Chapter 4

ARGUMENT.

_Ernestus enters Dalecarlia--View of the scene round Mora--Transition to Gustavus Vasa, who it represented as reclining under a tree near his friend, the pastor's house, and retracing past events in his mind--His soliloquy--After briefly recounting the late disasters of Sweden, and the arguments which induced him to resolve to quit his country, he concludes with a prayer--Ernestus then appears, and delivers his message from the Genius of Sweden--Gustavus treats his mission as a fiction, upbraids him as a traitor, and attempts his life, but is prevented by apparent prodigies, which, however, do not entirely convince him or alter his resolution._