HISTORYOF EUROPE. 



245 



durst to remove the body : when 

 it was secretly conveyed to one 

 of his estates, about five miles 

 from Sledding, where it was in- 

 terred in his garden. 



The countess of Piper, count 

 Fersen's sister, loudly threatened 

 and abused by the mob, fled from 

 her house, and found means to 

 take refuge on board a ship of 

 war, from whence she was con- 

 veyed to the fortress of Wrex- 

 holm. Mr. Rossie, principal phy- 

 sician to the late crown prince, 

 was also sent as a prisoner of state 

 to Wrexholm. A number of other 

 persons charged with having been 

 accessary to the murder of the 

 prince royal, were also arrested. 



The regularity and relentless 

 perseverance with which the at- 

 tack on count Fersen was con- 

 ducted, could not but give rise to 

 a suspicion, that it was the re- 

 sult of a previous plan, rather 

 than an ebullition of popular in- 

 dignation. It is ascribed to law- 

 less and perfidious intrigues in the 

 royal proclamation on the subject, 

 dated Stockholm Castle, June 21. 

 The Swedes had hitherto been con- 

 sidered as a calm, reflecting, hu- 

 mane, and brave people. That 

 the Swedish guards, commanded 

 by officers of the first families in 

 the kingdom, should remain inac- 

 tive spectators of the murder of 

 count Fersen, at the same time 

 that they felt and expressed their 

 horrors of the transactions of that 

 day ; that a body of regular troops 

 should not have the courage to 

 save a high officer of the crown 

 from the sanguinary rage of a law- 

 less and abused mob, was a cir- 

 cumstance; of all the kingdoms 

 on the continent of Europe, the 

 least to be expected in Sweden. 



But another conjuncture soon oc- 

 curred, which placed the degene- 

 racy of the Swedish nation, from 

 the virtue of their ancestors, in a 

 light still more striking. 



On the 15th of August, the 

 states of Sweden were assembled 

 at Orebro, for the election of a 

 successor to the king on the 

 throne. There were four candi- 

 dates. The first was the eldest 

 son of Gustavus IV. "When this 

 unfortunate prince, during his 

 exile in Switzerland, was informed 

 of the proclamation for convoking 

 the diet at Orebro, he quitted the 

 place of his residence incognito, 

 and took the rout of Germany, 

 with the intention of soliciting the 

 support of the courts of Petersburg 

 and Berlin in favour of his eldest 

 son. But he was arrested on his 

 journey by order of the king of 

 Prussia, and sent to Wittenberg, 

 to wait for an answer to letters 

 communicating the pretensions of 

 his son, from Stockholm. The se- 

 cond competitor was the prince of 

 Holstein, the eldest brother of the 

 prince of Augustenburg. The king 

 of Denmark also appeared in the 

 list of candidates. To overcome the 

 aversion of the Swedes, and conci- 

 liate their favour, he promised to 

 quit Copenhagen and reside at 

 Stockholm. Thefourthcompetitor 

 was Marshall Bernadotte,prince of 

 Ponte Corvo. Though this was the 

 candidate, as was well enough un- 

 derstood, and, as could scarcely be 

 misunderstood, favoured by the 

 Emperor of the French, yet he 

 secretly encouraged the king of 

 Denmark to solicit the succession, 

 because he knew that he could 

 never succeed, and that the very 

 idea of being governed by a Dan- 

 ish king was odious to the Swedef, 



