the Cabinet and nobility whether they were
satisfied with the answer. As none seemed eager to defend the monarch's
cause, Gustavus took the floor himself and said: "I have no further
desire, then, to be your king. Verily I had not counted on such
treatment at your hands. I now no longer wonder at the perversity of the
people, since they have such men as you for their advisers. Have they no
rain? They lay the blame on me. Have they no sun? Again they lay the
blame on me. When hard times come, hunger, disease, or whatever it may
be, they charge me with it, as if I were not man, but God. This is your
gratitude to me for bringing corn and rye and malt at great expense and
trouble from foreign lands, that the poor of Sweden might not starve.
Yea, though I labor for you with my utmost power both in spiritual and
in temporal affairs, you would gladly see the axe upon my neck; nay, you
would be glad to strike the blow yourselves. I have borne more labor and
trouble both at home and abroad than any of you can know or
understand,--and all because I am your king. You would now set monks and
priests and all the creatures of the pope above my head, though we have
little need of these mighty bishops and their retinue. In a word, you
all would lord it over me; and yet you elected me your king. Who under
such circumstances would desire to govern you? Not the worst wretch in
hell would wish the post, far less any man. Therefore I, too, refuse to
be your king. I cast the honor from me, and leave you free to choose him
whom you will. If you can find one who will continue ever to please you,
I shall be glad. Be so considerate, however, as to let me leave the
land. Pay me for my property in the kingdom, and return to me what I
have expended in your service. Then I declare to you I will withdraw
never to return to my degenerate, wretched, and thankless native
land."[158]

After this burst of passion, the monarch strode in anger from the hall.
He had studied his position well, and knew that his opponents in the end
must yield. No sooner had he left the meeting than his secretary rose
and sought to bring the members to the monarch's views. "My good men,"
he began, "let us arrive at some conclusion in this matter, seeking aid
from God. It is a weighty question that we are to answer, and one upon
which hangs the welfare of our people. You heard the king say truly
there were but two courses open. One was to follow his request,
imploring him to b