T HE NORSE-OLK; 
OR,
A VISIT TO THE
Homes of Norway and Sweden.
BY
Charles Loring Brace,
AUTHOR OF "HUNGARY IN 1851," AND "HOME-LIFE IN GERlMANY.
NEW YORK:
CHtARLES  SCRIBNER.
87T AND 379 BROADWAY.
1859.




Et-ruEnD according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER,
it the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New Yortk
IV. H. TINSON, STEREOTYPER, 43 CENTRE IT.                   GEORGE 3 RUSSEI.L & CO., PRINTREIM




PREFACE.
To an American, a visit to the home of the old Northmen is a visit
back to his forefathers' house. A thousand signs tell him he is at the
cradle of the race which leads modern enterprise, and whose Vikingpower on both hemispheres has not yet ceased to be felt. In giving
a sketch of a journey among the Norse-Folk, it has seemed to me
that there were two sides which should most of all interest their
descendants and kinsmen in the New World: one, the associations
and memorials which connect them with the age when the wild energy
of the race was transplanted to the British Islands, and even touched
briefly in its enterprises the coasts of America; and the other, the
life of to-day.
When one puts his mind into the position of reading a book of
travels, an author should not give him instead, dry historical details;
still, glimpses and scenes f the past, side-views into the misty perspectives of early history, suggestions, quaint superstitions, relics which
keep the busy present in connection with a far-away time, can surely
be properly presented in the traveller's journal. In this view, while
I have given free play to the memories which constantly and naturally,
through various associations, bring back the saga-period and the days
of the early Norsemen, I have left out of view the modern history,
glorious as it is, of the Scandinavian States.
The main object of this book, however, is not historical, but simply
to picture the life of to-day. It has seemed to me possible to present
a country and its people with something of the personal and living
interest with which they come before a traveller.  When we hear
general statements on the polity or institutions of a nation, they make,
even on the most reflective of us, only a faint impression; but when
we are brought into intercourse with its persons, when we hear their
words, see their nmanner, and study their habits; when we sit at their
iii




iv                       P It REFACE.
tables, and mingle in their households, and become familiar with their
current of thought, we learn, in a way not easily forgotten, the main
ifeatures of the society and the essential life of such a people. I have
inl this book attempted to give at least faithfully what I saw in my
sijourn in Norway and Sweden, and I hope so faithfully that. the
reoader can often form  his conclusion in regard to these countries
independently of my conclusion.
It is often a difficulty in a traveller's description, to draw a line
between the strict privacies of life to which he is frankly introduced, and which are for him alone, and those customs and habits
which illustrate the general life of a people. I trust I have never
invaded the former. The names and estates of individuals are usually
so disguised that they would be recognized with difficulty even in
Norway or Sweden.  Of public men I have given no details which are
not known to all their countrymen.  The conversations related are
merely those which chanced on characteristic, and public topics.
Norway has been so thoroughly travelled and described of late years
by English tourists, that I have bestowed much less space and investigation on its peculiarities than on those of Sweden, which is yet
a sonewhat fresh field.
Possibly, in some respects, I have spoken too favorably of the
atter country, yet I would rather err on that side than on the other.
No one can behold a national any more than an individual character
accurately who does not behold it with a genial eye. Certainly in
respect to its alleged popular vices, intemperance and licentiousness,
there must have been in later years a vast improvement. With the
present advance of education, the development of agriculture, the
increase of trade, the building of railroads and telegraphs, and the
proposed liberal measures with respect to freedom of conscience, what
may not be accomplished yet by the modern Norsemen?  The American kinsmen cannot but wish them God-speed.
CHARLEs L. BRACE.
tezw o York, April, 1S57.




CONTENTS.
I.-I  orway.
CHAPTER I.
CHIISTIANIA.
A Norse HIoliday —Traits of People-The City-Prince Oscar's Villa-The
Schools-Insane Asylum-University-Students' Celebration,...  18
CI-IAPTER II.
A NORWEGIAN DINNER.
The Conversation —Union-Toasts-The Dishes-Manners-Change of Opinion towards America-An Oration-A Gentle-man's Estate-The Icelander,  21
CEHAPTER III.
POSTING OVER THE DOVRE FJELD.
Accoutremnents-Railroad —Mj6sen Lake-Village Hotel —Fist Trial of Carrioles-Scenery-Solitude-Post Stations-Fast Driving-A IHead NheriffThe Crops-A Mountain Pass,                       2......
CHAPTER IV.
VISIT TO A BONDER.
Tofte-The Bonders —Our Host-The House —Furniture-The Stables-Cattle
-Intelligence of Peasants-No Feudalism,...   o4
CIHAPTER V.
POSTING.
Jerkin-Description of House —CHabits of People-Flowers-" Wait-money "Grand Scenery —Trondllje em —Cathedral-V-isits —The Schools,      o 
CHAPTER VI.
TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN.
Coast Scenery —Torghattasn-The Seven Sisters-iHorsoman's Isle-The Legend
-Temperature-Fondal Glaciers-Malstrim-Loffodens-Cod-fishelery-The
Lapps-Religious Alovemnent —Ethnology-A Legend,. 




vi                        CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
FINMARK AND ALTEN.
The Steamer-Lady Travellers-Habits-Perpetual Day-Geologic Appearances-Tromsoe-Acquaintances-New  Religious Movement-Baptists —
Clergymen's Salaries-Russians-Arctic Villas-Lyngen Fjord-Glaciers —
Alten Copper Works-Catholic Mission-Temperature and Vegetation,.  80
CHAPTER VIII.
HAMMERFEST.
The Midnight Sun-The Sensation-A Sketch-Trade-Reindeer-A  Monument-Ilountain-Finns,.  97
CHAPTER IX.
AN ARCTIC DINNER AND EXCURSION.
APleasant Company-Dinner-Toasts-Chat-Walk to Lapp EncampmentReindeer-A  Conversation-The Lapp's Theology-Lestadius-ReturnSupper-Coast Voyage-Molde-A Precipice,                       1. 06
CHAPTER X.
HIE NOIITHMEN.
Their Expeditions-Causes-Battle of Harald Haarfager-Northmen  in
France-Fern-traces-Influence on England-America-History,     124
CHAPTER XI.
BERGEN.
Institutions-Leprous Hospitals-Temperature-Appearance of People,. 184
CHAPTER XII.
POSTING TO CHRISTIANIA.
Lake Journeys-Dalseidet-Grand Aspects-Rock Studies-Evanger-Fossewangen-Sunday-Church Service-Costumes-Quaint Church-Americanized Norwegians-Hospitality,.     1. 139
CHAPTER XIII.
EXCURSION TO VoRING FOSS.
A Boat Journey-Vik-SoebS-Long Day's Work-Mlountain Climb-The
Fall-Grandeur of View-Return,...                      150
CHAPTER XIV.
FILE FJELD.
Pleasures of Posting-" Going to America "-A Chasm-Rainy Day-Borgund
Churchl-Snow-plough-A Parsonage-Talk-Superstitions-Wild Riders,. 159
CHAPTER XV.
A COUNTRY PASTOR.
The House-His Wife-Conversation-Morals of Peasants-State Church —
Honesty of People-Visit to a Bonder's-Wages,                      171




CONTENTS.                               Vi1
CHAPTER XVL
RETURN JOURNEY TO CHRISTIANIA.
A Country Judge-Compromise Courts-Responsibility of Judges-A Parsonage-The Deserted Village-Ride with an American Norwegian-Christiania
-The Constitution-Norwegian Schools,....             181
II. — Sweden.
CHAPTER XVII.
GOTTENBURG.
Bishop Thomander-Charitable Institutions-History of the City TradeStatistics-The Citizens,...... 201
CHAPTER XVIII.
COTTON SPINNERS.
Home Manufacturing-Night at a Patrow's-Manners-Table ConversationHand-weavers —Their Condition,.                                  208
CHAPTER XIX.
HOME MANUFACTURES.
An English Foreman-Factories-Peasant Manufacturers-Their Wealth-The
Parsonage and Squire-Conversation-New, Medical Cure-Mingling of
Habits-Statistics of Elfsborg,..... o.                      217
CHAPTER XX.
GOTHIA CANAL AND STOCKHOLM.
The Boats-" Black Hole "-Scenery-Stockholm-Acquaintances-Museums
-A Finlander-Russian War,.. 223
CHAPTER XXI.
SUNDAY IN STOCKrHOLM.
Church Forms-Restoration-Secret Confession-Religious Societies-Statistics
of Morals-Vice-Explanation-Form of Prayer for the Betrayed,   e o  287
CHAPTER XXII.
UPSALA —DALECARLIA.
Sigtuna-Upsala-University-Sclhools-" No Lawyers "-Old Upsala-Ancient Assemblies-A Scene from the Sagas-The Conversion of the PeoplePosting-Dannemora Mines-Parsonage —Furniture of Peasants' HousesA  Discussion-Ironworks-Noble Manufacturers-Orsa-Dalecarlia-Postman's Theology-Lake Siljan-Conversation —" Bundling,"             2.. 24t




viii                       CoNTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIII.
DALECARLIA.
Member of House of Bonders-Political Talk-Great Church-Talk with Peasants-Supelstitions —Law against Baptists-Visit to a Peasant-" Dropping Bread "-Farewell,...  271
CHAPTER XXIV.
DALECARLIA.
RIitwik-A Painting-Saga —An Old Church —Familiarity with Pastors-Clergymen in Parliament-Botany-Leksand-A Vast Congregation-The Service-Sunday Evening-Dance and Feast —Fahlun —Copper Mines-Sala
Silver Mine,.... 282
CHAPTER XXV.
VINGAKER.
A  Country Gentleman-Pictures-Library-Conversationn -Similarities  of
Language-Patron's Right-Politics-Country Life-Night Watchman,      804
CHAPTER XXYI.
THE SWEDIS0 H MANORS.
A Country Squire-A Fairy's Tree —Rank —Castle-Private Galleries-Art of
Dining-Customs-Lifelessness of Church-An Old Soldier —His Estate,  814
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE COUNTRY GENTRY.
Swedish  House-keeping-A  Visit-Bonders-Conversation-An  Industrial
School-Libraries for People-Distinctions of Rank —Marriage Costumes,. 826
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A MiODEL FARMI.
Orebro —lodel Farm-Crops-Machines-Cattle-Success-Religious Efforts" The Readers " —Remonstrances-The Indication,.          886
CHAPTER XXIX.
AN OLD CASTLE.
Society-The Saloons-Anec cdotes —Superstitions-Dinner-Small CustomsMode of Life,,..... 845
CHAPTER XXX.
NORRKIOPING.
A Rencontre-Ride with a Young Nobleman-NorrkSping-Value of Manufactures-Statistics....  854
CHAPTER XXXI.
SWEDISH SCHOOLS.
Progress —Mr. Siljestrdm —School-houses-Normal  Schools-GymnasticsScientific Sch1ools-Scloolos of Design,.... 359




C ON T E NTS.                            ix
CHAPTER XXXII.
GOTTLAND.
Wisby-Ruins-History-Code of Laws-Suicide Cliff-Consul EnquistScotch Farmers-Schools-Geologic  Movements-Secular Elevation of
Coast,..366
CHAPTER XXXIII.
KALMAR AND SMALAND.
Union of 1397 —Society-A Visit-A Law Case-A Haf-.condemned —Argument-Freedom of Conscience-Visits to Bonders-Temperance ReformerLiquor Law,............                                 84
CHAPTER XXXIV.
A COUNTRY HOM E.
Swedish Ladies-The "French of the North"-Swedes and NorwegiansWitchcraft-Tomte-Puke-Necken-A Story-Modes of Life-Condition of
Peasants-V-isit to an Alderman-Commercial Storehouse-Teaching Religion,.......     88
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE FLEET.
Ride to Carlscrona-Swedish Fleet —Ministry of Marine-MIercantile MarineSeaman's House —Bleking-Scania-A Parish Secretary —Lsare.. 899
CHAPTER XXXVI.
CASTLE L-.
The Rooms-Picture Gallery-FurLniture-Relics-Cultivation-The Host —
Modes of Life-Music-Talk-A Legend of 1490-The Trolls,... 408
CHAPTER XXXVII.
TABLE-TALK.
Conversation on Lallerstedt-Schinkel's Papers-Discussion-Anecdotes of
Bernadotte-Of Gustavus IV.-Account of Revolution-Cronstedt-His
Treachery-Impressions-Benefits of Wealth-The Watchman,... 418
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
SOUTH SWEDEN.
Fdrbud —A Modern Estate-Education of Peasants-Books for the PeopleMalm-"-Lund-Cathedral-Legend-u'Tniversity-The " Nations,"-Swedenborg-Ragged School-Baron G —,...  429
CHAPTER XXXIX.
CONSTITUTION OF SWEDISI CHURCH.
Its Relation to State-Church Committees —House of Clergy-Destiny of
Church.  4S
l*




X                         e CO' T ENT S,
CHAPTER XL.
SWEDISH PARLIAMENT.
Four Houses-Scale of Property-Statistics-Business before Parliamenh
Royal Powers-General Laws-Regency-Inequalities-Bigotry-Advantages,.            S
CHAPTER XLI,
RACES IN SW;EDEN.
Tschudes-Kelts-Germanic Tribes-Goths-Suiones-Norse Tongue-Appearance of Norsemen-The Runes,.                                     465
I.-D   n m a ark.
CHAPTER XLII.
COPENHAGEN.
Education of People-Libraries-Feeling on Sound-Dues Question-Courts of
Compromise-Maiden Assurance Companies-Thorwaldsen-His WorksParentage,........... 47
CHAPTER XLIII.
SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY.
Its Oriental Character-Dualism —Myths-Valhalla-The Twilight of the
Gods-Coming of the Judge-Final Doom-A Forerunner,.. 489
APPENDIX,.....                             0 497




I.
o r w  a y &








THE  NORSE-FOLK.
C H A P T E R I.
CHRISTIANIA.
June twenty-first!-the long summer-day, celebrated by
the old Norse-people- and the Yikings, equally with the
shortest day, Yide, or Christmas: it is a holiday here.
Arbors of branches are in the gardens, flowers on the
tables, and last night bonfires were burning.  To-day, business is abandoned; my carriole, which was preparing for
the journey over the mountains, must wait another day;
people are taking excursions, some on the water in boats,
and some in carriages to the country.  It is a beautiful
sight, this cool fresh day, to watch the parties on the
Fiord, from  the bastions of the old fort (Aggershuus).
There is an endless sparkle of the waters, and the gailydressed parties cross and re-cross to the little islets which
break in picturesquely on the distant reach of the bay.
You look down, some seven miles, through what seem  a




1i            TeT  NorsRE-Fo L.
chain of lakes, but which is the broken outline of the
Fiord, until the eye turns away from the bright glimmer to
the shaded valleys and wooded- hills that make the horizon
on every side.
The market-place is full of women, with bright kerchiefs
on their heads, selling flowers and vegetables, and of little
four-wheeled carts, with cloths and stuffs for sale. Every
one is neatly dressed, and I have met no one intoxicated.
The city is a neat, cheerful-looking place, with stuccoed
houses, two stories high, placed directly on the street, as in
the German and French villages.
In the quarter near the Palace, there are some large,
handsome buildings, inhabited by the wealthiest people, in
fiats, like the Berlin and Paris houses. The streets are
lighted with gas. There is nothing in the city to especially
distinguish it from other European cities, except the appearance of the peasants.  These are marked-looking men and
women -- usually blonde, with ruddy complexion, regular
Norman features, light hair, and faces expressing a certain
reserved and sober strength of feeling. They have, most of
them, powerful frames.  I notice some of darker complexion, with an obliquity of eyelids, almost Mongolianthe same feature which struck me in the Norwegian waiters
on our boat from Copenhagen.  Probably they have a slight
mixture of Finnish blood.
The town is evidently a great resort for travellers.  All
the principal shops are for strangers-filled with prints, or
characteristic Norwegian objects; others are crowded with
accoutrements for carriole-travelling, and  salmon-fishing.




PRI  XA C   0SC A  9   H ALLL.              i
English is spoken everywhere, and Englishmen throng in
every hotel. Our landlord (in the Htotel dn.Nord) says he
sent off fifteen English sportsmen yesterday up the country,
each in his carriole.
The outskirts of the city are beautiful-a broken, hilly,
green country, with wooded roads running near the Fiord,
and catching the most picturesque glimpses, as of mountainlakes.  The country-seats are very neat and comfortable in
aspect, and the soil does not seem inferior. I see fields of
all our Northern productions in America, except of the
Indian corn.
One of the sights without the city, which gives a pleasant
ride, is the villa of Prince Oscar, the crown prince; a
pretty little country-seat on a rocky-point, looking out over
the Fiord.  It seemed to me the most tasteful and really
enjoyable royal residence to be seen in Europe.  A gem
of a house.  If any of our wealthy gentlemen would like
a model for a rich little villa, they should see this.  The
furniture is all of Norwegian materials-the tables and
chairs of exquisite polished Norwegian maple, giving a
most original and pretty effect.  The floors are parqiuette
of inlaid polished woods of the country.  The pictures
illustrate the Norwegian life and scenery.
Tiedemann has there his series, representing the "Life
of a Norwegian Peasant."  Such narrative-paintings are
usually too palpable to be interesting artistically.  But
this is so simply and skillfully managed that it is very
effective.. You are interested in the characteristic scenes
of Norwegian peasant-life, but you are led on to the greater




1(           -THE   c    S No E-Fo  x.
mysteries of human life; —the memories of childhood, seen
through tears, the sunny glow, the ideal hope and passion,
the sorrow and blank disappointment, the maturity and decay.
I visited afterwards several studios and galleries in the
city. There are some very pretty landscapes in these
collections; and works of a good quality can be got quite
cheaply.
INSTITUTIONS.
The schools in Christiania seem in an advanced condition.
There are one hundred and ninety-seven stationary schools
in this diocese, beside high schools, a school of drawing
for workmen, and a normal school for teachers.  I have
visited one Institution for vagrant and homeless girls, which
seems excellently managed-the Ezugenia Stift.  An old
spacious house is occupied by the school, with the dormitories, and various work-rooms.
The girls work at spinning, sewing, embroidery, and
straw-weaving within doors, and have a large garden in
which to labor in the mild months.- When they have
been here a certain time, they are commonly sent away
to families as servants.
Among other institutions, I drove out to see the new
Insane Asylum. It is a large building, and arranged on
the best modern principles. As is usual, there are apartments for all degrees of insanity, and for different conditions
of wealth among the patients. There is no wall about
the asylum, and the view, at this season, is exquisite
enough in itself to be a cure for the diseased mind. We




I NSANN    AsYLUm.                   17
found in one sitting-room  a very well dressed party of
gentlemen, with billiard-table, books, piano, and various
luxuries.  They received us pblitely, and at our request,
one played very prettily a modern German waltz.
Nothing betrayed them  as a company of lunatics.  In
another ward, the superintendent pointed us out a mild old
man, bent with some previous suffering, who, he said, had
been kept in one of the villages for fifteen years in chains I
-so little understanding was there among the people of the
proper treatment of this disease.  I was surprised to see
woodeni bedsteads used in so complete an establishment. The
asylum has no idiots within it, and the superintendent tells
me that there is no institution in Norway for this most unfortunate class —-though he estimated their number at three
thousand in the whole country I It was a very significant,
fact, and characteristic of Norway, that among this great
company of insane, not love, or licentiousness, or intemperance, or disappointment, was the preponderant cause, but
solitude-its gloom and moroseness, and above all, its nnnatural self-consuming lusts.
I did not understand this effect of the mountain life
clearly at the time —but nowv, after being in those vast,
melancholy solitudes, and seeing how utterly lonely, on tlhe
great mountain-sides and by the rock-lbounded Fiords of the
North, thousands must live year after year in Norway, I
can well believe that the soul may become diseased or poisoned for want of its atmosphere —the society of other beings.
I hear here, as in all the hospitals, of a new cure of a
fearful disease, which, while it scourges the guilty, often does




18            TH E  N  o R S E-FoL.
not spare the innocent. It attracts great attention, and is
practised by the University physician, Dr. BOECK, though
discovered first in France.  If the results of the last five
years be continued in this gentleman's practice, the cure
will form an era with the original discovery which checked
the small-pox.  It seems a treatment somewhat on the same
principle; and if I understand the subject, it is the most
thorough application yet made of homceopathic principles,
though by olopathic physicians.
Medical readers will know what I mean, when I give
the title of the pamphlet, which has already reached the
Smithsonian Institute, on the subject, " Die Syphilization
der Kinder."*
As this is the summer vacation, I have been able to see
but little of either the professors or students of the University.  The buildings are tasteful and well situated, and the
collections, both of natural history and antiquities, seemed
valuable. It has thirty-one professors: sixty thousand dollars per annum is the amount devoted to it by the state.
At the present time, the students are away on an invited
visit, with the Danish students from Copenhagen, to the
Universities of Lurnd and Upsala, in Sweden. The papers
are filled with accounts of their speeches, the reception by
the king in his palace, and the various festivities. Though
principally a youthful frolic, there is no doubt that the excursion is encouraged by thousands, who are seriously hoping
* This pamphlet will also be found in the Mercantile Library, New
York.




THE  STUDENTS.                    19
such mutual associations among the young men of the three
countries, may tend to the great result so long prayed fora SCANDINAVIAN UJNION.
Jfne 1856. A procession of the Fathers of the city went
down to-day to the dock, to meet the returning students. I
took the arm of a friend, and we made our way to the same
point.
We found already a crowd of thousands assembled. Not
a man was intoxicated. There were no soldiers or policemen to preserve order, and my friend assured me that in
such crowds, picking pockets was almost unknown. Every
one was decently dressed, and the faces wore a superior,
intelligent expression.  The crowd lined the pier, and at
length as the guns announced that the Ganger Rolf' was
coming up the Fiord, they swarmed over the schooners and
small craft lying near, while little boats moved about to catch
a good view of the returning steamer.
One boy excited great admiration on my part by his skillful motions with the " Water Shoes." These are long
wooden shoes, appearing precisely like snow shoes, except
that they are somewhat longer, and are fastened together by
an iron bar, about a foot apart. The boy's feet were kept
steady on them by little iron clamps, under which he put his
toes. His oar was a light paddle, with a blade at each ends
so that he could whirl and strike the water, backing, turning,
or swinging with the most beautiful ease. With this ingenious apparatus, he glided over the water faster than the
fastest row-boats near him.




20            Ti HE  NoR S E-F o L K.
Mly friend, with whom I had been speaking of the remarkable sobriety of the crowd, said that the new Sunday law
had made a great difference. Now, no one is allowed to sell
spirits from five o'clock Saturday evening till nine o'clock
Monday morning.  The first offense was a fine of ten
dollars; second, twenty, and so on, with a final chance of
imprisonment. The informant received half. Our own landlord, he said, of the Hotel du NVord, had been fined twice,
merely for sending toddy up to gentlemen's rooms on Sunday. The beer of the country-a beverage much like Lager
Bier-is wisely exceptecd.
At length:our steamer drew up to the wharf, gay with flags,
and crowded with the hundreds of students.  Cheers echoed
on both sides, and handkerchiefs waved.  The bands on
shore struck up spirited music, and the students in procession,
welcomied by the guilds and the societies of the city, marched
animatedly into the town.  It was a very lively scene.
As r we walked home, passing- a few soldiers, my companion
said that a new Law would soon be in operation, which'-ould make every man a soldier, and he should have to pay
a hundred species (dollars) to get rid of it I It appears
this is a militia law, much like our own, requiring service
irom  every man, but accepting a substitute-though here
the service would often be much heavier; as, for instance,
standing guard in the city, and drilling every day-while
the fines are heavier.
The law is probably intended to throw more of the burdens of State, especially of the army, on Norway, which ha~,
n.ot yet borne a proportional part to Sweden.




CHAPTER II.
A  NORWEGIAN  DINNER.
A  GENIAL friend gave us, with some other strangers, a
most agreeable  dinner-party to-day.  Some eighteen or
twenty gentlemen and ladies were present, and the table
was truly splendid.  The language  spoken was mostly
E.nglish, (I have but one acquaintance in Christiania who
does not speak English.)  The talk was very lively. Several
students were present, who had just returned from the great
Excursion, one or two Norwegian gentlemen of distinction,
a rough, blunt English naturalist, a distinguished Swedish
Professor, an English salmon-fisher, and several ladies.
"You should have seen our festiveness in Stockholm,'
said an enthusiastic young student near me.  "We had
the splendid dining-hall of the Palace, and the king hospitiated us. liearly a thousand sat down at once. But
those stupids-those Swedes-they seem as they had never
seen a lady I Ail, the ladies I Mr. B., —they really covered
us with flower!  W    had bouquets each moment I"  I
asked whether thlese  excursions had been tried before.
Hie replied that they had; and that they had already all
visited Copenhagen.  "Do people really have much hoplieo
21




22            TuE  N oIls:-FOL:K.
for a Union?" I asked. "' No," said he, "to tell you the
truth, I do not think they have.  It is a good thing to
write poems about, and make oratories, but for a fact,
I must confess," and he shrugged his shoulders, "we have
no very high respects for either Sweden or Denmark."
"' He has reason;" said an old gentleman near me —a
politician.  "We are a democratic country, and we could
never unite with any other country, except on the freest
Constitution.  Besides, there would be practical hindrances
— where the capital to put, and how raise the common
revenues?  The benefits would by no means be so great
to us as to Denmajrk: —-he needs Union to save her.  She
must in years fall to pieces-losing Holstein, and having
the  Sound-dues capitalized, and becoming into quarrels
lihrough the chrange of succession."
" Butt you speak of Union-you have one now with a
o,: Tnarcl:y."-'Y'es, that is true-but it is really only a union in name.
We have our own Storthing, and our laws, and our soldiery
-and not a King of Sweden ever will dare to lay fingers
on themr. We, were obliged to unite under Carl Johan,
when all Europe was against us; but even he never dared
to attack lonlg our liberties-but listen-there is a toast
for you i"
0Our host, though we were only on the second course,
rose for a toast, and in a neat; little English speech, proJpsedIt the health of the " American guest," and deprecate.d
the min-_ latrural and horrible contest into which the two
co'entries of Enngland and America seemed about to enter.




TaIIE COURSES.                     23
The company drank, and bowed to me, and I replied.
After this, a succession of toasts was kept up in a much
more formal manner, than would be customary with us,
or on the Continent. The English and Norwegian habits
in this seems to express a more dignified hospitality than
ours.
The dishes were peculiar.  The second course after soup
was ham cut up, and peas, passed about, and tongue with
krazt; the -third, lobsters boiled; the fourth asparagus;
the fifth, salmon; sixth, chickens and mutton cut up and
handed to each by the servants; then custards, fruit and
cakes, with claret, hock, champagne, sherry, port, etc., etc.
In the drinking of healths, my neighbor whispered that
he never filled his glass, and so escaped too much wine.
The old custom was for each to empty his glass, which
is fast going into disuse.  The Norwegian cookery seems
excellent, with much use of cream in the dishes.
In the course of the conversation, the subject of America
came up, and our Swedish Professor said a very good thing.
They were speaking of the State-Church-and of the
experiment of separation in oulr country.  "The truth is,"
said one gentleman, "6nothing can be learnt from  the
American Free Church System-America is too young.
What is her whole age against two thousand years? it
is a mere day!"  "But," said the Swede with a fine expression, "how do we know that these two thousand years
are not a mere day, compared with the whole coming
human history I  America has little to learn fronl the
paISt."




24-           THTE  N oEsE-Fo I,.
After a little, the talk turned to the subject of Slavery,
and the recent disgraceful and cowardly assault by Brooks
upon Senator Sumner.  The words spoken were such as
would be good for our people to hear —scathing, indignant
words at such ruffianly brutality.  Much further interesting conversation was kept up on American affairs, showing a thorough understanding of our difficulties and struggles.
At length we arose and took our ladies to the drawingroom, each bowing to his companion, and then shaking
hands with the host, with the words " Tak for mad!"(thanks for the meal!)  The gentlemen then retreated to
the library to smoke, while coffee was brought.
It is very evident, as I converse with people here, and in
other parts of Northern Europe, that a great change has
come over the popular feeling towards America, since I was
last on the Continent, five years ago.  Then America was
the ideal everywhere to free-thinking and aspiring men. The
oppressed looked hopefully to it; the philosopher found the
confirmation of his theories of human liberty there; the
hard-working, the politically degraded, the idealists, the
struggling masses, felt that the Western Republic was especially for them, and even if they could never share its privileges, they -were happy that humanity had at length looked
on suchl a glorious effort.  The reports of the common free..
dom, of the education of the masses, of the hig-h morality
prevailing, camne over even exaggerated, and silenced the
enemies of popular rights, and converted many doubtful.
One felt the effect; of all this, as a traveller.  You were not




EUn  OPEAN  OPINIONo                   25
alone; you were the representative of the best thoughts and
aspirations of mankind. The warm hand grasping yours,
welcomed not you, but a nation of freemen. The rich did
not condemn, because property and person had been better shielded under the Republic, than under European
monarchies.  The poor, the laborers, were especially your
friends, for was not your land the very land which elevated labor?
All this is quite different now. You are treated politely
as a stranger; or you are welcomed more or less for what
you personally are, but for your country, among the populace
you get no welcome. The glory has departed.
Within five years, various circumstances have opened the
eyes of Europe to our real situation, and, as often happens,
the people see nothing but our sins. We are simply now a
tricky, jobbing, half-barbaric people, where the worst political corruption of the Old World exists without its refinement; and where brutality, rowdyism, and unlimited despotism have in certain quarters free play. Our politicians and
diplomats are despised'; our Constitution is sneered at, as
inflicting upon us the most disgraceful legislators; and the
laboring class and the democrats know that within our limits,
a more abominable tyranny over labor and free speech and
thought exists, than the worst despotisms of the Continent
ever exhibited. There is nothing now in our situation to
dazzle the world.  They see with clear eye our blackest
sins and our miserable political jobbing.
To-day a leader appears of some length in the Christiania
" Aften Bladet," with the following mild opening-" The
2




26            TH E  NO R S E-FOLK.
scandal in the North American Senate, which has roused
such feelings of excitement, it appears to us, in its treatment
by the Senate, the press, and the public meetings, shows a
greater degree of general brutality, even than the scene
itself between Brooks and Sumner."
Then it gives us the scene between Mr. Wilson and Mr.
Butler, where the latter says, "You are a liar," and follows
this by quoting at length two atrocious articles, disgraceful
to South Sea Islanders, from the.Richmond Whig and the
xamzriner, approving of the assault. It closes with a sarcastic remark, on the respect cue to American institutions.
For my own part, unpleasant as the change is in the
public sympathy and respect for us, I am glad of it. We
have had the world's applause too long. We need the
frown. Besides, how can men in distant countries and
engaged in petty questions of state or commerce, judge on
those mighty struggles, whose scum only appears on the
surface of American affairs!
Yet never does one love his country so as in hearing this
universal voice of condemnation. At home, you do not
think much of patriotism. But when you see from a distance the grand nature of the experiment made in your
country, and when you behold  the dark  storms that
threaten, you say, as you never could say before, "I belong to her, and with her fall, will I fall."
We went out from  our dinner-party, about 8 o'clock, to
see a meeting of the students in the little park, to celebrate




U N Io N.                    27
their return. A considerable crowd of the young men and
the professors were assembled, nearly all smoking vigorously.
Just outside the slight palings and hedge, a great concourse
of the town's people had gathered, watching the proceedings. It was characteristic that these never once offered to
intrude, though there was nothing to prevent them, except
a few students' marshals. The first exercises were some
spirited chorus-songs from the crowd of young men; then
one of the professors followed, with an extemporaneous oration. It was delivered with a great deal of fire and enthusiasm-recounting the interesting points of their visit, and
glorifying the idea of Scandinavian Union-picturing the
possible future, when the three nations, even more than in
the old Kalmar Union, would form  a united whole, and
become the great barrier to Russian invasion, and a State
of influence in the world. These sentiments were received
with great applause.
Other speeches followed, to the same effect, with more
songs. I met a Danish gentleman in the crowd, and we
spoke of the oration.  He admitted that the idea of union
was very popular, but thought, as do all, that practical difficulties were in the way-there were now such great dissimilarities in the characters of the peoples, and in the forms of
their government-each had so much jealousy and dislike
of the other-the Norwegians were democratic, rough, and
practical; the Danes more reserved, refined, and ideal.
Still, he confessed, a union was almost indispensable to
Denmark.




28            TH X E  NoRsE -Fo LEK.
June -th. —One of my friends drove me out to-day, to
see the beautiful environs of Christiania.  There is something in the aspect of the country which reminds me of
scenery in Maine: the broken coast of the Fiord, with little
wooded islets-the pine-covered hills in the distance, and
the warm, green valleys by the streams. It is a warmer and
more genial scenery than I should have expected in Norway.
A gentleman whom my friend knew, overtook us on our
ride, mounted on a beautiful blood-horse.
They saluted formally, and at his hearty invitation, we
turned to pay him a visit. We entered his place through a
pleasant avenue, and came in on a little square of low, neat
buildings, with a bell-tower over one, giving a pleasant effect
of grouping about it to the cluster of houses. We were
shown to a comfortable sitting-room, and after a short chat,
our host most kindly gave us a glimpse of his house. There
were numbers of fine rooms opening into each other-the
bed-rooms being usually on the ground floor. The guestchamber had its own sitting-rooms adjoining.  There was
one large dancing-saloon. Scarcely any of the rooms were
carpeted, but the furniture was tasteful and comfortable.
The kitchen was below, a good spacious room, as it should
be. The only Norwegian peculiarity was a great covering,
like a roof, reaching out over the brick-range, serving as a
funnel or ventilator to carry off smoke and smells-not a
useless invention for our American kitchens.
The most marked thing about the house was the great
extent of it, through building on laterally rather than perpendicularly, as an American would do.




A  V ISIT.                    29
The gentleman took us also out to his grounds, and his
barns and farm-houses, which were large brick buildings
with pointed gables. In a pretty arbor of beech he sat us
at a table, and a servant brought champagne. At parting, a servant opened the carriage-door, and he himself stood
with head uncovered, bowing repeatedly to us. Norway is
certainly opening in Christiania, most courteously and agreeably.
AN ICELANDER.
June - th.-I called to-day on a student, from Iceland, a
thorough scholar in the old Norse Literature. After a few
words, he said, with a fine enthusiasm, speaking English.
Ah, sir, —I love your country and your folk. You are the
true descendants of the Norsemen. I see more of the qualities of our old Vikings in your country than I do anywhere
in Scandinavia, or England.  Even your vices are the vices
of the Vikings —how like! —you love so the adventure, and
the sea-water life, and to be uncontrolled.  The filibusters,
as you do call them, they are modern vikinger!"
I agreed, but hoped we should imitate the descendants of
the Vikings, and free our villains and serfs.
His face had a beautiful spiritual, enthusiastic expression,
and he said sadly, " Yes! it is to hope! God will surely so
guide you. The Northmen were, it is true, sea-pirates, bul
they always planted free institutions wherever they settled,
and left things better'than they found.  You have a horrible-I know not if you have the Icelandic word —th'ralldom
there; but the blood of the Northmen leads to freedom.




30               THE N oRSE-Fo LK.
You and the Norse-folk  are the only ones in history,
where the individual does so venture every thing. Look at
your first settlers and at your sea-captains and discoverers,
and now at Walker!  It is, sir, the old blood.  Do you remember the description of the Vikings and of Gauka Thorer,
in the Heimskringla.*  You do have a translation, I believe.
Yours are the men, who have the faith above all in themselves."
I inquired about Iceland and its present condition.  He
* THE SEA-KING.
The hero who knows well to ride
The sea-horse o'er the foaming tide,He who in boyhood wild rode o'er
The seaman's horse to Scania's shore,
And showed the Danes his galley's bow,
Right nobly scours the ocean now.
On Scotland's coast he lights the brand
Of flaming war; with conquering hand
Drives many a Scottish warrior tall
To the bright seats in Odin's hall.
GAUKA TRORER.
The King said, " And I have a great inclination to take such; but
are ye Christian men?"
Gauka Thorer replies, that he is neither Christian nor heathen. "I
and my comrades have no faith but on ourselves, our strength, and
the luck of victory; and with this faith we slip through sufficiently
well."
The King replies, " A great pity it is that such brave slaughtering
fellows did not believe in Christ their Creator."
Thorer replies, " Is there any Christian man, king, in thy following, who stands so high in the air as we two brothers."-Laing's
Transslation.




T tHE ICEL A N DER.                    31
represented it as discontented with its connection with
Denmark, and ready to accept almost any other foreign
government.  It still produced, he said, many students
and scholars, who mostly went to the University of Copenhagen.
I found we had an equal admiration for the old Icelandic
literature, though I knew it only by translation.  A new
German translation of the Eddas, by Simrock, which I
had with me, he pronounced one of the very best yet made,
preserving the alliteration admirably.
He attached very little historic authority to the sagas
which Snorro Sturleson collected of times before the 7th
and 8th centuries. The saga of the discovery of America
by the Northmen, he, as most scholars, considered to be
based in fact, especially as it is conjoined with the sagaaccounts of Greenland and its occupation, which recent
investigations by the Danish government into the remains
of the early settlements have fully confirmed.  His theory
of the settlement of Iceland was peculiar —that colonists
from  Ireland and the adjacent islands, first occupied the
island, and these were succeeded by Norwegian Northmeu.*
~ One of the old sagas relates that a celebrated Icelandic chieftain
had his son taught Irish, " that nothing should be wanting to him,
if he should ever come to Ireland!"




CIHAPTER III.
POSTING OVER THE DOVRE FIELD.
CHRISTIANIA, to most travellers, is merely a waiting-place.
People are always preparing in it, and questioning, and
investigating' as to the perils and trials of the unknown
journey in the interior. My perplexities were somewhat
increased, by having now a lady to provide for-my wife
having joined me by steamer from Hull-and for a woman's
travelling in Norway, there seems not the slightest provision. One thing was clear, that beyond the railway and
the Mjosen Lake, there was no public conveyance, except
a kind of peasant's dog-cart. But whether to hire a double
carriage, or a chaise, or carrioles, or to buy one or any
of these, was the problem. A carriage and driver to Trondhjem alone would come to about sixty dollars. Luckily we
had an honest reliable landlord, who spoke English, to
whom I most cordially recommend all distressed travellers,
starting for the unknown journey through Norwegian
mountains. Mr. Halvorsen, the landlord of the hIotel da,
Nord, remember I After exploring everything else, I took
his advice precisely, and it turned out the very best. In
fact, no other vehicle would have done at all. I bought
92




) I.ELI' i, A'  A  A   I ON S.       03
two new light carrioles, for seventy dollars, with the privilege of returning them at the end of the journey, and
receiving fifty-five dollars back, if they were uninjured.
Of these interesting vehicles, more hereafter.  Our equipment was also very carefully provided; and, as I trust,
in a few years, a summer-trip over the mountains of Norway will be as common and popular to Americans, as
now is a journey to the Springs, I will give it.  Baggage,
a small valise each, with thick covers (the best is oil-skin),
and straps to fasten them  under the post-boy's seat.  The
gentlemen must have an India-rubber poncha, very light,
slouched hat, thick shawl, thick over-coat and shoes, and
clothes very strong, with walking-stick and wallet and a
leathern-bag for small silver and copper coin.  This last
indispensable.  The lady, a water-proof cloak with hood
(an excellent article called aqua-scutumn, can be obtained
in London), blanket-shawls, stout leather boots (Indiarubbers for change); warm winter clothing, and a wallet
for tea, and guide-books, etc., etc.  One bonnet, I am instructed, with change of trimmings f
The great object being to have everything as compact
as possible, and to be prepared for the hardest treatment,
that clothes, luggage, vehicle, and externals can possibly sustain, for the dust, heat, mud, rain, snow, and
bitter cold.  Nothing that is taken in the way of garments,
it should be remembered, will ever come back in wearable
condition. For stores, if the party be inclined to dyspepsia,
take portable soup and biscuit, and in any case, tea.  I
took no brandy or wine, but those who need them  should
2*




34            T  THE  N ORSE -FOL.
be reminded that the country inns have nothing of the
kind.
innse -.-As usual, too late in starting; nobody in the
Christiania Hotel in the least hurry-the landlord quietly
observing as we leave the house, while he looks at his watch,
that he thinks we cannot possibly reach the train, though
he knows we have been waiting already two days beyond
our time. Our rosy-faced commissionaire who had negotiated for the carrioles, starts them off at the same time with
ourselves.  The clock in the Station already points the
hour; the rooms for the first and second classes are
crowded with people-sportsmen in grey shawls, and California hats; travellers in oil-skin soLu'-westers; gentlemen
of business, soldiers and ladies-all gathering parcels, calling for tickets, and hurrying to and fro.
The commissionaire puts the carrioles aboard the freight
cars, and I buy the tickets in agonizing haste; but there is
not the slightest occasion for it. Our railroad, like everything else in Norway, tikes its time. We seat ourselves in
a second-class carriage, dispose the bundles-but finding two
pipes already beginning to smoke, in different parts of it,
change to a first-class before there is any indication of the
train's starting.  At length the guard, evidently from his
face an Englishman, locks the door and we are off.  Our
car is entirely English, even more comfortable than many
English first-class carriages, and we have the cushioned littie compartment entirely to ourselves.  The scenery on the
route is much like that of a New-England railroad-long,




R A I L ROAD.                    35
sloping, pine-covered hills, glimpses of rivers and white foam
through trees, green rye fields and pastures, and here and
there a log-house, or little village of red houses. Time,
about eighteen miles an hour; length, forty-two miles.
This road has been built in great part by the aid of
English capital, at the cost of fifty thousand dollars per
mile.  Part of the directors reside in England.  It pays
only about three per cent. on the whole stock, but is
increasing daily in business. From the connection with the
steamer on Lake Mjbsen, it is enabled to gather in the products and passengers from a considerable back country, perlhaps one hundred and fifty miles in extent.  It is the only
railroad in Norway.  Another is much talked of now, which
shall connect Norway and Sweden, by Kongsvinger on the
Glommen, to the northeast of Christiania.
This road ends at Eidsvold.  Here we found a very comfortable, sensible sort of station; boats were in waiting to
take the passengers to the steamer-none of our frail,
modern boats, but broad, substantial Norsk vessels-into
which carrioles, luggage, and passengers can be dumped
without inconvenience.  Four carrioles and one low-wheeled
carriage for two horses were taken up by crane and rope on
the front deck of the steamer.  For the two vehicles and
ourselves the fare of the ferry was sixteen cents. No one
put himself out, and in about two hours everything was
aboard, and we were under weigh.
As I already find in Norway, charges are low, and no one
seems to wish to take advantage of you. (N. B.-Two persons have returned nme change to-day, overpaid.)




36            TI ENO R TS  -E-  FC L TL.
A polite Norwegian gentleman, travelling by post to
Trondhjem, has taken us in charge, and by his thorough
kindness we get on admirably.  He says that the carriage
on board belongs to one of the Bonders,* or peasant farmers
on the Lake —the wealthiest class in Norway.
The scenery of Lake Mjisen is not at all remarkablepretty and gentle with green hills sloping far to the water,
sprinkled over with litthe brown or black houses. A great
deal of cultivation is visible, and constantly small villages
of neatly-cut log houses come in sight, where the steamer
stops-on the whole, the scene is much like Lake Champlain or Lake George.
Every thing is done in the easiest way possible. Broad
boats pull leisurely off, the boatmen raise their hats, the
sailors raise their caps, passengers bid polite adieus, and
calmly smoking step into the boats. A passenger is putting
on his coat, and the man at the wheel leaves the helm to
help him get it on. The carriage is swung off into a large
scow-boat; a gentlemanly-looking man receives it, and pulls
off with sweeps, and does not even take off his coat.  When
last seen, the current has taken him quite below the landingplace, and the boat seems much too heavy for him, but he
labors on undisturbed.
The men one sees are tall, florid, vigorous-looking, but
generally spare in the face-blond, with wrinkled face near
the eyes, and often, with what I observed in Christiania, a
* I shall adopt this English version of the Norwegian word Baen.
desr, as better than any translation.




TE I, P.AASS iE NGI TS;.;7
slight obliquity in the eyelids.  The nose is regular, and is a
little raised in line.
There are not many passengers in the cabin-a few Danish
ladies coming to the Lake for a pleasure trip, and to see a
Norwegian Sceter or mountain pasture, one or two Norwegians, and two English sportsmen, salmon-fishers.  These
last are desperately bored, and one-generally in the finest
scenery —turns his face to the wall and sleeps. They left
England because they were so bored; and they find this
almost as bad, though once in the mountains they hope for
sport.
The Lake is only sixty-three miles long, but we did not
reach the town at the end, Lillehammer, before eleven o'clock
in the evening. It was still bright daylight; a crowd of
boys were on the pier —there was no shouting or excitement
-boys raise their caps, we raise ours-the little carrioles are
lifted up by the cranes on the dock. In a few moments,
small Norwegian ponies are harnessed to them and we drive
towards our inn.
It was very important that evening, that I should see a
gentleman, to whom I had especial letters-the principal
magistrate of the province. It was half past eleven at night,
though still only a pleasant twilight, and with some trepidation I drove to his house.  He was up with his ladies in the
drawing-room, and welcomed me, just as if it was a seasonable hour in the afternoon. He spoke English. I desired only
to state my objects, and not further to detain them-but he
would not hear of it. The guest must at least break bread
with them.  Some refreshments were brought, and he was




u38             1 THE  NORs  E-FOLK.
gone for a few moments, while I chatted with the ladies,
He had said so little, and used so few ceremonies, and I had
made such a strange intrusion, that I should not have been
surprised at his getting rid of me on the easiest terms. But
on the contrary, he had been showing me the most thorough
kindness-a sort of English-like politeness which comes right
to the point of your wishes, and serves you without words in
the most direct way. In those few minutes, he had prepared
a plan of travel and given me directions to various parties
through the country, which saved me afterwards weeks of
useless labor. They drank a parting health, and bade a
warm good-bye, and the hostess handing me a bouquet of
roses for the lady traveller, we separated, much to my regret.
Our hotel was a droll little place. The rooms seemed to
be arranged en suite, so that I had to pass through one with
two couples, in different beds, and one with a single gentleman, before I reached mine, and in that, the door would
neither lock nor shut. When such accidents began in Norway, I always put my purse anxiously under my pillow, but
soon gave up all that. You very soon see that you are
among the most honest people in the world.
An English gentleman, a year or two ago, in travelling
from Trondhjem to Christiania, tied his porete-nzonnaie —which
is a large leather bag for carrying the quantity of little silver money necessary-on the back of his carriole, and lost
out fourteen or fifteen sovereigns on the road. I-Ie wrote on
arrival at Christiania, to the country judges, and in a few
days had every one of the sovereigns returned to him. They
had been pic'ked up by the peasants, and handed to the ma.




TH E C  R RIOL.                    39
gistrates, who sent them on to the owner.  We are constantly meeting similar little instances of honesty. People
take money whenever offered, but they always seem content
with a little; and if they are convinced that they overcharge, they are usually willing to take off a portion.
At half past four in the morning, the servant girl was at
my bedside with a cup of good coffee and delicious cream;
and in a little time we were safely fastened into our carrioles.
Your first experiencein a carriole is no joke.  The sensation over a pebbly road is as if your teeth would be
shaken out.
The morning was a glorious one.  We wound along the
back of a giant-hill, with a deep spacious valley beneath,
and a stream  rushing through far below in the bottom.
The sun-beams fell across in great breadths of light; the
grass and grain-fields were sparkling with dew, and distant
perspectives, with blue mountains and ponderous pinecovered hills in the foreground, opened before us. Everything was still, and pure, and grand, but yet it was not
satisfactory.  The carrioles seemed like to shake our brains
to pieces; heads and  necks became almost dislocated.
After half an hour's travel, we were as tired as if it had
been a day's.  We agreed that lNorway was grand, but
this would never do. At length, the lady gives out, and
is handed over to a public carriage which runs up a few
miles, while one of the English salmon-fishers agrees to
drive her carriole.
This vehicle, the American reader should understand,
belongs to the general species of our New York "sulkies"




40            TiHTE  NORSE-FOLK.
for fast trotting. It is a single cushioned-seat, just fitted
for the person, with a little strip of wood reaching in
front to a narrow  dash-board, and swinygs on a pair of
ashen shafts between the horse's back and the single pair
of wheels. A leathern apron closely fastened to the seat
covers the front part, in which your feet can be stretched.
The dash-board has a bag for your wallet, and a place
on which to tie umbrellas. The luggage must be tied on
or under a little seat behind, where the post-boy sits. It
is the lightest thing imaginable, for a man to ride in,
and has the advantage of being easily taken to pieces,
when you come to a lake or Fiord, and put into boats.
This beginning with the carrioles was not at all a fair
instance. The road was stony, and we were not accustomed to them. We soon became used to the motion,
and over the perfect Norwegian roads it became a luxury
to travel in them. Indeed, the great temptation was to
hurry on too much. The little Norwegian horses whirl
one on at such a rate, and it is so pleasant to have the
union of grand scenery enjoyed at your leisure, with this
excellent driving, that you are for ever getting on. The
night, too, almost as bright as the day, is so tempting.
You come to have a kind of mania for making the station
(usually six or seven miles), in the three-quarters. Every
one you meet has the same mania. Our two English
salmon-fishers, who had nothing in the world to do, were
hurrying this day, as if their life depended on it. We
ourselves, with all the unpromising beginning, posted eightysix miles before midnight.




THEm  SCENERY.                    41
The scenery to-day in the Gulgdbrandsdal has been impressive, yet hardly equal to my expectation. The aspects
have scarcely been bold and grand enough. Perhaps
the finest effect was in the sensation just hinted at, the
fresh exciting feeling of travelling through constantly new
scenes of such lonely beauty, the idea of continuousness
of enjoyment in Nature, as if for days to come, she would
open successive pictures to you.
Then the silence I
The old Scandinavian Mythology placed among its
deities, the god VIDAR, son of Odin, who dwells in Landvidi, or the " Boundless Land." iHe is called by the poets,
the Silent.  He represents the imperishability of Nature.
Of him, Thorpe says, "Who has ever wandered through
such forests, in a length of many miles, in a boundless
expanse, without a path, without a goal, amid their monstrous shadows, their sacred gloom, without being filled
with deep reverence for the sublime greatness of Nature
above all human agency, without feeling the grandeur of
the idea which forms the basis of Vidar's essence I"
One feels him still in those grand, silent mountain-valleys
of Norway.
JOURNAL.
June.-Station E.- One o'clock.-" Six miles in
fifty-five minutes. Good I Hestee! Str'ax! (Horses I right
away!) These are the two iagical words. You unbundle
yourself, jump out, and rush into the farm-house for refreshments. Everything is very cheap-a breakfast, with dell



42'T H  E  NoI R SE -FO LK.
cious coffee, for sixteen or twenty cents. The cream seems
scarcely ever made into butter, but to be used at once for
coffee and tea, and in cooking.  Butter is usually poor, and
often imported-a singular instance of Norwegian want of
economy, still a by no means disagreeable fact to a traveller.  One favorite dish is sonr cream, eaten with sugar.
These stations are kept up by the peasants by law, and
they are obliged to have horses ready, and to furnish
refreshments.  Every charge is fixed by legal enactment.
We pay at the " fast stations "-i. e., stations where horses
must be kept ready-almost thirty-one cents for seven miles,
which, with a small gratuity to the post-boy, makes the
expense of posting about five cents a mile. Every station
has a "Post-book," with the law in regard to the rates of
posting, the fines, etc., etc. Each traveller is expected to
put his name in the book, and if he has a complaint to
lodge against the postman or the fare of the house, he does
it in these books.  The horses trot wonderfully well.  We
have passed one stage, of eleven miles and three-fourths, in
an hour and five minutes-most of it down hill, however.
A Norwegian gentleman has been travelling with us, and
at first, it was almost frightful to see him, when reaching a
hill-summit, suddenly disappear, and then, on coming ourselves there, to find him plunging at tremendous speed far
down the slopes below.
But we have soon become used to this habit of ZNorvtegian driving, and whirl down the hills at fearful rate.  WVe
hardly hold the reins in at all-the little horses managing
all, without ever stumbling.




AN  OFFICIAL.                      43
Statioin M.-We have just visited a singular little Lutheran church, built of logs, and entirely covered with large
square pieces of slate, instead of boarding.  The nave
crosses the transept at right angles in the centre. The
inside is furnished with plain wooden seats; the altar is
ornamented with old gilt carving, and it has a painting and
candles.  A little model of a ship, a foot or two long, hangs
over the aisle. The churches we have passed are very picturesque-painted red or brown, with pointed white spires, sometimes with several parts, built one upon the other in a pleasing proportion.  We have passed one, an octagon in shape.
I had a letter to the Head Sheriff of this district, and
have enjoyed a very pleasant conversation with him. As
usual, the Norwegian officials seem really the first men in
the community.  This gentleman, who spoke English well,
was a person of singular dignity and intelligence.  With
reference to the education of the country districts, he states
that owing to the scattered dwellings of the population,
they cannot have many fixed schools, so that the schoolmaster goes from house to house, and gathers in each, the children of the nearest neighbors. Their pay is only a few
dollars a month.  The higher classes must have tutors for
their children or send them to the towns. The churches are
equally scattered-still, the people, he thinks, very faithful
in their attendance.  The morality of the country he considers much improved since the working of the Temperance
Societies in Norway. Wine is still drank at tables, but
brandy has been much abandoned, and intemperance is
uncommon.




44            TilHENTH No    E -FOL K.
I learn from this gentleman, that there are a certain
number of Norwegian families who are confirmed gipsies in
habits. They are mostly the descendants of a vagabond
population, which was scattered over Europe, after the
Thirty Years' War. They wander from  one end of the
land to the other, stealing and begging, and have scarce
any settled home. There is a police-book, with the names
of every one. An antiquarian of Christiania, Mr. SUNDT,
has written a curious book upon this class, the Fairte.  We
have, thus far, hardly seen a beggar.
The cultivation along the road has been good to-day —the
crops mostly rye, oats, and barley. In some fields, water
had been brought from the hills above, in.wooden troughs,
and men, in the universally worn red caps, stood with ladles
and sprinkled it over the ground. The tops of the hills are
covered with forest, while the lower slopes are cultivated,
and dotted with brown log-houses. These are nearly always
groups, arranged in square, of four or six houses —one as
the dwelling, one the kitchen, one for guests, and the rest
for "the creatures," as the Norwegians, Yankee-like, call
the cattle.  We pass no villages, yet, on the whole, the
country must be populous. All the houses have flowers in
the windows. The roads are very good, of stone, covered
with gravel. The fences are of poles, inclining between two
cross-bars.
Station F.-We have just met two English sportsmen, in
carrioles. WVe not only did not salute, but there was scarcely
a look on their side, even of curiosity-hardly more than if
we had met in Regent's Park. The country-people gen



A   T MOUNTAI N-PAss.                 45
erally lift their hats to us. We meet only a few persons
travelling, and they are usually in rough carrioles. We find
that the lady-traveller makes a great sensation among the
peasants. And, indeed, what with the capote and out-flying
travelling-costume, and the comical little vehicle dashing
along the roads, under female hands, we cannot help having,
ourselves, a good laugh occasionally at the droll aspect.
The people at the inns find a woman from America a
great curiosity; they examine her dress, price every article,
and ask innumerable questions. Yet they are all exceedingly civil and attentive, though apparently a little perplexed at the wants of modern civilization.  ~:
Station L.-Not far from this station where we are passing the night, we rode through the narrow way, where more
than two centuries ago, an ill-fated army of Scotchmen was
crushed to death by rocks and stones, rolled down from the
mountain above by the peasants. They were allies of Gustavus Adolphus in his war with Denmark, and were making
a bold cross-march over Norway to Sweden, when they
were suddenly destroyed. As we passed, a dark storm was
covering the sky, and there was a desolate gloom and wildness over the spot.
It is a sombre, fearful way, even on the new road, which
Norwegian enterprise has constructed. A simple monument
of stone, with an inscription, marks the spot, where SINCLAIR
and his brave comrades fell.
Our hotel is also in a desolate pass;-not a house in
sight, only a turbulent river and an immense bare mountain
side, with hardly a tree to hide its barrenness. We sit by




46           TH  E  N o  SE -FOLK.
the great roaring kitchen-fire.  The bed-rooms are large
unpainted boarded rooms, approached by a stairway on the
outside of the house; water for the morning is brought in a
black wine bottle I Yet every thing is very clean and neat,
and the people are anxious to please.




CHAPTER IV.
A VISIT  TO A  BONDEIR.
Tofte -. A bit of the old Saga history belongs here-a
glimpse of the Norwegian Kings:
" King Harald (lHaarfager), one winter, went about in guest-quarters
in Upland, and had ordered a Christmas feast to be prepared for him
at the farm Thopte (from Tofte).-On Christmas eve came Swase to
the door, just as the king went to table, and sent a message to the
king to ask if he would go out with him. The king was angry at
such a message, and the man who brought it in took out with him a
reply of the king's displeasure. But Swase, notwithstanding, desired
that his message should be delivered a second time; adding to it that
he was the Laplander whose hut the king had promised to visit, and
which stood on the other side of the ridge. Now the king sent out,
and promised to follow him, and went over the ridge to his hut,
although some of his men dissuaded him. There stood Snaefrid, the
daughter of Swase, a most beautiful girl; and she filled a cup of
mead for the king-but he took hold both of the cup and of her
hand."
The saga goes on to tell, in rather plain language, that he
fell passionately in love with her, and finally married her, forgetting, such was his passion, both his crown and dignity.
Tofte is one of the old Royal stations.  In the chronicle
47




48            THE  No Rs   FOLK.
of King Eysten, who reigned about 1120, the king is represented as having a great dispute with King Sigurd, in their
guest-quarters, as to the good deeds of each. Sigurd relates
his crusades, but Eysten, among other improvements which
he describes himself as making, says, " The road from Drontheim goes over the Dovrefield, and many people had to
sleep out of doors, and make a very severe journey: but I
built inns, and supported them with money; and all travellers know that Eysten has been king in Norway."
They were at first only block-houses (called saelnhuifs in
the sagas), and uninhabited. The first inn (tafernishiuis) was
built in 1303, by King ilakon Magnuss6n.
Tofte was one of the stations thus supported by the kings.
Even yet, these Post-Houses have peculiar rights-the
owners being freed from taxes, and enjoying other privileges.
I had noticed in the room of the post-house some remarkable articles of furniture of black carved wood, with gilt
ornaments, and was told that the Bonder who owned them
lived on the hill near by. I felt a great desire to see the
farm-buildings of one of this class, but was doubtful whether
I should be received without a proper letter of introduction.
A Norwegian gentleman in the inn encouraged me, saying
no one made ceremonies here, so, engaging a guide, I
started off.
The Bonder of Norway is not at all a common peasant.
In one sense he is the aristocrat of the country; he owns
the land, and is descended from the old leaders, and sometimes the princes, of the nation. His class send the most
of the Representatives to the National Assembly.  We




A  F ARMER.                     49
might say, he is one of the farmers, or yeomanry of Norway; but, so far as my observation extends, the Bonder are
not at all like the " farmers" of America, or the yeomen of
England. They are a more distinct class; a class with less
of the gentleman and more of the relics of the former peasantry about them-who, though independent, were still somewhat in the power of the great princes. In this-the middle
province of Norway —you see them continually on the boats,
at the post-houses, and working in the fields. Their features
are usually large and strong, with firm and intelligent expression, and the blonde complexion much reddened by the
exposure to the weather.  They seem vigorous, well-made
men. The common costume is a red cap, like a night-cap;
jacket with metal buttons, and breeches.  The farm buildings of one Bonder were shown me, on Lake Mjosen, who
was estimated to be worth $100,000.
The gaard, or estate, of this proprietor was on a hill,
commanding an immense view, and like all the farms we
have passed, formed with its buildings, a little square, the
interior being protected from the winter winds. There was
no indication, among various houses, which was the main
dwelling, but finding one hospitable-looking door, I rapped
with my knuckles, and a servant girl opened. She understood me, and summoned the master. IHe came soon, and
looking at a sort of general letter I had, at once showed me
into another of the little houses in the square.
There was something very notable in his appearance; he
was not exactly a " gentleman," in the usual acceptation,
not a man of the world, but he impressed you as a kind of
3




50            T  HE1  A O R S E -F OLK X.
natural prince; tall, strong, with commanding features and
long black hair, and an air of genuine dignity.  He wore
the red woollen cap and the usual costume of the farmers.
At each door, as he opened it, he stepped back and bowed,
to let me in.  I was shown into a large room with a handsame uncarpeted floor.  The furniture was singular.  On
each side of the apartment were some splendid carved cabinets and tables, black, with gilding-one with white panels,
having pictures in them-while in the midst of the room a
common deal table stood, with enormous legs, and in the corners were small tables and wooden settees-just such as one
would see in an English country ale-house. Near the door
was a long, old clock, such as every New Englander is familiar with in his oldest village houses. The host had gone
out for a little while, as I was observing all this.  He
returned, and brought with him an old gentleman with a
still more noble and patriarchal air.  This one welcomed me
in the same dignified manner, and told me in a few words
that he was a direct descendant from. one of the old Norwegian kings, HARALD HARFAPAGER.  A  decanter was then
brought in with a cordial, and a glass poured out for me. I
sipped, and we all bowed, and quite seriously drank healths.
This custom of the welcoming-drink dates back at least to
times of the early Vikings.  It appears in all the sagas.*
* It is stated in one of the sagas, that when Gangleri asked about
heavenly things-whether water was drunk in Walhalla? his informant
replied, that it would be a wonderful thing indeed, if -the All-Father
should invite kings, and earls, and heroes, to himself, only to set
water before them!




A. F11L,-IIHousE.                    51
After some conversation, I asked if they would have any
objections to show a stranger the house.  They had not,
and getting a bunch of keys, the younger took me over
one or two of the houses.  There were an immense number
of bedrooms; some with plain farmer-like furnishing, others
with elegant curtained beds and pieces of splendid furniture.
Seeing my interest, my host kindly went farther and took
me to the store-rooms and attic.  There were the winter
coats, the bear skins and furs, and reindeer boots and high
water-boots; the blankets and comfortables and dresses;
then the little sleds and sleighs for the snow; the piles
of round oatmeal cakes, each a foot and a half in diameter,
kept for the food of the laborers; heaps of birch bark
for tanning, spinning-wheels for weaving, shoe-blocks for
shoe-making —for on these farms all trades are carried on.
Then to the kitchen-a still separate house again, with
a sort of stone range in a corner, over which is a little
roof completely overshadowing it, and carrying off the
smoke and flames of the cooking.  In another part was
a great tin tub for baking bread, and large vats or vessels
for boiling. One side of the kitchen was occupied with
beds for the servants. The next little log-house seemed
to be for keeping preserved meats; another was used for
some common farm purposes, and had a little cupola and
bell, which is often seen in the Norwegian farm-clusters,
and has a most picturesque effect. It gives a centrality
to each group-as though they made up one home.  There
were, I think, eight of these log-houses in this gaard.
This arrangement of many separate houses appears in




52             TEHE  N      T oRs   -FO L KR.
all the old sagas. We hear very early of a sleep-house
(sympnh/is); and of two stalls being kept apart from the
dwellings, though even at this day, the Danish peasant
has animals and family under one roof. The old Icelandic
homesteads had often thirty or forty houses,
My host next took me to the stables, though "the
creatures," as he informed me, were in the mountain pastures, or saetters.  These are beautiful little green pastures
on the heights of the mountain, where the cattle stay in
the summers, under the charge of two or three dairy
maids and men, who there make their butter and cheese
for winter. They are famous in Norwegian poetry and
romance.
The barns in central Norway, though often old, have
the modern improvements-being built usually on a sidehill-with two or three easy entrances to each story, and
with apertures for sliding the hay or grain down to the
stalls beneath. The lower story is the cattle stable, each
stall being constructed of two large slabs of slate, so
that you look up, on entering, a long range of upright
stone slabs, which make the separating walls of each stall,
the floor is of wood, and the feeding place a trough,
with bars above, as in -our own barns.  The barns as
well as other buildings are elevated on little stone supports, to save them from the destructive invasions of the
lemming-rats. *
* These little creatures are a species of rat which in Lapland is
very small, but in Norway attains sometimes the size of a wharf-rat.
They have black and tawny spots on their backs, with white head and




CROPS AND  CATTLE.                      5?
Slate-slabs form  a very common article of use in this
valley. This gentleman has one table, some eight feet by
five, made of one slab.
One part of the under story was slabbed out for sheep and
pigs. I was surprised to see an old threshing-machine here
-the wheels turned by a horse moving in a circle below-a
ponderous, primitive-looking thing, but the owner said, very
useful. The common crops raised by him  are oats, barley
and hay.  His fields are irrigated by water, brought down
in troughs, as I have before described.
He has about one hundred cows, thirty horses, and hundreds of sheep and swine.
I know not how to express enough my sense of the courtesy and the intelligence of this Bonder landlord.  With
our limited means of understanding each other, he showed
such  a quickness  and  keenness-such  an  appreciation
of the point of every question, that I was surprised how
much we communicated in so few words.  Then everywhere,
he manifested such a true and manly courtesy, that I left
him feeling the country was very fortunate that possessed
such a class.  They are evidently the muscle and bone of
Norway, and when greater enlightenment and modern enterprise shall reach them, we shall see what a, nation this vigorous old Norse people can yet make.
belly, and grey legs and tail. Once in eight or ten years there is
a great immigration of these animals-as there is of squirrels in
America, directly over the country, up mountains, and across lakes.
Nothing can turn them aside, and they consume everything they
can get hold of.




54            T    E  N o RS E - FO L K.
The great historical fact, undoubtedly, which gave the
peculiar power to the Norwegian people in their early history, and which renders now their peasantry, one of the
best of Europe, is that Feudalism had no existence among
them. Sonme of the French historians have questioned this,
but there seems now now no doubt of it. Feudalism is
always the fruit of conquest.  In Norway, the conquered
inhabitants, the Finns, melted away before a race so different, or fled to the Northern and most inaccessible provinces.
There was no conquered people to render military service.
The land was divided among equals. Democratic assemblies
governed the people, from the earliest times.  Even the
petty kings, who were conquered and driven out by iEarald
Haarfager, were only chieftains from their bravery and skill,
and were obliged to refer everything to the Things, or
Popular Assemblies. These bodies often chose their king,
and nearly as often murdered him. The country became
divided up, as it were among a nation of soldiers. Each
Bonder was a freeholder, equal to every one else, and owing
for his estate no feudal duty, obligation or tax whatever.
The only restriction upon him was the Udal Law. By this
law, every descendant of the owner had, in the order of relationship, a right in the property. If the possessor sold or
parted with the estate, the one next of kin had the power
to redeem it, by re-paying the purchase-money; and if he
refused, the one next to him had again the same right. At
his death again, it was divided among his lawful heirs. The
time of redemption,* is in modern times limited to five years.
* Laing.




P R I MO GE N IT U It E.               55
By such a law, there could be no primogeniture, and no
opportunity for large estates.  The nation, in its early history, was a body of equal and free petty land-owners.  It is
so still.




CHAPTER V.
POSTING.
-Dovre Fjeld. —We are ascending now the great plateau,
called the Dovre Fjeld (pronounced Fiell.)  The main road
over it was first constructed in the beginning of the twelfth
century, by King Eysten.  The scenery is very desolate:
there is no vegetation except stunted birch, and the ground
is covered with fragments of rock.  At a little distance, are
snow-topped hills: snow occasionally drifts down near the
road.  On one side of the way are poles, at regular distance,
to mark the path in winter.  Though it is Near the end of
June, the air is cold and cutting, like November winds.
The height above the sea here is about 3,200 feet.  We
can catch occasional glimpses of a famous snow-peak in the
distance —Sneehoetten-a mountain about X,100 feet high.
Jerkin. —This is another of the old government posthouses, and is considered the best between Christ-iania and
Trondbjem. It is a little gaard, or group of f-arm-houses right
in the midst of this desolate mountain scenery-not a house or
tree in sight.  We were put into a comfortable upper room,
with a roaring fire, acid a nice supper of Reindeer-steak and
pancakes with coffee, was sent up.  The old room, with
56




-~ _ -~ —   -.~        ~       ~~   
~~~~ —~~~~~~~~~ —-~~~~~~~~~~~-?i~~~~~~~~~~~                       ~?  ~.,,,
I-~-              ~   ~      ~~   d.!k NP, WEIAN  FMILY  OING O TIT S A   E     TR








A  Pos r-llousv<.                  f57
its great feather-beds set in alcoves, and its large chairs
and quaint furniture, had a very inviting look after our
long ride.
I went out soon to examine the farm.  The landlord is one
of the old Bonders of the country: and the arrangement is
very much like that at the farm near Tofte, only on a smaller
scale.  All the trades are carried on on the farm-smithery,
carpentering, shoemaking, weaving, etc., etc.  There are
various little houses for these and other purposes. In one
we found dried meats; in another, piles of oaten cakes, for
the workmen during the winter.  One building has, as usual,
the little belfry.  The stable has the same arrangement of
stalls, slabbed off by pieces of slates.  The cows were
away in the saetter-I think the boy said there were fifty of
them. There were stalls also for some forty or fifty horses.
In the house, the landlady showed us, with much pride, her
furs and handsome  dresses, and other articles-reindeer
coats, bear and fox-skins, wolves'-skins, and eider-down comfortables. Both she and the landlord had much the same manner that a substantial farmer and farmer's wife would have
with us-an independent, kind, half-patronizing way.  This
post-house is a favorite sporting station for the English: there
are two sportsmen now in the little guest-house: and here
travellers leave the main road to climb Sneehcetten.  The
charges are just about what they would be at an American
country tavern-about seventy-five cents, or one dollar a day.
Generally, the whole bill in a Norwegian inn, is not -much
more than fifty cents a day for each person, provided he
does not call for too many dishes. Travelling was once
3*




5     ~8     iTi M   N  o I S E- IF O:L K.
much cheaper in Norway, but the English are said to have
corrupted the people, as they have done the Swiss; still,
even now it is the cheapest country in Europe, except
Sweden, for hotel charges. Posting, inn-charges and all,
come usually to about three dollars a day.
There is in these stations-as indeed in all interior Norway-a curious mingling of habits. You climb a ladder to
your bed-room, and find there the cleanest beds, with, perhaps, some rich antique furniture, but the log-walls scarcely
covered by plaster. A very nice dinner may be set before
you, with napkins, and you begin to imagine yourselves in
the most comfortable civilization, when your landlady suddenly empties your slops out of the window, or you discover
some singular omission on the table, which could no where
else occur with such beginnings.
A. little beyond Jerkin, the summit of the plateau is
reached, 4,594 feet above the level of the sea.
The descent from the Dovre ]Fjeld down the valley of the
Driv, is a grand mountain drive —road like a gentleman's
avenue, hard, gravelled, graded beautifully, and fenced by
blocks of cut stone.
On the left, a deep ravine, with a dashing stream, with
waterfalls, eddies, flashing currents, cavernous pits, where the
waters bury themselves to come out again foaming and
hurrying below; and beyond, the eye looking far down a
succession of such glens-add to this, your little Norwegian
pony trotting down the slopes at ten miles an hour, your
ride changing each moment the point of view, yet giving
you time to enjoy each glimpse, and revealing beds of the




T iHE  FLOWERS.                        59
most exquisite mountain-flowers, passed so quickly, that they
seem like masses of beautiful violet, pink, or yellow coloring
on the rocks, rather than flowers, and one can perhaps enjoy
with us that morning ride down the mountain. The flowers
are wonderful, so delicate and fresh in coloring, growing
almost from the chinks of the cliffs. The lady can hardly
get on, for sending the post-boy to pick them; but " the
stupid fellow" has such a talent for finding dandelions and
butter-cups, and weeds, instead of violets and hare-bells, and
such like I 
Stuen.-We are experiencing now some of the fair compensation for the trouble which the Norwegian law allows
a traveller to put upon a peasant.  We are passing occasionally common or "slow stations," where horses are
not obliged to be kept, and where it often takes three
or four hours to get one from the mountain-pasture. To
avoid delay, I had sent on an order for horses at such
an hour. But we have been everywhere delayed, and in
consequence must pay wait-money. There is additional
money demanded, too, for sending for the horses.  I dis* Among the flowers which we found were the following:The draba ( cruciferce ); viola palustris, viola tricolor; lychnis githago,
silene nivea (caryophyllacece); linum; geranium palustre; epilobium
angustifolium (onogracece); sedum minimum (crassulacece); linnua
borealis; galium mollugo (rubiaccee); achillea multifoliurn (conzpositce); vitis ideae altera (vaccinium), andromeda cerulea (ericaece);
linaria vulgaris' (scrophulariaeceoe); echium; phoix (polemoniacece).




60           T    i  N ot ar. - FoLrI.
puted and discussed it at first considerably, but finally
found it was the legal charge.
I think the Norwegian always respects you for questioning anything that is an overcharge. We had a government post-book with us, and knew exactly what we
should pay for every mile. The peasants can always be
convinced, if you will reason with them and show your
authority. They are generally poor reckoners, and one
must not unfrequently pay them more than they claim to
give them their legal right. This settling the fare by law
is an immense saving of annoyance and disputes. It is
good policy to give drink-money, or gratuities to your postboys, which is but a trifle-with the Norwegian travellers,
three or four cents; with a foreigner, perhaps double. If
he gives more he injures other travellers, as it is not the
custom of the country.
The scenery of this part of the journey is very finewide views over deep valleys, and dark pine-covered hills.
At the station, just after we had crossed the Orkel, on
the summit of the hill, we enjoyed one of the grandest
views on the whole route. An immense valley opened
below, filled with sombre pines, and in the midst flowed
a calm, dark river, while beyond, surge upon surge of the
gloomy hills crossed the valley. At the west it opened into
a green dell, with -soft, sloping banks, where the stream
wound through, beautifully gleaming. A rich glow of light
from a summer sunset poured over the whole, giving a
wonderful glory and softness to what would have been
otherwise only a grand and gloomy scene.




faIl;  N) DIJ  M. M1
We were delayed now at each station, and did not reach
Garlic (our resting-place for the night), till about one
o'clock.  But there was no darkness; all through the night,
the light was almost as it is with us on a cloudy day.
On the morning of the fifth day from leaving Christiania,
we crossed the ridge which gave us the first view of TRONDHJEM. The old city lay below on the banks of the beautiful
Fiord, with the Cathedral towers and formal houses plainly
to be seen, the shipping and steamers in front, the dark
solitary island (Munkholm) with its fort in the harbour,
and a long stretch on each side of the arms and islets
of the Fiord. The city was still eight or ten miles away
by road, and the worst road I had yet seen. After a
tedious drive, we reached the old fortifications and entered
the ancient city.  Our carrioles rattled up the broad, paved
streets, lined with low, neat houses, toward the Hotel de
belle Vue, which had been especially recommended.  The
city is a quiet, formal town, which is redeemed from
common-place by the interesting old cathedral, that meets
your view almost everywhere. The shops appear all like
private houses, with windows high from  the ground, to
avoid the deep snow in the winter.
We were soon made comfortable in our hotel, with a neat
room and a good dinner, and I sallied out to see the city.
There is little to interest a stranger in it, except its
historic associations, as the ancient Capital of Norway,
and its cathedral.  This last is a most remarkable building,
both for its mingling of styles, its union of different ages
and schools, and the massive effect of the whole structure.




62,           T   In, NOR S E-FO L K.
All the wealth and religious feeling of Norway cannot
keep it in repair, and the mystery is, how it was ever built.
The two aisles are in the purest Byzantine, and the
nave in the Gothic. The most delicate and graceful part
of it is its choir, now ornamented with Thorwaldsen's figure
of Christ; and the Apostles, by his pupil Bissen.  These,
I believe, were the gift of Bernadotte.  The interior is
disfigured by a row of wooden boxes, built up on the sides
of the nave, like the boxes of a theatre.  A large part
of the nave is still in ruins.
The two chapels clinging to the choir, the minaret-like
spire and the solid tower, the exquisite flower capitals,
and the grotesque faces, leave a strange combination of
impressions on the mind-of the Eastern imagination, and
the quaint Gothic, sardonic earnestness expressed in the
singular structure.
JTune -th, 1856.-I was amused in accompanying a gentleman to call upon another, to see him put on a sou'wester,
as if it was the customary June coat for Trondhjem. The
wind felt like December air. Most of the gentlemen to whom
I had letters, were in their villas in the country at this
season.  I visited one house, well known to travellers for
its artistic treasures and the cultivated host- that of Consul Knudtzen's.  He has several of the'most famous basreliefs of Thorwaldsen -his brother having been one of
the first friends and patrons of the great artist. I saw
here also the well-known book of Minutoli on the Trondhjem Cathedral.




SCHOOLS.                     63
Trondbjem has a number of Public Schools, as well as
a Real School or academy, a Drawing-school for mechanics
and artisans, and an Agricultural School in the country
near by. I attended an exhibition in the Real School,
and a giving of prizes for scholarship during the schoolterm. The teacher of English was very polite and communicative, and gave me much information on Norwegian
Schools.




CHAPTER  VI.
TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN.
A TRIP to the North Cape, even in July, cannot be recommended, unless you are sure of the weather. To-day is
the second of July, and the wind, which cuts across the
deck, is like a February gale in America.
We left Trondhjem, or Drontheim, yesterday in one of
a line of steamers run by the government along the whole
coast from Christiania to Hammerfest, for the purpose
of carrying the mail and providing a connection between the
different parts pf Norway. The prices are very moderate,
and as a business line it would not pay. There are two little
cabins, one for gentlemen and one for ladies, and a small
saloon in common. The rate of passage is fixed at twelve
skillings per mile (about three cents an English mile)wives or sisters, in company with a gentleman, being charged
half price, as is the universal custom on Norwegian boats.
Our company is made up of two or three young merchants
returning to the North from business on the continent, a
young Norwegian gentleman travelling with his betrothed,
a young lady going home from an English school, one or
two other ladies, one German artist, one English'Squire,
64




COAST SCENERY.                      65
and, beside ourselves, an American gentleman, with his wife
and servant. On the front deck are great numbers of fishermen's wives and farmers, coming back from selling their
products at Trondhjem, and taking their sugar, goods, etc.,
to the Lofoden Islands, Tromso, Elammerfest, and various,
small stations on the north coast of Norway. Among
them  are three Cambridge-men from England, pedestrians
and sportsmen, who sleep on the deck under their blankets.
The weather is horrible-cold, bleak, with occasional
turns of driving mist and rain, almost sleet-and then clearing up, to show the grand and gloomy scenery. We are
driving on through narrow Fiords, or arms of the sea, with
grey, bare rocks, twisted and broken and crumbled as
though under the action first of fire, and then of ages of the
ocean storms, reaching down close to the white waves. No
houses or grass, or trees are visible on shore, nor sails upon
the water. Behind the first ledges the land sinks, and then
rises into sharp, jagged mountain peaks, drifted with snow
even to their base, and wreathed with mist. Large white
gulls flutter over the rocks, and now and then the eiderducks scud off just on the surface of the water towards the
shore. Now as I write, we have come out on a larger bay,
with heavy waves rolling in.. Rocky islands make the horizon seaward, and on every other side the many mountainsummits rise. We steer in at what seems an unbroken
dark ledge of rocks, but as we approach, a channel opens,
and beyond, another broad sheet of water appears, sprinkled
with islands, and opening into innumerable bays and armlets
among the fissures of the mountains. There is no soft, sum



60            TH E      T N  s E- FO L.
mer light, no gently rounded outline, or dreamy perspective
— it is all stern, harsh, and forbidding.
TORGHATTAN. —One of the most remarkable objects we
have met, is an island-peak-Torghattan —with an  immense cavern distinctly visible through the upper part.
Murray says "large enough for a ship to go through," but
unfortunately the floor must be a hundred feet or more from
the water.  Forbes* makes the peak about twelve hundred
feet high, and the cavern is estimated here as large as a
cathedral.
Some fishing boats have just crossed our bows-broad,
uxwieldy things, with cod-fish piled half-way up the mast
like hay, and with one large square sail, which is reefed by
untying and separating from the sail successive folds. They
have very high stems and sterns; it seemed to me the old
traditional form of the Viking "sea-dragons," as pictures
give them. Our captain says they are excellent sailers.
We have just passed a harbor where a famous old Viking,
Harick, had his nest.  It seems the coast to breed Vikings
-the sea-kings and pirate-conquerors of the North.  The
scenery opens now more grand; the mountains are massive
at the base, but above broken, and as if tossed about in the
wildest confusion.  Peak follows peak in endless succession
and form.  A green herbage is visible on the lower slopes,
probably dwarf birches and pines. As I write, the fog rises,
* Glaciers of Norway.




T  aH   G r ANTr- R I D E R.           67
and the sun, near the edge of the mountains, at eleven
o'clock at night, pours a golden light into the cabin.
The great peculiarity of the scenery is the rounded
smooth character of the hills below, while the peaks rise
in abrupt conical or jagged summits above-the latter
being, perhaps, a volcanic effect, while the former shows
the abrasion of the immense ice-floods which once swept
over Norway.
We have passed the "Seven Sisters "-seven stern, weirdlooking peaks,* that seemed to reach out snowy hands to
each other, and whose frosty brows lowered on us as though,
according to the Finnish traditions, they were the spirits
hostile to the proud conquering races who had invaded
them.
HESTEMANDOE.
July second.-We have just passed the Arctic circle, at
a singular island, rising in the form of a giant horseman
from the waters.  The back of his mantle is the mountainside, and the crags and cliffs make the horse's head and ears,
and the rider's hand.  His head was at first veiled angrily
in mist; but as we passed, a whiff carried it away, and a
grand, calm face, like the face of the Sphynx, stood out,
looking solemnly up to the stormy sky. The effect was
mysterious and wonderful.  These high peaks are great
barometers to the seamen, and one can imagine how many
a, fisher-boat's crew has watched anxiously and supersti* Estimated height, four thousand feet.- ron Buch.




68            THE  N O R S E-F O L.
tiously the head of the giant rider, and, though Christian,
has muttered a prayer against Jumala or the Trolls.
The legend of this island is, that a giant who dwelt on it,
shot a great arrow at a maiden in Lekoe (eighty-eight miles
distant), who had rejected him. The arrow passed through
Torghattan, and made the great cave or fissure, already
mentioned, and thus failed of reaching the maiden. Both
then changed each other to stone, and must so remain till
doomsday.
Thorpe says that every Nordlander still takes off his hat,
as he sails by, to the maid of Lekoe.
We are winding now through multitudes of islands with
occasional little stations, which consist usually of a large
log-house, with a Norwegian flag floating above it, and one
or two smaller houses, sometimes boarded and painted red.
The roofs are frequently grassed, and it is difficult to distinguish them from the green slopes which form the foot of
the mountains.
Sometimes, on a rocky coast, the eye wanders over the
cliffs for a long distance, without noticing these little brown
cabins planted on them. The channels between the rocks
are occasionally so narrow, that the steamer is compelled to
anchor, and swing round on its bows, in order to return.
Last night, our artist and the ladies were on the constant
lookout for the "midnight sun," but the clouds utterly
obscured the view.
The thermometer stands at thirty-five degrees (Fahrenheit) in a shelter, and continual storms of cold rain or mist
sweep over our course; such cold and gloom at this season




G LA CIERS.                     69
are almost unknown. The farmers on board say it has done
great injury to the crops. The artist says, "If he could
only have good butter, he should not care for the weather!"
Every one is shivering, and abusing the arctic summer. Yet
there is something in these sudden wild squalls, and the
gloomy mists covering and revealing the wintry snow-peaks,
and in the cold grey light, well suited to the character of
the coast-the stern, grand, repelling scenery.
THE FONDAL GLACIERS.
July third.-To-night I was called up to see a grand
scene. A wintry gale was howling over the ship, and to the
southward, the drifting squalls hid every thing in gloomy,
driving sleet and rain; but near us, on our quarter, some
peaks arose which seemed gigantic, against the misty background.. The first was a black, massive cliff, rent and
fissured and with twisted strata marked plainly on its side,
jutting with deep wall against the sea; behind it, and following the line of the coast, were several peaks of pure
snow, whose tops in the storm above seemed to reach
unknown heights.
The snow was drifting in clouds about their summits, and
yet every few moments admitting a perfectly clear view into
their vast solitudes, so that what seemed tracks were visible
down the sides. As the mountains opened to view, glaciers
appeared between them, the blue ice obtruding through the
snow. On the seaward side again, the cessation of the
storm-gusts showed snow-peaks and black, craggy islands.




70              THE   No R  E -Fo,.
It seemed the very desolation of the Icy Ocean; or as if
you were a witness of the action  of the most gigantic
powers of Nature, in the antediluvian solitude and chaos.
You shrink away, as if too insignificant amid such tremendous agencies.
We are now in the West Fiord, one of the broadest inlets
on the coast, and near the famous whirlpool.
THE MAELSTROM.
I quote from Von Buch's description.
" It is from these rapid changes and agitations that the West Fiord
is so dangerous for the coasting navigation. The Fiord presses like
a wedge between the main land and the high and very extensive
islands and mountainous range of Lofoden.   The tide surges on
at the same time, and the general current from the south to the
northern coasts. The narrow sounds between the islands do not
afford a sufficiently quick passage for this great mass of water; the
ebb returns like a cataract, and the smallest opposition to this
motion, such as south winds, occasions immediately broken and irregular waves. A stronger wind, which drives before it the deep
waves of the sea, sets the whole Fiord in furious commotion. In
all the sounds between the island of Lofoden, the sea flows in as
in the strongest and most rapid rivers, and on that account the
outermost bear the name of streams, Grimstr6m, Napstr6m,.Sundstrom; and wherever the fall of the ebb cannot extend through such
long channels, there arises an actual cataract; for instance, the
well-known Malstr6m at Mosken and Viirde. These streams and this
fall change their direction, therefore, four times in the day, as the
tide or ebb drives the water on; but the Malstrom is peculiarly
dangerous and terrible to look at, when the northwest wind blows




THE i   L    E Fv O D EN S.             71
in opposition to the ebbing. We then see waves struggling against
waves, towering aloft, or wheeling about in whirlpools. We hear
the dashing and roaring of the waves for many miles out at sea.
But in summer these violent winds do not prevail; and the stream
is then little dreaded, and does not prevent the navigation of the
inhabitants of Vard;e and MoskenSe. The desire to see here something extraordinary and great is therefore generally disappointed;
for travellers, for the sake of travelling, venture up Norway in summer only, and seldom in winter."
All the descriptions I heard from the Norwegians familiar
with the coast confirmed this account.  At high and low
tide the " Mill-stream" is perfectly safe; only at the ebb
is it at all perilous. Its latitude is about 68~.
Our " Fourth" was passed in snow-storms near some
of the most imposing scenes of the voyage-the  Lofoden
Islands.
We celebrated it by a good dinner, and one American
treated  the whole forward deck to a kind of root and
ginger-beer of the country.  A  Negro-an Americanpassed it around, and was as enthusiastic-poor fellow!as any one for the day of American Liberty.  This Negro
is much looked up to by the deck-passengers, as a sort
of mysterious Oriental personage.
The peaks of the Lofodens rise like volcanic summits
with the most sharp and jagged outlines.  The panorama
of snowy needle-like peaks from  one point is wonderful.
One writer compares them to the teeth of a shark; another
to vertebre.  They are red granite cliffs, protruded as if




72  THE  N o Rs E- FOL K.
by fearful volcanic power, about four thousand feet in
height, and with glaciers and snowy valleys among them.
Forbes* says the line of this semi-circle of mountain-summits reaches one hundred and thirty miles, and in one
point, they occupy a third of the horizon.
Our steamer went far out of its regular course to visit
these islands.
Here is the centre of the great business of the north of
Norway-the cod-fishery.  It employs now probably from
twenty-four thousand to twenty-five thousand men, and has
a capital engaged of three or four millions of dollars.  The
fishing is carried on near these islands, from February to
the end of May; then it removes, for a few months, to the
northernmost coast, for another variety.
The men engaged are the most bold, hardy sailors existing, and are subject to great privations.  We have just
entered a harbor, and the captain says that sometimes a
storm will sweep these boats right from their anchors into
the open Fjord.  Last year, twelve were thus carried out
and wrecked.  The business is not as once, merely an
exchange of the fish for provisions-thereby giving the
fishermen no chance for saving money-but is a regular
cash-trade with the Bergen and Tronldhjem  merchants.
There are two modes of curing the fish-one by cutting it,
like our cod, into halves, and hanging it over sticks to dry
(this is called stock-fish); the other, by packing in heaps
and drying them on the rocks. These little heaps you see
all along the coast.
* Glaciers of Norway.




A  LAP.                     73
THE LAPPS.
"A Lapp I a Lapp I"  We all rushed, helter-skelter, on
deck, to see the first specimen we had yet met.  "Which
is he?  Which one?"  There is no mistaking. A broad,
brown face, with high cheek-bones, and half-frightened
expression; the hair long and light, eyes blue, forehead
common, and nose mean. His cap rises straight from his
forehead, with a bright red band around it; he wears a
woollen blouse, with red fringes at the wrists, blue trowsers,
tied with red bands at the ankles, and great turned-up
shoes —in the lower part somewhat a Chinese costume.' The shoes are packed with dried grass, beaten down, to
make them soft," says the captain. An old woman is with
him, also with high cap, with red band; but her face is
much darker, her eyes small and black, with a Mongolian
cast.
"There they are, at dinnner l"  The old woman has
pulled out a large cake, like an immense buckwheat-cake in
appearance, which she eats with cheese. Edward, the colored man, of course, gets into a talk with them, as he does
with every body, though how he makes himself understood,
is an inscrutable mystery.  He says the cheese is qot reindeer cheese, and that the cake is rye-bread.
This person is not a Lapp, probably, but a " Sea-Finn" —one of those who live near the shore, and have settled habitations. The " Mountain-Finn" lives a wandering life, with
his reindeer  We see the huts of the former now on every
4




74            THE  N O R  E-F o L.
Fiord. The " Quens," of whom we hear a great deal now,
as we go farther north, are the inhabitants of Russian Finland, a larger and handsomer race than the Finns and
Lapps.
I have conversations continually with the Norwegians,
on their dealings with the Finns. They deny all oppression or wrong on their part, and describe these tribes as
hopelessly inferior and ignorant. Still the fact remains,
that the Finns, like our Indians, have lost their old habitations; and that the conquering race have done, till lately,
very little for their improvement. A singular movement
has commenced within a few years among them, of which I
cannot as yet speak with confidence. It began with terrible
outrages, and fanaticisms; the murder of the sheriff of the
district, and an attempt to offer a Protestant clergyman as
a bloody sacrifice to God —the poor creatures believing
themselves acting under divine inspiration.  They were
punished; and since that time, under the influence of
Swedish missionaries, the religious excitement has taken a
more healthy direction.
My friends speak of it as merely a "' fanaticism;" but, by
their own confession, it has driven out intoxication from
among these tribes, which had prevailed before to a fearfnl
extent, and the results seem to be of a sound, rational
nature. They are represented as deeply attached to the
Bible, but not so much revering Luther; as very correct
and pure in their lives, speaking with much feeling of their
religious hope, but believing in an inner inspiration in each
man's heart.  Even the magistrates allow a great change




ET tr IN  O L  G Y.               75
in the general morality of the Finns and Lapps, since the
" revival movements."
It will give an idea of the proportion of these tribes to
the Norwegians* in Finnmark, to give the statistics of a
single parish in this neighborhood, furnished me by a clergyman on board-that of Lyngen: Normans or [Norwegians,
614; Quaens, 721; Finns, 1,601.  Of these, the mingled
races are —from Norwegians and Quens, 92; from Que'ns
and Finns, 119; from Norwegians and Finns, 7 —this last
giving an excellent instance of the affinities between the
two races, as compared with those of either to the Russian
Quaens.
The Quaens, or Finns from Finland, are a tall, well-made
race, and do not at all resemble the Norwegian Finns or
Lapps. They are agricultural, and the Lapps nomadic.
Von Buch dates their entrance into Norway, only to the
time of Charles XII.
With regard to the relation and ethnology of these tribes,
there may be some confusion of ideas, owing to the confusion of terms applied to them among the Norwegians themselves. We hear of Finns, of Lapps, of Quaens or Kv6ns,t
and Russian Finns.  All these really belong to but one
great family-the Tsjudes —and divide themselves into two
* Lallerstedt makes the number of Finns in Norwegian Finmark,
6,000; of Lapps, 13,000; of Norwegians, 25,000. —La Scandinavie,
ses Esperances, &c., p. 7.
t The English word queen is allied-this country of Finland, having
formerly been supposed to be the country of the Amazons, or of
women, and thus called queen-land, or Kvenaland.




76            T   E   NOT O  S E-FOLK.
branches, the Polar people, or the Finns and Laps, and the
inhabitants of Russian Finland, or the  Quens, formerly
called Suomi.*  The Tsjudes are a great Asiatic race,
allied to the Mongolians, who have covered the Northern
and Northeastern provinces of Europe.  They form  the
under-stratum  in Russia, especially in Archangel and the
provinces near St. Petersburg, but are utterly different both
from the Sclavic and the Germanic families. They divide
themselves, according to Prof. iRask, into  three  great
branches, of which it is only necessary here to mention the
Finnish.
One of these branches includes also the Madjars, or Hungarians.
The Finnish branch, beside the two divisions mentioned
above, has a third, not important in this connection.  The
languages of the Polar Finns and the Russian Finns, or
Quaens, differ as much as the German and Danish, so that
the two peoples do not understand each other. The language
of Russian Finland is the only cultivated Finnish tongue,
having its own literature.  The people also are far superior
physically, to their relations of the West.
Prof. Munek t limits the proper Finnish territory as follows:-" It is bordered toward the east by a semi-circle, or
a third of a circle, from the Gulf of Livonia to the Western
part of the White Sea, and towards the west, by a similar
curved line, from Malanger in Finmark to Umala on the
Gulf of Bothnia."
*Prof. Munck.
i Norskt Maanedskrift, 1st ilefte.




A  L  G  I).                   77
We have just passed Senjen, a remarkable- island. The
legend related of it is characteristic:
THE GIANT.
In ancient times, when the holy St. Olaf came to instruct
the Norwegians in the faith of " The white Christ," and to
plant the cross on the heathen altars, he found his efforts
much impeded by the terrible monsters, that still inhabited
the mountains and the desolate rocks on the coast. Among
these monsters was a giant Senjemanden, who lived in this
island of Senjen.  This giant threatened often vengeance
against the strange God, who was about to drive him from
his old dominions; but he was most of all enraged at the
pious chantings of a nun, who lived on the island of Gryti.
These devout melodies would sometimes make him howl with
rage and pain.  Happily for the holy nun, his attention
became occupied at this time with quite different subjects. In
the interior of Kvedfjord, in a beautiful green valley near the
Fjord, lived a Jutmi1jente, or daughter of a giant, who was
wonderfully rich. Her bulls and black cows pastured the
hills by the hundreds; her flocks of goats swarmed over the
mountains; her sheep, fat and soft-fleeced, fed in the long
grass of the valleys; she had numbers of hens who layed
their eggs continually; eider-ducks on her rocks, who gave
her soft covering; reindeer on the mainland, who drew
her in winter over the snows and ice. In her home she possessed great drinking-horns of gold, and cups of silver; and
every one of her twelve dogs had a collar of silver. She had
much riches beside, of which nobody knew; for it is well




78             T H E  No T  R S E -FOLK.
known that _the Sxtuls, however much they have, always
desire to conceal it, and to have more. The giant Senjemand, though he was old and horribly ugly, was so
dazzled by all these riches, that he resolved to win the
the daughter of the giant to marriage. Hte commenced by
addressing her in his softest tones, but even then, they
sounded like summer thunder, and could be heard much farther than in her island, though that was twenty-four miles
away.  The Jutul-maiden was not a beauty, and had no
inclination to perpetual virginity, but she could not bear the
addresses of Senjemand.  He was too awkward and heavy,
and his education had been too much neglected in his association with mermaids and sea-monsters, and such like creatures, so she answered in good Norse verse"Miserable Senjemand-ugly and grey I
Thou win the maid of Kvedfjord!
No-a churl thou art, and shalt ever remain 1"
Whereupon the Senjemand gnashed his teeth, and in his
rage, fitted a stone arrow to his bow, and shot it at the
maiden.  The arrow passed right through Toppen, and split
it from top to bottom.  At this very moment, the nun happened to be out of doors, engaged in her morning' orisons;
she was so frightened at the fearful crashing of the arrow
through the cliff, that she was changed to stone, where she
still stands.  The arrow was turned aside by this obstacle
of the  cliff, and struck  the  mountain  Elgen, on  the
island Hind6, where it may be still seen.  The Jftulmaiden, in her fear, was seeking to flee away on her horse,




A  L  G E N.'79
but was changed by the magical arts of the giant to stone,
with her horse and saddle. The mountain Sadlen (saddle)
is still to be seen.
The wicked giant himself also became stone from his own
rage, and he is so terrible, that no grass or shrub will grow
upon him.  He is still shown as a warning in the Senjen
Island.




CHAPTER VII.
FINMARK AND ALTEN.
OUR boat-the Prinds Gustav-is a very pleasant, though
a small one, and we enjoy the trip as we approach the North
more and more. The captain is a gentleman, an officer of
the navy, speaking English very well. The cooking is admirable and the prices are all low. Our party is just large
enough not to inconvenience each other; and still to have a
good time. We stop at every small station, and are to
remain nearly a day at the towns or important places.
People constantly come on board and leave us again —
generally government officers, and tradesmen, and clergymen.
My American friend, Mr. L., says "he can always distinguish a Norwegian clergyman now by his weight I"  They
are evidently the country'squiles and landlords, and not
peculiarly ascetic in habits. Their duties seem to range
from those of magistrates, office-lholders and clergymen to
the taking of census and numbering of cattle.  One on
board says, he must give to the government a complete
return of all the population and property —even of every
horse, cow or goat in. his parish.
Among our passengers we take many ladies, who are going
sn




ILADY -TR IA VE LLE I,.           81
short distances: all have comical little wooden bandboxes
calculated to try the Christian disposition of Norwegian husbands.  Some are unique in dress: the most, however, European in costume and rather pleasant in appearance, without being pretty. Our ladies have fastened upon one tall,
serious, half depressed looking woman of sweet manner, as
the original for the heroine in Afraja-sensible and devout,
but without doubt about to be sacrificed by a tyrannical
father to some suitor whom she does not love, a thing, we
hear, not altogether confined to fiction in Norway. She has
just left at a little fishing-station, whence a strong-manned
boat pulled out to take her.  They watched her depart,
sadly.
There is an old Lapp-woman on the forward deck, who
might well do for one of the witches in Miigge's story. She
has been released from the prison in Trondhjem.  Her face
looks like the lowest style of Indian faces-with a sly, besotted, murderous expression.  She sleeps in all weathers
under her blanket by the side of the funnel, and speaks to
no one-even Edward can not open communications with
her.
In our part of the ship, there is a constant warfare going
on between the American ladies and the Norwegian on the
subject of the only window of their little cabin. There seems
to be a strong constitutional objection on the part of the
Norwegians to fresh air; and however many crowd into the
little room, the window must at once be shut. From the
intimations of our ladies, we should gather also that the
Norwegian female travellers are anything but delicate in
4*




82            THi  l  N o  E-FOLK.
their curiosity either in strangers' affairs or property.  Still,
if there is anything one learns from travelling, it is, not to
judge of a people alone fiom its travelling population.
A great want of attention to women is very marked here.
They are btndled into boats, or shoved out of them like
packages-and need strong arms and much resolution sometimes to avoid accidents.
The worst travelling habit in Norway, is the disgusting
spitting.  I thought America had reached the lowest grade
of nauseating vulgarity in that respect-but it is worse here.
The decks are clammy with it.  And now that I am grumbling, I may go on to say, that of all European countries, it
is the worst for fleas. Even Italy is not so tormenting.
The country people are usually excessively filthy in their
habits, and most of the inns are merely their houses, provided with an extra bed-room. In Sweden or in Hungary,
where the country inns are dirty and disagreeable, there is
so much hospitality that in your pleasant quarters in gentlemeIl's houses, you forget the filthy character of the hotels
and taverns.  Here, where the travel is too much to allow
of more hospitality than is customary in civilized and
crowded countries, you feel the full effects of the quality of
the public accommodations. Still all these are trifling; compared with the enjoyments and physical benefits from a Norwegian tour.
We are now in the region of perpetual daylight, though
bad weather has prevented a good view of the " midnight
sun        unceasing."ay gives a ew sesatio  worth co
This unceasing day gives a new sensation, worth coining




THE PERPETUAL DA Y.                     83
to Norway to feel. It is difficult to describe. You are
at first struck with the strangeness of Nature-the silence,
and the unnatural light.  You feel as if something unusual
was about to happen. After a time you become more
accustomed to the day, and lose the sense of division of
time. The sensation is of perpetuity, of unlimited activity,
of a Nature working without rest, or change, or shadow.
It is exciting, stimulating, and cheerful; but probably
if enjoyed long, wearisome.
Finmark.-As we enter the Finmark Amt, the aspect
of the coast becomes even more volcanic, with the sharp
acuminated summits, and the contorted strata.
In one place, the curved or curling lines of rock melted
by fire, would have struck the most ignorant beholder,
even a quarter-mile away. We saw, in several instances,
precipices with grey limestone above, and some granitic
formation below.  Of all countries, this must be the favorite
for a geologist. It is evident that two of the greatest
agencies of Nature in continent-making-volcanic fire and
ice floods-have been in tremendous action over the Norwegian coast.
TROMS6iE.
We came on the deck of our steamer on the morning
of the 5th of July, and found ourselves in what seemed
a mountain-lake, with the little red-roofed town of Tromsoe
on the borders. A brisk snow-storm was blowing, so- as
almost to hide the giant snow-peaks at one end of the




84            T r i  N o i- s iE:-   () i, ix.
bay, the other was shut in by green slopes, with heavy
masses of snow lying close on the grass. The town is on
an island and sheltered from the sea by a larger island,
]Kval, though this does not at all appear from the water.
It shows a number of substantial wooden ware-houses, and
we could see some dwelling-houses of a very respectable
size. The green grass roofs of the fishermen's cottages
made the outskirts. We were soon on shore, and wandering
about the town, picking some old friends among the flowers
-butter-cups and violets from a grave-yard in one quarter.
Every hut had flowers in the windows. The air was cold
and wintry. We took breakfast in a miserable dirty inn.
At a later hour, we called on a number of persons to
whom we had letters-the Amtmand (magistrate) of the
two districts of Finmark; By-Foged (sheriff), and others.
In. one house, I had a conversation with a very intelligent
young pastor, on the new  religious "movement."  Like
almost every person here, he spoke English.  " I speak but
imperfectly English," said he, "'but I shall be happy to
tell you of these peoples. They call themselves opvakcte, or
awakened, and they believe themselves to have alone the
truth of the Bible.  They are against the ordinancesthe daub-what is it? child-baptism —for they say, no
one should be baptist without his own will, and that they
do have now the best baptism of the Holy Ghost. And
so of the what call you it? the priest's clothes and ceremony, and the forgiveness of sin, which is spoken out by
the clergyman.  They be also opposed to amusements, the
the musique and dance, and to brant-vein (brandy). Some




T ai "  t\ AW A KI.N E D.            85
of them have burned their piano-fortes, but the most are too
poor to have any such. They always bring out texts from
the Bible, and say they have the true understanding of
it.  One must confess they show much moralsk (moral)
in their lives. They will have nothing to do with the
office church-what is it in English?"  "State Church."
"Yes! they have removed themselves entirely, here in
Tromsoe, to the number of forty-six, but I believe they
come again. It will pass forby."
"Do they believe as you do, in Christ?"
" Oh, yes; certainly, in nothing so much."
I asked about their leaders. The clergyman thought
they scarcely had any. Pastor Lommers of Skien, was
a prominent clergyman among them, who had just abandoned his place in the National Church. The most, he
said, were led by people of their own sort, who pretended
to especial inspiration. "They claim, you know, also, to
be sinless."
While conversing, a physician came in, who belonged
to the new sect, and we had, after a short time, a conversation in German together on the subject.
He was guarded in his expressions, but in his view
the movement was "a struggle for Apostolic Christianity."
"We do not find," he said, "in the New  Testament,
that the clergymen should be chosen by the government
authorities, and that he should have so much money, and
wear such and such clothes in the church. We believe'confirmation  is altogether a matter of the heart, and
not to be fixed by law. Our efforts, mein Herr, is after




8 6           THu E  X On No    E -F o L.
a life more impressed with religion; we think each man
can have a divine light within him."
I asked about Baptism and the Communion.  " Yes," he
said, " we believe that only old persons should be baptized;
and that the great thing is, the baptism of the Spirit." The
Communion, he said, they wished made a thing for the soul
only, and not a requisition.
Of amusements, his own feeling was, that a redeemed
person would have no taste for them; still, they left that
to the conscience of each one.  Of their alleged belief in
perfection, he denied that they ever supposed themselves to
have attained to a sinless state. " The main thing in it all,
sir, is what you in America will understand-we want the
Church utterly kept apart from the State."
It would be presumptuous in me, as yet, to give a judgment on this remarkable religious movement. But from all
evidence thus far, I fully believe it is a natural vigorous protest against the State Church, accompanied, of course, with
much fanaticism.  It should be remembered, in Norwaiy
every clergyman is an officeholder, paid by the government.
Confirmation-church-membership-is a condition of citizenship, fixed by law at a certain age and after a certain degree
of knowledge. That is, no one can hold a public office or
receive a license, or be entitled to the fullest protection of
the Norwegian laws, without possessing a certificate that he
has been religiously confirmed in a certain church or parish.
To enlarge on the fatal effects of such a mingling of the
religious and the political, is not necessary to the American
public.




CLER GYMEN'S SALARIES.                      87
The clergymen seem very well paid throughout the country, and generally have the best farms along the road. In
this town of Tromsde, containing perhaps three thousand
five hundred inhabitants, with the universal cheapness of
every thing, the pastor has a salary of two thousand five
hundred dollars, and his house. The salary is made up
somewhat singularly. Twenty dollars of it are from the
eider-down,* furnished by a certain island in the neighborhood.  Four hundred dollars come from lands, let out to
farmers in the outskirts of the village, which belong to the
pastorate: the rest is paid by the parish and the State.
Among other fees, the pastor has a fixed one for every baptism  and marriage and funeral.  In the fishing districts,
near the Lofodens, it is the custom for each fisherman to
contribute a proportion of his fish, if the catch is lucky, so
that in a good season the pastor will have three hundred or
four hundred dollars' worth of fish added to his salary.
I went with a friend to visit the church of the village. It
is a log building, boarded, and painted red.  The interior
has the usual division into four equal parts, by one portion
of the building crossing the other in the centre at right
angles.
The altar is separated by a railing from the church; a
picture of Christ was behind it, and candles before.  The
floor within was strewn with juniper twigs, for the odor.
The seats in the body of the church were ugly wooden
seats, and the walls were occupied with three tiers of
unpainted  little boxes, like opera-boxes, for the better' The down sells here at two dollars a pound.




88          T   E  N oRSE - FO-LK.
classes. The pulpit was on one of the angles of the nave
and transept. The house was never warmed, they said.
Above the altar, hung two little ships-of-war, complete in
all equipments, such as one sees sometimes in a marine
insurance-lawyer's office, for models to use in court. I
asked the meaning of this singular custom, which is quite
common in Norway.
"It betokens the sailing of the soul away to heaven," my
friend answered.
Another explanation is, that the first church of the
Northmen was an inverted boat; and hence, through all
the Teutonic branches, the name for the principal aisle of
the church became ship* or nave.
Two Russian vessels are lying in the harbor, with meal.
The men were walking about in the town.  They were
much better-looking persons than the Norwegian sailors,
with regular features, and full beard and moustaches. They
seemed to me to have a certain peculiar gravity and dignity
for people of their class. Probably something of the consciousness of a great nation comes down even to the lowest.
Russia has a considerable trade with this town.
I walked out in the afternoon on the hills behind the
city.  Here the TromsiJe citizens of wealth have erected
villas to escape the heats of the summer, and to enjoy the
wide landscape.  It was the day after the Fourth, so my
New-York friends will remember its temperature.  I had
* In German, Schiff; Norwegian and Danish, Skib.




A    CTIc VILLAS.                   89
two overcoats on, but could hardly keep warm with walking, and was half blinded by the snow-squalls.  One gentleman has a kind of Chinese villa, with pretty gravelled
walks about it, laid out among trees, which from the water
seem a grove of fruit and shade trees, and with fountains
and summer-houses. A green lawn runs down from one
side of the house, with flowers in the grass. There was
something almost touching in this effort for summer. The
only trees that would grow there, were the dwarf birch;
the snow yet lay deep at the foot of the lawn-; and the
only flowers were the sweet Arctic flora, which winter cannot drive away, the yellow ranunculus; the wild violet, here
almost yellow; the pink heather blossom; the white multiberry flower, and our unfailing friends, the butter-cup and
dandelion.  Otherwise no shrub or fruit or vegetableeven potatoes can hardly endure the climate.  The view
from the si;mnzer-houses was the usual grand, desolate, Norwegian scenery of this latitude, mighty snow-peaks of jagged outline running down into dark, broken, twisted rockbases, with broad reaches of water, gloomily hidden or
suddenly revealed in the scurrying snow-squalls sweeping
across it.
THE LYNGEN FIORD.
The Lyngen Fiord attracted my attention, as we sailed
on from Tromsoe, from its mention in Miigge's charming
romance. The scenery of it is truly grand. In the upper
portions, owing to the condensation of the air, and the collecting of clouds by the hills, the climate is singularly mild




90            T II E  IN o    R  - F OLK.
and genial. Here grain sometimes ripens-the highest graingrowing land in the world-though at Tromsie, only the
dwarf-birch flourishes, and at Hammerfest, which is but a
little distance, not even potatoes or the birch call live.
We pass now many glaciers, and occasionally cliffs of
limestone.
The Jekulsfiord was indicated as remarkable, for having
the only sea-glacier in Norway-that is the only glacier
emptying into the sea. With all these glaciers, are plainly
to be seen the signs so often indicated by Agassiz; the
rnoraines, or masses of rock and stone pushed on by the
slowly-descending ice, the semi-circular form of the mouth,
and the protruding blue ice-with, as we hear, deep crevasses on the sides of the mountains, down which the icefloods make their way.
Our bad weather is beginning to disappear, and the sun
shone out brightly as we entered the beautiful Alten Fiord,
in which are the famous copper-works. The inner branch of
the Fiord is called Kaafiord, where is a famous headland,
Bosekop. The highest peaks are about 3,000 feet high;
many of the hills rounded by ice-floods are visible. The village with the green slopes, and the pretty houses of the
proprietor, Colonel Thomas, looked very pleasantly as we
came to anchor. The works are a little without the village.
One of the most singular sights from the steamer, is the different lines of the old sea-beach, plainly visible some fifty
feet or more above the present water-level. The highest of
these ancient sea-beaches is now two hundred and forty feet
above the sea, showing that the land has been elevated dur



THE ICELAINDER.                      91
ing the historic period, that distance. It is curious that the
elevation is greater here than towards the north, so that
there is a slope towards Hammerfest.*
The copper found in these mines is the common yellow
pyrites.  The rocks are clay-slate, limestone, and hypersthene, green stone, with a peculiar kind of sandstone, or
granular quartz.
As we lay at anchor, a young gentleman-an Icelandercame on board, from  the Catholic Mission recently established in this neighborhood.  I had known some of his
friends in Copenhagen, and we soon made each other's
acquaintance.  There seems to me about all the Icelanders
I have met, a peculiar raciness and enthusiasm.  We had a
long conversation together, in which I inquired of the mission and its objects.  It was commenced, he stated, by a
Russian gentleman, who had lost his estates in Russia, from
his conversion to tile Catholic faith-the Baron de Djunkowsky, or Pe're Etienne, as he is called now.
The mission consists of seven priests, two French and
three German, beside himself.'They have a chapel and
have prepared a catechism  as well as a kind of ascetical
work.  A seminary and college will be opened later.  He is
very warm about his friend.
"He is a noble man, Mr. B.," he says; "such a man as
the Holy Xavie r was."  He states that the Baron is the
Apostolic Prefect of Iceland, the Far6es, Lapland, Greenland, and Polar America.
Forbes' Glaciers of Norway, p. 84 and 96.




92             TH E  N oRsIE-FOLK.
They are to revive the five bishoprics which flourished
here in the early Christian times, and they want hundreds
of priests.  The great question yet is, whether they are a
legal community.  They are buying land, and they refuse
to pay tithes, so that they hope soon to have the question
of their independency of the State Church brought before
the courts or the government.*
"It is truly a question of liberty in religion," he says.
"But we are obliged to present it as a question of education.
At present, we are only an educational establishment —and
there is no law in Norway against schools by foreigners."
I had some very free conversation with him as to his reasons for joining the Jesuit mission.  "I know," he said, in
English, "I leave the faith of my fathers, though not of the
ancient Icelandic folk-but to me at this time, the Church
Catholique seems the only democratic church.  If I was in
America, it might be different.  Look at us here   We
alone ask for toleration-such as you give even to the Mormons —and this Lutheran church does try to crush us. We
are seeking to carry the cross among the poor Finnls, and
these rich pastors say,' No: you must pay for our salaries!
you must bring in the tenths I and you must keep up the
State-church!' We will not do this.  No: I would rather
go to Siberia as my father, the baron, has done once."
RWe spoke afterwards of Iceland  and her literature.
* Later information shows that the Mission has been legalized. A
new Catholic Church-the first in Norway-the Church of St. Olaf,
was consecrated August 24, 1856, in Christiania.




TALK.                       93
"Ah I" he said, " Mr. B., if you could only read our old
sagas in the Icelandic I They are grand. I do think of
them every day —such vigor and fearlessness l  We have
nothing like them in these days. Those old chieftains who
conquered in all countries of Europe-and who sailed away
on the unknown seas as the crows flew, and feared neverand finally even reached your noble country.  Ah! what
have we now like them I
"People do never acknowledge what they have gained
from the Northmen.  Do you think they do?  Your jurytrial-your free speech-and your respect for women-are
they not from our ancestors? Christianity has much effected
-but I do not believe it so much implanted respect for women as the old Norse habits and character did. Pardon!
that I run on so. Will you take snuff?"
We walked up and down the -deck, continuing our animated conversation.  I asked if he would care to live in
Iceland?  No: he would not. It was dull, and was now
only a colony and a depressed colony of Denmark.  "When
I settle, it shall be in Free Amerique, where all sects can
have toleration. Europe has much to learn from you in
tolerance and free allowance of every religious opinion. Do
you see how these Norwegians avoid me? I am a wolf,
because I am become a Catholique. They say,'See I he's a
Jesuit. He wants an aumto-da-fe here I We shall have nuns
and a parc aux cerfs again!' Les betes!"
I asked him about the Finns and Lapps, whom they were
trying to convert. He gave a better account of them than
I had heard from the Norwegians. "A simple, serious




94            THE  N o RS E - F oL K.
folk," he said, "who could not leave their nomade life, but
who might be much improved. Not especially stupid or inferior, and very grateftil for kindness."  He thought they had
been much neglected and sometimes oppressed by the Norwegians. I found he spoke German and French as well as
he did English.
The valley of the Alten, " the richest and most important
on the coast," according to Mr. Lallerstedt, has been
selected by the Swedish writers against Russia, " as the
point where her ambitious attempts against Scandinavia
will centralize."  The gulf has three mouths, and each one
leads to an excellent port, well sheltered against ocean storms
and capable of being well defended.
"A  second Sebastopol," says Mr. Lallerstedt, " could
easily be erected here." The valley, rich in forests and metals
and inhabitants, can furnish the materials for great enterprises.  A direct bridle-road to the East connects the Alten
valley with the MAuonio and the Torueo, which from the frontier between Sweden and Russia. It would need but few days
to march Russian battalions across from  Torneo to this
point. Russia has also in the White Sea, fifteen thousand
tons of merchant-shipping, in which ten thousand men,
with artillery and provisions for three months, could without difficulty be embarked. There is nothing on the whole
coast, north of Trondhjem, to oppose a united attack, thus
made by land and sea.  With Alten in her hands, Russia
at once has a good port towards the Atlantic, securely
defended and open, owing to the influence of the confor



DANGEr  FOM ro   RUSSIA.                        95
mation of the land and the Gulf-stream, for most of the
year.
So  the  Swedish  alarmists have  pictured  the  danger.
They have, perhaps, overdrawn  the peculiar beauties and
fertilities of the Alten valley.
It is certainly much more genial in climate than Hammerfest, where nothing grows, but it would not present
itself as a very splendid prize for an ambitious Northern
people, desiring to burst out towards the south  and the
sea.  For nine months in the year, it is a cold, gloomy
place, and no large population could ever subsist there.
Still it is, perhaps, well to have called the attention
of Europe to the possible danger.
TEMPERATURE.
"For eleven years (1837-48)," says Forbes, "the average temperature (of Alten) at 9 a. n., was 340.50; at 9 P. M., 32~.83; mean,
330.66.  Von Buch estimated it, solely, from the upper level of the
Pine (640 feet above the level of the sea), at nearly 10 Reautmur,
or 34~.25 Fahrenheit, a remarkable coincidence.  The mean temperature of February, which is decidedly the coldest month, is
150.4; and of August, which is usually the hottest, 540.3. This
range is, however, small, compared with the actual extremes on
particular days, which I find to be the following during three years
for which they are specified, but of which those for 1848 only are
certainly taken with self-registering instruments:1846.      1847.       1848.
Maxi tnum............   83.3    84.        86.9
Minimum...........      14~.8 ~.1          20~.2
Range...............   9.1      8.8        1.1




96                 THE l, No irs1:-FoLK.
Hence it appears that the thermometer rarely, if ever, falls below
the zero of Fahrenheit, whilst there is not, perhaps, another part of
the earth's surface on this parallel where mercury does not freeze in
winter. The fall of rain and snow in these three years was only
18.19, 16.81, and 17.19 inches."
Alten is known as the most northerly grain-growing town
in the world-barley being raised here.
" Von Buch has remarked, that in Norway and Lapland the planes
of vegetation of the pine and birch run nearly parallel to the plane
of perpetual snow, the intervals, as observed by him at Alten, being
given by the following table of limiting heights of vegetation above
the sea:
VEGETATION IN LATITUDE 700.
The Pine (Pinus sylvestris) ceases at 287 metres = 780 English feet. The Birch
(Betula alba) ceases at 482 metres - 1580 English feet. Bilberry (Vaccieium
Mfyrtillus) ceases at 2030 English feet. 1Mountain Willow (Salim nsirsmites) ceases
at 2150 English feet. Dwarf Birch (Betula eLava) at 2740 English feet. The snow
line, 3480 English feet."-Forbes' Glaciers of Norway.




CHAPTER VIII.
HAMMERFEST.
Tins is the most northerly town in Europe, lat. 700 40'
on the same degree in America is perpetual snow, and
scarcely any human life.
We reached it at eleven o'clock, P.M., in broad daylight.
There was a question, whether there was any hotel there at
all, so that our first steps were in search of one. We were
directed to one of the best-looking merchant's houses, were
received by a dignified host, and at once shown to neat,
quiet rooms, furnished in the usual style, with narrow beds
with huge feather beds for coverlids, chairs, a pretty birch
table set into the wall (we see much exquisite furniture
made of the polished birch) papered walls, and uncarpeted
floors. The house has an immense number of apartments, a
large billiard-room, a pretty supper-room, and the family
parlor below stairs. One of the rooms below is the store
and counting-house, where is kept for sale almost every
article needed by man, and capable of being brought or sold
here, from  fish-oil and reindeer skins up to oranges and
thermometers.
As soon as possible we were out exploring' the little town.




98            T  E  N o  S E - FOLK.
It was nearly twelve, but the hour seemed no nearer bedtime than in the morning. Hammerfest consists of some
three streets, a square, and a church-the square having a
dangerous-looking well in the centre.  It was horribly
muddy, and impregnated with the smell of the boiling
fish oil.
The wharves were hung with the stoclk-fisch (cod), tied
together and hanging over poles. The great object of every
traveller to Hammerfest, besides seeing the Arctic town, is
to get a view of the midnight sun-so we soon started, ladies
and all, to climb the hill behind the town.
There were represented in our party England, Ireland,
Germany, Iceland, Norway, and America; and the latter
had the largest deputation.  There was something singularly fascinating in thus strolling off at midnight with a good
company, and still enjoying broad day-light.  The ladies
were helped along-in part over the snow, and then over
the springing, beautiful moss, till we stood on the summit.
The sun was just setting, that is, approaching the mountains at the north; but. contrary to my expectation, the
light was not at all the warm light of sunset, but rather
that of morning.
Our artist, who has been making a sketch, says that
Humboldt assured him that he would never find warm colors
in the scenery; that they were always cold and severe.
lammerfest lay below on its little circular bay, hid from the
south by a rocky point, now beautifully green, and marked
by the crosses of the grave-yard, laid out among the rocks.
No tree or shrub, or garden-bed was anywhere visible, though




Tfu E MIDNIG1HT  SUN.                   99
beneath our feet, on the rugged cliff, bloomed flowers so exquisite, as no gardener's art has produced them. Even the
dwarf-birch has ceased here to grow, except in the deepest
valleys.
The wind began to blow from the NTorth, and there were
fears of the clouds, which already half covered the setting
sun.
Our Icelander, who loves to quote the Sagas, says the
North wind was always to the Scandinavians a good sign.
The old heroes are represented as praying to the North;
and in one battle of the peasants of Sweden with Gustavus
Adolphus, they are said to have been greatly encouraged
by a bitter North wind. To us weak modern men, the Norwegian north winds are no joke.
" It's just five minutes of twelve I we shan't see it."
" There it is above I See the line of sunshine come down
the mountain! We shall have it soon!"  There were a
few moments of doubt, when the great orb burst splendidly
forth below the cloud.  " The rising sun! THE MIDNIGHT
SUN!"  It was a splendid spectacle-the rays sparkling
over the beautiful Fiord, lighting up distant snowy mountains, shining back from peak to peak far away, and the
whole sphere majestically rising and clearing away what a
moment before had been the clouds of evening, but were
now the mists of morning. The light, too was a different
one, at least to our imagination-purer, clearer, and fresher.
We watched the first movement, and it seemed, for a time,
not to be upwards, but parallel with the hills, and then to
be gradually ascending.  At length we slowly descended




100           THE ENORSE-FoL K.
under the full morning sun-light to the village.  It was halfpast one, as we walked through the streets, but people
seemed just as much up and stirring as in the day.  Children
were playing in the street, and women sewing at the windows, while many came to the doors to study the costumes
of our ladies.  " Certainly, nobody sleeps in Norway," we
said.
I must speak again of these gloriously long days-they
are the greatest pleasure of Nordland (to an American)you are always ahead in your work; time never overtakes
you. At first, you are hurrying in the evening, as if darkness would come upon you and you should not have time to
finish whatever you are engaged at; or you hasten to get
through with an excursion, but you soon come into the habit
of the perpetual day. The elastic air stimulates, and you
seem to live two lives to the one in other latitudes.  It becomes hard to sleep.  Our lady friends, indeed, complain;
they miss the evening twilight, and the curtains drawn, and
shutters closed.  One says, "she would give so much to see
a good Paris lamp again I"
I find that I sleep usually from one or two in the morning
till nine, and though it is broad-day at either hour, it seems
to make no difference.
We found that the artist had made a beautiful sketch in
water-colors of the place, faithfully portraying the horizon
of iceberg-like peaks, faintly colored by the morning, bounding the Fiord; the singular reddish rock rising in the middle of the bay; the little semi-circular town, with its red
roofs, and green grass roofs of the peasants, and the pictur



PRICES.                       101
esque turfed cabins of the Finns on the outskirts.  He had
been hardly an hour over it, but had wonderfully touched
the prominent features with the true feeling of genius.
Mr. H., we hear, is the best water-colorist on the continent.
THE TRADE.
This is principally in cod and fish-oil-cod-liver oil is well
prepared here.  Hammerfest is a considerable centre of exchange in furs and skins; immense quantities of reindeer
skins being brought there.
I purchased two or three large, beautiful skins, to be made
up into mats, as gifts, for which the price was only one dollar
each. The ermine skins are six cents each; fox skins from
three dollars to fifteen dollars.  A  singular exchange is
carried on here.  Otter skins are imported, via England and
Harmburg, from America, sold to the Russians, and carried
by them overland to China, where they are employed to
wrap the dead who are buried in state. There were several
Russian vessels in the harbor from  Archangel, with most
ugly-looking sailors aboard. These bring rye and provisions
and furs; the stoppage of this trade by the war, was severely
felt in Northern Norway.
Every thing is much cheaper than I should expect, so far
towards the ends of the earth.  A good dwelling will rent
from $60 to $80 dollars.  Beef is 6 cents per pound; mutton, 6 cents ditto; milk, about 6 cents a quart.  Butter is
imported, as, like all the Norwegians, the inhabitants prefer
to consume their own cream at once.  A cow is worth from




102           T  E  N oR s E - F o L K.
$12 to $20; horse, $100; reindeer, $3; sheep, $2; a labor
er's wages from 42 cents to 63 cents a day, without food.
The population in 1846, was 927; it is now 1,125.
The English college-men who have been " roughing it" on
the deck, are quartered at this hotel. They, with the artist,
are going to the North Cape. The steamer which connects
with ours, takes them within a few miles, and thence they
proceed by open boat-the steamer itself going on to Vadsoe. Our hotel proves a very good one. To-day we had
ptarmigan* and reindeers' tongues at dinner, preserved by
the landlord in hermetically sealed cans. The only objection to the house, as to the town, is the intolerable smell of
burning fish-oil which pervades every thing.  This landlord
has himself been three times chosen one of the " Electors,"
for electing a member of the National Parliament.  He
says that within a fortnight there will be a new election, but
that there is no excitement. IHammerfest and Vadsoe and
Tromsoe used to send one member; now they are to send
two. The new-treligious movement in Tromsie takes all the
public interest.
In the afternoon, we rowed over to Mr. R.'s place, in
order to see some reindeer, pasturing on the hills. They
were feeding by themselves, without any herdsmen, and
scarcely let us come within what would be shooting-distance. They were dun-colored, and, seen through the glass,
were very thin and ugly. The Lapps drive them down at
* Called ]Ryper (Tetrao Lagopus Alpinus).




A    oN UM E N T.                   103
this season to the sea, to escape the attacks of a little
worm which annoys them excessively.  They are considered
almost valueless now, for present use.  We found the moss
everywhere on which they feed.
On our way back, we visited an interesting monument
erected by the Norwegian, Swedish, and Russian governments, to designate the terminus of the arc of the meridian,
drawn, on a great scale, from the Danube to the Arctic.
The following is the inscription, somewhat abbreviated,:
" TERmINUS SEPTENTRIONALIS ARCUS MERIDIANI7 250 28, QUEM INDE
AB OCEANo ARCTICO AD FLUVIUM DANUBIUM USQUE, PER NIORREGIAM,
SWECIAM, ET ROSSIAM, JUSSU ET AUSPICII REGIS AUGUSTISSIMI, OSCARI I., IMPERATORUM  AUGUSTISSIMORUM, ALEXANDRI I., ATQUE
NICOLAI I., (1816) AD (1852,) CONTINUO LABORE EMENSI SUNT, TRIUM
GENTIUMI GEOMETRdE."
LAT. 70~ 40' 11".
The weather to-day has been the most splendid autumnlike weather-the sun shining brilliantly over the Fiord and
snowy mountains. Women and children are out walking
on the heights, and enjoying their few glimpses of summer.
The North Cape can easily be seen from  the high hill
behind the town.
Yon Buch states that to get the mean temperature of
H-ammerfest, one must ascend from three hundred to four
hundred feet higher than the pass of the St. Gothard, in the
Alps.  It is an instance of the bonds which the great Ocean
river makes between most distant points, that, in 1823,
casks of palm-oil drifted ashore here, which were traced to
a, wreck on Cape Lopez, Africa.  This stream  of warm




104:          TH  E  NoRsE-Fo LK.
water alone must make a vast difference in the climate of
Norway.  It is well known that drift-ice is never seen, even
at Hiammerfest, or at nearly 71~, while on the American
coast it appears at 41~.
At Trondhjem, the difference of temperature between
January and July is 40~ Fahr., while at Jakutzk, Siberia,
in the same latitude, away from the influence of the sea, it
is 114~, and the mercury is sometimes frozen for three
months in the year.*
In walking about the town, one of us said to a boy,
cutting cod for salting, " What do you do with the backbones and bones?"  "Feed the cattle, sir," was the answer;
and it is true. Even the horses here must sometimes eat
refuse fish and bones.
JSty. —One of the "Fjeld  Finner," or Finns of the
Mountain, was at our hotel to-day. Hie wore the same
dress as the one on the boat, though his blouse was of
fine sheep-skin, and his shoes were of reindeer-skin. The
bright colors of their high caps give a very picturesque
effect to a company of them, seen together.
I induced this man to take off his cap, and felt the
shape of his head, much to his astonishment, no doubt.
Ile had an excellently-formed head; forehead strong and
full, though not high; the frontal portions of the brain
rising finely, perhaps highest on the Phrenologic organ
of "firmness; and the backside of the head not too full
* Forbes.




A  FINN.                     105
in proportion. His hair was light and very long; eye
grey, and cheek-bones very high, the broadest part of
the face being at that point; mouth large, and chin small,
with a scanty moustache and imperial, as is usual. A face,
I should say, showing some weakness but good capabilities
of improvement.  On the whole, bearing out what my
Icelandic friend had said.
On going off at night to the steamer, our landlord would
not go into any accounts, but said, "call it a dollar a
day," which, considering that it included use of boat, preparation of four meals and rooms, was cheap enough.
5*




CHAPTER IX.
AN ARCTIC DINNER AND EXCURSION.
OUR voyage South began in beautiful weather, like an
Italian summer, making the coast seem another region
compared with the view on our upward trip. We expect
to be in Trondhjem on the fourteenth day from leaving
it, which is the quickest time in which this trip can be
made by the government steamers.
On our arrival at Troms6e, we found a pleasant dinnerparty prepared to meet us, at our friend's, Mr.. The
houses here are usually very comfortable; this is like a
German house, with many tastefully-furnished but uncarpeted
rooms. Reindeer-skin mats you see about, and snow-shoes,
some six feet long at the outside door. The windows are
double, with French casements. Beautiful flowers are at
almost every window.
The cooking is much like the cooking of a nice German
family, and the dinner had the same general arrangement.
The pudding-which the Norwegians make inimitablycoming in between the other courses; the game dishes
being eaten with sour preserves, and the dessert as with
106




TH E  NIORWEGIAN  TABLE.                     107
us, fruits and nuts. One preserve, which is very popular
with all classes, is the multiberry (mollibeer), a small berry
growing close to the ground.
The crowning dish of Scandinavia, is also in use here,
the " e-bgrb-d,":* eaten with cream and sugar. May America
soon be blessed with that delicious mixture for a refreshing
summer-dish!
The wines used were mostly from  the Moselle and the
lRhine.  The most characteristic things to be observed were,
the hearty, manly bearing of the company, and the repeated
toasting.  I think one would seldom  see a table-company
in Germany, where there were so many strong, manly-looking persons, and with such a free, independent manner. The
conversation showed them all to be persons of cultivation, as
well as of much natural intelligence.  There was a great
deal of quick wit and fun going on, constantly across the
table.  The Norwegian women impress one very favorably
-as quick, intelligent, and kind in manner, with an equal
bearing towards the men, as if accustomed to respect. I
have seen, thus far, very few  beauties among the upper
classes; the climate evidently tells on them.
* We append the recipe:-".Take three and a half pounds of juice
of currants and three pints of water and sugar, ad lib., with a
flavoring, of almonds or cinnamon (an ounce or an ounce and a half.)
Boil this mixture, and when it begins to boil add one and a quarter
pound of ground rice or a pound of sago. Let it boil a quarter of an
hour, and stir it often; afterwards it is to be poured into mould; or
tea-cups, which have been wet with cold water, aL l left to cool.
Then it should be turned out, and eaten with cream and sugar. Any
other juice of acid fruit will do as well."




108           TIE  Noi   s:-Foi   X.
Almost immediately after the soup a toast was proposed
-" The strangers " —with a neat little speech from the host.
We bowed our response.
Soon after came another toast to the Amtmand —then to
the lady of the Foged, who was not present; then from one
of the company to the hostess and to the host-each accompanied with a speech or a joke. Towards the close, our
host offered one toast very seriously, alluding to the Crampton difficulties-" Peace between England and America!"
The jovial amtmand, with a very hearty, pleasant bit of an
oration, gave us " The Thirty-one Stars of the American
Flag!"
I responded with a toast in German, to the " Norwegian
Constitution V!"
In the course of the dinner, I told the amtmand, about the
character of his office, as we get it in " Afraja"-the cruel
and tyrannical amtmand of Troms6e.  He had not seen the
novel, though they all knew about MUigge. They laughed
at his romance of the oppression of the Finns by the Norwegians; and his sketches of Finnish magicians and maidens. The feeling towards the Finns and Lapps, seemed to
be very much like the feeling of an intelligent Western
company towards the Indians.  The poetry of the race is
quite obscured in their debased or drunken habits.  The
Lapps are simply ignorant, dirty men, who live in a barbarous way among reindeers, or who catch the cod and the
ducks which the Norwegians want.  Still Miigge is right.
They present a fair foil to the Norwegians, such as a dramatist would seize upon-weak, poetic, roving and unsettled,




D I N N, IR, CU AC T.             109
while their masters are strong, practical, steady, and perhaps tyrannical. They have lost, too, their old possessions
and habitations before the conquering race of Northmen.
Without doubt, they have suffered much injustice.
"Well: we shall see," said the Amtmand. "I have ordered
a little tribe to meet us this afternoon in the valley-reindeer and all. They are generally, at this time of year, far
away on the mountains."
I had some conversation with one gentleman-a teacher
-on the Public Schools.
"I We have many obstacles, Herr B.," he said in German.
"' Our profession is not yet sufficiently respected here. We
can not open as thorough and cultivated schools as we
desire."
I expressed my admiration of their Drawing-schools for
working-men. He said, that they found their influence excellent on the craftsmen.
"Do the common people read?" I asked.  " Ja woll/!certainly," he answered, "all read the Bible and Psalmbook, and many of them other works."
I inquired about these fishermen on the coast. They
were rather wild and ungoverned, he said, "but they all
read, and are intelligent."
I was talking with another gentleman, a sea-officer, of
the coast and the coast-scenery, and in our conversation,
I asked him about that which is the terror of every child's
life in geographical description, the 1lIdIstrbnt. He laughed,
and said, in English, "That is a myt (myth) I There is
noting in it —noting.  I have seen your whirl-streams in




110           T   Eo   s NORSE- FoLI.
America, they are quite as bad. It only is a rapid stream
of tide between two rocks, sometime a leetle dangerous to
an unskillful boatsman. Noting more; noting!"
"Like Hurl-gate, near New York, probably I"
"Yees; very likely, so as I remember."
"Gentlemen," said our host, rising, "you know it is
our custom, before leaving the table, to drink one toast.
(To me.)  We are from  the South, and it is our habit
always to remember that at a festival-I propose our
friends at the South! gentlemen 1" This was drank heartily, and we left for the drawing-room. There each shook
hands with the hostess, and thanked her, and then cigars
and coffee were brought, and the pleasant chat was kept up.
"It is time for the excursion," said the active Amtmand,
" and we must prepare for rough walking!"  It was now
7 o'clock, and we had five miles for ladies and all to walk
through a marsh and wood, before we could reach the
Lapp encampment, which our friends would show us. Think
of such a walk into the forest in any other latitude at this
hour 1 The light out-doors was a pleasant full afternoon
light yet, and in the Northern summer, no one thinks of
dusk or sleep. Nature leaves you untrammelled.
We crossed the piece of water which surrounds Tromsbe
in boats, and taking up our companions from the steamer,
began the walk up the valley. It was an excursion to
remember. The paths wound through a kind of thicket,
which in the warm valley, showed a much greater variety
of vegetation than we had seen on the hill by the town.
There was the mountain-ash (the Scotch rowan and




T H El W  ALK.                111
Norwegian r6n); and elder berries, and alders, willows,
and birch, and a number whose names I did not know.
On the ground, we plucked the yellow violet and white
multiberry (rhbzs chcememnorus), and pink-heath, and yellow
ranunculus, and now and then an anemone, with the sweet
flower of the blue-berry or the hare-bell.
The weather was as different from what we had experienced here in going up, as summer from winter. A
rich warm afternoon-light filled the valley with almost a
glory, calling into short existence thousands and thousands
of little insects and moths. Above us were the mighty
hiills, whence, whenever we left our merry party, we heard
as in the most solemn stillness, the gentle continuous
rustling of the torrents melting from the snow in long
silvery streamlets —"the whispering of Nature," as one of
our Norwegian friends said.
The walk was a very hard one for the ladies-especially
for one of the Norwegian-we had to carry them over
torrents, guide them through morasses, and rescue them
from  occasional snow-drifts which yet remained even in
summer-heats. The Norwegian gentlemen were evidently
accustomed to such escorting, and did their duty in a most
creditable manner. C, a lively fellow from this Province, who only spoke some half dozen words in any
language beside his own, made himself as agreeable as
if he had the whole vocabulary of each-trying now German, now French, now English, or even Latin.
At length, we came out on a beautiful green intervale,
with a brook dashing through it, lying at the base of great




112           T  aPi NO RS E-FoLK.
snow-capped hills. We were almost upon them, before we
perceived an encampment of little turf and wood huts, with
an enclosure for cattle, surrounded by a turf and bush
hedge.  One or two Laplanders stood quietly among them;
the whole a perfect fac-simile of the pictures in children's
story-books.  A place to rest was made on the green
grass for the ladies, and the refreshments were brought out,
while the Lapps were hurrying down their reindeer from the
mountains. I went out, ia the mean time, to examine the
huts. They were built closely, of turf, with a hole in the
top for the smoke, like an Indian wigwam. The reindeercheese was shown to us, buried in the ground, in wooden
vessels; the milk was in heavy wooden pails. The spoons
were of wood and horn, curiously cut. We bought a few,
and then my American friend attempted to buy some of
their rare jewelry, which they have kept a long time among
their tribes, but which they occasionally sell to travellers.
They would not part with it.
Of course, the great interest was in the reindeer. The
first glimpse we caught of them, was as of a flock of little
black animals on the snow at the top of the mountain.
Gradually they drew nearer to us, and we could see that
they were driven by some little Lapland-dogs, and two boys
with whips. Every straggler from the herd was at once
brought in by the dogs, and the whole mass was directed
towards us. Finally they came, tramping and snuffing, and
with a low grunting noise, into the valley, and passed us,
some two hundred of them-the bucks bent down under
their grand antlers, the does very thin and scraggy, and the




Tn X    RE I  D E E   113
little fawns, dun-colored and graceful-all running into the
enclosure. They are, as I before observed, a small deer —
much more so than I expected-and, at this season, peculiarly ugly.  Their motion is a kind of quick trot-not a
bound, like that of our deer-and, it is said, they will keep
this up for ninety miles a day. The boy, to show us the
milk, threw  a lasso some twenty feet over a doe, and
pulled her up towards him.  He milked her in a little
wooden vessel. The milk is v'ery rich in quality, richer
than cow's milk-and not disagreeable.  We are told there
are two species of moss, which the reindeer feed on-one, a
lichen (rangiferina), with a broad pale-green leaf, which we
observe everywhere on the rocks (such as grows on dead
trees in America); and another, the little white Icelandmoss, which the Lapps keep and dry for winter.  They also
eat the lemming-rat.  The deer are greatly troubled by flies
and insects, and, either to escape these or to get their
favorite moss, they draw their masters down at this season
to the hills near the sea.
It is a curious fact, that these natural migrations of the
reindeer have been the occasion almost of a war between
Norway and the colossal empire at the North.  In former
times, Finnish fishermen used to follow their business on the
fishing-places of the Norwegians, and, in return, the ~Norwegian Lapps were allowed to cross into Finland during
winter, for the moss for their reindeer.  The Russian Lapps
had the same privilege in summer on these coasts. This
exchange was settled, even by a treaty between Norway
and Sweden, as:f-ar back as 1.i51.




114           TH E  NO  SRE - F   L.
After a time, when Russia had conquered Finland, her
government expressed itself dissatisfied with this state of
things, and demanded greater privileges for Russian fishermen, and even stations on the coast. These were refused.
It then refused all entrance into Finland for the Lapps and
their reindeer, and when the poor animals absolutely forced
their way to their usual food, they were killed, and great
injury was thus inflicted on the Norwegian Lapps. These
latter attributed their suffering to their own government,
and were exasperated once or twice even into bloody outbreaks.  The Norwegian government sent a commission
into Finland, to quiet the Lapps, and demanded explanations of the Russian government. No satisfactory replies
were ever received, and thus the matter still rests.
As I had expressed my desire of making some inquiries
of the Lapps themselves, especially on their religious faith,
my friends called forward one of the young herdsmen, and
introduced  me, through an interpreter.  The man was
dressed in a kind of reindeer-skin frock, with a red visorless cap, and blue trowsers, tied at the ankle. He took off
his cap, and showed a good, intelligent face, and well-shaped
forehead, with the usual features-high cheek-bones, small
eyes, and long light hair.  His height was perhaps five feet
six inches.  He was a kind of servant or member of the
household, the chief of which possessed these reindeer.
" Can you read?" I asked, through the interpreter.
He answered that he had learned of the schoolmasters
(they go from house to house).
"C' an you read the Bible?"




TALxK  WITH  A LAPP.                 115
"Oh, yes; he read it almost every day. He had been
confirmed under Lestadius."'
This was the great preacher and missionary among them,
and the originator of this remarkable religious movement,
of which I have already spoken. He died in 1841.
"Do you believe you will live after you die."
"Everyone will live," he answered, very seriously; "but
whether he should attain the blessed life, he was not sure;
he was trying very hard, but sometimes he was in doubt?"
"Do you think you will live above or below?"
The answer was remarkable: "God is everywhere, above
and below. He will do with me what is good 1'
I was desirous of seeing if any of the old superstitions
still existed among them.
"When there is a storm among the mountains, do you
not believe the wicked spirits are at work?"
"They are always busy in evil, both among men, and in
the mountains," he answered.
"Do you believe in the old Jumala (the heathen god)?7"
I understood from his answer that he considered Jumala
to be Satan.
He professed also his belief in Christ as "part man and
part God."
I asked, finally, whether he would like to live in the cities,
to go into business, and make money, and have a fine house.
He made a gesture of utter disgust.  "He would not
hear of it; he was only used to this," and he stretched
out his hand to the mountains and clouds.  "He could
not leave the rocks and the reindeer.  He would die 1"




116           THE  N oRs E-FoLK.
There was something in his simple and sententious replies
that impressed one much. His manner was very serious,
and as it were, half-abstracted, as if of a man living
habitually under principles and thoughts, not seen by the
eye or easily expressed. HIe seemed a savage when I first
addressed him, but I shook hands with him  at parting,
as if we belonged to more than the Brotherhood of humanity.
The old chief had returned now from  taking care of
the reindeer. I was introduced to him, as from America.
His countenance lighted up at once, and he said, "There
is where the son of Lestadius has gone. Does the gentleman know him?" I said no; though I had often heard
the name of the good man.
He seemed pleased; and spoke a few words more of
the old missionary with great feeling., We held then another theological conversation.  His replies were by no
means so original as those of the young man, and were
mostly Scripture phrases.
Once he said, in reply to a question about the future
life, "Men are on earth, the bad below, and the good
above."
Of the wicked?  "They go into everlasting punishment."
Of Jumala and the heathen superstitions, he expressed
an utter disbelief. "Is there any fear of demons or evil
spirits now among your people?"
"No; except with the poorest persons.  We believe in
the Redemption through Christ. We do not care for anything else."




t  LIGIOU S O P INIONS.                117
Is there much drinking in your tribe?"
"No, none. We never drink now. The spirit of God
has been among us."
I tried to draw out something more about this strange
Revival. He would not answer much; but what he said,
was spoken with great solemnity.
His opinions on religious facts were very clear. It struck
me that he generally felt himself too far advanced for
my questions. At the close, he turned suddenly to me
with the remarkable question, "Does the gentleman believe in baptism of children?"  My friends explained that
this subject was greatly agitated just now among the Lapps,
and that there were two parties on it.
This chief was a believer in the old creed of the baptism
of children.
I felt diffident about explaining my own views, knowing
that my Norwegian friends would look on a doubter of
that article, as some one quite out of the pale of society,
and perhaps a little crazed.  I explained that the majority
of the Christian Church in America, and my own religious
friends, generally believed in it, but that I, historically and
morally, preferred it as a sign of voluntary conversion, or
union with the religious body.
The most touching and interesting thing to me in the
conversations, was the evident feeling towards the old Missionary, Lestadius, and the deep, solemn religious faith
which they had gained from him.
There are many splendid monuments scattered over the
world for the great and wise, but what of them could be half




118           T  u  No R SE- Fo   LK.
so beautiful as the unspoken gratitude and daily memory
inciting to noble thoughts, in the hearts of such poor creatures as these? One could die happy, to know that one's
name was thus breathed with the prayers of the depressed
and the ignorant I
About ten o'clock, we started on our walk back, in a
beautiful afternoon sun-light. The sky was soft and genial
in tone, and the colors like those of an Indian summer,
delicate violet and warm purple, with a dreamy haze on the
horizon.  Our common coats felt too warm. We had left
our thermometer behind, but I am assured it frequently rises
at this season to 94~ Fahrenheit.  Think of this in the latitude of Greenland and Baffin's Bay (69~ 40') 1
In walking through the thicket, I was in company with
an intelligent gentleman of Tromsie, and we had some conversation on the replies of the young Lapp.
"There was something very peculiar about that Lestadius," said be; "his great talent lay in a kind of sensuous
and vivid presenting of Scripture truth, which often was
really coarseness. I remember an instance. He had been
once speaking of believers partaking of the communion sulpper, and then going off to commit sin, just as before.'Ye
eat the body of Christ I' said he.'Does it digest?  Do
ye take it into your vitals? Does it become your blood and
your life? No: ye are hypocrites I Ye go out into secret
places and spit it all out!"'
Another time he was preaching of the marriage of the
Church to Christ.  " Do ye call yourselves brides of Christ,




WALK BACK.                       119
ye selfish and sensual Christians I No: ye were never married.  Ye are prostitutes and harlots I Beasts have ye
married!"
" Still," said my friend, " he had a way of coming straight
to the conscience of these poor creatures in a wonderful
manner, and he spent his life among them."
I asked what he considered to be the cause of this religious movement among them.
"It seems to me," said he, "that the preaching of Lestadiuns was the origin of it; and then the grand solitary Nature in which these people live, has cultivated the deepest
religious feeling.  People call it fanatical-and so it isstill I have been the witness that it has called forth even
among the Norwegians in Tromsbe, the most serious and
solemn desires to live more really for what is not seen-and
I know that the influence has been exceedingly deep and
powerful on the morals and life of many people.
" Whether it may be God's spirit," he continued, " or
some less natural influence, I believe that now all through
Europe, there are strong movements for a more deep and
real religious life. We hear of it in Switzerland and in Germany, and even in France."
Such words spoken under the shadow of great mountains,
with the silent grandeur of Nature solemnly attesting, where
no other ear listens, from stranger to stranger, crossing each
other's paths a moment on the endless journey, have an effect
which in no way appears on paper or when repeated afterwards.
When we reached the boats, our ladies were very much
fatigued, so that we left them on the steamer, and we went




120           TX E  NORsE  FOLK.
across to take supper with our friends. It was now half
past eleven-rthe children were up at the house and the sun
poured a blaze of light into the rooms. After a pleasant
meal, we bade good-bye, and towards one o'clock came on
board the steamer, while the rising run was lighting up the
whole Fiord. It was impossible to sleep under the beautiful
morning, and we walked the decks in the mild summer air,
and talked of the interesting day and the pleasant people of
Tromsie, till the morning of more southern latitudes had
really come.
COAST VOYAGE.
We stopped again at Alten on our voyage back, and as
we lay at anchor, the Baron DIjunkowski, or Pere Etienne,
the head of the Catholic Mission, came aboard.  He was a,
small, dark, quick man, with Russian features, who impressed
you at once as a person of marked ability. His tact and
readiness in the twenty minutes which he spent on the deck
of the steamer, were extraordinary. Each person he addressed in his own language-(I heard him speak five languages in that time), and to each he spoke just what was
most likely to be in accordance with his habits of thought.
To me he said, after a few words, " We are attempting here,
sir, just what you in America have so nobly solved-the question of toleration of all sects, under the law. It is the question of liberty I I do hope, sir, to visit one day your countree. The Church Catholique owes to it much gratitude. I
have not the pleasure of knowing many of the Catholique
clergy in America, but we hear of Archbishop Hughes.  I
Sope to see America-the land of the future I"




THE COAST.                      121
I wished him every success in his struggle for religious
toleration, and we parted very cordially.
We stopped but a half-day at Trondhjem, and took leave
of our pleasant company and the gentlemanly captain, to
take a large Hamburg steamer, for Bergen.  Our new captain again speaks English excellently. We meet many. of the
fishing-boats, or jechts, bound from Bergen for Finmark.
They make two voyages, one in the spring for oil, and another for fish. The salt fish is sent to Spain; the dried, to
Italy, and sometimes to South America.  Our captain says,
there is a great change in the habits both of the boatmen
and fishermen within a few years: so much less intoxication.  He attributes it in part, to the greater import and
use of coffee in place of liquors.
The coast between Trondhjem and Bergen is very rich in
historic associations.  A Norwegian was on board, who had
been employed by government in selecting sites on the
coast for lighthouses. Though, apparently, not an educated
man, he knew perfectly every scene celebrated in the ancient
history and sagas of the country.  He pointed me out many
famons burial mounds, where already some of the most interesting objects of antiquity had been found. He stated, and
I find that to be the general opinion, that the abandonment
of agriculture for fishing, had greatly reduced the population
of the coast, and that the country produced more in the
twelfth century than it does now; "in 1812, there was such
a famine, that people were obliged to eat the bark of
r'ees."
These views are to be received with much allowance.
6




122           TH E  NoPsE-FoLK.
From the nature of the soil, and the appearance of the coast,
it does not seem possible it could ever have supported a very
numerous population by agriculture. When men lived principally by hunting and fishing, I can well understand that a
country like Norway, with its deep Fiords and inaccessible
forests, the refuge of wild animals of every kind, might have
been much more resorted to than the more open and fertile
lands to the South, and that thus a population might have
sprung up, very numerous in proportion to the resources of
the country. This, with the confusion of names for different
tribes, is the probable cause of the representation by ancient
writers, of the immense population of Scandinavia.
Mlolde. —This is one of the most Swiss-like villages in
Norway. It is built on the edge of what seems a lake,
though really a Fiord, with green fields and wooded hills
rising abruptly behind, till they disappear among mountains
The front is sparkling water, with a fore-ground of sharp
jutting snow-peaks. WVe counted eighty-one at one point
of view. The air has been, to-day, the most deliciously
balmy; the fresh, green, and luxuriant grain, and the foliage,
are inexpressibly soothing and pleasant after our Arctic
voyage. There is such a softness and beauty over every
thing, that we seem to be in one of our American summer
scenes rather than in Norway. The yards are fresh with
dear old New England flowers, lilacs, laburna, and violets,
and roses. I have just passed, in our ramble, a grave-yard,
beautifully set with flowers like a garden. Often one sees that
affectionate piety in these northern countries, and what a




A  PRECIPICE.                    123
contrast are their church-yards to our desolate, forsaken
places for the dead in America.
The beautiful twilight, with its soft skies, and gentle, quiet
and uncertain light, has come again after our long day, and
the lamp and the closed curtains are most home-like, after
twelve or fourteen days of sunlight.
Aalesznd.-The towns on this coast are wonderfully picturesclue. This is built among bare rocks which are curtained in vines, or green with fresh grass; and as you walk
along the streets, your path seems to terminate in the hillside, or the cliffs when you find it suddenly works through
on another group of houses among the rocks, or leads over
to some pretty little island.
The great business is the fishing and export of herring
and cod. The latter is sent even to Italy and Spain.
July. —On our voyage to-day we passed a remarkable
headland, with a sheer precipice of 1,200 feet into the Fiord
— iornelen. The sailors and cragsmen have often attempted
to scale it and reach the summit, but in vain. Several lives
are said to have been lost in the effort, at different times.
The tradition which perhaps impels, is that one of the old
gigantic Vikings-Olaf Trygveson, I think, laid a wager
that he would climb it in his armor. iHe started with a
brave peasant, and after reaching a certain point in the difficult ascent, the man dared neither go farther nor recede.
The powerful Viking took the poor fellow under his arm,
reached the summit, waved his sword in the air, and brought
the man down safely again.




C H A P T E R X.
THE NORTHMEN.
WE have just passed an island- Vigr-in which one of
the most distinguished and heroic of the cruel pirates of the
North had his residence-afterwards the founder of the line
of Norman dukes in France, and the ancestor of the English kings and of half of the royal families of Europe —Rollo,
or ROLF GANGER (Ralph, the Walker), so called because his
great size crushed any horse he would mount, and he was
obliged in consequence to walk. This coast which we are
passing, with its multitudinous friths, or fiords, encouraging
a constant trial of the sea-its jutting rocks, where the
slender soil only in favorable seasons could support the
inhabitants-was a natural home for that daring race of
pirates and filibusters, who scourged Europe for so many
centuries, and who finally infused their savage vigor into its
effeminated and superstitious people.  Whatever be the
attractions of scenery or of the existing institutions in
Norway to the traveller, the great interest to the sturdent
of history for evermore, is the thought of its wonderful
Past.  Though such vague associations, with all their constant charm, are not capable of being expressed, yet they
124




THE  OLD N O  T HMEN.                    125
are called unceasingly forth in this country by every familiar
object.
The type of the features, the color of the hair, the
stature of the men, the form of the houses, and the mould
of the fishing-boats; the scanty soil and the stern cliffs;
the names of persons and of objects; the titles, the laws,
and the institutions-all, in one mode or another, remind of
that powerful race to whom England and America owe their
fame and their good work in the world.
One continually asks, what it was in the rocks, the air, or
the sea, which made such a people of conquerors.  One
wonders how it was that a country which now has hardly
more than a million and a half of men, could a thousand
years before have sent such destructive and conquering
armaments against the most powerful nations of Europe.*
Norway is fortunate in still possessing a people who are not
degraded in the comparison of manhood with their unconquerable forefathers.  In Denmark, one cannot, in the character of the people, trace the historic descent from the Danish Northmen.  Among the Norwegians, one feels that the
same stuff is still there, and the same essential elements of
nature.
* "King Canute the Great sailed to England with 1,000 great
vessels; Knut Sveinson came to Norway with 1,200 ships; Harold
Gormson sailed from Denmark with 700 vessels; Eymundi made an
expedition against Norway with 600 ships; and the Jombourg Vikings alone had 180."
The common vessels had 30 oars and 200 men each, and could
carry sail. —Weinhold's Alt-Nordisches Leben.




126           T i E  NoRS E -FoLK.
To many readers, who only vaguely know that Normandy
and England were settled and conquered by the Northmen
a brief sketch of their expeditions may be welcome.*  I
must say here, that I use the name Northmen rather than
Normans, because the latter has come to have a too chivalric or.heroic association.
The [Northmen were simply, through some eight hundred
years, Northern pirates, of the most cruel and bloody class.
They had various names. The principal one by which they
were known, Vikiisgs, is derived from Viks, or Wicks, the
inlets from which their fleets proceeded. By the English,
they were called Danes; by the French, whom they continually annoyed, pirates and Northmen; by the Irish, whose
island they approached usually from the east, Eastmen; in
the sagas, they have the common title of Norwegians,
though they came from both branches of the North-Teutonic race, the Danes and the Norwegians.  The Swedes,
though of the same blood, do not appear to have been often
connected with their sea-expeditions, while, on the land,
they gained great conquests.
The earliest invasions of which we hear, by sea, from
Jutland and the north of Germany, were against Gaul, in
286 A.D.  Nearly at the same time, there were emigrations from a branch of the great German family, the Saxons, to England. By the year 480, Saxons had established
colonies in Normandy, at Caen, and at the mouth of the
-* The facts in this chapter are principally drawn from Depping's
Expeditions des Normands, Thierry, and the Heimskringla.




T  EE F I B, S r EX P   DI T IONS.        12T
Loire, and were fast changing and becoming humanized
under the influence of a superior civilization.
In the middle of the fifth century, they had also been
called into England, to aid against the Celtic tribes at the
north, and thus at length gained a firm foothold in that
island.! The small islands neighboring, as well as Scotland,
held out much longer than England against these invaders.
The Anglo-Saxons were early converted to Christianity, and,
from some peculiarity of temperament, appear to have fallen
especially under its superstitions. Their success in England
emboldened the Scandinavian Northmen, and these commenced to make their fearful incursions against the small
islands north and west of Scotland. In this same century,
an alliance was formed between a Danish Northman's family and a Scotch royal family. The first really successful
invasion of the terrible Northern pirates into England was
made in 793 A. D., when they began their relentless devastations of convents and churches, which they continued for so
many centuries. While the Northmen were thus pressing
the Christianized Saxons of England, another race —the
Francs-were just about breaking the power of the same
people in their own provinces, in Northern Germany.
Charlemagne had opened his vigorous and cruel campaigns
against the heathen Saxons in Northern Germany.
This great leader, though successful against these tribes,
could not destroy the power which he saw would soon
threaten all civilized Europe-the piratical and fearless searovers of Norwayv and Denmark.  His strong hand was
able to protect the coasts of France during his life, but




128          THE  NORESE-FOLK:.
after his death, Northmen ravaged unrestrained almost
every coast in Europe. The people seemed everywhere
to have become weak and superstitious. Feudalism could
do little against the fierce democracy of the Vikings.
With the Northern robbers, each private soldier was a
landholder, and an independent man. Among the oppressed
peoples of Europe, the soldier was a serf. Nor could the
Christian faith in amulets and relics, and masses, stand
beside the strong Faith of these Pagans in the joys of Valhalla, reserved for the brave, and their trust in their own
right arms. They burned, plundered, and ravaged without mercy or hindrance. Convents were sacked, churches
robbed, Christians carried off as slaves by the thousands.
Astute and stpple, they used wiles where they could not
employ force. They united a boundless ambition and enterprise with the most firm animal courage, and a reckless
contempt of death. Pain, and hardships, and dangers were
their delight. They lived in the excitement of these perils
and exploits. The hope of booty, the lust of conquest,
the ideals of religion and of poetry, all contributed in
stimulating them to their incessant and daring expeditions.
They became almost irresistible. In one century, the
ninth, they attacked London, burnt Rouen, plundered Paris,
and took Seville, overrunning something of France, Scotland, England, Spain, and Portugal. The only decided
check they received during this time, was from a people,
equally with themselves fired by fanaticism, and inured
to danger, and who had not yet learned defeat-the Moors
of Spain. Hitherto the local causes which had originated




Tn,i:'C A U! s. I    1229
the piracies from  Norway, had been the uncertainty of
the harvests and the superabundance of the population,
almost compelling the young men to seek their fortunes
abroad.
To these was added now a political cause. Harold
Haarfager, the first king, who sought to make a united
State of the numerous petty kingdoms of Norway, and
who first attempted to put down piracy, had fought in
885, one of the great battles of Norwegian history in the
Hardanger Fjord. His opponents, the petty chieftains of
Norway, assisted by the King of Sweden, were utterly defeated and scattered abroad, and the Royal Power was
henceforth established. The refugees, many of them the
bravest warriors and sea-kings of Norway, fled to distant
islands, and formed new bands of pirates and freebooters.
Some took refuge in Iceland, and founded a democratic
IRepublic, where literature and law flourished, as they did
nowhere else in Northern Europe, in that degenerate age.
Among the countries that suffered most from these defeated Vikings, were England, Ireland, and Scotland, and
the small islands which lie adjacent.
The power of the Norwegian King, however, reached
them  here. In the Shetlands and Orkneys he extirpated
utterly their bands, and gave the Orkneys as a fief to
IRognvald, the father of Rollo and the great line of;Norman kings.
Rollo is the first of the Vikings who turned his successes
to solid use, and who can, therefore, really claim a position
in history. His life, too varied and filled with incidents




130           THE  N ORSE-]FOLK.
to be told here, was most characteristic of the times.
Banished by his old friend and chief, Harald Haarfager,
from Norway, for acts of lawless violence, he spent years
in piracy and bloody adventure, until he obtained a foothold in the beginning of the 10th century in Neustria, or
as it was afterwards called, Normandy. There, at Rouen,
the old freebooter and pirate married a Franc woman,
and became nominally Christianized, established a government which became known as the most settled and strong
government in France, and whose only traces, transmitted
to posterity, are the most severe laws against rapine and
crime. While he was founding the line of English kings
in Normandy, his brother IRholland went to Iceland, and
established a family, who are said to be still known as
intelligent and industrious fairmers in that little island.
The Northmen now held possession of Neustria or Normandy for several centuries, as a ruling and distinct people, gradually becoming humanized, and feeling the softening influences of Christian civilization.
With the efforts in Norway and Denmark to extinguish
piracy, and the success of the Northmen in France, the
Viking expeditions were coming to a close.
In the middle of the tenth century, one of the last bands
of these pirates was formed —the Jombourg-Vikings; and in
1015, the last eminent Viking leader, Olaf Hlaraldson, appeared, and ran through with his bloody course. The expedition in the eleventh century of the Guiscards, the descendants of the Northmen, which conquered Southern Italy, had
more the character of a conquest than a piracy. In the




N o RT HEN IN  FR A NCE.                 131
Scotch isles, the Northern pirates still had their haunts till
the thirteenth century, and in the Orkneys, Norse was
spoken till the sixteenth century.
At the close of the tenth century and near the beginning
of the eleventh, were those peaceful expeditions of the
Northmen which resulted in the discovery of America, but
which produced so little fruit, that both they and the extensive colonizing of Greenland, from which they rose, had become one of the fables and sagas of the people, and till a
late century, utterly lost to history.
One of the most surprising things to the student, with regard to the settlement made in France by the Norwegian
and Danish Vikings, is the little trace left afterwards of their
occupation. Though holding an important French province
for several centuries, they left behind them no language, no
literature, no mythology or architecture.  Beyond almost
any other people of Europe, the Northmen had a technical
and elaborate system of law. Only one or two traces of this
appear in French institutions.  So completely amalgamated
and mingled with the French population had the Vikings
become, that within a few centuries, not even their origin
was known by their descendants in Normandy.  Even the
Runes, which follow their course in other countries, are not
found here. A few names of places and towns, a few words
in the popular language, and occasional features in the peasantry, are the only direct traces which they have left in Normandy. The only substantial popular benefit which history
records, as the fruit of the Northman conquest in France, are
the vigorous life inspired into a superstitious peasantry, and
the establishment of the French fisheries and marine.




.132          TuH.     o E     o   S nFK - F NT AT rig.
In England, on the other hand, with a race more kindred
in blood, they seem to have united more naturally-the two
races filling out in some degree each other's deficiencies and
wants. The Northmen had already gained foothold in many
provinces of England, before the invasion of 1066, under
William the Conqueror.  The English Saxons, even as the
other Christian peoples on the Continent, had felt the depressing and unmanning influence of monkish superstitions.
They had become a weak, almost effete race. Industrious
on the soil, patient with mechanical labor, they had no taste
for sea-faring life, or the dangers and toils of warfare. They
fell an easy prey to the vigorous, relentless, hardy Northmen.
Henceforth England had stamped on her national character
the traits of the Norwegian sea-kings; and the American progeny yet bears them even more distinctly. The
boundless spirit of individual enterprise-the love of the
perils of the sea (which the Saxons never showed)-the
recklessness of life-the shrewdness and skill in technical
law -the fondness for wassail and wine-the respect for woman, and above all, the tendency to associated self-government.
In Britain, everywhere have the Danish and Norwegian
Northmen left enduring traces-in the most familiar words
of the language; in the names of towns and villages, of hills,
and bays, and rivers; in customs, and games, and popular
superstitions; in laws and institutions.*
History, in recording the vices, and cruelty, and lawlessness
* Even the trial by jury mary fairly derive itself from the similar
institution in Norway.




T T 14, IJ    N F L T FU EN C E.   138
of the Northmen, will admit that they were a natural product of the time; and that only such vigorous and unsparing hands could have cut off the superstitions and corrected
the unmanly wickedness into which Europe had fallen.
They had that which must be the basis of character in Nations, as in individuals-physical, animal vigor. On that,
Christianity and civilization have built up what of good is at
this day to be seen in England and America.




CHAPTER  XI,
BERGEN.
THIs is a much more picturesque town than is commonly
represented, built on different hill-sides of a bay, with many
heights and varied surfaces, and broken in upon in part by an
island. We found here some very cultivated and interesting
people, and enjoyed our short stay. The inns are wretched,
beyond description. Everything was in ferment, in view of
the visit of three Princes-the Crown Prince, who is making a summer tour in the beautiful scenery of this Province;
Prince Napoleon, who is en route for the North Cape, and
some Italian Prince. Whatever we wanted to see-Church,
Museum, Library, or boarding-house, was being prepared
for the prince! Posts were being painted, walks cleared,
streets cleaned in a manner most unusual for this steady and
dirty city. Bergen is the great commercial city of Norway.
It is perhaps, also, the most conspicuous town in Norway
for its institutions of charity. With a population of 28,000,
it appropriates about $30,000 per annum to the poor and
sick, besides the means for public institutions. These are, the
Old Sailors' Asylum i 100 —-120 inmates; the Widows', with
Ir




INSTITUTIONS.                     135
31; the old Wardens,' with 30; the old Citizens', 60; Leprous
lHospitals-500-600; Hospital, 120; Insane Asylum, 50.
The mode of disposing of the vagrant and criminal children is similar to that adopted by private organizations in
America-the sending them to individual homes in the
country, where responsible parties are bound to support and
educate them. There seems to be a very regular and exact
visiting of the poor by public Inspectors, who are bound to
serve without pay, for four years. These report if children
do not attend school, or are vagrant, or falling into criminal
habits; they also dispense assistance, and give permits for
the different Asylums and Institutions.
Of its Institutions of education, beside the Real schools,
and the Drawing Schools for workmen, there are sixteen People's Schools in Bergen, with 1,700 scholars, supported at
an expense of $6,000. The boys are taught in the morning,
and the girls in the afternoon. Each school is only held
three hours a day.  Salary of upper teacher, $200: of
under teacher, $100 per annum.
No stranger should leave this city without visiting the
old "German Church."  The curious gilt carving; the
mingling of pictures of Catholic saints and Lutheran divines;
the odd representations of Scripture scenes in German costume, make a most droll and quaint picture for the memory.
We spent a long time examining its curious details.
LEPROUS HOSPITALS.
Jalty  -.-My friend Dr., took me to-day to various Institutions of Bergen, and among others, to his Leprous




136           T  E I, No  Is s   F o Lx.
Hospitals.  It was a hideous sight; —the first I had ever had
of that singular disease, except in the cases we had seen
occasionally in the streets of Bergen. We passed by each
patient, the Doctor sometimes taking the hand, or looking
nore minutely at him.  Some of them  showed faces drawn
down and distorted, with broad deep marks, as of a burn;
others had huge scaly patches crumbling off from their features; others, red rings and white spots around their eyes,
and the eye itself, evidently half-bleared; some were lame,
some blind; some bore the white scales on the arms and
hands and every part of the face; others were bleeding
from the red broken seams of the sores. They seemed generally quiet, as if not suffering intensely, but hideous and
disgusting beyond description. One breathed more freely
again when in the open air.
Dr.  -- says, that the difficulty  with the peasants is,
that they will not confess their disease until it has gone too
far for remedy. It frequently follows the law of Syphilis,
and passes over one generation, attacking the third. He
attributes it mainly to the excessive eating of salt fish, and
to the filthiness of the peasantry.  There are two Hospitals
in the city-one for incurable cases, containing one hundred
and thirty patients; the other, a new building, for the usual
cases, having three hundred to four hundred patients.  So
far as I know, it is the only Hospital for leprosy in Europe,
except, possibly, one in Italy.
Bergen sustained its character, as one of the wettest
places in the world, while I was there. The days were
very much like summer days in Liverpool-sun-shine, clouds,




TE   PE R A TURE.                 137
showers or fog, continually succeeding each other. The
difference of climate between this place and Christiania,
is striking, as showing the effect of a seaboard position,
compared with a continental. With Bergen, the flow of
the Gulf-stream, the warm  return trade-winds from  the
Atlantic, and the peculiar amphitheatre of hills, at once
sheltering and condensing the vapors, produce an average
temperature of 46~.48 (Fahr.), while at Christiania it is
only 41~.5, and a fall of rain and snow of 73 inches, while
at Christiania it is 21.2 inches, and at Upsala, in the same
latitude, only about 41.5 inches.*
The winters at Christiania have a mean temperature 13~
lower* than at Bergen.
This latter is not considered a healthy or agreeable place
in Norway.
A stranger is always impressed with the German character of the town, the old Hanseatic ware-houses, the faces
of the common people, and the language.
It is the first Norwegian town I have found where German was more spoken than English. Whether it be in
the climate, or the dirty habits, or the food-consisting so
much of fish and oil-it is certain that nowhere do you
see among peasants and poor people, so many distorted
sickly faces and diseased bodies. I watched for an hour
on a market-day the current of peasants pour in. It was
rare to see a tall, strong, well-made man, unfiecked with
sickness, and without some kind of deformity.  This is not
* Forbes.




138           T   E  N   R SE-FOLK.
at all the common observation in Norway. Here Syphilis
and Leprosy, the fearful scourges for the two great sins of
the Norwegian peasantry-licentiousness and filth —have
left indelible scars.




CHAPTER  XII.
POSTING TO CHRISTIANIA.
WE are again off in our little carrioles which we had
left in Trondhjem during our Arctic excursion, and then
brought on to Bergen as freight. (Item. The freight for
a carriole is the same as for a lady in Norway, i. e., half the
full fare. Also, let travellers be warned not to leave their
harnesses behind them, from too much confidence in hotel
servants, as we did in the Hotel de belle Vue, Trondhjem!)
The scenery on the post road beyond Bergen is -very much
like the scenery in a New England valley-the iEousatonic,
for instance-dark hill-sides, reaches of streams in the valleys,
woods and sudden perspectives up a long opening in the hills.
Houge. —Small station with stone and grass roofs among
the bare hills; peasants making hay on the intervale; the
rows of drying-frames looking like battalions.
No Norwegian summer scene is true without these little
frames for drying hay. The object is to dry rapidly, for
fear of rain in the changeable summer-climate.  They often
seemed like little ranks of soldiers.
Garnoes.-Stop for breakfast-nothing but dry oat-cake
in the house: we make our own tea: no bed-room or any
other accommodation, if one were detained there.
139




140           T HE   N O Rs  -F o L.
Our carrioles are taken apart and put into a large eightoared boat, and we are pulled up a beautiful lake.
It is a six hours' pull for four men. The views at the
other end are grand; immense hills rising abruptly for
thousands of feet. I never was so impressed at once with
the poverty and the industry of the Norwegians. In a
number of places we saw men, so high above us that
they seemed mere specks, making hay on little ledges of
the mountains, which could not be thirty feet broad, and
rolling the bundles down to boats at the foot, where the
only access was by water and where a false step would
have cast them down a thousand feet. Others were gathering in the same perilous way the green brush-wood for
the cattle.  Every place that could be labored, even a
small bit of grass by the shore, showed its hay-frames or
laborers.
It is a poor, hard country; that is the strong impressior~
left by a Norwegian journey.  One does not wonder that
the people leave it, and yet it is such soils that grow men.
It has begotten the Northmen —and all that has sprung
from them.
Dale.-We landed here. No house or hut in sight; but
a few shillings set one of the men running to the poststation, a mile or two distant. I settled the boat-account
exactly according to our book of prices; gave the gratuity:
no objections were made, or questions asked.  They put
the carrioles nicely together, and after a little waiting, we
were driving off again. When one reflects how completely
he is in the hands of these boatmen and postmen, in such




ROCK STUDIES.                     141
solitary places, he is ready to give full thanks to Norwegian
laws and Norwegian honesty, which make mountain-travel
so easy.
The drive to Dalseidet was grand —right under mighty
precipices. We had the fastest little horses, and I, a postgirl to drive, if I wished.  They brought us wonderfully
quick to another lake, with the most impressive and grand
aspects we have yet seen. Here, as usual, most provoking
waiting for the people, before the carrioles could be taken
apart and put into boats.  At length we were started.
Every fresh scene now makes us say, "This is the finest
yet I"  On the Dovre Fjeld, despite the most agreeable novelty, there was a slight, almost unconscious feeling of disappointment.  Here there is none. One is overwhelmedcrowded with the scenes of power and beauty.  I never
felt Swiss scenery so deeply. Yet, in enjoyment of Nature,
how much depends on your mood, on your company, on the
weather, and the nameless power of shadow and light!
This was an evening never to be forgotten by those who
enjoyed it.  The magnificent sun-set; the solemn, massive
hills overhanging and the fissures in deep shadow; the still
waters; the gloom and the glory which lit it up-all are on
the memory, but cannot be put on paper.  In several places
I saw a beautiful phenomenon.  The rocks on this lake, or
rather fiord, are strangely stratified and contorted-how, I
was not near enough to determine. At a distance, the
effect is as of the most gigantic strokes on the mountainside by a great artist, as if, in deep feeling of beauty, he
had drawn curved lines of shadow or different lights over




142           TH E  NOR S E- F  L K.
the bare rock. It is only when you are near, that you see
that this tone is given by the material, and not by coloring
or shadow. Would that some artist or photographer could
preserve these gigantic rock-studies I
Bolstadbren.-Beautifully situated at the end of a lake.
This is a favorite spot for English sportsmen.  The English
have fairly occupied Norway for sporting.  Almost any
stream of any value for salmon-fishing is hired by them.
Some have even bought properties, for the sake of the fishing-a profitable thing for the country-people, as, of course,
the sportsmen do not want the fish, and bring in besides
many gains to the peasants.
We had here a delicious supper of salmon and coffee.
However poor a Norwegian inn is, one may nearly always
be sure of fish and eggs, and good coffee.
We had again another water-journey in little boats; and,
as the wheels would not come off from one of the carrioles,
it was put into the stern bodily, with the wheels over the
side in the water, which created great amusement among
the peasants, and brought after us the shout of Danmpbaad
(Steamboat!)
It was full night when we reached Evanger, but we were
determined to post all night, in order to be at our station
fixed upon for sleep. We set off under the moon, in most
uncertain and romantic light. Between twelve and one,
there began to be a glimmer of day; and at two, when,
thoroughly tired and sleepy, we reached Vossewangen, it
Ywas almost broad day-light. The people were easily roused
up, and accommodations found




MR1. &
lowl
gla.3 mos,
alm \\X\\  a








A  SUNDAY.                     143
Sunday.-Fossewangen is in one of the most retired valleys of Norway. It is built on the edge of a little lake, and
steeply-sloping hills, covered with green fields, and rich verdure of trees come right down to it on either side.  On the
west, the lake opens out in a wide reach of sparkling water.
The little brown clusters of houses-which make the gaarde
or farms-are sprinkled over the beautiful hill-sides. There
are some thirty or forty houses in the village, clustering about
an old whitewashed church with black spire, of an indescribable shape, but evidently intended once to be a cone. There
are no fences about the houses, and everything seems open.
It is an exquisitely beautiful summer day, and the whole village and church and scene have left on me such an impression
of peace and beauty, as scarcely any ever has done. Early in
the day, the Bonders of the neighborhood, the famed men
of Voss, and their families, began to pour in for the Sunday's service. I watched them from the hill.  Little ponies
brought some from the hills, even from near where the snow
now lies; others came in small carts, in the independent little sulkies or carrioles, or on foot. Then again, a party in a
boat crossed the lake, picturesque in red, and white, and blue
colors.  The village was soon filled with sturdy-looking men
in blue caps, jackets and breeches, and with women in most
singular costume. I went early to the church. Before the
preaching service, the communion is partaken of, and I
found some hundred women and men gathered about the
altar. There was on almost every face a very earnest and
devout expression; and though our costume must have been
even more singular to them than theirs to us, scarce any




144           T HE  A o R S E - F 0 L K.
woman turned her head as we entered. The clergyman,
dressed in black cassock with a stiff white ruff, such as appears in the portrait of Maartin Luther, or any priest of his
time, with his back to the audience, was repeating or chanting a passage of Scripture. He then turned, and made a
short address, which was very intently listened to; and then,
as the communicants kneeled at the altar, he placed his
hands on their heads and repeated, as he passed from one to
another, " Let thy sins be forgiven thee in the name of God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit i" This
is the Lutheran absolution.
Of all the quaint things about this village, the church is
the quaintest.  To describe its interior would be impossible
-so broken up by odd unaccountable galleries, and columns
and recesses.  It is one of the first Christian churches, built
sometime in the beginning of 1200. The walls are of stone,
and the wood-work usually unpainted, with curious imitation
of gilding upon it.
The prominent object in entering is an ugly wooden statue
of Christ crucified, placed over the entrance to the chancel,
with two little wooden boys holding a real hammer and
whip, and other instruments in their hands, intended to represent the Jews and their instruments of torture.  The flat,
unpainted board-ceiling is decorated with most singular
cherubic heads; and in one corner is a picture of some
Bible-scene, in which Jerusalem bore a strong resemblance
to Bergen. Thle chancel was filled with old rude paintings.
At half-past eleven, the other service began.  The crowd
of women who had been sitting on the grass outside, began




C IURCH COSTUME.                    145
to enter and take their places-the young girls on little
raised forms, in the aisles, of the height of a footstool, and
the older women in the high-backed wooden seats.  Each,
as she entered her seat, kneeled to pray, and then shook
hands with all near her, even the strangers.  It struck me
as a be.utiful token of their simple faith, and of this, the festiival of their religion-worshp first, and then social feeling.
The body of the church was speedily crowded with gailydressed women, and I certainly never saw a prettier and
more healthy collection of women's faces.  All ruddy,
round, with genuine good expressions, and some with the
most finely-cut features. What might be called the 3Norman type was the prominent-slightly aquiline nose, wellcut nostril, clear blue eye and light hair, the forehead
generally not high, but well formed. There were some
very common faces, but richly sun-browned and healthy.
As I stood by one of the curiously twisted columns of
a gallery, and looked through the entrance into the space
before the altar, it seemed for a moment like some scene
on the stage-the clergyman behind, in his long black
gown and stiff ruff, and before him, continually passing,
without our seeing where they went or whence they came, a
succession of the most picturesque figures-first, an old
woman, in a white triangular head-tire, reaching a foot each
side, with blue dress; then one in black, with red bodice,
and white scarf; then a maiden, with her own hair in two
plaits, tied around her head, and a red band over, and in
velvet and embroidered bodice, with red back; and so on,
in the most singular variety.




146           THE  N o RS E - FOLK.
The galleries were filled with men, and many could find
no place. The audience throughout was exceedingly attentive, and solemnly interested; and the whole gave one a
most cheering impression of at least the religious feeling of
the country.
The exercises began by the clergyman's intoning a passage of Scripture, and uttering a short exhortation, after
which he made the sign of the cross over the audience.
Then a hymn was given out, the number of which had been
already placed in large metallic letters on the walls; the
singing was entirely congregational, and of the most screechy
order, contilming through some thirty verses. After this,
the clergyman ascended the pulpit, and uttered a fervent
prayer, apparently extempore, which was devoutly listened
to; then a collect, the sermon, prayer and singing, and the
people dispersed through the village-some to eat their
meals on the grass; others to visit their friends, and the
most to join little groups, where they were discussing the
public events of the time, or arranging bargains for the
week.
By a singular chance, there were two other persons from
America in our inn-two Norwegians, who had been some
fifteen or sixteen years in our Western country, had made
their fortunes, and were returned, partly for a visit, and perhaps partly for a speculation-to bring a profitable immigration to their own " claims," or town-lots.  They were
said to have left the village poor boys, and now they came
back as grandees. Through all Sunday, there was a levee
of their friends in their room, smoking, drinking coffee, and




A ME, IC AI N  N o RW EGI AN S.    147
occasionally taking a bottle of wine. The contrast between
the Americanized Norwegians and their countrymen was instructive. These two were complete Westerners of the middle class  "hail-fellow" with every one, sharp, alert, selfasserting, almost nervous in busy activity, with swarthy
faces, blue coats and gorgeous velvet waistcoats, and very
expensive dress and outfit-using the worst American drawl,
and smoking and chewing incessantly.  Their friends and
companions from whom they came were stately, moderate
people, dressed in national! jackets and breeches, or coats
trailing to the feet, with blonde faces, and long light hair
parted in the middle. The women in red bodices, and with
brilliant head-tire. They moved, one after another, with
slow, dignified pace to the inn, and in the rooms, they seemed
like judges or princes, before these restless poppinjays of
men. Their faces had an austere impenetrable cast, as they
watched the vulgar activity, or listened to the loud stories
about the American Eden. There was a wonderful revelation
in the contrasts.  Only once the national reserve broke
down, and their pride in their successful countrymen burst
forth-when they heard the Norwegians talking English
with us they laughed in exultation, and crowded near. I
found my two countrymen very good fellows. They said
their journey was costing them frightfully, as every one
imagined an American must have his pockets lined with gold,
and they objected to no bills. We had often encountered
the same impression about ourselves, and had pretty effectually corrected it for future American travellers.
They found Norway horribly dull-every thing so much




148          T HE  IN OS -E'F oLK.
behindhand-farming fifty years behind the age.  They
were home-sick already. Yet this valley, they thought one
of the finest districts in the whole country: wheat ripened
here very early, just below the snow, and all the other
grains: the orchards were good: farms were worth from
$2,000 to $5,000; but the people were slow. They would
not attempt any improvements.
Then they could not stand this dress of the women —
waists way up under the arm, and short petticoats I They
had been to Church that morning, for the sake of old times,
but this absolution by the priest was too much for them I
"It is behind the age, sir!"
I said I liked the services, and the earnest, devout appearance of the people.
"Oh yes: but that humbug of a minister! He won't
come near us, because he thinks we are carrying off his
people to America! Old Norway don't do beside the West,
Sir!-Take a cigar? —We'd show'em a thing or too if
they'd come oute to Wisconsing I Git back to Elecksion,
sir?"
"Yes. How do you vote?"
" For FREMIO-T to be sure sir I"
We afterwards visited the clergyman to whom we had
previously sent our letters.  He was just hurrying off by
post (on Sunday afternoon), for Bergen, so that we did not
even see him. The parsonage was a roomy, comfortable
house-and we spent an hour with the family.
Norway has had a great reputation for hospitality, but it




H osPITALITY.                    149
deserves it now no more than France or America, or any
country with hotels and steamboats.  There is too much
travel for people to be able to entertain strangers  and
they have become so used to them, that a foreigner is of
little more interest to a Norwegian, than to a New Yorker
or Londoner.  Sweden, in my experience, far surpasses Norway in genuine hospitality.




CHAPTER XIII.
EXCURSION TO VORING FOSS.
THE  most famous water-fall in Norway lies in the neighborhood of this village, and we had determined to visit
it. We left our nice inn accordingly in our carrioles, at
an early hour, encumbering ourselves with no luggage, for
Graven. The way was a by-road, yet here, as in the main
routes, I was surprised how well the road-building was
done. It is a marked instance of the success of individual
effort under governmental oversight.  Each landholder's
property is designated by little stakes, and that portion
of the public way he is obliged to keep. We have no
roads in America equal to the Norwegian. The farms
which we passed on this route were uncommonly good,
the best I have yet seen, especially those around the little
lake by Graven.
The scenery was interesting; in some places, really imposing. Among the reminders which we constantly have that we
are among our forefathers, was the use on the farms of
the long well-pole, with a weight at the end-a quaint
contrivance which, though common in New England, has
almost gone out of date in Great Britain.  The post-boy,
150




L A K:; -J o    utN E1 Xc S.      151
too, spoke in Norwegian of "baiting (bede)" his horses
at the inn, and of "plying (plei) " between certain points
— good old English words.  At Graven, instead of rowing across the lake, and then taking a horse over the
mountain to a station, where were boats, we were persuaded to boat the whole way to Vik. Our carrioles were
left in charge of the station-master.  We were pulled
up the little lake, passing again large farms with people
busy on the hay fields. In one spot we noticed a remarkable bauta-stone, or solitary burial-stone of the old Northmen. These monuments, passed occasionally in all parts
of Norway, give a peculiar association to the lonely lakes
and hills. At the end of the lake, our boatman took our
wallets and shawls on his shoulder, and led us on for a
full mile to a boat-station-Eide-on the Hardanger Fjord.
The day was warm and beautiful, and the sight of the
neat little inn, with the rich wooded heights and orchards,
was most refreshing after our long Northern experience
of barren rocks and Arctic vegetation. Our boatman here
gave us almost the only instance of an illegal charge (as
we discovered afterwards), which we met with in Norway,
still it was only a few shillings' difference, and the charge
seemed cheap enough.
We took our breakfast, procured two very athletic-looking boatmen, and a good boat; these filled the bottom
with branches and piled our cloaks and shawls on, and
we were soon having the most delicious gondola-like voyage
through grand mountain scenery I ever imagined.




152           THE  N o  sE-FOLK.
The weather was splendid; the Fjord sparkled under
cheery sun-shine, and the wooded hills were sprinkled with
those rich dark shadows which one sees in our American
suimmer-scenery.
Such journeys are the very acme of luxurious pleasant
travelling. You have the wildness of savage Nature with
something of the conveniences of civilization, and the satisfaction of seeing new and characteristic features of a country, while you are getting an invigorating and healthful
exercise. It might seem rather trying for our American
women to venture on such a trip as this has thus far been,
but it is wonderful how the body recovers tone from this
clear mountain air, and continued movement.
The IHardanger is certainly the most beautiful Fjord I
have yet seen. The perspectives at some points were exquisite. At one opening, the Folgefond glaciers appeared
shining coldly among the green hills. The general character of the scenery is like that on our Mlaine lakes, only
the mountains here are far bolder; wooded points, leafy
islets, narrow openings between green hills, long reaches
up sparkling bays with snowy mountains for back-ground,
are the features of the pictures.
We reached Vik in the afternoon.  Here is one of those
desperately poor inns, of which all travellers should be
forewarned-dirty, with no food, not even milk for coffee,
and a pack of the most rowdy and drunken fellows hanging
about. It was the first instance I had had of the Norwegian intemperance, of which so much is related.




A  MODEL INN.                    153
The landlady and her family were in singular contrast
with their surroundings, and seemed very decent, respectable people. Some of her children were in America.
WVe met here two agreeable German travellers, who were
walking, or posting by chance vehicles over the mountains.
The book at the inn was filled with bitter complaints
in all European languages, at the fare and lodgings.
This point is one of the favorite resorts of the English
yachts, which explore the Norwegian coast. We saw a
number of titled names on the post-book.
From this station we walked a half-mile to a little mountain-lake, and there took boat for Soebi, the nearest station
to the water-fall. It was dusk when we reached the little
inn. The people had evidently never had strange travellers,
especially ladies there before, and were a good deal confused. There was no sitting-room, but we were lighted to a
little separate log-cabin, where was an attic-room, reserved
for the furs, linen, etc., of the family. This produced a
rather droll consternation with the lady; but as we had
made up our minds to " rough it," for the sake of the trip
next day, there was no grumbling, except when an unfortunate beam crushed out the only bonnet. They did all they
could for us, but the appointments were unique. The man
brought up water in a little milk-bowl, and a piece of linen
for a towel, while the woman got out her best damask tablecloths for sheets, and the curious colored and worked cloths
which one sees in all the cottages, for coverlids. Dried oatcake and milk were set out for supper. They told us that
generally the strangers stopped at Vik for the night, and
7*




154i          T   e t   NOR  1       F o LK.
therefore they were not prepared. But we wanted to begin
fresh on the next morning for the mountain-climb, and had
thus done in one day what the guide-books give at least two
days for. As a last attention, the peasant brought us a
whisky-bottle, and a little lump of rock-candy, locking the
door of the house as he went out.
Next morning, coffee and flat-bread (dry rye-cakes), and
goat's-cheese were brought us, but no milk or cream, as the
cows were all away on the saetter.
A nice little Norwegian pony had been already engaged
for my wife, and myself being on foot, with a guide, we
started.  The pony's equipment was original-a saddlecloth surmounted by a side-frame of wood, and a wooden
stirrup for both feet. The morning was very fresh and
beautiful; and our path for a long distance wound in an
easy way along a dashing torrent, crossing it, at length, on
a dangerous-looking bridge. After this point, the road was
by no means so easy, frequently creeping just on the edge
of a fearful chasm, or clambering over smooth, steep rocks,
where a stumble of the little- animal would have had disagreeable consequences.  Here the guide led, and the pony
never failed. At length the path crossed a little mountainfarm, and passed over a well-constructed bridge, recently refitted for the visit of the crown-prince, who had just been here.
The hills rose abruptly to a great height on every side of
us, and the only escape seemed the chasm through which the
torrent broke.  We were at a loss to see how the Great Fall
was to be reached. Suddenly the path turned, and we saw
that it wound by zig-zags directly up the steep hill in front.




THE MO UNTAIN CLIMB.                    155
The girths were tightened, the guide took the bridle, and we
set ourselves to the steepest climb I ever saw a horse make.
It was slow, hard work; and when at length, on a sudden
bend, the girth broke and the lady disappeared down the
slope, we concluded it was time to try the feet. Luckily, a
little grass plat among the rocks saved her any bad consequences, and the pony proved perfectly immovable.  The
guide too, for our comfort, pointed us out a rock, which he
called the " leg-breaking rock," where an unfortunate traveller had fallen from his horse and broken both his legs. At
length, after a long pull, we reached the summit-2,500 feet
izn height-giving us a grand view down the great chasm, as
it now appeared. The path now led along a plateau of wet,
springy ground, for a mile or more, until we began to see a
little cloud of ascending spray, which showed the neighborhood of the cataract.  After passing a little beyond it, we
stopped at a solitary cottage, with out-houses and cattlegenerally white cows-around it-the scter-cabiiq or cottage for the mountain pasture. Taking a few moments' rest
and a taste of the delicious milk, we started for the waterfall. We were almost upon it before seeing anything of it,
except the hurrying torrent above, though the distant roar
was long audible. The guide brought us suddenly to a projecting point: we lay down and looked below into the tremendous chasm. The water comes silent, swift, with hardly
a foam, to the ledge, and then makes its quick leap of 850
feet into the abyss below —but though a stream of fifty feet
im breadth when it starts, it seems never to reach the bottom; first it is foam, then spray, then beautiful descending
wreaths of silvery mist, whose intertwining and changing




1.156         TTH    NO ISE- FoLrK.
shapes, quick appearing and vanishing in a thousand fantastic figures, one can watch by the hour, and fancy all manner of witching Norse Nbke, and water-sprites.  The grandeur is more given by the great depth and the worn walls of
mighty rock below than by the Fall itself.  Yet even the
depth you do not appreciate till you throw a stone into the
chasm, and count by your watch its time of descent. The
guide was in great terror of our falling in, but at length we
got rid of him, and placed ourselves in good positions to
silently enjoy awhile. The impression-as at Niagara —is
first of fear-but soon becomes one more of absorption in
the beauty of the scene. One of the most wonderful features in it were the colorings of the rock-walls —caused by
the very quality of the stone —varying from the most delicate peach to the darkest brown.  As I lay on a little ledge
of rock, a ray of the morning sun found entrance into the
cavity, lighting up beautifully the dark, seething caldron
below, and throwing an exquisite little rainbow over the
angry boiling of waters. The effect was wonderful.  One
can understand, in such places, the Norsk superstitions of
the Nske-the water-sprites, who fascinate and tempt in
the beholder.  The continuous rush of the waters, the
roar below, the dancing, fantastic mist-wreaths put you
into a dream, so that you can hardly force yourself to
rise. You get a sense of the continuousness of Nature, and
you understand that strange influence which so many idolatries have recognized, of absorption in the great displays of
natural power, as if one would gladly be swallowed up in
and become part of such grandeur and loveliness.
With the VWiriug Foss, the effect is very much improved




TH    F A Lro                   157
by seeing the fall from above. A few persons have been
at its base; there the scene must be one of the grandest
in the world. Its height is variously reckoned from eight
hundred and fifty to one thousand feet.
At the cottage, we found a book with the names of
visitors. I had thought that our party would have the
first ladies' names —but I found that an English nobleman's
family, ladies and all, had made the climb during this
season.
No American's name was in the book. After some refreshment, which we had brought with us, we started for
the descent under a hot summer's sun, and blessed our
prudence in having made the ascent at so early an hour.
The little station was reached, and finally Vik; a dinner
of salmon was ready for us, and at five o'clock we were off
again for a twenty miles' row in the night with the same
vigorous boatmen who had brought us. The wind was
high and against us, so that it was two o'clock in the morning before we reached the neat little station at Eide.
The next morning we continued the return-journey, but
from ordering horses at too late an hour at Graven, we
were compelled to wait two hours, and did not reach Vossewangen till three o'clock of the third day of our excursion.
In general, the trip would take four or five days from this
village.
The Falls are considered a great curiosity by travellers,
and therefore I have described our route somewhat minutely; still it is doubtful whether, with all the time and
labor required, the excursion will repay most parties. The




158          Ti TE  AN O R S 1I - F O L K.
rows on the Lakes and Fjords were the best part of it.
For the most impressive scenery, I do not believe the traveller in Norway need leave much the beaten path. The best
scenes in Nature are always those which you do not expect,
and which come on you incidentally, while you are doing
something else than hunt for them.




CHAPTER XIV.
TOWARDS GUDVANGEN AND THE FILE FIELD.
WE wished to reach Gudvangen that night, if possible,
and we posted on at the fastest speed we could command.
The little ponies trotted like racers; the country was a
succession of green, peaceful landscapes, with pretty lakes
and rolling hills while a soft evening sunlight filled the
valleys. As a sensation, I have had few pleasures like
these from our Norwegian drives.  As we had not ordered
horses, we were everywhere delayed at the stations, though
paying the most liberal drink-moneys. One enjoyment in
waiting was picking the delicious wild strawberries. The
people seemed greatly interested in us, as Americans, and
asked every sort of questions.  There has been a large
emigration from all these valleys to our West.
At first in our journeys, we were much interested by
the fact, that all our postmen and the small farmers whom
we met, were "going to America next Spring," but we
at length discovered, that "going to America " in Norway,
was like " going to be good," or any other good resolution
in other countries-always belonging to the next year.
159




160           T u   N ORSE - F o LK.
It was nine o'clock before we reached the last station,
Stalheim, about seven miles from our stopping-place. We
waited till half-past ten for the horses, walking on a little
way and letting the post-boys overtake us. It was twilight
still, and the view before us was one of the most extraordinary I ever beheld. We were on a mountain-plateau,
in a desolate, barren country; a little distance beyond the
road seemed to plunge down a precipice. There was nothing visible but a dark, yawning chasm, of unknown depth;
no gradual descent, or any objects at the bottom were visible. The shades of night added to the fearfulness of the view.
Our carrioles overtook us, and we trotted briskly towards
the brink. There we could look down into a deep, black
mountain-valley, and distinguished faintly a few objects far
below at the bottom. The road which was to take us down
could be plainly seen even in the darkness, in white zigzags of the sharpest angles, so steep that we seemed right
over the lowest turn, as it led off into the valley. The
scene was frightful-and I felt, at the time, the grandest
we had yet seen; still, with all that, and though I drove
myself, almost hanging over the horse's neck, with this
awful chasm below, where a mis-step would have plunged
me down thousands of feet,-I could not keep awake I It
was most pitiable. I seemed to myself like an unfortunate
gentleman under a sleepy sermon. I struggled, cried to
to the horse, looked behind, pictured the danger, impressed
myself with the grandeur, but it was all useless —my head
fell forward, and I was waked from a dream at every new
angle.




A  WET TRIP                      161
Luckily the sure Norwegian horse saved me any bad
effects. The road in the valley below lay through a pass of
perpendicular cliffs, nearly six thousand feet high. We
reached Gudvangen about midnight-found almost every
room occupied with travellers, but at length secured a dirty
sitting-room and doubtful little bed-room.
The next morning a hard rain was pouring, still we both
concluded it was better to take it in the boat, than in these
miserable quarters; so we had our carrioles and baggage
put aboard a large eight-oared boat, and set off, on a
branch of the Sogne Fiord, for Leirdals-6ren, a distance of
thirty-one miles. There were only four oarsmen, and we
prepared ourselves for a long day.
Our equipment was thoroughly tested on this day's journey. We sat for eleven mortal hours under almost incessant
rain, and did not get wet or suffer any inconvenience from
the dampness. My wife's aqmuascuxtm, and my india-rubber
poncha, with coats and umbrellas, fully protected us. But to
say that the sight, at length, of a large modern hotel, in
Leirdals-iren, with comfortable beds and a good warm supper, was refreshing, is, as the reporters say, "a feeble
expression."
This Fiord which we have just passed in such a wretched
manner, has many interesting relations connected with it.
On one part, the scene of Frithiof's Saga is laid-a tale so
beautifully rendered by Tegner. The upper portions contain some of the most inaccessible valleys of Norway. It
is related of one village on it, that the people are so shut in
by continuous winter, that the dead are preserved frozen




162           T    EiN O  S I- FO L.
till spring, and are then taken to the distant church for
burial I
From Leirdals-oren the road continually ascends towards
another of the great plateaux of Norway-the Fille Field.
Along the stream which flows through the valley, we saw
numerous salmon-fishers. Some were English gentlemen,
with their guides.  The most interesting object on the
route, was one of the ancient Norwegian churches at Borgund.  A similar one near Leirdals-iren, was bought by the
King of Prussia, and carried to Silesia, for a curiosity.
This church at Borgund is one of the few surviving buildings in Norway, and indeed in Europe, of an original
architecture-the architecture in wood by the early Northmen. It bears marlis of Byzantine influence, as do some of
the oldest cottages in the country-an influence caught
from the early expeditions of the Vikings to Constantinople,
but it is still a style affected by Northern climate and by
the material used. It is almost impossible to describe, and
I must trust mainly to the accompanying sketch, to give an
impression of it. The first sensation, on coming in view of
it, in the solitary mountain-valley, is as if suddenly seeing a
huge, mailed animal, with many necks and heads, resting on
the earth-of something fantastic and living. You cannot
in the least undlerstand its structure or shape as a church;
on approaching, you discover that it is primarily a little
building of Norwegian pine, with cloisters or galleries built
out on it in double rows, the first making part of the interior, and the second being really open galleries or arcades in




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A  UNIquE  CHURCHa.                  163
Byzantine style. The whole is covered with small pointed
shingles, fitting closely, and smeared with pitch, giving an
appearance of scales, or of a coat of mail. The spire has
an Oriental aspect, and the gables and summits are surmounted by all sorts of quaint, tasteless heads and angular
ornaments-these last probably being the first fruits of the
Renaissance transplanted here.  The doorway has some
curious carving in wood of the ancient mythological subjects-the Midgaard serpent, perhaps, swallowing the works
of man before the final destruction.
The nave is only thirty-nine feet long and the circular
apse fifteen by fifty-four. I mounted a ladder into its singular little galleries, and saw, over the organ, a full-sized
stuffed figure of a reindeer.
The church was built probably within a hundred years
after the introduction of Christianity, in the eleventh century.  It owes its remarkable preservation to the dry cold
climate, and to the preserving effects of the pitch on the
well-seasoned wood.
In driving over the highest part of the plateau at night,
we passed a solitary saetter-cottage.  I stopped, waded
through the mud, and rapped at the door. There were two
pretty young girls in it, without light except from the fire.
They said they spent three months there, making butter and
cheese, and scarce ever saw a human being. In the autumn,
they drove the cows down the mountain again. They had
eighty cows in this pasture, beside goats and horses. Despite the lonely life, they looked very merry and blooming



164          THE  NO R S E -FLK.
" Wer'n't they afraid?" " Oh no: there were no bears there
except in winter."
Our post-boy says, that these mountain-pastures are excellent, and that if they did not use them in this way, they
should not be able to get the hay down.
We stopped at a very good station, in a lonely place,
3,170 feet above the sea-Nystuen-with only the poorest
vegetation surrounding it, and high poles, like telegraphpoles, on all the roads, to mark the path in the deep snow.
The triangular wooden snow-plow, seen at every little
distance, on the side of the road, shows the wintry situation.
A PARSONAGE.
I had a card of introduction to Pastor S -, at X   -,
but from my experience thus far of Norwegian pastors was
doubtful whether to stop, even to make inquiries. I concluded at length, however to do so, for a few moments. A
stout, hearty gentleman, with a pipe, came to the door. He
glanced over the card-" Velkommen! welcome!" he said,
with a most cordial shake. A lady of sweet countenance
was introduced as his wife, and they went out to take my
wife from her vehicle and bring her to the house. They
almost insisted we should spend some days with them, but
we alleged our haste, and said we would merely pass an
afternoon, and a pleasant afternoon it was. We chatted
with the pastor, enjoyed a social family dinner, and walked
over the grounds of the parsonage.
T was asking of the number of people in the parish. " It is




A  HiEA RTY P ASTOR.                  165
about 2,900," the pastor said, "and we have five churches.
Ach! Herr B.," he continued, in German, "this is easy
work to what I have had in my life.  Once I used to have
to journey five miles (thirty-five English miles,) on every
holy Sabbath-day-two (fourteen English) on the water,
and two over mountains, where snow was two or three feet
deep, and then I would find three hundred poor people
waiting to receive the sacraments.  Here it is pleasant, if
our parish were only out of debt."
I told him of our interest in the old Church at Borgund.
" Ach yes!-and to think," he said, "that we should have
lost that other beautiful one. You know  that Frederick
William bought it for fifty-five species (dollars). I fear this
will go too some day, we are so poor!"
His schools seemed flourishing. There was one established
school, and four circulating schools, passing from house
to house, with three hundred children in all attending them.
His salary was $500, with the parsonage-(a very neat
building of two stories.) I asked of the morale of the parish.
He said there used to be from fifty to one hundred illegitimate
children every year, but now, since he had come, there were
not more than five or six.
He showed me his stables; the cattle were at the saetter's.
He had twenty-five cows, and seven or eight horses.
"Do you see that stone, Herr B., under the stalls? That
is a baunta steen, with runes. I will read them." He translated a burial inscription, as usual, of little importance. I
asked whether many old Norse relics were found still. He
said that the most had been gathered and sent to the




166           THu E  No0SE-FOLIE.
museums, but still, occasionally they were discovered, and
the peasants had much reverence for them.
"Do you find, Herr Pastor, many superstitions among the
peasants?'
" Not as many as formerly," he replied, "but still a few
now  and then.  You see that mountain over the valley
there-with snow some way towards the foot. There is a
cavern in it, from which sometimes the air escapes with a
loud noise. The peasants still believe that it is the demons,
or mountain-spirits bursting out I
" I knew a cross in a certain burying-ground once, where
the peasants used to go to be healed from rheumatism, and
certain other disorders.  It was a great trouble to break up
the superstition."
We had then a very interesting conversation together,
about the Norwegian superstitions. That multitude of little
sprites, fairies, elves, red-capped dwarfs, giants, Nisser,
Thusser, and Yaetter, who haunted their forefathers, still
pursue, for good or evil, the Norwegian peasants. They are
supposed usually to be the fallen angels, who had not sinned
so deeply as to deserve Hell, but who were scattered over
the earth in the mountains and waters.
One very common belief is in the Hlmidra.  She looks
like a beautiful woman, but has, concealed, a cow's udder
and tail. Sometimes when she appears among the dancers
at a peasant's wedding, this tail betrays her, and if it be
noticed, she is terribly offended.  She is pictured as a sad
being, though wonderfully lovely, and her song has a melancholy tone when heard among the hills. This belief is




S U P J        I I ():N S.          167
very ancient, and has a deep moral meaning. The inseparable union of the animal nature with the higher, being
viewed as the fitting punishment for sin.
THE WILD RIDERS.
One of the most fearful phantoms to the peasant, is
the Aasgaardsreia —" the Wild Hunt."   These  are  the
spirits of drunkards, and ale-house fighters and perjurers,
who have not been condemned to hell.  They are compelled to ride over the world till doomsday.  They are
mounted on coal-black steeds, with eyes of fire, and governed with red hot iron bridles and bits; and their clanking and rush as they sweep over mountain and lake are
heard for miles.
They ride most at Christmas time, and especially love
the place of drunken fightings and carousals, or where
murder is breeding. Where they drop a saddle on the roof,
there will be death.  Whoever meets them, should throw
himself flat on his face, till the clanking, cursing crew have
passed.
This is probably one of the oldest beliefs in Norwaydating before Christianity.
One hears frequently in Norway of the " Gertrud's Bird."
The story as the peasants believe it, is thus told by Thorpe
GERTRUD'S BIRD.
"In Norway, the red-crested, black woodpecker is known under
the name of Gertrud's Bird. Its origin is as follows: "When our
Lo'd, accompanied by St. Peter, was wandering on earth, they came




168            T    E I N oR S E- FO L:K.
to a woman who was occupied in baking; her name was Gertrud,
and on her head she wore a red hood. Weary and hungry from
their long journeying, our Lord begged for a cake. She took a
little dough and set it on to bake, and it grew so large that it filled
the whole pan. Thinking it too much for alms, she took a smaller
quantity of dough, and again began to bake, but this cake also
swelled up to the same size as the first; she then took still less
dough, and when the cake had become as large as the preceding
ones, Gertrud said:'You must go without alms, for all my bakings
are too large for you!' Then was our Lord wroth, and said:'Because thou gavest me nothing, thou shalt for punishment become
a little bird, shalt seek thy dry food between the wood and the
bark, and drink only when it rains.' Hardly were these words
spoken when the woman was transformed to the Gertrud bird,
and flew away through the kitchen chimney; and at this day she
is seen with a red hood and black body, because she was blackened
by the soot of the chimney. She constantly peeks the bark of trees
for sustenance, and whistles against rain; for she always thirsts and
hopes to drink."
Throughout my journey, I have been surprised at the
extent of these superstitions among the peasantry.  If a
child is sick, two eggs must be deposited in an ant-hill;
if an older person, the witch-doctors will advise the peasant
to seek for the fat of a white worm, found at the meeting
of two cross-roads.
Decoctions are still made with magical formulae in the
lonely cabins. For rheumatism, I heard in one place of
binding the limbs with nine withes of the branches of certain trees.  When the cattle are diseased, a snake will be
buried near the threshold.  One gentleman told me that
ile saw a soldier shoot with a silver bullet over a paralytic




ELFIN  SPIRITS.                     169
woman to cure her.  Steel is a great remedy, and a constant amulet against the evil spirits —a key put in the
cradle will keep off the black dwarfs from the infant.
The workman will frequently, while at his labor, hear
the derisive laugh of the little elves behind, and sometimes
he is called up in the night to find a whole stable disturbed
by the invisible intruders. The peasant is so far influenced
by modern habits of thought, that he is ashamed to confess
these superstitions, except to those whom he knows well,
but if he is watched, he will be seen frequently to raise
his hat or bow his head, where these spirits and elves are
supposed most often to be present.
After a long agreeable talk at the pastor's, we rode away,
very much pleased with the conversation, and the simple,
hearty people.
Our ride was at first through very grand and impressive
scenery; in some places, the road winding just on the edge
of frightful precipices, so that our postman insisted on our
walking.  As we drew on into the valley of the Little Mjiseu
Lake, it became a most sweet, pastoral country, with rich
farms, orchards, luxuriant grain-fields and gently rounded
hills.  There had been a rain, and everything was fresh and
sparkling under the sun of a spring-like afternoon. It was a
delicious drive. We noticed that every farm-house had its
own little grist-mill, turned by a running stream.  The number of streams and water-falls is one characteristic of this
country. I do not believe I spent two nights in Norway (out
of the cities), where I was not lulled to sleep by the murmur
of water-falls.
8




170          THE  N o r   - N      L FOL.
We stopped for a day in this valley at an excellent inn.
Our two large rooms looked out over a wide reach of vale
and wood, far away to snowy mountains. The landlady
was very neat in her housekeeping and obliging, and we had
acquaintances in the neighborhood, so that the rest and intercourse were very pleasant. One gentleman, to whom we
had letters, was a wealthy pastor, living in a large handsome house of two stories. His family seemed educated and
refined persons-not peculiarly different from people of this
class in every country. The father, I think, besides being a
clergyman, is also a member of Parliament.




CHAPTER XV.
A C OU NTRY  PASTOR.
AMbONG the others in this neighborhood to whom I had
letters, was a clergyman, living at a little distance off the
main routes. I started to visit him. The road to his house
lay right over the mountain on one side of the valley of the
Little lijjbsen. It was a tremendously steep ascent, sometimes
a grass-track through stones and rocks, and finally descending into a beautiful retired valley on the other side. Nothing
but a sure-footed Norwegian horse, with a carriole, is fitted
for the road. The little animal walked rapidly up, and then
plunged down the mountain, without a check or hold from
the driver-never making a false step or a stumble-doing
the six miles, up mountain and down, within the hour. The
parsonage was a neat, cream-colored, wood house, long, with
French casements and of two stories, looking like the houses
in a small German or French town.
As is usual, there was no village, but little groups of
brown log-houses (gaarde or farms), were scattered about on
the hill-sides. A pleasant green bank, with roses, was in
front of the house, and the foreground was made by a quiet
lake, which stretched away as far as the eye could reach
among the mountains. A most sweet, peaceful scene.
171




172           THIE   ORN O  s-FoLK.
I was shown into a moderately large room, without carpets, but with pretty furniture, mostly of birch-wood, and
the unfailing ornament of Norwegian houses of all classesflowers. There were also some good paintings and sketches
of Norwegian scenery on the walls.
The pastor was not at home, but the lady soon came inspeaking German or French as I preferred, and a little
English.  She said they had a very quiet life there-seldom
seeing an educated person, and they welcomed a stranger
gladly.  I was equally glad to meet intelligent people, who
understood the country —so we were soon in conversation.
I asked about her husband's duties.  She said they were
lighter than is usual; the parish was small, only having
2,000 souls, with three churches. He preached in one every
Sunday, once a day, going some three or four miles; he
sometimes wrote his sermons, but often spoke merely from
an abstract.
Did he also have charge of the schools? I asked. " Yes,"
she answered; " he catechises all the children, and at the
end of a term examines them in their other lessons. There
are five' circulating schools' and one established school in
the parish. Mr. Z. has always taken a great interest in
educational matters, and he is trying now to do away with
the'circulating schools'- those you know which go from
house to house-and have them all' established.'  He is
obliged beside to make a return of the attendance, and the
character of the scholars."
I said that the country clergymen in Norway seemed the
general fathers and directors of the peasants.




MORALS OF PEASANTS.                    173
Yes, she said, it was so. They came to Mr. Z. for all
possible aid and advice-and as the only magistrate or lawyer was fourteen miles off, he had often to settle their legal
squabbles. Besides, the government made him  take the
census of the parish-and he must return the number of
cows, the produce, the population, and all that. Still, she
said, the labor was not burdensome, if one could only see
more of the moral fruits sometimes.
I inquired as to the general morality of the bonders
of the province. She thought that there had been a great
improvement. Intoxication was certainly very much diminished. When they first came to the parish, seven years
ago, every bonder brought his brandy-bottle and knife with
him to the church, and perhaps to the communion altar;
then, after service, they would take their meals on the grass
by the church, drink, quarrel, and sometimes have very disagreeable scenes. Mr. Z. had finally put a stop to that,
and government had made it so difficult to get brandy, that,
altogether, there was a great progress.  In respect to
licentiousness, though there was much improvement, there
were still considerable numbers of illegitimate children every
year in the parish. Marriages were scarcely ever known to
be broken. She could only think of one, even disagreement,
for many years, between married couples-but this evil prevailed everywhere in Norway. She thought the great cause
was an old custom, which is still followed throughout the
country-of lovers being allowed to visit the servant maids
or peasant girls Saturday night.
It is a strange thing to an American car-but every



174           THE  NO P S E-FoLK.
where in Norway this crime is attributed to this old custom,
which began innocently, and is still, in some districts, innocently observed, but which is now mostly clear licentiousness. The estimate of those who have investigated, is, that
every tenth child in Norway is illegitimate.*
In this lady's judgment-and she had a clear, sharp
sense-a great deal of the religion of the farmers and peasants was merely religiosity-a strong feeling of reverence,
and a susceptibility to ceremonials. It seemed to her that
their consciences had something of the toughness and hardness of their bodies. They were able to endure anything
physically, and sufferings or trials or thoughts of death, did
not affect them as they do others.  They came in crowds to
church and communion, but she could not say that religion,
in her observation, had a strong hold over their practical
life —still there were exceptions, very beautiful ones, and
the evil might be no greater there than it is everywhere.
We spoke next of some of the Lutheran doctrines, and I
asked for the passage in the Lutheran service, where the
clergyman says, "I forgive you your sins, in the name of
the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost."  After some little
search, the church-book was found in which the service was
contained (a book used only by the clergymen), and the
context was even stronger than I suspected. It read "by
authority of God and my office "-and as Christ has given
us full power to remit sins, etc., "Iforgive," etc.
She admitted it was hard to defend, and said that many
objections were now raised against it, and that Pastor Lom* See Appendix.




STATE  CIURCE.                    1
mers had taken the position that there could be no Absolution without full Confession.
While we were talking, the pastor came in-a thoughtful,
earnest-looking man. His views of the low state of morality and religion among the farmers were stronger even than
his wife's. They were still suffering, he said, from the long
period under the Danish rule, when everything had been put
under the will of absolute power. "There was one king,
sir, who considered himself to own all our churches, and
who sold a large number to obtain money I The farmers
have never recovered from the evil effects of that time."
He agreed to my explanation that the Reformation had
not taken so deep a hold of the Norwegian and Swedish
peoples as of other nations; and had been more forced by
the rulers on the people for pecuniary objects.  " The worst
is," said he, "the State-Church I We can do nothing-we
are fettered."
His wife suggested that the government was very liberal.
"Yes," he said, "' but in a Lutheran direction. The moment
we leave that, we are exposed to censure. There is no genuine liberty in our arrangements. I believe in liberty as the
best atmosphere for a church. Here, now, in our parish, the
people have not the least share in calling the pastor, or in
managing the church. I have studied your American system
-especially among the Independents-and I much prefer it."
Like most thoughtful persons, he is expecting, before a
long time, a disturbance in the church of Norway. "Ideas,"
he says, " work slowly among his countrymen, but with great
power."




176          TE  No R  E- F o LK.
He intbrmls me that Pastor Lommers has entirely seceded
from the State-Church, but that the government has acted
with very good sense, and offers to pay him a pension, so
that there may be no disturbance. So far as I can underst;ad, the position of Lommers is rather technical than
founded on any deep principle. He objects to Absolution,
for instance, not because no man has the right to forgive
sin, but from some quibble that forgiveness cannot be
declared without statement of the particular guilt.
The Ilougianer, a kind of Methodist sect, still exist,
though Hlouge, their founder, died in 1824. Pastor Z.
says that their views do not materially differ from those we
meet with at the North  being founded especially on a
belief in the inner inspiration of each man, and in the doctrine of regeneration alone by grace.
"We have not yet had the dissent, Herr B.," said the
Pastor, "which has shown itself in other lands, but it must
come."
"We have spoken hardly of our people," said the lady,
" but you must remember these are the Valders-people —the
Jews of Norway I Have you not experienced how very
avaricious they are in their charges?"
I replied that I had not: on the contrary, I had found
them very honest, and I related an instance which had just
occurred in our inn. My wife had left a valuable ring in
her valise, and in drying this in the kitchen, it had rolled
out, and was found by a servant, and returned, as a matter
of course.
"' Good! that is not common," she said; "the fact is, the




(CoNVy ERSION  OF 11 II t  AT'rNENO.        177
mode in which they were converted to Christianity seems to
have affected them always. You have surely read it in
Snorro Sturleson's Sagas?"*
* We subjoin the account in Laing's translation: "The King
proceeded to Valders, where the people were still heathen.  He
hastened up to the lake in Valders, came unexpectedly on the
Bonders, seized their vessels, and went on board of them with all
his men. He sent out message-tokens, and appointed a Thing so
near the lake, that he could use the vessels if he found he required
them. -The Bonders resorted to the Thing in a great and well-armed
host; and when he commanded them to accept Christianity, the Bonders shouted against him; told him to be silent, and made a great
uproar and clashing of weapons. But when the king saw that they
would not listen to what he would teach them, and also, that they had
too great a force to contend with, he turned his discourse, and asked
if there were people at the Thing who had disputes with each other,
that they wished him to settle. It was soon found by the conversation of the Bonders that they had many quarrels among themselves,
although they had all joined in speaking against Christianity. When
the Bonders began to set forth their own cases, each endeavored to
get sonime upon his side to support him; and this lasted the whole day
long until evening, when the Thing was concluded.  When the
Bonders had heard that the king had travelled to Valders, and was
come into their neighborhood, they had sent out message-tokens
summoning the free and the unfree to meet in arms, and with this
force they advanced against the king, so that the neighborhood all
around was left without people. When the Thing was concluded the
Bonders still remained assembled; and when the king observed this
he went on board his ships, rowed in the night right across the water,
landed in the country there, and began to plunder and burn. The
day after the king's men rowed from one point of land to another,
and over all the king ordered the habitations to be set on fire.




178             THE NoRsE FOLIK.
A very social meal was now enjoyed, well-served, and
after coffee, the lady played and sang for us some national
music on the piano.  This music is not, in my judgment,
equal to the Scotch or Hungarian national music, but it
contains some very pleasing airs, both lively and plaintivesome named from, and perhaps springing from the popular
superstitions, and others associated with the peculiar peasant life.
After this pleasant amusement, the pastor produced some
cigars, and we went out for a walk. Beside other places,
he took me to a Bonder's farm, near by.  I found here the
usual division of houses for each separate department —one
for a carpenter's shop, one for a grist-mill, store-house,
machine-house, smithery, etc., etc.-every trade being carried on upon the farm.  They were building one new house,
and on inquiring, I learned that it was for the father. He
was about, as is customary, to give up the farm to his son, and
" Now when the Bonders, who were assembled, saw what the king
was doing, namely, plundering and burning, and saw the smoke and
flame of their houses, they dispersed, and each hastened to his own
home to see if he could find those he had left. As soon as there
came a dispersion among the crowd, the one slipped away from the
other, until the whole multitude was dissolved. Then the king rowed
across the lake again, burning also on that side of the country. Now
came the Bonders to him begging for mercy, and offering to submit
to him. He gave every man who came to him peace if he desired it,
and restored to him his goods; and nobody refused to adopt Chris
tianity. The king then had the people christened, and took hostages
from the Bonders. He ordered Churches to be built and consecrated,
and placed teachers in them."




A  FA   M ER.                   179
be supported henceforth by him, though still himself in full
strength. I talked with the old man about his farm. He
said they would be very glad of some of the new American
machines: he had heard of the horse-rake.  The reaper
would not do well here, owing to their hilly and stony
ground.  I-Ie had one machine, which he had invented himself for sifting, which he showed me. They had the usual
thresh-machine, turned by cattle or horses.
He said that they had sent twenty-five men from his gaard
alone, to America, who were doing well.
" Would you go?" said my friend.
" Not to be king-," said he, "if they had one."
We went into his house, a log-cabin of two stories. It was
kept with perfect neatness.  There were no carpets, but
bare boards throughout, yet it had some articles of furniture quite rich and handsome.  The sprinkling of the juniper-twigs on the floor instead of sand, struck me at once. It
is an old Norse custom, appearing in the earliest sagas.
The peasant woman showed us the bed-rooms, and her own
bridal gifts of dresses, with much pride.  In one room was a
complete fit-out for a soldier. This gaard is obliged to send
at least one soldier to the National forces,  The gun, I observed, was a species of Mini-rifle, loading at the breech.
The manner of the peasant through our visit was extremely dignified and self-possessed.  The only contrast to
American habits was in his bearing towards the clergyman,
and the clergyman's to him, indicating a much greater difference or separation of classes, than we know in similar circumstances.  I inquired about wages.  They are much




180          THE  No          F oR as, - F o FoJ K.
higher than they were formerly; at present 16 cents a day
usually, except in harvesting, when they might be 63 cents.
A servant maid had $16 a year, double the wages of a few
years ago.




OHAPTER  XVI.
RETURN JOURNEY TO CHRISTIANIA.
THE scenery through our whole route, till we approached
the Mjbsen Lake again, was very interesting; in some places
bold and mountainous, but generally more peaceful and luxuriant than we had previously seen.
In the village of M-, we stopped to visit the Sorenskriver, or Justice of the Peace.  A family of intelligent
ladies were in the house, who made us welcome, and
though we had only an hour or two to spend, it was a very
agreeable visit.  Delicious mountain strawberries, with the
national dish of solidified sour-cream were brought in, and
afterwards excellent coffee. The ladies plucked some beautiful flowers for my wife. They had a tutor in the house,
and all spoke English or German.
In the course of the conversation, I asked the Judge about
the effect on the peasants of this system of posting-whether
it did not tend to make them idle, and to injure their regular business?
He said it did not: that it was certainly hard now and
then, to take a peasant's horses just in the midst of harvesting, but the wages paid were so high, that generally they
liked the duty, and made money by it.




182           Tf I E  N   RS E-Fo L E
We spoke of this class of Fante or gipsies.  "An abominable set," said he, "we can't get rid of them. We are
losing all sorts of good capable Bonders, who are emigrating
to your country; but these never go I We shut them up,
and it does no good I"
I asked about his duties and appointment.
He is placed, it appears by government, and cannot be
removed, except by impeachment, and is required to have
taken a degree in law in the University. He has a court in
every parish under his control, and holds a session there at
least once in the three months.
His duties seem to correspond to those of a Justice of
the Peace with us, except that property is registered in his
court, and all cases affecting titles are brought before him.
The peculiar Norwegian characteristic of this officer is, that
in company with the Sheriff and the Governor (amtmand),
he must appoint a standing jury of eight tax-payers, to act
with him for the year. He judges alone, in trifling cases,
but in all important cases, the Justice and the jury make one
body, each person with only one voice, and frequently thus
the jurymen outvote the Judge, and decide against him.
There is an appeal from his Court to the Provincial Court,
and all his decisions are to be revised there, and if on criminail causes, they cannot be executed, till there sanctioned.
There are sixty-four of these courts in Norway.  As of
all the officials in Norway, my impression of this Justice
was most favorable.  In some way, the Norwegians have
hit much better than either we or the English on the




Co  U R T S                  183
essential requisite of government-putting the right man
iu the right place.
The fact that the great mass of the people are propertyholders, with a permanent interest in the country, and
without the great wealth which would lead to indifference
of public affairs, is probably the explanation of this intelligent, and practical administration in this country.
COMPROMISE COURTS.
One of the most characteristic institutions of Norway, is
the Court of Compromise. It is of Danish origin.
The arbiter or judge, who may be of any profession
but the law, is elected ina every parish by the resident property-owners, once in three years.  In the larger parishes,
he is allowed assistants.  He serves for a merely nominal
salary. Every case whatsoever must be brought before
him, but always by the parties personally. No lawyer's
aid is allowed.  The statement of each of the litigants is
entered on the minutes of the Court, and the arbiter decides between them. If they accept his opinion as final,
it is brought to the Justice's Court, and, if approved,
entered, and becomes a legal decision. If one or the other
objects to his arbitration, the party objecting appeals to
the Justice Court, but he will be obliged to pay the whole
expenses of both litigants, if the proposal of arbitration
is found just and reasonable. In this Court, and henceforth
in all the courts to which the case may go, the parties
can employ counsel, but through them all, the only evidence




1854           THE   N o           S E- F    L;.
or statement of facts received are the minutes of the first
Compromise Court.
In  another point of legal institution, Norway  stands
almost alone-in the Responsibility of Jmdges.  I quote from
Christian V.'s code, as given by Laing:
" Should any judge deliver a wrong decision, and that happen either
because he has not rightly instructed himself in the case, or that the
case has been wrongly represented to him, or that he has done it
from want of judgment, he shall make good to the party whom he
has wronged by such decision, his proven loss, expense, and damage
sustained; and can it be proved that the judge has been influenced
by favor, friendship, or gifts, or if the case be so clear, that it cannot
be imputed to want of judgment, or to wrong instruction upon it,
then he shall be displaced, and declared incapable of ever sitting
as a judge again, and shall forfeit to the injured party what he has
suffered, should it be to the extent of fortune, life, or honor."
It is also provided, says Laing, that if a judge die during
the course of an appeal from his decision, his heirs are
responsible for the damages.  The inferior justices, where
there are no damages to pay, are fined for wrong decisions;
and if these are reversed three times, they are displaced.
The law provides, too, against long delay on the part of
the judges, before giving their decisions.
There is much difference of opinion on both these peculiarities of Norwegian law-the establishment of the Compromise Courts, and the rendering the Judges responsible.
The Norwegian lawyers do not seem to hold them in high
estimation, though travellers and foreigners have generally




P A RsoNAGE.                     185
found them worthy of much commendation. To me, they
both seem reasonable, calculated to lessen litigation, and
further the ends of justice.
B. L     d. —We stopped here at a large parsonage.
The yard was filled with children, who were present for
instruction, previous to Confirmation. This teaching is not
only in religious matters, but in all common-school branches,
and must be a very heavy burden to the clergymen. The
ladies within were sitting in different parts of the large
saloon, sewing and embroidering, and the pastor, with pipe
and smoking-cap, had been studying.  He informed me that
his parish contained 10,000 people, with five churches and
two pastors; there were in it 11 circulating schools, and
one established school, with 14 teachers in all, and about
1,200 scholars.
With respect to the moral habits of the peasantry, he
gives for his parish the usual average of illegitimacy-one
in eleven.
S. —An excellent hotel, with large, neat rooms, and
modern conveniences.  The charge for service, beds, and
breakfasts, was thirty cents for both!
We turned off from the main road, in order to catch the
steamboat on the Mjisen Lake at JImn. The last station is
at l1limstaed, where I had a letter to the inn-keeper, who is
one of the best farmers on the Mj6sen.  He took us all
over his farm. There was nothing in it materially different
from  what I had already seen, except that everything
seemed under very careful management. HIis stables were
on the best modern principles for drainage and light; the




186           THEi   NORS E-FOLK.
granaries were very large and neat; we saw in one part
great piles of the fladbrd —dried pea-cakes, a foot and a
half in diameter- kept for the winter's food. He had the
usual clumsy thrashing-machine, but ploughs of modern construction-I think American.  Most of the products seemed
to be consumed on the farm.
The most interesting thing about this estate is its history.
The landlord showed me a new barn, built where, a few
years before, was one of the most interesting relics in Norway, visited, he said, by people from every country. This
is the story, well authenticated, though I did not get the
dates accurately.
Some hundred years ago, a hunter was following his game
through the woods near Lake  lij6sen.  Suddenly, in the
midst of a dense thicket, he came upon sonime walls overgrown with weeds and bushes; surprised at this, he worked
his way among them, and, at length, found himself at a
moss-covered door of an ancient house. From its firmly
supported roof, a young grove had sprung up, with all the
flowers and rank weeds of the wilderness. Everything outside was dank and gloomy; the casements had fallen in, and
glossy vines had crept out from within. He touched the
door, and the worm-eaten wood fell away from the hinges;
he entered, awe-struck, the damp lonely rooms, and rats and
mice ran over the floors, and night-birds flew out of' the
windows. The remains of furniture were about, and, as his
eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he plainly distinguished, in one corner, on the ruins of a bed, the bare skeleton of a man.  Shocked, he left the room  and entered




T H E D E S E RTED V I L L AG E.         187
another-there again was a skeleton, and another! Some
were sitting, others lying on the floor; there was no noise,
except the rattling of the rats through the empty rooms.
The ghastly company lay scattered about, as if they had
been stricken with fearful disease, and had died helpless and
deserted. Overcome with the fearful sight, the hunter
rushed from the house of death, and stumbled among the
ruins of other houses, and fled to the nearest village. He
told his terrible tale there, and finally the oldest men
remembered that there were traditions that before the
devastation of Norway by the "Black Death," there had
been a settlement near the lake-though exactly where it
was, no one had known. The ruined houses were now
investigated, and it was found that this was probably the
place. The dead were decently buried, and the hunter
took possession of the property, calling the place Mu staed.
The forest was cleared, new houses were built, and, till
within a few years, the old ruined house was still to be
seen.
Such stories are not uncommon about different parts of
Norway. In Valdclers, where I lately had so pleasant a
visit, I was told of a church still called the "Bear-Church,"
from the following incident:
A hunter had wounded a bear, and it took refuge in the
midst of a dense thicket. The man forced his way in, and
discovered the ruins of a church, inside of which he at
length shot the bear.
The discovery was made known, and people flocked to
see the ruin, and it was at length remembered that there




188           THE  NORSE-FOLK.
had been a thriving Parish here before the Plague had
desolated it. The most intelligent persons in Norway believe that this part of the country was once much more thickly
peopled, than it is now; and that one of the causes of the
diminution of the population was this attack of the Plague.*
As we drove away from Mustaed, a man, who looked
like a workman, asked me in very good English, if he could
ride behind me. On inquiry, I found he was a laboring
man who had been in America, and had returned to see
his friends for a short time. We drove on together towards
the lake, holding a great deal of talk about the comparative condition of a laborer inll the two countries.
"I cannot bear it here, sir," said he, "in no way. I
had a kind o' expected to have stayed till fall-but it's too
lonesome. There isn't nothing going on."
"I suppose you are very well off now in America?"
said I.
"Oh yes; I have one of these farms of mine own in
Wisconsin, and I let it out for the summer. When I was
here, I used to have a terribly hard time. I tell you, sir,
I've worked from 4 o'clock till 8, month in and month
out, and only got seven cents a day and found! They say
now it's about sixteen cents."
I asked about machines.
"They don't know nothing about machine-work. Look
at'em —there they'd keep six men for a week to mow
twelves acres, and I'd just take one of our mowing-machines
* One of these occurred in 1372, A. D.




'WSV I s     D   I N  I N a.         189
and dew it all in one day. They never seed a Reaper-nor
even a horse-rake, nor any of'em!"
I asked about food. He replied, that they had pretty
good fare in Norway, though not so much meat as in
America. At four o'clock, he said, coffee and "flat bread"
used to be sent out; then they would rest at seven o'clock
and have breakfast, consisting of bread and butter, cheese,
smoked salmon, and a glass of whisky. Then they rested
again at half past ten, and took a nap till twelve o'clock,
when they ate dinner, usually of herrings, potatoes, and
barley-soup. They stopped once more at three, and then
worked till eight; having four meals in the day, and resting
four and a half hours.
His reports of the change in drinking-habits corresponded
with all I had heard. They used formerly to have a little
still for whisky on every gaard-but now the duties were
so heavy on distilling, that it was manufactured only in
a few places, and was difficult to procure. Among the
farmers, he found coffee to be much drank in place of
alcoholic liquors.
We had a great deal of this sort of chat, till we reached
Hun, with its pretty little inn.
I had made a wrong calculation, and found myself just
out of Norwegian money, with nothing but some English
pound notes, which could not be exchanged, of course, in
such a place.
I told this man my situation, and there was something
truly " Western" in the way in which he pulled out a
bag of specie-dollars, handing me twenty or thirty-refusing




190           TiH E  N o   s d E- F o LK.
to take any receipt or note, and telling me I could pay
it back in Christiania, or New York, as I chose.
The next morning, we were moving in a steamboat slowly
down Lake Miisen, and by evening we were in our old
rooms in the Hotel du Nord, Christiania, and soon among
the cheerful, social people who make that city so pleasant in
memory.
C:hristiania, July  -.-A friend took me to-day to see
the hall where the Storthing, or National Assembly is held.
It is a simple room, with seats radiating from the desk of
the presiding officer, capable of holding one hundred and
fifty or two hundred people comfortably.
When we hear of Norway as under a monarchical government, we are liable to form an erroneous idea of her constitution. The truth is, that in all essential repects, she is as
thoroughly self-governed as the United States. Her Congress, or National Assembly, is chosen through " electors"
by the people-the only restriction being that every voter
must be a land-owner, paying taxes, or a citizen of a town,
or a possessor of real-estate in such town, to the value of
$150. The Assembly has almost sole authority, and over
the same class of subjects with our Congress. Even the
power of veto, which rests with the king, is null, if a bill
passes three successive sessions of this body.
This was illustrated in the passage of the act in 1815,
which abolished hereditary nobility in Norway. It passed
the house in 1815, and was vetoed by the king; it passed




THE  CONSTITUTION.                   191
again in 1818, and was again vetoed; but in 1821, though
the Court used every means of intimidation and corruption,
it became a law.  By a wise provison, also, no change
affecting the constitution proposed in one session can be
passed till another, three years later -thus preventing important measures, as is so often the case in our Congress,
being passed through before the people have understood
them, or before they have elected representatives with reference to them.  The Assembly of Norway does not even
allow, as does the English Parliament, a member of the Govvernment to propose measures (except by writing), or to vote
on any question. It receives the oaths of the king on coming of age, and in case of the royal line becoming extinct, it
could, in conjunction with Sweden, elect a new sovereign. It
meets by its own right every three years, and does not
require the summons from the throne. In its internal structure, it divides itself into two houses; the whole Assembly
choosing one fourth of its members to form the Senate, or
Lagthing, which has judicial rights like our Senate. The
remainder form  the House of Representatives, or Odelsthing.
Every part of the government administration comes under
the control of this body, and its authority in the country is
quite as great as that of our Congress.  It can impeach and
try before its Senate, even the ministers of the crown, and
the supreme Judges of the country.
Its number of members can not be over one hundred,
representing both towns and country, in definite proportions.




192           TH E  N o  sE L,- FOI, K.
This Constitution, framed by Representatives of the people,
in 1814, has been a wonderful blessing to the nation, and
with a free able press, has made Norway one of the most.
free and well-governed countries in the world.  The people
hold to it against the attacks of the Swedish government,
with a peculiar jealousy; and even dread all improvements proposed, for fear that a change once made, may
draw after changes more vital.
THE SCHOOLS OF NORWAY.*
Norway, with respect to education, labors exceedingly
aunder the difficulty of a scattered population.
Out of her 1,400,000 inhabitants, only about 180,000
dwell in towns, the remaining 1,220,000 being sprinkled here
and there over an area of 5,150 square miles.  As a consequence, stationary village-schools are hardly possible in any
great number.  The law, from which the present school
system  of Norway dates its origin, which was passed in
a139, did not require, very wisely, an education in any particular place; it simply demanded that the parents or guardians should instruct every child, or cause it to be instructed,
in the branches usually taught in the district schools-the
test of such instruction being the catechetical examinations
by the clergyman, and the examination, previous to the con* The facts in this article are principally derived from the conversations and reports of one of the great leaders of educational improvement in Norway, Councillor Nisson, of Christiania.




ScHOOLS.                       193
firmation, which last, the American reader must remember,
is a necessary condition for all civil rights in Norway and
Sweden.
Circulating Schools.-To meet the difficulty of the separation of the population, the law also required Circulating
Schools in every parish, as well as stationary. The parish
is divided into a certain number of districts, and the teacher
travels from one district to another-the children of each
forming for the time his school.  As an average; the term
of each school is only eight weeks during the year.  The
lessons are given in the farm-houses, in the rooms where the
peasants have been sleeping and eating-often uncomfortable
and ill-ventilated apartments. The branches required to be
taught by law are religion, reading, writing, singing, and
arithmetic; in point of fact they limit themselves to reading
and " religion" (i. e., very dry theology), with a little of
writing and arithmetic.  The teacher's salary is from $12 to
$40 for thirty weeks' teaching, with his board. The whole
number of these itinerating teachers is about 2,000, and of
the schools about 7,000.
Stationary Schools.-These stand somewhat higher than
the class of schools first mentioned in the quality of their
instruction.  The teachers also are better paid, the salary
being about $90 per annum, with board and a piece of land
for free use.  They number about 380, with 24,000 pupils
in attendance, and their terms are from 16 to 40 weeks in
the year.  The whole number of children attending both the
circulating and stationary schools is estimated at about
213,000.




194          THE  NO RS E - FO L K.
Upper District Schools-These are a small class of payschools, corresponding somewhat to our High Schools in
America. The branches taught are those already mentioned
as taught in the other schools, together with history, mensuration, natural history, and a foreign language —generally
English.
These schools require a slight payment from the pupils,
but are supported by the parishes and by occasional grants
from the Storthing or National Assembly.
All the schools established by law are managed by the
Town or Parish Council and the clergyman. No tax can be
laid for their support except by a grant of the council. The
head management in each province is in the hands of the.High Sheriff and the Bishop of the diocese, who report again
to the " Governmental Department of Church and Education."
The total expenses of all these Schools in the towns and
country, together with that of five Normal Schools for
teachers, and including the expenses of boarding teachers,
are estimated by Councillor Nisson at about $195,000 per
annum.
Citizens' School.-These are a higher class of Schools,
both public and private, belonging to the towns. The pupils
are taught in common branches, in drawing, natural history,
and German, French and English. The number of these is
more than twenty; the pupils about 3,000; expenses, about
$30,000 per annum.
A still higher rank of these schools is called Real Schools.
These have been established by the Government in eleven




S C nooL S.                   195
towns, and are associated with the " Latin Schools." The
latter prepare for the University with a five years' course;
the other, after their pupils are fourteen or fifteen years
of age, send them out to practical life, or to the technical
and military schools.
In the Latin Schools, Greek and Hebrew are taught; in
the Real Schools, beside the usual instruction of the best
schools, bookkeeping, commercial correspondence, the properties of goods, etc., are sometimes among the branches.
There are also three Latin Schools, not connected with
Real Schools, at Christiania, Trondhjem and Bergen, where
the usual order is reversed, and Latin is studied before any
foreign language.  These three schools are supported by
their own funds. Number of pupils in the eleven united
schools, 700; in the three Latin schools, 300; total, 1,000.
Annual expenses of both, $64,000.
iNo one can be a rector in these schools unless he has
passed two public examinations. The conditions for the under teachers are equally strict.
Beside these, there are Charity Schools in many towns for
the children of poor laboring people, where the children
remain the whole day, while the parents are at work. These
are supported by both public and private contributions.
Amount expended, about $6,000.
There are four asylums in Norway for the instruction of
the deaf and dumb.  Another class of schools whose introduction would be highly advantageous to America, are the
Agricultural and Draewing  Schools for workingmen and
mechanics. There are fourteen Agricultural Schools where




196           TH E   NOR S E-FoL.
young men from eighteen to twenty are taught thoroughly
in practical and scientific farming, in the application of
manures, the construction of farming machines, the management of dairies, and the like.
Throughout Norway there are eight Drawing Schools.
To these of an evening the mechanics and laborers come
together and receive instruction in modelling, drawing, mathematics, and natural philosophy. By the law, any person who
would be a tinman, gun-maker, copper-worker, turner,
brazier, goldsmith, wheelwright, instrument-maker, jeweller,
painter, sadler, smith, stone-cutter, chair-maker or clockmaker, must produce a testimonial from the managers of
this school. The effect of the instruction is found to be excellent on the taste of this class in their various trades. The
Drawing School at Christiania is the most distinguished,
and costs nearly $3,000 per annum. The other seven are
supported together at about the same rate.
From what has been said of the condition of schools in
the Norwegian towns, it is apparent that education is in a
favourable state of progress, even compared with America.
The working classes have better opportunities than they enjoy here.
Of the country schools one can draw by no means so
favorable a conclusion. Schools circulating from cabin to
cabin, with teachers receiving $12 per annum as salary, and
instructing each circle of scholars only eight weeks in the
year, could not be of much value to the mental improvement
of the nation.
Still the country people of this kingdom are by no mean




INTELLIGENCE  OF PEOPLE.                  197
inferior in natural intelligence or in information. The same
causes which in that latitude, on a wintry Island, gave birth
to a literature whose vigor and originality and high imagination have not been surpassed in the early literature of any
modern race, still work upon the descendants of the Northmen.
Now, even as ten centuries ago in Iceland, the people
enjoy a kind of democratic kingdom, where one man
nominally is chief or king, but where the real power is in
the hands of the Bonders or peasant-farmers. They have
the free communal life-the right to govern themselves in
small matters as well as great. They are continually trained
in oratory, the arts of an Assembly and the management of
public affairs. This, of all schools, is the best, and can overbalance the advantages from books and teachers.
The climate and the vast solitudes drive men within their
own homes during the long winter evenings, and give occasion still, as of old, for a Saga literature-a literature of
tales and history, and almost stern poetry, which is transmitted year by year around the roaring fire, from one generation to another. Such people, though not drilled in mathematics and physics, cannot be called ignorant. They have
unwritten histories and poems not in books; and thoughts,
nurtured by their grand solitary scenery, which are not
given by religious writers, and yet which touch on the
greatest mysteries of existence and immortality.
The strong, weather-beaten features of the Norwegian
peasant give you no impression of ignorance. The expression is shrewd, reserved, and often sad or solemn-as of
men much with great thoughts, which they could not or




198          TH a   No R  E-FOLK.
would not express.  The questions you are asked show
everywhere quick, active minds.
When, at length, the defective system of " Circulating
Schools " is improved, we may believe that Norway, in an
intelligent and educated population, will stand equal with
any country in the world.




I I
w  e d e n                    99
199








CH A P T E     XVII.
GOTTENBURG.
AFTER a most agreeable rest in Christiania of a week, I
took the steamer over to Gottenburg, my wife returning to
England by the Hull steamer. We had a passage of some
twelve hours, and, on arriving at the quay, the luggage was
examined as strictly as if it were a strange country-a circumstance which called forth many sarcasms on the Swedish
Union with Norway.
The hotel at which I was lodged I found intolerable-the
Gbtha I.fdlare-dirty, bad-smelling, with no conveniences for
eating, or hardly for sleeping.  Price, about twenty-five
cents a day for a room. I had no cause, however, to complain, for a very agreeable and intelligent gentleman to
whom I had letters, took compassion on me, and carried me
out of town, to his villa, a little gem of a home, where I
have been staying since. In his neighborhood are a variety
of very handsome places-houses with large gardens and
groves-where people live in considerable style. They are
principally the villas of the wealthy merchants, doing business in the city. All speak English, and their manners are
exceedingly cordial and agreeable, with a certain sincerity
9*               ~




202           T u:  NTo R S  -E:-    L I.
and half-seriousness of tone, which inspire confidence. They
seem usually intelligent and even cultured men.
I had the opportunity, on my first Sunday, of hearing
Bishop Thomander preach-the leading pulpit-orator of
Sweden. The church was crowded to the doors. The
order of exercises was the same as I have already described
in Norway-the usual Lutheran liturgy and form. The
Bishop was attired in a black surplice, with a brilliant
embroidered cross on his back. Like most great orators,
he was a man of large, heavy physique. His manner was
very easy and voice rich and powerful, as of a man accustomed to address large audiences.  So far as I could see, he
read his sermon, with occasional bursts of extemporaneous
oratory. From my want of familiarity with the language,
and the distance where I stood, I could make out but little
of the address. HIe has the reputation of a man more fervid than profound.
Amg..-I have been visiting with my friend, the
various charitable institutions of Gottenburg-among these,
the Willienska School for the poor.  In this institution, carpentry and smithery are learnt by the boys, beside the regular school-lessons-and by the girls, knitting and spinning.
Some of the mechanical work was excellently done by the
lads. The monitorial system is adopted in the classes, and
little semi-circular iron rods are fastened before the walls,
around which the class stands, the monitor being within.
Without being able to speak from much examination, the
teaching left an impression on my mind of not being of the
best quality. Still, the first thing with a class of this kind,




C   A RP I T I E S.            203
is to elevate the morals and affections-not to sharpen the
intellect.
The managers had employed the plan so successfully
carried out in New-York, of sending the children away, to
be placed in reliable and religious families, rather than keep
them in an asylum. They had not, however, connected with
it the method of constant communication with these children thus sent out, as has been done at home, with such
excellent results.
The Poor-Houzse seemed a better managed institution
than such are usually with us. The buildings were of the
best quality, and the arrangements for ventilation and
warmth very practical. The principal work was mangling,
which the inmates do for the public.
The Chalmerscka Skolan is a higher class of school, being
a kind of polytechnique school for laborers and mechanics.
Here drawing and modelling are taught, and various natural
sciences. There are laboratories, and well-furnished rooms
of philosophical instruments, connected with it, together
with a reading-room. The whole is free for working men!
An institution so enlightened, neither New-York nor Boston
yet have.
I visited another school, principally for teaching drawing
and designing, intended for the same class. The public
schools are usually of a high class. There is here, also, a
Normal School, for the instruction of teachers.




204           THE  No R s E - F O L K.
THE CITY.
GOTTENBURG leaves a pleasant impression on one. There
are many handsome, busy streets in it, and the country surrounding is picturesque. The river, the Gota, is thronged
on its banks and on the water with trade, and the town
has stretched far beyond its old limits.
The story of its foundation is, that the king, Gustavus II.
Adolphus (in 1618), on a visit to the neighborhood to
determine the situation of the new city, stood on the top
of the mountain, Otterhallan, surrounded by his counsellors
and generals, when a small bird, chased by an eagle, flew
to the feet of the king, and there sought refuge. This
seemed to the king a sign from Heaven, and he at once
resolved that the new town should be laid out at the foot of
the mountain. In the words of a friend, "Future has proved
that the king was in the right, and trade has often, in the
safe and always open harbor of G6THEBORG, found a refuge
against its enemies and oppressors."
The first inhabitants were mostly Dutch merchants, called
into the country by the king. The city still retains the
memory of them, in the appearance of the town —especially
in the canal-intersected streets, once shaded by trees.
Gottenburg rose very slowly to its present rank. The
first great impulse to its growth was given in the latter
part of the last century, by an enormous herring-fishery,
which was carried on, on the west coast of Sweden, for
about forty years. Great riches were accumulated by it;




JRISE  OF  TrEi' CITY.              205
but suddenly, in 1812, the fish left the coast from unknown
causes, and have never returned.
During the years from 1810 to 1815, the wars of Napoleon and the Continental System brought in a rich harvest
to Gottenburg. All the trade of Northern Europe then
passed through this city, as it was the only open port,
through which the manufactured goods of England could
be imported into Russia and North Germany. The harbor
could not receive all the ships that entered, the goods
were stored in the open street; and wealth increased immensely.
With the fall of Napoleon, the city again retook its
former position. The only lasting advantage which remained from these prosperous days, was the handsome style
in which. the town was rebuilt, and the splendid houses
erected by the merchants for their residence. Property
fell so much, that many of these buildings could not sell
again for half their value.
In 1832, a work was concluded which has steadily raised
Gottenburg to its present position -the opening of the G6tha
Canal, "that splendid and immortal work of a poor Nation," as a Swedish friend calls it. By this canal, through
which vessels can pass Sweden from the NTorth Sea to the
Baltic without paying the heavy Danish Sound-dues, Gottenburg became the new centre of the imports to Sweden,
and at the same time, the great commercial entrepot for
the exports of the rich central provinces of Sweden. The
town now commands the largest inland navigation of any
town in the country, and it is believed, that when the rail



206          THE    NO R S E-F o LK.
way, now being opened between Stockholm and Gottenburg,
is finished, the advantages to its trade will be scarcely less
than from the canal.
For the last ten years, the business of the city has been
continually increasing; and the Swedes claim that next
to Marseilles, Dantzic, and Constantinople, Gottenburg has
made the greatest progress in that time of any of the trading cities of Europe.
Within the same time, the city has been lighted by gas,
the streets paved with cut-stones, sidewalks laid with sandstone, all the quays rebuilt with hewn stones, a large hospital has been erected, and an extensive Work-house for
the poor; and last year a plan for a harbor was drawn
up and immediately adopted, at the estimated cost of seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, embracing in its features
the furnishing the banks of the river, for nearly two miles,
with granite quays
The last three years have been equally fortunate for
G:ottenburg, with the rest of Sweden. The war of the
neighboring powers, the improved agriculture, and the more
enlightened commercial policy of Sweden, have all contributed to swell immensely the business of the country.
Ten years ago, the export of grain was almost unknown,
from Sweden. In 1855, Sweden exported nearly two millions of barrels of grain, amounting in value to more than
the whole of the iron exports. Gottenburg and its immediate connections on the western coast, partook in this to
the amount of five hundred and sixty-nine thousand two
hundred and forty-four barrels; of these, three hundred and




EXPO RTS.                      207
eighty-seven thousand, nine hundred and thirty-two barrels
were of oats, which went almost all to England-making
nearly one third of the whole exports of oats into England
from all countries for that year.  The greatest part of the
rye exported goes to lIolland.*
The whole impression left on my mind by these facts,
and my own observations of Gottenburg, was that it contained a very enlightened and public-spirited population,
much superior, as I afterwards discovered, to the mercantile
people of any other city of Sweden.
* For these statistics, and much of the information about Gottenburg, I am indebted to a very intelligent gentleman, well known
in the mercantile world, Mr. OLOF WYK.




CHAPTER  XVIII.
COTTON SPINNERS IN SWEDEN.
THE gentleman whom I was visiting, kindly offered me
the use of his pleasant travelling carriage, to post out to a
very retired and unknown district some fifty miles distant,
where we could see something of the home mna'nfacttitring
of Sweden. He said, beside, we should meet a class of
people which were quite peculiar to Sweden-the ancient
peasantry or Bonders, changing into rich manufacturers. I
was, of course, very glad of the opportunity. The kindness
and courtesy of the offer corresponded to what met me from
the beginning to the end of my journey in Sweden.
We started out on a fresh August morning, over a rocky
country, with occasional pine or beech woods, and cleared
fields, where oats, or barley, or potatoes were growing,
being much such a district as one would pass over in New
England-many streams and lakes near the roadside, and
woods covering the hills in the distance. Now and then a
white church tower, with its black conical top, crowning
some summit in the distance. The country seemed poor,
and not much populated: sometimes we passed long
stretches without seeing a house. As in Norway, there
208




SWEDISH  POSTING.                   209
were no villages, but large farms, where a number of people lived together. The houses had not the peculiar Norwegian character of brown, neatly laid logs, but were red
or yellow frame-buildings, not different from our American
farm-houses. The post-stations seemed the important places
on the road, and had evidently the best fields and buildings
~about them.
Posting in Sweden is not at all so easy a matter as in
Norway, unless FOrbud (orders for horses) are sent on
before. The people now have great need for their horses
in the farm-work.  At the second station we waited two
hours, while they sent to the peasant whose turn it was to
furnish horses. Probably he was obliged to take them from
haying in the middle of the work, to have them beaten and
worked for the next course (six miles), as only post-horses
are worked. For all this, he gets from the traveller, for
both horses, one dollar banco-or forty cents. It is a
burdensome and stupid system, which ought long ago to
have been changed in a country where horse and man are
of any value. Near this station we came on the first evidence of the manufactures we were approaching: a long
train of little one-horse carts, each with his bale, or bale
and a half of cotton, driving laboriously on to the spinners
and factories. This alone would show the difficulty of manufacture in such an out-of-the-way spot. The freight from the
sea is several dollars on each bale.
As we had no introductions to any one, and but few
knew much of the district, we were obliged to inquire from
station to station.  They anll said the same-that these new




210          TH E    N NosE- Fo L K.
cotton lords, though peasants, were very rich and would
welcome strangers gladly.
At length we came to one of the best-looking farming
establishments on the road, with the side to the highway
open. Everything was extremely clean and comfortable in
appearance; no dirt or carts or pigs about the court-yard;
but large barns and stables, as if all was stored and housed
properly. The best of the dwelling-houses was shaded with
cool, green beeches and lindens. We went at once to the
door, and a bluff ruddy man, dressed like a farmer, met us.
My friend introduced me as an American, and said that we
desired to see something of his manufacturing. He replied
very cordially, and invited us in. Sherry and port, with
cigars, were brought in at his order, by a maid. He asked
some questions about America-then rose, poured out the
glasses, and we rose, sipped and bowed to each other. He
said that unluckily he himself could only show us his stock,
for the work was done by families in the neighborhood and
by his factory at some little distance.
I inquired about the mode and amount of his manufacturing.
He said he supplied the spinners in the families with the
cotton, and the weavers with the yarn, which they made up
for him, getting so much a piece. He also had a share in a
cotton-spinning factory. He kept employed about 1,500
spindles in fifteen different counties, and some 1,200 looms
in families.
The cotton he imported amounted to nearly 2,000 bales
a year; the wages paid out by him were some $3,000 a month.




A  COUNTRY  SHno.                  211
The weavers (women) could earn about thirty-six cents a
day, which was about the same as the wages of a farm
laborer.
We went out to look at his stock. The "shop" was one
of the dwelling-houses of the square, and here the country
people came to purchase of him. The different packages of
calicoes were in piles in the bed-rooms of the house-mostly
patterns of bright colors for peasants' dresses or'kerchiefs;
some very neatly colored, and nearly all stamped with the
hand. A few he had stamped and colored in a neighboring
factory. He always sold, he said, at twelve months' credit.
The handkerchiefs were six cents to eight cents an ell (twothirds of a yard); common calicoes, five cents; cloths,
twelve cents. For the weaving of these, he paid two cents
an ell.
After spending some time here, we went, at my request,
to his farm buildings. The barns have not the Norwegian
improvement of an entry on the second story, but are like
the old-fashioned barns with us. The stables were very
neatly kept. He had eight or ten horses, some of good
blood evidently, valued, he said, at from seventy-five dollars
to two hundred and fifty dollars. The grain in his granaries was mostly rye and barley. He has a separate brewhouse and bake-house. The farm  implements were more
like our own than I have found in Norwegian husbandry.
The only machinery I saw, was a large threshing-machine
turned by horses. All that he raises is consumed by his
own family.
At about nine, we were called in to supper. At first, we




212           TiEE  NO  SE-FoLK.
all eat, standing, smbrbordet or a little bread and cheese and
anchovies-the others taking a small glass of corn-whisky
along with this. Then each with folded hands stands a,
moment for a silent grace, which is closed with a kind of
obeisance-and we sit down.
The first course was perch, handed by a neatly dressed
maid to each; then pieces of stewed hare, served in the
same way; then a very delicious cake, eaten with sauce
(mwnkar). No tea was on the table, but beer and port and
sherry. The only thing characteristic of our host's position,
was his working dress, and the fact that his wife did not
come to table.  At the close, we rose and shook hands
with our host, thanking him for the meal.
At a good hour, we were shown into a handsome bedroom; the maid took our boots and clothes to brush, and
we laid ourselves each in little feather-beds, soon to be
dreaming of places far away.
August -. - -Coffee was brought to the  adjoining
room at a comfortably late hour the next morning. This
apartment is the salon —the ball-room  of the house, with
some very handsome pieces of furniture, white secretaries,
painted and gilded, and a clock about seven feet high,
white, with gilded edging. There are some pretty little
tables, but no curtains, and the floor is of plain boards.
At nine o'clock we met in the room below stairs, for breakfast. This room, again, had some very rich articles of
furniture of polished birch and another huge clock; handsome
silver plate was on the table. The floor was uncarpeted,
with little spittoons here and there filled with pine twigs,




THE  PATRON.                   213
for the Scandinavian habit; and ia each corner of the room
was a plain wooden bench, like those in ale-houses.
Our host is a jovial fellow, and gives us a hearty greet.
ing. We again take of the bread and butter and salt meat,
as a prelude, declining the usual glass of port; the same
silent grace again, and we fall to work. The Patron (as
they call him) asks questions of America; says he gets
his cotton direct from Mobile and New Orleans, through
agents in Gottenburg, but has to pay heavily for freight
from the port to this place. He thinks the Americans
a most clever people; but he says-the old theme —" How
can such a nation as you are endure Slavery? I am sure
you will finally abolish it." We ask whether the tendency
of Sweden to Free Trade will injure his business. He
thinks not; says the English cannot make coarse goods
cheaper than the Swedes, and they never will have goods
of enough different colors to suit the people here; "they
cannot, except by hand-work. In fine muslins," he says,
"they are far ahead of us, and will be."
As one of the landed proprietors, or squires of the country, we ask him about the schools. He does not know
a great deal about the matter, but thinks the people used
to be well enough before the new School Law, and he
considers the one "established school" for the parish as
not practicable.  He prefers instead some "circulating
schools," which shall go from house to house. They were
taxed very heavily already, he said, and they did not like
the burden of the school. I tried to give him an impulse
in relating what we were willing to be taxed in America




214           T  E  N o  sE-F o L.
for education; but it made no especial impression on him.
He thought the pastor ought to attend to it! It appeared
that the pastor was an old man with a good farm, and
two or three assistants (Comministrar), and did not trouble
himself much about such modern matters.
In giving the sketch of our conversation, it is difficult
to convey the tone of indifference and lack of interest
this man-one of the great peasant aristocrats-had in the
whole subject, and yet he himself was a "self-made" man;
by his own cleverness and perseverance he had erected a
very considerable manufacturing business and won himself
wealth. A vigorous, shrewd man-one of that class who
will yet raise Sweden to modern enterprise and activity.
I should not forget our breakfast, which was most hospitably and properly served, with napkins, wines, fish, and
various dishes in course; with no tea or coffee. The wife,
evidently a peasant, but impressing us as a very dignified
and intelligent woman, did not come to table. The patron
was much like a central New York or Pennsylvania farmer
of little school education, and great education in the world.
We asked him  once about politics.  He shrugged his
shoulders, and said he had nothing to do with them. One
peasant manufacturer in R    -, was always sent as member
to the Parliament, and no one ever opposed him. The
crown and clergy, I understood him, had it all their own
way in the representation of the yeomanry. He had the
right to vote as a member of this class for his House of
Parliament. We bid adieu to him finally, truly grateful
for his hospitality, and very much interested in our visit.




HOM E-WE A V  E  s.                215
HAND-WEAVERS.
He directed us to some of his manufacturing hands, who
lived'at a little distance. The houses were pretty little
log-cottages, among flower-beds and potato-patches, each
having, perhaps, two rooms. In the first, there was an
arched room with several windows-everything clean and
whitewashed within, even the fire-place. Four women, with
ruddy, cheerful faces, were at work at hand-looms; one
was quite young. They were weaving common handkerchiefs and shawls of bright colors.  Everything looked
comfortable and happy in the place. There were curtains
at the windows perfectly white, and flowers. The women
all wore silver brooches. They were paid by the master
by the piece, earning from twenty cents to twenty-seven
cents a day; the youngest, a mere girl, only twelve cents
-not poor wages in a country where a carpenter frequently
only gets thirty cents a day.  One thing characteristic of
Swedish peasant life, was the several beds for both sexes
in the room-here, as usual, in wooden bunks built into the
wall, and in one instance, covered with curtains.
The girls talked to us very pleasantly and modestly. As
we went out, we marked the pretty pointed, almost Gothic,
Cdoorway, of unpainted wood, built on the house. The impression, as we re-called it, was very agreeable of peasant
home manufacturing. We compared their cheerful, healthy
faces, with the worn faces of English " factories," and the
aspect of a certain position and dignity in them with the




216           THEE  NO R  E-F O,.
usual expression of depressed toil in working women, with
much commendation of " home labor."
In the next cottage, they were weaving plain white
cotton cloths, all the arrangements being similar, and the
girls with the same robust, pleasant looks. One very old
man was spinning the yarn on little reels. We talked with
them; they expressed no discontent, but seemed very happy
in their work. My friend says they can all read and write,
as indeed every one must who would be confirmed in the
Lutheran church.  On the Sundays, he says, you will see
them splendidly attired, sometimes with very valuable silver
ornaments, handed down from their forefathers.
We rode on for some distance through pretty cross-roads,
among hills and woods, to visit the factories beyond. I
have been told this is a very populous part of Sweden.
If so, we are away from the inhabited districts. We seldom pass a house, and never a village. The farms, too,
are poor, and the soil thin. Many streams flow across the
road, and like our New England, it is evidently a country
best adapted for manufacture-and what capacities the soil
had for agriculture have been neglected for this newer labor.
The crops are oats, barley, rye, potatoes, and grass. We
saw no orchards.




CHAPTER  XIX.
SWEDISH  HOME-MANUFACTURES.
THE first factory to which we were directed, after
visiting the weavers, was built, I think, in 1853. The
building is of stone, but the surrounding boarding-houses of
wood. The clerk introduced us into his sitting-room, and
wine and cigars were of course produced. We begged off,
finally, and drank his health in pure water. Fortunately he
spoke. English, and, I found, had several English foremen
and workmen. The factory is for spinning yarn. There are
200 hands employed, and 16,000 spindles. The capital was
originally about $150,000; some $170,000 has been laid out
on it, thus far, with very good return. One of the Englishmen accompanied us over the works. Most of the hands
were women, though many children were at the spindles,
seemingly working very skillfully-some must have been as
young as seven or eight years.  Generally, their faces
looked pale and not healthy.
The foreman pointed out to us child after child who had
been beggars on the highway, and were now industrious
workers in the establishment. Each one has to attend
school a certain number of hours every day, he said; and,
1.0               217




218          THE  N oRSE-FOLIK.
according to Swedish law, every factory employing children
must sustain a school. I asked him about the capacity of
the Swedes for machinery. " They have a great capability,
sir, for the spindles; they are such a patient set, you know.
But the women, sir, there's the rub I They were never
accustomed to such close work. Always at'ome, they've
been in the'abit of talkin' and chattin,' you know, as they
work, and I find it very'ard to keep'em hattentive and consideratesome. And they are so tricky. Why, two Swedish
women can't possibly meet without a little dance, just together, which won't do you know here, sir.  But they'll
learn. It's a young nation, sir; very young. Everything
is young here-even the craggy rocks; they are all primary,
you know i It will take time-time, sir, be-fore they do as
the English and Americans."
I inquired as to the morality generally of the factory.
" It is good, sir-good! And there's been a great progressive movement in the last two years. Of course, it isn't
like England. You know how it is with the women-they
don't look hon some things as we do. I believe they really
think it a credit to be found in a family-way, nobody knows
how. Then they all sleep so, men and women in one room,
and they don't seem to think anything of it. They don't care
for some things which an English woman never could put hup
with. But I believe we don't'ave more than one or two illegitimates every year —which is very good, you know, here."
" How is it with the drinking?" I inquired.
"It is not so bad now. There's been a great reform in
that, too. When I first came here, a gallon of finkel used




E NGLISH  FOREMAN.                  219
to be about nine pence, and now it costs three or four
shillings. Government has laid such a duty on the stilling
of it, and it's so hard to get it. Of course, some days they
will'ave a'burst,' but it isn't often."
The women, he says, earn by piece-work about $1,50 to
$1,15 a week; men, from $1,50 to $3,50; and the children from 10 cents to 24 cents a day.
The freight from  Gottenburg, or from Warberg, by the
peasant's carts, is alone five or six dollars, ($1,35 to $1,62)
for every bale. When the railroad to Boras is done, they
will be quite near the great means of communication. The
machinery is all Manchester work.
We visited the school. There were fifty-three scholars in
it, with a rather stupid-looking old man as teacher. All the
children were bawling out their catechism together, evidently with no more idea what the sacred words meant than
if they had been Indian incantations. And this is what the
Swedes everywhere call " teaching religion."
As we went out, the Englishman said: "You see it
haint here just as it is in our countries. They don't know
much about all that; but they have to be confirmed, helse
they couldn't be citizens or anything else, and they goes
into the sacrament as a sort of business, you know. Perhaps
some of'em really feels it, poor creatures!-but I don't
think the most of'em cares or knows much about it. They
leaves it to the parsons."
We again drove on through a rather picturesque country,
with no especial cultivation, as yet, and sparsely peopled, to




220           THE   NOizSE-FOLK.
some new factories.  The first one at W, was a great
stone building, in the style of our best factories at Lowell
or Lawrence. It was not quite finished, though the machinery (all from England) was already there.  It was to have
six hundred workmen, with about one thousand loomsmostly, I believe, for colored cottons, worked, as are all by
water-power. This mill, with those we visited afterwards,
are owned by one peasant-SvEN ERICKSON-who has raised
himself by his skill to be one of the richest manufacturers
His next mill, a few miles farther on, for weaving and dying
cottons, sheeting, wool, cloths, etc., was at Rydboholm.
The number of hands employed is 450; looms, 282. Produce, annual, $800,000.
This factory had a number of buildings for dyeing, drying,
etc., as well as for the homes of the workmen.  The office
was a bo6na fide store for goods, not a dwelling-house.  Mr.
E.'s house was near by, looking very neat and comfortable.
HIe has built, we understand, a church, and sustains a school
for his operatives. The wages of women here are about
twenty-four cents a day; men, $1 00. A number of Englishmen are employed about the works.
As we stood waiting, several carrioles drove up, which
were supplied with horses, and then, after the gentlemen
had conferred a little with the people within, drove on.
These are the buyers, we hear, who are very handsomely
entertained and forwarded from one factory to another, free
of expense.
After leaving this factory, we entered on a much more




PEASANT  X MANUFACTURERS  221
cultivated and rich-looking country —a broad' valley, with
very nice and roomy farm-houses on the hill-sides, one
farm having sometimes six or eight houses, and fields showing a far better culture.  The houses were usually of wood,
two or three stories, painted some pleasant modest color,
with French windows.  Many have large stables, and handsome travelling-carriages in the yards.  This is the especial
district of the rich peasant manufacturers-men as proud and
independent as any in the land, but not yet having lost all the
peculiarities of their class. They form a kind of turningpoint between the ancient and the modern world.
I was interested to see near some of the houses on the
edge of the river, bathing-houses, in modern style.
We drove to one of the handsomest houses, entered and
said to the gentleman, we would like to look at his goods.
Here, again, as in the other houses, they were piled in bedrooms and sitting-rooms-colored shawls, handkerchiefs, cottons for dresses, etc., etc. The people worked for their
master in their own cottages, and brought it to him; here
he sold, also, to the peasants, always at twelve months
credit, charging two per cent. a month.  The prices were
very low.
The manufacturer himself, in this case, was much more
peasant-like than any we had seen, having a low, animal
face.
From  this we drove to the parsonage, a comfortable
three-story house on a hill, amid gardens and trees, and
introduced ourselves. The parson insisted we should take
supper with him, and then was equally urgent for us to




222           TH E  NO RSE-FoL K.
spend the night. We resisted long, but the refusal seemed
so to injure his hospitable feelings, that at length we gave
way, and carriage, servant and all, spent the night there.
THE PARSONAGE AND SQUIRE.
Our host was not the chief clergyman, but a vicar or
assistant (comminister).  His house looked very neat and
comfortable, with marks of sufficient means about it. He
himself impressed one as a mild, amiable gentleman. I told
him soon that one of my especial objects was to investigate
the schools of Sweden, and inquired about those in his parish. I had touched evidently on a sore topic. He uttered
sadly his grievances. Since the new regulation of the ministry, establishing a school in every parish, the former circulating schools had been given up, and now the peasants live
so far from this school-some four or five miles —that the
children did not attend regularly. Besides, breaking up the
old system separated the children from the parents very
much. Before, the teacher of the circulating school would
be aided often by the parents, and they felt a personal
responsibility in the improvement of the children. Now, it
is all in the hands of the teacher, and he is not fully competent.  H:e has been a year at the Normal School at Gottenburg, but that was not enough to improve him; and in matters of religion, especially, he could not teach the children
properly.
I suggested whether it would not be a better arrangement




Sc HOO L-T  o u   LES.             223
to take the whole matter of religion out of the hands of the
teacher, and leave it in his (the pastor's) hands. "Yes," he
answered, "it would be; but if they can have a foundation
laid of the knowledge of the first principles, it would assist
me very much in afterward instructing them for the confirmation."  My friend suggested that two schools, one circulating and one established, might meet the difficulty regarding the distance, etc. Mr. L. admitted that they would, but
doubted if the people would be willing to pay the tax.
There was much opposition already to paying so heavily for
schools.
We mentioned then Count Rudensktld's plan-which
has already been tried-of having little infant schools
taught in the houses by some old woman or intelligent girl
at a small price, and making these the preparation for the
"established school," so that the parents might have some
share in the education, and the difficulties of expense and
distance be avoided. He thought such a plan might succeed. We asked whether this teaching of Religion, as a
school study, did not make children think it was merely a
lesson and not a matter of life. He allowed it often did;
but still they ought to know the facts, he said, and they
require it for Confirmation.
Of the morality of the people-the factory workmen, and
the weavers,-he gave very nearly such an account as we
had heard before, along the journey-that the people,
though needing much improvement, were better than the
mass of the same classes elsewhere in Sweden.
Certainly, statistics begin to show that not manufacture




22            TE  No R S E -F O L K.
but agriculture draws after it the lowest state of morals;
that is, where manufacture really is a means of living, and
not a means of crushing the poor and weak.
The Temperance Societies, he thought, had mostly failed.
The people only signed to break, but the consumption of
brandy had immensely diminished, especially owing to the
restrictions placed upon it by government. His parish, he
informed us, numbered between four and five thousand, and
had four clergymen and five schools.
We sat down, at 9 o'clock, to a very simple, good supper,
with milk instead of the almost universal accompaniment,
wine; and after the silent grace at the close, and shaking
hands, we were showed to comfortable beds in an upper
room.
From  this point our ride was through a much better
country, with well-kept fields of wheat and rye and oats.
The farm-houses were of two or three stories, well painted,
and with nice windows, and had all spacious guest-houses,
and bakeries, and stables. Here dwell the rich, aristocratic
peasant manufacturers of Sweden-a class not yet raised
out of its ancient position, but, with wealth and enterprise,
certain soon to be thoroughly modernized. The clergyman
accompanied us to one of the oldest of these manufacturers
and squires, now retired from active business. His parents,
we understood, had been so opposed in the beginning to the
manufacturing in Sweden, that they had made it a boast
never "to have worn in their lives a thread of cotton!"
The farm was the usual square of houses, painted red,




rTo-d   S QUJE.                 225
and we entered the principal dwelling from the court-yard
within. The peasant-proprietor met us at the doorway.
He is a tall, dignified man, with small finely-cut features,
hair parted in the middle, and an expression of much intelligence and character on his face.  His coat was of the
national costume, black, reaching to the ankles; he wore
breeches, a close-buttoning black waistcoat and black neckerchief without collar. H1is wife, a very hearty, lively
woman, had the usual colored bodice. We were shown
into a large saloon, unoccupied, with plain benches in the
corner, and the usual large white gilt clock; from this into
another smaller room, not differing from any modern parlor,
with handsome sofa, centre-table, and French lamps.
The talk at first was on the weather and persons of the
neighborhood.  The only thing characteristic was a remark
of the wife that "Fru X. had gone to Dr. D.'s for her
bilious attack, to try the Gymnastik."  I asked what the
cure was. She explained that it was the taking small doses,
instead of large ones. My friend said, "Oh! you mean
Homceopathy."  " Yes," she answered, " I knew it was one
of those new cures; I have been recommended the Gymqnastik."  It appears, this practice of medical gymnastics is
as regular and profitable a one in  Sweden as Homceopathy is with us. It consists of a scientifically arranged
series of muscular movements and exercises, which is said
to be of immense benefit to women, especially in nervous
disorders.
Of course, wine was ordered to welcome us, but we
declined, and some fruit and milk were brought out to an
lQ*




226           T  E       RI T    E - Fo R s  LK
arbor in the garden. There the peasant read to us a petition that he and others were preparing to lay before the
king on the subject of schools. As the pastor had told us,
the present arrangement did not answer well. These rich
peasants wanted several circulating schools to be started in
the parish, and supported from public tax.
The clergyman, as I understood it, was somewhat against
this, still he did not wish to displease his wealthy parishioners,
considering the plan too expensive. On a recent meeting of
the Common Council (socken stdmma) of the village, it happened that those in favor of the additional schools were not
present; and though it had been previously voted that there
should be more schools at the public cost, the present meeting re-considered the question and carried the other motion,
and sent the resolution to the government. This petition
was to state the facts, and request an interference of the
Ministry in favor of the more liberal measure. My friend
said it was a very well-written document.
After much conversation the peasant took us to see his
stock of goods. They were in one of the houses of the
square, and stored in very handsome rooms —in quality
mostly like those we had before seen. He had not a very
large stock, as he was nearly out of the business, and occupied himself with his farm. The peasants who made them,
brought them  to him, and he bought on twelve months'
credit-making a discount of fifteen or twenty per cent. if
he paid cash.
Before we took leave, he insisted on a drinking of healths,
and the servant brought in hock, claret, and champagne.




SWEDISH  YANKEES.                        22Y7
Through the whole, there was a singular mingling of the
modern customs of the rich, and the old habits of the peasant.
He impressed me, in the whole visit, as a wise, dignified
man, who was a gentleman by nature in whatever peasant's
clothes.  Such men will eventually raise their class-wealth
and wealthy habits will bring with them the intelligent
wants of riches.  Their children  must have education.
(The son of the house, in this instance, was at the Gottenburg  Commercial Institute.)   They will be superior-at
least in culture-to their fathers; and in a generation or
two, will make a class not essentially different from  our
New-England countrymen-the Yankees of Sweden.
This county (Elfsborg), with a population  of 246,000,
sold the following home-made stuffs in the following years:
In 1846.    In 1849.
Cotton Stuffs..................Eng. yds., 4,458,300....5,828,259
Linen......................'C      317,800.... 299,990
WVoollen......................    "       392,080... 419,998
Shawls and Blankets..............P..ieces, 1,502,956....1,393,212
In Gefleborg, amount sold in 1849............... 1,458,666 Yards.
Westernorrland........................... 200,600   "
Hailland.................................... 257,650  "




CHAPTER XX.
THE GOTIIA CANAL AND STOCKIHOLM.
THIS grand work of mechanical science and businessenterprise is well known through innumerable descriptions.
Making use of the natural communications of lakes and
rivers, and cutting through the solid rock in its way, it
has thrown open a great inland route of navigation, through
the richest parts of Sweden.
The beauty of scenery in its course, it seems to me, has
been much exaggerated. It is a pleasant pastoral landscape usually, and at Trollhattan, truly picturesque; but to
one coming from Norway, nothing more. As a voyage of
pleasure, it is detestable. I have, in earlier travels, been
thoroughly inured to rough conveyances, and all sorts of fare;
but I never experienced anything so thoroughly disagreeable as the accommodations of Goitha canal-boats.  I had
applied a week beforehand for a state-room, but was told
they had all been engaged for months, and so was obliged
to take a place in the general cabin. We were packed there
as they might have been in the Black Hole; on tables, under
tables, on chairs, on seats, in hammocks, on shelves-in
every assignable square inch of space that the little room
228




A  -.  A C K    0 oL E.          229
could furnish-one woman waiting on the whole company,
and managing to steer around among the sleepers.
I saw an English nobleman packed on a settee, and
his servant sleeping by his side. In this imprisonment we
spent three days and two nights; here we ate our meals,
and shivered away the days, when the cold storm  blew
over the deck.  Of course, feeble old gentlemen were determined that the windows should not be opened, and the
state of air in our cell may be feebly imagined.
What a relief it was, when a bright Sunday morning
we got our first glimpse of the beautiful "Venice of the
North " (as the guide-books call it), STOCKHOLM, scattered
about on its islands, with picturesque church-towers and
massive buildings, and innumerable boats plying to and fro,
to supply its pleasures and wants.
I had been warned of the hotels in Stockholm, and I
went at once to a handsome lodging-house in Drottning's
gatan well-recommended. I obtained two nice rooms for
about two dollars and fifty cents a week; and in half an
hour felt myself comfortably settled.
Stockholm is a delightful city. The variety of aspect,
the gay water, and the busy cheerful streets; the bridges,
and gardens and quays, the monuments and grand buildings
make a wonderfully pleasant impression.
You move about much in boats, and, if on the outskirts,
amid most picturesque bits of scenery. The finest Parkin advantages of Nature-of all Europe is here. A great
reach of woods, and hills, and rocks, with almost natural




230             T   E  NO tS E - i F OLK 
rambling paths, the sea skirting both sides-old, moss-grown,
still, and secluded; such a place for pleasant strolling walks
as is not, except in our own forests.
Then on another side of the city are beautiful groves and
rambles, towards the ancient Church of Solna.
OF THE ORIGINALE AND SITUATION OF THIS KINGLY CITY.
(From Olaus _lfagnus.)
"This chief city of the Swedes and kingly place,. Stockholm, was
built from the foundation by a most illustrious and famous man, who
was the king's tutor, whose name was Birger Jarl, and he fortified
it with walls and other buildings in so fit, necessary, and invincible
a place, that it is supposed that he could never have done anything
more commodiously; for it is a place that is on all sides fortified
with Torrents (and was formerly only for fishermen's use), and is
so placed, between fresh and salt water, that it may be called the
port of all Sweden. For formerly the Estones, Muscovites, Russians,
Tavesthi, did constantly pass through the mouth thereof, and plundered the Swedes privately, who suspected no hostility, and destroying great multitudes of men, they freely and unpunished, loaded with
great booties, returned to their own countries. In which incursion
they slew John, the second Archbishop of Upsal in his own mansionhouse, Alme-Steck, and some other noblemen. But when this Stockholm was built, all and every man enjoyed a long peace, and the
enemies were in continual fear, who finding such a strong garrison
raised for the time to come against all enemies, forbore to plunder
Sweden any farther. If any man shall presume to beleaguer this
Stockholm, and think to take it, he can never win it; though he
should continue resolute in the siege thereof every way. For it is
situate in the most deep waters and most swift rivers, having only
two gates on the south and north parts, with long bridges between
them, which gates and bridges cost the king of Denmark more




ACQUAINTANCES.                       231
money in a siege that came to nothing, than ten of the greatest
cities of his kingdom. Nor can it be besieged but by three most
potent armies, divided into islands that are parted by firm land and
water, yet those armies can never be secure from bowmen that will
put them into fear. Let him try that will, and he shall find it worse."
Though the hotels are so poor, the restacrantes of Stockholm are agreeable.  One celebrated establishment of this
kind, is in the Great Park or Deer Garden, DjvrgAirden.  The
manners of people, in families and in shops, strike one as very
polite and agreeable. The city is not at all in its seasonthe most of the people of.rank, as well as the Court, being in the
country. They can hardly flee the city for its heat, as these
August days have the sharpness of our November, and one
needs constantly an overcoat.
I spent most of my time while here in seeing sights, with
which one is always bored and which one dare never omit.
I made-what was much more to be valued-the acquaintance of some agreeable and intellectual men, not to be forgotten.  Among them  Mr. SILJESTRnM, of whom  I shall
speak again; Professor RETZIUS, the distinguished Professor
of Anatomy-a man whom our Western orators would certainly call " a perfect steam-engine "-such vivacity and fire
he has; and Rector SVEDBOM, Editor of the Aftenbladet,
the principal Stockholm paper, a liberal daily.
It will certainly not be out of place to express here my
obligations to our Minister Resident at the Swedish Court,
ISon. FRANCIS SCHRnnDER-a gentleman who has made our
country respected through Sweden, and who has used the
facilities which his diplomatic character gave him, to furnish




232           THIE  NO R S E - OL.
our own country with a vast quantity of useful scientific
information relative to Sweden. The truth is, our diplomates
at every Court, ought to have it understood, that one of the
principal objects of their foreign residence, is to transmit to
the Department useful matters of information with reference
to other countries.  Thus, and thus only, would diplomacy
be an endurable evil.
Stockholm is a very gay place in the winter, but it does
not seem especially expensive for housekeepers. Two or
three hundred dollars would be a high rent, as almost every
one lives in the flats of large houses. A good income for a
lawyer or physician would be $1,500 or $2,000.  Teachers
and Professors seldom get over $1,000.
THE MUSEUMS.
The most interesting museums to me were the Kraniological collection of Professor Retzius, and the " Collection of
Antiquities."  This last is vastly inferior to that at Copenhagen-still very interesting. The best divisions of these
remains are the Danish-the separating them according to
their periods-thus making four ages: (1) the Age of Bone,
(2) of Stone, (3) of Bronze, (4) of Iron. In the first, the
weapons and implements being the rudest possible, of the
bones of animals; in the second a little higher, though probably used by the same people, of flint-stones, or stones
sharpened by rubbing.  The arrow and spear-heads in this
Age, are almost precisely the same with the flint arrowheads used by the North American Indians.  In the third




A  FINNISH  GE NTLEMAN.                 233
of Bronze, gold appears also in beautiful workmanship, and
in connection also with the Age of Iron-sometimes in great
abundance.  It is remarkable, that the bronze swords-probably belonging to the Keltic race-and those of iron, the
weapons of the Teuton, all have smaller handles and are of
lighter weight than similar weapons now. These and other
indications have led antiquaries to believe that some of the
former races inhabiting Sweden were of inferior physical
power to the present. Of the ethnological conclusions to be
derived from these remains, I shall have occasion to speak
hereafter.
Amtgmst —.-I met to-day a young gentleman from
Finland.  He had come over to make enquiries of Mr. Siljestrom, in regard to the improvements he had brought
back from America in the School-system.
He said, that the young Russian Emperor was beginning to
be in favor of Popular Schools; and some of those interested
were trying now to find what had been done elsewhere. At
present, they have nothing in Finland of value in Institutions of popular education.  A  progress, however, was
beginning. It is well known, though this gentleman did not
state it, that it is the policy of the Russian Government
now to encourage the Finnish national spirit, in order to
counterbalance any attachment towards their old masters
or countrymen, the Swedes. For this object, the revival of
the old Finnish literature, of such poems as the Kalewala
and the Kantelitar, has met with great favor from  the
Russian authority. The great Finnish University, as is well
known, has been removed from _bo to lelsingfors, where it




234           THaE  NORSE  FOLK.
can be more directly under Russian influence, and at present
no Swedish is allowed in the language of instruction. This
process of R.ussianizing goes very skillfully on, year by year.
The nobles are enticed by honors to Russia; the offices in
Finland are filled by Russians, and the peasants made to
forget as much as possible their old connection with Sweden. From all accounts, these efforts are succeeding. The
peasantry is becoming attached to the government. Russia
has never kept, of course, her promises in regard to States
Assemblies with local powers in Finland; but she is now
forced by the spirit of the age, to do something for popular
education.
This gentleman, like all the Finlanders I have met, was
very guarded; yet you could not help remarking a certain
depressed or sad expression, both in his appearance and in
the few words he said of political matters.
My friends say this depressed feeling is generally true of
the Finlanders. You instinctively know it is the shadow of
despotism.
I asked this gentleman about the feelings of the people
during the late war.  He states that the cruelties and
barbarities of the English upon the poor fishermen and
lumbermen on the coast, quite changed the first favorable
disposition towards the allies, and very much exasperated
the peasantry.
He had known the lieutenant who was engaged in the
barbarous affair at Hango. He was young, he says, and
was supposed to have acted thus, because he was confused
and not really knowing what he was about. Though the




THE  WA.R.                   235
Government did not punish him, he lost caste every where,
and was disgraced.
I found he had the usual impression, derived from the tone
of a few of our papers, that we sympathized in America with
the Russians. I was glad to correct and explain it.
Many of the Swedes think the king made a great mistake,
in not at once throwing the fortunes of the country, into the
late war, with the Allies. They believe Finland, in the beginning might have been easily re-won, the old disgrace of
Sweaborg wiped out, and a flank-march directed on St.
Petersburg, which would have effectually weakened and
humbled Russia for years to come.
At first, the peasantry were entirely favorable; the Russian force in the country was a mere trifle (much less than was
known by the allies), and with the assistance of the fleets,
and an allied reinforcement, they might have carried everything before them, and removed the great thorn in their
side-the Russian Finland. Others, on the contrary, and I
think more wisely, believe such an attack would have involved Sweden in a long war, which she could not afford;
that even if she had re-conquered Finland, it would always,
henceforth, have been a bone of contention between the two
powers, and that the great hope for Sweden is in the development of her industrial and agricultural powers, and not
in conquest. Generally in Sweden, there is a great contempt for Russia. A common phrase one hears, is that " one
Swede is equal to three Russians at any time;" and except
for the great commercial profits of peace, nothing would




236          TniiE li oRs E-F OL K.
have been so popular as a decided part taken in the late
war, by the government.
All feel that the great danger eventually to the country,
will be from  the over-grasping power df the Northern
Empire.




CHAPTER XXI.
A SUNDAY IN STOCKHOLM.
THE Sunday seems more quietly spent than in Germany.
The churches are well attended.  I have been to-day to the
Lutheran " High cMass."  The forms are somewhat complicated.  The officiating clergyman first, with his face to the
people, repeats the " Holy I Holy I art Thou," etc.-then
kneels and utters a prayer.  The congregation do not kneel
nor respond.  He then rises, singing the " God have mercy
upon us I" and the congregation respond. The Prayer book,
or " Hand book," requires responses when prayers are sung,
but not when read.  After this, he turns to the altar and
sings the " Gloria in excelsis!" this is followed by a long
hymn* from the worshippers, from ten to twenty verses.
The clergyman then turns to the congregation and says the
"Lord be with you!" they responding; next, facing the
altar, he reads the extract for the day (he sings it on feastdays.) Here he makes another prayer, which is succeeded by
the reading of the Epistle, and the reading or singing of the
* The composers of these hymns, so much beloved in Sweden, are
Spegel, Swedberg, and Arrhenius, of more ancient times; and Wallin,
Franzen, Geyer, Hedborn and others of modern.
2387




238           THE  NORSE-Fo LK.
Creed. During the first part he faces the audience, during
the latter, the altar. At the name of Jesus, all bow the
head. Another hymn is sung, and the sermon follows,
which was short.  After this, prayer again, and, on feastdays, they tell me, the Litany; and then the royal proclamations, notices of marriage and of death, and the like. The
last exercise is a prayer by the second clergyman at the
altar, and then, after a few words, the beautiful blessing of
Moses. The principal priest is dressed in a white "massshirt," trimmed with lace, over which is a rich red velvet
Cope, with a gold cross embroidered on it.
The communion service is characteristic.  At the altar,
the following prayer is made:-" Lord Jesus Christ, who in
thy holy communion dost give us bread and wine, thy dear
body and blood, grant unto those who intend to have part
in it, thy holy Spirit, that they may worthily receive it, to
strengthen their assurance of forgiveness of sins.
"Grant grace, that they, with right-minded hearts may
be reminded of thy bitter suffering and death, that they
renew the promise which they have made in baptism, and
with faithful determination to hereafter live, with thy help,
in true faith, godliness, love, firm hope and Christian patience,
and thus not to violate the vows made before thy holy face
at the shrift, (slkrift) that they with all the believers may
be partakers of the great supper in Heaven. Amen."
The priest puts the bread or wafer into the mouth of
each communicant kneeling at the altar, saying to each,
"Jesus Christ, whose body thou receivest, preserve thee
unto everlasting life I Amen."




CH UXCH-FoIRMs.                   239
The last prayer is, " We thank thee, Father Almighty,
who through thy Son, Jesus Christ, hast instituted this
holy Supper for our peace and salvation, and we pray Thee
grant us grace so to celebrate the remembrance of Jesus
on earth, that we also may have share in the great Supper
in Heaven. Amen."
A custom still prevails in the Swedish Church, of restoring
a criminal, or backslider, after public penance. The subject, usually some man or woman from the prison, with
worn, depressed expression, stands on a bench near the
door, a guard by his side, and before the great congregation is addressed by a stout comfortable-looking man in
full canonicals, who has had from his cradle, perhaps, the
whole current of life on his side and so has never openly
sinned, on the enormity of his guilt, and after a brief confession to his fellow-mortal, receives his blessing and is
restored; or, if he refuses to confess, he is sent back to a
more severe punishment.
The Commandments have what we are wont to consider a
Romanistic arrangement. The First is, "Thou shalt have no
other gods be-ore me," with no allusion to the graven images.
The Second is on Profanity.  The Third, simply, " Remember to keep the rest-day holy 1" with no reasons, except
those given in the Catechism: —" Te should fear and love
God, so that we do not despise preaching and God's Word,
but consider it holy, hear it gladly, and learn." Which certainly, if the Festival of the Resurrection be borne in mind,




2-0            Tii H X   ()  S, F c) L r.
seems a much more Christian basis for the observance of
the day.  The Fourth is on the " Love of Parents'."  The
Tenth is divided into two, the Ninth and Tenth, as if distinguishing the two kinds of coveting.
There still survive on the Swedish Church Book, the
rules for Secret Confession to the Pastor. It is still resorted to for the worst class of sins; and the clergyman
is forbidden under the strongest penalties to disclose what
is confessed.  Only in cases of treason, or where assassination or murder is threatened, can the clergyman warn
the objects, yet still without disclosing the names of the
guilty parties. In former times, the pastor has been known
to forbid the Sacrament after such confessions.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
The Tract and Bible Society of Sweden appear both
to be active.  In 1852, the Foreign and the Native Bible
Societies report as already distributed by them, more than
a million copies of the Old and New Testaments.
The Tract Society (founded in 1809), have scattered in
thirty years nearly three millions of tracts.  The "Swedish
Mission Society" was establish in 1835, especially for Christianizing the Lapps, among whom they have opened schools
and churches.  Their annual income is about thirty-seven
thousand dollars.  Many other societies have also been
formed in the last few years-for Orphan Asylums, for




S'T'A T A    S T I c s.              241
Sunday Schools, Charity Schools, and the like. There is
one Association of Deaconesses at Stockholm.
The "Inner Mission," which has done so much in Germany, has met with no success here.  Among the religious
papers, are the "Mission Journal of Lund," with six thousand subscribers; the "Bible Friend" (Bibelviannen), with
nine thousand; and the "People's School" (Folk-skolan),
with two thousand.
STATISTICAL  FACTS  OF  STOCKtHOLM.
BIRTHS AND DEATHS.
In 1849, births to population, as........... 1 to 29
"  deaths,   "'............ 1 to 25
Sweden   "   births,      "    "............. 1 to 80
"6     "   deaths,'   ".e..1........ I to 50
DEATHS EXCEEDING BIRTHS IN STOCKHOLM.
Year 1849...................................  by 8377
"   1839......................."..I........ 7O 38
" 1829...................................   1941
"' 1819 o. o" o. oX *..............  ee 1146
SUICIDES.
In 1847........................................ 227
1 1848...................................... 244
1849.......................................... 225
ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS.
1849.
Stockholm,..................    1 to  2.20.. 1 to 2.27
Other towns,.................. 1 to  5.07.. 1 to 4.95
Provinces,.............. 1 to 15.31.. 1 to 13.08
Kingdom,.................... 1 to 11.74.. 1 to 10.96
1I




242               T H E NO  RsE- Fo          L K.
ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS.- Continued.
In Sweden, from 1780-85.    1800-05.     1820-25.     1840-48.
1 to 29.5            1 to 17.1   1 to 14.3    1 to 11.9
In France, 1820.      1840.  In Denmark, 1811-15.     1885-9.
I to 14         1 to 13.3        1 to 93          1 to 87
Prisoners in Stockholm in 1850,........ 3,394 or 1 to 28
"     Sweden,        "...............     1 to 261
In New York State,......................  1 to  1608
*Massachusetts............1.......     to  2232
"New Hampshire......................... 1 to  4376
POPULATION OF STOCKHOLM —(RtUDBECK' s Svea Rike.)
Year 1760,................................ 69,108
"   1780,.............................        75,107
1790,.................................   6S,986
1800 15)...........  o.................. 75,517
"   18102................................... 65,474
1815..s.............................. 8872,652
"  1823.......................... 73,210! L845,~vroooe...........~v~e~v*  88,242
1850,  o......... o.....s...,. e   91,544
"   1855,...................................  95,950
From  these statistics,* some interesting conclusions may
be drawn. In the capital, it appears, that various causes
consume life faster than it is produced, so that if left without
immigration from the country, Stockholm, before many years,
would be depopulated. The ratio of suicides is immense; in
1849, one out of every four hundred persons, or probably
one out of every two hundred adult men and women.
* Mostly collected by Hon. AIr. Schroeder.




MOR AL E.                     243
Out of every hundred children born into the world in the
city, nearly fifts are illegitimate. In the whole kingdom,
one out of nearly eleven. The consumption of human life
in the Swedish capital, and the prevalence of vice, are'facts
not to be dissociated.  The whole kingdom appears to have
been steadily retrograding since 1780, in this regard; in
1840 there being fifty per cent. more illegitimate births to
legitimate than in the above year, and a worse ratio than
in France.  However, there are extenuating circumstances
in regard to Stockholm, which do not appear in figures, and
it is very possible that Stockholm is not materially worse
than New York, or Paris.
There are scarcely any houses of ill-fame, it shguld be remembered, in the city. There is not such a desperate, abandoned, God-forsaken class of women as in our large cities.
The grisettes of Stockholm preserve some decency and have
a chance at least of a better life. They are occupied as seamstresses, or servants, or shop-women, and frequently after
many years of unlawful companionship, are married. The
cause of these numerous liaisons is probably here as with us,
the difficulty of woman's earning an honorable support. The
laws, too, of former times, which forbade the clergy from investigating the illegitimate births, must have furnished an
additional safeguard to the guilty parties.  It should be
borne in mind also, that the parents of an illegitimate child
in Sweden, are frequently married, subsequently to the entry
of the name on the Church books, so that an exact judgment
of the present state of morals of the people cannot be formed
from these certainly rather alarming statistics.




2-t 4-T 11 EE  No  S E- 1 0 L K.
It is significant, in this connection, that the Swedish
Prayer-book; alone, perhaps, of all the Church-books of the
world, has a prayer for "Mothers, who have been deceived
by promise of marriage;" * and the Swedish law recognizes
that the promise, if it can be proved by reliable witnesses,
secures, even before the marriage, to the children the right
of legitimate children, and to the woman all the rights of a
wife.
* Prof. A. 0. Knos-Swedische. Kirchen Verfassung, p. 145.




CH APTER  XXII.
DALECARLIA-UPSALA.
EVER since reading, as a boy, of the faithful peasants of
Dalecarlia, who sheltered and fought for the brave Gustavus
Vasa, I have had an interest in the people. I fancied
beside, in Stockholm, that the Dalecarlian boat-women,
with their honest nut-brown faces and stalwart arms, were
the best specimens of peasantry I had seen, and I resolved
to visit their Province-the kernel of Sweden. But it is a
difficult matter to travel comfortably here.  At length,
after some trouble, having provided myself with a travelling
companion and a carriage in Stockholm, I started by steamer
for Upsala.
The views on the trip are not interesting with the exception
of a glimpse gained of one object-the ruins of the ancient
SIGTUNA, the oldest town in Scandinavia, and one of the centres of the worship of Odin.
IJPrsLA itself is in a wide plain, and would be a commonplace town, but for the old Cathedral-which is one of the
most remarkable structures in the country, of pure Gothic,
and dating to the thirteenth century-and its ancient University. This was founded in 1477, by Sten Sture the elder;
245




216           THE  NoI tsE-FUL K.
it received its greatest endowments from Gustavus Adolphus,
and has continued to be the leading university of Sweden.
It numbers many great names among its professors —Linnseus, Geijer, Bergmann, Svanneberg, Wallin, and others.
In passing through the streets, I noticed an ample, wellbuilt house, evidently for public objects.  "For the Stockholm LNation," my friend said. Each province is called a
Nation, and has its own quarter and house. The students
of the Nation have many tliings in common, and usually a
place of amusement, with library and reading-room, like this
building. The same division is used in classifying the students.
There are 14 Nations in the University.  The number of
students is 1,350; professors, 26-four each in Philosophy,
Law, Medicine, and Theology. Adjuncts, 18, and docents,
29; beside a number engaged in the library, and in teaching modern languages. Annual revenues from property)
about $30,000.  Of the rare literary treasures of this university, especially of the famed Codex Argentems, the envy
of scholars, it is not necessary I should speak. Guide-books
and hand-books give full information.
THE SCHOOLS
are, the Cathedral School, with 300 pupils; the Lyceum
and Real Gymnasium, with 50 pupils each; the People's
Schools-as the Duke of Uppland's, with 300 scholars, the
Princess Eugenia's, for infants, with 90; the "School of
Exercise," and a School for Vagrants.




W ED I S   ALIENS.                    247
There is also a good Poor-House, and but little beggary
is seen in the streets.
A telegraph connects Upsala and Stockholm.  The population of the city is 7,288.
I had the pleasure here of making the acquaintance of an
accomplished jurist, well known in Ainerica, Prof. B —
with whom I spent a whole day talking over the Swedish
Constitution.
This university sends two members to the Parliament,
who take their seats with the " EHouse of Clergy."  Yet not
one of these gentlemen, professors or teachers, can be
elected by their fellow-citizens to Parliament, or vote for
any candidate out of the university.  Nor have they the
slightest share in the city elections in Upsala, where they
have spent all their lives, and where their interests are.
They are not strictly members of either of the "Four
Classes "-Peasants, Citizens, Clergy, or Nobles.  By one
of the innumerable anomalies of. Sweden, they can be voted
for to a town-office, though they cannot vote.  The professors are appointed for life.  Prof. B. says, "Even the King
himself cannot unseat me."  "But if an incompetent person
holds a chair, how do you get rid of him?"
"It is very difficult.  He must be tried, and proved to
have committed something worthy of punishment, and then
he can be unseated."
The legal Professors act the part also of " consulting lawyers," gratuitously.  Sweden is yet in that state of primeval innocence, that it is destitute of lawyers.  When
I first fairly understood this, I could scarcely believe it.




248           THe  NORSE-FOL K.
"What do your people do," I asked, "when they fall into
a difficult law-dispute?"
" They go to the Judges," said Prof. B., "and get their
opinion, or they come to us, and we are expected to advise."
"But it would take up all the time of the Judges, I
should think, and besides, sometimes the thing must need a
long investigation."
"No," said the Professor; "you see those two octavo
volumes there. They are our law. Your lawyers must
consult between six and seven hundred such volumes. The
fact is, we have no " common law "-only statute.law-and
a peasant, if he has a case, can work it out from these books
and plead it himself. Sometimes an ignorant man will get
the sheriff to state his case, and there are a few cunning
men who are employed by the peasants to plead for them,
but they have no professional character.  In Stockholm
now, there begins to be a class of government officials, who
are more like your lawyers, still they have nominally other
business."
I was often afterwards struck with this peculiarity of the
Swedish polity-people pleading their own cases, or stating
them to the judge, and leaving them to his decision, without argument. It is still inexplicable to me, especially
where anything like complicated commercial law is concerned.
One hears now through Sweden many complaints agailst
Upsala and her conservatism; many wish the university
transplanted to Stockholm, so as to give it a more cosmo



TH'E  OLD  UPSALA.                        249
politan character. Most unwisely, it seems to me. A large
city absorbs an intellectual institution.
" GAMLE UPSALAY.
About two miles from  Upsala is Gamle Upsala (Old Upsala), which is now  merely an old Church, and a few cottages. The central part of this church, at this time under
process of enlargement, is called the oldest architectural
ruin in Sweden. It is built of rough stone, and has no especial architectural character, except the round arch.
It was undoubtedly the great National Temple of Odin,
and is described even in the eleventh century, as a building
of great magnificence.*   Near it are jIumerous instances of
the tumuli, found  so plentifully over Scandinavia.   One
author says, there are six hundred and sixty-nine here.
Laing supposes,-it seems to me correctly-that these
* Olaus Magnus says of the Temple, that it was built so magnificently, that there was nothing to be seen on the walls, roof, or pillars, but shined with gold; also, the whole upper part was made with
glittering gold, from which a golden chain.hung down, and is'recorded to have gone round about the Temple to the walls and tops of
the house. Hence it was, that the Temple, situate on a large plain, by
the admiraible lustre of it, begat in those that came near to it, a venerable fire of religion. There grew before the doors of it a huge tree,
of an unknown kind, that spread with large boughs, and was green
both in Sumlmer and Winter.'     *  *
Let this suffice for other nations to understand some of the vain
customs of the Goths.-(History of Goths and Ssoedes, translated in
1658-London.)
11*




r3250           11          It N  -  1, 0 L
were natural formations, but used as burial-places, and as
places for addressing the people.  One of them, a lofty
mound, is still called the Ting's mound, or place where
the great National Assembly of the Bonders was held in
early times. It has been excavated, and the entrance to the
interior is carefully guarded by a gate-my companion said
that many small ornaments of value had been found here for
the museums.
The " Ting'" was a purely Democratic Assembly, like
the Norwegian Ting, composed of all the free-holders:
was the governing power of Sweden in the days of
the Vikings.  It made kings and unmade them; voted
supplies, passed laws, called out levies, and, thouglh sometimes overawed by tMe  kings, was on the whole, a most
powerful and independent Assembly.  The Bonders had
certain men among them, who, from their talents or character, came to lead and represent them at these Tings, called
Lagvztn-the Swedish Tribunes.
There is a very characteristic scene given in the Saga of
"Olof the Saint," (Laing's translation) of a national Ting,
held at this very place, in the spring of 1018. The question before the Assembly was, whether King Olof, of
Sweden, should give his daughter to King Olof of Norway,
in order to put a stop to the war waging between the two
countries. A certain Earl present had, in a set speech,
strongly urged the king to this measure-but the king had
as strongly refused, in a speech very bitter, both against the
Earl and the Kintg of Norway. A lagman (named Thorgny),
who is represented as having a white beard reaching




A   8 (l Ii    () E' 0  I 10   N  T I M.      251
to his knees, when he sat, prepared himself to reply, or in
the words of the Saga"Then Thorgny stood up; and when he arose, all the Bonders
stood up who had before been sitting, and rushed together from all
parts to listen to what language Thorgny would say. At first, there
was a great din of people and weapons; but when the noise was
settled into silent listening, Thorgny made his speech.'The disposition of Swedish kings is different now from what it has been
formerly.  My grandfather,' horgny, could well remember the
Upsal king, Eric Emundson, and used to say of him, that when he
was in his best years he went out every summer on expeditions to
different countries, and conquered for himself Finland, Lifiland,
Curland, Esthland, and the eastern countries all around; and at
the present day, the earth bulwarks, ramparts, and other great
works which he had made are to be seen. And, moreover, he was
not so proud that he would not listen to people who had anything
to say to him. My father, again, was a long time with King Bj6rn,
and was well acquainted with his ways and manners. In Bjdrn's
lifetime, his kingdom stood in great power, and no kind of want
was felt, and he was gay and sociable, with his friends. I also
remember King Eric, the victorious, and was with him on many a
war expedition. He enlarged the Swedish dominion, and defended
it manfully; and it was also agreeable to  communicate  our
opinions to him. But the King we have now got allows no man to
presume to talk with him, unless it be what he desires to hear. On this
alone he applies all his power, while he allows his scattlands in other
countries to go from him through laziness and weakness. He wants
to have the Norway kingdom laid under him, which no Swedish king
before him ever desired, and therewith brings war and distress on
many a man. Now it is our will, we Bonders, that thou, king Olaf,
make peace with the Norway king, Olaf the Thick, and marry thy
daughter Ingegerd to him. Wilt thou, however, reconquer the king



252             TI1E  No(RSE-FoLK.
doms in the east countries which thy relations and forefathers had
there, we will all for that purpose follow thee to the war. But if
thou wilt not do as we desire, we will now attack thee, and put thee
to death; for we will no longer suffer law and peace to be disturbed.
So our forefathers went to work when they drowned five kings in
a well at the Mula-Ting, and they were filled with the same
insupportable pride thou hast shown towards us. Now tell us, in
all haste, what resolution thou wilt take.' Then the whole public
approved, with clash of arms and shouts, the Lagman's speech."Heimskringla, vol. ii. p. 93.
The King, of course, yielded.  It is such a spirit among
the old Norse Folk which has finally given birth to Mag'na
Charta and the American Rlepublic.
Old Upsala was, without doubt, the centre of the religious worship and the capital of the monarchy of the ancient Swedes, as distinguished from  the Goths in middle
Sweden. The conversion of this part of Sweden to Christianity was characteristic, and perhaps has not been without its
influence on the later aspect of its religion.
Hear the IIeimskringla.
CONVERSION OF UPLAND KINGS.
"When King Olof had dispatched Bjdrn and his followers to
Gothland, he sent other people also to the Uplands, with the errand
that they should have guest-quarters prepared for him, as he intended
that winter to live as guest in the Uplands; for it had been the
custom of former kings to make a progress in guest-quarters every
third year in the Uplands. In autumn, he began his progress from
Sparsborg, and went first to Vingulmark. He ordered his progress
so that he came first to lodge in the neighborhood of the forest




P  o ST ING                      253
habitations, and summoned to him all the -men of the habitations
who dwelt at the greatest distance from the head-habitations of
the district; and he inquired particularly how it stood with their
Christianity, and where improvement was needful, he taught them
the right customs. If any there were who would not renounce
heathen ways, he took the matter so zealously that he drove some
out of the country, mutilated others of hands or feet, or stung their
eyes out, hung up some, cut down some with the sword; but let
some go unpunished who would not serve God. He went thus
through the whole district, sparing neither great nor small. He gave
them teachers, and placed these as thickly in the country as he saw
needful. In this manner, he went about in that district, and had
three hundred deadly men at-arms with him, and then proceeded
to Baumarige. He soon perceived that Christianity was thriving less
the farther he proceeded into the interior of the country. He sent
forward everywhere in the same way, converting all the people to
the right Faith, and severely punishing all who would not listen to
his word."
POSTING.
From  Upsala we commenced our land-journey towards
Dalecarlia, taking Dannemora on the way, and intending
to pass over a little of Sbdermanland.
It is wonderfil how  long the Swedes have submitted
to the inconveniences of travel in their country.  To travel
in a province, a hundred miles from their capital, or even
twenty miles, one must take his own carriage, convey it
to and fro by boat, hire at every station his two horses,
for ever annoyed with waiting for horses or hurrying them,
with paying wait-money if he is behind the time he has set




254           T Hi: I  NJ N o  iv-  - F o Iv e
by post, with feeing hdllac'lar (ostlers) and post-boys, never
accomplishing more than seven miles an hour, and paying
about the price of our American stage-coaches, or double
that of the railroads-five and six cents a mile,-this, where,
in some seasons, the travel is incessant over the roads.
Yet it has also its pleasures. This traversing a country
in your own comfortable carriage, giving you time for
visiting and talking with people, and the excitement of
accomplishing the stage in full time, are not disagreeable
experiences to a traveller. On one of our first stages, I had
an experience of a different people from  the Norwegian
we had just left-the little rogue of a post-boy cribbaging
some small articles which we could not well spare.
DANNEMORA.
These iron mines are well known to the whole world.
The sight was one of the grandest I ever had, as the crane
swung us off at a giddy height into the black chasm: the
little insects of men pecking away at the rock far below,
the mighty columns and arches disclosing gloomy vistas,
as in some subterranean rock-temple, and the grand craggy
walls of the mine-a mountain-side.  We wandered about'
a little in the chilly vaults, and collected some specimens.
There are over three hundred workmen employed; each
has a house, a plot of ground and certain privileges, as
well as the day's wages paid by the job-about twenty-five
cents a day. When old or disabled, he and his family are
allowed a pension.  A great many children are at work




above, on the outside of the mine-as usual with the miners'
children,. a sad, miserable-looking set. The whole popnlation connected with the mine is about thirteen hundred.
The water is pumped out by steam, and conveyed a considerable distance. The iron owes its adaptability to the
fabrication of steel, to the quantity of magnesia contained
in it, and its excellent quality, to the small quantity of
sulphur and phosphorus. The ore yields from forty to fifty
per cent. There are seventy-nine different mines, some but
little worked. The first working of them, say the books,
dates back at least to the 15th century. The annual expense of the works is one hundred and seventy-one thousand
rix dollars. The produce is roughly estimated at about ten
thousand tons. The Superintendent of the mine is a government official, though paid by the proprietors. A physician and
nine other officers are engaged in the service of the company.
Beyond the mines one of our first stations was Alfta.
We stopped to change horses and called for tea.  The
landlady did not know anything about the article. We
took out our own, and, to the great admiration of the children, began the preparation. The woman then remembered
that some travellers had once left a little there; but she
had never used it, supposing it to be a medicine,
GEFLE'.-This is a thriving town with considerable commerce. The houses are white, and mostly of two stories; and
the streets paved with cobble stones, without side-walks.
A railroad is soon to connect this with Fahlun.  As usual, the
hotel was wretched, but charges are very moderate. Seventyfive cents a day will cover the expenses in most country hotels.




256           TH E  N O      E- sE FoK.
Mo-MYsmI is the best station in all the North; with large,
neat bedrooms, and good, substantial fare.  At a station
near this, while waiting for horses, we walked over to the
parsonage, to make a call on the clergyman. We found it
the best house and farm in the village-the building new,
and painted white, of two stories. The maid, who accidentally found us in the hall for there is never a bell, or
knocker, or any means of communication, in most Swedish
houses, showed us up into a large attic, and there left us.
It was occupied by a miscellany of objects, deer-skins, spinning-wheels, books, clothes and odd chairs. At length we
spied a door, which might conduct us to the parlor. It was
opened to the rap, and a stout, important-looking gentleman
looked up from his writing. He had the unfailing pipe in
one hand, a smoking-cap on his head, and in the corner near
him was a chevaux de frise of pipes. When we had stated
our objects, he welcomed us, and then begged us to excuse
him a moment, while he attended to the baptism of a child,
who was just then brought by a peasant for the purpose.
This, as. in all Lutheran countries, is a legal requisition, and
for which the clergyman is always paid a fee.
On his return, we had a long conversation.  Education,
he thought mucel progressing among his people. The parish
numbered 6,000, with two preachers; there were six "cir-'culating schools " and one established, with some 500 schoars. The pay of a common teacher was about 21 cents a
day; of a higher teacher, $100 per annum. The great difficulty was with the teachers-to get good men on such a
miserable pay. After discussing the merits of the new




A   PA P Rs O N A G E.              257
Swedish school-system, we were about to go to the inn, when
he insisted on our staying for dinner.
We were shown out to the large dance saloon, in the
middle of which, the little round table with its pure white
Swedish linen, was set.  Flowers were here, as everywhere,
at the windows and on the tables. The walls were painted
in fresco, by a village artist. The dinner was simple and
good; home-made beer was served to each, and coffee was
brought in immediately after the silent thanks at the end.
Then an offering of cigars and pipes, and a courteous farewell, as our post-carriage comes to the door.
A —. —.We had a letter to the clergyman of this village, and drove into the great court-yard of the parsonage.
The pastor at once, on reading the letter, ordered our horses
to be taken out and detained us for the night, to which we
were not averse. After a little chat over the cigars, we all
set forth to see the Church and the village.
This last has some very comfortable houses, the property
of rich peasants.  The church is only a. little distance from
the parsonage. Before entering, the pastor deposited his
cigar on a tombstone, and reverentially uncovering, we stepped within.  The building was large, of the simple cross
form, but with no columns or arches to interrupt the view;
the usual audience is about two thousand. The pastor took
us to the sacristy to show his dresses-the splendid crimson
cassocks with the gold cross, the common white and black,
und others with various embroidery and ornaments.  Pastor
F. states that his parish contains four thousand four hundred




2.58          T ii  N N  It S E-11 o  I..
souls, and extends some eleven Swedish square miles.  He
has frequently to ride thirty-five miles to preach, and he
must catechise at forty-five different places through the
year, sometimes in the coldest weather.  He is much discouraged by the licentiousness of the peasants-the proportion of illegitimate children being very large.  In drinking
habits, he sees a vast improvement, especially since the new
laws, which make brandy so expensive.
There are, in the parish, five circulating schools and one
established, having together about four hundred children
in attendance.  Here again is the complaint of poor teachers and poor' pay; some receiving only six dollars per
annum, with board I Dissent, he informs me, is beginning
to make havoc among his flock. The excitements of LSsarnz
(a kind of methodism) have already produced sad results,
physically.  It was a commentary on his remarks that we
met, in our short walk, three persons, crazy from the overtension of their religious feelings. The Baptists and Lasarne
have not dared, as yet, he says, to come out and build
chapels, for fear of legal measures, but he thinks they soon
will. The parish,, he informs me, is a royal parish-that is,
the King appoints the clergyman, though usually the Consistorium  presents three candidates, to select from.  The
salary is a certain pro rata sum fixed by the parish-meeting
(Sockeln stmrna) and collected in driblets of produce or
money from each peasant; every man being obliged by law
to give a certain amount.
This village is in Helsingeland, and the peasants have a
peculiar character.  They are by no means so intelligent as




F u I1N I T U   i E.            259
the Dalecarlians, but there is more wealth with individuals,
and greater extremes of condition.  We visited a number of
peasants' properties.  According to the universal Scandinavian arrangement, for rich or poor, there is a little square of
houses, one being for guests, and for the family, and another
for the servants and for store-room.  The doorways to the
principal houses were highly decorated, and had almost an
Oriental aspect. Within, each room was perfectly neat
and clean, with large beds and good plain furniture. The
floors were sprinkled with twigs of pines. In some, we saw
a singular article of furniture, consisting of a bedstead,
painted white and gilt, with a secretary for the foot-board,
and a clock for head-board.  Others had large bed-rooms,
used as store-rooms; some were quite prettily painted
within. The most notable thing was the neatness.  I saw
no book except the Bible and Psalm-book. The women
who showed us their rooms were usually healthy, cheery
looking working women, dressed somewhat in colored costume. The pastor says that generally they are well instructed, but that there are some superstitions remaining
among'them, which he cannot break down. When they are
sick, they always send first to the old witches, before they
apply to the regular physician.  A ielsinglander, who buys
a horse, is careful to take him out the first time backwards
from the stable, to avoid the evil spirits-the Tomt!-and
with the most, the mountains and desolate places are still
beset with the legions of spirits who haunted their heathen
forefathers.
When we returned to the house, at about 8 o'clock, a




260           TH E  N o  SE-FO LK.
good supper was served up for us, and we sat long, talking
of America and Sweden; for this family, like so many in
Sweden, has its members in the New World.  A Swedish
military officer was present.  In the glow of the conversation, he could not refrain from an enthusiastic outburst for
his country, such as I have often heard since-" After all,
as we look over the nations of the world, there is no country so blessed as old Sweden. Here every one can speak or
write as he pleases; there is no slavery here, and we have a
good King. Yes, we are the happy people i"  The others
smiled, but evidently considered him quite right.
I ventured to object, partly for argument's sake, and
asked how a country could be called blessed where there
were such multitudes of ignorant people, and spoke of the
licentiousness and drunkenness. "The proportion of illegitimate births in Stockholm are fifty per cent." He replied,
that as to the ignorance of the people, he would not compare them with the American.  "But look at the English
peasantry and the German! How many cannot read or
write I Here it is very seldom that you will find a peasant
who cannot read.  And for brandy-drinking, it was, indeed,
bad some years since; but the people improve every day in
that. And, for my part, I do not believe them worse than
other nations in the matter of licentiousness. You cannot
judge from Stockholm, sir. It is true there are very many
illegitimate children there, but there are no prostitutes. We
hear of fifty thousand women in London who are damned
for this world utterly. There is hardly one in Sweden.
Even if a woman has an unlawful connection, she can still




N OBLE-MANUFA CTURE RS.                 261
raise herself up again, and she lives at least in a human
relation with her companion."
"But. the children I What becomes of them?" I asked.
"The State takes care of them," he answered. "It is
bad, I know. But which is worse-that, or your infernal
prostitution?"
Iron Works.-On our ride, the next day, we stopped at a
wretched village adjoining the iron works of D., which we
wished to visit. Why is it in Europe that manufactures
always draw after them such a trail of poverty? This was
the most miserable, ragged population I had seen. We
entered the "Works" through a gentleman's house, and
very tasteful grounds laid out on the stream that gave
the water-power.  The proprietors were two young bachelor noblemen, who at once welcomed us to brandy, fruit,
and cigars. We declined the former, and sat down to a
little chat over some delicious hot-house fruit. They are
manufacturing bar-iron- employ three hundred laborerswages usually one rix dollar (twenty-five cents) per diem.
I inquired how it was that they, as noblemen, were manufacturing.
"It is very common now, sir, in Sweden," Captain ID.
answered.  "We younger branches must do that, or belong
to the bureaucracy, or try to get a commission. The fact is,
sir, we are the most unhappy class of the community. You
know, by our admirable Constitution, we cannot vote because we are not of the elder branch. We get very little
of the large estates, for they are all'fidei commiss' (settied on the eldest son), and so we are all dependent on the




262           THE,NORSE-FOLK.
elder brothers, or we must work, to which we have not been
trained."
" Can you never take a seat in Parliament?" I asked.
" Yes-if the caprt fanilice, as we call him, will resign his
seat to us. Sometimes we can buy a seat from a poor noble."
The forges which we examined afterwards contained nothing remarkable.  The great hammers were raised by a very
rude contrivance-the outside spokes of a wheel carried by
water, striking the head of the hammer, once in a ii uen time
-it falling again by its own weight.  The furnaces were
heated with charcoal.  I observed in one part of our walk,
a pretty school-house of stone, which these gentlemen were
erecting for the children of their workmen.
WVe stopped for the night at a kind of chateau, belonging to another iron-manufacturer-a most simple, gentlemanly person.  He is manufacturing chains and iron
cables and the like:-two hundred and fifty workmenproduce 100,000 rix dollars per annum-wages from twentyfive cents to thirty-seven and a half cents per diem-number
of hours of labor, eight. The cables are tried by a hydrostatic machine to such a tension that a quarter-ounce difference in the weight will break or preserve them. When the
new railroad is finished from  Sbderhamn to Bolnaes, all
these iron works will be greatly benefited. This gentleman
informed me that his establishment has a vote for a member
of Parliament, as now the iron interest is represented by five
members in the House of Burgers. This concession was made
a few years ago by the Parliament in order to quiet some of
the grumblings against the unwieldly Constitution. Like




Te:E   B    I I  C HIE S         263
the other great factories, his establishment is obliged to
have a school for the children of the workmen, and for others
in the parish.
We were very hospitably entertained here. The house
was prettily furnished, and had a great number of French
engravings, especially of the heroes of the French Revolution.  In the better class of Swedish houses, one often sees
these indications of the former well-known French bias of
the nation. I bid adieu the next morning to this gentleman
and his courteous hospitality with regret.
Orsa.-The beginning of our ride towards this village
was through very desolate pine barrens.  The characteristic
Swedish scenery are woods of pines, with glimpses of lakes
under the sombre branches, and occasional sun-lit glades,
varied by groves of that exquisitely beautiful tree, the Northern drooping birch.  The glory of Scandinavia is the
birch groves.  We have nothing like them in America. The
glimmering, trembling leaves, the graceful droop of the
branches, the light and shade-the tone which nature herself,
in truest feeling, has impressed on the bark of their gigantic
trunks, so that without sun-light, there is a perpetual variety
of light through their checkered arches-make unforgetable
pictures in the traveller's memory.
A pleasant cheerful tree, which we met near the villages,
is the mountain ash, with clusters of the most brilliant red
berries. This tree, so familiar to the student of Scandinavian mythology, is still cherished by the superstitious of the
peasants.  Its name sounds almost precisely the same as the
Scotch " rowan-tree"-R6n.o




26,, x t 1           N O THE,   z  -, N..
As we entered Dalecarlia, the costumes began to change.
Hitherto in Jelsingeland, we have seen black caps with red
tassels, dark jackets and breeches; now the peasants have
white cap and jacket, sometimes with curious tassels at their
knees. The faces are generally swarthy, with high cheek
bones, eyes dark, but hair light and long. We have passed
one village of log-houses-Skattungeby-utterly deserted,
the people being all in the fields. Each farm has precisely
the same arrangements-the gate opening through the barn
into a little square, each side of which is a log-cabin. The
servants and animals sleep in the same building. There is
not a framed glass window in the village, or a frame house.
The church only is a handsome, modern-painted building. In
the middle of the town is a high " mid-summer pole," with
garlands still upon it, and bristling with wooden swords and
arrows of ancient shapes, perhaps all in the form established
by the worshippers of Odin and Thor.
A Postnza.-(Postman, overwhelmed in astonishment,)
"From America! Gud bevars! (God forbid.) Did the Herr
come by land so far?"
"Water; and 3,000 miles in eleven days."
"Ha! I suppose every one makes money there.? S.
B —   has just come back here to live, with pockets full.
He Mwas in-in-"" Louisville," said my companion, who knew the case,
"What are wages in America, sir?"
" Four riks, and meat every day."
" What a country I  We cannot make twenty-four skiluings (twelve cents) a day here. And I have never eaten




POSTl'AN's THE;OLOGY.                 26.3
meat for seven months, and my wife and we all ate bark
bread * last winter."
We asked whether he drank liquor. He shook his head
lugubriously.  "We have no money, Herr, for brandy, it
costs too much." My companion led him on to the subject
of the Dissenters-the Baptists.
"Oh, yes, Herr, I knew some. One poor devil in T,
says he will never have his boy baptized by the church.
They have a little chapel not far away. But God will
destroy the infidels! People say that they are going to
stop all dances, yet every one knows that they sleep together, men and women, every night, and then go about
screaming and praying to frighten honest people. They will
all go to hell, certainly I"  There was much gusto in the
tone with which he disposed of the unfortunate Baptists.
Gradnally, in our route, we began to descend towards the
valley of Lake Siljan, the historic part of Dalecarlia, and the
seat of the bravest and best population of Sweden. Here
Gustavus Vasa concealed himself from the victorious Danes,
until at length his eloquence roused the peasantry to the first
resistance, which finally freed the country. Geijer says, that
in these speeches of Gustavus to the peasants, the old men
reckoned it as a good sign that the north wind always blew,
"which was an old token to them that God would grant
them good success."
We were well pleased to enter a cultivated country again,
- This is the bark and resin of the pine, mingled with a little bran.
12




266           T H rn No R 8 E - Fo 0 L K.
with homesteads and marks of prosperity, after so long an
experience of the pine woods.  The Swedes are very enthusiastic over the Siljan scenery. It, is gentle and pleasingthat is all one can say, and to a traveller fresh from Norway,
it seems tame and commonplace.
The sturdy Dalecarlians were at work in the fields, men
and women, in very picturesque white, black, and red costumes. As we rattled by into Orsa, the post-boy put them
all into excitement by his cries, " An American! an American I"
We are now among the genuine Dalecarlians, or "' Dalesmen "-the dales being made primarily by the two branches
of the Dal River, which unite below, near Fahlun. There
are many glens and cross-valleys, beside the two principal
valleys. The whole number of persons inhabiting these,
may be 150,000.
Mora.-We did not stop in Orsa, but hurried on to Mora,
as one of the most characteristic points of the provinces.
The village is built on the northern extremity of Lake Siljan,
near the mouth of the Oster Dal River.  Our hotel was unusually good, still poor enough —the walls decorated with
prints from Frithiof's Saga. The pastor, to whom we were
especially recommended, lived but a little distance; a man
of large proportions in heart and body, with a sort of
fatherly-arbitrary relation to every one, which was very
agreeable.  After the first introduction, we sat in front of
the house under the old trees, the party smoking and drinking the home-made beer.
"We have seldom had the pleasure of a visit from an




TRAITS  OF  PEASANTS.                  267
American," said the old man. " Wiilkommen I" clapping me
heartily on the shoulde:, "but we have one or two peasants
who speak English."
I asked how that was?  "You must know," he answered,
"that our Dalecarlians are the most migratory people in
Sweden. They wander all over Europe to sell their little
wares-hair-chains, bracelets, and watches.  There are
about two thousand now absent from my parish. They
go to Russia and Italy, and even England. But they
always come back. They love nothing so much as this
poor country.  They are the proudest people I The Fmru
Prostinna will tell you what trouble we have with servants.
We must send to Helsingeland, and other provinces; no
Dalecarlian will be a house servant I
"They are a brave people," he added, seeing my interest,
"the most honest people of the world, I think.  If you will
pass through these villages at any hour, you will see linens
and furs and various things of value left out, and no one
ever loses a styfver (stiver). And there is something so
strong and inexpressive in them! I remember when the
first little steamboat plied on this lake. I happened to
be out and saw it first, and turned and told a Bonder
who was ploughing,'There's the steamboat I Have you
seen it?' He turned and looked at it, and I have no doubt
was overwhelmed with astonishment. It was the first he
had ever seen, but he only answered, quietly,'I see it,'
and went on ploughing! They never will betray their feelings. Lately a proposition was made to my church to
have a picture of Gustavus Vasa placed in the building,




268            THE   O R SE-F o L K.
in commemoration of the great services of their ancestors.'No,' they said,' what our fathers did does not need
any pictures or writing.  Every man knows it'-and they
refused."
They are exceedingly ingenious with machinery, the pastor says. He has known a peasant after a single examination of this little steamboat, go home and construct a
miniature steam-engine.  The telegraph runs now along all
the great roads in Sweden.  One of these men told the
pastor, on seeing it, that if he could only once examine
the marking machine, he would engage to construct a telegraph from his house to the parsonage I
Our host's account of the morals of his parish corresponds
with all we have heard of Dalecarlia.  There are 9,000
souls in it, and he never has heard of more than two or
three illegitimate children in the year. Yet, with this remarkably favorable condition of morals, there exists here
as everywhere in Dalecarlia, the singular custom  of the
Fria.*
When a Bonder would woo a maiden, he is allowed by the
parents to sleepwith her, both being in their full clothing.
When there are several lovers, three or four will frequently
pass the night together. For this purpose beds of immense
width are in use among the peasants. Sometimes for more
unreserved communication, they will sleep in the cattlestalls, as otherwise they are in the same room with their
parents. Saturday and Sunday nights are the universal
* Got frijon; Sansc. prinami; Gr. OtRlutt, -rptarog.-,Sdve.




SINGULAR  C  SToMS.                  269
nights through Norrland for the "wooing."  The custom
has furnished much subject for the poets of the country,
and probably will be one of the last'which the Bonders
will abandon, under the influences of advancing civilization.
It exists only occasionally in Sweden out of Dalecarlia;
but, as we have seen, in many parts of Norway, in Finland,
and, it is said, in Switzerland. Here, it seems entirely pure
and innocent.  A friend tells me he has known a Bonder
thus woo his maiden for nine years! One great preservative in Dalecarlia against vice is undoubtedly the early
age at which marriages are made-the groom  often not
being more than eighteen.
The father, in the marriages of the peasants, has great
authority-frequently giving away a daughter with very
little regard to her feelings. There is a secret contract
and ceremony before the marriage in the church, about
which little is known. The Bonder is as aristocratic in
his connections as the Noble in his. A Burger would be
much more likely to marry the daughter of a peasant,
than a Bonder (a free-holder) the daughter of a Torpare
(a farm-servant paying his rent by labor). One of the
evils of Dalecarlia is the division of land. It is customary
for the father to divide his land equally among his children;
and the consequence is, that the estates at last come down
into the smallest parcels, and a man will own a lot not
larger than a small bed-room in one spot, and another of
equal size, perhaps half a mile away, so that you see everywhere the fields cut up by innumerable lines of fences. One
great object of marriage accordingly is to unite neighboring




2T0             THE  NO RSE-FO LK.
lots, and all else that concern the two parties is often
sacrificed to contiguity. These little properties are frequently pawned to the larger proprietors near, and still
paying taxes, they are eaten. up at last by the burdens.
The custom of the Fria has a corresponding custom in New England, whiich undoubtedly existed in all parts of it in our early history,
perhaps derived from the Norwegians of Northumberland-the Sunday evening 6" bundling."




CHAPTER   XXIII.
DALECARLIA.
WHILE we were sitting by the parsonage chatting, a
young peasant came up, in leather apron, white wool cloak,
breeches, and thick cumbrous shoes. He wore a black felt
hat with cockade. As the parson clapped him on the
shoulder, his manner was modest and submissive, but when
he took off his hat, he revealed a very intelligent face, and a
well-shaped head, with an expression of much native dignity.
" Our Representative to the House of Bonders, and Secretary of the Sockensttimma," said our host. "He is just
chosen for the first time."
This was a lucky fortune to me. From the beginning of my
journey in Sweden, this class had, more than any, interested
me, and more than any was difficult to comprehend. They
were evidently not gentlemen, or exactly our "farmers,"
or the English yeomanry, or the German Bauer. Their
whole position, and privileges, and character seemed original.
I asked about this -Sockenstnimma. "It is,' said the
pastor or Prost, "a kind of parish meeting, which manages
all the affairs of the parish. The freeholders alone have
the right to vote. It takes care of the church matters,
the roads, the poor, and the schools. We usually now have
2.t.1




272           TyiE  NoRs  E-FOLK.
a separate committee for each of these. You see, now,
they are repairing my parsonage, unfortunately for my
guests.  They have the right to choose the clergyman,
where the parish is not a royal one; that is-the Consistory presents three, who preach on trial, and the meeting
chooses from them.  "Who presides over them?"  I asked.
"I do, in my parish-ex officio. This young man here is
the Secretary, and has a small salary.  He has shown himself a thorough business-man there, and that has made him
elected for this.  Talk with him; you will find he is no
boor.  Will you take snuff, sir?"
"No, thank you.  What is he paid?"
"The peasants determine that-probably five dollars riks
yald ($1,25) a day."
" Will he wear that dress in Stockholm 1'
"' Certainly — that is-his best national costume. If he did
not, he would never be returned again.  The last member
was a little ashamed of it, and it ruined him here.  He
cannot be elected again."
We started out on a walk towards the church. I tried
to get the delegate into a conversation, and asked him what
position he intended to take on the question of reform in
the Representation.  "I go to Stockholm  to school," he
answered sententiously. I asked if the peasants were much
in favor of railroads.  He said those in his Province were
beginning to see how necessary they were, and he had
already bought two shares himself in the Bolnaes road.
"Why should the peasants object to any man's voting in
their class, if he owned land?" I asked.  "Is it right to




P OL I  I(AL  T A LK.               273
exclude very useful men thus from the State?"  " It seemed
unreasonable," he answered, "but he had not fully considered
the question."
The pastor pointed out on our walk, some large meadow
lands, which were public property formerly, and had occasioned them much trouble in the different claims of individuals to a share in them.  Now, he said, the Secretary
had just framed a plan of dividing the lands among the
freeholders of the parish, in proportion to the taxes they
paid; and after a hot discussion, it had been passed.
As in every circle I have visited in Sweden, the conversation fell soon, between the pastor and me, on American
politics. The clergyman explained to the delegate, that
"America, the freest land in the world, has the stain of
slavery upon it;" and that this election turns on the extension of it.  The peasant knew it, and inquired about the
chances of Fremont I "No  Swede in America," added
he proudly, "will ever vote to have a slave."  They were
much interested in the Know Nothing party, as in opposition to Romanism.  "O h, the sects! the sects!-that is
the disgrace of America 1" said the clergyman; and the
peasant nodded a sad assent.  "What can Christ's church
be worth, when it is broken up into so many little parties,
all quarrelling with each other?"  I replied, warmly. But
as these discussions occurred with almost every new acquaintance (and I shall have occasion soon to mention
one), it is not necessary to repeat it here. The first conception of religious freedom has scarcely entered the Swedish
mind.
12*




274          Tfi1X NORSE-FoLK.
We entered the church-an immense cruciform white
building, with the inner architecture somewhat in a crypt
form, the ponderous arches meeting and uniting in massive
columns-an exceedingly roomy and impressive arrangement. The interior was white. There are frequently five
thousand people comfortably seated at the Sunday service.
The building dates back to the thirteenth century. All the
galleries are decorated with quaint paintings of Scripture
scenes-sometimes an allegorical series, in which the tortures of the damned were a prominent feature.
The Prost thinks there is a profound religious feeling
among the people shown in these solemn and crowded Sunday services. and he finds the same well tested in the practical life, in sorrow and misfortune. The hard-drinking
habits. have much decreased. He has been making great
efforts for education. The new ordinance of the ministry
left a little choice to the clergy in respect to the established
school in his parish; the distances were too great for the
children to attend any one school; accordingly he had
opened home schools (after Count Rudenskold's plan) in
certain of the private houses, where the youngest children
are taught by women, whom he paid from the moneys voted
for education. An informal but effective system, he thinks.
There are about one thousand children in the home schools
of his parish. They need, very much, thoroughly trained
teachers for the older scholars.
When we returned to the house, we found some of the
peasants there who had been in England, and we had a
long conversation together.




TALK  WITH  PEASANT.                  275
One of them said to me: "They used to tell us in Scotland —' You are very far behind in Sweden-no iron roads,
no improvements, and so on.' But I always said —' No such
crowds of poors, and not so much whisky in our country.' I
saw so bad things in Glasgow!"
"What books do you read at home, here!" I asked.
" We read only the Bible, and sometimes the Psalm-book.
Then a few people takes the IWdVktareiz (a newspaper) from
Stockholm."
I tried, next, to draw out from him the belief of the people about witchcraft and such matters; but he was too
cautious to give much information-" Some believes in good
spirits, and some in bads."
"Do your peasants care much for politics?"
"No, sir-if they be let alone."
"Do you vote?"
"No, sir; I have no hemman (freehold)."
The pastor asked him if he had an English Testament.
He said he had, and then read very well from one which
was brought to him. As we were about to go to the village, our host ordered out some ginger-beer, and it was
given to all who were gathered about the door-among
others, to the member of Parliament, who took off his hat
respectfully on receiving it.  On bidding good-bye to the
peasants, I attempted to give a small gratuity to the one
with whom I had been talking, but he would not take it,
and it was only with considerable difficulty that I induced
him to do so.
It was a lovely sunset, as we walked by the quiet, peace



TI  E    - F N(O  K.
ful lake, towards the hamlet-a broad beam of golden light
falling over the rich harvest-fields near the mouth of the
Dctl, and the gentle rounded hills on the horizon, and
gleaming from the coppered spire of the church; the pastor
leading the way, pipe in hand, talking most earnestly.  The
Adjunct (vicar), in demure black cap, on one side, and the
delegate with his picturesque costume, behind; the rest of
us keeping up with the rapid pace, and talking as eagerly.
The pastor pointed to the hills and said: "Those are the
mountains-Oestberg, and the next-where the peasants
believe the Troll, and the fairies, and witches still have
their revels.  They are poor, ignorant creatures, some of
them!"  I expressed my interest in these old superstitions.
"You will not meet with many, Herr B., here," he answered.
" The Dalecarlians are too enlightened; but in other parts
of Sweden, there are very singular beliefs.  Indeed, lately
here, I found that there was a certain spring, out of which
the peasants would not drink, without first spitling into it,
in order to avert the influence of the evil spirits!
"But these are not the only hills, Herr B.  See you
there! that rounded small hill near the river. There the
great Gustavus first harangued the peasantry of Mora,
before they took up arms for the country'"
I asked if the people really cherished these recollections.
He replied that they did; but now without much speaking
of them.
"Over there again, on the other side of the lake, is the
cellar of Utmedland, where the King concealed himself."
They spoke of the Baptists, who had just opened a




A W  A GAINST  BArPTISTS.'277
chapel near by.  "They are liable to the law-every one of
them," said the clergyman.  "The last Parliament made
it a criminal offence for any layman to administer the ordinances. They could be fined and banished."
"Why do you not enter proceedings against them? they
are disturbing the whole country," said the vicar.
"Because I am doubtful of the expediency of it," he
replied. "It is a long affair, besides. They must be
warned by me a certain number of times first, and then the
case may be carried from court to court."
"Was not this whole thing brought before the courts a
few years ago?" I asked.
"It was.: but by the old law, those who administered the
ordinances with motives of mockery, were alone liable; and
though the first court condemned them, the higher court of
appeal reversed the sentence-rightly, in my opinion, for
certainly these poor deluded people had no intention of mockery. But now, ulder the new law, they cannot escape."
I spoke of the folly of persecution-that a good cause
never gains by it, and the bad, when persecuted, takes on a
better appearance to all men of humane feelings. The pastor admitted it philosophically-" but the time has not
come here, yet, for conscience-freedom.  When we are
ready for a Republic, we will be ready for that!"
"And for a man not to baptize his own child! Atheistic I" added his vicar.
"Besides, look at America! We have seen there what
religious freedom is. Every preacher is seeking to advance
his own sect-not the evangelical spirit of religion. You




278           TuE  No lxsi,-Foi K 
have Methodists and Baptists, and Episcopalians, and Mormons-and there is sometimes hostility among them, as you
just admitted.  I have here a parishioner who was in your
country; he gives melancholy relations of the want of
evangelical piety and interest in the churchly ordinances."
"Where was he, Herr Prost?"
"' In Siid Carolina, I think."
I explained then, that we would not admit a Slave State to
be a fair representative of the religious character of our
Union, and then gave them more' fully, than in the previous
discussion, our American position with respect to religious
freedom. The aspects which individuals take of truth must be
different-it is a necessity.  Why should not then religious
bodies represent some of these endless differences? These
various sects were all united in the grand principles-Love to
God and Love to men-but consented to differ on these other
points.  My own experience was, that the preachers were not
especially given to urging on the interests of their sect, as
opposed to other sects; that the most popular clergymen were
those Who were least sectarian.  In private life, certainly,
sectarian differences had very little influence, and we never
troubled ourselves about the theological position of our
associates.  I believed our people as thoroughly imbued
with a deep religious feeling and principle as any other,
though the great Sin of a part of our nation had certainly
poisoned all in contact with it.
Our great principle in America-as we believe, the principle of Protestantism-is that the conscience must be free;
that liberty is the true atmosphere of the soul, and without




.) F EASANTS' CH I DRIEN.             279
it, religious life withers and dies. We conceive that this
has nothing to do with republicanism, or with forms of government-that it is universal and eternal-true in all times,
through all societies and in all countries.
They listened respectfully, and as I had spoken in German, the Prost translated to the delegate, who made no
reply.
"tHere we are at Andersen's gard (farm)!"
This again had the same arrangement of houses in a
little square, though the farm was in the midst of
the village.  A  woman sat in  the doorway to  the
kitchen, eating-some little girls frolicking behind hersuch sweet children, brown cheeks with a color richer
than the freshest peach-bloom, loose flaxen curls, dancing
blue eyes, and forms so plump and healthy! This is our
general observation in Dalecarlia; the children are wonderfully pretty, but the women, though very healthy-looking,
show the effect of hard work-their faces are thin and forms
stumpy. This woman was dressed in the usual red bodice
and white skirt, with a white cap on her head. A number
of men stood around, tall, powerful figures, in white garments like the blouses. Their faces were usually florid, with
long light hair, blue eyes and high cheek-bones; an expression in the countenances of subdued force and of seriousness.
The PrFost introduced me to- the woman, and after a few
words, asked for a bit of -her bread to give me. I took a
small piece, hardly larger than a dollar, and tasted it; it
was coarse oat-cake: then, not liking to hand it back to
the woman, I inadvertently dropped it on the grass at my




280           Tn   iN oRs S-F O L K.
side.  Her face changed in an instant, the eyes flashed,
but before she could speak, the pastor had picked it up and
placed it on her lap, and I, seeing my mistake, complimented it, and she seemed mollified.
"That was nearly a bad affair," whispered the Prost
immediately after.  " Every Dalecarlian looks on it as one
of the worst sins to throwo bread on the g'rounzd. They have a
perfect superstition about it.  The whole village would
have knowni it immediately.  All the glories of America
could not redeem your reputation, if the people thought
the Americans ever threw bread on the ground."
We went into a kitchen soon after, where they were
baking on iron griddles, great round rye-cakes, a foot and a
half in diameter. These are kept and thoroughly dried for
the winter. The house-mistress had a hearty, laughing face,
and seemed much pleased at our interest in her operations.
She took us into the upper rooms, to see her wardrobe.
Two large attic-chambers were hung around with dressescolored prints, snow-white wool'aprons with brilliant red
borders, silks, linens, embroidered bodices, wool-jackets,
deer-skin coats, snow-shoes and winter-boots.  Taking up
one little spencer of soft lamb's-wool, she said, "Litet Lammn!"
-one instance among many of the resemblances of our languages. We met here the man who had returned from
America-a pale, cadaver6us-looking fellow. He had had
the yellow-fever in Charleston, and nearly died; " thought
his own country much better." As he bid me good-bye, the
peasants all laughed with delight, to hear him speak a
foreign language.




F A REWE LL.                   281
Late in the evening we returned to the parsonage. Again
a hospitable supper was served, with the silent, reverential
grace, preceding and following, as if every meal were a new
indication of the universal Providence. A pleasant talk
around the table followed. It was noticeable that this gentleman had no wine or spirits on his table-a moderation
rarely seen in Sweden. Hearty shakes of the hand were
given —" Adieu!"  " Farwic l!" and we had parted from the
warm-hearted family.




CHAPTER  XXIV.
TOUR IN DALECARLIA.
Rlitwik.-The Ratwik parsonage is another of the great
hospitable parsonages —one house being for guests and summer enjoyment, another for the winter, another as a study
for the clergyman, and still another for the servants. In the
large dance saloon, called the King's Hall, in memory of a
royal visit, where we meet, the outside doors are wide open,
and the bountiful dinner is brought in by courses, and is
placed on a little table in the centre, for every one to help
himself as he wishes. Before commencing, the usual prelude is gone through of a glass of whisky and bread. and
cheese-the gentlemen helping themselves first, and then
the ladies. We eat standing.  It is a generous room, with
pine planks twenty or twenty-five feet long, making the
flooring.
"I suppose you have great times here, with the dances on
Christmas eve and the holidays?" I said.
"Bevars! Not alone then-every Sunday night!" said
a spirited young lady.     *        *         *
" Vrthat is the history of that picture," I asked, pointing
to a painting on the wall.  "A wonderful painting!"
282




PAINT'ING.                    283
"Ack that I the Hterr Pastor received it at a lottery (of
an Art Union).  It is very good-by Malmstrom, the' Norna Gest.' The tale is this.  One of the old skalds, in:he time of the Vikinger, was visited at his birth by three
wise Norna-womlen.  The mother had lighted two candles at
the cradle, as was commanded, and the old witches began to
prophesy. They told her he should be wise and great and
rich, and surpass all of his day-when suddenly the.youngest
Vorna Greytur burst in, offended at not being treated with
ceremony, and she said:'Boy! thou shalt not live longer.
than the candle that burns beside thee.' The mother was
in terror, but the oldest witch took the candle and put it
out, and gave it to his mother and bade her keep it. She
did so, and when the boy grew and became a famous bard,
she gave it to him. He lived for three hundred years and
played divinely at many courts, and celebrated the great
battles. But finally he sighed for Valhalla, and became tired
of so long a life, and he took the candle from the interior of
Ilis harp, and lit it, and watching it, he died."
" Is it not a good saga-and has not the artist hit it?"
It was an old man in antique barbaric costume, of florid
Northern face, with long white hair and an expression,
though pained and exhausted, still noble. He leans on a
quaintly ornamented harp, holding the dying candle between
finger and thumb, watching with deep haggard look each
hair's-breadth lessening of the taper.  His gaze was penetrated beyond the fatal omen into the dark futurity.  The
weakness of death is falling over him, with the flickering
sight; his other arm, unmuscular as becomes his vocation,




284            THE  NORsE-sFoL K.
with the blue veins of age on it, and decorated with golden
armlets —Odin's golden serpents-the prizes of many chantings of sagas and war songs, drops relaxed by his side; his
breast seems to rise feebler and feebler, and the fatal hour
foretold by the iNornas will soon be at hand.  Behind is a
mysterious IRunic column, dimly seen.  The ornaments of his
harp and of his dress have a wild, intelligent character. The
colors are fresh as life, still soft and mild in tone. It is a
picture which you cannot escape from.  Whatever you are
doing in the room, the eyes wander back to that mysterious
Rune; you are away in dreams in the dim early ages of the
Scandinavian peoples, among those wild poets of courts and
battles, whose wonderful mythology and Delphic poetry make
a never to be forgotten literature.  You gaze exhausted at
the dying candle, and look out with the old saga-bard into
the dim unseen, where wild forms of evil and of good pass
and repass-the Nornas, the mighty Thor, the evil Loke,
the giants of the frozen North, the awful Midgaard serpent.
which is to swallow all, but where, at length, after the final
destruction, " a new heavens and new earth shall come forth
and Baldur, the god of love, forever rule."
The church adjoining the parsonage is one of the historic
places of Sweden. Here Gustavus Vasa called the people
together for insurrection.
"He bade the old consider well, and the young to inform themselves, what manner of tyranny foreigners had set up in Sweden, and
how much they themselves had suffered and ventured for the freedom
of the realm. Sweden was now trampled under foot by the Danes,




INc:,r3MEs  OF  PA STORS.                285
and its noblest blood had been shed; his own father had chosen
rather with his associates, the honor-loving nobles, in God's name to
die, than to be spared and survive them. Mlight they now show themselves men, who wished to guard their native land from slavery, then
would he become by God's help their chief, and risk life and welfare
for their freedom, and the deliverance of tthe realm."-(Geijer.)
The building dates back to the twelfth or thirteenth century. Again, we have the interior of heavy round arches,
meeting at points like the arches of a crypt. On the fronts
of the galleries were the names of the different clergymen of
the parish in gilt letters, going back to the Reformation. In
one corner I saw a number of portraits of the Swedish Kings,
Charles XII., Charles XIII. and Gustavus Vasa, apparently laid aside as rubbish.
Near the church, the pastor had built his school-a neat
dwelling-house, with rooms for the teacher. and for one of
the vicars.  There are four clergymen in this parish, which
numbers 8,800 inhabitants. The chief vicar is called Comrn.
minister, and the others Adjuncti.  Among the pastors,
Prost is a higher title than Pastor, and Dom  Prost the
highest under the Bishop. These clergymen in Dalecarlia
are among the richest and most powerful in Sweden.  Their
incomes from the regular tithes, and the gifts of their
parishioners, who are much attached to them, amount to
12,000 or 15,000 riks dollars ($3,000 to $3,750) per annum,
which is very large for the interior of Sweden. They all
keep several carriages, and their hospitality is unbounded.
They are the principal school managers, the leaders of
education, the chief members of Parliament and legal ad



286           THE  N   cORSE- FOLK.
visers, as well as spiritual directors of the peasants. The
influences which the clergy in other provinces of Sweden,
from their lazy habits and worldly spirit, have lost, these
still retain. They are usually men of the best culture, and
of truly democratic feelings —their relation to their flock
being very familiar.
A Dalecarlian always says "thou" to his pastor, which
is like calling a man by his first name with us. A friend
relates that one of the clergymen in these provinces, who
was a very distinguished preacher, was too much given
to strong drink. One Sunday, after a most impressive and
eloquent discourse, when he had come below in his robes
to return home, an old peasant, much respected, came up
to him, and clapping him on the shoulder, said  if we can
give the equivalent in English-" Harry, thou preachest like
a whole-souled man, but thou tipplest like any tavern-keeper."
This public rebuke is said to have had an excellent effect.
When once a parish has an unsuitable clergyman, it is very
difficult to unseat him; and nothing but drunkenness or some
glaring offence can give sufficient cause to the Consistory to
expel him. The choice, in the first place, except in the Royal
Parishes, is directly from the people, but limited to the
three candidates presented by the Bishop and Consistory.
This clergyman had done unusually much for education.
He had twenty-six circulating schools, and two established;
though the time spent in school by the children is by far
too short, being only two days a week for fourteen weeks.
Their studies are the Bible and catechism, reading, writing,
and reckoning, and a little history.  The Dreacher examines




CLE: 1CX. a DIGNITY.                   287
them  all once or twice a year; and though the children
are not obliged by law to attend school, they are obliged
to pass this examination before the pastor will " confirm"
them; and without confirmation, there is no civil right in
Sweden. The teachers, again, receive miserable pay-some
only twelve riks dollars ($3) a year and board.
As we sat in the roomy " King's Hall " afterwards, over
our coffee, the pastor, with long pipe, gently puffing light
clouds out into the summer air, I spoke of the very different
position of a country pastor in America-how much more
simple and spiritual his duties are.  "Would it not be
possible here to simplify the Constitution," I said, "dividing
the Parliament into two houses, and giving, if you desire,
to the clergy a share in the Upper House; or, what we
would consider far better, confining them entirely to spiritnal and moral duties? Does not this taking'part in political
life injure.the spiritual tone of the clergy?"'
"It often does, God knows!" he answered.' The parish
would not be so frequently neglected, and the vineyard
desolate, if our pastors were kept from Riksdag. Still, the
great interests of the kingdom require a watchfulness from
the priesthood.  The working classes might press us into
unhallowed courses, if we had no lot in the affairs of the
state.  They are already seeking to take the schools from
us, and to banish that which is next to the Word of Godthe catechism."
"'But was not your house of clergy erected in an age
when -the clergyman alone was the educated man of the
community, and when the relies of Romanism  still survived




288           T     Lt  No'ReEs- FOLK.
in the public influence of the priesthood? Is it so necessary
now?"
He allowed that it was not, and that he would gladly
see a change which would not too much remove the shepherds from their flocks. Still, the clergy must not lose
all share in the state.  They have a right there.
"Yet it is often a grievous burden for us of the other
clergy," he added.  "I pay twenty-four riks dollars ($6)
a month as my proportion of the salary of our member,
though he receives no more than the pay of a Bonder by the
day —-four and a half riks ($1,12)-which is little enough
in Stockholm. But your coffee is cooling I"
As we sat talking, the young ladies brought in some
flowers, and I heard them in a discussion.  "It is —it is
the spirea." "' No, it is a ranunculSs.  " Father, is it not
the spirec~a mla'ica?"  And the father decided.  Some other
plant was njentioned-perhaps the well-known salix dlaphnoides on the lake-and a careless young medical student
at once gave the correct name and description. It struck
me then, as it often did, that botany was much luore an
habitual branch of knowledge with them than with us.
It may be interesting to know  the names of the old
magical plants of Scandinavia. Those which drove away
death in the old sagas, were plants that now are not remarkable for healing power. The books give them  as
enpetrunv ingrmm, fragaria  vesca, gnaphalium alpinnm, leontodon taraxaccm, ranuncilus hederaceus, stellaria viviflora,
and vaceznium occycoccos.




HOSPITAB LE  HOME.                    289
LEKSAND.
Aug'mst.Of all the homes we have visited, this
parsonage is the most glowing with hospitality and good
feeling —such great rooms, such loaded tables, and, above
all, such a stout-bodied, great-hearted host, the Domprosten
H. —, who wrings one's hand like a vice,'and claps one on
the shoulder with a blow which shakes you to your boots I
"EHah! Amerikanare'!  An American here! Ha! ha!" He
talks to me in French, German, English or Latin, and sometimes in a mixture of all, and is said to speak Greek as well
as any.  He is well known and much beloved through the
whole country, and was a successful member of Parliament.
His parish, as he tells me, contains twelve thousand people,
and has forty-six schools.
The sight yesterday morning (Sunday) at his church was
one of the most impressive I ever saw. I rose at half-past
six, in a cool brilliant summer morning, and the people were
even then beginning to straggle into the great church-yardthe women arranging.their toilettes in the angles of the
church-walls. At seven, a fleet of boats from various parts
)f the Lake (Siljan) were flashing and ploughing through
the water, all directed towards one point, and pulling with
regular strong beat, as in a boat-race.  At one time, I
counted thirty-one large boats, with thirty or forty people
in each. They were all in costume, and the boats glistened
with white and red, as if it were some festal procession.
As each struck the land, it emptied itself of the brilliantly



290           TH EN     R S En  - F o    L K.
dressed party-the women in broad white head-dresses, or
in red, and with red bodices; the men wearing long black
coats reaching to the feet, and black " Kossuth hats,"
sometimes with embroidery on their shoulders. As they
came up the hill, with their various colors fresh in the
morning sun, it made a most picturesque train. Each ca,rried the psalm-book wrapped in neat cloths; and those in
the rear bore the baskets of biscuits and onions for the meal
after service.
The men were much the finer looking, though the women
had most hearty, pleasant, sun-browned faces, with the
whitest teeth; while there were some young girls of exquisite
and regular features. The head-dresses have their peculiar
meaning, and are almost a police in themselves. The maidens wear simple colored bands, the hair braided in a kind of
coronal; the wives, white caps; those in mourning, or
about to join in the Commnunion, pointed white fiat triangular head-tires; and those who have children, unmarried, still
another kind of white decoration, which betrays them  to
the whole community, and is one of the strong safeguards
against licentiousness. Yet few, out of the peasantry, know
of the exact appearance of this head-dress.
By eight o'clock, the streets of the little village were
crowded with a great multitude of peasants; and it was
notable how large a part of the place was made up of rows
of little buildings, used alone as stables or carriage-houses on
the Sunday. From land and from water, they came pouring
into the church-yard.  Soon a denser crowd gathered around
a particular spot-a sad procession, with hearse and mourn



THE   IMM Ai.NSE  CONGREGATION.   291
ers, entered-the young Comiminister read the service over
the grave, and the whole multitude in the open air joined in
a grand solemn hymn.
At the same time, another large company were receiving
the Communion in one part of the church. At half-past
ten, when I entered, an imposing spectacle met the eye.
The spacious church, with the two tiers of galleries, its long
seats and aisles, was crowded to the full; the chandeliers
and little pronged supports black with hats, and every
available standing-place filled-all by the peasants alone.
I saw but one European bonnet and gentleman's coat in the
house. It was a vast array of stalwart working-men, and
ruddy, sun-burnt women, in their parti-colored, picturesque
costume. All were there-the nursing child and the hobbling old man-no one was left at home. I saw many
women suckling their children. The men took the seats
first; those who stood up in the aisles were women. Some
of the mothers were feeding their infants with onions.  As
each person entered, he stopped a moment, covered his face,
and made the silent prayer. After a little time, a hymn
was commenced by the congregation-a monotonous, melancholy kind of chant. The organ was a powerful one, but it
was almost drowned in the surges of sound which rolled up
from the vast assembly. This was continued a long timethrough some thirty or forty verses; while in it all, mingled
the cries of children, of whom there were so many in the
church.  A.t length, the-clergyman, in black robes, ascended
the pulpit; a short, apparently extempore prayer was
uttered, and the sermon was read. There was profound




292           I TH: E  o  s;- F o L NK.
attention through the whole audience. After it, a quartette
was sung with beautiful effect; and with another long chant
and some reading of Scriptures, the assembly dispersedmany standing without to admire the new crown just placed
on the Byzantine-like tower; others gathering in knots, to
discuss business and village affairs.
My friends computed that there were seven thousand
persons present in the church, and this on no unusual occasion.
The people have evidently a reverential and devotional
disposition, and the degree of self-government granted to
each church, strengthens the interest of the members in it.
I was impressed in seeing the audience, with the wonderful
opportunities granted to the Swedish clergy for influence
over the peasants. In such remote provinces, they are almost
the sole guides and directors; there are no nobles, or judges,
or governors here, and every Sunday, they have these vast
audiences, upon which to impress humane and liberal, or
religious sentiments. The Swedes are plainly susceptible to
oratory; and tlhere never was such a field for a great
Reformer as Sweden is now. But who is there who will
come forward to work it?
We are occupying the lower rooms of the Parsonagelarge, pleasant rooms in one of the houses; above us are the
saloons for company. On the other side of the square, is
the kitchen and servants' house, and on still another side, the
house for the pastor's family. The doors are all open, and
in the kitchen department, I observed a number of the poor




SUNDAY  EVENING.                    293
peasants taking food; in the pastor's saloon a little table is
bounteously filled, from which we are to take and eat, wherever we can find a seat. A glass of whisky, and bread and
anchovies, are offered to each first, as usual. A number of
persons come in and join us in the meal. The servants bring
in course after course, in most liberal measure. After the
dinner, we start for a long walk by the pleasant lake, while
the Prost goes to the parish-meeting.
Sunday evening, at the pastor's, is thefite-evening always
but more especially now, as they wish to celebrate the
crowning of the Church tower.
The large guest-saloons are thrown open, as well as the
state bed-chambers, and by six o'clock the guests begin to
come. The gentlemen are in one room, and the ladies in
another, and as each gentleman enters, he shakes hands with
the pastor, and then with every other gentleman; and then
goes through the ladies' rooms, bowing to each, very low and
formally, seldom shaking hands. The ladies have a similar
ordeal —each one bowing and courtesying all through our
saloon, to every gentleman whom she knows. It must be no
joke to come late to a Swedish levee.
I am standing near a lively young gentleman, who entertains me with descriptions of each new arrival.  " There!
you see that handsome man with white gloves-that's our
great singer, from Stockholm I He led the quartette this
morning. But there's something for you Democrats! —you
observe a very tall man in long peasant's clothes-a Bonder
-with hair parted in the middle?"




294           THE  NoRSE-FOLK.
"Yes.  Do peasants associate with the upper classes
so?"
"Certainly.  He is a delegate to the Riksdag (Parliament).  A good-natured fellow-rather weak though-the
nobles lead him by the nose. He lost his election once on
account of it, and another was chosen, who was so much
worse, that they were glad to keep this man."
" But who are those two men in peasant's clothes, near
the door?" I said.
"Oh they I —they are the te'ros du joulr. Don't you see
how every one shakes hands with them? How awkward
the poor devils look! They are the workmen who put the
crown on the spire at last.  Dom Prosten (our host) is
almost ready to hug them-lhow he claps them! He is a
democrat for you! —But there — you see!-Captain S,
the gentleman with the moustache, he doesn't shake hands
with them. He is a noble, you know. Herr V. and N.,
and all the burgers do at once.
" It's a singular thing," he added, "those poor fools are
hardly intelligible to a Stockholmer..I suppose you could
make nothing of their dialect. I know their jargon now, I have
been so much among them. The Prost does say though, that
it's more like the old Norse than any other language now used.
They have a diabolical drawl. But you snuff, do you not?
No?" He sneezed, and several "God bless yous, and wilbekoqmmniet" at once were earnestly uttered, to which he bowed.
"Did the pastor have the crown put up?" I inquired.
"Ack — no. It was all the peasants, it is their Church, you
know. But there is a beauty for you! Have you such




SWE DIS H  J u   IE us.              295
women in America?" A light graceful figure-blonde golden
hair wound over the hesd —blue eyes-features very regular
-the expression so animated and sweet, and the manner
singularly kind and genial.  Her dress, a white full dress, as
for a dance.' It is Frlken C —-.-"  I told my companion
I found the Swedish ladies of the middle classes, as if somewhat depressed or kept in the background, and the men not
especially attentive to them.'Y ou have right," said he,
" it is so too much, but this charming creature is of a higher
family.  There again!-there's another of these Bonder,
you have such an interest for-a fine manly fellow.  He is
the fNidmndeman."'
The NSizndemnan is a sort of a juryman. In every village,
the Courts of Justice are composed of a Judge and twelve
jurymen, who sit at each session of the court, for many
years.*  The Judge always determines the sentence, unless
the jurymen are unanimous against him; in that case, they
can reverse the decision of the court.  The jurymen are not
paid: it is a public duty for every peasant.  No other class
has anything to do with it.  The Courts are called Tingthe old name for popular assemblies, one meets so often in
the sagas, and the Scandinavian history.
I was sitting by the pastor afterwards and asked him
X The original idea of this Jury seems to have been that it should
represent the natural equity of a case as opposed to technical law.
"Because," says an ancient judge, quoted by Geijer, " all cases which
may arise, cannot be set down in a law-book, but where no written
law is to be found, men must borrow their decisions from that natural




296            THEr   NORSE-FOLK.
if he had ever known an instance of the jurymen reversing
the sentence of the judge.  "Oh, yes;" he answered, "there
was a Ting in T       village lately; a criminal case came
before them. The judge felt himself obliged by the evidence to decide against the accused, though it was plain he
felt that he was innocent; the Naimndeman at once reversed
the decision.  Still, they are very often a stupid set.  I remember hearing of a Niimndeman in P    i, who went home
and threw himself down with groans on his bed, " Well,
we have done a business to-day I"  "What is it?" his wife
asked, anxiously.  "We have sentenced so and so to be
hung I"  "Ack God I and what for?"  "That's what I
should like to know!" he answered, groaning terribly.
Generally, the judge does everything, and they only
listen; but here's the Delegate I  Here — come!  An
American-let me introduce you 1"
The Delegate being at a loss for conversation, took the
opportunity to inquire for a Herr L., who had fled to
America with some stolen property.  "You have very
many men there whom we are glad to be free of 1" I told
him, we could not prevent, of course, the vagabonds of
Europe from taking refuge there; and then passed into
conversation with some others standing near.  The man
was a boor by nature, evidently-and all the Riksdagar
could not change him.
law which God hath implanted in our hearts and brains, therefore the
law-book saith in many places touching doubtful questions, let the
jury of the hundred (or neemdemen) examine this l"'-(Geijer,
p. 85.)




V 1 TFLI, A G E  J UL SlO 1t E.    29Y
I was next presented to the Namndeman-a very sensible
man. The pastor said, "You take an interest in Swedish
politics. We have still another thing, as good as the Ting,
you may not have heard of it —our By-ordning.  It is a
sort of assembly, chosen by the peasants, which takes
charge of the moral matters of the village-a sort of halfjuridical affair. They try and punish for petty offences
against morality and law. I am afraid, we shall lose it,
though; it is being attempted now to merge it into the
Courts. Indeed, it has no legal existence-but there's Lieutenant S-. I must meet him I"
A friend has since given me an instance of the operation
of this lBy-ordning, somewhat characteristic.  A Dalecarlian
maiden returned in the autumn from the usual summer's
labor in the Capital, and was observed to have a gold ring
on her finger. A circumstance so remarkable attracted
the attention of the other peasants; she was questioned,
and replied that it had been given her by a gentleman with
whom she was working. The people doubted, and finally
she was brought before the Town Council, which, after an
examination, decided that she should be kept confined by
her father, and whipped every day until she should confess.
The father carried out the sentence, and at length she
confessed that she had stolen it from this gentleman. The
ring was at once sent back to the owner, with the message,
that the girl would be prosecuted if he desired, but for the
good fame of Dalecarlia, they hoped he would drop it,
which of course he did.
Punch in small glasses had now been brought in, and




'298         TEi Ai  oRSE-FO IK.
the pastor, with the little cup in his hand, stepped out
among the company, called for silence, and said, " My
friends I I am happy to offer a toast. It is the health of
the two brave peasants who have given us the opportunity
of holding this feast; we all saw their daring on Saturday.
To the Bonder V~- and T  -, who put the crown
finally on the tower I SkIl i"
Every one went forward and clinked his glass with those
of the peasants, saying, Sktil!
"Prosten likes the peasants," said a gentleman near
me, "and they like him! Hear himr; he speaks of you!"
and I heard him telling, in his hearty tones, the different
groups, "Ha,! the Amerikanare called the meeting storartaat
(grand) this morning. Ha! ha!  It is only a spectacle
to him-and a grand one I"
Another toast.  " My friends, I have another health for
us to drink. By Providential chance, a gentleman is present with us this evening from a distant country-America.
Sweden and the New  World are widely separated by
oceans, and they have different forms of society, but they
are united in religion and in political liberty. We have
shown that science, and arts, and freedom, and prosperity
can grow under a 1Monarchy, and they have proved it equally
under a Republic! I propose the health of our American
friend. May he have from God a prosperous journey I Sk/l!"
Next the healths of the Delegate and Niimndeman were
drunk, then of the ladies and of various gentlemen, and
now began the dance. The great saloon shook with the
tread of the dancers. The waltz was the favorite, danced




THE:  F E AST.                  299
with great spirit and life. The Comminister who spoke at
the grave, and led the communion in the morning, was now
moving cheerily among the waltzers, though I think not
dancing himself.
After the dance, some songs were sung —mostly from the
people's melodies. They were singularly plaintive and wild.
The "Necken" is one of the most popular. The religious
quartette was also given again. At ten, we all went over
informally to the house on the other side of the square, and
found a large table prepared in one saloon. The ladies
helped themselves first, and then the gentlemen-afterwards
separating into different rooms.
It was one of the hearty old Scandinavian feasts. Dish
after dish was brought in —meats, puddings, game, pancakes, milk-soup, salad, grbt (or rye mush) and milk, fish,
cakes and creams; and everybody fell to with vigor.
Nothing was drunk at the meal, except the unfailing prelude of a glass of whisky, until late, when the servants
brought in a great silver flagon, with curious ornamenting,
foaming with beer. This was a gift from a former parish to
our pastor.  It was passed around, each drinking by turn.
At twelve, the company began to disperse, the hearty old
Prost giving his vigorous clasp to each hand, with " God
iV.Ctt!"  "Guds frid vare med eder! God bless thee I"
TWarm-hearted old man! May his great ruddy face still be
gleaming friendlily on the poor and rich in Dahlarna I




300          T  E  i o   S  -Fo L K 
FAHLUN AND SOUTHERN DALECARLIA.
Our journey continued the next day towards the south.
The driver was the owner of the horses, and a very respectable-looking squire. The country along the road, even to
the Wester Dal, was a pleasant, fertile district, and he
pointed us out many good fields, which belonged to himself.
The crops, as usual, were rye, oats, potatoes, and grass. We
made slow progress, owing to horses not being ready at the
post-stations, and did not reach FAHLUN till five o'clock.
The approach was through a desolate country filled with
slag, and breathing out sulphurous smoke, showing the
neighborhood of the copper-mines, which stretch for miles
under ground. The first streets were long rows of little
houses for the miners' families, very dirty and impudent
little children playing in front-justifying the popular reputation of Fahlun for a wretched population.
The town was filled with sulphurous odors, and vegetation
seemed much dwarfed or killed through the whole neighborhood by the works in the mines.
THE MINES.
We first went to the edge of the immense excavation,
where a great slide had been, throwing open, as the books
say, some thousand feet of the mine. No work was going
on in this. Our guide brought us dresses and old hats, to
protect from the drippings of the mine, and we commenced




I o I, I  1i - AT I N I,.        ~'01
the descent, he holding a lighted torch, made of small pine
links bound together by a copper ring.
The first passage was simply a dark stairway, with a
banister.  After fifty or sixty fathoms of this, we began
deep descents by ladders, down through one dark pit after
another, then into galleries, glittering with ore under the
torch and dripping with moisture.  Our guide stopped us
occasionally, to take us to the edge of some black chasm,
and throw off fragments of the burning torch.  We could
see the pieces flash and glimmer, and hear their fall, at
great depths below. There were various historical chambers, too, to be shown: "Carl Johan's," where the King
and Queen had a brilliant dinner, and where his autograph
is still preserved on the wall, and "Prince Oscar's," and
others of older date, hollowed out of the solid rock.
We descended hundreds of fathoms, and followed the
gloomy galleries for miles, only occasionally seeing torches
and meeting the solitary inhabitants of these dark cavernsyet we did not traverse a twentieth part of the mine. This
mine dates far back in its history, even to the eleventh century. Its produce, which has much fallen off in modern times,
in 1853, was 4,2V7 skeppznd, or about 1,710,000 pounds.
There is a mining-school here, where engineering and
chemistry, and other natural sciences, are taught.
It is thought that the railroad now being constructed
between Gefle and Fahlun, will be of great advantage to
the latter place, in affording a more convenient transit for
the metal to the coast.  For this road, the company borrowed of the State, $400,000.




(V            THIDE  NORSiE  ForiOz.
The population of Fahlun in 1854 was 4,522.
As we were in a hurry, and had a good comfortable travelling-carriage, we pushed on the same night towards Sala,
reaching it in the next afternoon.  This district is famous
for its silver mines, of which we visited one, about a mile
southwest of the city.  This mine dates back historically
to 1187, A.D. Its produce in 1850, was 3,835 marks.
Tilhe mining population seems a superior one to that
of Fahlun.  The whole number of inhabitants in Sala, is
3,208. Between this point and Westerais, is a rich farming
country, with very substantial farm-houses.  Westeris is a
well-built town, with some interesting public buildings, and
a valuable Library. Population in 1853, 4,027.
The impressions left on my mind by this tour through
Dalecarlia, are, that in no country of Europe can a peasantry so independent, honest, and virtuous be found.
This cumbrous Constitution, though blocking now every
useful reform, has at least preserved the peasant in his
ancient rights.  Having his own House of Representatives,
his own peculiar privileges, his costume, his church, and
ahove all, his local self-government, he has not been crushed
by the superior privileges of the nobility, or humiliated by
mingling with classes more cultured and refined than his
own. He is proud that he is a Bonde.  Each man has an
independent bearing.  There has evidently been no serfdom
or feudalism  here.  Yet this very isolation and pride of
class has kept the Dalecarlians ignorant and superstitious.
The country needs, what all Sweden needs, railroads and




DA L E C A R L I A NS.,303
schools. Its mineral products and lumber should have an
easier market, and the ingenious talents of the people be
employed on more profitable manufactures than they are
now. The first interest for this province is Education. Give
such an intelligent population as the Dalecarlians, good common schools, and they will be able to accomplish anything.
There is excellent stuff in the character of the people. The
country is the New England of Sweden. As in all Sweden,
much of the progress of the people will depend on the
clergymen.  This body has, as I have already stated, an
astonishing power in this remote province. If they were
true to their duties, and had ideas at all corresponding to
the progress of the age, the Swedish peasantry would speedily
be in a very different condition.  We believe, however,
that more is being done for genuine improvement in Dalecarlia, than in any other rural district of Sweden.




CHAPTER XXV.
VINGAKER.
IN the central part of Sweden, near Lake lHjelmaren, is one
of the characteristic counties-Vingaker: a land of lakes and
groves and rich fields, showing some of the best agriculture
in North Europe. My objects here led me more among the
gentry and the large proprietors.  The peasantry yet preserve the national costume in the centre of the country, but
they are by no means so independent or well-informed as the
Dalecarlians: the explanation for which lies, no doubt, in
their tenure of land, and their relation to their landlords, as
we shall hereafter see. I attended one large Church at
K —, where the Bonders were all dressed like a respectable farmers' audience at home, in black coats with gloves,
though the women had white head-tire instead of bonnets.
S —----— Y.
This estate lies in the' midst of a pine forest, approached
by the roughest roads, which wind around among pretty
lakes and ponds. The first indication of its neighborhood
804




A  NOBLEMAN'S EST ATE.                  305
was given by some cleared ground, and a neater class of
peasants' houses. Then came a Church, sheltered in a beech
grove, and a school, and then an avenue under old trees.
The house of the proprietor was a long, two-story stone
house, painted a grave color, with smaller houses on each
side of the usual square, and a pretty flower-plot in the middle.  On the other side was a handsome garden, with very
rich dahlias and brilliant flowers, laid out in terraces somewhat formally; beyond, meadows and corn-fields stretched
out to the edge of the forest. Again, on the wings, were the
conservatories for fruit, and the stables hidden by shrubbery;
and still farther on could be seen the rich masses of the park
trees. A liveried servant came to the carriage, and took in
my letter and a card. I was shown into a saloon hung with
old portraits.  Almost immediately a lady entered, who
welcomed me in French, most sweetly, expressing her regret
for the absence of her husband.  Nothing could exceed the
grace and simple-heartiness of her manner.  She led me to
the drawing-rooms, and entered at once into lively conversation.
The family is one of the old historic families of Sweden.
Sir C. has the reputation of being among the most cultured
public men of the day, and has filled many offices wit1i
honor,
Everything in the house and  surrounding, showed a
much higher class of tastes than I had yet seen in Sweden.
The furniture was not costly, but the walls were covered with
paintings, which any royal gallery of Europe might covet.
In the drawing-room  where I sat were original Cor



306           T  E   N O R S E- FO)L K.
reggios, Wouvermans, Guidos, Claudes, and Salvator Rosas.
In the next drawing-room were celebrated modern works;
and in the billiard-room, some animal pieces from Rubens.
Exquisite bits of statuary from Bissen and modern sculptors,
were set about here and there; and in one saloon was
the unfailing ornament of rich Swedish houses, the cabinets with curious old china. The library was a gem, such
as in our democratic societies an individual can seldom
possess-old valued Bibles, travels and works of art issued
by governments, of great value; books of costly and rare
engravings, and works on philosophy  and science  and
history in all modern tongues, were in the collection, the
owner speaking with fluency nearly all the  European
languages. I was glad to see that the best of American
literature was there.
I asked Lady C. if the ladies read much of our authors.
"N'o," she answered, "not much-only your novelistes. I
am so glad," she added, "that those detestable French
roma'ns are no more the mode. We get now, in the English
and American writings, all the amusement we sought in the
French, with a healthy moral tone. I remember when I was
young, nothing was read but French, *but now I dread to
put a French author of light literature in my daughter's
hands. The German is not much read, except by the
scholars. We find their romances very ennuyantes."
I inquired, what American authors were most read.
"lMiMadame Stowe, of course, first; then much now that
authoress of stories-I forget her name-Wide World and
Queechy. You know we have now Danish translations of




CHATTING.                     307
all these, and of M. Emerson and Hawthorne.  Ah! what
a sombre g6enie is that man-do you know him? Your poet,
too, who has translated Tegner- Longfellow."
i told her that we had other translations now of Tegner
— of his Frithiof's Saga, which was greatly admired.  She
seemed much interested, but said "I have not seen the
translation: still it is not possible to translate that. You
must lose the fine quality."
According to the universal Swedish custom in the upper
classes, fruit is brought into the drawing-room about six
o'clock —grapes, peaches, and apricots from the conservatories-and then a cup of tea. The party was a most interesting one, as we sat in the twilight-Lady X., whose
face still shows, under traces of many sorrows, the noble
beauty for which she is distinguished; several spirited
young ladies, and some fresh, active-looking young gentlemen, who have had, evidently, a thorough manly education.
Something in Lady X.'s feeling gave a sober tone to the
conversation.  The ladies spoke of the position of the
Swedish woman in society, and how little she exerts the
influence which belongs to her.  "We learn from MIam'lle
Bremer what your ladies, Mionsieur B., do in America. But
here very few feel the responsibility. We are content to
enjoy ourselves, and to be admired. Yet, mon Dieu I what
multitudes of poor people are around us! Frederika Bremer has truly labored to give occupation to our ladies, and
I hope she may succeed I"
I asked if they had all read her Travels in America.
" Oh, yes," the young ladies answered in English; "but




308           Tr E  NORsE-F  IK.
tell us, be there so many wonderful people in America?
Every one seems a hero to her to be!"
"It's horribly dull," muttered one of the young men. "I
never could read it!"
* * * " Have you remarked the similarit's between
our languages?" said one of the ladies, "especially in the
Scotch i"
" He must call for the cork-screw in the next hotel," said
one of the young men, alluding to the phrase,-" Give me
the cork-screw" (" Gif vig kork skrufvenl"), a well-known
common phrase to Swedish and English. We then recalled
the common words: "Bra' bus" (br'a hAs), "reek" (r'k),
"timber " (timnzer); " Come, let us go I" (Ion lit oss gi),
"potatoes" (potatis), "speer (ask)" (spira), "room" (rumn),
and numbers of others.
I asked about the Danish and Norwegian-whether they
understood or spoke these.
"No,"' said they; "we speak them  not often, because
the Danes and Norrmans (Norwegians) comprehend us and
we comprehend them, when we converse."
The conversation turned on the Danish literature, and
the celebrated Reformer, Kirkengaard.  "That is a spirit
noble and pure," said Lady X.  "Perhaps he went too far
in condemning all the church, because his branch was lifeless, but he had the true fire within him. I think he has
done us much good in Sweden."
"' Still, mother, was he not too extreme?"
"Yes, he was; but the sins of his church drove him to it.
But, Monsieur B., shall we not have a little music?"




C(3 () NV rV SA TIONS.             309
Some beautiful national songs were sung, and exquisite
pieces played from the German classical music.  During the
playing, the physician of the family estate came in, and the
Superintendent of the Forests, both residing on the property.
We conversed together.of the mode adopted by Baron
X. in cultivating his estate. It appears that he has put the
cultivation, as much as possible, in the hands of his tenants,
not attempting himself much of the labor of agriculture.
" You must klnow," said one of the young gentlemen, speaking in German, "the Baron has given up for ever his jus
patrozatim-that is, the peasants can choose their own clergyman now.  Before, he was the patron, and had the sole
power.  You saw the church and school, as you entered the
avenue.  He built both; but he thinks it better for the peasants to have this right of election, and thus far we have
had no trouble.  Leider! (alas!) it is not always so!"
I asked about the transmission of the estate. " S- y
is a fidei commiiss," he replied; "but that you may not
understand.  You have a word-jadas ist-es-priinogeniture-the oldest son must have it all, and so keep the
property together."  I asked, if he was obliged to support
the other brothers and sisters. They answered that he was
not; but still the usual custom required that he should give
assistance to the poorer members of the family, and beside,
the father commonly bequeathed his personal property to
the other children.  The law gives a peculiar authority and
privilege to the eldest son; and it struck me often that the
son assumes something of a paternal or authoritative relation to his brothers and sisters. These gentlemen talking




310           THE  N oRs-Fo L K.
with me were all noblemen, but their views Wi the Constitution I found more liberal than those of the peasants.  They
were in favor of widening the suffrage, and of lessening the
privileges of the elder branches of the noble families. "We
find it absurd, Herr B.," said even the young heir himself
of this estate, "that the caput familice (the eldest son)
should alone have the right of sitting in the Riks staind.
He may be a stupid dolt, or he may not have the leisure,
and tnen he must give or sell his seat.
"Many of us are in favor of doing away with the whole
cursed system  of the Four Houses, and having a simple
Parliament of Two Houses.  It takes an age for any liberal
bill to get through. The parsons like one thing, and the
Bonders another, and the citizens and nobles are against
them both perhaps. The conservatives with us are the peasants and the clergy.  Those parsons lead the Bonders by
the nose.  We might have had good railroads and schools
years ago, if it had not been for the verfluchte (cursed) stupidity of those Bauer!  Sacra-ment! it makes one groan I"
I mentioned the instance of Capt. B., who owned a fine
estate, and yet had no vote.
" fa wohl! —there it is! Such a wretched arrangement!
The men of property and intelligence shut out, and the
clod-breakers voting! There ought to be a law admitting
all to suffrage, in some one class, who own land. It is just
as stupid in the cities.  There is Doctor S. and Prof. N.,
you know them-they cannot vote, because they are not
Biirgers (citizens or members of a guild).  Bien!-it is a
slow world here 1"




Q u r E, Tr.                 311
"Pardon, Messieurs! Souper!" said Lady X., taking my
arm, as the servant opened the doors. The customs here
were much the same as in other classes, except that the
meal was simpler.  Bread and butter, glasses of milk and
pan-cakes, were the whole, we helping ourselves generally,
without aid from the servants. Every body was in high
spirits, and much fun was going on.
The most remarkable thing to an American was, the evident contrast between the ladies of the party and the ladies
one meets generally in the middle classes. A certain expectation or graceful habit of receiving little attentions, as if
their position to the other sex were long secured; and a
style of information and conversation, even if not indicating
talent, yet showing an habituation to world-subjects —these
were the distinguishing qualities, and which at once brought
me back to our intelligent American society.  This contrast
in Swedish society, is by no means so apparent between the
men; indeed, the gentlemen of the middle classes are superior to any in the kingdom in thorough education, and quite
equal in refined habits.  I was impressed here with the influence of quiet.  This gem of a home, placed in the midst of
forests and mountains, containing in itself the influences
which educate and ennoble, had shed a certain light of peace
and repose on its inmates. There was no vulgar strain
after effect, or restlessness, or hankering for the excitements
of cities, but that species of calmness which arises from long
habituation to nature and to a residence in the same home.
It may have been fancy, but these seemed to me the excellinug traits over our American homes.  Afterwards, in a




312     r     l  -is i   N   () ILSE-OL R,
walk in the park with one of the ladies, I spoke of this, and
asked what they did in the winter; whether they ever found
it dull.  " No never," she said.  "We ride in sidda-what
call you it?-sleighs, and we have little dance amid the
neighbors-you know there are some neighbors, and we read
and talk much, and sew, and have musique every evening.
Then we do go sometime to Stockholm, but I am fatigued of
it. There we dance every night, and go to Court, and to
suppers and balls, and I am glad when it is over. We go
not again soon."
"Yes: you have reason. There is nothing like the old
home. I know every old tree here, and the lake there, and
the walks, ever since I can remember I was here; and there
are the same peoples, the servants and gardeners, and my
dog and my pony. are almost so old as I. Yes-I do hope I
will never leave it!"
The hours for retiring seem very early in Sweden, at
least in country-houses; we have supper usually at eight,
and bid good night at nine. Then with breakfast at halfpast eight or nine, there is a long night for all. These sufficient rests in their chambers must add much to this effect
of repose on the character. My fancy impressed this all
abundantly on me, and the long calm line of historic faces
which looked on me in the neighboring chamber, as I entered
mine, did not lessen it.  They seemed to say, " No vulgar
activities, no modern restlessnesses here! They do not enter.
Be calm! You are in the shadow of the Past!"
And in the stillness of the night, sunk in the comfortable




THE WA T  H-SO N G.                             313
bed, the musical voice of the night-watchman, who patrols
the estate, seemed to strengthen the security.
6" Gud bevare v'rt
Hus och land
Fran eld och brand!
Klockan elfva slagenl"
"God keep
Both house and land
From ill and brand I
Eleven o'clock
Is striking I"
14




CHAPTER XXVI.
THE MANORS OF SWEDEN.
THERE is something impressive in all the northern nations,
in their respectful salutations morning and evening; the
"Good night!? " May you sleep well!" or " Good morning 1" and the almost anxious inquiries, " Have you slept
well?: —forms which every one makes a religious duty to
observe.  The " God bless you i" when you sneeze, is a part
of the same.  This is a healthy race and it makes much of
the body: these formalities come from times when there
was truly a terror by night, and to see the morning safely
was something for gratitude. Then, as Emerson says, each
one comes to the others every morning, as a "new stranger
from a distant clime:" that is, without straining the impulse,
there is an element of genuine Courtesy in these trivialities
-a coming out of one's personality to recognize the personality of another.  And it is just such petty habits that tend
to cultivate one part of politeness; they aim to guard and to
respect personality.  The higher part —of self-sacrifice,these are merely a path towards.
Our breakfast again was a cheerful, pleasant meal —very
much like an English breakfast, with tea, coffee and cold
314




A  COUNTRY  SQUIRE.                  315
meats; our hostess showing us the same peculiarly kind
courtesy as before.  Liveried servants were in waiting.
Afterwards we walked out in the park, which was a picturesque grove of old trees, with a lake, but not well kept.
The whole estate consists of about 20,000 Tunland (about
15,000 acres) much of it in forest.
V    -— o.
My hostess kindly forwarded me in her own travelling
carriage to her neighbor, Herr T., to whom I had letters.
His position, again, is peculiar to such a country as Sweden.
A large proprietor, on an estate which he and his fathers
have occupied for generations-a gentleman, much travelled,
speaking many languages, yet an alien still in political
rights. The property was a beautiful one, much more so
than those of the nobility; placed on the banks of a large
lake, with groves on each side, and terraces of beautiful
flowers and shrubbery running down to the water's edge.
It is wonderful how the dahlias grow here-such pure rich
colors I never saw on them in America.
The approach to the house was through a fine avenue of
beeches and oaks. The house was in the usual style-of
two stories, with a great number of rooms, opening into
each other on the ground floor. The furniture, very rich,
with a few paintings-no carpets, and the flooring, parquette.
The windows had a beautiful outlook over the lake.
Herr T. showed me over the property. In one part was
a school which he had founded, as the other proprietors have
done. The peasants' houses seemed very comfortable —bet



316            T H E  N ORSE-Fo L K.
ter than those in Dalecarlia.  T. says that the people are
now in process of transition from Bauter to gentlemen, and
they feel very self-important.
In the garden, I noticed an old scraggy oak, much decayed,
and said something of it
"Ach!" said he in German,  "there is a story about that.
It is a habitation-tree.*  I can't get it cut down!"
"So!, How do you mean?'
"There has been a long time a superstition about that
tree among the Bauer, that whoever should cut it down or
injure it, should certainly suffer harm-I suppose from  the
Troll or fairies.  When I came into the property, after my
father's death, I ordered the three to be cut down, as it is in
the way of my garden, and looks, as you see, rather unsightly.
But no one would do it.  I tried one and another, and at
last a young Bauer attempted it.  He worked awhile one
day, and the next day fell sick.  I induced another, and
after a little, he became ill and finally died.  The rumor
was spread through the whole country, and I was much
blamed by the Bonders-so that finally I gave it up —and
there you see the tree! The Bauer find the fairy-ringst
now on the grass often!"
* The habitation-tree (botrhd), in the heathen times of Scandinavia, was thought to be inhabited by a certain elf, who would protect
it and reward those who took care of it..~ Luxuriant grass made by the dancing of the elves-the cynosurus
cceruleus. Hear Olaus Magnus on this:
"or THE NIGHT DANCES OF THIE FAIRIES AND GHOSTS.
" Also travellers in the night, and stch as watch their flocks and




CASTE.                          317
I told him I wished we had such tree-fairies in America.
They would find most humble worshippers there.
*   *  *  *  I made some inquiries and remarks about
his political position.  "Yes, that is true," he said.  "In
that sense, I am  not a citizen.  The Bauer, whose cabins
you saw, can vote, but I cannot. You know why. I am
not of noble birth —at least Swedish, and I am not a Bauer.
It makes little difference to me, though.  I have my own
affairs, and do not care for politics."
" Why not be a Bauer?" I said.
" Gott bewahr!  No; it would be disagreeable to them
and to me."  I wondered the country had not demanded a
change.  " Ja! wir sitnd langsanz!. We  are slow-slow,
here!  It must be changed, though, before many years."
In the evening, I was presented to the ladies. The curherds are wont to be compassed about with many strange apparitions
As King Hotherus (so Saxo reports) following three nymphs to their
caves, obtained a girdle of victory from them: yet sometimes they
make so great and deep ilnpression into the earth, that the place they
are used to, being only burnt round with extream heatj no grass will
grow up there. The inhabitants call this night-sport of these monsters, the dance of falyries; of which they hold this opinion, that the
souls of those men that give themselves to corporeal pleasures and
make themselves, as it were, slaves unto them, and obey the force of
their lusts, violating the laws of God and men, when they are out of
their bodies, and wander about the earth. In the number whereof
they thinik those men to be, who even in these our days, are wont to
come to help them, to labour in the night, and to dress horses and
cattle; as I shall show hereafter in this very book, concerning the
nlinistry of the devils."




318           THE  NO R S E-FoLK.
rent language was French-as is usual, a French gouvernante residing in the family, though there were no children.
In inquiring about the pastors, and their relation to the
people, I found the same feeling which seems almost universal through the middle and upper classes-of utter distrust and dissatisfaction towards their religious teachers.
They spoke highly of a gentleman (Captain HI.), who had
been building a little Chapel for his workmen, and laboring
among the Ldsar-ne.  "He may be a fanatic, but he is
sincere, Monsieur I But these men-they have no belief I
It is an affair of the pocket. Look at Doctor S., at N.
He is known for an Infidel, and says openly, the Bible is
a myth, but still preaches and gets his tithes. Our pastor
here, is nothing but a very genial gentleman. He has his
12,000 riks ($3,000) a year, and that is all he cares about.
He knows no more of the spiritual matters of his people, than
if he were a thousand miles away. There is a droll story
between him and the peasants lately-they bear him little
love, you understand.  He demanded of the Sockeen-siimnzna
double windows for winter, in his parsonage. They refused
to supply them. He argued and threatened, and at last
had to get them himself-at the same -time saying, that
when he went away, he should take them with him. They
replied, that there would be no need; for when he Pwent,
he would go where there would be no necessity for double
windows!-implying they should never get rid of him till
he went to a rather warm place!"
*  *  *  *  I was installed at night in a very comfortable guest-house, and the next morning was driven over




CASTLE S.                     319
by the gentleman himself, with a handsome pair of horses,
to Count B. of S. Castle. We stopped on our way to see
a clergyman, to whom I had a letter —Dr. X. He speaks
English perfectly-a most jovial, sociable gentleman. He
is said to be very old, but springs about like a young manattributes it all to his " never having had any regular
habits!"-called his vicar "the old man," though he is
ten years younger than himself. He took us to his Church,
one of the famous churches of Vingaker, having an assembly often of three thousand people. There was a catechisation going on of school-children, in the vestry-room —
the same dull, mechanical teaching of so-called " Religion,"
which one finds everywhere in Sweden. Dr. X. is something of a scholar, and is still engaged in literary works;
he gave me a new derivation of " Viking."
*:*      *       *      *       *
Castle S. is famous through Sweden, and I only intended visiting it, as one of the public sights, as I had
no letter to the Count and I thought my friend would not
be on such terms with him, as to introduce me familiarly.
But to my surprise instead of delivering us up to a servant, the Countess herself, with the most simple and sweet
courtesy, showed us slowly through the apartments where
the pictures were. A most choice collection, gems of art
and historic association. Rembrandt, Claude, Lely, Domenichino, Guido, Correggio, Salvator Rosa, with fresh modern
works from Swedish* artists. The common drawing-rooms
and saloons for the family were set with these beautiful
adornments —works whose feeling and beauty must grow




320           THE  NORsE-Fo L K.
in impression on one, as do glimpses at home of exquisite
aspects of nature, seen day by day. Each room had a
little catalogue of the paintings.  We visited beside the
conservatories and orangery, and finally the great library.
The Countess courteously invited and even pressed us to
dinner, which we declined. The library must be one of
the richest private collections in North Europe. It seems
in bad order just now, though the Count has a scientific
librarian constantly employed. After much searching we
found one of the books I was in quest of-the first Bible
(probably) printed in Sweden, bearing  date "Upsala,
1541." There were some splendid collections of engravings
and travels-the "Voyage to Iceland and Scandinavia,"
in which M. Marmier took part, issued by the French
Government. I think the large editions of Humboldt's
Travels were there, and other works of the kind, which
usually only National Libraries can possess. If any connoisseur in sketches should visit Sweden, he should certainly
inquire for the "Teckningar om Asar'na, by Wahlbomr"
(1834.)  They show great power.
I found a fair representation of American Literatureamong others, Hildreth's History.  I made out, at the
Count's request, a brief list of our best late works in history and politics, for the new additions to his shelves. So
much time was spent over this rare collection, that we
accepted per force the cordial invitation to dine.
I was shown to one of the state bedrooms to dress.
Each room is numbered on the door. The style of furniture
is almost palatial.  The dinner was more like our city din



A Rr OF  DINING.                   321
ners of style, than any I have yet seen. It is the only table
in Sweden where I have observed more than two kinds of
wine. The table was beautifully decorated with flowers and
fruit. Here, as elsewhere, the old Scandinavian custom of
the whisky and bread and butter and cheese first-the
ladies being helped before the gentlemen. Even the children had their slices: though very few took the whisky.
There was no other company present-a family party, with
the teachers, governesses and physician only. Three servants were in waiting.  The lady helped the soup, and the
servants carved the meat, and then a platter with slices,
after the German style, was handed to each person.  This
is certainly the true mode for a dinner-party. It is remarkable how much better all the Europeans understand this art
of eating and dining, than we do.  One is often at home so
bored with questions of, " Is your meat right?" "Will you
have it well done?" " Will you have celery?" etc., etc., that
all conversation is blocked.  You want good eating, but
you want it as it were unconsciously-as a side-dish-an
entreemet to the conversation. The intercourse is the first
thing; all else is subservient to it. Whatever turns away
from free, easy conversation, is a defect in your dinner,
and of course bad cookery or unsavory viands do that.
They distract you, disagree with you and annoy your hostess. First, good nourishing dishes, well cooked-which
means always simply cooked; then easy attendance, like
this Swedish mode, which does not interfere with your talk;
and-assuming, of course, that you have an intelligent company-you have the components of a dinner-party.
14*




322           THn I   1NoR, s v —FoL [R,
There seems to be no toasting in the Swedish parties,
such as I saw in Norway. Indeed, I never saw wine-tables
where so little is drank. The most seem only to sip. Sometimes the host asks to drink with a guest, but the latter is
not obliged, as he was ten years ago, to empty his glass.
At the close, the host fills his glass, looks around, and the
others who choose, fill theirs, and with a bow to him drink
or touch their lips, and rise. The company stand a moment
with folded hands, and then each takes his lady back to the
drawing-room. There the guests bow and shake hands with
the hostess, thanking her for her hospitality.  Coffee is
always served after dinner.
In our conversations, we spoke of the clergy, and I found
the same serious dissatisfaction with them here as everywhere. The Count thought that the support of the clergyman should come from the State, and then he would not be
falling into these eternal bickerings with his people for every
dollar of his stipend. It appears, he is entitled to certain
pro ratai portions of the produce of his parishioners, and
also expects gifts to a large amount; so that, from this
man he claims his one-tenth of corn, from that his one-sixteenth of barley, from another his two chickens or leg of
mutton, or eggs, or flax. Where there is love to the pastor,
these all come in gladly and easily; but where there is not,
he must be continually on the lookout, lest he lose something.  WVhen a poor creature comes, inquiring what he
shall do to be saved, his first thought may be, "You owe
me seven bushels of rye 1" or, " Have you paid in your pro



L  iF E L E S S N E SS  O F H CU R (  RH.  323
portion of mutton yet?" and he must follow up each of these
little perquisites, or he will lose the major part of his salary.
"MIonsieur B.," said the Count, in French, very gravely,
"' il y na n soif dans les ce'rs du peuple-there is a thirst in
the hearts of the people for true Religion, and they cannot
satisfy it with such teachers. The holy office becomes a
means of support only; and the preachers are rendered
covetous and greedy. We need a different mode of collecting their salary, and a different relation between the people
and the pastor." The lady, too, with fewer words, expressed
even deeper discontent at the state of the Church.  I did
not agree with their remedy, but did not discuss it. They
spoke with much appreciation of the gentleman whom I was
hoping soon to visit Captain H.  " He may be a Methodist (Lasare)," said the Count, "but he is a true Christian."
T'he estates of this family contain their tens of thousands
of tenants.  Countess B. had the sense which a true noblewoman should have, of her responsibility for the poor and
ignorant under her control.  I described to her the plan of
our Industrial Schools in New York, and I think she saw
that some such thing was necessary among the poorest peasantry here.
The parting with us was peculiarly graceful and kind.
We drove to the estate of a gentleman to whom I had a
letter, a man who has taken a prominent part in the modern
history of Sweden.




324          THE PNO RS E-FoLK 
COL. A ---— S ESTATh.
It is a quaint old place, on a property which indefatigable
agriculture, under-draining, clearing woods and careful sowing of crops have redeemed from the pine forest and swamp.
The barns, with high peaked gables, were even more conspicuous than the house. This was long and low, and near
it were some fine old trees. We entered an octagonal room
hung full with pictures.
The Colonel was a dignified old gentleman, who received
us with great hospitality-like many of the public men in
this country, a man of various accomplishments.  I have
already visited a number of gentlemen, prominent in political
life, who sketch and draw with talent-some of whose works
are engraved, and command a good price. At Baron V.'s,
I found the whole early history of Sweden, illustrated by
his own hand, and already lithographed; the Sagas, too,
had been represented by him, with great boldness and talent.
Such accomplishments, when one considers what those
meli have done, show a higher style of public men than one
usually finds in America, or even in England.
Col. A. had a prominent part in the Revolution which
overthrew the king, Gustavus IV. Adolphus
The Colonel again had some beautiful works of art-of
great value. It is a wonder how these collections have been
made in Sweden. Except in Vienna or Italy, there can be
few collections more valutble in Europe.




TH    E S TA TE.                 325
My host showed me over his property; the barns were
large and well kept, but with nothing peculiar in the arrangements, except the great furnace under one for drying
the grain.  His crops are mainly wheat, rye, oats and grass,
with large fields of turnips for cattle. In his stables, were
some very fine Normandy horses, pure white, of large heavy
frames. The prices, I think; were not very high for these;
If I understood aright, not more than two hundred and fifty
dollars for a gelding of first quality.  There were some other
horses of English blood.  Each horse had a separate little
enclosure with a lock.
We found again a school and church, built by the landlord, for his tenantry.
I regretted extremely that my limited time kept me from
making the nearer acquaintance of this gentleman.  He impressed me as a true, modest, noble-spirited man, with whom
only to meet, is something to be gratefully remembered.




CHAPTER XXVII,
THE COUNTRY GENTRY.
L-.-At this estate was a school, which I had greatly
desired to visit, and as the proprietor was a remarkably intelligent gentleman, I spent a part of a day there very
agreeably. Capt. I., again, is one of the non-voting proprietors, though very rich, and having a thousand tenants
on his estate. The property is a beautiful one, far better
kept, and with more natural advantages than the estates of
the nobles, near by. The avenue was through rocks and old
oaks.  The houses, built in the usual form, low, and very
neatly painted and begirt with flowers, were on the banks
of a pretty lake; a rich, terraced flower-garden was in front.
The saloons and the furniture seemed very costly and rich,
though but few paintings were on the walls. As I saw in
this case but little of my host's interior arrangements, I
may take the liberty to speak here of the astonishing backwardness of the Swedes in practical conveniences.
There is hardly a house, palace, or cottage in all Sweden,
with a bed-room bell, or a bath-room, or an outside bell, or
speaking-tubes, or dumb-waiters, or any of the little modern
labor-saving contrivances in American houses.  If you go to
a friend's house, you pull about the handle of the doors




H o Us s    E KE EP I TGo           327
stumble in the hall, as hall-lights are equally discardedrap your knuckles sore, and often at last go away, utterly
baffled at arousing any one.  In your own bed-room, you
must often shout out of your window, to call any servant.
If there is a bell in the hall, it communicates usually with
the court-yard, and awakes the whole family and all the dogs
of the neighborhood, if you ring it rashly. It excited great
surprise when I said, that our city-houses in America, and
the best in the country, had now  as a necessity, their one
or two bath-rooms, and hot and cold water in every bedchamber. There are, at the present time, in Sweden, only
four,;oossibly five cities which burn gas-Gottenburg,
Stockholm, Orebro, Norrkoping, and I thiifk Lund. Hardly
one has good side-walks, and a day spent on foot in the
streets is really torturing.  The principal conveniences, as
compared with those in American houses, are in the warming apparatus, which consists universally of a large brick
stove, prettily covered with white porcelain.  This, with
little fuel, gives out a mild, equable heat when closed for the
whole day, or open makes a cheerful fire, like the oldfashioned fire-side; and however used, produces an infinitely
better atmosphere than our furnaces, with their blasts of
fiery air, destructive to brain and lungs.
There is also in the Swedish kitchens, a kind of roof over
the range or stove, such as I have described in Norway,
which carries off the odors and fume, so that one is not at
once, on entering a friend's house, saluted with the exact
components of the dinner, as in some of our houses at home.
Our host, Capt. U., walked about with me over his estate.




328           THE  NORS E-FOLK.
He has an extensive farm, with the usual crops.  The barns
were very large, with some fine cattle in the stables. Hearing me express an interest in the different costumes of the
peasants, he said to one of his workmen, who was in the
cattle-yard-" Hey! Gustav, bring up three or four Bonders
in wedding-dresses, to-morrow morning to the Hall, at seven
o'clock.  An American gentleman wants to see them!"
The man looked puzzled, but took off his hat and said he
would.  We walked on to the park; on the way, a peasant
was about to drive from a cross-road over our path. It
would just have been quite as convenient for us to wait for
him, but my companion shouted sternly, "Thou! —hey I
Stop there!" —and the man stopped submissively, though
sulkily. We were evidently not in Dalecarlia.  " You have
no idea, Herr B., of the Dminmhzeit (stupidity) of these boors"
said the Captain, in. German.  "I have tried to do something for their education, and I think I succeed, but it is
slow work."
"Are there many free-holders among them, Captain?" I
asked.  " No," said he, "the most belong to the land, and
pay their rent in labor or in produce."
"You do not mean that they are serfs," said I.
"Ach nein!" he answered, " there are no Leibeigene kserfs)
in Sweden-but these men, or rather their fathers, have, as
it were, bought their lands on a perpetual rent.  They are
owners, as long as they pay their yearly Abgabe (tax), but
if they fail to do that, the land falls back to me. I have
some Frdilse (regular tenants) beside, who have, hired their
land of me, and pay annual rents."




CLASSES  OF  PEASANT8.                 329
BONDERS.
It will be in place here, to mention distinctly the different
classes of peasants or Bonders. It should be remembered
that, as in Norway, there was strictly no feudal system in
Sweden. At the end of the tenth century, Sweden appeared
like a union of various confederations of freehold peasants
under a nominal king at Upsala. The first confederation
being of a hundred families or haerads; then of several
haerads, making up lands or provinces; and finally of the
provinces or nations to form a kingdom. The first Bonders
were all owners of the soil, with certain obligations to the
king: but gradually some of the weaker began to come
under the power of the stronger, and free-holders became
tenants.  Then the large estates of the leaders and nobles
were let out on a long lease to their followers; or the property of the crown was farmed by peasants who had been
faithful to the king; so that at length, three very distinct
classes of Bonders began to show themselves, along with
smaller subdivisions.
First, The Skatte or free-holders, owners of their lands.
Second, The  rialse Skatte, or Bonders who have bought
their properties of the owners, but who pay for them in an
annual tax-holding them under a kind of perpetual lease.
Third, Friilse, or mere tenants, who pay for their farms
annual rent of labor, produce, or money.
There are, besides, Torpare, or Bonders, who rent small
pieces of land from other Bonders, and pay by labor; and




330           THE  NORSE-FO LK. 
there were formerly llferii-Bonders, who were bound by
law to give so much labor to the estate, and who were
exposed to much cruelty.
I asked the captain, in our conversation, if it was not
generally true that the tenant-Bonders were much inferior
to those who owned their properties. He thought that
they were.  "The tendency among the Bonders everywhere
now, is to own their farms. In many cases, large properties
of the nobility have been bought up by the peasants. And
as no new fidei commiss' (entailed properties) can be formed
since the law of 1810, the large estates dwindle away. We
do not find the small properties owned by the cultivators so
good for the great improvements in agriculture," he added,
" but they certainly make a better class of people-such as
those you saw in Dalecarlia."
I asked how the nobility bore these encroachments of the
peasants.
"It is something disagreeable," he answered, "but they
can not help it. There is Baron P, —a gentleman I know,
whose whole property of some thousands of acres is being
bought up by the Bonders-and what is more, they get
Friile ilemrnzca by this (i. e., estates freed from the old military taxes). You know, since 1809, any one, noble or not,
can own such tax-free properties, if he can buy them. So
you see, we are equalizing; but I am sorry to say, these
Bonders become cursed aristocrats, and without the Bildung'
(culture) of the nobles. But here we are in the park!"
Our walk had brought us to a stately grove, of consider



A  NEW   ScaHoOL.                 331
able extent, laid out on the banks of the lake, with walks,
and arbors and boat-houses.
We spoke of his school for the peasants.  "The truth is
Herr B.," he said, "I was driven into that school by the
stupidity of the clergy. We had too much catechism in the
schools!"7
I told him, my own observations confirmed what he said.
Everywhere I found a mechanical drilling in the words of
theology and certain dry facts of Biblical or Jewish history
-and this was dignified with the name of " teaching
religion," though it evidently had no more connection with
religion than with topography. Religion was never taught
in such memorizing, technical lessons-and indeed, I believed
even the immortal freshness of those divine narratives might
be dulled and begrimed to a child's mind, who was forever
conning and repeating them, as laborious parts of a school
exercise.'"I have opened a stchool," he said, "where some practical lessons shall take the place of a part of this learning
and repeating the Catechism. I felt that for the Bonder's
child, one of the first things is to have some good means
of support for the future.  I have introduced, accordingly,
trades; cabinet-making, carpentry, and such things, and
have them regularly taught. You shall seesome of the specimens, presently.  The children do them wonderfully well."
" Do you not meet with much opposition from the clergy?"
I asked.
He replied that he did.; some cried "Infidel!" still he
was determined to carry the thing through.  If the people




332           T   F  N o I S E - F    L K.
were ever to be enlightened, the schools must be a little
more in harmony with the times. The priests seemed to
think nothing was for a moment to be compared in importance with their catechisations.
I told him, that we in America believed the main religious
instruction must be given in the family, or in Sunday
Schools, and not in day-schools. We spoke then of books.
I said that I thought one of the worst indications of the
intelligence of the Bonders, and the greatest obstacle to
their improvement, was the want of books among them.
I had been in many Bonders' cottages, and had sca-cely ever
seen any book but the Bible, or occasionally a volume of
sermons, and the people seemed to have very little taste
for reading. I had thought of one plan, to publish a weekly
edition, for instance, of the Aftonbldidet of Stockholm, which
should have well-arranged information, and should be sold
cheap, and try to scatter it among the great masses of the
peasantry.
"You have touched precisely on what I have been so
long laboring at 1" he answered.  " Ach! it is hard to cause
these people to read I I have bought the'people's books'
which we publish in this country, but they cannot read
them I They are too high above them!  Then I tried
histories, and I found that some, especially about Swedish
battles, they would read, but not many. Then I got this'Reading Magazine for the People,' which you will see
in my office. That they sometimes can understand."
" Will they not read Miss Bremer?"
6 No. She is not easy enough. Your English books




LIBRARIE S FOR  PEOPLE.                 333
are much better suited for us, if they were only translated.
Something strong or imaginative, but very simple, would
be the thing."
" Are there not authors who write for the people?"
" Jo! (yes,) but they fly too high. You know that
gentlemen instructed in Education are trying in Stockholm
to get up such books, and they have a plan to collect
libraries there, which they will distribute in the various
parishes needing them. Gott sei Dank I! that something is
being attempted. And the armen Eerle (poor fellows) are
truly eager to read good books. I have opened a library
here, and all the simple practical books, travels and such
like are continually taken out. Your plan is a good one
about the weekly paper, if it could be once well-started;
still it must have pictures. But here we are at the house I
I will send for the models our boys have made."
After a short time, the servants brought up some baskets,
with wooden models of ploughs and harrows, etc., and
with little horse-shoes and basket-work, which they had
manufactured. This industrial feature in the common school,
he said, was quite new in Sweden.
In the house, afterwards, we met a very lively partythe family-tutor, and some ladies, with a few gentlemen
from the neighborhood.
There was some talk about driving me over the next day
to a nobleman's residence, to whom I had letters of introduction. My host was engaged, and the question was whether some of the others would go. They were unwilling,
and it was finally arranged that I should go by myself.




334           THE  No r s E: - F o L.
" Frankly we must tell you," said one of the gentlemen to
me, " we have nothing to do with Count W. We are independent men, and we will never associate where we are
looked upon as inferior.  He is a great Lord, and we are
nothing; but we have our own place and we are content
with it, and we will not invade his, nor he ours." * * *
It is an incredibly agreeable thing to an American in
Europe, that he can utterly ignore the distinctions of
society. If he has education and the refinement of gentlemen, there is nothing to prevent his associating on an equality with princes; and at the same time, he may have social
chats at peasants' firesides and count any worthy man of
any class his friend. IIe has no fixed position; no title to
herald him (if he be not by wonderful chance Colonel or
Major-General); no weight of aristocracy above him, or
immeasurable distance below him. If he be a gentleman
and make no claims, passing himself simply for what he is,
he will be so received by all classes and his position in
European society will be the most sensible and agreeable
than can be imagined in this conventional age.
~        *       *        *        *        *        *
I was curious to know whether these gentlemen felt the
anomaly of their Constitution, which prevented them from
voting. They spoke of its absurdity and injustice, but I
think they cared very little for the loss.
I found them much interested in our tremendous struggle
in America. They could not doubt of the victory of the
Free Party. " Your country marches on, sir," said one, "it
must finally free itself from this disgrace and clog. But it




M.&RRIA GE-DRESS.                   335
is a fearful question. We are watching you."  Much more
was said, showing the intense sympathy and anxiety with
which the Europeans regard our struggles.
Our conversation lasted till a late hour, when I was
shown to the guest-house, where a bright fire was lit in my
room, though it was only the beginning of September.  In
the morning, the servant who brought my coffee, announced
that the "Bonders had come."  I hastened out to the other
house, and there, in one of the drawing-rooms, the four
peasants in wedding costume were standing sheepishly to be
looked at. The costume was highly-colored and picturesque, with many peculiarities borrowed from the modern
Greeks, our host said.  The women had red and white
head-dresses, reddish bodices with white skirts and halfmantles; the men, white coats with embroidery and gilt
upon them, belts about their waists, and, I think, leather
trowsers, ornamented.
What struck me more than the dress, was the evident
position or relation of these people. They were Bonders,
but a very different class from the Bonders of the North.
No reward could have made a Dalkarl exhibit himself and
his wife thus at the word of command. But this gentleman had "bestalt en Bondquintna " (ordered a peasant) at
a certain hour, as we would a horse. The difference lies
mainly in the different effects of freehold property and
tenant property on a poor class.




CHAPTER XXVIII.
6REBRO, AND A MODEL FARM.
I SPENT but a short time at Orebro; the inn being the
worst I had found in Sweden. My room was a kind of
ante-room to another chamber, where slept two travellers,
and was also peculiarly frequented by fleas.
The new parts of the town have a pleasant appearance,
and have been built since a fire a few years ago, which
destroyed about one third of the place. The Parliament
loaned the corporation 215,000 riks dollars to assist in
rebuilding the city.  It is a town of some manufacturing
importance, containing twenty factories. A telegraph connects it with Stockholm, and a small railroad is being built
between it and Hult.  Population in 1850, 5,177.
From  this point, I set out to reach the place of Captain H., of whom I had heard so frequently, both for his
skillful agriculture and his enthusiastic labors among the
peasantry.
To reach his estate, I had a slight experience of Swedish
means of communication.  In 65rebro, no travelling vehicle
was to be hired or borrowed, though it is a town of some
five thousand inhabitants, so I was seated in a little spring886




MAIoDEL, FA RM.                  33'7
less cartl-like the rag and bone carts of New York-and
with a little post-boy by my side, began the journey.
The road was a much travelled highway, but no public
vehicles ever cross it-indeed I believe there are but two
or three lines of stage coaches in Sweden —and with delays
for horses, we were six hours accomplishing the eighteen miles
The entrance to the property was through a pine wood,
little improved by art, but forming for nearly a mile a very
picturesque approach.  The house was on a little knoll, hidden by trees, and we wound through a handsome avenue of
beeches, passing a grass-grown ruined gable (the remains
of a monastery) before we reached it. It was a plain,
sensible building, of two stories neatly painted, with a
Rower plot between it and " the guest-house " on the other
side of the usual square. The barns and out-houses were
concealed (contrary to the usual custom) from the buildings,
by shrubbery. The view from one side of the square, was
of an English landscape-a lawn, another avenue of trees,
a building among the trees, and below without separation
by fence or hedge, beautifully-rolling grain-fields as far as
the eye reaclled.
This farm had, like those in Norway, the picturesque
little bell-tower on one of the buildings; a thing which
should be imitated by our American farmers of taste.
The host met me with great cordiality, on learning my objects. I found him a cultivated gentleman, speaking several
languages. After some conversation on his peculiar efforts
for the peasantry, he took me over the farm. It is a truly
model farm, such as is hardly to be seen elsewherbe  in
15




338           THjy  NorsE-FoL.K.
Sweden.  It covers about 2,300 acres-much of it, when
the present owner took it, marsh-land and uncultivated.
Now he has it thorough-drained, by tile and stone-drains.
One hundred and ninety acres are in wheat, thick, full
grain, of a quality which last year gave Captain H. a first
prize in the Paris exhibition. The yield, if our reckonings
of Swedish and English measures were correct, was about
thirty-two bushels per acre, weighing sixty-four and a half
pounds per bushel. There were other immense fields of
turnips of the best quality, and of oats, clover and grass.
All were bounded by ditches,-hedges, as he explained,
collecting the snow and killing the neighboring plants in the
spring.  For a similar reason he had adopted the English
division of "lands "-now  I believe beginning to be abandoned in the Scotch farming —in order to drain the snowwater from the sarface. IHe took me to see his new Enwglish drilling machine (Garrett's), worked with a pair of
horses by three men. In another part of the field, Scotch
harrows of a new construction were at work, and in still
another, the best Scotch plows. A number of women were
also employed in breaking clods. In the barns was a large
threshing machine, driven by four pairs of oxen, with connecting pulleys for even draught  Scotch winnowing machines and horse-rakes were also employed. Reaping machines he greatly needs, but the difficulty thus far has been
that the wheat is often so much laid and tangled under
the rains that no machines he has seen are fully adapted
for it. There is no country where quick reaping is so important as in Sweden, for the weather is very uncertain, and




THE  CATTLE.                    339
the summer short. (We have frosts now every night, though
August has a week yet to run.) In his barns, he pointed
out as an experiment, which was quite strange in Sweden
-the use of shingles instead of thatch or slates on the roof!
The stables were built on the latest approved plan, with
drains for urine, stone troughs for water, and apertures from
the hay-loft above, and a little contrivance of his own, to
keep the cattle from drawing their food under their feet.
There were stalls for 100 cows. These were feeding between
two fields of oats, with nothing to keep them from the crops
but a cowherd with a little white, snarly dog.  Capt. -H.
assured me, that this dog could drive the hundred cows in a
lane not ten feet broad, right through grain fields, without
their doing the least injury.  It was certainly the most
beautiful herd of cattle I ever saw-all Ayrshire cows of the
first quality, not very large, but so tight-skinned, smallheaded, with straight back, muscular fore-quarters and full
dew-laps. Many were mottled with white.
Twenty are owned by the government; which intrusts them
to this gentleman for the sake of improving the breed in
Sweden. All he is obliged to pay as rent is the price of one
bull-calf a year. Two-year old heifers he sells for about
$111; bulls for $200. The butter and cheese he sells in
Stockholm.
In the horse-stables we saw some noble white Normandy
horses, the same breed which the old knights favored, and
which Wouvermann so often paints-a ponderous, strong
breed, and with them a few Norwegian horses.
The wages of his laborers he thinks now high, in propor



340           Tu     E NoRs-FOLK.
tion to the cost of living; yet he pays only an average of
16 cents a day, and food. It was formerly 12 cents. His
cowherd-a very valuable man-gets $25 a year and board.
The whole number of men employed is between 80 and 90.
Several of his workmen are soldiers-(he himself was an
officer,) and he related to me many interesting facts of these
men, which I will mention afterwards, in connection with his
more important works. The grooms in his stables were also
some of them old cavalry soldiers.
He considers his experiment in " high farming " thoroughly
successful. The peasants laughed at it at first, but they
are glad now to imitate it where they can. His property,
which he bought for about $25,000, he holds now worth at
$100,000.  I have no doubt, he has given an impetus to the
agricultural improvement of all Sweden. Such men are public
blessings of such a country as this. This gentleman, again,
with all his interests in the country, has no vote and no
share in the political affairs I He does not belong to any
one of the four classes I
His efforts in another direction beside agriculture are
equally remarkable.  He is a gentleman of education and
of fortune, but has had the courage to leave his old associations and to violate public propriety under the impulse of
his conscience. He is a Lasare,* or "Reader," which, to
most Swedish ears, has a sound as horrible as "Socinian,"
or " Shaker," to most American.
* As a sect, the diisare may be said to date back to the middle of
the last century.




"THE  READERS.'                   341
In the beginning of our walk over his fine property, I had
observed a very plain wooden building among the old trees:
so exceedingly bare and simple that I remarked it, and
wondered that he did not break the outline at least, by
some cupola or bell-tower.  "That is my chapel," he
remarked, "and I am obliged to make it as unlike the
churches as possible, in order to avoid any trouble from the
clergy."  Here, every Sunday afternoon, when the church
service was not held, he assembled the country people, simply to hear the Bible read and explained. One old woman
walked thirty-one miles, the men fifty and even sixty miles
to attend this service, where the only exercises besides were
singing and a prayer. He had commenced first with daily
prayers among his house-people and workmen, who numbered about sixty, then went on to Sunday services, and
now every Sabbath afternoon for two or three hours, nearly
a thousand of the poor peasants were present, listening most
eagerly. As I went around among his fields, he pointed me
out one and another, whom he thought greatly changed in
life since this began.  "You see that tall man there,
driving the machine-he is a soldier-I knew him when I
was in the army-a violent, cursing fellow. Hie is so different now-I really believe the truth has taken root in his
heart.
"There's another-the man hoeing.  He was greatly
given to brandy and other vices. He came of his own
accord to the'reading,' and one day I took occasion to
speak of the sin of taking the communion-supper in the
church, merely because of the law, when the heart was full




342          TilE  NoRSE-FOLK.
of evil. The Spirit seemed to bring it home to this man,
and he was deeply affected, and now he is known as an
outwardly good man. I believe he has the true Life in
him."
I asked Capt. H. how he was induced to begin this. It
is not proper to state all the causes which led him to these
works, but the principal were those which, in every country,
cause the human heart to feel the deep things of life-private sorrows. IHe was besides staggered and discouraged,
as a master of a household, by the general licentiousness of
his servants and of the country peasantry. The usual
moral motives and influences seemed mere straws against
the currents of passion and habit. The Church did nothing.
His pastor was a very kind, jovial country gentleman. But
with ten thousand riks dollars a year, a good farm, and
placed for life, how was it to be expected he should make
himself uncomfortable, with such questions from poor lustbeset peasants, as, "What shall I do to be saved?" or,
"Who will deliver me from the body of this death?"
Probably, kind man I he gave the fellow a glass of beer,
and told him to come and repeat the catechism at the next
church-examination.
The Captain's earnestness, and an impression with the
peasants that he really believes what he says, has probably
taken the place of much theological training.  However
that be, they come, and from great distances, to the unpretending service, and he thinks they show good practical
effects.
The whole thing has made a great sensation in the coun




R rEM () N S T R A N C E.          343
try. The clergy oppose it bitterly. It is opening the floodgates to dissent. Substantial squires laugh at a gentleman's
turning Methodist!-and building his own chapel.  The
bishop has visited him and investigated the matter; he fears
that it may be illegal, and that Captain H. may expose himself to prosecutions. The Captain replies respectfully that
he is simply instructing his own workmen in religious truths,
at hours when they were usually carousing, and that if
others choose to come, he cannot conscientiously prevent
them.  He does not propose to break off from the State
Church, but only to fill out its instructions in this plain way.
"Then," says the Bishop, "you should be ordained as a
clergyman." But the Captain does not at all feel himself
adapted or educated for that; so at length the Bishop
retires, very courteously discomfited. Captain HI. has also
had a conversation with the Ministry of Public Worship at
Stockholm. These gentlemen are obliged to allow that, as
yet, he is not going beyond the pale of the laws-so for
the present, Lasarne will not be broken up. In addition
to the chapel, Mr. H. has a school on his estate, as is the
custom with the large landed proprietors.
My visit at this hospitable home was delightful.  One
takes away from such places a purer and better atmosphere.
A few words with any man who really holds himself in the
presence of the Unseen, and lives for it, is the best sermon.
To my own mind, there is something unnatural in this specifying and cataloguing the events of the soul's life, even as in
the outward life, as my friend did in his conversation.  It
is dangerous besides —yet here, where for a time the soul




344           THE  N O Rs  E-FoLK.
was more a reality than the body, and people were aroused
by mighty truths before hidden, one could pardon and ap)reciate it.
Captain H.'s enterprise, humble as it is, is another of those
grand evidences which meet one continually in Europe, of
the irrepressible demand of the human soul for religion. Rich
priestly garments do not satisfy; catechisings, liturgies,
communion-suppers are not enough; jovial clergymen, hospitable parsonages, a recognition of the Church in every act
of civil life, do not meet the soul's hunger.  Moral essays
and the "Ten Commandments" learnt to a satiety, and
catechisms oft-repeated, are not sufficient to restrain the
surging lusts and passions of the heart.  But at length, a
man without surplice or cassock, with no help of organ or
paintings or architecture, opens the old unworn story of the
Rledeemer and under the light of great truths, talks quietly
and earnestly.  It is all real to him.  He has proved it in
the storms and when the floods of great waters were on
him, and the people believe; they flock to him; old habits
are changed: Love beams where Selfishness was; the great
truth that man is to look out of himself, and so cease to
count his petty virtues, and to love and depend on the
higher One-the REDEEMER, works on the soul as it has
done in every age, and of itself spreads the very air of purity
and morality in the foul heart, where before every effort at
self-redemption had been in vain.  This is the despised
Laseri at present in Sweden.




CHAPTER XXIX.
AN OLD CASTLE.
THE next morning I was forwarded to Count X.'s
estate, in my friend's carriage, the horses being supplied
at the post-stations.  The entrance of the property was
through an old stiff avenue of beeches, perfectly straight,
leading to the front of the castle.  It is remarkable
how poorly placed and ill-kept are many of the estates
of the highest nobility in Sweden. The rich middle-classes
seem usually to possess more tasteful properties.  Here, we
came first upon the barns, brick buildings with high pointed
gables, not at all screened; then to a mill, built upon what
was the old moat probably, now a rather unseemly weedgrown stream. There was nothing of that nicety of care,
one sees in such places in England; but the broad, carefully
ploughed fields on each side, and the herds of Ayrshire and
Durham cattle on the meadows, showed the owner an agriculturist, perhaps more occupied in that direction at present
than in beautifying.
September.-I am in a comfortable old bed-chamber
on the ground-floor, looking out on the court, which is
1                         4'  54~




346           THE   N RsE-F o L K.
enclosed by two brick wings with little Gothic turrets. An
ancient clock is in the centre, and the date says 1642-probably the date of the restoration of the building.  Riy
room opens into a huge dining-room, not now used apparently, and lined with old portraits. There is a heap of
new books in their paper wrappers, unopened, on one of the
side-boards, just as they have been sent from the agents and
publishers. A servant in livery in the hall, has especial
charge of me and my wants. It is two o'clock, and we are
having the hour to ourselves to dress for dinner.
I have already made the friendly acquaintance of a very
enlightened and generous-minded lady, Countess S., visiting
the castle. She has resided long in Germany, and we have
many subjects in common. High rank with her has not
had the common effect, of contracting the mind and sympathies.  Her album  has the most interesting collection of
historic names and personal memoranda from great men, I
have ever seen. One from Bernadotte struck me:
"Celui qui sert l'humanite et qui la d6fend mdrite le titre
de citoyen du monde."
Bernadotte was an orator always, and something of the
elation of the French Revolution seems to run through all his
sentiments. She says his conversation was one of the most
interesting she ever enjoyed, and when, after dinner, the
ladies were in one circle around the Queen, taking coffee,
they were often really listening to the King, talking to his
circle of gentlemen.  She has in her book, bars of music
from  distinguished composers, sketches from  artists, and
even poetry and music from the present princes. One




THE  SALOONS.                    347
gentle song she treasures, from the young Prince not long
deceased, whom all Sweden yet mourns, the favorite of
the whole line-Prince GUSTAF, second son of the present
king.
I have been kindly shown over the castle by Countess S.
Three large saloons-those most used by the family-were
filled with costly paintings.  Here as so often in the
rich houses of Sweden, I have been surprised at the rare
collections of art. Even the English castles, especially in
the medieval art, are not superior; and only some Austrian
and Italian private collections can be judged finer. Guido,
Rubens, Caracci, Rembrandt, Wouvermann, Poussin, and
numerous others-each of which is a gem. There were
also pretty collections of China.  Plate is not shown, as
it is in England, or perhaps not so richly possessed.
The rooms were usually uncarpeted, with parquet floors:
furniture solid and tasteful, with now and then some antique
oak or walnut piece, quaintly carved. The bedrooms have
very heavy hangings over the beds and at the windowsthe pillows and all being covered with red-drapery. The
charm  of the whole was in the antique grandeur of the
apartments, and the historic air from the portraits.  Each
room had its paintings, and its ancient faces, connecting the
Present with the far-away Past: sweet womanly looks,
cheeks fresh as if copied yesterday, stern and manly countenances, and one or two crowned heads-for the family
numbers these among its ancestors.
In one wing was a very pretty library and study for
the Count. The collection of books was by no means




34-S          T }-i J  NORtsE-FoLK.
equal to those in the other castles and halls I had
visited.
The antiquity and the association with the past seemed
gradually to affect one's mind, and as we passed out of an
old saloon with portraits, into a, sombre bed-room, hung
with ancient paintings and engravings, I listened almost
unsurprised to a story of the lady's about this very room.
She was sleeping there, she said, one night, as she had
often done (though never since, thank God I), her maid
slept in a little tower adjoining, when suddenly, in the
middle of the night, she was awakened by three distinct
raps on the panelling of the chamber. She raised her head,
thinking it was the maid, when she heard them again on
the opposite side, towards the saloon.  She looked there,
and the door was open, and against the light of the windows within this room she saw a  owhite mist drifting in,
which seemed, as it approached her, to assume a gigantic
human form. She tried to shriek, but her throat could
not utter a sound; she gasped, and at length had strength
enough to drop her head on the pillow, when she felt a
cold sensation pass over her neck and shoulder, as if an
icy hand had touched her.  She nearly fainated-but at
length in her exhaustion, slept. The next morning, she
questioned her maid, but the woman had heard nothing;
when she went down to breakfast, she told her experience to
the old Countess A., whose son is the lord of the estate.
This lady turned very pale, but made no reply, and the
subject was never alluded to again between them.  The
next day, she happened to journey away, and when she




G  l s T- ST 0 R I ES.            3.49
returned, she took care never to sleep in that chamber
agin I
I asked her if she had ever spoken about it to others,
or had ever heard any legends, which might account for the
spectre.
She said, she once asked Colonel F., a friend of the
family, if anything had happened to him at P. Castle?  lHe
shrugged his shoulders mysteriously, and said he should
never sleep at P. Castle again I
It appears in olden times, a very wicked woman lived
here, who was thought' by the peasants to have sold herself
to the Evil One; and when she died, a puff of white smoke
was seen to issue from one of the castle windows. This
bed-room was perhaps her room.
I heard another instance lately of these interesting' experiences among intelligent people.
A lady who is descended from the famous family of Oxenstiern, told me that while in her castle at W., she observed
one day the workmen making some repairs in the wails
of one saloon, at the command of her father, and that they
kad placed a valuable painting on the floor. She was fearful some injury might happen to it, and she said to the
workmen that they could hang it on an unoccupied nail
in her chamber. The picture was a portrait of the old
Chancellor Oxenstiern.  On the other side of her chamber,
though she did not then observe it, hung a portrait of
Queen Christina. Now, as is well known, there was between these two during life a most bitter feud, which was
never reconciled. This did not occur to her, however, and




350           THE  NoRSE-FoLK.
she undressed and retired to her bed as usual. In the
night, she was aroused suddenly by a curious rustling; she
listened, and it evidently came from the wall where the
picture hung. She raised her head, and gazed at the old
portrait by the light of the night-lamp, when she heard
distinctly proceeding from it, a deep, hollow groan-then
another-and then a third. She was fearfully alarmed, but
really had not strength to shriek, and her room was at
a distance on one wing of the castle, where she could only
arouse people by an alarm-bell. She thought of arising and
fleeing to her maid, when suddenly again came the sepulchral groans. She could not stir; her voice failed, and
at length she fell back exhausted-to sleep. The next
morning, nothing seemed moved or different in the picture,
"but I assure you, Monsieur B.," said she, "I removed the
portrait at once to another room, and I have never been
troubled with anything of the kind since I But, it was
horrible I"
A servant announced dinner as we were sitting in the
drawing-room, and another opened the doors from the great
hall into the dining-saloon. All stand a moment by the
table, with hands folded; then, with the usual obeisance,
we take our seats. Two or three servants are in waiting.
There is very little formality and no display-a pleasant
family-table-the ladies not in full dress. Some beautiful
dahlias make the principal ornament of the table.  A preparation  of sour milk and a soup is handed first to
each to choose from, then fish, a kind of sturgeon, then




DINNER.                      351
quails, and pancakes, and another dish of meat already
carved.  Only one kind of wine is passed.  The children
sit at the table with their governess; our hostess the
Countess, is a most affectionate, careful mother. The conversation at table is almost entirely in French or Germanthe company, as usual, using the language of the guest,
even for their own intercourse.
The German lady, who has so kindly been my chaperon
thus far, talks to me in under-tone of the society of
Sweden.
" The ladies are shut within their cliques too much," she
says.  "They do not see enough of the world, and one does
not find the spirit of humanity enough among them. To me,
the air is close among them. They speak languages, and they
read, but they have not many thoughts, and it is hard to interest them in anything-still they are sufficiently amiable."
We spoke of the morality of the higher classes. She
thought there had been a great improvement since the accession of Carl Johan (Bernadotte). The old French indifference and sensuality had much passed away, under the
citizen-king and his family.  "Yet there is a great deal of
Leichtsinn (laxity) among the young men. I have seen such
fortunes wasted among them I"
At the close, according to the usual custom, we stand a
moment for silent thanks, and then go carelessly to the drawing-room, where each shakes hands with the hostess, and
thanks her.
Coffee is served up, and we chat and listen to music, until
a walk is proposed. The grounds are singularly poor and




3.52          THE  NORSE-FOLK.
formal for such a property, the main attention evidently
being given to the crops. As is universal with the gentry
there are hot-houses and orangeries and wall-fruits. The
peach and apricot will sometimes ripen here against a wall,
but more generally they are kept under glass. The principal superintendent met us —called " Inspector "-who has
the charge of the place, apparently a very sensible, wellinformed man, and treated very politely, by the ladies.
The tenantry on the estates of Count X., number about ten
thousand.
On returning to the drawing-room at six o'clock, fruit is
served-grapes, peaches and melons.
We are called to supper at eight o'clock. The Countess
makes tea, and we each eat a little bread and butter and
cheese, standing; then sit down, and one or two light dishes
are handed by a servant-pan-cakes and a dish of milk. No
one takes more than one cup of tea.
It should be noted, now that I am cataloguing small
customs, that this is almost the only table in Sweden, where
I have seen salt-spoonq or at dinner, finger-glasses. While
we are eating, the children come around and bid us each
good night, and are taken off by a servant-their little rosy
faces quite melancholy at the cruel word " bed-time."
We sit a little while in the drawing-room after supper, by
thle French lamp, and although the castle is miles from any
post-office or town, the Stockholn papers and letters, and
some telegraph-dispatches are brought in. They read to me
with much interest the American news, and the slavery
question, and Fremont's chances are eagerly discussed.




AR RA NG   M E NT S.             353
Among the despatches, the Countess read one indifferently,
that the young Princes from the Court were to pay them a
visit on the following Saturday. My partings were most
courteous and kindly from the ladies, and it was arranged
that I was to be forwarded to the next post-station in one
of the Count's vehicles, and thence by post-carriage to
N —o




CHAPTER XXX.
NORRKOPING.
As I was waiting for my carriage at the first post-station,
a young gentleman, wrapped up in a pelisse, and just about
to enter his own carriage, which was at the door, said suddenly in English, "You ride till:Norchcepping, sir?"
I answered, Yes: after a few pleasant words, he proposed an exchange —that I should come in with him, and
his maid should go on in the other vehicle and meet us in
the city. I accepted without ceremony, and we were soon
rolling easily off in a most elegant little turn-out, with a
mustachoed coachman in top-boots on the box. My companion was a young nobleman, travelling across the country
some two hundred miles, with his own horses. HIe was a
fair type, I suppose, of the majority of his class-intensely
patriotic, a little bigoted both in politics and religion, not
remarkably cultured, of serious turn, and with a very generous spirit of courtesy and hospitality.
We spoke of the Russian and English war.  "Ah! such
a blunder as was that!" said he.  "We had only to throw
ourselves in and Finland could have been certainly re-taken.
Such a chance to drive those cursed Russians for ever out!
554




A   tRIDE.                    355
But we waited, and we negoced, and it was in fine too late.
It will never come again-such an opportunity.  We all
would have enlisted, to a man. To be sure, we have not
so large an army as the Russians, but every one knows one
Swede is worth of three Russians.  Look at Pultowa 1"
And he hummed fiercely"Ur vigen Moscoviter!
Friskt mod j gossar blg I"
"Out of the way! out of the way! ye Muscovites I"
Up and at them! up and at them! boys of blue!"
This gentleman again was of the younger branch of a
noble family, and shut out from many of the privileges of
nobility; but he informed me that, through the favor of a
relative who did not want to take his seat in the Parliament,
he expected to sit.  "Ah, yes," he said, "our Constitution
needs much rebuilding.  It is the priests who are in the
way. The King is in favor of all rational reforms —he is a
good king-such a king no country ever had; but these
clergy-they are always in fear for the Church."  "Know
you," he added, "that in many province, the paysans are
already buying the property of the nobles, and unless something be done to give all our gentry a share in government,
we shall have nothing but pretes and boors to rule us!"
I found that he had the same feelings about the formalism
of the clergy and Church, which prevail every where.
"We want the Reformation," he said, "as much as they
did in Luther's time.  You know Dr. B., of Stockholmsuch men. never preach the Gospel. It is not the doctrine




3536          T R    N o  s E -F  L.
of grace and faith, but only works, works I How they hunt
Capt. H., where you were, merely because he is a truer Protestant I May the Devil confound them all!" * * *
We spoke of America, of which he knew very little. I
think he inquired if we had not recently abolished slavery!
Learning my objects of studying the condition of the
people, he was very anxious to take me with him to his
father's, Baron IH., in Smiiland, whom he was going to visit.
He said that the Baron, like Capt. H., had erected a church
for the people and had called in a schoolmaster from the
peasants, to preach to them. Crowds came from a great
distance to hear him, and yet it was nothing but a simple,
earnest exposition of Scripture.  His invitations were the
most cordial, but I finally concluded that the excursion
would take me too much out of my route. We reached
Norrkiping in good time.
This town is one of the leading manufacturing places of
Sweden, for woollens and cotton. I never saw a more
cheerful and picturesque manufacturing city. The streets
are broad and clean, and through the midst, a beautiful
stream, with broad reaches and flashing water-falls, runs
merrily, giving the great water-power. Some of the views
on the bridges of this river-the Motala-are exquisite. I
met here also some very agreeable and cultivated men of
business.
SWEDISH MANUFACTURES.
The value of all the manufactures at Registered Factories
in Sweden was



VALUE OF MANUFACTURES.   357
In 1839...............................,439,123
1846............................. 7,084,947
1848....................8,368,348
1850............................... 9,891],072
1852....  9,859,524
1853................................10,151,724
COTTON.
Raw Cotton-Import in 1853, 9,883,572 pounds-exceeding that of
previous year by 1,247,041 pounds, and of 1850 by 5,200,000 pounds.
qTist-1853, manufactured in Sweden, 7,715,961 pounds, mostly
of numbers under 26, and valued at $1,655,336.  In 1852, 6,653,790
pounds, and value, $1,467,950.
Cotton and Linen manufactured in 1853, valued at $346,886exceeding 1851 by $82,000.
TOBACCO.
Import of unmanufactured tobacco, in 1853, 4,831,638 pounds,
excess of 1852, 413,722 pounds.
Import of manufactured tobacco, 66,588 pounds-more than one
half from United States.  In 1853, from United States, 3,107,193 lbs.
COMMERCE OF SWEDEN.
Imports from United States-Tobacco, rice, cotton, oil, sugar, coffee, cocoa, spices, dye-woods, resin.
Vralue.
1840.      1846.       1847.        1848.       1849.
$450,156...346,000...450,000...  760,000...1,070,800
EXPORTS.
Iron and Tar to United States1840.      1846.       1847.       1848.         1849.
$1,029,796... 388,000... 886,400...1,002,400...  730,800




358            THE  No R S  -F LK.
BRANDY CONSUMED.
In 1851, 30,000,000 galls. per annum-9.1 for every human being!
The consumption is much less now.
DUTIES.
Cotton (raw), free. Cloth less than 76 threads to an inch, and
width less than 6 quarters, fordidden.
White cloth, per pound, 1 riks bane (40 cents); printed, per pound,
1.04 (41 cents).
Yarn, undyed, per pound,.04 (1 cent); Turkey red,.8 (2 cents);
Woollens,.2 (one-half cent).
The iron-trade has increased immensely this year (1856).
The value of exports and imports is equal to $50,000,000,
or nearly double that of 1853, and one third greater than
that of 1854.  The customs' revenue alone from this article
is about $3,500,000, which is beyond any previous years by
$1,600,000. The annual export of bar-iron is about 80,000
tons; to the United States, (about) 13,333 tons. By the
Decree of December, 1855, the export-duty on bar-iron was
abolished, which would mare a loss of some $40,000 in the
annual revenue. Pig and ballast iron, export and import,
pay a duty of 40 cents on a skeppmbnd.*
Seven eighths of the iron-export business to the United
States is done by Messrs. Naylor & Co., New York.
* About 266 pounds.




CHAPTER XXXI.
THE  SWEDISH  SCHOOLS.
FROri Norrkiping I returned to Stockholm, where I spent
my time especially in investigations in the Swedish Schools.
The American friends of Education will be glad to hear of
a vigorous progress in the modern school-system of Sweden.
The first organized popular school in Sweden may be
considered to date back as far as 1646, when the Bishop
Rudbeckius, at Westerfis, commenced his labors in this
direction. The first practical instruction for the teachers
was arranged in 1690. About this time, a general law
was passed, forbidding any one to take out a license to
marry, who could not read the catechism. The laws which
followed, relative to the examination of the children, who
were about to be confirmed, and the custom which requires
every one to be able to read, before he can receive the
confirmation, and thus be a, citizen, have caused for some
centuries a very general knowledge of reading and writing
among the Swedish people.
The last ordinance passed by the Parliament in June,
1842, establishing schools in every parish, has been productive of much good. Before this, there were small " circu859




360           TH E  No  s  -Fo L K.
lating schools" in each district, passing from  house to
house, but the teachers were poor and poorly paid, and the
accommodations miserable. Now, each parish must have
at least one established school, with a Normal School for
teachers, with proper rooms and conveniences. The pastor
exercises a careful supervision over it. and himself examines
the pupils twice a year. The difficulties in the way of the
country-schools have been in the lack of interest among
the people, the poor state of the Teachers' Seminaries or
Normal Schools, and the scattered condition of the population. In a parish reaching twenty miles, with 10,000
people in it, it became almost impossible for all to attend
a school at one point, so that the Government has been
obliged to allow the pastors to open circulating schools.
It will be remembered, in Dalecarlia, in the parish of Leksand, I found thirty circulating schools, with one established.
Great efforts are now being made to advance this whole
subject.  At the head of the movement is one of the most
enlightened men in Sweden-a gentleman favorably known
in this country —Mr. SILJESTRiM, of Stockholm. His work
on the "Schools of America " has been invaluable for Swe.den. He is now getting out a book with the plans, etc.,
of our latest improvements in school buildings. It was
often said to me that Mr. Siljestrbm was doing more for
education in Sweden than all the Committees on Education
of the Riksdag for the last quarter of a century. IHis great
efforts now are to awaken interest in the public mind on
the subject, and at the same time to improve the education
of teachers. He is also seeking to form parish libraries




S (t: -H 0 O L- I o US 8 E S.      361
all over the kingdom, through some central agency in
Stockholm, as at present the mass of the peasants read
nothing but the catechism and an occasional newspaper.
The school buildings which he took me into in Stockholm seemed equal to the best of our city schools, with
large airy rooms, good light, and means of ventilation,
and improved seats, though I think I saw none of the single
iron seats.*
Those in the country were generally dwelling-houses, where
the teachers resided, but were provided also with suitable
accommodations.  The great defect is the poor pay of the
teachers-some in. the country not earning twenty-five dollars a year beyond their board.  This is collected by taxes
on the parish, laid by the town meeting of peasants.  With
new interest and enlightenment, the scale of reward for such
services will rise.
Charity Schools. —Of these there are not many.  I visited
two in Stockholm, two in Gottenburg, and one near Lund,
and a few private schools on gentlemen's estates.
The defects in them, as in the puiblic schools, lie as I have
so often indicated, in the too great value attached to tech
nical religious instruction-the catechism taking the place
both of usual school studies and of genuine religious inspiring; so that the effect on the minds of the pupils seems
to be a stagnation of the intellect, and a substitution of
words for the feeling of religion-the catechism becoming
* I am informed by Mr. Polman of New York, that he has received orders from his friend. Mr. S., to send out to Sweden this
spring various iron seats and tables.
1]P




362           THEII,  NOPRs E-FOLK.
a kind of Protestant bead-telling, like that, of use in reminding, but inspiring no life.
Nor'mal Schools.- Both Gottenburg and Stockholm have
schools for the training of teachers; still the system  of
teaching is poor, and the quality of teachers sent out is
generally very inferior. There are also such schools in some
of the smaller towns.
Gymrnastics.-There are two respects in which the Swedish
school-system is far superior to ours.
One is in the universal teaching of gymnastic exercises.
Every school-building has its large, high room, with earthern or matted floor, and all sorts of implements for developing the muscles-ladders, poles, wooden horses, cross-bars
up to the roof, jumping-places, ropes for swinging, knotted
ropes for climbing, etc.  The scholars are not allowed to
exercise on what they wish, but tlhere is a regular, scientifically-arranged system. They are trained in squads, and move
and march, sometimes to music, at the word of command.
At a large public school in Stockholm I saw the lads
in their noon lessons at gymnastics.  The teacher gave the
word, and a dozen sprang out towards a tall pole with crossbars, and clambering up it, each hung with his legs, then
at the word all together dropped their heads backward
and hun3g by the feet and ankles, then again recovered
themselves and let themselves down.  Another party, one
after the other, squirmed up a naked mast; another pulled
themselves up hand over hand on a knotted rope; others,
in succession, played leap-frog over a wooden horse; then
they marched to the beat of the drum.  The smaller or




GY  N ASTIcs.                   36
weaker boys begin with the lowest grade of exercise, and
follow up, according to a scientific system, arranged for
health. They all seemed to go into it with the greatest
relish, and showed well-trained muscular power. I could
not but conclude that the superior physique of the Swedish
men is not entirely due to climate. When will America
learn that health and strength  have their unescapable
laws?
This gymnastic system is a regular medical system in
Sweden. Prof. Ling has an elaborate treatise on it. I
found the treatment in much use for nervous, bilious, and
dyspeptic disorders, both among men and women, the most
intelligent people having great confidence in it.
Our public schools in America ought to be up with this
step in education.  Every Ward School, High School, or
school of any importance, should have its gymqnasium.  Of
all nations in the world, ours, with its intense and constant
stimulus to the nervous system, needs the balance of healthy
exercise for the muscular.  Children are growing tp puny,
and nervous and delicate, most of all, perhaps, for the
want of such training during the time when their brains
are in most constant activity.  Mr. Barnard, of Hartford,
Ct., one of the great reformers of our common school education, is deeply interested in the subject, and has models and
plans of the Swedish implements and machinery for this
purpose.  The introduction of a good method of physical
training might change the whole bodily and sanitary condition of our growing population.
Scieltific Schools for Workmen. —The other superiority




364           TH XE  NOR S Er - F OL K.
of the Swedish system, lies in the advantages it offers to
mechanics and laborers.  In a small Swedish town, not
larger than Bridgeport, for instance, you find an evening
school, where mechanics can learn drawing, modelling, or
the practical application of the natural sciences, without
any expense.  I visited one in Stockholm  in which Mr
Siljestr6m is much interested, which was truly a "School
of Art."  There were in it beautiful plaster models of Greek
sculpture, and bas-reliefs of Italian statuary, and of the best
of Danish bas-relief-than which modern art has nothing
more pure and classical-beside plaster casts of heads, fragments of limbs, mathematical blocks and  architectural
ornaments, from which to draw and to model. An original
device struck me here, of natural forest-leaves arranged to
draw or mould from.  All this with lessons and teachers
in the arts, lectures on chemistry and the sciences, is open
every evening for laboring men and women. The consequence is, as in France, you have a class in Sweden, which
America has not, of artisans of taste-artistic mechanics,
men and women, who show ingenuity and a tasteful origin.
ality in the manufacture of furniture, the decoration, painting and frescoing of rooms, the making of common ware
and implements.  Whatever you are obliged to buy for
a house in the shops, without ordering, has not that hard,
awkward, angular look, which such articles have with us.
Then these schools provide the women with a new and beautiful means of livelihood-the arts of designing, painting,
drawing, and the applying of science to manufacture. Such
schools for laborers exist all through Sweden.




SCHOOLS O'F D)EsIGN.                365
It is truly a disgrace that in them America should be
so far behind. Except the excellent Schools of Design for
women in Boston and New York, I know of nothing of the
kind in the United States.
Our city evening schools are good in their way, but they
are suspended at certain seasons of the year, and they do
not teach the higher mechanical and artistic branches. The
New York Free Academy has a good modelling and drawing department, but is open only in the day, and designed
for the lads of the school.
Perhaps the great "Cooper Institute" will eventually
supply the deficiency.
America-the country of all where Labor is honoredought to hold out advantages to the laboring classes, equal
at least to those in the old and aristocratic Kingdom of
Sweden




CHAPTER  XXXII.
THE  ISLAND  OF GOTTLAND.
A STEAMER runs twice a week between Stockholm  and
Kalmar, touching at Wisby the principal city of Gottland.
The trip to this Island, is a favorite pleasure excursion in
the summer, from the capital; and with good reason. There
is not in North Europe so picturesque a town as this old
commercial city of Gottland.  The first view from the water
is of broken towers, battlements, gables, ruined churches
and half-demolished spires, with small houses closely crowded
among them. You land on a wharf quietly, and go up narrow paved streets, between low, quaint houses, and now and
then pass an old tall, gabled warehouse, reminding of the
days when Wisby was a leading Hanseatic city. You come
soon on the ancient wall encircling the whole city, which has
some forty-five towers yet remaining, though much defaced
and broken.
This wall is built on the limestone rock, and follows each
change of surface. The towers are some of them still used
as granaries or prisons. As you wander carelessly about,
you come upon a ruined church-some quiet scene with a
G66




RUINED   CHUR CH ES.                   I 
green grass-plot, and the stone walls and arches rising distinct
againt the beautiful blue sky of this latitude.  You enter,
and find yourself under columns and arches, still simple and
chaste as in the best Gothic periods; amid ruins belonging
to the earliest times of Scandinavia, built before William
the Conqueror had touched the soil of England.
If you observe, you find your architectural principles
shocked by a mingling of periods, once most severely separated-the sturdy round arch of the Saxon, side by side with
the graceful, aspiring, pointed arch of the early Gothic,
proving in art as in ethnology, that the Saxon has had
vastly more than his deserts from the world.
The " Church of the Holy Spirit," an octagonal tower,
with one crypt-like room  opening into another above of
similar form, by a hewn aperture in its stone ceiling, is one
of the most remarkable architectural structures in the world,
and thus far, I think, unexplained.  Nearly all these buildings show a great completeness and fineness of work.  The
town only contains some 5,000 inhabitants, yet there are
now the ruins in it of from twelve to twenty large churches,
most of them dating back to the tenth and twelfth centuries.
Such a collection of mediaeval remains, it seems to mue,
does not exist in Europe, and it is surprising that we have
nowhere a good pictorial description of them.*  The con* An American artist of talent, Mr. W'. U. C. Burton, of Waterbury,
Ct., has made a beautiful series of sketches of these wonderful ruins,
the most complete series existing.




368           TIIE  NoRSEs-Fo L K.
trast of these chaste, finished structures, requiring such advanced taste and such great wealth, with the poor miserable
town, though a common one elsewhere, is here very impressive, because the story of the rise of this splendor and its
passing away is so hid in the mists of history.
The Scandinavian Vikings, from the early centuries, as
has already been shown, did not alone bring back the plunder of their piracies. Some of the fruits of their adventurous expeditions were the introduction of foreign arts and
commerce, and the ministry of the new Christian Faith. They
traded with Constantinople, Italy, Russia, the East, and the
islands and coasts of the Northern Ocean. The centre of
one of these connections of trade-long before the exist-,
ence of the Hanseatic League-became this city of Gottland.
The productions which the East brought to Northern
Europe were conveyed in caravans to the Russian city of
Novgorod, itself founded by Swedes, and from there sent to
Wisby to be exchanged for the iron, copper, fish and furs of
Scandinavia.  Immense numbers of Asiatic coins have been
found in Gottland, and in various parts of Sweden. In
Stockholm alone, there are said to be preserved near twenty
thousand coins issued under the Caliphs.  Coins have been
found, also, indicating a considerable commerce between
England and Wisby, from 959 to 1066. In the twelfth
century, Wisby was in high prosperity.  Foreigners from
various countries were settled there, having their own
separate churches, built with much splendor.  Great warehouses lined the streets, and her wealth was famed through




WISB Y.                       369
the commercial world. One church is yet shown which,
tradition says, had an oriel window set with such rich pearls,
that they shone far out at sea to the approaching sailor.
In the thirteenth century, German merchants were settled
here and the city was intimately associated with LUibec;
and in the fourteenth she became the head city, and some
claim  the founder of the HIanseatic League.  The highgabled warehouses show still the evidence of the German
occupation and wealth.
The code of Mercantile Laws,* first applied by the Germans and Northmen of Wisby, has become the foundation for
the European code of Maritime and International Law since.
The decline of the city dates from its beleaguerment and
sack by Waldemar, King of Denmark, in 1361.  After this,
its rival Libec and its enemies, the Danes, sought incessantly to injure it; trade found new channels, and the city
sunk to be only a relic of what it had been.
A curious relic, both of the barbarism  and the unconquerable spirit of that race, which laid the foundation of its
wealth and the liberty of modern days-the Northmen-is
shown on this Island —a suicide cliff, where the Norse chief* Pardessus and other French writers on maritime law, following
him, do not hold that the maritime code of Wisby originated there.
Their theory is, that this code was a compilation of all the local cominercial laws among the mercantile cities of the Low Countries, and
of North Europe-Wisby among the number, and that it was only
brought forth in that city.
The oldest copies are in Gothic and Low German, dating near 1320,
Good editions can be seen in the Astor Library, New York.
16*




3 70          T ui iX No o  s j- Foie ra
tains, who were in danger after a life of battles, of the dis
grace of dying in bed, came to throw themselves off. The
Sagas relate that it was often thus used.  Many of the most
interesting relies of the Scandinavian museums have been
found on this island.
There is great need of a thorough description of Gottland
— of its early history and the quaint superstitions and customs of its people; its antiquities and unequalled architecture.  There is nothing of value so far as I know, in any
language on it.  A very learned gentleman in Wisby, with
great taste for such investigations —  r. Save-has been
collecting, for many years, the material for such a work.
The only difficulty, probably, will be, that he has too much
material, and can hardly make a salable book for general
readers.
During my visit there, I was very hospitably entertained
by a Swedish gentleman, well known in England, Consul
ENQUIST. He had a fine place without the city-the house
almost like, a chateau.  He is much engaged in a large
enterprise for draining a tract of some 14,000 acres within
the island; 4,000 have already been made cultivable, and
the rest is yet being drained. It is one of the largest operations for agricultural improvement in Sweden.  Gottland
is a ledge of encrinitic lime-stone, rising up unaccountably
near the primitive rocks which make the coast of the peninsula, and naturally has an excellent soil for wheat. The
climate is much milder than that of the coast near by; and
the grape, chestnut, and mulberry ripen here in favorable
situations, though the island is in the latitude of the north of




Sc  oTr a  F  A Rl M i: I4 S.      371
Labrador-57~ 30'.  The weather, while I was there (in
September), was like our most beautiful June weather in
America, a soft mild air, with dreamy blue skies and a
really summer heat under the sun at noon-day.
Among the institutions of Wisby, which I visited, were
some popular schools in large buildings, well supplied with
libraries and other means of education. I saw on Sunday,
a school of young working-men, which was taught gratuitously, first in religious matters and then in the usual secular
instruction.  The teachers with whom I became acquainted
were all men of culture. There is one large bath-house for
the people on the principle of the English bathing establishments for the poor. In leaving the place on the steamboat,
I was introduced to several Scotch farmers, of whom some
were returning to Scotland, and others had already settled
on the island.  The great inducements to them were the
cheapness of the land-$4 to $6 an acre for a good wheatraising farm being a common price, and the low wages$20 to $30 per annum, with board; yet they did not seem
very well satisfied.  They felt the difficulty which always
meets such experiments-the impediments from the spirit of
an old backward society, such as cannot beforehand be
reckoned in figures and yet which hampers every new
undertaking.
My last view of the picturesque old city was in the light
of a rich sunset.  The broken cornices were gilded anew;
the harsh outlines of dismantled walls softened; the ruined
towers filled out in the shaded light, and the upspringing
lonely arches crowned with a wonderful glory.




3TS2          TH E  No o R SE-FOLK.
Gradually, the distinctive objects became confused, the
buildings were masked in dark shadows, until at length the
low island itself was lost in the splendor of the waters under
the evening glow.
From Gottland, we steamed down the coast towards
Kalmar. It is a most interesting reflection, as one passes
this Swedish coast, that at this day, one of those grand
mysterious internal movements of the earth, which raise
continents and open the bed of oceans, is quietly and continually going on here.
As early as the beginning of 1700, Celsius observed that
the waters, both of the Baltic and the Northern ocean,
were constantly sinking. He estimated the fall to be 40
Swedish inches in a century.
More careful and comprehensive observations showed the
fact to be that the land was rising. In 1807, Von Buch,
after his celebrated tour over Norway, expressed his conclusion that the whole country was rising-Sweden more
than Norway, and the northern part more than the southern
part.*  In 1834, Sir Charles Lyell, one of the most careful
and candid of the observers of natural phenomena, compared
the marks made by the Swedish officials at various periods
in this century, on the coast north of Stockholm, and concluded that the land had risen 4 or 5 inches in that -time,
and that the rise diminishes from the north of the Gulf of
Bothnia towards the south. He states, what every travel* Von Bqch-and Lyell's Principles of Geology, vol. ii., p. 402.




GEOLOGIC  MOVEMENTS                     373
ler must confirm as true, that the character of the coastconsisting, as it #ere, of two lines of coast, one, the shore,
and the other, a series of broken reefs and islets-makes it
peculiarly easy to determine whether the rocks and landmarks and channels have changed.  The rocks, beside, are
of gneiss, mica-schist and quartz, and of course, less likely to
lose the peculiar aspect which make them familiar to the
sailors and fishermen. It is well known all along this coast,
that many islands have sprung up and become wooded, and
that old channels are become filled and impassable.
This movement of elevation, Lyell supposes to go on over
a territory some thousand miles in length, from  Gottenburg
to Tornet, and thence to the North Cape, and extending
several hundred miles in breadth, far into. the interior of
Sweden and Finland.  The evidences of it are numerous, in
the change of the height of waters, in the disappearance of
old landmarks, and especially in the discovery of many
deposits of sea-shell, hundreds of feet above the water, and
even as far inland as  0O miles from the present shoreshells of the same genera with living species in the Baltic.
The appearance, in many districts, is of subsidence and
re-elevation.  While all the centre and north of Sweden
seems thus being forced gradually by tremendous agencies
from beneath, whether. of heat or gases or galvanic
action, above the surface of the water, the southern partScania and the country we are passing-is gradually sinking, to such a degree, that the streets of several of the old
cities nearest the water, are now submerged; and ancient
streets are discovered, many feet below low-water mark.




CHAPTER  XXXIII.
EKALMAR  AND  SM  LAND.
KALMARu is famed in Swedish history as the city, where for
a short time was made real the idea of Scandinavian Unity.
Four centuries and a half ago (1397), the three kingdoms
of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were here brought under one Queen. Eighty-six years later, the Union was again
renewed in this place; and through it the aristocracy
reached the highest power which they have ever gained in
Sweden, while the Danes were left in reality the masters of
the country. The nation was finally freed from the tyranny of
foreigners, by the heroic exertions of Gustavus Vasa.
The present town is a quiet, quaint Provincial place, containing about 7,000 inhabitants, with the old historic castle
still standing, where these great events occurred. Among
the modern changes, a German has opened a hotel in the
principal square, which is a great improvement on the
Swedish houses of the sort.  I met here again some intelligent agreeable men, who showed me much kindness. In
general, Kalmar has a poor reputation for cultivated society.
The people are very much absorbed in business; and there
is a great want of the usual Swedish family life. Gentlemen
874




SOCIET'Y.                       75
live at their club-rooms or billiard-rooms, and the wives
suffer for it at home. It struck me that Miss Bremer, in
her pictures in -Ilertha, of woman's inferior position and
influence in Sweden, must have had in mind just such towns
as this. And yet the fault is very much with the women.
They have not the wit or the accomplishments to make home
more attractive than any thing outside.
I was desirous to see some of the characteristic Smiland
peasantry, and was recommended to Dr. V., as one of the
most intelligent Pastors of the country, who could put me in
the way of seeing them. His reception into the old parsonage was most cordial, and he himself, with his pale, intellectual, spiritual face, must remain to me, as to every one
who has enjoyed his acquaintance, a most pleasing memory.
We sat under the old beeches, in the front of the house, all
the day and talked;'and then, in company with his Adjmiect,
visited some of the peasants. During the day, many of the
people came up to consult with the pastor-among others, a
stalwart young peasant, who went away at length looking
very much cast down. The Doctor explained-Some years
since, the mother of the young man bought him a fine little
farm. As he was still a minor, she could not register it, as
the law  requires; afterwards when he was of age, she
neglected it. Now, after having labored on it for years, and
improved it, under the increased value of all such property,
the original owners, who had discovered the mistake, demand
back the property, on the ground that the law has not been
fulfilled.  The young man came to the Pastor as his legal




3 6            T   ENI    o R S E- FO L F K.
adviser in the matter. The Pastor was obliged to say to
him, that nothing legal could be done, except to attempt
to recover the value of his improvements. He himself offered
to try the effect of a moral appeal with the other parties,
though with little hopes of success
The laws on woman's holding property in Sweden, are
eevni more strict than this.  The Doctor says, that an unmarried woman, if she be seventy years old, can not hold
property in her own name; but if she were a widow at
seventeen, she has all legal rights during the rest of her
life.*
In the course of the day, another peasant, with a downcast, sneaking look, entered the yard, and was taken up to
the Pastor's study.  We inquired of the case.  "Ack I'
said Dr. V., speaking German, "it is the oath-taking I"We looked surprised. "You should know," he added, " that
sometimes people here are only half-condemned, or halfacquitted. For instance, if there be but one witness, or the
testimony be doubtful in character, or for some other reason
the Judge is not satisfied, he half-acquits him. That is, before
the final sentence he sends him to his clergyman, and after
being instructed in the nature of an oath, he takes a most
solemn oath that he is not guilty. If he refus'es to receive
the oath from his pastor, it is strong presumptive evidence in
the mind of the Judge that he is guilty.  If he takes it, and
a In the Royal Speech during this last winter (1856-57), one of the
many liberal recommendations was, that the laws in regard to the
minority of women should be changed. Miss Bremer's especial object
in Herthca, was to cause a reform in this oppressive legislation.




AN  AR GuMENT.                    377
is afterwards proved guilty, he is liable to greater punishment.  I have such persons sent to me constantly. This
Bonder took the oath in a quibbling way, which I shall
report to the Judge."
" But how do you account for such a custom?" I asked.
"What has the clergyman to do with the law?"
" It is entirely consistent," he answered.  "You are to
remember that with us the State and the Church are one.
The judge and the pastor are both officials in the same
organization. The sanctions of Religion are to be applied
to the courts of justice, as much as to the more immediate
institutions of Religion."
Seeing that he was philosophizing on a favorite topic,
which interested me, I drew him out.
"Do you regard Confirmation, as a condition of civil
rights, in the same manner?" I asked.
" Certainly," he replied. "I have indeed had my doubts,
and I have thought much on the subject, but let me explain.
The State commences as a Christian State.  It demands
that all its members shall be Christians.  For this purpose,
it enacts that all who wish to be citizens shall pass through
the outward rites of our sacred religion. Every one must
be baptized. Then, for the same reason, it requires that
every one shall be instructed and approved by the pastor,
and confirmed in Christian doctrine. If he cannot show the
evidence of this instruction, in his Schein (confirmationpapers), he is presumed not to be worthy of the privileges
of citizenship. You see our stand-point?"
"But do you not see," said I, "that you gain no real




378           THeE;  N oisE -FoL K.
Christianity by this? You get outward ceremonies, and
conforming —that is all. And more, you are far more liable
to cultivate hypocrisy than true faith.  I should expect a
Church, under such a system, to be lifeless."
"Ach! Sie haben recht! You are right. Our beloved
Zion is almost todt (dead) now. But that is the result of
other causes.  In this system which you deplore, we at least
gain that every man and woman and child shall be instructed in the principles of our holy Religion."
" I would not discuss here the subject of public education
in IReligion," I answered, " but in our view, the partaking
of the Lord's-Supper is a testimony of certain states of the
heart, with which Law can have nothing to do. To enforce
it under civil penalties, is to comnmard the faith of the heart
which cannot in its own nature be a subject of Law."
"' Es ist ganz recht! It is quite true I" burst in one of
our party, Herr T., a very generous, impulsive young mal.
"' The Herr Americaner has hit it.  I confess to the Herr
Doctor, I suffer from this every year.  The Herr Doctor
will remember that I was confirmed before I could really
understand these doctrinal problems. Now, it is the law
that I must attend public Communion once at least a year.
But I cannot.  I do not care for it.  I do not believe all
the words which are said to me there. And yet I must.  If
I should stay away, that verfluche —padon!/-that infamous
N —- would inform against me, and I might lose my business and be fined heavily I Is that right, llGrr Doctor? I
am a hypocrite!"'
The Doctor was a little perplexed, for no man was ever




D ISC U SS ION.                 379
more open to truth than his pure soul; but for the time, he
took refuge in the easy assertion that the Herr T. should
try to make the blessed Abendsmal (Communion-Supper) a
reality and nourishment to himself, and then the yoke would
be easy and the burden light I
Our host was anxious to know what had been the effects
of the separation of Church and State in America.  He
had the same general views, common here, of the sad disturbances of sects, the unworthy rivalry of preachers and
the growth of all possible heresies in America, which I have
before described.
I gave him our theory of the office of sects.
"Yes," he said, candidly, " theoretically that is true.
We are many limbs in one body, which is Christ.  That
system may be useful for the young, free America. It will
not be so here —though, alas! our beloved church sometimes here seems crumbling in its walls. It is true, that
the pure Faith is now not often to be found among us."
Here our young friend broke in.
" I have told Herr B. that in my view, not for centuries
are we ready for Gewissens-freiheit-Freedom of Conscience.
I believe in a Republic, but I do not think Sweden fit for
it.  So with Freedom  of Conscience. When we have a
Republic, then will we have all sects among us!"
I told him that I could not see that the two went at all
necessarily together. The liberty to worship and to think
on religious subjects, and to express and organize one's
thoughts, was universal and eternal.
"But look, Herr B.!  See these Lasare now! I detest




380           TH HE  NoRSE-FOL K.
them! See what vulgar, hypocritical fanatics they are I
We used to be quiet here in Smiiiand, and now they have
turned everything upside down. The next thing will be
your Mormons, and forty wives to each man, and all sorts
of disturbances.  No; I am for keeping down these cursed
fanatics with a strong hand. Let them go to the dev —,
ahem-pardon! Doctor 1 —America, I mean I"
I will not follow out the discussion. Enough is given
to show the spirit. Our friend, ZMr. T., is one of the "young
Sweden" party-a Reformer and ZLiberalist.  On every
other matter his views are expanded and humane. Though
not precisely true of him, yet in general one may say, that
the spirit of bigotry has its peculiar residence in Sweden.
There is not in any other country of Europe, so far as I
know, so narrow  and persecuting a spirit-not more in
Naples or Austria.
"Shall we visit the Bonders?" said the amiable, little
adjunct.
We were ready, and in a comical bit of a wagon, rode
out in the woods. The groves in this part of Sweden are
far finer than in the North-the elm, the oak, and the
beech, are the principal trees. We came first to a small
cottage, just at the outskirts. There was but one large
room in it, neatly kept, but with an air of destitution. A
laboring man and his wife with a few children were in it.
He took the visit in good part, and we had considerable
conversation on crops and weather, and the like.  Hearing
that I was from America, he took out a well-worn card of




THE  "HI-rEMMAN."                 381
Natural History, with pictures of serpents and various wild
animals of the tropics, to know if any of them came from
my country. He had no books except the Bible and one
religious novel, which the pastor had just loaned him. The
man had more the aspect of one of the German Baterthe peasants of the Continent, than any I had seen-as of
one who had had no fit opportunities of development.
I inquired about his position, and heard that he was
the tenant of a " Stamhemman."
The various kinds of Hemman, to a stranger in Sweden,
are utterly confounding. This was interpreted, as a cottage
belonging to the pastorate; in this case, taken from the
monks, by Gustavus II., as I understood.
Beside this, there is the K~rono-femman, a property belonging to the Crown, but farmed by a peasant. Then
the }ib'ono Skatte Bemman, an estate formerly belonging
to the Crown, now bought free from the rent to the State,
by the capitalization of its rents and by the paying of high
taxes. Still further, the Fralse Ilemman, that is, a freehold
liberated from the customary taxes for supporting the military. Formerly, this kind of privileged freehold could only
be possessed by the nobility, as a reward for great services.
Since 1809, all classes have been allowed to hold them,
and the peasants have bought up a large number from the
decayed gentry.
Firnally, is the Siteri Ilemman, a property liberated from
still other taxes-in some cases, as an encouragement for
making improvements thereon. According to the old laws,
the taxes of a province were divided among the IIemman.




382           T Hi    No R S E - i O L K.
A district must provide, for instance, six oxen, or a hundred
hens for the soldiery, so that finally on the tax lists a
Hemman would be found charged with the thousandth part
of an ox, or seven-eighths of a hen, or nine-tenths of a lamb.
These taxes still remain in form, to the great enjoyment
of humorous antiquaries.
We visited some other cottages of the wealthier peasants
— houses much superior to any of this class in the North.
They were usually freehold properties. The crops were the
same as hitherto mentioned, with the exception of more
wheat and occasional fields of flax.
TWe chanced, in the evening, to speak of the habits of the
people with respect to drinking, and I heard the same report
here as in other provinces, of the wonderful improvement in
the last five or ten years.
A gentleman was present who had led the temperance
movement in Southern Sweden —Magister STROM-and who,
against much obloquy, had at length in Kalmar carried out
preventive measures against the evil which has so cursed
Sweden. His account of his efforts to awake public attention-the statistics-the numeration of calamities he was
obliged to set forth-the cry of fanatic and ultraist aroused
against him-the insult and almost imminent danger of
losing his business, for his reformatory measures-was very
interesting.  He was not a total-abstinence man or for the
Maine Law. His object was simply to limit the use and
sale of the common cheap drinks which so inevitably degrade
the great masses of the people addicted to them. The




L  QT UO R -LA W.                 383
method, as adopted in Kalmar, has been entirely successful,
and deserves consideration by our reformers in America.
The main feature is the making the dk'ink too expensive
for the common peasants.  This is done by allowing no one
to sell liquors, except the licensed dealers.  These are
heavily taxed by the city-so much a Kanana (about two
quarts); and it is assumed that no sellei' has less than
eight hundred Kannar.  Then no one is allowed to sell a less
quantity than a Kanna.  If he does, for the first and second
offence, he is exposed to very heavy fines; and, if I understood rightly, to imprisonment for the third.  The consequence is that brandy which used to be twelve skillings
(four cents) for two quarts, is now several dollars (Swedish).
The topers with small means cannot get their usual
draughts.  The poor peasants must club together to obtain
their Kanna of brandy; and any disorderly conduct on the
premises, or even the selling the liquor to women and children, is considered cause sufficient to remove their license.
A volunteer society watches these liquor-shops and reports
to the police, and carries on the suits.
The measure has not been so extreme as to defeat itself.
Even the lower classes-especially the women-begin to
like it.  It is observed that the potatoes which used to go
to whisky are now eaten; that the neighboring districts of
Skania, which once imported wheat-so much was their
own employed in distilling-now have enough to export.
Crimes and distressed cases of poverty are of much less frequent occurrence.  The lower classes of the city have a different aspect.




384          rTiEt  No it vs-F,-O LEK.
For my own part, I should consider such measures in our
American cities vastly more practical and probable to succeed, than any entirely preventive laws. The great difficulty
with us would probably be, that what a man wants in
America, he can generally afford to get. We could not
make brandy so expensive that topers would not buy it.
Still we could control somewhat the poorest, and the indifferent, to whom the price would be an object; and we
could prevent public disorder on such premises.




CHAPTER  XXXIV.
A COUNTRY HOME.
FIoni Dr. V.'s we posted on to the house of a gentleman
of distinction, to whom I had been kindly recommended,
whom I will call Mr. X.
Of all the Swedish homes which I was permitted to
visit, and whose hospitality I enjoyed, this made the most
agreeable impression on me. A seat of repose, of refinement and culture, where the people seemed mated to the
surroundings. Hlere, rank and high position had not lessened the spirit of genial humanity, or cramped the activity
of the intellect. A high-bred Swedish lady is, to iny mind,
the perfection of that kind. She has the settled air of one
accustomed to deference, which sits so well on many of my
countrywomen, and something of their best culture; she has
the grace of the Frenchwoman, yet with a certain kind and
sweet courtesy, and a repose, if not seriousness, of nature,
which belong to neither the Americans nor French. Our
ladies-and it is more true of the English-are not usually
kiind enough in their courtesies; a certain coldness, or reserve, or indifference, restraining them too much. The great
li1                  5S s




386           THE  [N o: s E- FoLK.
peculiarity, it seems to me, in the manner of the Swedish
lady of the higher classes, is this graceful and sweet kindness.  I do not think the Swedish women are remarkable
for beauty. The severe climate tells on the wealthy classes,
and those of the lower are too much worked for preserving
any delicacy of traits.  The ladies have often the slight,
fragile appearance of our American women, but nearly
always a grace and ease of carriage, which quite make one
forget the want in this regard.
As I have remarked before, there is in manner and
general bearing a distinct line between the women of the
middle and the aristocratic classes.
A  common phrase about the Swedes, repeated in all
descriptions of them, is that they are the "French of the
North."  It does not seem  to me true, and must have
taken its origin in superficial resemblances, and in another
age. There is a tact and politeness with the most aristocratic classes, which is somewhat French.  They use the
language also much, and in the last century were much
imbued with French ideas.  But the essential groundwork
of the Swedish nature, is anything but French.  They are
a sober, serious people.  The severe skies and dark forests
of evergreen, and their Teutonic blood have brought forth
a solemn, almost superstitious, temperament.
There is much ardor and force apparent in all classes,
the natural accompaniment of their vigorous constitutions
and sanguine habit of body.  But with this always, a
certain seriousness or religiosity, not a poetic sadness, as
in the Hunganrian temperament, or an overstrained ear



S wE  D I S H TEMP ERAMENT.             387
nestness, as in the American,-but a soberness as from a
tendency of the mind to fasten on unseen and spiritual
phenomena. This too being a matter more of feeling than
of reflection; for the Nation does not at all impress you,
as do the Germans-as a people, skeptical or given to
inquiring into spiritual truths. The same thing is true of
the Norwegian, though not to so great a degree, The
Norwegian is a modern democrat by the side of the Swede,
the old aristocrat; rough, ready, manly, intelligent, equal
to any one and accustomed to battle with the most stern
powers of nature. The Swede is more refined, courteous
and gentle, with more of poetry and superstition clinging
to him, but still with the old Norse power in him.
I confess of the two, the Swede is to me the more interesting, though by no means the more valuable to the world.
Both nations are essentially inclined to superstition.
iMy friend's house was on the outskirts of the pine forest.
We were walking under the barred lights and shadows
in a beautiful September afternoon, and spoke of these
things. I mentioncld the superstitious experiences which
I have already detailed, in the old castles I had visited.
"These are nothing new Herr B.," said Mr. X., in German. "I do not think out of every ten people, you could
find one who had not encountered such adventures. Before
I was in public life, I was a great deal among the peasantry.  Many and many a night have I been called up
to see or hear the spbkeri (witchcraft or ghostcraft)., The
peasants would recount, that in an upper room they had




388            TTHE  No RS E-FoLK.
distinctly heard the spirits throwing the tin vessels and the
chairs at each other-then a violent struggle between the
demons, and then all would be quiet.*
" At other times, regular steps would be heard passing over
the floor, or lights be seen; sometimes the cattle and horses
are attacked, and they stamp and neigh in an unaccountable
manner. I always went at once, no matter at what hour of
the niglht, to the place which was haunted, to break up the
delusion among these people. Sometimes in an attic I would
find a cat, sitting quietly in one corner; sometimes rats
would run over the floor —more generally every thing was
still, and there were not the slightest signs of any thing being
moved. I relmember a singular instance of this. Sit you down
while I draw out the position of things." He then marked on
the sand with his cane, two houses at the ends of a hypothenuse
of a triangle. "I was in this house, you see, when late one evening I was called down to see a fearful spooking, in the other
house there " (pointing to the other end of the line), " which
had been long uninhabited, bright lights were plainly visible
through the windows, and figures of men and women were
seen passing to and fro. The people were greatly frightened.
I asked for the key, and against their strong dissuasion,
offered to go over to the haunted house, if some one would
* The old historian of Sweden, Olaus Magnus, thus confirms this.
"Of the hurts done by the devils. In the Northern parts (where the
devil hath his seat really) they mock the people that live there with
unspeakable delusions, under various forms, and do them hurt also,
throwing down their houses, killing their cattle, spoiling their fields,
making a desolation of castles and waters."




" SP oo K I NG."                 389
accompany me. After some hesitation, one of the young
peasants consented, and we walked over the fields to the
house. We reached the door, but the lights and figures had
all disappeared.  The house was empty and dark.  I put
the key in the door, and it sounded with a hollow reecho,
as in an empty building. We went into both rooms where
the light had been, but everything was still and untouched.
It was clear, no mortals had been there for a long time. I
was at a loss.  Of the figures and the lights, I could
not have a doubt. They had been there. At length, on
going back to the room where the brightest lights had been,
I looked out of the window, and there was the explanation I
You see this head of the triangle-well, there was a cottage
with a bright open fire in a large fire-place, and men and
women were passing before it. The reflection first struck
full on these windows, while some inequality of the ground
prevented its being seen from the other house. Was it not
a good instance of our spdlteri?"
Mr. X. has taken a philosophic interest in these superstitions, and investigated them somewhat closely.  There is
often a deep poetic truth in them.
THE TOMTE.
Two peasants-so believe the people-start in life with
equal blessings; each has his rich grain-fields, his patch of
wood, his red-house, his horses and cattle. One thrives continually; his stacks are fuller every day, his crops better,
his beasts healthier, his house more protected from storm




390           TiIEE  NoRssE-FoLK.
and winter.  With the other it is the reverse.  The roof
leaks, the cows die, the wheat mildews, the hay rots, the
land grows poorer.
What is the reason of the difference?  Manifestly, the
first has his Tormte, or little attendant spirit. The last has
offended him. The Tomte, as all know, is the spirit of some
poor heathen slave, who must work out his salvation before
doomsday. He is a repulsive, deformed little fellow, hardly
larger than a babe, with an old shrewd face, and wearing  a red farmer's-cap  and  grey jacket and  wooden
shoes.
One of the peasants had seen him at his usual time, in
the noon day, dragging wearily along an oaten straw to the
stack, or one ear of wheat to the barns, and scorned him
and railed at him, saying he might as well bring nothing
as such trifles.  Then the Tomte went sadly to the other,
and he grew rich, while the first became poor.  If the
Tomte brings only an acorn to the barn, no one must despise him. The proverb says, "The woodman holds the axe,
but the Tomte fells the tree."
THE PUKE.
The Puke is mere commonplace. He is a kitchen elf,
whose excrements are frequently seen in the milk-kitchen.
Certain old women sell themselves to the devil, in order to
get possession of these elves, for then they will have milk
and cream as much as they desire.  If any one wishes to
discover these old women, he will burn the excrements




S     UP E r s' IT IONS.          391
where three roads meet, with bits of wood from nine different trees, and then they must appear.
The Swedish superstitions have a characteristic tone to
them-a more sober and religious element than the superstitions of other European peasantry. This is particularly true
in those where Heathendom and Christianity are, as it were,
struggling.  The mysterious spirits of the streams and
mountains are not merely fairies —creations of pleasant
fancy. They are the unfortunates who did not enjoy, in
their mortal lives, the light of Christianity, and are now
awaiting Redemption. They are often almost despairing,
and even the passing traveller may bitterly wound them, by
proclaiming too severe condemnation on them.
NECKEN.
I have spoken of the plaintive melody of the "Necken."
This being appears in different forms-sometimes as a young
man with beastly extremities, representing the power of animal passion which has brought him to this; sometimes as
an old man, but more often as a youth playing the harp on
the water. The best offering that can be made him, is a
black lamb, especially if the hope of eternal salvation be at
the same time expressed. Two boys once said to Necken,
"What good dost thou gain by sitting here and playing?
Thou wilt never gain eternal happiness l"* whereat he wept
bitterly.
* Svenska Folk Visor —quoted by Thorpe.




392           TH  E  N o R S E -Fo L.
In a locality of West Gothland, a Neck was heard singing
to a pleasant melody these words-" I know-I know-I
know that my Redeemer liveth I"
THIORPE quotes a beautiful story of the Neck:
"A priest riding one evening over a bridge, heard the
most delightful tones of a stringed instrument, and, on looking round, saw a young man, naked to the waist, sitting on
the surface of the water, with a red cap and yellow locks.
He saw that it was the Neck, and in his zeal addressed him
thus:'Why dost thou so joyously strike thy harp? Sooner
shall this dried cane that I hold in my hand grow green and
flower, than thou shalt obtain salvation.' Thereupon the
unhappy musician cast down his harp, and sat bitterly weeping on the water. The priest then turned his horse, and
continued his course. But lo  before he had ridden far, he
observed that green shoots and leaves, mingled with most
beautiful flowers, had sprung from  his old staff.  This
seemed to him a sign from Heaven, directing him to preach
the consoling doctrine of redemption after another fashion.
He therefore hastened back to the mournful Neck, showed
him the green flowery staff, and said:'Behold how my old
staff is grown green and flowery, like a young branch in a
rose-garden; so likewise may hope bloom in the hearts of
all created beings, for their Redeemer liveth 1'  Comforted
by these words, the Neck again took his harp, the joyous
tones of which resounded along the shore the whole livelong
night."
It was characteristic that while talking over these superstitions with Mr. X., our young friend with us, Mr. T., vol



MODES  ()   LI F E.                393
unteered a confession of no less than two most astonishing
supernatural experiences which he had met with-one being
the reappearance of the spirit of a lost friend, and the other
the apparition of a dog I Both he implicitly believed.
The whole mode of life at my friend's was extremely
comfortable and agreeable. Breakfast was at nine, dinner at
three, and supper at eight in the evening. The house was
a long one, and nearly the whole family lived on the ground
floor. There was a pleasant garden, in which we often
walked. The service, housekeeping and management was
of the most quiet, refined description. I had some comparing with Lady X. of the wages of servants. For her
chamber-maids she pays about twelve dollars a year, and
that is liberal.  The footmen and coachmen earn about
double this. Two thousand dollars would be reckoned a
handsome income for a judge or even a bishop. The common expenses here for food, rent, etc., are wonderfully small,
compared with the American.
There were endless inquiries after our modes of life in
America.  Hearing of the tyranny of conventionalities
already beginning with us, a gentleman present related his
struggles in one of the Swedish cities. He had small
means, and, as he was about to be married, he determined
to arrange matters very moderately.  He accordingly induced his lady to put the ceremony in the morning, and
invited only a few friends, with a simple refreshment.  The
thing was town-talk for a month; and people could hardly
agree that there had been a proper marriage.
17*




39,t-      T     E i, I O_ R S.  E-FOL K.
When his first child was christened, in place of a grand
feast and numerous sponsors, he only asked one or two intimate friends, and had a glass of wine.  This too was
thought an extraordinary eccentricity.
I had much talk with Lady X. on the position of woman
in the higher classes here. She says that even with the
wealthy, the household demands much more personal care
than in England or other countries. So much is made and
produced on the estate always, that greater supervision is
necessary. She thinks there has been, within a few years,
great progress among the ladies in the ideas of their higher
duties-especially those towards the poor. It seems the
same problem here as all the world over, for the woman to
systematize time, so that duties to herself and to her family
and to the world, may not conflict.
Mr. X., gratifying my hobby of studying the condition of
the peasantry, has taken me to some of -the Smaland Bonders. The first one whom we proposed to visit, had some
office in the parish, and lived in a very comfortable style.
His house was a large two-story house, like a well-to-do
farmer's at home, approached by a winding road. We
knocked and groped about for some time, without effect,
until at length the mistress-a common-looking laboring
woman-came forth.  The husbarnd was away, but we
could see the house. The building and furniture were
new-the latter mostly of birch, and quite as good as in a
Connecticut farm-house.  In one room was a writing-desk,
with protocols anad papers on it, and newspapers hanging




AN  ALDER M A N.                  395
filed near by. In another, were the pictures of Luther and
of Swedish heroes. There were a number of sitting and
bed-rooms, besides one large ball-room.
No books, however, were to be seen. I had visited no
peasants' houses, since those near Gottenburg, showing the
owner in so comfortable a position. The fact is important,
historically, in the condition of this great class.
The next visit was to a Bonder, who was an alderman of
the village. He lived in a three-story wood house, with a
large farm about it. His reception of us was very friendly.
He brought forth a bottle of some sort of cordial and some
curious little cakes, which he almost forced upon us. The
house was even more comfortably furnished than the other.
He owned eighty or ninety cows, eight or ten horses, and
six pairs of oxen. There was a large threshing-machine on
one of the barns, and an American plough in the yard. He
had been draining and under-draining his whole farm. He
had heard of the American reaping-machines, and thought
they would be just the things for Sweden. After being
quietly seated, we had a long conversation.
I asked him whether he thought the " House of Peasants"
would be in favor of railroads in the next session. He
thought they would, though many took a long time to see
the necessity of them. He should advocate the government's making a permanent loan to the companies, receiving
a regular interest, as from a bank.
I spoke of a reform in Representation.  "For my own
share," he answered, "I should have no objection to a
change, and I should prefer to bring in the other classes




396           TL   E  N O RI S  - iF o,L
There is no reason why Herr X., or any one owning land,
should not vote with us and act in our House, as well as we.
And I am sure that it would be better for us, as we should
gain some good speakers and men of business. Now we
often have very poor Houses. Still many of our Bonders
will be jealous."
I found him equally liberal and enlightened on the subject
of schools. He felt the country to be far behind in that
respect, and he hoped that his House would help on the
measures for popular education.
We asked him about books-what he had?  He seemed
scarcely to have any; seldom read any thing but the newspaper and the Bible. He had heard of the tremendous
contest in America, and understood the question: was
proud that Sweden would not allow a slave on her soil.
His manner in the conversation was not at all so obsequious or diffident as one generally sees in the Bonders towards
those of the other classes. He had his own views, and evidently did not fear to utter them.
THE MAGAZINE.
In riding back to the house, we passed a large brick
building, near the parish-church. On inquiring, I learnt
that it was the Parish Magazine. That is, under a remarkable socialistic arrangement, the people are obliged to bring
thither certain small proportions each year of their crops.
This grain is kept, and when a year of bad crops comes, it
is loaned out at a certain interest-paid in grain-to the




V ILLAGE  S CH OO L.                 397
members of the parish; or, if any are absolutely suffering
from want, it is given; and thus it becomes a kind of permanent social institution for the help of the parish.  Similar
storehouses exist through all Sweden.
One difficulty in making public provision for the public
poor in Sweden, lies in the internal organization of the country.  There are no Provincial Legislatures or Assemblies.
The only administrative bodies are the Parish meetings; so
that it sometimes happens, that a petty matter, which belongs
exclusively to the district, will go through several instances
even to the king.  This is the case with matters of
pauperism.
Sweden needs two great changes in her internal administration. First, a more permanent, active representation of
her parishes (Socknar), which shall have the character of,
but be more efficient, than the present Socken-stiimnma
(Parish-meeting); and second, a representation of counties
(Ldvl).
We stopped on our way home at the village School. It
was held in a very neat-looking dwelling-house, the other
part of which was occupied by the teacher's family. The
children looked singularly pale and feeble, as much so as the
poorest in our Charity Schools at home. They were,, I
learned, the children of poor laborers, who at this season,
did not have much good food. The Teacher was putting
them in a dreary way through the unfailing Catechism.  (I
ought to remark here, that I do not remember ever to have
entered a popular School in Sweden, where this species of




398           T  E    s  - OSE-FOLK.
religious tongue-exercise was not going on.)  Each boy
droned over the replies, as he would over a definition in
chemistry. Truths, which if believed, would rend human
society as a rotten web; Facts which are the echo of the
grandest experience that man has yet worked out; Defiuitions upon which the most acute minds of all ages have incessantly differed, were sung sleepily over by these children,
and thus, as the catalogue says, they were " taught Religion!"




CHAPTER XXXV.
THE RIDE TO CARLSCRONA, AND THE FLEET.
WE stopped first at a very handsome place, V —, the
property of Capt. M -
This is the old estate of the Oxenstiern family, famous in
Swedish history. It had the only real park I have yet seen on
a private property: a grove of magnificent oaks and beeches,
broken up with knolls and lawns, and little lakes and arbors,
stretching down to the very shores of the sea. It is laid out
in the best English style. The owner, a hearty hospitable
soldier, took us over it, showing with much pride the grand
trees. Some were as fine as any in our American forests.
Only a few elms were to be seen; the trees were principally
knotty oaks, with rich foliage, and the compact, clean, muscular beech, with its twinkling little leaves. As is usual, an
orangery and conservatory, were in one part of the grounds.
The European chestnut begins here to grow in the open air.
The house or Hall is a quiet unpretending building, with
large old halls and chambers. We spent some time examining the paintings, of which, the collection though small, is
valuable. The choicest were some pieces of the Holland
school.
899




400           THEE EN oR  E-FOLX.
Our reception in the family was kind and hospitable. We
dined with them; the table was served in the usual Swedish
style, with much simplicity, for people occupying such a
position.
CARLSCRONA
We found here a very good inn, and after a comfortable
night's rest, proceeded to see the great attraction, the drydocks and the shipping.  The town itself is a pleasant one,
with the air of a fortified or military station.
Two young noblemen, officers, to whom  we had letters,
accompanied us, and were very polite and attentive. They
both spoke English, and had visited America as common
sailors.  Many of the officers, they say, serve in foreign
marines for the sake of the experience, and some even in the
merchant service. We found five new frigates in dock, and
we went aboard of one line-of-battle ship, the Carl Johan,
fitted with a screw propeller.  Our officers complained much
of want of service. They had hoped for a brush with Russia.
The service is overrun, they say, with young men from the
noble families, who merely come in to find a berth, without
really taking an interest in their profession.
SWEDISH FLEET.
The force is 1300 guns, on 10 two-decked line of battle
ships, 6 frigates, 4 corvettes, 3 brigs, 100 gunboats (schooners), 125 other boats, 7 mortar-boats, 9 steamers, 21 messenger vessels.
Persovznel.-228 officers, 35 marine regiment officers, 280




SWEDISH  MAtRIN E.                     401
petty officers, 40 non-commissioned officers, 255 boys, 400
apprentices, 150 gunners, 800 marine soldiers, 5694 seamen
(furnished from naval militia), 2427 extra seamen, 25,000
conscripts (liable to service in time of war), 2500 merchantseamen (similarly liable).
Officers. —I admiral, 1 vice-admiral, 13 rear-admirals, 5
commodores, 10 commodore captains, 20 commanders, 60
captain-lieutenants, 60 first lieutenants, 60 second lieutenants, 30 supernumerary lieutenants.
MINISTRY OF MARINE.
In Sweden, the Minister of Marine is member of the
Council and the Cabinet, and adviser of the king in naval
matters.  He issues the Royal orders, and has chief command in the navy, and makes all appointments, high or low.
There are two bureaus in this ministry.  One for affairs
before the Council of State, called "Bureau of Office Affairs," the other for affairs of ordinance, called "Bureau
of Command."  The chief of the first may be a civil officer,
appointed by the king; the chief of the second must be a
naval officer.
Under the care of the Ministry of Marine is an institution, called "Administration of Marine Affairs," which is
in the form of a College, and consists of a chief (an admiral), two other superior officers of the navy, and one
member of the civil service.
This is subdivided thus: 1. Bureau of Construction;
2. Bureau of Pilots; 3. Bureau of Maritime Charts; 4. Bu.
reau of Accounts.




402           THT E  No  sE -FO L 1.
The duties of Naval College are, general inspection of
naval affairs, control of pecuniary means, of material and
of workmen at all stations, superintendence of naval establishments, purveying of clothing and provisions, hydrographical operations, pilots, lights-houses and signals.
Corps.-Officers of navy, officers of construction, officers
of mechanicians, sub-officers of marine, with sailors, workmen, and coast-guard.
Budget (1853). —$571,700 per annum, voted at every
Parliament fbr three years.
Education is obtained at the Military School at Carlsberg. A corvette with fourteen young officers is annually
sent out on an expedition for ten months, to train for
service.
THEE MERCANTILE MARINE.
In 1840, the Parliament made an appropriation of $4,000
per annum for naval schools, which they subsequently increased to $5,500 for the purchase of books and instruments. The Terms are from May to October. At the end
of each, examination qualifies for masters and mates of
Lst and 2d class.
Masters of 1st class can command in all seas. Masters
of 2d class can only sail to European and Mediterranean
ports.  No mate can sail beyond the Baltic without passing
two examinations.
One of the most useful and practical naval institutions
in Sweden is




TIIE  SEAMA N's  HOUSE.                 403
THE SEAMAN S HOUSE.
Each port must have one, under the government of a committee, a magistrate and a sea captain, called Director. The
duties of the director are to register all vessels belonging to
the town, to control their certificates, to see that they pay
the poor-rates to the community, to provide that every vessel
leaving port be duly provisioned and manned, to settle petty
differences, register apprentices, give a list of crews, and to
see that they are regularly paid off in proper proportion.
He is also charged with the promotion of sailors, according
to their merits. When a commander wants a crew, he
goes to the Seaman's House, and chooses mates and men
in presence of the Director.  The latter makes a list of
the crew, on which every person writes his name. After
this, the captain, mates, and men are mustered at the Town
Hall, and swear in the presence of the magistrate to obey
the navigation laws, etc., etc. The list is signed by the
magistrate, and from that moment, the crew belong to the
ship for the time and distance agreed.
When a crew is paid off from a ship, the Director of
the " House" musters them in presence of the commander,
and receives them back from his hands.
Every seaman enrolled in the Seaman's House is freed
from  conscription, except in war, when he is bound to
serve in the royal navy, if called upon, having the usual pay.*
* These statistics and facts have been gathered by the Hon. F.
Schroeder, Minister at the Swedish Court, and furnished to the author.




404            T    E      R o    E - F   o L K.
It appears from all this, that in the education of a Swedish seaman, knowledge of a ship's husbandry, the stowage
of cargo, exchange, etc., etc., is reckoned a necessary part.
The Seaman's House also gives great facilities for ascertaining the character of both crew and commanders on the merchant ships. There is less probability of tyranny, or of
mutiny, with such an arrangement.  Many of the first class
merchant-vessels are commanded by Lieutenants of the
Navy, who take the place for the sake of the experience
gained.    *    *    *    *    *
BLEKING.
Sept..' —Tle ride south from Carlscrona is a beautiful one. It is like journeying through a park; the landscape is a gently undulating country, with scattered groves
of oaks and beeches. The crops look finely, and the grass is
more rich than any I have yet seen in Sweden. With a rich
afternoon sun-light gleaming across through the branches,
and the distant aspects of the sea, it makes a ride to be remembered.  Posting is now very agreeable.  I obtained in
Kalmar, an easy old carriage, looking like a cast-off family
chariot, which moves on very comfortably, so that in
uninteresting districts we can post all night.  At every
Station, usually once in seven miles, we get a fresh pair.
of horses.  The carriage is to be sent back by steamer
from AMalmb. A gentleman from Kalmar has kindly offered
to accompany as guide and travelling-companion.  We sent
on orders for horses at certain hours, and as usual, are some




SAN IA.                     405
two hours or more, too late, so that at every station, we
pay wait-money; a thing which slightly exasperates my companion, though I bear it philosophically. We are now in
Bleking, the outskirts of the old Danish kingdom of Scania
or Skonia, the provinces which have so often been lost and
regained in Swedish history. Here flourished the first Northern civilization and commerce, when Germany and Jutland
were covered with dense forests.*
Smaland separated this kingdom from its enemy and
rival on the North, Gothland.
They tell us that even yet, the feud rages between the
Blekingers and the Smalanders. The only traces one can
see of the Danish influence, are the high thatched peaked
roofs of the cottages, and the smaller number of out-houses
-both of which are peculiarities of Holstein at this day, as
compared with North Sweden. The accent of the people is
decidedly different.
I was never so impressed, as on this whole Swedish journey, with the multitude among men of the workers in the
ground.  WVe speak of the scholars and gentlemen and
ladies as the important class, and in one view they are. But
after all, what mere exceptions are the rich and the cultured, if one considers the great masses of humanity. The
millions in all ages and countries, have belonged to the
ground, have tilled, and sown, and reaped in weariness and
much toil. When we think of the world, it should not be
as a world of shopmen, or priests, or gentlemen, but as a
* Geijer.




406           THE  No  SE-FoL K.
world of weary, begrimed, toilsome workers in the old
mother Earth.
This is the rich part of Sweden. From these provinces
she begins to export her wheat, though, but a few years ago,
she never raised enough for her own consumption. This
prosperity is partly due to improved agriculture, and partly
to the fact that the wheat is so much less used for distilling.
Sweden, owing to the bad system of culture, has always
had a difficulty in supporting her population on her own
grains.  In ancient times, many a king has been immolated
or murdered after a bad harvest. It was this cause uudoubtedly, which sent off so many of her sons in the early
piratical expedition of the Vikings.
One of our drivers to-day was the owner of the horses,
and a wealthy Bonder.  He was a Secretary of the Parishmeeting, and my companion always addressed him by his
title. We were both much struck with the number of
drunken people we had met, both in Carlskrona and the
neighborhood —more than I had seen in all the rest of
Sweden. Our driver explained it from the influence of the
sailors at the city, and from the fact that there were no
local laws to prevent it, as in Kalmar and other places.
The tax fixed by government could not in this region quite
put an end to distilling, though it had much checked it.
"Does IIerr Socken Skrifvaren know of much emigration to America from these parts?" said my companion.
"Many hunclreds fro-m my village," he answered. "Fools I!




A  DRI  E R.                   407
they could do much better at home. Sweden wants every
one now. But it is this cursed Liiseri (Methodism)!"
" Why, how is that?  What have Ldsarne to do with
it?"
"They turn every one upside down," he answered. "They
make disturbances and break the law, and then, Herr
Resande (tra,veller) knows, they must be punished; and so
they go to carry on their accursed doings in America.;Fdrbaanra dem! Damn them I"
"You see," said my companion, "no one believes in
Lssasrize here."
"But will Herr Socken Skrifvaren tell us, if these men
are really immoral?" I asked.  Hle was obliged to own
that they were not, so far as he knew —though he had
heard they had night-dances naked together, and certainly
they did not believe in the holy Church I
Miy companion then inquired for me, of his opinions
of his pastor. His replies were substantially the same
which we hear everywhere, and fully justified the _Lisarfie.
A selfish, grasping, worldly man, who had gone into his profession for the purpose of getting a comfortable living-so
he, in effect, pictured his spiritual guide. This fact and the
MVIethodism he did not put together at all; and we did not
press him on the conclusion.




CHAPTER  XXXVI.
CASTLE L ——.
I HAVE just been over Castle Lo, the property of a
gentleman whom I have been visiting. The family resides
in the summer at a country-seat among the trees, a few
miles distant, and our host, Count X., has driven us over to
see the old castle.  All this part of Sweden is a perfectly
level plain, sprinkled with innumerable boulders and small
stones, which have  been  brought here from  some distance. The castle is built in the midst of this plain, begirt
with a moat and some pleasant old gardens, and a few large
trees, carefally planted and guarded. The building is a
turreted brick structure, with somewhat of the pointed
Gothic in the style, built around three sides of a square.  It
has been burned and rebuilt three times, and the Count
showed us vet in the doors the bullet-holes from the last
attack, made, if I understood correctly, by an assault of the
Danes in the Middle Ages.
With all the antique appearance of the outside, the
rooms within are light, cheerful, modern apartments.  The
floors are the parquette flooring of different woods, with
rugs or pieces of rich carpet in the centre.
408




C A S T LE-F U  N I T UR E.           409
The ornaments, bas-reliefs and small objects of art are
graceful and pleasing. The paintings are principally portraits.  One of the saloons is crowded with them, making a
history of its walls.  The family is an old Swedish family of
distinction, and below each picture are names loaded with
historic titles. My companion, who is familiar with the
detail of Swedish annals, calls up something about each;
and the Count, who at first courteously said nothing of the
paintings, is drawn out to speak of the old faces.  One had
been killed at Paltowa; others had the costume which they
wore in a glorious imprisonment in Siberia; others belonged
to the unforgotten clays of Gustavus Adolphus; anothera lady's face, blooming with exquisite beauty-was the
face of the renowned beauty at the court of one of the
Gustafs.
Some of the fair faces of the past were beautifully preserved, the coloring of the portraits as fresh and life-like
as on the cheek of its original. Courtly or historic anecdotes of each were related by the Count, and the hour with
the old paintings was an hour with the old Swedish history.
In one of the large saloons was a full length portrait of
one of the present young princes. The most noticeable thing
about the furniture of the rooms was the draping of the
doors from one drawing-room to another, so that the hard
angular character of the door-way was relieved. We visited
the library and study-little snug, practical-looking rooms,
where Count X. experiments in natural science. He showed
me there a secret seal of a society of Free-Masons, bearing
date  idorlat Rosen, 1802-founded by B -, of Hesse.  He
18




410           TH E  NOR S E -- FOLi.
had obtained it direct from reliable parties; and it bore out all
that the worst enemies of the Masons have ever said of them.
It was an exceedingly lecherous and coarse representation.
The Masons are making great progress at this time with
the nobility of Sweden. The princes themselves are said to
have joined the society.
In one room, was shown us, preserved in a glass case, an
antique drinking-horn set with silver in the style of the
ancient horns of the first Norse period, preserved in the Museums, together with an ivory or bone whistle.  A curious
legend is connected with this, which I will relate as it was
related to me. The book of visitors to this precious relic was
handed me, and I put my name in it-the first American's
that had been written there.
We drove back in an easy little brougham with two powerful horses. The count's place is one of the most unpromising situations in Sweden, in the midst of this vast plain
-on  one side, the debris of a torrent of stones which
have been scattered over all this country, and on the
other, a desert of sand which previously had been encroaching steadily on his cultivated land.  The stones he has
made into walls, and has cleared where it could be done;
the sand he has resisted by plantations of pines. The work
which he has done in his life-time, in sowing or planting
forests where had been barrens, and giving shade and valuable wood to his posterity, is wonderful. We rode mile
after mile through forests of pines, and over hills with wellgrown beeches and oaks, all of which he himself had had
set out.  On one estate, there were 75 Tunland cultivated




TH  E  ESTATE.                   411
when he came, now there are 950.  He has planted over
4,000 acres with valuable trees.
The estate is the largest, I suppose, in Southern Sweden.
It contains three or four churches and a number of schools
which were built or are the property of Count X.:He himself is a historic character in Sweden.  HIe was in high
public service under King Charles XIII., preceding Bernadotte; had a share in the Revolution, was minister under
Bernadotte, and, I think, was once in the cabinet of the
present king. But for some cause, he suddenly left public
life many years since, and has devoted himself ever since to
the care and improvement of his vast estate, and to the pursuits of natural sciences.  He has been frequently recalled by
the voice of the nation and of the king to the public councils,
but he has held himself in retirement. His title is strictly high.
er than count-Excellenz, which corresponds perhaps to duke.
The approach to the villa is through quite formal avenues,
of beech, I think, bringing us first in sight of the high-peaked
brick barns, inlaid with wooden beams, like the timberhouses of England.  On one side is a garden and a thick
grove of trees, with pleasant walks along a clear little
stream —all laid out by the proprietor.  The villa has the
usual arrangement of three or four separate little houses,
each hardly two stories high.  The guests in one, the servants in another, and the family in a third.  An especial
servant has charge of us and our apartments.
Several guests and their families-officers and noblemen
-are visiting the house, together with some very agreeable ladies. The old nobleman is a complete host —a very




412            Tul NolRsE-FoLK
courteous and dignified gentleman, but adapting himself
to every one wonderfully, and giving you the impression
of great sincerity and character.  He speaks English, French
or German, as the words come most readily to him.
The style of living is generous and simple, much like an
English country gentleman's, or that of our American families of wealth, whose property is mostly in the country.
With less extravagance of wines perhaps, but with a certain
greater ease and quietude of house-keeping —a result of the
training of the servants.  I understood that there were fifty
or sixty of these on the place, but probably only a small part
are house-servants.  These are all under the charge of an
Inspector, who keeps the business-accounts of the estate.
The meals are much more English-like than is customary in
Sweden, and are served by two servants in liveries. Breakfast is taken together at nine, and not in the bed-rooms as
in Germany.
The family and guests are thoroughly well-bred, simple,
lively and unconscious, entering into a stranger's objects
with much sympathy, and making the home genial by their
kindness and informality.  It is noticeable that they always
talk with each other in the language which the guest uses
at the time.
We were sitting out at twilight under the beech trees,
and one of the ladies said in English, "We find the American-English much faciler to understand than the English we
usually hear.  We have observed it before."'
I said it might be that our habits of public speaking in




AM IT S I C.                 413
America gave us greater distinctness of enunciation.  The
English considered us finical in this.
" We get most charming sensations of America from AMistress Bremer," said one.  "Oh, those forests primeval Ibut she must paint en beat!  Surely there cannot be so
many wonderful personages in any one country I Are you
so musical as she thinks?"
I thought American taste was improving each year, and
asked what music was best liked in Sweden.  "Oh, ever
the German!  Some play the Italian, and it is easier
indeed; but for most, the classical German is the favorite.
It suits our serious Norrland-nature."
I spoke of the interest I had felt in the old superstitions,
and of my impressions of the Swedish character, as connected with them.
They allowed that they were true generally-that a great
proportion of educated people did still believe them.  "But
you should hear our legend-the legend of the whistle and
horn which you saw in the castle!" said one of the ladies.
"No one is permitted to cast a doubt on that I  Tell it,
F     I"  After a little struggle, a young girl was induced
to relate it in French.
THE LEGEND.
There was once a terrible giant in V', who lived in
the mountain, way up at the west there.  While he lived
there, some pious Christians built a church near the sea,
at.  It was fifty miles off, but the giant could not
help hearing the singing of the holy nuns, and it grieved




414           T H E  No  SE-F o L K.
him. Every morning and evening when he listened to the
chantings, he became more angry, until at length lie took
up a great stone, as large as our house there, and threw it
with all his might at the church. But it broke in two without reaching it, and one piece fell not far from here."
" You passed it this morning," interrupted one.  "It was
the large boulder near the village."
For a long time, no one observed anything especial
about this stone, and it was not suspected that the wicked
mountain-folk-the little Trolls- came there. But at last,
stories got about, that the elves were in the habit of raising
this stone on golden pillars and dancing under it. Fr'
Cisela, a grand lady, lived then in Castle L —, and she
heard of this, and became possessed with a great desire to
know something of the wicked elves; so she promised gold
and jewels to any one of her huntsmen who should visit
this giant's stone when the Trolls were there. The Trolls,
you know, always dance on Christmas morn, between cockcrowing and daybreak..At first, no one ventured to go,
but finally a brave young huntsman volunteered, and on the
Christmas eve rode forth to the stone. When he came near
by, he heard the noise of music and dancing, and he saw
the great rock raised up on golden pillars, and bright lights
underneath.  And there were a host of beautiful little
fairies, dancing and singing and drinking, as if mad; they
wound about among each other, and flew and whirled like
the leaves in a whirlwind; and there was one of them who
was the most beautiful creature ever seen.  She had a
diamond-crown, and a little whistle in her hand; it was the




T u    L E GE I:ND.            415
queen of the elves. When she saw the bold huntsman, she
ran towards him and welcomed him, and he was so charmed
with her, that he hardly knew what he was doing. She
then told her servants to offer him drink, and they brought
him a horn, full of some not very pleasant-looking drink.
IHe was just tasting it, when his good angel whispered to
him that he would forget everything which he had been,
and become only an elf, if he tasted. So he dashed the
drink on the ground, snatched the whistle from the queen,
and spurred his horse away. Where the drops fell on his
horse from the horn, the hide was burnt. The elves followed
him close, shrieking and crying fearfully. He crossed himself often, and the horse flew like the wind, so that the elves
did not quite reach him. When he'came near the castle,
the portcullis was down, and the Lady and her guards stood
waiting for him. They knew if he could only get over the
moat, the Trolls could not injure him. At length, he sprung
upon the bridge, was over, and it was drawn up. Then
there stood on the other side, the wicked elves, moaning
and crying piteously, " Give us our horn and our whistle!
Oh! give them to us!" And the queen of the elves came
forward, and offered countless gold and diamonds to the
Lady Cisela, if she would give up the horn and whistle.
But the Lady replied, "Thou wicked imp! thou shalt never
have again thy horn and whistle! They shall remain here,
and thou mayst cry, till ye all come to judgment at doomsday!"  Then the queen said that if they kept those elfin
things, they must guard them  carefully, for when they
should be taken away, then should the castle be burned




416           TH E  N   R SE-FOL K.
down. And Lady Cisela answered, " Begone, ye goblins I
In the name of Jesm, begone I" and at that word they all
vanished into the air, and were never seen any morethough sometimes now, the servants think they hear them
round the castle. The horn and whistle were kept and
exhibited; but in a few days, the bold huntsman who got
them, and his horse beside, died very suddenly.
The horn and whistle were in the castle a good many
years, until the Danes attacked it and carried them both off
to Denmarkl-then it was that the castle burned down the
first time. So the things were brought back, and as they
were visited and touched by so many people, they became a
little injured, and were sent away to be mended —when suddenly the castle burned down again. A third time, a hundred years later, people forgot the elfin queen's warning, and
sent away the relics for some reason or other, and again the
building was burned. The family that owned them-the
Jlftands-died out; and now they are in grandfather's
family and kept in a glass case, so that nobody can touch
them I! So there you have my long goblin story!"
"Bravo! Good! Good I" we all answered.
I found afterwards a long-printed narration of the legend.
The story is placed in 1490, I think. The relics are genuine
antiquities, all scholars allow.
THE TROLLS.
My friends gave me many curious facts of these little
people, as the peasants believe them. There are such a
number of superstitions about them, that some scholars




F A I R I _Ns r                 4-17
have thought that the primeval inhabitants of Sweden
might, possibly, in some of the deep forests, have survived
till modern timnes.
The boulders and rocking-stones, so common on the
plains of Sweden, are always attributed  to the Trolls.
Usually, it is their hatred to Christianity which has led
them  to throw these. at some church.  There are a number of families which still derive their descent from  the
mingling  of the children of men with these creatures.
Many of the Trolls are seen on the uninhabited rocks and
islets which abound on the coast of Sweden, whither they
were driven by the early Christians.
"Some sailors belonging to Bohuslkn," says Thorpe, "when once
driven on a desert shore, by a storm, found a giant sitting on a stone
by a fire. He was old and blind, and rejoiced at hearing the Northmen,
because he was ihimself from their country. He requested one of them
to approach and give him his hand, "that I may know," said he,
"whether there is yet strength in the hands of the Northmen." The
old man, being blind, was not sensible that they took a great boathook, which they heated in the fire and held out to him. He squeezed
the hook as if it had been wax, shook his head, and said, "I find
the Northmen now have but little strength in their hands compared
with those of old."
A  noble family in Sweden, the Trolle, derive their name
from a bold deed of one of their ancestors, who struck off a
Troll queen's head that offered him magic drink in her horn.
The horn was long preserved in the Cathedral of Wexii.
It is supposed that the offspring of the Trolls are countless, but that they die when it thunders.
18*




IHAPTE R XXXVII.
TABLE-TALK.
WE rode to-day over parts of the count's estate, and
visited the schools and churches.  He has the "patron's
right" with regard to the clergymen; the peasants tell him
they would not wish him to give this up to them; they like
his selections.  One of the churches was built on the banks
of a lake, in very tasteful style.
We were in a little industrial school, managed by Countess X., where the children of the Torpr'e —the  poor
tenants, who do so many days' labor in the year for their
rent-come for instruction. There were classes in weaving,
sewing, and in out-door garden-work.  As we entered, the
eternal catechism was being droned over. I made some
remark on the Swedish method of religious instruction as
we were driving away. The count shrugged his shoulders,
and said something about its being impracticable to go
against the current of yourl day in such matters, and the
subject dropped. These day-labor tenants seem a wretched
class-as miserable as our Irish shanty-population at home.
WVe passed their cabins, set down amid this drift of boulders
and stones, and girded with a few acres of the most hopeless
418




JurI-rY.                   419
land for tillage which can be found in barren Scandinavia.
They are frequently tenants of tenants, and pay, by a listless
doing of jobs here and there, for their wretched tenements
and grounds.
The old Hi6feri, which used to prevail in Scania, in which
the peasants were bound to work like serfs, is now entirely
abolished.
I was asking our host his opinion of the famous jurysystem among the Bonders, of which I have spoken so
much. He believed it excellent as a means of education in
legal matters, but had no confidence whatever in the jury in
any country-not even in England, where he had personally
seen its workings.
He told me of an instance lately in an adjoining county,
where these jurymen had unanimously voted against the
judge, and so carried the day. It was in a singular case.
A congregation found its pulpit vacant, and summoned in
one or two candidates to preach. One of these preachers
in his sermon held out certain pecuniary inducements for
accepting him. This was considered a fit cause of legal
complaint, and he was called before the Ti'ng, and condemned
thus by the jury. What the punishment was, I did not hear.
In driving through one of the Count's woods, the forestmaster met us, riding in top-boots on a hunter.  He was an
old soldier, I believe.  His manner, as that of all the followers, was very appropriate towards the old noblemanmanly, but full of regard and respectful feeling. He took
us to a beautiful point of view; and showed with pride the
multitude of trees he limself had set out.




420            Ty      N N  ORS E-   OL.
DINNER.
The same customs prevail here of handing out to dinner,
as elsewhere, in formal companies. The conversation is
very lively; wine is scarcely drunk; the dishes are much the
same as I have hitherto described.  While at table, the
mail came, and with it the Stockholm paper, containing a
long article on the latest news from Ka'nsas! which was
eagerly read to me-every one wishing full information on a
struggle in which they began to feel the deepest interest.
The action of the House of Representatives in refusing
supplies to the army, was read from the same journal.
Here the military men at table were very inquisitive, and
fearful for the stability of our institutions.  I put the
defence on the strong constitutional ground, so often shown
forth in English history, of holding the purse-strings against
the oppression of one part of the government.
Everywhere in Sweden is the deepest interest in these
questions.
Mention was made of Lallerstedt's new work, "La Scandinavie, ses esp6rances et ses craintes "-a book written in
French by a Swede, strongly on the French stand-point,
attacking Bernadotte for his separation from Napoleon, and
urging the union of Sweden with the allies in the Russian'War. The designs of Russia on the Northern coasts of
Norway are very vividly pictured; and the great loss in
giving up Finland, in the disastrous years of 1809 and'10.
The writer urges that a vigorous campaign, pressed with




<(>L1C   T  \ AR        {  A xoWR  I   ANi.    4:Ithe superior generalship of Bernadotte on the flank of the
Russians through Finland, would have made Napoleon's
invasion of tRussia cerbain to succeed, and would have established Sweden in its original unity, as master of Finland,
Sweden, and Norway. The present union of Sweden and
Norway, he considers of very little advantage to the former
country —Norway having most of the benefits with very
little of the burdens, while Finland was an integral part of
the Swedish kingdom.
The Count had figured historically in these scenes, and so
far as he expressed his opinion, agreed with the view of
most persons outside of both France and Sweden-that
Bernadotte's policy was justified by the results. The French
Empire was an accidental, temporary thing; but the relations with the great Powers would probably be permanent
and beneficial, both to Bernadotte's family and to Sweden.
It was objected by some one at table, that these late
papers of Schinkel (the published Correspondence of Carl
Johan, issued under his own supervision) proved the King
thoroughly selfish in his policy.
"You see from them, he had his dynasty, not Sweden's
interests, at heart.  It is very plain that his ambition was
to win the imperial crown of France, not to make Sweden
a powerful kingdom."
"'And yet," answered another gentleman, " see what he
did make of Sweden. He found her plundered and despoiled, and just on the verge of utter destruction, and he
made her at least respectable, and gave her Norway."
"But," replied the first, " these very papers of Schinkel




422           T   uE   N  OIS E-FoLK.
show that "he had everything his own way, when he had the
conference with the Czar at Abo. Alexander was prepared
to yield Finland, if he pressed it."
"Still, he could never have held it," was the answer.
"What an eternal bone of strife would Finland have been
to us! Where would have been the natural boundary for
us to defend?"
"It is true," said a lady next me in English, "we have
not in Sweden a so great admiration as formerly for King
Charles John. He seems so self-looking-how call you?no  selfish."
" But a remarkable man I A wonderful man in many
respects," said the Count in German.  "IHe was by nature
an orator and a true citizen-king.  He liked to speak, and
he likaed the people.  Still, it was very difficult for us to get
on with him. At one time, it would be, with a fiery enthusiasm,'Moi-je smis Piepmblicain!  No such measure must
be proposed to me.' At another, when some parties had
offended him-' Les Rebelles!  They should be shot!' He
had great executive and strategic talent.  Schinkel shows
clearly that the plan of the campaign, even to the great
closing in Leipsic, was the King's.1"
A story was told here of Bernadotte, which has been in
print, though it is not common.
He was commandant of a town in Hanover, and happened to be present at a public dinner. An English officer
was at the table, who had served in India. Bernadotte and
the Englishman were recalling the campaigns, and at length




JB llA: IN A  o TT El:.          423
the officer related an adventure which had laid him under
lasting obligations to the- French.. He was attacking a
redoubt, where he was struck down and just on the point of
being murdered by some of the native troops, when a
French officer sprung from the hostile defences, dispersed
the assailants at the risk of his life, rescued him, and had
him tended afterwards with the greatest kindness. He was
never able to thank his deliverer, as circumstances called
the French officer immediately to another point.
Bernadotte listened with increasing emotion, and at the
close, unable to restrain himself, rose, threw his arms around
the neck of the Englishman, saying, "Ah! mon frzre!
c'e'tait moi! It was II I had that good fortune 1" And
he related to the astonished company that he had had the
opportunity to do the little service to an English officer in
India, but he had never met him till this day.
All were deeply affected at the coincidence, and the most
fraternal feelings were the result between the French and
English officers.
After retiring to his quarters, the Aide of Bernadotte
said to him, "Are you not mistaken, mon Gene,'al?  You
were not in India on that year; you were, you remember,
in so and so I"
"I know it, mon cher.  I never saw the man before or
heard the story.  But it was some Frenchman; and we
must keep up the glory of the great nation, you understand!  It would  not do to let such an  opportunity
escape!"




424           TFiET N  Rsc-FO L K.
Another gentleman, an old statesman, familiar with the
court of Gustavus IV., gave some droll stories of the
trouble they had with the King in his country palace, at
Drottningholm, near Stockholm.
There was a forlorn arbor in the grounds, where, after
dinner, the courtiers sat in sombre silence, and took their
coffee. It was looked upon as an abode of sorrowful spirits,
as the King liked no merriment or conversation in his presence. On the Sundays, the crowd always pressed into the
neighborhood of this arbor, and stared at the distinguished
party.  At first, the King would swear and send out a servant; then, as party after party came to gape and look, he
dispatched others-ministers and gentlemen; but it was
like keeping away a crowd from some wonderful shop-window in a city street. Wave after wave of population came
pouring in, and was only diverted by the rods of the ushers
and the requests of the gentlemen of the court. At length,
the King, with a fearful " Sacramzent!" rushed out himself,
small stick in hand, to keep back the vulgar mass, to their
immense amazement and amusement; and the ministers
were obliged to send for the guards to protect the arbor.
Bernadotte, on the other hand, liked nothing better, they
said, than to sit in these gardens and be stared at. He
never had any guards, and talked sociably with every one.
The dethroning of Gustavus IV., in 1809, was vividly
described by some who had taken part in it.  The whole
country had become so thoroughly disgusted with him and
his insane efforts to set Sweden in opposition to France and
all Europe, that a conspiracy among the nobles was neces



Ti E iREVOLUTION.                    425
sary to avert a revolution.  The nation had already lost
Finland through- his folly, and feared even for the existence
of Sweden as an independent government, if Gustavus was
allowed to go on in his reckless measures. The plans of the
noblemen opposed to the king were well arranged; the
guards had been bribed or removed, and all seemed certain;
when on the 13th of March, they rushed in on him in his
apartments, and Baron Adlercreutz demanded his sword.
The king is said to have drawn it with fury, and for a
moment there was danger of bloodshed. When disarmed,
there was still another moment of terrible suspense, when
the king, by a ir'se, escaped through a secret door, and
rushed out in the court-yard, to arouse those of his guards
who were yet faithful.  By good chance, a powerfull lifeguardsman of their own party met him just as he was bursting forth.  Gustavus had still another weapon, and drew it
upon him; but the soldier first threw his arms around him,
and thus holding him helpless, bore him within the palace
before any outcry was aroused.  Here he was confined, and
afterwards transferred to Drottningholm.  A  regenxt was
appointed, and in May, when the Diet met, he and his posterity were declared incapable of wearing *the crown, and
Charles XIII. was called to the throne.
The Swedish people have never forgiven this monarch the
disgrlaceful loss of Finland, nor the treachery in which his
admilral, Cronstedt, gave up the Swedish fleet, and the
almost impregnable fortress of Sveaborg, to the Russian
army.
I was much interested to find that the count and other




AS-d      T A i r  N o n s i; - Fo L. K.
gentlemen who had figured in those events, did not hold
Cronstedt for the thorough villain and traitor which the
majority of Swedes regard him to be. They considered him
weak; but they said the Russians, during the siege of
Sveaborg, managed to introduce Stockholm  papers and
forged letters, announcing the complete prostration  of
Sweden under the French emperor, and declaring that the
only hope was to yield everything to the Russians, and
secure at least their assistance; so that the admiral was
utterly deceived and mistaken.
They stated also that Cronstedt never received any
-marked honors or pay afterwards from the Russians, but
lived in retirement and disgrace.
Late disclosures show that the secret articles of the
treaty of Tilsit, in 1807, gave up Finland to Russia, and
that Denmark was to be compelled to make over her fleet
to France, and to join in the confederation against England.
*      *      *      *       *      *     *
In speaking of the question we had been at first discusslug, I mentioned a conversation I had lately had with one
of the most cultivated men in Sweden-a man of long
experience in public affairs, who said, I sincerely wish Sweden
could have been pu2t for three years ubnder Napoleon's rule!'"
They did not share my surprise at the sentiment. The
admiration for the French and for the Great Emperor, was
very deeply fixed in many Swedish minds.
I told Count X. that, to me, coming from a public man,
it seemed the most earnest confession I had yet heard of
the backwardness of Sweden in all good organization.




BENEFITS  OF  W EALTHT.                427
They would prefer temporary foreign conquest under an
intelligent despot, to the present antiquated, awkward, slow
machinery of government.
" There is not such a fmrore for the French in society
as there used to be," said a lady near me. " Of course, we
must take the modes from them; but in reading and such
things, we go now to England and America."
"Your health!" said the Count, drinking and rising.
"You see we have not the English custom  of drinking
alone, without the ladies.  Have you in America?"
As I have said before, the impression one gets of the
ladies of the upper classes in Sweden is delightful. We are
too apt, perhaps, in theory to decry the advantages of
wealth, though we overvalue them in fact. There are certain great benefits possible from it, and yet, by a happy
providence, they are all attainable in modern days without
extravagant means. I wrote at the time these words, and
they seem still true.
" Wealth (with rank) produces a kind of repose-a habit
of security and home-feeling, and a screened delicacy, which
is truly something worth.  It gives the habit of using the
best, and the custom of luxury (which is not of much
value), and more self or circumstance-trust, so that the
bearer has a calmness and dignity as of one controlling, not
controlled.  It does not give, as of course, taste, or quickness, or education; but it shields, it quiets the storms which
beat about the young growth, and takes away the coarse




422           TuHE  NGosr S-Fo        LK.
necessities, which may wear off a little of the delicacy of
the soul.
"One would suppose that a connection with a noble
historic past would pledge the inheritor to as noble action
in the present; and as we of New England feel yet the
earnest presence and heroic purpose of our national forefathers, so to the individual a cloud of witnesses, of generous and wise men, consecrated by history, of his own blood
and family, would be an impulse in the struggle for good.
It does not, however, anywhere appear to be the fact.
Even as, in America, many of the direct descendants of the
Pilgrims and the Revolutionary heroes, are among those
most recreant to liberty, so, the world over, has the mantle
of the past taken the place of its spirit, with those nearest
bound by blood to its heroism.
" That nature is the nearest complete which has the delicate touch, the sheltered fineness, and the sweet calmness of
good circumstances, with the robust habit of exertion, and
the use to unpleasant realities of poverty; and such natures
we believe to be found especially in America."
As I went to the guest-house at night, in the still moonlight, the wonderful repose of the old place seemed heightened by the monotonous chant of the night-watchman, patrolling in some part of the estate —
" H6r v/cktaren ropa!
Klockan elfva slagen 1"
" Hear the watchman cry I
Eleven o'clock is striking!"
Sleep is pleasant after such days, and Swedish beds are
good.




CHAPTER  XXXVIII,
SOUTH-SWEDEN.
ThE post-stations through Scania are so uncertain that
we were obliged to send F6rblud, or a messenger on horseback to order horses. If a mail happens to go through at
the right time, one can always send one's orders by it very
cheaply.  In this case, there was an addition of half the
expense to every station. We posted, the day after leaving
Count X.'s, about 70 miles south, over a flat, barren country, through moors with occasional patches of buckwheat
and potatoes surrounding the sparse farm-houses-the stormy
sea here and there visible on our left when we reached a
higher ground.
A depressing, monotonous ride. It proved fortunate that
we had ordered the horses, as a party of gentry, with four
carriages, had engaged ten horses at each station. They
passed us at one station, in very elegant travelling carriages
-the gentlemen themselves, in some of them, sitting on the
box.  It was evening when, in the rain and mud, we
reached Ystad, and were lodged in a kind of parlor at the
principal hotel, the bedrooms being full.
The hotels in South Sweden are certainly much better
429




430           THE  No  ssE-FoL Ke
than in the north-though still poor enough. Ystad is a
well-built, busy, little commercial town, on the southeastern
coast of Sweden.
A MODERN ESTATE.
We stopped the next day at Baron V.'s, to whom we
had introductions.  He is known as a nobleman who has
deeply interested himself for the peasants, having written a
book for them dedicated to a Bonder, and striven in various
ways to improve their condition.  The rumor is that his
efforts have not been met with much gratitude. The wealthy
freehold Bonders who live near him, do not like to have their
modern extravagant habits criticised, and have resented his
advice. They claim that they have the right to their silks
and champagne as much as the gentry.
The property of the baron is very pretty and new-looking
-a great contrast to the quiet old place we had just
left, with the settled air of antiquity about it. This is
such as an American would lay out if he were suddenly
placed in Sweden, with sufficient means:-a new brick and
stone villa-the two usual separate houses here added as
wings, so that the house surrounded three sides of a square;
a garden carefully laid out with new walks, among many
young trees, planted in the last ten years; and new brick
stables and barns, with high-pointed roofs, constructed on
the best modern principles. The only thing ancient was a
small grove of old trees, which had been religiously preserved. The whole estate was enclosed from the bare, treeless plain, with thick shrubbery.  The house had the same




EnDtCATION  OF P EASAN'TS.               431
modern air: handsome rooms, opening into each other on
the ground floor-a rich library of modern works-many
engravings from the best living German and French artists,
and a thousand tokens scattered about, expressed the life of
to-day. Our host was a travelled gentleman of considerable
culture.
iHe describes the Bonders in South Sweden as a class
rapidly improving in means, and with increasing desires to
raise themselves.  He thinks many of them are losing too
much of their old simplicity, and are aping the classes above
them. They are generally in favor, he adds, of the new
measures for education, and for building railroads.
I asked him about the Bonder to whom he had dedicated
his book.  He replied that he was a most remarkable man
-a person of much integrity and simplicity, and yet of
talent.  He had been member of Parliament, and had done
very much for his class. He was greatly respected through
all South Sweden.
We rode out afterwards in the neighboring country, and
visited somne of the schools which he or the peasantry had
opened. We passed, also, a new church, which the peasants were just building. He pointed out to us a number of
fine properties belonging to the Bonders. "You see that
large house with the high roof-that belongs to Eric S
a rich old fellow and proud. He likes our preacher-who,
by the way, is a son of the famous Tegner-but he will not
come there. IHe says he won't worship where there is some
one who can. look down on him.
"There's another good Gm;t (farm)!" said he, in German.




432           T  IE  N o i sE - F  o LI.'That man there is spoiling his son. He thinks he must
send him to the University, though he is hardly bright
enough for the plough.  If the Batcer would only first get a
little common sense, before talking of the Universities!"
"But they must come up!" I said. "You can't keep
them down 1"
"No: we do not wish to. But let them improve rationally. They need not complain; they are the aristocracy.
They have the power now."
The agriculture in this part of Sweden is very good.
The fields are generally under-drained; the crops looks full,
and the grain-stacks at the barns are immense.  This
increasing wealth among the farmers, is all from improved
culture Df the soil.  They still want, and are ready for,
improved machinery-especially for reaping and mowing.
The baron desired much a list of English and American
books, adapted for the people, which he might translate.
I gave him all I could think of. It is a pity that those
excellent early tales of.Miss Sedgwick, designed for working
people, should now be out of print.  The "Temperance
Tales," too, would be very useful in Sweden-though, from
all appearances, the country is no worse in respect of
intemperance, than most others.
We were hospitably entertained at the baron's-the
guest-house, with three comfortable warmed rooms being
allotted us, and a footman to attend to our wants. Very
delicate fruit-grapes and apricots and plums-were brought
in -at the edge of evening, from the conservatories. We
supped at 8 o'clock on a bountiful meal, and separated for




A  TUMULUS.                    433
the night, with many cordial expressions and farewells, as
we were to start away early the next morning.
MALMO.
On our way to this city, we visited the estates of some
wealthy Bonders-men living as rich farmers would with us,
plainly, but very comfortably, with many working people
about them.
Not far from Malmo, we passed one of the large tunmli,
where the old warriors, in the times of the Vikings, were
laid, and perhaps where Kelt and Finn far back in the
past have also burned or buried their dead. This hallowed
spot is now used for a porter-cellar, and public gardens are
laid out around it! 
At Malmo, we merely stopped to change horses and go
to a book-shop,. before starting for Luiid.  Among the
books for sale here, I found an English copy of Dred,
almost at the same time in which it appeared in America.
The new (English) Leipsic edition of American authorsHawthorne, Emerson, Curtis and others-was also here.
Malm6 is the capital of this province.
LUND.
An easy ride over a paved road of an hour and a half,
brought us to the old University City.  Of Lund, Geijer
says: "In the Sound, every summer of the ninth century
saw the fleet of the Islesmen, which drew an ample freight
19




434           T  E  No Rs E -F  L K.
of fish from  the teeming coasts, or brought back meal,
wheat and honey from the then celebrated Scanian fair,
which was held in the autumn. About the same time, Lund
is mentioned as a place of considerable trade, surrounded
with a wooden barrier, where gold or other property gained
by piracy was stored up for security, although itself a mark
for the attacks of the sea-robbers, who swarmed everywhere
in these streets."
Before the cession of this province, in 1658, to Sweden,
the town was the Metropolitan See of Denmark.
It has a quaint, picturesque aspect. The prominent object
is the old cathedral, an imposing and irregular structure,
founded in the eleventh or twelfth century. There are visible in it traces both of the Byzantine and the Gothic schoolperhaps even of three ages of architecture, Professor Brunius is at this time repairing and enlarging the building, with
great skill, apparently. Beneath it, in a kind of cryptused once as the scene of mysterious ftlneral rites, and for
the last ceremonial of catholicism-our friends showed us
two columns, with a human figure carved on each, one of a
man, and the other of a woman, with a child. The tradition is this: The holy Saint Lawrence was walking through
the wilderness, and praying that he might be able to build
a grand church to his God, when a giant met him and promised to grant his prayer, on condition of the holy man's
bestowing on him his two eyes, and the sun and moon. The
saint appears to have had no reluctance in promising, and
the giant went to work.  At length, when he had nearly
completed his labors, the holy father bethought him that




LE GE N D.                    435
he had these rather difficult wages to pay.  He became
alarmed, and knew not what to do. He wandered out alone
in the forest; and there, while in pious meditation, he heard
a giantess quieting her child, saying" Hush! baby, hush!
Finn, thy father, comes home to-morrow,
Then with the sun and moon shalt thou play,
And with the old saint's eyes!"
By this, he learned the giant's name, and of course at
once had power over him.
The giant and his wife found that they were betrayed,
and went to the crypt and seized each a pillar, to destroy
the church. St. Lawrence saw them, and, in the very act,
made the sign of the cross over them, saying, "Remain
there in stone till the Day of Doom I"  And there they
are still shown, each embracing a pillar.
The legend is an imitation of one of the old Eddaic
stories.  A Swedenborgian friend who visited them  with
me, said that they were mythical representations —of which
the old church is full.  The beastly and earthly passions
attempting to shake the temple of faith and purity, changed
and rendered lifeless by the power of the cross, the symbol
of Divine Love.
*       *       *       *       *       *
Lund is especially famous for its university, founded in
1668. Puffendorf was professor here, and Linnoeus a pupil.
It ranks perhaps second to Upsala.  The property belonging to it is large, being in great part the old estates and
rents belonging to the Catholic Chapter of Lund, transferred




436           THE  NO R S E - FO L.
to it by the King. With this-consisting of four parishes,
thirty prebends, and nine hundred pieces of land-it meets
nearly all its own expenses.  The professors are paid in
natural products.  Salaries, paid in grain, vary from the
value of one hundred and twenty dollars to eight hundred
dollars.  The Privat-docent, or tutor, is paid by his pupils.
The theological professors have a parish.  Even the layprofessors have sometimes parishes given them, though they
must of course take orders. It is not uncommon for a layprofessor* to be appointed bishop, as a reward for distinguished talents or character.
One of my best friends in Sweden, recently appointed
bishop, was formerly in a political office, and, if I mistake
not, a lawyer. Tegner, Professor of Greek Literature, in
Lund, and Agard, of Botany, were both made bishops.
The examination for the entry of students is said to be
strict. The course for theology is ordinarily two years, and
for other branches, three.  The theological student has an
additional examination to pass before the consistory, when
leaving the university, before he can enter on his profession.
THE {" NATIONS.9?
This division of the students occurs here, as in Upsala.
It is obligatory, and no young man can be matriculated in
the university, without being a member of the "Nation"
* An instance is related of an officer coming in boots and spurs to
the Swedish court, to thank his Majesty for being appointed a bishop!




THE  STUDENTS.                      437
from his own province.  Each Nation has its rooms, library,
reading-room, means of amusement and of study.  Here is
a very large, handsome building, with concert-hall, restaurant, and a number of reading-rooms, which belong to the
Nations, combined.
There are four degrees in these voluntary bodies-seniores,
jmfniores, recentiores, and novitii.  To pass from one to the
other, an examination is necessary before the class above.
The Nation chooses among the professors its own Inspector, or general superintendent, who signs its acts and
approves its decisions, and represents it with the academic
consistory; it also chooses from its own seniores, its cunrator,
who is a kind of secretary and treasurer.  Every student
intending to pass his examination before the faculty, must
first bring a certificate from his Nation of his conduct and
studies. This body has a certain jurisdiction over its members, and even the power of expulsion, which is considered
worse than expulsion from the university.*
It is said that many of the students live on one hundred
and twenty dollars a year, without difficulty.
I made the acquaintance of some very intellectual and
accomplished men, among the professors here.  We had an
evening at Prof. B.'s, the most distinguished theological
scholar of the university, and eminent, also, as a preacher.
There is something wonderfully intellectual and ideal in
the expression of his face, and he impresses one as a
* Marmier —Les Universit6s Su6doises. (Les Lettres sur le Nord.)




438           TH E  N R I- F OL.
profound and scholastic mind. Yet I was disappointed,
that a man of such world-wide culture should cling so
closely to the political idea of the Church.  I have met no
theologian in Sweden so despotic and ecclesiastical in his
theory.  He listened to my rather frank expositions of the
American system, with much respect, though apparently
not so much caring to discuss them, as to get exactly our
stand-point. In the course of the conversation, my friend
spoke of the evils which all Sweden feels, in the mode of
paying the pastor's salary-that is, the collecting it by
fixed rates and little taxes among the parishioners, thereby
encouraging a covetous and pecuniary relation alone between pastor and people.  He suggested that it would be
better for the Government, or for the parish-meeting, to determine the amount and raise it.
Prof.-  at once objected-" Nothing must be done
which would weaken the legal claim of the Church to those
rates and salaries.  It was the Church's property."
I had understood he was engaged in reforming the liturgy
of the Swedish Church, and it did not occur to me that, in
this age, it could be but in one direction. I asked about
the formula for the " Forgiving of Sins, and we compared
it with that of the Norwegian liturgy. In the latter, the
pastor, by virtue of his authority, declares the sins forgiven.
In the Swedish, the absolution is more distinctly conditioned
on the inner repentance, though still "declared" by the
clergyman.  It appears that a quibbling controversy has
arisen in regard to this Absolution, and that this learned
Protestant scholar, instead of seeking to wipe the whole




A  DrscussIoN.                     439
declaration from the Swedish Prayer-book, as unworthy of a
rational age, is striving to make it stronger —to establish
that there is some mysterious, God-given, official power in
the man of cassock and white bands, to heal the fearful diseases of the human soul, by proclaimning them  healed! I
may be doing him injustice, but such his position seemed to
me; and I at once felt myself so far out even of the atmosphere of such ideas, that I listened to him in confused
silence.
Our conversation on msthetic and liturgical forms was
more satisfactory.  I told him that I felt on the -esthetical
side of religious expression, men were almost necessarily
one-sided.  Historical associations, circumstances, climate,
temperament, and other causes, make some classes of minds
sensitive to a certain kind of religious and mesthetic impressions, while to another kind they are utterly obtuse or
opposed.
This had struck me especially, comparing America and
Sweden.  Here, I found a ceremonial-a use of garments,
colors, and forms, and tones, which, by the side of our bare
and simple New England mode, seemed Popish and lRomanistic-even as the Bavarian ceremonial probably seemed to
him, going from Sweden. Yet, I could not doubt the essential spirit of worship in each and all.
He allowed the truth of this; but said, this was not true
of the historic idea of a Church. Each country and people
must have that for a full religious life; they must be connected to the past by direct spiritual bonds.  The. Church
was mysteriously transmitted from age to age through its




440           THE  NoRsE -FO L K.
ordinances and divinely-blessed ministers, even as a State is.
We had not this in America, and must, if we had not felt
already, yet feel the ill effects of the want of it.
The existence of sects with us struck him in the same
mournful light as I have before described among the scholars and clergymen.
We spoke of Bunsen, whom I felt to be one of the most
enlightened and comprehensive theologians of the day. He
did not like him, and spoke of the excessive individualism of
his "Signs of the Times" with severity.
Our conversation, lasting for a considerable time, was
very interesting, and I left him with a high respect for his
courtesy of manner and his culture, though differing utterly
from his theories.
I have alluded to my Swedenborgian friend, Dr. K.-a
most genial, agreeable person-a believer also in "Spiritualism " (so-called). It is a remarkable thing, that one meets
with so few Swedenborgians in Sweden. The superstitious,
dreamy temperament of the Swedes would seem to be just
the atmosphere for such visions to flourish in; still the
Revelation has now far more followers in England and
America, than in its own country.
I have repeatedly read the prophetic and figurative parts of
Swedenborg's writings. The profound convictions of his followers almost force one to look again, at what can inspire such
an undoubted faith. But never have I been able to finish the
perusal of his mystical visions; there is something incredibly
dreary in them. That he was a great man, a man of vast




S w le I) E N B O At G.          441
erudition- though his Latin is sometimes wretched-and of
much science, there can be no doubt.  That he believed in
the reality of his own visions, is probably equally true.
IIis theology, or rather Christology, as usually given by
his followers, seems to me entirely consistent with the
Apostolic standards, and to have within it, a life-giving
truth, which is not, however, Swedenborg's more than it is
Augustin's or Paul's-the MANIFESTATION of God in Christ to
men.  His followers, I have generally found very simple,
earnest, religious people.
We had a very pleasant dinner with Dr. K. and some
other agreeable friends, at Baron Gyllenkrok's.  The Baron
is an enthusiastic naturalist, and a well-known friend of the
poor.  His "Ragged School," near Lund, was probably the
first of the kind in Sweden.
He believes, with many now in different lands, that it is
bad and wasteful policy to be expending such sums on the
punishment and imprisonment of children, when they could
as easily, and at half the expense, be reformed. He has,
accordingly, collected the subscriptions for a building and a
farm, where the boys of the prisons, the outcast, homeless
lads of the cities, all those growing up under Christianity in
Sweden, yet outside of religion and civilization, should find
occupation, training, and a home.  The enterprise has
worked well.  The Swedish people is not one that recognizes its obligation towards that class of its society, as much
as some other nations; still Baron Gy]lenkrok has succeeded
in collecting considerable sums for his institultion,  WE




442           T  HEN o R    O L K 
found the building a large, comfortable structure, with a
fine garden, and fields about it. Some of the boys were
working in the garden as we drove up, and they ran to the
baron's carriage, presenting their cheeks for him to stroke,
and kissing his hand. The first room which we entered was
a work-shop for basket-weaving.  That and the garden and
farm-labor are the principal industrial occupations. We
visited, besides, the school-room and dormitories, and hospital-chamoer-all very neat and comfortable. It is strange,
with all the Swedish manufacture of iron, that they have
not arrived at the great improvement of iron bedsteads for
their public institutions.
One especial means of reformation employed in this
school, is rnmsic, and with the best effects. While we were
there, the boys were called together to sing and play for us.
One led, on a small organ, and the others sang  afterwards
there was an accompaniment of violin and flute, with very
good singing in parts.
Some of the songs were very touching, and our friends
could not, several times, refrain their tears. One gentleman
in our party, as he afterwards told the Baron, had once
been as destitute as any of these little outcasts; he had
known what it was to be on the verge of starvation, and
had seen his father, a laboring man, return home at night,
almost fainting, and shedding tears, because he had nothing
with which to feed his starving children. Of course, such
an education had given him an undying sympathy for the
poor and degraded, and fitted him for the post he so well
fills, of reformer.nd friend of the poor.




A G G G     S (  OOJ 0 L.          443
One pale boy, of not a bad expression of countenance,
who sang well, the warm-hearted Baron frequently caressed,
saying, "Poor boy!  Six weeks on bread and water, and
only ten years old!" This had been his sentence, it appears,
for some crime of poverty, until the Baron had begged his
release, and was now trying the effect of good fare and
kindness.
After a certain time spent here, the lads are scattered
abroad through families in the country; and thus far, the
results have been here, as almost everywhere in similar
enterprises, exceedingly fortunate.
The Truth is dawning on this age, that vice and crime
can be checked by other means than punishment; that
prison-bars and penal restraints for the young, are a disgrace on our Christianity, and show we have lazily neglected
the prevention, and must now employ cruelty.
Sweden would never be disgraced by such a number of
prisoners in her large cities, if she had more such reformatory schools.
There is one especial danger, however, in all such institutions. The managers are tempted to keep the reformed and
improved children together, for the sake of showing to the
doubtful annd worldly what can be done with this miserable
class.  They come to have their model wicked-reformed
children, who listen year after year to the tale of their former wickedness and their present piety, until they arrive at
a condition, if possible, worse than their first sensualism and
bold sinfulness-a conscious, canting, hypocritical state. Besides, this class of children are never improved by being kept




444           T H        o R S  -Fo   I.
in contact. They want most, the individual influences of a
home, not of an asylum. The object should be everywhere
to scatter them about through a country, placing them in
kind, religious families.
The Baron's school had performed one thing in which the
Swedish charitable institutions are usually shamefully deficient-the publishing of a succinct IReport of expenses,
receipts, and the various statistics of a reformatory institution.
At parting, the old Baron gave me a medallion of his
head.  HIe seemed really affected on bidding us good-bye,
feeling it was hardly probable we should ever meet again.
When the kind old man dies at last-and may the day
be far distant!-there will be many to mourn him in Sweden, but the sincerest tears, dropped on his grave, will be
from the children of the friendless and the poor.




CHtAPTER  XXXIX.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SWEDISH CHURCH.
THE Swedish church is even more than united to the
State.  The two are, as it were, parts of one whole, so
that, in communal matters, it is difficult to distinguish the
one from the other.
All public actions are celebrated with churchly ceremonies:-the crowning of the king, the opening of Parliament,
the sitting of the general court, the giving of university
degrees, and the consecration of schools. The whole school
system is under the care and guidance of the Church. The
religious instruction in all schools is always Lutheran, and
every academic term is opened with a theological examination.
All office-holders must belong to the Lutheran church; all
garrisons, hospitals, and asylums,-all forces of the nation,
by land or by sea, must have Lutheran chaplains, and shall
hold daily religious exercises.
In Sweden, it is the parish, not the commune, which has
the local government. The clergyman is, in fact, the governor of his little district, and a council (Sockenstnimma)
composed of the free-holders, members of the church, manage
with him all the worldly affairs. Baptism and confirmation
445




44.)           T iE  NO RSE-Fo,K.
are made indispensable to holding office, or even to civil
rights; and the punishments of the church have the weight
of legal penalties.  The government and the church intertwine and become one in a manner so minute as to be indescribable, except in the details which can only be given in a
traveller's journal.
The Swedish church cannot be called an Episcopal
church, nor altogether a Presbyterian or Congregational.
The best authorities* describe it as originally Episcopal in
form, but now more nearly approaching the latter churches.
Greater freedom exists within it than within the Norwegian.
It holds, in the main, the congregational right of selecting
its own clergymen, though the field of choice is limited by
the consistory. It is estimated that two-thirds of all the
pastors of Sweden are thus chosen; the other third being
appointed by patrons or by the king.
The church does not culminate in synods, but is rather a
union of free local communities, presided over each by its
own parish council. This council is founded on a feature of
government which existed before the time of Christianity;
the division of the country into petty provinces, each with
its centre of religious worship. It is a body having charge,
through its committees, of the schools, the relief of the poor,
the morals of the parish, the repairs of the church, the distribution of the church funds, and objects of a similar character.
Its principal committee,-composed of the pastor, vicar,
and from four to eight elders, occupies itself especially with
X Prof. A. J. Knas, and Schubert.




CnIIuRcH  CoM MITTEES.                 4A7
the neglect of, or offences against, the church ordinances,
such as absence from communion or severance of the marriage tie. This body originated in 1612 with the clergy
themselves, and was caused by the difficulty of treating of
moral offences of a delicate nature before the whole parish
council. At one time, it had come to manage also the
usual business affairs of the parish, but these have now been
transferred to another committee, (Socken niimnd), and it
retains its more churchly character.
Above the separate churches are the assistant of the
bishop (prost), the consistories, and the bishop. - The members of the consistories are the bishop, prost, and others,
both lay and clerical, chosen in part by the king, and in
part by the churches. The bishop is chosen by the king
from  those candidates presented by the diocese.- He is
considered a representative of the parishes, and, in the form
of ordaining the clergy, it is distinctly provided that his
authority proceeds from the trust of the churches, and
nowhere is any apostolical succession claimed for him or his
order. Both in the nomination of the clergy from the people, their duties, which are communal, not national, and in
their support-from  their parishes-it is attempted to be
shown that the clergy, though associated with, are not
servants of, the State.
The only bodies corresponding to the Presbyterian synods,
are the synods of *e dioceses, which act upon practical
questions concerning the churches and the clergy.
The real synod, and highest authority for the churchnext to the king, who, though not the head bishop;- exercises




448           THr   NO  SE- F OLK.
many Episcopal rights,-is the House of Clergy, in the
Swedish Parliament.
This is made up of the archbishop, who is ex officio president, and the bishops-twelve in number-together with
the leading pastor of Stockholm, and forty-four deputies of
the pastors or rectors, with a few deputies of the chaplains.
Besides these, there are one or two members from each of
the universities at Upsala and Lund, and two from the
Academy of Sciences at Stockholm. The chaplains, being
of the poorer class of the clergy, can only afford to send a
few deputies, so that the whole number of members of the
House is only about sixty-two. These sixty-two form onefourth of the whole representation of the Swedish Parliament, though having a constituency of only about 2,700.
They can block, by their resistance, any measure of importance, as changes in the Constitution require a majority of
every house.
Though the church has a strong congregational character,
the House of Clergy is very much under the royal influence.
One-third of the livings are either in the gift of the crown,
or of patrons who are closely connected with the government. The archbishop is appointed by the king from candidates proposed. The bishops, as has already been mentioned,
are selected by the same authority, under certain conditions,
and the remainder of the clergy are naturally much influenced by the wishes of the governmeo, holding as it does
the highest patronage in its hands. The king, also, has the
power of absolute veto on all bills which affect the change
or the forming of ecclesiastical laws.




IousE  OF CLERGY.                   449
The rectors alone are chosen as members by the congregation, from the three proposed by the consistory.
With this powerful royal influence, it is not strange
that the House of Clergy has been the great hindrance to
progress ill Sweden. Through the clergy, the crown can
also control the HBouse of Peasants, so that full half the
Parliament can generally be relied on as opposing any
efforts at radical reform.  It is a remarkable fact that in
the Swedish Parliament, the liberal bodies are the Houses
of Nobles and of Citizens.
The legislation of this clerical assembly has been such as
might be expected. There are laws and punishments in the
Swedish code against blasphemy, against the mocking of
God's word and -the sacraments, the falling away from pure
evangelical doctrine, the spreading of erroneous doctrines,
the violating the Sabbath, the despising of the sermon and
the holy communion.  It is only a few years since, that the
law was repealed which forbade the attending any other
church than the Evangelical Lutheran, by a Swedish subject,
on penalty of about five riks-dollars.
So late as March, 1855, a law was passed aimed at the
Baptists, which made it a misdemeanor, punishable with a
fine of one hundred and fifty-five riks-dollars, for a layman
to celebrate any of the sacraments, i. e., to baptize or administer the Lord's Supper.
In 1853, an artist was condemned to six months' banishment, because he had renounced the Lutheran faith.
No Jews are allowed either to vote or sit in Parliament;
and, before 1854, they were permitted to reside only in few
town, of the whole kingdom.




450           Tn T 1s N   o  l-F(I. K.
The attendance of clergymen on Parliament is a great
evil to their parishes, and I am  convinced is one among
many causes which have so weakened the spiritual power of
the Swedish church. It seems to me quite right that a
clergyman should occasionally have a part in legislation and
in political life; but thus to create a formal clerical diet, is
not only injurious to the people, but gives to one small body
an altogether undue and dangerous weight in the commonwealth.  It originated when the priest was the only enlightened man of the parish, and all public affairs needed his
assistance.  That time has passed by in Sweden, as elsewhere.
This whole parliamentary system of apportioning a representation to the clergy, is one of the strong-holds which still
support the almost incredible bigotry with which Sweden is
now so painfully eminent.  Where the Church is thus a
power in the State, she gathers around her the worst vices
of the world, rendered yet more dangerous by the cloak and
ceremonial of Religion.  Of course, there are beautiful
exceptions to this among the Swedish pastors and bishops,
instances of eminent piety and enlarged liberality; I speak
only in general of the tone and temper of the Church.
The Swedish writers who discuss this subject, seem to me
generally to commit one great mistake-they confuse the
Church with Religion.  Of course, religion should now and
evermore be united with all legislation and politics.  The,
ideal of a State is a society and government inspired with
Christianity.  But the  organized form-the Association.
whichl, with its ceremonial, its wealth, its history and its
men, is the meais of imparting religious life to the world



A   P REDICTrION.                   451
is quite another thing, and comes under the laws which
affect human conduct, and is liable to no small share of the
usual human temptations and dangers.  It is not Religion,
nor even organized religion; it is only an implement, and a
very imperfect one at the best.
Thus far, the experience of the world has shown that,
wherever this spiritual organization is gifted with political
power, and is placed in high official places, there will be
formality, hypocrisy, bigotry, and spiritual lifelessness. The
spiritual hope for Sweden lies now, we believe, in its despised
dissent-the poor and ignorant Ldseri (Methodism).
We believe it is no rash effort at foretelling, which should
say that this century will see the disruption and convulsion
of the Swedish State Church.  The Baptists and Methodists are laboring in quiet, earnest way, on the great principles of Christianity; and the very nature of these truths is
to shatter hierarchies, and to tear open formalism and
hypocrisy.  They have thus far suffered persecution, banishment, and reproach; but each day their cause grows
stronger, and takes deeper hold of the hearts of the people.
The upper classes, though hesitating to join the ignorant
Lasare, are equally unsatisfied with the clergy and their
teaching. The Swedish nature is one that cannot rest content with mere skepticism or with rationalism  unlighted by
religion. It is inclined to religious faith and consolation.
It is, by temperament, almost superstitious. It will be long
in taking to itself new supporters of its faith, or in adopting
new means for imparting religious life, but when it does, it
will be with a thorough renouncing of the old. The prc



452           THE  IN oRsE-FoLK.
sent clergy will become to the peasants as did the hierarchy
of England to the Puritans of the Revolution. They will
abhor and renounce them; and when the change comes, one
of the great things done will be the utter sweeping away of
the House of Clergy and all political powers belonging
thereunto. The Church will be left to rest where it should,
on the personal relations of pastor and people, on the affection of the one, and the abilities and self-sacrifice and piety
of the other.
May the day soon draw near of such spiritual liberty to
Sweden I




CHAPTER XL.
THE SWEDISH  PARLIAMENT.
THE Riksdag or Parliament is made up of four Houses:
1. That of Nobles; 2. Of Clergy; 3 Of Burgers or Citizens; and 4. Of Bonders or Peasants.
I. The House of Nobles consists of three ranks, counts,
barons and gentlemen. The senior member alone of a
noble family has a hereditary right to a seat. In 1850,
there were more than 1,500 noble families in the kingdom,
and 432 representatives of them in the Parliament.
The senior member will frequently give his seat to a
junior member either of his own or another family. A
proxy is sometimes sold by a poor noble, indirectly, to
government. An instance is related-though I am unable
to say on what authority —of the crown prince's buying a
seat during the late discussions on parliamentary reform,
and giving it to a friend to vote against the liberal party.
The nobles of Sweden are entirely dependent on the king
for what is their great ambition-promotion in the army
and navy. The President of this house is appointed by the
king.
II. The Houtse of Clergy has been described in the pre458




454           TtHE  NORsE-FOLK.
vious chapter.  It numbered, in 1850, 64 members, and represented 2,773 voters.  As has been shown, it is greatly
under the royal influence.
III. The House of Citizens.  This is chosen by all those
who are members of guilds or handicrafts in the cities, or
who belong to the magistracy. Many residents of the
towns with large properties, have no vote for this body, or
for their own local government, because they are not members of guilds.  Yet, by a strange inconsistency, they can be
elected to a city office.
In 1850, this house had 56 members and represented
13,496 voters. Five members were iron-manufacturers, and
represented 216 voters. The admission of these last is a
concession of modern years to the demands for reform.
IV. The House of Bonders (or Peasants). The class here
represented number seven-ninths of the whole people, or
about 2,250,000 persons. The voters, or freeholders, among
these in 185.0, were about 202,608. The representatives,
111; or 1 to 1,825 voters, and 1 to 20,270 peasants.  No
scale to the population was ever proposed. The President
and Secretary of this house are appointed by the King.
A motion was made, in 1851, in the House of Peasants,
that they should elect their own Secretary. It was carried,
and finally passed all four houses, but was vetoed by the King.
The pay of all the members who are elected, is settled by
their constituents. In the rotten boroughs, a bargain is
often made, and the cheapest are sent.
Every member of Parliament must have been confirmed,
eitheri in the Ref6rmed or Lutheran Churches.




I N E: QUALr I I T    S.          455
In 1845, the population of Sweden was 3,316,536, of
which the four classes represented in Parliament numbered
only 2,346,248-leaving about a million of persons* entirely
unrepresented, many of them men of property and intelligence, as, for instance, most of the members of the professions of law and medicine, literary people, the officers of the
army and navy, all persons engaged in public service, not
belonging to any of the four classes, and all day-laborers,
apprentices, and Jews.
SCALE OF PROPERTY,
Nobles (in 1850), 11,248; real estate (of which onethird is mortgaged to the Peasants and Burgers), $30,000,000.  Clergy, 15,000; real estate, $400,000.  Burgers,
70,000; real estate, $14,000,000.  Peasants, 2,250,000 
real estate, $68,000,000.
Each house has an equal vote-so that two classes, the
Burgers and Clergy, numbering 85,000, and paying a tax of
$145,000, have half the voice of the Parliament, while the
Peasants, with o0nly one vote, pay a tax of $2,500,000; and
of the unrepresented million, ~0,000 persons of fortune and
education pay a tax of $800,000, or nearly six times as
much as the two classes mentioned above!
The first business of each house is the appointment of
committees.  These are appointed by electors, chosen by
ballot for the purpose. The House of Peasants alone has
the power of choosing the committees directly.  The first is
*Hon. F. Schroeder-Dispatches to the Home Department.




456           T H E  NORS  - FOLK.
the Committee on the Constitution.  This, composed of six
members from each house, has charge of all matters of constitutional law.  It can indict the royal ministers before the
Superior Court, and report on the proceedings of the Cabinet.  The second, the Committee on Finance; the third, on
Taxes; the fourth, on Banks; fifth, on Statute-Law; sixth,
on general Grievances and Or'der.
After these appointments, thirty days are set apart for
the reception of motions and petitions, and what is called
the Relation or Report.
All reform-bills or fundamental changes in the constitution, must pass all four houses, and be carried over to
another session, before they can be finally passed.
One of the most extraordinary features in this remarkable
Constitution, is the deciding of questions, at the end of the
session, by referring them to what are called "Reinforced
Committees." These are made up of twenty or thirty members from each house, chosen by vote. They decide all
questions by ballot, and, in order to secure a decision, the
following singular means are employed.  After depositing
the ballots, one is taken out at hazard, to be reserved as a
casting vote. If, without the reserved ballot, a majority of
one should be the result, the ballot is destroyed unexamined,
and a decision is thus often obtained, as fortune may direct.
" Many vexed questions," says Mr. Schroeder, " after long
debates, have thus been settled by a game of chance.
Many changes of tariff thus, and, I regret to say, the game
has not always been a lucky one for American interests."
The session of Parliament cannot last beyond three




i PA  L I AMEN T A   BU  I NESS.    457
months, though it may be prolonged, by informing the
King, for one month longer, if the business be not completed. There have been instances of the Parliaments sitting nearly three years.
No member can be prosecuted or arraigned for words
spoken in the Parliament, except with the consent of fivesixths of his house. The Parliament usually meets once in
five years.
THE ROYAL POWERS.
As has been already mentioned, the King has power of
absolute veto in cases of constitutional changes.
With reference to the increase or laying of duties or taxes,
he has no power, even in the recesses of the Parliament. He
has liberty only to reduce them.
The executive government of the kingdom is in the hands
of the King and his Council of State, composed of ten members. The King himself chooses these —the only conditions
being that they should be born Swedes, of pure character,
and professing the Lutheran faith.
The King has the power of making treaties and declaring
war, after consulting with an extraordinary Council of State.
He is also the commander-in-chief of the forces by land and
sea. Strict provisions are made in the constitution against
his assailing the rights or interfering with the liberty of
conscience of any individual Swede.
The King has the power of pardon, though, by a singular
provision, it is left to the guilty person to accept it or not,
as he may prefer (Art. 25).
20




458            T H E  N  o  s  -F OL.
The IIigh Chancellor of Justice, the ambassadors and
principal officials of the kingdom, the bishops, the curates
of the royal parishes, and  the burgomasters, are all appointed by the crown.
No requisition of men or money can be made for purposes
of war, without the full consent of the Parliament.
GENERAL LAWS.
The liberty of the Press is one of the fundamental provisions of the Swedish Constitution, and has been further
guarded by subsequent acts.*t
At A trial by jury is provided in Sweden for any one accused of
abusing the liberty of the press. Thirteen persons are presented for
jurymen, of whom the judge names five, the prosecuting officer four,
and the accused four. The latter is allowed to challenge two-thus
reducing the thirteen to eleven, and leaving only seven nominated
by the court and public prosecutor.
F Free Press in Sweden.-Galignani's Messenger, of Paris, of 25th
December, 1856, contains the following news summary:
"The liberty of the press has just achieved a triumph in Sweden.
The four Chambers of the Diet have unanimously rejected a bill of
last session, which erases from the constitution and places in the
rank of ordinary laws that which guarantees the liberty of the press.
In the Chamber of Nobles, one of the ministers (AM. de Gripenstedt)
made a sort of apology for presenting the bill, saying,' Ministers are
men, and as such are liable to commit errors.' The rejection took
pltace almost without discussion, in the Chamber of the Clergy andi of
the Burgers. In the Chamber of Peasants, fifty members spoke
against the measure. The last speaker, in concluding, said:'The




ELHacTrIo0N'OF    IlNG.             459
In an elective kingdom, like this of Sweden, the right of
election of the king, in case of the extinction of the royal
line, is naturally left with the Parliament.
Careful provision is made for the impeachment of the
Council of State, if it is discovered that they have either
counselled the King to unconstitutional measures, or have
themselves transgressed the laws of the kingdom, or neglected, when informed of them, the infractions of such laws.
REGENCY.
No two hostile countries, placed in unexpected union,
could be more jealous and cautious in all their provisions
towards each other, than are Sweden and Norway.
In case of the absence of the Kinlg, it is provided that
there shall be a Regency at Stockholm, composed of ten
Swedes and tell Norwegians. The Swedish members are,
ax officio, the members of the King's Cabinet-that is, the
Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs, and eight ordinary
Councillors of State.  The Norwegian are, the Norwegian
Minister of State, two Councillors of State, always resident
in Stockholm, and seven Councillors, summoned from Norway for the occasion.  The Swedish Minister of Justice and
the Norwegian Minister of State draw lots for the First
Presidency, and then each presides in rotation for eight
liberty of the press is the tongue of the nation, and the wish now is
to cut it out. Will you allow that to be done?''No! no! a thousand times no! God preserve us from it!' was the cry of all the
others."




460             TH E  NoiE SLE-FoLK.
days. The President votes with the other nineteen, and, in
a tie, has a second casting vote-thus giving a decision to
each kingdom  every alternate week.  In Norwegian matters, the Norwegian language is used; in Swedish matters,
the Swedish language. Subjects affecting the interests of
both kingdoms, shall be propounded by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, a Swede, and then drawn up by the Prime
Ministers of each kingdom in their own language.  No member of the royal family can be admitted to this council-not
even the Crown Prince, who has a seat in the Cabinet.*
* " Those who take an interest in the affairs of the north of Europe
have not, perhaps, passed unnoticed the fact published in the Swedish
official journal of the appointment of a mixed commission of six
Swedes and six Norwegians, to meet at Christiania, under the presidency of the Viceroy, for the better determination of the act of
union between the two countries. It is worthy of remark that,
though the sister kingdoms have been upwards of forty years under
the same ruler, their mutual obligations, in the event of war, are
still undefined. It is in order to supply this important omission, and
to obviate any discussion that might arise in the hour of action, and
prevent ally fatal indecision at a time of common peril, that this
commission has been named. It will be their duty to prepare the
draught of a law fixing the military contingent to be furnished by
each country in the event of their independence being threatened.
They will also have to determine the forces to be maintained in time
of peace, the reserves to be raised in time of war, the number of
ships to be manned; and, after providing for the defence of the two
kingdoms, they will be called upon to decide in what proportion the
expenses of the war are to be borne by each. Of course, due regard
will be taken to make a fair allotment of those obligations according
to the respective populations. At all events, the labors of the com.




THii   CONSTITUTION.                   461
The absurdities and awkwardnesses of the Swedish Cons
stitution are so evident on the face of it, that they hardly
seem to need detailing. The great wonder is, that an instrument so unpractical and cumbersome kand unjust in its provisions, should have existed thus long in a country as intelligent
and enlightened as Sweden.  There is the less need here of
enlarging on them, as my whole journey has been a commentary on their injurious effects.
Here is a constitution which creates four independent
deliberative and legislative bodies, with a separate array of
officers and order of business. Many important measures,
to become laws, must pass three out of the four, and some
must pass the whole four.  How easy for one chamber to
delay before taking up a bill, or to cumber it with amendments; how natural that the esprit dm corps of each house
should affect it in considering public measures, and hold it
from meeting the wishes of the people; how many separate
interests to conciliate, how many classes to manage, how
many ceremonies and necessary business-arrangements, how
much jealousy and rivalry and class-feeling, before even a
simple measure of public interest could become a law! We
see something of the difficulty in America, even with two
houses: what would it be with four?
Then, in addition, one of these houses represents an interest which should not be represented on the political field-the
clergy-which, if it be represented, will probably become the
mission must lead to a closer union of the two countries, and to a
considerable increase of the common force." —Ezglish paper, Janu.
ary, 1857.




4-62           Tl HE  No R S E -FOL K.
most impracticable, narrow, and illiberal interest of them
all.
Beside this, the Constitution is unjust in only granting
one-fourth representation to what makes up at least sevenninths of the whole population-the class of farmers: a
class which, in wealth and in its payments for the support
of government, is by far the most important interest.
But, worst of all, this Constitution, through its arbitrary
conditions, shuts out nearly a million of persons, many of
whom would be the best qualified of any classes for the control of public affairs. Why this objection at least has not
long ago been removed, is utterly incomprehensible.
The Kinog, also, in this division of houses, is given an
altogether undue weight, through his influence and power
over two at least of the chambers.
What wonder that a country under such a government
should be conspicuous in Europe, as almost the last to
adopt  modern  improvements*-railroads,  stage-coaches,
telegraphs and popular schools I What wonder that the
bigotry and narrowness of its legislation should be the
object of scoffing, even in the Roman Catholic countries I
In what Protestant country but in Sweden, at this day, could
a man be punished or fined for his religious opinions?t
* There is not yet constructed a single railroad of any considerable
length in Sweden.
+ The following information has reached this country since the
above was written. The bill for establishing greater religious liberty,
which the king, on opening the Diet, announced, has been published
in the official gazette in Stockholm, on Nov. 27, 1856. It sadly dis



BI GI (T IY~.                     463
Where else could a law be still upheld, forbidding a commercial house from  having a branch-house, or preventing a foreigner from transacting business except through an attorney?
All this is the more astonishing to a traveller, when he
appoints the friends of religious liberty. It leaves the provision of
the Constitution, according to which only Lutherans are eligible for
a public office, unchanged. It proposes a heavy fine for every one
who explains publicly heretical doctrines in any other place except a
church which does not belong to the State Church, and likewise for
every one who persuades others to apostatize from the true Lutheran
Church. A legal suit for contravention to this law can, however,
only be commenced on order given by a royal chancellor of justice.
The children of parents belonging to the Swedish church are considered as members of this church, and must be raised in her doctrines,
even if the parents, after the birth of the children, should embrace
another creed. The royal decree of 1726, which forbids all particular religious meetings, besides the public divine worship in the
parish church, is repealed, but it is again provided, that every religious meeting, even the prayer-meetings of a family, if not presided over by the local clergy, must be open for the inspection of
public officers, who have the right to dissolve them. The only concession made is the abolition of the punishment of exile, and the
permission to secede from the State-Church. But even this trifle
meets with a strong opposition.  The whole conservative party
declares itself against it. It has become known that, on account
of this law, three ministers, who are considered as leaders of
the conservative party, have tendered to the king their resignation. The conservative papers, in particular the Monthly Reviewt of
Mr. Crusenstalpe, alarm the country with the cry that the Swedish
Church is in danger. The liberal party, on the other hand, makes
great efforts to secure the passage of the bill, and circulates everywhere petitions, declaring that if the law is not adopted, the signers




464            THE  NOuSE-FOLK.
reflects on the public opinion upon this matter, which everywhere encounters him. Excepting a few among the clergymen, I hardly met with a man, peasant, citizen or noble, who
seemed contented with the Constitution.  Many projects of
reform-as hinted at in different parts of my journey-have
been put forward, but thus far with little effect. It is the
opinion of enlightened Swedes, that nothing but the fear of
revolution will force the government and the Parliament to
measures of thorough reform.
With all these objections to the Swedish Constitution,
there is one advantage from it in the history of the past,
which is to be fairly and fully allowed. It gave an early
and, for the times, fair representation to the class of
peasants.  Never having suffered under the oppressions of
feudalism, this class have from the beginning taken such a
position, as no other peasantry in Europe have attained.
They have held it through the whole history of Sweden, and
now, the masses of Sweden are far above the similar classes
in continental Europe, in habits of government, and in the
understanding of and love for their rights and liberties.
With the improvement of schools, the introduction of railways and modern inventions, and a new Parliamentary system, this class will be prepared for what in numbers and
wealth they could claim —the general government of Sweden.
will leave the state church in order to make the execution of the
law impossible. They are of opinion that no ministry will dare to
send thousands of Swedes into exile for having seceded from the
church.-Independent.




CHAPTER  XLI.
THE R.ACES IN SWEDEN.
IF one examines the museums of antiquity and the craniological collections in Sweden, he will find traces of what
may be called the earliest substratum of the population;
a race, which, in an unknown age of the past, was forced
from the great plateau of Central Asia down among the
forests and rivers of Europe.  A people which perhaps
first penetrated the primeval wilderness of Germany, and
spread its tribes to France and Switzerland, long before
the existence in Europe of the Celts, the Germans or the
Goths, whom Latin historians describe.
By some mode, either reaching it in boats, or crossing
to it on the ice, this great tribe gained a lodgment in
the uninhabited plain of Southern Sweden, and among the
savage forests of Scandinavia.
Their settlements or encampments reached as far north
as Halland and WTest Gothland. They were solely a hunting and fishing people, and never engaged in agriculture.
Their civilization, to judge from their implements, was
scarcely beyond that of the South Sea Islanders.  No
metals were known to them; and bone and stone, the latter
20                   465




466           Tii L  NoRsE-FoLI.
often not even polished or hewn, were their chief materials.
Tilhe making of pottery was understood among them, and
they made use of vases and lamps of clay.  T'heir ornaments
were often the teeth of dogs or of wild animals. Flint
arrow-heads, precisely like those discovered in our American mounds, were everywhere in use among them. This
savage race-the Indians of Europe- have left no trace
in nearly all the lands which they invaded and inhabited,
except their graves. No myths, or names, or superstitions,
or early customs have come down from them. They buried
their dead in mounds of loose stones; they hunted and
fished, and finally in continental Europe became extinct,
while in Scandinavia they were pressed back to the bleak
polar regions-this is all that is known of their life. They
are distinguished as having round or short skulls (brachycephalic), receding frontal bones, the nose with its roots
deep sunk in the sockets, and projecting under-jaw. They
belonged to the great TSCHUDIC family, and were kindred
to the Finns, the Hungarians, and the Turks.  Their
modern descendants in Scandinavia are divided into the
two branches of which mention has already been madethe Quanes and Finns.
The next invading tribe* which swept over Northern
Europe, was of a far higher culture. than the Tschudes.
They came too from  Asia, but of different stock. They
brought with them  a few of the arts of agriculture, the
knowledge of bronze as a metal of use, a fine taste and
* There is some slight evidence of Phomnician settlement on the
Swedish islands, not however worthy of much consideration here.




T H     K E LT S.               467
conception of beauty, superior to that of the Germanic
tribes who followed them  our own ancestors-and a more
imaginative mythology. They spread over much of Europe,* even to Ireland and Scotland, reaching England,
it is supposed, about 600 B. c.t  The names which they
gave to the mountains on the continent still exist. In
Scandinavia they have left a few words in the ancient
Norse, a few myths among the superstitions of the people,
and innumerable relics in their tombs. They are the CELTS,
or more properly, following the Greek orthography from
which they get their name, the KELTS. They do not appear to have penetrated farther North in Sweden than
Bohuslan.t Unlike the preceding tribe, they burned their
dead, though often using the old tombs of the Tschudic
Finns. Their bronze is the very best admixture, and worked
into all the implements of chase and war and common
agriculture, beside manifold forms of grace and beauty for
ornaments.
The museums of Sweden and Denmark have a vast
quantity of the relics of this race, manifesting often a high
degree of taste and refinement. The Kelts are distinguished
by craniologists as having long skulls, and therefore nearer
the Teutonic tribes than are the Tschudic Finns. Their
language is only one branch of the great family in which
the Germanic languages are included,
By what sudden and overwhelming attack from a ruder
tribe this race was overborne in Sweden, or precisely in
* Bunsen's Philosophy of History.  1 Dr. Max Miller.
t Weinhold-Alt Nordisches Leben.




468           Ti lI,P  o  It- s J,- Fo i, i.
what year, is uncertain. Chronologists give 400 B. c., as
the date of the great invasion of the Teutonic tribes; and
the lKeltic remains show  often token of a violent and
unexpected destruction. By a singular evidence, confirming
the testimony from the Scandinavian burial mounds, we
are certain that our ancestors came forth from the great
plateau of Asia while yet possessing some knowledge of
agriculture. It is now well known that many of the words
in our family of languages-the Indo-European-describing
crops and processes of tilling the ground, come directly
from the ancient Sanscrit. The Teutons were acquainted
also with the use of iron, though still employing the bronze
anda the stone implements of the races who occupied the
land before them. We have yet a word in English, which
is a relic from our barbarous Norse fathers, as direct as the
stone weapons in- the Scandinavian museums —hammer, the
old Norse word for the stone which they broke, and afterwards for the stonze-implement which they used to break
it, before the iron was employed for the purpose.
The Teutonic tribes who settled Scandinavia may be
classed, accepting Dr. WmINOLD's division, into the DanoGothic and the Norwegio-Gothic.  The former made their
habitations in the Danish Islands and the neighborhood;
the latter crossed to Sweden and Norway.  The Norwegian emigration might have crossed direct to the southern
coast; or, after passing over Sweden, have penetrated the
North of Norway from the coast of the Arctic Sea, eseaping thus the formidable barrier of the mountains which
separate the two countries. The Swedish portion made




TH E  G OT IS.                 469
two especial settlements, one near Gottenburg on the
Githa, who were called the West Goths; the other on the
Motala, near Norrk6ping, called East Goths.  Still another Teutonic tribe, probably at a later period,* settled
the central and northern provinces of Sweden, making
their centres of worship and trade, Sigtuna and Upsala.
These are the Smiones, or Swedes, who have given their
name to the country, and whose kingdom was called
Suithiod.
From both these great branches of the Teutonic familythe Danish and the Norwegian Northmen —our own race,
the Anglo-Norman, is descended. Even at the present
time, the natives of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are
able to understand each other's languages, though they
cannot speak any but their own. In these early times,
however, the language was the same, and even later, when
the solitary little Republic of Iceland, protected from wars
and favored by a climate which led to an in-door, intellectual life, had become the centre of an original and vigorous
oral and written literature, it was the boast of her skalds,
that the Norse tongue was the only language for warriors
and poets from the North Cape over Sweden, Denmark,
Normandy, and the English Islands to the western coast
of Ireland.
The colony, from its superior cultivation, may be said
to have given the language to the mother-country. At this
day, the two languages, Danish and Swedish, are only
idioms derived from  the original Norse, while alone in
* Geijer.




470           THI E  No RSI:-Fo, K.
Iceland are its pure remains to be found. The Icelander
of this day can read the Eddas, but to the Danes, Swedes,
and Norwegians they are almost as much a closed book
as to an Englishman. The modern Norse, and its offshoots, are far below the ancient Icelandic* in richness
and completeness.
This is one of the instances brought forward by philosophical writers,t to show how colonization will sometimes
settle a language and preserve it in its richness, while the
original language in the mother country may degenerate.
Of the appearance of our earliest ancestors, we have
abundant evidence. The most imposing in size were probably the Norwegian, and as a natural consequence, these
had a profound contempt for all the other Scandinavians.
Some Arabian writers, who saw the Northmen- later, as
Vaerangians at the Court of Constantinople, describe their
"forms to be like palm-trees."  The king was frequently
chosen for his weight of body. It is related of Hialmter
and'jlver, two heroes, that one always needed two seats
and the other three, on the drinking bench. S6rli, son
of the Upland King, could break down a strong horse in
half a day, by his weight alone. The skeletons found in
the tombs show powerful, though by no means gigantic,
bodies.
The hands and feet were small. The small handles of
* It is said that the old Norse has one hundred and fifty words to
express the sea in its different appearances!
f. Bunsen.




A PPzEARANCE  OF  NORSEMEN.    4:71
-the weapons, preserved in Northern museums, excite astonishment even now. This delicacy was thought a sign
of noble blood.
The color was blonde. Gods and goddesses had the
light hair and pure color. The elves were fair; only the
dwarfs were dark. Baldutr, the god of beauty and love,
was blonde; the divine women, Iduna and Gerda, had the
whitest arms, and Gerda fills air and sea with her brilliancy.*
The thralls were black.  Disgracefully as the AmericoNorman has yielded to his prejudice against color, he
comes ethnologically by it. The old Norse curse was "Be
a black slave!"  Hagny, the spouse of King Hiir Halfson,
brought forth black and ugly twins. Fearing the wrath
of her lord, she exchanged them with the new-born twins
of a servant maid, which were fair. As they grew up,
the latter began to show their slavish cowardice, while the
others, though thralls, bore themselves like the free-born.
At length, the queen disclosed it to the father, but he
would have nothing to do with the "hell-skins," and left
them in slavery.
An equal sign of the genuine Northman was his eye,
which must be bright and sparkling, "with a quick play,
like the serpent's."t
Siegfried, to escape his pursuers, disguised himself as a
miller's maid; but his eyes betrayed him, and he escaped
by saying that he was an imprisoned Valkyria from the gods.
" Thou hast a noble man's eyes!" said Sterlingson to the
* Dr. Weinhold.         f Ibid.




472           T:E  NORSE-FOLK.
defeated Hrafa, who, disguised as a peasant, sought hospitality at his fireside.
The nose was high and straight. A small, distorted nose
was the sign of serfdom. The hair was yellow and golden,
and, on the women of beauty, very long. Jarl Thorgnyr,
of Jutland, sits on the hill where his wife is buried, when a
swallow, flying over, drops a human hair, long as a man and
of golden brilliancy. The Jarl is entranced, and swears he
must win her whose it had been. He discovers it is Ingegerd's, the daughter of the Russian king.
The men wore the beard full and long, but only seldom
the moustache. Of a celebrated Bonder, it is related that
his beard fell over his knees when he sat.
THE RUNES.
The earliest written language of the Teutonic tribes in
Scandinavia-the Runic-was evidently obtained by them
through the Phcenicians and Greeks, and derived from Eastern Asia.*  Like the original Hebrew, each letter was an
idaeogram; it represented not a sound, but a thought, or an
object, the word for which began with the letter in question.
Though, by the abstract and sensual tendency of the German mind, thus early made a language of hieroglyphics, it
was not confined to any one class. All who were educated
used it. The Runic has left few important traces of itself;
* (Dr. Weinhold-Bunsen.) The only exception to this origin of
the Runes, is the letter B.




THEE  R U NE S.                   4:73
and when, after the trading and plundering expeditions of
the early Vikings, the people began to come in contact with
the less cumbersome and difficult alphabet of the Latin
races, the latter easily prevailed over the Runes. So that,
except burial inscriptions and a few historical notations, the
Runic language has given nothing to the world, while all the
ancient sagas and chronicles have been rendered and handed
down in the Roman alphabet. The Runic stones prevail
most between the tenth and twelfth centuries, and disappear after the thirteenth.  The Runes yielded first* in the
churches, and among the monks and priests, to the Roman
letters; and the change was undoubtedly one of the most
fortunate circumstances for the improved culture of the
Scandinavian races.  Owing to the mystery attached in
early times to writing, the Runes were, from a remote age,
looked on as something magical or mysterious. Each letter
was thought to have a peculiar supernatural power.  There
were runes of love; runes of medicine; runes of victory;
of life and of death.
In an old Swedish ballad we hear"The first stroke she struck on the gold-harp,
So sweetly did it sound,
The wild deer, both in wood and wold,
Forgot to leap and bound,
Ye practise the runes so well.
"The third stroke she struck on the gold-harp,
So sweetly did it play,
* Dr. Legis —Die Runen.




474              T H'  O r   S  re- FoI.K.
The little fish in the flood below,
Forgot to swim away,
Ye practise the runes so well."*
By runes, Odin compelled the Vala to awake from  the
dead, in the realms of Hela. "By runes, he could vanquish
armies, destroy the edge of weapons, raise or lay tempests
on land or sea, put out fires, fill the hearts of men with
terrors, or tranquillize the heart in sorrow."t
The runes even yet survive in Sweden, in calendars and
business-notations among the peasantry.
* Howitt's Northern Europe.             f Ibid.




I I I.
e n m-   a r k.








CHAPTER  XLII.
COPENHAGEN.
COPENHAGEN is only an hour or two from Malmt  by steamboat. I find the Danish capital a most agreeable old city,
impressing one as it is always described, as a centre of much
cultivation and intelligence. The manners of the people are
exceedingly pleasant and courteous. Hospitality is given in
the most simple and refined mode, and the table-companies
show the sparkling wit and grace for which the Danes are so
distinguished. It is surprising how generally education is distributed. The landlord of my hotel, for instance-the Liven,
a second-rate house, though a most comfortable one —is a
cultivated gentleman, speaking foreign languages, and interested in the scholarship and politics of the day. The
schools are on a much better footing than either the Swedish or Norwegian schools. Then the facilities for study
here, for the investigation of Northern antiquities and
language, and for the pursuits of art, are remarkable. The
collection of old Norse remains, of gold, bronze, iron,
amber, pottery and bone, gathered from the thousands of
tombs and tumuli over Denmark, Sweden and Norway, is
excellent-worth alone a journey to Copenhagen to investi4'77




4:78          THE  N o RS  -F  L.
gate.  The arrangement-made by an enthusiast in the
science, Prof. Thomson, is most clear and philosophical, and
is said to have been imitated in the British Museum and all
succeeding collections. Whether the professor's theory of
the different "ages" of the different materials should be
altogether accepted, is quite another question.  I was
shown also over the Royal Library by the librarian, and had
the pleasure of seeing some of the old Icelandic MSS.  Still,
to be honest, I must own that books, as antiquities-that is,
in the evidences they show of manual skill and labor-do not
interest me as do other objects of antiquity, those especially
more intimately associated with the life of a young people.
There is evidently much very pleasant sociality in the
open air here, such as we see in the German cities. The
parks and gardens around the city are thronged with cheerfill groups of people. Time passes here with the intelligent
agreeable society you meet, most easily.
It is an unfortunate time, however, for an American to
visit the Danish capital. I cannot but feel a species of wellbred constraint among people which I never met with in
Sweden. America is just now detested (during the disa
greement on the Sound-Dues), as a quarrelsome bully,
who is trying to wrest an ancient estate from a weak
neighbor; and the Danish press foment this feeling by the
most exaggerated stories of our coarse social manners and
our corrupt politics, and by repeating many "ower true"
accounts of the disgraceful tyranny and servitude in our
Southern States.  One gentleman I have met-who said he
was probably commercially more interested in the Sound



So u ND-D u E s.                 479
Dues question than any house in Denmark —allowed that
we had complete justice; that we were under no obligations
to recognize the old arbitrary dues and restrictions established in feudal times by other powers, in treaties of which
we were never parties.  I told him that I was sure, so far
as it was a question of money, it was a matter of no
importance to the American government; what we objected
to was the principle.  If the Danish government chose to put
the same tax every year on our merchantmen, as compensation for her building light-houses and providing other securities on the coast, I was certain, though it might be considered
exorbitant, the United States would never think it a fit subject for a national protest. But we were determined never
to submit to anything like an arbitrary restriction on the
liberty of the seas. We were the first to object to the
traditional tribute to the Barbary powers, and had gone to
war on the question. We had resisted, in a similar way,
the asserted English "right of search;" and we intended to
do so to the end, and for my part, I believed it was to be
one of the good services of the American people to the
world, that they would break up the ancient traditional
exactions and injustices which had cramped the free intercourse of nations.
In my experience thus far of the Danes, they impress me
as very different from the other Norse-peoples.  There is a
more polished fineness and grace among them, more wit and
humor and sparkle; but they seem by no means to have the
coarse power and independence of the Norwegians, or the halfchivalric courage and ardor of the Swedes. There appears




480            THE         R S E-F o L.
something more petty and weak and dependent in them;
the natural effect, probably, of a small State, pressed and
overborne by neighboring great powers.  Gossip seemed to
be more prevalent in Copenhagen than in the northern cities
of their brethren, and small interests more to occupy the
public mind.
Among the most characteristic institutions of the country, are the Courts of Conciliation and the Cloisters for noble
ladies.
These admirable Courts of Compromise, whose constitution I have already described, were established first by
the Danish government, in 1755, in the West Indies, and
afterwards in 1i795, in Denmark itself.  They have proved
thoroughly successful here.  In 1843, the number of cases
brought before these courts was 31,338, of which 21,512
were settled, 299 postponed, and 9,527 referred to courts
of law, where only 2,817 were prosecuted.
The fact that they have been established, and so often
employed, reflects honor on both the nation and its government.
THE DANISH CLOISTERS.
These extraordinary institutions, the relics of medieval
times, are designed alone for the ladies of the nobility.
They are not merely interesting historically, but they contain in their management a new commercial assurance principle, which, it is remarkable, has not yet been applied in
England or America.
The cloisters were formerly Catholic convents with large




CLOISTERS.                      481
properties, which, after the Reformation, in place of being
appropriated to purposes of education, or confiscated to
the Crown, as was done in so many European countries,
were made the bases of what may be called "Maiden
Assurance Companies " for the families of the nobles. That
is, a Danish gentleman, at the birth of a daughter, for
instance, deposits $2,000 in the funds of one of these
cloisters, and registers his daughter's name as a member.
She is to receive four per cent. interest, or eighty dollars
per annum, till she is married, or till she dies; in either
of these cases, the fund deposited goes into the general
fund of the Cloisters.
If she remains single, she enters with the eighteen names
above her, as the places become vacant by marriage or
death, into what is called the "third class," where she
receives two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, and rooms
and appointments free in the cloisters; still later, with
nineteen others, when the places become still further vacant
by marriage or death, she rises into the "second class,"
where the income is five hundred dollars, with similar
privileges.  The highest, or "third class," composed also
of twenty members, enjoys one thousand dollars income.
If a young lady, who has merely been receiving the interest, and has advanced to no class, should be married and
become a widow in needy circumstances, the sum of five
hundred dollars is allotted to her.  If the sum has not been
otherwise appropriated, a dower of one thousand dollars
can be given from the surplus funds of the cloisters, to her
on her marriage.
21




482           THF; No R S E-FOLK.
These cloisters had all, in the beginning, properties of
greater or less amount, but these have been immensely
increased by this assurance system, which varies in the
different institutions.  Taking any number of young girls,
the probabilities are so much greater both of their marrying
or dying than of living single, that the chance makes a
fair basis for an assurance company, while, on the other
hand, any father would gladly risk that small amount of
deposit, if he could insure his daughter against poverty
or dependence, in case she remained single after his death;
at the same time, receiving for her share a fair per centage,
previous to her marriage, if she did marry, and possibly
also a dower amounting to half his deposit. One of the
especial evils of modern society, is the uncertain dependent
position of single ladies in the educated classes. By such
a society as this, such persons would be held in secure
and comfortable circumstances, and would be living, in fact,
on the assurance profits derived from those who, in other
directions, had been more fortunate than they.
The members need not live in a building owned by the
society, or make any public announcement of membership.
It might be simply a kind of life-assurance, only designed
for women alone, and with the addition, that the stockholders who derived the most benefit, were maiden ladies.
The Danish experiment by no means proves that such a
society would be commercially profitable elsewhere.  But
onl the face of it, it seems a reasonable scheme for any
civilized country.
The most prominent of these cloisters in Denmark, are




TI I 0   W AL DS EN.               483
1, that of Valld in Seland, founded by Queen Sophia
Madeline, in 1737.  The Abbess or Principal must be connected with the Royal Family, and the Deaconess must
be the widow of some official in the first rank of nobility.
The first has $3,500 salary, the second $1,800, with residence and appointments in the institution.  It is designed
alone for the families of the nobility and the functionaries
of government.  Capital, besides forests and other landed
property, in 1851, 1,840,000 riks dollars. 2. The Cloister of Vemmeltofte, founded in 1735.  Capital, 945,600
riks dollars.  3. That of Gisselfeld, in Seland, founded in
1199.  4. Roeskilcle, date 1699.  Capital, 234,214 riks
dollars. 5. Odense, 1717. Capital, 78,000 riks dollars.
6. Stivringgaard, 135.  Capital, 167,180 riks dollars.
TIHORWALDSEN'S MUSEUM.
The charm  and attraction which, to the lovers of art,
surround the Danish capital, which alone draw multitudes
hither, come from one man's genius Thorwaldsen.
I find nothing in modern plastic art nearly so graceful or
so attractive as his sculpture. I have long known the
casts of his best works; but they give really no fair
conception  of his genius.  The exquisite  severity and
purity of outline, the gentle shadowing and change of
surface, expressing the most delicate sentiments, and, as
it were, the fullness of exuberant life in the marble, are
lost in the plaster. The cast is more shrunken, stiff, and
even harder, and, except in the expression of very strong




484           T HE  NOt E-FoLK.
action and vigor, does not fully convey the ideal. This is
contrary to my own impression, which has always been that
the cast often left an effect on the feeling as distinct and
pleasing as the original.
I wrote these words under the fresh impression of his
works.  They express still their effect on my own mind:
"There are feelings in the life of the soul which are the
most exquisite, joyous and radiant that ever visit man.  All
other joys are poor and commonplace by their side. The
memory alone of them is sweeter than all after pleasures.
They belong to the fresh morning of life-to its bloom, and
hope, and cheeriness.  They are spirits who, with the fragrance and beauty of a happier sphere, come once to us in
that early morning, and come not again.  It is not given,
except to poets, to utter the exceeding joy which they bring
into human life.  All that is most delicate and luxurious
and cheerful in Nature, become their fitting expression.
The song of thrushes and nightingales, the fragrance of
roses and apple-blossoms, the richness of summer flowers,
the sparkle of waves, the glimmer of moonlight, the radiances of spring-sunshine, all the sweetness and gaiety of the
outward world, are their language.  How  even the poor
and ignorant long to express this overflowing joy! It comes
forth in music, in songs, in the merry dance. Words cannot
give it.  It is too subtle for language.  The grace of life,
the luxury and the unspeakable deliciousness of youth and
love, have no verbal medium fine enough to convey them.
It seems to me Thorwaldsen, like the Greeks, has been
able to utter these evanescent and most delicate sentiments.




SCULPTURE.                      485
The joyfulness and gracefulness of youth, the exquisite
pleasures of love, the gaiety and frolic and blitheness of the
morning of life, are his subjects. In his frolicsome children,
and the lithe springing forms of his youths, in the sweetness
of maidens and the luxury of womanly beauty, in classic
scenes, revived with a feeling and naturalness which no
other modern has shown, we feel the joy of life uttered.  It
is the very pleasure of radiant love and tender passion. We
see that here is a touch which can trace the most delicate
and beautiful sentiments and never slur them.
The bloom and grace of the first affection, the sweetness
of youth, the luxury and abandon of a happy heart, the
thrill of impassioned love, are drawn and made alive on the
cold marble-slab.  It is wonderful I That which words are
too earthly to give; which comes up in never-to-be-forgotten
memories, or in insatiable longings with every fragrant
breath of spring and sweet melody of music; which alone
once felt can make henceforth the meanest life beautiful,
and of which the slightest traces and associations are more
delicious than all succeeding enjoyments-this the Northern
artist has been able to utter in the difficult language of
sculpture, and to leave its enduring expression in the hard
stone I Such a man has given a Spring to the world; he is
a poet of its happiness.
I think, as I walk about the city and see his thoughts, in
saloons, in poor men's houses, in cellars and taverns, that in
future, long after their petty princes and statesmen are forgotten, this great heart will be cherished by the people, and
perhaps, in far distant ages, the only thing which will pre



486           THE  NO R s E -FOLK.
serve the memory of the Danish capital, will be that it was
the home of THORWALDSEN."
The Museum of his works is, on the whole, well arrangedeach important statue has a little apartment for itself, the
light coming from above, and the walls being lined with
suitable bas-reli'fs.  These reliefs are to me among the
most precious of his works, and yet those of which the casts
give the feeblest impression. It is very difficult, however,
to get a good light for them in private houses. They
demand, I think, a strong side-light.
Certainly, of all the representations of Christ, either in
painting or sculpture, Thorwaldsen's is the most effective.
It is known now through the world. That attitude of
benignant and merciful dignity, of a noble pity and condescension, are made familiar in thousands of copies-yet it
is not satisfactory. The original, however, is much more so
than the casts.  The giant size, perhaps, lessens the impression of weakness which the traditional face of Christ
always leaves; and, standing in its niche in a church (the
Frze Kirke), overlooking the row of apostles and the worshippers, with the strong lights and shadows from above on
its features, one can sometimes realize faintly the ineffable
grandeur and nobleness of that life of Suffering and Love, of
which this is the feeble representation.
It is a remarkable thing, and shows the genius of Thorwaldsen, that he who has, above all modern artists, best
restored the spirit of classicism, could not read a word of
Greek or Latin, and could not write his own language
correctly I




T H O R WAD, S ENS  PA R ENTAGE.    487
An interesting life has appeared of him, by Thiele, going
rather too much into detail, but showing clearly the struggles and difficulties of the great artist.  Poverty, dependence, and disappointment were  some  of the  nurturing
circums ances which surrounded the growth of his genius.
HIe was the son of a maker of figure-heads for ships, an
Icelander, though he himself was born in Denmark.  While
he was struggling with fortune at Rome, and just beginning
to win his first chaplets, the father died in an almskouse in
Denmark-an event for which Thorwaldsen, though by no
means at fault, never ceased to reproach himself, and, most
of all, his titled friends, who had promised to assist the
old man.  The first great work which made Thorwaldsen
known to the world, was his Jason,* which yet ranks as
among his best.  An English gentleman bought it.
His life shows many of the peculiarities of genius. He
was sometimes for a long period-even a whole year-under
the most gloomy fits of depression, and utterly unable to
labor, and then again he would throw off his most exquisite
works with incredible rapidity.
* It is related by Thiele that a Danish lady of rank, who had
encouraged the young artist when laboring at this statue, was
revisiting his studio years after, with a company of friends, when he
bad become a great man, and, as they passed a cast of Jason, she
said, patronizingly, " Thorwaldsen! that is my child, you know!"
The artist, who remembered probably the years of suffering and trial
and disappointment, before this work came forth, looked by no means
pleased, and said bluntly, " Well, madam, you had very few pains of
labor for it!"




4'88          TiH E  NoRsE-FoL.
He lived to win the praise of all Europe, as the greatest
modern sculptor, and to return to his fatherland, to receive
the highest honors and most cordial welcome firom  his
countrymen.




CHAPTER  XLili.
THE SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY.
To every student of the religious beliefs of the world, the
mythology of the Scandinavians must be deeply interesting.
I regret that I can only treat it cursorily.
The tendency of the modern mind, it seems to me, on
subjects of this nature, is to refine too much. A consistent
and profound philosophy is assumed too often as the basis
for ancient mythologies, as though every fancy and trick
and dream of the religious imagination must have its deep
spiritual meaning, and this alone is to be sought for. The
early men and women were simple, child-like, imaginative
beings, who clothed a thousand fancies and childish beliefs
in bodily forms. Sometimes great natural laws were thus
embodied; sometimes profound moral truths, but they were
nearly all accidental, and the fruit of poetic instinct rather
than logical reflection. Under all these pictures and modes
of presentation of different nations are, of course, great
natural laws, showing the effect of climate, temperament,
and history, on the religious imagination. These are legitimate objects of study. All philosophical conclusions beyond these, seem to me doubtful, though still interesting
speculations.
~21*            ~~4m




49(0          Tun i  NORSE-FOIK
The mythology of the Northmen, even as their early pagan
customs and their language, reveals probably an oriental
origin. Here, as in the Persian, is a contest forever being
waged between Matter and Spirit, Darkness and Light,
Evil and Good, ending at length in the complete triumph
of Love and Goodness over the evil powers.
In the beginning, were two worlds, the Fire World * and
the Mist World;t from, the one came forth poisonous
frost vapors; from the other, life-giving fire. The meeting
of these two in the Abyss j brings forth the first chaotic
world-mass.~ Of the Abyss the Edda says, " It was Time's
morning when Ymir lived. There was no sand, no sea,
no cooling billows; Earth there was none; no lofty Heaven.
Only the Gulph of Ginunga."ll  This matter produces of
itself the evil powers, the Frost-giants, and Mountain-giants.
At the same time arises an animal power, which cherishes
and refines the mass of matter, until a high creative Divine
Power unfolds itself, which creates in three forms, Spirit,
Will, and Holiness.~  They soon blend together in the
All-Father, the Spirit —ODINN.
Henceforth, despite the power of Spirit, there is a continual struggle between the Beings of light-the  AEsir,
and the powers of chaos and darkness-the Giants and
Dwarfs. These latter dwell in the frozen North, in mountains, in desolate places, and send forth the winter, the
night, tempests, and diseases.  The Sun and Moon, which
* Muspelheimr.       f Niflihein.:     Ginunga-gap.
~ Pennock's Translation of Keyser.  it Howitt's Translation.
~ Odinn,-Vili.-Ve.




M Y r fT S.                 491
are the sparks of the Fire-World, are continually hunted
by these powers-the JStun wolves-and have no rest.
The isir protect the green and living Earth, which they
visit on the bridge of the rainbow: The Dwarfs-the
agents of evil-they confine in useful labors within the
mines and caverns of the world.
The power which creates man, again appears in a threefold form-Spirit, Light, and Fire.*
The Ash-tree, Yggdrasill, is one of the grand mystical
figures of the Northern Mythology.  The best students of
the Eddas suppose it to represent Universal Nature.  It
has three roots, one from the Abyss, one from the source
of the evil and chaotic powers, and one from the homes
of the spirits of light. It is represented as forever suffering.  "The Ash Yggdrasill endures more hardships than
than any one knows; The hart bites off its branches, its
trunk decays, and the Dragon of Death gnaws at its root."
Yet the tree is forever green with the sprinkling of the
celestial Fountain.  The higher powers support and preserve the material Nature.
By this Fountain are three dread beings, who, in the
Northern Mythology, as in the Grecian, lie back of the
present order of things-beyond and above even the spirits
of light, the _/Esir-they are the three Goddesses of Time
and Fate,t the Past, the Present, and the Future; the
Nornir, the allotters of Birth and of Death.  All Nature,
the decrees of the Ailsir, the lives of men, the existence
* Odinn, —Haenir,-L6durr,,-Pennock.. Urdier, Verdandi and Skuld.




4923T   a   oNs ns   - F o TL rK.
of the Gods, are under their control. The whole cosmogony
is of Time, and perishes with it.
Of the particular personalities of the Gods in this Mythology, it is not necessary here to speak. They seem often
the embodiment alone of the powers of Nature: and sometimes of its abstract qualities, and their history is a continuation of the dire struggle between the powers of good
and of evil, the representation of which runs through the
whole mythology. The Heaven of the Northmen is one
of the most sensual pictures of the celestial abodes which
mythology has given us, and at the same time, most characteristic of the race. The hero who had fallen in battle,
was taken by the invisible maidens to the halls of Valhalla.
If he had died in his bed of sickness or of old age, there
was no entrance for him to those abodes. There, in the
splendid banqueting rooms, he found the warriors and seakings and heroes of his country assembled, feasting on boiled
pork and mead and wine, served by beautiful maidens.
Each day, the company goes forth to fight each other, and
after the glowing excitement of the combat (than which
the Northman  knew  no more heavenly emotion), the
ghastly wounds are instantaneously cured, the hewn limbs
restored, the hacked armor rebrightened, and the brave
heroes return for the other enjoyment of their Heavenwassail and wine.
This was the popular belief. But behind all this, the
Eddas draw a picture which redeems the Northern superstition from its sensuality, and places the Scandinavian mythology among the most robust, if not the most moral of human




THE  FINAL  STT N         GTG f.             93
mythologies.  We have seen, in the theory of creation and
the history of the gods, the solemn, dark conception of a
mighty struggle going on between the Powers of Good and
of Evil.  Through it all runs also a warning of a final
mighty contest between these powers, which is to end in
fearful destruction-the age so poetically known in the
Eddas as the "Twilight of the Gods."
The human mind usually cannot bear to imagine the
annihilation of itself. It holds on to the present order of
things.  Its heaven, its gods, itself, will at least survive the
final wreck of matter.  Not so with the vigorous and really
moral imagination of the Scandinavian Northman.  In his
faith, there was to come a fearful destruction and conflagration of heaven and earth, of men and gods, of the world
below and Valhalla above-a day of awful wrath, whose
description vies in terror with the fearful pictures in the-,
vision of the Apostle of the final judgment.
The growing wickedness of earth shows its approach.
The Voluspa says of the seeress:
"There saw she wade
In the heavy streams,
Men-foul perjurers,
And murderers,
And they who others' wives
Seduce to sin.
" Brothers slay brothers;
Sisters' children
Shed each other's blood.
Hard is the world:
Sensual sin grows huge.




S4             TfAE  A O R s Xi - F o L K.
There are sword-ages, axe-ages,
Earth-cleaving cold;
Storm-ages, murder-ages,
Till the world falls dead,
~And men no longer spare
Or pity one another."*
It is a time of snows and winter, and tempest and darkness. The sun and moon are swallowed up, and heaven is
sprinkled with blood. The bright stars vanish, the earth
trembles, and the mountains are shaken from  their base.
But these sons of the North, even in the last convulsions of
matter, are not those who call upon the mountains to cover
them. They die in armor. In the fearful chaos and destruction, each god and spirit buckles on his armor, and hastens
on to the great battle-field-the vast plains of Vigrid.  The
giant powers of evil are abroad.  The Wolf, which fills the
space between earth and heaven with its jaws, comes forth.
The mighty Serpent, who had supported the world, rocks
the ocean in his writhings, and blows out venom over air
and sea. Over the lurid ocean sails the ship made of dead
men's nails, carrying the weird Frost Giants. In the final
battle, all the great powers of evil, and the historical gods,
are destroyed, and the earth is burned up.  Of Valhalla, we
hear no more.
A new earth comes forth, eternally green and fair.  Baldur, the god of purity and love, survives, and with him a
few of the purer gods. A new race of men is born. All
evil ceases, and sorrow and trouble come no more.
* IHowitt's Translation.




TH:E DAY OF DoolM.                          495
"In Gimde, the lofty,
There shall the hosts
Of the virtuous dwell,
And through all ages
Taste of deep gladness."
The close, so grand and so mysterious, pointing to the
vague idea which always was behind the mythology, of an
unnamnble Spirit, we give in  the words of the Voluspa,
the ancient poem of the Edda.*t
" Then shall the MIGHTY ONE come from above: He who
ruleth over all; whose name man dares not to utter.
"He cometh in his power to the great judgment-seat;
he will appease all strife, and will establish a holy peace,
which shall endure eternally. But the foul Dragon, the
venom-spotted Nidhoiggu (the Dragon of Death and Dark* Pennock's Keyser.
f Of him another passage of the Edda:
"Then one is born
Higher than all;
He becomes strong
With the strengths of earth,
The mightiest King,
Men call him;
Fast knit in peace
With all powers.
"Then comes Another,
Yet more mighty;
But HfIn dare I not
Venture to name.
Few farther may look
Than to where Odinn
To meet the wolf goes."




496            TH E  N    R   E  FO L:.
ness), flees away over the plains and sinks out of sight,
bearing death upon his wings."
So closes this robust prophecy-the restoration, the superintending Spirit, not appearing so distinct and certain as the
destruction and ruin. Here again the tone is vigorous and
moral to the last; the instincts of the bards seeing clearly
the wickedness and the sensuality, but not discerning so
clearly the redemption of nature.  The Eddas prepared not
unnaturally for the Evangelists.




AP P END I X.
I.-STATISTICS OF NORWAY.
(From nMr. Sundt's Notes.).
Province.         Number of Preachers.     Population to every Preacher.
Year............    1815       1855          1815         1845       1855
Christiania........    164        168          2263        8376 
Christiansand......      64          74         2283         2978
Bergen..............68   69         234         83248
Tromsoe........         47          51         162          2166
Total.....            40         429          2190         8097       (8478)
Percentage of Percentage of
Year.       Marriages.    Legitimnte    Illegitimate  Illegit. mrrthsoIlerit.Births to
Chiludreu.    Childreo.  to Logitioate.  a
1801-5         3,917       118,496        7,4S2         6.8         21.9
1806-10       81,389       115,905        8,072         7.0         25.7
1811-15       37,129       116,869        8,308         7.1         22.4
1816-20       41,5883      142,371       12,136         8.5         29.2
1821-25       44,081       157,984       12,670         8.0         28.7
1826-80       42,558       167,284       12,614         7.5         29.6
1831-35       42,233       169,252       12,111         7.2         28.7
1836-40       40,681       159,606       12,017         7.5         29.5
1841-45       50,590       179,670       15,781         8.8         81.1
1846-50       52,506       1938,408      17,479         9.0         883.8
1851-55       56,499       213,004       21,590        10.1
4,97




498                            AP P E N D I X.
POPULATION IN NORWAY.          TO EVERY 10,000 PErSONS BET. 20 AND 30 YEARS.
Between 20 and 30 years of age.          Yearriages.  llegi. CLildren Livigg.
Year, 1801........  136,959       1801-1810.......         4           113
"   1815.....  16i),090       1811-.......             492          128
" 1825........175,42          1821-1830........        494          144
" 1835........17,34           1 -184........            481          140
" 1S45........239,266         184-1850......            431          139
COMPARISON  OF PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE STATISTICS.
Report of Percentage of Illegitimate Births to JMarriages, 1851-'2.
District.                      Official Report.   Private Report.
Group 1. —District around Christiania,......      39.4 per ct.    37.4 per ct.
"   2.-Upper Romerike, Osterdal, Hedemark, and Gudbrandsdal.......'4  3.-Valders, Hadeland, Kongsberg,...          86.0   "         83.5   "
4.-Dramnien,   Jarlsberg,   Lauvik,    25.1   4                 25.4 
Lower Thelemark...............
42.2   "         39.17 
5. —Upper Thlelemark and District near    16.3   "               14.1'
Christiatnsand..............
6. —Mandal, Lister, and Dalecarlia,         11.6   "         11.4   "
44  7.-Stavaager and region near by,...    20.2   "               17.4   "
Report of Proportion of Illegal Connections * Producing Cheildren,
to Legal Marriages, 1851-'52.
MALES.               FEMALES.
District.                                                   ___ 
Clnss 1.    Class 5.    Clasn I.    Class 12.
Freeholders.  Laborers.  Freeholders.  Labolrers.
Group 1.........................         21         45           9         52
2.......................       26          85         12          92 ()
36.......................        19         42          12          416
i"   6.........................        6         20           4          23
7.........................           11         23           5         28
e This is, more strictly, birtLhs-but the proportion is made in order to show the
Lelation of illegal to legal connections.




APPENDIX.                                      499
The Schools and Morals.
Proportion of ChilNomber of Schuool-Chli-  dren from 7 to 15 Proportionto marDiatricts.           drenu for eoch Teacher  Iwho have entire-  rioges of Illegiio tho Co1ty Schoot.  tly neolected the  timate Births.School. Averago  Cityaud county.
both yeams.
Year,...................    1887       1840      1837-1840
Groupt 1.................       95         89          5.5            89.4
" 2,...........    109         103          9.5            66.8
"  8..............98     91          7.8            86.0
" 4,.................         79        80          6.3            25.7
5..................  61    59                     5.4            16.8
"   6,..............         65        63          1.8            11.6,
"   7..............         77        77          8.6            20.2
Eepenses for Schools (except board         Percentage of Illegal C(onnections
of teacheles) to eacch  person  in                 to Aiar'riages.
Christiania PIrovince.
Slhillings.    Men.                        Women.
Group 1,................... 7.4            45........................52
"   29,.................... 7.1           85.........................92
8'   3....................5           42......................... 46
4"   4.....9......... 9.2               32........................835
(Ohsistiacnsand Province.                 Cblristiansacnd Province.
Group 5,................... 10.2            17.........................   21
6.................... 7.0             20..                         23'   7,.................... 5.6           23.........................28
It will be observed in these statistics that Norway, in respect of
sexual morality, has been steadily retrograding, since the beginning
of this century. In the four years preceding 1855, every tent/h child
born  in the whole country was illegitimate! and in the four years
preceding 1850, the number of unlawful connections between the
sexes amounted to one third of the whole number of marriages.
It will also be observed in the succeeding statistics that the immorality keeps very even pace with the want of religious opportunities,
and that the most vice prevails where are the fewest preachers to the
population.  The singular custom  of the Fr'ia is observed in  many
districts  of Norway;  and  I am  informed  by  the  statistician, Mr.
SUNDT, from whom these facts are obtained, that the proportion of
unlawful births is in almost precise relation to the extent of this custom, as is certainly to be expected.
* The most of these children do not attend school over eight weeks in the year,
t The names in the Groups have alleady been given.




500                   APPENDIX.
It is also to be noted, that where the least money is expended for
schools, in proportion to the population, there is the lowest state of
sexual morality.
In the counties of Upper Romerike, Osterdal, iedemark, and Gudbrandsdal, the number of school-children to each teacher, in 1840,
was 103; the proportion of non-attendants on schools was more than
nine per cent. The expenses of schools in these districts are about
seven cents for each person. The population in the whole province
to each preacher is larger than in any other province.
In the same counties, to every 100 marriages there are 92 illegal
liaisons, bearing children, among the women, and 85 among the men
of the laboring class. Among the freeholders, the proportion with
the men is only 26 per cent., and with the women 12 per cent.
It is doubtful whether any district in Europe will show among the
laboring class an equal immorality.
The two great causes, which can be reached by effort, we believe to
be the want of thorough popular education, and the formalism of
Church, which has lost its practical hold of the morals of the
peasants.
II.-POPULATION AND FURTHER STATISTICS OF NORWAY.
IN the year 1845, the population amounted to 1,328,471; to this
must be added 1,145, who ramble about without having a fixed abode
in any place, so that the whole population amounts to 1,329,616.
The whole kingdom has 5,752 (Norsk) square miles, consequently
about 220 to each square mile. In Norrland there are only about 81,
and Finnmark only 33 to each square mile.
The first register of the inhabitants of the country was made
in 1769, and then the population was only 723,141 in the whole
kingdom.
ARMY.
A standing army was formed first in the year 1628, consisting of
6,243 soldiers. The Norwegian army now amounts to 23,484 soldiers.
The artillery makes up one-tenth of the whole army, and the horsemen one-twelfth. The fortresses of the kindgdom are 13, besides
some few sconces. The expenses were, in the year 1848, 747,000
dollars.




APP E NDIX.                            501
THE FLEET.
Frigates,............... 8
Corvettes..................................  5
Brigs............................................  1
Schooners,..............................  5
Small Steamers,..................................  5
Gun-Boats,....................................... 123
All seafaring Norwegians, from sixteen to thirty years of age, and,
with certain exceptions, all men in maritime districts, are bound to
serve five years on national vessels, if called upon. The number thus
bound at the present time is 47,000.
Budget for 1851-$407,464. The system is very enlightened and
progressive.  One proof is the readiness with which Mr Maury's proposition for the keeping accurate logs of winds, currents, etc., on the
high seas was accepted; and his invitation to a Meteorological Conference at once complied with.
INCOME OF THE KINGDOM.
In 1848, 4,696,600 specie dollars; for this they are chiefly indebted
to the great revenues of Kongsberg's silver-works.
EXPENSES.
In 1848, 2,523,700 sp., of which 105,050 sp. are paid annually to
the Royal Family in Sweden, and to the maintenance of the Royal
Palace in Christiania. The surplus in the public treasury, at the close
of 1847, was 2,172,900 sp.
EXPORTS.
In respect to exports, the city of Bergen surpasses the other Norwegian cities, its export being estimated at about 1,700,000 sp.,
yearly; Drammen's 650,000 sp.; Trondhjem's not fully 500,000 sp.;
and Christiania's only 350,000 sp. Next to those cities come Sarpsborg,
Christiansand, and Tromsoe. The articles of export are principally
fishes, pickled herrings, train-oil, iron, copper, iron in bars, timber,
anchovies, and window-glass.
IMPORTS.
In the year 1844, the import of provisions, of corn to Christiania
was 195,000 tons; to Drammen, 115,000 tons; to Christiansand, 50,000




502                    APPE NDIX.
tons; to Stavanger, 79,000; and to Trondhjem, 88,000 tons.  The
articles of import are: corn, coffee, sugar, brandy, wine, tobacco. salt,
butter, hemp, sole-leather, sail-cloth, cotton, etc.
MINES.
The most important branch of mining is the production of iron,
Norway having nineteen iron-works; and the whole production for
the years 1.841-'45 was: iron in bars, 24,753 skippund. Next are the
copper-works, of which there are nine. The production for the years
1841-'45 was 3,894 sk., yearly. The most important copper-works
are: R6raas, opened 1644, and Alten, opened 1826. Kongsberg's
silver mine is an important work. It was discovered in 1623. For a
very long series of years, there was only loss in working it; but since
1832, it has been very profitable, giving, in the year 1846, 16,079f
marks of massive and solid silver. About one million species is the
annual income of the Norwegian mines.
MANUFACTURES.
For want of native manufactories, Norway imports manufactures.
In the year 1846, there were imported of cotton, 888,638 pounds; of
stuffs of cotton, 826,414 pounds; of silk wares, 12,560 pounds. The
glass-making is nearly a failure; only three glass-works are now in
operation. Of paper-mills there are only seven, so that paper must
be imported; soap-houses are increasing, and the making of salt is
considerable-Vall6 salt mine alone produces, yearly, 25,000 tons of
salt. Of sugar refineries, the whole kingdom has only one in
Trondhjem.
AORICULTURE.
Every farm has an average of5 - acres of land, and the number of
farms is about 112,930.
HEALTH.
In 1845, 1,123 persons were infected with leprosy, mostly on the
western coast, from Stavanger to Finnmarken. Lazarettos in Bergen,
and one in Molde, have been erected.




A r PE N  Ix.                            503
III. —An Abstract of the Report in regard to the working of the
Copper Mile at Alten, in the JIve years from  1850 to 1855, inclhsively.
A TABULAR SURVEY OF EXPENSES AND PRODUCTION.
Disbuzrsements.                       Production.
SALARIES.    MATERIALS.  TOTAL AMOUNT.   ORE.        COPPER.
YEARS.
YEARS.  Species. Rkip'c Species. Skip'd  Species. Skip'dl  Pounds.  Pounds.
1851    32,030   T0  14,430   49   46,460  119 1 4,307,724    253,502
1852    32,345   23  12,480   12   44,825   35   5,107,168    243,2388
1853    33,743  118  14,472   32   48,216   30   5,188,128    276,030
1854    38,302  104  16,544  101   54,847   85   5,422,560    2S5,889
1855    36,902   87  20,850  108   57,753   75   4,370,820    231,974
Total 1738,325 1 42  78,778   62  252,103  104  24,393,600  1,292,915
A Norwegian species (sp.) is about the same as an American dollar.
The Norwegian or Danish weight called a skippund (skd.) amounts to
352 pounds.
The works consist of twelve larger or less mines and a few pits,
driven at indeterminate times.  No new discovery of any importance
has been made in the last five years.
In  the year 1855, the  copper works supported  the following
population:
WORKMEN  IN  THE MINES AND FOUNDRY (FuRNACE): —Men, 218;
Wromen, 145; Children, 124; Administrator, 1; Bookkeepers, 2;
Physician, 1; Victuallers and, assistants, 3; Controller of the foundry,
1; People for ascending and descending, 6; Keeper of storehouses, 1;
Teachers, 3; Blacksmiths, 8; Bricklayers, 2; Carpenters, 2; Baker
and Brewer, 1; Shoemakers, 4; Tailors, 2; Sailors, 3; Grooms and
Drivers, 14; Persons settled at the work and by it nourished, but not
in certain employment, 47; Children not capable of working, 266 
Old and sickly persons, 5.
Of the above-named, there were in the year 1855, 439 Quanes,
293 Norwegians, 94 Swedes, 25 Englishmen, 1V Finns (Laplanders),
5 Russians, and 1 German, adults and children inclusive.
IV.-TERRACED BEACHES.-See p. 90.
IT is an interesting fact, in connection with the ancient terraced




504                       AP PENDIX.
beaches on the coast of Norway, that Dr. Kane discovered similar
traces of a secular elevation of the American continent, as far North
as 81~.
He supposes the elevation to have commenced at some point north
of'76~. In one place, the elevation reached the height of 480 feet.
He speaks also of a depression of Southern Greenland, corresponding to the depression of Southern Scandinavia.
V.-RESUM]t OF STATISTICS OF SWEDEN.
Population in Sweden, 1854,.................... 3,606,987
Males,.................................. 1,'750,136
Females,................................. 1,856,851
Population in Stockholm..........................            95,950
Number of Prisons in Sweden, 53; including 17 Cell-prisons, containing 1,257 light, and 62 dark cells.
Number of prisoners in Sweden,....................  15,472
Males,......................................  12,141
Females,..........................   3,331
Number of prisoners in Stockholm,..................    4,857
Receipts for prisons and prisoners, 1854, 1,115,641 Rdr., inclusive
of 882,890 Rdr. appropriated  by the  Diet.  Expenses for same,
during 1854, 1,113,068 Rdr.
Children born in Sweden, 1850,.....................  110,399
Males,......................................  56,590
Females,.,.O................  53,809
Children, dead,................... I...   68,514
Males,......................................    35,595
Females,....    32,919
Increase of born over dead children,................   41,885
Males,.......................................   20,995
Females,..................................  20,890
Children born in Stockholm, 1850, 3,190; including 1,424 illegitimate children.  Children born in other cities, 1850, 7,805; including
1,538 illegitimate.  Children born in the country, 99,404; including
7,358 illegitimate.




APPEND IX.                               505
Proportion of illegitimate to legitimate children: at Stockholm,
I to 2.25; in the other cities, 1 to 5.03; in the country, 1 to 1,434.
Stillborn children in 1850, 3,652.
Value of Imports firom the United States, 1854,... 3,250,000 Rdr.
Tobacco,............................... 1,120,137  "
Rice,..................................    23,143  6
Suar,.........................  432,515'6
Cotton,...................................,960,731 "
Value of Exports, during same year, to the United States:
Iron,...................................... 107,576 6
Steel,................................   3,609  "
Vessels arrived to Sweden from other countries, 10,648 of 418,615
tons. Vessels cleared from Sweden for other countries, 10,574 of
422,168 tons.
Custom-House-duties paid during 1854:
Imported Goods. Exported.    Total Rdr.
At Stockholm,....... 2,086,466        31,805     2,118,271
At Gefle,.............      73,577       6,035        79,612
At Gothenbourgh,...   2,321,066         23,400     2,344,466
At NorrkSping,........    294,029         5,743       299,772
Cotton Spinning Factories, 1854: 14 consuming 8,204,270 lbs. cotton, producing to the value of 4,188,664 Rdr.
Clothing Manufactories 109, producing goods to the value of
4,986,454 Rdr.
Silk Mlanufactories 13, making goods to the value of 911,770 Rdr.
Norrkdpin, has 86 clothing factories, producing, in 1854, goods to
the value of 4,053,117 Rdr.
Number of pupils in the common schools, Stockholm,
1854,...............................16,101
Boys........................................  7,913
Girls...............................   8.188
Number of Teachers, 34; amount of their salaries, 11,261 Rdr.
The income of these schools was, during that year, 24,.298 Rdr., and
their expenses, 16,353 Rdr.




506                    A      P PENDIX.
VI.-STATISTICS OF CHARITY  OF STOCKHOLM.
Houses for receiving poor children and institutes of education are
eight. The largest of these houses contained, in the year 1853, 741
children; and the number adopted from such houses.was, in January,
1854, 2,629. The expenses were, in 1853, about $23,850.
The Free Mason's house for receiving children assisted in educating
292 children. Their expenses are about $4,780. Marbeekska Institution for the education of poor girls, contained 26. The expenses,
4,102 Rix.  This Institution has, within the last few years, been
enlarged, so that it can contain double the number of children.
The youngest of those institutions is the Kronprincess Louisa
for sick children.  A  home, a school, and also a hospital, are
united with that Institution. The school was opened with fifty-eight
pupils. In the home for children, were received during the last
year, twelve girls. The Institution has a lady superintendent, and
the committee consists of three gentlemen and two ladies. Their
income, from the 31st of October, 1851, was 51,313 Rdr. banko,
besides the 500Rdr. banko which the King gave. That sum of 51,313
banko was obtained partly in gifts, and partly in yearly subscriptions.
Their expenses, in order to get the Institution in perfect order,
amounted to 44,330 Riks. There is also another branch attached to
this Institution-a creche for poor women.
The income of the city of Stockholm amounted, in the year 1850,
to 356,440 Riks dollars, and the expenses were 423,905 Rix.
CRIMINAL STATISTICS.
Offences of all Kinds.               Persons found Guilty.
39,105 in 1845.................... 33,026 in 1845
38,814    1846.....................32,401    1846
38,4444" 1847....................31,092 "1847
36,607     148...............3        0,121    1848
34,600" 1849............8,743    1849
PRorF. A. C. KN6s.
Taking the whole population at 3,316,536 persons for 1845, the
number of the guilty, in 1845, is 1 to 92; 1846, 1 to 102; 1847, 1 fo
106; 1848, 1 to 110; 1849, 1 to 115.
In these cases, however, are reckoned all offences against the most




A PPENDIX.                          507
minute police laws. It is claimed by intelligent Swedes that Laing, in
his severe strictures on Swedish immorality, based on the public
statistical tables, has committed the error of confusing many of these
arbitrary police offences with real offences against virtue.
VII.
English view of King Oscar's speech before the Diet of 1856-57:
"A Swedish Board of Works is to be established-the King has
declared; and forthwith, a plan is to be submitted to the Houses for
the construction.of grand trunk railways, to draw the opposite ports
of the United Kingdom together. Nor does the government limit its
present promises to the construction of railways. The establishment
of railways is to inaugurate, to use the King's words,'a law still
more closely in harmony than the last with the wise principle of
Free Trade.'  And, then, would a people enjoying the use of railways, free to trade, under liberal enactments-would a people so circumstanced remain content to live in a state of religious slavery?
The question has been wisely answered by the Swedish Governmeht.
To that persecution of Catholics-which has so long disgraced Sweden,
is to succeed' an enlightened tolerance for the creed of others, based
upon neighborly love.'' It is right,' exclaims King Oscar,'that
the people, whose great monarch Gustavus Adolphus fought for freedom of thought and conscience, and which freedom he sealed with
his blood-it is right that such a people should follow his example.'
These are sentiments that do honor to Bernadotte's son.
A long time has elapsed since a speech equally important to that
of King Oscar has been pronounced from a throne. Railways are to be
suddenly thrown open; a department of public works is to be established; freedom is to become the governing principle of commerce;
Catholic emancipation is to be declared; unmarried women are to
enjoy the rights of majority at twenty-five years of age; a statistical
department is to be organized; and all during one session! If Sweden has held back somewhat doggedly from the general progress of
Western Europe-it must'be confessed, that our new allies appear
determined to make up, by vigorous action in the present, for the
years they have lost."-(Sat. Review.)




508                   A P P E N DIX.
VIII.-CONSTITUTION  OF SWEDEN.
Pronm a French translation prepared,for the use of Bernadotte.
SECTION 1.
The kingdom of Sweden shall be ruled by a king; it shall be a
hereditary monarchy, according to the order of succession of the male
descendants of the king deceased, who shall be appointed by the
States.
SECTION 2.
The king shall always be of the pure evangelical doctrine as laid
down in the confession of Augsburgh. and assumed by virtue of the
Decree of the Synod of Upsala of the year 1593.
SECTION 9.
There shall be kept a record of all the deliberations that will take
place before the king in the State Council. The actual members of
that Council shall indispensably express~ and explain their opinions,
and have them recorded; they shall be responsible for their advice,
and the final consequence of the same will be determined by ~~ 106
and 107, but the decision reserved to the king only.
SECTION 12.
It belongs to the king to form treaties and alliances with foreign
powers, after having consulted on the subject with the minister of
foreign affairs and some other member of the State Council.
SECTION 13.
If the king will undertake a war, or make peace, he shall assemble,
for an extraordinary State Council, all the members of the Council of
State, representing to them the motives and circumstances to be
taken into consideration, and asking their advice, which each of
them shall give privately, in order to be entered in the Journal of
Records, with the responsibility determined by ~107. The king
hereafter shall have the power to take and execute such resolution as
he may deem most beneficial to the kingdom.
SEtTXitN 14.
The king shall have the supreme command of the army and navy
of the kingdom.




APPENDIX X                          509
SECTION 15.
The objects relative to the military command, that is to say, such
as are under the immediate care of the king in his quality as chief
commander of the army and navy, will be decided by the king when
he rules the kingdom himself in presence of that chief of the military
department to whose province it belongs. Whenever such objects
are introduced for discussion, that officer is bound upon his own
responsibility to declare his opinion on the undertakings made by
the king, and if his opinion disagree with the resolution of the king,
to have his representations and counsels consigned to an official
report certified by the king's signature. If the above mentioned
officer discovers that those undertakings are of a hazardous nature,
or founded upon precarious and insufficient means of execution, he
shall, with the consent of the king, assemble a council of war consisting of two or more military officers of superior rank, that are present, and have the advices of said council entered upon record.
SECTION 16.
The king shall enforce and favor justice and truth; prevent and obstruct violence and wrong; neither shall he injure nor permit any one
else to injure any one's honor or personal liberty and welfare, unless he
be convicted by law and and condemned, nor shall he seize anything,
or permit that any one's property, either real or personal, may be
seized without process or judgment according to the rules prescribed
by the laws and statutes of Sweden, neither shall he injure the peace
of anybody in his premises nor permit him to be troubled; nor shall
he banish any man from one place to another; nor force the liberty
of conscience of any man or permit it to be forced (strained,) but
protect every one in the free exercise of his religion, as long as it is
harmless to the peace of the public and causes no scandal. The king
shall order judgment to be rendered by the proper tribunal.
SECTION 21.
The king shall have two votes in the decision of matters in which
he thinks proper to assist in the supreme tribunal.  All lawful
demands may be communicated to the king, and his votes concerning
the same shall be collected and counted even if he has not joined the
deliberations in the Supreme Court.




510                   AP P E ND I X.
SECTION 25.
In criminal cases it is the king who shall pardon, modify capital
punishment, and restitute honor as well as the property confiscated in
favor of the crown. The Supreme Court, however, is to be heard for
the petitions on that subject, and the king will render his resolution
in the State Council. It will depend, hereafter, upon the culprit
whether he will accept the pardon granted to him by the king, or
suffer the penalty to which he had been condemned.
SECTION 29.
The Archbishop and the Bishops shall be chosen as heretofore,
and the king shall appoint for those places one of the three candidates proposed.
SECTION 30.
The king, according to the custom heretofore observed, shall make
appointments for the royal parsonages. As to the parsonages called
consistorial, the parishes shall be maintained according to their election law.
SECTION 31.
The citizens of the towns shall continue to enjoy the right of proposing for the office of mayor three capable men; of whom one
is to be chosen by the king. In the same manner it shall be proceeded as to the offices of councillors and the secretary of the
municipality of Stockholm.
SECTION 36.
Those who occupy offices of the administration of either higher or
lower rank, likewise, all the employes and functionaries, except those
mentioned in ~35, cannot, without preliminary proceedings and judge
ment, be dismissed by the king, nor can they be appointed or tranEferred to other offices unless at their own request.
SECTION 39.
If the king will undertake a journey in a foreign land, he shall comen
rmunicate his object to the State Council when fully assembled, and
he shall hear the advice on that subject in manner described in ~ 9.




A r:P ii; N  ) I.                511
If, subsequently, the king, after having resolved to travel, accomplishes this design, he will not occupy himself with the government of
the kingdom, and will not exercise the royal prerogative while travelling abroad, but the State Council will conduct, during the king's
absence, the government in his name, with all the rights that the
present form of government attributes to the king; however, the
State Council call never accord titles of nobility, nor promote to the
rank of count or baron, or distribute orders of knighthood; likewise
can all the vacant charges only be temporarily conducted by those
who will have been constituted for the same by the State Council.
Whatsoever there is to be observed, if the king remains longer than
twelve months out of the kingdom, is stated in ~ 91.
SECTION 42.
If the. misfortune should happen, that all the male members of the
royal family which are invested with the right of succession to the
kingdom are extinct, the State Council will likewise conduct the
government with royal power and authority, until the States assembled have elected a new dynasty and the king elect have taken the
reins of Government. In each of the cases mentioned in the four
preceding sections, all the members of the:Council shall be present
in the State Council and give their opinions.
SECTION 49.
The States of the kingdom, by virtue of the present fundamental
laws, shall assemble after the lapse of five years since the last session
of parliament. During the recess of every such session the States
shall fix the day on which they have to meet again, and record precisely the time of the convocation, together with the necessary
instructions respecting the election of deputies. The king, however,
will be at liberty to convoke, before that time, the States of the
kingdom to an extraordinary parliamentary session.
SECTION 52.
The king shall nominate the Marshal of the Diet, the speakers of the
order of the bourgeoisie and that of the peasants; also the secretary of
the order of the peasants. The Archbishop shall always be the
speaker of the order of the clergy.




512                   A  P   EP ND I X o
SECTION V3
There cannot in future any new tax demand for men, money, or
food, be ordained, levied or exacted without the free will and consent
of the States, according to the forms prescribed as above.
SECTION 74.
The king shall not have the right of exacting any other contribution to a war that might occur than a quota of victuals that may be
required by some county for the maintenance of soldiers during their
march, when the different cities or villages through which that march
takes place are unable to furnish the necessary provisions. For such
contribution, however, there is cash to be paid without delay to those
who furnish said provisions by the treasurer, according to the terms
established for the public markets, and with a rise of one half of their
amount. Said contribution may not be exacted for soldiers cantoned
in some place, or employed during- the war-operations; these men
shall be supplied by the depots established to that end.
SECTION 76.
Without the consent of the States of the kingdom, the king cannot
raise loans in the kingdom or in a foreign country, nor encumber the
State with a new debt.
SECTION 79.
No change of the coin in the kingdom, concerning the title or
weight either to increase or diminish it, shall take place without the
consent of the States of the kingdom; however the right of the king
to have money coined remains inviolated.
SECTION 80.
The national military establishments for the army and navy shall
be sustained in accordance with the contracts with the provinces and
cities; also the institution called the assessment (repartition) shall
remain inviolated as to their foundations, until the king and the
States deem it necessary to make alterations. No new levy of men
in the country shall take place unless both the king and the States
consent to issue a decree for that purpose.




AP P ENDIX.                         513
SECTION 85.
As fundamental laws are to be considered the present form of
government, the regulation to assemble the Diets, the Succession Act,
and the edict concerning the general freedom of the press, which
laws are to be unanimously established duriig the session of this
Diet, by the States and the king, according to the principles laid
down in the present form of government.
SECTION 86.
By freedom of the press is understood the right of every Swede to
publish writings without meeting with any obstacle on the part of the
public authority; without being thereafter prosecuted for their contents, except before a legal tribunal, and unless said contents be contrary to the laws tending to maintain the public peace, and stay the
progress of general information. All the acts and documents relative to any cause whatsoever, with exception of the acts which are
drawn up in the Council of State and before the king, in diplomatic
affairs and matters of the military command, can be published by the
press without reserve. There shall not be printed any records or
documents concerning the bank and public debt which contain
objects that must be kept secret.
SECTION 93.
When the king dies, and the successor to the throne is a minor,
the Council shall convoke the States. The publication for the purpose shall take place within the space of fifteen days after the death
of the king, in the churches of the capital, and immediately afterwards, in the remainder of the kingdom. It is for the States, without taking into consideration the testament of the king deceased,
concerning the administration of the kingdom, to constitute one omore tutors (guardians,) who shall preside in his name and in accordance with the present constitution, until the king becomes of age.
SECTION 96.
The States of the kingdom  shall appoint at each diet a man distinguished for his learning in the laws and his integrity, who in the
capacity of their attorney, and according to their instructions, shall
watch that the judges and employds comply with the respective rules
22*




514                   A       P  rFP   N D I X.
and regulations, and who shall prosecute, before the proper tribunals
and in due form of law, such as in the excercise of their duties
commit illegalities by being partial, showing regard for individuals,
or otherwise, and who neglect the faithful performance of their
duties. Such attorney shall, nevertheless, be subject entirely to the
same obligations which are prescribed by the code and proceedings to
be observed by the public prosecutors.
SECTION 108.
For the better maintaining the freedom of the press, the States
shall nominate at each diet six men famous for their intelligence and
learning, with the procurator of justice, who will preside in their
assemblies. These mandatories, of whom two besides the proctor of
justice are to be lawyers, shall have the following functions:- If an
author or a printer personally delivers to them a manuscript intended
for the press, and asks their opinion on the law relative to the
freedom of the press in case of a prosecution, then the proctor of justice and at least three mandatories, one of whom to be a lawyer,
shall give their opinion in writing.  If they declare that the mannscript may be printed, the author and printer shall not be liable to
any responsibility, but the said mandatories shall be held responsible.
These mandatories are to be elected by the States through the
medium of six electors chosen by each order who have to vote collectively. If in the interval of the diets one of those mandatories
should fail (be missing) then the others shall nominate a qualified
person to fill the vacancy.
SECTION 109.
The parliament shall not continue longer than three months from
the day when the king will have given to the States or their coinmittee, information respecting the condition of the public finances
and the necessities of the State. If, however, by this time the States
of the kingdom have not closed the business of the diet, they have
to inform the king and demand that the diet may be extended to a
time not longer than one month, which to refuse or prevent the king
shall not have the power. If, contrary to expectation, it might happen that at the expiration of the term of said prolongation the States
of the kingdom have not settled the condition of the national expenditures, or if they have been engaged in fixing upon the amount of
a new subsidy, then shall the king dissolve the States, and the pre



A   P END I X.                      515
vious subsidy shall coatinue until the next diet. If the total amount
of the subsidy be determined and the States cannot agree upon the
repartition, then in accordance with the report of the sum which has
been fixed upon and that which had been assessed on the preceding
diet, shall the articles fixed upon in the last edict of subsidy be raised
or lessened (diminished) in equal proportion, and the States shall
commission their deputies to the bank and public debt to draw up
and dispatch, according to this principle, a new edict of subsidy.
SECTION 110.
No deputy to the diet can be prosecuted by law nor deprived of his
liberty for his actions and discourses in the assemblies of the orders of
the kingdom or in the State Committees, unless the order to which he
belongs have given permission by a formal decision that has been
acceded to by five-sixths of the members of the order who were
present when the opinions were given in general assembly. Neither
can a deputy be sent away from the seat of parliament. If any individual or body, whether civil, military, or a party of what name
soever, either of their own accord or in consequence of an order,
undertake to commit violence upon the States of the kingdom or
their committees, or a deputy in particular, or undertake to injure
the freedom of their deliberations and decisions, that shall be considered as treason, and it will depend upon the States to order the
prosecution by law for such offences.
SECTION 111.
If, however, a deputy during the session of the diet, on his way to
or his return from the diet, be distured by words or deeds, after having given information as to his destination, such a case will be
regarded and punished as an offence against the public safety.
SECTION 112.
No employ6 nor functionary shall improperly, and by authority of
his office, exert his influence upon the elections of deputies. If any
one is doing so he shall forfeit his place.
SECTION 113.
The mandatories charged with the assessments, and with the application of the dispositions concerning the subsidies, shall not be liable
to any responsibility for their assessments.




5 16G         ~        APP P ENDIX.
SECTION 114.
The king will maintain all the States of the kingdom in the enjoyment of their privileges, advantages, rights and liberties.
In witness whereof we have agreed to confirm, accept and sanction
this act, signing and affixing thereto our names and seals.  Given at
Stockholm on the sixth day of June in the year of grace 1809.
On the part of the Order of the Nobility,
M. ANDARSVARD, I h. t. iJfacsheal of the Diet.
On the part of the Order of the Clergy,
IAc. Ax. LINDBLOM, Speaker.
On the part of the Order of the Bourgeoisie,
H. N. SCVHYN, h. t. SpeakerT
On the part of the Order of the Peasants,
LARS OLSSON, h. t. Sjpeaker.
All that is herein prescribed, we will not only ourselves accept as
the inviolable fundamental law, but we command and order all those
who owe faith, respect and obedience to us and our successors, as well
as to the kingdom, to acknowledge the present (actual) form of government, to observe it, and to conform and submit themselves to the same.
In testimony whereof we have signed and confirmed this act by our
own hand, and have avowedly hereto  affixed  our royal seal'
Dated in our residence at Stockholm on the sixth day of the month
of June, in the year of grace 1809.
CHARLES.