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206 A History of Sweden
the king’s faithful servants, whom he could consult
when he pleased, and that the decision always rested
with His Majesty, who as governor of his own God-
given heritage was responsible to God alone for his
acts-
At the Riksdag in 1682, the turn came to the power
of the Estates themselves. The king induced them to
pass an act giving him the right to make laws without
the consent of the Estates. Thus absolutism was estab-
lished in Sweden as it had previously been established
in Denmark and in several other lands. When the next
Riksdag was summoned the members on their way to
Stockholm could read the following irritating lines on
some of the milestones :
"What’s to be done is e’en now done,
Ye, legislators, need not run."
It was true enough. The Estates only bowed and
assented to everything His Majesty proposed. Their
humility knew no bounds. The king was called "an
absolute and all-commanding king with power to gov-
ern his kingdom according to his own pleasure." Even
the power of taxation passed from the Estates. The
proceeds from the inquest of the regents and the re-
sumption of grants furnished the king with increased
revenues so that he had no need of extra taxes and
could manage with the incomes that accrued without
the acts of the Estates.
Naval Defenses. With the naval defense Charles
had to start practically anew. The late war had dem-
onstrated the unsuitableness of Stockholm as a chief
naval station. There the fleet was usually icebound
till late in the spring, and in its passage through the
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