42. May we not suspect that superstition was the parent of
despotism? The descendants of Odin (whose race was not
extinct till the year l060) are said to have reigned in
Sweden above a thousand years. The temple of Upsal was the
ancient seat of religion and empire. In the year 1153 I find
a singular law, prohibiting the use and profession of arms
to any except the king's guards. Is it not probable that it
was coloured by the pretence of reviving an old institution?
Dalling's History of Sweden in the Bibliotheque Raisonnee,
xl. xlv.