DENMARK. 



66i 



Sea.T.cn. 



are generally stationed in the ports of Norway, a frigate 

 ' off' Elsineur, another off the isle of Funen, and a smaller 

 vessel in the Elbe. The number of registered seamen 

 is 14,600, divided into two classes; the first comprises 

 those furnished by the maritime districts, who are al- 

 lowed to engage in the service of merchant ships trad- 

 ing to any part of the world. Each receives two rix- 

 dollars annually from the crown, and is subject to recal 

 in case of war. The second comprehends the fixed 

 sailors, who are constantly in the employ of the crown, 

 and amount to about 4000, which are divided into 40 

 companies, and are stationed at Copenhagen for the or- 

 dinary service of the navy and the work of the dock- 

 yard. When not at sea, they receive each two rix-dol- 

 lars per month, besides flour and other provisions ; every 

 two years a complete suit of clothes, and every year 

 breeches, stockings, shoes, and a cap. When they sail, 

 their pay is augmented to five rix-dollars per month. 

 The marine artillery consists of 800 men in four divi- 

 sions. A ship of 90 guns, with its full complement, 

 carries 850 men, of 70 guns 700, of 6*4 guns 6'00, of 50 

 guns 450, and a frigate of 36 guns 250. The chief 

 nursery for naval officers is the Academy of Marine 

 Cadets, instituted by Frederic IV. in 1701. The foun- 

 dation is for 60 cadets, who are maintained and instruc- 

 ted in the theory of navigation at the expence of the 

 crown. Beside the original number, other youths are 

 admitted under the name of volunteers, at their own 

 expence. Every year they make a cruise on board a 

 frigate. 



CHAP. IX. 



Population, 



The population of Denmark, previous to the last 

 century, is altogether uncertain. In 1720, government 

 appointed registers to be kept of the births, deaths, and 

 marriages; but it was not until 1775, that these could 

 be consulted with any degree of confidence. An enu- 

 meration of the inhabitants of all the Danish states in 

 Europe was made in 1769, of which the result was 

 2,017,127 souls. But it ought to be observed, that the 

 army and navy were not included in this enumeration, 

 and that it took place in summer, when many indivi- 

 duals, and particularly seafaring people, are absent 

 from their homes. Besides, the fear of its being only 

 the forerunner of some new tax, induced many to avoid 

 it. The following Table of births and deaths exhibits 

 the progress of population in the Danish states from 

 1785 to 1799. 



Years. 



Births. 



Deaths. 



1785 



64,920 



68,691 



1786 



66,123 



65,759 



1787 



64,033 



61,901 



1788 



68,382 



61,308 



1789 



68,134 



61,299 



1790 



67,919 



57,006 



1791 



70,131 



56,105 



1792 



75,597 



56,150 



1793 



72,368 



56,752 



1794 



73,246 



57,906 



179.5 



71,562 



57,746 



1796 



71,617 



55,520 



1797 



76,468 



58,202 



1798 



77,750 



60,884 



1799 



77,284 



59,878 



The following Table proves the number of marriages Statistics. 

 also to be increasing. ""— "V""*' 



Yeais. 



Marriages. 



Years. 



Marriages. 



1777 

 1795 

 1796 



14,189 

 18,712 

 19,600 



1797 

 1798 

 1799 



20,930 

 21,050 

 18,267 



The present population of the Danish dominions is 

 estimated at two millions and a half; and though there 

 is reason to think that it considerably exceeds that 

 number, it is yet by no means adequate to the natural 

 resources of the country. Denmark enjoys a salubri- 

 ous and temperate climate, a soil by no means unfruit. 

 fuh and a situation favourable to commercial industry. 

 But under what latitude, or on what soil, could popula- 

 tion keep pace with the intentions of nature, when that 

 class of the inhabitants, who ought to cultivate the earth 

 and raise the means of subsistence, are reduced to that 

 state of servitude and degradation in which the Danish 

 peasants have been so long held. To this prominent 

 obstruction, are to be added several others, such as the- 

 laws imposing restraints on industry and commerce, 

 the tax on marriages, the public burdens bearing so 

 heavy on a great part of the community, and the faul- 

 ty administration of the poor's laws. These obstacles 

 have now in a great measure been removed, and the 

 population has already felt the effects in the most strik- 



ing manner. 



CHAP. X. 



Religion. 



Until the ninth century, the Danes, as well as the Religion. 

 other Scandinavian nations, were professors of the reli- 

 gion of Odin, the celebrated conqueror, legislator, and 

 p-ophet of the North. About this period, Christianity 

 was introduced into Denmark by St Augarius, bishop 

 of Hamburgh and Bremen, in the reign of Harold 

 Clachius, the first Christian monarch. The principles 

 of the Reformation found their way into this country 

 at an early period, and notwithstanding all the efforts 

 of the Catholic clergy to stop their progress, Lutheran- 

 ism was formally established in 1536. The govern- 

 ment of the Lutheran church of Denmark appears to 

 form a medium between the English hierarchy and 

 the discipline of the Calvinistic church. The Bishops, 

 who act only as superintendants, have no temporal ju- 

 risdiction. Their authority extends no farther than is 

 necessary for maintaining good order and decency in 

 the church, and advancing the interests of religion. 

 They confer the sacred orders, inspect the conduct of 

 the clergy, whom they exhort, reprove, or even sus- 

 pend, as circumstances require, examine the state of 

 the schools, inquire into the management of the poor's 

 funds, &c. within their diocese, which they ought to 

 visit at least once in three years. Every diocese is di- 

 vided into a certain number of districts, in each of 

 which there is an archdeacon, who represents the bi- 

 shop in his absence, and exercises all his functions. 

 These archdeacons are elected by the votes of the mi- 

 nisters of the several parishes of the district. Twice a 

 year a general assembly is held of the archdeacons of 

 the diocese in which the bishop presides, and which 

 is also attended by the grand bailiff or Stifts-amptsman 

 on the part of the king. These assemblies take cogni- 

 4 



