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him or rather in his career. For he himself was plain
almost to shabbiness, plain in speech, in his food, and in
his dress. No strong drink ever passed his lips after the
follies of his youth. But his great characteristic was his
uncurbed love of war.
Great indeed was the glory he earned for himself as
a military leader, but great also were the sufferings of
his people, exasperated by exorbitant war-contributions
and never-ending levies. Loud indeed was the martial
music of drums and pipes, but behind it there sounded
the dull groan of a population whom ruin stared in the
face.
When Charles XII. ascended the throne of Sweden in
1697, he was but a youth of fifteen, who showed no great
inclination for the serious task of governing a kingdom.
But the designs of his jealous neighbours soon showed
what stuff he was made of. Now or never the right
opportunity seemed to have arisen of humbling the proud
and domineering Power of the North. Frederick IV.
of Denmark concluded an alliance with King Augustus
(the Strong) of Poland and Czar Peter of Russia, and the
so-called Northern War followed. Of these three
powerful enemies Charles singled out Denmark first. In
his campaign he was well advised by General G. M.
Stuart. This remarkable officer had commenced his
military life in the navy, where he served as a common
sailor. Afterwards he applied himself to the art of
fortification, and rose rapidly from a lieutenant to a
captain. In 1680 he put his knowledge to the test in
improving the fortifications of Carlskrona and Waxholm.
A journey which he took in 1685 at the expense of the
King enabled him to study the works of the famous
Vauban on the Continent, when he visited more than
eighty of the most important fortresses, besides witnessing
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