every thing but his plate and his library, if he would return and take the oaths; but he bravely anfwered, "That he was born free; his ancestors were free, and he would die fo!" It happened fortunately for this prince, (as it is reported) that the zeal of his anceftors had provided a refource for his misfortunes, which looked almoft, as if they had foreseen them. They had depofited fome ages ago, in one of their churches, twelve tatues of the Apoftles, compofed of maffy gold, and each a foot and a half in heighth; which the dean and chapter were obliged to produce once a year to the reigning prince. By the fame good fortune, thefe ftatues efcaped the rapacity of the fpoilers of Poland, and the prince brought them fafe to Germany. Some of the apoftles are already melted down, and the reft will probably undergo the fame fate; they will however preferve their owner from many of thofe diftreffes, which too many of the unhappy nobility of his country muft undoubtedly experience.

The patriotifm and misfortunes of the Marchionefs Wielopolfka, fhould not be forgotten. This illuftrious lady, in the beginning of the troubles, not only fupported

the Confederates with her money, but fold her plate and jewels for the fame purpose. As their misfortunes, and the miseries of her country increafed, her affection to it arofe in proportion to the greatness of the danger, and the by degrees mortgaged her vaft eftates, and, it is faid, raised upon them the amazing fum of 1,200,000 ducats. However this fum may be exaggerated, the difpofed of the whole amount, whatever it was, in the defence of her country. The union of the partitioning powers, having fruftrated the generous hopes which fhe had conceived, she ftill bore up against the misfortune, till the Auftrians feized the country where her eftates lay, and they of course became liable to confifcation, as she would not submit to the terms that were neceffary for their prefervation. Unable to bear a load of diftrefs, which would have been a trial to the moft temperate and firm philofophy, the woman, now, got the better of the heroine, and the unhappy marchionefs in a fit of-defpair threw herself into a deep well. The care of her attendants, however, prevented that fate which fhe was feeking, and fhe was preferved from any worfe confequence, than that of breaking her arm.

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than a general maffacre of the nation take place, under Chriftian the fecond.

In this exigence, the celebrated Guftavus Vafa, refcued his 1520 country from the bloody hands, of one of the most deteftable tyrants that ever degraded human nature. Though this young nobleman had many heroic qualities, he had too much ambition to reftore the ancient conftitution of his country; and the people in the excefs of their joy and gratitude having furnished him with the means, he by degrees laid the foundation of that defpotifm, which was carried to its utmost extent by his defcendants. Having feized on the vaft poffeffions of the clergy, he formed a power that was independent of the ftate; and became enabled thereby, to make that crown hereditary to his family, which he had only received from the free fuffrages and election of the people. He however continued to retain, fuch of the ancient names and forms of government, as did not militate totally with his defigns, and might be made ufe of in fuch a manner, as to take off from the crown a great fhare of that odium which it must neceffarily incur, if all the violent and unpopular effects of its power, were to be confidered as its own direct and particular acts. Thus the form and name of a fenate was preferved, and it was ftill liable to the imputation of all the miscarriages and exorbitancies of government, though it was now entirely compofed of the King's creatures, who had not a will of their own, nor were poffeffed of a fingle power but what he chofe to endow them with. In the fame manner, the diets were affembled and held, according to their usual

forms; but the crown had obtained fuch an overruling influence in the elections, that few were returned but those who were recommended or approved of by it; and the few that came in upon other terms, were fo overawed by the strong arbitrary powers that were lodged in its hands, and fo terrified by a powerful ftanding army which depended upon its will, that they found it neceffary to fubmit implicitly to the King's mandates, and the fates of the nation were reduced to little more, than registers of the decrees of the crown.

The fucceffors of Gustavus 'gave the Swedes continued occafion, to lament the intolerable yoke which he had laid upon their fhoulders. Even his fon, Charles of Sudermania, who became king by dethroning his nephew Sigifmund, facrificed to his rage and covetoufnefs, by profcriptions, executions and confifcations, that ancient nobility, to whom the houfe of Vafa owed every thing. It is however true, that Guftavus Adolphus, from the generofity and nobleness of his own nature, reconciled for once an arbitrary power (which in his hands could not be felt) with the intereft and happiness of his people, and repaired, fo far as it was poffible to be done, the mifchiefs that proceeded from his father's avarice and cruelty.

The Swedes never fully experienced all the horrors of defpotifm, until the reign of Charles the Eleventh, who ftripped the fenate of its authority, and the nobility of their eftates. As the Livonian foldiers, were neither attached to the perfons or laws of the Swedes, he made ufe of them to compel the ftates, to give up every fhadow of

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liberty, and to acknowledge that he was accountable to none but God for his actions. He afterwards, in the fame manner, despoiled the nobility of Livonia and Efthonia, of their eftates; though they had voluntarily furrendered to the government of Sweden ; that, their property and rights were fecured to them by treaty, and confirmed upon oath at the acceffion of every king; and that the titles to their lands were fheltered under the fanction of a remote antiquity. The Swedish foldiers now repaid the compliment, which their nation owed to the Livonians, and were the agents to difpoffefs them of their eftates, in return for the lofs of their own liberties. It was this transaction which gave rife, to the calamities and deplorable fate, of the celebrated and unfortunate

John Patkul. And to this tranfaction might alfo in a great meafure be attributed, the fucceeding lofs of Livonia and the adjoining provinces, to the irreparable damage of Sweden.

As the education and conduct of this monarch were equally fingular, and are in many refpects out of the common courfe of things, the extraordinary nature and importance of the fubject, may excufe our taking fome fmall notice of it. As the death of his father left him a minor at the early age of five years, the care of his education was entrusted in the hands of the queen his mother, and of five of the great officers of state. The fenate complimented the Queen with the choice of a governor, and fhe, though an excellent princefs in other refpects, gave way upon this occafion to her private affection, and to the amazement of all

mankind appointed a nobleman to that office, whofe principal qualification confifted, in his being one of the hardest drinkers in the kingdom. It is faid that the course of the young prince's ftudies, was confined to the knowledge of two great principles, which were continually inftilled into his mind, and were laid down as the general and invariable rules for the future government of his life. The first of these principles, was to practice at all times the most profound diffimulation; and the fecond, to perfevere in all his own refolutions. One religious, and one moral duty, were inculcated with equal care and effect; the firft was, to fay his prayers twice a day, and the second, to fhew himself affectionate and dutiful to his mother.

As to other matters, this prince was fo totally illiterate, that he fcarcely was able to make his fignature; and fo deficient in words and matter, that though he did not want natural parts, he was not capable of holding a difcourfe with any stranger, upon the common topicks of converfation. It is faid, that one of the firft nobility of the kingdom, having remonftrated freely with the queen upon the fhameful ftate of his education, the replied with great warmth and indignation, that neither of her brothers had ever fubmitted to learn any thing, and yet they were both excellent princes, and highly beloved in their country.

Under the government of a monarch fo deplorably ignorant, and whofe mind received fo fatal a bias, it is not to be wondered that his fubjects fuffered the most unparalleled oppreffions, and that the poor remains of the conftitution

were totally annihilated. As his pleasure lay wholly in violent and athletic fports and exercises, the moft able bodied, profligate, and ignorant men in his dominions, became naturally his friends and favourites. As fuch men could have no regard for laws which they did not understand, and from the meannefs of their own birth had a natural averfion to the nobility, whom they befides confidered as the only obftacles in the way of their ambition, they pursued the deftruction of both with the most unremitting ardour. As they increafed their power, by the government of large provinces, and the command of great armies, which they made it neceffary to raise; and that they faw all the powers in the ftate, were lodged between the King and themselves, they extended their views ftill farther, and began to confider him as their only rival. They accordingly precipitated this prince into the moft violent and dangerous measures, in hopes that he might have fallen a victim to the rage of the people; and when that defign failed of effect, practifed upon the natural impetuofity of his courage in fuch a manner, as to throw him headlong into perfonal dangers in war, where his deftruction feemed inevitable. Thus was a monarch, who did not want understanding, who was not addicted to pleasure or expence, but was equally induftrious and parfimonious, and who to great courage in war, added the molt indefatiga ble application to bufinefs in time of peace, perverted by the bafeft and moft profligate of mankind, to become the curfe and ruin of his people; at the fame time that he was made the conftant dupe to all VOL. XV.

their treacherous defigns against himself, and was never capable of feeing the danger. They however failed in all their defigns againft the king; but were fuccefsful in thofe against their country.

His

Charles the Twelfth, inherited the intrepidity, obstinacy, harshnefs, and violence of his father, without his diffimulation. He carried defpotifm to a fill greater height, as he threw by all the forms and appearances of law, and decided peremptorily in every thing, without admitting of any difcuffion. The events and fortune of his life are too generally known, to require any illustration. obftinacy and implacable difpofition, at length brought on his ruin, after a life dedicated to heroic actions and abfurd pursuits; and having reduced his country from the height of power and glory, to the loweft ebb of weaknefs and mifery. Such was the fituation of Sweden at the time of his decease, that if other ftates had not been more attentive to the general interests of Europe, than they seem to have been fince, the partitioning powers would not now, probably, have wanted a recent precedent for the division of Poland.

The Swedes loft their finest provinces by the war, and the remaining part of their country was fo miferably defolated by the cruel depreda→ tions of the enemy, as to be fcarcely recoverable by time and industry. The Ruffians penetrated into the bowels of their mountains to deftroy the valuable copper mines, and carried off at the fame time, the wretched inhabitants of all fexes and ages, to cultivate their remote forefts. To ballance these misfortunes, they recovered their ancient

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