Eric Vasa, the son and successor of Gustavus, proving a dissolute and cruel prince, was dethroned and imprisoned by the states of Sweden, in 1658. He was succeeded by his brother John; who, after attempting in vain to re-establish the Catholic religion, died in 1592, and left the crown to his son Sigismund, already elected king of Poland. Sigismund, like his father, being a zealous catholic, and the Swedes no less zealous Lutherans, they deposed him in the year 1600, and raised to the sovereignty his uncle Charles IX. who had been chiefly instrumental in preserving their religious liberties. The Poles attempted in vain to restore Sigismund to the throne of Sweden. Charles swayed the sceptre till his death, which happened in 1611. He was succeeded in the throne by his son, the celebrated Gustavus Adolphus 38 Russia, during that period, was a prey to civil wars. John Basilowitz II. dying in 1584, left two sons, Theodore and Demetrius. Theodore succeeded his father on the throne; and at the instigation of Boris, his prime minister, ordered his brother Demetrius to be murdered. He himself died soon after; and Boris, though suspected of poisoning his master, was proclaimed king. Meanwhile a young man appeared in Lithuania, under the name and character of the prince Demetrius, pretending that he had escaped out of the hands of the assassin. Assisted by a Polish army he entered Moscow in 1605, and was proclaimed czar without opposition; the mother and son of Boris, who was now dead, being dragged to prison by the populace. The rage of that populace was soon turned against Demetrius. He was slain on his marriage day, together with most of the Polish attendants, who had rendered him obnoxious to the Russians. A body, said to be his, was exposed to public view; and Zuski, a nobleman, who had fomented the insurrection, was de 38. Loccen, Hist. Suec. lib. vii. clared clared his successor. But scarce was Zuski seated on the throne, when a second Demetrius made his appearance; and after his death, a third. Poland and Sweden took part in the quarrel. Zuski was delivered up to the Poles, and Demetrius was massacred by the Tartars. But a fourth, and even a fifth Demetrius appeared: and Russia, during these struggles was repeatedly ravaged by opposite factions and foreign troops. At length Michael Theodorowitz, son of Romanow, bishop of Rostow, afterwards patriarch, related by females to the czar John Basilowitz, was raised to the throne; and this prince, having concluded a peace with Sweden and Poland, in 1618, restored tranquillity to Russia, and transmitted the crown to his descendant 39. Denmark affords nothing that merits our attention during the reign of Frederick II. who succeeded his father Christian III, in 1558: nor during the reign of his son and successor, Christian IV. before he was chosen general of the league in Lower Saxony. And the transactions of Christian IV. even while vested with that command, are too unimportant to merit a particular detail. The issue of his operations has been already related. Sweden alone, during those times, of all the northern kingdoms, yields a spectacle worthy of observation. No sooner was Gustavus seated on the throne, though only eighteen years of age at his accession, than he signalized himself by his exploits against the Danes, the ancient enemies of his crown. Profiting afterwards by peace, which he had found necessary, he applied himself to the study of civil affairs; and by a wise and vigorous administration, supported with salutary laws, he reformed many public abuses, and gave order, prosperity, and weight to the state. In a war against Russia, he subdued almost all Finland, and secured to himself the possession of his conquests by a treaty. His cousin Sigismund, king of Poland, treating him as an usurper 39. Ludolf. Puffendorf. Petreius. and and refusing peace, when offered by Gustavus, he over-ran Livonia, Prussia, and Lithuania4°. An advantageous truce of six years, concluded with Poland, in 1629, gave him leisure to take part in the affairs of Germany, and to exhibit more fully those heroic qualities, which will ever be the admiration of mankind. Gustavus had many reasons for making war against the emperor. Ferdinand had assisted his enemy, the king of Poland; he treated the Swedish ambassador with disrespect; and he had formed a project for extending his dominion over the Baltic. If the king of Sweden looked tamely on, till the German princes were finally subjected, the independency of the Gothic monarchy, as well as that of the other northern kingdoms, would be in danger. But the motives which chiefly induced Gustavus to take arms against the head of the empire, were the love of glory and zeal for the Protestant religion. These, however, did not transport him beyond the bounds of prudence. He laid his design before the States of Sweden; and he negociated with France, England, and Holland, before he began his march. Charles I. still desirous of the restoration of the Palatine agreed to send the king of Sweden six thousand men. These troops were raised in the name of the marquis of Hamilton, and supposed to be maintained by that nobleman, that the appearance of neutrality might be preserved. The 40. Loccen. lib. viii. Puffend. lib. ii. During this war, the practice of duelling rose to such a height, both among officers and private men, in the Swedish army, as induced Gustavus to publish a severe edict, denouncing death against every offender; and by a strict execution of that edict, the evil was effectually removed. (Harte's Life of Gustavus.vol. i.) When two of the generals demanded permission to decide a quarrel by the sword, he gave a seeming consent, and told them he would himself be an eye-witness of their valour and prowess. He accordingly appeared on the ground, but accompanied by the public executioner, who had orders to cut off the head of the conqueror. The high-spirited combatants, subdued by such firmness fell on their knees at the king's feet; were ordered to embrace, and continued friends to the end of their lives. Scheffer. Memorand. Suec. Gent. 41. Rushworth, vol. i. people people were more forward than the king. The flower of Gustavus's army, and many of his best officers, by the time he entered Germany, consisted of Scottish and English adventurers who thronged over to support the Protestant cause, and to seek renown under the champion of their religion42; so that the conquests even of this illustrious hero, may partly be ascribed to British valour and British sagacity! The most necessary supply, however, that Gustavus received was an annual subsidy from cardinal Richelieu, of twelve hundred thousand livres, a small sum in our days, but considerable at that time, especially in a country where the precious metals are still scarce. The treaty between France and Sweden is a master-piece in politics. Gustavus agreed, in consideration of the stipulated subsidy, A. D. 1631. to maintain in Germany an army of thirty-six thousand men ; bound himself to observe a strict neutrality toward the duke of Bavaria, and all the princes of the Catholic league, on condition that he should not join the emperor against the Swedes: and to preserve the rights of the Romish church, wherever he should find it established43, By these ingenious stipulations, which do so much honour to the genius of Richelieu, the Catholic princes were not only freed from all alarm on the score of religion, but furnished with a pretext for withholding their assistance from the emperor, as a step which would expose them to the arms of Sweden. Gustavus had entered Pomerania when this treaty was concluded, and soon after made himself master of Frankfort upon the Oder, Colberg, and several other important places. The protestant princes, however, were still backward in declaring themselves, lest they should be separately crushed by the imperial power, before the king of Sweden could march to their assistance. In order to put an end to their irresolu 42. Burnet, Mem. of the House of Hamilton, vol. i. 43. Londorp. Act, Pub. tom. iv. tion tion, Gustavus summoned the elector of Brandenburg to declare himself openly in three days; and on receiving an evasive answer, he marched directly to Berlin. This spirited conduct had the desired effect: the gates were thrown open, and Gustavus was received as a friend. He was soon after joined by the landgrave of Hesse, and the elector of Saxony, who being persecuted by the Catholic League, put themselves under his protection. Gustavus now marched towards Leipsic, where Tilly lay encamped. That experienced general advanced into the plain of Breitenfeld to meet his antagonist, at the head of thirty thousand veterans. The king of Sweden's army consisted nearly of an equal number of men ; but the Saxon auxiliaries being raw and undisciplined, fled at the first onset ; yet did Gustavus, by his superior conduct, and the superior prowess of the Swedes, gain a complete victory over Tilly and the Imperialists44. SEPT. 6. This blow threw Ferdinand into the utmost consternation; and if the king of Sweden had marched immediately to Vienna, it is supposed he could have made himself master of that capital. But it is impossible for human foresight to discern all the advantages that may be reaped from a great and singular stroke of good fortune. Hannibal wasted his time at Capua, after the battle of Cannæ, when he might have led his victorious army to Rome; and Gustavus Adolphus, instead of besieging Vienna, or laying waste the emperor's hereditary dominions, took a different route, and had the satisfaction of erecting a column on the opposite bank of the Rhine, in order to perpetuate the progress of his arms45. The consequences of the battle of Leipsic, however, were great. Nor did Gustavus fail to improve that victory which he had so gloriously earned. He was instantly joined by all the members of the Evangelical Union, whom his success. 4. Harte's Life of Gustavus, vol. ii. 45. Mr.ur. Franc. a l'An. 1631. Harte, ubi sup. had |