Norwegian Life | Page 6

centuries of the Middle Ages were one continued
process of regeneration, the Swedish people being carried into the
European circle of cultural development and made a communicant of
Christianity. With the commencement of the thirteenth century,
Sweden comes out of this process as a medieval state, in aspect entirely
different to her past. The democratic equality among free men has
turned into an aristocracy, with aristocratic institutions, the hereditary
kingdom into an elective kingdom, while the provincial particularism
and independence have given way to the constitution of a centralized,
monopolistic state. No changes could be more fundamental.
The old provincial laws of Sweden are a great and important
inheritance which this period has accumulated from heathen times. The
laws were written down in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but
they bear every evidence of high antiquity. Many strophes are found in
them of the same meter as those on the tombstones of the Viking Age
and those in which the songs of the Edda are chiefly written. In other
instances the texts consist of alliterative prose, which proves its earlier
metrical form. The expressions have, in places, remained heathen,
although used by Christians, who are ignorant of their true meaning, as,
for instance, in the following formula of an oath, in the West Gothic

law: Sva se mer gud hull (So help me the gods). In lieu of a missing
literature of sagas and poetry, these provincial laws give a good insight
into the character, morals, customs, and culture of the heathen and early
Christian times of Sweden. From the point of philology they are also of
great value, besides forming the solid basis of later Swedish law. How
the laws could pass from one generation to another, without any
codification, depends upon the fact that they were recited from memory
by the justice (_lag-man_ or _domare_), and that this dignity generally
was inherited for centuries, being carried by the descendants of one and
the same family.[a]

CHAPTER II
NORWAY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
As early as 1790 negotiations took place between Count Armfeldt on
behalf of Gustavus III of Sweden and various patriotic and influential
Norwegians with a view to effecting a union between Norway and
Sweden on equal terms, but the Norwegian negotiators expressed
themselves unwilling to accept for Norway the government prevailing
in Sweden. A minority of the patriots thought that the Danish yoke
could only be broken by means of a union with Sweden, while a
majority aimed at nothing less than absolute independence at any cost.
Such was the condition of Norway when by the treaty of Kiel (Jan. 14,
1814) the allies compelled the king of Denmark to cede Norway to
Sweden and made Charles John Bernadotte crown prince of Sweden
and Norway. The Norwegians denied the right of Denmark to Norway,
refused to recognize the treaty of Kiel as having any binding force on
them, as they were not parties to it, and invited Prince Christian
Frederick of Denmark to accept the Norwegian throne from its people
and to govern pursuant to a constitution adopted at Eidsvold, May 17,
1814. Among the provisions of this instrument are the following: That
Norway should be a limited hereditary monarchy, independent and
indivisible, whose ruler should be called a king; that all legislative
power should reside in and be exercised by the people through their

representatives; that all taxes should be levied by the legislative
authority; that the legislative and judicial authority should be distinct
departments; that the right of free press should be maintained; that no
personal or hereditary distinction shall hereafter be granted to any one.
The election of a king and adoption of an independent constitution in
disregard of the treaty of Kiel was tatamount to a declaration of war
against Sweden, and as such it was taken. After the treaty of Paris and
the abdication of Napoleon, the powers agreed to force Norway to
accept the treaty of Kiel, and representatives of the allied powers came
to Norway and demanded its compliance on penalty of war with the
allies. The Norwegians remained obdurate. The Swedes, under
Bernadotte, marched across the frontier and took the fortress
Fredricksteen. Another division of the Swedish army was beaten by the
Norwegians and driven back over the frontier. Several other
engagements were fought, and it became evident that Norway could not
be subdued without serious war. Sweden was exhausted by the wars of
the allies against Napoleon and could ill endure more warfare. On Aug.
14, 1814, an armstice was declared, and it was provided that an
extraordinary storthing should be called to settle the terms of
permanent peace. By the terms finally agreed upon, Bernadotte was
elected king of Norway under the title of Charles XIII, and he accepted
the Norwegian constitution adopted at Eidsvold, May 17,