1740 and All That

mildred_of_midgard transcribed the reports written by Colonel Du Moulin and Envoy Meinerzhagen to Frederick William describing their failed attempts to capture Peter Keith when he escaped in 1730.

Du Moulin's handwriting and spelling are unusual, and part of one page is ripped with missing words, so this is more of a "you get the gist" translation than anything complete or high quality.


I received His Royal Majesty's most gracious order of the 13th, sent to me by express post from Wesel, concerning the deserter Lieutenant Kait of the Dossowian Regiment, at one o'clock this morning, with the deepest and most humble respect.

In order to ensure that it was observed most obediently and promptly, I reported to the grand pensionary early this morning and informed him of the matter, and also requested that he direct it so that the lieutenant in question could be arrested if he were to be found in this country.

He then declared that he had no doubt that the States would gladly assist Your Royal Majesty in everything they could.

However, since such an arrest could not take place without your order, he did not want to fail to ask this question, by which he wanted to know what this lieutenant had done. and whether it was only a simple desertion, or whether he had committed another crime, because in the former case, the states could hardly be asked to issue an arrest warrant, seeing that the state had no cartel with Your Royal Majesty.

Although they would do everything that was not contrary to their laws and regulations, and what they could justify doing would be done with all obedience. And he would let me know their resolution after the meeting. I strongly recommended to him again to seek an urgent resolution, so that we could take measures accordingly, but since the States General will not assemble until today's post leaves, I will only be able to receive their resolution this afternoon.

In the meantime, I did not stand still; but sent out people secretly from all over the place to discover whether such a person was staying here or had happened to be here, and I have already discovered that about three days ago a similar person was here in The Hague, wearing a grey suit with silver details, but that he claimed to be someone called Sparr, that he had been a page to Your Royal Majesty and was now a lieutenant in a regiment garrisoned in Wesel, and that he had also spoken to General Keppel but had given no reason as to why he was staying here. However, I have not yet been able to find out where he is staying, and I have been told that he apparently left again on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. I will have his details ready as soon as I receive the resolution of the States. I will have him followed by various people, namely to Rotterdam and Helvoetsluys, since he must take either one or the other if he wants to go to England or France.

I will also have people in Amsterdam keep an eye out to see if he might be staying somewhere there. I will also do everything I can to achieve His Royal Majesty's most gracious intention and to convey to His Royal Majesty the details of the decision with my most humble submission.

To whom I will remain in deepest submission and firm loyalty for the rest of my life.

Mildred commentary:

Note that "Kait" is a common German spelling of "Keith" in this period. FW will even spell it "Keut" at one point, iirc.

The grand pensionary was the most prominent Dutch political position during the Stadtholderless periods. The man holding it in 1730 was Simon van Slingelandt.

The States General is both the legislative body of the Netherlands and also the most common way of referring to the Netherlands in our period (I usually translate "Netherlands" and "Dutch" in salon to reduce confusion, but those usually aren't the terms I'm seeing in what I'm reading). I'm actually translating Staaten as States General instead of States right now, for added clarity!

I'm used to seeing "cartel" as an agreement to exchange prisoners of war, but a treaty of extradition to hand over deserters is the same idea.

wearing a grey suit with silver details

Didn't Katte's servant say he'd been packing a grey suit, in the trials?

Meanwhile, Fritz: Bright red coat for me all the way!

I will have him followed by various people, namely to Rotterdam and Helvoetsluys, since he must take either one or the other if he wants to go to England or France.

Wrong! He will take a fisher's boat from Scheveningen. Well played, Peter! You fooled your pursuers.

FW replies saying he's sending Du Moulin to help in the pursuit, and they're to work together, and also, "As to the difficulty that he can't be arrested because he's only a deserter, that's easily lifted, because he's committed the crime of high treason." I.e., conspiring with Fritz.


Your Royal Majesty will no doubt have received a most humble letter from Nijmegen dated the 14th of this month, in which I most obediently reported that I had received news that the deserter Lieutenant Keith had passed through here eight days previously and taken the route to Utrecht, and that at the same time I had taken the route to England. I then set off from there for Utrecht and arrived in Rhenen around 10 p.m., where I had to stay until 3 a.m. (because the ferry to the other side of the Rhine was closed). On the 15th I then traveled to Utrecht without losing the slightest time and arrived there at midday, where I had assumed that Keith (who had posed as a courier on his way to England) had taken the route to The Hague via the Rhine. I followed him straight away and arrived here yesterday morning at half past eight, where I then had myself driven to the inn where I learned that Keith, who calls himself Count von Sparr, had been picked up the previous evening, the day before yesterday, at around 7 o'clock by a chamberlain of General Keppel, and that shortly afterwards two of the English Ambassador Chesterfield's kitchen boys had picked up his full boxes and saddles, and said that they were to be sent to Amsterdam. I also asked the man staying here in the same inn and asked him in detail about other circumstances of his stay with his hired lackey (as he was also supposed to be). He [the lackey] then told me the full story of his [Keith's] conduct, namely that he pretended to be Count von Sparr and said that he was expecting the 9th or 10th. He [the lackey] had to go to all the inns in The Hague every day to find out whether a young Count d'Alberville from Lorraine had arrived, and also to enquire at all the post offices to see whether any letters had arrived for Count Sparr. He also said that Keith had been to see General Keppel in The Hague and also at His Royal Majesty's house in Busch, that he [Keppel] had also had him [Keith] picked up in his carriage for a meal, and other things.

I then went to see Mr. von Meinerzhagen, who told me that he had already received an express post on the 15th from Your Royal Majesty to have this Keith arrested, and that he had already obtained an order to this effect from Mr. Pensionarius, and had made all the arrangements there to have this man arrested on the route to England, Brabant and France, of which he himself will give Your Royal Majesty a most humble report.

In the meantime, most gracious King and Lord, I cannot express enough astonishment at General Keppel's conduct, that he should show so many courtesies to people whom he had never seen other than as a page. Let Your Royal Majesty judge for himself.

I would also like to report here that I have immediately sent Lieutenant Erlach, with a letter from Herr von Meinerzhagen to Brill, and Lieutenant Cordier to Amsterdam with orders to make detailed enquiries about Keith. I will therefore remain here in order to be able to take care of what is required in response to the former's information.

Because Mr. von Meinerzhagen had the idea that Keith might retreat to the Ambassador's Chesterfield today, yesterday evening I posted two lieutenants and two baggage men, given to him by Envoy von Meinerzagen, and one of my people, around the house, so that they would have to patrol the area all night. He also kept two post carriages ready all night.

I can assure Your Royal Majesty by my oath and duty that nothing will be neglected to find this man again. If I had been able to leave Wesel earlier than in the evening on Monday, I would have found certain people still in bed. I beseech Your Royal Majesty most humbly to order me how to behave in the future in the event that Keith has gone to England or France. In anticipation of your most gracious orders, I remain with all possible loyalty and submission,

Du Moulin
The Hague
August 17, 1730



Most Serene,
Most Mighty King,
Most Gracious Lord.

To Your Royal Majesty, I sent my most humble report in last Tuesday's post as to how far I was able to execute the most gracious order received from Your Royal Majesty last night concerning the arrest of the escaped Lieutenant Keith.

At approximately 4 o'clock this afternoon, the attached resolution from Holland was presented to you by the Renesse Commission, instructing them, the Chamberlain or Majordomo Binsbergen, to arrest the aforementioned Lieutenant Keith as soon as I arrive wherever he is, and to the best of my ability to keep him in safe custody until you give your further orders.

After receiving this resolution, I immediately sent for the aforementioned chamberlain, but as I did not find him at home and he also lives quite far away from me, it was around 6 o'clock when he came to me, and I then handed him the resolution of the Council, which he promised to execute with all promptitude as soon as I could find out exactly where the aforementioned Keith was staying, so that he could find him.

However, of my spies, whom I had sent all over the city this morning, both in private and other lodgings, to search for a Count Sparr (because I assume from the circumstances that the person who, according to the information I received, was with Baron Keppel under this name, must be this same lieutenant), no one came back with any reliable information.

Then I agreed with the said chamberlain that he should bring the two messengers immediately and be ready with them in his house, so that when the first arrived he could advise me and then come to me.

Then at about eight in the evening I received news from one of my people that the pretender Count Sparr was staying in an inn on the Speu [?] called The Three Rapids, but that it was said at home that he was expecting a gentleman, and that he arrived from there in the evening and intended to leave immediately.

After receiving this news, I immediately sent the chamberlain without further notice to come here, who also came, and when I showed him the place, as well as the person and how they were approaching, so that there would be no mistake, [the chamberlain] went to fetch his two assistants. In the meantime, I sent an authorized person directly to the covered inn to watch on the street in front of the door to see if anyone would come out during this time and which way they would take, in order to warn the chamberlain upon his arrival with his assistants.

After a man had stood guard there for a good quarter of an hour without seeing anyone come in or go out of the house, the chamberlain arrived with his two men, when it was about nine o'clock, and after ordering the men he had with him to take off their badges, which they usually wear, from their chests, and put them in their sacks, he knocked on the door and asked if Count Sparr was at home, making a gesture as if he [the chamberlain] had been told to do so by him himself [Count Sparr], but he [the chamberlain] was told that he [Count Sparr] had left about half an hour ago and had been picked up by Baron Keppel's valet, but would probably be found at his house here in the Haag, not far from this inn.

Then I with the aforementioned chamberlain went straight to Keppel's house and asked for the Baron under a pretext that I had found. A black man opened the door and said that Baron Keppel was not at home but was with Baron Spörcke, the Hanoverian minister.

The chamberlain then came to me and gave me a verbal report of the above based on the information he had found in writing and then went back home with his people, agreeing to be ready all night in case I could get any further news about the person. Since the chamberlain at Baron Keppel's house received the answer that he was with Baron Sporcken, this got me thinking about whether his valet might have accompanied the pretender Count Sparr to the inn in order to be safe there as if he were in the house of a public minister.

For this reason, without wasting a moment, I brought together four men and had them posted from various locations along the canal on which Baron Spörcke's house was located, with orders to keep a close eye on who was going in or out there during the night. And that if they heard anyone stopping, whether on foot or in a chaise, they should run and report to them which street the people coming to the house had taken.

But that the rest of them were to follow the people coming up the street until the chamberlain's assistant had arrived with them.

These men of mine remained at their posts until half past six in the morning, when I sent someone from time to time during the night to find out whether they had heard anything at all, so that we could then take further measurements.

But all night they heard nothing other than that they had heard in the house for a good while on the ??? by Baron Spörcken's servants, and at about 2 o'clock two of them came up on foot and dressed up a little in the empty carriage and went to pick up their masters, without anything else happening the whole night, which then agreed with what others who I had sent out that evening had reported to me, namely that Baron Spörcke had been with the Countess von Wartenberg and Baron Keppel with Lady Albemarle at the assembly, and therefore neither of them could be at home. In addition, I sent someone during the day who is with the servants' families there to find out unnoticed whether any strangers had been staying there, but from his report I had to conclude that no one was in his house.

But after all this happened that same day and the following night, without me being able to make any further discoveries, where this man had previously retreated so that I could have him followed, for which I had carriages ready, I could not send the chamberlain himself to Brill and Hellevoetsluis (as these are the only routes by which he [Peter Keith] can get to England most quickly, from whence he intends to go), but had to keep him [the chamberlain] here by hand in case Lieutenant Keith happened to be here (as was suspected) and had delayed awaiting a convenient opportunity to escape.

In the meantime, I have taken such precautions on the route to England, as letters and orders have been received from the appointed councillors to Mayor Almonde in Briel (who is also the bailiff of the whole country) from the port of Hellevoet-Sluys, where Hellevoetsluis is located, and who is the postmaster there, so that no one can embark on the packet boat (which always leaves from Hellevoetsluis) without giving up his identity.

With this, early in the morning, I dispatched an assistant and appointed bailiff, and gave him a separate letter of recommendation with orders to keep an eye on everything that happens there in Hellevoetsluis, and to keep me informed of everything, including how the orders are executed.

I sent another to Rotterdam with orders to inquire at the ferry there, as well as the bridge-crossing, whether anyone had passed through there during the night, and also to inquire at all the ships moored there whether anyone had embarked or whether a ship had sailed some way away.

The latter man from Rotterdam had already finished his work around evening (after Colonel du Moulin had arrived in the morning), as he could clearly see in advance that none of those who had passed there had any resemblance to the person I was looking for. I received a report from my servants at Brill this afternoon in a letter which I have enclosed in the original, but he arrived in Brill around noon yesterday, handed over the order from the appointed councillors in the appropriate manner and travelled with the gunner and two bailiffs to Hellevoetsluis, where they found the packet boat, just as I had calculated that it could not set sail before 5 p.m. because of the ??, and took care of those who had embarked, among whom there was no one who resembled Lieutenant Keith.

Since all necessary precautions had already been taken on these routes, I discussed with Colonel du Moulin what we could do to uncover where he might have hidden himself here in The Hague, just as we had reason to suspect, and since we received further information from the servant in the inn where the aforementioned Keith was staying, and where Colonel du Moulin had also stayed since his arrival, that Keith's [baggage?] was supposed to have been picked up by two men from the kitchen of Milord Chesterfield and brought to his hotel, we thought we could do nothing better than to keep a close eye on this house and have it observed, and we made all the arrangements for this, so that the two officers and two of my men would position themselves in such a way that they could occupy it from the front and the back, so that in case someone wanted to come out, one of them could run after them and observe their route, two others, however, run after their carriages, which are standing ready, and the servants of the commissioner's council (who are supposed to arrest him) could pursue him.

Our men remained at their posts all night, but did not see anyone, either from the back or the front, and as they could not be sure that the fugitive had not already hidden himself in the house, we discussed together whether it would not be advisable, in order to get even more help from all sides in our discovery, to give the Pensionary Councilor, who had no other idea than that we were dealing with a mere deserter, some information about the importance of the crime of which this man was guilty.

Just as I then went to him according to our agreement, and after he had firmly promised me to keep the secret, I revealed to him in great detail why it was of the utmost importance to Your Royal Majesty that this person should be apprehended, immediately explaining to him how he would oblige Your Royal Majesty even more dearly if he contributed everything possible to this. He then declared with great cordiality that he would not let up in the slightest and would gladly do everything that could be thought of, even if there was a presumption that he had thus carried out the arrest order, since they knew of nothing other than a simple desertion, although this was against the local maxims, rather he would have every means possible used in a crime of high treason to lure the guy in, but he did not know what further precautions could be taken than had already been taken, asking me what else I could give, whereupon I suggested to him whether–as according to all suspicions, the guy might be hiding here and might find an opportunity to escape somewhere else–the chamberlain could act alone here in The Hague, and could be given more assistants, so that if he were exposed, people would be on hand everywhere to arrest him.

And whether he further (because from the report of the chamberlain who administered the exploit, as the report subsequently confirmed, it is clear that Baron Keppel's valet had brought the man, I also learned for certain that the pretender Count Sparre had lunch with Baron Keppel last Saturday and had great reason to believe that he or at least his valet knew where the man had gone) wanted to be kind enough to sound out Baron Keppel himself to see whether he had any knowledge of it and would give information as to where the man had gone or might be staying.

And whether he also wanted to sound out the English Secretary Holtzendorff, who was handling the affairs in Lord Chesterfield's absence, because according to the information the baggage had been brought there, whether the man was hiding there, and if so, persuade him not to protect him any further. He agreed to do both.

Now that I have returned from the Pensionary Councilor, I have considered with Colonel du Moulin whether it might not be useful to get information as soon as possible, or perhaps give an opportunity to get to the bottom of the matter better, to speak to him that same evening, when we sought out Baron Keppel himself the day before yesterday, and to see whether he would give us some information. Just as we did so in order not to lose any time, when we came to him, we told him how we had been informed that his valet had picked up a certain escaped lieutenant of Your Royal Majesty's troops, whom we had orders to arrest, at the very moment when he was about to be arrested and had him taken to his lodgings and taken to another place.

We therefore thought that we should address ourselves to him in the hope that he would be able to give us some clarification on the matter.

Baron Keppel, however, acted completely strangely and claimed to know nothing about the fact that the lieutenant in question had been sought and had escaped, much less that his valet had been there, that someone calling himself Count Sparr who had been a page and was now a lieutenant, had been with him and had eaten with him. He said that he had seen him in Berlin, but without knowing where he had been since then, that he wanted to ask his valet about it and what he could find out from him, so that he could either report it that evening by letter or send the valet to us so that he could examine him himself, which we then accepted. After we had returned home, the valet in question arrived here some time later, to whom we then asked whether he did not know Lieutenant Keith, who had been the page before, and whether he had not come to pick him up from the inn called The Three Rapids the previous evening.

To which he replied that he had known Keith as a page in Berlin, and that, without knowing that he was here, he had asked him to go to the inn called The Three Rapids the previous evening. He said that he had gone there and found him; Keith had only told him that he was only here in Holland on business and was leaving for Amsterdam at that exact hour, and therefore did not want to leave without saying goodbye to him first, so he went with him to the house, said goodbye to him a few steps away from the house, and left without knowing where he had gone next. Although we have now turned over the matter in all sorts of ways and pointed out to him the absurdity of trying to make people believe in such stories that contradict all probability, he still refused to let himself be put to anything else and stuck to what he had already told us, without admitting to knowing any more. He said he had been in Amsterdam last week and only returned the evening before yesterday and was not aware (as I also pointed out to him, among other things) that Keith had eaten at Baron Keppel's and had therefore not seen him there. For this reason, we must once again denounce this man, who seemed to have a great arrogance in concealing the truth, and we cannot believe anything other than that, by all appearances, he knows more than he is willing to say.

The pensionary councillor, as he communicated to me yesterday evening when I came to see him again to find out what he had learned from Baron Keppel and Secretary Holtzendorff, had replied in exactly the same way, and Secretary Holtzendorf had testified that he knew nothing of such people.

The pensionary councillor did not seem to be pleased with Baron Keppel's answer about his valet, and did not disapprove of the reasons which I further put to him which augmented our suspicion, which I had urged as strongly as possible, and which I must now take my leave of in the hope that he would come closer to approving the matter.

In the meantime he informs me that the Committed Councillors, who on the same day gave the Chamber Keeper ample authorization to go to all the towns in Holland, also provided him with the necessary requisitions from all magistrates, which he can use in any case, and the execution can be carried out as quickly as possible without him, since we can do nothing more yesterday, one Lieutenant Cordier has already gone to Amsterdam with a recommendation from me to the resident Warge (?) to search and keep an eye on him there in case of need, the other had already been dispatched to Hellevoetsluis in the morning to remain there and keep an eye on what happens next, the Colonel du Moulin, over whose house Milord Chesterfield's house is still under continuous surveillance. We cannot possibly take more precautions than we have already done, in the hope of uncovering more people, for which Your Royal Majesty most graciously deigns to rest assured that we will spare no effort or diligence, either night or day. Although we have now been busy giving orders, collecting news and waiting for it, along with Colonel Moulin, time has slipped away and it has therefore been impossible to record all the circumstances in the proper order in this most humble relationship, as I would have wished, I have nevertheless considered it my most humble duty to report most obediently to Your Royal Majesty this night about what has happened through an express courier who was dispatched, otherwise this dispatch will have been delayed for too long because the ordinary mail will not be picked up until tomorrow, Friday around noon, and Colonel du Moulin will not be able to issue his most humble report on this any longer. In the meantime, I dutifully do not fail to inform Your Royal Majesty of what will happen further here, or whatever else may be to be reported in one or other circumstances, through my following more detailed most humble report.

I, who remain in the most humble veneration and firm loyalty for life,

Meinerzhagen

Selena commentary: Would that be a free black man or a slave, what do we think? Also always intriguing to get tidbits about the tiny black population Europe was acquiring. I still would love to know who the black boy was holding the umbrella over toddlers Wilhelmine and Fritz in that painting of them, especially since a younger black boy, possibly the same person, is seen doing just that two years earlier for FW's and SD's first baby (before the later died).

Mildred: Interesting question. Both England and the Netherlands claimed that there were no slaves in their countries, only in their colonies abroad, but this was exaggerated. So: probably free, maybe a slave.

Selena: Anyway, clearly Peter the page must have made a good impression back in the day if Peter the Fugitive is wined and dined and helped.

Mildred: Yeah, I get the impression Peter was not outgoing and charismatic in the way Katte, Algarotti, and Keyserling were, but quietly likeable. He collects friends and helpers.

Selena: Seriously, though, between this and Knobelsdorff, who by all accounts was a "doesn't suffer fools gladly" type of person, liking Peter enough to leave him his library and so forth, not to mention Caroline sponsoring him not just that one time upon arrival but until he's off to Portugal, he clearly came across as very sympathetic and even improved upon acquaintance. (As opposed to wowing people at once like more extrovert people do, but not necessarily forever.) It occurs to me that the only one who didn't like him was Wilhelmine, and she has an obvious bias when it comes to her brother's boyfriends (except Voltaire ;) ).


I must report to Your Royal Majesty as quickly as possible and with all humility that yesterday evening at 9 o'clock, after I had discussed and agreed with the Envoy von Meinerzhagen what we should do regarding our further procedure for arresting the deserter Keith and his escape, and most humbly reported to Your Royal Majesty by today's post, I went home, and it happened that one of his servants picked me up this around 3 o'clock this morning with the sad news that his master had suffered a stroke and that I should come, the sooner the better, as he would hardly be able to hold out much longer.

I then went there immediately, and on my arrival I found a very sad and moving spectacle, namely a preacher with the whole family kneeling and pleading for the dying father of the house, who then gave up the ghost two hours later. This unexpected and sudden death left the whole house in great dismay.

To Your Royal Majesty I am sending the enclosed report which the late man composed yesterday evening and which I then signed in his place.

It is unfortunately more than certain, most gracious King and Lord, that Keith, with the protection of the English Ambassador's household, plus other help, found a way to escape and crossed over to England.

Your Royal Majesty will hopefully most graciously approve of my having informed the Earl of Degenfield of this, which he can pay attention to in his domain in London.

I would also like to inform you that I have received Your Royal Majesty's most gracious letter from Wesel on the 19th of this month, stating that Lieutenant Katt has also deserted, and that it was received safely yesterday afternoon. I then immediately informed the detached Lieutenant Cordier in Amsterdam of this, with orders to keep a close eye out for him. The late Envoy also wrote to Your Royal Majesty's resident Varyn yesterday afternoon about this, and explained to him the shape and figure of this man, and the same also to the ship's commissioners in Rotterdam and Brill. After sending this, I will go to the Pensionary Councilor and ask him to arrest Katt, and will do everything in my power to get hold of him, but I fear that he will have gone to England via Hamburg.

Finally, I have the honor to remain, with all humble respect, loyalty, and submission until my end,

Du Moulin

Mildred commentary: If only, Du Moulin. If only.

Selena: Alas, yes. BTW:

I fear that he will have gone to England via Hamburg.

Would probably have been a good idea, given that they weren't Hohenzollern fans in Hamburg and it's way easier to go directly to England from there than from Hannover or France, but was this ever the plan for Katte?

Mildred: I think it might have been, because if I'm remembering correctly, he was supposed to take care of Fritz's library, and Fritz's library was supposed to go to Hamburg. So it might well have been one of the many variations of the plan (which changed day to day) that got discussed.

But I think there was also a version where Katte was supposed to meet with Fritz near Stuttgart, and probably a version where he was supposed to meet up in the Hague, and...yeah. The planning on this was "whatever looks good at the moment."

Selena: How NOT to escape from Prussia 101.


Since my most humble report, which I made on the 10th of this month and sent by express courier, I have, in accordance with Your Royal Majesty's most gracious orders of the 17th of this month, which were sent to me last Friday at noon, discussed with Colonel du Moulin what measures could be taken to apprehend the escaped Lieutenant Keith, since we have not only kept the people we have constantly at Rotterdam and Brill, at Hellevoetsluis, and other places for this purpose, but also at Mardyck and at Lage Zwaluwe (which is on the usual route to France) to observe him, so that it would have been impossible for him to get through in this way, and we have been constantly keeping a close eye, day and night, on Milord Chesterfield's hotel (which is where we lost the trail of the fugitive), and have posted people everywhere, as I had otherwise discussed things with the aforementioned Colonel du Moulin, and thought it a good idea to reveal our suspicion to Secretary Holtzendorf, who is handling the affairs of the English court in the absence of the Earl of Chesterfield, so that he would not later claim that he had never known that Lieutenant Keith was wanted. When no inquiries were made, we went to the Secretary mentioned above and explained to him in detail how we had been reliably informed that the deserted lieutenant's baggage, after he had fled from the inn, had been brought to his hotel by one of my lord's kitchen servants, and we could not judge otherwise, or the person himself must have retreated there, so that this would undoubtedly have happened without his knowledge. We must trust that a person who had behaved in a highly reprehensible manner towards Your Royal Majesty would not be given asylum in the Earl of Chesterfield's residence, and therefore asked the secretary to make inquiries with the servants and to carry out an investigation. He replied, however, that as far as he knew, everything in the hotel had been quiet and that he had not noticed any disturbance whatsoever. Nor was it his place to do any research or assume any authority over the servants there, other than to carry out his duties in the absence of the ambassador, with which excesses he also rejected our repeated request the following day when he had paid a visit to Colonel du Moulin and myself.

Then Colonel du Moulin went with me that same day to the Pensionary Councilor, whom, after a further compliment of thanks for his demonstrated promptness in carrying out the necessary orders, I sought only to continue his compliance and to arrange everything possible so that the aforementioned lieutenant could be apprehended anywhere in this province. Otherwise, we would like to sound out Lieutenant-General von Keppel again to see whether he could give us some information about the person mentioned, namely where his valet had taken him. Although the Pensionary Councilor promised to contribute everything he could on the first point, he nevertheless attempted to exclude the latter, under the pretext that this renewed attempt would certainly be fruitless, and since von Keppel would without doubt stick to his previous declaration that he had no further knowledge of Keith, we must not insist on it any further, but take our leave of him.

When I went to the sea on the following day, namely on the 20th of this afternoon, with Colonel Du Moulin and the domain councillor Meinerzhagen to Schevelingen, and the latter had the opportunity to make a conversation with some people standing on the shore and to announce their voyage, etc., in order to find out whether any ships had set out for anything other than fishing, he heard from the night watchman there and from others that on Friday morning at about ten o'clock a so-called pinnacle or fishing ship, hired by people unknown to him, had set sail for England, whereupon a young man (whose description was quite similar to that of Lieutenant Keith) who had been brought there from The Hague by three gentlemen, some of whom he believed to be in the entourage of an ambassador, embarked, despite the wind being completely contrary, so that other ships were driven back in the Maas river, but it seemed as if this man must have been in a great hurry. This man could not give any further information, but he offered to take us to the commissioner from whom such ships must be hired, whereupon he accompanied us to the innkeeper in the far Scheveningen where the hunter hangs, where we then questioned the innkeeper in detail, who confirmed everything that had been reported above regarding the ship that had set sail and the person who had gone away, and in response to our further question, he said that he had come from the Hague very early on Friday morning in a hired carriage and was accompanied not only there but even to the ship by three people, among whom were My Lord Chesterfield's steward and a certain wine merchant, the third of whom was unknown to him, but he did not tell us the name of the person who had gone away as commissioner, nor any further particulars, nor did he want to, although he was promised to be compensated for it. He claimed he is not allowed to do this, but perhaps we could find out more about it in the other inn, the one where the falcon hangs, which is where these people had stayed for a while before they came to him.

The following morning I dispatched the chamberlain of the Committee Council to Scheveningen, in order to question the innkeeper in the inn where the hunter hangs, who, upon his return, gave me the verbal report contained in his written report found here; Otherwise, I sent another trusted person to Scheveningen in secret at the same time, to inquire about some circumstances in the inn where the falcon hangs in order to further confirm the matter. He then not only confirmed what had already been said, but also reported that only on Thursday evening two people came up and ran into the landlord, and they wanted to return early the following morning in order to swim in the sea, also that they arrived there at four o'clock the next morning with two others in a hired carriage, but instead of swimming, they had taken a pinnacle to England. That when the ship was ready, after ten o'clock, a stranger unknown to him turned up, who spoke Low German, but otherwise looked like Lieutenant Keith according to his description, but who was presented to the commissioner as a steward of the Earl of Chesterfield. His three companions were supposed to have accompanied him up until he embarked on the ship, and they also brought some provisions that had been left behind in the inn. One of the aforementioned companions was the tutor of My Lord Chesterfield, the other a certain wine merchant here in The Hague, named Palairet (who, as I am informed, supplies wine to the Earl of Chesterfield, and has a brother in England who teaches the Duke of Cumberland how to write). He did not know the third, but according to a description it must have been the valet of the Hanoverian envoy Spörcken.

Since, according to the circumstances mentioned, there is no longer any doubt about Lieutenant Keith escape, and since all the measures taken by all our authorities to date, the care taken, and the diligence applied to track him down, have been fruitless, although we firmly believe that he cannot escape us, unless the States of Holland themselves, despite their favorable resolution, connive, or perhaps a foreign minister residing here takes on the accused Lieutenant and obviously wants to protect him, I should not have failed most obediently to submit my most dutiful report to Your Royal Majesty of the most important circumstances (all of the particulars of which can be found in the Protocol of Colonel du Moulin (to which I must most humbly refer for the sake of brevity)), with testimony of my extreme regret, despite Colonel Du Moulin and my making all imaginable precautions.

We have seen our hope of catching the aforementioned Lieutenant Keit thwarted by the obvious protection which he received in the hotel of the Earl of Chesterfield, in that he was accompanied by other servants, as he had a passport as his maitre d'hotel, and even if one had known everything, one would not have been able to touch him or take possession of him. Consequently, it would have been quite impossible for us to prevent this escape, which Your Royal Majesty can assess for yourself, and we will be pleased to explain if, to my greatest annoyance, I do not succeed as I wish and achieve your most gracious intention, and I can assure Your Royal Majesty with the deepest humiliation that I have maintained all possible vigilance diligently and zealously, that we have not rested day or night, and that I will leave nothing to chance in order to achieve the stated goal wherever possible.

I, who remain in the humblest veneration and most constant loyalty throughout my life,

most humble loyalty and most obedient, [something]
du Moulin [who, we have seen, is signing on the late Meinerzhagen's behalf]

Selena commentary: The Duke of Cumberland being Fritz of Wales' kid brother, the one Caroline and G2 want to become the next King, [personal profile] cahn, and fifteen years into the future the dread nemesis of Bonnie Prince Charlie and responsible for lots of dead Scots.

Mildred: Most interesting to me here: Peter speaking Plattdeutsch! He's been stationed in Wesel for all of six months, and I see his linguistic talents are already showing. :D

Selena: Indeed they are! I bet Fritz would not have picked up a single word, since he'd have made everyone speak French with him.

(To be fair: I don't speak Plattdeutsch, either. Whenever I hear it, it feels like Dutch or Swiss German, in that it's possible to get the gist of what's being said if people talk slow, but it's really a different language.)


On the evening of August 13th at around 7 o'clock, His Royal Majesty, my most gracious lord, sent me from Wesel to seek out and arrest the deserter Lieutenant Keith of the Dossow Regiment, along with the two lieutenants von Erlach and Cordier. We arrived in Cleves the 14th day before, where we received news from the local postmaster that Keith had left for Nijmegen on the 7th at midday, where he immediately passed the Waal that same evening and slept for about an hour that night in the first inn on the other side of the river. The next day, on the 8th, he rode up the Rhine, then took a carriage and drove to Utrecht.

On the 14th we arrived at the ferry at the Rhine very late in the evening, and since it was on the other side of the Rhine, we had to stay there for a few hours, and on the 15th we drove to Utrecht very early, where we then received further news that Keith had taken the route from there to The Hague via the ferry near Leiden to the inn called The Young Prince of Orange. We then followed him there, and on the 16th we arrived there with the earliest train, and found out that Keith had taken another carriage and driven straight to The Hague, and handed it over to the wagon driver Pitter Wirteman at the Wage Brugge.

As things then were, he continued to spend the night from the 8th to the 9th in the same house, but on the 9th early in the morning he moved into another inn on the Speuy in the Three Rapids, and stayed there until the 11th. He had also ordered a chaise that same day at around one o'clock in the afternoon, but had nothing picked up, and instead had it cancelled again in the evening. On the 16th at half past nine in the morning we arrived in The Hague and went to the coachman Pitter Wirtman in the Wages in Brugge, and immediately inquired where Keith was staying. His son, who had brought Keith to The Three Rapids, also took us to the house, where we then found out in detail that he had left the previous evening at around 7 o'clock with General Keppel's valet, and that shortly afterwards a servant of Milord Chesterfield's, his belongings, namely a saddle and a couple of pistols in full, had picked up his boxes and a hooded coat, and because he could not carry them alone, the porter from The Three Rapids had to carry half of them for him, who then handed his portion of the baggage in the Ambassador Milord Chesterfield's house to General Keppel's valet, and then immediately went away again and asked at the portico whether the gentleman was also there, with broken words, "I have lodged in his same inn and taken up his room, where he found his spurs which he had forgotten." His hired footman had also assumed the same, who then gave me detailed information about his conduct, and said that Keith often frequented General Keppel's house, and that he had also had him brought to his carriage for a meal.

The hired lackey further states that Keith (who took the name of Count Sparr) sent him to all the inns in The Hague every day to find out whether a foreign cavalier named Count d'Alberville had arrived, and that he also had to go to all the post offices every day to find out whether any letters had arrived addressed to Count Sparr. He also reports that Keith had a new grey coat made with silver [somethings] and that he ate in his room most of the time and even went to the comedy one evening.

As soon as Keith moved into his quarters, I immediately went to Envoy Meinerzhagen and announced my commission to him, who then told me that he had received a dispatch from His Royal Majesty the previous day, the 15th, regarding the arrest of this deserting lieutenant. He had already issued an order regarding this from Mr. Stader and received one that same afternoon, whereupon he immediately dispatched his valets to Brill and also sent an express to Rotterdam, and one to observe the route to Flanders.

I told the envoy that I had news that General Keppel's valet had picked up Keith from the inn the previous evening at 7 o'clock in the evening, and that it was necessary to speak to Keppel himself about this. We then reported to him that same evening and spoke to him on the veranda, and after I had revealed my commission to him, I said that I have been most graciously commanded by Your Royal Majesty to seek out this deserting Lieutenant Keith because of high treason, and that I had definite news that his valet had fetched him from the inn the previous evening and gone with him to Milord Chesterfield's house, and that I requested him in the name of my King to instruct his valet to tell him where Keith was saying, whereupon he expressed his surprise with an affected and mysterious manner that this man had already departed, and that he knew nothing about him being sought for high treason. He wanted to send me to the valet himself, which he did an hour later, but he denied everything and said that he had not come to pick Keith up but only wanted to speak to him, because he knew him in Berlin, which the kitchen servant from The Three Rapids contested, stating that he himself had handed over Keith's baggage to him in the embassy's house. Furthermore, from all these circumstances it can be assumed that Keith may not yet have left The Hague, but may still be hiding in the ambassador's house. So the two commanding lieutenants, along with a few other loyal men, were posted around Milord Chesterfield's house on the night of the 16th to the 17th with orders to patrol the whole night through and to keep a close eye on everything.

This then happened, and I visited them several times myself. On the 17th I sent Lieutenant von Erlach to the Bailiff in Brill with a letter from Herr von Meinerzhagen to the Bailiff, asking him to keep a close eye on the packet boat and other things, and not to leave them until he was ordered to do so.

At the same time and hour, Lieutenant Cordier was dispatched to Amsterdam, along with letters from Herr von Meinerzhagen to the resident Varyn, who then made the arrangements, as the enclosed letters under No. A. report, with further details.

The night from the 17th to the 18th, as well as from the 18th to the 19th, people were stationed around the English ambassador's house both during the day and at night, so that nothing would be missed. A similar lackey was hired on the 17th and 18th to drive everyone on duty, but he also sent one out into the whole of The Hague to find out as precisely as possible whether they had taken any such people away [something]. On the morning of the 19th, I received a report from the spies that during the night in Chesterfield's house, someone had opened and closed the door very often, but no one had gone out. The previous day, the 18th, around midday, I was with Envoy von Meinertzhagen at Milord Chesterfield's secretary in Holzendorf (because the ambassadors were absent), and also at the Grand Pensionary Slingelandt's. I explained in detail to the former how I had been sent by His Royal Majesty, My Most Gracious King and Lord, to pursue and arrest a lieutenant who had deserted, because of high treason, and that I had certain information that on the evening of the 15th one of Milord Chesterfield's servants had picked up the lieutenant of his carriage from the inn outside him and brought him to Milord's hotel, and that I had requested that he make some inquiries about this so that the servants could be informed, and the baggage remained, whereupon he replied to Mr. Holtzendorff that his master was absent, and that he had no authority over his servants. Without him he could do nothing in the matter before he had written home. I then showed him the requisition letter from Your Royal Majesty, in order to convince him all the more that it was an important matter, extremely important to my King, whereupon he shrugged his shoulders and said that he could do nothing in the matter, whereupon we left.

We also told the Pensionary Councilor that General Keppel's valet, had picked up this lieutenant and would not say where he was, to which he replied that he could do nothing more in this matter, but that he would have Herr von Meinertzhagen issued authorization to arrest this man with great pleasure in order to attest to His Royal Majesty's devotion to him, whereupon we also withdrew. On the 19th, Lieutenant von Erlach returned from Brill at around 9 p.m. and reported to the envoy and me that he had left Hellevoetsluis at 4 p.m. and had seen the packet boat depart for England, with 17 passengers, most of them English. He also reports that the local facilities for arresting Keith are excellently set up, and that all courts, both in the town of Bril and in the barracks of Hellevoetsluis, are on high alert. On the 20th, the enclosed letter under Lit. B. arrived from Amsterdam from Lieutenant Cordier. I was out in the open around the English ambassador's house the night of the 19th to the 20th with my hired lackey and a few hired men, and patrolled until 2 a.m., but left the men there until 8 a.m.

On the 20th, at around 10 o'clock in the morning, I went to see Envoy von Meinertzhagen, where we thought of all sorts of strategies and tricks to positively discover this Keith (although, given the circumstances, we could hardly doubt that he had retreated to the Chesterfield Hotel and sought protection).

We have therefore resolved to open the letter which His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wrote to Keith that he should come to Speyer, in order to use the seal. We then had one of Meinertzhagen's sons write a letter to Keith, dated from Utrecht, in which he was ordered to come to Amsterdam in The Coat of Arms of Emden as soon as he received it. The envoy's youngest son immediately traveled to Utrecht with this letter, with instructions to hire a courier and send the letter here in the hope that someone in The Hague would accept it and that way find out whether our suspicions were correct.

Likewise, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the envoy, along with his cousin, the Domain Councillor, and I drove to Scheveningen, where we got definite news from the night watchman named Strotier, and we also heard from the Hunter Inn that the previous Friday, i.e. On the 18th, around 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning, the majordomo of Milord Chesterfield, General Keppel's valet, and a French wine merchant brought a young man who spoke German there in a carriage, and then sent him off to England in a small carriage (which had been hired and paid for by the majordomo the day before). XXX from the Hunter Inn did not want to be questioned in detail, but laughed and said that we shouldn't try to ask him more questions, because it was forbidden to him. We then returned to The Hague and considered together what further could be done in the matter, and decided to send out various spies, instructed by the envoy, in order to have greater certainty, which one could doubt more and more.

On the 21st towards evening I discussed with the envoy how we could now report to His Royal Majesty with certainty, which each of us should do in a dedicated report, and then at about 9 o'clock we parted, but at about 3 o'clock in the morning one of his servants came to me and said that his master had suffered a stroke and that the family had also requested that I be here as soon as possible, as it would be difficult for him to survive, whereupon I went there as quickly as possible and found him without any hope, and two hours later he gave up the ghost. On the 22nd I humbly reported all this to His Royal Majesty by express post.

On the 26th I sent the two lieutenants back to their garrison, and on the 28th I also began my journey back to Berlin, with the greatest regret that I was unable to carry out His Royal Majesty's most gracious wishes.

Potsdam, 10th September 1730.

Mildred commentary: Reminder that "the envoy" is Meinerzhagen.

The Coat of Arms of Emden = "Wapon von Embden". Emden is a city on the Dutch border, though not particularly close to Amsterdam (google says 250 km away). I'm *guessing* that "Wapon von Embden" is an inn with the coat of arms of the city of Emden as the sign it hangs out to distinguish it from other inns? Since there are a lot of inns in this story, and an inn makes sense as a place for Fritz and Peter to meet up in Amsterdam? But that's my guess.

Also! Wow, nobody published anything about confiscating a letter from Fritz to Peter and using the seal to write a new letter and using that to try to locate Peter! (And presumably lure him out, even if they don't say so, because if Peter leaves his protection and goes to a specific inn in Amsterdam, suddenly he becomes a lot more vulnerable to capture.)

Selena: Yep, that is fascinating and definitely A Cunning Plan! Which might have succeeded had Peter stayed longer. I do wonder why they needed Meinertzhagen's son to write the fake Fritz letter instead of writing it themselves, but presumably his writing was closer to that of Fritz?

Also, I forgot to say elsewhere, but Fritz' chosen Alias being that of a count from Lorraine instead of a French French Comte wasn't a bad idea. (Reminder, cahn, that Lorraine's relationship status with both France and Germany is "it's complicated" through the centuries, and at this point, they're still independent because FS - who writes French like a German and German like a Frenchman - hasn't married MT yet.) Fritz might have been aware that despite having French as a sort of first language, he wouldn't be able to fake being a Frenchman in front of other Frenchmen, who could be around in The Hague. But in between Lorraine sounds more like the mixture of French and German he was exposed to when growing up.