■book A few years-ago prince Henry o f Pruffia, being at Stock-
<—-v-kviliolm, defcended into the vault, and opened the coffin which
'Contains the remains of Guftavus. A Swedifh nobleman,
-who accompanied the prince into the vault, affined me, that
the body was in a ftate of complete prefervation ; that
the countenance ftill retained the moil perfect refemblance to
his pictures and coins ; and particularly that the whiikers
and ffiort pointed beard, which he wore according to the
fafhion of the times in which he lived, were diftinctly vi-
f i bl e . A common obferver is ftruck with a reverential awe
on beholding only the reprefentation o f a deceafed hero remarkable
for his great virtues; what then mull have been
the fenfations o f prince Henry in contemplating the real remains
of thegreatGuftavuSj whom he admires and emulates!
In Guftavus Adolphus ended the male line of the Houfe
o f V a fa : iince his time all the monarchs o f the female
branch are interred in this church, excepting his daughter
Chriftina *, who exhibits a ftriking example, that though
it becomes all fovereigns to protedl the arts and fciences, yet
that they deferve cenfure i f their literary purfuits interfere
with the more neceifary occupations o f government. In
Chriftina we fee a princefs difcrediting her great endowments
by a vain parade and affectation o f Angularity; apoftatizing
to a religion which ffie affected to ridicule and defpife; while
upon the throne delirous o f a private ftation, and after ihe
had attained it by a voluntary facrifice o f her authority, in-
ceffantly repining; and anxious to recover, upon the moft
humiliating conditions, that crown which ffie had fo caprici-
oufly refigned.
Charles Guftavus, in whofe favour ffie abdicated, and who
as buried in a fmall Chapel o f the church, was fon of Cafimir,
* She was buried at Rome.
prince
prince palatine o f the Rhine, and o f Catharine After o f Guf- CHAP-
tavus Adolphus. His conduit towards Chriftina was a mailer- ■
piece of policy : he propofed to efpoufe her, yet hoped that
ihe would not accept his propofals ; openly remonftrated
againft her abdication, yet fecr.etly contrived to fortify her
refolutions ; and appeared leaft eager for the crown in the
moment when he was moft ambitious to wear it. Bred in
the military fchool o f Germany, he inherited the warlike,
rather than the civil, virtues of his uncle Guftavus Adolphus;
and was one o f thofe great, but reftlefs fpirits, who efteem
war as the foie occupation worthy o f a monarch ; and who
while they are adding to their own laurels, difregard the
miferies and diftreifes o f their fubjects. Under his admi-
niftration Sweden acquired an high degree o f renown ; and
nothing lefs than the appearance o f the Engliffi and Dutch
fleets in the Baltick could have flopped the progrefs of his
arms ; have interpofed to fave Denmark ; or again reduced
the balance o f the Northern powers to its proper equilibrium.
Arrefted in the midft o f his career by a premature
death, he expired at Gotheborg, on the 23d of February,
1660, after a ffiort reign o f only Ax years.
“ 11 n’avoif,” writes the hiftorian o f Denmark, “ que
“ trente-Ax ans, et fes dernières années avoient été auffi oc-
“ cupées, ou plutôt auffi agitées, que les précédentes avoient
“ ete tranquilles et oïflves. Quand on conAdére tout ce que
“ ce prince avoit fait pendant,ce court période de fa vie; fa
“ paffion, fes- talents pour la guerre, fon aélivité, fon ambi-
1 tion fans bornes, le refpeét et la terreur qu’il avoit infpirés
“ au dedans et au dehors de fes états, on ne peut s’empêcher
“ de regarder fa mort prématurée, comme un de ces événe-
( meQS auxquels étoit attaché le fort d’une grande partie de
“ Europe : Et pour rie parler que de la Suède, àquel degré
6 “ de