The loss of troops had been heavy on either side, amounting to about 6,000 men altogether, or about one-third of the whole number of men engaged in the battle. The excitement was so great on both sides that no prisoners were made. The corpse of Gustavus Adolphus, bruised and mangled, was found during the night under a heap of dead soldiers. A large monumental stone, with inscription, now marks the spot where the hero king lost his life. The Gustavus Adolphus Society of Germany is a living monument to his memory. CHAPTER XI _Period of Political Grandeur--Queen Christine_ Christine was six years old when she succeeded her father. Her armies stood scattered through foreign lands, surrounded by enemies and faithless allies. Her country was covered with glory, but in direst distress. The most remarkable aspect of her father’s greatness now was to become apparent. Gustavus Adolphus had left behind men whom he had educated as statesmen, and generals capable of bringing his work to a successful end. First among the former was the state chancellor, _Axel Oxenstierna_, the friend and adviser of the hero king. He managed to keep the Swedish allies together and to establish harmony and unity of action between the Swedish commanders, supplying funds to carry on the war and strengthening the government at home with his courage and his wisdom. Oxenstierna was a statesman of considerable power before the death of the king; after it he grows in grandeur to carry the burden of unlimited responsibility placed on his shoulders. His coolness and dignity were a source of constant irritation to Richelieu, who said there was “something Gothic and a good deal of Finnish” about his proceedings in diplomatic affairs, while Mazarin said that if all the statesmen of his time were to be put aboard of one vessel, Oxenstierna should be placed at the helm. The great chancellor always upheld the dignity of his country. When French diplomatists forgot themselves thus far as to use, in correspondence, their own language, instead of Latin, the recognized language of diplomacy in that day, Axel Oxenstierna gave instructions that they should be answered in Swedish.