he atrocities of a
horrid tyrant; he laid the axe at the root of many religious
absurdities; and he relieved the people from a heavy load of religious
burdens. But he did not lay that foundation of public liberty which the
blood poured out by the Swedish people merited. Of all nations on the
face of the globe none are more fitted by temperament for a republican
form of government than the Swedes. They are calm, they are thoughtful,
they are economical, and above all else, they are imbued with an ardent
love of liberty. It is hard, therefore, to repress the wish that
Gustavus Vasa had been allowed, at the diet of Vesteras, to lay aside
the crown, and that in his place a leader had been chosen to carry on
the good work on the lines already drawn. The Revolution had begun with
a feeling that the Swedish nation was entitled to be ruled according to
its ancient laws,--that it was entitled to a representative form of
government; and it was only because of the nation's admiration for its
leader that this object was relinquished. The people, having expelled
one tyrant, chose another; and ere Gustavus closed his memorable reign,
the principle of hereditary monarchy was once more engrafted on the
nation. Nothing could demonstrate with greater clearness the extreme
danger that is always imminent in blind enthusiasm for a popular and
gifted leader.

FOOTNOTES:

[172] _Alla riksdag. och moet. besluth_, vol. i. pp. 37-39 and 45-47;
_Dipl. Dal._, vol. ii. pp. 77, 80-81 and 93; _Handl. roer. Sver. inre
foerhall._, vol. i. pp. 19-20; and _Kon. Gust. den Foerstes registrat._,
vol. iii. pp. 12, 22-23, 95-96, 236-237 and 414-415.

[173] _Kon. Gust. den Foerstes registrat._, vol. iv. pp. 334-335, 360-366
and 416-417; and _Svenska riksdagsakt._, vol. i. pp. 102-107.

[174] Svart, _Gust. I.'s. kroen._, p. 136; _Handl. roer. Sver. inre
foerhall._, vol. i. pp. 133-134; and _Kon. Gust. den Foerstes registrat._,
vol. iv. pp. 368-369.

[175] Svart, _Gust. I.'s kroen._, p. 136; and _Kon. Gust. den Foerstes
registrat._, vol. v. pp. 9-11.

[176] Svart, _Gust. I.'s kroen._, pp. 136-137.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

I. AUTHORITIES.

A. _Books and Pamphlets._

[In this list are included all works written for publication,
whether published or not, before the year 1600. The arrangement is
strictly chronological.]

BEYER, Christopher. _Chronicon Gedanensis._ [In _Scriptores rerum
Suecicarum medii aeui_, ed. E. M. Fant. Upsal., 1818-