May 15, 1654.
A private audience of the Queen. Whitelocke visited Marshal Wrangel and General Wittenberg, and went from thence to the castle to visit Grave Tott, who told him that the Queen had altered her purpose of sending him into England, and would do him the honour to retain him with her, but that yet he hoped in a short time to see England. Whitelocke said he should be glad to meet him, and to do him service there. They discoursed of the Queen’s residence in Pomerland, or some other place near this country, and of the discommodities and inconveniences which would arise thereby. Whitelocke told him that if the Queen had leisure, that he should be glad to wait on her; and Tott went presently to know her pleasure, and promised to bring word to Whitelocke if he might see the Queen, and did it at the Lady Jane Ruthven’s lodging, whither Whitelocke was gone to take his leave of that lady; whence he brought Whitelocke to the traverse of the wardrobe, where her Majesty came to him and conducted him into her bedchamber, where they thus discoursed:—
Whitelocke. I humbly thank your Majesty for admitting me to be present at the meeting of the Ricksdag.
Queen. How did you like the manner and proceedings of it when you were there?
Wh. It was with the greatest gravity and solemnity that I ever saw in any public assembly, and well becoming persons of their quality and interest.
Qu. There be among them very considerable persons, and wise men.
Wh. Such an assembly requires such men, and their carriage showed them to be such; but, Madam, I expected that your Chancellor, after he spake with your Majesty, should, according to the course in our Parliaments, have declared, by your direction, the causes of the Council’s being summoned.
Qu. It belongs to the office of the Chancellor with us to do it; and when I called him to me, it was to desire him to do it.
Wh. How then came it to pass that he did it not, when his place and your Majesty required it?
Qu. He desired to be excused, and gave me this reason, that he had taken an oath to my father to use his utmost endeavour to keep the crown on my head, and that the cause of my calling this Diet was to have their consents for me to quit the Crown; that if he should make this proposition to them, it would be contrary to the oath which he had taken to my father, and therefore he could not do it.
Wh. Did not your Majesty expect this answer?
Qu. Not at all, but was wholly surprised by it; and when the Ricksdag were met, my Chancellor thus excusing himself, there was nobody appointed by me to declare to them the cause of their meeting; but rather than the Assembly should be put off, and nothing done, I plucked up my spirits the best I could, and spake to them on the sudden as you heard, although much to my disadvantage.
Wh. Indeed, Madam, you were much surprised; and I cannot but wonder that you should have no intimation given you beforehand of your Chancellor’s resolution; but your Majesty will pardon me if I believe it proved no disadvantage to you, when I had the honour to see and hear with how excellent a grace and how prince-like your Majesty, in so great an assembly and on a sudden, delivered your mind and purpose.
Qu. You are apt to make the best construction of it; you see I did adventure upon it, remembering that they were my subjects, and I their Queen.
Wh. Madam, you spake and acted like yourself, and were highly complimented by the several Marshals, but above all the rest by the honest boor.
Qu. Was you so taken with his clownery?
Wh. It seemed to me as pure and clear natural eloquence, without any forced strain, as could be expressed.
Qu. Indeed there was little else but what was natural, and by a well-meaning man, who has understanding enough in his country way.
Wh. Whosoever shall consider his matter more than his form will find that the man understands his business; and the garment or phrase wherewith he clothed his matter, though it was rustic, yet the variety and plain elegancy and reason could not but affect his auditors.
Qu. I think he spake from his heart.
Wh. I believe he did, and acted so too, especially when he wiped his eyes.
Qu. He showed his affection to me in that posture more than greater men did in their spheres.
Wh. Madam, we must look upon all men to work according to their present interest; and so I suppose do the great men here as well as elsewhere.
Qu. Here I have had experience enough of such actings; I shall try what they do in other places, and content myself, however I shall find it.
Wh. Your Majesty will not expect to find much difference in the humours of men, as to seeking themselves, and neglecting those from whom they have received favours.
Qu. It will be no otherwise than what I am armed to bear and not to regard; but your particular respects I shall always remember with gratefulness.
Wh. Your Majesty shall ever find me your faithful servant. Do you intend, Madam, to go from hence to Pomerland?
Qu. My intentions are to go presently, after my resignation, to the Spa; but wheresoever I am, you have a true friend of me.
Wh. There is no person alive more cordially your Majesty’s servant than I am.
Qu. I do believe it, or else I should not have communicated to you such things as I have done.
Wh. Your Majesty hath therein expressed much confidence in me, which I hope shall never deceive you, however my want of abilities may not answer your Majesty’s favours to me.
Qu. I have no doubt of your faithfulness, and you have sufficiently manifested your abilities. Give me leave to trouble you with the company of a gentleman, my servant, whom I purpose to send over with you to England, to take care for those things which I desire to have from thence.
Wh. He shall be very welcome to me and my company, and I shall give him my best assistance for your Majesty’s service.
Qu. I shall thank you for it, and command him to obey your directions.
Wh. Madam, if you please to accept a set of black English horses for your coach, I shall take the boldness to send them to your stables; and pray your Majesty that the Master of your Horse may furnish me for my journey to Stockholm.
Qu. I do thankfully accept your kindness, and all mine are at your service.
Wh. I have interrupted your Majesty too long. I desired the favour of this opportunity to present my most humble thanks to your Majesty for all your noble favours to me and my company.
Qu. I entreat your excuse for the meanness of my presents. I could not do therein what I desired, nor after your merit.
Wh. Madam, there is nothing of my merit to be alleged; but your Majesty hath testified much honour to the Protector and Commonwealth whom I serve.
Qu. England is a noble country, and your master is a gallant man. I desire you to assure him, on my part, of all affection and respect towards him.
Wh. Your Majesty may be confident of the like from his Highness; and your humble servant will heartily pray for your Majesty’s prosperity, wherever you are.
Qu. I wish you a happy voyage and return to your own country.
After he came from the Queen, Whitelocke met with the Baron Steinberg, Master of her Horse, whom he acquainted with what he had moved to her Majesty, and he was very forward to accommodate Whitelocke.
Discourse with Grave Eric on the customs of Swedish nuptials. From hence he went and visited Grave Eric Oxenstiern, who discoursed with him about the solemnity of the nuptials at Court, and asked him how he liked it.
Wh. They were very noble; but I pray, my noble brother, instruct me what the meaning was of the dowry given by the bridegroom to the bride the next morning; and what do you call that dowry?
Gr. Eric. By the ancient custom of this country, the next morning after the wedding-night the husband bestows upon his wife a gift of money according to his estate, to show how he is pleased with the cohabitation, and to make some provision, in case of his death before her, for the wife, and children which he shall have by her; and this we call a morgen-gaven—a morning’s gift.
Wh. The same word morgen-gaven is in the old terms of our English laws, and expounded to signify a second dowry, and hath much affinity with this of yours and in that of your twelve witnesses who testified the contract of marriage and the morgen-gaven; to which our trials by twelve men, whom we call juries because they are sworn, are somewhat like, and they are so many witnesses as well as judges of the fact.
Gr. Eric. I believe your customs and ours had the same original.
Wh. I find much resemblance between them and yours. What do you call the twelve that laid their hands on the spear?
Gr. Eric. We call them the twelve witnesses (les douze témoins).
Wh. What do you call the spear or pike which the gentleman held?
Gr. Eric. We call it weppun.
Wh. We have the same word, weapon, for all manner of arms and warlike instruments. What do you call the laying of their hands upon the spear?
Gr. Eric. We call it tack,—weppun-tack, to touch the spear.
Wh. We have also the word tack, for touching; and we have, in the northern parts of England, a particular precinct or territory which we call a Wapentake, and a territorial court of justice there which we call a Wapentake Court; and a very learned gentleman from whom I received letters in my last packet, Selden, derives the name of Wapentake from weapon and tack; and saith they used to come to that court with their weapons, and to touch one another’s weapons, from whence came the appellation of Wapentake.
Gr. Eric. Tacitus observes that at the public assemblies and councils of the Germans, they used to meet with their weapons, and when anything was said that pleased them they would touch one another’s spears or weapons, and thereby make a noise, to testify their consent and approbation.
Wh. Your ceremony of laying down the spear at the feet of the bride puts me in mind of another passage in Tacitus, ‘De Moribus Germanorum;’ that when a man was married, he used to bring his arms and lay them at the feet of his bride, to signify that he would not take them up nor go forth to war, being newly married, without the leave of his wife, to whom he had now given the command of himself and of his arms.
Gr. Eric. Our customs and those of the ancient Germans have much resemblance; but I never heard so good observations upon the ceremonies of a wedding as your Excellence hath made.
Wh. I am delighted with these antiquities; but your Excellence shows your opinion to be that of a brother.
From Grave Eric, Whitelocke went to visit the Senator Schütt, and Lynde, who lodged in one house, and met him at the door; and this day he made seven visits, besides his attendance upon the Queen, hastening to get over these matters of compliment and ceremony, that he might be upon his journey to Stockholm.