but on the birth o f the prefent king’s fon the old mode o f exor-
cifm was revived ; and the devil was expreisly ordered to quit the
body o f the prefent prince royal.
The liberty o f the prefs in Sweden at the prefent moment is
entirely fubdued; the reign o f ignorance and bigotry gains
ground, and will perhaps foon be as unlimited, and produce the
fame difmal gloom as now prevails in Spain and Portugal. Guf-
tavus III. while he publicly encouraged the freedom o f the prefs,
privately bound it in fetters. He liked to be thought a liberal
and philofophic prince ; and he did not apparently reilrain authors
from writing whatever they pleafed : but Hill they were expofed
to many unknown confequences, i f they happened to publiih any
thing offenfive to the court. A t prefent a cenforial commiflion is
eilabliffied, which mutilates works, or iupprefles them altogether
at pleafure: and what is ftill worfe, and unheard o f in any other
country, when the cenfors have palled a work, its publication may
be prohibited by the king afterwards. An inftance o f this kind
happened during my flay at Stockholm, in the cafe o f a work,
entitled, “ Thoughts on the Reitoration o f the Old Monarchy
“ in France.” After this ftatement o f fads, it will not be difficult
to conjecfture the fituation o f the fciences and o f philofophy
in a country where fuch meafures are purfued by the government.
T he contrail in thefe refpeds between Sweden and Denmark, is
ftrongly marked by the number o f journals and other periodical
publications ifluing from the prefs annually in the two countries.
In Denmark I reckoned up more than tw en ty ; but as for the
neighbouring
neighbouring kingdom, I could never find in the capital, nor in
all ¡Sweden, more than two. T he periodical publications o f Den mark
are fraught with the moil liberal opinions on every'fubjed.
In S weden publications are flopped without the allégation o f any
reafon whatever, or on pretences the moil frivolous. The.Journal»
entitled, i f Memoirs o f the Society for the Improvement o f Kno w -
ledge moil ufeful to the'generality o f Citizens,’'’, digeiled and
publiihed by a iociety o f philanthropic individuals, which was
held in great eftimation by the public, was put an end to by the
king : and neither the members o f the fociety, nor the editors
o f the journal were ever able’ to obtain from his majeily any
account o f the cauio o f its fuppreffion. Another journal, called
BxtrapoJlenj\ (nearly anfwering to the word Courier) was file,need
on account o f a dialogue which it contained between Luther
and the Devil, in which the latter appeared to . be too good a logician.
In 1708 a royal ed id was iflued, ordering that no
periodical writings whatever ihould be publi&ed without expreis
permiffion from the king. T he only two works of the kind that
at prefent come out in Sweden are— Journal for Swedilh Literature,
and a Collodion o f mifcellaneous fubjeéls for reading.* T he
firft is. only a catalogue o f Swediih books, with critical remarks.
T he editor is Mr. Silverftolpe, a man o f confiderable learning,
and o f a very fatirical turn. T he fécond is ,a work written in a
fine ftyle and manner, and contains many beautiful pieces in literature
* Lafning 1 blandade amnen.