Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/568

BER presented to the assembly of the states, in which the king presided. Already acknowledged as generalissimo of the realm, and by an act dated 5th November, 1810, adopted by Karl XIII., he assumed the name of Karl Johann, and took the oath at the foot of the throne as crown-prince and heir of the throne, on which he received the homage of the states. The following year, Karl XIII. having fallen into ill-health, he resigned the government on the 17th March, under certain conditions, to the crown-prince, who directed it with energy and ability until the 7th of January, 1812. During this period, he paid particular attention to the state of agriculture and trade, as well as to that of the army. Napoleon, in consenting to Bernadotte's elevation, expected him to subserve all his views; accordingly, very soon after his election, he required that Sweden should declare war against England, and though Karl XIII. so far acquiesced as to declare war, yet when Napoleon demanded 2000 Swedish sailors for his fleet at Brest, not the slightest intention was evinced of compliance; besides which, it was soon evident that Sweden only apparently acceded to the continental system, and still continued to carry on an active trade with England at Gothenburg. This enraged Napoleon so far, that in January, 1812, his troops entered Swedish Pomerania, and he assumed the position of an open enemy. The utmost terror, anxiety, and indignation prevailed throughout Sweden. When Karl XIII. resumed the reins of government, the crown-prince had to render an extraordinary report of his regency, and the state of the kingdom. It was with him that the decree of the 29th July, 1812, originated, by which the Swedish harbours were thrown open to all nations; he wrote to Napoleon, willing to explain and justify this measure, but the emperor would receive no justification. In the French war with Russia in 1812, Sweden breaking the old alliance with France, concluded, after an interview between the crown-prince and the Emperor Alexander, at Abo in Finland, a secret alliance with Russia. It was at this interview that the final ruin of Napoleon was sketched by the able mind of his former general, who knew so well where lay the strength and weakness of the European conqueror. Arguing from this knowledge, he represented to Alexander that the present war was but the forerunner and engine of his destruction; that rushing into the desert-regions of the north, so far removed from his own frontiers, was in fact hurrying on his own fate; that all which was necessary on the part of Russia was to lay waste the country, to destroy its resources, and meet him everywhere by famine and desolation. This was to compel him to retreat, and retreat was his inevitable ruin. The advice was acted upon, and the world knows the result. In July, 1813, the crown-prince had a second meeting with the Emperor Alexander, and with Frederick William of Prussia, at their head-quarters, at Trachenburg in Silesia, after which a formal declaration of war was made against France by Sweden. The crown-prince, in so doing, had no intention of overthrowing Napoleon, but merely of limiting his conquests. He had repeatedly demanded peace from him, and with the same desire wrote to Ney, after the battle of Dennewitz, to prevent, if possible, the passage of the Rhine by the allied forces. After the conference at Trachenburg, the crown-prince was made generalissimo of the united army of north Germany, which comprised the Russian corps of Winzingerade, Woronzow, and Czernitzow, of the English under Walmoden, the Prussian under Bülow, and the Swedish under Field-marshal Stedingk. He was successful at Grosbeeren, August 23, over Marshal Oudinot, thus protecting Berlin from the advance of the French; a second time he saved Berlin on the 6th of September, when the French were defeated and driven back to the left bank of the Elbe. On the 4th October, he crossed the Elbe; and his march to Taucha, on the 17th, contributed greatly to the success of the eventful battle of Leipzig on the following day. And so well were the plans of this able soldier accomplished, that, according to their arrangement at Trachenburg, he met the emperor Alexander and the king of Prussia, conquerors, in the great square at Leipzig. After this, whilst the allied armies pursued the enemy to the frontiers of Germany, the crown-prince drew off towards the north, in order to attack Davoust, and his allies the Danes. Lübeck was soon taken, and the Danes were separated from the French army, which threw itself into Hamburg. Leaving therefore a blockading force before this important town, he turned with his main body into Holstein. After three months, he had extended his outposts to Ripen and Fredericia, so that Frederick VI. of Denmark found himself compelled to make peace. A treaty was accordingly concluded between them, 14th January, 1814, at Keil, by which, however, Frederick was compelled to give up Norway to Sweden. Having thus far, satisfactorily for Sweden, accomplished his undertaking, the crown-prince withdrew the greater part of his army through Hanover to the French frontiers, but before he reached these, the allies had already entered Paris. February 5, 1818, the crown-prince, strong in the esteem and affections of the nation, ascended the throne of Sweden, as Karl XIV. Johann. An abler and wiser king never occupied the Swedish throne, and all his acts justified the choice of the people. Bold and energetic in war, he showed himself no less endowed with the qualifications and capacity of a wise monarch in peace. He zealously promoted the well-being of his people in all respects. He established many important institutions at his own cost; he laboured for the improvement of every branch of the administration, for the advancement of knowledge and instruction, for the improvement of the army and navy, the improvement of agriculture, and the extension of commerce. He made roads and canals, built the great central fortress of Karlsburg, and completed the great Gotha canal, which unites the Northern sea with the Baltic. He organized the collection of the taxes, and so wisely ordered his financial affairs as greatly to reduce the public debt. In January, 1844, on the very day he entered his eightieth year, Karl XIV. was taken ill, and on the 8th March following he died, being succeeded by his son, Oscar I. Oscar accompanied his father, at fourteen years of age, to Sweden, and was carefully educated by him as a Swede in every respect. The wife of the crown-prince came to Stockholm in 1811, but soon returned to Paris, where she lived as the countess of Gothland till 1829, when she again went to Stockholm, and was crowned queen, 21st August, 1830.—M. H.  BERNAERTS,, died in 1663, aged 70. He was a pupil of Snyders, who was a pupil of Reubens. He rivalled his master in spirit, vivacity, and colour.—W. T.  BERNAERTS, (in Latin, ), a lawyer, man of letters and philosopher, born at Mechlin in 1568; died in 1601. Author of a "Life of Mary Queen of Scots," a "Commentary on Boetius' De Consolatione Philosophia," &c.  BERNAL, B., was burnt alive, "sanctifying the name of his creator," at Cordova, on 3rd May, 1655. In the course of the same year, Is. de Almayda B. suffered the same fate at San Yago de Compostella, in Spain. These facts are recorded in a volume of Elogios in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, which Rabbi Is. Aboab and Rabbi J. Abendana, at Amsterdam, devoted to the memory of their martyred brethren.—T. T.  BERNALDES,, called , ranks with the best chroniclers of Spain. He wrote the annals from 1488 to 1513, and his relations are considered honest and sincere. A personal friend of Christopher Columbus, he was intrusted by that celebrated navigator with manuscripts, from which he drew most important information relating both to Spain and America. This work is considered second to none as a record of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He died about the year 1513.—A. C. M.  BERNARD, a grandson of Charlemagne, was king of Italy under that emperor and his successor Louis. Having rebelled against the latter, he was defeated, taken prisoner, and condemned to death. The capital punishment was not inflicted, but he was deprived of his eyes, and died from the effects of the injury about 818.—W. B.  BERNARD, abbot of Aberbrothock, and chancellor of Scotland under King Robert Bruce. He is believed to have been the writer of that spirited memorial, dated 6th April, 1320, addressed to the pope by the barons, freeholders and whole community of Scotland, in which they declare their determination to vindicate the independence of their country and the rights of their sovereign in opposition to the aggressions of the English. The manly, independent spirit of this celebrated letter is worthy of the heroes of Bannockburn, and ought to preserve the name of its author from oblivion. Bernard, whose surname is said to have been Linton, held the great seal of Scotland till his death in 1327.—J. T.  BERNARD,, a native of Toulouse, who was poet laureate to Henry VII. of England, and wrote a history of that monarch down to the capture of Perkin Warbeck. He survived his patron, and was in favour with Henry VIII. <section end="568Hnop" />