Chao. II. and its Inh 
1 
times continues whole Days and Nights^ The firft 
Thing a Friend is prefented with at his coming into the 
Houfe is a Dram of Brandy ; and they are no fooner fet 
down to Dinner, but every Man and Woman hath 
alfo a Glafs fet by their Plate, and on the propofing a 
Health take off their Glaffes together, and by that means 
make a quick Difpatch. The Women indeed retire after 
Dinner *, but the Men fit it out ’till they have loft (which 
is not foon done) their little Senfe. 
The Liquors drank by People of Condition are Rhenifh- 
Wines, Cherry-Brandy, and all Sorts of French-Wines. 
The Men are fond of them, and the fair Sex do not re- 
fufe them. The poor People indulge in bad Beer and 
Spirits extracted from Malt or Barley. Nor do the Nor- 
wegians who can afford it come behind the Idanes \ ’tis the 
Cuftom of the Country •, and both among the Gentry and 
common People, Lewdnefs and Intemperance pafs for 
Wit and ingenious Converfation. As to their Eating, 
the Tables of People of Condition are covered with a 
Variety of Diflies j but the Flefh, except Beef and Veal, 
is generally lean and ill tafted j their tame Fowls and 
wild Ducks are fcarce eatable. . There are no fallow 
Deer, V/oodcocks, Pheafants or Rabbets ; and red Deer 
are the King’s Game, and not to be purchafed.7'’heir Hares 
and their Bacon are excellent, as are their frefh-water 
Fifh, particularly the Carp, Perch, and Craw-fifh \ but 
Sea-filh is fcarce and ill tafted ; and in general their 
Cookery is not agreeable to an Englijh Palate. The 
common People in Town and Country live upon coarfe 
Rye Bread, lean Salt Fifh, Stock-Fifh, Roots, and very 
bad Cheefe, feldom tafting frefli Fifh, and hardly ever 
Flefh. As to the Charafter of the common People, they 
are poor, and mean-fpirked, far from the warlike Temper 
of their Anceftors, inclined to cheating, and intolerably 
jealous and fufpicious that others have a Defign upon 
them *, which may be obferved fo be the Cafe of moft 
Men of limited Underftandings. In our Age, fays Puffen- 
dorfy the Danes have loft much of their ancient Glory, be- 
caufe the prefent Nobility and Gentry are rather for en- 
joying their Revenues in Eafe.and Luxury, than for un- 
dergoing the Fatigues of War; and the Commonality 
have followed their Example. 
The Norwegians undergo all kinds of Hardfhips with 
more Courage and Vigour, to which they are inured by 
the Clirpate they live in •, but the Danes^ ever fince 
they have been Mafters of Norway^ have endeavoured to 
deprefs and keep that People under, by taking from 
them all the Opportunities of exerting themfelves ; and 
there are now very few of the ancient Nobility left in 
Norway. The Danes travel either in Waggons, onHorfe- 
back, or in Sledges ; and there is an Officer who regulates 
the Prices of Carriage, and punifhes thofe who extort 
more than their Due. If any Gentleman can procure a 
Warrant from the Court, when he is about to undertake 
a Journey, the Peafants or Farmers are obliged to furnifh 
him with Horfes and Carriage, in every Country, through 
which he paftes, without being allowed any thing, as 
they do for the King and Court whenever they travel. 
The Danes have their Playhoufe for their Diverfion ; they 
take their Pleafure alfo in their Sleds upon the Ice in 
Winter. But downright Drinking is their favourite Re- 
creation ; the moft ferious Affairs fubmit to this, the 
great Bufmefs of the Day and Night. Nor do the Danes 
indulge more in Eating and Drinking than in their Lodg- 
ing ; for as there is no Placewhere there is greater Plenty 
of good Feather-beds, they lay one under, another over 
them, all the Winter Seafon. But Lodgings for Strangers 
ai'e procured with Difficulty in private Houfes, and in 
Public-Houfes they are obliged to eat and deep, in com- 
mon, no Man being allowed a Room to himfelf, except 
his Qiiality be very high indeed. 
8. The King of Denmark is the great Interpreter of his 
Laws, and can change them at Pleafure. He is the fu- 
preme Judge and Preftdent of the High Court of Juftice, 
when he pleafes to fit there, which is not often : How- 
ever, whether prefent or abfent, the Advocates always 
addrefs themfelves to the King. The Princes of the Blood, 
and the Nobility, and Gentry, are commonly tried in this 
High Court ; and the Superintendants, or Biffiops, have 
VoL. II, Numb. CIV. 
the fame Privilege^ if charged v/lth Herefy, of any otlief 
notorious Crime. Where any Perfon calumniates the Go- 
vernment, or the Adminiftration, he is declared infamous, 
and his Goods confifcated ; but if fuch Difcourfes tend to a 
Sedition, they are to be puniflied with the iitmoft Severity^ 
As to thofe who endeavour to defame a Magiftrate, ei- 
ther Civil or Ecclefiaftical, or injure the Reputation of a 
Perfon of Honour, by Writing, orotherwife, they are to 
pay eighty Rix-Dollars to the Party grieved, and a Fine 
of three Marks to the Crown ; and in Default of Pay- 
ment are condemned to the Pillory, and to carry Stones 
for the Repair of the Fortifications and public Build- 
ings. If any Perfon refufes to take up Arms, and ferve 
the Government, either by Sea or Land, in Cafe of am 
Invafion, when he is fummoned to attend the Royal 
Standard, he is to be declared infamous, and to forfeit 
his Eftate. 
A Perfon guilty of Theft is not only fentenced to be ' 
whipped, and to hard Labour in the fiublicWorks, but to 
reftore double theValue of the Goods ftolen to the Owner, 
Coining is puniftied with the Lofs of Life and Honour, 
and Confifcation of the Eftate of the Offender, and the 
fame Puniffiment is inflifted on him who removes an an- 
tient I..andmark. He who counterfeits the Hand and 
Seal of another, or forges a Writing, is fentenced to 
have his Head cut off ; his Goods confifcated and de- 
clared infamous. The Torture is feldom ufed in Den- 
mark, blit in Cafes of High Treafon ; and then only 
upon Perfons already convidled of the fame Crime, in 
order to make them difcover their Accomplices. Duels, 
and even the challenging another to fight is puniftied 
with the Lofs of Life and Eftate, and Seconds, who do 
not endeavour to prevent it, are puniftied in like 
manner. He who is killed in a Duel is not fuffered to be 
buried in confecrated Ground •, whoever refleCls upon ano- 
ther for refufing a Challenge, is puniftiable, and declared 
infamous by a Danijh Law. In Cafes of Shipwrecks, 
the Danijh Subjeds are required to give all imaginable 
Afliftance to thofe in Diftrefs, and to preferve the Goods 
for the Owner’s Ufe. 
The Ships which guard the Coafts are direded to fave 
what Effeds they can, for which they have a moderate 
Reward ; and the Owners are permitted to fell them in 
the Country, or embark them on board other Veffels. 
If a Ship or Goods be driven on the Coaft, and no body 
appears to claim them, the King’s Officers, or the Lord 
of the Manor takes care to preferve them ; or if they are 
periftiable Goods they fell them to the beft Advantage, 
and reftore them to the Owner •, but if they are not 
reclaimed within a Year and a Day, they become the 
Property of the King, or the Lord of the Place. If the 
Matter of any Ship finds Goods floating on the Sea, he 
is to take Care of, and deliver them to the next Magi- 
ftrate, who muft keep them a Year and a Day, to fee if 
any one can claim them ; and if no body owns them 
they belong to the King, and if any conceal or embezzle 
fuch wrecked Goods, he is to be puniftied as a Felon, 
and the Law is much the fame where a Perfon finds 
Goods or Cattle upon the Road ; for he is obliged to 
publilE them in the Court of the Diftridl:, and can have 
no Property in the Goods till a Year and a Day be paft, 
where no body comes in to reclaim them. 
There being but one Univerfity in Denmark, a Divi- 
nity Reader is appointed to refide in every Cathedral, to 
expound the Scriptures to the People ; and thefe Divinity 
Readers, as well as the Mafters of Colleges, are examined 
by the Profeffors of the Royal Academy of Copenhagen 
before they are admitted to officiate ; private Schools are 
exprefty prohibited by the Laws of Denmark, and none 
allowed but thofe eftabliftied by public Authority in' the 
Cities and great Towns ; and they have two or three Ma- 
fliers belonging to each School, who have taken their 
Degree of Mafters of Art at leaft, as well as the Reftor, 
The firft Matter, or Redlor, is chofen by the Superinten- 
dant, or Biffiop, having paffed an Examination before 
him and the Minifterot the Parifh. The Under-Mafters 
are appointed by the Reflor, with the Approbation of 
the Minifter of the Place. The leffer Schools, where only 
Writing and Accompts are taught, are appointed by the 
6 N Magi- 
