44] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



den. With respect to the gua- 

 ranty, they are convinced that 

 none of the powers of whom they 

 are the representatives will object 

 to it, when all points are defini- 

 tively settled. They further de- 

 sire the immediate publication of 

 their official notes, for the informa- 

 tion of the people of Norway. 

 The Envoys had their audience of 

 leave on the 17th, and returned to- 

 wards Sweden. Christian departed 

 on the 21st to Moss, whence he 

 was to repair to head-quarters. 

 His letter to the King of Sweden 

 was afterwards returned unopened. 

 The return of the Envoys was 

 generally considered as a signal for 

 war, and the course of exchange 

 at Copenhagen accordingly suf- 

 fered a considerable depression. 

 Denmark, indeed, was placed in a 

 very uneasy situation by the events 

 in Norway. Though their king 

 had done every thing in his power 

 to demonstrate that he had no con- 

 cern in the proceedings of the Nor- 

 wegians, it was thought proper by 

 the Allies to keep him closely 

 watched ; and for that purpose a 

 body of Russian troops had pene- 

 trated into Holstein, where they 

 were to be joined by a corps of 

 Prussians. The Crown Prince of 

 Sweden in the mean time was ex- 

 tremely active in his military pre- 

 parations; and, in a proclamation 

 to his soldiers, dated Winnesberg, 

 July 17, he tells and repeats to 

 them, " there is no rest for us till 

 the union and independence of the 

 Scandinavian peninsula are obtain- 

 ed by the annexation of Norway 

 to Sweden." He, as well as the 

 King of Sweden, made trial of their 

 powers of persuasion upon the 

 Norwegians before they employed 

 force, and it may be interesting to 



give a summary of the arguments 

 made use of by the Crown Prince 

 in his proclamation to the people 

 of Norway. He begins with tel- 

 ling them tliat, destined by nature 

 to a union with the Swedish na- 

 tion, their fate was decided when 

 by the peace of Kiel the King of 

 Denmark ceded to Sweden his 

 rights over Norway. He next 

 states all the advantages which ac- 

 crued to Denmark from that 

 treaty, and the merits of Sweden 

 in having withstood " the idol of 

 the day." Proceeding to more di- 

 rect reasoning, he informs the 

 Norwegians, that small states are 

 always moved by the more power- 

 ful ; that they themselves are un- 

 able to form an insulated govern- 

 ment ; and that the purpose of the 

 man who misleads them is to re- 

 unite the crown of Norway to that 

 of Denmark. He dwells upon the 

 mutual advantages that Sweden 

 and Norway will derive from their 

 union, and asserts that such a mea- 

 sure had been the intention of 

 the great Gustavus. He speaks of 

 the brave army which he is lead- 

 ing back from a campaign as glo- 

 rious as it is astonishing, and of 

 their desire to be received rather 

 as brothers than as enemies. He 

 affirms that Sweden will not lay 

 down her arms till she has accom- 

 plished a union necessary to her 

 safety and repose, and conjures 

 them to avoid the calamities of war 

 by accepting the offer of indepen- 

 dence, liberty, and the gauranty 

 of all their privileges. Such was 

 the general strain of this soldier- 

 like piece of eloquence, in which, 

 " the argument he summ'd up all 

 in," that of superior force, was 

 obviously the only one calculated 

 to operate upon the feelings of a 



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