him the title of Peter the _Great_--a title which
the world has bestowed upon but few of the great heroes of ancient or
modern times.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Early History of Sweden.]

The reign of Charles XII. is intimately connected with that of Peter
the Great; these monarchs being contemporaries and rivals, both
reigning in northern countries of great extent and comparative
barbarism. The reign of Peter was not so exclusively military as that
of Charles, with whom war was a passion and a profession. The interest
attached to Charles arises more from his eccentricities and brilliant
military qualities, than from any extraordinary greatness of mind or
heart. He was barbarous in his manners, and savage in his resentments;
a stranger to the pleasures of society, obstinate, revengeful,
unsympathetic, and indifferent to friendship and hatred. But he was
brave, temperate, generous, intrepid in danger, and firm in
misfortune.

Before his singular career can be presented, attention must be
directed to the country over which he reigned, and which will be
noticed in connection with Denmark; these two countries forming a
greater part of the ancient Scandinavia, from which our Teutonic
ancestors migrated, the land of Odin, and Frea, and Thor, those
half-fabulous deities, concerning whom there are still divided
opinions; some supposing that they were heroes, and others,
impersonations of virtues, or elements and wonders of nature.
The mythology of Greece does not more fully abound with gods and
goddesses, than that of the old Scandinavia with rude deities,--dwarfs,
and elfs, and mountain spirits. It was in these northern regions that
the Normans acquired their wild enthusiasm, their supernatural daring,
and their magnificent superstitions. It was from these regions that
the Saxons brought their love of liberty, their spirit of enterprise,
and their restless passion for the sea. The ancient Scandinavians were
heroic, adventurous, and chivalrous robbers, holding their women in
great respect, and profoundly reverential in their notions of a
supreme power. They were poor in silver, in gold, in the fruits of the
earth, in luxuries, and in palaces, but rich in poetic sentiments and
in religious ideas. Their chief vices were those of gluttony and
intemperance, and their great pleasures were those of hunting and
gambling.

Fabulous as are most of their legends as to descent, still Scandinavia
was prob