The inscription reads: 'In all his campaigns Bernadotte was distinguished from the great majority of French commanders by the clemency and generosity of his conduct from the moment that the battle was at an end, and it was this conduct, even more than his brilliant reputation as a soldier, that caused him to be put in nomination as a successor of Charles III of Sweden. From the instant that he became Crown Prince of Sweden he gave all his energies to his adopted country, he formed a secret alliance with Russia in 1812, and in 1813 he took command of the combined armies of Northern Germany against France. Never during half a century before his succession had Sweden known the peace or prosperity in which he left her in the hands of his son, Oscar.'