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

EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SWEDEN. 25
country, and by their own self-devised forms of
worship, by mortgages, sales, and other contrivances, heaped up riches so that the Crown and
nobles had scarce a third part of what the priests,
monks, churches, and cloisters had. " It is estimated
that nearly twenty thousand farms and homesteads
were taken from the Church, and restored to the
heirs of the donors, transferred to the Crown, or
appropriated to charitable purposes.
The work in Sweden was a reformation rather
than a revolution, and advanced by gradual steps.
The Papal party struggled long for their privileges. The Jesuits labored hard to restore the
ancient order, and at one time with a fair prospect
of success. But at length, on the 25th of February, 1593, the Council of TUpsala met at the call
of Charles, Duke of Sudermania, acting Regent
during the absence of King Sigismund. The
Council declared that the confession of the Swedish Church consisted of the Holy Scriptures, the
Apostles', the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds,
and the Augsburg Confession. All of the Council
arose and declared that they would abide by this
Confession, and be ready for it to stake their lives
and blood. On this, the President of the Council,
Nicolaus Olai Bothniensis, exclaimed with a loud
voice: "Now is Sweden become one man, and we
have all one Lord and one God.'
Thus was completed, for the Swedish people, one
of the chapters of their religious history.
3