Star.
London, England, 1814-08-24 00:00:00

STATE PAPER.

ANSWER TO MR. MORIER'S DECLARATION.
The undersigned Secretary of State to his Majesty,
has had the honour to receive the letter sent under
cover to him, and although you are not willing to
accept any official answer from a Government whose
authority and legality you do not acknowledge, you
will permit me, in reply to the said Z.:ter, to com-
municate what I know his Majesty my most gracious
Sovereign, wishes you, as the Envoy of his Royal
Highness the Prince Regent, pal titularly to notice,
in judging of the conduct of the Norwegian people
and his Majesty towards Great Britain.
The Norwegian nation has always regarded Eng-
land as its best friend and natural ally. In the treaty
between Sweden and England, respecting the annex-
ation of Norway, the English Government exhibited
a regard for the liberty and happiness of the Norwe-
gians, which was sincerely estimated, and served
to encourage a hope, that England would never lose
sight of what this liberty and happiness consisted of,
especially as the Ministers had expressly declared,
that they had got guaranteed Norway to Sweden;
that is to say, they had not guaranteed the loss of
that country's freedom and happiness.- It was con-
sequently to be hoped, and the Norwegian people
did hope, that Great Britain would have proved a
friend and protector, who, in securing to the Nor-
wegians the possession of this benefit, would first ex-
amine into what it consisted of; and, if it could be
accomplished by their being subjected to a State,
whose Government has ill-treated the Norwegians,
by, even in a time of peace, establishing a most op-
pressive and disgraceful system of starving a'whole
nation, and which has served to increase that national
hatred which, it is well known, exists between both
neighbours. After such treatment, it is scarcely ne-
cessary to produce any other evidence, to contradict
the assertion of the Crown Prince of Sweden, that
the Norwegians wished nothing more than to be
united with Sweden under his benevolent guidance.
Both you and your Government will feel it incum-
bent to examine into these truths, for the purpose of
laying the foundation for a strong mediation between
Norway and Sweden: the most honourable office a
great State can undertake, when it is influenced by
principles founded upon the rights of nations, and a
generous policy.
The proceedings of the Diet, and the universal sen-
timents of the people, will prove to you that a sub-
jection to Sweden, such as is contemplated in the
Treaty of Kiel, was totally incompatible with the
happiness and liberty of the Norwegians ; and every
Englishman, every one that feels warmly in favour
of freedom and national worth, will not be surprised
that a nation, who never acknowledged itself to be
a province of Denmark. but as a separate and freely
united kingdom, should refuse to *ow itself to be
given away as moveable property, or any other trans-
ferable thing; the Spanish nation would not submit
to this degradation, and was supported by England
in her glorious opposition to the efforts of tyranny.
The national feeling, though noble, would, without
a director, have produced anarchy and contusion, as
no Norwegian would have submitted without resist-
ance to the entrance of the Swedish troops into the
country. It was this consideration that induced the
then Stadtholdcr, Prince Christian of Denmark, to
take upon him the management of the State. and as
Regent to watch over the internal tranquillity and ex-
ternal safety of the kingdom. He acknowledged that
the rights of the people were given back to them by
the King of Denm3rk, having discharged them from
their oath of ailegianA, and assembled a Diet that
the representatives of the people might themselves
adopt a national constitution. How these represen-
tatives appreciated his Highness's kindness towards
the people, may be judged of by the address that was
presented to him on the 1 lth of April, and, in fact,
no Norwegian could possibly mistake his great sacri-
fices for the state. It will be easy for you to convince
yourself of the liberty that• reigned in the delibera-
tioiss of the Diet ; and evident marks of it appears in
the adopted constitution, which is not dictated 11 an
ambitiGus Prince, but formed by men truly desirous
of promoting the welfare of their country. The ma-
jority cf these men (as is proved by the :tcts of the
Diet) saw the necessity, for the completion of the
Censtitntion, that the election of .it King should im-
mediately take place; and situated as the Regent
was, at the head of g tieteimiued people, fully resolv-
ed to risk all in the defence of their independence
and Concitution, he no other choice than imme-
diately to accept the Crown presented to him by the
love and confidence 9f the people.
The King has sworn to govern the kingdom of
Norway agreeably to the Constitution ; and the Diet,
at the same time, presented him will an address, all
of which is communicated to you, and wherein the
nation utters the wish that peace might be maintain-
ed and mutually beneficial connections be formed
with Sweden ; and expresses its confidence, that the
powerful States who lately with so much exertion and
success have fought for the restoration of peace and
tranquillity to Europe, would not consent to the sub-
jugation of a people who have given offence to none,
and who only demand what the rights of nations'
ought to secure to them—liberty and peace ; at the same
time adding its determination, in case these hopes
Should be disappointed, to prefer the sacrifice of their
dearest interest, and even death itself to slavery.
His Majesty, at the request of the Diet, bas trans-
mitted this Declaration to the different Courts, and,
of course to that of Great Britain ; and he cannot
doubt, but it will be taken into due considerationby
a Government which represents a people capable of
estimating the value of liberty; and who, if placed
in the same situation, would most assuredly be pre-
pared to make the same sacrifices as the Norwegians.
His Majesty is also persuaded, that his Royal High.'
ness the Prince Regent of Great Britain, who so well
knows what is due from a Constitutional Regent to his
people, will not admit that he could ever be capable,
of his own authority, of sacrificing the rights of that
people, who, with a firm confidence in his integrity,
delivered to him the Crown. • It is only the people
themselves that, through their Vepresentatives, can
undertake to alter the Constitution, or allow of the
union of Norway with any other kingdom. ( Vide
Contiiitaion 14 and 110.)
Every Norwegian, and every Englishman, as well
as every one who feels properly for human worth and
happiness, must regret that at this period, when the
Powers of Europe have conquered a Continental
peace, -and restored national liberty, that at this very

time the same rowers should unite In acting in oppo-
sition to principles that hitherto have been their guide,
by subduing, at the suggestion of Sweden, a free and
respectable people. But as yet, the sword is only
halt drawn, and the voice of humanity uttered by
truth, which may still be heard by Great Britain, and
the other Powers, will, it is to be hoped, cause them
to reflect on the undeserved conduct they are about
to adopt toward the people of Norway.
It mu►t also be acknowledged, that true policy,
and even the welfare of the Swedish nation, urges
the preference of a reasonable arrangement between
Sweden and Norway, whereby liberty and honour
would not be compromised, to the renewal of a shed-
ding of blood in the North ; and in the persuasion,
that the Prince Regent of England is possessed of
noble, just, and benevolent principles, his Majesty,
with the fullest confidence, applies to him to grant
his mediation between Norway and Sweden, on a
basis, whereby the happiness and liberty of the Nor-
wegians would be secured: the Norwegian people
and their King, demand only the principles of the
rights of nations to be acknowledged, and require
that the events that have taken place in Norway
should he properly known to be justly judged. It is
certainly not the attacked, but those that unjustly at-
tack who urge a war.
In conclusion, permit me, by his Majesty's express
command, to add, that if the expected mediation of
England is not directly in opposition to the constitu-
tion of the kingdom, or the Declaration of the Diet
of the 19th of May, which' for the present are his Ma-
jesty's undeviating guides, he will IGok upoa it.* his
duty to lay.before an assemblage of the States the
progress of such mediation; but as three or four
months would be required for the assembling cf the
Diet, it would be necessary to prevent in the mean
time all blood-shed, and which in all probability must
be useless; that Great Britain should use her influ-
ence with Sweden, to procure for Norway, what she
has indeed a right to expect from an impartial me-
diater—a perfect neutrality, a free import and export
from and to England, which all Norwegians, accus-
tomed to view the English as their greatest friends,
look upon as their highest advantage. How happy
am I in having this opportunity of applying to a man
who is a lover of truth, and whom it is my duty to
address with that sincerity, which is also expressed in
the assurance of esteem with which I remain,
Your most obedient servant,
Christiana, June 8, 1814. V. HOLTEN.
, To J. P. Mortcr, Esq.

FRENCH PAPERS.

PARIS, AUGUST 18.

The creation of a new Order, to be called the Or-
der of the Dove, is talked of. With the consent of
the King, the honours are to be distributed by her
Royal Highress the Duchess of Angouleme, and it
can even be conferred upon females.
It is said that the Duke of Wellington has made a
considerable purchase of land, in the neighbourhood
of Marfontaine, in order to form a race-course.
The Prince of Esterhazy has been appointe I Am-
bassador from Austria to Rome. According to the
last intelligence from Vienna, he is immediately to
commence his journey.
We learn from Ancona, that, by advices from
Naples, it ae..,ears that the Sovereign of that K.ng-
dom has chat} .ed his former title of Joachim Napo-
leon, King of he Two Sicilies, to Joacliii.l I. King
of Naples.
PARIS, AUGUST 19.

The King has just lost two of his old and faithful
servants, the• Dukes ci'Aumont and Villequier, who
died each in the 78th year of his age.
We learn from Leghorn, that Charles IV. Etc-king
of Spain, was expected there with his family, whence
it was understood he would proceed to Majorca.
We learn from Bayonne, that the Madrid Gazette
of the 21st of July contains a Decree of his Majesty
Ferdinand VIT. by which the entrance into Spain is
forbidden to all Frenchmen ; and all those established
it: that kindgom are ordered to depart, under pain of
being arrested and imprisoned.
The Decree is founded upon there being merely a
suspension of hostilities between the two Powers.—
We have seen the Madrid Gazette of the 21st July, in
which there is no such Decree; but if it has positively
appeared, as our correspondent states, it must have
been inserted in a Supplement, which we have not
received,

The Minister of the Interior, the day before yes-
terday, went to the Chamber of Peers with the law
relative to the Liberty of the Press. It was referred
to the Committee in the Chamber, and the discussion
in a general Sitting will commence when the exami-
nation in the Cominittees has terminated.