498 FORTIA’? TRAVELS IN SWEDEN .

herald coming to demand the keys, received his anfwer from the Monarch’s mouth,whom he miftook for an officer. Mr. Elliot the Briiiflo minifter at Copenhagen thendifplayed that elevation of char after fo frequently diltinguifhed in the Britijh nation.He declared that his court would confider the prolongation of hoftilities, and any re-fufal on the part of the Danes to evacuate the Swedilh territory, as a declaration ofwar *. The Prince of Heffe upon this caufed his troops to retreat, and reaped noother advantage from this campaign than the obloquy of having daftardly invaded thedominions of a King in misfortune, without even the flighted pretext. This generalhad landed at Gottenburg fome months before ; he was received there with the great-eft refpeft, particularly on the part of the Duke of Sudermania, who was there at thetime. The whole of the city was {hewn him as well as the forts, without the leadidea that in fo fhort a period he would avail himfelf of the information he v/as thus af-forded. The known influence of the Prince of Hefl'e on all the military operations ofDenmark leaves no room to doubt of his being the direftor on this occafton, a conduftwhich ftamps him with infamy. This Prince was moreover, with great reafon, blamedfor not having raifed contributions on the city of Gottenburg, or carried off the ftockof goods with which the magazines of the Eaft India Company were full. The. vil-lainy once begun fome booty ought to have been made without having had the expencealone for the trouble. All this might have taken place before the King arrived ; withhim once there nothing indeed could have been more hazardous on the part of theDanes than to have tried the fate of arms. His Majeffy had abfolutely determined ongiving them battle in a little plain adjoining the city. He had collefted from three tofour thoufand men ; General Armfeldt was on his way to join him with nearly tenthoufand, and the Swedes , animated by the prefence of their King, who came fortheir falvation, would have fhewn themfelves difficult to conquer. Not that the ftatein which the King found the town was at all fit for defence. The cannons on theramparts had balls which did not fit the calibres of the guns, and the officer of artil-lery there was unacquainted with the range of the mortars : beneath the mafter’s eyefoon however was all adjufted.

It will be found hard to credit that which follows : the King who, by his prefence,faved the warehoufes of the Eaft India Company from pillage, at a time they contain-ed three cargoes to the value of from 11 to 12,000,000 of livres f, requefted of it avery trifling loan : it granted him a part only of what he required. Here again theKing was deficient; thus Ihould he have addreffed the direftors: Gentlemen , it is evi-dent that your falvation is owing entirely to myfelf: in effecting it I have incurred apreffmgneceffity for 100,000 rix-dollars ; this is but the twentieth part of the value of what 1 havepreferved to you ; grant me this fum I befeech you immediately ; I'offer you to indemnify your *felves out of the duties payable on yourfuccejfive cargoes. If the direftors were endowedwith common fenfe they would have anfwered : Sire, we have a lively fenfe of the ob-ligations we lay under to Tour Majefty: we deem ourfelves but too happy in offering himthis feeble teftimonial of our gratitude ; yet deign, Sire, to accept it rather as a free gift; agift undeferving of a thought. The King would have thanked them as a company ffiouldbe thanked, as a province is wont to be prefenting the government with a fliip, andthere would have been an end of the affair.

* Admiral Byng , in the Mediterranean 1718, afforded a fimilar example. Mr. Keith, when ambafla-dor at Copenhagen infilled in a fimilar manner that the government fhoiild not attack the life of Matilda.From what country is it that minillers dare to take upon themfelves, without inftrudlions from their court,fuch pofitive declarations, and without an apprehenlion of having them denied ? Such procedures don-reat honour to any nation whatfoever. f From 450 to 500,cool.

* The

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