STRUENSEE STRYCHNIA. 



429 



acquiesce in the domination of that house. When 

 the sovereignty was assumed by Alessandro de' Me- 

 dici, he joined the party which aimed at restoring 

 a tree government. Their application for support, 

 to the emperor Charles V., being unattended to, 

 Strozzi induced Lorenzo de' Medici to assassinate 

 the duke. The only result of this action was the 

 immediate succession of Cosmo, whom he opposed 

 at the head of a body of troops ; but, being defeated 

 at the battle of Marona, he was made prisoner. 

 Apprehending that he would be put to the torture, 

 to force a disclosure of his accomplices, he antici- 

 pated the trial by a voluntary death, with a poniard. 

 Having first traced, with the point of it, the line 

 from Virgil Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossilms 

 ultor /he pierced his breast and immediately ex- 

 pired (1538). 



STRUENSEE AND BRANDT. John Frederic, 

 count of Struensee, born at Halle, in 1737, after 

 having completed his medical studies, entered upon 

 the practice of physic at Altona, where he formed 

 an acquaintance with the count of Rantzau-Asch- 

 berg and Brandt. In 1768, he received the ap- 

 pointment of physician to Christian VII., king 

 of Denmark, whom he accompanied on his tra- 

 vels though Germany, England and France. After 

 Christian's marriage with Caroline Matilda, a cool- 

 ness arose between the royal pair, of which the 

 queen dowager took advantage to promote the in- 

 terests of her son, Christian's half brother. The 

 birth of a crown prince, (Frederic VI.), widened 

 the breach between Caroline and the queen-dow- 

 ager, without reconciling Christian to b>B wife. 

 The nation was divided into two grea., parties 

 that of the king, at the head of which was the 

 young count Hoik, the royal favourite, and that of 

 the queen-dowager, at Friedensburg. Caroline 

 Matilda aimed at effecting the removal of Hoik, 

 with the hope of regaining the king's favour, while 

 Hoik endeavoured to increase the distance between 

 her and the king. Thinking Struensee to be as 

 warmly opposed to the queen as he was himself, he 

 advised Christian to employ him in his messages to 

 the queen. But this proved the ruin of Hoik : the 

 king became more and more attached to Struensee, 

 and the queen, who observed the change, and con- 

 trasted the respectable deportment of Struensee 

 with the arrogance of the favourite, soon admitted 

 him to her confidence ; 'and he effected a reconcilia- 

 tion between her and the king. Struensee now 

 pursued his ambitious plans with redoubled zeal. 

 Bernstorf was removed ; Brandt succeeded Hoik as 

 director of the theatre and maltre des plaisirs, and 

 the friends of the queen were brought into office. 

 To secure his influence, Struensee endeavoured to 

 occupy the king with amusements, and particularly 

 to prevent him from communicating directly with 

 his ministers. In 1770, at the instigation of Stru- 

 ensee, the king abolished the council of state, 

 establishing, in place of it, a committee of confer- 

 ence, consisting of the heads of the different de- 

 partments of the administration, who were only 

 occasionally assembled, and had neither rank nor 

 influence. This measure threw all authority into 

 the hands of the queen and the favourite, and 

 roused the indignation of the Danish nobility, 

 which had enjoyed a seat and vote in the council. 

 Struensee next procured the removal of the old 

 ministers ; and all affairs were now administered in 

 the name of the king, by his personal attendants. 

 But the favourite had neither prudence nor firmness 

 to support him in this situation. He became over- 



bearing and impatient of contradiction, and attempts 

 to introduce reformations in the finances, the army, 

 law, &c., raised him up many enemies. He now 

 caused himself to be created count, and, not satis- 

 fied with this, procured the dignity of cabinet-min- 

 ister, with such powers as no Danish minister had 

 ever before possessed. When his enemies attempted 

 to expose his usurpations, the freedom of the press, 

 which he had himself introduced, was subjected to 

 restrictions. But the friends of Struensee were 

 already becoming indisposed towards him, and the 

 people began to show symptoms of dissatisfaction. 

 Struensee was conscious of his danger, and took 

 some precautions to defend himself. But on the 

 night of January 16, 1772, the queen, the favourite, 

 Brandt, and their other partisans, were seized. 

 The officer who commanded the guard (an old 

 enemy of Struensee) had led his officers into the 

 palace, declaring that the king had commanded him 

 to arrest the queen. Count Rantzau-Aschberg then 

 penetrated to the chamber of the king, waked him, 

 and told him that his life was in danger, and that 

 he must sign an order, which the count presented 

 to him. The feeble king obeyed, and the queen 

 was conducted to Kronenburg. An extraordinary 

 commission was instituted for the trial of Struensee, 

 consisting in part of his personal enemies. The 

 proceedings were pushed with severity ; and, on the 

 25th of April, he Avas condemned to loose his right 

 hand and his head, his body to be quartered and 

 exposed upon the wheel, and his head and hand to 

 be stuck upon a stake. When informed that the 

 king had confirmed the sentence, he received the 

 news with composure, and was executed on the 

 28th of April, 1772. See Host's Count Struensee 

 and his Ministry (in Danish, 1824, and more com- 

 plete in German, 1826), and Mcmoires de Falken~ 

 skiold (Paris, 1826). 



STRUTT, JOSEPH, an English antiquary, born 

 in 1749, at Springfield, in Essex, was articled to an 

 engraver, and obtained the gold and silver medals 

 of the royal academy. He published, in 1773, his 

 vvork entitled the Regal and Ecclesiastical Anti- 

 quities of England (4to.), containing representa- 

 tions of the English monarchs from Edward the 

 Confessor to Henry VIII. This was followed by 

 Horda Angel Cynnan, or a complete view of the 

 manners, customs, arms, habits, &c., of the English, 

 from the arrival of the Saxons to the times of 

 Henry VIII., &c. (1774, 1775 and 1776, 3 vols. 

 with 157 plates). In 1777 and 1778, he published 

 a Chronicle of England, which he meant to extend 

 to six volumes, but dropped the design for want of 

 encouragement. His Biographical Dictionary of 

 Engravers appeared in 1785 and 1786, in two vols., 

 and his Complete View of the Dresses and Habits 

 of the People of England, &c., in 1796 and 1799 

 (4to.). In 1801, he published his last and favourite 

 work, entitled the Sports and Pastimes of the 

 People of England (with forty plates, new octavo 

 edition, with 140 plates, 1827.) He died in Lon- 

 don, in October, 1802, aged fifty-three. His mo- 

 dest character scarcely met, during his life-time, 

 with the encouragement it deserved. He left some 

 manuscripts, from which have since been published 

 his Queen Hoo Hall, a romance, and Ancient 

 Times, a drama (4 vols. 12mo.); also the Test of 

 Guilt, or Traits of Ancient Superstition, a dra- 

 matic tale. 



STRYCHNIA; a vegetable alkali, found in the 

 fruit of two species of the strychnos. It is obtained 

 by the following process : The bean is rasped down 



