GUSTAVUS II. GUSTAVUS III. 



593 



echlchle Gustavs JVasa (History of Gustavus Vasa), 

 published at Tubingen, 1801, 2 vols. 



GUSTAVUS II., ADOLPHUS, the greatest monarch 

 of Sweden, was a son of Charles IX. (who ascended 

 the Swedish throne upon the deposition of Sigismund), 

 and a grandson of Gustavus Vasa. He was born at 

 Stockholm, in 1594, and received a most careful edu- 

 cation. At the age of twelve, he entered the army, 

 and, at sixteen, directed all affairs, appeared in the 

 state council and at the head of the army, obeyed as 

 a soldier, negotiated as a minister, and commanded 

 as a king. In 1611, after the death of Charles IX., 

 the estates gave the throne to the young prince, at the 

 age of eighteen, and, without regard to the law, de- 

 clared him of age ; for they saw that only the most 

 energetic measures could save the kingdom from sub- 

 jection, and that a regency would infallibly cause its 

 ruin. The penetrating eye of Gustavus saw in Axel 

 Oxenstiern, the youngest of the counsellors of state, 

 the great statesman, whose advice he might follow 

 in the most dangerous situations. He united him to 

 himself by the bands of the most intimate friendship. 

 Denmark, Poland, and Russia were at war with Swe- 

 den. Gustavus, unable to cope at once with three 

 such powerful adversaries, engaged, at the peace of 

 Knared, in 1613, to pay Denmark 1,000,000 dollars, 

 but received back all that had been conquered from 

 Sweden. After a successful campaign, in wb'ch, 

 according to his own confession, his military talent 

 was formed by James de la Gardie, Russia was en- 

 tirely shut out from the Baltic by the peace of Stol- 

 bowa, in 1617. But Poland, although no more suc- 

 cessful against him, would only consent to a truce for 

 six years, which he accepted, partly because it 

 was in itself advantageous, partly because it af- 

 forded him opportunity to undertake something de- 

 ri ive against Austria, whose head, the emperor Fer- 

 dinand II., was striving, by all means, to increase his 

 power, and was likewise an irreconcilable enemy of 

 the Protestants. The intention of the emperor to 

 make himself master of the Baltic, and to prepare 

 an attack upon Sweden, did not admit of a doubt. 

 But a still more powerful inducement to oppose the 

 progress of his arms, Gustavus Adolphus found in 

 the war between the Catholics and the Protestants, 

 which endangered at once the freedom of Germany 

 and the whole Protestant church. Gustavus, who 

 was truly devoted to the Lutheran doctrines, deter- 

 mined to deliver both. After explaining to the es- 

 tates of the kingdom, in a powerful speech, the 

 resolution he had taken, he presented to them, with 

 tears in his eyes, his daughter Christina, as his heir- 

 ess, with the presentiment that he should never again 

 see his country, and intrusted the regency to a cho- 

 sen council, excluding his wife, whom, however, he 

 tenderly loved. He then invaded Germany in 1630, 

 and landed, with 13,000 men, on the coasts of Pomer- 

 ania. What difficulties opposed him on the part of 

 those very princes for whose sake he had come ; how 

 his wisdom, generosity, and perseverance triumphed 

 over inconstancy, mistrust, and weakness ; what deeds 

 of heroism he performed at the head of his army, and 

 how he fell, an unconquered and unsullied general, at 

 the battle of Lutzen, Nov. 6, 1632, may be seen in the 

 article Thirty Years' War. The circumstances im- 

 mediately attending his death have long been relat- 

 ed in various and contradictory ways ; but we now 

 know, from the letter of an officer who was wounded 

 at his side, that he was killed on the spot, by an Aus- 

 trian ball. The king's buff coat was carried to 

 Vienna, where it is still kept ; but Bernhard von 

 Weimar carried the body to Weissenfe.ls to give it to 

 the queen. There the heart was buried, and re- 

 mained in the land for which it had bled. 



GUSTAVUS III., king of Sweden, born in 1746, 

 in. 



was the eldest son of Adolphus Frederic, duke of 

 Holstein-Gottorp, who was chosen to succeed to the 

 Swedish throne in 1743, and of Ulrica Louisa, sister 

 of Frederic II. of Prussia. Count Tessin, to whose 

 care the prince was intrusted from his fifth year, en- 

 deavoured to form his mind and character with a 

 constant view to his future destination, and was espe- 

 cially anxious to restrain the ambition of the youth, 

 and to inspire him with respect for the constitution 

 of Sweden. His successor, count Scheffer, pursued 

 the same course ; but the ambition of the young 

 prince was not eradicated. His docility of disposi- 

 tion, affability of manners, and gentleness, concealed 

 an ardent thirst for power and action. Manly exer- 

 cises, science and the arts, the pleasures of society, 

 and displays of splendour, united with taste, appear- 

 ed to be his favourite occupations. Sweden was then 

 distracted by factions, especially those of the caps 

 and hats, by which names the partisans of Russia and 

 France were distinguished. Both parties, however, 

 were united in their efforts to weaken ihe royal 

 power as much as possible. The father of Gustavus, 

 a wise and benevolent prince, had found his situation 

 quite perplexing. Gustavus himself encountered, 

 with great boldness and art, the difficulties which 

 met him on his accession to the throne, after his 

 father's death, February 12, 1771. He established 

 the order of Vasa, to gain over some enterprising 

 officers of the army, and a party was formed, princi- 

 pally consisting of young officers devoted to him. 

 Emissaries were sent to gain over the troops sta- 

 tioned in the other parts of the kingdom. Some 

 influential individuals, among whom were, the counts 

 Hermanson and Scheffer, had also joined the royal 

 party. A new plan was devised, and the parts so 

 distributed, that the king's brothers were to begin 

 the revolution in the country, while the king himself 

 should commence operations in the capital. Agree- 

 ably to this plan, the commandant of Christianstadt, 

 captain Hellichius, one of the truest and boldest 

 adherents of the king, August 12, 1772, caused the 

 city gates to be shut, and all the entrances to be 

 guarded, and published a manifesto against the states 

 general. Prince Charles then appeared before Chris- 

 tianstadt, and commenced a pretended siege, wherein 

 no one was injured. The king, in the mean time, 

 played his part so perfectly, as to dissipate the suspi- 

 cions of the secret committee of the states. The 

 committee ordered patrols of the citizens in the capi- 

 tal, which the king always attended, and, by his 

 insinuating address, gained over to his cause the 

 principal part of the soldiery and many of the officers. 

 While he was thus preparing for the decisive mo- 

 ment, he appeared serene and composed ; and, on 

 the evening preceding the accomplishment of the 

 project, he neld a splendid court, which he enlivened 

 by his affability and gayety. On the following day, 

 August 19, 1772, after taking a ride, the king went 

 to the council of the estates, at the castle, where, for 

 the first time, he entered into a warm dispute with 

 some of the counsellors. He then went to the 

 arsenal, on horseback, where he exercised the guard. 

 In the mean time, the officers, upon whom he thought 

 he could depend, assembled, in consequence of a se- 

 cret order to that effect, and accompanied him to the 

 castle, where, at that time, they were changing guard, 

 so that those who were retiring, and those who were 

 mounting guard, met. With the entrance of the king 

 into the castle, the revolution began. The king then 

 collected the officers about him, in the guard room, 

 unfolded to them his plan, and demanded their sup- 

 port. Most of them were young men, and were 

 immediately gained over by the thought of delivering 

 their country. Three older officers, who refused, had 

 their swords taken from them by the king. The rest 

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