Olof Wallquist

The retirement of the timid primate left him without an equal in the Estate of Clergy, and it was very largely due to his co-operation that the king was able to carry through the famous "Act of Unity and Security" which converted Sweden from a constitutional into a semi-absolute monarchy.

A friend of compromise, like most of the men of his cloth, Wallqvist dissuaded all revolutionary expedients at the outset, though when the king proved immovable the bishop materially smoothed the way before him.

At this memorable riksdag Wallqvist exhibited, moreover, financial ability of the highest order, and, as president of the ecclesiastical commission, assisted in balancing the budget and find the funds necessary for resuming the war with Russia.

Indeed, it may be safely said that Gustavus III, during the last six years of his reign, mainly depended upon Wallqvist and his clerical colleague, Carl Gustaf Nordin, who were patriotic enough to subordinate even their private enmity to the royal service.

But his old rivalry with Nordin was resumed at the same time, and when the latter defeated a motion of the bishop's in the Estate of Clergy, at the diet of Norrköping, Wallqvist from sheer vexation had a stroke of apoplexy and died the same day.