The Baptists in Sweden. By Mrs. M.F. Anderson ...

12 THE BAPTISTS IN SWEDEN.
France, the son of Charlemagne, that this mission
was undertaken. On the arrival of the missionary,
he was welcomed by the king, who informed his
council of the object which Ansgarius had in view.
They gave him liberty to remain and prosecute his
labors unmolested in the kingdom. It is said that
several of the nobility were baptized, and that the
prospects of the missionary were for a season quite
encouraging.
But, among the people, there was still strong
opposition to be overcome. The Swedes clung
earnestly to their own religion, and were opposed
to any change. Moreover, many of the Saxons who
had been driven out from Germany when Charlemagne, by fire and sword, endeavored to convert
them to Christianity, had fled to the nations of the
north. They naturally bore with them a deep
hatred to their conqueror, and to the religion
which he had forced upon them. Their influence,
of course, was exerted to hinder the work of Ansgarius. Accordingly, four years later, when Biorn
was dethroned by his people, and driven out of his
kingdom, and a new monarch seated in his place, a
terrible persecution was experienced by the propagators and disciples of the new faith. It is said,
by some writers, that the haughty and overbearing
deportment of the missionaries who had come in,
after Ansgarius left, was a prominent cause of this
outbreak of popular fury.
In the year 860, when Ansgarius returned to