One of the foremost of Swedish composers, A.F. Lindblad, taught him
the latter, while his fondness for the former was richly satisfied
during the years when he worked his way through the ranks of the
Swedish navy. And his position on board the various man-of-war's-men
in which he traveled on many seas was never merely ornamental or even
exceptional. He took not only the title but also the work of the
offices he held, from midshipman to admiral.

It was characteristic of him, too, that when he married, he did so
out of love. On a tour through several countries; in 1856, he was
fortunate enough to meet Princess Sophia of Nassau. The courtship was
brief and ardent. Within a few months occurred the engagement, and the
wedding followed in less than a year. To the last that royal couple
remained strongly devoted to each other in spite of widely differing
tastes and temperaments. She has all her life been intensely
religious, with a strong leaning toward pietism, and illness has still
further developed this inborn tendency. He, on the other hand, was
always gay, light-hearted, fond of merriment, and given to many
pleasures and pursuits which his spouse could only look upon as far
too worldly.

Duke Oscar Frederick, as he was known in those early days, found
himself heir to the throne after death had unexpectedly removed the
two claimants with rights prior to his own. And on the succession of
his eldest brother, he became the Crown Prince. It was a delicate
position which imposed on him a reserve foreign to his nature. As it
contrasted sharply with the unceremonious jollity of his brother, King
Charles, he came by degrees to be regarded by those ignorant of his
true character with a distrust bordering on dislike. Thus, when the
succession fell to him in 1872, he found himself little understood and
less loved. It took him years to overcome the prejudice. Perhaps it
was his sanction of the impeachment proceedings by the Norwegian
Radicals against the retiring Conservative ministry which, in the
early '80's, first served to turn the trend of public opinion in his
favor, both in Sweden and Norway. That act was one of the many by
which he showed his ability to submit his own inclinations to the
demands of the people without becoming a mere tool in the hands of
any one political party. About the same time he succeeded in bringing
about a deeply needed and by himself long-cherished reform of the
popular educational system in Swed