The Portland daily press., 1877-11-29
M. @. M. A. COURSE.
Lecture by DIR. j. A. spaIding.

The lecture postponed from Monday night
owing to the storm was given at Mechanics
Hall by DR.. j. A. Spaldng, last eveJiLg The
subject was ''Charles XII of Sweden" and the
lecture proved very interesting from the open
Ing to the close. The following is brief alb
s'ract of the lecture:
Charles XII of Sweden was one of those rep
resentatve men who clustered about the end of
the 18th century and the opening of the 18th.
Those men and that epoch will always be of in
terest to the student of history Europe was
a6laze with wars, new Kingdoms were growing
into life in the north, old ones dying out in the
south; Prussia was rising head aud shoulders
over her old peighbors, Poland, Denmark and
Saxony; Russia was setting the problems of
gaining foothod on the Mediterranean. n,oh-
ems not vet solved as We see by glance at the
daily papers with long accounts of bloody Kars
and impregnabe Plevna; Spaio and the Ger
man empire were slowly disihtegrating. la
the midst of all this growth and decay, and
storms OF battles, Charles of Sweden, the head
man Of the North, took noteworthy part
AT The age of eighteen he gave up all of his
destinations, which had been favored bv his
grandmother. the Regent, flung down his gage
OF battle to Denmark, Poland and Russia, by
turn, and for seven long years of interrupted
successes overran the north of Europe. But it
was not ambition that led him into all these
wars. 1t was his hatred fer these Kingdoms.
VINO plotted to wrest from him his provinces on
tue south and east of the Baltic, that started
MIN on his mad career; it was his longing for
vengeance that led him to his final downfall.
Landing in Denmark in May, 1900, he forced
the King of that land to make peace in six
weeks; be then defeated an overwhelming forcs
OF Russians at Harva, still later won bloody
victory from August of Poland, and then de-
throned him and putin Stanslaus Leczinsky in
his stead. For year after year he marched to
and fro over Poland, became master of the
whole region by the year of 1706, and then
crossing silesa, much to the dismay of the Ger |
man Diet, be entered Saxony, Overran it as be |
had overrun Poland and forced August, the |
Eector, to sign one of the most humiating |
peaces ever recorded on the pages of history
The war of the Spanish succession which |
shook tbs south and west of Europe for the |
first thirteen years of the century had not much |
interest for Charles. He had crown insane as we |
may venture to say, on the question of conquer
ing Kingdoms, Just for the sake of giving them |
away, and in the winter of 1707-S he star ted |
off on his fool-hardy expedition to depose Czar |
Peter. as he had deposed King August; when
that was done he hoped to be able to reach |
Germany by the way of CoDstantinople, Alex
andra ana Rome. All winter long the Swedes |
marched on, Charles always in advance, ever |
ready to give battle to any Russian army that |
should appear, and by the end of the summer
of 170S Smolensk, only few marches from
Moscow, was reached. But now Charles, by
judgment, started off to the south
ward, into Ukrania, where Prince Mazeppa, a
traitor to Russia, had promised hin reinforce
ments and food.
Alas, however, for the hopes of Charles
Mazeppas plots had been discovered, and be
reached the Swedish camp only as fugitive,
and with no help except large band of wan
dering Kossaks.
70 the spring of 1909, Paltawa was besieged
by the Swedes, but before it could be captured,
the Gar came upon the scene, and on the 8th
of July, he defeated the Swedes in a pitched
battle, and drove them into Turkey, where the
fugitive Charles was kindly received by the |
Sultan. In return for this kiRduess, Charles
left no stone upturned. in his endeavor to draw
Turkey into war with Russia, hoping that he |
might thereby gain some help for himself,
But although war was declared, although the
Gar had to make peace with the Turks, no |
help came to Charles For four years, the Sui
tan urged him continually to leave Turkey, but
ne always made excuses. and would not leave.
Finally, when ordered to call npon The Vizier,
be took to his bed, pretended to be i'll, and lay
there. day in. day out, for nearly year.
, In IVA, his sister sent urgent messages for
mands, he galloped night and day, up the Dan
nbe, down the Rhine, and reached Statsund in
safety. Here he was besieged in the following
ear by the Prussians, aad their allies, and
seeing that surrender was inevitable, he sailed
across to Sweden, and touched his native soil
after nearly fifteen years of absence.
During the years 1716-18 Charles was led by |
that audacious diplomat Baron Goertz, into
of his life long hatred of Gar
Peter; he consented to treaty by which Swe-
den and Russia were to attack Poland, and |
Prussia an large body OF men were to enter
Scotland, depose George l from the throne of
Great Britain, and put in his place, the Pre-
tender. This treaty was ready to be signed,
when Charles iwas suddenly killed tsome an
thorties hint at assassination) in the trenches |
before Fredericshall in Norway in December,
1719. He died as he had lived; in the convul-
sive motion of sudden death, bis right hand
grasped bis swor1
The great characteristic of Charles, was that
he had no weaknesses. But his heroic virtues |
carried to excess, became as dangerous as
vices He believed that his subjects were
put into the world simply to follow him wher-
ever he should lead. He loved everything that
was extraordinary; the camp and the battle
field were his home. His brief reign ruined
Sweden. After he was dead, Goertz was treat
ed as tlaitor, Ulrca was chosen Regent and
Queen, the story of Charles was bequeathed to
history; fifty years later when Sweden sued for |
peace with Prussia, at the end of the seven
years war in 1868. the great Frederick said in |
his sarcastic way, "Peace with Sweden? l did |
not know that we had been at war with Swe-
den;" and the Turkish envoy at Berlin, when
bearing Of the weakness of Sweden, and re-
membeIiug the stories of the former king,
shook his head in doubt, and probably thought |
as many of US may think, that Charles the |
headman of the north, was one of those men |
who make the times in which they live