724 DENMARK. 
white ribbon, which was inftituted by Waldemar II. The 
badge is a gold crofs enamelled, and fet with eleven dia¬ 
monds. This hangs at a watered white ribbon with a 
red border, which is worn over the right (houlder to the 
left fide. Thefe knights wear on the right bread: a filver 
Aar of eight rays, in which a crofs is to be feen, with the 
word rejlitutor. Both thefe orders were revived by Chrif- 
tian V. and have their particular flatutes, collars, and 
mottos. 
Since the revolution, the Daniflr government has ge¬ 
nerally been condudted with mildnefs and moderation ; 
and their regal adts pafs through many councils, who 
carefully ob'ferve the legal forms. The laws are chiefly 
comprized in fix books : i. On judgment and judges. 2. 
Religion and religious orders. 3. Civil and economical 
afiairs. 4. Navigation and maritime laws. 5. Property. 
6. Crimes : the whole forming only one quarto volume ; 
while in the fouth of Europe a life might be confirmed 
in perufing the laws of fome of the dates. Every gene¬ 
ral government has its general governor, who is always 
a perfon of didinction, and ufually a knight of one of 
the orders. His power is very great, and extends both 
to fpiritual, temporal, and judicial, affairs. He has like- 
wife authority over tire revenues, towns, and country, 
within his jurifdiction. Under the governor are the pre¬ 
fects, w^o are alfo noblemen, or at lead perfons of dif- 
tinCtion ; but they have no power in the towns within 
their jurifdiftion, that extending only to the open coun¬ 
try. Britidi merchants who have had occafion to pro- 
fecute fuits in this country, admire the equitablenefs of 
their laws, and the eafe with which judice is obtained. 
The crimes of high treafon, robbery, and houfe-break- 
ing, are feldom heard of in Denmark, and feditious dif- 
courfes and practices are dill more uncommon. The 
punifhment for capital crimes is beheading, which is 
ufually done by one droke with a fword. 
The eflablifhed religion of Denmark and Norway is 
the Lutheran. There is no archbilhop ; but the bifliop- 
ric.s are twelve, fix in Den'fnhrk, four in Norway, and two 
in Iceland. The chief fee is that of Zealand, which 
yields about ioool. a-year. The others are from 400I. 
to 600I. the biflioprics of Skalholt and Holun in Iceland 
are only valued each at 150I. but living is cheap in that 
ifland. The other clerical orders are provods, or arch¬ 
deacons, parilh prieds, and chaplains. The parochial 
clergy are maintained by their glebes, tithes, and furplice 
fees; but in Jutland fome of the livings do not exceed 
twenty pounds a-year. Other religions are freely tole¬ 
rated in all parts of Denmark. 
The population of the Danifli dominions is computed 
at two millions and a half; though there feem little room 
to infer that it yields to that of Sweden. If we fuppofe 
the fquare contents to be about 180,000 miles, there will 
only be twelve inhabitants to the fquare mile. Norway 
is not fuppofed to contain more than 700,000 fouls, nor 
Iceland above 50,000, the former only yielding fix, the 
latter one, to the fquare mile. Denmark poffeffes fome 
fmall colonies, as Tranquebar on the coad of Coroman¬ 
del, Chridianfburg on the coad of Guinea, a fmall part 
of Greenland in America ; with three iflands in the Wed 
Indies, St. Jan, St. Thomas, and St. Croix, of which the 
latter was purchafed from France in 1733. The army 
of this kingdom is computed at 70,000 men, of which 
Denmark fupplies about 40,000, and Norway the re¬ 
mainder. The navy confids of thirty-three (hips of the 
line, manned by about 11,000 feamen, and 5000 marines. 
The annual revenue is computed at about one million 
and a half derling, being fuperior to that of Sweden. 
Denmark contributes 543,5541. Norway 290,0001. Slef- 
wick and Holdein 300,0001. the Wed Indian iflands 
262,0001. the toll levied upon fitips pafling the Sound 
122,554k Altona 3,1501. The expences of the date 
amount annually to about 1,050,0001. ; and it is bur. 
thened with a debt of 2,6oo,oool. 
The cufloms and manners of the better fort of people 
in Denmark, differ little from tltpfe of the fame clafles 
in other parts of Europe. To the difgrace of the go¬ 
vernment, mod of the peafantry continue in a date’ of 
valfalage ; except thofe of the crown. They are of courfe 
idle, dirty, and difpirited; while thofe of Sweden appear 
to have been always free ; nor would it be eafy to fix the 
period when vaffalage, fo foreign to the nature of the 
northern governments, firfl began in Denmark. In ad¬ 
dition to this radical caufe of the want of national ener¬ 
gy, property is ill divided ; and the middle chides, efpe- 
cially that of yeomanry, the glory of England, are al- 
mofl unknown. In Norway, on the contrary, every pea- 
fant breathes the air of freedom, except thofe of a few 
noble edates near Frederickdadt. “ The benefits of the 
Norway code, (fays Coxe,) are fo vifible in its general 
eftedts on the happinefs and in the appearance of the pea- 
fants, that a traveller mud be blind who does not in- 
Aantly perceive the difference between the free peafants 
of Norway, and the endaved vaffals of Denmark, though 
both living under the fame government!” Among the 
numerous inconfiflencies of human nature, it is indeed 
one of the mod Angular, that abfolute monarchs fliould 
be anxious to improve the breed of their liorfes, and to 
debafe that of their fubjedts. The able writer above 
quoted proceeds to obferve that the Norwegian peafants 
are fpirited, frank, open, and undaunted, yet not info- 
lent ; and, indead of the fervile bow, they (hake the 
hand of their fuperior or benefadtor : in the comforts of 
life they feem to yield to none, except fome of the Swifs : 
their ufual drefs is of a done colour, with red button¬ 
holes, and white metal buttons ; and the women often 
appear only dreffed in a petticoat and fliift, with a clofe 
collar round their throat, and a black fafli. Their ufual 
bread, like that of the Scottidi peafantry, confids of flat 
cakes of oatmeal; and in times of great fcarcity is min¬ 
gled with the white inner rind of trees. 
At the farthed northern extremity of Norway, is the 
region of Finmark, or more properly Lapmark, being a 
large province poifeffed by the Danifli Laplanders, and 
extending even to the ead of Cape Nord towards Ruflian 
Lapland. The inhabitants of this wild and remote pro¬ 
vince, with thofe of Greenland, are deferibed under their 
proper heads. The people of Iceland, being of Nor¬ 
wegian extract, have few peculiar manners, but retain 
more of the ancient drefs and cufloms of their ancedors. 
If we except the Laponic, the languages fpoken in the 
Danifli dominions are all filter dialedts of the Gothic. 
The Icelandic is the mod ancient and venerable ; and 
being cfleemed the mod pure dialed! of the Gothic, has 
engaged the attention of many profound fcholars, who 
have conlidered it as the parent of the Norwegian, Danifli, 
and Swedifli, and in a great degree of the Englifli, though 
it would feem that this lad is more connected with the 
Frific, and other dialedts of the north of Germany. The 
literature of Denmark, however, cannot boad of much 
antiquity, having followed, as ufual, the introduftion of 
Chriftianity, which was not completely edabliflied till 
near the eleventh century. In general, the ancient lite¬ 
rature of Denmark is much more opulent than that of 
Sweden, as the colledtionof Danifli hidorians may evince. 
Norway cannot boad of a native writer till a recent pe¬ 
riod ; Theodoric, the monk of Drontheim, who wrote a 
fliort hiflory of the ancient kings, being fuppofed to have 
been a German. But it is a Angular circumdance in the 
hiflory of European literature, that letters highly flou- 
riflied in the remote republic of Iceland, from the ele¬ 
venth to the fourteenth century ; and independent of the 
fabulous Sagas, which might be counted by hundreds, 
the (olid and valuable works then produced in that ifland 
might fill a confiderable catalogue. From Iceland we 
derived the Edda, and our knowledge of the ancient 
Gothic mythology. From Iceland the Swedes, Norwe¬ 
gians, Danes, and Orcadians, draw their chief intelligence 
concerning their ancient hiflory, Snorro in particular be¬ 
ing (tiled the Herodotus of the north 5 and the Landna- 
