After this burst of passion, the monarch strode in anger from the hall. He had studied his position well, and knew that his opponents in the end must yield. No sooner had he left the meeting than his secretary rose and sought to bring the members to the monarch's views. "My good men," he began, "let us arrive at some conclusion in this matter, seeking aid from God. It is a weighty question that we are to answer, and one upon which hangs the welfare of our people. You heard the king say truly there were but two courses open. One was to follow his request, imploring him to be our leader hereafter as heretofore; the other was to choose the king's successor." But the delegates continued silent, and adjourned toward evening without putting the question to a vote.[159] During three whole days the deadlock lasted. From the inactivity of the king's adherents, it would seem that they were acting according to advice. Gustavus wished to force his enemies' hand. It was clear to everybody that the blessings conferred by him on Sweden were beyond all praise, and he was confident that no one would be rash enough to talk seriously about selecting another for the throne. His object was to wait until the patience of his enemies was exhausted, in the hope that ultimately the offer of a compromise should come from them. If such methods of procedure are to be allowed, it must be granted that the monarch's policy was shrewd. During the three days following his stormy action in the diet, he kept himself in the castle, entertaining his trusty courtiers and feigning utter indifference to what was going on outside. On the very day after his withdrawal, this independent policy began to tell. The bishop of Strengnäs was apparently the first to waver. He appreciated the folly of longer holding out against the king, and rose to say that he regarded such a step as fraught with danger. Something must be done, he said, without delay. To put aside Gustavus and elect another king was simply childish, and to buy up all his property would be impossible. While he wished the clergy's rights to be protected, he asked for nothing that would be a detriment to the realm. Matters in general were now improving, and the future apparently was bright. If Gustavus should be permitted to withdraw, nations that had ever coveted the kingdom would no longer leave it unmolested. The effect of these words was in a measure lost through a wrangle that ensued between Laurentius Petri and the Papist champion, Peder Galle. What they were fighting over, no one knew, for Petri made his argument in Swedish for the benefit of the people, and Galle would not answer in anything but Latin. Nothing had been accomplished, therefore, when the disputation ceased. And the morning and the evening were the second day.[160]