Excerpt from Bishop Gilbert Burnet's letter to a friend, dated November 28/December 8 (New Style), 1685

Source:

Some Letters Containing an Account of what Seemed Most Remarkable in Switzerland, Italy, &c., pages 211 to 212, written by Bishop Gilbert Burnet, 1687

https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh5lAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=burnet+letters+from+italy+1687&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The letter excerpt:

From Rome, the 8th, of December, 1685.

... At the Queen of Swedens, all that relateth to Germany or the North is ever to be found, and that Princess that must ever reign among all that have a true taste either of wit and learning, hath still in her drawing Rooms the best Court of the strangers, and her civility, together with the vast variety with which she furnisheth her conversation, maketh her to be the chief of all the living rarities that one sees in Rome; I will not use her own word to my self, which was, that she now grew to be one of the Antiquities of Rome. ...

With modernised spelling:

From Rome, the 8th of December 1685.

... At the Queen of Sweden's, all that relateth to Germany or the North is ever to be found, and that princess that must ever reign among all that have a true taste either of wit and learning hath still in her drawing rooms the best court of the strangers; and her civility, together with the vast variety with which she furnisheth her conversation, maketh her to be the chief of all the living rarities that one sees in Rome. I will not use her own word to myself, which was that she now grew to be one of the antiquities of Rome. ...

French translation (my own):

De Rome, le 8 décembre 1685.

... Chez la reine de Suède, on trouve toujours tout ce qui concerne l'Allemagne ou le Septentrion, et cette princesse qui doit toujours régner parmi tous ceux qui ont le vrai goût de l'esprit et du savoir a encore dans ses salons la meilleure cour des étrangers; et sa civilité, ainsi que la grande variété avec laquelle elle fournit sa conversation, en font la principale de toutes les raretés vivantes qu'on voit à Rome. Je ne me servirai pas de ses propres mots, à savoir qu'elle est désormais devenue l'une des antiquités de Rome.

Swedish translation (my own):

Från Rom, den 8 december 1685.

... Hos drottningen av Sverige finns alltid allt som har med Tyskland eller Norden att göra, och den prinsessan som alltid måste regera bland alla som har en sann smak antingen av kvickhet och lärdom har fortfarande i sina salonger det bästa hov av främlingar; och hennes artighet, tillsammans med den enorma variation med vilken hon förser sitt samtal, gör henne till den främsta av alla levande rariteter som man ser i Rom. Jag skall inte använda hennes eget ord för mig själv, som var att hon nu blivit en av Roms antikviteter. ...

Above: Kristina.

Above: Bishop Gilbert Burnet.