Gustavus, who during his sojourn in Germany had admired Luther, and had appreciated the principles which he proclaimed, was friendly to the Reformation, not, as the Jesuit Maimbourg has said, in the hope of acquiring the Church property, but because some rays of the truth had entered his own soul.[[403]] He was soon to have an opportunity of enlarging his acquaintance with it.
Two men who were equally necessary to Sweden, Gustavus the liberator of the nation and Olaf the reformer of the Church, were now present together at Strengnaes. During the sittings of the Diet, Olaf with much energy proclaimed evangelical truth. The members of the Assembly came to hear him, and his discourses produced a deep impression on his hearers. He saw clearly that the bishops and the priests were the chief obstacle to the Reformation. While therefore he lovingly announced the Son of God, he directed his most vigorous attacks against the domineering spirit of the clergy, their love of money, and their idleness and uselessness. He reminded his hearers that the Apostles and the first Christians were simple, sober, and filled with brotherly love, and that by their goodness they won all hearts, while now the priests exasperated the laity by devising a thousand indirect methods of getting their money from them. He inveighed especially against the Roman Church and its unjust decrees.[[404]] The bishops, consequently, exclaimed in alarm—‘He wants to bring us back to mendicity and the state of the primitive Church.’[[405]]
Gustavus Proclaimed King.
The Swedish throne was now vacant, and the assembly offered it to Gustavus. At first he hesitated to accept it, and this not without reason. Most of the fortresses were still in the hands of the Danes, the army and the fleet were in a lamentable condition, and the treasury was almost empty. But as the Swedes were determined to break completely with Denmark, Gustavus came to a decision, and on the 7th of June, 1523, he was solemnly proclaimed king at Strengnaes. Thus was dissolved the union of the three kingdoms, which had lasted one hundred and twenty-six years.
The legate of the pope, Magnus, a native of Linkoping, at this time only thirty-five years of age, had been the representative of the Government of Sweden at the court of Rome. Pope Adrian had sent him back to Sweden as his minister, to oppose the progress of Lutheranism.
Magnus, seeing that Gustavus was evidently the man chosen of God to be set at the head of affairs in Sweden, thought that the best way to accomplish his mission was to flatter him and induce him to accept the crown. But it was no easy matter to check the progress of reform. ‘Verily,’ said Olaf’s hearers, ‘there is more truth in the discourses of the evangelical preacher than in all the fables of the monks.’ A goodly number of souls were won. Young people ardently embraced the Christian truth; professors and students became its apostles. It made its way into families, and women sat at the Saviour’s feet. While some still defended Catholicism as the religion of their forefathers, others assailed it on account of the abuses of the clergy. ‘Heresy,’ said Bishop Brask, ‘is beginning to multiply.’[[406]] The bishops, ever more and more alarmed, betook themselves to the king and launched forth in complaints against Olaf and his friends.
This was very annoying to Gustavus, who, although he leaned to the side of reform, felt it his duty for the sake of his country to steer his course for a time between wind and water. He called before him the three evangelical preachers, Anderson and the two Petri. It was not without emotion that they appeared in the presence of the prince. ‘You are accused,’ he said to them, ‘of preaching doctrines which have never been heard of before.’ They answered frankly, and set before him with warm feeling the substance of the Gospel. Anderson did more; he boldly declared to the king—‘The ruin of the clergy is their wealth. For them to be rich is contrary to the nature of the ministry, for Christ said that his kingdom is not of this world.’
Gustavus was struck with the loyalty of the reformers and with the force of their speeches, and he conceived for them still higher esteem. But he was a prince. ‘I promise you my support,’ he said, ‘so far as circumstances shall allow. I cannot at present avow myself your friend. I must beg of you not even to let it be known that I am on your side, for I might thereby lose the confidence of the nation, confidence which is essential to me in my endeavor to secure its welfare. Nevertheless you may rest assured that I shall express myself distinctly on this important subject as soon as the fit time is come.’ We have evidence of the sincerity of these words. ‘From the beginning of our reign,’ wrote Gustavus to Luther, ‘we have been steadily attached to the true and pure Word of God, so far as God has given us grace.’[[407]]
The effect of his conversations with Anderson and likewise with Olaf and Lawrence was to make the prince more and more a friend to the Reformation; but for some time yet he was a secret friend.[[408]]
Anderson Made Chancellor.