But
through all her long and most historic life,--a life of over
seventy years, forty-five of which were passed as England's
queen,--scarce any incident made so lasting an impression upon
her as when, in Hatfield House, the first shock of the false
charge of treason fell upon the thoughtless girl of fifteen in
the midst of the Christmas revels.
CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN:
THE GIRL OF THE NORTHERN FIORDS.
A.D. 1636.
There were tears and trouble in Stockholm; there was sorrow in
every house and hamlet in Sweden; there was consternation
throughout Protestant Europe. Gustavus Adolphus was dead! The
"Lion of the North" had fallen on the bloody and victorious field
of Lutzen, and only a very small girl of six stood as the
representative of Sweden's royalty.
The States of Sweden--that is, the representatives of the
different sections and peoples of the kingdom--gathered in haste
within the Riddarhaus, or Hall of Assembly, in Stockholm. There
was much anxious controversy over the situation. The nation was
in desperate strait, and some were for one thing and some were
for another. There was even talk of making the government a
republic, like the state of Venice; and the supporters of the
king of Poland, cousin to the dead King Gustavus, openly
advocated his claim to the throne.
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