ermans or some other foreigners. The royal
palace, of which the first stone was laid in the reign of Charles XII.,
is a well-conceived and finely executed work; some of the churches are
also worthy of notice; but most of the public buildings derive their
chief interest, like the squares and market-places, from their
antiquity, or from historical associations connected with them. Few
cities offer richer stores to the lovers of the romance of history
than does the capital of Sweden. One edifice alone, the
Ritterhaus--literally, the House of Knights or Lords--in which the
Swedish nobility were wont to hold their Diets, would furnish
subject-matter for a score of romances. Not a door nor a window, scarce
a stone in the building, but tells of some sanguinary feud, or fierce
insurrection of the populace, in the troublous days of Sweden. From
floor to ceiling of the great hall in which the Diet held its sittings,
hang the coats of arms of Swedish counts, barons, and noblemen. A solemn
gloomy light pervades the apartment, and unites with the grave
black-blue coverings of the seats and balustrades, to convey the idea
that this is no arena for showy shallow orators, but a place in which
stern truth and naked reality have been wont to prevail. The chair of
Gustavus Vasa, of inlaid ivory, and covered with purple velvet, stands
in this room.

Mr Boas, the pages of whose book are thickly strewn with legends and
historical anecdotes, many of them interesting, devotes a chapter to the
Ritterhaus and its annals. One tragical history, connected with that
building, appears worthy of extraction:

"One of the chief favourites of Gustavus III. was Count Armfelt, a
young man of illustrious family, and of unusual mental and personal
accomplishments. At an early age he entered the royal guards, and
proved, during the war with Russia, that his courage in the field
fully equalled his more courtierlike merits. He rapidly ascended in
military grade, and, finally, the king appointed him governor of
Stockholm, and named him President of the Council of Regency,
which, in case of his death, was to govern Sweden during the
minority of the heir to the throne. Shortly after these dignities
had been conferred upon Armfelt, occurred the famous masquerade and
the assassination of Gustavus.

"Upon this event happening, a written will of the king's was
produced, of more recent date than the ap