e our leader hereafter as heretofore; the other was to
choose the king's successor." But the delegates continued silent, and
adjourned toward evening without putting the question to a vote.[159]

During three whole days the deadlock lasted. From the inactivity of the
king's adherents, it would seem that they were acting according to
advice. Gustavus wished to force his enemies' hand. It was clear to
everybody that the blessings conferred by him on Sweden were beyond all
praise, and he was confident that no one would be rash enough to talk
seriously about selecting another for the throne. His object was to wait
until the patience of his enemies was exhausted, in the hope that
ultimately the offer of a compromise should come from them. If such
methods of procedure are to be allowed, it must be granted that the
monarch's policy was shrewd. During the three days following his stormy
action in the diet, he kept himself in the castle, entertaining his
trusty courtiers and feigning utter indifference to what was going on
outside. On the very day after his withdrawal, this independent policy
began to tell. The bishop of Strengnaes was apparently the first to
waver. He appreciated the folly of longer holding out against the king,
and rose to say that he regarded such a step as fraught with danger.
Something must be done, he said, without delay. To put aside Gustavus
and elect another king was simply childish, and to buy up all his
property would be impossible. While he wished the clergy's rights to be
protected, he asked for nothing that would be a detriment to the realm.
Matters in general were now improving, and the future apparently was
bright. If Gustavus should be permitted to withdraw, nations that had
ever coveted the kingdom would no longer leave it unmolested. The effect
of these words was in a measure lost through a wrangle that ensued
between Laurentius Petri and the Papist champion, Peder Galle. What they
were fighting over, no one knew, for Petri made his argument in Swedish
for the benefit of the people, and Galle would not answer in anything
but Latin. Nothing had been accomplished, therefore, when the
disputation ceased. And the morning and the evening were the second
day.[160]

When the diet once more came together, the battle opened with
replenished strength. By this time the peasantry and burghers had pretty
generally sided with the king, and threats were heard that, if the
knights persisted in their stubborn