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Riis</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body { font-size: 100%; } + p { text-indent: 1.5em; + margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 50%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + hr.short { width: 20%; } + p.noindent { text-indent: 0em; } + p.ar {text-align: right } + p.toc { text-align: center; font-size: 90%; } + p.note { text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; margin-top: 1em; font-size: 90%; } + p.fnote {text-indent: -1em; margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; font-size: 90%; } + p.block {text-indent: 0em; margin-left: 30%} + p.sblock {text-indent: 0em; margin-left: 25%} + CENTER { padding: 1em; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 9pt;} + + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Hero Tales of the Far North, by Jacob A. Riis</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Hero Tales of the Far North</p> +<p>Author: Jacob A. Riis</p> +<p>Release Date: May 31, 2004 [eBook #12481]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERO TALES OF THE FAR NORTH***</p> +<br> +<br> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Janet Kegg<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a> +<center> +<img src="images/front.jpg" width="300" height="487" +alt="Frederiksborg"> +</center> +<!--IMAGE END--> +<br> +<hr> +<h1>HERO TALES</h1> +<h1>OF THE FAR NORTH</h1> +<br> +<h3> + BY +</h3> +<h2> + JACOB A. RIIS +</h2> +<p class="note"> + AUTHOR OF "HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES"<br> + "THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN"<br> + "THE OLD TOWN," ETC. +</p> +<br> +<h4> + New York<br> + 1921 +</h4> +<hr> +<br> +<p class="note"> + THIS BOOK OF MY DEAD HEROES<br> + I DEDICATE TO MY LIVING HERO<br><br> + + <big>THEODORE ROOSEVELT</big><br><br> + + MAY IT BE MANY YEARS BEFORE THE LAST CHAPTER<br> + OF HIS SPLENDID WHOLESOME LIFE IS<br> + WRITTEN IN THE PAGES OF OUR<br> + COUNTRY'S HISTORY + </p> + +<hr class="short"> + +<br> +<br> + + +<h2> + FOREWORD +</h2> +<br> +<p> + When a man knocks at Uncle Sam's gate, craving admission to his + house, we ask him how much money he brings, lest he become a + hindrance instead of a help. If now we were to ask what he brings, + not only in his pocket, but in his mind and in his heart, this + stranger, what ideals he owns, what company he kept in the country + he left that shaped his hopes and ambitions,—might it not, if the + answer were right, be a help to a better mutual understanding + between host and guest? For the <i>Mayflower</i> did not hold all who in + this world have battled for freedom of home, of hope, and of + conscience. The struggle is bigger than that. Every land has its + George Washington, its Kosciusko, its William Tell, its Garibaldi, + its Kossuth, if there is but one that has a Joan d'Arc. What we want + to know of the man is: were its heroes his? +</p> +<p> + This book is an attempt to ask and to answer that question for my + own people, in a very small and simple way, it is true, but perhaps + abler pens with more leisure than mine may follow the trail it has + blazed. I should like to see some Swede write of the heroes of his + noble, chivalrous people, whom lack of space has made me slight + here, though I count them with my own. I should like to hear the + epic of United Italy, of proud and freedom-loving Hungary, the + swan-song of unhappy Poland, chanted to young America again and + again, to help us all understand that we are kin in the things that + really count, and help us pull together as we must if we are to make + the most of our common country. +</p> +<p> + These were my—our—heroes, then. Every lad of Northern blood, whose + heart is in the right place, loves them. And he need make no excuses + for any of them. Nor has he need of bartering them for the great of + his new home; they go very well together. It is partly for his sake + I have set their stories down here. All too quickly he lets go his + grip on them, on the new shore. Let him keep them and cherish them + with the memories of the motherland. The immigrant America wants and + needs is he who brings the best of the old home to the new, not he + who threw it overboard on the voyage. In the great melting-pot it + will tell its story for the good of us all. +</p> +<p> + To those who wonder that I have left the Saga era of the North + untouched, I would say that I have preferred to deal here only with + downright historic figures. For valuable aid rendered in insuring + accuracy I am indebted to the services of Dr. P.A. Rydberg, Dr. J. + Emile Blomén, Gustaf V. Lindner, and Professor Joakim Reinhard. My + thanks are due likewise to many friends, Danes by birth like myself, + who have helped me with the illustrations. +</p> +<p class="ar"><b>J. A. R.</b> +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + R<small>ICHMOND</small> H<small>ILL</small>,<br> + June, 1910. +</p> +<hr class="short"> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + CONTENTS +</h2> +<br> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0002"> +A KNIGHT ERRANT OF THE SEA</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0003"> +HANS EGEDE, THE APOSTLE TO GREENLAND</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0004"> +GUSTAV VASA, THE FATHER OF SWEDEN</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0005"> +ABSALON, WARRIOR BISHOP OF THE NORTH</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0006"> +KING VALDEMAR, AND THE STORY OF THE DANNEBROG</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0007"> +HOW THE GHOST OF THE HEATH WAS LAID</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0008"> +KING CHRISTIAN IV</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0009"> +GUSTAV ADOLF, THE SNOW-KING</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0010"> +KING AND SAILOR, HEROES OF COPENHAGEN</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0011"> +THE TROOPER WHO WON A WAR ALONE</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0012"> +CARL LINNÉ, KING OF THE FLOWERS</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2H_4_0013"> +NIELS FINSEN, THE WOLF-SLAYER</a></p> +<br> + +<hr> + +<a name="2H_4_0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + A KNIGHT ERRANT OF THE SEA +</h2> +<br> +<p> + The Eighteenth Century broke upon a noisy family quarrel in the + north of Europe. Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, the royal hotspur of + all history, and Frederik of Denmark had fallen out. Like their + people, they were first cousins, and therefore all the more bent on + settling the old question which was the better man. After the + fashion of the lion and the unicorn, they fought "all about the + town," and, indeed, about every town that came in their way, now + this and now that side having the best of it. On the sea, which was + the more important because neither Swedes nor Danes could reach + their fighting ground or keep up their armaments without command of + the waterways, the victory rested finally with the Danes. And this + was due almost wholly to one extraordinary figure, the like of which + is scarce to be found in the annals of warfare, Peder Tordenskjold. + Rising in ten brief years from the humblest place before the mast, + a half-grown lad, to the rank of admiral, ennobled by his King and + the idol of two nations, only to be assassinated on the "field of + honor" at thirty, he seems the very incarnation of the stormy times + of the Eleven Years' War, with which his sun rose and set; for the + year in which peace was made also saw his death. +</p> +<p> + Peder Jansen Wessel was born on October 28, 1690, in the city of + Trondhjem, Norway, which country in those days was united with + Denmark under one king. His father was an alderman with eighteen + children. Peder was the tenth of twelve wild boys. It is related + that the father in sheer desperation once let make for him a pair of + leathern breeches which he would not be able to tear. But the lad, + not to be beaten so easily, sat on a grind-stone and had one of his + school-fellows turn it till the seat was worn thin, a piece of + bravado that probably cost him dear, for doubtless the exasperated + father's stick found the attenuated spot. +</p> +<p> + Since he would have none of the school, his father had him + apprenticed out to a tailor with the injunction not to spare the + rod. But sitting cross-legged on a tailor's stool did not suit the + lad, and he took it out of his master by snowballing him thoroughly + one winter's day. Next a barber undertook to teach him his trade; + but Peder ran away and was drifting about the streets when the King + came to Norway. The boy saw the splendid uniforms and heard the + story of the beautiful capital by the Öresund, with its palaces and + great fighting ships. When the King departed, he was missing, and + for a while there was peace in Trondhjem. +</p> +<p> + Down in Copenhagen the homeless lad was found wandering about by the + King's chaplain, who, being himself a Norwegian, took him home and + made him a household page. But the boy's wanderings had led him to + the navy-yard, where he saw mid-shipmen of his own size at drill, + and he could think of nothing else. When he should have been waiting + at table he was down among the ships. For him there was ever but one + way to any goal, the straight cut, and at fifteen he wrote to the + King asking to be appointed a midshipman. "I am wearing away my life + as a servant," he wrote. "I want to give it, and my blood, to the + service of your Majesty, and I will serve you with all my might + while I live!" +</p> +<p> + The navy had need of that kind of recruits, and the King saw to it + that he was apprenticed at once. And that was the beginning of his + strangely romantic career. +</p> +<p> + Three years he sailed before the mast and learned seamanship, while + Charles was baiting the Muscovite and the North was resting on its + arms. Then came Pultava and the Swedish King's crushing defeat. The + storm-centre was transferred to the North again, and the war on the + sea opened with a splendid deed, fit to appeal to any ardent young + heart. At the battle in the Bay of Kjöge, the <i>Dannebrog</i>, commanded + by Ivar Hvitfeldt, caught fire, and by its position exposed the + Danish fleet to great danger. Hvitfeldt could do one of two things: + save his own life and his men's by letting his ship drift before the + wind and by his escape risking the rest of the fleet and losing the + battle, or stay where he was to meet certain death. He chose the + latter, anchored his vessel securely, and fought on until the ship + was burned down to the water's edge and blew up with him and his + five hundred men. Ivar Hvitfeldt's name is forever immortal in the + history of his country. A few years ago they raised the wreck of the + <i>Dannebrog</i>, fitly called after the Danish flag, and made of its + guns a monument that stands on Langelinie, the beautiful shore road + of Copenhagen. +</p> +<p> + Fired by such deeds, young Wessel implored the King, before he had + yet worn out his first midshipman's jacket, to give him command of a + frigate. He compromised on a small privateer, the <i>Ormen</i>, but with + it he did such execution in Swedish waters and earned such renown as + a dauntless sailor and a bold scout whose information about the + enemy was always first and best, that before spring they gave him a + frigate with eighteen guns and the emphatic warning "not to engage + any enemy when he was not clearly the stronger." He immediately + brought in a Swedish cruiser, the <i>Alabama</i> of those days, that had + been the terror of the sea. In a naval battle in the Baltic soon + after, he engaged with his little frigate two of the enemy's + line-of-battle ships that were trying to get away, and only when a + third came to help them did he retreat, so battered that he had to + seek port to make repairs. Accused of violating his orders, his + answer was prompt: "I promised your Majesty to do my best, and I + did." King Frederik IV, himself a young and spirited man, made him a + captain, jumping him over fifty odd older lieutenants, and gave him + leave to war on the enemy as he saw fit. +</p> +<p> + The immediate result was that the Governor of Göteborg, the enemy's + chief seaport in the North Sea, put a price on his head. Captain + Wessel heard of it and sent word into town that he was outside—to + come and take him; but to hurry, for time was short. While waiting + for a reply, he fell in with two Swedish men-of-war having in tow a + Danish prize. That was not to be borne, and though they together + mounted ninety-four guns to his eighteen, he fell upon them like a + thunderbolt. They beat him off, but he returned for their prize. + That time they nearly sank him with three broad-sides. However, he + ran for the Norwegian coast and saved his ship. In his report of + this affair he excuses himself for running away with the reflection + that allowing himself to be sunk "would not rightly have benefited + his Majesty's service." +</p> +<p> + However, the opportunity came to him swiftly of "rightly + benefiting" the King's service. After the battle of Kolberger Heide, + that had gone against the Swedes, he found them beaching their ships + under cover of the night to prevent their falling into the hands of + the victors. Wessel halted them with the threat that every man Jack + in the fleet should be made to walk the plank, saved the ships, and + took their admiral prisoner to his chief. When others slept, Wessel + was abroad with his swift sailer. If wind and sea went against him, + he knew how to turn his mishap to account. Driven in under the + hostile shore once, he took the opportunity, as was his wont, to get + the lay of the land and of the enemy. He learned quickly that in the + harbor of Wesensö, not far away, a Swedish cutter was lying with a + Danish prize. She carried eight guns and had a crew of thirty-six + men; but though he had at the moment only eighteen sailors in his + boat, he crept up the coast at once, slipped quietly in after + sundown, and took ship and prize with a rush, killing and throwing + overboard such as resisted. In Sweden mothers hushed their crying + children with his dreaded name; on the sea they came near to + thinking him a troll, so sudden and unexpected were his onsets. But + there was no witchcraft about it. He sailed swiftly because he was a + skilled sailor and because he missed no opportunity to have the + bottom of his ship scraped and greased. And when on board, pistol + and cutlass hung loose; for it was a time of war with a brave and + relentless foe. +</p> +<p> + His reconnoitring expeditions he always headed himself, and + sometimes he went alone. Thus, when getting ready to take Marstrand, + a fortified seaport of great importance to Charles, he went ashore + disguised as a fisherman and peddled fish through the town, even in + the very castle itself, where he took notice, along with the + position of the guns and the strength of the garrison, of the fact + that the commandant had two pretty daughters. He was a sailor, sure + enough. Once when ashore on such an expedition, he was surprised by + a company of dragoons. His men escaped, but the dragoons cut off his + way to the shore. As they rode at him, reaching out for his sword, + he suddenly dashed among them, cut one down, and, diving through the + surf, swam out to the boat, his sword between his teeth. Their + bullets churned up the sea all about him, but he was not hit. He + seemed to bear a charmed life; in all his fights he was wounded but + once. That was in the attack on the strongly fortified port of + Strömstad, in which he was repulsed with a loss of 96 killed and 246 + wounded, while the Swedish loss footed up over 1500, a fight which + led straight to the most astonishing chapter in his whole career, of + which more anon. +</p> +<p> + All Denmark and Norway presently rang with the stories of his + exploits. They were always of the kind to appeal to the imagination, + for in truth he was a very knight errant of the sea who fought for + the love of it as well as of the flag, ardent patriot that he was. A + brave and chivalrous foe he loved next to a loyal friend. Cowardice + he loathed. Once when ordered to follow a retreating enemy with his + frigate <i>Hvide Örnen</i> (the White Eagle) of thirty guns, he hugged + him so close that in the darkness he ran his ship into the great + Swedish man-of-war <i>Ösel</i> of sixty-four guns. The chance was too + good to let pass. Seeing that the <i>Ösel's</i> lower gun-ports were + closed, and reasoning from this that she had been struck in the + water-line and badly damaged, he was for boarding her at once, but + his men refused to follow him. In the delay the <i>Ösel</i> backed away. + Captain Wessel gave chase, pelted her with shot, and called to her + captain, whose name was <i>Söstjerna</i> (sea-star), to stop. +</p> +<p> + "Running away from a frigate, are you? Shame on you, coward and + poltroon! Stay and fight like a man for your King and your flag!" +</p> +<p> + Seeing him edge yet farther away, he shouted in utter exasperation, + "Your name shall be dog-star forever, not sea-star, if you don't + stay." +</p> +<p> + "But all this," he wrote sadly to the King, "with much more which + was worse, had no effect." +</p> +<p> + However, on his way back to join the fleet he ran across a convoy of + ten merchant vessels, guarded by three of the enemy's line-of-battle + ships. He made a feint at passing, but, suddenly turning, swooped + down upon the biggest trader, ran out his boats, made fast, and + towed it away from under the very noses of its protectors. It meant + prize-money for his men, but their captain did not forget their + craven conduct of the night, which had made him lose a bigger + prize, and with the money they got a sound flogging. +</p> +<p> + The account of the duel between his first frigate, <i>Lövendahl's + Galley</i>, of eighteen guns, and a Swede of twenty-eight guns reads + like the doings of the old vikings, and indeed both commanders were + likely descended straight from those arch fighters. Wessel certainly + was. The other captain was an English officer, Bactman by name, who + was on the way to deliver his ship, that had been bought in England, + to the Swedes. They met in the North Sea and fell to fighting by + noon of one day. The afternoon of the next saw them at it yet. Twice + the crew of the Swedish frigate had thrown down their arms, refusing + to fight any more. Vainly the vessel had tried to get away; the Dane + hung to it like a leech. In the afternoon of the second day Wessel + was informed that his powder had given out. He had a boat sent out + with a herald, who presented to Captain Bactman his regrets that he + had to quit for lack of powder, but would he come aboard and shake + hands? +</p> +<p> + The Briton declined. Meanwhile the ships had drifted close enough to + speak through the trumpet, and Captain Wessel shouted over from his + quarter-deck that "if he could lend him a little powder, they might + still go on." Captain Bactman smilingly shook his head, and then the + two drank to one another's health, each on his own quarter-deck, and + parted friends, while their crews manned what was left of the yards + and cheered each other wildly. +</p> +<p> + Wessel's enemies, of whom he had many, especially among the + nobility, who looked upon him as a vulgar upstart, used this + incident to bring him before a court-martial. It was unpatriotic, + they declared, and they demanded that he be degraded and fined. His + defence, which with all the records of his career are in the Navy + Department at Copenhagen, was brief but to the point. It is summed + up in the retort to his accusers that "they themselves should be + rebuked, and severely, for failing to understand that an officer in + the King's service should be promoted instead of censured for doing + his plain duty," and that there was nothing in the articles of war + commanding him to treat an honorable foe otherwise than with honor. +</p> +<p> + It must be admitted that he gave his critics no lack of cause. His + enterprises were often enough of a hair-raising kind, and he had + scant patience with censure. Thus once, when harassed by an + Admiralty order purposely issued to annoy him, he wrote back: "The + biggest fool can see that to obey would defeat all my plans. I shall + not do it. It may suit folk who love loafing about shore, but to an + honest man such talk is disgusting, let alone that the thing can't + be done." He was at that time twenty-six years old, and in charge of + the whole North Sea fleet. No wonder he had enemies. +</p> +<p> + However, the King was his friend. He made him a nobleman, and gave + him the name Tordenskjold. It means "thunder shield." +</p> +<p> + "Then, by the powers," he swore when he was told, "I shall thunder + in the ears of the Swedes so that the King shall hear of it!" And he + kept his word. +</p> +<p> + Charles had determined to take Denmark with one fell blow. He had an + army assembled in Skaane to cross the sound, which was frozen over + solid. All was ready for the invasion in January 1716. The people + throughout Sweden had assembled in the churches to pray for the + success of the King's arms, and he was there himself to lead; but + in the early morning hours a strong east wind broke up the ice, and + the campaign ended before it was begun. Charles then turned on + Norway, and laid siege to the city of Frederikshald, which, with its + strong fort, Frederiksteen, was the key to that country. A Danish + fleet lay in the Skagerak, blocking his way of reënforcements by + sea. Tordenskjold, with his frigate, <i>Hvide Örnen</i>, and six smaller + ships (the frigate <i>Vindhunden</i> of sixteen guns, and five vessels of + light draught, two of which were heavily armed), was doing scouting + duty for the Admiral when he learned that the entire Swedish fleet + of forty-four ships that was intended to aid in the operations + against Frederikshald lay in the harbor of Dynekilen waiting its + chance to slip out. It was so well shielded there that its commander + sent word to the King to rest easy; nothing could happen to him. He + would join him presently. +</p> +<p> + Tordenskjold saw that if he could capture or destroy this fleet + Norway was saved; the siege must perforce be abandoned. And Norway + was his native land, which he loved with his whole fervid soul. But + no time was to be lost. He could not go back to ask for permission, + and one may shrewdly guess that he did not want to, for it would + certainly have been refused. He heard that the Swedish officers, + secure in their stronghold, were to attend a wedding on shore the + next day. His instructions from the Admiralty were: in an emergency + always to hold a council of war, and to abide by its decision. At + daybreak he ran his ship alongside <i>Vindhunden</i>, her companion + frigate, and called to the captain: +</p> +<p> + "The Swedish officers are bidden to a wedding, and they have + forgotten us. What do you say—shall we go unasked?" +</p> +<p> + Captain Grip was game. "Good enough!" he shouted back. "The wind is + fair, and we have all day. I am ready." +</p> +<p> + That was the council of war and its decision. Tordenskjold gave the + signal to clear for action, and sailed in at the head of his handful + of ships. +</p> +<p> + The inlet to the harbor of Dynekilen is narrow and crooked, winding + between reefs and rocky steeps quite two miles, and only in spots + more than four hundred feet wide. Halfway in was a strong battery. + Tordenskjold's fleet was received with a tremendous fire from all + the Swedish ships, from the battery, and from an army of four + thousand soldiers lying along shore. The Danish ships made no reply. + They sailed up grimly silent till they reached a place wide enough + to let them wear round, broadside on. Then their guns spoke. Three + hours the battle raged before the Swedish fire began to slacken. As + soon as he noticed it, Tordenskjold slipped into the inner harbor + under cover of the heavy pall of smoke, and before the Swedes + suspected their presence they found his ships alongside. Broadside + after broadside crashed into them, and in terror they fled, soldiers + and sailors alike. While they ran Tordenskjold swooped down upon the + half-way battery, seized it, and spiked its guns. The fight was won. +</p> +<p> + But the heaviest part was left—the towing out of the captured + ships. All the afternoon Tordenskjold led the work in person, + pulling on ropes, cheering on his men. The Swedes, returning gamely + to the fight, showered them with bullets from shore. One of the + abandoned vessels caught fire. Lieutenant Tönder, of Tordenskjold's + staff, a veteran with a wooden leg, boarded it just as the + quartermaster ran up yelling that the ship was full of powder and + was going to blow up. He tried to jump overboard, but the lieutenant + seized him by the collar and, stumping along, made him lead the way + to the magazine. A fuse had been laid to an open keg of powder, and + the fire was sputtering within an inch of it when Lieutenant Tönder + plucked it out, smothered it between thumb and forefinger, and threw + it through the nearest port-hole. There were two hundred barrels of + powder in the ship. +</p> +<p> + Tordenskjold had kept his word to the King. Not as much as a yawl of + the Dynekilen fleet was left to the enemy. He had sunk or burned + thirteen and captured thirty-one ships with his seven, and all the + piled-up munitions of war were in his hands. King Charles gave up + the siege, marched his army out of Norway, and the country was + saved. The victory cost Tordenskjold but nineteen killed and + fifty-seven wounded. On his own ship six men were killed and twenty + wounded. +</p> +<p> + Of infinite variety was this sea-fighter. After a victory like this, + one hears of him in the next breath gratifying a passing whim of + the King, who wanted to know what the Swedish people thought of + their Government after Charles's long wars that are said to have + cost their country a million men. Tordenskjold overheard it, had + himself rowed across to Sweden, picked up there a wedding party, + bridegroom, minister, guests, and all, including the captain of the + shore watch who was among them, and returned in time for the palace + dinner with his catch. King Frederik was entertaining Czar Peter the + Great, who had been boasting of the unhesitating loyalty of his men + which his Danish host could not match. He now had the tables turned + upon him. It is recorded that the King sent the party back with + royal gifts for the bride. One would be glad to add that + Tordenskjold sent back, too, the silver pitcher and the parlor clock + his men took on their visit. But he didn't. They were still in + Copenhagen a hundred years later, and may be they are yet. It was + not like his usual gallantry toward the fair sex. But perhaps he + didn't know anything about it. +</p> +<p> + Then we find him, after an unsuccessful attack on Göteborg that cost + many lives, sending in his adjutant to congratulate the Swedish + commandant on their "gallant encounter" the day before, and + exchanging presents with him in token of mutual regard. And before + one can turn the page he is discovered swooping down upon Marstrand, + taking town and fleet anchored there, and the castle itself with its + whole garrison, all with two hundred men, swelled by stratagem into + an army of thousands. We are told that an officer sent out from the + castle to parley, issuing forth from a generous dinner, beheld the + besieging army drawn up in street after street, always two hundred + men around every corner, as he made his way through the town, + piloted by Tordenskjold himself, who was careful to take him the + longest way, while the men took the short cut to the next block. The + man returned home with the message that the town was full of them + and that resistance was useless. The ruse smacks of Peder Wessel's + boyish fight with a much bigger fellow who had beaten him once by + gripping his long hair, and so getting his head in chancery. But + Peder had taken notice. Next time he came to the encounter with hair + cut short and his whole head smeared with soft-soap, and that time + he won. +</p> +<p> + The most extraordinary of all his adventures befell when, after the + attack on Strömstad, he was hastening home to Copenhagen. Crossing + the Kattegat in a little smack that carried but two three-pound + guns, he was chased and overtaken by a Swedish frigate of sixteen + guns and a crew of sixty men. Tordenskjold had but twenty-one, and + eight of them were servants and non-combatants. They were dreadfully + frightened, and tradition has it that one of them wept when he saw + the Swede coming on. Her captain called upon him to surrender, but + the answer was flung back: +</p> +<p> + "I am Tordenskjold! Come and take me, if you can." +</p> +<p> + With that came a tiny broadside that did brisk execution on the + frigate. Tordenskjold had hauled both his guns over on the "fighting + side" of his vessel. There ensued a battle such as Homer would have + loved to sing. Both sides banged away for all they were worth. In + the midst of the din and smoke Tordenskjold used his musket with + cool skill; his servants loaded while he fired. At every shot a man + fell on the frigate. +</p> +<p> + Word was brought that there was no more round shot. He bade them + twist up his pewter dinner service and fire that, which they did. + The Swede tried vainly to board. Tordenskjold manoeuvred his smack + with such skill that they could not hook on. Seeing this, Captain + Lind, commander of the frigate, called to him to desist from the + useless struggle; he would be honored to carry such a prisoner into + Göteborg. Back came the taunt: +</p> +<p> + "Neither you nor any other Swede shall ever carry me there!" And + with that he shot the captain down. <a name="1"></a><a href="#note-1"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> +</p> + +<p> + When his men saw him fall, they were seized with panic and made off + as quickly as they could, while Tordenskjold's crew, of whom only + fourteen were left, beat their drums and blew trumpets in frantic + defiance. Their captain was for following the Swede and boarding + her, but he couldn't. Sails, rigging, and masts were shot to pieces. + Perhaps the terror of the Swedes was increased by the sight of + Tordenskjold's tame bear making faces at them behind his master. It + went with him everywhere till that day, and came out of the fight + unscathed. But during the night the crew ran the vessel on the + Swedish shore, whence Tordenskjold himself reached Denmark in an + open boat which he had to keep bailing all night, for the boat was + shot full of holes, and though he and his companions stuffed their + spare clothing into them it leaked badly. The enemy got the smack, + after all, and the bear, which, being a Norwegian, proved so + untractable on Swedish soil that, sad to relate, in the end they cut + him up and ate him. +</p> +<p> + King Charles, himself a knightly soul and an admirer of a gallant + enemy, gave orders to have all Tordenskjold's belongings sent back + to him, but he did not live to see the order carried out. He was + found dead in the rifle-pits before Frederiksteen on December 11, + 1718, shot through the head. It was Tordenskjold himself who brought + the all-important news to King Frederik in the night of December + 28,—they were not the days of telegraphs and fast steamers,—and + when the King, who had been roused out of bed to receive him, could + not trust his ears, he said with characteristic audacity, "I wish it + were as true that your Majesty had made me a schoutbynacht,"—the + rank next below admiral. And so he took the step next to the last on + the ladder of his ambition. +</p> +<p> + Within seven months he took Marstrand. It is part of the record of + that astonishing performance that when the unhappy Commandant + hesitated as the hour of evacuation came, not sure that he had done + right in capitulating, Tordenskjold walked up to the fort with a + hundred men, half his force, banged on the gate, went in alone and + up to the Commandant's window, thundering out: +</p> +<p> + "What are you waiting for? Don't you know time is up?" +</p> +<p> + In terror and haste, Colonel Dankwardt moved his Hessians out, and + Tordenskjold marched his handful of men in. When he brought the King + the keys of Marstrand, Frederik made him an admiral. +</p> +<p> + It was while blockading the port of Göteborg in the last year of the + war that he met and made a friend of Lord Carteret, the English + Ambassador to Denmark, and fell in love with the picture of a young + Englishwoman, Miss Norris, a lady of great beauty and wealth, who, + Lord Carteret told him, was an ardent admirer of his. It was this + love which indirectly sent him to his death. Lord Carteret had given + him a picture of her, and as soon as peace was made he started for + England; but he never reached that country. The remnant of the + Swedish fleet lay in the roadstead at Göteborg, under the guns of + the two forts, New and Old Elfsborg. While Tordenskjold was away at + Marstrand, the enemy sallied forth and snapped up seven of the + smaller vessels of his blockading fleet. The news made him furious. + He sent in, demanding them back at once, "or I will come after + them." He had already made one ineffectual attempt to take New + Elfsborg that cost him dear. In Göteborg they knew the strength of + his fleet and laughed at his threat. But it was never safe to laugh + at Tordenskjold. The first dark night he stole in with ten armed + boats, seized the shore batteries of the old fort, and spiked their + guns before a shot was fired. The rising moon saw his men in + possession of the ships lying at anchor. With their blue-lined coats + turned inside out so that they might pass for Swedish uniforms, they + surprised the watch in the guard-house and made them all prisoners. + Now that there was no longer reason for caution, they raised a + racket that woke the sleeping town up in a fright. The commander of + the other fort sent out a boat to ascertain the cause. It met the + Admiral's and challenged it, "Who goes there?" +</p> +<p> + "Tordenskjold," was the reply, "come to teach you to keep awake." +</p> +<p> + It proved impossible to warp the ships out. Only one of the seven + lost ones was recovered; all the rest were set on fire. By the light + of the mighty bonfire Tordenskjold rowed out with his men, hauling + the recovered ship right under the guns of the forts, the Danish + flag flying at the bow of his boat. He had not lost a single man. A + cannon-ball swept away all the oars on one side of his boat, but no + one was hurt. +</p> +<p> + At Marstrand they had been up all night listening to the cannonading + and the crash upon crash as the big ships blew up. They knew that + Tordenskjold was abroad with his men. In the morning, when they were + all in church, he walked in and sat down by his chief, the old + Admiral Judicher, who was a slow-going, cautious man. He whispered + anxiously, "What news?" but Tordenskjold only shrugged his shoulders + with unmoved face. It is not likely that either the old Admiral or + the congregation heard much of that sermon, if indeed they heard any + of it. But when it was over, they saw from the walls of the town + the Danish ships at anchor and heard the story of the last of + Tordenskjold's exploits. It fitly capped the climax of his life. + Sweden's entire force on the North Sea, with the exception of five + small galleys, had either been captured, sunk, or burned by him. +</p> +<p> + The King would not let Tordenskjold go when peace was made, but he + had his way in the end. To his undoing he consented to take with him + abroad a young scalawag, the son of his landlord, who had more money + than brains. In Hamburg the young man fell in with a gambler, a + Swedish colonel by name of Stahl, who fleeced him of all he had and + much more besides. When Tordenskjold heard of it and met the Colonel + in another man's house, he caned him soundly and threw him out in + the street. For this he was challenged, but refused to fight a + gambler. +</p> +<p> + "Friends," particularly one Colonel Münnichhausen, who volunteered + to be his second, talked him over, and also persuaded him to give up + the pistol, with which he was an expert. The duel was fought at the + Village of Gledinge, over the line from Hanover, on the morning of + November 12, 1720. Tordenskjold was roused from sleep at five, and, + after saying his prayers, a duty he never on any account omitted, he + started for the place appointed. His old body-servant vainly pleaded + with his master to take his stout blade instead of the flimsy parade + sword the Admiral carried. Münnichhausen advised against it; it + would be too heavy, he said. Stahl's weapon was a long fighting + rapier, and to this the treacherous second made no objection. Almost + at the first thrust he ran the Admiral through. The seconds held his + servant while Stahl jumped on his horse and galloped away. + Tordenskjold breathed out his dauntless soul in the arms of his + faithful servant and friend. +</p> +<p> + His body lies in a black marble sarcophagus in the "Navy Church" at + Copenhagen. The Danish and Norwegian peoples have never ceased to + mourn their idol. He was a sailor with a sailor's faults. But he + loved truth, honor, and courage in foe and friend alike. Like many + seafaring men, he was deeply religious, with the unquestioning faith + of a child. There is a letter in existence written by him to his + father when the latter was on his death-bed that bears witness to + this. He thanks him with filial affection for all his care, and says + naïvely that he would rather have his prayers than fall heir to + twenty thousand daler. His pictures show a stocky, broad-shouldered + youth with frank blue eyes, full lips, and an eagle nose. His deep, + sonorous voice used to be heard, in his midshipman days, above the + whole congregation in the Navy Church. In after years it called + louder still to Denmark's foes. When things were at their worst in + storm or battle, he was wont to shout to his men, "Hi, <i>now</i> we are + having a fine time!" and his battle-cry has passed into the + language. By it, in desperate straits demanding stout hearts, one + may know the Dane after his own heart, the real Dane, the world + over. Among his own Tordenskjold is still and always will be "the + Admiral of Norway's fleet." +</p> +<br> +<a name="note-1"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#1"> +<u><sup>1</sup></u></a> He was not mortally wounded, and Tordenskjold took him + prisoner later at the capture of Marstrand. + +</p> +<a name="2H_4_0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + HANS EGEDE, THE APOSTLE TO GREENLAND +</h2> +<br> +<p> + When in the fall of 1909 the statement was flashed around the world + that the North Pole had at last been reached, a name long unfamiliar + ran from mouth to mouth with that of the man who claimed to be its + discoverer. Dr. Cook was coming to Copenhagen, the daily despatches + read, on the Danish Government steamer <i>Hans Egede</i>. A shipload of + reporters kept an anxious lookout from the Skaw for the vessel so + suddenly become famous, but few who through their telescopes made + out the name at last upon the prow of the ship gave it another + thought in the eager welcome to the man it brought back from the + perils of the Farthest North. Yet the name of that vessel stood for + something of more real account to humanity than the attainment of a + goal that had been the mystery of the ages. No such welcome awaited + the explorer Hans Egede, who a hundred and seventy-two years before + sailed homeward over that very route, a broken, saddened man, and + all he brought was the ashes of his best-beloved that they might + rest in her native soil. No gold medal was struck for him; the + people did not greet him with loud acclaim. The King and his court + paid scant attention to him, and he was allowed to live his last + days in poverty. Yet a greater honor is his than ever fell to a + discoverer: the simple natives of Greenland long reckoned the time + from his coming among them. To them he was in their ice-bound home + what Father Damien was to the stricken lepers in the South seas, and + Dr. Grenfell is to the fishermen of Labrador. +</p> +<p> + Hans Poulsen Egede, the apostle of Greenland, was a Norwegian of + Danish descent. He was born in the Northlands, in the parish of + Trondenäs, on January 31, 1686. His grandfather and his father + before him had been clergymen in Denmark, the former in the town of + West Egede, whence the name. Graduated in a single year from the + University of Copenhagen, "at which," his teachers bore witness, "no + one need wonder who knows the man," he became at twenty-two pastor + of a parish up in the Lofoden Islands, where the fabled maëlstrom + churns. Eleven years he preached to the poor fisherfolk on Sunday, + and on week-days helped his parishioners rebuild the old church. + When it was finished and the bishop came to consecrate it, he chided + Egede because the altar was too fine; it must have cost more than + they could afford. +</p> +<p> + "It did not cost anything," was his reply. "I made it myself." +</p> +<p> + No wonder his fame went far. When the church bell of Vaagen called, + boats carrying Sunday-clad fishermen were seen making for the island + from every point of the compass. Great crowds flocked to his church; + great enough to arouse the jealousy of neighboring preachers who + were not so popular, and they made it so unpleasant that his wife at + last tired of it. They little dreamed that they were industriously + paving the way for his greater work and for his undying fame. +</p> +<p> + The sea that surges against that rockbound coast ever called its + people out in quest of adventure. Some who went nine hundred years + ago found a land in the far Northwest barred by great icebergs; but + once inside the barrier, they saw deep fjords like their own at + home, to which the mountains sloped down, covered with a wealth of + lovely flowers. On green meadows antlered deer were grazing, the + salmon leaped in brawling brooks, and birds called for their mates + in the barrens. Above it all towered snow-covered peaks. They saw + only the summer day; they did not know how brief it was, and how + long the winter night, and they called the country Greenland. They + built their homes there, and other settlers came. They were hardy + men, bred in a harsh climate, and they stayed. They built churches + and had their priests and bishops, for Norway was Christian by that + time. And they prospered after their fashion. They even paid Peter's + Pence to Rome. There is a record that their contribution, being in + kind, namely, walrus teeth, was sold in 1386 by the Pope's agent to + a merchant in Flanders for twelve livres, fourteen sous. They kept + up communication with their kin across the seas until the Black + Death swept through the Old World in the Fourteenth Century; Norway, + when it was gone, was like a vast tomb. Two-thirds of its people lay + dead. Those who were left had enough to do at home; and Greenland + was forgotten. +</p> +<p> + The seasons passed, and the savages, with whom the colonists had + carried on a running feud, came out of the frozen North and + overwhelmed them. Dim traditions that were whispered among the + natives for centuries told of that last fight. It was the Ragnarok + of the Northmen. Not one was left to tell the tale. Long years + after, when fishing vessels landed on that desolate coast, they + found a strange and hostile people in possession. No one had ever + dared to settle there since. +</p> +<p> + This last Egede knew, but little more. He believed that there were + still settlements on the inaccessible east coast of Greenland where + descendants of the old Northmen lived, cut off from all the world, + sunk into ignorance and godlessness,—men and women who had once + known the true light,—and his heart yearned to go to their rescue. + Waking and dreaming, he thought of nothing else. The lamp in his + quiet study shone out over the sea at night when his people were + long asleep. Their pastor was poring over old manuscripts and the + logs of whalers that had touched upon Greenland. From Bergen he + gathered the testimony of many sailors. None of them had ever seen + traces of, or heard of, the old Northmen. +</p> +<p> + To his bishop went Egede with his burden. Ever it rang in his ears: + "God has chosen you to bring them back to the light." The bishop + listened and was interested. Yes, that was the land from which + seafarers in a former king's time had brought home golden sand. + There might be more. It couldn't be far from Cuba and Hispaniola, + those golden coasts. If one were to go equipped for trading, no + doubt a fine stroke of business might be done. Thus the Right + Reverend Bishop Krog of Trondhjem, and Egede went home, + disheartened. +</p> +<p> + At home his friends scouted him, said he was going mad to think of + giving up his living on such a fool's chase. His wife implored him + to stay, and with a heavy heart Egede was about to abandon his + purpose when his jealous neighbor, whose parishioners had been going + to hear Egede preach, stirred up such trouble that his wife was glad + to go. She even urged him to, and he took her at her word. They + moved to Bergen, and from that port they sailed on May 3, 1721, on + the ship <i>Haabet</i> (the Hope), with another and smaller vessel as + convoy, forty-six souls all told, bound for the unknown North. The + Danish King had made Egede missionary to the Greenlanders on a + salary of three hundred daler a year, the same amount which Egede + himself contributed of his scant store toward the equipment. The + bishop's plan had prevailed; the mission was to be carried by the + expected commerce, and upon that was to be built a permanent + colonization. +</p> +<p> + Early in June they sighted land, but the way to it was barred by + impassable ice. A whole month they sailed to and fro, trying vainly + for a passage. At last they found an opening and slipped through, + only to find themselves shut in, with towering icebergs closing + around them. As they looked fearfully out over the rail, their + convoy signalled that she had struck, and the captain of <i>Haabet</i> + cried out that all was lost. In the tumult of terror that succeeded, + Egede alone remained calm. Praying for succor where there seemed to + be none, he remembered the One Hundred and Seventh Psalm: "He + brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake + their bands in sunder." And the morning dawned clear, the ice was + moving and their prison widening. On July 3, <i>Haabet</i> cleared the + last ice-reef, and the shore lay open before them. +</p> +<p> + The Eskimos came out in their kayaks, and the boldest climbed aboard + the ship. In one boat sat an old man who refused the invitation. He + paddled about the vessel, mumbling darkly in a strange tongue. He + was an Angekok, one of the native medicine-men of whom presently + Egede was to know much more. As he stood upon the deck and looked at + these strangers for whose salvation he had risked all, his heart + fell. They were not the stalwart Northmen he had looked for, and + their jargon had no homelike sound. But a great wave of pity swept + over him, and the prayer that rose to his lips was for strength to + be their friend and their guide to the light. +</p> +<p> + Not at once did the way open for the coveted friendship with the + Eskimos. While they thought the strangers came only to trade they + were hospitable enough, but when they saw them build, clearly intent + on staying, they made signs that they had better go. They pointed to + the sun that sank lower toward the horizon every day, and shivered + as if from extreme cold, and they showed their visitors the + icebergs and the snow, making them understand that it would cover + the house by and by. When it all availed nothing and the winter came + on, they retired into their huts and cut the acquaintance of the + white men. They were afraid that they had come to take revenge for + the harm done their people in the olden time. There was nothing for + it, then, but that Egede must go to them, and this he did. +</p> +<p> + They seized their spears when they saw him coming, but he made signs + that he was their friend. When he had nothing else to give them, he + let them cut the buttons from his coat. Throughout the fifteen years + he spent in Greenland Egede never wore furs, as did the natives. The + black robe he thought more seemly for a clergyman, to his great + discomfort. He tells in his diary and in his letters that often when + he returned from his winter travels it could stand alone when he + took it off, being frozen stiff. After a while he got upon + neighborly terms with the Eskimos; but, if anything, the discomfort + was greater. They housed him at night in their huts, where the filth + and the stench were unendurable. They showed their special regard + by first licking off the piece of seal they put before him, and if + he rejected it they were hurt. Their housekeeping, of which he got + an inside view, was embarrassing in its simplicity. The dish-washing + was done by the dogs licking the kettles clean. Often, after a night + or two in a hut that held half a dozen families, he was compelled to + change his clothes to the skin in an open boat or out on the snow. + But the alternative was to sleep out in a cold that sometimes froze + his pillow to the bed and the tea-cup to the table even in his own + home. Above all, he must learn their language. +</p> +<p> + It proved a difficult task, for the Eskimo tongue was both very + simple and very complex. In all the things pertaining to their daily + life it was exceedingly complex. For instance, to catch one kind of + fish was expressed by one word, to catch another kind in quite + different terms. They had one word for catching a young seal, + another for catching an old one. When it came to matters of moral + and spiritual import, the language was poor to desperation. Egede's + instruction began when he caught the word "kine"—what is it? And + from that time on he learned every day; but the pronunciation was as + varied as the workaday vocabulary, and it was an unending task. +</p> +<p> + It proceeded with many interruptions from the Angekoks, who tried + more than once to bewitch him, but finally gave it up, convinced + that he was a great medicine-man himself, and therefore + invulnerable. But before that they tried to foment a regular mutiny, + the colony being by that time well under way, and Egede had to + arrest and punish the leaders. The natives naturally clung to them, + and when Egede had mastered their language and tried to make clear + that the Angekoks deceived them when they pretended to go to the + other world for advice, they demurred. "Did you ever see them go?" + he asked. "Well, have you seen this God of yours of whom you speak + so much?" was their reply. When Egede spoke of spiritual gifts, they + asked for good health and blubber: "Our Angekoks give us that." + Hell-fire was much in theological evidence in those days, but among + the Eskimos it was a failure as a deterrent. They listened to the + account of it eagerly and liked the prospect. When at length they + became convinced that Egede knew more than their Angekoks, they came + to him with the request that he would abolish winter. Very likely + they thought that one who had such knowledge of the hot place ought + to have influence enough with the keeper of it to obtain this favor. +</p> +<p> + It was not an easy task, from any point of view, to which he had put + his hands. As that first winter wore away there were gloomy days and + nights, and they were not brightened when, with the return of the + sun, no ship arrived from Denmark. The Dutch traders came, and + opened their eyes wide when they found Egede and his household safe + and even on friendly terms with the Eskimos. Pelesse—the natives + called the missionary that, as the nearest they could come to the + Danish <i>präst</i> (priest)—Pelesse was not there after blubber, they + told the Dutchmen, but to teach them about heaven and of "Him up + there," who had made them and wanted them home with Him again. So he + had not worked altogether in vain. But the brief summer passed, and + still no relief ship. The crew of <i>Haabet</i> clamored to go home, and + Egede had at last to give a reluctant promise that if no ship came + in two weeks, he would break up. His wife alone refused to take a + hand in packing. The ship was coming, she insisted, and at the last + moment it did come. A boat arriving after dark brought the first + word of it. The people ashore heard voices speaking in Danish, and + flew to Egede, who had gone to bed, with the news. The ship brought + good cheer. The Government was well disposed. Trading and preaching + were to go on together, as planned. Joyfully then they built a + bigger and a better house, and called their colony Godthaab (Good + Hope). +</p> +<p> + The work was now fairly under way. Of the energy and the hardships + it entailed, even we in our day that have heard so much of Arctic + exploration can have but a faint conception. Shut in on the coast of + eternal ice and silence,—silence, save when in summer the Arctic + rivers were alive, and crash after crash announced that the glaciers + coming down from the inland mountains were "casting their calves," + the great icebergs, upon the ocean,—the colonists counted the days + from the one when that year's ship was lost to sight till the + returning spring brought the next one, their only communication with + their far-off home. In summer the days were sometimes burning hot, + but the nights always bitterly cold. In winter, says Egede, hot + water spilled on the table froze as it ran, and the meat they cooked + was often frozen at the bone when set on the table. Summer and + winter Egede was on his travels between Sundays, sometimes in the + trader's boat, more often the only white man with one or two Eskimo + companions, seeking out the people. When night surprised him with no + native hut in sight, he pulled the boat on some desert shore and, + commending his soul to God, slept under it. Once he and his son + found an empty hut, and slept there in the darkness. Not until day + came again did they know that they had made their bed on the frozen + bodies of dead men who had once been the occupants of the house, and + had died they never knew how. Peril was everywhere. Again and again + his little craft was wrecked. Once the house blew down over their + heads in one of the dreadful winter storms that ravage those high + latitudes. Often he had to sit on the rail of his boat, and let his + numbed feet hang into the sea to restore feeling in them. On land he + sometimes waded waist-deep in snow, climbed mountains and slid down + into valleys, having but the haziest notion of where he would land. + At home his brave wife sat alone, praying for his safety and + listening to every sound that might herald his return. Tremble and + doubt they did, Egede owns, but they never flinched. Their work was + before them, and neither thought of turning back. +</p> +<p> + The Eskimos soon came to know that Egede was their friend. When his + boat entered a fjord where they were fishing, and his rowers shouted + out that the good priest had come who had news of God, they dropped + their work and flocked out to meet him. Then he spoke to a floating + congregation, simply as if they were children, and, as with Him + whose message he bore, "the people heard him gladly." They took him + to their sick, and asked him to breathe upon them, which he did to + humor them, until he found out that it was an Angekok practice, + whereupon he refused. Once, after he had spoken of the raising of + Lazarus from the dead, they took him to a new-made grave and asked + him, too, to bring back their dead. They brought him a blind man to + be healed. Egede looked upon them in sorrowful pity. "I can do + nothing," he said; "but if he believes in Jesus, He has the power + and can do it." +</p> +<p> + "I do believe," shouted the blind man: "let Him heal me." It + occurred to Egede, perhaps as a mere effort at cleanliness, to wash + his eyes in cognac, and he sent him away with words of comfort. He + did not see his patient again for thirteen years. Then he was in a + crowd of Eskimos who came to Godthaab. The man saw as well as Egede. +</p> +<p> + "Do you remember?" he said, "you washed my eyes with sharp water, + and the Son of God in whom I believed, He made me to see." +</p> +<p> + Children the Eskimos were in their idolatry, and children they + remained as Christians. By Egede's prayers they set great store. + "You ask for us," they told him. "God does not hear us; He does not + understand Eskimo." Of God they spoke as "Him up there." They + believed that the souls of the dead went up on the rainbow, and, + reaching the moon that night, rested there in the moon's house, on a + bench covered with the white skins of young polar bears. There they + danced and played games, and the northern lights were the young + people playing ball. Afterward they lived in houses on the shore of + a big lake overshadowed by a snow mountain. When the waters ran over + the edge of the lake, it rained on earth. When the "moon was dark," + it was down on earth catching seal for a living. Thunder was caused + by two old women shaking a dried sealskin between them; the + lightning came when they turned the white side out. The "Big Nail" + we have heard of as the Eskimos' Pole, was a high-pointed mountain + in the Farthest North on which the sky rested and turned around with + the sun, moon, and stars. Up there the stars were much bigger. + Orion's Belt was so near that you had to carry a whip to drive him + away. +</p> +<p> + The women were slaves. An Eskimo might have as many wives as he saw + fit; they were his, and it was nobody's business. But adultery was + unknown. The seventh commandment in Egede's translation came to + read, "One wife alone you shall have and love." The birth of a girl + was greeted with wailing. When grown, she was often wooed by + violence. If she fled from her admirer, he cut her feet when he + overtook her, so that she could run no more. The old women were + denounced as witches who drove the seals away, and were murdered. An + Eskimo who was going on a reindeer hunt, and found his aged mother a + burden, took her away and laid her in an open grave. Returning on + the third day, he heard her groaning yet, and smothered her with a + big stone. He tried to justify himself to Egede by saying that "she + died hard, and it was a pity not to speed her." Yet they buried a + dog's head with a child, so that the dog, being clever, could run + ahead and guide the little one's steps to heaven. +</p> +<p> + They could count no further than five; at a stretch they might get + to twenty, on their fingers and toes, but there they stopped. + However, they were not without resources. It was the day of long + Sunday services, and the Eskimos were a restless people. When the + sermon dragged, they would go up to Egede and make him measure on + their arms how much longer the talk was going to be. Then they + tramped back to their seats and sat listening with great attention, + all the time moving one hand down the arm, checking off the + preacher's progress. If they got to the finger-tips before he + stopped, they would shake their heads sourly and go back for a + remeasurement. No wonder Egede put his chief hope in the children, + whom he gathered about him in flocks. +</p> +<p> + For all that, the natives loved him. There came a day that brought + this message from the North: "Say to the speaker to come to us to + live, for the other strangers who come here can only talk to us of + blubber, blubber, blubber, and we also would hear of the great + Creator." Egede went as far as he could, but was compelled by ice + and storms to turn back after weeks of incredible hardships. The + disappointment was the more severe to him because he had never quite + given up his hope of finding remnants of the ancient Norse + settlements. The fact that the old records spoke of a West Bygd + (settlement) and an East Bygd had misled many into believing that + the desolate east coast had once been colonized. Not until our own + day was this shown to be an error, when Danish explorers searched + that coast for a hundred miles and found no other trace of + civilization than a beer bottle left behind by the explorer + Nordenskjold. +</p> +<p> + Egede's hope had been that Greenland might be once more colonized by + Christian people. When the Danish Government, after some years, sent + up a handful of soldiers, with a major who took the title of + governor, to give the settlement official character as a trading + station, they sent with them twenty unofficial "Christians," ten men + out of the penitentiary and as many lewd and drunken women from the + treadmill, who were married by lot before setting sail, to give the + thing a halfway decent look. They were good enough for the Eskimos, + they seem to have thought at Copenhagen. There followed a terrible + winter, during which mutiny and murder were threatened. "It is a + pity," writes the missionary, "that while we sleep secure among the + heathen savages, with so-called Christian people our lives are not + safe." As a matter of fact they were not, for the soldiers joined in + the mutiny against Egede as the cause of their having to live in + such a place, and had not sickness and death smitten the + malcontents, neither he nor the governor would have come safe + through the winter. On the Eskimos this view of the supposed fruits + of Christian teaching made its own impression. After seeing a woman + scourged on shipboard for misbehavior, they came innocently enough + to Egede and suggested that some of their best Angekoks be sent down + to Denmark to teach the people to be sober and decent. +</p> +<p> + There came a breathing spell after ten years of labor in what had + often enough seemed to him the spiritual as well as physical + ice-barrens of the North, when Egede surveyed a prosperous mission, + with trade established, a hundred and fifty children christened and + schooled, and many of their elders asking to be baptized. In the + midst of his rejoicing the summer's ship brought word from Denmark + that the King was dead, and orders from his successor to abandon the + station. Egede might stay with provisions for one year, if there was + enough left over after fitting out the ship; but after that he would + receive no further help. +</p> +<p> + When the Eskimos heard the news, they brought their little children + to the mission. "These will not let you go," they said; and he + stayed. His wife, whom hardship and privation and the lonely waiting + for her husband in the long winter nights had at last broken down, + refused to leave him, though she sadly needed the care of a + physician. A few of the sailors were persuaded to stay another year. + "So now," Egede wrote in his diary when, on July 31, 1731, he had + seen the ship sail away with all his hopes, "I am left alone with my + wife and three children, ten sailors and eight Eskimos, girls and + boys who have been with us from the start. God let me live to see + the blessed day that brings good news once more from home." His + prayer was heard. The next summer brought word that the mission was + to be continued, partly because Egede had strained every nerve to + send home much blubber and many skins. But it was as a glimpse of + the sun from behind dark clouds. His greatest trials trod hard upon + the good news. +</p> +<p> + To rouse interest in the mission Egede had sent home young Eskimos + from time to time. Three of these died of smallpox in Denmark. The + fourth came home and brought the contagion, all unknown, to his + people. It was the summer fishing season, when the natives travel + much and far, and wherever he went they flocked about him to hear of + the "Great Lord's land," where the houses were so tall that one + could not shoot an arrow over them, and to ask a multitude of + questions: Was the King very big? Had he caught many whales? Was he + strong and a great Angekok? and much more of the same kind. In a + week the disease broke out among the children at the mission, and + soon word came from islands and fjords where the Eskimos were + fishing, of death and misery unspeakable. It was virgin soil for the + plague, and it was terribly virulent, striking down young and old in + every tent and hut. More than two thousand natives, one-fourth of + the whole population, died that summer. Of two hundred families near + the mission only thirty were left alive. A cry of terror and anguish + rose throughout the settlements. No one knew what to do. In vain did + Egede implore them to keep their sick apart. In fever delirium they + ran out in the ice-fields or threw themselves into the sea. A wild + panic seized the survivors, and they fled to the farthest tribes, + carrying the seeds of death with them wherever they went. Whole + villages perished, and their dead lay unburied. Utter desolation + settled like a pall over the unhappy land. +</p> +<p> + Through it all a single ray of hope shone. The faith that Egede had + preached all those years, and the life he had lived with them, bore + their fruit. They had struck deeper than he thought. They crowded to + him, all that could, as their one friend. Dying mothers held their + suckling babes up to him and died content. In a deserted island camp + a half-grown girl was found alone with three little children. Their + father was dead. When he knew that for him and the baby there was no + help, he went to a cave and, covering himself and the child with + skins, lay down to die. His parting words to his daughter were, + "Before you have eaten the two seals and the fish I have laid away + for you, Pelesse will come, no doubt, and take you home. For he + loves you and will take care of you." At the mission every nook and + cranny was filled with the sick and the dying. Egede and his wife + nursed them day and night. Childlike, when death approached, they + tried to put on their best clothes, or even to have new ones made, + that they might please God by coming into His presence looking fine. + When Egede had closed their eyes, he carried the dead in his arms to + the vestibule, where in the morning the men who dug the graves found + them. At the sight of his suffering the scoffers were dumb. What his + preaching had not done to win them over, his sorrows did. They were + at last one. +</p> +<p> + That dreadful year left Egede a broken man. In his dark moments he + reproached himself with having brought only misery to those he had + come to help and serve. One thorn which one would think he might + have been spared rankled deep in it all. Some missionaries of a + dissenting sect—Egede was Lutheran—had come with the smallpox ship + to set up an establishment of their own. At their head was a man + full of misdirected zeal and quite devoid of common-sense, who + engaged Egede in a wordy dispute about justification by faith and + condemned him and his work unsparingly. He had grave doubts whether + he was in truth a "converted man." It came to an end when they + themselves fell ill, and Egede and his wife had the last word, after + their own fashion. They nursed the warlike brethren through their + illness with loving ministrations and gave them back to life, let us + hope, wiser and better men. +</p> +<p> + At Christmas, 1735, Egede's faithful wife, Gertrude, closed her + eyes. She had gone out with him from home and kin to a hard and + heathen land, and she had been his loyal helpmeet in all his trials. + Now it was all over. That winter scurvy laid him upon a bed of pain + and, lying there, his heart turned to the old home. His son had come + from Copenhagen to help, happily yet while his mother lived. To him + he would give over the work. In Denmark he could do more for it than + in Greenland, now he was alone. On July 29, 1736, he preached for + the last time to his people and baptized a little Eskimo to whom + they gave his name, Hans. The following week he sailed for home, + carrying, as all his earthly wealth, his beloved dead and his + motherless children. +</p> +<p> + The Eskimos gathered on the shore and wept as the ship bore their + friend away. They never saw him again. He lived in Denmark eighteen + years, training young men to teach the Eskimos. They gave him the + title of bishop, but so little to live on that he was forced in his + last days to move from Copenhagen to a country town, to make both + ends meet. His grave was forgotten by the generation that came after + him. No one knows now where it is; but in ice-girt Greenland, where + the northern lights on wintry nights flash to the natives their + message from the souls that have gone home, his memory will live + when that of the North Pole seeker whom the world applauds is long + forgotten. Hans Egede was their great man, their hero. He was + more,—he was their friend. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + GUSTAV VASA, THE FATHER OF SWEDEN +</h2> +<br> +<p> + A great and wise woman had, after ages of war and bloodshed, united + the crowns of the three Scandinavian kingdoms upon one head. In the + strong city of Kalmar, around which the tide of battle had ever + raged hottest, the union was declared in the closing days of the + Thirteenth Century. Norwegian, Swede, and Dane were thenceforth to + stand together, to the end of time; so they resolved. It was all a + vain dream. Queen Margaret was not cold in her grave before the + kingdoms fell apart. Norway clung to Denmark, but Sweden went her + own way. In the wars of two generations the Danish kings won back + the Swedish crown and lost it, again and again, until in 1520 King + Christian II clutched it for the last time, at the head of a + conquering army. He celebrated his victory with a general amnesty, + and bade the Swedish nobles to a great feast, held at the capital in + November. +</p> +<p> + Christian is one of the unsolved riddles of history. Ablest but + unhappiest of all his house, he was an instinctive democrat, + sincerely solicitous for the welfare of the plain people, but + incredibly cruel and faithless when the dark mood seized him. The + coronation feast ended with the wholesale butchery of the + unsuspecting nobles. Hundreds were beheaded in the public square; + for days it was filled with the slain. It is small comfort that the + wicked priest who egged the King on to the dreadful deed was himself + burned at the stake by the master he had betrayed. The Stockholm + Massacre drowned the Kalmar Union in its torrents of blood. + Retribution came swiftly. Above the peal of the Christmas bells rose + the clash and clangor of armed hosts pouring forth from the mountain + fastnesses to avenge the foul treachery. They were led by Gustav<a name="2"></a><a href="#note-2"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> + Eriksson Vasa, a young noble upon whose head Christian had set a + price. +</p> +<p> + The Vasas were among the oldest and best of the great Swedish + families. It was said of them that they ever loved a friend, hated + a foe, and never forgot. Gustav was born in the castle of + Lindholmen, when the news that the world had grown suddenly big by + the discovery of lands beyond the unknown seas was still ringing + through Europe, on May 12, 1496. He was brought up in the home of + his kinsman, the Swedish patriot Sten Sture, and early showed the + fruits of his training. "See what I will do," he boasted in school + when he was thirteen, "I will go to Dalecarlia, rouse the people, + and give the Jutes (Danes) a black eye." Master Ivar, his Danish + teacher, gave him a whaling for that. White with anger, the boy + drove his dirk through the book, nailing it to the desk, and stalked + out of the room. Master Ivar's eyes followed the slim figure in the + scarlet cloak, and he sighed wearily "<i>nobilium nati nolunt aliquid + pati</i>,—the children of the great will put up with nothing." +</p> +<p> + Hardly yet of age, he served under the banner of Sten Sture against + King Christian, and was one of six hostages sent to the King when he + asked an interview of the Swedish leader. But Christian stayed away + from the meeting and carried the hostages off to Denmark against his + plighted faith. There Gustav was held prisoner a year. All that + winter rumors of great armaments against Sweden filled the land. He + heard the young bloods from the court prate about bending the stiff + necks in the country across the Sound, and watched them throw dice + for Swedish castles and Swedish women,—part of the loot when his + fatherland should be laid under the yoke. Ready to burst with anger + and grief, he sat silent at their boasts. In the spring he escaped, + disguised as a cattle-herder, and made his way to Lübeck, where he + found refuge in the house of the wealthy merchant Kort König. +</p> +<p> + They soon heard in Denmark where he was, and the King sent letters + demanding his surrender; but the burghers of the Hanse town hated + Christian with cause, and would not give him up. Then came Gustav's + warder who had gone bail for him in sixteen hundred gulden, and + pleaded for his prisoner. +</p> +<p> + "I am not a prisoner," was Gustav's retort, "I am a hostage, for + whom the Danish king pledged his oath and faith. If any one can + prove that I was taken captive in a fight or for just cause, let him + stand forth. Ambushed was I, and betrayed." The Lübeck men thought + of the plots King Christian was forever hatching against them. Now, + if he succeeded in getting Sweden under his heel, their turn would + come next. Better, they said, send this Gustav home to his own + country, perchance he might keep the King busy there; by which they + showed their good sense. His ex-keeper was packed off back home, and + Gustav reached Sweden, sole passenger on a little coast-trader, on + May 31, 1520. A stone marks the spot where he landed, near Kalmar; + for then struck the hour of Sweden's freedom. +</p> +<p> + But not yet for many weary months did the people hear its summons. + Swedish manhood was at its lowest ebb. Stockholm was held by the + widow of Sten Sture with a half-famished garrison. In Kalmar another + woman, Anna Bjelke, commanded, but her men murmured, and the fall of + the fortress was imminent. When Gustav Vasa, who had slipped in + unseen, exhorted them to stand fast, they would have mobbed him. He + left as he had come, the day before the surrender. Travelling by + night, he made his way inland, finding everywhere fear and distrust. + The King had promised that if they would obey him "they should + never want for herring and salt," so they told Gustav, and when he + tried to put heart into them and rouse their patriotism, they took + up bows and arrows and bade him be gone. Indeed, there were not + wanting those who shot at him. Like a hunted deer he fled from + hamlet to hamlet. Such friends as he had left advised him to throw + himself upon the King's mercy; told him of the amnesty proclaimed. + But Gustav's thoughts dwelt grimly among the Northern mountaineers + whom as a boy he had bragged he would set against the tyrant. + Insensibly he shaped his course toward their country. +</p> +<p> + He was with his brother-in-law, Joachim Brahe, when the King's + message bidding him to the coronation came. Gustav begged him not to + go, but Brahe's wife and children were within Christian's reach, and + he did not dare stay away. When he left, the fugitive hid in his + ancestral home at Räfsnäs on lake Mälar. There one of Brahe's men + brought him news of the massacre in which his master and Gustav's + father had perished. His mother, grandmother, and sisters were + dragged away to perish in Danish dungeons. On Gustav's head the King + had set a price, and spies were even then on his track. +</p> +<p> + Gustav's mind was made up. What was there now to wait for? Clad as a + peasant, he started for Dalecarlia with a single servant to keep him + company, but before he reached the mines the man stole all his money + and ran away. He had to work now to live, and hired out to Anders + Persson, the farmer of Rankhyttan. He had not been there many days + when one of the women saw an embroidered sleeve stick out under his + coat and told her master that the new hand was not what he pretended + to be. The farmer called him aside, and Gustav told him frankly who + he was. Anders Persson kept his secret, but advised him not to stay + long in any one place lest his enemies get wind of him. He slipped + away as soon as it was dark, nearly lost his life by breaking + through the ice, but reached Ornäs on the other side of Lake Runn, + half dead with cold and exposure. He knew that another Persson who + had been with him in the war lived there, and found his house. + Arendt Persson was a rascal. He received him kindly, but when he + slept harnessed his horse and went to Måns Nilsson, a neighbor, + with the news: the King's reward would make them both rich, if he + would help him seize the outlawed man. +</p> +<p> + Måns Nilsson held with the Danes, but he was no traitor, and he + showed the fellow the door. He went next to the King's sheriff; he + would be bound to help. To be sure, he would claim the lion's share + of the blood-money, but something was better than nothing. The + sheriff came soon enough with a score of armed men. But Arendt + Persson had not reckoned with his honest wife. She guessed his + errand and let Gustav down from the window to the rear gate, where + she had a sleigh and team in waiting. When the sheriff's posse + surrounded the house, Gustav was well on his way to Master Jon, the + parson of Svärdsjö, who was his friend. Tradition has it that while + Christian was King, the brave little woman never dared show her face + in the house again. +</p> +<p> + Master Jon was all right, but news of the man-hunt had run through + the country, and when the parson's housekeeper one day saw him hold + the wash-bowl for his guest she wanted to know why he was so polite + to a common clod. Master Jon told her that it was none of her + business, but that night he piloted his friend across the lake to + Isala, where Sven Elfsson lived, a gamekeeper who knew the country + and could be trusted. The good parson was hardly out of sight on his + way back when the sheriff's men came looking for Gustav. It did not + occur to them that the yokel who stood warming himself by the stove + might be the man they were after. But the gamekeeper's wife was + quick to see his peril. She was baking bread and had just put the + loaves into the oven with a long-handled spade. "Here, you lummox!" + she cried, and whacked him soundly over the back with it, "what are + ye standing there gaping at? Did ye never see folks afore? Get back + to your work in the barn." And Gustav, taking the hint, slunk out of + the room. +</p> +<p> + For three days after that he lay hidden under a fallen tree in the + snow and bitter cold; but even there he was not safe, and the + gamekeeper took him deeper into the forest, where a big spruce grew + on a hill in the middle of a frozen swamp. There no one would seek + him till he could make a shift to get him out of the country. The + hill is still there; the people call it the King's Hill, and not + after King Christian, either. But in those long nights when Gustav + Vasa listened to the hungry wolves howling in the woods and nosing + about his retreat, it was hardly kingly conceits his mind brooded + over. His father and kinsmen were murdered; his mother and sister in + the pitiless grasp of the tyrant who was hunting him to his death; + he, the last of his race, alone and forsaken by his own. Bitter + sorrow filled his soul at the plight of his country that had fallen + so low. But the hope of the young years came to the rescue: all was + not lost yet. And in the morning came Sven, the gamekeeper, with a + load of straw, at the bottom of which he hid him. So no one would be + the wiser. +</p> +<p> + It was well he did it, for half-way to the next town some prowling + soldiers overtook them, and just to make sure that there was nothing + in the straw, prodded the load with their spears. Nothing stirred, + and they went on their way. But a spear had gashed Gustav's leg, and + presently blood began to drip in the snow. Sven had his wits about + him. He got down, and cut the fetlock of one of the beasts with his + jack-knife so that it bled and no one need ask questions. When they + got to Marnäs, Gustav was weak from the loss of blood, but a + friendly surgeon was found to bind up his wounds. +</p> +<p> + Farther and farther north he fled, keeping to the deep woods in the + day, until he reached Rättwik. Feeling safer there, he spoke to the + people coming from church one Sunday and implored them to shake off + the Danish yoke. But they only shook their heads. He was a stranger + among them, and they would talk it over with their neighbors. Not + yet were his wanderings over. To Mora he went next, where Parson + Jakob hid him in a lonely farm-house. Evil chance led the spies + direct to his hiding-place, and once more it was the housewife whose + quick wit saved him. Dame Margit was brewing the Yule beer when she + saw them coming. In a trice she had Gustav in the cellar and rolled + the brewing vat over the trap-door. Then they might search as they + saw fit; there was nothing there. The first blood was spilled for + Gustav Vasa while he was at Mora, and it was a Dane who did it. He + was the kind that liked to see fair play; when an under-sheriff came + looking for the hunted man there, the Dane waylaid and killed him. +</p> +<p> + Christmas morning, when Master Jakob had preached his sermon in the + church, Gustav spoke to the congregation out in the snow-covered + churchyard. A gravestone was his pulpit. Eloquent always, his + sorrows and wrongs and the memory of the hard months lent wings to + his words. His speech lives yet in Dalecarlia, for now he was among + its mountains. +</p> +<p> + "It is good to see this great meeting," he said, "but when I think + of our fatherland I am filled with grief. At what peril I am here + with you, you know who see me hounded as a wild beast day by day, + hour by hour. But our beloved country is more to me than life. How + long must we be thralls, we who were born to freedom? Those of you + who are old remember what persecution Swedish men and women have + suffered from the Danish kings. The young have heard the story of it + and have learned from they were little children to hate and resist + such rule. These tyrants have laid waste our land and sucked its + marrow, until nothing remains for us but empty houses and lean + fields. Our very lives are not safe." He called upon them to rise + and drive the invaders out. If they wanted a leader, he was ready. +</p> +<p> + His words stirred the mountaineers deeply. Cries of anger were + heard in the crowd; it was not the first time they had taken up arms + in the cause of freedom. But when they talked it over, the older + heads prevailed; there had not been time enough to hear both sides. + They told him that they would not desert the King; he must expect + nothing of them. +</p> +<p> + Broken-hearted and desperate, Gustav Vasa turned toward the + Norwegian frontier. He would leave the country for which there was + no hope. While the table in the poorest home groaned with Yuletide + cheer, Sweden's coming king hid under an old bridge, outcast and + starving, till it was safe to leave. Then he took up his weary + journey alone. The winter cold had grown harder as the days grew + shorter. Famished wolves dogged his steps, but he outran them on his + snow-shoes. By night he slept in some wayside shelter, such as they + build for travellers in that desolate country, or in the brush. The + snow grew deeper, and the landscape wilder, as he went. For days he + had gone without food, when he saw the sun set behind the lofty + range that was to bar him out of home and hope forever. Even there + was no abiding place for him. What thoughts of his vanished dream, + perchance of the distant lands across the seas where the tyrant's + hand could not reach him, were in his mind, who knows, as he bent + his strength to the last and hardest stage of his journey? He was + almost there, when he heard shouts behind him and turned to sell his + life dear. Two men on skis were calling to him. They were unarmed, + and he waited to let them come up. +</p> +<p> + Their story was soon told. They had come to call him back. After he + left, an old soldier whom they knew in Mora had come from the south + and told them worse things than even Gustav knew. It was all true + about the Stockholm murder; worse, the King was having gallows set + up in every county to hang all those on who said him nay; a heavy + tax was laid upon the peasants, and whoever did not pay was to have + a hand or foot cut off; they could still follow the plow. And now + they had sent away the one man who could lead against the Danes, + with the forests full of outlawed men who would have enlisted under + him as soon as ever the cry was raised! While the men of Dalecarlia + were debating the news among themselves orders came from the + bailiff at Westerås that the tax was to be paid forthwith. That + night runners were sent on the trail of Gustav to tell him to come + back; they were ready. +</p> +<p> + When he came, it was as if a mighty storm swept through the + mountains. The people rose in a body. Every day whole parishes threw + off their allegiance to King Christian. Sunday after Sunday Gustav + spoke to the people at their meeting-houses, and they raised their + spears and swore to follow him to death. Two months after the murder + in Stockholm an army of thousands that swelled like an avalanche was + marching south, and province after province joined in the rebellion. + King Christian's host met them at Brunbäck in April. One of its + leaders asked the country folk what kind of men the Dalecarlians + were, and when he was told that they drank water and ate bread made + of bark, he cried out, "Such a people the devil himself couldn't + whip; let us get out." But his advice was not taken and the Danish + army was wiped out. Gustav halted long enough to drill his men and + give them time to temper their arrows and spears, then he fell upon + Westerås and beat the Danes there. The peasant mob scattered too + soon to loot the town, and the King's men came back with a sudden + rush. Only Gustav's valor and presence of mind saved the day that + had been won once from being lost again. +</p> +<p> + When it was seen that the Danes were not invincible, the whole + country rose, took the scattered castles, and put their defenders to + the sword. Gustav bore the rising on his shoulders from first to + last. He was everywhere, ordering and leading. His fiery eloquence + won over the timorous; his irresistible advance swept every obstacle + aside. In May he took Upsala; by midsummer he was besieging + Stockholm itself. Most of the other cities were in his hands. The + Hanse towns had found out what this Gustav could do at home. They + sang his praise, but as for backing him with their purse, that was + another matter. They refused to lend Gustav two siege-guns when he + lay before Stockholm, though he offered to pledge a castle for each. + He had no money. Happily his enemy, Christian, was even worse off. + Neither pledges nor promises could get him the money he needed. His + chief men were fighting among themselves and made peace only to turn + upon him. Within a year after the Swedish people had chosen Gustav + Vasa to be Regent at the Diet of Vadstena, Christian went into exile + and, when he tried to get his kingdom back, into prison, where he + languished the rest of his life. He fully deserved his fate. Yet he + meant well and had done some good things in his day. Had he been + able to rule himself, he might have ruled others with better + success. Schoolboys remember with gratitude that he forbade teachers + to "spank their pupils overmuch and without judgment, as was their + wont." +</p> +<p> + At the Diet of Vadstena the people had offered Gustav the crown, but + he put it from him. Scarce eight months had passed since he hid + under the bridge, hunted and starving. When Stockholm had fallen + after a siege of two years and all Sweden was free, the people met + (1523) and made him King, whether or no. He still objected, but gave + in at last and was crowned. +</p> +<p> + Popular favor is fickle. Hard times came that were not made easier + by Gustav's determination to fill the royal coffers, and the very + Dalecarlians who had put him in the high seat rose against him and + served notice that if things did not mend they would have none of + him. Gustav made sure that they had no backing elsewhere, then went + up and persuaded them to be good by cutting off the heads of their + leaders, who both happened to be priests: one was even a bishop. He + had been taught in a school that always found an axe ready to hand. + Let those who lament the savagery of modern warfare consider what + happened then to a Danish fleet that tried to bring relief to + hard-pressed Stockholm. It was beaten in a fight in which six + hundred men were taken prisoners. They were all, say the accounts, + "tied hand and foot and flung overboard amid the beating of drums + and blowing of trumpets to drown their cries." The clergy fared + little better than the laymen in that age, but then it was their own + fault. In plotting and scrapping they were abreast of the worst and + took the consequences. +</p> +<p> + They were the days of the Reformation, and Gustav would not have + been human had he failed to see a way out of his money troubles by + confiscating church property. He had pawned the country's trade to + the merchants of Lübeck and there was nothing else left. Naturally + the church opposed him. The King took the bull by the horns. He + called a meeting and told the people that he was sick of it all. He + had encouraged the Reformation for their good; now, if they did not + stand by him, they might choose between him and his enemies. The + oldest priest arose at that and said that the church's property was + sacred. The King asked if the rest of them thought the same way. + Only one voice was raised, and to say yes. +</p> +<p> + "Then," said Gustav, "I don't want to be your King any more. If it + does not rain, you blame me; if the sun does not shine, you do the + same. It is always so. All of you want to be masters. After all my + trouble and labor for you, you would as lief see my head split with + an axe, though none of you dare lay hold of the handle. Give me back + what I have spent in your service and I will go away and never come + back." And go he did, to his castle, with half a dozen of his + nearest friends. +</p> +<p> + They sat and looked at one another when he was gone, and then + priests and nobles fell to arguing among themselves, all talking at + once. The plain people, the burghers and the peasants, listened + awhile, but when they got no farther, let them know that if they + couldn't settle it, they, the people, would, and in a way that would + give them little joy. The upshot of it all was that messengers were + sent to bring the King back. He made them go three times, and when + he came at last, it was as absolute master. In the ordering of the + kingdom that was made there, he became the head of the church as + well as of the state. Gustav's pen was as sharp as his tongue. When + Hans Brask, the oldest prelate in the land, who had stood stoutly by + the old régime, left the country and refused to come back, he wrote + to him: "As long as you might milk and shear your sheep, you staid + by them. When God spake and said you were to feed them, not to shear + and slaughter them, you ran away. Every honest man can judge if you + have done well." Hard words to a good old man; but there were plenty + of others who deserved them. That was the end of the hierarchy in + Sweden. +</p> +<p> + But not of the unruly peasants who had tasted the joys of + king-making. How kindly they took to the Reformation at the outset + one can judge from the demand of some of them that the King should + "burn or otherwise kill such as ate meat on Friday." They rose + again and again, and would listen only to the argument of force. + When the Lübeckers pressed hard for the payment of old debts, and + the treasury was empty as usual, King Gustav hit upon a new kind of + revenue. He demanded of every church in the land that it give up its + biggest bell to the funds. It was the last straw. The Dalecarlians + rose against what they deemed sacrilege, under the leadership of + Måns Nilsson and Anders Persson of Rankhyttan, the very men who had + befriended Gustav in his need, and the insurrection spread. The "War + of the Bells" was settled with the sword, and the peasants gave in. + But Gustav came of a stock that "never forgot." Two years later, + when his hands were free at home, he suddenly invaded Dalecarlia + with a powerful army, determined to "pull those weeds up by the + roots." He summoned the peasants to Thing, made a ring around them + of armed men, and gave them their choice: +</p> +<p> + "Submit now for good and all," he said, "or I will spoil the land so + that cock shall not crow nor hound bark in it again forever!" +</p> +<p> + The frightened peasants fell on their knees and begged for mercy. + He made them give up their leaders, including his former friends, + and they were all put to the sword. After that there was peace in + Dalecarlia. +</p> +<p> + Gustav Vasa's long reign ended in 1560. Like his enemy, Christian + II, he was a strange mixture of contradictions. He was brave in + battle, wise in council, pious, if not a saint, clean, and merciful + when mercy fitted into his plans. His enemies called him a greedy, + suspicious despot. Greedy he was. More than eleven thousand farms + were confiscated by the crown during his reign, and he left four + thousand farms and a great fortune to his children as his personal + share. But historians have called him "the great housekeeper" who + found waste and loss and left an ordered household. He gave all for + Sweden, and all he had was at her call. It was share and share + alike, in his view. Despotic he could be, too. <i>L'état c'est moi</i> + might have been said by him. But he did not exploit the state; he + built it. He fashioned Sweden out of a bunch of quarrelsome + provincial governments into a hereditary monarchy, as the best + way—indeed, the only way then—of giving it strength and + stability. He was suspicious because everybody had betrayed him, or + had tried to. With all that, his steady purpose was to raise and + enlighten his people and make them keep the peace, if he had to + adopt the Irishman's plan of keeping it himself with an axe. He was + the father of a line of great warriors. Gustav Adolf was his + grandson. +</p> +<p> + Bent under the burden of years, he bade his people good-by at the + Diet of Stockholm, a few weeks before his death. His old eloquence + rings unimpaired in the farewell. He thanked God, who had chosen him + as His tool to set Sweden free from thralldom. Almost might he liken + himself to King David, whom God from a shepherd had made the leader + of his people. No such hope was in his heart when, forty years + before, he hid in the woods from a bloodthirsty enemy. For what he + had done wrong as king, he asked the people's pardon; it was not + done on purpose. He knew well that many thought him a hard ruler, + but the time would come when they would gladly dig him up from his + grave if they only could. And with that he went out, bowing deeply + to the Diet, the tears streaming down his face. +</p> +<p> + They saw him no more; but on his tomb the Swedish people, forgetting + all else, have written that he was the "Father of his Country." +</p> +<br> +<a name="note-2"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#2"> +<sup>1</sup></a> The older spelling of this name is followed here in + preference to the more modern Gustaf. Gustav Vasa himself wrote his + name so. +</p> + +<a name="2H_4_0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + ABSALON, WARRIOR BISHOP OF THE NORTH +</h2> +<br> + +<p> + A welcome change awaits the traveller who, having shaken off the + chill of the German Dreadnaughts at Kiel, crosses the Baltic to the + Danish Islands—a change from the dread portents of war to smiling + peace. There can be nothing more pastoral and restful than the + Seeland landscape as framed in a car window; yet he misses its chief + charm whom its folk-lore escapes—the countless legends that cling + to field and forest from days long gone. The guide-book gives scarce + a hint of them; but turn from its page and they meet you at every + step, hail you from every homestead, every copse. Nor is their story + always of peace. Here was Knud Lavard slain by his envious kinsman + for the crown, and a miraculous spring gushed forth where he fell. + Of the church they built for the pilgrims who sought it from afar + they will show you the site, but the spring dried up with the simple + old faith. Yonder, under the roof of Ringsted church, lie Denmark's + greatest dead. Not half an hour from the ferry landing at Korsör, + your train labors past a hill crowned by a venerable cross, Holy + Anders' Hill. So saintly was that masterful priest that he was wont, + when he prayed, to hang his hat and gloves on a sunbeam as on a + hook. And woe to the land if his cross be disturbed, for then, the + peasant will tell you, the cattle die of plague and the crops fail. + A little further on, just beyond Sorö, a village church rears twin + towers above the wheat-field where the skylark soars and sings to + its nesting mate. For seven hundred years the story of that church + and its builder has been told at Danish firesides, and the time will + never come when it is forgotten. +</p> +<p> + Fjenneslev is the name of the village, and Asker Ryg<a name="3"></a><a href="#note-3"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> ruled there + in the Twelfth Century, when the king summoned his men to the war. + Bidding good-by to his wife, Sir Asker tells her to build a new + church while he is away, for the old, "with wall of clay, + straw-thatched and grim," is in ruins. And let it be worthy of the + Master: +</p> +<p class="block"> + "The roof let make of tiling red;<br> + Of stone thou build the wall;" +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + and then he whispers in her ear: +</p> + +<p class="block"> + "Hear thou, my Lady Inge,<br> + Of women thou art the flower;<br> + An' thou bearest to me a son so bold,<br> + Set on the church a tower." +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + Should the child be a girl, he tells her to build only a spire, for + "modesty beseemeth a woman." Well for Sir Asker that he did not live + in our day of clamoring suffragists. He would have "views" without + doubt. But no such things troubled him while he battled in foreign + lands all summer. It was autumn when he returned and saw from afar + the swell behind which lay Fjenneslev and home. Impatiently he + spurred his horse to the brow of the hill, for no news had come of + Lady Inge those many months. The bard tells us what he saw there: +</p> +<p class="block"> + "It was the good Sir Asker Ryg;<br> + Right merrily laughed he,<br> + When from that green and swelling hill<br> + Two towers did he see." +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + Two sons lay at the Lady Inge's breast, and all was well. +</p> +<p class="block"> + "The first one of the brothers two<br> + They called him Esbern Snare.<a name="4"></a><a href="#note-4"><small><sup>2</sup></small></a><br> + He grew as strong as a savage bear<br> + And fleeter than any hare.<br><br> + + "The second him called they Absalon,<br> + A bishop he at home.<br> + He used his trusty Danish sword<br> + As the Pope his staff at Rome." +</p> +<p> + Absalon and Esbern were not twins, as tradition has it. They were + better than that. They became the great heroes of their day, and the + years have not dimmed their renown. And Absalon reached far beyond + the boundaries of little Denmark to every people that speaks the + English tongue. For it was he who, as archbishop of the North, + "strictly and earnestly" charged his friend and clerk Saxo to gather + the Danish chronicles while yet it was time, because, says Saxo, in + the preface of his monumental work, "he could no longer abide that + his fatherland, which he always honored and magnified with especial + zeal, should be without a record of the great deeds of the fathers." + And from the record Saxo wrote we have our Hamlet. +</p> +<p> + It was when they had grown great and famous that Sir Asker and his + wife built the church in thanksgiving for their boys, not when they + were born, and the way that came to light was good and wholesome. + They were about to rebuild the church, on which there had been no + towers at all since they crumbled in the middle ages, and had + decided to put on only one; for the sour critics, who are never + content in writing a people's history unless they can divest it of + all its flesh and make it sit in its bones, as it were, sneered at + the tradition and called it an old woman's tale. But they did not + shout quite so loud when, in peeling off the whitewash of the + Reformation, the mason's hammer brought forth mural paintings that + grew and grew until there stood the whole story to read on the wall, + with Sir Asker himself and the Lady Inge, clad in garments of the + Twelfth Century, bringing to the Virgin the church with the twin + towers. So the folk-lore was not so far out after all, and the + church was rebuilt with two towers, as it should be. +</p> +<p> + Under its eaves, whether of straw or tile, the two boys played their + childish games, and before long there came to join in them another + of their own age, young Valdemar, whose father, the very Knud Lavard + mentioned above, had been foully murdered a while before. It was a + time, says Saxo, in which "he must be of stout heart and strong head + who dared aspire to Denmark's crown. For in less than a hundred + years more than sixteen of her kings and their kin were either slain + without cause by their own subjects, or otherwise met a sudden + death." Sir Asker and the murdered Knud had been foster brothers, + and throughout the bloody years that followed, he and his brothers, + sons of the powerful Skjalm Hvide,<a name="5"></a><a href="#note-5"><small><sup>3</sup></small></a> espoused his cause in good and + evil days, while they saw to it that no harm came to the young + prince under their roof. +</p> +<p> + The three boys, as they grew up, were bred to the stern duties of + fighting men, as was the custom of their class. Absalon, indeed, was + destined for the church; but in a country so recently won from the + old war gods, it was the church militant yet, and he wielded spear + and sword with the best of them. When, at eighteen, they sent him to + France to be taught, he did not for his theological studies neglect + the instruction of his boyhood. There he became the disciple and + friend of the Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, more powerful then than + prince or Pope, and when the abbot preached the second great + crusade, promising eternal salvation to those who took up arms + against the unbelievers, whether to wrest from them the Holy + Sepulchre or to plant the cross among the wild heathen on the + Baltic, his heart burned hot within him. It was a long way to the + Holy Land, but with the Baltic robbers his people had a grievous + score to settle. Their yells had sounded in his boyish ears as they + ravished the shores of his fatherland, penetrating with murder and + pillage almost to his peaceful home. And so, while he lent a + diligent ear to the teachings of the church, earning the name of the + "most learned clerk" in the cloister of Ste. Geneviève in Paris, + daily he laid the breviary aside and took up sword and lance, + learning the arts of modern warfare with the graces of chivalry. In + the old way of fighting, man to man, the men of the North had been + the equals of any, if not their betters; but against the new methods + of warfare their prowess availed little. Absalon, the monk, kept his + body strong while soul and mind matured. When nothing more + adventurous befell, he chopped down trees for the cloister hearths. + But oftener the clash of arms echoed in the quiet halls, or the + peaceful brethren crossed themselves as they watched him break an + unruly horse in the cloister fen. Saxo tells us that he swam easily + in full armor, and in more than one campaign in later years saved + drowning comrades who were not so well taught. +</p> +<p> + The while he watched rising all about some of the finest churches in + Christendom. It was the era of cathedral building in Europe. The + Romanesque style of architecture had reached its highest development + in the very France where he spent his young manhood's years, and the + Gothic, with its stamp of massive strength, was beginning to + displace its gentler curve. Ten years of such an environment, in a + land teeming with historic traditions, rounded out the man who set + his face toward home, bent on redeeming his people from the unjust + reproach of being mere "barbarians of the North." +</p> +<p> + It was a stricken Denmark to which he came back. Three claimants + were fighting for the crown. The land was laid waste by sea-rovers, + who saw their chance to raid defenceless homes while the men able to + bear arms were following the rival kings. The people had lost hope. + Just when Absalon returned, peace was made between the claimants. + Knud, Svend, and Valdemar, his foster brother of old, divided up the + country between them. They swore a dear oath to keep the pact, but + for all that "the three kingdoms did not last three days." The + treacherous Svend waited only for a chance to murder both his + rivals, and it came quickly, when he and Valdemar were the guests of + Knud at Roskilde. They had eaten and drunk together and were + gathered in the "Storstue," the big room of the house, when Knud saw + Svend whispering aside with his men. With a sudden foreboding of + evil, he threw his arms about Valdemar's shoulders and kissed him. + The young King, who was playing chess with one of his men, looked up + in surprise and asked what it meant. Just then Svend left the hall, + and his henchmen fell upon the two with drawn swords. Knud was cut + down at once, his head cleft in twain. Valdemar upset the table with + the candles and, wrapping his cloak about his arm to ward off the + blows that showered upon him, knocked his assailants right and left + and escaped, badly wounded. +</p> +<p> + Absalon came into the room as Knud fell and, thinking it was + Valdemar, caught him in his arms and took his wounded head in his + lap. Sitting there in utter sorrow and despair, heedless of the + tumult that raged in the darkness around him, he felt the King's + garment and knew that the man who was breathing his last in his arms + was not his friend. He laid the lifeless body down gently and left + the hall. The murderers barred his way, but he brushed their swords + and spears aside and strode forth unharmed. Valdemar had found a + horse and made for Fjenneslev, twenty miles away, with all speed, + and there Absalon met him and his brother Esbern in the morning. +</p> +<p> + King Svend sought him high and low to finish his dastardly work, + while on Thing he wailed loudly before the people that Valdemar and + Knud had tried to kill him, showing in proof of it his cloak, which + he had rent with his own sword. But Valdemar's friends were wide + awake. Esbern flew through the island on his fleet horse in + Valdemar's clothes, leading his pursuers a merry dance, and when + the young King's wound was healed, he found him a boat and ferried + him across to the mainland, where the people flocked to his + standard. When Svend would have followed, it was the Lady Inge who + scuttled his ship by night and gave her foster son the start he + needed. There followed a short and sharp struggle that ended on + Grathe Heath with the utter rout of Svend's forces. He himself was + killed, and Valdemar at last was King of all Denmark. +</p> +<p> + From that time the three friends were inseparable as in the old days + when they played about the fields of Fjenneslev. Absalon was the + keeper of the King's conscience who was not afraid to tell him the + truth when he needed to hear it. And where they were Esbern was + found, never wavering in his loyalty to either. Within a year + Absalon was made bishop of Roskilde, the chief See of Denmark. Saxo + innocently discovers to us King Valdemar's little ruse to have his + friend chosen. He was yet a very young man, scarce turned thirty, + and had not been considered at all for the vacancy. There were three + candidates, all of powerful families, and, according to + ecclesiastical law, the brethren of the chapter were the electors. + The King went to their meeting and addressed them in person. Nothing + was farther from him, he said, than to wish to interfere with their + proper rights. Each must do as his conscience dictated, unhindered. + And with that he laid on the table <i>four</i> books with blank leaves + and bade them write down their names in them, each for his own + choice, to get the matter right on the record. The brethren thanked + him kindly and all voted "nicely together" for Absalon. So three of + the books were wasted. But presently Saxo found good use for them. +</p> +<p> + For now had come the bishop's chance of putting in practice the + great abbot's precepts. "Pray and fight" was the motto he had + written into the Knights Templars' rule, and Absalon had made it his + own. Of what use was it to build up the church at home, when any day + might see it raided by its enemies who were always watching their + chance outside? The Danish waters swarmed with pirates, the very + pagans against whom Abbot Bernard had preached his crusade. Of them + all the Wends were the worst, as they were the most powerful of the + Slav tribes that still resisted the efforts of their neighbors, the + Christian Germans, to dislodge them from their old home on the + Baltic. They lived in the island of Rügen, fairly in sight of the + Danish shores. Every favoring wind blew them across the sea in + shoals to burn and ravage. The Danes, once the terror of the seas, + had given over roving when they accepted the White Christ in + exchange for Thor and his hammer, and now, when they would be at + peace, they were in turn beset by this relentless enemy, who burned + their homes and their crops and dragged the peaceful husbandman away + to make him a thrall or offer him up as a sacrifice to heathen + idols. More than a third of all Denmark lay waste under their + ferocious assault. Here was the blow to be struck if the country was + to have peace and the church prosperity. +</p> +<p> + The chance to strike came speedily. Absalon had been bishop only a + few months when, on the evening before Palm Sunday, word was brought + that the enemy had landed, twenty-four ship-crews strong, and were + burning and murdering as usual. Absalon marshalled his eighteen + house-carles and such of the country-folk as he could, and fell + upon the Wends, routing them utterly. A bare handful escaped, the + rest were killed, while the bishop lost but a single man. He said + mass next morning, red-handed it is true, but one may well believe + that for all that his Easter message reached hearts filled with a + new, glad hope for their homes and for the country. That was a + bishop they could understand. So the first blow Absalon struck for + his people was at home. But he did not long wait for the enemy to + come to him. Half his long and stirring life he lived on the seas, + seeking them there. Saxo mentions, in speaking of his return from + one of his cruises, that he had then been nine months on shipboard. + And in a way he was shepherding his flock there, if it was with a + scourge; for, many years before, a Danish king had punished the + Wends in their own home and laid their lands under the See of + Roskilde, though little good it did them or any one else then. But + when Absalon had got his grip, there were days when he baptized as + many as a thousand of them into the true faith. +</p> +<p> + He was not altogether alone in the stand he took. Here and there, + from very necessity, the people had organized to resist the + invaders, but as no one could tell where they would strike next, + they were not often successful, and fear and discouragement sat + heavy on the land. From his own city of Roskilde a little fleet of + swift sailers under the bold Wedeman had for years waged relentless + war upon the freebooters and had taken four times the number of + their own ships. Their crews were organized into a brotherhood with + vows like an order of fighting monks. Before setting out on a cruise + they were shriven and absolved. Their vows bound them to unceasing + vigilance, to live on the plainest of fare, to sleep on their arms, + ready for instant attack, and to the rescue of Christians, wherever + they were found in captivity. The Roskilde guild became the strong + core of the King's armaments in his score of campaigns against the + Wends. +</p> +<p> + Perhaps it was not strange that Valdemar should be of two minds + about venturing to attack so formidable an enemy in his own house. + The nation was cowed and slow to move. In fact, from the first + expedition, that started with 250 vessels, only seven returned with + the standard, keeping up a running fight all the way across the + Baltic with pursuing Wends. The rest had basely deserted. On the + way over, the King, listening to their doubts and fears, turned back + himself once, but Absalon, who always led in the attack and was the + last on the homeward run, overtook him and gave him the talking to + be deserved. Saxo, who was very likely there and heard, for there is + little doubt that he accompanied his master on many of the campaigns + he so vividly describes, gives us a verbatim report of the lecture: +</p> +<p> + "What wonder," said the bishop, "if the words stick in our throats + and are nigh to stifling us, when such grievous dole is ours! Grieve + we must, indeed, to find in you such a turncoat that naught but + dishonor can come of it. You follow where you should lead, and those + you should rule over, you make your peers. There is nothing to stop + us but our own craven souls, hunt as we may for excuses. Is it with + such laurel you would bind your crown? with such high deed you would + consecrate your reign?" +</p> +<p> + The King was hard hit, and showed it, but he walked away without a + word. In the night a furious storm swept the sea and kept the fleet + in shelter four whole days, during which Valdemar's anger had time + to cool. He owned then that Absalon was right, and the friends shook + hands. The King gave order to make sail as soon as the gale abated. + If there was still a small doubt in Absalon's mind as he turned, on + taking leave, and asked, "What now, if we must turn back once more?" + Valdemar set it at rest: +</p> +<p> + "Then you write me from Wendland," he laughed, "and tell me how + things are there." +</p> +<p> + If little glory or gain came to the Danes from this first + expedition, at least they landed in the enemy's country and made + reprisal for past tort. The spirit of the people rose and shamed + them for their cowardice. When the King's summons went round again, + as it did speedily, there were few laggards. Attacked at home, the + Wends lost much of the terror they had inspired. Before many moons, + the chronicle records, the Danes cut their spear-shafts short, that + they might the more handily get at the foe. Scarce a year passed + that did not see one or more of these crusades. Absalon preached + them all, and his ship was ever first in landing. In battle he and + the King fought shoulder to shoulder. In the spring of 1169, he had + at last his wish: the heathen idols were destroyed and their temples + burned. +</p> +<p> + The holy city of the Wends, Arcona, stood on a steep cliff, + inaccessible save from the west, where a wall a hundred feet high + defended it. While the sacred banner Stanitza waved over it the + Danes might burn and kill, but the power of Svantevit was unbroken. + Svantevit was the god of gods in whose presence his own priests + dared not so much as breathe. When they had to, they must go to the + door and breathe in the open, a good enough plan if Saxo's disgust + at the filth of the Wendish homes was justified. Svantevit was a + horrid monster with four heads, and girt about with a huge sword. Up + till then the Christian arms had always been stayed at his door, but + this time the King laid siege to Arcona, determined to make an end + of him. Some of the youngsters in his army, making a mock assault + upon the strong walls, discovered an accidental hollow under the + great tower over which the Stanitza flew and, seizing upon a load of + straw that was handy, stuffed it in and set it on fire. It was done + in a frolic, but when the tower caught fire and was burned and the + holy standard fell, Absalon was quick to see his advantage, and got + the King to order a general assault. The besieged Wends, having no + water, tried to put out the fire with milk, but, says the chronicle, + "it only fed the flames." They fought desperately till, between fire + and foe, they were seized with panic and, calling loudly upon + Absalon in their extremity, offered to give up their city. The army + clamored for the revenge that was at last within their grasp, and + the King hesitated; but Absalon met the uproar firmly, reminding + them that they had crossed the seas to convert the heathen, not to + sack their towns. +</p> +<p> + The city was allowed to surrender and the people were spared, but + Svantevit and his temple were destroyed. A great crowd of his + followers had gathered to see him crush his enemies at the last, and + Absalon cautioned the men who cut the idol down to be careful that + he did not fall on them and so seem to justify their hopes. "He fell + with so great a noise that it was a wonder," says Saxo, naïvely; + "and in the same moment the fiend ran out of the temple in a black + shape with such speed that no eye could follow him or see where he + went." Svantevit was dragged out of the town and chopped into bits. + That night he fed the fires of the camp. So fickle is popular favor + that when the crowd saw that nothing happened, they spurned the god + loudly before whom they had grovelled in the dust till then. +</p> +<p> + When they heard of Arcona's fall in the royal city of Karents, they + hastened with offers of surrender, and Absalon went there with a + single ship's crew to take possession. They were met by 6000 armed + Wends, who guarded the narrow approach to the city. In single file + they walked between the ranks of the enemy, who stood with inverted + spears, watching them in sullen silence. His men feared a trap, but + Absalon strode ahead unmoved. Coming to the temple of their local + god, Rygievit, he attacked him with his axe and bade his guard fall + to, which they did. Saxo has left us a unique description of this + idol that stood behind purple hangings, fashioned of oak "in every + evil and revolting shape. The swallows had made their nests in his + mouths and throats" (there were seven in so many faces) "and filled + him up with all manner of stinking uncleanness. Truly, for such god + was such sacrifice fit." He had a sword for every one of his seven + faces, buckled about his ample waist, but for all that he went the + way of the others, and even had to put up with the indignity of the + Christian priests standing upon him while he was being dragged out. + That seems to have helped cure his followers of their faith in him. + They delivered the temple treasure into the hands of the King—seven + chests filled with money and valuables, among them a silver cup + which the wretched King Svend had sent to Svantevit as a bribe to + the Wends for joining him against his own country and kin. But those + days were ended. It was the Danes' turn now, and Wendland was laid + waste until "the swallows found no eaves of any house whereunder to + build their nests and were forced to build them on the ships." A sad + preliminary to bringing the country under the rule of the Prince of + Peace; but in the scheme of those days the sword was equal partner + with the cross in leading men to the true God. +</p> +<p> + The heathen temples were destroyed and churches built on their + sites of the timber gathered for the siege of Arcona. The people, + deserted by their own, accepted the Christians' God in good faith, + and were baptized in hosts, thirteen hundred on one day and nine + hundred on the next. Three days and nights Absalon saw no sleep. He + did nothing half-way. No sooner was he back home than he sent over + priests and teachers supplied with everything, even food for their + keep, so that they "should not be a burden to the people whom they + had come to show the way to salvation." +</p> +<p> + The Wends were conquered, but the end was not yet. They had savage + neighbors, and many a crusade did Absalon lead against them in the + following years, before the new title of the Danish rulers, "King of + the Slavs and Wends," was much more than an empty boast. He + organized a regular sea patrol of one-fourth of the available ships, + of which he himself took command, and said mass on board much + oftener than in the Roskilde church. It is the sailor, the warrior, + the leader of men one sees through all the troubled years of his + royal friend's life. Now the Danish fleet is caught in the inland + sea before Stettin, unable to make its way out, and already the + heathen hosts are shouting their triumph on shore. It is Absalon, + then, who finds the way and, as one would expect, he forces it. The + captains wail over the trap and abuse him for getting them into it. + Absalon, disdaining to answer them, leads his ships in single file + straight for the gap where the Wendish fleet lies waiting, and gets + the King to attack with his horsemen on shore. Between them the + enemy is routed, and the cowards are shamed. But when they come to + make amends, he is as unmoved as ever and will have none of it. + Again, when he is leading his men to the attack on a walled town, a + bridge upon which they crowd breaks, and it is the bishop who saves + his comrades from drowning, swimming ashore with them in full armor. +</p> +<p> + Resting in his castle at Haffn, the present Copenhagen, which he + built as a defence against the sea-rovers, he hears, while in his + bath, his men talking of strange ships that are sailing into the + Sound, and, hastily throwing on his clothes, gives chase and kills + their crews, for they were pirates whose business was murder, and + they merely got their deserts. In the pursuit his archers "pinned + the hands of the rowers to the oars with their arrows" and crippled + them, so skilful had much practice made them. Turn the leaf of + Saxo's chronicle, and we find him under Rügen with his fleet, + protecting the now peaceful Wendish fishermen in their autumn + herring-catch, on which their livelihood depended. Of such stuff was + made the bishop who +</p> +<p class="block"> + "Used his trusty Danish sword<br> + As the Pope his staff in Rome." +</p> +<p> + Wherever danger threatens Valdemar and Absalon, Esbern is found, + too, earning the name of the Fleet (Snare), which the people had + fondly given to their favorite. Where the fighting was hardest, he + was sure to be. The King's son had ventured too far and was caught + in a tight place by an overwhelming force, when Esbern pushed his + ship in between him and the enemy and bore the brunt of a fight that + came near to making an end of him. He had at last only a single man + left, but the two made a stand against a hundred. "When the heathen + saw his face they fled in terror." At last they knocked him + senseless with a stone and would have killed him, but in the nick of + time the King's men came to the rescue. +</p> +<p> + Coming home from Norway he ran afoul of forty pirate ships under + the coast of Seeland. He tried to steal past; forty against one were + heavy odds. But it was moonlight and he was discovered. The pirates + lay across his course and cut him off. Esbern made ready for a fight + and steered straight into the middle of them. The steersman + complained that he had no armor, and he gave him his own. He beat + his pursuers off again and again, but the wind slackened and they + were closing in once more, swearing by their heathen gods that they + would have him dead or alive, for a Danish prisoner on one of their + ships had told who he was. But Esbern had more than one string to + his bow. He sent a man aloft with flint and steel to strike fire in + the top, and the pirates, believing that he was signalling to a + fleet he had in ambush, fled helter-skelter. Esbern got home safe. +</p> +<p> + The German emperors' fingers had always itched for the over-lordship + of the Danish isles, and they have not ceased to do so to this day. + When Frederick Barbarossa drove Alexander III from Rome and set up a + rival Pope in his place, Archbishop Eskild of Lund, who was the + Primate of the North, championed the exiled Pope's case, and + Valdemar, whose path the ambitious priest had crossed more than + once, let it be known that he inclined to the Emperor's cause, in + part probably from mere pique, perhaps also because he thought it + good politics. The archbishop in a rage summoned Absalon and bade + him join him in a rising against the King. Absalon's answer is + worthy the man and friend: +</p> +<p> + "My oath to you I will keep, and in this wise, that I will not + counsel you to your own undoing. Whatever your cause against the + King, war against him you cannot, and succeed. And this know, that + never will I join with you against my liege lord, to whom I have + sworn fealty and friendship with heart and soul all the days of my + life." +</p> +<p> + He could not persuade the archbishop, who went his own way and was + beaten and exiled for a season, nor could he prevent the King from + yielding to the blandishments of Frederick and getting mixed up in + the papal troubles; but he went with him to Germany and saved him at + the last moment from committing himself by making him leave the + church council just as the anti-pope was about to pronounce sentence + of excommunication against Alexander. He commanded Absalon to + remain, as a servant of the church, but Absalon replied calmly that + he was not there in that capacity, but as an attendant on his King, + and must follow where he went. It appeared speedily that the + Emperor's real object was to get Valdemar to own him as his + over-lord, and this he did, to Absalon's great grief, on the idle + promise that Frederick would join him in his war upon all the Baltic + pagans. However, it was to be a purely personal matter, in nowise + affecting his descendants. That much was saved, and Absalon lived + long enough to fling back, as the counsellor of Valdemar's son, from + behind the stout wall he built at Denmark's southern gate, the + Emperor's demand for homage, with the reply that "the King ruled in + Denmark with the same right as the Emperor in Germany, and was no + man's subject." +</p> +<p> + However grievously Absalon had offended the aged archbishop, when + after forty years in his high office illness compelled him to lay it + down, he could find no one so worthy to step into his shoes. He sent + secretly to Rome and got the Pope's permission to name his own + successor, before he called a meeting of the church. The account of + what followed is the most singular of all Saxo's stories. Valdemar + did not know what was coming and, fearing fresh trouble, got the + archbishop to swear on the bones of the saints before them all that + he was not moved to abdication by hate of the King, or by any + coercion whatever. Then the venerable priest laid his staff, his + mitre, and his ring on the altar and announced that he had done with + it all forever. But he had made up his mind not to use the power + given him by the Pontiff. They might choose his successor + themselves. He would do nothing to influence their action. +</p> +<p> + The bishops and clergy went to the King and asked him if he had any + choice. The King said he had, but if he made it known he would get + no thanks for it and might estrange his best friend. If he did not, + he would certainly be committing a sin. He did not know what to do. +</p> +<p> + "Name him," said they, and Valdemar told them it was the bishop of + Roskilde. +</p> +<p> + At that the old archbishop got up and insisted on the election then + and there; but Absalon would have none of it. The burden was too + heavy for his shoulders, he said. However, the clergy seized him, + "being," says Saxo, who without doubt was one of them, "the more + emboldened to do so as the archbishop himself laid hands upon him + first." Intoning the hymn sung at archiepiscopal consecrations, they + tried to lead him to the altar. He resisted with all his might and + knocked several of the brethren down. Vestments were torn and + scattered, and a mighty ruction arose, to which the laity, not to be + outdone, added by striking up a hymn of their own. Archbishop and + King tried vainly to make peace; the clamor and battle only rose the + higher. Despite his struggles, Absalon was dragged to the high seat, + but as they were about to force him into it, he asked leave to say a + single word, and instantly appealed his case to the Pope. So there + was an end; but when the aged Eskild, on the plea of weakness, + begged him to pronounce the benediction, he refused warily, because + so he would be exercising archiepiscopal functions and would be <i>de + facto</i> incumbent of the office.<a name="6"></a><a href="#note-6"><small><sup>4</sup></small></a> +</p> +<p> + Here, as always, Absalon thought less of himself than of his + country, so the event showed. For when the Pope heard his plea, + though he decided against him, he allowed him to hold the bishopric + of Roskilde together with the higher office, and so he was left at + Valdemar's side to help finish their work of building up Denmark + within and without. At Roskilde he spent, as a matter of fact, most + of his time while Valdemar lived. At Lund he would have been in a + distant part of the country, parted from his friend and out of touch + with the things that were the first concern of his life. +</p> +<p> + They were preparing to aim a decisive blow against the Pomeranian + pagans when Valdemar died, on the very day set for the sailing. The + parting nearly killed Absalon. Saxo draws a touching picture of him + weeping bitterly as he said the requiem mass over his friend, and + observes: "Who can doubt that his tears, rising with the incense, + gave forth a peculiar and agreeable savour in high heaven before + God?" The plowmen left their fields and carried the bier, with sobs + and lamentations, to the church in Ringsted, where the great King + rests. His sorrow laid Absalon on a long and grievous sick-bed, from + which he rose only when Valdemar's son needed and called him. +</p> +<p> + In the fifteen years that follow we see his old warlike spirit still + unbroken. Thus his defiance of the German Emperor, whose anger was + hot. Frederick, in revenge, persuaded the Pomeranian duke Bugislav + to organize a raid on Denmark with a fleet of five hundred sail. + Scant warning reached Absalon of the danger. King Knud was away, and + there was no time to send for him. Mustering such vessels as were + near, he sailed across the Baltic and met the enemy under Rügen the + day after Whitsuntide (1184). The bishop had gone ashore to say mass + on the beach, when word was brought that the great fleet was in + sight. Hastily pulling off his robe and donning armor instead, he + made for his ship with the words: "Now let our swords sing the + praise of God." The Pomeranians were taken completely by surprise. + They did not know the Danes were there, and when they heard the + archbishop's dreaded war-cry raised, they turned and fled in such + terror and haste that eighteen of their ships were run down and sunk + with all on board. On one, a rower hanged himself for fear of + falling into the hands of the Danes. Absalon gave chase, and the + rout became complete. Of the five hundred ships only thirty-five + escaped; all the rest were either sunk or taken. Duke Bugislav soon + after became a vassal of Denmark, and of the Emperor's plots there + was an end. +</p> +<p> + It was the last blow, and the story of it went far and wide. + Absalon's work was nearly done. Denmark was safe from her enemies. + The people were happy and prosperous. Valdemar's son ruled + unchallenged, and though he was childless, by his side stood his + brother, a manly youth who, not yet full grown, had already shown + such qualities of courage and sagacious leadership that the old + archbishop could hang up the sword with heart at ease. The promise + was kept. The second Valdemar became Denmark's royal hero for all + time. Absalon's last days were devoted to strengthening the Church, + around which he had built such a stout wall. He built churches and + cloisters, and guided them with a wise and firm hand. And he made + Saxo, his clerk, set it all down as an eye-witness of these things, + and as one who came to the task by right; for, says the chronicler, + "have not my grandfather and his father before him served the King + well on land and sea, hence why should not I serve him with my + book-learning?" He bears witness that the bishop himself is his + authority for much that he has written. +</p> +<p> + Archbishop Absalon closed his eyes on St. Benedict's Day, March 21, + 1201, in the cloister at Sorö which Sir Asker built and where he + lived his last days in peace. Absalon's statue of bronze, on + horseback, battle-axe in hand, stands in the market square in + Copenhagen, the city he founded and of which he is the patron saint; + but his body lies within the quiet sanctuary where, in the deep + forest glades, one listens yet for the evensong of the monks, long + silent now. When his grave was opened, in 1826, the lines of his + tall form, clad in clerical robes, were yet clearly traceable. The + strong hands, turned to dust, held a silver chalice in which lay his + episcopal ring. They are there to be seen to-day, with remnants of + his staff that had partly crumbled away. No Dane approaches his + grave without emotion. "All Denmark grieved for him," says a German + writer of that day, "and commended his soul to Jesus Christ, the + Prince of Peace, for that in his lifetime he had led many who were + enemies to peace and concord." In his old cathedral, in Roskilde + town, lies Saxo, according to tradition under an unmarked stone. + When he went to rest his friend and master had slept five years. +</p> +<p> + Esbern outlived his brother three years. The hero of so many battles + met his death at last by an accidental fall in his own house. The + last we hear of him is at a meeting in the Christmas season, 1187, + where emissaries of Pope Gregory VIII preached a general crusade. + Their hearers wept at the picture they drew of the sufferings + Christians were made to endure in the Holy Land. Then arose Esbern + and reminded them of the great deeds of the fathers at home and + abroad. The faith and the fire of Absalon were in his words: +</p> +<p> + "These things they did," he said, "for the glory of their name and + race, knowing nothing of our holy religion. Shall we, believing, do + less? Let us lay aside our petty quarrels and take up this greater + cause. Let us share the sufferings of the saints and earn their + reward. Perhaps we shall win—God keeps the issue. Let him who + cannot give himself, give of his means. So shall all we, sharing the + promise, share also the reward." +</p> +<p> + The account we have says that many took the cross, such was the + effect of his words, more likely of the man and what he was and had + been in the sight of them all throughout his long life. +</p> +<br> + +<a name="note-3"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#3"> +<sup>1</sup></a> Pronounce Reeg. +</p> + +<a name="note-4"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#4"> +<sup>2</sup></a> Pronounce Snaré, with a as in are. In the Danish hare + rhymes with snare, so pronounced. +</p> + +<a name="note-5"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#5"> +<sup>3</sup></a> Pronounced Veethé. +</p> + +<a name="note-6"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#6"> +<sup>4</sup></a> That all this in no way affected the personal relations + of the two men Saxo assures us in one of the little human touches + with which his chronicle abounds. When Eskild was going away to end + his days as a monk in the monastery of Clairvaux, he rested awhile + with Absalon at his castle Haffn, where he was received as a father. + The old man suffered greatly from cold feet, and Absalon made a box + with many little holes in, and put a hot brick in it. With this at + his feet, Eskild was able to sleep, and he was very grateful to + Absalon, both because of the comfort it gave him and "because that + he perceived that filial piety rather than skill in the healer's + art" prompted the invention. +</p> + +<a name="2H_4_0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + KING VALDEMAR, AND THE STORY OF THE DANNEBROG +</h2> +<br> + +<p> + To the court of King Ottocar of Bohemia there came in the year 1205 + a brilliant embassy from far-off Denmark to ask the hand of his + daughter Dragomir for King Valdemar, the young ruler of that + country. Sir Strange<a name="7"></a><a href="#note-7"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> Ebbesön and Bishop Peder Sunesön were the + spokesmen, and many knights, whose fame had travelled far in the + long years of fighting to bring the Baltic pagans under the cross, + rode with them. The old king received them with delight. Valdemar + was not only a good son-in-law for a king to have, being himself a + great and renowned ruler, but he was a splendid knight, tall and + handsome, of most courteous bearing, ambitious, manly, and of ready + wit. So their suit prospered well. The folk-song tells how they + fared; how, according to the custom of those days, Sir Strange + wedded the fair princess by proxy for his lord, and how King + Ottocar, when he bade her good-by, took this promise of her: +</p> +<p class="block"> + In piety, virtue, and fear of God,<br> + Let all thy days be spent;<br> + And ever thy subjects be thy thought,<br> + Their hopes on thy care be bent. +</p> +<p> + The daughter kept her vow. Never was queen more beloved of her + people than Dagmar. That was the name they gave her in Denmark, for + the Bohemian Dragomir was strange to them. Dagmar meant daybreak in + their ancient tongue, and it really seemed as if a new and beautiful + day dawned upon the land in her coming. The dry pages of history + have little enough to tell of her beyond the simple fact of her + marriage and untimely death, though they are filled with her famous + husband's deeds; but not all of his glorious campaigns that earned + for him the name of "The Victor" have sunk so deep into the people's + memory, or have taken such hold of their hearts, as the lovely queen + who +</p> +<p class="sblock"> + Came without burden, she came with peace;<br> + She came the good peasant to cheer. +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + Through all the centuries the people have sung her praise, and they + sing it yet. Of the many folk-songs that have come down from the + middle ages, those that tell of Queen Dagmar are the sweetest, as + they are the most mournful, for her happiness was as brief as her + life was beautiful. +</p> +<p> + They sailed homeward over sunny seas, until they came to the shore + where the royal lover awaited his bride, impatiently scanning the + horizon for the gilded dragon's head of the ship that bore her. The + minstrel sings of the great wedding that was held in the old city of + Ribe.<a name="8"></a><a href="#note-8"><small><sup>2</sup></small></a> The gray old cathedral in which they knelt together still + stands; but of Valdemar's strong castle only a grass-grown hill is + left. It was the privilege of a bride in those days to ask a gift of + her husband on the morning after the wedding, and have it granted + without question. Two boons did Dagmar crave, +</p> +<p class="sblock"> + "right early in the morning, long before it was day": +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + one, that the plow-tax might be forgiven the peasant, and that those + who for rising against it had been laid in irons be set free; the + other, that the prison door of Bishop Valdemar be opened. Bishop + Valdemar was the arch-enemy of the King. The first request he + granted; but the other he refused for cause: +</p> +<p class="block"> + An' he comes out, Bishop Valdemar,<br> + Widow he makes you this year. +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + And he did his worst; for in the end the King yielded to Dagmar's + prayers, and much mischief came of it. +</p> +<p> + Seven years the good queen lived. Seven centuries have not dimmed + the memory of them, or of her. The King was away in a distant part + of the country when they sent to him in haste with the message that + the queen was dying. The ballad tells of his fears as he sees + Dagmar's page coming, and they proved only too true. +</p> +<p class="block"> + The king his checker-board shut in haste,<br> + The dice they rattled and rung.<br> + Forbid it God, who dwells in heaven,<br> + That Dagmar should die so young. +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + In the wild ride over field and moor, the King left his men far + behind: +</p> +<p class="block"> + When the king rode out of Skanderborg<br> + Him followed a hundred men.<br> + But when he rode o'er Ribe bridge,<br> + Then rode the king alone. +</p> +<p> + The tears of weeping women told him as he thundered over the + drawbridge of the castle that he was too late. But Dagmar had only + swooned. As he throws himself upon her bed she opens her eyes, and + smiles upon her husband. Her last prayer, as her first, is for mercy + and peace. Her sin, she says, is not great; she has done nothing + worse than to lace her silken sleeves on a Sunday. Then she closes + her eyes with a tired sigh: +</p> +<p class="block"> + The bells of heaven are chiming for me;<br> + No more may I stay to speak. +</p> +<p> + Thus the folk-song. Long before Dagmar went to her rest, Bishop + Valdemar had stirred up all Germany to wreak his vengeance upon the + King. He was an ambitious, unscrupulous priest, who hated his royal + master because he held himself entitled to the crown, being the + natural son of King Knud, who was murdered at Roskilde, as told in + the story of Absalon. While they were yet young men, when he saw + that the people followed his rival, he set the German princes + against Denmark, a task he never found hard. But young Valdemar made + short work of them. He took the strong cities on the Elbe and laid + the lands of his adversaries under the Danish crown. The bishop he + seized, and threw him into the dungeon of Söborg Castle, where he + had sat thirteen years when Dagmar's prayers set him free. He could + hardly walk when he came out, but he could hate, and all the world + knew it. The Pope bound him with heavy oaths never to return to + Denmark, and made him come to Italy so that he could keep an eye on + him himself. But two years had not passed before he broke his oath, + and fled to Bremen, where the people elected him to the vacant + archbishopric and its great political power. Forthwith he began + plotting against his native land. +</p> +<p> + In the bitter feud between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines he found + his opportunity. One of the rival emperors marched an army north to + help the perjured priest. King Valdemar hastened to meet them, but + on the eve of battle the Emperor was slain by one of his own men. On + Sunday, when the archbishop was saying mass in the Bremen cathedral, + an unknown knight, the visor of whose helmet was closed so that no + one saw his face, strode up to the altar, and laying a papal bull + before him, cried out that he was accursed, and under the ban of the + church. The people fled, and forsaken by all, the wretched man + turned once more to Rome in submission. But though the Pope forgave + him on condition that he meddle no more with politics, war, or + episcopal office, another summer found him wielding sword and lance + against the man he hated, this time under the banner of the Guelphs. + The Germans had made another onset on Denmark, but again King + Valdemar defeated them. The bishop intrenched himself in Hamburg, + and made a desperate resistance, but the King carried the city by + storm. The beaten and hopeless man fled, and shut himself up in a + cloister in Hanover, where daily and nightly he scourged himself for + his sins. If it is true that "hell was fashioned by the souls that + hated," not all the penance of all the years must have availed to + save him from the torments of the lost. +</p> +<p> + Denmark now had peace on its southern border. Dagmar was dead, and + Valdemar, whose restless soul yearned for new worlds to conquer, + turned toward the east where the wild Esthland tribes were guilty of + even worse outrages than the Wends before Absalon tamed them. The + dreadful cruelties practised by these pagans upon christian captives + cried aloud to all civilized Europe, and Valdemar took the cross + "for the honor of the Virgin Mary and the absolution of his sins," + and gathered a mighty fleet, the greatest ever assembled in Danish + waters. With more than a thousand ships he sailed across the Baltic. + The Pope sped them with his apostolic blessing, and took king and + people into his especial care, forbidding any one to attack the + country while they were away converting the heathen. Archbishop + Anders led the crusade with the king. As the fleet approached the + shore they saw it covered with an innumerable host of the enemy. So + great was their multitude that the crusaders quailed before the + peril of landing; but the archbishop put heart into them, and led + the fleet in fervent prayer to the God of battle. Then they landed + without hindrance. +</p> +<p> + There was an old stronghold there called Lyndanissa that had fallen + into decay. The crusaders busied themselves for two days with + building another and better fort. On the third day, being St. Vitus' + Day, they rested, fearing no harm. The Esthlanders had not troubled + them. Some of their chiefs had even come in with an offer of + surrender. They were willing to be converted, they said, and the + priests were baptizing them after vespers, while the camp was making + ready for the night, when suddenly the air was filled with the yells + of countless savages. On every side they broke from the woods, where + they had been gathering unsuspected, and overwhelmed the camp. The + guards were hewn down, the outposts taken, and the King's men were + falling back in confusion, their standard lost, when Prince Vitislav + of Rügen who had been camping with his men in a hollow between the + sand-hills, out of the line of attack, threw himself between them + and the Esthlanders, and gave the Danes time to form their lines. +</p> +<p> + In the twilight of the June evening the battle raged with great + fury. With the King at their head, who had led them to victory on so + many hard-fought fields, the Danes drove back their savage foes time + after time, literally hewing their way through their ranks with + sword and battle-axe. But they were hopelessly outnumbered. Their + hearts misgave them as they saw ten heathen spring out of the ground + for every one that was felled. The struggle grew fiercer as night + came on. The Christians were fighting for life; defeat meant that + they must perish to a man, by the sword or upon pagan altars; escape + there was none. Upon the cliff overlooking the battle-field the + archbishop and his priests were praying for success to the King's + arms. Tradition that has been busy with this great battle all + through the ages tells how, while the aged bishop's hands were + raised toward heaven, victory leaned to the Danes; but when he grew + tired, and let them fall, the heathen won forward, until the priests + held up his hands and once more the tide of battle rolled back from + the shore, and the Christian war-cry rose higher. +</p> +<p> + Suddenly, in the clash of steel upon steel and the wild tumult of + the conflict, there arose a great and wondering cry "the banner! the + banner! a miracle!" and Christian and pagan paused to listen. Out of + the sky, as it seemed, over against the hill upon which the priests + knelt, a blood-red banner with a great white cross was seen falling + into the ranks of the Christian knights, and a voice resounded over + the battle-field, "Bear this high, and victory shall be yours." With + the exultant cry, "For God and the King," the crusaders seized it, + and charged the foe. Terror-stricken, the Esthlanders wavered, then + turned, and fled. The battle became a massacre. Thousands were + slain. The chronicles say that the dead lay piled fathom-high on the + field that ran red with blood. Upon it, when the pursuit was over, + Valdemar knelt with his men, and they bowed their heads in + thanksgiving, while the venerable archbishop gave praise to God for + the victory. +</p> +<p> + That is the story of the Dannebrog which has been the flag of the + Danes seven hundred years. Whether the archbishop had brought it + with him intending to present it to King Valdemar, and threw it down + among the fighting hordes in the moment of extreme peril, or + whether, as some think, the Pope himself had sent it to the + crusaders with a happy inspiration, the fact remains that it came to + the Danes in this great battle, and on the very day which, fifty + years before, had seen the fall of Arcona, and the end of + idol-worship among the western Slavs. Three hundred years the + standard flew over the Danes fighting on land and sea. Then it was + lost in a campaign against the Holstein counts and, when recovered + half a century later, was hung up in the cathedral at Slesvig, + where gradually it fell to pieces. In the first half of the + Nineteenth Century, when national feeling and national pride were at + their lowest ebb, it was taken down with other moth-eaten old + banners, one day when they were cleaning up, and somebody made a + bonfire of them in the street. Such was the fate of "the flag that + fell from heaven," the sacred standard of the Danes. But it was not + the end of it. The Dannebrog flies yet over the Denmark of the + Valdemars, no longer great as then, it is true, nor master of its + ancient foes; but the world salutes it with respect, for there was + never blot of tyranny or treason upon it, and its sons own it with + pride wherever they go. +</p> +<p> + King Valdemar knighted five and thirty of his brave men on the + battle-field, and from that day the Order of the Dannebrog is said + to date. It bears upon a white crusader's cross the slogan of the + great fight "For God and the King," and on its reverse the date when + it was won, "June 15, 1219." The back of paganism was broken that + day, and the conversion of all Esthland followed soon. King Valdemar + built the castle he had begun before he sailed home, and called it + Reval, after one of the neighboring tribes. The Russian city of that + name grew up about it and about the church which Archbishop Anders + reared. The Dannebrog became its arms, and its people call it to + this day "the city of the Danes." +</p> +<p> + Denmark was now at the height of her glory. Her flag flew over all + the once hostile lands to the south and east, clear into Russia. The + Baltic was a Danish inland sea. King Valdemar was named "Victor" + with cause. His enemies feared him; his people adored him. In a + single night foul treachery laid the whole splendid structure low. + The King and young Valdemar, Dagmar's son, with a small suite of + retainers had spent the day hunting on the little island of Lyö. + Count Henrik of Schwerin,—the Black Count they called him,—who had + just returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was his guest. The + count hated Valdemar bitterly for some real or fancied injury, but + he hid his hatred under a friendly bearing and smooth speech. He + brought the King gifts from the Holy Sepulchre, hunted with him, and + was his friend. But by night, when the King and his son slept in + their tent, unguarded, since no enemy was thought to be near, he + fell upon them with his cutthroats, bound and gagged them despite + their struggles, and gathering up all the valuables that lay around, + to put the finishing touch upon his villainy, fled with his + prisoners "in great haste and fear," while the King's men slept. + When they awoke, and tried to follow, they found their ships + scuttled. The count's boat had been lying under sail all day, hidden + in a sheltered cove, awaiting his summons. +</p> +<p> + Germany at last had the lion and its whelp in her grasp. In chains + and fetters they were dragged from one dungeon to another. The + traitors dared not trust them long in any city, however strong. The + German Emperor shook his fist at Count Henrik, but secretly he was + glad. He would have liked nothing better than to have the precious + spoil in his own power. The Pope thundered in Rome and hurled his + ban at the thugs. But the Black Count's conscience was as swarthy as + his countenance; and besides, had he not just been to the Holy Land, + and thereby washed himself clean of all his sins, past and present? +</p> +<p> + Behind prison walls, comforted only by Dagmar's son, sat the King, + growing old and gray with anger and grief. Denmark lay prostrate + under the sudden blow, while her enemies rose on every side. Day by + day word came of outbreaks in the conquered provinces. The people + did not know which way to turn; the strong hand that held the helm + was gone, and the ship drifted, the prey of every ill wind. It was + as if all that had been won by sixty years of victories and + sacrifice fell away in one brief season. The forests filled with + out-laws; neither peasant nor wayfarer, nor yet monk or nun in their + quiet retreat, was safe from outrage; and pirates swarmed again in + bay and sound, where for two generations there had been peace. The + twice-perjured Bishop Valdemar left his cloister cell once more and + girt on the sword, to take the kingdom he coveted by storm. +</p> +<p> + He was met by King Valdemar's kinsman and friend, Albert of + Orlamunde, who hastened to the frontier with all the men he could + gather. They halted him with a treaty of peace that offered to set + Valdemar free if he would take his kingdom as a fief of the German + crown. He, Albert, so it was written, was to keep all his lands and + more, would he but sign it. He did not stop to hear the rest, but + slashed the parchment into ribbons with his sword, and ordered an + instant advance. The bishop he made short work of, and he was heard + of no more. But in the battle with the German princes Albert was + defeated and taken prisoner. The door of King Valdemar's dungeon was + opened only to let his friend in. +</p> +<p> + After two years and a half in chains, Valdemar was ransomed by his + people with a great sum of gold. The Danish women gave their rings + and their jewels to bring back their king. They flocked about him + when he returned, and received him like the conqueror of old; but he + rode among them gray and stern, and his thoughts were far away. +</p> +<p> + They had made him swear on oath upon the sacrament, and all + Denmark's bishops with him, before they set him free, that he would + not seek revenge. But once he was back in his own, he sent to Pope + Gregory, asking him to loose him from an oath wrung from him while + he was helpless in the power of bandits. And the Pope responded that + to keep faith with traitors was no man's duty. Then back he rode + over the River Eider into the enemy's land—for they had stripped + Denmark of all her hard-won possessions south of the ancient border + of the kingdom, except Esthland and Rügen—and with him went every + man who could bear arms in all the nation. He crushed the Black + Count who tried to block his way, and at Bornhöved met the German + allies who had gathered from far and near to give him battle. Well + they knew that if Valdemar won, the reckoning would be terrible. All + day they fought, and victory seemed to lean toward the Danes, when + the base Holsteiners, the Danish rear-guard whom the enemy had + bought to betray their king, turned their spears upon his army, and + decided the day. The battle ended in utter rout of Valdemar's + forces. Four thousand Danish men were slain. The King himself fell + wounded on the field, his eye pierced by an arrow, and would have + fallen into the hands of the enemy once more but for an unknown + German knight, who took him upon his horse and bore him in the night + over unfrequented paths to Kiel, where he was safe. +</p> +<p> + "But all men said that this great hurt befell the King because that + he brake the oath he swore upon the sacred body of the Lord." +</p> +<p> + The wars of Valdemar were over, but his sorrows were not. Four years + later the crushing blow fell when Dagmar's son, who was crowned king + to succeed him, lost his life while hunting. With him, says the + folk-song, died the hope of Denmark. The King had other sons, but to + Dagmar's boy the people had given their love from the first, as they + had to his gentle mother. The old King and his people grieved + together. +</p> +<p> + But Valdemar rose above his sorrows. Great as he had been in the + days of victory, he was greater still in adversity. The country was + torn by the wars of three-score years, and in need of rest. He gave + his last days to healing the wounds the sword had struck. Valdemar, + the Victor, became Valdemar, the Law-giver. The laws of the country + had hitherto made themselves. They were the outgrowths of the + people's ancient customs, passed down by word of mouth through the + generations, and confirmed on Thing from time to time. King + Valdemar gave Denmark her first written laws that judged between + man and man, in at least one of her provinces clear down into our + day. "With law shall land be built" begins his code. "The law," it + says, "must be honest, just, reasonable, and according to the ways + of the people. It must meet their needs, and speak plainly so that + all men may know and understand what the law is. It is not to be + made in any man's favor, but for the needs of all them who live in + the land." That is its purpose, and "no man shall judge (condemn) + the law which the King has given and the country chosen; neither + shall he (the King) take it back without the will of the people." + That tells the story of Valdemar's day, and of the people who are so + near of kin with ourselves. They were not sovereign and subjects; + they were a chosen king and a free people, working together "with + law land to build." +</p> +<p> + King Valdemar was married twice. The folk-song represents Dagmar as + urging the King with her dying breath +</p> +<p class="block"> + "that Bengerd, my lord, that base bad dame<br> + you never to wife will take." +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + Bengerd, or Berengaria, was a Portuguese princess whom Valdemar + married in spite of the warning, two years later. As the people had + loved the fair Dagmar, so they hated the proud Southern beauty, + whether with reason or not. The story of her "morning gift," as it + has come down to us through the mists of time, is very different + from the other. She asks the King, so the ballad has it, to give her + Samsö, a great and fertile island, and "a golden crown<a name="9"></a><a href="#note-9"><small><sup>3</sup></small></a> for every + maid," but he tells her not to be quite so greedy: +</p> +<p class="block"> + There be full many an honest maid<br> + with not dry bread to eat. +</p> +<p> + Undismayed, Bengerd objects that Danish women have no business to + wear silken gowns, and that a good horse is not for a peasant lad. + The King replies patiently that what a woman can buy she may wear + for him, and that he will not take the lad's horse if he can feed + it. Bengerd is not satisfied. "Let bar the land with iron chains" is + her next proposal, that neither man nor woman enter it without + paying tax. Her husband says scornfully that Danish kings have never + had need of such measures, and never will. He is plainly getting + bored, and when she keeps it up, and begrudges the husbandman more + than "two oxen and a cow," he loses his temper, and presumably there + is a matrimonial tiff. Very likely most of this is fiction, bred of + the popular prejudice. The King loved her, that is certain. She was + a beautiful high-spirited woman, so beautiful that many hundreds of + years after, when her grave was opened, the delicate oval of her + skull excited admiration yet. But the people hated her. Twenty + generations after her death it was their custom when passing her + grave to spit on it with the exclamation "Out upon thee, Bengerd! + God bless the King of Denmark"; for in good or evil days they never + wavered in their love and admiration for the king who was a son of + the first Valdemar, and the heir of his greatness and of that of the + sainted Absalon. Tradition has it that Bengerd was killed in battle, + having gone with her husband on one of his campaigns. "It was not + heard in any place," says the folk-song wickedly, "that any one + grieved for her." But the King mourned for his beautiful queen to + the end of his days. +</p> +<p> + Bengerd bore Valdemar three sons upon whom he lavished all the + affection of his lonely old age. Erik he chose as his successor, and + to keep his brothers loyal to him he gave them great fiefs and thus, + unknowing, brought on the very trouble he sought to avoid, and set + his foot on the path that led to Denmark's dismemberment after + centuries of bloody wars. For to his second son Abel he gave + Slesvig, and Abel, when his brother became king, sought alliance + with the Holstein count Adolf,<a name="10"></a><a href="#note-10"><small><sup>4</sup></small></a> the very one who had led the + Germans at the fatal battle of Bornhöved. The result was a war + between the brothers that raged seven years, and laid waste the + land. Worse was to follow, for Abel was only "Abel in name, but Cain + in deed." But happily the old King's eyes were closed then, and he + was spared the sight of one brother murdering the other for the + kingdom. +</p> +<p> + Some foreboding of this seems to have troubled him in his last + years. It is related that once when he was mounting his horse to go + hunting he fell into a deep reverie, and remained standing with his + foot in the stirrup a long time, while his men wondered, not daring + to disturb him. At last one of them went to remind him that the sun + was low in the west. The King awoke from his dream, and bade him go + at once to a wise old hermit who lived in a distant part of the + country. "Ask him," he said, "what King Valdemar was thinking of + just now, and bring me his answer." The knight went away on his + strange errand, and found the hermit. And this was the message he + brought back: "Your lord and master pondered as he stood by his + horse, how his sons would fare when he was dead. Tell him that war + and discord they shall have, but kings they will all be." When the + King heard the prophecy he was troubled in mind, and called his sons + and all his great knights to a council at which he pleaded with them + to keep the peace. But though they promised, he was barely in his + grave when riot and bloodshed filled the land. The climax was + reached when Abel inveigled his brother to his home with fair words + and, once he had him in his power, seized him and gave him over to + his men to do with "as they pleased." They understood their master + only too well, and took King Erik out on the fjord in an open boat, + and killed him there, scarce giving him time to say his prayers. + They weighted his body with his helmet, and sank it in the deep. +</p> +<p> + Abel made oath with four and twenty of his men that he was innocent + of his brother's blood, and took the crown after him. But the foul + crime was soon avenged. Within a few years he was himself slain by a + peasant in a rising of his own people. For a while his body lay + unburied, the prey of beast and bird, and when it was interred in + the Slesvig cathedral there was no rest for it. "Such turmoil arose + in the church by night that the monks could not chant their vigils," + and in the end they took him out, and buried him in a swamp, with a + stake driven through the heart to lay his ghost. But clear down to + our time when people ceased to believe in ghosts, the fratricide was + seen at night hunting through the woods, coal-black and on a white + horse, with three fiery dogs trailing after; and blue flames burned + over the sea where they vanished. That was how the superstition of + the people judged the man whom the nobles and the priests made + king, red-handed. +</p> +<p> + Christopher, the youngest of the three brothers, was king last. His + end was no better than that of the rest. Indeed, it was worse. + Hardly yet forty years old, he died—poisoned, it was said, by the + Abbot Arnfast, in the sacrament as he knelt at the altar-rail in the + Ribe cathedral. He was buried in the chancel where the penitents + going to the altar walk over his grave. So, of all Valdemar's four + sons, not one died a peaceful, natural death. But kings they all + were. +</p> +<p> + Valdemar was laid in Ringsted with his great father. He sleeps + between his two queens. Dagmar's grave was disturbed in the late + middle ages by unknown vandals, and the remains of Denmark's + best-loved queen were scattered. Only a golden cross, which she had + worn in life, somehow escaped, and found its way in course of time + into the museum of antiquities at Copenhagen, where it now is, its + chief and priceless treasure. There also is a braid of Queen + Bengerd's hair that was found when her grave was opened in 1855. The + people's hate had followed her even there, and would not let her + rest. The slab that covered her tomb had been pried off, and a round + stone dropped into the place made for her head. Otherwise her grave + was undisturbed. +</p> +<p> + "Truly then fell the crown from the heads of Danish men," says the + old chronicle of King Valdemar's death, and black clouds were + gathering ominously even then over the land. But in storm and + stress, as in days that were fair, the Danish people have clung + loyally to the memory of their beloved King and of his sweet Dagmar. +</p> +<br> + +<a name="note-7"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#7"> +<sup>1</sup></a> Pronounce as Strangle, with the l left out. +</p> + +<a name="note-8"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"> <a href="#8"> +<sup>2</sup></a> Pronounced Reebe, in two syllables. +</p> + +<a name="note-9"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#9"> +<sup>3</sup></a> A coin, probably. +</p> + +<a name="note-10"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#10"> +<sup>4</sup></a> That was the beginning of the Slesvig-Holstein question + that troubled Europe to our day; for the fashion set by Abel other + rulers of his dukedom followed, and by degrees Slesvig came to be + reckoned with the German duchies, whereas up till then it had always + been South-Jutland, a part of Denmark proper. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + HOW THE GHOST OF THE HEATH WAS LAID +</h2> +<br> + +<p> + On the map of Europe the mainland of Denmark looks like a beckoning + finger pointing due north and ending in a narrow sand-reef, upon + which the waves of the North Sea and of the Kattegat break with + unceasing clamor and strife. The heart of the peninsula, quite + one-fourth of its area, was fifty years ago a desert, a barren, + melancholy waste, where the only sign of life encountered by the + hunter, gunning for heath-fowl and plover, was a rare shepherd + tending a few lonesome sheep, and knitting mechanically on his + endless stocking. The two, the lean sheep and the long stocking, + together comprised the only industries which the heath afforded and + was thought capable of sustaining. A great change has taken place + within the span of a single life, and it is all due to the clear + sight and patient devotion of one strong man, the Gifford Pinchot of + Denmark. The story of that unique achievement reads like the tale + of the Sleeping Beauty who was roused from her hundred years' sleep + by the kiss of her lover prince. The prince who awoke the slumbering + heath was a captain of engineers, Enrico Dalgas by name. +</p> +<p> + Not altogether fanciful is the conceit. Barren, black, and desolate, + the great moor gripped the imagination as no smiling landscape of + field and forest could—does yet, where enough of it remains. Far as + eye reaches the dun heather covers hill and plain with its sombre + pall. Like gloomy sentinels, furry cattails nod in the bog where the + blue gentian peeps timidly into murky pools; the only human + habitation in sight some heath boer's ling-thatched hut, flanked by + rows of peat stacks in vain endeavor to stay the sweep of the + pitiless west wind. On the barrows where the vikings sleep their + long sleep, the plover pipes its melancholy lay; between steep banks + a furtive brook steals swiftly by as if anxious to escape from the + universal blight. Over it all broods the silence of the desert, + drowsy with the hum of many bees winging their swift way to the + secret feeding-places they know of, where mayflower and anemone hide + under the heather, witness that forests grew here in the long ago. + In midsummer, when the purple is on the broom, a strange pageant + moves on the dim horizon, a shifting mirage of sea and shore, + forest, lake, and islands lying high, with ships and castles and + spires of distant churches—the witchery of the heath that speaks in + the tales and superstitions of its simple people. High in the blue + soars the lark, singing its song of home and hope to its nesting + mate. This is the heath which, denying to the hardest toil all but + the barest living, has given of its poetry to the Danish tongue some + of its sweetest songs. +</p> +<p> + But in this busy world day-dreams must make way for the things that + make the day count, castles in the air to homes upon the soil. The + heath had known such in the dim past. It had not always been a + desert. The numberless cairns that lie scattered over it, sometimes + strung out for miles as if marking the highways of the ancients, + which they doubtless do, sometimes grouped where their villages + stood, bear witness to it. Great battles account for their share, + and some of them were fought in historic times. On Grathe Heath the + young King Valdemar overcame his treacherous rival Svend. Alone and + hunted, the beaten man sought refuge, Saxo tells us, behind a stump, + where he was found and slain by one of the King's axemen. A chapel + was built on the spot. More than seven centuries later (in 1892) + they dug there, and found the bones of a man with skull split in + two. +</p> +<p> + The stump behind which the wretched Svend hid was probably the last + representative of great forests that grew where now is sterile moor. + In the bogs trunks of oak and fir are found lying as they fell + centuries ago. The local names preserve the tradition, with here and + there patches of scrub oak that hug the ground close, to escape the + blast from the North Sea. There is one such thicket near the hamlet + of Taulund—the name itself tells of long-forgotten groves—and the + story runs among the people yet that once squirrels jumped from tree + to tree without touching ground all the way from Taulund to + Gjellerup church, a stretch of more than five miles to which the + wild things of the woods have long been strangers. In the shelter of + the old forests men dwelt through ages, and made the land yield them + a living. Some cairns that have been explored span over more than a + thousand years. They were built in the stone age, and served the + people of the bronze and iron ages successively as burial-places, + doubtless the same tribes who thus occupied their homesteads from + generation to generation. That they were farmers, not nomads, is + proved by the clear impression of grains of wheat and barley in + their burial urns. The seeds strayed into the clay and were burned + away, but the impression abides, and tells the story. +</p> +<p> + Clear down to historic times there was a thrifty population in many + of the now barren spots. But a change was slowly creeping over the + landscape. The country was torn by long and bloody wars. The big men + fought for the land and the little ones paid the score, as they + always do. They were hunted from house and home. Next the wild + hordes of the Holstein counts overran Jutland. Its towns were + burned, the country laid waste. Great fires swept the forests. What + ravaging armies had left was burned in the smelteries. In the sandy + crust of the heath there is iron, and swords and spears were the + grim need of that day. The smelteries are only names now. They + went, but they took the forests with them, and where the ground was + cleared the west wind broke through, and ruin followed fast. Last of + all came the Black Death, and set its seal of desolation upon it + all. When it had passed, the country was a huge graveyard. The heath + had moved in. Rovers and smugglers found refuge there; honest folk + shunned it. Under the heather the old landmarks are sometimes found + yet, and deep ruts made by wheels that long since ceased to turn. +</p> +<p> + In the Eighteenth Century men began to think of reclamation. A + thousand German colonists were called in and settled on the heath, + but it was stronger than they, and they drifted away until scarce + half a hundred families remained. The Government tried its hand, but + there was no one who knew just how, and only discouragement + resulted. Then came the war with Germany in 1864, that lost to + Denmark a third of her territory. The country lay prostrate under + the crushing blow. But it rose above defeat and disaster, and once + more expectant eyes were turned toward the ancient domain that had + slipped from its grasp. "What was lost without must be won within" + became the national slogan. And this time the man for the task was + at hand. +</p> +<p> + Enrico Mylius Dalgas was by the accident of birth an Italian, his + father being the Danish consul in Naples; by descent a Frenchman; by + choice and training a Dane, typical of the best in that people. He + came of the Huguenot stock that left France after the repeal of the + Edict of Nantes in 1685 and scattered over Europe, to the great good + of every land in which it settled. They had been tillers of the soil + from the beginning, and at least two of the family, who found homes + in Denmark, made in their day notable contributions to the cause of + advanced, sensible husbandry. Enrico's father, though a merchant, + had an open eye for the interests which in later years claimed the + son's life-work. In the diary of a journey through Sweden he makes + indignant comment upon the reckless way in which the people of that + country dealt with their forests. That he was also a man of + resolution is shown by an incident of the time when Jew-baiting was + having its sorry day in Denmark. An innkeeper mistook the + dark-skinned little man for a Jew, and set before him a spoiled + ham, retorting contemptuously, when protest was made, that it was + "good enough for a Sheeny." Without further parley Mr. Dalgas seized + the hot ham by its shank and beat the fellow with it till he cried + for mercy. The son tells of the first school he attended, when he + was but five years old. It was kept by the widow of one of + Napoleon's generals, a militant lady who every morning marshalled + the school, a Lilliputian army with the teachers flanking the line + like beardless sergeants in stays and petticoats, and distributed + rewards and punishments as the great Emperor was wont to do after a + battle. For the dunces there was a corner strewn with dried peas on + which they were made to kneel with long-eared donkey caps adorning + their luckless heads. Very likely it was after an insult of this + kind that Enrico decided to elope to America with his baby sister. + They were found down by the harbor bargaining with some fishermen to + take them over to Capri <i>en route</i> for the land of freedom. The + elder Dalgas died while the children were yet little, and the widow + went back to Denmark to bring up her boys there. +</p> +<p> + They were poor, and the change from the genial skies of sunny Italy + to the bleak North did not make it any easier for them. Enrico's + teacher saw it, and gave him his overcoat to be made over. But the + boys spotted it and squared accounts with their teacher by + snowballing the wearer of the big green plaid until he was glad to + leave it at home, and go without. He was in the military school when + war broke out with Germany in 1848. Both of his brothers + volunteered, and fell in battle. Enrico was ordered out as + lieutenant, and put on the shoulder-straps joyfully, to the great + scandal of his godfather in Milan, who sympathized with the German + cause. When the young soldier refused to resign he not only cut him + off in his will, but took away a pension of four hundred kroner he + had given his mother in her widowhood. If he had thoughts of + bringing them over by such means, he found out his mistake. Mother + and son were made of sterner stuff. Dalgas fought twice for his + country, the last time in 1864, as a captain of engineers. +</p> +<p> + It was no ordinary class, the one of 1851 that resumed its studies + in the military high school. Two of the students did not answer + roll-call; their names were written among the nation's heroic dead. + Some had scars and wore the cross for valor in battle. All were + first lieutenants, to be graduated as captains. Dalgas had himself + transferred from the artillery to the engineers, and was detailed as + road inspector. So the opportunity of his life came to him. +</p> +<p> + There were few railways in those days; the highways were still the + great arteries of traffic. Dalgas built roads that crossed the + heath, and he learned to know it and the strong and independent, if + narrow, people who clung to it with such a tenacious grip. He had a + natural liking for practical geology and for the chemistry of the + soil, and the deep cuts which his roads sometimes made gave him the + best of chances for following his bent. The heath lay as an open + book before him, and he studied it with delight. He found the traces + of the old forests, and noted their extent. Occasionally the pickaxe + uncovered peat deposits of unsuspected depth and value. Sometimes + the line led across the lean fields, and damages had to be discussed + and assessed. He learned the point of view of the heath farmer, + sympathized with his struggles, and gained his confidence. Best of + all, he found a man of his own mind, a lawyer by the name of + Morville, himself a descendant of the exiled Huguenots. It is not a + little curious that when the way was cleared for the Heath Society's + great work, in its formal organization with M. Mourier-Petersen, a + large landowner, as their associate in its management, the three men + who for a quarter of a century planned the work and marked out the + groove in which it was to run were all of that strong stock which is + by no means the most common in Denmark. +</p> +<p> + With his lawyer friend Captain Dalgas tramped the heath far and wide + for ten years. Then their talks had matured a plan. Dalgas wrote to + the Copenhagen newspapers that the heath could be reclaimed, and + suggested that it should be done by the State. They laughed at him. + "Nothing better could have happened," he said in after years, "for + it made us turn to the people themselves, and that was the road to + success, though we did not know it." In the spring of 1866 a hundred + men, little and big landowners most of them, met at his call, and + organized the Heath Society<a name="11"></a><a href="#note-11"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> with the object of reclaiming the + moor. Dalgas became its managing director. +</p> +<p> + To restore to the treeless waste its forest growth was the + fundamental idea, for until that was done nothing but the heather + could grow there. The west wind would not let it. But the heath + farmer shook his head. It would cost too much, and give too little + back. What he needed was water and marl. Could the captain help them + to these?—that was another matter. The little streams that found + their way into the heath and lost it there, dire need had taught + them to turn to use in their fields; not a drop escaped. But the + river that ran between deep banks was beyond their reach. Could he + show them how to harness that? Dalgas saw their point. "We are + working, not for the dead soil, but for the living men who find + homes upon it," he told his associates, and tree planting was put + aside for the time. They turned canal diggers instead. Irrigation + became their aim and task; the engineer was in his right place. The + water was raised from the stream and led out upon the moor, and + presently grass grew in the sand which the wiry stems of the heather + had clutched so long. Green meadows lined the water-runs, and + fragrant haystacks rose. To the lean sheep was added a cow, then + two. The farmer laid by a little, and took in more land for + cultivation. That meant breaking the heath. Also, it meant marl. The + heath is lime-poor; marl is lime in the exact form in which it best + fits that sandy soil. It was known to exist in some favored spots, + but the poor heath farmer could not bring it from a distance. So the + marl borer went with the canal digger. Into every acre he drove his + auger, and mapped out his discoveries. At last accounts he had found + marl in more than seventeen hundred places, and he is not done yet. + Where there was none, Dalgas's Society built portable railways into + the moor far enough to bring it to nearly every farmer's door. +</p> +<p> + It was as if a magic wand had been waved over the heath. With water + and marl, the means were at hand for fighting it and winning out. + Heads that had drooped in discouragement were raised. The cattle + keep increased, and with it came the farmer's wealth. Marl changes + the character of the heath soil; with manure to fertilize it there + was no reason why it should not grow crops—none, except the + withering blast of the west wind. The time for Dalgas to preach tree + planting had come. +</p> +<p> + While the canal digger and marl seeker were at work, there had been + neighborhood meetings and talks at which Captain Dalgas did the + talking. When he spoke the heath boer listened, for he had learned + to look upon him as one of them. He wore no gold lace. A plain man + in every-day gray tweeds, with his trousers tucked into his boots, + he spoke to plain people of things that concerned them vitally, and + in a way they could understand. So when he told them that the heath + had once been forest-clad, at least a large part of it, and pointed + them to the proofs, and that the woods could be made to grow again + to give them timber and shelter and crops, they gave heed. It was + worth trying at any rate. The shelter was the immediate thing. They + began planting hedges about their homesteads; not always wisely, for + it is not every tree that will grow in the heath. The wind whipped + and wore them, the ahl cramped their roots, and they died. The ahl + is the rusty-red crust that forms under the heather in the course of + the ages where the desert rules. Sometimes it is a loose sandstone + formation; sometimes it carries as much as twenty per cent of iron + that is absorbed from the upper layers of the sand. In any case, it + must be broken through; no tree root can do it. The ahl, the poverty + of the sand, and the wind, together make the "evil genius" of the + heath that had won until then in the century-old fight with man. But + this time he had backing, and was not minded to give up. The Heath + Society was there to counsel, to aid. And soon the hedges took hold, + and gardens grew in their shelter. There is hardly a farm in all + west Jutland to-day that has not one, even if the moor waits just + beyond the gate. +</p> +<p> + Out in the desert the Society had made a beginning with plantations + of Norway spruce. They took root, but the heather soon overwhelmed + the young plants. Not without a fight would this enemy let go its + grip upon the land. It had smothered the hardy Scotch pine in days + past, and now the spruce was in peril. Searching high and low for + something that would grow fast and grow green, Dalgas and his + associates planted dwarf pine with the spruce. Strangely, it not + only grew itself, but proved to be a real nurse for the other. The + spruce took a fresh start, and they grew vigorously together—for a + while. Then the pine outstripped its nursling, and threatened to + smother it. The spruce was the more valuable; the other was at best + little more than a shrub. The croaker raised his voice: the black + heath had turned green, but it was still heath, of no value to any + one, then or ever. +</p> +<p> + He had not reckoned with Dalgas. The captain of engineers could use + the axe as well as the spade. He cut the dwarf pine out wherever the + spruce had got its grip, and gave it light and air. And it grew big + and beautiful. The Heath Society has now over nineteen hundred + plantations that cover nearly a hundred thousand acres, and the + State and private individuals, inspired by the example it set, have + planted almost as large an area. The ghost of the heath has been + laid for all time. +</p> +<p> + Go now across the heath and see the change forty years have wrought. + You shall seek in vain the lonely shepherd with his stocking. The + stocking has grown into an organized industry. In grandfather's day + the farmer and his household "knitted for the taxes"; if all hands + made enough in the twelvemonth to pay the tax-gatherer, they had + done well. Last year the single county of Hammerum, of which more + below, sold machine-made underwear to the value of over a million + and a half kroner. The sheep are there, but no longer lean; no more + the ling-thatched hut, but prosperous farms backed by thrifty + groves, with hollyhock and marigold in the dooryards, heaps of gray + marl in the fields, tiny rivulets of water singing the doom of the + heath in the sand; for where it comes the heather moves out. A + resolute, thrifty peasantry looks hopefully forward. Not all of the + heath is conquered yet. Roughly speaking, thirty-three hundred + square miles of heath confronted Dalgas in 1866. Just about a + thousand remain for those who come after to wrestle with; but + already voices are raised pleading that some of it be preserved + untouched for its natural beauty, while yet it is time. +</p> +<p> + Meanwhile the plow goes over fresh acres every year—once, twice, + then a deeper plowing, this time to break the stony crust, and the + heath is ready for its human mission. From the Society's nurseries + that are scattered through the country come thousands of tiny + trees, and are set out in the furrows, two of the spruce for each + dwarf pine till the nurse has done her work. Then she is turned into + charcoal, into tar, and a score of other things of use. The men who + do the planting in summer find chopping to do in winter in the older + plantations, at good wages. Money is flowing into the moor in the + wake of the water and the marl. Roads are being made, and every day + the mail-carrier comes. In the olden time a stranger straying into + the heath often brought the first news of the world without for + weeks together. Game is coming, too,—roebuck and deer,—in the + young forests. The climate itself is changing; more rain falls in + midsummer, when it is needed. The sand-blast has been checked, the + power of the west wind broken. The shrivelled soil once more takes + up and holds the rains, and the streams will deepen, fish leap in + them as of yore. Groves of beech and oak are springing up in the + shelter of their hardier evergreen kin. "Make the land furry," + Dalgas said, with prophetic eye beholding great forests taking the + place of sand and heather, and in his lifetime the change was + wrought that is transforming the barren moor into the home-land of + a prosperous people. +</p> +<p> + To the most unlikely of places, through the very prison doors, his + gospel of hope has made its way. For the last dozen years the life + prisoners in the Horsens penitentiary have been employed in breaking + and reforesting the heath, and their keepers report that the effect + upon them of the hard work in the open has been to notably cheer and + brighten them. The discipline has been excellent. There have been + few attempts at escape, and they have come to nothing through the + vigilance of the other prisoners. +</p> +<p> + While the population in the rest of Denmark is about stationary, in + west Jutland it grows apace. The case of Skåphus farm in the parish + of Sunds shows how this happens. Prior to 1870 this farm of three + thousand acres was rated the "biggest and poorest" in Denmark. Last + year it had dwindled to three hundred and fifty acres, but upon its + old land thirty-three homesteads had risen that kept between them + sixty-two horses and two hundred and fifty-two cows, beside the + sheep, and the manor farm was worth twice as much as before. The + town of Herning, sometimes called "the Star of the Heath," is the + seat of Hammerum county, once the baldest and most miserable on the + Danish mainland. In 1841 twenty-one persons lived in Herning. To-day + there are more than six thousand in a town with handsome buildings, + gas, electric lighting, and paved streets. The heath is half a dozen + miles away. And this is not the result of any special or forced + industry, but the natural, healthy growth of a centre for an army of + industrious men and women winning back the land of their fathers by + patient toil. All through the landscape one sees from the train the + black giving way to the green. Churches rear their white gables; + bells that have been silent since the Black Death stalked through + the land once more call the people to worship on the old sites. More + churches were built in the reign of "the good King Christian," who + has just been gathered to his fathers, than in all the centuries + since the day of the Valdemars. +</p> +<p> + Bog cultivation is the Heath Society's youngest child. The heath is + full of peat-bogs that only need the sand, so plentiful on the + uplands, to make their soil as good as the best, the muck of the bog + being all plant food, and they have a surplus of water to give in + exchange. With hope the keynote of it all, the State has taken up + the herculean task of keeping down the moving sands of the North Sea + coast. All along it is a range of dunes that in the fierce storms of + that region may change shape and place in a single night. The "sand + flight" at times reached miles inland, and threatened to bury the + farmer's acres past recovery. Austrian fir and dwarf pine now grow + upon the white range, helping alike to keep down the sand and to bar + out the blast. +</p> +<p> + With this exception, the great change has been, is being, wrought by + the people themselves. It was for their good, in the apathy that + followed 1864, that it should be so, and Dalgas saw it. The State + aids the man who plants ten acres or more, and assumes the + obligation to preserve the forest intact; the Heath Society sells + him plants at half-price, and helps him with its advice. It disposes + annually of over thirteen million young trees. The people do the + rest, and back the Society with their support. The Danish peasant + has learned the value of coöperation since he turned dairy farmer, + and associations for irrigation, for tree planting, and garden + planting are everywhere. They even reach across the ocean. This year + a call was issued to sons of the old soil, who have found a new home + in America, to join in planting a Danish-American forest in the + desert where hill and heather hide a silvery lake in their deep + shadows and returning wanderers may rest and dream of the long ago. +</p> +<p> + Soldier though he was, Enrico Dalgas's pick and spade brigade won + greater victories for Denmark than her armies in two wars. He + literally "won for his country within what she had lost without." A + natural organizer, a hard worker who found his greatest joy in his + daily tasks, a fearless and lucid writer who yet knew how to keep + his cause out of the rancorous politics that often enough seemed to + mistake partisanship for patriotism, he was the most modest of men. + Praise he always passed up to others. At the "silver wedding" of the + Society he founded they toasted him jubilantly, but he sat quiet a + long time. When at last he arose, it was to make this characteristic + little speech: +</p> +<p> + "I thank you very much. His Excellency the Minister of the Interior, + who is present here, will see from this how much you think of me, + and possibly my recommendation that the State make a larger + contribution to the Heath Society's treasury may thereby acquire + greater weight with him. I drink to an increased appropriation." +</p> +<p> + On the heath Dalgas was prophet, prince, and friend of the people. + In the crowds that flocked about his bier homespun elbowed gold lace + in the grief of a common loss. Boughs of the fragrant spruce decked + his coffin, the gift of the heath to the memory of him who set it + free. +</p> +<p> + To Dalgas apply the words of the seer with which he himself + characterized the Society that was the child of his heart and brain: + "The good men are those who plant and water," for they add to the + happiness of mankind. +</p> +<br> +<a name="note-11"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#11"> +<sup>1</sup></a> Danske Hedeselskab. +</p> + +<a name="2H_4_0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + KING CHRISTIAN IV +</h2> +<br> + +<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a> +<center> +<img src="images/music.png" width="400" height="936" +alt="Musical Notation With Lyrics +"> +</center> +<!--IMAGE END--> + <p> + Deep in the beech-woods between Copenhagen and Elsinore, upon the + shore of a limpid lake, stands Frederiksborg, one of the most + beautiful castles in Europe. In its chapel the Danish kings were + crowned for two centuries, and here was born on April 12, 1577, King + Christian of the Danish national hymn which Longfellow translated + into our tongue. No Danish ruler since the days of the great + Valdemars made such a mark upon his time; none lives as he in the + imagination of the people. He led armies to war and won and lost + battles; indeed, he lost more than he won on land when matched + against the great generals of that fighting era. On the sea he + sailed his own ship and was the captain of his own fleet, and there + he had no peer. He made laws in the days of peace and reigned over a + happy, prosperous land. In his old age misfortune in which he had no + share overwhelmed Denmark, but he was ever greatest in adversity, + and his courage saved the country from ruin. The great did not love + him overmuch; but to the plain people he was ever, with all his + failings, which were the failings of his day, a great, appealing + figure, and lives in their hearts, not merely in the dry pages of + musty books. +</p> +<p> + He was eleven years old when his father died, and until he came of + age the country was governed by a council of happily most able men + who, with his mother, gave him such a schooling as few kings have + had. He not only became proficient in the languages, living and + dead, and in mathematics which he put to such practical use that he + was among the greatest of architects and ship-builders; he was the + best all-round athlete among his fellows as well, and there was some + sense in the tradition that survives to this day that whoever was + touched by him in wrath did not live long, for he was very tall with + a big, strong body, and when he struck, he struck hard. He was a + dauntless sailor who knew as much about sailing a ship as any one of + his captains, and much more about building it. Danger appealed to + him always. When the spire on the great cathedral in Copenhagen + threatened to fall, he was the one who went up in it alone and gave + orders where and how to brace it. +</p> +<p> + As he grew, he sat in the council of state, learning kingcraft, and + showed there the hard-headed sense of fairness and justice that went + with him through life. He was hardly fourteen when the case of three + brothers of the powerful Friis family came before the council. They + had attacked another young nobleman in the street, struck off one of + his hands, and crippled the other. Because of their influence, the + council was for being lenient, atrocious as the crime was. A fine + was deemed sufficient. The young prince asked if there were not some + law covering the case with severer punishment, and was told that in + the province of Skaane there was such a law that applied to serfs. + But the assault had not been committed in Skaane, and these were + high noblemen. +</p> +<p> + "All the worse for them," said the prince. "Is then a serf in Skaane + to have more rights under the law than a nobleman in the rest of + Denmark? Let the law for the serf be theirs." And the judgment + stood. +</p> +<p> + He had barely attained his majority, when the young king was called + upon to judge between another great noble and a widow whom he sued + for 9000 daler, money he claimed to have lent to her husband. In + proof he laid before the judges two bonds bearing the signatures of + husband and wife. The widow denounced them as forgeries, but the + court decided that she must pay. She went straight to the King with + her story, assuring him that she had never heard of the debt. The + King sent for the bonds and upon close scrutiny discovered that one + of them was on paper bearing the water-mark of a mill that was not + built till two years after the date written in the bond. The noble + was arrested and the search of his house brought to light several + similar documents waiting their turn. He went to the scaffold. His + rank only aggravated his offence in the eyes of the King. No wonder + the fame of this judge spread quickly through the land. +</p> +<p> + A dozen contented years he reigned in peace, doing justice between + man and man at home. Then the curse of his house gripped him. In two + centuries, since the brief union between the three Scandinavian + kingdoms was broken by the secession of Sweden, only two of sixteen + kings in either country had gone to their rest without ripping up + the old feud. It was now Christian's turn. The pretext was of little + account: there was always cause enough. Gustav Adolf, whose father + was then on the throne of Sweden, said in after years that there was + no one he had such hearty admiration for and whose friend he would + like so well to be as Christian IV: "The mischief is that we are + neighbors." King Christian crossed over into Sweden and laid siege + to the strong fortress of Kalmar where he first saw actual war and + showed himself a doughty campaigner of intrepid courage. It came + near costing him his life when a cannoneer with whom he had often + talked on his rounds deserted to the enemy and picked the King out + as his especial target. Twice he killed an officer attending upon + him, but the King he never hit. It is almost a pleasure to record + that when he tried it again, in another fight, Christian caught him + and dealt with him as the traitor he was, though the rough justice + of those days is not pleasant to dwell on. The besieged tried to + create a diversion by sneaking into camp at night and burying wax + images of the King and his generals in the earth, where they were + afterwards found and spread consternation through the army; for such + things were believed to be wrought by witchcraft and to bring bad + luck to those whom they represented. +</p> +<p> + However, neither the real courage of the defenders, nor their + dallying with the black art, helped them any. King Christian stormed + the town at the head of his army and took it. The burgomaster hid in + the church, disguised as a priest, and pretended to be shriving some + women when the crash came, but it did not save him. When the + Swedish king came with a host twice the size of his own, there was + a battle royal, but Christian drove him off and laid siege to the + castle where dissension presently arose between the garrison and its + commander who was for surrendering. In the midst of their noisy + quarrel, King Christian was discovered standing upon the wall, + calmly looking on. He had climbed up alone on a rope ladder which + the sentinel let down at his bidding. At the sight they gave it up + and opened the gates, and the King wrote home, proudly dating his + letter from "our castle Kalmar." +</p> +<p> + Its loss so angered the Swedish king who was old and sick, that he + challenged Christian to single combat, without armor. The letters + that passed between them were hardly kingly. King Christian wrote + that he had other things to do: "Better catch a doctor, old man, and + have your head-piece looked after." Helpless anger killed Karl, and + Gustav Adolf, of whom the world was presently to hear, took the + command and the crown. After that Christian had a harder road to + hoe. +</p> +<p> + A foretaste of it came to him when he tried to surprise the fortress + of Gullberg near the present Götaborg. Its commander was wounded + early in the fight, but his wife who took his place more than filled + it. She and her women poured boiling lye upon the attacking Danes + until they lay "like scalded pigs" under the walls. Their leader + knew when he had enough and made off in haste, with the lady + commandant calling after him, "You were a little unexpected for + breakfast, but come back for dinner and we will receive you + properly." She would not even let them take their dead away. "Since + God gave us luck to kill them," she said, "we will manage to bury + them too." They were very pious days after their own fashion, and + God was much on the lips of his servants. Troubles rarely come + singly. Soon after, King Christian met the enemy unexpectedly and + was so badly beaten that for the second time he had to run for it, + though he held out till nearly all his men had fallen. His horse got + mired in a swamp with the pursuers close behind. The gay and wealthy + Sir Christen Barnekow, who had been last on the field, passed him + there, and at once got down and gave him his horse. It meant giving + up his life, and when Sir Christen could no longer follow the + fleeing King he sat down on a rock with the words, "I give the King + my horse, the enemy my life, and God my soul." The rock is there yet + and the country folk believe that the red spots in the granite are + Christen Barnekow's blood which all the years have not availed to + wash out. +</p> +<p> + They tired of fighting at last and made it up. Sweden paid Denmark a + million daler; for the rest, things stayed as they had been before. + King Christian had shown himself no mean fighter, but the senseless + sacking and burning of town and country that was an ugly part of + those days' warfare went against his grain, and he tried to persuade + the Swedes to agree to leave that out in future. Gustav Adolf had + not yet grown into the man he afterward became. "As to the burning," + was his reply, "seeing that it is the usage of war, and we enemies, + why we will each have to do the best we can," which meant the worst. + Had the two kings, who had much in common, got together in the years + of peace that followed, much misery might have been saved Denmark, + and a black page of history might read very differently. For those + were the days of the Thirty Years' War, in which together they + might have dictated peace to harassed Europe. +</p> +<p> + Now King Christian's ambition, his piety, for he was a sincerely + religious man, as well as his jealousy of his younger rival and of + the growing power of Sweden—so mixed are human motives—made him + yield to the entreaties of the hard-pressed Protestant princes to + take up alone their cause against the German Emperor. He had tried + for half a dozen years to make peace between them. At last he drew + the sword and went down to force it. After a year of fighting Tilly + and Wallenstein, the Emperor's great generals, he met the former in + a decisive battle at Lutter-am-Baremberg. King Christian's army was + beaten and put to rout. He himself fled bareheaded through the + forests of the Hartz Mountains, pursued by the enemy's horsemen. It + was hardly necessary for the Emperor to make him promise as the + price of peace to keep out of German affairs thenceforth. His allies + had left him to fight it out alone. All their fine speeches went for + nothing when it came to the test, and King Christian rode back to + Denmark, a sadder and wiser man. It was left to Gustav Adolf, after + all, to teach the German generals the lesson they needed. +</p> +<p> + In the years of peace before that unhappy war, Danish trade and + Danish culture had blossomed exceedingly, thanks to the wisdom, the + clever management, and untiring industry of the King. He built + factories, cloth-mills, silk-mills, paper-mills, dammed the North + Sea out from the rich marshlands with great dikes, taught the + farmers profitable ways of tilling their fields; for he was a + wondrous manager for whom nothing was too little and nothing too + big. He kept minute account of his children's socks and little + shirts, and found ways of providing money for his war-ships and for + countless building schemes he had in hand both in Denmark and + Norway. For many of them he himself drew the plans. Wherever one + goes to this day, his monogram, which heads this story, stares at + him from the splendid buildings he erected. The Bourse in Copenhagen + and the Round Tower, the beautiful palace of Rosenborg, a sort of + miniature of his beloved Frederiksborg which also he rebuilt on a + more magnificent scale—these are among his works which every + traveller in the North knows. He built more cities and strongholds + than those who went before or came after him for centuries. + Christiania and Christiansand in Norway bear his name. He laid out a + whole quarter of Copenhagen for his sailors, and the quaint little + houses still serve that purpose. Regentsen, a dormitory for poor + students at the university, was built by him. He created seven new + chairs of learning and saw to it that all the professors got better + pay. He ferreted out and dismissed in disgrace all the grafting + officials in Norway, and administered justice with an even hand. At + the same time he burned witches without end, or let it be done for + their souls' sake. That was the way of his time; and when he needed + fireworks for his son's wedding (he made them himself, too), he sent + around to all the old cloisters and cathedral churches for the old + parchments they had. Heaven only knows what treasures that can never + be replaced went up in fire and smoke for that one night's fun. +</p> +<p> + King Christian founded a score of big trading companies to exploit + the East, taking care that their ships should have their bulwarks + pierced for at least six guns, so that they might serve as war-ships + in time of need. He sent one expedition after another to the waters + of Greenland in search of the Northwest Passage. It was on the + fourth of these, in 1619, that Jens Munk with two ships and + sixty-four sailors was caught in the ice of Hudson Bay and compelled + to winter there. One after another the crew died of hunger and + scurvy. When Jens Munk himself crept out from what he had thought + his death-bed, he found only two of them all alive. Together they + burrowed in the snow, digging for roots until spring came when they + managed to make their way down to Bergen in the smallest of the two + vessels. Jens Munk had deserved a better end than he got. He spun + his yarns so persistently at court that he got to be a tiresome + bore, and at last one day the King told him that he had no time to + listen to him. Whereat the veteran took great umbrage and, slapping + his sword, let the King know that he had served him well and was + entitled to better treatment. Christian snatched the weapon in anger + and struck him with the scabbard. The sailor never got over it. "He + withered away and died," says the tradition. It was the old + superstition; but whether that killed him or not, the King lost a + good man in Jens Munk. +</p> +<p> + He was not averse to hearing the truth, though, when boldly put. + When Ole Vind, a popular preacher, offended some of the nobles by + his plain speech and they complained to the King, he bade him to the + court and told him to preach the same sermon over. Master Vind was + game and the truths he told went straight home, for he knew well + where the shoe pinched. But King Christian promptly made him court + preacher. "He is the kind we need here," he said. There was never a + day that the King did not devoutly read his Bible, and he was + determined that everybody should read it the same way. The result + was a kind of Puritanism that filled the churches and compelled the + employment of men to go around with long sticks to rap the people on + the head when they fell asleep. Christian the Fourth was not the + first ruler who has tried to herd men into heaven by battalions. But + his people would have gladly gone in the fire for him. He was their + friend. When on his tramps, as likely as not he would come home + sitting beside some peasant on his load of truck, and would step off + at the palace gate with a "So long, thanks for good company!" He was + everywhere, interested in everything. In his walking-stick he + carried a foot-rule, a level, and other tools, and would stop at the + bench of a workman in the navy-yard and test his work to see how + well he was doing it. "I can lie down and sleep in any hut in the + land," was his contented boast. And he would have been safe + anywhere. +</p> +<p> + Gustav Adolf was a wise and generous foe. While he lived he refused + to listen to proposals for the partition of Denmark after King + Christian's defeat in Germany. He knew well that she was a barrier + against the ambition of the German princes and that, once she was + out of the way, Sweden's turn would come next. But when he had + fallen on the battle-field of Lützen, and his generals, following in + his footsteps, had achieved fame and lands and the freedom of + worship for which he gave his life, the Swedish statesmen lost their + heads and dreamed of the erection of a great northern Protestant + state by the conquest of Denmark and Norway, to balance the power + of the German empire. Without warning or declaration of war a great + army was thrown into the Danish peninsula from the south. Another + advanced from Sweden upon the eastern provinces, and a fleet hired + in Holland for Swedish money came through the North Sea to help them + over to the Danish islands. If the two armies met, Denmark was lost. + In Swedish harbors a still bigger fleet was fitting out for the + Baltic. +</p> +<p> + King Christian was well up in the sixties, worn with the tireless + activities of a long reign; but once more he proved himself greater + than adversity. When the evil tidings reached him, in the midst of + profound peace, the enemy was already within the gates. The country + lay prostrate. The name of Torstenson, the Swedish general, spread + terror wherever it was heard. In the German campaigns he had been + known as the "Swedish Lightning." Beset on every side, never had + Denmark's need been greater. The one man who did not lose his head + was her king. By his personal example he put heart into the people + and shamed the cowardly nobles. He borrowed money wherever he could, + sent his own silver to the mint, crowded the work in the navy-yard + by night and by day, gathered an army, and hurried with it to the + Sounds where the enemy might cross. When the first ships were ready + he sailed around the Skaw to meet the Dutch hirelings. "I am old and + stiff," he said, "and no good any more to fight on land. But I can + manage the ships." +</p> +<p> + And he did. He met the Dutchmen in the North Sea, in under the + Danish coast, and whipped them, almost single-handed, for his own + ship <i>Trefoldigheden</i> was for a long while the only one that wind + and tide would let come up with them. That done, he left one of his + captains to watch lest they come out from among the islands where + their ships of shallower draught had sought refuge, and sailed for + Copenhagen. Everything that could carry sail was ready for him by + that time; also the news that the Swedish fleet of forty-six + fighting ships under Klas Fleming had sailed for the coast of + Holstein to take on board Torstenson's army. +</p> +<p> + King Christian lost no time. He hoisted his flag on <i>Trefoldigheden</i> + and made after them with thirty-nine ships, vowing that he would + win this fight or die. At Kolberger Heide, the water outside the + Fjord of Kiel, he caught up with them and attacked at once. The + battle that then ensued is the one of which the poet sings and with + which the name of Christian IV is forever linked. +</p> +<p> + At the outset the Danish fleet was in great peril. The Swedes fought + gallantly as was their wont, and they were three or four against + one, for most of the King's ships came up slowly, some of them + purposely, so it seems. The King said after the battle of certain of + his captains, "They used me as a screen between them and the enemy." + His own ship and that of his chief admiral's bore the brunt of the + battle for a long time. <i>Trefoldigheden</i> fired 315 shots during the + engagement, and at one time had four hostile, ships clustering about + her. King Christian was on the quarter-deck when a cannon-ball + shivered the bulwark and one of his guns, throwing a shower of + splintered iron and wood over him and those near him, killing and + wounding twelve of the crew. The King himself fell, stunned and + wounded in twenty-three places. His right eye was knocked out, two + of his teeth, and his left ear hung in shreds. +</p> +<p> + The cry was raised that the King was dead and panic spread on board. + The story has it that a sailor was sent aloft to strike the flag but + purposely entangled it in the rigging so that it could not fall; he + could not bear to see the King's ship strike its colors. In the + midst of the tumult the aged monarch rose to his feet, torn and + covered with blood. "I live yet," he cried, "and God has left me + strength to fight on for my country. Let every man do his duty." + Leaning on his sword, he led the fight until darkness fell and the + battle was won. Denmark was saved. The danger of an invasion was + averted. In the palace of Rosenborg the priceless treasure they show + to visitors is the linen cloth, all blood-stained, that bound the + King's face as he fought and won his last and biggest fight that + day. +</p> +<p> + Half blind, his body black and blue and sore from many bruises, King + Christian yet refused to sail for Copenhagen to have his wounds + attended. Three weeks he lay watching the narrow inlet behind which + the beaten enemy was hiding, to destroy his ships when he came out. + Then he gave over the command to another and hastened to the + province of Skaane on the Swedish mainland, from which he expelled a + hostile army. But when his back was turned, the men he had set to + watch fell asleep and let the Swedish admiral steal out into the + open. There he found and joined the Dutch ships that had slipped + around the Skaw during the rumpus. Together they overwhelmed the + Danish fleet, being now three to one, and crushed it. The slothful + admiral paid for it with his life, but the harm was done. It was the + last and heaviest blow. The old King sheathed his sword and set his + name to a peace that took from Denmark some of her ancient + provinces, with the bitter sigh: "God knows I had no share in this," + and he had not. Even at the last he appealed to the country to try + the fortunes of war with him once more. The people were willing, but + the nobles wanted peace, "however God send it," and he had to yield. + The treaty was made at Brömsebro, where a bridge crossed the river + dividing the two kingdoms. In the middle of the river was an island + and the negotiations were carried on in a tent erected there, the + French and the Dutch being the arbitrators. The envoys of Sweden + and Denmark sat on opposite sides of the boundary post where the + line cut through, each on the soil of his own country. So bitterly + did they hate one another that they did not speak but wrote their + messages, though they could have shaken hands where they sat. Even + that was too close quarters, and they ended up by negotiating at + second hand through the foreign ambassadors, all at the same table, + but each looking straight past the other as if he were not there. +</p> +<p> + Another touch of comedy relieves the gloom of that heavy day. It was + the conquest of the Särnadal, a mountain valley in Norway just over + the Swedish frontier, by Pastor Buschovius who, Bible in hand, at + the head of two hundred ski-men invaded and captured it one winter's + day without a blow. He came over the snow-fields into the valley + that had not seen a preacher in many a long day, had the church + bells rung to summon the people, preached to them, married and + christened them, and gave them communion. The simple mountaineers + had hardly heard of the war and had nothing against their neighbors + over the mountain. They joined Sweden then and there at the request + of the preacher, and they stayed Swedes too, for in the final muster + they were forgotten with their valley. Very likely the treaty-makers + did not know that it existed. +</p> +<p> + King Christian died four years later, in 1648, past the three score + and ten allotted to man. He was not a great leader like Gustav + Adolf, and he was very human in some of his failings. But he was a + strong man, a just king, and a father of his people who still cling + to his memory with more than filial affection. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + GUSTAV ADOLF, THE SNOW-KING +</h2> +<br> + +<p> + The city of Prague, the capital of Bohemia, went wild with + excitement one spring morning in the year 1618. The Protestant + Estates of Germany had met there to protest against the aggressions + of the Catholic League and the bad faith of the Emperor, who had + guaranteed freedom of worship in the land and had now sent two + envoys to defy the meeting and declare it illegal. In the old castle + they delivered their message and bade the convention disperse; and + the delegates, when they had heard, seized them and their clerk and + threw them out of the window "in good old Bohemian fashion." They + fell seventy feet and escaped almost without a scratch, which fact + was accepted by the Catholics of that strenuous day as proof of + their miraculous preservation; by the Protestants as evidence that + the devil ever takes care of his own. +</p> +<p> + It was the tiny spark that set Europe on fire. Out of it grew the + Thirty Years' War, the most terrible that ever scourged the + civilized world. When Catholic League and Evangelical Union first + mustered their armies, Bohemia had a prosperous population of four + million souls; when the war was over there were less than eight + hundred thousand alive in that unhappy land, and the wolves that + roamed its forests were scarcely more ferocious than the human + starvelings who skulked among the smoking ruins of burned towns and + hamlets. Other states fared little better. Two centuries did not + wipe out the blight of those awful years when rapine and murder, + inspired by bigotry and hate, ran riot in the name of religion. +</p> +<p> + In the gloom and horror of it all a noble figure stands forth alone. + It were almost worth the sufferings of a Thirty Years' War for the + world to have gained a Gustav Adolf. The "snow-king" the Emperor's + generals named him when he first appeared on German soil at the head + of his army of Northmen, and they prophesied that he would speedily + melt, once the southern sun shone upon his host. They little knew + the man. He went from victory to victory, less because he was the + greatest general of his day than because he, and all his army with + him, believed himself charged by the Almighty with the defence of + his country and of his faith. The Emperor had attacked both, the + first by attempting to extend his dominion to the Baltic; but + Pommerania and the Baltic provinces were regarded by the Swedish + ruler as the outworks of his kingdom; and Sweden was Protestant. + Hence he drew the sword. "Our brethren in the faith are sighing for + deliverance from spiritual and bodily thraldom," he said to his + people. "Please God, they shall not sigh long." That was his + warrant. Axel Oxenstjerna, his friend and right hand who lived to + finish his work, said of him, "He felt himself impelled by a mighty + spirit which he was unable to resist." As warrior, king, and man, he + was head and shoulders above his time. Gustav Adolf saved religious + liberty to the world. He paid the price with his life, but he would + have asked no better fate. A soldier of God, he met a soldier's + death on the field of battle, in the hour of victory. +</p> +<p> + A man of destiny he was to his people as to himself. Long years + before his birth, upon the appearance of the comet of 1577, Tycho + Brahe, the astronomer, who was deep in the occultism of his day, had + predicted that a prince would appear in Finland who would do great + things in Germany and deliver the Protestant peoples from the + oppression of the popes, and the prophecy was applied to Gustav + Adolf by his subjects all through his life. He was born on December + 9, 1594, old style, as they still reckon time in Russia. Very early + he showed the kind of stuff he was made of. When he was yet almost a + baby he was told that there were snakes in the park, and showed + fight at once: "Give me a stick and I will kill them." With the + years he grew into a handsome youth who read his books, knew his + Seneca by heart, was fond of the poets and the great orators, and + mastered eight languages, living and dead. At seventeen he buckled + on the sword and put the books away, but kept Xenophon as his + friend; for he was a military historian after his own heart. He was + then Duke of Finland. +</p> +<p> + The King, his father, was a stern but observant man who, seeing his + bent, threw him with soldiers to his heart's content, glad to have + it so, for it was a warlike age. From his tenth year he let him sit + in council with him and early delegated to him the duty of answering + ambassadors from foreign countries. The lad was the only one who + dared oppose the king when he was in a temper, and often he made + peace and healed wounds struck in anger. The people worshipped the + fair young prince, and his father, when he felt the palsy of old age + and bodily infirmities creeping upon him and thought of his + unfinished tasks, would murmur as his eyes rested upon the bonny + youth: "<i>Ille faciet</i>—He will do it." There is still in existence a + document in which he laid down to him his course as a sovereign. + "First of all," he writes, "you shall fear God and honor your father + and mother. Give your brothers and sisters brotherly affection; love + your father's faithful servants and requite them after their due. Be + gracious to your subjects; punish evil and love the good. Believe in + men, but find out first what is in them. Hold by the law without + respect of person." +</p> +<p> + It was good advice to a prince, and the king took it to heart. On + the docket of the Supreme Court at Stockholm is a letter written by + Gustav Adolf to the judges and ordered by him to be entered there, + which tells them plainly that if any of them is found perverting + justice to suit him, the King, or any one else, he will have him + flayed alive and his hide nailed to the judgment-seat, his ears + to the pillory! Not a nice way of talking to dignified judges, + perhaps, but then the prescription was intended to suit the + practice, if there was need. +</p> +<p> + The young king earned his spurs in a war with Denmark that came near + being his last as it was his first campaign. He and his horsemen + were surprised by the Danes on a winter's night as they were warming + themselves by a fire built of the pews in the Wittsjö church, and + they cut their way through only after a desperate fight on the + frozen lake. The ice broke under the king's horse and he was going + down when two of his men caught him in the nick of time. He got away + with the loss of his sword, his pistols, and his gloves. "I will + remember you with a crust that shall do for your bairns too," he + promised one of his rescuers, a stout peasant lad, and he kept his + word. Thomas Larsson's descendants a generation ago still tilled the + farm the King gave him. When the trouble with Denmark was over for + the time being, he settled old scores with Russia and Poland in a + way that left Sweden mistress of the Baltic. In the Polish war he + was wounded twice and was repeatedly in peril of his life. Once he + was shot in the neck, and, as the bullet could not be removed, it + ever after troubled him to wear armor. His officers pleaded with him + to spare himself, but his reply was that Cæsar and Alexander did not + skulk behind the lines; a general must lead if he expected his men + to follow. +</p> +<p> + In this campaign he met the League's troops, sent to chase him back + to his own so that Wallenstein, the leader of the imperial armies, + might be "General of the Baltic Sea," unmolested. "Go to Poland," he + commanded one of his lieutenants, "and drive the snow-king out; or + else tell him that I shall come and do it myself." The proud soldier + never knew how near he came to entertaining the snow-king as his + unwilling guest then. In a fight between his rear-guard and the + imperial army Gustav Adolf was disarmed and taken prisoner by two + troopers. There was another prisoner who had kept his pistol. He + handed it to the King behind his back and with it he shot one of his + captors and brained the other. For all that they nearly got him. He + saved himself only by wriggling out of his belt and leaving it in + the hands of the enemy. Eight years he campaigned in Poland and + Prussia, learning the arts of war. Then he was ready for his + life-work. He made a truce with Poland that freed his hands for a + season, and went home to Sweden. +</p> +<p> + That spring (1629) he laid before the Swedish Estates his plan of + freeing the Protestants. To defend Sweden, he declared, was to + defend her faith, and the Estates voted supplies for the war. To + gauge fully the splendid courage of the nation it must be remembered + that the whole kingdom, including Finland, had a population of only + a million and a half at the time and was preparing to attack the + mighty Roman empire. In the first year of the war the Swedish budget + was thirteen millions of dollars, of which nine and a half went for + armaments. The whole army which Gustav Adolf led into Germany + numbered only 14,000 soldiers, but it was made up of Swedish + veterans led by men whose names were to become famous for all time, + and welded together by an unshakable belief in their commander, a + rigid discipline and a religious enthusiasm that swayed master and + men with a common impulse. Such a combination has in all days proven + irresistible. +</p> +<p> + The King's farewell to his people—he was never to see Sweden + again—moved a nation to tears. He spoke to the nobles, the clergy + and to the people, admonishing them to stand together in the hard + years that were coming and gave them all into the keeping of God. + They stood on the beach and watched his ships sail into the sunset + until they were swallowed up in glory. Then they went back home to + take up the burden that was their share. On the Rügen shore the King + knelt with his men and thanked God for having brought them safe + across the sea, then seized a spade, and himself turned the first + sod in the making of a camp. "Who prays well, fights well," he said. +</p> +<p> + He was not exactly hospitably received. The old Duke of Pommerania + would have none of him, begged him to go away, and only when the + King pointed to his guns and hinted that he had keys well able to + open the gates of Stettin, his capital, did he give in and promise + help. The other German princes, with one or two exceptions, were as + cravenly short-sighted. They held meetings and denounced the Emperor + and his lawless doings, but Gustav they would not help. The princes + of Brandenburg and of Saxony, the two Protestant Electors of the + empire, were rather disposed to hinder him, if they might, though + Brandenburg was his brother-in-law. Only when the King threatened to + burn the city of Berlin over his head did he listen. While he was + yet laboring with them, recruiting his army and keeping it in + practice by driving the enemy out of Pommerania, news reached him of + the fall of Magdeburg, the strongest city in northern Germany, that + had of its own free will joined his cause. +</p> +<p> + The sacking of Magdeburg is one of the black deeds of history. In a + night the populous city was reduced to a heap of smoking ruins under + which twenty thousand men, women, and children lay buried. Not since + the fall of Jerusalem, said Pappenheim, Tilly's famous cavalry + leader to whom looting and burning were things of every day, had so + awful a visitation befallen a town. Only the great cathedral and a + few houses near it were left standing. The history of warfare of the + Christian peoples of that day reads like a horrid nightmare. The + fighting armies left a trail of black desolation where they passed. + "They are not made up of birds that feed on air," sneered Tilly. + Peaceful husbandmen were murdered, the young women dragged away to + worse than slavery, and helpless children spitted upon the lances + of the wild landsknechts and tossed with a laugh into the blazing + ruins of their homes. But no such foul blot cleaves to the memory of + Gustav Adolf. While he lived his men were soldiers, not demons. In + his tent the work of Hugo Grotius on the rights of the nations in + war and peace lay beside the Bible and he knew them both by heart. + When he was gone, the fame of some of his greatest generals was + smirched by as vile orgies as Tilly's worst days had witnessed. It + is told of John Banér, one of the most brilliant of them, that he + demanded ransom of the city of Prix, past which his way led. The + city fathers permitted themselves an untimely jest: "Prix giebt + nichts—Prix gives nothing," they said. Banér was as brief: "Prix + wird zu nichts—Prix comes to nothing," and his army wiped it out. +</p> +<p> + Grief and anger almost choked the King when he heard of Magdeburg's + fate. "I will avenge that on the Old Corporal (Tilly's nickname)," + he cried, "if it costs my life." Without further ado he forced the + two Electors to terms and joined the Saxon army to his own. On + September 7, 1631, fifteen months after he had landed in Germany, he + met Tilly face to face at Breitenfeld, a village just north of + Leipzig. The Emperor's host in its brave show of silver and plumes + and gold, the plunder of many campaigns under its invincible leader, + looked with contempt upon the travel-worn Swedes in their poor, + soiled garb. The stolid Finns sat their mean but wiry little horses + very unlike Pappenheim's dreaded Walloons, descendants of the + warlike Belgæ of Gaul who defied the Germans of old in the forest of + the Ardennes and joined Cæsar in his victorious march. But Tilly + himself was not deceived. He knew how far this enemy had come and + with what hardships cheerfully borne; how they had routed the + Russians, written laws for the Poles in their own land, and + overthrown armies and forts that barred their way. He would wait for + reinforcements; but his generals egged him on, said age had made him + timid and slow, and carried the day. +</p> +<p> + The King slept in an empty cart the night before the battle and + dreamed that he wrestled with Tilly and threw him, but that he tore + his breast with his teeth. When all was ready in the morning he rode + along the front and told his fusiliers not to shoot till they saw + the white in the enemy's eyes, the horsemen not to dull their + swords by hacking the helmets of the Walloons: "Cut at their horses + and they will go down with them." In the pause before the onset he + prayed with head uncovered and lowered sword, and his voice carried + to the farthest lines: +</p> +<p> + "Thou, God, in whose hands are victory and defeat, look graciously + upon thy servants. From distant lands and peaceful homes have we + come to battle for freedom, truth and thy gospel. Give us victory + for thy holy name's sake, Amen!" +</p> +<p> + Tilly had expected the King to attack, but the fiery Pappenheim + upset his plans. The smoke of the guns drifted in the faces of the + Swedes and the King swung his army to the south to get the wind + right. In making the turn they had to cross a brook and this moment + Pappenheim chose for his charge. Like a thunderbolt his Walloons + fell upon them. The Swedish fire mowed them down like ripened grain + and checked their impetuous rush. They tried to turn the King's + right and so outflank him; but the army turned with them and stood + like a rock. The extreme mobility of his forces was Gustav Adolf's + great advantage in his campaigns. He revised the book of military + tactics up to date. The imperial troops were massed in solid + columns, after the old Spanish fashion, the impact of which was hard + to resist when they struck. The King's, on the contrary, moved in + smaller bodies, quickly thrown upon the point of danger, and his + artillery was so distributed among them as to make every shot tell + on the compact body of the enemy. Whichever way Pappenheim turned he + found a firm front, bristling with guns, opposing him. Seven times + he threw himself upon the living wall; each time his horsemen were + flung back, their lines thinned and broken. The field was strewn + with their dead. Tilly, anxiously watching, threw up his hands in + despair. "This man will lose me honor and fame, and the Emperor his + lands," he cried. The charge ended in wild flight, and Tilly saw + that he must himself attack, to turn the tide. +</p> +<p> + On the double-quick his columns of spearmen charged down the + heights, swept the Saxons from the field, and fell upon the Swedish + left. The shock was tremendous. General Gustav Horn gave back to let + his second line come up, and held the ground stubbornly against + fearful odds. Word was brought the King of his danger. With the + right wing that had crushed Pappenheim he hurried to the rescue. In + the heat of the fight the armies had changed position, and the + Swedes found themselves climbing the hill upon which Tilly's + artillery was posted. Seeing this, the King made one of the rapid + movements that more than once won him the day. Raising the cry, + "Remember Magdeburg!" he carried the position with his Finns by a + sudden overwhelming assault, and turned the guns upon the dense + masses of the enemy fighting below. +</p> +<p> + In vain they stormed the heights. Both wings and the centre closed + in upon them, and the day was lost. Tilly fled, wounded, and + narrowly escaped capture. A captain in the Swedish army, who was + called Long Fritz because of his great height, was at his heels + hammering him on the head with the butt of his pistol. A staff + officer shot him down in passing, and freed his chief. Twilight fell + upon a battle-field where seven thousand men lay dead, two-thirds of + them the flower of the Emperor's army. Blood-stained and + smoke-begrimed, Gustav Adolf and his men knelt on the field and + thanked God for the victory. +</p> +<p> + Had the King's friend and adviser, Axel Oxenstjerna, been with him + he might have marched upon Vienna then, leaving the Protestant + Estates to settle their own affairs, and very likely have ended the + war. Gustav Adolf thought of Tilly who would return with another + army. Oxenstjerna saw farther, weighing things upon the scales of + the diplomatist. +</p> +<p> + "How think you we would fare," asked the King once, when the + chancellor saw obstacles in their way which he would brush aside, + "if my fire did not thaw the chill in you?" +</p> +<p> + "But for my chill cooling your Majesty's fire," was his friend's + retort, "you would have long since been burned up." The King laughed + and owned that he was right. +</p> +<p> + Instead of bearding the Emperor in his capital he turned toward the + Rhine where millions of Protestants were praying for his coming and + where his army might find rest and abundance. The cathedral city of + Würzburg he took by storm. The bishop who ruled it fled at his + approach, but the full treasury of the Jesuits fell into his hands. + The Madonna of beaten gold and the twelve solid silver apostles, + famous throughout Europe, were sent to the mint and coined into + money to pay his army. In the cellar they found chests filled with + ducats. The bottom fell out of one as they carried it up and the + gold rolled out on the pavement. The soldiers swarmed to pick it up, + but a good many coins stuck to their pockets. The King saw it and + laughed: "Since you have them, boys, keep them." The dead were still + lying in the castle yard after the siege, a number of monks among + them. The color of some of them seemed high for corpses. "Arise from + the dead," he said waggishly, "no one will hurt you," and the + frightened monks got upon their feet and scampered away. +</p> +<p> + Frankfort opened its gates to his victorious host and Nürnberg + received him as a heaven-sent liberator. But Tilly was in the field + with a fresh army, burning to avenge Breitenfeld. He had surprised + General Horn at Bamberg and beaten him. At the approach of the King + he camped where the river Lech joins the Danube, awaiting attack. + There was but one place to cross to get at him, and right there he + stood. The king seized Donauworth and Ulm, and under cover of the + fire of seventy guns threw a bridge across the Lech. Three hundred + Finns carrying picks and spades ran across the shaky planks upon + which the fire of Tilly's whole artillery park was concentrated. + Once across, they burrowed in the ground like moles and, with + bullets raining upon them, threw up earthworks for shelter. Squad + after squad of volunteers followed. Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar + swam his horsemen across the river farther up-stream and took the + Bavarian troops in the flank, beating them back far enough to let + him join the Finns at the landing. The King himself was directing + the artillery on the other shore, aiming the guns with his own hand. + The Walloons, Tilly's last hope, charged, but broke under the + withering fire. In desperation the old field-marshal seized the + standard and himself led the forlorn hope. Half-way to the bridge he + fell, one leg shattered by a cannon-ball, and panic seized his men. + The imperialists fled in the night, carrying their wounded leader. + He died on the march soon after. Men said of him that he had served + his master well. +</p> +<p> + The snow-king had not melted in the south. He was master of the + Roman empire from the Baltic to the Alps. The way to Austria and + Italy lay open before him. Protestant princes crowded to do him + homage, offering him the imperial crown. But Gustav Adolf did not + lose his head. Toward the humbled Catholics he showed only + forbearance and toleration. In Munich he visited the college of the + Jesuits, and spoke long with the rector in the Latin tongue, + assuring him of their safety as long as they kept from politics and + plotting. The armory in that city was known to be the best stocked + in all Europe and the King's surprise was great when he found + gun-carriages in plenty, but not a single cannon. Looking about him, + he saw evidence that the floor had been hastily relaid and + remembered the "dead" monks at Würzburg. He had it taken up and a + dark vault appeared. The King looked into it. +</p> +<p> + "Arise!" he called out, "and come to judgment," and amid shouts of + laughter willing hands brought out a hundred and forty good guns, + welcome reënforcements. +</p> +<p> + The ignorant Bavarian peasants had been told that the King was the + very anti-Christ, come to harass the world for its sins, and carried + on a cruel guerilla warfare upon his army. They waylaid the Swedes + by night on their foraging trips and maimed and murdered those they + caught with fiendish tortures. The bitterest anger filled Gustav + Adolf's soul when upon his entry into Landshut the burgomaster knelt + at his stirrup asking mercy for his city. +</p> +<p> + "Pray not to me," he said harshly, "but to God for yourself and for + your people, for in truth you have need." +</p> +<p> + For once thoughts of vengeance seemed to fill his soul. "No, no!" he + thundered when the frightened burgomaster pleaded that his townsmen + should not be held accountable for the cruelty of the country-folk, + "you are beasts, not men, and deserve to be wiped from the earth + with fire and sword." From out the multitude there came a warning + voice: "Will the King now abandon the path of mercy for the way of + vengeance and visit his wrath upon these innocent people?" No one + saw the speaker. The day was oppressively hot and the King came near + fainting in the saddle. As he rode out of the city toward the camp, + a bolt of lightning struck the ground beside him and a mighty crash + of thunder rolled overhead. Pale and thoughtful, he rode on. But + Landshut was spared. That evening General Horn brought the anxious + citizens the King's promise of pardon. +</p> +<p> + A few weeks later tidings reached Gustav Adolf that Wallenstein and + the Elector of Bavaria were marching to effect a junction at + Nürnberg. If they took the city, his line of communication was cut + and his army threatened. Wallenstein, who was a traitor, had been in + disgrace; but he was a great general and in his dire need Emperor + Ferdinand had no one else to turn to. So he took him back on his own + terms, and in the spring he had an army of forty thousand veterans + in the field. This was the host he was leading against Nürnberg. But + the King got there first and intrenched himself so strongly that + there was no ousting him. Wallenstein followed suit and for eleven + weeks the enemies eyed one another from their "lagers," neither + willing to risk an attack. In the end Gustav Adolf tried, but even + his Finns could not take the impregnable heights the enemy held. At + last he went away with colors flying and bands playing, right under + the enemy's walls, in the hope of tempting him out. But he never + stirred. +</p> +<p> + When Wallenstein was sure he had gone, he burned his camp and + turned toward Saxony to punish the Elector for joining the Swedes. A + wail of anguish went up from that unhappy land and the King heard it + clear across the country. By forced marches he hurried to the rescue + of his ally, picking up Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar on the way. At + Naumburg the people crowded about him and sought to kiss or even to + touch his garments. The King looked sadly at them. "They put their + trust in me, poor weak mortal, as if I were the Almighty. It may be + that He will punish their folly soon upon the object of their + senseless idolatry." He had come to stay, but when he learned that + Wallenstein had sent Pappenheim away to the west, thus weakening his + army, and was going into winter quarters at Lützen, near Leipzig, a + half-day's march from the memorable Breitenfeld, he broke camp at + once and hastened to attack him. Starting early, his army reached + Lützen at nightfall on November 15, 1632. +</p> +<p> + Wallenstein believed the campaign was over for that year and the + Swedes in winter quarters, and was taken completely by surprise. Had + the King given battle that night, he would have wiped the enemy + out. Two things, in themselves of little account, delayed him: a + small brook that crossed his path, and the freshly plowed fields. + His men were tired after the long march and he decided to let them + rest. It was Wallenstein's chance. Overnight he posted his army + north of the highway that leads from Lützen to Leipzig, dug deep the + ditches that enclosed it, and made breastworks of the dirt. Sunrise + found sheltered behind them twenty-seven thousand seasoned veterans + to whom Gustav Adolf could oppose but twenty thousand; but he had + more guns and they were better served. +</p> +<p> + As the day broke the Swedish army, drawn up in battle array, intoned + Luther's hymn, "A mighty fortress is our God," and cheered the King. + He wore a leathern doublet and a gray mantle. To the pleadings of + his officers that he put on armor he replied only, "God is my + armor." "To-day," he cried as he rode along the lines, "will end all + our hardships." He himself took command of the right wing, the + gallant Duke Bernhard of the left. As at Breitenfeld, the rallying + cry was, "God with us!" +</p> +<p> + The King hoped to crush his enemy utterly, and the whole line + attacked at once with great fury. From the start victory leaned + toward the Swedish army. Then suddenly in the wild tumult of battle + a heavy fog settled upon the field. What followed was all confusion. + No one knows the rights of it to this day. The King led his famous + yellow and blue regiments against the enemy's left. "The black + fellows there," he shouted, pointing to the Emperor's cuirassiers in + their black armor, "attack them!" Just then an adjutant reported + that his infantry was hard pressed. "Follow me," he commanded, and, + clapping spurs to his horse, set off at full speed for the + threatened quarter. In the fog he lost his way and ran into the + cuirassiers. His two attendants were shot down and a bullet crushed + the King's right arm. He tried to hide the fact that he was wounded, + but pain and loss of blood made him faint and he asked the Duke of + Lauenburg who rode with him to help him out of the crush. At that + moment a fresh troop of horsemen bore down upon them and their + leader, Moritz von Falkenberg, shot the King through the body with + the exultant cry, "You I have long sought!" The words had hardly + left his lips when he fell with a bullet through his head. +</p> +<p> + The King swayed in the saddle and lost the reins. "Save yourself," + he whispered to the Duke, "I am done for." The Duke put his arm + around him to support him, but the cuirassiers surged against them + and tore them apart. The King's horse was shot in the neck and threw + its rider. Awhile he hung by the stirrup and was dragged over the + trampled field. Then the horse shook itself free and ran through the + lines, spreading the tidings of the King's fall afar. +</p> +<p> + A German page, Leubelfing, a lad of eighteen, was alone with the + King. He sprang from his horse and tried to help him into the saddle + but had not the strength to do it. Gustav Adolf was stout and very + heavy. While he was trying to lift him some Croats rode up and + demanded the name of the wounded man. The page held his tongue, and + they ran him through. Gustav Adolf, to save him, said that he was + the King.<a name="12"></a><a href="#note-12"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> At that they shot him through the head, and showered + blows upon him. When the body was found in the night it was naked. + They had robbed and stripped him. +</p> +<p> + The King was dead. Through the Swedish ranks Duke Bernhard shouted + the tidings. "Who now cares to live? Forward, to avenge his death!" + With the blind fury of the Berserkers of old the Swedes cleared the + ditches, stormed the breastworks, and drove the foe in a panic + before them. The Duke's arm was broken by a bullet. He hardly knew + it. With his regiment he rode down the crew of one of the enemy's + batteries and swept on. In the midst of it all a cry resounded over + the plain that made the runaways halt and turn back. +</p> +<p> + "Pappenheim! Pappenheim is here!" +</p> +<p> + He had come with his Walloons in answer to the general's summons. + "Where is the King?" he asked, and they pointed to the Finnish + brigade. With a mighty crash the two hosts that had met so often + before came together. Wallenstein mustered his scattered forces and + the King's army was attacked from three sides at once. The yellow + brigade fell where it stood almost to the last man. The blue fared + little better. Slowly the Swedish infantry gave back. The battle + seemed lost. +</p> +<p> + But the tide turned once more. In the hottest fight Pappenheim + fell, pierced by three bullets. The "man of a hundred scars" died, + exulting that the King whom he hated had gone before. With his death + the Emperor's men lost heart. The Swedes charged again and again + with unabated fury. Night closed in with Wallenstein's centre still + unbroken; but he had lost all his guns. Under cover of the darkness + he made his escape. The King's army camped upon the battle-field. + The carnage had been fearful; nine thousand were slain. It was + Wallenstein's last fight. With the remnants of his army he retreated + to Bohemia, sick and sore, and spent his last days there plotting + against his master. He died by an assassin's hand. +</p> +<p> + The cathedrals of Vienna, Brussels, and Madrid rang with joyful Te + Deums at the news of the King's death. The Spanish capital + celebrated the "triumph" with twelve days of bull-fighting. Emperor + Ferdinand was better than his day; he wept at the sight of the + King's blood-stained jacket. The Protestant world trembled; its hope + and strength were gone. But the Swedish people, wiping away their + tears, resolved stoutly to carry on Gustav Adolf's work. The men he + had trained led his armies to victory on yet many a stricken field. + Peace came at length to Europe; the last religious war had been + fought and won. Freedom of worship, liberty of conscience, were + bought at the cost of the kingliest head that ever wore a crown. The + great ruler's life-work was done. +</p> +<p> + Gustav Adolf was in his thirty-eighth year when he fell. Of stature + he was tall and stout, a fair-haired, blue-eyed giant, stern in war, + gentle in the friendships of peace. He was a born ruler of men. + Though he was away fighting in foreign lands all the years of his + reign, he kept a firm grasp on the home affairs of his kingdom. One + traces his hand everywhere, ordering, shaping, finding ways, or + making them where there was none. The valuable mines of Sweden were + ill managed. The metal was exported in coarse pigs to Germany for + very little, worked up there, and resold to Sweden at the highest + price. He created a Board of Mines, established smelteries, and the + day came when, instead of going abroad for its munitions of war, + Sweden had for its customers half Europe. Like Christian of Denmark + with whom he disagreed, he encouraged industries and greatly + furthered trade and commerce. He built highways and canals, and he + did not forget the cause of instruction. Upon the university at + Upsala he bestowed his entire personal patrimony of three hundred + and thirteen farms as a free gift. His people honor him with cause + as the real founder of the Swedish system of education. +</p> +<p> + The master he was always. Sweden had, on one hand, a powerful, able + nobility; on the other, a strong, independent peasantry,—a combination + full of pitfalls for a weak ruler, but with equal promise of great + things under the master hand. His father had cowed the stubborn + nobles with the headsman's axe. Gustav Adolf drew them to him and + imbued them with his own spirit. He found them a contentious party + within the state; he left them its strongest props in the conduct of + public affairs. Nor was it always with persuasion he worked. His + reward for the unjust judge has been quoted. When the council failed + to send him supplies in Germany, pleading failure of crops as their + excuse, he wrote back: "You speak of the high prices of corn. + Probably they are high because those who have it want to profit by + the need of others." And he set a new chief over the finances. On + the other hand, he gave shape to the relations between king and + people. The Riksdag held its sessions, but the laws that ruled it + were so vague that it was no unusual thing for men who were not + members at all to attend and join in the debates. Gustav Adolf put + an abrupt end to "a state of things that exposed Sweden to the + contempt of the nations." As he ordered it, the initiative remained + with the crown; it was the right of the Riksdag to complain and + discuss; of the King to "choose the best" after hearing all sides. +</p> +<p> + As a young prince, Gustav Adolf fell deeply in love with Ebba Brahe, + the beautiful daughter of one of Sweden's most powerful noblemen. + The two had been play-mates and became lovers. But the old queen + frowned upon the match. He was the coming king, she was a subject, + and the queen managed, with the help of Oxenstjerna, who was + Gustav's best friend all through his life, to make him give up his + love. "Then I will never marry," he cried in a burst of tempestuous + grief. But when the queen had got Ebba Brahe safely married to one + of his father's famous generals, he wedded the lovely sister of the + Elector of Brandenburg. She adored her royal husband, but never took + kindly to Sweden, and the people did not like her. They clung to the + great king's early love, and to this day they linger before the + picture of the beautiful Ebba in the Stockholm castle when they come + from his grave in the Riddarholm church, while they pass the queen's + by with hardly a glance. It is recorded that Ebba made her husband a + good and dutiful wife. If her thoughts strayed at times to the old + days and what might have been, it is not strange. In one of those + moods she wrote on a window-pane in the castle: +</p> +<p class="block"> + I am happy in my lot,<br> + And thanks I give to God. +</p> +<p> + The queen-mother saw it and wrote under it her own version: +</p> +<p class="block"> + You wouldn't, but you must.<br> + 'Tis the lot of the dust. +</p> +<br> +<a name="note-12"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#12"> +<sup>1</sup></a> This is the story as the page told it. He lived two + days. +</p> + +<a name="2H_4_0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + KING AND SAILOR, HEROES OF COPENHAGEN +</h2> +<br> + +<p> + Of all the foolish wars that were ever waged, it would seem that the + one declared by Denmark against Sweden in 1657 had the least excuse. + A century before, the two countries had fought through eight bitter + years over the momentous question whether Denmark should carry in + her shield the three lions that stood for the three Scandinavian + kingdoms, the Swedish one having set up for itself in the + dissolution of the union between them, and at the end of the fight + they were where they had started: each of them kept the whole brood. + But this war was without even that excuse. Denmark was helplessly + impoverished. Her trade was ruined; the nobles were sucking the + marrow of the country. Of the freehold farms that had been its + strength scarce five thousand were left in the land. It could hardly + pay its way in days of peace. Its strongholds lay in ruins; it had + neither arms, ammunition, nor officers. On its roster of thirty + thousand men for the national defence were carried the dead and the + yet unborn, while the Swedish army of tried veterans had gone from + victory to victory under a warlike king. To cap the climax, + Copenhagen had been harassed by pestilence that had killed one-fifth + of its fifty thousand people. +</p> +<p> + So ill matched were they when a stubborn king forced a war that + could end only in disaster. When one of his councillors advised + against the folly, he caned him and sent him into exile. Yet out of + the fiery trial this king came a hero; his queen, whose pride and + wasteful vanity<a name="13"></a><a href="#note-13"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> had done its full share in bringing the country + to the verge of ruin, became the idol of the nation. In the hour of + its peril she grew to the stature of a great woman who shared danger + and hardship with her people and by her example put hope and courage + into their hearts. +</p> +<p> + Karl Gustav, the Swedish king, was campaigning in Poland, but as + soon as he could turn around he marched his army against Denmark, + scattered the forces that opposed him, and before news of his + advance had reached Copenhagen knocked at the gate of Denmark + demanding "speech of brother Frederik in good Swedish." A winter of + great severity had bridged the Baltic and the sounds of the island + kingdom. In two weeks he led his army, horse, foot, and guns, over + the frozen seas where hardly a wagon had dared cross before. Great + rifts yawned in their way, and whole companies were swallowed up; + his own sleigh sank in the deep, but nothing stopped him. Danish + emissaries came pleading for peace. He met them on the way to the + capital, surrounded by his Finnish horsemen, and gave scant ear to + their speeches while he drove on. Before the city he halted and + dictated a peace so humiliating that one of the Danish commissioners + exclaimed when he came to sign, "I wish I could not write." Perhaps + the same wish troubled the conqueror's ambitious dreams. The peace + was broken as swiftly as made. In five months he was back before + Frederik's capital with his whole army, while a Swedish fleet + anchored in the roadstead outside. "What difference does it make to + you," was the contemptuous taunt flung at the anxious envoys who + sought his camp, "whether the name of your king is Karl or Frederik + so long as you are safe?" He had come to make an end of Denmark. +</p> +<p> + Copenhagen was almost without defences. The old earth walls mounted + only six guns, with breastworks scarce knee-high. In places King + Karl could have driven his sleigh into the heart of the city at the + head of his army. But for the second time he hesitated when a swift + blow would have won all—and lost. Overnight the Danish nation awoke + to a fight for its life. King and people, till then strangers, in + that hour became one. Frederik the Third met the craven counsel that + he fly to Norway with the proud answer, "I will die in my nest, if + need be, and my wife with me." With a shout the burghers swore to + fight to the last man. The walls of the city rose as if by magic. + Nobles and mechanics, clergy and laborers, students, professors and + sailors worked side by side; high-born women wheeled barrows. Every + tree was cut down and made into palisades. The crops ripening in + the fields were gathered in haste and the cattle driven in. The city + had been provisioned for barely a week and garrisoned by four + hundred raw recruits. Sailors from the useless ships took out their + guns and mounted them in the redoubts. Peasants flocked in and were + armed with battle-axes, clubs, and boat-hooks when the supply of + muskets gave out. When Karl Gustav drew his lines tight he faced six + thousand determined men behind strong walls. The city stood in a + ring of blazing fires. Its defenders were burning down the houses + and woods beyond the moats to clear the way for their gunners. The + King watched the sight from his horse in silence. He knew what it + meant; he had fought in the Thirty Years' War: "Now, I vow, we shall + have fighting," was all he said. +</p> +<p> + It was not long in coming. On the second night the garrison made a + sortie and drove back the invaders, destroying their works with + great slaughter. Night after night, and sometimes in the broad day, + they returned to the charge, overwhelming the Swedes where least + expected, capturing their guns, their supplies, and their outposts. + Short of arms and ammunition, they took them in the enemy's lines. + In one of these raids Karl Gustav himself was all but made prisoner. + A horseman had him by the shoulder, but he wrenched himself loose + and spurred his horse into the sea where a boat from one of the + ships rescued him. The defence took on something of the fervor of + religious frenzy. Twice a day services were held on the walls of the + city; within, the men who could not bear arms, and the women, + barricaded the streets with stones and iron chains for the last + fight, were it to come. In his place on the wall every burgher had a + hundred brickbats or stones piled up for ammunition, and by night + when the enemy rained red-hot shot upon the city, he fought with a + club or spear in one hand, a torch in the other. +</p> +<p> + Eleven weeks the battle raged by night and by day. Then a Dutch + fleet forced its way through the blockade after a fight in which it + lost six ships and two admirals. It brought food, ammunition, and + troops. The joy in the city was great. All day the church bells were + rung, and the people hailed the Dutch as the saviours of the nation. + But when they, too, would thank God for the victory and asked for + the use of the University's hall, they were refused. They were + followers of Calvin and their heresies must not be preached in the + place set apart for teaching the doctrines of the "pure faith," said + the professors, who were Lutheran. It was the way of the day. The + Reformation had learned little from the bigotry of the Inquisition. + The Dutchmen had to be content with the court-house. But the siege + was not over. Another hard winter closed in with the enemy at the + door, burrowing hourly nearer the outworks, and food and fire-wood + grew scarcer day by day in the hard-pressed city. When things were + at the worst pass in February, the Swedes gathered their hosts for a + final assault. In the midnight hour they came on with white shirts + drawn over their uniforms to make it hard to tell them from the + snow. Karl Gustav himself led the storming party and at last was in + the way of "getting speech of brother Frederik," for the Danish King + was as good as his word. He had said that he would die in his nest, + and time and again he had to be sternly reasoned with to prevent him + from exposing himself overmuch. Where the danger was greatest he + was, and beside him ever the queen, all her frivolity gone and + forgotten. She who had danced at the court fêtes and followed the + hounds on the chase as if the world had no other cares, became the + very incarnation of the spirit of the bitter and bloody struggle. + All through that winter the royal couple lived in a tent among their + men, and when the alarm was sounded they were first on foot to lead + them. Now that the hour had come, they were in the forefront of the + fight. +</p> +<p> + Where the famous pleasure garden Tivoli now is, the strength of the + enemy was massed against the redoubts at the western gate. The name + of "Storm Street" tells yet of the doings of that night. King Karl + had promised to give over the captured town to be sacked by his army + three days and nights, and like hungry wolves they swarmed to the + attack, a mob of sailors and workmen with scaling ladders in the + van. The moats they crossed in spite of the gaps that had been made + in the ice to stop them, but the garrison had poured water over the + walls that froze as it ran, until they were like slippery icebergs. + A bird could have found no foothold on them. Showers of rocks and + junk and clubs fell upon the laddermen. Three times Karl Gustav + hurled his columns against them; as often they were driven back, + broken and beaten. A few gained a foothold on the walls only to be + dashed down to death. The burghers fought for their lives and their + homes. Their women carried boiling pitch and poured it over the + breastworks, and when they had no more, dragged great beams and + rolled them down upon the ladders, sweeping them clear of the enemy. + In the hottest fight Gunde Rosenkrantz, one of the king's + councillors, trod on a fallen soldier and, looking into his face, + saw that it was his own son breathing his last. He bent over and + kissed him, and went on fighting. +</p> +<p> + In the early morning hour Karl Gustav gave the order to retreat. The + attack had failed. Many of his general officers were slain; nearly + half of his army was killed, disabled, or captured. Six Swedish + standards were taken by the Danes. The moats were filled with the + dead. The Swedes had "come in their shrouds." The guns of the city + thundered out a triple salute of triumph and the people sang Te + Deums on the walls. Their hardships were not over. Fifteen months + yet the city was invested and the home of daily privation; but their + greatest peril was past. Copenhagen was saved, and with it the + nation; the people had found itself and its king. That autumn a + second Swedish army under the veteran Stenbock was massacred in the + island of Fyen, and Karl Gustav exclaimed when the beaten general + brought him the news, "Since the devil took the sheep he might have + taken the buck too." He never got over it. Three months later he lay + dead, and the siege of Copenhagen was raised in May, 1660. It had + lasted twenty months. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Seven score years and one passed, and the morning of Holy + Thursday<a name="14"></a><a href="#note-14"><small><sup>2</sup></small></a> saw a British fleet sailing slowly up the deep before + Copenhagen, the deck of every ship bristling with guns, their crews + at quarters, Lord Nelson's signal to "close for action" flying from + the top of the flag-ship <i>Elephant</i>. Between the fleet and the shore + lay a line of dismantled hulks on which men with steady eyes and + stout hearts were guarding Denmark's honor. Once more it had been + jeopardized by foolish counsel in high places. Danish statesmen had + trifled and temporized while England, facing all Europe alone in the + fight for her life, made ready to strike a decisive blow against the + Armed Neutrality that threatened her supremacy on the sea. Once more + the city had been caught unprepared, defenceless, and once more its + people rose as one man to meet the danger. But it was too late. + Outside, in the Sound, a fleet as great as that led by Nelson + waited, should he fail, to finish his work. That was to destroy the + Danish ships, if need be to bombard the city and so detach Denmark + from the coalition of England's foes. So she chose to consider such + as were not her declared friends. +</p> +<p> + Denmark had no fighting ships at home to pit against her. Her + sailors were away serving in the merchant marine. She had no + practised gunners, nothing but a huddle of dismantled vessels in her + navy-yard, most of them half-rotten hulks without masts. Those that + had standing rigging were even worse, for none of them had sails and + the falling spars in battle lumbered up the decks and menaced the + crew. But such as they were she made the most of them. Eighteen + hulks were hauled into the channel and moored head and stern. Where + they lay they could not be moved. Only the guns on one side were + therefore of use, while the enemy could turn and manoeuvre. They + were manned by farm lads, mechanics, students, enlisted in haste, + not one of whom had ever smelt powder, and these were matched + against Nelson's grim veterans. Even their commander, J. Olfert + Fischer, had not been under fire before that day, for Denmark had + had peace for eighty years. But his father had served as a + midshipman with Tordenskjold and the son did not flinch, outnumbered + though his force was, two to one, in men and guns. +</p> +<p> + The sun shone fair upon the blue waters as the great fleet of + thirty-odd fighting ships sailed up from the south. From the city's + walls and towers a mighty multitude watched it come, unmindful of + peril from shot and shell; the Danish line was not half a mile away. + In the churches whose bells were still ringing when the first gun + was fired from the block-ship <i>Prövestenen</i>, the old men and women + prayed through the long day, for there were few homes in Copenhagen + that did not have son, brother, or friend fighting out there. A + single gun answered the challenge, now two and three at once, then + broadside crashed upon broadside with deafening roar. When at length + all was quiet a tremendous report shook the city. It was the + flag-ship <i>Dannebrog</i> that blew up. She was on fire with only three + serviceable guns left when she struck her colors, but no ship of her + name might sail with an enemy's prize crew on board, and she did + not. +</p> +<p> + The story of that bloody day has been told many times. Briton and + Dane hoist their flags on April 2 with equal right, for never was + challenge met with more dauntless valor. Lord Nelson owned that of + all the hundred and five battles he had fought this was hottest. On + the <i>Monarch</i>, which for hours was under the most galling fire from + the Danish ships, two hundred and twenty of the crew were killed or + wounded. "There was not a single man standing," wrote a young + officer on board of her, "the whole way from the mainmast forward, a + district containing eight guns a side, some of which were run out + ready for firing, others lay dismounted, and others remained as they + were after recoiling.... I hastened down the fore ladder to the + lower deck and felt really relieved to find somebody alive." The + slaughter on the Danish ships was even greater. More than one-fifth + of their entire strength of a little over five thousand men were + slain or wounded. Of the eighteen hulls they lost thirteen, but only + one were the British able to take home with them. The rest were + literally shot to pieces and were burned where they lay. As one + after another was silenced, those yet alive on board spiked their + last guns, if indeed there were any left worth the trouble, threw + their powder overboard and made, for the shore. Twice the Danish + Admiral abandoned his burning ship, the last time taking up his post + in the island battery Tre Kroner. Each time one of the old hulls was + crushed, a Briton pushed into the hole made in the line and raked + the remaining ones fore and aft until their decks were like huge + shambles. The block-ship <i>Indfödsretten</i> bore the concentrated fire + of five frigates and two smaller vessels throughout most of the + battle. Her chief was killed. When the news reached head-quarters on + shore, Captain von Schrödersee, an old naval officer who had been + retired because of ill health, volunteered to take his place. He was + rowed out, but as he came over the side of the ship a cannon-ball + cut him in two. <i>Prövestenen</i>, as it was the first to fire a shot, + held out also to the last. One-fourth of her crew lay dead, and her + flag had been shot away three times when the decks threatened to + cave in and Captain Lassen spiked his last guns and left the wreck + to be burned. All through the fight she was the target of ninety + guns to which she could oppose only twenty-nine of her own sixty. +</p> +<p> + Nelson had promised Admiral Parker to finish the fight in an hour. + When the battle had lasted three, Parker signalled to him to stop. + Every school-boy knows the story of how Lord Nelson put the glass to + his blind eye and, remarking that he could see no signal, kept right + on. In the end he had to resort to stratagem to force a truce so + that he might disentangle some of his ships that were drifting into + great danger in the narrow channel. The ruse succeeded. Crown Prince + Frederik, moved by compassion for the wounded whom Nelson threatened + to burn with the captured hulks if firing did not stop, ordered + hostilities to cease without consulting the Admiral of the fleet, + and the battle was over. Denmark's honor was saved. "Nothing," wrote + our own Captain Mahan, "could place a nation's warlike fame higher + than did her great deeds that day." All else was lost; for "there + had come upon Denmark one of those days of judgment to which nations + are liable who neglect in time of peace to prepare for war." It had + been long coming, but it had overtaken her at last and found all the + bars down. +</p> +<p> + Alongside the <i>Dannebrog</i> throughout her fight with Nelson's + flag-ship, and edging ever closer in under the <i>Elephant's</i> side + until at last the marines were sent to man her rail and keep it away + with their muskets, lay a floating battery mounting twenty guns + under command of a beardless second lieutenant. The name of Peter + Willemoes will live as long as the Danish tongue is spoken. Barely + graduated from the Naval Academy, he was but eighteen when the need + of officers thrust the command of "Floating Battery No. 1" upon him. + So gallantly did he acquit himself that Nelson took notice of the + young man who, every time a broadside crashed into his ship or + overhead, swung his cocked hat and led his men in a lusty cheer. + When after the battle he met the Crown Prince on shore, the English + commander asked to be introduced to his youthful adversary. "You + ought to make an admiral of him," he said, and Prince Frederik + smiled: "If I were to make admirals of all my brave officers, I + should have no captains or lieutenants left." When the <i>Dannebrog</i> + drifted on the shoals, abandoned and burning, Willemoes cut his + cables and got away under cover of the heavy smoke. Having neither + sails nor oars, he was at the mercy of the tide, but luckily it + carried him to the north of the Tre Kroner battery, and he reached + port with forty-nine of his crew of one hundred and twenty-nine dead + or wounded. The people received him as a conqueror returning with + victory. His youth and splendid valor aroused the enthusiasm of the + whole country. Wherever he went crowds flocked to see him as the + hero of "Holy Thursday's Battle." Especially was he the young + people's idol. Sailor that he was, he was "the friend of all pretty + girls," sang the poet of that day. He danced and made merry with + them, but the one of them all on whom his heart was set, so runs the + story, would have none of him, and sent him away to foreign parts, a + saddened lover. +</p> +<p> + Meanwhile much praise had not made him vain. "I did my duty," he + wrote to his father, a minor government official in the city of + Odense where four years later Hans Christian Andersen was born on + the anniversary day of the battle, "and I have whole limbs which I + least expected. The Crown Prince and the Admiral have said that I + behaved well." He was to have one more opportunity of fighting his + country's enemy, and this time to the death. +</p> +<p> + In the summer of 1807, England was advised that by the treaty of + Tilsit Russia and Prussia had secretly joined Napoleon in his + purpose of finally crushing his mortal enemy by uniting all the + fleets of Europe against her, Denmark's too, by compulsion if + persuasion failed. Without warning a British fleet swooped down upon + the unsuspecting nation, busy with the pursuits of peace, bombarded + and burned Copenhagen when the Commandant refused to deliver the + ships into the hands of the robbers as a "pledge of peace," and + carried away ships, supplies, even the carpenters' tools in the + navy-yard. Nothing was spared. Seventy vessels, sixteen of them + ships of the line, fell into their hands, and supplies that filled + ninety-two transports beside. A single fighting ship was left to + Denmark of all her fleet,—the <i>Prince Christian Frederik</i> of + sixty-eight guns. She happened to be away in a Norwegian port and so + escaped. Willemoes was on leave serving in the Russian navy, but + hastened home when news came of the burning of Copenhagen, and found + a berth under Captain Jessen. +</p> +<p> + On March 22, 1808, the <i>Prince Christian</i>, so she was popularly + called, hunting a British frigate that was making Danish waters + insecure, met in the Kattegat the <i>Stately</i> and the <i>Nassau</i>, each + like herself of sixty-eight guns. The <i>Nassau</i> was the old + <i>Holsteen</i>, renamed,—the single prize the victors had carried home + from the battle of Copenhagen. Three British frigates were working + up to join them. The coast of Seeland was near, but wind and tide + cut off escape to the Sound. Captain Jessen ran his ship in close + under the shore so that at the last he might beach her, and awaited + the enemy there. +</p> +<p> + The sun had set, but the night was clear when the fight between the + three ships began. With one on either side, hardly a pistol-shot + away, Jessen returned shot for shot, giving as good as they sent, + and with such success that at the end of an hour and a half the + Britons dropped astern to make repairs. The <i>Prince Christian</i> + drifted, helpless, with rudder shot to pieces, half a wreck, rigging + all gone, and a number of her guns demolished. But when the enemy + returned he was hailed with a cheer and a broadside, and the fight + was on once more. This time they were three to one; one of the + British frigates of forty-four guns had come up and joined in. +</p> +<p> + When the hull of the <i>Prince Christian</i> was literally knocked to + pieces, and of her 576 men 69 lay dead and 137 wounded, including + the chief and all of his officers who were yet alive, Captain Jessen + determined as a last desperate chance to run one of his opponents + down and board her with what remained of his crew. But his officers + showed him that it was impossible; the ship could not be manoeuvred. + There was a momentary lull in the fire and out of the night came a + cry, "Strike your colors!" The Danish reply was a hurrah and a + volley from all the standing guns. Three broad-sides crashed into + the doomed ship in quick succession, and the battle was over. The + <i>Prince Christian</i> stood upon the shore, a wreck. +</p> +<p> + Young Willemoes was spared the grief of seeing the last Danish + man-of-war strike its flag. In the hottest of the fight, as he + jumped upon a gun the better to locate the enemy in the gloom, a + cannon-ball took off the top of his head. He fell into the arms of a + fellow officer with the muttered words, "Oh God! my head—my + country!" and was dead. In his report of the fight Captain Jessen + wrote against his name: "Fell in battle—honored as he is missed." + They made his grave on shore with the fallen sailors, and as the sea + washed up other bodies they were buried with them. +</p> +<p> + The British captured the wreck, but they could only set fire to it + after removing the wounded. In the night it blew up where it stood. + That was the end of the last ship of Denmark's proud navy. +</p> +<br> + +<a name="note-13"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#13"> +<sup>1</sup></a> It is of record that Queen Sofie Amalie used one-third + of the annual revenues of the country for her household. The menu of + a single "rustic dinner" of the court mentions 200 courses and + nearly as many kinds of preserves and dessert, served on gold, with + wines in corresponding abundance. +</p> + +<a name="note-14"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#14"> +<sup>2</sup></a> The battle of Copenhagen was fought April 2, 1801. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + THE TROOPER WHO WON A WAR ALONE +</h2> +<br> +<p> + Jens Kofoed was the name of a trooper who served in the disastrous + war of Denmark against Sweden in Karl Gustav's day. He came from the + island of Bornholm in the Baltic, where he tilled a farm in days of + peace. When his troop went into winter quarters, he got a furlough + to go home to receive the new baby that was expected about + Christmas. Most of his comrades were going home for the holidays, + and their captain made no objection. The Swedish king was fighting + in far-off Poland, and no one dreamed that he would come over the + ice with his army in the depth of winter to reckon with Denmark. So + Jens Kofoed took ship with the promise that he would be back in two + weeks. But they were to be two long weeks. They did not hear of him + again for many moons, and then strange tidings came of his doings. + Single-handed he had bearded the Swedish lion, and downed it in a + fair fight—strangest of all, almost without bloodshed. +</p> +<p> + The winter storms blew hard, and it was Christmas eve when he made + land, but he came in time to receive, not one new heir, but twin + baby girls. Then there were six of them, counting Jens and his wife, + and a merry Christmas they all had together. On Twelfth Night the + little ones were christened, and then the trooper bethought himself + of his promise to get back soon. The storms had ceased, but worse + had befallen; the sea was frozen over as far as eye reached, and the + island was cut off from all communication with the outer world. + There was nothing for it but to wait. It proved the longest and + hardest winter any one then living could remember. Easter was at + hand before the ice broke up, and let a fishing smack slip over to + Ystad, on the mainland. It came back with news that set the whole + island wondering. Peace had been made, and Denmark had ceded all its + ancient provinces east of the Öresund to Karl Gustav. Ystad itself + and Skaane, the province in which Jens Kofoed had been campaigning, + were Swedish now, and so was Bornholm. All unknown to its people, + the island had changed hands in the game of war overnight, as it + were. A Swedish garrison was coming over presently to take charge. +</p> +<p> + When Jens Kofoed heard it, he sat down and thought things over. If + there was peace, his old captain had no use for him, that was + certain; but there might be need of him at home. What would happen + there, no one could tell. And there were the wife and children to + take care of. The upshot of it all was that he stayed. Only, to be + on the safe side, he got the Burgomaster and the Aldermen in his + home town, Hasle, to set it down in writing that he could not have + got back to his troop for all he might have tried. Kofoed, it will + be seen, was a man with a head on his shoulders, which was well, for + presently he had need of it. +</p> +<p> + There were no Danish soldiers in the island, only a peasant militia, + ill-armed and untaught in the ways of war; so no one thought of + resisting the change of masters. The people simply waited to see + what would happen. Along in May a company of one hundred and twenty + men with four guns landed, and took possession of Castle + Hammershus, on the north shore, the only stronghold on the island, + in the name of the Swedish king. Colonel Printzensköld, who had + command, summoned the islanders to a meeting, and told them that he + had come to be their governor. They were to obey him, and that was + all. The people listened and said nothing. +</p> +<p> + Perhaps if the new rulers had been wise, things might have kept on + so. The people would have tilled their farms, and paid their taxes, + and Jens Kofoed, with all his hot hatred of the enemy he had fought, + might never have been heard of outside his own island. But the + Swedish soldiers had been through the Thirty Years' War and plunder + had become their profession. They rioted in the towns, doubled the + taxes, put an embargo on trade and export, crushed the industries; + worse, they took the young men and sent them away to Karl Gustav's + wars in foreign lands. They left only the old men and the boys, and + these last they kept a watchful eye on for drafts in days to come. + When the conscripts hid in the woods, so as not to be torn from + their wives and sweethearts, they organized regular man-hunts as if + the quarry were wild beasts, and, indeed, the poor fellows were not + treated much better when caught. +</p> +<p> + All summer they did as they pleased; then came word that Karl Gustav + had broken the peace he made, and of the siege of Copenhagen. The + news made the people sit up and take notice. Their rightful + sovereign had ceded the island to the Swedish king, that was one + thing. But now that they were at war again, these strangers who + persecuted them were the public enemy. It was time something were + done. In Hasle there was a young parson with his heart in the right + place, Poul Anker by name. Jens Kofoed sat in his church; he had + been to the wars, and was fit to take command. Also, the two were + friends. Presently a web of conspiracy spread quietly through the + island, gripping priest and peasant, skipper and trader, alike. Its + purpose was to rout out the Swedes. The Hasle trooper and parson + were the leaders; but their secret was well kept. With the tidings + that the Dutch fleet had forced its way through to Copenhagen with + aid for the besieged, and had bottled the Swedish ships up in + Landskrona, came a letter purporting to be from King Frederik + himself, encouraging the people to rise. It was passed secretly + from hand to hand by the underground route, and found the island + ready for rebellion. +</p> +<p> + Governor Printzensköld had seen something brewing, but he was a + fearless man, and despised the "peasant mob." However, he sent to + Sweden for a troop of horsemen, the better to patrol the island and + watch the people. Early in December, 1658, just a year after Jens + Kofoed, the trooper, had set out for his home on furlough, the + governor went to Rönne, the chief city in the island, to start off a + ship for the reinforcements. The conspirators sought to waylay him + at Hasle, where he stopped to give warning that all who had not paid + the heavy war-tax would be sold out forthwith; but they were too + late. Master Poul and Jens Kofoed rode after him, expecting to meet + a band of their fellows on the way, but missed them. The parson + stayed behind then to lay the fuse to the mine, while Kofoed kept on + to town. By the time he got there he had been joined by four others, + Aage Svendsön, Klavs Nielsen, Jens Laurssön, and Niels Gummelöse. + The last two were town officers. As soon as the report went around + Rönne that they had come, Burgomaster Klaus Kam went to them openly. +</p> +<p> + The governor had ridden to the house of the other burgomaster, Per + Larssön, who was not in the plot. His horse was tied outside and he + just sitting down to supper when Jens Kofoed and his band crowded + into the room, and took him prisoner. They would have killed him + there, but his host pleaded for his life. However, when they took + him out in the street, Printzensköld thought he saw a chance to + escape in the crowd and the darkness, and sprang for his horse. But + his great size made him an easy mark. He was shot through the head + as he ran. The man who shot him had loaded his pistol with a silver + button torn from his vest. That was sure death to any goblin on whom + neither lead nor steel would bite, and it killed the governor all + right. The place is marked to this day in the pavement of the main + street as the spot where fell the only tyrant who ever ruled the + island against the people's will. +</p> +<p> + The die was cast now, and there was need of haste. Under cover of + the night the little band rode through the island with the news, + ringing the church bells far and near to call the people to arms. + Many were up and waiting; Master Poul had roused them already. At + Hammershus the Swedish garrison heard the clamor, and wondered what + it meant. They found out when at sunrise an army of half the + population thundered on the castle gates summoning them to + surrender. Burgomaster Kam sat among them on the governor's horse, + wearing his uniform, and shouted to the officers in command that + unless they surrendered, he, the governor, would be killed, and his + head sent in to his wife in the castle. The frightened woman's tears + decided the day. The garrison surrendered, only to discover that + they had been tricked. Jens Kofoed took command in the castle. The + Swedish soldiers were set to doing chores for the farmers they had + so lately harassed. The ship that was to have fetched reënforcements + from Sweden was sent to Denmark instead, with the heartening news. + They needed that kind there just then. +</p> +<p> + But the ex-trooper, now Commandant, knew that a day of reckoning was + coming, and kept a sharp lookout. When the hostile ship <i>Spes</i> was + reported steering in from the sea, the flag of Sweden flew from the + peak of Hammershus, and nothing on land betrayed that there had been + a change. As soon as she anchored, a boat went out with an + invitation from the governor to any officers who might be on board, + to come ashore and arrange for the landing of the troops. The + captain of the ship and the major in charge came, and were made + prisoners as soon as they had them where they could not be seen from + the ship. It blew up to a storm, and the <i>Spes</i> was obliged to put + to sea, but as soon as she returned boats were sent out to land the + soldiers. They sent only little skiffs that could hold not over + three or four, and as fast as they were landed they were overpowered + and bound. Half of the company had been thus disposed of when the + lieutenant on board grew suspicious, and sent word that without the + express orders of the major no more would come. But Jens Kofoed's + wit was equal to the emergency. The next boat brought an invitation + to the lieutenant to come in and have breakfast with the officers, + who would give him his orders there. He walked into the trap; but + when he also failed to return, his men refused to follow. He had + arranged to send them a sign, they said, that everything was all + right. If it did not come, they would sail away to Sweden for help. +</p> +<p> + It took some little persuasion to make the lieutenant tell about the + sign, but in the end Jens Kofoed got it. It turned out to be his + pocket-knife. When they saw that, the rest came, and were put under + lock and key with their fellows. +</p> +<p> + The ship was left. If that went back, all was lost. Happily both + captain and mate were prisoners ashore. Four boat-loads of + islanders, with arms carefully stowed under the seats, went out with + the mate of the <i>Spes</i>, who was given to understand that if he as + much as opened his mouth he would be a dead man. They boarded the + ship, taking the crew by surprise. By night the last enemy was + comfortably stowed, and the ship on her way to Rönne, where the + prisoners were locked in the court-house cellar, with shotted guns + guarding the door. Perhaps it was the cruelties practised by Swedish + troops in Denmark that preyed upon the mind of Jens Kofoed when he + sent the parson to prepare them for death then and there; but + better counsel prevailed. They were allowed to live. The whole war + cost only two lives, the governor's and that of a sentinel at the + castle, who refused to surrender. The mate of the <i>Spes</i> and two + of her crew contrived to escape after they had been taken to + Copenhagen, and from them Karl Gustav had the first tidings of how + he lost the island. +</p> +<p> + The captured ship sailed down to Copenhagen with greeting to King + Frederik that the people of Bornholm had chosen him and his heirs + forever to rule over them, on condition that their island was never + to be separated from the Danish Crown. The king in his delight + presented them with a fine silver cup, and made Jens Kofoed captain + of the island, beside giving him a handsome estate. He lived + thirty-three years after that, the patriarch of his people, and + raised a large family of children. Not a few of his descendants are + to-day living in the United States. In the home of one of them in + Brooklyn, New York, is treasured a silver drinking cup which King + Frederik gave to the ex-trooper; but it is not the one he sent back + with his deputation. That one is still in the island of Bornholm. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + CARL LINNÉ, KING OF THE FLOWERS +</h2> +<br> + +<p> + Years ago there grew on the Jonsboda farm in Småland, Sweden, a + linden tree that was known far and wide for its great age and size. + So beautiful and majestic was the tree, and so wide the reach of its + spreading branches, that all the countryside called it sacred. + Misfortune was sure to come if any one did it injury. So thought the + people. It was not strange, then, that the farmer's boys, when they + grew to be learned men and chose a name, should call themselves + after the linden. The peasant folk had no family names in those + days. Sven Carlsson was Sven, the son of Carl; and his son, if his + given name were John, would be John Svensson. So it had always been. + But when a man could make a name for himself out of the big + dictionary, that was his right. The daughter of the Jonsboda farmer + married; and her son played in the shadow of the old tree, and grew + so fond of it that when he went out to preach he also called himself + after it. Nils Ingemarsson was the name he received in baptism, and + to that he added Linnæus, never dreaming that in doing it he handed + down the name and the fame of the friend of his play hours to all + coming days. But it was so; for Parson Nils' eldest son, Carl Linné, + or Linnæus, became a great man who brought renown to his country and + his people by telling them and all the world more than any one had + ever known before about the trees and the flowers. The King knighted + him for his services to science, and the people of every land united + in acclaiming him the father of botany and the king of the flowers. +</p> +<p> + They were the first things he learned to love in his baby world. If + he was cross, they had but to lay him on the grass in the garden and + put a daisy in his hand, and he would croon happily over it for + hours. He was four years old when his father took him to a wedding + in the neighborhood. The men guests took a tramp over the farm, and + in the twilight they sat and rested in the meadow, where the spring + flowers grew. The minister began telling them stories about them; + how they all had their own names and what powers for good or ill + the apothecary found in the leaves and root of some of them. Carl's + father, though barely out of college, was a bright and gifted man. + One of his parishioners said once that they couldn't afford a whole + parson, and so they took a young one; but if that was the way of it, + the men of Stenbrohult made a better bargain than they knew. They + sat about listening to his talk, but no one listened more closely + than little Carl. After that he had thought for nothing else. In the + corner of the garden he had a small plot of his own, and into it he + planted all the wild flowers from the fields, and he asked many more + questions about them than his father could answer. One day he came + back with one whose name he had forgotten. The minister was busy + with his sermon. +</p> +<p> + "If you don't remember," he said impatiently, "I will never tell you + the name of another flower." The boy went away, his eyes wide with + terror at the threat; but after that he did not forget a single + name. +</p> +<p> + When he was big enough, they sent him to the Latin school at Wexiö, + where the other boys nicknamed him "the little botanist." His + thoughts were outdoors when they should have been in the dry books, + and his teachers set him down as a dunce. They did not know that his + real study days were when, in vacation, he tramped the thirty miles + to his home. Every flower and every tree along the way was an old + friend, and he was glad to see them again. Once in a while he found + a book that told of plants, and then he was anything but a dunce. + But when his father, after Carl had been eight years in the school, + asked his teachers what they thought of him, they told him + flatly that he might make a good tailor or shoemaker, but a + minister—never; he was too stupid. +</p> +<p> + That was a blow, for the parson of Stenbrohult and his wife had set + their hearts on making a minister of Carl, and small wonder. His + mother was born in the parsonage, and her father and grandfather had + been shepherds of the parish all their lives. There were tears in + the good minister's eyes as he told Carl to pack up and get ready to + go back home; he had an errand at Dr. Rothman's, but would return + presently. The good doctor saw that his patient was heavy of heart + and asked him what was wrong. When he heard what Carl's teachers + had said, he flashed out: +</p> +<p> + "What! he not amount to anything? There is not one in the whole lot + who will go as far as he. A minister he won't be, that I'll allow, + but I shall make a doctor of him such as none of them ever saw. You + leave him here with me." And the parson did, comforted in spite of + himself. But Carl's mother could not get over it. It was that + garden, she declared, and when his younger brother as much as + squinted that way, she flew at him with a "You dare to touch it!" + and shook him. +</p> +<p> + When Dr. Rothman thought his pupil ready for the university, he sent + him up to Lund, and the head-master of the Latin School gave him the + letter he must bring, to be admitted. "Boys at school," he wrote in + it, "may be likened to young trees in orchard nurseries, where it + sometimes happens that here and there among the saplings there are + some that make little growth, or even appear as wild seedlings, + giving no promise; but when afterwards transplanted to the orchard, + make a start, branch out freely, and at last yield satisfactory + fruit." By good luck, though, Carl ran across an old teacher from + Wexiö, one of the few who had believed in him and was glad to see + him. He took him to the Rector and introduced him with warm words of + commendation, and also found him lodgings under the roof of Dr. + Kilian Stobæus. +</p> +<p> + Dr. Stobæus was a physician of renown, but not good company. He was + one-eyed, sickly, lame in one foot, and a gloomy hypochondriac to + boot. Being unable to get around to his patients, he always had one + or two students to do the running for him and to learn as best they + might, in doing it. Carl found a young German installed there as the + doctor's right hand. He also found a library full of books on + botany, a veritable heaven for him. But the gate was shut against + him; the doctor had the key, and he saw nothing in the country lad + but a needy student of no account. Perhaps the Rector had passed the + head-master's letter along. However, love laughs at locksmiths, and + Carl Linnæus was hopelessly in love with his flowers. He got on the + right side of the German by helping him over some hard stiles in the + <i>materia medica</i>. In return, his fellow student brought him books + out of the library when the doctor had gone to bed, and Carl sat up + studying the big tomes till early cockcrow. Before the house + stirred, the books were back on their shelves, the door locked, and + no one was the wiser. +</p> +<p> + No one except the doctor's old mother, whose room was across the + yard. She did not sleep well, and all night she saw the window + lighted in her neighbor's room. She told the doctor that Carl + Linnæus fell asleep with the candle burning every single night, and + sometime he would upset it and they would all be burned in their + beds. The doctor nodded grimly; he knew the young scamps. No doubt + they both sat up playing cards till dawn; but he would teach them. + And the very next morning, at two o'clock, up he stumped on his lame + foot to Carl's room, in which there was light, sure enough, and went + in without knocking. +</p> +<p> + Carl was so deep in his work that he did not hear him at all, and + the doctor stole up unperceived and looked over his shoulder. There + lay his precious books, which he thought safely locked in the + library, spread out before him, and his pupil was taking notes and + copying drawings as if his life depended upon it. He gave a great + start when Dr. Stobæus demanded what he was doing, but owned up + frankly, while the doctor frowned and turned over his notes, leaf by + leaf. +</p> +<p> + "Go to bed and sleep like other people," he said gruffly, yet + kindly, when he had heard it all, "and hereafter study in the + daytime;" and he not only gave him a key to his library, but took + him to his own table after that. Up till then Carl had merely been a + lodger in the house. +</p> +<p> + When he was at last on the home stretch, as it seemed, an accident + came near upsetting it all. He was stung by an adder on one of his + botanizing excursions, so far from home and help that the bite came + near proving fatal. However, Dr. Stobæus' skill pulled him through, + and in after years he got square by labelling the serpent <i>furia + infernalis</i>—hell-fury—in his natural history. It was his way of + fighting back. All through his life he never wasted an hour on + controversy. He had no time, he said. But once when a rival made a + particularly nasty attack upon him, he named a new plant after him, + adding the descriptive adjective <i>detestabilis</i>—the detestable + so-and-so. On the whole, he had the best of it; for the names he + gave stuck. +</p> +<p> + It was during his vacation after the year at Lund that Linnæus made + a catalogue of the plants in his father's garden at Stenbrohult that + shows us the country parson as no mean botanist himself; for in the + list, which is preserved in the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, + are no less than two hundred and twenty-four kinds of plants. Among + them are six American plants that had found their way to Sweden. The + poison ivy is there, though what they wanted of that is hard to + tell, and the four-o'clock, the pokeweed, the milkweed, the pearly + everlasting, and the potato, which was then (1732) classed as a rare + plant. Not until twenty years later did they begin to grow it for + food in Sweden. +</p> +<p> + When Carl Linnæus went up to Upsala University, his parents had so + far got over their disappointment at his deserting the ministry that + they gave him a little money to make a start with; but they let him + know that no more was coming—their pocket-book was empty. And + within the twelvemonth, for all his scrimping and saving, he was on + the point of starvation. He tells us himself that he depended on + chance for a meal and wore his fellow students' cast-off clothes. + His boots were without soles, and in his cheerless attic room he + patched them with birch bark and card board as well as he could. He + was now twenty-three years old, and it seemed as if he would have to + give up the study that gave him no bread; but still he clung to his + beloved flowers. They often made him forget the pangs of hunger. And + when the cloud was darkest the sun broke through. He was sitting in + the Botanical Garden sketching a plant, when Dean Celsius, a great + orientalist and theologian of his day, passed by. The evident + poverty of the young man, together with his deep absorption in his + work, arrested his attention; he sat down and talked with him. In + five minutes Carl had found a friend and the Dean a helper. He had + been commissioned to write a book on the plants of the Holy Land and + had collected a botanical library for the purpose, but the work + lagged. Here now was the one who could help set it going. That day + Linnæus left his attic room and went to live in the Dean's house. + His days of starvation were over. +</p> +<p> + In the Dean's employ his organizing genius developed the marvellous + skill of the cataloguer that brought order out of the chaos of + groping and guessing and blundering in which the science of botany + had floundered up till then. Here and there in it all were flashes + of the truth, which Linnæus laid hold of and pinned down with his + own knowledge to system and order. Thus the Frenchman, Sebastian + Vaillant, who had died a dozen years before, had suggested a + classification of flowers by their seed-bearing organs, the stamens + and pistils, instead of by their fruits, the number of their petals, + or even by their color, as had been the vague practice of the past. + Linnæus seized upon this as the truer way and wrote a brief treatise + developing the idea, which so pleased Dr. Celsius that he got his + young friend a license to lecture publicly in the Botanical Garden. +</p> +<p> + The students flocked to hear him. His message was one that put life + and soul into the dry bones of a science that had only wearied them + before. The professor of botany himself sat in the front row and + hammered the floor with his cane in approval. But his very success + was the lecturer's undoing. Envy grew in place of the poverty he had + conquered. The instructor, Nils Rosén, was abroad taking his + doctor's degree. He came home to find his lectures deserted for the + irresponsible teachings of a mere undergraduate. He made grievous + complaint, and Linnæus was silenced, to his great good luck. For so + his friend the professor, though he was unable to break the red tape + of the university, got him an appointment to go to Lapland on a + botanical mission. His enemies were only too glad to see him go. +</p> +<p> + Linnæus travelled more than three thousand miles that summer through + a largely unknown country, enduring, he tells us, more hardships and + dangers than in all his subsequent travels. Again and again he + nearly lost his life in swollen mountain streams, for he would not + wait until danger from the spring freshets was over. Once he was + shot at as he was gathering plants on a hillside, but happily the + Finn who did it was not a good marksman. Fish and reindeer milk were + his food, a pestilent plague of flies his worst trouble. But, he + says in his account of the trip, which is as fascinating a report of + a scientific expedition as was ever penned, they were good for + something, after all, for the migrating birds fed on them. From his + camps on lake or river bank he saw the water covered far and near + with swarms of ducks and geese. The Laplander's larder was easily + stocked. +</p> +<p> + He came back from the dangers of the wild with a reputation that was + clinched by his book "The Flora of Lapland," to find the dragon of + professional jealousy rampant still at Upsala. His enemy, Rosén, + persuaded the senate of the university to adopt a rule that no + un-degreed man should lecture there to the prejudice of the + regularly appointed instructors. Tradition has it that Linnæus flew + into a passion at that and drew upon Rosén, and there might have + been one regular less but for the interference of bystanders. It may + be true, though it is not like him. Men wore side-arms in those days + just as some people carry pistols in their hip-pockets to-day, and + with as little sense. At least they had the defence, such as it was, + that it was the fashion. However, it made an end of Linnæus at + Upsala for the time. He sought a professorship at Lund, but another + got it. Then he led an expedition of his former students into the + Dalecarlia mountains and so he got to Falun, where Baron Reuterholm, + one of Sweden's copper magnates, was seeking a guide for his two + sons through the region where his mines were. +</p> +<p> + Linnæus was not merely a botanist, but an all around expert in + natural science. He took charge of the boys and, when the trip was + ended, started a school at Falun, where he taught mineralogy. It had + been hit or miss with the miners up till then. There was neither + science nor system in their work. What every-day experience or the + test of fire had taught a prospector, in delving among the rocks, + was all there was of it. Linnæus was getting things upon a + scientific basis, when he met and fell in love with the handsome + daughter of Dr. Moræus. The young people would marry, but the + doctor, though he liked the mineralogist, would not hear of it till + he could support a wife. So he gave him three years in which to go + abroad and get a degree that would give him the right to practise + medicine anywhere in Sweden. The doctor's daughter gave him a + hundred dollars she had saved, and her promise to wait for him. +</p> +<p> + He went to Harderwyk in Holland and got his degree at the university + there on the strength of a thesis on the cause of malarial fever, + with the conclusions of which the learned doctors did not agree; + but they granted the diploma for the clever way in which he defended + it. On the way down he tarried in Hamburg long enough to give the + good burghers a severe jolt. They had a seven-headed serpent that + was one of the wonders of the town. The keen sight of the young + naturalist detected the fraud at once; the heads were weasels' + heads, covered with serpent's skin and cunningly sewed on the head + of the reptile. The shape of the jaws betrayed the trick. But the + Hamburgers were not grateful. The serpent was an asset. There was a + mortgage on it of ten thousand marks; now it was not worth a + hundred. They took it very ill, and Linnæus found himself suddenly + so unpopular that he was glad to get out of town overnight. What + became of the serpent history does not record. +</p> +<p> + Linnæus had carried more than his thesis on malarial fever with him + to Holland. At the bottom of his trunk were the manuscripts of two + books on botany which, he told his sweetheart on parting, would yet + make him famous. Probably she shook her head at that. Pills and + powders, and broken legs to set, were more to her way of thinking, + and her father's, too. If only he had patients, fame might take care + of itself. But now he put them both to shame. At Leyden he found + friends who brought out his first book, "Systema Naturæ," in which + he divides all nature into the three kingdoms known to every child + since. It was hardly more than a small pamphlet, but it laid the + foundation for his later fame. To the enlarged tenth edition + zoölogists point back to this day as to the bed-rock on which they + built their science. The first was quickly followed by another, and + yet another. Seven large volumes bearing his name had come from the + press before he set sail for home, a whole library in botany, and a + new botany at that, so simple and sensible that the world adopted it + at once. +</p> +<p> + Dr. Hermann Boerhaave was at that time the most famous physician in + Europe. He was also the greatest authority on systematic botany. + Great men flocked to his door, but the testy old Dutchman let them + wait until it suited him to receive them. Peter the Great had to + cool his heels in his waiting-room two long hours before his turn + came. Linnæus he would not see at all—until he sent him a copy of + his book. Then he shut the door against all others and summoned the + author. The two walked through his garden, and the old doctor + pointed proudly to a tree which was very rare, he said, and not in + any of the books. Yes, said Linnæus, it was in Vaillant's. The + doctor knew better; he had annotated Vaillant's botany himself, and + it was not there. Linnæus insisted, and the doctor, in a temper, + went for the book to show him. But there it was; Linnæus was right. + Nothing would do then but he must stay in Holland. Linnæus demurred; + he could not afford it. But Dr. Boerhaave knew a way out of that. He + had for a patient Burgomaster Cliffort, a rich old hypochondriac + with whom he could do nothing because he would insist on living high + and taking too little exercise. When he came again he told him that + what he needed was a physician in daily attendance upon him, and + handed him over to Linnæus. +</p> +<p> + "He will fix your diet and fix your garden, too," was his + prescription. The Burgomaster was a famous collector and had a + wondrous garden that was the apple of his eye. He took Linnæus into + his house and gave him a ducat a day for writing his menu and + cataloguing his collection. That was where his books grew, and the + biggest and finest of them was "Hortus Cliffortianus," the account + of his patron's garden. +</p> +<p> + Armed with letters from Dr. Boerhaave and the Burgomaster, he took + one stronghold of professional prejudice after another. Not without + a siege. One of them refused flatly to surrender. That was Sir Hans + Sloan, the great English naturalist, to whom Dr. Boerhaave wrote in + a letter that is preserved in the British Museum: "Linnæus, who + bears this letter, is alone worthy of seeing you, alone worthy of + being seen by you. He who shall see you both together shall see two + men whose like will scarce ever be found in the world." And the + doctor was no flatterer, as may be inferred from his treatment of + Peter the Great. But the aged baronet had had his own way so long, + and was so well pleased with it, that he would have nothing to do + with Linnæus. At Oxford the learned professor Dillenius received him + with no better grace. "This," he said aside to a friend, "is the + young man who confounds all botany," and he took him rather + reluctantly into his garden. A plant that was new to him attracted + Linnæus' attention and he asked to what family it belonged. +</p> +<p> + "That is more than you can tell me," was the curt answer. +</p> +<p> + "I can, if you will let me pluck a flower and examine it." +</p> +<p> + "Do, and be welcome," said the professor, and his visitor after a + brief glance at the flower told its species correctly. The professor + stared. +</p> +<p> + "Now," said Linnæus, who had kept his eyes open, "what did you mean + by the crosses you had put all through my book?" He had seen it + lying on the professor's table, all marked up. +</p> +<p> + "They mark the errors you made," declared the other. +</p> +<p> + "Suppose we see about that," said the younger man and, taking the + book, led the way. They examined the flowers together, and when they + returned to the study all the pride had gone out of the professor. + He kept Linnæus with him a month, never letting him out of his sight + and, when he left, implored him with tears to stay and share his + professorship; the pay was enough for both. +</p> +<p> + A letter that reached him from home on his return to Holland made + him realize with a start that he had overstayed his leave. It was + now in the fourth year since he had left Sweden. All the while he + had written to his sweetheart in the care of a friend who proved + false. He wanted her for himself and, when the three years had + passed, told her that Carl would never come back. Dr. Moræus was of + the same mind, and had not a real friend of the absent lover turned + up in the nick of time Linnæus would probably have stayed a Dutchman + to his death. Now, on the urgent message of his friend, he hastened + home, found his Elisabeth holding out yet, married her and settled + down in Stockholm to practise medicine. +</p> +<p> + Famous as he had become, he found the first stretch of the row at + home a hard one to hoe. His books brought him no income. Nobody + would employ him, "even for a sick servant," he complained. Envious + rivals assailed him and his botany, and there were days when herring + and black bread was fare not to be despised in Dr. Linnæus' + household. But he kept pegging away and his luck changed. One + well-to-do patient brought another, and at last the queen herself + was opportunely seized with a bad cough. She saw one of her ladies + take a pill and asked what it was. Dr. Linnæus' prescription for a + cold, she said, and it always cured her right up. So the doctor was + called to the castle and his cure worked there, too. Not long after + that he set down in his diary that "Now, no one can get well without + my help." +</p> +<p> + But he was not happy. "Once, I had flowers and no money," he said; + "now, I have money and no flowers." That they appointed him + professor of medicine at Upsala did not mend matters. His lectures + were popular and full of common sense. Diet and the simple life were + his hobbies, temperance in all things. He ever insisted that where + one man dies from drinking too much, ten die from overeating. + Children should eat four times a day, grown-ups twice, was his rule. + The foolish fashions and all luxury he abhorred. He himself in his + most famous years lived so plainly that some said he was miserly, + and his clothes were sometimes almost shabby. The happiest day of + his life came when he and his old enemy Rosén, whom he found filling + the chair of botany at the university, and with whom he made it up + soon after they became fellow members of the faculty, exchanged + chairs with the ready consent of the authorities. So, at last, + Linnæus had attained the place he coveted above all others, and the + goal of his ambition was reached. +</p> +<p> + He lived at Upsala thirty-seven years and wrote many books. His + students idolized him. They came from all over the world. Twice a + week in summer, on Wednesday and Saturday, they sallied forth with + him to botanize in field and forest, and when they had collected + specimens all the long day they escorted the professor home through + the twilight streets with drums and trumpets and with flowers in + their hats. But however late they left him at his door, the earliest + dawn saw him up and at his work, for the older he grew the more + precious the hours that remained. In summer he was accustomed to + rise at three o'clock; in the dark winter days at six. +</p> +<p> + He found biology a chaos and left it a science. In his special field + of botany he was not, as some think, the first. He himself + catalogued fully a thousand books on his topic. But he brought order + into it; he took what was good and, rejecting the false, fashioned + it into a workable system. In the mere matter of nomenclature, his + way of calling plants, like men, by a family name and a given name + wrought a change hard to appreciate in our day. The common blue + grass of our lawns, for instance, he called, and we call it still, + <i>Poa pratensis</i>. Up to his time it had three names and one of them + was <i>Gramen pratense paniculatum majus latiore folio poa + theophrasti</i>. Dr. Rydberg, of the New York Botanical Gardens, said + aptly at the bicentenary of his birth, that it was as if instead of + calling a girl Grace Darling one were to say "Mr. Darling's + beautiful, slender, graceful, blue-eyed girl with long, golden curls + and rosy cheeks." +</p> +<p> + The binomial system revolutionized the science. What the lines of + longitude and latitude did for geography Linnæus' genius did for + botany. And he did not let pride of achievement persuade him that he + had said the last word. He knew his system to be the best till some + one should find a better, and said so. The King gave him a noble + name and he was proud of it with reason—vain, some have said. But + vanity did not make the creature deny the Creator. He ever tried to + trace science to its author. When the people were frightened by the + "water turning to blood" and overzealous priests cried that it was a + sign of the wrath of God, he showed under the magnifying glass the + presence of innumerable little animals that gave the water its + reddish tinge, and thereby gave offence to some pious souls. But + over the door of his lecture room were the words in Latin: "Live + guiltless—God sees you!" and in his old age, seeing with prophetic + eye the day of bacteriology that dawned a hundred years after his + death, he thanked God that He had permitted him to "look into His + secret council room and workshop." +</p> +<p> + He was one of the clear thinkers of all days, uniting imagination + with sound sense. It was Linnæus who discovered that plants sleep + like animals. The Pope ordered that his books, wherever they were + found in his dominions, should be burned as materialistic and + heretical; but Linnæus lived to see a professor in botany at Rome + dismissed because he did not understand his system, and another put + in his place who did, and whose lectures followed his theories. When + he was seventy he was stricken with apoplexy, while lecturing to his + students, and the last year of his life was full of misery. + "Linnæus limps," is one of the last entries in his diary, "can + hardly walk, speaks unintelligibly, and is scarce able to write." + Death came on January 10, 1778. +</p> +<p> + Under the white flashes of the northern lights in the desolate land + he explored in his youth, there grows in the shelter of the spruce + forests a flower which he found and loved beyond any other, the + <i>Linnæa borealis</i>, named after him. In some pictures we have of him, + he is seen holding a sprig of it in his hand. It is the twin flower + of the northern Pacific coast and of Labrador, indeed of the far + northern woods from Labrador all the way to Alaska, that lifts its + delicate, sweet-scented pink bells from the moss with gentle appeal, + "long overlooked, lowly, flowering early" despite cold and storm, + typical of the man himself. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2> + NIELS FINSEN, THE WOLF-SLAYER +</h2> +<br> + +<p> + Hard by the town of Thorshavn, in the Faröe islands, a little lad + sat one day carving his name on a rock. His rough-coated pony + cropped the tufts of stunted grass within call. The grim North Sea + beat upon the shore below. What thoughts of the great world without + it stirred in the boy he never told. He came of a people to whom it + called all through the ages with a summons that rarely went + unheeded. If he heard he gave no sign. Slowly and laboriously he + traced in the stone the letters N.R.F. When he had finished he + surveyed his work with a quiet smile. "There!" he said, "that is + done." +</p> +<p> + The years went by, and a distant city paused in its busy life to + hearken to bells tolling for one who lay dead. Kings and princes + walked behind his coffin and a whole people mourned. Yet in life he + had worn no purple. He was a plain, even a poor man. Upon his grave + they set a rock brought from the island in the North Sea, just like + the other that stands there yet, and in it they hewed the letters + N.R.F., for the man and the boy were one. And he who spoke there + said for all mankind that what he wrought was well done, for it was + done bravely and in love. +</p> +<p> + Niels Ryberg Finsen was born in 1860 in the Faröe islands, where his + father was an official under the Danish Government. His family came + of the sturdy old Iceland stock that comes down to our time unshorn + of its strength from the day of the vikings, and back to Iceland his + people sent him to get his education in the Reykjavik Latin school, + after a brief stay in Denmark where his teachers failed to find the + key to the silent, reserved lad. There he lived the seven pregnant + years of boyhood and youth, from fourteen to twenty-one, and ever + after there was that about him that brought to mind the wild + fastnesses of that storm-swept land. Its mountains were not more + rugged than his belief in the right as he saw it. +</p> +<p> + The Reykjavik school had a good name, but school and pupils were + after their own kind. Conventional was hardly the word for it. Some + of the "boys" were twenty and over. Finsen loved to tell of how they + pursued the studies each liked best, paying scant attention to the + rest. In their chosen fields they often knew much more than the + curriculum called for, and were quite able to instruct the teacher; + the things they cared less about they helped one another out with, + so as to pass examinations. For mere proficiency in lessons they + cherished a sovereign contempt. To do anything by halves is not the + Iceland way, and it was not Niels Finsen's. All through his life he + was impatient with second-hand knowledge and borrowed thinking. So + he worked and played through the long winters of the North. In the + summer vacations he roamed the barren hills, helped herd the sheep, + and drank in the rough freedom of the land and its people. At + twenty-one the school gave him up to the university at Copenhagen. +</p> +<p> + Training for life there was not the heyday of youthful frolicking we + sometimes associate with college life in our day and land. Not until + he was thirty could he hang up his sheepskin as a physician. Yet the + students had their fun and their sports, and Finsen was seldom + missing where these went on. He was not an athlete because already + at twenty-three the crippling disease with which he battled twenty + years had got its grip on him, but all the more he was an outdoor + man. He sailed his boat, and practised with the rifle until he + became one of the best shots in Denmark. And it is recorded that he + got himself into at least one scrape at the university by his love + of freedom. +</p> +<p> + The country was torn up at that time by a struggle between people + and government over constitutional rights, and it had reached a + point where a country parish had refused to pay taxes illegally + assessed, as they claimed. It was their Boston tea-party. A + delegation of the "tax refusers" had come to Copenhagen, where the + political pot was boiling hot over the incident. The students were + enthusiastic, but the authorities of the university sternly + unsympathetic. The "Reds" were for giving a reception to the + visitors in Regentsen, the great dormitory where, as an Iceland + student, Finsen had free lodging; but it was certain that the Dean + would frown upon such a proposition. So they applied innocently for + permission to entertain some "friends from the country," and the + party was held in Finsen's room. Great was the scandal when the + opposition newspapers exploited the feasting of the tax refusers in + the sacred precincts of the university. To the end of his days + Finsen chuckled over the way they stole a march on the Dean. +</p> +<p> + For two or three years after getting his degree he taught in the + medical school as demonstrator, eking out his scant income by + tutoring students in anatomy. His sure hand and clear decision in + any situation marked him as a practitioner of power, and he had + thoughts once of devoting himself to the most delicate of all + surgery,—that of the eye. He was even then groping for his + life-work, without knowing it, for it was always light, light—the + source or avenue or effect of it—that held him. And presently his + work found him. +</p> +<p> + It has been said that Finsen was a sick man. A mysterious malady<a name="15"></a><a href="#note-15"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> + with dropsical symptoms clutched him from the earliest days with + ever tightening grip, and all his manhood's life he was a great but + silent sufferer. Perhaps it was that; perhaps it was the bleak North + in which his young years had been set that turned him to the light + as the source of life and healing. He said it himself: "It was + because I needed it so much, I longed for it so." Probably it was + both. Add to them his unique power of turning the things of everyday + life to account in his scientific research, and one begins to + understand at once his success and his speedy popularity. He dealt + with the humble things of life, and got to the heart of things on + that road. And the people comprehended; the wise men fell in behind + him—sometimes a long way behind. +</p> +<p> + In the yard of Regentsen there grows a famous old linden tree. + Standing at his window one day and watching its young leaf sprout, + Finsen saw a cat sunning itself on the pavement. The shadow of the + house was just behind it and presently crept up on pussy who got up, + stretched herself, and moved into the sunlight. In a little while + the shadow overtook her there, and pussy moved once more. Finsen + watched the shadow rout her out again and again. It was clear that + the cat liked the sunlight. +</p> +<p> + A few days later he stood upon a bridge and saw a little squad of + insects sporting on the water. They drifted down happily with the + stream till they came within the shadow of the bridge, when they at + once began to work their way up a piece to get a fresh start for a + sunlight sail. Finsen knew just how they felt. His own room looked + north and was sunless; his work never prospered as it did when he + sat with a friend whose room was on the south side, where the sun + came in. It was warm and pleasant; but was that all? Was it only the + warmth that made the birds break into song when the sun came out on + a cloudy day, made the insects hum joyously and man himself walk + with a more springy step? The housekeeper who "sunned" the + bed-clothes and looked with suspicion on a dark room had something + else in mind; the sun "disinfected" the bedding. Finsen wanted to + know what it was in the sunlight that had this power, and how we + could borrow it and turn it to use. +</p> +<p> + The men of science had long before analyzed the sunlight. They had + broken it up into the rays of different color that together make + the white light we see. Any boy can do it with a prism, and in the + band or spectrum of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet that then + appears, he has before him the cipher that holds the key to the + secrets of the universe if we but knew how to read it aright; for + the sunlight is the physical source of all life and of all power. + The different colors represent rays with different wave-lengths; + that is, they vibrate with different speed and do different work. + The red vibrate only half as fast as the violet, at the other end of + the spectrum, and, roughly speaking, they are the heat carriers. The + blue and violet are cold by comparison. They are the force carriers. + They have power to cause chemical changes, hence are known as the + chemical or actinic rays. It is these the photographer shuts out of + his dark room, where he intrenches himself behind a ruby-colored + window. The chemical ray cannot pass that; if it did it would spoil + his plate. +</p> +<p> + This much was known, and it had been suggested more than once that + the "disinfecting" qualities of the sunlight might be due to the + chemical rays killing germs. Finsen, experimenting with earthworms, + earwigs, and butterflies, in a box covered with glass of the + different colors of the spectrum, noted first that the bugs that + naturally burrowed in darkness became uneasy in the blue light. As + fast as they were able, they got out of it and crawled into the red, + where they lay quiet and apparently content. When the glass covers + were changed they wandered about until they found the red light + again. The earwigs were the smartest. They developed an intelligent + grasp of the situation, and soon learned to make straight for the + red room. The butterflies, on the other hand, liked the red light + only to sleep in. It was made clear by many such experiments that + the chemical rays, and they only, had power to stimulate, to "stir + life." Finsen called it that himself. In the language of the + children, he was getting "warm." +</p> +<p> + That this power, like any other, had its perils, and that nature, if + not man, was awake to them, he proved by some simple experiments + with sunburn. He showed that the tan which boys so covet was the + defence the skin puts forth against the blue ray. The inflammation + of sunburn is succeeded by the brown pigmentation that henceforth + stands guard like the photographer's ruby window, protecting the + deeper layers of the skin. The black skin of the negro was no longer + a mystery. It is his protection against the fierce sunlight of the + tropics and the injurious effect of its chemical ray. +</p> +<p> + Searching the libraries in Copenhagen for the records of earlier + explorers in his field, and finding little enough there, Finsen came + across the report of an American army surgeon on a smallpox epidemic + in the South in the thirties of the last century. There were so many + sick in the fort that, every available room being filled, they had + to put some of the patients into the bomb-proof, to great + inconvenience all round, as it was entirely dark there. The doctor + noted incidentally that, as if to make up for it, the underground + patients got well sooner and escaped pitting. To him it was a + curious incident, nothing more. Upon Dr. Finsen, sitting there with + the seventy-five-year-old report from over the sea in his hand, it + burst with a flood of light: the patients got well without scarring + <i>because</i> they were in the dark. Red light or darkness, it was all + the same. The point was that the chemical rays that could cause + sunburn on men climbing glaciers, and had power to irritate the sick + skin, were barred out. Within a month he jolted the medical world by + announcing that smallpox patients treated under red light would + recover readily and without disfigurement. +</p> +<p> + The learned scoffed. There were some of them who had read of the + practice in the Middle Ages of smothering smallpox patients in red + blankets, giving them red wine to drink and hanging the room with + scarlet. Finsen had not heard of it, and was much interested. + Evidently they had been groping toward the truth. How they came upon + the idea is not the only mystery of that strange day, for they knew + nothing of actinic rays or sunlight analyzed. But Finsen calmly + invited the test, which was speedy in coming. +</p> +<p> + They had smallpox in Bergen, Norway, and there the matter was put to + the proof with entire success; later in Sweden and in Copenhagen. + The patients who were kept under the red light recovered rapidly, + though some of them were unvaccinated children, and bad cases. In no + instance was the most dangerous stage of the disease, the festering + stage, reached; the temperature did not rise again, and they all + came out unscarred. +</p> +<p> + Finsen pointed out that where other methods of treatment such as + painting the face with iodine or lunar caustic, or covering it with + a mask or with fat, had met with any success in the past, the same + principle was involved of protecting the skin from the light, though + the practitioner did not know it. He was doing the thing they did in + the middle ages, and calling them quacks. +</p> +<p> + It is strange but true that Dr. Finsen had never seen a smallpox + patient at that time, but he knew the nature of the disease, and + that the sufferer was affected by its eruption first and worst on + the face and hands—that is to say, on the parts of the body exposed + to the light—and he was as sure of his ground as was Leverrier + when, fifty years before, he bade his fellow astronomers look in a + particular spot of the heavens for an unknown planet that disturbed + the movements of Uranus. And they found the one we call Neptune + there. +</p> +<p> + Presently all the world knew that the first definite step had been + taken toward harnessing in the service of man the strange force in + the sunlight that had been the object of so much speculation and + conjecture. The next step followed naturally. In the published + account of his early experiments Finsen foreshadows it in the words, + "That the beginning has been made with the hurtful effects of this + force is odd enough, since without doubt its beneficial effect is + far greater." His clear head had already asked the question: if the + blue rays of the sun can penetrate deep enough into the skin to + cause injury, why should they not be made to do police duty there, + and catch and kill offending germs—in short, to heal? +</p> +<p> + Finsen had demonstrated the correctness of the theory that the + chemical rays have power to kill germs. But it happens that these + are the rays that possess the least penetration. How to make them go + deeper was the problem. By an experiment that is, in its simplicity, + wholly characteristic of the man, he demonstrated that the red blood + in the deeper layers of the skin was the obstacle. He placed a piece + of photographic paper behind the lobe of his wife's ears and + concentrated powerful blue rays on the other side. Five minutes of + exposure made no impression on the paper; it remained white. But + when he squeezed all the blood out of the lobe, by pressing it + between two pieces of glass, the paper was blackened in twenty + seconds. +</p> +<p> + That night Finsen knew that he had within his grasp that which would + make him a rich man if he so chose. He had only to construct + apparatus to condense the chemical rays and double their power many + times, and to apply his discovery in medical practice. Wealth and + fame would come quickly. He told the writer in his own simple way + how he talked it over with his wife. They were poor. Finsen's salary + as a teacher at the university was something like $1200 a year. He + was a sick man, and wealth would buy leisure and luxury. Children + were growing up about them who needed care. They talked it out + together, and resolutely turned their backs upon it all. Hand in + hand they faced the world with their sacrifice. What remained of + life to him was to be devoted to suffering mankind. That duty done, + what came they would meet together. Wealth never came, but fame in + full measure, and the love and gratitude of their fellow-men. +</p> +<p> + There is a loathsome disease called lupus, of which, happily, in + America with our bright skies we know little. Lupus is the Latin + word for wolf, and the ravenous ailment is fitly named, for it + attacks by preference the face, and gnaws at the features, at nose, + chin, or eye, with horrible, torturing persistence, killing slowly, + while the patient shuts himself out from the world praying daily for + death to end his misery. +</p> +<p> + In the north of Europe it is sadly common, and there had never been + any cure for it. Ointments, burning, surgery—they were all equally + useless. Once the wolf had buried its fangs in its victim, he was + doomed to inevitable death. The disease is, in fact, tuberculosis of + the skin, and is the most dreadful of all the forms in which the + white plague scourges mankind—was, until one day Finsen announced + to the world his second discovery, that lupus was cured by the + simple application of light. +</p> +<p> + It was not a conjecture, a theory, like the red-light treatment for + smallpox; it was a fact. For two years he had been sending people + away whole and happy who came to him in despair. The wolf was + slain, and by this silent sufferer whose modest establishment was + all contained within a couple of small shanties in a corner of the + city hospital grounds, at Copenhagen. +</p> +<p> + There was a pause of amazed incredulity. The scientific men did not + believe it. Three years later, when the physician in charge of + Finsen's clinic told at the medical congress in Paris of the results + obtained at the Light Institute, his story was still received with a + polite smile. The smile became astonishment when, at a sign from + him, the door opened and twelve healed lupus patients came in, each + carrying a photograph of himself as he was before he underwent the + treatment. Still the doctors could not grasp it. The thing was too + simple as matched against all their futile skill. +</p> +<p> + But the people did not doubt. There was a rush from all over Europe + to Copenhagen. Its streets became filled with men and women whose + faces were shrouded in heavy bandages, and it was easy to tell the + new-comers from those who had seen "the professor." They came in + gloom and misery; they went away carrying in their faces the + sunshine that gave them back their life. Finsen never tired, when + showing friends over his Institute, of pointing out the joyous + happiness of his patients. It was his reward. For not "science for + science's sake," or pride in his achievement, was his aim and + thought, but just the wish to do good where he could. Then, in three + more years, they awarded him the great Nobel prize for signal + service to humanity, and criticism was silenced. All the world + applauded. +</p> +<p> + "They gave it to me this year," said Finsen, with his sad little + smile, "because they knew that next year it would have been too + late." And he prophesied truly. He died nine months later. +</p> +<p> + All that is here set down seems simple enough. But it was achieved + with infinite toil and patience, by the most painstaking + experiments, many times repeated to make sure. In his method of + working Finsen was eminently conservative and thorough. Nothing + "happened" with him. There was ever behind his doings a definite + purpose for which he sought a way, and the higher the obstacles + piled up the more resolutely he set his teeth and kept right on. + "The thing is not in itself so difficult," he said, when making + ready for his war upon the wolf, "but the road is long and the + experiments many before we find the right way." +</p> +<p> + He took no new step before he had planted his foot firmly in the one + that went before; but once he knew where he stood, he did not + hesitate to question any scientific dogma that opposed him, always + in his own quiet way, backed by irrefutable facts. In a remarkable + degree he had the faculty of getting down through the husk to the + core of things, but he rejected nothing untried. The little thing in + hand, he ever insisted, if faithfully done might hold the key to the + whole problem; only let it be done <i>now</i> to get the matter settled. +</p> +<p> + Whatever his mind touched it made perfectly clear, if it was not so + already. As a teacher of anatomy he invented a dissecting knife that + was an improvement on those in use, and clamps for securing the + edges of a wound in an operation. As a rifle shot he made an + improved breech; as a physician, observing the progress of his own + disease, an effective blood powder for anæmia. At the Light + Institute, which friends built for him, and the government endowed, + he devised the powerful electric lamps to which he turned in the + treatment of lupus, for the sun does not shine every day in + Copenhagen; and when it did not, the lenses that gathered the blue + rays and concentrated them upon the swollen faces were idle. And + gradually he increased their power, checking the heat rays that + would slip through and threatened to scorch the patient's skin, by + cunning devices of cooling streams trickling through the tubes and + the hollow lenses. +</p> +<p> + Nothing was patented; it was all given freely to the world. The + decision which he and his wife made together was made once for all. + When the great Nobel prize was given to him he turned it over to the + Light Institute, and was with difficulty persuaded to keep half of + it for himself only when friends raised an equal amount and + presented it to the Institute. +</p> +<p> + Finsen knew that his discoveries were but the first groping steps + upon a new road that stretched farther ahead than any man now living + can see. He was content to have broken the way. His faith was + unshaken in the ultimate treatment of the whole organism under + electric light that, by concentrating the chemical rays, would + impart to the body their life-giving power. He himself was beyond + their help. Daily he felt life slipping from him, but no word of + complaint passed his lips. He prescribed for himself a treatment + that, if anything, was worse than the disease. Only a man of iron + will could have carried it through. +</p> +<p> + A set of scales stood on the table before him, and for years he + weighed every mouthful of food he ate. He suffered tortures from + thirst because he would allow no fluid to pass his lips, on account + of his tendency to dropsy. Through it all he cheerfully kept up his + labors, rejoicing that he was allowed to do so much. His courage was + indomitable; his optimism under it all unwavering. His favorite + contention was that there is nothing in the world that is not good + for something, except war. That he hated, and his satire on the + militarism of Europe as its supreme folly was sharp and biting. +</p> +<p> + Of such quality was this extraordinary man of whom half the world + was talking while the fewest, even in his own home city, ever saw + him. Fewer still knew him well. It suited his temper and native + modesty, as it did the state of his bodily health, to keep himself + secluded. His motto was: "<i>bene vixit qui bene latuit</i>—he has + lived well who has kept himself well hidden"—and his contention was + always that in proportion as one could keep himself in the + background his cause prospered, if it was a good cause. When kings + and queens came visiting, he could not always keep in hiding, though + he often tried. On one of his days of extreme prostration the + dowager empress of Russia knocked vainly at his door. She pleaded so + hard to be allowed to see Dr. Finsen that they relented at last, and + she sat by his bed and wept in sympathy with his sufferings, while + he with his brave smile on lips that would twitch with pain did his + best to comfort her. She and Queen Alexandra, both daughters of King + Christian, carried the gospel of hope and healing from his study to + their own lands, and Light Institutes sprang up all over Europe. +</p> +<p> + In his own life he treated nearly nineteen hundred sufferers, + two-thirds of them lupus patients, and scarce a handful went from + his door unhelped. When his work was done he fell asleep with a + smile upon his lips, and the "universal judgment was one of + universal thanksgiving that he had lived." He was forty-three years + old. +</p> +<p> + When the news of his death reached the Rigsdag, the Danish + parliament, it voted his widow a pension such as had been given to + few Danes in any day. The king, his sons and daughters, and, as it + seemed, the whole people followed his body to the grave. The rock + from his native island marks the place where he lies. His work is + his imperishable monument. His epitaph he wrote himself in the + speech another read when the Nobel prize was awarded him, for he was + then too ill to speak. +</p> +<p> + "May the Light Institute grasp the obligation that comes with its + success, the obligation to maintain what I account the highest aim + in science—truth, faithful work, and sound criticism." +</p> +<br> +<a name="note-15"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="fnote"><a href="#15"> +<sup>1</sup></a> The autopsy which he himself ordered on his death-bed + as his last contribution to medical knowledge, showed it to be a + slow ossification of the membrane of the heart, involving the liver + and all the vital organs. He was "tapped" for dropsy more than + twenty times. +</p> + +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERO TALES OF THE FAR NORTH***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 12481-h.txt or 12481-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/8/12481">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/8/12481</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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