The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-10 00:00:00

SATURDAY,

men, and came two or three steps forward upon the foot
carpet. This, and her being covered and rising from her
seat, caused Whitelocke to know her to be the Queen,
which otherwise had not been easy to be discerned, her
habit being of plain grey stuff; her petticoat reached to
the ground, over that a jacket such as men wear, of the
same stuff, reaching to her knees. On her left, side, tied
with crimson ribbon, she wore the jewel of the Order of
Amaranta—her cuffs ruffled a la mode—no gorget or band,
but a black scarf about her neck tied before with a black
ribbon, as soldiers and mariners sometimes use to wear.
Her hair was braided, and hungloose upon her head; she
wore a black velvet cap lined with sables, and turned up
after the fashion of the country, which she used to put off
and on as men do their hats. _ _

Her countenance was sprightly, but somewhat pale ; she
had much of majesty in her demeanour, and, though her
person were of the smaller size, yet her mien and carriage
was very noble.

Her Majesty thought it necessary to apolo-
gise for the plainness of her dress :

Then the Queen excused her habit, saying " That she
had been ill, which caused her to put herself into the dress
of her chamber, in which she chose to appear thus publicly
rather than to disappoint him of the time of his audience;
that she hoped they would have opportunity and time suf•
Select to discourse at large together."
Upon this Whiteloeke took his leave, and her Majesty
used much courtesy to him and his company.

Christina, however, was not accustomed to
pay much attention to her habit. When she
rode abroad she was, we are told, " gallantly
" mounted, habited in her usual fashion of
" grey stuff, her hat on her head, her pistols
" at her saddle-bow." She amused the Am-
bassador with shows and pleasures, so that he
scarcely seems to have formed any just con-
ception of her great but irregular character.
At one masque
the Queen herself danced very well at two entries; in
the first she represented a Moorish lady, in the second a
citizen's wife ; in both the properties were exactly fitted,
and in all the rest of the actors and dancers.

But at other times she displayed the extent
of her acquirements :

She spake of most noted authors who had written in the
Italian, French, Latin, Greek, and other languages; and
before all the rest she commended Petronius.

It is curious now to read that Whitelocke
asked her if she had lately seen a book written
in Latin by " one Milton, an Englishman."
The book was the " Defensio pro Populo An-
glicano ;" the Queen had seen it, and highly
commended part of the matter. In her con-
versations with Whitelocke she expressed
warm admiration of Cromwell's genius:—

Queen : Your General is one of the gallantest men in the
world ; never were such things done as by the English in
your late war. Your General hath done the greatest things
of any man in the world; the Prince of Conde is next to
him, but short of him. I have as great a respect and
honour for your General as for any man alive, and I pray
let him know as much from me.

Whitelocke : My General is indeed a very brave man ;
his actions show it; and I shall not fail to signify to him
the great honour of your Majesty's respects to him; and
assure your Majesty he hath as high honour for you as for
any prince in Christendom.
Queen : 1 have been told that many officers of your army
will themselves pray and preach to their soldiers ; is that
true ? . .

Whitelocke : Yes, Madam, it is very true. When their
enemies are swearing or debauching or pillaging, the
officers and soldiers of the Parliament's army use to be
encouraging and exhorting one another out of the Word of
God, and praying together to the Lord of Hosts for His
blessing to be with them, who has shown His approbation
of this military preaching by the successes He bath given
them.

The Queen was desirous of reaping some
advantage from the treaty Whitelocke de-
sired :

Queen : I do not desire above twenty or thirty English
ships and some money.
Whitelocke : England bath great occasions for money
for the pay of their armies and great navies, especially in
this time of their wars, both at land and sea ; and this will
be principally your Majesty's business, to open the trade
into your seas, and I suppose you will not expect ships and
money too from others to do your work.
Queen : I am in great want of money, and England bath
money enough.
Whitelocke : They have enough for their occasions.
Queen : And some to spare, which 1 have not.
Whitelocke : I do not see your Majesty to waste the
revenues of your Crown in gallantry of clothes for your
own person.
1111 Queen : I am the least curious in clothes of any woman,
especially tow I am in the country.
Whitelocke : Your wearing plain clothes makes them
rich.

In the end, the treaty of alliance was happily
concluded on mutually advantageous terms.
At the time of Whitelocke's visit, the great
Chancellor Oxenstiern was in his seventy-first
year. Seldom has a great servant of royalty
played a part so free from stain in public
affairs. The Chancellor of the noble Gus-