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126 [Doc. 10
SWEDENBORG’S ANCESTRY.
goon, and
King and his lords ?" Strömner answered, that he could
not. "Well then,” said Swedberg "let me preach." This was
accordingly done ; and with his customary zeal he represented
that the present was not the time to engage in such sport, and
that the holiness of the Sabbath did not allow Christians to
take part therein. "I am afraid ” he said, "the end will be
that Sweden will never more forget the many bloody shirts
in which she is clad." There was no masquerade on that
day, nor on any day afterwards. Swedberg adds, “ a zealous
Samuel or Nathan is a sign of the country’s welfare, but a
flattering Urijah causes much misery.”
We know that the clergy bore their full share of the
extraordinary levies which the long Northern war required.
An order had been issued, which was executed with great
severity, by which every pastor was obliged to equip a dra
every curate a foot soldier. It was natural that not
only the clergy, but also the clerical office, should suffer from
this infliction. But this order was given by a King who had
an iron will; and to bring about a change in his resolution,
a more than royal power was required. Such power, in a
certain sense, was possessed by Swedberg. He accordingly
summoned his courage, and, calling God to his aid, he
wrote a “ very serious and impressive" letter to Charles XII,
who at the time was in Poland, in which he represented to
him in strong terms the oppression under which the clergy la
boured. This letter was dated Dec. 21, 1705. At first the
members of the Chapter refused to attach their names to it,
but at length they all signed it, when it was sent to the
King. It was referred by His Majesty from Ravicz in 1706,
to the Defence -commission, who were instructed to take the
complaints of the Consistory into due consideration, and
make it as easy for the clergy as possible. This relief, how
ever, was not gained, because the other Chapters had ne
glected to apply to the King at the same time as the Con
sistory of Skara. Swedberg himself had to suffer for his zeal;
for the Defence -commission insisted on his equipping every
year two dragoons, although, according to a royal order,
all who had suffered from the conflagration in Upsal were
to be exempt. Swedberg bore this without complaint, for
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