first, it does
not specify the amount which each particular church must furnish; and,
secondly, it distinctly states that the sums handed over are to be
deemed as loans, which he will duly acknowledge and ultimately pay in
full. In his letter to Brask, on the contrary, the exact amount for
which the bishop must be responsible is named, and no definite promise
is given to repay it. The document seems part of a deliberate plan to
crush the power of the crafty bishop. This Brask noticed, and in his
reply adverted to a suspicion lest for some reason he had incurred the
king's displeasure, which he would willingly avert. The simplest mode of
averting the king's displeasure would have been a speedy compliance with
the king's demand. For this, however, Brask had little relish. So
Gustavus, two weeks later, wrote again. "We are much surprised," he
said, "that you show no more concern while a weight like this rests upon
the kingdom. The amount which we must raise without a moment's delay is
two hundred thousand guilders, and the Lubeck ambassadors refuse
point-blank to depart unless they take that sum with them. If they don't
get it we fear open war, which God forbid! Therefore, by the allegiance
which you owe us and the realm, we exhort you, send the four hundred
marks' weight without delay." Even this appeal had no immediate effect,
and after two weeks more he sent Brask another despatch. "The Lubeck
ambassadors," wrote the king, "will not leave us till they get the money
which we owe in Lubeck,--a vast sum. It is, therefore, of necessity that
we lay this tax upon the churches and monasteries. Strain every nerve to
obtain some relief for us in your diocese, especially from your churches
and monasteries; the clergy we shall spare for the present." The bishop
finally complied, though with an ill grace; and on the 10th of August we
find Gustavus writing that he has so far satisfied the demands of Lubeck
that her ambassadors have parted from him on good terms.[81]

The tax had been collected, though not without much friction. It had
found the people in an irritable temper, and it had left them more
irritable still. The ruin which the war had caused was visible on every
hand, and the blessings that were expected to follow were not so easily
discerned. During two years the fields had been lying fallow, commerce
had steadily declined, and the people were actually suffering for food.
Stockholm had been rendered desolate. Its population