Biography of Kristina in "The Town and Country Magazine", year 1774, part 12

Source:

The Town and Country Magazine, Or, Universal Repository of Knowledge, Instruction, and Entertainment, volume 6, page 640 (December, 1774), published by Archibald Hamilton, 1774; original at Harvard University

https://books.google.com/books?id=zlc3AAAAYAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=christina&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The biography:

This illustrious princess, after having viewed every thing curious at Paris, left the capital. In passing Senlis, she paid a visit to the celebrated Ninon de L'Enclos, who there resided, and who was the only woman for whom she ever testified esteem [sic]; perhaps because Ninon also despised the company of women, and in this particular justified the taste of Christina.

Above: Kristina.

Above: Ninon de l'Enclos.

Biography of Kristina in "The Town and Country Magazine", year 1774, part 10

Source:

The Town and Country Magazine, Or, Universal Repository of Knowledge, Instruction, and Entertainment, volume 6, page 639 (December, 1774), published by Archibald Hamilton, 1774; original at Harvard University

https://books.google.com/books?id=zlc3AAAAYAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=christina&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The biography:

At last she arrived at Fontainebleau, in the dress of an Amazon. Several ladies of the court came to welcome her, and advanced to salute her. Christina was somewhat offended at their familiarity, but contented herself with saying, "How anxious are these ladies to kiss me! — Is it because I resemble a man?"

She in general avoided the company of women, whom she considered as triflers. "If I love the men", said she, "it is not because they are men; but because they are not women."

Above: Kristina.

William Russell's biography of Kristina's childhood and early years, year 1857, part 1

Source:

Extraordinary Women: Their Girlhood and Early Life, pages 54 to 61, by William Russell, 1857; original at the New York Public Library

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433067388508&seq=72

Russell wrote a further biography of Kristina in 1864 (please excuse the month in the permalinks, I have been posting for previous dates to catch up on everything and didn't yet think to set the intended date before posting!):

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2025/09/william-russell-on-kristina-year-1864.html

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2025/09/william-russell-on-kristina-full-of.html

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2025/09/william-russell-on-kristina-year-1864_4.html

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2025/09/william-russell-on-kristina-year-1864_60.html

The biography:

CHRISTINA, QUEEN OF SWEDEN.

IT was this Queen's Chancellor, Axel Oxensteirn [sic], who bade his son observe how slight an amount of wisdom was required for the governance of nations, — a reflection possibly suggested by the Chancellor's estimate of Christina's capacity, and her fame as a sovereign: and quite as surprising and providential as the fact enunciated by Oxensteirn, is that of how slight a remedial agency suffices to save the foundering vessel of the State when most hopelessly emperilled, and restore realms, apparently undone, to pristine prosperity and power. The sun of England, as everybody knows, has been time out of mind on the very point of setting; but ever some fortunate chance — a brilliant speech, or triumphant division in either House, — nay, the final state of the poll at a city or county election — has saved us, at the last moment, from being plunged in outer darkness. It may be doubted, however, judging from contemporary chronicles, that the great interests of humanity were at any time in such imminent and mortal peril as in the year 1632, or saved from ruin by such seemingly inadequate means. Gustavus-Adolphus, King of Sweden, Lion of the North, and Bulwark of the Protestant Faith, had fallen at the victory of Lutzen, in Upper Saxony; and not only was Sweden thought to have been thereby hurled from her place of pride and power, but the cause of Scriptural truth itself struck down in the person of its valiant champion, when, amidst the general consternation, Chancellor Oxensteirn reminded the assembled States that the slain hero had left a daughter, and only child, then about six years of age, and that there might be still hope for the country in her immediate recognition as Queen of Sweden; which sentiment or prophecy was applauded to the echo, the instant Christina was introduced and seen to be the very image in miniature of her great father. "Behold", exclaimed one Larson, a peasant-deputy, giving voice to the general feeling, — "Behold the very features of Gustavus-Adolphus! We will have her for our sovereign. Let her be seated on the throne and proclaimed king!" This was done, and the salvation of Sweden was an accomplished fact.

The child herself was only less delighted than the rescued nation. "I was so young", she wrote many years afterwards, "that I know not either my own worth, or my great fortune; but I remember how delighted I was to see all those men kneeling at my feet and kissing my hand;" adding, with as much piety as modesty, in the fragment of autobiography entitled, 'The Life of the Queen Christina, written by herself and dedicated to God', 'It was Thou, O Lord, that didst render the child admirable to her people, who were amazed at the grand manner in which I enacted the part of Queen upon that first occasion. I was little, but upon the throne I displayed an air and countenance that inspired the beholders with respect and fear. It was Thou, O Lord, that caused a girl to appear thus who had not yet arrived at the full use of her reason. Thou hadst impressed upon my brow a mark of grandeur not always bestowed by Thee upon those Thou hadst destined, like me, to glory and to be Thy lieutenant over men."

Christina, drawn by other though flattering hands, does not quite accord with this splendid self-portraiture, except in its aspect of masculine imperiousness, which was very early developed, and seemed natural to a child born, as she herself exultingly boasted, amidst shouts of triumph, and cradled amidst palms and laurels, in the arms of her playmates, Victory and Fortune. In truth, the attendants at her birth, misled by the hair-helmet, so to speak, which encased her head, the thick down upon her face, and the rough, harsh cry with which she greeted the world, exclaimed that a man-child was born, in fulfilment of the unanimous predictions of the astrologers consulted by Gustavus-Adolphus and his Queen, the beauteous Maria-Eleonora, daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburgh; which star-interpreters, moreover, not only so prophesied, but explained the dreams disclosed to them by the royal parents, to predict, as read by the light of the signs in the heavens — the Sun, Mars, Mercury, and Venus, in conjunction, as at the birth of Gustavus-Adolphus himself — that the boy, supposing him to outlive the first twenty-four hours, which Mercury made doubtful, would attain to as great celebrity as his father; a perplexing blunder on the part of the soothsayers, but subsequently shown to be merely a verbal one, Christina having been, it was soon discovered, "born with the head of a Machiavel, the heart of a Titus, the courage of an Alexander, and the eloquence of a Tully!"

Gustavus-Adolphus bore the disappointment better than the, for a time, discomfited astrologers. "Sister", said the King, addressing the Princess Catherine, who with some trepidation informed him that the supposed boy was in sad verity a girl, — "Sister, let us return thanks to God. I trust this daughter will prove as valuable to us as a son; and may the Almighty, who has vouchsafed her to us, graciously preserve her! She will be an arch girl", added Gustavus, "who begins to play tricks upon us so soon." And he forthwith ordered a Te Deum to be sung.

Gustavus was not the less determined that his successor on the throne of Sweden, though a queen by sex, should be a king, as he comprehended kingship, by education, tastes, and habit; a resolution to which, it will be seen, his daughter was chiefly indebted for her meteoric celebrity, and its premature disastrous eclipse. Very early was his child inoculated with a taste for the pomp and circumstance of war; "and, as a soldier's daughter should", remarked the delighted father, "crowed and clapped her tiny hands at the blare of trumpets and roar of cannon;" and was yet teething, when promised by the Lion of the North that she should thereafter accompany him to a field where she should behold much finer sights — meaning by finer sights, the scientific carnage of impious wretches who declined accepting, or were coerced into withstanding the propagation of the gospel of peace as interpreted by the great Gustavus. "But, to my misfortune", laments speedily-unwomanised Christina, "death prevented him from keeping his word, and me from serving an apprenticeship under so complete a master." Concurrently with a liking and aptitude for war, and all masculine accomplishments and sports, Gustavus was anxious that Christina should be well and early grounded in the Lutheran faith and Holy Scripture, the basis of all knowledge. The tares germinated far more vigorously than the wheat upon the virgin volcanic soil where they were both indiscriminately sown; and a vivid commentary upon the wisdom of the great King of Sweden's educational precepts is presented by the fact, that whilst his daughter's predilection for violence and contemptuous disregard of the sanctity of human life became — as witness the deliberate assassination, late in her career, of the Chamberlain Monaldeschi — an arbitrary principle of her moral creed, an indefensible right to slay being hers, she maintained, by divine inheritance, about all of divinity she ultimately believed in, Christina at an early age exchanged Lutheranism for Philosophism; and when Philosophism had lost its hold upon her mind, she finally, and whilst still under thirty, formally professed herself a Roman Catholic! — "The greatest scandal she could afflict us with", remarked the most sagacious of the Popes, with whom she was perpetually quarrelling, "unless the idea of writing a book in defence of the Faith should unhappily seize her."

In minor points, the masculine and military propensities of Christina were assiduously cultivated — grew with and much faster than her growth; so that long before she attained the maturity of her teens, she felt and avowed illimitable contempt for women, their duties, accomplishments — save dancing — tastes, conversation, manners, dress, — vehemently regretting she was not a man — not because she liked men overmuch, but that they were not women. Her own appearance has been thus rhymingly depicted: —

"By her petticoat so slight,

And her legs too much in sight;

By her doublet, cap, and dress,

To a masculine excess, —

Hat and plume, and ribands tied

Fore and aft in careless pride;

By her gallant, martial mien,

Like an Amazonian queen, —

Nose from Roman consul sprung,

And a fierce virago's tongue —

Large eyes, now sweet and now severe, —

Tell us 'tis Christina clear."

Personally, Christina was by no means unattractive. She was short, but well formed[,] with the exception of a slight deformity of one shoulder, caused by the falling of a beam of wood thereon when she was a child [sic]. She had large, bright-hazel [sic], expressive eyes; a profusion of light-brown hair, which would have been more ornamental had she permitted her attendants to comb and dress it oftener than about once a month; and had fine, regular teeth, that might easily have been white. But her mouth was large, and not, it was thought, agreeable "in repose"; neither, one would imagine, could it have been so in activity of boisterous, immoderate laughter, or of swearing, to which masculine habit the young and royal lady appears to have been incurably addicted. She was distinguished for remorseless industry withal; — so much so, "that the men and women that waited upon me were quite in despair, for I gave them no rest night or day." This incessant mental activity acquired for her the reality or reputation of immense learning; and she is said to have rapidly and thoroughly mastered Greek, Latin, most of the modern languages, history, philosophy, mathematics, geography, astronomy, and divinity and moral duties as interpreted by John Mathias, a pious, earnest man, from Luther's Catechism, and the best authors; the duty of reverencing her mother, the tender, loving wife and faithful widow of the great Gustavus, not, it would seem, included, — for so pained, offended at last, became the disconsolate lady with Christina's conduct [sic], that she fled secretly to Denmark, declaring she preferred begging her bread elsewhere, to the state of Queen-Mother at her daughter's Court [sic]! Maria-Eleonora's indignation did not, however, endure, and after the lapse of a few years she and Christina were outwardly reconciled.

Combined with the pernicious effect of the education prescribed by Gustavus-Adolphus, in pursuance of his resolution to be even in the grave the governor of his child and moulder of her character, was the hardening, debasing influence which must ever surround the heir to an absolute crown, and this upon the unimpeachable testimony of Christina herself — a firm believer in the divinity of despotism. "Those", she writes, "who believe that childhood is the season when princes hear truth are mistaken, for even in the cradle they are feared and flattered. Men fear the memories of princes as much as their power, and handle them gently as they do young lions, who can only draw blood now, but hereafter will have strength to tear and devour." Unquestionably true; and a curious commentary upon another dictum of hers, that an heir-apparent to a (despotic) throne is a universal blessing, — the glory of the State, and the happiness of individuals depending upon it!

Christina, as queen, especially when arrayed and prepared for the public representation of the part, shows to much greater advantage than as girl or woman. When scarcely seven years old, she received the Muscovite ambassadors, serenely sated upon her lofty silver throne, and was not, her historiographers admiringly relate, in the least frightened by their long beards. "Why should I be afraid of their beards?" she asked her apprehensive councillors: "have you not also long beards? and yet I am not afraid of you!" At sixteen she openly presided in the Senate, and became at once, says the courtly French ambassador, "incredibly powerful therein.[" "]She adds", he goes on to say, "to her quality of sovereign those of grace, honour, courtesy, and the art of persuasion; so that the senators, when they assemble, are astonished at the influence she gains over their sentiments." ...

Note: ribands = ribbons (archaic form of the word).

Anonymous biography of Kristina in "Eccentric Biography; or, Memoirs of Remarkable Female Characters, Ancient and Modern", year 1803, part 9

Source:

Eccentric Biography; or, Memoirs of Remarkable Female Characters, Ancient and Modern, pages 94 to 96, by anonymous author, 1803; original at The British Library

https://books.google.com/books?id=znNZAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Eccentric+Biography%3B+or,+Memoirs+of+Remarkable+Female+Characters,+Ancient+and+Modern+1803&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The biography:

... But, though at first she was fond of the power and splendor of royalty, yet she began at length to feel that it embarrassed her; and the same love of independence and liberty, which had determined her against marriage, at last made her weary of the crown. As, after the first disgust, it grew more and more irksome to her every day, she resolved to abdicate, and, in 1652 [sic], communicated her resolution to the senate. The senate zealously remonstrated against it, and was joined by the people, and even by Charles Gustavus himself[,] who was to succeed her. She yielded to their importunities, and continued to sacrifice her own pleasure to the will of the public, till the year 1654, and then she carried her design into execution. It appears, by one of the letters to M. Canut [sic], the French ambassador, in whom she placed great confidence, that she had meditated this project more than eight years, and that she had communicated it to him five years before it took place. The ceremony of her abdication was a mournful solemnity, a mixture of pomp and sadness, in which scarce any eyes but her own were dry [sic]. She continued firm and composed through the whole, and, as soon as it was over, prepared to remove into a country more favourable to science than Sweden. Concerning the merit of this action, the world has always been divided in opinion; it has been condemned alike both by the ignorant and the learned, the trifler and the sage: it was admired, however, by the great Conde; 'how great was the magnanimity of this princess', says he, 'who could so easily give up that for which the rest of mankind are continually destroying each other, and which so many throughout their whole lives pursue, without attaining!' It appears, by the work of St. Evremond[,] that the abdication of Christina was at that time the universal topic of speculation and debate in France. Christina, besides abdicating her crown, abjured her religion; but this act was universally approved by one party, and censured by another; the papists triumphed, and the protestants were offended. No prince, after a long imprisonment, ever shewed so much joy upon being restored to his kingdom, as Christina did in quitting her's. When she came to a little brook, which separates Sweden from Denmark, she got out of her carriage, and, leaping to the other side, she cried out in a transport of joy, 'At last I am free and out of Sweden, whither I hope I shall never return.' She dismissed her women, and laid by the habit of her sex; 'I would become a man', said she; 'yet I do not love men because they are men, but because they are not women.' ...

Above: Kristina.

Notes: embarrassed = burdened.

The story of Kristina at the border brook or creek is a myth, as is the creek itself, made up by Monsieur de Picques to denigrate her.

William Henry Davenport Adams' biography of Kristina, 1890s, part 1

Source:

Some Historic Women; or, Biographical Studies of Women Who Have Made History, pages 273 to 278, by William Henry Davenport Adams, 1890-1899; original at the University of Toronto - Robarts Library

https://archive.org/details/somehistoricwome00adam/page/n297/mode/2up

Above: Kristina.

The biography:

CHRISTINA,

QUEEN OF SWEDEN.

—

I.

AT Stockholm, on the 8th of December, 1626, was born Christina, third daughter of the famous Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, by his wife, Maria Leonora, of Brandenburg.

Their first-born had lived only for a few hours, and their second daughter had died before she was a twelvemonth old. The Swedish astrologers then predicted that the next child would be a son, and when Christina made her appearance, she was so dark-skinned and plain-featured that for a moment, it was supposed the prediction had been fulfilled. The mistake was speedily discovered, but no one cared to make it known to the King, who was exulting over the birth of an heir to his throne. When his sister, the Princess Catherine, ventured to show him the infant, he betrayed no sign of disappointment, but kissed it and said, — "Let us thank God, sister; I hope this girl will prove as good as a boy." His sister reminded him that he was still young, and might yet become the father of a male child. "Sister, I am content", he said, "and I pray God to preserve this babe." Observing her winsome ways, he added, "This will be a lively girl, she puts tricks upon us so soon."

Her mother behaved with less composure, taking a dislike to the child, which she showed by many slights. Christina, in her "Autobiography", pretends [claimed] that her attendants frequently let her fall on purpose, from an idea that the Queen would not be displeased if she were quietly put out of the way. This, of course, is an exaggeration; but, owing to an accident of this kind, Christina suffered from a distortion of the right shoulder, though the defect was easily concealed by an arrangement of her dress.

On his return from a campaign in Poland, in which he had been seriously wounded, Gustavus obtained from the States a recognition of Christina's succession to the throne. The great Captain was passionately fond of his little dark-complexioned daughter, and took her with him on his royal progresses. Once, at the fortress of Calmar, the commandant hesitated to give the usual salute, lest the child should be frightened. The King, however, ordered him to fire, remarking that "she was a soldier's daughter, and must get accustomed to it." And it soon appeared that she enjoyed the din, clapping her hands, and making signs for it to be repeated. Camp-life and the society of warriors and grey-bearded senators was not, however, a good training for so young a child, and at this time no doubt were sown in her disposition the seeds of those eccentric qualities which bore in later life such irregular fruit. The King insisted that she should receive in every respect the education suitable for a prince, and that the only womanly virtues cultivated should be those of purity and modesty. She grew up as might have been expected, with a distaste for the society, the accomplishments, and the occupations of her sex, and probably the regret that weighed most upon her throughout her chequered career was, that she had not been born a man.

When in her fourth year [sic] she shed tears for several days at parting with the King (1630), who crossed into Germany to fight the battles of the Protestant States, and after two years of brilliant success fell, victorious, on the field of Lutzen. At this time she was under the immediate charge of her aunt Catherine, wife of the Palatine John Casimir; her governor was the senator Axel Banér, and her tutor was the scholar and moderate theologian, John Matthiæ, Bishop of Strengnäs. Over all these a direct supervision was exercised by the Chancellor, Oxenstiern, the greatest statesman Sweden has produced. During the campaign of 1631 [sic], Gustavus wrote in pathetic terms to his minister and friend, entrusting to his fidelity the future Queen of Sweden and her mother: — "Though our cause is just and good", he wrote, "yet, owing to our sins, the aim of war is uncertain, nor can we reckon on the duration of life. Therefore I exhort and entrust you, by the love of Christ, that if all does not go on well, you will not lose courage. I conjure you to remember me, and the welfare of my family, and to act towards me and mine as you would that God should act towards you and yours, and as I will act towards you and yours if it please God that I survive you, and your family should need my help. If any accident befall me, my family are to be pitied; for the mother is without capacity, and the daughter an infant. Unfortunate if they govern, and in danger if others govern them."

On the death of Gustavus Adolphus, Vladislaus, King of Poland, asserted a claim to the Swedish crown, and endeavoured to form a party among the great Swedish nobles. But in this he failed, nor would the people listen to his pretensions. When the States assembled in February, 1633, Oxenstiern [sic] at once proposed that the rights of Christina should be acknowledged. A bluff peasant-deputy inquired, "Who is this daughter of King Gustavus? We do not know her, we have never seen her." "You shall see her immediately", replied Oxenstiern [sic], and leaving the hall, he returned in a minute or two, leading the child-Queen by the hand. "Ay, ay", said the deputy, surveying her carefully, "these be the eyes, this is the nose, this is the forehead of our hero-King. She is his daughter beyond dispute, and she shall be our Queen." It was thereafter decided that, during her minority, the government should be carried on by a regency composed of the five great officers of State; the Chancellor, Axel Oxenstiern; the Grand Seneschal, Gabriel Gustave Oxenstiern; the Grand Constable, Jacob de la Gardie; the High Admiral, Baron Gyldenhulm [sic], and the High Treasurer, Gabriel Oxenstiern. These were all men of ability and character, but genius and experience necessarily gave the greatest weight and the foremost place to the Chancellor Oxenstiern, who represented his country in all negotiations with foreign powers, and decided all questions of war and peace.

In March, 1635, the States issued some general instructions relative to their young Queen's education, ordering that she should be brought acquainted with the manners and languages of other countries, that none but persons of the highest character should be in attendance upon her, and that she should be allowed no intercourse with Papists or Calvinists.

"Though her education", they said, "had been committed to their Highnesses the Regents, and though we have no reason to doubt that these high noblemen will attend to their charge without any reminder from us, yet it is of the greatest moment to her Majesty, to the kingdom in general, and to any subject in particular that the matter should frequently be mentioned. We therefore do not consider it superfluous, but on the contrary our bounden duty, to add again these very humble and faithful exhortations, which we conceive to be worthy of serious attention.

"As her Majesty will one day be called to govern the kingdom personally, and as the duty of her subjects is not only to give obedience, but also to preserve her power and royal authority, the happiness and welfare of both parties, that is, of the whole Kingdom, is concerned in the due discharge of reciprocal duties.

"It is necessary that as her subjects are bound to serve her Majesty with entire devotion and fidelity, even to the sacrifice of their lives and property, so she in return should feel for them the greatest solicitude and affection; she should be accustomed to regard and esteem every one, according to his rank and character; to speak well of her country and of the Regents; to pay proper respect to her tutors and the Senate; to behave affably to all her subjects, and to protect every one in the enjoyment of his rights and liberties, according to law."

One must admit that the Senate had by no means a bad idea of the principles on which the education of a young sovereign should be conducted. If such principles had been more generally observed by the tutors of Kings, the annals of Monarchy would not record so many dreary failures.

To a considerable extent the child-Queen was necessarily under the regimen of her mother, a woman of limited intelligence and narrow views, who, from at first regarding her daughter with indifference, if not with positive dislike, had swerved round to the most exuberant affection. But there was little sympathy between mother and daughter. The ex-Queen devoted herself to the memory of her great husband, and draped all her apartments with black, so that the oppressive funereal gloom drove the child to take refuge in the lecture rooms of her tutors, and kept her at her studies for ten to twelve hours a day, with unquestionable injury to the balance of her faculties. Christina loathed wine and beer, Maria Leonora pronounced water unwholesome, and when the child refused the stimulating beverages, kept her without the much more innocent one. So it happened, on a certain day, that in the course of an exploration of her mother's dressing-room, she come upon a large carafe full of morning-dew which the Queen used, not for drinking, but for ablution. Christina's thirst was immediately satisfied, and morning after morning [sic] she resorted to this welcome supply, much to the Queen's annoyance, who railed at her servants for not duly replenishing her carafe. In vain they protested it was daily filled. How could the Queen believe them when the bottle, half-empty, stared her in the face? At last Christina was caught in the very act — flagrante delicto — and received from her mother's hands a smart castigation; which, in later life, she recorded in her "Memoirs" with an obvious feeling of indignation.

The Queen-Dowager was extravagant, vain, feeble, and possessed with an overweening idea of sovereign authority. These foibles brought her into frequent collision with the Regents, who, in 1636, on the ground that she was improperly training the young Queen, removed Christina from her, placing her again under the charge of her aunt.

Christina, a girl of ten, now began to study the works of Sallust, Terence, Cicero, and Livy. She exhibited a remarkable perception of their different qualities of style, and acquired so sound a knowledge of their language, that she wrote in Latin with facility and good taste. She also learned French, which was then almost unknown in Sweden. Oxenstiern instructed her in political affairs, and found in her an apt pupil, as she found in him a wise and prudent teacher. Theology was included in her educational course. At this time she was very exact in the discharge of her religious duties, and seems to have been inspired with a true sentiment of devotion. Nor were her tutors unmindful of her physical health, while justly eager for the cultivation of her mind and the development of her spiritual life. She rode daily, and with astonishing fearlessness and skill. When she joined in the chase[,] she distanced all but the most experienced huntsmen. And she attained to such a mastery of the fowling-piece that while at full gallop she could shoot a hare (it is said) with a single ball. So that she grew up robust, and lithe, and active, as well as thoughtful and accomplished.

A great misfortune befell her in the last days of 1638 in the death of her aunt, for it left her without anyone of her own sex to whom she could turn for counsel, or in whom she could place her confidence. About the same time the Chancellor Oxenstiern, surprised at her capacity and her interest in political problems, began her initiation in public affairs. The good sense she displayed, and her lively attention, led to a resolution on the part of the Council of State a twelvemonth later, that she should attend all important meetings of the Council, so that she might learn the full measure of the responsibilities of government, and not devolve all its onus hereafter on her ministers, as was the evil custom of the German princes. Thus her daily life came to be filled up with regular duties of a nature to develop the stronger and harsher features of her character; and as she was constantly thrown into intercourse with able men, she cared less and less for the society of her own sex. While she gained by this means in intellectual alertness, in decision, and force of will, she lost in grace and refinement, and in those sweet and tender gifts which we sum up in the one word "womanliness"; and though we may admire a Queen who converses on equal terms with a statesman and scholars, one is conscious of a certain dislike for a woman who swears like a trooper, and struts and straddles like a grenadier. Christina professed to be a great admirer of Elizabeth of England, but Elizabeth never forgot that she was a woman and liked to be complimented as a woman; whereas Christina was wrath that she was not a man, and endeavoured to make the world believe that she ought to have been one. She wore a man's collar, and a black handkerchief round her throat, like a soldier; she bowed and saluted as men did, and imitated them even with such grotesque particularity as to twirl the ends of an imaginary moustache. It was her great misfortune that she despised her sex and its traditions, and delighted to emphasize its supposed weakness and incompetency. "It is almost impossible", she says, "that a woman should perform the duties required of the occupant of a throne. The ignorance of women, their feebleness of mind, body, and intelligence, render them incapable of reigning." Yet history had abundantly disproved the truth of this wholesale assumption; and she herself, in a certain degree, was an example of that higher capacity in woman[,] the existence of which she was so unwilling to acknowledge.

Frank Hamel on Kristina, year 1909, part 1

Source:

Fair Women at Fontainebleau, pages 225 to 235, by Frank Hamel, 1909; original at the University of California

https://archive.org/details/fairwomenatfont00hamegoog/page/n230/mode/2up

Kristina's letter to Isaac de Benserade, written sometime in 1653, is here:

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2019/06/kristinas-letter-to-isaac-de-benserade.html

The biography:

CHAPTER VIII

CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN

(THE SYBIL OF THE NORTH)

"WE can still see at Fontainebleau in the great salon the blood of the man she caused to be murdered there", wrote Elisabeth-Charlotte, Princess Palatine, in 1717 [sic]. Sixty years had passed since Queen Christina took the law into her own hands and punished with a traitor's death the man to whom she had unwisely entrusted her confidence. The nature of his perfidy has never been revealed. History hesitates between assigning the cause of Christina's act to the jealousy of an outraged woman, or to the pride of a queen betrayed by a servant. Madame concluded her bitter verdict with phrases which were unjust. "She did not wish that all that he knew about her should come to be known, and she thought certain things would surely be divulged unless she put an end to his life. He had already begun to tattle, out of jealousy for another man who had supplanted him in her good graces. She was very vindictive and given to all sorts of debauchery. If she had not so much intellect[,] no one could have endured her."

The truth was that very few women understood Christina, and that she shocked them almost all. They were unable to estimate impartially the strange personality of one of their own sex who could throw aside a crown for the joys of foreign travel. They resented her independent attitude. They could not follow the workings of her masculine mind. Christina, with characteristic indifference, expressed her contempt openly for everything feminine. It was her boast that she liked men not because they were men, but because they were not women. No woman was clever enough to make the obvious retort that she disliked Christina not because she was a woman, but because she was not a man. Christina might have thought that clever, and have sworn friendship with the originator in spite of her sex. Having no one to snub her, however, she went her own way without guidance, and came to grief in trying to follow an ideal ad absurdum. She wanted to be regarded as a great ruler of a country rich in learning, in culture, in progressive conditions, and to have the attention of Europe centred upon her. In aiming to be a model king, she neglected to cultivate the characteristics which make a sensible woman, and so failed to become even a good queen.

A strange being was this Christina; brilliant and enigmatic, grand, and at the same time grotesque, noble but perverse, the daughter of a fine, level-headed man, and utterly incapable woman, born of a simple and grave northern race, with all the fire and passion of a southern nationality in her blood.

Nothing was wanting to complete the happiness of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and his wife Maria Eleanora, daughter of the Elector of Brandenburg, save the birth of an heir to the throne. After six years of marriage[,] two daughters had come and died when Christina arrived bringing further disappointment with her. At first it was thought that the king's dearest hopes had been fulfilled. "I came into the world all over hair", she wrote in her Memoirs; "my voice was strong and harsh. This made all the women think I was a boy, and they gave vent to their joy in exclamations which at first deceived the king, prepared as he was to wish for an heir." When he was told the truth[,] he made the best of it, saying, "I am satisfied. I pray God to keep her safe for me." On the other hand, the queen was inconsolable. "She could not bear to see me", declared Christina, "because she said I was a girl, and ugly to boot; and she was right enough, for I was as tawny as a little Moor."

When Christina was still a tiny baby[,] she heard guns fired for the first time. It had been suggested that the sound might frighten her, but the king commanded the gunners to proceed, saying, "She is the daughter of a soldier; she must grow accustomed to it." To the surprise of everybody[,] the baby showed the greatest delight, and, though unable to speak, clapped her hands, and made signs that she wished the firing to be repeated. Unfortunately[,] this fond and proud father, who made many plans for the great future of the princess, was killed at Lutzen in 1632, when Christina was barely six years old. Maria Eleanora, who, though beautiful and gentle, was greatly wanting in common-sense, and was ordinarily much given to weeping, made the occasion of her husband's death one of continuous tears for weeks, which grew into months of mourning. She shut herself up in her own apartment, which was hung with black from ceiling to floor, the windows also being draped, and, by the dim glow of wax-lights which burned day and night, sat brooding over a golden casket in which her husband's heart was enclosed. She desired to make her little daughter take part in this orgy of sorrow, but[,] fortunately for Christina[,] the king had left explicit instructions regarding her upbringing and education, and she was placed under the guardianship of a regency council, her mother being excluded from having any say in the matter of her daughter's education or the government of the country. Chancellor Oxenstierna, who was the real ruler during Christina's minority, sent the queen-mother to one of her castles, where she might nurse her grief without affecting other people, and himself superintended the classical education which had been decided upon for the princess. From the very beginning she scorned all feminine pursuits, and devoted herself entirely to the studies which would have fallen to her share had she in reality been a prince. There was no end to the intellectual accomplishments which she acquired during the years of her youth, in which she worked unremittingly week in, week out, continually surrounded by learned men from whom she drew vast stores of knowledge, and whom she even outstripped in aptitude. She knew all the languages, most of which she spoke passably. She read Petronius and Martial, and studied Tacitus, which she called "her game at chess", every day. If she was not the most dangerous of pedants[,] she certainly did not escape the worst characteristics of the brilliant blue-stocking. She was usually ink-stained, always untidy, her toilet was performed in a quarter of an hour, and a comb combined with a knot of ribbon constituted her head-dress when she did not wear a wig. Her linen was not beyond reproach; she did not care in the least what she ate, and[,] as long as she might eat it in private[,] was never heard to remark upon her food. She burnt the candle at both ends, and was satisfied with three or four hours' sleep at night. An erudite woman such as Christina, bubbling over with emancipated and extraordinary ideas, seems entirely out of place in the pleasure palace of Fontainebleau. But she rendered her stay there peculiarly and markedly conspicuous, which makes it necessary to study her personality, and endeavour to understand[,] if possible[,] the conditions and causes which were at the root of her behaviour. Three of her actions called most loudly for an explanation: her irrevocable determination to remain single, her conversion to Roman Catholicism, and her abdication of the throne. In reality[,] these much-cited events were the natural outcome of inexplicable idiosyncrasies. It is exceedingly difficult to estimate correctly a character so intricate, so unbalanced as that of Christina of Sweden. With the strongest bias towards things intellectual, reasonable and cool-headed, she was liable to be carried away by her enthusiasms, to lose all sense of proportion and to judge matters from her own personal standpoint without the slightest regard to their political significance or their effect upon the people involved. She laid down certain tenets to which she rigidly adhered without considering whither their indulgence might carry her, and at the same time chose to disregard many ordinary laws of conduct which would have done much to smooth her path in life. She prided herself upon being utterly fearless. It was her boast that she feared death no more than sleep. Yet she refused to entertain the idea of matrimony and motherhood, saying that she was born free and intended to die free. At least she knew some of her own faults, and wrote of herself, "I was distrustful, suspicious, ambitious to 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." But she never realized that she was remarkably easily led in some directions, and fell a prey to the unscrupulous influence of quacks and poseurs. She collected round her a group of philosophers, savants, mystics, poets, intriguers of all kinds, with but little discernment as to the value of their art or science, and less calculation of what your presence was to cost her. In spite of her matter-of-fact training she dabbled in occultism, spending fortunes in her endeavours to discover the truth. On this score she was held up to ridicule, and it was said of her contemptuously that "Love was not the only amusement of this royal lady; chemistry was her more serious business, though she had lost considerable sums of money by it at Hamburg; and particularly with one Borry, a chemist of Milan, who is now condemned to perpetual imprisonment for heresy in the castle of St. Angelo, and who returned her only cinders and smoke for two or three thousand crowns." At Rome she built a great laboratory in her palace "and consumed the best part of her ready cash, not so much in coals and ingredients as the roguery of the people she employed in this miserable trade."

But in Sweden, during the early years of her reign, she made a genuine attempt to raise the standard of culture. Somaize [sic] spent a year with her; Descartes, to please her, journeyed to Stockholm. She corresponded with Scarron, who sent her one of his comedies; with Scudéry, who dedicated "Alaric" to her. Ménage wrote an eclogue in her honour, and she exchanged bon mots with him, and presented him with a gold chain, as well as bestowing one upon Balzac, who sent her his works to read. Mlle. de Scudéry received help from her, and Mezeray was also in receipt of her pecuniary favours. She tried to persuade Benserade to become one of her Court, and when he refused she wrote him the following characteristic letter —

"You may bless your fortunate star which has prevented you from coming to Sweden. A mind so delicate as yours would have caught a chill here, and you would have gone home with a spiritual cold in your head. You would have been all the rage in Paris, with a square beard, the coat of a Lapp, with shoes to match, just back from the country of hoar frost."

It may be objected that this and much that is to follow is irrelevant to the story of Fontainebleau. But Christina played a whole act in the drama of the palace, and is therefore entitled to an introduction which should help to elucidate how, why, and in what mood she arrived there. Indeed, all that throws a light on her early life and tastes is valuable, even necessary, as a guide to her extraordinary personality and the motives which prompted her to a deed of violence. Moreover, she is a fascinating subject, and is not easily dismissed in a few sentences.

She possessed, then, undoubted leanings towards the French. She was infected by the spirit of preciosity. Not only was she enamoured of their literature, their culture and their mode of living, but she gladly spent fortunes in gratifying her foreign tastes and producing an artificial French atmosphere in her own capital. Even her secretaries and her doctors were Frenchmen, and these alien hangers-on devoured the hard-earned wealth of the Swedish people, who were starving while she squandered their money in injudicious attempts to reconstitute Court life. Suddenly she showed the instability which was fundamental in her character. Up to this time she had never ceased to devote her attentions to the actual government of the country as well as to her studies and hobbies, but quite unexpectedly she yielded herself entirely to the influence of a French quack, Bourdelot — he was said to be the son of a barber — who turned her Court into an absurd caricature of the Louvre, persuaded her to desist from study and government, and replaced these exacting occupations by dancing, masquerading, madcap pranks and childish frivolities of all kinds. The country was thrown into consternation; every one thought the queen had lost her senses. The treasury was empty, ruin was staring the people in the face. The money that she had previously spent on collecting manuscripts, books and objets d'art was still wrung from the poor to be thrown away on revelry and feasting. The dissatisfaction which had been felt for some time past now came to a head, and was everywhere openly expressed. At last the queen yielded to the entreaties of her people. Bourdelot was sent about his business. Then the Court quieted down somewhat, and there seemed hope of permanent reform, when of a sudden Christina announced her desire to abdicate the throne. It was not the first time she had expressed some such intention, but she refused to listen to any further opposition on the part of her ministers. She wished to travel, her people failed to interest her, and queenship was no recompense for being thwarted of freedom or deprived of means wherewith to gratify her extravagant tastes. Seizing everything of value which was portable[,] she started for Denmark, went from thence to Hamburg, to Brussels, where in 1654 she changed her religion, to Antwerp and to Inspruck [sic], where in 1655 she made a public profession of [the] Catholic faith. In short, she travelled "like a vagabond from province to province, visiting all the Courts of Europe", arriving finally at Rome, which for the time being she called her headquarters, and where she established herself with an almost royal household, sending for her manuscripts and other collections and purchasing additions whenever possible.

Above: Kristina.

Note: The word "Lapp" is an antiquated and now offensive term for the indigenous Sámi people. To not acknowledge offensive language towards peoples is to ignore it and deny its offensive qualities. The Sámi live in the north of Sweden as well as in the north of Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia, although in the distant past their range in Norway and Sweden might have extended further south. They are distantly related to the Finns, the Estonians, the Hungarians and the various Balto-Finnic, Finno-Ugric and Uralic peoples of Latvia, Russia and Siberia.

Bildt edition: "Les Sentiments", part 4 (Kristina was NOT a "proto-feminist" and I do NOT share or condone her views!)

Source:

Pensées de Christine, reine de Suède, pages 220 to 245, edited and published by Baron Carl Bildt, 1906; original at Harvard University

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnnd3d&seq=224

Compare this with the edition published by Arckenholtz (1760):

https://kingkristina.blogspot.com/2024/04/kristinas-aphorisms-les-sentiments_23.html

The "Pensées":

301.

On vieillit plus par la fainéantise, que par l'âge.

302.

Il faut savoir ordonner toutes choses à la félicité des hommes; les nécessités du corps, comme les habits, le manger, le dormir, les plaisirs, les occupations, les devoirs de la vie, tout y doit contribuer, et on le pourrait faire, si on réglait bien le rang de toutes ces choses.

303.

Ce qu'on appelle luxe est nécessaire aussi à la république, et pourvu qu'on ne dérobe pas, qu'on ne fasse pas des dettes qu'on ne puisse payer, on peut y fournir sans scrupule, même avec mérite; puisque c'est une espèce d'aumône secrète, qui peut être fort agréable à Dieu, quoiqu'elle ne soit pas agréable aux bigots, qui ne mettent les gens au petit collet que pour se rendre seuls souverains arbitres des bourses.

304.

La propreté, la négligence (sic), la mode à peu près, surtout la commodité et l'honnêteté se doivent observer dans les habits.

305.

Il y a des gens assez sots qui se rendent esclaves et martyrs de leurs habits et des modes. On est bien malheureux, quand on n'est occupé tout le temps de sa vie qu'entre un miroir et un peigne.

306.

Il ne faut pas qu'un honnête homme occupe un temps considérable ni à son manger, ni à son ajustement; un quart d'heure suffit pour cela dans les vingt-quatre heures. Pour le repos, trois ou quatre heures peuvent suffire à un homme occupé, quelquefois plus, quelquefois moins, selon la complexion et les affaires.

307.

Dans les fêtes et assemblées publiques, il faut être quelquefois magnifique, mais toujours propre et galant.

308.

On doit porter les points et les beaux linges, le satin, les moires, les velours, les riches brocats et les pourpres même avec le mépris d'un sac de la toile grosse; quelquefois ces superbes habits incommodent plus et couvrent souvent un cœur fort humble et pénitent, au lieu que les haires et les sacs cachent parfois bien de l'orgueil et de présomption.

309.

L'extérieur des hommes nous impose souvent; il ne faut pas s'y fier. Dieu seul ne se trompe jamais.

310.

On ne saurait réussir en rien sans la justice, ni sans la force; il faut l'une et l'autre pour pousser tous les grands desseins; mais aussi les conjonctures font réussir souvent ce qui ne peut réussir ni à la justice, ni à la force.

311.

La seule force résiste à la force, et la fortune en décide. La force ne consiste pas dans le nombre; la victoire se donne aux plus braves, ou aux plus heureux.

312.

Le destin, la fortune, le hasard, la victoire ne sont que les exécuteurs de la volonté de Dieu, ou plutôt sa volonté même, qui règle et décide toute chose, [et] à laquelle rien ne peut et ne doit résister.

313.

Je tiens que les sages de l'antiquité n'adoraient qu'un Dieu sous toutes ces différentes figures et noms. Macrobe prouve avec beaucoup de savoir qu'on n'adorait que le soleil; il aurait mieux fait s'il eût dit que sous la figure du soleil même on adorait le vrai Dieu, auteur et créateur de toutes choses.

314.

L'éducation de la jeunesse devrait être un des principaux soins du prince; de là dépend tout le bonheur, la félicité et la gloire d'un État.

315.

Rien n'est plus pernicieux que l'oisiveté.

[Christine avait ajouté: «Il vaut presque mieux faire du mal, que de ne rien faire dans ce monde.» Elle a effacé ces mots dans le dernier texte.]

316.

Il ne faut pas croire que les religieux et les religieuses soient des gens inutiles dans le monde; ils ont embrassé la plus noble de toutes les professions; leur oisiveté, qui ne s'occupe que de Dieu, est digne d'envie. On doit faire grande estime de leur oisiveté.

317.

S'il y a des méchants parmi eux, il ne faut pas s'en étonner. Il y en a trop pour être tous bons; il faut estimer et honorer ceux qui le sont, et avoir pitié des autres.

318.

On devrait donner permission à tous ceux qui le désirent, de sortir des religions, sans blesser ni leur honneur, ni leur conscience; ce serait l'unique moyen de sanctifier les religions et les hommes. Telle personne serait sainte si elle était dans le siècle, qui ne saurait le devenir dans la religion.

[Religions = ordres monastiques.]

319.

De quelque manière qu'on se déguise, et qu'on se change, l'homme porte partout ses faiblesses et ses désirs; on ne s'en dépouille pas pour changer de figure, ni d'habit. On est toujours le même, et souvent en croyant devenir meilleur, on devient pire.

320.

On devrait avoir suspectes toutes les nouveautés et singularités, les bien examiner devant que de les autoriser.

321.

Les rigueurs et les réformes de la primitive Église, ne sont plus de saison; ceux qui sont entêtés de les rétablir, ne réussiront jamais et feraient plus de mal, que du bien, s'ils y pouvaient réussir.

322.

Un prince doit tâcher d'enrichir tous ses sujets, autant qu'il est possible; mais il ne doit jamais enrichir personne assez ni la rendre si puissante, qu'elle puisse lui former un parti d'une rébellion, ni de guerre intestine.

323.

Les rébellions s'éteignent mieux en pardonnant qu'en châtiant.

324.

Les gens qui n'ont rien à perdre sont dangereux dans un État.

325.

On doit soutenir les serviteurs [et] les ministres, quand ils agissent selon les ordres qu'on leur a donnés; mais quand ils font des sottises de leur chef, c'est une faiblesse au prince de les soutenir, et on doit agir avec eux d'une manière à leur faire connaître qu'ils ne sauraient faire des sottises impunément.

326.

Les présents des princes doivent être d'une qualité d'enrichir, ou du moins d'accommoder les gens qui les reçoivent; il est presque honteux d'en faire d'autres.

327.

L'argent, l'or et les pierreries et autres choses précieuses doivent être employés aux présents des princes, selon les qualités des personnes à qui on les envoie. Les princes doivent recevoir et agréer les petits présents des inférieurs, mais ils ne doivent pas les faire.

328.

Il faut juger par soi-même des services et mérites des hommes; leurs propres actions doivent seules leur nuire ou les servir auprès des princes, et on doit avoir pour suspects et le bien et le mal que les ministres disent les uns des autres.

329.

Les nains, bouffons et autre sorte de gens semblables, sont des oiseaux de mauvais augure pour les gens d'honneur, quand ils ont accès auprès des princes.

330.

Ces sortes de gens disent quelquefois des vérités, que d'autres n'osent dire; mais on les fait aussi parler comme on veut, et ce sont toujours des canailles.

331.

Le temps de tous les hommes est précieux, mais celui des princes l'est si fort, que tous les moments qu'ils perdent coûtent trop cher à eux-mêmes et à l'État.

332.

Il y a des choses qu'il ne faut ni faire, ni dire; il y en a qu'il faut faire et ne dire pas; il y en a qu'il faut dire et ne faire pas; il y en a qu'il faut et dire et faire sans y balancer.

333.

Il serait à souhaiter que les princes eussent une abstinence entière de l'amour, mais je le crois presque impossible et suis persuadée que ce défaut est le moindre de tous ceux où tombent les princes, pourvu qu'ils ne touchent pas aux femmes d'autrui, ni qu'ils ne forcent personne à leur complaire.

334.

Il faut pourtant qu'ils se possèdent assez pour s'empêcher que le plaisir de l'amour ne leur fasse pas perdre le temps, ni les occasions de vaquer à leur devoir, comme il faut.

335.

Quelque amoureux que soit un prince, il ne doit jamais souffrir qu'une maîtresse ait aucune connaissance, ni part aux affaires; il ne faut pas qu'elle soit la dispensatrice ni des charges, ni des emplois, ni des grâces du prince; enfin il faut qu'elle règne dans le cœur du prince, mais non pas dans son État.

336.

Une maîtresse doit encore régner dans les bals, dans les assemblées, dans toutes les fêtes de magnificence et de galanterie, où son règne doit être borné.

337.

Un prince étant marié doit user de même avec sa femme, et le nom de reine ne lui doit donner rien de plus. Elle doit régner dans le cœur du roi, partager son lit, mais non pas son trône. Elle doit lui tenir lieu d'une maîtresse.

338.

La beauté et son contraire ne sont pas ce qu'ils nous paraissent. On devient par l'habitude insensible à tout. Elle fait périr tous les charmes. On s'accoutume également à tout ce qui plaît et à tout ce qui déplaît, sans en être plus touché, et enfin la nuit et l'obscurité égalent tous les objets, aussi bien que la mort, et c'est ce qui rend les maris infidèles inexcusables.

339.

La loi salique qui exclut les femmes du trône, est très juste; les femmes ne devraient jamais régner, et s'il y a des exemples, dont j'en doute, qui ont fait des merveilles sur le trône, on ne doit pas compter là-dessus; ce sont des exemples si rares, qu'ils ne doivent pas tirer à conséquence.

340.

Le sexe féminin est d'un grand embarras, et d'un grand obstacle à la vertu et au mérite. Ce défaut de la nature est le plus grand qu'on saurait avoir; il est presque incorrigible et peu de personnes se sont tirées avec honneur de cet embarras.

341.

Les vertus des femmes sont si incompatibles avec les vertus et talents qui sont requis pour le trône, qu'il faut qu'elles renoncent pas moins à toutes leurs vertus et bonnes qualités, qu'à leurs faiblesses et défauts, si elles veulent se rendre dignes de régner; cela les expose à mille inconvénients, mais si elles n'y renoncent pas, elles rendent leurs personnes et gouvernement ridicules.

342.

Un prince qui laisse un pupille, a grand tort de donner la tutelle du roi et du royaume à sa femme. La mère d'un roi ne devrait avoir autre emploi que celui de vaquer à la conservation de la santé et de la vie du roi son fils, et on devrait borner toute son autorité à cette seule occupation. Du reste, elle ne doit avoir aucune connaissance des affaires, ni aucune autorité. Il faudrait former un conseil qui fît tout à la pluralité des voix. Ce conseil devrait avoir soin de l'éducation du prince, et la première chose qu'il faudrait faire, serait de le séparer de sa mère pour lui inspirer des sentiments dignes de son rang, et lui apprendre son devoir, dont les mères sont incapables. Un grand roi usa ainsi et l'on s'en trouva bien.

[Un grand roi = Gustave Adolphe de Suède, père de Christine.]

343.

On donne à la plupart des princes une si méchante éducation, qu'il est presque impossible qu'ils soient honnêtes gens, et si malgré tous les soins qu'on prend à rendre les princes sots, ils réussissent [à devenir] grands princes, ils méritent l'admiration des hommes, comme des miracles de la nature et de la grâce.

344.

Dieu fait quelquefois ces miracles, mais rarement; heureux le peuple à qui Dieu fait présent d'un prince qui soit tel qu'il faut.

345.

Toute femme qui se veut divertir a besoin d'un mari pour prétexte; elle ne saurait s'en passer.

346.

Les femmes ne se marient que pour se mettre en liberté, et elles aiment mieux d'avoir un vieux mari, que de n'en avoir pas.

347.

Il faut plus de cœur pour s'exposer aux malheurs et périls du mariage, qu'à ceux de la guerre, et j'admire le courage de tous ceux qui se marient; mais on fait ce terrible contrat comme toutes les autres choses de la vie, dont on ne considère presque pas l'importance, ni à quoi on s'engage.

348.

Socrate disait: «Que tu te maries, ou que tu ne te maries pas, tu t'en repentiras.» Moi, je crois que tout homme qui se marie, s'en repentira infailliblement, mais je ne vois pas pourquoi on se repentira de ne s'être pas marié, et j'en suis caution par expérience.

349.

La réputation, la crainte d'engrossir, celle des maux vénériens qui sont si horribles, si communs, même parmi les hommes de la plus grande qualité, retiennent plus de femmes dans le devoir de l'honnêteté que la crainte et l'amour de Dieu, qui devrait prévaloir à toute chose.

350.

J'estime fort tous ceux qui sont chastes par vertu; mais ceux qui le sont par la froideur de leur tempérament, ne sont jamais bons à rien.

351.

L'on doit uniquement faire le bien et s'abstenir du mal à la vue de Dieu, et de sa propre conscience, et on ne doit rien chercher hors de là. Après Dieu, on doit avoir plus de respect pour soi-même que pour toute la terre.

[à la vue = à cause.]

352.

Quand on sacrifie à Dieu sa fortune, son intérêt, sa gloire et toutes ses espérances, ce sacrifice est grand et coûte bien cher à celui qui le fait. Il est plus grand que celui de ce fils unique du vieux temps. Mais tout homme qui sacrifie à Dieu la passion d'un véritable et ardent amour, fait quelque chose de plus. On ne saurait concevoir la grandeur de ce sacrifice. Celui de la vie même n'en est pas comparable, et je pense que c'est le plus grand, quoique le plus secret des martyres.

353.

Quand Dieu ne donnerait pas de si grandes récompenses à la vertu qu'Il en a promis, on devrait néanmoins la cultiver pour elle-même.

354.

Il faut être bien persuadé que la vertu donne à son possesseur des joies et des satisfactions que rien ne peut égaler ici-bas.

355.

Il n'y a pas de plus grand plaisir au monde que celui de savoir s'abstenir, quand il faut, des plus sensibles plaisirs.

356.

La patience n'a guère de mérite. On ne souffre jamais que lorsqu'on ne peut pas faire du moins. Dieu est bien bon de nous mettre notre patience à compte de mérite.

[du moins = autrement.]

357.

Il n'y a pas d'État qui puisse subsister sans armes, ni sans soldats; un prince doit faire grand état des gens de guerre, il doit nourrir et cultiver l'inclination guerrière dans ses peuples, et surtout il doit avoir un soin exact de la discipline militaire.

358.

Une armée ne saurait être victorieuse sans être bien disciplinée.

359.

La discipline militaire a donné l'empire du monde à tous ceux qui l'ont possédé autrefois.

360.

Il faut inspirer la bravoure et la fatigue à la jeunesse, surtout à la noblesse, caresser et honorer ceux qui en ont l'inclination et les talents militaires.

361.

On ne saurait établir ou conserver la discipline militaire, sans payer exactement les troupes; la rigueur de la discipline militaire dépend d'un paiement exact.

362.

La discipline est nécessaire dans la Cour, dans les religions, aussi bien que dans les armées.

363.

Il faut bien payer et bien récompenser et bien châtier; c'est le moyen de se faire bien obéir partout.

364.

Il faut qu'un prince soit armé en paix et en guerre.

365.

La grande quantité des officiers coûte cher, mais les batailles et les villes se gagnent par eux.

366.

La longue paix n'est pas moins dangereuse dans un État que la guerre; elle fait tomber insensiblement les États dans le mépris et dans la faiblesse.

367.

Quand on n'a pas de guerre chez soi, il faut envoyer la jeunesse et les soldats la chercher partout; il faut avouer à la gloire immortelle de la France, que sa nation en cela se distingue glorieusement de toutes les autres, qui cherchent avec moins d'ardeur la guerre et la gloire, et s'exposent plus rarement aux périls sans la nécessité de leur devoir.

368.

Un prince ne doit jamais donner loisir à son voisin de l'attaquer. Il faut toujours prévenir ceux qui menacent.

369.

Un prince doit aimer les vrais braves, mais il doit avoir en aversion les fanfarons et les brutaux.

370.

Quoique le soin et l'application principale d'un prince doit être à la guerre et aux soldats, il ne doit pas négliger, ni mépriser les autres professions dans son État. Ceux de l'Église, de la justice, des autres charges civiles de la Cour et de l'État, doivent avoir leur prix aussi bien que les soldats. Tout homme qui s'acquitte bien de son devoir, de quelque profession qu'il soit, mérite l'estime, les caresses et les bienfaits de son prince.

371.

Un prince doit être parfaitement neutre. Il ne doit se piquer de rien, sinon de régner et de rendre justice au mérite d'un chacun, obligeant tout le monde par les récompenses et les châtiments, mais surtout par son exemple, de vaquer à son devoir, et de s'en acquitter avec soin, application et fidélité.

372.

Un prince doit donner accès auprès de lui à tout le monde. Il doit être exposé à la vue de tous comme le soleil. Il ne faut pas se laisser enfermer, ni par les ministres, ni par les favoris. Il est perdu du moment que cela arrive.

373.

Quelque occupé que soit un prince, il faut pourtant qu'il se ménage des heures de retraite chaque jour; ces heures doivent être employées à faire des réflexions sur sa conduite, à corriger ses fautes et pour y demander des grâces et des forces à Dieu, sans lequel on ne saurait faire rien qui vaille.

374.

Il faut savoir qu'il y a des fausses vertus dans le monde; il y a une fausse piété, une fausse générosité, une fausse bravoure, une fausse modestie, une fausse éloquence et libéralité, etc. Il faut avoir de l'aversion à tout ce qui est faux, le fuir, et il faut n'aimer que la vérité, et la vraie vertu.

375.

Il faut savoir se servir des gens de lettres comme de bibliothèques vivantes, les estimer, user envers eux de libéralités, les employer, les consulter sur ce qu'ils savent; mais il faut être persuadé que hors de là, ce sont pour l'ordinaire de fort pauvres gens dans la pratique du monde et des affaires.

376.

Il n'y a point de règle si générale qui ne souffre d'exception; il faut que le jugement règle tout dans les cas particuliers.

377.

La modestie est une des plus belles de toutes les vertus; elle n'empêche pas les hommes ni de sentir, ni de connaître leurs bonnes qualités; mais elle renvoie toute la gloire à Dieu, et jouit de tous ses dons avec respect et reconnaissance.

378.

Tous les hommes sont débiteurs de la justice les uns aux autres; on la doit surtout au mérite et à la vérité, mais les princes la doivent de plus aux pauvres et aux riches, aux bons et aux méchants.

[sont débiteurs de = doivent.]

379.

La sévérité est louable, et la clémence l'est aussi; l'une doit tempérer l'autre, et elles doivent contribuer réciproquement à former une parfaite justice, qui ne laisse jamais les crimes impunis; mais il ne faut point aussi qu'on rende criminels ceux qui ne le sont pas, et un prince est obligé de protéger et la vie et l'honneur de ses sujets contre l'envie et la calomnie; il ne doit pas souffrir que ni l'innocence, ni la vérité soient jamais opprimées. Quand cela arrive, malgré toute son application et ses diligences, c'est un malheur, mais ce n'est pas un crime au prince, pourvu qu'il ait fait son devoir et les diligences humaines.

380.

La loi de Théodose était très juste et sage: il ordonna qu'on ne devait jamais exécuter à mort personne que trente jours après l'ordre donné. Ces précautions sont nécessaires pour mettre la conscience du prince en repos. On peut toujours mourir les gens, mais on ne saurait les resusciter.

381.

Les charges qui rendent justice ne devraient jamais être vénales; hors de là, il faut qu'il y en ait des vénales dans un État.

382.

Il faut que toutes les choses aient leur prix. Le mérite, l'industrie, la naissance et l'argent des hommes doivent trouver leur emploi dans un État; mais il faut que chaque chose soit dans son rang.

383.

Les riches doivent leur secours aux pauvres, et les pauvres doivent leurs services aux riches; tout doit contribuer à la grandeur, à la félicité et à la gloire de l'État et du prince, qui doit la justice et la sûreté à tout le monde.

384.

Un prince doit savoir dissimuler, non pas par crainte, mais par prudence. Il faut tâcher de savoir tout, mais il ne faut pas témoigner de le savoir toujours.

385.

Ceux qui prétendent à la monarchie universelle ne considèrent pas l'impossibilité de leur dessein; c'est une folie plus grande qu'on ne pense, d'y prétendre, et s'ils n'étaient aveuglés par leur ambition, ils ne se flatteraient jamais d'une telle chimère. Trop de grandes et extraordinaires qualités sont requises pour exécuter un tel dessein, et il est presque impossible de les trouver dans un seul homme. La Maison ottomane qui travaille depuis quatre siècles à ce dessein, n'en a pu venir encore à bout, après avoir produit tant de grands princes, qui tous y ont apporté leurs soins et travaux; mais dans notre siècle le monde est disposé d'une manière que ce dessein est du tout impossible.

386.

Si César, Alexandre et Cyrus ont réussi autrefois à se rendre maîtres d'une partie du monde, c'est parce qu'ils avaient toutes les qualités nécessaires dans un point héroïque, et que le monde était alors dans une disposition très différente de celle de notre siècle; je suis persuadée qu'à présent, avec toutes leurs grandes qualités et leur bonne fortune, ils n'y réussiraient pas.

387.

Quand on considère que ces grands hommes ont vécu et sont morts, sans que leurs grands noms fussent connus de la centième partie du monde, et qu'ils ont été si inconnus à tout le reste, qu'il ignorait qu'ils fussent nés, que même cette partie du monde qui les a connus les a oubliés, comme s'ils n'eussent jamais été, cette réflexion me semble capable de guérir tout homme raisonnable de la vaine espérance d'une immortalité imaginaire.

388.

Cependant il faut agir, quand le devoir l'exige, comme ces grands hommes ont agi; il faut se former sur ces grands originaux en les imitant, pour acquérir du moins leur mérite sinon leur grande fortune; c'est à dire qu'il faut travailler jour et nuit, s'exposer à mille périls et à mille travaux, compter pour rien et la vie et la mort, mais il faut faire tout cela pour le seul et unique plaisir et satisfaction de bien faire, qui doit être toute la récompense qu'on en doit prétendre, sans se flatter d'autres chimères.

389.

Le repos est un charme qui nous récompense de tous les plaisirs et de toutes les grandeurs. C'est cette précieuse paix qui triomphe de tout, et que le monde ne saurait nous donner.

390.

Auguste avait raison de s'étonner qu'Alexandre trouvait moins de plaisir à gouverner, qu'a [sic] conquérir cette belle partie du monde dont il s'était rendu le maître.

391.

Alexandre fit quelque chose de plus indigne de lui en faisant mourir Parménion de sang froid, que Clitus dans son emportement, et on doit pardonner plutôt à sa colère qu'à sa crainte qui était plus indigne de lui.

392.

Il y a des actions dans la vie d'Alexandre qui ternissent fort sa gloire; celle d'avoir fait tailler en pièces contre sa parole donnée une garnison qui sortait d'une place, d'avoir fait mourir cruellement un brave homme pour s'être défendu vaillamment dans sa place, celle d'avoir fait tailler en pièces les prisonniers pour n'être pas embarassé d'eux dans une marche, d'avoir fait mourir ce pauvre Persan innocent, sur le témoignage d'un bouffon, d'avoir brûlé cruellement le plus beau palais et une des plus belles villes de l'Asie à la persuasion d'une courtisane, d'avoir sacrifié aux mânes d'Ephestion un peuple entier, comme il fit, d'avoir fait périr le philosophe Callisthène mangé de la vermine dans une prison, d'avoir exposé Lysimachus aux lions, d'avoir donné des pris aux plus grands buveurs de son armée; toutes ces actions sont barbares, horribles, inexcusables et tout à fait indignes d'Alexandre, qu'on accuse de plus d'avoir été lui-même ivrogne et fanfaron, défauts tout à fait indignes d'un honnête homme, et d'un grand prince: je crois peut-être qu'on lui fait tort en l'accusant de tant de crimes et défauts, mais enfin voilà autant de taches au soleil qui ne l'empêchent pas d'être ce qu'il est, puisqu'il est d'ailleurs si grand qu'on doit presque lui pardonner et se souvenir qu'il était homme. Cependant tous ces défauts et crimes ne sont presque pas remarqués; on blâme Alexandre uniquement de la mort de Clitus, dont je ne le loue pas, mais je l'en excuse fort, parce que Clitus le força de faire ce qu'il fit. Tout ceci ne se dit que pour faire remarquer l'injustice des hommes, qui ne savent ce qu'il faut ni louer, ni blâmer.

393.

Outre tout cela, on blâme encore Alexandre de s'être voulu faire adorer comme fils de Jupiter; ceux qui l'en blâment ne considèrent pas le siècle d'Alexandre, ni cette espèce d'adoration, qui a fait crier tant de gens: il naquit en un siècle où on donnait la qualité de dieux et de fils de Jupiter à tant de gens qui n'étaient pas si dignes de l'être que lui. Je l'excuse donc s'il s'était attribué une qualité, dont il s'était rendu si digne; même je suis persuadée qu'il n'en croyait rien lui-même, mais il se servait habilement de la superstition de son siècle pour pousser ses grands desseins, et le fit bien connaître quand il dit lui-même que tous les honnêtes gens étaient fils de Jupiter, et que le sang que répandaient ses plaies n'est pas cette liqueur dont Homère parle, qui coule des dieux. Pour l'adoration qu'il voulait qu'on usât envers lui, dont les vieux Macédoniens murmuraient si fort, il me semble qu'Alexandre avait raison, et eux avaient tort; la coutume d'adorer les rois était aussi ancienne dans tout l'Orient, qu'elle était nouvelle parmi les Grecs; Alexandre, qui s'était rendu maître de la monarchie de Perse, avait grande raison de changer son cérémoniel et de s'accomoder aux mœurs des peuples qu'il avait conquis, parce qu'il était et plus respectueux et plus digne de sa fortune; aussi n'y avait-il parmi les Grecs que les barbons et les pédants qui en murmuraient; le reste s'y accommoda sagement, et fit très bien, car on ne saurait trop honorer et respecter les rois. Ces respects qu'il se faisait porter, ne rendaient pas Alexandre moins familier, ni moins tendre à ses amis, ce qu'il fit bien connaître quand il arracha le bandeau de son front pour bander les blessures d'un des siens; enfin je ne vois pas qu'en cela il fût plus criminel que le sont les autres rois, qui se font servir à genoux parmi nous, et qui méritent cet honneur bien moins que lui.

394.

Les vies de Cyrus et de César étaient plus réglées et plus sages. Ils étaient aussi grands qu'Alexandre, mais ils se possédaient mieux. Tamerlan et Almansor étaient aussi grands que tous ces gens là, mais Almansor occupait trop de temps en des bagatelles qui sont indignes d'un prince. On lit avec plaisir et grand profit les belles vies de ces grands hommes.

395.

Le traitement que Tamerlan fit à Bajazet n'était pas digne de ses autres actions, et j'y trouve quelque chose de si barbare que je ne voudrais pas de toute sa fortune, au prix d'une telle action.

396.

Parmi les chrétiens, Constantin le Grand est un prince d'un grand mérite, et Théodose le Grand a bien mérité son surnom aussi bien que Charlemagne. La lecture de ces sortes de vies élève l'âme, et l'inspire de[s] sentiments nobles et grands; ces vies devraient être familières aux princes et [à] tous les honnêtes gens.

397.

Je ne saurais pardonner à l'empereur Auguste d'avoir sacrifié Cicéron, comme il fit, à sa grandeur, avec les autres illustres victimes qu'on immola alors au triumvirat, et qui font voir les funestes effets que produit l'ambition.

398.

L'action de Sexte Pompée était tout à fait héroïque. Elle vaut mieux que la bonne fortune de son père, et par cette seule action il a mérité mieux que lui le surnom de grand.

399.

Je suis persuadé[e] que l'histoire de Tomyris est une fable, et je crois que Cyrus est mort dans son lit comblé d'âge et de gloire, de la manière que Xénophon raconte sa mort, et quand même ce roman de Tomyris serait vrai, je ne vois pas pourquoi une action si barbare ait acquis tant de réputation à une femme de qui on ignore tout hors, cette détestable action de vengeance, qui devrait rendre sa mémoire abominable et odieuse à toute la postérité. On doit respecter le mérite dans les ennemis mêmes, qu'ils soient vifs ou morts.

[Christine avait dans sa galerie un tableau de Rubens représentant Tomyris faisant plonger la tête de Cyrus dans une outre pleine de sang.]

400.

Le métier des conquérants serait le plus beau de tous les métiers, s'il ne coûtait trop cher à tant d'autres malheureux.

Swedish translation (my own; I cannot tag it as such due to character limits in the tags):

301.

Vi åldras mer genom lathet än genom ålderdom.

302.

Vi måste veta hur man ordnar allt för människornas lycka; kroppens nödvändigheter, såsom kläder, mat, sömn, nöjen, sysselsättningar och livets plikter, allt måste bidra till detta, och vi skulle kunna göra det om vi ordentligt reglerade rangordningen av alla dessa saker.

303.

Det vi kallar lyx är också nödvändigt för republiken, och förutsatt att vi inte stjäl, inte drar på oss skulder vi inte kan betala tillbaka, kan vi tillhandahålla det utan skrupler, även med förtjänst; eftersom det är ett slags hemlig allmosa, som kan vara mycket behaglig för Gud, även om den inte är behaglig för bigotter, som bara sätter människor under kragen för att göra sig själva till suveräna skiljedomare över börsarna.

304.

Renlighet, försummelse, mode och framför allt varsamhet och ärlighet måste iakttas i klädseln.

305.

Det finns några ganska dumma människor som gör sig till slavar och martyrer under sina kläder och mode. Man är mycket olycklig när man är upptagen hela sitt liv med ingenting annat än en spegel och en kam.

306.

En ärlig man bör inte spendera avsevärd tid med att äta eller klä på sig; en kvart räcker för detta på tjugofyra timmar. För vila kan tre eller fyra timmar räcka för en upptagen man, ibland mer, ibland mindre, beroende på hans komplexion och angelägenheter.

307.

Vid fester och offentliga sammankomster måste man ibland vara praktfull, men alltid prydlig och galant.

308.

Man bör bära fina poänger och fint linnetyg, satin, moiré, sammet, rik brokad och till och med purpur med föraktet av grov säck; ibland är dessa praktfulla kläder mer obekväma och täcker ofta ett mycket ödmjukt och ångerfullt hjärta, medan tagelskjortor och säck ibland döljer en stor mängd stolthet och förmätenhet.

309.

Människors utseende imponerar oss ofta; vi får inte lita på det. Gud ensam luras aldrig.

310.

Vi kan inte uppnå någonting utan rättvisa eller våld; det ena och det andra är nödvändigt för att genomföra alla stora dessänger; men konjunkturer gör ofta att något lyckas som inte kan uppnås med vare sig rättvisa eller våld.

311.

Endast styrkan motstår styrka, och lyckan avgör den. Styrka består inte i antal; seger ges till de modigaste, eller de lyckligaste.

312.

Öde, lycka, hasard och seger är bara verkställarna av Guds vilja, eller snarare hans egen vilja, som styr och avgör allting, och som ingenting kan och bör motstå.

313.

Jag anser att antikens visa män endast dyrkade en Gud under alla dessa olika gestalter och namn. Macrobius bevisar med stor kunskap att endast solen dyrkades; han skulle ha gjort bättre om han hade sagt att under själva solens gestalt dyrkades den sanne Guden, alltings auktor och skapare.

314.

Ungdomens utbildning bör vara en av furstens främsta angelägenheter; på denna beror all en Stats lycka, lycksalighet och ära.

315.

Ingenting är mer skadligt än sysslolöshet.

[Kristina hade tillade: »Det är nästan bättre att göra skada än att inte göra någonting i den här världen.« Hon suddade ut dessa ord i den slutliga texten.]

316.

Vi får inte tro att munkar och nunnor är värdelösa människor i världen; de har anammat det ädlaste av alla yrken; deras sysslolöshet, som endast sysselsätter sig med Gud, är värd avund. Vi måste hålla deras sysslolöshet i hög aktning.

317.

Om det finns onda människor bland dem, får vi inte förvånas över det. Det finns för många av dem för att alla skall vara goda; vi måste uppskatta och ära dem som är goda och ha medlidande med de andra.

318.

Alla som så önskar bör ges tillstånd att lämna religioner, utan att skada sin heder eller sitt samvete; detta skulle vara det enda sättet att helga religioner och människor. En sådan person skulle vara helig om han var i världen, som inte kunde bli det i religionen.

[Religioner = klosterorden.]

319.

Hur man än förklär sig och förändrar sig, bär människan sina svagheter och begär överallt; man avlägger dem inte för att förändra sitt utseende eller byta om sina kläder. Människorna är alltid densamma, och ofta, i tron att man blir bättre, blir man sämre.

320.

Vi bör vara misstänksamma mot alla nyheter och singulariteter och noggrant undersöka dem innan vi godkänner dem.

321.

Den tidiga Kyrkans stränga sätt och reformer är inte längre aktuella; de som är fast beslutna att återupprätta dem kommer aldrig att lyckas och skulle göra mer skada än nytta om de kunde lyckas med det.

322.

En furste måste försöka berika alla sina undersåtar så mycket som möjligt; men han måste aldrig berika någon tillräckligt eller göra dem så mäktiga att han skulle kunna delta i uppror eller inbördeskrig.

323.

Uppror släcks bättre genom att benåda än genom att straffa.

324.

Människor som inte har något att förlora är farliga i en Stat.

325.

Man måste stödja tjänare och ministrar när de agerar i enlighet med de order man ger dem; men när de begår dumherer på eget initiativ är det en svaghet för fursten att stödja dem, och man måste agera med dem på ett sätt som får dem att inse att de inte kan begå dumheter ostraffat.

326.

Presenter från furstar bör vara av en kvalitet som berikar, eller åtminstone tillgodoser, de människor som tar emot dem; det är nästan skamligt att ge något annat.

327.

Silver, guld, ädelstenar och andra värdefulla ting bör användas som presenter från furstar, i enlighet med egenskaperna hos de människor man skickar dem till. Furstar måste ta emot och acceptera små presenter från underordnade, men de bör inte ge dem.

328.

Man måste själv bedöma människors tjänster och förtjänster; endast deras egna handlingar bör skada eller tjäna dem i furstars ögon, och man bör vara misstänksam mot både de goda och de dåliga saker som ministrar säger om varandra.

329.

Dvärgar, narrar och andra liknande slags människor är olycksfåglar för hedersmän när de har tillgång till furstar.

330.

Detta slags människor säger ibland sanningar som andra inte vågar säga; men man kan också få dem att tala som man vill, och de är alltid skurkar.

331.

Alla människors tid är dyrbar, men furstars tid är så dyrbar att alla ögonblick de slösar bort kostar dem själva och Staten alltför dyrt.

332.

Det finns saker man varken får göra eller säga; det finns saker man måste göra och inte säga; det finns saker man måste säga och inte göra; det finns saker man måste både säga och göra utan att tveka.

333.

Det vore önskvärt för furstar att ha fullständig avhållsamhet från kärlek, men jag tror att det är nästan omöjligt och är övertygad om att detta fel är det minsta av alla dem som furstar faller för, förutsatt att de varken rör andra mäns hustrur eller tvingar någon att behaga dem.

334.

Ändå måste de ha tillräcklig självbehärskning för att förhindra att kärlekens njutning får dem att slösa tid eller möjligheter att sköta sina plikter som de måste.

335.

Hur mycket en furste än må vara förälskad, måste han aldrig tillåta en älskarinna att ha någon kunskap om eller del i angelägenheter; hon får inte vara förvalterskan av furstens plikter, sysselsättningar eller nåder; slutligen måste hon regera i furstens hjärta, men inte i hans Stat.

336.

En älskarinna måste också regera på baler, i sammankomster, vid alla högtider för prakt och galanteri, där hennes regering måste begränsas.

337.

En gift furste måste göra detsamma med sin maka, och namnet drottning får inte ge henne något mer. Hon måste regera i konungens hjärta, dela hans säng, men inte hans tron. Hon måste ha en älskarinnas plats.

338.

Skönhet och dess motsats är inte vad de verkar för oss. Genom vana blir vi okänsliga för allt. Det förstör all charm. Vi vänjer oss lika vid allt som behagar och allt som misshagar, utan att bli mer berörda av dem, och slutligen utjämnar natt och mörker alla föremål, såväl som döden, och det är detta som gör otrogna män oförlåtliga.

339.

Den saliska lagen som utesluter kvinnor från tronen är mycket rättvis; kvinnor bör aldrig regera, och om det finns exempel, vilket jag tvivlar på, som har gjort underverk på tronen, bör vi inte räkna med det; dessa är så sällsynta exempel att de borde vara utan betydelse.

340.

Det kvinnliga könet är en stor förlägenhet och ett stort hinder för dygd och förtjänst. Denna naturliga defekt från naturen är den största man kan ha; den är nästan oförbätterlig, och få människor har med heder befriat sig från denna förlägenhet.

341.

Kvinnors dygder är så oförenliga med de dygder och talanger som krävs för tronen att de måste avsäga sig alla sina dygder och goda egenskaper, såväl som sina svagheter och brister, om de vill göra sig värdiga att regera; detta utsätter dem för tusen nackdelar, men om de inte avsäger sig det, gör de sin person och sitt styre löjliga.

342.

En furste som lämnar efter sig en myndling gör mycket fel i att ge konungens och rikets förmynderskap till sin maka. En konungs mor bör inte ha någon annan sysselsättning än att sörja för konungens sin sons hälsa och liv, och hela hennes auktoritet bör begränsas till denna enda sysselsättning. Dessutom bör hon inte ha någon kunskap om angelägenheter eller någon auktoritet som helst. Ett råd bör bildas som skulle göra allt med en flerhet av röster. Detta råd bör ta hand om furstens utbildning, och det första det skulle behöva göra skulle vara att skilja honom från hans mor, för att inspirera honom till känslor värdiga hans rang och lära honom hans plikt, som mödrar är oförmögna till. En stor konung gjorde så, och det var gott.

[En stor konung = Gustav Adolf av Sverige, Kristinas far.]

343.

De flesta furstar får en så dålig utbildning att det är nästan omöjligt för dem att vara ärliga män, och om de, trots all omsorg som lagts ner på att göra furstar till dårar, lyckas bli stora furstar, förtjänar de människors beundran, likt naturens och nådens mirakel.

344.

Gud gör ibland dessa mirakel, men sällan; lyckliga är de människor som Gud ger en furste som är sådan som krävs.

345.

Varje kvinna som vill underhålla sig själv behöver en make som förevändning; hon skulle inte kunna klara sig utan den.

346.

Kvinnor gifter sig bara för att sätta sig i frihet, och de föredrar att ha en gammal man än att inte ha någon som helst.

347.

Det krävs mer mod att utsätta sig för äktenskapets olyckor och faror än för krigets, och jag beundrar modet hos alla dem som gifter sig; men man ingår detta fruktansvärda kontrakt som alla andra saker i livet, vars betydelse man knappast tänker på, inte heller vad man engagerar sig i.

348.

Sokrates sade: »Oavsett om du gifter dig eller inte, kommer du att ångra det.« Jag tror själv att varje man som gifter sig ofelbart kommer att ångra det, men jag förstår inte varför någon skulle ångra sig över att inte ha gift sig, och jag kan intyga det av erfarenhet.

349.

Rykte, rädslan för att bli fet och rädslan för könssjukdomar, som är så hemska och så vanliga även bland män av högsta kvalitet, håller fler kvinnor tillbaka från plikten att vara ärlig än fruktan och kärleken till Gud, som borde råda över allt.

350.

Jag värdesätter högt alla dem som är kyska av dygd; men de som är det på grund av sitt kyliga temperament duger aldrig till någonting.

351.

Man får endast göra gott och avstå från ont inför Gud och sitt eget samvete, och man bör inte söka något utanför det. Efter Gud bör man ha mer respekt för sig själv än för hela jorden.

[inför = på grund av.]

352.

När man offrar sin lycka, sina intressen, sin ära och alla sina förhoppningar till Gud, är detta offer stort och kostar den som gör det dyrt. Det är större än den ende sonens förr i tiden. Men varje människa som offrar åt Gud passionen av en sann och brinnande kärlek gör något mer. Storheten av detta offer är ofattbar. Själva offret av ens liv är inte jämförbart, och jag tror att det är det största, om än det mest hemliga, av martyrdöden.

353.

Även om Gud inte gav dygden så stora belöningar som han har lovat, bör man ändå odla den för dess egen skull.

354.

Vi måste vara väl övertygade om att dygd ger sin besittare glädjeämnen och tillfredsställelser som ingenting här nere kan jämföras med.

355.

Det finns ingen större glädje i världen än att veta hur man, när det är nödvändigt, avstår från de mest sensibla nöjen.

356.

Tålamod har föga förtjänst. Vi tål bara när vi inte kan göra det minsta. Gud är mycket god som räknar vårt tålamod som förtjänst.

[det minsta = annorlunda.]

357.

Ingen Stat kan subsistera utan vapen eller soldater; en furste måste hålla krigsfolk högt aktade, han måste vårda och kultivera den krigiska lusten bland sina folk, och framför allt måste han noggrant akta militär disciplin.

358.

En armé kan inte segra utan att vara väl disciplinerad.

359.

Militär disciplin har givit världens imperium till alla dem som en gång har ägt det.

360.

Vi måste inspirera till mod och hårt arbete hos ungdomen, särskilt hos adeln, och karessera och hedra dem som besitter militär böjelse och talang.

361.

Militär disciplin kan inte upprättas eller bevaras utan att trupperna betalas exakt; den militära disciplinens stränghet beror på exakt betalning.

362.

Disciplin är nödvändig vid hovet, i religioner såväl som i arméer.

363.

Man måste betala väl, belöna väl och straffa väl; detta är sättet att göra sig väl åtlydd överallt.

364.

En furste måste vara beväpnad i fred och i krig.

365.

En stor mängd officerare kostar dyrt, men slag och städer vinns av dem.

366.

En långvarig fred är inte mindre farlig för en Stat än krig; den får omärkligt Stater att falla i förakt och svaghet.

367.

När det inte finns krig hemma, måste man skicka ungdomar och soldater överallt för att söka det; man måste erkänna, till Frankrikes odödliga ära, att dess nation i detta avseende ärofullt skiljer sig från alla andra, som söker krig och ära med mindre iver, och de utsätter sig mer sällan för faror utan att det är nödvändigt med sin plikt.

368.

En furste får aldrig ge sin granne ledigheten att attackera honom. Han måste alltid förekomma dem som hotar.

369.

En furste måste älska de verkligen modiga, men han måste ha en motvilja mot de skrytsamma och brutala.

370.

Även om en furste främsta omsorg och flit måste vara krig och soldater, måste han inte försumma eller förakta andra yrken i sin Stat. De som hör till Kyrkan, rättvisan och andra civila ämbeten vid hovet och Staten måste ha sitt pris lika mycket som soldaterna. Varje man som väl sköter sin plikt, oavsett yrke, förtjänar sin furstes aktning, karesser och förmåner.

371.

En furste måste vara fullständigt neutral. Han får inte vara stolt över något annat än att styra och göra rättvisa åt varje människas förtjänster, och förplikta alla genom belöningar och straff, men framför allt genom sitt exempel, att fullgöra sin plikt och att fullgöra den med omsorg, flit och trohet.

372.

En furste måste ge alla tillgång till honom. Han måste vara exponerad för allas åsyn likt solen. Han får inte låta sig stängas inne, vare sig av ministrar eller av gunstlingar. Han är förlorad i det ögonblick detta sker.

373.

Hur upptagen en furste än må vara, måste han ändå avsätta timmar för reträtt varje dag; dessa timmar måste användas till att reflektera över sitt uppförande, korrigera sina fel och be Gud om nåd och styrka, utan vilken ingenting värdefullt kan göras.

374.

Man måste veta att det finns falska dygder i världen; det finns falsk fromhet, falsk generositet, falskt mod, falsk blygsamhet, falsk vältalighet och liberalitet osv. Man måste ha en motvilja mot allt som är falskt, fly från det, och man måste älska endast sanningen och den sanna dygden.

375.

Man måste veta hur man tjänar sig själv bland litteraturmän som levande bibliotek, att uppskatta dem, att visa dem liberaliteter, att emplojera dem, att rådfråga dem om vad de vet; men man måste vara övertygad om att de utöver det vanligtvis är mycket fattiga människor i världens och angelägenheternas praktik.

376.

Det finns ingen regel så allmän att den inte tål undantag; omdömet måste reglera allt i enskilda fall.

377.

Blygsamhet är en av de vackraste av alla dygder; den hindrar inte människor från att känna eller känna sina goda egenskaper; utan den sänder all ära tillbaka till Gud och åtnjuter alla hans gåvor med respekt och tacksamhet.

378.

Alla människor står i skuld till varandra för rättvisa; den är framför allt skyldig förtjänst och sanning, men furstar är mer skyldiga de fattiga och de rika, de goda och de onda.

[står i skuld till [varandra] för = skyldiga.]

379.

Stränghet är lovvärd, och det är även nåd; den ena måste mildra den andra, och de måste ömsesidigt bidra till att skapa en perfekt rättvisa som aldrig lämnar brott ostraffade. Men man får inte kriminalisera dem som inte är kriminella, och en furste är skyldig att skydda både sina undersåtars liv och heder mot avund och förtal; han får inte tillåta att vare sig oskuld eller sanning någonsin förtrycks. När detta sker, trots all hans flit, är det en olycka, men det är inte ett brott mot fursten, förutsatt att han har fullgjort sin plikt och mänskliga flit.

380.

Theodosius' lag var mycket rättvis och vis: han beordrade att ingen någonsin skulle avrättas förrän trettio dagar efter att befallningen hade givits. Dessa försiktighetsåtgärder är nödvändiga för att lugna furstens samvete. Man kan alltid avrätta människor, men man kan inte återuppliva dem.

381.

Ämbeten som skipar rättvisa bör aldrig vara venala; annars måste det finnas venala i en Stat.

382.

Allt måste ha sitt pris. Människors förtjänster, flit, börd och pengar måste finna sin användning i en Stat; men varje sak måste vara i sin rang.

383.

De rika är de fattiga skyldiga för sin hjälp, och de fattiga är de rika skyldiga för sina tjänster; alla måste bidra till Statens och furstens storhet, lycka och ära, som är skyldig alla rättvisa och säkerhet.

384.

En furste måste veta hur han skall dissimulera, inte av rädsla, utan av försiktighet. Man måste sträva efter att veta allt, men man får inte alltid visa att man vet det.

385.

De som strävar efter universell monarki beaktar inte omöjligheten i sin dessäng; det är en större dårskap än man tror att pretendera därtill, och om de inte vore förblindade av sin ambition, skulle de aldrig smickra sig med en sådan chimär. Alltför många stora och extraordinära egenskaper krävs för att genomföra en sådan dessäng, och det är nästan omöjligt att finna dem hos en enda man. Det osmanska Huset, som har arbetat i fyra sekler med denna plan, har ännu inte kunnat genomföra den, efter att ha frambringat så många stora furstar som alla har bidragit med sin omsorg och sitt arbete till den; men i vårt sekel är världen inställd på ett sätt att denna dessäng är fullständigt omöjlig.

386.

Om Caesar, Alexander och Kyros en gång lyckades bli herrar över en del av världen, berodde det på att de besatt alla nödvändiga egenskaper i ett heroiskt avseende, och på att världen då befann sig i ett helt annat tillstånd än vårt sekels. Jag är övertygad om att de för närvarande, med alla deras stora egenskaper och lycka, inte skulle lyckas.

387.

När man betänker att dessa stora män levde och dog utan att deras stora namn var kända för en hundradel av världen, och att de var så okända för alla andra att det inte var känt att de hade fötts, att även den del av världen som kände dem har glömt dem, som om de aldrig hade existerat, förefaller mig denna reflektion kunna bota vilken förnuftig människa som helst från det fåfänga hoppet om en inbillad odödlighet.

388.

Men man måste agera, när plikten kräver det, som dessa stora män agerade; man måste lära av dessa stora original genom att imitera dem, för att förvärva åtminstone deras förtjänster om inte deras stora lycka; det vill säga, man måste arbeta dag och natt, utsätta sig för tusen faror och tusen mödor, räkna både liv och död för ingenting, men man måste göra allt detta enbart för nöjet och tillfredsställelsen av att göra gott, vilket måste vara hela den belöning man bör göra anspråk på, utan att smickra sig med andra chimärer.

389.

Vila är en besvärjelse som belönar oss för alla nöjen och all storhet. Det är den dyrbara frid som segrar över allt och som världen inte kan ge oss.

390.

Augustus hade rätt i att förvånas över att Alexander fann mindre nöje i att regera än i att erövra denna vackra del av världen, som han hade gjort sig till herre över.

391.

Alexander gjorde något mer ovärdigt sig själv genom att kallblodigt döda Parmenion än Kleitos i hans raseri, och hans ilska borde förlåtas snarare än hans rädsla, som var mer ovärdig honom.

392.

Det finns handlingar i Alexanders liv som kraftigt fläckar ner hans ära; att ha huggit i bitar en garnison som lämnade en plats mot hans ord, att ha grymt dödat en modig man för att han tappert försvarat sig i hans ställe, att ha huggit i bitar fångarna för att inte bli generad av dem under en marsch, att ha dödat denne stackars oskyldige perser, på en narrs vittnesmål, att ha grymt bränt ner det vackraste palatset och en av Asiens vackraste städer på övertalning av en hovdam, att ha offrat ett helt folk till Hefaistions ande, som han gjorde, att ha orsakat filosofen Kallisthenes att förgås genom att äta skadedjur i ett fängelse, att ha utsatt Lysimachos för lejonen, att ha givit priser till de största drinkarna i sin armé. Alla dessa handlingar är barbariska, fruktansvärda, oförlåtliga och fullständigt ovärdiga Alexander, som vidare anklagas för att själv ha varit en drinkare och en skrytare, fel fullständigt ovärdiga en hederlig man och en stor furste. Jag tror kanske att man gör honom orätt genom att anklaga honom för så många brott och fel, men trots allt är det så många fläckar i solen som inte hindrar honom från att vara den han är, ty han är så stor att man nästan borde förlåta honom och komma ihåg att han var en man. Men alla dessa fel och brott är nästan obemärkta; Alexander klandras enbart för Kleitos' död, för vilket jag inte berömmer honom, men jag ursäktar honom starkt, ty Kleitos tvingade honom att göra vad han gjorde. Allt detta sägs bara för att påpeka människornas orättvisa, som inte vet vad de skall berömma eller klandra.

393.

Förutom allt detta klandrar man också Alexander för att ha velat göra sig tillbedd som Jupiters son; de som klandrar honom för detta beaktar inte Alexanders sekel, inte heller detta slags tillbedjan, som har fått så många människor att ropa: han föddes i ett sekel då statusen som gudar och Jupiters söner gavs till så många människor som inte var lika värdiga att vara det som han var. Jag ursäktar honom därför om han tillskrivit sig själv en egenskap som han gjort sig så värdig; jag är själv övertygad om att han inte själv trodde det, men han utnyttjade skickligt sitt sekels vidskepelse för att driva sina storslagna dessänger, och han gjorde det välkänt när han själv sa att alla hederliga människor var Jupiters söner, och att blodet som utgjuts genom hans sår inte är den sprit som Homeros talar om, som flödar från gudarna. Vad gäller den tillbedjan han ville visa honom, som de gamla makedonierna mumlade så högljutt om, tycks det mig som att Alexander hade rätt, och de hade fel; seden att dyrka konungar var lika gammal i hela Östern som den var ny bland grekerna; Alexander, som hade blivit herre över den persiska monarkin, hade goda skäl att ändra sin ceremoni och anpassa sig till sederna hos de folk han hade erövrat, ty det var både mer respektfullt och mer värdigt hans lycka; så bland grekerna fanns det bara gråskägg och pedanter som mumlade om det; resten anpassade sig klokt och gjorde mycket bra ifrån sig, ty man kan inte ära och respektera konungar för mycket. Denna respekt han visade sig själv gjorde inte Alexander mindre förtrogen eller mindre öm mot sina vänner, ett faktum han klargjorde när han slet bandet från pannan för att förbinda såren på en av sina egna. Kort sagt, jag ser inte att han i detta var mer brottslig än andra konungar, som låter sig tjänas knäböjande bland oss, och som förtjänar denna ära mycket mindre än han.

394.

Kyros' och Caesars liv var mer ordnade och klokare. De var lika stora som Alexander, men de hade bättre självbehärskning. Timur Lenk och Almansur var lika stora som alla dessa män, men Almansur upptog för mycket tid med bagateller som är ovärdiga en furste. Man läser med nöje och stor nytta dessa stora mäns vackra liv.

395.

Timur Lenks behandling av Beyazit var inte värdig hans andra handlingar, och jag finner något så barbariskt i det att jag inte skulle vilja ha hela hans lycka till priset av en sådan handling.

396.

Bland de kristna är Konstantin den store en furste av stor förtjänst, och Theodosius den store har väl förtjänat sitt namn såväl som Karl den store. Att läsa sådana liv lyfter själen och inspirerar den med ädla och stora känslor; dessa liv borde vara bekanta för furstar och alla hederliga människor.

397.

Jag kan inte förlåta kejsaren Augustus för att han offrade Cicero, som han gjorde, till sin storhet, tillsammans med de andra lysande offren som sedan offrades till triumviratet, och som visar de ödesdigra effekter som ambition producerar.

398.

Sextus Pompejus' handling var helt och hållet heroisk. Den är värd mer än hans fars lycka, och enbart genom denna handling har han förtjänat namnet stor mer än han gjorde.

399.

Jag är övertygad om att berättelsen om Tomyris är en fabel, och jag tror att Kyros dog i sin säng, full av ålderdom och ära, på det sätt som Xenofon återger hans död. Även om denna romans om Tomyris vore sann, förstår jag inte varför en sådan barbarisk handling skulle ha fått ett sådant rykte för en kvinna om vilken ingenting är känt förutom denna avskyvärda hämndaktion, som borde göra hennes minne avskyvärt och motbjudande för alla efterkommande. Man måste respektera förtjänster även hos fiender, vare sig de är levande eller döda.

[Kristina hade i sitt galleri en målning av Rubens som föreställer Tomyris som kastar Kyros' huvud i en hud full av blod.]

400.

Erövraryrket skulle vara det vackraste av alla yrken om det inte kostade så många andra olyckliga så dyrt.

English translation (my own):

301.

We grow old more through laziness than through age.

302.

We must know how to order all things for the felicity of men; the necessities of the body, such as clothing, eating, sleeping, pleasures, occupations, and the duties of life, everything must contribute to this, and we could do so if we properly regulated the rank of all these things.

303.

What we call luxury is also necessary for the republic, and, provided, we do not steal, do not incur debts we cannot repay, we can provide it without scruple, even with merit; since it is a kind of secret almsgiving, which can be very agreeable to God, although it is not agreeable to bigots, who only put people under the collar to make themselves the sovereign arbiters of the purses.

304.

Cleanliness, negligence, fashion, and, above all, commodity and honesty must be observed in clothing.

305.

There are some rather foolish people who make themselves slaves and martyrs to their clothes and fashions. One is very unhappy when one is occupied all one's life with nothing but a mirror and a comb.

306.

An honest man should not spend considerable time eating or dressing; a quarter of an hour is sufficient for this in twenty-four hours. For rest, three or four hours may suffice for a busy man, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on his complexion and affairs.

307.

At feasts and public assemblies, one must sometimes be magnificent, but always clean and gallant.

308.

One should wear fine points and fine linens, satin, moire, velvet, rich brocade, and even purple with the contempt of coarse sackcloth; sometimes these superb clothes are more inconvenient and often cover a very humble and penitent heart, whereas hairshirts and sackcloth sometimes hide a great deal of pride and presumption.

309.

The appearance of men often imposes us; we must not trust it. God alone is never deceived.

310.

We can achieve nothing without justice or force; the one and the other are necessary to carry out all great designs; but conjunctures often make something succeed that cannot be achieved by either justice or force.

311.

Only strength resists strength, and fortune decides it. Strength does not consist in numbers; victory is given to the bravest, or the most fortunate.

312.

Destiny, fortune, chance and victory are only the executors of God's will, or rather His very will, which rules and decides all things, and which nothing can and should resist.

313.

I hold that the wise men of antiquity worshipped only one God under all these different figures and names. Macrobius proves with great learning that only the sun was worshipped; he would have done better if he had said that under the figure of the sun itself, the true God, author and creator of all things, was worshipped.

314.

The education of the youth should be one of the prince's principal concerns; on this depends all the happiness, felicity and glory of a State.

315.

Nothing is more pernicious than idleness.

[Kristina had added: "It is almost better to do harm than to do nothing in this world." She erased these words in the final text.]

316.

We must not believe that monks and nuns are useless people in the world; they have embraced the noblest of all the professions; their idleness, which occupies itself only with God, is worthy of envy. We must hold their idleness in great esteem.

317.

If there are wicked people among them, we must not be astonished at it. There are too many of them to be all good; we must esteem and honour those who are good and have pity on the others.

318.

All those who so desire should be given permission to leave religions, without harming their honour or their conscience; this would be the only way to sanctify religions and men. Such a person would be holy if he were in the world, who could not become so in religion.

[Religions = monastic orders.]

319.

However one disguises oneself and changes oneself, man carries his weaknesses and desires everywhere; one does not shed them to change one's appearance or clothing. One is always the same, and often, in believing one is becoming better, one becomes worse.

320.

We should be suspicious of all novelties and singularities and examine them well before authorising them.

321.

The rigours and reforms of the early Church are no longer in season; those who are determined to reestablish them will never succeed and would do more harm than good if they could succeed at it.

322.

A prince must try to enrich all his subjects as much as possible; but he must never enrich anyone enough or make them so powerful that he could form a party to rebellion or to civil war.

323.

Rebellions are extinguished better by pardoning than by punishing.

324.

People who have nothing to lose are dangerous in a State.

325.

One must support servants and ministers when they act in accordance with the orders one gives them; but when they do stupid things on their own initiative, it is a weakness for the prince to support them, and one must act with them in a way that makes them know that they cannot do stupid things with impunity.

326.

Presents from princes should be of a quality that enriches, or at least accommodates, the people who receive them; it is almost shameful to give anything else.

327.

Silver, gold, gems and other precious things should be employed for gifts from princes, according to the qualities of the people to whom one sends them. Princes must receive and accept small presents from inferiors, but they should not give them.

328.

One must judge for oneself the services and merits of men; only their own actions should harm or serve them in the eyes of princes, and one should be suspicious of both the good and the bad things that ministers say about each other.

329.

Dwarfs, buffoons and other similar kinds of people are birds of ill omen for men of honour when they have access to princes.

330.

These kinds of people sometimes say truths that others dare not say; but one can also make them speak as one wants, and they are always scoundrels.

331.

All men's time is precious, but that of princes is so precious that all the moments they waste cost themselves and the State too dearly.

332.

There are things one must neither do nor say; there are things one must do and not say; there are things one must say and not do; there are things one must both say and do without hesitation.

333.

It would be desirable for princes to have complete abstinence from love, but I believe it almost impossible and am persuaded that this fault is the least of all those into which princes fall, provided they neither touch other men's wives nor force anyone to please them.

334.

Yet they must have enough self-control to prevent the pleasure of love from making them waste time or opportunities to attend to their duties as they must.

335.

However much a prince may be in love, he must never allow a mistress to have any knowledge or part in affairs; she must not be the dispensatrix of the prince's duties, employs or graces; finally, she must reign in the prince's heart, but not in his State.

336.

A mistress must also reign at balls, in assemblies, at all feasts of magnificence and gallantry, where her reign must be limited.

337.

A married prince must do the same with his wife, and the name of queen must give nothing more to her. She must reign in the king's heart, share his bed, but not his throne. She must have the place of a mistress.

338.

Beauty and its opposite are not what they seem to us. Through habit, we become insensitive to everything. It destroys all charms. We accustom ourselves equally to everything that pleases and everything that displeases, without being any the more touched by them, and finally, night and darkness equalise all objects, as well as death, and this is what makes unfaithful husbands inexcusable.

339.

The Salic law that excludes women from the throne is very just; women should never rule, and if there are examples, which I doubt, who have done wonders on the throne, we should not count on it; these are such rare examples that they should be of no consequence.

340.

The feminine sex is a great embarrassment and a great obstacle to virtue and merit. This natural defect from nature is the greatest one could have; it is almost incorrigible, and few people have extricated themselves with honour from this embarrassment.

341.

The virtues of women are so incompatible with the virtues and talents required for the throne that they must renounce all their virtues and good qualities, as well as their weaknesses and defects, if they want to make themselves worthy of ruling; this exposes them to a thousand disadvantages, but if they do not renounce it, they make their persons and government ridiculous.

342.

A prince who leaves behind a ward is very wrong to give the guardianship of the king and the kingdom to his wife. The mother of a king should have no other employ than to attend to the preservation of the health and life of the king, her son, and her entire authority should be limited to this sole occupation. Moreover, she should have no knowledge of affairs, nor any authority. A council should be formed that would do everything by a plurality of votes. This council should take care of the prince's education, and the first thing it would have to do would be to separate him from his mother, so as to inspire in him sentiments worthy of his rank and to teach him his duty, of which mothers are incapable. A great king did so, and it was good.

[A great king = Gustav Adolf of Sweden, Kristina's father.]

343.

Most princes are given such a bad education that it is almost impossible for them to be honest men, and if, despite all the care taken to make princes fools, they succeed in becoming great princes, they deserve the admiration of men, like miracles of nature and of grace.

344.

God sometimes does these miracles, but rarely; happy are the people to whom God gives a prince who is such as is required.

345.

Every woman who wants to entertain herself needs a husband as a pretext; she could not do without it.

346.

Women marry only to put themselves in freedom, and they prefer to have an old husband than to have none.

347.

It takes more heart to expose oneself to the misfortunes and perils of marriage than to those of war, and I admire the courage of all those who marry; but one makes this terrible contract like all other things in life, the importance of which one hardly considers, nor what one is engaging oneself in.

348.

Socrates said: "Whether thou marriest or not, thou willst repent of it." I myself believe that every man who marries will infallibly repent of it, but I do not see why anyone would repent of not having married, and I can vouch for it from experience.

349.

Reputation, the fear of growing fat, and the fear of venereal diseases, which are so horrible and so common even among men of the highest quality, hold more women back from the duty of honesty than the fear and love of God, which should prevail over everything.

350.

I strongly esteem all those who are chaste by virtue; but those who are so by the coldness of their temperament are never good for anything.

351.

One must only do good and abstain from evil in the sight of God and one's own conscience, and one should seek nothing outside of it. After God, one should have more respect for oneself than for the whole earth.

[in sight of = because of.]

352.

When one sacrifices one's fortune, one's interest, one's glory and all one's hopes to God, this sacrifice is great and costs the one who makes it dearly. It is greater than that of that only son of old. But every man who sacrifices to God the passion of a true and ardent love does something more. The greatness of this sacrifice is inconceivable. The sacrifice of one's life itself is not comparable, and I believe it is the greatest, though the most secret, of martyrdoms.

353.

Even if God did not give such great rewards to virtue as He has promised, one should nevertheless cultivate it for its own sake.

354.

We must be well persuaded that virtue gives its possessor joys and satisfactions that nothing here below can equal.

355.

There is no greater pleasure in the world than knowing how to abstain, when necessary, from the most sensible pleasures.

356.

Patience has little merit. We only suffer when we cannot do the least. God is very good to account our patience as merit.

[the least = otherwise.]

357.

No State can subsist without arms or soldiers; a prince must hold people of war in high regard, he must nurture and cultivate the warlike inclination among his peoples, and above all, he must have exact care for military discipline.

358.

An army cannot be victorious without being well disciplined.

359.

Military discipline has given the empire of the world to all those who have once possessed it.

360.

We must inspire bravery and hard work in the youth, especially in the nobility, and caress and honour those who possess the military inclination and talent.

361.

Military discipline cannot be established or preserved without paying the troops exactly; the rigour of military discipline depends on exact payment.

362.

Discipline is necessary at court, in religions, as well as in armies.

363.

One must pay well, reward well and punish well; this is the way to make oneself obeyed well everywhere.

364.

A prince must be armed in peace and in war.

365.

A large quantity of officers costs dearly, but battles and cities are won by them.

366.

A long peace is no less dangerous to a State than war; it insensibly causes States to fall into contempt and weakness.

367.

When there is no war at home, one must send the youth and soldiers everywhere to seek it; one must admit, to the immortal glory of France, that in this respect its nation gloriously distinguishes itself from all others, which seek war and glory with less ardour, and they more rarely expose themselves to perils without the necessity of their duty.

368.

A prince must never give his neighbour the leisure to attack him. He must always forestall those who threaten.

369.

A prince must love the truly brave, but he must have an aversion to the boastful and the brutal.

370.

Although a prince's principal care and application must be to war and to soldiers, he must not neglect or despise other professions in his State. Those of the Church, of justice, and of other civil charges of the court and of the State must have their price as much as soldiers. Every man who acquits himself well of his duty, of whatever profession he may be, deserves the esteem, caresses and benefits of his prince.

371.

A prince must be perfectly neutral. He must pride himself on nothing but ruling and doing justice to the merits of each person, obliging everyone by rewards and punishments, but above all by his example, to attend to his duty and to acquit himself of it with care, application and fidelity.

372.

A prince must give everyone access to him. He must be exposed to the view of all like the sun. He must not let himself be shut in, either by ministers or by favourites. He is lost the moment that this happens.

373.

However occupied a prince may be, he must nevertheless set aside hours of retreat each day; these hours must be employed in reflecting on his conduct, correcting his faults, and asking God for graces and strength, without whom nothing worthwhile can be done.

374.

One must know that there are false virtues in the world; there is false piety, false generosity, false bravery, false modesty, false eloquence and liberality, etc. One must have an aversion to all that is false, flee from it, and one must love only the truth and true virtue.

375.

One must know how to serve oneself of men of letters like living libraries, to esteem them, to use liberalities to them, to employ them, to consult them on what they know; but one must be persuaded that beyond that, they are ordinarily very poor people in the practice of the world and of affairs.

376.

There is no rule so general that it does not suffer exceptions; judgement must regulate everything in particular cases.

377.

Modesty is one of the most beautiful of all virtues; it does not prevent men from feeling or knowing their good qualities; but it sends all the glory back to God and enjoys all His gifts with respect and gratitude.

378.

All men are indebted to one another for justice; it is owed above all to merit and truth, but princes owe it more to the poor and the rich, to the good and the wicked.

[are indebted to [each other] for = owe.]

379.

Severity is laudable, and so is clemency; the one must temper the other, and they must contribute reciprocally to forming a perfect justice which never leaves crimes unpunished. But one must not render criminal those who are not so, and a prince is obliged to protect both the life and the honour of his subjects against envy and calumny; he must not allow either innocence or truth to ever be oppressed. When this happens, despite all his application and diligences, it is a misfortune, but it is not a crime against the prince, provided he has fulfilled his duty and human diligences.

380.

The law of Theodosius was very just and wise: he ordered that no one should ever be executed until thirty days after the order was given. These precautions are necessary to put the prince's conscience in repose. One can always put people to death, but one cannot resuscitate them.

381.

Charges that render justice should never be venal; otherwise, there must be venal ones in a State.

382.

All things must have their price. Men's merit, industry, birth and money must find their employ in a State; but each thing must be in its rank.

383.

The rich owe their succours to the poor, and the poor owe their services to the rich; all must contribute to the greatness, felicity and glory of the State and of the prince, who owes justice and security to everyone.

384.

A prince must know how to dissimulate, not out of fear, but out of prudence. One must strive to know everything, but one must not always show that one knows it.

385.

Those who aspire to universal monarchy do not consider the impossibility of their design; it is a greater folly than one thinks to pretend to it, and if they were not blinded by their ambition, they would never flatter themselves with such a chimera. Too many great and extraordinary qualities are required to carry out such a design, and it is almost impossible to find them in a single man. The Ottoman House, which has been working for four centuries on this design, has not yet been able to accomplish it, after having produced so many great princes who have all contributed their care and labours to it; but in our century the world is disposed in a way that this design is completely impossible.

386.

If Caesar, Alexander and Cyrus once succeeded in becoming masters of a part of the world, it was because they possessed all the necessary qualities in a heroic respect, and because the world was then in a very different state from that of our century; I am persuaded that at present, with all their great qualities and good fortune, they would not succeed.

387.

When one considers that these great men lived and died without their great names being known to a hundredth part of the world, and that they were so unknown to all the rest that it was not known that they had been born, that even that part of the world that knew them has forgotten them, as if they had never existed, this reflection seems to me capable of curing any reasonable man of the vain hope of an imaginary immortality.

388.

However, one must act, when duty demands it, as these great men acted; one must learn from these great originals by imitating them, to acquire at least their merit if not their great fortune; that is to say, one must work day and night, expose oneself to a thousand perils and a thousand labours, count both life and death for nothing, but one must do all this for the sole pleasure and satisfaction of doing well, which must be the whole reward one should claim, without flattering oneself with other chimeras.

389.

Rest is a charm that rewards us for all pleasures and all greatness. It is that precious peace that triumphs over everything and which the world cannot give us.

390.

Augustus was right to be astonished that Alexander found less pleasure in governing than in conquering this beautiful part of the world, of which he had made himself master.

391.

Alexander did something more unworthy of himself in killing Parmenion in cold blood than Cleitus in his rage, and his anger should be forgiven rather than his fear, which was more unworthy of him.

392.

There are actions in Alexander's life that greatly tarnish his glory; that of having cut to pieces a garrison that was leaving a place against his word, of having cruelly put to death a brave man for having defended himself valiantly in his place, that of having cut to pieces the prisoners so as not to be embarrassed by them in a march, of having put to death this poor innocent Persian, on the testimony of a buffoon, of having cruelly burned down the most beautiful palace and one of the most beautiful cities of Asia at the persuasion of a courtesan, of having sacrificed to the spirit of Hephaestion an entire people, as he did, of having caused the philosopher Callisthenes to perish by eating vermin in a prison, of having exposed Lysimachus to the lions, of having given prizes to the greatest drinkers of his army. All these actions are barbaric, horrible, inexcusable and completely unworthy of Alexander, who is further accused of having been a drunkard and a braggart himself, faults completely unworthy of an honest man and a great prince. I perhaps believe that one does him wrong by accusing him of so many crimes and faults, but after all, these are so many spots in the sun that do not prevent him from being what he is, since he is so great that one should almost forgive him and remember that he was a man. However, all these faults and crimes are almost unnoticed; Alexander is blamed solely for the death of Cleitus, for which I do not praise him, but I greatly excuse him, because Cleitus forced him to do what he did. All this is said only to point out the injustice of men, who do not know what to praise or blame.

393.

Besides all this, one also blames Alexander for having wanted to make himself adored as the son of Jupiter; those who blame him for this do not consider Alexander's century, nor this kind of adoration, which has caused so many people to cry out: he was born in a century when the status of gods and sons of Jupiter was given to so many people who were not as worthy of being so as he was. I therefore excuse him if he had attributed to himself a quality of which he had made himself so worthy; I myself am persuaded that he did not believe it himself, but he skillfully served himself of the superstition of his century to push his grand designs, and he made it well known when he himself said that all honest people were sons of Jupiter, and that the blood shed by his wounds is not that liquour of which Homer speaks, which flows from the gods. As for the adoration he wanted to be shown him, about which the ancient Macedonians murmured so loudly, it seems to me that Alexander was right, and they were wrong; the custom of worshipping kings was as ancient throughout the East as it was new among the Greeks; Alexander, who had become master of the Persian monarchy, had great reason to change his ceremonial and to accommodate himself to the customs of the peoples he had conquered, because it was both more respectful and more worthy of his fortune; so among the Greeks there were only the greybeards and the pedants who murmured about it; the rest accommodated themselves wisely, and did very well, for one cannot honour and respect kings too much. These respects he made be shown to himself did not make Alexander any less familiar or any less tender towards his friends, a fact he made clear when he tore the band from his forehead to bandage the wounds of one of his own. In short, I do not see that in this he was any more criminal than other kings, who make themselves served on one's knees among us, and who deserve this honour much less than he.

394.

The lives of Cyrus and Caesar were more orderly and wiser. They were as great as Alexander, but they had better self-possession. Tamerlane and Almanzor were as great as all these men, but Almanzor occupied too much time with trifles that are unworthy of a prince. One reads with pleasure and great profit the beautiful lives of these great men.

395.

Tamerlane's treatment of Bayezid was not worthy of his other actions, and I find something so barbaric in it that I would not want all his fortune at the price of such an action.

396.

Among the Christians, Constantine the Great is a prince of great merit, and Theodosius the Great has well deserved his name as well as Charlemagne. Reading such lives elevates the soul and inspires it with noble and great sentiments; these lives should be familiar to princes and all honest people.

397.

I cannot forgive the Emperor Augustus for having sacrificed Cicero, as he did, to his greatness, with the other illustrious victims then sacrificed to the Triumvirate, and who demonstrate the fatal effects that ambition produces.

398.

The action of Sextus Pompey was entirely heroic. It is worth more than his father's good fortune, and by this action alone he has deserved the name of great more than he did.

399.

I am persuaded that the story of Tomyris is a fable, and I believe that Cyrus died in his bed, full of age and glory, in the manner Xenophon recounts his death. Even if this romance of Tomyris were true, I do not see why such a barbaric action should have acquired such a reputation for a woman about whom nothing is known except for this detestable act of revenge, which should make her memory abominable and odious to all posterity. One must respect merit even in enemies, whether living or dead.

[Kristina had in her gallery a painting by Rubens depicting Tomyris plunging Cyrus' head into a skin full of blood.]

400.

The profession of conquerors would be the most beautiful of all professions if it did not cost so many other unfortunates so dearly.

Above: Kristina.

Notes: Jupiter was the Latin/Roman name and equivalent for the Greek god Zeus.

Tamerlane = Timur (Temür (تیمور); born in the 1320s, died 1405), a 14th century Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around present-day Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan, whose heir he saw himself as, and he was the last of the nomadic conquerors of the Eurasian steppe.

Almanzor (al-Manṣūr (المنصور), "The Victorious"; full name Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri (أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي عامر المعافري); born circa 938, died 1002) was a Muslim Arab Andalusi military leader and statesman in the 10th century. As the chancellor of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba and hajib (chamberlain) to the weak Caliph Hisham II, Almanzor was the de facto ruler of Islamic Iberia.

Bayezid I (بايزيد اول; born circa 1360, died 1403) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. The above-mentioned Tamerlane defeated and captured him at the Battle of Ankara in 1402, and Bayezid died in captivity on March 8, 1403 after months of humiliation. The legend of his said humiliation in captivity became popular in medieval and early modern Europe, although descriptions from Bayezid's contemporaries and witnesses do not mention humiliation or him being kept in a cell.

Tomyris (Taumuriyah; died circa 520s B.C.) was an East Iranian queen who reigned over the Massagetae, an Iranian Saka people of Central Asia, in the 6th century B.C. She led her armies to defend against an attack by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire, and according to Herodotus, she defeated and killed him in 530 B.C. However, as Kristina said and believed, Xenophon claimed that Cyrus was not killed in battle, but that he returned to his capital of Persepolis and that he died there peacefully. Another version, by Berossus, claims that Cyrus died while warring against the Dahae archers northwest of the headwaters of the Syr Darya.