HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



243 



CHAP. XVI. 



Election of a Successor to Charles XII I. King of Btx>eden.— Death of 

 the Croxon Prince, Charles Augustus of Augustenhurg. — Murde)'- of 

 Count Fersen, High Marshal of Sweden. — Competitors for the Suc- 

 cession of the Croxvn of Sweden. — The successful Candidate, Marshal 

 Bernadotte, Prince nf Ponle Corvo. — Suspicions of French Intrigue, 

 and Instigation in the Murder of Count Fersen, and even the Death 

 of the Prince of Augustenhurg. — Grounds of these. — Character and 

 Anecdotes of Count Fersen. — Bernadotte strives by all Means to gain 

 the Affections and the Confidence of the Swedes.— War declared by 

 Sweden against England. — Arrival of the Ex-King of Sxveden in 

 England. — Character of that Prince. — The Danes return to their old 

 Business of Piracy. — Preparations and Attempts of King Murat to 

 invade Sicily frustrated by the Vigilance and Vigour of the English 

 General, Sir John Stuart.-— War between the Turks and Rtissians. 



THE advanced age of the duke 

 of Sudermania, who had as-- 

 cended tlie Swedish throne under 

 the title of Cliarles XIII. and wlio 

 had not any children, admonished 

 this prince, as well as the states 

 of Sweden, of the necessity there 

 was of electing a successor. The 

 choice of tlie states fell on the 

 person proposed by the new king, 

 Charles Augustus, prince of Au- 

 gustenhurg, a subject of the king 

 of Denmark. This prince on the 

 2'tth of January, 1810, repaired 

 to Stockholm, where he took the 

 oaths of fidelity, and received the 

 homage of the states. But he 

 did not live long lo enjoy his new 

 dignity. On the 29ih"of May, 

 while he was reviewing some regi- 

 ments of cavalry, he was suddenly 

 seized with a fit of sickness, and 

 having fallen from his horse, soon 

 expired. On the twentieth of 

 June, great crowds were assem- 

 bled in the streets of Stockholm, 



to see the funeral procession con- 

 ducting the corpse of the late 

 crown prince to the palace pre- 

 vious to its interment. Count 

 Fersen, who, in virtue of his office 

 of high marshal, led the proces- 

 sion, in a coach drawn by six 

 horses, was assailed with hissing 

 and hooting, and a volley of stones 

 thrown at the carriage, one of 

 which struck him in the face as 

 he looked out at the window. The 

 count immediately ordered the 

 postillions to stop, and took re- 

 fuge, with difficulty, in the near- 

 est house. At that moment, ba- 

 ron Silversparre, the adjutant-ge- 

 neral, arrived, and demanded to 

 know the cause of the riot. The 

 cry was, " count Fersen has mur- 

 dered the crown prince." The 

 baron then said, that the king 

 had ordered him to declare that 

 the count should be arrested and 

 tried. The mob then huzzaed, 

 and, apparently satisfied, began 

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