DENMARK. 



659 



Statistics, ferior orders must be married by a clergyman. Man 

 """ ""V"-"' and wife have all their goods and property in common, 

 and any convention, contrary to this regulation, will be 

 null, unless confirmed by the king. The survivor in- 

 herits the half of their joint fortunes ; the other half is 

 divided among the children, of which the said survivor 

 shall, moreover, take a child's portion, but in case of a 

 second marriage, tlus must be restored to the children. 

 The women of this countiy are always under guardian- 

 ship. When married, their husbands are their guardians ; 

 when unmarried, or widows, their nearest relation. 



Costracts. They never attain majority but by dispensation. Con- 

 tracts drawn up in the presence of two witnesses, and 

 signed by the contracting parties, are binding. Verbal 

 bargains, in the hearing of witnesses, are likewise legal. 

 Deeds, transferring hereditable property, must be re- 



Jnicces- gistered. In Denmark, no person can succeed to the 



sions. property of another, but by the path which the civil 



law points out, except the king, by a particular pri- 

 vilege, confers the power of making a testament. This 

 permission, it is said, is seldom refused when there are 

 no children-, but when there is issue it cannot be grant- 

 ed. It is lawful, however, for husband and wife, who 

 have no children, to dispose of the half of their property 

 as they choose, and even of the whole, if it be for pious 

 uses. Children succeed to the fortunes of their parents 

 in the following manner : a son has double the portion 

 of a daughter, and can take in preference any manor 

 or freehold in the succession. The grandsons are ad- 

 mitted by right of representation, which indeed extends 

 to all the descendants. If there are no descendants, 

 the father succeeds alone. In default of the father, the 

 mother succeeds conjointly with the brothers and sis- 

 ters, and their posterity ; afterwards the ascendants and 

 collateral lines are admitted. The law makes no dis- 

 tinction from which side the property comes, but ad- 

 mits the paternal and maternal line to partake equally 

 of the succession, preferring always those who are in 

 the nearest degree. Any person having an estate in 

 freehold lands of 2400 acres, may fix it by a special en- 

 tail in his family, in what manner and on what condi- 

 tions he shall think proper. The proprietors of free- 

 hold lands have the power of giving to one of their 

 6ons double the portion of the others, and if they have no 

 sons, they may make the same regulation with regard to 

 their daughters. Illegitimate children are treated with 

 more humanity by the laws of this country than by 

 those of most others. If the father acknowledges them 

 before the legal tribunals, they obtain half the portion 

 of the legitimate children, if he has any ; and if he has 

 none, they succeed to his whole property. 



Of crimes The mode of procedure before the criminal courts 



and pumsh- h as already been stated. The criminal code of this 

 country is, in general, distinguished by its wisdom and 

 its humanity. The laws enacted in a bigotted age, 



Irreligion. a g a inst apostacy from the established religion, heresy, 

 sacrilege, profanation of holy days, and negligence in 

 attending public worship, have here, as elsewhere, been 



rrea<o:i. greatly relaxed by the progress of toleration. The 

 crime of treason has been regarded in a more heinous 

 point of view since the monarchy was rendered abso- 

 lute and hereditary. The principal article of the Da- 

 nish law on this head runs thus : Whoever shall accuse 

 the king and queen, with a view to dishonour them, or 

 make any attempt on their life, or on that of their chil- 

 dren, shall forfeit his honour, his life, and his property. 

 Before execution, his right hand shall be cut off, his 

 body shall be quartered and exposed on the highway, 

 and his head and hand hung upon a gibbet. If the 



criminal is noble or of high rank, his arms shall be bro- Statistic* 

 ken by the hangman, and his children degraded from "~" "Y""" ' 

 the rank of nobility. Murder is punished with death, 

 and the criminal is beheaded. Child-murder is not ex- 

 cepted, but the punishment is almost always commu- 

 ted. Robbery, housebreaking, theft, and other crimes Robbery, 

 of this nature, which, in other countries, are punished theft, &c 

 with death or banishment, are here punished by impri- 

 sonment or condemnation to hard labour for a limited 

 time, or for the remainder of their lives. But if these 

 criminals make their escape, and repeat their guilt, 

 their lives are forfeited. The more heinous Crimes, as 

 treason, murder, robbery, &c. are seldom heard of, and 

 capital punishments are rarely inflicted. 



The following are some of the most important of the Maritime 

 maritime laws of Denmark : No contracts between the liWS * 

 proprietors of vessels and their captains are binding, 

 unless they are in writing. Sailors are to be treated 

 according to the agreement entered into with them. 

 But captains may leave such as are seditious, even in 

 foreign countries, and may confine those guilty of 

 crimes or misconduct until their return. But he is re- 

 quired to do this only with the advice of the ship's coun- 

 sel, or of some of the most respectable of the crew. If the 

 person engaged as a pilot, shall occasion the loss of the 

 ship by his want of skill, he is held liable to pay the da- 

 mage; and if he be unable to do this, he is punishable 

 with death. The means employed, however, by go- 

 vernment for the instruction of seafaring people, ren- 

 der it seldom or never necessary to resort to this almost 

 only rigorous statute of the Danish code. When a cap- 

 tain of a merchant ship is on a voyage in any foreign 

 country, and is in want of money, he is authorised by 

 the law to sell any part of the cargo entrusted to him 

 for the supply of his wants. With the view of making 

 the interests of seamen subordinate to those of com- 

 merce in general, the legislature has given to the cap- 

 tain of a vessel, in many instances, the power of break- 

 ing his contracts with his men. If, for example, he has 

 engaged them to go a voyage to the Mediterranean, 

 and afterwards finds he can sell her cargo to much 

 greater advantage in the West Indies, they are obliged 

 to make that voyage along with him. In former times, 

 all ships driven ashore on the Danish coast, were im- 

 mediately robbed and plundered; and even the nobility 

 and Romish bishops, whose lands were situated on the 

 sea-shore, drew from this barbarous custom a consider- 

 able revenue. In abolishing this savage practice, the 

 kings of Denmark have experienced the strongest op- 

 position; and the attempt cost Christian the Second his 

 crown and his liberty. The following are the enactments 

 at present in foi'ce with regard to shipwrecks : The ship- 

 wrecked goods must be deposited by the inhabitants of 

 the coast, in a place of security, and no person can 

 oblige the captain to sell them. Whoever shall carry 

 off the effects of a ship which has been wrecked, to the 

 value of 50 marcs, shall be hanged as a felon. Ship- 

 wrecked effects unclaimed at the end of a year and a 

 day, after paying the expence of salvage, belong one 

 half to the king, and the other to the person having 

 the right of escheat in the district. On the subject of 

 insurances and other matters of this nature, the Danish 

 code is conformable to the principles adopted by all 

 commercial nations. 



The duchies of Sleswick and Holstein have preserved Laws of 

 their own ssparate institutions and laws ; and the admi- Sleswick 

 nistration of justice is much more complicated in them "". ° " 

 than in the Danish states. The laws of Sleswick are 

 contained in the ancient code of Jutland, published by Sleswick;- 



