Remonstrances of Dankelman, that he hated him in his heart long before he durst make it appear. The Minister too much elated with his Favour, and not so careful to please his Master as to censure his Actions,

thought himself able to preserve the same ascendant over him, or at least, did not think the Elector would ever offer to ruin him; which Confidence of his hinder'd him from parrying the Thrusts that were made at him in secret; so that he was arrested at midnight in his own House, and carry'd to Spandaw in one of the Elector's Coaches, under a Guard of twenty Men.

His being so suddenly disgrac'd was matter of surprize to every body, but of concern to few. 'Twas observ'd that on the very day wherein Dankelman was arrested, the Elector spoke to him so kindly in presence of the whole Court, that those of the nicest penetration little thought his Fall to be so near. Indeed, every body had long before endeavour'd, or wish'd for an opportunity to trip up his heels; and the natural Inconstancy of the Elector to his Favorites, and this Minister's want of complaisance to the Elector, made it very probable that he would quickly be tumbled from that Summit of Favor, on which he thought himself so sure of keeping his Hold; there wanted only a more specious pretext to remove a Man from Court, who had all along seem'd to aim at nothing but the welfare of the Government; and such a one naturally presented itself in the affair of the Duchy of Limbourg.

This Duchy had been mortgag'd by Spain, as Security for considerable Sums which were owing by that Crown to the Elector, who in consequence put his Troops to quarter there for the Winter. The Dutch, to whom Spain was a Debtor in like manner, would gladly also have had that Duchy made over to them, as Security for their Debt; which not being to be done without the evacuation of our Troops, the matter was propos'd to

Dankelman, who, whether he was surpriz'd, or brib'd, gave his consent to it. This was imputed to him as a Crime of State the more heinous, because Spain being at that time ready to conclude a Peace with France, in pursuance of the Treaty of Ryswic, was very indifferent as to complying with the Demands of the Elector. To this the Minister fell a Sacrifice, but by good luck for him he had remitted several Sums to Foreign Countries, so that his disgrace was the lighter; which moreover had this singularity in it, that neither of his three Brothers nor any of his Creatures had a share in it, but were all continued in their Employments; and all the alteration that happen'd, was, that the Count de Barfous, then a Veldt-Marshal, performed for some time the Functions of the Prime Minister.

In the mean time another Idol of Fortune rose upon the ruin of Dankelman. This was John Casimir de Kolbe, a Gentleman originally of the Palatinate: His first appearance at Court was in the time of Frederic-William the Great, in the retinue of the Princess-Palatine de Simmeren, Sister of the first Electoress, who having desir'd the Elector to give Kolbe some Employment; he made him a Privy-Counsellor, but gave him liberty to attend the Princess as much as ever, who was so good to him that she was reproach'd with caring for no body else. He went with her into the Palatinate, where that Princess died soon after, and then Kolbe return'd to Court, where he was a meer Stranger, without Relations, Acquaintance or Protection; and 'twas a long time before any the least notice was taken of him. But after the death of Frederic-William, he made his Court to Frederic his Son who succeeded him, and to Dankelman his Minister. Being always humble,

and a Flatterer into the bargain, he quickly gain'd their Friendship by his Assiduity, and by his study'd Affectation not to meddle or make in any Affairs. Dankelman, as crafty a Man as he was, did not perceive the Snare, but contributed most of all to his Favor, thinking all the while that he was promoting a Creature from whom he had nothing to fear. But Kolbe no sooner perceiv'd the Elector's Coldness to his Minister than he resolv'd to make his Advantage of it. He did not alter his Measures immediately, but seeming to have as little Concern in Affairs as ever, his only Aim was to feed and propagate the ill Humors which the Elector was often in with his Favorite. This Prince was inconstant, suspicious and choleric; and when those three Passions were stirr'd up and managed, he was to be persuaded to any thing. Kolbe who for a long time had made his Temper his only Study, plainly perceiv'd his Foible, artfully wrought upon it, and in the sequel made it subservient to the Accomplishment of his Designs. He soon attain'd to the highest Degree of Favor; the Elector made him his Great Chamberlain and First Minister; all the Court was oblig'd to truckle to him; and as it always happens in the Changes of Government, the Minister in Disgrace was regretted. Indeed Kolbe did not want for personal Qualities enough to make him belov'd; but the worst on't was, they were eclips'd by an astonishing Fondness for his Wife, to whom he was so blindly complaisant, that all the good People at Court despis'd and hated him.

This Lady has play'd so extraordinary a Part in the World, that I can't avoid giving you some Account of her Origin and Character. Her Father,

one Rickers, was a Bargeman at Emmerick, a Town in the Duchy of Cleves, where for better Subsistance he kept a sort of Tavern. He had two Daughters, who pass'd for fine Women, that brought a good deal of Company to his House, and in a Journey which the Elector made to Cleves, Bidekan his Valet de Chambre fell in love with the eldest, the Lady I am speaking of, marry'd her and took her with him to Berlin, where she fell so passionately in love with Kolbe, that after having been his Mistress in her Husband's Life-time, he was hardly cold in his Grave but she became his Wife. The Wedding was kept at the House of one Commesser, another of the Elector's Valets de Chambre, where that Prince was present, with seven or eight Persons in his Company; and from that very Juncture he began to shew such great Marks of Complaisance to the Lady, that several People thought she ow'd them to something more than to the Friendship he had for his Favorite. Nevertheless I am very well persuaded they were mistaken; and I remember, that when I was Gentleman of the Bed-chamber to the Elector, he said to me in one of his ill Humors with his Favorite and his Wife (and in these sort of Pets he was not capable of dissembling) I know the Notion that prevails of my being under certain Tyes to Kolbe's Lady, but there is nothing in it; and the Wrong is greater to me than to her. For really was it not enough for a Woman of such mean Extraction, Parts and Beauty too, to be the Wife of a Minister, but she must also be ambitious to be the Mistress of a Sovereign? Yet it must be confess'd, that whether it was meer Humor, or a weak Attachment to the Favorite, the Elector heap'd Wealth and Honors upon this Lady, insomuch that nothing would serve him but she must be admitted

to the Electoress's Circle, who at that time indeed obstinately refus'd it; for who is there would not have been disgusted to have seen the Daughter of Rickers the Bargeman mixing with Ladies of Quality that had a Right to be in the Circle? However, some time after, the Electoress was oblig'd to wave all the Pleas of Decorum, for the sake of the Need she stood in of the Great Chamberlain; and his Wife had the Honor of the Circle.

The same Year that Kolbe was declared Prime