Fimmtán dögum síðar hófst önnur auglýsing undirrituð af Dananum: Ísland er laust og liðugt frá Danmerkur Ríkisráðum. Og svo var fyrsti af 20 punktum: Vér, Jörgen Jörgensen, höfum tekið að Oss Landsins Stjórn sem þess Forsvarsmaður, þartil að regluleg Landstjórn er ákvörðuð, með Fullmagt að færa Stríð og semja Frið við útlenska Stjórnarherra. “Alls Íslands Verndarinn,” fluttur í stiftamtmannshúsið við Austurstræti 22 eftir að Trampe var settur uppí skip, lagði sig fram við að stjórna landinu í anda bandarísku og frönsku byltinganna, hugtök sem ríktu þá í Evrópu. Einungis Íslendingar mættu halda völd. Skuldir við danska kaupmenn og Danakonung væru afskrifaðar. Kornverð yrði lækkað og sjúkrahús og skóli reist. Allir landsmenn mættu ferðast frjálslega út um land allt, og íbúar eyjunnar ættu að útnefna átta manns til þings í anda Alþingis forna. Allir ættu hlutdeild í stjórn, svo vel fátækir. Landið átti á uppljómun að byggja. Allt í kjölfar krafna sápuiðnarinnar.
Fifteen days later, another announcement from the Dane began, “Iceland is a loose and free from the government of Denmark.” Twenty points followed, making use of the royal “we.” The first read, “We, Jørgen Jørgensen, have taken on the Governance of Our Land as its Representative, until a normal Government is decided with the Power to declare War and make Peace with foreign Officials.” The Protector of All Iceland, residing in the colonial governor’s home at Austurstræti 22 after Trampe had been moved into Phelps’ ship, put himself forward to govern the country in the spirit of the American and French Revolutions, ideas that reigned among many in Europe at the time. Only Icelanders could hold positions of power. Debts to Danish merchants and the Danish King would be written off. The price of cornmeal would be lowered and a hospital and school established. All citizens could travel freely around the country, and the inhabitants of the island were to name eight men to a parliament in the spirit of the ancient Althing of the Vikings. Everyone had a part in the government, even the poorest. The country was to be run on the Enlightenment. And all the result of the demands of the soap industry. A new flag, blue with three dried cods in the upper left-hand corner, waved over the capital at a fort that Phelps had raised on top the battery at Klöpp, today in Reykjavík’s East Side. The merchant’s ship sat in the city’s harbor, ready to fire from its cannons if needed, although it was hard to see that need. But Jørgensen’s subjects did not seem to know what to do about this revolution. They did not name representatives for the parliament-it was then that Jørgensen took on his title-and were thoroughly confused about the announcement of debt relief (The Protector often reiterated that not all debats were written off). Most Icelandic officials ambivalently decided to continue serving the country under Jørgensen. Almost all of Denmark’s ships were in the hands of the British. There were neither protests nor battles. Icelanders could not have cared less. But the Dog-Days King still went overboard, marching around the town in a captain’s uniform with a sword, pistol, and eight bodyguards. The revolution ended after about two months. In August, Alexander Jones, a British captain, sailed into Hafnarfjörður just south of Reykjavík and learned of the coup d’etat organized by soap merchants in the capital. He could barely believe that his own
Nýr fáni, blár með þremur þorskum á, var flaggaður yfir höfuðborginni, í virki sem Phelps reisti á batteríinu niðri á Klöpp, í dag í austurbæ Reykjavíkur. Svo sat vopnaða skipið kaupmannsins í höfninni reiðubúinn að skjóta úr fallbyssum sínum. En þegnar hans virtust ekki meta byltinguna. Þeir völdu ekki fulltrúa til þings—það var þá þegar Jörundur tók mikla titilinn sinn—og urðu ruglaðir um skuldaniðurfellinguna mikla—Verndarinn endurtók oft að ekki væru allar skuldir afskrifaðar. Flestir íslenskir embættismenn ákváðu að þjóna landinu áfram undir Jörundarstjórn. Nær öll skip Danmerkur voru í haldi Bretlands. Ekkert var mótmælt né barist. Íslendingum var sama. En hundadagakonungur fór svolítið yfir um, röltaði um borgina í einkennisbúningi skipherra, með sverð, skammbyssu, og átta lífvarða.
Byltingunni lauk eftir tæpa tvo mánuði. Alexander Jones, kapteinn breska herskips, kom inn til Hafnarfjarðar í ágúst og frétti af valdaráni sápukaupmannsins í Reykjavík. Hann trúði varla að landi hans og Dani hefðu tekið stifamtmann fastan án leyfis breska ríkisins 63