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50] ANNUAL REGISTER   For the YEAR 1772. [51
constitution by the death of Charles. Public affairs were now too critical for the successor to enter into any contention with the people about power; it was evident to both, that if they must be slaves, it was of little consequence to them, whether they were to be so to a Russian or a Swede.
   The Princess Ulrica Eleanora, 1718 sister to the late King, accordingly received the crown from the states, as their elective gift, liable to all the ancient terms and conditions: and renounced, for herself and her successors, all arbitrary power for ever. And to prevent, so far as it could be done, all future opportunity of dispute or discussion, a long capitulation, setting forth in a great number of articles, the rights and privileges of the different orders, the authority of the senate, and the powers allowed to the crown, as well as the restrictions upon it, were signed and executed by the queen, as a compact between her and the people; and she farther bound herself by oath, to a strict observance of all the articles.
   As Queen Ulrica was married at the time, to Fredric, the hereditary Prince, and afterwards Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, she about two years after, when things were better settled, resigned the crown, with the consent of the states, in favour 1720. of her husband, who was accordingly elected in her stead, upon the fame terms and conditions.
   Sweden now, under the blessings of a mild government, began gradually to recover, in a considerable degree, from the effects of those dreadful shocks which it had endured in the late reign. This however, was a slow operation: some of her greatest losses could not be replaced; and the wounds received in those parts that were not totally lost, were too deep to be soon healed. Though the late revolution in the government, was productive of the greatest benefits and happiness to the people; yet the present system was not without its faults. The executive powers of the crown were too much limited, to give weight and efficacy to the state, in its transactions with foreigners; and on the other hand, the authority of the senate was so great, as to make it inconsistent with a monarchy, and dangerous to a free republic.
   It had always been a rule with the Swedes, in which they differed widely and happily from their Polish neighbors, that though the crown was elective, they constantly presented it to some prince of the blood royal, and generally to the next of blood; minority, some glaring faults, or incapacity, being almost the only exceptions; so that by this means, though the kingdom was not absolutely hereditary, the succession generally run pretty regularly. As the marriage of Queen Ulrica, was not productive of issue, the states upon the death of the princess, pro- 1741. ceeded to the election of a presumptive heir to the throne, who should succeed at the demise of the reigning King.
   Several candidates were proposed, and made great interest upon this occasion; among those, were the Prince Royal of Denmark, afterwards Frederic the fifth, the present Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, nephew to the King of Sweden, and the Duke of Deux Ponts. The King King of Denmark engaged in this affair with great earnestness, in favour of his son, and as Sweden was then engaged in a ruinous war with Russia, the alliance and assistance of the Danes, which was offered, was no trifling temptation in such circumstances. The states notwithstanding, chose the Duke of Holstein Gottorp for their future sovereign, whose grandmother was eldest sister to Charles XII. and who himself the presumptive heir, and has been since the unhappy Peter the IIId, Emperor of Russia. This prince, as the rest of mankind would have done in the same situation, preferred the splendid glare and arbitrary dominion of Russia, to the quiet security and limited power of Sweden. Notwithstanding this rejection, and the danger of their being involved in an immediate war with Denmark, which seemed almost inevitable if the refused to choose that prince, the states persevered in their attachment to the family, and elected Adolphus, Prince of 1743. Holstein, Bishop of Lubec, and uncle to the young duke, successor to the crown.
   This prince, who was the late King of Sweden, and father to the present, succeeded to the throne upon the death of Frederic 1751. of Hesse Cassel, upon the same terms and conditions, and under the same restrictions, with his two immediate predecessors. We have shewn in our last volume, the circumstances attending the death of that prince, and the accession of the present King, who was not then in the kingdom; we also stated the views of the court and country parties in the diet, as well s those of the young King, so far as they could be gathered from his apparent conduct, and made some observations on the effectual means which he took to acquire popularity. It will occur to such of our readers, as recollect the King's declaration from Paris to the Senate, his assurances to them upon his arrival in Sweden, and his speech at the opening of the diet, that no prince, in any age or country, ever made stronger and more solemn professions or the most profound veneration and respect, the most unbounded affection, and the most inviolable attachment, to the established laws and constitution of his country, than he did; that he not only declared  his own abhorrence of an absolute government; but that he would always confider, as the declared enemies of his person and kingdom, and as the most notorious traytors to their country, all those who should secretly or openly, on any pretence whatsoever, seek to introduce again an unlimited authority, or what was called sovereignty; that he thought it his greatest glory, to be the first citizen of a free country: and that to govern it free and independent, was the last object of his ambition. He even went needlessly out of his way, to introduce the form of regency of the year 1720; to specify it particularly, as a part of that constitution to which he was so religously attached; and to remind the people of the oath which he had already taken to fulfill it in all its parts; thereby alluding to the oaths which he had been obliged to take, when he was acknowledged successor to the crown. 
   In truth, his professions and declarations were so excessive, that if they had occurred in the common [D 2] tranf-

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-21 14:50:20 "were signed an executed by the queen" add 'd' maybe? paragraph 2 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-21 18:53:26