See No V. Page 144.
8. THURSDAY evening an express arrived at the Secretary of State’s Office, from Robert Liston, Esq. our Envoy at the Swedish Court, which brought the extraordinary intelligence, that his Majesty the King of Sweden had fallen a victim to the too successful attempt of a regicide, on the 26th ultimo.
The circumstances of this unexpected event were as follows:—
His majesty that evening gave a grand Masquerade, to which all persons of distinction at the Swedish Court, including several foreign diplomatic characters, were invited.
During this entertainment, and when the festivity was at its height, a Gentleman of considerable rank, an Officer in the Army, watching a favorable opportunity, fired a large pistol at the King, loaded with slugs, the contents of which lodged in his Majesty’s groin, and the bottom part of his belly.
His Majesty immediately fell, and the confusion which followed was, as may easily be imagined, very great.
The perpetrator of his horrid deed was secured the next morning, but, though questioned, would assign no reason for his conduct.
The express was sent off a few hours after the event, at which time the King was alive, but it had been pronounced impossible for him to survive to any length of time. [The account continues without any mention of B.'s ‘prediction’, which was for a drowning not an assassination].