The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-06-06

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coronation OF the new King of Sweden. Our
special dispatches at the time anticipated the
general details of the event. In this, however,
we have one of the double functions of the
modern journalist We had the news, and
now we have the narrative. We had the fact
now the essay We knew that the King had
been crowned-that ell had passed off happily.
That was the Office of the telegraph. But the
panorama opens before us. We have the color
and life of the scene, the pomp and pa
geantry, Sweden's capital doing honor to her
King, the long line of noble and decorated
gentlemen, the foreign ambassadors in their
splendor, tie ever-falling rain, the solemn
rites Of the coronation, the amounting, the
investiture with mantle, orb and crown,
the act of loyalty and homage. and
the procession home while the bells rung
their merry peals and groups Of student lads
| sung national hymns at tho palace gates.
This is the work Of the correspondent, or, as
we may say, of the essayist The cable has
destroyed the special correspondent and left
us only the telegrapher and the essayist-
A coronation, like christening OF we'd
ding, will always have its interest no matter
how practical or republican we are. II is q
ceremony and we are children so far as we
find all ceremonies pleasing There have
been famous kings who would not trouble
themselves to accept the sacred oil Frederick
the Great had no time to be anointed, and he
was q considerable king But the act of coro-
nation seems to us to be q proper act, 50
long as the trade of royalty is followed
among nations. If a monarch reigns
by divine right and sits on the throne
as a definite expression of Gods grace,
he cannot be too solemnly consecrated by
the priests Of the Church. We can under
stand how prince like Frederick, with novel
views about the sacred oil and the laying on of
hands, would despise any priestly ceremony.
But Frederick was sure of his throne He
did not belong to any doubtful or contested
line. He did not represent a revolution, like
the house of Victoria, or the advancement Of
mere soldiers of fortune like Bonaparte and
Bernadotte. Napoleon was childishly anxious
for the Pope to crown him, because to
Bonaparte Papal coronation was everything.
We know that when Oscar assembled the throne
the thrifty members of his Diet refused to
pay any money for coronation purposes. But
the King pressed his point He was Berna-
dotte. A hundred years ago his ancestors
were living humble lives in Pau, and their
minds were on more practical things than
crowns. And we can we'll conceive how Ber-
nadotte would be glad to have his royal mantle
blessed to the utmost capacity Of the Church.
If the nation is happy which has no annals,
then modern Sweden has cause for congratu-
lation. Whatever we may think of the Berna-
dotte line OF kings as antiquities and types Of
divine right they have kept the peace and
cultivated pleasant relations with the world.
The first of the race had more of war than
falls to ordinary commanders; for he was q
Marshal of Napoleon. He came to the throne
resolved to have peace, and, during his long
reign never swerved from the purpose. This
has been the rule of his house, with the ex-
ception of the last King, his fantastic and
high-mettled grandson. As our correspondent
shows in his narrative, Charles XIV. was
under the influence of on ''idea" or
EMISSION" as extreme and controlling as the
determination of Charles XII. that he
would conquer Russia, or the religious
enthusiasm of the Russian Alexander,
that he would unite the modern dynasties in .
mystical holy alliance. Charles, in his poetic,
fiery French way, hoped to unite the Scandi-
navian races under one crown. Denmark,
Sweden and Norway would become one nation.
Russia would be forced to return Finland.
The two million Swedes who now obey the
Gar would come back to their natural alle-
glance. Danish Schleswig would be restored
to Denmark according to the Treaty of Prague,
and perhaps Pomerania would come again to
its old flag. Scandinavian councils would be
heard in Europe, and the glory Of Gustavus
Adolphus would fall upon the grandson of
Bernadotte. But in its nature this could never
be- The King strained every nerve to make
an army. All he did was to become
suzerain of the French Emperor, and he was
so indiscreet during the late war as to menace
his crown with the anger Of Prussia. The
honest Swedes had no such fancies. They
saw-what the world sees--that the happiest
countries in Europe are the small countries;
that Holland and Portugal, and Belgium and
Switzerland, move on in peace and prosperity,
while the giant kaisers are butchering one
another's subjects. They were content to be
even as Holland and Belgium-to be happy
and industrious and peaceful. The Kings
hopes faded away, and he took to poetry and
the fine arts and intemperance, and died q
young man--of disappointment we think, as
much as anything else, at the failure of his
people to appreciate the splendor of his mission.
| Sweden and Norway have had splendid,
but more recently an honest and safe career.
No nations in Europe have history more
ancient and renowned. We of the English
speaking blood can go back to the time when
our ancestors were savage kernes and gallow-