Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-04-13

maa's wife. And now tell me my
sons fortune.'
The soothssyer gazed several min
utes at the palm of the handsome, gold
en-haired boy. AS she was doing sC
her face assumed somber expression
At last she shook her head glOOmily
and sid:
Poor mother, do not ask me to re
veal to you what read in your boys
! handu
is it, then, so terrible?' exclaimed
Nine. Struensee, turning very pale
For heavens sake tell me what 1t IS
! Do not torment me by further delay!
1T is your will,' said the Gppsy wO
man, 'and so will tell you. Youl
son, Madame, will become great and
| illustrious. He will stand near a royal
throne. A Queens smile will bright
en- Lis life-path. But them She
stopped short.
But then" asked Nine. Struensee,
in almost breathless suspense.
Then replied the SOOthsayer solemn
Iy, she will ascend scatfold, and his
| head will fall under the eXecutiOner's
ax!,i
The mother uttered sharp cry OF
pain. Then she turned sava5ely upon
the Gypsy woman and cried:
'Begone, vile impostor! l was fool
ish to listen to your nonsense. Begone,
Isay, or 1 shall call a Landreiter and
have you locked up!'
Indeed you will not! said the sooth-
sayer calmly. Il 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, DR.. Struensee re-
ceived call to the principal Lutheran
Church at Altoona, then one of the
largest cities in the Kingdom of Den
mark. His son had, meanwhile, dis
played intellectual faculties of the
highest order. After brilliant course
in college, he studied medicine at the
Universities of Goettingen, kiel and
Paris, and in 1858, when but little over
twenty years of age, he became prac-
titioner of medicine. In that capacity
he was wonderfully successful. His
skill as a physician became proverbial,
and his commanding appearance and
rare conversational powers added
greatly to his popularity.
In 1766, King Christian the Seventh,
of Denmark, made his entry into Alto
ma with his bride, the charming Queen
Caroline Matilde, an English Princess.
The King, owing to youthful excesses,
was in feeble health. The Burgomas-
ter of Altoona, upon hearing his sover-
eign complain about his ailments, said
to him:
Your Majesty, we have in our midst
an eminent physician, DIR. John Fred
erick Struensee. Young as he still is,
he has performed already many almost
should place yourself under his treat
ment, there is every prospect of your
recovery, than which nothing could be
more agreeable to your loyal subjects
After consultation with his wife,
the King of Denmark sent for DIR.
Struensee. The latter put many ques-
tions to the King concerning his health,
and then said:
your Majesty can be procured pro-
vided you will keep your mind at
ease.'
'Alasv exclaimed the King, with a
profound sigh, that is easier said than
done. A King is often only misera-
BILE creature. The royal castle at Co
penhagen is not an abode of happiness.
You have doubtless heard about the
intrigues of the warning cliques there.
have vainly tried to put an end to
| them. | tremble in thinking of my
return thither.'
Sire said DIR. Struensee, almost SOL
emily 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 few weeks time to make
up my mind replied DIR. Struensee.
IF accept your offer, shall go to CO.
penhagen, and personally tell you so.
The King and Queen returned to Co
penhagen. But there, az 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 aid purpe-
ses. Julians was an ambitious, unscru-
pulous woman. She was supported by
her mOther-in-law, and by the Prime
Minister Holck, an utmjtigated viii
liam, who, as subsequent events show
ed, shrank from no atrOcity to attain
his objects.
when Queen Juliana's husband
died, she thought that her step-son,
the young King Christian the Seventh,
enfeebled as he was by disease, would
become pliable tool in her hands.
AT first such really proved to be the
case; but when King Christian mar
ried the English Princess Caroline Ma
tide, Juliana, her mother-in-law, and
Prime Minister Holck began TO trem-
bic for the continuance of their infiu-
ence upon the destinies of the king.
dom.
The young Queen manifested an ev-
ident disposition TO emancipate her
husband from the degrading tutelage
in which he was kept by his intrigu-
ing step mother, and on more than one
occasion she induced him to thwart
the purposes of the Queen-dowageT
and of the Prime Minister.
Shortly after her return from Altoona,
Queen Caroline Matilde gave birth to q
son, which filed her husband with
unbounded joy.
Fearing that this event would still
further strengthen the influence of the
Queen, Juliana and Holck concOcted
an infamous intrigue against her. They
bribed young officer of the Queens
household Baron Moltkens) to confess,
under the threats of sham inquisitor,
that he had illicit intercourse with HeI
Majesty, and that he, and not King