Gustavus, who possessed in a high degree those gifts of great men which make a look or a word enough to persuade men, saw that his first duty was to pacify the people. According to the custom of newly elected kings, he took what was called _Eric’s road_, and, making a progress through all the provinces of his kingdom, he appeared everywhere like a father full of love, even for the least of his subjects. He counselled the ecclesiastics to preach the Gospel with meekness, and the flocks to put it in practice. A storm had passed over Sweden, but the presence of Gustavus was like the beneficent sun which lifts up the drooping grass and restores vigor to the blasted trees. [Sidenote: Olaf’s Marriage.] The ministers, on their part, sought to enlighten men’s minds; and while Olaf preached the Gospel with power and boldness, his colleague proclaimed it with prudence and meekness. Discourses and dogmas were not enough. Olaf aimed at morality, at a Christian life; and thought that it was his duty to begin with the heads of the churches, who rejected marriage, and had formed for the most part illicit connections. In his view it was a necessity to substitute for an impure celibacy the holy institution divinely established from the beginning of the world. He knew that such a course would give rise to interminable complaints; but nothing could hinder him when the question was one of obedience to a command of God. He determined to do as Luther did. He made sure of the king’s approval; and on Septuagesima Sunday, in January, 1525, he married a virtuous lady belonging to a Christian family of Stockholm. The ceremony, at which the king was present, was conducted, contrary to the usual practice, in the Swedish language. This marriage afforded the priests an opportunity of raising a great storm.[416] Because a reformer had obeyed a command of God, they cried out at his impiety: ‘All rule is abolished,’ they said, ‘public order is at an end, and the most holy things are trodden under foot.’