The Thirty Years' War - James Aitken Wylie

characteristics and qualities of a true hero. This
explains why he called forth enthusiasm where it
had been for many decades unknown -- why he
succeeded in kindling men's minds for ideas which
had been engulfed in the miseries of the times.
Sacred things were no idle sport with him."[2]
Having resolved to present himself on the great
arena, in the faith of uplifting a cause which
already appeared almost utterly ruined, Gustavus
Adolphus, "like a dying man," says Gfrorer, "set
his house in order," by making arrangements for
the defense and government of his kingdom in his
absence. On the 20th of May, 1630, he assembled
the Diet at Stockholm, to bid the States a solemn
farewell."[3] Taking in his arms his infant daughter
Christina, then only five years old,[4] he presented
her to the assembled nobles and deputies, who
swore fidelity to her as their sovereign, in the event
of her royal father failing on the battle-field. The
touching spectacle melted all present into tears, and
the emotion of the king was so great that it was
some time before he was able to proceed in his
farewell address to the States.
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