TOMr.L——S H——Y, atBath.
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Dear Sir,
I avail myself of the departure of an English gentleman, who intends to set out for your city in a few days, to transmit you the translation of a pamphlet which has lately appeared in German, and which is read with great avidity. If the perusal of it should afford you any amusement, it will amply repay the few moments that I devoted to friendship.
It consists chiefly of the confessions of a woman, whose beauty first ushered her into notice, and whose intrigues enabled her to maintain the conquests which her personal charms had made, even when visibly on the decline. Had she confined herself to the private circles of her amours, we might have heard little more of her than other modernThaises, but her ambition extended to politics, and the fatal effect of her influence in that line has been felt, I am afraid, by more nations than one in the present unhappy contest with the demagogues of France.
The original papers which were found in the possession of the Countess when she was arrested, and from which these confessions have been drawn, were communicated to the Author of this pamphlet by a Member of the Committee appointed to enquire into the transactions of this intriguing woman. The language, however, was so gross and indelicate, that, out of respect to religion and morality, it was necessary to omit them. It was also thought proper to omit many political passages, and wait till a proper opportunity presented itself to bring them to light. Then you will be surprised to find the part this infamous woman and her creatures acted in many of the scenes which have lately been exhibited in Europe. There never was a person, perhaps, whose fall has been less lamented by all parties. She was, as she states herself in her confessions, the daughter of a trumpeter; she lived, for some time, as a maid servant with her eldest sister, who was early initiated into all the mysteries of Venus; but the sister treated her so ill, that she was obliged to return to her mother’s, where she was first noticed by a young man of thehighestrank. At this period she was about fifteen years of age. Her protector ordered lodgings to be provided for her, and proper masters to instruct her in reading and writing; and, as she was of a very apt disposition, he taught her French himself, and was highly gratified with the progress of his pupil in other polite accomplishments, such as dancing, drawing, etc. Such was her ascendancy over the heart of her benefactor, that he brought her to Potsdam, where she lived in a stile that could not escape the penetrating eye of the old K—g, so that, in order to avoid any disagreeable consequences on that head, it was thought adviseable that she should travel, and that in as private a manner as possible. She met with many accidents in her way to Paris, particularly in passing through Champagne, where her carriage was broken, which endangered her life. Her royal lover, in 1792, wrote to her that he had taken possession of the scene of her misfortune.
To make amends for the privacy in which she had travelled, she shone forth, all at once, in Paris, as a star of the first magnitude, in the fashionable hemisphere; herpetit soupirswere numerously attended by the gay, the giddy, and the vain. Vestris taught her to sail through all the mazes of harmony, but, after all, the want of an early education was visible in her mannersand language. Her principal taste lay in dress, for almost every moment that she could spare from amusement was devoted to her toilet.
The attentions paid to her in Paris, by persons of the first rank, inflated her vanity to such an excess, that she was impatient to revisit her native country in order to relate all the fine compliments which had been paid to her in her absence, but this vanity was not a little mortified when she was obliged, or rather condemned, to marryMr.Rietz, a chamberlain of the Prince, who had been raised to that rank from the low station of a gardener. The thoughts of being obliged to give her hand to a man devoid of education, who could only boast of poor, but honest, parents, preyed so incessantly on her spirits, that she, at length, obtained a divorce from him, though she had born him several children. Though her personal charms could no longer maintain their full empire over the heart of her protector, yet such were the resources of her arts, that, notwithstanding he was gradually estranged from her couch, yet he constantly visited her drawing-room. His protection, however, was not confined to her alone; it extended to all her family. Mirabeau, in his Secret History of the Court of Berlin, thus speaks of the marriage of her sister:——“On Sunday, (the 12th, 1786) at the principal inn in Berlin, themarriage of the Countess Matuska and a Prussian officer, named Stutherm, was celebrated. The Countess is a sister of Mademoiselle Henke (Madam Rietz;) she thought to have married a Polish gentleman, who, some months since, withdrew. Once deceived, she next made choice of a young officer. TheK—ghas given money, and money enough. It is supposed that Madam Henke, who now is said not to be married to Rietz, will retire and live with her sister, that she may not impede the projects formed to enjoy the maid of honour in peace.” The following passages are also taken from the same work:——“Mademoiselle Henke, or Madam Rietz, as you think proper to call her, has petitioned the King (December 23, 1786) to be pleased to let her know what she is to expect, and to give her an estate on which she may retire. The Sovereign offered her a country-house, at the distance of some leagues from Potsdam. The lady sent a positive refusal, and the King, in return, will not hear of any mention made of an estate. It is difficult to say what shall be the product of this conflict betwixt cupidity and avarice.”
“Madam Rietz, who, of all the mistresses of the Sovereign, has most effectually resisted the inconstancy of men, and the intrigues of the wardrobe, has modestly demanded the Margravate of Schwedt from the King, to serve as a place of retreat,and four gentlemen to travel with her son, as with the son of a monarch. This audacious request has not displeased the King, who had been offended by the demand made of an estate. He, no doubt, has discovered that he is highly respected, now that he receives propositions so honourable.”
She visited Italy soon after her divorce, where she dissipated such immense sums that she was obliged to return to repair the continual drain. Dear variety was now her motto. Her attachment to the young Count, Louis Bouillé, is thought to have tended very much to induce the Court of Berlin to join in the invasion of France. Pains were taken, after his dismissal, to attach her to an Irish nobleman, Lord T——n. Whatever may have been the fatal consequence of her influence, she may serve as an example, that, however vice may flourish for a while, its reign is of short duration. “The demise of her protector put an end to all her consequence,” says one of her biographers, “her revenues, her flatterers, and her liberty, and in a moment, annihilated the Juno of anti-jacobinism.” She is now imprisoned in the castle of Glogau, execrated by the poor, whom she oppressed, and detested by the nobility, whom she endeavoured to rival in power and splendor, and unpitied by all. Herchâteauat Charlottenbergwas lately sold toMr.Eckhardt for an immense sum.
Thus I have given you a short sketch of the life of this extraordinary woman. I hope to see you soon, and hear from your own lips what effect her confessions have made on you as a man, and more particularly as an Englishman.
I am, with true regard,
Your’s truly,RICHARD B—T—N.
Hamburgh, March 8, 1799.
Hamburgh, March 8, 1799.