_The Constitutional Monarchy--Charles XIII. and the early Bernadottes_
Charles XIII. succeeded his nephew. He was chosen king after a new
constitution had been formulated and accepted by the Riksdag of 1809.
Charles XIII. was one of the most unsympathetic of Swedish kings, but
his reign marks a new period in Swedish history, commencing the era
of constitutional government. The new constitution to which the king
subscribed was not a radical document; it only reduced the power of the
king. Hans Jærta, one of the nobles who had renounced their privileges
and been active in the conspiracy against Gustavus IV., was the leading
spirit of the constitutional committee and was appointed secretary
of state in the new cabinet. Urgent appeals of the peasant Estate to
reduce or abolish the privileges of the upper classes were of no avail,
no reform of state or society yet being made. A proposition by Count
von Platen to introduce a compulsory militia defence was voted down.
This Riksdag, which lasted for a year, gave fuller liberties to the
press, which at once used it to voice the popular dissatisfaction with
the state of affairs. It was necessary to select an heir to the throne,
as the old king was childless, Prince Christian August of Augustenborg
being chosen, much in opposition to the nobles, who wanted the son of
Gustavus IV.
The prince of Augustenborg, who was Danish governor-general of Norway,
accepted, and was adopted by the king, changing his name to Charles
August. He was a plain, resolute and active man, unattractive in
appearance, but of a kind and noble character. Beloved by the lower
classes, who had effected his selection, he was treated coldly by the
Gustavian aristocrats and by Queen Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte (Princess
of Oldenburg), who all favored the selection of young Gustavus,
the son of exiled Gustavus IV. Reports of attempts to poison the
heir-apparent were in circulation even before he arrived in Sweden.
Prince Charles August himself often said that he thought he would die
young by some stroke of paralysis, but he paid no attention to the
warnings given him. During a parade of troops at Qvidinge, in Scania,
he was suddenly seen to lose consciousness and dropped dead from his
horse. Peculiarities in the investigation of the corpse, led by his
physician, caused a second post-mortem examination, in which the
celebrated chemist Berzelius took part. The report seemed in favor of
the supposition that the death was caused by poison. The indignation
of the populace knew no bounds. The friends of the government tried to
coin political money by insinuating that the Gustavians, particularly
Count Axel von Fersen the Younger and his sister, Countess Piper, were
the responsible parties. At the burial of the dead prince the mob of
Stockholm perpetrated one of the most hideous murders of a man who was
without doubt innocent. When Count Fersen, in the capacity of marshal
of the realm, was to open the procession, he was warned not to do so,
but in pride and sense of duty resolved to meet his fate. Approaching
the church of Riddarholm, his carriage was pelted with stones, Fersen
himself seeking shelter in various places, but being pursued by the mob
and killed. Fersen had sought protection in a body of troops, whose
officers commanded them to turn him over to the mob. Thus perished a
man who, with Curt von Stedingk, had received the order of Cincinnatus
from the hands of George Washington, and who once was so near saving
Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette from their cruel fate. Fersen’s brother
was saved only by mere chance and his sister by a flight in disguise.
The mob now was resolved to attack Countess Piper, who was thought to
be at the castle, and the queen herself. But the authorities, who had
brought shame on themselves by their unwillingness to save Fersen,
interfered, directing a few shots of cannon against the mob, dispersing
it and killing many (June 10, 1810).
Sweden was once more without an heir-apparent to the throne. Frederic,
the brother of Charles August, was favored by the king. Frederic
VI. of Denmark was a candidate, but the old national hatred against
the Danes was still too strong to make his selection possible. A
count of Oldenburg was also mentioned by some. The Gustavians, to
whom Adlercreutz belonged, dared not openly push their candidate of
the old royal line. The patriotic noblemen in power were anxious to
see some great general chosen, regardless of a royal pedigree, who
could recapture Finland. King Charles sent two emissaries to Napoleon
to notify him of the death of Charles August and the selection of
his brother. Then one of the most original and daring schemes ever
attempted on such a line was carried through by Count Otto Mœrner, one
of the emissaries. On his own responsibility, he inquired of Marshal
Bernadotte, one of Napoleon’s ablest generals, if he would consent to
become heir-apparent to the Swedish throne. Bernadotte consented, and
the consent of Napoleon was obtained through the Swedish ambassador
in Paris. Upon his return, Mœrner was ordered to leave the capital by
the minister of state, who blamed him for his unauthorized action. But
from Upsala Mœrner led an eager agitation, with the result that the
Riksdag of Œrebro selected Bernadotte, who was represented by a secret
emissary. Thus the two generals who, at the abdication of Gustavus IV.,
were, one in Norway, the other in Denmark, with troops ready to attack
Sweden, both within one year were chosen to succeed Charles XIII.
Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte was born at Pau, in South France, in
1764. The son of a lawyer, he worked himself up in the army and was by
the Revolution enabled to reach the high military stations for which
his eminent genius had destined him. Next to Napoleon the ablest of
French generals, he opposed the imperial tendencies of the latter,
but was later repeatedly used by the emperor to fulfil important
duties as a warrior, diplomatist and statesman, receiving the rank of
a marshal of France and the title of Prince of Ponte Corvo. Related
by marriage, the two were never on terms of intimacy, and the Swedish
politicians who thought to please the emperor, and gain a strong point
with him by the selection of Bernadotte, were mistaken. Bernadotte
joined the Lutheran church at Elsinore and landed in Sweden October
20, 1810. By his impressive appearance, his amiability and his genius,
he soon won all hearts. As he never acquired the Swedish language,
and as his superior ability as a statesman and warrior was not always
comprehended, he suffered often through misunderstandings by his new
countrymen, who never ceased to admire his eminent genius. Prince
Charles, or Charles Johann, as he called himself henceforward, was
of a commanding presence and had an interesting face, surrounded by
black curly hair. His fascinating ways and winning disposition held
captive the admiration even of his political opponents. Prince Charles
refused to submit to the undue influence with which Napoleon tried to
fetter him, and always carried high and with patriotic independence the
interests of his adopted country.
Napoleon soon found reason to be offended with Sweden. Through the
peace of Paris, Sweden had agreed to close its harbors to England, but
in Gothenburg, which town had suffered destruction by fire and was
recently rebuilt, a lively traffic was secretly carried on, connecting
England with Northern Europe and enriching Gothenburg. Napoleon was
enraged and forced Sweden to declare war on England, which power,
realizing the circumstances, did not open any hostilities, and allowed
the commercial traffic to continue, although more secretly. Prince
Charles, who from the start exerted a strong influence upon the
government, effected an approach to Russia and England to save the
dignity of Sweden, much to Napoleon’s dismay. He also put the army in a
satisfactory condition by recruiting. This caused a revolt in Scania,
which was subdued with severity. The Riksdag of 1812 passed a law for
the establishment of a compulsory militia, all men between twenty-one
and twenty-five years old being registered in classes according to age
and instructed in military tactics and discipline.
Napoleon tried by various methods to subdue and humiliate the
independence of his Swedish ally, which, when fruitless, led him
to acts of hostility. Prince Charles made peace with England and an
alliance with Russia, who promised 20,000 men to assist in the conquest
of Norway. When Napoleon and Alexander of Russia commenced war against
each other, popular opinion in Sweden sided with the former, but
Prince Charles, who knew in detail the nature of Napoleon’s power and
its lack of a solid foundation, tried to make his views clear. He met
Alexander personally, agreeing with him on plans of mutual action,
at Abo in 1812. After Napoleon’s unsuccessful march against Russia,
Swedish opinions changed and Bernadotte had free hands to follow up his
policy. England formed an alliance with Sweden, agreeing to support the
conquest of Norway and ceding the island of Guadeloupe (later sold to
France by Sweden). In 1813, 25,000 Swedish troops were sent to Germany,
joining the continental allies, who, divided in three armies, were to
attack Napoleon, according to plans mostly mapped out by Prince Charles
of Sweden. The latter was to command the Northern army of 100,000
men, Swedes, Prussians, Russians and English, but his position was
a difficult one, for his superior tactics were misunderstood by his
subordinates and by Blucher, the valiant but headstrong commander of
50,000 Prussians, who formed the Silesian army. But through the battles
of Grossbeeren (August 23d), Dennewitz (September 6th), and Leipsic
(October 16-19), the eminence of Bernadotte’s genius was fully brought
out, his leadership and the Swedish troops taking honorable part in
each. Napoleon and his armies were defeated and pursued by the allies.
The monarchs voted a resolution of thanks to Prince Charles, who, with
his army, marched northward to carry out the ultimate object of his
policy, the conquest of Norway, the plans of which had been made by
Count Platen and handed him before he ever left Paris.
Denmark had declared war on Sweden and sided with Napoleon. By turning
against Denmark the former Marshal Bernadotte saved himself from the
necessity of making an attack on the country of his birth. Lubeck
surrendered, the Danes were defeated at Bornhœved, Kiel and Glucksburg
were captured, and the whole of Holstein occupied. An armistice was
agreed to. Denmark offered the diocese of Drontheim, but Prince Charles
was resolved to expel Denmark from the Scandinavian Peninsula. January
14, 1814, peace was made at Kiel, Denmark ceding to Sweden the whole
of Norway, except Iceland and Fero Islands, and receiving Swedish
Pomerania and the island of Rugen in compensation.
Norway, united with Denmark ever since the days of Queen Margaret,
in a relation of more or less neglected conditions, during which her
original independence was lost, had of late not been satisfied to
remain under Danish supremacy. The governing class of officeholders was
to a great extent of Danish origin and tendencies, and the patriotism
of the population at large dates from a later period. Among the more
cultured classes the revolution in France and close relations with
England had fostered a desire for political independence. The Danes
made use of this fact in order to try to maintain the relation with
Denmark in some way. The Danish crown prince, Christian Frederic, was
in 1813 made governor-general of Norway. He was a man of some brilliant
gifts, but without any great ability. By journeys in the country he
acquired popularity and adherents. In February, 1814, a meeting was
held at Eidsvold by men of prominence, who declared the prince regent.
May 17th a constitution was adopted and Christian Frederic elected
king of Norway. His courteous offer of extending his rule to Sweden
was there met by derision. After a triumphal return to Stockholm,
Prince Bernadotte gathered his forces and attacked Norway both by land
and sea, the aged King Charles XIII. having command of the navy. An
army of 20,000 Swedes entered Norway under command of Von Essen, who
captured the fortifications at Svinesund. The navy took possession of
the islands in the archipelago outside of Fredericstad, which town
was captured, with the fortress Kongsten, 100 cannon and considerable
stores of weapons and provisions. The Norwegian army of 30,000 men was
located in various places with the central body of troops at Moss. The
plan of Prince Charles was to enclose it from all sides. A smaller
Swedish force of 3,000 men was repulsed by the Norwegians in two
conflicts at Lier and Medskog, celebrated by the latter as important
victories. In the meantime the Swedish army proceeded northward and the
fleet penetrated to the bay of Christiania. The plan to enclose the
Norwegian army at Moss was being carried into effect in order to finish
the war by one single battle, when negotiations for peace were begun.
Prince Charles was anxious to have the conflict brought to a rapid
close because he feared that the powers, envious of Sweden’s good
fortune and dissatisfied with the refusal of Prince Charles to join
in an attack on France, might take unfavorable decisions at the
approaching congress of Vienna. Prompted by these reasons, and perhaps
influenced by his experience of revolutionary movements, Prince Charles
offered to sanction Norway’s constitution only with such changes
as were necessary for a union with Sweden, besides demanding the
abdication and speedy departure of Christian Frederic. On these terms
peace was made at the convention of Moss, August 14, 1814. At the first
meeting of the Norwegian Storthing, or Diet, the terms of peace were
sanctioned and Charles XIII. chosen king of Norway. At the Congress of
Vienna, in 1815, treaties were signed between Sweden and Prussia and
between Denmark and Prussia, according to which Swedish Pomerania and
Rugen were ceded to Prussia on the payment of about $2,000,000, and the
duchy of Lauenburg ceded to Denmark. In the relation between Sweden and
Norway no change was made, and Denmark lost all hope of the restitution
of the latter country.
The great moderation shown by Prince Charles in the acquisition of
Norway has been criticised in various ways, but none of the arguments
used against it have themselves been able to bear a critical test.
The idea of uniting the two countries as independent states was
older in Sweden than the very constitution of Norway which Prince
Charles accepted. It was the idea of the leading men in Sweden who
had dethroned Gustavus IV. in 1809. The Scandinavian Union is not the
best imaginable, has brought Sweden no added power or security, and
has placed her king in a difficult position. The only bond of union
is the king, the two countries each having their constitution, diet
and cabinet. There is only one department in common, the one of which
the Swedish minister of foreign affairs is the head and which settles
all relations with other countries for both Sweden and Norway. Three
members of the Norwegian cabinet are residents of Stockholm, to prepare
affairs pertaining to the Norwegian administration and to partake in
affairs involving both countries. These stipulations are made by
the Act of Union, accepted in 1815 by the Diets of both countries.
According to the Norwegian constitution, the king can use no greater
force than 3,000 men outside the Norwegian boundary, except with the
special consent of the Diet. Thus Sweden cannot in case of war expect
any solid support from her sister country. The loose connections of the
Union did not become apparent during the reigns of Charles XIII. and
his successor, and the powers of Europe were not aware of them. Thus
the Union served its purpose as offering a solid front of unity and
strength to the powers who were dividing and redividing almost every
territory on the map of Europe.
Charles XIII. died in February, 1818, at the age of seventy, and his
talented queen followed him a few months later.
_Charles XIV. Johann_ was fifty-four years of age when ascending
the throne, but a man in his prime. To the dignity of the crown he
brought a great personal influence, and his fame as a warrior, which
spread throughout Europe. The firm diplomatic relations with Russia
were continued, but approaches to England were also made. Charles
XIV. gave close personal attention to the administration, being
especially interested in the defence, finances, canals and roads.
With his brilliant genius, quick temper and sense of superiority, the
king sometimes reigned more alone and by his own decision than was
considered advisable; but in the majority of cases he was influenced
by the able men of his cabinet--Wetterstedt, Rosenblad, Skjœldebrand,
Cederstrom and Wirsén. An intimate friend of the king was Count
Magnus Brahe, who, though not a member of the cabinet, influenced the
government more than was thought compatible with its dignity. Count
Brahe, the head of one of the most distinguished of aristocratic
families, used his great influence over the king mostly in a noble
way, himself being raised to the highest dignities of the state. He
was blindly devoted to the king, followed him like a shadow, taking
infinite care of him during his last illness, and dying only a few
months after his royal friend.
One of the most remarkable works carried on during the reign of Charles
XIV. was the Gotha Canal system, which was brought to completion.
The old bishop Brask had spoken of a connection between the lakes
of Venar and Vetter, and the great Oxenstierna thought of a canal
between the North Sea and the Baltic across Sweden. Charles XII. had
ordered Polhem to make a trafficable passage around the waterfalls
of Trollhetta, which was done after new plans during the reign of
Gustavus IV. During the Period of Liberty, Daniel Thunberg had made
plans for the whole canal system. But Count Balzar von Platen was the
man to make the great work a realized fact, devoting his whole life
to it, conquering distrust, opposition and lack of funds. He spent
six years in preliminary surveys before taking up the agitation for
the realization of his plans. During the whole progress of the work,
his efficient activity in looking after every detail could only be
compared to his constant agitation in the Riksdag for the support of
the immense enterprise and his scrupulous attention to the financial
part of it. When the great canal was opposed as an unpatriotic scheme,
endangering the defence of the country, Platen answered by completing
plans for a colossal fortress in the heart of the canal system, which,
when erected, became the strategic stronghold of Sweden, and was named
Carlsborg. Platen died as governor-general of Norway, seeing his great
life-work nearing completion. The Gotha Canal is the most remarkable
of its kind in Europe, being 259 miles long, with 74 locks, many of
which have been cut out of solid granite hills. It is of great value to
commerce and affords a most picturesque scenic tour.
Charles XIV. met with a power in politics which, from the start not
strong enough to carry away victory, ended by attaining its goal. It
was the liberal opposition in the Riksdag, supported by a liberal
press. Charles XIV., in his native country, had seen to what an infamy
the abuse of liberal forms of government could lead, and he was
sternly resolved to antagonize any movement which aimed to introduce
more democratic principles in the handling of state affairs and in
the remodelling of the system of representation. Charles XIV. was in
a delicate personal position. He was the only one of the Napoleonic
marshals who preserved his throne after the fall of the emperor, and
the strong continental reaction looked askance at this new man who
wore one of the oldest crowns of Europe. But his great reputation as a
warrior and statesman, and his persistent peace policy, ought to have
been to him sufficient guarantees of the fidelity of his subjects.
Charles XIV., in the agitation against the self-willed cabinet, saw
an enmity against himself. By a network of secret detectives, the
king tried to uncover conspiracies and plots which existed in his
imagination only, or in that of those who were aware of his weakness
and sought to gain personal favors by making use of it. The severity
with which the press was censured and its members punished created
a bitterness against the king personally, which ceased only during
the few last years of his reign. With the new constitution a law
establishing full liberty of public utterance in print was enacted, but
a temporary restraint had been placed on this liberty, in 1812, on
account of violent newspaper attacks upon Russia. The government still
made use of this restraint, which caused many severe legal sentences
and subsequent bitterness.
Among the press organs of that period the “Argus” and “Aftonbladet”
were the most conspicuous in their attacks upon the conservative
government; Lars Hierta, one of the ablest of Swedish editorial
writers, was the publisher of the latter. His paper was repeatedly
confiscated. Anders Lindeberg was the publisher of “Stockholmsposten.”
In an agitation against the royal monopoly in theatrical affairs,
Lindeberg threw out the accusation that the king, for purely economical
reasons, opposed a reform in those matters. He was arraigned and a
sentence of death passed upon him, which was commuted to three years’
imprisonment. But Lindeberg refused to accept any clemency, declaring
himself ready and resolved to die. The government, who dared not take
his life, was in a delicate predicament, but saved itself and Lindeberg
by announcing pardon of “political criminals,” at the anniversary of
the king’s first arrival in Sweden. Jacob Crusenstolpe, a novelist
and writer of note, was one of the intimate friends and supporters of
the government, but turned liberal, attacking the king in a pamphlet.
He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, which created great
commotion and a revolt in Stockholm, not subdued except after a bloody
conflict with the troops (July, 1838). Crusenstolpe continued writing
from his prison.
The principal leaders of the opposition in the Riksdag were L. Boye,
F. B. von Schwerin and C. H. Anckarsverd among the nobles, and
Anders Danielsson among the peasants. This opposition criticised the
government for negligence, extravagance and incompetency. Its policy
was an entire reconstruction of the state, politically, socially
and financially, on the basis of a constitutional government. The
opposition commenced by establishing the right of free deliberations
in the Riksdag. At the Riksdags of 1827 and 1828 the government was
severely taken to task on account of the sale of ships to the Spanish
insurgents in South America. The king was inclined to join England
against Spain, but had to recede on account of pressure from Russia and
the continental powers. The sales were partly annulled and the Swedish
government experienced a considerable financial loss. Cederstrom was
the responsible party, but upon his resignation his able successor
Wirsén was able to cover up his tracks.
If Sweden was forced to change her policy in the South American affair
she was found unyielding in the settlement of the boundary questions
with Russia. This power was anxious to obtain a slice of the Norwegian
Finnmark, with excellent ice-free harbors at the bay of Varanger. In
the ultimate settlement with Russia, in 1826, a great territory was
ceded, but not any of the important harbors.
In 1840 the opposition had waxed strong enough to effect one of its
most desired reforms, the constitutional reconstruction of the cabinet.
This body was made to consist of ten members, of whom seven were to be
the heads of the various state departments, those of justice, foreign
affairs, army, navy, civil service, finance and ecclesiastics.[5] As a
consequence of this change in the constitution, several cabinet members
resigned and were succeeded by men more in touch with the opposition.
The greatest of contemplated reforms was a new system of representation,
but the opposition was not able to carry it through. At the first
revolution of Gustavus III., Stedingk favored a reconstruction of the
Riksdag after the model of the English parliament. Gustavus III, was
afraid to cause complications by the introduction of such a novelty,
but considered it gravely at the time of his second revolution. In
1830, the idea was taken up by the opposition, and Anckarsverd and the
eminent lawyer Richert made up a plan for a new Diet, according to
the plan of the Norwegian Storthing. This plan, with the idea of one
chamber, instead of two, was repeatedly discussed at the Riksdag of
1840, but not adopted. This remarkable Riksdag, which lasted seventeen
months, did considerable for the improvement of education and was
ultimately dismissed by Charles XIV., in a speech of a conciliatory
spirit, which went far toward restoring the old popularity of the king.
Charles XIV. died March 8, 1844, at the age of eighty-one. During the
last years of his reign he received strong and repeated evidence of the
love of his people, especially upon the occasion of his twenty-fifth
anniversary as king of Sweden. “No one has made a career like mine,”
he said shortly before his death. He was a child of the revolutionary
epoch, favored by its opportunities to receive a high station, without
being sullied by any of its vices. If it be true that his position
often was made difficult through lack of appreciation by his new
subjects, it is not less true that he, through lack of intimacy with
the Swedish language, national character and traditions, was unable to
further the development of his new country, in the same degree as would
a native provided with such rich endowment. The sun of Charles XIV.,
which rose in brilliancy, set in the glory of full appreciation.
The reign of Charles XIV. produced a new line of eminent scientists and
was the golden age of Swedish literature. The remarkable genius of J.
J. Berzelius remolded the science of chemistry, placing it on a basis
where there are hardly any limits to its scope. Elias Fries devised a
new system of botany. Sven Nilsson, a distinguished zoölogist, also
became the founder of a new science, comparative archæology. K. J.
Schlyter edited a complete collection of the old provincial laws, a
work of equal importance to philology and jurisprudence. P. H. Ling
invented the Swedish system of gymnastics and founded the Central
Institute of Gymnastics in Stockholm, where the Swedish massage or
movement cure has won a scientific development worthy of its world-wide
fame. E. G. Geijer, as a philosopher, was a noble follower of Hœijer,
while as a historian he is the greatest genius of his country. As a
poet and composer Geijer is also noteworthy. Professor of history at
Upsala, he was once accused of heterodoxy, but acquitted. His political
career was remarkable. Geijer was a firm supporter of the government
and conservative principles, until fifty-seven years of age, when he
joined the opposition.
The world of letters was divided in parties as bitterly opposed to
each other as those of the political world. The old Gustavian school,
of which Leopold remained the last representative, was attacked by
the “New School,” which, inspired by German Romanticism, was brimful
of inspiration, imagination and feelings, but very little that was
original, clear or national. Of this so-called “phosphoristic” school
Atterbom was the distinguished leader. Stagnelius, a poet of rare
attainments, but who died early, belongs in this group. The New School
was in turn attacked by the “Gothic Society,” a school of national
Swedish Romanticism, which introduced a cult of the Old Northern
spirit of individuality, terseness and power. Ling and Geijer were
among the leading men of this school, whose enthusiasm for everything
national had a lasting influence upon the research for, and gathering
of, folk lore, songs, traditions, customs, and every trait of the
popular culture of bygone days. In Franzén and Wallin, Sweden had
two religious poets of the very first rank. More famous than any of
these was Esaias Tegnér, the second great national poet of Sweden,
whose “Frithiof’s Saga” was destined to become the most celebrated
literary work of all Europe in its day, appearing in a vast number of
translations in a great number of languages. Tegnér was in sympathy
with the old Gustavian school, but a member of the Gothic Society, and
by his choice of subjects in harmony with the national school. There is
a wonderful richness of sparkling life and wit in Tegnér’s poems, but
they are sometimes overladen by the vivid ornamental images in which
they abound. Tegnér was a man of extremely broad and liberal views on
every phase of human life and effort. He hated with the whole power of
his fiery soul the mysticism, obscurantism and morbid sensualism of his
age. He was the sworn enemy of the “Holy Alliance” and the reactionary
powers in state, church and literature. In his chivalrous spirit and
love of the great individuals, he became the admirer of Charles XIV.,
whose policy he therefore supported. Tegnér is not the one who in the
grandeur and faultlessness of his creations has attained the very
highest rank among Swedish poets, but is the greatest and most unbiased
thinker among them, and has as such exerted a beneficial influence
upon the national consciousness and cultural development. Tegnér’s
judgment upon one of his Gustavian precursors may be repeated in his
own case: “Perchance the greatest not as poet, but as genius.”
_Oscar I._ was forty-five years of age at the death of his father. He
was the only son of Charles XIV. and Queen Desideria, the latter a
daughter of a French merchant by the name of Clary. Oscar was, in 1823,
married to Princess Josephine of Leuchtenberg, a granddaughter of the
French empress of the same name. It was a difficult position, the one
held by the heir-apparent. Charles XIV. was jealous of his own power
and popularity and suspected his son of being in sympathy with the
opposition. The prince, distanced as far as possible from the affairs
of state, devoted himself to the study of social and economic subjects.
He gave a great deal of attention to the study of prisons and the care
of prisoners, seeking by pamphlets to spread his sympathies for the
latter and to improve their conditions. Oscar I. was fondly devoted
to the fine arts, himself a talented painter and composer. He did not
possess his father’s brilliant genius or power of personal influence,
although an upright man of great talent and exceedingly prepossessing
in appearance. Oscar was of a mild, sagacious disposition, who liked to
go into detail and take time for investigation and decision. He was not
a man of action, and lacked somewhat consistency in carrying out plans
of a wider scope. Oscar I. had a little of the autocrat of the father
in him and often acted on his own judgment, without taking the advice
of his cabinet. Being the loyal, highly cultured and patriotic man that
he was, he in various ways furthered the development of his country.
Few kings have ascended a throne under such enthusiasm and joyful
aspirations on the part of the people as King Oscar I. Several
important reforms were enacted at the Riksdag which met in 1844, and
the king gave his sanction to them all. It was decided that the Riksdag
should meet every third instead of every fifth year, the liberty of
the press was augmented, and to women were given equal rights in the
stipulations of inheritance and marriage. The last-mentioned reform was
bitterly opposed by the nobles, who feared it would, to a great extent,
annul their privileges. The law was passed by the three lower Estates,
in spite of the nobles, and was sanctioned by the king. Oscar I. took
great pains to have the industries freed from the restraint under which
they had been suffering during the reign of his predecessor.
King Oscar surrounded himself with men of a more modern type than
his father’s advisers. They were in touch with the principles of the
opposition, although far from radical, and more respected for their
character than for their ability. The opposition, which had been
so harsh during the administration of Charles XIV., was toned down
considerably; but complaints were soon heard that the new government
was neither consistent nor resolute in its liberal policy and that
courtiers and young officers won an unduly rapid promotion. Soon an
opposition of a new order was organized against the administration.
The conservatives, finding that it leaned too much on the liberal
principles, attacked it for this reason. A powerful conservative
party at the Riksdag was organized, with Hartmansdorff as the leader
among the nobles and Archbishop Wingard among the clergy. Attacked by
liberals and conservatives alike, and not supported by either, the
government was of an undecided and vacillating tenor.
The French revolution of 1848 influenced Swedish politics in several
ways. The “friends of reform,” viz., the party desiring a parliamentary
reorganization, were incited by the republican tendencies. The
masses of Stockholm on one occasion gave vent to their feelings by
demonstrations which were of a menacing character. Great crowds
collected outside the place where a “reform banquet” was held. There it
was resolved to attack the houses of Hartmansdorff and several other
leading conservatives. The owners placed themselves in safety, but the
windows of the houses were broken by the mob, who also threw stones at
the troops. The tumult was quenched, but not without bloodshed. The
press was greatly agitated for a long time afterward, using language
against the government that was by no means choice. The liberals in the
Riksdag commenced to take an attitude as decided as the one held by the
conservatives. From this time on King Oscar showed great coldness to
the liberals, and surrounded himself with advisers more in harmony with
the conservatives.
The proposition for a reorganization of the Riksdag, made in 1840,
was not accepted, but a committee was appointed in 1848 to make a new
proposition, which failed to please either government or Riksdag. The
king then had a new proposition prepared, based upon general elections.
The liberals did not think the royal proposition democratic enough and
offered one of their own. Both of these were defeated at the Riksdag
of 1850, thanks to the opposition of nobility and clergy. A third
one was made by Hartmansdorff, but also failed to please, not being
conservative enough for the nobles. Hartmansdorff aroused so much
hatred among his fellow nobles that they refused to be seated on the
same bench with him during the sessions. After a period of perfect
isolation the old conservative leader was judged with greater leniency
by his former followers. Shortly before his death, in 1856, he sent
them the following greeting: “Ask the nobles not to stand up so long
for their privileges, they will lose nothing by surrendering them.” It
seemed as if the interest for parliamentary reform had died out during
the latter part of King Oscar’s reign, but such was not the case; it
only gathered force in the quiet, and the king was right when defining
it as a “question which could never fall.”
The influence of the revolution of 1848 also was felt in the foreign
relations of Sweden. The German population of Holstein and Schleswig
tried to sever their connections with Denmark in order to effect a
union with Germany, Prussia taking upon herself to liberate said
provinces. Denmark made various efforts to gain the active support of
Sweden. The so-called “Scandinavism” was a good means to obtain this
end. This movement, which aimed at the establishment of a closer union
between the three Scandinavian countries, based upon the fact of the
common origin of their inhabitants, had originated at the University
of Copenhagen. The meetings of scientists and students, in 1842 and
1843, at Stockholm, had given growth to this movement, which was of
a very high-strung nature, but, as far as the Danes were concerned,
also of an egotistical motive. Charles XIV. had been averse to this
“students’ policy,” but Oscar I. was sympathetically impressed by it.
“Scandinavism” rose high in 1848, especially at the universities, and
King Oscar sent a communication to the Prussian government to the
effect that he was resolved to oppose any attack on the Danish isles.
An army of 20,000 men was ordered to Scania to give weight to this
statement. A smaller division of it was even for a time quartered in
the island of Funen. The German troops which had invaded Jutland soon
retired and hostilities ceased for some time. King Oscar effected an
armistice of seven months in August, 1848. As a result of the war
between Denmark and Germany during the next few years an agreement
followed, according to which Holstein and Schleswig would for some time
remain under Danish supremacy.
King Oscar had, from the commencement of his reign, tried to meet all
demands for reform made by his Norwegian subjects, who were anxious to
demonstrate to the world the perfect independence of their country.
The king himself took the initiative steps to give Norway a national
flag of its own, the two countries up to the reign of Oscar having had
one common official flag. He also instituted the Norwegian knightly
order of St. Olaf in resemblance to the older Swedish orders of
Seraphim, Vasa, etc., and gave permission to place the name of Norway
before that of Sweden in the Norwegian royal title. For these reasons
public opinion in Sweden expected Norwegian concessions in regard to
the Act of Union, which seemed in need of revision. A committee of
men from both countries was appointed to make the revision, but the
Norwegian members opposed all measures involving any change, expressing
themselves in such emphatic terms that it was found best to leave the
deliberations of the committee unpublished. In 1854 the Norwegian
Storthing decided to abolish the office of a governor-general. King
Oscar refused to sanction this law, but allowed the office to remain
vacant during the rest of his reign.
Intemperance had grown to be an evil from which the Swedish people
greatly suffered since the reign of Gustavus III., when alcohol began
to be produced in great quantities by the common people. The king
encouraged the temperance movement, which was very fruitful in results.
In 1853 the Riksdag abolished the free and unrestrained production
of alcohol, which was changed into a regular industry and placed
under heavy taxation. From 1855 onward, the principles of free trade
were adopted for commerce and trade through the influence of J. A.
Gripenstedt, the minister of finance, and seemed to have beneficial
results in every branch of industrial and commercial activity. The
state revenues were greatly increased and the surplus spent in
improvements of the widest scope. The means of interior communications
were vastly improved. In 1853 the network of the state electric
telegraph began to spread and now embraces every part of the country.
The agitation for the construction of railways had long been an active
one. The first one constructed was a private railway between Œrebro
and Arboga. In 1854 the Riksdag decided on the construction of trunk
lines in Southern Sweden, to be built and controlled by the state. The
Riksdag of 1856 appropriated a sum of $5,000,000 for that purpose.
The railways were rapidly and solidly built under the supervision of
Baron Nils Ericsson, the highly talented brother of John Ericsson, the
world-famous inventor of the propeller, the caloric engine, the steam
hose and the “Monitor.”
The relations with Russia were not the best during the latter part of
King Oscar’s reign. The Russian claims on the harbors at the bay of
Varanger were repeated in 1847, and when deliberations for a settlement
were opened, in 1851, Russia showed a tendency to take possession of
the desired places. In the conflict between Russia, on one hand, and
Turkey, supported by England and France, on the other, Sweden sided
with the latter, especially after Russia had failed to recognize an
alliance of neutrality under arms formed by Sweden-Norway and Denmark.
In 1855 Sweden entered an agreement with France, promising not to cede
any territory to Russia in case of a conflict. In 1856 peace was made
at Paris; the only favor won by Sweden was a pledge made by Russia not
to fortify the archipelago of Aland.
King Oscar was a very hard worker and also fond of the pleasures of
life. His health was injured through illness, in 1857, and he never
recovered. The premature death of his second son, Prince Gustavus, a
talented composer and highly popular, had a disastrous influence on
him. King Oscar I. died July 8, 1859, after a long illness, beloved by
the two nations who, during his reign, had enjoyed the happiest epoch
of their history.
Romanticism in literature had an important second blossom during
the reign of King Oscar I. and his successor. With the exception of
Runeberg and Almquist, it offers no name of the very first rank. But
Runeberg, the Homer of the North, does not belong to Sweden alone, and
Almquist, the only great Romanticist, had made his appearance during
the preceding epoch. Charles John Ludvig Almquist was a genius of great
versatility and exceptional endowment. He wrote with equal force in all
branches of literature; besides the poet, dramatist and prosaist, being
a good philologist and well versed in a number of practical pursuits.
He anticipated the ideas of which George Sand became a champion, and
wrote charming peasant idyls long before Auerbach and Bjœrnson. His
most important work is an ambiguous creation, conceived somewhat in
the form of Boccaccio’s “Decamerone,” but much larger, and containing
productions in every imaginable artistic form. It is called _Tœrnrosens
bok_ (The Book of the Wild Rose). Almquist has not, like Bellman and
Tegnér, crystallized the Swedish national character in a lyrical form,
but he remains, in spite of glaring defects, the most versatile and
supremely gifted genius of Swedish literature.
Nybom, Bœttiger, Malmstrœm, Sætherberg and Strandberg were talented
lyric poets of this epoch, Von Braun, Sturzen-Becker and Sehlstedt
good humorists, while Bœrjesson, Blanche, Jolin, Dahlgren and Frans
Hedberg wrote successfully for the stage. Swedish women were destined
to win fame for themselves by bringing the novelistic form to a
richer development; principal among whom were Frederica Bremer,
Sophie von Knorring, Emilie Carlén and Sophie Schwartz, while the men
Crusenstolpe, Sparre, Mellin, Ridderstad and Starbæck cultivated the
field of historical fiction, for which Swedish history offers such a
wealth of appropriate subjects.
Swedish composers of note were becoming numerous, although the field in
which they chiefly excel is the rather limited one of lyric song, the
most spontaneous medium of expression for the lyrico-rhetoric Swedish
temperament. As the composer of “lieder” or _visor_, Adolphus Lindblad,
an intimate friend of Mendelssohn, occupies a revered place in the
history of music. Close to him stand Crusell, Nordblom and Josephsson,
while Hæffner, Otto Lindblad, one of the noblest composers in this
line, Prince Gustavus and Vennerberg are famous principally for their
part songs.
The cultivators of dramatic and orchestral composition have as yet
been comparatively few. Chief among them is Bervald; further, Norman
and Hallstrœm. In a later contemporary epoch, Hallén, Aulin, Sjœgren,
Stenhammar have considerably brightened this aspect of cultural
development. Gunnar Vennerberg occupies an honored place as a poet,
humorist and composer in one. There seems to be a deeply rooted
tendency in the Swedish national temperament to unite the various
branches of artistic creation, which would stamp it as romantic in
its very essence if there did not run a vein of stunningly realistic
portrayals through the works of such composite nature. In the art of
Bellman this tendency has found its highest exponent. Bellman selected
for his subjects the life of the lower middle classes in the Swedish
capital of his day. His Fredman sings of the experiences of himself
and his friends. Vennerberg has chosen the student’s life at the
University of Upsala as the subject of his duets between two students,
“Gluntarne,” in which are mirrored as faithfully, and sometimes as
artistically, as by Bellman the humorous and pathetic scenes which have
fascinated the poet and composer.
Swedish song for the first time acquired universal fame through Jenny
Lind, who has had many successors, but no peer as a dramatic singer.
Contemporaneous with Jenny Lind were a number of highly talented
histrionic artists, principal among whom were Lars Hjortsberg,
Nils William Almlœf, Olof Ulric Torsslov, Emilie Hœgquist and Carl
Georg Dahlquist. The Swedish stage has set a good example for the
preservation of the highest standards of the language, and in this line
exerted a great cultural influence.