CHAPTER XX.

SWEDEN FROM 1611 TO 1644.

Gustavus Adolphus; his birth, mode of education, learning, and early practice of government-His investiture with sword and shield-The Calmar War - His first exploits His succession - The Regency resign their power-Peace with Denmark-War with Russia-Treaty with Russians-St. Petersburg on Swedish ground-Peace-Internal Government-Great things done by Gustavus-The increase of power of nobles-Riddarhuset-Talented men at his court-His great generals—His Polish campaigns—His narrow escapes-The war in Germany-The Danish king's share in the Thirty Years' War-Magdeburg -Its siege-His solemn leaving-taking of his Diet-His little daughter confided to the Council-His departure-His war cry-France gives secret aid-Wallenstein-Gustavus advances on Lützen-His preparations-The battle-King's wounds, his death-Victory of Swedes-The body of the slain king recovered-Its removal-Body embalmed-Heart enclosed in casket and kept by the Queen-The "Schwedenstein" -The monument erected in its place-Personal appearance of KingGenerals and friends of Gustavus-Arrangements for government-The campaign of Swedes in Germany-Bernard of Saxe Weimar goes into French service-His death-Johan Bauer-His appearance before Vienna-His masterly retreat-His death-Lennark TorstenssonHis great talents-His bodily infirmities-Called "Swedish Lightning -His career in Germany-His command in Denmark-His resignation -Wrangel succeeds-Peace with Germany-The return for all the sacrifices made by Sweden.

PART I.

THE HERO-KING Of sweden.

Gustavus Adolphus, 1611-1632.-GUSTAF II., Adolf, or Gustavus Adolphus, as he is generally called by foreigners, the most accomplished and renowned king of his times, was born in the town of Stockholm in 1594. From the age of ten his father, Charles IX., made him attend Councils of State and the sittings of the diet, and soon afterwards he was taught

to receive and reply in Latin, or in some other foreign tongue, to the ambassadors who presented their credentials to the Swedish king. He had been so carefully educated under the learned secretary, Johan Skytte, that before he was fifteen he could speak Latin fluently, and talk German, Dutch, French, and Italian, as well as if each language had been his mothertongue, while he understood something of Polish and Russian, and had begun to learn Greek. Gustavus to the close of his short but eventful life retained his early love of learning, and whenever he could, he devoted one or two hours daily to the reading of history, politics, and literature with his former tutor Johan Skytte, preferring above all things, as his friend Axel Oxenstjerna tells us, to read in the original, Grotius' "Tractatus de Jure Belli, et Pacis," and the works of Xenophon, whom he regarded as the greatest of all military historians. When King Charles made his young son Grand Duke of Finland, and Duke of Esthonia and Vestmanland (in 1609), Skytte accompanied him and helped to show him how to conduct public affairs in accordance with the regulations of the Swedish diet, with which the secretary was well acquainted, as he had made the laws and customs of his native country a special subject of study.

While Gustavus was keeping court in his capital, Vesteraas, he underwent a careful training in the art of war, and in all kinds of military exercises and manœuvres ; and thinking himself no doubt quite an expert captain, he demanded of his father, as a right belonging to his birth, that he should be commander-in-chief of the forces in the war with Russia. Much to his disappointment, however, the king refused his request, and made him wait till he had reached his sixteenth birthday, after which, in the spring of 1611, he was, in accordance with an old northern custom, declared fit for and worthy of receiving and carrying arms, and with great state presented by his father to the diet, before whom he was solemnly invested with sword and shield. At this moment preparations were being made to meet the young Danish king, Christian IV., who had declared war against Sweden, and was bringing his army forward to besiege Calmar. And the first act of Gustavus after his investiture was to collect the Swedish

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forces in Vestergothland, and advance to the relief of the beleaguered town.

The Calmar War, which ended with the peace of Knaeröd in 1613, is now chiefly memorable for having served as the school in which Gustavus perfected himself in the art of warfare, and gave the first practical evidence of those great talents which made him in later years one of the most noted commanders the world has seen in modern times. Sweden remained without a king for two months after the death of Charles IX., for in accordance with his will, the queen and his nephew, Duke Johan, with six Councillors of State, were to rule the kingdom till the wishes of the people could be made known. But when the diet, which met at Norköping in December 1611, declared that the Swedes would stand by the promises which they had formerly given King Charles to accept his eldest son for their ruler, Duke Johan again formally renounced all claims on the throne, and he and the queen laid down their powers, although according to Charles' will they might have retained them till Gustavus was eighteen.

Conquests in Russia.-After the conclusion of peace with Denmark, Gustavus carried on the war with renewed vigour against Russia, where the people had chosen a native-born prince for their czar, and refused to receive the Swedish prince, Karl Philip, to whom they had previously offered their crown. Twice Gustavus himself advanced into Russia and gained great advantages over the Russian leaders, until at length the new czar found himself forced to agree to a peace, which was signed in 1617 by him and the great Swedish general, De la Gardie, at Stolbova, a little town on the Ladoga Lake. By this treaty, Sweden obtained Ingermanland and Karelia, with the sum of 20,000 roubles, and recovered all her former rights in Livonia, while Novogorod and all other Swedish conquests in Russia were given up. When Gustavus met the Estates of his kingdom at Stockholm, in 1617, he laid before the diet a full report of this treaty, and, after drawing a vivid picture of the power of Russia, and the danger to Sweden of having neighbours on her flanks, whose boundary-line stretched from the Caspian Sea to the frozen ocean, he showed them on a map how by the peace of Stolbova, Russia was now completely shut out from the

Baltic, "and that," he added, "we will hope, by God's help, may always prove too wide a jump even for a Russian." The ground on which St. Petersburg now stands was then Swedish, and on the boundary-line a stone was erected, on which were carved the three crowns of Sweden, surmounted by the following Latin inscription:

"Huc regni posuit fines Gustav Adolphus

Rex Sueonum, fausto numine duret opus. Limites positi an. 1617.” After this peace Gustavus turned his whole mind to the careful government of his kingdom, and probably no other king ever did so much for the welfare of his people in so short a time; while in all his measures he consulted their wishes, and laid before the national assemblies full reports of his acts. In order that his subjects in all parts of the kingdom might have the opportunity of asserting their rights, he estab-. lished parliaments, or high courts at Stockholm and Abo, called together the diet every year, and left the four orders into which it was divided, to consider and decide for themselves, in separate assemblies, upon questions in which they were specially interested. He divided the nobility into three classes, consisting (1) of counts, barons, or highest nobles; (2) of the descendants of Councillors of State; and (3) men of noble descent without hereditary titles and lands; and ordered that they should meet in a House of Lords or "Knights' House," known as Riddarhuset, on whose books all entitled to a seat were to inscribe their names. He granted many privileges to the noble orders, but in return he required that they should give their services to the state, and thus he secured for the crown faithful supporters among the most influential men in the kingdom. The civil and military services were put upon a regular system, and a stricter discipline and order were introduced into the army than could be found among any other troops in Europe. Gymnasiums, academies, and schools sprang up in every part of the kingdom; the Upsala University was enriched with some valuable mines and lands that formed part of the king's private family property, and several new trading ports, as the present Göteburg, were established. Gustavus had the good fortune of securing the friendship and

devotion of talented men in every department of the state, and at the moment when he set forth in 1629, on his fatal but glorious campaign in Germany, his court was celebrated for the number of able military leaders and statesmen who surrounded the person of the king.

After an interval of peace, war broke out again in 1621 between Sweden and Poland, owing to the obstinacy with which Sigismund maintained his pretensions to the Swedish crown. Gustavus in person conducted this war, which began by his conquest of Livonia and Karelia and the taking of Riga, after which he advanced into Polish Prussia and gave battle at Egnen on the Vistula to Sigismund's troops, which were powerfully assisted by an army of Imperialists, commanded by Arnheim, one of Wallenstein's generals. Gustavus gained the victory on this and so many other occasions, that his fame as a successful commander was admitted by foes as well as friends, and the German emperor, Ferdinand II., who through his great generals, Wallenstein, Tilly, and Piccolomini, had nearly crushed the power of the Protestant cause in Germany, saw the danger that threatened the supremacy of the Catholics unless he could arrest the progress of the Swedish king. Large armies were, therefore, thrown into Poland by the emperor, on the pretext of helping his ally, King Sigismund, and Gustavus found himself involved in a fresh war at a time when he was specially anxious for peace. In this fourth and last of his Polish campaigns, he was often in great personal danger; once he only saved his life by leaving his hat and scabbard in the hands of the foes who had surrounded him. Even then he would probably have been made captive if a Swedish soldier, Erik Soop, had not come to his rescue and shot down the trooper, who had seized upon the king's arm and was dragging him by main force towards the enemy's ranks. In writing an account of this battle to his friend and chancellor, Oxenstjerna, Gustavus remarked that he had "never been in a hotter bath!" Yet he had had many narrow escapes, for once a ball had carried off the sole of his right boot, and on another occasion a shot had struck him in the stomach. He had moreover repeatedly had his horse shot from under him, and been forced to crawl out from among the dead and dying, and fight on foot till