counties of Trondhjem and Baahus, and although the former was restored by the peace of Copenhagen, two years later, her population fell below half a million. The Swedes had now acquired the rich provinces in the south and south-west of the Scandinavian peninsula, and their ambition to extend their frontiers to the North Sea became more pronounced and more possible of accomplishment. From the middle of the 17th century, however, the Dutch and English made their influence felt, and the political status of Norway could no longer be regarded as a purely Scandinavian affair. The establishment of hereditary autocracy in Denmark by Frederick III. in 1660 conferred many benefits upon Norway. Personal liberty perhaps suffered, but the Norwegian peasant remained a freeman while his counterpart in Denmark was a serf. Norwegian law was revised and codified under Christian V. (1670-1699), who was well served by the Norwegians in his attempt to regain the lost provinces. 18th century. others in the Historisk Tidskrift (Christiania) and other periodicals; | peace of Roskilde (1658) she was compelled to renounce the also the articles by K. v. Armira, O. Bremer, K. Kaalund and V. Gudmundsson in Pauls Grundriss der germanischen Philologie (vol. iii., Strassburg, 1900). The above works are published in Christiania except where otherwise stated. In English, there is a history of Norway by H. H. Boyesen in the Story of the Nations series (London, 1900), and there are historical notes in G. Vigfússon and F..Y. Powell's Corpus poëticum Boreale (Oxford, 1883). The most important original sources are: Snorre Sturlasson's Heimskringla, or Lives of the Kings of Norway (up to 1177), of which there is an English translation by W. Morris and E. Magnússon, with a valuable index volume compiled by the latter, in the Saga Library, vols. iii. vi. (London, 1893-1905). The original Icelandic text is edited by F. Jónsson (Copenhagen, 1893-1901). For a critical investigation into the sources of Snorri and the contemporary historians, sce G. Storm, Snorre Sturlasson's Historieskrivning (Copenhagen, 1873. with map of ancient Norway), and F. Jónsson, Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs Historie (Bd. ii. Del. ii., Copenhagen, 1901). Of later sagas, Sverre's Saga (Fornmanna Sogur, vol. viii., Copenhagen) is translated by J. Sephton, Northern Library (vol. iv., London, 1899), and Haakon's Saga is given with a translation by G. W. Dasent in vols. ii. (text) and iv. (translation) of the Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1894). Other important sources are: Diplomatarium Norvegicum, ed. C. Unger, Christiania, and Norges Gamle Love indtil 1397, ed. R. Keyser and P. A. Munch (5 vols., Christiania, 1846-1895). (B. S. P.) 1397-1814.-The history of Norway from 1397 down to the union with Sweden in 1814 falls naturally into four divisions. First, in 1450, the triple bond gave place to a union in which Norway became more firmly joined to Denmark. Next, in 1536, as the result of the Reformation, Norway sank almost to the level of a province. After 1660 she gained something in status from the establishment of autocracy in Denmark, and at the close of the period she became a constitutional kingdom on a footing of approximate equality with Sweden. But for the convulsions to which some of these changes gave rise, Norway possesses during this period but little history of her own, and she sank from her former position as a considerable and independent nation. The kings dwelt outside her borders, her fleet and army decayed, and her language gradually gave place to Danish. Germans plundered her coasts 15th and monopolized her commerce, and after 1450 Danes began to appropriate the higher posts in her administration. When in 1448 Karl Knutsson was chosen king by the Swedes, and Christian of Oldenburg by the Danes, it was by force that Norway fell to the latter. On the 24th of November 1449 the Norwegians protested against Christian's assumption of sovereignty over them, and against separation from the Swedes. Next year, however, the Swedes assented to the separation. Christian I. (1450-1481) gave estates and offices in Norway to his Danish subjects and raised money by pawning her ancient possessions, the Orkneys and Shetland islands, to the king of Scotland. His son Hans (1482-1513) purchased the obedience of the Norwegian nobles by concessions to their power. The imposing union continued in name, but the weakness of the nation and its government was strikingly illustrated when the Germans in Bergen besieged a monastery in which their enemy Olaf Nilsson, a high official, had taken refuge. century. 16th century. After the downfall of Christian II. (1513-1524) the position of Norway in relation to Denmark was changed for the worse. She was ruled for a century and a quarter by Danish officials; the churches and monasteries of Norway were sacked by Danes, and Danes were installed as pastors under the Lutheran system, which the Norwegians were compelled to accept in 1539. Soon Norway was dragged by Denmark into the so-called Seven Years' War of the North (1563-70). However, the power of the Hanse League in Bergen was broken. The rule of the Oldenburg dynasty proved neglectful rather than tyrannical, and under it the mass of the peasants was not flagrantly oppressed. Christian IV. (1588-1648), who founded Christiania, may almost be said to have discovered Norway anew. He reformed its government and strove to develop its resources, but his policy involved Norway in the loss of the provinces of Jemtland and Herjedalen, which 17th were ceded to the Swedes by the peace of Brömsebro century. (1645). The Danish war of revenge against Carl X. of Sweden resulted in further territorial loss by Norway. By the Under the sons of these monarchs, Frederick IV. and Carl XII., Norway was once more compelled to pay for Danish aggression. Her shipping was destroyed, and in 1716, when driven from continental Europe, the Swedish hosts fell upon her. Two years later, however, the death of Carl XII. at the border fortress of Frederikshald averted the danger. During this war Peter Tordenskjold, the greatest among a long series of Norwegian heroes who served in the Danish fleet, won undying fame. Before the close of the 18th century something had been done towards dispelling the intellectual darkness. Holberg, though he flourished outside Norway, was at least born there, and by stemming the tide of German influence he made the future of Norwegian literature possible. At the close of the century Hans Nielson Hauge, the Wesley of Norway, appeared, while the growth of the timber trade with England gave rise to a great increase in wealth and population. In a century and a half the number of the Norwegian people was doubled, so that by 1814 Norway comprised some 900,000 souls. In 1788 the oppressive law that grain should be imported into Norway only from Denmark was repealed, and thanks to Danish policy Norway actually drew financial profit from the wars of the French Revolution. movement. The Norwegian national movement was to render a decade at the beginning of the 19th century more memorable in Norwegian history than any century which had passed since the Beginning Calmar Union. In 1800 the Danish government com- of Nor mitted the Norwegians to the second Armed Neutrality, weglan and therefore to a share in the battle of Copenhagen, national by which it was broken up. It was not until 1807, however, that Norway was fully involved in the Napoleonic wars. Then, after the bombardment of Copenhagen, she was compelled by Danish policy to embrace the cause of Napoleon against both England and Sweden. Commerce was annihilated, and the supply of food failed. The national distress brought into the forefront of politics national leaders, among whom Count Hermann Jasper von Wedel-Jarlsberg was the most conspicuous. As yet, however, patriotism went no further than a demand for an administration distinct from that of Denmark, which was conceded in 1807, and for a university nearer home than Copenhagen. In 1811 the government assented to the foundation of the university of Christiania. (W. F. R.) with 1814-1907.-After a union of nearly 400 years between Norway and Denmark, the Danish king, Frederick VI., without consulting the Norwegians, ceded Norway to Sweden Events by the treaty of Kiel (January 14, 1814). Some leading to time previously Sweden had joined the allies in their the walon struggle against Napoleon, while Denmark had, unwisely, sided with the French. In 1813 the Swedish Sweden. crown prince, Bernadotte, afterwards King Carl XIV., proceeded to Germany and took command of one of the armies of the allies. After the power of Napoleon had been broken at 1 In 1810 he was elected heir to the Swedish throne, in succession to the childless king Carl XIII., who died in 1818 the battle of Leipzig, he advanced against Denmark, and King | Frederick soon saw himself compelled to accede to the cession of Norway, which had long been the aspiration of the Swedes, especially after the loss of Finland in 1809. In the treaty of Kiel Frederick VI. absolved the Norwegians from their oath of allegiance, and called upon them to become the loyal subjects of the Swedish king. But the Norwegians, who had not been consulted in the matter, refused to acknowledge the treaty, declaring that, while the Danish king might renounce his right to the Norwegian crown, it was contrary to international law to dispose of an entire kingdom without the consent of its people. A meeting of delegates was convened at Eidsvold, not far from the Norwegian capital, where, on the 17th of May 1814, a constitution, framed upon the constitutions of America, of France (1791), and of Spain (1812), was adopted. Among its most important features are that the Storthing, or National Assembly, is a single-chamber institution, and that the king is not given an absolute veto, or the right to dissolve the Storthing. The Danish governor of Norway, Prince Christian Frederick, was unanimously elected king. Soon afterwards the Swedes, under the crown prince, invaded Norway. The hostilities lasted only a fortnight, when Bernadotte opened negotiations with the Norwegians. A convention was held at Moss, where it was proposed that the Norwegians should accept the Swedish king as their sovereign, on the condition that their constitution of the 17th of May should remain intact, except with such alterations as the union might render necessary. An extraordinary Storthing was then summoned at Christiania, and on the 4th of November 1814 Norway was declared to be "a free, independent, and indivisible kingdom, united with Sweden under one king." A month previously Prince Christian Frederick had laid down his crown and left the country. The union was more fully defined by the "Act of Union," which was accepted by the national assemblies of both countries in the following year. In the preamble to the act it is clearly stated that the union between the two peoples was accomplished "not by force of arms, but by free conviction," and the Swedish foreign minister declared to the European Powers, on behalf of Sweden, that the treaty of Kiel had been abandoned, and that it was not to this treaty, but to the confidence of the Norwegian people in the Swedish, that the latter owed the union with Norway. The constitution framed at Eidsvold was retained, and formed the Grundlov, or fundamental law of the kingdom. The union thus concluded between the two countries was really an offensive and defensive alliance under a common king, each country retaining its own government, parliament, army, navy and customs. In Sweden the people received only an imperfect and erroneous insight into the nature of the union, and for a long time believed it to be an achievement of the Swedish arms. They had hoped to make Norway a province of Sweden, and now they had entered into a union in which both countries were equally independent. During the first fifteen years the king was represented in Norway by a Swedish viceroy, while the government was, of course, composed only of Norwegians. Count Wedel Jarlsberg was the first to be entrusted with the important office of head of the Norwegian government, while several of Prince Christian Frederick's councillors of state were retained, or replaced by others holding their political views. The Swedish Count von Essen was appointed the first viceroy of Norway, and was succeeded two years afterwards by his countryman Count von Mörner, over both of whom Count Wedel exercised considerable influence. Strained During the first years of the union the country suffered from poverty and depression of trade, and the finances were in a deplorable condition. The first Storthing was chiefly relations occupied with financial and other practical measures. between In order to improve the finances of the country a bank king and of Norway was founded, and the army was reduced to Storthing. one half. The paid-up capital of the bank was procured by an extraordinary tax, and this, together with the growing discontent among the peasantry, brought about a rising in Hedemarken, the object of which was to dissolve the Storthing and to obtain a reduction in the taxation. The rising, however, soon subsided, and the bountiful harvest of 1819 brought more prosper. ous times to the peasantry. Meanwhile, however, the financial position of the country had nearly endangered its independence. The settlement with Denmark with regard to Norway's share of the national debt common to both, assumed threatening proportions. In the interest of Denmark, the allied powers asked for a speedy settlement, and in order to escape their collective intervention, Bernadotte, who had now succeeded to the throne of Sweden and Norway, on the death (February 5, 1818) of the old king Carl XIII., accepted England's mediation, and was enabled in September 1819 to conclude a convention with Denmark, according to which Norway was held liable for only 3,000,000 specie dollars (nearly £700,000). But the Norwegians considered that this was still too much, and the attitude of the Storthing in 1821 nearly occasioned a fresh interference of the powers. The Storthing, however, yielded at last, and agreed to raise a loan and pay the amount stipulated in the convention, but the king evidently had his doubts as to whether the Norwegians really intended to fulfil their obligations. As his relations with the Storthing had already become strained, and as he was occupied at that time with plans, which it is now known meant nothing less than a coup d'état in connexion with the revision of the Norwegian constitution, he decided to adopt military preparations, and in July 1821 he collected a force of 3000 Swedish and 3000 Norwegian troops in the neighbourhood of Christiania, ostensibly for the mere purpose of holding some manœuvres. In a circular note (June 1) to the European powers, signed by the Swedish foreign minister, Engström— but it is not difficult to recognize the hand of the king as the real author-the minister complained bitterly of the treatment the king had met with at the hands of the Storthing, and represented the Norwegians in anything but a favourable light to the powers, the intention being to obtain their sympathy for any attempt that might be made to revise the Norwegian constitution. About this time another important question had to be settled by the Storthing. The Storthings of 1815 and 1818 had already passed a bill for the abolition of nobility, but the king had on both occasions refused his sanction. The Norwegians maintained that the few counts and barons still to be found in Norway were all Danish and of very recent origin, while the really true and ancient nobility of the country were the Norwegian peasants, descendants of the old jarls and chieftains. According to the constitution, any bill which has been passed by three successively elected Storthings, elections being held every third year, becomes law without the king's sanction. When the third reading of the bill came on, the king did everything in his power to obstruct it, but in spite of his opposition the bill was eventually carried and became law. tutional In 1822 Count Wedel Jarlsberg retired from the government. He had become unpopular through his financial policy, and was also at issue with the king on vital matters. In Royal 1821 he had been impeached before the Rigsret, the proposals supreme court of the realm, for having caused the for consti state considerable losses. Jonas Collett (1772-1851) was revision. appointed as his successor to the post of minister of finance. The king had by this time apparently abandoned his plan of a coup d'état, for in the following August he submitted to the Storthing several proposals for fundamental changes in the constitution, all of which aimed at removing all that was at variance with a monarchical form of government. The changes, in fact, were the same as he had suggested in his circular note to the Powers, and which he knew would be hailed with approval by his Swedish subjects. When the Storthing met again in 1824 the royal proposals for the constitutional changes came on for discussion. The Storthing unanimously rejected not only the king's proposals, but also several others by private members for changes in the constitution. The king submitted his proposals again in the following session of the Storthing, and again later on, but they were always unanimously rejected. In 1830 they were discussed for the last time, with the same resuit. The king's insistence was viewed by the people as a sign of absolutist tendencies, and naturally excited fresh alarm. In the eyes of the people the members of the opposition in the Storthing were the true champions of the rights and the independence which they had gained in 1814. tendencies. For several years the Norwegians had been celebrating the 17th of May as their day of independence, it being the anniversary The king's of the adoption of the constitution of 1814; but as the absolutist tension between the Norwegians and the king increased, the latter began to look upon the celebration in the light of a demonstration directed against himself, and when Collett, the minister of finance, was impeached before the supreme court of the realm for having made certain payments without the sanction of the Storthing, he also considered this as an attack upon his royal prerogatives. His irritation knew no bounds, and although Collett was acquitted by the supreme court, the king, in order to express his irritation with the Storthing and the action they had taken against one of his ministers, dissolved the national assembly with every sign of displeasure. The Swedish viceroy at the time, Count Sandels, had tried to convince him that his prejudice against the celebration of the 17th of May was groundless, and for some years the king had made no objection to the celebration. In 1827 it was, however, celebrated in a very marked manner, and later in the same year there was a demonstration against a foolish political play called The Union, and this being privately reported to the king in as bad a light as possible, he thought that Count Sandels, who had not considered it worth while to report the occurrence, was not fitted for his post, and had him replaced by Count Beltzar Bojilaus Platen (1766-1829), an upright but narrow-minded statesman. Count Platen's first act was to issue a proclamation warning the people against celebrating the day of independence; and in April 1828 the king, against the advice of his ministers, summoned an extraordinary Storthing, his intention being to wrest from the Storthing the supremacy it had gained in 1827. He also intended to take steps to prevent the celebration of the 17th of May, and assembled a force of 2000 Norwegian soldiers in the neighbourhood of the capital. The king arrived in Christiania soon after the opening of the extraordinary Storthing. He did not succeed, however, in his attempt to make any constitutional changes, but the Storthing met the king's wishes with regard to the celebration of the 17th of May by deciding not to continue the celebration, and the people all over the country quietly acquiesced. The following year trouble broke out again. The students had decided to celebrate the 17th of May with a festive gathering, which, however, passed off quietly. But large masses of the people paraded the streets, singing and shouting, and gathered finally in the market-place. There was a little rioting, and the police and the military eventually dispersed the people and drove them to their homes with sword and musket. This episode has become known as the "battle of the market-place," and did much to increase the general ill-feeling against Count Platen. His health eventually broke down from disappointment and vexation at the indignities and abuse heaped upon him. He died in Christiania at the end of the year, and his post remained vacant for several years, the presidency of the Norwegian government in the meantime being taken by Collett, its oldest member. The "battle of the market. place." By the July Revolution of 1830 the political situation in Europe became completely changed, and the lessons derived locreased from that great movement reached also to Norway. political The representatives of the peasantry, for whom the power constitution had paved the way to become the ruling of the element in political life, were also beginning to dispensantry. tinguish themselves in the national assembly, where they now had taken up an independent position against the representatives of the official classes, who in 1814 and afterwards had played the leading and most influential part in politics. This party was now under the leadership of the able and gifted Ole Ueland, who remained a member of every Storthing from 1833 to 1869. The Storthing of 1833 was the first of the so-called |" 811 represented by more than twenty members, but the elections in peasant Storthings." Hitherto the peasantry had never been 1833 brought their number up to forty-five, nearly half of the total representation. The attention of this new party was stration of which they demanded the strictest economy. They especially directed to the finances of the country, in the adminioften went too far in their zeal, and thereby incurred considerable ridicule. Welhaven. youthful poet Henrik Wergeland, who soon became one of the About this time the peasant party found a champion in the leaders of the "Young Norway" republican in politics, and the most zealous upholder land; opof the national independence of Norway and of her posed by party. He was a Wergeopposition to Wergeland and the peasant party was formed by full equality with Sweden in the union. A strong the upper classes under the leadership of another rising poet and writer, Johan Sebastian Welhaven, and other talented men, who wished to retain the literary and linguistic relationship with Denmark, while Wergeland and his party wished to make the separation from Denmark as complete as possible, and in every way to encourage the growth of the national characteristics and feeling among the people. He devoted much of his time, by writing and other means, to promote the education of the people; but although he was most popular with the working and poorer classes, he was not able to form any political party around him, and at the time of his death he stood almost isolated. He died in 1845, and his opponents became now the leaders in the field in a more restrained and quiet manner. The peasant party still of literature, and carried on the work of national reconstruction continued to exist, but restricted itself principally to the assertion of local interests and the maintenance of strict economy in finance. The violent agitation that began in 1830 died away. The continued, and reached its height during the session of 1836, tension between the king and the legislature, however, still when all the royal proposals for changes in the constitution were laid aside, without even passing through committee, and when various other steps towards upholding the independence of the country were taken. The king, in his displeasure, decided to dissolve the Storthing; but before it dispersed it proceeded to impeach Lövenskiold, one of the ministers, before the supreme court of the realm, for having advised the king to dissolve the Storthing. He was eventually sentenced to pay a fine of 10,000 kroner (about £550), but he retained his post. Collett, another minister who had greatly displeased the king by his conduct, by the appointment of Count Wedel Jarlsberg as viceroy of was dismissed; but unity in the government was brought about Norway. From this time the relations between the king and the Norwegian people began to improve, whereas in Sweden he was, in his later years, not a little disliked. The national thing to an extraordinary session, during which several important When the king's anger had subsided, he summoned the Storbills were passed. Towards the close of the session an address to the king was agreed to, in which the Storthing urged that steps should be taken to place Norway flag in political respects upon an equal footing with Sweden, question. especially in the conduct of diplomatic affairs with foreign countries. The same address contained a petition for the use the constitution, Norway was to have her own merchant flag, of the national or merchant flag in all waters. According to and in 1821 the Storthing had passed a resolution that the flag should be scarlet, divided into four by a blue cross with white borders. The king, however, refused his sanction to the resolution, but gave permission to use the flag in waters nearer home; but beyond Cape Finisterre the naval flag, which was really the Swedish flag, with a white cross on a red ground in the upper square, must be carried. In reply to the Storthing's address the king in 1838 conceded the right to all merchant ships to carry the national flag in all waters. This was hailed with great rejoicings all over the country; but the question of the national flag for general use had yet to be settled raised in the address of the Storthing about the conduct of With regard to the question diplomatic affairs, and other matters concerning the equality of Norway in the union, the king in 1839 appointed a committee of four Norwegians and four Swedes, who were to consider and report upon the questions thus raised. Death of Johan; succeeded During the sitting of this first" Union Committee " its powers were extended to consider a comprehensive revision of the Act of Union, with the limitation that the fundamental King Carl conditions of the union must in no way be interfered with. But before the committee had finished their report the king died (March 8th 1844), and was sucby Oscar 1. ceeded by his son Oscar I. According to the constitution the Norwegian kings must be crowned in Throndhjem cathedral, but the bishop of Throndhjem was in doubt whether the queen, who was a Roman Catholic, could be crowned, and the king decided to forego the coronation both of himself and his queen. The new king soon showed his desire to meet the wishes of the Norwegian people. Thus he decided that in all documents concerning the internal government of the country Norway should stand first where reference was made to the king as sovereign of the two kingdoms. After having received the report of the committee concerning the flag question, he resolved (June 20th, 1844) that Norway and Sweden should each carry its own national flag as the naval flag, with the mark of union in the upper corner; and it was also decided that the merchant flag of the two kingdoms should bear the same mark of union, and that only ships sailing under these flags could claim the protection of the state. The financial and material condition of the country had now considerably improved, and King Oscar's reign was marked by the carrying out of important legislative work and reforms, especially in local government. New roads were planned and built all over the country, the first railway was built, steamship routes along the coast were established, lighthouses were erected and trade and shipping made great progress. The king's reign was not disturbed by any serious conflicts between the two countries. No change took place in the ministry under the presidency of the viceroy Lövenskiold upon King Oscar's accession to the throne, but on the death or retirement of some of its members the vacant places were filled by younger and talented men, among whom was Fredrik Stang, who in 1845 took over the newly established ministry of the interior. During the Schleswig-Holstein rebellion (1848-1850) and the Crimean War King Oscar succeeded in maintaining the neutrality of Norway and Sweden, by which Norwegian shipping especially benefited. The abolition of the English navigation acts in 1850 was of great importance to Norway, and opened up a great future for its merchant fleet. In 1826 a treaty had been concluded with Russia, by which the frontier between that country and the adjoining strip of Norwegian territory in the Polar region was definitely Relations delimited; but in spite of this treaty Russia in 1851 with demanded that the Russian Lapps on the Norwegian Russia. frontier should have the right to fish on the Norwegian coast, and have a portion of the coast on the Varanger fjord allotted to them to settle upon. The Norwegian government refused to accede to the Russian demands, and serious complications might have ensued if the attention of Russia had not been turned in another direction. While his father had looked to Russia for support, King Oscar was more inclined to secure western powers as his allies, and during the Crimean War he concluded a treaty with England and France, according to which these countries promised their assistance in the event of any fresh attempts at encroachment on Norwegian or Swedish territory by Russia. In consequence of this treaty the relations between Norway and Sweden and Russia became somewhat strained; but after the peace of Paris in 1856, and the accession of Alexander II., whose government was in favour of a peaceful policy, the Russian ambassador at Stockholm succeeded in bringing about more friendly relations. Owing to the king's ill-health, his son, the crown prince Carl, was appointed regent in 1857, and two years later, when King Oscar died, he succeeded to the thrones of the two countries as XV. Carl XV. He was a gifted, genial and noble personality, and desired to inaugurate his reign by giving the Nor- Death of wegians a proof of his willingness to acknowledge the Oscar I.; claims of Norway, but he did not live to see his wishes accession in this respect carried out. According to the constitu- of Carl tion, the king had the power to appoint a viceroy for Norway, who might be either a Norwegian or Swede. Since 1829 no Swede had held the post, and since 1859 no appointment of a viceroy had been made. But the paragraph in the constitution still existed, and the Norwegians naturally wished to have this stamp of "provinciality obliterated. A proposal for the abolishment of the office of viceroy was laid before the Storthing in 1859, and passed by it. The king, whose sympathies on this question were known, had been appealed to, and had privately promised that he would sanction the proposed change in the constitution; but as soon as the resolution of the Storthing became known in Sweden, a violent outcry arose both in the Swedish press and the Swedish estates. Under the pressure that was brought to bear upon the king in Sweden, he eventually refused to sanction the resolution of the Storthing; but he added that he shared the views of his Norwegian counsellors, and would, when "the convenient moment came, himself propose the abolition of the office of viceroy. Question of Nor wegian viceroy. proposals for re vision of Act of In the following year the Swedish government again pressed the demands of the Swedish estates for a revision of the Act of Union, which this time included the establishment of a Swedish union or common parliament for the two countries, on the basis that, according to the population, there should be two Swedish members to every Norwegian. The proposal was sent to the Norwegian government, which did not seem at all disposed to entertain it; but some dissensions arose with regard to the form in which its reply was to be laid before the king. The more obstinate members of the ministry resigned, and others, of a more pliable nature, were appointed under the presidency of Fredrik Stang, who had already been minister of the interior from 1845 to 1856. The reconstructed government was, however, in accord with the retiring one, that no proposal for the revision of the Act of Union could then be entertained. The king, however, advocated the desirability of a revision, but insisted that this would have to be based upon the full equality of both countries. In 1863 the Storthing assented to the appointment by the king of a Union committee, the second time that such a committee had been called upon to consider this vexatious question. It was not until 1867 that its report was made public, but it could not come on for discussion in the Storthing till it met again in 1871. During this period the differences between the two countries were somewhat thrust into the background by the Danish complications in 1863-1864, which threatened to draw the two kingdoms into war. King Carl was himself in favour of a defensive alliance with Denmark, but the Norwegian Storthing would only consent to this if an alliance could also be effected with at least one of the western powers. In 1869 the Storthing passed a resolution by which its sessions were made annual instead of triennial according to the constitution of 1814. The first important question which the first yearly Storthing which met in 1871 had to consider was once more the proposed revision of the Act of Union. The Norwegians had persistently maintained that in any discussion on this question the basis for the negotiations should be (1) the full equality of the two kingdoms, and (2) no extension of the bonds of the union beyond the line originally defined in the act of 1815. However, the draft of the new act contained terms in which the supremacy of Sweden was presupposed and which introduced important extensions of the bonds of the union; and, strangely enough, the report of the Union committee was adopted by the new Stang ministry, and even supported by some of the most influential newspapers under the plausible garb of "Scandinavianism." In these circumstances the "lawyers' party," under the leader ship of Johan Sverdrup, who was to play such a prominent part in Norwegian politics, and the "peasant party," led by Sören Founda party. Jaabæk, a gifted peasant proprietor, who was also destined to become a prominent figure in the political history of the country, formed an alliance, with the object of guarding against tion of the any encroachment upon the liberty and independence Norwegian which the country had secured by the constitution of national 1814. This was the foundation of the great national party, which became known as the "Venstre" (the left), and which before long became powerful enough to exert the most decisive influence upon the political affairs of the country. When, therefore, the proposed revision of the Act of Union eventually came before the Storthing in 1871, it was rejected by an overwhelming majority. The position which the government had taken up on this question helped to open the eyes of the Norwegians to some defects in the constitution, which had proved obstacles to the development and strengthening of the parliamentary system. the Stor In 1872 a private bill came before the Storthing, proposing that the ministers should be admitted to the Storthing and take part in its proceedings. After a number of stormy debates, Question the bill was successfully carried under the leadership of admitof Johan Sverdrup by a large majority, but the governtance of ministers ment, evidently jealous of the growing powers and to seats in influence of the new liberal party in the Storthing, advised the king to refuse his sanction, although the thing. government party itself had several times in the preceding half-century introduced a similar bill for admitting the ministers to the Storthing. At that time, however, the opposition had looked with suspicion on the presence of the ministers in the national assembly, lest their superior skill in debate and political experience should turn the scale too readily in favour of government measures. Now, on the contrary, the opposition had gained more experience and had confidence in its own strength, and no doubt found that the legislative work could better be carried on if the ministers were present to explain and defend their views; but the government saw in the proposed reform the threatened introduction of full parliamentary government, by which the ministry could not remain in office unless supported by a majority in the Storthing. Before the Storthing separated the liberals carried a vote of censure against the government; but the king declared that the ministers enjoyed his confidence and took no further notice of the vote. Two of the ministers, who had advised the ratification of the bill, resigned, however; and a third minister, who had been in the government since 1848, resigned also, and retired from public life, foreseeing the storm that was brewing on the political horizon. Numerous public meetings were held all over the country in support of the proposed reform, and among the speakers was Johan Sverdrup, now the acknowledged leader of the liberal party, who was hailed with great enthusiasm as the champion of the proposed reform. This was the political situation when King Carl died (18th September 1872). He was succeeded by his brother, who ascended Death of the throne as Oscar II. In the following year he gave his sanction to the bill for the abolition of the office of viceroy, which the Storthing had again passed, and the president of the ministry was afterwards recognized as the prime minister and head of the government in Christiania. Fredrik Stang, who was the president of the ministry at the time, was the first to fill this office. In the same year Norway celebrated its existence for a thousand years as a kingdom, with great festivities. Carl In 1874 the government, in order to show the people that they to some extent were willing to meet their wishes with regard to the great question before the country, laid before the Proposals Storthing a royal proposition for the admittance of the by the Storthing ministers to the national assembly. But this was to be accompanied by certain other constitutional changes, such as giving the king the right of dissolving the Storthing at his pleasure, and providing fixed pensions for exministers, which was regarded as a guarantee against the majority of the assembly misusing its new power. The bill which the government brought in was unanimously rejected by the Storthing, the conservatives also voting against it, as they considered for full popular control the guarantees insufficient. The same year, and again in 1877, the Storthing passed the bill, but in a somewhat different form from that of 1872. On both occasions the king refused his sanction. The Storthing then resorted to the procedure provided by the constitution to carry out the people's will. In 1880 the bill was passed for the third time, and on this occasion by the The king's overwhelming majority of 93 out of 113. Three veto. Storthings after three successive elections had now carried the bill, and it was generally expected that the king and his government would at length comply with the wishes of the people, but the king on this occasion also refused his sanction, declaring at the same time that his right to the absolute veto was "above all doubt." Johan Sverdrup, the leader of the liberal party and president of the Storthing, brought the question to a prompt issue by proposing to the Storthing that the bill, which had been passed three times, should be declared to be the law of the land without the king's sanction. This proposal was carried by a large majority on the 9th of June 1880, but the king and his ministers in reply declared that they would not recognize the validity of the resolution. From this moment the struggle may be said to have centred itself upon the existence or non-existence of an absolute veto on the part of the crown. The king requested the faculty Struggle of law at the Christiania university to give its opinion between on the question at issue, and with one dissentient the the king learned doctors upheld the king's right to the absolute and the Storthing. veto in questions concerning amendments of the constitution, although they could not find that it was expressly stated in the fundamental law of the country. The ministry also advised the king to claim a veto in questions of supply, which still further increased the ill-feeling in the country against the government, and the conflict in consequence grew more and more violent. Elections of 1882. In the midst of the struggle between the king and the Storthing, the prime minister, Fredrik Stang, resigned, and Christian August Selmer (1816-1889) became his successor; and this, together with the appointment of another member to the ministry, K. H. Schweigaard, plainly indicated that the conflict with the Stort hing was to be continued. In June 1882 the king arrived in Christiania to dissolve the Storthing, and on this occasion delivered a speech from the throne, in which he openly censured the representatives of the people for their attitude in legislative work and on the question of the absolute veto, the speech creating considerable surprise throughout the country. Johan Sverdrup and Björnstjerne Björnson, the popular poet and dramatist, called upon the people to support the Storthing in upholding the resolution of the 9th of June, and to rouse themselves to a sense of their political rights. The elections resulted in a great victory for the liberal party, which returned stronger than ever to the Storthing, numbering 83 and the conservatives only 31. The ministry, however, showed no sign of yielding, and, when the new Storthing met in February 1883, the Odelsthing (the lower division of the national assembly) decided upon having the question Impeachfinally settled by impeaching the whole of the ministry ment of before the Rigsret or the supreme court of the realm, ministers The jurisdiction of the Rigsret is limited to the trial by the Storthing, of offences against the state, and there is no appeal 1883. against its decisions. The charges against the ministers were for having acted contrary to the interests of the country by advising the king to refuse his sanction-first, to the amendment of the law for admitting the ministers to the Storthing; secondly, to a bill involving a question of supply; and thirdly, to a bill by which the Storthing could appoint additional directors on the state railways. The trial of the eleven ministers of the Selmer cabinet began in May 1883 and lasted over ten months. In the end the The minis Rigsret sentenced the prime minister and seven of his try senministers to be deprived of their offices, while three, tenced by the Rigsret. who had either recommended the king to sanction the bill for admitting the ministers to the Storthing, or had |
