duction of freedom of the press the discontented party had a better opportunity of making their complaints heard. The weak but well-meaning king, after making an attempt to lay down the crown, which the nobles would not allow, died in 1771, at the moment when party differences were the strongest, and the country seemed on the eve of a revolution.

CHAPTER XXV.

SWEDEN FROM 1771 TO 1872.

Gustavus III. first of the native-born line of Holstein-Gottorp-His education-His character-Qualities and failings-His success in recovering nearly absolute power for the crown-His early efforts for his country -His vanity-Love of French manners- Expensive travels-Folly in going to war with Russia-The result-Mutiny of Anjala-The king's success in securing his own authority-Result of war-Lack of moneyDiscontent of the nation-Conspiracy-Gustavus assassinated at a masquerade-Ankerström-His escape-The king's sufferings and deathHis fortitude--The Regency-Duke Charles-His policy-His favourites -The young king's betrothal interrupted-His marriage-His rule without Regency-His character-His religious fancies-Aversion to Napoleon, "the Great Beast "--Gustavus IV. joins coalition against FranceFrench generals in Pomerania-The Great Powers make peace with Napoleon-War in Finland-War with Denmark feebly maintainedEnglish auxiliaries leave without helping the Swedes-Napoleon's contingent equally inactive in Denmark-Conspiracy to force Gustavus IV. to abdicate-Driven out of Sweden-His death-Diet deliberates-Gives the crown to Duke Charles-A successor chosen, who dies-Napoleon consulted as to a second successor to childless Charles XIII.-Bernadotte, General and Marshal of France, at length allowed to accept title of heir apparent-Goes to Sweden-Takes the command of affairsDepressed condition of Sweden-Previous loss of Finland and Aaland -Bernadotte joins Russia against France-Rewarded by annexation of Norway-Pays off national debt-Bernadotte succeeds as Charles XIV. -His reign-His merits and demerits-The result of his rule-Condition of prosperity in Sweden-Oscar I.-His character-Early measuresPolicy Helps the Danes- Encourages Scandinavian unity-State of Norway-Charles XV. continues the same policy-Settlement of government for joint kingdoms-Death-Succession of present king, Oscar II.

PART 1.

THE SWEDISH LINE OF KINGS.

Gustavus (Gustaf) III., 1771-1792.—WITH Gustavus III., son of the late king Adolphus Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp,

a native-born royal dynasty was established in Sweden. This young king, who had been carefully brought up under the guidance of his tutor, Tessin, was handsome in person and graceful in his movements; accomplished, eloquent, possessed of great imaginative powers, impressed with exaggerated ideas of the importance of his rank, and moved by a strong desire to emulate the renown of his predecessors and restore Sweden to its former place in European history. Gustavus was in Paris when the tidings of his father's death reached him, and, hastening back to Stockholm, he was crowned king with much display. At that time he was twenty-five years of age, and his first thought was how to free himself from the thraldom in which he was held by the nobles. He found that a large party in the state were willing to help him in this design; in furtherance of which one of his chief adherents, Captain Hellichius, proposed to get up a mock revolt to give him the opportunity of collecting a large body of troops. The scheme succeeded, and by help of the guard, who had been gained over to his side, Gustavus arrested the council, called together the troops, and laid before the diet a new form of administration, which the members were forced to sign, as the burghers of Stockholm had declared in his favour, and they were at the mercy of the soldiers. By these bold steps Gustavus effected, without bloodshed, a complete revolution in the state, and secured for himself the administrative power, while he left to the diet the right of approving or rejecting declarations of war, with the control of the taxes, and of the modes of administering the laws. The king used his powers at first with moderation, while he liberally rewarded all his supporters, more especially Hellichius, who was made a count under the title of Gustavskjold.

Gustavus laboured diligently during the first ten years of his reign to improve the army and navy, and he made himself generally popular by the ease of his manners, and the readiness he showed to receive and listen to the personal appeals of his poorest subjects. He, moreover, effected some useful changes in the government, but his vanity and love of amusement marred all his good qualities, while his aping of French manners and fashions, and the favour he showed to foreign

actors, singers, and dancers, had a bad effect on public morals, and threatened to destroy the national simplicity of the Swedes. French became in this reign the language of the court and of society, theatres and an opera-house were opened at Stockholm, where only French pieces were given; and in all the concerns of life Gustavus tried to make himself conspicuous by the adoption of Parisian manners and by his elegance and polished taste. But his costly foreign travels, during which he squandered large sums of money on objects of art, while his subjects at home were suffering from famine, murrain, and distress of all kinds, and his extravagance in raising showy regiments of horse guards merely for his own gratification, excited much ill-will amongst his subjects.

Gustavus's folly in declaring war against Russia in 1788 ended in extreme mortification to himself, for although at the outset the absence of the Russian army, which was engaged in war with Turkey, enabled the Swedish king, as he had anticipated, to advance on St. Petersburg without being intercepted in his march, the empress, Katherine II., had the address to thwart all his plans. She succeeded in winning over a number of disaffected Swedish officers, who, while encamped at Anjala, a little town on the Swedish frontier of Finland, formed a plot to oppose the king's orders for their advance upon Russia, declaring that they considered the war illegal, since it had been undertaken without the consent of the Estates. At the same time, the empress induced Denmark to form an alliance with Russia, and to send an army into southern Sweden, while Gustavus was in the north of his kingdom with all the troops he could muster. When he received the declaration of war from Denmark, he exclaimed, "I am betrayed;" and, leaving Finland, he hastened into Dalekarlia and appealed in person to the loyalty of the Dalesmen, who rose in a body and followed him to Göteborg, which was being besieged by a Danish army. The intervention of the Prussian and English envoys forced the Danes, however, to withdraw from the Swedish territories, and Gustavus was relieved from a threatening danger.

Gustavus gains absolute power.-The mutiny of the officers in Finland had excited great indignation in the country against

the nobles, to which class they all belonged; and the king availed himself of the general sympathy shown him to appeal to the diet; and by means of his personal eloquence and the efforts of his friends, he obtained so great an increase of power allowed him by an act known as the Safety measure, that he became almost absolute. The conspirators were mildly dealt with, and only their leader, Colonel Hestesko, suffered death for his treason. In the meanwhile the empress had been busied in fitting out a powerful fleet and armies to carry on the war against Sweden; and although King Gustavus could boast of one great victory at sea, in which the enemy lost 55 ships and 12,000 men, he had himself in a previous engagement lost many of his best men-of-war and 7,000 men; and seeing how impossible it would be to carry on the war against such a power as Russia, he was glad to make peace in 1790, and resume the position which he had occupied before the war.

Gustavus assassinated.—Gustavus next turned his thoughts to the useless project of trying to restore the Bourbon family to the throne of France, and wished to send a fleet to attack the French coast, while he even conceived the flattering notion that he might act as commander-in-chief of the Prussian and Austrian armies, which were to attempt to crush the revolutionary government of the French people. To carry out these grand schemes money was needed, but when he called a diet to consult with the Estates in regard to the manner in which the necessary supplies were to be obtained, they refused even to consider the question. His incessant demands for money, and his wastefulness while the country was nearly crushed with debt raised much dissatisfaction, and a conspiracy was formed against him amongst the highest nobles of the kingdom. The leaders in the plot were the Counts Ribbing, Horn, Pechlin, and Bjelke; but the person selected to carry out their design of assassinating the king was a man of inferior rank, called Ankerström, possessed of a daring and vindictive temper, who had formerly served in the army, and who hated Gustavus for private reasons. On the night of March 16, 1792, at a masquerade held in the Opera House, Ankerström approached the king and discharged a pistol into his side, and then disappeared in the crowd, while the re