in direct opposition to
the promise made by Gustavus that he would drive out foreign power.
This evil, however, was but slight, in comparison with others that the
people had to bear. In plain English, they were starving. The
long-protracted war with Denmark, followed by the brutal piracies of
Norby, had so reduced the supply of necessaries, particularly salt, that
few except the rich were able to get enough to stay their hunger. Hoping
to allay the people's indignation in these matters, Gustavus called a
meeting of his Cabinet in October, summoning at the same time two
Linkoeping burghers to advise the Cabinet as to the best methods of
improving trade. It is worthy of note, however, that though the meeting
was expressly announced to be called for the purpose of improving trade,
the documents describing the debate are devoted almost wholly to a
consideration of methods to augment the royal funds. The king, it seems,
came forward with a suggestion that, since he was likely soon to marry,
some, provision should be made for adding to his income, and some steps
be taken to reimburse him for the sums advanced by him to carry on the
war. What he particularly wanted was the right to fix, according to his
own judgment, the amount of rents to be paid by crown estates. He
suggested, further, that, since the pope would not confirm the bishops
till they paid their fees, his coronation should be delayed no longer,
but the bishops should perform the ceremony without the papal sanction.
He recommended also that, there being no satisfactory place in which to
keep the Swedish cavalry, they be quartered in the various monasteries,
"where," he added, "we find plenty of money, but very few monks." As to
Hoya, he requested the Cabinet's sanction of the proposed marriage,
shrewdly intimating that while he favored citizens of Germany, he
believed no marriage between a Swede and Dane should be allowed. The
answer which the Cabinet made to these proposals shows traces of a
feeble opposition along with a manifest endeavor to accommodate the
king. First of all, the Cabinet advised the king to appoint a few of the
most intelligent and able debaters in the realm to represent the cause
of Sweden at the congress to be held next year in Lubeck; and in
accordance with this suggestion the king named Hoya, and the new
archbishop, Johannes Magni. Regarding the matter of conferring fiefs on
Hoya, the Cabinet yielded to the king's desire. "Though the law
decl