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Journal, Feb. 6, 1850, p. 100. He says: "I left it [Upsala] on the ensuing morning (Sept. 7), and at an early hour drove to a spot noted in the history of Sweden. In this country, it must be observed, the elective principle has always been, to some extent, maintained in connection with the monarchy. During the ages preceding Gustavus Vasa, kings and administrators were frequently appointed by popular assemblies. These assemblies usually took place at a certain spot a few miles from Upsala. There the king, or administrator, standing on a stone, swore to observe the law of his kingdom towards his people. In the course of time these stones, inscribed with their respective histories, accumulated to a considerable number; and at length, in 1770, Gustavus the Third built a small pavilion over them for their protection. To this pavilion, which bears the name of 'The Morastenar,' I was driven in less than an hour. It stands on the wayside, under a hill, in a country otherwise undistinguished. I found the stones, all of them much worn, ranged along the floor, while an inscription round the ceiling detailed the names of the personages elected, with the dates of their elections, from Steen Kit, in the year 1060, to Steen Sture, in 1512. It is curious, that both the kings of Scotland and the Lords of the Islands were, in ancient times, invested with sovereignty seated or standing upon a stone." The best view of them is an engraving in Dahlberg's "Suecia antiqua et hodierna," vol. i.—"Delineatio loci amœni et antiquitatis venerabilis, ubi veteres Sueci et Gothi reges suos eligebant, et in facti memoriam lapides incisos relinquebant, vulgo dicti Morasteen."

 

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