was descended from the ancient kings of Sweden. Before
his confinement by Christiern, he was one of the moving springs of the
state; he assisted Sture with his counsels, which were bold and
judicious, and gained a signal victory over the Danes. Christiern,
receiving him as a hostage, caused him to be arrested and carried him to
Denmark, where, by the request of Eric Banner, he was entrusted to the
care of that nobleman. From his custody, however, he soon escaped, and
traversed the various provinces of Sweden, in hopes of exciting at least
some of them to assert their independence. His efforts, however,
surprising and unwearied as they were, did not avail, 'till he arrived
in the remote province of Dalecarlia. His unexpected appearance there
among the peasants excited the whole province to revolt, and an army,
assembled in haste, stormed the Governor's castle, and destroyed the
greater part of the garrison. After this beginning, his successes
gradually increased, and Angermanland, Helsingland, Gestricia, and other
governments almost immediately came over to his party. He sustained a
war against the whole powers of Christiern for some years in a most
skilful and indefatigable manner, and succeeded at last in expelling
Christiern, Trolle, and Norbi, from the land of which he was now elected
monarch. A task, scarcely less difficult, remained--to extirpate the
Catholic religion from Sweden. This he effected, and established
Lutheranism on so firm a basis, that it has resisted all attempts to
shake it. After a long and really glorious reign, he was succeeded by
his son Eric the Fourteenth, in 1560. In him were combined all the
qualities necessary to constitute a hero; he was enterprising, vigilant,
proof against pleasures, brave, prudent, and generous. He erected Sweden
to a degree of power and respectability unknown before, and laid the
foundation for the victories of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles the
Twelfth. For the particular events of his life and reign, see Vertot,
Puffendorff, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and most modern histories.

128.

How Haquin triumph'd, or how Birger fell--

Haquin and Birger were common names among the earlier kings of Sweden.

135.

---- the Mistress of the Northern Zone.

Margaret, who united the three northern kingdoms, and whose empire, like
Alexander's, did not long survive after the death of its founder.

138.

---- the thirteenth Eric.

The successor of Mar