GENERAL HISTORY. 



[41 



in execution the treaty of peace 

 between Denmark and Sweden. 

 He was introduced to Prince Chris- 

 tian, in presence of the chief offi- 

 cers of state, when he exhibited 

 his powers as plenipotentiary, and 

 as bearer of the proclamation of the 

 King of Sweden to the people of 

 Norway. The Prince said, that 

 in the present state of affairs he 

 could not receive the proclamation, 

 and that in lieu of all other answers, 

 he must communicate the decla- 

 ration which he had made in the 

 face of all Europe, by which Nor- 

 way asserted its independence. 

 Having read this. Count Rosen 

 observed, that after such an unex- 

 pected declaration, nothmgremain- 

 ed for him but to return immedi- 

 ately. A conversation ensued 

 between the Prince and the Count, 

 in which the latter waved all dis- 

 cussion of the points at issue be- 

 tween the nations, and finally left 

 the audience-room. The prince 

 afterwards wrote a letter to the 

 King of Sweden, inclosing his 

 declaration, and stating the motives 

 of his conduct. 



The proclamation of the King of 

 Sweden to the Norwegians above 

 alluded to, contained an engage- 

 ment of leaving to the nation the 

 power of establishing a constitu- 

 tion on the basis of national re- 

 presentation, and the right of tax- 

 ing itself, and affirmed his deter- 

 mination not to amalgamate the 

 finances of the two countries. 



The King of Denmark, probably 

 conscious of lying under the sus- 

 picion of having secretly fomented 

 this spirit of resistance to a com- 

 pulsory treaty, addressed a letter 

 to the magistrates and people, 

 dated April 13th, in which he ex- 

 plicitly disavowed their cause, ex- 



pressed his displeasure with what 

 had been done by Prince Christian, 

 and his resolution to acknowledge 

 no other authority in Norway than 

 that ofthe King of Sweden, forbade 

 all the officers nominated by him 

 to accept or retain any employ- 

 ment in it during its present «tate ; 

 and recalled all those who were 

 natives of Denmark, under pain of 

 forfeiting their rights as Danish 

 citizens. 



That hopes had been entertain- 

 ed by the Norwegians ofthe coun- 

 tenance of England, the country 

 fondly looked u p to on the continent 

 of Europe as the general patron of 

 public liberty, is manifest from the 

 clausein the proclamation of Prince 

 Christian, above quoted ; and after 

 the meeting of a Diet of the king- 

 dom convoked by him, Mr. Anker 

 was deputed to England with in- 

 structions to procure, if possible, 

 the accession of Great Britain to 

 the independence of Norway. He 

 was admitted to a conference with 

 Lord Liverpool, in which that mi- 

 nister stated to him the situation 

 and determination of the British 

 Government, and, in consequence, 

 Mr. Anker was desired to return 

 to Norway. The part taken by 

 this Court was afterwards openly 

 declared in a notification made on 

 April 29th, by command of the 

 Prince Regent, to the ministers of 

 friendly Powers in London, that 

 necessary measures had been taken 

 for a blockade of the ports of Nor- 

 way by the British navy. The ad- 

 ministration was doubtless of opi- 

 nion, that Great Britain having 

 been a party in a treaty by which 

 the cession of Norway to Sweden 

 was stipulated, it was incumbent 

 upon her to make use of her power 

 to bring this cession to effect 



