418 
fame prince obtained a declaration, that 
the throne fhould be hereditary in his male 
defcendants ; and, at a period fomewhat 
Jater, Charles 1X. rendered his pofterity, 
both male and female, capable of the fuc- 
ceflion. The power of the crown, how- 
ever, was not the lefs reftrained by the 
authority of the ftate and of the fenate, 
who greatly extended their privileges dur- 
ing the minorities of Chriftina and of 
Charles XI. . This laf prince fuccefsfully 
labowed to curtail the enormous power 
with which he found the fenate invefted ; 
he procured a decree, enacting that the de- 
cifion of all affairs, which the fenate 
fhould prefent to the king, fhould exclu- 
fively depend on the equity of his majefty’s 
judement ; that a king of full age, who 
governed according to the laws of his 
country, was refponfible for his actions to 
God alone; and; in a word, that the 
power of the crown could be limited by 
no particular charter, but only by the an- 
cient laws of the kingdom; claufes which 
reduced the fenators to mere counfellors 
to the king. It is, however, remarkable 
that, notwithftanding this fetrlement, 
which did not much limit, or rather did 
not at all limit, the royal prerogative, that 
monarch never failed to convene the ftates 
every third year, and to lay before them an 
exact and particular account of the ftate 
of his revenues. The rigorous and de- 
{potic condu& of Charles XII. did but 
increafe the abhorrence which the nation, 
and efpecially the nobility, entertained for 
the form otf government eftablithed, by 
Charles XI. and as, at the death of the 
hero of Bender, the laws were filent re- 
fpeting his fucceffor, the ftates took upon 
them to eieé&t a king, and feized the oppor- 
tunity not only of re-eftablifhing the old 
government, prefcribed in the reign of 
Charles [X. but even of binding more fe- 
curely the hands of their fovereigns. 
When, in the year 1720, Queen Ulrica 
Eleonora yielded the reins of government 
to her hufband Frederic, the prerogatives 
of him and his fucceflors were fo much li- 
mited, that he could not confer even the 
rank of colonel, without being authorized 
by a majority of the fenate,’ nor appoint 
any officer without the confent of his ca- 
binet-council, which was competed of two 
lords cnly, on whom he had not even a 
negative, reftriQions which confined al-. 
roolt ail the royal fun€tions to the mere 
execution of the decrees of the fenate. 
From this laft epoch, till 1772, the con- 
fijtution of Sweden confitted of ariftocracy, 
mixed with democracy and monarchy, a 
iyfiem which expofgd the country to fre- 
4 Defeription of Modern Sweden. 
[Dec. f, 
quent factions, whence refulted the greateft 
mifchiefs. It was referved for the genius 
and courage of Guftavus III. to effe& a 
total change in the conftitution, and to re- 
{tore the old government, fuch as it was un- 
der Charles XI. before the year 1680 ; and 
to this revolution the ftates were obliged, 
whether they would or not, to give their 
fangtions ‘The fenators were reduced to a 
ftate of abjolute dependence; their num- 
ber was reftriéted to feventeen, who were 
to be nominated by the king, by whom all 
employments, even the moft eminent, were 
to be conferred ; but foreizners were ex- 
cluded from every function, civil and mili- 
tary, with an exception in favour of thofe 
whole great talents might promife fignal 
fervices to the country. The laws, how- 
ever, could not be alrogated without the 
union and the confent of the king and 
the ftate. 
This conftitution was very much alters 
ed by the a& of union and of public fecu- 
rity, ordained by the king in 1789, on oc- 
cafion of the war with Ruffia, and which 
now occupies the attention of the diet. In 
that act, the monarch vindicates to him- 
felf the prerogatives of declaring war, and 
concluding treaties of peace ; of pardoning 
criminals ; of conferring all employments, 
but upon natives alone ; of caufing juftice to 
be adminiftered,and of governing the kingdom 
according to bis cwwn good pleafure! pro- 
viled always that no injury fhould thence 
refult to any individua], and that cafes of 
litigation fhould be inveftigated and de- 
cided by the public tribunals. The high- 
eft tribunal muft be compofed of noble 
and ordinary members. ‘The moft confi- 
derable employments of the kingdom, and 
efpecially thofe about the court, can be 
filled only by noblemen and knights; the 
ether places are to be the rewards of merit 
alone. In levying fubfidies, the king can 
difpenfe with the confert of the diet, and 
he is not obliged to give any account of 
the management of the finances. He may 
impofe new taxes and cuftoms, and may 
avgment thofe formerly eftablithed, with 
the fingle exception of the poll - tax, 
which is paid by all but old people and 
children. “In ene word, the diet cannot 
deliberate on any fubjeét till it be propofed 
by the king. 
The ftates are convoked at fuch times 
and places as the king thinks proper ; and 
are compofed of the nobility, clergy, bur- 
geffes, and the peafants who hold of the 
crown. The nobility is reprefented by 
the chief of each family, being at Jeaft 
twenty-four years of age, or the family 
may chufe another nebieman to reprefent 
a theng 
