one of the most ancient monarchies in Europe, comprehending the peninsula of Jutland, and the islands of Zeland, Tunen, &c. But Denmark, properly so called, is only that part of Scandinavia which formerly went by the name of *Cimbrica Chersonesus*, and now is called *Jutland*. Including Holstein, it is bounded by the sea called the *Gategate* on the north; by the Baltic on the east; by the river Elbe, which separates it from Bremen, on the south; and by the duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg towards the south-east; extending from 54° 40' to 58° 20' N. Lat.

The origin of the name *Denmark* is very uncertain. The most probable conjecture concerning it is that of *Denmark*, *Saxo-Grammaticus*, the most ancient and best Danish historian. He derives it from *Dan* the son of *Humble*, the first king, and *Mark*, or *Marc*, signifying a country in several dialects of the Teutonic; according to which etymology, the word *Denmark* signifies the land, or country, of *Dan*.—This Dan is thought to have lived about 1038 years before the Christian era. Dan the Almost all historians agree that he was the son of first king, *Humble*, a native of Zealand. His polities and influence were very considerable, not only in Zealand, but in the islands of Langland and Mona. It was his courage, however, and skill in the art of war, that induced the inhabitants of Denmark to choose him for their king. He was called to the assistance of the Jutlanders upon an irruption of the Saxons into their territories, and promised the sovereignty of the country if he drove out the enemy. On this he immediately raised an army, gained a complete victory over the Saxons, and obliged them to leave the country; and he was accordingly elected king.

In such early ages as these, we are not to look for any authentic history either of this or any other kingdom. The history of Denmark, for a great number of many ages after the reign of *Dan*, is filled with fabulous exploits of heroes, encounters with giants, dragons, &c. One of their kings named *Frotho*, who reigned about 761 years before Christ, is said to have conquered all Britain, Sleswick, Russia, Pomerania, Holstein, &c.; an assertion which cannot easily be credited, considering the difficulty which succeeding warriors, even the greatest in the world, found to subdue the inhabitants of those countries.—It is certain, however, that anciently the kingdom of Denmark made a much more conspicuous figure than it does at present. The Danes appear to have had a very considerable naval force almost from the foundation of their empire; and the conquests they undoubtedly made in our island, are certain proofs of their valour.

The natural enemies of the Danes were the Swedes, Norwegians, and Saxons; especially the first. With one or other of these nations almost perpetual war was carried on. The kingdom was also often rent by civil dissensions; which the neighbouring monarchs did not fail to take advantage of, in order to reduce the kingdom of Denmark under their subjection. As neither party, however, generally came off with advantage, the history of these wars affords nothing interesting or entertaining.—One of the greatest of the Danish monarchs was *Valdemar I.*, who obtained the throne in 1157; having defeated and killed his competitor *Sweyn*, after a ten years civil war. He maintained a long war with the Vandals, whose power he at last entirely broke, and reduced under his subjection the island of Rugen. He also proved victorious over the Norwegians, so that their king and queen came in person to submit to him. In 1165, he also laid the foundations of the city of Dantzig; which, though it hath since become a place of such consequence, consisted at first only of a few poor fishermen's huts; but the privileges and immunities conferred upon it by this monarch, soon proved the means of its becoming a flourishing city.—In 1169, he entirely subdued the Courlanders; and, soon after, was invested with the duchy of Holstein, by the emperor Frederic Barbarossa. He is said Denmark to have been poisoned by a quack medicine, given with a design to recover him from a distemper with which he was seized in 1182.

In the year 1195, Canute, Valdemar's successor, caused a muster to be made of all the men fit to bear arms in his dominions; and ordered each province to fit out its proportion of shipping, every way equipped, and ready for action. The whole force of Denmark, at that time, consisted of 670 ships of war, besides the squadrons supplied by vassals, tributary states, and allies. The number of the land-forces is not mentioned. In the reign of this prince, the Danish dominions were enlarged by the entire conquest of Stromar; the districts of Lubec and Hamburgh, formerly known by the name of Nor- dalingia, but now included under the general name of Holstein. He died in 1203, and was succeeded by Valdemar II. who proved a very great and warlike prince. In 1211, he founded the city of Stralund, opposite to the Isle of Rugen. The same year, his queen died in child-bed; and in memory of her lie built the castle of Dronningholm, that name importing the Queen's island. In 1218, he undertook an expedition against the Livonians, having received advice that they, afflicted by the Lithuanians, Mulcovites, and other barbarous nations, had driven from their habitations all those in their neighbourhood who had embraced Christianity, and taken an oath of allegiance to the crown of Denmark. Fitting out a powerful fleet, therefore, he immediately set sail for that country; but his troops were no sooner landed, than they were seized with a panic, at the sight of such a powerful army of savages as were assembled to oppose them. The king himself was dismayed at the unusual spectacle of a whole army clothed in skins, and resembling beasts more than human creatures. Encouraged, however, by the bishops who attended him, he ventured an engagement, and overthrew the Barbarians with incredible slaughter. This victory was gained near the forts of Valdemar, which received its name on that account.

How potent and flourishing the kingdom of Denmark was at this time, appears from an estimate of the revenues of the tributary provinces, those countries conquered by Valdemar, and the standing forces of the whole kingdom. This account was copied by Pontanus from Witfeld a writer of those days, who had it from a register kept by Valdemar's steward. From the provinces were daily sent in 24 lasts of oats, 24 lasts of rye and half that quantity of wheat, 13 talents of cheese and butter, and nine of honey; 24 oxen, 300 sheep, 200 hogs; and 600 marks of coined money. This was the certain revenue; but to this was added near an equal sum from adventitious circumstances; such as fines, forfeitures, taxes on law-suits and pleadings, with a variety of other contingencies; the whole amounting to above 100,000 marks a-day, or 23,730,000 l. per annum; a sum in those days almost incredible.—With this revenue were kept for constant service 1400 great and small ships for the king's use, each of which at a medium carried 121 soldiers; making the whole of the standing forces, besides garisons, consist of 169,400 fighting men.

In 1223, a very great misfortune befell Valdemar, notwithstanding all his power. Henry earl of Swerin, otherwise called Henry Palatine, a German prince, having been deprived of part of his dominions by Valdemar, surprized and carried off the king himself, and kept him close prisoner for three years. The conditions on which he at last obtained his liberty, were very hard. He was obliged to pay a prodigious sum of released or condition money; to relinquish Holstein, Swerin, Hamburgh, and all his possessions on the other side of the Elbe; of his territories this compulsive contract, and never take any measures to punish Henry or his associates. This treaty was signed on the 25th of March 1226.

Besides these territories which the Danish monarch had been obliged to cede by treaty, many tributary princes took the opportunity of his captivity, to recover their liberty; and among the rest, the inhabitants of Lubec revolted, and entered into alliance with Albert duke of Saxony against Valdemar. The latter, however, was not of a disposition to submit tamely to such treatment. He obtained a dispensation from the Pope to break his engagements with Henry, and immediately entered Holstein at the head of a numerous army. Here he was met by several German princes, at the head of a very numerous army; and a desperate engagement ensued. Valdemar at first had the advantage; but being wounded in the eye, his troops were at last defeated with great slaughter. It doth not appear, that ever the king of Denmark was able to revenge himself of his enemies, or to recover the dominions he had lost. So far from this, he was obliged, in 1228, to cede Lawenberg to the duke of Saxony, who had already seized on Ratzburg and Molna. Soon after this, his eldest son Valdemar was accidentally killed as he was hunting, and his two other sons married the daughters of his two greatest enemies. Abel, the third son, married the daughter of Adolphus duke of Holstein; and Eric, the second, married the duke of Saxony's daughter. These misfortunes are supposed to have hastened his death, which happened in the month of April 1242.

On the death of Valdemar, the kingdom was divided between the two young princes; and between them a war commenced the very next year. A peace was concluded the year following, and war renewed the year after; but how long it continued, we are not informed. In 1250, Eric paid a visit to his brother Abel, intreating his mediation between him and the princes of Holstein, with whom he was then at war. Abel received him, in appearance, with great kindness, and promised that his utmost endeavours to procure a reconciliation should not be wanting; but in the meantime, laid a plan for having him murdered at sea: this was effected, and Abel became master of the whole kingdom.

The new king did not long enjoy the sovereignty he had so wickedly obtained. He was tormented by his own conscience; especially when he found, among his brother's papers, one by which he was left heir to the whole kingdom on the decease of Eric, and many kind expressions with regard to himself. He was at last killed in a battle with his own subjects, in 1252; on account of some taxes he intended to impose.

From this time to the year 1333, the kingdom of Denmark gradually declined. Usurpers established themselves in different provinces; while the kings of Sweden did not fail to avail themselves of the distracted Denmark, fed state of the Danish affairs. In 1333, died Christopher II, who possessed only the cities of Scanderburg in Jutland, and Neoburg in Fionia; with some few other inconceivable places, all the hereditary dominions of Denmark. Halland, Holbæk, Calenburg, and Samsoe, were held by Canute Porsius; Schonen, Lytter, and Bleking, by the king of Sweden, to whom they had been lately sold: John, earl of Wagria, had the jurisdictions of Zealand, Falster, Laaland, and Femeer; Gerhard of Jutland and Fionia; and Lawrence Jonae of Lang-land and Arras.

After the death of Christopher, an interregnum of seven years ensued.—The first attempt for the sovereignty was made by Otho, second son to the late king, who laid a scheme for driving Gerhard out of Jutland; but not being able to accomplish it, he was taken prisoner, and closely confined by Gerhard.—The king of Sweden next wrote to Pope Benedict XIII., beseeching his Holiness to confirm to him the provinces of Schonen and others which he possessed; and to allow him to subdue the rest of the kingdom, which was now usurped and rendered miserable, by a set of petty princes, who knew not how to govern. To influence him the more powerfully, he also promised to hold this kingdom of the Pope; and to pay him the usual tax collected by the church. This request, however, was refused.—Valdemar of Sleswig, nephew to Gerhard, then aspired to the sovereignty. He had formerly been elected king; but had given over all thoughts of enjoying the sovereignty, on account of the superior influence of Christopher; but now resumed his ambitious views, at the instigation of his uncle. Several of the nobility also cast their eyes on young Valdemar Christopher's son, now at the emperor's court. But, while each of these princes were laying their schemes to aggrandize themselves, the unhappy Danes were distressed by exorbitant taxes, famine, and pestilence; the two last, in consequence of the former. The peasants neglected to cultivate the lands, which they held on a very precarious tenure; the consequence of this was poverty, and an unwholesome diet; and this, co-operating with the peculiar disposition of the air, produced a plague, which destroyed more than half the inhabitants of the country. The poor dropped down dead on the streets with disease and hunger, and the gentry themselves were reduced to a state of wretchedness; yet, though the whole kingdom was evidently on the verge of ruin, ambitious projects employed the great, as if everything had been in the most profound tranquillity.

In the midst of these grievous calamities, Gerhard, sovereign of Jutland, proposed to his nephew Valdemar an exchange of territories, which he believed would prove favourable to the designs of the latter on the crown. A treaty for this purpose was actually drawn up and signed; but the inhabitants, notwithstanding their distressed situation, so highly resented their being disposed of like cattle, from one matter to another, that they refused to pay the usual taxes. Gerhard refused to compel them; and therefore led 10,000 men, whom he had levied in Germany, into the heart of the province. Providence, however, now raised up an enemy to this tyrant. One Nicholas Norevi, a man greatly esteemed for his courage, public spirit, and prudence, beheld with sorrow the condition to which Denmark was reduced. He had long meditated a variety of projects for its relief, and at last imagined things were in such a situation that the whole depended on his single arm. Young Valdemar, Christopher's son, had a number of adherents in the kingdom; his most dangerous enemy was Gerhard; and could he be removed, the Jutlanders would at least be free from an oppressor, and might choose Valdemar, or any other they thought proper, for their sovereign. Collecting a body of chosen horse, therefore, he marched in the night to Randershusen, where Gerhard had fixed his head-quarters; and having forced open the tyrant's quarters, immediately put him to death. He then fled with the utmost expedition; but was pursued and overtaken by a party of the enemy's horse, through which he forced his way and escaped. Gerhard's sons, hearing of his death, retired into Holstein from whence they had come; leaving the army, composed chiefly of Holsteiners, to be cut in pieces by the enraged peasants, who fell upon them from every quarter.

Still, however, the Holsteiners kept possession of the citadels and fortified places, from whence Nicholas resolved to dislodge them. He accordingly raised a body of forces; attacked and took Landen, a castle situated on the river Scherne: after which he laid siege to Alberg; but the garrison making an obstinate defence, he turned the siege into a blockade, by which they were soon reduced to great extremity. The governor sent an express to the sons of Gerhard, acquainting them with the impossibility of his holding out more than a few days, without being relieved. This determined them to march to the relief of so important a place. They came up with Nicholas just as the governor was ready to surrender, but were defeated; though Nicholas was unfortunately killed in the engagement.

Jutland having thus regained its liberty, the rest of the kingdom followed its example. Zealand first openly declared itself. Here Henry, Gerhard's son, maintained several garrisons; and resolved to defend his possessions in spite of all the power of the inhabitants. For this purpose he drew together an army; but, in the mean time, a tumult arose among the peasants on account of a Danish nobleman slain by the Holsteiners. By this the people were at last so irritated, that, falling upon the Holsteiners sword in hand, they killed 300 of them; drove the rest out of the island; and chose Valdemar, Christopher's son, for their sovereign.

The Danes now resumed their courage; the lands were cultivated, the famine and pestilence ceased, and the kingdom began to flourish as formerly. Matters continued in a prosperous way till 1387, when Margaret mounted the throne. She raised the kingdom to its highest pitch of glory, as partly by her address, and partly by hereditary right, she formed the union of Calmar, by which she was acknowledged sovereign of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. She held her dignity with such firmness and courage, that she was justly titled the Semiramis of the North. Her successors being destitute of her great qualifications, the union of Calmar fell to nothing; but Norway still continued annexed to Denmark. About the year 1448, the crown of Denmark fell to Christian, count of Oldenburg, from whom the present royal family of Denmark is descended; and, in 1536, the protestant religion was established. Christian IV. of Denmark, in 1629, was chosen for the head of the Protestant league, formed against the house of Austria; but, though brave in his own person, he was in danger of losing his dominions; when he was succeeded in that command by the famous Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden. The Dutch having obliged Christian, who died in 1648, to lower the duties of the Sound, his son Frederic III., consented to accept of an annuity of 150,000 florins for the whole. The Dutch, after this, persuaded him to declare war against Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden, which had almost cost him his crown in 1637. Charles stormed the fortress of Fredericia; and in the succeeding winter, he marched his army over the ice to the island of Funen, where he surprised the Danish troops, took Odensee and Nyburg and marched over the Great Belt to besiege Copenhagen itself. Cromwell, the English usurper interposed; and Frederic defended his capital with great magnanimity, till the peace of Roschild; by which Frederic ceded the provinces of Halland, Bleking, and Scania, the island of Bornholm, Bahus, and Drontheim, in Norway, to the Swedes. Frederic fought to elude those severe terms; but Charles took Cronenburg, and once more besieged Copenhagen by sea and land. The steady intrepid conduct of Frederic under these misfortunes, endeared him to his subjects; and the citizens of Copenhagen made an admirable defense, till a Dutch fleet arrived in the Baltic, and beat the Swedish fleet. The fortune of war was now entirely changed in favour of Frederic, who showed on every occasion great abilities, both civil and military; and having forced Charles to raise the siege of Copenhagen, might have carried the war into Sweden, had not the English fleet, under Montague, appeared in the Baltic. This enabled Charles to besiege Copenhagen a third time; but France and England offering their mediation, a peace was concluded in that capital; by which the island of Bornholm returned to the Danes; but the island of Rugen, Bleking, Halland, and Schonen, remained with the Swedes.

Though this peace did not restore to Denmark all she had lost, yet the magnanimous behaviour of Frederic, under the most imminent dangers, and his attention to the safety of his subjects, even preferably to his own, endeared him to much in their eyes, that they rendered him absolute. Frederic was succeeded, in 1670, by his son Christian V., who obliged the duke of Holstein Gottorp to renounce all the advantages he had gained by the treaty of Roschild. He then recovered a number of places in Schonen; but his army was defeated in the bloody battle of Lunden, by Charles XI. of Sweden. This defeat did not put an end to the war; which Christian obstinately continued, till he was defeated entirely at the battle of Landskron; and he had almost exhausted his dominions in his military operations, till he was in a manner abandoned by all his allies, and forced to sign a treaty on the terms preferred by France, in 1679. Christian, however, did not desist from his military attempts; and at last he became the ally and subsidiary of Lewis XIV., who was then threatening Europe with chains. Christian, after a vast variety of treating and fighting with the Holsteiners, Hamburghers, and other northern Denmark powers, died in 1699. He was succeeded by Frederic IV., who, like his predecessors, maintained his pretensions upon Holstein; and probably must have become masters of that duchy, had not the English and Dutch fleets raised the siege of Tonnigen; while the young king of Sweden, Charles XII., who was no more than 16 years of age, landed within eight miles of Copenhagen, to assist his brother-in-law the duke of Holstein. Charles probably would have made himself master of Copenhagen, had not his Danish majesty agreed to the peace of Travendalch, which was entirely in the duke's favour. By another treaty concluded with the States-General, Frederic obliged himself to furnish a body of troops, who were to be paid by the confederates; and who afterwards did great service against the French.

Notwithstanding this peace, Frederic was perpetually engaged in wars with the Swedes; and while Charles was an exile at Bender, he marched through Holstein into Swedish Pomerania; and in the year 1712, into Bremen, and took the city of Stade. His troops, however, were totally defeated by the Swedes at Gadebusch, who laid his favourite city of Altena in ashes. Frederic revenged himself, by seizing great part of the ducal Holstein, and forcing the Swedish general, count Steinbock, to surrender himself prisoner, with all his troops. In the year 1716, the successes of Frederic was so great, by taking Tonnigen and Stralsund, by driving the Swedes out of Norway, and reducing Wismar and Pomerania, that his allies began to suspect he was aiming at the sovereignty of all Scandinavia. Upon the return of Charles of Sweden from his exile, he renewed the war against Denmark, with a most embittered spirit; but on the death of that prince, who was killed at the siege of Frederichthal, Frederic durst not refuse the offer of his Britannic majesty's mediation between him and the crown of Sweden; in consequence of which, a peace was concluded at Stockholm, which left him in possession of the duchy of Sleswig. Frederic died in the year 1730, after having, two years before, seen his capital reduced to ashes, by an accidental fire. His son and successor, Christian Frederic, made no other use of his power, and the advantages with which he mounted the throne, than to cultivate peace with all his neighbours, and to promote the happiness of his subjects, whom he eased of many oppressive taxes.

In 1734, after guarantying the Pragmatic Sanction, Christian sent 6000 men to the assistance of the emperor, during the dispute of the succession to the crown of Poland. Though he was pacific, yet he was jealous of his rights, especially over Hamburgh. He obliged the Hamburghers to call in the mediation of Prussia, to abolish their bank, to admit the coin of Denmark as current, and to pay him a million of silver marks. He had, two years after, viz. 1738, a dispute with his Britannic majesty, about the little lordship of Steinhorst, which had been mortgaged to the latter by the duke of Holstein Lawenburg, and which Christian said belonged to him. Some blood was spilt during the contest; in which Christian, it is thought, never was in earnest. It brought on, however, a treaty, in which he availed himself of his Britannic majesty's predilection for his German dominions; in for he agreed to pay Christian a subsidy of 79,000 l. Sterling a-year, on condition of keeping in readiness 7000 troops for the protection of Hanover; this was a gainful bargain for Denmark. And two years after, he seized some Dutch ships, for trading without his leave, to Iceland: but the difference was made up by the mediation of Sweden. Christian had so great a party in that kingdom, that it was generally thought he would revive the union of Calmar, by procuring his son to be declared successor to his then Swedish majesty. Some steps for that purpose were certainly taken: but whatever Christian's views might have been, the design was frustrated by the jealousy of other powers, who could not bear the thoughts of seeing all Scandinavia subject to one family. Christian died in 1746, with the character of being the father of his people.

His son and successor, Frederic V., had, in 1743, married the princess Louisa, daughter to his Britannic majesty. He improved upon his father's plan, for the happiness of his people; but took no concern, except that of a mediator, in the German war. For it was by his intervention, that the treaty of Closter-fewen was concluded between his royal highness the late duke of Cumberland, and the French general Richlieu. Upon the death of his first queen, who was mother to his present Danish majesty, he married a daughter of the duke of Brunswic Wolfenbuttel; and died in 1766. He was succeeded by his son Christian VII., his present Danish majesty, who married the princess Carolina Matilda of England.

The kingdom of Denmark at present is divided into six grand districts or provinces: viz. 1. Denmark properly so called, comprehending the islands of Zealand, Funen, Langeland, Lolland, Falster, Mona, Samoe, Arroe, Bornholm, Aubolt, Leffaw, and that part of the continent called North Jutland. 2. The duchy of Sleswick, or South Jutland. 3. The duchy of Holstein. 4. The earldoms of Oldenburg and Dellenhorst. 5. The kingdom of Norway; and 6. Iceland, with the islands lying in the Northern Seas; for a particular description of which see these articles.

The language of Denmark is a dialect of the Teutonic, and bears a strong affinity to the Norwegian tongue; but is disagreeable to strangers, on account of the drawling tone with which it is pronounced. They have borrowed many words from the Germans; and, indeed, the high Dutch is used in common discourse by the court, the gentry, and the burghers. The better sort likewise understand French, and speak it fluently. The Lutheran doctrine is universally embraced through all Denmark, Sweden, and Norway; so that there is not another feel in these kingdoms. Denmark is divided into six dioceses, one in Zealand, one in Funen, and four in Jutland: but the bishops are, properly speaking, no other than superintendents, or primi inter pares. They have no cathedrals, ecclesiastical courts, or temporalities. Their business is to inspect the doctrine and morals of the inferior clergy. The revenue of the bishop of Copenhagen amounts to about 2000 lividollars; and this is the richest benefice in the kingdom. The clergy are wholly dependant on the government. They never intermeddle, nor are employed or consulted in civil affairs. They, nevertheless, have acquired great influence, and erected a fort of spiritual tyranny over the minds of the common people, by whom they are much revered. They are, generally speaking, men of exemplary lives, and some erudition. Their churches are kept more clean, and better adorned, than those of England: the people are great lovers of music, and their organs commonly entertain the congregation for half an hour before or after service. The state of literature is very low in Denmark. There is, indeed, an university at Copenhagen; but meanly endowed, and very ill supplied with masters. Taste and the belles lettres are utterly unknown in this country, which yet has produced some men of great eminence in mathematics and medicine; such as Tycho Brahe, Borrichius, and the Bartholines.

The constitution of Denmark was heretofore of the free-Gothic original. The convention of the estates, even including the representatives of the boors or peasants, elected a king for his personal virtues, having still a regard to the son of their late monarch, whom, however, they made no scruple of setting aside, if they deemed him unworthy of the royal dignity. They enacted laws; conferred the great offices of state; debated all affairs relating to commerce, peace, war, and alliances; and occasionally gave their consent to the imposition of necessary taxes. The king was no other than chief magistrate, generalissimo, and as it were prime minister to his people. His business was to see justice administered impartially; to command the army in time of war; to encourage industry, religion, arts, and sciences; and to watch over the interests of his subjects. Such was the constitution of Denmark, till King, how the year 1660, when it underwent a very strange and surprising revolution. At that time peace was concluded with Sweden, and the nation reformed with the clamour of misery and discontent. There was nothing left in the public treasury, to pay off and disband the army; which therefore became insolent and licentious. The common people, and even the burghers, had been exhausted by the long, expensive war; the clergy were unsatisfied with their condition and want of importance; and the nobility were become proud and tyrannical. When the estates assembled to deliberate and redress the grievances of the nation, the commons proposed that an equal tax should be laid upon all persons, without distinction, in proportion to their circumstances. The nobles pleaded their privilege of being exempted from all imposition. The burghers alleged, that as the nobility engrossed all the lands and riches in the kingdom, it was reasonable that they should bear their share of the common burden. Violent disputes ensued. At length a nobleman, called Otto Græge, stood up, and in a transport of passion told the commons, that they neither understood the privileges of the nobility, who were always exempted from such impositions, nor the condition of themselves, who were no other than their slaves. This inglorious term produced an immediate ferment in the assembly; and the hall resounded with murmurs and altercation. Nansen, speaker of the commons, flaring up in a rage of indignation, swore that the nobility should repent their having branded the commons with such an opprobrious epithet. He had previously concerted the design with the bishop of Copenhagen, and the court was not ignorant of their intention. The clergy and burghers, breaking breaking up in disorder, marched, under the auspices of these leaders, to the brewer's hall; where, after much debate, they agreed to make a solemn tender of their freedom and services to the king, that he might become absolute monarch of the realm, and see the right of hereditary succession established in his family. Next morning they marched in couples, each burgher being paired with a clergyman, through the streets, which were filled with the populace, who shouted as they passed, to the council-hall, where the nobles had re-assembled. There Nanfion, in a short harangue, signified the intention of the clergy and commons, demanded the concurrence of the nobles, and threatened, that, in case of a refusal, they would forthwith proceed without them to the palace. The nobles were confounded and abashed. They endeavoured to gain time: they professed a desire of concurring with the other states; but desired that an affair of such consequence might not be precipitated. The others being deaf to their remonstrances and intreacies, continued their procession to the palace; where they were met by the prime minister, who conducted them to the hall of audience. There the bishop of Copenhagen, in a florid speech, as deputy from the two orders, made a solemn tender to the king of an absolute and hereditary dominion; assuring his majesty, that he might command their purses and arms, to support a measure so necessary to the welfare of his people. The king received them graciously, assented to the proposal, thanked them for their zeal and confidence, and assured them they might depend upon his royal favour and protection. The city-gates were immediately shut, that none of the senators should escape: a precaution by which the nobles were so intimidated, that they signified their readiness to concur with the step which the other two orders had taken.

Preparations were forthwith made for this strange inauguration. Scaffolds were raised in the open space before the castle; and the troops and burghers received orders to appear in arms, under their respective officers. On the 16th day of October, in the year 1660, the king, queen, and royal family, ascended an open theatre; and placing themselves on chairs of state, under canopies of velvet, received in public the homage of all the senators, nobility, clergy, and commons, couched in an oath of allegiance composed for the purpose. Thus the people, with a rash and desperate hand, from motives of revenge, fomented by an artful ministry and ambitious clergy, resigned their liberty and independence, and invested their sovereign with a despotic power over their lives and fortunes. The king of Denmark is now so absolute, that he not only can impose what tolls and taxes he shall think convenient; but also, by a maxim in the present jurisprudence of that nation, he enjoys the prerogative of explaining the law, and even of altering it occasionally.

The laws of Denmark are so concise, that the whole body is contained in one quarto volume, written in the language of the country. Every man may plead his own cause, without employing either council or attorney: but there are a few advocates for the benefit of those who cannot or will not speak in their own defence. The proceedings are so summary, that a suit may be carried through all the courts, and finally decided, in 13 months. There are three courts in Denmark, and an appeal lies from the inferior to the superior tribunal. The lowest of these is, in cities and towns, denominated the Byfoglids Court; and in the country, the Herredsfogd. Causes may be appealed from this to the Landtag, or general head-court for the province: but the final appeal lies to the court of High-right in Copenhagen, where the king presides in person, assisted by the prime nobility. The judges of the two other courts are appointed by his majesty's letters patent, to sit and determine causes durante bene placito. These are punishable for any misdemeanor of which they may be guilty; and when convicted of having passed an unjust sentence, they are condemned to make reparation to the injured party. Their salaries are very inconsiderable, and paid out of the king's treasury, from the fines of delinquents, besides a small gratuity from the plaintiff and defendant when sentence is passed. Such is the peculiar privilege enjoyed by the city of Copenhagen, that causes appealed from the Byfoglids court, instead of passing through the provincial court, are tried by the bargemaster and common-council; from whence they proceed immediately to the highest court, as the last resource. Affairs relating to the revenue are determined in the rent-chamber of Denmark, which is analogous to our court of exchequer. To another tribunal, composed of some members from this rent-chamber, from the admiralty, and college of commerce, merchants appeal for redress, when their commodities are seized for non-payment of duties. All disputes relating to the sea are determined by the court of admiralty, constituted of commissioners appointed for these purposes. The chancellery may be more properly termed a secretary's office. It consists of clerks, who write and issue all the king's decrees and citations, transcribe papers, and, according to the directions they receive, make draughts of treaties and alliances with other nations. The government of Denmark is very commendable for the excellent policy it maintains. Justice is executed upon criminals with great severity; and such regulations are established as effectually prevent those outrages that are daily committed in other countries. No man presumes to wag his tongue against the government, far less to hatch schemes of treason. All the subjects are, or seem to be, attached to their sovereign by the ties of affection. Robbery on the high-way, burglary, coining or clipping, are crimes seldom or never heard of in Denmark. The capital crimes usually committed are theft and manslaughter. Such offenders are beheaded very dexterously with one stroke of a sword. The executioner, though infamous, is commonly rich; because, over and above the functions of his office, he is employed in other scandalous occupations, which no other person will undertake. He, by means of his undertrapper, called the preacher, empties all the jakes, and removes from houses, stables, or streets, dead dogs, horses, &c., which no other Dane will vouchsafe to touch on any consideration whatsoever.

In Copenhagen there is a master of the police, who superintends the economy of that city. No torches are allowed to be carried through the streets of this city, because great part of the houses are of timber, and the wind is generally high. In lieu of flambeaux, the court and quality use large round lanthorns, fixed to the end of long poles. In a word, the master of the Denmark. The police regulates every thing that relates to the decency, good order, quiet, and security, of the capital. The apothecaries in this kingdom are under excellent regulations; their number at Copenhagen is restricted to two; and one is allowed to every other town of importance. They are examined and appointed by the college of physicians, and confirmed by the king himself; otherwise they cannot exercise the profession. Their shops are visited three times a-year by the magistrates, accompanied with physicians, who inspect their medicines and regulate the prices. They are obliged to keep an exact account of every thing they sell, to specify the name of the person who bought it, and that of the doctor by whom it was prescribed; so that accidents are prevented, and murders by poison easily discovered.

The Danish nobility and gentry are all included in the term noble; and formerly there were no distinctions of title; but, within these 60 or 70 years, some few favourites have been dignified with the titles of count and baron. These, and these only, enjoy the privilege of disposing of their estates by will; though others may make particular dispositions, provided they have sufficient interest to procure the king's approbation and signature. The noblesse of Denmark formerly lived at their own seats with great magnificence; and at the conventions of estates met the king with numerous and superb retinues; but since he became absolute, they are so impoverished by exorbitant taxes, that they can hardly procure subsistence; and, for the most part, live obscurely in some corner of their ruined country palaces, unless they have interest enough to procure some employment at court. They no longer inherit the spirit and virtues of their ancestors; but are become ferile, indolent, ostentatious, extravagant, and oppressive.

Their general character is a strange composition of pride and meanness, insolence and poverty. If any gentleman can find a purchaser for his estate, the king, by the Danish law, has a right to one third of the purchase-money; but the lands are so burdened with impositions that there would be no danger of an alienation, even tho' this restriction was not in force. Nay, some gentlemen in the Island of Zealand have actually offered to make a surrender to the king of large tracts of very fertile land in the Island of Zealand, if his majesty would be pleased to accept of them in place of the impositions laid on them. The reason of this is, because, by the law of Denmark, if any estate is burdened beyond what it can bear, the owner must make up the deficiency out of his other estates, if he has any. Hence the king generally refuses such offers; and some gentlemen have been transported with joy when they heard that his majesty had been "graciously pleased to accept their whole estates."

This oppression of the nobles by the king produces in them a like disposition to oppress the commons; and the consequence of all this is, that there is no part of the world where extravagance and dissipation reigns to such a degree. The courtiers maintain splendid equipages, wear fine clothes, drink a vast quantity of French wine, and indulge themselves with eating to excess. Such as derive money from their employments, instead of purchasing land in Denmark, remit their cash to the banks of Hamburg and Amsterdam. The merchants and burghers tread in the steps of their superiors; they spend all their gains in luxury and pleasure, afraid of incurring the suspicion of affluence, and being stripped by taxation. The peasant, or boor, follows the same example. No sooner has he earned a six-dollar than he makes haste to expend it in brandy, lest it should fall into the hands of his oppressive landlord. This lower class of people are as absolute slaves as the negroes in the West Indies, and subsist upon much harder fare. The value of estates is not computed by the number of acres, but by the stock of boors, who, like the timber, are reckoned a parcel of the freehold; and nothing can be more wretched than the state of these boors. They feed upon stock-fish, salted meats, and other coarse diet; there is not the least piece of furniture of any value in their houses, except feather-beds, of which there is great plenty in Denmark; and which are used not only as beds to lie on, but as blankets for covering. After the boor has toiled like a slave to raise the king's taxes, he must pay the overplus of his toil to his needy landlord. Should he improve his ground and repair his farm-house, his cruel master will immediately transplant him to a barren farm and a naked habitation, that he may let the improved ground to another tenant at a higher price. The peasants likewise suffer a great deal of damage and violence from the licentious soldiers that are quartered in their houses. They are moreover obliged to furnish horses and waggons for the royal family and all their attendants when the king makes a progress through the country, or removes his residence from one palace to another. On such occasions the neighbouring boors are summoned to assemble with their cattle and carriages, and not only to live at their own expense, but to bear every species of outrage from the meanest lackeys of those who attend his majesty. The warlike spirit of the Danes no longer subsists: the common people are mean-spirited, suspicious, and deceitful; nor have they that talent for mechanics so remarkable in some northern nations. While the peasants are employed in their labour without doors, the women are occupied at home in spinning yarn for linen, which is here made in great perfection.

In Denmark, all persons of any rank above the vulgar drefs in the French taste, and affect finery; the winter-dress of the ladies is peculiar to the country, very neat, warm, and becoming. The common people are likewise remarkably neat, and pride themselves in different changes of linen. They are very little addicted to jollity and diversion: their whole amusements consist in running at the goose on Shrove Tuesday, and in winter in being drawn in sleds upon the ice. They also feast and make merry at weddings and funerals. With respect to marriage, the man and woman frequently cohabit together on contract long before the ceremony is performed. The nobility and gentry pique themselves on sumptuous burials and monuments for the dead: the corpse is very often kept in a vault, or in the chancel of a church, for several years, before an opportunity offers of celebrating the funeral.

The taverns in this country are poorly supplied; and he who dines in them must be contented to eat in a public room, unless he will condescend to pay an extravagant price for a private apartment. The metropolis is but indifferently furnished with game. The wild-ducks and plover are hardly eatable; but the hares are good, and the markets sometimes produce tolerable roebuck. Denmark. roebuck. Their sea-fish are not to be commended; but the rivers produce plenty of delicious carp, perch, and craw-fish. The gardens of the gentry are well provided with melons, grapes, peaches, and all sorts of greens and salads in perfection.

The naval power of Denmark, formerly so great, is now become much less considerable. Of late, however, commerce has considerably increased; a considerable East India trade has been carried on; they have also extended their commerce to the West Indies, where they have settled the island of St Thomas; to the coast of Guinea, where they maintain the fort of Christianburgh; to the Mediterranean; and to Greenland. The navy consists of about 30 ships of the line; besides frigates, bombs, tenders, and yachts. The land-forces, including 5000 reserves, which form a kind of militia, amount to near 40,000 men, horse, dragoons, and infantry. These last, officers as well as soldiers, consist chiefly of strangers, Germans, Poles, Courlanders, Dutch, Swedes, Scots, and Irish. The cavalry are generally natives.

The revenue of his Danish majesty arises from taxes laid on his own subjects; from the duties paid by foreigners, from his own estate, crown-lands, and confiscations. The taxes are altogether arbitrary, and therefore fluctuating; but they are always grievous to the subject. They commonly consist of customs or toll, for export and import; of excise upon the consumption of wine, salt, tobacco, and all kinds of provisions; of taxes upon marriages, paper, brewing, grinding, and the exercise of different professions; of impositions on land, poll-money, ground-rent for all houses in Copenhagen and elsewhere; of money raised for maintaining fortifications, and for a portion to the king's daughter when she happens to be married; but this seldom exceeds 100,000 rix-dollars. One considerable article in the revenue is the toll paid by foreign ships that pass through the Sound, or Ore-Sound (the strait between Schonen and Zealand), into the Baltic. This was originally no other than a small contribution, which trading nations agreed to make for maintaining lights at certain places, to direct their course through the passage in dark and stormy weather. At the same time these trading nations agreed, that every ship should pass this way and pay its share of the expense, rather than use the Great Belt, which is the other passage, but unprovided with any such conveniency. In process of time the Danes converted this voluntary contribution into an exorbitant toll, and even exacted arbitrary sums, in proportion to the weakness of the nation whose ships they visited. These exactions sometimes involved them in quarrels with their neighbours, and the toll was regulated in repeated treaties.

To the court of Copenhagen belong two orders of knighthood: namely, that of the elephant, and that of Danebrugh: the badge of the former, which they deem the most honourable, is an elephant surmounted with a caille, set in diamonds, and suspended to a sky-coloured watered ribbon, worn like the George in England. This order is conferred only on persons of the highest quality, and the most extraordinary merit. The order of Danebrugh is bestowed as an honorary reward upon the noblesse of an inferior rank, who have distinguished themselves in the service. Its insignia consist of a white ribbon with red edges, worn over the left shoulder, from which depends a small cross of diamonds, and an embroidered star on the breast of the coat, surrounded with the motto pietate & justitia.