exquisite sensibility, the passion of Cora and Alonzo; the other,[1] who, with all the energy of poetry, has invoked from the grave, if we may be allowed the expression, the patriotic spirit of Gustavus Vasa, has exhibited that illustrious hero, who more than two centuries ago rescued our ancestors from the galling yoke of civil and religious bondage, and brought him before our eyes, once more to receive the glad homage of the Swedish people.
Two respectable prelates, whom I have not the satisfaction of seeing upon this occasion, have a just claim to be ranked amongst the members of this assembly; the one,[2] at a period when history was a mere chronicle, has recorded, in a manly style, the exalted actions of Gustavus Ericson, and vindicated his son from the unjust aspersions with which his memory was stained; the other has,[3] with all the graces of eloquence, inculcated divine truth, and, by fulfilling, in the most exemplary manner, the duties of his important station, has essentially improved the language, and refined the taste of the nation.
From writers thus eminent, the Swedish language may expect a new and glorious æra. The object which we have in view, is not unworthy
- ↑ Mr. Kellgren, private Secretary to the King, and author of the Lyric Tragedy of Gustavus Vasa, performed in 1786, with great success.
- ↑ Dr. Celsius, Bishop of Lund, author of The Histories of Gustavus I. and of Eric XIV.
- ↑ Dr. Vingard, Bilhop of Gothenburgh, no less celebrated for his Sermons on various subjects, than for his Funeral Oration on the Death of the late Queen Dowager.
