Part 3

March 4, 1653.

Whitelocke waited on the Queen and showed her part of the letters which he received from England, whereupon she again asked him if the Protector were sacre? Whitelocke said, No, and that his letters mentioned only a solemnity of entertaining the Protector by the City of London. Whitelocke also communicated to her Majesty the Protector's letter to him, and the expression that Whitelocke should assure her Majesty of the Protector's constant and real intentions to settle a firm alliance with the Queen; which, she said, she was also most ready to make with the Protector.

Whitelocke then said it might be fit to make some progress in his treaty upon his articles, and particularly in those which concerned amity and commerce, and had no dependence on the issue of the treaty with Holland, and therefore might be had in consideration before the other were fully concluded, and the rest of the articles might be considered afterwards; which the Queen said should be done, and that she would send an ambassador to the Protector. She was very inquisitive concerning London and our Universities; by her discourse gave him to imagine she had thoughts of travelling into France, Spain, Italy, and into England; and asked Whitelocke if he thought the Protector would give way to her coming thither. Whitelocke answered, that the Protector would bid her Majesty very welcome thither.

He was alone with her near two hours, and at his taking leave she desired him to come to her again on Monday next, and that then she would read over with him his articles, both in Latin and English, which they would consider together; and such things as she could consent unto she would tell him, and what she could not consent unto he should then know from her, and they might mark it in the margin as they went along. Yet she said she would have him to proceed in his conference with her Chancellor as before, and that nobody should know of that conference between her and Whitelocke; but she would so order the business that what they consented unto should be effected afterwards, and that in two hours they might go over all the articles. Whitelocke told her Majesty he presumed that she would admit of a free debate upon any of them. She said, by all means, that was reasonable; and in case the peace between England and Holland did not take effect, that then the ambassador, whom she intended howsoever to send into England, might conclude upon such other articles as should be thought fit. Whitelocke asked her if she had any thoughts of being included in the Dutch treaty. She said, No, for she had not meddled with the war, and therefore desired not to be included in the peace with them.

From the Queen Whitelocke went and visited Piementelle, who showed him a letter he received from a great person in Flanders, mentioning that Beningen had written to his superiors that the English Ambassador and the Spanish Resident were often together, and had showed great respect to each other, which his Highness the Archduke liked very well, and gave Piementelle thanks for it; and though Monsieur Beningen did not like of their being so friendly, yet his superiors endeavoured all they could to have amity with England. When Whitelocke told him of the English fleet at sea, he said it was great pity the same was not employed. He then showed Whitelocke a letter from Beningen to his superiors, wherein he taxed Whitelocke with omitting the ceremony of meeting Prince Adolphus at his door. Whitelocke repeated to Piementelle the carriage of that business as before; and Piementelle said, that neither the Queen nor himself had ever heard the Prince express any dislike of Whitelocke's carriage; and that the Queen, seeing Beningen's letter, said there were many things in it concerning Whitelocke which upon her knowledge were not true. It was also said in the letter that the English Ambassador had many long audiences with her Majesty, and conferences with the Chancellor, but that he could not in the least learn what passed between them; with which Whitelocke had no cause to be displeased.

March 5, 1653.

The Lord's Day.--Whitelocke had two good sermons in his house, at which divers English and Scots, besides those of his family, were present. In the evening the Queen passed through the streets in her coach, with divers other coaches and her servants waiting on her, to take the air, though upon this day; and in the night, many disorderly drunkards were committing debaucheries and insolences in the town, and at Whitelocke's door.

March 6, 1653.

Whitelocke visited Senator Schuett, who spake in excuse of the delay of his business. Whitelocke said--

Whitelocke. I have already staid long in this place, and nothing is yet done in my business.

Schuett. Your stay here hath been of more advantage to England than if they had sent 10,000 men into Holland, who, by your stay here, will be brought on with the greater desire of making peace with you.

Wh. They know nothing of my negotiation.

Sch. That makes them the more jealous; the slowness of one person is the cause that hitherto you have received no satisfaction, and I doubt not but ere long you will have answers to your contentment.

Whilst Whitelocke was with him the Queen sent one of her gentlemen thither to him, to desire him to put off his visit of her Majesty till the next day, by reason she had then extraordinary business; and the messenger being gone, Schuett said,--

Schuett. The Queen is busy in despatching three senators to the Prince, Grave Eric Oxenstiern, Monsieur Fleming, and Monsieur Vanderlin, who are deputed for the business of the Queen's resignation; and I, in a few days, shall be sent to the Prince.

Whitelocke. I pray do me the favour to present my service to his Royal Highness, whom I am very desirous to salute as soon as I can gain an opportunity; and do hope that his resort to this place will be before I shall be necessitated to return, that I may give myself the honour to kiss his hand.

Whitelocke visited the Ricks-Droitset Grave Brahe, who is of the noble family of Tycho Brahe. He was President of the College of Justice, and the First Minister of State of the kingdom: the name of his office is as much as Viceroy, and his jurisdiction is a sovereign court for the administration of justice, and he hath power both civil and military. The office is in effect the same with that ancient officer with us called the Chief Justice of England. The habit of this Chief Justice of Sweden was a coat, and a furred cap of black, a sword and belt, and no cloak; two soldiers sentry at his chamber-door, which Whitelocke had not observed elsewhere but at the Court. They had much discourse of Whitelocke's business, wherein he testified affections to the Commonwealth of England, though Whitelocke had been informed that he was not their friend; but he the rather chose to visit him first, and found him very civil: he spake Latin very readily, and no French, although Whitelocke was told he could speak it well.

He inquired much of the Commonwealth and affairs of England, and government of it, and seemed well pleased by Whitelocke's relation of it. He informed Whitelocke of the Swedish Government, and particularly of his own office. He discoursed much of the Prince of Sweden, which Whitelocke judged the fitter for him to approve, because Prince Adolphus's lady was this Grave's daughter. He told Whitelocke that he had been Governor of Finland ten years together, which province he affirmed to be greater than France, and that the Queen's dominions were larger than France, Spain, Italy, all together. Whitelocke asked him if those countries were well peopled, and flourished with corn and good towns. He answered that Finland was well peopled, and had store of corn, and good towns; but that it was not so with Lapland and other countries further off. But he said that no part of Sweden had such towns as were in England, where he had been when he was a young man, which country he much praised; and Whitelocke had no cause to gainsay it.

Piementelle sent to Whitelocke an atlas, in four great volumes, in acknowledgment of a vessel of Spanish wine which Whitelocke had before sent to him for a present.

March 7, 1653.

The Governor of Upsal, Monsieur Bannier, presented to Whitelocke three Latin books:--1. The Story of Sweden; 2. Of the Laws of Sweden; 3. Of Sea Affairs; which were not ordinarily to be had.

The Queen sent one of her servants to invite Whitelocke to take the air with her in the fields; and being come to the castle, she excused her not being yet ready to confer with him upon his articles, as she had promised, but told him that she had ordered something to be written down on that subject to show to him. She took him into her coach, where was the "Belle Comtesse," the Countess Gabriel Oxenstiern, Prince Adolphus, Piementelle, Montecuculi, Tott, and Whitelocke. The Queen was very merry, and they were full of cheerful discourse. Being returned to the castle at night, she desired to hear Whitelocke's music, whom he sent for to the castle; and they played and sang in her presence, wherewith she seemed much pleased, and desired Whitelocke to thank them in her name. She said she never heard so good a concert of music, and of English songs; and desired Whitelocke, at his return to England, to procure her some to play on those instruments which would be most agreeable to her.

Lagerfeldt came to Whitelocke in the Court, and told him that the Chancellor intended to have had a meeting with him this day, but was hindered by falling sick of an ague; but in case his health would not permit him to meet, that then his son Eric Oxenstiern, by the Queen's appointment, would meet and confer with Whitelocke about the treaty in place of his father. But Whitelocke was not glad of this deputation, wishing much rather to confer with the old man upon this subject, who was good-natured, civil, and affectionate to Whitelocke, than with the son, Grave Eric, who was of a more rugged and self-conceited humour, and not so soon gained by reason and convinced by arguments as the good old man his father used to be.

March 8, 1653.

Grave Eric Oxenstiern visited Whitelocke, and spake much to excuse the delay of his treaty; and said that his father was very sick of an ague, and he believed the Queen would depute some other to confer with him, in case his father's health would not permit him that liberty.

Whitelocke. I am very sorry for the indisposition of your{1} father, and for the delay of my business. I have been here about three months, and nothing is yet concluded.

Gr. Eric. The uncertainty of your Dutch affair, and the Queen's desire to know the issue of it, hath occasioned this delay.

Wh. As the points of amity and commerce, they concern not our Dutch treaty.