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Doc. 10.] 121
BISHOP JESPER SWEDBERG .
to him with full interest all he had lost." "Yes, thank God ,"
he exclaims, “ so sure is it, that no one remains needy in the
end, who bravely devotes himself to the Lord’s honour, to
the spread of His Word, and the salvation of souls in His
Church !"
Was it from pure forgetfulness, or from being scrupulously
observant of the returning season, that the Bishops of Sweden
celebrated the jubilee at Upsal, so soon after the defeat of
the eloquent Upsal professor, in the work he had done for
the improvement of the most important church books of Sweden ?
To answer this question, it may be useful to glance at the
part he took in the jubilee in 1693. He was ordered to
preach the jubilee sermon. It was delivered on the 3rd of
March, in the presence of the King, the Princes, and the royal
council. His text was taken from Psalm xxxiv. 7, in reference
to the fifteen theological doctors appointed on this occasion.
In the course of the sermon, he directed attention especially
to the symbol of the ring with which the doctors were in
vested. “ Had I been at the goldsmith’s," he said, “when these
rings were ordered, I should have given instructions to mark
three L’s upon them, so that the doctors might ever have
them before their eyes. I do not mean hereby, that doctors
ought to be Lazy, Laggard, and Lustful, taking a delight in
the pomps and vanities of this world. But these three L’s
should signify Learning,* Life, and Long-suffering; and here
by is meant that doctors should be apt to teach and call
sinners to repentance ; that they should live uprightly, leading
a blameless, watchful, and sober life; not drunken, nor bitter,
nor covetous; and that they should be willing to suffer, for
they can only be faithful doctors by being faithful disciples
of Jesus Christ, and enduring many things for His sake.” This,
as it came from Swedberg’s lips, was no mere play upon words;
for upon the whole circle of his life, these three L’s, which
he here extolled, were deeply imprinted.
Swedberg’s colleagues endeavoured to brand him as a
heretic. The King’s favour had sped him on in his career of
* In Swedish, as in some other languages, the same word means both
to learn and to teach.
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