Memoirs of Denmark, containing the life and reign of the late K. of Denmark, Norway, &c., Christian V together with an exact account of the rise and progress of those differences now on foot betwixt the two houses of Denmark and Holstein Gottorp ... taken from authentick letters and records / by J.C., Med. D., Fellow of the Royal Society, and a Member of the College of Physicians.

THE PREFACE.

I Thought I could not pitch upon a more seasonable Juncture to expose the fol∣lowing Memoirs to Publick View, than this, when the Differences betwixt the two Houses of Denmark and Holstein Gottorp (which make up a considerable part of them) are likely to kindle a War in the North. I was also perswaded, that I could not easily hit upon a more favourable op∣portunity, than this to vindicate in some measure, the Memory of a Brave and Ge∣nerous Prince, from the Aspersions cast upon him some Years ago by a certain Person, who, as he is generally supposed to have had but a very slender insight into the Affairs of the North,* 1.1 by reason of his be∣ing unacquainted with the Language and true State of those Countries, so had by his own Confession, taken many things, he tells us with so much Assurance, upon the Credit of others; Besides, that the ill Conduct he is charged with by the Da∣nish Court, which drew upon him the In∣dignation

of that Prince, whose Life and Reign we have given you an Account of in the following Sheets, may give us some Reason to suspect, that Revenge and Ma∣lice might have a considerable Share in those Suggestions, some of which, to speak the Truth, contain more Bitterness than is consistent with the true Genius of an un∣byass'd Historian. It was not my Province at this time to enter upon an Examina∣tion of any of the Particulars of that Kid∣ney contained in the said Treatise; my Opinion being, that by giving a true Ac∣count of the Chief Transactions of the Life and Reign of this Prince, together with what attended them, and that from authentick and unquestionable Authority, I should be able to put things in a true light, leaving the rest to the Judgment of the impartial Reader.

As I have not the least Engagement to the Danish Crown, either by Birth, Inte∣rest, or upon any other account, so I have taken all imaginable Care, to represent Matters without Passion or prepossession, as will be easily discernable by all such, as will take the pains to compare the Reasons alledg'd and inserted here, on both sides, founded altogether upon authentick Let∣ters and Abstracts of the Records of those

Countries. To represent to the Reader the whole Matter in Contest betwixt those two Houses, in as full a View as the Bulk of this Treatise would admit of; I thought it absolutely requisite to trace the very Original of those Differences, which make so much Noise in the World at pre∣sent, as in the Introduction, I have endea∣voured to shew the steps that were made towards that Revolution, which was the Consequence of that War, which reduc∣ed the Kingdom of Denmark to the very brink of destruction, the Effects of which, it is sensible of to this day.

For the rest, there are three different Instances in this Treatise of the Mischiefs which always are the unavoidable Conse∣quences of intestine Divisions.

The Nobility of Denmark made it their Business for several Ages together to Aggran∣dize their own Power, by suppressing both the Royal Prerogatives, and the Liberties of the other Estates; all the fruits they reap'd by it, were to involve the Kingdom into such Troubles, as had almost prov'd fatal to it, and ended in the Total Ruine of their so much admired Greatness.

On the other hand, the Commonalty of Hamborough, not contented with a reason∣able Share (allotted them by the funda∣mental

Constitution of that Common∣wealth) in the Management of the Go∣vernment, were for clipping the Senates Authority, to Aggrandize their own, the Consequences of which were, that finding themselves entangl'd in unsurmountable Difficulties, they furnish'd a fair Oppor∣tunity, for the Danish King to renew his old Pretensions (which, to confess the Truth, are none of the worst) and to back them with Fire and Sword; The issue of it was, that the Mischief fell upon the heads of those, who had been the Chief occasion of it; tho' at the same time the remainders of those Dissentions are not rooted out to this day, and consequently the same Danger attends them. So certain it is, that whenever the Foundation-stone, upon which the Frame of the Govern∣ment is built, is either removed or weak∣ned, the Structure must of necessity fall, be it soon or late.

I need not enlarge my self much upon the Third, which are the Differences be∣twixt Denmark and Holstein Gottorp, the Effects of it have made too much Noise in our Age, as not to be remembred; What advantage did Frederick the present Duke of Holstein's Grandfather get, by first re∣moving the Foundation-stone of the an∣tient

Unions betwixt those two Families, in siding with Sweden against Denmark? Besides the devastations of his Territories during that War with Sweden, which had almost prov'd fatal to Denmark; his Son Christian Albert paid dearly for the so much coveted Title of Soveraign, being forc'd to live in Exile for near fourteen Years together; whilst the House of Den∣mark raised vast Sums out of his Domi∣nions, to make themselves some Amends for what they had suffer'd by his Father's siding with their Enemy; tho' it must be confess'd on the other hand, that this was a slender Recompense for the Loss of so many fair Provinces, wherewith they were forc'd to buy their Peace from the Swedes: A remarkable Instance of what Danger attends those Alterations in a State, which strike at the root of its Constitu∣tion, the determination of the Differences begun and continued for near fifty years ago, being but now, in all likelihood, left to the longest Sword.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The Author of the Ac∣count of Den∣mark, 1692.