THE PASSING OF A MONARCH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2804, 11 December 1907, Page 19

THE PASSING OF A MONARCH.

I DEATH OF THE KING OF SWEDEN. STOCKHOLM, December 6. King Oscar is ill, and the Crown Prince is acting as Regent. December 8. King Oscar is dead. 1 December 9. King Oscar died quietlj-. He was unconscious at the end. The cause of death was calcification of the cerebral ancl cardiac blood vessels. King Gustaf V has succeeded "to , the throne. Oscar 11. King of Sweden,, and until recently of Norway also, was born in 1829 at -Stockholm, and eucceeded hie brother, j Carl XV, oh the throne in 1872. He was the -third son of Oscar I and Josephine, the granddaughter of Kmpress Josephine, the wife of the famous Napoleon. Oscar II was grandson of the equally famous Marshall Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's greatest generals, who waa placed on the Swedish throne by his illustrious master. King Oscar won a reputation in far wider circles than those which are influenced by considerations of dynasty or descent, for hie chief title to the recognition -of posterity is to be found in the tact with which he has handled delicate and difficult international problems, and. the artistic and literary work by wihch he has been distinguished. The list of his published works contains poetry, history, research, translation, speeches, and criticisms. In questions of international arbitration he was always deeply interested, and on several occasions took a prominent part. In I£B9 he appointed the Chief Justice of Samoa at the request of Great Britain, Germany, and the United States. In 1897 he was given the power to appoint a fifth arbitrator in certain circumstances in the dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela. In the same year he accepted the position of decisive umpire in the Anglo American Arbitration Treaty, which was signed at Washington, but did not secure a sufficient majority of votes in the Senate. 'In 1899 he' again accepted the office of arbitrator in the matter of certain claims in Samoa affecting Great Britain. Germany, and the United States. • His peculiar position' among the^ sovereigns of Europe, outside their dynastic complications, yet essential to the balance of their powers, especially fitted him for these international services. The King's eldest son, Gu<»taf, was born in 1858, and was married in 1881. He has several sous.