92 SWEDEN. 



the most despotic princes of Europe. By the fdrm of government 

 then introduced, the king may assemble and dissolve the states when- 

 ever he pleases : he has the sole disposal of the army, the navy, finan- 

 ces, and all employments civil and military ; and though he cannot 

 openly claim a power of imposing taxes on all occasions, yet such as 

 then subsisted were rendered perpetual ; and, in case of invasion or 

 pressing necessity, he may impose some taxes till the states can be 

 assembled ; but of this necessity he is to be the judge, and the meet- 

 ing of the states depends wholly upon his will and pleasure ; and when 

 th^y are assembled, they are to deliberate upon nothing but what the 

 king thinks proper to lay before them. It is easy to perceive, that a 

 government thus constituted can be little removed from one of the 

 most despotic kind. Yet, in order to amuse the nation with some 

 slight appearances of a legal and limited government in the new sys- 

 tem, which consists of fifty-seven articles, a senate is appointed, con- 

 sisting of seventeen members, comprehending the great officers of the 

 crown and the governor of Pomerania; and they are required to give 

 their advice in all the affairs of the state, whenever the king shall de- 

 mand it. In that case if the questions agitated are of great importance, 

 and the advice of the senators should be contrary to the opinion of the 

 king, and they unanimous therein, the king, it is said, shall follow 

 their advice. But this, it may be observed, is a circumstance that 

 can hardly ever happen, since it is scarcely possible that all the mem- 

 bers of a senate, consisting chiefly of officers of the crown, should 

 give their opinions against the king, and in every other case the king 

 is to hear their opinions, and then to act as he thinks proper. There 

 are some other apparent restraints of the regal power in this system 

 of government ; but they are in reality very inconsiderable. It is said, 

 indeed, that the king cannot establish any new law, nor abolish any 

 old one, without the know ledge and consent of the states : but the king 

 of Sweden, according to the present constitution, is invested with so 

 much authority, power, and influence, that it is hardly to be expected 

 that any person will venture to make an opposition to whatever he 

 shall propose. 



Laws. ...Sweden is not governed by the Roman or civil law, but by 

 its own code, founded on the ancient Swedish laws, and published 

 with the sanction of the states in 1736. It was again revised, and such 

 alterations adopted as were suggested by the late king, and published 

 in a new edition in 1781. There are four superior courts, as also in- 

 ferior tribunals in the principal towns. A kind of assizes is likewise 

 held twice in the year by county-judges. Trials are had by a sort of 

 jury of twelve persons, who, when they all agree, may decide against 

 the opinion of the judge ; but in general they are implicitly guided 

 by his dictates. 



The common methods of execution in Sweden are beheading and 

 hanging. For murder, the hand of the criminal is first chopped off, 

 and he is then beheaded and quartered. Women, after beheading, 

 instead of being quartered, are burned. No capital punishment is in- 

 flicted without the sentence being confirmed by the king. Every 

 prisoner is at liberty to petition the king, within a month after the trial. 

 The petition either complains of unjust condemnation, and in such a 

 case demands a revisal of the sentence ; or else prays for pardon, or 

 a mitigation of punishment. Malefactors are never put to death ex- 

 cept for very attrocious crimes, such as murder, house-breaking, I'ob- 

 bery upon the highway, or repeated thefts. Other crimes, many of 



