A a ^ : " : a - 1 /? s >2, A < ^ y y <. — / {/ 6 / *L- > t~y 2 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/summerinscandinaOOston A SUMMER . 13 * " AN D] N A VIA. inr MARY AMELIA STONE. I AN' SON i>. RK: A . UGLPH & COMPAN V 'A*- COR. 20th STREET. Copyright, 1885, by Anson D. F. Randolph & Company*. Edward O. Jenkins’ Sons, Printers and Stereotypers, North William Street , New York. THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO MY HUSBAND. / CONTENTS CHAPTER I. To the North, PAGB CHAPTER II. Copenhagen — Thorwaldsen, . 14 CHAPTER III. Museums— Churches— Parks, • 30 CHAPTER IV. To Christiania, 53 CHAPTER V. A Few Days at the Norwegian Capital, . 61 CHAPTER VI. Across Sweden, ...... 79 • CHAPTER VII. Stockholm 00 CHAPTER VIII. Environs of Stockholm; or, Drottningholm, Ulriksdal, Gripsholm, Skokloster, . 121 ( 3 ) 4 CONTENTS . CHAPTER IX. PAGE Ups ala, 139 CHAPTER X. Dalecarlia, 158 CHAPTER XI. Gotha Canal, . . . . . . . 174 CHAPTER XII. Southern Sweden, • . . . . • 181 f ' A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA CHAPTER I. TO THE NORTH. This time we had crossed the Atlantic under a vow — that we go Northward, and find out for ourselves what were the charms of higher latitudes, and had we not already found them in the beauti- ful free town of Hamburg? We knew this was an important pbrt — another Liverpool — but were sur- prised to find so large a town, although the two miles’ drive from the railway-station through ugly streets to Hotel de l’Europe was unattractive in the extreme. This hotel overlooks the beautiful waters of the Alster River, which runs through the city by a number of arms, but widens at its en- trance into a basin nearly a mile square, three sides of which are surrounded by fine, solid buildings, representing different classes of industry — the the- atres, public buildings, and the fine hotels— all of ( 5 ) 6 A SUMMER IN S CANE IN A VIA . which having been built since the great fire, are equipped with modern conveniences and full of comforts. As evening comes this basin of water is cov- ered with the most fascinating boats of all sizes and descriptions, — gay with many colors — which fly over the smooth surface and disappear through the arches of a handsome bridge, the dividing line between the inner and outer Alster. But few surprises could be more agreeable to the tourist, worn with the fatigues of a long journey through the desolate country from Holland to this port, than the first view of this fairy scene on a summer evening. The pure air ; the lingering twi- light ; the coming and going of pleasure-seekers ; the graceful sails ; the brilliant colors, with the full tones of a fine German orchestra, are indeed a wel- come. Hamburg has a proud bearing even at a casual glance, a conviction of strength and power. In walks and drives about the town we catch not a glimpse of the great commerce of wdiich she is the proud mistress of all the continental cities ; but the fact of wealth, independence, and luxury is not for a moment questionable from any point of sur- vey one chooses to make. Of handsome boulevards TO THE NORTH. 7 there seemed no end — our city guide said there were twenty-four — but where they began or ended was daily an unsolved mystery, and to see them all an impossibility. Everywhere we were surprised with fresh revelations of architecture, borrowed from many lands, with extensive grounds, now ra- diant in their fine splendor of handsome shade trees, creeping vines, flowering shrubs, and those rare plants generally found in the southern clime. This beautiful picture is not the all of Hamburg. There is another side which is, indeed, a contrast ; and a walk from the modern to the old town is to step across ages. If there was a luxuriant past, there are no records to be found at the present. Probably no city of Europe, with much less wealth and importance even, has so poor a display of art in any of its departments of architecture, painting, or sculpture ; in fact, save one beautiful monument in bronze commemorative of the Franco-Prussian war, there was nothing that repaid a visit. One reads the story of what Hamburg is and must be, in the ample harbor, with its four or five miles of quays, ninety miles from the mouth of the Elbe. It is a marvel of shipping, proudly assert- ing its importance by flags and masts from every zone. These ships are moored to clusters of wooden 8 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. posts, planted in regular rows, whereby parallel roads are formed through the harbor, giving it not only a picturesque appearance, but the feeling that all the nations of the earth are kin. Leaving the commercial part of the Elbe, the road winds around ascending banks, crowned with palatial homes, va- rious gardens with summer attractions the Germans love so well, and views of the surrounding country with its stately harbor of ever-increasing beauty. If the charm of a visit to Hamburg belongs to the present rather than the past, and to the verdure of summer rather than any merit of architecture or art, the fact that here is a free-born people is seen and felt at every turn. We read on the pages of history that Charlemagne was the founder of this town ; and if this be true, no people could have been more loyal to their birthright. The last of the Hanseatic cities to give up its crown of liberty, proudly worn for centuries, it still claims the free- dom of an independent State, although with limi- tations as a member of the North German Empire. Notwithstanding the pleasures which grew with each succeeding day, making life a luxury in the per- fect days of early June, we kept in remembrance our vow to leave the well-beaten highway of travel “ to go afield a little.” Not that the home of the Vik- TO THE NORTH. 9 ings was altogether an unknown country, but the little knowledge we had made us hungry for more, and filled us with a keen anticipation of delight. To our imagination it had always seemed so far away, that when upon inquiry we found ourselves just upon the threshold, that Copenhagen was only fourteen hours from Hamburg, it materially dimin- ished the dignity of going north ; and we there- fore decided to lengthen the trip by spending our first night at Kiel. Reaching Altoona was a con- fession of the dignity of a free town we were leav- ing behind, and for which we had no bother of custom-house upon entering, as we did in crossing the geographical line at this neighboring town. The country through which we passed was poor enough, until within a few miles of our destination the valley of the Eider River revealed some pic- tures of silvery lakes and wooded slopes, in pleas- ing contrast with the miles of dreary moors and bogs we had just passed. There was a cloud and damp over this June evening, which made the plain hotel welcome. We found our telegram had accomplished its mission, and realized once again the home comforts so often experienced on ar- riving at a strange place in a European hotel. We were tired, hungry, and sleepy. A good sup- 10 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . per was on the table, and comfortable beds pre- pared. From kindly sleep we had an early, but delicious waking the next morning by a superb band which was playing under our windows. The Lord High Admiral of the Prussian navy was making a visit at Kiel, and entertained at our hotel. This port hav- ing, a new naval academy, the two bands each in turn seemed to vie with the other in honoring their chief. The air was still, the sun had just risen over the town — scarcely yet awake — and these fine strains of greeting to J:he unfolding day, seemed a happy augur for our long anticipated visit to the land of romance. We found the small town of Kiel interesting only as the great naval station of the Southern Baltic, and also as the battle-ground between Prus- sia and the Danes for Schleswig and Holstein. This maritime port was of great importance, and natu- rally the envy of Prussia, which, after years of strug- gle, she absorbed into her already large domain, t since which time she has built the fine naval acad- emy. It is a quiet, peaceful-looking bay ; so shut in on every side that from a land view it resembles a lake ; still, close by the shore the water is deep enough for the largest men-of-war to find safe an- TO THE NORTH. II chorage, and they glory in the name of the Sebas- topol of the Baltic. A ducal palace crowned one of the hills, with noble trees and shaded walks stretch- ing to the edge of the water, commanding pictur- esque views across the harbor. Strong fortifications studded the shores of the bay seaward, and as we turned our faces toward the ship amid a blaze of sunshine, with this tran- quil picture before us, we found to our dismay, once outside the harbor, that our day of trial on the North Sea was rough waters. Neither were our hearts encouraged by the prospect, when told that the little steamer used to run between Osteqd and Dover, an unpleasant memory to some of the party. However, a few hours of the blackest weather was a small matter after an Atlantic voyage, and we assumed a sublime indiffer- ence. The passage was slow and rough ; a fact which most of the passengers admitted without resistance. The scramble for easy places in the little saloon on the deck was amusing ; but the sitters, of nine different nationalities, prevented much ocular demonstration of sympathy in the midst of the general suffering. A more beautiful sky or more delicious air could hardly be conceived, and in spite of a chopping sea, 12 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. three of our party kept a lookout upon what there was to be seen along the attractive coasts. It must be admitted, however, that we were not enthusiastic ; and although we passed some spots rich in historic memories of this land of renown, we longed to change our medium of travel in this sight-seeing under difficulties. Seven hours of fasting had given us good ap- petites ; therefore it was a double pleasure to sail into the little harbor at Korsor. Moreover, as we had three hours of travel by rail before our day’s journey was done, our hearts were made glad as we stepped off the steamer, to see the word Restanration in ugly, but plain letters, on a little building hard by, just what we longed for ; so on we rushed with the crowd. Already every seat was taken ; still we could be lookers-on. Alas ! what were these people eating ! — raw ham, raw fish, black bread, and cheese. Was civilization so far behind ? Only seven hours since we break- fasted delightfully at Kiel, the very thought of which added to our disappointment. True, we were hungry, but we were not savages ; and turn- ing away in disgust, fortunately met a Swedish gentleman, compagnon du voyage , who understood English, and seeing disappointment in our faces, TO THE NORTH. 13 as well as hearing anathemas from our lips, came to our relief ; took us to a small room, where good bread, butter, and coffee restored amiability, and fortified us for the remainder of the journey. We were charmed to find the country rich in agriculture — with the snug homes of the farmers built in a nest of trees — a wise protection from the rigorous winter. There were also beauty and variety of landscape, handsome forests, and numberless lakes made doubly attractive in the calm of the lingering twilight. r CHAPTER II. COPENHAGEN. The long and eventful day at length closed in as the train made its final stop at Copenhagen, amid a crowd of people. There was, however, neither noise or confusion, but that quiet order which everywhere marks the railroad management of European cities. Although nearly midnight, we were surprised to see the streets filled with men, women, and children, as we drove to our hotel ; and also observed on entering the handsome court of the De 1’ Europe — our destination— that a large part of this household was still very much awake. We soon learned, however, that this had been an eventful day at the Danish capital ; the glory, and pleasure, and pride of which, reached far into the night. The beautiful Rosenborg Gardens, with all its approaches, had been a literal pack of eager specta- tors, from King Christian IX. and his numerous “ kith and kin,” down to the humblest peasant, to (14) COPENHAGEN. 15 witness the unveiling of the beloved Hans Chris- tian Andersen’s monument. We realized in the recital of this story a fresh experience of national appreciation, which from further observation proved no fancy on our part — but history expressed equally by men of the highest rank and the humbler classes. A more touching proof of this could not have been given than in the fact, that when this be- loved countryman died, the king followed his bier to the grave, and the whole nation went into mourning. The new statue is a handsome tribute to the memory of oqe so universally beloved — of gold bronze, in colossal size. The figure is that of a kindly man of seventy years — in a sitting posture, the body slightly bent forward, and the right arm extended in harmony with the expression of the face, — both full of sincere, earnest invitation, as though speaking. The panels of the granite ped- estal have some bas-reliefs of his stories, — one of the storks, another of the swans ; while upon the front panel is this inscription : “ Monument to the Poet for the sake of his Stories ; from the Danish folks.” The sweetest enjoyment connected with this loving gift of the people, was in watching the 1 6 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. delight and veneration for the good Hans Chris- tian, in the faces of the humbler classes. We al- ways saw at the evening hour, some pretty family groups, men, women, and little children, seated near the statue in earnest talk, probably over some of the simple stories — which doubtless were their stories. There was no doubt in their expres- sion of ownership, as they looked on the silent bronze ; for though this man in the later period of life was clothed in purple and fine linen, yet to them he was always what he wished to be— their friend — the peasant boy. Sir John Lubbock truly says, that the Danes oc- cupy a larger and more important place in history than they do on the map of Europe. Were not this the case, shorn as they are at present of Schles- wig and Holstein, they would seem to be playing at royalty. At this time Denmark is left to the small area of 14,200 square miles, in a latitude which reaches fifty-seven degrees north, with few resources of wealth. No mineral products; unimportant man- ufacturing ; the principal revenue being agriculture, and a population of less than 2,000,000. This is not a large opportunity for sovereign rule ; but if the reigning monarch has but little to do in his own small realm, except to watch the COPENHAGEN . 17 enormous appetite of Germany’s Prime Minister, there comes to his house some reflected glory by matrimonial alliances, which at present bound the entire continent of Europe. The queen (Louisa) is a German princess, and the powerful thrones of England and Russia are the future destinies of the fair Princesses Alexandra and Dagmar. While the Crown Prince Frederick is married to a sister of the present King of Sweden, Oscar II., the sec- ond son, George, now the King of Greece, is mar- ried to a Russian Princess, daughter of Duke Con- stantine, and the third daughter, Thyen, is the wife of the Duke of Cumberland. We are told that Copenhagen dates from the twelfth century, and the fact that it was once a fortress is very evident from its strong defence toward the sea by powerful forts. A narrow arm of the sea separates the town into two parts. See- land contains the city proper, while the small island of Amager forms the harbor, evidently capacious enough for a much larger traffic than ex- ists at the present time. The Danish capital is a disappointment to one who goes there for architec- tural beauty. The tints everywhere are cold and gray, and this poverty in color is only rivalled by absence of form. Its four State buildings, includ- 18 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. ing the Palace of Christiansborg, offer nothing upon their exteriors to beguile the tourist. The royal abode closely resembles barracks, only res- cued from tameness by some Corinthian pilasters, and a few bas-reliefs of Thorwaldsen. These buildings were once the homes of wealthy noblemen, and certainly the State has not been im- poverished by their outward adornment. However, it sometimes is found that costly treasures are hid- den beneath plain exteriors ; so inside these ugly walls are seen collections by the great masters in art, which might justly be the envy of the affluent nations of the continent. Among them are some pictures of Exner, a favorite painter of the inti- mate life of the Danish folk. Like Andersen, in his tales, Exner loves to introduce the story of northern life, through the quiet interior of a home in the long winter. A curious square, called Kongens Nytorv, forms the centre of the town, around which stand many public buildings, — the Royal Theatre; the Acad- emy of Arts ; Count Moltke’s Gallery ; cafes, and the fine hotel, De V Europe, which was our tempo- rary home. From this point everything radiates — • streets, highways, tramways, in all directions. The square is feebly adorned by an equestrian statue of COPENHAGEN. 19 Christian V. ; but judging from the superbly arched necks of the horses we saw both in public and pri- vate carriages, this specimen of a portrait repre- sented a very different species of animal from those of the present time. From this point, also, the stranger naturally has his first outlook upon the North — a fresh and new experience, because it is old, and little known. We had come to the land of romance, and we see the story is preserved. Modern growth has not obliterated history and tra- dition. We were fortunate in the finest of weather. The sky continued unclouded ; the air elastic, and a thrill of pleasure over expectations realized filled the veins. This was the land of the Vikings — robbers and pirates by name, yet in their time, po- tential as navigators, and rich in story. In looking across the centuries, at the enterprises of these wild adventurers, happy only on the stormy seas, our new country seems older, and more important, because first known to those lords of the sea, who, sailing out of the ice and desolation in which they were born, crossed the Atlantic in their “ crazy barks,” with a skill and courage which belong only to the name of Viking. 20 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. THORWALDSEN. But of to-day. It is not in vain that the tourist in coming hither takes for his text Thorwaldsen. It is written everywhere — in highways, byways, squares, public buildings, churches, palaces, and shops of high as well as low degree. Like Shake- speare, who dedicates and crowns that delightful spot in the garden of England, Stratford-on-Avon, so this great sculptor, whom the Northmen proudly call their Phidias, is the glory, the tutelary genius of Copenhagen, and gives it a classic flavor. The text is a proud theme, and will bear any amount of amplification, especially when standing under the roof which holds his collected works. In such a presence there can be no question of genius, and a feeling of awe, wonder, and surprise must creep over one at the thought that all this is the creation of a single brain. Behold how great is man! “crowned with glory and honor” ! made “only a little lower than the angels.” The museum is a curious structure, and looks as though placed in uncomfortable relations with the North. As this museum was originally planned for a mausoleum as well, the architecture was borrowed from the old Greek and Etruscan sepulchral buildings. The COPENHAGEN. 21 work was commenced in 1839, an d although simple in all its details, nine years passed before it was completed. It is a quadrangle in shape, covered on the outside with frescoes representing the tri- umphal return of Thorwaldsen to his native land in 1838, after a life of eighteen years in the Eter- nal City. The colors have been greatly affected by the rigorous winters of the North, and surrounded as it is by the cold, grave, solid buildings of this latitude, it has a singularly cheap appearance, quite unworthy such honored service, and forcibly illus- trates the folly of trying to transplant the architec- ture which belongs to sunny Italy or Greece to the Arctic regions. This ugly exterior is somewhat re- lieved, however, by'the fine group, “ Victory,” which surmounts the facade, and from an outlook over the city, which makes it especially commanding. She is pulling up her Quadriga, and is a striking' piece of art, executed in bronze, after a sketch by the great master. Each story of the building has a corridor look- ing into the court-yard or quadrangle, and a series of small rooms — cabinets, forty-two in all — open into this, where, arranged with exquisite taste, the visitor walks on and on with ever-growing won- 22 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. der, to read but the name of one man as the creator of all that is before him. In the centre of the court- yard — which is decorated in Pompeian style — the body of the noble artist rests, beneath an ivy-cov- ered vault, built during his life, in accordance with his own wishes. The granite frame bears this sim- ple inscription: “ Bertel Thorwaldsen, born 19th November, 1770; died 24th March, 1844.” This is well. No costly monument or words of high-sounding panegyric are needed here. “ His works do praise him,” and through him the great master will live on through the coming ages. The first story is wholly devoted to sculpture ; and in each room one of the prominent familiar works of the artist occupies a central position — one hundred and six of which are already finished in marble. Who has not sometime in life had the delicious experience in looking at some gem of art, which years of anticipation had made beautiful, that after all his ideal was but a faint conception of the real- ity of which heretofore he had seen only a feeble copy. Bas-relief seemed here a revelation ; and al- though many of the smaller gems were well known to the world by imitations in plaster, as well as en- gravings, yet in each case we recognized the fact that they were new. COPENHAGEN. 23 It is not easy to keep a party of half a dozen near each other, where shrines are so many and tastes so varied, yet one is sure to find worship- pers before the “ Mercury” and “ Fadori,” espec- ially as there is sure to be one of a company who has a guide-book. “Night” is one of the most familiar of Thorwaldsen’s creations, and it is pleas- ure without alloy to stand before this exquisite conception. What inspiration in the thought of this delicate, womanly figure floating through the air, her head crowned with poppy leaves. On her calm face an expression worthy of Mary, the mother of Christ ; in her arms, tenderly folded, the two dear babes, — the one sweetly sleeping, the other a beautiful, but lifeless form. The mar- ble is so full of repose and gentle sleep, that the very spell of rest creeps over one while gazing, and you feel sure when morning comes life will reani- mate again this precious form. “ Day,” too, is bewitching with her bright face, washed in dew, scattering her glittering flowers in the rosy morn — that I had seen before ; but never the “ Night.” Both of these gems are said to be the result of an afternoon’s work. To “ Night ” he gave four hours, with his dog and cat as compan- ions. “ Day ” was but a rounded period to the 24 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. first conception, at least as they looked in the spot- less marble. How impossible to calculate that these gems were not only conceived and modelled, but many of them executed in the marble by the master’s own hands. A visit to what is called the Great Hall, is the most satisfactory place in the Museum to see the versatility of his genius, as this exhibition has spe- cial reference to strong contrasts. One side of the hall is wholly given to an equestrian figure of a Polish noble, Poniatowski. Pius VII., in his pon- tifical robes ; to the right, Divine Strength ; to the left, Heavenly Wisdom ; and on the pedestal two Angels sustain the arms of His Holiness. The poet Schiller, Nicolaus Copernicus, and crowning all the famous frieze of Alexander’s tri- umphal entry into Babylon, colossal in thought and execution, to the right ; Alexander with his train, to the left; Babylon and its surroundings; and in the centre the captured moving in proces- sion to meet the victor. At the opposite end of this quadrangle is the Hall of Christ, which con- tains the plaster casts of the Twelve Apostles, the fame of which has reached every corner of the globe where art is appreciated and a religious senti- ment felt. We had not yet seen the marbles, and COPENHAGEN. 2 $ still we paused again at this fresh revelation of uni- versal genius. In his Mercuries he equalled the sculptors of early Greece, and now you are filled with awe at the solemnity with which he treats di- vine things. There was a suggestion in the entrance corridor of an old acquaintance (all the rest is profoundly new) in the Lion of Lucerne, which looked natural and friendly from associations far removed, how- ever, from any interest in the great sculptor. Sir Walter Scott’s kindly face gave a cheer to the well- filled hall ; but the chief work of interest to be found in this grouping is a beautiful bas-relief, “The Guardian Angel,” symbolical of Thorwald- -sen’s own history and early life. There is exquisite kindness in the face of the angel, — represented as sending her child forth into the world carefully but securely shadowed by her own protecting wing. The second story of the Museum is to the Danes a hallowed spot, being little less than the artist’s private salon, where with reverential care all that belonged to him personally, — the arrangement of furniture, pictures, books, curios, — no modern in- vader is allowed to disturb. There are some good pictures which the artist brought from Italy, as also a few books worthy a pause ; but the value of 2 2 6 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA. this part of the Museum, naturally and rightfully belongs to his countrymen. This was certainly a fresh experience to look upon so large a mass of what a single man had done, — limited, as he is, to the little span of threescore years and ten, — the interest of which must grow with each succeed- ing visit. If the theory of heredity, surroundings, and early education has small chance to assert itself in this august presence, opportunity must play a conspic- uous role in the history of Thorwaldsen. Whether he was born in Iceland or Copenhagen (a disputed question among writers of his day) matters little. His father was poor, — a ship-builder by trade, of Icelandic origin, — and the boy Bertel spent many hours of his early years in a woodshed, not only in cutting figure-heads for Danish ships, but in beautifying his father’s rough work. If the Attic fire did not burn around him, there were such early indications of extraordinary talent in the boy, that, in his twelfth year, he was placed gratuitously in the Academy of Fine Arts, where he succeeded in obtaining prizes of great merit. The first prize of the institution was a gold medal, to which was added a travelling stipendium entitling the successful winner to a salary for three COPENHAGEN, 27 years. For this the young Thorwaldsen worked with a will, and no sooner was it gained than he as naturally found his way to the Eternal City as the hungry child seeks food of its mother. The sight of the great models of antiquity, which makes Rome what it is, revealed to the young sculptor his destiny, and he was known to say : “ At this moment I was born ; until then I did not exist.” After six years of hard work this hitherto unknown child of the chilly North awoke to find himself illustrious where classic art had flourished for cen- turies. The statue of Jason was completed. His generous friend and lifelong patron, Mr. Hope, had ordered its execution in marble ; and the great Canova had awarded it his warm testimonial of admiration. To date from this moment of proud success is to record a history of triumphal progress. One histo- rian says that “ he was more praised while living than any known artist.” Surrounded by admirers, petted by princes, covered with the gifts of favor, with a kingly court, this poor artisan of Copen- hagen filled all the capitals of Europe with the sound of his name ; not a prince who did not wish him to fix his features in marble for the benefit of posterity. Popes, kings, queens, paid him homage 28 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . by asking that they be perpetuated through the genius of his chisel. And it is recorded that, amid the general enthusiasm, an extravagant Italian poet styles him the son of God, while Horace Vernet crowned him with laurel at a banquet. This won- derful record of success is almost a solitary one. Great achievement in art seems, as a rule, to be born of conflict and struggle; but Thorwaldsen received from his contemporaries, and wore with a complaisant though unspoiled assurance, that tri- umphal crown which is too often the ornament of a tomb. While Copenhagen applauded from a distance the success of her illustrious son ; still, as the years rolled on, he quietly kept his place of loving devo- tion to his one mistress — Art ; untouched by the homage of admirers from classic lands, except that through those many avenues, as an open door, in- spiration flowed in, and high achievement was gained. Nearly half a century of work had passed, forty-three years of life in Rome, where the artist had spent his real life. Still, he wished to go back to his own country with a last farewell to the im- perial classic city. The Danes received the message of Thorwald- sen s return with great joy, and sent a frigate of COPENHAGEN. 2 9 the Royal Marines to meet him at Leghorn. As the ship was signaled sailing up the waters of the sound, the forts of Copenhagen announced his ap- proach ; the fleet gave the royal salute, at the same time making a hedge for the passage of the great man as the ship sailed into the harbor. The whole city hastened to give him welcome. Princes of the blood received him as their peer ; tradesmen car- ried banners upon which could be seen one of his principal works ; while the citizens were so over- come with joy, that they took the horses from his carriage, and bore him through the streets like a tri- umphal conqueror. All jealousy of rank and birth, if it ever existed, belonged to the past ; for this man, although the son of an humble carpenter, had by his genius become illustrious throughout the world, and returning to the land of his birth, was placed by the people upon a pedestal of glory, and crowned with a laurel more lasting than that of kings. CHAPTER III. MUSEUMS— CHURCHES— PARKS. This art exhibition of Thorwaldsen — the like of which as a collection one may travel in many lands without seeing— does not by any means exhaust the sum total of what will repay a visit to this Scandinavian capital. Hard by, almost another part of the same building, yet so far removed in style and architecture as to put many lands be- tween, stands the Museum of Northern Antiqui- ties. The solid gray walls look. as though they had stood there forever, and the rude, crude objects to be seen in the introductory hall, increase the im- pression that one is standing on the threshold of time when the world was young. Yet as the visitor continues his inspection on and on through the nineteen different halls or apartments of the finely arranged collection — said by many archaeologists to be the best now extant — one feature of the chival- rous romantic North is read as clearly as from the pages of an open book. MUSE UMS— CHURCHES— PARKS. 3 \ Even to the unlearned, there is a profound inter* est in looking at such proofs of the history of coun- try and race, handed down from that early time when no events were recorded by a written lan- guage. The word antiquity has but little weight or thought in the vocabulary of an American, — his watchword is the future ; so that a little halt to look at these simple memorials so arranged and classified that the present is connected with the distant past, our own race but a link of the gener- ations that existed centuries before the Christian era, can but open a fountain of instruction and pleasure. Denmark, the smallest kingdom in Europe, wears the palm in collecting, arranging, and disentangling her numerous shreds of antiquity, and putting them into a fabric whereon is written indelibly her pri- meval history. The collection was brought to its present state of perfection by Mr. C. Thomsen, and was the first in the arrangement of which his cele- brated theory of the three ages of civilization, char- acterized by the use respectively of stone, bronze , and iron, was carried out ; and the fact that so large a collection could be arranged in harmony with that view, has had a great share in its early triumph among scientific archaeologists. 32 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . The Danish Government, ever loyal to her own people, again asserts this principle by offering to the finder of any antiquarian relic a large remuneration if taken directly to the museum. The first rooms of this building are devoted to implements and weap- ons of stone and flint, which illustrate the Pagan age ; and a comfort it was to realize that there was good and sufficient reason why space should be given to what intrinsically looked worthless. Neither was there any marked proof of advance in civili- zation as we passed through a number of the rooms, especially in a multitude of rough articles called court-finds, discovered at a much later period. There were, however, some manufactured tools — knives, hatchets, and weapons in bone — illustrating the closing part of the Stone age, worthy of note. The most important memorials of this age are the graves, called Cromlechs. These vary in size from sixty to one hundred feet in length, and from six- teen to forty in breadth, capped by a huge fragment of rock ; all, however, have the one object of a sepulchral chamber, wherein the bodies of the dead were placed in a sitting posture with their backs to the wall. This age closes before the birth of the Christian era, immediately followed by the age of Bronze. M USEUMS— CHURCHES—. PARKS. 33 To the unscientific and ignorant this seemed an unnatural disposition of natural forces, to in- troduce bronze as the second period of civiliza- tion, it being a compound metal. As Denmark produces neither copper nor tin, the components of bronze, doubtless the metal was first imported by ready-made weapons. Curiously enough many of the objects of this period, particularly in the earlier development, are ornamented with gold. Neither silver nor iron appears until many years after. One of the greatest curiosities in the museum belongs to the closing period of the Bronze age, in the shape of a highly finished poignard found in Jut- land, and near by this exhibit you come to gold, and especially amber ornaments in profusion. The Iron age is naturally the most interesting to the looker-on of to-day, as we read in it the march toward civilization. Silver and glass were contem- poraneously introduced, also the manufacture of woolen cloth, well-constructed boats, and rude rep- resentations of art, which in that early day (the sixth century) could not have been the result of personal contact with other lands. The most re- markable features of this section of the exhibit are the Roman coins, ranging from the first to the third centuries, with those of the Eastern Empire 34 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. two centuries later, and also Coptic money from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. There are also ornaments and jewels bearing unmistakable proofs of Roman origin, with various devices and shapes, suited to the tastes of cavaliers and the demands of royalty in that dawn of the Christian era. What is the hidden story which mother earth confirms, but half reveals ? Nowhere does history tell us that in the first centuries there was any ex- change of national or private life between Italy and Denmark. On the contrary, the natural barriers of climate as well as barbarism would forbid such a belief. Yet in Jutland, and all over the realm, coins and ornaments have been found deposited with the dead, or immersed in sacred waters, which bear in- disputable evidence that there was in some way directly, or indirectly, a lively intercourse with Rome. As this was the Viking age, there is a theory, quite confirmed by some archaeologists, that these finds are the trophies of their plunder from the rich lands in the East, and that when about to sail on new expeditions, they buried these treasures in concealed parts of the island. This opinion is refuted by many wise heads, on the ground that they are found in the graves buried with the dead, and also that it would be out of har MUSE UMS- CHURCHES— PARKS. 35 mony with the dauntless, fearless character of the Vikings to believe they would conceal anything. Even the epoch of Iron is far removed from the authentic written history of the North ; so that this great collection substitutes truth for fiction, takes away the filmy veil thrown by tradition over antiquity, and as a result of the earnest years of study by these noble students, we can gain some clear light of the real life of our remote prede- cessors. In a line with this museum, along the quay, is a curious building, the Exchange, which is quite a jump from the pa§t to the present. The spire is ideally Danish, formed of four marvellous dragons, with their tails twisted in the air. Tradition says that it was moved bodily by Christian IV. from Calmar, in the south of Sweden, and therefore in- teresting to the Danes on account of this supersti- tion ; but even a little knowledge of the centuries of strife between those nationalities, makes one sceptical of legendary lore. The building is of red brick, in the Dutch renaissance style, highly orna mented with gray sandstone, while the serpents’ heads, turned to the four corners of the compass, form the basis of the spire. Architecturally it is a great relief, as well as an ornament, to the bare, cold 36 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. surroundings, and a fine memento of the era of Christian IV., whose works in that line throughout the realm honor him. Another public building in this vicinity can not be overlooked as a curiosity, the Church of Trinity, with its curious round tower, originally built for an observatory. This tower is formed by two hollow cylinders, between which a spiral inclined plane winds from the street to the top, sufficiently easy of ascent, and wide enough for a coach-and-four to make the drive to the top. We did not see any motive for such an undertaking ; but according to story, once upon a time Peter the Great did — which was not strange — although how he turned to come back again was a mystery. The roof of the church contains the library of the university, said to be of value in Icelandic Sagas ; but the most interesting feature of the whole place lies in the fact that here, previous to the fire of 1728, was preserved the celebrated globe of Tycho Brahe and his mathematical instruments. The outlook from the top was not a great survey. The waters of the sea were sparsely covered with ships, show- ing that Denmark of to-day is unimportant in the commerce of the world. The Evangelical Lutheran is the State Church, MUSE UMS— CHURCHES— PARKS. 37 to which the king must belong ; and although there is entire freedom and liberty of conscience for dissenters, yet it is proverbial that the hearts of all classes in this small kingdom flow together on this question. The one place of pilgrimage is the Church of “ Our Lady,” whose interest does not lie in any beauty of architecture, as it is only a poor attempt of the Roman Basilica. One can not step across the threshold, however, without a feeling of reverence, as here is found the crowning work of Thorvvaldsen, — “ Christ and the Twelve Apostles,” which fills the gloomy edifice with majes- ty. The whole building, in short, seems little else than another museum. The portico contains the group of “ St. John preaching in the Wilderness ”; in the vestibule is a frieze of the “ Entry to Jerusa- lem,” and over the altar another frieze representing “ the Procession to Golgotha.” Standing behind and above this altar is the co- lossal figure of our Saviour, the noblest specimen of the noble art of this far-famed sculptor. In the Roman Catholic countries of Italy and Spain, our Saviour is generally represented in the agony of the Cross, which is wholly at variance with Thor- waldsen’s conception. He has given to the world the embodiment of physical perfection, beauty, 38 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. and sublimity in matter; glowing with inward spiritual beauty. He stands in the dignity and strength of manhood, with a countenance exquis- itely gentle; His arms extended as in consolation, invitation, and benediction ; and it requires no stretch of the imagination to discern the thought of the sculptor in these divine words : “ Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” On both sides of the nave, arranged at uniform distances, stand the colossal figures of the Twelve Apostles, each with his conventional emblems. St. Paul’s face has great power and deep thought, as though fitted for the mission of a pioneer ; while opposite him stands the lowly fisherman, St. Peter, with his keys, yet with a countenance sublime for truth. St. James the younger with his palmer, host, and staff, is of exquisite beauty. Every visitor sees and chooses for himself — if in this opulent display of what heights Art can reach, the mind is capable of choice ; but whatever else may be forgotten, the tender expression of kinship one reads in the youthful, holy face of St. John (as he writes down the word of inspiration) to our dear Lord, must to the reverential mind be a possession to carry through life. MUSE UMS— CHURCHES— PARKS. 39 When evening comes, the one place for a walk is the garden of the Rosenborg Palace. Originally it was ornamented with statues and fountains in im- itation of southern grounds ; but now its great boast (which certainly could not be equalled by any art of man’s device) is a royal avenue of trees, unbroken the entire length of the grounds, one end of which seems perfectly finished by the new monument to the beloved Hans Christian Andersen. This would be a wonderful avenue of foliage in any clime, and so far to the North, one feels that Nature is kind. The topmost branches, in their beautiful gothic arches, suggested the Ardennes woods near Brussels ; more solemn and impressive than “ any long drawn cathedral aisle.” At the present time, these grounds (called the King’s Gar- dens), besides containing large conservatories, have also a school for gardening, with excellent success, judging from the tempting display of flowers. From the stand-point of architecture, the Rosen- borg Palace is the finest building in the city, — an- other monument of Christian IV., and as is gen- erally said, after a design of Inigo Jones, which, however, the wise ones in this department of art deny. After the death of this celebrated monarch, which 40 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. was a long reign of sixty years, the palace was wholly devoted to a collection of the Danish kings, chronologically arranged. The Museum of Northern Antiquities does not contain objects of a later date than 1660, and as the collection at Ro- senborg begins about this period, it supplements the former, as illustrating the arts and customs of various times. Every epoch has its gallery, and the visitor walks across six centuries of history without being greatly overcome. Each successive monarch has room enough assigned him for a proper display of the length and magnitude of his reign. Here are safely deposited, and arranged with as much taste as the space allows, whatever of grandeur or value there was in furniture, arts of peace and war, vestments, jewels, etc., the gifts from each royal abode. The famous Oldenborg horn, which, according to legend, was the gift of a fairy to one of the ancestors of this house in 989, is well considered the finest memorial of the early age of Denmark. Even in modern times it would be considered a fine piece of workmanship. It is of silver, curiously wrought ; the artist having evidently borrowed his motive from the German age of chivalry. One reads in the design, the feeble attempt to represent a MUSE UMS— CHURCHES— PARKS. 41 walled town, the spires of which form the lid and knob of the horn. The usual display of jewels, highly wrought in gold and precious stones, is repeated here ; also some exquisite specimens of carved ivory, and the puzzling Orde.r of the Elephant, which ranks with the English Order of the Garter. To our unhis- toric minds this seemed a great way from home, and therefore out of harmony with the surround- ings. The Royal Library is chiefly valuable in manuscripts of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish literature; but the^ picture galleries, in this atmos- phere of high art and sculpture, will hardly repay a visit. Royalty decrees that the theatres be closed from May to October, so that the people, especially the middle classes, can have a large benefit of the short summer, and a kinder administration for public good could scarcely be devised. It seems no mys- tery that Copenhagen has a population of 225,000, judging from the crowds that throng the streets and pleasure gardens as soon as the day’s work is done. To be out in the lingering twilight, and above all to go to the Tivoli, the popular summer garden, seems the common wish and habit of the people. It is both curious and interesting to watch 42 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. the daily crowds pouring through these gates, open from five to eleven o'clock, where all sorts of enter- tainment is going on for the sum of thirteen cents. To the American mind, used to the larger activities of purse, this would mean very emphatically cheap amusement ; but let those who doubt, or who feel there is nothing worth the trip to this poor little kingdom, go and see, for there are times when one realizes the value of eyes and — ears. There is, however, clap-trap at the Tivoli, — no- ticeably, at our first visit, an American circus, — but at opposite ends of the large grounds, which are fitted up with a variety of shows, there are two ex- cellent bands, — one of wind, the other of stringed instruments, — and the most enthusiastic lover of Theodore Thomas would find delight in either, es- pecially the latter ; yet, to the visitor more intent on the observation of a new people than personal gratification, the faces of happy families taking in this pleasure, during the long peaceful twilight after the work-day toil was over, seemed an un- speakable delight. Here was not only relaxation, but education also, as was clearly demonstrated by the long, loud shouts of applause when so beautiful a thing as Gounod’s “ Ave Maria” was played, and well played, which is praise indeed. MUSE UMS-CHURCHES— PARKS. 43 One great charm of wandering about the streets was the entire absence of beggars. There were no painful contrasts of wealth and poverty, but with all classes a consciousness of frugality. The sim- ple honesty of the poor impressed us as a new fea- ture of peasant life, especially when compared with southern Europe, to say nothing of the interme- diate nations. Every morning we found a sweet young girl standing at the court of our hotel, with bunches of flowers so refreshing that, in our foolish American fashion, we often over-paid her, or tried to, as she always politely declined our attempts at charity. One day we tried the experiment with a very humble-looking woman, who had a flower-stand in the market-place. Selecting a pretty bunch of roses, for which she promptly named the price, we put into her hand a coin almost double the value of her flowers, and passed on, refusing the change. In a moment she came running after us, with pinks enough to make up the difference, and looked so happy in doing it that we had no heart to decline taking them. Evidently these poor people mean to enjoy their frugal fare by honest work, and scorn the thought of beggary, — an experience so delicious that it required no note by pen or pencil, as mem- 44 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. or y has not a large store of that sort. If the in- habitants of this high latitude are hedged in by a long winter, they do not bear this privation, if such it is, without suitable and cheerful preparation, both in country and town. The fronts of the houses are nearly all windows, —a fact we began to notice in Hamburg ; and the lovely blossoming plants which fill them, from the basement to the attic, in the avenues, and along the poorest streets alike, in many cases are almost as attractive as conservatories. It was a pleasure to learn of the high attain- ment Denmark had made in her educational insti- tutions. All the schools of the entire State are amenable to, and dependent upon, the University of Copenhagen, under whose control they are. A Royal College composed of a Punams and four assessors, arrange and carry out the entire system of education throughout the realm, appoint the professors of the university — the teachers of all the schools of whatever grade. This commission has no superior except the king, to whom they report. Education is compulsory, and as the poor are obliged to pay a weekly sum to the Govern- ment for this purpose, it follows as a natural result that but few among the humbler classes can be MUSEUMS— CHURCHES— PARKS. 45 found who do not know how to read and write. The language of the Danes has the same derivative as Norway and Sweden ; the Old Scandinavian or Icelandic being the parent of all. The one environ every English-speaking tourist is most eager to visit is Elsinore. No matter if it is fiction, so long as our great dramatists make this old story of Hamlet an ever new one, so long as they have the power to make the pictures of this melancholy Dane and his tragic life real, wher- ever the spot is which bears the name of Elsinore, thither will pilgrimage be made across land and sea. And what is to be seen as a fact of to-day will repay a visit. An old castle, built during the reign of Frederick II., situated on a point of land projecting into the Sound, is what the great drama- tist calls Elsinore. The architecture and situation are both commanding and picturesque. In fact, it is a grand pile, built of stone, two hundred and fifty feet square, with four towers, one of which is carried to such a height as to make it the best ob- servatory in the kingdom. It is said King Frederick built the Castle of Cronsberg at his own expense, and took occasion thereby to congratulate his sub- jects upon this important addition to the grandeur of the State, without taking a farthing from their small 46 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. resources. The sequel, however, shows that human nature was pretty much the same thing with this northern king in the latter part of the 16th cem tury as it is to-day. This edifice arose as a fortress, whereby the payment of the Sound could be en- forced ; the revenue of which this most benevolent monarch put into his own pocket. His example was not followed by succeeding sovereigns, how- ever, and for centuries the Sound toll was a great revenue to the State, amounting in 1853 to 380,000 pounds, twenty-four per cent, of the estimated receipts of the kingdom for that year. Denmark was obliged to contest her undisputed right to this narrow passage of water with the mar- itime powers of Europe for many years, especially with Holland and Sweden. At last the struggle ended in defeat, and the toll was entirely abolished in 1857 5 and so the occupation of the old castle is over, and as there are no evidences remaining of great beauty within its walls, the splendors of Prince Hamlet’s early home must still find their reality in Shakespeare’s romance. The day of our visit was matchless in clear air and cloudless sky, which made the outlook from the high tower, over the blue waters covered with spreading sails, mag- nificent in the extreme. MUSE UMS— CHURCHES— PA RKS. 47 Elsinore is called the land’s-end of Denmark, and Malmo, opposite, on the Swedish coast, is only two miles across, the width of the Sound. This nar- row bit of water, which cost the northern nations of Europe so many years of conflict, is the very “ turnpike-gate between the Baltic and the rest of the world.” It was a superb sight : the smooth sea spread out to the right and left of the roman- tic castle ; the soft plains of Sweden’s garden, Sca- nia, stretching eastward ; the waters of the tideless Baltic to the south, while northward we looked upon rocks which pointed to the Cattegat. There is no “ wild and stormy steep ” at Elsinore, but there are soft green banks, and stately trees. Whether nature has undergone great transformations during the ages, was not a matter of inquiry, as the good people of the little village did not apparent- ly give Hamlet much thought in those days. They did, however, send you to an adjoining town for his grave. Marienlyst, once a royal marine residence, seems to claim this honor. Ophelia, too, is re- membered here, but only in connection with the final tragedy which seemed hardly kind. Still if what they called “ Ophelia’s Brook ” was as quiet a stream in the days of yore as now, there was not of necessity any suffering in connection with her untimely death. 48 A SUMMER IN SC AN DIN A VIA. Another interesting suburb of Copenhagen is Fredericksborg, only an hour’s ride from the capital, by rail. The interest of a visit here is in the pic- turesque situation of the castle, which covers three small islands in a pretty lake, connected by bridges. The original castle was built by Frederick II., but his successor, Christian IV., who had a mania for palaces, took advantage of a fire which made some havoc with the interior, to make what he consider- ed a new creation in architecture, and like every other monument of the kind in northern Europe, it is a mixture of all sorts. This building, as well as the adjoining chapel where six Danish kings were crowned, suffered by a terrible fire only a few years since, but they have been fully restored by the exertions of the people. We see here a repeti- tion of the romantic story of the Venetian doves, who are daily visitants at St. Mark’s for their noon- day meal. This is in the region of extensive woods, where the beautiful beech-tree abounds, — nowhere so perfect as in Denmark. The rooks make their homes among the branches thereof, — and for an outing, have an afternoon tea on the roof of the castle, which is said to be black with them. In this case it is wholly a social feast, which lasts only about twenty minutes. Charlottenland MUSE UMS— CHURCHES— PARKS. 49 is the popular rendezvous, being only six miles from the city, and accessible in many ways, al- though the gem of this environ lies three miles be- yond. This is the famous deer park with its four thousand acres, through which runs a narrow river, with wooded banks of delicious shade, — the famous royal pasture, where the white stags, of rare beauty, the red and fallow deer, luxuriate in this forest of magnificent beeches. A half-hour’s ride to Rose- kilde takes the visitor to the ecclesiastical build- ing of Denmark, the resting-place of her sover- eigns, and the residence of the Primate of the Church. The earliest date of the church was in the tenth century, but the changes of time did its work down to the reign of Christian IV., whose hand appears here, as all over the realm, in undying characters. The largest chapel of the cathedral contains the sarcophagus of this beloved sovereign, richly orna- mented with silver. On the walls are decorations of frescoes by good artists, illustrating the leading events of his life. Another sarcophagus, to be found in the rear of the altar, marks the resting- place of Denmark’s remarkable queen, Margaret, whose reign is handed down to posterity as the most notable one of the Middle Ages in Scandina* 3 50 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. via. The historian is silent about the earlier years of this female conqueror, or the character of talent which led to such triumphal achievements, but the fact remains that she succeeded in making Nor- way, Sweden, and Denmark bend the knee before her, and crown her as sovereign ruler of the three kingdoms at the close of the 14th century. This was the famous compact known as the Union of Calmar. Altogether, the Cathedral of Rosekilde is an in- teresting monument of mediaeval time ; with some frescoes, paintings, sculptures, monuments, and relics of art which deserve attention, aside from their historical importance. Surprises grew with each country outing. The entire island, from Korsor to Elsinore, was lux- uriant in the extreme. Instead of the stunted growth of vegetation found in the corresponding latitude of Scotland, this was more like the wealth of the English garden. Latitude passes for little until one has inquired of the Gulf Stream. Here were fields upon fields of waving grain, which filled even the tourist with satisfaction ; grass which could but gladden the hearts of the freehold farmers ; with hawthorn hedges in some places approaching that perfectness which is England’s proud boast. MUSE UMS -CHURCHES—. FARMS. 51 The entire coast from Copenhagen to Elsinore is being rapidly used for suburban homes, the neces- sity of which was not plain to our eyes, — save that, whether it is east, west, north, or south, one must follow the tide. These are not expensive homes. On the contrary the picturesque taste shows marked progress in the development of the people, and un- mistakable evidence of fresh contact with neigh- boring countries. As a proof of this, many little villages are springing up, in all directions, which bear the aspect of homes , — not after the fashion of the fathers, cold and stiff and hard in outline, but so far as possible with the limitations of climate, a copy of that style which belongs to warmer lands, — especially in the attention paid to the floral world. The revelations here were astonishing, — not even explainable by the Gulf Stream. The haw- thorn, locust, and alder trees dispense their sweet odors broadcast. The laurel thrives away from its home in the sun-land ; the ivy clings to the wall with as much apparent vigor as in England. Even the cypress wears an air of contentment ; and the rose has a perfectness in size, color, and fragrance not to be found in America except in the Southern States. To see Copenhagen, with its environs, is to see 52 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. Denmark of to-day. Odense, the next city in size, is worth the visit to the searchers for antiquity, wherein its chief interest will be found ; but what of power and wealth and enterprise is left to this depleted State now surrounds its capital. In look- ing across the narrow sea to English shores, how hard it is to realize that the name of Denmark (at the present moment geographically less than one quarter of our New England) was ever a terror in that land ; that the tide of supremacy once flowed from these shores, making that now powerful people a subject race; and that their first foreign master, Canute, was a Dane, who ruled not as conqueror, but as king. Surely the kingdoms of to-day, so great in pride and power, crumble and decay, to reappear in more glorious forms, under new skies, with other names written thereon. Whatever glory illumines the page of Danish history in the past, it was very evident the present generation were not seriously disturbed by any sharp contrasts with its poverty of to-day. Better than any other in- heritance or possession, the governing principle of life was apparently cheerfulness and contentment, which, with industry and economy, make a happy people if not a powerful nation. CHAPTER Itf. TO CHRISTIANIA. We lingered on in this attractive city, happy in the new and pleasant experiences of each day, yet not unconscious of the fact that there were new lands and fresh fields before us. At last the day of our departure was fixed, but whether to Norway or Sweden was still a debatable question, made daily more difficult to decide from the glowing re- ports of English tourists, each filled with the supe- rior advantages of his own excursion. A new and excellent line of steamers make the trip, twice a week, from Copenhagen to Christiania in twenty- four hours, upon which we took passage, intending to stop at Goteborg, and go directly to Stockholm by the famous Gotha Canal. The morning of our farewell to the Danish capital was perfect ; the air was clear as crystal, the blue waters in the harbor quiet, which, with the promising appearance of the deck of the ship, filled us with visions of still new pleasures. ( 53 ) 54 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. Following the example of our neighbors, we se- cured a comfortable place under the awning, drew the arm-chairs to a small round table, where we could put our books and necessary belongings for the trip ; watch the pleasant exchanges and good- byes of friends ; drink in the fresh air of the glo- rious morning ; see the ship loosed from its moor- ings, and almost imperceptibly sailed out of the quiet harbor, with perfect content. The sea was kind and continued smooth, the passengers good- humored — to which the restauration of coffee and other little delicacies largely contributed. Under such benign influences, combined with the inspira- tion of the faultless atmosphere, we held a council of state, and decided to go on to Norway, assured by the captain that such a day on northern waters was rare indeed. Before mid-day we had left land far in the background, but the clear blue of the quiet water was delight enough. As evening ap- proached we had an experience more like a dream than a reality, which was quite in harmony with the day’s experience. Nearing our one stop at Goteborg, we left the broad waters to make the approach through an estuary of the Gotha River. For miles the channel was hidden by rocks, so that navigation seemed impossible. Some of the pas- TO CHRISTIANIA . 55 sengers looked alarmed, and talked loudly of fre- quent accidents among these rocks — of the impos- sibility of navigating in a fog, etc. We turned from all this to the calm sunset, and the happy face of the captain, which was assuring ; resolv- ing to enjoy the novelty of the scene undisturbed. Curiously enough, this utterly barren mass of gran- ite, without the smallest shrub or blade of grass, not even a suggestion of moss to cover their nakedness, was the habitation of man ; so quaint, novel, and unexpected did these houses or huts of the fisher- men appear, that the effect was almost like an opti- cal illusion. Such a barren approach to Goteborg — • the second city of importance in Syeden, and the first commercially — made the handsome town in the sunset glow seem magical, as though some god of the mountain had turned a key. From a little distance it strongly resembled barred walls and fortifications, while a nearer view not only revealed a fine city, but powerfully illustrated the triumph of energy over an unpropitious soil and a hard climate. On our way to Copenhagen w r e had met one of the merchant princes of this city, whose wide travel and accomplishments established the fact in our minds that Goteborg was no mean city; and fortunately the quay where our ship stopped 56 A SUMMER IN SCAN DIN A VIA. for one hour to exchange passengers was on the grand canal, which divides the town, and gave us a view of the finest part of it. There was a sugges- tion of Holland in the broad canal with fine solid enclosures of hewn stone lined with trees, and crossed by numerous bridges. The hasty glance at houses and streets and public buildings indicated enterprise and prosperity. Leaving the town, we looked to see what Murray had to say, and learned that this was the work of the great Gustavus Adolphus, founded in 1619 ; and that the hand- some square of which we had caught a glimpse, was adorned by a fine bronze statue of himself — the work of Fogelberg — the sculptor Sweden de- lights to honor. This is the birthplace of Fogel- berg, as well as of Molin, another sculptor of note. That Goteborg was designed for a fortified town seemed a self-evident conclusion, requiring no sa- gacity on the part of its illustrious founder, at least such was a natural opinion both in getting into and out of it. A pretty tradition is handed down in connection with the location of the city. The old town named Loden lay higher up the river, but was vulnerable to foreign invasion, and was taken by the Danes. Upon its restoration to Sweden (partly destroyed), TO CHRISTIANIA. 57 the young king, Gustavus Adolphus, struck by its unfavorable site, was standing upon one of the rocks at Goteborg, puzzling over the situation, “ when a little boy pursued by an eagle sought shel- ter at his feet.” “ Auspicious omen ! ” exclaimed the bystanders ; which so delighted Gustavus, that he ordered the foundations of the town to be built then and there. We noticed our English tourists began to be un- easy, and to make preparations for what they called the voyage of the Cattegat and Skager-rack — “ a nasty place and although filled with the pleasure the day had brought us, these names had an un- quiet suggestion — therefore it seemed wise to leave the deck, the delicious twilight, and let sleep do her best to tide us over what was always a doubtful passage. These turbulent waters must have been on their good behavior, the captain a good navi- gator, the ship strong and bold, as we had no con- sciousness when morning dawned of anything but a comfortable night. Another day of promise. Was it possible that two succeeding days could be so full and rich in experience as to be marked with a white stone ? It looked so on this “ rosy-fingered morn.” And the sun as it came up over the grand sea-wall of Norway made it resplendent in strength 3 * 58 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . and beauty. This wild but noble coast looked a fit home for the Vikings ; yet although it was plain to read what it was in a sterner aspect, still the warm sun and quiet sea made the atmosphere as soft as the sunny land of France. The majestic cliffs were crowned with green, which looked like fringe on the sky line “ regularly irregular/’ a beauty all their own, to which but few pens or pencils could do jus- tice. Breakfast was announced, and also this fact, that we should soon enter the Christiania fiord, the beauties of which exceeded our present view. It required an inducement to leave such fascinations for the stuffy cabin and poor fare, but we were mortals ; and while we did not “ live to eat,” we did not think it wise under the circumstances to try to live without eating ; so hastily took a little of what there was before us, although unwilling to lose a moment of what the captain assured us was a very rare morning, an opportunity which repeated visits might never offer again. Passing up the fiord the land closed in on either side, not a mile across, with a beauty which baffles description. It was, indeed, summer enchantment to watch the “ high gray limestone hills, clothed with pine and fir-trees from foot to brow, except in patches where this forest wrapping was now and then relieved by the TO CHRISTIANIA . 59 corn-fields and pastures of small homesteads with their clusters ol little red-roofed cottages and barns.” We passed some low rocky islands and soft green inlets opening into minor fiords, also a snug-looking town, and quietly landed at the chief quay, with this exclamation as we stepped on shore, “ Beautiful for situation on the sides of the North is Christiania, the capital of Norway.” What a quiet reception ; nobody was clamorous for our baggage or had any suggestions to make of where we went, any hotels to recommend, or serv- ices to offer ; in short, we did not seem of any im- portance. The name of American did not disturb their tranquillity in the least, — an experience so nov- el that it made a pleasant memory. Whether it be the most northern or southern capital of Continen- tal Europe, from the moment of entrance into a modern hotel time and distance are annihilated, and the world grows suddenly small. The small, obliging porter who has received your telegram gives you a cordial welcome in the language of your own country ; you are shown the same kind of apartments ; you have the same French bread and coffee for your breakfast ; a menu for dinner with little variety (always excepting the salmon in Norway) - and everywhere the sound of your own 6o A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. tongue. Therefore indoors the American tourist finds himself at home in the Grand Hotel on the Carl- J ohans-Gade, in Christiania. But from with- out the picture changes: the green in the little park is pale, the trees are stunted, the flowers are few — it is plainly the North, although from the outlook of our windows there is one positive suggestion of the seven-hilled city. CHAPTER V. A FEW DAYS AT THE CAPITAL OF NORWAY. Go where you will, in any land or stage of civil- ization, every capital has one monument which imposes itself directly. It is the edifice wherein authority is vested, which in Christiania is called the Storthing, — the Parliament House of Peasants. This is a modern building in stone, with a hand- some fagade, guarded by two lions, in granite, finely executed, which gives the visitor a memory of Rome, especially in looking down the long ave- nue, terminating in a sharp ascent to the king’s palace, which sits as a crown on the summit. Mid- way between these two buildings of the Govern- ment is a park on one side of the avenue, opposite of which stand the State University buildings, of no mean dimensions. This seat of learning was founded, in the early part of the present century, by Ring Frederick VI. of Denmark, completed only twenty-five years ago, which explains its new ap- pearance. The main building is of classic style, (61) 62 A SUMMER IN SC AND IN A VIA. with two wings at right angles, and a charming situation. Already they have a fine library, sev- eral good collections, and at present one thousand students receive thorough instruction, besides the gratuitous lectures of nearly fifty professors. The city boasts of a picture-gallery, but it has little of interest to the visitor familiar with the wealth of the great European galleries, either in painting or sculpture. Their great artists are Tide- mant and Gude, and the specimens of their work which we saw showed a fine appreciation of what nature had done in this picturesque land, both in drawing and color. The churches, too, are unin- viting, as neither the tastes of the people, or the demands of their simple Lutheran faith, require ec- clesiastical adornment. Like all European countries, blocks are built around courts, and the apartment is the home, — although in Christiania there are many private dwellings, of most picturesque style, built on the hill-sides, quite in harmony with the beautiful sur- roundings. Although the tourist is well assured that Norway’s capital is a modern city, — fire having repeatedly ravaged it, — still the eye searches eagerly for some landmarks of a country so renowned in history, and of which authors of high antiquity AT THE CAPITAL OF NOR JV A Y. 63 have made honorable mention. All has the appear- ance of extreme youth, as though the thought of a town was just awakening ; the palace is new, with no appearance of life about it ; also the little cha- teau of Oscarshall, built for the summer retreat of royalty. There was something oppressive and unnatural in this appearance of things, even to visitors from the new country, who are supposed to be at home with small beginnings ; but our land, at least the earlier settled part of it, seemed old in comparison. What was the explanation? After all, Norway is the youngest of all the European nations, and has not yet reached the dignified period of threescore years and ten. Another fact can not be overlooked. This is the North , and nearly orie-third of its 122,279 square miles lies in the region of perpetual snow. The inhabitants of this land must bear the impress of Nature in its grand, sublime, and powerful aspects. At least we had reached the capital, where “ pleas- ures and palaces” were not in demand. Quiet and composure marked the faces both on the streets and in the shops, — a face which belonged to the solemn aspect of country more than the city ; and as only about one-tenth of the population of the entire 64 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. realm leave the rural districts for the town, the sober face becomes national. The one work of art which is indeed an orna- ment as well as pride to the city, is the eques- trian statue of Bernadotte, — a name which evidently thrills the hearts of both nations, — and 'justly so, for it marks a glorious epoch in the history of the United Kingdoms. This is emphatically true of Norway; in fact, it makes a birth-day the release from a long period of bondage to the Danish yoke. With the exception of England, the constitution of Norway is said to be the oldest on record, which as an isolated fact would lead one naturally to sup- pose that here was the cradle of liberty, the battle- ground of freedom. There must have been a long pause in the story of patriotism which introduces the authentic history of Norway in the tenth century. Harold the fair- haired not only still illumines the misty background as the brilliant figure in the annals of that early time, but no heroes worthy his record have appeared along the centuries with hearts and hands brave enough to carry on the work which he commenced. True, Harold’s was a love story, which is sometimes an exalted theme. At the age of ten years he was left, by the death of his father, chief or petty king AT THE CAPITAL OF NORWA Y. 65 of one of the tribes of the country, and was roused to valorous deeds by his love for Gyda, daughter of a neighboring king, who, as the sequel shows, was a young woman of high ambition. If woman’s condition was servile at that time, here was an honorable exception which could hardly be equalled in self-appreciation in any age of the world, as she made this condition to the young chief’s offer of marriage : that she would wed him when he had subjugated the whole country and united the tribes as a nation. Hence the vow of Harold Haarfager that he would not clip or comb his locks until he could woo this fair maiden as sole King of Norway. Ten years are said to have been given for the maturity of these Samson locks, which were doubtless a potential factor in the final victory. In the meantime Gyda, feeling sure of triumph in the end, and apparently tired of waiting, gave her hand in marriage toward the close of her lover’s campaigns. Harold was a great warrior, but his conquests drove many of the noblest hearts from the country, who preferred death rather than subjuga- tion ; and from this event began the great piratical adventures of the Northmen. Those peaceful conditions inaugurated by Har- old were not perpetuated by succeeding sovereigns, 66 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. but were soon disturbed by their ambitious and at that time powerful neighbors, the Danes, by the famous union of Calmar, when she lost her na- tionality and language even ; nor did she share in the revolt of Sweden under the great Gustavus Wasa, by whose courage and patriotism her free- dom was obtained. No conquering hero appeared to break this tyranny for Norway, and for two cen- turies after the Swedes became a free people, the Norwegians wore their chains of bondage, which release only came at the dawn of the present cen- tury. At what is called the Peace of Kiel, the Danes were forced to acknowledge Norway as a part of the dominion of Sweden, at that time under the reign of Charles XIII. The dying strug- gle for supremacy by the Danes lasted only a few weeks, but long enough to convoke a national diet of the Norwegians at Eidsvold, where a constitu- tion was hastily drawn, which since that time has governed the State. At this eventful period, Bernadotte, one of Na- poleon’s ablest generals, appears upon the stage, and marks a new era in the political history of Nor- way and Sweden. Four years after his landing at the North he was crowned king of the United Kingdoms, fully conscious of the fact that it could A T THE CAPITAL OF NOR WA Y. 67 not be a thornless crown of noble birth ; he had entered the army when only fifteen years of age, which had naturally cramped his opportunity for study, or familiarity with other tongues. There could have been no stronger contrast fourid any- where between nationalities than France and those North countries ; so that difficulties were inevitable, even had he ascended the throne of a prosperous country. This was, however, far from being the true situation, as there was neither peace at home nor harmony with the nations abroad. Strife reigned everywhere, — the natural result of internal disturb- ances and years of oppression. Internal resources were crippled, finances ruined, industries paralyzed. “ While foreign States looked askance at the parvenu king ” in an unknown land, environed with an atmosphere wholly uncongenial, yet his opportunity was a great one ; and he, as occasion unfolded, and results proved, great enough for it. If personal ambition was his object, he sought it through the uplifting of the people. During the early years of his administration he offended the Norwegians in many ways, most of all by his opposition to their abolition of titles. Bernadotte being a Frenchman, had been taught the principles of economy, which was greatly need- 68 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA. ed in his impoverished kingdom, and his wise ad- ministration to meet this necessity in every depart- ment suited the depleted wants of the people. As a proof of his love for his subjects, he renounced his civil list for ten years, in order to help in the payment of the national debt ; which act of self- denial not only won the confidence and admiration of his people, but made them co-workers with him in the advancement of those enterprises which in- augurated a more prosperous era. This review of Norway, in the early time, and at the present moment, made the colossal monument of this founder of liberty of double value. The statue, so military and grand, stands in the great court-yard in the front of the palace, like a tower of strength, as though he were protecting the city which he loves, commands, and surveys — with the king’s motto as an inscription : “ The people’s love is my reward.” It is interesting to find in this Northland all that remains as a living power of that august Emperor, Napoleon. In the height of his splendor, when this little planet with all its existing opportunities was a sphere hardly large enough for his imperial hand- ling, the throne of Scandinavia could not have filled a moment’s thought in his powerful mind. A T THE CAPITAL OF NORWA Y. 69 Yet, General Bernadotte’s military genius and no- bility of character were great enough to rouse the jealousy of Napoleon, and they have been great enough also, in their self-sacrifice, honor, and pa- triotism, to mark a successful epoch in the eleva- tion, progress, and happiness of the people over whom he was called to reign. The reigning sovereigns of this dynasty, of which the fourth, Oscar II., is now on the throne, have proved themselves noble sons of a noble sire, wise and judicious in affairs of State; they have all worked in the same direction of higher develop- ment in all that appertains to the State. Home industries have been encouraged, art and science stimulated, and reforms suggested. So far as internal government is concerned, Norway is an absolute Republic ; it is only in their relations with foreign affairs that they co-operate with Sweden, — an inde- pendence which was secured to them by the Peace of Kiel. This constitution vests the legislative power in the Storthing, or Assembly of Deputies chosen by the people. Each deputy must have attained the mature age of thirty years; he must also be a property-holder, and a resident of Norway for ten years. This Parliament of Peasants, so called, 70 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . where three hundred sovereigns direct the destinies of the country, is not the capital for oratory. The mechanism of this constitution is made up of all classes in the State. Yet Norway does not believe in that class of professional politicians who manage words for their own benefit. They meet to discuss frankly and freely the affairs of the country ; not to orate , but to talk, — yielding to the will of the majority. This will, when once pronounced, is ac- cepted as final, by conquerors and conquered, with- out the subject being taken back to their country homes as an apple of discord. This is patriotism ; not always seen in other countries. We saw a fine picture of this serious branch of the human family as strongly drawn in contrast with the French, who about the time of the great work at Eidsvold, were also engaged in framing what is called the Constitution of 1789. The leg- islators of Eidsvold were represented as being clothed after the rustic fashion of their ancestors, with wooden shoes upon their feet, a placid firm- ness upon each face, as cool and quiet in each word as though they were settling their farm accounts. The artist represented the famous French Deputies in the heat of political passion. They stood arrayed in the gorgeous style of the French Court of that A T THE CAPITAL OF NOR WA Y. 7 1 day ; fire flashed from each eye ; eloquence poured from each lip ; and death to them would be joy , rather than defeat to their idolized, beloved France. The work of the brains of the peasants of Eidsvold still lives, while that of the Frenchmen lasted ten years. The King comes in as executive officer, through a Council of State ; he must be crowned King of Norway at the ancient town of Drontheim, and spend at least six weeks at the palace in Christi- ania. Among other obstacles to the success of the national prosperity, nothing seems so insurmount- able as the antagonism of these separate races in one, which grows year by year, and necessarily does not add to the softness or ease of the Crown. A king of two peoples, absolutely unlike, yet bound together by common interests, surrounded by the same climatic influences, which require the same internal developments, — the reigning sovereign, if a Swede, must step out of his nationality six weeks of the year, and be as much a Norwegian as though he were to the manor born. So jealous are they of receiving the smallest shadow of the court life of Sweden, that the law requires the King to say adieux to his official escort the moment the royal carriage arrives at the frontier of Norway, where a simple escort is in waiting for his reception. 72 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. The press is said to be singularly just and mod- erate in its treatment of every subject which comes within its scope, which secures for its columns uni- versal confidence, and makes it an honored as well as accepted authority. A good story is recorded illustrating its influence upon the Storthing, which occurred a few years ago. It was during a season of great interest upon some vital matters of State, which were discussed from day to day, without ap- parently drawing nearer to a conclusion. One of the leading journals took up the subject, and pub- lished an exhaustive article. Both sides of the ques- tion were so clearly, wisely, and freely discussed, that the Storthing paused in its debate, and unan- imously decided to wait until the press closed its long review, hoping thereby to be guided in their important decision. It is to be hoped these wise journalists will not get so far from home as the United States of America. Although the most democratic of all the Euro- pean States — at least such is the fond dream of Norway — there is a touch of despotism in the lib- erality of one of their ecclesiastical laws, which has a decided flavor of Rome. No one is legally mar- ried until previously confirmed in the Lutheran A T THE CAPITAL OF NOR WA Y. 73 Church. It is to be hoped the age of free-thinking is as yet far removed from the masses, else the law, if a wise one, would soon be a dead letter. It was gratifying to learn that in this snow-bound country, the clergyman was considered worthy of his hire ; and that while a high standard of educa- tion was required, the average income was large enough for him to pursue its high aims, without any fears of the wolf at his door. One thousand dollars a year does not sound a great sum for a pastor of our great cities, but in the light of some statistics which appeared a few years ago concerning New England church salaries, which only reached an average of five hundred dollars per annum, the liberality of this poor land of Norway — which doubled that sum — rose to the height of generos- ity. As in the sister State of Denmark, education is compulsory. Religion is taught in the primary schools, which in the public classical schools be- comes theology. So far the preponderance of the peasantry seems to have been a hindrance to the progress of arts ; and, in fact, to education in its higher forms in every department. For over two centuries there was a struggle to found the university at Christiania, which was not accomplished until i8u,and even then by the Dan- 4 74 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . ish King, Frederick VI. The ever puzzling as well as interesting question of race has new features here. ’Tis but a little way across the waters to Denmark, which for so long a period was only the southern boundary of the same land ; but what a different facial expression. There it was cheerful and content, without excitement or passion ; here it is reserved, earnest, serious, but resolute. The peasants of Norway are not menials ; but the root and stem of the social tree, — a fact so plainly read by even a short visit at the capital, as to re- quire no questioning. Without entering into the various theories of the early races of Scandinavia, and the arguments and proofs to sustain them, at present they are indisputably of one— and that of the Gothic family— which makes the strong con- trasts within their own geographical limits unac- countable. The Norwegians abolished titles more than a half century ago ; but like all republican ideas of this nature, when the dignity of house is not fixed by constitutional or hereditary law, they are said to attach an importance to family bounded by no limit. There is, however, a most genial, kindly spirit in social life, and great attention paid to intellectual culture. Unlike the other Scandinavian A T THE CAPITAL OF NOR WA Y. 75 capitals, there is no court life in Christiania, no idlers, no beau monde ; but an earnest devotion to all that constitutes the beauty and refinement of home. If in this city of 113,000 people there are found no records of the past, there is much which in our new land, at least, we should say pointed to a fu- ture. New streets and blocks df buildings in all directions, with plans of parks in many a corner, show a movement in the direction of growth. In answer to our many questions, we were told there was a fresh awakening upon the question of cen- tralization, and that the people were beginning to learn that climate had not been so great a bar to the growth of their country as the lack of railroads, good highways or roads, the telegraph — which are the marked developments of the present moment. This is a land where work is a necessity, and this a people who do not wish to eat the bread of idle- ness. Fishery is the great resource of the dwellers on the coast ; and so far ship-building is the one industrial art. Judging from the amount of lum- ber to be seen in every direction there must be enormous exports, as the sparse population and modest wants have only limited uses for such piles. We took a little trip to Dramman, one of the y6 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. suburbs ; and although everywhere the picturesque beauty of hills, woods, and fiords was absorbing, still the question of what was to be done with the lumber was unanswerable, and the whole town seemed one enormous saw-mill. This looked en- terprising, and pointed to a future ; but the present aspect of civilization seemed amazingly new. The fine harbor is filled with stately ships from every zone, thereby bringing them into close relations with the civilizations of the world, and that their long winter’s exile may not cut them off from the advantages of national interchange, a channel is cut in the ice by means of boats made for that pur- pose, so that ships ride in and out in safety. The fisheries of the immense coast are already enor- mous, and of growing importance. They boast of a tonnage which is not excelled by any other coun- try except England and our own beloved America. Neither are they destitute of shrewdness. A pretty story was told us of the way ice became a valuable export. For years an effort was made to secure the London market, but the Englishman had decided that the only luxury of that kind which would satisfy his taste, must come from Lake Wen- ham. The crafty Norwegian quietly gave one of his pretty lakes this valuable name, and as a reward secured the monopoly of the ice trade. A T THE CAPITAL OF NOR WA Y. 77 Neither is vegetation so poor as the high latitude would indicate, especially on the western coast, torn and rent and beaten by the storms of the Atlantic. Again the inexorable edict of the Gulf Stream — which, with the subtle question of race, are two abiding mysteries. Baedeker says, in the same latitude in which Franklin perished in the Arctic regions of America, and in which lies the almost uninhabitable region of East Siberia, the waters of these Western fiords of Norway never freeze except in their upper ex- tremities. There are many curious revelations of this isothermal line ; one being, that in the depth of winter the cold is no greater at the Loffoden Isl- ands than at Copenhagen, the January temperature being 23 0 . The leniency of this Gulf Stream makes it possi- ble to raise wheat on the western coast in as high latitude as 64^°. It is also a curious fact that it takes barley exactly the same time (ninety days) to ripen at Alton, 70° north latitude, as at Christiania and in the South of France ; which is a confirma- tion of the theory quite generally believed, that the great length of the Arctic day (or, in other words, light) goes far to compensate for the lack of warmth ; the seed, however, if brought from warmer lands, has to be acclimated. 78 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. Some writer has justly said, that Nature has been so bounteous to Norway’s capital, that she has no need of Art. And certainly the drives and walks and views from every point of outlook would con- firm the statement. Go east or west, go north or south, under the smiles of a summer sky, it is one vast gallery of pictures — framed in the ever tall, stately pine and graceful birch, broken by the en- chanting fiords, over whose smooth water the lit- tle vessels pass quietly, bearing on its bosom the peaceful traffic of the land. CHAPTER VI. ACROSS SWEDEN. It was only a glimpse ; a knock at the door of Norway ; and a departure. Not to see the Loffo- den Islands, “ those Alps in the midst of the sea,” for us was not to see the glory of Norway. This time however, we could not cross the Arctic circle, and must be satisfied with the picture imagination had made beautiful of gigantic rocks, against which the angry sea, at all states of the tide, continually dashes. We had so frequently been told that atrip across Sweden by rail was not only very fatiguing, but wholly uninteresting, that in taking our seats in the cars for a two days’ journey from Christiania to Stockholm, we looked forward to a long stretch of weariness. It was reassuring to find a luxuriant railway carriage, where all the appointments for comfort were excellent, even a tank of the delicious water from these limpid streams, and iced also. Apparently the princes of the land or the luxuriant (if there were such classes) in Norway did not take ( 79 ) 8o A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. this train, as we were the sole occupants of the one first-class carriage, but we were Americans. Leaving the city suburbs, as the train very slow- ly climbed a steep ascent, we noted with pleasure the neat, picturesque homes, and rejoiced to see how much beauty and ornament was made of the lovely, graceful birch, with some combinations of shrubs — in the absence of flowers, which were mea- gre and lonely in this chilly atmosphere. Uncon- sciously we became absorbed in the waters of the pretty Glommon, rushing in such hot haste through thicket and meadow to reach the fiord, bearing on its surface quantities of logs. This is the most im- portant river in Norway, from three to four hun- dred miles long. It was quite exciting to watch these floats or rafts of lumber, moving with great rapidity, and requiring skillful management. They looked to us a half-mile in length, curling and wind- ing about over obstructions and rapids, which to lookers-on threatened momentary destruction. In many places the whole surface of the water was covered, as though an edict had gone forth to build up the entire valley. We did not learn what the school of navigation was for these raft engineers ; but from our point of observation, it did not look an idle or easy task to A CROSS SWEDEN. 81 guide these floating forests safely over rocks and waterfalls, which in many cases were cataracts ; and if, in this country rich in beautiful fiords, rivers are little noticed, the Glommon as a highway of traffic deserves high mention. The sun had gone down, but the twilight after its delicate fashion was fading slowly, and we were so absorbed in the river with its novel commerce, that when the train stopped at the little town of Kongsvinger for the night, we were surprised to find that midnight was at hand. The friendly por- ter at the Grand Hotel in Christiania had heralded our approach ; securing us rooms, which we leisure- ly went in search of, with a few Norwegian words at our command. Imagine our surprise and disappointment to find them already occupied. It had not occurred to one of us before that we were tired or hungry or sleepy ; we knew, in fact, that only a few hours lay between us and a line of march in the early morn- ing. Still our rights were invaded, and to do with- out beds for one short night even, was not to be thought of ; how to get possession of what was law- fully our own was the horn of dilemma. The party in possession were talking earnestly with the landr lord in the language of the country, in which we 4 * 82 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. had no voice. One of our party made a forcible presentation of the case in German, which was re- ceived in silence. We asked our representative to try French, which he did with great fluency ; while at the same time we began to talk a little aside very glibly about the situation, wondering what we should do next if this plan failed, which called forth a roar of laughter from the supposed foreigners, who extended the hand of fellowship as English- men. This pleasant episode not only adjusted all rights, but secured to us charming travelling com- panions for many succeeding days. Doubtless our beds were more comfortable, and our sleep sweeter for the narrow escape we had in losing them ; at any rate we did not complain when roused at an early hour to take the railway carriage for a two hours’ ride to the Swedish frontier Char- lottenborg for breakfast. The morning was rosy, the air invigorating, we were on the threshold of Sweden ; in fact, we had stepped across it, our feet had touched its soil, and although the doors of the cafe were thrown wide open, we still lingered outside. Apparently Nor- way and Sweden though married were not in aJJ respects one , as there was a demand for the custom- house examination, proving that the same laws did A CROSS SWEDEN. 83 not govern them. Upon inquiry we found that tourists going to the Swedish capital via this route, found the process of examination was in this border town, while travellers going to Christiania waited until they reached the city before passing this ordeal. More than once on our way to the North we had been told by tourists whose experience we could not ignore, that outside of the Scandinavian capitals one could get nothing to eat which be- longed to civilization, and cited cases in proof, but we did not find the entire statement true. The cafe was such a dreary-looking building outside, we entered with misgivings, to meet with one of the pleasantest surprises of the entire trip. Instead of black bread, raw fish, and cheese — the very thought of which made us turn to our well-filled lunch bas- kets as to a feast — we stood in a pretty breakfast room, with an abundance of windows (everywhere to be found in the North) filled with blossoming plants, and adorned with simple drapery. On a long table in the centre of the room was spread very appetizing fare — salmon and potatoes, beef- steak and mushrooms, chops and pease, steaming from the hands of a good cook — and always French bread. On a pretty round table covered with 84 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. dainty linen were spead coffee cups of finely dec- orated china, and in the centre a silver urn poured forth such delicious fragrance of Mocha that no- body could resist it. The traveller walks about, chooses what suits his own tastes, sits down to one of the little tables ranged around the room, eats in peace, without the clamor of waiters or the annoy- ance of unsavory dishes about him, and on leaving pays with a thankful heart the sum of two kronas (fifty-two cents), wishing most earnestly that some of the powerful railways in the “ new countrie ” had as comfortable places for refreshment with such delicious fare. We could not honestly give such high praise of the little sales outside, which the poor children called strawberries. May be, if so, they were the wild berries of Sweden, not of our dear New Eng- land ; however, we were in too good humor to with- hold one small coin and cheering words from these honest seekers to earn a bit of money. Not even the bright sun or pure air could give a charm to the dreary country through the barren district of Wermland, but coming to the borders of the important Lake Wenern, the succession of land and water views were as soothing as they were pic- turesque. If the word fiord bears a charmed name ACROSS SWEDEN. 85 in Norway, the lake is of equal importance in Swe- den, for it represents in many ways an important and interesting feature very naturally, as 14,000 square miles of its surface is covered by them. Lake Wenern is not only the largest of the Swed- ish lakes, but with the exception of Onega and La- goda in Northern Russia, is the largest in Europe, with nearly 3,000 square miles of its own, 93 miles long and 47 wide. This immense body makes an inland ocean, and fed as it is by twenty-four small streams or rivers, some of them coming from the mountains of Norway, with only one outlet — the Gotha Elf — it is not strange this great outpouring of water, one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the North Sea, when contracted into so narrow a channel, should produce the glorious cataracts or waterfalls at Troelhatta — the Niagara of Scandi- navia. It was only a glimpse of this beautiful water, with its pretty islands, we could command ; but stretching on its great expanse of blue into the distance, the charm seemed limitless. As the day advanced we noticed a marked change in the aspect of the country, both in natural scenery and higher state of cultivation. The trees were finer, the fields richer, vegetation promising — an unmistakable sign that we were approaching the 86 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. capital, where daily supplies were demanded. The railroad, too, was better ; although no stretch of the imagination could have tempted us to say that even a mile of it was smooth. We watched with growing interest the shortening distance, marked in intelligible letters on the fine station-houses, until at last through tunnels and over viaducts we entered the gates of Stockholm, with that strong curiosity and longing born of in- tense desire. NORTH BRIDGE, GRAND HOTEL AND NATIONAL MUSEUM, CHAPTER VII. STOCKHOLM. The fatigue of the long and toilsome way stood aside as we drove to the Grand Hotel in the fading light of day, where the young manager received us with fine courtesy (we were expected), and with a large package of home mail, took us to a superb apartment overlooking the waters of the Malar and Baltic. As our eye glanced over the handsome salon, with a fine piano not flat against the wall, but arranged for use, the sofas and chairs invitingly placed for comfort, and tables not glossy and bare, but adorned with pretty covers, it seemed more than a hotel — scarcely less than a home — in the or- dering of which our tastes had been consulted. At last we had reached the goal. Our feet stood within the walls of the city our eyes for many years had longed to behold. The comfort and elegance of this hotel, with its un- rivalled situation, can scarcely be equalled, certainly not excelled. Directly in front the Baltic steamers ( 87 ) 88 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . have a landing for passengers, with a quay of granite spotless in neatness. Across the Malar stands the Royal Palace, which dominates the city. On the east side the National Museum, from which you command a glorious view of the Baltic fiord. Within, every arrangement is orderly and refined. An accomplished porter, mas- ter of many tongues, meets the wants of those to whom the language is strange, with that dignified politeness which in every department is a marked feature of the house. Handsome drawing-rooms for the great public, besides a fine suite for the reigning sovereign, always open -for inspection when he is known to be out of the city ; an excellent read- ing-room, the walls of which are hung with maps of the country and its surroundings, which makes a very attractive place for the traveller to whom the geography is strange. The large dining hall is sup- posed to be the finest room in the house. It has an arched roof, elaborately painted — on one side a gal- lery for an orchestra, and in front some royal em- blems were suspended, while the wall was hung with pictures. A superb porcelain stone, highly orna- mented, reaching half way to the ceiling, occupied a central position in the room ; and near the en- trance we had our first view of the Smorgas — a pre- STOCKHOLM. 89 liminary to the dinner, the appetizer so-called. It was as strange as our fancy had painted it. No- where could this uncivilized relic have been seen in greater contrast with the refined habits of to-day than in this fine hall, with French decorations, French cooking, and French service. While at our first dinner we noticed at an adjoin- ing table a party of four take their seats, examine 'the menu, give the order, and then immediately rise, and go to the Smorgasbord — covered with strange-looking dishes, dried meats, fish, cheese, and wines. There they stood for a few moments of tasting, and returned to their dinner. We after- ward learned that they were Russians, who, as a nationality, were the principal patrons of this table. The greatest charm of this hotel are the bed- rooms, full of little comforts — three hundred and sixty in all — and although they were full nearly the entire month of July, the quiet which at all times prevailed through the corridors was not only unmis- takable proof of good housekeeping, but also of nice consideration for the comfort of the guests. Stockholm is very disappointing if one expects grand architecture or anythingthat speaks either of« an opulent past or great wealth of the present. The streets are irregular and featureless, without 90 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . ornament or display, and the quiet, which results from so much of its business by water, gives the im- pression at first of less enterprise here than at the other Scandinavian capitals. But of its situation, especially as seen in the long, perfect days of sum- mer, the reality can hardly be reached by the most sanguine anticipation. There is no great city in the world where nature and art are brought into more poetic relations — on the one cheek she is touched by the ripples of the lake, on the other she is saluted by the billows of the sea. We had read that this was the Venice of the North. High praise surely; but the voluptu- ous and poetic charm which surrounds the Bride of the Adriatic is far less fascinating or stimulating than that which girdles this Northern Queen of the Baltic. ’Tis built on seven-hilled islands, but in the number seven is only to be found a suggestion of the imperial home of the Caesars. That strange and overmastering desire with many travellers and writers to find in one place the repetition of another, has recognized in the pleas- ure-loving habits of these people the “ Paris of the •North,” but in the words of an eminent French au- thor, in whose strangely enthusiastic record of a visit here we found, not only a great charm, but STOCKHOLM . 91 also some explanation of its singular fascination, we can truly say, “ Stockholm is not a copy, but an original — an artist’s proof.” The great lines of the town — which seem a tan- gle of part land, islet, bridge, and water — are formed in solid rock, which is everywhere divided by watercourses, bringing the harbor, with its forests of masts, along the various streets. The architects have in all directions spanned the waters with handsome, arched bridges of granite and iron, built miles of dock and quay, thus adding to, rather than detracting from, the strength of nature, leav- ing this great power of “ serene grandeur and im- mutable beauty ” untouched — an abiding, gov- erning presence. On the highest point of the central island (Staden), standing on its granite pedestal, rise the vast walls of the Royal Palace in majestic simplic- ity. This was a design of Nicolas Tessin, who was appointed court architect to Queen Christina. The style is Italian Renaissance, built of stone, 400 feet long and 375 wide. It is six stories in height, with a flat roof, and encloses a handsome court nearly square. The wings at each corner are two stories lower than the centre, but in such perfect harmony with the main building as to illustrate the poetry 9 2 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA. of architecture. Two of these wings push on in advance of the others, and form the side bounda- ries of a pretty garden where historic figures in bronze and marble stand surrounded by acacia shades, and flowers which send forth their perfume from Saxon porcelain. The progress of this work was seriously interrupted by the wars of Charles XII., and only came to a full completion in 1753. The talent of the father was inherited by his son, Nicodemus Tessin, who finished what had been be- gun in a manner which proved that these able archi- tects of two generations honored their opportunity of the finest site in Europe, by building a palace of classic beauty worthy the “ Gods.” The noblest view is from the northwest front, looking directly across to the beautiful square of palaces, which de- rives its name from Gustavus Adolphus, the hero of Lutzen. To the right the eye stretches far out upon the sparkling waters of the Baltic and its teeming fleet ; to the left the Malar Sea and pretty islands smile peacefully, while busy life hurries to and fro or halts for home-day traffic on the immense granite Norrboro with its seven handsome arches, on one side of which there seems to float a little pleasure garden. This the revered Tegner says is the spiritual centre of Sweden, “where all the glow- STOCKHOLM. 93 ing history is mirrored in the stream and the even- ing red.” So lonely and strange is the scene of islands and bays in that commingling of friendly relations which makes it hard to decide whether land or water dominate, that it is not easy to turn aside and enter even palace doors. On the southeast entrance a broad esplanade, called the Palace Hill, slopes down to the quay, and is the highway for the royal carriages. This is surmounted by a granite obelisk one hundred feet high, erected by Gustavus IV., to commemorate the loyalty of his subjects in the war with Russia, 1788-90, and on the quay at the bot- tom stands an excellent bronze statue of Gustavus III., by Sorgel — his masterpiece. This was a gift of the people in honor of that chivalric monarch. Beside the interest which this statue deserves from an artistic stand-point, its position is admirable, leaning upon a rudder on the very spot where he landed in triumph after his naval victories — on a spot which commands a fine view of the harbor. There is one entrance by a grand staircase leading from the royal apartments to the outer court, which has great architectural beauty. It is splendidly or- namented with pillars and niches holding porphyry urns, medallions of ancient kings, bronze figures. A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. 94 etc., but in the main the decorations are of the simplest kind. There are some bas-reliefs in the vestibules of ancient heroes administering justice in curious ways — at least so it seemed to us ; but they can easily be used, however, as historic pegs for the sovereigns of to-day to balance their virtues upon. After all, the inside of a royal abode is al- ways the same. The grand salons, audience-rooms, ball-rooms, throne-rooms have the same pictures, curios, bronzes, gilt, damask, carving, ebony, etc., everywhere, and are a weariness to the flesh, of which this visit was not an exception, until we were shown the family apartment. Whether in other lands this has been an enclo- sure too sacred for vulgar eyes to look upon, or whether in this beautiful North life was more simple, we know not ; but certain it is, we opened ours up- on this opportunity with interest, and to the fact that life seemed to exist in its social and domestic relations here very much after the fashion of other households. Neither were we without proof that the present sovereign, Oscar II., who, coming to the throne a very few years ago, upon the death of his brother, Charles XV., had spent his early life in scholarly pursuits, and had justly earned the reputation of artist, poet, musician, and student. STOCKHOLM . 95 The Chapel Royal had some paintings and carv- ings worthy of note, but to our republican minds its chief interest lay in the announcement that it was open for everybody during the hours of divine service. As our whole visit was made in company with a wholesome peasant woman adorned for the purpose with a fine white handkerchief for her head, and an enormous alpaca apron, receiving from the guides the same attention with ourselves (although she did not pay any kronas), we began to feel that there were democratic branches to this royal tree — an opinion amusingly confirmed by our waiter at the hotel, who often served as valet de place , exclaiming, with immense delight as we halted to look at a portrait of the Crown Prince, “ Oh ! he’s splendid ; he talks to us just like nothing when he’s at the Grand.” But a few moments’ walk from the Palace stands the Westminster of Sweden, Riddarsholm Church, but unlike the noble Abbey in London, it is now used only as a mausoleum. Originally it was built as a Franciscan convent, in pure Gothic style; but fires and re-constructions have made the present ar- chitecture wholly undefinable, especially from the stand-point of the cast-iron perforated spire, 300 feet high, so strange by the light of day and so 9 6 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. picturesque at night, with the stars shining through the delicate tracery. Within the walls the sover eigns of the nation rest under the torn and tattered banners which led their armies to battle, marking the defeats and conquests of their reigns. Looking through an open, grated door of a chapel we see the piled-up drums and hanging flags of the heroic and chivalrous Gustavus Adolphus. Underneath, the body rests in a sarcophagus of Italian marble, and is the shrine before which the heart of Protest- ant Sweden bows. Opposite, in the Caroline Chapel, is a noticeable sarcophagus of white on a pedestal of green marble, covered with a lion skin in brass gilt, and below, under a glass lid, lies a dress shot through, with a pair of long, thick boots near by. This is now the narrow realm of the fiery, wandering, hero king, Charles XII. Next in interest is the beautiful chapel of the present dynasty. In a massive sarcophagus of Elfdal porphyry, copied from that of Agrippa in Rome, rest the ashes of Charles XIV. — or, as the Swedes love to say, Bernadotte, — while in a vault underneath, ornamented with untold richness and splendor, are to be seen the cofifins of the deceased households of the line. Everywhere under the vaulted roof and on the walls are hung the trophies STOCKHOLM. 97 and armorial bearings of the Princes of the realm far down the centuries. “ A thousand flags that once waved to the peal of music and the clang of arms, to the darted javelin and the cannon’s roar,” moulder here with the proudest, mightiest men of the nation, alike perishable. Almost all the kings of Sweden slumber here ; at least we saw the tomb of Magnus, and read thereon that he died in the 13th century. The floor, too, is covered with stones which mark the names of the illustrious dead, while the walls of the choir are draped with shields of the renowned Knights of the Seraphim, noticeably among them the names of Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon III. A short bridge of granite connects the royal sep- ulchre with a building rich in grand events of national history — the “ House of the Assembly of Nobles.” The walls are hung with over 3,000 shields, representing every illustrious family of Sweden, and recalling many a deed of honor, the story of which has gone abroad to other lands. The Nobles of the house of Wasa are here en- shrined, and here the first Gustavus, having freed the subjects of his realm from the tyranny of Christian II. of Denmark, received their most faithful hom- age ; and here, too, the great Gustavus Adolphus, S 9 8 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA . on the eve of his departure for those conquests which ended only with his life, made a free-will of- fering of himself for his beloved people in that ex- quisitely simple and touching manner, before his assembled subjects, which the historians of the “Thirty Years’ War ” have faithfully preserved. The Royal Library in Stockholm has been sub- ject to many vicissitudes, which explains its present meagre appearance. Gustavus II. gave the orig- inal fine collection, with valuable manuscripts, to the University at Upsala just before his death. His faithful daughter, Christina, who was as remark- able in childhood for mental acquirements as she was later on for intrigues, made a collection with great rapidity, one worthy the name of her father, and presented it to the State ; but upon the abdica- tion of her faith, she sent it as a personal gift to the Vatican in Rome. The richest collection of all, subsequently gathered by Charles X., was destroyed by fire in 1697, leaving the present small family of 200,000 in its infancy — not only numerically, but also in value — as the manu- scripts of former times have found other homes. They have one manuscript, however, of historic value — of the Gospels — written in Gothic charac- ters of gold, upon folio leaves of vellum, known as STOCKHOLM, 99 the “ Codex Aureus,” and supposed to have been the work of the 6th or 7th century. A remarkable Anglo-Saxon inscription is found in the book which is curious even to the unlearned, but of especial value to the antiquarian and scholar. The transla- tion says : “ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I, Alfred Aldorman, and Werburg my wife, ob- tained this book from a heathen war troop with our pure treasure, which was then of pure gold. And this did we for the love of God, and our souls’ be- hoof, and for that we would not that this holy book should longer abide in heathenesse, and now will we give it to Christ’s Church, God to praise, and glory and worship in thankful remembrance of His passion, and for the use of the holy brotherhood, who in Christ’s Church do daily speak God’s praise, and that they may every month read for Alfred and for Werburg and for Ahldryd (their daughter) their souls to eternal health, as long as they have de- clared before God that baptism (holy rites) shall continue in this place. Even so I, Alfred, Dux, and Werburg pray and beseech in the name of God Almighty, and of all His Saints, that no man shall be so daring as to sell or part with this holy book from Christ’s Church so long as baptism there may stand. (Signed) Alfred, Werburg, Ahldryd.” This 100 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . manuscript was purchased in Italy, but beyond the fact that it was once the property of Canterbury Cathedral no trace of its wanderings has ever been found. Another curious manuscript found here is a huge copy of the Bible, which the Swedes discovered in a convent at Prague, written on three hundred pre- pared asses’-skins ; and from a hideous illumination, prefixed to an appended collection of incantations against robbers, maladies, etc., it grew to be called the Devil’s Bible. This is a new and fine building, with a grand staircase, on which stands, as the crowning orna- ment, a colossal group of Axel Oxenstierna (by Sergei) recounting to the seated figure of History the deeds of Gustavus Adolphus, — so full of art, both in thought and execution, as to arrest the steps of the visitor, that he too may be a learner from the lips of the able chancellor. On the small island of Helgeandsholm, occupied by the foreign office departments, we passed a pleas- ant hour at the royal stables ; and although these beautiful animals could nowhere be seen to such fine advantage as in the streets, where any kind of equipage has but little display ; yet this family of one hundred and fifty, without their gilded trap- STOCKHOLM. IOI pings, were quite as good exhibitors in their stable as on the highway. That the king thinks them worthy of great names, written over each stall, was plain by a few Shakespearian, but mainly from the gods and heroes of the Greek. A short walk from this spot takes the visitor to quite another atmosphere, — the old market-place, — the tragic scenes of which in the centuries gone time can not bridge. Many dark memories are gathered here, one of which, the Blood-Bath, will always stand out as the most terrible event in the annals of Swedish history. The house which wit- nessed this horrible deed is replaced by the modern Borsen ; but if the guide can not to-day point to the balcony where Sweden’s executioner, Christian II. of Denmark, sat and watched his victims fall, one by one, with savage delight, the fact has a deeper memorial in the hearts of the people than could be found in granite walls. And although at this distance of time even, one recoils from a tragedy so awful, yet, let it be remembered, it proved the sacrificial offering from which came the liberation from long years of bondage, and with it the return of peace and prosperity throughout the realm. If one is interested in the costumes of a country, especially as seen in the working or holiday peas- 102 A SUMMER IN SCAND1NA VIA. ants’ dress, go to the Ethnographic Museum. The interiors of these simple dwellings are carefully re- produced, with their appointments of living, the bridal dress, etc., many of them quite artistic in ar- rangement of color. There is also an Academy of Sciences, with plans and collections full of promise for the future; but of past record the name of Linnaeus, as their first director, seems the crown- ing honor. A Museum of Scandinavian Curiosities is not a misnomer, and to make one visit is a guarantee of another. There are many rooms exclusively filled with the products of the country, full of interest and education ; and what was pleasing, and in strong contrast, was a fine collection of tapestries (Ori- ental stuffs), curiosities of that age. It was an agreeable surprise, also, to find a Soci- ety of Decorative Art, with many departments of work, and many workers as well. This was a place of frequent resort, where there were no fetters of a strange tongue, as they seemed clearly to understand the advantage of good English in this etablishment. The designs in the artistic work were limited, but the colors were beyond a criticism. The singular fascination in all the specimens of work, however, we found in the product of the DalecaMian peas- STOCKHOLM. 103 antry, who in their long winters, shut out by their high latitude and shadowy mountains from the in- spiration of sunshine, surrounded by the drudgery of manufacturing towns, without instruction of any kind, or contact with beauty, — except in very lim- ited forms, — have worked out this indisputable fact, that art is innate. Sweden has within a few years completed a fine building as its National Museum, which well repays some consideration. It was designed by a Berlin architect, Sttiler, in the Renaissance style, with round-arched Venetian windows, and a portal of Swedish marble. Over the front, which overlooks the sea, commanding a view of the Royal Palace, are enshrined, in bas-reliefs, men who have made their country illustrious in the wide range of art and science. Tessin the architect, Sergei the sculp- tor, Tegner the poet, Linnaeus the botanist, Wallin the orientalist, Berzelius the chemist, and above them all the beloved sculptor Fogelberg, whose colossal statues of Odin, Thor, and Freyar adorn the lower vestibule. There is to be found here an arrangement in har- mony with the exhibit of stone or flint, bronze, and iron, which makes the Museum of Northern An- tiquities in Copenhagen so famous, but altogether 104 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA. inferior to what can be seen there. It contains, however, a valuable collection of coins, 50,000 in all — Cufic, Anglo-Saxon kings — said to be finer than that of the British Museum ; but the antiquarian and scholar will pause longest over some Greek and Roman coins, which date back to the Christian era, and were found in the south of Sweden, proving that the spirit of exploration is by no means a modern development. The second story is occupied mainly as galleries for paintings and sculpture, and although the former has nearly 1,500 pictures — where we read the names of Rubens, Van Dyck, Correggio, Titian, with other lights which have for so many years illuminated the world of art, — still this is a poor collection, and the few good works are inharmoniously placed with much that is inferior. The sculpture is arranged in small galleries, and much superior to the paint- ings. The Hall of Endymion has a beautiful statue of the “ Sleeping Endymion,” the gift of Gustavus III. This royal sovereign has a gallery dedicated to his memory, which holds three gems of Swedish mas- ters — Sergei’s “ Amor and Psyche,” Bystrom’s “Juno and Hercules,” and Fogelberg’s “ Venus and Apollo.” Yet after Thorwaldsen there is little STOCKHOLM. I05 to claim attention here. There is real inter- est in the large Hall of Sovereigns, as the historical costumes and- regalia amid a strange people afford genuine information. Birger Jarl, the founder of Stockholm, stands before the visitor, clad in the armor of his own time ; the two great heroes, Gus- tavus Adolphus and Charles XII., are immortalized among these national treasures, as well as Gustavus III. and his assassin, Ankerstrom, in a manner which must add useful information to the learner. The Museum has a fine collection of engravings and drawings, the foundation of which was laid by Count Tessin in the Croyat collection, which num- bers at present over 50,000 plates. Among the drawings are some noticeably fine, from the Nether- land schools, a few genuine bits of work from Ru- bens, Teniers, and Rembrandt. The exterior of the building is very pleasing — ■ simple and classic — girded on three sides by the sea, while to the east an iron bridge of many arches (underneath which the little, gay steamers are con- tinually passing) spans the water to Skeppsholmen, the naval port of the town ; and to complete the picture, a pretty mediaeval building, with its turrets and pinnacles, stands on the opposite side qf the quay. 5 * io 6 A SUMMER IN SC AN DIN A VIA . If book-stores are the criterion of the culture of the place, there can be no doubt of the require- ments of this people, as they not only, vie with the larger capitals in a wide range of literature, but also in that of many tongues ; and we could but pay the polite attendant with unspoken thanks for the pleasure of our introductory visit, as the first book we chanced to take up was the new volume of poems by E. C. Stedman, which took us at once beyond the sea to our early home, “ the heart of New England.” As for photographs they were as endless as they were beautiful — the outcome of the delicious light. Within and without the city walls stand fine school buildings, also hospitals for the sick, maimed, and impoverished. Noticeably among them a home for helpless children, the gift of the late beloved Queen Louisa, whose tender thought for the little ones is not confined to the capital, but is so admin- istered as to reach corresponding needs throughout the realm. A sweet custom is observed here of foster-days. Every day of the year is named, which gives the opportunity for continual holidays in the household. This fact was brought to our minds one day in passing the simplest of homes, which we saw STOCKHOLM. 107 decorated over the door, and a dear little girl, with blonde hair, dressed in white, crowned with flowers. We were told this was Emma day, and learned what the pleasant tradition meant. We awoke one morning to find the streets filled with flowers. They were in shop windows, worn by the ladies, decorated the button-holes of the gentlemen, and carried by the children. The little steamers were ornamented with foliage in fanciful ways, and we found upon inquiry that this, the third week of July, was celebrated as “ Flower Week,” in honor of the saintly names which fill that calendar, of which the beloved Queen Louisa was one. This was the holiday week also for the clubs, which we watched from our windows hour by hour as they embarked from the Baltic quay, in their gaily-decked steamers, for an outing among the islands. The Scandinavians have the reputation of know- ing better how to appreciate their living and honor- ing their dead heroes than any other race, and cer- tainly (although they are not imposing) it would be hard to find a city with a greater number of palaces or statues, or inscriptions in proportion to its size, than Stockholm. Kings in bronze and marble are mounted in squares. Thinkers and writers appear io8 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. to dream amid the verdure of the parks. The statues of Berzelius, the chemist, and Linnaeus, the botanist, stand beside the kings Gustavus Adol- phus, the venerated hero, and Charles XII., the be- loved, while everywhere one reads the sentiment of immortality. We were so fortunate as to be sharers in one of these national ovations, — the Festa of Bellmann, Sweden’s Anacreon, whose statue in bronze we had greatly admired, not only from its artistic merit, but also from its surroundings in one corner of the great park, which it was designed to dedicate. He died a century ago, but lives to-day in freshest memory. The 26th of every July the city decks herself with its fairest adornments for a grand holi- day in his honor; business is suspended that all classes may be sharers in this pleasure. We were told the preceding day what and where the cere- monies were to be ; but when morning came we found to reach the Djurgarden, the scene of the ovation, required the enterprise of having seats se- cured, which we had failed to do, and were obliged to watch during the day from a disappointing dis- tance. However, all was not lost, especially the history of the man at whose feet we saw the nation pouring its unstinted homage. STOCKHOLM . IO9 Bellmann was a Swede of the humble class, un- taught in song; but that the fire burned within was even to himself a discovery when, as a boy on a sick-bed, he took an old lyre, brought by his grandfather from Italy, and began to improvise. From this new birth and baptism he arose and be- came a wanderer through the streets, booths, gar- dens, — in fact, everywhere among the people suited for studies, — and entranced his audiences, in song, with vivid living pictures of his time. Underlying all his improvisation was the purest, kindliest thought, reformatory and elevating in purpose, with deep spiritual meaning, which was an uplifting of the people. He became a prime favorite of Gustavus III., who sent for him on all occasions at court ; and a pretty incident is left on record showing the pleasant relations that existed between them, the ready wit of the songster, and the appreciation of the sovereign. “ Bellmann, you are dull,” said the king one day, meeting him. “You can’t rhyme to-day.” The poet burst forth : King, my money-box is empty, My lyre have I sold ; But within, on my drinking-glass, Is Gustaf’s name in gold. This impromptu created a fine business for the iio A SUMMER IN SC AN DIN A VIA. merchant in the city, as no table was complete without fine glass decorated with gilt crowns, and the initial of the favorite sovereign. When this life closed in, the poet and songster summoned his friends about his bed, and touching his lyre, sang in notes of simple, humble thanksgiv- ing, the good things of his life; the kindness of friends ; his love for the king ; his praises to God, the Giver of all ; when, turning to those about him, he said his farewell to each in a couplet most ten- der, and, as the night wore on, fell into his last sleep, full of the hope of immortality, with song upon his lips. His lyre now hangs on the walls of the Museum, a sacred, honored relic. The evening of this jubilee-day is devoted to the songs of Bellmann in the large gardens of Hassel- backen, where we arranged for good seats. The great audience, which was perfectly quiet, sat in the open air; and the choral songs, wholly by male voices, were given from a midway balcony of the hall. The most fastidious lover of music must have been satisfied, and have taken away the re- membrance that this was a novel pleasure of mel- ody and harmony, which might not come again. Neither did it seem a strange thing that, from so pure an atmosphere as surrounded us, this land STOCKHOLM. Ill of the North should have sent forth to gladden the world such songstresses as Jenny Lind and Christine Nilsson. One pleasant memory in connection with this and smaller festivals, while in Stockholm, will not be forgotten, — an absence of excitement or dissi- pation, a proof of what was the result of inquiry, — that a great change had come over the Swedes, in the use of intoxicating drinks, within a few years. This we fully realized, also, in a long railroad trip, when the sudden illness of one of our party forced us to ask at one of the stations for some brandy, without success, — for the reason, said the chief official, that the law of the State interdicted the sale of any liquors by railroad companies. We were also pleased at the absence of squalid poverty and beggary. Not one of our party were asked alms during the entire month. As our life was out of doors we could see it, unconcealed ; and the humblest, poorest streets had one element of taste, — the flowering plants in the windows, which told its own little story. As in Denmark and Norway, the Church is Evan- gelical Lutheran ; and if the crowds who flocked into and out of the church doors which we passed in going to the chapel, which the English nation 1 12 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. does not forget to plant in every land and clime, were a criterion of the honor in which they hold their faith, as well as .the quietness of the Sunday hours from morning until evening, the inference must be that this was not a period of religious decay. Looking on the map of Stockholm and its ad- juncts, one feels that it is an archipelago. The islands of the Malar stretch far into the interior; and as for the Baltic, although we sailed on its waters daily, and each day a longer trip, yet it was with no prospect of looking out upon the broad sea. It is on these numberless excursions, how- ever, among the soft pictures of both waters, the air ineffably pure, with no bar of mid-day heat or damps of evening dew, or boisterous winds, in a light clearly the “ Offspring of Heaven’s First-Born,” that the greatest pleasure of a visit to this Northern capital is to be found. And very gratifying it was to see that this had become a recognized fact among the civilized nations of to-day, as on the books at the Grand Hotel were registered names of visitors from every country in Europe, except Turkey and Greece, during the month of July. The deck of a pretty steamer which on bright days decorates the waters with gay colors, gliding STOCKHOLM. 113 by the long reaches of coast, fringed with russet rocks, every crevice tufted with soft birch or pine, turning hither and thither through almost impas- sable passes, and with each bend opening up a view of untold beauty, -is indeed a summer idyl, under- neath which one could honestly write “ satisfied.” These are also voyages of discovery, for in the most unexpected places, at every bend, the steamer halts at a private dock, to discharge one or two persons — unmistakably a part of the family from the meetings and greetings, — and looking through the trees, like sweet nests in the shade, peep the summer homes. They are plain, simple buildings of wood, mostly red in color, and abounding in a refined taste which might put to shame more pre- tentious mansions. It is not a question of what one can find to make a holiday, but what the vis- itor can best afford to lose. Among the various excursions on the Baltic fiord, one to the porcelain manufactory at Gustafsborg was especially interesting, not so much from the extent or fineness of the works, which indicate the enterprise and industry of the country, but from the quiet order, cleanliness, and good breeding of the employes in every department. In all its appoint- ments of shops and homes, although simple and 1 14 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. plain, it seemed free from any of the disagreeable features of a manufacturing town. We brought away with us a striking illustration of what all travellers in Stockholm and its region note in the innate politeness of the people. As this was near the close of our visit, curiosity was on the alert to see if we should finish it without one petition for alms ; and walking along the shaded road, when our visit to the factory was over, waiting for the return of the steamer, we saw a little hatless fellow in the middle of the street, poorly or half clothed, who looked at us with an unmistakable longing which we felt sure must find utterance. As an experiment a gentleman of the party asked him a few questions, which were answered with great politeness gratui- tously, but when our small coins were as freely given, the little fellow turned them over in his hand, raised himself very erectly, and putting his hand to his head, looked his hearty thanks, and bowed with the courtliness of a prince. Of parks and pleasure gardens there are many ; but what the Bois is to the Frenchman, Hyde Park to the Englishman, the Djurgarden is to the Swede, and justly fills his heart with pride. Here is an in- dented coast of twenty miles in circumference, with a crowd of embarkations, and a flotilla from every STOCKHOLM . IIS possible direction. It is “ a large piece of ground,” says one distinguished writer, “made into a garden by our Lord Himself.” You drive for miles over the well-kept roads, through scenes of varying pleasure, catching here and there a view of the forest primeval — grand oaks, towering pines — now a view of the turrets of the city, and again through the soft shadows the brilliant colors of the steam- ers. In these grounds are neither limitations nor restrictions — for it belongs to the people — and a spot where all can spend the long, summer days. It was a rare and comfortable sight to come upon quiet groups with lunch baskets, — semetimes feast- ing, sometimes sewing or knitting, — and the little children, unterrified by policemen, playing about with as much freedom as though every inch of ground was their own, as it was, indeed, their sum- mer home. The flowers were not at home here, and even had they been, the grounds were too free for develop- ment, or at least display ; but the birds held high carnival, unmolested in their reign, and we watched with great interest, during our farewell visit to this attractive park, the extensive preparations some handsome squirrels were making for winter’s house- keeping in the hollow of an oak tree. Il6 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. The plain, summer palace of Rosendal (the vale of roses), built by Bernadotte, stands on a border of this park, without other barrier from the throng of visitors than a simple wire fence. So far as buildings, or conservatories, or flower gardens are concerned, there is nothing noticeable in Rosendal ; but a colossal porphyry vase, modelled from the Greek and made in Elf dal Dalecarlia, should not be overlooked. The transporting of this vase to Stockholm was a triumphal procession, and another illustration of the loyal Swedish heart to its own . A band of music preceded a long train of work- men, who followed it the entire distance of two hundred and seventy miles, and all along the pas- sage the people assembled in holiday costume, to add their cheers ; while on its arrival at the capital a prolonged ovation was held in honor of genius and art. One can not, however, pass and re-pass this palace in the little gondolas, that land their passengers on a dock hard by, without noticing on the smooth waters the swans — Sweden’s chosen em- blem — floating about in front of the building, with their wonted grace, as guardsmen. There are towers and observatories, but the view, and unrivalled as a picture, is from Mosebacke, the hill of Moses. What the immortal Hebrew poet STOCKHOLM. II 7 and leader looked out upon from the mountain of promise is to us imaginary, but the spectacle for contemplation here is not fancy. The height is great, and in the distance the undulating land, with its heavy growth of pine, extends over the soil like folds of drapery. On the left the eye commands the Malar, strong and immovable, with its border of rocks. On the right the Baltic, gliding through intricacies as between aisles, cutting a thousand promontories, and resting in gulfs ; at our feet the Malar and Baltic unite, enclosing in their embrace the city with its seven islands. Like the queen in the midst of her court rises the Palace, surrounded by her churches, her palaces, her quays, and forests of masts, which enfold her as with a girdle. She does not repress nature, but adorns herself with it ; a picture, not of borrowed lights, but of a beauty born of its own surround- ings, which would well repay the lover of travel to look upon for himself, before he reaches the con- clusion to “ See Naples and die.” It was summer; the theatres were closed, but one of which — “ the Royal” — has any special interest. Gustavus III. erected this building, and at a bal masque there met his death by a shot, the result of a conspiracy of his nobles. This theatre has, however, another and 1 1 8 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . pleasanter memory, as the place where the voice of Jenny Lind was first heard as a child in the cho- ruses ; and after, in later years, as that power which commanded the world as an audience. For location this is the Square of Palaces, dedi- cated to Gustavus Adolphus, in the centre of which stands a lofty pedestal of Swedish marble, sur- mounted by an equestrian statue of the great General, in bronze, designed by L. Archeveque. On the pedestal in low relief are the portraits of Generals Torstensson, Wrangel, Banar, and Konigs-- marck, his companions and aids in the great strug- gle for Protestantism. When evening comes it is not a question of who- soever will — of the population of 170,000 people — but who can come out into the open air for a holi- day. At six o’clock the gardens are open, supper is made ready, the bands play, and families quietly go out to take their evening meal. There is, too, a large choice, for within a mile of the Grand Hotel the notes of invitation can be heard from a half- dozen orchestras. If one wants the grand view, he must go to the Mosebacke ; but the greatest attraction is at Hasselbacken, by the home of Fogel- man, in the Djurgarden. For less than three cents you can embark in a STOCKHOLM. II 9 little steam gondola, on the Baltic quay, glide un- der the arched bridges along the Classic Museum ; and for an additional twenty-six cents (a kronar) get a nice supper with most fascinating company, hear fine music, and in that delicious light, that lies on the border of a day just going and another just coming, feel content. We were told that with the coming of summer all the aristocracy, in the ac- cepted use of the word which belongs to society, fled. Nobody was at home. May be, but if so they left behind them, in another stratum, a high breeding, which would make a most extraordinary race, if these were the common people. The Swedes have not the cold and severe man- ners generally found in the North, — far otherwise. Their cordiality would seem excessive were they not so natural and sincere. A German writer says : “ The Swedes have preserved the old traditions of European aristocracy, dignified politeness, and chivalrous hospitality,” which we believed as we watched the meetings and greetings and partings of the people, not only in the caf6s, but in all the Ex- changes. The Swedes are a blonde race; the men tall, graceful, erect, social, — but never noisy — an expres- sion bright and reflective. The women are fair, 120 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. with clear blue eyes, exquisite color, polished man- ners ; while to both sexes the inheritance of a beautiful mouth and teeth, for which they are so justly famed. As for the nights in this fair city, they are but dim shadows. Under the warm tones of the even- ing hour the sun goes slowly down ; heaven em- braces the landscape, but darkness does not follow. The numerous gardens are everywhere filled with the pleasure-loving people. The gay steamers with their precious freight fly noiselessly over the Malar Sea. From each corner of the city there float on the crystal atmosphere the notes of many-tongued orchestras. “ The air is filled with music And the cares that infest the day, Fold their tents like the Arabs, And silently melt away.” CHAPTER VIII. ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. So far the travel, and consequently the literature, of Scandinavia has been largely devoted to Den- mark and Norway. As English tourists are pioneers of highways and byways, whether it be northward, southward, eastward, or westward, the civilized world follows them as a guiding star. Norway is a natural temptation to an English- man. She has a display of mountain and valley — fiords, with infinite charm, forests of great strength, the Lofoden Islands, the midnight sun — not to be found elsewhere, and in delightful contrast with the garden of his native soil. The men of England are not in search of history, as found in the Palaces, Cathedrals, Mausoleums, and relics of other lands, for as loyal subjects the pages of the world’s highest development, with its chival- rous deeds, are largely written within their own borders, in characters which the natural growth of this or any age can not easily dim. 6 ( 121 ) 122 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. Yet this is a land, and these a people, who have been more than lookers-on in the world’s progress. As Americans we trace the first link here between our own and another land centuries before the great discoverer from Spain touched our shores. Looking across history, a glance reveals the power and conquests of these Norsemen, which seems less a romance and more a fact, standing in the midst of what is so graceful and strong in nature. Their kings once sat upon the throne of England ; they founded the dynasty which gave sovereigns to Rus- sia for centuries ; for a long period France was a victim to their invasions; they held Constantinople in their grasp, and on every coast of every land they were not only the discoverers and victors, but they also maintained their position as lords and rulers. The rocky, barren coasts of Norway, from which most of the embarkations of these daring adventurers were made, bear no signs of these he- roic men. They have left behind them a peasant race, with- out record anywhere of valorous deeds. Nature is their pride, their birthright, and now, as in all the ages, stands unadorned — supreme. Crossing the border line to Sweden — a part of the same family — the contrast is unreconcilable ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. 123 with any theory of race, climatic influence, habits, or interchange with the world. The fact of what the men of Sweden have done, from the earliest time, to raise the State from obscurity and give it life, breathes in the air of to-day at every turn, where simple though touching evidences are to be read, whether in country or city, and makes the sur- prise of the visit an added pleasure. Especially is this true of the shores of the lakes, which afford over one hundred miles of delightful excursions in the vicinity of Stockholm, amidst a countless vari- ety of waterways, each one of which has an ob- jective point of interest. The greatest souvenirs of Swedish history line the borders of the Malar, as dear to the national heart as Loch Katrine is to the Scots. The Malar is seventy-five miles long, dotted with 1,400 islands and thirty historic homes, some in excellent preservation, others a ruin, but each and all rich in some story intimately connected with the past. Its situation is in the heart and cradle of the kingdom, bounded by three important provinces, Upland, Sodermanland, and Wertman- land, with its many arms intersecting the country in all directions ; its islands of infinite beauty and variety, some of which are adorned with pleasant villas, others so remote as to represent absolute sol- 124 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. itude, where months instead of days could be de- lightfully spent. Even the sportsman, accustomed to the resources of Norway, might not wholly ig- nore the facilities of distant parts of this lake, where game and good fishing are found in abun- dance. Most of the royal homes for summer are reflected from the waters of the Malar, the stateliest of which is at Drottningholm, the favorite abode of the present sovereign. The situation is indeed po- etic, on one of the small islands of this lake, called Lofon. It is only seven miles from the capital by highway, — a charming drive, full of interest. A bit of wood here, and a bridge there (which one is constantly crossing), makes a pleasant excursion in itself, — although the little steamers, which seem infinite, go every hour for the enormous sum, per trip, of thirteen cents (half a krona). This is another creation of their beloved archi- tect, Count Tessin, and one of the few buildings throughout the entire kingdom which would bear any comparison with the stately abodes of Europe. It had its birth in the last part of the sixteenth cen- tury, although the sovereigns of later years have crowned it with their offerings of taste and money, to make it the modern home and worthy the kings. ' ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. 125 Inside, the State departments were worth the visit, but we were more pleased with an additional proof here of the artistic taste which distinguishes King Oscar II. His paintings were finer than those to be seen in the palace at Stockholm ; and the ar- rangement of a long suite of rooms, to which he had given his best thought, was a fine exhibition of taste, refinement, and comfort. One sees the same thought of domestic life running through every home in the North, whether in palace or cottage, that preparation which is born of the long winter. But we had seen palaces, and many of them, in richer lands than this. Novelties were not inside the walls, but outside. Here, again, the visitor is staggered by the question, ‘ What is climate ? ” — as he steps out from castle gates and walks under the gothic arches of long avenues of lindens and elms. It is a latitude far to the North, and there is no Gulf Stream with which to reckon ; but cultivation has made these trees as grand in size, as rich in beauty and form, as the stately shades of Hampton Court. Gustavus III., the sovereign so devoted to French taste, formed a unique and charming structure of clipped trees, which he named a theatre du ver- dure, used as the scene of his French plays; and 126 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. although the love he once commanded from his subjects, by years of faithful service, ended in his assassination, — the result of his own folly, nearly a century ago, — here was a little spot where his memory was kept fresh ; but whether from love of the dead monarch’s virtues, or pity for his follies, or an unwillingness to destroy a pretty creation of art, was not our business to question. This mag- nificent park covers many acres, full of delightful walks, shades, ponds ; and the people have, as on every foot of soil wherever found in adjacent parks, free access to all the comforts and pleasures they afford. The French taste is conspicuous here, an element scarcely foreign in Sweden ; however, a Chinese pagoda, in fact a small museum of curios- ities from the land of the Celestials, a Swiss cot- tage, bronzes in classic forms, are continual proofs, in strolling through the grounds, that here are the acres for a display of the favorite tastes of the kings and queens of modern times. While this was the one spot, above all others, in the three kingdoms which had the appearance of court dignity, yet we were told, during the summer- time, that life was perfectly informal with the royal family ; that all ceremony and etiquette was aban- doned at their largest receptions. But a little way ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. 127 from this palace, on another island of the same blue waters, is a spot dear to the Swedish heart, known as the favorite retreat of Gustavus Adolphus and his generals, where most of his brilliant campaigns were discussed and matured. It is a large, sombre- looking place, bearing much evidence of neglect. Gustavus Wasa, who lived many years to enjoy the triumphs of his glorious achievements, built a fine palace here, which, after its use as a stronghold passed away, became the dowager residence of sev- eral Swedish queens, and at present looks as though “ its occupation was over.” After the fatal event at Lutzen the loyal heart of Sweden crowned this park with a fine marble group of the hero, with his faithful Oxenstierna ; but the hand of time, and espec- ially the touch of vandalism, have spoiled its beauty. Passing on to other islands, the charming palace of Rosenborg appears, which, in its unmistakable French style, is in sharp as well as pleasing con- trast to some of the dull effects which surround it. There is something captivating in the park, and the sylvan, warm aspect of the scenery ; so the fact that this was the home of Bernadotte is in part an explanation. The French king must have found little enough in this poor land to meet the wants of those luxuries in taste and climate to which 128 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . he was born, which makes this small but handsome palace, decorated and furnished in a faultless style, the more noticeable because seen on uncon- genial soil. There are twelve royal abodes (in name) which belong to the Swedish crown, but at this moment the most poetical spot is Ulriksdal, the place of pilgrimage, as it was loved and adorned and beau- tified by the late King Charles XV. It is almost within the city’s arms, which you can reach by land or water. The drive is delightful, and takes you through the parks of the two small palaces, Haga and Java ; thence through long avenues of trees, between pretty villas, until you reach the palace ; while by water you take the steam gondola at the foot of the stairs at the museum, proceed along the Djurgarden park, the Rosendal palace, pass a float- ing bridge along the shore of the camping-ground, catch views of the fine shades in Haga park, and land at the foot of the palace grounds. The build- ing is unpretentious, occupying three sides of a square, but delightfully situated on the bay, Which has a pretty slope to the water’s edge. Our visit was during the blossoming season of the lindens, which made the air so heavy with perfume as to suggest the voluptuous South. ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. 129 When Bernadotte assumed the responsibilities of government, necessity was law, and as results in his administration proved, economy was the virtue which helped largely to win the hearts of his peo- ple. This palace he thought was a superfluity, and therefore directed that it should be used as a hotel des invalides. A more prosperous era dawned upon the State ; the work of the noble King Bernadotte was over, when his grandson, Charles XV. — still quite a youth — set the seal of his love upon this spot as his home, a legacy to his subjects which they hold in sacred remembrance. The king was an artist, and far happier, it is said, in the quiet pursuit of his tastes than when called to assume the responsi- bilities of State. He called himself a farmer before he was a king, and arranged his home after the fashion of an Englishman’s country-seat, rather than as a museum, the only room of historical value being a sleeping apartment, containing the bedstead used by Gustavus Adolphus during his campaigns, with the rest of the furniture in har- mony. We were told some charming stories of the ex- treme simplicity of this so-called gentleman king, which harmonized well with the refined, peaceful surroundings of the place ; and that he had the 6 * 130 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. rare gift of maintaining his royal power, while at the same time he was obedient to the demands of the humblest subject, breathes in every record he has left behind. There was an entire absence of retainers about the premises — simply as showmen ; those we saw were at work, and in this fact there was the contin- uation of the king’s habit of open doors at Ul- riksdal. Among the interesting anecdotes told us in proof of the freedom of this home, was the visit of an English party, who for once turned aside from the accustomed habit of travel in foreign lands to gather some things from within doors, but most of all to see this Swedish king, famous alike for manly beauty and great accomplishments. Reaching Ulriksdal one fine summer day, armed and equipped with letters which were sure to open any castle gates, they found the wide doors of the baronial hall open from park to bay, without a single official in sight. This was certainly an unex- pected position for gentlemen of that nationality, and for the moment threatened defeat ; but walking about the grounds, making such inquiries as were at their command, they observed a tall gentleman near the entrance, with a slouch hat, smoking, en- joying the scene with calm intelligence, to whom ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. 131 they made known their errand and their embarrass- ment. The inquiry of whether they could be for- mally presented to the king was waived, but the gen- tleman, with silent dignity, offered them all the opportunity of sight-seeing the place contained, even to an introduction to the king’s studio, which to them was sacred ground. Of course there was embarrassment in departing, over a proper acknowl- edgment of their hospitalities, as these noblemen very well understood their host was not an ordinary exhibitor, and with their hearty thanks asked, with some reserve, to whom they were indebted for the pleasures of the morning, which was promptly an- swered by this distinguished sovereign, as, with an air belonging to his station, he said, to Charles XV., King of Norway and Sweden, at the same time bow- ing them a polite adieu. This singular disregard of ostentation or homage as a king made him greatly beloved by the humbler classes, whom he called his friends, and it is not strange that his portrait hangs on many a cottage wall as a shrine, of whom they reverently speak as “ the good King Carl.” Gripsholm is the noblest and most historic of all the royal abodes, which the Englishman, who car- ries the national measure of everything with him I3 2 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. from the cradle to the grave, calls the Windsor of Sweden. A visit to this castle requires a sail of six hours, as it stands on the southern shore of the Malar, but as it is the pantheon of the noble family of Wasa and their contemporaries, the opportunity offered here is not to be found elsewhere in the realm, as it is by far the richest of all the royal abodes, both in historic memories and valuable col- lections. This venerable castle introduces one of the no- table characters in the history of the country, and proves that money was king in the early part of the 14th century as well as in modern times. Bo Jour- son Grip is not a euphonious name, but, as the story goes, his ducats were pleasing in court, or within castle walls. The inventory of his posses- sions is fabulous, and puts the bank accounts of the money princes of to-day in the shade, as his exchequer held castles, provinces, towns, mines, and an amount of acres never equalled by any private man in Europe. Finland was his, also a large part of Sweden, with its strongholds, held in security for the immense sums of money advanced to King Albert, in carrying on the extensive wars of the realm. The sequel proved, however, in his own life, “ that too much of a good thing was too much.” ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. 133 There was no limit to his individual will or power ; law and honor was his creed for the people, his de- pendents, not for himself, as in him, and by him, and through him rested (or at least should rest) the hopes and fears of the entire State. The reign of this all-powerful co-regent of King Albert was in the days of Romish despotism, and where the State failed in authority, the Church was not to be ques- tioned. His violent and gross sins were not un- noticed or unreproved by Papal authority, and large sums of money were quietly received as palliations, which seemed in the end rather to strengthen than restrain his passions. At length, in pursuit of an inno- cent victim of his hate, overcome by rage, he entered the sacred doors of Riddarsholm Church, and forget- ful of the sanctity of the place, rushed to the high al- tar, which was supposed by the young man to be a safe refuge, and took his life. Much to the edifica- tion of the people throughout the realm, a ban was pronounced over the great Bo Jourson Grip, which could not be resisted. Pardon was only won by submission to law, with large sums- of money, fixed by the reigning Cardinal in proportion to the vast fortune of the criminal, to be paid for the two Uni- versities, every college, every parish and priest throughout the realm where he held estates. 134 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . On the death of this remarkable personage the reigning monarch, King Albert, demanded from his heirs restitution of the Crown property, but at the same time refused to discharge the liens upon it ; which unjust request caused a civil war, the deposi- tion of the king, and proved the immediate cause of the union of Calmar. This moneyed autocrat was the founder of Gripsholm, and although, after many vicissitudes, it came into the hands of the Wasas, it still bears the name of the man who planned originally a fortress for personal safety. It is a grand old pile, rich in memories, and a striking picture from the approach by Lake Malar. In the early days it offered a shelter to Sten Sture, regent of the kingdom, but to Wasa I. the honor belongs of the present building, with its four towers, each bearing the name of one of his sons, although it came unto its present state of perfection in the days of Gustavus III. This is, indeed, an old baronial castle, pentagonal in shape, enclosing two courts, with many features of a mediaeval stronghold. Within, on palace walls, are hung a collection of pictures, which not only bridges space, but brings a large reward to the vis- itor for his pilgrimage. These can hardly be ex- celled in any of the courtly halls of Europe, as ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM . 135 there are 2,000 portraits in the entire collection, ar- ranged according to the reigning dynasties, the first of which belongs to Gustavus Erickson, the father of the great line of kings. There are several repre- sentations of this hero, taken at different periods of his long, successful reign of nearly forty years ; and surrounding him the canvas glows with the con- temporaries of his time, illustrious names of kings, queens, ministers of state, cardinals in the church, men and women who, at that period, made civil and ecclesiastical history. Passing hurriedly through various halls one must recognize a familiar atmosphere in the celebrities of the period of Gustavus III., to whom one of the halls is dedicated. These portraits are largely gifts from the French court, who recognized a sort of kinship to this monarch, and paid him marked dis- tinction. The flower of this collection is a beauti- ful likeness of Marie Antoinette, between whom and Gustavus III. there existed a sincere friendship, as shown by several letters from this unfortunate queen, in the Gustavean collection at Upsala. England lights up these gray old walls with such renowned names as Henry VIII., Elizabeth, Mary Stuart, and the Georges. Prussia looks down upon the visitor through its honored sovereign, Frederick 136 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. II. Joseph of Austria and Charles of Spain adorn these walls far to the north ; and not to be passed unnoticed, the seventy ministers of the peace of Westphalia, which closed the Thirty Years’ War. The gem of all these palace walls have to offer, and one which will arrest the steps of the visitor longest, is the group which surrounds Gustavus Adolphus, his chancellor Oxenstierna, with their associates in war as well as in state. In close prox- imity, also, is the sweet face of Ebba Brahe, the early love of Adolphus — a love returned — but alas ! when was the story of a mother’s management new ? When will it be old ? This is* indeed, an honored abode to which Sweden may well point with pride, and although the faithful historian would have many sad pages to write of the dark deeds these walls have witnessed, yet it was the home of that sovereign who gave freedom to his people, and after that religious liberty, therefore call it “hallowed ground.” To make one of the crowning deeds of this monarch consecrated, or rather to bring it as a fact with more force to the mind, you look across from these castle walls to the small island of Bjorko, an important port in the Pagan era, but of commemorative value as the spot where the Monk Ansgarius proclaimed the first notes of Christianity to the Swedes. ENVIRONS OF STOCKHOLM. 3 7 Still sailing over the blue waters of the Malar emerging from the green of the landscape, the chateau of Skokloster appears with its four towers enclosing a perfect square, and judging from its ex- terior, a dwelling fit for a prince. The situation is indeed commanding — on a high bank, which con- trols not only the varied views of the lake, but also a wide reach of the country around. This is a spot especially sacred to the memory of the great Gus- tavus, as it was originally his gift to Thorman Wrangel, the field marshal, whose son, Charles Gustavus, was one of the renowned generals of this heroic man who built Skokloster as seen to-day. This is called, and justly, the finest private home in Sweden, — superb in size, in style, in finish, and decoration. The great achievements of Commander Wrangel were made after the death of his king, so that when the apparently endless conflict was over this was a natural as well as beautiful asylum for rest from the dangers and struggles of thirty years on the field of battle, so enriched by many trophies from Germany, with which he made his home a liv- ing history, he laid aside his weapons of war, hung up his banners, and rested. The only child of the admiral was a daughter, who married a Brahe, and hence this beautiful es- I38 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. tate fell into the hands of that illustrious family, where it still belongs. This is the richest of all the modern homes in the State ; a fine collection of pic- tures, second only to the gallery at Gripsholm, and like that contains the portrait of Ebba Brahe, the beloved of the great sovereign. Count Brahe, the son-in-law of Wrangel, filled it with treasures, cap- tured during the long war, of great historical value. The library of 30,000 volumes is a choice selection, and the cabinets rich in story. The armory is es- pecially fine, with 12,000 firearms of all descriptions ; swords, sabres, and poignards, incrusted with gold and precious stones, of historical value ; the shield of Emperor Charles V., taken at Prague, one of the finest works of Benvenuto Cellini ; also the behead- ing sword used at the blood bath of Linkoping. CHAPTER IX. UPSALA. OUR plan on arriving at Stockholm was to push on to the Baltic, but the fascination grew, holding us so fast, that day by day we lingered over the pleasures that were at hand, before we willingly left the capital for the university town — called the Ox- ford of the kingdom ; the one situated at the en- trance, the other at the bottom of the most shel- tered bend of the renowned Malar. It was undoubtedly an accommodation steamer upon which we had embarked for this enterprise, as we made more stops than we travelled miles ; but what matter, the deck of the boat was comfort- able with easy-chairs ; we had good company ; we were environed by the light and air of Stockholm, and existence was a pleasure. The scenery is a little tame for the first miles ; but interest is kept alive by the sight of pretty chateaux, the retreats of famous generals of the Thirty Years’ War — one of Torstenson, another of Oxenstierna — which (139) 140 A SUMMER IN SCAN DIN A VIA. looked as though rest after the long battle could be found there. We salute also in passing a mass of ruins, which was once the capital of Sigtuna, the name of which city often resounds in the epic tales of ancient Sweden. Here, according to legend, the hero-god Odin, terrible in fight and persuasive in tongue, built his first city, which lived through cen- turies of pagan rule. Temples were erected and sacrifices were offered upon this foundation in the nth century, where he had an unmolested reign as conqueror, law-giver, priest, and king. The vicissitudes of spoils and restoration followed Sigtuna, but the Prussians to- tally destroyed it, carrying away as a single trophy the silver gates, which were placed under a Byzan- tine cupola at Novgorod. The founding of Stock- holm by the powerful Earl Birger Jarl, was the final ruin of Sigtuna. The scenery grows fascinating as we pass gay gardens and green meadows, timbered parks and sloping lawns, brown rocks and noble trees, channel after channel opening to view, island after island fading awSy, tiny skiffs shooting between islets, and deeply laden vessels creeping lazily along in the still air. We pass pretty villas of to-day, crumbling ruins of the bygone years, neighborhoods of snug UPSALA. 141 homes on the banks, and are told that certain local-, ities were once the starting-point of the expeditions of the Vikings. In the meantime the steep banks are growing nearer each other, and the lake becomes a rivulet, in some places hardly that, so sluggish is the water, scarcely more than a flooded meadow. The rivulet forms a bay; the banks are more fertile. We see the hills of Upsala, the massive outlines of castle and cathedral, and the university rises to view, half palace, half barracks, upon a prominent height without shade, bleak and bare. Two quays stretched out on either side of our steamer, which suddenly stopped, and we stepped out upon the cobble-stone streets of Upsala, as clean as they were rough. It seemed the abode of peaceful studies, and as a favorable introduction our first homage was to Linnaeus. A little temple is dedicated to his mem- ory in a corner of the Botanical Gardens, where Bystrom, in an excellent statue of bronze, has rep- resented him as lecturing upon his favorite flower, and a pleasing incident connected with this monu- ment is preserved to the credit of Gustavus III. This was to be the gift of a few special admirers, for which the money was so quietly raised that, when the king, unasked, brought his royal offering, 142 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. it was received by the projector of the plan with hesitation, and with this explanation : that the pro- posed inscription was, that this monument was to be erected only by friends and disciples , to which Gustavus answered : “ And am I not also one of Lin- naeus’ disciples?” That we were walking over the same ground, and standing under the same fine shades, where for twenty years the great botanist was engaged in the contemplation and analysis of a blade of grass, made his name and work a liv- ing reality, and a story we had read of his inherit- ance anything but a romance. The father of Lin- naeus not only showed a great love for botany, but his mother also. So deep and earnest was her love of flowers that when she saw them cut off by the October frosts, she sank into a kind of melancholy, from which she was only diverted by the first spring blossoms. Carl, her beloved son, was born early in June, cradled in his mother’s garden, and had only flowers for his toys. If this be true, — and to use his own language, “ he was transferred from a cradle to a garden,” — the law of heredity was his master, and so strong, as the pretty story runs, as to make him fall down on his knees and thank God. When he first caught sight of a common in Eng- land, blazing with the burnished gold of the furze, UPSALA. 143 — a spectacle of beauty astonishing and complete, — it was in vain for him to work at anything else. The Church was his destination. So said the father ; and to make suitable preparation for that office, he was placed at the university at Lund, but to no purpose. A higher destiny awaited him as the founder of a beautiful science, the rudiments of which he worked out alone with Nature. It was pleasant to visit the spot where success, at the early age of thirty-three years, crowned those labors which have blessed every land. Sweden, through her university at Upsala, appointed him professor in the vigor of his years, placing him above all want, with leisure to pursue his studies later in life, crowning him with knighthood, and in a charm- ing home spent his advancing years surrounded by all the resources which had been the accumu- lation of a sincere, pure, industrious life, and where his days were supremely blessed by eager students, young and old, from his own and other lands, curi- ous and eager to know the man “ who had arranged nature.” Upsala is more than a university town. It is the ecclesiastical capital of the State, where for many years kings were crowned long after the royal resi- dence was moved to Stockholm; and, like Trond- 144 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. hjem of Norway, Upsala is the historical and intel- lectual centre of the Swedish Empire. The gov- ernor of the shire is stationed here ; also the arch- bishop of the realm, who is the primate of all Sweden. It is saying but little to speak of the cathedral as the chief attraction from an exterior view, and comparatively nothing from an artistic stand-point, — built of brick, and of a very ugly sort, with stone portals in the gothic style, with walls, windows, gables, doors, and roof plain to severity. This ecclesiastical pile had a beginning in the thirteenth century, and probably when finished, many years later, looked much better than now. The plan for rebuilding met with many changes, out of harmony with any order of architecture, in consequence of repeated fires, which everywhere in Scandinavia have made great havoc. Within, the proportions are fine, and in outline will bear crit- icism ; but the arches are poor enough without their proper dress of ornament ; the chapels and aisles looked cheated out of proper vestments ; on the windows none of the ecclesiastical thought or history is written in beautiful color, which is such an attractive feature of those noble monuments of the Church ; and the walls so poor and cold as to cast a gloom throughout the building. UPSALA. 145 Evidently Sweden never had the ducats to make a fine cathedral, or at least, before she was liberated from the bondage of debt, she became a Protestant people, — more in harmony with the free pulse to which she was born. A little flight of stairs leads to a vaulted chamber, out of the damp and cold, where the crowns and sceptres of the monarchs of the early time are hidden away under lock and key, curious only to the visitor of to-day as illustrating how sacredly this people treasure every incident connected with their national history. Leaving this sacristy of gold and silver from the dead — and which our exhibitor considered especially valu- able as containing the blood-covered clothes, the knight’s hat of Neils Sture, cruelly beheaded in the savage reign of Eric XIV. — we wandered about the chapels and church aisles to see if this visit would be fruitless. At every turn of the journey through Sweden, — whether in town or country, on the lakes or in the forests, — the story of the gallant, patriotic, chival- rous, self-sacrificing deeds of Gustavus Wasa, and his grandson, the immortal Adolphus, are written ; and unconsciously one becomes a student in search of those records which give to a living history such value. Therefore it was we found a visit to 7 146 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. this cathedral not an idle pilgrimage, as it holds the remains of Gustavus Wasa, from which no pa- triot of any land could turn away with indifference. It is a large burial chapel behind the altar, with a fine window of stained glass ; and surrounding the walls, in seven different compartments, are as many frescoes, illustrating leading events in his patriotic life. It was a novel picture, this solid bronze of the dead monarch, draped as it were by illustrated pages of his life ; and although the art was not of high talent, the thought that placed them there was worthy the most profound homage. And what did they tell us? What made the name and fame of this man far-reaching? That he was the liberator of his beloved country from the yoke of Denmark could be seen in this splendid history in epitome, and how it was done also. His disguise as a Dalecarlian peasant ; his plea with them ; his battle between the Dalecarlians and Danes ; and after all his years of struggle ; his nar- row escapes from the thirst for his blood by his enemies, comes the picture of his triumphal entry into Stockholm as conqueror and king, the crown of which is to be seen in the presentation of the Bible to his subjects as a last and final victory. We must not pass unnoticed any of the marbles UPS A LA. 147 on which are engraved the names of those men great in war under the princely king Gustavus Adolphus, or fail to read on a fine mural tablet of red porphyry (under the nave), with a bronze por- trait by Sergei, the name of Linnaeus. Tis a gloomy vault under which they rest, but there is royal company around, in the names of such illus- trious families as Sture, Brahe, Oxenstierna, and De Geer. Sten Sture, the beloved administrator, founded the University at Upsala in 1477, but what it is at the present moment is due to the plan, and execu- tion as well, of Gustavus Adolphus. The laws which govern the State make it imperative to pro- vide the best opportunity for their young men, both preparatory and classical, as students can only enter these college doors except through their own high-schools. As one of the protections which the Crown demands for the support of her universities, no Swede can enter upon a medical, clerical, or legal profession unless he has taken his degree at Upsala or Lund, which is in the southern part of the kingdom. Different sovereigns have erected valuable aids to the success of the college. Gusta- vus Adolphus built an academy with lecture-rooms, and a valuable museum with extensive collections, \ 1 48 A SUMMER IN SC AN DIN A VIA. but the gift of Charles XIV., the Carolina Redi viva, is by far the most important. Here is a library, well chosen, of 200,000 volumes, and about 10,000 manuscripts. Among the latter is the cele- brated Codex Argenteus, a copy of the four Gos- pels, translated into the Gothic language in the 4th century, and written in letters of silver upon vellum of pale purple. The characters are nearly identical with the Runic, interesting and valuable as the oldest monument of Teutonic language. The copy was made in the 5th century, and after many wanderings found lodgment here, but through what hands it passed, or nationalities touched in the meantime, the tale does not relate. The 1,200 students make the place, and give it the unmistakable aspect of a university town. We were told that the entire cost for each student did not of necessity exceed more than $350 per annum, which was one explanation of the great in- telligence of the people, and a natural reason why so large a proportion of the young men of the country received a classical education. Judging also from little incidents which came under our ob- servation, the word education was not a misnomer in these institutions, for there were not only a good many hours of work each day, but to be a doctor UP SAL A. 149 one must work from five to seven years, and the law required five. These students, though bound together by one national heart, represent their one province as a single nation, where they have their separate halls, libraries, and colors noticeable in the style of cap. If they have little to stir the pulse from without, the warm blood which fires their veins has made the youths of this land famous in what is called their Annual Congress, which we unfortunately missed as one of the exceptional charms of this Northern visit ; at least, the stories thereof by some brilliant writers, who had been eye-witnesses and sharers in these festivities, could but leave the impression that they were as novel as they were attractive. An accident depending upon climate gave birth to this custom, about the dawn of the present cen- tury. It was in winter so severe that the strait which separates the Danish from the Swedish coast, between Copenhagen and Malmo, was frozen over — rare even in that extreme latitude. The students of Lund, in southern Sweden, thought it would be fun to profit by this bridge nature had made, to pay their comrades of the Danish capital a visit, while at the same time the Copenhagen students were ar- ranging to march in a procession to Lund, and cu 1 50 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA. riously enough, both impelled by the same thought, at the same time met upon the ice in the middle of the strait, at an equal distance from the two kingdoms. It seemed an easy thing for these young, fresh hearts — as children of one family, es- pecially over a joyous frolic — to forget the quarrels of the fathers, and so the gloomy recollections which they had been taught to foster by the Union of Calmar — slumbered, and they talked with friend- ly feeling of the future, resolved to bury the past, and, after numerous toasts, agreed to renew these unions, to invite their comrades of Christiania and Upsala, the object of which should be to draw to- gether the divided branches of the great Scandina- vian race. A white cap with a black rim was the sign of this bridge of friendship over that river of blood which once flowed between kindred' nations. Since that time several of these congresses have been held at Upsala, making merry the entire town with a week of jubilee, as fresh as the bright young hearts from which they spring. In every assembly where the members are over eighteen years of age politics is the theme for dis- cussion — the inspiration of the speeches, and the enthusiasm of the banquet. It was in the midst of such festivities that the idea of Scandinavianism UPSALA. 151 had its birth, and the plan adopted that under the same sceptre the universities of the three king- doms, Copenhagen, Christiania, Lund, Helsingfors, and Upsala, should unite. Twenty years ago this principle of nationality burned with such zeal in the hearts of these Scan- dinavian youths that they resolved to make the tour of Europe, as personal investigators of other races and governments, as seen in their varied cli- mates — their governments, institutions, towns, cit- ies, and multiform development ; and as a proof that the wiser heads of the kingdom did not frown upon this enterprise as a foolish adventure, these young men were joined by statesmen and journal- ists, who, by agitation and discussion, made this a fine opportunity for valuable lessons to those young students in the important questions of polit- ical economy. The venture was not exactly after the plan or expectations of the wise young heads, but it marked an epoch in their education which was a matter of congratulation to fathers and teach- ers, as from geographical position and the necessity of great economy, the sons of this land have few opportunities as learners from personal contact with the advanced civilizations of the world. The re- sult of this visit was so marked in its wise and 152 AS UM ME R IN SC A NDINA VIA . helpful lessons to the students in the universities of the North as to have made a record in history, and should put to shame the waste of time, money, and thought expended upon what is called the de- velopment of travel in richer lands. The -reunions of these seats of learning went on as before, but the young men gave up deciding the fate of dynas- ties, the alliances of royal families, the grave ques- tions which could only be settled by the nations where they were agitated, and took the attitude of learners. Active politics was proscribed from their banquets, and if they still preach the drawing to- gether of the different branches of the race as their proudest theme, they, are understood to speak only of a moral literary reunion — a union which, in the North, was said to be realized thirty years ago, when the honored and revered Tegner “crowned with laurels the Dane Olenschlager, in the Cathedral at Lund, amid the acclamations of the youth of both countries.” Within a few years these fetes have derived a fresh importance from the presence of the Finnish students of the Helsingfors University. Heretofore Finland was debarred this privilege of national, or rather ethnographical, representation ; but in 1875 the Russian Government granted the authorization UPS ALA. 153 asked for, and the family circle is now complete. These festivals afford a fine opportunity for hospi- tality on the part of the students, one which, from authenticated reports, they do not fail to adorn with faultless cordiality. The old town of Upsala, we were told, was es- pecially worthy a visit, as this was once a famous seat of the ancient mythology, the spot chosen by Freyja after the worship and dynasty of his ances- tor, Odin, was firmly established in the country, for the National Temple. So here the capital was re- moved from Sigtuna, the great temple was built, and justice administered, although at the fearful cost of human sacrifice. The drive there from the university had not even the charm of a dreary country, but a strangeness, which we could hardly define — perhaps it was a tinge of antiquity — of that gloomy sort, the records of which surrounded this atmosphere, which shad- owed the wayside flowers, made the clover fields look out of fashion, and the fields of grain wear the aspect of another age. Certain it is, that during the short drive of four miles we had left the civil- ization of to-day, and aired our feeble stores of knowledge belonging to the dawn of time in this Northland with rapid strides. Murray told us we 7 * 154 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. should find the remains only of a small village, which, so far as our observation went, consisted of a single house, the little granite church, so quaint that we were glad to accept the statement that a part of its walls belonged to the ancient temple, and the three remarkable tumuli, which tradition says are the graves of Odin, Thor, and Freyja. They were certainly curious, as was also the keeper of the ugly little church, who looked like a rem- nant (and a small one also) of that bygone time, which this spot makes a feeble effort to commem- orate. One of our party, who was familiar with the language of the country, vainly tried to get some information from him of what we saw about us — half concealed legends which we knew were carefully preserved on this once sacred soil, and which only required but a turn of the key to make them of interest to us ; but the ears of this antiqua- rian seemed only alive to our small coins. So we walked through the old church, sat under the trees, — useful for picnic shade — searched our memories, while two of our party made some pretty sketches. Next to Sigtuna this is said to be the spot of high- est antiquarian interest in the country ; but the evi- dences did not appear to our sight or sense, and it was impossible to believe, in searching the miserable UPS A LA. 155 church for one feature of beauty, that a magnifi- cent temple ever covered this ground, resplendent with gold, silver, and precious stones, alike import- ant in vestment and ceremonial. It was, after all, more than a myth, the worship of Odin, and not in the beginning of time either, where such to us unnatural things are often placed. That the great forces of nature as seen in some parts of this land gave an undue value to the mani- festations of their powers, when mind was in the ignorance of infancy, is not strange. LTooking at the relations of cause and effect, to be traced alike in art, science, and religion, whether of the pagan, the middle, or the present age, it was not unnatural that these Northerners, dwelling in daily com- munion with this grand nature, should fancy they perceived a mysterious and independent energy in her operations, and at last come to “ confound the moral contest man feels within him, with the physi- cal strife he sees around him.” The refinements of paganism, such as belonged to the developments of classic lands, would be un- natural amidst the “ monstrous crags, the glim- mering peaks ” of this iron-bound clime, where the contending powers of nature become a daily presence, and the “ opposing forces of heat and 156 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. cold a battle-ground.” This common theory of Odin’s religion did not seem to us exactly in har- mony with the situation of the two important cap- itals of his successful reign. The Malar coast on which Sigtuna was built has the ineffable charm of the North, in atmosphere and light ; but it is soft and poetic, wholly devoid of the wild, rugged, and savage aspect which belongs to Norway, while the eye searches in vain for any suggestion of beauty or grandeur in wood, hill, valley, water, or mountain across the landscape at old Upsala. Yet here were the mounds, and even after the lapse of ten centuries the name of Odin, it is said, still lingers among the peasantry of the country, although not in that sacred manner which is the boast of the old chronicler, who said “ that his countenance was so beautiful that when sitting among his friends the spirits of all were exhilarated by it ; that when he spoke all were persuaded ; that when he went forth to meet his enemies none could withstand him.” The highest point of these mounds reaches sixty feet, and that they were made for, and used as, burial-places is unquestionable, by some excavations made in 1874. If it was a visit where imagination, credulity, and legendary stories (especially of the UPSALA. 157 thunder-god Thor, who seemed the hero of the oc- casion) had a large role to play, there were a novelty and strangeness about the scene all its own, and as we strolled over the mounds, walked through the church, and sat under the shade, we gave ourselves up to the fancy that through this open door we had stepped across ages. This is the region of reminiscence and association, noticeably the country house of Linnaeus, which he enjoyed for many years as prince in his profession, holding court — and often a large one — with country- men and foreigners, to all who wished — his words were a free gift. To the shame of the Swedes his invaluable collection was sold to England, much to the mortification of Gustavus I'll., who sent a frig- ate in hot haste to bring the treasures back again, but unfortunately it was too late. Passing an interesting national monument in this vicinity, the work of Gustavus III., in the preserva- tion of the Mora Stones, one can not fail to recog- nize a generous thought and patriotic pride in this capricious monarch — written all over the kingdom ■ — strongly at variance with the darker records of his character. CHAPTER X. DALECARLIA. From this important seat of learning, at Upsala, the tourist naturally travels northward to the prov- ince of Dalecarlia, interesting from its great min- eral resources, not only of Sweden, but also of the entire peninsula of Scandinavia. Geographically it is in the heart of the kingdom, although so isolated in situation, — removed from the spiritual centre by the unflinching habits of simple peasant life, — as to seem an arctic region. It is but a half-day’s ride, by rail, from Upsala to some of the principal man- ufacturing centres, rich in ores of various kinds, but principally iron, everywhere recognized by the development of this industry, both in Europe and our own country, as the best metal the world pro- duces for Bessemer steel ; and but for the isolation of these mines from the great producing centres of this enormous business, would bring a valuable revenue to Sweden. At Falum, the chief town of the province, and (158) DALECARLIA . 159 the political heart, so called, — because, nominally at least, this little republic of the kingdom has a governor, — the tourist will find much of interest. Here are the copper mines, the oldest and most celebrated in Europe, known to scientific explorers over six hundred years ago, although it is supposed they had some value before this date, — in fact, ac- cording to legend, two fighting goats were the first discoverers of this mineral resource. During the heat of their battle they made such incision into the earth with their horns that ore adhered to them. They were first worked by those courageous men, the Lubeckers ; but, with all their ability and shrewdness, they were not able to hide this source of wealth from the keen Bo Jourson Grip, who held half of these vast mines as a fief under Queen Mar- garet, the far-famed Semiramis of the North. The principal shafts have royal names, and were origi- nally 1,200 feet deep; but a century ago, by reason of injudicious methods of work, large quantities of the crust fell in, which has left an extensive chasm, from which numerous galleries branch off to the interior. The descent to the first terrace, or pla- teau, is comparatively easy, and leads to some magnificent excavations, which have been put to royal uses. 160 a SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. During the reign of Bernadotte, one of these chambers was the scene of a kingly banquet, at which he presided, in company with the Queen and the Crown Prince Oscar. The isolation of this im- portant province has not prevented their keeping pace with the times in the improvements in machin- ery with which they carry on their work ; neither do they forget the scientific part of it, for in this retired valley mining schools are established, a technical library, model-rooms, and an extensive mineral as well as geological museum. That the Government recognizes the necessity of training in this branch of study, was brought to our notice during the first days of our Stockholm visit. One of our party, as we were sauntering through the streets, came unexpectedly upon an old acquaint- ance of early school-days ; and in answer to the natural inquiries, we were told by this young man, belonging to an old and intelligent family of one of the leading towns in Massachusetts, that he had been sent here by his father for a thorough edu- cation in the “ school of mines,” which from per- sonal investigation he thought had no equal in any land. This valley of peasantry, amounting to a popu- lation of 200,000, has a character of its own, singu- DALECARLIA. 161 larly uninfluenced by what is called more progress- ive civilization. As they were centuries ago, so they are now, content and proud of their lot. U nlike the irritable spirit of the Norwegians against what is called the aristocracy, the Dalecarlians, in their own quiet way, live as equals, believing that to be a vital law in their own little, world, without oppo- sition or contention with the laws of the realm ; ambitious in their native industries to keep abreast with the world’s high tide ; yet, in social codes, re- sisting all progress ; adhering, with unchanged te- nacity, to the customs of the fathers ; and, to their praise be it said, they feel that their present happi- ness and future prosperity are safe in the honest, manly, industrious principles which have always been the governing motives of their lives. This is also classic soil, and justly called the cradle of civil as well as religious liberty in Sweden. Early history makes very memorable mention of strong allies against oppression among these miners, — a fact not far removed from the days when the young blood was stirred in the heart of their final liberator, Gustavus Wasa. This was a period of intense civil commotion, which the young patriot well understood, for immediately upon finish- ing his studies at Upsala, he volunteered his ser- 1 62 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. vices in aid of his kinsman, Sture, then regent of the kingdom, who found his chief support against the tide of oppression with these brave hearts in Dalecarlia. If patriotism was still slumbering in the mind of young Gustavus Wasa, an event occurred, as he was launching into manhood, which left no doubt as to his future career, and made him through all after- time a proud theme of story and song. Christian II. of Denmark sent forth a command that the finest nobles of Sweden, among them Wasa, who had already begun to loom up as a figure to be feared by this cruel king, should be taken as hostages to Copenhagen, and kept there as prisoners ; but soon after their arrival the young Gustavus was removed to the pleasanter confinement of a castle on the coast of Jutland. He soon contrived an escape from these walls ; and on learning that a part of the revenue to the Danish kingdom was the Ger- man market for their cattle, he reached Lubeck in safety, under the disguise of a cattle-drover, where he made such a powerful impression upon the town authorities that he was sent immediately back to Sweden. He found, on landing at Calmar, that it was too near the Danish coast for protection, and fled with all haste to Dalecarlia, dressed in the DALECARLIA. 163 peasants’ costume of the country. At first he met with many discouragements and vicissitudes, — as the ear of this brave peasantry was not yet open to the needs of the time, or to the terrors of their bondage. After many narrow escapes from the treachery of his pursuers, it was on this soil he matured, ar- ranged, and began to carry out his great plan for the vindication of Swedish independence. Every roof that covered his head, the clothes he wore disguised as a peasant ploughman or miner, the bed upon which he slept, the tools with which he worked, fill the country with noble memories, pre- served with sacred care, and justly held in profound reverence, for it was in the land of Dalecarlia that “ Sweden’s star of unity arose.” The simple but earnest pleasure which is every- where expressed in this land of high latitude over the return of summer, the awaking of nature again into warmth and glow after the long winter nights, meets its highest expression with this iso- lated peasantry in the midsummer festival. The 24th of June is the day for this jubilee — the crown- ing feast of the year, — and the shores of Lake Siljan, the favorite spot. Everything on land and water — boats, docks, houses, churches, wagons, horses, porches of the farm-houses, and gateways— 164 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. are decorated with boughs and festoons, all redolent with signs of gladness. The Maypole, raised in every town, hamlet, and village — adorned, by young men and maidens, with garlands of flowers and festoons of evergreens— is the centre of homage, which, with the holiday dress of the various costumes, makes a vivid pic- ture. This is called the grand opportunity for the display of finery — ’tis summer, and it can be seen, too dazzling in color to pass unnoticed. The wom- en w*ear black skirts, red bodices with white sleeves. All of them carry Psalm-books wrapped in silk pocket-handkerchiefs, while the little girls are put into the unnatural colors of yellow dresses and red aprons. The men are not left out in the cold, but are also bedecked with some gay plumage. Their black coats are embroidered with red cord ; from their large, black hats are suspended red tassels, which, with dark knee-breeches, blue stockings, and red leather gaiters, make a brilliant costume. All festivals with the rural population of Scandinavia are celebrated by a dedicatory church offering, after which consecration the joyous dance, shouts of joy and laughter, and merry-making of all sorts, for old and young, parents and children, surround the May- pole of the welcome midsummer festival. Although no stately palace walls rise from pic- DALECARLIA. 165 turesque islands, or sunny banks, or wooded slope throughout the realm, as the home of Sweden’s great king, yet in the same province, rich in associ- ations with the early days of the first Gustavus, is the little town of Sala, once rich in silver mines, the forests of which Hans Christian Andersen has dedicated in his charming manner to the youthful love of Gustavus Adolphus. It was here he first met Ebba Brahe, and many legends are still pre- served, in this now solitary spot, of a romance which runs through all that still exists of this sweet story of early love. This daughter of the dis- tinguished family of Brahe was early taken from her home by Christina, Gustavus’ mother, and brought up as one of her court, with the natural re- sult of mutual attachment between the handsome prince and his fair companion. The father, King Charles IX., did not approve of these early devel- opments of affection, and sent his son, then only fourteen years of age, to try his skill at warfare against the Danes. Gustavus obeyed the royal command, but did not at that early age recognize any law which prevented his declaring his love to the fair Ebba, which he did with vows of fidelity. This absence covered three years ; his father’s death being the occasion of his return, as he sup- A SUMMER IN SC AN DIN A VIA. 1 66 posed master of his own affairs, only to be disap- pointed, in finding his mother was so bitterly op- posed to this romance, that she had sent the young maid of honor away. This did not, however, for long outwit the young lovers, who met after the sweet fashion of true affection, exchanged the vows of maturer years, when once more the youthful king departed with that confidence of untroubled waters in the future, which naturally resulted from his position as master of the realm. Two years after the second departure the queen discovered the following letter, which made her very unhappy, and settled the question in her mind that absence was not conquering love : Gustaf Adolf to Ebba Brahe, at the age of 19. Most noble damsel, beloved of my heart, whom I love most in the world : I have received your loving letter, by which you tell me you have submitted to the good pleasure of your father, my request with which I must content myself, praying God to bend in grace your heart, that you think always on me, and remember the faithful love I bear you ; and that you may never be persuaded that I think of another than you. Oh ! may you pray God, as well as I, that He may let us live to see the day, which may bring me the soft consola- tion, and to you the joy. To His guidance, the Holy and Almighty, I commend you, faithful and tender, and myself to your heart, so noble and faithful. I, to my dying day, O, cherished maiden, your faithful and attached kinsman, G. A. R. DALECARLIA. 167 The story goes that the fair Ebba, in the fullness of her love, most unwisely cut with her betrothal ring these lines on a pane of glass, on one of the castle windows, “ I am content with my lot, and thank God for His grace,” which when the queen saw she was roused to plot instant defeat. In spite of all entreaties, she commanded a marriage be- tween Ebba and the Count Jacob de la Gardie, at once. The poor girl pleaded for her lover, who was kmg; that at least the marriage should be delayed until information of the proposed event should reach him ; but in vain. The edict went forth for the ceremony to be performed in the great church at Stockholm. It was midnight ; the church blazed with a thousand lights. Christina, accompanied by all her court, attended the ceremony ; but scarcely had the nuptial benediction been given, De la Gardie and Ebba pronounced husband and wife, when, booted and spurred like young Lochinbar, in rushed Gustavus. “You come too late!” ex- claimed the queen, “ Ebba is married.” Gustavus came for war, not for peace, and broke out in threatening imprecations against the craven bride- groom, who knelt before him in earnest entreaty for pardon, saying he dared not disobey the queen. For a time Gustavus determined to dissolve this j68 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. marriage, so cruelly unjust, but the wily queen had some idea of the noble qualities of her son, and begged him not to set the example of divorce for his subjects. “ It little concerns us,” says Rollin, “ to know that there w r ere such men as Alexander, or Caesar, or Adolph Gustaf, or Washington, and a host of others, that they lived in this day or that ; but it does concern us to know the steps by which they rose to these exalted heights of grandeur.” Through the inexhaustible supply of facts which the records of history give us, we know causes and results, at least can approximate, from the differ- ent stand-points of time, race, and progress in civil- ization, — the underlying forces of success and de- cline, and how especially from the higher aspects of religion and morality they stand out as beacon lights in their own as well as in all other ages. There must be fresh lessons gathered by a visit to the land made illustrious by two such heroes of the Wasa dynasty, as Gustavus I. and his grandson, Adolphus, as their greatness was founded on the one principle of Protestant faith, in the adoption of which the civ- ilizations of the world reach their highest develop- ment. The act of the first of these royal men was to make his subjects free men, by breaking the fetters DALECARLIA. 169 which bound them nationally ; after which he gave them that greater liberty of Lutheran faith, to which he had himself listened at Lubeck, by its great propagator, where he made his escape as pris- oner from Copenhagen, held as hostage with other princes of the realm for the safety of their king. To his grandson Adolphus it was reserved, how- ever, to raise the martial glory of Sweden to a point never before attained ; and also to be the first of the Scandinavian monarchs to play an important role in European history. More than two and a half centuries have passed since this eventful life of thirty-eight years closed, yet it seems a living presence from the coast, which borders the North Sea, to the shores of the Baltic, dedicating the whole country that lies between with that sacred and tender memory which could only have been kindled and kept burning by noble qual- ities. This young prince must have inherited the talents of preceding generations, which made him an apt scholar, and greedy for all the advantages which the schoolmen of his State could furnish. It is recorded by his friend and chancellor, Ox- enstierna, that his talent for scholarship kept pace with his other remarkable qualities, and that he was not only proficient in the classic tongues, but that 8 170 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. he gained a complete knowledge of all the import- ant languages of Europe. Another education, that of State, commenced when he was only ten years of age, as his father required his presence at all of its councils, as well as at audiences with foreign am- bassadors, which early training was doubtless very potential in preparing him for the important role he was called upon to assume in comparative youth, the throne being made vacant by his father’s death when he was eighteen years of age. At this moment the kingdom had lost in a great measure the national strength received a half cen- tury before, by Gustavus Wasa. “ The spirit of the people had declined the natural reaction of a great conflict was being realized ; senses were be- numbed, the doors unbarred, and the enemy from abroad had threatened them once more. The young king proved himself to be a statesman, patriot, and diplomatist. By the aid of his chancellor, with whom it is said he had no secrets, and with a thor- ough appreciation of what his people needed, he laid those plans for upbuilding the State, covering all industries which secured peace, prosperity, and harmony at home, and proved a sure defence against the threats of foreign invaders. After the settle- ment of many entanglements with outside powers, DALECARLIA . 171 and under the smile of a brighter epoch within his own borders, he left the affairs of State with the faithful chancellor, Oxenstierna, and placed himself in the arena of the greatest war Christendom has ever known : the proud, glorious contest — between moral light and darkness, religious liberty and slav- ery — which, to use his own words, “ did not admit the word neutrality either for the individual or the State.” Gustavus Adolphus was the resplendent figure through which nations from afar, as well as near, and for all time, will look with thanksgiving at the result of the last and final struggle the world will ever witness between the freedom of the individual mind on all questions of religious thought, and the despotism of civil and ecclesiastical power; and that he kept nothing back to secure this inestimable blessing to mankind, found its record one misty November day on the battle-field of Lutzen. That he made an epoch in history, was called Germany’s Preserver, and stands out as one of the greatest fig- ures in the world’s drama, is a story worthy the high- est thought of the most studious minds and brilliant writers of any age, — a story which belongs to the world, and large enough to meet some of its great needs. It is recorded that when Adolphus gave the 172 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . final order for an attack, at this his last battle, he clasped his hands and prayed: “Jesus, Jesus, help me to fight to-day for the glory of Thy holy name ! ” and that after he fell, the Swedes, with jealous fear lest the higher place he filled at that time before the world than king of Sweden might interfere with their claims, seized the body, bore it to his dis- tracted queen, Maria Eleonore, of Brandenburg^ after which it was placed in a silver sarcophagus, and accompanied by one thousand men mounted on black horses, with black-covered saddles, from which floated long crape scarfs, was borne through the country — paralyzed with sorrow — to Stockholm, and such a picture of loyal, mourning hearts gives beauty to the record, that “ this was their funeral oration ; they wanted no other.” With pathetic fervor the Swedes have appropriated the following beautiful hymn, composed on the eve of the battle of Lutzen, as a farewell from the heart of their beloved king, which they repeat at the fireside and have introduced into their Liturgy : “ Be not afraid, thou little troop, though the cry and the clamor of the enemy is heard on every hand and soundeth high. They will glory in thy fall ; but let not thy courage fail thee, their joy will not be long. Remember that thy cause is the cause of the Lord. Go wherever you are called ; DALECARLIA. 173 be led by His beloved hand alone. You have nothing now to fear. It shall yet be heard of God’s Gideon, who will strongly fight for His people, at the word of the Lord. In the name of Jesus our hope is sure ; but the force and cun- ning of the unbeliever and the unrighteous will not destroy us. They will be but a scorn and a mockery. With us is the Lord. With Him are we — and victory is ours.” CHAPTER XL GOTHA CANAL. One of the most interesting and novel enter- prises of the early part of the present century was the accomplishment of the beautiful water highway across the heart of the kingdom, making a direct communication between the two Swedish seas. The plan of uniting the open sea at Goteborg with the Baltic by canal, was agitated many years ago — before the reign of Gustavus I. ; but to his son, Charles IX., the honor really belongs of beginning the undertaking, — one of the few things recorded of his reign worthy of his distinguished father and noble son. Of the entire distance, 370 miles, only about 50 are canal — lakes, bays, and rivers, with their infinite variety of bank and wooded shore, making of itself a summer journey. This trip takes the visitor through that part of the country rich in the history of mediaeval times. Along the shores of lakes or banks of rivers (which the passage through the locks gives ample occasion for visiting) are scattered (i74) GOTHA CANAL. 17 5 the pretty chateaux of to-day, the well-preserved castles of centuries ago, picturesque ruins (notice- ably that of the Scotch earl, Robert Douglas, who emigrated to Sweden in the days of Cromwell), spots where remains of the stone and bronze ages are still to be found, retreats of statesmen and gen- erals — names illustrious in that great chapter of re- ligious triumph which illumines Swedish history, — and a wealth of old churches, with their well-pre- served memories of a past age — not equalled by any country in Europe. First, about midway on the eastern shore of Lake Wettern, now crowded with the enterprises of to-day — in its exports of grain, iron, and lumber — is the town of Wadstena, which a Swedish au- thor has named their “ Herculaneum reminiscence city.” This town represents the short though powerful reign of the Church of Rome in the North, to which in the days of prosperity it owed its importance (as it does now its memory), and of which St. Birgitta, called the holiest saint of her age, looms up from the misty background as the important figure. On the night of her birth, the legend says, there stood out from the starry heavens a great cloud, upon which appeared a spotless virgin, who iy6 a SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA . said : “ Of Birfer is born a daughter, whose admi- rable voice shall be heard over the world.” This child, who played such a remarkable and singular role in the “ Mother Church ” of that period, was born of the house of Brahe, and tenderly reared in her father’s castle, although from her birth she seemed always overshadowed by spiritual visions and revelations. When but a child she married one of the rich noblemen of the province, to whom many children were born ; and yet amid all these sacred claims she listened, more . and more as the years passed on, to the higher voice of Christ, who said, “ Thou shalt be my bride and my agent,” which she declared controlled and guided all her subsequent actions. In obedience to the Divine Authority the vow of consecration was taken, and she commenced her travels for the Church, which extended to the holy shrines of France, Spain, Rome, even to Cyprus and Palestine ; and as a result of this enterprise, in the latter part of the fourteenth century .she founded the fine monastery at Wadstena, which was consecrated with great ceremony. It was not permitted that St. Birgitta should close her mortal sight within the walls she had given her life to rear. Pier farewell to the world GOTHA CANAL. 1 71 came during a visit with the Fathers in the Eternal City ; but in dying, the heavenly visitant assured her that her body should rest within the sacred cloister at Wadstena, whose day of greatest glory had not yet dawned. So greatly was she beloved that pious hands bore her body the entire weari- some (at that time) journey to Sweden, and the church-bells tolled through every land they passed. In fulfilment of the promise to this saintly woman (so the story reads), there followed prosperous days for Wadstena. The proudest daughters of the land were nuns, and the young nobles wore the monk’s cowl. Pilgrimages were made, also, to this famous shrine from foreign lands. Italy, France, and Spain sent their devotees, whose visits never failed to en- rich their coffers. Another source of wealth, and a large one, is found in one of those subtle laws by which Rome, in all ages, has wrought such wonders in enriching her Church through the superstition and ignorance of her people. To be buried under the shadow of these holy walls was to secure an entrance into - heaven, which naturally resulted in large offerings. Possibly the individual measure of entrance into Paradise was commensurate with the known ability to pay, — not an unjust conclusion, from a bit of 8 * jyS A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. history the stone pavement still preserves. On a large, worn piece of granite, which the footsteps of ages have not effaced, near the entrance of the cloister, are carved fourteen rings, which say “ that fourteen farms were given to the cloister ; that he who moulders beneath may have this place four- teen feet within the church door.” This was the grave of Bo Jourson Grip. Scarcely anything re- mains of the old cloister save the little cell of the holy founder, the glory of which, a Danish writer says, “ lights up the surrounding landscape with a brilliancy not reached by any of its climatic phe- nomena of light.” It was not only the convent of St. Birgitta, but the palace of the first Wasa, that gave Wadstena distinction, the stone outline of whose “ spires and towers ” from the lake look as though they had been untouched by the years, but a nearer approach shows that its glory has departed. This castle was originally the royal domain of the Swedish sovereigns. Built in the days of Gustavus Wasa’s glory, after his battles were over, in the sunny days of conquest, erected without stint, this palace in the renaissance style, with ornament and luxury, was quite in advance of previous times. Not long, however, was the dream of pleasure to GOTHA CANAL. 179 last, for the halls of merry-making resounded to notes of woe forever to be connected in the hearts of the family with sad recollections. Duke Magnus inher- ited this castle by the will of his father, which proved many years his asylum, — the walls a barrier strong enough, as was supposed, to guard with safety a lost mind. One day, fancying he saw a beautiful mermaid beckoning to him from the waters of Lake Wettern, — many grand views of which the castle windows commanded, — he threw himself into the moat below, forever making the princely castle a dreary tomb. The great work of the canal, so far as engineering is concerned, was accomplished at Trollhatta Falls (home of the water-witches). These are one hundred and eleven feet high, and divided into four large cas- cades. Eleven locks, twenty-four feet in width and ten deep, connect the highest point of the canal where it joins the river below the falls. This is an excursion of hours instead of minutes ; and thus, as during the entire route, the opportunity is offered to see whatever of interest surrounds the special locality. O.ne of the most picturesque views is from the first fall, or more properly cataract, which is divided by a small, rocky island, covered with fir- trees, which give the dark, waving line of the water, i8o A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. as it rushes over the waters below, a fine sight. These cataracts, when compared with the grander spectacles of Norway, may at first be disappoint- ing; yet the enormous volume of water, from the supply of the great inland Lake Wenern, makes the spectacle extremely imposing, and in this respect they are unsurpassed in Europe. It is curious to watch the staircase of basins, raised one above the other ; “ to see the ships and basins rising with dignity, as from a court courtesy, until the two waters are on one level.” This is the ceaseless, slow progress of the canal, — masts and sails rising everywhere, which makes the Gotha trip ever gay, — ship succeeding ship, steamer fol- lowing steamer; while in the meantime an old ruin can be visited, the walls of a once famous church investigated, a delightful walk taken by wooded bank, and some pretty modern home investigated. Neither does the novelty end here ; for, leaving the canals, the steamers of the lakes often make their way amidst numberless islands, so closely packed as at times to render navigation intricate and diffi- cult, but at the same time displaying a labyrinth of mysterious channels, now washing the sides of bleak rocks, now touching the hanging foliage of small islands, and presenting, from moment to moment; an infinite variety of charming views. CHAPTER XII. SOUTHERN SWEDEN. OUR pleasantest trip across Sweden was by rail from Stockholm to Malmo, which we took leis- urely, and which gave us the opportunity of look- ing at the producing part of the kingdom from the two important sources of agriculture and manu- facture. It was our good fortune, also, to share a part of this journey with a gentleman prominent in the medical university of the State, whose acquaintance we had made in Stockholm, from whom one of our party had received great civilities in visiting the hospitals of the capital, and whose desire to add, in every way possible, to the interest of our visit to Sweden, was only another proof of the cordiality and civility which characterize these people. Only a few hours from Stockholm brings a marked change in the aspect of the country. The fields are softer, the trees larger and of greater variety, the pine noticeably grand, as though it had made a sudden leap from a richer clime, while through (181) x 82 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . their rough trunks one sees the silvery threads of the lakes. They are not the highways of com* merce found in the central part of the kingdom, neither have they the beauty of color which marks a pilgrimage to the Jungfrau or Lombardy; but they had to our vision a marvellous power for re- flecting the woods which lined the banks, as also the sky, like mirrors of metal. One sunset across these small waters can not be forgotten. On the shore of the horizon the colors had all the shades of the setting and the rising sun, the heavens and the waters which reflected them of one hue, — these two grand forms of nature appearing and disappear- ing the one within the other, — one of the many occasions amid the wonderful display of effects in Northern Light, when, as the Earl of Dufferin says, in his delightful letters from “ High Latitudes,” “ It is impossible to prevent one’s imagination from absorbing a dash of the local coloring, which may seem magniloquent.” Leaving this wooded plateau with its mosaic of pretty lakes, — which, tradition says, was once dread frontier ground, the home of robbers and outlaws, — the scene changes, and you are plunged into a succession of manufacturing towns which suggest other lands. Apparently there is a spirit of ambi- SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 183 tion and enterprise among the Swedes in this de- partment of State progress, as they have named their towns Manchester, Liverpool, etc. The first and the most important of these cities is Norrkoping, and although once of some note as a place of architectural beauty, yet fires, and the rava- ges of the once powerful Danes, have destroyed every mark of bygone days ; and all that is to be seen at present is a plain modern town, with a picturesque situation on the. river Motala, at its influx into the Baltic. This is the manufacturing town of the en- tire peninsula, where there is ship-building and various industries already in that stage of develop- ment, educational and financial, which furnishes not only employment for a large population within its own borders, but also a stimulus for a large dis- trict of surrounding country. As in the town of Gustafsberg, which was such a revelation of cleanli- ness and refinement for a manufacturing centre, so in this the most important of all the work-towns in the country, the various factories, large and small shops, work-rooms, streets, and homes are mar- vels of neatness and thrift ; where want, if there is any, hides her head, as there are no beggars to be seen. There are some humane laws to be met with 184 A SUMMER IN SC AND IN A VIA. here, governing the employers, which in Sweden, as well as most European nationalities, are not a dead letter. No child of either sex can be employed in store, or factory, or in any handicraft, until it has passed its twelfth birth-day. In manufac- turing establishments, or work-shops, no one under eighteen years is employed between nine o’clock in the evening and five o’clock in the morning. Those children who work during the day are obliged to attend the evening classes, as the law of Sweden, which regulates the interference of labor with the education of her children, is as rigid as that of the ancient Medes and Persians. Besides the provision which the State makes for education in every cor- ner of her dominion, the rich owners of this flour- ishing town have matured liberal and generous plans for the large class who come under their spe- cial influence. Beginning with the primary schools, which have excellent buildings, the town of Norrkoping seems to embrace within its limits every opportunity for advancement in study which is needed to prepare young men for the university, amid an entire popu- lation of the laboring class. There is a high-school, a technological institute, “ situated in an open ground, commanding a grand view,” which fun SOUTHERN SWEDEN . i85 nishes a good laboratory for chemical study; a mu- seum well filled with zoological and mineralogical specimens, a department for instruction in draw- ing, and a library suited to the growth of the readers. Here are found books calculated to in- spire research, stimulate thought, and direct in- quiry, especially in scientific range. There are also standard works from historians, novelists, and po- ets, of the current literature of the day, from Ger- man, French, and English authors. Entering the province of Scania is like crossing some geographical division into another country. The landscape has its own features. We had left the forests behind, the hills also, and the lakes were diminutive. It is called the garden of Scandi- navia, and justly. So the Danes thought, as this was their battle-ground for centuries. We had the pleasure of a visit during the harvest season, and saw in the fields of yellow grain and red poppies a bit of the English landscape, while the rolling coun- try, — with few trees scattered here and there, and the wealth of its productive acres, — suggested the rich lands of our Western States. It was not necessary to be told that this was the home of the titled families, as the pretty chateaux told their own story. Apparently at one time the 1 86 A SUMMER IN SCANDINAVIA. nobles were strongly divided in taste, as some of these estates are decidedly English, — walls covered with ivy ; roof, turret, and tower in perfect harmo- ny, — while a bordering French chateau, resplendent with the bright colors of flowers, contrasts singularly with the parks, and the grand trees of their neigh- bors. Many of these ancestral homes were built when Skane belonged to Denmark, and in their structure they have left one record of the intense religious feeling of that period in the sculptured representations of the Trinity over the gateway. Many of the owners of these homes bear names well known in the annals of history, while within are found libraries valuable to the lover of history, and on their walls hang portraits of men and women famous in the records of those eventful days. An intimate relationship apparently exists be- tween the nobility and peasantry, which in Skane does not mean poverty, judging from the well-built farm-houses embosomed in the trees, and also the neat but more humble homes of the laborers. In the distance it was often difficult to decide which was castle or farm-house, as many of the latter are quite pretentious, with an imposing front along the road, of one hundred feet, and a single entrance ; but a nearer approach showed that these gateways SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 1 87 were not for gilded coaches, but for carts and teams of farm products. This was the home of Frederika Bremer, a name dear to a wide range of readers in many lands, and of whom it is said no writer since the days of Tegner has created such admiration in Sweden. We looked out for a more intimate acquaintance with the “ neighbors,” admired the stately house of ma chtre nitre, enjoyed the quieter dwellings of her children, revelled in the exquisite lakes, the beauti- ful woods, the pleasant roads, bordered with shade ; and were sure, but for the noisy car as evening ap- proached, we should have heard the “ great organ at Ramen.” Nearing the southern border we no- ticed an abundance of fruit, and a soil rich enough for market-gardens ; so that, as the Skanians on the border, like their German neighbors, indulged in the luxury of five meals a day, it seemed only a legitimate result of nature’s bountiful supply. Our trip by rail came to an end at Malmo, — the busy, thriving capital of Scania, the third city of importance in the kingdom, — pleasantly located on the Sound, opposite Copenhagen. During the Han- seatic period of the middle ages this was the com- mercial town of the Sound, attracting merchants from all parts of the Baltic ; but the records, as well 1 88 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . as the prosperity of that day, have declined, and its present importance is wholly due to the modern enterprises of an extended harbor and various man- ufactures, among them the well-known Swedish gloves, — pleasant information for the ladies. Within a few years the Church of St. Peter’s, founded in the fourteenth century, has been rebuilt, and proudly claims the distinction of being the spot where the Lutheran faith was first promulgated, the walls of which are adorned by a life-size portrait of the Great Reformer. This is the finest gothic church in Sweden, of pure pointed style, remarkable alike for the harmo- nious effect of external and interior beauty. What was once the Castle of Malmo is now a prison, and was years ago, — much to Count Bothwell’s sorrow ; the Count was the third husband of the unfortunate Mary Stuart, and in this castle he wore his prison- er’s chains. Here, also, at the governor’s residence the beloved King Charles XV. died, as he was re- turning from Aix-la-Chapelle to Stockholm. The university town of Lund is an adjunct of Malmo, and, according to tradition, was a flourish- ing city at the beginning of the Christian era. Even in the pagan age it is said to have had a population of 200,000 souls, twenty-one churches, and several SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 189 monasteries, with its Cathedral of St. Lawrence — founded in the eleventh century. But that day of glory has departed, and now what remains is but the type of a worn and ecclesiastical town, the cathedral and college buildings overshadowing the humble streets like giants. That she was revived and still lives comes largely from the desire to please the Danes, at the time Scania was ceded to the Swedish Crown, as the students of the uni- versity at that time were nearly all from Denmark. The sovereign held in high honor at Lund is Charles XII., as here he was educated, spent in after-years some time, and embalmed the university with many tokens of interest. The character of this wonderful, but inharmonious, man has been a favorite theme with historians, moralists, philoso- phers, and poets. That he had qualities great enough to win the love of his subjects and the ad- miration of the world is indisputable ; for, inured to the hardest exercises and humblest fare, he assumed the personal command of his troops, and led them to a succession of victories, crushing his enemies in detail with a rapidity unheard of in the annals of war. It is recorded that while the Swedish army was encamped near the renowned battle-field of Lutzen, the king was shown the spot where Gus- A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA . I90 tavus Adolphus fell, and said with marked rever- ence : “ I have sought to live like him ; perhaps God will grant me an equally glorious death.” In- toxicated with success, and defiant of advice, the career of this ambitious man ended in his assassin- ation during the siege of Fredrikshald, on the Nor- wegian coast. The names of Lutzen and Pultowa will be forever identified with Swedish history. The victory won by the valor of Gustavus Adol- phus at Lutzen raised the State from obscurity to a proud preeminence ; and the defeat of Charles XII. at Pultowa stripped her of those laurels — won at a great cost, which she has never regained. Napoleon, in his memoirs dictated at St. Helena, says of Gustavus, that “ he understood the art of war; of Charles XII., that he was only a brave, in- trepid soldier.” There are other associations of re- nowned names connected with Lund — Linnaeus, and Tycho Brahe, whose birth-place was under the shadow of this university town ; but what at this moment can not fail to be of great interest to the tourist is a visit to the home of Esais Tegner, the beloved poet. The house, with all its appoint- ments, is kept with great care, and after the order of its occupant when living, especially the study, where, it is said, the Frithiof Saga was composed. SOUTHERN SWEDEN. I 9 I Here, as in every part of the peninsula, you see again the national honor paid to those men who have illumined, through their distinctive talent, some page of Swedish history. Adjacent to the cathedral is a park named for Tegner, and ornamented with his statue in bronze, where, on the thirteenth of every November — the anniversary of the poet’s birth-day — the students assemble round the statue, and cele- brate the day with processions, songs, and speeches. According to the laws of the realm Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, hereditary by primogeni- ture, in the male line alone. In the king is vested the sole executive power, the command of both army and navy, and with the advice of the State Council, all decisions with foreign relations as well as legislative laws. In Norway the Storthing is power — a republic — chosen by the people for the term of three years, all of equal voice ; but the Swedish Diet has two chambers, and the candidates for the upper one are appointed for the long term of nine years upon conditions which, in some countries, would make their office of uncertain tenure — as requirements are many. No man is eligible to this office until after he has passed his thirty-fifth year, and of finan- cial ability ; he must give proof that he has for thre*- 192 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA. years paid a tax on 80,000 riksdalers (kronas) of. well-invested property, as this service to the Govern- ment must, according to law, be gratuitous. The law not only requires proof of invested prop- erty, but also of an income of 4,000 riksdalers for three years, from capital or labor, previous to his election ; and if he lose either investment or in- come after he enters upon his term of office, he is obliged to resign it immediately. As there are only about six thousand Swedes eligible to this position in the entire kingdom, the opportunity for personal ambition is not a large one. The members of the lower house represent the democratic element of the State ; are chosen for three years, by direct vote of the district from which they are sent, with limited requirements as property- holders, and are paid for their services. Although one sovereign is crowned king of what is called the United Kingdom of Norway and Sweden, yet they are as far apart as though divided by great geo- graphical boundaries and diverse necessities, — a sep- aration which grows year by year. The Norwegian is born of the mountains, mould- ed, invigorated, and solemnized by the grand and rugged features of the scenery which everywhere surrounds and holds him in subserviency. Man, SOUTHERN SWEDEN 193 with these people, must stand supreme ; the em- bodiment of strength, dignity, and power, which makes him as antagonistic to the divisions of class — the titled families of their Swedish neighbors — as they by taste and inheritance are devoted to it. Two such opposing currents can not flow on in an unruffled stream, and it is firmly believed that in the near future this disunion of feeling will end in an absolute separation of the States. This an- tagonism seems to exist wholly with the western branch of the family, as the Swedes on all occa- sions pay great respect to. the peasant class, never having raised the slightest objection to the costume of the Dalecarlians, who always appear before the councils of the Diet in their simple dress. Although a large part of Northern Sweden is sparsely settled, yet it has a population of 5,000,000, — nearly four times the size of Norway, who, for three-quarters of a century, have been under an ad- ministration of progress never before known in the history of their country. The sovereigns of the present dynasty have, with great veneration, builded upon the work of the preceding generation, and by their accomplishments and large acquaintance with the world’s progress, have quietly made great ad- vances in the elevation of the people. 9 194 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. Although, as in Norway and Denmark, the estab- lished church is Lutheran, to which the king and most of the State functionaries are obliged to con- form, yet there is a toleration of other sects here not recognized in the western half of the kingdom, — one proof of which has been recently given in the abolition of the law which did not recognize mar- riage as legal unless both parties had been confirmed in the established church. While there is a leniency with regard to sects, the law still requires some acknowledgment of religious vows ; and if proof is not given that the dissenting faith is adopted, confirmation in the State Church is expected before the fifteenth birth-day has passed. Ecclesiastical affairs, although discussed by a council, yet the opinion of the king is the final de- cision, as in Norway the clergy are highly educated, but, for some reason, they are not so well paid. Until within the last half century the liquor traffic, in both Norway and Sweden, was almost free, — especially in Norway, where the reformatory work first commenced in 1833. A duty was im- posed upon the sale of all intoxicating drinks. The temperance societies worked vigorously ; the aid of all good citizens was given throughout the country, which resulted in decreasing this fearful SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 195 traffic over one-third in ten years. This produced so marked a change in every department of national prosperity, that both countries have paid great at- tention to those measures which have for their ob- ject the removal of this evil. One of these reformatory acts, passed in 1877, regulating the sale of liquors in Sweden, is es- pecially worthy of mention. Nowhere shall it be retailed unless food is sold at the same place. In many cases the duty is fixed at such a high rate as to close the shops, and to the credit of both king- doms, the sale of spirits is entirely prohibited by law on Sundays and Saints-days ; also on Saturdays and the eves of festivals after five o’clock in the afternoon. One of the indisputable facts of the superiority of a race is founded in education — the axe laid at the root of the tree, — and whether in Northern or Southern Sweden, along the shores of the inland seas, on the Baltic coast, the western sea-shore, or the beautiful garden of Scania, the school-house is the finest and most noticeable building, — a word which means not one but many institutions of learn- ing. As in the other Scandinavian countries edu- cation is compulsory ; but the executive in this land has been inflexible, and with results, which 196 A SUMMER IN SCAN DINA VIA. statistics proved a few years ago, worthy the emu- lation of every land. The Swedish Diet passed a law in 1842 requiring every child, from eight years of age to fourteen, the period of confirmation, to at- tend the public schools, unless proof could be given that he was taught at home. This law left no op- tion with the will of the parent ; at least, on one question, he could not remain in ignorance : he must be taught in the way the law deemed indis- pensable as a foundation for citizenship ; and if the parent refused to recognize this law, the child could legally be taken from his own home, placed in the care of another family, or in a place which the offi- cial of the Government should decide as suitable, and the parent be compelled to meet the expense. That this did not prove a fruitless effort on the part of the State for the sound training of her chil- dren was shown by the census of 1873,— -a result worthy of the thought and emulation of all lands ; for if this country, poor in climate, in money, in many ways which are spoken of as national wealth, can show that ninety-seven per cent, of her entire population — from north to south and from east to west — are being safely taught after the best meth- ods the nation can devise, she is not poor, but rich, and is laying up wise provisions for future prosper- SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 19 7 ity. None are left uncared for in Sweden; and to meet the wants of those sparsely-settled countries not able to build school-houses, the ambulatory system is introduced, with the same provision for mental training. The system of education in this country has oc- cupied the mind and thought of their ablest states- men and educators for years, — the primary course most of all, the curriculum of which has been greatly extended. Bible history, theology, and natural history are among the rudiments ; also the elements of natural science, and sometimes the gymnasium. It rests with the School Board to ex- tend the course of study as they see fit ; their power is ad libitum. It is interesting to see the universal interest in what is called higher branches of education — as drawing, surveying, and horticulture are being largely taught in the country ; gardening also, and needlework for girls. Within the last quarter of a century a higher people’s school has been established to help the children of the working classes in the approved methods of skilled labor. The State is not satisfied with results already at- tained, and yearly introduces some new department of mental inquiry for a wider range of knowledge, igS A 'SUMMER IN SC AND IN A VIA . conspicuously the careful training of those who are to be teachers. Eleven seminaries are scattered throughout the realm for these instructors of Folk- skolar, where one year’s gratuitous instruction is given in all the studies which come within the range of their professional duties ; while in addition to the established schools, seminaries, and universities, the management for the physical instruction, the libraries, museums, and gymnasiums are as delight- ful as they are surprising. The most famous free school is in Stockholm, wholly designed to promote the industries of the people. Free-hand drawing is taught, engraving modelling, painting, lithography, geometrical con- struction, the practical branches of mathematics, book-keeping, besides the foreign tongues of French, German, and English. At present it has about 2,000 pupils, chiefly among the working- classes of both sexes. This noble institution has a department of instruction for women only during the day, for which each pupil has to pay the sum of fifty ore a month, — the infinitesimal amount in our money of thirteen cents , — which secures not only all the advantages of the evening classes, but the addi- tional lessons in Parian work, modelling in clay and wax, and perspective art. SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 199 There is certainly behind this praiseworthy fact of what is already attained in education among the Swedes, an interesting question of cause. Such re- sults are in strong contrast with Southern Europe, from whence all that is stirring in literature and art has sprung ; it does not belong to climate, for in comparison their eastern neighbors, the Russians, are barbarians. Great Britain, with her wealth of universities, her stores of learning, shows no such statistics ; and even our New England of to-day finds an apology for a decline of universal educa- tion because of our foreign population. French is generally spoken by the students, and with fluency, which is a proof of familiarity with their literature. Many of the working-classes have some knowledge of this tongue, which to some extent may be a natural outgrowth of the fact that French is the court language ; but aside from that, or possibly as a foundation of that fact, there seems to be in the Swedish character a national affinity as there is a traditional love for France, — a fact publicly acknowl- edged at the French court in the days of Gustavus III., who was received with great enthusiasm by the Peers of that empire, during a protracted visit in Paris, as the Count du Haga. Diderot says that when he entered the French 200 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. court or tribune he was received with loud acclama- tions of applause, many orators proudly asserting that as Europe gave to the Swedes the name of Frenchmen of the North, it was the right of the French to be called the Swedes of the South, — a tri- umph which might well have turned the head of this young prince, whose sole ambition at that time was the adoption of French customs into his own court, and may possibly have had an influence in cor- rupting, at one time, so magnificent an administra- tion, as to make him an idol with his people, ending in the hatred of an assassin’s bullet. Aside from theories and opinions advanced by different writers on corresponding elements of char- acter between these nationalities, it is impossible not to recognize the common trait of the careful use of money, not only in economy, but taste. Among our sources of information on this point we met two gentlemen of different stations in life who had spent about an equal portion of their lives in Sweden and America. The opportunity of extrav- agant fortunes does not exist within their borders, much less rapid ones, so that the current of life with them is not subject to the ebb and flow of this disturbing element, so powerfully illustrated by the undeveloped opportunities of our own land. The SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 201 temptation of riches is not theirs to combat, and naturally what is called the amusement or recrea- tion oMife must be founded on the principle of wise expenditure, which, since the dawn of that brighter day of more temperate habits, has given a quiet, healthy tone to the pleasure-loving habits of all classes. The pleasure gardens everywhere filled with fam- ilies, the little steamers cruising about in all direc- tions on the quiet waters, were amusements within the means of all ; so that the statement made by one of these gentlemen, that when the laboring, or in fact any of the prosperous classes in America could get as much enjoyment out of one dollar, as the Swedes did out of a krona, it would be a blessed thing for them and for the country, did not seem extravagant. No thoughtful tourist from this western republic can travel through Europe without a selfish inter- est in the different nationalities of this over-pop- ulous land. In dwelling among them, studying their laws, government, customs, morals, and life, he is not altogether an idle spectator, neither can there be a mutual exchange of information, as we, though powerful, are young; they are old. We began our life on the centuries of experi- 9 * 20 2 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA. ence we find largely recorded among the nations of Europe, — those decisive battles which, in the earlier time, raised some nations from obscurity to be the greatest powers, and hurled others from heights of preeminence to the dust — those evi- dences of awakening thought which marked pro- gressive eras and decline — the gradually unfold- ing of those higher laws of civilization, which caused many a bloody warfare, but which were not wholly lost, as from one end of the world to the other they placed the advancement of the race one step in the ascending scale. But if, as a nation, our foundation was laid upon what the race by hardest toil and experience had won before, if we reaped what others had sown, yet, as givers , we are making new history in the record of nations. We do not travel in Europe anywhere among foreigners, at least among a people who remain for- eign to us. The Germans, the French, the Italians, the English live as neighbors, geographically ; but they maintain distinctively their own nationalities — their birth-right— because the people who compose these different races are born, bred, and trained as their fathers before them ; while we pass through these many lands, knowing that , these people, with their laws, habits, and customs, are our people, to SOUTHERN SWEDEN . 203 whom we say, “ Come, dwell with us ; eat of the fat of our land ; help us to make our laws, govern our people, develop our industries, form our social codes, regulate our morals ; in short, your opportu- nity in life is in that wonderful Republic across the sea, the greatness of which no man can measure.” As this is fact, not fiction or an overdrawn pic- ture, to see what these people are on their native soil is to look at what they will be within our own borders, remembering always that our laws give them a larger liberty than the more despotic gov- ernments of Europe, which, with the ignorant, is a dangerous thing. But one thing is certain : we need not cross the Prussian frontier to see Germany with all her habits, amusements, industry, and independence ; Italy with her wants and poverty repeats herself here as in her own land of indolence and ignorance ; and to read the story of the terrible strikes which fetter our important industries, is to read what the law- defying son of Erin is wherever he plants his foot. Scandinavia sends us her quota from her small realm, and judging from the development of life seen in all its relations at home, they are a people to whom we can with safety give the hand of wel- come. Whatever may have been their past record, 204 A SUMMER IN SCANDINA VIA . to-day, as a race, religion, education, and economy are words written on their banners, alike safe prin- ciples for the upbuilding of a wise and happy peo- ple within their own borders, or for the ingrafting into a foreign State. / * i THE GETTY CENTER LtS^APV.