REVOLUTION
OF
SWEDEN
.
A
Tragedy
.
As
it
is
Acted
at
the
QUEENS
THEATRE
IN
THE
HAY-MARKET
.
LONDON
,
Printed
for
James
Knapton
at
the
Crown
in
St.
Paul's
Church-yard
,
and
George
Strahan
at
the
Golden
Ball
against
the
Royal
Exchange
in
Cornhill
.
1706
.
Dramatis
Personae
.
MEN
.
GUstavus
,
a
young
Swedish
Lord
,
Head
of
a
Party
engag'd
to
free
their
Country
from
the
Tyranny
of
the
Danes
.
-
Mr.
Booth
.
Count
Arwide
,
his
Friend
.
-
Mr.
Betterton
.
Erici
,
Lieutenant
to
Gustavus
.
-
Mr.
Cory
.
Viceroy
of
Sweden
.
-
Mr.
Husbands
.
Archbishop
of
Upsal
,
a
zealous
Maintainer
of
the
Danish
Interest
.
-
Mr.
Bowman
.
Beron
,
a
Swede
,
the
Viceroy's
Favourite
.
-
Mr.
Mynns
.
WOMEN
.
Constantia
,
Wife
to
Count
Arwide
.
-
Mrs.
Barry
.
Christina
,
Wife
to
Beron
.
-
Mrs.
Harcourt
.
Maria
,
Servant
to
Constantia
.
-
〈◊〉
Laura
,
Servant
to
Christina
.
-
Mrs.
Baker
.
Two
Canons
,
two
Swedish
Gentlemen
,
Officers
,
Soldiers
,
Guards
and
Attendants
.
Scene
Stockholm
,
and
the
Camp
near
it
.
To
the
Right
Honourable
The
Lady
Harriett
Godolphin
.
MADAM
,
THere
are
so
great
Difficulties
,
and
such
general
Discouragements
,
to
those
of
our
Sex
who
wou'd
improve
their
Minds
,
and
employ
their
Time
in
any
Science
,
or
useful
Art
,
that
there
cannot
be
a
more
distinguishing
Mark
of
a
Free
,
and
Beneficent
Spirit
,
than
openly
to
condemn
that
ill-grounded
Custom
,
by
giving
Countenance
and
Protection
to
those
who
have
attempted
against
it
;
which
as
it
can
most
effectually
be
done
by
Persons
of
the
Highest
Rank
,
and
most
Eminent
Virtue
,
I
am
happy
in
being
an
Occasion
of
giving
the
World
so
rare
an
Example
of
,
at
first
,
in
the
Honour
was
publickly
done
me
by
the
Dutchess
of
Marlborough
,
and
all
her
Beauteous
Family
;
And
now
by
your
Ladiships
permitting
this
Address
from
one
whose
greatest
Merit
is
her
good
Intention
,
and
her
only
Pretence
to
this
Honour
,
the
Favours
already
receiv'd
.
Were
such
an
Encouraging
Indulgence
to
the
Endeavours
of
our
Sex
,
imitated
by
many
of
your
Ladiships
Quality
,
and
Merit
,
it
might
incite
some
greater
Geniuses
among
us
to
exert
themselves
,
and
change
our
Emulation
of
a
Neighbouring
Nation's
Fopperies
,
to
the
commendable
Ambition
of
Rivalling
them
in
their
illustrious
Women
;
Numbers
we
know
among
them
,
have
made
a
considerable
Progress
in
the
most
difficult
Sciences
,
several
have
gain'd
the
Prizes
of
Poesie
from
the
Academies
,
and
some
have
been
chosen
Members
of
their
Societies
.
This
without
doubt
is
not
from
any
Superiority
of
their
Genius
to
ours
;
But
from
the
much
greater
Encouragement
they
receive
,
by
the
Publick
Esteem
,
and
the
Honours
that
are
done
them
;
of
which
,
by
the
Favour
of
such
Excellent
Persons
as
your
Ladiship
,
we
might
soon
give
them
a
Proof
.
Nor
is
Poetry
,
Madam
,
unworthy
the
Protection
of
the
Wise
,
and
the
Good
,
tho'
sunk
in
its
Credit
among
us
,
it
has
been
cherish'd
as
an
Instrument
of
Virtue
,
in
the
Politest
,
and
best
govern'd
Commonwealths
,
and
as
such
call'd
a
Divine
Art
;
a
Character
it
might
still
pretend
to
,
if
rescu'd
from
the
trifling
,
or
ill
Ends
,
to
which
it
has
been
debas'd
;
At
least
it
must
be
own'd
very
Advantageous
in
a
Nation
where
Publick
Diversions
are
allow'd
,
and
frequented
,
to
contrive
that
our
Pleasures
shou'd
be
useful
to
our
Morals
,
serve
to
correct
our
Vices
,
and
animate
the
Mind
to
Virtue
:
A
Design
which
is
the
only
Merit
can
recommend
this
Play
to
your
Ladiships
Favour
,
and
the
particular
Virtue
it
tends
to
incite
,
being
a
disinterested
and
resolute
Care
of
the
Publick
Good
,
where
cou'd
it
be
more
properly
address'd
,
than
to
a
Lady
,
the
Happy
and
Worthy
Cement
of
two
Families
,
whose
Station
gives
them
the
highest
Opportunities
of
being
those
Blessings
to
the
Publick
,
they
are
so
admirably
qualify'd
for
?
All
Europe
look
on
the
English
Forces
,
whilst
under
the
Conduct
of
the
Duke
of
Marlborough
,
as
the
Guardians
of
their
Liberty
:
And
we
have
a
late
Proof
in
the
Peoples
Readiness
to
advance
the
Supplies
for
maintaining
the
War
,
how
entirely
they
are
satisfied
with
the
Management
of
our
Treasure
;
the
nicest
,
and
most
difficult
part
of
our
Administration
,
which
nothing
less
than
the
exactest
Prudence
,
and
the
clearest
Integrity
,
can
pass
through
irreproachably
.
Thus
Happily
Ally'd
,
and
Descended
on
both
Sides
,
from
Persons
whom
the
Best
Princess
in
the
World
so
judiciously
distinguishes
(
that
it
was
not
more
finely
than
truly
said
of
them
in
a
late
Poem
,
On
the
Firm
Basis
of
Desert
,
they
rise
,
From
long
try'd
Faith
,
and
Friendships
holy
Ties
.
)
In
you
,
Madam
,
their
Virtues
are
united
,
and
from
you
we
hope
for
a
Glorious
Race
,
who
possessing
all
that
's
Excellent
in
both
their
great
Predecessors
,
may
prove
to
Posterity
all
that
we
now
admire
in
them
,
Our
Ornaments
in
Peace
,
our
Strength
in
War
.
For
I
cannot
forbear
quoting
again
an
Author
,
who
cou'd
so
much
better
do
Justice
to
your
Ladiships
Family
,
and
Character
,
which
I
dare
only
venture
Superficially
to
touch
.
An
Addison
shou'd
draw
that
Prudence
of
your
Conduct
,
that
Delicacy
of
Judgment
,
that
Affability
and
Obligingness
of
Temper
,
which
is
not
overcome
by
the
Greatness
of
your
Station
,
all
those
Perfections
which
cou'd
never
have
been
deserv'd
by
any
but
that
one
Happy
Person
who
possesses
them
,
whose
Merits
are
such
,
that
you
are
equally
a
Blessing
to
each
other
,
and
both
the
Delight
of
all
who
have
the
Honour
to
know
you
.
But
this
is
a
Subject
I
must
decline
,
tho'
none
can
have
a
juster
Sense
of
its
Value
,
than
,
MADAM
,
Your
Ladiships
most
Humble
,
and
most
Obedient
Servant
,
Catharine
Trotter
.
THE
PREFACE
.
I
Am
willing
to
believe
that
the
distaste
of
Plays
which
the
Town
is
fall'n
into
,
(
tho'
encreas'd
since
some
care
has
been
taken
to
Reform
them
)
was
at
first
produc'd
by
the
just
Complaints
that
have
been
Publickly
made
on
the
Abuses
of
the
Stage
,
which
might
incline
the
Ladies
especially
,
to
seek
in
Musick
,
fine
Scenes
and
Dancing
,
a
Diversion
that
wou'd
at
least
be
harmless
.
But
however
,
an
Amusement
of
three
Hours
,
that
can
be
no
way
profitable
,
may
be
Innocent
in
an
Audience
.
I
cannot
but
think
an
Author
wou'd
very
ill
employ
the
much
longer
time
,
and
greater
application
he
must
use
,
in
contriving
an
Entertainment
for
no
other
end
but
to
divert
,
and
cou'd
never
allow
my self
to
think
of
any
Subject
that
cou'd
not
serve
either
to
incite
some
useful
Virtue
,
or
check
some
dangerous
Passion
.
With
this
design
I
thought
writing
for
the
Stage
,
a
Work
not
unworthy
those
who
wou'd
not
trifle
their
time
away
,
and
had
so
fix'd
my
Mind
on
contributing
my
part
towards
reforming
the
Corruptions
of
it
,
that
no
doubt
I
have
too
little
consider'd
the
present
tast
of
the
Town
;
I
shou'd
not
have
wholly
neglected
those
Ornaments
,
which
all
are
now
fond
of
,
since
the
end
of
Tragedy
is
to
profit
the
Audience
by
Pleasing
,
and
every
Body
will
be
pleas'd
their
own
way
.
Whether
my
turning
this
Play
into
the
World
thus
undress'd
,
be
the
chief
defect
of
it
,
must
be
left
to
the
Reader's
Judgment
,
to
whom
I
shall
be
allow'd
to
appeal
,
at
least
,
from
two
sorts
of
Judges
who
have
pass'd
their
Censure
on
it
;
those
who
have
never
seen
any
part
of
it
,
and
those
who
,
tho'
present
at
it
,
minded
very
little
of
it
.
Some
of
the
first
of
these
have
absolutely
determin'd
,
that
no
body
of
good
Sense
,
can
think
it
a
tolerable
Play
;
a
Sentence
they
are
most
concern'd
in
,
who
were
pleas'd
to
give
it
their
Applause
in
the
Representation
,
but
it
needs
not
be
pleaded
against
,
those
who
pass
it
sufficiently
exposing
themselves
,
by
condemning
a
thing
,
which
they
own
they
know
nothing
of
.
From
the
other
sort
,
I
have
met
with
some
turns
of
Raillery
,
which
had
no
Foundation
,
but
mistakes
from
an
intire
Ignorance
of
what
had
pass'd
before
,
or
was
to
follow
,
what
they
were
pleas'd
to
be
Witty
upon
;
of
which
I
need
only
give
the
Reader
one
for
a
Tast
.
Some
finding
that
Arwide
has
set
his
Hand
to
a
Paper
,
in
which
there
are
Articles
that
he
knows
nothing
of
,
conclude
that
he
sign'd
a
Treaty
with
his
Enemy
,
without
ever
reading
it
,
and
on
this
wise
Contrivance
of
their
own
Imagination
,
laugh
at
a
Womans
Plot
,
when
the
least
attention
to
the
conclusion
of
the
Play
,
must
have
satisfy'd
them
that
the
deceit
was
a
little
more
artfully
laid
.
'T
is
confess'd
it
would
be
very
unreasonable
to
desire
,
that
every
one
who
comes
to
a
Play
,
shou'd
be
attentive
at
it
;
those
who
find
in
the
Audience
a
better
Entertainment
,
must
be
allow'd
to
turn
their
Eyes
and
Thoughts
from
the
Stage
;
but
then
't
is
no
more
than
equitable
to
expect
,
that
they
should
not
judge
at
all
,
of
what
they
have
not
leisure
to
mind
.
What
objections
I
have
heard
from
the
less
rash
,
or
at
least
more
attentive
Criticks
,
are
not
very
considerable
;
some
who
had
read
the
History
,
expected
to
find
all
the
remarkable
Passages
of
it
in
the
Play
,
and
particularly
hop'd
to
see
Gustavus
labouring
in
the
Mines
,
not
knowing
,
or
not
considering
the
Rules
of
the
Drama
,
that
Tragedy
is
confin'd
to
represent
only
such
incidents
as
immediately
conduce
to
the
effecting
the
one
great
Action
it
proposes
,
all
which
must
be
suppos'd
to
happen
in
a
small
space
of
Time
:
And
the
Action
I
had
chose
,
being
the
Election
of
Gustavus
to
the
Throne
,
upon
the
entire
Deliverance
of
his
Country
;
it
must
have
been
very
absurd
,
to
have
represented
him
at
the
beginning
of
the
Play
in
such
an
unhopeful
condition
,
when
the
Danes
were
in
full
Power
,
and
not
one
Man
had
ventur'd
to
appear
against
them
.
But
those
who
know
the
History
,
will
find
,
that
to
give
them
as
much
of
it
as
cou'd
be
in
so
narrow
a
compass
,
I
have
us'd
the
Poetick
License
in
bringing
several
Incidents
and
Places
,
much
nearer
together
,
than
in
reality
they
were
,
as
far
as
probability
wou'd
allow
.
Another
piece
of
Criticism
I
have
heard
,
is
,
that
I
have
made
Christina
speak
an
Hour
after
she
is
dead
:
As
to
the
time
,
I
shall
not
stand
upon
giving
'em
three
quarters
of
an
Hour
,
it
being
every
whit
as
absurd
to
make
her
speak
one
Minute
after
she
is
dead
,
as
a
whole
Hour
;
and
for
her
speaking
after
she
has
been
in
a
Swoon
,
and
suppos'd
dead
,
—
—
—
an
Hour
,
if
they
will
have
it
so
,
as
there
is
nothing
in
that
,
but
what
has
very
frequently
happen'd
,
the
Jest
will
,
notwithstanding
,
be
intirely
lost
.
The
only
Remark
I
have
met
with
besides
is
,
that
the
Senators
are
very
hasty
Judges
,
in
giving
,
and
revoking
,
their
Sentence
;
to
which
I
shall
answer
,
that
Proceedings
of
that
nature
,
being
very
little
entertaining
on
the
Stage
,
I
endeavour'd
to
make
it
as
short
as
Reason
and
the
Matter
would
bear
;
and
if
my
Criticks
will
dispense
with
me
from
using
the
Forms
of
Westminster-Hall
,
I
believe
they
will
find
that
the
Evidence
appears
sufficiently
full
,
and
clear
,
to
condemn
any
Man
;
and
that
the
whole
force
of
it
is
afterwards
taken
off
,
by
the
farther
Declaration
of
one
,
whose
Sincerity
they
had
no
cause
to
doubt
of
.
But
how
far
their
proceedings
are
justify'd
by
Reason
,
and
Equity
,
where
Forms
cannot
be
observ'd
,
is
submitted
to
the
Judgment
of
every
Reader
,
who
is
not
merry
enough
to
sacrifice
Truth
,
and
good
Nature
to
his
Jest
.
PROLOGUE
INvited
by
a
Woman
,
every
Guest
,
No
doubt
,
expects
a
soft
Effeminate
Feast
,
Has
set
his
Appetite
for
tender
Strains
Of
Maids
forsaken
,
or
Despairing
Swains
;
Tho'
Sweden's
Liberty
is
in
debate
,
Concludes
amidst
the
War
,
and
Cares
of
State
,
Her
Hero
will
not
fail
your
Hearts
to
move
With
the
dear
Virtue
of
unbounded
Love
;
But
she
by
other
means
to
please
design'd
,
Nor
wou'd
those
Passions
sooth
,
to
which
all
find
Frail
Nature
of
it self
enough
inclin'd
:
To
publick
Virtues
she
'd
your
Souls
incite
,
A
Woman
thus
may
give
you
safe
Delight
;
Her
warmest
Scenes
will
raise
no
dangerous
Flame
,
A
Northern
Hero
is
her
chosen
Theam
,
Full
of
his
Countries
Fate
,
to
all
the
Fair
,
Cold
as
his
Climate
,
he
'll
unmov'd
appear
,
Cold
as
at
home
the
best
bred
Husband
here
.
Thus
liv'd
Gustavus
,
but
for
him
t'
attone
,
Ladies
to
you
a
Patriot
shall
be
shewn
,
In
whose
more
tender
Breast
a
virtuous
Wife
Rivals
his
Country
,
and
divides
his
Life
.
Nor
will
she
less
we
hope
engage
the
Fair
,
Since
Publick
Good
is
now
that
Sexes
Care
;
They
must
a
Noble
Heroine
approve
,
Parting
with
Life
,
nay
what
we
prize
above
,
To
save
the
Nation
,
vanquishing
her
Love
.
This
Pattern
may
prevail
to
disingage
All
the
Fair
Politicians
of
the
Age
,
From
every
Byass
that
our
Feuds
increase
,
Renouncing
Private
Ends
,
for
Publick
Peace
.
Nor
can
the
vainest
haughtiest
Man
,
disdain
A
Woman's
Precepts
in
Great
ANNA's
Reign
;
If
by
a
Woman
you
to
night
are
taught
,
Think
on
that
Source
from
whence
th'
Instruction
's
brought
.