Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - X. Reign of Christina, 1632–1654 - B. Personal Rule of Christina, 1644–1654
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Reign of Christina, 185
ers, and Peasants each in order presented his re-
grets at the queen’s decision. With special interest he
dwells upon the presentations of one of them, the
speaker for the peasants. "A simple peasant with nail-
studded shoes and in peasant’s garb stepped forward,
and in his plain speech said, ’What is Your Majesty
about to do? It grieves us to hear you talk of desert-
ing those who love you as we do. If you leave this
great kingdom, both you and we will have occasion to
regret it in deep sorrow when it is too late. Therefore
my comrades and I pray Your Majesty to think seri-
ously on this matter. Continue in the harness, Your
Majesty, and be the forward horse as long as you live.
We will aid you as well as we can, and pull the load.
Your father was an honest man and a good king and
active in the world. We followed him, obeyed him, and
loved him during all his days. You are his only child,
and we love you with all our heart. The Count is an
honorable man, and when his time comes we will do
our duty by him. But as long as you live we would not
part from you. Therefore we pray Your Majesty, do
not part from us/
"After having thus spoken, he stepped forward
without ceremony and took the queen’s hand with a
hearty shake and kissed it two or three times. Then
he turned away, and from his pocket drew a coarse
handkerchief, and wiped the tears from his eyes."
This plain peasant, in his homespun clothes before
the queen and her brilliant surroundings, was perhaps
the most remarkable thing the foreign diplomats saw
in Sweden, during a century when the tiller of the soil
in nearly every other country in Europe was a serf.
A History of Sweden. 13.
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