Source:
Memoirs of Christina, Queen of Sweden, volume 1, pages 219 to 230, by Henry Woodhead, 1863; original at the University of Michigan
Kristina's letter of May 23/June 2 (Old Style), 1641 to Johan Kasimir is here:
Her letter of July 21/31 (Old Style), 1648 to Salvius is here:
Her letter of September 4/14 (Old Style), 1647 to him is here:
Her letter of April 10/20 (Old Style), 1647 to Oxenstierna and Salvius is here:
Her letter of April 10/20 (Old Style), 1647 to Salvius is here:
The account:
A princess of Christina's character could not be insensible to glory. The brilliant successes of the Swedish arms were calculated to gratify, and at the same time to excite her ambition.
Her most important public act, however, and the one for which she most deserves the admiration of posterity, was the personal and active part she took in bringing about the peace of Westphalia.
The Thirty Years' War now resembled a chronic malady, which no ordinary treatment could cure. The Swedish nobles were anxious to prolong a state from which they gained so much. The country had been so long at war that war appeared its natural condition. The internal administration was adapted to a state of hostility, and it was felt that a treaty of peace would be a sort of revolution. The aristocratic party had plausible reasons for the continuation of the war. Sweden was able[,] while it lasted[,] to keep a great army in a high state of efficiency, at the expense of other nations. This army was a protection against her jealous and threatening neighbours, Poland, Denmark, and Russia. The territory of Sweden was thus more secure than in time of peace. Her trade flourished to a certain degree by the depression of trade in other countries, and the Swedish statesmen were not enlightened enough to see that this prosperity was more apparent than real. The unavoidable expense was in a great measure defrayed by French subsidies, and much of the plunder of Germany passed directly into the hands of the Swedish nobles.
Although France gave substantial assistance to Sweden, the interests of the two countries were by no means identical. They were even in some points directly opposed. Oxenstiern had long foreseen that this would be the case, and he had refused to enter into a close alliance with France, until the first battle of Nördlingen convinced him that Sweden could not contend single-handed against Austria. Even after this he always remained very jealous of French influence.
Austria had been the chief sufferer in the war, but the people, by whom all the misery was endured, had no voice in the government. The Emperor and his Council did not wish to terminate the struggle before the wheel of fortune turned round and declared in their favour. They thought that in one fortunate campaign they might regain all they had lost. It is difficult to surmise how long the war might have lasted if it had not been for Christina.
Her exertions in bringing about a peace were becoming to a Christian woman, and deserved the gratitude of her contemporaries far more than the purest orthodoxy.
Her desire for peace was not confined to public professions. She wrote private letters to Salvius, her minister at the Congress, urging him again and again to turn all his thoughts towards peace. In one letter to him she said, "What I desire the most, and esteem above everything else, is the power of restoring peace to Christendom."
She was fully aware of the objections which were made to peace, and knew from whom the objections emanated. She hinted to Salvius that the Chancellor himself was one of her greatest opponents, but expressed her determination to carry her point.
Not the least of the obstacles to peace, was the rivalry and animosity which existed among the envoys themselves. The two Swedish plenipotentiaries were John Oxenstiern, a son of the Chancellor's, and Salvius. The latter owed his appointment only to his ability; he was the son of a citizen at Stre[n]gnäs, and for some time had studied medicine, but afterwards obtained a subordinate post under the government; his talent soon attracted the notice of Oxenstiern, and of Gustavus Adolphus, who entrusted him with important duties and raised him to the rank of a nobleman. Christina said he was so clever in diplomacy, that he made every one do just what he wanted. A less partial account said that[,] although slow, he possessed great knowledge of business, and knew well how to hide his own opinion whilst he found out the opinion of others. John Oxenstiern was also experienced in business, but had so little capacity that any one could see directly through his plans; he was, besides, both obstinate and vehement.
The sagacity of Christina easily told her what dissensions would ensue from the association of two men who possessed such different characters. Three years before she assumed the management of affairs, and when she was only fifteen years old, she wrote to the Prince Palatine that Salvius was labouring to bring about a peace, but that the Chancellor was not sincere in the same cause. She added, that "John Oxenstiern was about to proceed to the Congress, but that he was not likely to agree with Salvius."
The two ministers not only represented opposite opinions and interests, but they appear to have been animated by a mutual antipathy of old standing. When Salvius was minister at Hamburg, he told John Oxenstiern, then at Stralsund, that he ought not to address Grotius, the minister at Paris, without giving him the title of Excellency. This was probably an indirect way of reminding John Oxenstiern, that Salvius himself had a right to the title of Excellency. Instead of apologizing for his want of courtesy, Oxenstiern sent a rude answer, "that he did not want to receive any lessons."
The colleagues could hardly have worked well together, even if they had had the same objects. Notwithstanding his haughty and overbearing manner, John Oxenstiern was to a certain degree aware of his own incapacity to manage the weighty affairs which were entrusted to him. Soon after his arrival at Osnaburg, he wrote to his father, and begged that he might be removed to some less difficult post.
The old Chancellor's answer contained an expression which has often been quoted to reassure diffidence: "Are you ignorant, my son, of the small amount of ability with which this world is managed?"
The Chancellor at first reproved his son for his overbearing assumption of the title of "head of the legation", and told him that Salvius and himself were associates, with equal power and authority. "I am sorry, my son", he added, "that you do not show more greatness of mind than to be disturbed about such trifles. If every one would consider that other people's feelings are the same as his own, there would not be so many quarrels in the world."
John Oxenstiern at the same time received a reprimand from his father, "for writing such long letters to the Queen about nothing at all."
This lecture had the effect of suspending the quarrels of the two envoys for a little while, but they began again in 1646, and the decided preference which Christina showed for Salvius, increased still more the jealousy of Oxenstiern. Their differences were no longer confined to trifles, for they pursued different lines of policy, and the Chancellor now supported his son in the Council, although he still blamed his petulant expressions.
In 1647 he wrote, "Dear son, I am sorry to see you do not know how to manage your pen in corresponding with the Queen. You are not content to let things speak for themselves, but you show your ill-humour in vehement words, which prove that you have no control over yourself, although they do not injure your enemy."
No opposition could alter Christina's determination to make peace. This resolution appears in a letter of hers to Salvius, dated September, 1647, where she also proved that she was not so much the dupe of the French as some of her ministers supposed. "I perceive", she said, "that the treaty of peace is much in the same condition as if it was abandoned, and that every one is expecting the result of the campaign. Nevertheless, I trust that on your part you will use every possible effort to complete this work, which may the Almighty in His mercy prosper. I enclose a letter for Mr. Servian (the French envoy); send it him immediately. I should be very uncourteous not to respond to his civility, since he has offered to serve me. I must be polite to him, and assure him of my favour, because, as you know, he is the creature of the Cardinal. I am, however, well acquainted with French manners, and know that they consist chiefly in compliments — still one can lose nothing by civility, and it is best to pay them in their own coin. The compliments which they and others pay me, are mere flattery, which I do not deserve, but I think it best to return civility for civility. Express to them the affection I feel for the Queen and for the Cardinal. It is he who governs everything, and for that reason you must make much of his creatures."
Oxenstiern and his party demanded conditions which even France, the ally of Sweden, thought unreasonable. Among other things, they insisted that the whole of Pomerania should be ceded to Sweden. The Elector of Brandenburg would have suffered by this, but he was not at all inclined to submit. If the moderate counsels of Christina had not prevailed, France would have been alienated, and Brandenburg would soon have been on the side of Austria. Chanut, in obedience to his orders, made complaints of John Oxenstiern's impracticability, and it seemed likely the negotiations would be indefinitely prolonged. Christina wrote a sharp letter to her ministers in April, 1647, which was, however, really only intended for one of them. She said, "I add these few words to my official letter, only to express my fear that the much desired treaty, of which I have been expecting the happy conclusion, may be delayed for reasons which I do not understand. In order that you may be thoroughly informed of my will, be assured that I desire, above everything in the world, a safe and honourable peace. ..... If this is not settled, you must consider how you will answer for it before God, before the States of the kingdom, and before me. Do not be diverted from this object by the schemes of ambitious persons, unless you are prepared to suffer disgrace, and to encounter my indignation. You may depend upon it that no support of great families will prevent me from showing my displeasure before all the world. I am convinced that if the treaty is not concluded, I should be involved[,] by your fault[,] in a labyrinth from which you could never extricate me, and I therefore warn you to take care of yourselves."
She wrote at the same time a private letter to Salvius, in which she told him explicitly that the reprimand was not intended for him, but for John Oxenstiern. "She knew", she said, "that a certain party was trying to protract the negotiations indefinitely, but she would let the world see that the Chancellor was not able to overturn everything with his finger."
She expressed her confidence that Salvius would do everything in his power to promote the peace; and she added, "If God grants that you return home with the treaty, I will reward your services with the rank of senator; you know yourself that it is the highest dignity to which an honest man can aspire in our country; if there were any higher degrees of honour, I would raise you to them. You will have to encounter the malice of the envious, but you may say with Marius, 'Contemnunt novitatem meam, ego illorum ignaviam: mihi fortuna, iis probra objectantur.'"
Notwithstanding the gravity of her style in this letter, she showed something of the fun and malice of a young lady of twenty in the postscript, where she particularly desired to be informed what grimaces young Oxenstiern made when he read her reprimand.
Above: Kristina.
Above: Axel Oxenstierna.
Above: Johan Oxenstierna.
Above: Johan Adler Salvius.
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