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King of SLAVES? Let it be your ambition to be thought worthy to govern FREEMEN. Do nothing by violence; confult your faithful fubjects; and attach them as well by friendship as by duty. Adminifter justice in person, and let your ears be ever open to the complaints of the oppreffed, and to the groans of the injured and indigent. Fill all places of truft and profit with your natural subjects: God has given you charge of their intereft; they called you to the throne, and gratitude requires a return from you. Reward my faithful fervants, and attach them to you, they will then have a double tie to ferve you with fidelity; love of my memory, and a fenfe of their obligations to you: and now, my dearest fon, I pray God to bless you, to direct you, and grant you a long reign, profperous to you, and happy to your people.'

With these words, dictated by true wifdom, and unfeigned goodness, expired this great and excellent Prince, univerfally reverenced, beloved, and regretted;-what effect they had, or rather had not, on his fucceffor, will, with horror, be feen, in the life of Chriftian the fecond, one of the most arbitrary and inhuman Princes that ever reigned in a word, the Nero of the North." He feemed, indeed, fay our Authors, to be one of thofe Princes which Heaven in wrath fets over a nation, as a punishment for the fins of the people, and a trial of their patience :" It is, however, the fault of the people themfelves, if ever they fuffer fuch wicked Governors to make a very long trial of their patience. The Danes endured the tyranny of this fame Chriftian* as long as human nature could fupport fuch outrages and cruelties as he was perpetually committing. At length, however, after thus ruling them with a rod of iron, for about ten years, they recollected that they were MEN; they roufed themselves, and drove the tyrant from his throne †.

This Hiftory of Denmark commences with the reign of Dan, the Founder of the kingdom, from him named Den

*It was in oppofition to this bloody tyrant, that the great GusTAVUS VASA arofe, the Deliverer of his country, Sweden, then in fubjection to the Crown of Denmark.

By what means the Danes have fince unfortunately lost their Liberty; how the Crown from being elective became hereditary; and the power of the King rendered abfolute, may be feen toward the clofe of the prefent volume. It is certain, however, that the rigor of defpotic government, has been greatly foftened by the mild and prudent administration of the Princes who have fince reigned.

mark;

mark; he is fuppofed to have lived about a thousand years before Chrift. The work concludes with an eulogium on the prefent Monarch, Frederick the fifth; of whom our Authors give a more advantageous character, than will probably bę fubfcribed to by the Hamburghers . Candour, however, muft acknowlege the wisdom and prudence of this Prince's' adminiftration; by which the Court of Copenhagen has acquired an influence in the affairs of the North, unknown to former ages, except in the fifteenth century, when Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, were united under the illuftrious Queen Margaret, furnamed the Northern Semiramis,

In the Hiftory of Sweden, we have the following extraordinary inftance of the heroic and romantic spirit of the times, when the feudal fyftem prevailed.

About eight hundred years before the birth of Christ, a defperate war fubfifted between Hading King of Denmark, and Hunding King of Sweden, which occafioned fo enormous an expence of blood and treasure on both fides, that at length mutually agreeing to put a stop to the unavailing flaughter of their fubjects, and defolation of their kingdoms, they concluded a peace, as cordial and fincere as their former animofity was bitter. They fwore a perpetual alliance, and entered into a very extraordinary agreement, That as foon as the one should be informed of the other's death, the furvivor fhould immediately lay violent hands on himself. After reigning with great felicity for fome years, the news came that Hading was no more. It was falfe;-but Hunding had not patience to wait for a confirmation of it. He refolved to die; and immediately prepared a magnificent entertainment, affembled all his Officers round him, plied them with wine, and, at the close of the feaft, flung himself into a vessel full of hydromel, where he perifhed. The Danish Monarch [as well he might] received the news with the utmost grief; and that he might equal his friend in generofity, hanged himself in fight of the whole Court."

If we admit the truth of this anecdote, it was, indeed, a most extraordinary inftance of friendship and fidelity. Our Authors have related the ftory without expreffing the leaft doubt of its authenticity; notwithstanding they have, in their history of Denmark, given a different account of the

We find, however, that it is no new thing for the Kings of Denmark to levy contributions on the city of Hamburgh. Chrif tian V. in particular, exacted a great fum from them in the year 168c.

matter:

1

matter: as they have, indeed, of other events, as well as fome characters, refpecting the two nations, according as they have followed the Danish or Swedish Hiftorians, from whom their materials are drawn. They here tell us, without taking the leaft notice of the above-mentioned fatal compact, that "Hading laid violent hands on himself, probably in difguft at the unnatural conduct of his favourite daughter, who had made repeated attempts upon her father's life."

They have inferted, however, the following Note, partly taken from Suaningius's Chronology of the Danish Kings. "We find in fome Hiftorians, that Hading, after his return from Britain, [which he had fuccefsfully invaded] hanged himself in presence of his whole Court. It was reported, that he died in that island, and Hunding King of Sweden, celebrating his funeral rites, was drowned in a caldron of wort. Hading's death is attributed to his grief for this misfortune."

!

Confidering the general uncertainty of hiftorical Evidence, we are on many occafions inclined to conclude, that much lefs credit is due to the faith of Hiftorians, than is ufually yielded to it, by the credulity of mankind. Writers being fubject to the fame paffions and prejudices, ignorance and difhonefty, with other men, hearfay, mifreprefentation, or downright invention, are therefore but too often the materials of which the Hiftories of Kings and Kingdoms are compofed, and from which the greateft characters are drawn. A fingle volume of government - papers, and other authentic documents drawn from public records, and the great offices of ftate, will, perhaps, contain more truth than most of the fine, florid, elegant, and elaborate compofitions of ancient and modern times; many of which, on a ftrict fcrutiny, will be found little better than Romances: but not always fo innocent. By the invention of printing, however, great advantage hath accrued to modern Hiftory; which hath thereby justly obtained the preference in this refpect over the ancient. Numerous authorities daily iffue from the prefs; which. being faithfully collected, or judicioufly referred to, by the Hiftorian, add a greater weight to his compilations, than could he claimed by the Writers of antiquity, whofe details reft folely on their perfonal veracity.

This Hiftory of Sweden, which forms the thirty-third valume of the prefent undertaking, concludes with the acceffion of the prefent royal family, and a brief sketch of the conduct of the Swedes, in refpect to the part they have fo re

cently

cently acted in the grand alliance formed against the invincible Hero of Brandenburgh.

Some account of the fubfequent volumes of the Modern Univerfal History, will be given in our next.

Sermons on various important Subjects. By the late Reverend Mr. William West. Publifhed from the Author's Manufcript, for the Benefit of his Family. 8vo. 5s. Henderfon, &c.

HE fubjects of thefe Sermons are are as follows,

TH

the Goodness of God-the Wisdom of God-the Harmony of the Divine Perfections-Man's inadequate Conceptions of the Deity-the Priesthood of Chrift-pure and undefiled Religion-the Folly and Danger of being afhamed of the Gospel of Chrift-the Condemnation of thofe who reject the Golpel-St. Paul's character vindicated-the Nature of true and falfe Religion-Self-denial-the vanity of human Inftitutions in Religion-the Character of Pontius Pilatethe Progrefs of Superftition-the Spirit and Temper of the Gospel-and Conformity to this World.

These subjects are treated with great perfpicuity and judgment; with candor and freedom. The Author appears to have thought for himself; to have had no blind or bigotted attachment to party-notions in religion; to have been, in a word, a fincere Enquirer after Truth. His fentiments are just and manly; his reflections pertinent and judicious; his ftyle nervous, clear, and easy.

In his firft Sermon, he candidly acknowleges, that it is, perhaps, impoffible in the prefent ftate, to give a full and fatisfactory answer to all the difficulties and objections that may be raised, by fpeculative Minds, against the divine Goodnets, from the fyftem of the world, and what continually pales in it. He mentions one proof, however, in its favour, which the impartial, he prefumes, will allow to be of more force than all the objections that have been ever raifed againft it, viz. the connection that vifibly fubf st, between virtue and happinefs, on the one hand, and vice and mifery on the other. "This is a connection, fays he, which every man may fee, in fact, verified in ten thousand inftances around us; and

though

though there are, and have been cafes in which the event feems to turn out quite otherwise, yet these are by no means fufficient to destroy the faith of the fober and thinking part of mankind; whofe characteristic it has been to be firmly perfuaded that virtue tends to happiness, vice to mifery, in their visible and general effects. Taking this then for a matter of fact, which cannot reasonably be denied, or difputed,-what_ can it be refolved into? what can it originally proceed from, but the goodness of the great Creator and Governor of the world? This difpenfation or conftitution of things, is evidently calculated to advance the general and univerfal happinefs. For, according to this, the more good a man does to others, by a good example, or friendly offices of any kind, the more effectually he promotes his own happiness and enjoyment. So that public and private happinefs are here united; felf-love and focial are the fame in the final result of things."

Our Author's Sermon on the Folly and Danger of being afhamed of the Gospel of Chrift, is, in our opinion, an excellent one, and deferves the attentive perufal of every confiderate Reader. He obferves, that the paffion of fhame, tho' originally intended to keep men from wandering out of the paths of virtue and happiness, into those of vice and misery, may yet by perverfion lead them into thofe very paths from which it was intended to restrain them. Accordingly we often fee perfons, who have not the refolution to be fingular in any affair, however important, but are in a manner wholly governed by the general vote, afhamed to own what would do them great honour to affert and maintain in the moft public manner and even ashamed to affert their liberty of dissent, when a compliance with the majority deeply involves them in fin and guilt. Nay, fo far has the perverfion of this principle prevailed over fome, and fo much have they been afraid of incurring the difefteem of the many, and the great, that they have publicly disowned and denied, what they have fecretly avowed, in the ftrongeft terms, and falfified themselves in the moft grofs and fhocking manner.

After producing fome inftances of this unmanly conduct, our Author proceeds to confider the cafe of those who are afhamed openly to espouse the cause of Chriftian liberty."This is a fubject, fays he, that deferves to be confidered very largely and diftinctly; and in order to a right view of it, let it be obferved, that among the many important privileges which the great Founder of our religion has annexed to the profeffion

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