BIRTH AND EARLY EDUCATION 3 
ing, no difference was made, but it brought Sweden 
by one day nearer New Style, and one day different 
from Russia. This gradual change was then 
abandoned, but the one day's difference was main¬ 
tained until 1712, when the Old Style was resumed, 
the final correction taking place in February, 1753. 
Sir J. E. Smith made the not uncommon mistake of 
believing that Sweden and Russia employed the same 
calendar, and that the 13th May in Sweden corre¬ 
sponded to the 24th May, New Style; he therefore 
enjoined the Anniversary of the Linnean Society, 
which he founded, to take place on the 24th May, 
really one day later than the true equivalent. 
Carl's birth took place in the tenth regnal year 
of that intrepid but self-confident King Carl XII., 
