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 NOTES OF TRAVEL 
 
 IN 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES A. SUMNER. 
 
 WITH VIEWS, PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND PLANS, ENGRAVED EXPRESSLY 
 FOR THIS BOOK. A. L. RAWSON, ARTIST. 
 
 ' . »« a 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 ANDREW J. GRAHAM, 744 BROADWAY. 
 
 1886.
 
 V 
 
 Copyrighted, 1885, 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES A. SUMNER. 

 
 ^■^ 
 
 /T 
 
 TO MY WIFE 
 
 AND TO 
 
 MY DAUGHTER ESTHER, 
 
 MY COMPANIONS IN THESE 
 
 JOURNEYINGS, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 Ji8()J2SS 
 
 JlONATELY INSCRIBED.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. PAGE 
 
 From London to Gothenburg n 
 
 II. 
 First Objects of Observation ig 
 
 III. 
 
 Public Institutions 29 
 
 IV. 
 The Gotha Canal. — Trolhattan 37 
 
 V. 
 Trolhattan to Venersborg 53 
 
 VI. 
 
 Venersborg to Stockholm 62 
 
 VII. 
 
 Stockholm to Stromsholm Castle 7q 
 
 VIII. 
 Monktorp to Kolbeck 87 
 
 IX. 
 
 In the Kolbeck Parish loi 
 
 X. 
 
 The Stromsholm Vardshus Family and Neighbors 113 
 
 XI. 
 Stromsholm to Vestanfors 122 
 
 XII. 
 At Smedjbacken 134
 
 vi CONTENTS. 
 
 xiii- 
 
 Delecarlia. — Smedjbacken to Leksand 141 
 
 XIV. 
 Leksand to Mora 152 
 
 XV. 
 At Mora and Utmeland 166 
 
 XVI. 
 From Mora to Falun 182 
 
 XVII. 
 At Falun ; and thence to Westeras 190 
 
 XVIII. 
 A Week at Westeras 203 
 
 XIX. 
 To and in Upsala : 218 
 
 XX. 
 At Stockholm 236 
 
 XXI. 
 King and People 260 
 
 XXII. 
 
 From Stockholm to Malmo 274 
 
 XXIII. 
 Copenhagen 298 
 
 XXIV. 
 From Copenhagen to Stettin 310 
 
 XXV. 
 A Glance at Berlin 316 
 
 XXVI. 
 Berlin to'Dover. A few Notes at Dresden, Cologne, and Paris. 331
 
 List of Illustrations. 
 
 ♦ ■» ♦- — — 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Harbor of Gothenburg. Frontispiece 
 
 Steamship "Alaska" 12 
 
 Hotel Christiania iq 
 
 The Bourse and Ostra Street, Gothenburg 24 
 
 Statue of Gustavus Adolphus 26 
 
 Mauritz Rubcnson, President of Board of Practical Education. 40 
 
 Sidney W. Cooper, U. S. Consul to Gothenburg 45 
 
 Canal Locks, near Trolhattan 48 
 
 Trolhattan Falls 54 
 
 Venersborg 5g 
 
 Vadstena Castle 71 
 
 Gotha Canal, near Borenshult 73 
 
 Brunneby 74 
 
 Cloister Church 75 
 
 Soderkoping 76 
 
 Grave of Baron von Platen 76 
 
 Mem 77 
 
 Horningsholm 78 
 
 Strengnas Cathedral 80 
 
 Stromsholm Castle 81 
 
 Charles IX. Statue 84 
 
 Landlady of Vardshus 121 
 
 Skansen Locks 126 
 
 Leksand Church 14^ 
 
 Mora 153 
 
 Cottage Scene in Delecarlia 157
 
 yiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mora-Kulla 162 
 
 Gustavus Wasa's Concealment 173 
 
 Monument of Gustavus Wasa 177 
 
 Rattvik Church 181 
 
 Ornas 189 
 
 Falun. — View of Market, Cathedral, and Copper Hill Range. . . . 191 
 
 B. V. Norstedt I93 
 
 The Stoten Abyss 195 
 
 Map of Southern Sweden 202 
 
 A. P. Erickson, Keeper of Westeras Castle 205 
 
 Interior of Westeras Cathedral 208 
 
 Statue of Gustavus Wasa 216 
 
 Skokloster 221 
 
 General View of Upsala Castle and Cathedral 223 
 
 Upsala Cathedral 227 
 
 Upsala University Library 232 
 
 New University Building, Upsala 233 
 
 View of Hasselbacken, Stockholm 246 
 
 English Church, Stockholm 250 
 
 The Royal Palace, Stockholm 252 
 
 Riddarholmen Church, Stockholm 255 
 
 Interior of Jacob Church, Stockholm 256 
 
 King's Theatre, Stockholm 258 
 
 National Museum, Stockholm 259 
 
 Gustaf Adolph Square, Stockholm 265 
 
 Bird's-eye View of Stockholm 269 
 
 Norrk oping Public School 275 
 
 Linkoping Cathedral 277 
 
 Prof. Victor Hugo Wickstrom, of Lund 279 
 
 Lund Cathedral 280 
 
 Crypt of Lund Cathedral 282 
 
 New University Hall, Lund 283 
 
 Malmo Castle 286 
 
 Malmo City Hall 287 
 
 St. Peter's Church, Malmo 289 
 
 Kockumska Hus 290 
 
 Flat and Side View of Swedish Bread 292
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Costumes in Skane 294 
 
 Our Malmo Entertainers 297 
 
 Map of North Germany 299 
 
 Plan cf Copenhagen 303 
 
 Stettin 315 
 
 KaiserhofT, Berlin ; 318 
 
 Royal Palace, Berlin 327 
 
 Berlin and Vicinity 329 
 
 Central Portion of Dresden 333 
 
 Bruhl Terrace 336 
 
 Helbig's Restaurant. 337 
 
 Ths Belvedere 338 
 
 Old Bridge and Cathedral, Dresden 340 
 
 Grosse Gardens, Palace, and Lake 344 
 
 Royal Museum and Theatre 351 
 
 Zvvingcr Court-yard 352 
 
 Rev. H. R. Haweis 355 
 
 Great Choir and High Altar, Cologne Cathedral 359 
 
 Main Aisle of Cologne Cathedral 361 
 
 Arcii of Triumph 364 
 
 Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte 366 
 
 Palais Royal, Paris 368 
 
 Grand Opera House, Paris 369 
 
 Grand Stairway of Opera House, Paris 371 
 
 The Seven Bridges of Paris 373 
 
 Steamship "City of Berlin" 381 
 
 Cliffs of Dover 382
 
 KOTES OF TRAVEL 
 
 IN 
 
 NOETHERN EUROPE. 
 
 I. 
 
 FEOM LONDON TO GOTHENBURG. 
 
 Thursday, the 21st of June, was a foggy, drizzly day, in 
 London; such a day as Englishmen appear to delight in 
 calling "nasty." The walking in the streets where the mud 
 was about the composition of the inside of an average loaf 
 of London baker's bread was declared to be "beastly." 
 [You must not say that you have been or are liable to be 
 seasick; you must not employ that term when speaking in 
 "society" in the metropolis; you must or may admit that 
 you are not a good traveler; but "nasty" and "beastly" 
 are words frequently used by ladies and gentlemen in con- 
 versation at a fashionable dinner-party. The former is pro- 
 nounced with a breadth of accent on the "a" that is of itself 
 at first almost medicinal to a stranger from Yankeeland.] 
 
 We are glad to get on board the Belle at G o'clock at 
 night — out of the rain. And such a long carriage-ride as it 
 is from Eussell Square to the steamer-landing; no end of 
 streets, and ever-changing variety of trades and inhabitants. 
 The incomprehensible immensity of this tremendous city 
 again fairly oppresses ais. 
 
 The Gothenburg steamer starts from Mill wall Docks, 
 London, at 1 o'clock in the morning. You are requested to 
 be on board not later than 9 o'clock, the evening before 
 sailing. And we found that most of the passengers were 
 at the suppei'-table, which was spread at 8 p. m 
 
 (11)
 
 12 
 
 NOR THE UN E UIl OPE. 
 
 The J^elle, Captain C. A. Petterson, is of 1400 toDS register 
 and a thousand-horsepower, capable of maldng 300 miles a 
 day in g'ood weather. Wiiat further is to be joroperly re- 
 corded in this connection should be the fact that the vessel 
 is very neat, and the food most excellent in material and 
 cooking", and the service "all that conld be desired." We 
 coiild not refrain from mutual confessions of a sense of 
 "cramped conditions,"' — though in no manner or degree 
 complaining — after oiu' accommodations on the mammoth 
 "Alaska." 
 
 THE "ALASKA AT SEA. 
 
 You have a suggestion of Swedish proximity before the 
 supper-bell rings; you are invited to help j'ourself at the 
 side-shelf or smorgersbord, on which is spread a plentiful 
 supply of bread and cheese, and cold fish and cold meats, 
 cooked or cured in various forms. Admonished by the ex- 
 perience which Du Chaillu so vividh' describes, I tasted 
 with great caution, lest I should bite a morsel that re- 
 quired an educated appetite before it became entirely pal- 
 atable. But I found everything not only eatable on first 
 acquaintance, l.^ut decidedly delicious. O, what a blessed
 
 LONDON TO GOTIIENBURO. 13 
 
 cliange from the pasty bread and unsavory meats of tbe 
 London restaurant! I do believe that the true genealogy 
 of the New-England kitchen, as I knew it in my boyhood, is 
 to be traced not to our Plymouth forefathers' hearths, but 
 to the ovens of the Scandinavians, who, in a still somewhat 
 undetermined century preceded the Mayflower immigration 
 to the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Precisely 
 how this happened can not be told : but there are strong 
 grounds — such as are called in philology "inherent" — for 
 this sincere conviction or faith. 
 
 We are welcomed by the Captain himself, saluting in his 
 native tongue, and then speaking in that charming broken 
 English for which his kinsmen — and more especially his 
 kinswomen — are renowned. And when he learns that we 
 are from California, he comes again to us from the fore- 
 hatch, where he had been Avatching the stevedores load his 
 vessel, and talks rapidly and earnestly with us about "the 
 land of gold," and incpiires respecting his people there. 
 
 He says he never had any inclination to quit his native 
 land for good. In fact, he never leaves her shores without 
 a pang of regret. He has mingled with the inhabitants of 
 many nations; gone among them in their own homes as 
 well as in their places of domestic trade. He has seen 
 nowhere that mutual love and affection that is always to be 
 observed, he says — and he utters this in a very pleasant, 
 kindly way — in his dear old Sweden. He thinks that it is 
 well, — in truth, he knows that it is well — that multitudes 
 should leave Sweden to settle in America; and he rejoices 
 that there is such a country for them to go to, — under the 
 circumstances. But he alwaj-s looks with pity upon the 
 poor emigrants, who must go far, far away from their be- 
 loved kingdom. All this he says without ostentation or tlie 
 slightest sign of affectation. He means what he says; and 
 he does not intend to offensively disparage any other 
 country. His frank, straightforward manner of speech, and 
 his entire freedom in it are delightful, to the point even of 
 being deserving of the title of charming. 
 
 In his intercourse with his officers and men and the pas-
 
 14 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 sengers, throughout the voyage, he endears himself to us 
 all ; and as we came in sight of land the last day out, his 
 "guests," as he called them, caught each other halfway in 
 expressions of regret on account of our separation from 
 such a master — "Just what I was going to say." If you 
 should ever chance to make this trip, my dear reader, I 
 advise you to seek a passage on the new ship that is being 
 built under the orders of this model and "popular com- 
 mander." His new and larger boat will be ready in October, 
 188G. 
 
 At two o'clock Friday morning we are aroused by the 
 noise of departure. Looking out of the cabin-window we 
 appear to be sailing down the center of a street. We are, in 
 fact, passing through the basin that connects Millwall Docks 
 with the Thames. At six o'clock we are at the mouth of the 
 great river. We pass close alongside of two wrecks "of 
 recent manufacture" as one of the sailors explained; and 
 a steamer with a shifted cargo, signaling for a pilot, is seen 
 as we turn the corner of the British Kingdom, and begin 
 moving uji in the direction of Y:;rmouth. But we are not 
 going to hug the shore so far up as the home of Peggotty 
 and little Em"ly. O, for even a brief telescoi^ic squint at 
 the veritable fishing-grounds of Ham and his guardian. 
 
 The offing is crowded with sail: we counted thirteen steam- 
 ers with the prows pointed toward London; and the brigs 
 and schooners are literally uncountable. Nor does the clus- 
 ter thin out rapidly; but up from the vasty deep new incom- 
 ers seem to rise, for some time after we had "northered," al- 
 most as fast as the score of crafts we met at the mouth of 
 the river descended from our sight. We were disappointed 
 in not meeting as many vessels as we expected to see near 
 Liverpool : contrariwise, we are content on this side of John 
 Bulls dominions. It is a busy part of the Earth's surface: 
 these waters are daily vexed at every angle. 
 
 The sea is not rough at the beginning of the voyage, and 
 it grows more calm and smooth as we approach the Swedish 
 harbor. All proved to be "good travelers" on this trijD. 
 There is a party of four Englishmen and Scotchmen on
 
 LONDON TO GOTHENBURG. 15 
 
 board, under care of a professional guide, J. G. Bergquist, 
 who are "})rogrammed" for Norway and Sweden, and perhaps 
 a part of Russia. They go from Gothenburg to Christiana, 
 
 "and so." 
 
 "So," simple "so," declaratively and inteiTogatively, is a 
 favorite expression witli the Swedish population hereal)outs, 
 for '-That is so," and '-Is that soT' At first I imaginedthat 
 it implied incredulity. Not so. "So," solus, may, with a 
 heavy emphasis or sharp rising inflection, indicate great sur- 
 prise at your words, but has no signification of disbehef. 
 At times it appears to convey, and I am confident it does 
 mean, hearty satisfaction and profound gladness on account 
 of that undoubted statement which you are making— about 
 America, for instance — to your Scandinavian friend. 
 
 We hugged the English coast up as far as the line of 
 Harwich, when we turned and pointed for the northern cliffs 
 of Denmark. As the land fades out of sight I count the 
 sail within our horizon, and find that we have the goodly 
 company of twenty-three vessels. Although the sea is smooth, 
 and it is not an uncomfortable occupation to simply sit on 
 the bridge-deck and watch the motion of the boat, and listen 
 to such bits of conversation as drift toward you, we feel 
 anxious to get a closer acquaintance with some of our 
 fellow-passengers, — knowing that that can not be a difficult 
 task if we once set aggressively about it. 
 
 We have for one of our companions a gentleman of about 
 60 years of age, whose benevolent countenance would be a 
 passport into cheerfully inclined company anywhere. He 
 opens communication with the youngest-member of our do- 
 mestic circle, and at once establishes relations of a most 
 cordial character. It transpires that he is a Scjtchman, — a 
 practical mechanical engineer. His card shows us the name 
 of J. Jackson, of 27 Walbrook, London. He very shortly im- 
 proves the occasion to announce himself an uncompromising 
 Liberal, an ardent admirer of Gladstone and John Bright, 
 and a missionary for free trade. He can quote at length from 
 Bright's recent speeches at Birmingham, and is never tked
 
 ]6 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 of speaking of Gladstone as a -wonderful man, a wonderful 
 man, a wonderful man. 
 
 He asked me about the general feeling in America on the 
 Irish land question ; and when I assured him that the large 
 majority of our people deeply sympathize with the peasants, 
 he said with vehemence that they ought to, — that Ireland 
 •was most outrageously oj^pressed. 
 
 On the second day out the passage was like a trip up the 
 Hudson or the Sacramento River with respect to the smooth- 
 ness of the water and the motion of the steamer. During 
 the entire voyage we were rarely out of sight of sail. As we 
 approached Jutland the number of vessels in sight raj^idly 
 increased. 
 
 Denmark land is seen at 2 p. m. of the second day from 
 London on this tri^^ ; and it rises and lengthens out until we 
 swing around its northern promontory. 
 
 We pass by and in among scores of fishing-boats in the 
 vicinity of the upper lighthouse, and the boys in their skills 
 hold up Specimens of their catch for us to examine. They 
 spread their nets on steamer-days with a view of getting the 
 benefit of a '•scare" toward the shore, created by the beat- 
 ing of the screw. 
 
 Sunday w^as Midsummer-day; which would be only re- 
 stating a fact of the calendar for the northern hemisphere 
 in any other country but Sweden or Norway. Here it im- 
 implies a great deal: hei'e this is the red-letter day of all the 
 year, as may be noted from one item in my diary: — 
 
 "On Board Steamship Belle, Sunilay Morning, June 24, 5.30 o'clock. 
 
 "We are on the bridge deck, looking through the Cap- 
 tain's glass for land. The second officer points out where 
 the lighthouse will ''stick up his nose" when we shall have 
 arrived at the point of the globe where it can be seen by the 
 incoming traveler. The air coiild not be clearer. It is so 
 pure that it seems as though j-ou could look very far beyond 
 the line of the horizon of the sea. — far away into the illim- 
 itable sky before us. Now we will try our eyesight again. 
 * * * One of our English fellow-passengers has just cried 
 out that he has detected the yellow speck that must mean.
 
 LONDON TO GOTHENBURG. 17 
 
 being proi^erly interpreted, the sail of a pilot-boat. The 
 discovery is confirmed by the officer on deck, and ho imme- 
 diately told us where to look to see an unusually white 
 perpendicular line on the edge of the ocean. His vision is 
 keenest after all. And this is the first taper that by night, 
 or this is the first object that by day is beheld by the visitor 
 or the returning Swede, who comes on this path to this 
 northern country. * * * The little shaft-cloud rapidly 
 developed into an unmistakable pillar of stone, and the 
 coast-line has risen up beneath and round about it. And 
 this is Sweden! — the ragged edge of it, at least — that we 
 have read and dreamed so much about, and so often and 
 so devoutly wished to see. 
 
 " One year ago to-day a good Scandinavian friend asked 
 me where I would be twelve months from date, provided a 
 certain thing happened; and I jokingly replied that I would 
 be in Sweden. I have not thought of the pleasant prophecy 
 from that time to this hour. And here I am about to enter 
 the harbor of Gothenburg, — a most unexpected fulfillment 
 of jocose, conditional foretelling. The pilot has just come 
 on board, direct from the pilot schooner, and not as with us 
 transported to the ship by a small boat. * * * 'We are in 
 the archipelago — in an intricate channel between barren, 
 rocky islands. We are meeting many gayly dressed little 
 steamers, crowded with people, who greet us with cheers." 
 
 Not without a dry vein of humor is Capt. Petterson. Sev- 
 eral passengers, in an eager manner, withoiit due considera- 
 tion for his proper devotion to his still remaining duties of 
 watchfulness, — although the local pilot is in navigating 
 charge, — began exclaiming in the Captain's presence, and 
 with an inquiring inflection, with respect to the little treeless 
 and sodlcss islands on either hand. As we 2:)assed along up 
 the naiTow channel the Captain is evidently bothered some- 
 what by these interrogating remarks ; but he does not "bluff'' 
 any one, and seeks to avoid showing any annoyance. He 
 finally replies, in a most natural and genial fashion, "Yes, 
 they are entirely l)arren, l)ut that is not the 2:)eculiarity that 
 distresses our folks the most." So be starts a curiosity that
 
 18 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 works on the minds of a half dozen men and maidens with 
 increasing- torment. They appeal to other native Swedes on 
 the bridge. ''What is the peculiarity to which the captain 
 refers?" No one can tell; or if they have ever heard — as I 
 think some have heard, judging- afterwards from the quiet 
 smile that appeal begets on their countenances — they will 
 not tell: they evade the question. Finally the anxious in- 
 quirers must be aj^peased ; although by this time it is evi- 
 dent to all on board that the master would not be disturbed 
 with imjiertinent or unnecessary questions. 
 
 " What is the peculiarity about those Islands that most 
 distresses your people?" With a bow and a most benignant 
 expression of the eyes and face, the commander responds, 
 '•They are harder than the bottom of a ship." The ques- 
 tioners turn aside and take sweet counsel together over 
 that revelation, — admitting that this information is good, — 
 very, very good. 
 
 With cunning piloting — and an expert steersman is re- 
 quired, no doubt — we wind into the buoyed haven of Gothen- 
 burg, and at 8 o'clock Sunday morning our boat is fastened 
 directly alongside one of the granite wharves of the city. 
 The custom-house officials are polite, but very thorough, in 
 their work of examination. They go down to the bottom 
 of the trunks, and they sift the ''duds" of the passengers — 
 as one English lady called her clothing — with great delib- 
 eration and care. But the ordeal is not a very severe and 
 lengthy one, and in half an hour after our vessel is tied up 
 we are on our way through the streets in the omnibus of the 
 Christiana Hotel. 
 
 The i^assage-price, including your cabin accommodations, 
 from London to Gothenburg by this line is £3 3s ; half-fare 
 for children under 12 years of age.
 
 FIRST OBJECTS OF OBSERVATION. 
 
 19 
 
 n. 
 
 FIRST OBJECTS OF OBSERVATION. 
 
 The drive np town from the Stora Bommens Haniu, 
 where our gangplank is put down, is through the principal 
 street of the city — the Stora Hamngatan — in the center 
 of which is the Stora Hamn Kanal, and on either side of 
 which are elegant three-story and four-story stone and brick 
 edifices. 
 
 HOTEL CHRISTIANIA. 
 
 Your first impression of Gothenbui'g, or Goteborg. is very 
 pleasant, and I can now say that the favorable opinion 3-011 
 take on the hotel 'bus, on the morning of your arrival, is
 
 20 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 augmented b}- all your subsequent walks and rides through 
 the city. It is cleaner than London, far; even cleaner than 
 that much belied town of Liverpool ; as neat, in every part, 
 as is our own beautiful New York City, in the neighbor- 
 hood of Union and Madison Squares, in the month of May. 
 
 The two principal hotels, of w^hich the "Christiana" is the 
 lesser, may be said to be situated on a square formed by 
 the intersection of the Sodra Hamngata and Drottning- 
 torget. Haglund's Hotel and Gota Kallare are one and the 
 same institution. The rooms here are commendable for 
 their neatness, and their heavy, massive furniture, — including 
 single beds all around. I have observed that the accommo- 
 dations are in all respects about the same in the two or three 
 hotels mentioned, while the "tone" and high prices are at 
 Haglund's. Both are kejit, of coiu-se, on what is known 
 among us as the European plan. Everything in the way of 
 accommodation and service is separately charged for; and 
 even as far north as Sweden the much-talked-of imposition 
 of an item for candles, whether burned or not. is on the daily 
 rendered bills — at some hotels which friends have visited. 
 
 The service up stairs is exclusively by girls. In the res- 
 taurants we find at each j^lace one "English boy" on whom 
 you must frequently expend more ti'ouble, for the purpose 
 of making understood that which you wai:it. than when you 
 are left to extemporized deaf-and-dumb signs and the com- 
 pendious phrase-book. 
 
 The first peculiar article that requires investigation is the 
 porcelain stove that sits in one of the corners of each room. 
 It reaches from the floor nearly up to the ceiling of rooms 
 that are fully eleven feet high. Some have very handsome 
 cornices, and many are adorned by statues, or busts, or fig- 
 ures of reindeer or bears. On our corner furnace is set 
 the bust of a lady, which I take to be the representation of 
 Dido — head-di-ess and all — just before she mounted that fu- 
 neral pile of which our schoolboys are reading. At this 
 moment, at 10 o'clock p. m., she is looking down upon me 
 with a countenance that sometimes seems to shaj^e itself 
 into one of inquiry; which I fancy asks me now and then
 
 FIRST OBJECTS OF OBSERVATION. 21 
 
 what I think about this writing without the aid of artificial 
 light at this hour of the day. And she will insist, I can 
 imagine, now and then, on an answer — a mental considera- 
 tion^'of her quer}^ and an inaudible response, at least. 
 
 In the center, half-way up, in these porcelain pillars for 
 fire, is a cupboard with thin brass doors, in which you can 
 place anything that you wish to keep warm or hot during 
 the day or night. The fire, of hard wood, is kindled at about 
 a foot and a half from the bottom of the stove-shaft, which 
 is about two feet in diameter ; and it is said that two fires 
 will last abundantly during twenty-four hours. The door- 
 knobs are egg-shaped — a decided improvement on the round 
 handle. 
 
 The face of the buildings on the principal streets is mostly 
 of a light-brown color. The roofs are all covered with tiles, 
 which are reddish, or black, or yellow, according to the taste 
 of the owners of the different buildings, — which seems to 
 alternately and it might be said fortunately change, and so 
 give a pleasing and regular variety and relief, so to speak, 
 to the complexion of the housetops. A few houses, like the 
 Gota Kallare Hotel, have flat roofs; and in such instances 
 the structures are usually of that woodboxy description so 
 familiar to us in the architecture of some of the hotels in 
 San Francisco. 
 
 xVs soon as possible after our arrival we hastened to the 
 Cathedral, where services were about to begin. The building 
 is cruciform in construction, and will hold probably over 
 2,500 persons. There are four galleries, exclusive of the 
 organ-loft. The organ is a magnificent instrument, — nearly 
 the size of the one at St. George's Hall, Liverpool. 
 
 Of course this is a Lutheran cathedral, but it is also an 
 Episcopal cathedral, — the Swedish church differing in this 
 respect from the German Lutheran. There is an altar, with 
 the communion-bread upon it; and back of the altar is a 
 large, richly gilded cross, with cherubs in gilt flying round 
 about it. On each side of the altar is a full-sized angel, with 
 enormous wings, — disproportionately long wings, T thought; 
 one angel pointing down or pointing in a presentation way
 
 22 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 at the sacred elements on the altar, while the other points 
 upward toward the cross and the skies. 
 
 Half-way down the building from the chancel, on the north- 
 ern side — and so situated as to alloAv the preacher a view 
 of all i^arts of the church — is a puljoit, with a sounding- 
 board above it. In front of the pulpit is a gilded protrnsion 
 of cherub-head, lion-head, and ox-head, surmounted by an 
 eagle. The whole of this "ornamentation" looks very taw- 
 dry, — like a great molasses-candy medallion daub. 
 
 The church was well filled when we arrived ; and we stood 
 at one end of the main aisle, in which a number of short 
 benches were placed crosswise, and occupied by elderly 
 women, — from GO to 80 years of age. It was a remarkable 
 sight to see so many aged females together, — -all ajipearing 
 to be in excellent health, and all very attentive and devout 
 in their actions. 
 
 At 10 : 30 a priest came on the altar. He wore a gown 
 which I could not distinguish from the Eoman Catholic 
 priestly garment, — it having a large cross on the back, splen- 
 didly illuminated. He read the exhortation and confession 
 and several prayers, and gave out one hymn, or indicated 
 that the singing of the hymn was to take place. Several 
 psalms were sung meanwhile. The numbers of the hymns 
 were posted at different portions of the church, — brass 
 numbers being hung upon pegs set at proper intervals on 
 small blackboards. Then the preacher ascended the pulpit; 
 the youthful priest retiring from the chancel. 
 
 The preacher read a chapter from the bible, read many 
 praj'ers from a large flat book, preached a sermon an hour 
 and a half long on the subject of rearing children in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord, and deprecating undue 
 levity on holidays, especially when a holiday happened to 
 be on Sunday; and concluded his portion of the day's hard 
 ministerial work by receiving from the sexton's hand a dozen 
 different sheets of paj^er and announcing births, marriages, 
 and deaths that had taken place during the last week, and 
 proclaiming for the first or second or third time notice of
 
 FIRST OBJECTS OF OBSERVATION. 23 
 
 intended matrimony between members of his great con- 
 greo"ation. 
 
 When the services were about half way through, a lady 
 unlocked her pew and bade our party enter. The narrow 
 seats would keep any man awake who struggled to impinge 
 upon them; and while I appreciate the kindness and court- 
 esy of that lady, I wish she had been impolite or thought- 
 less enough to have allowed me to stand until the bene- 
 diction. 
 
 In the afternoon we visited a private park, which is. kept 
 somewhat after the style of Woodward's, and where we heard 
 excellent music. The admission-charge to this park is ten 
 ore, or about two and a half cents. The charge of admission 
 to the splendid observatory — almost equal, in dimensions 
 and variety of plants, to the great tropical planthouse at 
 Kew Gardens, London, — is twenty ore, or five cents. 
 
 An American soon becomes accustomed to the money 
 issued here, as it is of decimal basis. And you are not 
 snapped at and snubbed if you confess or apologetically 
 explain that your hesitation in making change is due to 
 your being a foreigner. The copper coinage is one ore, two 
 ores, three ores, and five ores. Precious metals are in the 
 10 ore, 25 ore, and, of course, the kroner. The bills are 
 from five kroner up to 100 kroner— 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100. 
 Most of the bills are about half the size of our greenback, — 
 the 50-kroner bill alone, though of different shape, being 
 nearly as large as owy paper issue. With the exception 
 noted, the bills are about one third as large as a Bank of 
 England note. 
 
 Near sunset — that is, about 8 o'clock — in company with a 
 Swedish acquaintance I met on board the Belle, I visited 
 the old rovmd tower at the rear of the cit3% known as the 
 "Lion." A trooper who was on guard admitted us to the 
 structure ; for that purpose unlocking a small iron door at 
 the nortli side. From the ground-floor — which covers a 
 spring — we ascended three flights of stairs. There were 
 portholes and casemates on each floor. At one side there 
 is an angle pushed out from the circle, in which was the
 
 24 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 kitchen of tlie garrison. The Lion is about forty feet in 
 diameter, and about the same niiniber of feet in hight. It 
 is on a sharp natural eminence, and it comiDletely overlooks 
 the city. From it you look directly across to the twin tower, 
 known as the Crowia, — situated on the other side of the 
 city, and distant about a mile and a quarter. 
 
 The trooper was indignant when we offered him money 
 for his trouble. I am out of England! 
 
 THE BOURSE AXD OSTEA STEEET, GOTHENBUEG. 
 
 On this same eminence once stood the fortress Galberg, 
 renowned for its resistance to the Danes when its Captain, 
 Martin Krakow, was wounded, and his wife took command 
 of the garrison and made a successful defense. She poured 
 down on the heads of the assaulting parties pailfuls of 
 boiling pitch and tar. The enemy became discouraged and 
 disqusted on account of this unusual and irregular mode 
 of warfare — as they termed it — and without making any
 
 FIRST OBJECTS OF OBSERVATION. 25 
 
 breach in tlie walls, tliey contemptuously quit this district 
 for more hospitable climes. 
 
 Looking over the city from any one of the many command- 
 ing edifices that rise on either one of three sides, it is difficult 
 to realize that Gothenburg contains a population of 76,000 
 souls. It is very compactly built, and I have yet to see the 
 first house that is for rent. The Vice-consul says that it is 
 a city inhabited mostly by business people : if you seek pleas- 
 ure, he says, go to Stockholm. 
 
 There are three lines of tramway recently constructed, 
 leading to the southern, eastern, and western ends of the 
 city borders: fare 10 ore, — half the sum we pay in San 
 Francisco. These city railroads were built and are owned 
 almost exclusively by^English capitalists. Advertisements 
 are blown in the glass of the street-car windows. Hack- 
 hire here is one kroner-and-a-half an hour (or 39 cents), and 
 the drivers do not attempt to overcharge or in any way ex- 
 act more than their prescribed fares. Most of the hacks 
 and carriages that stand for hire are owned by a company, 
 and the drivers themselves get one kroner and a half a day. 
 When you give them ten ore extra they are profuse in 
 their thanks, but I am told that they never show any dis- 
 pleasure if you do not fee them. I wish a few of them could 
 be exported to London, and properly advertized. The hack- 
 drivers and street-car conductors arc uniformed and num- 
 bered. 
 
 The wages of the common laboring-man here is one kroner 
 and a halif to one kroner and three-quarters per day. \Yomen 
 who work in the field get 80 ore. There are 100 ore in a 
 kroner, or 20 cents. 
 
 Sailors from this port going on long voyages receive $16 
 per month. Cooks in the hotels and steamers— mostly women, 
 — receive as high as $18 per month. But, then, they can 
 cook. They must have served an apprenticeship of three 
 years or more, and have passed an examination. 
 
 Street-car conductors are paid 65 cents a day; steam rail- 
 road car-conductors get twice that sum. 
 
 You can telegraph from one end of Sweden to the other
 
 26 
 
 NORTUERN EUROPE. 
 
 for a kroner — twenty words. I sent a dispatch yesterday a 
 
 distance of nearly 600 miles for that sum. 
 
 There are two otlier lar<i-e parks adjacent to this city, where 
 
 music is to be heard, of the best order, from 8 to 11. 
 
 The statue of Gustavus 
 Adolphus in the principal 
 square of the city, imme- 
 diately before the Gover- 
 nor's house, is a noble fig- 
 ure, and will at once sug- 
 gest to many Americans 
 our own Gen. W. S. H:;n- 
 eock. The likeness is very 
 striking. 
 
 I have not seen a drunk- 
 en or a disorderly person 
 since I have been in Goth- 
 enburg. All look sober, 
 and appear to be indus- 
 trious and happy. Over 
 several small gardens and 
 entrances to restaurants I 
 have noticed the name 
 "Good Templar." Gothen- 
 burg has a peculiar license- 
 system, which has recently 
 l)een imitated by the au- 
 
 ithorities elsewhere. All 
 the liquor-licenses were 
 bought up by a cori:)ora- 
 tion ; and this corporation 
 rented or established so 
 many places where liquors are to be sold. The j^erson dis- 
 pensing the drinks has no jDecuniary interest in the sales; 
 and from the profits of the sales that are made the com- 
 pany pays to the city authorities all but five per cent of 
 their investment. This plan is said to have resulted in a 
 great reduction in drunkenness and crime. Beer and other 
 
 STATUE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
 
 FIRST OBJECTS OF OBSERVATION. 27 
 
 malt drinks are sold in a great many places, and they are 
 of the most excellent character. You have the clear, agree- 
 able smell of the malt when you come near to a bottle of 
 freshly opened Swedish ale. 
 
 The i^olice are a line-looking body of men. They are 
 very polite and obliging, — as it will be agreed all police 
 men ought ordinarily to be, — and make every effort to in- 
 form a stranger. They advise you gratuitously. We are 
 not in London. They wear a handsome blue uniform. 
 Their frock-coat is three or four inches longer than the 
 coat of our New York or San Francisco guardians. They 
 have a blue cloth belt covering a leather strap, on which 
 they hang their clubs at night. They do not carry clubs 
 in the daytime. They wear a glazed cap, which fits close 
 on the head, being skull-shaped from the back of the 
 head to the crown. 
 
 During this holiday-week, and for two weeks to come, 
 the militia are in camp, undergoing training in all three 
 branches of the service. There are six companies on the 
 hill immediately to the south of the city. This service is 
 compulsory on all able-bodied men between 21 and 25; 
 that is, for the space of two years out of the four. These 
 youths are called beviirningar. Their uniform resembles 
 the American soldier's dress in most particulars. The ar- 
 tillery and cavalry boys have a leather back to their pants, 
 from the waist to the feet. Their jacket is single-breasted, 
 with small brass Inittons. The officers are very much 
 pleased by a visit from a foreigner, — especially from an 
 American. When you say "from California." they exclaim, 
 as everybody else does in this region, '-Oh, California! 
 Oh, California!'' and they then ajiparently redouble their 
 efforts to be courteous and entertaining. Their tents pitch 
 close down, being tall and having an unusually sharp incline 
 from the roof-caiivas. It is, perhaps, needless to say that we 
 found everything in "apple-pie" order when we "inspected" 
 quai'ters. 
 
 Immediately in front of the parade and camp ground is a 
 large new brick house, — fully as large as the Occidental
 
 28 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 Hotel, and not dissimilar in aj^pearance. If you put some 
 turrets — sprinkle a few along the front — of our principal 
 Montgomery Street inn, you would have a close copy. This 
 building is the property of a widow lady. I have heard her 
 frequently spoken of as a very nice woman, good-looking, 
 and fond of the military. 
 
 If you wish to make any inquiry in this city, and have not 
 your interpreter with you, you can step up to any passer-by 
 and ask in Swedish if he or she understands English. If he 
 or she does not speak English, as will probably be the case, 
 you will not be merely met with a negative, but you will be 
 requested to stay where you are until he or she brings 
 some one to you who can speak English. He or she will 
 cry "Nej! nej ! nej!" if you offer a fee for their services. 
 
 We are not in London, — where, if you stand on the street 
 and look doubtingly two ways, some one will come up and 
 propose to show you the way, — often immediately thereafter 
 demanding or begging two pence, although you have been 
 posted in the premises, have not even replied to their offer. 
 Of course j'ou do not object to pay for a street-corner 
 guide, v/hen occasion requires such a person ; but you find 
 from experience that these pointers in the English metrop- 
 olis frequently give you wi'ong directions. The London 
 police will misdirect you in two cases out of three, and they 
 are frequently very offensive in their appearance and actions 
 when you apply to them for information as to localities. 
 The best practice there, is to double your payment to the 
 shoe- blacking boy, when you will probably reward merit and 
 will sux'ely not be misinformed. The members of the shoe- 
 blacking fraternity in London are as well acquainted with 
 the streets there as the hansom drivers. There are no shoe- 
 blacking boys in Gothenburg. 
 
 The water here is soft and pure. The price to manufac- 
 turers is about one-fourth of what is jjaid in San Fran- 
 cisco. There is no charge for water for household or domes- 
 tic purposes. Gas is supplied at a little advance on the 
 London price. Swedish coal is not as good as the English,
 
 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 29 
 
 and the latter is brought to this port for steamer and do- 
 mestic cosnmption. 
 
 The poorhouse is a two story and a half building of brick, 
 300 feet long, situated on the east side of the square or 
 plaza; facing which are also the two principal hotels of the 
 town and the station of the railroad that leads directly to 
 Stockholm. The very poor are well taken care of here. 
 Their food and l^edding is excellent, as we can testify from 
 personal observation. 
 
 III. 
 
 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 I had the good fortune to make the acquaintance this day 
 of a member of a Practical School-board, Mr. Mauritz Ru- 
 benson, and in his company and under his guidance, I made 
 the rounds of the city institutions, so far as time and other 
 considerations would permit. It is vacation in all the public 
 schools of southern Sweden at this time, and my friend much 
 regretted that I could not see the classes. 
 
 Fifteen years ago a rich man of Gothenburg died, leaving a 
 will which provided that out of his property or estate 1,500,- 
 000 kroners, or about $375,000, sliould be set apart and put 
 at interest. At the expiration of every nine years after interest 
 had begun to run, the Board of Trustees having the matter 
 in charge should proceed to use the accumulated interest in 
 the erection of such public buildings and the endowment of 
 such institutions as the city of Gothenburg could not properly 
 provide for the benefit of its citizens, — for their education, 
 recreation, comfort, and happiness. 
 
 Unlike the usual course of events in some other quarters, 
 under similar circumstances, there was no contest of the will; 
 and the bulk of this good man's estate was not divided up a- 
 mong lawyers on the ground that the deceased was crazy when 
 he wrote or dictated his testament. And hence it is that the 
 people of Gothenburg, and, you may say, society and men and
 
 30 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 women in general, are enjoying the fruits of liis life of in- 
 dasfcry and economy and of his benevolent disposition. The 
 Board of Trustees have exhibited unusually good judgment: 
 in the disbursement of the funds so left under their direc- 
 tion and disposal, as most readers will concede when I enu- 
 merate the plans already made and carried out in the name 
 and with the power of this great charity. I do not speak of 
 them in their order of accomplishment, bvit I believe I em- 
 brace them all. 
 
 A public bath-house was erected in a most eligible situation, 
 and supplied with every convenience. It will accommodate, 
 in all its departments, three hundred persons at the same time, 
 — men and women. Here, at a ticket charge to the public that 
 is annually fixed at the lowest sum consistent with the cost 
 of the management and care of the establishment, the best 
 of bathing-rooms are to be had — plain baths and baths Ro- 
 man, and Turkish and Russian and plunge. From hence, also, 
 bath-wagons, with every appliance therein contained for such 
 a bath as may be desired, are dispatched to the homes of the 
 sick, and espscially to the dwellings of the poor. On proper 
 application the latter are so supplied without price. "We walked 
 through this imineusa establishment, and noted its neatness 
 and thorough modern furnishing. Nothing is lacking, and the 
 tariff is nominal as compared with strictly private houses for 
 the same entertainment. For twenty-five ore, or about six 
 cents, an ordinary hot and cold bathroom is rented : for thirty- 
 five cents a Russian or Tui'kish bath is given. We entered 
 the oven of the latter. There was no wanting in bight 
 of temperature. We inspected the cooling alcoves. They 
 are luxuriously furnished. Here, also, the very poor, on due 
 recommendation from a medical man, have free access and 
 complete attendance. 
 
 Connected with" this establishment is a washing or laun- 
 dry department for the 2:)oor. Here tv/enty pounds of soiled 
 clothes are thoroughh' — I ought to say artistically — washed 
 for twenty-five ore, or about six cents. The work is done al- 
 most entirely by women and girls; and a cheerful row of labor- 
 ers they seemed to be, as we walked along their courtesying
 
 PUBLIC INSTITUTION'S. SI 
 
 ranks. The mangles are driven bj' steam, and the amount of 
 work turned out in glossy smoothness is surprising. Nothing 
 is ironed here, except the linen surface of shirt-bosoms and the 
 like. People express great surprise on learning that we have 
 not their custom of taking out the creases in the clothing after 
 a wash by pressure. They exclaim, "No wonder your table- 
 linen wears out so quickly." They say this in Swedish, but I 
 have it interpreted into English for the benefit of my read- 
 ers. But the amazement which doth set upon their counte- 
 nances on the occasion referred to, could be interpreted by 
 any person who understood what the laundry folks were list- 
 ening to. They are very much pleased to see visitors, espe- 
 cially from America : more esjoecially — as before observed else- 
 where — from California. We have it again and again: "O, Cal- 
 ifornia! O! O!" 
 
 This bathing and washing establishment, occupying a 
 block of ground, is immediately in front of one of the beau- 
 tifully shaded city promenades. Two thickly tree-lined 
 avenues are in front; and alongside of the hard-graveled 
 highways benches are placed, at short intervals and at differ- 
 ent angles. "Sometimes," the good matron told us, "those 
 benches which are nearest to the bath-house are occupied 
 exclusively by waiting customers, — mostly peoi^le of the 
 poorest class." 
 
 From this bathing establishment we proceeded to the 
 Business College, — a splendid structure, with every possible 
 appointment of classroom, sales-halls, exchanges, bo(jk-keep- 
 ing offices, apparatus for instruction in natural philosophy, 
 etc. This also came from the dead mans hand, whose will 
 was not contested. 
 
 Then we visited a drawing-school, — a school for student 
 labor in sculpture and design. Every convenience and oppor- 
 tunity here. And masters in the art are here encouraged 
 from many different nations. No tuition-fees ; everything 
 free. Also the outcome of the generous giver's funds, an.^ 
 the kind consideration of the lawyers, who did not illustrate 
 their ability by inducing legal tribunals to declare that the 
 uoble donor was a lunatic. Thanks.
 
 32 NO RT HE UN EUROPE. 
 
 And now we visit a practical school for girls. The course 
 is two years and a half — thirty months. The number is lim- 
 ited to thirt}', six in each class. In a handsome two-story- 
 and-a-half buildini;-, covering probably an acre of ground, 
 the academy is located. This institute is intended for the ed- 
 ucation of girls whose expectation is to remain in the serv- 
 ant class in life, and who wish to be and are b}' nature fitted 
 to become first-class servants. The first six months is de- 
 voted to attendance in the nursery department. Women who 
 are obliged to or who desire to go out and v/ork during the 
 day. can bring their children here, and for 10 ore — two cents 
 and a half — have them properly taken care of by the pupils 
 of the first term, under the supervision of the experienced ma- 
 tron. We saw eighteen little boys and girls in their cribs — 
 just waking from their afternoon nap, as we walked into one 
 of the wards. Healthy and bright and ruby-cheeked were 
 they. Some of their mothers could not go out to work at 
 all if this keeping was not had; and with many others it 
 would be a loss of half a kroner to a kroner a day if the lit- 
 tle one was with them. 
 
 Of course we did not fail at this moment to speak with 
 pride of similar institutions in California, conducted by Cath- 
 olics and Protestants, and in San Francisco more particular- 
 ly. Nor did we miss the ojiportunity to inform our friend 
 of the practical School-board of the magnificent bequests 
 of James Lick, and express the hope that some portion of 
 them might be put into jDractical benevolent oj^eration — be- 
 fore we die. We had to acknowledge, however, that Mr. 
 Lick was forewarned of the consequences of a mere will- 
 distribution; and that even his dedication, in his own lifetime, 
 of his vast property — or a large share of it — to scientific and 
 charitable purposes narrowly escaped complete overthrow. 
 We had to confess this, for, from some intimations dropped 
 in a casual and very fi'iendly way, we had reason to believe 
 that the facts in the premises were not hidden from our 
 guide's recollection. So we made the whole aiovy of the mat- 
 ter plain, and saved all the credit that we could for our peo-
 
 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 33 
 
 pie in o-eneral and oui- saints in particular, with respect to 
 this item. 
 
 The second six months in this practical school for girls is 
 occupied b}' the pupil in learning to wash, starch, mangle, 
 and iron. To this house the richest people in Gothenburg 
 send their soiled "fabrics," — for here the work of cleansing 
 and glossing is most excellently performed. 
 
 Then comes the baking department. The specimens of all 
 kinds of cakes and bread, and tarts and confectionery, testi- 
 fied unto the palate that the business here was as near per- 
 fection as can be reached with the recipes of this kingdom. 
 One of the women in charge was bereaved because the time 
 of day had gone by when she could have shown us what her 
 girls could accomplish in the way of doing a piece of meat 
 to a turn, and mixing a gravy that would be just right and 
 not a bit greasy. This is about the way we understood the 
 conversation. 
 
 Standing down in front of the brick oven was a handsome 
 girl — prett}' as a picture — watching a batch of bread and cake. 
 We stayed by persistently until she pulled out some kring- 
 lors. Ah ! how crisj:) and delicious ! — for we tossed one in our 
 hands until it was cool enough to taste. This blushing- 
 maiden courtesied tons a great many times and said she was 
 flattered. That was my understanding, at least. I did not 
 intend to flatter. 
 
 The table cooking, the meat and vegetable cooking, it should 
 be understood, is a separate compartment from the bakery. 
 Another six months of tuition here. We were conducted into 
 the kitchen proper by the matron in charge, who had been 
 with us also in the bakery. 
 
 During the Winter season many boys who come to Goth- 
 enburg to attend the gymnasium or other academy, board 
 here at a charge of only fifty cents a day. And in cooking for 
 them and for other boarding patrons, the pupils in this de- 
 partment acquire their art. Of course we did not see any 
 broiling, frying, bnking, or stewing, actually going on in the 
 kitchen; but we did see the bright pots and kettles and grid- 
 irons, and all that sort of evidence of good housewifery; and
 
 34 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 in the cold meats shown there was sufficient evidence of the 
 skill of the girls who '-did it." 
 
 Time is also here set apart for special instruction in the 
 best manner of taking charge of the bed-chambers; and in- 
 struction is given in that kind of needlework which will be 
 most required at the hands or fingers of the perfect maid- 
 servant. 
 
 We were introduced to the chief matron, in her parlor cham- 
 ber, and met wdth a most cordial welcome. "Americans? O, 
 very glad to see you. What, Califoruians ! O ! O ! " And we were 
 shown everything in the way of stitching and crocheting from 
 the hands of the girls who had passed under her teaching dur- 
 ing the last fifteen years. How proudly she exhibited the me- 
 mentoes which she had of their skill as pupils and their per- 
 sonal affection for her. An album containing a photograph of 
 each gradviate is also shown to the visitor. 
 
 Why cannot we have a similar institution in San Francisco 
 — as well as in New York city? 
 
 For every graduate from this institute there are a score of 
 applications coming from the best families of Sweden. "But 
 many of them get married pretty soon: for they will make the 
 best of wives and mothers in the laborers' cottages," remarked 
 the lady Principal, as we closed the album and proceeded to 
 take our leave. "Many of them have become the wives of gen- 
 tlemen," she added, as we said good-bye. This she said in a 
 w\ay that made us suspect that she had reserved the informa- 
 tion for a reply to an expected question or remark from us. 
 
 Immediately in the rear of this practical college for servant- 
 girls is a home for incurables, recently built and endowed by 
 a wealthy gentleman of Gothenburg. Not far away — about 
 two blocks distant — is a building that on the outside looks 
 like a chapel ; but is, in fact, a kindergarten school, of which 
 there are several in the city. 
 
 Three blocks distant, to the southwest is a large building 
 which provides a suite of rooms — a kitchen, bedroom and sit- 
 ting-room — bedroom and sitting-room in one — with gas, water, 
 and every appointment, for aged people who have been in 
 good circumstances, but who, through no immorality, have
 
 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 35 
 
 lost their property. Seventy-two families are so kept, and 
 they are supphed with all the necessaries of life. Another 
 similar establishment is in the block near by. In one instance 
 all the beneficiaries are in one large edifice ; in the other, pro- 
 vision is made for fifty families in a dozen cottage buildings, 
 — three or four families in each building. 
 
 Deaf-and-dumb and blind asylums are here ; lying-in houses 
 and hospitals for consumptives are pointed out as we drive 
 along. Within the past fifteen years rich men in Gothenburg 
 have given over $3,000,000 for absolute and for conditional 
 chai'ges, as they are called; that is, for the founding and 
 maintaining of institutions that are entirely fi-ee in the dis- 
 pensing of benefits, or that have a small fee attached to the 
 services thence rendered and the gifts thence in part be- 
 stowed. 
 
 We were driven past many blocks of houses erected for 
 ■workmen, — most of them of recent construction, — where two 
 rooms, with two closets in each and a fixed range in the kitch- 
 en, are provided on the ground-floor, and two or three rooms 
 partitioned above. The dimensions of the separate build- 
 ings are about 20 by 20 or 25 feet; the ceiling is ten feet. 
 There is a back yard of at least 20 feet in width, with 15 feet 
 of depth. In one of these rear yards — a specimen, we pre- 
 sume — we saw a bed of vegetables and a neat little arbor 
 with a table and seats arranged for a tea party of from four 
 to six persons. These buildings rent for $13 a month; and at 
 the expiration of eighteen years they are the property of the 
 continuous tenant. In a house where our companion took 
 us, a mother was sitting in an easy chair singing to her in- 
 fant, that was almost asleep, she said, when we came in. She 
 was unmistakably pleased at the intrusion, for which our con- 
 ductor apologized. " Not at all, not at all ! Glad to have 
 them come in and see how nicely we are situated. What, 
 Americans? O, Californians! O! O!" 
 
 Gothenburg is literally founded on a rock. It is all one 
 continuous rock down at the near bottom. You soon strike 
 bedrock. Nothing but rocky eminences round about consti- 
 tute the preeminently commanding peaks. And between,
 
 36 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and on lower liigbts, are piue-wooded ridges covered with 
 thickly clustered evergreens. Dij^ping into bowls and 
 troughs, is the figure of the country just beyond the borders 
 of the city proper on the south and southeast; wlhle imme- 
 diately to the north and northeast are meadows that have been 
 drained within the past few 5'ears,aud thus changed from un- 
 healthy, miasmatic swamps into fruitful, grain-bearing fields. 
 No wonder that this place is rapidly growing in population and 
 business. Added to what contributes to the latter, in the way 
 of outside traffic and foreign commerce, here is a great home 
 of advancing civilization and comfort. A noble, generous, 
 Christian people, are at the head of the management of all 
 affairs, municipal and social, in the city of Gothenburg, in the 
 kingdom of Sweden. 
 
 The workingmen have a large building, containing within 
 it a hall capable of seating 2,000 peojDle. Here they hold 
 their great assemblages, at which they consider what is for 
 the best interests of their class. Here was recently held an 
 immense mass-meeting to protest agtiinst the unjust com- 
 petition of convict-labor ; and in this meeting they had the 
 sympathy of the entire city, so to speak, — as our latest ac- 
 quamtance told us. The protest has been partially met al- 
 ready, by obedience to it ; and the sure promise is that the 
 labor of prisoners will soon be confined to branches of in- 
 dustry in which they shall not conflict with the honest bread- 
 winners of the land. 
 
 The workingmen have a society here by which they take 
 care of those who are out of employment, partially or en- 
 tirely supi^lying their wants and the needs of their families, 
 as the necessities of each case may determine. One of the 
 dwellings in which the unemployed reside was shown to us. 
 It was a building that deserved the term "elegant," and was 
 situated on a Nob Hill eminence immediately overlooking 
 the entrance to the harbor. I would respectfully venture to 
 commend to our people a study of the rules and regulations 
 of this fraternity of laborers. I had the pleasure and honor 
 of conversing with many of the representative men among 
 them; and I shall never lose the impression which I have
 
 THE GOTH A CANAL.— TROLHATTAN. 37 
 
 received of their intellij^ence and honorable sentiments. It 
 would seem as thon.^-h they understood their rights and priv- 
 ileges, and their needs as well, with a thorough good sense of 
 appreciation. Of their advantages and enjoyment they spoke 
 with gratitude and pride: of that which they believed they 
 lacked, and should enjoy or possess, they spoke with reason- 
 able and sober wish and expectation. I shall cherish my 
 memories here, and in this very particular. I think that no 
 miscreant demagogue will rise to eminence or power among 
 these bodies of workingmen. And I think their condition 
 of sei'vice will rapidly grow from good to better and best. 
 So mote it be. 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE GOTHA CANAL. TEOLHATTAN. 
 
 It is probably necessary, as well as appropriate, as a pref- 
 ace to an anywise satisfactory sketch of a trip from Gothen- 
 burg to Stockholm via the Gotha Canal, to put in a short 
 compass the data of planning and of construction labor on 
 this remarkable work. 
 
 Bishop Brask of Liukoping, whose cathedral town was sit- 
 uated a few miles south of Lake Roxen, is the first known or 
 recorded suggester of the "idea" of connecting hj canal 
 lakes Malaren, Roxen, Boren, Vettern, and Venern, with the 
 Gotaelf. But it was not until 1716, fully two centuries after 
 the wise and far-seeing prelate had proposed the scheme and 
 urged its undertaking and accomplishment upon the atten- 
 tion of Kings and nobles, as well as upon brother Bishops 
 and priests — who, it seems, in those days took a deep and 
 practical interest in tlie commercial affairs of Sweden — that 
 a serious effort was made to carrj^out the project. Two civil 
 engineers, Svedenborg and Polhem by name, in 1715 mapj^ed 
 out a feasible or possible route, and under their direction 
 work was actually' begun on a system of locks and dams at 
 Karlsgrabeu and Trolhattan. Their plans, somewhat changed 
 
 28G222
 
 38 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and simplified, were afterwards taken up and labored upon 
 under the superintendence of Engineer Vinian, in 1753-54. 
 In 1755 the working of Viman and predecessors was de 
 stroyed by a "jam of logs,"' as it would be described on the 
 Ohio or St. Lawrence, or one of their tributaries ; and the 
 project was then pronounced wholly abandoned, until 1793. 
 In that year a company having a million of rix dollars, or 
 about $250,000 for capital, "went bravely to work," as one 
 chronicler says, to constnict locks around the Falls of Trol- 
 hattan, and broiight their often-derided labors to a success- 
 ful termination in 1800. It then remained to connect Lake 
 Venern and Lake Vettern, and open a continuous navigable 
 passage between the latter and the Baltic Sea. This was 
 done between the years 1810 and 1832: the result of re- 
 peated and persistent efforts, sometimes sepai'ated five or 
 six years by a period of enforced idleness; the successful 
 plans being wrought under the personal supervision of 
 Daniel Thunberg, Baron Von Platen, and Thomas Telfoi'd, — 
 Telford being an English civil Engineer of already estab- 
 lished and high renown. The cost of this work on this sec- 
 tion was five million of rix dollars, or about $1,250,000. The 
 above sums of course scarcely represent one-third of what 
 the work would actually cost at the present time, notwith- 
 "standing all the modern advantages of vastly more effective 
 blasting material, etc.; unless, indeed, the companies in 
 charge of the construction pursued the plan of the bene- 
 ficiaries of the people's donations to the Central Pacific Rail- 
 road Company, and rejecting the labor of white men, im- 
 ported Chinese slaves to do tlae digging at rice-diet wages. 
 
 The section between the two great lakes is called the 
 Vestgota line, while that portion which connects Lake Vet- 
 tern with the Baltic is called the Ostgota line — both, how- 
 ever, coming under the general title of the Gotha Canal. 
 
 You are continually informed in Gothenburg and out of 
 Gothenburg that that city is "quite modern," — that is the 
 exact phrase. In fact, you are told that Gothenburg is only 
 250 years old, or some such matter, as it stands. The inhab- 
 itants appear to take great pleasure in assui'iug you of this
 
 THE 00 TEA CANAL.- TROLUATT AN. 39 
 
 recent origin, and tell you sometliing about an old town — 
 or if it were now in existence, a village tliat would Ije an old 
 town — that was situated somewhere in the neighborhood (it 
 has been pointed at, or towards, for my benefit, so many 
 times, from so many different comers, that I am much con- 
 fused with respect to its exact location), that had rather a 
 hard time of it in the way of suffering sieges, etc., a matter 
 of some eight centuries ago; and which may perhaps be con- 
 sidered the lineal forerunner, as it were, of this flourishing, 
 latter-day settlement. And I have noticed that some good 
 Swedish people who live in admittedly older places than 
 Gothenburg exhibit a touch of amiable contempt in their 
 speech about this new city ; on account of its freshness on 
 the page of history. I do not precisely appreciate how this 
 is, but it is so ; and as all pai'ties concerned seem to like it I 
 cannot complain, and I will forbear to make further com- 
 ment on it. When you come to Sweden via Gothenburg, my 
 dear reader — as I hope you will one day — I beg you to im- 
 prove an early opportunity to form the acquaintance of some 
 stranger on the streets, by inquiring as to locality or dis- 
 tance, and see how many seconds it will be before you are 
 told, in substance, "Gothenburg, I suppose you are aware, 
 is not an old city. O, bless you, no, no : it is only about 200 
 years old. There was a city or a town that was huddled up 
 (they have a word that sounds like this), about in that di- 
 rection (pointing, as we reporters are often compelled to most 
 ambiguously interject); but, bless j-ou, thut place was 
 knocked to rack and ruin, pretty much, several centuries ago. 
 You will find our city, for a young city, quite a pleasant and 
 enterprising and creditable place." 
 
 Ancient or modern as it may be, or as you may choose to 
 call or consider it, it is with a sigh of profound regret that 
 we contemplate our departure from it ; regretting most sin- 
 cerely that we have not had another Aveek to spare in visiting 
 this section of southern Sweden. And we think and say 
 that, as Liverpool is generally passed quickly by travelers 
 who have no business connection there — treated as a "'junip- 
 ing-off place " in very word and deed — thus missing or de-
 
 40 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 dining a staj' in a city that is ^yell wortli a week's time of ob- 
 servatiou ou the part of the sightseer, so Gothenburg— 
 most iinmistakably rapidly rising into importance as a com 
 mercial entrepot and as a community whence proceed sug- 
 
 MAUPJTZ EUBENSON, PRESIDENT OF BOAED OF PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 gestions and illustrations of the highest practical value along 
 the line of the civilization of our age — is given the slip by 
 the tourist, has bestowed upon it only a hasty glance of the 
 student who does not sufficiently observe and reflect for him-
 
 TUB GOTHA CANAL.— TROLHATTAN. 41 
 
 self when he first outlines his travels, or when he reaches a 
 point that marks itself — on due consideration, in spite of the 
 guide-books — as a place of abounding interest. 
 
 But a little antiquated in some things, a little behind the 
 times in some things, as we in America would judge it, Goth- 
 enburg certainl}' is. 
 
 Its railroad stations are admirably located, every way ap- 
 pro2:)riately easy of access and conspicuous by their adapted 
 architecture. But its steamboat offices are hard to find, even 
 after the most diligent search by the stranger under the di- 
 rection of the official city dictionary and accompanying maps. 
 And yet there the office of our caiial boat is, absolutely fac- 
 ing the quay from which the steamer is to start. But when 
 you do not know precisely where the steamer lies, the Avord 
 "opposite " is of obscure and doubtful signification. We were 
 told where to go several times with great and kindly empha- 
 sis of speech and finger-pointing, and we missed the place 
 with almost as much accuracy as if we had been threading the 
 streets between the Strand and Oxford Street in that mighty 
 metropolis on the Thames. However, it is, of course, not 
 worth while to dwell on such a small matter any further; at 
 least not any further than to say in reply to a suggestion that 
 would naturally come up, "Why didn't you call a cab and be 
 taken to the office," by stating that we did that very thing, 
 and were taken to the wrong building twice before the driver 
 himself "guessed" the spot. 
 
 For a first-class passage to Stockholm, via the canal route, 
 occupying two days and a half, you pay $6.25. This includes 
 your cabin accommodations, but not your meals; it amounts 
 to about two cents a mile for your carrving, after deducting 
 a proper allowance for a room as a lodging apartment. 
 
 Our steamer, fully dignified hy that name, is the Venus. 
 This little goddess is of 200 tons burden, 75 feet long by 22 
 broad. Her Captain is an old sailor, who has sailed the At- 
 lantic and the North Sea over these thirty-five years last past, 
 as man and boy: and his name is O. R. Samsioe. He and his 
 mate — a smnrt fellow, as we Yankees would call him, who 
 has gone in and out of Philadelphia many times on a sailing
 
 42 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 packet — are the ouly ones who wear gold cap-bands ; taking 
 their turns on deck as first and second officers, and main- 
 taining the jolliest relations as between themselves and the 
 steersmen, and the passengers of every class. Another boiled- 
 dinner party on a steamer on this Swedish excursion! AYe 
 are fortunate. 
 
 The Venus is handsomely fitted \\y> in cabin and dining- 
 saloon. Plenty of red-plush cushions in the former, and con- 
 venient tables of beautiful wood fastened near either side of 
 the paneled wainscoting of the latter. All the crockery is 
 stamped, and all the spoons and cutlery engraved with the 
 name of the vessel, in high-hotel style. And the Captain sits 
 down the first morning out at the head of the left-hand table 
 and incidentally mentions that he left New Orleans just be- 
 fore it was vacated by the Confederate forces in 1862. This 
 is a voyage of coincidences. 
 
 The Venus starts at 11 o'clock at night, and you are ex- 
 pected to be on board by 10. You may be on board by 8, it 
 is suggested at the office, and begin your affiliations in the 
 forward saloon by taking a delicious cup of coffee in gossip- 
 ing company with the fine old lady who has charge of the eat- 
 ing department of this institution. 
 
 Sweden is noted for its excellent coffee, and the Venus and 
 its companion boat have a s^iecial reputation of superiority 
 in this very point of Java flavor. The aroma from the urn 
 spreads out through the atmosphere that surrounds the 
 dock of the Lilla Bommens Hamn, this evening in question, 
 as our party is promenading up and down beside the steamer; 
 and, on motion, we vote unanimously to go down and take 
 a cup of the best. 
 
 Eleven o'clock at night and light enough for me to make 
 a memorandum of several pages, as I sit on deck at the time 
 of departure. I see the waving of white handkerchiefs when 
 we have backed several hundred feet away from the landing 
 jDoint, and I can even distinguish the color of the scai'f in a 
 young gentleman's hand, as he stands on a I'ope-peg at the 
 corner of the Hamn, and floiu'ishes it rapidly in adieu to a
 
 THE GOTH A CANAL.— TROLHATTAN. 43 
 
 waiting-maid on board, that — well, we do not blame him for 
 admiriug. 
 
 T notice that the habit here is to wave "good-bye" until 
 the last fraction of distance is reached within which a flut- 
 tering cloth can be seen. A national custom, is it? Illus- 
 trative or indicative of that ardent affection here existing, 
 which the Captain of the Belle referred to and boasted of 
 with honest pride? 
 
 Prompt to a minute, at 10:45 the whistle blew ; at five 
 minutes to 11 the bell rang; at 11 the boat pulled its nose 
 out of the slanting space it had occupied at a neighborly 
 angle with other crafts lying at the same wharf. 
 
 Already familiar with the scenery for several miles up the 
 Elf, and knowing that we must be on deck at a very early 
 hour if we would see the first of the seventy-four locks on 
 this route to the Capital of Sweden, our party is not tardy 
 in getting in bunk, after the signal has faded from the range 
 of sight. 
 
 Baedecker, the best, and. generally speaking, most accurate 
 of guides, is certainly in error when he intimates that the 
 sleeping quarters on these little steamers are uncomfortable, 
 or not as agreeable as could reasonably be expected. We 
 ' all say that we must write to our favorite and highly es- 
 teemed author — guide and friend, indeed! — and gently re- 
 monstrate against his discouragement to travelers who 
 would naturally come this way : testifying that our first and 
 last nights' slumbers on board were of the most refreshing 
 character. 
 
 At 4 o'clock the sound, unusual to our ears, of the dash- 
 ing or "swashing" in the first lock is sufficient to rouse us, 
 and jumping up we see that our cabin windows are darkened 
 by the closeness of granite walls, and we knoAV at once that 
 we ai'e boxed up in the first trough of the passage. Although 
 we dress with all speed the boat is "up" before we are on a 
 level with the plane No. 1 of the line of the Gotha. We are in 
 a short canal — the Channel of Strom — a section that passes 
 to one side of the rapids that are first encountered. 
 
 You may be sure that advantage has been taken of this fall
 
 44 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 of six or eiglit feet, inclusive of the grade surmounted by the 
 second lock, by an enterprising mill firm ; and a village of 200 
 or 300 inhabitants — Lilla Edit — has grown up around the 
 forges. For a distance of five or six miles above the second 
 lock we steam on the river Orelf. whose channel has been 
 regained, and then suddenly turning to the right we face the 
 lower series of locks that girt the Falls of Trolhattan. 
 
 Baedecker says that the traveler's patience here will be 
 sorely tried by the "numerous dealers in photographs and 
 other small objects;" but such was not our experience. We 
 were, however, very much distressed to find that our little 
 company of passengers was altogether insufficient to give em- 
 ployment to all the boys who came in upon us with proffers 
 of guidance. But a selection had to be made, of course, and a 
 hard thing it was to decide between the applicants. By a con- 
 certed distribution of small coin among the rejected or dis- 
 appointed competitors there was much relief — on all hands. 
 Again we dispute the assertions of all the trip manuals ; and 
 declare most positively — for the benefit and warning, even, 
 of all who may come after — that guides are required on this 
 short but devious way, or rather aloDg these crooked paths — 
 in and out the ragged edges that border the falls. Give the 
 boys a chance ; their services are needed, and they are good 
 boys, who, having earned their agreed fee, are tested by an 
 exact payment. They go away with thanks, and are unmis- 
 takably surprised when they are recalled for an extra 25 ore, 
 which "each separate company bestows upon them. May they 
 all retain their present guileless character, and may some of 
 them become hansom drivers in London — without changing 
 their nature. 
 
 And here, as most readers will understand, we are not mak- 
 ing a boast of our great liberality; but as a German gentle- 
 man said, we felt that the lads were entitled to a larger sum 
 than they asked. And here let us not fail, as in duty bound, 
 to protest against the lavish, wasteful, and, by its example and 
 encouragement, most iniquitous, practice of some travelers — 
 especially Americans — in the matter of throwing large gra- 
 tuities to any person who does them a service under any em-
 
 THE GOTH A CANAL.— TROLU AT TAN. 
 
 45 
 
 ployment or volunteering along tlieir routes. It is not a 
 pleasant thing to publicly express or renew this protest ; but 
 the habit ought to be dej^recated on every available occa- 
 sion. Those who have not beau abroad as travelers may, and 
 
 SIDNEY W. COOPER, UNITED STATES CONSUL TO GOTHENBURG. 
 
 probably will, criticise this continued or repeated objection 
 to what they will consider a generous and altogether decent 
 custom. But experience will bring all or nearly all to the 
 same judgment in the premises that is set down on this page.
 
 46 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 It is outrageous : the extravagant manner in whicli some of 
 our people toss tlieir small change about among those \;\\o 
 have to do with the stranger, as servants or attendants; 
 fostering a spirit of greed and rapacity that is painful in its 
 effects upon those of the same nation who come after with 
 moderately, or, if you please, meagerly fui-nished purses. 
 It is not alone, indeed it is not frequently the case that the 
 truly generous, the actually benevolent ladies and gentle- 
 men, indulge in this pernicious practice. On the coiitrary, 
 it is usually the coarse, vulgar men, whose wealth has come 
 easily through dishonest trade or professional trickery — 
 perhaps sprung from bounties jumped or lobbied out by 
 themselves or their agents, or acquii-ed from fraudulent rail- 
 road contracts made with themselves, whereby they have 
 robbed the individuals or Government that intrusted them 
 with funds for a special purpose, or gave them gifts to be 
 sacredly devoted to the first cause of a great public enter- 
 prise. These creatures create or stimulate a disposition for 
 extortionate demand upon the traveler in Euroj^e that you, 
 my good friend, who may be now inclined or disposed to 
 lightly consider this notice, will suffer from, if you pass 
 over many of the prescribed lines of jom-neyings in Britain 
 and on the Continent. Perchance j'ou will thank me one day 
 for joining in this protest, which is calculated to check tliis 
 habit, or fasten against it, at least, a rising sentiment of repro- 
 bation. Intelligent, thoughtful rich men and women.who have 
 honestly gotten their wealth, are not often guilty of the i^rac- 
 tice to which we refer. 
 
 The boat turns sharply from the river Orelf to the locks. 
 You personally then turn with equal abruptness and take your 
 path in another direction: to the eligible points of view along 
 the cataracts. The way seems plain and simple at first, and 
 you may be at the outset reminded by this appearance of the 
 declaration of the prejudiced guide-book writers, "Guide su- 
 perfluous ;" but you will soon be convinced that within your 
 allotted time for observation you could not have found tbe 
 "sites-for-seeing," as they are called, and made good use of
 
 THE OOTHA CANAL.— T ROLE AT TAN. 47 
 
 the limited period for beholding, except our little friend had 
 been with you. 
 
 In ''seeing" the falls," yon lose the opportunity of seeing all 
 the old canal locks — the ruins of the work that was done un- 
 der the first effort to surmovint this obstacle in the waj* of nav- 
 igation on this line, and also, of course, are deprived of the 
 gratification of beholding the first and the larger success- 
 ful work of locking, around this great ascent. You must 
 choose between the two, and of course nearly every one who 
 makes the passage once takes in preference his one passing 
 glance at the greater wonder, at the marvel from the hands 
 of nature ; though the evidences of the struggle of human ge- 
 nius at the beginning of this combat for a Avatercourse of 
 commerce are every way worthy of a prolonged observation 
 and study. 
 
 I applied at the office of the Canal Steamboat Company 
 at Gothenburg for a stop-over ticket, such as we are accus- 
 tomed to obtain in America, such as our own courteous rail- 
 road officials are accustomed to sanction in behalf of any 
 tourist who has a mission as a seeing and recording trav- 
 eler. But, no ; the rule was inflexible : you must go through 
 in the same boat on the same trip-time, on each starting. If 
 I had thought it was of so much consequence as it was after- 
 ward disclosed to be, that more time should be had at Trol- 
 hattan and Vadstena and Motella than is afforded on the 
 straight-through schedule voj'age, I would have bought a 
 ticket from place to place. In that case I should have had 
 three days at Trolhattan and vicinity, ^ — a space of time 
 which I now know is not any too long for instruction and 
 entertainment. I mourned my inability to examine the desert- 
 ed locks and the working of the granite jaws which succeeded 
 and superceded them. But we did see the falls ; and I did af- 
 terward make such representations in varioiis influential quar- 
 ters that I am confident a sto2:»-over period will be agreed up- 
 on in the chambers of the Board of Gotha Canal Steamboat 
 Directors, and due advertisement made accordingly; for which 
 I shall be entitled to credit, which some Americans will surely
 
 48 
 
 NORTEERX EUROPE. 
 
 hereafter mark on tlie pages of their diaries, — and, perhaps, 
 engrave on the wahs of some of these boulders! 
 
 Well. Too much introduction for the volume of the book? 
 Too much exordium, too many preludes for the body-speech 
 or narrative? Perhaps so. In fact, I admit and confess, and 
 beg pardon, and — come to business. 
 
 CANAL LOCKS, NEAR TEOLHATTAN, 
 
 And strictly in the line of proper description of this visit 
 to this remarkable series of rapids and falls, I should declare 
 and testify that they are a well regulated succession of river
 
 THE GOTIIA CANAL.— TROLB AT TAN. 49 
 
 rusliings and cascades, in the matter of comparison and cli- 
 max. There is no mistake in the order of gradation of these 
 wonders. They "-rise" upon you in every sense of the term. 
 To make a homely illustration, or one that will be very wide- 
 ly xuulerstood. I will say that it is like "progress of events" 
 iu any of the Kiralfy Brothers' spectacular pieces, or like the 
 unfolding of one of their settings for a transformation scene. 
 First comes the ordinary', old-fashioned, long-ago familiar- 
 ized, hackneyed procession of spindle-legged girls iu span- 
 gles, for a ballet performance that our grandmothers yawned 
 over. — "Well, if this is all there is of Trolhattan Falls, I 
 wish I had stayed with the Captain on the deck of the 
 Venus." — "Wait a moment, ray dear sir. The curtain is 
 rolling up, and there is a shift of scenery behind the first 
 dance and drill hall, and there is a procession coming that 
 yon have not seen, and that has not occurred to you before." 
 Then picture after picture, pantomime after pantomime of 
 superlative beauty is displayed in rapid succession! So 
 commonplace rapids at first, and then! ah, then! 
 
 Still abiding by the theater for hint and suggestion of effect 
 produced, let me tell j'ou of a man from Virginia City, with 
 whom I once journeyed from Reno to Chicago. We became 
 very well acquainted on the road, and be was evidentl}^ anx- 
 ious to remain in m}' society as much as possible until the 
 hour should arrive when we must part at the door of an 
 Eastern railroad station. As we approached Chicago on one 
 December evening, he looked over my shoulder at the news- 
 paper I was reading and inquired if I wouldn't go witli him 
 to see a comed}'. The name of the comedy and the names of 
 the well-known actors who were to appear in it were pointed 
 out on the page before me. It Avas an attractive play, and the 
 comedians were of our best. But I replied that I had noticed 
 that Edwin Booth was to play "Richard III." at Mc Vicar's 
 that night, and I had fixed my appetite for that very per- 
 formance. My esteemed acquaintance labored to dissuade 
 me, so that I would go with him under the invitation and at 
 his expense. Bat finding that I was firm in my determina- 
 tion with respect to the little matter — though I hope I
 
 50 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 showed him that I -was desirous of pleasing" him where I 
 could eoiisisteutl}' — he fiualW said in a manner half joking 
 and partly quarrelsome: ''Well, if the mountain won't come 
 to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the mountain." And so, too 
 loth to quit company for the sake of suiting his own excited 
 taste for amusement, he went with me to witness our great 
 tragedian in his masterly presentation of that masterpiece 
 of Shakesjieare, ''Richard III." Repeatedly, inunediately af- 
 ter his first announcing — in most sullen phrase — that he in- 
 tended to accompany me, he spoke of his resolution to go 
 and endure the pla}- at McVicker's for the purpose of having 
 an opportunity of talking to me between the acts and at the 
 close of the performance. His conversation on this subject 
 was, of course, in an indifferent tone of raillery ; though now 
 and then he would express his serious surprise at my prefer- 
 ence for such a "stupid bore of a traged3^" ^Vnd after the 
 first act was over, though in a modified way, he indulged in 
 similar remarks and reflections. But, thei'e came the second 
 act, and a sobriety of countenance was gradually devel- 
 oped — I can use no other word so fitting — by the Washoe 
 miner at my side; and presently he began to draw long- 
 breaths and rub his hands together at intervals, iu a sudden, 
 nervous manner, that attracted the attention of many who 
 sat adjacent — old tragedy-hardened theater-goers, — whose 
 rather compassionate gaze in no wise disconcerted or troub- 
 led my friend, — if he noticed or was conscious of it. And by 
 and by, when some lighter jjassages were being read, he 
 whispered, but without turning his head, '-Young man, I am 
 getting 3^our money's worth": — which I take it was one of his 
 strongest current sentences of commendation. And when 
 Booth, as Richard, wheeled around and snarled at the Queen, 
 "I hate you;" and turning again, exclaimed, "If that don't kill 
 her, I don't knov>' what will ;" I was slapped on the back by 
 my companion — who had never taken his eyes off the stage — 
 as he muttered, "My God! what an infernal villain that fel- 
 low" is ! " 
 
 On our way back to the hotel there was no frivolity — no 
 hilarity — in the conversation of my friend. With quiet
 
 THE GOTUA CANAL.— T ROLE AT TAN. 51 
 
 earnestness lie asked about and talked about the character 
 of Richard III — about the record of his times ; inquired about 
 the best historians of those days ; dwelt with solemn impreca- 
 tion on the traits he exhibited ; and linally, with great grav- 
 ity and impressiveness, thanked me over and over again for 
 compelliug him — those were his words — to go and listen to 
 such a play. I recalled and meditated on this as we moved 
 along by the side of these rapids and over the waters of the 
 six falls of Trolhattan. 
 
 No long, precise detail of description will you expect or I 
 attempt. Such a description at my best, and however inde- 
 pendently written, might prove to be but a poor paraphrase 
 of the guide-books that assume to present the measurements 
 and comprehensively the arithmetic of the scenes. 
 
 It is true that some of the lower falls are higher by foot- 
 rule calculation than others that are situated farther up the 
 stream ; but still the truth of my assertion remains : that the 
 interest and the reason for an excited feeling of awe and ad- 
 miration increases at every upward step. 
 
 "Falls" not always; not often literal cataracts, here abound. 
 I have not counted them. The books that I have seen have 
 undertaken to fully or exactly number them. Eight feet, and 
 twenty-three feet, twenty-live feet, forty-two feet, are respect- 
 ively set down for the Stampestrom, the Gullo, the Hel- 
 vetes, and the Toppo falls. But I dispute the assertion that 
 they signify grandeur, or sublimity, or beauty, in proportion 
 to their elevation. 
 
 As I have probably, with sufficient tax upon the attention 
 of my readers, indicated and emphasized, there is in the en- 
 largening, the lengthening or broadening, the changing view 
 of hight or depth, gorge or chasm, with the tumult of water 
 within and around and beneath, — the building, by stronger 
 and stronger forces, of an enthusiasm of rapture, until it 
 seems as if you would reverently exclaim before your Mak- 
 er, as an old translator has a scripture: "Lord, this mag- 
 nificence doth fill and satisfy; yea. it doth inspire my soul, 
 until I can bear no more." And this cold endeavor to inti- 
 mate what are the sensations that are begotten within tlie
 
 52 2^' OR r HERN EUROPE. 
 
 chambers of the miuJ by the glories that are here displayed 
 seems almost like a sacrilegious mockery of the tremendous 
 experience. Not Niagara, -with its incomparably grander 
 distances and voices, can surpass this spectacle of granite 
 hillside and plunging waters, — in the touching, and rousing, 
 and thrilling, of the finest chords for music that answers unto 
 music in the human breast. 
 
 Rescue these scenes, also, from the "enterprise" of the 
 millman and the manufacturer — as New York has done for 
 her superlative wonder. Yes ; although here there does not 
 as yet appear to be a gross or despoiling intrusion by the 
 hand of utility. 
 
 Of such things you may have spoken before; and you may 
 talk of them hereafter. Of these things you will not think, 
 you will not tolerate consideration, until you shall have 
 passed beyond ; and the charm and enchantment of the per- 
 spective of rapids, and fountains, and cascades, and verging 
 steeps of rocky precipices and woodland, with the many-keyed 
 Anthem of the thunder of the floods, shall have faded from 
 actual sight and sound, and become one among the tran- 
 scendentlv glorious memories in voui- bosom that shall never 
 lose its power and vividness in ministering to your enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 From a point just below the Giant's Caldron, the most ex- 
 tensive and comprehensive view can be had; — except, of 
 course, the scene from the tower. — which is not, after all, so 
 pleasant, and which you will wish you had taken before the 
 one recommended, in order that the latter might be the last in 
 your recollection. V>\\i from the swaying bridge that reaches 
 from the left bank to the Island of Toppo, you have the vis- 
 ion of visions! Behold It! "With what a sharp and indescriba- 
 ble pang of regret do you hear the warning call for a return 
 to the shore, and to this rough, matter-of-fact world again ! 
 
 Surely this was well named Trolhattan — the gathering 
 place for witches of old. See! this is not an insensate 
 torrent. This is a vital, living, human intelligence, that is mov- 
 ing before and beside and beneath vou ! It is more. Look ! 
 How majestical the waters come over the summit imme-
 
 TROLRATTAN TO VENERSBORG. $z 
 
 diately in front of you ! It is not simply volatile matter. It 
 is the assumed shape and the stirring form of one of the 
 Northmen's gods that is here ; it is Old Thor, lying prone 
 at your feet, slowly nodding his forehead with the dignity of 
 Deity, while ever and anon there is tossed in your face from 
 his long, flowing, yellow beard great drops of the frosty dew 
 of an Artie morning. 
 
 V. 
 
 TROLHATTAN TO VENERSBORG. 
 
 Some of the guide books appear to make a studied effort 
 to dissuade travelers from taking the Gotha Canal line to 
 Stockholm from Gothenburg ; one referring to the Falls of 
 Trolhattan as "not worth the trip;" another remarking 
 that they are of "comparatively little account," etc.; but 
 Baedecker, with characteristic candor — although he, too, 
 has considerable to say in disparagement of the route — ad- 
 mits that in one respect the falls are "unsurpassed in Eu- 
 rope," and "that the enormous volume of water makes a 
 spectacle extremely imposing." That which in his judg- 
 ment detracts much from the "effect" of the principal falls 
 — namely, the islands in the middle of the stream — is, I 
 think, justly to be regarded as enhancing, as it certainly 
 greatly diversifies, the interest and admiration which they 
 excite. Suppose a river of clear water at some angles, or 
 in many of its pitchings tinged with a saffron hue from the 
 color of the rocks beneath, or the reflection of the banks — 
 a river of the size of the Hudson at Albany, or of the Sac- 
 ramento as it is within its bed at highwater mark at our 
 Capital, flowing as described over successive declivities of 
 twenty-three and forty-two and twenty-five feet. The entire 
 descent of the falls proper is 112 feet, with a great number 
 of eddies and rushings and side caverns and mid-stream 
 fountains between and beyond, in a distance of a quarter of
 
 54 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 TROLHATTAN FALLS. 
 
 a mile comprising a succession of cataracts, cascades, pools 
 and rapids — and you have, I think, without further descrip- 
 tion or suggestion, assurance that the "spectacle" is indeed 
 beautiful and sublime. 
 
 The very disappointment which you at first undergo when 
 you leave the foot of the locks and are on the watch for 
 scenes of unusual magnitude or picturesqueness in the 
 movement of the stream and the surroundings of the 
 country, tends to make your delight the keener as the 
 "vistas" from the bordering pathway open up before you.
 
 TROLHATTAN TO VENERSBORO. 55 
 
 Of course, as compared with the Niagara, these falls are 
 of dwarfish dimensions - nor is there here that reeling sense 
 of grandeur — although at one or two points there is some- 
 thing akin to it — that you may have or are likely to-feel in 
 looking down from some great altitude into the Yosemite 
 valley. But abiding, awe-inspiring results, as well as a pe- 
 culiar charm and a fascination for the immediate moment 
 of beholding, are to be experienced here by all who are ca- 
 pable of receiving such emotions and disposed to cherish 
 them in the mind and heart. 
 
 Trolhattan itself is an insignificant appearing town or vil- 
 lage, situated at the head of the falls ; and the statement 
 that it contains three thousand inhabitants makes you won- 
 der where all the people who claim to be or are set down as 
 residents have their homes. 
 
 Close to the head of the canal is a mill in which pine 
 wood is ground into a pulp and converted into paper; a 
 thick, dark, very serviceable kind of wrapping material. On 
 the doors and in some of the windows of this manufactory 
 — in which the work is mostly performed by women — are 
 signs in different languages and in invariably bad grammar, 
 inviting you to stay outside, and forcibly announcing to you 
 that you have no business in these premises that the pro- 
 prietors are aware of; and the intimation distinctly is that 
 they do not wish you to venture on any inquiry on the sub- 
 ject. The posted literature on this point becomes formid- 
 able in your eyes as you pass around the main building on 
 your return from a walk to the opposite bank, and you in- 
 voluntarily examine your breast pockets to see if you have 
 your passport with you. 
 
 The women who stood at or who came to the large door 
 of the establishment and stared at us, were not only as dirty 
 as their occupation required — poor creatures — but they had 
 the lines of suffering from extraordinary care or overwork 
 stamped indelibly on their countenances. It was about our 
 first observation of women at hard labor in Sweden ; and 
 the sight was shocking to some of our party; who declared
 
 $6 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 that they would have preferred to forego the pleasure of a 
 visit to any falls in the world rather than to be compelled to 
 see at the same time or in the same hour such an exhibition 
 of wearisome, slavish toil, and its consequences as marked 
 on these wrinkled countenances. 
 
 There is a hotel at Trolhattan where muddy coffee or 
 sour beer can be had at memorable prices. 
 
 And in this connection I will state that I inadvertently 
 omitted to mention that there are photographs of the falls 
 and vicinity to be had at the Tower, from whence you have 
 a complete view of the panorama, at a charge not to exceed 
 three times as much as you can buy the same pictures for in 
 Gothenburg or Stockholm. There is something here that 
 reminds you of Chester and London ; where — in the first 
 instance — views of the old Roman wall can be had at King 
 Charles Lookout for double the sum asked in the galleries 
 where they were printed ; and where — in London — in and 
 about monuments and sacred edifices, even, you can pay big 
 bonuses for indifferent photographic copies of inaccurate 
 drawings and dauby sketches, made by artists who, as 
 you are somehow assured, have as yet gone unwhipped of 
 justice. 
 
 There is a deaf and dumb beggar at Trolhattan, who sa- 
 lutes you repeatedly. He has no memory of your first two 
 givings. He has a ghastly smile and a military gesture that 
 is simply irresistible. It was some time before any of us knew 
 what his malady or infirmity was, although he had a sign on 
 his cap that told the whole pitiful story. The difficulty was 
 that you could not read it all at one time; and it was ac- 
 tually by comparing notes that we first ascertained the na- 
 ture of the affliction. Some of the passengers laughed out- 
 right on this very account, and then poured a handful of 
 coppers into the unfortunate man's hand, as if in a generos- 
 itj'-provoking fit of shame over their levity or hilarity in 
 such a presence. 
 
 In front of the hotel there appears on dress parade a man 
 with a gold band around his cap, on which it is written that he
 
 TROLEATTAN TO VENER8B0RG. 57 
 
 is the "Chief of guides;" but what his precise functions were 
 we could not learn — we could only suspect. The German 
 gentleman remarked that the liberality of tourists would 
 probably be much reduced in the matter of extra fees and 
 donations to the boys, if this cap put in an appearance at 
 the other end of the locks; and he hoped that we would all 
 write to our friends who were coming this v/ay and tell them 
 to give their gratuities to the lads on the sly. 
 
 In spite of the great and lasting pleasure of the view we 
 had just seen — and let nothing of this present, immediate 
 record detract from whatever of promise and stimulant in 
 favor of this trip there may be to any reader, in what has 
 been set down before in this same correspondence — we were 
 glad, as the German gentleman phrased it, to "trollelol 
 away from the town of Trolhattan." When he was glanced 
 at for this, with a sort of Pinafore no-never look he said he 
 had acquired some vicious habits in America — and passed 
 on. 
 
 From Trolhattan the steamer, by river and by canal, al- 
 ternately passes through a farming section of country; the 
 valleys in which these waters flow having a strong resem- 
 blance to the New England landscapes, as some on board 
 agree in testifying. The season also seems to be advanced 
 to about the same degree as that to which we were accus- 
 tomed in Massachusetts. But, of course, there were strik- 
 ing dissimiiarities and novelties in the pictures. 
 
 Here we began to feel that accelerated sense, which was 
 more completely developed as we rode from Motala to Berg 
 — a sense of riding in a chariot with noiseless wheels over 
 dustless roads, over verdure-clad and flower-sprinkled fields 
 — literally pushed over the green sward and meadows by 
 some unseen but powerful hand. Sitting in front of the 
 pilot-house, and looking at the country on either side, or far 
 away in front, you forget that you are on the water, and 
 take in the whole scene as from a carriage window, undis- 
 tracted by noise or jar of any kind; and there was a very 
 thrill of romance in waking up, as it were, to a conscious-
 
 58 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 ness of threading your way along a narrow channel defined 
 by grassy banks that always appeared at the distance of a 
 few rods in advance to be too close together to admit of a 
 possible passage of the chubby vessel on the knob of whose 
 cover you are sitting. Why, this is a little fairy toy-boat, 
 and we are playing " ride a rocking racehorse right to Bos- 
 ton town:" — so thinks the little child on board, and so say we 
 all. But it is not to Boston town, but to Venersborg that we 
 are going. Here is a town of 5,000 inhabitants lying at the 
 first point where the Gotaelf flows out from Lake Venern. 
 It is situated on an island, though you would not know that 
 fact from what you can see from the boat. The hour and 
 a half that we would prefer to have had at Motala or Vad- 
 stena is given here, by the grace of the canal boat proprie- 
 tors ; and we go off and up to visit the town, of which the 
 captain correctly says that there is a church and a market 
 place, and a water-tower that can be seen from the outside. 
 
 Long before you reach Venersborg, (where we had hoped 
 to visit a manual school,) the spire of the church and the 
 high, round brick water reservoir is seen staring at you 
 with a severe "What are you coming here for ?" kind of sig- 
 nificance — as you approach their base. 
 
 Our German friend comes up behind us as we step on 
 the wharf. He is laughing. (He usuall}'' laughs by a pro- 
 cess of grunting starts and fits.) What is the funny thing 
 now ? He has Baedecker in hand, and with the exclamation, 
 "Best thing yet !" points to this sentence : "The town has 
 been frequently burned down, and now consists of unusually 
 spacious streets." Evidently Baedecker does not like this 
 route. The captain — good, amiable soul that he is — says 
 that it is his opinion that Baedecker was not treated as well 
 as he ought to have been on his journey up the canal. 
 That is all he says about him. 
 
 There is a market — closed. There is a church in the 
 midst of a little grove-plaza or square — also closed. No 
 janitor in sight, though I think he could have gained at 
 least a half-dozen kroners in the aggregate if he had put in
 
 TROLEATTAN TO VE2fERSB0RG. 
 
 59 
 
 an appearance with his keys and opened the portals of his 
 sacred edilice. "Show us the inside of any house and we 
 will pay you for it," announced Herr Wrangel, speaking vol- 
 untarily to the invisible guardians of the place, but speaking 
 authoritatively, nevertheless, for all the parties that strag- 
 gled along before or beside and behind him. 
 
 VENERSBORG. 
 
 A little girl sat knitting on one of the benches in front of 
 the kyrka. "AVhat church is this, my pretty maid ! " in- 
 quired a lady in the party of the first part. " Lutheran 
 Episcopal Church," was the reply, in an excellent English 
 pronunciation, and in such a musical tone of voice that 
 every one within hearing distance began to comment upon 
 it and to try to enter into a conversation with the little maid; 
 beginning simultaneously to speak prophetically of another 
 Christine Nillson — and all that sort of thing. The girl 
 blushed and bent over her half-finished tidy and replied no 
 more. She had evidently exhausted her stock of English,
 
 6o NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and was annoyed if not offended by the attention — some- 
 what rude at times, I thought — that was paid to her. After- 
 wards, when we came back this way, a Swedish lady 
 addressed this maiden again, and obtained from her in her 
 own language a long account of her family and situation. 
 
 We looked into the windows of the church as well as we 
 could. Some one of the party put our little child on the 
 window-sill at one end, and got her report as to the interior. 
 Strange what a morbid curiosity there is in human nature 
 with respect to something or anything that is locked up or 
 has " No admittance " on the doorpost ! There was a gilded 
 cross over the altar ; there was a huge organ ; there was a 
 mid-corner pulpit with a sounding board ; there were most 
 uncomfortable pew accommodations for about a thousand 
 attendants, and standing room for about five hundred per- 
 sons? What more of importance could we have learned if 
 we had seen the interior from the interior, and paid twenty- 
 five ore each for the privilege ? Come now ! And yet we 
 would all have been glad to have made that deprecated bar- 
 gain. 
 
 As we ascend the main street we pass by a restaurant, 
 which is called a Masonic Restaurant, and which has on one 
 of its doors a sign similar to those Masonic emblems of high 
 degree that are planted in a rock by the side of one of the 
 cascades that we have recently visited. We are tempted to 
 go in and see what sort of fare the Templars provide within 
 for latter-day pilgrims. But a slatternly housemaid makes 
 her appearance in the dining-room as we are about to enter, 
 and in a voice that is not at all musical, but quite the re- 
 verse, shouts to some other housemaid — we presume — 
 (whom we are glad we did not see,) — to the effect that she 
 must hurry with the work in hand so as to attend to cook- 
 ing for the customers ; and, as the German said — borrowing 
 from " Bleak House " this time, evidently — " We are floored 
 again." 
 
 We visited the outside* of the water tower, a new, round 
 brick structure built in 1881 ; 30 feet in diameter, we guess,
 
 TROLEATTAN TO VENERSBORG. 6i 
 
 and 60 feet in height. Herr Wrangel tried the door, and 
 
 put his jack-knife under the windows. He then said " ." 
 
 One of the party pinned his visiting card above the keyhole. 
 
 Retracing our steps, the conversation referred to was had 
 with the maid in the grove. She was an orphan, and had 
 two sisters dependent on her for their support. She re- 
 ceived the contribution that the janitor perhaps might have 
 had. 
 
 In all this time and during all this march from the vessel, 
 occupying half an hour in leisurely sauntering and hesitat- 
 ing — our party going a distance of fully half a mile — we saw 
 not a solitary person, save and except as hereinbefore noted. 
 "In the name of all that is Swedish, and by all the gods of 
 the Norsemen's mythology, what sort of a town of 5,000 in- 
 habitants is this ?" finally burst out our friend of the meer- 
 schaum — with his native brogue exemplified in the utter- 
 ance of at least every other word. And he laid his velvet- 
 tasseled cap down upon a cobble-stone and walked around 
 it and picked it up. Then asked for a loan of a companion's 
 opera glass and took an observation with it all around the 
 horizon; then uttered his favorite exclamation, with the ad- 
 dition of "Not a soul !" Then he walked, with unusual rapidity 
 for him, in the van of the wandering troop to the steamer's 
 plank. Thereon he stood and shouted to the captain, " Vat 
 sort of a sleepy hollow is dis, Captain Petersen, dot you 
 empties us into for an hour und a half ?" 
 
 " Didn't I tell you there was nothing to be seen ?" replied 
 the Captain. 
 
 " Did you ?" 
 
 "I did." 
 
 "Veil, you vas right, 0,1 forgot dot leetle girl. Dot 
 vas one good ding we did see. I vill give her dot restau- 
 rant in my vill." 
 
 And under the evident impression that this was a great 
 joke, our German tourist gruntingly laughed deep and long 
 while on his way to his seat on the pilot-house deck.
 
 62 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 VI. 
 VENERSBORG TO STOCKHOLM. 
 
 Almost quiet enough to be the actual abiding place of the 
 Sleeping Beauty of the fairyland or garden, of which we 
 have all at one time credulously read and in which we have 
 all taken delight; having a solitary living representative in 
 its central grove that was worthy of being adopted as the 
 slumbering enchantress herself; a pleasant village with 
 architectural features of interest, old and new ; situated in 
 the valley and at the lake-bordering, island-made end of a 
 plain of surpassing loveliness : that is about what we have 
 to say of Venersborg in a passing, comprehensive and fare- 
 well paragraph. While we regret that we did not have as 
 much time as was given us here at Venersborg, to visit other 
 places where there was more of immediate interest to be 
 quickly seen, we by no means intend to leave the impression 
 that there was not much enjoyment derived from our stroll 
 through some of the "spacious streets " of this most sedate 
 and noiseless of Swedish towns. 
 
 We came to the conclusion that a large share of the popu- 
 lation who dwell inside of the village were at the hour of 
 our visit at work in the fields adjacent or in the workshops 
 that stood a little way off from the main cluster of houses. 
 So, mounting our canal coach and resuming, with our excel- 
 lent traveling friend from Germany, our stations for obser- 
 vation, we saw Venersborg recede as we had seen it draw 
 near to us — such was the sensation, rather than that of an 
 approach, on our momentum — with audible expressions of 
 unfei^^ned sorrow. As Herr Wrangel said — (the landlady 
 of the steamer called him Herr Wrangel,) — it was a debata- 
 ble question whether we should or should not have ventured
 
 VENERSBORG TO STOCKHOLM. 6 
 
 o 
 
 into that Freemason's tavern and bought a voluble and 
 probably intelligent and gossiping acquaintance, whatever 
 the expense in silver and otherwise might have been. 
 
 Here is pointed out to us Mount Halleberg, 435 feet high; 
 and also Mount Hunneberg, 490 feet high, which is said to 
 be completely surrounded with charming little lakes and 
 picturesque cascades. Both are said to be well worth a 
 visit ; the former having, among other attractions, an 
 "attestupa," which is interpreted to be a place from which 
 old and infirm persons threw themselves in ancient times, to 
 avoid the supposed ignominy of dying in their beds. 
 
 We are at the foot of Lake Yenern. This lake is a little 
 over ICO miles long and 50 miles wide, and is 143 feet 
 above the sea level. Its average depth is 359 feet. Thirty 
 rivers are emptied into this lake, and often it is raised in 
 flood time 10 feet above its ordinary level. You are warned 
 by all the guide books that storms frequently occur on this 
 great inland sea, and may be experienced at any season of 
 the year; and if you are liable to seasickness you can have 
 as severe an attack on Lake Yenern as in the mid-Atlantic 
 — other things being equal. But nearly as smooth as our 
 canal highway, was the passage we made across the lower 
 half of this beautiful lake. Soon after we enter upon its 
 waters we lose sight of land on cur east, and are ten miles 
 distant from the coast or shore on our right. 
 
 It is sixty miles from Gothenburg to Yenersborg, and it 
 is eighty miles from Yenersborg to the point where we enter 
 upon our canal track again — at a place called Sjetorp ; but 
 the distance is made in the one case in twelve hours, and in 
 the other in less than eight. Our fat little steamer is here put 
 on full head and best-go-ahead behavior, and we are con- 
 scious of the fact that we are bumping along at a goodly 
 rate of speed. Although there is little swaying, there is that 
 pounding jar that was rendered so familiar to our ears and 
 — I was going to say our hearts — on the Alaska. 
 
 It is daring the trip across this lake that we may be said 
 to have formed an intimate acquaintance with the master
 
 64 NORTHERy EUROPE. 
 
 of the vessel ; for while he watches on his 14x12 feet deck, 
 we, at his request, sat in front of the pilot-house and listened 
 to his biographical and geographical conversation. He 
 talked well. A short inquiry winds him up ; and you will, 
 doubtless, get nearly as much as there can be edifyingly said 
 in regard to a given locality in the neighborhood of our 
 voyage, if you will only come this way and put your inter- 
 rogatory and hush and listen. 
 
 In particular he dwelt upon the attractive features of the 
 hill of Kinnekule, whose outlines he showed us through his 
 glass, just after we had passed the latitude of Lidkoping 
 and rounded the isle of Kolandso. This hill of Kinnekulle 
 is 916 feet high, is 12 miles long by five miles broad, and is 
 composed of six distinct geological formations. There are 
 granite, sandstone, alum-slate, limestone, clay-slate and 
 trap-rock. There are scores of grottoes ; there are high 
 cliffs, from which fine views are to be seen in every direc-. 
 tion. And a portion of the hillside is very fertile ; and on 
 a portion the trees are the largest known in Sweden. Ex- 
 tensive granite and slate quarries are on the west side ; and 
 the water, pure and soft, is often "tapped " by a blast, and 
 bursts forth as though struck by the wand of the old leader 
 of the children of Israel. Wild apple and cherry ti'ees, with 
 fruit that rivals the cultivated European species in appetiz- 
 ing qualities, are to be found on all portions of the hill, or 
 range of hills, that come under this name. In short, so en- 
 ticing is the description of this section of the country that 
 we have from the captain, that we join with our German 
 friend in the proposition that the Venus be headed for the 
 shore, and leave given us to stop over in this vicinity until 
 the next boat ; and when, as a matter of course, this simple 
 proposition is met with a nay, we join again in the chorus, 
 when our spokesman sings out, " \'ell, den. Captain, we 
 don't want to hear no more about it ; because such dings is 
 an aggravation under de circumstances." 
 
 Captain C. Reinhold Samsio has been going to sea over 
 thirty years, but cannot swim. He went to a swimming
 
 TROLEATTAN TO VENERSBORG. 65 
 
 school when he was a boy, as boys are accustomed, and, 
 indeed, are compelled to do in Sweden ; but, before he had 
 gained the requisite confidence, which is the main element 
 in the business, his teacher became irritated at his relative 
 lack of proficiency or daring, and gave him such a "long 
 ducking " that he was constrained to play truant towards 
 that gymnasium ever afterwards. But, notwithstanding the 
 fact that he cannot swim, he is not afraid of the water. He 
 has been overboard twice in the Atlantic ; once rescued by 
 a fellow seaman, and once saved by a piece of timber that 
 was thrown after him. 
 
 We pass between the islands of Thorso and Bromo, which 
 are inhabited principally by fishermen, and the boats of 
 some of the net watchers come close alongside. The little 
 lighthouses on the islands are curiosities in their way. The 
 lanterns are often set in the sides of the cottages, sending 
 a gleam in only one direction. They afford abundant illu- 
 mination for the household as well as a safety-flash for the 
 mariner. Those that stand as light-houses, separate and 
 alone, look like a short, corpulent woman in a full-flowing 
 white skirt. 
 
 The path from Thorso to Sjetorp is indicated by small 
 sticks — hoop poles we would call them — and the inner chan- 
 nel is very devious. In the night, or when it is foggy 
 weather, the boats take an outer track. 
 
 As far as our eye can reach along the line of the shore, 
 after passing the northeast bay of Thorso, we see what ap- 
 pears to be a small sail ; and such we suppose it to be for 
 some time, until the mate, who has now come on deck, in- 
 forms us that it is the lighthouse to the left of the canal 
 entrance at Sjetorp. a few scattered houses constitute all 
 there is of the hamlet. Here we make our first entry by a 
 lock, and begin the third stage in our journey. 
 
 There are twenty locks between Sjetorp and Lake Viken ; 
 and I walked fully one-third of that distance by the side of 
 the canal. From the Venern to the Viken is about twenty- 
 one of our miles. Along this portion of the route we met a
 
 66 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 great many girls and boys with birchen baskets filled with 
 wild strawberries ; which delicious berries they sell for ten 
 ore (or about two-and-half cents,) a quart. It is prob- 
 ably unnecessary to remark that they find a ready and stock- 
 exhausting market for their goods. 
 
 Nosegays of wild flowers are also offered for sale at the 
 vakt houses by the pretty barefooted daughters of the lock- 
 tenders ; and the cabin and dining-room of the Vemis is 
 soon laden with the richest perfumes that Nature can yield. 
 The sailors are very fond of roses and forget-me-nots; and 
 every one of them has a bunch of his favorites fastened in 
 his cap before we have passed the third lock on this section 
 of the canal. 
 
 The supply of milk which the people along this line have 
 for sale is also speedily purchased ; and by getting in ad- 
 vance of the steamer one or two locks we can see the maids 
 and men hastening the milking operation, or beginning that 
 operation in advance of the usual hour — you cannot "hurry" 
 that job very much ? — so as to have their jars, in which they 
 offer the rich, pure article for sale, full to the brim, when 
 the boat shall have arrived opposite their dairies. 
 
 We should judge that there had not been much foreign 
 travel this way during this season as yet, even if we had 
 not been explicitly so informed by the Captain and others 
 on board, for the children and maids gathered around us 
 with curious and inquiring looks at every watchhouse, and 
 took great delight in feeling of the hat and dress of the 
 child who walks in our party of passengers. But there is 
 nothing forward or impudently intrusive in their manners. 
 They make friendly advances after the communication of 
 trade, in a way that is captivating by its delicacy ; and they 
 are so much gratified when you interpret their wish — unex- 
 pressed in words — to take up our little girl, that they cannot 
 repress an exclamation of joy that is, or would be, under- 
 stood without a dictionary anywhere. The elderly inhabi- 
 tants are very reserved, and some of them have an almost 
 austere and sullen aspect of countenance.
 
 VENERSBORG TO STOCKHOLM 67 
 
 When the steamer approaches a lock she whistles — a dis- 
 tance of a half a mile or more — and if she is not in sight of 
 a watchman, by reason of a curve in the canal, the signal for 
 coming ahead for a clear lock or for waiting, is given by a 
 shrill police-whistle response. If the steamer officers can see 
 the gateway that is far ahead, the signal for "coming ahead" 
 consists in the waving of a red flag by a woman or little girl. 
 I have seen this flag displayed more than a score of times on 
 this trip, and invariably in the hands of a female. 
 
 Here again we ascend to the hurricane deck and renew our 
 charming ride through and apparently over the meadows. 
 The hay and grain look well. The crop is said to be "sure 
 of abundance" in this part of the country, and the close-at- 
 hand and the distant scenery is all enchanting. O, my friend, 
 when you come to Sweden next summer, or the next, you 
 must take this trip. Let no man prevail upon you to pass an- 
 other way. 
 
 What is it that gives such a special charm to this landscape? 
 That something v/hich we have always attached to it when we 
 have looked at pictures of it in days gone by? Here it is, just 
 like a picture; "pretty as a picture!" All the still life of the 
 canvas and the engraving is here. Faithful engravings you 
 have in your drawing-rooms of scenes like these. What is it 
 that makes this so precisely the copy rather than the original 
 of what we have actually beheld before? All of a sudden it 
 flashes upon us: What is it ! Why, it is the red tiled roofs 
 of these large and small houses and barns, sheds and cottages. 
 
 We must introduce red roofs into the United States. We 
 must have a law passed, if necessary to accomplish the object: 
 providing that from and after the passage of said Act, in 
 every city and county, every housetop cover, cornice 
 and roof, shall be as crimson as gore! Then we shall have 
 sometimes, approximately, the picturesque scenery of this old 
 country. Oscar Wilde's knee-breeches may remain an un- 
 settled proposition for revival during a century to come, with- 
 out any serious detriment to the taste of the cultivated classes 
 in America and the enjoyment of all mankind; but this decree 
 ought to be on our statute books before another decade is
 
 68 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 passed. Let the law first be enacted in California, and begin 
 to take effect on Nob Hill. 
 
 The locks are 112x24 f'^^t in size, and often the steersman 
 points the boat into one of them without touching either side. 
 Then the Captain or the mate will sing out "Bravo!" and 
 perhaps will clap his hands. A fine of 500 crowns (or Si 25) 
 is affixed as a penalty for touching the gates with the prow of 
 the boat. Last )'ear a steamer poked its nose through one of 
 the gates and caused such damage as to stop through-naviga- 
 tion for the space of a month. The company owning this 
 careless craft had to pay 16,000 crowns damage-money. 
 
 The waiting-maids on these vessels receive ^2.50 a month 
 as wages from the company. The chambermaid and the cook 
 receive 12 kroners a month. The Captain gets 300 kroners a 
 month — about $75 — and the mate receives $50. The deck 
 hands receive ^8 a month. 
 
 While on deck, and approaching Toreboda, our party diver- 
 sified their conversation by reference — first made by the Ger- 
 man gentleman— to the Consulates at Gothenburg and Stock- 
 holm. It is agreed that these ought not to be places for rich 
 gentlemen, or "billets" for war veterans who have no special 
 qualifications for such a place. The former, as experience has 
 shown, will not attend to the duties of the office, and the lat- 
 ter cannot do so with credit or justice to the Government rep- 
 resented. Nor should any man be appointed to a consulate 
 in a nation of his nativity. 
 
 Toreboda is a place of considerable importance, as is shown 
 by the amount of freight that goes off at this point. A large 
 invoice of petroleum is rolled up the gangplank at this land- 
 ing A few oil wells have been discovered in Sweden, but 
 their value is as yet said to be problematical, — the quality so 
 far being very inferior. The United States still supplies this 
 burning fluid to the people of Scandinavia. The principai 
 business of the Vice-Consul at Gothenburg — which taxes his 
 intellect and strength to about its uttermost capacity — is to 
 certify to the Custom-house at New York or Philadelphia that 
 so manv barrels are bona fide returned as oil-holding barrels 
 from Sweden to the American republic. It is not necessary
 
 VENERSBORG TO STOCKHOLM 69 
 
 that the American flag should be displayed every time this 
 exhaustive work is done; which is one of the reasons that we 
 have had assigned for not displaying it at all over the door or 
 house of the Consulate on any occasion. All the logic of this 
 hinges on the matter of oil importation; a large deposi-t of 
 which, I should say, was made on this trip, from our steamer, 
 at the Avharf at Toreboda. 
 
 Something has to be lost to sight in a sixty-hour trip — con- 
 tinuously made — and therefore withheld from memory dear, 
 on this vovage; because tired nature seeks and must have re- 
 pose: — "sleej) that knits up the raveled sleeve of care," "balm 
 of hurt minds." Well, if you had heard our German friend drop 
 into poetry, and especially into Shakspeare, about bed-time, you 
 could not have kept this much of paraphrasing and quotation 
 out of your diary, except by such special and painful effort 
 as would have been too costly a price for the exclusion. 
 
 We wake — having passed through Lake Viken and the Bot- 
 tensjo — to witness the landing at Karlsburg. We swing around 
 a corner from the canal to touch at the wharf at this point: 
 at the end of the second canal-section from Gothenburg and 
 on the shore of Lake Vettern. You see very little of this 
 place as a "fortress;" in fact the uncompleted fortifications are 
 so far distant from the little bay into which the steamer 
 runs that not much more than a tower, about 100 feet high and 
 25 feet in diameter, with a flag floating therefrom, is obtained in 
 your glance on this journey as at present regulated. As be- 
 tween Karlsburg, Vadstena and Motala, a delightful three days 
 stop-over, at least, should be spent by the traveller. Karlsburg 
 is intended to be a "great railway point and place of refuge" 
 in case of invasion. 
 
 Vadstena is situated diagonally from Karlsburg, — across 
 Lake Vettern, an hour's ride from the fortress. Close to the 
 wharf is a castle which Gustavus Vasa built in 1500 and some- 
 thing; still in a good state of preservation. 
 
 We begged the captain to let us have an hour's time in which 
 to visit the Abbey of St. Briggita; the only remains of the 
 Monastery of Vadstena, which was constructed in 1395, and 
 which is old enough and sufficiently full of memories of Ro-
 
 70 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 mans and rascality and religious consecration to satisfy any 
 searcher after the ancient abodes and haunts of warlike, brutal 
 men and devoted Christian women. But, certainly, this was 
 an unreasonable, impudent and ridiculous petition; and while 
 every one of the passengers had encouraged our German friend 
 to brace up and make the request, all but three persons of real 
 principle, including two ladies, treacherously deserted him in 
 his hour of snubbing and defeat. He took his rebuff philo- 
 sophically, however. He merely used a big, big D, and glared 
 at the individuals who perfidiously and exasperatingly remarked 
 in the hearing of the Captain, "Of course, such a thing could 
 not be expected;" and then he, and all of us, went to see the 
 castle. We had ten minutes for that purpose, and we agreed 
 to keep close together, so that if the Captain went off before 
 we returned he would make a wholesale business of it. I at- 
 tended a little to the covenant on this arrangement myself, but 
 after we left the steamer and were on our way to the castle gate 
 our German friend privately showed me an English bull-dog 
 revolver, which he had concealed on his person informing 
 me in a phlegmatic tone of voice, " I fires ven the first man 
 runs." 
 
 Over the door of the castle — which was formerly entirely 
 surrounded by a moat, and which is now partially girt about 
 by water — is a coat of arms, and the end sides of the build- 
 ing and the roof immediately above are adorned with medal- 
 lions and figures and statues that may have been intended 
 originally to represent somebody, in all seriousness, but which 
 now approach the grimly grotesque in their appearance. 
 
 This castle, which is now reported as "restored " is used as 
 a granary — when it is used at all. Most of the immense cham- 
 bers are vacant, though there is a smell of the rye — new rye — 
 in most of the rooms. In one of the halls on the first floor we 
 found a man engaged in sorting and sacking the staple grain of 
 the realm — (the only sacking now allowed, our German friend 
 explained, — with a grunting demonstration) — and he gave us 
 all a sample and took a few ores with an obeisance that was of 
 itself worth the money. It was a kind of a dodging bow, as if 
 he was about to butt us, ram-fashion, and was getting quickly
 
 VENERSBORG TO STOCKHOLM 
 
 71 
 
 < 
 > 
 
 H 
 W 
 Z 
 > 
 
 n 
 
 > 
 
 H 
 r 
 
 R
 
 7 2 NOR THERN E UROPE 
 
 into the proper attitude. I saw that our German friend en- 
 joyed it; he took two samples and feed the miller twice. 
 
 In one large chamber of the second or third floor, we 
 noticed the remains of rude frescoing, and on the sides of 
 the window-openings and on the face of the opposite wall 
 there were portraits of warriors clad in mail and pages dec- 
 torated with ribbons. This must have been a dining-hall 
 for there was as additional suggestive, circumstantial evi- 
 dence, — a kitchen close at hand. 
 
 We were shown the window out of which one of Gustavus 
 Vasa's sons, the imbecile Prince Magnus of Ostrogotha, 
 leaped on one cold night; jumping into the waves, as he sup- 
 posed to meet a Nyad of the Vettern, who was, as he de- 
 scribed it, almost insane with love for him. It was a long 
 leap of at least forty feet (if we were shown the right win- 
 dow), and we could not do otherwise than sigh and repeat 
 the story to each other, as well as feed upon it — according to 
 the measure of our respective credulity. 
 
 Just then, and vrhen we were getting into a romantic state 
 of mind, the steamer whistle blew fiercely and there were 
 indications of a stampede. The German put his hands be- 
 hind his coat and shouted, " Gentlemen, the first man that 
 runs gets there last." The whole current of our thoughts 
 was changed. Several members of the party stole the copy- 
 right on the big D. In the confusion that ensued, in spite of 
 every military effort at discipline, we lost our way. One 
 lady thought she had sprained her ankle in going down one 
 of the stairs (the stone steps were very much worn), and had 
 to be carried the rest of the way to the steamer; where and 
 where upon she proceeded to walk about as lively as ever. 
 When we regained our exit-line we marched in pretty good 
 style, and the Captain, who had no idea of our bonds, said 
 that we came out of the portcullis and across the drawbridge 
 like a squad of infantry. Whereupon the German, who was 
 not to be surpassed nor yet superceded in the dry line, spoke 
 up and informed the Captain that the artillery was where 
 General Heintzelman after the first battle of Bull Run is re- 
 ported to have jokingly but with decided injustice said he 
 always wanted to have it when raw troops went into battle
 
 VENERSBORG TO STOCKHOLM 
 
 73 
 
 ■ — in the rear. Here and thereafter we had occasion to ex- 
 press surprise at the famiharity of the average woman with 
 the history and popular gossip ot our civil war. 
 
 At Motala, a half-hours ride distant from Vadstena, we 
 turned into the fourth section, and thence to Berg; passing 
 over or through that which is undoubtedly on the most beau- 
 tiful division of the route. 
 
 The water at Motala is so clear that you can see the bot- 
 tom at a distance of fifteen feet as well as you can see your 
 hand when held flat against the opposite side of a pure 
 window-glass. Such transparency of water I never saw 
 before, nor yet dreamed possible. 
 
 A Swedish man and wife who had lived three years in 
 Michigan here left the Venus and took the cars for her 
 
 GOTHA CANAL NEAR BORENSHULT. 
 
 father's home. These were the first acquaintances we made 
 with any returning Swedish immigrants. When they started 
 for their old home they were very homesick; but we believe 
 that we shall meet them in California. 
 
 Ten miles below Motala is Motala Verkstad, a flourisliing 
 manufacturing village, where 2,000 hands are employed in
 
 74 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 iron factories. The works are said to be driven by one 
 water-wheel, turned by the water of the canal on a fall of 
 thirty-eight feet. On a " through trip " there is not time af- 
 forded for a satisfactory visit to this place, though visitors 
 are gladly welcomed. 
 
 Soon we reach — walking ahead of the steamer — the famous 
 locks of Borenshult; five locks that let the vessel down 49 
 feet into Lake Boren. The scenery hereabouts could not 
 be surpassed in loveliness. And after we reach Husbyfjol, 
 which we do in an hour after entering the lake, we pass into 
 a canal, where we sail and steam along for four hours through 
 aland of enchantment. The grounds adjacent to the canal 
 are well described by Baedecker as " park-like in character." 
 A party of French gentlemen who came on board at Motala, 
 following the advice 
 of the guide books, 
 and who departed at 
 Norsholm, and who 
 were evidently men 
 of much travel on 
 the Continent, pro- 
 nounced this ride the 
 most fascinating that 
 they had ever en- 
 joyed. I use their 
 word of emphasis, 
 but I cannot give by 
 any description an adequate indication of the animation 
 which they imparted to their language by their gestures and 
 their beaming countenances. One declared himself blase 
 as a tourist, but vowed that he would return to this trip on 
 his way back from Stockholm, although he had planned his 
 journey far differently. Imagine a canal running from San 
 Mateo to San Jose, through a country as finely cultivated as 
 that in and immediately adjacent to Menlo Park, and you have 
 some faint idea of the marvelous delights of this passage. 
 
 The beautiful village of Brunneby, with a quaint old 
 church is now passed, on our right. At, or rather near. Berg 
 — for the boat does not go within two miles of that town — 
 
 BRUNNEBY.
 
 VENERSBOKG TO STOCKHOLM 
 
 75 
 
 CLOISTER CHURCH. 
 
 there are seven descending lock steps into Lake Roxen. By 
 the side of this monstrous giant stairway we sit, while the 
 steamer is approaching through the locks above; — a full two 
 hours of waiting, but which seems scarcely half that time, 
 so enrapturously ab- ^^ 
 sorbed is every one in 
 silent admiration of 
 the scene of the 
 meadow and lake at 
 our feet, and the far 
 away plains on the 
 shore and wooded 
 hills in the horizon's 
 edge, and the sugges- 
 tive and curiosity-pro- 
 voking old church 
 towers on our right — distinctly to be seen in the general 
 utline, yet too dim for architectural inspection. This to the 
 human eye is the very perfection of nature. Of other views 
 bring aid to our recollection through the art of the painter 
 or the photographer, but let these pictures alone in the gal- 
 lery of memory. 
 
 At Norsholm we pass again from lake to an artificial 
 channel. Here our French tourists and several other most 
 agreeable passenger companions bid us "farewell," includ- 
 ing our Teuton friend who had endeared himself to every- 
 body on board, in one ■ way or another, — an intelligent, 
 kind-hearted, jovial gentleman, whose conceit over his own 
 attempts at humor was always pardonable and sometimes not 
 without justification by positive merit. May we meet again; 
 may we have the pleasure of v/elcominghim to San Francisco. 
 
 It is eleven o'clock at night — and light enough to read a 
 paper without the aid of a candle — when we leave Nors- 
 holm. Early next morning we wake to find ourselves on the 
 Baltic sea, sailing between the little islands that thickly 
 cluster along the shore line, which we are to follow on our 
 way up to Sodertelje. Asplangen, Hulta, Snovelstorp, 
 Klamman, Venneberga, Karlsborg, Marichof, Soderkoping 
 (which, with its old buildings, and its new and mammoth
 
 76 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 hydropathic establishment, is another great argument for a 
 stop-over passage) and Liljesta, are passed in the very early 
 morning hours; and we have to mourn again on account of the 
 
 SODERKOPING. 
 
 recurring evidence of our mortality — that which Alexander 
 sighed over, and for which Sancho Panza gave great thanks- 
 Every record of this kind should state the fact that after 
 theseventy-fourth lock 
 is passed, three from 
 Soderkoping, there is 
 to be seen a marble 
 slab, set in the wall of 
 the canal, on which is 
 engraved in Swedish 
 these words: " Except 
 the Lord build the 
 house, they labor but 
 in vain that build it." 
 We thought of this 
 most appropriate pass- 
 age of Scripture, as quoted in the guidebook, and repeated it 
 aloud as we stood beside Baron Von Platen's grave in Dufve- 
 dal, and cast some sprigs of green on the slab that covers the 
 remains of the chief engineer of this tremendous enterprise. 
 And we could not help comparing him and his co-laborers 
 and supporters, as we have read their histories and studied 
 their characters, with the men who received our Government 
 
 GRAVE OF BARON VON PLATEN.
 
 VENERSBORG TO STOCKHOLM 
 
 11 
 
 MEM. 
 
 Pacific R. R. subsidy loan and gift of lands, and took a noble 
 engineer's outline of a transmount railroad and built an iron 
 highway upon it; and while so doing conspired with each other 
 toobtain four to six times the cost of their road, under the 
 false pretense of ^<7;/«/^ expenditures. O, what a desecra- 
 ting juxtaposition of comparison is that! There is only 
 one mode of excusing and justifying such joining of names 
 
 and biograpies — a mo- 
 mentary toleration for 
 the moral of contrast 
 and execration. 
 
 " The domain of 
 Mem " and the story of 
 the hiding of the silver 
 statues of the twelve 
 apostles, by one of its 
 former proprietors, Cal 
 Bagge, are at the head- 
 ings of the Captain's 
 entertaining talk. At 
 this point we pass near the picturesque ruin of the Castle of 
 Stegeborg. Narrow is the channel and crooked is the way 
 along the shore of Sweden from Gottenvick to Sodertelje. 
 We counted 23 islands on one side and 12 on the other at one 
 time. " In and out and cross lots," Ave hear some cry; and 
 we find that a sailor has learned an appropriate EngHsh song, 
 which he habitually sings— or attempts to sing— whenever this 
 part of the trip is reached. At Safenud lighthouse we stopped 
 and took on a basket of sea perch, which very much resem- 
 bled our Lake Tahoe trout externally and by their flavor. 
 
 The chateau of Horningsholm, on the site of an old castle, 
 is an edifice about the size of the Metropolitan hotel in New 
 York, two stories less in height and with ared-tile roof, but 
 otherwise decidedly like the great hotel on Broadway. 
 
 The Sodertelje that faces the sea has nothing of interest to 
 show this Sunday to the passer-by save the outside of its half 
 dozen of hydropathic hotels. But the Industrial School for 
 boys near by sends out a small army of swimmers to give us 
 a hurrah of welcome from the docks of that establishment.
 
 78 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 As we pass ?.round the canal that leads to Lake Malaren, 
 we hear the sounds of the church bells in the city of Soder- 
 telje proper, joining or clashing in summoning peals. 
 
 At Motala there was no escape on the part of the lady- 
 passengers from the lace merchants, who sell the " genuine, 
 home-made article " at very low prices, we are told; and at 
 Soderielje (where there are a number of steamers from 
 Stockholm that have just disembarked crowds of excursion- 
 ists) neither man woman nor child can escape the impor- 
 tunities of the women 
 who sell "kringlor " 
 and " papparkakor " 
 of their own baking 
 on very moderate 
 terms. Several pass- 
 engers, who have no 
 hint as to thequantity 
 of these kinds of cake 
 that a kroner will 
 buy, find thcmscvels 
 loaded down with 
 gingerbread — for that is what papparkakor is — and proceed 
 to wasteful indulgence in pelting each other with pieces of 
 their superflous, crispy provender ammunition. 
 
 Up Lake Malaren, a two hours passage to the Capital of 
 Sweden ! We anxiously watch for the first view of the city 
 that is to be had from the pilot-house, and we have it in a 
 sight of the scaffold-circled tower of Clara Kyrka, now un- 
 dergoing "reparation." Then we notice slowly moving 
 windmill fans of enormous dimensions. Then, suddenly, 
 and just as we become assured of our object and get a stout 
 "yaw" from the steersman in response to our inquiring 
 ejaculation, " Stockholm ?" the tall, slender iron spire of 
 Riddarholms Kyrka topped with a golden cross that flashes in 
 the midday sun, is set in the heavens; and the whole central 
 picture of this jewel of cities is before us, reposing beneath 
 this holy sign and between loftier ridges that rise on either 
 hand at the same time inclose and form a part of this well- 
 named, wonderful " Venice of the North." 
 
 HORNINGSHOLM.
 
 STOCKHOLM TO STROM SHOLM CASTLE 79 
 
 VII. 
 STOCKHOLM TO STROMSHOLM CASTLE. 
 
 I think that most travellers in Sweden will be surprised at 
 first — however much they may have read beforehand in modern 
 books descriptive of the life and the homes of this people — to 
 find such large tracts of country that would come under the 
 designation of " rolling land " in America. Here, for instance, 
 is a view that nearly makes a horizon-bound plain on one side. 
 
 There is a slight eminence, of perhaps fifteen or twenty feet, 
 in the centre of the landscape to the North and West as seen 
 from the cavalry ground beyond Stromsholm Castle, and still 
 bevond the ground is gently rolling; but for the most part from 
 Kolbeck to Quicksund and from Westeras to Monktorp, it may 
 be said that it is one valley. Through the middle of this near- 
 ly level reach of country passes the Stromsholm Canal; which 
 extends from the Malare Lake at this point up to the mines of 
 Dalecarlia; and the vessels that are to be seen constantly mak- 
 ing their way up or down on the mirrory surface of the channel 
 that has been prepared for them in the midst of the meadows, 
 lend an additional charm to an exceedingly beautiful picture, 
 which nature had already provided. 
 
 The trip from Stockholm to Quicksund, which is about six 
 miles from this castle, can be made by rail or steamer, but the 
 latter is much preferable. The little steamers are of 40 tons 
 burden, and their quarters are, of course, very contracted. 
 But they are really very comfortable; large enough for the 
 the trade which they are intended to meet; and they run like 
 race-horses. The fare for first-class passengers is one and a 
 quarter cents a mile. 
 
 The scenery on lake Malaren has been so often and so ex- 
 tensively described, that I hesitate to give it here even a pass- 
 ing comment. It has not been over praised in any volume that
 
 8o 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 I have read. There is a sufficient variety and pecuharity to 
 make the five-hours passage between the points named dehght- 
 ful and memorable. 
 
 Perhaps the most remarkable feature for record is the mirage. 
 Along the route you often behold the painted vessel upon the 
 painted sea. And oftentimes at this season a score of little 
 islands that lie between you and the sun's horizon will seem 
 lifted up above the waters — ''Isles of the blest" floating in 
 the sky. 
 
 But in the narrow way that you must frequently sail along, 
 through the woodland and mountain declivity close beside you, 
 the vista of lake and border before and behind is marvelously 
 
 STRENGNAS CATHEDRAL. 
 
 lovely, and is entirely worthy of the much abused descriptive 
 word" exquisite."" There is nothing grand or in that sense or 
 direction impressive about the views presented; there is a pen- 
 sive serenity in all the prospect, a combination of pictures that 
 begets a feeling of quiet pleasure which it is difficult to more 
 than hint at, and which it seems the function of poetry alone 
 to approximately describe.
 
 STOCKHOLM TO STROM SHOLM CASTLE 
 
 8l 
 
 We stop a few minutes at Strengnas, an Episcopal town, 
 where Gustavus Vasa was elected king, and Chas. IX., Sten 
 Sture the elder, and Admiral Stenback are buried. 
 
 Over three hundred years ago a castle was built at Stroms- 
 holm by Gustavus Vasa; wJio, it appears to me, is worthy of 
 
 fjTROMSHOLM CASTLE. 
 
 the title — among others — of The castle-builder of Sweden. He 
 made a present of the structure to his wife Catherine Stenback 
 — a lady who was some forty years liis junior. And she spent 
 the years of her widowhood here; dying at the age of 92. After 
 the old castle was partly destroyed and, in the course of nature, 
 had ])artly gone to decay, Queen Eleonora, wife of Charles
 
 82 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 X, constructed a residence here which retains the name of 
 " castle." The building is not a fortified edifice. But the in- 
 dications of the fact that this place was once occupied by a 
 strongly guarded council, are to be seen around and below. 
 It is completely surrounded by water; the Kolbacksa being di- 
 vided a short distance above the castle, and an equally distri- 
 buted stream flowing on either side. Here was doubtless a moat; 
 and draw-bridges were provided on the front and at the rear. 
 Such is tradition — if not history. From the cellar, subterranean 
 passages have been traced, which lead out — deep under the 
 island and under the channels of the stream — and which, it is 
 believed, once afforded means of escape for a beleagured gar- 
 rison. 
 
 The present structure — 200 years old — is- a 3 story building, 
 with a high basement, and with a cupola nearly in the centre, 
 and immediately over a chapel hall. And there is an addi- 
 tinal story in the four square-cornered towers. The whole 
 edifice is about 200 feet square. It is of brick and stone; the 
 body being painted a light yellow, with white pillars and black 
 roof. Altogether it has a quaint appearance; and it would do 
 very well for the main " location " of a novel. Indeed I expect 
 that on this suggestion several romances will be worked up, 
 with Stromsholm as a focalizing and radiating point. In fact, 
 I have almost outlined one myself, in spite of an effort of will 
 against it. 
 
 The immediate surroundings are charming. In the rear, across 
 the stream, are two broad avenues, a quarter of a mile long, 
 lined with beach trees, with a margin of gravelled path. The 
 space between these avenues, which are shaded by trees of two 
 centuries growth, being a lawn about four hundred feet wide — 
 extending from the stream to a thickly planted grove, in wh'ch 
 the reservation for this royal residence terminates on the East. 
 In front there is a regularly shaded park; and a road, straight 
 as an arrow, that leads from the castle door to the house of the 
 superintendent of the restate, which is a half a mile distant, and 
 situated, as before observed, on a piece of ground that is slight- 
 ly elevated above the adjoining country. 
 
 For twenty years last past this castle has not been occupied as
 
 STOCKHOLM TO STROM SHOLM CASTLE 83 
 
 a home for the royal family or any of its retinue; though up to 
 the date of the death of the last king— who, by the way, was 
 a very popular sovereign — this was a regular summer resort for 
 his "majesty." Twenty years ago, and prior to that time, 
 since the castle was built, this was a dwelling for the nobility, 
 or for some distinguished representatives of royalty whenever 
 it was not the abiding place of the king and of his own house- 
 hold. For nearly or quite two hundred years, this has been 
 the scene of domestic life in which men and women who were 
 born to a title were the principal characters. Now it is almost 
 exclusively devoted to the use of officers in attendance upon 
 the riding academy, which is situated near the house of the 
 superintendent of the farm lands of this district. Six royal 
 apartments, besides the dining room, are still reserved as " His 
 majesty's drawing rooms and bed chambers;" and these are 
 shown to visitors by the very urbane porter, who imparts all 
 needed information about the pictures; etc., at such length that 
 it is evident he is not pressed for time or accustomed to this 
 kind of demand for his services. 
 
 The royal apartments face to the East and to the North and 
 South ; the rooms in front are and always have been occupied 
 by the officers of the king's guard. The tables and chairs in 
 the large drawing-room are arranged as they were left, eleven 
 years ago, when the last royal card parties gathered here for a 
 season of social enjoyment. The satin on the chairs and sofas 
 — each set of different shade and pattern — is much worn and 
 faded; and notwithstanding the evidence of some little care in 
 keeping the rooms free from -or relieved from dust and moths, 
 the whole of the cloth and tapestry and paper covering has a 
 frayed and dilapidated appearance. 
 
 There is a blue bed-chamber and a red bed-chamber; and 
 on the couch in the latter, where royality has often reposed, I 
 laid me down to test the ancient mattrass. We have better 
 beds in California, in every country hotel. If this is a speci- 
 men royal couch — and I was assured that it was— no wonder 
 that some heads that wore crowns lay uneasily in palace-cham- 
 bers. Better a blanket on the green sod. And I am convinced 
 that a pile of the boasted feather-beds on such an oval basis 
 would rather aggravate than improve the situation. The thick
 
 84 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 curtains, stiff with needlework and goldbands and gimp, when 
 allowed to fall together, absolutely shut out the light and fresh 
 air, and were sufficient to have stifled a king of such prodigious 
 breath as Charles XII. if they were in place about him for 
 the space of an hour. I am satisfied that he did not patronize 
 this establishment very much; or if he visited it at all, he had 
 his hammock swung under 
 one of the beech trees in the 
 grounds behind the castle. 
 I have seen his bed-net else- 
 where, and know that he 
 was in the habit of taking a 
 siesta in it. So I pass into 
 these simple suppositions. 
 
 Here is a large life-size 
 portrait of Queen Eleonora. 
 She has the countenance that 
 is generally painted on the 
 ladies* royal canvas in this 
 country, so far as my obser- 
 vation goes; the exceptions 
 to the rule for queenly 
 beauty being rare and notice- 
 able. There is the long face, 
 with flat pasted or plated 
 hair; and a dress very much 
 after the style that our own 
 dear grandmothers wore in 
 New England forty years 
 ago. I have a high opinion 
 of Eleonora, as a lady of 
 gracious qualities, and I am 
 sorry that we have not a 
 
 good Morse photograph of her, as she really was in form and 
 features. And here is Charles X. and his family. Here is 
 Charles XII. The latter somewhat resembling King Henry 
 the VIII. of England. This painting being evidently an at- 
 tempt to actually represent on canvas the lineaments of his 
 majesty's face, bull-dog tenacity and voluptuous desire are 
 
 CHARLES IX : STATUE.
 
 STOCKHOLM TO STROM SHOLM CASTLE 85 
 
 prominently indicated in his physiognomy. Over the doors 
 leading into the red bed-chamber are two paintings that have 
 considerable merit: and I wonder that the present king did 
 not order them sent to his country residence near Stockholm 
 — along with the greater portion of linen and plate that he 
 had removed shortly after his brother died. They are scenes 
 among ruined' temples — (Lakes of Baalbeck or Palmyra?) — and 
 the artist deserves mention in the future catalogues of art. 
 
 All the rooms have closets, the doors of which are even with 
 the walls — some of them not being seen by the visitor unless 
 his attention is specially attracted to them. Two or three of 
 these closets connect with stairways that lead to the cellars be- 
 neath, and thence afford access to the underground galleries 
 already spoken of. They are supposed to be convenient pas- 
 sages down stairs for the butler and wine vault keeper; but of 
 course we know already that these were roads by which our 
 assassins came in and went out, as will appear in our future 
 *' Revelations of the Mysteries of Stromsholm " — revelations, 
 perhaps to be begun in the next chapter and continued in our 
 next, and in our next, etc. 
 
 The frescoing on the walls of the dining-room is of compara- 
 tively recent date; and is in good taste and appropriate pat- 
 tern. By " recent " or " modern " on this side of the Atlantic 
 you are always to understand something constructed or done 
 within a couple of centuries last past, — as already indicated in 
 the case of the founding of the city of Gotenberg. Here 
 is indeed a " banquet hall deserted." 
 
 The present king deigns not to visit this once beloved coun- 
 try residence of royalty. He has not crossed the threshold 
 since his predecessor died; but in 18S3 for the first time since 
 his coronation, he came to the riding school by the early morn- 
 ing boat from the capital, and returned to his palace at night. 
 Various causes are assigned by the peasantry living round 
 about, for this desertion by the king and his immediate retinue. 
 Some say that his wife does not like the place, and that he has 
 a degree of respect for or obedience to her inclinations that 
 constrains him to allow her to appoint their summer home. 
 Others say that he is disgusted with the way in which the 
 crown estate in these parts has been managed, and that he is
 
 86 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 determined to divide up and sell out all the royal patrimony in 
 this neighborhood at the earliest practicable moment. 
 
 Whatever may be the true reason for his neglect or avoidance 
 of this castle, in the way referred to, it is certain that the 
 people here-abouts mourn his absence and speak with great 
 intonation of sorrow about the " good times " they had when 
 the favored monarch and his equally beloved queen were in 
 the habit of spending a full fifth of the year at Stromsholm. 
 
 " O ! the good times we had when the king and queen at- 
 tended service in our chapel!" 
 
 We go into this chapel and sit down in one of the pews. 
 Shades of our pilgrim forefathers! your torture benches are 
 here. Ah! but go up into the royal gallery; — or, more exactly, 
 imagine that you go up into an open cupboard — which immedi- 
 ately faces the pulpit. There is cushioned comfort for you! 
 Here we take up a prayer-book dated 1701. "Modern, " of 
 course ! Well, the print is as clear and distinct as if the im- 
 pression was made by Bacon & Co. day before yesterday. In- 
 deed, it is plainer reading than the average of such pages, in 
 smaller type, from the press of Stockholm, of the year 
 1880. 
 
 We compare line for line on this particular examination. 
 The broad face of the head letters is jet black, after 183 
 years of service in conveying psalm and hvmn and prayer 
 to the eye and heart of the worshipper in this little attic chapel 
 of Stromsholm Castle.
 
 MONKTORP TO KOLBECK. 87 
 
 VIII. 
 MONKTORP TO KOLBECK. 
 
 I WRITE in the shadow of one of the oldest churches in Swe- 
 den, — -the Kyrka ( pronounced chyrka ) of Monktorp. As the 
 name indicates, this ancient structure was left by the monks, 
 who built and occupied it; laying its corner-stone some time in 
 the thirteenth century; their ecclesiastical successors leaving the 
 premises shortly after the coronation of Gustavus Vasa. I 
 must confess that I have enjoyed walking along its aisles and 
 sitting on its altar stairs and reading aloud from its pulpit, al- 
 most as much as I delighted in indulging in much more limited 
 but similar liberties at Westminister. This has little more 
 space than the famo.is chapel of the great London abbey — -not 
 much more than that; and this has no Dickens or Livingston 
 or titled dead with whom we may be said to have been ac- 
 quainted. But for all that and all that, there is glory and gloom 
 enough here, in the presence of the dead of whom there is no 
 record outside of these walls — in the memories that cluster 
 about this district and centre here — according to the chronicles 
 of the sages in the dawning of this national history, as now 
 accessible to human perusal and scrutiny. 
 
 In the splendid abbey at Westminster you must ordinarily 
 share your privileges for inspection and meditation with many 
 men and women ( if you can call that meditation, which you 
 have in the way of thoughtful retrospect and serious contem- 
 plation about now and a to-come, in the midst of a promiscu- 
 ous crowd or circle of stranger visitors) ; and probably you will 
 suffer there from direct intrusion on your own wise or your 
 own morbid reflections such as you do or can induluc in. 
 Here I have this sacred edifice all to myself. The minister 
 sends the key by a man who describes himself as '' he 
 who blows the organ." No questions are asked, no com- 
 panions gathered to make a paying party for the talkative old 
 verger; no time set in which the visit must be made and an
 
 88 NORTHERN- EUROPE. 
 
 exit taken. For a time unlimited — -'say for an afternoon — 
 I am the householder here. It is well. I will repeat my 
 service over different stations that will be mentioned and 
 return to my seat in the nobleman's pew and resume my 
 writing. True: the comparison and contrast — the difference 
 — is wide, between the Abbey of the Thames and an ancient 
 church of the monks of Sweden, remaining in a country 
 place ; but for all that and all that, the veins of thought and 
 reflection that are opened here, are much the same and often 
 identical in nature of retrospect. The floor is paved with 
 brick — large red brick — and so hard that, although it is the 
 veritable pavement of five centuries ago, the blocks are not 
 worn down more than two inches on an average. Here and 
 there are many huge slabs, 6x4 feet, at the very least, on 
 which are inscribed the names of holy men of old, who were 
 buried beneath these stones during the thirteenth, fourteenth 
 and fifteenth centuries. One in particular has attracted my 
 attention. I cannot, without some aid from the present 
 pastor (which I may solicit by and by,) exactly make out the 
 inscription; but I know from the decipherable letters en- 
 graved, and from the rude and yet not inartistic outlines of a 
 man and woman on the granite, that /;/V/a^^/ a God-fearing, 
 flock-guarding pastor of the fifteenth century, with his wife, 
 Johannah, by his side. He obeyed the master's injunction 
 and fed the sheep; and she was a helpmeet, and kept open 
 house for the poor and needy. And she and he were worthy 
 of burial close beside the altar; and let every one mark the 
 end of these righteous persons, that it was peace; and tread 
 reverently when you walk near this precious dust; for pre- 
 cious in the sight of the Lord are the ashes of His saints. 
 
 The reredos stands eight or ten feet Irom the rear wall, 
 and is of carved aud gilded wood. There are a cross and 
 life-size statues of two Apostles; and a prayer-book rests on 
 the large velvet-covered, fringe-decorated cushion. The 
 book is dated 1771, and the letters in it look as though the 
 ink was not yet fairly dry. It would seem as if the publish- 
 ers of the few religious books that were issued a century ago 
 printed " for all time," as it is said the Egyptians built and 
 Willam Shakspeare wrote.
 
 MONKTORP TO KOLBECK. 89 
 
 In the pulpit, which proiects from one of the pillars that 
 is nearly midway between the altar and organ loft, there is 
 an old bible that is of' day and date — as was the phrase of 
 the man who let me in— 1 701. There is not a leaf missing, 
 nor one page torn or mutilated, Certainly most of us have 
 seen bibles printed in America of much older date; but the 
 state of preservation here, as well as the excellence of the 
 workmanship, would challenge the respectful consideration 
 of my friends of the book trade who are fatigued by their 
 enforced familiarity with such antiquities. 
 
 By the way, I was in an antiquarian bookstore in Stock- 
 holm, where I tried to make a small stationery purchase. The 
 youthful clerk could not satisfactorily interpret my recent 
 Swedish, until I finally contrived to inform him that I was an 
 American from San Francisco, where we had an antiquarian 
 bookstore, with the proprietor of which I was slightly ac- 
 quainted. This I finally made clear to his icke forsta com- 
 prehension: and thereafter everything I uttered was plain to 
 his understanding — so he protested. I believe the young man 
 dissembled, out of pure civility or out of an increased or new- 
 born sentiment of politeness that came in honor of a foreign- 
 er who lived in a city that was of sufficient importance to have 
 an antiquarian bookstore in it! I was tempted to ask him if 
 he knew or had heard of N. Choynski; but I was afraid that 
 he would somehow imply that he did, and deepen his already 
 manifest guilt in the line of courteous equivocation. 
 
 I estimate that this sacred edifice at Monktorp will hold 
 2,000 people, and last Sunday it was packed — so says the 
 organ blower. There was not standing room after 10:45. 
 Eight hundred persons took communion. 
 
 The organ is a magnificent instrument; larger than any we 
 have in San Francisco. It was built by the late Herr A. P. 
 Hallden, and has been appraised since his death at about 
 5,000 crowns, or about $1,300. It would be worth fully 
 ^15,000 in tlie United States. 
 
 The ]Knvs of the church are raised above the pavement and 
 are floored with plank. 
 
 By the side of the pulpit, convenient to the hand of the 
 preacher, are four half-hour sandglasses. How suggestive of
 
 90 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 the two liours of sermon-speech that we once listened to, as a 
 boy, in a church in Western Massachusetts. 
 
 "Do they still keep up that practice of elaborate discours- 
 ing in Sweden ?" 
 
 "Nay," says the organ blower, when so inquired of at the 
 churchyard gate, "only about an hour and a half." This 
 uttered as though the reduction in time was enormous and 
 greatly to be deplored. 
 
 The view from the belfry of this church extends fully fifteen 
 miles on every side — a greater distance, in fact, on the East. 
 With a glance you can thence descry the tower of the cathe- 
 dral at Westeras. 
 
 This parish embraces half a Swedish mile on one side of 
 the Kyrka — to the West, and about three fifths of a mile on the 
 other points of the compass, with 4,000 names of living mem- 
 bers on the baptismal register. Every child is looked after 
 with scrupulous care. At Christmas time and Easter and 
 Midsummer Sundays the church will not hold the people who 
 come here to worship. It should be remembered that the 
 established church in Sweden is Episcopal 'L\x\\\QX3Xi, and not 
 Evangelical or Congregational I^utheran. 
 
 In this connection our readers may be reminded that a 
 Swedish mile is 6 64-100 English miles. The quarters are 
 marked on the side of the road by iron plates, about three 
 feet high by one foot in width, which are firmly set in a stone 
 curb, which is built up four or five feet from he ground. 
 The measurement is from the principal cities or towns of the 
 district. The mile-stones are stamped with the name of the 
 sovereign who caused them to be erected; with crown and 
 date. 
 
 You will notice here old foot boards, marked with names 
 or initials, set at varying distances along the side of the pub- 
 lic highways. These mark the sections of the road which are 
 to be taken care of during the summer by the farmers resid- 
 ing within the given boundaries; who are thus notified to "turn- 
 pike" in the Spring and gravel cover in the Fall. And by 
 the same token, it is ordered that this year certain denoted por- 
 tions of the road are to be kept open during the Winter by 
 certain individuals.
 
 MONKTORP TO K'OLBECK. 91 
 
 Just outside of the churchyard we see a snow-plough, twen- 
 ty-three English feet in length, regularly broadening from the 
 apex to the fifteen feet of prescribed track width. Those 
 living alongside or near the public road must keep a path open 
 for travel through the snowy season on peril of a heavy fine, 
 which is inavaribly imposed and exacted where there is failure 
 to comply with the law. 
 
 "How deep does the snow fall in this vicinity?" we in- 
 quire. 
 
 The reply is : "Well, this is the grave of Herr Hallden, 
 who built the organ you admired so much. He was buried 
 here in February, 1881. We had to dig a trench from the 
 top of these trees ( pointing to a branch at least ten feet high ) 
 before we reached the surface of the ground in which we 
 made his grave." 
 
 We went onto say: "Then the quarter-mile plates are 
 covered up in Winter?" 
 
 " Nay : they must be uncovered, or it must be shown where 
 they are when the road is broken." 
 
 The walls of this church are five feet thick. There is no 
 provision for heating in Winter, and the cold is, ot course, 
 often intense. The women bring their foot-stoves with 
 them, if they have such comforts or luxuries ; and the next 
 neighbors — those living nearest to the church — heat bricks 
 for the poor old women who have not or cannot bring live 
 coals on which to rest their feet. 
 
 "What does the minister get per year — that is, what does 
 his receipts amount to in money valuation ? " we inquired. 
 
 '' About 6,oco kroners," is the estimate of oarvagn driver. 
 
 " What is the pay of tue organist ? " 
 
 " Well, Herr Hallden got about 3,000 kroners a year ; but 
 he was worth as much as the minister, and more, too. He 
 was every man's friend that needed a friend, which is more 
 than can be said of the minister." 
 
 These people will drag in a great deal of side-bar inform- 
 ation and comment ; and here I find much of it — in my note- 
 book. 
 
 " What wages do those women get that are working in the 
 field yonder raking hay ? "
 
 Q2 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 " Seventy-five ore a day, if they work full time." 
 
 " What is full time ? " 
 
 " From 5 o'clock in the morning until 8 at night." 
 
 " But they have an intermission for meals ?" we suggest. 
 
 "Two"hours in all — \\Ai an hour for breakfast, an hour 
 for dinner and half an hour for evening lunch.'' 
 
 '■ These women with yoked pails are going to milk ? " we 
 say. 
 
 " Yes ; only women folks milk. No men milk. It is 
 against the law." 
 
 " Against the law for a man to milk a cow ? " 
 
 " Yes, all the cows would go with full bags to-night if 
 there were no women to milk them." 
 
 " But the men could milk as well as the women ? " 
 
 " Nay, the women must do the milking ! " ( Spoken with 
 an almost provoking emphasis of contempt for any other 
 idea ; spoken as if I proposed to change the custom of ages 
 and put another yoke on the already overburdened male 
 population of this district in Sweden ) 
 
 " Do you see that space in there, surrounded by a circle of 
 stones ?" inquired one of our companions, as we rode along 
 on the wooded knoll that separates the parishes of Monktorp 
 and Kolbeck. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, there was the last execution for capital offense that 
 has taken place in this vicinity. I remember it. A woman 
 was beheaded there for poisoning her lover's father, wlio 
 would not allow a son to marry a servant. That low spot 
 right opposite is the spot where the execution block was set 
 
 up." 
 
 The driver uttered a long whurr, which is the signal here 
 for horses to " whoa," at the instant when he was tapped on 
 the shoulder with an umbrella that was in the hands of this 
 witness to the execution. " There is where the block was ; 
 and the soldiers stood around here, just outside of this line 
 of stones. There were hundreds of people crowding up to 
 see the bloody sight, but not one-half of them had the satis- 
 faction ot seeing anything but the headsman and the axe and 
 the bloody stains on the block and ground. Only those
 
 MONKTORP TO KOLBECK. 93 
 
 close to the circle of soldiers could witness the beheading. 
 The body was taken a>vay as soon as the decapitation was 
 performed. But for years afterward people would come 
 here in scores — particularly on Sunday — to view the place." 
 
 We rode on perhaps a half of an English mile, when we 
 came to a cluster of cottages ; two or three on each side of 
 the road. We go into one, to make a specimen observation of 
 the homes of the laboring classes in this section. There is a 
 loom here, as there is in nearly every one of the houses in 
 such little communities. There was a very old lady in the 
 corner nearest the hearth — which is raised, as in all cottages, 
 like a blacksmith's forge. A copper kettle is set over a few 
 sticks of wood ; and we presently ascertain that it has a doz- 
 en small potatoes in it, boiling for a family of four. Anoth- 
 er elderly lady sat on a bench or lounge near a window 
 which was on the side of the room opposite to the fire-place. 
 Both of these dames were engaged in knitting ; although the 
 one first seen had before her a reel, from which she began to 
 unwind yarn soon after we entered. 
 
 We were bade to enter as soon as we looked at the open 
 door; the dames rising and courtesying as we entered. How 
 pleasant it is to see this old-fashioned method of female 
 salutation. " Will we be seated .? " And the younger of the 
 two old ladies goes to the chimney corner and takes down the 
 copper coffee kettle. We know what is to be proffered : the 
 invariable coffee inyitation in these hospitable homes of the 
 poor. It is easy to get in conversation with these people ; 
 and they are unmistakably pleased at our visit. When vve 
 tell them that we are from America, they start and stare — 
 evidently more gratified by our visit than before. And when 
 we say " California," " San Francisco," they exclaim : " O ! 
 that's so ? " and after a long breath, " That's so, O ! " We 
 inquired. How old is the eldest of this aged couple ? 
 " Eighty-six last November." She is very much stooped, 
 but she is still able to walk about quickly; and her eyes are 
 as bright and her cheeks are as red as those of a girl of 16. 
 She knits without glasses. We make remarks aboui her not 
 looking as old as she admits she is. She replies: " Oh, yes; 
 I was 86 on the 20th of last November. But I am bent
 
 94 -^OR THERX E UR OPE. 
 
 down with hard work." This is said in a cheerful tone of 
 voice; a simple statement, doubtless, of the fact. The 
 younger of the two is 71, and, positively, she does not look 
 to be over 50 years of age. There are no gray hairs in her 
 head, and very few in those of her mother-in-law; such 
 proving to be the relation between the two. One of our com- 
 panions, who had been in this neighborhood before, begins 
 lo inquire about this and that person who formerly resided 
 in the parish. There is no hesitation in the replies. These 
 women know or knew them all; and for a radius of ten 
 miles — as we are told on good authority — their domestic in- 
 formation is ready and complete. 
 
 The husband of the oldest has been dead these fifteen 
 years. Her son, aged 68, is in the fields, earning a kroner 
 and a half a day by working from 5 in the morning until 8 
 at night. The two women together can earn at home, with 
 their knitting and weaving, about eighty ore, or twenty cents, 
 a day. There is a daughter of 47 years at work in the fields 
 also. She earns seventy-five ore a day by laboring the same 
 hours that have been already recorded. 
 
 We ask: Do they own the house in which they live ? 
 " Nay; it belongs to the estate." The estate is in charge of 
 a superintendent, to whom so much service must be rendered 
 for the land, and so much labor done for a stipulated amount 
 of mackerel and rye and potatoes. But this family is not 
 bound to the great farm and its management, as are most 
 famiHes who live under similar renting. 
 
 How much is the rent of this cottage — two rooms down 
 stairs and two rooms up stairs ? " Thirty-five kroners a 
 year. A patch of two acres and a half for potatoes goes 
 with the house, on the same rental." 
 
 We inquire: " Are there any children belonging to this 
 household ?" " O, yes." The widowed daughter of 47 has 
 five children. One child is 25. He is a soldier. One is 2c 
 years of age. She is a girl in service near the castle. She 
 is a good cook, and gets one hundred kroners a year. This 
 is dwelt upon with great pride. She wants to go to America; 
 and we must see her and tell her all about that country; 
 what line she had best sail by, and where she had best land;
 
 MONK TOR P TO KOLBECK'. 
 
 95 
 
 what wages she will get in America, etc. And then the 
 thought of parting with this daughter brings tears to the 
 eyes of both these women. They go on to tell of the loss of 
 a daughter's husband at sea, in a way that makes us weep 
 with them. There is a boy in a blacksmith's shop at Wes- 
 teras; he is 16. And the two younger children are working 
 for neighbors, raking hay — all at work. This is not con- 
 sidered a home of poverty, by any means. For poor people 
 we will have to look elsewhere. 
 
 We go into the next house. Two aged women sit here 
 also. The members of our parly look at each other with 
 an inquiry on the countenance of each, " This is the allot- 
 ment of old ladies for every peasant's home ? " But presently 
 we discover that this is a poorhouse, in fact and name. It 
 is not a county or parish poorhouse; but it is a house set 
 apart by the estate for the shelter of the widows of those 
 men who with their wives have worked on the farm for a 
 year or more, and thereby '" acquired a residence " and a 
 habitation. The proprietor is not bound to provide food, 
 but on demand he must give shelter. He can put as many 
 poor persons who have acquired such claim upon him in this 
 house "as can be provided with bed room in it." But there 
 must be " no unreasonable crowding." Sometimes both man 
 and wife are harbored here, when stricken with age and in- 
 firmities. Such was the case in this instance. One woman 
 had a husband lying sick up stairs. We went into the loft 
 above, by a flight of stairs on the outside. In a low garret 
 room, without a fireplace or possibility of heating except 
 such as the chimney bricks would give, lay the aged laborer. 
 He reached 79 years of age the preceding month. It is 
 evident that he has not many days to live. He is rheumatic; 
 he can barely move on his bed. " How long has he worked 
 on this farm ? " we inquired. " Twenty-eight years." His 
 bed consists of a tick filled with hay, on which a ragged 
 comforter is spread. A thin blanket, which is patched with 
 pieces of cotton and calico — so light that it does not seem 
 as if there could be any warmth in it, and so dirty that it 
 suggests that it was recently taken from the dusty road 
 — is all the covering he has except his shirt and pants
 
 96 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 — the latter made of a coarse Kentucky jean quality of 
 stuff. 
 
 We return to the room below and inquire as to how 
 these three are provided for. It is mostly a matter of 
 free, neighborly contribution. They get more from the neigh- 
 bors as voluntary contributions than from the management of 
 the estate of the district. They complain, or rather, they 
 state, when directly asked about their condition, that they 
 are not as well off as the widows of those who have worked 
 on the great estate at the castle. There, at the castle estate, 
 the widows have a regular portion of wood and food ; enough 
 to comfortably keep body and sonl together at least. Here 
 they are often hungered, and feel pinched pains for the want 
 of food almost every week in the year. Both earn what they 
 can with knitting. They have no loom. During the Summer 
 months one carries the mail a little distance in a hand-wagon, 
 and gets a kroner a week for daily walking six of our miles. 
 
 Do not the rich people in the neighborhood visit them occa- 
 sionally ? 
 
 '' Never." When they ride by, they turn their heads in the other 
 direction. Only the poor come in to see them and help them. 
 
 Are there no authorities to whom they could make a success- 
 ful application for further assistance ? Could they not go to 
 the county poorhouse ? 
 
 No ; they are fastened on this estate. If they had suflficient 
 means to buy bread they would be "well off." They get ten 
 ore a week from the district. This is their story, nearly ver- 
 batim. They do not know who we are, but they answer with- 
 out reserve and with no expectation, apparently, that their 
 statement will bring the slightest relief from us. When we 
 give them a kroner piece they get up and shake our hands 
 violently and courtesy, and turn around and courtesy again and 
 again, until we imagine that they are or soon will be very dizz}'. 
 They wish to know, "What is this that has come down upon 
 us out of the clouds ?" We never could have dreamed that 
 there was so much generosity and benevolence incarnated in a 
 quarter of a dollar. We leave them in the midst of their 
 ejaculations of thankfulness and amazement — in some amaze- 
 ment ourselves.
 
 MONKTORP TO KOLBECK. 
 
 97 
 
 There is a soldier's home a quarter of an EngUsh mile dis- 
 tant. We tell the driver to take us there. Each district must 
 provide a soldier for the regular army — that is, each district 
 must furnish him with a house and a patch of land and con- 
 tribute so much to the support of his family. Each district 
 must set apart for him two tunland or two acres of land to 
 grow grain upon; and pasture land for one cow must be pro- 
 vided. And then there has to be provision made generally on 
 an adjacent piece of property, for the superanuated or pen- 
 sioned soldier. There is a contest being made in the Legis- 
 lature or Rixdag on this very point; the party of the country 
 insisting that this tax upon the people in the country shall be 
 removed. This fact we ascertained in Stockholm, while look- 
 ing over a list of bills at the State House. 
 
 On our way from the hamlet to the trooper's cottage, we 
 notice in the groves we pass huge ant-hills, four and five feet 
 high — habitations such as we did not before suppose existed 
 outside of Africa. They resemble hay-cocks, at a distance ; 
 and on close inspection appear to be of a saw-dust nature in 
 composition. 
 
 We soon arrived at the door of the house that is provided 
 for the soldier Avho is in active service. It is comfortable 
 within and without, and there is, up to the bounds of comfort, 
 evidently no lack. The wife is a tidy, and even a handsome 
 woman, and she seems to consider herself in fortunate circum- 
 stances. Her husband has just returned from the camp and is 
 at work in the meadow close by, and him we congratulate on 
 his happy and well-furnished home. 
 
 We pass on to another dwelling, a few rods distant, in which 
 resides the discharged predecessor of this lucky trooper. This 
 house is much more humble in appearance, and the same may 
 be said of all the surroundings. With the wife of this ex-sol- 
 dier one of our party was well acquainted some years ago, and she 
 expects to have a hearty greeting with her. On entering the one 
 room that is set apart for family use, we find the old soldier at 
 work patching a child's shoe, while on the narrow bed that stands 
 against the wall, alongside of the fireplace, is his wife. Prostrate, 
 paralyzed, barely able to articulate distinctly a single word. 
 She recognizes our companion; although they had not met for
 
 98 
 
 NORTHEHy EUROPE. 
 
 eleven years, and although, as we learn, she often was not able 
 to recognize her own kindred. The spectacle was painful in the 
 extreme. 
 
 We ask, " How long were you a soldier in the service of 
 Sweden?" '' Twenty-five years." "Were you honorably 
 discharged ?"* " O yes," he replied. " What is your pension ?" 
 " This liouse and an acre of ground, as you see [it was 
 pasture land, as it seemed to us] and fifteen kroner a year in 
 silver " A soldier of twenty-five years service pensioned with 
 $3-75> ps^yable at the expiration of each twelve months. 
 
 He was asked: " Why don't you send your wife to a hospital 
 where she can be taken care of under the best medical skill ?" 
 He answered, " I sent her to the Westeras Hospital, and kept 
 her there as long as I had money to spare or could earn for 
 that purpose, over and abo^'e what was necessary for my child 
 and grandchild's absolute wants." 
 
 One of our party said: " But we were told in Stockholm that 
 the great hospitals of the State — some of which we visited — 
 Avere alwavs open to the members of the families of ex-soldiers." 
 He said quietly: 'Tt is not so; when my money was exhausted 
 they sent word to me to take my wife home. Of course I could 
 make a great deal more if I was able to go out and work as a 
 shoemaker or a tailor. I tried to ha\e them keep her for what 
 I could earn or save, over and above what was necessary for] 
 my own support and the support of the two children that are 
 still dependent on me. But they would not. I cannot stir 
 away from the house so long as she remains here, and I would 
 not think of doing so." 
 
 The woman was entirely helpless and her husband was her 
 only nurse. There was a delicate boy of 13 — their own child 
 born when his mother was 48 years of age, and there was a 
 grandchild that had been left on their hands for support. 
 
 Our companion, who had expected a very pleasant meet- 
 ing here, and who was proportionately shocked by this scene 
 of misery, said that this woman was once the most active per- 
 son in the vicinity; noted for her industry at home and for her 
 speedy dispatch on errands of mercy and charity, whenever 
 she heard of any one in distress to whose relief she could with 
 
 1
 
 MONKTORP TO KOLBECK. gg 
 
 propriety contribute. Her husband gave audible expression 
 to his surprise at her recognition of her friend. 
 
 The poor invaUd managed to stammer out in broken words 
 and long detached syllables: " I felt who it was. The angels 
 from heaven have brought her here that I might see her face 
 once more before I died." " I know that you are ready to 
 die," said our companion. "Oh, yes," she said with a. 
 smile; "I long to go and be at rest with my Saviour. It is 
 better for me — and for him," turning her eyes with a look of 
 great affection toward her husband—" and for our little ones, 
 that I should go quickly. Now that I have seen you, I am the 
 more willing and anxious to go. I have been thinking for 
 several days past that my heavenly Father was holding me 
 back fqf some special purpose. I think now, it was for the 
 pleasure of seeing you once more and telling you that I always 
 loved your mother and yourself above all other persons except 
 my own relatives." 
 
 Afterward when we spoke about this dying woman in the 
 presence of a lady in the family of a teacher at Kolbeck— not 
 more than an hour after we left the soldier's cottage or hut — 
 she remarked, " Yes, there is a deathbed of a truly Christian 
 woman." Whereupon one of our party said: "But why is 
 this Christian woman left to die in that miserable hovel, when 
 Sweden has so many public hospitals for incurables and homes 
 for the sick of almost every name and description ? " The 
 reply was: "O, each district must take care of its own peo- 
 ple, and each parish or district is supposed to do the best that 
 can be done under the circumstances." This was not said in 
 a heartless tone of voice; but I am sure that I have inter- 
 preted what was said correctly. And now that I write it out 
 for this letter, the speech seems to me more cold blooded than 
 I regarded it when I heard it spoken. It was a reply made in 
 a matter-of-course -way, and as a perfectly conclusive and 
 satisfactory explanation of this condition of affairs. 
 
 I made further inquiries, and found that this veteran sol- 
 dier, John Brunberg, was not only an honorably discharged 
 cavalryman, but that he had served according to the record, 
 a quarter of a century in His Majesty's army ; and furtlier- 
 more, that he was a worthy man in every sense of the term :
 
 100 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 sober, industrious and economical. Such was the testimony 
 of three persons with whom I conversed about him during our 
 visits elsewhere, at three different places. And I thought of 
 the homes I knew, in which once dwelt the pensioners of our 
 Revolutionary war and the war of 1812; bountifully supplied 
 by our Government. And one of our party broke a long si- 
 lence during our drive from the school house — (in which I 
 am sure we were all thinking of the same subject) — by an 
 exclamation : "Well, thank God ! I was born in or have be- 
 come a citizen of the Republic of the United States. Our 
 veteran soldiers who have been anywise disabled in service, 
 and their wives and widows, have some care that is worthy 
 of the name, at least." And twenty-five consecutive years of 
 service in the prime of life is a "disabling term;" of itself. 
 And we severally proceeded to recount particulars of our visits 
 to English hospitals and asylums for the aged or disabled sol- 
 dier and sailor and their dependent families. And we felt a 
 much stronger interest than ever before in our own Califor- 
 nia Veterans' Home. 
 
 With all her vaunted public institutions of benevolence, 
 Sweden is behind the two other greatest nations of the earth, 
 in her compensation and oversight, with respect to the old and 
 worn-out servants who have spent the best portion of their 
 lives in her armies; and yet in this very line Stockholm has 
 examples for the world to imitate. She is at the same time 
 lacking and yet in the van. 
 
 Is the noted and deplored deficiency in the care for her vet- 
 erans due more to thoughtlessness than any thing else ? We 
 venture to say to his Majesty and the Riksdag: " Turn your at- 
 tention of inquiry and reform in this direction."
 
 IN- THE KOLBECK PARISH. loi 
 
 IX. 
 IN THE KOLBECK PARISH. 
 
 There is the rock, the stone, the '' boulder" we would call 
 it, to be seen of all men and women, however incredulously 
 disposed. It lies near the East bank of the Kolbecksa-fed 
 stream, about a quarter of a mile North of this place. When 
 Christianity was first literally planted here, by the erection of a 
 church, the pagan giants who inhabited the mountains above 
 Skansan became incensed at the sound of the holy bells, which 
 the Pope had blessed and sent up to Kolbeck to be mounted 
 and rung. So they determined that they would demolish the 
 steeple and the temple at one fell blow. They picked up one 
 of their pebbles, with which they were accustomed to play 
 base-ball during the Summer twilight, and fastened an iron 
 chain to it by a bolt pushed through a hole drilled in the cen- 
 tre. This chain was originally fifty feet long, and of itself 
 weighed a ton— nearly as heavy as the granite slung-shot it- 
 self. With this weapon duly prepared, Gordeswandtorgamism, 
 who had been selected by lot to do the throwing, whirled the 
 boulder around his head five or six times, while the priestess 
 of the clan uttered a prayer and an imprecation over a kettle 
 full of boiling pitch, and then cast it straight toward the hated 
 building. Not for lack of strength, but because of too great 
 caution lest he overshoot his mark — which he had never missed 
 before, according to the annals written and preserved bv the 
 chronicler of the tribe of Skansantongorialying — he failed to 
 hit the targ.'t; coming short in his ten mile aim a trifle of 
 1,500 or 2,000 feet. 
 
 The rock protrudes a little above the water, and a red log 
 has been laid upon it to warn mariners at a distance. About 
 a score of links of the chain al o remain to aid in keeping this 
 one ancient item of history out of the domain of interdicted 
 legend and superstition. 
 
 It was part of tlie indexible law of the Clan of Giants
 
 I02 NORTHERN' EUROPE. 
 
 spoken of, never to permit a second attempt to do that which 
 any one of their number, after due preparation, had made an 
 imsuccessful effort to accompUsh. Hence it Avas that no new 
 shng was rigged, and hence, doubtless, it was that the tower, 
 if not the whole church at Kolbeck, was spared, and that the 
 sacred summons peals forth on every appointed service day — • 
 from the time when the chime was first hung in the belfry un- 
 til this very hour. 
 
 Very few foreign born people will believe this stor}-, because 
 it is true — a complaint against chronic and inconsistent incredu- 
 lity reaching back to the days of Diogenes; — whereby hangs 
 a point of punctuation. But every patriotic Swede in this 
 region is said to have implicit confidence in the chronicler. 
 
 The roads in this district are excellent. Within every 500 
 yards of distance yo-u will notice piles of gravel by the side of 
 the roadbed, put there by the farmers, as leisure permitted, 
 for use in filling up the highway at broken places when the 
 rainy st'ason shall ha\e arri\-ed. This gravel is taken from 
 knolls, the removal of which will ultimately provide more land 
 for cultivation or open shorter paths for travel. There are 
 evidences of general and judicious management or supervision 
 in all such matters in this vicinity. 
 
 The crows in this neighborhood (and I am told that it is the 
 same throughout Sweden) rarely fly in flocks, or in larger com- 
 panies than four at the most. Usually you see them — I should 
 rather say you meet them, for they are very tame-^in pairs. 
 They are not entirely black, as with us, but with the exception 
 of their coal-dark head and wings, their feathers are of a dun 
 or mulberry color. They are a handsome bird, and they will 
 strut close up to you and chatter at you in a very familiar 
 manner. 
 
 The magpie is a still handsomer fellow, — a pretty blue and 
 white; and I have seen several that were domesticated like 
 chickens. Thev have a decided and sometimes, at first, rather 
 alarming liking for the strangers who venture to walk about 
 their premises. 
 
 The nightingale is here; I have seen him, but I have not 
 heard him, as I hoped and expected to, in conformity with tlie 
 Spanish picture. Only an occasional note or bar; apparently
 
 IN THE KOLBECK PARISH. 103 
 
 as an echo to the lark. There is a dispute here among the 
 peasantry as to the time when the nightingale will sing in full 
 strain and spirit. Some say that he stops with the cuckoo, 
 just before or after midsummer; while others declare that 
 they have heard him at his best as late as the 20th of August. 
 
 But the lark is here and in complete voice and ambition. 
 As I write one is circling above me pouring out a flood of 
 melody from his little throat, and I can catch the more dis- 
 tant notes of his brother, who is concealed somewhere in the 
 low-hanging clouds that curtain the sky to the west. 
 
 Sparrows abound, of every species; and one kind is of a 
 partly white and partly slate-colored body, with black head 
 and black tail and wing-tips, that suggest a great grandchild 
 relationship to the Swedish crow. They often come to the 
 windows and door-sills when it is raining, and eye the people 
 within and chirp at them with a sense of personal security from 
 harm and with a degree of saucy freedom that at first surprises 
 and always delights you. Swallov/s are also here, innumerable 
 and impudent. I have many times inquired whether there 
 was any bird-shooting in this district. Many of the little 
 feathered songsters are so tame that it seems natural to suppose 
 that the law forbids the killing of them. Not so. It is said 
 that the officers at the castle frequently take their fowling 
 pieces with them on their way to and from the riding-house, 
 and on a slight detour they bring down sparrows enough for a 
 mess. 
 
 Great quantities of fish are caught in the Malaren; but I 
 have not seen a single specimen in this neighborhood, al- 
 though I have been most of the time during the past ten days 
 close to some inlet from the lake. But 1 have talked with 
 fishermen, who say that they annually pay a thousand of our 
 pounds of the best fish for the privilege of drawing nets 
 along a mile of the lake shore. A. P. Anderson of Dovon 
 says that the poor hereabouts cannot afford to have fresh fish 
 at any season of the year, except they are in the business of 
 catching or unless they take the risk of " borrowing. " The 
 principal fish market in this district is at the city of Westeras, 
 and to that place and Stockholm go large shipments from this 
 end of the lake every day in the year.
 
 104 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 One ox harnessed to a low cart is pulling past the porch in 
 which I sit. I call out to the driver, a boy of about fourteen 
 years, and ask him what he has for sale. He is going to 
 Stronisholm with a load of vegetables. He has one small 
 sack of new potatoes, and three large sacks of rutabaga tur- 
 nips. He expects to get a kroner and a half for his potatoes 
 — a kroner for two gallons, as they sell potatoes here — and 
 six kroners for his turnips. I should judge that they would 
 be worth nearly that sum in San Francisco to-day. We ask 
 him how much he gets a day for his services. "Fifty ore" — 
 about thirteen cents. And he works how long? From 4 in 
 the morning until 8 at night. 
 
 The turnips are of the coarse variety. We say that we 
 suppose they are cooked by boiling? And we proceed to try 
 to inform a landlady about Colonel Sellers. ^Ve assure her 
 that it is quite within the Swedish vein — with respect to which 
 she at first expresses doubt — to enjoy the humor of the "Gild- 
 ed Age,'' as is shown from the fact of its translation into the 
 language of this kingdom. These turnips are boiled; but they 
 are not prepared by those who buy them for "eat wholesale" 
 — such is the phrase. O, no. The poor could not afford 
 that? These rutabagas are cooked for soup. One of these, 
 about two and a half inches in diameter, is allotted to about 
 three quarts of water. Colonel Sellers' essay on the value of 
 the turnip as a sufificient staple for family diet would be no-joke 
 among the masses of womankind and mankind in this section 
 of the kingdom of Sweden. 
 
 Of the many tales of peasant life drawn out by the best en- 
 deavor that we could make for such a purpose, at our cot- 
 tage visitations — obtained sometimes by repeated visits and 
 the manifestation of such kindly interest as was calculated to 
 remove suspicion of a merely passing or any sinister or mor- 
 bid curiosity — I will take the case of Carl' Erickson for a 
 specimen and epitomizing statement. 
 
 Carl and family live in one of the houses of a great estate, 
 whose borders lie in Kolbeck and in at least two other ad- 
 joining parishes. The cottage is about 28 feet long by 14 feet 
 wide. It is of one story and divided into two rooms. The 
 room occupied by the family is about 15 by 14 feet. Out of
 
 ly THE KOLBECK PARISH. 105 
 
 this space comes the chimney and the blacksmith-forge-like 
 fireplace which is at least four feet square. In the alcove or 
 recess — partially partitioned off— occupying a space of about 
 6 by 4 feet, is a loom. There is one bed, 2 1-2 wide by 6 feet 
 long ; one wooden settee or bench, on which another bed can 
 be laid; one table, 4 by 2 feet; and one chest of three drawers, 
 occupying i 1-2 by 4 feet. There are two wooden-bottom 
 chairs, and two or three stools and a cradle. The other por- 
 tion of the house has a separate entrance, and is used as a 
 storeroom, a pantry for milk, etc. There are two under- 
 ground cellars, about two rods distant from the house, in which 
 potatoes and other vegetables may be kept during Winter, 
 safe from the frost ; and one rod beyond these is a barn, ca- 
 pable of holding a cow and calf and a pig and a dozen or 
 score of chickens, and hay enough to feed the animals du- 
 ring the severest portion of the snowy season. On about a 
 quarter-acr3 of the land allowed this man — for that is all he 
 can possibly utilize out of the ground in his reservation — he 
 has planted potatoes, as he always has done since he became 
 a householder here. He has the privilege of gathering wood 
 for fuel from the groves and forests of the estate — no more 
 than is necessary ; and he is required to be as economical as 
 he can be in its use. He must obtain his supply of firewood 
 at times when his services are not required on the estate- 
 work ; which means practically that he must do this out of 
 regular working hours. He has pasturage for a cow, and he 
 may glean hay enough — or his wife may — to keep the cow 
 during the Winter. A half barrel of the poorest quality of 
 mackerel is also a jiart of his "privilege." 
 
 Now, I think you will be apt to say that Carl has probably 
 a good average opportunity, for this section, to support his 
 family and enjoy life. That is my judgement, at all events; 
 and I am here on the spot to see and to compare. You only 
 need to know his money-wages and the number of his house- 
 hold, in addition to what I have already stated, in order to 
 have a full basis for reading the subjoined conversations. 
 
 Carl is a man of 43 years, with a wife and four children. 
 The eldest child is 16, the next is 14; having lost three 
 bairns by death, his youngest are aged respectively 5 years
 
 io6 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and 2 years. This sober, industrious man has resided on 
 his estate since boyhood; and here he has married and 
 struggled to support his family as best he could. He re- 
 ceives 115 kroners a year for his labor; that is about ^30. 
 He has his house barn, cellar, a quarter-of-an-acre potato 
 patch, the privilege of gathering fuel and gleaning hay suffi- 
 cient for his necessities, a quarter barrel of brine-preserved 
 fish, and 115 foroners a year in money. 
 
 Carl makes no complaint; he answered our questions in a 
 way that indicated no grinding sense of poverty or want. 
 He rises at four in the summer and works until 8 o'clock at 
 night, with half an hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner. 
 His breakfast, as well as his dinner, is sent to him at the 
 stables or on the field. In the Winter he must put in twelve 
 hours work per day; and he may be, and often is, required 
 to do extra work, over and above this recorded time for la- 
 bor, on the call of his foreman. 
 
 Carl's wife, a little woman of about her husband's age, who 
 looks as if she was worn to the bone with hard work and 
 suffering, can and does make the real revelation. " Clara " 
 is her name. These people know and call each other by 
 their Christian names, throughout the parish. We opened 
 the conversation at the second or third interview. 
 
 " You have a good husband, Clara ?" 
 
 She replied: "As good as ever a woman was blessed 
 with." 
 
 " I suppose you have always considered yourself in as 
 comfortable circumstances as a majority of families on the 
 estate ?" 
 
 She replies: " As well off as many; as well off, probably, 
 as the most of the families that have an equal number of 
 children." 
 
 " Do you and your children have plenty to eat ?" 
 
 " Oh, we are very thankful for what we have." 
 
 This evasive answer to this question was repeated several 
 times, as we came to put it in different forms during the 
 successive visits. It was at first the conclusion of the con- 
 versation on this subject. 
 
 Omitting much necessary preparatory and oft-repeated
 
 IN' THE KOLBECK PARISH. 107 
 
 questions and answers, which were leading to a better ac- 
 quaintance, and to a confidence sufficient for a free and full 
 statement and confession, we come .to the detailed facts 
 of suffering. 
 
 *' Have you ever known what it was to actually feel pain 
 from hunger?" 
 
 She answered: "Oh, yes; many times." 
 
 " Have your children ever cried for bread which they 
 really needed ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes; many times. But I have done the best I could 
 to apportion out what we had to give them and keep abso- 
 lute starvation from the house." 
 
 " This is the season of the year when you are best sup- 
 plied ? 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Haven't you an abundance to eat just now?" 
 
 " I myself always portion out the food with care." 
 
 " You don't answer the question, Clara; you reply eva- 
 sively. I am not making these inquiries of you for an un- 
 worthy motive. I ara not going to inform the superintendent 
 of the estate of what you tell me, and at the same time I do 
 not wish you to say anything to which he could justly take 
 any exception. I do not wish to torture you; though my 
 pressing these questions may seem to indicate something 
 like that. I am seeking to know the actual condition of this 
 peasantry class, of which you yourself think that your family 
 is a fair sample." 
 
 She answered again: ''Well, I will tell you that I have to 
 apportion our meals carefully. The father has to be pro- 
 vided for first, as he must work, and his strength must not 
 fail. I have to see to that. If it was left to him, or if he 
 understood the matter altogether, he would not take what 
 was necessary that he should have to keep him \\\>. Little 
 enough he gets at the best: but he must be served first. 
 Then the youngest children come next; then the two oldest. 
 Then, if there is anything left, it is my portion." 
 
 " But if there is nothing left, Clara t " we say to her. 
 
 The woman burst into tears, and throwing her apron over 
 her head cried out, " O, God be praised ! I have had the
 
 1 08 ^Oli THERN E UR OPE. 
 
 Strength to go without anything, and not let my husband or 
 children see me weep. At many such times He has often, 
 in answer to my prayers, given me such support that I have 
 not felt dizzy, as I confess I sometimes have done after hav- 
 ing gone twenty-four hours without a morsel of food." 
 
 "But," we persist, "have you got plenty now — right at 
 this present time ? To be candid with you, Clara, you look 
 as though you had not had enough to eat this season. We 
 may not judge you correctly about that ; but we have 
 thought so." 
 
 She answered, "Well, if you have to portion out a cow's 
 milk for three meals and six persons, when it is not really 
 more than enough for half that number of persons for two 
 meals, you must stint, of course." 
 
 "I understand; you are on short allowance all the while; you 
 have not had what you reasonably require for food to-day." 
 
 She said again, " We are all very thankful for what we 
 have had." 
 
 " Clara, I feel almost ashamed to urge you to tell me anything 
 more, or to speak with greater explicitness about your way of 
 living; but it is very generally supposed in the nation where 
 I come from, that since there has been so great an emigration 
 from Sweden to America as has taken place during the past 
 few years, there is no actual want among your laboring peo- 
 ple; except such as is brought about by dissipation or waste- 
 ful improvidence. Now I want to know if that is really so 
 or not. I see these broad acres which should yield an abund- 
 ant supply of food for all the people living here, and I would 
 naturally think that the report to which I have just referred 
 was true, — unless I had positive testimony to the contrary. 
 And, besides, as you are a very intelligent woman, I wish to 
 mention to you the fact that some professional book writers 
 who have visited this country during the last ten years have 
 rejjresented in their books, which have had large circulation 
 in the United States and in England, that there was no lack 
 of food in any sober, hard-working man's house in Sweden. 
 And this district has been spoken of in this very connection; 
 and; if lam not very much mistaken, this very estate has been 
 mentioned as the place of residence of a peasantry that were
 
 ly THE KOLBECK PARISH. 109 
 
 happy and contented, because, among other reasons, tney had 
 good wages and an abundance of good food." 
 
 " I have been happy in the love of my husband and child- 
 ren," replied Clara, " and I hope I have been, or will be, for- 
 given if I have unjustly murmured at any time; but now that 
 I understand your motives and object better, I am free to say 
 that those persons who had written as you tell me have not 
 told the truth. They probably did not mean to tell false- 
 hoods, but they certainly did not tell the truth." 
 
 " Now you see, Clara, the necessity or propriety of my ask- 
 ing you the questions which I have repeated so many times. 
 If the truth is not worth knowing at all with respect to this 
 matter, it can be only, or best, obtained and spread abroad in 
 the way I purpose following. I myself have believed these 
 rose-colored sketches of modern Swedish life among the work- 
 ing classes until I came among them. I thought that most of 
 the misery of this kind of which we have been speaking, that ex- 
 isted in Europe, was to be found in Ireland at the present time, 
 and I expected to write about such matters from there alone." 
 
 " I cannot say that we have been on the vergeof starvation," 
 said Clara; "but I have many, many ti-mes thought that we 
 would be soon. Last Winter was the hardest season I have 
 ever known. I thought that the emigration would be a benefit 
 to our people who remained here, as I have heard it said that 
 it would be. But the wages of my husband have not been 
 raised, and prices have not come down for articles that we must 
 buy at the store. Last Winter we had a present of some 
 American potatoes from a friend — a few gallons. And just 
 before our supply was exhausted I went into the cellar and 
 counted those that had been given to us by our friend for seed. 
 He didn't know that we needed any potatoes for any other 
 purpose. Then I kneeled down and prayed to God that we 
 should have strength to resist the temptation to eat these po- 
 tatoes. But it came so hard upon us that we had to eat them; 
 little by little they had to go ! And I often wondered during 
 the Winter if I should ever know the time when I could eat all 
 the potatoes I wanted. Wasn't that a ridiculous idea?" 
 
 This is precisely what Clara said. We asked: "What did 
 you have for breakfast this morning ?"
 
 no NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 ' For breakfast we have had a little barley meal, boiled so 
 as to make porridge, and the youngest children have had a 
 little milk with their portion." 
 
 " What did your husband have?" 
 
 *' I sent his breakfast to him." 
 
 " What did he have this morning?" 
 
 "I sent him some of the porridge and two pancakes." 
 
 " Clara, did you have anything at all to eat for breakfast 
 this morning ?" 
 
 She hesitated, but we were relentless, and the question vv'as 
 repeated. "Did you yourself have anything to eat this morn- 
 ing, Clara ?" 
 
 "I did not," she replied. 
 
 " Do your children or does your husband know that you had 
 nothing to eat this morning, for breakfast ?" 
 
 "They do not." 
 
 "What did you have for dinner?" 
 
 " My husband had a loaf of bread [a loaf of Swedish bread 
 weighs about a quarter of a pound of an English pound] and a 
 small piece of mackerel and a little mush." 
 
 " What did the children have ?" 
 
 "They had half a loaf of bread, a little mackerel and a 
 bowl of mush and milk." 
 
 Clara's bowls hold about half a pint. 
 
 " V\liat did you have?" 
 
 " I am going to eat my dinner presently." 
 
 We said: "It is now 2 o'clock in this day, on the 14th of 
 July, in the midst of the harvest season, when food is supposed 
 to be cheapest and in greatest variety, and most accessible, and 
 you ha\"e not broken your fast yet ?" 
 
 She replied: " I am going to eat a half loaf of bread soaked 
 in some juice from the mackerel." 
 
 The mackerel had been boiled, and she was going to dip 
 her bread in the water in which it had been prepared for the 
 father and the children. 
 
 "Clara, from what you know of this neighborhood, do you 
 mean to say that the majority of the working people in this 
 district are as poorly provided with the necessaries of life- as 
 you are and have been of late?"
 
 IN THE KOLBECK PARISH. m 
 
 She replied: "I think we are better off than some, which 
 should make us thankful for what we have. Of course I don't 
 know how all my neighbors live, but I believe that the ma- 
 jority of them are not any better off than we are or have been 
 during the past ten years. Maybe I am wrong, though." 
 
 " Could you give me the name of any neighbor that you 
 know positively is or has been within the last few years as 
 poorly provided with food as you have been — who has suf- 
 fered as much ?" 
 
 The reply was: "I am satisfied that there are many such, but 
 of course I don't absolutely know from personal observation." 
 
 " But from what any member of a household has told you ?" 
 
 She said : " From that and from other sources of information." 
 
 We asked: " Name another such a sufferer." 
 
 She replied: "I will not do it." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 She said: " Go and ask them, as you have asked me. Maybe 
 they will tell you. O, I could name them; but don't ask me 
 to do that." 
 
 ^Ve said we did not intend to use her name if we made fur- 
 ther inquiries, and we appreciated her sensitiveness in declin- 
 ing to point out as requested; but we would like to get two or 
 three more witnesses, and as our time for examination was 
 limited we thought she might aid us in finding additional 
 evidence at once. 
 
 "Well," she replied, "not now; at some other time, — per- 
 haps." 
 
 We asked, " When did you have fresh meat last ?" 
 
 " We have not had a mouthful of fresh meat since last 
 Fall." 
 
 Here Clara's husband came up and confirmed this last state- 
 ment. For eight months not one of the household had tasted 
 fresh meat. 
 
 " Our cow was dry for sixteen weeks this year," said Clara, 
 " which has contributed to make it very hard for us to get 
 along. We had a cow two years ago that was not dry more 
 than two or three weeks at a time. But she would not allow 
 any one to come near her or to remain in the Ijt where she 
 was, except myself, so we had to sell her."
 
 112 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 " How did you manage about seed potatoes when your 
 stock was eaten up, this last Spring ?" 
 
 " It was February when the last of the American potatoes 
 were eaten up. Carl borrowed some money, which we owe 
 yet, to pay for the poorest kind of potatoes, which we used for 
 planting this season. We would have had a great deal better 
 crop, I suppose, if we could have saved the American potatoes 
 for seed." 
 
 We asked, " Have many persons gone to America from 
 this section ?" 
 
 "A dozen or more. All that could get away, I think," said 
 Clara, with a laugh that was almost cheerful. And then came 
 a quickly following, irrepressible sigh. 
 
 "Would you like to go to America ?" we asked. 
 
 " Oh, yes; but we can never get enough money together to 
 do that." 
 
 " But your husband might go and in a few years bring you 
 out after him." 
 
 Clara gave a quick look at her husband as I spoke, and her 
 face became very white and thin: — it was pale and pinched 
 enough ordinarily, heaven knows. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed, Clara ! I am not going to take your 
 husband away from you. But I have just learned that an 
 emigration agency has been established at Gothenburg, and I 
 will leave you the card from that agency that has been sent to 
 me. Perhaps you may manage at some time in the future to 
 raise money enough to pay your husband's passage, not only to 
 America, but to the best part of America — the United States." 
 
 "There is nothing about farm work or horses that Carl does 
 not thoroughly understand," said the devoted wife; and a 
 gleam of pride mingled with her other indications of coun- 
 tenance as she looked steadily at her husband. 
 
 "Your children are at work. I forgot to ask about that ?" 
 
 " Yes; the boy earns forty ore a day for driving." That is 
 about ten cents. 
 
 "And the girl?" 
 
 " Sometimes she earns the same, by raking hay, during the 
 Summer season. She has just been confirmed, and will prob- 
 ably go out to regular service next year."
 
 » 
 
 THE VABDSHUS FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS. 1 13 
 
 X. 
 
 THE STROMSHOLM VARDSHUS FAMILY AND 
 
 NEIGHBORS. 
 
 Every window of every sitting-room and bedroom in every 
 house in this country, so far as we have been able to note, 
 is filled with flowers. From the highest to the lowest, from 
 the oldest to the youngest, there seems to be a passionate 
 admiration and love for the blossoming plants. Looking 
 right across the inn yard — from the Stromsholm Vardshus — 
 to the front of Froken Stackelberg's rooms, I can count 
 three pots in one window, four in another and six in anoth- 
 er. The Froken has three different varieties of geranium. 
 She has verbenas in two of the windows, and an oleander that 
 bears beautiful pink flowers very much like a rose in texture 
 and perfume. A heliotrope is near the doorway, and its 
 delicate aroma is so penetrating that I became conscious of 
 our proximity to it before we had passed through the hall 
 that leads to her parlor. It scented the whole building, as 
 you may say. Madame Hoglin, widow of the late Postmas- 
 ter at Stromsholm, who resides on the north border of the 
 Castle park, has a St. Joseph's lily that would be a prize for 
 any of our California conservatories. She has also a bleed- 
 ing geranium that has exquisitely tender veins and hue. 
 These adornments from and of nature's choicest ornamental 
 plants you might expect in the homes of the noble or the 
 rich, but they are everywhere in Sweden. I only instance 
 these two places because one is before me and the other 
 has been recently visited by us. 
 
 Why, yes: it should have been mentioned that Carl Erick- 
 son's poverty-stricken cottage gives no evidence of distress 
 through a lack of the usual possession and display of flowers 
 of exceeding beauty. And from the sailor in the forehatch
 
 114 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 of the canal-boat on the Gotha to the Barons waiting in the 
 outer chamber of Oscar II., there is the nosegay Or the rose 
 in the botton-hole or hat-band : testifying to the universality 
 of this taste and affection for the garland or blossom — in 
 man as well as woman — the former exhibiting this interest 
 and pleasure without strut or pretense, and the latter enjoy- 
 ing the sight of their plants with a simple but unmistakable 
 enthusiasm of delight. So, indeed, it should be in the land 
 of Linnseus. 
 
 This section of country, from the mouth of the Stroms- 
 holm Canal to the paper mills, a distance of seven or eight 
 miles, strikingly resembles Sonoma Valley in many particu- 
 lars. Here there is greater breadth at one place ; but save 
 in respect to this swelling out to a circle midway between 
 the Malaren and the line of Kolbeck, and in spite of that, 
 the likeness is so remarkable that I cannot forbear alluding 
 to it; and I tell these good people of it ; — adding the state- 
 ment that our Sonoma meadows are never covered with 
 snow and are green a larger portion of the year. " Ja sa !!" 
 Precisely. 
 
 Froken Stackelberg is especially interested in such com- 
 parisons and in any enlightening information in regard to 
 the "glorious climate," remarkable fruit crop, fast horses and 
 high railroad fares that characterize the Golden State. It 
 is strange that she should manifest such a strong concern 
 about all our affairs ; a curiosity that cannot be feigned, 
 because it is searching on lines that show her thoughtful 
 consideration in the premises. An omniverous reader, a 
 systematic and acute examiner is Froken Stackelberg. And 
 she is more worthy of description than any landscape on the 
 face of the earth. She is a curiosity and a marvel in herself. 
 Here is the daughter of a Finnish nobleman, 79 years of 
 age, living in one small suite of rooms at one end of a royal 
 tenantry building belonging to the castle property, having 
 charge of the porcelain, linen and silver of a royal resi- 
 dence — what is left here of such articles — and radiating an 
 influence that is most precious for the community and king- 
 dom. "Noble" she certainly is, by birthright, as the titles
 
 THE VARBSEUS FAMILY AND NEIGUBORS. 1 15 
 
 ran in this country 75 years ago. She can trace them with 
 great genealogical precision. Her mother was of noble de- 
 scent, still further ennobled by her first and second mar- 
 riages. Once she owned 2000 acres of land of the finest 
 quality — nobility of soil proprietorship, if you please ! — 
 with a mansion that approached the size and dignity of a 
 chateau. Her family lands and houses, and a high-walled 
 and iron-gate-guarded grave, we have seen and can give evi- 
 dence upon; all being of ancient estate which was in Froken 
 Stackclberg's mother's possession in 1799. Bad management, 
 not to speak of dissipation on the part other father, resulted 
 ultimately in financial ruin to his widow and child; — pov- 
 erty coming upon them shortly after his death in the service 
 of the Swedish navy. Noble she is: with the portraits of 
 three field marshals hanging behind her, as she sits on the 
 sofa from which, as from a throne, she bids you welcome in 
 the Swedish, French or Italian dialect. 
 
 But "noble" Froken Stackelburg certainly is, in an "Amer- 
 ican sense, " as she was kind enough to phrase it in our 
 presence a few hours ago. For with the little patrimony 
 left, and out of the small stipend that is granted her by the 
 Government, she does a vast amount of judicious charitable 
 work; and for that, and for her valuable counsel and ad- 
 vice to all worthy, inquiring friends, she is renowned; she is 
 beloved wherever there is personal knowledge of her daily 
 deeds of charity and her sentiments with respect to the true 
 standard of royal humanity. 
 
 "If there ever was a noble lady by right of blood," said 
 Froken Stackelberg to us, as we sat beside her bountiful 
 board, "my mother was of high degree : but in her day of 
 prosperity and pride, as well as when she came to experi- 
 ence the reverses of fortune, she always instructed me in 
 the truth that there was only rank in the names of earthly 
 nobles, and that all that ended with the grave; only in- 
 trinsic merit of character will amount to anything in our 
 favor beyond that. This will doubtless seem to you an un- 
 necessary concession," she continued, "if not a plain, simple 
 Statement of fact, and that only, Monsieur; and perhaps I
 
 ii6 MOMTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 had forgotten that I was addresshig an American. But in 
 Sweden, where there has been so much abject homage to a 
 titled class whose representatives have not always been de- 
 serving of any man's respect, the instruction to me was valu- 
 able and was needed. Of course, I have long ago found out 
 its truth in my own observation, and from ihe teachings of 
 God and my own conscience. But I think it well, some- 
 times, that such declarations should be made by one of my 
 inheritance." 
 
 And Froken Stackelberg was charmed with the verse 
 which reads and rings : 
 
 " Howe er it be, it seems to me 
 'Tis only noble to be good ; 
 True hearts are more than coronets, 
 And simple faith than Norman blood." 
 
 If you get an invitation do not fail to go and take tea 
 with Froken Stackelberg, when you come to Stromsholm. 
 As the Froken proclaims herself "partial to, and delighted 
 with, people who speak English" — to use her own oft- 
 repeated phrase — and as I make due report of her announce- 
 ment, it is to be expected that at least those Californians 
 who shall hereafter travel this way and stop at the Stroms- 
 holm Vardshus will avail themselves of the advantages and 
 pleasures of such a call. 
 
 The Statcarter or Dagman tenement houses and the large 
 dwelling in which the gardeners and watchmen and house- 
 keepers of the castle or chateau reside — a community of 
 residents often seen — and the inns in this part of Sweden, 
 very closely resemble each other, and may be described, so 
 far as their exterior is concerned at least, by the same sen- 
 tences. It is a two-story building with eight feet height for 
 the ground-floor story and six feet for the upper story. The 
 roof sweeps down from the apex, which is twenty-five 
 or thirty feet high, with such a bow-fashion curve, and turns 
 up at the eaves with such a graceful line, that a little one in 
 our party described it appropriately as making a flourish like 
 the shaded part of a copy-book "S." The length of the build- 
 ing is usually about 200 or 250 feet, and the width about
 
 THE VABDSnUS FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS, n? 
 
 twenty-five feet. There will be separate entrances for each 
 fifty feet, and from the halls that dip half way into the struc- 
 ture, doors will lead on either side, close to the front wall, to 
 a stairway landing and — as in the case of inns and the 
 houses of the well-to-do — past that to the (first) sitting or 
 dining-room, and then (second) to the parlor. At the end 
 of the hall will be the kitchen of the inn or of the tenant 
 best able to have a large cooking apartment. In such case 
 the kitchen extends the width of the hall and runs to one 
 side as far as the width of the stairway landing, or perhaps 
 the sitting-room space. In other cases the kitchen occupies 
 only the part in the rear of the dining or sitting-room and 
 the stairway landing. Where there is a second story the 
 stairs invariably wind around half a circle so that you come 
 at your entrance hall at the stair-landing, (on the first or 
 second,) directly before a window looking into the yard in 
 front of the house. In the inns there are precisely the same 
 partitions above as below; but in the tenantry's houses there 
 is, of course, more sub-division ; usually obtained by run- 
 ning a narrow passageway through the centre of the build- 
 ing. Rooms are sometimes, but rarely, partitioned off in 
 the attic. There the servants sleep in the Summer or dur- 
 ing the warmest season of the year. The ceiling is not 
 boarded or plastered. The floor of the first or second story 
 and of the attic, laid upon timbers that are at least six by 
 eight inches, and !iot more than three feet apart, is, together 
 wuth the beams, painted white or whitewashed, and the walls 
 are papered. The whitewash in this country is so prepared 
 that it does not mark clothes that may come in contact with 
 it. 
 
 The better class of houses are painted inside and out every 
 two years, and the amount of scrubbing that is done on the 
 floors and windows and sills and every portion oi woodwork 
 is (I was going to say) distressing. Early or late in the inns 
 in this district you will almost constantly see or hear the 
 scrubbing-brush in motion with such emphasis that you know 
 it is the planks that are being washed. On particular days, 
 as on Saturday and Wednesday at this tavern, there is the
 
 ii8 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 nearest approach to an uproar that I have heard about the 
 estabhshment; all on account of a small zxmy of maids at 
 v/ork with brooms, brushes and pails filled with suds. There 
 is no corner left without special attention, and that directly 
 from the hand of the servant. There are no mops in Swe- 
 den. Such implements for distant approaches to dirt with 
 a washing-cloth or rag would not suffice here; and observ- 
 ing the absence of our familiar household weapon of war- 
 fare against the dust and stains of our American habitations, 
 I made inquiry as to the remaining untraversed districts of 
 this country, and am able to set down the very important 
 wholesale statement as above. As with respect to Ireland 
 and the snakes, so here may it be written: "SWEDEN and 
 MOPS. There are no moi^e in Sweden." 
 
 But the noise in cleansing that is daily heard is not dis- 
 tracting — not in this inn, this vardshus, where there is every 
 possible care taken not to disturb the guest when he is within 
 — save in the way of inviting him to his meals and the like. 
 You are asked in the morning at the hour when it will be 
 discovered somehow — I don't know how — that you are 
 awake, if you will have your coffee; and the mid-day meal 
 (dinner) will be announced in the same pleasant way. But 
 when you leave your chambers, at any time from 5 to 9 in 
 the morning, your departure will be noticed and such ad- 
 vantage taken of it that the work of the servant is completed 
 before you return, although you may be absent not more 
 than a quarter of an hour. The sweeping, dusting, first 
 bed-making and the arrangement of wearing apparel (the 
 mattresses are piled together in the morning and spread for 
 your rest in the evening) is all "done in a jiffy," and yet neat- 
 ly and thoroughly done, by the girl appointed to attend 
 upon you. 
 
 Not only upstair service but all cooking is done by 
 women, and mostly performed by women that in age and 
 action come under the denomination of "girls." The cham- 
 bermaids are as spry as kittens though by their counte- 
 nances you might judge some of them to be 30 years of age 
 and over. And the young women of Sweden like this kind 
 of work.
 
 THE VAED8H US FAMIL 7 AND NEIGEB OliS. 1 1 9 
 
 Here is "our girl," Anna Jawzan, who is as lively as a 
 bird on the hop and merry as a cricket. She need not work 
 out; the landlady has told us so repeatedly. But she loves 
 to work, and especially delights in this class of labor. Last 
 hiring-day her mistress advised her to go home, because 
 her parents could well afford to support her and desired 
 that she should return, but although she loved them dearly 
 — and partly on this very account — she begged the privilege 
 of remaining. Anna says she loves to work and to earn 
 money with w'hich to buy presents for her folks ; and as 
 they have no need of her at home, she thinks it is right and 
 best that she should serve where she can be useful and earn 
 wages. She has a friend who has gone to Marysville, Cali- 
 fornia; and this friend will be married to a' gentleman who 
 was charmed by a photograph of the maiden he is to wed. 
 
 Anna is greatly pleased with the compliment that is paid 
 her by the intimation that she has only to send her photo- 
 graph to the United States or allow it to be placed on ex- 
 hibition in San Francisco to bring to her address a flood of 
 offers of heart and hand. She evidently likes to revive this 
 subject for conversation. The compliment is deserved. But 
 all the while Anna says she is content and very happy where 
 she is. She gets 60 kroner (or about $17) a year, and her 
 board and lodging; — for work during at least sixteen hours, 
 in the day with the privilege of eating her meals at odds and 
 ends of "made" leisure time. The members of our party 
 are unitedly of the opinion that she does not put full faith 
 in our statement that she could get as much per month in 
 California for her services — if she obtained a situation where 
 she worked as faithfully as here — as she now received as an- 
 nual payment in full. 
 
 In the matter of cooking I am sure that most Americans 
 will feel that they are approaching home when they change 
 from England to Sweden, It is not well, perhaps, to talk 
 very much upon this subject, lest one be suspected of 
 epicurianism or of a chronic disposition to complain. But 
 the risk of that private criticism in the mind of the reader 
 must be borne by the conscientious writer. It is one of the
 
 I20 NORTHER]^ EUROPE. 
 
 things to be noted, for the sake of information and with a 
 view of joining hands with experienced and with future 
 travelers on a crusade of public sentiment against the atro- 
 cious cooking that is the cause of so much relative misery 
 nowadays, endured by patrons of the restaurants of London. 
 As already recorded the cook in Sweden is a woman ; and 
 may God bless her, wherever she is. She is not as artistic, 
 perhaps, as our friend of French extraction, but within the 
 limits of her school she is a minister to health and happi- 
 ness. She does not revel in grease ; and her white bread 
 and her cakes do not present to you crust-covered balls or 
 parallelograms of sour paste or demoralized dough. 
 
 But of all cooks with whom I have made a middag and 
 sexsor acquaintance, and for whom the female members of 
 our party have formed a personal friendship Anna (favorite 
 name here) of the Stromsholm Vardshus is the most highly 
 esteemed. Sweet little bit of a body that she is How she 
 can fly around that range, and prepare and lay down and 
 turn over and season and serve up the meats and vegetables 
 for the dish and platter ! 
 
 Do not mention it please, but here is another case of 
 anxious desire to emigrate to America ; and that would be 
 a wise head over the household of abundant provision, that 
 should send out a ticket with an engagement contract-paper 
 for re-imbursing service, to Anna, queen of the kitchen at 
 the Nyckterhet Vardshus, near the Castle of Eleonora at 
 Stromsholm, Sweden 
 
 And this inn, taken altogether? It is a home. There is 
 peace and comfort that come from large airy rooms, good 
 beds, the best of simple food, excellently cooked, neatness, 
 order, alert attendants, and, with all and in all and above all, 
 the sense of a welcome that is unaffected, unpretending, un- 
 obtrusive, heartily sincere. Glad to see you. Glad for a very 
 reasonable sum to entertain you, and give you her own at- 
 tention in a hospitable hostess way — is the landlady of this 
 stopping place for the pilgrim, this rest for the weary. Last 
 year she was housekeeper, and now she has a ten-year lease 
 as proprietress of the establishment, and there will be many
 
 THE VABDSHUS FAMIL T AND NEIGHBORS. 1 2 1 
 
 additions every year to the number of those who shall join 
 in praising the administration of the handsome Hostess 
 Marie Anderson ; whose likeness is hereunto appended : — 
 
 LANDLADY OF VARDSHUS.
 
 122 
 
 NOR TIIERN E UK OPE. 
 
 XI. 
 
 STROMSHOLM TO VESTANFORS. 
 
 The Stromsholm Canal, which was constructed in 1777-95, 
 and straigthened and enlarged in 1842-60, starts from Lake 
 Malaren, at a point about one mile distant from Stromshold 
 Castle. With the intervening locks and river passages the dis- 
 tance by the boat from the first lock to Smedjebacken is about 
 sixty of our miles. In this distance an ascent is made of 327 
 feet. This is twenty-seven feet higher than the highest point 
 above the level of the sea reached by the Gota Canal. This 
 elevation is reached at Lake Vefungen, about fifteen miles from 
 Smedjebacken. To make this trip from Stockholm, you go on 
 board one of the boats that ply on the canal at 8 o'clock at 
 night, and leaving the Capital city at 11 p. M. and traversing 
 Lake Malaren arrive at the mouth of Stromsholm canal at 5 in 
 the morning. At the first lock, or at the bridge on the road 
 that leads from the castle to the house of the Superintendent 
 of the royal estate of Stromsholm, passengers get on or dis- 
 embark. 
 
 At the first lock, distant from the Vardshus half a mile, we 
 stepped on board at the hour named, and began the journey. 
 We had no exalted expectations in connection with this day's 
 travel, so far as the pleasure of beholding charming scenery is 
 to be considered, for neither guide books nor the descriptions 
 of the passage which we chanced to hear or which we could 
 elicit from others, indicated anything unusually fine in land- 
 scapes or the views of water and sky to be seen along the 
 route. So there was a surprise in store for ns, as the panorama 
 unfolded was in many points equal to that given on the Gota 
 inter-lake sections, while the hight and water plunge of the 
 double locks was in some respects peculiar and new to us, and 
 is and must ever be gratifying to witness. You ne^•er tire of 
 looking at a steam engine, and especially at a locomoti^'e in 
 motion, or at a ship under full sail. There are sights that im-
 
 STROMSHOLM TO VESTANFORS. 
 
 123 
 
 prove upon repetition — grow upon you like a great edifice; — • 
 and the same may be and must be said of such spectacles as 
 are presented at Skansen and at other places where the flood is 
 let in upon your boat from second story traps 
 
 Five o'clock is an early hour for rising at any season of 
 the year; but when the sun does not set until eight, and the 
 twilight holds bright until eleven, you are apt to cultivate 
 a habit of late retiring, which makes it impossible for you to 
 sleep before midnight. So it seems extremely cruel on the 
 part of the servant girl when you are first conscious of tlie 
 fact that she has pulled off your bed clothing and is shaking 
 you and commanding you in a most imperative voice to get 
 up and dress, and take your coffee and your departure. 
 
 The morning is inclined to be chilly, although it is the 21st 
 day of July, " the dew is on the rye," and there is a light 
 mist coming up from the marshy ground by the side of the 
 canal, in the upper portion of this great valley. The lock is 
 only a ([uarter of a mile distant from the inn by the across- 
 lots path, and we are there just in time. Here we step on 
 the Pius — the smallest steamboat on our travel calendar 
 page as yet — as it rises in the long narrow cistern to a level 
 convenient for the reception of passengers. Very slowly 
 through this portion of the water road, for the distance of 
 half a mile, our small vessel (of 2i'^ tons measurement) pushes 
 its way until we reach the junction with the Kolbackso, when 
 the "go ahead" lever is swung to the last notch by the 
 Captain himself. 
 
 As we are familiar with every point in this end of the plain, 
 our attention is devoted with more than usual keenness and 
 exclusive care to the officers, men, maids and passengers that 
 are to be our companions during the next eighteen or twenty- 
 four hours. Captain Frans Emil Talen is a man of about 
 thirty years of age, with a countenance that showed intelli- 
 gence and a spirit of humor. It was easily to be seen at a 
 glance that he did love a joke. And when he heard a child 
 in our party address some words of English to us, shortly 
 after we climbed upon the steerman's deck, he left the wheel 
 to his principal sailor (as he described him) and came up to 
 us and said in English, " Can this little girl tell me how old
 
 124 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 she is ?" It transpired that he had been three years in the 
 English merchant-ship service, and had touched at Charles- 
 ton, S. C, and had sailed around the Horn and up the Pacific 
 Coast as far as Callao. Acquaintanceship, or rather in- 
 timacy, was at once established; and there has been another 
 one (No. 3 !) of those boiled dinner parties which a Yankee 
 will frequently enjoy in these days, in travelling on the 
 Swedish steamers at sea, or on the lakes, rivers or canals of 
 the kingdom. Wc have been told that we shall not always 
 find courleous officers, but we have yet to meet with an ex- 
 ception to the rule. 
 
 The small vessel is every inch economized. Sixty-two 
 feet long and sixteen feet wide, she has no room to spare; 
 and the curiously ingenious manner in which space is made, 
 as it were, affords constant little surprises to the younger 
 members of our company. Even we, of older date, often 
 are reminded of and inclined to repeat the ejaculation of the 
 queer old clerk of the great criminal lawyer that is portrayed 
 in " Great Expectations": — " Halloa ! here is a breadbox !" 
 " Halloa ! here is an ale-bottle case !" " Halloa ! here is the 
 Captain's office !" Doors open in sharp corners and disclose 
 shelving for linen; seat-bottoms turn out to be lids, beneath 
 which there is a great stowage ol preserved fruit and pickled 
 edibles of many sorts; and when you imagine that you have 
 gotten inside of a four by six feet dining-room that has no 
 possible interior, lo, and behold ! panel after panel is pushed 
 aside, as occasion requires, and a series of cupboards ex- 
 hibited, to an amount and in a way that suggests the con- 
 jurer's tricks of multiplied platters and inexhaustible pitchers. 
 Since the era of canal boating such devices have been un- 
 questionably the frequent subject of human invention, but 
 this specimen of area-saving for useful purposes is entitled 
 to mention for its cunning and its completeness. We were 
 continually arriving at and departing from the ultimate in- 
 quiry as to where else on or about this vessel any other bar- 
 leycorn of space could be utilized. 
 
 The cabins are under the forecastle; and while they are 
 not as spacious or comfortable as a room of similar name on 
 the Mississippi or Fall River boats, they, too, provoke won-
 
 STROMSHOLM TO VESTANFORS. 
 
 I2S 
 
 der at the skill of the planner and the success of his cubby- 
 hole draughtmanship. The big "sights" of nature and of 
 art, questions of state and the appearance and speech of the 
 distinguished men of the different nations, do not alone form 
 proper subjects for observation and remark on the part of 
 the traveller, my friends; but even these little matters become 
 at times full of interest, and seem to a wandering note-taker 
 from California well worthy of a touch of mention, for the 
 instruction of his readers. Yankee whittling knack is here, 
 also; and my brethren of Connecticut and Massachusetts and 
 Vermont must look out for their honors at tlie next great in- 
 ternational exhibition, where Stromsholm and Gotha canal 
 "boats, as well as a racehorse Malaren-lake pleasure steamer 
 (an improvement on the one exhibited at Philadelphia), will 
 surely be on the platform as competitors, for award. The 
 carpenter schools now attached to almost every "primary" 
 and public academy in this kingdom may have something to 
 do already with this production of Wolcott-desk vessels, for 
 public transportation on the inland waters of Sweden. 
 
 The sound of the American mower is heard in the land as 
 we plow into the Kolbackso Channel. I know, my dear 
 Captain, the brand of the Stockholm Foundry is on the frame 
 and on the sheath and on the blade, but "that ere consarn " 
 was got up in the United States of America. And if our 
 folks do steal books in the absence of an international copy- 
 right law— which, I grant you, ought to be passed — your folks 
 take (I wouldn't say steal) our brothers' inventions, in spite of 
 the patents obtained for them in your own offices. I have 
 seen this sort of thing before. True, the patent in this partic- 
 ular case may have expired; but you had this article in opera- 
 tion, without compensation or credit, long before the right of 
 the in\entor ceased under the Statute of Limitations. And 
 why don't you gi\e him or us better credit for the razor now, 
 when you assert or admit your conscience has no check or bur- 
 den on account of pecuniary considerations or apprehensions ? 
 
 As has been noted, this canal was remodeled in the years 
 from 1842 to 1S60, and the name of King Carl XV, on iron 
 Ijlates, stares you in the face at e\ery Ifjck. When the work 
 of reparation and enlargement was going on, many convicts
 
 126 
 
 NORTHERN- EUROPE, 
 
 were employed at different portions of the line. On our left, 
 in the upper portion of this Stromshohn Valley, there were 
 barracks provided for the accommodation of several hundred 
 men in penal servitude, who had to labor on this neck of the 
 enterpbe. It is said that the officers appointed to superin- 
 tend and direct the work of these men were often very cruel in 
 their treatment of the prisoners, and tales are told of brutality 
 that are of a shocking character. The place where these bar- 
 racks stood can now be determined only by the memory of 
 
 SKANSEN LOCKS. 
 
 the older inhabitants of the district, or a veiy careful examina- 
 tion for foundation abutments of the buildings. As we pass 
 this end of the valley we see the spot often pointed out to us 
 by our van driver, Lagerquist, where the convicts were housed 
 at night during the period of their labor here; and we recollect 
 the fact that he and others testified to us that after dark it was 
 often difficult and sometimes impossible to get a nervous horse 
 past this point except by jumping out of the conveyance and 
 leading him — keeping company v/ith him side by side until the
 
 STROMSIIOLM TO VESTANFORS. 
 
 127 
 
 line of the temporary and demolished buildings was left be- 
 hind. When we expressed incredulity — and especially if we 
 hinted at anything like commiseration for persons afflicted by 
 superstitious imaginations — we were invited and urged to make 
 the passage ourselves at night, with the reins in our hands and 
 without a precise knowledge of the beginning of the haunted 
 ground. 
 
 And right here we put it down as a valuable piece of advice 
 to a traveler in this part of the globe: Don't you utter or in- 
 timate doubt as to the truth of any fairy or hobgoblin stories 
 that you may be regaled with on your winding ways. In the 
 first place, don't do it, because you may anger your guide and 
 friend, which, of course, you will not wish to do; and, sec- 
 ondly, don't do it, for the reason that thereby you may pre- 
 vent his telling you many an entertaining tale as you pass along 
 to points beyond. 
 
 At Vesterqarn, where there is a large flour mill, you ascend 
 a double lock — the first we had seen in Sweden and among the 
 largest that have been constructed. You are pushed into a 
 granite parallelogram, as a Euclid youth on board described it, 
 and there you are closed in upon for wide hydraulic hoisting. 
 Distant from you 100 feet and more the big flood faucets are 
 opened simultaneously and the yellow but translucent liijuid — 
 a 3x2 feet of solid stream on either side — having the appear- 
 ance of being pressed and yet fringed at the four corners with 
 foam — dashed out with thundering roar. The deep, narrow 
 chasm holds the sound and bears to you the noise of the rush 
 and the fall of the water before there are any echoes; and 
 presently many reverberations are come down upon you in ar- 
 tillery intonations from the upper air. A score of rainbows 
 play on each wall; a brilliant kaleidescope is vouchsafed on 
 this schedule at this season of the year by the aid of his gra- 
 cious majesty, the morning sun. The guidebook advice is 
 here, as well as elsewhere, to walk around the locks. My 
 peremptory command is to those who like to heed me: Stay 
 on board. 
 
 It is not simply the old Erie Canal elevation that you ^vill 
 enjoy at Skansen, where you reach the second of the double- 
 lock locations. For reasons above indicated, stav onboard.
 
 128 XORTIIERN EUROPE. 
 
 And because, also, of the beauty of the \ision you will have 
 when you get up to the level of the gate, this direction is given. 
 Even our worthy and mild -spoken companion, Baedecker, says 
 of this place that it is " the most beautiful point of the pic- 
 turesque scenery on one of the most interesting canals in 
 Sweden." You fairly rise out of the gloom of the cave 
 through artificial waterfall fireworks (if such a phrase is per-^ 
 missible — which, I know it is not), on to the level of the 
 closely-shaded avenue of trees which border the way for a 
 space of half a mile beyond. 
 
 An elevation of 60 feet is made by the last of these double 
 gates, and at Trangfors you are about 140 feet above ihe Ma- 
 laren Lake. 
 
 A little way beyond Skansen you enter on a small lake 
 (pond, we would call it), in the midst of which is situated the 
 Island of Despair. The whole area of the water is not more 
 than two miles long and a quarter of a mile in width ; and 
 nearly in the centre of this sheet is the oblong-shaped acre of 
 land on which the tragedy that gave the title to the place was 
 enacted. With all names and dates, one of our party enter- 
 tains, or, I should say, horrifies the company on the steers- 
 man's deck by telling the story, — as the little vessel glides up 
 to and past the spot. 
 
 It was in the year 1858, when the work of rebuilding the 
 canal had been nearly completed, that one of the lieutenants 
 of the force of officers in charge of the laborers, made love to 
 Nedar's daughter (Nedar was a wealthy farmer, living in the 
 •neighborhood of Skansen), and won her heart; and "she 
 sweet creature, doted, aye, doted in idolatr}- upon this military 
 and bewitching man." The parents were bitterly opposed to 
 the suit. They had great influence v\-ith the youth's com- 
 mander, and obtained the orders of the commanding Major 
 or Colonel for the imprisonment of the uuwished-for lover, 
 during the time that their fair child attended a ball, that was 
 given on a certain night in jubilee over the completion of a set 
 of granite ways. The daughter apparently acquiesced in the 
 decree of her father, which was well known throughout the 
 camp, to the effect that she should ne\er see the trespassing 
 lieutenant again. On the day before the ball, she was seen to
 
 STROM SIIOLM TO VESTANFORS. 129 
 
 go into her parents' bedroom and open some of the drawers 
 in their bureau. But this was not thought a singular action on 
 her paft, as she had often done the same thing before. But 
 after the tragedy it was known that on this visit to the family 
 chest she had taken out her father's razor. After the danc- 
 ing she was missed from the pavillion, and then search was 
 made for her and her discarded lover, who had also disap- 
 peared from his quarters. As neither could be found at once, 
 there was a general hunt instituted for the pair; the natural 
 suspicion being that a runaway match had been agreed upon 
 between the two. No trace was discovered of the fugitives 
 until the following morning, when they themselves disclosed 
 their place of hiding by coming to the border of this httle 
 island and singing. As the venerable father, accompanied by 
 a pose of officers, approached in a boat, his beautiful girl was 
 heard to exclaim, " What you are to do, do quickly !" 
 Whereupon her lover cut her throat with the razor she had 
 taken from her home, and then severed his own jugular vein. 
 
 Several witnesses of the dreadful deed are still living on the 
 shores of this lake, and it is said that they delight in telling 
 this story, with all its horrible details. So said our narrator, 
 after having given the account himself with great fullness and 
 with a boasted precision in pointing out places, etc. This 
 awful but true tale might somehow be woven into a novel that 
 is yet to be written, entitled "The Mystery of the Castle of 
 Stromsholm." The unanimous verdict on our steamer's deck 
 was to the effect that a fellow who could be guilty of this act 
 of throat-cutting deserved to have been separately hanged sev- 
 eral times over — before the hour appointed for the murder 
 and suicide. 
 
 The ride from Skansen to Ramnas unrolls a panorama only 
 less beautiful than the similar passage from Motala to T'crg, 
 on the Gotha Canal. The charming little lakes of the Nedre 
 Nadden and Ofre are reached through a double lock, which 
 excites all the interest that was experienced in the jaws of the 
 giants below. At least it may be said that one docs not 
 quickly tire of such majestic handiwork of man. 
 
 At Seglinsberg there is a large iron manufactory, close to 
 the curbing of the gate ; and I jumped from the boat to the
 
 130 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 sidewalk as v;e rose to the upper level, and entered the portion 
 of the great house in which the forges were located. A mol- 
 ten stream of iron lava was pouriug out of one of the furnaces, 
 or rather, was being blown out, with a hissing noise and a 
 dazzling light ; and in company with two or three other pass- 
 engers I enjoyed the spectacle for several minutes. Than, 
 judging that it was about time to return to the steamer, we 
 walked toward the wharf that was still above. On our way we 
 were met by the Captain and a gentleman by the name of 
 Andersen, introduced as the bookkeeper of the establishment. 
 "Come on with us," said the Captain. "We have been in the 
 works," we replied. "O I am not going to take you into 
 that building," was the response; "come with us and Ave will 
 show you another part of this manufacturing concern." 
 
 We followed up the hill by the side of the building we had 
 visited a distance of about one hundred rods. There 
 on the summit of the ridge, in the midst of a yard 500 feet 
 square, was the covered stone foundation of a house that stood 
 on this spot, and was destroyed by fire nine years ago; and be- 
 yond, on the west, we beheld a park, whose avenues, rows of 
 trees, flower beds and bypaths we could trace at a glance — 
 for the grounds from the square on which the building sat was 
 terraced down twenty or thirty feet. In the centre aisle were 
 two large pedestals of granite, on which busts of Linnaeus and 
 Swedenborg had once appeared, — which are now barren of 
 adornment. This scene was so wholly unexpected that no 
 member of our party had a word of inquiry to make, for 
 several minutes after the plateau and garden were shown to us. 
 It was remarked at last, "Well, this does overcome us with a 
 special wonder." Then as a matter of course, there was the 
 simultaneous inquiry as to how came this so. Why was it 
 thus? When will this house be rebuilt? (The charred timbers 
 that composed a part of the covering told of a fire, and some 
 of the stepping-stones had been evidently cracked by heat). 
 The fioble building that at once stood here and this adjoining 
 pleasure ground were formerly the property of a wealthy gentle- 
 man, who spent nearly all his Summer time and some of win- 
 ter weeks at this place. He sold the premises to a company 
 after the house was destroyed, and now these grounds were
 
 STROMSIIOLM TO VESTANFORS. 131 
 
 used as a Public Garden. A band of music plays evenings 
 and on Sunday afternoons during the warm weather; ball-plat- 
 forms which we did not see being provided in an adjoining 
 plot. 
 
 No one would dream of his proximity to such a cultivated 
 spot, from the condition and appearance of the village right at 
 and immediately about the sooty landings of Sehngsberg. 
 Our Captain and his comrade, the bookkeeper, were evidently 
 accustomed to the trick of leading innocent passengers to this 
 hilltop and enjoying their amazement at the sudden change in 
 the countenance of the countr}\ As much in the temper of 
 fun as in a spirit of courtesy, they acted as guides on this 
 occasion; and they managed to leave many questions un- 
 answered until they were repeated for the tenth time — more or 
 less — with an evident sense of delight at the puzzle that was in 
 their possession and the natural and morbid anxiety on the 
 part of the tardily tongue-loosend company that surrounded 
 them. It was as much of a surprise scene as though you came 
 upon Woodward's Gardens as they now are, after an eighth-of- 
 a-mile walk over the Market-street sandhills that once were. 
 
 To show the sentiment, I will record that when we had re- 
 turned to the boat and resumed our journey, many dwelt for 
 some time in their conversations upon the beauty of the 
 grounds we had been shown, while one sat in rather a sullen 
 mood — this exceptional individual now and then admitting the 
 justice of the eulogiums passed, but at the same time expressing 
 a wish that he might "get even" with the Captain. 
 
 "I told you I would show you something you wouldn't be 
 looking for,'' remarked the Captain, breaking in on the general 
 talk among the passengers, with a manifest appreciation of all 
 that was being said and felt. 
 
 "Yes," said a testy, wheezy old gentleman in knee breeches 
 and red-bordered, Delcarlain long coat; "yes, but you led us 
 to suppose that we were going to see something extraordinary 
 in the way of a manufactory; you know you did;" and the 
 irrascible muttered something which I judged must have been 
 the equivalent for "You young scoundrel!" 
 
 "Why, jw^ ought to have known all about that place; you 
 have been up and down here a dozen times before."
 
 132 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 "I didn't know anything about it, and you know I didn't; 
 and when you come to Bolanger I will show you a canal boat 
 running on dry land.'' 
 
 "Now I know what you will give me, beforehand." 
 
 "But you will forget it before I give it to you, and you don't 
 know what it is; and what is more, you ain't going to know 
 until I get you where you see it." 
 
 Here was an enigma sufficiently outlined to provoke in- 
 quiry from all present; and the questions which followed and 
 were pressed upon the ancient, and which he did not answer 
 — not so much as by a hint beyond his orignal statement to 
 the Captain — thoroughly satisfied the worst malcontent of 
 the passage. 
 
 This Park must go into the Mysteries of Strorasholm Cas- 
 tle. 
 
 After steaming up the Virsbosjo a few miles — as delight- 
 ful a ride as was ever provided on similar low lines of dis- 
 tant mountain .and narrow river and lake-waters al- 
 ternately set iri^Tahd and meadow belts and fringings — we 
 swing around the point of a little peninsula and come along- 
 side a wharf at a place described as of some importance and 
 called, according to the sign over the railroad station door, 
 Engelsberg. A short piece of the Stockolm and Storvick 
 Railroad is in sight, and there is a handsome station-house, 
 with a little wharf and platform on the same level with the 
 rails. 
 
 This is Engelsberg, so far as appears to the traveler by the 
 Stromsholm Canal, in this year of the world. Here there is 
 unloaded a dozen barrels of petroleum, having an American 
 stamp on them, and as many sacks of rye flour. Here come 
 on board half a dozen gentlemen of large waists, who take 
 a cheerful drink of brandy with the Captain. From hence 
 we make a sudden departure, carrying off one of the men 
 of huge-grown proportions referred to, who is subsequently 
 landed at a point a half mile above Engelsberg by means of 
 a fisherman's boat that is called for by the importunate 
 whistle of the Pius. 
 
 I saw the merry twinkle in the Captain's eyes when he took 
 the wheel and sung out "framat" — that same flash that was
 
 STROMSHOLM TO VESTANFORS. 133 
 
 detected when we first greeted him at lock number one, 
 Stromshohn Meadows. And I noticed through the glass the 
 unmistakable lines of appreciative wrath, so to speak, in 
 the face of the fat individual aforesaid; when he tumbled out 
 of the boat into the mud, and tossed a kroner to the boy 
 that paddled his canoe to the worst place there was, any- 
 where within a quarter of a mile on either side for a boat, to 
 to effect a landing. There is going to be retaliation 
 here, also, without any warning in public. I should like to 
 ride with this Captain for a week; but one would need to be 
 on his guard, lest he himself serve as a victim of misplaced 
 confidence. 
 
 Lake Amman-ninger is next entered; and here there is an 
 hour's sail that is also of fairyland enchantment. Our sunset 
 pictures here were among the feasts of eyesight, and will re- 
 main among the most entrancing recollections of life. 
 
 At 9 o'clock we reached Vestanfors, where Bessemer steel 
 is manufactured. It is well known that Swedish iron sur- 
 passes in excellence of quality that produced anywhere else. 
 It ought to be known in our country, also, that we would 
 have a very large direct trade with Sweden if our vessels 
 could have reliable return cargoes; as, for instance, bars 
 and implements of iron and steel. Take off the duties on 
 these commodities, and California canned fruits will have an 
 immense market demand and draft direct from this country. 
 A little reduction in prices here for cur preserved meats 
 would result in a great sale for our beef and pork that are 
 prepared in sealed cases and everywhere acknowledged to be 
 the best packages of their kind in the world. And our 
 wheat marketing, or direct grain exporting, would be vastly 
 increased — and that immediatley and with rapidly enlarging 
 calls — if the tariff that is on Federal statue books was 
 judiciously revised and reformed. 
 
 We visited the great forges at Vestanfors, at which every 
 kind of bar and sheet and roll of iron and steel is manufact- 
 ured out of the finest ores that can be sorted in this hard, ore- 
 ribbed country. We looked, also, into the little shops where 
 provisions are sold, and found articles which our peo- 
 ple most convenienly, profusely and cheaply produce, in
 
 1 34 NOR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 the lines already spoken of for sale at a figure that almost 
 prohibited purchases on the part of the middle classes and 
 the pretty-well-to-do mechanic and artisan, to say nothing of 
 the peasantry. And I renewed and intensified my allegiance 
 to the doctrine of a tariff for revenue. Let protection as the 
 first consideration come under that fundamental principle; 
 subject to the estimates tliat are made first of all, on a liberal 
 calculation, for the expenses of the Federal Goverment. 
 Under such doctrine in law made manifest, the ocean com- 
 merce of our country would double in a few years, and Ameri- 
 can ship building would be revived as a common industry. 
 Citizens living and laboring in California would have 
 great reason to rejoice, because of the vastly enchanced pros- 
 perity of all men diligent in mechanical or manufacturing or 
 horticultural or factory or farm labor, or in any of the numer- 
 ous businesses or pursuits connected with the exporting and 
 importation of goods. 
 
 XII 
 
 AT SMEDJBACKEN. 
 
 Rising through the three locks into Lake Vefungen, at 
 Semla, we are soon between banks that form a part of the 
 "classic soil of Dalarne." The twilight deepens so that we 
 cannot see much of the scenery that borders Sodra Barken 
 and Norra lakes, so far as detail of view is to be mentioned; 
 but the out-lines against the horizen, now equally luminous 
 at all points in the circle, have a great deal of suggestive 
 beauty. The close by and the distant black tracery immedi- 
 ately under the heavens, and our first long watching here of 
 the dimly, gently, shining constellations — it seems to us as 
 though we must mention these, if only to hint as to the lovely 
 and inspiring sights which the compass of this volume may 
 not always permit us to attempt to extendingly describe.
 
 A T SMEDJBA CKEN, 1 3 5 
 
 When such " darkness" as they possess here at this season of 
 the year — late in July — had fairly settled down on the face 
 of nature we retired to our pocket cabins, but were speedily 
 aroused from sleep by the voice of the Captain speaking to 
 the steersman from the miniature forecastle over our heads, 
 with that fat, unctuous and yet musical drawl and emphasis 
 which he and his brother officer on the Venus always put 
 upon the first syllable of the last word of the phrase of caution 
 singing out: Mycket lidet saki^. (very little slower); and we 
 then knew that we were close to the wharf at Smedjbacken. 
 Presently that little steamer turns its prow around so that the 
 flames from the great Smedjbacken furnaces that have their 
 mouths at the very head of the harbor, cast a blaze of light 
 into our cabin windows. We look out and see the firemen 
 in their long canvas sacks, with their wire eye-shades pro- 
 truding half a foot over their foreheads — hydras and gor- 
 gons! — and watch the rollers, grasping the big chunks of 
 metal from the door of the last furnace in the range, and by 
 successive racings, passing them under the revolving grooves 
 that gradually reduce them and lengthen them until the thirty 
 feet of thin slats or inch rods are allowed to shoot through 
 the smallest pinchers on their own account; — left contemi)t- 
 uously, as it were, wdiile a jump and running is made by the 
 second set of workmen for the next gob of white-heated and 
 viciously spitting iron! The roar of the blaze, the thumping 
 of the ponderous jaws of the shaping shafts, the apparently 
 desperate leaping around of the furnace men — now rushing 
 at, now fleeing away from, the molten logs at the gates of the 
 ovens or the lessening but out-strecthing javelins of light: — 
 here was another midnight spectacle of thrilling and abi- 
 ding interest. But evt-n while we rest our chins on our bull's- 
 eye windows and gaze at this scene of industry among the 
 Vulcans, tired nature asserts her sway, and we doze and un- 
 consciously drop back upon our bunks in our cabin on the 
 Pius by the side of the long low wharf in the town of Smedj- 
 backen. 
 
 One cent and a half a mile for a first-class passage, in- 
 cluding stateroom, on this trip on this steamer. One cent
 
 136 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and a half per mile for passage on the railroads above this 
 line, as far as Falun. 
 
 With a little lock, the steamer could ascend to Ludivika, 
 twenty miles North of this place, and without much interven- 
 ing canal construction, a clear through route for a vessel 
 could be made to Mora. There is not merely a chain, but 
 a network of lakes in this part of Sweden; and the Captain 
 says that it is well known that with no greater difficulties to 
 overcome than were encountered on the Gotha they could 
 all be connected for the purposes of continuous navigation. 
 Next year the company that now owns the Pius will put on 
 a swifter boat, by which the passage can be made from 
 Stockholm to Smedjbacken in seventeen hours; which 
 would make about eleven hours from Stromsholm. Tiav- 
 elers will then have no ground of complaint on tlie score of 
 accommodations on this route — until they get to Smedj- 
 backen. 
 
 The l;oat arriving here early in the morning, as indicated, 
 Smedjbacken can be "seen" in the forenoon; and I advise that 
 the afternoon train hence to Ludivika be taken. At the last- 
 named place there is a good hotel, admirably situated fa- 
 cing the lake; and, as Bsedecker writes, it is not expensive. 
 The inn at this place is kept by a widow lady, whose hus- 
 band died a few years ago, leaving the estate in debt 4,000 
 kroners. The pecuniary situation of the concern is told to 
 every guest, in so many words, and the size of the reckoning 
 would imply something of the kind, if not a direct syllable 
 was uttered on the subject. The European tricks for rais- 
 ing hotel bills to an extortionate figure have all been import- 
 ed into Smedjbacken. 
 
 Where shall we drive? There are no mountains, valleys or 
 plains of particular interest in the neighborhood. The 
 honest hostler tells us that we can walk to the ridge beyond the 
 church and get a good view of the lake — the best in the 
 country for a Swedish mile around. 
 
 The town of Smedjbacken sits on the slope of a gently ris- 
 ing hill, and from the principal street near the the church 
 you look to the Southeast upon Lake Norra, three hundred 
 yards distant, and across a mile width of waters to the low lying
 
 A T SMEDJBA CKEN. 1 3 7 
 
 forests on the farther shore; and over them to the mountains 
 of moderate hight which at a distance of ten and fifteen miles 
 — as the ridges varyingly run — form the extreme Southeast- 
 ern background of this j^leasing view. A more salubrious or 
 prettier situation for a villags it would be a difficult to 
 imagine. The church is planted at the most eligible spot 
 on the plateau that is convenient to the business portion of 
 the settlement, a real fact of statement and not a mere fact 
 of singularity like tlie remarkable running of the great rivers 
 past large cities in the interior of America! 
 
 The churchyard slopes very gradually down toward the lake 
 and approaches within a few hundred feet of the waters. 
 As we pass by in the morning we notice a newly-made grave, 
 and on our returning and inquiring we learn that a recently- 
 deceased young lady of the village is to be buried in the after- 
 noon. The sides of the grave were lined with evergreens and 
 the bottom was already strewn thickly with flowers. 
 
 The hotel-van driver took us to the rope walk, which he 
 said was the most important manulactory, — after the iron 
 furnaces. Four boys and three men were at work; 
 the elders spinning, three boys turning wheels and one 
 sorting flax. The boys, who are very adroit in their 
 labor average a kroner (or about 26 cents) a day, for 
 twelve hours work; the men receive twice that sum. The 
 rope was for halters, fishing nets and packing thread, and 
 has a very wide reputation for its excellence. Raspberries 
 are just coming into the market, and the ropcwalk men 
 clubbed together and bought four quarts for fifty ore, or 13 
 cents. 
 
 We asked the driver how long he had been in his place, etc. 
 He had been foreman of the stables and coachman for six 
 years and over. His wages were 500 kroner a year, out of 
 which he must pay all his expenses. He said that he could 
 not save anything after he had provided for his family and 
 supplied hirnself with the fine clothing which he must have 
 in his position. He did not speak in a complaining or mur- 
 muring tone at all, but after the manner of ihe country — frankly 
 in reply to our questions. He wished that he could save enough 
 to go to the United States, but he had nothing "laid up" at the
 
 138 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 end of the year. Simply this. But he does not Hke the 
 nobles. On this topic he Avas strong and even vehement in 
 his expressions. The country he said was cursed with the no- 
 bility; such were his sentiments. And among other matters 
 that he mentioned in this connection we noted his statement 
 that the poor in the parish said that the rich and titled could 
 eat all the eels that are caught in the streams. "Those creatures 
 are as much snakes as if they had rattles on them," said our 
 guide and rein-holder; "they act precisely the same as hoopers 
 when you put them in a pot. We have tried them, and we 
 all say that the nobles and big bellies can have all of that kind 
 that there is in the market. That is one luxury that they are 
 welcome to at any rate." 
 
 We drove to a large manufactory where every sort of 
 agricultural implement is made — a great shop and turning mill 
 that is called "The American Iron Works." The men 
 were going to dinner at i o'clock, and we inspected the 
 machinery at our leisure. We could not learn that any 
 American was on the premises, in the superintendency or fore- 
 manshipof the place, but we thought that there were abundant 
 evidences of coyping after our foundries and engine-fitting 
 works in New York and San Francisco. 
 
 The hour for the funeral was set at five o'clock. We reach- 
 ed the churchyard at half -past four. The grave was already 
 surrounded by a large gathering of women and girls of the vil- 
 lage and vicinity; all engaged in conversation respecting the 
 character of the deceased and the circumstances of her un- 
 timely death. We soon learned the name of the dead; often 
 uttered with tender and tremulous intonation — Minna Carlson. 
 She was just past her twentieth birthday. She was the handsom- 
 est girl in the neighborhood ; for a long time the belle the of par- 
 ish. Her father, who died not many years ago, was a wealthy 
 merchant. She died of a broken heart: deserted by the suitor 
 who had gained her affections and then taken his unannounc- 
 ed departure for unknown lands. Such was the story that we 
 gleaned from the whispering speech of the companions and 
 acquaintances that surrounded her fir-lined and garlanded 
 grave. 
 
 It was not until half past five that the great bell began lo
 
 A r SMEDJBA CKEN. 1 3 9 
 
 ring — not toll — signifying the approach of the pall-bear- 
 ers with the body that was to be laid in this yard this night. 
 After ten minutes of ringing the head of the little procession 
 was seen coming around the corner of the street, at the 
 South and West of the church inclosure. There was no 
 hearse. The cofhn was borne by six young men, who held it 
 between them upon broad, black linen straps, which passed 
 over their shoulders. There were no female mourners in 
 the procession; the only relative present at the sepulchre 
 being her brother, the officiating clergyman. He was a 
 young man of not more than 30. He walked to the grave 
 leaning upon the arm of a middle-aged man, who clasped 
 his afflicted friend across the back and held him up, literally 
 at times, during the religious ceremonies. The body being 
 lowered into the receptacle prepared for it, the brother cast 
 a bouquet upon the lid, and many others then and after- 
 wards walked up and dropped their wreathes and bunches of 
 roses and violets where his costlier offering was laid. Then 
 there was the singing of a hymn, — wretchedly sung by the 
 choir master or organist of the paiish. Then the young 
 priest raised his voice — after several ineffectual efforts to do 
 so — and read the prayers that are set down for such an 
 occasion. Then he cast the earth upon the coffin: "Earth 
 to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Then another 
 hymn was sung; and then came a funeral discourse by the 
 brother, uttered amid many interruptions from his own ir- 
 repressible sobbing and cries of sorrow from tlie weeping 
 multitude that crowded around the place of interment. 
 The young man took for his scripture the inquiry as to 
 How it was with the child; the reply that the child Avas 
 asleep, and the following declaration that it was well with 
 the sleeper. For half an hour the preacher, with earnest 
 eloquence, expounded the doctrine of the text. In his clos- 
 ing passages, where he bade farewell to tlie sister — "O, 
 how beloved in her own household and by all without the 
 family circle who came to know her well," — there were no 
 dry eyes in the throng, while the sound of low wailing told of 
 many women and men in close communion of suffering and 
 sympathy with the chief of mourners at this fair one's tomb-
 
 140 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 "Farewell, O, my sister! a bride now within the gates of 
 Paradise. Thou knowest how my soul goes out to thee; thou 
 must be conscious — I am sure by reasoning from the memory 
 which our Heavenly Father will leave to you of the bless- 
 ed past that was in this life — that we are weeping over thy 
 dear remains. You knew that I would be here; you feel, with 
 out a sense of pain, but in the bright expectation that comes 
 quick to you of our meeting hereafter, that I am beside your 
 lowly grave. And can'st thou see this troupe of loving 
 friends? And dost thou know that thy precious form reposes 
 upon the fairest flowers of the vale, brought by their hands? 
 O, God! if by nature or infirmity she loved too much Avithin 
 this cold world's orbit, we trust and believe that much will be 
 forgiven. And strengthen me and all of us from this hour, 
 that, as she followed or strove to walk in the footsteps of her 
 Saviour, despite all weakness or infirmities of her nature, we 
 may steadily push forward in the path of devotion and duty. 
 Farewell, O, sister! For nearly a score of years we have been 
 conscious of our companionship in a household of unselfish 
 affection. What sweet memories are ours together, and ours 
 alone, only we and our Saviour know. But we will yet tes- 
 tify of a friendship tliat passeth human speech to describe, 
 when both shall stand in the presence of our Maker and our 
 Judge. Farewell, O, sister! And yet not farewell. It is the 
 bitter night of our parting; but the day of a never-ending re- 
 union is at hand." 
 
 At the moment of uttering his last sentence the brother fell 
 back into the arms that were open to receive him, and the 
 huge, deep-toned bell began again its solemn chorus; and as 
 its mournful, now-muffled cadences were sounding in our ears, 
 the coffin was covered with the sand and the sods of the 
 cemetery; and he, stricken down at last to unconsciousness 
 despite all his manly resolution, was carried by the pall-bear- 
 ers to his mother's home.
 
 DELECARLIA. SMEDJBACKEN TO LEK8AND. 141 
 
 XIII. 
 
 DELECARLIA.— SMEDJBACKEN TO LEKSAND. 
 
 A BRANCH road comes down from Ludvika to Smedj- 
 backen, a distance of about twenty miles, and from the 
 last named place you can take your railway departure at 5 .-30 
 A. ]\i., by stepping on board the train that halts beside the 
 platform at the rear of the one hotel of which Smedjbacken 
 boasts. For a little over one cent a mile we ride to the 
 pleasant village and watering-place of which we have al- 
 ready spoken. At present you must walk a half mile from 
 the branch railway depot at Ludvika to the station on the 
 main line that runs thence to Borlange. 
 
 About an hour and a half is occupied in traversing the dis- 
 tance between Lake Vessman and our jumping-off place on 
 the trip through the province of Delecarlia. The railway 
 runs through an interesting section of country and encoun- 
 ters but few formidable obstacles to the engineer. There 
 is, however one tunnel, a quarter of a mile long, about which 
 there was at first much bragging, on the part of a few of our 
 many fellow passengers, who evidently had not been far from 
 their native home, either by travelling or reading. Soon 
 however we were told about the Alps and the Hoosac moun- 
 tains and the Los Angeles and San Francisco Ranges 
 ("Ja so") and their tunnels; so informed by Frokcn Wanberg 
 and other very intelligent members of the company with 
 whom we here first made an agreeable acquaintance. For 
 some time our nationality was not suspected, but so soon as 
 it transpired, our brighter Swedish chance companions were 
 determined that we should see that they at least were not 
 ignorant of the great railroad engineering achievements of 
 the world. The road was bordered most of the way by ]Mne
 
 1 42 NOR TBERN EUROPE. 
 
 groves of recent and slender growth, while close beside the 
 track the magenta and other wild flowers blossomed in 
 great profusion. We passed several of the largest mines in 
 the kingdom; and in many an opening in the woods the 
 long pumping arms, distant in parallels from each other ten 
 or twelve feet, were seen slowly and irregularly swinging on 
 their tent-stretched pivot rods. 
 
 As the train moves down into and at one edge of the vast 
 valley, in the midst of which Borlange is situated, there is 
 presented a magnificent view of plain and far-off amphitheatre 
 mountain sides. The two great churches that are embraced 
 in this landscape form very interesting objects upon which 
 to rest the eye and fix the line of different pictures that you 
 desire to retain in your memory. At Borlange we take what 
 is called a "diligence" and ride three miles to Basta, on the 
 Dalaf ; said diligence being a vehicle very much after the 
 style of our smaller emigrant wagons. These conveyances 
 — there are two of them — hold nine persons, — four on each 
 of the side seats and one with the driver ; but the measure- 
 ment is for persons that are under rather than above the 
 average dimensions. One corpulent gentleman threatened 
 to squeeze the complement unmercifully, but on his appear- 
 ance two young men who had taken seats agreed to walk 
 (as the majority of the passengers did) between the station 
 and the boat-landing ; and We had the jolly fat man as the 
 lively joker and story-teller of this short parenthetical ride. 
 
 At Borlange we were introduced to a wealthy and widely 
 known Delecarlian who resides near Leksand; whose daugh- 
 ter recently married a German nobleman. At the wedding 
 of his child he had five Governors present, and for six days 
 he kept open house in celebration of the nuptials. He wore 
 the costume of his District, and he desired to have us know 
 — and he impressed it upon us by several repetitions — that 
 his daughter wore the dress of her village when she stood at 
 the altar. A fine looking man was he, and we could well 
 believe the statement that came from every quarter to the 
 effect that his daughter was a beautiful child. [There is a 
 sweet Swedish phrase for this eulogy.]
 
 DELECARLIA. 8MEDJDACKEN TO LEK8AND. 
 
 143 
 
 At Basta, which is a "village" of three houses situated ten 
 rods apart, the little five-ton steamer is waiting for us — a boat 
 about the size of, and with the exception of the cabin in 
 the after part, resembling the boats of the Thames. Pas- 
 sengers have time to run up on the Predikstol, not twenty 
 rods distant from the landing, and enjoy the view to be 
 had there — a landscape that takes in twenty or thirty miles 
 of meadow and forest. 
 
 We were two and one-half hours ascending the river Gag- 
 ness Kyrka; but it is only meager justice to this part of the 
 trip to say that the ride is so pleasant that you regret that 
 the distance is not twice as great as it is. The banks are 
 generally high but the pictures of the river avenues are 
 fine. A few miles above our starting point we pass under a 
 temporary scaffolding constructed alongside of half com- 
 pleted bridge works of the best character — designed as 
 foundations for railway arches. 
 
 At Gagness Kyrka we have a diligence ride of a mile to 
 Grasta, where we take passage on the handsome steamer Gus- 
 taf Wasa (of 30 tons burden, with amid-ship located and hand- 
 somely furnished dining-room, and cabin, etc.): ascending 
 on this boat the Dalaf and Insjo to Leksand. At the land- 
 ing at Grasta we see a half-dozen of the Delecarlian women 
 attired in the dress we had admired so much at Stockholm 
 — each one with a little babe on her lap and a stocking in 
 process of completion in her hand. 
 
 The hour's ride on the Gustaf Wasa to the foot of a 
 South-east bay of Lake Siljan, is between banks that much 
 resemble those that stand on either side of the river from 
 Basta to Gagness; only that the stream is somewhat wider 
 and deeper, you could scarcely mark any distinction at all. 
 But there is ''variety" in the passage, derived from the 
 internal domestic fact that the Gustaf Wasa is "navigated" 
 by a drunken, noisy master who, as it subsequently ap- 
 peared, has acquired a reputation for insolent abuse towards 
 the patrons of his company — a reputation that extends from 
 Mora to Stockholm. The woman who had charge of the 
 saloon told one of our fellow-passengers that she had been
 
 144 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 praying for a month that some one would report the Cap- 
 tain to headquarters. But she said that usually travelers 
 declared, that as they had to ride with him frequently they 
 were not going to make an enemy of him; and as for the 
 tourists, they soon discovered what kind of a creature he was 
 and treated him with contempt, — replying when urged to 
 complain, that it was the duty of those whp were his regular 
 customers to testify about his outrageous conduct, before 
 the company's agents at Mora or Leksand, and that they 
 
 LEKSAND CHURCH. 
 
 would not go out of their way or stop to do that kind of 
 public service. Every one admits that the dirty fellow 
 should have been reported, and reported long ago. If Gustaf 
 Wasa were alive and should come across such a Captain 
 on board of a vessel bearing his name, he might be expect- 
 ed, according to Northern "orientalisms," to take the wretch 
 by the nape of the neck and fling him over into the Baltic 
 Sea.
 
 DELECARLIA SMEDJBACKEN TO LEKSAND. 145 
 
 The landing at Leksand is much like the steamboat wharf 
 that once was at the foot of Omaha Bluff, before the building 
 of the bridge across the Missouri at that point. You ascend 
 fifty or sixty feet, by a circuitous path, to the level of the one 
 long village street that runs close to the line of the Ostervick 
 bank. The visitor by this ascent reaches about the middle of 
 the village, as measured from the Kyrka on the Northeast to the 
 end of the row of buildings that constitute the stores and resi- 
 dences of the Leksanders proper. 
 
 Close to this point, is the house of our entertainer, Andreas 
 Gustaf Wickstrom ; and we have reason to feel grateful to 
 friends at Smedjbacken, who gave us his address. In a spirit 
 of gratitude and in obedience to the golden rule, we mention 
 his name and advise others to follow our example, and prefer 
 his accommodations to those of the landlord at the large 
 hotel. 
 
 We have observed all along this trip from Stromsholm that 
 the crops look unusually well (for we join to our own notice of 
 their excellent present promise the statements of comparison 
 made by our fellow-voyagers, who are familiar with the coun- 
 try, from place to place). We have been surprised to see such 
 splendid rye, often five and even six feet in length, with ker- 
 nals apparently filling to fatness on every straw. But many 
 ominous shrugs of the shoulders and occasional exclamations of 
 fear on the part of those with whom we converse on the subject — 
 inhabitants of this District — tell of the possibility of a wet 
 season that may possibly beat down and diminish the quan- 
 tity and impair greatly the quality of the grain. Here they 
 say that they are never sure of their crop until they have it in 
 the bread. Already there is whispering about the potatoes 
 showing signs of rot ; and O ! if they should ! 
 
 As already sufficiently stated, perhaps, Lecksand is situated 
 on a bluff, with respect to the lake, at the Siljan edge of a 
 meadow plain. At the Northeast end, close to the water line, 
 is a great church, with a turnip-shaped central tower. At the 
 Southern extremity, or foot of the street, is a large white 
 house — contrasting with all other dwellings by its color and 
 size — in which we are often and explicitly told, Don Pedro
 
 146 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 of Brazil did lodge when he condescended to visit this 
 District. 
 
 Froni the Wickstrom Mansion, not far from the line of the 
 steamer landing, to the gate of the churchyard, a distance of a 
 quarter of a mile, is an avenue lined with birch trees, set 
 about fifteen feet apart, and of the growth of one of our ma- 
 ture maples. Between this line of trees, on the left hand as 
 you go toward the church, is a green field. On the other hand 
 houses and building-site lots alternate. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon, shortly after our arrival, we started 
 to walk from Master Wickstrom's to the Kyrka. Down this 
 pleasant road, at about mid-distance, we met an old lady, with 
 a cane in one hand and a basket in the other, very slowly 
 making her way toward the centre of the village. She did the 
 best she could to courtesy to us, and we stopped and inquired 
 her name and age. She said that she was ninety-two years of 
 age, and was dependent on the town or parish for her support. 
 I'hen she asked our names and nativity, which we gave her. 
 We then dropped a small piece of money into her basket, 
 whereupon she trembled violently and let her cane fall and 
 picked up the coin. We were passing away from her when we 
 were stopped by her exclaiming : " O ! what is this ? Silver! 
 Strange people giving silver to an old woman like me ! Silver ! 
 May the Lord be in your heart ?" And as she took the stick, 
 which a little child raised for her and put in her hand, she re- 
 peated her grateful wish ; and as we moved on, and during 
 our walk for a distance of twenty steps beyond the spot where 
 she stood, we heard her saying to herself, now in a low tone 
 and again in a high-pitched voice, "O, this is wonderful ! This 
 is something that cannot be studied out !" 
 
 The church will seat two thousand people, and is the first 
 edifice of the kind that we have seen outside of Stockholm 
 that has a central tower instead of a steeple at the front ; in 
 this respect being like nearly all the Established Church build- 
 ings of worship in the Swedish Capital. The surrounding 
 churchyard embraces fifteen or twenty acres, and is used, of 
 course, as a place of interment by the parish. When we spoke 
 of the comparatively few number of gravestones or monu- 
 ments, in conversation with a man whom we chanced to meet
 
 DELECARLIA SMEDJBACKEN TO LEKSAND. 147 
 
 in the inclosure, he remarked : " Well, we don't scatter our 
 dead as you do. A family whose members love each other in 
 this life want to be buried together and rise together." 
 
 Here was information, explanation, justification (if need be) 
 and sharp shot at our lack of affection for one another, as 
 manifested in our cemetery arrangements (it may be), and the- 
 ology withal, — all in one condensed and compact dose. We 
 must have a care how we question these Delecarlians, lest by 
 our inflection we seem to imply some or any sort of criticism 
 on their habits, fashions or methods of treating or disposing of 
 their dead ! 
 
 A Summer Sunday morning at Leksand Kyrka is a far-famed 
 date and location for a spectacle worth beholding. A thousand 
 farmers and farmers' wives, sons and daughters are in attend- 
 ance, dressed for the most part in their picturesque costumes — ■ 
 coming in small companies — -five, eight, and even a dozen in a 
 party. They begin to gather in the churchyard at half -past 
 9 o'clock, and from that hour on to service-time there was also 
 an entertaining and enlivening scene of processions of boats 
 coming down the lake, bearing families and neighbors from 
 adjacent settlements or bees. Before Siljansnas had a church 
 of its own, it is said that more than half the congregation 
 came from across the lake on a Sunday or feast-day morning. 
 
 The men and women sit on opposite sides of the church, 
 which rule resulted in bringing about five hundred of the dal- 
 kuUer, or young women, into one division of the building; — 
 right under my eyes as I sat in the big pillar corner of the 
 men's side of the gallery, immediately below the organ loft. 
 This position I reached, I may mention, by the rather undig- 
 nified process of climbing over the partitions — two of them — 
 between the entrance platform of the ladies' gallery and the 
 premises allotted to the male sex ; — having unwittingly 
 ascended on the wrong side of the Southern end of the chure h. 
 Two boys, about sixteen years of age, before whom I finally 
 took my seat, were very much amused at mv expense. 
 
 As 1 have not anywhere seen a full or accurate description 
 of the peculiar dress or costume of these people — and as much 
 as possible I seek to avoid dwelling upon those matters spoken 
 of in the guide-books or the published books of travel — I will
 
 148 ^OR THERN E UR OPE. 
 
 give as complete an " inventory " as I can . As to the girls 
 and matrons first, of course. 
 
 The Leksancl women wear a low-cut shoe, manufactured out 
 of very heavy calfskin or cowhide ; some have a birchbark 
 layer in the soles. They are fastened by lacing with leather 
 strings. The heel, which is about an inch long, is set under 
 the middle of the instep, or nearly so ; tapering from the 
 width of the sole, which is three or even four inches wide, to 
 a bottom an inch in diameter. Sometimes the entire bottom 
 is shod with iron — a rim around the front like a horseshoe, 
 and a full metal cover or plate for the heel. In Summer, how- 
 ever, many of the younger ladies, especially those that go 
 South for employment during the warm season, discard the 
 iron border and penny heel-tap, for the reason of comparative 
 lightness ; adopting a shoe that is made exclusively of skin. 
 This — let it be noted — is confessedly on account of the appear- 
 ance of the article. 
 
 The stockings are knit of coarse, strong woolen yarn, the 
 hard texture of which is declared to be unendurable by some 
 of the Swedish peasants who live in a lower latitude. The 
 wool is dyed a flamingo red, before it is spun, in some in- 
 stances; though the coloring is usually delayed until after the 
 spinning has been completed. It might as Avell be stated here 
 that in the matter of bright colors, such as are selected for the 
 garments of this peasantry, the Delecarlians have no superiors 
 as dyers. Brilliant and abiding red and yellow they produce 
 to the pitch of perfection. The stockings are very thick, as 
 well as coarse and tough, and above the lacing of the shoe they 
 have a flush and often baggy appearance — not very noticeable, 
 perhaps, except upon close or frequent observation. When 
 the stocking is not pulled or stretched as tight as it can or 
 ought to be, it will not look neat about the edge of the leather; 
 but this defect is rarely permitted to be seen. 
 
 The skirt is made of closeIy-wo\'en material, entirely black, 
 with little gathering or puckering at the waist, and reaches the 
 ankle. The apron is made of woolen cloth, lighter in texture 
 than the skirt, and covers the entire front of the skirt, 
 except that it does not fall to the bottom by three or four 
 inches. It is colored an intense canary }ellow.
 
 DELECARLIA SMEDJBACKEN TO LEKSAND. 149 
 
 The waist is generally made of fine home-spun linen, dif- 
 fering according to the taste of the maker or wearer in thick- 
 ness ; sometimes as thin as muslin, and often as heavy as table- 
 spreads or napkins. The body is about as full as a gentleman's 
 shirt, fitting close to the neck. The sleeves are large, but not 
 flowing ; being gathered on the wrist by a band that fits neatly, 
 and that is adorned with the finest style of needle-work that 
 the owner can produce by her own skill or purchase from 
 others. It is supposed to be a point of good faith that the 
 fancy embroidery on this part of the costume shall be speci- 
 mens of the best accomplishment of tlie wearer herself— her 
 own handiwork. The bosom, collar and wristbands are 
 worthy of minute examination, for there the Delecarlian fami- 
 lies display consummate art. They are proverbially and justly 
 proud of their superiority as mistresses of the needle. 
 
 Over this white garment goes a skeleton waist, made of red 
 woolen cloth, with cotton lining. It is about four inches wide 
 at the girth, at the bottom of which is a roll an inch in 
 diameter, over which the skirt is fastened. Of the same ma- 
 terials are shoulder-straps, of ordinary suspender size in front, 
 which meet close up under the neck on the back ; there being 
 from that point to the jvmction a double width, down to the 
 top of the crimson band. At first sight it looks as though the 
 white and red garments were one, but in point of fact the latter 
 is a sort of open jacket. This outer woolen waist or " vest " 
 is fastened around the body by lacing ; there being four orna- 
 mental eyelets for the tape or strings of braided ribbons that 
 cross and checker and bind immediately in front. Thisjacket 
 is also variously and handsomely ornamented with stripes of 
 worsted seams. 
 
 The cap is the article that distinguishes the married from 
 the unmarried ; the difference being that the matrons wear a 
 close head-cover that is entirely white. There is no dif- 
 ference in the pattern. The hair is done up in flat braids or 
 plaitings, and so laid upon the head that there shall be no 
 noticeable protrusion or nob at any point. The cap is skull- 
 close on the forehead and down the temple and around to the 
 back of the neck. 'I'here is the same round puff on the 
 crown, pitching back at an angle of forty-five degrees, that our
 
 15° 
 
 NOR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 own grandmothers exhibited a quarter of a century ago. 
 Indeed, save in the character of the material and the adorn- 
 ment, a description of the form of the one would nearly 
 nearly answer for the other. The ground -work of the maid- 
 en's cap is usually of a creamy white ; and the rich and often 
 beautiful figures, wrought in needlework or painted in dyes, 
 are displayed on the flat surfaces and streak up on the saucer- 
 cover from behind. 
 
 The dress of the Leksand District yoeman consists of a long 
 coat — heavy, very short-waisted, made of dark woolen stuff ; 
 having a red cord edge, and fastened with hooks and eyes. 
 Their vest is of similar but lighter fabric. They wear knee- 
 breeches of buckskin or corduroy or (sometimes) strong 
 satinet. Their stockings are knit of Avhite yarn, although to 
 the uninformed observer they appear to be made of felt. They 
 are carded on the outside after they are knit, which gives them 
 a hairv-looking exterior. Over this stocking the knee-breeches 
 are buckled ; and from a band on the end of the breeches red 
 and black tassels are suspended by long strings — the end of 
 the tassels sometimes reaching down as far as the top of the 
 ankles. For foot covering, these mighty men of Delecarlia 
 have a shoe made of cowhide uppers with soles fully an inch 
 thick and composed in great part of birch bark. They wear 
 a broad-brimmed black felt hat. 
 
 The men of Mora are simihirly attired, except that they 
 wear roundabouts or jackets, and huge leather aprons which 
 cover their person in tront and on either side from the neck 
 to the shins. 
 
 The dress of the females in the Mora District differs from 
 that of the Leksand natives with respect to the skirt and 
 ai)ron and the covering for the head. Instead of a cap they 
 usually wear a handkerchief at a three-cornered tie. Their 
 skirt and apron are of black woolen goods, precisely like 
 that of their Leksand neighbors in quality ; but instead of 
 the yellow apron there is a bordering of two stripes running 
 around the bottom of that arlicle, of dark-red or yellow 
 color. Sometimes this adornment is also placed near the 
 end of the skirt. 
 
 Having digressed so much to describe the costumes of
 
 DELECARLIA SMEDJBACKEN TO LEKSAND. i^i 
 
 these people, I return to my post — pillar, I might say — ia 
 the gallery of the kyrka at Leksand. 
 
 The ])riest is dressed in a long frock coat, and wears be- 
 hind him a long plaited, trailing strip of black cloth, as wide 
 as the space between his shoulders, fastened in front by a 
 buckle on the neck-circling ribbon or band. The gorgeous 
 garments which we had seen in the ante-room are only worn 
 on special occasions, duly prescribed in the calendar. Here 
 the same man officiated at the altar and in the pulpit. He 
 preached from the text, " Make to yourselves friends of the 
 mammon of unrighteousness." The matter of the discourse 
 was most excellent. The delivery might have been worse, 
 but in what respect we cannot exactly say. It was a monoton- 
 ous whine from beginning to end. It may be said that he 
 did not deliver his sermon at all: he sniveled it out. The 
 same composition uttered by a good elocutionist would have 
 been very effective. We wished, for the sake of the audience, 
 including ourselves, and for the sake of the cause, that the 
 young man who stood and spoke at the grave of his sister at 
 Smedjbacken, a few hours before, had had tliat manuscript 
 on this occasion, and in this place, for a pulpit ministration. 
 
 We are satisfied that we do not write from any personal 
 prejudice or unfair judgment ; for the two lads that sat 
 behind us, and who had made merry at our awkward jjredic- 
 ament and manner of escape therefrom, and who had joined 
 in the singing heartily, went to sleep, with their two heads 
 laid at roof angle against each other, directly after the 
 preacher began to talk or to cry ! and another individual, a 
 man of middle age, who had looked at me with a severe and 
 reproving aspect — as I thought — because my attention was 
 not riveted on the prayer and hymn-book, also fell asleep, 
 and once or twice nearly toppled over the railing in front of 
 him, on which he had lain his head. I had been conscience- 
 struck by that man's accusing glance I had, perhaps, mis- 
 judged that man. I drag him in here now, and compel him 
 to be a witness to the estimate which I make of the char- 
 acter of the pulpit work of the assistant rector of St. Peter's 
 and St. Paul's Kyrka at Leksand. 
 
 The organ had a most unpromising exterior ; but, though
 
 152 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 it was apparently very unskillfully built, it gave no uncertain 
 sound and was melodious in all its pipes. Each line of each 
 hymn was sung with a most marked isolation, and where the 
 sentiment did not separately stand according to this division, 
 I could not resist a sense of the ludicrous in the perform- 
 ance. After the church services were over, we met the man 
 who answered our cemetery inquirv, and asked him why 
 they didn't sing their verses as they buried their dead. He 
 didn't understand what we meant, and it might have been 
 difficult or unsafe to explain. 
 
 I should mention that for the final ceremonies in the 
 church, for the morning service, the organist and the sing- 
 ers who were in the organ loft sang with an accompaniment 
 in our modern style a hymn of consoling import, to the tune 
 of Old Dundee. How refreshing and grandly it rolled out 
 amid those ancient and elephantine arches ! 
 
 XIV. 
 
 LEKSAND TO MORA. 
 
 Mora is at the head of Lake Siljan; or rather at the 
 head of a small bay with which the great lake proper ter- 
 minates at its Northern extremity. Formerly vessels passed 
 around the Southern or Southeastern end of the town and 
 landed at the bank of the main feeding stream; but a chan- 
 nel has been cut through the shallows that divide the bay or 
 harbor from the lake. The steamer Gustaf Wasa now goes 
 to a wharf that extends out about a hundred feet from the 
 line of the street that runs parallel with the water, immedi- 
 ately in front of the most thickly settled part of the village. 
 About two hundred yards from the wharf is a church, 
 which stands on a slight elevation, and from its doorways 
 an extended view can be had to the North and to the North- 
 east.
 
 LEKSAND TO MORA. 
 
 153 
 
 There are a number of Bys (pronounced bees,) which is 
 the name of hamlets or small clusters of farmhouses, on 
 each side of the town— if you chose to take Mora by that 
 title— and on a solitary walk of observation among them I 
 started early on the morning after our arrival there. Along 
 the street that led back from the harbor directly to the East, 
 or nearly so, I took my winding way. It is a circuitous, nar- 
 row passage, between low log houses, very few of which were 
 
 MORA. 
 
 painted red or any other color. As you increase your dis- 
 tance into Delecarlia on this route, you see fewer buildings 
 that are painted, until you come to villages that are like 
 Mora — where the plain hue of the timber is rarely changed 
 by the brush. And after the familiarity you have had with 
 the bright glaring scarlet of the houses below the line of this 
 District, these more Northern towns, and the dwellings 
 around them, have a shabby appearance. 
 
 Through this by I was passing, with a curious peering into
 
 154 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 lakes and courtyards, when I met face to face and alone, 
 another solitary v/alker. He was a full-grown specimen of 
 the Mora peasant, with an apron of such dimensions as to 
 fairly push out beyond the sides of his jacket. Hanging in 
 his belt, in front, was a sailor's knife, in an ornamented 
 sheath. He had a surly aspect, and stared at me at first 
 Avith that aforementioned, "What are you doing here?" kind 
 of a look, that, under the circumstances was not altogether 
 pleasant to encounter. However, he was apparently molli- 
 fied on near approach. If he nias really scowling when he 
 caught sight of me — or whatever the fact in that respect 
 may have been — while the mist still had an obscuring effect 
 on his outlines, I was rejoiced to notice that he smiled, 
 and presently be snatched his hat from his head and saluted, 
 "God dag- -dag." As I returned his greeting in my best 
 style, I felt that some one inside of me was saying or sing- 
 ing the adapted rhyme of the first edition of "Mother 
 Goose," with which I became acquainted: 
 
 Early on one Wednesday morning. 
 
 When foggy was the weather, 
 I met an old man all clotlied in leather. 
 He began to laugh, and I began to grin; 
 
 How do you do? and how do you do? 
 And how do you do, again? 
 
 Here I was joined by a companion, who came up to 
 where we were standijig and at once took part in the conver- 
 sation. For the sake of separation we will take the report- 
 er's divisions, whether the sentence is in fact interrogatory or 
 not: 
 
 Question — How is the weather for your harvests? Ans- 
 wer — It cannot be told yet. Our rot day was rainy, but it 
 does not always turn out as it once did — a rainy month 
 following. There is time enough yet to ruin the greater 
 portion of the rye. 
 
 Q. — To absolutely ruin it? A. — Well, to make it very 
 watery and light, besides the damage in breaking down. 
 
 Q. — When I was below I heard it said that you could not 
 raise rye up here, but I see that the finest looking grain is in
 
 'LEK3AXD TO MORA. l^e 
 
 this section. A. — O, when \vc have a good season our rye is as 
 excellent as there is in the world. 
 
 Q. — You have not taken your trimmings down from your mid- 
 summer poles? A. — Nay ; we let them stay until they drop off 
 before August. 
 
 Q. — Arc there many of your neighbors thinking of going to 
 America this year ? A. — Are you from America.? 
 
 Q. — Yay ; from San Francisco, California. A. — You don't 
 say so 1 [with a sharp, long stare and a brushing back of the 
 apron behind the coat or jacket] ; that is a terrible distance — 
 all the way to America ! 
 
 Q. — But is it as far from New York to California as from 
 Liverpool to New York [determined to dwell on this evidently 
 weak point of his wonder]. A. — Shoo ! you don't say so. My 
 boy has thought of going, but it is too far ! [This worthy 
 peasant looked 2i\\^y a few thousand miles as he slowly repeated 
 this exclamation.] Is it really a good country? 
 
 Q. — In what respect do you ask? A. — Are the people 
 moral ? Have they schools ? 
 
 Q, — We have more churches and schools than you have in 
 Sweden, so fer as that goes. A. — Buildings don't make Chris- 
 tians ? 
 
 Q. — I was going to say something like that myself. They 
 don't necessarily make people or a majority of the people 
 moral, — of course not. A. — I3ut California is a very bad place. 
 
 Q. — I am sorry that we have that sort of a reputation ; if we 
 do have it in this vicmity? [This was adopting a favorite 
 Swedish fashion of doubling the same sentence : — regrets and 
 inquiry in the same breath.] A. — O, you kill good China peo- 
 ple on the streets. 
 
 Q. — Who told you that? A. — I know it. I read it myself. 
 
 Q. — Do you believe all you read? A. — My paper always 
 speaks the truth ; that I know. 
 
 Q. — Its character and your faith are remarkable ; but if your 
 paper stated that wc are in the habit of killing innocent China- 
 men as a matter of common occurrence on the streets in Cali- 
 fornia, your paper stated what was not the truth. A. — It was 
 a translation from some of your own papers. My paper states 
 that every immigrant must huve ninety kroners [about I25]
 
 1^6 NORTHERN EUROPE, 
 
 when he lands in Castle Garden, New York, in order to get to 
 a place where he can find employment. 
 
 Q. — As a general statement, that is entirely untrue. I was 
 in Castle Garden myself a few days before I sailed from Amer- 
 ica, and I know that Swedish servants of all classes were then 
 in demand. I talked with the matron in charge of the female 
 department on this very subject. Forty-nine thousand Swedes 
 emigrated to the United States last year. A great many 
 Swedes — say as many as 10,000 — are going to the territory of 
 Montana this year ; and to reach that place there is a high 
 rate — higgler than there ought to be — for car fare. From New 
 York to Montana is over two thousand miles. A. — Is that so.^ 
 [repeated many times; breathing hard through a puckered 
 mouth, between exclamations ; and brushihg back that enor- 
 mous apron with a vigorous dashing around of the hands every 
 time the sentence was finished.] 
 
 Q. — I have just received a letter stating that the writer, who 
 is a wealthy lady living in Philadelphia, will pay the passage oi 
 a good Swedish servant ; wishing me to leave her address with 
 the proper officer or person in Stockholm or Gothenburg for 
 this purpose. [I knew this would be surprising intelligence to 
 this man, simple as the statement may seem to my American 
 reader.] A. — Why so ? 
 
 Q. — Such is the fact. Swedish servants have a iiigh reputa- 
 tion in America. And I think the same may be said of Swedish 
 farmers and mechanics. I am not here as an emigrant agent, 
 and can have no possible motive to induce emigration by ex- 
 agerated accounts of the advantag s my country presents to 
 the laboring man. A. — Come to my house ; I want to hear 
 you folks talk in the presence of my wife and children. 
 
 We went back to the upper part of the village of Mora — as 
 near as I can designate it — to a settlement separated from the 
 main cluster by a field one hundred and fifty rods wide. At a 
 gesture of invitation or command, we glanced, with our new- 
 found friend through a cottage window into a house of mourn- 
 ing — where an infant was lying in its grave clothes. We 
 entered a dwelling of two rooms — a house situated in a yard 
 surrounded by houses set at various angles ; one amongadozen, 
 I think. The wife was cooking at the fireplace at the black-
 
 LEKSAXD TO MORA. 
 
 157 
 
 smith-forge stand, as we best can describe it. She was aided by 
 a daughter of seventeen years — [this fact of age afterwarti 
 appeared] — who had the cap of the district, but otherwise was 
 
 n 
 o 
 
 H 
 H 
 > 
 O 
 W 
 
 (/) 
 
 o 
 PJ 
 
 W 
 
 w 
 
 w 
 o 
 > 
 
 dressed very much as our own people of similar age and occu- 
 pation. Two children, aged respectively eight and ten, sat on 
 the bed, that had been pushed into its day dimensions and 
 covered with a calico spread.
 
 1 5 8 ^OR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 The Moran — Here are Americans, from San Francisco, Cali- 
 fornia, 
 
 The Chorus — O, welcome, welcome ! sit one of you down 
 on the chair. 
 
 Now, the chair was a Boston rocking-chair — a chair after our 
 forefathers' pattern, and somewhat higher than wc were accus- 
 tomed to in our early days, — only differing in the one respect 
 mentioned. My companion took the proffered seat. We 
 observed, meanwhile, that the food that was being prepared was 
 made out of rye and water, with a little milk and salt con- 
 tribution. The contents of the pot on that fire were being 
 stirred with a little birch -twig broom, and the daughter took 
 the mother's place in I his duly as we sat down. 
 
 Stranger — I have often heard it said that you had no rock- 
 ing-chairs in Sweden. I have read that statement in one of 
 our newspapers. Now you see \\o\f you are misrepresented by 
 our press. 
 
 Moran — Not so. Rocking-chairs are a modern introduc- 
 tion. I remember when we didn't know of any such thing. 
 
 Stranger — But you have always had cradles ? 
 
 Moran — There is one in which I was put to sleep myself 
 when I was a baby. [He is now 54 years old.] This man 
 says that America is a good country, and that California is 
 very good, too. I want you to hear him talk. 
 
 Stranger — I am ashamed to attempt to speak very much be- 
 fore such an audience. [By the by, two neighbors — middle-aged 
 women — had come in and taken positions near the door, evi- 
 dently as summoned spectators and listeners.] I will leave my 
 companion here to talk to you. 
 
 We did our best to present the United States of America in 
 as bright a light as we could, having due regard to the respon- 
 sibility of our speech under such circumstances. We 
 had the most attentive, the most considerate, the most eager 
 audience that we ever possessed. We told of the scenes we 
 had witnessed in Castle Garden, New York ; told what 
 we had learned respecting the steamer Hues to America ; gave 
 the general geographical outlines of our nation, and, of course 
 mentioned the fact that California was the paradise of the 
 world. As we got no hint to stop from our auditors, we cut
 
 LEKSAND TO MORA. . j^o 
 
 our speech short off and rose to go, when the daughter fur- 
 nished us with coffee. 
 
 I am conscious of having too long delayed a special, if not 
 an extended reference to this truly national beverage of Sweden. 
 There are points with respect to it that I have not seen men- 
 itoned anywhere, that deserve notice. In the first place, let 
 us agree that it is a most singular fact that the best cup of 
 coffee in the world is prepared in Scandinavia. The far 
 North takes the tropical berry and converts it into the most 
 delicious non-intoxicant table drink that civilization has yet 
 produced. Its use is so frequent and liberal here as to be 
 rightly termed a beverage. And in speaking of its superior 
 excellence I do not — of course I do not— rely on my own 
 limited personal knowledge ; but many men and women from 
 among those most competent to judge, v/ho have traveled 
 through the Oriental countries, have joined in this verdict or 
 award, in conversations where I have recently been a partici- 
 pant or listener. 
 
 And, parenthetically, I would like to mention that next to 
 the diabolical decoction that is furnished forth in London in 
 many so-called first-class restaurants under the name of tea — 
 to which I think I have made a slight reference hereinbefore — 
 next, as perhaps properly it should be, on the score of atrocity, 
 is the mixture denominated coffee. 
 
 Tell it not in Stockholm, and publish it not in the villages of 
 Delecarlia ; but the truth is '.hat the coffee as well as the tea 
 set out in London, from the tables of the Grand Hotel to the 
 arbors that border on Kew Garden, is oftentimes merelv — 
 well, enigmatical. [That enigmatical is a good word, in this 
 connection, I solemnly submit to former and future travelers : 
 and it saves violence of expression.] Well, to put this com- 
 parison to one side and come to the question of How it is 
 thus ? 
 
 I have catechised on this subject, as in duty bound ; not 
 only in the regions below, but in the very spot where I am sit- 
 ting at this writing. I have not been neglectful of my privi- 
 leges and obligations in this respect. I have told the man's 
 household about it, and laid the matter with my most per-
 
 1 60 ^OR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 suasive speech — would it were more seductive on such a mis- 
 sion — before the old man's daughter. 
 
 A Swedish coffee-house in San Francisco, [and why not in 
 New York?] with Delecarlian maids in costum.e for waiters, 
 would prove a success. That is, a real, genuine, no-mistake 
 Scandinavian Java service restaurant. And, of course, the 
 same might be said of other large American cities — inclusive 
 of our national capital. And, by the way, why Avas there not a 
 Swedish cafe cottage at the Centennial Exhibition, as well as 
 a Swedish schoolhouse ? 
 
 But why this actual superiority in the quality of the prepara- 
 tion ? Whv this luscious and, at the same time, not nerve- 
 shattering fluid out of the same berry that is the presumed 
 basis for a drink that goes by the same name in other and 
 warmer climates ? There is the usual explanation on the 
 ground of adulteration, of course ; but that is not sufficient. 
 That will not answer where the berry is taken from the bag 
 and roasted and crushed in the same kitchen, so that there can 
 be no mistake as to the purity. I have replies from a number 
 of intelligent Swedish ladies of blood roval, and from some 
 peasant women at whose firesides we sat; each and all to the 
 same effect and comprehending like reasons. Some of the 
 reasons — and I need not detail them all — may excite a smile ; 
 but I believe that each one should be considered with respect. 
 
 A cause of this effect and defect here spoken of, is given in 
 behalf of the copper kettle in which these people almost in- 
 variably boil their pulverized berry. Then I have brought in 
 another cause and suggestion in the last adjective : go back- 
 ward for explanations and reasons. It is fresh roasted and 
 fresh from the hand-mill. And with respect to the roasting, 
 there is a precise art. The beautiful berry is rebellious on 
 rough or cruel or inartistic treatment while in the oven ; it 
 must there and then be looked after and treated with delicate 
 and distinguished consideration ; it must be heated and 
 browned to a crispy turn — not burned. O, how some of this 
 Swedish nobility do rise from their cushions and protest against 
 the manner in which this great gift to humanity is ill-used by 
 the slovenly, ignorant creatures of every^vhere else ; who in 
 private service or big manufacturing establishments do abuse
 
 LEKSAND TO MORA. i6i 
 
 and murder this queen product of the tropics ! With Avhat 
 commendable faithfulness and jealousy the red-capped maiden 
 that we spy through the window of an adjoining cottage is even 
 now shaking the little roaster over the coals. Can, pan and 
 pot are kept as closely sealed as possible, and the aroma is 
 husbanded to the uttermost. 
 
 Then some stress is laid on the excellence of the water that 
 is to be used in the preparation ; and a Swedish lady who has 
 lived abroad many years told of her failure to get anything like 
 satisfactory results in the United States until she had procured 
 a filter jar and changed the high-priced liquid that went by the 
 name of water in the Atlantic city where she resided into 
 something approaching the Adam's ale of her native land. I 
 was particularly charmed with this lady, I would like to men- 
 tion, because she answered an impudent fellow who was in- 
 troduced to the company we were in at one time, when he de- 
 clared that he had tasted as good coffee in Great Britain as 
 ever was brewed in Scandinavia, with a remarkable smile — 
 nothing more. She just folded her arms and smiled most sig- 
 nificantly, in a manner both contemptuous and commiserating, 
 yet entirely lady-like withal. Blessings on her head. 
 
 Regular hours for coflee are immediately after you rise in the 
 morning, and between 2 and 5 p. m. But hospitality is liable 
 to show itself at any time of the day when you chance to call, 
 in the proffer of this delicious cup. 
 
 You may challenge the judgment and comparison herein 
 published, with suspicion that experience and trials have been 
 limited elsewhere or confined to the humbler class of inns or 
 catering establishments ; but you will accept this statement in 
 its sweep and import-force — the statement that you will find no 
 better prepared coffee anywhere on the lines in this country 
 which we have traveled ; some better than others, but none 
 that is not good and worthy of the title of excellent. 
 
 And now here, in this lowly habitation, in this little By of 
 the Mora parish, there is served up to our welcome and enter- 
 tainment, not a muddy solution of sassafras, chickory and 
 licorice — such as we have tried to drink at a six-course din- 
 ner, as a guest, in all obligations of hospitality bound, in one 
 of the great dining-rooms in London, where everything else
 
 [62 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 set forth for the taste was very nice; — nor yet the fair to mid- 
 dUng and undoubtedly pure article that we get at our San 
 Francisco lunch-houses: but a nectar for the gods ! 
 
 Query — What did these people do before the discovery of 
 coffee and potatoes as articles for drink and meat preparation ? 
 Ans. — They did as the Romans did — had for before-dis- 
 covered substitutes barley water and onions. 
 
 MORA-KULLA. 
 
 Returning to our examination : 
 
 Question — How is it that your daughter is not in the 
 South, as many of your young women are ? In employment 
 for the summer months with the people of Stockholrn and 
 vicinity ? Answer — We have two daughters at service in the 
 Southern counties. We could not spare Minnie this season. 
 Mamma is getting old— too old to do all the housework ;
 
 LEKSAND TO MORA. 
 
 163 
 
 though, of course, she don't have as much to do as she did 
 before the most of the children were grown up. You should 
 have seen us when we had five babies, and the oldest only 
 five years of age, 
 
 Q. Yes, I should liked to have called on you then. 
 Mamma must have been busy about tliose days ? A. It was 
 spring, spring, spring, with mamma then. | '" Spring" means 
 run ; but run don't give the exact emphasis. Spring is the 
 word."] 
 
 We did not doubt the last statement, and said so ; and bid- 
 ding our entertainers a temporary farewell — adieu ! adieu ! 
 we hastened to meet the members of our company who had 
 appointed to visit the Mora church at the hour that was now 
 being struck on the tower bell. Mr. B. V. Nordstedt of 
 Falun appeared at the cafe with the keys of the sacred 
 edifice ; three on the string, and either one as big as a San 
 Francisco policeman's club. Iron is cheap in Sweden. 
 
 Before entering we should itemize the tower. It is two 
 hundred feet high. It is a square brick structure for the dis- 
 tance of one hundred and twenty-five feet. Under the clock 
 there is a sign reading : " Guida till ara hafver kung carl xi 
 ar 1673, latit byggia detta toru." 
 
 The clock is the handiwork of the Delecarlians of this 
 neighborhood, who manufactured and presented it to the 
 authorities a few years ago. As clock manufacturers the De- 
 lecarlians are the rivals of the Connecticut Yankees ; or have 
 been such until recently. I believe it was rather of an afflic- 
 tion, when it was stated at the cottage to which I have just 
 referred, that the landlady at our inn had a New Haven time- 
 piece. But it is claimed that the home-made clocks are more 
 durable than ours ; which was denied by us, of course. The 
 Delecarlians put only one pointer — an hour hand — on their 
 tower clocks. 
 
 The church is cruciform in character, as are most build- 
 ings of this kind in this country. It will seat over 2,000.. Our 
 friend, Nordstedt, used the equivalent to our phrase "com- 
 fortably seat," etc., in speaking about this church's accommo- 
 dations. But I knew better, and I had the " courage of my
 
 164 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 convictions " adequate to sustain me in very politely but 
 distinctly saying as much. 
 
 Above the altar is a painting of tl)e crucifixion. On one 
 side of this painting is a large gilded cross ; on the other side 
 is an anchor, leaned upon by effigies. At one side of the 
 chancel is a very ancient picture of the baptism of Christ by 
 John. Immediately over the altar, and under the painting, is 
 a medallion representation of The Last Supper. On the altar 
 is a cross and four candlesticks. Portraits, (supposed to be) of 
 former kings and queens — a dozen of them, I think — are on 
 the walls on the inside of the choir end of the building. In 
 the closets in the sacristry there are a score of highly orna- 
 mented robes and crowns. In England or the United States 
 the interior of this edifice, like that of most of those we have 
 entered in this country, would at once impress the visitor with 
 the belief that he was within the walls of a Roman Catholic 
 church. Not until he observed the absence from the altar of 
 the receptacle for the communion bread, and remarked — as he 
 probably would very soon — the sexton or verger walking around 
 with his hat on, would he suspect otherwise — under like 
 appearances in any other land. 
 
 The altar cloth was made in 1794. There a^e seats around 
 the chancel for the comministrars. Denis Borg was a warden, 
 appointed in 1880. So reads the record on the wall. 
 
 A list of the pastors in this church is painted on the panels 
 of the first of the five galleries that face the altar. The other 
 panels, sixty-one in number, contain cabinet paintings, sup- 
 posed to be illustrative of Scripture. Some are horribly gro- 
 tesque. For instance, one represents Christ as a little child 
 standing on a table or pedestal, with the blood spurting out of 
 the centre of his breast. A couple of miserable-looking crea- 
 tures, somewhat after the similitude of men, are catching this 
 blood in a large bowl. There were other representations that 
 were, if anything, more shocking than this, which I would not 
 venture to describe here. 
 
 Matthias Laurentia was pastor of this church in 1372 ; and 
 the grave-digger, whom we afterward met and conversed with 
 in the yard, said that he was a very good pastor for his day. 
 When I inquired how he knew, he bluntly smiled at me and
 
 LEKSAND TO MORA. 165 
 
 said : " Yes, of course it must be so, or his name would not 
 be on the roll." I afterwards had the question put to him by a 
 friend from Borlange, and the reply was the same. 
 
 Immediately in front of the altar is a stone slab dated 1759. 
 On it, among much engraving, were these words : " Magister 
 Peter WoUenius. Here He the tired bones." 
 
 The pews are raised above the stone floor, as noted in the 
 Leksand and other ancient churches. The pulpit is of the 
 wine-cup pattern that is seen in every church in Sweden ; with 
 sounding-board and hour-glasses, and furnished with a Bible 
 dated 1708 and a prayer-book published in 1845. There are 
 six panels on the pulpit, with very much gilded representations 
 of passages in the life of Chrtst. Christ Talking With Nicode- 
 mus at Night and Christ Talking to the Samaritan Woman 
 at the Well, are uniformly seen in surh panels, where there is 
 any medallion work at all. In this instance Nicodemus and 
 the Samaritan woman were hideous enough to satisfy the 
 malevolence of any enemy of their respective tribes. There 
 are seven gilded cherubs under the pulpit, and some of them 
 appeared to me to have an irreverent giggle on their counte- 
 nances. 
 
 There are four entrances to the church ; three of double 
 doors, ten feet in width. Last Sunday the building was densely 
 packed, aud it was estimated that three thousand persons were 
 in attendance and that nearly one thousand took com.munion. 
 This is a church-going nation. 
 
 There is a great deal of whittling on the railing of the pews 
 in the galleries, showing again the natural, and probably the 
 actual genealogical affinity of the Delecarlians and the Con- 
 necticut boys. Ed, Erickson has done a large amount of work 
 of this kind, in two or three of the galleries ; and his capital- 
 ized signature or his skeleton mark — as E-D ER K N — is seen 
 so frequently in close proximity to the name of Anna Larson — 
 who I am sure never did any jack-knife work here at all — that 
 we suspect that Ed. has been over on the side reserved for the 
 girls, and carved both names as a hint of his affection. 
 
 The pillars are octagonal, and five feet in diameter. There 
 are two great iron stoves, recently set up ; and the stovepipe 
 that emerges from the ridge of the roof is constructed in the 
 shape of a cross.
 
 1 66 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 XV. 
 
 AT MORA AND UTMELAND. 
 
 The great object of interest in this section is the scene of 
 Gustavaa Vasa's conceahiient and escape, which is situated 
 about a mile and a half from the Mora Church. To that point, 
 under the guidance of the son of our landlady, our company 
 started at noon of this day. Our pilot — a lad of eighteen — 
 K. A. Sedjfors by name — purposes going to California in the 
 Fall, and you can imagine the interest he took in showing us all 
 the courtesies in his power. 
 
 Near the post office we met half a dozen costumed girls from 
 another district. They wore the cross-barred skirt and the 
 sugar-loaf hat which are taken as a pattern for most of the dolls 
 that are sent abroad to represent the Delecarlian dress. By 
 many this is considered the handsomest style in vogue ; and 
 this, as a common judgment, would seem to be established by 
 the fact that the pictures most frequently represent this fashion. 
 
 Distant from the church half a mile, on the shore of the lake 
 or harbor, is a By — a collection of twenty houses ; and three of 
 the dwelling-houses may be said to surround a well and a hay- 
 rick. To this sub-division — at the lower end of this settle- 
 ment — we paid a special visit, to sample the Delecarlian peas- 
 ant's home. The account we had given of our own call at a 
 cottage in another locality made our less fortunate friends very 
 zealous for observation and inspection here. 
 
 As we approached this cluster of dwelling-houses and cow- 
 sheds, we saw a sign of alarm on the part of some of the female 
 inhabitants, who happened at that time to be engaged in shak- 
 ing down the hay from the drying poles that were arranged 
 adjacent to their Summer sleeping quarters. They fled in-doors 
 to change their apparel, and if the whole truth must be known, 
 to add a little more covering to their lower limbs. They had
 
 A T MORA AND UTMELAND. i6j 
 
 been at work not only bare-footed but bare-legged ; as is the 
 habit of these people in the warm weather while engaged in 
 such business. 
 
 We waited at the door of the last house a few minutes, until 
 there was a signal for us to enter. There was one room below, 
 about ten feet square, and an attic with a loose floor — a ladder 
 reaching to a trap-space — constituted the divisions. On one 
 side of the ground story was a double bunk, while a corner on 
 the opposite side was curtained off for a separate sleeping apart- 
 ment. In another corner was a chest, out of which several 
 specimen skirts and jackets were taken and sold to some of our 
 party. In the attic four beds were spread ; and the accommo- 
 dation in this Harvest-home was said to be ample for twelve 
 persons. 
 
 The cattle-house, which is about fifteen yards distant, was 
 not quite twice the size of the Summer sleeping-house. It was 
 furnished with a stone grate and a large iron-kettle, in which, 
 during the Winter months, the food of the animals as 
 formerly boiled ; a practice now almost wholly abandoned. 
 This mode of preparing the cut hay and straw and vegetables 
 that were given to the cows and sheep had an additional advan- 
 tage in tempering the atmosphere in the "cattle-cabin" to the 
 Spring lambs and early calves. On this matter there was a great 
 deal of excessively-repeated speech on the part of the natives of 
 this section and the visitors from lower latitudes in this country. 
 There was a good-natured but very earnest dispute concerning 
 the benefits or disadvantages of this and that method of stabling 
 the animals during the inclement season. There was a very in- 
 telligent understanding of the latest teaching of the agricultural 
 schools that abound in Sweden, 
 
 In the dwelling-houses connected with this circle of indus- 
 trial buildings we were shown the wool-spinning wheel and card 
 machine in full operation ; for in each place visited the mother 
 was occupied at one or the other, with a child in a cradle at her 
 side. Here, too, are the fixed corner bedsteads. They are 
 very deceptive m one respect. It would seem to the inexperi- 
 enced that they were too small by about one-half, for the 
 accommodation of a man of average length. The well-known 
 measurement by the eye of the length of a flour barrel, or the
 
 i68 
 
 NOR THERM E UROPE. 
 
 dimensions of a horse's head, would not be so far out of the 
 way on the first guess, as are the estimates on these sleep-cup- 
 boards. They are five feet eight inches deep, and a tape-hne 
 was carefully applied by every member of our party before 
 incredulity would give way to absolute sight. Our Swedish 
 camrades were equal disbelievers with us from the United 
 States, on this important subject ; and the torrents of nouns, ' 
 participles and adjectives that flew around the comparatively few 
 verbs that were used on this occasion by the natives, was dis- 
 heartening to a pupil in the primary department ; and the 
 hearty smacks laid in and over the "att's sa " choruses, were 
 like a tumble-down of a high pile of clapboards on a Stuart 
 street dock. 
 
 As we pushed along toward the monument-like building at 
 Utmeland, we measured the hight of the growing stalks of 
 grain on either hand ; and we saw several fields of rye, the ma- 
 jority of whose waving heads were over our own a foot or more, 
 and gave every promise of a splendid yield. It was sorrowful, 
 indeed, to listen to the story of probabilides of an almost entire 
 destruction of this growth of the main staple grain of Sweden. 
 But unless the rainfall slackens, as compared with the showers 
 of the past week, and unless the prophecy of rot-day weather is 
 unfulfilled — which few persons hereabout seems to hopefully 
 expect — the rye crop in this region, now so promising, will 
 prove an entire failure. 
 
 We happened to say to our Swedish companions : "Of 
 course you have become familiar with the song of our Bobby 
 Burns, — 'Com.in' Thro' The Rye ?' " 
 
 To our amazement they one and all instantly replied : "Nay ; 
 what is that.?" 
 
 " What ! you never heard of the lines : 
 
 " ' If a body meet a body comin thro' the rye, 
 If a body kiss a body, need a body cry ?" 
 
 "Nay." ; 
 
 We draw to one side to reflect and weep in sol'tade. 
 After a little space we returned to the company: " How is it 
 possible that you have never heard of that song ? You sing- 
 ing people ? You people that must have a great pride over
 
 AT MORA AND UTMELAAD. 169 
 
 the triumphs of Jenny Lind and Christine Nilsson ? Don't 
 you know that Jenny Lind sang 'Comin' thro' the rye' as 
 her principal encore song when she visited America in 1850 
 or 1851 ?" 
 
 "No," They were very proud of their renowned female 
 vocalists — they called them 'birds' in a very pleasant way; — 
 but they really never had heard anything of Burns' celebrat- 
 ed song. We said: "Why, the very fact that yours is essent- 
 ially a country of rye ought to have made it inevitable that 
 such people as you are should be acquainted with this dainty 
 little production from the pen of the Scottish bard. And, 
 whatever may have been the poets original intention in the 
 use of the words, "the rye" had popular acceptance as 
 meaning a field of grain." 
 
 And we know that we shall have sympathizers the world 
 over, when we say and declare that this matter distressed us 
 considerably, — alternately puzzling and grieving us. But 
 the case was as it was; the fact is on record, and let the sor- 
 row and shame go abroad, as the ignorance of these repre- 
 sentative men and women — and they were representative, 
 undoubtedly — may suggest or provoke judgment! We have 
 done our duty. Every incident of importance in the biog- 
 raphies of the two bright Swedish vocalists was known to 
 the excellent people — as it seemed to us, — save this one 
 precious and essential item. 
 
 Let it be dwelt upon an instant longer: to add that there are 
 at least a score of persons in San Francisco who sat in 
 Metropolitan Hall, New York city, when I was there, boy- 
 hood-days ago, and listened to that matchless human night- 
 ingale pouring forth wondrous melodies; and reappearing 
 at the third encore and bewitching us with her ren- 
 dition of the simple but exquisite song to which we have re- 
 ferred. Of all that I thought, last Spring, when I saw 
 P. T. Barnum at Bridgeport, looking not much older than 
 when he led Jenny Lind on the platform at the Metro- 
 poHtan, thirty-three years ago. 
 
 Where the hamlet of Utmeland once was, and on the spot 
 which still holds the name, there are but four hous -s now 
 standing; a farmer's cottage and barn and a monument-like 
 building. In the otiier cottage the keeper resides.
 
 1 7 o NOR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 Approaching the historic spot, we pass lo the rear of a fine 
 private residence, situated in the midst of grounds on a slight 
 eminence above the surrounding country, and called Cather- 
 inesberg. On the opposite side of the harbor is a high knoll, 
 which is called Kristineberg, the magnificent view from 
 which draws commending notice even from the cautious, 
 critical and phlegmatic Baidecker. These residences are 
 owned by two brothers, who put in an occasional appearance, 
 as their leisure from business or as their tastes incline. 
 
 We note the short scythes that the farmers use — about half 
 the size of those that are generally swung in America — and 
 as we walk along a friend from Upsala tells us a story about 
 a youth who went to the United States last year and was im- 
 mediately employed by a kind-hearted farmer in Genesee 
 country, New York. The boy was accustomed to work dur- 
 ing all the dayhght hours of September, and in that first 
 month of his hiring he was directed at seven o'clock to go to 
 sici'p. Now sleep in Swedish means to sharpen; and the lad 
 understood that he was to take the sickles that were used for 
 the reaping of the tangled grain and put an edge on them at 
 the grindstone. So he gathered the blades and went to the 
 woodshed, where the wheel was standing in the frame, and 
 there he stood, for half an hour or more, — waiting. Out from 
 the house comes the husbandman and asks why his boy 
 lingers in that place — why he does not go to sleep. The 
 boy replied that he could not do that until he had his girl. 
 This bothered the farmer until after a protracted interchange 
 of wrecked vernaculars, it was made clear that it was the in- 
 variable practice in Sweden to have the grindstone turned 
 by a girl, while sharpening of the scythe for the morrow's 
 work was going on. 
 
 We remarked that the atmosphere was loaded with a per- 
 fume like that which regaled us to surfeit, not to say 
 suffocation, when we attend church in New England on Sum- 
 mer Sunday afternoons; in the days when we belonged to 
 the choir and sat in the organ gallery. Ah ! how pungent 
 this same aroma to our nostrils, in those young days of old.
 
 A T MORA AND UTMELAND. 
 
 171 
 
 How -came it here, and in such heavy volume ! It is the 
 scent of the wild kimmel that grows rank on every side. 
 
 We passed a very advanced and partly mown field of 
 barley,— sown a month or more before the adjacent acres 
 were planted, as we were assured, and can well believe. "It 
 is the first to be cut in Dalecarlia, " boasts the proprietor, as 
 he pauses in his work to doff his hat and " God-da^-i-dag " 
 separately jind with most particular politeness. Why, this 
 must be the field and one of the men that we saw at 3 o'clock 
 this morning when we glanced through the glass all around 
 the horizen, and shouted "All's well" in involuntary response 
 to the horn-blowing watchman of Mora. " Ja, ja, ja, " this 
 was the place. ".Vist, vist." Another chorus of "Att sa;" 
 with not so much clatter of intonation as when it rose and 
 reverberated in the peasant's cottage, but still making a very 
 decided concussion on the all-incasing air. So here it was 
 that we saw — 
 
 "In among the bearded barley. 
 Reapers, reaping bright and early." 
 
 It is within a few feet of the water's edge that the structure 
 called the monument stands. The Goverment reservation is 
 about twenty acres, as near as I could judge. The building 
 is of stone, about fourteen feet high and thirty by 
 twenty-two feet in surface measurement. We passed around 
 the walls and we exchanged guesses as to the hight; the 
 keeper declaring that he could not give any figures as to the 
 size of the structure. 
 
 The grounds about the site of the ancient cottage, in the 
 cellar of which the wife of Tomt-Mals Larso concealed 
 Gustavus Wasa from his pursuing enemies, are tastefully kept, 
 appropriately arranged in walks and beds and shaded roads. 
 
 The keeper is an old soldier, Carl B. Oberg by name. To 
 begin with and to end with first and last, you may be sure 
 you will be introduced into his little office; which is sur- 
 rounded with a peculiar and very beautiful species of weep- 
 ing birch. In that office visitors are shown a tempting array 
 of photographs of scenery in the neighborhood of the monu- 
 ment, and photographic views taken from the grounds as a 
 standing-point for lake and distant mountain obervations.
 
 I -J 2 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 And here, also are pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge and other 
 wonderful structures, "for sale at lowest prices." First or 
 last, sooner or later, you must buy. Carl Oberg is an adroit 
 salesman; he can nurse the slightest spark of desire to pur- 
 chase into a fire that cannot be quenched — except by tak- 
 ing cards from his hand and passing kroners into the thus 
 vacated palm. He can do more. He can create a resist- 
 less wish to purchase. He would be worth $300 a month to 
 Lord & Taylor or Constable & Co., in New York city, or to 
 Doane & Henshehvood, corner of Kearny and Sutter streets, 
 San Francisco, — so soon as he became sufficiently aquainted 
 with our language to compose twenty or thirty soliciting sen- 
 tences. His bland, gracious, condescending, insinuating, in- 
 toxicating, deliriously-paralyzing urbanity cannot be with- 
 stood, and may as well be met with a flag of truce forthwith; 
 thereby saving articles of surrender. The only explanation 
 of the fact that he has escaped denominational personal 
 appropriation as a debt-extinguisher or church charity Fair 
 auctioneer, must be that there are not such, or few such, 
 occasions in Sweden as call for this class of purse emptying 
 seducers 
 
 The handsome oak doors of the building that occupies the 
 the spot on which the cottage stood a few years ago, are 
 thrown open with an impressive wave ol the arm, rather than 
 with a plebeian push from the elbow, by the aforesaid Carl 
 B. Oberg, His Majesty's keeper at this historic place. " Be 
 so good as to walk in." One of the young ladies of the 
 party remarked that she would have gone in on that gesture, 
 if it had made her freckled for life. Could more be said on 
 this point .^ 
 
 But the doors are opened and we are in the oblong, close- 
 walled room, and feel the presence of the great Gustavus ! 
 There is a hush of solemn silence ; the prattle of merriment 
 is no more. Let us not be challenged as wantonly seeking 
 to belittle this august scene. 
 
 Over the door we read : "Gustavus Wasa, exiled, walked in 
 Delecarlia and exhorted its men to struggle for the liberty of 
 their country, and was saved on this place from the spies sent 
 by the tyrant, by the presence of mind of a Dalecarlian 
 woman." And again: "Charles XV., the i8th succssor of
 
 AT MORA AND UTMELAND. 
 
 173 
 
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 H
 
 1 74 A'OJ^ THERN E UROPE. 
 
 Gustaviis Wasa on the Swedish Throne, adorned with his own 
 hand this monument, erected by the gratefulness of the 
 Swedish people to the remembrance of the liberator 300 years 
 after his death." 
 
 The sunlight pours down through the flat glass ceiling upon 
 the paved floor, on the side of Avhich is a double-trap lid that 
 we at once know must cover the little arched bin or oven where 
 the great Gustavus was quickly and cunningly hidden by the 
 wife of Larsons, at the very instant that the troops of Chris- 
 tian were dismounting in front of the cottage. 
 
 Directly facing us as we enter is a famous painting, by J. Y. 
 Hockert — a canvas ten by twelve feet — which vividly pre- 
 sents the chieftain in the act of descending into the cellar, 
 while the faithful friend holds the empty brewing tub in the 
 attitude of one about to cast it over the trap when it shall 
 have been closed. Through the window she sees the 
 advancing troopers already close to the rear of the dwelling 
 and fear and courageous resolution are at the same time 
 stamped upon her countenance. 
 
 The subjoined translation of the inscription over this 
 painting is, perhaps, sufficiently full as a description of the 
 scene that is sought to be depicted: "As a hunted game, on 
 roads and footpaths in forests and grounds, pursued by the 
 friends and servants of his enemies, Gustavus came in the 
 days before Christmas to Mora, seeking for protection at the 
 hands of the honest Tomts- Mates Larsson, in the village 
 Utmeland. The spies of his enemies came soon to catch 
 prey, but the ingenious wife of Mats Larsson occupied with 
 the brewing for the Xmas, told the fugitive to go down into 
 the cellar. Then she put the beer vat over the trap of the 
 door of the cellar: thus saving the future liberator of her 
 native country from being discovered by his enemies, who 
 forced their way into the cottage and searched in every 
 crack and corner, — as they supposed." 
 
 The face of Gustavus, as painted here, has an appealing 
 and rather distrustful look, which we mention to our cordial 
 guide. "That is correct," he replied; "that is just as it 
 should be. He was advised to seek this cottage as a safe 
 retreat by an old schoolfellow, who was pastor of Mora
 
 AT MORA AND UTMELAND. ly- 
 
 Church. Gustavus was lotli to suspect treachery on the 
 part of his playmate, who did, in fact, attempt to betray him. 
 So at first, when he saw the troopers coming, his suspicion 
 naturally rested on Mats Larsson and his wife. His last 
 words to her before she closed the trap were 'Woman, if you 
 can be brought to prove false to me you will not lack for 
 money.' But they could not buy her; thev could not buy her ! 
 Nay! Nay!" And the knightly old soldier rubbed his 'hands 
 as he said this, as though he were earnestly congratulaiing 
 himself and his country and the world, over an event of 
 patriotic faithfulness that took place the day before. He im- 
 pressed us all in that way. 
 
 The picture is worthy of study; and we very much regretted 
 the shortness of our visit for gazing upon it. All the details 
 of cottage furniture — for which historic fidelity is claimed — 
 are well presented: and as the eye comes back from seeing 
 and examining them, there is fresh as ever the thrill of sympa- 
 thy with that brave and beautiful peasant woman: grasping the 
 vat (which, history tells us, fortunately had been emptied a min- 
 ute before), casting a glance of terror at the mailed and spear- 
 bearing horsemen who are galloping'close to her house — about 
 to utter her parting admonition and assurance as one can well 
 believe: "Go ! I will trick them: I will save you ! " 
 
 The painting by E. Berg, of the same size as that from the 
 brush ol llockert, is placed on the left-hand wall, and it pre- 
 sents a view of the house of Ornas, near Borlange, which we 
 shall soon visit; where Gustavus was also at one time conceal- 
 ed, and from which he was enablel, by the steadfast aid of an- 
 other woman, to elude his pursurers. Over this canvas is an 
 inscription, of which we give the following interpretation: 
 "Gustavus Wasa, expecting to find minds and arms to save his 
 native country, walked disguised from a village in Delarne. At 
 the end of November, 1530, he came to the estate of Arendt 
 Persson. This traitorous friend of his youth, feigning interest 
 for the fate of his country and sympathy with the plans of Gus- 
 tavus for its liberation, lodged him in an old house, which is 
 still standing, under the pretext of finding out the thoughts of 
 the neighbors. Perssons started to inform the Steward of the 
 district of the hiding place of the fugitive, on whose head a
 
 1 7 6 ^OH THERN E UROPE. 
 
 high price had been set; but Arendt Perssons wife, Barbro 
 Stigsdotter, suspecting the plans of her husband, called her 
 guest and procured him means of escape from the overhanging 
 danger. " 
 
 As a matter of fact, she let him down from a window, in 
 the Kungs-kammare, by a long towel. He was then taken 
 in a boat and carried to the other side of the Lake Rank- 
 hyttan. 
 
 The painting by Charles XV, which is of equal propor- 
 tions with the others, and might obtain the same price at an 
 auction where the bidders were exclusively composed of 
 railroad monopolists, is a daub; but as it is the production 
 of a royal hand, and was the well-meant effort of a very pop- 
 ular King — to whom, perhaps, nothing worse than this can 
 be attributed — a "successor on the throne" (by interpolation, 
 so to speak,) and as it makes a corresponding "adornment." — 
 also, so to speak — we may continue to tolerate M in its place 
 a few years longer. It is entitled, "Salen in Lima." It is a 
 landscape; simply that, and nothing more. The inscription 
 over this painting reads about as follows: "After vain efforts 
 to exalt the Dalecarlians to struggle for liberty, Gustavus 
 walked to the boundries of Norway, to leave his country, 
 which he saw no more prospect of saving. In the mean- 
 time other -fugitives came with the news about the 
 cruelties of King Christian, both in the Capital and in the 
 country. The Dalecarlians, changing their minds, sent 
 messengers to seek and recall Gustavus, who was found in 
 the village of Salen, in the parish of Lima. He returned 
 with joy and was chosen Captain by the people gathered in 
 ISIora, and set out in order to drive away the tyrant and his 
 adherents. The saved country elevated the liberator upon 
 the throne, which he confirmed against enemies without and 
 within. The exiled fugitive was the founder of a new ship 
 of state, and the ancestor of one of the noblest royal families 
 of Europe." 
 
 The trapdoor was opened, and one at a time we descended 
 and surveyed the cellar. The steps are made of stone, and 
 have been put in at the side, where the ladder rested on which 
 the great Gustavus himself walked down. We measured the
 
 AT MORA AND UTMELAXD. 
 
 177 
 
 hiding place, as the keeper could not give the dimensions. 
 It is eleven feet long, eight feet wide and five feet high from 
 the bottom to the top of the arch. It is oven-shaped, as be- 
 fore indicated. The walls are brick, and they are stained and 
 black with age. Here are inscribed by their own hands, the 
 
 MONUMENT OF GUSTAVUS WASA. 
 
 names or initials of every Swedish king since the days of Gus- 
 tavus, who has visited this place. 
 
 In one corner of the "monument" — nearest to the door — 
 there is a small table, on which is a register where visitors' 
 names are recorded. We see here only one American auto- 
 graph, — that of a Mr. Baker, — of Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 By the side of the register is a Bible that bears the date 
 1541. We opened its lids at random and saw two pages of 
 the Book of Esther. This was considered a coincidence. 
 
 Going outside we noticed the coats of arms of each State,
 
 178 NORTHERN EUROPE, 
 
 upon the corners of the monumental huilding. The carving 
 and color are admirable. 
 
 As we pass through the grounds, back again to the offi- 
 cial residence of the keeper, we meet and are introduced to his 
 wife, an old lady who at once manifested some of the same 
 fascinating qualities possessed by her worthy husband. Her 
 name, like that of Madame Stacklebacken, at Stromsholm, is 
 in all the neighbors mouths, as the name of The Woman of 
 Good Deeds. 
 
 And now, as we pass back to the town — laden with photo- 
 graphs, as may well be imagined — our youthful guide points 
 out the direction in which the parish of Lima lies. There he 
 has been; there he was last year. There the people are not 
 obliged to work; nav, not at all. They live on the rent money 
 of their wood lands. They can and do rent them out to 
 companies, who chop on them for a term of fifty years. Then 
 there must be an interval of undisturbed growth for one hund- 
 dred years, during which the Limans must cultivate habits of 
 of industry, according to the Scripture. After that comes an- 
 other fifty years lease; and so on. Lucky are the children of 
 the Limans of this generation, for they were born into the be- 
 ginning of a half century's lease. We asked: " You were there 
 long enough to see how these people lived during their inde- 
 pendent period ? Do they become enervated — lazy ?" 
 
 "Nav; they work enough for healthful exercise; that is all 
 they have to do, and that is all they do do." 
 
 "How far is it from here to that land of the blest ? " 
 
 "About seven Swedish miles." 
 
 Midday Mountain, twenty English miles distant from Mora, 
 is respectfully called to our attention. We had noticed that it 
 was conspicuously there before, and were just going to ask 
 about it. Well, from the top of that mountain you can see 
 seven churches. It is called Midday mountain because at mid- 
 day the sun stands right over it ! On the very summit there 
 is a crystal spring, where the water bubbles up in copious vol- 
 ume, without any perceptible diminution of quantity, ail the 
 year round. 
 
 Along the side of that mountain are many Soetors, where the 
 cows are pastured during the Summer. Several dairy proprie-
 
 AT MORA AND UTMELAND. 179 
 
 tors in the vicinity of Mora have their Summer quarters (or 
 their milking women have) in those mountain-grass lands. In 
 those rare instances where a DalecarUan loses his temper and 
 cannot refrain from speaking with contemptuous indigna- 
 tion to his neighbor, he sometimes tells him to go to Sae- 
 tor; which I took some pains to explain, was equivalent to a 
 common expression indulged in sometimes under similar cir- 
 cumstances in America, "You go to grass." For this expla- 
 nation, I received a vote of thanks. 
 
 We met a tall leather-apron with a man behind it or m it, 
 as we were nearly opposite the front gate, of the rich man's 
 residence, who dwells in Catherinesberg. He dag-i-dagged to 
 us in loud, peremptory manner; and I declare I thought for one 
 moment that he was going to draw his knife on us. He made a 
 sudden motion of his hand to his side and brought forth some- 
 thing that glittered. It was his snuff-box. Most hospitably he 
 held it out to one and all. Then he himself took out an 
 enormous pinch and seemed to toss it in the air, but we all 
 knew that it was not thrown away. We smelt of the pulver- 
 ized article, of course, for courtesy's sake, and then we 
 foreigners — inexperienced in this prevailing habit among the 
 elder Dalecarlians — gave the whole neighborhood the benefit 
 of our "atts sas" which they won't forget very soon; nor we, 
 either. 
 
 With compassion that mighty man of Mora looked at us. 
 He had heard of the Herr from America that was in town. 
 I guessed that it was his brother that I had been drinking 
 coffee with. He would not speculate upon or vouchsafe me 
 any information on that subject at all. 
 
 He said "you" to me and to all of us a sufficent number 
 of times to vindicate his Dalecarlian right and privilege in 
 this direction. (The Dalecarlians are the only people in 
 Southern Sweden who say "you," but they take pride in say- 
 ing this to foreigners and to their king and Princes Royal, so 
 that they may not forget it.) Having you-ed us at least 
 three times, all around, he passed on. VVe felt a sense of 
 relief in his absence; but we were assured that he intended 
 to highly honor us by his snuff invitation and his you itera- 
 tion. We were satisfied, and rejected the offer to call him
 
 l8o NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 back for the purpose of establishing a better acquaintance. 
 
 The spot from which Gustavus is said to have addressed 
 the people of his vicinity once upon a time, which is called 
 Klockgropsbacke, is situated in the yard of a private resi- 
 dence, near to the schoolhouse and not a fifty rods from 
 the church. It is a small turf-covered mound, on which has 
 been planted a flagstaff of perhaps twenty-five feet in height. 
 Adjacent to it is a tea-table arbor — coffee-table arbor, I 
 should have written — for family entertainment. Our friend 
 frora Falun, who took the lead on our first visit to this spot, 
 hesitated about going into the yard through the back gate 
 that stood open or the front gate that was shut. He was 
 satisfied as we were at the time, with simply taking notes of 
 the surroundings from the line of the fence, twenty or thirty 
 feet distant. But the neglect to make an actual entrance 
 upon this ground haunted us; as we have since learned it has 
 tormented other folks. But we have cured our sorrow and 
 grieving by marching boldly uj) to the door of the house of the 
 owner of the premises aforesaid, and Americanizing him (we 
 presume it was he) into an agreement to let us walk around 
 the mound and over it once — provided we quit the neighbor- 
 hood forever after. We passed as prescribed. We are sorry 
 to say that the engravings that represent this spot as a pre- 
 cipitous hill are false, fraudulent and untrue; and there is no 
 tradition of grading, cutting or filling that lends any moral 
 or material support to the historical allegations of the en- 
 graver. It is, I believe — as far as I can recollect at this 
 moment — the only instance of deceptive publications that 
 I have come across since I have been in Sweden; unless I 
 have to drag in here, as an exception to this complimen- 
 tary statement, the ridiculously false statement about 
 American taxation on Swedish immigrants in which news- 
 papers indulge. But, of course, I v/as speaking about amuse- 
 ments, historic associations aad accessories, and all that sort 
 of thing; and only about that sort of thing. 
 
 From Kristinberg there is a magnificent view all round- 
 about, of harbor and lake and of distant mountain ridges that 
 are so very, very blue — with intervening meadow lands, so 
 very, very green.
 
 FROM MORA TO FALUN. 
 
 i8i 
 
 To the southwest, and about eight miles away, is the lorg 
 narrow island of &olleron. This island is said to contain the 
 best land in all this section of country, and to be inhabited 
 by the worst people that live in Dalarne. It constitutes a 
 parish by itself, and has for its minister at the present time a 
 man who once was a blacksmith and became a minister long 
 after he had arrived at maturity. He is said to sympathize 
 wiih the people in unlawful deeds and purposes. When an 
 officer comes there to arrest persons charged with crime, it 
 is said that he will aid in the concealment and contribute 
 toward deceiving or ill-treating the sheriff. 
 
 RATTVIK CHURCH. 
 
 A woman who lived there from childhood is now under 
 arrest for killing a girl of her own parentage; a child 8 
 years old. And since her imprisonment, evidence has been 
 obtained which indicates that she had killed ten of her 
 children before she committed this particular murder for 
 which she is now under-going or awaiting examination. 
 The church there is called Sophia Magdclene, but our guide 
 said that the people who live on the adjacent mainland fre-
 
 l82 NORTHERN EUROPE, 
 
 quently say that it should be called Jadas Iscariot. As 
 one of our company expressed it, with that neat Swedish 
 turn for precision, "It seems to be a little land of evil-doers." 
 It lies beautifully at the head of LakeSiljan. (Lord Byron 
 was wont to say that little island with good land locked 
 harbors breed pirates.) 
 
 All along the lake shore we mark the track of the light- 
 ning on the telegraph poles; often shattering them to 
 splinters — sometimes leaving just enough wood to pospone 
 the day of substitution till a more convienent season; and so 
 letting us see in the sunshine what can be done in this 
 latitude in a thunderstorm, when nature goes into the 
 telegraph business. Insulating telegraph wires have been 
 run from the Mora telegraph office to the lake. 
 
 You can telegraph from Mora to the end of Sweden for a 
 kroner; 20 words for twenty cents. The operator here acted 
 as though he was struck by lightning, when I told him what 
 the charges were for telegraphing messages in some parts of 
 the United States of America. 
 
 In the midst of a drenching rainstorm we bade farewell 
 to Mora. Nor had the clouds lifted or ceased to send down 
 floods when we reached the picturesquely situated Valley of 
 Rattvik, — the "Arcadia of Dalarne." 
 
 XVL 
 
 FROM MORA TO FALUN. 
 
 I SPOKE of the drenching showers that followed us from 
 the head of Lake Siljen to the " Arcadia of Delecarlia " ; 
 and now I have to add that this heavy fall of water continued 
 during our entire journey to Falun. There were brief inter- 
 vals when the rain would slacken, and from some corners of 
 the heavens the sun would peep through long enough to 
 throw a score of curiously beautiful rainbows at so many
 
 FROM MORA TO FALUN. 183 
 
 angles with each other. But it seemed as if these were breath- 
 ing spells, during which the elements gathered new strength 
 and supplies for the business of deludgingthe earth. A row 
 of farmers sat at one end of the cabin on the Gustavus Wasa, 
 and talked in a deeply sympathizing tone and manner of the 
 sorrow of their distant neighbors, under this affliction of ex- 
 cessive moisture. They would pass to one another the oft re- 
 peated question " what will the poor people do ? " And then 
 there would be a pause for several minutes, which would be 
 of painful eloquence, as indicating the profound grief and 
 silent prayer for the bereaved, that was indwelling and out- 
 going grom these good hearted visitors and neighbors from 
 an adjoining State. 
 
 While we did not fail to join in the sentiment and expres- 
 sions of regret, we sought in vain to cheer up the native mourn- 
 ers by suggesting that it miglit not be so bad a year for the 
 crops as was now feared by them ; but when we saw that our 
 efforts of this kind were calculated to make these folks think 
 tliat we were really imsympathetic, we cut short the well 
 meant speech with as sharp an assurance as we could give of 
 our direct wish for more favorable seasons. But we could 
 not wholly regain the confidence and liking that we had lost in 
 the way herein confessed ; and we shall never more make a 
 similar attempt among the inhabitants of this country. 
 
 Oh, how it did rain ! At times it was of the character of a 
 cataract. Those passengers who walked from the steamer 
 station to Gagness Kyrka, a distance of one mile, had their 
 umberellas beaten in, and made their appearance at the 
 Dalef station with every article of clothing thoroughly satu- 
 rated. To one who has been accustomed to the dry Summer 
 seasons of California, there is a sense of novelty in such an 
 exhibition that cannot be adequately explained. It would 
 seem as though the month must be December, January or 
 February \ it was like the case of pinching one's self to sat- 
 isfy as to identity. It could not be that this was midsummer? 
 The sudden, complete belief [that we v/ere in a California 
 Winter would come, as vivid as a dream ; and then there 
 would be an actual shock and almost audible protest, when 
 the fact of time and place rushed back ui)on our conscious- 
 ness.
 
 1 34 NORTHERN' EUROPE. 
 
 We had a nobleman with us, from Mora to Rattvik ; a 
 ** no mistake," genuine baron " of high degree ; " one among 
 tJie barons of eminent distinction. So we were told repeatedly 
 by a number of fellow passengers ; who wanted our opinion 
 as to his looks, qualifications, and as to how he compared 
 with other persons of his rank, etc.; and that upon very in- 
 sufficient observation! When we ventured to say that we did 
 not like the idea of a titled nobleman, we met with unani- 
 mous agreement in the little knot of travellers Avho with our- 
 selves braved the tempest v/hen it was on its lower flood, by 
 standing out on the forecastle deck. But if there be nobles, 
 we hope that Sweden will always have as handsome repre- 
 sentatives in that line as Baron Plata (or Plater,) who 
 paced the Captain's floor on the AVasa, on the day and in the 
 midst of the storm above mentioned. A splendid appearing 
 man he certainly is ; over six feet high, and rounded out in 
 due proportion for a man of forty or thereabouts. Fine fore- 
 head, and clear hazel eyes that, with the lines immediately 
 below them, which separated downwards when he smiled, be- 
 token a kind and generous disposition. A good specimen of 
 a nobleman to put on exhibition, when the best arguments 
 in behalf of the system of blooded aristocracy are required. 
 
 We waited for the river or dalef steamer for more than an 
 hour: being housed in an old dilapidated freight shed ; wherein 
 several companies and individuals who were making this trip 
 spread their respective lunches and ate heartily ; while there 
 was the clatter of much conversation and the mingled rattling 
 and spattering sound made by copious rain showers on the 
 roof and on the surface of the stream beside us. The drops of 
 falling water seemed to be of unusual size, and the noise of the 
 rain striking the river during the heaviest gush of the showers 
 was sufficiently strong to prevent our hearing each other's 
 words unless we spoke at a high pitch of the voice. 
 
 A peddler who had accompanied us down from Mora, but 
 had mado no effort to dispose of any of his w\ares while on the 
 steamer, and who had answered all questions put to him by a 
 response of grunts, here unstrapped his enormous bundle and 
 displayed a diversehandcl establishment that in point of variety 
 and amount would have been creditable to the average thread
 
 FROM MORA TO FALUN. 185 
 
 and needle store of London. And who unloosed this man's 
 tongue? what wrought this miracle of transformation from a 
 deaf mute to the most voluble and even most vocifer- 
 ous hawker ? Was this the effect of the torrents without and 
 around us suggested one ? Had he been to see the monu- 
 ment of the great Gustavus and temporarily lost his power of 
 speech in the presence of Carl Oberg, the King's keeper — only 
 now, at this distance, regaining the faculty of _ articulation ? 
 However this was or might have been it is certain that some- 
 thing was bought from the tremendous pack by everybody in 
 the station, as a declared memento — if for no other reason — of 
 this remarkable outburst of salesman fluency. 
 
 In the last minutes of waiting, a loitering, staggering, 
 drenched and drunken peasant came in, out of the thick rain, 
 and immediately purchased a yard of blue ribbon, to lighten 
 the poor man's load, as he said. After this funny transaction 
 and explanation, the inebriate danced a kind of tangle-foot 
 figure at one end of the shed, and then doubled up and went 
 so fast asleep on the instant that he had to be carried to the 
 boat l)y the baggage cart drivers. 
 
 I must not forget to mention that it was raining all this time 
 with such momentary pauses as have been before admitted ; 
 and if I should omit to speak of this fact again, it may as well 
 be understood once for all, that water poured down from the 
 skies so that you could not see anything two hundred yards 
 away during nearly all the voyage from Gagness Kyrka to 
 Bats! ad. 
 
 On this section of our return trip we became acquainted with 
 a gentleman who said that he had resided in Boston two or 
 three years, — thirteeen years ago. He had forgotten most of 
 his English speech, which he said was once very extensive. He 
 regretted that on account of his age — now 55 — he could not 
 well afford to try a business change back again to America. He 
 said he was a small shop-keeper in Stockholm, and managed 
 to just make the two ends of the year come together without 
 bringing him in debt. He had been to the North as far as 
 Mora ; stopping at all the principal points on the way down, 
 for the purpose of promoting or keeping \\\-> his little business 
 connections. He put the adjective for insignificance before
 
 1 86 NOR TIIEKN E UROPE. 
 
 every important noun that he used ; speaking in a very slow 
 and deliberate manner, as though afflicted with great scrup- 
 ulosity about hi.s sentences ; almost convinced that he ought 
 not to say anvthing, and always regretting what he had said the 
 minute he got a word or two out of his mouth. He even 
 called his wife "my little woman," although she Avas as big as 
 he Avas, and only then to be properly described as small by 
 comparison with some other men's wives who were on board. 
 He immediately and forcibly suggested Snagsby, of Bleak 
 House ; and his " little woman " looked as though she might 
 take on a fit of jealously on less probable grounds than those 
 from which Mrs. Snagsby inexorably reasoned. However, he 
 was a valuable acquaintance ; — an intelligent man, and one 
 thoroughly in S}-mpathy with our republican institutions. Kings 
 and lords and great standing annies he did not like ; and he 
 ventured, with several little ahems, to tell us in a very low 
 tone — almost a whisper — that he hoped that the next genera- 
 tion of Swedes would peacefully change the little kingdom of 
 Sweden and Norway into a little government by the people; 
 with a President at the head, and a Senate and House of Rep- 
 resentatives — similar to the political institutions of the United 
 States. All this he said — with more stretch of words and 
 phrases than I have given. Bless the little man. My heart 
 warmed towards him. I took him further to one side and 
 told him of my surprise and my stronger sentiments on account 
 of the fact that our Swedish Consuls did not display the 
 American flag — not on the fourth of July, even ; and that the 
 consular business of the United States in this kingdom was 
 often left to Swedish Vice Consuls, or to Consuls that were of 
 Swedish birth and devoid of sympathy with our republic. He 
 agreed to co-operate in certain little ways that will have a ten- 
 dency to expose this outrage, and give us representative men 
 and actions in this portion of the globe ; if the consulai system 
 is to be continued and maintained. Bless the little man. 
 
 A Leksand girl on board, at our request exhibited some 
 winter garments that she was taking down to Stockholm for sale. 
 The coats were lined with wool ; and some of her long jackets 
 or frocks for women were made of sheepskin tanned with the 
 wool upon them. These people make sheepskin aprons, of
 
 FROM MORA TO FALUAT. 1 87 
 
 handsome style, which I thhik would be copied extensively in 
 our country if the model or pattern was conspicuously put* on 
 exhibition. They are very neat, are often tastefully ornamented, 
 and are recommended as " lasting-a-life-time." They have the 
 appearance of cloth. 
 
 Our new-found Boston friend was interested in these arti- 
 cles of domestic commerce ; also in the Mora wig and switch 
 manufactories. Female agents and saleswomen representing 
 these home industries were on board the boat, on their way to 
 the capital, with £pecim.ens of their invoices convenient for 
 showing and sale. They take contracts to make a thin-haired 
 or bald headed lady as good as a young lady of twenty — to all 
 head-top appearances. This : or no pay. Could anything be 
 fairer in bargaining, or more conducive to uniformity of 
 fashion in the royal ball-room ? As indicated, this work is 
 done by the fire-sides of the Delecarlian women. 
 
 From Batstad to Borlange — the three-mile connecting dili- 
 gence ride — it was a succession of de^p puddles ; showing that 
 the watering-pot of old Pluvius had been tipped in this 
 valley at the angle on which it was held daring t'le fore part of 
 the day in upper Dalarne. But the sun had fiercely broken 
 through clouds for a steady afternoon visit ; and there was a 
 sense of beneficence in his warm rays that made us think again — 
 as all of us have doubtless thought, in times past — that it was no 
 wonder that the ancients, unenlightened by direct revelation 
 from heaven, or the uninstructed savages of the present gen- 
 eration, had their greatest reverence or their religious worship 
 for the king of day. As one of our Swedish companions — 
 Dr. Victor Hugo Wickstrom, Professor in the University of Lund 
 — remarked : It was natural f jr any man, under the circum- 
 stances, to feel like praying to Old Sol to continue to burn up 
 the clouds for a month, and look down evenly on this surface 
 of the globe until tlie harvest was over. 
 
 It was difficult to get our fellow travellers into any protracted 
 conversation about any other subjects than the weather, and the 
 state of the crops, and the farm prospects of the people and for 
 the people during the coming Autumn and Winter seasons. 
 
 Borlange has two villages : The railroad station is " number 
 two :" — This is a great manufacturing place, where from the raw
 
 1 88 NORTHERN- EUROPE. 
 
 ore the metal is treated and manipulated, and "worked up " 
 to the last point of execution ; from the puddle furnace to a 
 scythe factory. Water power has been obtained by tunneling 
 through a mountain ; water is abundant and, of course, the 
 power is enormous. A foreman to whom we spoke could give 
 no exact measurement ; but he believed that the aggregate of 
 force that could be utilized would amount to 400, oco horse 
 power. The wages of the furnace men are very low ; from 80 
 ore to 2 kroners a day. But the machinists — some of them — 
 get as high as eight and ten kroners a day ; which, considering 
 the difference in" the cost of living is higher than the wages re- 
 ceived by some expert workmen in New York establishments 
 from whom I obtained items for comparison. 
 
 Between old manufacturing Borlange and the new railroad 
 station Borlange, is a double line of workmen's cottages, of 
 which the people boast. They contain from two to six families 
 — according to household population, of course. They are of 
 brick : two stories and two stories and a half high ; and appear 
 to us at first glance as excellently arranged for the accomoda- 
 tion of this class of laborers. They seemed to be modeled 
 after those we saw at Gottenberg, or built simultaneously from 
 the same pattern. Of course, the idea of copying from distant 
 Swedish fellow-subjects and manufacturers was repudiated at 
 the instant of its being hinted. The " nay, nay " came iikea 
 flash, and seemed to almost, anticipate the remark of a lady 
 companion : " How sensitive some of these people are, on the 
 line of jealousies among themselves!" And yet, this senti- 
 ment is only skin-deep, for when we told them at the work- 
 men's houses in Borlange of the condition of the workmen at 
 Gottenberg, and of the characteristic kindness of their masters, 
 our listeners were unmistakably gratified and proud. 
 
 And now the great Gustavus Wasa reappears ; and indeed 
 we never tire of hearing about him or visiting the places his 
 presence and perils have made memorable. Ornas is situated 
 at the Southwest end of Lake Runn. Here is the house from 
 which he escaped, when pursued by his enemies; being let 
 down from a window by Barbro Stigsdotter. He was not in a 
 basket, after the manner of St. Paul ; but he clung to the end 
 of a long towel. The room he occupied is shown, and the bed
 
 FROM MOKA TO FALUN. 
 
 1S9 
 
 in which he slept is duly certified as the identical resting-])lace 
 of the fugitive just prior to this successful flight. One of our 
 Swedish companions stated that which we have never read in 
 any history of this affair. She said that Barhro's treacherous 
 husband, Arendt Persson, who sought to betray Gusvtaus, was 
 so enraged at the conduct of his wife that he would never live 
 with her afterwards ; and that he procured a legal separation 
 from her. Of course it is well kno\\'7i that she was pensioned 
 by Gustavus, when he became King of Sweden. 
 
 ORNAS. 
 
 At the southeast end of this lake is Rankhytton, where Gus- 
 tavus thrashed corn, having disguised himself and obtained em- 
 ployment in the dress of a Delecarlian peasant. The barn or 
 " king's box" where he worked, is on exliibition also ; and we 
 were disappointed in not having the identical flail that he 
 handled, when sc:olded by his jirctenclcd mistress (as a part of 
 the trick of concealment,) for his laziness and inefficiency. 
 After inquiring for it, we were informed that it probably was 
 in existence, and would be sought for at once ! And then our
 
 I90 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 local guide gradually reached a suspicion that we were incredu- 
 lous about the whole exhibition ; for with ver}' severe empha- 
 sis, she asked if we had seen the towel witli which Gustavus 
 was let down from the window bv Barbro ? 
 
 XVII 
 AT FALUN; AND THENCE TO WESTERAS. 
 
 Falun is properly described as a town that has been 
 formed by the growing of a number of separate villages. 
 Historically this is a true description. But we could not see 
 that it was "obviously" — as alleged — so originated and en- 
 larged into one continuous or connected settlement. There 
 was the average homogeneousness in the character of the 
 buildings,etc. Falun is situated between lakes Varpan and 
 Tisken, and the views on the lake as you approach the town 
 are as charming as anything we beheld on the far-famed 
 Malaren itself. A little stream divides the town; but much 
 the larger portion and the best constructed, lies on the East 
 bank; and this section is certainly well built and hansomely 
 located. 
 
 The first singularity of the place that strikes a visitor, is 
 the almost uniform building entrance through court yards. 
 There are very few front doors, as we know them; and while 
 this is the prevailing custom and appearance throughout 
 Sweden, it is almost exclusively the fact in Falun. Sidewalks 
 are rare; and those that are to be seen and travelled are for the 
 most part constructed the same as a road-bed: laid with 
 cobble stones of the pointed variety. We are told with a 
 hearty accompanying laugh, very soon after our arrival, that 
 A'isitors frequently complain of dislocated ankles when they 
 have spent a few hours in marching about town. The cheerful 
 waiting-maid that told us this, was evidently of the opinion 
 that this set forth one of the attractions of the place. And
 
 AT FALUN AND THENCE TO WESTERAS. 
 
 191 
 
 FALUN — VIEW OF MARKET, CATHEDRAL AND COPPER-HILL RANGE.
 
 192 
 
 N0J?7'I/ERX EUJWPE. 
 
 she asked us how our heels felt, when we returned from our 
 first promenade. She evidently made the inquiry with the 
 expectation that she would have a complaint to add to her 
 stock of items. Day and date she gave, as to this and that 
 limping tourist. But good English walking shoes, and a month's 
 almost daily experience in pedestrian excursions, had fortified 
 us against this test of tendons. Count us not in your hospital 
 catalogue, my merry., merry maid of the Nya Hotellet, at 
 Falun. 
 
 To Mr. B. V. Norstedt, formerly and for many years the 
 superintendent here, we desire to express our grateful ac- 
 knowledgements, for his services as guide over and in and 
 through the copper mines of Falun. For eight hours were we in 
 his company; and fortunate will those be who come after us, if 
 they can procure the attendance of the same instructor. 
 Three years ago, after thirty-five-years employment by the 
 great corporation, he retired, having, as he expressed it, 
 just enough and not to much to take his rest with, for the 
 estimated God-willing balance of his days. One of the lords of 
 this great mine estate informed us that they offered to double 
 Mr. Norstedt's wages (they don't speak of salary here) if he 
 would remain in harness for another ten years. He declined 
 the labor but justly appreciated the proposition. 
 
 And from the same source we learned that a little child — 
 a girl of nine or ten — that was with him and his wife 
 when we first met him, was not his own daughter, as we 
 naturally supposed her to be; but a waif that he had taken 
 from the market, as it were, when the effects of a dead man 
 were disposed of at auction. He Avas present at the sale, and 
 saw the child delivered over to the keeper of a public institu- 
 tion of charity; but the sight so haunted him that he rose from 
 his bed the following midnight and went and took the girl and 
 made her his own. When we heard of this, we knew one 
 of the special reasons for the extreme deference and heartiness 
 with which he was received and welcomed by the workmen, 
 wherever we passsed them on the hills of Falun. 
 
 The guide-books speak of the "burnt up" appearance of the 
 whole face of the country to the Southwest of the town or city 
 of Falun — due to the smoke from the roasting kilns. The
 
 AT FALUN AND THENCE TO WESTERAS. 
 
 193 
 
 appearance of the surface could not be more barren; re- 
 sembling the region round-about Virginia City, Nevada. But 
 the Comstock range did ha\e a sagebrush cover, and still 
 partly preserves or retains it, where actual mining has not been 
 done. These copper hills were once clad with thick groves of 
 pine and fir; and on the summit of the ridges fartherest on 
 the horizon, there is even now a line of stunted resinous 
 timber. 
 
 B. V. NORSTEUT. 
 
 It is recorded that two bucks became engaged in a battle, 
 about half-way up the hill, immediately to the East of the
 
 194 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 lower hoisting works; and when the ancients who witnessed 
 the struggle from below went up to separate the "rambank- 
 shious animals," they discovered that in their combat they had 
 dug away the dirt from the foot of a tree that covered some 
 glistening stone. Then followed inquiry and examination and 
 
 ascertaining, and thorough 
 
 mmmg 
 
 work; and lo! the 
 
 "Treasure of Sweden" was developed! 
 
 The ore is still treated in part by roasting; but the greater 
 portion is quietly dissolved by acids which are obtained by cook- 
 ing some of the rock or earth that lines the leads of copper! Is 
 not this seething the kid in the milk of the mother ? Other acids 
 than those required for immediate use have lately been dis- 
 covered; and two great factories of reducing works have been 
 built here, for the extraction and export market preparation 
 of these valuable liquors. 
 
 The town is not afflicted by the vapors of the kilns, so far 
 as we could notice; but upon the hills above the ledges, it 
 is unpleasant to walk through the lines of sulphurous smoke, 
 vitriol of copper, sulphuric acid, and an ochre sediment — the 
 last making a deep penetrating and enduring red paint — are 
 extracted here in enormous quantities. 
 
 The preservative properties of the fumes of the old re- 
 duction beds is something that has obtained almost world- 
 wide notoriety. All the guide books tell the story of the 
 young man Matts Isrjelson who for49yearslay buried in the 
 mines, and who was so well preserved when taken out that 
 he was at once identified by the old woman Avho, as a girl, 
 had been betrothed to him — 49 years before. His remains 
 were preserved 21 years in a glass case, on exhibition; and 
 our guide and friend said that the "spectacle" was not at 
 all ghastly, — like an ordinary corpse, — but was the picture 
 of quiet and blissful sleep. 
 
 "Stoten" is the name of an abyss, 1160 feet long, 640 feet 
 wide and 290 deep, caused bv the subsiding of the roof of 
 the prmcipal mine in 16S7. Underneath this monstrous cav- 
 ing work is now being prosecuted. Visitors are provided 
 with the miners' attire, inclusive of a helmet surmounted by a 
 lighted candle, and a special guide. The descent is by a 
 wooden flight for about a hundred feet; and then business
 
 AT FALUN AND THENCE TO WESTER AS. 195 
 
 THE STOTEN ABYSS.
 
 1 9 6 NOR THERN E UR OPE. 
 
 begins on an iron ladder, or series of ladders. At a depth 
 of 700 feet we reach the radsaal, or council chamber. It is 
 a mammoth excavation; but as we were warned by 
 Bsedecker, the lighting is insufficient, and the paths are 
 not well selected through the wet and dangerous places. 
 The echoes from gun and pistol firing are lively, lingering 
 and at last sonorously explosive: — reverberation, after 
 reverberation, until there is a cracking, thumping detona- 
 tion,very much like the sound of a blast as heard at tlie miners' 
 alcove retreat during the construction of the Sutro tunnel. 
 Then all the responses seem to concentrate their vibrations, 
 and roll along in a peal of thunder. But, my friend, take 
 our word for it: — you will be glad to get back again to the 
 outer rim of this world's creation. 
 
 The sound of a muffled bell — it sounded as though 
 it was muffled — attracted our attention and excited 
 our curiosity. What is that for? striking every min- 
 ute! It means that all the pump works are in order. If any 
 one of the numerous long pumping arms should get "out of 
 kilter'', that dreadful bell would cease to be heard; and its 
 silence would give the necessary alarm. This is reversing 
 the rule of notice, in such case usually made and provided; 
 but it is said to work well, — the cessation of sound proving 
 to be a more startling warning than a clang of gongs or 
 crash of trumpets. So it is claimed. There are two large 
 churches at Falun; both of which are worthy a visit. The 
 copper-roofed church — called the copper church — is 
 situated in the midst of a pleasant grove; once, 
 and now accasionall}', used for burial purposes. St. 
 Catherine's church has a reredos of carved wood. With 
 central panels that represent (first) the lord's supper, (second) 
 the crucifixion: (third) the resurrection, (fourth) the ascen- 
 sion, and (fifth) the sitting at the right hind of God the 
 Father. The paintings are excellent, and well repaid our 
 study of an hour or more; sitting before the chancel and 
 gazing upon them, while at the same time we enjoyed the 
 private practice and rehearsing of the accomplished organ- 
 ist. This reredos was presented to the church in 1669 by 
 Maria Leramens and Anthony Trotxict. The sides are
 
 AT FALUN AND THENCE TO WESTERAS. 197 
 
 adorned with statues of the apostles and of many saints — 
 male and female. It is not plastered over with gilt, as are 
 most of the similar pieces in Sweden. On and about the 
 wine cup pulpit, there is no gilding whatever, save on the 
 sign of the God-head in the ceiling of the sounding board. 
 The panels of the pulpit present the twelve stations of the 
 cross. There is an hour-glass and there is a bible 180 years 
 of age, on the pulpit shelf. 
 
 We were shown a priest's robe made in 1785 and still 
 worn, and an altar cloth bearing date 1695. 
 
 There was handsome carving on the pews. There was 
 seating capacity for three thousand persons; and with 
 benches in the aisles 4,000 listeners often sat within sound 
 of the preacher's voice. A church going, God-fearing 
 people. 
 
 The schools and gymnasiums, prisons and hospitals are of 
 the same pattern, and excellence as similar institutions in 
 Stockholm and Westeras, elsewhere in this volume sufifi- 
 ciently described- 
 
 We were to leave Falun by the 7-0'clock morning train; 
 and were up for an early review walk before three. It was 
 light at two. We went into the beautiful park ground that 
 surrounds Catherine Kyrka, and enjoyed the song of 
 the birds, while the morning twilight brightened into sun- 
 shine. The swallows were a plague, because with their 
 chirping they broke the harmonious effects from the sweet 
 singers that were in the trees above us, — joining in a me- 
 lodious chorus. But who could even scold these saucily 
 familiar fellows, that came in flocks about our seats, and 
 soon culuvated an acquaintance with a little girl in our com- 
 pany, to the extent of eating crumbs from her straw hat, when 
 she placed some pieces of bread on the rim. 
 
 And again, before the hour of four, we heard the voice of 
 the organ; its claironet pipes sounding most exquisitely at our 
 distance from the gallery. What an industrious master of 
 amusement: — Tom Finch at his instrument again ! 
 
 Once more we pass around in front of the church, and this 
 time note the bronze doors, bearing date 1670. The left 
 hand door was stamped Batzer Hanson; and on the right
 
 198 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 hand door was Karmleers Dotter. Those were the givers, 
 who gave 213 years ago. 
 
 Orice more we go down the hill-side on which the new 
 city — that is, a city of the last two hundred years, — modern 
 in aGothtenbergsense — is situated; and make the rounds once 
 more on the walks mid-way on the roasting hills. ^Ve see 
 workman quitting their cottages, to go to their shift; and in 
 almost every instance there is an affectionate parting at the 
 door. Often the wife and husband kiss each other on the 
 threshold; sometimes she stands and waves a handkerchief or 
 cloth at him until he turns the corner of the street on which 
 they live; often a little head is seen popping out from the 
 upper window, and then a tiny hand appears with the ends of 
 a ribbon or the string of a cap held tightly in the fist and 
 shaken. 
 
 Once through an open window on a level with a street we 
 could not avoid seeing the family on their knees, while the 
 father read a few verses from St. Luke and then uttered a 
 prayer. Passing on a little, to the corner of the house, we 
 heard his voice. The supplication was comprehensive : for 
 all men, for all nations, for the king and queen of Sweden 
 and all governors; for all families; for this family especially; 
 for the children that they might have holy habits and grow 
 up in purity of heart; for the mother that she might have 
 strength and wisdom for her sacred vocation; and for the 
 father, that he might be diligent in labor, fervent in spirit, 
 
 serving the Lord. 
 
 Under one of the dump-troughs — which much resembled the 
 arrangements that were made in early Washoe da^s at the mouth 
 of the Savage and Gould and Curry mines in Virginia City — we 
 saw a very old man industriously at work pounding the large 
 stones or bunches, and sorting the valuable from the dross with 
 great rapiditv. We salute : "May we ask how long you have 
 been at work in these mines.? " "Yes, yes, nigh 55 years ; since 
 I was a lad, mind you." " You worked in the mines at first.?' 
 "On top at first ; in the mines afterwards; on top again. Sec- 
 ond childhood now ! " and the old man resumed his work with 
 sledge and laughed loudly over his wit. " May we ask how 
 much you earn a day now .? " "Yes, yes. I get two kroner and
 
 AT FALUN AND THENCE TO WESTER AS. 199 
 
 twenty ore, but part of that is my pension, you see." And he 
 laughed again, more loudly and longer than before; though we 
 could not see, this time, how the laugh came in on any suffi- 
 cient basis. " 55 years ! How old might you be.?" "Nigh 
 71. How old are you.?" "You return questions like a 
 Yankee." " What is a Yankee .? " We explained. He said 
 "Ah, ha." We said we were Americans. He made a whisthng 
 noise and exclaimed " O ! O ! '" We added that we were Cali- 
 fornians. He dropped h's sledge quickly ; looked at us 
 sharply ; came to us with a slow, uncertain, but not tottering 
 step— a distance of eight or ten feet, — and waving his hand said 
 in a whisper — bowing his head meanwhile — "I have got a 
 nephew out that way somewhere. You may know him. But I am 
 told that it is a great country, and that you cannot be expected 
 to know, everybody, any more than we do in Sweden." We 
 took the name : " Talenson ;" though he said we could re- 
 member it without putting it down, "as it was so much like 
 Falenson." In reply to our questions we were told that the boy 
 went away when a lad of sixteen ; sailing in a ship out of 
 Christiana' Norway, for England. Then he reported that he 
 was going on a sea voyage around the Horn to California. 
 Then two letters had come from him, dated at El Dorado (El 
 Dorado county, we inferred from the entire story). Would we 
 inquire for him and ask others to do the same. Of course we 
 promised. The first name was Carl. We told him that the 
 captain of the steamer Pius, on the Stromshoim Kanal, had 
 asked us to do the same foi his uncle ; whose name, singular 
 enough, bore such a resemblance to his boy's name that his 
 request must put us in mind of the captain's wish, and vice- 
 versa. 
 
 " What are the wages of workmen in the mines generally } " 
 "They vary much accordmg to the work," said the old man, re- 
 suming his toil, but bidding us stay and talk with him "all the 
 same " — startling us by using the Swedish phrase that corre- 
 sponds most nearly with the comparatively modern annex to 
 California conversational sentences. "Some workmen get as 
 high as three kroners and a half Some get no more than one 
 kroner. Most of them get about two kroners, I think ; though 
 I don't know so much about it as I did when I worked below."
 
 200 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 We told him of our conversation with Mr, Norstedt, in regard 
 to the matter; and he said, "Yes, yes; whatever he says is 
 exact. You cannot study anything out more true than he will 
 tell you. He is a good man, and everybody was sorry when 
 he left the mines." "Are all the mines healthy .?" "Yes, yes," 
 uttered with great emphasis. "Why, haven't you heard that 
 the king and royal family come in this neighborhood in cholera 
 times, to avoid the plague .? We never have cholera here. You 
 would get fat if you stayed here a year.'' Then he stepped back 
 and eyed us curiously, and added : "Mavbe?" As if he was 
 almost disposed to withdraw his last remark. Of his own motion 
 he went on to say that the workmen were well paid, or con- 
 sidered that they were ; and that they were taken care of in 
 their sickness and old age. There was never any trouble on 
 the mine ; they were good, firm and steady laborers. Then 
 he pointed down towards the town and asked us if we came up 
 by a certain road or street. As we replied in the affirmative, he 
 went on to say : " Then you passed by the house of a widow 
 lady, whose husband left her a half million kroners, And she has 
 given 5,000 kroners for an orphan asylum," Whether found- 
 ing the mstitution or adding to its endowment, we could not 
 make out. "You are very handy in telling a good piece of 
 rock from a poor lump.? " " Yes, yes. I ought to be ; if 1 was 
 not by this time, what sort of a man would I be.? " And here 
 came another fit of hearty laughter. We parted with very affec- 
 tionate adieus. 
 
 Slowly descending the hill we overtook a girl who was walk- 
 ing with difficulty, bearing some burden in a large basket. She 
 turned half way around and courtesied as we closely approached ; 
 saying " God dag-i-dao;," as the people (and the girls especially) 
 in this section of Sweden alone can utter that greeting. My 
 friend, you know nothing of the possibilities of softness that 
 pertain to or dwell in the letter G, until you hear it pronounced 
 by a Delecarlian girl. When that Swedish coffee saloon shall 
 have been established in New York, Chicago, or San Francisco, 
 by some wise Scandinavian, with Siljan maids for attendants, I 
 wish to have you patronize it once or twice, at least, until you 
 catch this mailable sound. I don't think it can be exactly, or 
 I should say, rather, adequately described. The nearest I could
 
 AT FALUN AND THENCE TO WESTER AS. 201 
 
 come with a hint about it would be by the illustration of a 200- 
 pound steam trip-hammer dropping on a base-ball made of lead. 
 Yes ! they utter it with great vim, up to the center of the letter — 
 as it were, and there the articulation sinks in delicious tender- 
 ness. 
 
 The stout word with all \% you ; which, as before stated, they 
 alone in this country commonly use in addressing strangers and 
 each other. In giving conversations elsewhere I have, of course, 
 set down iheyou as a proper translation ; but it is rarely used 
 outside of Delecarlia, in ordinary communications, by the 
 peasantry, when speaking to elders or employers. 
 
 If you will please to turn to the map of Southern and Central 
 Sweden, you will readily lollow our route from Falun to 
 Westeras, which we travelled at an expense of a cent and a 
 quarter to one cent and a half per mile. 
 
 Returning to Borlange and revisiting some of the houses built 
 for renting to the workmen in the forges, we were less favorably 
 impressed with them than at first Where the family exceeds 
 four persons — increases beyond man and wife and two children 
 — the upper apartments are very much too small ; as in such 
 case the folks are actually crowded for space. The homes of 
 some of the statkarlars at Stromsholm are preferable in this re- 
 spect to the provision made here, when the demands in num- 
 bers rise above the limit of space for comfort in the rooms as- 
 signed. 
 
 From Borlange we ticket anew, to Sala ; and again purchase 
 cards for Tilberga. At Krylbo, a junction station, we have to 
 change cars, to reach Sala ; leaving at Krylbo the border line 
 of Delecarlia. 
 
 And here we cannot forbear to mention that many writers, 
 including some guide-book authors, deplore the flict that the 
 people of Delecarlia as a rule own the land which they cultivate ; 
 sometimes saying with regretful intimations that there are and 
 can be few rich men in this section on this account. The most 
 independent, the best contented people that we have found in 
 Sweden — taking communities, towns, villages, and districts into 
 consideration — are in Dalarne ; and one great reason for this 
 probably exists in the division and subdivision of land that has 
 been so much and so strangely bemoaned. How true is the
 
 202 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 SOUTHERN SWEDEN. 
 
 FOR C.A SUMNER'S 
 -1^ ^' "TRAVELS *C.' 1 
 
 MAP OF SOUTHERN SWEDEN.
 
 A WEEK AT WESTERAS. 203 
 
 saying, engraved in our old Latin copy-books: "The great 
 estates destroyed Rome." 
 
 Sala contains the great silver mine of Sweden ; at one time 
 yielding $800,000 per year. Now the product is less than two 
 thousand pounds of assayed pure metal. Once, for its riches, 
 it was styled the '* Gem of the nation. " 
 
 At Tilberga, where there is yet another transfer of passengers 
 and baggage destined for the Koping route, we can see in the 
 distance the crown-and-cross topped steeple of Westeras cathe- 
 dral. It is the most beautiful shaft in the kingdom. And what 
 is more to be said in its favor, it improves upon acquaintance. 
 You never tiro of looking at it ; as some one once memorably 
 said to me with respect to the steeple of Park Street Church, in 
 Boston. 
 
 XVIII. 
 A WEEK AT WESTERAS. 
 
 As WE ride from Sala to Westeras, we hear many prelimin- 
 ary bargains — which is the nearest we can come to the Swed- 
 ish of it — for service during the coming year. Westeras is the 
 only city in the country that still retains the practice of hav- 
 ing a market day for service ; and employers and laborers 
 are already on the look-out for their "relations," during the 
 year beginning on the coming 25th of October. 
 
 Last Sunday was labor market day here. There were thir- 
 teen small steamers at the wharves, which came in gaily 
 dressed, with every flag except the star-spangled banner flying 
 over their decks. Most of those who were brought here in 
 these vessels were in one or the other of the two classes par- 
 ticularly referred to ; but there were also scores of peddlers, 
 a Punch and Judy and acrobat show, and a hand organ. The 
 principal streets were crowded at ten o'clock ; and the spec- 
 tacle somewhat resembled that whicli is presented '\xi several 
 well-known French melodramas and comic operas. Both
 
 204 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 parties are firmly bound under the law, when the articles shall 
 have been once signed, and severe penalties are attached to 
 tne offense of signing more than one contract, and taking ad- 
 vance pay thereon — or "jumping a bounty," as we would 
 say. 
 
 I was surprised by the amount of drunkenness that was ex- 
 hibited on the streets during the afternoon of this Sunday, 
 and the manner in which this condition of inebriety was 
 manifested — almost uniformly — was to us an unusual sight, 
 and therefore somewhat interesting. You will approach a 
 man who is apparently perfectly sober, until just a moment 
 before you have come even with him on your path. Suddenly 
 he will spring out in front of you and begin to caper about in 
 a most fantastic and ridiculous fashion. If we had not had a 
 warning about this kind of demonstration by the twist-waltz 
 that was performed before our eyes in the waiting shed at 
 Gagnes Kyrka, we should have been very much alarmed, un- 
 doubtedly, by the first toper that we met on this market day 
 in Westeras. It is said that these subjects of King Brandy- 
 wine are always harmless if you simply stand still and look at 
 them and say nothing ; but that is what has been said about 
 wasps and bumble-bees — and we know that the saying as ap- 
 plied to the latter is not true ? So why should it impeach a 
 man's character for the possession of the average amount of 
 courage, if he confesses that being unprovided with any sort 
 of a weapon of defence, he is or was a little nervous in such 
 a presence ? But what was more surprising and absolutely 
 uncomfortable, was to be obliged to confront, every now and 
 then, during the afternoon of this day, a drunken soldier, in 
 full uniform and armed and equipped as the law directs. 
 Troopers with tall hats, adorned with a bunch of feathers, and 
 wearing bayonet swords, were frequently seen reeling along 
 through the streets and lanes of the city ; and pouring forth 
 oaths and obscene expressions of the most shocking nature. 
 And this in Sweden ; and this with officers looking on, and 
 apparently — and really as we afterwards ascertained — not even 
 so much as making a note for correction or reproof. When we 
 spoke of the matter to the worthy Keeper of the castle, Andrew 
 P. Erickson, he answered, ' ' Yay, " in his saddest cadence ;
 
 A WEEK AT WESTER AS. 
 
 205 
 
 only apologizing or excusing, by adding, " There is much al- 
 lowed that ought not to be, on market day. It would not be 
 permitted at any other time." 
 
 And now, before I speak of the city and of the castle or slottet 
 of Westeras, a word direct of its keeper, to whom I am indebted 
 
 A. p. ERICKSON, KEEPER OF WESTERAS CASTLE. 
 
 for many kindnesses and much information— whose name I have 
 just written. For thirty-three years he has been in His Majesty's 
 employ ; and with five years more of continuous service he is 
 entitled to his pension — equal to the pay he is now receiving.
 
 2, 6 ^OR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 He agrees that soldiers are not treated, at the expiration of their 
 terms of service and in their years of decrepitude, as they should 
 be by the government, which is fairly considerate if not bounti- 
 ful to the officers in both the military and civil departments. I 
 see that everybody in the city takes off his hat with a very re- 
 spectful and often deferential bow to Andrew Erickson ; and 
 that, on account of no possible motive other than the one I have 
 often heard assigned — heartfelt personal esteem for such an up- 
 right and excellent man. I find that he has among those who 
 know him well a title like unto that of Mesdames Stackelberg 
 and Olberg — " The Man of Good Deeds." We asked a porter 
 at the station the day we arrived, if he knew rhe ca tie keeper ; 
 and the reply was, " Know him ? Who don't ? One of the best 
 men that ever lived." 
 
 Westeras is now a city of about 7,000 inhabitants, and is what 
 we would call a state capital. It is also the residence of a bishop. 
 Three hundred years ago it contained twice as many inhabitants, 
 and its corporate limits and its line of compactly built houses 
 extended half a mile or more over the hill on the west — where 
 there are now very few dwellings. The site of a large Domin- 
 ican monastery and of a convent is pointed out to the traveller, 
 on the road to Dingtuna ; and the stories of fairy and witch 
 appearances in this neighborhood, with which I have been re- 
 galed, would themselves fill a volume. It is said that on All hal- 
 low eve — between 3 and 11 — gobblings dressed in the garb of 
 monks have often been seen (and testified about) by persons 
 of the highest character for sobriety and veracity. As I have 
 said once before, I think, it is not wise to deny the possibility 
 of these manifestations, in any Swedish company ; for with 
 many of my most intelligent acquaintances hereabouts, this is 
 a matter of serious belief. They say that the word supersti- 
 tion has no just application to the acceptance of these accounts 
 as true. 
 
 Eleven national diets have been held here, at one of which 
 the succession to the throne was settled on the heirs of Gusta- 
 vus Wasa. 
 
 The present city is very prettily located by the North shore 
 of Lake Malaren, on the side of a gently sloping hill, facing to 
 the Southeast : on the edge of a little meadow valley. It is
 
 J IVEEK AT IVESTERAS. 
 
 207 
 
 closelv built, and the streets are from fifteen to twenty feet. 
 The VVesteras River runs through the centre of the city and is 
 utilized near its mouth by cross-logs eight feet high, Avhich 
 turn the water under a flour mill, v/hose wheels — and this I 
 must mention — are run so cjuietly that their noise is drowned 
 by the falling of the surplus water (itself a pleasing sight) 
 over the wide gable-roof-shape dam. 
 
 The sidewalks are narrow, as you might suppose ; rarely 
 over three feet wide ; and they are entirely wanting along sev- 
 eral of the handsomest blocks in the city. The streets are 
 very clean, and as might be expected from the location and the 
 fact of tidiness, the health of the inhabitants is officially an- 
 nounced as " remarkably good." 
 
 The houses are usually two stories high, with ceilings of 
 seven to eight feet : and the roofs are uniformly painted that 
 bright red which gives such a pictursque appearance to towns, 
 villages and single districts — especially when seen at a distance, 
 and in a view which embraces a large or diversified landscape. 
 The material from Avhich this lively and lasting color is made 
 comes from the " drippings " of the copper mines at Falun. 
 
 The market square is situated in the middle of the city, and 
 is about two hundred feet across, both ways — a square in fact 
 as well as name. , 
 
 On the ridge of the hill to the West, a Prospect Park has 
 been laid out, embracing some two hundred acres ; and as it 
 commands from the elevation of thirty feet a view of the en- 
 tire city and of the meadows and hills to the East for a dis- 
 tance of twelve miles, and also presents a picture of an arm 
 of the Malaren, with no less than eight islands of from one 
 to three miles in circumference within the scope of vision, the 
 charming nature of the scenery can be faintly imagined. 
 
 The old Castle, in one room of which I am writing, dates 
 from the 12th century ; and wasonce the property of a " rob- 
 ber knight," also Erickson by name [how unlike my amiable 
 and hospitable friend ! who is sitting not far from the table 
 on which I write these words, reading the last number of the 
 Lans tidings-blad ;] who is described in ancient chronicles 
 as the " Terror of the district." It was taken by Gustavus in 
 the i6th century, and strongly fortified ; five towers being
 
 20S 
 
 .VOA' rilERX E UROPE. 
 
 added to it. These additions were destroyed by fire in 17 12. 
 It is now and for many years has been the residence of the 
 Governor, and contains a hall in which the local legislature 
 meets on the call of the executive. 
 
 INTERIOR OF WESTERAS CATHEDRAL. 
 
 The legislative chamber has seats for 62 persons ; and is 
 about 50 by 40 feet in floor dimensions. As in other legisla- 
 tive halls in Sweden that I have visited, including those at 
 Stockholm where there is a rack in front of the benches chair, 
 there are no desks provided for members ; but the sitting, 
 whether by bench or chairs, is very comfortable.
 
 A WEEK AT IVESTERAS. 209 
 
 Immediately over the room in which I am writing is the 
 apartment in which Eric XIV was confined by ins brother 
 John — the sometimes insanely savage Eric who was after- 
 wards poisoned at Orbyhus, by the hand of his equally cruel 
 relation. It is a room about 16 by 20 feet, with a ceiling of 
 not more than 6 feet and 6 inches in heigth. Immediately 
 above his place of confinement his wife was imprisoned for 
 sometime ; until it was discovered that he could communi- 
 cate with her by signals from the windows. 
 
 About three hundred rods to the West of the Castle, and 
 over the brow of the hill, is Eric's walk ; the little circle, still 
 marked with the stones that were his bounds which he paced 
 for exercise — dragging a heavy ball and chain and guarded 
 by seven relatives of the nobles that he himself had caused to 
 be butchered. 
 
 The Castle is four stories high ; and from its present loca- 
 tion and from the authentic descriptions of its former sur- 
 roundings, must have been a strong tower of defense in the 
 days of Josse and his immediate descendants — between the 
 thirteenth and the fifteenth centuries. 
 
 Formerly the prisoners of the county were kept here, 
 their quarters being under and above ground. One must 
 wonder at the industry and skill of the Jack Shephards who 
 managed sometimes to escape from here, despite the eight 
 solid feet of masonary or the doubled locked and barred 
 doors that had to be passed through before exit was obtained. 
 
 Immediately to the East of the Castle, and between it and 
 the river, is a beautifully laid out park ; under whose trees 
 the people are free to walk or sit and enjoy, in a quiet way, 
 their Summer evenings. But picnic parties are not permitted 
 on the premises, and niuch it grieves my good friend, the 
 keeper, when he must send word to ladies who come from a 
 distance and who, unacquainted with the rules in this par- 
 ticular, are about to spread their table-cloths on the grass 
 preparatory to the laying out of a iuncheon from their 
 mammoth baskets. I have several times been a witness to 
 the manifestations of this distress of spirit. But the Gover- 
 nor is inexorable on this point, and the keeper must "see to 
 it."
 
 2IO NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 To the right of this open ground, and nearer the lake 
 water's edge, is the large garden of the establishment ; com- 
 prising, I should say, about thirty acres. Here almost every 
 variety of fruit and berry is grown ; and there is a hot-bed 
 cultivation of the salad plants. Strawberries are here brought 
 to California dimensions ; and as for gooseberries ! I never 
 knew what the bush was capable of doing before, either with 
 respect to size or lusciousness of product. It is claimed that 
 Sweden takes the prize with this growth, in every particular ; 
 but I have arranged for some cuttings for a trial under the 
 fructifying influence of our glorious climate. We shall see 
 about this. But I must first tell you plainly, that here are 
 gooseberries an inch and a half in circumference — I have 
 measured some of them — that fairly melt in the mouth ; having 
 a flavor that is entirely new to the taste of the foreigner, and of 
 an excellent quality. 
 
 Westeras is so famous for its cucumbers that many of my 
 readers who are not Swedes have undoubtedly heard of it in 
 that conneciion before now. In fact, its people go by the 
 Swedish name for tiie vegetable, as Ohioans are sometimes 
 called Buckeyes. I was disappointed in this article of diet. I 
 had great expectations ; as one very fond of the American speci- 
 men. I propose to swap some of our seeds for the gooseberry 
 cuttings. 
 
 The Cathedral, aside from its steeple — the highest (310 feet) 
 and the handsomest in Sweden — is an imposing edifice. It is 
 300 feet long and 1 50 feet wide. The altar pieces consist of 
 small carved images ofpersonages supposed to have been present 
 at the birth-place and at the crucifixion and at other remarkable 
 scsnes in the life of Christ. They are held in cases, but the 
 doors are always swung back — the doors themselves contain- 
 ing half of the sets of figures that are here displayed. At 
 first the whole appearance strikes one as very odd and even 
 grotesque ; but upon close examination, the marvelous art of 
 the chiselers and moulders is discovered, and the feeling 
 changes to one of great if not reverent interest. 
 
 Svante Sture and Erick XIV lie buried here ; the latter 
 under a magnificent sarcophagus of green granite.
 
 A WEFK AT WESTER AS. 2ir 
 
 Over one of the panel monuments to the former bishop of 
 this See, or in the midst of its effigy -work, is the figure of a 
 women, in a half recumbent position, and an attitude of tlirow- 
 ing something from her. Her face is the face of a mahgant 
 devil. This is said to represent a " noble woman " who mur- 
 dered three of her children, by tossing them one after the 
 another — jjerhaps on different occasions — into the flames. 
 
 When she cast the last of her progeny — an infant of three 
 years — into the fire-place, it is related that she heard a laugh, 
 echoing her fiendish screech of delight. A few days after- 
 wards one of her servants inadvertantly committed an act for 
 which he knew he would be punished so soon as it was dis- 
 covered. So he resolved to make a clean breast of it, and 
 take his penalty at once. He went to his mistress — who was 
 now a widow — and asked that judgment be passed immedi- 
 ately. She bade him go into the forest, adjacent to her 
 chateau, and cut down the largest tree he could find, and 
 drag it, limbs foremost, to the gate of her residence grounds. 
 The servant went forth as commanded, and while hunting 
 for & seguoia, a little man came out of the trunk of an elm of 
 considerable dimensions, and told him that the tree he had 
 just left was the one he should put his ax to if he wanted the 
 biggest on the estate. The chopping was accordingly begun, 
 and when the tree was felled the servant said, " My yoke of 
 oxen can never draw that tree, top foremost. They could not 
 draw it a yard." " I will help you, " said the little man; and as 
 he. spoke, ne put nis shoulder under one of tlie largest limbs 
 and told the servant to do the same under one of the lightest. 
 And together they both pulled the immense giant of the 
 woods to the front gate of my lady's park. When they ar- 
 rived at this point there was a loud noise made by the foliage 
 and small twigs dashing against the fence — for the little man 
 went through the gate and dragged the tree-top close up 
 against the stone posts. Thereui)on the mistress looked out 
 ot one of her bed-room windows, and at the same instant the 
 little man gave a kind of a chuckling laugh. The" noble 
 woman '' screamed ; for she saw that her time had come. 
 The little man, whom she said she recognized as her former 
 husband — whom she was also suspected of having poisoned —
 
 212 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 but who was in point of fact the devil himself, told her plainly 
 that she must dress herself and come down and go with him 
 into the woods. She said she would do so ; but requested 
 permission to have her own horses and carriage brought out; 
 and also asked the privilege of being attended by her foot- 
 man and driver. This was acceded to ; but she was told to 
 make haste. Her attendants were also instructed that they 
 must all ride in front and look at the lady, while they were 
 accompanying her on this trip. When they reached the woods, 
 or the part of the road that entered the woods, they forgot 
 their warning. The instant that they looked in the direction 
 where their mistress and the little man sat, the twain disap- 
 peared and were seen no more. The servants jumped from 
 the box and ran back to the chateau. No one could be per- 
 suaded to approach the woods for many days. Finally, when 
 some one did muster up courage to go and see what had be- 
 come of the team, they found that the horses had stood 
 still untill they starved to death. And under the carriage 
 were the bones of this fiendish woman. Her remains were 
 taken and buried beneath the church ; and the bishop who 
 was alive and reigning at the time of this occurrance caused 
 this effigy to be carved and set up on the walls of the sacred 
 edifice. After his death and agreeable to his wishes, it was 
 assigned its admonitory place above his cenotaph. 
 
 The parish in which this w^oman dwelt was called Pintrop ; 
 and the forest in v/hich she is said to have perished still ex- 
 ists unhewn. 
 
 1 give one version of this remarkable story — and they are 
 all substantially alike; — and I add that it is implicitly believed 
 in — so far as its main features are concerned including the 
 appearance of the devil and his doings — by a majority of the 
 very intelligent people of Westeras with whom I have had the 
 honor and pleasure of conversing. 
 
 Yesterday I saw the bishop of the diocese. He was about 
 to go on a pastoral visit. He is over eighty years of age ; 
 but he preached in the cathedral a few Sundays ago. He 
 very much resembles the late Rev. Dr. W. A. Scott, of San 
 Francisco.
 
 A WEEK AT WESTERAS. 213 
 
 On an eminence to the rear of the castle — at the end of a 
 liill or ridge at the back of the town — is the county hospital, 
 the insane asylum, and the prison of the county. We visited 
 them all ; and found much of interest in them. The hospital 
 patients are received and taken care of for forty ore or about 
 ten cents per day. The prison is conducted on the solitary 
 confinement and silent system. Incarceration here is for com- 
 paratively light offences, and does not extend beyond two 
 years. Visitors are not permitted to speak in a loud tone of 
 voice when in the corridors. There were thirty-two prisoners 
 in the cells when we paid our visit ; all engaged in making 
 match-boxes. The prisoners get four ore out of every forty 
 ore that they can make ; and some of the convicts become so 
 expert that they can make twelve and sixteen ore a day by 
 their pastings. The prison is said to be more than self-sup- 
 porting ; and none of the inmates desire to return to it. At 
 no time do the prisoners see each other ; their isolation being 
 perfect and uninterrupted. Preaching on Sundays is listened 
 to by all confined here; as the doors of their cells are partly 
 opened and the minister stands in the centre of the corridor 
 hall, at a point where all can distinctly hear his voice. 
 
 The day before we left Westeras was the great final market 
 day of the Summer ; servants destinations being then made to 
 the third and fourth degree, for the season. The market square 
 and the immediately adjoining streets, and the two blocks 
 of forty to sixty feet width before the court house and on the 
 bank of the river, were packed with little market wagons, 
 stalls, and vegetable baskets as is usual-l)- the case on the days 
 of similar appointment, but the peculiarity of this day's offer- 
 ing for sale above every other that we have witnessed in any 
 part of the country, was a display in the pig line ; which was 
 very large and attractive. Many hundreds "of little squealers 
 entitled to come within the song of the baby melodies, Avere 
 brought to town and presented to the consideration of the 
 purchasing populace. Of course there was a concert that was 
 mostly chorus, and not unpleasant for a short and enquiring 
 audience. Going about as a spectator, I soon found myself 
 the centre of observation, in the ordinary range of market 
 place vision. "What! An American ! " "Yes; and from
 
 214 
 
 NOR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 California." "He cannot want to bu}' a pig! " Some of the 
 bv-standers laughed with me at this remark; but the person 
 who uttered it meant what he said, in perfect good faith. He 
 was bound to make sure of the possible; for he followed me 
 up and said: "Here, if Herr California wants a pig that is fit 
 for killing, this is the man to buy of. Herr California must 
 know that it will not do to fatten a pig for the market in this 
 countr}', unless he is to be killed shortly. My pigs are table 
 and there are very few in the square." 
 
 I asked others if the sales were as good as usual ; and they 
 all replied in the negative. They said that the farmers had 
 held their stock back late in hope of better prices. They had 
 glutted the market of Westeras, on the pig staple. The little 
 porkers were mostly of the Berkshire breed, and they were all 
 disposed of, notwithstanding the com.plaint of over-supply, 
 before five o'clock. Most of them were severally bagged and 
 carried off on the back of the buyer. 
 
 Home-knit stockings of most excellent quality, and coarse 
 woven dress-goods that seemed to justify the assertion for once 
 that "they will wear a life-time," are on the little single cot-bed 
 size tables of the old ladies, who took their store stations by 
 the river side under the beautiful spreading horse-chesnut trees. 
 Their children, their daughters, took adjacent stands, and 
 offered candies, of Stockholm and of home manufacture — 
 exposed in trays or seductively covered by labels that bore 
 pictures of Jenny Lind, Christine Nilson, Clara Louise Kellogg 
 and Miss Thursby, and unknown beauties. These packages 
 contained "mottoes" of the most moral and even religious type; 
 and there were wound around some one of the pieces a plam and 
 plump invitation to be wed — no equivocation about it. Here 
 are speciinens : "Be virtuous and you will be happy," 
 "Industry will have its reward," and "lam ready to marry in 
 November," "What are are you coming to see me so often for ?" 
 "I have loved you for a long time." The girls also 
 had for sale large bandanna and cotton handkerchiefs; Avith 
 strong colors laid in remarkable portraits or scenery. The 
 latter — twenty-five ore or six cent articles — were of that size and 
 of that brilliancy in color of red and yellow, that reminded me 
 forcibly of the calico that was sent to the women of the Washoe
 
 A WEEK AT WESTER AS. 
 
 21S 
 
 and Piute tribes of Indians, by the government of Uncle Sam, 
 through the Walker river reservation agency in 1862. [It was 
 supi^osed that if anything cou/J secure and maintain peace 
 with the Nevada savages, that distribution would do it. And 
 relatively speaking, it did.] 
 
 The death of Alex. T. Sundin, of Westera.s, a member of 
 the king's Wasa order, is announced in the Westmanlands 
 Lands Tidings — a copy of which lies before me. He left by 
 testament to the ])ub]ic schools and charitable institutions of 
 the city 200,000 rix dollars. Ke hanged himself, but although 
 he had many brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews 
 surviving, no one of them came forward to challenge the legal 
 accrediting and carrying out of the will, on the ground of 
 hmacy or undue influence over a weak mind. There are two 
 lawyers in Westeras, but they did not incite any one to dispute 
 the validity of the will, and were not called upon to do so in 
 this instance. 
 
 In Westeras as in all other places of equal size that I have 
 visited, and in many towns of not over two thousand inhabit- 
 ants, there are public baths, which are entitled to consider- 
 ation by our Lick estate trustees. The price is a kroner for a 
 double room, fifty ore for a bath tub alcove. Attendance is 
 precisely the same in both places. The very poor have tickets 
 given them by the corporation authorities. For this sum, in 
 either divison, you have not only an abundant supply of 
 water at any temjjerature desired, coming through a faucet 
 that at your will or that of your waitress gives a large stream, 
 but you have also as much brushing and rubbing as at Miller's 
 Hotel in New York or at our San Francisco Hamman hot 
 air rotunda, or at Dr. Zeilc's establishment. The attendance 
 is by women of middle age exclusively. 
 
 The washerwomen of the town have a large house, of the 
 very best construction — 130 by 40 feet — and 18 feet high- 
 through which a race-v.^ay for water is laid in granite. It is 
 heated thoroughly in winter. This is free to all who will come 
 and wash — and be or make clean. 
 
 Before we departed from Westeras, we took a farewell walk 
 through the charming little city park; in the Western side of 
 which, on a mound about fifteen feet high, and on a pedastal
 
 2l6 
 
 XOJn^HER.V EC ROPE. 
 
 of eight feet, is a mammoth bust of the great Gustavus Wasa. 
 On this spot it is said that the ilhistrious captain addressed 
 the people of Westeras, on one occasion at least ; and I have 
 read somewhere a very eloquent speech attributed to him, as 
 having been uttered at this place. The keeper of the caslle 
 
 STATUE OF GUSTAVUS WASA. 
 
 remarked that " tradition was better than history — more ve- 
 racious and candid — with reference to what was really said by 
 Gustavus from this eminence. Perhaps he did say all or 
 much that the books put down as words spoken by him on 
 the Westeras mound ; but he also said that which the books
 
 A WEEK AT WESTER AS. 
 
 217 
 
 do not record. He said that many before him would Hke to 
 see the axe in him, as he well knew; but they did not care to 
 be seen with their hands on the helve ! " From father to 
 son, this plain sentence has come down to the present gener- 
 ation : and on my inquiringly repeating it elsewhere in 
 Sweden, I sometimes found that it was known ; and once in 
 Nassjo I heard it referred to with a sentiment of pride at the 
 dauntless courage of the hero. But some Lund Professors said 
 that they had never heard it until I repeated it, and they did 
 not believe that Gustavus ever uttered it. 
 
 From Westeras to Upskla the shortest route is direct by rail ; 
 but for several reasons which appear of themselves in the course 
 of this sketch, the preferable passage between the points, to 
 those for whom a few hours additional time is not of consid- 
 erable consequence, is via the city of Stockholm. At ten 
 o'clock p. M., in the month of August — not yet dark enough 
 to require candles — ^just as the wicks of the lighters of the 
 lamps are being turned up — we left the wharf below the 
 castle; embarked on the sharp and swift little steamer y^/-^j-, 
 bound for the Riddarholm landing. AVe are advertised to 
 reach the capital at four and a half o'clock A. Ri., which 
 means in Sweden half-past three. Oh the sorrow of that 
 parting on the deck of the Aros at Westeras ! 
 
 The accommodation in these diminutive Malaren steamers, 
 as on the canals, provoke wonder and admiration on account 
 of extremely ingenious utilizing of space; and there is the uni- 
 form characteristic of neatness. The attendance is good 
 also ; and to such an extent is this the fact that I have often 
 heard travellers express the wish that something approxi- 
 mately prompt and intelligent was to be had on the great 
 Atlantic Ocean ferry boats.
 
 2l8 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 TO AND IN UPSALA. 
 
 By rail or steamer you can go on a nearly direct line from 
 Stockholm to Upsala. Advice from every quarter favors 
 going by the lakes and returning on the cars. By steamer 
 called tlpsala No. i we go. The distance is fifty-six miles — 
 fifteen miles more than by the land route ; and the fare for 
 first-class passage is less than one cent per mile. 1'he Upsala 
 boats start from the Ridderholm wharf at nine o clock in the 
 morning, and reach the landing at Upsala about three p. M. 
 
 The trip is described — (I should say, perhaps decried) — by 
 some of the guide-books, as monotonous and uninteresting. 
 Even our highly prized Bsedecker says something to this effect ; 
 although the very same sentence in which this unjust state- 
 ment is made closes with a qualified or limited recommenda- 
 tion of the passage. Some of the chapters in these books — 
 in the best of them — appear to have been written by com- 
 missioners or guides who have become wearied by travelling 
 over the routes they disparage ; or the writers have taken 
 their cue from lazy " tourists," who covet the name of travel- 
 lers — who wish to be able to truthfully say that they have been 
 here and there, thus and so ; but who cannot endure without 
 a complaint or a yawn the ennui of any mode of conveyance 
 that is not up to the Pulman sleeping car or Fall River steam- 
 boat standard of comfort and luxuriousness. Strangers 
 travelling to see and to learn of the country, and who pur- 
 pose visiting Upsala, will make a mistake if in going or re- 
 turning they do not take this little journey by water carriage. 
 
 The view of the capital city, as the boat recedes from the 
 landing, is always pleasant and inspiriting ; and especially so 
 in the bright rays of the Summer morning sun. We soon 
 leave the Malaren ; and as it is properly said, the steamer 
 thence " threads its way between the islands and the main 
 land." Large private dwellings, and an immense chateau
 
 TO AND IN UPSALA. 
 
 219 
 
 built by the brother of Charles IX, are passed on our way to 
 the Strait of Staket. This is a strait worthy of the name, in 
 every sense of contractedness : so narrow that you can at 
 several points touch the bank on either side with your cane, 
 and so shallow that you feel the scraping of the soft bottom 
 by the small steamer's keel at almost every revolution of the 
 screw. Beyond this throat we come to an island called 
 Almare-staket, where there are remains of the castle of St. 
 Brick's Borg. Here too is the site of the stronghold in which 
 Archbishop Gustaf Trolle shut himself up, and for a time de- 
 fied the power and authority of Sten Sture the Younger — an 
 incident of 360 years ago. Many points of interest are noied 
 along the route through Lake Skarfven ; and the scenery is 
 delightful. 
 
 At Sigtuna, where the steamer stops a few minutes onl}'-, 
 there should be set down a mark of reasonable complaint — 
 on behalf of the visitors who constitute the larger portion of 
 the passengers. An hour's time should be given here — half 
 an hour at least — for the sake of affording travellers an op- 
 portunity to examine closely the ruins of the old Dominican 
 abbey, whose tottering tower is not ten minutes walk from 
 the steamer landing. Sigtuna is now a village of about 500 
 inhabitants ; beautifully situated on a gently sloping hillside. 
 It was at one time — say a matter of five centuries ago — the 
 largest city in Sweden. There is a long history here of dem- 
 olition by one set of kings and rebuilding by another, etc ; 
 all calculated to create and foster laudable curiosity which 
 ought to be met and gratified to the extent and in the way 
 indicated, by the steamer company. Why don't the guide- 
 books say this ? Perhaps the author for the section that 
 speaks of this trip has always passed this point as a party of 
 tourists were giving it the " go by,'' when I made notes 
 for this paragraph. The Captain said that they were playing 
 cards in the cabin. 
 
 There are remains of four old churches at Sigtuna ; and the 
 tower of one — already spoken of — can be seen for a mile or 
 more down the lake, jagged topped, ivy oer-grown, and sur- 
 rounded all day by large flocks of birds whose nests are in 
 its upper walls.
 
 220 
 
 NOR THERM E UR OPE. 
 
 On the left is the site of the more ancient town of Fora- 
 sigtuna ; wliere is fastened the romantic legend of Hagbard 
 and Signe, and their ill-fated love. Then comes Haturnaholm, 
 and the church of Haturna ; where Dukes Eric and Wal- 
 dener put their brother King Birger in chains and forced 
 him to divide the empire witli them. Eleven years afterwards 
 Birger, pretending to have lost all anger on account of the 
 durance he had been in, sent out cards of invitation to his 
 brothers to come and take a thanksgiving dinner with him at 
 his residence at Ny Koping. The two brothers came ; and 
 Birger told his constables to place them in a dungeon and 
 feed them on air and water. After this atrocious act, let us 
 be glad to remember, Birger received at least so much pun- 
 ishment as could be inflicted by taking away his royal power. 
 Here, at Haturna, his brothers began the quarrel. I have 
 seen the grave of these three brothers, in the Storkyrka, at 
 Stockholm. They were a cruel, pitiless race : those old folk- 
 kings. 
 
 Crossing the waters of the Skofjarden — a beautiful lake — 
 with many points of interest on either hand, we come to 
 Skokloster, or the "Forest Monastery," as the original name 
 imports. Here is a splendid chateau, where was formerly a 
 monastery belonging to the Dominicans, subsequently occu- 
 pied by the Cistercian nuns. The present edifice is in the 
 possession of the Brahe family ; and the grounds and the in- 
 terior of the building may be visited by the payment of two 
 kroners to the overseer of the estate. The structure is 140 
 feet square ; with a tower at each corner, covered with copper. 
 The main building is four stories high ; the towers rising 
 fifteen or twenty feet higher. The front hall is magnificent; 
 being supported by eight Ionic columns of pure white marble. 
 The decorated ceiling is marvelously beautiful. As has been 
 comprehensively written, the interior is a museum ; there is 
 a library and an armory; the latter containing 1,200 guns and 
 avast variety of other weapons of warfare, including the 
 broad sword of Ziska, the distinguished Hussite chieftain, 
 and the axe of the executioner at the "Blood bath of Lin- 
 koping."
 
 TO AND IN U PSA LA. 
 
 221 
 
 Venitian glasses and gold and silver ware of high value are 
 here displayed in great profusion. Here are also life size 
 portraits of Gustavus Adolphus, Axel Oxenstjerna and 
 Charles X, VI, XII , the latter on horseback. And here is 
 a picture of Ebba Brahe, that justifies all the eulogiums that 
 have been passed on her superlative beauty. She must have 
 been a charmer. 
 
 SKOKLOSTER. 
 
 The library contains 40,000 volumes ; and among the 
 numerous manuscripts visitors may see, on inquiry, the Rev- 
 elations of St. Brigittae. 
 
 The Skokyrka, which is close by the chateau, is also well 
 worih a visit. The figure of the Magdalen is of such excel- 
 lence that substantially the same expression of wonder was in- 
 stant and irrepressible from every intelligent person present
 
 2 22 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 at the time we stood before it : " How is it possible that this 
 product of a master's hand has been left in this compara- 
 tively obscure locality ?" The pulpit is a very fine piece of 
 work ; and the paintings on and about the altar are choice in 
 their character and design. Here is the tomb of the ''Swedish 
 Sap[)ho," — a poetess, commonly known in our literature as 
 Charlotte Norden, but whose full baptismal cognomen, as 
 the inscription in this church does testify, was Hedvig Char- 
 lotta Norden flycht. It is said — I say it is said, for I now 
 hear that which I never read about her — that many of her 
 best poems were destroyed by her relatives, because those 
 verses referred more or less distantly to her love disappoint- 
 ment — a sad story of heartless treatment on the part of a suc- 
 cessful suitor, ending in her attempted suicide. 
 
 Churches, estates, estates and churches, Alsike, Krusenberg, 
 Aker, Dalby, Nas, and Flotsund ; and then the steamer passes 
 into the river Fryisa, which is here about the size of the Cro- 
 ton River at its mouth or the Tuolumne E.iver at Modesto, 
 and as muddy as the Sacramento could be without any in- 
 junctions on the hydraulic miners. Far to the North and 
 East extends the plain of Upsala, with the tall, needle-shaped 
 steeple of an outlying parish (Vaksala) in the centre of the 
 horizon. 
 
 As we push on and swing around more directly to the Nr;rth 
 in the narrow channel, the agricuUural school of Ultuna 
 comes into view ; situated close by the river's bank. It con- 
 sists of three buildings upon a fifty-acre farm ; the dwellings 
 and schools being the size of the Protestant Orphan Asylum, at 
 San Francisco. Here, as at the Stromsholm School — which is 
 a very much smaller institution based on the same plan — by a 
 course of instruction running through two and one half years, 
 it is claimed that accomplished agriculturalists are brought or 
 sent forth for foreman's places upon the estates of Sweden. I 
 am told that the students are usually the sons of parents well to 
 do ; and that these charity schools are m no sense for the 
 poor. Some of the most intelligent students with whom I have 
 conversed on this subject have sought to give me very unfavor- 
 able impressions as to the effect these "academies of theory" 
 have had upon the culture of the soil of the nation.
 
 TO AXD IX UPSALA. 
 
 223 
 
 Now comes the Lunatic Asylum and the new Hospital ; and 
 then we reach the long straight waterway that is handsomely 
 shaded by a park row of trees on the left, and bounded by the 
 southern portion of the city of Upsala on the right. Half a 
 mile of this passage brings us to the wharf of the Stockholm 
 Steamer, in the first university city of Sweden. 
 
 The landing of the little steamer is immediately opposite the 
 city garden and cafe, known as the Stromparterre — a place we 
 visited and to which I shall probably refer hereafter. Coming v.p 
 the ruddy Fyrisa along the line of the city park, anything like 
 a full view of the little city is prohibited by the shade trees that 
 
 UPSALA CASTLE AND CATHEDRAL GENERAL VIEW. 
 
 border the river, and by the houses that are in immediate juxta- 
 position to the bank on the shore side ; and you do not obtain 
 any glance at all at the castle until you have fairly stepped upon 
 shore and passed to the edge of the first bridge that crosses the 
 stream. So that the "commanding vision as you approach" 
 which is often spoken of by the guide books and travellers, is to 
 be dated, as it were, from the railway line, as it comes up from 
 the Southeast on the U])sala plain ; from which you do indeed
 
 2 24 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 have an excellent picture of the city and its principal edifice 
 Ions before you have arrived at the corporation limits. 
 
 Two characteristics are to be set down at once for this ancient 
 university town — especially at this season of the year. One is 
 the cleanliness — so scrupulous as to remind you of the olden 
 stories of the streets in the cities of the Netherlands ; and the 
 other is a quietness that will often make you wonder, as you 
 pass along, whether the buildings on either side hold any in- 
 habitants or no .? Arriving here in the mid-afternoon, we met 
 with no hackmen or solicitors of any kind at the dock, and 
 there were but few spectators about ; all this in strikmg con- 
 trast to Westeras and Strengnas and Falun, and other towns in 
 Sweden, of city name and of similar size. It is vacation time, 
 sure enough ; and we need not have expected to see groups of 
 students here and there — as engravings are apt to give them. 
 But it is on a day preceding a great convocation of teachers and 
 professors, and it is stated that no less than 2,500 strangers- 
 gathered from all parts of Eastern and Southern Sweden — must 
 at this time be sojourning in Upsala. So that we might have 
 reasonably looked for crowded streets. 
 
 Upsala is a city of 12,000 inhabitants, exclusive of its tern- 
 porary residents, the students. Although its corporate limits 
 are not defined by any wall, as of old, yet, like other towns of 
 this kingdom its line of edifices break short ofT — so to speak — 
 on every hand. Suggesting a preparedness for the construction 
 of a stone ridge of defence, if necessary. Somehow, this idea 
 has struck me on every occasion of a visit of the like nature ; 
 and doubtless this manner and custom of building the houses 
 together is due to the originttl plan of a walled town. 
 
 The principal points of interest here are, of course, the 
 Cathedral or Dom, and the Castle, and the University Library- 
 each one as I can now say, well worth a visit and fully repaying 
 of themselves the time aiid expense of the trip from the Capital. 
 In our visits to the Church and the Castle and the University 
 buildings, we had for a guide, a lady whom I wish to gratefully 
 mention in this chapter. Mrs. Ebba Sunden, fodd Gregersson, 
 wife of a professor — in the professional line herself, with a title 
 to that effect— kindly took us in charge, in compliance with a 
 letter of introduction from Herr J. C. INIycrberg, and accom- 
 panied us on our visits to castles, coUfges and clubrooms.
 
 TO AND IN UPSALA. 
 
 225 
 
 While you are sure to receive a hospitable welcome in any 
 portion of Sweden — so far as my observation and experience 
 goes — on a proper credential — tliere is a difference, of course, 
 with Kespect to the interest that will be manifested in connection 
 with your inquiries and investiijations. Now Mrs. Sunden and 
 her husband are great admirers of our Republican Institutions, 
 and appear to have been omnivorous readers of modern Amer- 
 ican literature. This will probably sufficiently indicate how 
 fortunate we were in the companionship of such a lady at such 
 a lime. 
 
 It begins to rain tempestuously shortly after our arrival. But, 
 notwithstanding this, people gather in the cafe gardens of Up- 
 sala at the usual hour for evening out-door refreshment — be- 
 tween si.K and seven o'clock — thronging under the canvas or 
 awnings that are provided on the edge of the restaurants. At 
 the upper or eastern end of the city, near the Sala Hotel, and in 
 close proximity to the railroad station, there is a little b?er 
 garden and restaurant, with a horse-shoe shaped shed occupied 
 by a band of music'ans; and on this night in front of this plat- 
 form, a stage had been erected for the performance of a gymnast, 
 who, in the midst of a shower, and before an audience necessarily 
 somewhat distant in point of feet and rods, but very respectable 
 in numbers and demonstrative applause, went through his pro- 
 gramme with conscientious and heroic fortitude. One of his 
 tricks was novel to us, and perhaps worth mentioning. A pole 
 was erected at one extremity of the platform — its height prob- 
 ably about twenty feet from the line of the floor — and at a 
 distance of six or seven feet above the platform there protruded 
 a series of shelves, one above the other, at an interval of two or 
 three feet. Mounting the pole, and pulling down the first shelf, 
 the acrobat leaned over gradually until his balance was lost, and 
 then descending and striking with his hands upon a table be- 
 neath, turned a triple back somersault on the platform. This 
 was repeated — the performer each time mounting one shelf 
 higher — until from the full distance of twenty feet, the descent 
 and revolution was made. PVom a beginning that was a com- 
 monplace exhibition, the exercise grew to be a very thrilling 
 spectacle — as the daring athlete mounted higher and higher.
 
 226 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 After witnessing his performance, we strolled down to the 
 Stromparterre ; the large city garden already referred to, which 
 is at the northern edge of the city park, and adjacent to the 
 castle grounds. There — the storm having somewhat subsided 
 — we found a gathering of probably 3C0 persons listening to 
 music from a band of twenty-three musicians, who were stationed 
 at one side of a large and brilliantly illuminated two-story cafe. 
 Some of the pieces played carried us back, sure enough, to San 
 Francisco ; as they were selections from operas made familiar to 
 our people generally by iheir repitition at our incomparable, 
 popular Opera House, known as the Tivoli. 
 
 The general topic of conversation was the meeting of the 
 teachers, who weie to consider and prescribe the course of in- 
 struction that was to be given during the coming year. We 
 paused at no table where this was not the theme of talk; and 
 dignified looking gentlemen who had the air of being teachers 
 and professors themselves, apparently exhibited no more interest 
 in this subject than did the old ladies who had brought their 
 knitting or crochet-work with them, and who substituted dis- 
 cussion about the course of study for the gossip that we would 
 naturally expect to hear under such circumstances in such a 
 place. 
 
 Evidently this is a university town in a very striking sense of 
 the term. It is the pride of the people here — this great college 
 of Sweden ; and they have a very intelligent understanding with 
 respect to it. We stepped into a number of stores for the pur- 
 pose of making the chance acquaintance of the proprietor or his 
 clerks, rather than on account of need or desire to purchase ; 
 and on a hint that we were strangers, and more especially after 
 stating that we were Americans and Californians, we obtained 
 from one and all a succinct and comprehensive account of the 
 origin of the University, of its progress, of the present number of 
 professors and students, and so forth. All with a degree of par- 
 ticularity and detail beyond anything that we had seen in the 
 guide books, or in the recent volumes of letters of travel which 
 embrace communications upon these points. 
 
 The Cathedral or Dom Church is approached from the South- 
 east by a flight of steps that leads up on to the grand dais on 
 which it stands — approached through a building or series of
 
 TO A. YD IN U PSA LA. 
 
 227 
 
 buildings that border the cathedral yard on two sides. The 
 porter's lodge is on the left as you reach the level of the church 
 foundation. We were fortunate enough to have for our guide. 
 
 .jipisls'atllfsiili 
 
 the porter's wife — the man himself being employed in duties 
 connected with the great meeting, to which we have already 
 referred. Here, curiosity answered unto curiosity, and brought
 
 228 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 us a harvest of information. The good -woman of the lodge 
 wanted lo know all about the United States, and especially 
 everything that we could tell her with respect to that paradise 
 land of the earth, known to her — (under a very peculiar and 
 indescribable form of pronunciation) — as " the land of San 
 California." And as if to pay us in advance for all the in- 
 formation we could give, or to make us the more ready to 
 answer her questions, or to volunteer information, I think we 
 had a quadrupled amour c of historic and biographical story 
 with respect to the notable points of interest in the great 
 Cathedral. Of course I shall not undertake, in this place 
 or in this communica'tion, to make a report, verbatim, of 
 all her recitations, I dare to say that if I did, the printed 
 record would occupy more than any reasonable limits for a 
 "chapter." 
 
 Of course the first object to which the attention of the 
 visitor is directed is the cotitin of silver in which are the bones 
 of St. Eric. This is on the left hand side of the altar ; at the 
 place where the bishop's chair is usually situated in our 
 Episcopal edifices. It is elevated about three or four feet 
 from the floor and is protected from sacrilegious handling by 
 an iron railing and screen. Immediately in the rear of the 
 altar is a chapel, decorated with pictures presenting scenes 
 in the life of the great Gustavus ; the figures being of life 
 size, and the execution being of that pronounced and vivid 
 style which characterizes the panorama paintings of the mod- 
 ern French and German artists. 
 
 The monument of John III. is a reclining statue, which for 
 clearness of outline is surpassingly fine. It seems as it it was 
 carved out of a large pebble or an immense horn rather than 
 from a block of marble, — the fibre of the stone, — so to speak, 
 — being of such character as to suggest one or the other of 
 the materials I have likened it unto. 
 
 I do not know that I ever before saw an effigy or bust, with 
 respect to which, I felt a desire to touch and handle; but I 
 certainly had this morbid disposition here, and I so confessed. 
 And when I mentioned this feeling, I was told that a similar 
 remark had been made by many others, when they first came 
 into tliis presence.
 
 TO AND IN U PSA LA. 2?9 
 
 The altar is beautifully arranged and adorned: all in good 
 taste and mucli in striking contrast to the ornamentation dis- 
 played in other cathedrals and large churches of the kingdom, 
 which I have visited. There was nothing tawdry about it. 
 The pulpit has been the subject o*^ many descriptions and 
 much eulogistic notice, from those who are best able to speak 
 of it in an artistic point of view. It was made after the de- 
 sign of Nicodemus Tessin, — whose name is a household word 
 in Sweden. 
 
 Gustavus I St is represented as lying on his marble monu- 
 ment, between his first and second wife. His third consort, — 
 who survived him some sixty years, — is buried at a distance. 
 I climbed up at one side of this monument, — which is ele- 
 vated fully eight feet from the floor, — and took a careful view 
 of the reposing monarch and his first spouse. The effigy is 
 said to be a good likeness. If that is so, then the busts which 
 I have seen elsewliere flattered him exceedingly. His second 
 wife was much the handsomest lady; but I was told that his 
 third choice fell upon the greatest beauty in tlie land. While 
 these facts probably have no historical importance, they were 
 somewhat prominent in the conversation which I necessarily 
 overheard while I stood gazmg upon these representations of 
 ancient Swedisli royalty. 
 
 The grave of Linnaeus is near the front door; under a slab 
 that is fully fifty feet distant from the magnificent monument 
 which lias been erected in his honor in one of the alcoves of 
 the Cathedral. Mrs. Suiidea remarked that Englishmen fre- 
 quently came to the cathedral and asked to see the grave of 
 Linnceus; and having stood above his remains a few minutes, 
 they went away with the remark t'nat there was nothing else 
 in the building that they cared to see;— adding, if questioned, 
 that they had old cathedrals and old war heroes represented 
 in tablet and effigy, from one end of England to the other, in 
 such abundance as to surfeit and sicken tliem! But the grave 
 of Linnaeus! ah! they wanted to stand by the side of that! 
 The monument of Linnreus is a pyramid of porphyry, wiili a 
 bronze medallion of the great botanist, — the masterpiece of 
 Seigal.
 
 230 A'OJ? TIIERX E I 'ROPE. 
 
 The porter's wife exhibited to us the precious relics and 
 curiosities in the sacristy, which is on the right of the East- 
 ern entrance. Here are the ecclesiastical vessels of silver and 
 gold, and crowns and surplices and robes, and the clothes of the 
 Stures who were murdered by order of Eric XIV. — as will be 
 hereafter described. Here is also the gift of King Albert 
 of Mecklenberg to Queen Margaret, — "a gift of derision," — 
 a stone for sharpening her needle; and here is kept her re- 
 sponsive gift — which was a banner made out of some of her 
 Petticoats. In the sacristy are also kept trunks full of valu- 
 ables belonging to wealthy citizens of Upsala, who are by the 
 Bishop and Chapter permitted to use this place as a deposit 
 for safe lodgment. 
 
 The cathedral is capable of seating 5,000 persons; and on 
 all festive days, it is said, — (as always elsewhere) — that there 
 is not room in the buildmg for the people who wish to attend. 
 The organ is nearly the size of the famous Boston instrument. 
 The memoranda of exterior dimensions are : 370 feet by 
 141 feet, and a height of 115 feet. The construction of this 
 building was commenced in i 19, by a French architect, 
 whose contract was written and dated and executed at Paris, 
 in 1287. 140 years passed between the signing of the con- 
 tract and the date of the final consecration, — for there were 
 several preliminary ceremonies — in 1425. At one time it v/as 
 surmounted by three towers, two of which were 400 feet in 
 height. But these were consumed by fire at the last of the 
 five successive conflagrations, from which the cathedral has 
 suffered. The two towers now at the Northern end of the 
 church are stunted in their dimensions — their total height 
 being only 180 feet. The same complaint is made with re- 
 spect to them that is often heard in connection with the 
 towers of Westminster, in London. 
 
 Adjacent to this church is the Spring of St. Eric — not more 
 than ten or twelve rods to the right of the building. This 
 Spring is said to have suddenly burst forrh at the very place 
 v/here St. Eric was decapitated. The guide-books say that 
 the water is now used exclusively for a hydropathic establish- 
 ment, which is situated immediately adjacent to the Spring. 
 But the fact is, the water of the Spring supplies the whole
 
 TO AND IN UPSALA. 231 
 
 town or city of Upsala. The water has a purity which justi- 
 fies the praise bestowed upon it. It is of that limpid and 
 sparkhng character which country folks in the Western part 
 of New England are familiar with ; —finding it in the natural 
 reservoirs of their mountain towns. 
 
 Distant from the cathedral fully half a mile is the eminence 
 on which stands the castle of Upsala. It is situated to the 
 East of the Botanic Garden, through which we passed on our 
 way to the scene of the slaughter of the " ill-tated Sture." 
 This castle was constructed in 1538 by Gustavus Wasa, and 
 additions were made to it by John III. and Gustavus II. 
 It was partly burnt in 1702, and has never been fully restored. 
 It is the residence of the Governor of the Province. From 
 the grounds, immediately in front, there is a fine view of the 
 Upsala Valley, including Gamla or Old Upsala — which is 
 distant about four miles to the North-east — where are the 
 great tumuli, containing the graves of Odin, Thor and Frya. 
 The castle itself is about 60 feet high, betv/een 300 and 400 
 feet long, and 50 feet wide. It is constructed of brick, and 
 in the rear looks more like one of our modern manufacturing 
 establishments than it does like a castle or an Executive 
 residence. 
 
 The place where the Sture were murdered is at the South- 
 Avest end of the present castle, — in a ruined fragment of the 
 first building. The room where the horrible butchery was 
 perpetrated, is v;ithout a roof, while through the cracks of 
 the floor a mass of shrubbery has pushed its way upwaid. 
 Through an iron grating we looked in, while Mrs. Sunden 
 re-told the story of the wholesale assassination. The order 
 came suddenly from King Eric, — who is believed by many to 
 have been insane at the time, — (whose own subsequent hor- 
 rible fate we have already rehearsed), — and the unfortunate 
 victims had no notice Avhatever of the intention of the guard 
 to slaughter them. 'Wlien the soldiers entered the dungeon, 
 and commenced the attack with spears and daggers and 
 swords, the "Sture" defended themselves as well as they 
 could with sticks of wood and with tlie ijiecesof board which 
 they tore from the wainscot ; crying out in wonder as well as 
 agony, while the butchery was going on ; resisting the assaults 
 valiantly until death put an end to their horrible sufferings.
 
 232 
 
 NOR TIIERX E UR OPE. 
 
 A new University building is in process of erection — nearly- 
 completed — and will soon entirely supersede three of the de- 
 tached edifices which have been devoted to the objects for 
 which it is constructed. 
 
 The Library building {Carolina Rcdlviva^ and its contents 
 deserves a notice. The building is about the size of the 
 California State Capital, minus the dome. The Librarian 
 
 UPSALA UxNIVERSITY LIBRARY BUILDING CAROLINA REDIVIVA. 
 
 began our conversation by speaking of Professor Moses of 
 the California University, from whom he had had many com- 
 munications. He seemed to have a high admiration for our 
 teacher, both as a scholar and an instructor. 
 
 This Library — which contains 200,000 volumes and 7,000 
 manuscripts — has among its most precious treasures the Codex 
 Argenfeus ; which is a Gothic translatioa of the four gospels, 
 made by Bishop Ulphilas, between the years 340 and 380. 
 This book is the oldest specimen of the Gothic language, and 
 its typographical value is very great. On this account, — as a 
 representative and a record of the ancient work of writing,
 
 TO AND IN U PSA LA. 
 
 '-n 
 
 < 
 
 t-l 
 
 Q 
 
 t— *
 
 234 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and stamping in printing characters, — it is often called for, 
 and examined by persons of distinction, who take no interest 
 in its religious significance. We had the precious volume in 
 our hands, — that is to say, we had our hands under its silver 
 lids ; a privilege, which we were informed was vouchsafed on 
 rare occasions. 
 
 Here also, we were shown several Bibles with chains attached ; 
 which had been placed in the churches in early days, and read 
 by the enlightened few. Here are manuscript writings of the 
 monarchs of Sweden, from 1400 down. On the 9th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1 69 1, Charles XII wrote to his father. We read the 
 letter ; expressive of dutiful affection, and a hope and desire to 
 become a man and monarch worthy of such a sire. When 
 Charles was nine years old he wrote a letter to his grandmother ; 
 in which he hailed her as "The mighty Queen, "'and "the best 
 of all grandmothers." We were also shown his writings when 
 he was twenty-one years of age ; written when he was in the 
 saddle. Here were also specimens of writings of Gustavus 
 Adolphus ; verses copied by him from the Bible, in a daily 
 journal form. And here was the famous diary of the Vadstena 
 .Monastery, written between the years 1384 and 1545- The 
 chirography is as copperplate on many pages. 
 
 The library rooms are about 200 feet in length and 14 or 15 
 feet in height, with a Vv'idth probably of 40 or 50 feet. Tlie 
 shelves reach nearly up to the ceiling ; and there are four 
 double rows in the body of the halls upon the first and second 
 stories. The upper story is not considered sufficiently strong to 
 bear a burden of books ; and for that and other reasons it is 
 appropriated and set apart as an audience or council chamber. 
 In it there are a large number of statues and busts, arranged on 
 either side of the long chamber, while at the top of the hall is a 
 large platform, on which the " Upsala Students' Choir" play 
 and sing on certain festive occasions. 
 
 As we walked from the Library building — which is called the 
 Carolina Rediviva — we met one of the students — readily known 
 by his cap and seal. We were shown the rooms where the 
 division of the students that hail from Stockholm meet for social 
 and convivial purposes. The rooms were five in number and 
 were situated near the principal hotel a::d about two blocks
 
 TO AND IN UPS ALA. 235 
 
 distant from the edge of the park grounds, in which the Univer- 
 sity buildings are located. The furniture of the rooms is plain 
 but massive. Eacii division of the kingdom has its separate 
 social society and headquarters ; of which ihe Stockholm ren- 
 dezvous was, we were informed, a fair specimen. 
 
 While walking around the outer ruin of the city, and, when 
 about to cross one of the bridges, of the Fyrisa, at the Northern 
 extremity of Upsala, we were met by a young man of apparently 
 twenty years — a peasant boy, as we judged by his dress and 
 general appearance. When we had approached within a few 
 feet of him he suddenly changed his demeanor from that of a 
 quiet passer-by to that of an active dancer 1 He jumped up 
 immediately in front of us and began those peculiar tangle- 
 legged movements to which we have already been compelled to 
 refer. There could be no mistaking his condition or its cause ; 
 in fact he left us in no doubt on that score, by the language 
 which he used on this occasion. He said, in substance, while 
 actively engaged in his saltatory exercise — or, perhaps, to be 
 more accurate, I should say, he shouted : "You think yourself 
 very fine, no doubt I But what would I be if I had your nice 
 clothes on me ! Give me your coat and see what a noble look- 
 ing fellow I will be." We replied to the effect that his coat 
 seemed to be manly, if not quite as good as that on our own 
 shoulders. To this, the young man replied: "Ah ! but look 
 at the difference in the style. You have had your coat cut by 
 a Frenchman. IMy mother made mine, and she is a good 
 woman. But she don't know what stuff I have got in me to- 
 day. I have pot the liveliest stuff in me that I ever had in my 
 hfe. You think yourself very wise, no doubt. I do not speak 
 to suit you, but I can whip any one of my weight, single 
 handed." There was a concert of assent ; there could not be 
 any doubt about that. At this juncture up came a policeman, 
 who began reasoning, or attempting to reason with the rampant 
 youth ; who never left off from his dancing — no, not for a mo- 
 ment. Said the gentle custodian of the peace: "Go home, 
 Carl, and behave yourself You are disgracing your poor old 
 mother. I shall have to take you up and lock you up." Noth- 
 ing daunted at tl^.is, the response was immediate and jovial : 
 " You're a good fellow ; I know you well. I knew you before
 
 236 ^OR THERN E UR OPE. 
 
 you got all those brass buttons on you. I knew your mother 
 and your father, too, before you. Put that coat on me and I 
 can whip all the other policemen in the city." 
 
 As we turned away, the young man was still continuing his 
 half defiant and half badgering speech to the expostulating 
 officer of the law. 
 
 XX. 
 
 AT STOCKHOLM. 
 
 Herr C. J. Meyerberg, the Inspector of Schools at Stock- 
 holm is certainly a remarkable man. Remarkable in his 
 scholarship and in his popularity. Or, perhaps, with reference 
 to the last mentioned standpoint, it should be said that it is 
 very strange .that the people of a large city like Stockholm have 
 been so uniformly discriminating as to elect him twenty-two 
 times in twenty-two consecutive vears. Herr Meyerbeig writes 
 and speaks a score of languages, and in his tastes and manner 
 he has the simplicity which is the usual characteristic of eminent 
 scholars and instructors. [He has always refused to allow his 
 photograph to be taken — even declining when we begged for 
 one sitting for our engraver's copy.] 
 
 It seems as if we must say of almost every distinguished per- 
 son with whom we come in contact in Sweden — as well as of 
 the people of the peasantry order — that he or she particularly 
 delights in showing a kmdness to an American citizen, I have 
 tried to ascertain whether the English or German or French 
 travellers had a similar impression as to cordial welcome and 
 gladly rendered service with respect to their countrymen, on the 
 part of the men and women of this land who have greeted us. 
 And while I am not positive in every instance, I believe that 
 the preference has been admitted as unmistakably for persons 
 hailing from the United States. And, indeed, why should it 
 not be so } Why not, indeed ! We have nearly or quite a
 
 ATS TOCKHOLM. 237 
 
 million of men and women in our Union who were born in 
 this little kingdom ! And we receive from 20,000 to 50,000 
 Swedish immigrants annuall}-. 
 
 Herr Meyerberg resides on tlie third floor of a huge building ; 
 nearly as large as the Morton House, New York, or Bancroft "s 
 book house in San Francisco, But the exterior is more like a 
 wholesale store and warehouse on Broadway, New York, than 
 like the front of either building named. And this I mention, 
 to add that this description will answer for most of the older 
 and larger edifices on the main business streets of Stockholm. 
 
 We have to wait but a few minutes on the landing after the 
 maid has taken our cards before the professor appears at the 
 door; calling out, "Be so good, be so good," with a hearty 
 emphasis. He says that he must apologize for being in such 
 haste to welcome us that he forgot to change his dressing-gown 
 for a frock coat ; and he bids us wait for him in the library 
 while he puts on proper attire. When we tell him that this 
 evidence of quickness to salute us is very agreeable, he laughs 
 and explains: "Well, you must not mind an old bachelor's 
 ways in welcoming his friends. I expect that a mairied man is 
 taught to be more particular about his dress when he answers 
 a summons for a visitor at his own door." 
 
 Over six feet high, strong and lithe of frame, of age about 
 fifty-five, with a countenance always expressive of good nature, 
 but devoid of any grinning habit ; a thoroughly frank and 
 aftable gentleman, — with "no airs," as we would say. This is 
 a true description, so far as it goes, of Herr Meyerberg, In- 
 spector of Schools in Stockholm these twenty-two years last 
 past. Of course, I write of him now after an acquaintance that 
 extended over several weeks ; but we had the correct impression 
 about him the moment we saw him brushing past his servant 
 and bidding us enter his sitting room and library. 
 
 "You see," said the professor, "that I have a pretty fair 
 assortment of English books for a Swedish school superinten- 
 dent ; " pointing to a dozen long; shelves filled with volumes 
 from American and English publication houses. Wo noticed 
 Hon. S.^ S. Cox's latest volume — " From the Arctic to the Bos- 
 phorus" — whereupon the Inspector exclaimed: "O yes, I 
 prize him very highly. He is a very humorous man, and as it
 
 238 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 also appears, a profound and brilliant Statesman, And here is 
 a report from San Francisco," he said, showing us a volume 
 which bore the signature of John Swett, " I see by the picture 
 that you have splendid school buildings ; and I judge that your 
 children have as good facilities for acquiring an education as 
 any other boys and girls — outside of Sweden." There was a 
 furtive glance and a sly twinkle in his eyes as he uttered this 
 last clause — as though, among other things, he would like to 
 test our amiability, and yet did not wish to say anything that 
 could be construed as offensive boasting. He saw that we cer- 
 tainly were not irritated by his assumption of superiority for his 
 country's methods of instruction, etc., and so he went on in the 
 same strain : " We ought to be ahead of you in school matters 
 in some respects. I think we can decide more quickly, and 
 put in operation with less difficulty. Of course you know that 
 our school house and our steam launch took the first prizes at 
 the Centennial Exhibition ? " Yes, we knew this ; and we had 
 recently had the pleasure of riding in the little vessel — now 
 called the Filadelfia and running on Lake Malaren — by which 
 the medal was captured in one department of the Centennial. 
 As for the school houses : why, Herr Meyerberg might do us 
 the honor of showing us some of them himself ? Of course 
 he would ; nothing could afford him m.ore satisfaction ; and he 
 would make another change — put on another coat — and go out 
 with us immediately. 
 
 It was vacation time ; but perhaps there were some advan- 
 tages in a visit at this season, to partly counterbalance the loss 
 which was evident and unmistakable. We should have been 
 glad to see the boys and girls together in their study and reci- 
 tation rooms, and in their gymnasiums ; but, as Herr Meyer- 
 berg observed, it was not very difficult to imagine how they 
 would look and act if the places which they occupied in the 
 school year were filled by them. W^e could examine the build- 
 ing and the grounds as carefully as we wished. He introduced 
 us to the janitors, and said : " Let these people come and visit 
 here when they like. And if they wish to see anything in par- 
 ticular, no matter if it is for the seventh time, show it to them. 
 They are Americans, and what is better still, they are Califor- 
 niansJ" "O ! Californians ! " the janitors would invariably
 
 A T STOCKHOLM. 239 
 
 exclaim — with a glance and a gesture and bow that sl|;piined a 
 respectful and cordial ^velcome. The school edifices in Stock- 
 holm are of the best — as good as stone foundations and brick 
 walls can make the exterior. [The view elsewhere given of the 
 Grammar and Commercial School at Norrkoping, is in most 
 respects a truly "specimen edifice." It cost ^175,000, in 1868 
 — equivalent to a cost for material and labor with us of not 
 less than $300,000. The Stockholm school-houses cost from 
 ^85,000 to .$150,000.] Within, the arrangements are uniformly 
 of that excellent pattern which has given Sweden the first 
 name in this respect, the vv^orld over. On the gymnasium es- 
 pecial care is bestowed ; and plenty of space is devoted to 
 each apparatus, so that there shall be no crowding by way of 
 injudicious proximity of swings and cross bars, etc. Usually 
 in Sweden the gymnasium is in or attached to the school build- 
 ing proper ; but sometimes, as at Westeras, the exercise hall is 
 in a separate structure. " It is amazing ! " once exclaimed 
 Herr Meyerberg, as we were walking in the Djurgarden, and 
 recurring to his favorite topic, ' ' that your people do not in- 
 variably have a room or l)uilding for gymnastic exercises for 
 the scholars in your public schools, in every large town in 
 America. I believe that you have the phrase, ' tempting Provi- 
 dence.' Well, it seems to me that you tempt Providence by 
 failing at this day of civilization and enlightenment to have as 
 good facilities for gymnastic training as we give our children, 
 in or adjacent to our school houses in Sweden. What do yon 
 mean by being so slow in coming up to our standard, or at 
 least to the German standard, in this matter ? O ! it is out- 
 rageous ! " And the Inspector shook his head, as though he 
 was reflecting upon a deficiency for which he was somehow par- 
 tially personally responsible. 
 
 " I wish you would come over and lecture to our folks on 
 the subject," said I ; "although I believe the plan of providing 
 those facilities of which you speak is now being considered and 
 acted upon very extensively in the United States." ''''Ydid 
 lecture to your people on the subject. I gave some of them 
 good talks about it, you may be sure, when I was Commis- 
 sioner to the Centennial." And hereupon the Inspector began 
 to laugh audibly to himself. We told Herr Meyerberg about
 
 240 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 our familiar phrase, " A penny for your thoughts." " Well," 
 said he, half checking his chuckle, " I will soon let you know 
 what I was thinking about ; but you must let me snicker — I 
 believe that is your word precisely — and a good word to ex- 
 press what the action is. You must let me snicker a little 
 more." And he did giggle — still to himself as it were— for 
 fully half a minute. " You will pardon me ; I hope I have 
 not been guilty of bad manners, but really I cannot prevent a 
 rising disposition to laugh when I speak of my speech-making 
 experience in America. I can make my apology best and suf- 
 ficient — if one is needed or proper — by relating to you some- 
 thing of that experience. I was called upon suddenly, the first 
 time I made an appearance on any stage in company with Eng- 
 lish speaking gentlemen in the United States, and I felt a de- 
 gree of embarrassment that I cannot express, when I got up to 
 reply. But after the first few sentences, confidence seemed to 
 come to me as by a sort of inspiration — and I went ahead, 
 with misgivings, at times, it is true, about my grammar and 
 pronunciation, but without much hesitation. I met with most 
 vociferous applause ; and when I had finished dozens of per- 
 sons came up to me and congratulated me ; and said, ' You 
 speak as well as a native. Where did you learn your excellent 
 English ? ' Well, I was very proud of my first effort in this 
 line, which was a success no doubt ; but I very soon repented. 
 After that it was nothing but calling for speeches, and speeches, 
 and speeches. Some committee or delegation got me down to 
 Baltimore on one occasion, and they brought me to the plat- 
 form and began the proceedings with the remark, * Superinten- 
 tendent Meyerberg, of Stockholm, Sweden, will address the 
 convention this afternoon.' And so I arose and spoke for 
 about an hour and then indicated that I was about to take my 
 seat. But no ! They commenced asking me questions ; and 
 as soon as I had finished one reply, up would jump another 
 teacher with another question. This thing began about two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, and at about half-past five — after 
 many attempts to sit down and many distinct appeals for a 
 respite — I concentrated my remaining vitality and threw it into 
 a shout. 'No! I won't say another word. I have talked 
 until I am exhausted. If you don't let me go and get some-
 
 A T STOCKHOLM. 
 
 241 
 
 thing to eat and drink, I shall call a policeman.* And I 
 meant what I said. But do you know, this remark seemed 
 to make them more anxious than ever that I should go on ; 
 and they continued crying to me to go on ; that they would 
 stay there all the evening and listen to me — and many other 
 little flattering suggestions and promises of that character. 
 Well, I told them to please let me go out, and they could 
 wait there until I came back. And they were vastly amused 
 at this most innocent remark of mine. irs. fact it didn't seem 
 as if I could open my mouth without getting off what they 
 called 'a good thing.' O ! it was frightful — the way they ap- 
 plauded me ! But 1 finally plumped down quick on the edge 
 of a bench that happened to be vacated just at that moment, 
 and tliere I sat and looked forcibly-feebly at that audience, 
 and let them keep on trying to get me to 'go on,' until they 
 became convinced that I was not to be forced into any more 
 eloquence. The fact was that I was nearly dead with fatigue. 
 O ! I never saw such a people to sit and listen to speeches. 
 Talk about the Americans loving to talk themselves ? I never 
 saw such Listeners. As I say, I was very much flattered at 
 fust by my wonderful excellence of speech ; but I almost rued 
 the day, sometimes, when I acquired familiarity with the 
 English tongue. And yet I ought not to say that ; for we 
 did have a glorious welcome in America, and I would not 
 have you think that I did not appreciate the kindness of my 
 entertainers. O ! you American people ; you are the most 
 hospitable and the politest on earth." This last sentence the 
 Inspector uttered with great vehemence ; the words came 
 from him with such sonorous volume that I was reminded of 
 Dickens' description of the manner in which Boythorn once 
 talked in the presence of Esther Summerson. 
 
 The number of private charities in Stockholm is very large. 
 We have visited several, and among the most interesting is 
 the school for feeble-minded children, at which we stopped 
 one day while on a circuit of calls with Herr Meyerberg. 
 Madame Rappe, a widow lady of titles, since the death of her 
 noble husband has opened and taken charge of this asylum 
 for these unfortunate creatures. At the time of our intro- 
 duction, she had thirty-five pupils, ranging in years from four
 
 242 ^ NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 to nineteen. In the " System," all have their hours for work 
 as well as play ; but it is with respect to their recreation that 
 the most difficulty is experienced. In the juincipal work- 
 room for the girls, nine children were gathered ; making lace 
 of various kinds, and knitting stockings and bags. The de- 
 gree of intelligence which many of these pupils indicated led 
 us to inquire with a more curious and anxious interest than 
 would have been otherwise excited, as to their history and the 
 manifestations by which they were accounted deficient in in- 
 tellect. All had been set down as incorrigibly stupid, before 
 they were brought to this institution. Here, as before inti- 
 mated, the great trouble was to induce them to play rather 
 than labor. Colors and tidies of the most intricate designs 
 were produced by them ; usually faithful copies of a pattern, 
 but sometimes in all respects the original work of their own 
 brains and hands. In some instances articles were shown 
 that had been brought to table-cover perfection — (embroidered 
 cloths) — from the wool and cotton, spun, woven and adorned 
 by these girls on these premises — just as they themselves 
 "took a notion." So said Madame Rappe. 
 
 But few of them looked up as we entered ; and no one of 
 them vouchsafed more than a momentary glance during our 
 entire stay, unless specially directed to do so by the devoted 
 mistress. Their obedience was perfect ; and it was evident 
 that they loved the lady with passionate fondness. One big, 
 lubberly boy of about fourteen years — (" here among the girls 
 by his special request," said Madame Rappe) — who sat in a 
 corner, engaged in heeling a stocking, gave us a sharp, re- 
 proving look when we spoke to him ; but when the Madame 
 called him by name, he smiled, — in a half-idiotic way it is true, 
 but in a manner that clearly indicated his great pleasure 
 in being addressed in the tones of her voice. He laid his 
 knitting on his knee and awaited her orders, with an expres- 
 sion that unmistakably signified anxiety to promptly do her 
 bidding. 
 
 We bought some little specimen articles for household use 
 — the product of the pupils. Hereupon one of the girls in 
 attendance, who had been among the most industrious, rose 
 and curtesied three or four times. We had selected from her
 
 I 
 
 AT S TO CKHOLM. ? 4 3 
 
 box, and she had noted the choice by an "eye-corner observa- 
 tion," as the matron assured us. This acknowledgment and 
 expression of pride and gratitude was from her own unaided 
 thought and will. She had not been trained to observe and 
 recognize a preference for her handiwork. 
 
 Here also is the slojdskola for the boys ; and we witnessed 
 nine or ten busily engaged in the shop, and apparently mak- 
 ing as much progress as their wiser and wittier brothers and 
 sisters in the basements of the public schools. And so Ave 
 come to speak of the slojdskola, on which the Swedes lay 
 some special boasting emphasis, when talking of their educa- 
 sional training. Connected with all the primary and grammar 
 schools of Stockholm and with the principal schools in almost 
 every city and town that we have visited in the kingdom is a 
 shop in which children are regularly taught to use edged tools. 
 The instruction begins with the child of four, and may take 
 in the youth of eighteen. Of course, there is a graduating 
 point, and then pupils become teachers as well as master 
 workmen. The beginning is with pegs ; and from that up to 
 the most complicated work-box there is a prescribed grade of 
 pattern. Elaborate reports have been published respecting 
 the utility of this instruction : and similar schools have been 
 or are about to be started in Boston and at some other points 
 in the United States. 
 
 On the article made is a record kept of the number — as 
 No. I, or No. 2, or No. 3, etc. — the age of the boy making 
 the article, his name, and the time he consumes in the manu- 
 facture. As, for instance, I have before me a ruler, accu- 
 rately shaped and handsomely polished. On it the label 
 reads as follows : 
 
 Klara Slojdskola. 
 
 Nr. 7 Utfordt pa 3 timmar af, 
 
 Elis Larm, 
 
 12 ar, undervisad i slodj 26 timmar. 
 
 Godhandt, 
 Stockholm, 7-7, 1883. T. Anderson, 
 
 A^itso Roads Slojdlarare.
 
 244 ^OR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 A paper cutter and a match box, of superior workmanship, 
 are on the desk on which I write ; the former made in twenty- 
 two minutes by Otto Peterson, eleven years of age, and the 
 latter made in 262 minutes by Hugh Anderson, twelve years 
 old — the tenth article of the kind from the same hands. 
 
 It is claimed for this instruction that it is useful and bene- 
 ficial in many ways; that it must advantageously train the 
 hand and eye to practical service ; and that it is a fascinating 
 employment for the youngsters, who would otherwise, in the 
 course of nature, be engaged in sports or idleness. Care is 
 taken not to trench upon time that ought, for the purposes of 
 health, to be devoted to play. But, perhaps, as will be in- 
 ferred without the saying, to many this is in all respects an 
 industry which is the equivalent of games that involve much 
 pliysical exercise. 
 
 A ready sale is found for such articles so produced, as are 
 of creditable workmanship ; and in Upsala there is a large 
 store full of useful woodenware that is exclusively from the 
 skilled hands of the schoolboys of Sweden. A certain pro- 
 portion of the receipts for these wares is sometimes credited 
 and ultimately paid to the ingenious pupil. The attraction to 
 the youth that is found in this industry — always pursued in a 
 regular class and under a special master, the same as in other 
 matters of study — is perhaps sufficiently evinced by the fact 
 that during this vacation time the slojd schools are full of 
 lads, anxious to retain or improve their skill at carpenter and 
 cabinet making — in the domain of the apprentice. 
 
 The law making attendance at public or private school com- 
 pulsory was passed in 1842. In 1883 ninety-eight per cent, 
 of the children of the prescribed age were recorded as pupils 
 in the public academ.ies or on the rolls of the ambulatory 
 teachers, or catalogued as receiving equally careful instruc- 
 tion at home. The greater portion of the remaining two 
 per cent, is accounted for by the lists of sick and mentally 
 infirm. 
 
 The hospitals here are on "the pavilion plan." No man 
 can be a surgeon or a medical ])ractitioner in Sweden until he 
 shall Jiave attained the age of thirty ; and then only upon 
 strict inquiry and due examination. At least it is safe to be-
 
 AT STOCKHOLM. 245 
 
 lieve that the doctor in this kingdom understands the anatomy 
 of the human body, which he is called in to look at and pre- 
 scribe for. But as I have overheard them talk and watched 
 their operations in the performing room, it did not occur to 
 me that these Swedish physicians and surgeons exhibited any 
 more skill than the average of our American doctors, of ages 
 between twenty-one and one score and ten. Of course, I am 
 not competent to make a very important judgment in the 
 premises ; but I have had a considerable amount of layman- 
 observation in this line, and I venture to pass my conclusion 
 for what it is worth. (I believe there is a large amount of 
 office practice in the cities of Sweden that is really conducted 
 by those who are under the age fixed for open announcement 
 as physicians.) I saw a woman's broken arm set and ban- 
 daged at a Stocholm hospital, and I have the audacity to say 
 that I have witnessed a like operation more quickly and 
 neatly performed by Dr. David Wooster of San Francisco, 
 when he was a very young man. 
 
 There are just six large gardens with cafes or restaurants 
 attached, in Stockholm. The principal ones are at Hassel- 
 backjn (Hazel Hill). At Hasselbacken there is the best 
 cafe and restaurant in the city. There are completely en- 
 closed and also fan-shaped and sounding board open-air 
 music stands. There is the famous oak under which Karl 
 Bellman wrote some of his most popular songs — a bronze 
 statue of the poet being conspicuous in the garden. "Our 
 Tom Moore," said one of our Swedish friends — pointing to 
 the figure as we passed. The Stromparterre, is at one side 
 of the bridge that leads directly from the front of the castle. 
 The Mosebach, is on the Hill of Moses. There is good 
 music at all of these in the evenings, and on some afternoons. 
 At Mosebach can be had the finest view of the city and its 
 surroundings ; and an ascent to it may be made in an ele- 
 vator that starts at a point on Glasbruk street, which is only 
 a few feet from and above the level of the sea harbor. The 
 scene from the tower immediately above the elevator landing, 
 especially at sunrise and sunset, is magnificent. It is the 
 popular photograph-album view ol the capital.
 
 246 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 At this date — in August — it seemed too chilly for outdoor 
 or cafe enjoyment ; but the people here to the manner-born 
 are not of that opinion. They crowd the gardens every night, 
 with the mercury low down among the fifties — as our ther- 
 mometers would measure it ; and they cannot repress a re- 
 proachful expression — by word or look — when we suggest 
 that it is perhaps a trifle cool for perfectly serene delight at 
 an open air restaurant table. '* Do you feel cold ? Indeed ! 
 You had better take a little pomerans, and eat some lax. 
 Lax is warming ! " Now lax is salmon ; and it is brought 
 
 VIEW OF HASSELBACKEN, STOCKHOLM. 
 
 on these tables in a nearly raw state. And this is one thing 
 that may sometmes somewhat reduce the poignancy of regret 
 at leaving this beautiful land. 
 
 At the Stromparterre we saw a party of Fins, on their way 
 to America. Herr Meyerberg knew them at once — knew their 
 nativity, and their " classification," as he termed it. He con- 
 versed'with them, and learned that among the five men there 
 Avas over $8,000 in gold. They were going to buy land in 
 Montana and send for their wives when they had built a
 
 AT STO CKHOLM. 247 
 
 house. "Some of them don't send for their wives," remarked 
 our friend ; " and that is a not infrequent faihng with Swedes 
 who go to America and leave their families behind them. A 
 Swede is a very bad man when he is bad," added the in- 
 spector with that most agreeable smile, which, being inter- 
 preted, signified : *' You see, I will claim superiority at all 
 points." Hereupon a little child hummingly interjected an 
 American nursery rhyme, about a girl that was very good when 
 she was good, but when she was bad she was horrid. The 
 great teacher was charmed with the appropriate quotation — as 
 he repeatedly described it — and wanted to impress it on his 
 memory ; asking for its repetition, and himself repeating it for 
 memorizing purposes, in a way that was full of humor. 
 
 The matter of gymnasiums in the schools came up again. 
 " You see what a strong man I appear to be," said Herr Mey- 
 erberg ; and he arose from his seat and stretched his arm:: in 
 an Ajax-defying-the-lightning fashion. " Well, it was not al- 
 ways so. I have had ray trials. My mother and a sister died 
 of consumption under my care. I was predisposed the same 
 way ; but I went into regular training, and now you think I am 
 a strong man ? I have been a powerful man in my best years, 
 and I am not a weak man now." From this the Inspector 
 went on to describe the various methods of school gymnasiums; 
 showing some of the mistakes that had been made in the way 
 of overdoing and misdirecting, by exclusive practice with one 
 set of apparatus, etc. 
 
 He suddenly changed the subject by saying : '* You see 
 those people coming down the stairs ! They are what you 
 would call, or what some other persons would call, of the 
 Plebian order ; the same as those Finish men by the railing 
 yonder. Well, a few years ago there was a distinction made 
 in the attendance at these gardens, and only those of the 
 higher classes, as they are called, were permitted to come here 
 and drink and sup. Not so now. We are as much on the 
 social equality, as far as public gardens are concerned, as you 
 are in America. This change has taken place within a com- 
 paratively recent period." 
 
 We spoke of our visit to Delecarlia and alluded to the prac- 
 tice of men and maidens from that section coming down to
 
 248 ^''0R THERN E UROPE. 
 
 Stockholm to work during the Summer season. '' Yes, repHed 
 the Inspector, "it is of course a matter of great mutual advant- 
 age. We would be short of house servants if these strong and 
 useful people did not put in an appearance. They are from 
 our reservoir of help." " Do they often make their permanent 
 residence here ? " we enquired. " No, that is not a matter of 
 very frequent occurrence. As a rule, they are most devotedly 
 attached to their native districts. They generally marry one 
 of their school fellows. They are often betrothed early in life, 
 and their steadfastness to their betrothal vows is proverbial." 
 " They give a stranger the impression of strength fully as much 
 as of beauty," we remarked. "Yes, they can do the work of 
 men the whole Summer through without seeming to tire under 
 the strain ; and then they are such pleasant workers — so cheer- 
 ful and even merry at their tasks." 
 
 We mentioned to the Inspector our suggestion about Swedish 
 coffee houses with Delecarlian maids in costume to attend 
 upon customers. " Aha ! that would indeed be a good enter- 
 prise," he exclaimed ; "but I am afraid the partners in such 
 establishments would have to keep up a regular procession of 
 Waitresses. For while these girls do not readily fall in love 
 with our Stockholm boys, I am told that they are easily pleased 
 with eligible offers of marriage from Germans and Americans." 
 
 Then our friend sprang up and walked over to the music 
 stand and began a whispered conversation Avith the leader of 
 the orchestra. He soon came back with a sad face and a 
 shake of the head ; and saying : " He has not got the music." 
 " What music ? " "I wanted him to play the Star-Spangled 
 Bjnner for your benefit, but he is very sorry to say that he has 
 not the notes. I am going to have some of that music i-n his 
 portfolio another season. I have given their conductor a hint 
 about its being a good card for the garden, and I will speak 
 about it in our paper, too. I am one of the stockholders in a 
 paper that has as great a circulation as any in Sweden. ' 
 " Will you also mention in your paper the desirableness of 
 having an American flag displayed by the Minister and Con- 
 sul of the U. S., in Stockholm, at least on the 4th of July ?" 
 [Herr Meyerberg, at a subsequent conversation, quite agreed 
 with us with respect to the bad policy of commissioning as Min-
 
 AT STO CKHOLM. 249 
 
 ister or Consul at any place of importance, a man born in the 
 country wherein he was to represent his adopted nation. It 
 would seem as if the impropriety of such appointments, except in 
 rare instances, was too manifest to admit of occasion for regret 
 or protest in the premises. I did think at one time, that I would 
 introduce a Bill in Congress prohibing the appointments depre- 
 cated.] " Why," inquire^' the Inspector, with evident surprise, 
 '■ didn't your Consul hang out the banner of your country on 
 the outer wall, last 4th of July ? " We said that he did not. 
 There was no American flag to be seen in Stockholm on that 
 day, so far as we could notice, except in some of the back 
 streets, where a soiled and ragged specimen bore the inscription 
 of the Inman trans- Atlantic steamship line. " Well, you have 
 no Minister here now." " But Ave have a Consul." " Well, he 
 is a Swedish gentleman, who was a brave man in your wars. 
 He lost a leg in fighting for the Union, But I will tell you 
 something, that may in part excuse him, about this matter. 
 We do not even observe the anniversary of our King's birthday 
 here. We have very little anniversary enthusiasm about us. 
 We have nothing like your 4th of July ' racket.' Still, I ad- 
 mit the propriety of his showing his colors on your great 
 Declaration day. It must have slipped his mind." " If we 
 are to have Consuls and Ministers Plenipotentiary at all," a 
 lady in our party insisted, " and I confess I cannot see much 
 if any use for the former, they should be men whose memor- 
 ies are not defective to such an extent on such a subject. It 
 may in itself be considered a very small matter, and it may be 
 indicative of much slothfulness or indifference, that is highly re- 
 prehensible." " You are right. I will have a flag out mvself 
 next 4th of July, and I will ha\e this band play Yankee 
 Doodle." The lady persisted : " In a kingdom that has 
 hundreds of thousands of its children in the United States — 
 some of them and a great many of them in the service of the 
 country they have adopted — it certainly would seem natural 
 to expect that in the great capital city the American flag 
 would be seen floating from some house tops on our great an- 
 niversary." "True, true, and we will shame your represent- 
 atives in Stockholm next year, if they don't hoist their national 
 bunting bright and early on the 4th day of the memorable 
 month."
 
 2^0 
 
 A^OR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 There is an English church— a small but handsome edifice 
 — situated at the North end of the cilv, and here we attended 
 divine service one Sunday. The clergyman prayed for the 
 Queen of England and the President of the United States. 
 His congregation of about 1 50 persons was fully one-half com- 
 posed of Americans, native and naturalized. There were three 
 
 i 
 
 ENGLISH CHURCH, STOCKHOLII. 
 
 or four Swedish girls in attendance, from whose conversation 
 as they came out — which was necessarily overheard — we learned 
 that they made their first visit to this church on that morning ; 
 their object being to see whether it would be of any benefit to 
 them to regularly attend, with a view to acquiring a knowledge 
 of our tongue. We were satisfied that they were playing truant
 
 AT STOCKHOLM. 25 1 
 
 from their ovn parish. They were of the opinion that they 
 would still be in time to hear the hour-and-a-half discourse that 
 is invariably delivered at Kiara Kyrka on every First Day morn- 
 ing. 
 
 We note this as one among many indications of the wide- 
 spread and increasing disposition to emigrate to America among 
 the people of this kingdom. Even little maidens of twelve 
 years are privately making ready for the voyage, by seeking and 
 improving opportunities to learn the English language. There 
 is abundant room and welcome for them. California ought to 
 have a good proportion of the Swedish immigration of the next 
 five years. By a little well-directed effort on the part of our 
 Immigration Aid Society, California could call and receive 
 many thousands of Swedish families within the decade — men, 
 women and children, apt and accomplished in ail the arts of 
 agriculture ; industrious, sober, trustworthy, and having a deep 
 religious sense of duty. 
 
 The Royal Palace, which was consumed by fire in 1697 was 
 reconstructed in 1753 by Nicodemus Tessin — at a cost of 
 $3,000,000 (representing then more than twice that amount, 
 as devoted to materials and labor to-day). Its form is quadri- 
 lateral ; length 418 feet, and width 391 feet. There is a 
 portico to each facade, leading to the court-yard. The North- 
 ern facade, which fronts on the Norrbro or main bridge 
 avenue, is approached by a double flight of steps, by the side 
 of which, on granite pedestals, are two immense bronze lions. 
 Hence the name — Lcjonbackau The palace is always open to 
 visitors during the summer. On each floor, in each division, 
 an attendant waits ; anxious to show you courtesies and win 
 your kroners. There are 583 rooms in the palace and 32 
 kitchens. To inspect them all you need at least five hours of 
 time and you must fee nine flunkies. It is suflicient sight- 
 seeing work for one day — is a visit to all the halls, apartments, 
 bed-rooms, dining-rooms and kitchen range rooms that are ex- 
 hibited. [I do not write at length of the Museum or of the 
 Picture Galleries or of the Palace Castle itself; because I must 
 suppose that most, if not all my readers, who have felt or are 
 likely to feel any special interest in such matters will have al- 
 ready learned much about these places from other sources ; and
 
 252 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 H 
 
 o 
 
 > 
 
 H 
 O 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 f 
 
 \ 
 
 I 

 
 A T STOCKHOLM. 
 
 253 
 
 mv descriptions might seem to bo wearisome repit'tions before 
 their eyes. Many inhabitants of Stockholm are or profess to 
 be very much incensed on account of tlie arrangement by which 
 each suite of rooms or each hall or set of lodging-apartments is 
 placed, so to speak, on separate exhibition, at separate cost 
 of admission. You will often be asked whether you have 
 visited the Castle ; and whatever may be your reply you will 
 probably be told that in the opinion of your questioner the 
 palace should be closed against ''unofficial visitors " or else 
 provision should be made for an attendance throughout the 
 entire building.at a fixed and reasonable sum. So that even 
 with respect to this little matter, the people of Stockholm are 
 in the habit of expressing their sentiments of justice and 
 propriety, by due proclamation in private conversations.] 
 
 The ceiling of the magnificent Audience Room, painted by 
 Foquet, represents Venus and Mars wedded by Love. Above 
 them Hymen is dancing with his torch, while Cupids and 
 Graces are strewing flowers. Summer, in the form of woman 
 offers Mars a rose ; while celestial giants are engaged in ban- 
 ishing the devils of war. The ornaments over the windows 
 and other casings represent scenes from the life of Alexander 
 the Great. Two candelabra, 29 feet high, are such splendid 
 specimens of gilded and prismatic adornments, as of them- 
 selves to make you regret that the time allowed for inspec- 
 tion here is so brief. The grand gallery is 162 by 23 feet. 
 You are requested to put on slippers, before you walk upon 
 the tessellated floor. The massive doors are of carved oak, 
 and are wonderfully attractive to all kinds of visitors. There 
 are a great number of marble statues around the gallery, and 
 several groups of sculpture by Bystrom. The allegorical 
 paintings are charming. In the centre of the ceiling, in the 
 Western galler}^ there is a representation of Janus with Revolt 
 breaking her fetters. On one side is a tiger and a blind- 
 folded fury. On the other side is Bellona, mounted on a 
 chariot, and pitilessly crushing her enemies beneath the 
 wheels. Pity is represented as flying with one child in her 
 arms and another by her side. Religion is represented as 
 overthrown by war, while Discord and Jealousy, with torches 
 and serpents in hand are frightfully conspicuous at the 
 iront.
 
 254 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 We visited the study of the late King which is kept pre- 
 cisely as it was when he left it. There is a book, opened 
 face downwards on one of his writing-desks, — exactly as he 
 placed it with his own hand. A general idea of the mag- 
 nificence of the Festival Hall is conveyed by the other name, 
 that visitors have given — " The White Sea." 
 
 In the audience chamber and elsewhere, servants and ar- 
 tists were at work cleaning and refurbishing ; and from all 
 the attendants we heard the story of great expectations for 
 the coming Winter's festivities. 
 
 The church of Riddarholmen, 192 feet in length by 60 feet 
 in width, is of Gothic pattern. The old tower was struck by 
 lightning and burned down in 1835 ! ^.nd in 1847 the new 
 steeple, of iron lattice-work — 302 feet in height — was erected. 
 There has been no divine service in this church since 1807, 
 except on the occasion of a burial of one of the royal family. 
 Here are the remains of the great Gustavus Adolphus ; in a 
 sarcophagus of green Italian marble, that resembles in form 
 the marble casing in which the great Lord Nelson reposes 
 under the dome of St. Paul. 
 
 Near to tne entrance of this Mausoleum church — on the 
 left — is a vault in which there are a large number of coffins 
 which appear to have been thrown in, on top of each other, 
 without much reverential respect for the contents. Big and 
 little, they lie upon and over against each other in a promis- 
 cuous manner, which suggests that they had " outlived their 
 usefulness " as attractions on which the Swedish vergers could 
 dilate, and were therefore thrust into this spare recess or cel- 
 lar without conscience or ceremony. 
 
 Surrounding the coffin of Charles XV., who died in 1872, 
 were a number of lighted candles ; and a long biographical 
 or genealogical account of the king's family, written in large 
 and almost printed letters, — on one sheet — lay by the side of 
 the inscription plate. Presumably this was to meet or satisfy 
 the curiosity of inquiring visitors, who, it might be supposed 
 — (perhaps experience had shown) — would otherwise torment 
 the vergers by absorbing too much of their time in each in- 
 stance, with demands for the information that is by this huge 
 manuscript conveyed.
 
 AT STOCKHOLM. 
 
 255 
 
 RIDDARHOLMEN CHURCH.
 
 256 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 The national churches in Stockhohn very much resemble 
 each other in structure and appointments. The interior of 
 Jacob Church, which is shown by the accompanying engrav- 
 
 INTERIOR OF JACOB CHURCH, STOCKHOLM. 
 
 ing, will give not only a correct idea of the nave and altar of 
 that particular edifice, but will serve as a " sample " for the 
 city.
 
 AT STO CKIIOLM. 257 
 
 The great theatre is situated on the east side of the principal 
 (Gustaf-Adolph) square ; and a very correct representation 
 of the view from the stage is herewith presented. It was 
 erected by Gustavus III. in 1775-82. You will be reminded 
 that it was here that Gustavus III. was assassinated in 1792. 
 All the seats are eligible, tor sight and sound ; its acoustic 
 virtues and its adaptability for spectacular pieces being toi)ics 
 for boasting on the part of the watchman who opens the doors 
 and escorts the visitors in the Summer season. It will be 
 remembered that here Jenny Lind made her first stage ap- 
 pearance — in the chorus. 
 
 A mere recital of the names of the Libraries and Museums 
 in Stockholm, will sufficiently indicate to most readers the 
 formidable and fascinating nature of the demand upon the 
 attention of the intelligent traveller which this class of col- 
 lections constitute. The Archives, the Belvedere, the Royal 
 Library, [a large portion of the books being still retained at 
 the Palace,] the Library of the Academy of Agriculture, the 
 Library of the School of Art and Industry, the Library of 
 the Conservatory, the Libraries of the Polytechnical School 
 and the Academy of Sciences, the Museums : — of the Acad- 
 emy of Agriculture, of the Caroline Medical College, of the 
 Zoological Department, and the Northern Museum (with 
 First and Second Annex) — where the attendants are all 
 dressed in the ])icturesque" costumes of their respective Dele- 
 carlian Districts, — and, above all, the National Museum. In 
 the Northern Museum, models of houses, and specimens of 
 furniture, clothing, farm implements, domestic utensils and 
 ancient and modern bridal ornaments, combine to make ex- 
 hibitions of intensely fascinating interest. You will be drawn 
 to them again and again — alternately prompted to re-read 
 and re-visit ; and trying to cheat yourself at your last hour 
 in the rooms, with the promise that you will call once more ! 
 It is the same experience, in this nature, (although of entirely 
 different tone, of course, that you have at Westminster,) at 
 your farewell visitation. 
 
 The National Museum building is a splendid edifice, with 
 Venitian windows and a magnificent doorway of green marble 
 casings. It is situated on the Blasiiholnien, opposite the
 
 258 
 
 .¥0J? THERN E UROPE. 
 
 KINGS THEATRE, STOCKHOLM.
 
 A T STOCKHOLM. 
 
 259 
 
 Royal Palace. It has seven distinct departments : — Histori- 
 cal, Coin-Cabinet, Drawings and Engravings, Sculptures, 
 Armor and Weapons, Picture Gallery, and Collection of 
 Costumes, Statues of Odin, Thor and Baldur confront you 
 with coarse but not unbenignant faces, as you enter. The 
 Prehistoric Era and the Bronze, Iron, Mediaeval and Modern 
 Ages are represented separately by relics and selections that 
 take you from where we can guess about our race as it once 
 
 NATIONAL MUSEUM, STOCKHOLM. 
 
 was on this globe down to the latest and best specimens of 
 the mechanical and artistic skill of man. In the collection 
 of Armor are pistols and swords that belonged to Gustavus 
 Adolphus. " Now you have seen the most wonderfully his- 
 toric sword in existence," remarked a Swedish gentleman to 
 the little girl of our party, as we were looking at one of the 
 preat clavmores. " Where ?" " Wh\', right here ; — right be-
 
 26o NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 fore you ! this sword of Gustavus Adolphus ! " " No ; I have 
 not, if you please." " You have not ? Why, yes you have. 
 If not, where is that most wonderful sword ? " "I don't know 
 where it is ; but it is a sword that has a different name." 
 " What name ? " " The sword of Bunker Hill." 
 
 XXI 
 KING AND PEOPLE. 
 
 We were walking in the Djurgarden a few days before we 
 left Stockholm, in company with one of our Swedish friends, 
 when the King and a portion of his suite rode by, on their 
 way from the Castle to one of his country residences in or 
 near this great park. For be it known there are several royal 
 residences in this vicinity ; although there is one that specially 
 bears that name. The King, as we were credibly informed, 
 frequently "puts up for the night,'' with some of his relatives, 
 who have princely mansions and gardens here and there in 
 the neighborhood of the Capital. And so we came to per- 
 sonal talk about his majesty : his character and his manner 
 of life, and the political and social relations which he bore 
 to his subjects. 
 
 A Swedish friend, in a delightfully frank and suave man- 
 ner, insisted that the kingdom was really more of a republic, 
 so far as liberality and gentleness of Government are con- 
 cerned, than the United States of America ! He asserted 
 that the King had less power than our President ; and that 
 if he should do many things, which it was said our chief ex- 
 ecutive had sometimes done with impunity, he would be 
 " ostracized " to that extent that it would be almost tanta- 
 mount to a dethronement ! Of course all this was uttered 
 in the very kindest of tones ; and did not fail to meet with 
 our answers of doubt if not positive protest. Could it be so ! 
 A King uncrowned by the contempt of his people, manifested
 
 KING AND PEOPLE. 26 1 
 
 only in the way indicated ! Incredible, we ventured to inti- 
 mate. Our friend persisted : " It would be intolerable to our 
 Sovereign." 
 
 Unquestionably the present government of Sweden is emi- 
 nently worthy of the study of the American people, and 
 especially of those who in any large degree may be said to 
 be representative men among the citizens of our Republic. 
 For there are certain points with respect to the introduction 
 and enactment of laws wherein Swedish people seem to exer- 
 cise, as a mass, more absolute and immediate influence than 
 is felt or recognized from the same or like source with us. 
 Public opinion there, when it can once be said to have been 
 formed, is speedily expressed in statute. And the King would 
 never dare to interpose anything corresponding to a veto 
 power against a measure of legislation arising in that way. 
 If it be said that it is the same with us, I recall the messages 
 of some of our Presidents ; which certainly were in the face 
 of the well-weighed and just desire of the vast majority of 
 the people of the United States, — founded upon sufficient 
 and honest reflection ; I am reminded of vetos which were 
 issued at the dictation of the Monopolists and amid the 
 applause of the corrupt and corrupting agents and lobbyists 
 at Washington. 
 
 Curiously enough, our friend went on to make another 
 boast in behalf of his Sovereign, in comparison with our most 
 distinguished General (for whom, as I write, the sympathies 
 of our people are profoundly exercised, on account of recent 
 and dangerous illness). And on this he laid a stress that at 
 the moment seemed to me to almost impeach his intelligence. 
 " Why," said he, "our king has a splendid physical presence ; 
 and what is more, he has a great big voice ! " This he said 
 with a rising inflection that reached the stentorian. "I was 
 at your Centennial at Philadelphia, when the President de- 
 livered the opening speech. I stood next to some of the 
 sailors of your Navy, who were ranged immediately in front 
 of the platform ; and several of them cried out at the time : 
 'O, go back to Washington, Father Grant, and take lessons 
 in Elocution ! ' Now, if our King had been there, they would 
 have heard him at a distance of full a quarter of a mile?'
 
 262 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 We could not help but ask our friend if he was sure that our 
 sailor boys used the word " Elocution ? " On his replying in 
 the affirmative, we began to dwell upon the degree of intelli- 
 gence and the advance in education which our people pos- 
 sessed over the majority of subjects in his kingdom ! 
 
 I should like to see the Blue Book that would tell us how 
 many uncles and aunts and cousins and grand-aunts — and 
 relatives still more distant — are under liberal pension frofti 
 the Swedish government. Turn where you may, and you 
 will find some large establishment occupied by royal rela- 
 tives, more or less distant from the throne. While the poor 
 soldier receives a pension of about three dollars and seventy- 
 five cents a year, some great-aunt of the reigning monarch is 
 "provided for" — as the saying there is — by being given pos- 
 session of a three-storied house, with thirty or forty rooms, 
 with a retinue of servants, and a rent-roll of acreage in due 
 proportion. It is not that there is anything absolutely unjust 
 in making a provision for these good, ancient people ; but it 
 is that they have a superfluity ; while the trooper who has 
 been worn out in the service of his Majesty is left to starve 
 in a hovel. 
 
 From every hill top in and about Stockholm, the view is 
 beautiful. Of course, almost everyone who comes here and 
 writes a letter hence, must needs dwell upon these sights ; 
 and for that, if for no other reason, I should hesitate and de- 
 cline to give my description in these premises. I mention 
 this conceded fact — of city and landscape charm — as an in- » 
 
 troduction to my confession that at no point here have I had I 
 greater enjoyment, drawn merely from the vision, than when [| 
 standing on the Norrbro, in front of the Castle, and looking 
 down upon that other bridge, — a comparatively recent con- 
 struction, — immediately to the east of the railroad crossing. 
 It seemed to me as if I could not sufficiently feast upon the 
 picture which those graceful arches presented. It is the sec- 
 ond bridge from the Lake, depicted in the accompanying 
 engraving, and is called the Wasa. I have repeatedly looked 
 in volumes of engravings, with the purpose of comparing this 
 structure with similar biidges in other parts of the world, 
 which have received the eulogies of such men as Ruskin,
 
 KING AND PEOPLE. 263 
 
 Bayard Taylor and W. D. Howells. But however you may 
 otherwise compare or contrast Stockhoh-n with Venice, etc. 
 I put this one structure as of its kind a challenge against the 
 world. I took my original liking and love for it, the moment 
 I set eyes U])on it. Afterwards when I drew the attention of 
 friends, who had often passed by a good point of observation 
 without making an admiring note of it (as we all will do), 
 they agreed with me. And to this object more than to any 
 other on the lower plane surface of this city, I direct the at- 
 tention of my friends, v/hen they shall make their Summer 
 tour in this Northern land. To be sure, they will visit Mose- 
 back and Hasselbacken and some if not all the promontory 
 towers of the King — one rising on the cliff by the side of his 
 skating reservation and others in the Djurgarden the Kas- 
 tellholm and Ladgarden-lander ; but it becomes me to charge 
 it upon them not to forget this minor spectacle. For as you 
 stand on the upper granite crossing, an'd look at this new 
 structure, letting your eye glance slowly from one bank to 
 the other, you will seem to witness the actual process of the 
 building. These arches do appear to leap over the svyiftly 
 running water that ripples beneath them. And there is al- 
 together an indescribable beauty and fascination in their 
 lines. The poetry of spanning architecture is here. 
 
 I have already spoken of the characteristically conscien- 
 tious workmanship of the Swedish people. Of course there 
 must be many unskillful and negligent and unfaithful work- 
 men in the ranks of their mechanics. There are probably a 
 large number of tradespeople who consciously do not always 
 speak the exact truth, when " driving a sale." This is only 
 going on the general average of humanity as it is to be taken 
 and accepted, or expected, everywhere, and at its best. But 
 whether owing to our good fortune or not, we have to say 
 that in Sweden, as a rule, that has been rarely broken, the 
 law of honesty has been scrupulously kept in our sight. 
 When a Swedish merchant has told us that a certain article 
 was the best of its kind, we have often had occasion by in- 
 quiry, or by accident if you please, to verify his statement. I 
 could enumerate many manufactured goods which are pro- 
 verbially of the finest workmanship ; bearing that character
 
 264 A'OIiTIIEIi.V EUROPE. 
 
 with the Swedish name, perhaps, in every other civiUzed na- 
 tion of the earth. The Swedish razor, and cutlery of all 
 descriptions, when said by a Stockholm dealer to be of the 
 most excellent quality may be confidentally taken as such. 
 And in the market of perishable goods we have never been 
 imposed upon. When we have asked the old lady as to the 
 quality or freshness of her vegetables or fruit, we have in- 
 variably met with a candid and truthful reply. Not infre- 
 quently have we been told " the goose-berries are not very 
 good this morning ; " that they were a day stale in the stall, 
 that they had had a long ride from the lower end of the lake, 
 and so forth, and so forth. Of course this would be followed 
 by a statement as to the reduction of the price on account of 
 the inferiority, as measured from the standard of perfection 
 or the line of the best. 
 
 Stepping into the fancy dry goods store of Froken Hult- 
 gren on Drottning-Gatan we inquired as to the price of a 
 piece of ribbon for a little girl's hair ; and when we had made 
 the purchase we remarked that the cost to us was about 
 twenty-five per cent, more than would be asked for a similar 
 article in London. The reply was quickly made, and was 
 noticeable : " It is nearly thirty per cent, as much more. 
 But if you will allow us to tell you how much it costs us to 
 get the goods here from France — inclusive of the cost of 
 making a selection — and how much it detracts from the value 
 of a bolt of ribbon to take off a piece like that, you will be 
 satisfied that the additional charge is not unreasonable." 
 This may seem a very small matter of illustration, as indeed 
 it is ; but it was of its kind one of those things that first sur- 
 prised us. We have had heretofore so much sympathy ex- 
 cited in us for those people who are often " selling out below 
 cost" — and have found that commiseration so often mis- 
 placed, that — well, let it be understood that we were aston- 
 ished by this acknowledgement of the regular and proper 
 average mercantile profit. There seems to be a single dis- 
 position and habit of perfect truthfulness among these small 
 tradespeople of Stockholm. 
 
 A few nights ago we went into a store to inquire the price 
 of a doll dressed in one of the Delecarlian costumes. The
 
 KING AND PEOPLE. 
 
 265 
 
 sum asked fairly shocked us on account of its largeness ; 
 and there was an exclamation by one of the party indicating 
 this feeling. Whereupon the young lady in charge drew a 
 pencil from one of the drawers and leaning over on the 
 counter proposed to set down the exact sum paid by her em- 
 ployer for each and every portion of the mannikin, and the 
 dress which lay before us. And she was vexed when we pro- 
 tested that it was not necessary ; that we would accept her 
 account of what the whole structure cost without going into 
 details. She wanted to give us item for item and have us 
 institute a regular committee of investigation to find out 
 
 GUSTAF ADOLPH SQUARE, STOCKHOLM. 
 
 whether it was so or not. Taking her figures the percentage 
 of profit was very reasonable. 
 
 We have sometimes — not often — had occasion to hire a 
 carriage in Stockholm. The terms have been two kroners 
 or fifty-twocents an hour or three kroners for two hours and 
 the reckoning has been scrupulously accurate. Nor have 
 we ever seen our driver go out of his way to "make time," 
 or purposely lag behind, that he might bring in an additional 
 charge. A precise contrast with London experience. And 
 as for the porters on the street,— who must never be con- 
 founded with i\-iQ porticr?, at the gates or stairs-landing office
 
 2 6 6 ^"Oli THERN E UROPE. 
 
 of the hotels, — (a large number often assembling at the Hotel 
 Ryder, corner of Gustaf Adolph Square) — they look to be as 
 they are, embodiments of honest faith. You ask for a direc- 
 tion, and they will stand and give it to you by pointing, with- 
 out appearing to expect a kroner in return. You must needs 
 tell them that you wish to have them accompany you, if you 
 want one of them to be your companion and guide. Nor is 
 this owing to anything in the nature of stupidity or laziness. 
 
 With respect to the service which is rendered in the public 
 houses to the strangers, whether by the girls from Delecarlia, 
 who come down to the capital for the Summer season, — or by 
 the regular attendants, it is most excellent in its promptness 
 and sufficiency. There is no obsequiousness about it ; such 
 as you sometimes meet with elsewhere ; there is no parade of 
 activity, — nothing like that which we Yankees call " fussi- 
 ness ; " — but there is a quick answer to a summons, a patient 
 and careful listening to a request or order, and an immediate 
 obedience, — accurate and ample. 
 
 No wonder these Swedish girls are at a premium in New 
 York City, When at Castle Garden, recently, we were told by 
 the matron in charge that there were a dozen demands where 
 there could be one supplied from the immigrant list of Swedish 
 cooks or chambermaids. 
 
 It being necessary to have the services of a shoemaker, we 
 stepped into the shop of the one located nearest to our hotel. 
 Into a hall-way and into a handsomely furnished parlor — like a 
 private dwelling in all outward respects — save for the sign over 
 the window — went we in search of the Knight of St. Crispin. I 
 don't know exactly how it came about, but we were using this 
 very noble designation, when the door leading from the rear 
 of the front room opened and barely afforded space to admit 
 the master of the establishment. A giant in stature — not less 
 than six feet, six inches in height ; but having a most benignant 
 countenance ; with great lustrous eyes, that used to glow with 
 an unmistakable warmth of good nature. It seemed, despite 
 his obvious, remarkable pleasantness of disposition, as though 
 we could not bring our courage up to the sticking point of ask- 
 ing such a powerful and distinguished looking person if he 
 would be kind enough to straighten a heel and under-tap a toe?
 
 KING AND PEOPLE. 267 
 
 But it had to be said ; and with a voice as gentle as a dove, he 
 to-be-sured us until we were impressed with his kind cor.descen- 
 sion to that degree that our sense of gratitude was painful. 
 
 On one side of his ante-room hung a life-size picture of the 
 late King, and on the other a portrait of equal dimensions of 
 his Queen Consort ; and we naturally diversified our conversa- 
 tion by reference to the sovereigns that are and that were. Tlien 
 it transpired that we were addressing the " Royal Bootmaker." 
 Ah ! we should never have thought of going into such an au- 
 gust presence with our little patch-work requisition ! And giv- 
 ing some audible form to this sincere reflection, we had a good 
 hearty laugh with His Majesty's skillful servant ; and this com- 
 munion without sycophancy and in all jollity ! may be said to 
 have been worth the price of the cobbling. A Jolly Giant in- 
 deed is this monstrous Sir Knight of the lap-stone. 
 
 Then comes familiar talk about matters and things in general. 
 And finally it is mentioned that we hail from the Golden Gate 
 State of America. " What, California.? Calif arnial Cali- 
 fornia ! " And immediately the Court shoemaker's wife is 
 called into the room. "Here! here! These i>ersons are from 
 California ! " And such a pleasant, hearty greeting as we then 
 and thereupon received! "Why, we have a relative there,^ 
 married to a jeweller named Engrist. Do you know her } " 
 
 We had the same experience at this shop as to faithtul work- 
 manship and candid statement as to the liberal but reasonable 
 margin of gains to the workman on the labor profit. 
 
 A few evenings before our final departure from Stockholm, we 
 took a walk around the Northern portion of the city and noticed 
 the laboring people as they were leaving their places of emp'oy- 
 ment. Two women who were cleaning the hods and covering 
 the mortar beds in the vicinity of a building in course' of con- 
 struction, were saluted by us, and put under catechism. They 
 made the mortar and they carried the hods. They were born 
 at Stockholm ; accustomed to rough labor all their lives ; and 
 for the last ten or fifteen years they had been at work during 
 the Summer seasons as helpers for the masons. They received 
 eighty ore a day — about twenty cents — and were assured of 
 steady employment during the warm season at these wages. In 
 response to our questions they said with a laugh — yes, with a
 
 268 -"^"OR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 laugh — that they beHeved they could do as much work of the 
 kind of labor to which we have referred as any man ; but they 
 hastened to add tliat a man in similar employment would get 
 twice as much in wages. Their hands were very hard and 
 coarse, as you might well expect, but they were small, and had 
 yet a feminine beauty about them. 
 
 One was a widow and one was a spinster ; and they lived in 
 a garret ] oom, six feet by eight feet in surface measuremeut, 
 with a sloping ceiling that ran from four feet to eight feet in 
 height. This last item we obtained by giving them a small 
 sum and accompanying them to their habitation ; a lady in our 
 party going into their room with them, and carefully noting the 
 area in which they had their home. 
 
 We sat down in the little yard that surrounds Clara-K}Tka ; 
 and as one of the women that was engaged at a public wash- 
 house approached, we bade her good evening, and questioned 
 her. She was a widowed mother, with two little children. She 
 was thirty-five years of age, and her eldest child was not 3-et five. 
 She earned twenty-six cents a day. She was an expert in 
 cleansing linen. She got twice as much wages as many in the 
 same establishment who worked during the same long twelve 
 hours. Her hands were "a sight to see." As we held one of 
 them, we thought that it felt like a little bundle of cold lifeless 
 bones ; and it certainly looked to be just that. Here was an 
 illustration of the familiar saying of working oflf one's fingers' 
 ends. Literally, her nails were scrubbed from her finger tips. 
 When some one in our company gave her a little silver money, 
 she sank down on her knees and thanked God for the benefac- 
 tion. 
 
 While in this church-yard we saw four men come rapidly 
 through, the North gate, bearing a box covered with a pall. It 
 was a corpse, which they laid on a bench in one of the low 
 houses — like our country meeting house sheds, with perforated 
 doors prefixed, with which the Southern end of the yard is bor- 
 dered. The funeral will take place in two days. Meanwhile the 
 remains rest in this church-yard vault ; in which, at this time, 
 there were no less than five bodies awaiting interment. 
 
 Of course it is claimed that there is a free press in Sweden, and 
 especiallj^ in Stockholm. It is so called ; and in many respects
 
 KING AXD FEOFLE. 
 
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 270 
 
 NORTHERN EUROBE. 
 
 it is eminently entitled to that name. And yet there is a species 
 of ccns irship which we would cr}' out against very severely if 
 we believed it existed in America ; although there is with us 
 an espionage and a tyranny from a different source, which is 
 quite as reprehensible, — quite as much to be deplored. If you 
 wish to criticize any of the officers of the Royal household, or 
 any of the Commanders of His Majesty's army or navy, or any 
 of the Superintendents of His Majesty's estates, you must do it 
 in a very round-about, gingerly manner, or the communication 
 will not be accepted. But precisely by this indirect method, by 
 the " damnable inuendo," there is much of censuring comment 
 upon public men and upon public affairs that are immediately 
 connected with the Royal household. I had several illustrations 
 of this. One in particular was in reference to an alleged false 
 weight that was maintained by one of His IMajesty's officers at 
 the Superintendent's yard, at Stromsholm, in tne midst of a 
 large government iarm. The newspaper of the neighborhood 
 would not call the offender or the offence by name. But in a 
 round-about way the grievance was complained of through the 
 Press, and forthwith there was a sharp attempt to ascertain the 
 name of the writer. But the identity of the correspondent was 
 successfully concealed, and for the unjust balance an honest 
 set of scales was soon substituted. 
 
 With reference to a division of the people of Sweden into 
 political parties ; the lines seem to be somewhat vague. But 
 there is certainly a party of the Town, or, as it is sometimes 
 called, a party of the Nobility — because the Nobility as a 
 rule belong to it — and a party of the Country. But many 
 eminent men in the cities sympathize with and are allied to 
 the party of the Country. The party of the Country insist, — 
 as I think I have before intimated — that the farmers shall no 
 longer be compelled to provide in their several districts, for 
 the household of the soldiers that are enlisted or drafted into 
 His Majesty's army. And generally the party of the Country 
 is the Liberal party, — though there are no sharp terms of dis- 
 tinction such as mark the boundaries between our political 
 
 organizations. 
 
 The Capitol or Riksdagshuset, — the front of which, as 
 elsewhere noted, can be seen depicted on the left of the en-
 
 I 
 
 KING AND PEOPLE. 27 1 
 
 graving in this volume that prominently presents Riddarholm 
 Church — is a very plain five-story building. We were told 
 by the janitor or sexton at the Ridderholm that it was im- 
 possible for us at this Season of the year to obtain a look at 
 the Chambers of the two Houses ; that visitors were never 
 admitted except during Legislative Season time ; that a re- 
 quest for such admission was never heard of before, etc. 
 But we marched through one of the open doorways of the 
 edifice and up one flight of stairs, past a telegraph office, and 
 into a room where a woman and child were sitting, both en- 
 gaged in needle-work. We asked for the janitor or custodian. 
 We learned that he was the husband of one and the father of 
 the other of the two persons before us ; and within five min- 
 utes we were introduced to him and on our way to the Halls 
 of Legislation ! How came this about ? When we first made 
 our request, the reply was " Impossible ! " But when the 
 janitor appeared and we informed all persons present that 
 we were from California, and that we had a special reason, 
 which we named, for observing how the Legislators were 
 grouped together before their presiding officer, the inner 
 doors were opened. Again the same refrain : now something 
 of regular expectation. " O, from California ; O ! O ! that 
 is another matter." 
 
 The Members sit upon narrow benches that are ranged in 
 close proximity, — iu fact you might say that they were crowd- 
 ed together. There is less room, I should judge, than is 
 usually afforded for such proportion of the Members as can 
 or do sit on the benches of the English House of Commons, 
 — taking into consideration the average size of the Swedish 
 legislator. We were told that there was frequent complaint 
 because of the lack of those facilities which our Representa- 
 tives in our several State Legislatures and in our Capitol at 
 Washington enjoy. But it would be impossible in these 
 Capitol halls to put the 130 members of the one House and 
 the 200 members of the other, and give them desk-room. 
 
 The benches are placed on a rising floor or a series of steps, 
 having about the same ratio of elevation — from step to step — 
 that is given in the orchestra portion of the California theatre
 
 2^2 ^'OR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 — almost as steep as in a Medical College demonstration or 
 clinique hall. 
 
 At the Castle there is a room in which the Members of both 
 houses assemble to meet and consult with the King. There 
 the benches are of similar pattern, — the Lower House sitting 
 upon one side of the single and central aisle, and the mem- 
 bers of the other House occupying the opposite series of 
 seats. 
 
 At the Capitol as well as at the Palace Council Chamber, 
 where King and Legislators officially face other, in the Sum- 
 mer season, all is in dust and disorder. The benches in both 
 Houses are made of pine, and are of the flimsiest construction. 
 They are covered with a close baize cloth, with a little green 
 fringe around the edges. 
 
 Adjacent to the Chambers or Halls of Legislation in the 
 Capitol are sitting-rooms for the Committees, and long cor- 
 ridor apartments where the Legislator may promenade or 
 may sit down and refresh himself at wine and card tables. 
 Our guide — none other than the head janitor himself — told 
 us that, on many occasions he had to provide for the rernoval 
 of some noble Legislator early in the morning, by hiring a 
 couple of stout porters to carry his lordship down the stairs 
 and place him in a carriage. 
 
 The view from some of the windows of the Capitol, look- 
 ing out upon portions of the city and the Malar, is almost 
 equal in splendor to that obtained from the top of Moseback 
 itself. 
 
 The appointed Members of the upper chamber of the 
 Swedish 'Parliament [must be over thirty-five years of age ; 
 must pay taxes on $20,000, and have an annual income of 
 not less than $1,200. Their term is nine years ; and there is 
 no salary attached to their office. The members of the 
 Lower House are elected every three years Irom the differ- 
 ent districts without regard to property ownership, and are 
 paid about $3. 00 per day. 
 
 That was a sad night for us, when we parted with Herr 
 Meyerberg, at the Hotel Kung Karl. We invited him to a 
 little sexsor, which we ordered spread in one of our rooms ; 
 and when he came we all remarked with less emphasis than
 
 KING AND PEOPLE. 273 
 
 was really justified, that he looked exceedingly well. Indeed, 
 what a splendid-looking man he is ! No wonder_ that his 
 Philadelphia and Baltimore audiences were so delighted to 
 see him and hear him talk, that they made unreasonable de- 
 mands upon even his strength for protracted utterance. No 
 wonder that we often heard strangers inquire as he passed by, 
 " What Nobleman is that ? " 
 
 Sure enough the days are growing shorter ; for we have 
 candles brought in just before the School Inspector arrives. 
 And a little girl in the company says that the table must look 
 very bright this evening : for it is " A Fareweel to our bestest 
 friend in Stockholm." 
 
 He brings Wellin's Poems, — producing the large volume 
 from under his arm as he enters the supper room, and in his 
 own grand way he reads the apostrophe to George Washing- 
 ton ! It is a reading such as Longfellow long ago interpreted 
 for us, " Not from the grand old Masters, not from the bards 
 sublime * * * But from some humbler poet." And we 
 have the glorious "music of his voice." He must needs rise 
 from the table, when he comes to the final comparison and 
 appeal. He has the last verse by heart ; and the conclusion 
 is a thrilling recitation. His declamation is for such an oc- 
 casion the perfection of art. What could be finer in touch 
 of intonation, or more delightful, appropriate and impressive 
 than the waving gesture with which he signifies the amplitude 
 of the glory that belongs to the name of our great heroes and 
 patriots ! Wasa and Washington ! It was oratory and it was 
 song ! 
 
 Farewell, dear friend ! We would not speak this word to 
 you on that night of supreme felicity in companionship — 
 when most we enjoyed your society. We kept the fact of in- 
 tended departure and such mournful reflections as were begotten 
 of it carefully locked in our aching breasts. We can be paitly, 
 nay, largely satisfied and consoled by the pictures of the beauti- 
 ful city that we shall take with us to America, but — as with 
 respect to a few scenes in nature, on our journeyings — we do 
 not now personally regret that he refused to give us his photo- 
 graph. Our memories shall hold that best ; and let not recol- 
 lection be disturbed or anywise distracted by the picture of his
 
 274 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 face. Alas ! How imperfectly, with much larger opportunity 
 or indulgence, could I hint as to the extent of our obligations 
 to you. How many have been your thoughtful kindnesses. 
 How excellent has been your guidance, conversation and coun- 
 sel on every possible occasion for your hospitable attendance. 
 Fortunate, indeed, have we been in forming your acquaintance, 
 and gaining an access of intimacy to your sympathies and good- 
 will. Fortunate will we name and number those who may come 
 after us, to sojourn a little while in this kingdom, if they shall 
 have your greeting and your good offices of friendship and 
 esteem. 
 
 -o- 
 
 xxn. 
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 
 
 The sum total of fares, from place to place on this route, 
 amounts to very little over the cost of a continuous-trip passage. 
 The Government does not make a practice of issuing stop-over 
 tickets. 
 
 The distance from Stockholm to-Malmo, by Nassjo, is 383 of 
 our miles. The express train makes the through trip in 18^ 
 hours. The ordinary train as it is called, stops over night at 
 Nassjo, which is about half way between the Capital and the 
 Southern city of Sweden. The charges are respectively for first, 
 second or third-class fares on the ordinary train, 52 kroners, 
 33 kroners, and 22 kroners. On the express there are two clas- 
 ses, — the first and the second : for which the ticket price is 52 
 kroners and 37 kroners. The second class accommodations are 
 fully as comfortable as the first class cars on our Central Pa- 
 cific; although there is not so much gilding and the cushions 
 are of a brown, instead of a crimson color. There is really not 
 a great deal of difi"erence between the second and first class 
 compartments. The great majority of Europeans travel in the 
 third class compartments; even on the few roads where the
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 
 
 275 
 
 seats are uncushioned, but where the conveniences and comforts 
 otherwise are equal to our best. 
 
 The first town of importance through which you pass after 
 leaving the Capital, on the road indicated, is Sodertelge ; a 
 watering place of which I made mention in describing the canal 
 route from Gottenberg to Stockholm. The road passes in the 
 rear of the principal town or city, and you have in part the same 
 views of the place which are afforded from the canal, and also 
 
 NORRKOPIXG PUBLIC SCHOOL. 
 
 entirely different pictures of the town itself, and of the surround- 
 ing country. The city proper is bustling and thriving, while 
 the "watering place" adjacent, with its great hotels for invalids, 
 is a picture of quiei repose. 
 
 The next town of importance, is Norrkoping. This is a sea- 
 port city— close enough to the Baltic to be so called, — of 30,000 
 inhabitants. It is located at the mouth of the Motala, at its con-
 
 .-: 76 NOR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 fluencc with the Bravik ; and is very handsomely situated. It 
 claims an origin dating back five hundred years : havmg had 
 the honor to be sacked and plundered several times, by the 
 Danes and the Russians. It is a modern looking town ; many 
 of the houses giving evidence of having been constructed by or 
 under the direction of an Architect who had studied our Ameri- 
 can styles 1 The grammar and commercial school — {Hoi^re 
 Elementarlaroverkcts-Hus) — is a splendid edifice; — the first 
 structuie to which the local guides are accustomed to conduct 
 an American. 
 
 There is an enormous water power here, which is afforded by 
 the Motala ; and the advantages of Norrkoping's location for 
 manufacturing purposes could not well be surpassed. In this 
 respect it is another Lowell. Here are a number of iron bridges 
 which are well worth an examination. Indeed it is claimed tliat 
 the origin of iron and steel bridge construction as a separate and 
 distinct business, — as something of speciality manufacture, — 
 should be credited to the foundry-men of this town. 
 
 There are not only a large number of iron foundries and steel 
 making furnaces here, but several factories for the weaving of 
 woolen and cotton goods. And at the door of two or three of 
 these establishments, we were proudly informed of the fact that 
 Norrkoping was distinguished abroad by bearing the name of 
 the "Swedish Manchester." When we suggested that the more 
 appropriate phrase, considering the tide of emigration, etc., 
 would be the "Swedish Lowell," the inquiry was earnest as to 
 the reason for this remark. And I was afterwards assured that 
 the substitution suggested should be made and observed in all 
 future communications from our guide — to strangers coming 
 from America. 
 
 Then comes Linkoping, the capital of Ostergotland. This 
 is a city of about ten thousand inhabitants. It is connected with 
 the Gota Canal by the river Stanga, which has been dredged out 
 recently and coffer-dammed, so as to be navigable for large boats. 
 The water passage for its commerce is made via Lake Roxen, 
 of which I have hereinbefore given a description. 
 
 This is a cathedral town, and boasted of a Bishop as early as 
 the 1 2th Century. There are a great many interesting historic 
 "memories" connected with or located in this place, including 
 
 I
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 
 
 277 
 
 LINKOPING CATHEDRAL.
 
 278 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 the "Linkoping Blood Bath," where Sigismund and some of his 
 principal followers were executed by Duke Charles, — nearly three 
 hundred years ago. The spot where the execution took place is 
 now surrounded by a circle of stones. 
 
 The cathedral church, the construction of which was begun 
 in 1 1 50, and completed in 1499, '^ of the Romanesque pattern, 
 with an elegant choir, in pure Gothic. In the choir the win- 
 dows are of stained glass and are of exquisite beauty. Above 
 the altar is an immense figure of Christ, with Faith, Hope, and 
 Charity represented on three sides. 
 
 Nassjo, where the ordinary train stops over night, is at the 
 highest point on the railway between the Capital and Malmo. 
 Though it is very eligibly and handsomely situated on the bor- 
 ders of a litde Lake, it does not seem to have been a place 
 of any importance, until the construction of the railroad. It is 
 what we would call a Railroad town. There are, as might be 
 expected, at such a junction and stop-over locality, five or six 
 Hotels, all claiming through their advertisements and r-unncrs 
 to be the best. There are also a number of private houses at 
 which strangers are lodged and supplied with breakfest and the 
 incomparable Swedish coffee on very moderate terms. And for 
 the purpose of gaining information, we chose an over-night resi- 
 dence in one of these dwellings. 
 
 Matilda Gustafen was the name of the Lodging-house keeper 
 who solicited our patronage, on the platform of the Nassjo 
 depot, at five o'clock in the evening, — and got it. It was a 
 walk of about three blocks which brought us to the door of her 
 house ; and better accommodations, in any particular, we did 
 not have in all Sweden. 
 
 It was raining at the time of our arrival at Nassjo, and it was 
 very sloppy inside as well as outside of the covered station. 
 The roof was leaking, and the whole structure was undergoing 
 much needed repairs. 
 
 The town of Nassjo contains about a thousand inhabitants ; 
 but unless some new enterprise is started in the vicinity, it will 
 soon fall off one-half in its population. Our hostess says that 
 now many of the heads of the families of the place have to go 
 elsewhere to get work, during the Summer season ; and there 
 is a great deal of talk about "emigration to Amcri-ra." We
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 
 
 279 
 
 sought and obtained introduction to five or six men, who were 
 recummended to us by our hostess,, with a view to set before 
 them the advantages of CaUfornia as a home for Swedish emi- 
 
 grants. 
 
 It is not only that the people here are lacking in cia- 
 
 PROF. VICTOR HUGO WICKSTROM, OF LUND. 
 
 ployment, and dissatisfied with their situation, to a great extent, 
 but it is on account of this being one of the principal junction 
 points, that it was eminently desirable to make a stop here, and 
 improve the opportunity to the uttermost; — to educate repre-
 
 28o 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 sentative persons with respect to the superiority of our Cahfornia 
 chmate — that truly glorious climate — our fruitful soil, etc , etc. 
 
 The train leaves Nassjo for the South at a quarter to seven, a.m. ; 
 and we arrived at Lund at little after twelve. 
 
 Lund is the second University town of Sweden, containing 
 about twelve thousaud inhabitants, and being not far behind 
 
 LUND CATHEDRAL. 
 
 Upsala in the number of its students. Upsalaand Lund are the 
 Harvard and Yale of Sweden. 
 
 Here is also a famous cathedral — that of St. Lawrence — a 
 venerable structure, 271 feet in length and 72 feet in height. 
 It is claimed that the perspective of the interior is the finest of 
 any church in Northern Europe. The building is larger at the
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 281 
 
 Western end than at the Eastern extremity, and the floor rises 
 towards the centre nearly two feet, producing a singular but 
 pleasing cficct upon the beholder. The pinnacles in the choir 
 symbolize the Crown of Thorns ; and although this portion of 
 the building was reconstructed a hundred years ago, there was 
 no alteration made in the pattern of this section of the interior, 
 as it was originally designed. The organ is the largest in 
 Sweden, having 3, 070 registers. The organist began a rehearsal 
 while we were in the church ; and though distant from him 
 nearly 200 f.et, we at once felt the force of the muffled truinp- 
 ets ; their voices producing a crawling, magnetizing sensation 
 in our feet ! When the full musical peals came on, they "filled 
 the aisles and shook the sashes ! " 
 
 There is what in Lund is commonly called the Subterranean 
 Church — a huge crypt, in fact and fashion. According to le- 
 gendary story, this was the work of a giant, named Finn, who 
 contracted with St. Lawrence to construct the Cathedral at the 
 price of the Sun, or the Moon, or the two eyes of the Saint. 
 But it was the privilege of the Saint, — his chance, as we would 
 call it, — to avoid this enormous planetary payment for which he 
 was bound on this cruel alternative, if he could discover the 
 name of the giant. The Saint accidentally overheard the name 
 of the Monster pronounced by the giantess, and so escaped the 
 loss of his organs of vision. This enraged the giant who en- 
 deavored to destroy the cathedral, which he had erected, and in 
 this unholy scheme he was aided by his wife, through whose 
 inadvertence his name had been ascertained. But the good 
 Saint Lawrence (or Laurentius, as they have it here) uttered a 
 prayer at the right moment ; in response to which the giant and 
 ills wife were instantly transformed into stone. The two enor- 
 mous stone images in the crypt are supposed to be their petri- 
 fied remains.'' 
 
 The subterranean church is 126 feet by 36, with a height 
 of 20 feet ; being supported by twenty-four pillars, and lighted 
 by ten windows. Here also is a spring, throwing up the purest 
 of water ; a miraculous fountain, like that adjacent to the Cathe- 
 eral of Upsala, but not so abundant in its supply. 
 
 A little distance from the Cathedral and in front of the 
 house of the Academical Society, is a splendid brass statue
 
 282. 
 
 NORTHERN FUROFE. 
 
 < 
 
 OS, 
 
 a 
 
 w 
 
 X 
 H 
 
 < 
 
 Q 
 Z 
 
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 H
 
 PHOM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 
 
 2S3 
 
 of the poet Esaias Tegner — which we were informed was 
 much inquired after by Americans, doubtless on account of 
 the translations by Longfellow. 
 
 In the University House, which is North of the Lundagord, 
 is a Library of 100,000 volumes ; of which about 10,000 are 
 in the English language. 
 
 There is a very rich collection here of manuscripts ; in- 
 cluding celebrated letters of Cicero, which were printed on 
 
 NEW UNIVERSITY HALL, LUND. 
 
 parchment in Venice in 1470- Here is also a manuscript 
 Virgil, and the oldest manuscript-records of the Kmgdom of 
 Denmark. . . 
 
 In one of the histories of the time of Gustavus Wasa wnich 
 I glanced at, in this l>ibrary, I observed the subjomed 
 sentences— reading according to my translation as follows: 
 " The noble and rich men of those days often could not read 
 or write ; but they had private secretaries to do their reading
 
 284 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and writina; for them. People were accustomed to rise at five 
 or six o'clock in the morning, dine at ten and take supper at 
 five. Plates were not changed at the meals, and the invited 
 guests at a party had to take their knives and forks and spoons 
 with them to the house of their host. The family hour for 
 retiring was nine o'clock. The beds were fastened in the 
 walls [as, indeed, they now are, in the houses of the lower 
 orders of the peasantry of Delecarlia], and the sleeping places 
 were arranged one above the other ; sometimes four shelves 
 on one floor. There were no such things as carriages ; every- 
 body had to travel on the narrow and rough roads on horse- 
 back. King Gustavus considered^ very wisely, that all the land 
 originally belonged to the realm, and that it was only held as a 
 trust by the landholders ; as, indeed, their 7iatne implied. He, 
 therefore, followed a maxim : that ivhenevcr a husbandman did 
 not properly cultivate his land, but alloived it to deteriorate, he 
 should be expelled from his possessio/is, end the land should be 
 transferred to more faithful hands." 
 
 In the Historical Museum, among other very remarkable 
 objects which are shown to visitors, is a chemise of the Holy 
 Virgin which, if the ancient chronicle, which is recited by our 
 guide with great distinctness and delicacy, is to be believed, 
 possesses a miraculous virtue in promoting easy confinements. 
 
 Here also is the house of the poet Tegner, — indicated by 
 a stone on which is written — " Here abode Tegner." All 
 within and without is kept, as nearly as may be, in the same 
 condition in which it was left at his death. The desk on 
 which he wrote is shown ; the bed on which he slept ; and 
 the very pen with which he wrote " The First Communion." 
 
 It is a distance of only about ten miles from Lund to 
 Malmo. We stop at the Kramer Hotel ; literally close to the 
 extreme Southern boundary of the Kingdom. The sense of 
 regret which we have been experiencing with growing em- 
 phasis, ever since we left the Capital, now rises into a sharp 
 pain as we realize that in a few more days we must bid fare- 
 well to Sweden ! 
 
 Malmo, the official residence of the Governor of the prov- 
 ince of Skane, is a city of about 40,000 inhabitants, and is 
 located diagonally opposite the Danish Capital, and distant
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 285 
 
 two l\ours' ride, by steamer, — variously put down at from 
 twenty to twenty-five miles. Bsedecker states the distance 
 at sixteen miles, but this is contradicted by every inhabit mt 
 with whom we conversed with respect to this little geo- 
 graphical measurement. The difference in estimate of dis- 
 tance is probably owing to intermixed calculations of separa- 
 tion between Copenhagen and Malmo and Copenhagen and 
 Landskrona, etc. However that may be, and singular as it 
 may appear, this is a quietly mooted point — on the wharves 
 of the Southern metropolis. One sailor told us that it was " all 
 according to the shoot [or shute] you took when you made 
 for the opposite shore ; " a combination of sailor and lands- 
 man vernacular which needs accounting for by itself — prob- 
 ably explained by the amphibious nature of the speaker. 
 
 That we are on the border line between Sweden and Den- 
 mark is made apparent very shortly after our arrival here. 
 Going into the dining-room of this hotel, we hear the unmis- 
 takable vowel distinctions between the two nations ; the dis- 
 cordant distinction between the two languages being noticeable 
 across almost every table in the spacious hall. 
 
 Kramer's Hotel is situated at one corner of the Stertog, on 
 which also face the Hotel Gustaf Adolph, and the great hall 
 of the city, — the Radhus — and also the residence of the Gov- 
 ernor of the Province. It is about the size of Sinclair hotel, 
 in New York, or the Montgomery corner of the Lick House, 
 in San Francisco ; and the spacious rooms are rented at from 
 five to seven kroners a day. 
 
 Malmo began before the date of the earliest existing record 
 of its people's lives to be " an important point "' for herring 
 fish marketing — so tradition speaks of it. It is absolutely 
 "historic" only since 1259, when it was where it now is not. 
 That is to say, it then was a little at one side — at a place 
 now called Sodeiuam. It is like Gothenberg in this respect : 
 Having shifted its base a few miles — (as notably ought to 
 have been the case with our California city of Sacramento, 
 in 1852). It never was much of a town to boast of, until 
 one Frans Suell, in 1775-78 — "a wealthy and public-spirited 
 merchant " — actually created a harbor ; by running out long
 
 286 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 piers and cross-ways on tlie Northwest side of the town. 
 At the extreme end of the main pier or break-water, or 
 more properly sand-break —which extends a distance of half 
 a mile from the main land — there is a tall lighthouse , Avliile 
 a shorter tower is set midway between it and the main lower 
 dock. The lamp at the Point has a colored glass, and is re- 
 volving; and by its situation and appearances altogether it 
 strongly suggests the picture presented by one of the well- 
 
 MVLMO CASTLE. 
 
 known scenes in the opera of Olivette. I feel sure that the 
 original idea of the setting of that piece was taken from ac- 
 tual observation of the lighting of the harbor lamps on the 
 edges of the pier of Malmo. 
 
 Of course Malmo has a castle, or a fortress, so-called. 
 And of course it was built upon the foundations of another 
 castle, or on the same site at least. The present structure is 
 dated 1537. It is now used as a jail for the province of
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO aMALMO. 
 
 287 
 
 Skane. It will be remembered that Bothwell, one of the 
 husbands of Mary Queen of Scots, turned pirate after his 
 expulsion from Scotland. After his capture on the high seas 
 he was imprisoned in this fortress ; and visitors are permitted 
 to visit the door-way of the dungeon in which he was con- 
 fined. The entrance to this damp and narrow cell has been 
 walled up ; of which there is so much complaint on the part 
 
 MALMO CITY HALL. 
 
 of visitors, that it is said that the authorities are seriously 
 considering the proposition of gomplying with a general re- 
 quest for unsealing and re-opening. 
 
 It is written that visitors may see in the Governor's house 
 the room in which the late King Charles XV. died, on the 
 18th of September, 1872 — while on his way back from Aix- 
 la-Chapelle to Stockholm. We rang and knocked at the
 
 288 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 outer door of this Executive Mansion in vain. No one came 
 from within to let us in, or to do us the kindness to tell us 
 to go away. Finally a passer-by — kind, courteous soul : may 
 his immense shadow never be less — stepped up to the inner 
 porch, where we were pulling bell-knobs and thumping with 
 audaciously increasing racket, and informed us that the new 
 Governor was a — mean man. He had re-arranged the fur- 
 niture in the room where the popular monarch died, and had 
 closed out the show business, from which theretofore the 
 porters had derived a modest and honest \xoxiQX, per capita, 
 etc. 
 
 But could we see the interior of the Town Hall? Our 
 chance acquaintance and adviser didn't think we could. 
 But being in an exasperated condition of mind, collectively 
 speaking, our company resolved that we would make an 
 effort to get within. The exterior of this edifice is very hand- 
 some. There are oriel windows, and rich copings and at- 
 tractive features in sandstone. We learned that the custodian 
 was in the court room trying a case ! But a lad told us that 
 he would " come " presently. He does put in an appearance 
 in a very short time ; allowing for his having " a long term of 
 action in hand," — as another kind informant told us, in a de- 
 termined effort to speak English. A slim, solemn-looking 
 man of fifty came forth, very nicely dressed. (What if the 
 prancing boy at Upsala had seen his coat ! Would he not 
 have been excited to a communistic pitch ? So we simulta- 
 neously suggested.) We offered this gentleman a gratuity 
 with fear and trembling. But he took it with a complacency 
 that was — well, it was worth the money, to see how a man of 
 his mien and deportment could take our offering. There 
 was a kind of magnanimity, of condescension about it, that 
 was deserving of study and eulogy. 
 
 The stair-way is of granite, with highly polished green stone 
 balustrades. The frescoing is emblematic of commerce and 
 agricultural industry. The first hall is adorned with pictures 
 of Swedish monarchs and queens, ladies of the court who 
 are distinguished as beauties, — together with a itw landscapes 
 and two or three battle pieces. The second and larger hall 
 is where the great dancing parties trip — [and visitors are al-
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALAIO. 
 
 289 
 
 ways saying that it must be dangerous to limb and neck to 
 wheel rapidly about on these waxened floors] — and both 
 grand apartments are of the pattern observed at the Palace 
 at Stockholm. The smaller hall is used for a dining room, 
 on festive occasions, and will seat 500 guests. 100 couples 
 join in the mazy dance in the principal chamber. 
 
 The Kockumska Hus, erected fifty years before Columbus 
 
 ST. PETER S CHURCH, MALMO. 
 
 discovered America — is in a good state of preservation. Here 
 lived the "warlike burgomaster," Kock, and Suell, the wise 
 and patriotic merchant before referred to. 
 
 At one of the churches we gaze upon a full length ])icture 
 of Martin Luther — which does not represent him in an amiable 
 mood. 
 
 In the vestibule of the Church of St. Peter is a curious
 
 290 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 ^^^3^^^^^mw^0&^^ 
 
 fct-_s:?^ 
 
 KOCKUMSKA HUS.
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 291 
 
 poor-box, eight feet long and four feet in both width and 
 height — said to be four hundred years old. It has four sepa- 
 rate slits, for church, hospital, widows and orphans respec- 
 tively. It is only patronized now by strangers; the usual 
 modern method of collecting being by bags or boxes held at 
 the doors after service. After the announced manner of all 
 "charitably disposed visitors," we dropped in a few ores, and 
 listened to the somewhat singular cavernous echoes. 
 
 At the great Malmo machine shop over 1,500 men are em- 
 ployed. Just now the work is centred upon the machinery 
 of a huge steamer, which is to carry loaded cars across the 
 sound, between Malmo and Copenhagen, after the manner of 
 the Jersey City and Brooklyn, and. our San Francisco and 
 Oakland and "Solano" steamer transfer. She is to lake 
 freight-cars that will travel from Denmark stations to all 
 points of railroad connection in Sweden, and return. 
 
 Here the machinist gets from seven to fifteen kroners a 
 week — working by the piece ; according as there may be 
 work for him in his particular line. The moulders get as 
 high as seven kroners [^1.82] a day ; depending of course 
 upon their skill and experience. 
 
 The eccentric on the main shaft of the big ferry-boat was 
 being cut down to the proper diameter, while we were taking 
 observations ; and we were told that it required a month of 
 labor to construct the machinery by which this stupendous 
 piece of business was being performed. The immense shaft 
 was held in the jaws of mammoth pincers, and its revolutions 
 in the face of the paring chisel were guided with mathemat- 
 ical exactness by a single lever in the hand of one man. 
 This man had this twenty-two tons of iron under his thumb, 
 in the most literal sense that you could imagine. He seemed 
 to be playing with the whole arrangement. But in point of 
 fact he was not. He had a drawing before him ; and he was 
 peeling that big bolt to a hair's turn. So he said, in a 
 quiet, confident and rather confidential way ; and we be- 
 lieved him. 
 
 But to us an equally interesting section of the great estab- 
 lishment was in the moulders' department. Here, in a build-
 
 292 
 
 NORTHERN- EUROPE. 
 
 ing 300 feet long by 200 wide — an immense barn of space — 
 a hundred men were squatting literally on the ground floor ; 
 digging in the soft black sand with their hands, or carefully 
 covering up an earthen image, which signified an ultimate 
 propeller or cylinder top, or boiler-head or bed plate. In 
 
 FLAT AND SIDE VIEW OF SWEDISH BREAD. 
 
 what august stillness these gnomes pursued their vulcanic 
 labors ! The natural gloom of the building — with its com- 
 paratively few windows located high up, near the roof — 
 seemed to be deepened by the color of the earth which these 
 dumb delvers and fashioners were paddling or tossing about 
 with their naked hands. With finical nicety did one old man
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 293 
 
 scatter some white grains at the edge of one of his oblong, flat- 
 tened boxes. Then he took a whisp broom and swept off 
 the few particles that clung to the wood. " Was all this pre- 
 cision necessary ? " was the question that went the rounds. 
 Of course, it must be ; and it was because of his skill and 
 faithful scrupulosity in this department that this old man — 
 now over seventy, and now worth in his own right over 
 40,000 kroners, the fruit of a long life of incessant toil — re- 
 ceived seven kroners a day for his services. 
 
 Some of the elders in our party were indulging in the ut- 
 terances of various economic propositions and sentimental 
 suggestions and reflections, naturally allied, when a youthful 
 companion — who had been remarkably silent for some time — 
 gave a deep, loud sigh, and met the many inquiries as to the 
 cause of her depression by the one exclamation, " O, what a 
 place to make mud pies ! " 
 
 We agree in favor of a social sexsor, on the night before we 
 bid farewell to this beautiful land. What shall be the main 
 articles of luxuriant repast for our delectation on such an oc- 
 casion ? We take another ballot : and lo, there comes forth 
 a unanimous vote for — what think you? — Swedish bread and 
 coffee ! Aside from these, of course, let th3re be the best 
 attainable variety of edibles for our guests. 
 
 How many times have you and I, dear reader, pitied those 
 poor sailors in the United States Courts, who have been com- 
 pelled to face the unnecessarily sharp cross-examinations of 
 the attorneys for the defense, in a case of alleged cruelty on 
 shipboard — how often, I say. have we pitied them, when they 
 confessed that they never had tasted anything but brown or 
 black hard bread, until after they left their native country. 
 Why here we are, mourning our departure from this same 
 kingdom of cracker loaves, because among other afflictive de- 
 privations we shall no more taste this all-crust, brittle but 
 delicious article of diet. And here we are delivering to one 
 another our best emjihasis of wonder, because at least in such 
 great cities as New York and San Francisco there are not 
 genuine Swedish bakeries (as well as Swedish coffee houses) 
 to meet the wants of a large Swedish population, — as well as
 
 294 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 COSTUMES IN SKANE. 
 
 I
 
 FROM STOCKHOLM TO MALMO. 295 
 
 to gratify the cultivated tastes of wise men and women of 
 American parentage and Yankee, pie-biting table appetites. 
 We liave everywhere abundance of imitations of that — at 
 best — unpalatable, indigestion-breeding oat-meal porridge or 
 mush. Let us import an every way preferable article of 
 diet. 
 
 But we are destined to have our plans in the last respect 
 broken in upon. This comes in the form of an invitation to 
 take a good-bye dinner at the house of a relative of a gentle- 
 man — Mr. Rasmus Parsons, of Boulder, Colorado — whose ac- 
 quaintance we made while crossing the plains of America. 
 Seven miles out of the city, to the house of our entertainers, 
 we go. We pass several beet-sugar plantations on the road. 
 The raising of this vegetable in this section for sugar-making 
 has after many failures proved a success. We pass many 
 wind-mills, that are turned about to meet the wind ; the whole 
 building being swung around so as to preseat a fan front to 
 the prevailing breeze. We pass several honey-making estab- 
 lishments. Rows of bee- hives that number as many as fifty 
 on a bench. We pass a great dairy owned by an Austrian 
 gentleman ; who has expended many thousands of kroners 
 evq^ry year in valuable experiments on breeds and methods of 
 milking and bestovv-ing the cream. We see that every house- 
 hold has one or two-window shelves ornamented with flowers ; 
 and notice that the myrtle grows here in luxuriant strength 
 and spreading fulness. We overtake a small wagon loaded 
 with brooms ; and are informed that they come from America, 
 along with the sewing machines and the petroleum. We hear 
 again that the same Singer and Wheeler & Wilson's that cost 
 our folks $45 are sold liere for one-third those sums. We see 
 a woman washing in a stream ; and inquiring what that green 
 treacle is with which she daubs her clothes, we are told that 
 that is tlie genuine Swedish soap ; that that which we call 
 soap is unknown by such a name in this part of the globe. 
 And thus we become communicative not to say confidential ; 
 and inform our Scandinavian friends that in the United 
 States we have also two kinds of soap : one used for cleans- 
 ing purposes, and the other, it is confessed, used by political
 
 296 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 saints for the purpose of carrying doubtful States at or im- 
 mediately preceding a Presidential election. We are not 
 thoroughly understood by all hearers, perhaps ; but we intend 
 to be beneficially instructive. Wc meet two boys driving one 
 ox before a two-wheeled vehicle filled with potatoes. We see 
 a woman in a field milking a sheep ; and ascertain that she 
 is proprietress of a small cheese factory. 
 
 Arriving at the house of our host and hostess, we are wel- 
 comed with enthusiastic demonstrations that apparently only 
 stopped short of hurrahing ; and it would seem that there 
 never could be again such heartiness and cordiality ! And 
 such profusion of novel delicacies at a "greeting repast!" 
 spread for our refreshment at the moment we enter the house. 
 After four hours spent in delightful conversation — sitting 
 within or walking round about — we are summoned to the 
 great dining-room, for a Swedish dinner. Well, so far there 
 have been approaches and approximations. But now we are to 
 understand — as experienced ones in the party announce — that 
 we have got the perfection. Seven courses, exclusive of Smer- 
 gorsbord ; with a central pivot of fruit-soup. And such dishes ! 
 Who can abide these things.? Is there no way out } It is bid- 
 den that at least we must taste, to the end of the catalogue ! I 
 know not what French cuisine may be awaiting us ; and I do 
 not care. I am prepared to give in my verdict now, without 
 any further evidence in the premises. 
 
 We do not need to be admonished that we shall often be 
 called upon, if gratitude survives, to remember our most hos- 
 pitable hosts of Skane : — Seppa and Margareta Manson. 
 
 No wonder the initiated traveller seeks to secure the services 
 of a thoroughly educated Swedish cook. Here they are : a 
 whole family of them (including — alas! — one beautiful girl, 
 who has just fallen ill with incurable hip disease.) 
 
 "Thank you very much!" So say we all. For once we 
 deferentially acknowledge, by an exact observance, the custom 
 of the country, and audibly and fervently join in the formal 
 sentence of thanks to our entertainers, on risinj from the 
 table. 
 
 Then we arc shown the garret of this big house. 
 
 A regular
 
 FJ^OM STOCKIIULM TO MALMO. 
 
 297 
 
 
 Ol'K MALMO lM\rKkr.\lNKKS.
 
 298 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 old-fashioned Xew England garret. Here is a cradle that 
 was made in 1742 ; just as good as the day it left the cabinet- 
 maker's shop. In it have been rocked five generations ; and 
 unless future parents in the same line are converted to the 
 idea that the motion is not good for the infant brain, what is 
 to hinder five more generations from becoming occupants of 
 this capacious lullaby edifice ? Here is a rag carpet in a 
 loom ; and a ball of tape half completed. Here is a secretary 
 over 300 years old ; made in Denmark before Christian I, was 
 born. And here comes a huge cat, calling to her kittens ; 
 whose cozy bed close to the eaves is a type of domestic com- 
 fort, and soon presents a picture of matronly fondness, pride, 
 and bliss. (O, how Starr King would have enjoyed this 
 garret !) 
 
 We ascend a hill a quarter of a mile distant from and 
 directly in front of this mansion of Swedish hospitality. From 
 the summit we descry Malmo, Lund, and Copenhagen, with 
 five outlying churches on this side of the Sound. 
 
 xxni. 
 
 COPENHAGEN. 
 
 The Malmo-Copenhagen steamers make four round trips 
 each day; the passage occupying from one hour and a half to 
 two hours. The vessels are about the size of the Dover and 
 Calais boats ; and they very closely resemble each other in 
 their model and accommodations. But this passage, although 
 nearly the same in distance, is usually by no means so tem- 
 pestuous or chopping as the North Sea Channel crossing; and 
 in summer and early autumn it is as smooth sailing, from 
 Swedish dock to Danish harbor, as it is in either the New 
 York or San Francisco Bay in the pleasantest weather. 
 
 Denmark now comprises about 1 5,000 square miles of territo- 
 ly, — a little more than the lake-water surface within the bound- 
 aries of Sweden, — and has a little over 2,000,000 inhabitants, 
 more than one-tenth of whom reside at the capital of the
 
 COPENHAGEN. 
 
 299 
 
 kingdom. While so insignificant in acreage and population, 
 it is a great factor in international marital heraldry. England, 
 Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Greece are all closely allied to 
 Denmark by wedding-rings ; and a popular sentence or phrase 
 of gossip, that is often uttered with great seriousness, is to 
 
 the effect that Prussia will, or must, forbear from swallowing 
 up the little left after the Schleswig-Holstein conquest, on 
 account of existing and future demand and supply for eligible 
 matches among the royal houses of Europe. 
 
 The first close view of Copenhagen touches the light-house 
 and the fortress, — around which the steamer swings in its 
 entrance into the straits which separate Seeland from the 
 Island of Amager. The great dome of the marble church — 
 (foundation laid in 1749; now nearly completed) — is a con- 
 
 )
 
 300 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 spicuous figure from the water, as we make our approach ; a 
 fact to be more particularly noted now, because when you 
 have once arrived at the city's edge you lose sight of this 
 prominent object altogether, and wonder in what direction it 
 bears from your wharf. 
 
 The landing of the Malmo steamer is at the corner of 
 Hannegade and Charlottenborg ; in close proximity to a line 
 of custom-house sheds, of small dimensions, in which the 
 baggage is temporarily stored for inspection. The examina- 
 tion by the custom-house officers is of the most trifling char- 
 acter. In fact, the practice is to look the passenger amiably, 
 but " officially," in the face and ask him if he has anything to 
 " declare." If the answer is in the negative, in nine cases out 
 of ten the baggage is passed without unlocking or opening. 
 
 We had resolved to try an experiment at Copenhagen in 
 the way of selecting a hotel ; and we have to report a success- 
 ful venture in this direction. Instead of naming any one of 
 the inns recommended or pointed out by the various guide- 
 books, we engaged the services of a porter at the wharf, and 
 told him to take our luggage and lead our party to a quiet, 
 unpretending hotel, in some street not far distant from the 
 centre of the city — if such a place there was, to his knowledge. 
 We were taken to the Prinds Oscar Hotel, 13 Kongensgade, 
 Frants Jorgensen, Kjobenhavn ; and I respectfully, but cor- 
 dially, recommend it to those who may come after. The 
 entrance is " unpretending " sure enough. You might call it 
 mean and contemptible, for a "hotel." It is a narrow door- 
 way, from whence a short hall, — not more than ten feet in 
 length and three feet in width, — leads to the stairway. But 
 when you have arrived at the upper landing, you find excel- 
 lently furnished suites of rooms, with good ventilation and 
 outlook, and the attendance comes nearly up to the Swedish 
 standard of perfection. We had occasion to visit friends at 
 houses where the charges were more than twice as high ; and 
 we observed that we were, on all accounts, better seated and 
 served in this modest hostelry. It is less than fifty feet from 
 Prinds Oscar Hotel to the King's New Market or New 
 Square — so that we could not well be more centrally situated. 
 I speak of this inn location, because I do not know of any
 
 COPENHAGEN. 301 
 
 greater service that any person could do to me, as a traveller, 
 than to give his conscientious judgment and recommendation 
 with respect to such matters. And I have met so many trav- 
 ellers from America and from England, who have complained 
 of extortionate charges and poor accommodations, at one and 
 the same time and place, while stopping at what were called 
 first-class hotels, that I am induced to make it a frequent 
 practice to commend, in this volume, such reasonable and 
 well-conducted inns as it may be our good fortune to patron- 
 ize. I have already the thanks of one of the authors of one 
 of our most popular guide-books for the trouble I have taken 
 in the way of informing him as to our experience in the par- 
 ticular indicated, along our line of journeying. 
 
 From the King's New Market, thirteen streets take their 
 departure. Immediately in front of the centre of this square, 
 is the great Hotel d^ Angleterre (recently, I believe, renamed 
 de r Europe) — the principal edifice of the kind in this city, 
 and capable of accommodating five hundred guests. In the 
 centre of the Square, and in a small enclosure, — (in an oval 
 space, not more than fifty feet in length by twenty feet at its 
 greatest breadth, surrounded by an iron fence), — is an eques- 
 trian statue of Christian V., cast in lead. It is not an im- 
 pressive figure, and it is not on a sufficient pedestal elevation. 
 On the west side of the square is the palace of Charlottenborg, 
 where the native artists exhibit their paintings, in the months 
 of April and May. 
 
 On the north-west, as you stand before this great hotel, you 
 have a view of a number of old-fashioned Dutch or Flemish 
 houses, — with their long, sharp-sloping and many-story roofs ; 
 the pictures of which, long ago, formed most attractive feat- 
 ures in the books printed for the entertainment of our chil- 
 dren. We recognize at once the fact of the copyings of these 
 structures, that were made in early times in our city of Goth- 
 am and vicinity ; and we note the imitations, with modern 
 architectural improvements, which are to be seen in newly- 
 constructed and in nearly-completed buildings, in the northern 
 portion of our great Atlantic metropolis. These quaint old 
 houses give me a glow of tender recollection and a present 
 satisfaction, which it seems as though every American trav-
 
 302 
 
 NOR THERN E UROPE. 
 
 eller should feel on first sight, and often thereafter vividly 
 recall. 
 
 I believe I can truly say that we omitted, in our visits, no 
 building or point of importance or interest, in Copenhagen, 
 pointed out by Baedecker or Murray or the local guide- 
 book authors. But I can only refer, in these pages, to a very 
 few of the places which I have seen and examined, and, as a 
 rule, I have sought and shall endeavor, with respect to them, 
 to note here only such things as are not spoken of or de- 
 scribed in detail, by the writers whose volumes are convenient 
 to have and to handle in any of our ordinary home or knap- 
 sack libraries. 
 
 But before speaking further descriptively, I will say one 
 thing with respect to the guide-books which the traveller will 
 be inclined to purchase on his arrival in England and before 
 his departure for the Continent. So far as I am able to judge 
 from my stock on hand, they are all written with a conscien- 
 tious endeavor to tell the truth. Even Murray's, which is 
 loaded down with advertisements, — giving a suspicion of par- 
 tiality from that very fact, — can usually be relied upon for 
 correct statements with respect to the accommodations that 
 can be had in different localities, the prices, and the proba- 
 bilities or danger of imposition, etc. But I must repeat, in 
 the interest of justice : Baedecker's is the best. It is more 
 compendious ; it is more accurate. It has mistakes, but 
 they are none of a very serious nature. And I happen to 
 know from mv own communications, that there is an anxious 
 desire, on the part of the publishers, to keep up with the times 
 in their information, and to render their pages as exactly cor- 
 rect as it is possible to make them. I believe there is a scru- 
 pulosity about this — amounting to anxiety — in the Baedecker 
 establishment, which does not exist elsewhere. But even 
 Baedecker did not name the Prinds Oscar Hotel ! He must 
 enlarge his volume by another line. 
 
 One of the most curious sights in Copenhagen, and one that 
 strikes the observer almost on the instant of his arrival, is the 
 tower of the Church of the Redeemer, which rises to the 
 height of 286 feet. It is situated in what is called the Chris- 
 tianshavn quarter, and is a conspicuous object as you near the
 
 COPENHAGEN. 
 
 Z^Z 
 
 ^ RitsTd lrle 
 
 PLAN OF COPENHAGAN.
 
 304 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 harbor ; being discernible, on a clear day, from the Swedish 
 border. The tower is surmounted by a figure of the Re- 
 deemer. By means of a spiral staircase, on the outside, you 
 ascend to the summit. The figure has that appearance which 
 suggests to the visiting children the idea of a watchman con- 
 stantly on the lookout for fire. And 1 should say that, on all 
 accounts^ it was not calculated to inspire reverential ideas, — 
 whether on a distant or a close observation. 
 
 Of course, we visited the museums, and not to mention 
 Thorwaldsen's would be an unpardonable omission. For 
 though it has been described a thousand times, a passing 
 notice must at least be tolerated in this sketching. Taking 
 the descriptions, as I read them from the authors with whose 
 writings it is probable that nearly all my readers are familiar, 
 I should say that such representations belonged to the early 
 years of this edifice. The series of scenes in plaster on the 
 exterior of the building, have been considerably defaced by 
 time and weather ; and, altogether, they present an unpleasing 
 picture. There should be a well-directed appropriation for 
 repairs and retouching. 
 
 Not less than three hours must be devoted to a walk through 
 these corridors and cabinets, so closely lined with sculpture 
 and painting. Taking the amount of labor of love that must 
 have been expended upon these verified products of this 
 master-hand, there is signified such industry as amazes and 
 confomids the beholder. How is it possible that he could 
 have accomplished so much ! And all these but a fraction of 
 the labor of his hands ! 
 
 The galleries are well arranged, in this respect, that after 
 you have passed before all the works of art here exhibited, 
 under the usual leadership or direction, you arrive at the 
 room which contains portraits and busts of the great sculptor, 
 and articles of furniture which were in his household use. 
 You are ready there, indeed, to sit down and gaze upon the 
 features of this wonderful man. And you experience grateful 
 and other delightful emotions when you are permitted to take 
 into your own hand a few of the articles which belonged to 
 his personal outfit, — as one of his watches, some of the pens 
 with which he wrote, the glasses which he wore, and the like.
 
 COP EN HA GEN. 305 
 
 From this scene the natural order of visiting names The 
 Chur-ch of our Lady, where Thorwaldsen's Twelve Apostles are 
 to be seen. 
 
 The Museum of Northern Antiquities contains 40,000 
 specimens of implements, weapons, musical instruments, 
 trinkets, coffins, etc., and their arrangement is better than in 
 the larger institution at Stockholm. 
 
 Between the hours of ten and two you are permitted to 
 ascend the round tower, which is attached to the Church of 
 the Trinity, and which projects into Crystal Street. This 
 tower is 120 feet in height, and is ascended by a brick cause- 
 way, which is fully twelve feet in width. The ascent is very 
 gradual, and carriages could be taken to within eighteen feet of 
 the surmounting cupola. In fact, Catherine of Russia and 
 Peter the Great did " make the trip " with carriage and four 
 horses, in 1716. The grade is about twice as steep as the 
 highest on the Central Pacific Railroad, but the fare — for the 
 privilege of walking up — is no greater than you have to pay 
 for transportation over the same distance on the railway line 
 that is owned and controlled by our great monopolists. In 
 the inner cylinder of this tower were placed the treasures of 
 the University Library, during the English bombardment of 
 1807. From the summit is an excellent and comprehensive 
 view of the city and the vicinity, — the tower being situated 
 very nearly in the centre of the populated district. 
 
 Copenhagen can undoubtedly boast of possessing one of 
 the most attractive amusement gardens in the world— The 
 Tivoli. It is situated on the Vesterbrogade, — just outside of 
 the thickly-populated portion of the town. It is reached by 
 several lines of tramways and omnibuses. Admission is 
 usually 35 ore, or about 9 cents ; but on great occasions, 
 50 ore, or 12^ cents, is the charge for a ticket. 
 
 In this garden there are three music stands, with covered 
 space for listeners; one of these stands being at the end of a 
 very handsomely constructed amphitheatre. There is also a 
 small but beautifully laid-out garden, and a series of conserva- 
 tories. There is a theatre which is an entirely inclosed 
 building. And there is a stage for out-door theatrical per- 
 formances ; that is to say, one of the stages is located at the
 
 3o6 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 foot of a gradually sloping hill, so that an immense audience 
 can gather round in front of it and enjoy a good view of the 
 performance. 
 
 There is a central railed inclosure for tight-rope perform- 
 ances, balloon ascensions, bicycle races, etc. Every after- 
 noon during the summer season, four or five balloon-figures 
 are sent up from this point, — causing extreme delight on the 
 part of the assembled multitudes of children. There is a lake, 
 fully a quarter of a mile in length, in which boat-rides can be 
 had for a nominal sum ; the width of the siu-face of the navigable 
 water varying from twenty to thirty feet. There is also a 
 meny-go-roimd for children ; the tossing ships on which are 
 moved by steam, to the usual accompaniment of an execrable 
 hand-organ. There is no charge for the enjoyment of this 
 ti'ip, and the crowds of boys and girls that are put in line 
 under the courteous and very cautious and watchful superin- 
 tendence of the officers of the garden, — waiting in turn for 
 the privilege of a ride, — are worth the price of admission to 
 see. Here, also, is the original lightning-grade, dash-around 
 railroad, — now so extensively copied in the United States. 
 There are over 4500 gas-lights, circled with various-colored 
 globes, in and upon the buildings, and around and over the 
 arches at the Tivoli Gardens. When the illumination is 
 entire, the effect, as may well be imagined, is very beautiful. 
 On the second night after our arrival, and on tlie occasion of 
 a benefit for some charitable establishment, there was such 
 an illumination, with befitting accompaniments of perrorm- 
 ances. All the music stands were occupied, both theatres 
 were running, and balloons and fireworks were sent up from 
 the central platfomi. It was a scene of enchantment. The 
 long, winding lake bore upon its breast a tliousand lamps, 
 and at every prominent point, and at many unexpected turns 
 for observation in the grounds, revolving lights, with most 
 brilliant playing-glass and phosphorescent effects, were dis- 
 played. The music, on this occasion, to which we listened, 
 Avas not only exquisite in point of execution, but was well 
 calculated to mingle with our other sentiments the thought 
 and love of home. For, again, the old familiar tunes, — made 
 familiar by the frequent operatic representations to which we
 
 COPENHAGEN. 307 
 
 have neretofore alluded, — were interspersed with the classical 
 pieces that found most favor in this cultivated community ; 
 and at the open-air theatre we witnessed the performance of 
 athletes whom we remembered as contributing towards the 
 entertainments in our own California theatres several years 
 ago. 
 
 The colossal gold-bronze statue of Hans Christian Ander- 
 sen — the incomparable fairy-story teller— is surrounded all 
 day by groups of admiring women and children. 
 
 In one of our evening walks we passed through the ancient 
 gate which was constructed in 1664, and visited the barracks 
 tliat are situated just outside. Here, in Denmark, in a nation 
 of 2,000,000 of people, there are 65,000 soldiers, — many 
 thousands more than are required for the maintenance of 
 peace and good order in the United States of America. 
 Here are barracks and other buildings connected with the 
 great military establishment, which in the point of accommo- 
 dation for numbers and magnitude of warehouse room, 
 probably equal all the facilities possessed by our nation at 
 the largest rendezvous. 
 
 And here were companies of soldiers, in a hollow square, 
 listening to the catechising questions, and the oft-repeated 
 instructions of a petty officer. We stood and listened. It 
 chanced that we heard the fundamental inquiry : — " What is 
 the first duty of a soldier ? " And then the questioning went 
 on, as to the extreme to which obedience must go : — to the put- 
 ting of one's hand into fire, at the command of an officer, etc., _ 
 etc. The "Yah, yah" of the officer, with which he greeted a 
 correct or satisfactory reply, sounded very coarse and harsh, 
 as compared with the softer pronunciation of the same word 
 by our Swedish friends. But somebody said there was a 
 military hoarseness which was appropriate to the occasion. 
 
 We tried to look into a long hall v/here fifty men, with wire 
 gauze head-coverings, were engaged in bayonet and sword 
 practice ; but were politely warned off from the sidewalk ad- 
 jacent to the door of this building, by a little unarmed senti- 
 nel. We apologized : and he said that he was sorry, very 
 sorry, but he had his orders. \\'e said that we were grateful 
 to him for his courtesy, and thankful that we were not made
 
 3o8 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 the objects of any warlike demonstration, on account of our 
 intrusion. He said :— " Not at all ; only too glad ; but don't 
 come again," 
 
 Here we first see, and have the pleasure of riding in the 
 two-story omnibuses which, we are told, are to be found in all 
 the other cities on the Continent. And it naturally enough 
 sets us to wondering why similar accommodations are not 
 provided on the horse-car lines through the level streets of 
 New York and San Francisco? For really, in anything like 
 pleasant weather, the upper seats are preferable ; although in 
 Copenhagen there is an extra charge for riding below. 
 
 The postal arrangements of Copenhagen need a little ref- 
 ormation. Here there is one set of wall chests for the recep- 
 tion of letters destined for the city, and another for country 
 and foreign despatch ; and every stranger is almost sure to 
 make a mistake, — which is apt to be fatal to the entrusted 
 correspondence, in the selection or application of his stamps, 
 and the depositing of some of his letters. It is difficult to 
 understand why, in a city that is frequented by so many visi- 
 tors, who are entirely ignorant of the language, or understand 
 it but imperfectly, this miserable and ridiculous distinction in 
 boxes should be made. If you put a local or city stamp upon 
 a letter, it is not sent out of the kingdom. And if you put a 
 sufficiently and properly stamped letter addressed to a person 
 without the kingdom, in one of the local boxes, it is almost 
 certain that it will be delayed twent}^-four hours. But here, 
 as elsewhere, throughout the civilized globe, save on our 
 North American Continent, you can send a twenty-word tele- 
 graphic dispatch from one end of the nation to the other for 
 25 cents. 
 
 We realize that we are approaching English and American 
 borders when we enter a barber's shop. There is less divi- 
 sion of the duties of the attendants ; and here and there we 
 observe on the signs of the hair-cutting establishments a no- 
 tice that some one within speaks the English language, and 
 can attend to patrons on the English or American plan. The 
 great business street of this city is known as Oster Street, and 
 some of the shops are very large and elegant. There is a 
 larger proportion of clerks of the masculine gender than in
 
 COPENHAGEN. 
 
 309 
 
 the Swedish establishments of a similar character. And in 
 the city and vicinity we also remarked the fact that there is 
 less labor, proportionately, performed by women in the shops 
 and in the streets and in the fields, than in the more northern 
 cities. We are also reminded of our separation from our 
 Swedish friends and their jurisdiction, by the difference in 
 the cooking, and more especially by the difference, on the 
 downward road, between the bread and the coffee that was 
 and that is. 
 
 Most of the steeples and towers in Copenhagen, and many 
 of the roofs of private edifices, are covered with copper, and 
 when they are viewed from any eminence, they present a 
 striking and curious contrast with the adjacent rows of vari- 
 colored tiles. 
 
 Copenhagen is situated at such a low level that it is very 
 evident that naturally it would be subjected to epidemics on 
 account of lack of sewerage, if the greatest care was not taken 
 to clean out the rubbish and the refuse. During all the morn- 
 ing hours the great rattle of the dust-man, as he makes his 
 way through the streets, seems, to the stranger, to come from 
 every direction, and it is interesting to note the scrupulous 
 care with which the police regulations respecting cleanliness 
 are observed. Every particle of paper, as well as every scrap 
 of dirt in the literal sense, that can be gathered from the 
 pavements without, or the yard-floors within, is put into a bas- 
 ket or barrel, by the landlord or tenant, and set on the curb- 
 stone — so soon as, and not before the cart of the clattering 
 scavengers arrives at the line of a given block. 
 
 There are no less than 9,000 vessels entering and passing 
 out from the harbor during the year 1884. Steamers of 2,000 
 tons burden and upward run regularly hence to London. 
 There is direct steam connection with every large Swedish, 
 Norwegian, German, Belgian, and British seaport. Evidence 
 is given on every hand of prosperity in fair degree, for mer- 
 chant and mechanic and laborer ; and the people here have 
 all the appearance of contentedness which we observed in 
 the capital of Sweden. Here there is fully as much general 
 interest expressed to learn the condition of affairs in America, 
 but not in one case out of ten do we find among our new-
 
 3IO NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 made acquaintances a disposition or thought of emigrating to 
 the United States. In this respect there is indeed a marked 
 difference from the prevaihng sentiment and desire on the 
 other side of the Sound. 
 
 Yesterday morning we observed a large crowd collected in 
 front of the Hotel D'Angleterre, and although that point was 
 on our line of regular promenade, we made haste to learn 
 what attracted such a multitude. We arrived at the front of 
 the court-yard gate in time to see the Princess of \N'ales, 
 seated beside her brother in an open carriage. She was 
 greeted by a general hat-doffing and occasional bows from 
 those who may be presumed to have had some personal 
 acquaintance with some distant relative of hers, but there 
 was no cheering. She was dressed in an olive-green suit, 
 with a flat-backed bonnet that ran up to a point in a mitre 
 shape. She bowed graciously on either hand, as her team 
 was driven through the lines of the waiting populace, along 
 the centre of the Square, and thence down the Bredgade to 
 the military headquarters. 
 
 We heard that there was to be a family gathering of the 
 children and other near relatives of the Danish Monarch, 
 within a few days, and that the Princess of Wales was here, 
 in advance of all other royal comers, as an elder child should 
 be, to officiate as one of the royal home-welcoming party. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 FROM COPENHAGEN TO STETTIN. 
 
 In the little steamer Ujfo., at three o'clock in the afternoon, 
 we take our departure from Copenhagen for Stettin ; leaving at 
 a wharf about 400 feet north of the landing-i^lace for the Malmo 
 Steamers. Our vessel is between 40 and 50 tons burden, and 
 its arrangement so suggests the space-economy of the canal- 
 boats of Sweden, that we are not surprised to learn that its 
 regular trip is from Gothenberg to the German coast, touch- 
 ing at the capital of Denmark. The accommodations are
 
 FROM COPENHAGEN TO STETTIN. 311 
 
 excellent, and the fare for first-class passage is about a cent 
 a mile. 
 
 The steamer moves up and out of the little narrow strait 
 which divides the mainland from the island of Amager, and 
 swinging round the lighthouse, gradually heads down towards 
 the lower end of the Baltic Sea, getting fairly out into the 
 tossing billows at about nine o'clock in the evening. 
 
 The objective point, as we are informed, is Cape Arcona, 
 which is to be sighted at one o'clock in the morning. "Will 
 we sit up and watch for the lighthouse ? " The officer would 
 be much pleased to have our company. We will not sit up. 
 The waves already lift and fall in a most exasperating and 
 withal prophetic manner. We will take a recumbent posi- 
 tion, and we are glad that the liveliest portion of this trip is 
 made in the night season. 
 
 'i^he Stewardess wishes to know if we will change from the 
 cabin assigned to us, and take the largest one, in company 
 with a number of children who are going on a school excur- 
 sion trip ? We are glad to agree to this proposition ; for by 
 this new location we obtain a great deal of valuable informa- 
 tion with regard to localities, etc., from the free chat of the 
 little ones. And this is to be noted : During the school 
 vacations every school child is entitled to ride free upon all 
 public conveyances in Denmark, going into or out of the 
 Capital, or going short distances out of the Kingdom. 
 
 At four o'clock in the morning we were aroused by the 
 sudden stopping of the machinery, and, looking out of the 
 cabin window, we saw on our left a tall lighthouse surmounted 
 by a fixed and brilliantly scarlet light, situated near the end 
 of a long narrow peninsula. On the other side, as we soon 
 discovered, was an island on which was located an Arsenal 
 and a custom house, and adjacent thereto a town of consid- 
 erable size. Slowly the little steamer pushed its nose up the 
 contracted and shallow channel. We are navigating Swine 
 Strait ; and there is a desperate attempt on the part of some 
 of our fellow passengers to be witty or, as they perchance 
 imagine, aggravating, by indulging in the audible suggestion 
 — in proximity to our party — that no American pork can 
 come through this channel. We stopped about midway in
 
 3^2 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 this strait, which lies between the Baltic and Kleines Grosses 
 Hoff, — at the frontier District Capital that bears the name of 
 Svvinemiinde. 
 
 Here were a number of custom-house officers in waiting — 
 seven or eight in all ; and of this number we took at least 
 four distinguished looking personages on board. They wore 
 tall caps, with three red tape lines round about them, about 
 equi-distant on an entire ascent of five or six inches. Their 
 dress otherwise had what appeared to us a Polish cut ; their 
 coats being long, and flowing from the waist. When we 
 inquired of some of our new-made German acquaintances, 
 why so large a representation of the German custom-house 
 force took their place on our little deck and really incon- 
 venienced us by their presence, we were jocosely told that 
 the Kaiser had grown suspicious of American visitors since 
 the disclosure of the dynamite plots in London. Thereupon 
 we acquiesced in the reasonableness of this apprehension, 
 and I noticed that some of our company assumed a very 
 grave and important, not to say a mischievous, air when they 
 chanced to come face to face with one of the outlying mes- 
 sengers of the Berlin Government. 
 
 From this capital of Usedom the vessel turned to the left, 
 and soon entered what we should have supposed to be an 
 artificial water-way if we had not been explicitly told to the 
 contrary. On this point of our passage we met a large num- 
 ber of boats capable of carrying a full half ton, which were 
 loaded with vegetables, and which were rowed entirely by 
 women. Sometimes there were as many as twelve oars to 
 the boat. 
 
 Now, on our right there are a number of cultivated forests, 
 as they are called — wood growths from saplings that have 
 been regularly planted on the low levels where there were 
 never forests before. It is said that in fifteen years from 
 transplanting date, these trees are of sufficient magnitude to 
 answer the purposes to which they will be appropriated. 
 When we expressed doubt as to this alleged rapid maturing, 
 we were told by one of the tide-waiters, to wait and see ! (No 
 heavy German about him ; on the contrary, quite sprightly.) 
 
 Near the mouth of this strait, a great work of dredging and
 
 FROM COPENHAGEN TO STETTIN. 313 
 
 break-water construction is going on ; and our boat arrives 
 at this point just in time to afford us a sight of a small army 
 of laborers in procession on the line of the embankments — 
 marching to the places where their fourteen hours of labor is 
 to be applied, ^\'e remarked that there appeared to be very 
 little sociability among these workmen; but we were told 
 that the principal cause for this, probably, was the fact that 
 they were recently brought together, and had not as yet had 
 sufficient time to make intimate acquaintance. 
 
 It takes two hours to cross the little inland sea known as 
 Grasses Hoff and reach the town of Pollitz. Thence it is 
 half-an-hour's ride to the city of Stettin. On our route along 
 the Oder, as we proceeded from Pollitz, v/e passed, to our 
 right, four or five beer gardens, neatly and tastefully laid out 
 and arranged, whose proprietors obviously enjoyed a large 
 patronage. A great number of servants were at work clean- 
 ing up the grounds, washing the tables, etc., indicating in 
 each instance that there was a big attendance of patrons on 
 the previous evening. 
 
 We met four small passenger excursion boats of peculiar 
 pattern, heavily loaded down with passengers. These boats 
 were about sixty feet in length by twelve or fifteen feet in 
 width, having a double deck with an awning stretched over 
 the upper floor. The locomotion is by a screw, but the 
 speed is not near so rapid as that of the little lake cutters of 
 Stockholm. They do have, in fact, the appearance of old- 
 fashioned stage-coaches put into ship-shape, — as you might 
 say. All the little children on board the Uffo joined at once 
 in a chorus of exclamations of delight, when these small puff- 
 ing boats came in sight and passed us by. One of the little 
 girls on board forcibly suggested the idea of toy-construc- 
 tion, by expressing the wish that she had one of these little 
 vessels for her own special amusement. Here, also, we met 
 scores of long canoe-shaped coal-boats, over one hundred 
 feet in length, with bows reaching up from fifteen to twenty 
 feet. 
 
 The landing at Stettin very much reminds one of his dis- 
 embarking at Copenhagen ; and there is the same good- 
 natured pretence of custom-house inspection. This latter
 
 ,14 NORTHERN' EUROPE. 
 
 surprises us. After a custodianship, lasting four or five 
 hours — under tlie immediate inspection of four or five tall 
 and stalwart custom-bouse officers from the coast— is this the 
 frivolous pretense of an examination which our luggage must 
 undergo ? While we had not been wholly deceived by the 
 remarks of our German friends, which we have before quoted, 
 while in point of fact we took them in proper jocose phase 
 and interest, as already indicated, we were led to expect from 
 our personal surrounding, that here there was to be a sifting 
 of our little luggage, fore and aft — in obedience to a general 
 rule of authority and caution. We saw but one trunk opened ; 
 and as to that the owner had loudly "declared" that he had 
 a box of fragrant Havannas. The case he confessed was 
 conspicuously placed in the top frame, but the officers chose 
 to dive a little deeper ; and they brought up four or five 
 packages of the dutiable article— much to the amazement of 
 the candid gentleman from Verona. It is strange how petty* 
 smuggling everywhere seems to prevail most in the tobacco 
 line. 
 
 Stettin is the Capital of the Province of Pomerania. The 
 governor's build'ing is a new and elegant structure, from the 
 windows of which there is a magnificent view over the water 
 and the plains which surround the city. The population is 
 reported to be 81,000 ; but here, as at Gothenberg, we are at 
 a loss to understand how so great a number of inhabitants 
 can find a comfortable domicile within such a limited builded 
 district. We are told that there is no crowding, and that the 
 French system of residing in flats, which is here largely 
 adopted, enables a very great number of people to live, with 
 ample elbow-room, in one tall edifice. 
 
 The Province of which Stettin is the capital at one time 
 belonged to Sweden, and it has given its name to a pungent 
 appetizing drink which is to be found on every " Smorgas- 
 bord " in Scandinavia ; although, in point of fact, the liquor 
 is no longer manufactured in this district for exportation to 
 Sweden and Denmark. 
 
 Here there are a large number of manufacturing establish- 
 ments, including great beet-sugar refining houses. There is 
 some ship-building and sewing-machine manufacturing, and
 
 FROM COPENHAGEN TO S'lETTIN. 
 
 3^5 
 
 KX^.
 
 3i6 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 there is now and then an unmistakable flavor of chemical 
 laboratories, as we pass along the suburbs on the headlands. 
 At several turns made by our coachman, we were brought 
 upon eminences which afforded us excellent views of the sur- 
 rounding country, and so presented the landscape as to make 
 it at first glance appear an entirely new picture : — appearing 
 as if it did not embrace many or any of the features which 
 belonged to the preceding view, — although, of course, in point 
 of fact, it must have done so. 
 
 XXV. 
 A GLANCE AT BERLIN. 
 
 From Stettin to Berlin is a distance of eighty-three miles, 
 which the express trains run in two hours and a half. The 
 fare is ten marks, or a little under three dollars. The accom- 
 modations for this money are in all respects equal to, and in 
 some particulars better than that furnished by. our poor Cen- 
 tral Pacific Railroad proprietors, who have been charging as 
 much as seven cents per mile for inferior facilities. 
 
 We were fortunate enough to have for our companion, in this 
 passage to Berlin, the daughter of a Chief Councillor and ex- 
 officio Keeper of the Royal Garden at Potsdam. She was a 
 young lady, about twenty years Of age, and gave evidence of 
 great culture and refinement. She spoke four different lan- 
 guages, exclusive of English, which, she said, she was only just 
 beginning to learn. But we found that she knew more of our 
 own native vernacular than the great majority of those in this 
 nation who profess to be proficient in the use of the English 
 tongue. Our lady friend was very glad to meet us, and gave 
 us a cordial invitation to visit the Royal Gardens at Potsdam. 
 While we were hunting in the gmde-book for a map of the 
 route between the two cities that we were spanning, she drew 
 our attention to a card that is placed in every compartment 
 on the German railways (a most excellent idea) on which the 
 route— together with the names of the important stations— is 
 indicated.
 
 A GLANCE AT BERLIN. 317 
 
 There are nine railway stations in this city of 1,200,000 
 inhabitants, but at each one of them there are the same regu- 
 lations with respect to city transportation. And, while we 
 may regret that there is not a central house, and may boast of 
 our great New York and Chicago depots, where many railway 
 companies unite in side-tracking their trains, we ought to rec- 
 ommend the method by which' the traveler is introduced here 
 to his particular cab-driver. There is what is called a con- 
 troUeur, at the main door of every railroad station, who gives 
 the newly arrived passenger a metal ticket with the number of 
 a cab upon it ; the kind of vehicle, whether first-class or sec- 
 ond-class, or luggage-cab, being first inquired about and des- 
 ignated. Then the passenger selects a porter, who takes your 
 ticket and your baggage checks, and "consigns you alto- 
 gether " to your proper vehicle. The ticket is not given to 
 the driver until the seats are occupied. There is, of course, 
 a specified rate of fare for cab transportation ; and this is not 
 only conspicuously posted up, but you are told by the station 
 porter what your fare will be. \\'hen you arrive at your 
 hotel the portier there inquires as to what station you 
 come from ; and again you are informed how much you ought 
 to pay. , 
 
 The Kaiserhoff, at which we stayed during our sojourn in 
 Berlin, is a large building of nearly, if not fully, the size, in 
 ground dimensions, of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco — 'a 
 standard building for measurement and comparison, it will be 
 perceived .?) — lacking, however, one story in height, in com- 
 parison with our great San Francisco tavern. It occupies one 
 entire block and is supplied with all modern conveniences, 
 including a " lift," or, as we would call it, an elevator, which 
 runs up and down semi-occasionally at the rate of about two 
 miles an hour. 
 
 The rooms which look into a covered court, on the ground 
 of which a line of restaurant tables is set, should be avoided, 
 as Baedecker suggests, by travelers, who desire to do any 
 substantial sleeping during their stay ; for the clatter of the 
 platters, rising with increasing volume of reverberating echo, is 
 worse, as a disturbing racket, than than would be the ham- 
 mering of a closely adjacent boiler factory. As we were
 
 3^8 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 located in outer apartments, I speak of this matter only as 
 something brought to my commiserating attention. 
 
 Here you pay five or eight marks for rooms of a descrip- 
 tion, in location and furnishing, equal to those that you would 
 be required to pay fully twice as much for in New York, or in 
 any other one of the principal cities on our American border. 
 
 Here, as at every other large hotel in this Capital, there is 
 a porticr and a set of waiters who profess to be able to speak 
 fluently in the English tongue. They have, as a rule, 
 
 ac- 
 
 KAISERHOFF, BERLIN. 
 
 quired the smattering of our language, which they possess, by 
 virtue of a few months' sojourn in Great Britain — having been 
 domiciled there for such a length of time, as servants in some 
 gentleman's establishment. In their anxiety to get the extra 
 wages given to English-speaking attendants on the Continent, 
 they take their departure from the British Isles at much too' 
 early a date. It is not only because their stock of words is 
 limited, that we complain — not so much that ; but they possess 
 that sort of education which enables them, in four instances 
 out of five, to absolutely misinform and misdirect. Some of
 
 A GLANCE A T BERLIN. 
 
 ^"^9 
 
 them are shrewd enough to impose considerably upon a good- 
 natured EngHsh patron, and more especially upon the pro- 
 verbially amiable American traveller, by cross-examining him, 
 on every available occasion, with respect to the meaning of 
 this or that word, concerning which some dispute naturally 
 arises. The amount of gratuitous instruction which I have 
 given to some of these flunkeys would aggregate a whole 
 series of conscientious lessons in short-hand; and I have been 
 casting about in despair to know how I am to get even with 
 the German nation on account of this enforced pedagogic 
 labor. 
 
 No more patronage for a Berlin shop by any of our little 
 company, when there is a staring sign in the window that 
 says, " English spoken here." Talk about English and Amer- 
 ican pretenders, who assert that they possess a fair degree of 
 acquaintance with the German tongue ! There is no sufficient 
 ground for comparison with the frauds who will stand behind 
 the counter in the capital city of the Kaiser and deliberately 
 and audaciously shout " Yah, yah !" when you meekly inquire 
 if English is spoken in this particular establishment. I will 
 give one fair lady shopkeeper the credit which is due to her 
 for her reply in German, when this question was put to her in 
 English by a stranger from Yankee-land, " Is English spoken 
 here ? " '• Yah." " By whom is it spoken here t " " Princi- 
 pally by strangers." 
 
 Well, Berlin is a beautiful city ; with most of the streets 
 laid out at right angles — so suggestive of most of the great 
 cities in our dear land — and with most of the buildings on 
 the principal highways of modern construction, with elegant 
 fronts and in every way pleasing interiors. There is no 
 institution or point of interest designated by the Guide 
 Manuals, as located in Berlin, which is not well worth the 
 seeing and the examination. It is not so elsewhere ; we 
 should have said quite to the contrary with respect to all 
 other cities ; and we would advise consultation with local 
 guides before you map out your city's trips in many other 
 places. But here the galleries and the museums and the 
 monuments appear to us to be better than they are described 
 in the letter-press of our chosen companions.
 
 320 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 Only in one thing were we disappointed, and that was with 
 respect to the Linden Avenue. If you carefully examine the 
 measurements given in the guide-books of travel, of course 
 you will be informed as to the length and width ; but the 
 general impression that Americans have as to the size and 
 beauty of this avenue and its adornment at either end, con- 
 siderably exceeds what you will realize on absolute personal 
 observation. 
 
 One of the great sights of Berlin, certainly, is a beer gar- 
 den on a holiday or at twilight, or at any time, during fair 
 weather — in "the season" — in the evening hours from six to 
 twelve. Such immense crowds of good-natured, and withal, 
 industrious people ! Here \s pater famiiias, with his book or 
 his paper, and, of course, with his pipe and his mug. And 
 here is mother and grandmother and little children, all 
 nimbly at work knitting or crocheting or embroidering. 
 What a race of working people ! And how orderly ! What 
 excellent deportment ! Why, there is rarely any loud talk- 
 ing, even in the sense of noisiness ; and not a sign of intoxi- 
 cation did we see in Berlin during our sojourn. 
 
 The great Blondin is advertised to walk the rope at the 
 New World Promenade Grounds. We are in attendance. 
 The great Blondin himself stands near the outer gate and 
 distributes the programmes ; answering the inquiry as to the 
 price by "What you will; what you will!" The great Blon- 
 din ascends to his lofty^ perch precisely at the appointed hour ; 
 the beginning of his ride up the inclined rope on his saddled 
 eagle being announced by the sound of a cannon. There is 
 but one Blondin ! All others are wretched imitators. jNIay 
 he "walk his chalk" — as a German advertisement wittily 
 expresses it— for another decade! for we shall not see his 
 like again. 
 
 Here, at the New World Garden, is a locomotive, driven 
 by an electrical engine, and the patronage that is given to the 
 cars on this little circular tramway, on every trip, is lucrative 
 to the last possibility of a foothold. 
 
 Of course you meet soldiers at every corner. They are, to 
 our American judgment and disposition, altogether too plen- 
 tiful. They suggest the great unrest of Europe. They com-
 
 A GLANCE AT BERLIN. 321 
 
 pel us to wonder where the civilians will be when another 
 half million is added to the standing army — as is already 
 proposed. But the uniforms are very handsome ; and they 
 who wear them are very courteous. Generally they are veiy 
 good-looking and in every merely personal respect pleasant to 
 behold — these soldiers of Germany. But it is a heart-felt 
 expression of gratitude, when we detect ourselves thanking 
 God that we live in a nation of fifty millions of people which 
 does not need to put a large minority of the population in 
 permanent military training quarters. 
 
 The office of the American Minister is directly opposite 
 The Kaiserhoff. He is not "in residence" at the date of 
 our visit — being reported to callers as sojourning in Paris. 
 His suite of rooms, for business purposes, is appropriately 
 and elegantly furnished, and his secretaries exceedingly 
 courteous and obliging. We learn that Bayard Taylor was 
 thoroughly appreciated as a master narrator of travels and a 
 charming poet, by the literati at the German capital ; but in 
 general popularity it appeared that he had no advantage or 
 precedence over Mr. Sargeant. However much the latter 
 may have provoked the official displeasure of Prince Bismarck, 
 it was evident that he \, .s held in high personal esteem 
 by all with whom he here came into political or social 
 relations. 
 
 Just before reaching Unter de Linden — with which my 
 readers will be presumed to have a general knowledge— the 
 great historic Frederick street suddenly takes a switch-angle 
 to the north through one block of three hundred feet; having 
 a glass roof over the enclosed side street, which is about 
 twenty feet wide, and which is called the Kaiser Gallarie. 
 The shops on either side are mostly small, largely devoted to 
 the sale of porcelain and bronze articles and furnishing 
 goods. In the matter of the line of brass and bronze pieces 
 for use and ornament the artisans of Berlin and vicinity con- 
 fessedly surpass all others. Here and at the Architects' 
 Union, in Wilhelm street, one may profitably, and in a con- 
 dition of entrancement spend hours, as did we, in looking at 
 the utensils, furniture, ornaments, and toys of the unrivalled 
 German moulders, carvers and glass-stainers. We tried the
 
 322 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 famous coffee which is dealt out in deep glasses. No ! it 
 will not bear comparison with the one supreme consumma- 
 tion of Scandinavia. Of course it is infinitely preferable to 
 what many London inn and lunch-room keepers audaciously 
 — I was going to say atrociously — call by that name ; but 
 " Weiner " restaurants in America give their customers a 
 vastly superior decoction than is here dispensed. Perhaps 
 you will be inclined by this time, dear reader, to suspect that 
 I am or have become a "coffeemaniast." Not so, I do pro- 
 test. This matter only came to my attention, and was 
 emphasized upon my notice, in the common course of events. 
 I do declare, that on this I write /w bono. 
 
 The Weiner establishment is entitled to the word "grand" 
 — which is prefixed to it on sign-board and guide-book. 
 The fittings up outside and the fittings out inside are resplen- 
 dent with mirrors and gilt and plush, and massive with mar- 
 ble. It is another sight to see — an Aladdin's palace at the 
 head of the Linden avenue side of the street-divided block. 
 Railed off from the pathway, but in an open space, with 
 tables set closely, is room for a hundred persons. I have seen 
 nearly that number taking refreshments there at one time. 
 Within, there appears to be space duly appropriated and set 
 apart on the second floor for twice that number of guests. 
 In the pleasant season many stand without — promenading, 
 perhaps, a little in front of the establishment — where they 
 wait ready to take the first vacancy in the line of seats or 
 tables. 
 
 Another attractive resort under the archway near the great 
 avenue is the wax-works exhibition, or panopticum. Not so 
 large a stock as Madame Taussaud & Sons, of Baker street, 
 London, but in some respects a better entertainment — so to 
 call it. The rooms are most conveniently arranged, and the 
 " effects " are heightened by methods that are novel and 
 fully as ingenious as any to be seen at the admittedly greater 
 collection in England. A series of halls or galleries, with 
 small, intervening rooms or vestibules, have been converted 
 into exhibition walks ; and it is a process of initiation that 
 would be sufficiently vivid for an ancient Knight Tem])lar, 
 that is experienced in passing unwarned along the prescribed
 
 A GLANCE AT BERLIN. 323 
 
 visitors' route, from door to door. Let me mention a few 
 "items," as you may overhear them called by one of the 
 attendants. 
 
 A soldier lies on an ambulance near the entrance. He is 
 supposed to represent a dying Zouave. As you approach 
 him you note his breathing, and mark the spot where the 
 fatal bullet is supposed to have entered his breast. This is 
 nothing more than you'might have expected ; but as you gaze 
 on him he opens his eyes and turns them full upon you. 
 This you had not seen before, and perhaps this may give you 
 a little twinge of — well, of sympathetic emotion. But pres- 
 ently, as you move up by his side, he raises one of his hands 
 in a feeble, uncertain way, and apparently tries to place it in 
 one of your hands or on your person. By this time, in all 
 ordinary human probabilit}'^, you have seen enough of this 
 life-like mockery. 
 
 You start to go up-stairs. Your wife, perchance, notices — 
 for no man would be apt to notice anything of the kind, par- 
 ticularly — that a lady leans over the banister and nods and 
 smiles afrher. She is apt to imagine — your wife is — that it 
 is an attendant, who is appropriately stationed at this particu- 
 lar point to welcome strangers and indicate in what direction 
 they are to turn when they shall have mounted the flight of 
 steps. I observed several persons returning this wax-lady's 
 most courteous and most natural (not overacted) salutations. 
 Then a number of people unwittingly or unconsciously 
 contributed to this delusion by posting themselves at the 
 landing above, or rather alongside of the show attendant, and 
 smiling down upon the up-coming multitude in expectation 
 of (or at least in the witnessing of) new victims. It is good 
 — very, very good. 
 
 There is one chamber in which is represented an ancient 
 tap-room of three centuries ago. Three men are playing at 
 a game, and the oldest of the trio, who nearly faces you as 
 you enter a distant door, has a peculiar way of nodding his 
 head, half in meditation and half in negation, which is exqui- 
 sitely true to life. 
 
 Here are two scolds, put in pillory, face to face, with hands 
 locked in almost touching distance, with such devilish ma-
 
 324 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 lignancy depicted on each countenance that it is no wonder 
 a youthful visitor cries out in the shock of the first glance 
 and just as they are made to rattle their wrist-holders : 
 " Mamma, they are going to spit at each other." 
 
 You approach the fourth or fifth hall or gallery, far within 
 which you think you can see some unmistakable human bazaar 
 sales-women standing behind a show-case. You are attracted 
 and beguiled by this picture until you come close to the 
 threshold, when an old gentleman sitting near by the jamb, 
 points with his thumb over his shoulder, directing you to 
 enter the apartment referred to. 
 by audibly thanking him, and in 
 as if you could knock the stuffing 
 impostor. Still, 
 in San 
 
 manners 
 you feel 
 
 meetmgs 
 
 You show your 
 a moment's flash 
 out of the bald-headed old 
 I have seen worse on platforms at public 
 Francisco. Then, as you look up — having 
 advanced a few paces — you observe a young lady, all radiant 
 with smiles, nodding at you. You return her agreeable 
 expression of countenance ; you smile back at the artful piece 
 of mechanism with an "Excuse me — not this time" sort of 
 complacent sentiment ; when lo ! this loving, lovely damsel 
 approaches and desires to sell you a gold pen (made of brass) 
 for " less than you could make one of the same kind your- 
 self." All this while you are getting your money's worth. 
 
 You begin to be suspicious of everything and everybody, 
 and you have a right to be. The handle of a weapon which 
 you are by express word of notice allowed to touch — an old- 
 fashioned battle-axe — suddenly turns in your grasp. A set 
 of armor of striking pattern, at which you have been gazing 
 for half a minute or so, wondering if you knew anybody large 
 enough to fill it, suddenly is occupied ; and the eyes of a 
 diabolical Saracen are glaring at you from under the visor. 
 An old lady sitting in a low chair, on being too closely ap- 
 proached, quickly drops the knitting Avhich she had been 
 intently examining and stares at you with a look of amaze- 
 ment and almost reproof. 
 
 Things get to be uncomfortable before you have gone half 
 the rounds or inspected the chambers of horrors at all ; and 
 as for the scenes in the prison and on torture-beds, murderer's 
 gallows and beheading-block line, why, having made up your
 
 A GLANCE AT BERLIN. 325 
 
 mind (as you 'thought you had at the outset — but you had 
 not), that they are all ancient relics or masked straw and 
 sawdust, with a little machinery connected with the floor or 
 railing, you rather enjoy them, or give your personal attention 
 considerately to other people who, viewing these extra tragedy 
 scenes immediately on their entrance upon the upper floor — 
 without your experience — seriously shudder and exclaim : 
 "This makes me nervous," "This is frightful ! " 
 
 The Old Museum, the New Museum, and the National 
 Gallery, with all their sub-divisions, offer and comprise attrac- 
 tions which alone call for a sojourn extending through many 
 days ; and a week of admission-time in them barely suffices 
 for either a satisfactory glance, or one that may be called 
 creditable on any traveller's printed record. Let me mention 
 at least the Mural Paintings by Kaulbach, on the walls of the 
 New Museum, by the side of the splendid staircase, in the 
 middle of the building. You are advised by the catalogue 
 that " these six paintings represent so many of the most im- 
 portant epochs in the history of mankind." They are respect- 
 ively named: first, "The Fall of Babel;" second, "The 
 Prosperity of Greece ; " third, " The Destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem by Titus;" fourth, "The Battle of the Huns;" fifth, 
 "The Crusaders before Jerusalem ;" sixth, "The Age of the 
 Reformation." The first picture has King Nimrod for the 
 central personage, surrounded by the children of Shem, Ham, 
 and Japheth. In the second picture. Homer is represented 
 singing to the children of Greece. In the " Destruction of 
 Jerusalem," a high-priest is represented as killing himself 
 and family, while Ahasuerus, the "Wandering Jew," is 
 escaping. A Christian family is also seen in flight. " The 
 Battle of the Huns " represents a desperate struggle ; the 
 malignancy of the combatants being such that during the 
 night the slain rose and fought in the air. The portrayal of 
 this legend is exceedingly vivid ; and you lose your first feel- 
 ing — that it is absurd — in the interest and excitement which 
 the picture engenders. The painting of " The Crusaders " 
 represents Godfrey de Bouillon offering the Crown of Jerusa- 
 lem to our Saviour. The name of the principal figure is 
 of course sufficient to arouse great expectations, and you are
 
 326 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 never disappointed. A large number of amateur artists are 
 engaged in copying this magnificent painting. The colors 
 are more than you are promised, or than your imagination 
 would anticipate from the reading of the official guide-book. 
 
 Again I say : if never before, economize your time by a 
 thorough preliminaiy reading about what there is to be seen. 
 I have heard bitter regrets expressed because of a failure to 
 do the wise thing in this particular with respect to the " sights " 
 in such a city as Berlin. It is a great metropolis, and, like 
 London and Paris, can only be "visited" in so short a space 
 as ten days or a fortnight, with any satisfaction to the studious 
 traveller, after special preparation and selection made imme- 
 diately prior to reaching the place. If this counsel hits and 
 controls any one who comes after me on this trip, there will 
 be remembrance and thanksgiving in my behalf. 
 
 When you consider that tliere are four public libraries, six 
 palaces, nine large picture-galleries, thirteen museums, sixteen 
 theatres, a score of large gardens, over fifty churches with at- 
 tractive interiors — to all of which your attention is particularly 
 invited — you can gather some faint idea of the work in hand 
 for the intelligent and ambitious tourist. And this, of course, 
 is leaving out a long catalogue of ^attractions, well worth the 
 time and labor of a visit. 
 
 The Post-office is admirably arranged. (The office of the 
 Chief Postmaster-General, and the Post-office Museum, are 
 situated some distance from the central public delivery, and 
 many travellers fail to visit the museum because of the mis- 
 understanding about locality that is here indicated.) There 
 are sixty-two branch offices. In the same proportion, there 
 would be at least ninety branch offices in New York, thirty in 
 Brooklyn, and twenty in San Francisco. Twenty words, ex- 
 clusive of address, are telegraphed to any part of the kingdom 
 for twenty-five cents. It costs the German Government more 
 to send a telegraphic despatch from one boundary of the king- 
 dom to another than it costs our great telegraph monopoly to 
 transmit a like despatch from New York to San Francisco, — 
 although we have to pay four times as much as the European 
 postal establishments ask, and realize a profit from, in this 
 department of mail facilities.
 
 A GLANCE A T BERLIN. 
 
 327 
 
 In every civilized nation, save on the North American con- 
 tinent, there is a Postal Telegraph, — which means the abso- 
 lute ownership and control of telegraph lines connecting the 
 post-offices of the country, and offering telegraphic postal fa- 
 cilities at a low uniform rate. The rates in Germany will soon 
 be greatly reduced — as is also the promise in Great Britain. 
 A weekly newspaper proprietor in one of the smallest towns 
 of Germany that is capable of supporting such a publica- 
 tion, can, in proportion to his patronage, get his news de- 
 spatches from any place in his country, as cheap as the most 
 influential and widely circulated journal published at the cap- 
 ital. 
 
 ROYAL PALACE, BERLIN. 
 
 Post cards and unsealed letters are sent between all postal 
 stations in Berlin through a system of pneumatic tubes. This 
 rapid transit might be commended to our own Government, 
 for adoption in our large cities ? 
 
 The royal palace is a building 650 feet long, 380 feet wide, 
 100 feet high, and contains 600 apartments. It is surmounted 
 by a dome 250 feet in height. An excellent view of its front
 
 328 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 is herewith presented. It is a treasure-house of art. Over 
 looo paintings are here. The picture gallery is over 196 feet 
 in length ; and in many other halls and apartments the walls 
 are lined with the choicest productions of Watteau, Camp- 
 hausen, and Schluter. In sculpture, it seems to me that 
 nothing from the hands of modern genius can surpass the 
 force and beauty embodied in marble by Ranch and Shadow. 
 '" Victoiy/' a sitting statue by the first-named artist, fairly and 
 firmly and even thrillingly — albeit there may at first seem to 
 be here some contradiction or incongruity of terms — impresses 
 and inspires you with a sense of the majestic composure of an 
 assured and perfect triumph. 
 
 Around the city is a line of railway (Ringbahn) six miles 
 long, with fifty stations. The fare is six cents. Shorter dis- 
 tances are traversed at proportionate prices. The trains start 
 every five minutes, between six a.m. and ten p.m. At many 
 points you get an excellent view of a portion of the city, on 
 the one side ; suburban or countrv landscapes on the other. 
 And it is very easy to form "chance acquaintances" on this 
 trip. The characteristic reserve and exclusiveness of the av- 
 erage German— who by our experience is recorded as far less 
 sociable than the Englishman, though we had notable excep- 
 tions — seems to give way before a realization of the fact (as 
 familiarly proclaimed to me by a native, shortly after we took 
 our seats), that "most of us are out on a lark. ' How did he 
 learn to speak our English so well ? This wonder being audi- 
 bly expressed, there followed answer and question, and instruc- 
 tive and delightful dialogue and companionship — during the 
 entire ride. He knew that we were from the States — right 
 away — he did. He had been there himself. Well, he should 
 rather say so. He went there when he was a lad. He 
 brought back a passport. No " gobbling him " for the next 
 war in Europe. He had "fit mid Sigel." He had his army 
 discharge papers also. Did not he love to see a Yankee ? 
 (This remark was entirely voluntary and unprovoked !) Well, 
 he had lived in Boston. He liked the people there when ho 
 he was a boy and when he was a man. He knew what it was 
 to eat beans and brown bread. He was in Europe on a 
 year's visit ; had been to his birthplace and seen his brothers
 
 A GLANCE A T BERLIN. 
 
 w 
 
 329
 
 33° 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE 
 
 and sisters. He was going home next spring. [This was 
 said with an intense emphasis on the word home. ] Then he 
 would point out for us and describe on the one hand and the 
 other — giving himself up to our service from the moment of 
 mutual introduction. Exchanging cards. Shaking hands 
 twice. Introducing us to others in an interpreting fashion. 
 Drawing our attention to the fact that his freedom of manner 
 and general cheerfulness and hilarity were not greater than 
 that of our neighbors in the car, who had not had that which 
 he proudly called his American education. After each de- 
 scription of building, estates, manufactories, etc. — suggested 
 by objects brought to view on the circuit — he suddenly ex- 
 claimed, in a very earnest manner, " Now look at that fellow 
 standing on that platform! You see how his face is all 
 scarred from his chin to his forehead. What do you think 
 that is ? Do you think that young man was in any of the bat- 
 tles with the French ? He was hardly away from his mother's 
 apron-string then — when that racket was going on. He is a 
 student at one of our universities. You have probably heard 
 about their duelling. You probably know their rules — not to 
 cut below the face or below the breast. When a severe cut is 
 given the surgeon stops the fighting. Now will you please to 
 tell me what sense there is in that ? What do these goslings 
 want to fight for ? And v/hat makes him so proud of his 
 scars ? Has he fought for any principle ? Is he any more of 
 a man than he was before ? And what sort of authorities 
 are those that do not put a stop to it ? Or if they are going 
 to allow that kind of thing, why don't they let them kill each 
 other outright .'' That, I think, would put a stop to it. Then 
 the parents would generally be calling for a * constitutional 
 amendment ' — as we would say in the States — that would 
 make these fellows outlaws." 
 
 \\'e parted with unaffected sorrow at the Landsberger-Platz, 
 — he waving his hat as cur steps turned in different directions, 
 and shouting, " We meets again ! We meets again ! On 
 those Pacific shores ! We remember. Now you ' shust 
 remember.' ' Ring-around-a-rosy ! ' " This last exclamation 
 — attended by a flourish of his handkerchief as well as a toss 
 of his hat — was more particularly addressed to the little girl
 
 BERLIN' TO DOVER. 331 
 
 in our company. " I wonder," said the cliild, after we had 
 walked a little distance from the station without speaking, 
 " I wonder if that man is not a brother of that other funny 
 man we had with us on the Gotha Canal ? " (After another 
 period of silent meditation.) " I think he must be a cousin- 
 German, at least." 
 
 — — o • 
 
 XXVL 
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. A FEW NOTES AT DRES- 
 DEN, COLOGNE AND PARIS. 
 
 The express train from Berlin to Dresden makes the trip 
 in three hours by one route (by the most direct) and in three 
 hours and a half by Juterburg-Roderau. The fares are about 
 the same, the difference being a little less than two marks in 
 favor of the shortest line. For accommodations equal in com- 
 fort to those given by our " first-class " trains on the Central 
 Pacific routes, you pay twelve marks, or about three dollars. 
 The distance is about 120 miles. Here are also what are called 
 ordinary trains, which make the trip in four hours, and in 
 which the fare for good accommodations, in cushioned com- 
 partments, is as low as a cent and a half a mile. At a dis- 
 tance of about fifteen miles from Dresden you perceptibly 
 enter the valley of the Elbe, which alternately contracts and 
 broadens to your view from the train as you approach the 
 city. 
 
 Dresden, it may be well to remind my readers, remains 
 the capital of a kingdom. Saxony may still be said to boast 
 of a king ; but since the grand coronation and royal saluta- 
 tion at Paris shortly after the taking of that city by the 
 German forces. Saxony is as absolutely under the dominion 
 of the Kaiser as are any of the provinces of Prussia proper. 
 And the unit}^ of the German Empire is as much a matter of 
 prevailing congratulation and pride in Dresden and through- 
 out the kingdom — so far as we could judge from conversations 
 with representative men — as in Berlin itself. 
 
 The population of Dresden and the immediate vicinity,
 
 •332 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 taking the number of inhabitants within the bounds that are 
 reached by the omnibuses and the tramways, is just about 
 the same as San Francisco — or 350,000 souls. The popula- 
 tion of the city proper is set down at 212,000, As the maps 
 will tell you, the city lies on both banks of the Elbe ; but as 
 you will not be otherwise informed by any one of the many 
 books descriptive of the place, which I have seen, let me tell 
 you that the portion called the " old city " appears, for the 
 most part, to be quite as new as that section which has the 
 special name of being most recently constructed. The adjec- 
 tive is historic —states the fact as to date of settlement — but 
 for its application you must draw somewhat on your imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 As we pass down the valley on the flying train, the visions 
 presented from the window give us, in contrast, the plain 
 which is receding from sight and the mountain lines which 
 at first seem to be approaching at an even angle on either 
 side. We realize at once how it is that the pictures and 
 photographs which we have seen, which purport to give a 
 correct idea of the appearance of the country immediately 
 north of the capital of Saxony, really impart a very erroneous 
 impression. We should not have recognized our location 
 from the photographs supposed to be taken near the points 
 we pass — jDhotographs which we had recently and carefully 
 examined at Copenhagen. The fact is that the view is always 
 shifting, almost completely changing the general outlook at 
 every half or quarter-mile post on this end of the route. It 
 suggests the very same peculiarity to which we referred when 
 speaking of the totally different aspects of the country from 
 the several heights of Stettin. It is dusty to the degiee of 
 uncomfortable on this short trip, and you have to comment 
 upon the change from the cool and even chilling atmosphere 
 of the Swedish capital, which we have so recently left behind. 
 Now it is so warm that the people are walking in linen coats 
 and covering their heads with Panama hats, and eating iced 
 creams, and even plying their fans in the streets. 
 
 At the station where the Berlin train draws up there is such 
 quiet that we do not know of our arrival until the guard snarls, 
 with peremptory accent, that we must " All out ! all out ! "
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 333 
 
 We are reminded of our almost noiseless entrance into some 
 of the London stations. There are the same excellent ar- 
 
 CENTRAL PORTION OF OLD DRESDEN. 
 
 rangements with respect to checking for baggage and procur- 
 ing a cab that we noted in Berhn. At an upper station, where
 
 334 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 there is a momentary pause — just before reaching this cit}' — 
 a little boy comes along and hands into each compartment in 
 which it is ascertained that there are any foreigners, a copy 
 of a little pamphlet of 40 pages. It is entitled " A Dresden 
 guide for the use of foreigners, by the association of Dresden- 
 ers and strangers, for the protection of their mutual interests." 
 The information contained in this valuable document is 
 printed in German and English in parallel columns. It 
 appears that the association was started in 1875, and that its 
 purpose was to " strive " against the many inconveniences 
 which at one time made themselves felt ; and afford strangers, 
 during their stay in Dresden, every possible assistance in 
 word and deed. "There is a list of the principal places of 
 interest, the museums, galleries, churches, etc., and there are 
 six or seven pages devoted to the names of physicians, 
 apothecaries, bankers, printers, booksellers, and merchants 
 of every sort ; and boarding-house keepers whom the man- 
 agement of the association doth recommend. To this latter 
 portion of the pamphlet there is a convenient index. At the 
 end there is printed " an order of arbitration for the associa- 
 tion of Dresdeners and strangers, for the protection of their 
 mutual interests." 
 
 It appears that prior to 1875, and during more than ten 
 years before that time, there had been frequent complaints of 
 extortion on the part of merchants, and, on the other hand, 
 some of the principal dealers had been obliged to bring suits 
 in the courts against strangers who had ordered goods and 
 refused to pay for them on one pretext or another — generally 
 on the ground of alleged overcharge, or bills for extras not 
 included in the terms of purchase. And it was also a matter 
 of complaint that the keepers of "villas," who entertained 
 strangers for a consideration, were in the habit of suddenly 
 raising their prices after the first week of sojourn, especially 
 if there was an unusually large influx of visitors at that par- 
 ticular time ; so that when an Englishman or American sup- 
 posed himself located for the season in comfortable quarters 
 at a satisfactory sum per week, he was liable to receive a 
 surprise-notice to the effect that his rent was doubled. We 
 were told that this sort of "business" proceeded to that
 
 BERLIN- TO DOVER. 
 
 335 
 
 extremity and was of such frequent occurrence, that the 
 society of which this little pamphlet is the proclamation was 
 organized. It is claimed that it effectually put a stop to the 
 class of impositions to which I have referred, and we can 
 well believe that it has produced improvement; for during the 
 time we were in this city we made comparisons with respect 
 to our reception at shops and the prices charged at the stores, 
 which are favorable to the place, and which confirmed the 
 statement of Consul Mason,— to the effect that as a rule 
 shopping, especially for ladies, can be done here at a less 
 draft on the family purse than in the city of Berlin. But 
 impositions are still practiced by the shop-keepers ; in mak- 
 ing bills exorbitant, or beyond agreement, and in selling 
 worthless articles by means of indirect misrepresentations. 
 Caveat emptor/ And, by the way, I must even here note our 
 surprise at finding the American Consul at his office — a most 
 agreeable gentleman, attending to his business. Four con- 
 suls present out of nineteen on our routes so far ; four only, 
 at post of duty, sober and civil ! 
 
 The Elbe, which divides Dresden, is at this ]Doint about the 
 width of the Hudson River at the city of Hudson, or the 
 Sacramento River at Rio Vista, but it is shallow and does 
 not probably contain a greater volume of water than flows in 
 front of the California capital city at mid-water mark. 
 
 I wish to recommend the selection of my time for a visit to 
 the Central Bridge, With me it was a matter of accident, 
 but it was and will be accepted as being worthy of design. 
 Starting from our hotel, the Golden yingel (a most excellent 
 house), just after nightfall, and making a Hawthorne dive 
 into the city, it so happened that I passed around the Cen- 
 tral Square, at which the tramway cars do congregate, and 
 crossed through the archways of the Zwinger (the palatial 
 buildings now devoted to the exhibition of paintings and casts 
 and museum-collections), and came out by the cathedral. 
 Passing round the front of the cathedral, you are suddenly 
 brought face to face with the noble flight of steps leading up 
 to the Bruhl Terrace ; and you are then adjacent to the 
 old city terminus of the Central Bridge. As you walk from 
 the Court Church diagonally across the street until you strike
 
 ■336 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE, 
 
 the sidewalk-wall just below the bridge, a scene of enchant- 
 ing and fairy-like beauty bursts upon you, and from many 
 quarters the music of magnificent orchestras salutes your ears. 
 Immediately in front of you, at the \t.xy first turn, arc the 
 brilliantly illuminated steps of the Bruhl Terrace, with the 
 great, gilded groups of statuary representing night, noon, and 
 morning rising on either side. As you pass along, the lights 
 upon the long Central Bridge, and then the line of lamps on 
 
 BRUHL TERRACE. 
 
 the lower crossing with their reflections in the water, and the 
 mirroring shadows of the lamps on the embankments, rise 
 and flash upon you. O, it is a vision of transcendent loveli- 
 ness, on a clear, starlight night, in the month of September, 
 in the city of Dresden ! Keeping on your prescribed walk 
 along the great bridge, you have a charming, ever-changing 
 picture presented at each new angle ; touching for central 
 or pivotal lines, the shores on the river at some illuminated 
 point, not fully discerned or not observed as prominent save 
 at a particular alcove. Be it known that at every few rods
 
 B&RUN TO DOVER. 
 
 337 
 
 there is a semicircular projection from tlie sides of the 
 bridge pavement, giving sufficient room for a score of persons 
 to sit and two score to stand without interrupting the tide of 
 rapid passers-by. A Httle way from the first abutment you 
 have a full view also of the Upper Bridge, with its tiers of 
 lamps and its own shadows and fire-flashing reflections in 
 the flowing stream. The views in the daytime from this 
 same jDromenade are not devoid of beauty. They have an 
 
 ^Y "% X^^ -«J-'^^ t^ _^>^r^ ^f -5T^ 
 
 HELBIG S RESTAURANT. 
 
 added excellence in some respects, taking in, as you then 
 do, the sweep of country all around about. But I beseech 
 you to begin your visitation to this place at this appointed 
 time. 
 
 Immediately on your left, as you step away from the 
 bridge in the old city, is a long building which has only one 
 stoiy above the pavement on the square, at the side on which 
 the cathedral is situated, but which has three stories on the 
 side facing the river. These three stories are open, like unto 
 covered balconies, during the summer season, and the refresh- 
 ment tables on every floor are surrounded by closely sitting
 
 333 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 patrons ; most of the companies having the appearance of 
 family kinship. Moored near to this large house of enter- 
 tainment — known as Helbig's Restaurant — in whose corri- 
 dors a thousand people can be fed at once, is a long, low 
 barge, resplendent with the light of lamps that are upon it, 
 and that are placed upon the surface of the water about it ; 
 in which barge are seated some forty or fifty musicians, the 
 strains of whose instruments fill the space all round about to 
 
 THE BELVEDERE. 
 
 a distance that maybe measured at not less than one-third of 
 the line of the bridge itself. On the new city end of this 
 crossing, and immediately to the right, is situated what is 
 known as the Wiener Garden, where there is also excellent 
 music to be heard every night, and where, three nights in the 
 week, an extra performance is announced, which includes 
 recitations by a band of one hundred musicians or more. At 
 the farther end of the shaded Bruhl Terrace, a distance of a 
 quarter of a mile, perhaps, from the cathedral, there is another 
 garden with a great orchestra — the Belvedere — the voices
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 339 
 
 of whose many reeds and trumpets make the night musical 
 during the pleasant seasons of the year. And when you 
 shall have visited this bridge on many an occasion and accus- 
 tomed yourself, as it were, to the delights of the vision and 
 the charms of the musical perfonnance, you will be able to 
 detect, in what may appear to be the pauses of the cornets 
 and drums of the great companies on either side of you, and 
 in close proximity to the river banks, melodious sounds that 
 come from afar off — from the other city gardens, above and 
 below and distant on either hand. 
 
 One thing I desire to note, as a proper remark from an 
 American born and bred ; — the writing being suggested also 
 by tho frequency of one comment (I will not call it criticism) 
 which musicians educated in our country, but of no mean 
 quality in any respect, have frequently made in my presence. 
 It has been a complaint — perhaps that rather than anything 
 else — that the German music as heard in the United States — 
 the music of German orchestra — was too loud and harsh ; 
 and especially has this been a comment with respect to mu- 
 sicians coming from Prussia ; the performers from Austria 
 having a gentler disposition, so to speak, while producing the 
 same pieces. One needs to come to Germany to observe the 
 excellence of similar companies of musicians — the superlative 
 beauty of their performance — in the great gardens and on the 
 high places where they are accustomed to sit and discourse. 
 Then the vast and strong volume of sound is, as one may 
 say in homely language, absolutely needed for distinctness 
 of articulation; then it no longer appears that there is a 
 hoarse blare of the bugle or a rough bang of the kettle-drums, 
 but by the same token there is an emphasis not only appro- 
 priate but delightful. The all-encasing air takes up and 
 takes in these mighty symphonies, and sheds them abroad 
 upon the senses of the comparatively distant auditors with 
 effects that cannot be described ; they are of such fascinating 
 power and such entrancing sweetness. The " little German 
 band " or the great German orchestra placed in a cubby-hole 
 theatre or music-room, or in a little yard of a garden, or 
 between the walls of a narrow street, is sometimes an unqual- 
 ified nuisance — as we know either of them in Americaj and
 
 S40 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 as we undertake to regard either of them from an humble 
 layman's standpoint of judgment ; but a small company of 
 German harpists and flutists and violinists in Dresden, or a 
 gallery crowded with orchestral artists in one of its gardens 
 — ah ! there is all the difference in the world ! 
 
 In the new city of Dresden, and distant half or three quar- 
 ters of a mile from Weiner Garden, is a shaded enclosure 
 where there are seats for over 1500 persons, and where, on 
 one evening in each week — during the season — there is a dis- 
 play of fireworks. The rockets and the wheels are set imme- 
 
 OLD BRIDGE AND CATHEDRAL, DRESDEN. 
 
 diately in front of the orchestra-stand, within a space not 
 exceeding twenty-five feet from the foot-lights. The pyro- 
 technic display is very fine and lasts fully half an hour. But 
 the spectators are imquestionably in danger from their prox- 
 imity to the pieces, and on the occasion of our visit a number 
 of children were somewhat injured by the explosion of the 
 bombs; while there was an unnumbered concert contribution 
 from cr}'-ing babies, from the beginning of this section of the 
 performance to the close. I would not repeat such a visit.
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER, 341 
 
 But the exhibition met with great applause, and is so popular 
 that the crowds which seek admission are not more than one- 
 half accommodated by the chairs and tables that are pro- 
 vided. 
 
 The cathedral, or Roman Catholic court church, to which I 
 have already referred, situated nearly opposite the old bridge, 
 has fifty statues of saints on the parapets and fourteen in 
 alcoves near the entrances. As one of its familiar names 
 implies, it is here that the King of Saxony attends ; and a 
 visit to the interior is generally sought during high mass hours, 
 that in addition to the view of the paintings and sculpture 
 the royal household may perchance be seen. The guide-books 
 are particular to inform you that " strict order is preserved 
 during divine service." This naturally leads you to expect 
 that there there will be no walking about while mass is being 
 sung or the preacher is speaking. In point of fact, there is a 
 great deal of promenading at this very time ; there being, on 
 the part of many glancing visitors, a shameful disregard of 
 the solemnity of the place. There is even less decorum here 
 in that respect than in St. Paul's or Westminster, in London, 
 where, as many of my readers know, the frequent disobedience 
 of the injunction of silence, which the Dean has conspicu- 
 ously printed and posted, is something which is at first very 
 surprising to reverential minds. The altar piece is a fine 
 picture of the Ascension, which, you will be told, has been in 
 times long past very much overestimated. What praises 
 have been bestowed upon it you are not likely to know 
 without special search, but it is certainly deserving of a high 
 place in the catalogue of art. As viewed from the extreme 
 opposite end of the edifice, it is full of strength and beauty. 
 The loud prattling of gossiping girls and dames from — yes, I 
 grieve to say — from the United States, is hushed when, with 
 their week-day license or in their inconsiderate and irreverent 
 attendance on a Sunday morning, they come suddenly in sight 
 of that magnificent scene. When we attended on a Sunday a 
 a young man delivered the sermon. The preacher could 
 scarcely have been twenty-eight years of age. His text was, 
 "Be ye therefore reconciled unto God." He displayed so 
 much ability in the way of elocution, admirable articulation,
 
 343 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 and most appropriate gesticulation, that, taking his sermon 
 altogether, matter and manner, I have set him down prophet- 
 ically as a Bishop ; and I am going to watch the catalogue so 
 long as I live — if I do live after his arrival at the eligible 
 date — to know precisely when he assumes the mitre. If he 
 is not made a Bishop when he becomes of prelate age, I shall 
 be inclined to think that the Pope has not been duly in- 
 formed. And as for t'p.e chanting ! Here again is a revela- 
 tion of possibilities in sweetness and power. Here indeed, 
 
 "Heavenly music seems foretold, 
 And pours its floods o'er shrines of gold." 
 
 The Green Vault is the name of a series of rooms in the 
 Palace, but more particularly it attaches to four in the order, 
 — there being eight in the series. The w-alls of the Green 
 A'ault room are of the color which gives the adjective, and 
 contains vessels of gold, silver and crj'stal, and a jewel casket 
 made over 370 years ago, and not equalled in workman- 
 ship of its kind since it left its master's hand. The eighth 
 apartment is the most interesting, not only as containing the 
 court jewels, such as the box with 662 diamonds and the 
 largest onyx in existence, seven inches in height, but also as 
 containing historic rings. Here is one that was worn by 
 Luther, another that belonged to Melancthon, and others that 
 belonged to kings and electors of renowTi, the " seal of splen- 
 dor-loving Augustus," circles and bracelets worn by his wife, 
 and the like. 
 
 A few rods distant from the Berlin station, in old Dresden, 
 there has been erected a round panorama building in which 
 is now exhibited a painting of the Battle of Sedan. This st}-le 
 of single picture galler}-, so to speak, has found great popular 
 favor all over the continent, and imitations are now being con- 
 structed in a few of the cities of the United States. Some- 
 thing similar was to be seen in 1874-7 in Xew York Cit}', but 
 that lacked the realism of this latest encircling "scenorama." 
 You enter on a level with the ground and pass to the centre 
 of the building, which is probably sevent}'-five feet in diam- 
 eter. You then ascend a flight of twent}- steps, which brings 
 you upon a circular rail-enclosed platform, that is imme-
 
 BEJiLI.V TO DOVER. 343 
 
 diately in the centre of the edifice, and which is about twenty 
 feet in diameter. Above you, perhaps twelve feet above you, 
 is an inner roof or awning, umbrella shaped and of a blue- 
 brown color, that extends full to the edge of the platform, and, 
 perhaps, projects over a little. Your vision is thus confined 
 to a given space on the surrounding walls, determined by the 
 elevation of this false ceiling. There, on the walls, the paint- 
 ing has been placed — that is, so much of the "paint" as is 
 painting. But just below your feet, and coming close up to 
 the side of the stand, is unmistakable earth, sod, rocks, can- 
 non, broken accoutrements, deserted camp-grounds with tents 
 and utensils in disorder; and here and there are the bodies of 
 dead soldiers, with perhaps the figures of sympathizing com- 
 rades leaning over the form of a dying dragoon. Now, where 
 the tableau ends and the painted picture begins, is often 
 something that it is difficult to discover ; and it all makes a 
 vivid presentation of the stirring scenes of the battle. Of 
 course there is claim here for historic accuracy, which may 
 well be conceded, inasmuch as certificates of French as well 
 as German officers support the advertisements. 
 
 A dispute arose while we were paying our second visit as 
 to where a line of fence ceased to be real and began to be a 
 matter of canvas and black pigment. So close and neat are 
 the divisions on this line that a portion of the same dis- 
 mounted cannon is on the land and a portion on the wall. 
 There is no available trick for illusion left untried, and there 
 is in this ingenious deception alone an attractive force that 
 brings many visitors to the rotunda, again and again. We 
 are told by a French guide that he was once offered two 
 scores of shares in the smaller panorama of the city of Paris, 
 which is situated near the Champs Elysdes, in the French 
 capital, for a thousand dollars, but he laughed at the propo- 
 sition. Had he accepted the ofifer he says that he would be 
 well-to-do to-day on that single investment. The enterprise 
 has proved a great succees, as without addition or alteration 
 it has continued to draw immense patronage from day to day 
 ever since the hour when it was thrown open to the public. 
 
 At the entrance of the cemetery in Dresden there is a large 
 horseshoe-shaped edifice with a pillared corridor that affords
 
 344 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 standing room for a thousand persons or more, who can 
 there, to use the precise expression of one of the gardeners — 
 used in the most solemn manner — " welcome the corpse. " 
 The rule of monuments here is unobtrusive. Most of them 
 are so modest in dimensions and inscription, that they form a 
 pleasing contrast to the catalogue of superior and now un- 
 approachable virtues which, times innumerable, we have all 
 seen recorded elsewhere in similar places. 
 
 At several points in our divergent walks in the old city we 
 came flat up against fragments of ancient walls, and were dis- 
 
 GROSSE GARDENS, PALACE AND LAKE. 
 
 posed, if not forced, to cry out like the old clerk in " Great 
 Expectations''': "Halloa, here is a church!" or "Halloa, 
 here is a museum ! " as we found one or the other adjacent 
 to, or enclosed in part by, these ruins. 
 
 The Grosse Garden, or Royal Park, is situated about a 
 mile southeast of the old city, and in its three hundred acres 
 is a palace in which is a collection of ecclesiastical antiquities, 
 and also a museum of casts and models, and a zoological 
 garden. There are two broad avenues dividing the park, with 
 convenient outleading and intersecting roads. Children are
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 345 
 
 allowed to play on the grass, by the same signs, often, that 
 bear on their faces the mild suggestion that they had better 
 not get too near the cages. The domestic and wild beasts 
 and fowls on exhibition are widely separated — have plenty of 
 room themselves — while abundant space is allowed for 
 spectators before and around each distinct species of animals 
 and birds. Books on natural history are for sale on the 
 grounds, and children were seen by us reading from them in 
 the immediate, august presence of the Royal Bengal tiger 
 himself, and again studying the same volume while standing 
 on the outside of the warm cottage appropriated and set 
 apart for the flannel-lined cages of the anacondas. There 
 can be no mistake about the accuracy of the illustrations. 
 The small side gates of exit to the zoological grove are closed 
 at sundown, and then — on Sunday nights especially — there is 
 a gleeful hurrahing of picnic and school parties hastening 
 along the winding walks, lest the darkness cover some lone 
 and lost little ones in the labyrinth of paths. Grown people 
 have been known to wander here in bewilderment many 
 hours, until they were forced to confess their condition at a 
 keeper's lodge, and pay liberally for the services of the 
 laughing guide who led them out. It is said that some secret 
 societies are accustomed to appoint a preliminary promenade 
 in this park for their blindfolded candidates for initiation. 
 
 The hills on the south (the " line of mountains," they are 
 called) have their summits not more than a mile distant from 
 the edge of the city proper, and we walk up to them and along 
 the ridges almost every day of our sojourn, with the double 
 purpose of gaining the outlook and conversing with the 
 peasants whom we may chance to meet on the road. 
 
 The harvest of hay and grain is being carried in. ]\Iost of 
 the workers in the field are women. Many of them are 
 bareheaded ; all of them are barefooted. They are glad to 
 make a mark, or twenty-five cents, a day ; working from day- 
 light to dark. They have no idea of hours for their labors ; 
 at least those with whom we conversed would not give a 
 direct answer on this pointy but simply said that they worked 
 from morning till ni<rht. 
 
 The crops hereabouts are reported as of more than average
 
 346 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 excellence in quality and quantity — a great contrast to the 
 fields a few hundred miles to the north. The farm boundaries 
 here are small, but we were told that (as elsewhere through- 
 out the civilized globe) land-holding in vast area is again 
 becoming the rule in the German Empire. 
 
 In the suburbs of Dresden there are a large number of 
 houses with long sloping roofs, which give two or three 
 stories at the gable end above the main floor. Through 
 these roofs, along the line of the separate floor divisions, 
 there are dormer window-openings of an eyebrow pattern, 
 which suggest irresistibly the thought of an actual outlooking 
 on the part of the structure itself. The little children, who 
 are strangers to such a sight, exclaim in surprise and delight 
 at this architectural phenomenon ; and are provoked, not to 
 say disgusted, because they cannot make their temporary 
 playmates who are to the manner born appreciate the fact 
 that these roof portholes are ''very, very funny," — as the 
 London street singers would describe them. " O, look at that 
 house ! " one and another of the five-year-olds would fairly 
 scream out. "Look at it, looking at us! It has got six 
 eyes ! " And I have seen children of seven years of age, 
 whom I have credited with possessing very good sense, 
 literally lie down and roll in the grass in a paroxysm of 
 laughter on beholding these queer orifices with their fan-like 
 shades. 
 
 As we were nearing our hotel, after a long walk, some of 
 our party remarked that it would be very refreshing to meet 
 with a person direct from San Francisco. Just at that mo- 
 ment — remarkable coincidence ! — we simultaneously looked 
 across the street and saw a sign on which was painted in 
 flaming yellow letters these words : " E. Kamminsky, for- 
 merly of San Francisco." Now, Kamminsky, as appeared by 
 other and detailed notices of modest dimensions, was and is 
 a shoemaker ; and he offers his goods at the lowest price : 
 with special discount to strangers from the Pacific Coast! 
 All this being a matter of due exterior record and publica- 
 tion, and our sentiment of homesickness and yearning for 
 home fellowship being as above indicated, the necessary 
 result was a literal race across the street and a dive into the
 
 BERLIN' TO DOVER. 347 
 
 shop of "E. Kamminsky, formerly of San Francisco." His 
 store is at the corner of a street (I have lost or mislaid his 
 number), having a show-window on two sides. About 12 by 
 8 feet are the floor dimensions of his establishment, but his 
 walls are all lined with cases which are packed with goods ; 
 and we infer that he must do a large business, from the fact 
 that he has two fine-looking lady clerks, while he is himself 
 fully capable of serving at least three customers at the same 
 time. 
 
 Glad to see us ! Why, he said it was no name for it. He 
 did not want to sell us anything — not he. The sight of a 
 face that he felt had been bathed in the fog of San Francisco 
 within the year, did him more good than to sell one hundred 
 dollars worth of manufactured shoe leather at 2>Z per cent, 
 profit. We desired to believe him. We would have been 
 inclined to believe almost anything that he told us— notwith- 
 standing the natural and inevitable suspicion respecting trade 
 protestations — for we were really glad to see Kamminsky. 
 His identity as a man who had lived in San Francisco and 
 San Luis Obispo was unmistakable. At once he fixed that 
 beyond a peradventure ; not only by mentioning names of 
 streets and prominent houses and the like, but by giving us 
 indisputably correct characterizations of people and " sets," 
 as he called them, in our metropolis. 
 
 Well, of course, after the first outburst and several repeti- 
 tions of the hand-shaking operation, he wanted to know what 
 we thought of Dresden, and we — well, we returned the in- 
 quiry. He must know what ought to be thought of the 
 country in which he was born, and to which he had returned 
 for business purposes ? We could only give some superficial 
 observation and judgment. Let him begin! Nowise loth, 
 he began, and he continued. We were listeners, and in- 
 terested, amused and happy listeners, too, for about the space 
 of an hour. I think I could come pretty close to reporting 
 the whole of his oration verbatim, but of course I shall un- 
 dertake at this writing nothing more than the transcription of 
 a few sentences. 
 
 " What do I think of Dresden ? " said he. " Fll tell you what 
 I think of it." And he settled or posed himself like a clergy-
 
 348 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 man who had just announced his favorite text. " Dresden is a 
 beautiful city ; and it is full of art galleries and museums and 
 monuments and what-not ; and it is beautifully located on the 
 Elbe ; and we have plenty of beer gardens,, and wind-instru- 
 ment players till you can't rest ; and there is a fiddle in every 
 garret and a trombone in every basement ; and you cannot 
 stand in your front door at six o'clock in the morning but 
 some English girl will come along and put her easel on the 
 opposite side of the street and begin taking your picture. 
 But you cannot sell shoes here at half the profit you can in 
 San Francisco. And we have got soldiers here till you can't 
 rest. You can't wink between the soldiers that you see ; and 
 there is an officer on every corner, and you cannot safely 
 ' sauce ' them if they should run over you, because they 
 would run over you again if you did. And we have got 
 Dukes and Counts and Kings; we have got four or five 
 Kings ; — why, we have got a King of our own here ! You 
 can see him down at this cathedral next Sunday — if you want 
 to. Blue-blood nobility is abundant; and between the 
 nobility and the soldiers and the tax-gathering officials there 
 is not much chance for a poor man. I am sorry beyond any- 
 thing I can tell you that I left San Francisco. I lived down 
 at San Luis Obispo awhile. That's about as nice a land as 
 any man can put his foot on. Don't ask me why I came 
 back. Don't you aggravate me ! " shaking his fist at us in 
 wrathful reproof for one interrupting inquir}^, and then apolo- 
 gizing at some length. Then he continued. " If you w^ant 
 to say anything about that movement of mine, you kindly 
 hire a man to kick me and then tell me that I have got my 
 just deserts. Why don't I return to San Francisco ? Well, 
 now, it is not so easy to pull up stakes again and get out of 
 this country with small change enough to set up business 
 over yonder. 1 suppose I am built in here for life. I am 
 very sorry for it. I don't think any man ever left San Fran- 
 cisco, who had lived there ten or twelve years, without wish- 
 ing he was back; until his dying day — when he stopped 
 wi'shing altogether. If you ever hear of anybody sailing over 
 this way, for mercy's sake tell them to come and see me. 
 Tell them I won't ask them to buy a shoe-string. Tell them
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 349 
 
 I would fire them out of the house if they proposed to pat- 
 ronize me at all. I just want to look at them. I have got a 
 photograph of San Francisco up in my room. I have got it 
 where I can look at it the last thing at night and the first 
 thing in the morning. Sometimes when we have a good fog 
 here I go down to the river bank where the mist is the thick- 
 est, and stand in it and shut my eyes until I can fancy that I 
 am in San Francisco. Do you know I have got so I can 
 appreciate that feeling among the Chinese, about having their 
 bones carried back to the Celestial Empire when they die. 
 I would like to be buried on the Pacific Coast, anyway." 
 
 Most of the marketing here is done in the public squares, 
 and to these points for buyers and sellers of vegetables in the 
 early morning there may be seen approaching processions 
 composed of men, women, dogs and carts, or a man or a 
 woman yoked with a dog in the traces in front of a two- 
 wheeled vehicle capable of carrying two hundred pounds of 
 truck. Some of the market women bring their produce a dis- 
 tance of three or four miles, in huge baskets which they carry 
 upon their heads or balanced on the end of a yoke-pole. 
 
 Yesterday we took a stroll from the new city to the south- 
 west, along the line of the river, a distance of two miles or 
 more from our hotel. We had a walk in a circling path of 
 more than a mile, in a dense wood ; the trees being about 
 thirty feet high on the average, and the underbrush reaching 
 up one-half that distance. Then we came out into a more 
 open forest, and crossing a stream-bed or gulch about five feet 
 in width, with banks that slope down twenty or thirty feet on 
 either side, we came upon a main road ; and walking still in a 
 southerly direction we arrived at the gate of a chateau which 
 overlooks the Elbe, — the building itself having an elevation of 
 probably 150 feet above the water. We were saluted by the 
 keeper at the lodge, and asked if we did not wish to go in 
 and see the beautiful grounds. Of course we were agreeably 
 surprised by the suggestion and invitation, and we soon made 
 our way around to the front of the building, which appeared 
 to us to be about three times the size of Mrs. A. T. Stewart's 
 residence, on Fifth avenue, New York City, or four times as 
 large as Mrs. D. D. Colton's dwelling, on California street, San
 
 3SO 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 Francisco, and bearing some resemblance to each one of these 
 structures with which it is compared. From the rear end of 
 the building there is a magnificent view of the Elbe valley ; 
 embracing the city of Dresden and a number of small villages 
 on the river banks, to which pleasure steamboats to and from 
 the city regularly ply. The chateau is set back from the 
 river about a thousand feet, and winding walks that adorn the 
 grounds lead to terraced levels on which there are huge 
 temple-fronts with Corinthian pillars, — porticoes standing in 
 front of the hillside, and affording large, separate accommo- 
 dations for pleasure parties on festal occasions. We could 
 well believe that when there was a grand social convocation 
 at this regal establishment — as we were told there would be 
 within a few weeks — the spectacle presented by the illumina- 
 tion of all these terraced walks and columns and cornices must 
 be exceedingly beautiful. There were four broad avenues 
 and landings from the foundation of the chateau to the level 
 of the river bank, each one of similar pattern in its arrange- 
 ment and adornment, yet each different from the other in 
 some noticeable and pleasing particulars. From this point of 
 observation we were shown the residence of a German noble 
 who had sought and won his bride amid the beauties of Del- 
 carlia, and we could not but wonder whether we had not seen 
 at Bolange the father of the Swedish heiress, whose fair face 
 and charming voice had captured the Count of Elbianissimo. 
 What more shall I say of the galleries and museums and 
 churches of Dresden 1 I think it will be comprehensive to 
 state that after a first visit to the picture gallery, ours will be 
 accepted as a good rule : — to spend at least one hour of each 
 day in that portion of the great Palace of Art. The youthful 
 minister of the Scotch church here — a Rev. Mr. Scott — must 
 needs continually inform me that the Madonna of Raphael 
 does not equal the one to be seen in a gallery of Vienna, but 
 as his predecessor, the Rev. Laurie Fogo, subsequently de- 
 clared with pleasing simplicity, " It is satisfactory ; he need 
 not have mentioned any other." This wonderful picture — an 
 altar-piece eight feet high and six feet wide — presents the 
 Virgin and Child in the clouds, with St. Sixtus on the one 
 hand and St. Barbara on the other. The two cherubs which
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 are beneath have been copied throughout the world, and alas ! 
 have been sacrilegiously made to do service on theatrical ad- 
 vertisements and the placards of the pork-packers of Cincin- 
 nati. No doubt the criticism is just that declares the child to 
 be too large, but all else is perfect. In a room by itself is this 
 picture placed — a room probably forty feet square. On 
 three sides of this chamber there are seats along the wall. 
 These seats, during exhibition time, are always occupied, 
 and no one has a thought of audible conversation in that 
 presence ! 
 
 ROYAL MUSEUM AND THEATRE. 
 
 There is another picture in this collection which especially, 
 and I should say painfully, impressed me, of which I do not 
 know that there is any particular description in any of the 
 Visitors' Catalogues. It is a picture of a company of German 
 emigrants about to leave their home, or in the act of departing 
 from the old farm-house. They are evidently going on a sea- 
 voyage, and from some indications it is probable that the in- 
 tention was to represent them as about departing for America.
 
 352 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 One little feature in this speaking canvas let me note. I think 
 I can make an aiDpreciative reader, by a very brief and simple 
 statement, feel something of the thrill it sent into my breast. 
 In a court-yard full of emigrants an old lady of more than 
 three score years and ten has taken a little boy, twelve or 
 fourteen years of age, to one side and is whispering in his 
 ear. The grandam's countenance is partially concealed by 
 the necessities of her attitude, but the boy's face is full upon 
 you, and there is a partial revelation of the character of the 
 injunction which the good old woman is giving as a parting 
 
 ZWINGER COURT-YARD. 
 
 sentence to the little child. It is evidently the mother of the 
 boy that stands off at a distance of five or six feet and is 
 watching her child's face. The old lady's right hand is lifted 
 with the palm extended towards the mother, as though she had 
 warned her off, and told her that what she was saying to the 
 child must be its own secret burden between him and her and 
 the Omniscient One ! 
 
 Every morning I must go and see that picture. 
 
 We will say that it does not require more than a fortnight's 
 sojourn in Dresden to satisfy an intelligent traveller that to
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 353 
 
 any one of taste and refinement the capital of Saxony has 
 such attractions that it is entitled to a first place in a sum- 
 mary of combined peace, comfort and luxury. No wonder 
 that the millionaires of the old world and the new, who have 
 gone the rounds of Christendom, centre and settle there, 
 with the complacent announcement that they have found the 
 spot which, taken all in all, is the serenest and loveliest of 
 city homes. The first few days, the first week, does not 
 bring you completely, perhaps, to this conclusion ; but on the 
 second week— the first six days having been presumably well 
 occupied with sight-seeing — you will have this opinion. I 
 have known persons to make a single season's stay in Cali- 
 fornia — in San Francisco especially— and depart and remain 
 away, with expressions of comparative dislike for the climate 
 and the style of living, the society, etc.; but two seasons' or 
 two years' sojourn v/ith us almost invariably suffice to keep 
 the testing residents, or to so attach them that their life ever 
 after — in less desirable sections— is shadowed with regrets at 
 their enforced departure from the Eden of the world, the 
 golden commonwealth, the delightful sunset land — as you 
 then hear them claim and describe their beloved California. 
 Certainly, on your entrance, you are charmed with Dresden ; 
 yet you think you might prefer Berlin as a lifelong home ; 
 but with the period for making acquaintance with things 
 animate and inanimate which I have prescribed, you appreci- 
 ate enough of its own peculiar, incomparable fascinations to 
 understand the reasons of the selection which thousands of 
 artists and cultivated men of lesiure of every sort have made: 
 — their choice of a final resting point on this little planet, 
 after having looked over and duly considered the " eligible 
 places " on the globe. 
 
 And now I can take a short retrospect and find agreement 
 with the judgment of all our little party— a unanimous vote 
 being had — ^declaring that with a view to economy of " mere 
 living " and advantage in purchasing the simple articles of 
 dress, Dresden is somewhat preferable to Berlin, and by a 
 considerable percentage better than Paris. And as to those 
 things which more particularly affect the health of the stran- 
 ger, the French capital is inferior to its little Saxon rival.
 
 354 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 The water, the milk, the wines, the beer, the coffee — as by 
 the average of purchase and test considered — are purer and 
 more palatable in Dresden than in Paris ; while for study in 
 the fine arts and in some of the sciences, Paris has very little 
 advantage or few added opportunities and facilities to speak 
 about and proclaim. And all this without detracting from the 
 force and unchallenged warmth of our chance acquaintance, 
 who from his California standpoint was unquestionably justi- 
 fied in much of that which he amusingly declaimed. 
 
 Usually the journey from Dresden or Berlin to Paris is 
 " broken " once or twice at least, by the American traveller ; 
 the most frequently chosen stop-over places being Liepsic or 
 Hanover and the City of Cologne. From Cologne the cus- 
 tom is to go direct to the French capital by rail (a few stop- 
 ping at Aix k-Chappelle), or via the river Rhine to Coblenz 
 or Mayence, or beyond. It is called " one day-light journey " 
 from Berlin or Dresden to Cologne ; but as the trains from 
 either place do not start until seven o'clock in the morning, 
 the arrival at the great cathedral city by the regular express is 
 appointed at nine o'clock ; so that there is a margin of from 
 one to three hours of night drive, — according to the season. 
 
 From Dresden, the road by which you are ticketed, on the 
 horseshoe route indicated, runs first to Leipsic, the famous 
 printing town of the world. Here Baedecker has his estab- 
 lishment; and if there was no other publication to give dis- 
 tinction to this place, for the travellers who are called upon 
 to discriminate as to guide-books, this would be sufficient for 
 a red-letter mark. But during more than a century Leipsic 
 has been noted for its cheap publications of every descrip- 
 tion. At the present time the writings of the principal En- 
 glish and American authors are sent from the presses of that 
 city at a cost to the purchaser of less than one-half the sum 
 required in England or the United States. On the covers 
 of these publications there is conspicuously printed a request 
 not to carry the book into British lines ; the assertion being 
 that while English authors have been paid for the continental 
 circulation, which their works will have from Leipsic, it is not 
 in the contract to permit them to be deposited elsewhere. 
 Looking over a shelf ten feet long, packed close with the
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 355 
 
 paper-bound books of this description, I noticed among 
 '■'■British Authors,'' Bret Harte, W. D. Howells, John Bur- 
 roughs, Mark Twain, and Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. A 
 'copy of a most appetizing book on American Humorists, by 
 
 '*.;>>. 'i'^^VV'". * >' 
 
 REV. H. R. HAWEIS. 
 
 our esteemed friend Rev. H. R. Ilaweis, of London, was 
 also on the latest rack. 
 
 Mr. Haweis is one of the most popular preachers in Lon- 
 don. His church (St. James, \\'estmoreland street, Mar^'le-
 
 356 ^^OJi THERN £ UROPE. 
 
 bone, London) is packed at every sen'ice, when it is known 
 that he is to occupy the pulpit. He is a charming writer, 
 and an eloquent and inspiring speaker. He has been largely 
 instrumental in drawing attention to the merits of American 
 authors, some of whom would have had as yet a scant audi- 
 ence in Great Britain but for his happy paragraph or extended 
 chapters of complimentar}' introduction. As editor and 
 author, and as an English gentleman of great hospitality 
 towards those of our people with whom he becomes 
 acquainted, he is eminently entitled to the cordial welcome 
 of large audiences in this country. 
 
 So far as our observation extended we found the statement 
 of our Consul, Mr. John D. Mason, with respect to the ac- 
 commodations on the Dresden trains from that cit}' to the 
 German border quite correct. For two and a half cents a 
 mile, we had what we considered far better accommodations 
 than are afforded on our California routes at Central Pacific 
 extortionate prices. And for a considerable portion of the 
 distance between Dresden and Cologne, we had a large and 
 elegantly furnished compartment all to ourselves, although 
 we were assured that it was what was called a busy portion of 
 the year, with respect to passenger traffic. 
 
 Between Dresden and the first important station, we were 
 fortunate enough to have for companions Mr. Charles M. 
 Kinsell. of Columbus, Georgia, and his wife. One year ago 
 they removed from Georgia to the neighborhood of Dresden ; 
 hiring a partly furnished house with the intention of there re- 
 siding until they could make a proper selection and purchase 
 of a permanent home. They had left the United States with 
 the expectation of not returning ; but in less than a year 
 man and wife were endeavoring to conceal from each other 
 the degree of their homesickness. Each resolved that the 
 other should be the first to suggest that they should return 
 to their adopted State. The firm endurance of the masculine 
 martyr proved the stronger of the two ; and on one Spring 
 morning I\Irs. Kinsell laid down her knife and fork at the 
 breakfast table and said, '' There, Charles ! I have come to 
 the end of my patience about one thing." "What is that, 
 my love ] " " Well, I have been waiting for the last two or
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 357 
 
 three months to hear you say that, instead of buying a home- 
 stead here, we had better turn right around in the middle of 
 the Elbe and go back where we belong. And I know that 
 these have been your sentiments during all that time. But 
 you are just that mean sort of a man that you would stay 
 here a whole year, and do anything (except buy a place) to 
 make me believe that you had no idea of being homesick ; 
 but you can't fool me." " Well, my dear, a candid confession 
 is good for the soul, and productive of harmony in a small 
 family ; and since you have had the frankness to own up, I 
 will admit that it did occur to me that possibly it might be a 
 good thing for us to reconsider our original intention." 
 " O, what a tantalizing way you have of getting around the 
 fact ! But no matter ; / am not going to stay here. You 
 can get a deed for three or four homesteads, if you like ; / 
 am going to take — if necessary in order to get home — a third- 
 class passage back to old Georgia. Now that's settled. And 
 it's only a question with me of a few days." '"I told my 
 wife," said Mr. Kinsell, in his bland and pleasant manner — 
 rubbing his hands slowly — [I could see that his complacency 
 must be exasperating at times] — "I told my wife," repeated 
 Mr. Kinsell, " that if she would be patient till Fall, on the 
 first day of September we would move out of our premises 
 and start for the old plantation ; and she can't deny right 
 here and now but what I have substantially kept my word." 
 
 With this most agreeable introduction — so well calculated 
 to put us on thoroughly intimate grounds — we improved the 
 time very jealously in the comparatively short partnership 
 portion of our day's trip, between Dresden and Leipsic, in 
 conversation with our new-found friends. 
 
 We noticed along the whole line, from our starting point to 
 Hanover and beyond, that most of the harvest work was be- 
 ing done by women, and that these w'omen wore flaming red 
 petticoats, and often had a checkered handkerchief on their 
 heads ; their whole costume amounting to a uniform remind- 
 ing us forcibly of a spectacle so familiar in the Dalecarlian 
 section of Sweden. 
 
 The railroad fairly runs over the grand old city of Han- 
 over, and from the back you have only glimpses of porlions
 
 3S8 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 of that long Avenue of Limes, which is said by the Hano- 
 verians to be, as a drive and promenade, without equal for 
 charms in all the cities of Europe. The station is a double 
 structure, our train arriving in the second story, and having 
 its complete suite of rooms for ticketing and refreshment 
 upon that floor. 
 
 We arrived at Cologne between 9 and 10 o'clock; making 
 the last 150 miles of distance at the rate of 40 miles an hour, 
 liy moonlight and gaslight we got our first glimpse of the 
 historic and beautiful Rhine ; and for two hours after our 
 arrival we found ourselves, in company with many other 
 passengers, sauntering along the streets that edge upon the 
 water, or taking our views from the points of bridges and on 
 housetops, to which we are escorted by active and communi- 
 cative guides. 
 
 The principal hotel at Cologne is the Hotel du Nord, the 
 court-yard of which is said to surpass in excellence all others 
 of similar arrangement — (in immediate connection with or 
 enclosed with the hotel) — both as respects the gardens and 
 the corridors which suiTOund it. The open space is probably 
 60 by 100 feet, and in the centre of a series of fiower-beds 
 there is a fountain of peculiar and veiy diffusive spray. The 
 water, in shower and cascades, is illuminated by colored 
 lamps, producing the effect of enchantment. Double tiers of 
 tables for refreshments are set on the broad piazzas which 
 border the enclosure. The rooms are comfortable, but with 
 respect to furniture they will not bear favorable comparison 
 with the accommodations of the kind furnished the traveller 
 in other parts of Northern Germany or in the Scandinavian 
 countries which we had visited. The charges are 25 per 
 cent, more than in Berlin. 
 
 At peep of day we were up to see the cathedral, of whose 
 proportions we could only gain a limited idea by our observa- 
 tions during the night previous. There was no bustle, no 
 uproar in the city at the time of our rising, save that caused 
 by the incoming and outgoing trains ; but when we arrived at 
 the cathedral w-e found that mass was being said in one of 
 the chapels, and that not less than a thousand persons, mostly 
 women, were kneeling before the Eastern shrine. Like other
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 Z%^
 
 :.6o NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 o 
 
 visitors, who at this early hour had sought to get a glimpse at 
 the great church, we entered one of the side doors. That 
 appeared to be the only place for entrance at the time. No 
 sooner was mass concluded, and we sought to make our exit 
 by the same aperture, than we were surrounded by a number 
 of would-be guides, and on our parleying with them, and at 
 the same time walking towards our expected point of depart- 
 ure, we found that the door was closed ! \\'e must needs 
 walk the whole length of the nave before we could escape 
 from the importimities of these clamorous acquaintances. Of 
 course the situation was one that a traveller of any ex- 
 perience would appreciate in a moment. The best thing 
 to do was to utilize one of these young men imme- 
 diately. Otherwise we would consume the entire time oc- 
 cupied in walking down the length of the church in 
 listening to solicitations. Let us make the bargain now 
 and take the benefit of companionship by way of direction, 
 at once and forthwith, 
 
 I shall not attempt to describe the interior or exterior of 
 this maGfnificent edifice. Its dimensions and its main charac- 
 teristic are familiar to most of my readers. And I presume 
 there are few persons of intelligence who are not aware of the 
 remarkable fact that for several centuries this great building 
 stood in a state of incompleteness, and that it is only within 
 the last half centuiy that steady work has been going on in 
 the way of finishing its walls and rearing its majestic towers ; 
 and that within the last quarter of a centuiy the famous crane 
 which stood for over two hundred years on one of the towers 
 was taken down, and work continued and completed from its 
 ancient standpoint. 
 
 After you have looked at the building from the principal 
 corners of observation, at the suggestion and with the counsel 
 and descriptions of your guide, you are besought to enter the 
 celebrated Cologne water establishment, where there is a 
 model (said to have cost 12,000 marks) of the great church, 
 on free exhibition. Engravings of the cathedral in its incom- 
 plete state — fifty years ago — are hung upon the wall. Cer- 
 tainly this pattern is worth a mark's profit on a bottle of the 
 scented water, and you expect the hint will shortly be given
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 361 
 
 
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 W 
 
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 tr' 
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 W 
 
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 to make the purchase that is supposed to be equivalent for an 
 admission price at the door. 
 
 It was yet early when we stood in front of this agency ; the 
 shutters had not been taken down, and our guide had to rap
 
 362 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 violently on the door in order to arouse the inmates. Two 
 frowzy-headed, dirty faced, altogether slovenly-looking girls 
 came to the door, uniting their strength for the purpose of 
 unbolting and unlocking. After we had passed around the 
 model once or twice, the tallest of these slatterns came to the 
 front of the little counter that runs close to the door, and be- 
 tween it and the room where the model is placed, and desired 
 — through our guide — to know if we wished to purchase half 
 a dozen or a dozen bottles, and how we would have them sent ? 
 When we insisted that we should confine our buying to a single 
 quart, and that contained in the most convenient vessel she 
 could exhibit, she did not hesitate to express her disappoint- 
 ment or disgust, whichever it was (or both), at our parsimony. 
 It was usual for visitors, she said — especially Americans^ — 
 with great emphasis on the national noun — to buy a box. We 
 protested that we were already overloaded with baggage, espe- 
 cially in the hand-satchel line ; we sought to mollify her by a 
 careful restatement of this fact; instructing our guide that 
 our deep regrets be expressed because we could not take 
 along with us a few hogsheads of this standard and incompa- 
 rably delicious perfume. But all to no purpose, — so far as 
 this lady of Cologne was concerned. She rolled up our little 
 jug with an air of injured innocence, bit the string with which 
 she fastened it as if she had our thumb between her teeth, 
 and literally tossed the article into our hands ; muttering some- 
 thing which we could not interpret and which was not clearly 
 explained to us, but which we are strongly of opinion was in 
 the nature of not wishing us to go to Paradise. We were glad 
 to get out of this museum of models and samples. 
 
 We met at Cologne one of our Stockholm acquaintances, 
 Froken Emma Hultgren. We learned from her of a hotel in 
 Paris — "modest and unpretending" — where Swedish and 
 English are spoken by the landlord and most of his sen^ants. 
 So it happened that we came from the Rhine to the Hotel de 
 Paris et d'' Osborne. This inn is located near the Tuileries 
 Gardens. 
 
 On the evening of our arrival in Paris, there was a fete in 
 progress at the corner of the public grounds, and closely ad- 
 jacent to our apartments. While we were thus enabled at the
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. ^J^^ 
 
 outset to have a very lively view of the kind of entertainments 
 which do most satisfy and enrapture the French citizen, we 
 were far from regretting the hour — three days after our arri- 
 val — when the booths were closed and the harlequins folded 
 their tents and moved away. Moreover, it seemed like a 
 desecration of this garden-park to set such a tumultuous crowd 
 of boisterous circus performers in any corner. But here was 
 the French citizen surely. Not, indeed, the highly cultivated 
 gentleman ; not the artist or the scholar. But the common 
 people do love these antics and do enjoy these exhibitions 
 with a degree of ardor that amounts to enthusiasm. There is 
 no mistake about this. I have stood in a group of persons, 
 certainly not of the lower order, who were engaged in watch- 
 ing the somersaults of what I should consider a veiy ordinary 
 leaper. But at every double throw of his body they became 
 so wild in their applause (clapping their hands till it seemed 
 as if the palms would be blistered, and rapping on tables or 
 posts with their canes until their sticks were shattered, and 
 shouting at the top of their voices) that it was some time 
 before I could realize that what I saw in the ring was the only 
 provocation for these violent demonstrations on the part of 
 these nativ^e spectators. 
 
 In the first week of this fete there was given an entertain- 
 ment for the benefit of the sufferers by the recent earthquake 
 at Ischia, which I was told netted over 10,000 francs. On 
 the Sunday after our arrival there was a fete to be given for 
 the benefit of the poor of Paris, at which it was announced 
 Madame Sarah Bernhardt would act and Miss Christine Nils- 
 son would sing. As a part of the advertising programme, 
 there was on Thursday an Ann^.uncement that Mile. Bern- 
 hardt had committed suicide and a Denial in extras the day 
 preceding the benefit. It happened that during the Saturday 
 night previous a violent storm arose, which tore the canvas 
 from the sides of the great theatre-stage whicli had been 
 erected for open-air performances, and at which the two dis- 
 tinguished artists were to have appeared. Notwithstanding 
 the fact that the wind continued at its highest rate of velocity 
 during the entire day, not less than 15,000 francs were real- 
 ized for the object specified ; and the very fury of the tempest
 
 364 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 ARCH OF TRIUMPH. 
 
 seemed to add to the enjoyment and hilarity of a good pro- 
 portion of the immense multitude that crowded within the 
 gates. 
 
 Twice each week, coaches call at all the principal hotels for
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 365 
 
 persons who may desire to go the "rounds" of the city and 
 " see the sights," — so advertised in one English circula-r ; — 
 and on other days a four-horse coach, witli competent guide, 
 interpreters and messengers, leaves for Fontainebleau. The 
 charge is very moderate, and the trip is worth taking as a 
 preUminary or preface-sketching tour of observation. After 
 that one may select the points that most interest him and go 
 without hesitation — with the sufficient knowledge obtained in 
 the run around — directly to his chosen places, without the in- 
 tervention or cost of a guide. 
 
 The residence of a Nevada Bonanza millionaire is directly 
 opposite the Arc dc Triomphe, and is, perhaps, the most eli- 
 gibly situated of any of the dwellings that from the five angles 
 may be said to face this commanding structure. It was a 
 matter of common gossip when we arrived in Paris that " a 
 rich American speculator" had offered a hundred thousand 
 francs to the city to be permitted, on an occasion of one of 
 his parties, to illuminate the Arc de Triomphe. [Such little 
 personal matters are often prominent topics of conversation 
 in European cities, when there is not a word about them in 
 the newspapers.] The host of the evening agreed to pay all 
 the expenses, of course, connected with the fitting of the lamps, 
 and so forth. But the authorities applied to, though said to 
 be sorely in need of funds, declined the offer. There are 
 four other wealthy persons who have their " grand home " ad- 
 jacent to this crowning spot, and it was argued that if one 
 was given the privilege it must be accorded to the others ; 
 and would it not eventually serve to bring contempt upon the 
 structure, thus used as a beacon pile for the millionaires, 
 whose parlor hearthstones were facing its columns .-' 
 
 In conversation with an officer in charge of the grounds 
 and buildings of the Invalides, on the occasion of our visit- 
 ing the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as when talking 
 to many of the crippled or infirm soldiers who stood about, 
 we found that there was the same devoted love and admira- 
 tion for the memory of Napoleon — if we could judge by 
 intensity of expression— that existed two generations ago. 
 Still he remains to the soldiers of France not only the most 
 wonderful marshal that ever led hosts to battle, but the
 
 366 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 TOMB OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 367 
 
 noblest ruler, and, so far as they can judge or comprehend, 
 the wisest legislator that the world has ever seen. 
 
 We sought to attend the funeral mass at the Church of the 
 Bonapartes, as it is popularly called, sung for the repose of 
 the soul of the late Comte de Chambord. Patiently we 
 stood in line an hour and a half, in the vain hope of getting 
 within the walls of the sacred edifice for the purpose of 
 viewing the ceremonies and hearing the music. Three or 
 four hundred anxious persons were our companions in suffer- 
 ing and pastime ; and while we had to regret the fact of being 
 barred out, and still more to deplore the personal effects of our 
 prolonged standing in a broiling-hot sun, the attendance was 
 not without profit. We opened up conversation at several 
 points along the line, shifting backwards for that purpose (to 
 which there was no objection) when we found that it was 
 certain that we could not enter. We opened up conversation 
 with respect to the sentiments of the people generally on the 
 royal question. Most of those in line, so far as we could 
 ascertain or infer, were simply curious to see and to hear, 
 without any sentiment of bereavement or any imperial affilia- 
 tion or desires. But some of our chance-made acquaintances 
 — French gentlemen, who became veiy communicative when 
 we informed them, as we took great care to do, that we were 
 Americans — were very outspoken and emphatic in their 
 declarations of favor for a monarchical system of government, 
 and some were unsparing in their denunciation of the ad- 
 ministration of the Republic. All these gave utterance to 
 one criticism on the late Count. They regretted his uncon- 
 querable obstinacy ; because he would not take the colors 
 and the arms after the enforced abdication of Napoleon III., 
 on the acceptance of which he would have been enthroned. 
 Some, who seemed to have been numbered among his more 
 steadfast adherents, declared that it almost shook their alle- 
 giance to him when he persisted in this unwise and, under the 
 circumstances, as they considered, absurd determination. As 
 for the Prince dc Paris, I did not hear a single favorable 
 opinion. One Frenchman said, in a way peculiar to his 
 countrymen — giving treble emphasis by a gesture — tossing 
 the back of his hands upwards rapidly three or four times :
 
 368 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 " He is light, he is light, he is light ! " I felt inclined and 
 even anxious to inform him about our western vernacular, 
 wherein we speak of an individual being " ver}'^ light timber." 
 But I was afraid that the seriousness of the occasion would 
 not tolerate such an explanation in the judgment of this gen- 
 tleman of refinement and taste and, most evidently, intense 
 imperialism. 
 
 As to some of the places to which ever)'body is said to go 
 — much of the history of which is common learning — let me 
 
 PALAIS ROYAL, PARIS. 
 
 name for note one : — the Palais Royal. Here are a series of 
 shops on the ground floor, in enclosed squares, and a series 
 of restaurants above. The articles in the shop are priced at 
 about 25 per cent, more than the same articles can be pur- 
 chased for elsewhere, in this same cit}^ The restaurants 
 here are not first-class, while the tariff is often extortionate. 
 
 The best eating-places in the city, all things considered, 
 for the ordinary' restaurant patronizer, are the Duval estab- 
 lishments. There you are given a general diet and drink pro-
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 369
 
 370 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 gramme as you enter the door, for one, two, three, four or 
 more persons — as your company may number. This catalogue 
 of the articles that are supplied at the table, you hand to the 
 person who attends upon yourself or your party, and who 
 marks upon it by tally points only the number of plates of 
 any particular article which you may order. Included in this 
 enumeration is the number of napkins which you use — five 
 centimes for each. With his ideas of cash-arithmetic, the 
 American who has not shaken off his home calculation tables, 
 as he sees the large centime numbers increase on his list, is 
 naturally inclined to be apprehensive of an immense bill at 
 the conclusion of the entertainment, and is proportionately 
 surprised when the aggregate comes out at a low figure in our 
 dollars and cents. You pay to the lady who serves you; 
 and she brings you back that programme or catalogue, 
 stamped by the cashier, whose desk is at a counter on the 
 floor where you eat. This paper you return to the auditor 
 and door-keeper, — the same person who saluted you and tick- 
 eted you at your entrance. If you do not have this paper 
 with you when you shall have arrived at the outer door, you 
 will liot be permitted to pass out until inquiry and ascertain- 
 ment is made as to whether you have paid your bill ! I am 
 told the proprietor of this establishment (who looks very 
 much like an ex-mayor of the city of San Francisco, now 
 or lately residing in one of our southern California coun- 
 ties) started business in this place with less than 500 francs 
 for capital, and that to-day he is the owner of not less 
 than 500,000 francs, with "establishments" in every part of 
 the city. 
 
 When we saw, by chance, at a distance from a shop at 
 which we were purchasing some trifles, the name of Maison 
 Dorde, over doors and on windows, we made haste to look at 
 that building — the alleged model and pattern of a similar 
 establishment on Kearney street, in the city of San Francisco. 
 And on the following day — just for the sake of old memories 
 and future retrospect — we dined at the Maison Doree. It was 
 an excellent dinner ; but we shall dine there no more. If the 
 prices at the Maison Doree in San Francisco were in any wise 
 approximate to those on the way-bill at its forerunner, I am
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 Z1^ 
 
 GRAND STAIRWAY OF OPERA HOUSE.
 
 372 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 of the opinion that my friend Leon Dingeon would have a 
 very limited number of patrons. 
 
 We attended at the Grand Opera House during the perform- 
 ance of The Hicgiienot. The advice is given from all quarters 
 that if you have not time to make more than one visit to this 
 magnificent temple of music, you had better sacrifice one of 
 the acts — forego the pleasure of listening to the introductory, 
 or second scene — for the purpose of examining the corridors 
 and staircases. The advice should be repeated until it is 
 known to every visitor. It will be readily accepted ; the 
 more so if, as on the occasion of our attendance, the perform- 
 ance be slovenly in orchestral accompaniment, and not more 
 than fairly good on the stage. 
 
 The grandest thing about the opera house of Paris, after all 
 is examined and said, is the grand staircase. If I were to 
 give advice in the premises, I would say that, unless some 
 great singer or some star company was engaged, the tourist 
 who cannot spare more than one night to visit the building 
 should donate most of his time to walking in the foyer and 
 up and down that splendid flight of steps. I have seen the 
 interior of many amphitheatres, which, although not so spa- 
 cious, gave me just as much satisfaction as this concert-room 
 interior ; but that staircase is worthy of the extreme Parisian 
 eulogistic phrase — as Carlyle translated it — " the superla- 
 tively superb." I was not surprised to hear it said, that art- 
 ists and architects have been known to pay, for the second 
 and third time, an admission fee, that would take them past 
 the lower hall, for the sole purpose of re-studying this beauti- 
 ful entrance, with all its " effects " under the artificial light 
 that is ablaze during an Opera evening. 
 
 Whatever may have been the sum of his faults, political 
 and personal, certain it is that no visitor to Paris can fail to 
 experience a sense of gratitude to Napoleon Third, for that 
 which is there unanimously credited to him by the native 
 resident — for. the great public street improvements chronicled 
 in his reign ; — and especially will this sentiment be large and 
 throbbing in the breast of a traveller who has been sojourn- 
 ing for a shorter or longer period previous in the mighty 
 metropolis of Britain. O, for a Louis Napoleon, with his
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 373 
 
 'iiiiiiiiniiiiiiii'ii^ii 
 
 H 
 
 K 
 W 
 
 M 
 
 <3 
 W 
 
 w 
 
 2 
 3 
 o 
 w 
 
 O 
 *^ 
 
 !>
 
 374 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 Baron Haussmann, for one year only — if no more — in charge 
 of the street-department of London ! How they would push 
 St, Andrews street plump into Ludgate Circus ! How they 
 Mould open up an air-lme avenue from Trafalgar Square to 
 the corner of Oxford street and Tottenham Court Road ! 
 How pitilessly they would by straight and broad street con- 
 nections bring down St. John's road to the banks of the 
 Thames ! From the little I know of Paris, as it was before 
 the days of Napoleon IH. and as it is now, I believe that 
 many sojourners have with intense power-coveting declared 
 that they could revise the map of London, under the sup- 
 posed road-monarchy, with immense satisfaction —to them- 
 selves, at least. And that too, without much, if any, 
 destruction or impairment of the most loved " historic " 
 street-corner localities. 
 
 It is a great comparative comfort to ride on the Parisian 
 omnibus. But then, during the busy portions of the day, you 
 must go to the starting points and obtain your ticket, or you 
 will probably never get an opportunity to ride outside. In 
 the pleasant months of the year it is " one grand recreation " 
 for the Parisian himself, to mount his city car and take the 
 full worth of a through ticket, day after day. 
 
 The inhabitants are very proud of their loveliest of cities ; 
 they seem never to tire of looking it all over; and as a rule — 
 even as we found it in Gothenburg — they put aside all their 
 avocations and duties, so far as possible, to inform a stranger, 
 or to carefully direct him to the sources where he can best 
 obtain full and perfect particulars. Even Boston has now no 
 superior average of public-spirited citizens, in this respect 
 and manifestation. 
 
 And what a contrast to the robbing London cabman is 
 this most polite of hack-drivers. George Augustus Sala had 
 led us to expect quite the opposite. (But that was in his 
 letters written during the crowding of strangers to see The 
 Exposition.) The Parisian " cabby " is not only courteous, but 
 precise in giving you the time or distance, and explaining 
 with accuracy what the fares are from point to point. With 
 what perfect urbanity he listens to the broken French that 
 you thrust at him ; doing what he can to help out your speech 
 
 I
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 375 
 
 or to make sure of your intentions, as though he had t2en a 
 servant in your family all the clays of his life. And if he 
 hears you pleading for a special privilege anywhere— on 
 account, for instance, of your mistaking about the hour 
 when a public institution would be open to view, or the like 
 of that — how quickly and strongly, and yet withal how defer- 
 entially towards you, he comes to your support! "Surely 
 you must let the American gentleman in, if it is possible." 
 Adding in an undertone : " The people of his republic are 
 friendly to France.' And if you ask him to be your guide, 
 and lay the full responsibility and dignity of direction and 
 appointment upon him, with a happy sense of the confidence 
 reposed he picks up his reins and starts on the rounds ; never 
 missing a point in all his routes, or failing to turn about in 
 due proximity to a gallery or a church or a monument or a 
 panorama, and ask in his own way : " Monsieur has probably 
 
 seen the ? ' No ! ' Then we are close to it, and it is 
 
 [or is not] worth Monsieur's time to step out and pay a visit 
 to it." 
 
 O, most excellent of conductors and city coach and cab- 
 box companions ! No wonder that a famous German song- 
 stress could not forbear chanting thy praises, in a recent 
 poetical epistle. 
 
 Now that we have seen Notre Dame Cathedral— the glories 
 of its fretted arches and stained windows, and the riches of 
 its ecclesiastical regalia, and the robes of its martyred prel- 
 ates—have gained and enjoyed the magnificent view from 
 the accessible tower, will we see " the ghastly sight ? " He 
 remarks that " Some persons, especially ladies, do not wish 
 to see it ; but as the place is convenient to the cathedral, 
 perhaps we would like to stop on this route?" He does not 
 even name the place. What a delicacy there is in this ! But 
 of course we comprehend at once that he means The Morgue. 
 " Some will wish to see it,"— with true French inquiring sug- 
 gestiveness. Only three bodies on this particular morning — 
 old, middle-aged and young. The veteran was said to be 
 over 70 ; a small, deeply-wrinkled face, but with a strong, 
 thick shock of gray hair. The second body was that of a 
 very large man, whose v/ater-bloated carcass had evidently
 
 376 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 been much distended by a regular course of alcoholism before 
 he tumbled into the Seine. Number 3 is a tall, slim youth 
 of not more than 23 years, with an Irish cast of coun- 
 tenance and with a big mark of contusion on the left side of 
 his head. Strange it is to observe a smile in the expression 
 of his mouth, while his eyes seem sparkling rather than 
 glassed in death. The clothes of the three are hung on a 
 rack at one side, and all indicate that they are laboring men. 
 There are but few persons in attendance — not over a dozen — 
 and none who appear to be attracted by anything but idle or 
 morbid curiosity. "Sometimes," our driver says, "it is very 
 hard to hear the shrieking that comes from that little house. 
 But," — (he adds, in another tone, and with a characteristic 
 French shrug) — " not more than one out of twenty that are 
 exposed here are identified by anybody that has any special 
 love for them." 
 
 Will we go to the Garden of Plants ? The managerie will 
 be sure to please the child. We go. In the crowd we can 
 see less of the animals than at Dresden, and perhaps on that 
 account think it is an inferior exhibition. But the garden 
 proper is, of its kind, unsurpassed. Here the attendants get 
 from one to five francs a day ; from the boy that waters and 
 feeds the pigeons up to the master of the tigers and the 
 keeper of the elephants. The women who sell a drink that 
 answers in insipidity to the Swedish sept — we are carefully 
 informed — make more on Sundays and holidays than the 
 wages of any of the men in charge of the premises, except 
 the house-warmer and blanket-keeper for the snakes. The 
 Anaconda Boss gets seven francs a day, and is not to be 
 accounted among the ordinary workmen in the garden. He 
 resembles Lei and Stanford. 
 
 Most of the French children that we meet or see in our 
 "rounds" seem to be not merely happy, but enthusiastically 
 so. I will not say that they are unnaturally excited, as some 
 have written, in effect, of the whole brood of Gallic offspring. 
 It is natural with them to be very lively ; but they are not 
 any more boisterous than are our own young folks of similar 
 ages and otherwise adapted for just comparison. 
 
 And observe how good-natured, to the degree of jollity, are
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 377 
 
 the majority of the laborers upon the public streets ; where it 
 does appear that the hardest work is done. We ask the 
 driver to make an excuse and stop by the side of some of 
 these men who are engaged in laying down a wooden pave- 
 ment, while we venture on a little questioning. They get 
 four francs a day ; and, taking their habit of life and the 
 cost of bread and meat and onions or garlic into account, we 
 judge that in the matter of pay they are about ten or fifteen 
 per cent, from a wages-par with laborers upon the public 
 streets of New York. That is, when their pay and the cost 
 of their living and the like are all duly considered. 
 
 Will we look in at the panorama of the Bastile ? We have 
 to wait a half hour before we can gain admission here, or at 
 the panorama of the city of Paris — the number within being 
 limited to threescore, and the waiting attendance being four 
 times that number on our " circuit day " under this guidance. 
 The arrangements within are the same as at Dresden, as 
 hereinbefore described. A new rotunda, with central plat- 
 form and umbrella and embankment margin and canvas walls 
 — representing an ineifectual effort to dislodge the Germans 
 from a forest in the suburbs of Paris — has just been opened ; 
 and we act upon the suggestion that we might desire to look 
 in upon this also. You are not surprised to hear that many 
 persons visit these paintings several times in the year — that 
 is, those paintings which have been on exhibition long enough 
 to test and establish popularity. 
 
 The people of the Arrondissement in which we sojourn will 
 hold an election on Sunday. We attend at the polls to see 
 the gathering. Our viev^r is in a large hall ; and nothing 
 could, under the circumstances, be more orderly. Why, we 
 have seen town meetings in staid old Berkshire Count}'', 
 Massachusetts, that were proportionately more tumultuous. 
 I speak of demonstrations in noisy conversations, and the 
 like. Of course, strong feeling is exhibited ; but here again 
 the politeness of the race comes in : this time manifested by 
 all classes to each other, and from representatives of one 
 body of citizens to every other class. 
 
 But " Did I not discover that the French are sore over their 
 defeat by the Germans, and determined to avenge Sedan at
 
 378 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 the earliest practicable period?" Well, yes, many told 
 me— speaking usually in what, for a Frenchman, might be 
 termed a phlegmatic manner — that the time would come 
 when they would get even ; but most of these men defer the 
 next war until the next generation, — candidly admitting that 
 they were not prepared for it now, and probably would not 
 be for the next 20 years. " But the time would come ! Ah, 
 yes : the time would come ! " That would do for a legacy to 
 their children ; and their children would bear it in mind. 
 And when we pleasantly and gently referred to the superiority 
 in numbers of the Gennan armies, w^e were told that France 
 was richer than Germany, and would one day be more popu- 
 lous than that Germany which the Berlin monarchy could hold 
 together. " See ! " they would exclaim ; '• see ! How rich 
 France is ! How quickly she paid off, or arranged to pay off, 
 her indebtedness ! It astonished the world, and well it 
 might. But France, for its size, is the richest countrj^ on the 
 globe." You will probably be told this many times, and with 
 many substantiating details, if you open this line of inquiiy 
 and conversation. 
 
 They think that Americans should sympathize with them 
 very deepty, now that France is a republic ; and it was the un- 
 derstanding with most of those with Avhom I had communi- 
 cations on this subject, that our people, as a rule, do feel a 
 special interest and hope in the future of the new Govern- 
 ment. Often and long v/e talked of the origin and promotion 
 of the Bartholdi Statue project, and the significance it already 
 had and would acquire. In one company I quoted the lines 
 of Oliver Wendell Holmes on " The Sunny Land of France : " 
 — the paragraph where he describes how 
 
 " The city slept beneath the moonbeam's jrlance. 
 Her white walls gleaming througli the vines of France. 
 And all was hushed save where the footsteps fell 
 On some high tower, of midnight sentinel. 
 But one still watched : no self-encircled woes 
 Chased from his side the angel of repose ; 
 He watched, he i^'ept, for thoughts of bitter years 
 Bowed his dark lashes, wet with burning tears ; 
 His country's suflFering and her children s shame. 
 Streamed o'er his memory like a forest tiame. 
 Each treasured insult, each remembered wrong. 
 Rolled through his heart, and kindled into song. 
 His taper faded ; and the morning gales 
 Swept through the world the war-song of INIarseilles."
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 179 
 
 I 
 
 And from my English recitation, and an attempt to trans- 
 late, I aroused such an interest in it — such a curiosity about 
 it, I may say — that I am sure the lines are by this time 
 worthily written in French hexameter. I wondered that there 
 was no rendering of it long ago in their best frame-work of 
 song. But let me be satisfied if I did not mutilate it, in the 
 Gallic tongue, in vain ! 
 
 Close by our little hotel was the Church of St. Roch, a huge 
 building, with two great altars, so to speak— the one directly 
 behind the other. The latter is not in a lady chapel ; — for I 
 should say thai the rear church-room and appointments were 
 too large to admit of that term. \\'e remarked that the 
 front of the church was draped for a funeral ; some notable 
 person was to be buried on one day of our observation. We 
 went in and saw a bier placed high above the altar rails in 
 the body of the church ; but no one was near it. The strains 
 of mournful music were heard proceeding from the farther 
 end. We met a funeral procession coming out from the in- 
 terior gates on the left-hand aisle, headed by a priest, who 
 was chanting, and a trombone performer, who was sounding a 
 dirge-accompaniment. The procession marched down nearly 
 as far as the threshold of the great door — a distance of two 
 hundred feet or more — and there the music ceased, and the 
 coffin, which had been carried between four liveried men in 
 a dansflinir and indifferent manner, was lowered to a stretcher 
 which was brought up behind the weeping widow and her 
 family train. Then all the gentlemen in the line — fully three 
 score of them— shook hands with the widow and other relations 
 of the deceased who were present ; and all the ladies and many 
 of the srentlemen in attendance embraced and kissed the 
 widow with great heartiness, and I should say with vehemence 
 that approached to violence. They smacked the poor little 
 woman on each cheek with an intensity of ardor that was 
 painful to behold — and to hear ! And 1 could not help ob- 
 serving, after the ceremony was over and the marching re- 
 sumed, that her face — the right side particularly, which 
 received the first force of these strong consoling osculations, 
 appeared as though it had been slapped or poulticed to the 
 verge of blistering.
 
 380 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 Going up St. Roch street a few evenings prior to our de- 
 parture, I saw through an oijen window a very old man read- 
 ing a newspaper to his wife, who could not have been much 
 his junior. There was a crowd at the point on the narrow 
 sidewalk, so that all must needs hear the passages, which in a 
 voice expressive of deep emotion the old man was slowly- 
 making audible. It was the story of a poor girl who had 
 been her mother's only support for years, suddenly thrown on 
 a bed of sickness. There was an appeal in the paper for 
 help, and before the crowd diminished so that I could push 
 on my way, the aged pair within had put on their hats and 
 made ready to go to the scene of distress. I marked the 
 spot — a little thread and needle store — and went in there, the 
 next day. After purchasing some trifle, I asked how the poor 
 girl was whom they had visited the preceding night. What I 
 knew and how I came to know what little (much, it seemed to 
 them) that I did know about their going to that place, was a 
 matter of tormenting curiosity to these good folks. They 
 had not dreamed that any stranger in the wide, wide world 
 was aware of their going ; certainly they could not understand 
 how they had been identified as charitable visitors at that 
 bedside ? But I got my information in reply to my surprising 
 question : — which information was to the effect that they and 
 others had supplied all immediate necessities, and that there 
 would be no suffering in that garret if they could help it. 
 And they could help it (this last said with great emphasis). 
 But I was called back to be told that there was " a grand 
 lady from America " whose " house-word " had been sent to 
 this chamber of affliction before these old people got there ; 
 and I understood that it was expected, according to the mes- 
 sage, that she or her immediate messenger would come on 
 the following day. Word had been sent that no comfort 
 for the girl or the mother should be lacking. With some 
 difficulty, I got her name. It transpired that, whether she 
 was in Paris or elsewhere, her instructions to take notice of 
 private or personal appeals for help to poor families, made it 
 certain that no such item as the one referred to would go un- 
 observed by her home representatives. 
 
 When I listened to the Duke of Cambridge, in the British
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 
 
 381 
 
 House of Lords, uttering his arguments and denunciations 
 against the Channel Tunnel — opportunely supplied with facts 
 and figures by the then recent victor of Alexandria — I could 
 not restrain a sentiment of indignation, which I fully expected 
 would be revived and intensified when I had occasion — as 
 occasion I needs must have — to cross that little, narrow divi- 
 sion of water, which is so notorious, the world over, for its 
 pitching perturbations ! Would not every sea-sick passenger 
 anathematize the Duke who so powerfully denounced the 
 tunnel project ? But I never thought of the Duke, nor of 
 
 STEAMSHIP CITY OF BERLIN. 
 
 General Wolseley — no, not for a moment — on the water sec- 
 tion of the trip between the two great Capitals of Europe ; 
 for, while the day before had been so rough as to absolutely 
 preclude the passage of steamers from Calais to Dover, at 
 the time of our crossing the sea was as smooth as the Pacific 
 Ocean in its calmest mood. Of necessity, with small steam- 
 ers of such sharp build as make this trip for passenger con- 
 nection, there will be rolling and teetering at the best ; and, 
 as the medical chairman of tho Dinner of Poisons, in Dickens' 
 celebrated tale of fashionable French suicides, had occasion to 
 remark : " Some folks will be so provoking as to get a little
 
 382 
 
 NORTHERN EUROPE.
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. 383 
 
 nervous and eructious before the proper time, when they know 
 that they are apt to have actual cause in a little while." 
 
 From the proportion of passengers who are talking of their 
 preferences for trans-Atlantic steamship lines, it is certain 
 that a majority are old travellers; and we note the fact that 
 the most experienced seem to favor the Inman Company's 
 boats and management ; many being very emphatic in their 
 praise of the officering and accommodations on the City of 
 Berlin. 
 
 Many passengers who make this trip for the first time, on 
 the run from the Continent to England, will certainly feel in- 
 clined to put the inquiry of surprise to the typical John Bull, 
 as that captain paces his central deck in command of the ferry 
 vessel," Where are the White cliffs of Dover?" Not at this 
 season of the year, at all events, does the color of the British 
 headlands, as presented to the eye of the approaching visitor, 
 suggest or justify this adjective. Cliffs, sure enough ; and 
 higher and more precipitous by far than the pictures or pho- 
 tographs usually represent them. And squarely against the 
 breast of one of them, the keen-edged vessel runs its nose, 
 when it slips up to the dock. 
 
 Before the passage across is half-way completed, you can 
 discern, with the aid of your own or the vessel's sea-glass, 
 the lower promontories, — the light-house and castle of Dover ; 
 and before you arrive at the landing, there is a good half-hour 
 of clear vision— on a cloudless day — of the populated heights, 
 and the great warehouses of the town. But think you that 
 the nevir people on board are giving much audible expression 
 to their thoughts with respect to these structures or their sur- 
 roundings ? Not a bit of it ! But just as we cross the line 
 of the castle's longitude, we are mutually surprised— a score 
 or more of us — by a loud chorus of agreeing curiosity and 
 anxiety, — the preceding solo of interrogation, coming from the 
 youngest in the multitude that stood upon that deck ; — about 
 the probable location of the cottage which was once occupied 
 by no less personages than Betsy Trotwood, Mr. Dick and 
 David Copperfield ? One set inquire as to its whereabouts, 
 within what limits it necessarily must be; while, simulta- 
 neously, others, of the number indicated, have a positive judg-
 
 384 NORTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 ment in the premises at once. Many separately exclaiming 
 as they point, '■''There is where little David must have seen the 
 donkeys on the lawn and heard his benevolent but irritable 
 relative call out to Janet, just before he put in an appear- 
 ance and identified himself, in the garden adjoining the cot- 
 tage." The fact is, that at the place or point where Aunt 
 Betsy's cottage once stood — of which a literally exact de- 
 scription was given by the great novelist — lodging-houses of 
 a very expensive size and style are now to be seen. (Says 
 Alfred Rimmer — the author of that delightful book, ""^ About 
 Eiigland with Dickens .•" — " Miss Trotwood's house was not 
 far from Dover Castle, which rises magnificently toward the 
 sea at an abrupt elevation of between three and four hundred 
 feet above the level of the water. The French coast is clearly 
 visible at times from here, and whenever it is seen, rainy 
 weather is not far off. Donkeys will always be found, and no 
 doubt they trespass as much as the donkeys of Miss Trot- 
 wood's time did.") 
 
 And then again, we are surprised — or we should have been 
 if we had not heard the same thing a few months before, under 
 somewhat similar circumstances — we are surprised to over- 
 hear expressions of wonder on the part of English ladies and 
 gentlemen — for such they undoubtedly gave evidence of be- 
 ing — with reference to our manifested extensive and intimate 
 acquaintance with and love for the writings of the dead nov- 
 elist. And some of these, — (perhaps you will say that they, 
 for once, impeached their standing in manners by so doing), 
 expressed their contempt for that " vulgar author /' who — 
 be it understood from them — was never permitted to circulate 
 freely in first-class society in his native land ! He was an 
 author, they averred, who could not thoroughly "interpret" 
 the "nobler classes" of the English-speaking race, as they 
 were seen in all the higher walks of social life in Great 
 Britain ! Such was the substance of current remarks in the 
 quarter indicated. It appeared as though our mild protests 
 and our quotations of the British public's own words and 
 deeds in opposition to this criticism, only served to focalize 
 upon ourselves a personal judgment. 
 
 People of the United States should place at least one
 
 BERLIN TO DOVER. ■ 38c 
 
 more Memorial Window in England. This time, if such a 
 thing be possible, it should be in close o'er-setting proximity 
 to the body of the Benefactor, whom it might even thus 
 seem — to some beholders— to honor defiantly, as well as in a 
 most appropriate form of appreciation and gratitude:— a 
 splendid, conspicuous and long-enduring testimonial, shining 
 as near as Dean and Chapter will let it^ above or adjacent to 
 the grave of Charles Dickens,
 
 SHORTHAND AND REPORTING. 
 
 A LECTURE BY 
 
 i 
 
 CHARLES A. SUMNER. 
 
 New edition : with a portrait ; several pages of the lecture stereo- 
 graphed in phonography ; a great body of notes ; and a biographical 
 sketch of the lecturer. 114 pp. 
 
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 tion entirely new to me."— WM. INGRAHAM KIP, Bishop of California. 
 
 " I venture to express the hope that you may awaken a proper interest in the subject 
 on the part of those who control our educational institutions. If you do, you will deserve 
 to rank as a public benefactor. Your historical matter is admirably presented, and your 
 practical suggestions are of the highest value." — HON. A. A. SAKCiENT, U. S. S. 
 
 PRICE 10 CENTS, POST PAID. 
 
 Published and for sale by ANDREW J. GRAHAM. 
 
 744 Broadway, New York City.
 
 STANDARD-PHOiXOGRAPIIIC 
 AND OTHER WORKS. 
 
 ANDREW J. GRAHAM, 
 
 AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER. 
 
 744 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
 PHONOGRAPHY is :i Blioi-tliand system of writing accnrdius to souud or pi-onun- 
 ciatioii, rctjectiu',' silent letters and aniljiguous signs. The original system (Steno- 
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 the system of Harding (1823, 1828), which was a:i improvement on the system of 
 Samuel Taylor (1780). 
 
 " EDITlOyS" OF THE OLD PHONOGRAPHY.-lha Old Phonography was va- 
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 pubiished— First edition, in 1837 ; Second edition, Jan., 1810 ; Third edition, Dec, 
 1840; Fourth edition, 1841 ; Fifth edition, 1812 ; Si.Yth edition, 1844 ; Seventli 
 edition, 1845, • Eighth edition, 1847 ; Xinth edition, 1S53. This last and best edi- 
 tion was made tlie basis of Standard riionography. See Odds a.n'd Exds for an ac- 
 count of the characteristics of these " editions." 
 
 " Standard Phonography is now acknowledged by the most accomplished phonog- 
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 world. In the Adaptation of its Characters to the sounds of our language, in its 
 Legibility, in its Powers of Contraction, in the Rapidity with whicli it can be writ- 
 ten, in the liOgical and Convenient ^ rrangement and Presentation of its Principles, 
 and in its Ease of Actiuisition, it imnuastirablij surpasses every other st/stcm of short- 
 hand.— Frof. John B. Holmes, A. Jr., LL. B. 
 
 " The only system worth the attempt to learn."— Chas. A. Sum.ner. the leading 
 reporter of San Francisco. 
 
 " Standard Phonography is the most philosophical, rapid, and boaiitifiil system 
 of shorthand writing ever invented. The system of Phonography as now used, is
 
 n 
 
 the result of the labor and study of Andrew J. Graham, by wliom Pitman's system was 
 used as a basis, wliile he has wade very luauy alteratiuus, aud added inauy new 
 features [uew principles, rules, couibiuatious, devices, coutractious, aud word- 
 signs], making it at once the most unique and useful system of writing that can be 
 imagined." — Haverhill Gazette. 
 
 IMITATlOys. — See comparisons of them with Standard I'lioiiography In Xos. 
 27 and 72 of the Student's Joirxal, where the demonstration is tomiilete that the 
 imitations require about one tllil'd more labor aud space than Standard Phonogra- 
 phy; and are inferior in every oilier respect. See Visitor Vol. II., for an overwhelm- 
 ing body of testimonials from the best reporters of the country, against the inferi- 
 or imitations aud in favor of Standard Phonography. See Chas. A. Sumner's Lec- 
 ture ou Shorthand and Reporting. 
 
 THE STA1VDAR9-FHONOGRAPHIC SERIES. 
 " A more complete series of works on any subject than Mr. Graham's Standard- 
 Phunographic Series has never been published. These Te-xt-Books are the only ones 
 that are perfect in themselves ; and, in no respect, could I suggest an improve- 
 ment in the manner of bringing the subject before even the dullest student; and 
 the introduction of them into all institutions of learning, where Phonogra])hy is 
 taught, is the highest compliment that can be paid to their merit." — Charles Flow- 
 ers, a superior reporter. 
 
 Tike Outline.— In Miniature Book-form, bound in paper, 5 cents. One Doz- 
 en, 30 cents. 
 
 Tlie liittle Teaclier.— Comprises ; 1. The Octline, presenting all the 
 chief elements of Standard Phonography in eight primer-size pages ; 2. The Little 
 Heading Exercises— furnishing in Iti little pages an exercise on each section of the 
 Outline. 3. Miniature edition of Tue Correspondent's List of Word-Signs, Con- 
 tractions, Phrase-Signs, Prefixes, and Affixes of the Corresponding Style. JSS' The 
 Little Teacher is a useful pocket companion for students of the Synopsis ur Hand- 
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 Tlie Synopsis.— Xew and Improved edition. — Comprises: 1. The Synopxis {in 
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 l)resented, with numerous engraved illustrations. 2. The Reading Exercises — in 
 which there is an extended illustration and application of each section of the text ; 
 followed by several pages of connected reading matter, with an interlined transla- 
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 Tlie Hand-Book.— Presents every principle of every style of the Art— com- 
 mencing with the analysis of words, and proceeding to the most rapid Reporting 
 Style— in such a Form and Manner, with such Fullness of Explanation and Com- 
 1 lateness of Illustration, and with such other features as to fully adapt the work to 
 the use of Schools and to Self-Instruction. The analysis and classification of the 
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 guage. 366 duodecimo pages. Price, bound in muslin, with embossed side-title. 
 $2.00; post-paid, $2.10. 
 
 " Full, Concise and PniLOSopnicAL in its development of the theory of writing 
 by sound, Admiradle in its arrang:ement, and Replete with Improvements and re-
 
 Ill 
 
 flnements on the Art as previously defined, it aflfords the learner a safe means of 
 oUaiiuny a speed in reporting at least one-fourth yreati.r than can be acquired by any 
 other method. " — Xew Yurh Herald. 
 
 First Reader.— New and Revised Edition ; Stereographed in the Corres- 
 pondiug Stylo ; with interpaged Key ; with Questions ; and with Notes. $1.75; 
 postpaid, >1.81. Key separate, with Questions and Notes ; 50c.; postpaid, 5ic. 
 
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 To be studied in connection with the Reporting-Style chapter of the Hand-Book. 
 f 1.75 ; postlJaid, $1.81. 
 
 Staudard-Plionograpliic Ittictionary.- "The last great crowning 
 workot the Standard Series, ■• gives the pronunciation and the best outlines 
 (Corresponding, Advanced Corresponding, and Reporting) ol about GO.OOO words, 
 and the loruis lor about OO.OUU phrases. Beyond comparison with any shorthand 
 dictionary or vocabulary ever published. Invaluable to writers of either style. 
 Cloth, $5 ; genuine morocco, $7 ; (Octavo-form from the same plates, with wide 
 margins), cloth, $G ; leather, $8 ; morocco, iU. 
 
 Tlie Reporter's List.— In preparation— with engraved forms and ex- 
 plauatious— in pocket-size pages. It will combine, in one list, all the Word-Signs 
 and Contractions and Phrase-Signs of the Corresponding-Style and Reporting- 
 Style Lists of the Hand-Book, with some additions from the Dictionary, ar- 
 ranged in phonographic-alphabetical order. The pages appear as fast as ready 
 in the Student's Journal commencing with the 1878 volume. This will be an 
 invaluable YaJe Mecum (" go with me ") to all phonographic students. 
 
 L.ady of ttoe I^alce.- By Sir Walter Scott. With Frontispiece. Stereo- 
 graphed in the advanced corresponding style, with interpaged key ; and with 
 Notes. Total number of pages, 328. Price. $2; pud.. i2.l(i. Morocco. S4 ; 
 ppd., $1.10. 
 
 ■1 
 
 PERIODICAL VOLUITIES: 
 
 Odd»> and Ends (or Phcnographic Intelliyencer).— In common print.— Has a 
 
 variety of matter of interest and value to phonographers. 75 cents. 
 
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 Volume 1. (Out of print). Vol.2, fl.i.". : ppd., $1.34. Vol.3. (41,1 pages of 
 common print and G'24 pages of engraved phonography), $6 ; ppd. $('..25 (Out). 
 Volume 4. (376 pages of common print and '2iH pages of engraved iihouography), 
 ?4 ; ppd- S4.20. Vol. 5 (numbers 1 to 41, 1870), 8 pages each number, mostly in 
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 to 13 (1844), bound, each, $2.50 ; ppd. $2.05. 
 
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 tions for self-instruction), vocalized corresponding style exercises, with inter- 
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 men copies on application. 
 
 THE MIM ITURE SERIES. 
 This series will consist of little volum!>s, about 3 by 5 inches. Now ready The
 
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 LUlle Teacher). lu jireparation, The Reporter's List, aud various little reading 
 books, aud works of rolcreuce. 
 
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 PHONOGKAPHIC BOf'UMENTS. 
 
 "All About PUonograpIay," — No. 27 Student's Journal — answers 
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 demfiustrates by eomiJarisons with other systems the gi-eat superiority of Stand- 
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 Charles A. Sumner. 15 cents. 
 
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 A new and improved edition, illustrating " Partial Phonography, " that is, the 
 combination of frequent phouographic word-forms with the Brief Longhand 
 contractions. 03 cents.— This work contains Directions for Correcting Printer's 
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 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 
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 Reader Key). 
 
 Phonetic Quarterly, Vol. I. A general historical and critical review of 
 phonetic printing from Hart, 1569, to tho present time. Paper, 25 cents ; cloth 
 40 cents.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 
 AUb 15 .. 
 
 25nl-2,'M(3203)
 
 DI9 
 
 ?^95n Sumner - 
 
 llotes of travel 
 in northern 
 
 AA 000 702 496 l 
 
 Europe, 
 
 AUG 13 
 
 ]^mi 
 
 Dl>9 
 S95n