it is fruitless to expect that nations, any more than individuals, will always be alive to their true interest; and steadiness of character may as often be manifested on the wrong side as the right. That Bernadotte was preparing to attack the Danish continental possessions was quite evident, though it was at the time denied; and when we take into consideration the difficulty of guarding the passage of the Belt, and the prowess already shewn by the Danish troops in the outset, it seems very improbable, that even if they had decided upon retiring to Zealand, they would have been able to prevent the French from following them there. We now come to the period of the Austrian war of 1809, and to the blackest spot in the escutcheon of Denmark-we allude to the junction of the Danish troops with the pursuers of Schill; and we cannot repress our feelings of indignation at the baseness with which the memory of that gallant soldier is here attacked, as it has already been in other publications from the same quarter. Would to God that more Germans had possessed those extravagant ideas of life and duties' of which Schill is here accused! We should not now, for the first time, have had to hail that general spirit of opposition to the tyranny of France, which has manifested itself with such glorious effect throughout the greater part of the continent. But Schill was abandoned by Germany, was condemned by his king, and being unable to rouse his countrymen to equal his views, could not escape the fate that was prepared for him; ' and it was then, and not till then, that Danish valour was successfully tried against him.' Oh inglorious success! disgraceful activity! Denmark only departs from her cold-blooded and selfish policy to assist in the murder of a hero and a patriot, and in the extinction of the rising flame of liberty which flashed throughout Germany! Never was a transaction, which required every art to hide its atrocity, so lamentably defended. Such excuses as a misconception of the king's orders, or even the king's ignorance of the orders issued to his own generals, will not save those who planned the destruction of Schill from eternal reprobation, however we may be disposed to respect the feelings of the Danish soldiers, who are said to have executed the unworthy task imposed upon them with considerable reluctance. There is another occurrence, for which the writer, with a greater display of penetration than ordinary, thinks it possible that Denmark may be blamed, though only by those short-sighted mortals who view human affairs on a contracted scale;' and this also comes under the class of untoward events which ' sometimes fall out without the knowledge of the king. Our readers will not, perhaps, anticipate that this relates to the base attempt on the part of the Danes to prevent the embarkation of the brave Duke of Brunswick after the failure of the Austrian coalition in 1809. Fortunately, Fortunately, as is well known, this magnanimous scheme was executed by them with their accustomed success; but we will venture to assert, although it is doubted by our author, that the ' noble warrior,' as he is styled, would have thought quite as highly of the generosity and courage of the Danish people, if they had not attempted in so dastardly a manner to defeat the design which he so ably carried into execution. The sudden deposition of Louis Buonaparte for his unwillingness to inflict upon his subjects all the miseries of the continental system, seems to have rendered his Danish Majesty more alive than he appears on some other occasions to what was passing in his dominions. We do not find, however, that any remonstrance was made by Denmark on the oppressive nature of the Berlin and Milan decrees, though the retaliatory measures, which we were obliged to enforce, were declared to be in the highest degree arbitrary and unjust. Our author is more than commonly obscure on this subject; but he honestly confesses, that though the British merchandize, in the Danish ports, was seized with all due form and ceremony, his countrymen 'were too poor to sacrifice to the flames what otherwise could be made useful.' The fact, we doubt not is, that the same system of collusion was practised here, which was carried on, under similar circumstances, in other countries. The French general of the district, and the merchant to whom the English goods were consigned, came to an understanding in regard to dividing the spoil; and a small bale only taken out from each package, was committed to the flames, to answer the number of those which were returned as burnt.-Although the writer has not condescended to inform us of the peculiar advantages derived by Denmark from her system of policy, yet those who are unacquainted with the internal state of that country might not unreasonably imagine that her finances at least are flourishing, and her resources free from those difficulties which a series of wars too often entails:-but national credit in Denmark is on a par with national honor, and the government has now resorted to the despe rate expedient of employing the funds of the private bank of Holstein, (the only one that traded upon sure foundations,) to supply the deficiency in the public exchequer. Though we are not at all disposed to deny the complete insignificance into which Denmark has sunk, by the system to which she professes to adhere; we cannot allow her to plume herself upon the circunstance, that, in consequence of her refusal to join her forces to those of France in the last campaign, 'not one Dane was found amongst the many nations that penetrated to the heart of the Russian empire.' The part allotted to her troops was that of occupying the duchy of Oldenburgh, when the French corps should. be be withdrawn, and for that purpose 15,000 men were secretly placed under the orders of St. Cyr; and it is perfectly well known, that, at the very time when Buonaparte was marching in full force upon Smolensko, the reply made by Denmark to Russia in regard to her intentions, was that she was determined to stand or fall with France.' . Our author finds some degree of difficulty in excusing so overt an act of hostility against this country as the manning four ships of the line at Flushing with Danish sailors from Copenhagen, which he confesses was done in the course of last year. If we may believe him, however, this measure entirely originated in Buonaparte's kind consideration for Danish feelings, and these ships were entrusted to the spirit of revenge of Danish seamen!'-We are willing to give Denmark full credit for the pacific disposition she has lately shewn; but it is material to remark, at what period these symptoms of returning affection were first manifested: it was not until the complete destruction of the French army had rendered an important change in the affairs of Europe more than probable, and until it became advisable to attempt a reconciliation with the rising powers. As to Norway, it is not surprising that the Crown Prince of Sweden, whilst occupied in Germany with the greater part of his army, should be desirous of securing his western frontiers from any sudden attack on the part of so wavering and uncertain an ally as Denmark; nor was any rule of good faith or political morality violated by our agreement to support him in the demand of that district of Norway, through which his country had been formerly invaded. It will not be denied, we presume, that (Denmark being at war with this country) we were at liberty to co-operate with Sweden, or any other power, in the conquest of Norway; and, supposing that conquest achieved, we were equally at liberty to transfer our share of the right of a conqueror to our co-belligerent, to leave Norway to be garrisoned exclusively by Swedish troops, and to promise our good offices at a peace, to secure it permanently to Swedish dominion. The paramount necessity of opposing an accumulation of force to the grand enemy of Europe, rendering it desirable that Sweden should not divert any part of her means towards Norway in the first instance, there could be no impropriety in our agreeing, by treaty, to give, at a subsequent period of the war, that aid to Sweden in its subjugation which we might have given blamelessly at the moment when the treaty was made. And if we had even bound ourselves not to make peace until that subjugation should have been effected, there would not be anything in such a stipulation of which Denmark could complain as unjust or immoral. The policy or impolicy of such a pledge on the part of this country 1 country to an indefinite prolongation of the war, and the justness or extravagance of the price thus paid for the services of Sweden to the confederacy, would be matters for the consideration of this country only, and with which Denmark could have nothing to do. But we cannot forbear, in passing, to express the satisfaction which we derived from those explanations of the treaty, by which the public apprehension with respect to a 'guarantee' of Norway to Sweden was done away. A guarantee' is an engagement never to be lightly undertaken by a power who holds engagements once contracted as binding upon its good faith. It is one which we should almost incline to say (if there were any such thing as a general rule in politics) can never be prudently applied except to legitimate and existing rights and possessions; and which we might almost venture to say, generally, never has been applied avowedly, absolutely, and unconditionally to conquests to be made. If we were gratified at the disclaimer of such an interpretation of the Swedish treaty, when the war was as far as ever from a termination, we think it doubly important now, with a view to the possibility of a negociation for a general peace. To have entered into this with the obligation to demand, as a sine qua non condition of peace, the dismemberment of an unconquered kingdom, would be to place ourselves in a situation of which it is easy to imagine what advantage the enemy would have been able to take. Our author, indeed, affects to imagine that the dismemberment of Denınark, is an object which Great Britain and her allies are desirous of effecting; and he kindly condescends to warn us against the danger to which Scotland may be exposed, if Norway should become a province of Sweden, and the alliance between the latter kingdom and France, which, in his opinion, is only at present interrupted, should be again renewed. We thank him for his caution, but disclaim the design imputed to us: it is the anxious wish of England, as it is her interest, that Denmark should rouse herself from the state of degradation into which she has fallen by a servile submission to the will of Buonaparte, and again assert her rank in the scale of nations. But Sweden, her ancient rival, has established by a different line of conduct claims of no common description to the confidence of this country. Buonaparte himself has been forced to confess, in the bitterness of disappointment, that her conduct, and the system which she has adopted, have hurt him more than all the four coalitions together. When therefore we express our satisfaction at the denial of the supposed guarantee, and disclaim the imputed design of dismemberment, it must not be conceived that we think Norway, if it can be legitimately obtained either by arms, or by cession, or exchange in negociation, too great a reward for Sweden; or that we should not gladly see the Swedish monarchy narchy raised to a scale of power commensurate with the rank which the gallantry of its army, and the fidelity and firmness of its councils so fully entitle it to enjoy. Neither Norway, nor acquisitions more valuable than Norway, would overpay the sacrifices which Sweden has made, and the services which she has rendered. When we are accused of a deliberate project of starving Norway into submission, it is but justice to ourselves to state, that the odium of prolonging the sufferings of its brave inhabitants does not by any means rest with this country. The court of Copenhagen was repeatedly informed, that, if it would withdraw the Danish privateers from the ports of that country, or order them to discontinue their depredations, the vessels loaded with grain for Norway should be allowed to proceed unmolested to their destination; it is not to us therefore, but to their humane rulers, that the Norwegians are indebted for all the miseries they have suffered, for it was hardly to be expected, that whilst our Baltic fleet was increased to au unusual size in order to afford protection to our convoys in that sea, the commerce of our enemies should be allowed to pass free under Danish licenses, whilst that of England and her allies was exposed to continual vexation. It is an ungrateful task, but as the Danish writer in the conclusion of his letter sums up the evidence in favour of his country, by enumerating the faults which, in his opinion, have been committed by other countries, and which Denmark has avoided by her pacific system of policy, we must summarily notice his series of omissions. 'We never invaded,' says this learned advocate, 'like the Phocians, the sacred ground of the temple of Delphi; we never, like the Austrians, the Prussians, or the Russians, have fought against the system of the equilibrium of European society. -Notwithstanding every irritation, the Danish lion never hurt the Continent till now, when he is threatened to be robbed of his young.' True; never, during the almost uninterrupted period of twenty years war, have the Danes manifested a sense of the miseries of Europe. Never, like the powers so invidiously enumerated, have the Danes maintained a doubtful struggle for their independence, in opposition to that system which their fears alone have prevented them from supporting; a system which, so far from having for its object 'the maintenance of the equilibrium of European society,' has been directed against the peace of Europe and the liberties of mankind. The oracular voice of the temple of Delphi' need not be invoked to predict their fate. -To triumph, or to fall with glory in a glorious cause belongs to the high minded and the brave; but whilst the eagles of Austria and Prussia, and Russia, have been fearlessly displayed in array against France, the Danish lion' has calmly submitted to cower in his den. ART. |