CHRISTIANS OF ST. JOHN

ously in the E., W., and S., their 3 distinct sources having at first no knowledge of each other. In North Carolina, in 1793, a secession took place from the Methodist Episcopal church, on grounds of church government; and the seceding body, at first known as "Republican Methodists," subsequently, through the influence of the Rev. J. O. Kelley and others, adopted the name of Christians. The 2d source was in New England, chiefly in Vermont. In 1800 Dr. Abner Jones, Elias Smith, and other members of Baptist churches, becoming dissatisfied with sectarian creeds and denominations, proposed the principles now held by the Christians. The first church organized by them was in Lyndon, Vt, and many churches had been founded as early as 1804. In 1808 the "Herald of Gospel Liberty," one of the earliest religious newspapers in the United States, was first published by Mr. Smith. The 3d source had its location in Kentucky. After the great revival which spread through the Presbyterian church in that state in 1800, there were several ministers, smong whom were B. W. Stone and D. Purviance, who desired broader grounds of union, and 5 of whom, in 1801, withdrew from the synod of Kentucky. They organized a new presbytery, called the Springfield presbytery, formally proclaimed their principles, June 28, 1804, and soon after adopted the name of Christians. The 3 kindred bodies which had thus, between 1793 and 1804, arisen separately, soon after met in general convention and were consolidated into a single denomination. The general convention has been continued from that time to the present, quadrennially. Though having no written confession of faith, they are generally Antitrinitarians and Baptists, but they cherish prayer meetings, Sunday schools, and missionary enterprises, and do not confine their fellowship to the baptized. Among their more prominent clergymen and writers may be mentioned Walter, Clough, Badger, Millard, Ross, Summerbell, Holland, Kincaird, and Plummer. They have several institutions of learning, among which Antioch college is preeminent. They publish 5 religious newspapers, one of which is the "Herald of Gospel Liberty," now in its 50th volume. They number more than 60 conferences in the United States and Canada, about 1,500 ministers, and 250,000 communicants; and above 1,000,000 persons are estimated to attend their ministry. (See Summerbell's "Church History," and Shaw's "Christian Principles.")

CHRISTIANS OF ST JOHN, DISCIPLES OF ST. JOHN, NAZAREANS, OF MENDEANS, designations applied indiscriminately, and with great confusion, to a sect of religionists now only found in Persia, chiefly in the neighborhood of Bassorah. They are not Christians in any sense, as they assert Jesus to be an impostor, and install John the Baptist in his place. They claim to have existed from his time, and consider their origin to have been on the banks of the Jordan. They account for their present locality

CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS 189

by asserting that the Mohammedans drove them away from Palestine, some to Persia and some to India. They afterward joined the Nestorians to avoid another persecution, and allowed themselves to be called Christians. They were separated again from the Nestorians more than 300 years since. Critics and historians are divided in opinion as to their origin. Their doctrines are, however, well defined. They consider the Jehovah of the Old Testament a spurious God, and the Christ of the New a false teacher. They consider the world to have been created by gloomy angels, who belong to the kingdom of darkness, of whom there are 7, who inhabit the 7 planets, while there is also a kingdom of light, superintended by angels. Back of these kingdoms, in unspeakable splendor, is the supreme original being, Ferha, and the female principle, Ajar. Darkness triumphs over light, but there is a struggle between the two kingdoms, and through successive revelations to the kingdom of light, and so to the world, the rule of darkness is to be broken. The Jewish system was not such a revelation; it came from the realm of darkness. So did that of Jesus. But in John the Baptist they hold that the revelation was from the kingdom of light. The means of introducing men to that kingdom is baptism. John they relate to have been born from a kiss of Zachariah. They also say that John himself was married, but that his children sprung out of the Jordan. They have 5 sacred books, 4 of them doctrinal, and the 5th on astrology. They consider baptism as the great and only means of forgiveness and salvation. They prohibit mourning for the dead, tolerate polygamy even among the priests, and forbid the "elect," or those advanced to the higher degrees of the faith, to use sensual indulgences, or to sing or dance. They keep a sort of festival resembling the agape of the primitive Christians, and have a singular antipathy to blue color. In the middle of the 17th century, when they first became known to the Christian world through the Persian missionaries, there were supposed to be from 20,000 to 25,000 families of them.

CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS, a branch of the ancient Syro-Persian church, situated on the coast of Malabar. They have a tradition that St. Thomas himself preached the gospel to them, and established their church. The earliest certain history we have of the Syro-Persian church is in a writer of the 6th century. It was formed by the union of the excommunicated Nestorians (499), who held to the Monophysite doctrine. In their practices and doctrines they claim to be primitive. They still celebrate the agape, commemorate the Lord's supper with bread, salt, and oil, and anoint the body of the infant at the time of baptism. Their priests shave the head, and are allowed to marry. They use the Syriac language in the liturgy. During the Portuguese occupancy of the country they submitted to the Catholic church, but when the Dutch obtained the ascendency the Nestorians resumed their inde

pendent relation, and still preserve it, under the British government.

CHRISTIANSAND, a seaport town and province in the southern part of Norway. The province borders on the Skager Rack and the North sea; area about 15,000 sq. m.; pop. in 1855, 244,413. It is fertile, producing many cattle; and the fisheries are valuable. There are also rich iron mines. Much timber is cut still, and is exported from Christiansand, the capital of the province. The town is well situated upon a deep fiord called Topdahl's fiord, which makes into the land from the Skager Rack, a few miles E. of the Lindesnäs, or South cape of Norway; lat. 58° 8' 4" N., long. 8° 4' 9" E.; pop. in 1855, 9,520. The situation is highly picturesque. The town wears much of its primitive aspect; the houses are chiefly of wood, and ornamented with gardens. It is the residence of the stift-amtman, or governor of the province, and of a bishop. The cathedral, a Gothic structure of gray stone, is only second in size and interest to that of Drontheim. It appears to be not a remarkably thriving place; the population has increased but 2,000 in 20 years. Ship-building has been the leading branch of industry. Timber is a principal export, with salt fish, and a great quantity of lobsters, which are sent to London. The number of small vessels employed in trade is very considerable. In 1853 no less than 827 vessels, measuring 39,398 tons, arrived in port, and 841 of 39,578 tons cleared. The town is defended by a fortress at the entrance to the harbor, on the island of Odderō. The port is frozen about 4 months in the year.

CHRISTIANSTAD, a town of Sweden, capital of the province of the same name, about 370 m. S. S. W. from Stockholm; pop. of the province in 1845, 177,767, in 1850, 189,627, and in 1855, 196,122; pop. of the city about 6,000. The town is built upon a little promontory in a lake, formed by the Helge-a, 14 m. from its port on the Baltic. It was founded by Christian IV. of Denmark in 1614, the southern part of Sweden being at that time a Danish possession. It is fortified. The place suffered much during the frequent wars between Sweden and Denmark. In 1678 it was nearly destroyed by Charles XI. of Sweden, during his contest with Christian V. of Denmark. It was rebuilt in 1710 and 1748. The modern town has a good aspect. The krono-hus (crown-house), on the N. side of the great square, for government and garrison purposes, a single large church of the year 1628, a lazaretto, a theatre, school houses, are among the principal buildings. In the environs is a prison with 92 cells. The name of the port of Christianstad, upon the Baltic, is Ahus; the harbor of which is open, but tolerably safe. The trade is chiefly with Lübeck, Russia, Denmark, and England. Much domestic brandy is sent to Stockholm.

CHRISTIANSTED, capital of the Danish island of St. Croix, West Indies; pop. 5,500. It has a good harbor, defended by Fort Chris

tiansoärn, and a battery, contains a Danish and an English church, and a bank, and is the chief entrepot of commerce with Copenhagen. It is the seat of government of the Danish West Indies.

CHRISTIANSUND, a seaport town of Norway, in the province of Drontheim, situated upon the coast of the North sea, about 120 m. W. by S. from Drontheim, at the mouth of the Thingve fiord; lat. 63° 10' N.; pop. 4,700. It is built upon 3 islands, Kirkland, Nordland, and Inland, which enclose a singularly pretty harbor, in form almost circular. The view of the town is completely shut off on the seaward side. The houses, uniformly red and of wood, are grouped together in much picturesque disorder. In 1853, 102 vessels (9,081 tons) entered the port, and 117 (10,122 tons) cleared. The place is thriv ing, the trade being chiefly in cured fish (cod), which is exported hence to Spain and the Mediterranean, also to the West India islands. It was founded in 1734, by Christian VI. of Denmark.

CHRISTINA, queen of Spain. See MARIA CHRISTINA.

CHRISTINA, queen of Sweden, the only legitimate child of Gustavus Adolphus who survived infancy, born in Stockholm, Dec. 8, 1626, died in Rome, April 19, 1689. Her mother, the princess Maria Eleonor of Brandenburg, had already given birth to a daughter, named also in baptism Christina. This infant lived but a few months, and its mother gave the same name to the new-born child. Christina was but 6 years of age when her father died at Lützen, and she was not destined to enjoy the tender training of a mother. After the death of her father, she was early separated from the sorrow-stricken widow, and sent to be educated under the eye of her aunt, the princess Catharine, sister of Gustavus and consort of the count palatine John Casimir. She remained under this guardianship until the death of her aunt in 1638. Her father had evinced absolute confidence in the princess Catharine; but, nevertheless, the young queen's early education does not appear to have been judicious or ef fective. The palatine court rather sought its own aggrandizement. The son of the princess, Charles Gustavus, afterward Charles X. of Sweden, was betrothed to Christina during this guardianship. "I gave this promise," said the queen in later years, "at a time when I had not the right to dispose of a peasant's farmyard, much less of my own person." Meanwhile, she was educated also in deep distrust of the guardians appointed by the diet to have charge of her youth, and to govern the kingdom during her minority. Her early letters abundantly prove that at this time she had little confidence in those whom she afterward so much revered— those "honor-clad old men," as she came to style them. In 1636 the diet declared its opinion concerning the mode of educating the young queen. Christina herself relates that her father had ordered that she should receive a "masen

line education." Her tutor, whom he had himself appointed-John Mathiae, at first a professor in the college of nobles, and afterward the king's court preacher-was a very learned man, and of singular liberality of religious sentiment. Christina's subsequent infidelities, however, are traced by her best apologists, not to the influence of her tutor, but solely to her frivolous disposition. Her progress in accomplishments of every kind during her early years was remarkable. At 18 she read Thucydides and Polybius in the original, and wrote and spoke Latin, German, and French. In council and administration she showed much acuteness; while the grace of her manners and personal demeanor at this period exercised great influence over all who approached her, although she affected rather to slight than to assert outward dignity. “It is with dignities," she said, "as with perfumes; those who carry them do so almost unconsciously." Her portrait, during the height of her renown, was elaborately drawn by Chanut, a French ambassador at her court who stood high in her favor, and who is considered good authority. "She does not at first," says he, "excite the admiration which is sure to follow upon more intimate acquaintance. Her countenance changes with every change of mental emotion; so much so, that at times, after the interval of a moment, she is scarcely recognizable. For the most part she is pensive, and in every change of aspect she preserves something that is agreeable. If she disapprove of a remark made, her face is covered for a moment as with a cloud, which inspires terror. Her voice, usually mild, can nevertheless assume the strength of a man's. Her stature, below the middle size, would strike less if she wore the high-heeled shoes of women; but for convenience in walking and riding she uses only men's shoes without heels." "Her spirit," he adds, "is filled with incredible love of virtue, and she is passionately fond of honor. She talks about virtue like a stoical philosopher. There are times when she seems to lay her crown beneath her feet." The queen made marginal notes in later years to her portrait by Chanut, generally in approbation, and opposite the last cited remark she wrote: ["I held it an honor to place beneath my feet that which kings wore upon their heads;" adding presently: "I never forgot that I was a queen."] Chanut then praises her gift of comprehension and retentiveness of memory; her love for the society of learned men, and scientific conversation, in which she took admirable part; her reserve in the treatment of public affairs, and in council; her valuation of secrecy, and her power to preserve it inviolate; her apparent mistrust, and the difficulty with which she was made to change her mind ["I never rued this failing," adds Christina]; her power over the senate and her council of state, "resting," continues M. Chanut, "upon her personal worth. Nature has given her, moreover, every quality by which a youthfal knight would win honor. She was a great horsewoman, often 10 hours at a time in the

saddle, and no hunter in her kingdom was a better marksman. Her character was essentially masculine, always avoiding the society of her court ladies, and ever seeking conversation with men. She was bounteous rather than generous; too fond of a jest ["I thereby made myself many enemies"]; she had a high sense of the value of time, and slept but 5 hours ["3" Christina], and in summer an hour in the afternoon ["False"-Christina]." She gave herself little trouble for her toilet, devoting to it not more than a quarter of an hour. Except on great occasions, a comb and scrap of ribbon was all her head dress; yet her hair falling negligently became her style of beauty, which was fair, with blue eyes, large agreeable mouth, fine teeth, and aquiline nose. Neglect of her person, however, was always carried to extreme. A contemporary said she combed her hair but once a week. Her observers at this time add, however, that she valued nothing but honor and virtue, predicting that her extraordinary merit alone would make her reign illustrious, independent of foreign conquest and the valor of her armies. Such was the bright promise of her youth, the more remarkable from contrast with coming shadows.-The administration of the regency during the minority was confided to a council of 5 members, at the head of whom was Oxenstiern, the chancellor of the late king. The death of this sovereign betokened great changes in the state of Europe. The German Protestants, now without a leader, were at once split up into factions. Their imperialist enemies, though worsted at Lützen (1632), were transported with joy at the death of their great opponent, and prepared vigorously to renew the war. Oxenstiern, meanwhile, was appointed by the Swedish regents to be "legate plenipotentiary of the Swedish crown in the Roman empire, and with all the armies." He proceeded to the theatre of the war, and devoted all his great genius to finding resources for the support of the Protestant cause. Christina assumed the exercise of sovereignty on Dec. 6, 1644. Her reign was begun most auspiciously under the guidance of the greatest statesman of the age. Her ingratitude was not slow to follow. Meanwhile the last victories of her army in Germany were hailed with rapture at home, and won for the commander his sovereign's cordial and graceful acknowledgments. Gen. Torstenson had overthrown the main army of the imperialists under Gallas. The remaining 3 years of the war were less brilliant in victories, but more remorselessly vindictive than the other periods. The closing year (1648) found France more than ever united with the Swedes. Turenne received orders to support the new Swedish general Wrangel, with his whole force. They effected a junction after much difficulty, and carried on a war of utter devastation against Bavaria. Charles Gustavus, the cousin of the queen, arrived from Sweden with reenforcements, and with the commission of generalissimo. Christina had sent him to

command the army in order to rid herself of his importunate courtship. He laid vigorous siege to Prague, and carried on his approaches with such determination that the place must soon have fallen, had not the emperor, dreading this catastrophe and the certain loss of Bohemia consequent upon it, resolved to arrest it by accepting the terms of peace his enemies should offer. The Swedes and French had overthrown every other power in Germany, and it remained for Ferdinand to make the best terms he could. Accordingly the treaty of Westphalia, securing Protestant liberty, was signed on Oct. 24, 1648, simultaneously in Osnaburg and Münster. Sweden received money equivalent to $5,300000 for payment of her troops, and retained possession of Upper Pomerania, Rügen, Lower Pomerania up to the Oder, the delta of this river, with Stettin, Gartz, Wismar, Bremen, and Verden, all as fiefs of the empire. Christina's desire for peace had been ardent, undisguised even during the negotiations. It was destined, however, to bring to her lot greater cares and anxieties than she had suffered during the war. Throughout her dominions the great conflict left behind it profound internal derangements, so vast, so wearisome, that she soon manifested her resolution to commit the task to other hands. The war had been totally disproportioned to the forces of the country. A proper distribution of the burden became an insolvable problem. The internal balance of the state was profoundly disturbed, and there needed a creative spirit like that of the late king to restore it upon new foundations. Oxenstiern had withdrawn from court, having lost favor with the queen. His influence had been eclipsed by unworthy favorites, and although he shortly returned to his post and to the direction of affairs, he failed to satisfy the country; less indeed from the infirmities of great age, as has been said, than from a new order of things which in its operation jostled him aside. The most deserved reproaches have been heaped upon the dissolute and capricious Christina, but during great trials to which she was exposed, she gave proof of intellect and courage. She had brilliant merits to reward and many wrongs to redress, and the care which she gave to old and wounded soldiers demands great praise. She was young, vivacious, liberal without stint. The registers of her reign are filled with deeds of alienation of crown property, patents of nobility, tokens of grace and gifts of every sort. But it was soon evident that personal favor was to become the source of benefactions exceeding all others in amount. A young favorite, the handsomest of her courtiers, Magnus de la Gardie, was enriched with an annual income of 80,000 rix dollars in landed estate alone. This was the man whose influence soon threw aside the old chancellor like a worn-out glove. Other favorites in time eclipsed the brilliant De la Gardie, of whom Christina soon learned to speak contemptuously. Her father had already offered to Grotius an asylum in Sweden; and Christi

na invited learned men to her court from every quarter of Europe. They came in crowds, and dedicated their works in all the elegance of Latin phraseology to the queen. Among the number, Descartes was with the young sovereign at 5 o'clock every morning for 2 months (he died in Stockholm in 1650); and the impression which this philosopher made upon her mind has been said to have given her the first bias to scepticism. The origin of her new tendency, however, is with better reason ascribed to her physician, Bourdelot, who, having res cued her from a dangerous illness, prescribed gayety of life for the future, and imparted to his patient his own scorn of all religion. This man took the place moreover of the handsome De la Gardie, and through him presently all the favors of the throne were dispensed. She was constantly urged by the diet and her council to marry. The prospects of the monarchy were now inspiring much apprehension; but although her hand was sought by many princes, the queen resolutely declined a matrimonial alliance. Her father had intended her for Frederic William, afterward the great elector of Brandenburg. The popular wish was for her cousin, Charles Gustavus, who moreover appears from his own account to have desired to marry her from motives independent of ambition. Rather than not possess her, he says, he would content himself with "a piece of bread, and never see Sweden." This was in reply to Christina's saying that her person she could not bestow, but her crown she would confer upon him. She made light of his affection, and told him he talked "nonsense-a chapter from a romance." The result of the conversation, carefully related by the prince, was his positive rejection; but at the same time the queen resolved to abdicate the throne in his favor, and to seek independence abroad. She forthwith demanded that the diet should name her cousin successor to the throne. She was entreated to abandon this purpose; earnestly and affectionately did old Oxenstiern appeal to her in the emergency which threatened the country with civil war. Torstenson also, her tried old general, interposed. All in vain. The resolution naming her cousin successor to the throne was passed; and Oxenstiern, when obliged to sign it, declared that he would rather sign his own death warrant. He foresaw her abdication. One year later she made known this purpose. An independent life in other lands was now Christina's great desire. The impulse given to this longing, under present circumstances, was quickened by a fear that if she delayed, her renunciation of the crown would lose the lustre she wished to shed upon it through its perfect spontaneity. It began to be thought that the act might soon be forced upon her by the machinations of her enemies. A revolt even was threatened, and Christina, desiring to quell this, and to abdicate voluntarily thereafter, allowed another diet to assemble without communicating to them her

resolution. She carried out her purpose in the manner indicated; but the remainder of her reign was employed as though she had determined not to be regretted. Every species of abuse and license became her daily practice. The public treasure was squandered most dishonestly. She declared she would rather see the devil than her secretary with despatches. Months elapsed without her holding a council of state. She created in all 460 new nobles, and among them the court tailor, John Holm, who assumed the name of Leyoncrona (Lioncrown). He was also made intendant of the household; and from these days, says one of the chroniclers, dates the ruin of pure and decorous morality. Divine service was scoffed at, and by none more than the queen herself. Cromwell's ambassador, Whitlock, relates much of this and other indecency; and some of the Swedish historians, while they condemn Von Raumer and others for "flavoring their narratives too highly with scandal," are themselves unable to draw the veil. The court was crowded with dancers, comedians, and singers. Ballets, in which the queen danced, lascivious entertainments of every description, occupied the time of court and council. Public discontent began to rise to a formidable pitch, and at length Christina announced that the time had arrived when she should carry out her purpose of abdication. The diet, assembled at Upsal, offered the usual remonstrances, but at length acceded, the high chancellor adding: "If this is to be, then the sooner the better." The solemn act of renunciation was to be on June 6, 1654, and the interim appears to have been spent by Christina in coming to terms in regard to her future allowance of money. The diet assigned her an income of 240,000 rix dollars a year; but before the matter could be definitely settled, it produced some altercation between the queen and council. The ceremony of abdication is described to have had a mournful aspect. Christina appeared in robe of state, with crown and sceptre, and after an address of farewell, laid aside, one after the other, the various regalia Descending then from the throne, she desired to see her successor, Prince Charles, take her place immediately. She begged him to mount to the royal chair. This he would not do in her presence; and during this scene "many honorable spectators were moved to tears, seeing that she closed both her race and reign before God willed it, and seeing how she stood before them beautiful as an angel." After attending Christina to her chamber, the king returned to the great hall, and was crowned forthwith. Old Oxenstiern, tottering now upon the brink of the grave, wept as the queen departed. His blessing followed her, and with sighs he exclaimed: "She is daughter still of our great Gustavus." Twelve ships of war had been equipped to convey her across the Baltic; but she took her way by land to Denmark, dismissing all her Swedish attendants except four. On reaching a brook which then VOL V.-13

formed the southern boundary of Sweden, she alighted from her carriage, and leaping across it, she cried out: "Now am I free and out of Sweden, which I trust never to see again." Her country, however, soon became more estranged from her than she from it. Twice she revisited it, and on both occasions she was received and dismissed with distrust, if not with contumely. She was not yet 28 years of age, and carrying with her every thing curious or valuable from the palace of her fathers (even the very tapestries and furniture, so that it was necessary for such articles to be borrowed during the celebration of her successor's coronation), she abandoned her country as the abode of ignorance and barbarism. She travelled through Germany in the dress of a man, after having embraced the Catholic religion secretly at Brussels. Her public renunciation of Lutheranism was made soon after at Innspruck. The Catholics regarded the fact as a great triumph, while the Protestants were shocked at the conduct of the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus. She was cordially welcomed by the pope, Alexander VII., and at her confirmation by him adopted the name of Alexandra. In 1656 she went to Paris, where she was received with much and various sensation. Her talents and learning were the wonder of that capital. The learned men of Europe continued to be her subjects, as it were; but she seemed to become more and more unsexed. Her masculine air and libertine conversation kept women of delicacy at a distance. Mademoiselle de Montpensier thus describes her during this visit to Paris: "She is very small; a jerkin hides her bad figure; and in short, she looked to me like a pretty little boy. We went to the comedy, where her behavior surprised me. praise the passages which gave her pleasure she would swear by God, lie down in her chair, throw her legs about, and assume postures not very decent. She would fall into reveries, heaving profound sighs, and all of a sudden come to herself like one who wakes in a start." Ninon de l'Enclos was the only woman in Paris whom Christina noticed with any marks of esteem. She offered to mediate between France and Spain; but Mazarin declined the offer, and, under various pretexts, caused her visit to Paris to be shortened as much as possible. In 1657 she returned, and the contempt with which she had now come to be regarded was changed to detestation and horror, by a murder which she caused to be perpetrated at Fontainebleau, in the great gallery, almost in her own presence. Her favorite, Monaldeschi, was thus assassinated at her command. French court testified some displeasure at the act, and during 2 months she did not show herself publicly in Paris. Yet Christina found apologists among her "voluntary subjects," as Geijer calls her learned friends. Leibnitz defended the act, which in short was allowed to pass, not only without punishment, but without inquiry. She found it necessary, however, to

To

The