was during the reign of the late king, Oscar II, that Sweden
attained her greatest prosperity and made most progress. Oscar II,
brother of his predecessor, ascended the throne at a moment when
universal peace was restored after the great conflict between France
and Germany, and when an age of commercial prosperity for Sweden
seemed to have begun. King Oscar had received the same superior
education as his older brothers, was as brilliantly gifted as they,
and of a more scholarly mind. As a writer on scientific subjects,
a poet, and an orator, Oscar II distinguished himself before his
succession to the throne, and still he did not find it easy to gain
the love and admiration of the Swedish people, of which he was so
eminently worthy. He was the successor of one of the most popular
rulers the country ever saw, and, though appreciation came slowly,
he lived to see his own popularity almost outrival that of his
predecessor. During the last years of his life he was considered the
most learned and popular of the monarchs of Europe.

He showed great discernment in his arrangement of dynastic matters.
Himself married to the fervently religious Princess Sophie of Nassau,
the king brought about the marriage of his oldest son, Crown Prince
Adolphus, the present king of Sweden, to Princess Victoria of Bade, a
granddaughter of Emperor William of Germany, and a great-granddaughter
of Gustavus IV of Sweden. His third son, Prince Charles, Duke of West
Gothland, is married to Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, a granddaughter
of Charles XV of Sweden. These unions are well calculated to
accentuate the increasing political, commercial, and cultural intimacy
with Germany, the Scandinavian policy of life predecessor, and the
desire of King Oscar to see the descendants of the old royal line of
Sweden as heirs to the crown. In giving his consent to the marriage
of his second son, Prince Oscar, to Lady Ebba Munck, of the Swedish
nobility, King Oscar gave evidence of the fact that he was not a
matchmaker regardless of the feelings of the parties involved. Prince
Oscar, formerly Duke of Gothland, upon renouncing his share of
inheritance to the throne of Sweden, also the throne of Norway, for
the two kingdoms were then united, was allowed to marry the choice of
his heart. King Oscar also tried to heal the wounds of the past by
opening the vaults of the church of Riddarholm to the sarcophagi of
Gustavus IV, the exiled king, and his son, and by giving Qu