Cicero and Caracalla, wonderfully fine. The state-rooms are on the third story, to which there is a most tedious ascent, under arcades of porphyry. Prince Charles's apartments, which are the first, are superb: his little drawing-room is well worthy of notice, the seats of which are in the form of a divan: at their back is a vast magnificent horizontal mirror, the frame of which is of yellow and purple-coloured glass, and was presented by the reigning Emperor of Russia. The Queen's apartments are elegant, but the windows are old fashioned, heavy, very large, high from the floor, and look into a quadrangular court; however, if they command no fine scenes in the summer, they are warmer in the winter, a better thing of the two in such a climate. There are several pretty little rooms, called cozing or chit-chat rooms; nothing could be more neat, snug, and comfortable, or better adapted for the enjoyments of unrestrained conversation. The King's apartments are very handsome, some of the rooms are adorned with beautiful Gobeline tapestry from Paris. The chamber most interesting to us was that in which Gustavus III expired. We saw the bed on which he lay, from the time that he was brought wounded to the palace from the masquerade at the opera-house, until he breathed his last. In this room it was that the dying prince personally examined his murderer Ankerstroem, when he confessed his guilt, and was immediately ordered to retire. The general circumstances of this melancholy catastrophe are well known; perhaps it may not be as generally so, that Ankerstroem preserved such resolute coolness at the time of the perpetration of the deed, that, in order to make sure of his mark, as the King, who was dressed in a loose domino, and without a mask, was reclining, a little oppressed by the heat, against one of the side scenes, Ankerstroem placed his hands upon the back of the Sovereign, who, upon feeling him, turned shortly round, when the regicide fired. The King, who thought that he was a victim to French machinations, as he fell, exclaimed, "My assassin is a "Frenchman!" the consolation of the illustrious duke d'Enghein was denied him. The hero, the friend, and the idol of Sweden, perished by the hands of a Swede. As soon as this outrage was known, the most eminent surgeons flew to his relief. The first words which the King uttered, were to request that they would give him their candid opinion, observing, with great serenity, that if he had only a few hours to live, he would employ them in arranging the affairs of the state, and those of his family; and that, in such an extremity, it would be unavailing to augment his pains, and consume his time, in dressing his wound. The surgeon having examined it, assured his Majesty that it was not dangerous; in consequence of this opinion he permitted it to be dressed, and was conveyed to the palace. The next day an interesting and affecting scene took place; the countess Fersen, the count Brahé, and the baron de Geer, who had absented themselves for a long period from court, were the first to enquire after the health of the King, who requested them to enter the room where he was, and received them with the most touching goodness, expressing the cordial delight which he felt in seeing them thus forget their animosities, in these memorable words: "My wound is not with"out a blessing, since it restores to me my friends." He languished in great torment for eighteen days. It is generally supposed that the malignant spirit of politics had no influence in this horrible outrage, but that he fell the victim of private revenge and fanatical disappointment. Several young men, who thought themselves aggrieved by the neglect of their prince, were concerned in this conspiracy; but it was his dying request, which was observed, that only Ankerstroem should suffer death. Upon the tomb of this brave, eloquent, and magnanimous prince, should be engraved the beautiful and beneficent sentence that appears in the new form of government with which he presented the Swedes at the time of the memorable revolution. "I regard it as the greatest honour to be the first citizen amongst a free people." It has been asserted, and I believe with truth, that his sensibility towards the female sex was far from being lively: he seldom cohabited with his Queen. Strange to tell, gifted with acute feelings, and a warm and brilliant imagination, this accomplished prince, of a race of beautiful women, displayed an example of almost monkish continence. But, that love had not wholly renounced his heart, we may infer from an anecdote of a little picture, which adorns one of the apartments of the palace: it is a portrait of a lovely young woman, of whom the King became enamoured during his tour in Italy. Upon hearing of her death, he is said to have shed tears, and displayed all the impassioned indications of an afflicted lover. The royal library is very valuable, containing twenty thousand volumes, and four hundred manuscripts. Amongst the collection are some precious books, particularly one called the Codex Aureus, from the great number of gilt letters which it contains. There are also two enormous latin MSS.; the vellum leaves of which are made of asses' skins, and are of an amazing size. The Prince Royal, or heir apparent, a child between six and seven years of age, inhabited a part of this palace, which, instead of presenting the gay bustle of a court, bore all the appearance of neglect and desertion. The mysterious questions of the rustic were explained. The people of Sweden had not been gladdened with the presence of their young Sovereign and his beautiful Queen, to whom they are devotedly and deservedly attached, for a long space of time, during which the court had been removed to the territory of the Prince of Baden, the father of the Queen of Sweden. The effect of such an absence was felt and deplored every where. No doubt the virtuous suggestions of his own heart will speedily restore the King to his people, and another traveller will have the gratification which was denied me, of seeing him in the bosom of his country, where a Prince always appears to the most advantage. The King is said to possess a very amiable mind, and to regard the memory of his illustrious father with enthusiastic adoration; I contemplated a powerful proof of it in an obelisk of one solid block of porphyry, forty feet high; which is at once a monument of his taste and piety. I should not be doing justice to the King, were I not to mention the abhorrence which he, in common with his subjects, has manifested at the cold-blooded outrage committed against the person of the devoted duke d'Enghein. The opera-house, built by Gustavus III, is an elegant square building upon the architrave is inscribed, " Patris Musis." The front is adorned with Corinthian columns and pilasters: the interior, which is small, and can not contain above nine hundred persons, is in the form of a broken ellipsis; and, even by day-light (for there was no performance during our stay), appeared to be superbly decorated. The dresses and decorations of the performers, which solely belong to the crown, we were informed, are of great value; and in these respects the Swedish opera is said to surpass every other in Europe. The royal seats are in the pit. Swedish plays are performed here, many of which were composed by the accomplished Gustavus III, whose taste in that species of M composition excited the literary jealousy of old Frederic the Great. It was an admirable policy, worthy of such a genius as Gustavus, to attach a nation to its own language, by making it that of the stage; the surest, because the most flattering mode of raising it to its utmost polish. The first Swedish opera ever performed was Thetis and Peleus: the favourite national piece is Gustavus Vasa. Upon the death of Gustavus III, the opera lost much of its attraction. When it is considered that, in his time, a ballet occupied ninety personages of the light fantastic toe, and put into activity no less than eighty fancy-dress makers, it was necessary that the pruning knife should be used, to curtail these luxuriant suckers of the state, the graceful, but too costly, growth of a princely and munificent mind. In this building there are some very handsome apartments for the King's private parties. I had much to regret that no plays were performed here during my stay. The female, who shewed me the building, was much affected when she pointed to the spot where Ankerstroem committed the bloody deed. Alas! how inscrutable are the ways of Heaven! When the illustrious victim raised this beautiful fabric from the ground, he little thought of the part which he was to perform in the sanguinary scene of the seventeenth of March, 1792, and that mimic sorrow was to yield to genuine woe. This structure, and the opposite palace of the Princess Sophia Albertina, the King's aunt, which is uniform with the former, form the sides of a handsome square, called la Place du Nord, and is adorned in the centre with a fine equestrian statue, in bronze, of Gustavus Adolphus, who, excepting his head, which is crowned with laurel, is in complete armour, and in his right hand is an inclined truncheon: the horse has much animation, and the rider great elegance. This colossal statue was cast from the designs of Archeveque, a very distinguished French statuary, who dying before it was finished, left its completion to the masterly hand of Sergell: it was erected in 1790. The latter has introduced the figures of History pointing to an inscription on the pedestal, and of the chancellor Oxenstiern. The pedestal, which is of granite, is decorated by medallions of the principal favourite generals of Gustavus Adolphus, viz. Torstenson, Baner, James de la Gardie, Horn, and Saxe Weimar; all by Sergell. The unbounded friendship and confidence which existed between this great Prince and the upright Oxen stiern, form the theme of historic delight; and the gentle counteraction of their mutual, and rather opposite, characters, rendered each the idol and the benefactor of his country. It is said that Gustavus having, upon some affair of state, observed to Oxenstiern, that he was cold and phlegmatic, and that he checked him in his career, the chancellor replied: "Sire, indeed I own that I "am cold; but unless I had occasionally tempered and moderated 66 your heat, you would have been burnt up long ago." Gustavus Adolphus never engaged in any battle, without first praying at the head of his troops; after which he used to thunder out, in a strong and energetic manner, a German hymn, in which he was joined by his whole army: the effect of thirty or forty thousand people thus singing together was wonderful and terrible. He used to say, that a man made a better soldier in proportion to his being a better christian, and there was no person so happy as those who died in the performance of their duty. Of the death of this great hero, it was said, "that he died with his sword in his hand, the word of "command in his mouth, and with victory in his imagination.” Only the complimentary part of the following witty epigram, which was made upon the equestrian statue of Louis XIII, which formerly stood in the Place des Victoires in Paris, with the four cardinal virtues standing round it, would apply to that of Gustavus Adolphus: O le beau monument! O le beau pédestal ! Oh! noble statue, noble pedestal! In front of this statue, to the south, the eye with pleasure contemplates an elegant stone bridge not quite finished, crossing a rapid stream of the Mæler, at the end of which the palace displays a majestic and highly graceful back scene: this spot presents the finest architecture in the city. The traveller will be gratified, by noticing the beautiful colonnade of solid porphyry which forms the entrance to the grand staircase of the Princess Sophia Albertina's palace. A tasteful observer must regret that these exquisite columns are so much concealed. The streets of the Queen and of the Regency, in |