C H A P . IV.
Changes in the form o f the Swediih government.— Inquiry into
the nature of the conjlitution eftablijhed at the Revolution
o f 17 7 2 .— T’he king a limited, and not an abfolute, monarch.—
Diet compofed'of the king arid Jlates.— I. Houfe of
nobles.-— II. O f the clergy.-— III. O f citizens.-— IF. O f
peafants.— Mode of enabling laws. ■
B O f ' I ' H E form o f the Swediih government has frequently
— ,— 1 X varied. Before the aeceffion of the houfe o f Vafa in
the perfon of Guftavus i it was a monarchy wholly ele<5tive,
and laboured .under all the evils which are infeparable from
that moft defective fpecies of fovereignty. By the Union of
Calmar, which took place in 13 97 , it- was ftipulated, that
the fame monarch was to rule over Denmark, Sweden, and
Norway, and to be chofen by the deputies from the ftates of
thofe three kingdoms aitembled at Calmar. Throughout
the whole period in which thefe regulations fu-bfifted,Sweden-
was a mere tributary kingdom to thé fovereigns o f Denmark;
or, in its temporary exertions to ihake off that yoke,
drew on itfelf all the horrors of foreign invafion. and intelline
difcord.
From this ftate o f alternate oppreflion and anarchy it was-
refcued by Guftavus Vafa, on whom the gratitude of the
Swedes conferred the dominion o f that country which he
had delivered : they even renounced in his favour the right
o f electing their kings, and declared the crown hereditary in
his male iflue. The form o f government eftablifhed at his
aeceffion,
aeceffion, though in appearance of a mixed nature, and c^ fP-
though it lodged the fupremacy in the aflembly of the ftates, <— .—
yet entrufted very extenfive prerogatives to-the king.
Thefe powers* tranfmitted to his immediate pofterity with
little diminution, were augmented under Guftavus Adolphus;
and at the fame time the right o f fucceffion was extended to
the female line. But, during the minority, o f his daughter
Chriftina, the government underwent an alteration unfavourable
to regal authority : the priveleges o f the fenate, or
council of ftate, being enlarged, gave the afcendancy to the
ariftocratical party, or order o f n o b le s a n d this, power was,
by continual encroachments, carried to fuch an exorbitant
height as juftly to excite the fears and indignation o f the-
three other orders o f the clergy, citizens, and peafants..
At length, Charles XI. artfully availing hinifelf of this dif-
fatisfadlion, obtained from the ftates a formal ceffion of abfolute
fovereignty, which he quietly devolved upon his Ton
Charles XII. Upon the deceafe o f the latter, his nephew,
Charles Frederick duke o f Holftein fon o f his ekleft filler
Hedwige, ought, by the law of fucceffion eftablifhed by
Charles XI. to have afcended the throne-. But the Swedes,
in breach/of. that regulation, excluded the duke o f Holftein,
and conferred the crown upon Ulrica Eleonora, the youngeffi
filter of Charles XII. ; who, pofleffing no title but what was-,
derived from the appointment o f the nation, purchafed her
ele£tion. by 3 furrender of abfolute authority, and by ratifying
all the limitations o f prerogative which the ftates im-
pofed ; and her huiband Frederick. I. in whofe favour ffie.-
refigned. the crown, fecured their concurrence by fimilar
ftipulations. •
The new form o f government eftablifhed' at this juncture,
confifted of 5 r articles, all tending, to abridge the.: