Source:
Christina, Queen of Sweden, pages 86 to 97, by Francis William Bain, 1890; original at the University of Connecticut Library
The account:
Christina had by this time attained a wide renown, and the French, by reason of this and her readiness to conciliate their goodwill, no less than by the embassy of De la Gardie, and his glowing descriptions of the Queen, were eager to gain a more accurate knowledge of her.
"To judge by the picture he gave us", says Mme. de Motteville, "she had neither the face nor the beauty nor the inclinations of her sex. Instead of making men die of love for her, she makes them die of shame and despair. .... She has no need of ministers, for she herself, young as she is, manages all alone. ... She afterwards caused the death of Descartes, by not approving his method of philosophising" (here, as not infrequently, Madame romances a little). "She wrote to the Queen, to Monsieur, uncle of the King, to the Duc d'Enghien, and the ministers, letters which I have seen, and which were admired for the graceful humour of the thoughts, the beauty of the style, and the ease she showed herself to possess in handling our language, with which, as with many others, she was familiar. People attributed to her all the cardinal virtues, placing her on a level with the most illustrious women of antiquity. All pens were employed in her praise; they said that the depths of science were for her what needle and distaff are for our sex. Fame", Madame aptly concludes, "is a great talker."
To satisfy the curiosity of the French, Chanut drew up her character, and sent it home; (her portrait, which they had asked for, Christina herself, as soon as she knew of it, undertook to send them). We have already spoken of Chanut. Pierre Chanut was a man of no ordinary stamp. To judge by the accounts we have of him, he appears to have been not unlike David Hume. It was not only by his deep studies and varied accomplishments that he attracted the attention of Christina — though his travels in Italy, Spain, England and the North of Europe, his knowledge, no superficial one, of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew (he could speak Italian, Spanish, English, Swedish), and his love of philosophy, in which he was a follower of Descartes — were well calculated to make an impression on her mind; but his calm wisdom, and the simplicity of his character, gained her confidence in an extraordinary degree. Richelieu said he knew of three men of pre-eminent capacity in affairs, and named Chanut as the first. Séguier said of him that he had never known a man who had more opportunities of making himself rich and powerful, who yet preferred the reputation of a good servant; if he had lived, said Oxenstiern, in ancient Greece or Rome, they would have erected a statue to him. He came to Sweden as French resident in 1644 [sic], and immediately exercised great influence on politics, through the Queen: we shall see in the sequel to what an extent she honoured him with her friendship.
"The fine qualities of the Queen of Sweden made at that time so great a noise throughout Europe, that their majesties ordered M. Chanut to send them a portrait of her: but as this portrait could make known only the exterior lineaments of the body, he sent them in advance one which represented not only the beauties of the body, but also the finest qualities of her mind: but as curious people might remark therein various defects, not existing in the original, he said, to excuse himself, that he never took the liberty of looking fixedly or attentively at the beauty of this princess; if, however, he might be permitted to trust to the report of another, he could assure them that the first time one looked at her[,] one saw not in her so much to wonder at as if one considered her more at leisure; he said that one portrait was not sufficient to paint her face, which was subject to such sudden changes, according to the various emotions of her soul, that it was not recognisable from one moment to another. Usually she appears somewhat pensive, yet passes easily and often to other expressions. Her face, whatever be the revolutions of her mind, yet retains always a certain agreeable serenity; though certainly if, as but rarely happens, she disapproves of what is said to her, a sort of cloud may be seen to spread over her face, which[,] without disfiguring her[,] yet causes terror in those who see it. The tone of her voice is as a rule very soft, and however firmly she pronounces her words, they are clearly recognised as those of a girl: sometimes, however, yet without affectation or apparent cause, she changes this tone for one stronger and louder than that of her sex, which little by little sinks back to its ordinary pitch. She is rather below the average height, which would not have been obvious, had this princess been willing to make use of shoes such as ladies are wont to wear; but, in order to be more at ease in her palace, or in walking or riding, she wears only shoes with a sole and little black heel similar to those of a man.
"If we may judge of the inside by the external signs, she has lofty opinions of the Deity, and a sincere attachment to Christianity; she does not approve, in ordinary scientific discourse, of leaving the doctrine of grace in order to philosophize after pagan fashion; what is not in harmony with the Gospel she considers as pure dreaming. She shows no bitterness in disputing on the differences between the Evangelicals and the Roman Catholics; she seems to be less anxious to gain insight into these difficulties than into those presented to us by philosophers, Jews and Gentiles. Her devotion to God appears in the confidence which she manifests in His protection, greater than in any other thing; for the rest, she is not scrupulous, and does not affect an outwardly pious ceremonial. Nothing is more constantly in her mind than an incredible love for a lofty virtue, wherein lies all her joy and delight: to this she joins an extreme passion for glory, and, as far as we can judge, her desire is for virtue coupled with honour. Sometimes it pleases her to speak, like the Stoics, of that 'platform of excellence' which constitutes our sovereign good in this life; she is marvellously strong on this subject, and when she is talking to persons with whom she is familiar, and begins to discuss the true estimate which we should make of the things of this world, it is delightful to see her putting the crown beneath her feet, and announcing virtue as the only good, to which it behoves all men to apply themselves, without making capital of their rank; but during this avowal she soon recollects she is a queen, and therefore again assumes the crown, of which she is sensible of the weight. She places the final step towards acquiring virtue in doing one's duty, and in fact she is largely endowed by nature with the qualities necessary to enable her to perform her part worthily; for she has a marvellous facility in understanding and seeing into affairs, and a memory which serves her so faithfully that it may be said she often abuses it. She speaks Latin, French, German, Flemish, Swedish, and is studying Greek; she has savants by her who discourse with her in her idle moments of all the most curious details in the sciences; her mind, greedy of knowing all things, seeks information on all. No day passes that she does not read in her history of Tacitus, which she calls her game at chess; this author, who makes savants puzzle over him, she understands easily in his most difficult passages, and where passages, and where the most learned pause, hesitating as to the meaning, she translates well in our tongue with extraordinary facility. Yet she avoids or at any rate does not study to seem learned or savante. She takes great pleasure in listening to the discussion of problematic questions, especially by learned people of different opinions; her own opinion she never gives till all have spoken, and then only in few words, the whole so well considered that it may pass for a formal and positive decision. ... Her ministers, when she is in council, can with difficulty discern to which side she leans; she preserves the secret faithfully; and as she never lets herself be prejudiced by what people tell her, she seems mistrustful, or difficult of persuasion, to those who gain access to her. ... 'Tis true she is inclined to be suspicious, and sometimes she is a little too slow at seeing the truth, and too ready to infer finesse in others. ... She asks no one's advice in her private affairs, but she deliberates in the Senate in all matters concerning the State. It is incredible how powerful she is in her council, for she adds to her position as Queen, grace, credit, benefits, and a power of persuasion, such that the senators themselves are often amazed at the influence she wields over their opinions, when they are assembled. Though some attribute this to the secret influence of her sex, yet to say truth[,] this authority arises from her personal good qualities. A king of like virtue would be absolute in his senate; in any case[,] that would be less surprising than to see a girl turning as she will the minds of so many old and wise councillors. It is no wonder that she displays the prudence of a man in the Senate, seeing that in action Nature has refused her none of those qualities, of which a young cavalier would brag. She is indefatigable in field exercises, and will even when hunting be ten hours in the saddle. Cold and heat are indifferent to her; in eating she is simple, careless, and entirely without epicureanism. No one in Sweden knows better than her how to knock over a hare in its course with a single ball; she can put a horse through all its paces, without pluming herself on it. She rarely speaks to the ladies of the court, since her exercises, or the cares of state which keep her, give no opportunity for conversation, and they do not even see her, except by way of a visit; and then[,] after the necessary civilities[,] she leaves them in a corner of the room in order to go and converse with men. If she is with those from whom she thinks nothing is to be learned, she cuts down the conversation to the absolute minimum; accordingly her servants say little to her — still[,] they like her, since, however little she addresses them, it is always with sweetness, and she is a good mistress, liberal even beyond her means. Sometimes she amuses herself by jesting with them, which she does with good grace and without bitterness, yet it might be better if she abstained [Christina adds in a note, — 'Right; raillery procured me many enemies'] because this always leaves a suspicion in those who have been its objects that they are despised; still[,] business and study leave her little time for this. Of her time she is very avaricious, for she sleeps little, and usually stays in bed only five hours [Christina annotates 'three hours']; this not being sufficient, however, to restore her forces, she is sometimes obliged, principally in summer, to sleep an hour after dinner [Christina says, 'No']. She cares little about dressing and adornment; we must not reckon it in the division of her day. She dresses in a quarter of an hour, and, excepting on great occasions or festivals, the comb alone and a knot of ribbon constitute her headdress. Nevertheless[,] this negligent method of doing her hair suits her face very well; but so little care does she take of it that neither in sun, wind, rain, town or country, does she wear hat or veil. When she rides, she has for protection against the weather only a hat with feathers in it, so that a stranger who might see her hunting in her Hungarian habit with a little collar like a man's would never take her for the Queen. Perhaps she carries this too far ... but nothing is important in her eyes except the ambition of making herself renowned for extraordinary merit rather than conquest; she loves to owe her reputation to herself, rather than to the worth of her subjects."
The character of the author, and its obviously careful delineation, added to the fact that it was never meant for the eye of the Queen, are a guarantee for the general accuracy of this portrait; we may supplement it by some interesting details from the description of Father Mannerschied, confessor to the Spanish Ambassador Pimentelli.
"She is a prodigy, and the incomparable marvel of this century. I will say nothing of her of which I have not been ocular witness. Her forehead is broad, her eyes large and piercing, but her look is mild, her nose aquiline, her mouth small and pretty. There is nothing feminine in her but her sex. Her dress is very simple; never have I seen her wear gold or silver, on her head, clothes, or neck, except a gold ring on her finger. ... I have sometimes observed, when talking to her, that she had spots of ink on her cuffs, from writing. She only spends three or four hours in sleep; when she wakes[,] she spends five hours in reading. It is torture for her to eat in public; she never drinks anything but water; never has she been heard to speak of her food, whether it was well or ill cooked. ... I have often heard her say that she lived without disquiet or discontent, and that she knew nothing in the world great, harmful, or disturbing enough to trouble the tranquillity of her mind. It is her boast that she fears death no more than sleep. She attends her council regularly; one day after being bled[,] she was five hours with her ministers; another time, during a fever of twenty-eight days long, she never neglected her state affairs. She says that God has given her the government of her kingdom, and she will do her best thereby — that though she may not always succeed, she may have nothing to reproach herself with. Public affairs all pass through her hands; she arranges and despatches them all alone — ambassadors and foreign delegates treat only with her, without even being passed on to secretary or minister. When ambassadors harangue her in public, she answers herself. ... She reads all treatises on domestic affairs, many and copious though they be. I know that one day she read and explained in Latin one of these to a foreign ambassador in a very short space of time. She approves of all nations, esteeming virtue wherever it is to be found. ... According to her, the whole world is divided into two nations, honest men and knaves. ... She cannot bear the idea of marriage, because she says she was born free and will die free. ... She knows ten or eleven languages, — Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, High German, Flemish, Swedish, Finnish, and, unless I am mistaken, Danish also. She can read Hebrew and Arabic, and understands them a little. She reads and knows very well the ancient poets. She knows modern poets, French and Italian, almost by heart. She has been through all the ancient philosophers, and has read a great number of the Fathers — as, S. Augustine, S. Ambrose, S. Jerome, Tertullian and Cyprian; but these are not to her taste, she prefers Lactantius, S. Clement of Alexandria, Arnobius, Minutius Felix, some of S. Jerome and S. Cyprian; above all she prefers Gregory Nazianzen (Christina's preference for this Father, whose erratic life and copious rhetoric furnish a commentary upon his own remark, that he had put away all ambition, save that of eloquence, is highly significant.). One cannot make use of some ancient poet's thought without her perceiving the theft."
To these eulogies may be added the accusations which she brings against herself: "I was distrustful, suspicious, ambitious to an excess. I was hot-tempered, proud and impatient, contemptuous and satirical. I gave no one quarter. I was, too, incredulous and little of a devotee."
Above: Kristina.
Above: Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie.
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