king of Sweden, was born in 1682. By his father's will, the administration was lodged in the hands of the queen-dowager Eleonora with five senators, till the young prince was 18: but he was declared major at 15, by the states convened at Stockholm. The beginning of his administration raised no favourable ideas of him, as he was thought both by Swedes and foreigners to be a person of mean capacity. But the difficulties that gathered round him, soon afforded him an opportunity to display his real character. Three powerful princes, Frederic king of Denmark, Augustus king of Poland and elector of Saxony, and Peter the Great czar of Muscovy, presuming on his youth, conspired his ruin almost in the same instant. Their measures alarming the council, they were for diverting the storm by negotiations; but Charles, with a grave resolution that astonished them, said, "I am resolved never to enter upon an unjust war, nor to put an end to a just one but by the destruction of my enemies. My resolution is fixed: I will attack the first who shall declare against me; and when I have conquered him, I may hope to strike a terror into the rest." The old counsellors received his orders with admiration; and were still more surprised when they saw him on a sudden renounce all the enjoyments of a court, reduce his table to the utmost frugality, dress like a common soldier, and, full of the ideas of Alexander and Caesar, propose those two conquerors for his models in everything but their vices. The king of Denmark began by ravaging the territories of the duke of Holstein. Upon this Charles carried the war into the heart of Denmark; and made such a progress, that the king of Denmark thought it best to accept of peace, which was concluded in 1700. He next resolved to advance against the king of Poland, who had blocked up Riga. He had no sooner given orders for his troops to go into winter-quarters, than he received advice that Narva, where count Horne was governor, was besieged by an army of 100,000 Muscovites. This made him alter his measures, and move toward the Czar; and at Narva he gained a surprising victory, which cost him not above 2000 men killed and wounded. The Muscovites were forced to retire from the provinces they had invaded. He pursued his conquests, till he penetrated as far as where the diet of Poland was sitting; when he made them declare the throne of Poland vacant, and elect Stanislaus their king: then making himself master of Saxony, he obliged Augustus himself to renounce the crown of Poland, and acknowledge Stanislaus by a letter of congratulation on his accession. All Europe was surprised with the expeditious finishing of this great negotiation, but more at the disinterestedness of the king of Sweden, who satisfied himself with the bare reputation of this victory, without demanding an inch of ground for enlarging his dominions. After thus reducing the king of Denmark to peace, placing a new king on the throne of Poland, having humbled the emperor of Germany, and protected the Lutheran religion, Charles prepared to penetrate into Muscovy in order to dethrone the Czar. He quickly obliged the Muscovites to abandon Poland, pursued them into their own country, and won several battles over them. The Czar, disposed to peace, ventured to make some proposals; Charles only answered, "I will treat with the Czar at Moscow." When this haughty answer was brought to Peter, he said, "My brother Charles still affects to act the Alexander, but I flatter myself he will not in me find a Darius." The event justified him: for the Muscovites, already beaten into discipline, and under a prince of such talents as Peter, entirely destroyed the Swedish army at the memorable battle of Pultowa, July 8, 1709; on which decisive day, Charles lost the fruits of nine years labour, and of almost 100 battles! The king, with a small troop, pursued by the Muscovites, passed the Borifthenes to Oczakow in the Turkish territories; and from thence, through desert countries, arrived at Bender; where the Sultan, when informed of his arrival, sent orders for accommodating him in the best manner, and appointed him a guard. Near Bender Charles built a house, and intrenched himself; and had with him 1800 men, who were all clothed and fed, with their horses, at the expense of the Grand Signior. Here he formed a design of turning the Ottoman arms upon his enemies; and is said to have had a promise from the Vizir of being sent into Muscovy with 200,000 men. While he remained here, he indefatigably acquired a taste for books: he read the tragedies of Corneille and Racine, with the works of Defreux, whose fates he relished, but did not much admire his other works. When he read that passage in which the author represents Alexander as a fool and a madman, he tore out the leaf. He would sometimes play at chess; but when he recovered of his wounds, he renewed his fatigues in exercising his men; he tied three horses a day; and those who courted his favour were all day in their boots. To dispose the Ottoman Porte to this war, he detached about 800 Poles and Cossacks of his retinue, with orders to pass the Neister, that runs by Bender, and to observe what passed on the frontiers of Poland. The Muscovite troops, dispersed in those quarters, fell immediately upon this little company, and pursued them even to the territories of the Grand Signior. This was what the king expected. His ministers at the Porte excited the Turks to vengeance; but the Czar's money removed all difficulties, and Charles found himself in a manner prisoner among the Tartars. He imagined the Sultan was ignorant of the intrigues of his Grand Vizir. Poniatoffsky undertook to make his complaints to the Grand Signior. The Sultan, in answer, some days after, sent Charles five Arabian horses, one of which was covered with a saddle and housing of great riches; with an obliging letter, but conceived in such general terms, as gave reason to suspect that the minister had done nothing without the sultan's consent: Charles therefore refused them. Poniatoffsky had the courage to form a design of deposing the Grand Vizir; Charles, who accordingly was deprived of his dignity and wealth, and banished. The seal of the empire was given to Numan Cuproughly: who persuaded his master, that the law forbids him to invade the Czar, who had done him no injury; but to succour the king of Sweden as an unfortunate prince in his dominions. He sent his majesty 800 purses, every one of which amounted to 500 crowns, and advised him to return peaceably to his own dominions. Charles rejected this advice, threatening to hang up the bailiffs, and shave the beards of any Janissaries who brought him such messages; and sent word that he should depend upon the Grand Signior's promise, and hoped to re-enter Poland as a conqueror with an army of Turks.

After various intrigues at the Porte, an order was sent to attack this head of iron, as he was called, and to take him either alive or dead. He stood a siege in his house, with forty domestics, against the Turkish army; killed no less than 20 Janissaries with his own hand; and performed prodigies of valour on a very unnecessary and unwarrantable occasion. But the house being set on fire, and himself wounded, he was at last taken prisoner, and sent to Adrianople; where the Grand Signior gave him audience, and promised to make good all the damages he had sustained. At last, after a stay of above five years, he left Turkey; and, having disguised himself, traversed Wallachia, Transylvania, Hungary, and Germany, attended only by one person; and in 6 days riding, during which time he never went to bed, came to Stralsund at midnight, November 21, 1714. His boots were cut from his swollen legs, and he was put to bed; where when he had slept some hours, the first thing he did was to review his troops, and examine the state of the fortifications. He sent out orders that very day, to renew the war with more vigour than ever. But affairs were now much changed: Augustus had recovered the throne of Poland; Sweden had lost many of its provinces, and was without money, trade, credit, or troops. The kings of Denmark and Prussia seized the island of Rugen; and besieged him in Stralsund, which surrendered; but Charles escaped to Carelsroon. When his country was threatened with invasion by so many princes, he, to the surprise of all Europe, marched into Norway with 20,000 men. A very few Danes might have stopped the Swedish army; but such a quick invasion they could not foresee. Europe was yet more at a loss to find the Czar so quiet, and not making a descent upon Sweden, as he had before agreed with his allies. This inaction was the consequence of one of the greatest designs, and at the same time the most difficult of any that were ever formed by the imagination of man. In short, a scheme was set on foot for a reconciliation with the Czar; for replacing Stanislaus on the throne of Poland; and setting James the second's son upon that of England, before restoring the duke of Holstein to his dominions. Charles was pleased with these grand ideas, though without building much upon them, and gave his minister leave to act at large. In the mean time, Charles was going to make a second attempt upon Norway in 1718; and he flattered himself with being master of that kingdom in six months: but while he was examining the works at Fredericshall, a place of great strength and importance, which is reckoned to be the key of that kingdom, he was killed by a shot from the enemy, as has been generally believed; though it has been also reported that he fell by the treachery of one of his own officers, who had been bribed for that purpose.

This prince experienced the extremes of prosperity and adversity, without being softened by the one, or disturbed for a moment at the other; but was a man rather extraordinary than great, and fitter to be admired than imitated. He was honoured by the Turks for his rigid abstinence from wine, and his regularity in attending public devotion.

As to his person, he was tall and of a noble mien, had a fine open forehead, large blue eyes, flaxen hair, fair complexion, an handsome nose, but little beard, and a laugh not agreeable. His manners were harsh and austere, not to say savage: and as 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 leaped 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?" says the king calmly. The secretary could only reply, "Ah, Sir, the bomb." "The bomb (says the king)! what has the bomb to do with what I am dictating to you? Go on."

He preferred 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. The princess Lubomirski, who was very much in the interest and good graces of Augustus, falling by accident into the hands of one of his officers, he ordered her to be set at liberty; saying, "that he did not make war with women." One day, near Leipic, 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 harm 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 (says he to him), you will do well to recollect, that if I took a kingdom from Augustus, I did not take it for myself."

Though Charles lived hardly himself, a soldier did not fear to remonstrate to him against some bread, which was very black and mouldy, and which yet was the only provision the troops had. Charles called for a piece of it, and calmly ate it up; saying, "that it was indeed not good, but that it might be eaten." From the danger he was in in Poland, when he beat Charles's the Saxon troops in 1702, a comedy was exhibited at Marienburg, where the combat was represented to the disadvantage of the Swedes. "Oh, (says Charles, hearing of it), I am far from envying them in this pleasure. Let them beat me upon the theatres as long as they will, provided I do but beat them in the field." He wrote some observations on war, and on his own campaigns from 1700 to 1709; but the MS. was lost at the unfortunate battle of Pultowa.