her. It took
Norway (which since the union of Calmar of the year 1397 had been united
with Denmark) away from Denmark and gave it to Charles XIV of Sweden as
a reward for his betrayal of Napoleon, who had set him up in the king
business. This Swedish king, curiously enough, was a former French
general by the name of Bernadotte, who had come to Sweden as one of
Napolean's{sic} adjutants, and had been invited to the throne of
that good country when the last of the rulers of the house of
Hollstein-Gottorp had died without leaving either son or daughter. From
1815 until 1844 he ruled his adopted country (the language of which he
never learned) width great ability. He was a clever man and enjoyed the
respect of both his Swedish and his Norwegian subjects, but he did
not succeed in joining two countries which nature and history had put
asunder. The dual Scandinavian state was never a success and in 1905,
Norway, in a most peaceful and orderly manner, set up as an independent
kingdom and the Swedes bade her "good speed" and very wisely let her go
her own way.

The Italians, who since the days of the Renaissance had been at the
mercy of a long series of invaders, also had put great hopes in General
Bonaparte. The Emperor Napoleon, however, had grievously disappointed
them. Instead of the United Italy which the people wanted, they had been
divided into a number of little principalities, duchies, republics and
the Papal State, which (next to Naples) was the worst governed and
most miserable region of the entire peninsula. The Congress of
Vienna abolished a few of the Napoleonic republics and in their place
resurrected several old principalities which were given to deserving
members, both male and female, of the Habsburg family.

The poor Spaniards, who had started the great nationalistic revolt
against Napoleon, and who had sacrificed the best blood of the country
for their king, were punished severely when the Congress allowed His
Majesty to return to his domains. This vicious creature, known as
Ferdinand VII, had spent the last four years of his life as a prisoner
of Napoleon. He had improved his days by knitting garments for the
statues of his favourite patron saints. He celebrated his return by
re-introducing the Inquisition and the torture-chamber, both of which
had been abolished by the Revolution. He was a disgusting person,
despised as much by his subjects as by his four wives, but the Holy
Alliance maintained him upon