of Vasa
have become joined through the present Crown Prince. It is something
to consider, too, that Adolphus V is the first of the Bernadotte
dynasty in whose veins, through his mother, Sophie of Nassau, there
flows royal blood.[k]

CHAPTER XII

CHARITABLE AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS

This is the age of munificent benefactions in aid of science and
learning. The Rhodes scholarships, Mr. Carnegie's free libraries and
educational endowments, the Duc d'Aumale's gift to the French Academy
of his fine _chatteau_ at Chantilly, with its magnificent historical
and art collections; many institutions founded in the United States
and elsewhere by multi-millionaires for the advancement of knowledge,
are a sign of the times. They foreshadow the abolishment of pauperism
and its attendant charities to give place to beneficent institutions,
and Norway and Sweden are abreast with other countries in this
movement. Apart from charitable institutions and endowments for the
maintenance of hospitals and asylums, of universities, scholarships
and fellowships, which the generosity of former generations has
secured, the present generation has seen noble donations made by
private men for more special objects, having the general advancement
of knowledge in view, such as the encouragement of scientific research
and the support of voyages of geographical exploration. Nordenskioeld's
Arctic voyages, his and Palander's navigation through the polar
northeast passage in the _Vega_, Nathort's exploration of King Carl's
Land, the Swedish expedition to the Antarctic regions under Otto
Nordenskioeld, which has lately returned after two years' adventurous
exploration in Graham Land and the discovery of King Oscar Land, Sven
Hedin's travels in Central Asia, which have had such important results
and made his works so widely read--all these were undertaken as
the result of such aid. The latest case in point, Alfred Nobel's
foundation of annual prizes for the reward of scientific discovery, of
literary merit, and humanitarian endeavor, deserves special notice.
The annual distribution of these prizes, each of which represents a
small fortune ($41,500), has of late years fixed the attention of the
learned world on the Swedish literary and scientific bodies, and the
Norwegian Parliamentary Committee, who were entrusted by him with the
difficult and invidious task of awarding them.

Alfred Nobel, the dynamite king, as he was styled, belonged to a
fami