ASSASSINATION OF THE KING. 195 alarmed, and demanded that. Gustavus should remain in the city of Stockholm, and that his brother should be recalled. He immediately surrounded the house of assembly with troops, and compelled the members of the government to agree to a change in the constitution, by which the power of the crown was increased to a considerable extent: having effected this sudden revolution, he received the congratulations of the foreign ambassadors on the same evening, and plumed himself on the success of his schemes. The plan had indeed subdued the power of the aristocracy; but it had at the same time produced bitter feelings which only waited a suitable opportunity for their display. Hence, during his ill-judged wars with Russia and Denmark, they refused him the necessary supplies; and in 1789, he resolved upon a further aggression on the constitution. Several members of the diet were arrested by his order, and the power of the crown was yet more enlarged. But "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;" he had dealt in duplicity and violence, and he soon felt their influence in return. Several attempts were made on his life, but at last a man named Ankerstroom shot him in the back at a masked ball, in March, 1792; and in a few days he died. It has been the fashion with many to describe him as a great sovereign: but craft is not wisdom; and to esteem that as greatness, which is founded on the subversion of all moral principle, we esteem to be a delusion and a snare. Gustavus IV., who succeeded to the throne on the murder of his father, completely alienated all those feelings of attachment with which the Swedes had been accustomed to regard his family. The extravagant conduct of this prince can only be explained by the theory of his partial insanity. Having agreed to marry a granddaughter of the empress Catherine of Russia, he secretly withdrew, at the very time when the court was assembled to ratify the treaty, and married a princess of Baden. With the most unlimited notions of the divine right of kings, he embroiled himself very foolishly with all who showed anything like moderation towards Bonaparte; till the leading men of Sweden decided that his deposition was absolutely imperative. Perceiving that some plot 196 EXTINCTION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. was preparing, Gustavus endeavoured to obtain the treasures of the bank of Sweden by force; when he was arrested by some of the generals, and after a most violent resistance compelled to sign a deed of abdication; then, descending from a throne he was so unworthy to fill, he became a resident in Switzerland for the remainder of his days. The Swedes now elected the duke of Sudermania, uncle of Gustavus, to be their king; and he ascended the throne with the title of Charles XIII. Having no children of his own, he, with the consent of the senate, adopted the celebrated Bernadotte as his son; and the states elected him crown prince of Sweden. The active part taken by Bernadotte in the affairs of Europe, and the history of his adopted country, will be best related. when we come to record the events of his reign. DENMARK (1766-1815). Christiern VII., who succeeded his father Frederic. V., was a prince remarkable for the ease and affability of his manners. The most memorable events of his reign, and events which serve to illustrate his character, were the extinction of the slave trade; the abolition of serfdom amongst the Danish peasantry; and the liberty which was granted to the press. Christiern married the princess Caroline Matilda, sister of George III. of England, whom he afterwards imprisoned until her death, on the charge of infidelity; a charge which seems to have originated in court intrigue, and especially in the jealousy of the queen dowager. Christiern, whose mind was constitutionally weak, was at length totally incapacitated for the duties of government, and the management of affairs was entrusted to a council until his death, in 1808, when he was succeeded by his son Frederic VI. This prince, who, in consequence of the insanity of his father, had for many years taken an active part in the management of the government, was distinguished for the prudence and firmness with which he ruled his kingdom. Steadily pursuing a peaceable policy, he kept aloof from war as much as possible, at a time when war was the almost exclusive occupation of the nations. Having been induced to join "the league of the north," which NATIONAL PROSPERITY. 197 was formed against England, he brought down a severe punishment from admirals Parker and Nelson, in 1801; and again, in 1807, his strong predilections for France led to an attack on Copenhagen, and the loss of the Danish fleet. In 1814, when the abdication of Bonaparte led to some changes in the boundaries of nations, Denmark accepted Pomerania, and ceded Norway to Sweden, to which it more naturally belonged: an arrangement which was afterwards confirmed. In the war with England, Denmark lost all her foreign commerce; but the peace which followed enabled her, under the wise and energetic rule of Frederic, to recover a considerable amount of national prosperity. The principal event of Danish history since has been the struggle with Holstein and Schleswig, but the events belong to a later period. CHAPTER XV. Captive Popes and Despotic Rulers.-A. D. 1769-1815. ITALY AND THE ISLES. VICTOR AMADEUS III.-USEFUL REFORMS.-EXCESSIVE OF THE FRENCH.-THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN.-PIEDMONT SUBJECT TO FRANCE. CHARLES EMMANUEL IV.HIS ABDICATION.-VICTOR EMMANUEL I. PERFORMS ROME.-DISTURBED BY THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.- MALTA. TAKEN BY BONAPARTE. CAPTURE BY THE BRITISH. SARDINIA. VICTOR AMADEUS III., who succeeded his father Charles Emmanuel III., in 1773, employed the earlier part of his reign in promoting many useful reforms; and began a course, which, had it been uninterruptedly pursued, would have been highly advantageous to the state: but a fondness for display and military pomp brought him into many difficulties. The public debt was considerably increased; and the excessive taxation required to meet his lavish expenditure oppressed the people and excited much discontent. But the trouble of his reign arose from the restless interference of the French; who, not content with having produced anarchy and confusion n their own country, were constantly endeavouring to disturb the peace of other states. In 1794, the Italian campaign had been commenced; and for the next two years it was so conducted, as generally to bring success to the French arms. In this campaign Bonaparte won his earliest fame, and by his determined valour subdued all his opponents. The armies of Victor Amadeus, though welltrained and valiant, were unable to withstand the powerful assaults of their enemies; the invaders were every where victorious, and several important fortresses and provinces, Nice, Savoy, and Oneiglia, were wrested from the king, who was compelled to sue for peace. This Bonaparte consented to grant, on condition of the surrender of the fortresses of Cuneo and Tortona; these, with all the passes of the Alps, having been given up, and Piedmont really subjected to France, Bonaparte, in the name of the French directory, made peace with the unfortunate king, who died soon after, in 1796. Charles Emmanuel IV., son of the preceding monarch, now ascended the throne; but the successive reverses which his kingdom had endured, left him little more than the shadow of royalty. Savoy and Nice were annexed to France, whose rulers, in those days as in our own, saw the value of these places in sustaining French influence in Italy. Piedmont was overrun with the soldiers of the revolutionary armies, who, in their struggles with Austria, used the country as though it were their own. Government was a mere name; reformation in any of the departments an impossibility; while the king felt his utter inability to expel the intruders from the soil: he resolved therefore to retire to the island of Sardinia, and wait for the advent of happier times. Wearied of |