CHARLES XII. king of Sweden, born in 1682, was killed at Frederickshall, in Norway, in 1718. His military achievements, which astonished all Europe, and his character as a sovereign, form parts of the history of Sweden, and will be detailed in the account of that country. As to his person, he was tall and of a noble mien, had a fine open forehead, large blue eyes, flaxen hair, fair complexion, a handsome nose, but little beard, and an agreeable smile. His manners were harsh and austere, not to say savage; and with respect to religion, he was indifferent towards all, though exteriorly a Lutheran, and a strong believer in predestination. A few anecdotes will illustrate his character. No dangers, however great, made the least impression upon him. When a horse or two were killed under him at the battle of Narva in 1700, he leapt nimbly upon fresh ones, saying, "These people find me exercise." One day, when he was dictating letters to a secretary, a bomb fell through the roof into the next room of the house where they were sitting. The secretary, terrified lest the house should come down upon them, let his pen drop out of his hand. "What is the matter?" said the king calmly. The secretary could only reply, "Ah, Sire, the bomb." "The bomb!" said the king, "what has the bomb to do with what I am dictating to you? Go on."
He preserved more humanity than is usually found among conquerors. Once, in the middle of an action, finding a young Swedish officer wounded and unable to march, he obliged the officer to take his horse, and continued to command his infantry on foot. One day, near Leipsic, a peasant threw himself at his feet, with a complaint against a grenadier, that he had robbed him of certain eatables provided for himself and his family. "Is it true?" said Charles sternly, "that you have robbed this man?" The soldier replied, "Sir, I have not done near so much to this man as your majesty has done to his master; for you have taken from Augustus a kingdom, whereas I have only taken from this poor scoundrel a dinner." Charles made the peasant amends, and pardoned the soldier for his firmness: "However, my friend," said he to the grenadier, "you will do well to recollect, that if I took a kingdom from Augustus, I did not take it for myself."
CHARLES'S WAITS, in Astronomy, seven stars in the constellation called Ursa Major, or the Great Bear.