_Norway Declares Her Independence_
Prince Christian Frederick, a cousin of King Frederick VI. and heir
presumptive to the Danish-Norwegian throne, had, in May, 1813, been
sent up to Norway as viceroy (_Statholder_), and had become very
popular with the Norwegians. When, on January 24, 1814, he received
the message from the king, informing him of the treaty of Kiel and
commanding him to transfer the forts and the public offices to the
Swedes and return to Denmark, Christian Frederick became highly
indignant and resolved not to obey the commands. In his diary the
prince wrote:
"That the king could believe that the Norwegian people will voluntarily
surrender, and that he could believe me base enough to desert them
now--indeed, I do not understand it. People would be justified in
throwing stones after me, if ever I were able to deceive a nation which
loves me and places its trust in me. I should leave it now without so
much as trying to defend it--never in the world, while I live!"
On a journey, which the prince made north to Throndhjem, he found
that the people all wished to defend the independence of Norway, and
on the 16th and 17th of February he held a conference with notables
at Eidsvold in order to discuss the needs of the hour. It was at
first the idea of the prince that, since the king had relinquished
the throne, he, as the legal heir, might ascend the throne of Norway
as absolute monarch; but the members of the meeting at Eidsvold,
especially Professor George Sverdrup, convinced him that, as King
Frederick, contrary to law, had relinquished Norway, the sovereignty
had now reverted to the Norwegian people, who thus recovered their
natural right to adopt their own constitution and choose their
executive. According to his diary the prince said at the meeting:
"I have heard with great pleasure a speech made to me at a private
audience by Professor Sverdrup, in which he conjured me not to place
the crown on my head in a manner which was contrary to the views of the
most enlightened men of the nation. The rights which Frederick VI. has
relinquished revert to the people, and it is from their hands that you
must receive a crown which will be far more glorious when you owe it to
the love of the people." The result was that Christian Frederick took
temporary charge of the government as regent, and issued a call for a
constitutional convention or diet, consisting of representatives of the
people from all parts of the country.
In all his efforts, by the aid of the great Powers and by force of arms
against Denmark, to secure Norway for the king of Sweden, Charles John
had never taken the will or desire of the Norwegians themselves into
consideration. While Count Wedel, who considered a union with Sweden
desirable or necessary, had emphatically declared that Norway would
never consent to a union attempted by force, Crown Prince Charles John
said that a people which for centuries had tolerated the supremacy of
a foreign power without a murmur would not seriously resist a change
of masters. The Swedish king issued a proclamation to the Norwegians,
in which he promised to give them a constitution, and he appointed a
viceroy for Norway; but his offers were rejected. The Swedish army
being occupied in Germany, with the war against Napoleon, there was
no force available with which to enforce the Swedish demands, and
this gave the Norwegians time to arrange their own affairs; but there
was considerable suffering in the country, because the British, upon
learning that the Norwegians would not accept the treaty of Kiel, sent
their fleet to prevent the importation of grain to Norway.
The diet, which met at Eidsvold, April 10, 1814, consisted of one
hundred and twelve representatives. There were thirty-three army
officers, fourteen clergymen, twenty-six other officials, twenty-three
farmers, twelve merchants, and four mine-owners and landed proprietors.
There were two parties in the convention. The most numerous one was the
so-called "party of independence," whose principal leaders were Judge
Christian Magnus Falsen, Professor George Sverdrup, Judge Christie,
and Captain Motzfeldt. The other party, which numbered about thirty
members, favored a union with Sweden, and was called the Swedish party,
although hardly any of them advocated their policy from any love for
the Swedes, but rather from what they considered a necessity, believing
that Norway would not, under the circumstances, be able single-handed
to maintain her independence. The prominent men of this party were
Count Wedel-Jarlsberg, Chamberlain Peter Anker, Mine-owner Jacob Aall,
_Amtmand_ (prefect) Lövenskiold, and the Reverend Nicolai Wergeland.
But all members agreed in the demand that Norway must henceforth
have a liberal constitution. The following were agreed upon as the
fundamental principles of the constitution:
1. Norway shall be a limited, hereditary monarchy; it shall be a free,
independent and indivisible kingdom, and the ruler shall have the title
of king.
2. The people shall exercise the legislative power through their
representatives.
3. The people shall alone have the right to levy taxes through their
representatives.
4. The right to declare war and to make peace rests with the king.
5. The king shall have the right of pardon.
6. The judicial power shall be separate from the legislative and
executive power.
7. There shall be liberty of the press.
8. The evangelical Lutheran religion shall remain the religion of the
state and of the king.
9. Personal or mixed hereditary privileges shall not be granted to
anybody in the future.
10. All citizens, irrespective of station, birth, or property, shall be
required to render military service for a certain length of time.
Upon the basis of these principles the constitution was drawn and
finally adopted on the 17th day of May, 1814. On the same day Christian
Frederick was elected king of Norway. He accepted the election and
solemnly made oath to the constitution, May 19, whereupon the members
of the diet swore allegiance to the constitution and to the new king.
They held their last meeting on May 20, in order to sign the record of
the proceedings. That done, they formed a circular chain, each person
giving his right hand to his neighbor on the left, and his left hand to
his neighbor on the right, and standing thus, hand in hand, they all
exclaimed in chorus: "United and true, until Dovre (mountain) falls!"