May 24, 1654.

“My Lord Ambassador,“The Senate of this city have deputed us in their name to salute your Excellence, and to bid you welcome to this place, where the magistrates and citizens are desirous to embrace any occasion presented to them, whereby they may testify the great respect and honour which they bear to his most Serene Highness the Lord Protector, and to the Commonwealth of England.“They are likewise very glad of the occasion given them to express their joy for the happy alliance and friendship concluded between this kingdom and the Commonwealth of England, which we hope will be to the advantage and good of both nations, and of the Protestant interest, which is heartily wished by us. We look upon it as a very great comfort and blessing to this city, that after the misery in which we have lately been, when it pleased God to visit us with the pestilence, that the same is now so well and fully removed through Divine mercy, that we have the happiness to see a person of your condition vouchsafe his presence with us.“Whilst the occasions of your Excellence shall stay youhere, we most freely offer our services for your accommodation with whatsoever this place will afford, which your Excellence may command; and as a small testimony of the respects of our superiors, they have caused us to present a vessel of wine unto your Excellence, whereof they entreat your favourable acceptance.”

“My Lord Ambassador,

“The Senate of this city have deputed us in their name to salute your Excellence, and to bid you welcome to this place, where the magistrates and citizens are desirous to embrace any occasion presented to them, whereby they may testify the great respect and honour which they bear to his most Serene Highness the Lord Protector, and to the Commonwealth of England.

“They are likewise very glad of the occasion given them to express their joy for the happy alliance and friendship concluded between this kingdom and the Commonwealth of England, which we hope will be to the advantage and good of both nations, and of the Protestant interest, which is heartily wished by us. We look upon it as a very great comfort and blessing to this city, that after the misery in which we have lately been, when it pleased God to visit us with the pestilence, that the same is now so well and fully removed through Divine mercy, that we have the happiness to see a person of your condition vouchsafe his presence with us.

“Whilst the occasions of your Excellence shall stay youhere, we most freely offer our services for your accommodation with whatsoever this place will afford, which your Excellence may command; and as a small testimony of the respects of our superiors, they have caused us to present a vessel of wine unto your Excellence, whereof they entreat your favourable acceptance.”

Whitelocke presently answered them in English, which Berkman interpreted to them in Swedish, to this effect:—

“Gentlemen,“I rejoice with you in the mercy and goodness of God to this city, who hath caused to cease that contagious disease which lately raged among you, so that your friends (of which number I take the honour to reckon myself) may freely and safely resort to you, and converse with you as formerly. I have also some share in your joy for the friendship and alliance contracted between my Lord the Protector of the Commonwealth of England, and the Queen and kingdom of Sweden; wherein I doubt not but, through the blessing of God, both nations and the whole Protestant interest will have cause to rejoice likewise: and as my poor endeavours have not been wanting, so my hearty prayers to God shall be put up that it may come to this issue; and I shall pray for the continuance of health and prosperity to this noble city.“I return you many thanks for your respects to my Lord the Protector and the Commonwealth whom I serve, whereof I shall not fail (when it shall please God to give me a return to my own country) to acquaint them, and to do all offices of respect in my power for your city; and I desire my thanks may be presented to your honourable Senate for their particular favour to me, and for their salutation, which I receive with all gratitude.”

“Gentlemen,

“I rejoice with you in the mercy and goodness of God to this city, who hath caused to cease that contagious disease which lately raged among you, so that your friends (of which number I take the honour to reckon myself) may freely and safely resort to you, and converse with you as formerly. I have also some share in your joy for the friendship and alliance contracted between my Lord the Protector of the Commonwealth of England, and the Queen and kingdom of Sweden; wherein I doubt not but, through the blessing of God, both nations and the whole Protestant interest will have cause to rejoice likewise: and as my poor endeavours have not been wanting, so my hearty prayers to God shall be put up that it may come to this issue; and I shall pray for the continuance of health and prosperity to this noble city.

“I return you many thanks for your respects to my Lord the Protector and the Commonwealth whom I serve, whereof I shall not fail (when it shall please God to give me a return to my own country) to acquaint them, and to do all offices of respect in my power for your city; and I desire my thanks may be presented to your honourable Senate for their particular favour to me, and for their salutation, which I receive with all gratitude.”

Whilst the citizens were with Whitelocke, Wrangel, Vice-Admiral Thysen, Vice-Admiral Clerke, Sinclair,captain of the ‘Amarantha,’ and others, came and did Whitelocke the honour to dine with him, and in the afternoon carried him to see the cannon which the Swedes had taken from their enemies, now laid up in a magazine for themselves; there were of them brass cannon 1100; among them were two pieces taken from the Muscovites, each of them weighing 18,000 lbs. weight, and carrying a bullet of 96 lbs. weight, as much more as the greatest whole cannon carries. There was also a basilisk of nineteen feet in length, very extraordinary, and a great mortar-piece of brass of a fathom and three fingers in diameter at the mouth of it; with many other pieces of brass ordnance taken from the Poles in their wars with them, which were now but of little use; nor were those huge pieces capable to be drawn into the field for any service there.

Monuments and public buildings of Stockholm.Whitelocke walked abroad, to see the great church where the late King Gustavus Adolphus lies interred; but as yet there is no monument erected to his memory, nor are there others of magnificence or much antiquity in this or in the other great church, but store of images and crucifixes in all their churches; their building is of brick, and all their churches are covered with copper.

Whitelocke went to Wrangel’s lodging to requite his visits, but found him not at home, not having sent beforehand to him. He fetched a little turn in the city, and they showed him a new building for the Ricksdag, which they call the Ruder-house, that is, the house of the Knights; it is a fair building, andthe name of it remembers somewhat of the knights of our Parliament.

In this walk, Whitelocke viewed in the fair street near his lodging the monument set up to the honour of Queen Christina at her coronation, which is beautiful to the view. It is a triumphant arch, of the height of the highest houses, raised upon three arches, which give three passages; those on each side the more strait and low, the middle arch of twice the height and wideness of the other two. The frontispiece unto the tops of the arches is adorned with pillars of a fair work, between which, in the front of the building, are figured the wars, battles, and victories of Gustavus the Great: above the pillars are divers images, and above the middle of the porch is a large tablet, containing in letters of gold the original of Christina, her virtues, and the occasion of this monument. The whole building seems fair and stately, and as of stone, but in truth is only wood plastered over; rather a show, to please for a few years, than lasting. He also viewed many houses of stone and brick, some whereof were very fair and adorned with towers and figures, as those of Grave Magnus de la Gardie, Grave Gustavus Horne, General Bannier, and others, and many of them beautifully covered with copper.

In the afternoon Wrangel conducted Whitelocke to see the castle, which is also covered with copper; and that having lain there long, some Dutchmen are reported to have offered to give £10,000 for the copper, and to cover the castle again with new copper; the reason whereof they hold to be, because the copper which hath lain there so long with the sun upon it, isso refined thereby, and would yield so much gold, that it will yield what the Dutchmen bid for it and more, besides the charge of new covering it with copper as before.

This castle is the principal house in this principal city, belonging to the crown of Sweden; it is a large castle, more for conveniency of a Court than for stateliness of structure. It is almost four-square, one way longer than the other, all of brick, plastered over to make it seem as if it were of freestone, whereof there is not much in these parts fit for building; the entry into the castle is upon the north quarter; the south and east side is of fair building, four stories high, the windows not large. On the west of the quadrangle is the chapel, about a hundred and thirty feet in length, with the breadth proportionable; it is divided into three arches, upon two ranges of pillars of marble of this country, of divers colours, most in red streaks, handsome and polished. On the windows and walls are several pictures and images, after the manner of the Lutheran churches. The rooms in the castle are many, some of them large enough for the state of a Court, and most of those are two stories high, after the use of this country. The situation of the castle is pleasant and noble, by the side of the great water, upon which part of it is built, and the other part upon the island where it stands; and though of itself it be not of great strength, yet the situation, prospect of the waters, ships, vessels, islands, and buildings, on the one side, and of the country to the mountains on the other side, give it the repute of a princely palace.

In the castle Whitelocke was carried up to a room, a magazine, where were a very great number of muskets,pikes, swords, and other foot arms, excellent good, made in this country, of their own iron and steel, and kept exceeding clean, bright, and well fixed, and were said to be sufficient to arm ten thousand men completely. On the other side of the court they brought him to another room, where was a magazine of horse-arms, cuirassiers, with pistols, bright, well kept, and of an excellent make; there were also more foot-arms: in all, in this magazine, two thousand horse-arms, and five thousand foot-arms; and in the other magazine, ten thousand foot-arms. There were likewise colours, ensigns, and standards, taken from their enemies, to the number of about eight hundred; among them one taken by King Gustavus in person, and another, which Wrangel showed, that he had taken from the Duke of Saxony.

This city is doubtless as well provided of arms and all sorts of ammunition for war as any place in these parts of Europe, here being, besides the Queen’s stores in the public Arsenal, arms sufficient for fifty thousand men.

Here also they showed to Whitelocke the lance of the quintain, and, according to their description of it and its use, it seems to be the same with the exercise and recreation used anciently in England, and yet retained in some counties at their marriages, which they likewise call the running at the quintain. In a great hall they showed to Whitelocke the skin, stuffed out and standing in the full proportion, of the horse which the late King Gustavus rode when he was slain; also his bloody shirt which he then wore, which is carefully preserved in a chest; where they also keep the jewel which King Gustavus wore at his coronation,and many rich swords, battle-axes, and other spoils taken from their enemies.

The launch of the ‘Falcon.’Wrangel came to Whitelocke, and invited him to see the launching of one of their ships newly built for a man-of-war; and Whitelocke was the more curious to see the manner of it, and how they could do it, in regard they have no docks, nor ebbing and flowing of the water, which here is constantly even, and affords no advantage by flowing tides for the launching of their ships.

When Whitelocke came to the holm where the ship was to be launched, he found her with the keel set upon great planks of timber, the ship tied upright with cables, as if she were swimming; the planks upon which she stood lay shelving towards the water, and were all thick daubed with grease all along from the poop of the ship, and under her keel, to the water’s side, which was within the ship’s length of her head, and there the water was very deep. One strong cable held the ship from moving; and she lying thus shelving upon the planks, the cable which held her from sliding down was cut, and then the weight of the ship upon the sloping greased planks carried her with great violence down upon the planks into the sea, near a slight shoot, by force of the weight and swing wherewith she fell down. In the sea were boats ready, which came to her, and put men aboard her; and as she went off, a great shout of a multitude of people, standing by as spectators, was sent after her.

Wrangel, as an honour and compliment to Whitelocke, desired him to give the name to this ship. Whitelocke would have called her the ‘Wrangel,’ but the master of that name entreated it might not be so, possibly to avoid the envy of it at Court; but he desired it might be called the ’Whitelocke,’ which Whitelocke thought not expedient, lest it might argue too much height in himself; nor would he call her ‘Cromwell,’ or the ’Protector,’ because she carried but thirty guns; but seeing the mark of her guns to be the falcon, and asking whether they had any other ship of that name, they said, No; whereupon, the falcon being Whitelocke’s coat of arms and the mark of the ship’s guns, and she being built swifter of sail than ordinary, Whitelocke gave her the name of the ‘Falcon.’ This pleased Wrangel very much, and the seamen and workmen were most pleased with the gratuity which Whitelocke bestowed on them; and this ceremony and compliments being passed, Whitelocke gave many thanks to Wrangel for this honour, and so they parted.

The packet from England was brought to Whitelocke. Thurloe wrote thus:—

“I have acquainted his Highness with your Excellence’s letters received yesterday, wherein he takes little content, more than that he did on his part sincerely intend a peace and union with that Crown and Kingdom, and committed the management of it to a person who hath performed his trust with honour, wisdom, and fidelity. We hope that your instructions, giving you liberty to return, are by this time arrived, etc.”

By this packet Whitelocke also received letters from his wife, full of affection and piety, and fromColonel Bulstrode, his brother Wilson, Mr. Attorney Hall, Mr. Cokaine, Mr. Eltonhead, especially from his great friend Dr. Winston; and all of these letters, and several others which he received, were so many testimonies of the affection and hearty kindness of these his worthy friends.

After Whitelocke had walked a tour in the Norden Mallum,—that is, the north suburbs of this city,—Sir George Fleetwood came to him, with whom he had much conversation in the latter time of his being in Sweden, both at Upsal and in this town, who showed much kindness and respect to Whitelocke. He informed Whitelocke that by letters from Upsal he understood that the Ricksdag had given leave to the Queen to go to Colmar, which signified that she could not go without their leave, and that she would find much difference between commanding as a Queen and obeying as a subject, and that, by the law of this kingdom, no Queen can depart out of it without leave of the Ricksdag, on forfeiture of all her estate.

Whitelocke’s shipment of copper sent to London.A ship called the ‘Swart Hundt’ was by the Queen’s command appointed and fitted to carry Whitelocke’s copper and other goods from hence to England. By advice of friends, Whitelocke under his hand and seal desired Sir George Fleetwood to consign the copper to Whitelocke’s brother-in-law, Mr. Wilson. The desire was thus:—

“I Bulstrode Whitelocke, Constable of the Castle of Windsor, one of the Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal of England, and Ambassador Extraordinary from his Most Serene Highness the Lord Protector of the Commonwealthof England, Scotland, and Ireland, unto her Majesty the Queen of Sweden, do hereby desire my honourable friend, Sir George Fleetwood, Knight, General-Major under the Crown of Sweden, to ship and consign unto Mr. Samuel Wilson, merchant in London, in Bishopsgate-street, two hundred ship-pound, Swedish weight, of gore copper; the which the said Mr. Samuel Wilson is to receive and dispose of according to my order. Dated at Stockholm, in Sweden, the 26th day of May, 1654.“B. Whitelocke.“

“B. Whitelocke.“

According to which warrant, the copper was put on board the ‘Swart Hundt,’ fitted and victualled for England. Of Whitelocke’s ship, Whitelocke gave the command and charge, and of his goods therein, to one of his servants, Taylor, by commission under his hand and seal, and to bring his copper and goods in her from hence to London, as soon as he could, wind and weather favouring. Wrangel procured this ship for Whitelocke, and a pass from the Admiralty of Sweden for her to go through the Sound; and Whitelocke thought it better to see this ship on her voyage, than to leave the sending of her away to the care of others after his departure.

His goods embarked in the Amarantha.Whitelocke sent the rest of his goods and baggage on board the ’Amarantha,’ which weighed yesterday, and he hoped might by this time be within four leagues of the Dollars; but the wind came contrary for her advance any further, and Whitelocke must continue here till he could understand that his ship was gotten to the Dollars, which is fourteen Swedish leagues from this city, but may be gone in six or seven hours by boats in a shorter passage. His stay here seemed tedious to Whitelocke. This day the wind coming about a little towards the east, increased hishopes of getting away, for which they were in daily expectation.

The trade of Stockholm.By some merchants and others of this city, Whitelocke learned what was the commerce of this town, and by his own view he found it to be commodiously seated for trade and to receive all the commodities of the country’s growth, which are brought hither by water; and it is the more convenient because the greatest ships may come up to the very houses and there load and unload their merchandises, never wanting water, which there is always deep, and equal in the height of it. But this city is somewhat far distant from the sea by water, so that before the ships can go between the sea and the town, they must fetch a compass of about one hundred English miles, with the danger of many rocks and islands in the way; and they must have also divers winds which are hindrances to their commerce.

The present Queen hath been curious to invite hither and to entertain many good artists, yet everything here is very dear, except the native commodities; and now Gothenburg, growing up in trade, being situate without the Sound, a more open and easy place for access of strangers,—some believe that by the growth of that, this port may be diminished. It is the better supported by the Court being commonly kept here, and consequently being the residence of the principal nobility and officers. Some courts of justice constantly, and the Ricksdag generally, being held in this city, increase the trade of it; and this being a good road for ships to defend them from injuries of weather or other dangers, makes it the more frequented.

Plenty of provisions are brought to this town for thesupply of it; and most of their native commodities, as copper, iron, pitch, tar, deal, masts, and the rest, are brought hither and here shipped and transported into foreign parts; from whence their merchants and strangers do bring to this northern market all manner of merchandise here vendible; and from hence again they are vended to all the northern and eastern parts of this country, whereby their trade and wealth is also increased, so that one of their authors calls it, “Celeberrimum ac nobilissimum Septentrionis emporium.” The trade of this place hath brought and settled here as inhabitants,—besides Swedes, Goths, Fins, and Laplanders,—divers of Germans, of Pomerland, Mecklenburg, Westphalia, etc.; also English, Scotch, French, Dutch, and almost of every country of Europe. Some are here now become citizens, and are treated with justice and civility by the natives, to the end that they and others may be the more encouraged to add to the riches, strength, and trade of this place.

Detained by contrary winds.Whitelocke visited Sir George Fleetwood at his lodging in Stockholm, and finding with him Vice-Admiral Thysen and Peterson, both Hollanders and in service of the Crown, Whitelocke brought them all home with him to dinner, and advised with them about his voyage. The wind came more contrary to Whitelocke this day than yesterday, but he knew no other way but a patient submission to the will and time of God. Here he bestowed on a German clock sixty-two rix-dollars.

The government of Stockholm.From some of the magistrates and others of thiscity Whitelocke learned that the government thereof is by four Councils, and a Senate of the citizens, as their Common Council, consisting of twenty-four chosen yearly in this month by suffrage of the inhabitants, and justice is administered to the people by them in like manner as in other cities. Besides these officers there is a Castellan, or governor of the castle of Stockholm, who, by a peculiar authority over the city, takes care of the walls and buildings thereof, as he doth of the castle and other the King’s buildings there. He is to defend the privileges of the town, and is chief in their political administration. He also orders and keeps up the revenue and trade, and suffers not the royalties of the Crown to be diminished, nor any of the public treasure, without the license of the King, to be expended. He is always one of the Ricks-Senators, and hath joined to him a Vice-Castellan, of the equestrian order, who is chief in the judgements of the city within the Senate and Councils, and is intent to the execution of justice.

The defence of Stockholm.The strength of this city is chiefly in the situation of it among the waters, which are no small defence, and in the bodies of their inhabitants, who make a considerable number of the soldiery, many of whom have been in foreign service. The Castellan commandeth them, sees their musters, and that they be provided with arms and in a posture of defence; and under the Castellan is a captain, who hath the military charge next under him. The main body of the town hath somewhat of a wall about it, but the suburbs and other islands are encircled with the waters, with bridges for communication.

The castle is of indifferent strength, and notablyprovided of arms and ammunition, as is before remembered, which adds to the strength and safety as well as command of the city. They have not a formed garrison in the town; but divers companies of the King’s guards, when the Court is there, and sometimes of other regiments of the army, are quartered there, as occasions do require. The castle commands a good part of the town, and may be as a citadel upon any emergent business; and in case of any troubles at sea, the ships of war lie here in readiness forthwith to be manned, are provided with ammunition, provisions, and all things necessary for the defence and safeguard of this port and city from any attempts which may by sea be made against it.

Whitelocke made up his despatches for England, and now dated his second letters from Stockholm, attending for a wind.

The Lord’s Day.—Whitelocke, according to his custom, had a good sermon in his lodging preached by one of his chaplains in the morning, and another good sermon preached there in the afternoon by Mr. Biger, a Scotch minister, and chaplain to Sir George Fleetwood, then with him. In this city Whitelocke observed the inhabitants very orderly to frequent their parish churches, and not so much profanation of this day in this place as he had seen at Upsal, and other places in the country.

Sir G. Fleetwood returns to the King’s coronation at Upsal.Whitelocke with longing desires attended the comingabout of the wind for his voyage; but he must stay God’s time, which is always best. He could not persuade Sir George Fleetwood to stay longer with him. He thought it necessary for him to go to Upsal, to be present at the King’s coronation; and at his request Whitelocke sent by him to Wrangel this letter:—

“A son Excellence le Feld-Maréchal Wrangel à Upsale.“Monsieur,“Je n’ai pu retenir plus longtemps le Général Major Fleetwood avec moi, son désir le portait si fort de se trouver à Upsale, au couronnement, de crainte qu’il ne semblerait négligent, et manquer à son devoir envers son Altesse Royale; mais la raison de ce qu’il a présenté ma requête à votre Excellence est qu’il vous plaise moyenner envers son Altesse Royale, afin qu’il retourne à Stockholm; et que je puisse jouir de sa compagnie jusqu’à mon départ, qui en apparence sera différé plus longtemps que je ne le souhaiterais, à raison de la contrariété des vents.“Je supplie votre Excellence de me faire la faveur de baiser en mon nom les mains de sa Majesté et de son Altesse Royale, et d’accepter, pour tant de faveurs que votre Excellence m’a faites, tant à Upsale qu’en ce lieu, les actions de grâce de celui qui est,“Monsieur, à votre Excellence“Très-humble serviteur,“B. Whitelocke.“Stockholm, May 29, 1654.”

“A son Excellence le Feld-Maréchal Wrangel à Upsale.

“Monsieur,

“Je n’ai pu retenir plus longtemps le Général Major Fleetwood avec moi, son désir le portait si fort de se trouver à Upsale, au couronnement, de crainte qu’il ne semblerait négligent, et manquer à son devoir envers son Altesse Royale; mais la raison de ce qu’il a présenté ma requête à votre Excellence est qu’il vous plaise moyenner envers son Altesse Royale, afin qu’il retourne à Stockholm; et que je puisse jouir de sa compagnie jusqu’à mon départ, qui en apparence sera différé plus longtemps que je ne le souhaiterais, à raison de la contrariété des vents.

“Je supplie votre Excellence de me faire la faveur de baiser en mon nom les mains de sa Majesté et de son Altesse Royale, et d’accepter, pour tant de faveurs que votre Excellence m’a faites, tant à Upsale qu’en ce lieu, les actions de grâce de celui qui est,

“Monsieur, à votre Excellence

“Très-humble serviteur,

“B. Whitelocke.

“Stockholm, May 29, 1654.”

Berkman went from hence 17th May at night, and returned this morning hither, and brought to Whitelocke this letter:—

Lagerfeldt’s letter on the Swedish prizes.“Illustrissimo Domino Domino Bulstrode Whitelocke, Extraordinario Reipublicæ Angliæ in Sueciam Legato, officiocissimè.“Illustrissime et Excellentissime Domine Legate,“Quanquam valde dubitem, an Excellentiam vestram hælitteræ in Sueciam inveniant, nolui tamen, accepta hac occasione, vel meo officio deesse, vel refragari quorundam Suecorum petitioni, nam cum naves duæ Suecicæ, quarum naucleri Bonders et Sibrand follis vocantur, nuper ceptæ et in Angliam delatæ sint, sperant fore, ut, per hanc meam intercessionem, cum primis autem per benevolam Excellentiæ vestræ commendationem, quantocius dimittantur. Nisi igitur mihi satis perspecta esset Excellentiæ vestræ integritas, pluribus ab ea contenderem, ut dictarum aliarumque detentarum in Anglia Suecicarum navium liberationem, atque per se æquam ac amicitiæ fœderique mutuo conformem sibi haberet commendatam; sufficit nunc saltem indicâsse Excellentiæ vestræ, quippe cui nihil jucundius esse scio, quam ut amicæ confœderatæque gentes, sancta fidei justitiæque observantia, inter se strictius colligentur. De cætero Excellentiæ vestræ felicem in patriam reditum exopto, ut me nostrumque Barkmannum officiose commendo. Dabam Upsaliæ, 27 Maii, anno 1654.“Excellentiæ vestræ“Ad quævis officia paratissimus,“Israel Lagerfeldt.”

Lagerfeldt’s letter on the Swedish prizes.“Illustrissimo Domino Domino Bulstrode Whitelocke, Extraordinario Reipublicæ Angliæ in Sueciam Legato, officiocissimè.

“Illustrissime et Excellentissime Domine Legate,

“Quanquam valde dubitem, an Excellentiam vestram hælitteræ in Sueciam inveniant, nolui tamen, accepta hac occasione, vel meo officio deesse, vel refragari quorundam Suecorum petitioni, nam cum naves duæ Suecicæ, quarum naucleri Bonders et Sibrand follis vocantur, nuper ceptæ et in Angliam delatæ sint, sperant fore, ut, per hanc meam intercessionem, cum primis autem per benevolam Excellentiæ vestræ commendationem, quantocius dimittantur. Nisi igitur mihi satis perspecta esset Excellentiæ vestræ integritas, pluribus ab ea contenderem, ut dictarum aliarumque detentarum in Anglia Suecicarum navium liberationem, atque per se æquam ac amicitiæ fœderique mutuo conformem sibi haberet commendatam; sufficit nunc saltem indicâsse Excellentiæ vestræ, quippe cui nihil jucundius esse scio, quam ut amicæ confœderatæque gentes, sancta fidei justitiæque observantia, inter se strictius colligentur. De cætero Excellentiæ vestræ felicem in patriam reditum exopto, ut me nostrumque Barkmannum officiose commendo. Dabam Upsaliæ, 27 Maii, anno 1654.

“Excellentiæ vestræ

“Ad quævis officia paratissimus,

“Israel Lagerfeldt.”

In the evening Whitelocke walked abroad to take the air, the time of his stay here being very tedious to him, attending for a good wind, that he might proceed in his longed-for return to his native country and relations; but he submitted to the good pleasure of God, who orders all times and seasons and all things for the best. At night the wind came about a little towards the east, favouring his voyage.

Preparations for departure.The wind continued this morning, as it was last night, easterly, but not sufficing for Whitelocke to go on his voyage. The Vice-Admiral Clerke coming toWhitelocke, he advised with him touching his voyage, and asked him if he thought the ‘Amarantha’ might with this wind be gotten to the Dollars. He answered that there could be no assurance thereof, but that possibly it might be so; whereupon Whitelocke replied, that he had a great desire to go down himself to the Dollars, before the news came of the ‘Amarantha’s’ arrival there, because the wind might come good, and within six hours carry them out to the open sea, which, if neglected, might retard their voyage fifteen days or more. Clerke said that if Whitelocke desired to do so, that he would not advise him to the contrary, but he believed that this might expedite his voyage; only he said that Whitelocke must be content to lie on board the ship till the wind should come fair, because there was no accommodation to be had for him and his company at the Dollars. Whitelocke said he should be well contented to lie on ship-board, and prayed Clerke to cause boats to be provided for his passage to the Dollars the next day, and ordered his officers and servants to prepare all things in readiness for his departure accordingly. Wrangel came back this night from Upsal, and several other persons, though very late, having staid the solemnity of the Queen’s resignation and the coronation of the new King, which they related to Whitelocke to be done this day, and in this manner and solemnity.

Relation of the ceremony of the Queen’s resignation.About nine o’clock this morning the Queen, being attired in her royal apparel and robes of purple velvet, with her crown upon her head, and attended by all her officers and servants, came into the room prepared for that occasion, where was set a table with a rich carpet, and five great cushions laid upon it. Most of the grandees and officers were present.

Upon one of the cushions was laid the sword of state; upon the second cushion was laid the sceptre; upon the third cushion was laid the ball; and upon the fourth cushion were laid the keys.

The Queen being come into the room, after a little pause made a short speech to the company, to this effect:—

“My Lords and Gentlemen,“You have before this time been acquainted with my resolution to resign the crown and government of this kingdom into the hands of my most dear cousin the Prince, here present with me, upon my earnest request to the Ricksdag, now convened. After long debates and much solicitation to dissuade me from it, yet at length, though unwillingly, they have assented to this my resolution; and I am now come to put the same in execution before all these honourable witnesses here present; and to you, my most dear cousin, I do heartily wish all happiness and good success in the management of the public affairs of this kingdom.”

“My Lords and Gentlemen,

“You have before this time been acquainted with my resolution to resign the crown and government of this kingdom into the hands of my most dear cousin the Prince, here present with me, upon my earnest request to the Ricksdag, now convened. After long debates and much solicitation to dissuade me from it, yet at length, though unwillingly, they have assented to this my resolution; and I am now come to put the same in execution before all these honourable witnesses here present; and to you, my most dear cousin, I do heartily wish all happiness and good success in the management of the public affairs of this kingdom.”

Having thus spoken, the Queen desired that some of them would take the crown from off her head, but none would do it; she then called to Grave Tott and the Baron Steinberg, expressly commanding them to do it, but they refused, till again earnestly commanded by her; they then took the crown from off her Majesty’s head, and laid it down upon the fifth cushion on the table. After that was done, some others, by her command, took off the royal robes with which she was clothed and laid them down upon the table. Then the Queen, having thus divested herself of these ensigns of royalty and resigned her crown, being now in her private habit, made courtesy to the Prince and to the rest of the company, and retired into her own chamber,—an act of a strange constancy and fixednessof resolution, going through with this great work of her own abdication without the least outward show of reluctancy for what she had done, but with the same behaviour and confidence as at all other times in her particular and private affairs.314

For this act of the Queen’s resignation they had no precedent; for the solemnity of the King’s coronation they had many; and the same is at large, with all the circumstances and ceremonies thereof, set down by one of their authors, Wexionius (Epit. Descriptionis Sueciæ, lib. v. c. 6), from which the ceremonies of this Coronation were not much different, and thus shortly related unto Whitelocke.

Ceremony of the King’s coronation.After the Queen was withdrawn to her private chamber, the Ricks-officers and senators humbly desired the Prince that he would be pleased to walk to the Cathedral Church, where the Archbishop and other prelateswere ready to attend his Royal Highness, and to perform the solemnities of his coronation. The whole company went thither in this order. The officers and servants of the Court went first in a very great number, together with many officers of the army and other gentlemen. After them came the nobility, the gentlemen, barons, and earls, members of the Ricksdag; then followed the Ricks-Senators, two and two, in rank. After them came the five Ricks-officers: first, the Ricks-Schatzmaster, or High Treasurer, who carried the keys; next to him, the Ricks-Chancellor, who carried the globe; after him came the Ricks-Admiral, who carried the sceptre; then one in the place of the Feldherr, or General, who carried the sword; and lastly the Ricks-Droitset, or Chief Justice, who carried the crown. After the Chief Justice came the King himself, in his ordinary habit, with a huge troop following him, and the windows and streets crowded with multitudes of people. The guards and soldiers stood in their arms as the company passed by.

Being thus come to the Cathedral, at the door stood the Archbishop with a horn of oil in his hand, accompanied with other bishops, superintendents, and many clergymen. He received the Prince at the church door, and conducted him up to the high altar, where they had prayers, and then the Archbishop anointed the Prince with the oil. They put upon him the royal apparel, put the crown upon his head, the sceptre in his right hand, and the ball into his left hand, and so he was invested into the royal dignity, and declared, with all his titles, King of Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc.; drums, trumpets, and loud acclamations of the people adding to the proclaiming of their new King.Not many days past they laboured to hinder the doing of it; now they shout for joy that it is done. Thus are the minds and practice of the multitude, whom nothing pleaseth long,—nothing more than novelty.

The ceremonies being performed at the Cathedral, the new King, with all his new subjects and servants, returned from thence into the castle in the same order as he came hither. By the way he was saluted with the loud acclamations of the people, “God save the King!” Thus coming to his Court as he entered it, the abdicated Queen looks out of her window, and with a cheerful countenance and voice heard by the company she wished her cousin joy of his crown and government. The King retires for a while to his private chamber, then is called forth to a sumptuous feast, where most of the nobility and senators did attend upon him and rejoice with him, and afterwards did swear fealty, homage, and allegiance to him.

But this relation was not so pleasing to Whitelocke as the thoughts of his departure from this place, and his longing to proceed in his voyage homewards.

Whitelocke takes boat and leaves the shore;The ‘Swart Hundt’ set sail this morning with Whitelocke’s goods and copper, Taylor commanding her, and Swedes mariners in her; the wind was come about indifferent good, for his and for his master’s voyage. Wrangel and Clerke affording Whitelocke their company at dinner, he advised with them what time of the day would be best for him to go from hence. Clerke said that the boats would be ready after dinner to transport him from hence to the Dollars,whither he hoped that by this time the ‘Amarantha’ might be come. He and Wrangel advised Whitelocke not to go on board the boats till six or seven o’clock in the evening, to avoid the heat of the day, and to enjoy the benefit of the cool of the night, which was better to be endured than the extremity of the heat of the day, especially upon the water; and the heat some affirmed to be at this time as violent in this country as it is in Spain or Italy. Whitelocke found it now as much hotter than England as it is colder in the winter.

About seven o’clock in the evening Whitelocke left his lodging, where they made him pay as an Ambassador Extraordinary. For the use of the house, only for eleven days, they made him pay a hundred and sixty rix-dollars; for his victuals, but one meal a day, without any dainties, they exacted above a thousand rix-dollars. Such is their unconscionable exaction upon strangers. It was time to leave them, and Whitelocke being called by Wrangel and Clerke, he went to prayers with his company, recommending themselves to the protection and blessing of God; and presently after prayers he and all his people went to the water-side, multitudes by the way saluting him with respect as he passed by, and crowding to see him take boat.

He went into a galley of the Queen’s attending for him. Most of his gentlemen and Clerke were with him in the galley; the rest of his company went in a great boat provided for them. This galley had two masts bearing the Queen’s colours in silk. In the hinder part of it was a room with a table and benches round about it, the table covered with crimson velvet,the benches with red cloth, and tapestry upon the floor. The room held about ten persons; the outward room about twelve men, besides the watermen for sixteen oars. At her head she carried two small pieces of ordnance, which they fired at loosing from the harbour, and the ships of war fired as they passed by. They went on in a great deep water, sometimes very broad, sometimes more narrow, on the sides whereof were huge rocks, and here and there little trees growing out of the clefts of them, with small heaps of earth lying on them, but they increase not much in that soil.

Many rocks all along on the shores, and islands of rocks, with the smell of the fir-trees on them, was a variety for strangers; and the water being calm, they made use only of their oars. The trumpets sounding where the rocks were most uneven and made concavities, gave much delight by the resounding of seven or eight echoes to one sound. Yet the multitudes of craggy rocks of vast greatness and huge tallness, with their uneven heads and ragged sides, filling all the shores and making many islands, and those causing no small danger in the passage, appeared, especially at first and to the younger seamen, very dreadful and amazing; but after a little acquaintance with them, and constant being in their company, and the seamen knowing the passage, caused the less fear, and the sevenfold answering echoes, as if they had been so many trumpets, gave delight to the hearers, with some admiration of that multiplying sound. But their cheerfulness was increased by meeting with a boat about two Swedish miles from Stockholm, whose men informed Whitelocke that the ‘Amarantha’ was that daycome into the Dollars, which good news added hopes and spirit to the company of advancing in their voyage towards their longed-for country; and the night seemed the less tedious by discoursing of this providence, that, the same day that Whitelocke came away, his ship should fall down to be ready to meet him, and not sooner, and whereof he knew nothing beforehand.

Clerke informed Whitelocke of the places by which they passed, and the condition of the country. They came into a very narrow way and straits, about a bow-shot in length, where a great vessel could not pass, both for want of breadth and depth of water, the greater boat with Whitelocke striking the sands as she passed over. This way was to get into the road and channel for the ships from Stockholm to the Dollars, which is near twenty Swedish miles for the ships to go about. From this strait they came again into deep water, environed as before with rocks, and full of islands.

and reaches his ship at the Dollars.When they were within a mile of the Dollars, the wind came about to east and north-east, very fair and good to carry them out to sea, whereas before it was flat against them. Hereupon Whitelocke took occasion, the wind being now good, to order his galley to make way forthright to the ’Amarantha’ without going on shore at all, which was done, although it seemed long at the latter end of the way, the company weary, and the watermen tired with rowing, though they did not at all row with that nimbleness and mettle as the English use to do.

When Whitelocke departed from Stockholm the wind was contrary to him; after he was certified bythe boat which he met that the ‘Amarantha’ was in the Dollars, the wind suddenly changed and was fair for him, and after this providence they came in good time to the ship, the tedious passage of the night being over, wherein Whitelocke slept upon the boards and in the open air,—hardship enough for one of his age and condition, but God was his protection.

184[This entry is evidently a repetition of the conversation reported at length on the 5th of April. The story here related by M. Woolfeldt is his own.]188“We Christina, by the grace of God Queen of Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc., do make known and testify, that, whereas it is the common and mutual interest of us and our kingdom, as also of Oliver, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereof, our good friend, and of the said Commonwealth, that the ancient friendship and alliance which hath always been between this kingdom and those nations be conserved and increased; and especially that the freedom of commerce and navigation do continue straitly conformed and uninterrupted; and for that cause the foresaid Lord Protector and Commonwealth have been pleased to send their Extraordinary Ambassador unto us: therefore we have commanded, and do by these presents, in the best form, command and commit unto the most illustrious our sincerely faithful and beloved the Lord Axel Oxenstiern, Chancellor and Senator of us and the kingdom of Sweden, etc., and also to Lord Eric Oxenstiern of Axel, likewise a Senator of us and of the Kingdom of Sweden, etc., that they do treat, agree, and conclude with the before-named Ambassador and Plenipotentiary about the making of a league concerning the foresaid matters and other things thereunto pertaining. Whatsoever therefore our said Plenipotentiary Commissioners shall act, conclude, and appoint with the before-named Ambassador, we shall hold the same ratified and confirmed by force of these presents; in witness and strengthening whereof, we have commanded these presents, subscribed with our hand, to be corroborated with our great seal of the kingdom. Given in our castle of Upsal, the fourteenth day of March, in the year one thousand six hundred fifty and four.Christina.“193[No sooner had Cromwell assumed the Protectorate than his foreign policy took a more definite shape, and was steadily directed to two great objects—peace with Holland, and the union of the Protestant States. The conclusion of the Dutch peace was however not an easy matter. Cromwell himself had declared in favour of the daring project of a union of the two Republics, and the Dutch alliance was hated by many of his stoutest military supporters. Moreover he required of the Dutch, as a conditionsine quâ non, that they should engage never to make the young Prince of Orange or his descendants their Stadtholder, or to give him the command of their forces. This was the secret article against which the States General most vehemently protested, and Cromwell was at length obliged to content himself with an engagement of the province of Holland to exclude the House of Orange. Even this pretension was strongly opposed by De Witt, but Cromwell insisted. The public treaty of peace was signed on the 5th of April, 1654; but it was not until the 5th of June following that the secret article was ratified. The King of Denmark, the Swiss Protestant cantons, the Hanseatic towns, and some of the Protestant Princes of North Germany were included in the treaty, which formed the complement of the negotiation on which Whitelocke was engaged in Sweden.—M. Guizot,Histoire de la République d’Angleterre, vol. ii. p. 67.]200“We, Christina, by the grace of God Queen of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc., do make known and testify that whereas the endeavours of the illustrious and generous, of us sincerely beloved, the Lord Bulstrode Whitelocke, Extraordinary Ambassador, are most grateful to us, which he hath negotiated for the common good of our Kingdom and his Commonwealth, for the making of a league of stricter friendship between both parties: therefore, and to the end it may appear as a testimony of our goodwill and grateful memory on this behalf, we have thereupon granted and assigned, and by these our letters do grant and assign to the said Lord Ambassador two hundred pound of copper, commonly called ship-pounds; the which two hundred pounds of copper our treasurers and officers of our Chamber of Accounts are obliged, without delay, to deliver into the hands of the before-mentioned Ambassador. In greater testimony whereof we have commanded these presents, subscribed with our hand, to be confirmed by our seal. Given in our castle of Upsal, the 3rd day of May, in the year 1654.Christina.”240“I, the subscribed Bulstrode Whitelocke, Constable of the Castle of Windsor, and one of the Keepers of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of England, Commissioner, Procurator, Deputy, and Extraordinary Ambassador of the Most Serene and Most High Lord Oliver, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereof and the said Commonwealth, do make known and testify, that whereas by the treaty of alliance between the said Most Serene and my Most High Lord Oliver, Lord Protector, and the Most Serene and Most Potent Prince and Lady the Lady Christina, by the grace of God Queen of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc., a firm peace and friendship is established: and I have judged it chiefly consonant thereunto to find out means to remove certain grievances of the people and citizens of either State, and to take away all grounds and occasions thereof which may arise in time to come. Therefore, upon some differences moved, I have agreed with the most illustrious and most excellent Lords, Plenipotentiary Commissioners and Senators of her said Royal Majesty and of Sweden, the Lord Axel Oxenstiern, Chancellor of the kingdom, etc., and the Lord Eric Oxenstiern, son of Axel, President of the General College of Trade, etc., in manner as by the following articles is expressed and explained.“First, whereas a certain company of English exercising merchandise in Guinea have complained of one Henry Carelove, who, being Governor of the Swedish Company in that country, did take away from the English certain places inhabited by them, and did other injuries to them; but the said Swedish Company not only took upon them to prove that the before-named Governor did commit no fault, but likewise made complaint of grievances against the officers of the said English Company; but these particular differences of merchants at this time could not for certain reasons be wholly determined, and therefore it seemed most counselable to both parties that in a friendly way, without any indirect courses, they may be composed by certain Commissioners on both sides. In the meantime it is agreed that the differing hereof shall be to the prejudice of none of either part, so that neither the fellows or officers of the said companies nor any subjects or citizens of either State shall offer any injury or molestation to one another in Guinea, or in the free commerce or travelling there; but, as before is expressed, the determination of the differences being referred by both sides to the superiors, they may live friendly among themselves, and treat one another with that goodwill which is consonant to the league concluded between them. The same also shall be observed in America between the colonies of New Sweden and of the English, that they do embrace a sincere friendship, and that either party do abstain from all troubles and injuries to the other, but chiefly that they do endeavour their mutual preservation until there be a clear agreement before the deputed Commissioners on both sides about the limits of the colonies, and other rules of friendship that shall be requisite, together with other affairs of particular persons. Which matters, that they may be enjoined to all and singular the subjects and citizens of either State, and may be observed by them, I have fully taken upon me by these presents, by virtue of my commission, and do confirm by subscription of my hand, and by my seal.”268[Whitelocke, in his zeal to exhort the Heir-apparent to the service of God and the observance of the Lord’s Day, appears to have appreciated very imperfectly the extraordinary character and the political capacity of the Prince who paid him so signal a mark of deference. Yet in the romantic and chivalrous annals of the House of Vasa, scarcely any reign is more remarkable than that of the sovereign to whom Christina ceded the throne. In the course of the ensuing five years Charles Gustavus, at the head of a chosen band of Swedish veterans, conquered Prussia, and compelled the Great Elector to acknowledge himself to be a Swedish vassal; invaded Poland, and commenced the partition of that republic; allied himself to Rakoczy, to the terror of the House of Austria, and attacked Denmark with such success that he crossed the Little Belt on the ice and laid siege to Copenhagen, which was only saved by the mediation of the Maritime Powers. Such was the splendid career of Charles Gustavus between the period of his accession to the throne and the year 1660, when he died, not having completed his thirty-eighth year. More than any of his predecessors or of his successors on the Swedish throne, he may be said to have held the Empire of the North; and the favour here shown to Whitelocke indicates the importance attached by the Swedish Prince to secure at least the goodwill of Cromwell during the prosecution of these Extraordinary enterprises.]283[Oxenstiern died about three months afterwards.]314[It would be idle to speculate on the political motives which may have combined with other reasons to induce Christina of Sweden to conceive and execute this extraordinary design. Other sovereigns have abdicated from the lassitude of age or the burden of unpopularity, or the desire of ensuring the succession to their offspring; but the resignation of a Queen in her twenty-ninth year, surrounded by able ministers and a loyal people, and who had reigned with splendour and success, is an event without a parallel in history. The explanation of it is to be found in the eccentricity, the levity, the feverish curiosity, and the indomitable love of independence and singularity which are to be traced in every part of the Queen’s character. She was a woman of powerful but ill-regulated mind, capable at one time of sharing in the speculations of Descartes or of applauding the exhortations of Whitelocke,—at another, of bowing to the spiritual bondage of Rome, and even of committing the brutal murder of Monaldeschi. The character of Cromwell pleased her by its adventurous exploits and its arbitrary tendency, and her reception of the English Embassy was as much the result of personal predilection as of policy. Whitelocke amused her by his somewhat pedantic erudition, and flattered her vanity, but he seems scarcely to have divined the extraordinary variations of her character.]

184[This entry is evidently a repetition of the conversation reported at length on the 5th of April. The story here related by M. Woolfeldt is his own.]

188“We Christina, by the grace of God Queen of Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc., do make known and testify, that, whereas it is the common and mutual interest of us and our kingdom, as also of Oliver, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereof, our good friend, and of the said Commonwealth, that the ancient friendship and alliance which hath always been between this kingdom and those nations be conserved and increased; and especially that the freedom of commerce and navigation do continue straitly conformed and uninterrupted; and for that cause the foresaid Lord Protector and Commonwealth have been pleased to send their Extraordinary Ambassador unto us: therefore we have commanded, and do by these presents, in the best form, command and commit unto the most illustrious our sincerely faithful and beloved the Lord Axel Oxenstiern, Chancellor and Senator of us and the kingdom of Sweden, etc., and also to Lord Eric Oxenstiern of Axel, likewise a Senator of us and of the Kingdom of Sweden, etc., that they do treat, agree, and conclude with the before-named Ambassador and Plenipotentiary about the making of a league concerning the foresaid matters and other things thereunto pertaining. Whatsoever therefore our said Plenipotentiary Commissioners shall act, conclude, and appoint with the before-named Ambassador, we shall hold the same ratified and confirmed by force of these presents; in witness and strengthening whereof, we have commanded these presents, subscribed with our hand, to be corroborated with our great seal of the kingdom. Given in our castle of Upsal, the fourteenth day of March, in the year one thousand six hundred fifty and four.Christina.“

193[No sooner had Cromwell assumed the Protectorate than his foreign policy took a more definite shape, and was steadily directed to two great objects—peace with Holland, and the union of the Protestant States. The conclusion of the Dutch peace was however not an easy matter. Cromwell himself had declared in favour of the daring project of a union of the two Republics, and the Dutch alliance was hated by many of his stoutest military supporters. Moreover he required of the Dutch, as a conditionsine quâ non, that they should engage never to make the young Prince of Orange or his descendants their Stadtholder, or to give him the command of their forces. This was the secret article against which the States General most vehemently protested, and Cromwell was at length obliged to content himself with an engagement of the province of Holland to exclude the House of Orange. Even this pretension was strongly opposed by De Witt, but Cromwell insisted. The public treaty of peace was signed on the 5th of April, 1654; but it was not until the 5th of June following that the secret article was ratified. The King of Denmark, the Swiss Protestant cantons, the Hanseatic towns, and some of the Protestant Princes of North Germany were included in the treaty, which formed the complement of the negotiation on which Whitelocke was engaged in Sweden.—M. Guizot,Histoire de la République d’Angleterre, vol. ii. p. 67.]

200“We, Christina, by the grace of God Queen of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc., do make known and testify that whereas the endeavours of the illustrious and generous, of us sincerely beloved, the Lord Bulstrode Whitelocke, Extraordinary Ambassador, are most grateful to us, which he hath negotiated for the common good of our Kingdom and his Commonwealth, for the making of a league of stricter friendship between both parties: therefore, and to the end it may appear as a testimony of our goodwill and grateful memory on this behalf, we have thereupon granted and assigned, and by these our letters do grant and assign to the said Lord Ambassador two hundred pound of copper, commonly called ship-pounds; the which two hundred pounds of copper our treasurers and officers of our Chamber of Accounts are obliged, without delay, to deliver into the hands of the before-mentioned Ambassador. In greater testimony whereof we have commanded these presents, subscribed with our hand, to be confirmed by our seal. Given in our castle of Upsal, the 3rd day of May, in the year 1654.Christina.”

240“I, the subscribed Bulstrode Whitelocke, Constable of the Castle of Windsor, and one of the Keepers of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of England, Commissioner, Procurator, Deputy, and Extraordinary Ambassador of the Most Serene and Most High Lord Oliver, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereof and the said Commonwealth, do make known and testify, that whereas by the treaty of alliance between the said Most Serene and my Most High Lord Oliver, Lord Protector, and the Most Serene and Most Potent Prince and Lady the Lady Christina, by the grace of God Queen of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc., a firm peace and friendship is established: and I have judged it chiefly consonant thereunto to find out means to remove certain grievances of the people and citizens of either State, and to take away all grounds and occasions thereof which may arise in time to come. Therefore, upon some differences moved, I have agreed with the most illustrious and most excellent Lords, Plenipotentiary Commissioners and Senators of her said Royal Majesty and of Sweden, the Lord Axel Oxenstiern, Chancellor of the kingdom, etc., and the Lord Eric Oxenstiern, son of Axel, President of the General College of Trade, etc., in manner as by the following articles is expressed and explained.“First, whereas a certain company of English exercising merchandise in Guinea have complained of one Henry Carelove, who, being Governor of the Swedish Company in that country, did take away from the English certain places inhabited by them, and did other injuries to them; but the said Swedish Company not only took upon them to prove that the before-named Governor did commit no fault, but likewise made complaint of grievances against the officers of the said English Company; but these particular differences of merchants at this time could not for certain reasons be wholly determined, and therefore it seemed most counselable to both parties that in a friendly way, without any indirect courses, they may be composed by certain Commissioners on both sides. In the meantime it is agreed that the differing hereof shall be to the prejudice of none of either part, so that neither the fellows or officers of the said companies nor any subjects or citizens of either State shall offer any injury or molestation to one another in Guinea, or in the free commerce or travelling there; but, as before is expressed, the determination of the differences being referred by both sides to the superiors, they may live friendly among themselves, and treat one another with that goodwill which is consonant to the league concluded between them. The same also shall be observed in America between the colonies of New Sweden and of the English, that they do embrace a sincere friendship, and that either party do abstain from all troubles and injuries to the other, but chiefly that they do endeavour their mutual preservation until there be a clear agreement before the deputed Commissioners on both sides about the limits of the colonies, and other rules of friendship that shall be requisite, together with other affairs of particular persons. Which matters, that they may be enjoined to all and singular the subjects and citizens of either State, and may be observed by them, I have fully taken upon me by these presents, by virtue of my commission, and do confirm by subscription of my hand, and by my seal.”

“First, whereas a certain company of English exercising merchandise in Guinea have complained of one Henry Carelove, who, being Governor of the Swedish Company in that country, did take away from the English certain places inhabited by them, and did other injuries to them; but the said Swedish Company not only took upon them to prove that the before-named Governor did commit no fault, but likewise made complaint of grievances against the officers of the said English Company; but these particular differences of merchants at this time could not for certain reasons be wholly determined, and therefore it seemed most counselable to both parties that in a friendly way, without any indirect courses, they may be composed by certain Commissioners on both sides. In the meantime it is agreed that the differing hereof shall be to the prejudice of none of either part, so that neither the fellows or officers of the said companies nor any subjects or citizens of either State shall offer any injury or molestation to one another in Guinea, or in the free commerce or travelling there; but, as before is expressed, the determination of the differences being referred by both sides to the superiors, they may live friendly among themselves, and treat one another with that goodwill which is consonant to the league concluded between them. The same also shall be observed in America between the colonies of New Sweden and of the English, that they do embrace a sincere friendship, and that either party do abstain from all troubles and injuries to the other, but chiefly that they do endeavour their mutual preservation until there be a clear agreement before the deputed Commissioners on both sides about the limits of the colonies, and other rules of friendship that shall be requisite, together with other affairs of particular persons. Which matters, that they may be enjoined to all and singular the subjects and citizens of either State, and may be observed by them, I have fully taken upon me by these presents, by virtue of my commission, and do confirm by subscription of my hand, and by my seal.”

268[Whitelocke, in his zeal to exhort the Heir-apparent to the service of God and the observance of the Lord’s Day, appears to have appreciated very imperfectly the extraordinary character and the political capacity of the Prince who paid him so signal a mark of deference. Yet in the romantic and chivalrous annals of the House of Vasa, scarcely any reign is more remarkable than that of the sovereign to whom Christina ceded the throne. In the course of the ensuing five years Charles Gustavus, at the head of a chosen band of Swedish veterans, conquered Prussia, and compelled the Great Elector to acknowledge himself to be a Swedish vassal; invaded Poland, and commenced the partition of that republic; allied himself to Rakoczy, to the terror of the House of Austria, and attacked Denmark with such success that he crossed the Little Belt on the ice and laid siege to Copenhagen, which was only saved by the mediation of the Maritime Powers. Such was the splendid career of Charles Gustavus between the period of his accession to the throne and the year 1660, when he died, not having completed his thirty-eighth year. More than any of his predecessors or of his successors on the Swedish throne, he may be said to have held the Empire of the North; and the favour here shown to Whitelocke indicates the importance attached by the Swedish Prince to secure at least the goodwill of Cromwell during the prosecution of these Extraordinary enterprises.]

283[Oxenstiern died about three months afterwards.]

314[It would be idle to speculate on the political motives which may have combined with other reasons to induce Christina of Sweden to conceive and execute this extraordinary design. Other sovereigns have abdicated from the lassitude of age or the burden of unpopularity, or the desire of ensuring the succession to their offspring; but the resignation of a Queen in her twenty-ninth year, surrounded by able ministers and a loyal people, and who had reigned with splendour and success, is an event without a parallel in history. The explanation of it is to be found in the eccentricity, the levity, the feverish curiosity, and the indomitable love of independence and singularity which are to be traced in every part of the Queen’s character. She was a woman of powerful but ill-regulated mind, capable at one time of sharing in the speculations of Descartes or of applauding the exhortations of Whitelocke,—at another, of bowing to the spiritual bondage of Rome, and even of committing the brutal murder of Monaldeschi. The character of Cromwell pleased her by its adventurous exploits and its arbitrary tendency, and her reception of the English Embassy was as much the result of personal predilection as of policy. Whitelocke amused her by his somewhat pedantic erudition, and flattered her vanity, but he seems scarcely to have divined the extraordinary variations of her character.]

Whitelocke embarks in the Amarantha, and sails.Having been part of yesterday and all the last night upon the water, this morning, about seven o’clock, Whitelocke and all his company came to the Dollars, and, without setting foot on shore, they went on board the ship ’Amarantha,’ lying there to expect them. And although this was not usual, but passengers generally stay some time at this place till their ships be ready, and to make provisions for their voyage, and spend some money at the cabaret here; yet Whitelocke seeing the wind fair, and having all his company together in the boats, was unwilling to let them be scattered by going on shore, which might be troublesome and retard his voyage by getting them all together again. For these reasons he commanded all his people to go forthwith aboard the ship, as he himself did, at which Vice-Admiral Clerke wondered, and said he had not seen the same done before.

This ship, the ‘Amarantha,’ had never yet been at sea, and therefore the more dangerous to adventure in her first voyage; but she was well built, a fair ship, of a good burden, and had mounted in her forty pieces of brass cannon, two of them demy cannon, and she was well manned and of good forceand strength for war; she was a good sailer, and would turn and tack about well; she held a hundred persons of Whitelocke’s followers and most of his baggage, besides her own mariners, about two hundred. The cabins wherein Whitelocke was were of a handsome make; the breadth of the ship was the length of his bed-cabin, and it was six or seven paces broad, and high enough for the tallest man; it was hung with red cloth, the furniture of the bed was rich cloth of gold and silver; on the table was a rich carpet, and all over it a canopy with broad fringes of silk and gold and silver. Within the bed-cabin was another room for him to retire into, with a table and benches covered with red cloth. All the gentlemen had accommodations as the ship could afford.

Being all settled in the ship, they were fain to stay for the ship-boat which the captain had sent for water; and as soon as it was returned, about ten o’clock in the morning, they weighed anchor and put the ship under sail, recommending themselves to the mercy and protection of Him who rules upon the waters as well as on dry land, and of whose goodness they had so great experience. They sailed by the place called the Scares, that is, the isles of rocks, which are there in the water and on both sides of the shore, of a strange cragginess, largeness, and number; those in the sea are full of danger, and often afford but a very strait passage for the ships to go between them, and no other course is to avoid them. From hence the sea begins to widen herself towards the furthest point of land, which they call the Lands-Ort, answerable to our English point of land called the Land’s End in Cornwall. The Lands-Ort is eight Swedish leaguesfrom the Dollars, and hither they reached by the evening, the wind being east and south-east all this day.

The voyage.About eleven o’clock the last night the wind came about more to the south, yet Whitelocke advanced in his course and gained some way, but not much, the wind being almost against him; and so it continued in this morning, when there appeared a chain of rocks advancing themselves more than a Swedish mile into the sea, and not far from the isle of Œland, to which rocks it is not good to approach too near. They could not maintain their course but to very small advantage, and by veering up and down to gain a little of the wind, and in this manner they spent this whole day: the wind continuing at south-south-east, they did not advance much all this day, only kept what they had gained before, and held plying up and down in that dangerous sea; their support was that this was the good pleasure of their God, whose will the wind and waters do obey.

Though the weather was not foul, yet it was thick with fog which arose at the foot of the horizon, and the mariners said this weather was ordinary in these seas, but very dangerous. In the evening some of the company made them pastime to divert the tediousness of the way and weather.

The island of Gothland.About midnight the wind came about somewhat fairer than before, and Whitelocke gained a little inhis course. At sunrising he discovered the isle of Gothland, eight leagues distant to the east from the isle of Œland; afterwards the wind returned to the same quarter wherein it was yesterday.

The isle of Œland is near the continent, extending itself in length by the shore eighteen Swedish miles, but hath not in breadth in any place above two Swedish miles. This is the place where the Prince of Sweden, now King, used to make his residence, in a fair castle built of stone of this island, not inferior to marble,—these stones are in great request for pavements, pillars, and other uses and ornaments in building. The pillars of the King’s Chapel at Stockholm, great and high, well polished and of divers colours, were brought from this island, and they have many of these stones in the buildings of the great lords. This island is a place of the most field-pleasure of any in this country, being open and stored with red and fallow deer, with hares and conies, and with partridges, which are scarce in other parts; but here the game is preserved for the Prince’s pleasure.

The isle of Gothland is about fourteen Swedish miles in length, and five in breadth. It anciently belonged to the Swedes till the Danes took it from them, and kept the possession of it till the late wars between those two crowns, when the Swedes recovered it from the Dane; and by the peace after that war the treaty left it to the Swede, and allowed for it the isle of Bornholm to the Dane, being nearer his dominions. They report that heretofore Gothland (belonging to the Goths, from whom it hath the name) was famous for the traffic of all these quarters, and had in it a large town called Wisby, where formerlycertain laws were instituted touching the sea, which are observed to this day. But Lübeck, and other towns on that side, having got the trade from hence, and the sea by inundations having much diminished this isle, both it and the town are become but of small consideration.

The wind was little and very variable, and this day was a calm, so that they could advance very little in their voyage. In the evening the wind grew fresh, and increased till three o’clock the next morning, so that they made good way in their course; but these deep seas began to rise, and the ship to roll and toss so much, that some of Whitelocke’s people, sensible of it and of the increasing of the wind and waves, and of the mariners’ labour and disorder, began to be afraid and sick. But Whitelocke cherished and comforted them the best he could, and gave order for attendance upon them, and that they should want nothing which the ship could afford; the which was the more in his power, the command of it being wholly left to him by the Queen; and by his kindness, and ceasing of the storm, they began to recover their courage, the wind changed, and it grew more calm after the ruffling.

The voyage.—Bornholm.The Lord’s Day.—Still Whitelocke was toiling on the Baltic Sea. After three o’clock in the morning he advanced a good way in his course; but about ten o’clock they discovered land, which was the isle of Bornholm, distant from the point of south of Œland eighteen German leagues. It seemeth a plain and flat ground, about eight Swedish miles in length, andabout five in breadth; this isle is fruitful and well peopled, abounding in pastures, so that it yields a good revenue in butter. Many witches are affirmed to be in this isle, and no place in this sea hath more shipwrecks than upon Bornholm. Some give the reason thereof from the strait pass between this isle and the continent; yet is the coast clean and without rocks, and hath good roads; others attribute the cause of these shipwrecks to the great and dangerous sands about this and the other isles of this sea, which (especially about this isle of Bornholm) do lie out far and shallow in the sea, on which many ships have been struck and lost; and here Whitelocke’s ship was in some peril, but it pleased God still to preserve him. He floated in sight of this island almost all this day, the wind veering into most points of the compass, and he was turned back from his course and lost more than he gained of his way.

About nine o’clock in the morning the ship’s company, having a minister on board with them, were at their exercises of devotion, which they have every morning, beginning with singing a psalm, as we do; then the minister prays, but not long, and the conclusion is to sing about two verses of another psalm, and so they part; except on the Lord’s Day, as this was, their chaplain preached a short sermon in the morning in Swedish, but none in the afternoon. Whitelocke for his own company had the usual exercises of praying and preaching by his chaplain Mr. De la Marche, Mr. Ingelo being sick.

Towards the evening the wind began to be fresh again; they kept their course near Bornholm, and might discern the castle. After Whitelocke was goneto rest, Vice-Admiral Clerke, who was on board with him, followed a ship to inquire if she heard any news of a Swedish ship laden with salt from Portugal; at which some of Whitelocke’s company taking offence, the Vice-Admiral desisted; but by this deviation, the ‘Amarantha’ (which is not fleet of sail) lost three leagues, which she was cast back in her course, and was brought in great danger by sailing too near the shore; but the Lord guided them.

Meet an English ship.In the morning Whitelocke was out of sight of Bornholm, and pursued his course, the wind blowing a little in a good quarter. About nine o’clock they descried some ships, of which one seemed to be a great one; and coming nearer, they perceived an English ship to be with them. The ’Amarantha’ fired a gun to warn them to strike sail, she carrying the flag in her maintop, and being a man-of-war of Sweden. The English captain did not obey, and Clerke commanded to shoot again at him; but Whitelocke ordered Clerke first to send his boat with some of Whitelocke’s servants, to advertise the English captain that Whitelocke was in the Swedish ship. They coming on board found the captain in choler, preparing to fight with the Swede, denying their sovereignty on these seas; but being informed by his countrymen that the English Ambassador was on board the Swedish ship, he presently, and Mr. Fisher, a merchant, with him, came to Whitelocke, rejoicing to see him, and said that if he had not been there the Swedish Vice-Admiral should have had hot work; but now he struck sail to the Ambassador,whom he acquainted that all was well in England; that he had brought in his ship the commissioners to agree the differences between our Commonwealth and Denmark, who were now at Copenhagen; and that when they passed the Sound, the King of Denmark’s officers were very friendly to them. He told Whitelocke also that two English frigates, sent by the Protector for Whitelocke’s transportation, were arrived at Hamburg, and waited for Whitelocke there; after giving him some wine, and discourse, Whitelocke dismissed this Captain Morgan to proceed in his voyage to Danzic, whither he was bound. At his parting all were friends, and Clerke gave him two guns, after the Swedish custom, but Morgan answered him with seven pieces of ordnance; then Clerke gave him two more guns, to which Morgan gave two also, and a third a little while after.

The ‘Amarantha’ having loitered by reason of the calm, which continued till the evening, they were most part of this day within sight of the isle of Rügen, near the coast of Pomerland, and part of that Duchy which fell in partage to one of the duke’s sons, who there kept his court in a fair castle, whereof somewhat yet remains. The island appears high to those that sail by it, and hath in length about eight German miles, and about five in breadth; the King Gustavus took it, and it hath since continued in the possession of the Swedes, and was confirmed to them by the late treaty of Munster; the coast is full of white sands, and dangerous to those who are not well acquainted with the passages, which hereabout are strait, and a bank of sand comes far out into the sea, on which Whitelocke was in great peril, within four-fathom water inthe night; but they were glad to veer back again and tack about to escape the danger.

The wind blew fresh from the north-east, by which he continued his course till about midnight; when there came a hideous storm of wind, thunder, rain, and lightning, which caused them to furl their sails, and lasted about three hours; but the waves continued very high above twelve hours together afterwards, it being the nature of this sea when it is once stirred, that by reason of the great depth it will not be still again for many hours after. Some of Whitelocke’s company were much affrighted with this tempest, and not without cause; but it pleased God to cease the storm, and give fair weather, and thereby more cause to remember the experiences they have had of His divine goodness throughout their whole voyage.

The coast of Pomerania.In the morning; the wind continued fair, and they made good way till towards eight o’clock, when it grew calm till about seven o’clock in the evening. All this day they were upon the coast of Pomerland. One of the mariners, from the top-gallant, espying land and a town, informed them that it was Wismar; but coming nearer to the shore, they found it to be Rostock, eight leagues further from Lübeck than Wismar is. Both these towns are subject to the Crown of Sweden, port towns, and of good trade; Rostock more famous to the High Dutch for their exceeding strong and thick beer.

In the evening the wind blew fair north-west, but the sky grew thick, and the night coming on, they, for fear of falling upon the coast, tacked off again to sea,and out of their course. About eleven o’clock at night the storm began much more violent than the night before, continuing about six hours, to the imminent danger of the ship to be overset and foundered in the sea, but still God preserved them. About midnight was a horrible noise, the thunder fierce and strangely loud, the sky all in flames with the wonderful lightnings; and though it be frequent to meet with great tempests of thunder and lightnings upon this sea, and much more dreadful than those in England, yet now the officers and mariners of the ship affirmed that they never saw the like to this tempest, and that they were almost blind with the shining and flashes of this lightning. They saw also on the land houses burning, set on fire by the lightning, any flame whereof fastening upon the combustible matter of the ship the same had instantly been fired and all within her inevitably had perished. But still God was their defence and deliverer. The tempest was so outrageous that they were forced to take down their sails and let fall their anchors. Here they found the difference between Sweden and this country: there, at midnight, one might plainly read without a candle; here, though nearer the summer solstice and the days at longest, they found at least four hours of dark night, as seeming near the winter.

Arrive at Lübeck.The tempest began to cease about five o’clock in the morning, and it grew fair weather, the wind coming good for them to continue and finish their voyage. Thus God preserved them from the danger of the last night as of many times before, the which Whitelockeheld himself obliged more largely to describe as so many monuments, to him and his company, of the goodness of God towards them, and to preserve the memory thereof as arguments to him and his, wholly to depend upon that God of whom they have had so much experience.

The wind continued fair, and they sailed all along in the sight of land, drawing nearer and nearer to it, which was pleasant to those who had been in such storms, and were not a little longing to be at their native home. They came about ten o’clock in the morning to the road at Lübeck, and no sooner was the ship settled there but the wind ceased and blew not at all, but it became a great calm; wherein also the providence and goodness of God was seen, that had they not come to an anchor at this very moment, they must have been still roaming on the sea till the wind had come about again for them, and perhaps might have been kept out at sea many days longer. They were all filled with joy, having passed one half of their voyage, and seeing the place of their first descent on land. The ’Amarantha,’ having let fall her anchors, fired two guns, and a ship of the Duke of Courland’s, in the road, answered them with three. This road is a gulf between two arms of land, at the first entrance from one another about a league; but it becomes more narrow as one approacheth nearer to the mouth of the river, which is called Trave, and divides the two Duchies of Mecklenburg and Holstein. This is the road or haven belonging to the town of Lübeck, and is of good defence and safety to secure the riding of ships, and of conveniency for the trade of that town into the Baltic Sea.

After this perilous voyage of eight days’ sailing on the angry Baltic Seas,—escaping the dismal, infinite, vast, craggy rocks, seen and unseen, and the covered sands and dangerous coasts, in the highest storms,—it pleased Him who giveth bounds to the deep waters and stilleth the waves thereof, to conduct Whitelocke and all his people in safety to this haven. They were not negligent to prepare for their going on shore, in order whereunto Whitelocke sent Colonel Potley and some of his servants to land, to provide horses for his coach, and waggons for his train and baggage; purposing to go that night to Lübeck, being but two German leagues from Tremon, and the days now at longest.

Potley, according to order, gave notice to the Governor of Tremon of Whitelocke’s coming on shore in the territories of his masters, the Lords of Lübeck, and provided boats, horses, waggons, and all things necessary, with diligence and dexterity. Whilst this was doing, Whitelocke calls his company together into his cabin, where they gave thanks to God for their safe arrival in this place, and humbly prayed for the continuance of his blessing and presence with them, the rest of their journey yet to come.

After dinner, Whitelocke sent for Vice-Admiral Clerke and Captain Sinclair into his cabin, where he gave them thanks for the care and pains they had taken for him and his company, and for their particular respects to himself and observance of his desires; whereof he said he would by letters acquaint his Majesty of Sweden, and report to the Protector their respects to him. He desired them to accept a small testimony of his thankfulness for their civilities.He gave the Vice-Admiral sixty dollars, to distribute to the mariners, and sixty dollars more to the officers of the ship,—that is, the master and his mate, the boatswain, the constable (so they call the master gunner), the gunner’s mate, and the rest. To Captain Sinclair he gave eighty ducats, and to the Vice-Admiral one hundred ducats, which were the best compliments, and thankfully accepted by them; and Whitelocke was the more liberal in these rewards, being to strangers, and for the honour of his nation.

The boats being gone, with the coaches, baggage, and most of the people, and the rest not unwilling to be on shore, Whitelocke, with most of his gentlemen, went in one of the ship-boats; the Vice-Admiral bare him company, and did him the honour to steer the boat himself; the rest of the company went in the other ship-boat. After Whitelocke was gone off the length of two or three boats, and whilst the other boat lay by the side of the ship, they fired forty pieces of ordnance, which, being so very near, did, with the wind, or fear of the cannon, strike down some that were in the boat, who were more than frighted, insomuch that one of them, after he came to Lübeck, continued very ill with swooning fits; but by the care of Doctor Whistler and good cordials, through the blessing of God, he recovered, and was well again.

They went about half a league by water from the ship to the mouth of the river, where there is a little fort with some great guns mounted, and without that are small towers for lights to direct the seamen, and a village called Tremon, where they landed, all belonging to the city of Lübeck.Mon, in High Dutch, signifies a mouth, andTreis the name of the river; soTremon is the mouth of the river Tre. At their landing stood, ready to receive them, a tall old man, with a long, white, venerable beard; he wore a broad belt, with a long basket-hilted sword; he was a Colonel, and Governor of that fort. He spake to Whitelocke in High Dutch, which Potley interpreted to this effect:—

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