FORTIA’s TRAVELS IN SWEDEN.
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The King having obtained all he wiftied conceived the title of fenator ufelefs, as thefenate was deftitute of power, in confequence it was fuppreffed ; defirous of annihilat-ing the memory even of a body which had fo long abufed fovereignty, and under thedefpotifm of which his people and himfelf had fuffered for fo long a period. We canbut approve the fuppreffion of this heap of petty tyrants; the avidity and corruption ofwhom were at their height, and with whom any mode of enriching themfelves what-ever it might be was allowable *.
A great part of the nobility however was connefted with the fenate; and confequent-ly the annihilation of a body, the omnipotence of which fhed or appeared to ihed aluftre on themfelves, was not regarded by the nobles at large with an indifferent eye;yet certainly this defpotifm, {hared among a few families, could at no time extend tocountry gentlemen, who on the contrary were crufhed by its oppreifion in commonwith the reft of the kingdom. But it belongs to the character of man to view things ina different light to that he ought, and this pofition was amply proved by the Swedifhnobility on this occafion. That which ought to have fecured its eternal gratitude toGuftavus has been looked upon by that body as an ufurpation, of which it has avengeditfelf, after a long interval, in a manner that will fix an indelible difgrace on the firftorder of the State.
The revolution of 1772 is ftill confidered by the nobles as a crime on the part of HisMajefty. They repeat, and are fupported by fome hiftorians, that he fwore to maintainthe antient conftitution upon his afcenfion to the throne, and that he could not changeit but by rendering himfelf a perjured man. Proud of this difcovery the anti-royalt/isare pleafed with the idea, and imagine or pretend to imagine that this affumption can-not be anfwered ; we {hall however endeavour at an anfwer.
It is every where allowed that an oath extorted by violence is null: the moft rigidpublicifts confider thofe engagements valid alone which are freely made, and that theunreftrained only can pledge themfelves, or truly exprefs the real intentions they mayhave. Was the oath of Guftavus on his afcenfion to the throne unfubjeft to con-ftraint ? If the ftate of Sweden be honeftly regarded at that epoch, we do not believethat any fuch queftion can ferioufly be made. The fovereign in 1771 finds his king-dom a prey to the arbitrary vexations of the Senate and the States: he fucceeds a fa-ther, outraged continually with infult and humiliation, even to the very day of his death;and that accelerated in all human probability by fuch abufe. Could he, was he at li-berty to, refufe the adoption of this conftitution fo humiliating to royalty ? Would henot have expofed himfelf by a refufal to the lofs of a crown, the fhadow of which alonethe States conceded to him, but that they might poffefs the reality ? Is it not evidenttherefore that the oath of Guftavus muft be claffed with thofe extorted by violence?Had this Prince and his fucceffors felt themfelves bound by fuch a vow, arbitrary powerwould have been perpetuated to endlefs time ; for it is paft a doubt that no king wouldhave been fuffered to afcend the throne without firft taking this abfurd oath. Let theSwedes therefore fhower down bleffmgs on Guftavus, for confidering that a vow, the ob-
* A fenator had fold his fuffrage, on a certain important occafion, to the French ambaflador for 4000.jlottes. The fecretary of the embafly, employed to carry him tliisfum, met him in a coach in the ftreet;he imparted the objeft of his million, upon which the fenator informed him he had only to hand him themoney, which was in bank notes. The young man did as every one fimilarly circumftanced would havedone : he gave him the money. Judge what muft be his furprize and indignation, upon learning the nextday from the ambaflador that the fenator had again demanded the fame, denying the receit of the former.The matter was of importance, his opinion of great weight ; it was thought better therefore to give 8000plottes than to lofe 4000, and the fum was paid a fecond time. (The ambaflador and his fecretary, now anambaflador, are yet living, 1793.)
fervance