Gustavus meant to take Spelter, in Marienburg, which he had conquered from the Prussians. One of his generals was prematurely attacked by the Imperial forces, and his division seemed near destruction, when Gustavus hastened to his assistance. In the midst of rout and loss, he was in danger of being made a prisoner by one of the enemy's cavalry. His hat was knocked off and a sword grazed his head. On the other side he was seized by the arm, when a Swedish dragoon killed his assailants, and led the king's horse to another part of the field. Gustavus was deeply grateful to God for sparing his life, and more than once said in substance: "God has given me a crown, not to dread or rest, but to devote my life to His glory and to the happiness of my subjects." Wherever he went he expelled the Jesuits, and required the governors of the conquered countries to restore to the Protestants the places of worship which the Catholics had taken from them. He admonished the Protestant clergy to preach the plain gospel, to administer the communion, using both bread and wine, and he insisted that the clergy should see that the people led honest, godly lives, consistent with the faith they professed. He provided that a synod should meet each year to consult as to church affairs, in order to provide common schools for the people, and also for the higher education of the youth of the country. The following great principles, showing that Sweden was in advance of other nations in securing the rights of the citizen, and limiting the rights of the crown, were incorporated in the king's oath, and placed on the statute books. No one should be apprehended or condemned upon a mere assertion, or without knowing his accuser and being brought face to face with him in a fair trial. No man was to be degraded from office without a fair trial. The land's law provided that, without the consent of the people, neither a law should be made, nor a tax imposed, without the consent of the council and of the Estates. It took the combined authority of Duke John (during his life), of the council and of the Estates, to endorse the wish of the king to make war, peace, a truce or an alliance with a foreign nation. Think how this law safeguarded the rights of the people in a century when great absolutism prevailed. Under Gustavus the council was reinstated in its position as mediator between king and people, as the Estates deprecated their being burdened with too frequent Diets or Congresses. The oath taken by Gustavus had eliminated that part which forbade the king to alienate or diminish the property of the crown. One of the first things Gustavus did was to sell the gold and silver plate and all the jewels of the royal family he could obtain. Many of the nobility did the same to provide money for his wars.