BO O K . “ king of Sweden in the trenches before Frederickihall. It Teems that fome
' “ of the company had, by figns, made the dumb lieutenant-colonel under-
“ Hand the affair, on which he ran after him with his fword drawn, and, but
“ for the interpofition of the aid-de camp and fome others with him, he would
“ certainly have killed the colonel, who was fafely conduiled over the river
“ Dwina, which divides Livonia from Courland, and was followed by his fer-
“ vants and baggage. It was obferved, that while he refided in Riga, large
“ remittances had come to him from Stockholm, which made it generally
“ fufpefted that he had been highly bribed to commit the regicide. The
“ colonel made hade to get into Poland, intending to pafs through that king-
K dom into Turkey, where he was well acquainted, having attended the king
“ of Sweden all the time that prince refided in Bender; but as he was no
“ more heard of, it was generally thought he had been murdered in Poland.”
Bruce does not mention the name of this colonel; but his
account feems, in fome meafure, to corroborate the opinion
o f many perfons in Sweden, that if the king was treache-
roufly put to death, it is- highly probable that the murder
was committed by a Swede. A t a diet, which met in September,
17 7 2 , foon after the revolution, a nobleman, whofe
name was Ingham, uied thefe myfterious expreffions: “ The
“ liberty which has been fo much extolled, always carried
“ to excefs, and to which we have fo long been enflaved,
tl perhaps at its commencement did not occafion any real
“ bleffings. It is a conjecture which excites horror, an
“ opprobrium from which I wifh we could entirely exculpate
ourfelves, namely, that the life o f our Northern hero
“ Charles XII— But I tremble; he was upon the point of
“ recovering the Ioffes o f the Hate. Pofterity will dare to
11 expatiate upon this much to be lamented event.” It appears
from thefe words, as i f the fpeaker conceived that the
partizans for a limited monarchy had occafioned the death of
Charles, in order to eftablifh a new form of government;
and he alluded to the following anecdote.
' A
À Swedifh officer, whofe name is Cronftedt, is faid to have c$ r '
owned, upon his death-bed# to his confeiibr Tolftadius, that'— ,— >
he was concerned in the murder o f Charles XII. ; and the
confeiibr afterwards drew up an account o f this declaration,
which was delivered to the king and fenate, and is now pre-
ferved in the archives. I could not learn the particulars o f
this account ; but was informed in general, that Cronftedt *
affirmed he only loaded the piece, and that Shernrofe, who
died lieutenant-general and colonel of thé guards, was the
perfon who fired it, Handing at a finall diftance behind the
king; and it is likewife aiierted, that Shernrofe, in his laffc
illnefs, acknowledged his guilt. The queen dowager o f
Sweden, whofe curiofity was excited by all thefe reports, de-
fcended a few years ago into' the vault which contains the
body of Charles. Upon examining the wounds, one whereof
was in the back of his head, and the other in the left temple,
ihefound that the latter was the greater; whence it was
concluded, that the ball went in behind and came out before,
from the well-knoWn effeft o f gun-lhot wounds, whofe entering
orifice is always the fmalleft. I may likewife venture
to add, that her majefty, after weighing all the circumftances
on both fides, was o f opinion that the king was affiiffinated.
It appeared probable to fome perfons, from feveral particulars
in the confeffion o f Cronftedt, as i f he had been employed
by Frederick I. and it is ftill believed by many at
Stockholm, that Frederick, upon the approach of death, raved
* It may not be improper to mention in as a g re a t favou rite o f C h a r le s X IJ . died in
this place, th a t Cronftedt is faid to have En g lan d in a delirium j and he allured
been out o f his fenfes b efo re he died j a n d 'i f Miller:, th e celebrated botanift, w i th
fo,, his confeffion deferves no more c redit whom he was intimate ly acquainted, th a t
than that o f Siqu ie r. A n o th e r madman he aflaffinated th e Swedifli monarch, I re'-
likewife acknowledged h im fe lf to be th e ceived this anecdote from a gentleman w h o
*in g ’s aflaffin. F ab r ic iu s , who is mentioned had it from M r . M ille r himfelf,
Vol. II. A a a about