GENERAL HISTORY. 



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and animosity enough to become 

 troublesome, if not formidable, 

 adversaries. In the meantime, in 

 all personal occurrences between 

 the Danes and English, there ap- 

 pears to have subsisted a feeling of 

 ancient kindred and alliance which 

 has alleviated the rancour of po- 

 litical resentment ; and the arrogant 

 dictatorial conduct of the French 

 minister, Alquier, at the court of 

 Copenhagen, has probably inspired 

 the nation at large with an earnest 

 wish to be delivered from servitude. 

 Its internal sufferings from scarcity 

 of provisions have been very dis- 

 tressing ; and few countries in Eu- 

 rope seem at present more entitled 

 to commiseration. Domestic dis- 

 sensions aggravate the calamities 

 under which it labours. In the 

 latter part of the year we are told 

 that the reigning prince had dis- 

 missed all his ministers, and had 

 assumed the sole conduct of affairs, 

 with the assistance only of his 

 aides-de-camp. The French troops 

 in Holstein and Sleswick having 

 been withdrawn to accompany 

 their countrymen to Russia, the 

 Danish militia had been embodied 

 to a number beyond all precedent, 

 apparently from jealousy of the 

 warlike preparations of Sweden ; 

 and their augmentation had proved 

 an additional cause of discontent. 

 The government being absolute, 

 there exists little community of 

 interest between prince and peo- 

 ple; and if the former, as is as- 

 serted, adheres firmly to the French 

 alliance, it may be because he 

 finds a powerful protector neces- 

 sarj' for the support of his authority 

 at home. 



The Court of Vienna was 

 principally occupied, about the be- 

 ginning of the year, in the great 



work of restoring the finances. A 

 circular published at Vienna on 

 December the 28th, 1811, has the 

 following preamble : " By a de- 

 cree of the 18th of this month, his 

 Imperial Majesty having judged 

 it indispensably necessary for the 

 relief of the finances, and providing 

 for the necessities of the State, 

 to raise the contribution, called the 

 Contribution of the Classes, with 

 the addition of 50 percent, and the 

 personal contribution, during the 

 course of the military year 1812, 

 has ordered that these taxes shall 

 be raised within the said year." 

 That the burdens of a state should 

 be continued, and even increased, 

 for a period subsequent to the re- 

 storation of peace, is a necessary 

 consequence of the long and dread- 

 ful wars in which Europe has been 

 engaged, and must be expected by 

 all the powers who have had the 

 misfortune to share in them. Al- 

 though rigorous measures of taxa- 

 tion could be carried with little 

 opposition in the hereditary domi- 

 nions of Austria, the same facility 

 did not exist in the kingdom of 

 Hungary. The winter session of 

 the Hungarian diet was a scene of 

 longer and more violent discussions 

 than had been witnessed for ma- 

 ny years. The magnates and re- 

 presentatives of the people concur- 

 red in opposing financial measures 

 introduced as absolutely necessary 

 for the salvation of the state. They 

 urged that the constitution of the 

 country did not permit them to 

 acquiesce in the imposition of such 

 heavy burdens : that the brave and 

 loyal Hungarians were always rea- 

 dy to make sacrifices in support of 

 the rights of their sovereigns; but 

 that if they were to adopt the finan- 

 cial plan proposed by the ministers, 



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