IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /. 1.0 I.I 1.25 IM U IIIIII.6 V] lk. 1814. TO TIIK Right Honorable Lord Grcnvillc, <^c, ^jf-c. u My Lord, Much as the high-spirited and gallant people of Norway may have had cau^e to lament the inauspicious result of their application to the Government of this country, that circum- stance has now, I am almost tempted to say, been converted into a subject of congratulation and triumph. It has placed the cause of Norway on the highest ground imaginable. For it is notorious, that Sweden trusted more to the effects of an English blockade than to any other means which she could devise or employ for the subjugation of Norway. In the exultation of their hearts, the enemies of that unoffending country exclaimed : ** The Norwegiajis cannot long resist a regular blockade of their ports." Yet the Norwegians still resist, and will, I am satisfied, continue to resist, until their national rights shall be fully acknowledged. In presuming, my Lord, to account for the effects, which have proved to be directly the reverse of the consequences so fondly and so confidently anticipated by Sweden from the declared hostility of the British Government towards Norway, I speak, I am per- suaded, the universal sentiment of the British and Norwegian nations, when I ascribe to your Lordship, in particular, the revival of those pleasing prospects, which must have illumined the minds and gladdened the hearts of the brave Norwegians, when they besought England to interpose her good offices, with a view to relieve them from the dreadful alternative with which their dear and suffering country was and is still menaced. Your Lordship's transcendent efforts in behalf of Norway sup- plied Ministers with views which had probably not occurred to them, or else been sedulously kept from their notice by those who would faia desire, that the Norway question should only be exhi- bited in those lights which would prove most agreeable to their own intei'ested speculations •, while the people of England have de- rived from her first statesman that instruction and guidance, which can never be rejected with impunity to make way for new-fangled doctrines of utility, and a remorseless substitution of arbitrary principles. 235 My Lord, connected as I am with Norway, it will ever be one of the proudest and most gratifying incidents of my life, that I have been honored with an opportunity of becoming fully ac- quainted with your Lordship's sentiments and feelings relative to the glorious struggle in which the people of that country are now engaged. For I have in consequence been impressed with the unchangeable conviction, that England will eventually prove the avenger of Norway, and the assertor of her independence.. The cause of Norway is intimately connected with the claims and sufferings of other countries, for which the voice of England will be raised in the approaching discussions. T|ie Norwegians may therefore be encouraged to indulge the hope, that deference will be shown to the feelings and Impressions which the people of England have so unequivocally and unanimously displayed in their behalf. For, if there never was a period when the character of England stood so high on the continent of Europe as at present ; and if there never was a more general disposition to look up to her with gratitude and respect, England cannot be supposed to be indifferent to the value and power of that character. On the contrary, she will duly appreciate the various and awful trusts com- mitted to her hands by the ALMIGHTY, and she will feel, that in this « high and palmy state" of the national character, she is more especially called upon to stand forward as the disinterested advocate of freedom and justice. In the consummation of that great and glorious purpose, you will, my Lord, have performed a most distinguished part -, while. In immediate regard to the subject of this address, your Lordship'g name will be embalmed in the grateful remembrance of a people, who cannot and will not survive the degradation of their country. I have the honor to be. With the most sincere respect and unfeigned gratitude, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient and most humble servant, THE AUTHOR, Lo7idon, 12 J.^/j/, 1814. AN ADDRESS, &c. Hi n Mint questions of a similar nature, arising out of the system of tyranny recently put down, have been submitted to the people of England ; and on every such occasion, the feelings and sentiment* of Englishmen have been expressed in a manner becoming the in- habitants of a country, which was but lately the last «tay of the eivihsed world. It is therefore but a natural effect of a natural cause, that this nation should in the case of Norway display the same steady adherence to those old, established, and true, prin- ciples of national law and public liberty, by which England has risen to her greatness and glory. The Norway question comes immediately home to the business and bosoms of Englishmen, not excepting those who differ from the majority of the nation on this most important and most distressing subject. For the cause of Norway is the cause of freedom, public and private j and even those who from the cogency of particula- "ircumstances may deem V. expedient to oppose the claims of Norway, must in charity be supposed to do so from motives, which, if they could be investi- gated, would, I trust, not appear quite so reprehensible, as we may be led to imagine from a superficial and partial view of thair conduct. U we reflect for a moment on the manner in which the appeal made to this country by Norway has been publicly espoused or opposed, we shall perhaps be inclined to doubt to whom Norway ought to hold herself under the greatest obligation; whether to her friends or to her enemies. For, however anxious I may be, in common with every sincere friend to national independence and f ra ; 237 civil liberty, to do justice to the noble endeavours made in behalf of Norway by such as would from principle alone be induced to advocate her causej I am firmly persuaded, that these men them- •elves will be the first to rejoice in ascribing the deliverance of Norway to that acknowledgment of her rights, which, though it may not be extorted from her enemies, at least for the moment, is most earnestly recommended by the impotence and awkward- aess of the resistance offered to the claims of Norway. It would be an insult to the understandings and feelings of the people of England, to suppose, for an instant, that the independ- ence of Norway is not conformable to the general sentiment and wish of the nation. For, if the late war with France were, as 15 has been termed, the people's own xvarj it behoves the people to $ee that war finished in their own way. The people of England therefore rightly consider the attack on Norway as a perpetuation of that system of horror, in the armihilation of which English blood and treasure have been expended with a prodigality which must entitle their country to the admiration and gratitude of the latest generations. The attempt to subjugate Norway is viewed in the light of a moral attack on England. To their eternal honor, the people of this country have therefore expressed their anxiety to defeat it with an energy, zeal, and unanimity, from which the world at large will form better hopes of lasting concord than from the protestations of perjured princes, and the dear-bought efforts of mercenary armies. Sidney, that glorious martyr to English freedom, in his work on government, proves the liberty of the people to be tha gift of God and natu^-e. In the assertion of that doctrine he died. Now, thv. Norwegians will be found to have framed their oppo- lition to the pretensions of Sweden, on the principles laid down by the writer referred to, and others who held similar opinions : Hence it is to be inferred, that the Norwegians, well knowing the character of the enemy they have to contend with, have thrown away the scabbard, the moment they drew the sword. Nor did ai • " When the French first made war upon us, with their revolutionary principles and their rcvohitionary hostility, tlie people spoke for Ihemselres, m support of the King and Constitution; and it was their public declara- tions and associations that gave a toiie to the exertions of Government, which has been our main support through this long warfare. The contest seems now to be reduced to one single object, "the overthrow of the odious tyrant himself. Let the people now show themselves, to put a finishing hand to their own war."— A public Address, agreed to at a Meeting of Gentlemen at the: Thatched-House Tavern. St. James's Street, Saturday, 13th of February, 1814. 238 nation ever tlraw the «worti more justly and nobly, or from mo* lives more imperiously urgent. Sweden conceived it would be for her interest to annex the ancient and free kingdom of Norway to her dominions ; and being well aware, that her object could not be effected by herself alone, she, with more policy than probity, took advantage of the necessi- ties of Russia and England, and stipulated Norway with sundry other territorial, commercial, and pecuniary advantages, as the price of her co-operation in the great and glorious work of European inde- pendence. But before she received the perfect sanction of Russia, and the conditional acquiescence of England, in her arbitrary views on Norway, she commenced against that country a system of warfare, the most abominable of all hostile operations j she inflicted on the peaceable and unoffending people of Norway, what Mr. Burke described as the greatest of all possible calamities ; as a calamity so dreadful, that every humane mind shuddered and turned away from its contemplation — she attempted to starve a whole nation. This she did in a state of profound peace with the nation, to whicli the Norwegians were attached by a common government. Let it not however be supposed, that the court of Sweden openly committed such an act of aggravated injustice and cruelty to the Norwegians. No : if it had, the proverbial ingenuity of that court might have been called in question. Its notorious docility in adopting the diplomatic examples and precepts of France might have been doubted ; and room would have been afforded for a sus- picion of its sincerity in duly appreciating the inestimable benefit conferred by Bonaparte on Sweden, in parting with one of his ge- nerals, solely for the purpose of diffusing the blessings of the Napoleon system throughout the wretched regions of the North. Sweden, therefore, by simply borrowing a leaf out of Bonaparte's Edition of the « Law of Nations," put her cruel design against Norway into execution with as great facility, as if she had been in an open state of war with that country. At a moment when, owing to her unrestrained intercourse with Great Britain and Russia, Swetlcn abounded with grain of lier own and foreign produce, she adapted that most ingenious of Bonaparte's measures, which he termed a mmiicipal regulation^ and attached the heaviest penalties to the exportation of corn of any kind. Thus all the Danish grain, which came into Sweden either by British capture or other sinister accidents, was laid hold of by Sweden, and accumulated for the purpose of enabling her at some future time, to render the distress of the Norwegians subservient to her attempts on the honor and welfare of their country. Nor was this all. The trade with England is well known to be 239 the main pillar of the prosperity of Norway. To shake this to its foundation, therefore, became an essential part of the policy of Sweden towards Norway. For as long as the produce of Norway found its way into England, notwitlistanding the war with Den- mark, Sweden could not hope for the realisation of her projects against Norway. She accordingly found means by degrees to im- pose such restrictions on Norwegian commerce, as rcmlered this trade in the first instance of exceedingly little value to Norway, and eventually beneficial to England, only, in consequence of which all trade between this country and Norway naturally ceased.' Having thus aimed two vital blows, at whicli slie fondly expected Norway would quiver in her remotest lirnb, Sweden commenced a series of the most desperate attacks on the moral existence of the People of Norway ; alternately employing all those varied means, which might according to circumstances appear most conducive to the accomplishment of the subjugation of Norway ; an object, which has been so long and so ardently wished for by Swedish Politicians. It is however dlHicult to deceive a free people respecting its true interest. Of this important position, the people of Norway have furnished an additional illustration. Lot it not however be sup- posed, that the resistance oflered by Norway to Sweden, is at all to be referred to what is vulgarly termed interest. No, tlie real cause of that opposition is to be found in the determination of the Norwegians not to expose tliemsclves to the contempt of mankind, and more particularly to the execration of their own posterity. Let Paley be heard in behalf of the Nv)rwegian8. " The true reason," he observes," « why mankind hold in detestation the memory of those who have sold their liberty to a tyrant, is, that together with their own, they sold commonly, or endangered, the liberty of others ; which certainly they had no right to dispose of." ' Lest tlie statement of tliis fact should appear to cotuey the slightest rettection on cerlaiii riei'ed hy importation^ (n. in CanHdu. It is much to he lioped that Iheir tialterini!; e\pe(:tations may be fnljy an- swered to the henelit of liionsands of English families, who buiitred'iuost ^rifevously by the extinction of tlie trade with Norway. * The principles of moral and political philosopliy by William Paley M, A. Arch Deucou of Cailule ; (juarto, second edition, London, ITati, page 77. 240 m I Tlie Norwegians, as Sir James Mackintosh truly and beau- tifully remarks, have never worn the scar of foreign bonds and fetters i and there is indeed something particularly manly, generous, and noble in their present resistance : it is most worthy of their national character, and entitled to the sympathy and active inter- position of every man, who dares to give the proper definition to right and wrong. It is held justifiable to fight an enemy with his own weapons. Now, if Norway had had recourse to strata- gem inretaliation for all theartifices, frauds, insults and injuries com- mitted by Sweden, she might, by feigning submission have pre- pared a dreadful retribution. The execution of such a design might have been perfectly practicable, from the nature of the country and the means of annoyance possessed by the inhabitants, and of which Sweden with all her art and caution will never be able to deprive them. But the revival of the Sicilian Vespers, on a remoter stage of action, ill agrees with the feelings and rule* of conduct, by which the Norwegians are actuated. They rightly deemed it beneath their dignity to pursue the attainment of an ob- ject, however good, by the employment of foul means. Such was their well-founded confidence in the protection of the Almighty, in the justice of their cause, in the means which they pos- sess to defend that cause, and in that attention, which will sooner or later be paid to their claims by those who are now, in the tech- nical phrase, the arbiters of the destinies of jiations, that they would not, by any act of ambiguous character, sully as glorious a cause, as was ever committed to the care of anv nation. With deference to certain politicians, who describe the annexa- tion of Norway to Sweden as the greatest good, that could by possibility happen to the former country, and of which the Nor- wegians neither can be nor ought to be the judges, for according to the proposition of the noble President ' of His Majesty's most honorable Privy Council, a people has in no case a right to resist the tnnsfer of their allegiance ; my first business will be to sub- mit, that the resistance of the Norwegians is founded in the law of nations, or which will perhaps be a more eligible term, the law of nature. For I am unwilling to subscribe to Lord Harrow- by's doctrine, that treaties are to be considered as the practical expositions of the law of nations. Sure I am, at least, that very few treaties, if any, concluded for a considerable time past, cart be characterized by any other terms than those made use of by Voltaire be able t The p< of Uenni and in nc England, aware, t\ a superi< right nc sooner fi perceive equally g an oblig ful, necc that migl from eve; mote its the Norv have a rij perfectioi whatever But N tic advoc exultatioi ought tht sovereign den. I could (if argum Norwegis that polit Prince oi it cannot the opinic promulga some unj obliged tc misrepresi The cei pounders * The History of Cliarlos XII. of 'Sweden, London edition, 1793, page It^^ ' The Hi page 18. * Vatiel' 3 Reflexi No.^ 241 Voltaire:' "a submission to necessity, till the stronger shall be able to crush the weaker." The people of Norw:^y, though, in terms, dependent on the King ot Denmark, have, to all intents and purposes, been free People • and m no instance more strikingly so, than in their relations with ii.ngland. Of this, mdocd, their enemies seem to be so fully aware, that only few of them, who may chance to be gifted with a superior share of hardihood, venture to question the natural right now exercised by the Norwegians. Jlut even these no sooner find themselves on this most tender ground, than they perceive how untenable it is, and in various, though certainly not equally graceful, ways admit, that the Norwegian nation is under an obligation to preserve itself, has a right to every thing law- ful, necessary for its preservation ; ought to avoid every thing that might occasion its destruction ; has a right to secure itself from every threatening danger ; that it ought to endeavour to pro- rnoteitsown perfection, and that of the state; and that finally the Norwegians, with a view to the preservation of their country, have a right to every thing without which they cannot obtain the perfection of the members and of the state, or prevent and repel whatever is contrary to this double perfection.* ^ But Norway has been conquered in Holstein,^ say the diploma- tic advocates of the Crown Prince of Sweden, in a tone of great exultation and triumph. The inhabitants of the former country ought therefore to comply with the last order of their former sovereign, by which he transfers them to the dominion of Swe- den. I could wish to avoid giving any direct reply to such arguments (If arguments they can be called) as may be advanced against the Norwegians by the desperate, and, I trust, the few members of that political band, in which His Royal Highness the Crown rrince of Sweden formerly enacted so capital a part. But since It cannot be dissembled that so great deference has been paid to the opinions of those worthies, that their sentiments have even been promulgated in the most august assemblies in this country by tome unaccountably condescending individuals, I am reluctantly obliged to pay some sort of attention to the representations or rather misrepresentations of the Swedish government or its agents. The cession of Norway, say these ingenious and infallible ex- pounders of the law of nations, is no novelty at all. Unfortunately page?8*'"''*°''^°^^'''''^^'''^"'^'"^ °^ ^''"^^"' loudon Edition, 1793, * Vatlel's La'v of Nations, Book I. ch. ii. § 16, 18, 19, 20, 91, 22, S3. 3 Reflexions sur I'Etat actuel de la Norvege, p. i2. No. Vil. Pam. Vol. IV. Ill 42 for the establishment of this position, Norway happens to be no German fief» no sugar island, where slaves bear a proportion to freemen as 20 to 1, rio palsied limb of a body politic ; Norway is an integrally independent state, in every view most fully entitled to resist the new Master to whom the King of Denmark has been obligee, by heart-rending necessity to cede his rights. Indeed, the real character of the opposition offered by the Norwegians to the views of Sweden, appears now to be so generally and so properly understood, that a correct informant need scarcely be under the necessity of intruding into the petty circle within which the Crown Prince of Sweden moves. It is really very amusing to notice the whimsical embarrass- ments into which men who undertake to defend a bad cause must of necessity fall. Thus while the Bernadotte party contend that the Norwegians ought to yield implicit, passive obedience to the King of Denmark, in delivering up their country to a natu^ ral, if not a mortal, enemy, they in the same breath m.ake a great parade of the happiness which the Norwegians will experience in being relieved from the dominion of a Monarch, who is above Jaw. . 1 M? Whatever the Danish government may be, m theory, the illus- trious individual, in whom that high and awful trust is vested, stand* in no need of vindication, relative to its practice. Bernadofe'* dependents, therefore, as well as his friends and admirers, if he has any, are exceedingly welcome to make the most of their dis- quisitions on the Danish government. But since these devout followers of those doctrines in politics, which I now scarcely know whether to style new-fangled or obso- lete, and to which they seem to cling with a fondness, prophetic, I trust, of their fate, appear to place considerable value on loyalty, when the exercise of that distinguished virtue may conduce to the realization of their own treacherous and treasonable views, it will be necessary to inquire, whether the Norwegians have trans- gressed the duties of loyalty. The conduct of the Ncvwegians is described by a French, or perhaps a Scandinavian, advocate of Bernadotte, as « une vraie calamite pour le monde civilise, si cctte manierc d'agir dcvenait generale." ' It is needless to observe how peculiarly ungracious the expression of such sentiments must appear in those who have been in the habit of cherishing diametrically opposite opinions lone after their friend, their patron, and in fact their creator, Ber- ijiuoite, iias Dcen turiieu uui ui v iCu-.ui lOi e^piCoci-ig .u» *i'--»-'a u;ion notions, which he now as strongly reprobates, a« it; a u ' Reflexi(*ns, &c, pajc 5. Buonapai nadotte hi probabilit condemn mander 1 to constn for the di now guil men, wh I am satii that Bern and choic to differ enjoys tl cousin, ai that, as p we know flow in h On th considera trust, ha' most per: towards t About Denmark and unde rendered the c -s chav r of huH: n the Nor^ from tb.e < proper ar if, as the way has all the pa wegians, furnished known, o arisen, in from Dei able Gen lent oppo of Norw result of ) 243 Buonaparte, he were a descendant of Charlemagne. Would Ber- nadotte himself, had he always observed the duties oi loyalty, in all probability, have been what he now is ? Not tliat I mean to condemn "n unquahfied terms the address with which this com- mander has proved to be the architect of his own fortune ; or to construe his deviation from the path of loyalty into an apology for the disobedience of which, in his opinion, the Norwegians are now guilty. The loyalty of the Norwegians and that of French- men, whether they shout Vive VEmpereur or Vive le Roif can, I am satisfied, bear no comparison. All that I mean to impress is, that Bernadotte and his associates should be exceedingly cautious and choice in such terms as they may apply to those who happen to differ from them on political subjects. For though he now enjoys the singular good-fortune of being styled good brother, cousin, and friend, by legitimate Sovereigns, he ought to recollect, thai;, as poor Ophelia observes : « We know what we are, but we know not, what we may be." The blood of Vasa does not flow in his veins. On the ground of loyalty alone, abstracted from all other considerations, I am, however, ready to maintain, and shall, I trust, have no difficulty in proving, that the Norwegians are most perfectly correct in the line of conduct which they pursue towards Sweden. About 450 years have now elapsed, since the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway were united under one sovereign, on terms and under circumstances, which ever have, and ever must, have rendered those kingdoms two distinct and independent states. In the c -se of that long period, it is too much to presume on the char r of human nature, and it would argue too gross ignorance of hun: n transactions, especially in our own age, to suppose that the Norwegians may not have had opportunities of withdrawing from the connexion with Denmark, if such a measure had appeared proper and desirable. We may safely take it for granted, that if, as the Bernadotte party roundly assert, the Kingdom of Nor- way has been treated like a colony by the Danish Governm.ent, all the particulars of such policy have been exhibited to the Nor- wegians, in the strongest and most hideous colors, that could be furnished by the Swedish Government and its agents. It is well known, on the authority of Mr. Canning, that circumstances have arisen, in which even England regarded the separation of Norwv.y irom Denmark as an expedient measuve. Indeed that right honor- able Gentleman, while Secretary for foreign affairsj had an exceU lent opport\''iity of ascertaining the real sentiments of the people of Norway towards the Danish Government, and I believe the result of his incjuiries proved to be, (no doubt to his very gr«at sur- ill ' K u ill I mm 244 ^rlze and dismay), that there existed something hke Spartan vir- tue among the Norwegians, and that their national honor was yet •nendangered by meanness and degeneracy. It were much to be wished, that the Ex-Secretary, instead of whining professions of his readiness to pay any price in order to get rid of the obligation imposed on England by the Swedish Treaty, would have intro- duced into his speech on the blockade of Norway some details of the manner in which his oificial overtures to Norway in 1809, had been rejected the moment they were received. He might then, perhaps, I am almost persuaded to hope, have been relieved from his personal sufferings, and probably rescued his free, noble, »nd generous country, from the horrid and degrading obligation, by which she is coerced, as Sir Philip Francis truly observes,' " not to run a risque, not to fight a battle, not to win a laurel drenched in blood, but to annihilate the entire population of an iimocent unoffending kingdom ; women and children, sickness and age, must all alike perish under the sweephig desolation of famine, inflicted by the magnanimity of England, unless they subniit to a foreign yoke, and consent to be slaves for ever." To give an idea of the loyalty prevalent among the Norwegians, I shall quote the following passage. " The immjDrtal Christian the fourth of Denmark, undertook nearly fifty journies into Nor- way, and, there can be no doubt, gave birth to those enthusiastic, romantic, and religious feelings of love, devotion and veneration, •till cherished among the peasantry towards the bare name of King. This fact, so honorable, cheering, and consoling, to human nature, and more particularly creditable to the people in ques- tion, affords the most exquisite illustration of the public virtues of Christian the fourth, who has justly been styled the idol of Danish story, the glory of the Danish name, and the delight of human kind. The Kings of Europe called him their father; Elizabeth of England was his friend^ and Algernon Sidney would have been his best subject." ^ Now the present King of Denmark is a lineal descendant of Christian the Fourth ; and if ever a king possessed an indisputa- ble claim to the respect and sympathy of his subjects, in every circumstance of life, Frederick the Sixth may prci^r that title. To prove this, we need only furnish a sketch of the present state of his country ; and it will, I am persuaded, clearly appear, that the Norwegians are at this moment acting in strict conso- nance to the dictates of loyalty j for tlfty have an undoubted right, * Letter to Earl Grey, p. 76. * BoydsH'ii Sftcner/ wt'Nerway, Ne. 14. U5 to presume, that that power, which has been the systematic, urn- ceasing, and unrelenting enemy of their king, never can and never will, in the nature of things, take that interest in their happines* and prosperity, to which, in the enjoyment of national independ- ence, they have been accustomed for centuries. Whatever may be the nature and extent of that " haine que les Danois depuis des siecles nourissent contre leurs voisins,' I tliink it may be affirmed, that the hatred which the Swedes have for centuries nourished against their neighbours cannot be deemed inll^rior. In regard to its effects, it certainly has proved infinitely superior. Let us see in what manner Sweden has preserved the relations of good neighbourhood with Denmark, reverting merely to the year 1807. In that year the government of this country, for some reason or other, perhaps only best known to the enemies of both states, thought proper to inflict a mortal blow on the political existence of Denmark. Whence the idea of that memorable measure ori- ginated, lam not of course able to state precisely j but for the honor of England I am anxious to believe, that her policy was of foreignextraction. TheiJwedish government, at the time at least, took great pains to induce such a belief, claiming indeed, very unreservedly, great part, if not the whole, of the'^ merit of that unrivalled exploit : for some credit on that account was generally imagined to be due to a noted French politician, who has since been sent to his account, " With ail his imperfections on his head," as abruptly, yet perhaps still more awfully than the hapless beings at Copenhagen, who fell victims to those suggestions, whicli he was understood to have had the address of engrafting but too suc- cessfully on British councils. What was at that moment the conduct of the " magnanimous hero of the North," — « the Swedish liberator of Europe,"—" the real opposer of Buonaparte," as Gustavus Adolphus was then styled by those who have since transferred their hopes and admi- ration to an upstart general of Buonaparte ? If a transcendant genius and distinguished patriot, a brother politician but rival bard to the poet-Iaureat, had not gloried in tha sight, when " A royal city, tower, ind spire, lieddeuM tlie midnii^lit sky with fire, While shouting crews her navy hore Triumphant to the victor shore," ^ i might have left unnoticed the ecstatic delight with which the ' Ileflexions, &c. page V(. • Walter Scott's Marmioi), page 160. — ■■--*u^ i. ^ iii 246 mad King of Sweden beheld the deadly conflagration of Copen- hagen. Such a sight, I confess, would of itself be sufficient to shake the strongest head of a rival kingj who would thus in vision believe his most favorite project accomplished : for with the fleet of Denmark fell what was in former times the main support of Norway, when Denmark and Sweden were able to settle their disputes by themselves. Gustavus may therefore be excused for going to the nearest spot in his own dominions whence he could most conveniently witness the memorable transactions off Copen- hagen in 1807. It was indeed but natuval, that he who struck out the first thought ' of those proceedings should himself enjoy as much as he could, consistently with his personal safety, of the grand and imposing spectacle which Copenhagen at that moment exhibited. The ministers of a friendly power do not every day burn for stage effect a capital in alliance, merely to astonish people and look vigorous. And what they could do in peace, surely the King of Sweden might see in peace. Less excusable, I fear, was that most religious king, who, I dare say in imitation of his great prototype, « did not imagine that there could be a system of morality for kings different from that for individuals/' "• when he proposed to His Britannic Ma- jesty's Ministers, as a very honorable mode of executing the con- vention for the evacuatioii of Zealand, that the army should pass over to Scania, and from thence again invade the island. After these unequivocal demonstrations of neighbourly good- will, Gustavus thought it expedient to issue a declaration of war, and commence operations against Norway, where he might pro- bably have done the best thing he ever did or could do •, have fallen like Charles the Twelfth, if he could have stood like him. Of his favorite project to conquer Zealand, it would be super- fluous to speak, if it were not for the opportunity which is thus afforded of mentioning that His Britannic Majesty's Ministers resolutely prohibited the army of General Moore from embarking in a nev/ attack on that island. « Where there is shame, there not osten: • The late Mr. WirKUiam assigned a reason for the expedition ag-ainst Copenhagen in the following terms, according to his wliinisical nvciniicr: " Tire Kmg of Sweden lieginning to dtspair of any supernatural assistance for ihc relief of Stralsund, and the British armament, liowever large, being inadequate for that purpose, luckily hit upon an expedient to art'ovd mi- nisters f-omc recounfonse for the trouble they had been at in fitting out the expedition under Loid Catlu art. ' Why don't you go and take the Danish fleet?' demanded the Swedish monarch. The boldness of the suggestion fit fir>t eoiifonnded ministers;; liut, alter some refleetion, or at least stratcii- ingof'CTds, they re[)lied, ' Faith! an txcellont thoii_;lu of your Majesty. W til, in (w d's n'iime, let us go and take the Danish Heel'." * V^oltaire's History of (Jiiarlcs the Twelfth, page 49. 247 may be virtue," say. Dr. Johnson, and Ministers merit some praise at least for embracing, as it might seem, an opportunity of satis- fying the world that they were conscious of having done quite enough to imitate Buonaparte. Of the policy pursued towards Denmark by the actual though not ostensible successor to Gustavus, General Bernadotte, it is but justice to say, that if it be impossible to love Sweden cordially but by cherishing a mortal hatred against Denmark, the Crown Prince of Sweden must be allowed to have reached the acme of patriotic perfection. The ministers of this country may have had weighty reasons : the feelings of the majority ' of them, I fear, would alone be suf- ficient to prompt them to desire that the Danish government should be placed decidedly in the wrong in the judgment of the Parliament and the people. Now, for the accomplishment of » purpose, which on financial grounds alone might be deemed highly desirable, an abler and a fitter instrument could not have been found than Jean Baptiste Bernadotte. Macbeth himself would have acknowledged that he occupied « A station in the file. Not in the worst rank of manhood." We need only refer to his former situation in life, to the inti- mate connexion which, as the commander in chief of the French army in Holstein, he must have maintained with the Danish government, to the consequent opportunities he may have had of diving into the heart's core of his Danish Majesty, aye, into his heart of hearts •, we need merely reflect on what fell from the advocates * of the expedition against Copenhagen on the subject of the share which this very same Bernadotte was thought to have had in the maritime designs at one time stated to have been enter- tained against this country by means of Denmark — a man whom they were then reviling in the most cutting terms of reproach, but whom they now praise and support, though he is deservedly tot- > A most pleasing excention is to be made in favor of the Secretary of State for ihe Home Department, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The nnvvearied efforts of Lord Sidmouth and Mr. Vansittart, m the first instance, to render justice to Denmark, or at least to obtain some pledge to that effect, are so well known in both countrie?, that I need not say anj tliini; on ihe subject. But gratitude . i ing from variows sources, towards those distinguished and most an\iabie characters, demands that 1 should raise my voice, however feeble, in praise and admiration ot the generous iiiterest which they have at all limes, in and out of office, taken in objects connected with the honor, hai>pinebs, and welfare of Deiin ark. ^ The speech of th« Right Han. Charks Yorke on the expediUon against Copenhagen. V ! i t , 248 tering on that eminence which he has hitherto occupied, to at least a negative and partial accomplishment of the services he undertook to render Europe j and we may be justified in concluding, that, as he has had it in his power, he has not labored under any lack of incli'iavlon to perform those kinds of political labor, which is but too geiicialiy deemed of the greatest value among statesmen. Ministers will sometimes indulge in speculations which contradict, as Mr. Burke ' expresses himself, or even detract from, the efficacy of that character, which they ought to preserve as the trustees, advocates, aitornies, and stewards of their King and country. And those, who directed the notable expedition agahist Copen- hagen, may perhaps havi^ been so far influenced by their indivi- dual feelings and opinions as to deem it right, however morally or politically wrong and inexpedient, to prevent Denmark, as far as their wisdom and power could extend, from ever after rendering herself obnoxious to similar suspicion:. The state-inquisition of Venice invariably put. those to death who had been accused and pronounced guiltless, lest they should attempt to revenge them- selves. Nevertheless, I trust that the moment will arrive, and speedily too, which shall expose the folly and danger of that policy, by which England has been prevented from rendering justice to a people closely allied to her by a common descent, by a similarity of language, manners, and morals, and by a most obvious identity of interests ', while her honor has been outraged by refusing that to the much injured and insulted nephew of her venerable sovereign, which has been gratuitously conferred on one with whom the good old King of England would perhaps have felt an insuperable reluctance to have held any intercourse. The attack on Norway will, it is to be hoped, prove the cli- macteric of all the aggressions and successful intrigues of which the Swedish cabinet, especially under the auspices of Bernadotte, has been guilty towards Denmark. It will at least, it may be confidently anticipated, furnish that distinguished commander with an opportunity of repairing the personal loss, which, on the au- thority of Sir Robert Wilson,- he sustained at the battle of Eylau. Perhaps, for the honor of the glorious cause in which he had latterly the amazing good fortune to be employed, he may at the same time satisfy the world, that he was at least able, if he had been so inclined, to do what might have been expected from his talents and political conversion. Such information will at least be acceptable to the nation in \vhose pay he has had the honor of marching a Swedish army from Stralsund to Lieee and back to • Burke's Works, vol. vii. page 6f5, Thoughts on French Affiiirs. * Sketch of the Campaigns in Poland in 1806 and 1807, page 106. -. ! no r the Baltic, losing by the way about 100 men in killed, wounded, and missing ; and acquiring for himself an enviable opportunity of sacrificing his private feelings to an heroic sense of higher duties i however much it is to be regretted, that such an oppor- tunity was afForded him by a man of honor like Sir Charles Stewart. Against such a ruler, That's not the twentieth part the tyth« Of th'.'ir precedent Lord : can it for a moment be doubted, that the Norwegians will not or ought not to oppose all the resistance, which can be suggested by an ancient and devout sense of duty to that line of kings under whom their country has enjoyed more freedom and as much real happiness as perhaps has fallen to the lot of any people in the civilized world ? Most certainly not. To form a different sup- position would be highly injuriou'i, not only to the Norwegians, but to human nature itself. On a question like the present, I am however conscious that too many proofs cannot be advanced, and since the Bernadotte party have succeeded in covering a worthy member of the Prince Re- gent's cabinet with a good deal of ridicule, and 1 fear some con- tempt, by rendering him the vehicle of some of the most arrant nonsense that ever was uttered in a British House of Parliament, I am anxious to give that Noble Lord (Earl Harrowby) an oppor- tunity of cautioning the individuals in question not to practise too much on good nature and credulity *, to which his Lordship might add the threat, that if they continue to furnish him with such in- formation relative to the Danish government, he will for the future simply consult Lord Molesworth. My Lord Harrowby gravely stated in the upper house, that the Norwegians would be transferred from an absolute to a free government. Now, since his Lordship, I am persuaded, possesses so much political acumen and candor as to admit, that a people may enjoy a great deal of liberty on paper and very little in fact, he will, I doubt not, give credence to some proofs which I shall bring forward in support of the assertion, that the Norwegians have, to all intents and pur- poses, been a free people. These proofs I draw, net from the honied statements of prosperous courtiers, not from the partial assertions of timid placemen, or from the agreeable communica*- tions of scribblers, who wrote for title or office. I draw the proofs from testimonies given at different periods by men far above the slightest suspicion of undue motives, especially in regard to their relations with the court of Denmark. The first of the writers, IM^ ill 250 whom I shall quote, might state wliat he liad to say respecting Norway, in a manner ratlier agreeable to the court of Denmark j but still he would not suporesa or disguise the truth. The next indeed apologizes in his preface for having stated his sentiment* with a degree of frankness, wliich at times borders too cloaely on a want ot modesty, and which he ascribes to that happy inde- pendence, in which he has always lived. This gentleman must therefore be supposed to have paid no particular attention to the manner in wliich he conveyed his matter. As for the third writer, he is exactly in the predicament of the poet who thus sings of hi» muse : ° " Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe, Who /ound'st nie pour at iirst, and kecp'st me so :" and may justly appropriate Gray's sentiments of himself, " Too poor for a brilje,aii(l too proud to importune. He had not the melhod of making his fortune." This gentleman is a vicar in some obscure part of the diocese of Bergen, and it may be truly affirmed of him that his head never ached for a mitre. The first of those writers remarks,' " The greatest part of our commerce and shipping was carried on with or employed by Eng- land. Every sailor and peasant along our coasts spoke English. Our clothes, food, and drink, v/ere English, and the prevailing tone among us was English in a high degree. But notwithstand- ing all that, those of the Norwegians who remained unmixed and undcbauchcd were at all times eminently devoted to their King and his line ; they are a valiant, frug.d, noble, magnanimous, and patient race of men, and especially during this war have proved themselves worthy of the peculiar care and parental love of their king." 'f he second author observes,^ « The bright path of liberty con- • ducts the Norwegian nation to prosperity and intellectual improve- ment,_ and preserves this region from that ignorance and stupor in which slavish countries are immersed." In another place this excellent and intrepid writer says, " The Norwegian nation has, ever since the union, evinced an unalterable attachment to the Danish government." In a beautiful lyric poem, dedicated to the present KinT of Denmark, then Prince Royal, and entitled the Prospect, the prince • What ought the Nation to wish, either War or Peace v ith England ? hy W. Seblielov, ('hrihtiansiinr!, 1810. Pa^r 40. ^ - Patriotic Tdeas, hy .Tacob All, jumor, oi'^NaiSs Iron-works. Clirislian- saiid, lauo. Pa-es 40. 103. i -4 t,ii i) ■ 251 is addressed in behalf of Norway by Themis, the Muses, &c. and lastly by the Goddess of Liberty, who thus announces herself: «« Prince ! Freedom is my name i in this region my temple stands. I render Norway happy •, to me she is indebted for her virtue and glory •, but to thee thy Norwegians will be indebted for me,'' ' Hence I am persuaded, that every truly loyal being must, in mind and heart, sincerely approve and applaud the heroic resolu- tion of the Norwegians not to surrender their country to the do- minion of a man, whose power originated like that of his fallen patron, was fed and strengthened by the same resources, and which, if finally consolidated, will stand in awful grandeur on the wreck of public principles, which have been alternately rejected and adopted as interest and ambition might direct. That the Nor- wegians may never acknowledge the ascendancy of such a man and such a rule, I most fervently pray, " Forbid it God, forbid it man !'* If we inquire how far the sacred flame of patriotism may have kindled the glorious resistance of the Norwegians, we shall discover the most noble and spirit-stirring impulse. The attempt on the part of Sweden to subjugate Norway is no novelty -, but it has always been repelled with a degree of courage, firmness, and unity, by which the national character of the Nor- wegians has acquired a stamp of superiority, to which the Swede* have always been in the habit of paying that respect which they will scarcely venture to refuse, though their army now possesses the experience— mw/M teneatis amici — « qu'elle a acquise dans la guerre d'AUemagne, sous la conduite d'un chef tel que la Prince Royal de Suede," ^ who may probably once more verify the fa- mous lines : " The man, who fights and runs away, May hve to fight another day ; But lie that is in battle slain, Will never rise to fight again." All Norway, it is well known, abounds with simple, artless memorials, called Bautasteene, erected to perpetuate the defeats of the Swedes. Some of these monuments, for instance a pyramid of Norwegian marble twenty feet high, with an inscription com- memorative of the death of Charles the Twelfth, erected by Fre- derick the Fourth near the fortress of Fredericksteen, where the Swedish king was killed, have been removed, with what some would call a laudable, and others perhaps a fastidious and a thank- less desire, on the part of the Danish government, to allay the national irritation of both countries. This kind and conciliatory t ■ _ » Poems by the Rev. Mr. Zellita. « H«tlexions, &c. page 17. Copenhagen, 1783. Page 182. Ft ii t "ft- ill 2j2 f ttentlon to the feelings of Sweden, It is, however, evident, hat produced no corresponding effect on the government of that country, whose happiness and j^lory will never be fully established until it shall be able to exclaim, " Dcinnark is no more !" and, from its natural disposition to mischief, not even then, I am per- suaded. The effect originally intended to be produced on th& population of Norway, by the erection of those memorials, ha«, however, in no degree been impaired, for the deeds, which called forth those public expressions of admiration and gratitude, have been preserved by less perishable means. The Norwegian Muse particularly delights in rehearsing the valorous achievements of the nation, though, in fact, no people can possibly be of a more quiet and peaceable dispositicii. But no sooner does the glaring Baune* announce from the summits of the hills the approach of public danger, than the aciilak of the Grecians, and, as the Norwegian* term it, Budstikkm, is dispatched from place to place with a zeal which must indeed be the best bulwark of any country. The phrase « A nation in arms," can of course only be applied in very few cases indeed j but of tliese cases Norway presents one, and I glory in adding, one of the most gratifying that can be imagined. Here is a people, in every political point of view, with reference to the past, present, and future interests of Europe, standing most perfectly on the defensive. It simply desires to be, what it always has been, independent. The declaration of this wish is the free, clear, and spontaneous will of the nation itself. Not a voice is raised in favor of submission to Sweden in any part^ of the country, from the Naze to the North Cape, from Cape Stat to the hills, which form a natural barrier beitioeeii the tvio countries. (I copy the poor old King of Sweden's own words in one of his proclamations to the Norwegians.) All hearts and all hands are most firmly united in supporting the country in the just, necessary, and glorious struggle, which the arts and the arms of the enemy have provoked. No propositions for a parley with him are made, or even thought of, after his inexorable purpose has been fuliy developed and ascertained. Tlie people have most solemnly de- termined to stand or fall with the independence of their country. Is not this a sight which * " With pleasure Heaven itself survey??" a nation struggling to offer the last sad mark of its fidelity and affection towards a kindred king and people, from whom it ha« been torn by every, the boldest, means that fraud or force could sup- » Wood raised in fortn of a rone on the tons of the hills, and set on firr in case of invasion. -'■M: 253 ply, while in the cours? of this most unprecedented and ungrfl- cious proceeding, it has itself been exposed to injuries, insults, and sufferings of a description, that has harrowed up the souls of the most obdurate, selfish and thoughtless. From such a display of national zeal and vigor, Norway may confidently anticipate the most beneficial consequences ; she may expect to become what she deserves to be, in the words of the much lamented predecessor of the Crown Prince of Sweden, a happtfi strongy inde-pendent and invincible country. ' In addition to l*r own efforts, she is blessed with the hearty good wishes of all mankind. Her cause is deeply rooted in the kindest afTcctions of our hearts j it is sanctioned by the unerring decisions of our consciences. Even Bernadotte, while he is craving, and oh ! what wonderful complaisance ! is permitted to take « the penalty and forfeit of his bond," must be conscious, that the feelings and impressions of all the world are against him, if Shylock-hke, he be not altogether destitute of the milk of human kindness. But perhaps he has been allowed to proceed to the execution of his fell purpose, only to sustain the more bitter disappointment in the failure of his awful scheme. Some Portia may step in, and Nor- way will prevail. Perhaps it is ordained, that the last efforts of continental oppression should be disconifiied on freedom's fa- vorite soil. A mountainous country like Norway is not easily conquered, because under all circumstances, even the most adverse, it Is full of resources. Of these, the first is unquestionably the spirit of the people, which will never be subdued. V/hat their ancestors did on similar occasions, the present Norwegians are as able and as willing to repeat. Since the key to Norway was not given up to Charles the Twelfth, as the price of safety to the town below the fortress, it will hardly be presented now to Charles the Four- teenth. Some new Peter Colbioernsen will give full scope to the utmost efforts of Norwegian valor and firmness, by inspiring the citizens of Frederickshald to set an example of patriotism similar to that which was exhibited at that place about a hundred years ago. * • The fare-well Address of Prince Christian August to the Norwegians. Christiania, 30th Deceiiibtr, 1809. * " Nolwithstandins: Cliarles the Twelfth was thus become master of tht town of Frederickshald the inhabitants did not acknowlediie iiis authority. Sonse of them retired to t!>.e lijrt, and others went on bo=ud the prume, or hid themselves in the inounlains. From all quarters a constant fire wiii kept up on the town, especially from the fort, to expel the enen)y, lest pro- tected by the houses, his attack on the fort mi<;ht he more tremendous, A few hours after the capture of the town, Charles sent a trumpeter to the f»rt t» solicit a trute^ who Yvab sent baik with this answer: " His Swec!i»* Id C54 New Lagertlias ' and Anna Colblocrnsens * will not only cheer the manly hearts of their gallant countrymen in the defence of their homes, their wives, and their babes, but in imitation of those matchless heroines, share in the toils, the dangers, and the anxieties of the sacred cause. The scene of Thermopylx will be acted again and again in the passes of Norway. The Swedes will Majesty being an uninvited jgiiest, it is oiir duty to send liim whence lie fame." The li(h;hty with whicli tliey meant to keep their pruniise was soon rvident to Charles, fur wlicn they found it iniiJossihle to (hslodgc tlieir enemy by the mere exccutiun of cannon, they desperately set tire to the town. tJne of the most uncommon scenes now took place ever recorileii hi history. Tiic citizens eagerly hastened to hre their own houses, while th« enemy in vain sought to extinguish the increa" the Twelfth, in the year 1716, of whirh J can only give an outline in this place. Mrs. Anna Colbioernsen was the wife of 'a Norwegian Clergyman. By her wondedid afldrcss she not onlj proved the insirument of preserving a detachment of Norwegian dragoons who had been stationed to watch the motions of the enemy, of whom a body of horse 800 strong were on the march to attack Konigsberg ; but actually contributed most essentially to the overthrow and dispersion of that Swedish division, whose. Commander, Colonel Loeven, was taken prisoner at Mrs. Ci Ibioernsen's house. After the action she was placed in imminent per- sonal danger, from which she rescued herself with uncommon pr^scnc- of mind. Site went out in company with another woman to view t.i: h' m^ of battle, when a party of Swedish horsemen coming up to them, a corporal pointed a carabine at Mrs. Colbioc rnsen's breast and demanded information relative to th.e Norwegians. Her companion fainted away, but Mrs. C. boldly asked, '' L; it the order of your King to shoot old women ?" when the Corporal, feelini: abashed, rem'oved his carabine, but persisted in his questions, and re; ol ";: such answers as led to the precipitate retreat of all the Swedes, v-. .> -v ,.-■ still ;n le to save themselves by fli^lit. On that occa- sion, she likewise exJ iliio-d a most striking instance ot that independent manner of thinb.mg auA acting which is so congenial to all classes of the Norwegian People."' On the day succeeding the victory, slie gave an enter- taitmient to the Norwcizian Officers, and placed 'Ihore llovland, a Quarter- master of dragoons, at\he head of the table, observing, that it was, " an honor assnredfy his due, for having led tiis counlrymea into danger, and been most couipicnoua in crowning them with glory." 25J5 not hare forced one strait or stormed a summit, before they will perceive the immediate necessity of forcing and storming others. They will lind every hill a fortress, every path a road to destruction, every tree a messenger of death. French tactics, Iiowever con- tummato, will be of no avail j there will be still less employment for Gallo- Swedish politics - the quintescence of all politics. There are no dulcia vitia of a corrupt court to tamper with, no blunder* of a feeble cabinet to take advantage of, no Macks to meet in the field, no foreign troops to be seduced, no coieries to be operated \!j)on, no aivisions to be effected among the people. The most active members of the Crown Prince's army in Germany, Mr. Schlegel, the compositors, pressmen, and their devils, will eat the bread of idleness in the camp Printing-OlFice, from which their master carried on such a desolating war against Bonaparte; and the Hero of Ponto Corvo himself will proli ibly aftov a short trial not ai all relish campaigning in Norway, but perhaps feel induced to listen to the earnest eiftrcaties, with which the good citizens of Stockholm may solicit his return to live over again the happy, merry days at Liege. The land that gave birth to Admiral Tordenskiold ' is not to be frightened or forced into submission to a race, whose ancestors trembled in their cradles at the bare name of a hero, whose spirit now appears to revisit the scenes of his deathless glory. In the words of a patriotic writer, it may be safely predicted, that, "while the Norwegians continue to preserve their ancient fidelity and firmness, that crown, which is the patrimony of Skioldunger, * » Admiral Tordenslsinld (Tlmndpr-shield, anamo most approfiriiiely con- ferred oil him by the King of Oeniiiiirk in ilhistratioii oHiis pubUc services) rose from obscurity to tlie nink ul' Vice-Adminil, hotlre he wus 28 yeurs old. He was killed in a duel with a -Swedish Colonel, Shiolj (probably au ancestor of the most conspicuous liunily in the ucrnadottc party) while he stopped at liainhtirgh on a jnurney to visit Ilis Majesty King Guorge the First of Enu;land. To sucli a Iicii2;ht of terrible fame hid tlic exploits of Tordeuikiold risen anionj' the euelnic.•^ of hi.s country, that the women of Sweden actually employed his name to iVigliten children into good belia- vioiir. It is particularly plcasin^j; to add, thai his desf eadants now worthily trace liis illustrious course; they liave alrraly made a great numiier of valuable captm-es from tiic .'; .vf.'des, ainnuj^:; winch is a iariie East ladianiati, probably the first that set sail under the auspices of the new political system of Sweden, so vchcincntly recon\mended by Madame Stael and Co. against theu- feelin^is atid against llieir judgments, 1 should add, if I did not know, Lutet nn^iih in herbu. * The Royal family of Denmark are at this day styled Skioldungcr or offspring of Skiold, who was accorchug to Alalling i'ag. 20. the original founder of the Danish throne ia the ^iorlh. lie attanied the royal, dignity, not only by exerting his valor ia the service of his country against foreign enemies, but iuor« particularly by proiautin^ thts iuteru*! welfare of fiis i:i i \ ;•*« IM ' tjQ shall never deck the audacicus front of a foreign conqueror. Among the mountains of Norway, his ambition shall find a grave, 5.nd his presumptuous plans be frustrated by 1 Norwegian valor| as the waves of the stormy ocean are repelled by the rock, whose natural strength defies their reiterated attacks." ' Yes ! under tile guidance of the illustrious example furnished by the late Prince Christian, "^ the present leader of the Norwegians will, in defence of the most honest cause for which the sword was ever drawn satisfy the court ct Sweden in its own words, that < the strength of nations consists far less in masses of men or rich treasuries than in the impulses, which are given to them by patriotism and mili- tary honor.* ^ But methinks I hear the spirit of Shakspeare bemoaning the outrage which has been offered to his memory by that list of reck- less resolutes, who are headed by Bevnadotte. It does not appear sufficient that they should have inherited from the founder of their fortunes a share of the properties of the rattlesnake, + quite ade- A f people. He abhorred slavery, and caused it to be abolished, and the vic- tims of misfortune always found in him a real friend. His warriors clelij^ht- ed in serving him, for he distributed the whole of the booty among them, saying: "Tlie prize money belongs to the soldiers; the glory is the°reward of their chiefs." * Some remarks occasioned by the political relations at present subsistini* between Norway and Swedew. By B. H. Munthe Morgenstierne Christ tiania, 1813. Pag. 9. * Late Stadtholder of Norway, who was called in the year 1809 to inherit the Crown of Sweden it would almost appear, for having successfuUr thwarted her views on Norway. This unfortunate and much lamented Prince died very suddenly in Sweden, and was succeeded by Bcrna- ustavu8 will be placed on the tlironc of Sweden ; tmd the intelligence is on every oc- casion repeated in the French papers, in a tone of rather ill omen to the hopes of " our much beloved son Oscar, Vrince of Norway." !1-^ 266 >-i 'i&l III! 11 j> ii, I Hi Let us now contemplate the beauty and perfection of the Swedisli Government, to which Bernadotte's scribes assure us tlie Norwe- gians will ofFcr no other resistance, than the tears which young dam- sels shed at their marriage, although in secret they desire the connexion. ' The Norwegians are an intelligent people. For this we have the authority of the Quarterly Review ; in which the Bernadotte party, to their great surprise and mortification, will no longer b*e- hold a zealous friend, but almost a neutral, and perhaps a well- wisher to the gallant and free Norwegians. "^ Trifles liglit as air Are to the jrnlotisconfunKitions Strang As proofs ut holy writ. Now docs the Swedish Government imagine that an intelligent people, like the Norwegians, would remain thoughtless spectators of the public transactions of a neighbour, against whom they have imbibed with their mother's milk the most rooted aversion ; an aversion rendered still more rational by such considerations as must naturally have occurred to the Norwegians upon a view of the political convulsions in Sweden within the last forty years. In 1772, the limited constitution of Sweden was entirely in the unlimited power of the aristocracy, whose tyranny Gustavus the Third successfully destroyed, as Paley observes, with the acqui- escence, not to say the assistance, of the people, of whom, as well as of the nobility, the same king contrived to render himself alto- j'^'^ther independent, at the diet in 1789. In 1792, this unambitious and unassuming uru le of the present moderate and equitable King of Sweden, suddenly dissolved the diet of Gefle, because it felt dis- inclined to support him in certain Quixotic military projects against Norway ; and he was some time afterwards assassinated by one of his own subjects. His son, Gustavus, the fourth Adolphus, evidently appeared to have inherited the despotic notions of Charles the Twelfth, who not only himself thought, but had actually made his subjects also believe, that they were born only to follow him to the field of battle, ^ How much Gustavus respected the Constitution of Swe- den, may be seen from his conduct at Nordkioping, in 1 800, where he ordered one of the partizans of the court to direct the spokes- man of the peasants to declare, <' The state consents." Tlie se- cretary wrote as he was told, and the intimidated peasants held their tongues. This unconstitutiorial King was at last dethroned, after he had well nigh accomplished the ruin of his country. » Reflexions, p. 13. * Vohaire'sIIistur) of Charles Xlf. p. 35lt son, fife '' »( 267 He was succeeded by his loving uncle, his present Swedish Majesty, who will be ever distinguished in history for striking 0"t a plan for the acquisition of Norway, which no common statesman would have ventured to conceive and execute. He adopted for his son, and heir to the Crown of Sweden, the bravest and most suc- cessful man that ever directed the efforts of the Norwegian nation against the restless and unprincipled designs of the Court of Swe- den —the good and gallant Prince Christian. Whether this illus- trious and unhappy Prince, on a nearer acquaintance with his Swedish Majesty, thought proper to remonstrate against the exe- cution of a scheme, which from his knowledge of the Norwegians, he knew could not be accomplished ; whether he was barely sus- pected of a disinclination to promote the annexation of Norway, which he was intimately persuaded the inhabitants of that country most sincerely deprecated, and would most strenuously resist i or whether he was found untractable in other respects, an end was put to the career of this most truly virtuous Prince before he had lived six months in his adopted country. The melancholy event gave risi to various events, from which the people of Norway drew the most afflicting conclusions in regard to the fate of their beloved Prince ; but the Court of Sweden took the greatest pains to invalidate, and, if possible, to remove the impressions, to which it might otherwise have been obnoxious. At the funeral of the Prince, the inhabitants of Stockholm did not, however, appear satisfied with the attestations of the faculty ; they « doubted some foul play;" knowing that the Prince was generally ctyled by the nobility « the Prince of the mob." In consequence, Count Fersen was dragged out of his carriage in the solemn procession, and mur- dered. A similar fate, it seems, was intended for a Countess, who now goes by the name of Signora Tofana ; and a physician of the court, an Italian, of the name of Rossi, who was the body-physi- cian of the late Prince, thought proper to leave off practising in Sweden. I have no hesitation to add, from my personal know- ledge of the impressions which the death of Prince Christian, by whatever cause it may have been occasioned, produced among the Norwegians, that that event alone has in no small degree tended to arm the population of Norway against the pretensions of the Court . of Sweden. So much for the genius of the constitutional government of Sweden, especially when the chief magistrate thinks it his duty not to disregard the rights and feelings of the inferior orders. Nov/ the Norwegians must be perfectly aware that that very indif- fereiit derenaeror ihc ucauiuui cauac ui nucrti Prince of Sweden, neither can, will, nor dares to pursue the line of public conduct adopted by his predecessor; and that he and his J? I '*4 ^ii liii 268 government must therefore be perfectly unsuitable to their country. His friend Machiavel may tell him, besides, that it is a hopeless at- tempt to reduce to slavery a nation imbued with the spirit of fiecdom. With respect to the dispositions of the Court of Sweden, there is but one opinion throughout Norway, and that opinion is founded on well attested knowledge of the ruling passion of that Court. So the cabinet of Sweden can but make a hgure, it does not care if it be a ridiculous and a contemptible one. Perfect masters of tho ethics of vanitiji the statesmen of Sweden, in Burke's words, ** exist by every thing which is spurious, fictitious, and false j by every thing which takes the man front his house, and sets him on a stage, which makes him up an artificial creature, with painted theatric sentiments, fit to be seen by the glare of candle-light, and formed to be contemplated at a due distance." ' It is a fact, at least it is boastingly asserted by Swedish diplo- matists, that Sweden might at any time have recovered Finland by holding up her hand. But the dashing statesmen of Sweden did not think proper to gratify the anxious desire of the inhabitants of Finland to return to their former government j and entirely disre- garded the national feelings of the Swedes, in behalf of the people of Finland, who universally detest the Russian Government, if the statements of Swedish diplomatists are to be credited. The Court of Sweden preferred acquiring a country, which, to use its own magnanimous and jihilanihrojnc language, will prove a bur- then, to recovering a province which was the granary of the capital and great part of Sweden. In thus repudiating the people of Finland, the Court of Sweden has undoubtedly furnished a striking proof of the practical efFects of the jt)///7oso/% of vanity. These transcendant politicians seem to have discovered, that the nearest and easiest road to Finland led through Norway. They imagine that if the military force of Norway be but at their perfect disposal, the loyal population of Finland will adopt the necessary means to project the deliverance of their country ; and against that time the political tempests, which have just subsided, may again open new views, favorable to the restless ambition of a court confessedly the most troublesome and intermeddling In all Eu- rope. The conquest of France in 1814, and more particularly the mercy shown to her, affords a fine field for speculation : on that subject, Bernadotte may perhaps feel some compunctious vislt- ings, which maybe still more quickened by a sense of the Invalu- able friendship of the Sublime Porte •, and he may probably, at ' Burke's Works, Vol. VI. p. 32. Letter to a Member of the NatiQaJ Assembly. Hii • m the end of a long soliloquy, make up his mind, that the preponde- rance of Russia has increased, is increaijing,and ouglit to be dimi-> nished. If Finland was too near Petorsburgh, why may not Peters- burgh be said to be too near Finland, (which the court of Sweden will never give up the hope of recovering), and would not the Emperor Alexander be more properly lodged in the sacred city of the antient Czars ? Bernadotte in his heart thinks, that he has after all been but scurvily treated. The island of Guadaloupe, has been withheld from him rather ungraciously j and in the case of Nor- way, h« bears some resemblance to a person who is allowed to keep the skin of the bear, which he must himself kill. It seems in fact, as if certain high contracting parties wished to turn out Berna- dotte for a day's sport among the mountains of Norway, thereby insi- nuating, that if he has ever laughed in his sleeve at them, they are de- sirous of returning the compliment. Indeed, Bernadotte appears to have had great if not just cause of complaint, against some of the heads of the confederacy against Bonaparte. They either could not or would not treat him like a gentleman •, of which various instance* have been cited by his advocates, which leaves no doubt of hit meekness so forcibly insisted on by Sir Charles Stewart. But jBern?dotte, who might have sat for the picture of tlic Jew, which Shakspeare drew, will remember how he has been rated " About his monies, and his usances." .His particular obligations toEngland, it will be observed, cease j and, considering the proverbial short memories of Princes, will probably be forgotten, the moment the Swedish flag is not necessary to pro- tect the commerce of England. With the breaking up of the English colony at Gottenburgh, the praises so lavishly bestowed on this nation, by the Swedes, will no longer fill the columns of the News-papers. Things will revert to their ancient order. The political relations of Sweden, will be found to be what of neces- sity they must be, favorable to France, hostile to Russia, and by a natural consequence, inimical to England. Bernadotte will repair and adorn with fresh embellishments, the monument of the wis- dom of the Empress Catharine, which her grandson has suffered to become as great a scandal as the declaration, whereby he solemnly pledged himself to restore it to its pristine strength and beauty. The asseverations of Bernadotte to promote the peace of the North, by raising fresh wars, and to conGolidate the tranquillity of Europe, by giving rise to discussions, on which different sentiments must exist, will then be duly appreciated ; and we shall see, what credit m "■']■ OIlr^ll^ fn lii-iro 1>.'iqii . *1 CD Lli^K they would be able to satisfy the honorable scruples of England, to lull her fears, and to impress the conviction, that her best interests i 270 i:af Hi I* 01 m 111 1* were «?«8entially promoted by the annexation of Norway to Sweden, With deference however to the Swedish Ambassador at this court, and the few— very few individuals indeed, who are of his way of thinking on the subject of Norway, very little credit will, I trust, appear to have been given to the statements of the merci- less, presumptuous, and perhaps at this moment, I fondly hope, dis- appointed, enemies of Norway. Of this we shall perhaps soon be satisfied by leifers from Sweden^ written in Mai/fair^ animadvert- ing in no ambiguous or civil terms on the notorious inefficacy of the British blockade of Norway. For the rulers and politicians of Sweden can be as loud and as cutting in their strictures on the application of the naval power of England, if it be not conducive to their interest, as any other foreign government has ever been. Sweden has certainly been infinitely nore furious both in actions and words than the Danish government, regarding the naval supre- macy of England. Yet Bernadotte's advocates now unblushingly aver, that Denmark has been punished, solely because she did not drop in proper time the principles of the armed neutrality. Swe- den, however, it seems, was better acquainted with the tompor, spirit, and resources of England, and the humor of her government^ than Penmark ; and accordingly she is now assisted to reap in in- famy what she has sown in iniquity. It may not therefore be improper to show, how Sweden has formerly thought, felt, and acted, respecting the maritime rights of England. In the noted cases of the two Swedish convoys condemned by England, Sweden sent one of the commanders to the scaffold, be- cause he did not sufficiently dispute the ultima ratio of the King of England, for subjecting the Swedish vessels in question to an investigation before Sir William Scott. Sweden thus gave a pretty unequivocal proof of the sincerity of her inclination at least, to define the maritime rights of England. Denmark never betrayed such violence of resentment j but it may be said it was only because she did not meet with a similar opportunity, and I am willing to allow the force of the objec- tion. For whenever any thing like an insult was offered to the Royal flag of Denmark, its honor was always protected and assert- ed to the utmost, with that valor and skill, which perhaps in reality constituted the secret art-'^'es of Tilsit. In 1800 Sweden raised an outcry against England, scarcely lesa violent than if her capital had been burnt, her niivy carried oft, and every one of her merchant ships swept from the ocean. Sir Thomas Louis, in the Minotaur, at that time cruizing in the Medi- terranean, felt anxious to obtain possession of two Spanish vessels, 271' which lay at Barcelona, laden with naval and military stores for South America. In consequence, the admiralty directed Captain Hii- lyei', of the Niger frigate, to take the necessary measures. The boats of the Niger were dispatched, and, meeting in the mouth of the har- bour a light Swedish galliot, the British olhcer conceived, that from on board of his vessel this enterprise might be more efFectually accom- plished. He therefore represented to the Swedish Captain the state of the case, probably adducing some arguments which the Swedish Captain found absolutely irresistible. The English thus attacked the Spaniards, and carried them both off. No sooner was the transac- tion known in Sweden, than it became a subject of the most bitter and rancorous invective against England ; not merely through the ordinary channels of official communication, but by means of the most vulgar and unworthy expedients, that could possibly be de- vised. The cabinet of Sweden, which cannot now find a single passage in the Law of Nations, to justify the Norwegians ia defeating the stratagem attempted to be played ofF against them, then fulminated quotations from Grotius, PuffendorfF, and Vattel, denouncing all the terrors of political vengeance against the British Ministry for sanctioning, or conniving at the act of a subaltern, who perhaps purchased the spotless character of the Swedish flag for a few guineas. For the main ch?rge of the Swedish government, on that occasion, was founded in downright falsehood. No violence was offered to the Swedish Captain ; nor did the English cover their intended attack on the Spaniards by a display of the Swedish flag. To prove the last assertion, I need only adopt the language of one of the English officers employed on the occasion, *« We never fire a shot, but our enemies may see whence it comes.'* The Swedish government, however, adduced the Barcelona busi- ness, as a particular ground for acceding with mad alacrity to th© mad convention of the mad Emperor Paul. But Sweden would of course behave more graciously to Engv* land, when this country poured forth her legions to defend, if not to aggrandize her, and when she diffused with a liberal hand the benefits of her friendship throughout all classes of Swedes from the King to the Dykker,' who casts an anxious eye over the ocean and fervently prays for a speedy abundance of wrecks ! Let us hear the words of an intelligent and very candid English traveller. «*The Swedes ascribe to England alone all the outrages and losses sustained by tliem, since the conclusion of the allbnce between the two powers." * Dykkeriet is a very honorable and useful institution in Sweden, which provides for the legal plundering of wrecks. It is upou the whole a fiu« monument of th« public naoraJitv of Sweden. n:v i^ll I 272 I 111 « This unreasonable, arid I may almost say, ungrateful preju*- •iice against us, has struck me as a very unamiable feature in the national character. It is the more so, as we have rather a greater partiality for the Swedes than for any other foreign nation, and as ■we have uniformly shewn every disposition to favor them." « But they do not only wish to have no connexion with this country and sigh for their ancient alliance with France -, they ex- tend their hatred against us even to their own king and govern- ment.'" Again, and even in a publication avowedly undertaken for the pur- pose of initiating the nations of Europe, in the arcana of the new political system which more particularly ought to unite England and Sweden, the latter takes an opportunity of chiding the former, and in terms which very nearly place the chief belligerents on a par in regard to their duties to the world at large. « If England lometimes handle neutrals roughly, Bonaparte never tolerates any whatever ;" * says the ingenious Mr. Schlegel. I am rather surprised that some high-mettled tenant of Doctor's Commons, or Master in. Chancery, has not taken up the gauntlet thus thrown, with what justice, it is not now my business to enquire. But thus much is clear, that Sweden must and will prove a vi- per, which England may find some difficulty in shaking ofFj and that so far from deriving any return for past, present or future favors, the very weight of her benefactions may, perhaps at no great distance of time, only prove a plea for fresh demands, perhaps raised, that they might be refused. The history of the North furnishes a memorable instance, which Bernadotte may probably think eminently worthy of imitation. After the peace of Roe&- kilde, which was signed on the 26th of February, 1658, between Denmark and Sweden, the Kings of both countries repaired to the castle of Fredericksborg, in the island of Zealand, and passed some days together in feasting and rejoicings. The Queen of Denmark, Sophia Amelia, took the greatest pains to entertain the Swedish king with every degree of magnificence and pomp, which so joy- ous an occasion called for. But the very hospitalities and attention shevi'n him in Denmark, only tended to confirm Charles Gustavus in his predetermined purpose of breaking the peace, as soon as he had completed his preparations for war. For the Danish queen, though a woman of fine understanding, rather imprudently display- ed all the riches and splendor of Fredericksborg, and tlie king ^ Macdona'Id's Travels thrcngh Denmark and part of Sweden, during the •wioter and spring of i809. Vol. y. page lua. * App«al to the wations of Europe, pa^e 64. iijiii ni^ I 273 of Sweden became so attached to the place, that he resolved to en- joy its charms more at ease ' than he could do a?, a casual visitor. He accordingly soon returned to Fredericksborg in the character of master, and commenced leisurely an inspection, which but for a disastrous accident by sea might have yielded perhaps as hand- some a sum to him as his illustrious successor, Bernadotte, would have netted from the sundry pieces of plate, candlesticks, &c. bear- ing the arms of almost all the states of Germany, had they not been rudely taken out of his trunks in Poland. Now, although Bernadotte has not the benefit of a personal view of the splendor and riches of England ; there is enough in his character and conduct as well as in the genius and dispositions of the cabinet over which he presides, to impress the Norwegians with just and serious fears relative to the future views of the Swedish government, especially with regard to England. A people who are nationally and individually distinguished by genuine simplicity of heart — that healing and cementing principle — may well dread subjection to rulers, who place their chief pride and a kind of demoniacal delight in refined policy, which, as Burke observes, *' ever has been the parent of confusion ; and ever will be so, as long as the world endures." ^ Who will undertake to sa- tisfy the Norwegians that their blood shall not be shed for objects, not only foreign, but absolutely injurious to them in every view of the subject ? Nothing is naturally dreaded and deprecated so much by the Norwegians as a state of hostility with England •, in fact the hope of precluding as far as lies in their power, the recurrence of war with England forms one of the principal features of the resis- tance made to Sweden. When the latter country shall have become perfect mistress of the Baltic, Bernadotte may think it highly ex- pedient to throw out for consideration in certain quarters various queries, grounded on reflections like Burke's. *« I must fairly say, I dread our omi povi^er and our oison ambition ; I dread being too much dreaded. It is ridiculous to say, that we are not men ; and that as men we shall never wish to aggrandize ourselves in some v.-ay or other. Can we say, that even at this very hour we arc not invidiously aggrandized ? We are already in possession of al- most all the commerce of the world. Our empire in India is an awful thing. If we shou.d come to be in a condition not only to have all this ascendant in commerce, but to be absolutely able, without the least controul, to hold the commerce of all other nations totally dependent on our good pleasure ; we may say, that we shall not abuse this astonishing and unhcard-oi power. But ' Portrait of queen Sophia .A.melia of Denmark. Historical works of N. D. lliegels, Vol. 1. page 28r. ' Speech on conciliation with America. 3. Vol. page SI; No. VII. Fam. Vot. IV. S h. 274 r: 'ii II .**■ every other nation will think we shall abuse it. It is impossible but that sooner or later, this state of things must produce a com- bination against us which may end in our ruin." ' Indeed what, man can be deemed more inclined to pursue objects inimical to the repose of mankind than the one who is raving and ranting about making the Norwegians free and independent soldiers, at a •moment, when Europe prepares to turn the swords into plough- shares, and the spears into pruning hooks. Let Bernadotte apply himself to the arts of peace, although he has arrived at an age, when a change of conduct may be supposed to be rather irksome and diflicult. But really his own intercuts, not less than thos>* of Sweden, require that he should abandon his in- famous and qiixotic attempt on Norway. The feeling of Ey.rope as well as the immutable principles of right and justicfe are decidedly against him ; and though he should acknowledi^e him- self guilty of an error in judgment, let him console himself with the reflection, that strength is liable to error as well as weakness. He had infinitely better draw up a respectful and candid memo- rial to the Emperor Alexander, expressive of his regret at not having availed himself of his Imperial Majesty's most gracious offer to restore Finland to the Swedish crown, and thus declaratory of his anxiety to fulfil as speedily as possible those distinct pro- mises to Sweden, relative to the restoration of Finland, which smoothed the way to his present elevation. Such an arrangement, (to the practicability of which Lord Holland alluded, in the most pointed terms, in tlie debate on the blockade of Norway), would prove the best pledge which Bernadotte could give of sincerely pacific sentiments. Hj probably long ago thought, that he had ac- quired trophies enough j let him prove himself anxious to deserve those honors of peace, to which nations and rulers can now, thank God, once more aspire. Instead of priding himself in having re- duced one of the freest nations in Europe to slavery, let it be his boast, that lie diffused the blessings of liberty to all classes of the nation, which he already rules. In attempting to abolish the hardships and ignominy of vassalage, by which the peasantry in some of the most populous provinces of Sweden are oppressed, especially those that formerly belonged to Denmark, I am aware that Bernadotte might be some-what startled by a recollection of the hapless fate of his immediate predecessor. " * Burke's Works Vol. 7, page 103. Jiomarks on the policy of the Allies. ^ Whf^n Tlfrivaflottt^ lirst i.-itidci! in Swrden cu his :i!![!i:i!Ument to be Crown Prince, lie was adHressed hy a depiitatioii ot' i!ie iNohilil}', In reply, he fUveit most puUieticaliv on the lametiialilc tiite ot' tlie lonner Crown Prince, uiid in infiay plain ttrniS) mtiuiatf.d iliat lit "ilit.uKl avoid lollowing- his steps. Tlie hint has no dunbt been uiuiually bt.ntlii.ul. 273 For the aristocracy of Sweden is, I doubt not, an overmatch for him, at present ; though he may flatter himself to be able by the subjugation of Norway, to gratify the ambition, humor the ca- prices, and supply the wants of all the noble drones in Sweden. Norway, it is true, is not exactly a land flowing with milk and honey. Still by the aristocracy of Sweden it is viewed, as if it were the land of promise, and thus it is more particularly incum- bent on the Norwegians to resist the pretensions of Sweden. It is therefore to be ardently hoped, that Swedish nobility may be favored with a sight of Norway and no more. After having sketched, though slightly and indistinctly, the no-' ble and lofty grounds on which the Norwegians are prepared to oppose the pretensions of Sweden, it might seem beneath the dig- nity of the subject to consider what share a view of their interest may have had in the patriotic and courageous resolution of the Norwegians. But since the organ of Bernadotte thinks fit to assert, that "II est clair que les interots des deux royaumes unis de la Scandinavie sont essentiellement les memes," it is necessary to observe, that far from that being the case, the interests of both kingdoms (Bernadotte will excuse me for not styling them united)^ are diametrically opposite. The products of both countries being' just the same, they would both become commercial rivals ; and Sweden possessing the power of regulating the concerns of both, she would not of course forget, that charity begins at home. I purposely abstain from pursuing any farther comparison of inte- rest between two countries, which bear about as much resem- blance to each other as the powers of light and darkness. That the Swedish government, must actually be a power of darkness, and that it lias no notion whatever of the force which plain good intention possesses in the government of mankind, will be fully evident from the measures, which it has had recourse to and still pursues with a vicv/ to perplex and pervert the Norway question, chiefly for the sake of imposing upon the goveranient and people of England. " Le Prince Chretien," says the most shameless of Bornadotte's advocates, " en anticipant sur les fonctions ^ de souverain, se donne I'air de nomm.er des ambassadeurs. On sr.it qu'il a envoye un pleni- potentiaire en Angleterre, pour disposer la gouveniemer.t Britanni- que en sa faveur." " Nous ignorons quels argumens ce nouveau diflplKate aura em- ployes pcur plaider sa cause, mais on aurait pu lui repondve de la miniere suivante ; « Quel motif si pressant vous povte a de: lander notre assistance, lorsnue sans Tintervcntion de rAa^^letene vous etes » Rc.*?exions, kr, pagn 10. * .U('fle.\ioaS; pagt 1?. li t'' tP :!■■■ ' ^ 276 m ■ X IRt au moment dc passer d'un regime absolu a un regime constitu- tioiinrl ?" , • I r 1 1 Admitting, that this vvritor ought not to be deprived of the be- nefit of his plea of ignorance, for which in reality, I dare say, he -will not thank me, I must beg leave to refer him to Yattel, where he discusses the nullity of treaties. " A treaty made for an unjust and '^' '•'^nes!: intention is abso- lutely null, nobody having a right to d - contrary to the law of nature. Thus an offensive alliance . ve to ravage a nation from whom there has been no injury received, may, or rather -ought, to be broken." Book II. ch. xn. § 161. «« We oua;ht not to assist him, whos* course is unjust, whether he be at war with one of our allies, or with another btatc : for this would be the same, as if we contracted an alliance for an un- just purpose which is not permitted. No one can be validly engaged to support injustice." § 168. Now, from the reluctance uniformly shown by His Btitannic Majesty's Ministers to countenance and sanction the infamous project of Sweden against Norway, had not tlie inhabitants of the latter country the clearest and most undoubted right to make a direct appeal to a government, so deeply interested -with reference to Its own character and that of the nation, indepeiidently of other most weighty considerations—in annulling the proceeding against Norway ? . i • • i r The Norwegians knew, that restoration was the principle ot the good cause, and they may have heard, that that principle was intended also to be applied in the case of Finland, which, on the authority of the writer whom I now refute (if he should happen to be, which I suspect, a Swedish diplomatist high in rank), Sweden might have recovered, agreeably to the spontaneous ofier of the Euiperor Alexander, who would be most properly addressed in behalf of Norway through the medium of England. In appealing to England, the Norwegians conhdently relied on the hearty good wishes of the people of this country ; and in this respect their hopes have been fulfilled, perhaps, beyond the ardent expectations of the most sanguine. ^ They moreover anticipated the cordial aid of a certain class ot men, who, from their unwearied efforts in the cause of humanity, from their universally acknowledged respectability, and from their presumed political independence, would, it was fondly hoped, have gladly stood for^M to impel the wavering decisions ot mi- _!_._..„ :,, -ho*- A\r^nt\nn v.-Mrh would prove congenial to the feelings, principles, and prejudices of Englishmen If the ex- pectations of the Norwegians from the body alluded to have been ^rievouslv disappointed, it is however some consolation to knor. 11 277 the cause to which the disappointment is to be attributed. That cause is to be found in the machinations of Bcrnadottc's agents. When the Norway question was lirst i"i» But the Swedish Government will probably give the Norwegians no further trouble. In fact, it appears to be flinching already.* Having fully succeeded, by its conduct towards tJorway, to rendiar itself odious to all the world, it now rapidly fills up the climax of its degradation by making itself quite ridiculous. The world smiled when his Majesty the late King of Rome was exhibited on the great stage of affairs to perform various feats, such as revif iw- ing the troops, pulling off his hat most condescendingly, and t.ell- ing the national guards at Paris, « Messieurs I the King of Rome salutes you," ike. ; for it was rightly concluded that his fathef ap- . pciired to be conscious of the impending ruin of his tottering for- tunes. May the world not be excused for laughing outrigl it (if old afTc were not in the case) when Bernadotte threatens to open tlie attack on Norway with a sea fight, to be conducted by his poor old father, who has most graciously condescended to volunte- er his services on the occasion. The boldness of the design is the more surprising, when it is considered that it is attempted in open defi- ance to the opinion of the ablest advocate Sweden has fou nd in England. Mr. Cantiing obligingly told us, that ships coult I not scale the mountains of Norway : but however great the extei it of his information may be, he does not appear to know what the 1 Cing of Sweden, when fully habited in his admiral's uniform, bo oted and spurred, may attempt. I believe once in the Baltic, on a visit to Sir Jiimes Saumarez, h' afforded the crew of the Victory a j ;ood deal of mcniment ; and 1 have no manner of doubt that the ) iSTor- wegian sailors will be obliged for as much to his Swedish Ma- jesty. But a recent occurrence has perhaps already opened an other and a more congenial scene of enterprise to his Swedish Maj esty's thirst for naval glory •, the rather so, as his hopeful son niaj r per- haps thus have another opportunity of making and receivi ng an overcharge for his services. The French papers, with a deg ree of effrontery exceedingly unseemly at this period, propose the extir- pation ot the states of Barbary as an object more worthy < ^f Eu- rope than the abolition of the slave-trade; and as Sweden h: is just been most grossly insulted by the Dey of Algiers, * Bemad otte is now exactly in the predicament of the dog in the fable, wl lo held one piece of beef in his mouth and saw another nn the water. ' Tlie very last accounts from Sweden inform us, that N orway can only • be cc.nqiieml by fiiniue; tliat great stores u'i provisions ha ve betni laid in; and that the f()rtross«;<; arc in the best state of defence, that of Frederikshald leing impio^ricilde. Sweden at the same time puts the sigi nficant question, " Will the Allies assist us ni subduing Norway ?" » If ;. ., .,...^1 f...t,....,tp r-ir !1pv (if A bfifirs has mad« free with sour- Daiii li vliips also; otherwise Bernadotte would certainly trnisp the Kins: of Drum irk of liavinu: commenced a frioc dship with that barbarian, in oidcr to create a ^iversion in fuvor of Norway, !i; 284 ':| ( i^l^ llRAlfe . m\ There can be little doubt that Sweden ought not to put up with the insolence of the Dey of Algiers; but the difficulty of resenting the affront will be materially increased by the necessity of making a show of doing something against Norway. In this dilemma, Bernadotte will perhaps most consult his honor by raising the blockade of Norway, to proceed with all possible speed to chastise the Dey of Algiers. And if in this also he should fail, let him be cheered by the consolation, that the Mediterranean possesses the most commodious and pleasant harbour, in whicli his shattered vessel could find safety. By this time the British Goverimicnt will have received, from a trustworthy and sagacious observer, ' full and fair information rela- tive to the state of Norway; and that information will, I am satis- fied, greatly tt-nd to raise the King and people of that country in the opinion of his Britannic Majesty's Ministers. They will likewise have been put in possession of ample details of the proceedings of the Swedish Government ; which, I venture to predict, will, in consequence, feel itself much lowered in the estimation of the Government of this country. • Thus his Britannic Mijesty's Ministers will, T devoutly hope, be fuUj- satisfied of the justice, propriety, and policy of acceding to the ^^eneral wish of the English nation, by giving their powerful voice in favor of Norway. The cause of humanity, truth, virtue, and all that is honorable and gratifying to our nature, will, I doubt not, find England as ever, that '' \iln(.ii,--*ti;l pjonipt t!,c captive's wront; lo'nif], Anfl wi( id ill trcfrloin's cause the heeinaii's generous blade."* Should a dlifcrent result attend the glorious strugs^le of Nor- way ; the noble inhabitants of that country will not at least have cause to regret the part which with so great unanimity, firmness, and z.eal, they determined to act. They will live or die in the hope, that their animating example may not be lost on posterity. For, as Locke expresses himself, " If God has taken awav all means of seeking remedy, there is nothing left but patience. But my son, when able, may seek the relief of the law, which I am d.'uied : He or his son may renew his appeal, till he recover his right. But the conquered, or their children, have no court, no avbirratcr on earth to appeal to. Then they may appeal, as J^phtha did, to heaven, and repeat their appeal, till they have reco- vered the native right of their ancestors, which was to have such a legislative over them, as the majority should approve, and freely ' Mr. iMoricr, the Kniilish Coninusbioner to Xorwuy, w Iio returned to London on the SOtli of July. * Paiciline; an Oxford Prize PGCin, by KcginalJ Ilebcr. ■•HiHMMMIMa 285 acquiesce in. If it be objected, this would cause endless trouble.; I answer, no more than justice does, where she lies open to all, that appeal to her. He that troubles his neighbour without a c;iuse, is punished for it by the justice of the court he appeals to. And he that appeals to heaven, must be sure he has right on his side ; and a right too, that is worth the troubk' and cost of the appeal, as he will answer at a tribunal that cannot be deceived, and will be sure to retribute to every one accord:- ,; to the mis- chiefs he hath created to his fellow subjects •, that is' any part of mankind. From whence 'tis plain, that he that conquers in an unjust war, can thereby have no title to the subjection and obedi- ence of the conquered." Locke's Essay on Government, Ch. xvi. $. 176. Pag. 304. Ed. 1698. But I fondly cling to the hope that the high spirited and gallant people of Norway may themselves long enjoy, and hand down un- impaired to their latest posterity, the blessings and honors which may be anticipated from a successful issue of their just, necessary, ijnd resolute struggle; for the physical strength of Norway can only give way to afford a more illustrious and affecthig display of tlie workings of that moral power, wliich has been so finely described in the following lines : Thus fought Britannia's sons; — but wlien o'erlhrown, More keen and fierce the ilame of freedom shone : Ye woods, wiiose'cold and leiigthen'd tracts ofshiide Hose on the daj^, when sun and stars were made; Waves of J,0(lore, that fr»»ui the mountain's brow Tumble your ilood, and !-,hake the vale below; Majestic Skiddav.-, round whose trackless sleep 'iVIid the bright sunsliine darksome tempests sweep: To you the patriot fled ; his native land lie spurn'd, when proffer'd by a conqueror's hand; In you to roam at large, to lay hh head On the bleak rock, uuclud, uuhous'd, unfed : Hid in the aguish fen,' whole days to rest, The numbing waters gatlier'd round his breast: 'J'o see Despondence cloud each rising morn, Ajid dark Despair hang o'er the years unborn ; "Yet here, ev'n here, lie greatly dared to lie, And drain the luscious dregs of libcity ; Outcast of nature, fiiiuting, wasted, wan. To breathe an air his own, and live a n»an.* > Many writers assert, that the Britons in their retreat would hide them- selves in the bogs, up to their thins in water.— Dio Nica'U?,tSic, * The Aboriginal Britons, an Oxiord I'rize Poem, for 1791, by George Kichards, B. A. of Oriel College, p. W.