" There is still in existence a
document in which he laid down to him his course as a sovereign.
"First of all," he writes, "you shall fear God and honor your father
and mother. Give your brothers and sisters brotherly affection; love
your father's faithful servants and requite them after their due. Be
gracious to your subjects; punish evil and love the good. Believe in
men, but find out first what is in them. Hold by the law without
respect of person."
It was good advice to a prince, and the king took it to heart. On
the docket of the Supreme Court at Stockholm is a letter written by
Gustav Adolf to the judges and ordered by him to be entered there,
which tells them plainly that if any of them is found perverting
justice to suit him, the King, or any one else, he will have him
flayed alive and his hide nailed to the judgment-seat, his ears
to the pillory! Not a nice way of talking to dignified judges,
perhaps, but then the prescription was intended to suit the
practice, if there was need.
The young king earned his spurs in a war with Denmark that came near
being his last as it was his first campaign. He and his horsemen
were surprised by the Danes on a winter's night as they were warming
themselves by a fire built of the pews in the Wittsjoe church, and
they cut their way through only after a desperate fight on the
frozen lake.
Pages:
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175