Erik Benzelius the younger Swedish parliament, the Riksdag of the Estates, from 1723 to his death. And he was generally described as being interested in anything that might benefit his country. In the Riksdag of 1738, he handed a letter of protest from the delegation from the Clergy Estate to Frederick I of Sweden, protesting of the monarch's adultery with Hedvig Taube: he was involved when the matter was raised again during the Riksdag of 1741. He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1740, and was its president in 1743. Erik Benzelius the younger Erik Benzelius the younger
Instrument of Government (1719) power with the parliament referred to as the Riksdag of the Estates. The Riksdag of the Estates consisted of the estates of the nobility, clergy, burghers and the peasantry, which were elected by those eligible to vote. Also women were in fact granted limited suffrage, providing they were taxpaying guild members of legal majority. The Government was referred to as the Royal Council. It consisted of 16 members, from the first three estates of the Riksdag. The members were appointed by the Riksdag: each of the first three estates appointed three candidates for the cabinet posts of government to the