descend by inheritance to his Family which hitherto had gone by Election They promised themselves the King would have so great Obligations to them for this piece of Service that he would grant and confirm such Priviledges as should put them above the degree of Slaves They knew he had hitherto been curbed by the Nobility to a great Measure and now saw their own force being able since they had Arms in their Hands and the concurrence of the Soldiers to perform what they undertook At the worst they supposed they should only change many Masters for one and could better bear hardships from a King than from inferiour Persons Or if their Case were not better'd at least they thought it some comfort to have more Company in it besides the satisfaction of Revenge on those that had hitherto not only used them ill but insulted over them so lately They knew the King and had seen him bear with an admirable Patience and Constancy all his Calamities were perswaded that he was a Valiant Prince who had often exposed his Person for the sake of the Publick and therefore thought they could never do enough to shew their Gratitude which is the usual Temper of the People upon any benefit received from their Prince Scarce was this proposed but it was agreed to and nothing but the unseasonableness of the time it being now near night deferred the immediate Execution of it but all the necessary Measures were taken against next Morning The Clergy had a further drift in this Change of Government for having been hitherto kept under by the Nobility they forecasted to have no other Superior but the King whose new Authority they engaged to maintain by the influence they had on the Consciences of the People expecting with reason the like Favour and Protection from the King together with an encrease of their Power since he was in a great measure obliged to them for his own and the benefits were likely to be mutual for the future the one having the force the other the tye of Religion in their Possession Which Contract subsists to this very day to the great advantage of both sides The Court all this while was not ignorant of what passed there wanted no Spies nor Messengers to give notice of the Discontents of the Commons Hannibal Seestede a cunning Man was prime Minister and the Bishop or Superintendent Swan with Nanson the Speaker of the House of Commons were his Creatures These had formerly in secret laid with him the Design which was now upon the point of disclosing though their hopes were hardly raised so high as to promise themselves such mighty Success The whole Night passed in Brigues and Messages the Commons anger was to be kept up to the requisite height and the Resolution they had taken the Night before not to be suffer'd to cool but persisted in betimes next Morning The Queen a Woman of Intrigue and high Spirit wrought strongly in it by all manner of ways whilst the King either through doubt of the Event or sense of the Dishonesty and Crime of the Action in procuring after such a manner the absolute Dominion of a free Country could hardly be brought to comply with it He declared that indeed he should be pleased the Soveraignty were entailed on his Family provided it were done by Universal Consent but to become Absolute and Arbitrary was neither his desire nor did he think it for the benefit of the Kingdom that he was satisfied he should not make ill use of such an unlimited Authority but no body knew what Successors he might have that it was therefore dangerous both for them to give and for him to receive such a Power as might be abused in future times to the utter ruin of the Nation But these Reflections whether they were real or only pretences whether caused by the Piety or Weakness of the King were soon over-ruled by the more Ambitious and Masculine Spirit of the Queen who desired him to sit still and see how she and her Emissaries would work for him told him That the Plot was well laid and had begun to operate prosperously that he must not obstruct his own and his Families good Fortune and in fine so far prevailed on him that he seemed with fear to consent to and permit that which most think he very much desired Having however by this shew of unwillingness left open to himself a door of Reconciliation with his People in case the business did not succeed All this while the Nobles either had none or but small intimation of the Designs of the Commons they had been used so long to slight and tyrannize over them that they were not now sensible of any impending danger from thence contemning their Threats as well as their Persons and imagining they would have repented next day and complied with all that should be demanded of them but the Plot was deeper laid than they supposed for not only the prime Minister but some other Members of their own Body who had Employments depending on the Court were engaged in it This inadvertency with the want of requisite Courage upon occasion brought upon them the Mischief on a sudden so that except two or three who were more than ordinary doubtful of what might happen and slipt out of Town that Night the rest were altogether fearless of danger till the very instant that the Evil was remediless Schack the Governour of the Town had been gained by the Court to favour the Design which he performed effectually though not with so servile an intention as others for when the King upon the first news of the Resolution of the Commons did often openly promise that he would in Gratitude and Recompence declare them all Free as soon as it lay in his power by the Gift they were about to make him and the People were willing to trust the King's goodness and to depend on the performance of this Promise encouraged thereunto by the Clergy who alledged it a thing unbeseeming and dishonourable to require any other Security from the King than his bare Word yet Schack urged vehemently that the Commons should insist to have this Promise under the King's Hand and make themselves sure of the Reward for so considerable a Present as they were going to make whilst they had so fair an opportunity in their hands But all his Instances were in vain they were in the giving humour and resolved to do it generously trusting the King for the performance of his Word A thing which they have since often though too late repented of Next Morning the Nobles met in the Council-House and the other two Estates in the Brewers-Hall the Resolution of the Commons could not be kept so secret but by this time some warm rumours of it had reached the Nobility but scarce had they leisure to consider what was fittest to be done on that occasion when they were informed that the Commons were marching towards them For the Bishop and the
had to deal with or according to their Friendship or Discontent with those Princes and States to whom the several Ships belonged Therefore the Emperor Charles the Fifth to ascertain this Toll concluded a Treaty with the King of Denmark which was signed at Spire on the Rhine and was in behalf of his Subjects of the Seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries who had great Traffick in the Baltick and agreed that as a Toll-Custom in the Sound every Ship of 200 Tuns and under should pay two Rose Nobles at its Entrance or Return from the Baltick and every Ship above 200 Tuns three Rose Nobles This Agreement remained in force till such time as the United Provinces shook off the Spanish Yoak and then the Danes taking the advantage of those Wars raised their Toll to an extravagant height the troublesome Times not affording leisure to the Dutch to mind the redressing of such a Mischief However about the Year 1600. they joined themselves with the City of Lubeck in opposition to such an exorbitant Toll as was taken from both of them so that from thenceforth the Dutch paid more or less according as Fortune was favourable or adverse to them but generally little Anno 1647. the first Treaty was made between Denmark and the United Provinces as Soveraigns for this Toll and they were obliged to pay a certain Sum for each Ship this Treaty was to last Forty years after the expiration of which if in the mean time no new Treaty were made that of Spire was to be in force This Treaty of 1647. expired 1687. and the Danes agreed to make an interim Treaty till such time as the many Differences between them and the Hollanders in this and other Matters could be adjusted at leisure and concluded in a more lasting and solemn one This interim Treaty which was but for Four years expired in the Year 1691. so that no new Treaty being made and finished during that time it is evident that only the ancient Treaty of Spire remains in force and no other The English Treaties with Denmark are grounded on those between the Dutch and that Kingdom and have reference to them with a Covenant that we shall be treated tanquam gens amicissima excepting always Sweden whose Ships pay no Toll at all So that at present both the English and Dutch have occasion for new Treaties with Denmark in this and other Affairs of Trade unless it be agreed by all Parties that the Treaty of Spire shall for so much remain in vigour hereafter From this short History of the Original of this Imposition it appears how slightly grounded the King of Denmark's Title is to this Right of exacting the Toll of the Sound which from an easie Contribution which Merchants chose to pay for their own Convenience and whereof the King of Denmark was only Treasurer or Trustee to see it fairly laid out for the common use is grown to be a heavy Imposition upon Trade as well as a kind of servile acknowledgment of his Sovereignty of those Seas and is purely owing to his taking an Advantage of the Difficulties of the Hollanders during their Wars with Spain and the Connivance of King James the First in prejudice of the English who favoured the Danes upon account of his Marriage to a Daughter of that Crown upon whose two Examples all the lesser States were forced to submit Nor can it be conceived how it could be otherwise brought about since it is very well known that the Passage of the Sound is not the only one to the Baltick Sea there being two others called the Greater and Lesser Belts and that of the Greater Belt so commodious and large that during the late Wars the whole Dutch Fleet chose to pass through it and continue in it for four or five Months together and the Danish Strength at Sea never appeared yet so formidable as to be able to oblige the English and Dutch to choose which Passage it pleased Besides the breadth of the Sound in the narrowest part is four English Miles over and every where of a sufficient depth so that his Castles could not Command the Channel when he was Master of both sides much less now that he has but one So that it is plain this pretended Sovereignty is very precarious being partly founded on a Breach of Trust as well as the Carelesness of some of the Princes concerned in it to the great Injury of Trade And the Spaniards may with as much right lay claim to the Sovereignty of the Streights of Gibralter where there is but one Passage or the Swede who is now Master of one of the Castles on the Sound demand another Toll of all Ships since both are better able to support their Claims For the further clearing of this Point and to shew how it agrees with the Account I have already given I have thought fit to insert in this place the Copy of a Letter from a very understanding Person March 31. 1691. SIR THE Duties or Customs in the Sound were of old times no more than a Rose Noble for each Ship Loading included but within these hundred Years some say since King James of Scotland came to the Crown of England and winked at it the Kings of Denmark having the Lands on both sides the Passage began to impose Taxes on the Merchandize and raise higher those which were formerly on the Ships which the Lubeckers who were then powerful refused to pay Anno 1640. the King caused a Book of Rates to be printed whereof I have one according to which a Ship of 100 Lasts or 200 Tuns which is the same thing did pay as followeth For 100 Last of Salt to the East 300 Rix Dollars for the Ship and petty Charges on the Salt 34 Rix Dollars 24 Stivers and for 100 Last of Rye from the East 150 R. D. for Ship and petty Charges as above 34 R. D. 24 Stivers So that the Charges of a Ship of this Burden with its Lading forward and backward was 519 Rix Dollars Hereupon the Hollanders made an Alliance with the Swedes who Anno 1643. by the way of Germany invaded Denmark and the Dutch lent them Ships then the King Prints another Book of Rates more favourable demanding for 100 Last of Spanish Salt 100 Rix Dollars for 100 Last of Rye 75 R. D. Ships Charges in and out as above 69 R. D. the whole amounting to 244 R. D. But this was neither done time enough nor the Rates lowered enough The Hollanders by their Treaty with Denmark of 1646. or thereabouts brought them thus The 100 Last of Salt to 50 Rix Dollars 100 Last of Rye to 50 R. D. Ships and other petty Charges nothing in all for each Ship 100 Rix Dollars And by reason of this untimely heightning of their Customs it is that the Kings of Denmark have lost so many Territories to the Swedes But to Answer your Demand more fully it was in those days that is about the Year 1640. that the
Occasions have been taken by them to raise Tumults and Wars and in the Scuffle the Liberties of the People of which both King and Church-men strove who should be the Masters have escaped untouched but in Denmark as well as other Protestant Countries of the North through the entire and sole dependance of the Clergy upon the Prince without the interfering of the Authority of any Spiritual Superior such as that of the Pope among the Romanists through their Principles and Doctrine which are those of unlimited Obedience through the Authority they have with the Common People c slavery seems to be more absolutely established than it is in France as in effect it is more practised for that King's Subjects are better treated there is a Name of a Parliament at Paris and other great Towns tho they meet for no other end but to verify the King's Edicts there is a formal Demand made of a Benevolence or Don Gratuit in some Provinces which probably they have not the power to deny there is an encouragement of Trade Manufactures Learning c. all tending to the good of the People Besides we see by experience that that King often has great quarrels with the Court of Rome which whensoever his power is reduced to a lower ebb that his Clergy are not over-awed by it may produce such Divisions and Disturbances as possibly some Sparks of the People's Liberty may again proceed from the collision of two such hard Rocks but in the Countries I have Spoken of there is no hope of any Such resource all is swallowed up in the King Temporals and Spirituals Soul Body Estate and Conscience the Army and the Priests are two sure Cards the Prince that has one of them on his side can hardly fail but he that has both depending on him need fear nothing from his own Subjects let him use them never so ill Much has been spoken and written by several Authors of the rigor of the Turkish Government let us consider some particulars of it by way of comparison The Turks are the Conquerors of the Christians in the Countries they have over-run and have a sort of barbarous Right to use them ill yet they never persecute them upon account of Conscience they suffer them for the most part to inhabit and cultivate their own Lands without disturbance paying only a Caratch yearly for Tribute which as I have been informed by a Minister of his Imperial Majesty's amounted in Hungary Sclavonia Servia and Bosnia only to about ten Dollars for an ordinary Family in time of Peace and during a War nothing It is true the Propriety of all Lands in Turky is in the Grand Signior but whether it be not better to be only a Farmer at an easie Rent than to have the Name of a Proprietor prietor without a comfortable Subsistence and in effect to be Master of Nothing I leave the Reader to judge The forcing away Children from the poor Christian Parents is accounted a great hardship though it be for the worldly Profit and Advancement of those Children bating the point of Religion it is a far less Mischief to deprive Parents of their Sons and Daughters in order to maintain them well than to leave a heavy Charge upon their Hands after having taken away the possibility of Nourishing and Educating them The Sun Soil Climate and Situation with other Natural Advantages of the Grand Signior's Dominions as to Profit and Pleasure are infinitely beyond those of other Northern Countries that we are acquainted with In Turky the Harbours are always open except some few places in the Black Sea whereas here they are frozen up three or four Months in the Year There the Fruits Flesh Corn and Herbs have double the Virtue and Nourishment they have here the Wine there is good and plentiful and the very Water wholsome and pleasant here the first is scarce and the last very bad In a word in some Christian Countries of Europe there seems to be most of the Mischiefs of a Turkish Government in an infinitely worse Climate Besides we are to consider that the Turks themselves who are Lords and Masters live well and pleasantly and it is their conquered Slaves whom they use in the manner above-mentioned If it be enquired Whether Matters are like to last at the same rate they are now at in Denmark Though nothing be more fallacious than a Judgment made of the future I shall not omit speaking a few words in answer Many reasons might persuade one to think that the Government upon the bottom it stands cannot last long As in the first place that natural Love of Liberty which resided formerly in the Northern Nations more eminently than in other Parts of the World What can be expected less from the Descendants of the ancient Goths and Vandals who propagated and establish'd Liberty in so many other Countries than to shake a heavy Yoak off themselves which their Forefathers were not able to bear especially since this Yoak is so extraordinary grievous that the Chains which the Neighbouring Countries wear are but Ornamental ones if compared with theirs Secondly The freshness and newness of this Alteration of their Condition It being no more than thirty two years since it happened and many remaining yet alive who remember the days of Liberty and in their private Discourses with their Friends and Children make Comparison between the past and present times and condole with them the loss of so great a Blessing it might seem that the Opinion of the present Government 's not being sufficiently rooted nor having gained Authority by length of time to settle should encourage those that find themselves grieved to think of Methods tending to a Change Thirdly The Neighbourhood of the Swedes who have still their Eye upon Denmark and long to be sole Monarchs of the North and Masters of the Baltick-Sea Now the Burden being so great as it is one would think the Natives in hopes of Ease would rather wish for than defend their Countrey from an Invader because they have little or no Property to lose and imagine there is scarce a possibility of changing for the worse Fourthly The numerousness of the Royal Family There being four Princes it will be rare if Concord be maintained among them all especially since the younger are like to be but meanly provided for so that frequent Occasions may be taken from Quarrels and Disputes which possibly in future times may arise among them of doing something in favour of Liberty These Reasons might cause one to make a Judgment that the Danish Government could not long subsist as it is But on the other hand there are no less weighty ones which would induce to believe the contrary For first the ancient Love of Liberty seems to be quite extinct in the North and in its place to have succeeded the conveniencies of a dull Obedience A miserable Life which jogs on at the same heavy rate has a mixture of Melancholy Ease with it which is
Customs of the OreSound yielded per Ann. from 240000 Rix Dollars to 300000 R. D. But since 1645. they have not at any time render'd above 150000 R. D. nor ever so much except in time of War with the Swedes when all did pay without Exemption During the last War I remember it yielded but 143000 Rix Dollars but before that War and since the Swedish Ships freeing all Goods that are carried in them and the Swedish Goods in Forreign Ships being also free by Treaty it has not yielded above 80000 Rix Dollars per Annum and the last Year past it did not reach to full 70000 Rix Dollars The Court of Denmark is not to be blamed therefore for being wonderful jealous of any Infraction of this their pretended Sovereignty as People are most careful and suspicious in behalf of an Estate wherein their Title is weak it being so much the Interest not only of the English and Dutch but also of the Swede to have it set right both to encourage Trade to his own Country and to lessen the Revenue of his Neighbour neither can it be said that the English and Dutch did ever intirely yield the Point for though they agreed to pay a small Toll on Merchandize yet no manner of searching or stopping is to be allowed or has ever been The Danes are now obliged to take the Master of the Vessel 's word for the quality and quantity of the Lading and thought it prudence never to press this Point further least we should grow angry and make too narrow an Inspection both into their Original Right and into their Ability to maintain it For whilst we and the Dutch are content to pay this Toll all the other petty Princes and States do it without Murmur but if we once broke the Chain they would shake off their part of it likewise CHAP. IV. Of the other Islands and Jutland THE most considerable Islands next to that of Zealand are Funen or Fionia Laland Langland Falstria Mune Samsoe Arroe Bornholm and Amack there are besides many other small ones of less note Funen is second to Zealand whether its bigness or the goodness of its Soil be considered it has plenty of Corn Hogs Lakes and Woods the chief Town of it is Odensee a well-seated and formerly a flourishing little City but at present much fallen to decay This Island produces nothing for the Merchant to export except some few Horses the Inhabitants usually consuming their own Commodities This is a principal Government called a Stifts Ampt. The present Governour is Mr. Winterfelt Laland is a small but plentiful Island producing all sorts of Corn in abundance and particularly Wheat wherewith it supplies the City of Copenhagen and all other parts of Denmark where it is a rarity The Hollanders buy yearly and ship off great quantities of Corn from hence This likewise is a Stifts Ampt having several of the lesser Islands under its Jurisdiction The Governour of it is Mr. Geugh who formerly had a Publick Character and resided a long time in England Falstria Langland and Mune are fertile Islands the two first Export yearly some Corn. Arroe and Alsen abound in Annis-seeds which are much used to season their Meat and mix with their Bread Bornholm Samsoe with the other Islands nourish Cattle and afford Corn for the use of the Inhabitants But Amack deserves to be particularly remembred this little Island joyns close to the City of Copenhagen from which 't is only separated by a small Arm of the Sea which is passed over by a Draw-bridge and exceeds in fruitfulness any spot of Ground in Denmark This Land was given many Years ago to several Families of North Hollanders who were planted there to make Butter and Cheese for the Court the Descendants of whom retain to this day the Habit Language and Customs of their Predecessors together with their Cleanliness and Industry neither will they mix with the Danes but intermarry with each other They had formerly extraordinary Priviledges granted to them whereof some continue to this time but others are retrenched and by degrees it is to be feared they will be treated like the other Subjects This Island of Amaek through the Industry of these laborious People is as it were the Kitchen-Garden of Copenhagen and supplies its Markets plentifully with all sorts of Roots and Herbs besides Butter Milk great quantities of Corn and some Hay whatever it produces being the best in its kind that is to be found in the whole Kingdom Jutland part of the ancient Cimbrica Chersonesus is the biggest part of the Kingdom of Denmark and may amount to about two thirds of the whole It is divided into four Stifts Ampts or principal Governments The present Governours are the Count de Frize the upper Mareschal Speckhan Monsieur Edmund Schele now Envoy Extraordinary to his Majesty from the King of Denmark c. This is a plentiful Country abounding more especially in Cattle it wants good Sea-Ports towards the Ocean notwithstanding which the Hollanders transport yearly great quantities of lean Cows and Oxen from hence to their more fertile Soil where in a short time they grow so prodigiously fat through better feeding in the rich Grounds of Holland that a vast Profit is made by this Traffick The Horses and Swine of this Country are excellent and in great numbers It affords Corn in sufficient quantity for the use of its own People The Land is more Fertile near the Sea-Coasts the Inland being full of Heaths Lakes and Woods In short it is the best Country the King of Denmark is Master of and appears to be least declining because most remote from Copenhagen Procul à Jove Procul à Fulmine It being observed that in limited Monarchies and Commonwealths a Neighbourhood to the Seat of the Government is advantageous to the Subjects whilst the distant Provinces are less thriving and more liable to Oppression but in Arbitrary and Tyrannical Kingdoms the quite contrary happens CHAP. V. Of the rest of the King of Denmark's Countries THE Dutchy of Sleswick is in general a very good Country its convenient Situation between two Seas the Ocean and the Baltick rendring it considerable for Trade although the natural Commodities fit for Exportation are in no great quantity Some Corn Cattle Horses and Wood for Firing it affords to its Neighbours over and above a sufficient store of each for its own Inhabitants It is divided between the King and the Duke of Holstein The principal Town which gives Name to the Dutchy belongs to the Duke of Holstein who resides near it in his Palace of Gottorp one of the most delicious Seats that is to be seen in all the Northern Parts of Europe nothing can be more Pleasant and Romantick than the Situation of this Castle It stands in an Island surrounded by a large Lake made by the River Sley whose rising Banks are clothed with fine Woods the Waters clear and full of Fish carry Vessels of small Burden to and from the
of his Commons This was the Ancient Form of Government in this Kingdom which continued with very little variation excepting that the Power of the Nobles encreased too much till about Two and Thirty years ago when at one instant the whole Face of Affairs was changed So that the Kings have ever since been and at present are Absolute and Arbitrary not the least remnant of Liberty remaining to the Subject all Meetings of the Estates in Parliament intirely abolished nay the very Name of Estates and Liberty quite forgotten as if there never had been any such thing the very first and principal Article in the present Danish Law being That the King has the Priviledge reserved to himself to explain the Law nay to alter and change it as he shall find good It is easie for any considering Person to guess the Consequences of this which are frequent and arbitrary Taxes and commonly very excessive ones even in Times of Peace little regard being had to the Occasion of them So that the value of Estates in most parts of the Kingdom is fallen three Fourths And it is worse near the Capital City under the Eye and Hand of the Government than in remoter Provinces Poverty in the Gentry which necessarily causes extremity of Misery in the Peasants Partiality in the distribution of Justice when Favourites are concerned with many other Mischiefs which shall be hereafter more particularly mentioned being the constant Effects of Arbitrary Rule in this and all other Countries wherein it has prevailed And because it is astonishing to consider how a free and rich People for so they were formerly should be perswaded intirely to part with their Liberties I thought it very proper to give an account by what steps so great a Change and Revolution was brought about The Particulars of which I have received not only from Eye-witnesses but also from some of the principal Promoters and Actors in it CHAP. VII The Manner how the Kingdom of Denmark became Hereditary and Absolute AFTER the Conclusion of the Peace between the two Northern Crowns Anno 1660. some considerable care and time was necessary to redress the Disorders occasioned by so terrible a War Denmark had been most violently shaken and although the Fury of the Tempest was over the Agitation caused by it still continued The Army was not yet disbanded nor could be for want of Money to discharge its Arrears this caused frequent Insolencies in the Soldiers with a further Oppression of the Burgers and poor Country People who had been in a manner already ruined by the Miseries attending the War The Nobility though Lords and Masters were full of Discontents and the Clergy not in the condition they wished To redress all which Grievances and reduce Affairs into some Order by procuring Money for the Payment and Disbanding of the Army the King thought fit to appoint a Meeting of the Three Estates at Copenhagen viz the Nobility Commonalty and Clergy which accordingly followed about the beginning of October After some few days Session during which the Nobility according to their usual practice debated how the Sums of Money requisite might with greatest ease and conveniency be levied upon the Commons without the least intention of bearing any proportionable share themselves Several Disputes arose and many sharp Expressions passed between them and the Commons on the one hand the Nobility were for maintaining their ancient Prerogative of paying nothing by way of Tax but only by voluntary Contribution and shewed themselves too stiff at a time when the Country was exhausted and most of the remaining Riches lodged in their hands They seemed to make use of this Occasion not only to vindicate but even to widen and enlarge their Priviledges above the other two Estates by laying Impositions on them at pleasure which weight they themselves would not touch with one of their Fingers any further than as they thought fitting On the other hand the Clergyâ— for their late adherance to the interest of their Country and the Burgers for the vigorous Defence of their City thought they might justly pretend to new Merit and be considered at least as good Subjects in a State which they themselves had so valiantly defended They remembred the great Promises made them when dangerous Enterprises were to be taken in hand and how successfully they had executed them thereby saving from a Forreign Yoak not only the City of Copenhagen but the whole Kingdom the Royal Family nay those very Nobles that now dealt so hardly with them They judged it therefore reasonable that the Sums of Money necessary should be levied proportionably and that the Nobility who enjoyed all the Lands should at least pay their share of the Taxes since they had suffered less in the common Calamity as well as done less to prevent the progress of it This manner of arguing was very displeasing to the Nobles and begat much Heat and many bitter Replies on both sides At length a principal Senator called Otto Craeg stood up and in great Anger told the President of the City That the Commons neither understood nor considered the Priviledges of the Nobility who at all times had been exempted from Taxes nor the true Condition of themselves who were no other than Slaves the word in the Danish is unfree so that their best way was to keep within their own Bounds and acquiesce in such Measures as ancient Practice had warranted and which they were resolved to maintain This word Slaves put all the Burgers and Clergy in disorder causing a loud Murmur in the Hall which Nanson the President of the City of Copenhagen and Speaker of the House of Commons perceiving and finding a fit occasion of putting in practice a Design before concerted though but weakly between him and the Bishop in great Choler rose out of his Seat and swore an Oath That the Commons were no Slaves nor would from thenceforth be called so by the Nobility which they should soon prove to their cost And thereupon breaking up the Assembly in disorder and departing out of the Hall was followed by all the Clergy and Burgers the Nobles being left alone to consult among themselves at their leisure after a little while adjourned to a private House near the Court. In the mean time the Commons being provoked to the highest degree and resolving to put their Threats in Execution marched processionally by Couples a Clergy-man and a Commoner from the great Hall or Parliament-House to the Brewers-Hall which was the convenientest place they could pitch upon to sit apart from the Nobles the Bishop of Copenhagen and the President of the City leading them It was there thought necessary to consider speedily of the most effectual Means to suppress the intolerable Pride of the Nobility and how to mend their own Condition After many Debates they concluded That they should immediately wait upon the King and offer him their Votes and Assistance to be absolute Monarch of the Realm as also that the Crown should
own and loves least of all the French meddles rarely with publick business yet when he undertakes any thing with the King seldom fails of Success There are several Grooms of the Bedchamber subordinate to him And the Queen has many Gentlemen Sons of Persons of the best Quality which are Attendants upon her and eight Maids of Honour The King's Ministers are first Monsieur de Guldenlieu who has the precedence at the Council-Board and in all other Commissions where he is employed with the rest but business as I intimated before being not his Talent or at least not his Choice it is rather out of respect to his quality than otherwise that he is reckoned among them Secondly Count Raventlau Great Master of the Game which is the Employment of greatest Profit in the King's Gift after the Viceroyship of Norway he is a Native of Holstein and is lookt upon as Prime Minister therefore all Foreign Ministers address themselves to him He takes it not ill to be stiled so tho he seems upon some occasions modestly to decline it He is very affable civil and of easy access a Man of Pleasure and an admirer of the fair Sex as well as Monsieur de Galdenlieu his Parts and Learning are of a moderate size tho of late through a more diligent application to business he be much improved so that he seems to fill worthily enough the Post wherein his Master has placed him He is about Three and forty years of Age his Complexion fair and his Constitution robust his Inclinations were but indifferent towards the French as being convinced that the low Ebb of his Country's Prosperity and his Master's Honour were in a great measure owing to their Counsels and Practices till within this year or two that private Interest has reconciled him to that Court the benefit of the French Traffick during this War wherein he is deeply concerned as well by several Ships of his own as by giving Protection to others that manage that Trade has made him think that it is his Master's Advantage as well as his to keep firm Friendship with France On the other hand the English obstructing that Traffick by taking and confiscating several Ships wherein he was concerned seem to have quite lost his favour Yet after all 't is believed if he could procure the same or equivalent Advantages for himself and his Master his Inclinations would more willingly lead him to accept of them from England than France but the unhappy Circumstances of this present Conjuncture do render that matter scarce possible Thirdly Baron Juel younger Brother to the Admiral General and a Dane by Birth about sixty years old he is very corpulent and of a flegmatick Complexion more easy in his Fortunes than any about Court which is in part owing to his remarkable parcimonious temper The Danes look on him as one of the cunningest men among them who under the disguise of a seeming Simplicity covers a great deal of Craft His words are very few and smooth and his behaviour Civil It is thought that he sees with regret the Misery his Countrey is reduced to as being one of the Stock of old Nobility who have suffered by the change of the Constitution yet his Advice cannot be wanted where there is such a scarcity of good Heads and therefore he is employed in all difficult Affairs which he manages with great dexterity and success Fourthly Monsieur Ehrenschild a German by birth and formerly Secretary to Monsieur Terlon the French Ambassador at this Court which makes him French in his Inclinations to this day The King enobled him and gave him the Name of Ehrenschild instead of that of Beerman by which he was formerly known He is about 65 years old of a weakly constitution and therefore most commonly resides at Hamburg under pretence that the Air is necessary for his Health but in reality to manage the King's Affairs with that Town wherein is constantly maintained a Faction which must have Life kept in it by the Residence of a Minister of Quality Moreover that City being conveniently seated for the Correspondence with all Germany from whence a nearer inspection may be made into the proceedings of the neighbouring Princes as well as the management of the French Traffick during this War it is thought necessary to keep an able Man there this Monsieur Ehrenschild has been bred a Scholar after the German way and is well skill'd in negotiating wherein he has been constantly employed since he first entered into business He is esteemed a Cunning man but has no great reputation of Integrity he affects to find out difficulties and is excellently skill'd in prolonging a business The Foreign Ministers call him by the Name of Fater difficultatum and say that he has a peculiar knack in finding nodum in scirpo Therefore they care not for Treating with him because he values Argumentation and seeks Sophisms rather than Truth or the Decision of the Matter You can never bring him to say such a thing is thought it be as clear as the Sun but cela peut estre thereby leaving always a Hole open to creep out at He hoards up all his Money or puts it in the Banks of Hamburg and Amsterdam having small prospect of a future happy establishment for his Family in Denmark And this is the common Maxim of all the most intelligent Heads in that Kingdom as appears by their making few or no Purchases Fifthly Monsieur Plessen a Gentleman of Mecklenburg and formerly the Manager of Prince George's Revenue in Denmark He is now the Ober-Rent Master or Comptroller of the Finances in the room of Monsieur Branat lately removed from that Employment The State of the Finances and Expences were very much embroiled and the King some Millions of Crowns in Debt when he undertook the difficult Task of setting things right which it is generally thought he will accomplish as far as they are capable and 't was high time to set seriously about redressing Affairs for the King's Credit both at Hamburg and every where else was in a manner absolutely lost through the ill Payment of all Assignments He is about Six and forty years old of a Melancholy Complexion and weakly Constitution is esteemed to have a good Judgment and to understand the World tho his Distempers make him sometimes particular in his Humour He speaks four or five Languages and English among the rest His Inclinations seem to be rather English than French as well on the account of his Dependance on Prince George as because he is convinced 't is more the Interest of his Master to be well with England and Holland than with France He appears to be disinteressed and is very easy in his Fortunes which consist most in ready Money In short he is a Man of Business and seems to be more dowright in his manner of dealing than many of the rest These Five compose the King 's whole Privy Council Four of them are constantly at Court and the
in order to put his Projects in Execution and to lull the Duke into a deeper Security writes to him very kind Letters desiring him not to be concerned at it since he had no other end in it than formerly in the like Voyages unless it were to put a final determination to all Differences between them to their mutual satisfaction The Duke was so pleased by these Assurances under the King's Hand that he went in Person to meet his Majesty accompanied by his Brother the Bishop of Lubeck and many others of the Nobility and afterwards treated him very splendidly at a House of his upon the Road near his Residence of Gottorp the King then caressing him and desiring him earnestly to come and see him at Rendsburg a fortified Town about fourteen English miles from thence near which the Rendezvous of the Troops was appointed Towards the conclusion of this Feast several large Healths were drank to the future good Agreement with so much appearing Sincerity that the good Duke thought he had no reason to doubt the reality of it but ordered his Chief Minister to wait upon the King and his Ministers at Rendsburg where they so far accommodated all Matters that the whole Affair was supposed near its Conclusion Upon this the Duke sends three of his chief Counsellors impowered by a special Commission to treat and conclude at Rendsburg with whom three of the King's Council met and conferred The business of the Conference was principally about the Exchange of other Lands for the Counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst but in it the King's Commissioners took occasion to renew the Debate about the division of the Taxes whereof as I have said before the King challenged the greater part This did a little surprize and displease the Duke's Commissioners who thought it forreign to the matter in hand and would not hearken to Proposals of that nature At the very same time and during this Conference the King 's Prime Minister wrote to the Duke's That he thought it necessary for both Princes that the Duke of Gottorp would please to come to Rendsburg to the King who was ready to conclude a Treaty because the Presence of so near a Relation would contribute more than any thing else to a Friendly Composure of all these matters And the Duke as well upon the account of the former Invitation as upon this fresh one withal to shew his forwardness towards a Peace resolves upon the Visit first sending a Gentleman to acquaint the King with his intention and desiring his permission to come and wait upon him The King's Answer was That he should be heartily welcome and his Chief Minister also whom he desired to bring along with him Thus the Duke being fully persuaded that all was meant honourably on the 25 th of June began his Journey accompanied by his Minister and other Nobility and arrived at Rendsburg where he was welcomed by a discharge of all the Cannon of that Fortress and other demonstrations of Joy The next day being the 26th of June 1675. a fatal one to that unfortunate Prince and his Family an Express arrives with Letters of the great Defeat given the Swedes by the Brandenburgers at Fehr Berlin this was what the Danes wished and waited for but could scarce promise themselves it should succeed so fully according to their expectations or nick the time so justly as it did They thought Heaven it self concurred with their Intentions and not to be wanting on their parts immediately give orders to shut the Town Gates to call a Council of War to send their Soldiers up and down and seize all the Duke's Towns and Fortresses These Orders were as suddenly executed the Duke's Troop of Guards were disarmed himself confined a Prisoner to his Apartment his Dinner which he thought to have eaten with the King was brought in to him by Officers and Soldiers who watched him so narrowly that he could not stir the poor Duke exclaiming in the mean while and complaining that he was ill used that he was a Sovereign Prince of the Empire independant of any other Power that he was a near Kinsman a Brother-in-Law nay an invited Guest of the Kings that all the Laws of Justice of Blood of Friendship and Hospitality were violated by this Action wherein the King had broken his Parol and the Sanctuary of his own House But all this was in vain the Duke had no Remedy prescribed to him but Patience the Blow which was begun must be followed and more Evils must succeed that which had already happened For the Duke being thus seized his Ministers were presently sent for and told That now there was an end of all Treating that the King was Master and would act as such To which purpose he would take possession of the Duke 's whole Country and put Garrisons into all the strong Places which he thought proper to secure to himself because he had an intention to lead his Army elsewhere against the Swedes that the Inclinations of the House of Gottorp were always malevolent towards the King and by him considered as such however if the Duke would fairly and freely renounce his Right to the Lands in question the King might at the Duke's request be prevailed upon to give him an hundred and fifty thousand Rix Dollers at Copenhagen for it Notwithstanding the Extremity the Duke was reduced to he could not be brought to consent to such a severe Condition but offered since Matters could be no better that the King without prejudice to his Right should have the Taxes so much contested in the manner he desired that his Majesty should put one half of the Garrison into the strong Town of Tonningen provided that all therein did take the Oaths of Allegiance to both Princes till such time as the Exigencies of Affairs would permit the entire Restoration of it to its former Master That if the King would dispose of his Countrey solely the Duke must yield to force but hoped his Right should be reserved entire and desired that his Residence and Habitation of Gottorp which was neither by Nature nor Art strong enough to be formidable might be left free to him Lastly That the King would grant him and his liberty to dispose of themselves as they thought fit The Danes Answer was That these Offers and Demands were no other than Trifles That the King would proceed to the Execution of his own Will and Pleasure by Force and Arms that neither the Duke nor any of his should ever be restored to their Liberty till he had signed an Instrument there ready drawn up to order the Commander of Tonningen to Surrender it to the King which the Duke at last through despair of his Life was forced to consent to and accordingly that Fortress with all its Cannon and Stores was delivered up to the Officer sent by the King for that purpose Things being brought to this pass the Duke was removed to his own House at Gottorp His Dutchess who had been