Source:
Eccentric Biography; or, Memoirs of Remarkable Female Characters, Ancient and Modern, pages 85 to 88, by anonymous author, 1803; original at The British Library
The biography:
CHRISTINA (QUEEN OF SWEDEN)
WAS the daughter of the great Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, and Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. She was born on the 18th of December, 1626: during the queen's pregnancy, the astrologers, whose art was then much in fashion, predicted that the child would be a son, who was destined to maintain all the glory that his father had acquired. The prejudice which these predictions produced, joined to some false appearances, at first deceived the women, and they deceived the king into an opinion that the child was a boy; but his sister Catherine discovered and told him the truth. 'Let us still be thankful to God', said Gustavus, 'I trust this girl will be as good as a boy'; adding, with a smile, 'she must certainly be clever, for she has deceived us all already.'
Gustavus took great pleasure in carrying her about with him, when he went on a journey; and, when she was about two years old, he took her to Calmar. The Governor had the precaution to ask whether he should give his majesty the usual salute, by firing the cannon, fearing that the noise might possibly fright the child: the king hesitated a little at first, but, after a moment's pause, 'Fire', said he, 'for the girl is a soldier's daughter, and she should be accustomed to it betimes.' They fired, and the child, so far from being frighted, laughed, clapped her hands, and in her broken language cried, 'More, more.' This natural intrepidity greatly pleased Gustavus, and he afterwards caused her to be present at a review. Perceiving the delight she took in this military shew, he cried, 'Very well, I'll warrant I'll take you where you shall have enough of this diversion.' But he died too soon to keep his word; and Christina lamented that she was not permitted to learn the art of war under so great a master; she regretted also, during her whole life, that she never marched at the head of an army, nor so much as saw a battle. The tears which she shed, when he set out for his German expedition, were regarded as a bad omen, and she betrayed the hero himself into tears, by an act of childish simplicity, which was, however, characteristic of the childhood of Christina. She took leave of her father by a little compliment which had been made for her, and which she had learnt by heart. When she repeated it, Gustavus being ruminating and abstracted in thought, did not hear what she said; the child, not content with having said her lesson, and performed the task that had been assigned her, pulled him by his sleeve to excite attention, and began to repeat her little speech again; at this the father, bursting into tears, caught her in his arms, and, after pressing her to his breast for some minutes, gave her to an attendant, without speaking; an incident which put some of the spectators in mind of the parting of Hector with Astyanax. The States of Sweden being assembled, after the death of Gustavus, the Marshal of the Diet proposed the crowning of Christina, by virtue of a decree which had declared the daughters of Charles IX.[,] the father of Gustavus, capable of succeeding to the throne. A member of the order of peasants, whose name was Larssen, when he heard this proposal, cried out, 'Who is this Christina, the daughter of Gustavus? Let us see her; let her be brought out to us.' The marshal immediately went out, and returned with Christina, whom he brought in his arms into the midst of the assembly. The peasant came up to her, and, having considered her very attentively, cried out, 'Yes, this is she herself; she has the nose, the eyes, and the forehead of Gustavus Adolphus, and we will have her for our sovereign.' She was immediately seated upon the throne, and proclaimed queen; and from this time she shewed great pleasure in appearing in her regal capacity. — Russia having sent ambassadors, soon after her accession, to ratify its alliance with Sweden, the people about Christina were apprehensive that the rude appearance of these strangers, their great number, their long beards, their uncouth habits, and singular address, and the ferocity even of their politeness would fright her; but she, who had been delighted with the apparatus of war, was not likely to be terrified by the ministers of peace. She not only received them without the least appearance of discomposure, but assumed an air of importance, and a look which seemed intended to strike them with awe, and which was not without its effect, for it impressed them with a sense of her dignity, as the daughter of a hero and a prince. Christina discovered, even in her infancy, an invincible antipathy for the employments and conversation of women; and she had the natural awkwardness of a man, with respect to all the little works that generally fall to their share. She was, on the contrary, fond of violent exercises, and such amusements as consisted in feats of strength and activity; she had also both ability and taste for abstracted speculations, and amused herself with language and the sciences, particularly that of legislature and government. She derived her knowledge of ancient history from its source; and Polybius and Thucidides [sic] were her favourite authors. While she was thus improving her infancy, by studying the arts of peace, the generals Weimar, Banier, Torstenson, and Wrangel, sustained the glory of the Swedish arms in the thirty years wars, which rendered Germany at once desolate and illustrious. ...
Above: Kristina.
Above: Gustav Adolf and Maria Eleonora.
_-_Nationalmuseum_-_15100.tif.jpg)
Above: Princess Katarina.
Notes: fright = to frighten.
betimes = early.
frighted = frightened.
abstracted [in thought] = inattentive to surrounding objects; absent in mind.
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