b o o k t;n verfes upon the chara&er o f each fovereign. He c om -
. V‘L , pofed two penitential pfalms, which are inferted in the Swe-
' diih Pfalter. His memorial upon the caufes o f the war between
himfelf and. Frederick king o f Denmark ; his aftre-
nomical, or rather aftrological obfervations; his treatife upon
the art o f war; all written in the Latin language, prove his
Capacity and erudition.
Catharine, his wife, furvived hifti. She was the daughter
o f a peafant; and, while an infant, being obferved by Eric,
he was fo ftruck with her beauty-, that he paid great attention
to her education,, and placed her in the court o f his filler
Elizabeth. When ihe arrived at years o f maturity ihe became
his miftrefs, and acquired, in a fhort fpace o f time, an
extraordinary afcendancy over his capricious difpofition; ah
-afcendancy derived from the graces o f her perfon and the
endowments o f her mind 5 but, according to the prevailing
notions o f the age, imputed to philters and love potions. His
attachment increafing, inftead o f diminiihing, by poffeffion,
Eric (fruitrated in his hopes o f marrying feveral foreign prin-
ceffes) at length efpoufed her after Ihe had borne to him a
natural fon. During his confinement Catharine gratefully returned
his affe£tion with equal efteem and tendernefs; and
afforded to her unfortunate lord much coniolation in his mi-
fery. She furvived her huiband many years; and fuch was
her prudent deportment, that Ihe conciliated the favour of
John and Sigifmohd, from whom ihe obtained a confiderable
xe Venue; and Was permitted to pafs the remainder o f her
life in Finland in pterfeCt tranquillity.
Eric left two natural daughters by Agda, daughter of a
rich merchant o f Stockholm, Virginia and Conftantia, both
married in Sweden; and by Catharine four children, o f whom
only
only Guftavus and Sigrida fftrvivqd their father: Sigrida CHAF*
efpoufed count Totf, and her defcendants ftill furvlve in that1 *
illuftrious branch.
Guftavus, born in 1568, and declared fucceffor to the
Swedilh crown, was, upon his father’s depofition, imprifcned
. at Stockholm; and, when Eric was removed to Abo,
was inclofed in a fack, and delivered to an .officer belonging
to the court, who had orders to put him to death,
and to bury him at the extremity o f the town. As the
officer was proceeding, before day-break, to carry his barbarous
commartd into execution, he was obferved by a
Swediih nobleman, who opened the fack, and difcovering
the infant, refcued him from immediate deftruCtion. Guftavus,
thus preferved, was conveyed from Sweden by the
friends'of Eric. He received a wandering education % in the
Jefuits convent o f Braunfberg, at Thorn in Poliih Pruffia,.
and at Vilna, the capital o f Lithuania. In thefe different
feminaries he made a confiderable progrefs in literature
and, in particular, diftinguiihed himfelf fo much by his proficiency
in chemiftry, that he was called the fecond Paracel-
fus t. He was no lefs remarkable, for his knowledge o f languages,
fpeaking with fluency, befide his native tongue,
French, Italian, German, Polilh, Ruffian, and Latin. He
was indeed fo zealous in the profeeution o f his ftudies, that,,
on account o f his indigent circumftances, after attending the
fchools by day, he ufed in the evening to ply at the inns in
the loweft capacity, in order to procure a icanty fubfift-
ence. His literary acquifitions, however, did not advance
his fortune; for he paffed a wandering life in the greateflr
mifery; and was reduced to fuch ftreights, that he frequently
MeiT. S c o n d . I l lu f . L ib . V I I . p . 10. D a h lin , IV . p . -158, f D a h lin IV .. p .. 157..
h^l