CHARACTERS. 



455 



described in the 13th chapter of the 

 RevelationSjWhose power was to be 

 but of short duration, was consider- 

 ed by hira as Buonaparte ; because 

 some commentator had shown that 

 the letters in the name Napoleon 

 Buonaparte make out the num- 

 ber 666, which is the mark of the 

 beast. 



In consequence of this disco- 

 very, he ordered the name of the 

 French Emperor,in all the Swedish 

 newspapers, to be always printed 

 N. Buonaparte, and as the real 

 reason of this whimsical change 

 was concealed by his ministers, it 

 excited considerable curiosity in 

 the country, and nobody was able 

 to explain it in a satisfactory man- 

 ner. He easily persuaded himself 

 that he was the person destined by 

 heaven to overturn the dominion 

 of the beast, and that the verse in 

 the 6th chapter of the Revelations, 

 which is as follows, applied to 

 himself: — 



•' And I saw and behold a white 

 horse ; and he that sat on him had 

 a bow, and a crown was given unto 

 him : and he went forth conquer- 

 ing and to conquer.'' 



Gustavus I V. possessed some skill 

 as a practical painter. AtGripsholm 

 hedrewa picture of himself seated 

 upon a white horse, and trampling 

 the beast under his feet. So firmly 

 was he convii'.ced of the truth of all 

 these predictions, that he thought 

 nothing more was necessary than 

 to refuse to treat with Buonaparte. 

 No preparations on his part would 

 be requisite to enable him to fulfil 

 the intention of heaven. When 

 besieged in Stralsund by a French 

 army, he expected the visible in- 

 terposition of an angel in his behalf. 

 But when this angel, who was to 

 be four German miles in height, 



did not appear, and the French 

 batteries were nearly completed, 

 he thought it requisite to attend 

 to his own safety, and retreat to 

 the island of Rugen. 



His own notion of military tac- 

 tics was, that it consisted in no- 

 thing else than regulating the mi- 

 litary uniforms : this was with him 

 a point of such importance, that 

 when the supplementary troops 

 were raised, he spent the greatest 

 part of a year in devising the shape 

 of their coats, while, in the mean 

 time, the poor recruits were left so 

 entirely without every means of 

 comfort, that many actually died 

 of cold and hunger. 



lara conscious that this picture of 

 the conduct and capacity of Gus- 

 tavus IV. is very different from 

 what is generally entertained in 

 this country. It is very different 

 from what has been uniformly 

 inculcated in all our newspapers, 

 and, indeed, as different as pos- 

 sible from the opinion which I 

 myself entertained before I went 

 to Sweden. But it is an opinion 

 M hich must be adopted by every 

 person who will make himself 

 acquainted v.ith the facts which 

 took place in Sweden during his 

 reign. 



Three powerful nations were 

 preparing to invade and divide the 

 kingdom of Sweden among them. 

 Gustavus had quarrelled with his 

 only ally, and obstinately refused to 

 listen to any terms of peace with 

 France and Russia ; though it was 

 demonstrated that sucli a peace 

 was essentially necessary for the 

 interests of his country, and that 

 perseverance in the war could 

 lead to nothing else than com- 

 plete ruin. 



The liberty of the press had 



