GENERAL HISTORY. 



[187 



and he concludes his " fixed de- 

 termination of going hand in hand 

 with his son (the crown-prince) 

 in defiance of threats from with- 

 out, and possibly, of opinions at 

 home, to maintain the liberty and 

 jndependenceof this ancient realna." 

 In the reply of the crown-priiue 

 to the states, there is a passage, ad- 

 dressed particularly to the burghers 

 which still more explicitly declares 

 the policy intended to be adopted. 

 " You will show what a nation is 

 capable of effecting when deter- 

 mined to free its commercial in- 

 dustry from all foreign yokes." 

 At this period, orders were sent to 

 the coast to afford British ships in 

 distress every assistance they might 

 require ; and Mr. Thornton was 

 received at Orebro as the accredited 

 minister of Great Britain at the 

 Swedish court. 



The following decree relative to 

 commerce was afterwards issued 

 by the Swedish government : 



Art. 1. From the 15th of Au- 

 gust all the ports of Sweden shall 

 be opened to vessels of every flag 

 and nation ; but every foreign ves- 

 sel is only allowed to import such 

 goods as are either produced or 

 manufactured in that very country 

 or its colonies. 



Art. 2. All goods imported by 

 foreign vessels to pay 40 per cent 

 more duty than such as arrive in 

 Swedish ones ; every vessel acting 

 againsttheaboveorder, and import- 

 ing such goods as are not derived 

 from her home country, shall be 

 confiscated, together with its cargo. 



Art. 3. Swedish vessels are al- 

 lowed to import all goods from 

 every place of the world. The 

 exports are equal for Swedish as 

 for foreign vessels. 



The diet closed on the 18th of 



August, with a speech from the 

 king, in which he congratulates 

 the assembly on the spirit of 

 unanimity which had prevailed in 

 their deliberations. " You have 

 shown (he says) that a king with 

 upright intentions, and an open 

 candour, need not fear, even under 

 foreign circumstances of great im- 

 port, to rely on the deputies of his 

 people ; and that no foreign ■power 

 can loosen or break those bonds of 

 union, which bind together the 

 heir to Sweden's throne, and the 

 free-born heirs to Sweden's soil." 

 He informs them that, confident 

 in the maxim, that strong defensive 

 preparations are the best means to 

 ensure the peaceable situation of a 

 state, he had found it necessary to 

 pay a particular attention to the 

 military force of the kingdom ; 

 and he further announces, that on 

 the 18th of last month he had 

 concluded a peace with the king 

 of Great Britain, which had been 

 ratified two days ago. The crown- 

 prince also delivered his farewell 

 address on the same day, in which 

 the leading topic was an eulogy oa 

 the coolness maintained in the de- 

 liberation of the diet amidst the 

 din of arms resounding from the 

 Dvvina to the Tugus, and the ani- 

 mosity of some of their neighbours. 

 The only warlike hint appears in 

 the following passage, addressed to 

 the order of knighthood and no- 

 bility : " Should circumstances re- 

 quire it, should there be no hope 

 for Sweden pursuing her way in 

 peace, then will your king have 

 recourse to your manly courage, 

 and our watch-word shall be God, 

 liberty, and our native country." 

 The treaty with England above 

 alluded to consists of only four 

 articles, the import of which is, 



the 



