In crises of this kind there is one man predestined to save his countrymen. In this case it was the noble Magnus Gjoë. He rose and argued before the Diet that if the crown had been unhesitatingly given to the eldest son of the deceased king, the great calamities which now overwhelmed the kingdom would have been averted. He added that the only means of saving it at this hour was a speedy recourse to that prince. ‘Most honorable lords,’ said he, ‘the salvation of our country now depends upon the resolution which you are about to adopt.’ All the lay members applauded this speech and proposed that without delay they should call the duke to the throne of his father. But the prelates were indifferent to any calamities but their own. ‘The safety of the Church,’ they said, ‘forbids our making choice of a heretical prince.’ Violent debates now began. It was to no purpose that representations were made to the priests that they were risking the sacrifice of the country to their idle chimeras; their obstinacy only grew stronger. While there was one assembly within the hall, there was a far more numerous one outside. An immense crowd surrounded the Diet and waited impatiently to see whether the country was to be saved or lost. They pressed about the doors to learn the result of the deliberations and wondered that they did not come to an end. Ere long, suspecting what happened, these impatient men made their way into the hall and exclaimed that it would not do to wait till the enemy fell upon those who were still able to defend their country before appointing the only leader who could save them. They asserted that the caprice of the bishops had already cost the loss of half the kingdom, and declared that if the duke was not that instant elected, those who opposed it should pay dear for their resistance. The prelates began to tremble. They sat silent, gloomy, and irresolute. Dread, however, of the tyrant’s return brought them to a decision. They stammered out some excuses, they spoke of their zeal for religion, and they added that if the nobles were determined to elect the duke, they had only to do so on their own responsibility; that as for themselves they would be content with the receipt of their tithes and the maintenance of their own privileges and those of their Church. No sooner had they spoken than the young Christian was proclaimed king by the Diet; and the multitudes within and without the hall responded to the announcement of this election with acclamations of joy. It was on the 4th July, 1534, that this important step was taken. Footnote 329: