ceded to Sweden Halland, Schonen, Blekingen, and the Isle of Bornholm with their dependencies, the cities of Bahus and Drontheim, together with some rights in the Isle of Rügen. Conquests made during the war were mutually restored.25

In spite of this treaty it soon became evident that the war was not at an end. Charles X. still felt the cravings of a conqueror. It was a saying of his that a great prince should be always at war, both to occupy his subjects and to render himself formidable to his neighbours. His plans were on the most gigantic scale. After rendering himself master of the Scandinavian kingdoms and of the Baltic, he proposed to maintain a fleet of 100 ships and an army of 100,000 men; and it is said that he entertained the idea of then marching to Italy and founding there, like another Alaric, a new kingdom of the Goths. These schemes are characteristic of a sovereign who has obtained the name of the "Pyrrhus of the North;" but they were singularly out of proportion to his means. Authorities differ as to the precise period at which he had determined to renew the war with Denmark. His historian, Puffendorf, says that he did not come to that resolution till the middle of June; but Dalberg, a favourite officer of Charles, and one of the chief agents in some of his most daring and important achievements, says in his "Journal," that the King had already determined on a renewal of hostilities by the middle of April.26 All Charles's actions show indeed that in his secret heart he had never meant to observe the peace. The maintenance of his army rendered war necessary to him. It was for the most part composed of foreign mercenaries, who, if once disbanded, could never be called together again; yet his means did not permit him to maintain them except in an enemy's country. Thus, after the conclusion of the treaty of Roskild, his troops were still kept in the Danish provinces; and though in May Wrangel was ordered to withdraw the divisions in Zealand, those that occupied Funen, Jutland, and Holstein were not recalled. It was alleged in excuse for this occupation that several points in the treaty had not been finally arranged. One of the most important of these regarded Charles's father-in-law, the Duke of Holstein Gottorp. The Duchies of Schleswic and Holstein were held by a younger branch of the House of Holstein, but under the suzerainty of the regal branch, or kings of Denmark; and disputes had frequently arisen as to the extent of the royal jurisdiction in Schleswic, for Holstein was a fief of the German Empire. Frederick, the reigning duke, had taken advantage of his son-in-law's invasion of Denmark to 23 Dumont, t. vi. pt. ii. p. 208. 26 Apud Carlson, Gesch. Schwedens, B. iv. S. 307.

60

CHARLES X. AGAIN INVADES DENMARK.

[Book V. assert his independence of that kingdom. The matter had not been settled by the Treaty of Roskild; but a commission had been appointed to consider the Duke's claims, and in May 1658 he was recognised as independent sovereign of Schleswic and the Isle of Fehmern. There were still, however, some other unsettled points with regard to the treaty of Roskild which afforded Charles a pretext for keeping his army in Denmark, and especially a question respecting the little Isle of Hveen, the possession of which was important to Sweden, as it commanded the approach to the port of Landskrona. Meanwhile Charles, who was at Gothenburg, kept the Swedish states assembled in readiness for any emergency. He was persuaded, as well from his own recent success as from the facility with which Frederick III. had yielded to all his demands, that Denmark was too weak to resist his arms; and he had already in imagination disposed of his future conquest. Denmark was to be annihilated as an independent kingdom, and to be reduced to the condition of a Swedish province. Nay, he even debated with his Council how homage should be done to him and what titles he should assume when his conquest was completed; and it was arranged that he should be called "King of Sweden and the Goths, of Denmark, Norway, and the Vandals." 27

Early in August Charles was ready to take the field. He coloured his breach of the peace by charging the King of Denmark with not having fulfilled all the conditions of the Treaty of Roskild; with being the direct or indirect cause of the oppression of the Protestants in Livonia by the Russians, and the taking of Thorn by the Poles; and with having promoted the election of Leopold, the enemy of Sweden, as Emperor of Germany. He embarked with his army at Kiel, August 5th. He had at first proposed to go directly to Copenhagen, which he might then probably have taken, as everything depended on expedition; but instead of this he was advised to land at Corsoer, several days' march from the capital, which had thus an opportunity to prepare for its defence. Frederick III., who, with his son, afterwards Christian V., was in Copenhagen at this conjuncture, displayed a firmness which excited the admiration of all Europe. When advised to escape into Norway, he replied that he would die, like the bird, in his nest. He inspired the inhabitants with the same courage that animated himself. The citizens and students armed; the magistrates declared their readiness to die with him; the suburbs were burnt and the outworks abandoned. Nevertheless, so small was the regular garrison, and so dilapidated were the fortifications of 27 Carlson, Gesch. Schwedens, p. 309.

Copenhagen, that had Charles, when he appeared before it, ordered an immediate assault, as advised by Dalberg, the city would most probably have been taken; but the King listened in preference to the advice of Wrangel, to attack Kronenborg first. The siege of this place lasted from August 16th till September 6th, when it surrendered; a delay most valuable to the Danes, as it enabled them to repair their defences, and to augment and train their garrison. After the surrender of Kronenborg, Copenhagen was regularly invested by the Swedes, and the guns taken at the former place were employed against it. But Frederick and his loyal citizens made a vigorous defence, and repulsed every assault, till at length a Dutch fleet of thirty-five vessels, under Opdam, arrived to their relief. Opdam had appeared at the entrance of the Sound October 20th, but was prevented by contrary winds from entering it till the 29th, when he engaged and defeated the Swedish fleet, and compelled it to retire to Landskrona. The Dutch now revictualled Copenhagen, landed a reinforcement of 2000 men, and supplied Frederick with a loan of three million guilders. The Swedes withdrew to a height within a few miles of Copenhagen, and converted the siege into a blockade.

Meanwhile, in September, the Elector of Brandenburg, with an army of 30,000 men, half of which were his own troops and the rest Austrians under Montecuculi and Polish cavalry under Czarnecki, had marched to the assistance of Frederick. They reached the Isle of Alsen, but the rigour of the season having prevented them from embarking on the fleet which Frederick had sent to convey them into Zealand, they penetrated into Jutland, and took Kolding by storm on Christmas-day; and they proceeded to drive the Swedes from other parts of that province. Thus while Charles X. was blockading Copenhagen, he was in fact himself blockaded; at sea, by the Dutch and Danish fleet, on land, by the army of the allies. Towards the close of the year he had been tantalised by the appearance of an English fleet, which, however, was obliged to return home on account of the cold and the unfavourable winds. On the night of the 10th February 1659, Charles endeavoured to make himself master of Copenhagen by a desperate assault, which was repulsed with great loss, including several generals, among whom was Count Erin Stenbock; and the Swedes were compelled to retire to their fortified camp.

The only favourable circumstance in Charles's situation was, that he had succeeded in effecting a three years' truce with the Russians, December 20th 1658. Little of importance had occurred in the war between the Swedes and Russians since the taking of

62

CONVENTION OF THE HAGUE.

[Book V. Dorpat, before recorded, except the battle of Walk, June 19th 1657, in which a corps of 10,000 Russians was entirely defeated. The successes of the Swedes in Denmark disposed the Czar to peace; a suspension of arms had been agreed upon in April 1658, and subsequently the truce just mentioned. The events of the war with the Poles, Austrians, and Brandenburgers had been unfavourable. Thorn had surrendered December 21st 1658, after a siege of eighteen months by 40,000 Poles. At the time of its capitulation the garrison numbered only 300 men. The Elector of Brandenburg, as we have seen, was victorious in Jutland; but as he could not find the means to transport his army into Funen, he left 4000 men in Jutland, and marched with the remainder of his troops into Swedish Pomerania, where in the course of 1659 most of the principal towns yielded to his arms and those of the Austrians. In Prussia also, at the end of the same year, the only places remaining in possession of the Swedes were Elbing and Marienburg.

Meanwhile the Maritime Powers had interfered to put an end to the war in Denmark. Early in April, an English fleet of forty-three vessels, under Admiral Montague, had appeared in the Sound; and as some negociations had been going on between Sweden and England, then governed by Richard Cromwell, respecting the cession of certain countries to England for a loan, Charles at first thought that the English fleet was come to his assistance. But Admiral Montague and Meadows, the English minister, declared both to the Kings of Sweden and Denmark that their instructions were to negociate the re-establishment of the Peace of Roskild, with the exception of the article that forbad the entrance of any foreign fleet into the Baltic; and that they were authorised to declare war against either monarch that refused to treat. Neither Frederick III. nor Charles X. was, however, disposed to listen to these proposals: the negociations were protracted; and meanwhile, a revolution in England compelled Richard Cromwell to resign the Protectorate, and the new Parliament subsequently resolved to take no part in the Northern War.

In May 1659 an agreement was entered into at the Hague, between England, France, and the Dutch States, to enforce the Peace of Roskild on the terms already mentioned. This agreement, known as the FIRST CONVENTION OF THE HAGUE, was succeeded in July by a second, to which France was no party, and on August 14th, by a third, the conditions of which were essentially the same as in the first. If the belligerent monarchs did not agree to a peace within a fortnight after the receipt of the demands of this new

convention, the fleets were to be employed against the party or parties refusing.28 This was the first attempt in European policy to coerce a conquering nation by forcing upon it a treaty; and it was afterwards repeated against France by the Triple Alliance. Both the Danish and Swedish King were at first indignant at this coercion. Frederick III., however, soon accepted the proffered terms; but Charles obstinately rejected them, and insisted that all negociations should be carried on between the two belligerent Powers only. The English admiral, who had been instructed not to interfere, then sailed home, while De Ruyter, the commander of the Dutch fleet, commenced hostilities against the Swedes. He carried over to Funen about 4000 men of the allied army, who, having joined a Danish corps at Odensée, completely defeated the Swedes near Nyeborg, to whom, indeed, they were much superior in number (Nov. 14th 1659). Next day, De Ruyter bombarded Nyeborg, where the routed Swedes had taken refuge, and compelled it to surrender.

Negociations had been commenced between Sweden and Denmark in some tents pitched between Copenhagen and the Swedish camp; but Charles X. did not live to see their conclusion. He had retired to Gothenburg, where he was seized with a malignant fever, the result, probably, of anxiety and disappointment, of which he expired February 13th 1660. In his short reign of about five years he had performed many extraordinary exploits, which, however, redounded more to his own military reputation than to the solid advantage of his people. He left a son only four years of age, during whose minority he appointed by his will a regency consisting of his wife, his brother, and four senators. The provisions of the will were, however, modified by the States, who ultimately appointed a government consisting of the Queen-Mother, with two votes; the Lord High Steward, Peter Brahe; the Lord High Admiral, Charles Gustavus Wrangel; the Lord High Chancellor, Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie; and the Lord High Treasurer, Gustavus Bonde.

Before the negociations between Sweden and Denmark were brought to a conclusion, a peace had been effected between Poland and Sweden. The Poles were suspicious of their allies, the Emperor Leopold and the Elector of Brandenburg; for about this time a project was often talked of for a partition of Poland between those Powers and Russia; while on the side of Sweden, the distress of the Swedish garrisons in Prussia was a pressing motive for concluding a peace. Austria and Brandenburg used

28 Dumont, t. vi. pt. ii. p. 252 sqq.