wife and his whole family, out o f the country, except his eldest son,
Prince Oscar, a boy about fourteen years o f age. . It is well known
that at present the rest o f his family is in France. This step occasioned
a good deal of speculation in Sweden, and much anxiety to know the
reason o f a conduct apparently so unnatural. A nobleman one day
said to him, that the Swedes had always been accustomed to hear a
great deal concerning the Royal Family; that they would of course be
very inquisitive about his family, and on that account he wanted to
know from his Royal Highness what answer he should give i f any
person asked him about the family o f the Crown Pr i nce“ In that
case,” replied Bernadotte, “ you may say that you know nothing o f
the matter.”
The Crown Prince seems in fact to be really the King .of Sweden.
Charles XIII. never appears in public, and he is .so old and infirm
that he is not probably able to manage the affairs o f the kingdom,
were he even so inclined. The first care of the Crown Prince, was
to restore the army which had been destroyed during the unfortunate
wars o f the late King, and to bring it again to a state of respectability.
The French mode of levying troops by .conscription,
which the late King had in vain attempted to introduce, was resorted
to. The Swedish army at present amounts to 50,00,0 men,
besides the supplimentary troops, who may be 30,000 more; but
are chiefly boys or young men under twenty. All the. troops are
dressed in French uniform, and the French tactics have been introduced
into all the regiments. I saw a review o f about .6000.Swedish
troops. The orders were given by the Crown Prince himself and
the skill o f the troops and the rapidity o f their movements seemed
to me to be very great. Every Swedish soldier has a house and a
piece of ground assigned to him, by the cultivation of which he supports
himself when not in the field. When called out he is supported
by government. By this contrivance the Swedish army costs the
country much less than it otherwise would do. The men are kept
from vice, and their health and hardihood is probably promoted.
^ hen they are collected for drill, the first thing they do every moxning
on assembling is to sing a hymn. This practice they follow likewise
when they go into action. It is said to have originated with
Gustavus Adolphus.
The Crown Prince seems to be very popular in Sweden, every body
spoke well of him. When he passed by the ranks of the Swedish
troops, he was received with loud huzzas. He is a middle aged man,
with a very dark complexion, an agreeable expressive countenance >
but a little disfigured by the size of his nose. He cannot express himself
intelligibly in Swedish. The person who has the charge o f his
horses is an Englishman, who has been with him these eight years.