In person, Christina is described as under the middle size, but well formed, except the slight deformity in her shoulder; her features rather large in proportion to her figure; her countenance mobile and vivacious, unless when she purposely controlled it; her eyes a brilliant hazel, quick and penetrating; her nose aquiline; her mouth wide, and not agreeable in repose; her smile, however, bright and pleasing, and her teeth fine. Of her profuse light-brown hair, she took little care, only combing it once a week, sometimes only once a fortnight. In dress, she was extremely negligent, never allowing herself more than a quarter of an hour for her morning-toilet; and she wore, except on state occasions, a suit of plain gray stuff, made short for convenience in walking and riding; a black scarf round her neck, and rarely any ornament. She generally wore a man's fur cap, or tied her locks with a knot of ribbon; later in life, she used a wig. She was temperate, even abstemious in eating; cared not what she ate; and was never heard to remark on any dish at table. Much as she liked to play the queen, and assume a haughty expression, daunt ing with a look those who approached her, in ordinary conversation she was so familiar, that no one would have taken her for a woman of rank, far less for a sovereign princess. Openly professing contempt for her own sex, she scarcely condescended to notice, far less converse with any of her women, with the exception of one of her maids of honour, the Countess Ebba Sparre, whom she always called, La belle comtesse.' She was young, beautiful, amiable, and unobtrusive, but did not attempt to exercise the slightest influence over her royal mistress, who never ceased to treat her with respect, and even with kindness.

Christina, too clever not to appreciate the transcendent talents of Oxenstiern-more than equal to those of Richelieu, whom he surpassed in wisdom and integrity-and too politic openly to quarrel with him, yet shewed him and his party little favour, and was mean enough to sow dissension among her ministers, that she might hold the reins more tightly in her own grasp. Not content with distinguishing by her favour Count Brahé, grandjusticiary of Sweden, and Count de la Gardie, her grand-chamberlain, whom she loaded with honours, and opposing these to the Oxenstierns, she put herself at the head of what might be called the French party; gave much of her confidence to M. Chanut, the French minister; and finally offended them all by raising to a seat in the senate, and intrusting with the most secret negotiations, Adler Salvius, a man of the most plebeian origin. When the senators murmured at receiving him among them, Christina said angrily When good advice and wise counsel are wanted, who looks for sixteen quarters? What is requisite in all employments of state is not nobility, but capacity.' ́An excellent sentiment, but, like other excellent sentiments, standing much in need of discrimination in the application. On one occasion-the concluding of peace with Denmark in 1645, a step rendered necessary for

the safety of Sweden-the queen was so satisfied with the highly advantageous terms procured by Oxenstiern, that she presented him with a large estate, created him a count, and pronounced his eulogium in the senate, after the manner of the ancients. We thus see what a large measure of justice and generosity was mingled in the other qualities of a character which presented, indeed, a strange tissue of contradictions. Her name is also honourably associated with the Peace of Westphalia, concluded in 1649, after a lengthened congress, the most celebrated in modern Europe, until that of Vienna. A woman, with her fatal advice and her allowable ambition, had been the principal cause of the Thirty Years' War; a young queen of twenty-three, from her barren little kingdom in the north, now stretched forth her sceptre, and commanded peace. Another remarkable woman, the landgravine of Hesse, shared with Christina in the glory of this peace, part of which has been claimed by the French historians for Anne of Austria, who was nothing but an agent in the hands of her ministers. In this congress, Christina was represented by John Oxenstiern, son of the chancellor, and Adler Salvius; and her correspondence with them shews a rare mixture of cunning, sagacity, impatience, and resolution. Salvius acted as a sort of curb and spy on Oxenstiern, whom she suspected of sharing his father's views, that the continuance of the war was almost certain to add to the possessions as well as to the glory of Sweden. What Oxenstiern had gained by making peace before, he now more than lost by his desire for continued war. All the eminent services of the family were forgotten, they were treated with caprice and ingratitude, and the great statesman suffered the usual penalty for having served his sovereign too well. Christina loved war and glory, often expressed her desire to lead her own armies, and devotedly admired Condé, who was her great hero. It is impossible, therefore, not to admire the strong sense, which, in the face of all these predilections, induced her, a young, wilful, powerful, and unscrupulous woman, to insist on putting an end to a long and vexatious war.

From contemporary writers-Stiermann, Arckenholtz, Puffendorf, and others, including our own ambassador Whitelocke-we learn something of the internal condition of Sweden at this period. The progress in cultivation of the arts and sciences, introduced or encouraged by Gustavus, some of which were still in a state of mediæval darkness, had not extended to the daily life, manners, and habitations of the people. They were simple, moral, and upright then as they are now; for travellers in Sweden testify that overreaching and incivility are unknown, and that you may with perfect safety leave your baggage on the highway. Whitelocke recounts, that once when travelling in Sweden, a casket of gold he was carrying with him burst open, and the contents were scattered on the highway. When every one brought to him what he had gathered, the exact sum was found to be restored. The

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people, however, were so il clothed, that even the deputies appeared at the Diets in torn clothing. Among the middle and higher ranks, luxury was unknown. The houses of the most distinguished persons were unsightly, the rooms whitewashed and without decoration, the furniture tasteless and uniform; at meals, a kind of canopy was placed over the table, in case the spiders' webs should fall into the food. Riding was usual, rarely were equipages used. The strangest old usages still prevailed in dress; and there is a grave and lengthened correspondence extant between the Prince Palatine and his mother, as to whether he should have an everyday suit made, or begin to make use of one of his Sunday suits. In 1644 lace was prohibited. In the time of Gustavus Adolphus, there was more luxury in food than formerly; still, it consisted chiefly of large joints of meat; rarely were cakes or pastry to be seen at the royal table; and the same dishes of meat were often served up the second day. of silver was almost unknown: at the marriage of Gustavus Adolphus, the company were served from tin vessels, 'because the king had none other serviceable.' His mother bargained for her own wine, and when a merchant presented his bill, would beg for delay. Festivals and family-meetings, baptisms, betrothals, and weddings, were destitute of all elegance; and such excesses prevailed in eating, and especially in drinking, that in 1644 an order was issued prohibiting such celebrations. At the marriage of Gustavus Adolphus, 177 awms of Rhine-wine were drunk, and 144 tuns of beer, besides other wines and spirits. Profane swearing was quite usual, even in high ranks, and among otherwise moral people— pervading even the most ordinary conversation; Christina herself being the most noted offender. Scuffles were of everyday occurrence, even among the court attendants, who used to throw glasses in each other's faces. The nobility were often most remarkable for a rudeness in life and manners, to which the long-continued war could not fail to contribute.

After the proclamation of peace, which was celebrated by Christina with public rejoicings, the States-general began again to press her on the subject of giving a king to Sweden, and now proposed her cousin Charles Augustus, the connection of which they had formerly been so jealous. In 1647, he had been appointed general-in-chief of the Swedish forces in Germany; he was brave and accomplished; he had been her playfellow in childhood, when she was wont in sport to call him her little husband;' he was the only suitor for whom she had a personal regard; always treated him with favour and distinction, but had never uttered a word on which he could build any hope as a lover. When she was twenty-one, he ventured gently to remind her of her childish preference and promise; but she insisted that all should be forgotten that had passed between them, adding, however, that when she was twenty-five, she would declare her final resolution; and if she did not then marry him, she would not marry at all,

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and would take steps to secure his succession to the crown; to which he replied with much gallantry, that on any other terms than as her husband, he would reject the offered crown. gaily rallied him on his romantic ideas; and when he would have gone on to protest, she stopped him, and said haughtily, that if he should die before the period named, it was sufficient honour for him that he had been thought worthy to aspire to the hand of so great a queen. So saying, she dismissed him. Puffendorf gives all this from a memorandum left by Charles himself; and Mathias and Count de la Gardie were present during the interview. Charles acted throughout with the most consummate dexterity, which probably would have succeeded with any other woman; but besides that Christina, unlike our Queen Elizabeth, never condescended to contemptible and absurd coquetry, she believed, probably with good reason, that the prince's affections were more pure and direct towards the throne than to her who sat on it; for when Constable Torstenson said to her, that the prince would never marry any one unless accepted by her majesty, she remarked sarcastically: 'Yes, the crown is a pretty girl.' When Mathias ventured to hint that the constitution of the kingdom obliged her to marry, he had to suffer a great outburst of wrath. "Who upon earth,' she exclaimed, 'shall oblige me to do so, if I do it not of my own freewill?' Then admitting that the good of her kingdom was a powerful motive, to which she might one day yield, but would not be bound, she added: Nor heaven, nor earth shall force my will!' Mathias remarked that all Europe had for years regarded the prince as her destined husband. She replied: "What care I? When people are tired of talking about me and my affairs, they will find some other subject of conversation.' When pressed on another occasion on the score of giving an heir to the crown, she replied: 'It is just as likely I would be the mother of a Nero as an Augustus'-a likelihood which her enemies echoed, only substituting the next degree of comparison. At length the crown, by the constitution of Sweden, not being strictly elective, but the succession subject to the approval of the States, Christina having artfully eluded all expression of her intentions, suddenly declared Charles to be crown-prince of Sweden: the act was agreed to by the Diet, and signed in March 1650, the aged Oxenstiern weeping and protesting as he signed; for either his sagacity foresaw, or there had already, it is alleged, reached him rumours of the queen's intended final step of abdication.

The same year, the coronation of Christina was celebrated with prodigious pomp, the heralds proclaiming her, according to the fashion of the country, king of Sweden. Crowned with laurel, and sparkling with jewels, she paraded the streets seated in a car, drawn by four white horses, after the manner described by Plutarch; her treasurer marching before and scattering medals among the people. She was received at the entrance

to the palace by the queen-mother, who had now returned to Sweden. But what most delighted the people was a triumphal car, which entered the arena during the sports, and moved along the whole length on hidden springs; also an artificial mountain, forty feet high, representing Parnassus, which glided, self-impelled, before the astonished multitude, having a company of musicians seated on its summit, habited as Apollo and the Muses, filling the air with sounds of harmony. As a memorial of the event, a lofty pyramid was erected, with an inscription on it, drawing largely on the credulity of the people, informing them, in classical parlance, that it was erected by the three Amazonian queens in honour of Christina. For the last two years, Christina had devoted herself to literature and science, to the neglect of the duties of government, which will account for the nature of the displays and the flatteries of her learning, which were pronounced in almost every language, at her coronation. She was now in corre spondence with most of the learned men in Europe, and attracted to her court men of science, real or pretended philosophers, whose interest and practice it was to flatter her vanity of her new acquirements, causing her court to exhibit that mixture of scholastic pedantry and elaborate trifling so well ridiculed by Molière in his Femmes Savantes. The celebrated Grotius had been honoured by Gustavus Adolphus, and was afterwards, in the minority of Christina, her ambassador to France. She treated him with great distinction; and when, against her entreaties, he resigned his office, owing to failing health, she presented him with 12,000 crowns and on his death, wrote a feeling letter to his widow, purchased his valuable library and manuscripts, and presented them to the university of Upsal. Since his death, Salmasius, the antagonist of Milton-a man whose learning Johnson says 'exceeded all hope of human attainment,' which he rendered vain by failing to apply it-and Vossius, the celebrated theologian and antiquary, were chiefly distinguished by Christina, and are considered to have exercised an evil influence on her, unsettling her religious opinions, and engaging her in vain metaphysical disputes. Both being men of bad lives, their moral influence was worse than the intellectual. Descartes, too, who had often boasted that he valued his liberty more than the smiles of the most powerful monarch, was won by the flatteries of Christina to visit her capital, where he died in four months-a beacon to all vain boasters to ponder the words, 'let I him who thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.' He had stipulated to be freed from court ceremonial, but the queen required his attendance in her library every morning at five. This exertion, and the coldness of the climate, threw him into a consumption. The single consolation he enjoyed-that of quietly conversing with and looking on the beauty of the Princess Palatine, the daughter of Elizabeth of Bohemia-was denied him; and so haughtily resented by the queen, that the issue of his fatal malady was thereby hastened. On the most unworthy of her literary favourites, who