The coronation of Christian V of Denmark-Norway on June 7th, 1671, at the Frederiksborg Palace Chapel in Hillerød, Denmark. “Something” Marcellus confided to Horatio in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet “is rotten in the state of Denmark”, and Christian was outraged that Molesworth dared to say the same. Enthusiasts argue that bad or ignorant men must be prevented from undermining the Government’s efforts to make the country united and safe, and that censorship is therefore more civilised than free speech. Molesworth would not have been easy to persuade. In rude England, where free speech was the custom, Christian might lose no more than his dignity; in civil Denmark, Molesworth would lose his head.
LORD Molesworth,* who had been Ambassador at the Court of Copenhagen, published, at the end of the last century, an esteemed work, entitled Account of Denmark.* This writer spoke of the arbitrary government of that kingdom, with the freedom which the liberty of England inspires. The King of Denmark, then reigning, was offended at some reflections of the author, and ordered his Minister to complain of them to William III, King of England.
‘What would you have me do?’ said William.
‘Sire,’ replied the Danish minister, ‘if you had complained to the King, my master, of such an offence, he would have sent you the head of the author.’
‘That is what I neither will, nor can do,’ replied the King; ‘but if you desire it, the author shall put what you have told me in the second edition of his work.’
* Irishman Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth (1656-1725), was English ambassador to Denmark-Norway from July 1689 to December 1692. Having suffered at the hands of James II, who had a similar political outlook to that of Christian V, Molesworth was understandably a severe critic of the Danish king’s grandiose ambitions.
* Molesworth’s Account of Denmark was published in 1693. It can be read online at The Online Library of Liberty. Why, then, did ordinary Danes let Christian V take their freedoms from them? According to Molesworth, it was fear and hatred: Fear of the country’s economic problems, notably the national debt and widespread poverty; and Hatred for the contemptuous nobility, who openly labelled them ‘slaves’. The king, said Molesworth, sent his spies among the people to stoke the fear and hatred, and they abandoned themselves completely to him as saviour, thereby winning the title of ‘free’ at the same time that it lost any real meaning.
Précis
In 1693, Robert Molesworth, England’s Ambassador to Denmark, went public with his frank criticisms of King Christian V’s style of government. A Danish diplomat lodged a complaint with William III in London, and suggested Molesworth be beheaded. William declined, but offered to ensure that the king’s demand would feature prominently in future editions of Molesworth’s damning critique. (56 / 60 words)
