o prominence.

One of the most loved rulers of this period was Gustavus III. By his
influence a revolution similar to that in France was put down, for
which, at a mask ball in the Royal Opera, he was assassinated by
conspiritors. It is true, historians tell us, that he was superficial,
that he violated the law, had no regard for a constitutional
government, and led the people into adventurous and expensive wars.
Yet his noble patriotism, frank heroism, brilliant genius, and great
generosity compelled the love of his countrymen. In this mixture
of patriotism and universal cosmopolitanism, true genius and
superficiality, earnestness and recklessness in the character of
Gustavus III, the Swedes recognized peculiarities of their own
national temperament, for which they love him dearly, and Tegner has
voiced this love in a few lines of his eulogy:

There rests o'er Gustav's days a golden shimmer,
Fantastic, foreign, frivolous, if you please;
But why complain when sunshine caused the glamour?
Where stood we now if it were not for these?
All culture on an unfree ground is builded,
And barbarous once the base of patriotism true;
But wit was planted, iron-hard language welded,
The song was raised, life more enjoyed and shielded,
And what Gustavian was, is, therefore, Swedish too.

On his death-bed, Gustavus III appointed his brother Charles and
Charles Gustavus Armfelt members of the government during the minority
of his son. Gustavus IV Adolphus was declared of age and took charge
of the government when eighteen (in 1796). His guardians retired,
and the new monarch ruled alone, without favorites or influential
advisers. This proved most unfortunate for Sweden, for he was entirely
without the gifts of a regent. He was a lover of order, economy,
justice, and pure morals, but through lack of mental and physical
strength his good qualities were misdirected. His father's tragic fate
had a sinister effect upon his mind, the equilibrium of which was also
shaken by the outrages of the revolutionists in France. Of a morbid
sensibility, and without inclination to confide in any one, his
religious mysticism led him into a state close to insanity. He
imagined himself to be the reincarnation of Charles XII, while in
Napoleon he recognized the monster of the Apocalypse, which he himself
was sent to fight and conquer.

He refused any alliance with Russia and Denmark, and stubbornly
resisted the friendship France wishe