b o o k houfes painted for the moft part red. It ftands upon a ridge
. _ ' , o f ground compofed of fand and gravel, which once formed
the lhore o f the lake. Beyond it is a fmall plain, formerly
covered with water, in which I obferved many fcattered fragments
o f granite.
• The two next pofts brought me, at the end o f 24 miles,
to-Wefteros, fituated likewife upon a imall river clofe to the
Maeler. _ .
_ Wefteros,orWeftern Arofia, fo called to diftinguifh it from
Qftra Aros, or Eaftern Arofia, the antient name o f Upfala, is
efteemed, by the native writers, a place o f very high antiquity.
They derive its appellation by a fanciful etymology
from the river Ar, and Os, a mouth ; and fuppofe' it to be
alluded to by Tacitus *, and by Jornandes the Gothick hifto-
rian. But without dwelling upon fuch etymological inquiries,
which are apt to reft upon ilender foundations, we may ob-
ferve, that the name occurs in the earlieft times o f Swediih
hiftory. Wefteros carries on a confiderable commerce with
Stockholm acrofs the lake Mseler; particularly in copper and
iron from the neighbouring mines, which abound in the
province of Weftmanland.
It is a large ftraggling town, compofed o f wooden houfes,
apd contains the ruins o f an antient palace, formerly inhabited
by the kings o f Sweden. It is a biihop’s fee ; and the
cathedral, which is built with brick, is celebrated for the
tower, efteemed the higheft in the kingdom : the lower part
o f this tower is fquare, and fupports a hexagon fpire tapering
gradually like a pyramid, and covered with painted metal.
, Within the cathedral is the tomb of Eric XIV. whom I
have before had occafion to mention, and whofe final cataf-
'■* J te h lin , V o l. I . p . 193»
trophe
trophe I fhall now relate. We may pity the unfortunate mo- c^ p*
narch who was fubjeft to fuch dreadful fits o f infanity a s'—.—1
may account, in fome degree, for his a ¿lions ; yet we cannot,
at the feme time, but confefs, that he was unworthy to reign.
The prelude to his depoiition was the releafe o f his brother
John* from the caftle of Gripiholm, where he had been confined
by Eric during the fpace o f four years. His dethronement,
which he had merited by the moft flagrant enormities,
was haftened by his imprudence in publickly efpoufing
Catharine, a woman o f the loweft extradlion, who had formerly
been his miftrefs ; and by what he confidered as the
moft fortunate circumftance o f his life, the birth o f a fon,
whom he had compelled his brothers to acknowledge as the
heir apparent to the throne. This event excluding his brothers,
John and Charles, from all hopes o f the fucceflion,
difpofed them to avail themfelves of the general difcontents,
which the capricious conduit o f Eric, his miftruft o f the
principal nobility, and his unlimited confidence in perfons o f
the meaneft extradtion, excited through the kingdom. Accordingly,
on the 1 oth of July, 15 6 8, they raifed the ftandard
of revolt at Wadftena, and their party rapidly acquired fuch
numbers, that Eric, being befieged in Stockholm, was foon
compelled to capitulate, and to make a publick abdication o f
his crown in favour o f John. The depoied monarch was
immediately imprifoned in the caftle of Stockholm, where he
endured every fpecies o f perfecution and indignity. To ufe
his own pathetick words, which belt exprefs his fufFerings,
“ God knows how cruelly and unworthily I have been ufed
“ thefe 22 weeks laft paft. Not a day goes over my head
* John had been ju f t ly imprifoned fo r mainta inin g a fe c re t correfpondence w ith
marry ing th e d a u gh te r o f Sigifmond k in g Sigifmond had been condemned to death
of Poland in oppofition to E r i c : and for b y the ftates, bu t was pardoned by th e k in g .
V ol. II. P p p “ without