Gustaf III. left as heir to the throne an only son, who was declared king at the age of fourteen, under the title of Gustaf Adolf IV. During the four years that remained of his minority the country was entrusted to the regency of his uncle, Duke Charles of Sodermanland. On attaining his majority, Gustaf IV. was crowned, and assumed direction of the government. The people rejoiced again in the accession of a prince of unusual promise, but they were again doomed to disappointment. The king refused to continue the policy inaugurated by his uncle, of supporting the new order of things in France. To the quality of wilfulness he soon united that of fanaticism. Napoleon was to his mind unmistakably the Great Beast foretold in the Book of Revelations. He, therefore, without duly weighing the consequences, joined the triple coalition against France. This step led to numerous evils. Taking the field in person, he matched his strength against Bernadotte, who took possession of Hanover. After the battle of Austerlitz, and the peace of Tilsit, the insane King of Sweden attempted to continue the war alone. Despoiled of Pomerania by the French, he was next to rouse the ire of Russia and lose Finland. Even England, who had come to his rescue, abandoned all hope of his administration and recalled her troops. The nation was in despair; revolution was again its only hope. A project was formed to place the crown in foreign hands, and offer of it was made to the English Duke of Gloucester. The rumor of an intended deposition spread, and the people hailed it with enthusiasm. Without waiting to settle the question of who should take the crown, a body of troops marched from the borders of Norway to the royal palace in Stockholm, and in the name of the nation seized the person of the king. On the 29th of March, 1809, he signed his abdication, henceforth to be an exile and a wanderer. He assumed the name of Count Gottorp, made a brief sojourn in England, whence he repaired to the Continent, and finally died in 1837 at St. Gall, in Switzerland.