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to prove that the brain of man is liabfe of accefs to the molt abfurd inconfiftencies. Wehave been affured that the King having by his own fault miffed his object the firft year,owing to a fiege badly planned, and an unfuccefsful campaign, himfelf engaged his offi-cers to enter into a criminal correfpondence with Ruffia, in order that this treacherymight ferve him as an excufe to the nation for having undertaken an imjuft war, andeffected nothing where much might have been done. Although a ferious reply to fuchan atrocious and unfounded charge might well, indeed, be difpenfed with, we yet ffiallexamine its merits. In the firft place, could it be fuppofed that the officers arreftedand tried would have failed to avail themfelves of fuch an ample apology to avoid thepuniffiment to which they were fubjedt ? A minute detail of the whole procefs is in ex-iftence, and no fuch thing appears : befides, this charges Guftavus with an unpardon-able offence, that of caufing an officer to be beheaded, and many others to be imprifon-ed, on account of a crime fuggefted by himfelf. A conduct of this defcription couldbe followed by none but one who had previoufly, and that provedly, done the fame ;but that the incredulous may finally be convinced, if further be requisite for convi&ion ,let them know that the revolt of the -officers in Finland was contrived, by that traitorSprengporten, at the very inftant of his going over to the Ruffians in 1779: that in1783 the firft meetings of the confpirators took place in Helfingfors, at a lodge of free-mafons; that Sprengporten regularly attended thefe meetings from Ruffian Finland,where he refided, which was the more eafy for him to do as the King was then abroad.The confpirators at that time were fifty, and much encreafed in number afterwards.Many perfons known well enough at Stockholm , if this work ffiould chance to fall intotheir hands, muft inwardly own that our information is correct : eafy in fact would itbe for us to give further particulars ; from fuch we however fhall abftain. What wehave faid will be enough to fhew that the plot did not commence with the beginning ofthe campaign,'as is generally believed.
We fhall not dilate upon the war in Finland ; it would caufe us to exceed the limitswe have prefcribed to ourfelves. We fhall leave to hiftorians the talk of tranfmittingto pofterity the victories of Fredericfhamm and Svenkfund ; fatisfied ourfelves with re-marking how great the difference between the Swedes in the prefent war and thofe whofought in 1741 and 1757. The vi&ories of Guftavus Adolphus, Charles X. CharlesXL, Charles XII. , and Guftavus III. were owing principally to their prefence. TheSwedes areaccuftomed to fee their kings at their head. If the foldier is guided by rea-fon the prefence of his king can but have great effect on him : he will feel that wherehe who might peaceably and in fecurity await the details of a battle, expofes volunta-rily his life and bears all the inclemency of the weather, he cannot himfelf retreat be-fore the enemy, nor murmur at his toil. The prefence of a king prevents all difobe-dience and all altercations,more common than isufuallyimagined among generals. A kingwill take upon himfelf what a general would not dare without mature deliberation, incouncil or an order from court; in the interval of which the favourable opportunity isfrequently loft. The generals of the King ofPruflia would not have ventured many afthe battles won by that Monarch ; and to his heading his troops himfelf is the high re-putation of the Pruffian forces entirely to be afcribed. What we have faid of theSwedes is applicable to the French ; nor is it in this inftance alone that thefe two peo-ple refemble each other. We know the time when the French foldier at the fimplename of the king, whom he had never feen, would gaily -have fronted certain death :what then would he not have done if he had been at the head of his army j but for along time our kings had been unaccuftomed to Ihew themfelves to their fqldiers, anomiffion which will ever meet its puniffiment foon or late.
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