Visit ebooknice.

com to download the full version and

explore more ebooks or textbooks

(Ebook) Python Programming for the Absolute

Beginner, 3rd Edition by Michael Dawson ISBN
9781435455009, 1435455002

_____ Click the link below to download _____

https://ebooknice.com/product/python-programming-for-the-
absolute-beginner-3rd-edition-4441698

Explore and download more ebooks or textbooks at ebooknice.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

(Ebook) Python programming for the absolute beginner: Michael Dawson

by Dawson, Michael ISBN 9781435455009, 9781435456013, 1435455002,
1435456017

https://ebooknice.com/product/python-programming-for-the-absolute-
beginner-michael-dawson-21347436

(Ebook) More Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Jonathan

S. Harbour ISBN 9781435459809, 1435459806

https://ebooknice.com/product/more-python-programming-for-the-
absolute-beginner-4650820

(Ebook) C Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael Vine ISBN

9781598634808, 1598634801

https://ebooknice.com/product/c-programming-for-the-absolute-
beginner-1101712

(Ebook) Visual Basic Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael

Vine ISBN 9780761535539, 0761535535

https://ebooknice.com/product/visual-basic-programming-for-the-
absolute-beginner-984280
(Ebook) Biota Grow 2C gather 2C cook by Loucas, Jason; Viles, James
ISBN 9781459699816, 9781743365571, 9781925268492, 1459699815,
1743365578, 1925268497

https://ebooknice.com/product/biota-grow-2c-gather-2c-cook-6661374

(Ebook) Microsoft Access VBA Programming for the Absolute Beginner by

Michael Vine ISBN 9781592007233, 1592007236

https://ebooknice.com/product/microsoft-access-vba-programming-for-
the-absolute-beginner-4114398

(Ebook) C Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Keith Davenport,

Michael Vine ISBN 9781305273764, 1305273761, 2014945699

https://ebooknice.com/product/c-programming-for-the-absolute-
beginner-33554976

(Ebook) C++ Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition by

Mark Lee ISBN 9781598638752, 1598638750

https://ebooknice.com/product/c-programming-for-the-absolute-beginner-
second-edition-1711764

(Ebook) Microsoft Access VBA programming for the absolute beginner by

Michael (Michael Vine) Vine ISBN 9781598633931, 9781598637540,
1598633937, 1598637541

https://ebooknice.com/product/microsoft-access-vba-programming-for-
the-absolute-beginner-1082680
 ®

Python Programming
for the Absolute Beginner,
Third Edition

Michael Dawson

Course Technology PTR

A part of Cengage Learning

Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States
 Python® Programming for the © 2010 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning.
Absolute Beginner, Third Edition:
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright
Michael Dawson
herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by
Publisher and General Manager, Course any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to
Technology PTR: Stacy L. Hiquet photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution,
information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except
Associate Director of Marketing:
as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright
Sarah Panella
Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Manager of Editorial Services:
Heather Talbot
For product information and technology assistance, contact us at
Marketing Manager: Mark Hughes Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706

Acquisitions Editor: Mitzi Koontz For permission to use material from this text or product, submit all
requests online at cengage.com/permissions Further permissions
Project Editor: Jenny Davidson questions can be emailed to [email protected]
Technical Reviewer: Robert Hoag

Interior Layout Tech: Value Chain Python is a registered trademark of the Python Software Foundation.
International All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Cover Designer: Mike Tanamachi All images © Cengage Learning unless otherwise noted.
Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Library of Congress Control Number: 2009933304
Services
ISBN-13: 978-1-4354-5500-9
Proofreader: Heather Urschel ISBN-10: 1-4354-5500-2
eISBN-10: 1-4354-5601-7
Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning
20 Channel Center Street
Boston, MA 02210
USA
Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions
with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United
Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at:
international.cengage.com/region

Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson

Education, Ltd.

For your lifelong learning solutions, visit courseptr.com

Visit our corporate website at cengage.com

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09
To my parents, who have read everything I’ve ever written.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

riting a book is like giving birth—and I have the stretch marks of the brain

W to prove it. So I want to thank all the people who helped me bring my little
bundle of joy into this world.
Thanks to Jenny Davidson for pulling double duty as both project editor and
copyeditor. I appreciated your hard word and attention to detail.
Thanks to Robert Hoag for his technical editing skills. (Thanks for your non-
technical suggestions and good humor too.)
I also want to thank Pete Shinners, original author of Pygame, and all the folks
who contributed to LiveWires. Because of all of you, writing multimedia programs
(especially games!) is now within reach of a new Python programmer.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank Matt for his audio expertise, Chris for
his musical talents, and Dave for wearing a chef’s hat.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ichael Dawson has worked as both a programmer and a computer game

M designer and producer. In addition to real-world game industry experi-

ence, Mike earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the
University of Southern California. Currently, he teaches game programming in
the Game Production Department of the Los Angeles Film School. Mike has also
taught game programming to students through UCLA Extension and The
Digital Media Academy at Stanford. He’s the author of three other books:
Beginning C++ through Game Programming, Guide to Programming with Python, and
C++ Projects: Programming with Text-Based Games. You can visit his website at
www.programgames.com to learn more or to get support for any of his books.
Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Getting Started: The Game Over Program............. 1

Examining the Game Over Program................................................................................. 1
Introducing Python............................................................................................................... 3
Python Is Easy to Use .................................................................................................... 3
Python Is Powerful ........................................................................................................ 3
Python Is Object-Oriented ........................................................................................... 3
Python Is a “Glue” Language ...................................................................................... 4
Python Runs Everywhere............................................................................................. 4
Python Has a Strong Community ............................................................................. 4
Python Is Free and Open Source................................................................................ 5
Setting Up Python on Windows......................................................................................... 5
Installing Python on Windows .................................................................................. 5
Setting Up Python on Other Operating Systems........................................................... 6
Introducing IDLE.................................................................................................................... 7
Programming in Interactive Mode ........................................................................... 7
Programming in Script Mode .................................................................................. 10
Back to the Game Over Program...................................................................................... 12
Using Comments ......................................................................................................... 12
Using Blank Lines ........................................................................................................ 13
Printing the String ...................................................................................................... 13
Waiting for the User................................................................................................... 14
Summary................................................................................................................................ 14

Chapter 2 Types, Variables, and Simple I/O: The Useless Trivia

Program..................................................................... 15
Introducing the Useless Trivia Program........................................................................ 15
Using Quotes with Strings................................................................................................. 16
Introducing the Game Over 2.0 Program ............................................................. 16
Using Quotes Inside Strings ..................................................................................... 18
Printing Multiple Values ........................................................................................... 19
Specifying a Final String to Print............................................................................ 19
Creating Triple-Quoted Strings................................................................................ 20
vi Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Third Edition

Using Escape Sequences with Strings............................................................................. 21

Introducing the Fancy Credits Program ............................................................... 21
Moving Forward a Tab Stop ...................................................................................... 22
Printing a Backslash ................................................................................................... 22
Inserting a Newline .................................................................................................... 23
Inserting a Quote......................................................................................................... 23
Sounding the System Bell ......................................................................................... 23
Concatenating and Repeating Strings........................................................................... 24
Introducing the Silly Strings Program .................................................................. 24
Concatenating Strings ............................................................................................... 25
Using the Line Continuation Character................................................................ 26
Repeating Strings ........................................................................................................ 26
Working with Numbers..................................................................................................... 27
Introducing the Word Problems Program............................................................ 27
Understanding Numeric Types................................................................................ 28
Using Mathematical Operators................................................................................ 29
Understanding Variables................................................................................................... 30
Introducing the Greeter Program........................................................................... 30
Creating Variables....................................................................................................... 31
Using Variables ............................................................................................................ 31
Naming Variables ........................................................................................................ 32
Getting User Input............................................................................................................... 33
Introducing the Personal Greeter Program ......................................................... 33
Using the input() Function........................................................................................ 34
Using String Methods......................................................................................................... 35
Introducing the Quotation Manipulation Program .......................................... 35
Creating New Strings with String Methods ......................................................... 36
Using the Right Types......................................................................................................... 38
Introducing the Trust Fund Buddy–Bad Program.............................................. 38
Tracking Down Logical Errors.................................................................................. 40
Converting Values................................................................................................................ 41
Introducing the Trust Fund Buddy–Good Program ........................................... 41
Converting Strings to Integers................................................................................. 42
Using Augmented Assignment Operators ............................................................ 44
Back to the Useless Trivia Program................................................................................. 44
Creating the Initial Comments ............................................................................... 44
Getting the User Input............................................................................................... 45
Printing Lowercase and Uppercase Versions of name....................................... 45
Printing name Five Times ......................................................................................... 46
Calculating seconds.................................................................................................... 46
Calculating moon_weight and sun_weight......................................................... 46
Waiting for the User................................................................................................... 46
Summary................................................................................................................................ 47
 Contents vii

Chapter 3 Branching, while Loops, and Program Planning:

The Guess My Number Game................................... 49
Introducing the Guess My Number Game.................................................................... 50
Generating Random Numbers......................................................................................... 50
Introducing the Craps Roller Program.................................................................. 50
Importing the random Module ............................................................................... 51
Using the randint() Function.................................................................................... 52
Using the randrange() Function .............................................................................. 52
Using the if Statement....................................................................................................... 53
Introducing the Password Program ....................................................................... 53
Examining the if Statement ..................................................................................... 55
Creating Conditions ................................................................................................... 55
Understanding Comparison Operators ................................................................. 55
Using Indentation to Create Blocks........................................................................ 56
Building Your Own if Statement............................................................................. 57
Using the else Clause.......................................................................................................... 57
Introducing the Granted or Denied Program...................................................... 57
Examining the else Clause........................................................................................ 59
Using the elif Clause........................................................................................................... 59
Introducing the Mood Computer Program .......................................................... 59
Examining the elif Clause......................................................................................... 62
Creating while Loops.......................................................................................................... 63
Introducing the Three-Year-Old Simulator Program ......................................... 63
Examining the while Loop........................................................................................ 64
Initializing the Sentry Variable ............................................................................... 65
Checking the Sentry Variable .................................................................................. 65
Updating the Sentry Variable................................................................................... 66
Avoiding Infinite Loops...................................................................................................... 66
Introducing the Losing Battle Program ................................................................ 66
Tracing the Program................................................................................................... 68
Creating Conditions That Can Become False....................................................... 69
Treating Values as Conditions.......................................................................................... 69
Introducing the Maitre D’ Program ....................................................................... 70
Interpreting Any Value as True or False................................................................ 71
Creating Intentional Infinite Loops................................................................................ 72
Introducing the Finicky Counter Program........................................................... 72
Using the break Statement to Exit a Loop ............................................................ 73
Using the continue Statement to Jump Back to the Top of a Loop................ 73
Understanding When to Use break and continue.............................................. 73
Using Compound Conditions........................................................................................... 74
Introducing the Exclusive Network Program...................................................... 74
Understanding the not Logical Operator.............................................................. 77
Understanding the and Logical Operator............................................................. 78
Understanding the or Logical Operator ................................................................ 79
viii Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Third Edition

Planning Your Programs.................................................................................................... 80

Creating Algorithms with Pseudocode.................................................................. 80
Applying Stepwise Refinement to Your Algorithms.......................................... 81
Returning to the Guess My Number Game................................................................... 81
Planning the Program................................................................................................ 81
Creating the Initial Comment Block...................................................................... 82
Importing the random Module ............................................................................... 83
Explaining the Game.................................................................................................. 83
Setting the Initial Values........................................................................................... 83
Creating a Guessing Loop.......................................................................................... 83
Congratulating the Player ........................................................................................ 84
Waiting for the Player to Quit ................................................................................. 84
Summary................................................................................................................................ 84

Chapter 4 for Loops, Strings, and Tuples: The Word Jumble

Game........................................................................... 87
Introducing the Word Jumble Game.............................................................................. 87
Using for Loops..................................................................................................................... 88
Introducing the Loopy String Program ................................................................. 88
Understanding for Loops........................................................................................... 89
Creating a for Loop ..................................................................................................... 90
Counting with a for Loop................................................................................................... 90
Introducing the Counter Program ......................................................................... 90
Counting Forwards ..................................................................................................... 92
Counting by Fives ........................................................................................................ 93
Counting Backwards .................................................................................................. 93
Using Sequence Operators and Functions with Strings............................................ 93
Introducing the Message Analyzer Program........................................................ 94
Using the len() Function ............................................................................................ 95
Using the in Operator ................................................................................................ 95
Indexing Strings................................................................................................................... 95
Introducing the Random Access Program............................................................ 96
Working with Positive Position Numbers ............................................................ 97
Working with Negative Position Numbers .......................................................... 98
Accessing a Random String Element ..................................................................... 99
Understanding String Immutability............................................................................ 100
Building a New String...................................................................................................... 101
Introducing the No Vowels Program ................................................................... 101
Creating Constants ................................................................................................... 102
Creating New Strings from Existing Ones.......................................................... 103
Slicing Strings..................................................................................................................... 104
Introducing the Pizza Slicer Program ................................................................. 104
Introducing None...................................................................................................... 106
 Contents ix

Understanding Slicing ............................................................................................. 106

Creating Slices............................................................................................................ 107
Using Slicing Shorthand.......................................................................................... 108
Creating Tuples.......................................................................................................... 108
Introducing the Hero’s Inventory Program ....................................................... 109
Creating an Empty Tuple ........................................................................................ 110
Treating a Tuple as a Condition ............................................................................ 110
Creating a Tuple with Elements............................................................................ 111
Printing a Tuple ......................................................................................................... 111
Looping Through a Tuple’s Elements .................................................................. 111
Using Tuples........................................................................................................................ 112
Introducing the Hero’s Inventory 2.0 .................................................................. 112
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 113
Using the len() Function with Tuples................................................................... 113
Using the in Operator with Tuples ....................................................................... 114
Indexing Tuples ......................................................................................................... 114
Slicing Tuples ............................................................................................................. 114
Understanding Tuple Immutability..................................................................... 115
Concatenating Tuples .............................................................................................. 115
Back to the Word Jumble Game.................................................................................... 116
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 116
Planning the Jumble Creation Section................................................................ 117
Creating an Empty Jumble String......................................................................... 117
Setting Up the Loop .................................................................................................. 118
Generating a Random Position in word.............................................................. 118
Creating a New Version of jumble........................................................................ 118
Creating a New Version of word............................................................................ 118
Welcoming the Player.............................................................................................. 118
Getting the Player’s Guess ...................................................................................... 119
Congratulating the Player ...................................................................................... 119
Ending the Game....................................................................................................... 119
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 119

Chapter 5 Lists and Dictionaries: The Hangman Game........ 121

Introducing the Hangman Game.................................................................................. 121
Using Lists............................................................................................................................ 123
Introducing the Hero’s Inventory 3.0 Program................................................. 123
Creating a List ............................................................................................................ 124
Using the len() Function with Lists....................................................................... 125
Using the in Operator with Lists ........................................................................... 125
Indexing Lists ............................................................................................................. 125
Slicing Lists ................................................................................................................. 125
Concatenating Lists .................................................................................................. 126
x Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Third Edition

Understanding List Mutability .............................................................................. 126

Assigning a New List Element by Index .............................................................. 126
Assigning a New List Slice....................................................................................... 127
Deleting a List Element............................................................................................ 127
Deleting a List Slice................................................................................................... 128
Using List Methods............................................................................................................ 128
Introducing the High Scores Program................................................................. 128
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 129
Displaying the Menu ................................................................................................ 129
Exiting the Program ................................................................................................. 130
Displaying the Scores ............................................................................................... 130
Adding a Score ........................................................................................................... 130
Removing a Score ...................................................................................................... 131
Sorting the Scores ..................................................................................................... 131
Dealing with an Invalid Choice ............................................................................. 132
Waiting for the User................................................................................................. 132
Understanding When to Use Tuples Instead of Lists............................................... 133
Using Nested Sequences.................................................................................................. 133
Introducing the High Scores 2.0 Program .......................................................... 133
Creating Nested Sequences..................................................................................... 134
Accessing Nested Elements..................................................................................... 135
Unpacking a Sequence............................................................................................. 136
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 136
Displaying the Scores by Accessing Nested Tuples........................................... 137
Adding a Score by Appending a Nested Tuple................................................... 137
Dealing with an Invalid Choice ............................................................................. 137
Waiting for the User................................................................................................. 138
Understanding Shared References................................................................................ 138
Using Dictionaries............................................................................................................. 140
Introducing the Geek Translator Program......................................................... 140
Creating Dictionaries ............................................................................................... 141
Accessing Dictionary Values................................................................................... 142
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 144
Getting a Value .......................................................................................................... 145
Adding a Key-Value Pair........................................................................................... 145
Replacing a Key-Value Pair...................................................................................... 146
Deleting a Key-Value Pair ........................................................................................ 146
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 147
Understanding Dictionary Requirements .......................................................... 147
Back to the Hangman Game........................................................................................... 148
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 148
Creating Constants ................................................................................................... 149
Initializing the Variables......................................................................................... 152
Creating the Main Loop ........................................................................................... 152
 Contents xi

Getting the Player’s Guess ...................................................................................... 153

Checking the Guess................................................................................................... 153
Ending the Game....................................................................................................... 154
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 154

Chapter 6 Functions: The Tic-Tac-Toe Game........................ 157

Introducing the Tic-Tac-Toe Game................................................................................ 157
Creating Functions............................................................................................................ 159
Introducing the Instructions Program................................................................ 159
Defining a Function.................................................................................................. 161
Documenting a Function ........................................................................................ 161
Calling a Programmer-Created Function............................................................ 161
Understanding Abstraction .................................................................................... 162
Using Parameters and Return Values........................................................................... 162
Introducing the Receive and Return Program .................................................. 162
Receiving Information through Parameters...................................................... 163
Returning Information through Return Values ............................................... 164
Understanding Encapsulation............................................................................... 165
Receiving and Returning Values in the Same Function ................................. 165
Understanding Software Reuse ............................................................................. 166
Using Keyword Arguments and Default Parameter Values................................... 167
Introducing the Birthday Wishes Program ........................................................ 167
Using Positional Parameters and Positional Arguments................................ 168
Using Positional Parameters and Keyword Arguments .................................. 169
Using Default Parameter Values ........................................................................... 169
Using Global Variables and Constants......................................................................... 171
Understanding Scopes ............................................................................................. 171
Introducing the Global Reach Program .............................................................. 172
Reading a Global Variable from Inside a Function .......................................... 174
Shadowing a Global Variable from Inside a Function..................................... 174
Changing a Global Variable from Inside a Function ....................................... 175
Understanding When to Use Global Variables and Constants ..................... 175
Back to the Tic-Tac-Toe Game......................................................................................... 175
Planning the Tic-Tac-Toe Game ............................................................................. 175
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 178
The display_instruct() Function ............................................................................ 178
The ask_yes_no() Function ...................................................................................... 179
The ask_number() Function.................................................................................... 179
The pieces() Function................................................................................................ 179
The new_board() Function ...................................................................................... 180
The display_board() Function................................................................................. 180
The legal_moves() Function .................................................................................... 180
The winner() Function.............................................................................................. 181
xii Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Third Edition

The human_move() Function ................................................................................. 182

The computer_move() Function ............................................................................ 183
The next_turn() Function ........................................................................................ 185
The congrat_winner() Function............................................................................. 186
The main() Function ................................................................................................. 186
Starting the Program................................................................................................ 187
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 187

Chapter 7 Files and Exceptions: The Trivia Challenge

Game......................................................................... 189
Introducing the Trivia Challenge Game...................................................................... 189
Reading from Text Files................................................................................................... 190
Introducing the Read It Program.......................................................................... 190
Opening and Closing a File..................................................................................... 193
Reading Characters from a File ............................................................................. 194
Reading Characters from a Line ............................................................................ 195
Reading All Lines into a List ................................................................................... 196
Looping through a File............................................................................................. 196
Writing to a Text File........................................................................................................ 197
Introducing the Write It Program ........................................................................ 197
Writing Strings to a File .......................................................................................... 197
Writing a List of Strings to a File .......................................................................... 198
Storing Complex Data in Files....................................................................................... 200
Introducing the Pickle It Program........................................................................ 200
Pickling Data and Writing It to a File.................................................................. 200
Reading Data from a File and Unpickling It ...................................................... 202
Using a Shelf to Store Pickled Data ...................................................................... 203
Using a Shelf to Retrieve Pickled Data................................................................. 204
Handling Exceptions......................................................................................................... 205
Introducing the Handle It Program ..................................................................... 205
Using a try Statement with an except Clause.................................................... 206
Specifying an Exception Type ................................................................................ 207
Handling Multiple Exception Types..................................................................... 208
Getting an Exception’s Argument ........................................................................ 209
Adding an else Clause .............................................................................................. 210
Back to the Trivia Challenge Game............................................................................... 210
Understanding the Data File Layout .................................................................... 210
The open_file() Function.......................................................................................... 212
The next_line() Function ......................................................................................... 212
The next_block() Function ...................................................................................... 213
The welcome() Function .......................................................................................... 213
Setting Up the Game ................................................................................................ 214
Asking a Question ..................................................................................................... 214
 Contents xiii

Getting an Answer .................................................................................................... 214

Checking an Answer................................................................................................. 215
Getting the Next Question...................................................................................... 215
Ending the Game....................................................................................................... 215
Starting the main() Function.................................................................................. 215
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 216

Chapter 8 Software Objects: The Critter Caretaker

Program................................................................... 217
Introducing the Critter Caretaker Program............................................................... 217
Understanding Object-Oriented Basics........................................................................ 219
Creating Classes, Methods, and Objects...................................................................... 220
Introducing the Simple Critter Program ............................................................ 220
Defining a Class ......................................................................................................... 221
Defining a Method .................................................................................................... 221
Instantiating an Object............................................................................................ 222
Invoking a Method .................................................................................................... 222
Using Constructors............................................................................................................ 222
Introducing the Constructor Critter Program .................................................. 222
Creating a Constructor ............................................................................................ 224
Creating Multiple Objects....................................................................................... 224
Using Attributes................................................................................................................. 225
Introducing the Attribute Critter Program........................................................ 225
Initializing Attributes .............................................................................................. 226
Accessing Attributes ................................................................................................. 227
Printing an Object..................................................................................................... 228
Using Class Attributes and Static Methods................................................................. 228
Introducing the Classy Critter Program.............................................................. 229
Creating a Class Attribute....................................................................................... 230
Accessing a Class Attribute..................................................................................... 231
Creating a Static Method......................................................................................... 231
Invoking a Static Method ........................................................................................ 232
Understanding Object Encapsulation.......................................................................... 232
Using Private Attributes and Private Methods.......................................................... 233
Introducing the Private Critter Program ............................................................ 233
Creating Private Attributes..................................................................................... 234
Accessing Private Attributes................................................................................... 234
Creating Private Methods........................................................................................ 235
Accessing Private Methods...................................................................................... 236
Respecting an Object’s Privacy .............................................................................. 237
Understanding When to Implement Privacy..................................................... 237
Controlling Attribute Access.......................................................................................... 238
Introducing the Property Critter .......................................................................... 238
xiv Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Third Edition

Creating Properties ................................................................................................... 238

Accessing Properties ................................................................................................. 240
Back to the Critter Caretaker Program........................................................................ 241
The Critter Class ........................................................................................................ 242
Creating the Critter .................................................................................................. 244
Creating a Menu System.......................................................................................... 244
Starting the Program................................................................................................ 245
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 245

Chapter 9 Object-Oriented Programming: The Blackjack

Game........................................................................ 247
Introducing the Blackjack Game................................................................................... 247
Sending and Receiving Messages................................................................................... 248
Introducing the Alien Blaster Program............................................................... 249
Sending a Message .................................................................................................... 251
Receiving a Message.................................................................................................. 251
Combining Objects............................................................................................................ 251
Introducing the Playing Cards Program ............................................................. 251
Creating the Card Class ........................................................................................... 252
Creating the Hand Class .......................................................................................... 253
Using Card Objects.................................................................................................... 254
Combining Card Objects Using a Hand Object ................................................. 255
Using Inheritance to Create New Classes.................................................................... 256
Extending a Class through Inheritance....................................................................... 256
Introducing the Playing Cards 2.0 Program....................................................... 256
Creating a Base Class ................................................................................................ 257
Inheriting from a Base Class .................................................................................. 258
Extending a Derived Class....................................................................................... 259
Using the Derived Class ........................................................................................... 260
Altering the Behavior of Inherited Methods.............................................................. 262
Introducing the Playing Cards 3.0 Program....................................................... 262
Creating a Base Class ................................................................................................ 263
Overriding Base Class Methods.............................................................................. 264
Invoking Base Class Methods ................................................................................. 264
Using the Derived Classes ....................................................................................... 265
Understanding Polymorphism....................................................................................... 267
Creating Modules............................................................................................................... 267
Introducing the Simple Game Program.............................................................. 267
Writing Modules........................................................................................................ 268
Importing Modules ................................................................................................... 269
Using Imported Functions and Classes ............................................................... 270
Back to the Blackjack Game............................................................................................ 271
The cards Module ...................................................................................................... 271
 Contents xv

Designing the Classes............................................................................................... 273

Writing Pseudocode for the Game Loop ............................................................. 274
Importing the cards and games Modules ........................................................... 275
The BJ_Card Class ...................................................................................................... 275
The BJ_Deck Class...................................................................................................... 276
The BJ_Hand Class..................................................................................................... 276
The BJ_Player Class ................................................................................................... 278
The BJ_Dealer Class................................................................................................... 279
The BJ_Game Class .................................................................................................... 279
The main() Function ................................................................................................. 282
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 283

Chapter 10 GUI Development: The Mad Lib Program............ 285

Introducing the Mad Lib Program................................................................................ 285
Examining a GUI................................................................................................................ 287
Understanding Event-Driven Programming.............................................................. 288
Using a Root Window....................................................................................................... 289
Introducing the Simple GUI Program.................................................................. 289
Importing the tkinter Module ............................................................................... 291
Creating a Root Window ......................................................................................... 291
Modifying a Root Window ...................................................................................... 291
Entering a Root Window’s Event Loop ................................................................ 292
Using Labels........................................................................................................................ 292
Introducing the Labeler Program ......................................................................... 292
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 292
Creating a Frame ....................................................................................................... 293
Creating a Label ......................................................................................................... 293
Entering the Root Window’s Event Loop ............................................................ 294
Using Buttons..................................................................................................................... 294
Introducing the Lazy Buttons Program............................................................... 294
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 294
Creating Buttons ....................................................................................................... 295
Entering the Root Window’s Event Loop ............................................................ 296
Creating a GUI Using a Class.......................................................................................... 296
Introducing the Lazy Buttons 2 Program ........................................................... 296
Importing the tkinter Module ............................................................................... 297
Defining the Application Class.............................................................................. 297
Defining a Constructor Method ............................................................................ 297
Defining a Method to Create the Widgets.......................................................... 297
Creating the Application Object ........................................................................... 298
Binding Widgets and Event Handlers.......................................................................... 298
Introducing the Click Counter Program............................................................. 299
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 299
 xvi Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Third Edition

Binding the Event Handler ..................................................................................... 300

Creating the Event Handler.................................................................................... 300
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 300
Using Text and Entry Widgets and the Grid Layout Manager............................... 301
Introducing the Longevity Program..................................................................... 301
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 302
Placing a Widget with the Grid Layout Manager ............................................. 302
Creating an Entry Widget ....................................................................................... 303
Creating a Text Widget ............................................................................................ 304
Getting and Inserting Text with Text-Based Widgets...................................... 304
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 306
Using Check Buttons......................................................................................................... 306
Introducing the Movie Chooser Program ........................................................... 306
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 307
Allowing a Widget’s Master to Be Its Only Reference ..................................... 307
Creating Check Buttons........................................................................................... 308
Getting the Status of a Check Button .................................................................. 310
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 310
Using Radio Buttons......................................................................................................... 311
Introducing the Movie Chooser 2 Program........................................................ 311
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 311
Creating Radio Buttons............................................................................................ 312
Getting a Value from a Group of Radio Buttons............................................... 313
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 314
Back to the Mad Lib Program......................................................................................... 314
Importing the tkinter Module ............................................................................... 314
The Application Class’s Constructor Method .................................................... 315
The Application Class’s create_widgets() Method............................................. 315
The Application Class’s tell_story() Method ....................................................... 317
The Main Part of the Program................................................................................ 318
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 319

Chapter 11 Graphics: The Pizza Panic Game........................... 321

Introducing the Pizza Panic Game............................................................................... 321
Introducing the pygame and livewires Packages...................................................... 323
Creating a Graphics Window......................................................................................... 323
Introducing the New Graphics Window Program............................................ 324
Importing the games Module ................................................................................ 324
Initializing the Graphics Screen ........................................................................... 325
Starting the Main Loop ............................................................................................ 326
Setting a Background Image.......................................................................................... 326
Introducing the Background Image Program ................................................... 327
Loading an Image ...................................................................................................... 328
 Contents xvii

Setting the Background........................................................................................... 328

Understanding the Graphics Coordinate System..................................................... 328
Displaying a Sprite............................................................................................................ 329
Introducing the Pizza Sprite Program................................................................. 330
Loading an Image for a Sprite................................................................................ 331
Creating a Sprite........................................................................................................ 333
Adding a Sprite to the Screen ................................................................................ 333
Displaying Text................................................................................................................... 335
Introducing the Big Score Program...................................................................... 335
Importing the color Module................................................................................... 336
Creating a Text Object ............................................................................................. 336
Adding a Text Object to the Screen ...................................................................... 337
Displaying a Message........................................................................................................ 337
Introducing the You Won Program...................................................................... 337
Importing the color Module................................................................................... 339
Creating a Message Object ...................................................................................... 339
Using the Screen’s Width and Height.................................................................. 340
Adding a Message Object to the Screen............................................................... 340
Moving Sprites.................................................................................................................... 340
Introducing the Moving Pizza Program.............................................................. 341
Setting a Sprite’s Velocity Values.......................................................................... 342
Dealing with Screen Boundaries................................................................................... 342
The Bouncing Pizza Program ................................................................................. 343
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 343
Deriving a New Class from Sprite ......................................................................... 344
Overriding the update() Method............................................................................ 344
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 345
Handling Mouse Input..................................................................................................... 345
Introducing the Moving Pan Program................................................................. 346
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 346
Reading Mouse x- and y-coordinates .................................................................... 347
Setting Mouse Pointer Visibility............................................................................ 347
Grabbing Input to the Graphics Window ........................................................... 348
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 348
Detecting Collisions.......................................................................................................... 349
Introducing the Slippery Pizza Program ............................................................ 349
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 350
Detecting Collisions.................................................................................................. 350
Handling Collisions .................................................................................................. 351
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 351
Back to the Pizza Panic Game........................................................................................ 352
Setting Up the Program ........................................................................................... 352
The Pan Class .............................................................................................................. 353
The update() Method................................................................................................. 354
xviii Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Third Edition

The Pizza Class ........................................................................................................... 355

The Chef Class ............................................................................................................ 356
The main() Function ................................................................................................. 359
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 359

Chapter 12 Sound, Animation, and Program Development:

The Astrocrash Game............................................ 361
Introducing the Astrocrash Game................................................................................ 361
Reading the Keyboard....................................................................................................... 363
Introducing the Read Key Program ...................................................................... 363
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 364
Testing for Keystrokes .............................................................................................. 364
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 365
Rotating a Sprite................................................................................................................ 366
Introducing the Rotate Sprite Program .............................................................. 366
Using a Sprite’s angle Property.............................................................................. 368
Creating an Animation.................................................................................................... 368
Introducing the Explosion Program .................................................................... 368
Examining the Explosion Images ......................................................................... 369
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 370
Creating a List of Image Files ................................................................................. 370
Creating an Animation Object............................................................................... 371
Working with Sound and Music.................................................................................... 372
Introducing the Sound and Music Program ...................................................... 372
Working with Sounds .............................................................................................. 373
Working with Music ................................................................................................. 375
Wrapping Up the Program ..................................................................................... 377
Planning the Astrocrash Game...................................................................................... 377
Game Features............................................................................................................ 377
Game Classes .............................................................................................................. 378
Game Assets ................................................................................................................ 378
Creating Asteroids............................................................................................................. 378
The Astrocrash01 Program ..................................................................................... 378
Setting Up the Program........................................................................................... 379
The Asteroid Class ..................................................................................................... 380
The main() Function ................................................................................................. 381
Rotating the Ship............................................................................................................... 382
The Astrocrash02 Program ..................................................................................... 382
The Ship Class............................................................................................................. 382
Instantiating a Ship Object..................................................................................... 383
Moving the Ship................................................................................................................. 383
The Astrocrash03 Program ..................................................................................... 383
Importing the math Module .................................................................................. 384
 Contents xix

Adding Ship Class Variable and Constant .......................................................... 384

Modifying Ship’s update() Method........................................................................ 385
Firing Missiles..................................................................................................................... 386
The Astrocrash04 Program ..................................................................................... 386
Modifying Ship’s update() Method........................................................................ 387
The Missile Class ........................................................................................................ 387
Controlling the Missile Fire Rate................................................................................... 390
The Astrocrash05 Program ..................................................................................... 390
Adding a Ship Class Constant ................................................................................ 391
Creating Ship’s Constructor Method ................................................................... 391
Modifying Ship’s update() Method........................................................................ 391
Handling Collisions........................................................................................................... 392
The Astrocrash06 Program ..................................................................................... 392
Modifying Missile’s update() Method ................................................................... 393
Adding Missile’s die() Method ................................................................................ 393
Modifying Ship’s update() Method........................................................................ 394
Adding Ship’s die() Method..................................................................................... 394
Adding an Asteroid Class Constant ...................................................................... 394
Adding Asteroid’s die() Method ............................................................................. 394
Adding Explosions............................................................................................................. 395
The Astrocrash07 Program ..................................................................................... 395
The Wrapper Class .................................................................................................... 396
The Collider Class...................................................................................................... 396
Modifying the Asteroid Class ................................................................................. 397
Modifying the Ship Class......................................................................................... 398
Modifying the Missile Class .................................................................................... 398
The Explosion Class .................................................................................................. 399
Adding Levels, Scorekeeping, and Theme Music....................................................... 400
The Astrocrash08 Program ..................................................................................... 400
Importing the color Module................................................................................... 401
The Game Class .......................................................................................................... 401
Adding an Asteroid Class Variable and Constant ............................................. 405
Modifying Asteroid’s Constructor Method......................................................... 406
Modifying Asteroid’s die() Method........................................................................ 406
Adding a Ship Class Constant ................................................................................ 407
Modifying Ship’s Constructor Method ................................................................ 407
Modifying Ship’s update() Method........................................................................ 407
Adding Ship’s die() Method..................................................................................... 407
The main() Function ................................................................................................. 408
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 408

Appendix A The Companion Website....................................... 409

The Archive Files................................................................................................................ 409
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
the Princess-Dowager, and for her sake he had laid it down. The ostensible ground he
gave for his resignation was ill-health, the real one was a chivalrous desire to check the
flood of cowardly insult aimed through him at the second lady in the land. The Princess-
Dowager urged him not to make the sacrifice, for she well knew it would be in vain, and
she proved to be right. Bute was still pursued with a relentless hatred, and his enemies
were not satisfied until they had driven him first from London and then out of the
country. Unable to withstand the storm any longer Bute went into exile, and at the time
when Christian VII. visited England, he was wandering about Italy under the incognito of
Sir John Stewart. The Princess-Dowager was much cast down by the loss of her friend,
with whom she could hardly correspond, without fear of her letters being intercepted.
Moreover, her sorrows were increased by the death of two of her children (the once
numerous family of Frederick Prince of Wales was now reduced to five), and by the
unsatisfactory conduct of her two younger sons, the Dukes of Gloucester and
Cumberland, who showed tendencies (the latter especially) to folly and extravagance.

CARLTON HOUSE, PALL MALL, THE RESIDENCE OF THE PRINCESS-DOWAGER

OF WALES.
From a Print, temp. 1765.
The visit of her son-in-law, the King of Denmark, so far from comforting her, only
increased her anxiety. The more she saw of him the more she disliked him. He was
restive under her covert reproaches, and at last entirely lost her good graces by his
impertinence. The Princess was telling fortunes by cards one evening with one of her
ladies, to whom Christian had given a diamond star. The King said to her: “Chère maman,
which King am I in your pasteboard court?” “Lady——,” said the Princess-Dowager archly,
“calls you the King of Diamonds.” “What do you call Holck?” asked Christian. “Oh, by a
more flattering title—the King of Hearts.” This nettled the King, who retorted: “And pray,
chère maman, what do you call Lord Bute—the Knave of Hearts?” This repartee greatly
discomposed the Princess-Dowager. She flushed crimson, and gathered up the cards
without a word.
Though Christian was so unwelcome at court, he was exceedingly well received by all
classes of the nation, who made him the hero of the hour. The fact that the King disliked
him rather increased his popularity than otherwise. The King and Queen, in consequence
of the seclusion in which they lived, had little or no influence on society. George III.
preferred a quiet domestic life with his wife and children, routs, balls and assemblies had
no attractions for him. Therefore London society, which loves the presence of royalty,
hailed the King of Denmark with delight. All the fine ladies were in love with him, all the
fine gentlemen sought the honour of his acquaintance, imitated his dress and
deportment, and even copied his eccentricities. The rumour of his vices lent an additional
piquancy. He was nicknamed “the Northern Scamp,” and the ladies invented a headdress
in his honour, which was known as the “Danish fly”. “The King of Denmark,” writes
Whately to George Grenville, “is the only topic of conversation. Wilkes himself is
forgotten, even by the populace.”[95] The people cheered him wherever he went, and the
nobility vied with one another in giving him splendid entertainments. First to have the
honour of entertaining “the royal Dane” was Lady Hertford, who gave a brilliant assembly
at Hertford House. Horace Walpole, who was present, writes:—

“I came to town to see the Danish King. He is as diminutive as if he came out of a

kernel in the Fairy Tales. He is not ill made, nor weakly made, though so small; and,
though his face is pale and delicate, it is not at all ugly.... Still he has more royalty
than folly in his air, and, considering he is not twenty, is as well as any one expects
any king in a puppet show to be.... He only takes the title of Altesse (an absurd
mezzo-termine), but acts king exceedingly; struts in the circle, like a cock-sparrow,
and does the honours of himself very civilly.”[96] And again: “He has the sublime
strut of his grandfather (George II.), and the divine white eyes of all his family on
the mother’s side.... The mob adore and huzza him, and so they did at the first
instant. They now begin to know why, for he flings money to them out of the
window; and by the end of the week, I do not doubt they will want to choose him
for Middlesex. His court is extremely well ordered, for they bow as low to him at
every word as if his name were Sultan Amurath. You would take his first minister for
only the first of his slaves.... There is indeed a pert young gentleman who a little
discomposes this august ceremonial; his name is Count Holck, his age three-and-
twenty; and his post answers to one that we had formerly in England ages ago,
called, in our tongue, a royal favourite.”[97]

[95] Grenville Papers, vol. iv.

[96] Walpole’s Letters, vol. v., edition 1857.
[97] Ibid.
Lady Hertford’s assembly was followed by a magnificent entertainment at Syon House,
given by the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. “An inexpressible variety of
emblematical devices was illuminated by more than fifteen thousand lamps, and the
temple erected in the inner court was ornamented by transparent paintings, which had a
very happy effect.”[98] A gala performance was also given at the opera, which was
attended by all the rank and fashion of the town, though the King and Queen were
absent. After the opera the King went to Mrs. Cornelys’ house in Soho Square (a sort of
Assembly Rooms at that period). “Mrs. Cornelys had put the apartments in all the
possible order that a few hours’ notice would admit of, and the whole was splendidly
illuminated with upwards of two thousand wax lights. The moment the King entered the
grand room the music (consisting of French horns, clarinets, bassoons, etc.) began
playing, and his Majesty seemed very much pleased at the agreeable manner of his
reception. Dancing was proposed; the King opened the ball with the Duchess of Ancaster,
and named the second minuet with the Countess of Harrington; the minuets were
succeeded by English country dances, and those by the French cotillons.”[99]
[98] The Annual Register, 1768.
[99] Ibid.
Christian’s maternal aunt, the Princess Amelia, was indignant with George III. for the way
he ignored his royal guest, and she gave a grand entertainment at Gunnersbury House in
honour of her Danish nephew. “The entertainment was extremely magnificent. Invitations
were given to upwards of 300 of the nobility. The supper consisted of 120 dishes; a
grand fire-work was then played off; and the ball, which was very splendid, ended about
three o’clock on Saturday morning.”[100] The Duke of Gloucester was present, but the
King and Queen did not attend. The lovely Lady Talbot, who was much admired by
Christian, was the belle of the ball, and wore a diamond coronet worth £80,000. The
beautiful and lively Lady Bel Stanhope also created a sensation, and Holck fell in love
with her. It is said that he proposed marriage, but Lady Bel, or her parents, would not
hear of it. The Princess Amelia declared herself to be very fond of her nephew, who, she
said, reminded her of her sister, Queen Louise, but she was distressed that he did not get
on better with his wife, and asked him why. “Pourquoi?” replied Christian, “Pourquoi?—
elle est si blonde!” Walpole has something to say on this head too, for he tells us, “At the
play of The Provoked Wife, he (the King) clapped whenever there was a sentence against
matrimony—a very civil proceeding when his wife was an English Princess”.
[100] The Annual Register, 1768.
George III.’s neglect of the King of Denmark occasioned so much comment that he at last
reluctantly gave a ball in Christian’s honour at the Queen’s House, at which the Princess-
Dowager of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester, and a great number of the nobility were
present. The Princess Amelia was not asked; the King owed her a grudge for the way in
which she had forced his hand in giving an entertainment to her nephew—an example he
was bound to follow. The King of Denmark opened the ball with Queen Charlotte, and
King George danced a minuet with the Duchess of Ancaster, who seems to have been the
greatest lady of the day outside the royal family.
Christian VII. showed no hurry to quit a country where he was so well received, and in
September, when London was empty, he made several tours in the provinces. It was a
very wet summer, and the rains were heavier than had been known in the memory of
man. “The Serpentine river in Hyde Park rose so high that it forced down a part of the
wall, and poured with such violence upon Knightsbridge, that the inhabitants expected
the whole town to be overflowed; the canal in St. James’s Park rose higher than ever was
known; in short, no man living remembered so much rain-fall in so short a time.”[101]
Several parts of the country were flooded, and the high roads rendered impassable;
travelling by coach always slow, became slower still, and in some places was attended
with difficulty and even danger. But these things did not daunt Christian, who rushed
about the country, from one end to another, stopping nowhere for any time, and
apparently taking no interest in anything he saw. Even the polite writer in the Annual
Register, who devoted pages to Christian’s doings, was constrained to say: “His
journeyings are so rapid, and his stay at places so short, that, if he is not a youth of more
than common talents, he must have a very confused idea of what he sees”.
[101] The Annual Register, September 1, 1768.

Horace Walpole, who now pursued the King of Denmark with strange malignity, writes:
“You know already about the King of Denmark, hurrying from one corner of England to
the other, without seeing anything distinctly, fatiguing himself, breaking his chaise, going
tired to bed in inns, and getting up to show himself to the mob at the window. I believe
that he is a very silly lad, but the mob adore him, though he has neither done nor said
anything worth repeating; but he gives them an opportunity of getting together, of
staring and of making foolish observations.”[102] Bernstorff excused the King’s
indifference on the ground that he was short-sighted. This also served to explain many
apparent discourtesies, for Christian often ignored people to whom he had been most
gracious a few days before. It is probable that Horace Walpole was one of the victims of
this little peculiarity, and that accounts for the venom with which he writes of the King.
Christian may also have ignored Walpole’s niece, Lady Waldegrave, who had secretly
married the Duke of Gloucester, and who, though the marriage was not declared, already
gave herself the airs of a princess of the blood.
[102] Walpole’s Letters, vol. v., edition 1857.
Christian’s first excursion was to York. Attended by a retinue of a hundred and twenty
persons he set out from London, and, in passing, visited Cambridge. The Vice-Chancellor,
the heads of houses, the doctors, professors, proctors and other officials of the university,
clad in their scarlet robes, received the King at the entrance of the senate house, and
conducted him to a chair of state, where an address was presented to him. The King was
invited to a public luncheon, but he excused himself, and asked the Vice-Chancellor to
supper with him at his inn. Christian shirked all ceremony, and saw the sights of
Cambridge in his riding coat and boots. At York the Corporation made every preparation
to entertain him in a splendid manner, but the King declined all formalities, saw the races,
visited the Minster and other public buildings, and the next day set out on his return
journey to London, going round by way of Liverpool and Manchester, “where he was
particularly gratified by viewing the stupendous works of the Duke of Bridgewater, at
which he expressed both astonishment and pleasure”.
A few days after the Danish King’s return to London he again set forth on a visit to
Oxford. He was received in state by the Vice-Chancellor and officials of the university, and
in full convocation had the degree of Doctor of Civil Law conferred upon him. Bernstorff,
Holck and other members of the Danish suite also received honorary degrees, and
Struensee had conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After Oxford the
King visited several places, and was perpetually on the road. When he was at Newmarket
for the races the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge waited on him, and in the name of the
university presented an address, and graces for conferring the same degree upon the
King and his nobles as they had received at Oxford.
The grandest entertainment provided for Christian was his state visit to the City of
London. The Lord Mayor with the aldermen and sheriffs, all in their robes, set out in
coaches from the Guildhall for the Three Cranes, where they embarked at eleven o’clock
in the morning on board the city state barge, “the streamers flying, a select band of
water-music playing, and the principal livery companies attending in their respective
barges,” to Westminster, where they awaited the arrival of Christian from St. James’s
Palace. The King came punctually, and as he set foot on the city barge a royal salute was
fired, and loud cheers rent the air from the vast crowds of people who lined the banks on
either side, thronged the bridges, and crowded the river on innumerable craft. The
procession glided down the Thames to the Temple Stairs. “During the course of this
grand passage on the water his Majesty frequently expressed himself highly pleased, and
his admiration of the several great and beautiful objects round him; and sometimes
condescended to come forward in order to gratify the curiosity of the people, who
eagerly fought to get a sight of his royal person, though at the hazard of their lives.”[103]
Arrived at the Temple Stairs the King landed, took his seat in the Lord Mayor’s coach, and
proceeded to the Mansion House. The streets through which he passed were gaily
decorated, and crowded “with an innumerable populace, while the windows and tops of
houses were equally crowded with spectators of both sexes, whose acclamations,
together with the ringing of bells, and the shouts of the multitude, loudly expressed their
joy at his Majesty’s presence; his Majesty expressed his surprise at the populousness of
this city, and his satisfaction at the kindness of the citizens”.[104]
[103] The Annual Register.
[104] Ibid.
Arrived at the Mansion House an address was read to the King by the City Recorder.
Curiously no direct mention was made of Queen Matilda, but we take from it one passage
to show the gross and servile flattery which characterised the whole effusion. “The many
endearing ties which happily connect you, Sir, with our most gracious Sovereign, justly
entitle you to the respect and veneration of all his Majesty’s faithful subjects; but your
affability and other princely virtues, so eminently displayed during the whole course of
your residence among us, have in a particular manner charmed the citizens of London,
who reflect with admiration on your early and uncommon thirst for knowledge, and your
indefatigable pursuit of it by travel and observation, the happy fruits of which they doubt
not will be long employed and acknowledged within the whole extent of your influence
and command.” Christian returned a suitable reply in Danish, and, “upon notice that the
dinner was served, his Majesty was conducted into the Egyptian Hall, where his Majesty
condescended to proceed quite round, that the ladies (who made a most brilliant
appearance in the galleries) might have a full view of his royal person”. The banquet was
a Gargantuan one, and took four hours to work through. Several toasts were drunk to the
sound of a trumpet, but, at the King’s request, without speeches. In addition to the usual
loyal toasts, were added those of the King of Denmark and Norway and his Consort,
Queen Matilda. The King himself proposed two toasts, “Prosperity to the British Nation,”
and “Prosperity to the City of London”.[105]
[105] The Annual Register.

At eight o’clock his Majesty took his leave, the City Fathers going before him to his coach
bearing wax lights. The King returned to St. James’s Palace through crowded streets,
brilliantly illuminated in his honour. The whole visit was a remarkable tribute to his
undeserved popularity. Truly there must be some strange glamour around the name of
king, when a prince like this, who had never said or done anything worth recording, and
a great deal which was quite unfit to be recorded, received from the greatest city in the
world an ovation which could not be surpassed if he had been one of the world’s greatest
heroes.
Moreover, the King of Denmark was pursuing in London the same scandalous
amusements as those which had revolted his subjects in Copenhagen. Incredible though
it may seem, night after night he and his favourite, Holck, disguised as sailors, would
pass hours drinking and frolicking in the stews and pot-houses of St. Giles’. These
adventures generally began after midnight. Christian would leave some splendid
entertainment given in his honour by the proudest of the English nobility, and hurrying
back to St. James’s would change his clothes, and start out again to seek distraction in
the lowest forms of dissipation. These extraordinary predilections were perfectly well
known to many people of rank and fashion, and the knowledge filtered down to the mob,
who cheered the Danish King whithersoever he went. Perhaps they lent, such was the
depravity of the age, an additional zest to the cheers. Even Queen Matilda, left behind in
far-off Denmark, heard from London of her husband’s transgressions. It is said that she
wrote to her aunt, the Princess Amelia: “I wish the King’s travels had the same laudable
object as those of Cyrus, but I hear that his Majesty’s chief companions are musicians,
fiddlers, and persons designed for inglorious employments. What a wretched levee! And
his evening amusements are said to be still more disgraceful. His delicacy and sentiment
cannot be supposed to dignify these fleeting gratifications. If I had not experienced his
fickleness and levity at home, I could not have heard, without emotion and disquietude,
of his infidelities abroad.”[106]
[106] Memoirs of an Unfortunate Queen.
Having said this much in condemnation of Christian VII. in England, it is only fair to turn
the other side of the shield, and record one or two anecdotes of him which may have
accounted, to some extent, for his undoubted popularity. One day he saw a poor
tradesman seized in his shop by two bailiffs, who thrust him into a hackney coach,
despite the lamentations of his weeping wife and family, and drove off to the Marshalsea.
The King commanded Count Moltke to follow the coach and find out all particulars.
Moltke reported that the unlucky man had contracted a debt in the course of his
business, and had been charged exorbitant interest. The King paid the debt, set the man
free from prison, and gave him five hundred dollars to start anew. This was only one
instance of several exhibitions of generosity, for he gave away considerable sums to
liberate poor debtors from the Marshalsea and Fleet. Christian had also a habit of
scattering money among the crowd, which would account for many cheers—though
money was scarce in Denmark its King had always plenty to throw away on his travels.
One day when Christian stepped out of his coach to enter St. James’s Palace, a fine
buxom girl, who formed one of the little crowd that always assembled to witness the
King’s goings out and comings in, burst through the line, caught the King in her arms,
and, fairly lifting him off the ground, kissed him heartily. “Now,” said she, “kill me if you
like, I shall die happy, for I have kissed the prettiest fellow in the world.” Christian, far
from being offended, was delighted with this tribute to his charms. He gave the girl a
crown and ran laughing up the stairs. But after this incident it was necessary to have a
double line of attendants, as other maidens might have been tempted to repeat the
experiment, for the King, though so small, was much admired by the ladies of all classes.
He was fond of dining in public at St. James’s, that is to say, he sat at a table in the
middle of the room, and the general public, chiefly women, were admitted to a space at
one end, shut off by a rail, whence they could see “the Northern Scamp” eat his dinner.
Powdered, painted, patched, perfumed, richly dressed in silk, velvet and lace, and
besprinkled with jewels, Christian looked like a Dresden china figure. The men said he
resembled a girl dressed in a man’s clothes, but the women adored him.
Six weeks had passed since the King of Denmark’s arrival in England, yet he showed no
inclination to depart. But the King of England, who had to bear the cost of his
maintenance, thought that it was high time for him to return to his Queen and country.
Other hints proving vain, George III. invited his royal guest to what he pointedly called a
“farewell entertainment” at Richmond Lodge, on September 26. “A most elegant
structure,” we read, “was erected, in the centre of which was a large triumphal arch,
about forty feet high, of the Grecian order, decorated with figures, trophies and other
embellishments.” The entertainment was equal to the magnificence of the structure, and
the fireworks were the finest ever exhibited in England. The road from St. James’s Palace
to Richmond Lodge, along which Christian passed, was illuminated by upwards of fifteen
thousand Italian lamps.
The Danish King accepted this “farewell entertainment,” but still showed no signs of
saying farewell. The Princess-Dowager of Wales, therefore, by way of speeding the
parting guest, gave a supper party on October 1, to bid him good-bye. It consisted of
three tables, one for their Majesties and the Princess-Dowager, a second for the King of
Denmark and fifty of the nobility, and a third for the Prince of Wales (afterwards George
IV., then a boy of six years old) and his attendants. The supper party accomplished the
object for which it was given, and Christian VII. named the much-wished-for day of his
departure, which, however, was not for another fortnight.
On October 10 the King of Denmark gave a masquerade ball to his English friends, who
had entertained him so lavishly. The ball took place at the Opera House in the
Haymarket, and two thousand five hundred guests responded to the “royal Dane’s”
invitation. Queen Charlotte did not appear, she did not approve of masquerades; her
virtuous husband also did not approve of them, but could not resist the temptation of
being present, though he compromised with his conscience by peeping at the gay scene
from a private box, behind transparent shutters. The Princess Amelia, who was old and
infirm, witnessed the revels from another box, where she sat the whole evening masked.
The scene was one of great brilliancy, and the value of the jewels worn on this occasion
was estimated at upwards of £2,000,000. The company must have been rather mixed,
and a good many people lost articles of jewellery, which they never recovered. The
following account of the ball is taken from the Gentleman’s Magazine:—

THE MASKED BALL GIVEN BY CHRISTIAN VII. AT THE OPERA HOUSE,

HAYMARKET.
From the “Gentleman’s Magazine,” 1768.

“His Danish Majesty came in, masked, between ten and eleven o’clock, dressed in a
domino of gold and silver stuff, a black hat and white feather, walked about with
great good nature and pleasantry until twelve, then withdrew with a select company
to supper and appeared no more.... The Duke of Cumberland was in a crimson
domino, trimmed with gold, black hat and white feather. The Duke of Gloucester in a
purple domino, white hat and white feather. Her Grace the Duchess of
Northumberland appeared in the character of Rembrandt’s wife, in a close black
gown trimmed with gold, a rounded coif, a short apron tucked up, and a painter’s
brush in her hand. Lady Bel Stanhope and her sister represented pilgrims in brown
gowns with blue sashes trimmed with silver, and small hats laced round with
diamonds. The Countess of Harrington and the two young ladies, her daughters,
were extremely simple in their appearance, but at the same time extremely
elegant.... His Grace the Duke of Northumberland was in a Persian habit, with a fine
turban richly ornamented with diamonds. Lord Grosvenor was in a splendid suit of
the Turkish fashion. The Duchess of Ancaster, in the character of a Sultana, was
universally admired; her robe was purple satin bordered with ermine, and fluttered
on the ground so much in the style of Eastern magnificence that we were
 transported in fancy to the palaces of Constantinople.... Many of the most superb, as
well as the best fancied dresses in the whole assembly were those of eminent
citizens, or those who had acquired their fortunes by trade.”

Another account says: “The principal grotesque characters were the conjurer, the
black, and the old woman. There was also a Methodist preacher, a chimney sweeper,
with his bag, shovel and scraper, and a boar with a bull’s head, all of which were
supported with great good humour.”[107]

[107] The Annual Register.

Two days after the masquerade the King of Denmark held a levee at St. James’s Palace,
at which a large company attended to take leave of him. The following day he went to
Queen’s House to say farewell to the King and Queen, and to Carlton House to wish the
Princess-Dowager good-bye. Christian made several valuable presents before his
departure, but the most notable was a gold box studded with diamonds which he gave to
Garrick, the great actor, and begged him to receive it as a small token of the regard he
had for his genius.
The King of Denmark posted to Dover on October 15, and on his way thither he broke
the journey at Chatham and went up the Medway on H.M.S. Victory, and inspected the
British fleet. It chanced that the young officer who commanded the Victory was Gambier,
who forty years later, in 1807, was the Admiral commanding the English fleet that
bombarded Copenhagen. The following day the King of Denmark left England, after a
stay of more than two months, and sailed for France.

Christian VII. went to Paris where he remained for some time as the guest of the French
King, Louis XV. It would not be germane to this history to give a detailed account of the
King of Denmark’s experiences in Paris. He was splendidly entertained by the King and
the French nobility, and welcomed on all his public appearances with enthusiasm. His
private amusements were of the same nature as those he had followed in London. If it
had been possible to corrupt Christian’s morals more than they were corrupted his
experiences in Paris would have done it. France was then slowly going down the steps
that led to the revolution. The heartlessness, extravagance and immorality of the nobility
stood in fearful contrast to the brutality, misery and ignorance of the people. Already
could be heard the mutterings of the coming storm, but the Danish King had no eyes to
see, nor ears to hear, nor mind to understand anything beyond the amusements of the
passing hour.
 CHAPTER XI.
THE PRODIGAL’S RETURN.
1769.
On January 14 Christian VII. returned to Copenhagen after an absence of nearly eight
months. Queen Matilda drove out to meet him, and husband and wife exchanged
affectionate greetings. Together they entered Copenhagen, amid the firing of cannon,
ringing of bells, and the joyful acclamations of the people. The English envoy gives the
following account of the entry: “The Queen went as far as Röskilde to meet his Majesty,
which strong mark of her affection and regard could not fail of affording him the highest
satisfaction. Between six and seven o’clock their Majesties made a public entry into this
capital, under a triple discharge of the cannon on the ramparts. The whole garrison, as
well as the burghers, were under arms, and permission having been given a few days
before to illuminate the houses, the inhabitants vied with each other in doing this, as well
as the short notice would admit of, and in demonstrating their joy in every other manner
they could. The foreign ministers, nobility, etc., attended at the palace of Christiansborg
in order to pay their compliments upon this happy occasion, which the King was pleased
to receive, after he had made a short visit to the Dowager-Queens.”[108]
[108] Gunning’s despatch, Copenhagen, January 17, 1769.

Thus did Denmark welcome home her prodigal son.

Queen Matilda had spent the greater part of the time since the King left her at
Frederiksborg,[109] some twenty miles from Copenhagen. Frederiksborg was the most
magnificent of the country palaces of the Danish King, and has well been called the
“Versailles of Denmark”. It stands to this day, and the site is one of the most picturesque
in Europe; the buildings cover three islands in a lake, connected by bridges, the palace
proper occupying the third island. The exterior is rich in florid ornamentation, carried out
in a warm sandstone, which admirably harmonises with the time-stained brick of which
the palace is built. The windows look across the green water of the lake—a vivid green
nowhere seen as at Frederiksborg—to the gardens, laid out in the old French style, with
straight walks and terraces, and clipped hedges of beech and hornbeam. The most
magnificent room in Frederiksborg is the knights’ hall, and below it is the church, where
the Kings of the Oldenburg line were once wont to be crowned. This church is the most
ornate of any in Denmark; everywhere is colour—in the traceried windows and frescoed
walls, in the inlaid ivory work of the stalls, the pulpit of ebony and embossed silver, and
the purple-vested altar with its golden crucifix. In short, Frederiksborg is a magnificent
specimen of the Danish Renaissance, and brings vividly before us the life, the colour and
richness which characterised the court life of mediæval Denmark.
[109] Frederiksborg was built early in the seventeenth century by Christian IV. on the
site of an old building, and was used as a residence by the Kings of Denmark until
1859 (Frederick VII. usually resided there), when a large part of the building was
destroyed by fire. Thanks to the munificence of the King, the Government and the
 public, and especially to Herr J. C. Jacobsen, a wealthy brewer, who contributed a
large sum, the palace has been admirably restored, and the interior is now fitted up
as a National Historical Museum. The contents, which include many works of art,
illustrating events in Danish history, are not so interesting as one might suppose, but
the visitor to Frederiksborg is well repaid by the beauty of its exterior, the
magnificence of its chapel, where the work of restoration has been admirably done,
and by the old-world charm of its gardens.
At Frederiksborg Matilda spent the summer and autumn months of 1768 alone. She
occupied herself for the most part in works of charity, and strove to forget her own
sorrows in relieving those of others. There was no philanthropic institution in the
kingdom which she did not support, and in her immediate neighbourhood her name
became a household word for many acts of kindness and benevolence. The young Queen
went in and out among the poor of the adjacent village of Hilleröd, visiting the sick and
helping the needy. The fame of her good deeds spread abroad, and the poor throughout
Denmark, even thousands to whom she was only a name, came to look upon her as a
protectress and a friend. They believed that the golden days of good Queen Louise had
come back again. “The English,” they said, “send us not Queens, but angels.”
For the rest, Matilda lived in great retirement. Occasionally she received visits of
ceremony from the Dowager-Queens, from Sophia Magdalena, who lived at Hirschholm,
or from Juliana Maria, who lived at Fredensborg. The masked hostility of Juliana Maria
continued unabated, but the extreme circumspection of the young Queen’s conduct gave
no occasion for cavil. Except the Dowager-Queens she saw no one beyond her immediate
household, and though most of these had been forced upon her against her will, yet after
the first restraint wore off she showed to them no resentment. Her kindness and
consideration won all their hearts, with one exception—that of Fräulein von Eyben, who,
though pretending to be devoted to her mistress, was secretly working against her.
Matilda took no part in state affairs during the King’s absence, not even in ceremonial
duties. Taking their cue from the King, the Ministers who had been left to conduct the
business of the state while he was abroad, treated the Queen as a person of little
importance, and even neglected to pay her the ordinary visits of ceremony.
Since Madame de Plessen had left the court Matilda had no one to whom she could talk
freely, nor, except her sister Augusta of Brunswick, had she any one to whom she could
write without restraint. Augusta had her own troubles too, but she kept a warm corner in
her heart for her youngest sister, and throughout life remained her truest and staunchest
friend. But, at best, letter-writing is a poor substitute for personal converse, and at this
time Matilda was much alone.
The young Queen must have often felt friendless and depressed as she paced the
terraces of Frederiksborg or looked down from the windows of her apartments into the
green water which lapped the castle walls, or gazed out on the clear northern night, and
watched the moonlight play on the towers and pinnacles of the palace. Sometimes of a
morning she would wander forth to the beech woods beyond the gardens. These
beeches, mighty with age, are now, as they were then, one of the features of
Frederiksborg. They are always beautiful—beautiful in spring, with their satin-smooth
trunks, and branches still leafless, but tipped with brown spikes flushed with purple, and
already bursting to disclose the woolly buds of silver within; beautiful in summer, when
the pale green leaves form a shimmering canopy overhead; beautiful when the golden
hues of autumn mingle with the russet-brown of the cones; beautiful even in winter,
when the leafless branches stretch like lacework against the leaden hues of the sky, and
the shrill winds from the Baltic whistle through them, and the ground beneath is carpeted
with husks of their lavish fruit. Matilda grew to love these beech woods greatly, and even
to-day they are associated with her name.
The Queen had one consolation in her loneliness which was not hers when she came to
Denmark— she had her son, and found much happiness in him, for the maternal instinct
was always strong in her. She could no longer feel a stranger and an alien in a country
over which her son would, under Providence, one day rule; she was not merely the King’s
wife, but the mother of the future King of Denmark. The Crown Prince was at first sickly
and ailing, but when the Queen went to Frederiksborg, in defiance of court etiquette, she
took the infant under her immediate care, and kept him with her as much as possible.
During the summer, under his mother’s watchful love, the little Prince, whose life was so
precious to the Danish nation, grew much stronger. The English envoy mentions an
audience he had with the Queen at Frederiksborg soon after her arrival there, and adds:
“The Prince Royal, whom her Majesty was pleased to allow me to see, is greatly grown
since his removal to the country. The resemblance between his Highness and the King’s
(our royal Master’s) family is striking to all those who have had the honour of seeing
him.”[110]
[110] Gunning’s despatch, Copenhagen, July 9, 1768.

THE PALACE OF FREDERIKSBORG, FROM THE GARDEN TERRACE.

From an Engraving, temp. 1768.
The only ceremonial the Queen attended, in the absence of Christian VII., was the
inauguration of an equestrian statue of the late King Frederick V. at Copenhagen in the
late autumn. Shortly after this function Matilda removed from the country to the
Christiansborg Palace, and there awaited the King, who did not return until two months
later than he at first intended. Matilda had now determined to make the best of her
husband, notwithstanding the reports which had reached her of his dissipation in London
and Paris. He was the father of her child, and her interests were bound up with his. The
future happiness of her son, and the prosperity of his kingdom, largely depended on
Christian VII. It was clearly the Queen’s duty to put aside her own grievances, however
great they might be, and make an effort to guide the King in the right way. Therefore she
welcomed him home as affectionately as if no cloud had dimmed their parting eight
months before.
The King was surprised and delighted at the change which had taken place in his Queen’s
appearance and demeanour. The restful and healthy life she had led at Frederiksborg had
added greatly to her charm, her figure had developed and her spirits improved. Christian
had left Matilda an unformed girl, he came back to find her a beautiful and self-possessed
woman. His wayward fancy was pleased, and soon the mot ran round the palace that the
King had actually fallen in love with his own wife. He might well have done so, for she
was by far the most beautiful woman at his court. There is a portrait of Queen Matilda in
the Rosenborg at Copenhagen, painted about this time, when she was in her eighteenth
year. It represents her in the full bloom of her beauty. The face is a pure oval, the brow
lofty and serene, the nose delicately chiselled, the lips full and red, the large eyes of a
peculiar shade of light blue, the expression a combination of youthful dignity and sweet
archness. Her hair is dressed high, and powdered after the fashion of the time; she
wears a blue robe, with a narrow edge of ermine to betoken her queenly rank, and round
her finely-moulded throat is a close necklace of pearls. Even if we make allowance for
courtly flattery, the picture remains that of a woman of rare loveliness and indescribable
charm.
Though her heart was untouched, Matilda was no doubt flattered by her husband’s
attentions, and she honestly tried to meet his advances half way. Acting on the advice of
her mother, her sister, and of all who wished her well, she strove to please him, and in
her desire to hold his fickle favour, she even overlooked the fact that the hated Holck was
still in the ascendant. Perhaps she thought, by fair words and guile, to undermine his
ascendency. Her efforts, if they did not add to her own happiness, at least conduced to
the outward harmony of the royal pair, and were coincident with a marked improvement
in Christian’s mode of life. For the first few months after the King’s return this
improvement was maintained; the nocturnal expeditions, which had so scandalised the
citizens of Copenhagen, were now entirely given up; there were no masquerades, and
the court became quite decorous. Formerly the dinner used to be rushed through for the
King to hurry off to his apartments and occupy himself in unworthy pursuits. Now the
King and Queen dined in public nearly every day, and with much ceremony. The leading
ministers, the foreign envoys, and all who distinguished themselves in the service of
church or state, were in turn honoured with invitations, and the conversation at the
dinner table became almost intellectual. Yet the court did not grow dull; cotillons and
minuets were often danced in the palace, and the opening of the theatre for the season
afforded much interest and amusement. The centre of all this pleasant society was the
young Queen, the praises of whose beauty and amiability were on every tongue.
Moreover, always accompanied by the Queen, the King reviewed the fleet, inspected the
docks and fortifications of Copenhagen, and visited learned and scientific institutions with
the object of comparing them with those he had seen abroad. The King also again
endeavoured to interest himself in affairs of state, attended councils and criticised many
details of administration. This remarkable change delighted alike the King’s ministers and
his subjects, and they ascribed the improvement quite as much to the influence of the
Queen as to the result of his travels. The Queen, it seemed at this time, was likely to
become a power in the state. The English envoy writes home:—

“Your Lordship (the Earl of Rochford) has been already acquainted with the change
that appeared in his Danish Majesty. Those amusements in which he used to take
delight no longer afford him any. The society of the Queen seems alone to constitute
his happiness. Her Majesty will now, no doubt, obtain that just and proper degree of
influence, which her numberless amiable qualities entitle her to, and which she
would have much earlier enjoyed, had not the happy effect of it been too much
apprehended by some who did not expect to find their account in it.”[111]

[111] Gunning’s despatch, Copenhagen, February 18, 1769.

Impressed, no doubt, by the warmth of his welcome in England, the King of Denmark
was now strongly English in his sentiments. He talked much about his English mother,
and delighted to honour anything which had to do, even remotely, with England. For
instance, he sent the order of the Elephant to Prince George of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the
youngest brother of Queen Charlotte; he despatched a pressing invitation to the Duke of
Gloucester to visit Copenhagen, and he resolved to celebrate Queen Matilda’s birthday
with all possible ceremony, not only as a mark of her new-found favour in his eyes, but
also because he wished to pay a compliment, through her, to the royal house of England.
The Duke of Gloucester duly arrived at Copenhagen to take part in the celebration of his
sister’s birthday. He was the first of her family whom Matilda had seen since she left
home, and she received him with demonstrations of joy. Gunning writes: “Their mutual
joy and satisfaction on this occasion was greater than can be expressed”.[112]
[112] Gunning’s despatch, Copenhagen, July 11, 1769.

William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, was in his twenty-sixth year at the time of his visit to
Copenhagen. He was the least intelligent of the numerous family of Frederick Prince of
Wales, but he had some sterling qualities, which made him resemble, more than the
other sons, his eldest brother George III. If he lacked the wit and brilliancy of the Duke
of York, he did not possess the vices and follies of the Duke of Cumberland. As a boy he
was dull and heavy-witted, and the Princess-Dowager cared for him the least of all her
children. According to Walpole she used to treat him with severity, and then accuse him
of sulking. “No,” said the Duke, on one occasion, “I am not sulking, I am only thinking.”
“And pray, of what are you thinking?” asked his mother with scorn. “I am thinking that if
ever I have a son, I will not make him as unhappy as you make me.” The Duke of
Gloucester grew up a silent, reserved man, and shortly after attaining his majority, he
became enamoured of Maria, Dowager-Countess Waldegrave. His passion was the more
violent, because of the way his affections had been stunted in his youth, and the
obstacles to the attainment of his desire only served to quicken his ardour. The obstacles
were considerable, for the Dowager-Countess Waldegrave, in consequence of a stain
upon her birth,[113] was hardly a meet woman for the King’s brother to take to wife, and,
on the other hand, as she told him, she was too considerable a person to become his
mistress. She was a young, rich and beautiful widow of spotless reputation and boundless
ambition. Many suitors were at her feet, among them the Duke of Portland, the best
match in England, yet by some strange perversity Lady Waldegrave rejected them all,
and engaged in a dalliance with the unattractive Duke of Gloucester. The Duke’s wooing
was long and unsatisfactory; the King and the Princess-Dowager did their utmost to
break off the affair, the friends of Lady Waldegrave remonstrated, and counselled
prudence. But threats, advice and warnings were all in vain, and at last the Duke of
Gloucester and Lady Waldegrave were secretly married in September, 1766, in the
drawing-room of Lady Waldegrave’s town house, by her domestic chaplain. The secret
was jealously guarded; some declared that the young couple were married, others, less
charitable, that they ought to be, but the Duke and his Duchess let them gossip as they
would. The Duke was always with Lady Waldegrave in public, and his manner to her was
exactly the manner a man would treat his honoured wife. The livery worn by her servants
was a compromise between that of the royal family and her own. But the marriage was
not declared, and at the time the Duke of Gloucester came to Copenhagen there seemed
no probability that it ever would be.[114]
[113] The Dowager-Countess Waldegrave was the illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward
Walpole (brother of Horace Walpole), by Mary Clement, a milliner’s apprentice. She
was the second and the most beautiful of three beautiful daughters, Laura, Maria and
Charlotte. It was said that after the birth of her children, Edward Walpole intended to
marry Mary Clement, but she died suddenly, and his honourable intentions were too
late. He, however, took the children, acknowledged them, and gave them every
advantage of wealth and education. When they grew up, though their birth prevented
presentation at court, they were successfully launched into the best society. All three
made brilliant marriages. Laura married the Rev. the Hon. Frederick Keppel, brother of
the Earl of Albemarle, who subsequently became Bishop of Exeter; Charlotte, Lord
Huntingtower, afterwards fifth Earl of Dysart, and Maria, Earl Waldegrave. Lord
Waldegrave died a few years after the marriage, leaving his widow three daughters
and a large fortune.
[114] The marriage was not declared until 1772, when, in consequence of a bill
having been brought into Parliament to regulate royal marriages, the Duke publicly
acknowledged Lady Waldegrave as his wife. The King was highly incensed, and
Queen Charlotte even more so. They refused to receive the Duchess at court, though
the King had to acknowledge the marriage as legal; consequently the Duke and
Duchess went to Italy, where they remained for some time. In 1776 they returned to
England with their two children, Prince William Henry and the Princess Sophia. Their
conduct was so irreproachable that a reconciliation took place between the Duke and
the King, and the Duchess of Gloucester and her children were duly acknowledged.
Prince William Henry of Gloucester eventually married his cousin, Princess Mary,
daughter of George III.
The Duke of Gloucester was received with every mark of respect, and his visit to
Copenhagen was a continual round of festivity. There was a grand review of the troops in
his honour, and a gala performance at the court theatre. One day the King and Queen
and the Duke made an excursion to the ancient castle Kronborg at Elsinore, and were
entertained by the commandant of the fortress. The Queen-Mother, Sophia Magdalena,
gave a déjeuner to the English Prince at Hirschholm and Count Otto Moltke gave a ball.
The Queen’s birthday festivities are described by the English envoy:—

“Saturday, July 22, was the anniversary of the Queen’s birthday, which not having
been observed since her Majesty’s arrival in these dominions, by reason of the King
of Denmark’s absence, his Majesty was determined to celebrate it now with as much
magnificence as possible. The court testified its joy on this occasion by a very
numerous and brilliant appearance.... In the evening followed a succession of new
entertainments at the court theatre, designed and executed purposely in honour of
her Majesty, and the day’s festivity was closed with a great supper at the King’s
table. On Monday began the second act of this celebration. At six o’clock in the
evening his Majesty and the noblemen who performed a part in the Carousal,[115]
richly habited in Turkish dresses, and upon horses finely caparisoned, set out in
grand procession through the city, attended by the Horse Guards and by a large
band of martial music; at seven the procession returned to the great area of the
palace, and as soon as the noblemen, appointed judges, had taken their seats, the
exhibition began. One quadrille was led by the King, the other by Count Ahlfeld,
governor of the city. The whole ceremony was very magnificent, and performed with
the utmost address and good order, in the presence of her Danish Majesty, the
Queen-Mother, Sophia Magdalena, his Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, the
whole court, and several thousand spectators. The performance concluded soon
after nine, and was succeeded by an elegant supper and ball. The court returns this
evening to Frederiksberg, where there is a grand firework to be played off; the whole
gardens are to be illuminated, and, after a magnificent supper in a large building
erected for that purpose, a masquerade ball is intended, to which two thousand
persons are to be admitted.”[116]

[115] The Carousal was a musical ride which the King and the courtiers had been
rehearsing in the riding school for weeks beforehand. Vide Gunning’s despatch, April
15, 1769.
[116] Gunning’s despatch, Copenhagen, July 25, 1769.
The Duke of Gloucester left Copenhagen a few days after the Queen’s birthday, and
returned to England. Though Christian had prepared all these festivities in his brother-in-
law’s honour, he did not hesitate to exercise his wit at the expense of his guest. The Duke
was silent and dull, and his lack of conversation was made a subject of ridicule by the
garrulous King. One day Christian asked Holck what he thought of the Duke, and the
favourite replied: “He reminds me of an English ox!” The Duke was very stout for his age,
and had a broad red face and large ruminating eyes. The King laughed at Holck’s
witticism, and maliciously repeated it to the Queen, who was incensed at the
impertinence. If the truth must be told, the English Prince did not appear in the most
favourable light at the Danish court. He stared and said little, and chiefly distinguished
himself by his enormous appetite.
When her brother left Copenhagen the Queen found herself once more alone. His visit
had been to a great extent a disappointment to her, for he had little in common with his
sister, and not much sympathy for her in her troubles. These, as time went on, grew from
bad to worse. Despite all her efforts Holck continued in the ascendant, and his influence
was wholly against the Queen. He was known throughout Denmark as the man whom
the King delighted to honour, and even Matilda was forced to show public marks of favour
to the man whom she considered her worst enemy. For instance, in September she was
compelled by the King to attend Holck’s wedding to a daughter of Count Laurvig, “an
honour,” to quote the English envoy, “never before conferred in this kingdom upon any
subject when the ceremony was performed out of the palace; but indeed the whole of
this had more the appearance of the nuptials of a prince of the blood than those of a
private person, the King having conveyed Count Holck in his Majesty’s chariot, at the
same time giving him the right hand from Frederiksberg to Copenhagen, the Queen and
all the court following”.[117] Holck’s marriage made no difference to his mode of life, and
Christian’s infatuation for his favourite continued as great as before. Mounted couriers
tore along the road between the Blaagaard, where Holck lived, and the King’s palace at
all hours of the day and night, and on one occasion two horses were killed in the wild
haste with which the horseman rode to convey the King’s message to his favourite.
[117] Gunning’s despatch, Copenhagen, September 30, 1769.
 WILLIAM HENRY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, BROTHER OF
QUEEN MATILDA.
From the Painting by H. W. Hamilton, 1771.
Nine months had passed since Christian’s return from abroad, and it was at last seen by
his subjects that the hopes they had formed of their King’s reformation were doomed to
disappointment. The costly experiment of foreign travel had proved a failure. True, he no
longer scandalised his people with riots in the streets, or his court with shameless
disregard of morality, for his strength was no longer equal to such exhibitions. The
incessant round of dissipation in London and Paris had shattered an already enfeebled
constitution. The King’s tendency to melancholia became more marked every day, and
symptoms of the dread malady which before long overtook him began to make
themselves apparent. His delusions as to his prowess became more frequent, and he
showed strange aberrations of intellect. He was a mental and physical wreck.
In October, 1769, Queen Matilda fell ill. Her illness was the crowning indignity and proved
the limit of her long-suffering endurance. With it also came to an end the efforts she had
bravely made since the King’s return to do her duty to her husband, and lead him to
higher things. This was the turning-point of Matilda’s life, and explains, if it does not
excuse, much that followed after. She threw down her arms. Insulted and degraded, it is
no wonder that the young wife of eighteen was filled with a disgust of life. The
remonstrances of her physicians were unavailing, she turned her face to the wall and
prayed for death. The Queen’s condition was so serious that the English envoy thought it
necessary to write home the following diplomatically worded despatch:—

“I am extremely sorry to acquaint your Lordship that the state of the Queen of
Denmark’s health has lately presented some very unfavourable symptoms; which
have given such apprehensions to her physicians, as to make them think that a
perfect re-establishment may be attended with some difficulty, unless her Majesty
can be persuaded to pay unusual attention to herself. I am so thoroughly sensible
how deeply it would affect the King [George III.] to receive information of a still
more alarming nature, and so anxious to prevent it, that I cannot help desiring your
Lordship to represent to his Majesty that, though there appears no immediate
danger, yet the situation the Queen of Denmark is at present in is too critical not to
make it highly necessary to obviate worse symptoms, and as this happy effect
depends very much upon her Majesty’s own care, I believe she would be wrought
upon by nothing more successfully than by some affectionate expostulations from
the King, upon the very great importance of her life.”[118]

[118] Gunning’s despatch, Copenhagen, November 4, 1769.

It was at this critical moment, when her whole being was in passionate revolt, when she
was disgusted with her environment, and weary of life, that Matilda’s evil genius
appeared upon the scene in the guise of a deliverer. This was the King’s physician—John
Frederick Struensee.
 CHAPTER XII.
STRUENSEE.
1737-1769.
John Frederick Struensee was born at Halle, an old town in northern Germany, on August
5, 1737. His father, Adam Struensee, was a zealous Lutheran minister; his mother was
the daughter of a doctor named Carl, a clever man, much given to mysticism, who had
been physician-in-ordinary to King Christian VI. of Denmark. The Struensee family was of
obscure origin. The first Struensee of whom anything is known began life under a
different name. He was a pilot at Lubeck, and during a terrible storm, in which no other
man dared venture out to sea, he brought into port a richly laden vessel. In honour of his
courageous deed he received from the corporation of Lubeck the name of Strouvensee,
which means a dark, stormy sea—a fit emblem of his descendant’s troubled career.
John Frederick Struensee received his early education at the grammar school of his native
town. It was not a good education, for the masters were imperfectly educated
themselves, but the boy was so extraordinarily precocious, and had such a thirst for
knowledge, that he soon absorbed all that his tutors could teach him, and began to
educate himself. The wave of mysticism was then passing over northern Germany, and
Struensee’s teachers were infected with it, and no doubt communicated their views to
their pupil, for Struensee was all his life something of a mystic, or, to speak more
correctly, a fatalist. Despite the orthodox Protestantism of his parents, the younger
Struensee’s eager and inquiring mind had always an inclination to scepticism, and before
he had attained man’s estate he was already a freethinker on most matters of religion.
He seems always to have retained a belief in God, or a First Cause, but he never had the
conviction that man enjoyed a future life: he held that his existence was bounded by this
life, and always acted on that assumption. Side by side with the mysticism which was
permeating northern Germany there existed a religious revival. The theory of conversion,
whereby a man was suddenly and miraculously converted from his evil ways and made
sure of future salvation, was peculiarly acceptable to many, and amongst Struensee’s
companions were youths of notoriously loose morals who declared that they had
suddenly “found salvation”. As this declaration was not always accompanied by a
corresponding change of life, Struensee hastily and unjustly came to the conclusion that
all religion was little more than an organised hypocrisy. His father’s long sermons, to
which he was compelled to listen Sunday after Sunday, left no impression on his heart,
and his sire’s private exhortations to his son to change his life, and flee from the wrath to
come, wearied him. His mother, who had inherited her father’s mystical views, and
supplemented them with her husband’s hard and uncompromising evangelicalism, also
lectured her son until the limits of his patience were exhausted, and he resolved as soon
as possible to quit a home where he was unhappy.
Struensee exhibited remarkable abilities at an early age; he matriculated at the university
of Halle in his fourteenth year, and he had not completed his twentieth when he received
the degree of doctor. Notwithstanding these academic distinctions, he was unable at first
to earn money, and his means were so limited that he was forced to remain, an unwilling
dweller, in the house of his parents. Even at that early age his enterprising and restless
mind and his unbridled ambition began to make themselves manifest; his academic
successes he considered merely as steps towards further greatness. His father used to
warn him against worldly ambition and intellectual pride, but his exhortations fell on deaf
ears.
In 1757, when Struensee was twenty years old, his father received “a call” to become
chief preacher of the principal church of Altona, a city situated on the northern bank of
the Elbe, within the kingdom of Denmark. This change in the family fortunes was
destined to exercise a material influence on Struensee’s future. The young doctor
accompanied his father to Altona, and in a few months was appointed town physician,
and country physician of the adjacent lordship of Pinneberg and the county of Rantzau.
The elder Struensee did not remain long at Altona, for the fervour of his eloquence soon
brought him preferment, and he was appointed by the Danish Government
superintendent-general of the clergy of the duchy of Holstein, an office equivalent, in
influence and importance, to that of bishop. Left to himself, the young doctor bought a
house in Altona, and set up his own establishment. He entertained freely some of the
principal people in Altona. Struensee was a pleasant host and clever conversationalist,
and early gave evidence of those social qualities which afterwards proved useful to him.
But his polish was superficial, and concealed his natural roughness and lack of
refinement. He would do anything to gain notoriety, and to this end affected the bizarre;
for instance, he had two skeletons with candles in their hands placed one on either side
of his bed, and by the light of these weird candelabra he read himself to sleep.
As Struensee’s establishment was expensive and his means limited, he invited a literary
man named Penning to live with him and share expenses. In 1763 the two started a
magazine called The Monthly Journal of Instruction and Amusement. The magazine was
not a financial success, and at the end of six months ceased to exist. It did not contain
anything very wonderful; perhaps the most remarkable article was one headed “Thoughts
of a Surgeon about the Causes of Depopulation in a given country,” which was written by
Struensee, and contained ideas on population which he afterwards put in practice.
Struensee also published some medico-scientific treatises, but nothing of any great merit.
He did not distinguish himself as a writer, but he was without doubt a widely read man;
his favourite author was Voltaire, and next to him he placed Rousseau. He was also much
influenced by the writings of Helvetius. Struensee was a deep, if not always an original,
thinker, and his ideas generally were in advance of his time.
In Altona Struensee soon won a reputation as a successful doctor, and his handsome
person and agreeable manners made him very popular, especially with women. The
good-looking young physician gained through his lady patients (and it was his boast that
women were his best friends) access to the best houses in, and around, Altona. He made
the acquaintance of Count Schack Karl Rantzau, the eldest son of Count Rantzau-
Ascheberg, one of the most considerable noblemen in Holstein, the owner of vast
estates, a Danish privy councillor, and a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. Of Count
Schack Karl Rantzau we shall have occasion to write at length later; suffice it here to say
that he was already middle-aged when Struensee met him, and had led a wild and
disreputable life. Struensee was useful to him in no creditable way, and before long the
two became very intimate. They made an informal covenant that if either attained power
he should help the other. But at present nothing seemed more unlikely, and Rantzau gave
Struensee only promises and flattery, which, however, were enough, for the young doctor
was very vain, and moreover exceedingly fond of the society of titled and highly placed
personages.
Struensee also visited the house of the Baron Söhlenthal, who was the stepfather of
Enevold Brandt, and thus became acquainted with Christian VII.’s one-time favourite.
Struensee had also attended, in a professional capacity, Madame von Berkentin, who was
later appointed chief lady to the Crown Prince Frederick; and it was at her house that he
said, half in jest and half in earnest: “If my lady patronesses will only contrive to get me
to Copenhagen, then I will carry all before me”.
But for a long time he remained at Altona and all these fine acquaintances had no other
effect than making his scale of living much higher than his circumstances warranted. He
became considerably in debt, and this, added to dislike of his calling, for his ambition
soared high above the position of a country doctor, made him restless and discontented.
He was on the point of resigning his post, and taking a voyage to Malaga and the East
Indies, partly to escape his difficulties, partly on account of his health, when a very
different prospect revealed itself to him. The night is darkest before the dawn, and dark
though Struensee’s fortunes were at this moment, the gloom soon vanished in the dawn
of a golden future.
Christian VII., with a numerous suite, was then passing through Holstein, preparatory to
starting on his prolonged tour in England and France. The King’s health was far from
strong, and it was necessary that he should have a physician to accompany him on his
travels; for this purpose a young and active man who could adapt himself readily to the
King’s eccentricities was preferable to the older and staider court physicians, who indeed
showed no inclination to undertake the task. Struensee strained every nerve to obtain the
post, and was strongly recommended by Rantzau and Madame von Berkentin. The King
had heard of the young physician of Altona through Brandt, before the latter had fallen
into disgrace. Holck also knew something of him, and said that he would serve. As
Holck’s slightest recommendation carried weight with the King, Struensee obtained the
coveted post, and was appointed travelling physician. On June 6, 1768, he joined the
King’s suite near Hamburg, and entered at once upon his duties.
Struensee at first did not occupy a prominent place in the King’s suite. His profession of
itself did not entitle him to be a member of the first three classes who were received at
court. His position was a middle one, between the lackeys and those members of the
King’s suite who ranked as gentlemen, and it must have been uncomfortable. Some little
difficulty arose as to with whom he should travel, but he was finally given a seat in the
coach of Bernstorff’s secretary. Struensee was not a man to be content to remain long in
an anomalous position, and he proceeded, very cautiously at first, to make his situation
better. As the King’s physician he had unique opportunities, and made the most of them.
Christian was a hypochondriac, who imagined himself ill when he was not, and often
made himself really ill from his excesses; he loved to talk about his ailments, and
Struensee listened with sympathetic deference. The King, who was always wanting to be
amused, found the doctor a pleasant companion. He discovered that he could talk on a
great many matters besides his profession, that he was widely read, and had a
considerable knowledge of philosophy and French literature, in which Christian was
genuinely interested. He supplied a void which could not be filled by Holck, who cared
nothing for literature or abstruse speculations, and whose tastes were purely material.
The King’s suite soon began to remark the pleasure which the King took in conversing
with his doctor, but Struensee was so modest, so anxious to please every one, that he did
not arouse feelings of jealousy. He was especially careful to avoid political discussions,
and never made the slightest allusion to affairs at home. He was also very discreet, and
never spoke about his royal master, or his ailments, or made any allusion to the
escapades in which the King and his favourites indulged. So far did Struensee carry this
caution, that during the King’s tour he rarely wrote home to his parents and friends, and
when he did, he restricted himself to indifferent topics. His father thought this apparent
forgetfulness was because his son had lost his head in consequence of his good fortune.
“I knew,” he said to a friend, “that John would not be able to bear the favour of his
monarch.” But Struensee had intuitively learned the lesson that the word written over the
gateway of all kings’ palaces is “silence!” His position, though pleasant, was precarious;
he was only the travelling physician, and his appointment would come to an end when
the King returned home. It was Struensee’s object to change this temporary appointment
into a permanent one, and from the first moment he entered the King’s service he kept
this end steadily in view. Struensee had another characteristic, which in the end proved
fatal to him, but which at first helped him with both the King and Holck. Side by side with
his undoubted brain power, there existed a strong vein of sensuality, and he readily lent
himself to pandering to the King’s weaknesses in this respect. Struensee had no sense of
morality; he was a law unto himself, and his freethinking views on this and other
questions were peculiarly acceptable to his royal master.
Struensee had a certain measure of success in England, and through the King of
Denmark’s favour, he was invited to many entertainments to which his position would not
otherwise have entitled him. His reputation for gallantry was hardly inferior to that of
Holck. It is stated that Struensee fell violently in love with an English lady of beauty and
fortune, and his passion was returned. He wore her miniature next his heart, and it was
found upon him after his death—but this rests on hearsay. What is certain, during his
sojourn in England, is that he received honorary degrees, from the universities of Oxford
and Cambridge; and he took riding lessons at Astley’s, and became an expert horseman.
Struensee accompanied the King to Paris, and took part in the pleasures of that gay
capital. Struensee visited the gallery at Fontainebleau where Queen Christina of Sweden,
after her abdication, had her secretary and favourite Monaldeschi murdered, or, as she
regarded it, executed. Soon after he returned to Denmark Struensee told his brother that
he had been induced to visit the gallery by a dream, in which there appeared before him
the vision of an exalted lady whose name he hardly dared to mention. He meant, of
course, Queen Matilda. His brother heard him in ominous silence, and Struensee, after
waiting some time for an answer, quoted his favourite maxim: “Everything is possible”.
In January, 1769, Struensee returned to Altona in the King’s suite. The place and time
had now come for him to take leave of his royal master, and retire once more into the
obscurity of a country doctor—a prospect which, after his sojourn at glittering courts,
filled him with dismay. But Bernstorff and Schimmelmann, whose good offices he had
assiduously courted during the tour, spoke on his behalf to the King, and Christian
appointed Struensee his surgeon-in-ordinary, with a salary of a thousand dollars a year,
and as a mark of his royal esteem gave him a further five hundred dollars. Struensee
remained at Altona for a few weeks after the King had left for Copenhagen to sell his
house, pay his debts and wind up his affairs. He visited his parents at Schleswig to
receive their congratulations and take leave of them. His father shook his head doubtfully
over his godless son’s rapid rise in the world, and his mother warned him against the
perils and temptations of the wicked court. But Struensee, flushed with his success, was
in no mood to listen to their croakings. He believed in himself, and he believed in his
destiny. “Everything is possible,” he said. The desire of his youth was gratified before he
had arrived at middle age. He was going to Copenhagen, and what was more, to court;
the future was in his own hands.
Struensee arrived at Copenhagen in February, 1769, and at first seemed to occupy
himself only with his duties as the King’s surgeon-in-ordinary. But all the while he was
feeling his way, and every week he strengthened his position with the King. It was not
long before Struensee set himself to undermine the influence of Holck. He first frightened
the King about the state of his health, and then diplomatically represented to him that
the immoderate dissipation, in which he had been in the habit of indulging with Holck,
was bad for him, and should be avoided. Struensee did not take a high moral ground; on
the contrary, he pointed out that greater pleasure might be obtained by moderation than
by excess. He also counselled the King to occupy himself with public affairs, and so keep
his mind from brooding upon his ailments, and to take outdoor exercise. All this advice
was good, and the King followed it with manifest benefit to his health. He stayed less
indoors, and drove out frequently, accompanied by the Queen, to the chase, until one
day the horses got restive and the carriage was overturned, and threw both the King and
the Queen on the ground. Fortunately, they both escaped unhurt, but after this incident
Christian became nervous and would not hunt any more.
In May, 1769, the King was pleased to show his appreciation of Struensee by making him
an actual councillor of state, which admitted the doctor to the third class, or order of
rank,[119] and thus permitted him to attend the court festivities. During the summer
Christian’s health became more feeble, in consequence of his epileptic seizures, and
Struensee became resident physician. He made use of this privilege to observe more
closely the state of affairs in the royal household, seeking always to turn things to his
own benefit. He formed the acquaintance of every member of the household, not
despising even the valets, and studied their character and peculiarities.
[119] To the first class belonged the privy councillors of state, the generals and
lieutenant-generals, admirals and vice-admirals, and the Counts of Danneskjold-
Samsöe (by reason of birth); to the second class the councillors of conference, major-
generals and rear-admirals; and to the third, actual councillors of state, colonels and
commanders. These three classes only had the right to attend court.
Struensee found that the conflicting elements at the Danish court might be roughly
divided into two parties. The party in the ascendant was that of Holck, or rather of
Bernstorff, for Holck took no part in politics. But he was supported by the ministers in
power, with Bernstorff at their head, who made use of his influence with the King. Behind
Bernstorff again was the power and favour of Russia. The other party was nominally that
of the Queen-Dowager, Juliana Maria, and Prince Frederick, the King’s brother. This,
owing to the unpopularity of the Queen-Dowager, was small, and included chiefly
malcontents, who were opposed, either to the policy of the Government, or to the new
order of things at court. It was supported, however, by many of the Danish nobility, men
of considerable weight and influence in their provinces, and the great body of the clergy,
who were a power in the state. In short, it represented the forces of reaction, which had
gathered around the Queen-Mother, Sophia Magdalena, before she retired from public
affairs. It was also supported by French influence which, since the rise of Bernstorff, had
declined in Copenhagen.
Between these two factions stood the reigning Queen. She was neglected by both of
them, but, during the spring of 1769, after the King’s return, she asserted herself in a
way which showed to a shrewd observer like Struensee that she would not always submit
to be treated as a nonentity. The Queen had not yet realised the inherent strength of her
position as the wife of the reigning King and the mother of the future one. It was a
position which would grow stronger as her husband grew weaker.
Struensee grasped the situation a few months after his arrival in Copenhagen, and with
sublime audacity resolved to turn it to his advantage. Neither of the existing parties in
the state would ever be likely to give him what he most desired—political power. The
party of Bernstorff would help him in little things. If the doctor proved useful to them
with the King, he would be rewarded with money, a higher place at court, a decoration,
possibly a title. But that would be all. The reactionary party of Juliana Maria would not do
so much; they might employ him in their intrigues, but the haughty Danish nobility, who
formed its backbone, would never admit a German doctor of obscure birth to terms of
equality. But Struensee’s soaring ambition knew no bounds. He determined to win both
place and power, and to do this he realised that it was necessary to form a new party—
that of the Queen.
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebooknice.com