With an income and expenditure so small, the military and naval force cannot be supposed to he great. The military force, though never very great, has been extremely variable. The troops which crossed the Baltic along with Gustavus Adol phus, did not exceed 10,000 men, of whom the greater part were mercenaries. It has since that time amounted to 50,000, with 30,000 of reserve. At present, in a time of peace, it is very much re duced, consisting of 31,000, including both infantry and cavalry. There is, in addition to the regular army, a national force or militia, which is always maintained in an efficient state, and which is com posed of about 20,000 men. The naval force has of late been much neglected. In 1799, there were twenty sail of the line; in 1806, thirty; and at pre sent there are only six, and eight or ten frigates. There is, however, a considerable number of gun boats, and other flotilla calculated to convey land forces. The number of marines of all kinds is 10,000.
The government of Sweden, like that of Britain, is a limited monarchy, declared hereditary in the male line of the reigning family, but in case of a failure of male heirs in that line, a successor is to be nominated by the king, with the consent of the people. The civil list for the maintenance of the king and his household is about L.50,000; that of the crown prince, or king's eldest son, a third of that sum. The legislature consists of four classes, those of the nobles and landholders, of the clergy, of the deputies of towns, and of the peasants. Each of these classes has .a speaker; the archbishop of Upsal being officially the speaker of the class to which he belongs, while the others are nominated by the crown. The king has a veto on the enact ments of the legislature, but no bill can pass till it has received the sanction of three out of the four classes. The introduction of a bill, or a motion for a new law, as in Britain, may be made by any member, as well as by a minister of the crown. The diet which these classes form must meet by law every fifth year, but oftener, if convened by the king. Their power and privileges are similar to those of the British Parliament. The executive administration also resembles very much that of England; each department having its own board or head; in this department of government, division of labour has been carried to a very laudable ex tent.
Sweden possesses only one small colony, viz. that of St. Bartholomew, an island in the West Indies, about fifteen miles in circumference, ceded to Swe den by France in 1783.
On the history of this country we do not intend to enter minutely, as it has already been given collate rally under the articles BRITAIN, DENMARK, POLAND, RUSSIA; to which we refer the reader. Of its an
cient state little is known with certainty. The ori ginal inhabitants were a colony of Finns from the banks of the Volga, and the vicinity of Mount Cau casus. And about three hundred years before the Christian era, they were driven from their northern settlements by the Teutones, a people who came thither from Germany, and who either expelled the original inhabitants, or became incorporated with them. Except in the northern extremity of Lap land, however, every trace of the Finns has long been obliterated. The present Swedes, therefore, as well as the Danes and Norwegians, are of Teutonic or Gothic origin; and the term Scandinavia, or Land of Caves, was conferred on the extensive regions which now form these three nations, from the prac tice of the inhabitants dwelling in rocky caverns. (Jornandes de rebus Geticis, c. 3. Murray's Euro pean Languages, i. 12, 153; ii. 478).
This country was not converted to Christianity till the end of the eleventh century, when this happy event took place by means of missionaries from England. It renounced the errors of popery, and adopted the reformed doctrines, five centuries after wards. Sweden, though meanwhile it had various forms of government at different periods, remained free till the year 1392, when Margaret, queen of Denmark, styled the Semiramis of the north, con quered it by policy and by force of arms, and made one kingdom of these three vast states. This con quest was not destined to be permanent. Sweden was the victim of wars and insurrections; and was alternately free and enslaved for upwards of a cen tury; at the end of which time appeared Gustavus Vaza, a young man, descended from the ancient kings of the country; and, abandoning the forests of Delecarlia, where he had concealed himself, he as pired to become the deliverer of Sweden. His at tempt was successful; the Danes were expelled, and Gustavus was himself elected king of the country of which he had been the liberator. He introduced the reformation into Sweden; and vris in many re spects a man superior to his age. Ile had the in fluence to get the crown declared hereditary in his family, who, with various degrees of eminence and merit, have continued till within these few years to enjoy it. He died in 1560, after a glorious reign of thirty-seven years. Anxious to strengthen the throne by an alliance with the family of some of the neighbouring powers, lie endeavoured to accomplish that object by the marriage of his son Eric, who succeeded him, to Elizabeth queen of England. The offer, as is well known, was rejected.