Trumpets sounding and having caused the Dukes Armes upon the great Guns to be defaced sent them with all the Ammunition partly to Rendsbourgh and partly to Copenhaguen and exacting also Contributions to the value of many Millions of Gold and a prodigious quantity of Corn Chariots and Horses wasting all the Dukes Villages and Towns with Quartering his Souldiers in them and causing them continually to pass and repass to and fro This his Majesty does to this day not having remitted a penny of Taxes and Impositions for the Dukes Subjects thus expressed though many times desired to it by the Dukes Letters and his Ambassadors and using the Duke at the same rate not permitting his Subjects and Servants to pay him any thing of his Revenue that both Prince and Subjects might at last perish by Famine and the many other Calamities they are forced to endure The King nevertheless being extreamly vexed that the Duke had chosen his abode in a City so Famous and Populous from whence the whole Story of the Barbarity exercised against him and the breach of so many reiterated Engagements might be spread over all the world employed all sorts of Persuasions and Cunning to get his Highness back and have him again in his Clutches and at his disposal but his Highness warned by his former Usage having learnt to distrust would not be prevailed upon His Majesty for all that remitted nothing of his Prosecution against the Duke and both by Letters and Envoys demanded especially with great earnestness that the Duke in compliance with the late Treaty if it may be so called at Rendsbourgh would solemnly receive from the King the Investiture of the Dukedome of Sleswick threatning for default thereof to Confiscate the same On the other hand the Duke sent him word that the Transactions at Rendsbourgh were so unjust that he thought his Promise less engaged thereby than the Danish Reputation Yet for fear of exposing his Subjects to greater Cruelties and to comply with the Times and the advice of those who thought that in Civility to the King the Duke would do well to send some Gentlemen to know his Majesties pleasure and upon what conditions he was resolved to grant that Fief for it is certain that it had been held formerly upon different conditions the Duke thereupon sent his Ambassadors to Copenhaguen to desire the King that he would be pleased first to remedy some of the chiefest grievances which had Relation to the Fief it self and then declare his pleasure about it The Ambassador during their stay at Copenhaguen had no success and having once mentioned the Grievances were scarce ever after admitted or heard the word Grievances offending the Danes extreamly and the Kings design being without any regard to them to order all things according to his own Pleasure Therefore the Ambassadors being advised by the Queen-Mother to return to their Master and let him know the whole business and the eminent danger a delay would cast him into and to return with new Instructions from him agreeable to the Kings will they parted from Copenhaguen without their Masters knowledge or effecting any thing But the King interpreting this and other things in the worst sence sent a little after three Commissioners to Sleswick the Metropolis of the Dukedome viz. The Earl of Rantzo the Lord Gloxin and the Baron Lenten Assessor of Gluckstad with Orders to Sequester the Dukedome in the Kings Name and absolving the Magistrates and People from their Allegiance to the Duke oblige them to take an Oath of Fidelity to the King and if any refused it to deprive them of all their Offices to bring in all the Dukes Revenues into the Kings Treasury and put a Garrison again in the Castle of Gottorp adding these secret Instructions that if the Duke did not comply with the Kings pleasure within six weeks and accept this Fief upon the Kings terms it should for ever be annexed to the Kingdom of Denmark And that these new Orders of the Kings might be more publick and the better observed the Kings Proclamation to that effect was published and affixed at Sleswick in opposition to which Usurpation the Duke published another together with his solemn Protestation commanding the States of the Dukedome and all his Subjects to continue in their Loyalty and Obedience to his Highness The Narrative of the matter of Fact might very well end here but that many calumnies thrown upon the House of Gottorp must make part of it Therefore that the Truth and the Innocence of the most Serene Duke may appear the better and to take off all subject of cavil from the Danes we will say something about what the Danes pretend to be most offended at that so the Justice of the Dukes Cause may be more evident First of all we shall speak about the Dukedome of Sleswick and shew that the Danes had not always the same right over it but sometimes little or none For when antiently the Venedi had great Wars with the Danes the Diocess of Sleswick being chiefly inâ—ested by their Inroades and Robberies to prevent it the Kings of Denmark erected it into a Lieutenancy to oppose them as formerly the Emperor had erected Denmark into a Marquisate In the beginning of the twelfth Century â—he Vandals having invaded Sleswick and razed the chief City thereof no body would accept of that Lieutenancy till at last Nicholas King of Denmark turn'd it into a Dukedome about the year 1118 and made his Brothers Son first Duke of it who being Murthered by his Subjects was Canoniz'd and call'd St. Canut Now whether this Canut received the Dukedome to hold as a Fief of Denmark is not only questioned but rather denied by the great Historian Jo. Adolphus Cypraeus in his Annals of Sleswick lib. 1. cap. 21. 'T is true it cannot be disputed but that the Kings of Denmark grant the same to be held as a Fief from them but the terms upon which have been different and the Kings sometimes reserved nothing to themselves but the Solemnity of the Investiture For Waldemar the Third with the Advice of the States of the Kingdom gave to Gerhard Earl of Holstein his Vnkle for him and his lawful Heirs the Dukedome of South-Juitland cum Dominio utili directo and all things belonging to it and all the Vassals in the Diocess of Sleswick to be enjoyed for ever by him and his quietly and peaceably and to be held as a Fief with the Armes of it Renouncing for him his Heirs and Successors all the Right that ever they had in the same Two years after King Christopher made over the Island of Femeren with the Propriety of it to John the III. Earl of Holstein and all his Heirs as well Male as Female to be held likewise as a Fief which Donation was confirmed by Waldemar the IIII. his Son And Christopher the II. being restored to his Throne Waldemar the III. who had Resigned it had the Hereditary Dukedome of Sleswick conferred upon him
will find that the English Ambassador who Resided at that time at Copenhaguen was unknown to the King of Sweden brought to his Majesty by the Danish Commissioners and by them Sollicited to employ his utmost endeavour for a Peace It appears from hence that all Our Complaints of the great Injuries We have sustained by the Danes are just and that We never designed any thing to the Kings prejudice but that what may perhaps have displeased his Majesty was solely intended for the defence of Our House and Dominions which is every way lawful and therefore VVe are most unjustly reproached of intending and having such pernitious Designs since we have only sought for a lawful Defence against an unusual Domination and Oppression VVhich things being thus as your most Serene Majesty may be more particularly informed by a deduction we have lately caused to be Printed of this whole Affair or by Our Envoy Extraordinary Residing in London we hope nothing will appear more reasonable than that we should be admitted into the Treaty for an universal Peace and that your most Serene Majesties Mediation should not be rejected by the King of Denmark especially since he seems willing to admit of the good Offices of other Princes of the Empire Neither will their Objection as if the matters between the King and us were purely Domestick be any ways material seeing it is known by all the world that a Peace confirmed by so many Protestations was broken and no regard had of any Domestick considerations and therefore your Majesties Mediation is declined for no other reason but that which makes Criminals fly from their Tryals For your Majesty will by what follows see how improper a Jury of Sixteen men as they call it is to decide this Domestick business In the year 1533 a Treaty was made between the Kingdom of Denmark and the Dukedom and between the Princes and States of both which usually bears the name of the Vnion and among other things a certain form of Judicature was agreed upon according to which all the Controversie that should arise between the two Princes or between them and the States ought to be determined viz. That the differences between them should be left to the Arbitration of Sixteen Counsellors to be in equal number named by both Parties And though by the Articles of this Treaty a very ample power seems to be given to these Judges of examining and deciding all sorts of causes yet we do not remember that ever disputes of Moment and about the Dukedom of Sleswick were brought to them but they have always been left to the Mediation of Forrein Princes For there is not only not a word in this Treaty by which it may appear that these Princes have renounced all other Judgments and Arbitrations but the express words of it as well as the usage and custom which is the best interpreter of Laws and Treaties have confined the Power of this Tribunal of Sixteen men to affairs of lesser importance That is to say when the complaint concerns any Lands or private Subjects Therefore not long after the Vnion made several Transactions have been about the Fief of the Dukedome of Sleswick first at Coldinga 1547 and then by the Interposition of the Elector of Saxony of Vlrick Duke of Mecklenbourgh and William Landgrave of Hesse at Odensea 1557 though nothing was then agreed on but at last 1579 in the same place it was expresly provided by a solemn Convention That if there should happen any dispute about the Succession to the Dukedom of Sleswick which was not decided by this Transaction the Dukes of Sleswick should either themselves or by the help of other Princes and Friends endeavour to compose the same or that it might be determined by a Judicial Sentence Here is no mention of this Judgment by Sixteen men but rather all Controversies that may arise about the Dukedome of Sleswick are in express words exempted without any contradiction from the States And therefore the question about the Soveraignty is so much the less to be referred to their determination because in that Age wherein the Vnion was made such a thing was not so much as thought of and therefore its Articles cannot extend to affairs of this nature and which are wholly above the condition of Subjects And though we can without prejudice to Our cause allow that sometimes feudal differences about the Dutchy of Sleswick have been left to this sort of Arbitration which it seems may be done by the consent of both Princes yet there has happened so great a change in the Danish affairs and Ours that we cannot be forced to consent thereunto against Our will and the like Controversies can no longer be debated there at least without great inconvenience because such Constitutions remain only in force so long as the state of publick Affairs is the same and unalter'd which being entirely changed as well in Denmark as in these Duckedomes and all the Power of the States of Denmark being devolved unto the King and in his hand and there being no such thing now as Senators of the Kingdom who had great Authority when the Vnion was made it is not reasonable his Majesty should sit as Judge in his own cause and that a matter of so great moment should be submitted to the decision of those who for fear of the Kings Power or to gain his favour may be so much byassed that Our loss may be irreparable And therefore seeing that amongst free people and Princes it has been always allowed to refuse to stand to the Arbitration of a Judge justly suspected and that this present conjuncture of Affairs as well as the Transaction at Odensea shows Us another way VVe earnestly desire your most Serene Majesty will endeavour to prevail with the King of Denmark that Our Differences may be Treated of at Nimeguen that so We may find some Remedy abroad for those vast Damages and Injuries VVe have sustained and received which VVe cannot hope for at home For as the Peace at Roschild was made by the Interposition of several Kings and States so it is of publick concern that it should be restored and confirmed by the like means All who think themselves injur'd contrary to the Treaties of Westphalia Roschild and Copenhaguen have liberty to come to Nimeguen And why should VVe who are oppressed contrary to all these Treaties be hindred from it At Nimeguen a general Peace is Treated of why should our cause then not be admitted there who have without all reason suffered most grievous injuries from the Danes and been almost undone by them We suppose the Objection is not considerable that none are to be admitted there but those who have joined their Arms to either of the Parties now in War For if those who were in a condition to resist Arms by Arms and return Force by Force are admitted with how much more reason ought VVe to be received who being deprived of all Our Arms and other helps
by the King of Denmark have been forced to endure all his affronts and injuries VVe know that the Laws of Nature and Nations are for Us and we do not think that any Prince will oppose it but those who over-byassed by Partiality or the desire of their own advantage would have a Peace for themselves and theirs though at Our Cost and the loss of Our Dignities and Dominions not reflecting that the sum of Our Cause is only whether VVe shall become a Subject or be a free Prince again and after Our Example Whether the other Princes of the Empire must not hereafter rather become Subjects than enjoy their ancient Rights of free Princes This being contrary to all Justice to the Treaties so often repeated and so Religiously Sworn to to the common Interest of all Princes and to the Honour and Authority of your most Serene Majesty and other the Princes who are Guarantees VVe do earnestly recommend Our Cause to their good VVill and just Affection and VVe have particularly great hopes in your most Serene Majesties Equity and Protection And if the King of Denmark desires to be admitted and heard at Nimeguen sure it cannot be upon any other Terms than that he must in all things stand to that Law which he intends to use against others and endure as patiently the just Complaints of those who have been highly injur'd by him preferred to that great Assembly as he has perhaps resolved vigorously to prosecute others there Nay let the King of Denmark be willing or not to accept of this Mediation and Place certainly VVe will rely so entirely and constantly upon the Guaranty of the several Princes who have entred into it and especially upon the general and particular one of your most Serene Majesty that VVe had rather suffer any thing whatsoever then be forced away from that Sacred Anchor being well assured that your Majesty will employ your Authority as well against those that decline your Mediation as for those that have accepted thereof and that Our Restoration and Safety will be secure and certain upon your most Serene Majesties Faith which the Kings of Great Britain have always Religiously kept to God and men May it please God that this Great Affair of the Peace may succeed under the Auspices of your most Serene Majesty and to your Immortal Praise That every body may have his own and none be hereafter Injur'd And so we most earnestly recommend your most Serene Majesty to his Grace and Protection Given at Hambourgh the first of Octob. 1677. Christian Albert by the Grace of God Heir of Norway named Coadjutor of Lubeck Duke of Sleswick Holstein Stormar Dithmars Earl of Oldenbourg and Delmenhorst c. A Letter to his Majesty the King of Denmarke from the Dukes of Brunswick-Lunenburgh c. Most Serene WE have thought fit to let your Majesty understand that his Highness the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Our Beloved Cousin has lately signified unto Us that although the Affairs concerning the Succession of the Imperial Feifs the Counties of Oldenbourgh and Delmenhorst after a long dispute have at last been brought to a full and final determination and particularly the Town and Country of Buâ—jading a Feif of Our Princely House has been adjudged not to depend upon the said two Counties which also at the time of Execution shortly after in the Month of May remained except and exempted accordingly his said Highness conceiving no other hopes but that as he equally shares with your Majesty in the same Rights and Regalities and has 1674 received the Investiture of the same from Our Princely House he should accordingly enjoy the same quietly for the future Yet his Highness found afterward in effect that the Provincial Judge constituted by your Majesty and him joyntly was removed from his Office without the knowledge or consent of his Highness and an other put into his room who in Publick Prayers contrary to the former Customs caused his Highness to be left out pretending that your Majesty had given him orders so to do a Copy of which being communicated to Us we thought fit here to insert it and commanded all those Officers both Ecclesiastical and Secular to do homage to none but your Majesty by which means the said Town and Country of Budjad seems in effect subject to the abâ—vesaid Imperial Execution VVherefore his Highness thought fit and necessary to mind Us of the Dominium directum which Our Princely House holds over those Lands and that your Majesty and He were joyntly invested therewith by Our Princely House and that according to the Universal Laws of Fiefs as well as by the abovesaid Covenant made at Hambourgh and the Instruments thereof duly interchanged we ought to Protect him as Feudatarie of Our House in this his manifest Right so solemnly gotten by the said Covenant and Agreement and to desire Us that without delay VVe would do Our parts and endeavour with your Majesty that his Highness neither directly nor indirectly be disturbed in the possession of those Regalities and enjoyment of the Revenues of the said Lands but be suffered to continue therein quietly VVhereas now it is manifest by the said Treaty which praemeditatè and after much pains was at last concluded 1653 at Hambourgh viz. That the said Town and Country of Buâ—jad is a separate thing and Independent from the Imperial Fiefs the Counties of Oldenbourgh and Delmenhorsâ— and since your Majesties Archives will show what between his late Majesty your Father of Blessed Memory and Us has passed and that his Majesty during the said Process of Law about the Succession of the said Counties in a Letter dated at Copenhaguen the 29 of January 1668 desired of Us that pursuant to the second Article of the said Treaty or Covenant wherein it is expresly provided that not any of the Princes of Holstein either of the collateral or any other line of that House shall ever have pretension now or for the future thereupon and that on the contrary it shall neither lie in Our Power to confer the same upon any of them VVe should make Our most humble Address to his Imperial Majesty to demonstrate the Interest of Our Princely House and so prevent that the Town and County of Buâ—jading from being drawn into the Controversie about the Oldenbourgh Succession c. which we have done accordingly and the effect of it was that that not only in the Sentence and Executions Commission afterwards published not one word of them was mentioned but also when VVe George William the 22 and 24 of May at Oldenbourgh and Delmenhorst proceeded to the Execution upon the said Town and County of Budjading by Our Sub-Delegats appointed for that purpose in the presence and hearing of the Duke of Holstein-Pleun's Deputy his Chancellor they were purposely and in plain Terms excepted and exempted as it appears by the Rolls kept for that Act. VVherefore we could not but find Our Selves obliged at the request of Our Cousin Duke Christian
the Duke of Gottorp has not yet been able to learn the particulars and conditions of the Agreement The King of Denmark in the mean time challenging to himself the whole Power in these Countries against all Right and excluding the Duke of Gottorp from all share not only there but also in the District of Stad-budjad a Fief of the House of Brunswick and Lunenbourg For when this Cause was under debate in the Imperial Court the King of Denmark himself by Letters to the Duke of Lunenbourg desired him amongst other things to intercede with the Emperour that the said District Stad-budjad no ways belonging to those Provinces might not be involved in that Controversie The Duke obtained his desires from the Emperour and therefore when the Sentence given by his Imperial Majesty concerning these Countries came to be put in Execution The Dukes of Brunswick Lunenbourg exempted again the said District from the Execution and in express terms reserved to the House of Gottorp their Rights in it Notwithstanding all this the King commanded Homage to be paid to him alone by all the Subjects of that District not only excluding the Duke but using his Ambassador ill who had entred his Protestation against it and attempting also to Usurp to himself the Toll of E 〈…〉 upon Weser belonging by Inheritance partly to the House of Gottorp and partly to the Kings of Denmark endeavouring to dispossess the Duke of both While these Differences encreased more and more the King of Denmark in order to the carrying on his designes against the Swedes and the House of Gottorp the more secretly and succesfully caused the Swedish Ambassador then at Copenhaguen negotiating a Marriage for the King his Master and thereby a firm Peace to be received with the greatest demonstrations of kindness and friendship And at the same time the Chancellor of Denmark wrote very civilly to the Resident of Gottorp then at Hambourgh telling him he would meet him half way to endeavour a fair composition of all the differences betwixt the King and the Duke which he said he desired above all things and doubted not but a few hours would put an end to what had been kept on foot so many years if he would be pleased to meet him accordingly The King himself afterwards declared his mind to the same purpose to the President more than once and last of all by the Earl of Oldenbourgh who told the President that the King desired nothing more then to have his Presence and assistance to accommodate these difficulties in so critical a juncture by which compliance of his he would oblige his Majesty who was inclined to hearken to an accommodation After this the Earl was sent by the King to the Duke of Gottorp to assure him of his Friendship and let him know the necessity of the President 's going to his Majesty and after a short stay went to Hamborough with Letters from the Duke to the President for whose further security to come to the King at Rensbourgh his Majesty sent him a Passeport and one of his Trumpets Soon after the King of Denmark going to Holstein to put his designs in Execution acquainted the Duke of Gottorp with his Journey desiring him not to be troubled at it as having no other intention therin but to compose all things to both their satisfactions The Duke of Gottorp trusting to several Letters full of the like assurances when the King was on his way with all his Army to Holstein sent one of his Gentlemen to Hadersleby to complement him and went himself soon after with his Brother the Bishop of Lubeck and the Earl of Aldenburgh then returned from Hambourgh to meet his Majesty waiting upon him at Hensbourgh after which the King being to go through Dennewerk and his Highness having entertained him there with all imaginable respect and splendour the King desired him to come and see him at Rendsbourgh where he was to stay for sometime and for a larger expression of kindness both his Majesty and his Chancellor drunk several times to the good success of the approaching Consultation After this Adolphus Kielmannus chief Minister to the Duke of Gottorp notwithstanding his Sickness and the dissuasions of his Friends went directly from Hambourgh to Rensbourgh where having confer'd with the Chancellor of Denmark above eight hours about the principal matters in debate he offer'd the Government of Tunderen for the County of Oldenbourgh and Delmenhorst and having removed all other Impediments he could think upon and taking the business to be near its conclusion and to want nothing but the ratification and subscription of the Princes he went to Gottorp to let his Master know how far they had proceeded and with what success The Prince himself that nothing might be wanting on his part for composing the remaining Differences deputed Adolphus Buchwaldius Governour of Sleswick Frederick Kielmannus the President and Andrew Cramer one of his Counsellors of State with a special Commission to go to Rendsbourg June 22. 1675. being Arrived there they confer'd the next day with the Earl of Rantzo and the Lord Wibius and Gloxinius his Majesties Counsellors of State and they being the same that had assisted at the Assembly of the States at Kilon on the part of the King without effecting any thing renewed the matter of the Taxes saying That the King persisted still in his demand of the greater part of them for the maintenance of his Army which granted his Majesty would bind himself by Reversal Letters as they call them a thing not so much as mentioned in the Assembly of the States never to make this a President for the future But the newness of that being a prejudice great enough the Duke of Gottorp thought it not secure to recede from the Antient Customs yet to gratify the King he made this Proposal That the greater Taxes should be paid but to be equally divided and employed by each Prince in raising and maintaining Souldiers for the defence of the said Dukedomes and that the States might the easier consent thereunto he desired the whole business might be proposed to them it being most agreeable to Antient Customes and former Treaties especially that of the Union to consult the States about raising of an Army maintaining and quartering it and then proceed according to their resolutions While they were thus debating concerning Taxes and other things the Chancellor of Denmark wrote from Rendsbourgh to the President Kielmannus acquainting him that the King being ready for a Treaty it would be advantageous to both Princes if the Duke of Gottorp would please to come to the King at Rendsbourgh and by his Presence promote an Amicable composure of all these matters The Duke remembring his Majesty had desired the same thing of him at Dennewerk to shew at once his duty to the King and his inclinations to Peace sent one of his Gentlemen upon St. John Baptists day to his Majesty to acquaint him that his Master was ready to wait upon him
explain and confirm I am wholly of the opinion of those who believe that laying aside the Civil Law by which the Obligation may be taken away or diminisht whosoever has promised a thing through fear is bound because he has given his absolute consent and not a conditional one as in the case of one that mistakes For as Aristotle says very well he that throws his goods into the Sea for fear of Shipwrack would willingly save them conditionally viz. if the danger was not imminent but he is absolutely content to lose them considering the circumstance of time and place But I esteem this most true if the man to whom the Promise is made has terrifyed â—he other not justly but unjustly though but a little and upon this has got a Promise he to whom the promise was made is bound to release him from it if the other desires it not becausâ— the Promise is of no force but for the injury done L. 2. de Jure B. P. c. 11. n. 7. He explains these last words thus in another place He that has by cunning force or unjust fear obtained from another a Contract or Promise is bound to release the Person of his said Contract for he had a right neither to be deceived nor to be forced the first by the nature of Contracts the other by the Liberty of Nature Lib. 2. de Jure B. P. c. 17. n. 17. And he repeats the same lib. 3. c. 19. n. 4. 10. The King of Denmark can so much the less deny this right of Restitution to the House of Gottorp because he himself would have challenged the same right when it was his own case For his Majesty having extorted from the Duke by meer force all he thought fit his Highness was reproached that he had gotten these things before by force and the Arms of an Enemy and had given just cause consequently to the King to repossess himself the same way It will then be very just that the King suffer the Duke to make use of the same Law against his Majesty which he would have used against his Highness since this is a Rule of the Law of Nature which obliges all Princes without distinction I say the King would have made use of this Law against the Duke that having been forced to the Treaty in question he ought to have been restored unto his Rights again But in this the Danes are very much mistaken that they do not distinguish by what kind of force or fear one is constrained whether just or unjust and have gone about foolishly to perswade themselves and others that the King had recovered the Soveraignty of the Dukedom of Sleswick the same way he had lost it For as Justice offers Restitution with both hands to a man forced unjustly to a promise or grant so it denies it flatly to one justly forced Therefore when any one has himself been the cause of his being compelled to promise oâ— give he cannot recover it the same way having lost his right of Restitution by giving a just cause to the other who has justly employed a just force Grot. lib. 2. c. 17. n. 19. 11. This Restitution due upon so many accounts ought not to be denied because of the great Evils and dangerous Errours which may spring from such a denial For if we take the Treaty of Rendsbourgh into serious consideration we shall find the Duke of Gottorp deprived of all his Royalties and the King alone invested with them and all submitted to his Pleasure For the King alone having undertaken the defence of both Dukedoms declared all the Dukes Treaties null deprived him of his Souldiers demolisht his Towns and Forts detained him against his will in Custody raised such great Taxes upon his Lands that his Highness and his Subjects have nothing remaining whence it is manifest that the Right of Peace and War and the other great Royalties are taken away from the Duke by this Treaty or at least so much incroached upon that all the Authority which he might of right and has hitherto after the Example of his Ancestors enjoyed and exercised is now in the King alone and at his dispose under whose power and pleasure his Highness must hereafter live under the Notion of a Client or Vassal but really as a Subject So heretofore the Latins complained That under the colour of a League with the Romans they lived in Slavery and the Achaians that their League was now become a precarious Slavery and as Tacitus speaks A miserable Slavery was now falsly called Peace And though Proculus be of opinion that free Tenants are not under the Dominion or Subjection of the Patron yet when a Prince or People come under the Protection of a Superiour Prince or People we know by experience that a fall is easie in slippery ground and that the Tenantship is soon changed into a soft Slavery which the Duke of Gottorp has the more reason to fear and avoid For that the King of Denmarks Power reaching from the further part of Norway as far as Holland is very great and that under the pretence of the Union at the Treaty of Rendsbourgh vainly called by the Name of Pragmatick Sanction an occasion may be taken to oppress or suppress the Authority and Dignity of the House of Gottorp Who ever saw a Soveraign Prince without Royalties Who can shew a Duke of Sleswick thus wholly divested of his high Prerogatives If the Dukes of Sleswick are to be invested hereafter by giving them a Banner and with the Ceremony observed at Ottenwaldt in 1580 will not that be a Proclaiming of them Subjects with the greater Pomp only and telling the world by this Investiture how proud they are of this Subjection If the Dukes of Gottorp were cast into this condition or abandoned in it and on the contrary the Kings of Denmark might govern at their Pleasure the Dukedomes of Sleswick and Holstein and that part of them also which belongeth to the Duke what an augmentation of Power would that be to them and how might they abuse it if ever they would make use of it against Germany and especially the Circle of the Lower-Saxony This may be made out by an exact account of the vast sums of mony and all other things they have extorted in a little time from those Provinces it is hardly credible how great the sums are And we know well enough what an ambitious Example they have shown and there is no question but opportunity and power will invite others to follow them Therefore Prudence requires rather that the Duke of Gottorp should be in time restored to his former condition and all his Rights than that so many Princes Provinces and Towns be destroyed by his Ruin which will be easily prevented if the injury now done to his Highness be looked upon by every one of them as done to themselves But suppose we should grant that the Duke of Gottorp has effectually bound himself by the conditions of
Rendsbourg to a Vassalage for the Dukedom of Sleswick which supposition we yet constantly deny as false yet the delay of demanding the Investiture cannot be imputed to the Duke but to the King alone for who does not know that the Strong-holds of Tonningen and Holme are seated in the Dukedom of Sleswick And the King without regard to his Word having razed them both taken away the Garrisons and all the Artillery kept the Duke besieged in his Castle of Gottorp and all this relating to the Dukedome of Sleswick hath not the Duke justly demanded that all these Grievances be first redressed and satisfaction be made to him for them If he had done otherwise and blindly asked the Investiture trusting himself to the Kings pleasure there had never been any notice taken of the old and new Grievances and his Highness had rashly submitted himself to a Vassalage that had deprived him and his Posterity of all his Royalties and exposed them to the eternal Scorn of the world Besides since it was suggested to the Dukes Ambassadors sent to Copenhaguen about the Fief and Grievances that they would do well to return to his Highness for new Instructions about the Fief without expecting any Orders from him the King had certainly no cause given him for Sequestrations and those other acts of Hostility committed by his Order in the Dukedom of Sleswick And so we must not yield that the King by doing Acts by which the Lord of a Fief uses to lose his Right should take away anothers Right and not only gain by the Ruin of the other but even by what ought to turn to his own loss contrary to the Laws of Nature Nations Feudal and all others whatsoever Eric Duke of Sleswick having left after his Death his Son Waldemar a Child Christopher the Second King of Denmark possessed himself of that Guardian-ship of Waldemar and at the same time of the whole Territory of Sleswick except Gottorp which when he also besieged to gain the whole Dutchy Gerhard Earl of Holstein Unkle to Waldemar with some others oppos'd him stoutly and for this Felony committed by the King in 1326 there was great Debate which Meursius thus relates The Dukedom of Sleswick having been held till then as a Fief from Denmark and these Princes by reason of this Vsurpation of the Kings being unwilling it should continue so hereafter was the occasion of a long Contention lib. 4. p. 70 which ended as we have said before If this demand in the Name of Waldemar was not unreasonable with how much more Justice doth our Duke desire that he might have his own and a full Restitution from the King of what he detains from him so unjustly and has Sequestrated by meer force and God Almighty having ordered Restitution to be made where Covenants are broken it is but just that his Vice-gerents upon Earth should endeavour to put his Decrees in Execution 13. If we look upon his Sequestration rightly and examine it by the Rules of Justice we shall find it wholly void by Law For it was neither done by any Convention of the Parties nor by any Judicial Authority The Danes I presume will confess the former and the other we do not question but to make them also agree to The King of Denmark having made himself Plaintiff against the Duke of Gottorp in the business of the Dukedome of Sleswick his Majesty cannot be a Judge in the same cause Which is explained by several Civilians Ad. Tit. Cod. Nequis in suâ causâ judicet vel jus sibi dicat that is to say Let no man be Judge in his own Case or do himself justice And this must not be understood as if the Positive Roman Law only by which the Danes are not bound did prohibite any one to be Judge in his own cause for the Law of Nature dictates the same and right reason which obliges all the world proclaims it Men blinded by their affections do not see the truth in their own affairs saith Aristotle And for this reason the Kings of Denmark themselves consented heretofore that all Disputes about this Fief should be determined by Impartial Judges according to the contents of the Treaty of Union and that both parties should abstain from hasty Sequestrations Ord. jud prov part 3. tit 3. A judicial Sequestration being thus prohibited because it is a kind of Execution wherewith a State ought not to begin This Sequestration of the Dukedome of Sleswick cannot certainly be defended by any Law nor by any Judicial Authority nor by a previous cognizance of the cause upon which a just Sentence had followed but only by the way of violence and absolute force by which the Duke of Gottorp has been thrown out of a certain Possession and all his Revenues and an usurped Possession transfer'd by pure Fact upon the Sequestrator against the nature of all Judicial Sequestrations which are made use of only for the better keeping of things so that this pretended Sequestration is really a violent spoil committed by the King supported with more than one Army upon the Duke naked and disarmed Now it is the Opinion of all wise men that a person who has been spoiled ought first of all to be restored 14. And this Restitution is so much the more earnestly to be pressed as this Sequestration may be dangerous both in Temporals and Spirituals For the King having suffered himself to be perswaded that he could absolve the common people Priests and Magistrates Subjects to the Duke in the Dukedome of Sleswick from the Allegiance they have sworn to their Prince he has caused sometimes one and sometimes another to be carried away by Souldiers from their habitations and from their Sacred and Civil Functions and some to Rendâ—bourgh where this whole Tragedy was begun and where they have been put in Prison at least detained for some time Those of the Dukes Officers and Subjects that have seen and understood all that hath passed between the King and the Duke must needs know that his Majesty has indeed a great Power over his Subjects but none over those of other Princes at least not such a one as can free them from their Oath to God and Allegiance to his Highness especially whilst the matter in difference is not onely doubtful but before no Judicial Court much less determined Nay they know that they are bound to suffer rather the greatest Miseries and the loss of their whole Fortunes than to act against their own Consciences and Oaths or do any thing to the prejudice of their Prince lest they should provoke the Anger of God and the Dukes just Revenge no obedience being due to any body that gives sentence out of his own Territory where he has no Jurisdiction L. Vel. ff de Jurisd And if others frighted with the noise of an Army or the fear of greater Evils renounce their Allegiance let them consider how they ensnare their Consciences if not expose themselves to the punishments for Perjury and
and all its Ammunition was delivered up This written Inventory with all the things set down therein were delivered and really received by me under-writen Lieutenant-General of the most Serene King of Denmark and Norway after the performance of the Surrender of the Fort of Tonningen and I do engage my Faith that all shall be fully restored according to the promise of his most Serene Royal Majesty and as it ought to be and to that end have subscribed this with my own hand Charles Arenstorff Out of the Instrument of Peace at Roschild 12. May 1658. As to the pretended satisfaction for the damages received by the last War the most Serene Duke of Gottorp the most excellent Mediators judging it fit condescends out of friendship and affection to remit all his pretensions thereunto for all the Vassalage remitted to him that the Amty between his most Serene Royal Majesty and the Duke and also the Kingdom of Denmark the Dukedoms and the Subjects of both Princes may remain firm and entire and that the good correspondence which ought to be between Allies Brothers and Neighbours may be preserved Out of the League between Sweden and Gottorp made May 24. 1661. And as there is no other cause for the making of this Alliance than to keep the Peace between the Princes of the North inviolate and render the security of the House of Gottorp established thereby more entire and the most Serene Duke of Gottorp not obliging himself in any thing to the King and Kingdom of Sweden but what relates to this Peace and Security and the preservation of the Friendship and Amity between them so no other Leagues whether already made or which shall be hereafter made shall prejudice either of the Parties nor be a hindrance to this Treaty or take place against it Besides the most Serene Duke that he may remove all suspition of his proceedings desires that the extension or interpretation of this League may no ways reach his Imperial Majesty or the Empire or any other Kings Electors and Princes if they do not injure the Duke contrary to the Peace of the North and he also reserves to himself the liberty to keep and improve by the best ways he shall think fit that good correspondence with the King of Denmark which may and ought to be between Neighbours and may be most advantageous to his Family Provinces and Subjects without derogating from the Peace of the North. Out of the Peace of Roschild made the 26 Feb. 1658. Art 22. His most Serene Majesty of Denmark shall be obliged to satisfie Prince Frederick Duke of Sleswick and Holstein-Gottorp according to Equity which satisfaction shall be treated of by his Royal Majesties and his Highnesses Commissioners yet so as that this Treaty be finished before the second of May. Out of the Instrument of Peace between the most Serene King of Denmark and the Duke at Copenhaguen 12 of May 1658. Art 6. And so in the Name of God the Grievances and Demands exhibited are either absolutely or provisionally taken off to the satisfaction of the interessed and the King and Prince do promise bona side and in words without equivocation that they will keep this Treaty and not recede from it under any pretence whatsoever whatever it may be and observe these Articles as faithfully as those of the Peace at Roschild employing all their cares to transmit and propagate this Friendship now renewed perfect and entire to their Posterity We Frederick III. King of Denmark and Norway c. declare by these Presents that we have after mature deliberation upon all that has been proposed by the Lords Mediators either by word of Mouth or in Writing concerning the Treaty and Conclusion of a Peace consented and by vertue of these Presents do consent to the same as far as they agree with the Acts passed by the three States for the establishing a Peace between Us and the King of Sweden Copenhaguen August 23. V. S. 1659. Another Declaration of his most Serene Royal Majesty upon the business of the Peace to be made with the King and Kingdom of Sweden presented to the Lords Mediators Plenipotentiaries at Copenhaguen We Frederick III. by the Grace of God King of Denmark and Norway Duke of Sleswick and Holstein c. To all and every one whom it doth or may any way concern Be it known that as we have among other things as well by our Declaration of the 14 24 August shewed our great propensity to a Peace to the Lords Mediators of the three States as by another of the 25 4 August Sept. delivered by Our Order into the Hands of the same Mediators by which we declare that after a due consideration of the Propositions of their Excellencies made as well by word of Mouth as in Writing the 18 28 of the same Month for a happy Issue of this present Peace We do consent to them all as far as they are agreeable with the resolutions past by the three States the 11 21 of May the 14 24 of July and 25 4 July August about the Peace to be made between Us and the King and Kingdom of Sweden so we do hereby testifie and confirm that VVe adhere still to the same Declaration and to give a greater proof of our said Inclination for Peace and to take away all sort of suspition of the contrary VVe declare by these Presents that VVe desire nothing more than that the Commissioners of both Parties without any delay of time may meet at the place before appointed for the Treaty of Peace and by the Mediation of the Ambassadors of the three States make a happy conclusion of the same without any further delay And VVe relying entirely upon the Integrity and Equity of the said Lords do also hereby declare That if it shall be thought fit to add or change any thing in the Treaty at Roschild we remit and leave it all to their discretion and care In greater trust and certainty whereof we have to these Presents set Our Royal Hand and Seal at Our Court at Copenhaguen the 19. of March 1660. Frederick III. Out of the Instrument of Peace at Roschild renewed in the Year 1660. Art 27 28. VVhereas it was agreed by the 22th Article of the Treaty at Roschild that his Royal Majesty of Denmark should be obliged to give an equitable satisfaction to the most High Prince the Duke of Sleswick and Holstein-Gottorp and his said Majesties and his said Highnesses Commissioners after several Conferences held at Copenhaguen the 12 22 of May 1658 having at last come to a final Agreement and Conclusion it is hereby stipulated that all those Treaties and Transactions shall be exactly observed and fulfilled faithfully on both sides Moreover if there has happened any thing in this or the precedent VVars which may any way create animosities and jealousies between his most Serene Royal Majesty and Kingdom of Denmark and his most Serene Highness the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp or any thing between
exclude us from that Treaty of a General Peace at Nimeguen and consequently from all hopes of redress and lately Navigation hath even been by open Proclamations absolutely Interdicted to all our Inhabitants and Subjects of the Dukedoms of Sleswick and Holstein without affording us as Prince Regent the least knowledge thereof much less designing us to joyn in the said Publication if the same had been required We therefore have had good reason to wave the sending over our Deputies the second time again after they were thus dismissed before but rather have taken a firm resolution to get our Cause ventilated and discussed at the Treaty of the General Peace at Nimeguen with this certain hope and confidence that no Potentate concerned therein will dispute our admission in regard that amongst other high concerns the re-establishment of the Northern Peace will be also treated there which is not only the foundation of our Soveraignty over the Dukedom of Sleswick with the other advantages stipulated for us and our Family but also is an essential part thereof and stands comprehended under the undertaken General and Special Warranty Neither do we think that your Majesties Ministers in Holland have had any orders to render difficult the impetrating of the Pasports by us desired from the States General of the Vnited Provinces for our Ministers destined to Nimegâ—n seeing they have not been able to alledge any thing at all which should deserve the least reflection and exclude us from the General-Treaty if we were but to be considered as a German Prince and had no concerns in the re-establishment of the Northern Peace which nevertheless hath first of all been endangered on our side But concerning those machinations discovered by a singular accident whereby as we do conceive some endeavours are used to justifie that in all points formally commenced Sequestration we have not the least cause to clear our selves in that respect before any particulars are nearer touched and it be duly made appear to us that we have been concerned in any of those Machinations represented to your Majesty However we are sure and confident that we never have been so deservedly suspected privy to any thing as that thereby just cause should have been given to charge us therewith by Potentates both within and without the Empire and to alienate their former inclination from Us and our Family much less can a Pretext thereby conveniently be taken to sequestrate that part of the Dukedom of Sleswick which with all right Hereditarily and Properly doth belong to us and to menace us with a total deprivation thereof and we do also fully perswade our selves that your Majesty will put this to the serious consideration of your Ministers who have brought this Process upon the Stage and perhaps do endeavour to assert it's consistency with the Feudal Laws That as your Majesty doubtless makes great doubt to assume a Judges part in your own Cause so neither the Sequestration of the Fief nor the Deprivation of the same can or may consist after that manner as it is intended against us although we should be indisputably oblig'd to that Vassalage of the Dukedom of Sleswick which yet saving all due respect to your Majesty we find our selves necessitated solemnly to contradict except one would presume to Act by nullities or by making no reflection upon the Law And the common Feudal Laws whereupon likewise the ancient Unions and Hereditary Agreements in case any difference as well in Feudal as other matters should arise are usually grounded do shew That not only in the total deprivation of a Fief but also in the Sequestration the hearing of the Cause before a Competent Judge ought solemnly to precede it notwithstanding one should presume to assert the necessity of a Sequestration in case the Parties shew themselves unwilling the reasons whereof nevertheless will never be made out of those pretended Machinations Having therefore pondered all the above-mentioned and such other concomitant circumstances we cannot but still keep to our resolution once deliberately taken and remit that point of our undeservedly questioned Soveraignty over the Dukedome of Sleswick with all the other alienâ—ted Dignities Prerogatives Territories and Fortresses as also all due and equitable satisfaction and what else can conduce to our future Security to the place of Congress for a general Peace at Nimeguen patiently expecting from God and time what Conclusion there will be made and come forth about the restoring the Northern Peace and consequently also of our Rights and Concerns But we do in the mean time very kindly and instantly intreat withal your Majesty that out of an Inclination to Justice and in regard of that desolate condition whereunto we and ours thus undeservedly see our selves more and more reduced your Majesty would be pleased till then and till the speediest God grant ensuing conclusion of a general Peace to preserve all peaceable thoughts and not to press upon us any further with the said Investiture and any other demands but on the contrary without delay to recal that unjust and ungrounded Sequestration and not only leave to us the enjoyment of all our Rights and Prerogatives undisturbed but also to take off the exceeding Contributions from our quite exhausted Subjects and to restore that part of Stadt and Budjadinger-Land and also of the Customs at Elistiet properly appertaining unto us and amicably and friendly to interpret this our unavoidable Justification and Declaration with this assurance that as we have in all Points carefully observed that high respect due to your Majesty so likewise we have intended to say or write nothing which should tend against the same All this is very consentaneous to equity and to your Majesties inbred Generosity and we shall be ready for our part every-where to praise such your Majesties kindness and with due thankfulness and all possible services always acknowledge the same most faithfully recommending withal your Majesty to God Almighty's Protection Dated Hambourgh the 16th of Jan. 1677. Your Majesties Obsequious Cousin and Brother-in-Law Christian Albrecht THE EMPERORS LETTER TO THE Duke of Holstein LEOPOLD by the Grace of GOD Elected Roman-Emperor Serene Duke c. BY these We give your Dilection to understand that We are informed how you have not only for your part approved of those proposals which were made to you by Graventable the Swedish Minister lately residing in Our Imperial City of Hamborough about certain Levies to be made in Foreign Parts and are come to a certain conclusion with him in that affair but also that your Dilection for the promoting of the said Levies hath made use of Kielman your late President 's Monys that lie there and taken thereof the Sum of 200000 Rix-dollars and that your Dilection doth employ in this affair the Swedish President Kley who hitherto hath pretended to live there as a private man and also another person named Vlke. And although We do repose a far better confidence in your Dilection than to think that you