The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-04-14
miscellaneous.
A ROMANCE OF HISTORY.
Count Straensee's Rise and Pate.

said Gypsy woman TO handsome mat
ron who was leading twelve-year old
boy, of very prepossessing appearance,
by the hand, in the summer of 1749,
near Halle, in Prussia; ''give lie few
pennies and 1 will tell your own and
your sons fortune"
The matron was the wife of the Rev.
DIR. Struensee, an eminent clergyman of
Halle, and the boy was his second son,
John Frederick Struensee.
Nine. Struensee was a God fearing
woman, and at first blush the offer of
the Gypsy woman to tell her fortune
almost shocked her; but then her wo-
manly curiosity got the better of her,
and SO she gave the woman groschen
and told her to reveal the future to her.
The Gypsy woman took her hand, and
after looking at the palm. said:
"Your life will be to the last an unruf-
fed one. You will die blessed by low
ing husband and affectionate children"
'Goodl good" exclaimed the clergy
mans wife. 'sAnd now tell me my sons
fortune"
The soothsayer gazed several minutes
at the palm of the handsome, golden
haired boy. As she was doing so her
face assumed somber expression. At
last she shook her head gloomily, and
said"
''Poor mother, do not ask me to re-
veal to you what l read in your boys
handI"
SIS it, then, so terrible?" exclaimed
Mime. Struensee, turning very pale
"For heavens sake tell me what it Isl
Do not toment me by further deIayT"
1T is your WILL" said the Gypsy wo-
man land so will tell you. Your son,
Madame, will become great and illustri-
GUS. He will stand near a royal throne
A Queens smile will brighten his life
path. But then -" She stopped
short.
''But then?" asked Mme Struensee,
in almost breathless suspense.
"Then," replied the soothsayer SOL
emnly, ''he will ascend the scaffold, and
his head will fall under the executioner's
AK"
The mother uttered sharp cry of
pain. Then she turned savagely upon
the Gypsy woman and cried
''Begone, vile impostorl 1 was fool
ish to listen to your nonsense. Begone,
1 say, or 1 shall call a Landreiter and
have you locked up!'
''Indeed you will notI' said the sooth-
sayer calmly. 81 have told you the
truth, and if you live, you will mourn
over his terrible fall" So saying, she
turned away.
Madame Struensee returned with a
heavy heart to her husbands home.
A few years later, DIR. Struensee re-
ceived call to the principal Lutheran
Church at Altoona, then one of the lar
gest cities in the Kingdom of Denmark.
His son had, meanwhile, displayed intel
lectual faculties of the highest order
After brilliant course in college, he
studied medicine at the Universities of
Goettingen, Kiel and Paris, and in 175S,
when but little over twenty years of age
he became a practitioner of medicine.
In that capacity he was wonderfully
successful. His skill as physician be-
came proverbial, and his commanding
appearance and his rare conversational
powers added greatly to his popularity.
In 1866, King Christian the Seventh,
of Denmark, made his entry into Altoona
with his bride, the charming Queen Car
oline Matilde, On English Princess
The King, owing to youthful excesses,
was in feeble health. The Burgomaster
of Altoona, upon hearing his sovereign
complain about his ailments, said to
him:
''Your Majesty, We have in our midst
an eminent physician, DIR. John Frede-
rick Struensee. Young as he still is, he
has performed already many almost mi
raeulous cures. Ifyour Majesty should
place yourself under his treatment, there
is every prospect of your recovery, than
which nothing could be more agreeable
to your loyal subjects"
After a consultation with his wife, the
King of Denmark sent for DIR. Struensee.
The latter put many questions to the
King concerning his health, and then
said:
''Your Majesty can be cured provided
you can keep your mind at ease"
''Alas," exclaimed the King, with a
profound sigh, ''that is easier said than
done. A King is often only miserable
creature. The royal castle at Copenba-
gen is not an abode of happiness. You
have doubtless heard about the intrigues
of the warning clilues there. 1 have
vainly tried 10 put an end to them. /
tremble in thinking of my return thith-
er."
''Sir,r said DR.. Struensee, almost SOL
emnly, ''you owe it to your people to
save yourself from an early death, which
/ see written in your face, if you should
continue worrying as you have hitherto
done"
The King then urged him to become
his physician.
"Give me a few weeks time to make
up my mind, " replied DR.. Struensee. III
accept your offer, shall go to Copen-
hagen, and personally tell you So"
The King and Queen returned to Co
penhagen. But there, as he had cor
rectly foreseen, fresh domestic troubles
awaited him. During the latter years
of his fathers reign, his step mother,
Queen Juliana, had been the ruler of
the kingdom to all intents and purposes.
Juliana was an ambitious, unscrupu-
lous woman. She was supported by her
mother-in-law, and by the Prime Minis
ter Holck, an unmitigated villain, who,
as subsequent events showed, shrank
from no atrocity to attain his objects.
"When the Queen Juliana's husband
died, she thought that her step-son, the
young King Christian the Seventh, en-
feebled as he was by disease, would be-
come pliable tool in her hands. At
first such really did prove to be the case;
but when King Christian married the
English Princess Caroline Matilde, Ju-