of the Sound I will begin with the City the rather because when I have done with that I have little more to say of any other in the King of Denmark's Dominions there being no other belonging to him much better than our Town of St. Albans Thus far our Author This Island of Zealand containing the chief City of all Denmark and being the place of Residence of its Kings and consequently more frequented by Strangers than most of the other parts of this Kingdom we might have justly expected a more exact Account thereof than of the rest which how it has been performed will be worth our taking notice of The circumference of Zealand he makes to be â—80 English Miles when I am surre I could never meet with any body whether Daâ—e or other Foreigner that knew this Island but all confirmed what I had observed as near as I could before that the length of this Island were about 20 Danish Leagues and if you do reckon but a Danish League to consist of four English Miles as certainly they do at least the circumference which this Gentleman himself is pleased to make almost circular must by computation amount to 240 English Miles which is 60 more than is mentioned in the Author's Description And according to this Calculation you must give grains of allowance for all the rest he cannot says he recommend its Fertility there being no Bread Corn growing there in any part except Rye but he had forgot that there also grows Wheat in some parts and Barley almost every where in abundance as also a great quantity of Oats He says That there are few Ports in this and many other of these Islands capable of harbouring a Vessel of 200 Tuns neither that this is a sensible want because there are no Commodities in this Island for Exportation I must confess he has been a little more modest in this Assertion than in any other before having added the words that I know of yet it is a wonder that his Grave and Sensible Men could not instruct him better They must for all their Gravity have been either very ignorant or else very negligent in not telling him that in this very Island of Zealand were other Cities and Ports not to speak in this place of those in the other Islands which shall he mentioned in their proper places which could and did harbour Ships of above 200 Tuns and that it would be a considerable want if these places were not in that Island since from Corsoer a place well Fortified with a Castle and lying on the West side of this Island on the great Belt over against Nyburgh in Funen a considerable quantity of Barley is yearly Exported to Holland as is done likewise from Holbeck but more especially from Calenburgh which being a well built place exceeding St. Albans in every respect and having a very good Port capable of harbouring Ships of a much greater burden than 200 Tuns stands about fifteen or sixteen English Miles North of Corsoer In the South part of this Island is also a place called Nestwed situated on a Navigable River which extends it self much higher into the Country tho' our Author has been pleased to allow none at all here from whence there is a considerable Trade to Lubeck And if from Kiog an inconsiderable place in comparison of these places we have now mentioned but particularly remembered by this Gentleman when he forgot the rest there used formerly to go a few Fly-Boats to Holland there go more now from thence to Norwegen with Malt. I will not insist now upon some of less Note as Schelsoer and Warburg tho' the last of these has been famous in our Age because Charles King of Sweden in his first Expedition against Denmark Anno 1657. did set first footing there as he did afterwards in his second Anno 1658. at Cursoer When I consider with my self that this Gentleman has not as much as made the least mention of these before-mentioned places and how much this contradicts his Norions he has set down of this Island of Zealand as also that not so much as any places have been named by him lying beyond Elsinore Cronenburgh King the most remote of which is within 20 English Miles of Copenhagen it seems to be very obvious that both his own Knowledge and that of his Grave and Sensible Teachers did not reach much farther And what may confirm any body in this opinion is that he tells us a most dismal Story of whole Herds of Stags Wild Boars and Roâ— Bucks whom he calls Sacred things destroying the poor Peasants Corn when it is sufficiently known that there is scarce any Kingdom to be found where there is not Provision made for preserving the Royal Game against the rapaciousness of the Peasants and other Vagabonds And tho' there is a considerable quantity of Forests Royal and Wild Beasts in this Island yet is an effectual care taken that they may not be destructive to the Country since not only every Nobleman who possess almost all the Lands not belonging to the King here have the Priviledge of Hunting and Shooting in their own Lordships or Territories but also the Court by frequent Hunting kill a great number of them and the King keeps in every part a certain number of Huntsmen whose Duty it is to preserve the Country from receiving damage by these wild Beasts But leaving the wild Beasts we must also see what he says concerning the Inhabitants of Denmark whose feeding if this Gentleman is to be believed is very mean and the Burgers and Citizens sustain themselves with Rye Bread Salt Flesh Stock Fish Bacon and very bad Cheese Here you see the Fare of the Danes and that of those who live in the Cities for the poor Peasants fare worse I am apt to think that this Gentleman happened to light into some Black-Smiths or other their like Mechanicks House in Copenhagen who according to the Custom of these Northern Countries being obliged to find their Journey-Men with Victuals at their Houses where they work make use of such Dishes as our Author has been pleased to mention here But if he had been acquainted in Burgers or Citizens Houses of an higher Degree he would have met also with another sort of Victuals It is so generally objected as a fault to the Northern Nations that they are too Liberal and Hospitable in their Houses and that they mind Eating and Drinking more than any thing else that I wonder how this Gentleman could think upon it except he takes a particular Pride to be singular and to tâ—ll us Miracles which were never seen or heard of before his Arrival in Denmark I may say it without Vanity that the Northern parts are very well known to me and perhaps as well as to this Gentleman and this I can affirm for a truh which may easily be confirmed by hundreds in this Town that the abovesaid Objection of the Author is utterly contrary to the Experience of all
to pay it is evident that the Nobility have been the chief Loosers by that Change and that the other Estates by being very near made equal to them in a great many Respects are Gainers and not Losers by it I might take here an Opportunity to enlarge my self upon some Rules of Policy which were mentioned by our Authour upon this Subject in his Preface viz. That no People in their right Wits can be supposed to confer an absolute Dominion That such a Donation ought to be esteemed of no greater Validity than the Gift made by a Mad-man or a Child from his lawful Successours That nothing which even the representative Body of the People does which shall afterward tend to the detriment of the Universality can then be obligatory c. But that these are Matters of too nice a Nature to be transitorily treated of as also what might be said considering the manner of the Proceedings of the Commons of Denmark related by the Authour at large when they obliged the Nobility to concurr with them in the Change of the Government But thus much may be said according to this Gentleman 's own Suppositions that if even some Matters which the representative Body of the People does may be invalid I see no Reason why it should not be justifiable in the Commons of Denmark to have taken an Opportunity to free themselves of these Incroachments which were made upon them by the Nobility and the Matter duely weighed will I believe to the most Judicious appear not so much to be transacted like Children or Madmen but like People in their right Wits What he has added That the Clergy were the only Gainers in the Point is I am sure what no man that knows Denmark can comprehend they having not gained any thing by it what they had not before but what all the rest also have obtained at the same time As to his Passive Obedience-Principle riding Triumphant there has been so much said of it in the Preface that it would be superfluous to repeat it here In the next Chapter being the VIII where he speaks concerning the Condition Customs and Temper of the People he talks of such appearances of Slavery Laziness and idle despondency of carelessness and insensibility all which he has interwoven with his own Tragical Inventions that one would rather believe the whole to be fitted for a piece of Tragedy than History it would be ridiculous therefore to answer every particular Whimsical Conceit of which this Chapter is almost as full as Hudibras it will suffice to hint at two or three passages from whence may be guessed with what candor he has related to us the rest One instance of this is what he relates That there is no buying or selling of Lands here and tells it as a Miracle That some Lands were sold to one Monsieur Taxera a rich Jew at Hamburg and one Monsieur Marseilles a Dutch Merchant but that they were fain to take these Lands for Money owing to them from the King As what concerns the first I am apt to believe I have it from as Grave and Sensible Men as his could be and besides of such as were very understanding and not ignorant in this matter who have assured me that this Money was not owing to Texera from the King neither had he his Lands from him but being a very considerable Debt due to him from particulor persons in Denmark whom I could name if I thought it convenient he took these Lands for the Payment of the same The second it is true had his Lands from the King in lieu of Money owing to him but it is also to be observed that he having been Danish Factor at Amsterdam and having left a very great Estate behind him it is supposed he had got the greatest part of it by his Factorship so that if he paid somewhat extraordinary for those Lands he had questionless got so considerably by the King that he might afford to buy it at a better rate than another would do And truly a great many the like instances might be given in other Countries also and if they were represented so maliciously as these have been they would perhaps appear worse than these since in most Countries there are without doubt to be found who would take Lands tho' at an extraordinary rate where Money is not to be had But what he says in this Chapter concerning the Prodigality not only of the Gentry but also of the Burgers and Peasants of their expensiveness in Coaches Retinue Cloathes c. we must take a little notice of and put him in mind of what he said before That they lived very miserably but these contradictions are with him so common that it was impossible to remember them all I will only add that it is to their too free and expensive way of living and the Sumptuousness especially of their Weddings Christnings and Burials that ought to be ascribed to what has been observed That the People in general are not so rich here as in some other places A great many more Observations might be made upon his malicious way of representing matters in this Chapter of which scarce any one is related without Passion but we will add but one more upon what he says concerning the Peasants In Zealand says he they are all as absolute Slaves as the Negroes are in Barbadoes neither they nor their Posterity to all Generations can leave the Land to which they belong There is no computing there by number of Acres but by number of Boors who with all that belong to them appertain to the Proprietors of the Land Yeamontry which is the strength of England is a state not known or heard of in Denmark If any of these Wretches prove to be of a diligent and improving temper who endeavours to live a little better than his Fellows and to that end has repaired his Farm-House making it convenient neat or pleasant it is forty to one but he is presently transplanted from thence to a naked and uncomfortable habitation c. Here is the full and true account of the Peasantry in Denmark wherein he has again been most miserably deceived by his grave and sensible men that instructed him For that they are as aboluute slaves as the Negroes in this as well as in the rest he has been strangely misinformed The Vassals then in the Islands of Zealand Laland Falster and Moenen for in the other parts of Denmark few of them are to be found are such as either they themselves or their Fore-Fathers have by paying a certain Fine to Landlords purchased to themselves certain Farm-Houses and Grounds thereunto belonging under Conditions of paying certain yearly proportions of the Product of the Land and doing some other petty Services to the Landlord Now it being sufficiently known to all that understand the Rights of Vassalage in this and some other Countries that these yearly Contributions out of the Product of the Lands and Services to be
done to the Landlords are determined by most antient Laws I will give any Man leave to judge with what sincerity the Author has described to us the State of the Peasantry He might as well say that these in England and all their Posterities who possess Copy-holds cannot leave the Land which belongs to them since it is all the same Case only that here we have power to sell and transfer our Right to another which cannot be done there without the consent of the Landlord but for the rest it is rather esteemed among them a Priviledge That they cannot be put out of a Farm at pleasure which Tye is by the Laws of these Countries made reciprocal betwixt the Landlord and Vassal And this Tye is so insignificant in this Country that you meet with frequent Examples not only of such as for the value of three pound Sterling buy their freedom from their Landlords but also a great many Peasants out of Jutland Funen and other Islands where they are not Vassals transplant themselves into the other parts and by paying a Fine make themselves Vassals they finding it more commodious to live in that State than with the Title of Freeman to be incontinual fear of being ruin'd by their Landlords if they do not pay their yearly Rent And since all these Peasants are possess'd of some Lands less or more nothing can be more more vain than what he endeavours to perswade us that there is no computing there by Acres but by Boors And as it is not in the Power of any Landlord to remove a Peasant from his Farm-house without his consent so he has no propriety in his Goods and a Peasant now that has got any thing by his Industry may purchase Lands as well as the best Nobleman What he says that no Yeomantry is there is also of the same Stamp with the rest since in those parts of Denmark where the Peasants are not Vassals as it is not in the most part of that Kingdom there are to this day Peasants who possess Lands by right of Inheritance and the rest are Tenants by paying yearly Rents as we do here in England Another Grievance he tells us of Quartering of Souldiers but if in a Country where Necessity obliges to keep a Standing Army Souldiers should not be quartered in the houses of the Subjects the Souldiers would be in a very bad Case and since no body is exempted from that burthen in Denmark and that by paying a small matter you may keep the Inmate from your Door and House this is not esteemed so burthensom as it doth appear at first Sight He says that the Tables of the better sort are well furnished with Dishes but he does not like the Cheer Truly it is no new thing that People used to their own Country Diet do not like that of other Countries Like the Kentish Esquire who being treated in France with such Dainties as are frequent there could not be perswaded to stay above three days because he long'd for such Apple-Dumplings as he used to eat at his Father's House and yet the Cheer may be nothing the worse for it But I perceive the chief want was in Denmark that they had no cramm'd Capons to this may be answer'd that in Denmark where Corn is extraordinary cheap the same are rather fed in the Houses out of hand as they call it and it is also notorious that the same as well in other as this Countrey are preferred before cramm'd Fowl except by some that are particularly fond of a large fat London Rump In the mean time the Danes to my Knowledge loving a dainty Bit as well as any body would have been very much obliged to this Gentleman if he would have vouehsafed to have set his Name to this Treatise that sometimes over a Glass of Wine and fat Capon they might have celebrated in after Ages as they do with their Geese on Martin's Eve the Memory of him in whose days the Mystery of Cramming tame Fowl was first reveal'd and establish'd at Copenhagen The next relation he makes of a Country woman that would not sell him Green-Geese to his Company he gives us as an instance of their simplicity and superstition for a Week after she brought four to them saying That she had had no luck with them since the Kite had eat Eight of them A most remarkable History to prove the simplicity of a whole or at least the greatest part of a Nation it being evident that in the most civilized Nations some Country People are soon surprized at any thing that is new to them and generally addicted to their little superstitious Fancies And yet I can affirm it that I have eat about the beginning of June in the King of Denmarkâ— Territories though not in Copenhagen as delicious Green Geese at a Gentleman's Seat as ever I eat any where else And I remember a certain Frenchman living in these parts who having a particular way of feeding Capons used to sell them at 10s Sterling a piece But leaving these Triâ—les we must return to other more serious Matters The two next following Chapters containing a particular Recital of the King's Revenue and of the Army Fleet and Fortresses little can be added to it of any Moment but only to put the Reader in mind that if an equitable Ballance be made betwixt the said Revenue and the Number of Land and Sea-forces as also of the Fortresses and their Charge It will from thence be evident how unjustly the Author has dealt with us when he endeavoured to perswade us that the Taxes in Denmark were the Effects of an absolute Government and that little regard was had there in the occasion of them The eleventh Chapter treat of the Court wherein you may meet with so many Extravagancies that it would be endless to pretend to refute them He make bold with the King and Royal Family he pretends to tell you what is commendable or not in them As for the Ministers of State he describes their Hâ—mors Capacitiesâ— and other Qualifications to a hair as if he like the Turkish-Spy had dived into the most obstruse Secrets of them I know that boldness like action in an Orator takes often-times much more with the vulgar Sort of People than true Sense but when it transcends all the Rules of Decency and Reason it self it cannot but be odious to all who are lovers of Moderation and Truth This Gentleman must have a very mean Opinion of the Capacity of the English though questionless he has a very calm ordinary one of his own to perswade himself that his vain and confident Assertions could ensnare the more judicious Sort into a belief that a nameless Romantick Politician who has committed so many Errors and some of them very obvioâ—s even to Men of indifferent parts and knowledge in this Treatise ought to be taken for a proper Judge of the Qualifications and Conditions of a whole Court What he lays concerning his Majesty the present