‘ 
34 on literature in Denmark. May ¢. 
evil appeared to be of such magnitude, that a great body of the 
nobility entered into a combination to oppose this dange- 
rous reform, which they conceived affected'their interest 
and privileges in so eminent a degree, An action was 
brought by these noblemen against Mr Coibiornsen before 
the high court of chancery, on account of his proceed- 
ings and advice relative to the abolition of this species of 
feudal tyranny. The matter was fully investigated, and af- 
ter hearing parties at great length, it was proved, to the sa- 
tisfaction of the court, that the interest of the nation re- 
quired the emancipation of the peasants. A decree was 
therefore ifsued, by which the rights of the peasants are 
now fully recognised, and their protectors honourably ac- 
quitted. By this decree every landholder or proprietor of 
land is strictly required to accept of a fixed sum as a com- 
mutation for all the feudal services. , These services were’ 
before unsettled, uncertain, and arbitrary, they are now to 
be commuted into money, and so fixed as to prevent all 
further dispute between the parties. Thus is a founda- 
tion laid in Denmark for a freedom similar to that which 
we have long enjoyed in Britain, and which has thrown 
an energy into all our enterprises that is scarcely to be 
found in any other nation.. As Poland has adopted the 
same general system, it is to be hoped that Europe in a few 
years will rise to a still greater degree of eminence than 
has hitherto been known on the globe. l 
The views of the prince of Denmark, and his worthy 
counsellors, have not been confined to those objects only 
that are just now enumerated; not only do they lay before 
the public the literary treasures of their country, that have 
been locked up in their archives for so many ages,—not 
only do they, by emancipating the peasants, give energy to 
their bodily exertions, and by the liberty of the prefs allow 
their minds to exert their utmost power with freedom,— 
