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.
under a Gustavus Adolphus. What recommended him to
the king was, besides courage, which he
undoubtedly-possessed, just this accommodating way of thinking. In
judging of his character his contemporaries are greatly at
variance. Some call him selfish, a fop, and faithless,
others again praise his industry, his purity of morals, and
his patriotism. Much of this divergence of opinion can
perhaps be explained when we remember that all the
popular discontent and hatred which the financial exactions
of a king, anxious to satisfy his creditors, aroused in
Sweden, were naturally directed against Feif as the king’s
willing tool, a man who had no great military qualities to
atone for a ruinous financial policy. Probably Feif was
aware of the rising storm. We know that he proposed
to the king as an extreme measure the melting down of
cannons to pay oif part of the debt, but that the king
refused.
Nor was his position less irksome and difficult after he
had been summoned by the king to Bender. The whole
of the administration of Sweden lay in his hands, and yet
messengers between Turkey- and that country were but
rarely despatched, and letters were subject to a secret
Royal censure and often opened by the post-officers.
When at last the king’s presence in his own land became
an absolute necessity, it was Feif who issued the famous
passport from Pitest, a small place on the Wallachian
frontier, for Peter Frisk (the king), Van Rosen, and Von
During, who travel on business to Germany (25th October,
1714). The only measure of Feif that showed some
statesmanlike forecast of the rise and the importance of
Stockholm was the free grant of that part of the town
called Skeppsholmen to the magistrates for being built
upon.
Feif died in 1739, on the 17th of March, having risen
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
