I left Tonsberg
yesterday, the 22nd of August. It is only twelve or thirteen English
miles to Moss, through a country less wild than any tract I had hitherto passed
over in Norway. It was often beautiful, but seldom afforded those grand views
which fill rather than soothe the mind.
We glided along the
meadows and through the woods, with sunbeams playing around us; and, though no
castles adorned the prospects, a greater number of comfortable farms met my
eyes during this ride than I have ever seen, in the same space, even in the
most cultivated part of England; and the very appearance of the cottages of the
labourers sprinkled amidst them excluded all those gloomy ideas inspired by the
contemplation of poverty.
The hay was still
bringing in, for one harvest in Norway treads on the heels of the other.
The woods were more variegated, interspersed with shrubs. We no longer
passed through forests of vast pines stretching along with savage
magnificence. Forests that only exhibited the slow decay
of time or the devastation produced by warring elements. No; oaks,
ashes, beech, and all the light and graceful tenants of our woods here sported
luxuriantly. I had not observed many oaks before, for the greater part of
the oak-planks, I am informed, come from the westward.
In France the farmers
generally live in villages, which is a great disadvantage to the country; but
the Norwegian farmers, always owning their farms or being tenants for life,
reside in the midst of them, allowing some labourers a dwelling rent free, who
have a little land appertaining to the cottage, not only for a garden, but for
crops of different kinds, such as rye, oats, buck-wheat, hemp, flax, beans,
potatoes, and hay, which are sown in strips about it, reminding a stranger of the
first attempts at culture, when every family was obliged to be an independent
community.
These cottagers work
at a certain price (tenpence per day) for the farmers on whose ground they
live, and they have spare time enough to cultivate their own land and lay in a
store of fish for the winter. The wives and daughters spin and the
husbands and sons weave, so that they may fairly be reckoned independent,
having also a little money in hand to buy coffee, brandy and some other
superfluities.
The only thing I
disliked was the military service, which trammels them more than I at first
imagined. It is true that the militia is only called out once a year, yet
in case of war they have no alternative but must abandon their families.
Even the manufacturers are not exempted, though the miners are, in order to
encourage undertakings which require a capital at the commencement. And,
what appears more tyrannical, the inhabitants of
certain districts are appointed for the land, others for the sea service.
Consequently, a peasant, born a soldier, is not permitted to follow his
inclination should it lead him to go to sea, a natural desire near so many
seaports.
In these regulations
the arbitrary government—the King of Denmark being the most absolute monarch in
Europe—appears, which in other respects seeks to hide itself in a lenity that
almost renders the laws nullities. If any alteration of old customs is
thought of, the opinion of the old country is required and maturely
considered. I have several times had occasion to observe that, fearing to
appear tyrannical, laws are allowed to become obsolete which ought to be put in
force or better substituted in their stead; for this mistaken moderation, which
borders on timidity, favours the least respectable part of the people.
I saw on my way not
only good parsonage houses, but comfortable dwellings, with glebe land for the
clerk, always a consequential man in every country, a being proud of a little
smattering of learning, to use the appropriate epithet, and vain of the stiff
good-breeding reflected from the vicar, though the servility practised in his
company gives it a peculiar cast.
The widow of the
clergyman is allowed to receive the benefit of the living for a twelvemonth
after the death of the incumbent.
Arriving at the ferry
(the passage over to Moss is about six or eight English miles) I saw the most
level shore I had yet seen in Norway. The appearance of the circumjacent
country had been preparing me for the change of scene which was to greet me
when I reached the coast. For the grand features of nature had been
dwindling into prettiness as I advanced; yet the rocks, on a smaller scale,
were finely wooded to the water’s edge. Little art appeared, yet
sublimity everywhere gave place to elegance. The road had often assumed
the appearance of a gravelled one, made in pleasure-grounds; whilst the trees
excited only an idea of embellishment. Meadows, like lawns, in an endless
variety, displayed the careless graces of nature; and the ripening corn gave a richness to the landscape analogous with the other
objects.
Never was a southern
sky more beautiful, nor more soft its gales.
Indeed, I am led to conclude that the sweetest summer in the world is the
northern one, the vegetation being quick and luxuriant the moment the earth is
loosened from its icy fetters and the bound streams regain their wonted
activity. The balance of happiness with respect to climate may be more
equal than I at first imagined; for the inhabitants describe with warmth the
pleasures of a winter at the thoughts of which I shudder. Not only their
parties of pleasure but of business are reserved for this season, when they
travel with astonishing rapidity the most direct way, skimming over hedge and
ditch.
On entering Moss I
was struck by the animation which seemed to result from industry. The
richest of the inhabitants keep shops, resembling in their manners and even the
arrangement of their houses the tradespeople of Yorkshire; with an air of more
independence, or rather consequence, from feeling themselves the first people
in the place. I had not time to see the iron-works, belonging to Mr.
Anker, of Christiania, a man of fortune and enterprise; and I was not very
anxious to see them after having viewed those at Laurvig.
Here I met with an
intelligent literary man, who was anxious to gather information from me
relative to the past and present situation of France. The newspapers
printed at Copenhagen, as well as those in England, give the most exaggerated
accounts of their atrocities and distresses, but the former without any
apparent comments or inferences. Still the Norwegians, though more
connected with the English, speaking their language and copying their manners,
wish well to the Republican cause, and follow with the most
lively interest the successes of the French arms. So determined
were they, in fact, to excuse everything, disgracing the struggle of freedom,
by admitting the tyrant’s plea, necessity, that I could hardly persuade them
that Robespierre was a monster.
The discussion of
this subject is not so general as in England, being confined to the few, the
clergy and physicians, with a small portion of people who have a literary turn
and leisure; the greater part of the inhabitants having a variety of
occupations, being owners of ships, shopkeepers, and farmers, have employment
enough at home. And their ambition to become rich may tend to cultivate
the common sense which characterises and narrows both their hearts and views,
confirming the former to their families, taking the handmaids of it into the
circle of pleasure, if not of interest, and the latter to the inspection of
their workmen, including the noble science of bargain-making—that is, getting
everything at the cheapest, and selling it at the dearest rate. I am now
more than ever convinced that it is an intercourse with men of science and
artists which not only diffuses taste, but gives that freedom to the
understanding without which I have seldom met with much benevolence of
character on a large scale.
Besides, though you
do not hear of much pilfering and stealing in Norway, yet they will, with a
quiet conscience, buy things at a price which must convince them they were
stolen. I had an opportunity of knowing that two or three reputable
people had purchased some articles of vagrants, who were detected. How
much of the virtue which appears in the world is put on for the world?
And how little dictated by self-respect?—so little, that I am ready to repeat
the old question, and ask, Where is truth, or rather principle, to be found?
These are, perhaps, the vapourings of a heart ill at ease—the effusions of a
sensibility wounded almost to madness. But enough of this; we will
discuss the subject in another state of existence, where truth and justice will
reign. How cruel are the injuries which make us quarrel with human
nature! At present black melancholy hovers round my footsteps; and sorrow
sheds a mildew over all the future prospects, which hope no longer gilds.
A rainy morning
prevented my enjoying the pleasure the view of a picturesque country would have
afforded me; for though this road passed through a country a greater extent of
which was under cultivation than I had usually seen here, it nevertheless
retained all the wild charms of Norway. Rocks still enclosed the valleys,
the great sides of which enlivened their verdure. Lakes appeared like
branches of the sea, and branches of the sea assumed the appearance of tranquil
lakes; whilst streamlets prattled amongst the pebbles and the broken mass of
stone which had rolled into them, giving fantastic turns to the trees, the
roots of which they bared.
It is not, in fact,
surprising that the pine should be often undermined; it shoots its fibres in
such a horizontal direction, merely on the surface of the earth, requiring only
enough to cover those that cling to the crags.
Nothing proves to me so clearly that it is the air which principally nourishes
trees and plants as the flourishing appearance of these pines. The firs,
demanding a deeper soil, are seldom seen in equal health, or so numerous on the
barren cliffs. They take shelter in the crevices, or where, after some
revolving ages, the pines have prepared them a footing.
Approaching, or
rather descending, to Christiania, though the weather continued a little
cloudy, my eyes were charmed with the view of an extensive undulated valley,
stretching out under the shelter of a noble amphitheatre of pine-covered
mountains. Farm houses scattered about animated, nay, graced a scene
which still retained so much of its native wildness, that
the art which appeared seemed so necessary, it was scarcely perceived.
Cattle were grazing in the shaven meadows; and the lively green on their
swelling sides contrasted with the ripening corn and rye. The corn that
grew on the slopes had not, indeed, the laughing luxuriance of plenty, which I
have seen in more genial climes. A fresh breeze swept across the grain,
parting its slender stalks, but the wheat did not wave its head with its wonted
careless dignity, as if nature had crowned it the king of plants.
The view, immediately
on the left, as we drove down the mountain, was almost spoilt by the
depredations committed on the rocks to make alum. I do not know the
process. I only saw that the rocks looked red after they had been burnt,
and regretted that the operation should leave a quantity of rubbish to
introduce an image of human industry in the shape of destruction. The
situation of Christiania is certainly uncommonly fine, and I never saw a bay
that so forcibly gave me an idea of a place of safety from the storms of the
ocean; all the surrounding objects were beautiful and even grand. But
neither the rocky mountains, nor the woods that graced
them, could be compared with the sublime prospects I had seen to the westward;
and as for the hills, “capped with eternal snow,” Mr. Coxe’s description
led me to look for them, but they had flown, for I looked vainly around for
this noble background.
A few months ago the
people of Christiania rose, exasperated by the scarcity and consequent high
price of grain. The immediate cause was the shipping of some, said to be for
Moss, but which they suspected was only a pretext to send it out of the
country, and I am not sure that they were wrong in their conjecture. Such
are the tricks of trade. They threw stones at Mr. Anker, the owner of it,
as he rode out of town to escape from their fury; they assembled about his
house, and the people demanded afterwards, with so much impetuosity, the
liberty of those who were taken up in consequence of the tumult, that the Grand
Bailiff thought it prudent to release them without further altercation.
You may think me too
severe on commerce, but from the manner it is at present carried on little can
be advanced in favour of a pursuit that wears out the most sacred principles of
humanity and rectitude. What is speculation but a species of gambling, I
might have said fraud, in which address generally gains the prize? I was
led into these reflections when I heard of some tricks practised by merchants,
miscalled reputable, and certainly men of property, during the present war, in
which common honesty was violated: damaged goods and provision having been
shipped for the express purpose of falling into the hands of the English, who
had pledged themselves to reimburse neutral nations for the cargoes they
seized; cannon also, sent back as unfit for service, have been shipped as a
good speculation, the captain receiving orders to cruise about till he fell in
with an English frigate. Many individuals I believe have suffered by the
seizures of their vessels; still I am persuaded that the English Government has
been very much imposed upon in the charges made by merchants who contrived to
get their ships taken. This censure is not confined to the Danes.
Adieu, for the present, I must take advantage of a moment of fine weather to
walk out and see the town.
At Christiania I met
with that polite reception, which rather characterises the progress of manners
in the world, than of any particular portion of it. The first evening of
my arrival I supped with some of the most fashionable people of the place, and
almost imagined myself in a circle of English ladies, so much did they resemble
them in manners, dress, and even in beauty; for the fairest of my countrywomen
would not have been sorry to rank with the Grand Bailiff’s lady. There
were several pretty girls present, but she outshone them all, and, what
interested me still more, I could not avoid observing that in acquiring the
easy politeness which distinguishes people of quality, she had preserved her Norwegian
simplicity. There was, in fact, a graceful timidity in her address,
inexpressibly charming. This surprised me a little, because her husband
was quite a Frenchman of the ancien régime, or rather a
courtier, the same kind of animal in every country.
Here I saw
the cloven foot of despotism. I boasted to you that they had no viceroy
in Norway, but these Grand Bailiffs, particularly the superior one, who resides
at Christiania, are political monsters of the same species. Needy
sycophants are provided for by their relations and connections at Copenhagen as
at other courts. And though the Norwegians are not in the abject state of
the Irish, yet this second-hand government is still felt by their being
deprived of several natural advantages to benefit the domineering state.
The Grand
Bailiffs are mostly noblemen from Copenhagen, who act as men of common minds
will always act in such situations—aping a degree of courtly parade which
clashes with the independent character of a magistrate. Besides, they have
a degree of power over the country judges, which some of them, who exercise a
jurisdiction truly patriarchal most painfully
feel. I can scarcely say why, my friend, but in this city thoughtfulness
seemed to be sliding into melancholy or rather dulness. The fire of
fancy, which had been kept alive in the country, was almost extinguished by
reflections on the ills that harass such a large portion of mankind. I
felt like a bird fluttering on the ground unable to mount, yet unwilling to
crawl tranquilly like a reptile, whilst still conscious it had wings.
I walked
out, for the open air is always my remedy when an aching head proceeds from an
oppressed heart. Chance directed my steps towards the fortress, and the sight
of the slaves, working with chains on their legs, only served to embitter me
still more against the regulations of society, which treated knaves in such a
different manner, especially as there was a degree of energy in some of their
countenances which unavoidably excited my attention, and almost created
respect.
I wished to
have seen, through an iron grate, the face of a man who has been confined six
years for having induced the farmers to revolt against some impositions of the
Government. I could not obtain a clear account of the affair, yet, as the
complaint was against some farmers of taxes, I am inclined to believe that it
was not totally without foundation. He must have possessed some
eloquence, or have had truth on his side; for the farmers rose by hundreds to
support him, and were very much exasperated at his imprisonment, which will
probably last for life, though he has sent several very spirited remonstrances
to the upper court, which makes the judges so averse to giving a sentence which
may be cavilled at, that they take advantage of the glorious uncertainty of the
law, to protract a decision which is only to be regulated by reasons of state.
The greater
number of the slaves I saw here were not confined for
life. Their labour is not hard; and they work in the open air, which
prevents their constitutions from suffering by imprisonment. Still, as
they are allowed to associate together, and boast of their dexterity, not only
to each other but to the soldiers around them, in the garrison; they commonly,
it is natural to conclude, go out more confirmed and more expert knaves than
when they entered.
It is not
necessary to trace the origin of the association of ideas which led me to think
that the stars and gold keys, which surrounded me the evening before, disgraced
the wearers as much as the fetters I was viewing—perhaps more. I even
began to investigate the reason, which led me to suspect that the former
produced the latter.
The
Norwegians are extravagantly fond of courtly distinction, and of titles, though
they have no immunities annexed to them, and are easily purchased. The
proprietors of mines have many privileges: they are almost exempt from taxes,
and the peasantry born on their estates, as well as those on
the counts’, are not born soldiers or sailors.
One
distinction, or rather trophy of nobility, which I might have occurred to the
Hottentots, amused me; it was a bunch of hog’s bristles placed on the horses’
heads, surmounting that part of the harness to which a round piece of brass
often dangles, fatiguing the eye with its idle motion.
From the
fortress I returned to my lodging, and quickly was taken out of town to be
shown a pretty villa, and English garden. To a Norwegian both might have
been objects of curiosity; and of use, by exciting to the comparison which
leads to improvement. But whilst I gazed, I was employed in restoring the
place to nature, or taste, by giving it the character of the surrounding
scene. Serpentine walks, and flowering-shrubs, looked trifling in a grand
recess of the rooks, shaded by towering pines. Groves of smaller trees
might have been sheltered under them, which would have melted into the
landscape, displaying only the art which ought to point out the vicinity of a
human abode, furnished with some elegance. But few people have sufficient
taste to discern, that the art of embellishing consists in interesting, not in
astonishing.
Christiania
is certainly very pleasantly situated, and the environs I passed through,
during this ride, afforded many fine and cultivated prospects; but, excepting
the first view approaching to it, rarely present any combination of objects so
strikingly new, or picturesque, as to command remembrance. Adieu!