regency nor his reign was very successful. When Regent he made repeated efforts to obtain the hand of an English princess in marriage, one of the many daughters of George III.; but the King of England, who had taken a violent dislike to Denmark after its cruel treatment of his unfortunate sister, would not listen to the proposal. The heir to the Danish monarchy, thus repulsed, married Marie Sophie Frederika, a princess of Hesse-Cassel, who bore him two daughters, Caroline, who married the Hereditary Prince Ferdinand, and Vilhelmine Marie, who married Prince Frederick Carl Christian. His selflove was deeply wounded by the way in which his overtures had been spurned by his uncle, George III., and henceforth his foreign policy became antiEnglish, and he threw in his lot with France. To this may be traced directly, or indirectly, many of the disasters that overcame Denmark during the reign of Frederick VI.-the naval engagement of 1801, wherein the English attacked Copenhagen and forced the Danes to abandon it, the second attack by the British on Copenhagen, and its bombardment in 1807, which resulted in the surrender of the whole of the Danish and Norwegian fleets, and, in 1814, through the alliance of Denmark and France against Great Britain and Sweden, the loss of Norway to Denmark. These disasters naturally engendered a feeling of bitterness on the part of the brave Danes towards the English for a time, but this feeling has long since passed away, and the two nations, whose history is intimately connected, and who are akin in race and sympathy, are now united in the bond of friendship -a bond which has been immeasurably strengthened by the auspicious union which has given to us the most beautiful Queen and the most beloved QueenConsort that England has ever known. THE END. APPENDIX. LIST OF AUTHORITIES. UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS. The despatches of Walter Titley [1764-68], British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Copenhagen. State Paper Office, London. The despatches of G. Cosby [1764-65], Assistant Envoy at Copenhagen. State Paper Office, London. The despatches of Sir Robert Gunning [1766-71], Minister Resident and afterwards Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Copenhagen. State Paper Office, London. The despatches of Sir R. Murray Keith [1771-72], Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Copenhagen. State Paper Office, London. The despatches of W. Woodford [1770-73], Minister Resident at Hamburg, afterwards Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Copenhagen. Sundry despatches written from the Foreign Office in London by the Earl of Sandwich and the Earl of Suffolk to the British Ministers at Copenhagen during the years 1764-73, specified elsewhere. State Paper Office, London. Sundry documents from the Royal Archives, Copenhagen, and the town archives of Celle, specified elsewhere. PRINTED BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, ETC. Mémoires de Reverdil: Struensee et la cour de Copenhague (176072). Paris, 1858. Mémoires de mon Temps: par S. H. le Landgrave Charles, Prince de Hesse. [Printed by order of Frederick VII., King of Denmark, for private circulation.] |