The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-03-09
q. .IN3 n

-
itary despotism, Charles exercised
arbitrary sway. whether In his capt.
tnlSat home orr at the. head Of his;
armies abroad He died without
leaving an heir. Il The mobiles OF the
kingdom at once seized the$relns of
power lIlrlca, Charles, youngest sic;
ter, was elected by them as Queen,
but the5royal authority was reduced
to a shadow, Ulrica and her success.
sors, Frederick i. and slAdolphus
Frederick, were mere mock mon.
archs. The council, Of state, which
was composed entirely OF mobiles, not
only filled al important Offices. but
was also the supreme executive pow.
.er. III the King refused to; sign any
measure the council favored tho
council Affixed his signature with q
rubber stamp which Il had made cs.
pecially for this purpose. Il
}Adolphus Frederick died In Febru.
airy, It'll. His son and /. heir, who
now became King as Gustavus liz,
was at the time In Paris. Gustavus
had long since resolved that when
he succeeded TO the throne he would
be King in fact us we'll as In name
He was admirably fitted to effect the
revolution which he contemplated. He,
was a native Of Sweden and spoke Its
language perfectly, whereas I Freder.
lex I. and Adolphus Frederick were
Germans. He was tall and hand.
some, His manners were popular
IIe was 8audacious, courageous, clio.
,qncnt and an accomplished dissim.
ulator. N
For several years he was one OF
the most loved rulers Sweden ever
had But later the mobiles thought
their opportunity was come to res
cover the power which Gustayus had
wrested from them, and a conspiracy
was formed to abduct him and com.
pei him to adbicate. Two or three
abortiye$ attempts were made to car.
ry out this plan. It was then con
cluded the! easiest and safest way to
get the King out Of the road was TO
Kill i,hlm. N q i !;
The chief conspiratorss were An,
knrstrom, who had beentan otlicers.in
the Kings guard; Count Rubbing,
Count Horn, Count Llllehorn and
Baron Pechlln, Ankarstrom twas 10
shoot The King at one Of the popY:
lar masked balls he was lnBthe$ hatiis
Of attending. He failed twice 10
recognize Gllstayus. The night oi
March 51G, 1852. a masked bali was
to take place at A the Grand Opera
House in Stockholm. It was decided
to make a last effort to kill the King
on this occasion. s FL, ~
Pechlin, Horn, Rubbing and Ankar,
strom took supper together and then
went to the theater Gustavus and
his closest friend, Count Essen, ate
In, a private room at the ;theater
which had been arranged for the
Kings convenience. While they were
eating an anonymous note revealing
the whole plot4was handed to h Tho
King. lt4had been written by one 81
the consplrators. Count Lillehorn
who had weakened at the last mo
ment: The King refused to IS heed
the warning, but put on his mask.
aalight domino--and descended tc
the floor, which was already filled
with dancers. II ts:' Now let. 4 us see
whether they will attack me, z liz
said gailySto Essen. .5;@i3f53
That they might be able to recog
nize one another Pechlin, Horn, Rlb,
ping and 5Ankarstrom all wore black
domino7es: The King made a tour Of
the ballroom and then started to step
into an adjoining room ito rest. The
black dominoes at this moment sur 81 #
rounded him: Good evening, my
beautiful masquerader," said one OF
them ! Count Horn laying his hand
on the Kings shoulder These
words were v the signal Ankarstrom
Instantly i ls anti fired. His pistol was wrap.
ped inyySraw wool and the report was Was
heard by but few persons. II am am
wounded. Arrest the assassin! the
!! King exclaimed Essen, covered with
his blood, dragged him 10 a. box and
f.szz 81 ..5E177f7t 1l.I is