Zigzag Journeys in Northern Lands by Hezekiah Butterworth (fiction books to read .txt) 📕
Gentleman Jo took a story-telling attitude, and a number of the pupils gathered around him.
GENTLEMAN JO'S GHOST STORY.
I shall never forget the scene of excitement, when one morning Biddy, our domestic, entered the sitting-room, her head bobbing, her hair flying, and her cap perched upon the top of her head, and exclaimed: "Wurrah! I have seen a ghoust, and it's lave the hoose I must. Sich a night! I'd niver pass anither the like of it for the gift o' the hoose. Bad kick to ye, an' the hoose is haunted for sure."
"Why, Biddy, what have you seen?" asked my sister, in alarm.
"Seen? An' sure I didn't see nothin'. I jist shet me eyes and hid mesilf under the piller. But it was awful. An' the way it clanked its chain! O murther!"
This last remark was rather startling. Spirit
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After three years had passed, the second daughter, Maria Dagmar, who, like her sister Alexandra, was a very lovely and attractive girl, was married to the Czarowitch Alexander of Russia, after having been betrothed to his elder brother Nicholas, who died. She is now Empress of Russia.
PALACE OF FREDERICKSBORG.
Somewhat later, the eldest son of the Danish king married the only daughter of Oscar II., King of Sweden and Norway, thus forming a new link of national friendship between the three Scandinavian nations.
It is thus quite possible that in the not distant future no less than four of King Christian’s children, who were brought up with little more expectation than that of living respectably and wedding into Danish noble families, will occupy thrones in Europe. It may happen that the two daughters will share two of the greatest of those thrones,—that one will be Queen of England; the other is Empress of Russia,—while the two sons will be respectively King of Denmark and King of Greece.
This great good fortune, in a worldly point of view, which has come to the Danish royal family, cannot certainly be attributed solely, or even mainly, to luck or chance. It has been, after all, chiefly its virtues which have won it such a high position in Europe. The good breeding and excellent character of the king’s children have won for them the prominence they now hold; for the daughters are as womanly and virtuous as they are physically attractive, and the sons are models of manly bearing and irreproachable habits.
THE STORY OF A KING WHO WAS PUT INTO A BAG.“His realm was once a cradle, and now it is a coffin,” might be said of the most powerful monarch that ever lived. Kings are but human, and they are pitiable objects indeed when they fall from their high estate into the power of their enemies. Never did a king present a more humiliating spectacle in his fall than Valdemar II., called the Conqueror.
Under the early reign of this king, the Golden Age seemed to have returned to Denmark. Never was a young monarch more prosperous or glorious in so narrow a kingdom.
His empire grew. He annexed Pomerania. He wrested from the German Empire all the territories in their possession north of the Elbe and Elde, and he finally became the master of Northern Germany.
He was a champion of the Church. A papal bull conceded to him the sovereignty of all the people he might convert, and he entered the field against the pagans of Esthonia, with an army of 60,000 men, and 1,400 ships! He baptized the conquered with kingly pomp and pride.
His reign was now most splendid. Denmark was supreme in Scandinavia and Northern Germany. The Pope revered the Danish power, and the world feared it.
But secret foes are often more dangerous than open enemies. The conquered princes of Germany hated him, and planned his downfall.
Among these was the Count-Duke of Schwerin. He pretended great respect and affection for Valdemar. He laid many snares for the king’s ruin, but they failed. He was called “Black Henry” in his own country on account of his dark face and evil nature, and Valdemar had been warned against him as a false friend.
THE KING IN THE BAG.
But he was warm, obsequious, and fascinating to the king, and the king liked him.
In the spring of 1233 Valdemar invited him to hunt with him in the woods of Lyo.
“Tell the king I am disabled and cannot leave my couch,” said the artful count, who now thought of a way to accomplish his long-cherished purpose.
He left his couch at once, and sent his spies to shadow the king.
The king landed at Lyo with only a few attendants.
One night the king was sleeping in the woods of Lyo in a rude, unguarded tent. His son was by his side.
They were awaked from slumber by an assault from unknown foes, and a sense of suffocation.
What had happened? The king could not move his arms; his head seemed enveloped in cloth. He could not see; his voice was stifled. He felt himself carried away.
Black Henry had entered the tent with his confidants, and had put the King of the North and his son into two bags, and tied them up, and was now hurrying away with them to the river.
Black Henry laid his two captives in the bottom of a boat like two logs, and hoisted sail; and Valdemar, whose kingdom was now only a bag, was blown away towards the German coast.
He was thrown into prison, and there lived in darkness and neglect. The Pope ordered his release, but it was not heeded. The Danes tried to rescue him, but were defeated.
He was at last set free on the agreement that he should pay a large ransom. He returned to his kingdom, but found his territory reduced to its old narrow limits. His glory was gone. His empire had been the North; it had also been a bag; and at last it was a coffin. Poor old man! His last years were peaceful, and in them he served Denmark well.
CHAPTER XVI. NORWAY.Stockholm.—Story of the Hero King.—Upsala.—Norway.—Christiania.—King Olaf.—Drontheim.—The Fisherman of Faroe.
THE narrative of travel and history was continued by Mr. Beal.
“Strange is the evolution of cities.
“We are about to glance at Stockholm. Let us go back in imagination six hundred years.
“There are some rocky islands in the Baltic, at the foot of the northern peninsula. Sea birds wheel above them in the steel-gray air; they build their nests there. Storms sweep over these lonely islands; sunlight bursts upon them, and now and then a Viking’s ship finds a haven among them, and scares away the birds.
“Years pass. Fishermen build huts on the islands. Hunters come there. There come also the sea kings. A mixed, strange people.
“They build a village on the holms, or islets. They defend themselves with stockades, and they found on stocks, or beams, their strong houses. The growing town rises from stock holms; hence, Stockholm.
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
“The years pass, and the sea birds fly away. There are wings of gables where once were wings of birds. Stockholm becomes a fortress, and, as in the case of St. Petersburg in recent times, the sea desolation pulses with life and energy, and is transformed into a city. Churches, palaces, gardens, arise. Battles are fought, and here tread the feet of kings.
“The wonder grows. The birds scream far away now. The islands are spanned by bridges. Stockholm stands a splendid city, one of the crowns of earth.
“The city lies before us. Noble structures, villas, steeples, are seen among the green trees. The ships of many flags lie together like a town in the sea.
“It is sunset. The tops of the linden-trees are crowned with sunlight, the Gothic windows burn. A shadow falls from the gray sky. Afar fly the white sea-gulls. The shadow deepens. It is night. We are in Stockholm.
“Every nation has its hero.
“You have been told how that poor Louis le Debonnaire, the son of Charlemagne, preferred to win crowns for Christ’s kingdom rather than for his own. He lost his own kingdom; but the missionaries he sent forth, though at first not successful, were the means of giving Christianity to all the nations of the North.
THE HERO KING OF SWEDEN.There was born in Stockholm, in 1594, an heir to the Swedish throne, whose influence was destined to be felt throughout the world and to very distant periods of time. The child was named Gustavus Adolphus.
He was educated for the kingdom. At the age of ten he was made to attend the sittings of the Diet and the councils of state. In boyhood he was able to discuss state affairs in Latin, and in youth he was able to speak nearly all European tongues.
He was schooled in the arts of war as well as peace. In early manhood he entered Russia at the head of an army, and compelled the Czar to sue for peace.
After the war the young king gave his whole heart to the development of the industries and institutions of his kingdom. He founded schools, assisted churches, and everywhere multiplied influences for good. Never did a monarch devote himself more earnestly to the improvement of his people, or accomplish more in a short time. His influence for good has ever lived in Sweden, and is felt strongly to-day.
He was an ardent Protestant. The Catholic powers of the South and the Protestant powers of the North had become very hostile, and war between them seemed impending. In this crisis the Protestant leaders looked to Gustavus Adolphus as the champion of their cause.
In 1630 Gustavus called a Diet in Stockholm, and reported the danger that was threatening the Protestant states of Germany, and which would involve Sweden unless checked. He announced that he had decided to espouse the cause of the German princes, and to enter the field. He took his little daughter in his arms, and commended her to the Diet as the heir to the crown.
He landed in Germany on Midsummer’s day in 1630. He had an army of fifteen thousand men. It was a small army indeed for so perilous an undertaking. “Cum Deo et victricibus armis is my motto,” he declared, and trusting in this watchword he advanced on his dangerous course.
The Imperialists, as the foes of the Reformed Faith were called, were led by Wallenstein. They were greatly superior in numbers to the Swedes and their allies.
At Lutzen the great battle of Protestantism was fought, Nov. 6, 1632.
“I truly believe that the Lord has given my enemies into my hands,” said Gustavus, just before the battle.
The morning dawned gray and gloomy. A heavy mist hung over the two armies.
The Swedish and German army united in singing Luther’s hymn,—
Then Gustavus said,—
“Let us sing ‘Christ our Salvation.’”
DEATH OF GUSTAVUS AND HIS PAGE.
Although the foe’s fierce battle-shock,
Loud on all sides, assail thee.
Though o’er thy fall they laugh secure,
Their triumph cannot long endure;
Let not thy courage fail thee.
And to his hand commit thy all;
Fear thou no ill impending:
His Gideon shall arise for thee,
God’s Word and people manfully,
In God’s own time, defending.
Against themselves the godless fight,
Themselves, not us, distressing;
Shame and contempt their lot shall be;
God is with us, with him are we:
To us belongs his blessing.”
Clad in his overcoat without armor, he mounted his horse and rode along the lines.
“The enemy is within your reach,” he said to the allies.
“Swedes,” he said to his old army, “if you fight as I expect of you, you shall have your reward; if not, not a bone of your bodies will ever return to Sweden.”
To the Germans he said,—
“If you fail me to-day, your religion, your freedom, and your welfare in this world and in the next are lost.”
He prophesied to the Germans,—
“Trust in God; believe that with his help you may this day gain a victory which shall profit your latest descendants.”
He waved his drawn sword over his head and advanced.
The Swedes and Finns responded with cheers and the clash of arms.
“Jesus, Jesus, let us fight this day for thy name,” he
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