The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-20 00:00:00

fiqtrning flit

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 1844.

DEATH

OF THE

KING OF SWEDEN.

The following communication, announcing the death
of the King of SWEDEN, has just been received:—
" HAMBURGII (via Hull), MARCH 16.

" A bulletin was affixed on 'Change to-day, announc-
ing the arrival of an express from Stockholm, with the
intelligence that his Majesty CHARLES JOHN had ceased
to exist. He died on the Bth inst., at four o'clock in the
morning. His son and heir assumed forthwith the
Royal authority, under the style of OSCAR the SECOND ;
and announced his intention of continuing the govern-
ment of Sweden and Norway in the footsteps of his late
father. The most perfect order existed up to the period
of the departure of the express, nor was the slightest
interruption to public tranquillity expected. The intel-
ligence of the event caused no sensation in Hamburgh,
where it had been already looked for by post daily for
some time past."

Another of the distinguished soldiers of the Revo-
lution and the Empire has just passed away from
earth. BERNADOTTE is dead—the only one of the roy-
alties of NAPOLEON'S creation who survived the
crash of the Imperial dynasty. It may be remem-
bered that it was chieflyby BUONAPARTE'S influence—
exerted most unwillingly, if we may believe Bon-
RlENNE—that this illustrious soldier of fortune was
made Crown Prince of Sweden ; and his own politic
and sagacious conduct, during the campaign of 1814,
enabled him afterwards to grasp the Swedish sceptre.
BERNADOTTE was originally, we believe, like MURAT,
the son of a French inn-keeper, and on the breaking
out of the Revolution in 1789 he held a sergeant's com-
mission in the Guards. Being a man of an ambitious,
enterprising character, he, of course, joined the pa-
triotic party—distinguished himself in many of the
campaigns on the frontier—and, on the memor-
able Eighteenth of Brumaire, when NAPOLEON up-
set the corrupt, worn-out Directory, and es-
tablished the Consulate, he was specially applied
to by that triumphant soldier, who was anxious to
secure his co-operation. But BERNADOTTE, who
had a great respect for the laws, and was unwilling
to have them set aside by military power, and who
was, moreover, doubtful of the result, refused to mix
himself up with the movement; and it is well known
that if the Ancients, or the Council of Five Hundred,
had ordered him to arrest the intriguing NAPOLEON, he
would have done so without hesitation. No order;
however, of the sort was issued, and in the mean-
time the great chief of the conspiracy had obtained
from him a promise that he would not interfere of his
own accord—a promise which was scrupulously,
though somewhat reluctantly, fulfilled. During the
Consulate, BERNADOTTE was actively engaged in the
campaigns of that period ; and on the establishment of
the Empire was created a Marshal, and soon after-
wards Prince of PONTE Convo, the name,of a petty
Italian principality, where he had greatly distin-
guished himself in action. He served the EMPEROR
faithfully during the famous Austrian campaign, when
he commanded a Saxon division of the army ; but having
issued a somewhat inflated bulletin after the victory
of Wagram, in which he ascribed the day's; suc-
cess in a great degree to the skill and valour of his
own troops, NAPOLEON took umbrage, and issued a
counter-bulletin, which reflected severely on BERNA-
DOTTE, who shortly after returned to Paris, and lived
in comparative retirement, until his elevation to the
dignity of Crown Prince of Sweden. When the
disasters in Russia took place, and the finest army
that the world had ever known was deitroyed root
and branch, less, however, by the troops of ALEX-
ANDER than the avenging elements of Heaven, BER-
NADOTTE, after a brief season of irresolution, joined
the Allies, who were then just preparing to enter on
that tremendous campaign, which, at the battle of
Leipsic, destroyed for ever the fortunes of NAPOLEON.
His movements, however, were at first tardy and re-
luctant, and were regarded by some of the Allied
Powers not without distrust; but at Leipsic he
came resolutely into action, and contributed not a
little to the success of that bloody day. On
the termination of the great European struggle, he re-
turned to his adopted country, to which, in conside-
ration of his services, the Allies had annexed Nor-
way ; and devoted his whole time—for, by all ac-
counts, he was a just and beneficent monarch—to
the welfare of his subjects. Of all NAPOLEON'S
Marshals, none maintained a higher character for
justice, moderation, and humanity than BERNADOTTE.
He was not a dashing, brilliant soldier—and nothing
more—like MIIRAT, LANNES, OP NEY ; but was a skilful
and wary strategist, endowed with great foresight, and
as sagacious in his military conceptions, as he was
resolute in the execution of them. Though the EM-
PEROR never liked him, for he was not sufficiently un-
scrupulous as a partisan to suit his views, yet he
did justice to his worth, and placed confidence in
his integrity. BERNADOTTE has been severely
taken to task by the French memoir writers