Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
taking up arms, a man who took leave of his subjects
in Sweden with the memorable words: “ And as it
happens that the pitcher goes to the well till it breaks, so
will it also be with me, that I, who in many dangers
willingly would have shed my blood but have hitherto
been spared, yet at last must spill it; therefore I shall
recommend all of you to the protection of God, hoping that
we may one day meet again before God in a heavenly and
eternal life ”—a king who went into his tent before the
Battle of Liitzen and dictated words to his secretary which
have in poetical form found their way since into many of
the German hymn-books—we cannot believe this man to
have been insincere or a hypocrite.1 It was religion
primarily, the great cause of Protestantism, then trampled
upon and well-nigh stifled by an overpowering enemy,
that filled his heart, a cause in the service of which he
did not spare his own life.
Neither do we believe that the many hundreds of
Scottish officers that we meet in the ranks of the Swedish
army during the Thirty Years’ War were induced by
mercenary purposes only, or attracted only by the thirst
for adventure. No doubt with many of them booty took
the place of honour, and little it mattered which side they
fought on as long as they fought for him that paid best;
but there were more who had a very high sense of duty,
who were bound to the king by honest attachment.
How could it have been otherwise unless all feeling of
loyalty had utterly died in old Scotland, “ the land of the
leal?” Was not the queen of the unfortunate King of
Bohemia, on whose account the war arose, a Scottish
Princess, Elizabeth, born in the old castle of Falkirk and
educated in West Lothian among her own people?
1 See Gustav Adolf’s Prayer after the landing in Germany in the
Supplement.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
