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Doc. 172.) 485
ON WAR AGAINST RUSSIA.
by France, Spain, and Sardinia; while Russia, in conjunction with
Austria, declared in favourofAugustusIII, the son ofAugustusII.
It was at this juncture that France sought to obtain the co
operation of Sweden, by prevailing upon her to send auxiliary
troops to Poland. Hitherto the government of Sweden had been
in favour of the French alliance, but, at the Diet of 1734, Horn,
with the view of preserving peace, changed his views and
abandoned that alliance, which was eagerly taken up by
Gyllenborg’s party, whose hands were strengthened by General
Lewenhaupt, 182 who had been one of Horn’s adherents, and
by many officers who hoped to obtain promotion by the
war. But the party of peace was as yet too strong, especially
as they had the King on their side, and so the policy of the
whats" did not succeed at the Diet of 1734. It was at that
Diet that the following memorial was brought before the
Secret Committee of the Diet ( Sekreta Utskottet) by Emanuel
Swedenborg, in which the advantages and disadvantages of an
offensive and defensive alliance with France are set forth in
a masterly manner. There is every reason to suppose that
this memorial exerted a great influence in the Secret Committee
of the Diet, of which Swedenborg was a member, and that it
was partly due to his influence that his country was saved,
for six years longer, from the horrors of war, and, what was
of still greater consequence to the Swedes, from the humilia
tion of disastrous defeat. In 1738, however, the party of
the “hats” had become so powerful, that they succeeded
in getting the reins of government into their hands, and
Count Horn and his friends, or the party of the “ caps," were
obliged to resign. In 1739, Count C. Gyllenborg87 succeeded
Count Horn as President of the Court of Chancery, and soon
after General Lewenhaupt132 assumed the supreme command of
the army. In 1741, war was declared against Russia, which
resulted very disastrously for the Swedes, as in the peace of
Åbo, in 1743, they were compelled to cede to Russia a great
part of Finland-to the river Hymene. They were likewise
compelled to accept as the heir-apparent of Sweden Duke
Adolphus Frederic11 of Holstein, a near relative of the Empress of
Russia. General Lewenhaupt, however, was condemned to death
for his non-success in the war. All of which puts in a clear
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