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.
English history, abundantly proves that the King of
Sweden had not been mistaken in his judgment of him.
A man of many shifts, a lover of intrigues, without either
courage or manliness or skill, unsuccessful in everything
he attempted, he only deserves our pity when he put his
head on the block.
Having brought the story of the Scottish levies down
to the time of Gustavus Adolphus’ death, we may now
consider the lives of the chief Scottish actors before and
during the Thirty Years’ War a little more closely. This
becomes all the more necessary, since the dates in
English biographical memoirs are mostly compiled without
the Swedish or German sources having been fully
consulted. They are therefore decidedly incomplete and
inaccurate in many places. It is easy, for instance, to
stigmatise James Spens as an adventurer or the prototype
of such. Looking through the printed correspondence
of the great Swedish king and his equally great chancellor,
Axell Oxenstierna, and examining above all the numerous
manuscript letters written by Spens or addressed to him,
our judgment of him must necessarily be corrected. Or
take the scanty news given in English biographical
notices of Field-Marshal Alexander Leslie’s activity during
his service in Sweden. We are told how he was present
at such a battle, how he was promoted on such a date,
but we receive no picture of the man. And so with the
Generals—King, Macdougall (Duval), James Ramsay, and
the other Scottish military leaders.1
I have already in former books of mine tried to inspire
those dry dates with some life, especially as to the heroic
defender of Hanau; now that Swedish sources have
become accessible, more can be done. Thus, whilst
1 The only exception is Patrick Ruthven, whose correspondence with
Oxenstierna has been admirably edited and published.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
