f his forces, and
receiving the allegiance of the people. His practice, as far as
possible, seems to have been to use persuasion, and only when that
failed did he resort to force. This method proved successful in a
marvellous degree. One after another the provinces recognized him as
their leader; and on the 14th of July we find him issuing a proclamation
as commander of five provinces, named in the order of their declaration
of allegiance. His greatest difficulty at this time was in finding the
means with which to pay his men. Possessing no authority to levy taxes,
he was often forced to close the mouths of his clamoring soldiers by
allowing them to plunder. The great body of his army was of course made
up of Swedes. These were fighting for the welfare of their wives and
children, and were content if he provided them only with the necessities
of life. The mercenaries whom he employed were few. One of them, a tough
old warrior named Rensel, has left us a chronicle of his life. He tells
us he came over from Livonia in the winter of 1521, and was among the
four thousand German veterans that counted on entering Stockholm in the
spring. Gustavus sent him back to the Continent for more men and
ammunition; and when he returned in July of that year, he brought back
sixty mercenaries with him. In August Gustavus made an inspection of
the camp at Stegeborg. While there, he learned that the Bishop of
Linkoeping was more than half minded to join the patriot cause. This
bishop, Hans Brask, was a man of rare shrewdness, excellent
common-sense, and as time-serving as any man in Europe. He had strong
convictions, but he always looked to see how the wind was blowing before
he spoke them out. He had, among others, signed the decree for the
demolition of Staeket, but had taken the precaution to place under his
seal a slip of paper declaring that he affixed his signature perforce,
and when his fellows were brought out to be beheaded, he removed the
seal; by this little bit of Romanism he saved his head and the
emoluments of his priestly office. To this man Gustavus wrote in August,
asking for a conference. The aspect of the heavens was not such as to
justify the wily bishop in refusing. The continued brutality of Didrik
Slagheck had raised such a storm of indignation in the country, that his
own followers had found it necessary, on June 16, to hurry him out of
Sweden, and announce that they had thrown him into jail. Nearly all of
Sweden, ex