie. + + II. + + Ne'er from my thoughts shall stray + How once I lingering lay + In the dark dungeon cell; + My cares and bitter fears, + And ridicule and tears, + And God the Lord upheld me well. + + III. + + Think on my misery + And sad captivity + Thro' many a dreary year! + Yet nought my heart distresses; + The Lord He proves and blesses, + And He protects me even here! + + IV. + + Come heart and soul elate! + And let me now relate + The wonders of God's skill! + He was my preservation + In danger and temptation, + And kept me from impending ill. + + V. + + The end seemed drawing near, + I wrung my hands with fear, + Yet has He helped me e'er; + My refuge and my guide, + On Him I have relied, + And He has ever known my care. + + VI. + + Thanks to Thee, fount of good! + Thou canst no evil brood, + Thy blows are fatherly; + When cruel power oppressed me, + Thy hand has ever blessed me, + And Thou has sheltered me! + + VII. + + Before Thee, Lord, I lie; + Give me my liberty + Before my course is run; + Thy Gracious Hands extend + And let my suffering end! + Yet not my will, but Thine, be done. + +In this year, on July 25, his royal Majesty was gracious enough to +have a large window made again in my inner apartment; it had been +walled up when I had been brought into this chamber. A stove was also +placed there, the flue of which passed out into the square. The +prison governor was not well satisfied at this, especially as he was +obliged to be present during the work; this did not suit his +laziness. My doors were open during the time; it was twelve days +before the work was finished. He grumbled, and did not wish that the +window should be made as low as it had been before I was imprisoned +here; I persuaded the mason's journeyman to cut down the wall as low +as it had before been, which the prison governor perceived from the +palace square, and he came running up and scolded, and was thoroughly +angry. But it was not to be changed, for the window-frame was already +made. I asked him what it mattered to him if the window was a stone +lower; it did not go lower than the iron grating, and it had formerly +been so. He would have his will, so that the mason walled it up a +stone higher while the prison governor was there, and removed it +again afterwards, for the window-frame, which was ready, would not +otherwise have fitted. + +In the same year Karen, Nil's daughter, left me for the third and +last time, and in her stead came a woman named Barbra, the widow of a +bookbinder. She is a woman of a melancholy turn. Her conscience is +aroused sometimes, so that she often enumerates her own misdeeds (but +not so great as they have been, and as I have found out by enquiry). +She had two children, and it seems from her own account that she was +to some extent guilty of their death, for she says: 'Who can have any +care for a child when one does not love its father?' She left her +husband two years before he died, and repaired to Hamburg, supporting +herself by spinning; she had before been in the service of a princess +as a spinning-maid. Her father is alive, and was bookbinder to the +King's Majesty; he has just now had a stroke of paralysis, and is +lying very ill. She has no sympathy with her father, and wishes him +dead (which would perhaps be the best thing for him); but it vexes me +that she behaves so badly to her sister, who is the wife of a tailor, +and I often tell her that in this she is committing a double sin; for +the needy sister comes from time to time for something to eat. If she +does not come exactly on the evening which she has agreed upon, she +gets nothing, and the food is thrown away upstairs. When at some +length I place her sin before her, she says, 'That meat is bad.' I +ask her why she let it get bad, and did not give it in time to her +sister. To this she answers that her sister is not worthy of it. I +predict evil things which will happen to her in future, as they have +done to others whom I enumerate to her. At this she throws back her +head and is silent. + +At this time her Majesty the Queen sent me some silkworms to beguile +the time. When they had finished spinning, I sent them back to her +Majesty in a box which I had covered with carnation-coloured satin, +upon which I had embroidered a pattern with gold thread. Inside, the +box was lined with white taffeta. In the lid I embroidered with black +silk a humble request that her Majesty would loose my bonds, and +would fetter me anew with the hand of favour. Her Majesty the +virtuous Queen would have granted my request had it rested with her. + +The prison governor became gradually more sensible and accommodating, +drank less wine, and made no jokes. I had peace within my doors. The +woman sat during the day outside in the other apartment, and lay +there also in the night, so that I began not to fret so much over my +hard fate. I passed the year with reading, writing, and composing. + +For some time past, immediately after I had received the yearly +pension, I had bought for myself not only historical works in various +languages, but I had gathered and translated from them all the famous +female personages, who were celebrated as true, chaste, sensible, +valorous, virtuous, God-fearing, learned, and steadfast; and in anno +1675, on January 9, I amused myself with making some rhymes to M. +Thomas Kingo, under the title, 'To the much-famed Poet M. Thomas +Kingo, a Request from a Danish Woman in the name of all Danish +Women.' The request was this, that he would exhibit in befitting +honour the virtuous and praiseworthy Danish women. There are, indeed, +virtuous women belonging to other nations, but I requested only his +praise of the Danish. This never reached Kingo; but if my good friend +to whom I entrust these papers still lives, it will fall probably +into your hands, my beloved children. + +In the same year, on May 11, I wrote in rhyme a controversial +conversation between Sense and Reason; entitled, 'Controversial +Thoughts by the Captive Widow, or the Dispute between Sense and +Reason.' + +Nothing else occurred this year within the doors of my prison which +is worth recording, except one event--namely, when the outermost door +of the anteroom was unlocked in the morning for the sake of sweeping +away the dirt and bringing in fresh water, and the tower-warder +occasionally let it stand open till meal-time and then closed it +again, it happened that a fire broke out in the town and the bells +were tolled. I and the woman ran up to the top of the tower to see +where it was burning. + +When I was on the stairs which led up to the clock-work, the prison +governor came, and with him was a servant from the silver-chamber. He +first perceived my dog, then he saw somewhat of the woman, and +thought probably that I was there also; he was so wise as not to come +up the stairs, but remained below at the lowest holes, from whence +one can look out over the town, and left me time enough to get down +again and shut my door. Gert was sorry, and came afterwards to the +door and told me of his distress. I consoled him, and said there was +nothing to fear. Before the prison governor opened the door at noon, +he struck Gert with his stick, so that he cried, and the prison +governor said with an oath, 'Thou shalt leave.' When the prison +governor came in, I was the first to speak, and I said: 'It is not +right in you to beat the poor devil; he could not help it. The +executioner came up as he was going to lock my door, and that made +him forget to do so.' He threatened Gert severely, and said, 'I +should not have minded it so much had not that other servant been +with me.' + +The words at once occurred to me which he had said to me a long time +before, namely that no woman could be silent, but that all men could +be silent (when he had asserted this, I had thought, if this be so, +then my adversaries might believe that I, had I known of anything +which they had in view, should not have been able to keep silence). +So I now answered him thus: 'Well, and what does that signify? It was +a man; they can all keep silence; there is no harm done.' He could +not help laughing, and said, 'Well, you are good enough.' I then +talked to him, and assured him that I had no desire to leave the +tower without the King's will, even though day and night all the +tower doors were left open, and I also said that I could have got out +long ago, if that had been my design. Gert continued in his service, +and the prison governor never told Gert to shut me in in the +morning.[142] + + [142] In the margin is noted: 'At my desire the prison governor + gave me a rat whose tail he had cut off; this I placed in a + parrot's cage, and gave it food, so that it grew very tame. The + woman grudged me this amusement; and as the cage hung in the outer + apartment, and had a wire grating underneath, so that the dirt + might fall out, she burned the rat with a candle from below. It was + easy to perceive it, but she denied it.' + +At this time I had bought myself a clavicordium, and as Barbra could +sing well, I played psalms and she sang, so that the time was not +long to us. She taught me to bind books, so far as I needed.[E56] + + [E56] The MS. itself is bound in a very primitive manner, which + renders it probable that Leonora has done it herself. + +My father confessor, H. Emmeke, became a preacher at Kioge anno 1676. +In the same year my pension was increased, and I received yearly 250 +rix-dollars. It stands in the order that the 200 rix-dollars were to +be used for the purchase of clothes and the remaining fifty to buy +anything which might beguile the time.[E57] God bless and keep his +gracious Majesty, and grant that he may live to enjoy many happy +years. + + [E57] It appears from the State accounts that ever since the year + 1672 a sum of 250 dollars a year had been placed at her disposal. + It would seem, therefore, that somehow or other a part of them had + been unlawfully abstracted by someone during the first years. + +Brant was at this time treasurer. + +On December 17 in this same year Barbra left me, and married a +bookbinder's apprentice; but she repented it afterwards. And as her +husband died a year and a half after her marriage, and that suddenly, +suspicion fell upon Barbra. She afterwards went to her brother's +house and fell ill. Her conscience was awakened, and she sent for +Totzloff and told almost in plain terms that she had poisoned her +husband, and begged him to tell me so. I was not much astonished at +it, for according to her own account she had before killed her own +children; but I told Peder Totzloff that he was not to speak of it; +if God willed that it should be made known, it would be so +notwithstanding; the brother and the maid in the house knew it; he +was not to go there again, even if she sent a message to him. She +became quite insane, and lay in a miserable condition. The brother +subsequently had her removed to the plague-house. + +In Barbra's place there came to me a woman named Sitzel, daughter of +a certain Klemming; Maren Blocks had brought about her employment, as +Sitzel owed her money. She is a dissolute woman, and Maren gave her +out as a spinster; she had a white cap on her head when she came up. +Sitzel's debt to Maren had arisen in this way: that Maren--since +Sitzel could make buttons, and the button-makers had quarrelled with +her--obtained for her a royal licence in order to free her from the +opposition of the button-makers, under the pretext that she was +sickly. When the door was locked in the evening, I requested to see +the royal licence which Maren had obtained for her. And when I saw +that she was styled in it the sickly woman, I asked her what her +infirmity was. She replied that she had no infirmity. 'Why, then,' I +asked, 'have you given yourself out as sickly?' She answered, 'That +was Maren Block's doing, in order to get for me the royal licence.' +'In the licence,' I said, 'you are spoken of as a married woman, and +not as a spinster; have you, then, been seduced?' She hung her head +and said softly, 'Yes.' + +I was not satisfied. I said, 'Maren Block has obtained the royal +licence for you by lies, and has brought you to me by lies; what, +then, can I expect from your service?' She begged my pardon, promised +to serve me well, and never to act contrary to my wishes. She is a +dangerous person; there is nothing good in her; bold and shameless, +she is not even afraid of fighting a man. She struck two +button-makers one day, who wanted to take away her work, till they +were obliged to run away. With me she had no opportunity of thus +displaying her evil passions, but still they were perceptible in +various ways. One day I warded off a scuffle between her and Maren +Blocks; for when Maren Blocks had got back the money which she had +expended on the royal licence for Sitzel, she wanted to remove her +from me, and to bring another into her place; but I sent word to +Maren Blocks that she must not imagine she could send me another whom +I must take. It was enough that she had done this time.[143] + + [143] In the margin stood originally the following note, which has + afterwards been struck out: 'In this year, 1676, the prison + governor married for the third time; he married a woman who herself + had had two husbands. Anno 1677, Aug. 9, died my sister Elisabeth + Augusta.' + +In the place of H. Emmeke Norbye, H. Johan Adolf Borneman became +palace-preacher; a very learned and sensible man, who now became my +father confessor, and performed the duties of his office for the +first time on April 10, 1677. + +On October 9, in the same year, my father confessor was Magister +Hendrich Borneman, dean of the church of Our Lady (a learned and +excellent man), his brother H. Johan Adolf Borneman having +accompanied the King's Majesty on a journey. + +I have, thank God, spent this year in repose: reading, writing, and +composing various things. + +Anno 1678 it was brought about for me that my father-confessor, H. +Johan Adolf Borneman, should come to me every six weeks and preach a +short sermon. + +In this year, on Easter-Day, Agneta Sophia Budde was brought to the +tower. Her prison was above my innermost apartment. She was accused +of having designed to poison the Countess Skeel; and as she was a +young person, and had a waiting-woman in her attendance who was also +young, they clamoured to such an extent all day that I had no peace +for them. I said nothing, however, about it, thinking she would +probably be quiet when she knew that her life was at stake. But no! +she was merry to the day on which she was executed![144] + + [144] On a piece of paper which is fastened to the MS. by a pin is + the following note referring to the same matter: 'On March 4, in + the same year 1678, a woman named Lucia, who had been in the + service of Lady Rigitze Grubbe, became my neighbour. She was + accused by Agneta Sophia Budde, as the person who at the + instigation of her mistress had persuaded her to poison Countess F. + Birrete Skeel, and that Lucia had brought her the poison. There was + evidence as to the person from whom Lucia had bought the poison. + This woman was a steady faithful servant. She received everything + that was imposed upon her with the greatest patience, and held out + courageously in the Dark Cell. She had two men as companions, both + of whom cried, moaned and wept. From the Countess Skeel (who had to + supply her with food) meat was sent her which was full of maggots + and mouldy bread. I took pity on her (not for the sake of her + mistress, for she had rendered me little good service, and had + rewarded me evil for the benefits of former times, but out of + sympathy). And I sent her meat and drink and money that she might + soften Gert, who was too hard to her. She was tortured, but would + not confess any thing of what she was accused, and always defended + her mistress. She remained a long time in prison.[E58] + + [E58] The acts of this famous trial are still in existence. + Originally the quarrel arose out of the fact that the Countess + Parsberg (born Skeel) had obtained a higher rank than Lady Grubbe, + and was further envenomed by some dispute about a window in the + house of the latter which looked down on the courtyard of the + Countess's house. Regitze Grubbe (widow of Hans Ulrik Gyldenlove, + natural son of Christian IV. and half-brother of Ulrik Christian + Gyldenlove, as well as of Leonora Christina), persuaded another + noble lady, Agnete Budde, through a servant, to poison Countess + Parsberg. Miss Budde was beheaded, the girl Lucie was exiled, and + Lady Grubbe relegated for life to the island of Bornholm. + +In the same year, on the morning of July 9, the tower-warder Gert was +killed by a thief who was under sentence of death, and to whom he had +allowed too great liberty. I will mention this incident somewhat more +in detail, as I had advised Gert not to give this prisoner so much +liberty; but to his own misfortune he paid no attention to my advice. +This thief had broken by night into the house of a clergyman, and had +stolen a boiling-copper, which he had carried on his head to +Copenhagen; he was seized with it at the gate in the morning, and was +placed here in the tower. He was condemned to be hanged (he had +committed various other thefts). The priest allowed the execution to +be delayed; he did not wish to have him hanged. Then it was said he +was to go to the Holm; but he remained long in prison. At first, and +until the time that his going to the Holm was talked of, he was my +neighbour in the Dark Church; he behaved quite as a God-fearing man, +read (apparently) with devotion, and prayed to God for forgiveness of +his sins with most profound sighs. The rogue knew that I could hear +him, and I sent him occasionally something to eat. Gert took pity on +him, and allowed him to go by day about the basement story of the +tower, and shut him up at night again. + +Afterwards he allowed him also at night to remain below. And as I had +seen the thief once or twice when my door stood open, and he went +past, it seemed to me that he had a murderous countenance; and for +this reason, when I heard that the thief was not placed of an evening +in the Dark Church, I said to Gert that he ventured too far, in +letting him remain below at night; that there was roguery lurking in +him; that he would certainly some day escape, and then, on his +account, Gert would get into trouble. Gert was not of opinion that +the thief wished to run away; he had no longer any fear of being +hanged; he had been so delighted that he was to go to the Holm, there +was no danger in it. I thought 'That is a delight which does not +reach further than the lips,' and I begged him that he would lock him +up at night. No; Gert feared nothing; he even went farther, and +allowed the thief to go up the tower instead of himself, and attend +to the clock-work. + +Three days before the murder took place, I spoke with Gert, when he +unlocked my door in the morning, of the danger to which he exposed +himself by the liberty he allowed the thief, but Gert did not fear +it. Meanwhile my dog placed himself exactly in front of Gert, and +howled in his face. When we were at dinner, the dog ran down and +howled three times at the tower-warder's door. Never before had I +heard the dog howl. + +On July 19 (as I have said), when Gert's unfortunate morning had +arrived, the thief came down from the clock-work, and said that he +could not manage it alone, as the cords were entangled. The rogue had +an iron rod ready above, in order to effect his project. Gert went +upstairs, but was carried down. The thief ran down after Gert was +dead, opened his box, took out the money, and went out of the tower. + +It was a Friday, and the bells were to be rung for service. Those +whose duty it was to ring them knocked at the tower door, but no one +opened. Totzloff came with the principal key and opened, and spoke to +me and wondered that Gert was not there at that time of the day. I +said: 'All is not right; this morning between four and five I was +rather unwell, and I heard three people going upstairs and after a +time two coming down again.' Totzloff locked my door and went down. +Just then one of the ringers came down, and informed them that Gert +was lying upstairs dead. When the dead man was examined, he had more +than one wound, but all at the back of the head. He was a very bold +man, courageous, and strong; one man could not be supposed to have +done this to him. + +The thief was seized the same evening, and confessed how it had +happened: that, namely, a prisoner who was confined in the Witch +Cell, a licentiate of the name of Moritius, had persuaded him to it. +This same Moritius had great enmity against Gert. It is true that +Gert took too much from him weekly for his food. But it is also true +that this Moritius was a very godless fellow; the priest who +confesses him gives him no good character. I believe, indeed, that +Moritius was an accessory, but I believe also that another prisoner, +who was confined in the basement of the tower, had a hand in the +game. For who should have locked the tower-door again after the +imprisoned thief, had not one of these done so? For when the key was +looked for, it was found hidden above in the tower; this could not +have been done by the thief after he was out of the tower. The thief, +moreover, could not have unlocked Gert's box and taken his money +without the knowledge of Moritius. The other prisoner must also have +been aware of it. It seems to me that it was hushed up, in order that +no more should die for this murder; for the matter was not only not +investigated as was befitting, but the thief was confined down below +in the tower. He was bound with iron fetters, but Moritius could +speak with him everyday: and for this reason the thief departed from +his earlier statement, and said that he alone had committed the +murder. He was executed on August 8, and Moritius was taken to +Borringholm, and kept as a prisoner there.[E55b] + + [E55b] Griffenfeldt, who was then at the height of his power, was + the son of a wine-merchant, by name Schumacher, but had risen by + his talents alone to the highest dignities. He was ennobled under + the name of Griffenfeldt, and was undoubtedly the ablest statesman + Denmark ever possessed. Eventually he was thrust from his high + position by an intrigue set on foot by German courtiers and backed + by foreign influence. He was accused of treason and kept in prison + from 1676 to 1698, the year before he died, to the great, perhaps + irreparable damage, of his native country. The principal witness + against him was a German doctor, Mauritius, a professional spy, who + had served the Danish Government in this capacity. The year after + the fall of Griffenfeld, he was himself arrested on a charge of + perjury, forgery, and high treason, and placed in the Blue Tower; + he was convicted and conducted to Bornholm, where he died. But + Griffenfeldt, who had been convicted on his false testimony, was + not liberated. Griffenfeldt's ability and patriotism cannot be + doubted, but his personal character was not without blemish; and it + is a fact that in his prosperity he disclaimed all connection with + his earlier friends, and even his near relations. + +In Gert's place a tower-warder of the name of Johan, a Norwegian, was +appointed--a very simple man. The servants about court often made a +fool of him. The imprisoned young woman and her attendant did so the +first time after his arrival that the attendant had to perform some +menial offices upstairs. The place to which she had to go was not far +from the door of their prison. The tower-warder went down in the +meanwhile, and left the door open. They ran about and played. When +they heard him coming up the stairs, they hid themselves. He found +the prison empty, and was grieved and lamented. The young woman +giggled like a child, and thus he found her behind a door. Johan was +glad, and told me the story afterwards. I asked why he had not +remained with them. 'What,' he answered, 'was I to remain at their +dirty work?' There was nothing to say in reply to such foolish talk. + +I had repose within my doors, and amused myself with reading, writing +and various handiwork, and began to make and embroider my shroud, for +which I had bought calico, white taffeta, and thread. + +On April 7 a young lad escaped from the tower, who had been confined +on the lower story with iron fetters round his legs. This prisoner +found opportunity to loosen his fetters, and knew, moreover, that the +booby Johan was wont to keep the tower key under his pillow. He kept +an iron pin in readiness to unlock the door of the room when the +tower-warder was asleep; he opened it gently, took the key, locked in +the booby again, and quitted the tower. The simple man was placed in +confinement, but after the expiration of six weeks he was set at +liberty. + +In his place there came a man named Olle Mathison, who was from +Skaane; he had his wife with him in the tower. Towards the end of +this year, on December 25, I became ill of a fever, and D. Mynchen +received orders to visit me and to take me under his care--an order +which he executed with great attention. He is a very sensible man, +mild and judicious in his treatment. Ten days after I recovered my +usual health. + +In the beginning of the year 1680 Sitzel, Klemming's daughter, was +persuaded by Maren Blocks to betroth herself to one of the King's +body-guard. She left me on November 26. In her place I had a woman +named Margrete. When I first saw her, she appeared to me somewhat +suspicious, and it seemed to me that she was with child; however, I +made no remark till the last day of the month of January. Then I put +a question to her from which she could perceive my opinion. She +answered me with lies, but I interrupted her at once; and she made +use of a special trick, which it is not fit to mention here, in order +to prove her false assertion; but her trick could not stand with me, +and she was subsequently obliged to confess it. I asked her as to the +father of the child (I imagined that it was the King's groom of the +chamber, who had been placed in arrest in the prison governor's room, +but I did not say so). She did not answer my question at the time, +but said she was not so far advanced; that her size was owing rather +to stoutness than to the child, as it was at a very early stage. + +This woman, before she came to me, had been in the service of the +prison governor's wife, and the prison governor had told me she was +married. So it happened that I one day asked her of her life and +doings; upon which she told me of her past history, where she had +served, and that she had had two bastards, each by a different +father; and pointing to herself, she added: 'A father shall also +acknowledge this one, and that a brave father! You know him well!' I +said, 'I have seen the King's groom of the chamber in the square, but +I do not know him.' She laughed and answered (in her mother-tongue), +'No, by God, that is not he; it is the good prison governor.' I truly +did not believe it. She protested it, and related some minute details +to me. + +I thought I had better get rid of her betimes, and I requested to +speak with the prison governor's wife, who at once came to me. I +told her my suspicion with regard to the woman, and on what I based +my suspicion; but I made no remark as to what the woman had confessed +and said to me. I begged the prison governor's wife to remove the +woman from me as civilly as she could. She was surprised at my words, +and doubted if there was truth in them. I said, 'Whether it be so or +not, remove her; the sooner the better.' She promised that it should +be done, but it was not. Margrete seemed not to care that it was +known that she was with child; she told the tower-warder of it, and +asked him one day, 'Ole, how was it with your wife when she had +twins?' Ole answered: 'I know nothing about it. Ask Anne!' Margrete +said that from certain symptoms she fancied she might have twins. + +One day, when she was going to sew a cloth on the arms of my +arm-chair, she said, 'That angel of God is now moving!' And as the +wife of the prison governor did not adhere to her word, and +Margrete's sister often came to the tower, I feared that the sister +might secretly convey her something to remove the child (which was no +doubt subsequently the case), so I said one day to Margrete: 'You say +that the prison governor is your child's father, but you do not +venture to say so to himself.' 'Yes!' she said with an oath, 'as if I +would not venture! Do you imagine that I will not have something from +him for the support of my child?' 'Then I will send for him,' I said, +'on purpose to hear what he will say.' (It was at that time a rare +occurrence for the prison governor to come to me.) She begged me to +do so; he could not deny, she said, that he was the father of her +child. The prison governor came at my request. I began my speech in +the woman's presence, and said that Margrete, according to her own +statement, was with child; who the father was, he could enquire if he +chose. He asked her whether she was with child? She answered, 'Yes, +and you are the father of it.' 'O!' he said, and laughed, 'what +nonsense!' She adhered to what she had said, protested that no other +was the child's father, and related the circumstances of how it had +occurred. The prison governor said, 'The woman is mad!' She gave free +vent to her tongue, so that I ordered her to go out; then I spoke +with the prison governor alone, and begged him speedily to look about +for another woman for me, before it came to extremities with her. I +supposed he would find means to stop her tongue. I told him the truth +in a few words--that he had brought his paramour to wait on me. He +answered, 'She lies, the malicious woman! I have ordered Totzloff +already to look about for another. My wife has told me what you said +to her the other day.' After this conversation the prison governor +went away. Peder Totzloff told me that an English woman had desired +to be with me, but could not come before Easter. + +Four days afterwards Margrete began to complain that she felt ill, +and said to me in the forenoon, 'I think it will probably go badly +with me; I feel so ill.' I thought at once of what I had feared, +namely of what the constant visits of her sister indicated, and I +sent immediately to Peder Totzloff, and when he came to me I told him +of my suspicion respecting Margrete, and begged him to do his utmost +to procure me the English woman that very day. Meanwhile Margrete +went up stairs, and remained there about an hour and a quarter, and +came down looking like a corpse, and said, 'Now it will be all right +with me.' What I thought I would not say (for I knew that if I had +enquired the cause of her bad appearance she would have at once +acknowledged it all, and I did not want to know it), so I said, 'If +you keep yourself quiet, all will be well. Another woman is coming +this evening.' This did not please her; she thought she could now +well remain. I paid no regard to this nor to anything else she said, +but adhered to it--that another woman was coming. This was arranged, +and in the evening of March 15 Margrete left, and in her place came +an English woman, named Jonatha, who had been married to a Dane named +Jens Pedersen Holme. + +When Margrete was gone, I was blamed by the wife of the prison +governor, who said that I had persuaded Margrete to affirm that her +husband was the father of Margrete's child. + +Although it did not concern me, I will nevertheless mention the +deceitful manner in which the good people subsequently brought about +this Margrete's marriage. They informed a bookbinder's apprentice +that she had been married, and they showed both him and the priest, +who was to give them the nuptial benediction, her sister's marriage +certificate.[145] + + [145] In the margin is added: 'Ole the tower-warder was cudgelled + on his back by the prison governor when Margrete was gone, and he + was charged with having said what Margrete had informed him + respecting her size.' + +In the same year, on the morning of Christmas Day, God loosened D. +Otto Sperling's heavy bonds, after he had been imprisoned in the Blue +Tower seventeen years, eight months, twenty-four days, at the age of +eighty years minus six days. He had long been ill, but never confined +to his bed. Doctor Muenchen twice visited him with his medicaments. He +would not allow the tower-warder at any time to make his bed, and was +quite angry if Ole offered to do so, and implied that the doctor was +weak. He allowed no one either to be present when he laid down. How +he came on the floor on Christmas night is not known; he lay there, +knocking on the ground. The tower-warder could not hear his knocking, +for he slept far from the doctor's room; but a prisoner who slept on +the ground floor heard it, and knocked at the tower-warder's door and +told him that the doctor had been knocking for some time. When Ole +came in, he found the doctor lying on the floor, half dressed, with a +clean shirt on. He was still alive, groaned a good deal, but did not +speak. Ole called a prisoner to help him, and they lifted him on the +bed and locked the door again. In the morning he was found dead, as I +have said. + +A.D. 1682, in the month of April, I was sick and confined to my bed +from a peculiar malady which had long troubled me--a stony matter had +coagulated and had settled low down in my intestines. Doctor Muenchen +used all available means to counteract this weakness; but he could +not believe that it was of the nature I thought and informed him; for +I was perfectly aware it was a stone which had settled in the duct of +the intestines. He was of opinion, if it were so, that the +medicaments which he used would remove it.[146] At this time the +doctor was obliged to travel with his Majesty to Holstein. I used the +remedies according to Doctor Muenchen's directions, but things +remained just as before. It was not till the following morning that +the remedies produced their effect; and then, besides other matter, a +large stone was evacuated, and I struck a piece out of it with a +hammer in order to see what it was inside; I found it to be composed +of a substance like rays, having the appearance of being gilded in +some places and in others silvered. It is almost half a finger in +length and full three fingers thick, and it is still in my +possession. When Doctor Muenchen returned, I sent him word how it was +with me. He was at the time with the governess of the royal children, +F. Sitzele Grubbe. Doctor Muenchen desired Totzloff to request me to +let him see the stone. I sent him word that if he would come to me, +he should see it. I would not send it to him, for I well knew that I +should never get it again. + + [146] In the margin is added: 'Other natural matter was evacuated, + but the stone stuck fast in the duct, and seemed to be round, for I + could not gain hold of it with an instrument I had procured for the + purpose.' + +A.D. 1682, June 11, I wrote the following spiritual song. + +It can be sung to the melody, 'Siunge wii af Hiaertens-Grund.'[E59] + + [E59] This tune is still in use in Denmark; it is known in the + Latin church as 'in natali Domini.' + + I. + + What is this our mortal life + Otherwise than daily strife? + What is all our labour here, + The servitude and yoke we bear? + Are they aught but vanity? + Art and learning what are ye? + Like a vapour all we see. + + II. + + Why, then, is thy anxious breast + Filled with trouble? Be at rest! + Why, then, dost thou boldly fight + The phantoms vain that mock thy sight? + Is there any, small or grand, + Who can payment duly hand + At the creditor's demand? + + III. + + Naked to the world I came, + And I leave it just the same; + The Lord has given and He takes; + It is well whate'er He makes. + To the Lord all praises be; + I will trust Him heartily! + And my near deliverance see. + + IV. + + One thing would I ask of Thee. + That Thy House I once may see, + And once more with song and praise + May my pious offering raise, + And magnify Thy grace received, + And all that Jesus has achieved + For us who have in Him believed. + + V. + + If Thou sayest unto me, + 'I have no desire in thee, + There is no place for thee above;' + Oh Jesus! look Thou down in love! + Can I not justly to Thee say + 'Let me but see Thy wounds, I pray:' + God's mercy cannot pass away. + +On June 27, the Queen sent me some silk and silver, with the request +that I would embroider her a flower, which was traced on parchment; +she sent also another flower which was embroidered, that I might see +how the work should be done, which is called the golden work. I had +never before embroidered such work, for it affects the eyes quickly; +but I undertook it, and said I would do it as well as I could. On +July 9, I sent the flower which I had embroidered to the governess of +the royal children, F. Sitzele Grubbe, with the request that she +would present it most humbly to her Majesty the Queen. The Queen was +much pleased with the flower, and told her that it excelled the +others which certain countesses had embroidered for her. + +I afterwards embroidered nine flowers in silver and silk in this +golden work, and sent them to the Queen's mistress of the robes, with +the request that she would present them most humbly to her Majesty +the Queen. The mistress of the robes assured me of the Queen's +favour, and told me that her Majesty was going to give me two silver +flagons, but I have not heard of them yet. In the same year I +embroidered a table-cover with floss silk, in a new design devised by +myself, and I trimmed it with taffeta and silver fringe; this also I +begged Lady Grubbe, the governess of the King's children, to present +most humbly to her Majesty, and it was graciously received. On +November 29, I completed the work which I had made for my death-gear. +It was embroidered with thread. On one end of the pillow I worked the +following lines: + + Full of anxiety and care, in many a silent night, + This shroud have I been weaving with sorrowful delight! + +On the other end I embroidered the following: (N.B. The pillow was +stuffed with my hair). + + When some day on this hair my weary head will lie, + My body will be free and my soul to God will fly. + +On the cloth for the head I embroidered: + + I know full well, my Jesus, Thou dost live, + And my frail body from the dust wilt give, + And it with marvellous beauty will array + To stand before Thy throne on the great day. + Fulfilled with heavenly joy I then shall be, + And Thee, great God, in all Thy splendour see. + Nor unknown wilt Thou to mine eyes appear! + Help Jesus, bridegroom, be Thou ever near! + +Her Majesty the Queen was always gracious to me, and sent me again a +number of silkworms that I might amuse myself with feeding them for +her, and I was to return what they spun. The virtuous Queen also sent +me sometimes oranges, lemons, and some of the large almanacs, and +this she did through a dwarf, who is a thoroughly quick lad. His +mother and father had been in the service of my deceased sister +Sophia Elizabeth and my brother-in-law Count Pentz. + +The governess of the royal children, F. Sitzel Grubbe, was very +courteous and good to me, and sent me several times lemons, oranges, +mulberries, and other fruits, according to the season of the year. + +A young lady, by birth a Donep, also twice sent me fruit. + +The maids of honour once sent me some entangled silk from silkworms, +which they wanted to spin, and did not rightly know how to manage it; +they requested me to arrange it for them. I had other occupation on +hand which I was unwilling to lay aside (for I was busy collecting my +heroines), but nevertheless I acceded to their wish.[E60] My +captivity of nearly twenty years could not touch the heart of the +Queen Dowager (though with a good conscience I can testify before God +that I never gave her cause for such inclemency). My most gracious +hereditary King was gracious enough several times in former years to +intercede for me with his royal mother, through the high ministers of +the State. Her answer at that time was very hard; she would entitle +them 'traitors,' and, 'as good as I was,' and would point them to the +door. All the favours which the King's majesty showed me--the outer +apartment, the large window, the money to dispose of for +myself--annoyed the Queen Dowager extremely; and she made the King's +majesty feel her displeasure in the most painful manner. And as she +had also learned (she had plenty of informers) that I possessed a +clavicordium, this annoyed her especially, and she spoke very angrily +with the King about it; on which account the prison governor came to +me one day and said that the King had asked him how he had happened +to procure me a clavicordium. 'I stood abashed,' said the prison +governor, 'and knew not what to say.' I thought to myself, 'You know +but little of what is happening in the tower.' I did not see him more +than three times a year. I asked who had told the King of the +clavicordium. He answered: 'The old Queen; she has her spies +everywhere, and she has spoken so hardly to the King that it is a +shame because he gives you so much liberty;' so saying, he seized the +clavicordium just as if he were going to take it away, and said, 'You +must not have it!' I said, 'Let it alone! I have permission from his +Majesty, my gracious Sovereign, to buy what I desire for my pastime +with the money he graciously assigns me. The clavicordium is in no +one's way, and cannot harm the Queen Dowager.' He pulled at it +nevertheless, and wanted to take it down; it stood on a closet which +I had bought. I said, with rather a loud voice, 'You must let it +remain until you return me the money I gave you for it; then you may +do with it what you like.' He said, 'I will tell the King that.' I +begged him to do so. There was nothing afterwards said about it,[147] +and I still have the clavicordium, though I play on it rarely. I +write, and hasten to finish my heroines, so that I may have them +ready, and that no sickness nor death may prevent my completing them, +nor the friend to whom I confide them may leave me, and so they would +never fall into your hands, my dearest children. + + [E60] 'I have in my imprisonment also gained some experience with + regard to caterpillars. It amused me at one time to watch their + changes. The worms were apparently all of one sort, striped alike, + and of similar colour. But butterflies did not come from all. It + was quite pretty to see how a part when they were about to change, + pressed against something, whatever it might be, and made + themselves steady with a thread (like silkworm's silk) on each + side, passing it over the back about fifty times, always at the + same place, and often bending the back to see if the threads were + strong enough; if not, they passed still more threads round them. + When this was done, they rapidly changed their form and became + stout, with a snout in front pointed at the end, not unlike the + fish called knorr by the Dutch; they have also similar fins on the + back, and a similar head. In this form they remain for sixteen + days, and then a white butterfly comes out. But of some + caterpillars small worms like maggots come out on both sides, + whitish, broad at one end and pointed at the other. These surround + themselves with a web with great rapidity, each by itself. Then the + worm spins over them tolerably thickly, turning them round till + they are almost like a round ball. In this it lies till it is quite + dried up; it eats nothing, and becomes as tiny as a fly before it + dies. Twelve days afterwards small flies come out of the ball, and + then the ball looks like a small bee-hive. I have seen a small + living worm come out of the neck of the caterpillar (this I + consider the rarest), but it did not live long, and ate nothing. + The mother died immediately after the little one had come out.' + + It is perhaps not unnecessary to add that this observation, which is + correct as to facts, refers to the habits of certain larvae of wasps + which live as parasites in caterpillars. + + [147] In the margin is added: 'The prison governor told me + afterwards that the King laughed when he had told his Majesty my + answer about the clavicordium, and had said, "Yes, yes."' + +On September 24, M. Johan Adolf, my father confessor, was promoted; +he became dean of the church of Our Lady. He bade me a very touching +farewell, having administered the duties of his office to me for +nearly six years, and been my consolation. God knows how unwillingly +I parted with him. + +At the beginning of this year H. Peder Collerus was my father +confessor; he was at the time palace-preacher. He also visited me +with his consolatory discourse every six weeks. He is a learned man, +but not like Hornemann. + +On April 3, an old sickly dog was sent to me in the Queen's name. I +fancy the ladies of the court sent it, to be quit of the trouble. A +marten had bit its jaw in two, so that the tongue hung out on one +side. All the teeth were gone, and a thin film covered one eye. It +heard but little, and limped on one side. The worst, however, was, +that one could easily see that it tried to exhibit its affection +beyond its power. They told me that her Majesty the Queen had been +very fond of the dog. It was a small 'King Charles;' its name was +'Cavaillier.' The Queen expressed her opinion that it would not long +trouble me. I hoped so also.[E66b] + + [E66b] This poem still exists, and is printed in the second volume + of Hofman's work on Danish noblemen. It is intended to convey an + account of her own and her husband's fate. + +On August 12 of this year I finished the work I had undertaken, and +since my prefatory remarks treated of celebrated women of every kind, +both of valiant rulers and sensible sovereigns, of true, chaste, +God-fearing, virtuous, unhappy, learned, and steadfast women, it +seemed to me that all of these could not be reckoned as heroines; so +I took some of them out and divided them into three parts, under the +title, 'The Heroines' Praise.' The first part is to the honour of +valiant heroines. The second part speaks of true and chaste heroines. +The third part of steadfast heroines. Each part has its appendix. I +hope to God that this my prison work may come into your hands, my +dearest children. Hereafter I intend, so God will, to collect the +others: namely, the sensible, learned, god-fearing, and virtuous +women; exhibiting each to view in the circumstances of her life.[E61] + + [E61] It has been stated already that a copy of the first part of + this work is still preserved. Amongst the heroines here treated of + are modern historical personages, as Queen Margaret of Denmark, + Thyre Danobod who built the Dannevirke, Elizabeth of England, and + Isabella of Castilia, besides mythical and classic characters, as + Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons, Marpesia, Tomyris, Zenobia, + Artemisia, Victorina, etc. There existed not a few works of this + kind--we need only mention Boccacio's 'Donne Illustri,' in which + many of these last personages also occur. + +I will mention from her own statement somewhat of Jonatha, who now +attended on me. I will pass over the long story of how she left her +mother; the fact is, that against her mother's will she married a +Danish merchant, named Jens Pedersen Holme. But her life and doings +(according to her own statement) are so strange, that it may be worth +while to record somewhat of them. After they were married, she says, +it vexed her, and was always in her mind that she had made her mother +angry, and had done very wrong. Her mother had sent her also a hard +letter, which distressed her much; and she behaved refractorily +towards her husband, and in many ways like a spoilt unreasonable +child, sometimes even like one who had lost her reason and was +desperate. + +It seems also that her husband treated her as if her mind was +affected, for he had her looked after like a child, and treated her +as such. She told him once that she was intending to drown herself in +the Peblingeso,[E62] and at another time that she would strike him +dead. The husband feared neither of these threats; still he had her +watched when she went out, to see which way she took. Once she had +firmly resolved to drown herself in the Peblingeso, for this place +pleased her; she was even on her way there, but was brought back. She +struck her husband, too, once after her fashion. He had come home one +day half intoxicated, and had laid down on a bed, so that his legs +rested on the floor. She says she intended at the time to strike him +dead; she took a stick and tried to see if he were asleep, talking +loudly to herself and scolding, and touching him softly on the +shinbone with the stick. He behaved as if he were asleep. Then she +struck him a little harder. Upon this he seized the stick and took it +away from her, and asked what she had in her mind. She answered, 'To +kill you.' 'He was grieved at my madness,' she said, 'and threw +himself on his knees, praying God to govern me with His good spirit +and give me reason.' The worst is that it once came into her mind not +to sleep with her husband, and she laid down on a bench in the room. +For a long time he gave her fair words, but these availed nothing. At +last he said, 'Undress yourself and come and lie down, or I shall +come to you.' She paid no attention to this; so he got up, undressed +her completely, slapped her with his hand, and threw her into bed. +She protested that for some days she was too bruised to sit; this +proved availing, and she behaved in future more reasonably. + + [E62] The Peblingeso is one of three lakes which surround + Copenhagen on the land-side, in a semicircle. + +Little at peace as she was with her husband when she had him with +her, she was greatly grieved when he left her to go to the West +Indies. He sent by return vessels all sorts of goods to sell, and +she thus maintained herself comfortably. + +It happened at last that the man died in the West Indies, and a +person who brought her the news stated that he had been poisoned by +the governor of the place named ----, at an entertainment, and this +because he was on the point of returning home, and the governor was +afraid that Holme might mention his evil conduct. These tidings +unsettled her mind so, that she ran at night, in her mere +night-dress, along the street, and squabbled with the watchmen. She +went to the admiral at the Holm, and demanded justice upon the absent +culprit, and accused him, though she could prove nothing. + +Thus matters went on for a time, until at last she gained repose, and +God ordained it that she came to me. My intercourse with her is as +with a frail glass vessel, for she is weak in many respects. She +often doubts of her salvation, and enumerates all her sins. She +laments especially having so deeply offended her mother, and thus +having drawn down a curse upon her. When this fear comes upon her, I +console her with God's word, and enter fully into the matter, showing +her, from Holy Scripture, on what a repentant sinner must rely for +the mercy of God. Occasionally she is troubled as to the +interpretation of Holy Scripture, as all passages do not seem to her +to agree, but to contradict each other. In this I help her so far as +my understanding goes, so that sometimes she heartily thanks God that +she is come to me, where she finds rest and consolation. + +After she had been with me for a year or two, she learned that the +governor, whom she suspected, had come to Copenhagen. She said to me, +'I hear the rogue is come here; I request my dismissal.' I asked her +why. 'Because,' she replied, 'I will kill him.' I could scarcely keep +from laughing; but I said, 'Jesus forbid! If you have any such +design, I shall not let you go.' And as she is a person whose like I +have never known before--for she could chide with hard words, and yet +at the same time she was modest and well-behaved--I tried to make her +tell me and show me how she designed to take the governor's life. +(She is a small woman, delicately formed.) Then she acted as if her +enemy were seated on a stool, and she had a large knife under her +apron. When he said to her, 'Woman, what do you want?' she would +plunge the knife into him, and exclaim, 'Rogue, thou hast deserved +this.' She would not move from the place, she would gladly die, if +she could only take his life. I said, 'Still it is such a disgrace to +die by the hand of the executioner.' 'Oh, no!' she replied, 'it is +not a disgrace to die for an honourable deed;' and she had an idea +that any one thus dying by the hand of the executioner passed away in +a more Christian manner than such as died on a bed of sickness; and +that it was no sin to kill a man who, like a rogue, had murdered +another. I asked her if she did not think that he sinned who killed +another. 'No,' she replied, 'not when he has brought it upon +himself.' I said, 'No one may be his own judge, either by the law of +God or man; and what does the fifth commandment teach us?'[E63] She +answered as before, that she would gladly die if she could only take +the rogue's life. (I must add that she said she could not do it on my +account, for I would not let her out.) She made a sin of that which +is no sin, and that which is sin she will not regard as such. She +says it is a sin to kill a dog, a cat, or a bird; the innocent +animals do no harm; in fact, it is a still greater sin to let the +poor beasts hunger. I asked her once whether it was a sin to eat +meat. 'No,' she answered; 'it is only a sin to him who has killed the +animal.' She protested that if she were obliged to marry, and had to +choose between a butcher and an executioner, she would prefer the +latter. She told me of various quarrels she had had with those who +had either killed animals or allowed them to hunger. + + [E63] The Lutheran Church has retained the division of the + Commandments used in the Roman Church; and the Commandment against + murder is therefore here described as the fifth, whilst in the + English catechism it is the sixth. + +One story I will not leave unmentioned, as it is very pretty. She +sold, she said, one day some pigs to a butcher. When the butcher's +boy was about to bind the pigs' feet and carry them off hanging from +a pole, she was sorry for the poor pigs, and said, 'What, will you +take their life? No, I will not suffer that!' and she threw him back +his money. I asked her if she did not know that pigs were killed, and +for what reason she thought the butcher had bought them. 'Yes,' she +replied, 'I knew that well. Had he let them go on their own legs, I +should have cared nothing about it; but to bind the poor beasts in +this way, and to hear them cry, I could not endure that.' It would +take too long to enumerate all the extravagant whims which she +related of herself. But with all this she is not foolish, and I well +believe she is true to any one she loves. She served me very well, +and with great care. + +The above-mentioned governor[E64] was killed by some prisoners on +board the vessel, when he was returning to the West Indies. By a +strange chance the vessel with the murderers came to Copenhagen. +(They were sentenced to death for their crime.) Jonatha declared +that the governor had had only too good a death, and that it was a +sin that any one should lose his life on account of it. I practise +speaking the English language with Jonatha. She has forgotten +somewhat of her mother tongue, since she has not spoken it for many +years; and as she always reads the English Bible, and does not at +once understand all the words, I help her; for I not only can +perceive the sense from the preceding and following words, but also +because some words resemble the French, though with another accent. +And we often talk together about the interpretation of Holy +Scripture. She calls herself a Calvinist, but she does not hold the +opinions of Calvinists. I never dispute with her over her opinions. +She goes to the Lord's Supper in the Queen's church[E65]. Once, when +she came back to me from there, she said she had had a conversation +upon religion with a woman, who had told her to her face that she was +no Calvinist. I asked her of what religion the woman imagined that +she was. She replied: 'God knows that. I begged her to mind her own +business, and said, that I was a Christian; I thought of your grace's +words (but I did not say them), that all those who believe on Christ +and live a Christian life, are Christians, whatever name they may +give to their faith.' + + [E64] The name of this governor, which is not mentioned by Leonora, + was Jorgen Iversen, the first Danish governor of St. Thomas. In + 1682 he returned to the colony from Copenhagen on board a vessel + which was to bring some prisoners over to St. Thomas. Very soon + after their departure, some of the prisoners and of the crew raised + a mutiny, killed the captain and some of the passengers, amongst + them the ex-governor Iversen. But one of the prisoners who had not + been in the plot afterwards got the mastery of the vessel, and + returned to Copenhagen. The vessel struck on a rock, near the + Swedish coast, but the crew were saved and sent home to Copenhagen + by the Swedish Government, and the murderers were then executed. + + [E65] The Queen's church was a room in the castle where service was + held according to the Calvinist rite. + +In this year 1684 I saw the Queen Dowager fall from the chair in +which she was drawn up to the royal apartment. The chair ran down the +pulleys too quickly, so that she fell on her face and knocked her +knee. During this year her weakness daily increased, but she thought +herself stronger than she was. She appeared at table always much +dressed, and between the meals she remained in her apartments. + +I kept myself patient, and wrote the following:-- + +_Contemplation on Memory and Courage, recorded to the honour of God +by the suffering Christian woman in the sixty-third year of her life, +and the almost completed twenty-first year of her captivity._ + + The vanished hours can ne'er come back again, + Still may the old their youthful joys retain; + The past may yet within our memory live, + And courage vigour to the old may give. + Yet why should I thus sport with Memory's truth, + And harrow up the fairer soil of youth? + No fruit it brings, fallow and bare it lies, + And the dry furrow only pain supplies! + In my first youth, in honourable days + Upon such things small question did I raise. + Then years advanced with trouble in their train, + And spite of show my life was fraught with pain. + The holy marriage bond--my rank and fame, + Increased my foes and made my ill their aim. + Go! honour, riches, vanish from my mind! + Ye all forsook me and left nought behind. + 'Twas ye have brought me here thro' years to lie; + Thus can man's envy human joy deny! + My God alone, He ne'er forsook me here, + My cross He lightened, and was ever near; + And when my heart was yielding to despair, + He spoke of peace and whispered He was there. + He gave me power and ever near me stood, + And all could see how truly God was good. + + What Courage can achieve I next will heed; + He who is blessed with it, is blest indeed. + To the tired frame fresh power can Courage give, + Raising the weary mind anew to live; + I mean that Courage Reason may instil + Not the foolhardiness that leads to ill. + Far oftener is it that the youth will lie + Helpless, when Fortune's favours from him fly, + Than that the old man should inactive stay, + Who knows full well how Fortune loves to play. + Fresh Courage seizes him; from such a shield + Rebound the arms malicious foes may wield. + Courage imparts repose, and trifles here, + Beneath its influence, as nought appear; + But a vain loan, which we can only hold + Until the lender comes, and life is told. + Courage pervades the frame and vigour gives, + And a fresh energy each part receives; + With appetite and health and cheerful mind, + And calm repose in hours of sleep we find, + So that no visions in ill dreams appear, + And spectre forms filling the heart with fear. + Courage gives honied sweetness to our food + And prison fare, and makes e'en death seem good. + 'Tis well! my mind is fresh, my limbs are sound, + And no misfortune weighs me to the ground. + Reason and judgment come from God alone, + And the five senses unimpaired I own. + The mighty God in me His power displays, + Therefore join with me in a voice of praise + And laud His name: For Thou it is, oh God, + Who in my fear and anguish nigh me stood. + Almighty One, my thanks be ever thine! + Let me ne'er waver nor my trust resign. + Take not the courage which my hope supplies, + Till my soul enters into Paradise. + +Written on February 28, 1684, that is the thirty-sixth anniversary +since the illustrious King Christian the Fourth bade good-night to +this world, and I to the prosperity of my life. + +I have now reached the sixty-third year of my age, and the twentieth +year, sixth month, and fifteenth day of my imprisonment. I have +therefore spent the third part of my life in captivity. God be +praised that so much time is past. I hope the remaining days may not +be many. + +Anno 1685, January 14, I amused myself with making some verses in +which truth was veiled under the cloak of jest, entitled: 'A Dog, +named Cavaillier, relates his Fate.' + +The rhymes, I suppose, will come into your hands, my dearest +children.[E66] + + [E66] This poem still exists, and is printed in the second volume + of Hofman's work on Danish noblemen. It is intended to convey an + account of her own and her husband's fate. + +On February 20, the Queen Dowager Sophia Amalia died. She did not +think that death would overtake her so quickly; but when the doctor +warned her that her death would not be long delayed, she requested to +speak with her son. But death would not wait for the arrival of his +Majesty, so that the Queen Dowager might say a word to him. She was +still alive; she was sitting on a chair, but she was speechless, and +soon afterwards, in the same position, she gave up her spirit. + +After the death of this Queen I was much on the lips of the people. +Some thought that I should obtain my liberty; others believed that I +should probably be brought from the tower to some other place, but +should not be set free. + +Jonatha, who had learned from Ole the tower-warder, some days before +the death of the Queen, that prayers were being offered up in the +church for the Queen (it had, however, been going on for six weeks, +that this prayer had been read from the pulpit), was, equally with +Ole the tower-warder, quite depressed. Ole, who had consoled himself +and her hitherto with the tidings from the Queen's lacqueys, that the +Queen went to table and was otherwise well, though she occasionally +suffered from a cough, now thought that there was danger, that death +might result, and that I, if the Queen died, might perhaps leave the +prison. They did their best to conceal their sorrow, but without +success. They occasionally shed secretly a few tears. I behaved as if +I did not remark it, and as no one said anything to me about it, I +gave no opportunity for speaking on the subject. A long time +previously I had said to Jonatha (as I had done before to the other +women) that I did not think I should die in the tower. She remembered +this and mentioned it. I said: 'All is in God's hand. He knows best +what is needful for me, both as regards soul and body; to Him I +commend myself.' Thus Jonatha and Ole lived on between hope and fear. + +On March 15, the reigning Queen kept her Easter. Jonatha came quite +delighted from her Majesty's church, saying that a noble personage +had told her that I need not think of getting out of the prison, +although the Queen was dead; she knew better and she insisted upon +it. However often I asked as to who the personage was, she would not +tell me her name. I laughed at her, and said, 'Whoever the personage +may be, she knows just as much about it as you and I do.' Jonatha +adhered to her opinion that the person knew it well. 'What do you +mean?' I said; 'the King himself does not know. How should others +know?' 'Not the King! not the King!' she said quite softly. 'No, not +the King!' I answered. 'He does not know till God puts it into his +heart, and as good as says to him, "Now thou shalt let the prisoner +free!"' She came somewhat more to herself, but said nothing. And as +she and Ole heard no more rumours concerning me, they were quite +comforted. + +On March 26, the funeral of the Queen Dowager took place, and her +body was conveyed to Roskild. + +On April 21, I supplicated the King's Majesty in the following +manner. I possessed a portrait engraving of the illustrious King +Christian the Fourth, rather small and oval in form. This I +illuminated with colours, and had a carved frame made for it, which +I gilded myself. On the piece at the back I wrote the following +words:-- + + My grandson, and great namesake, + Equal to me in power and state; + Vouchsafe my child a hearing, + And be like me in mercy great! + +Besides this, I wrote to his Excellency Gyldenlove, requesting him +humbly to present the Supplique to the King's majesty, and to +interest himself on my behalf, and assist me to gain my liberty. His +Excellency was somewhat inconvenienced at the time by his old +weakness, so that he could not himself speak for me; but he begged a +good friend to present the engraving with all due respect, and this +was done on April 24.[E67] + + [E67] This picture is still preserved at the Castle of Rosenbourg, + in Copenhagen. + +Of all this Jonatha knew nothing. Peder Jensen Totzloff was my +messenger. He has been a comfort to me in my imprisonment, and has +rendered me various services, so that I am greatly bound to him. And +I beg you, my dearest children, to requite him in all possible ways +for the services he has rendered me. + +On May 2, it became generally talked of that I should assuredly be +set at liberty, and some asked the tower-warder whether I had come +out the evening before, and at what time; so that Ole began to fear, +and could not bear himself as bravely as he tried to do. He said to +me in a sad tone: 'My good lady! You will certainly be set at +liberty. There are some who think you are already free.' I said, 'God +will bring it to pass.' 'Yes,' said he, 'but how will it fare with me +then?' I answered, 'You will remain tower-warder, as you now are.' +'Yes,' said he, 'but with what pleasure?' and he turned, unable to +restrain his tears, and went away. Jonatha concluded that my +deliverance was drawing near, and endeavoured to conceal her sorrow. +She said, 'Ole is greatly cast down, but I am not.' (And the tears +were standing in her eyes.) 'It is said for certain that the King is +going away the day after to-morrow. If you are set at liberty, it +will be this very day.' I said, 'God knows.' Jonatha expressed her +opinion that I was nevertheless full of hope. I said I had been +hopeful ever since the first day of my imprisonment; that God would +at last have mercy on me, and regard my innocence. I had prayed to +God always for patience to await the time of His succour; and God had +graciously bestowed it on me. If the moment of succour had now +arrived, I should pray to God for grace to acknowledge rightly His +great benefits. Jonatha asked if I were not sure to be set free +before the King started for Norway; that it was said for certain that +the King would set out early on the following morning. I said: 'There +is no certainty as to future things. Circumstances may occur to +impede the King's journey, and it may also happen that my liberty may +be prevented, even though at this hour it may perhaps be resolved +upon. Still I know that my hope will not be confounded. But you do +not conceal your regret, and I cannot blame you for it. You have +cause for regret, for with my freedom you lose your yearly income and +your maintenance.[148] Remember how often I have told you not to +throw away your money so carelessly on your son. You cannot know what +may happen to you in your old age. If I die, you will be plunged +into poverty; for as soon as you receive your money, you expend it +on the apprenticeship of your son, who returns you no thanks for +it.[149] You have yourself told me of his bad disposition, and how +wrongly he has answered you when you have tried to give him good +advice. Latterly he has not ventured to do so, since I read him a +lecture, and threatened that I would help to send him to the House of +Correction. I fear he will be a bad son to you.' Upon this she gave +free vent to her tears, and begged that if I obtained my liberty I +would not abandon her. This I promised, so far as lay in my power; +for I could not know what my circumstances might be. + + [148] In the margin is added: 'The woman who attended on me + received eight rix-dollars monthly.' + + [149] In the margin: 'She had him learn wood-carving.' + +In this way some days elapsed, and Jonatha and Ole knew not what the +issue might be. + +On May 19, at six o'clock in the morning, Ole knocked softly at my +outer door. Jonatha went to it. Ole said softly, 'The King is already +gone; he left at about four o'clock.' I know not if his hope was +great; at any rate it did not last long. Jonatha told me Ole's news. +I wished the King's Majesty a prosperous journey (I knew already what +order he had given), and it seemed to me from her countenance she was +to some extent contented. At about eight o'clock Totzloff came up to +me and informed me that the Lord Chancellor Count Allefeldt had sent +the prison governor a royal order that I was to be released from my +imprisonment, and that I could leave when I pleased. (This order was +signed by the King's Majesty the day before his Majesty started.) + +His Excellency had accompanied the King. Totzloff asked whether I +wished him to lock the doors, as I was now free. I replied, 'So long +as I remain within the doors of my prison, I am not free. I will +moreover leave properly. Lock the door and enquire what my sister's +daughter, Lady Anna Catharina Lindenow, says, whether his +Excellency[E68] sent any message to her (as he promised) before he +left. When Totzloff was gone, I said to Jonatha, 'Now, in Jesus' +name, this very evening I shall leave. Gather your things together, +and pack them up, and I will do the same with mine; they shall remain +here till I can have them fetched.' She was somewhat startled, but +not cast down. She thanked God with me, and when the doors were +unlocked at noon and I dined, she laughed at Ole, who was greatly +depressed. I told her that Ole might well sigh, for that he would now +have to eat his cabbage without bacon. + + [E68] The Excellency alluded to is Ulrik Frederik Gyldenlove, a + natural son of Frederik III. Anna Catharina Lindenow was daughter + of Leonora's sister, Elizabeth Augusta, who married Hans Lindenow. + +Totzloff brought me word from my sister's daughter that his +Excellency had sent to her to say that she was free to accompany me +from the tower, if she chose. It was therefore settled that she was +to come for me late the same evening. + +The prison governor was in a great hurry to get rid of me, and sent +the tower-warder to me towards evening, to enquire whether I would +not go. I sent word that it was still too light (there would probably +be some curious people who had a desire to see me). + +Through a good friend I made enquiry of her Majesty the Queen, +whether I might be allowed the favour of offering my humble +submission to her Majesty (I could go into the Queen's apartment +through the secret passage, so that no one could see me). Her Majesty +sent me word in reply that she might not speak with me. + +At about ten o'clock in the evening, the prison governor opened the +door for my sister's daughter. (I had not seen him for two years.) He +said, 'Well, shall we part now?' I answered, 'Yes, the time is now +come.' Then he gave me his hand, and said 'Ade!' (Adieu). I answered +in the same manner, and my niece laughed heartily. + +Soon after the prison governor had gone, I and my sister's daughter +left the tower. Her Majesty the Queen thought to see me as I came +out, and was standing on her balcony, but it was rather dark; +moreover I had a black veil over my face. The palace-square, as far +as the bridge and further, was full of people, so that we could +scarcely press through to the coach. + +The time of my imprisonment was twenty-one years, nine months, and +eleven days. + +King Frederick III. ordered my imprisonment on August 8, A.D. 1663; +King Christian V. gave me my liberty on May 18, 1685. God bless my +most gracious King with all royal blessing, and give his Majesty +health and add many years to his life. + +This is finished in my prison. + +On May 19, at ten o'clock in the evening, I left my prison. To God be +honour and praise. He graciously vouchsafed that I should recognise +His divine benefits, and never forget to record them with gratitude. + +Dear children! This is the greatest part of the events worth +mentioning which occurred to me within the doors of my prison. I live +now in the hope that it may please God and the King's Majesty that I +may myself show you this record. God in His mercy grant it. + +1685. Written at Husum[E69] June 2, where I am awaiting the return of +the King's Majesty from Norway: + + [E69] This Husum is a village just outside Copenhagen, where + Leonora remained for some months before she went to Maribo, as is + proved by a letter from her dated Husum, September 18, 1685. Of + course the last paragraphs must have been added after she left her + prison, and the passage 'This is finished in my prison' refers, at + any rate, only to what precedes. + +A.D. 1683. New Year's Day. To Myself. + + Men say that Fortune is a rare and precious thing, + And they would fain that Power should homage to her bring. + Yet Power herself is blind and ofttimes falleth low, + Rarely to rise again, wherefore may Heaven know. + To-day with humorous wiles she holds her sovereign sway, + And could one only trust her, there might be goodly prey. + Yet is she like to Fortune, changeful the course she flies, + And both, oh earthly pilgrim, are but vain fraud and lies. + The former is but frail, the other strives with care, + And both alas! are subject to many a plot and snare. + Thou hast laid hold on Fortune with an exultant mind, + Affixed perhaps to-morrow the fatal _mis_ we find; + Then does thy courage fail, this prefix saddens thee, + Wert thou thyself Goliath or twice as brave as he. + And thou who art so small--already grey with care-- + Thou know'st not whether evil this year thy lot may share. + For Fortune frolics ever, now under, now above, + Emerging here and there her varied powers to prove. + All that is earthly comes and vanishes again, + Therefore I cling to that which will for aye remain. + +On March 14, 1683, I wrote the following:-- + + True is the sentence we are sometimes told: + A friend is worth far more than bags of gold. + Yet would I gladly ask, where do we find + A friend so virtuous that he is well inclined + To help another in his need and gloom + Without a thought of recompense to come? + Naught is there new in this, for selfish care + To every child of Eve has proved a snare. + Each generation hears the last complain, + And each repeats the same sad tale again;-- + That the oppressed by the wayside may lie, + When naught is gained but God's approving eye. + + See, at Bethesda's pool, how once there came + The halting impotent, some help to claim + Among those thousands. Each of pity free, + Had no hand for him in his misery + To bring him to the angel-troubled stream. + Near his last breath did the poor sufferer seem, + Weary and penniless; when One alone + Who without money works His wise own + Will, turned where the helpless suppliant lay, + And gently bade him rise and go his way. + + Children of grief, rejoice, do not despair; + This Helper still is here and still will care + What He in mercy wills. He soothes our pain, + And He will help, asking for naught again. + And in due time He will with gracious hand + Unloose thy prison bars and iron band. + +A.D. 1684. The first day. To Peder Jensen Totzloff. + + Welcome, thou New Year's day, altho' thou dost belong + To those by Brahe reckoned the evil days among, + Declaring that whatever may on this day begin + Can never prosper rightly, nor true success can win. + Now I will only ask if from to-day I strive + The evil to avoid and henceforth good to live, + Will this not bring success? Why should a purpose fail, + Altho' on this day made? why should it not prevail? + Oh Brahe, I believe, when we aright begin, + To-day or when it be, and God's good favour win, + The issue must be well, and all that matters here + Is to commend our ways to our Redeemer dear. + + Begin with Jesus Christ this as all other days. + Pray that thy plans may meet with the Almighty's praise, + So may'st thou happy be, and naught that man can do + Can hinder thy designs, unless God wills it so! + May a rich meed of blessing be on thy head bestow'd, + And the Lord Jesus Christ protect thee on thy road + With arms of grace. Such is my wish for thee, + Based on the love of God; sure, that He answers me. + + +LONDON: PRINTED BY +SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE +AND PARLIAMENT STREET + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The following corrections were made: + +p. 53: length the good-for-nothing[good-for nothing] fellow came down, + and + +p. 55: there for ten days[25] a letter from Gul...[Gl...] which he + +p. 56: patacoon[patacon] to those who were to restrain her, saying, + +p. 59: came to see her, no one in consequence[consequenec] consoled + her, + +p. 61: When the lawyer had said that they[t hey] had now taken + +p. 64: lose in Dan...[Den...]. + +p. 67: It was necessary[neccessary] to descend the rampart into the + +p. 92: he persuaded[pursuaded] me to undertake the English journey, + +p. 106: with my attendant. I answered nothing else than[then] that + +p. 114: silk camisole[camisolle], in the foot of my stockings there + were + +p. 132: Castle[Cstale], I had sent a good round present for those in + +p. 135: sad day, and I begged them, for Jesus'[Jesu's] sake, that + +p. 137: decree? I only beg for Jesus'[Jesu's] sake that what I say + +p. 172: might easily injure herself with one.'[[76]] + +p. 174: Synge'[[E31]]:-- + +p. 230: of listening to reason, for she at once exclaimed 'Ach[!] + +p. 239: Karen, Nils'[Nil's] daughter, left me one evening in 1669, + +p. 241: and the Frenchman[Frenchmen] was conveyed to the Dark Church, + +p. 241: through Uldrich[Udrich] Christian Gyldenlove. Gyldenlove + +p. 246: her word moreover, and I so arranged it[at] six weeks + +p. 259: In the same year, 1671, Karen, Nils'[Nil's] daughter, left + +p. 264: silent, not if I were standing before the King's + bailiff![?]['] + +p. 268: in the time of Karen, Nils'[Nil's] daughter. Chresten, who + +p. 272: In the same year Karen, Nils'[Nil's] daughter, left me for + +p. 276: and a half after her marriage, and that suddenly, + suspicion[suspipicion] + +p. 300: Supper in the Queen's church[[E65]]. Once, when she came + +p. 311: [60] In[in] the margin is added: 'The sorrow manifested by + many would far + +p. 311: [117] In the margin is added: '1666. While Karen, Nils'[Nil's] + daughter, waited + +p. 311: Nils'[Nil's] daughter. When anything gave her satisfaction, + she would take + +p. 311: to set Copenhagen[Copenagen] on fire in divers places, and + also the + +p. 311: Autobiography[Autobiograpy] of Leonora as 'notre vieillard;' + he was a faithful + +p. 311: which placed it at the disposal of Hannibal + Sehested[Schested] when he + +p. 311: [E38] 'Anno 1666, soon after Karen, Nils'[Nil's] daughter, + came to me, + +p. 311: [E51] Hannibal Sehested[Schested] was dead already in 1666, + as Leonora + +p. 311: disposed to Hannibal Sehested[Schested]. + +p. 311: entitled 'Martilogium (for martyrologium[matyrologium]) der + Heiligen' (Strasburg + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF LEONORA CHRISTINA*** + + +******* This file should be named 38128.txt or 38128.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/1/2/38128 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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