|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 98
At the age of eighteen, Christina was declared free to govern the
kingdom by herself, without the aid of a regency. At this period of her
life, she was a young woman of striking aspect, a good figure and
intelligent face, but very strangely dressed. She wore a short habit of
gray cloth, with a man's vest over it, and a black scarf around her
neck, but no jewels, nor ornaments of any kind.
Yet, though Christina was so negligent of her appearance, there was
something in her air and manner that proclaimed her as the ruler of a
kingdom. Her eyes, it is said, had a very fierce and haughty look. Old
General Wrangel, who had often caused the enemies of Sweden to tremble
in battle, actually trembled himself, when he encountered the eyes of
the queen. But it would have been better for Christina if she could have
made people love her, by means of soft and gentle looks, instead of
affrighting them by such terrible glances.
And now I have told you almost all that is amusing or instructive, in
the childhood of Christina. Only a few more words need be said about
her; for it is neither pleasant nor profitable to think of many things
that she did, after she grew to be a woman.
When she had worn the crown a few years, she began to consider it
beneath her dignity to be called a queen, because the name implied that
she belonged to the weaker sex. She therefore caused herself to be
proclaimed KING, thus declaring to the world that she despised her own
sex, and was desirous of being ranked among men. But in the
twenty-eighth year of her age, Christina grew tired of royalty, and
resolved to be neither a king nor a queen any longer. She took the crown
from her head, with her own hands, and ceased to be the ruler of Sweden.
The people did not greatly regret her abdication; for she had governed
them ill, and had taken much of their property to supply her
extravagance.
Having thus given up her hereditary crown, Christina left Sweden and
travelled over many of the countries of Europe. Everywhere, she was
received with great ceremony, because she was the daughter of the
renowned Gustavus, and had herself been a powerful queen. Perhaps you
would like to know something about her personal appearance, in the
latter part of her life. She is described as wearing a man's vest, a
short gray petticoat, embroidered with gold and silver, and a black wig,
which was thrust awry upon her head. She wore no gloves, and so seldom
washed her hands that nobody could tell what had been their original
color. In this strange dress, and, I suppose, without washing her hands
or face, she visited the magnificent court of Louis the Fourteenth.
She died in 1689. None loved her while she lived, nor regretted her
death, nor planted a single flower upon her grave. Happy are the little
girls of America, who are brought up quietly and tenderly, at the
domestic hearth, and thus become gentle and delicate women! May none of
them ever lose the loveliness of their sex, by receiving such an
education as that of Queen Christina!
* * * * *
Emily, timid, quiet, and sensitive, was the very reverse of little
Christina. She seemed shocked at the idea of such a bold and masculine
character as has been described in the foregoing story.
"I never could have loved her," whispered she to Mrs. Temple; and then
she added, with that love of personal neatness, which generally
accompanies purity of heart:--"It troubles me to think of her unclean
hands!"
"Christina was a sad specimen of womankind, indeed," said Mrs. Temple.
"But it is very possible for a woman to have a strong mind, and to be
fitted for the active business of life, without losing any of her
natural delicacy. Perhaps, some time or other, Mr. Temple will tell you
a story of such a woman."
It was now time for Edward to be left to repose. His brother George
shook him heartily by the hand, and hoped, as he had hoped twenty times
before, that to-morrow or the next day, Ned's eyes would be strong
enough to look the sun right in the face.
"Thank you, George," replied Edward, smiling; "but I am not half so
impatient as at first. If my bodily eyesight were as good as yours,
perhaps I could not see things so distinctly with my mind's eye. But now
there is a light within which shows me the little Quaker artist, Ben
West, and Isaac Newton with his windmill, and stubborn Sam Johnson, and
stout Noll Cromwell, and shrewd Ben Franklin, and little Queen Christina
with the Swedes kneeling at her feet. It seems as if I really saw these
personages face to face. So I can bear the darkness outside of me pretty
well."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|