those which urged Mr. Phelps to send his
vessels thither, Sir Joseph Banks again
stepped forward in behalf of his favorite Icelanders,
and through his kind and benevolent
exertions an order in council was issued,
strictly forbidding all acts of hostilities against
the poor and defenceless colonies of the
Danish dominions, and permitting them to
trade with the parent country unmolested by
British cruisers. Such conduct on our part
could not but give ample satisfaction to
Count Tramp, whose own words upon this
subject are, “ the peculiar favor which Iceland
and its concerns have met with here,
and the manner in which His British Majesty’s
ministers have interested themselves
in its welfare, and above all the security obtained
for the future, has entirely obliterated
all bitterness from my heart. ” In another
letter to me he says, when speaking of the
proclamation declaring the island to be neutral
and the inhabitants placed upon a footing
with other friendly strangers, ce I apprehend
that the people of Iceland with the
greatest anxiousness expect the news from
England, which, being now so consoling
and in every respect so comforting, I should
F7æ3ôî!S
feel myself wanting in duty if I did not
forward it as speedily as possible.” It may
not be improper to insert in this place a copy
of the above-mentioned proclamation :
AX THE
Court at the Queens Palace, February 7, 1810,
PRESENT
THE KING’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY,
IN COUNCIL.
Whereas it has been humbly represented
to his Majesty, that the islands of Ferroe
and Iceland, and also certain settlements on
the coast of Greenland, parts of the dominions
of Denmark, have, since the commencement
of the war between Great Britain
and Denmark, been deprived of all intercourse
with Denmark, and the inhabitants
of those islands and settlements are, in consequence
of the want of their accustomed
supplies, reduced to extreme misery, being
without many of the necessaries and of most
pf the conveniences of life.
“ His Majesty, being moved by compassion
for the sufferings of these defenceless
people, has, by and with the advice of his