Protestantism in Sweden and Denmark - James Aitken Wylie

overtaken by the Divine vengeance. You have cast
down the altars, defaced the images, and desecrated
the temples of the true religion, and now the hand
of God is stretched out to chastise you for your
impiety."[7] It was unfortunate, however, for this
interpretation that these Inundations swallowed up
the house and field of Romanist and of Protestant
alike. And, further, it seemed to militate against
this theory that the occurrence of these calamities
had been simultaneous with the apparent return of
the country to the old faith. There were not wanting
those who regarded these events with a
superstitious fear; but to the majority they brought
a discipline to faith, and a stimulus to effort. In two
years the sky again cleared over the Protestant
cause, and also over the country of Denmark. The
eldest son of Frederick, whose hearty attachment to
Protestantism had already been sufficiently proved
by his reforming measures in Holstein and
Schleswig, was elected to the throne (July, 1534),
and began to reign under the title of Christian III.
The newly-elected sovereign found that he had
first to conquer his kingdom. It was in the hands of
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