Part 24

Monsieur Bloome this Lord's Day dined with Whitelocke, and told him that the Chancellor had left him in town to keep Whitelocke company in the absence of the Chancellor, and to assure him that the Chancellor would return again in a very few days. Whitelocke made much of him, and had good informations from him. He said that Grave John Oxenstiern, the Chancellor's eldest son, had at that time, whilst his father was alive, above L20,000 sterling of yearly revenue, which he had from his father and by his wife, an inheritrix; and that Grave Eric, the second son, had in his father's lifetime near L10,000 sterling of yearly revenue, besides what both of them might expect from their father: and therefore both father and sons might, as they did, live in great state and with attendance of much port and ceremony.

Grave Leonhough bestowed a visit on Whitelocke. He is a senator and one of the College of War, a person of great esteem and good parts; his conversation was full of civility; his discourse (in French) was rational, and for the most part upon matter of war, history, and the mathematics. In his company was an officer, his brother-in-law, who had served the King of Portugal in his late wars, and was a civil person, and seemed a gallant man. This Grave had been long bred up in the wars, and was now a Major-General; and his discourse showed him to be knowing and modest. He demanded of Whitelocke many questions touching the affairs of England, and particularly of the late civil dissensions there, and had a full account thereof from Whitelocke, by which he seemed to receive much satisfaction, and acknowledged that he had not heard the truth before, and that this relation justified the proceedings of the Parliament. He spake nothing to Whitelocke touching his business of the treaty, nor did Whitelocke mention it to this Grave, whom he never saw before, and because it was a day for other duties.

April 17, 1654.

Upsal being very empty, by the absence of the Queen and all the great Lords, who were retired to their country-houses, but most of them to Stockholm, it was given out that her Majesty would not return to this place, but remain at Stockholm, and that the General Assembly should be held there; which was not believed by Whitelocke, because the Queen had assured him that she would return to Upsal within eight or ten days, and she never brake her word with him.

Her absence, and the leisure which they had thereby, gave opportunity to some of her musicians (Italians and Germans) to pass a compliment on Whitelocke, to come to his house, and with great ceremony to entertain him with their vocal and instrumental music, which was excellent good; and they played many lessons of English composition, which the gentlemen who were musical of Whitelocke's family brought forth unto them.

April 18, 1654.

Whitelocke returned a visit to the Grave Leonhough, whose lodgings were but mean, such as the town would afford, but his treatment was with great civility. Amongst other discourse he inquired touching the discipline of war and ordering the soldiery in England, who, he said, must be well paid, or else they could not be kept in good order. Whitelocke acknowledged that to be very true, and said that in England special care was taken for the constant and due pay of the armies much beyond other countries, by which means they were kept in the best and strictest discipline of any armies in the world; that violence or plunder, contrary to the articles of war, was severely punished.

The Grave acquainted Whitelocke that he was to go out of town the next day to a general muster, about four leagues from hence, within the province where he had the government; which occasioned Whitelocke to inquire of him, and to be informed that this was the standing militia of the country, and that the manner of it was thus:--

The whole militia of Sweden in the country, besides the standing forces of their armies in service, doth consist of 50,000 horse and foot, whereof 12,000 horse and 38,000 foot in the several provinces are constantly in a readiness to be drawn forth in fourteen days' time. In Sweden are about 5000 horse and 20,000 foot, and in Finland and the other provinces about 8000 horse and 20,000 foot: in all, above 50,000. That the Crown is not at any charge for the pay of these militia forces, unless they are drawn forth into actual service, and then they are paid as their other army forces are, which is not very much or constant; but when they are in an enemy's country they live upon the country, and take contribution, if not plunder; and somewhat is allowed them by the Crown, as so much in money (which is a very small proportion) and such a weekly quantity of bread, butter, and cheese for every foot-soldier, and a like proportion for the horsemen; whose charge may be guessed at by that of their officers, of whom it was affirmed that the allowance to a captain of horse was his stove and his stable, and twenty rix-dollars a year. His stove they call his fire, candle, and entertainment for himself; his stable, that is horse-meat, and room, and shoeing; and for himself from the Crown (besides what he gets from the country) but twenty rix-dollars a year, with the like proportion for other officers and soldiers.

The manner of maintaining their militia forces in the country was said to be this:--A horseman was quartered in the house of a boor, or husbandman; if the man will work himself and his horse with the boor, to help him in his husbandry, then the boor gives the man and his horse entertainment freely, and hath their work for it, which is more worth than their meat, and the boor will give the man perhaps some small sum of money besides. By this way the boor hath an advantage--the work of a man and a horse for their meat only; and the horseman hath an advantage--his own and his horse's meat, besides what the Crown allows him, and himself and horse kept in better condition by it; and without his work, the boor is not compellable to find him but his lodging only.

In like manner it is for the foot-soldier. He is quartered with a boor, and must work for the boor, or have no diet from him; but they do work generally, and by that means the soldier is kept out of idleness. The countryman hath a benefit by his work for his diet only, whereas he must give diet and wages to a servant; and the soldier by his work hath his diet besides what the State allows him, and so he and his landlord are both well pleased. But the Crown hath the greatest advantage, which hereby saves the great pay which otherwise they must allow; and yet these forces are constantly in a readiness when the occasions of the Crown require their service.

The officers of these militia forces have no pay at all but when they are in actual service, neither do they expect any pay, being gentlemen of quality and interest in the country: the chief of whom, who are fit for it, are made colonels; the next to them lieutenant-colonels, majors, captains, and inferior officers, according to their rank of the country gentlemen, known and beloved among their neighbours, with whom their interest and power, increased by their command, makes them the better followed and obeyed. When they write out any from the militia to serve in the armies, these officers and the lords of the boors appoint them; and if any offend, they are presently written out to send abroad into Russia, Poland, Germany, and other parts, from whence they do not all return safe, but are kept in great awe and obedience.

This day here fell a great quantity of snow, and was in one night so hard frozen that it would bear a cart; the English wondered at it, but not this country men, the like being here usual at this time of the year and after.

The Countess of Brahe, wife of the Ricks-Droitset, sent a gentleman to Whitelocke to acquaint him that there was a parcel of timber, cut and lying ready within four miles of Gothenburg, which did belong to her former husband, and was cut for the building of a ship; but by reason of her husband's death the ship was not built, and she offered the timber to Whitelocke at a reasonable price. But he, finding that it had been cut four years, and lay far from the water-side, made an excuse that it would be necessary to have it viewed, which his hastening away would not now permit; but he returned thanks to the Countess for her respects in the offer of it.

April 19, 1654.

Monsieur Bloome and divers others, having dined with Whitelocke, acquainted him that the Chancellor intended to return hither the next day after the Queen. Whitelocke said he hoped the Chancellor would have been here before her Majesty; but this was an argument to confute the report that the Queen would stay at Stockholm and hold the Ricksdag there. Another argument was, the Queen's officers removing and altering some of the hangings in Whitelocke's house, being longer and fitter for the rooms to be furnished in the castle for the Ricksdag than those which they put up in their places in Whitelocke's lodging.

April 20, 1654.

In pursuance of former discourse with Monsieur Bloome, and by the desire of Mr. Bushel in England to Whitelocke to inquire into it, he received a paper in French, from a person here employed about the mines, to inform him by what means this person might be treated with to be brought into England for improving of our mines there.

Whitelocke also, by desire of a worthy friend in England, furnished himself with a direction how he might procure some hawks out of this country, and chiefly from the isle of Deulandt, where the best hawks are; and he had gained much acquaintance with Grave Gabriel Oxenstiern, Great Falconer and Master of the Queen's Hawks, who promised his furtherance of Whitelocke's desires herein, and to assist and direct any servant whom he should send hither for that purpose.

One Catharine Penn, an Englishwoman, the widow of an officer of the Queen's army, entreated Whitelocke to present for her a sad petition to the Queen for some arrears due to her husband, which matters Whitelocke was not forward to meddle with; but this being his countrywoman, and of the ancient family of Penn in Buckinghamshire, to which he had an alliance, Whitelocke did undertake to present her petition to the Queen. He undertook the like for a decayed English merchant residing at Hamburg, who petitioned the Queen for moneys owing to him at Bremen, where he could have no justice from the Governor, Vice-Chancellor, and others in authority; and this he undertook to move to the Queen, upon the earnest request of Mr. Bradshaw, Resident for the Protector at Hamburg, by his letters this day received.

He was also presented with a Latin epistle from one Jonas Olaii, begging for some charity, and who, to be sure to go high enough, gave throughout his letter the style of "illustrissime Comes and Celsitudo tua," for which his gift from Whitelocke was the less.

In this day's packet Whitelocke received letters from the Muscovia Company in England, signed by the Governor and Consuls, in which they set forth the decay and loss of their trade in Muscovia by supplantation of the Dutch, and the Great Duke's disfavour to them, which they hope may be altered upon the late change of government in England; that they understand there is now in this Court an Ambassador from the Great Duke to the Queen; and they desire Whitelocke, that if this ambassador do visit him, or if he think fit to visit the Russian Ambassador, that he would intimate this matter to him, which they hope may much further their purpose of sending to the Great Duke for recovery of their trade.

By this post Whitelocke received these letters from the Secretary Thurloe:--

"For his Excellence my Lord Ambassador Whitelocke, at Upsal, in Sweden. These.

"My Lord,

"Your letters of the 24th of February arrived here five or six days later than usual, and this day's post is not yet arrived. The peace with the Dutch hath been in such an uncertain condition, that it was very hard to make a judgement concerning the issue of it. In the end of the last and beginning of this week it was more probable that the war should continue than otherwise; and your Excellence will see by the enclosed papers, which passed between the Commissioners of his Highness and the Ambassadors (which I have sent to you because there is contained in them the true state of the treaty as it stood whilst the differences lasted); the last of those papers will let your Excellence see that they are now very near a closure; and the truth is, that there is now nothing wanting but the drawing up of things into form, and the signing on both sides, which I believe will be effected within three or four days at furthest. But because we cannot rely upon the peace as made until it be actually signed, his Highness will defer the sending instructions to you in reference either to your present negotiation or returning home until the next, when your Excellence may certainly except them; and in the meantime your Excellence may rest assured that there hath been no other cause in delaying instructions to you upon this subject but the desire that there is in everybody to give you clear directions in so doubtful a case as this. If your staying or returning did depend upon your own negotiation there, it were easy to leave you to your own guidance; but when it rests merely upon the conclusion of the present treaty here with the Dutch, it is not possible to give you any instructions which you may with safety act upon until the issue thereof be perfectly known; and after that, your Excellence shall not be an hour without the knowledge of his Highness's pleasure thereupon.

"It is certain this State hath moved upon Christian grounds only in making this peace: we have not been beaten or frightened into it; the Dutch have not yet any fleet at sea, nor can have this month, if the war should continue. In the meantime we have a hundred and forty sail at sea, and better ships than we have had at any time heretofore, which gives occasion to all our neighbours to wonder at our intentions thereby.

"Since I began my letter I have been with the Dutch Ambassador, and every article is agreed word for word, so that nothing now remains to be done but to write them over and sign, which will be done upon Monday next. It is not possible for me to send unto your Excellence a copy of the articles as they are now agreed; I hope to do it by the next, when you will be satisfied concerning the reports I hear there are in Sweden, concerning the honourable terms the Dutch have gotten by this treaty. I know not what men may expect in matters of honour; I am sure the true interest of the nation, both in point of trade and otherwise, is provided for more fully than ever hath been in any treaty made between these States.