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.