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Title: Norwegian Life

Author: Ethlyn T. Clough

Release Date: December 30, 2003 [EBook #10543]

Language: English

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Norwegian Life

AN ACCOUNT OF PAST AND CONTEMPORARY CONDITIONS AND PROGRESS IN NORWAY
AND SWEDEN

Edited and Arranged by

ETHLYN T. CLOUGH




PREFACE


An excursion into Norwegian life has for the student all the charm of
the traveler's real journey through the pleasant valleys of the Norse
lands. Much of this charm is explained by the tenacity of the people
to the homely virtues of honesty and thrift, to their customs which
testify to their home-loving character, and to their quaint costumes.
It is a genuine delight to study and visit these lands, because they
are the least, perhaps in Europe, affected by the leveling hand of
cosmopolitan ideas. Go where you will,--to England, about Germany,
down into Italy,--everywhere, the same monotonous sameness is growing
more oppressive every year. But in Norway and Sweden there is still an
originality, a type, if you please, that has resisted the growth of
an artificial life, and gives to students a charm which is even more
alluring than modern cities with their treasures and associations.

The student takes up Norwegian life as one of the subjects which has
been comparatively little explored, and is, therefore replete with
freshness and delight. This little book can not by any means more
than lift the curtain to view the fields of historical and literary
interest and the wondrous life lived in the deep fiords of Viking
land. But its brief pages will have, at least, the merit of giving
information on a subject about which only too little has been written.
Taken in all, there are scarcely half a dozen recent books circulating
in American literary channels on these interesting lands, and for one
reason or another, most of these are unsuited for club people. There
is an urgent call for a comprehensive book which will waste no time
in non-essentials,--a book that can be read in a few sittings and yet
will give a glimpse over this quaint and wondrously interesting corner
of Europe. This book has been prepared, as have all the predecessors
in this series, by the help of many who have written most delightfully
of striking things in Norwegian life. One has specialized in one
thing, while another has been allured by another subject. Accordingly,
"Norwegian Life" is the product of many, each inspired with feeling
and admiration for the one or two subjects on which he has written
better than on any others. Liberty has been taken to make a few
verbal changes in order to give to the story the unity and smoothness
desired, and a key-letter at the end of each chapter refers the reader
to a page at the close where due credits are given.

J.M. HALL.




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I PREHISTORIC AND EARLY HISTORIC TIMES

CHAPTER II NORWAY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

CHAPTER III SWEDEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

CHAPTER IV THE RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN

CHAPTER V THE LITERATURE OF NORWAY

CHAPTER VI THE LITERATURE OF SWEDEN

CHAPTER VII GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN

CHAPTER VIII THE ARMY AND NAVY

CHAPTER IX PUBLIC EDUCATION

CHAPTER X HAAKON VII, NEW KING OF NORWAY

CHAPTER XI THE ROYAL FAMILY OF SWEDEN

CHAPTER XII CHARITABLE AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER XIII MATERIAL CONDITIONS

CHAPTER XIV HIGHWAYS, RAILWAYS, AND WATERWAYS

CHAPTER XV THE PEOPLE: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

CHAPTER XVI HEALTH, EXERCISE, AND AMUSEMENTS

CHAPTER XVII THE NEWSPAPERS OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN

CHAPTER XVIII NORWEGIAN FOLK SONGS

CHAPTER XIX WOMEN OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN




NORWEGIAN LIFE




CHAPTER I

PREHISTORIC AND EARLY HISTORIC TIMES


A glance at the map will show that the Scandinavian Peninsula, that
immense stretch of land running from the Arctic Ocean to the North
Sea, and from the Baltic to the Atlantic, covering an area of nearly
three hundred thousand square miles, is, next to Russia, the largest
territorial division of Europe. Surrounded by sea on all sides but
one, which gives it an unparalleled seaboard of over two thousand
miles, it hangs on the continent by its frontier line with Russia in
Lapland. Down the middle of this seabound continent, dividing it into
two nearly equal parts, runs a chain of mountains not inappropriately
called Kölen, or Keel. The name suggests the image which the aspect of
the land calls to mind, that of a huge ship floating keel upwards on
the face of the ocean. This keel forms the frontier line between the
kingdoms of Norway and Sweden: Sweden to the east, sloping gently from
the hills to the Baltic, Norway to the west, running more abruptly
down from their watershed to the Atlantic.

Norway (in the old Norse language _Noregr_, or _Nord-vegr, i.e_., the
North Way), according to archaeological explorations, appears to have
been inhabited long before historical time. The antiquarians maintain
that three populations have inhabited the North: a Mongolian race and
a Celtic race, types of which are to be found in the Finns and the
Laplanders in the far North, and, finally, a Caucasian race, which
immigrated from the South and drove out the Celtic and Laplandic
races, and from which the present inhabitants are descended. The
Norwegians, or Northmen (Norsemen), belong to a North-Germanic branch
of the Indo-European race; their nearest kindred are the Swedes, the
Danes, and the Goths. The original home of the race is supposed to
have been the mountain region of Balkh, in Western Asia, whence from
time to time families and tribes migrated in different directions. It
is not known when the ancestors of the Scandinavian peoples left
the original home in Asia; but it is probable that their earliest
settlements in Norway were made in the second century before the
Christian era.

The Scandinavian peoples, although comprising the oldest and most
unmixed race in Europe, did not realize until very late the value of
writing chronicles or reviews of historic events. Thus the names of
heroes and kings of the remotest past are helplessly forgotten, save
as they come to us in legend and folk-song, much of which we must
conclude is imaginary, beautiful as it is. But Mother Earth has
revealed to us, at the spade of the archaeologist, trustworthy
and irrefutable accounts of the age and the various degrees of
civilization of the race which inhabited the Scandinavian Peninsula in
prehistoric times. Splendid specimens now extant in numerous museums
prove that Scandinavia, like most other countries, has had a Stone
Age, a Bronze Age, and an Iron Age, and that each of these periods
reached a much higher development than in other countries.

The Scandinavian countries are for the first time mentioned by the
historians of antiquity in an account of a journey which Pyteas from
Massilia (the present Marseille) made throughout Northern Europe,
about 300 B.C. He visited Britain, and there heard of a great country,
Thule, situated six days' journey to the north, and verging on the
Arctic Sea. The inhabitants in Thule were an agricultural people who
gathered their harvest into big houses for threshing, on account of
the very few sunny days and the plentiful rain in their regions. From
corn and honey they prepared a beverage (probably mead).

Pliny the Elder, who himself visited the shores of the Baltic in the
first century after Christ, is the first to mention plainly the name
of Scandinavia. He says that he has received advices of immense
islands "recently discovered from Germany." The most famous of these
islands was Scandinavia, of as yet unexplored size; the known parts
were inhabited by a people called _hilleviones_, who gave it the name
of another world. He mentions Scandia, Nerigon, the largest of them
all, and Thule. Scandia and Scandinavia are only different forms of
the same name, denoting the southernmost part of the peninsula, and
still preserved in the name of the province of Scania in Sweden.
Nerigon stands for Norway, the northern part of which is mentioned as
an island by the name of Thule. The classical writers were ignorant
of the fact that Scandinavia was one great peninsula, because the
northern parts were as yet uninhabited and their physical connection
with Finland and Russia unknown. That the Romans were later acquainted
with the Scandinavian countries is evidenced from the fact that great
numbers of Roman coins have been found in excavating, also vessels of
bronze and glass, weapons, etc., as well as works of art, all turned
out of the workshops in Rome or its provinces. There, no doubt,
existed a regular traffic over the Baltic, through Germany, between
the Scandinavian countries and the Roman provinces.

The first settlers probably knew little of agriculture, but made their
living by fishing and hunting. In time, however, they commenced to
clear away the timber that covered the land in the valleys and on the
sides of the mountains and to till the ground. At the earliest times
of which the historical tales or _Sagas_ tell us anything with
regard to the social conditions, the land was divided among the free
peasant-proprietors, or _bonde class_. Bonde, in English translation,
is usually called peasant; but this is not an equivalent; for with the
word "peasant" we associate the idea of inferior social condition to
the landed aristocracy of the country, while these peasants or bondes
were themselves the highest class in the country. The land owned by a
peasant was called his _udal_. By udal-right the land was kept in the
family, and it could not be alienated or forfeited from the kindred
who were udal-born to it. The free peasants might own many thralls or
slaves, who were unfree men. These were mostly prisoners captured by
the vikings on their expeditions to foreign shores; the owner could
trade them away, or sell them, or even kill them without paying any
fine or _man-bote_ to the king, as in the case of killing a free man.
As a rule, however, the slaves were not badly treated, and they were
sometimes made free and given the right to acquire land.

In early days Norway consisted of a great number of small states
called _Fylkis_, each a little kingdom by itself. The free peasants in
a Fylki held general assemblies called _Things_, where laws were made
and justice administered. No public acts were undertaken without the
deliberation of a _Thing_. The _Thing_ was sacred, and a breach of
peace at the _thing-place_ was considered a great crime. At the
_Thing_ there was also a hallowed place for the judges, or "lag-men,"
who expounded and administered the laws made by the _Thing_. Almost
every crime could be expiated by the payment of fines, even if the
accused had killed a person. But if a man killed another secretly,
he was declared an assassin and an outlaw, was deprived of all his
property, and could be killed by any one who wished to do so. The fine
or man-bote was heavier, the higher the rank of the person killed.

The _Thing_ or _Fylkis Thing_ was not made up of representatives
elected by the people, but was rather a primary assembly of the free
udal-born peasant-proprietors of the district. There were leading men
in the _fylki_, and each _fylki_ had one or more chiefs, but they had
to plead at the _Thing_ like other free men. When there were several
chiefs, they usually had the title of _herse_; but when the free men
had agreed upon one chief, he was called _jarl_ (earl), or king. The
king was the commander in war, and usually performed the judicial
functions; but he supported himself upon his own estates, and the free
peasants paid no tax. The dignity of the king was usually inherited
by his son, but if the heir was not to the liking of the people, they
chose another. No man, however clear his right of succession, would
think of assuming the title or power of a king except by the vote of
the _Thing_. There he was presented to the people by a free peasant,
and his right must be confirmed by the _Thing_ before he could exert
any act of kingly power. The king had a number of free men in his
service, who had sworn allegiance to him in war and in peace. They
were armed men, kept in pay, and were called _hird-men_ or court-men,
because they were members of the king's hird or court. If they were
brave and faithful, they were often given high positions of trust;
some were made _lendermen_ (liegemen), or managers of the king's
estates.

It is but natural that the ancient Norwegians should become warlike
and brave men, since their firm religious belief was that those who
died of sickness or old age would sink down into the dark abode of Hel
(Helheim), and that only the brave men who fell in battle would be
invited to the feasts in Odin's Hall. Sometimes the earls or kings
would make war on their neighbors, either for conquest or revenge.
But the time came when the countries of the north, with their poorly
developed resources, became overpopulated, and the warriors had to
seek other fields abroad. The viking cruises commenced, and for a long
time the Norwegians continued to harry the coasts of Europe.

At first the viking expeditions were nothing but piracy, carried on
for a livelihood. The name Viking is supposed to be derived from the
word _vik_, a cove or inlet on the coast, in which they would harbor
their ships and lie in wait for merchants sailing by. Soon these
expeditions assumed a wider range and a wilder character, and
historians of the time paint the horrors spread by the vikings in dark
colors. In the English churches they had a day of prayer each week to
invoke the aid of heaven against the harrying Northmen. In France
the following formula was inserted in the church prayer: "_A furore
Normannorum libera nos, o Domine_!" (Free us, O Lord, from the fury of
the Northmen!)

Gradually the viking life assumed a nobler form. There appear to have
been three stages or periods in the viking age. In the first one the
vikings make casual visits with single ships to the shores of England,
Ireland, France or Flanders, and when they have plundered a town or
a convent, they return to their ships and sail away. In the second
period their cruises assume a more regular character, and indicate
some definite plan, as they take possession of certain points, where
they winter, and from where they command the surrounding country.
During the third period they no longer confine themselves to seeking
booty, but act as real conquerors, take possession of the conquered
territory, and rule it. As to the influence of the Northmen on the
development of the countries visited in this last period, the eminent
English writer, Samuel Laing, the translator of the _Heimskringla_, or
the Sagas of the Norse kings, says:

"All that men hope for of good government and future improvement in
their physical and moral condition--all that civilized men enjoy at
this day of civil, religious, and political liberty--the British
constitution, representative legislation, the trial by jury, security
of property, freedom of mind and person, the influence of public
opinion over the conduct of public affairs, the Reformation, the
liberty of the press, the spirit of the age--all that is or has been
of value to man in modern times as a member of society, either in
Europe or in the New World, may be traced to the spark left burning
upon our shores by these northern barbarians."

The authentic history begins with Halfdan the Swarthy, who reigned
from the year 821 to 860. The Icelander Snorre Sturlason, who, in
the twelfth century, wrote the _Heimskringla_, or Sagas of the Norse
Kings, gives a long line of preceding kings of the Yngling race, the
royal family to which Halfdan the Swarthy belonged; but that part of
the Saga belongs to mythology rather than to history.

According to tradition, the Yngling family were descendants of
Fiolner, the son of the god Frey. One of the surnames of the god was
Yngve, from which the family derived the name Ynglings. King Halfdan
was a wise man, a lover of truth and justice. He made good laws, which
he observed himself and compelled others to observe. He fixed certain
penalties for all crimes committed. His code of laws, called the
Eidsiva Law, was adopted at a common _Thing_ at Eidsvol, where about a
thousand years later the present constitution of Norway was adopted.

One day in the spring of 860, when Halfdan the Swarthy was driving
home from a feast across the Randsfjord, he broke through the ice and
was drowned. He was so popular that, when his body was found, the
leading men in each _Fylki_ demanded to have him buried with them,
believing that it would bring prosperity to the district. They at last
agreed to divide the body into four parts, which were buried in four
different districts. The trunk of the body was buried in a mound at
Stien, Ringerike, where a little hill is still called Halfdan's Mound.
And this Halfdan became the ancestor of the royal race of Norway.

Halfdan's son, Harald the Fairhaired, at the age of ten years
succeeded his father on the throne of Norway, or it afterward proved
to be the throne of United Norway. When he became old enough to marry,
he sent his men to a girl named Gyda, a daughter of King Erik of
Hordaland, who was brought up a foster-child in the house of a rich
_Bonde_ in Valders.

Harald had heard of her as a very beautiful though proud girl. When
the men delivered their message, she answered that she would not marry
a king who had no greater kingdom than a few _Fylkis_ (districts), and
she added that she thought it strange that "no king here in Norway
will make the whole country subject to him, in the same way that
Gorm the Old did in Denmark, or Erik at Upsala." When the messengers
returned to the king, they advised him to punish her for her haughty
words, but Harald said she had spoken well, and he made the solemn vow
not to cut or comb his hair until he had subdued the whole of Norway,
which he did, and became sole king of Norway. The decisive battle was
a naval one in the Hafrsfjord, near the present city of Stavanger.
After this battle, which occurred in 872, when he had been declared
King of United Norway, he attended a feast, and the Earl of More cut
his hair, which had not been cut or combed for ten years, and gave him
the name of Fairhaired. Harald shortly afterward married Gyda.

From this time on, the history of Norway for nearly three hundred
years consists mainly in internecine warfare among the various
claimants of the throne, and the result of all this warfare was not
only to exhaust the material resources of the people, but to drive a
large proportion of the population to make viking excursions to win
land elsewhere, and also to make peaceable settlements in other
countries. Iceland was settled by the leading men of Norway in Harald
the Fairhaired's reign because they would not submit to his rule and
therefore emigrated to a land where they could rule. In 912 Duke Rollo
with a large following conquered Normandy and settled there with many
of his countrymen.

As the result of over three centuries of foreign and domestic war,
Norway and her people and her industries were prostrate when in 1389
Queen Margaret of Denmark claimed the succession to the throne of
Norway for her son Eric of Pomerania. The council of Norway and the
people were willing to accept a union with a more populous country
under a powerful sovereign in order to obtain peace and reestablish
order and prosperity. Norway had not been conquered by Denmark, and
the union was supposed to be equal. The Danish sovereigns, however,
without directly interfering with the local laws and usages of the
people of Norway, filled all the executive and administrative offices
in Norway with Danes; the important commands in the army were also
given exclusively to them. The result was that the interpretation and
execution of the laws of the land were in the hands of foreigners,
and Norway became and remained for four hundred years a province of
Denmark and unable to throw off the yoke because her army was in the
control and command of her oppressor, and her material resources
inadequate to wage successful war against him.

Like Norway, the most that we know of prehistoric times in Sweden we
gather from the early sagas, which are more or less faulty in their
statements, romantic and tragic though they be. Like the Norwegians,
the early Swedes are reported to have migrated from Asia under the
leadership of a chief who called himself Odin. And for centuries under
different kings and queens, the romantic and tragic story of Sweden
goes on to form at last her authentic history. In this brief survey we
can not go into details, and its history is very much the same as that
of Norway, except that Sweden was oftener her own mistress and at
longer intervals.

The sources of Swedish history during the first two centuries of the
Middle Ages are very meager. This is a deplorable fact, for during
that period Sweden passed through a great and thorough development,
the various stages of which consequently are not easily traced. Before
the year 1060, Sweden is an Old Teutonic state, certainly of later
form and larger compass than the earliest of such, but with its
democracy and its elective kingdom preserved. The older Sweden was, in
regard to its constitution, a rudimentary union of states. The realm
had come into existence through the cunning and violence of the king
of the Sviar, who made way with the kings of the respective lands,
making their communities pay homage to him. No change in the interior
affairs of the different lands was thereby effected; they lost their
outward political independence, but remained mutually on terms of
perfect equality. They were united only through the king, who was
the only center for the government of the union. No province had
constitutionally more importance than the rest, no supremacy by one
over the other existed. On this historic basis the Swedish realm was
built, and rested firmly until the commencement of the Middle Ages. In
the Old Swedish state-organism the various parts thus possessed a high
degree of individualized and pulsating life; the empire as a whole was
also powerful, although the royal dignity was its only institution.
The king was the outward tie which bound the provinces together;
besides him there was no power of state which embraced the whole
realm. The affairs of state were decided upon by the king alone, as
regard to war, or he had to gather the opinion of the Thing in each
province, as any imperial representation did not exist and was
entirely unknown, both in the modern sense and in the form of one
provincial, or sectional, assembly deciding for all the others. In
society there existed no classes. It was a democracy of free men, the
slaves and free men enjoying no rights. The first centuries of the
Middle Ages were one continued process of regeneration, the Swedish
people being carried into the European circle of cultural development
and made a communicant of Christianity. With the commencement of the
thirteenth century, Sweden comes out of this process as a medieval
state, in aspect entirely different to her past. The democratic
equality among free men has turned into an aristocracy, with
aristocratic institutions, the hereditary kingdom into an elective
kingdom, while the provincial particularism and independence have
given way to the constitution of a centralized, monopolistic state. No
changes could be more fundamental.

The old provincial laws of Sweden are a great and important
inheritance which this period has accumulated from heathen times. The
laws were written down in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but
they bear every evidence of high antiquity. Many strophes are found in
them of the same meter as those on the tombstones of the Viking Age
and those in which the songs of the Edda are chiefly written. In other
instances the texts consist of alliterative prose, which proves its
earlier metrical form. The expressions have, in places, remained
heathen, although used by Christians, who are ignorant of their true
meaning, as, for instance, in the following formula of an oath, in the
West Gothic law: _Sva se mer gud hull_ (So help me the gods). In lieu
of a missing literature of sagas and poetry, these provincial laws
give a good insight into the character, morals, customs, and culture
of the heathen and early Christian times of Sweden. From the point
of philology they are also of great value, besides forming the
solid basis of later Swedish law. How the laws could pass from one
generation to another, without any codification, depends upon the
fact that they were recited from memory by the justice (_lag-man_
or _domare_), and that this dignity generally was inherited for
centuries, being carried by the descendants of one and the same
family.[a]




CHAPTER II

NORWAY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY


As early as 1790 negotiations took place between Count Armfeldt on
behalf of Gustavus III of Sweden and various patriotic and influential
Norwegians with a view to effecting a union between Norway and Sweden
on equal terms, but the Norwegian negotiators expressed themselves
unwilling to accept for Norway the government prevailing in Sweden. A
minority of the patriots thought that the Danish yoke could only be
broken by means of a union with Sweden, while a majority aimed at
nothing less than absolute independence at any cost.

Such was the condition of Norway when by the treaty of Kiel (Jan.
14, 1814) the allies compelled the king of Denmark to cede Norway to
Sweden and made Charles John Bernadotte crown prince of Sweden and
Norway. The Norwegians denied the right of Denmark to Norway, refused
to recognize the treaty of Kiel as having any binding force on them,
as they were not parties to it, and invited Prince Christian Frederick
of Denmark to accept the Norwegian throne from its people and to
govern pursuant to a constitution adopted at Eidsvold, May 17, 1814.
Among the provisions of this instrument are the following: That Norway
should be a limited hereditary monarchy, independent and indivisible,
whose ruler should be called a king; that all legislative power
should reside in and be exercised by the people through their
representatives; that all taxes should be levied by the legislative
authority; that the legislative and judicial authority should
be distinct departments; that the right of free press should be
maintained; that no personal or hereditary distinction shall hereafter
be granted to any one.

The election of a king and adoption of an independent constitution in
disregard of the treaty of Kiel was tatamount to a declaration of war
against Sweden, and as such it was taken. After the treaty of Paris
and the abdication of Napoleon, the powers agreed to force Norway to
accept the treaty of Kiel, and representatives of the allied powers
came to Norway and demanded its compliance on penalty of war with
the allies. The Norwegians remained obdurate. The Swedes, under
Bernadotte, marched across the frontier and took the fortress
Fredricksteen. Another division of the Swedish army was beaten by
the Norwegians and driven back over the frontier. Several other
engagements were fought, and it became evident that Norway could not
be subdued without serious war. Sweden was exhausted by the wars of
the allies against Napoleon and could ill endure more warfare. On
Aug. 14, 1814, an armstice was declared, and it was provided that
an extraordinary storthing should be called to settle the terms of
permanent peace. By the terms finally agreed upon, Bernadotte was
elected king of Norway under the title of Charles XIII, and he
accepted the Norwegian constitution adopted at Eidsvold, May 17, 1814,
and agreed to govern under and subject to its provisions. At the same
time the Supreme Court of Norway was established in Christiania. The
Bank of Norway was established at Thronedjem in 1816. At the death
of Charles XIII, in 1818, Charles John ascended the throne of both
countries as Charles XIV John.

On several occasions there was friction between the king and the
Norwegian Storthing. At the treaty of Kiel the king had promised that
Norway would assume a part of the Norwegian-Danish public debt; but as
the Norwegians had never acknowledged this treaty, they held that it
was not their duty to pay any part of the debt, and declared besides
that Norway was not able to do so. But as the powers had agreed to
help Denmark to enforce her claims, a compromise was effected in 1821,
by which the Storthing agreed to pay three million dollars, the king
relinquishing his civil list for a certain number of years. The same
Storthing adopted the law abolishing the nobility in Norway. This step
also was strongly opposed by Charles John, but as it had been adopted
by three successive Storthings, the act under the constitution became
a law in spite of any veto.

For a number of years there existed a want of confidence between the
king and the Norwegian people. The king did not like the democratic
spirit of the Norwegians, and the reactionary tendencies of his
European allies had quite an influence upon his actions. In 1821 he
proposed ten amendments to the constitution, looking to an increase
of the royal power, among which was one giving the king an absolute
instead of a suspensive veto; another giving him the right to appoint
the presidents of the Storthing, and a third authorizing him to
dissolve the Storthing at any time. But these amendments met the most
ardent opposition in the Storthing, and were unanimously rejected.

When the Norwegians commenced to celebrate the anniversary of the
adoption of the constitution (May 17), the king thought he saw in this
a sign of a disloyal spirit, because they did not rather celebrate the
day of their union with Sweden, and he forbade the public celebration
of the day. The result of this was that "Independence Day" was
celebrated with so much greater eagerness. The students at the
university especially took an active part under the leadership of that
champion of liberty, the poet Henrik Wergeland, who died in 1845.
The unwise prohibition was the cause of the "market-place battle"
in Christiania, May 17, 1829, when the troops were called out,
and General Wedel dispersed the crowds that had assembled in the
market-place. There was also dissatisfaction in Norway because a
Swedish viceroy (Statholder) was placed at the head of the government,
and because their ships had to sail under the Swedish flag.

The French July Revolution of 1830, which started the liberal
movement throughout Europe, also had its influence in Norway. Liberal
newspapers were established at the capital, and the democratic
character of the Storthing became more pronounced, especially after
1833, when the farmers commenced to take an active part in the
elections. Prominent among them was Ole Gabriel Ueland. The king was
so displeased with the majority in the Storthing of 1836 that he
suddenly dissolved it; but the Storthing answered this action by
impeaching the Minister of State, Lövenskiold, for not having
dissuaded the king from taking such a step. Lövenskiold was sentenced
to pay a fine; the king then yielded and reconvened the Storthing.
He also took a step toward conciliating the Norwegians by appointing
their countryman, Count Wedel-Jarlsberg, as viceroy. This action was
much appreciated in Norway. During the last years of this reign there
existed the best of understanding between the king and the people.
Charles John's great benevolence tended to increase the affection of
the people, and he was sincerely mourned at his death, March 8, 1844,
at the age of eighty years.

Charles John was succeeded by his son, Oscar I, who very soon won the
love of the Norwegians. One of his first acts was to give Norway her
own commercial flag and other outward signs of her equality with
Sweden. His father had always signed himself "King of Sweden and
Norway"; but King Oscar adopted the rule to sign all documents
pertaining to the government of Norway as "King of Norway and Sweden."
During the war between Germany and Denmark, King Oscar gathered a
Swedish-Norwegian army in Scania, and succeeded in arranging the
armstice of Malmoe in 1848. The war broke out anew, however, the
following year, and he then occupied northern Schleswig with Norwegian
and Swedish troops, pending the negotiations for peace between Germany
and Denmark. During the Crimean War, King Oscar made a treaty with
England and France (1855), by which the latter powers promised to
help Sweden and Norway in case of any attack from Russia. General
contentment prevailed during the happy reign of King Oscar, and
the prosperity, commerce, and population of the country increased
steadily. These satisfactory conditions did not, however, result in
weakening the national feeling, and the Storthing, in 1857, declined
to promote a plan, prepared by a joint Swedish and Norwegian
commission, looking to a strengthening of the union. After a sickness
of two years, during which his son, Crown Prince Charles, had charge
of the government as prince-regent, King Oscar I died in July,
1859, at the age of sixty years. He was married to Josephine of
Leuchtenberg, daughter of Napoleon's stepson, Eugene Beauharnais.

Charles XV was thirty-three years old when he ascended the throne. The
progress in the material welfare of the country continued during his
reign, and, like his father, he was very popular with the Norwegians.
Numerous roads and railroads were started, all parts of the country
were connected by telegraph, and the merchant marine grew to be one
of the largest in the world. In 1869 a law was passed providing for
annual sessions of the Storthing instead of triennial as heretofore.

Charles XV died Sept. 18, 1872, and, having no sons, was succeeded by
his younger brother, Oscar II, the late ruler of Sweden. The Storthing
appropriated the necessary funds for the expense of the coronation
at Throndhjem (July 18, 1873), while the king sanctioned the bill
abolishing the office of Statholder. But soon differences between the
Storthing and the ministry brought on sharp conflicts. Long before
Norway deposed King Oscar II (June 7, 1905), disruptions and war would
doubtless have occurred had it not been for the wisdom and tact of the
king. The last straw that broke the camel's back in this instance was
the refusal of separate consular representation for Norway. The basis
of this last demand was not mainly the commercial value to Norway of
having its distinct consuls, though this was an element, but the right
of Norway as a nation entirely independent of Sweden to be represented
as such in its commercial relations with foreign nations. Sweden and
Norway are now not only two distinct nations, but are competitors in
trade and commerce. Norway's shipping and carrying trade far exceeds
that of Sweden. The Norwegians have always been a seafaring people,
and Norwegian sailors and marines are found in large numbers in the
commercial marine and navies of all Europe and America. From the
standpoint of Norway, common justice demanded that Norwegian merchants
and sailors should, like every other nation, have their own consuls to
represent and protect them in foreign countries.

Not being able to secure the approval of the king for separate
consular representation, the Storthing, on June 7, 1905, passed
resolutions declaring the dissolution of the union between Norway and
Sweden, and that King Oscar had ceased to be the ruler of Norway. In
the place of the king, the Storthing appointed the members of the
Norway Council of State to act as a temporary government for the
nation. The Storthing further declared that Norway had no ill feeling
against King Oscar or his dynasty of Sweden, and asked the king to
cooperate in selecting one of his own house to be king of Norway.

The Riksdag of Sweden met in extraordinary session, June 21, 1905,
at the call of King Oscar, to consider the action of the Norwegian
Storthing in declaring the dissolution of the union between the
two countries. The opening of the session was marked by the usual
ceremonial pomp, but also by a gravity and solemnity befitting the
unusual occasion. The emotional feeling was intense and repressed with
difficulty by both speakers and audience. The king, in his address
to the Riksdag, maintained with dignity that he had acted within his
constitutional rights and that Norway had not the power to dissolve
the union which legally could be effected only by mutual consent.
Nevertheless, it was with great sadness that he now urged negotiations
for the severance of the ties between the two nations, believing that
"the union was not worth the sacrifice which acts of coercion would
entail." The bill prepared by the government was immediately presented
to the Riksdag. It was of the same tenor as the king's address, and
asked for authorization to negotiate with the Norwegian Storthing for
the establishment of a common basis for the settlement of the question
involved in the separation of the two kingdoms. The bill encountered
strong opposition, both in and out of the Riksdag. In the Senate it
was referred to a committee of nine anti-government members, while in
the lower house the composition of the corresponding committee was
equally divided between the two opposing parties, with the addition
of two independent members. The Riksdag authorized the government to
negotiate a loan of $25,000,000 for works of defense, and declared the
harbors of Stockholm, Karlskrona, Gothenburg, and Farosund to be
war ports from which all foreign naval vessels were to be excluded.
Norway's army was also mobilized and brought near the Swedish
boundary.

Notwithstanding these warlike aspects, a peaceful dissolution of the
union between Sweden and Norway was finally effected. The conference
at Karlstad between the representatives of the two nations, on Sept.
23, 1905, drew up a protocol which became a treaty when subsequently
ratified by the Riksdag and the Storthing, on the ninth of the
following October. Thereupon Sweden canceled the charter of 1815 which
governed the union of the two countries, and King Oscar declared
Norway to be again separate and independent. Thus were severed the
political relations between two countries, which, during a period of
ninety years, had led to ever-increasing discord.

King Oscar II of Sweden steadfastly refused, however, to allow any
prince of his house to be chosen as the new king of Norway, and the
choice finally fell upon Prince Charles of Denmark, who was elected by
an overwhelming majority at the plebiscite held throughout Norway on
Nov. 12, 1905. He accepted the throne offered him and was crowned June
22, 1906.

The idea is prevalent that there is ill will between the Norwegian and
Swedish peoples. This is a popular misconception. The Norwegian and
Swedish peoples are racially very similar in character and habits, and
mutually respect each other. King Oscar was as beloved and honored in
Norway as he was in Sweden, and deservedly so. The Norwegians felt
proud of his character, life, and statesmanship. They appreciated
his wisdom and moderation, and gave him full credit for his earnest
conviction that he was right in his differences with the Norwegian
government. And yet, the dissolution was a blessing to both countries
concerned. So long as Norway and Sweden were united under one king,
there would have been friction. In like manner the long union between
Norway and Denmark was a continuous source of irritation, but after
the dissolution they were the best of friends. It has been suggested
that Russia has long had her eye on the ice-free harbors of the
Norwegian coast and has coveted them; that she has built her railroads
across Finland close up to the Norwegian frontier, and that there
is trouble ahead for Norway, because she has isolated herself from
Sweden, her natural protector. But we see in the division a Greater
Scandinavia. There are now the three great Scandinavian nations,
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and it can be imagined that, so close of kin,
any one of them would rush to arms in defense of the others. A united
Norway and Sweden under one king brought constant bickerings; a
separate Norway and Sweden can be of mutual help.[b]




CHAPTER III

SWEDEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY


Leading up to the events of the nineteenth century in Sweden were
centuries of splendid history, some points of which will be briefly
touched upon to connect the present-day Sweden with the mediaeval
state.

During the Folkung Dynasty, in the fourteenth century, the royal
houses of Sweden and Norway became united through the marriage of Duke
Eric, of Sweden, and Ingeborg, only child of King Haakon, of Norway;
and Duke Valdemar to the king's niece of the same name. In May, 1319,
King Haakon died, and Magnus Ericsson, the young son of Duke Eric and
Princess Ingeborg, inherited the crown of Norway, and July 8 of the
same year was elected King of Sweden, at Mora in Upland.

For the attainment of this end, Magnus' mother, Duchess Ingeborg, and
seven Swedish councillors had worked with great activity. They had
taken part in shaping the first Act of Union of the North in June,
1319, and from Oslo, in Norway, hastened to have Magnus elected at
the Stone of Mora, where the Swedish kings since time immemorial were
nominated. The Act of Union stipulated that the two kingdoms were to
remain perfectly independent, the king to sojourn an equally long part
of the year in each, with no official of either country to accompany
him further than the frontier. In their foreign relations the
countries were to be independent, but to support each other in case of
war. The king was the only tie to bind them together.

There was another Magnus whose candidacy was spoiled by this union. He
was the son of King Birger, already as a child chosen king of Sweden
in succession to his father. Magnus Birgersson, a prisoner at
Stockholm, was beheaded in 1320, to make safe the reign of his more
fortunate cousin. King Magnus was only three years old, and Drotsete
Mattias Kettilmundsson presided over the government during his
minority, the nobles of the state council having great power and
influence. Both in Sweden and Norway the nobility had by this time
attained a supremacy which was oppressive both to the king and the
people, not so much through their privileges as through the liberties
they took. Their continual feuds between themselves disturbed the
peace of the country.

In 1332, King Magnus took charge of the government. He was a ruler of
benign and good disposition toward the common people, whose interests
he always furthered. But he lacked strength of character, and was not
able to control the obnoxious nobles. The provinces of Scania and
Bleking suffered greatly under Danish rule, which was changed into
German oppression when handed over to the counts of Holstein as
security for a loan. The people of Scania rose in revolt and asked for
protection from King Magnus. At a meeting in Kalmar, in 1832, both
provinces were united to Sweden. But the king had to pay heavy amounts
in settlement, which were increased when Halland was procured in a
similar way.

King Magnus was, at his zenith of power, one of the mightiest monarchs
in Europe, having under his rule the entire Scandinavian peninsula and
Finland, a realm stretching from the sound at Elsinore to the Polar
Sea, from the river Neva to Iceland and Greenland. In 1335, King
Magnus decreed that no Christian within his realm should remain a
thrall, thus practically abolishing the remnants of slavery.

But financial difficulties arose, an unsuccessful crusade was
attempted, the "Black Death" came from England to Norway in 1350 and
spread with great rapidity, and several other things convened to fill
the people with discontent, so that the union with Norway did not
prove a happy one. A separation was brought about in 1844, when
Haakon, the younger son of Magnus, was made king of Norway, Magnus
remaining in power until Haakon came of age, and his older son,
Eric, was chosen king or heir-apparent of Sweden. It seems that this
division had been preconceived by King Magnus when he gave this older
son the Swedish name of Eric and to the younger the Norwegian name
of Haakon, both equally characteristic of the royal lines of the
respective countries.

It was during the Folkung period that there flourished one of the most
remarkable and renowned of Swedish women, St. Birgitta. At the Swedish
court, she was the highest functionary of Queen Blanche, where she
gathered deep and strong indignation against the mighty and powerful
world. By some she is considered a reformer before Luther, because
she insisted on direct communication between the communicant and God
without the mediation of priests or saints. Yet there was a difference
between Birgitta and Luther, because the latter sought to reform
institutions, while the former would reform the upholders of the
institutions.

After the reign of Magnus and his sons, there came for a brief season
Albrecht of Germany, and after him Queen Margaret, who united for
the first time in history the three Scandinavian countries and their
dependencies. This period was denominated one of unionism against
patriotism, and closed with the rebellion of Denmark and the ascending
of the Swedish throne by Christian of Denmark, who claimed the right
of his descent from St. Eric. Then followed the public execution
under edict of King Christian, when eighty-two persons were beheaded,
including many bishops and men of note in Sweden.

It is needless to say that this period was followed immediately by
one of revolution and reformation, characterized by much heroism and
patriotism, and bringing into prominence those splendid warriors,
Gustavus Vasa, Gustavus Adolphus, Charles XII, and others, and the
memorable battle of Pultowa and other lesser engagements.

After this came a period of political grandeur under various rulers,
notably Queen Christine, followed by what has been called the period
of Liberty, or the Aristocratic Republic, under Queen Ulrica Eleonore,
when literature and the arts and sciences flourished, and Swedenborg,
Linnaeus, Dahlin, Tegnér, and many others came into prominence.

One of the most loved rulers of this period was Gustavus III. By his
influence a revolution similar to that in France was put down, for
which, at a mask ball in the Royal Opera, he was assassinated by
conspiritors. It is true, historians tell us, that he was superficial,
that he violated the law, had no regard for a constitutional
government, and led the people into adventurous and expensive wars.
Yet his noble patriotism, frank heroism, brilliant genius, and great
generosity compelled the love of his countrymen. In this mixture
of patriotism and universal cosmopolitanism, true genius and
superficiality, earnestness and recklessness in the character of
Gustavus III, the Swedes recognized peculiarities of their own
national temperament, for which they love him dearly, and Tegnér has
voiced this love in a few lines of his eulogy:

  There rests o'er Gustav's days a golden shimmer,
  Fantastic, foreign, frivolous, if you please;
  But why complain when sunshine caused the glamour?
  Where stood we now if it were not for these?
  All culture on an unfree ground is builded,
  And barbarous once the base of patriotism true;
  But wit was planted, iron-hard language welded,
  The song was raised, life more enjoyed and shielded,
  And what Gustavian was, is, therefore, Swedish too.

On his death-bed, Gustavus III appointed his brother Charles and
Charles Gustavus Armfelt members of the government during the minority
of his son. Gustavus IV Adolphus was declared of age and took charge
of the government when eighteen (in 1796). His guardians retired,
and the new monarch ruled alone, without favorites or influential
advisers. This proved most unfortunate for Sweden, for he was entirely
without the gifts of a regent. He was a lover of order, economy,
justice, and pure morals, but through lack of mental and physical
strength his good qualities were misdirected. His father's tragic fate
had a sinister effect upon his mind, the equilibrium of which was also
shaken by the outrages of the revolutionists in France. Of a morbid
sensibility, and without inclination to confide in any one, his
religious mysticism led him into a state close to insanity. He
imagined himself to be the reincarnation of Charles XII, while in
Napoleon he recognized the monster of the Apocalypse, which he himself
was sent to fight and conquer.

He refused any alliance with Russia and Denmark, and stubbornly
resisted the friendship France wished to bestow. By his imbecility he
lost Finland to the kingdom, and was compelled to abdicate in 1808.
This "lunatic monarch," as he was called, was escorted out of the
country with his family, never to return, and died in St. Gallin, in
1837.

Under these conditions we find Sweden at the beginning of the
nineteenth century, when Charles XIII was chosen to succeed his
nephew, the abdicated Gustavus IV Adolphus. Charles XIII was one of
the most unsympathetic of Swedish kings, but his reign marks a new
period in Swedish history, commencing the era of constitutional
government. The new constitution to which the king subscribed was
not a radical document; it only reduced the power of the king. Hans
Jaerta, one of the nobles who had renounced their privileges and been
active in the conspiracy against Gustavus IV, was the leading spirit
of the constitutional committee, and was appointed secretary of state
in the new cabinet.

It was necessary to select an heir to the throne, as Charles XIII was
childless, and Prince Christian August of Augustenborg was chosen,
much in opposition to the nobles, who wanted the son of Gustavus IV.

The Prince of Augustenborg, who was Danish governor-general of Norway,
accepted, and was adopted by the king, changing his name to Charles
August. Beloved by the lower classes who had effected his selection,
he was treated coldly by the Gustavian aristocrats, and reports of
attempts to poison the heir-apparent were in circulation even before
he arrived in Sweden. Prince Charles August himself said he had
often been warned that he would die young of paralysis, but paid no
attention to the warnings given him. During a parade of troops at
Qvidinge, in Scania, he was suddenly seen to lose consciousness
and dropped dead from his horse. A report that seemed to favor the
supposition that death resulted from poison, threw the populace into
a frenzy, and the stoning to death of Count Fersen resulted. This
occurred at the burial of the dead prince, when Count Fersen, as
marshal of the realm, opened the procession. Approaching the church
of Riddarholm, his carriage was pelted with stones, Fersen himself
seeking shelter in various places, but being pursued by the mob and
killed. Thus perished a man who, with Curt von Stedingk, had received
the order of Cincinnatus from the hands of George Washington, and who
once was so near saving Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette from their
cruel fate. Fersen's brother was saved only by mere chance, and his
sister by a flight in disguise.

Sweden was once more without an heir-apparent to the throne, and,
though others had been proposed, King Charles sent two emissaries
to Napoleon to notify him of the death of Charles August and the
selection of his brother. Then one of the most original and daring
schemes ever attempted on such a line was carried through by Count
Otto Moerner, one of the emissaries. On his own responsibility, he
inquired of Marshal Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's ablest generals,
if he would consent to become heir-apparent to the Swedish throne.
Bernadotte consented, and the consent of Napoleon was obtained through
the Swedish ambassador in Paris. Upon his return, Moerner was ordered
to leave the capital, by the minister of state, who blamed him for his
unauthorized action. But, from Upsala, Moerner led an eager agitation,
with the result that the Riksdag of Oerebro selected Bernadotte, who
was represented by a secret emissary. Thus, the two generals who,
at the abdication of Gustavus IV, were, one in Norway, the other in
Denmark, with troops ready to attack Sweden, both within one year were
chosen to succeed Charles XIII. And this is how the Bernadottes,
the present reigning family of Sweden, came to the throne. Marshal
Bernadotte took the name of Prince Charles Johann.

It was in 1818, four years after Norway had been joined to Sweden,
that Charles XII died, at the age of seventy, and Charles XIV Johann,
the first of the Bernadotte dynasty, succeeded him, at the age of
fifty-four years. His reign was one of reconstruction--politically,
financially, and socially,--and during the last years of his life
he received strong and repeated evidence of the love of his people,
especially upon the twenty-fifth anniversary as king of Sweden.

Oscar I, his son, was forty-five years of age at the death of his
father. He did not possess his father's brilliant genius or power of
personal influence, but was fondly devoted to the fine arts, himself a
talented painter and composer. He was a hard worker, and also fond
of the pleasures of life. His health was injured through illness, in
1857, and he never recovered. The premature death of his second
son, Prince Gustavus, a talented composer and highly popular, had
a disastrous effect on him, and he died July 8, 1859, after a long
illness, beloved by the two nations who, during his reign, had enjoyed
the happiest epoch of their history.

It was during the reign of the late king, Oscar II, that Sweden
attained her greatest prosperity and made most progress. Oscar II,
brother of his predecessor, ascended the throne at a moment when
universal peace was restored after the great conflict between France
and Germany, and when an age of commercial prosperity for Sweden
seemed to have begun. King Oscar had received the same superior
education as his older brothers, was as brilliantly gifted as they,
and of a more scholarly mind. As a writer on scientific subjects,
a poet, and an orator, Oscar II distinguished himself before his
succession to the throne, and still he did not find it easy to gain
the love and admiration of the Swedish people, of which he was so
eminently worthy. He was the successor of one of the most popular
rulers the country ever saw, and, though appreciation came slowly,
he lived to see his own popularity almost outrival that of his
predecessor. During the last years of his life he was considered the
most learned and popular of the monarchs of Europe.

He showed great discernment in his arrangement of dynastic matters.
Himself married to the fervently religious Princess Sophie of Nassau,
the king brought about the marriage of his oldest son, Crown Prince
Adolphus, the present king of Sweden, to Princess Victoria of Bade, a
granddaughter of Emperor William of Germany, and a great-granddaughter
of Gustavus IV of Sweden. His third son, Prince Charles, Duke of West
Gothland, is married to Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, a granddaughter
of Charles XV of Sweden. These unions are well calculated to
accentuate the increasing political, commercial, and cultural intimacy
with Germany, the Scandinavian policy of life predecessor, and the
desire of King Oscar to see the descendants of the old royal line of
Sweden as heirs to the crown. In giving his consent to the marriage
of his second son, Prince Oscar, to Lady Ebba Munck, of the Swedish
nobility, King Oscar gave evidence of the fact that he was not a
matchmaker regardless of the feelings of the parties involved. Prince
Oscar, formerly Duke of Gothland, upon renouncing his share of
inheritance to the throne of Sweden, also the throne of Norway, for
the two kingdoms were then united, was allowed to marry the choice of
his heart. King Oscar also tried to heal the wounds of the past by
opening the vaults of the church of Riddarholm to the sarcophagi of
Gustavus IV, the exiled king, and his son, and by giving Queen Carola
of Saxony, the only living granddaughter of Gustavus, repeated proofs
of esteem and considerate distinction.

King Oscar with his two crowns received as an inheritance two
important problems to be solved--the reorganization of the Swedish
army and the settlement of the difficulties between Norway and Sweden.
How he handled the latter has been told about in the preceding
chapter. The reorganization of the Swedish army was not effected until
after twenty years of parliamentary struggle, but is now, thanks to
the energies and perseverance of King Oscar, on a solid basis.

During the nearly one hundred years of peace which Sweden has enjoyed
under the rule of the Bernadotte dynasty, she has developed her
constitutional liberty and her material prosperity in a high degree.
The dreams of glory by conquest belonged to the days gone by, but in
the fields of peaceable industries she has attained a greatness which
the world begins to realize. At the expositions of Paris in 1867,
1878, and 1889, of Vienna in 1873, of Philadelphia in 1876, and of
Chicago in 1893, Swedish industry and art have taken part with
honor in the international competition. The railways of Sweden have
incessantly spun a more and more extended network of steel over the
country, opening connections for enterprises in new districts, and
furthering commerce and industrial art in a wide measure.

In all this advancement, King Oscar took a lively initiative, and that
his policy will be continued by his successor, who has been so short
a time on the throne, is not to be doubted, since the reins of
government were in his hands practically long before the death of his
father, who for several years suffered ill health. To say the least,
Sweden, in the nineteenth century, played an important part in the
strengthening of the great Scandinavian amalgamation, Norway, Sweden,
and Denmark, which greets the twentieth century,[c]




CHAPTER IV

THE RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN


The religion of the ancient Norwegians was of the same origin as
that of all other Germanic nations, and, as it is the basis of their
national life, a brief outline of it will be necessary in these pages.

In the beginning of time there were two worlds: in the South was
Muspelheim, luminous and flaming, with Surt as a ruler; in the North
was Niflheim, cold and dark, with the spring Hvergelmer, where the
dragon Nidhugger dwells. Between these worlds was the yawning abyss
Ginungagap. From the spring Hvergelmer ran icy streams into the
Ginungagap. The hoarfrost from these streams was met by sparks from
Muspelheim, and by the power of the heat the vapors were given life in
the form of the Yotun or giant Ymer and the cow Audhumbla, on
whose milk he lives. From Ymer descends the evil race of Yotuns or
frost-giants. As the cow licked the briny hoarfrost, the large,
handsome and powerful Bure came into being. His son was Bur, who
married a daughter of a Yotun and became the father of Odin, Vile, and
Ve. Odin became the father of the kind and fair Aesir, the gods who
rule heaven and earth.

Bur's sons killed Ymer, and in his blood the whole race of Yotuns
drowned except one couple, from whom new races of Yotuns or giants
descended. Bur's sons dragged the body of Ymer into the middle of
Ginungagap. Out of the trunk of the body they made the earth, and of
his blood the sea. His bones became mountains, and of his hair they
made trees. From the skull they made the heavens, which they elevated
high above the earth and decorated with sparks from Muspelheim. But
his brain was scattered in the air and became clouds. Around the earth
they let the deep waters flow, and on the distant shores the escaped
Yotuns took up their abode in Yotunheim and in Utgard. For protection
against them the kind gods made from Ymer's eyebrows the fortification
Midgard as a defense for the inner earth. But from heaven to earth
they suspended the quivering bridge called Bifrost, or the rainbow.

The Yotun woman Night, black and dark as her race, met Delling (the
Dawn) of the Aesir race, and with him became the mother of Day, who
was bright and fair as his father. Odin placed mother and son in the
heavens, and bade them each in turn ride over the earth. Night rides
ahead with her horse Hrimfaxe, from whose foaming bit the earth is
every morning covered with dew. Day follows with his horse Skinfaxe,
whose radiant mane spreads light and air over the earth.

A great number of maggots were bred in Ymer's body, and they became
gnomes or dwarfs, little beings whom the gods gave human sense
and appearance. They lived within the mountains, and were skilful
metal-workers, but they could not endure the light of day. Four
dwarfs, the East, West, North, and South, were placed by the gods to
carry the arch of heaven.

As yet there were no human beings on earth. Then, one day, the three
gods, Odin, Keener and Lodur, were walking on the shore of the sea,
where they found two trees, and from them they made the first man and
the first woman, Ask and Embla (ash and elm). Odin gave them life,
Hoener reason, Lodur blood and fair complexion. The gods gave them
Midgard for a home, and from them the whole human race is descended.

The evergreen ash tree Ygdrasil is the finest of all trees. It
shoots up from three roots. One of them is in the well Hvergelmer in
Niflheim, and on this the dragon Nidhugger is gnawing. The other root
is in Yotunheim, in the wise Yotun Mimer's fountain. One of Odin's
eyes, which he pledged for a drink at this fountain, is kept here.
Whoever drinks of this fountain becomes wise. The third root is in
heaven, at the Urdar well, where the gods hold their Thing or court.
To this place they ride daily over the bridge Bifrost. Here also
the three Norns abide, the maidens Urd, Verdande, and Skuld (past,
present, and future). They pour water from the well over the roots of
the tree. The Norns distribute life and govern fate, and nothing can
change their decision.

The dwelling in heaven of the Aesir or gods is called Asgard. In its
middle was the field of Ida, the gathering-place of the gods, with
Odin's throne, Lidskialv, from which he views the whole world. Odin is
the highest and the oldest of the gods, and all the others honor him
as their father. Odin's hall is Valhalla. The ceiling of this hall
is made of spears, it is covered with shields, and its benches are
ornamented with coats of mail. To this place Odin invites all who have
fallen in battle, and he is therefore called Valfather, _i.e._, the
father of the fallen. The invited fallen heroes are called Einherier;
their sport and pastime is to go out every day and fight and kill each
other; but toward evening they awake to life again and ride home as
friends to Valhalla, where they feast on pork of the barrow Saerimmer,
and where Odin's maidens, the Valkyrias, fill their horns with mead.
These Valkyrias were sent by Odin to all battles on earth, where they
selected those who were to be slain and afterward become the honored
guests at Valhalla. At Odin's side sit the two wolves, Gere and Freke,
and on his shoulders the ravens, Hugin and Munin. These ravens fly
forth every morning and return with tidings from all parts of the
world. Odin's horse is the swift, gray, eight-footed Sleipner. When he
rides to battle he wears a golden helmet, a beautiful coat of mail,
and carries the spear Gungner, which never fails. Odin is also the god
of wisdom and poesy; in the morning of time he deposited one of his
eyes in pledge for a drink of Mimer's fountain of wisdom, and he drank
Suttung's mead in order to gain the gift of poesy. He has also taught
men the art of writing Runes and all secret arts.

Thor, the son of Odin, is the strongest of all the gods. His dwelling
is called Thrudvang. He rides across the heavens in a cart drawn by
two rams. He is always at war with the Yotuns or evil giants, and in
battle with them he uses his great hammer, Mjolner, which he hurls at
the heads of his enemies. The earth trembles under the wheels of his
cart, and men call the noise thunder. Thor's wife is Sif, whose hair
is of gold.

Balder is a son of Odin and Frigg. He is so fair that his countenance
emits beams of brightness. He is wise and gentle, and is therefore
loved by all. His dwelling is Breidablik, where nothing impure exists.
Nanna is his wife.

Njord comes from the race of the wise Vanir. He rules the wind, can
calm the seas and stop fire, and he distributes wealth among men. His
aid is invoked for success in navigation and fishing. His wife is
Skade, daughter of a Yotun, and his dwelling is Noatun by the sea.

Frey, the son of Njord, rules rain and sunshine and the productiveness
of the soil, and his aid is needed to get good crops, peace and
wealth. His dwelling is Alfheim. He sails in the magnificent ship
Skibladner, which was built for him by the dwarfs. His wife is the
Yotun daughter Gerd, but in order to get her he had to give away his
good sword, so that he will be unarmed in the coming final battle of
the gods.

Tyr, Odin's son, is the god of courage and victory, whom brave men
call upon in battle. He has only one hand, for the Fenris-Wolf bit off
his right hand.

Brage, the long-bearded, is the god of eloquence and poetry. His wife
is Idun, who has in her keeping the apples of which the gods eat to
preserve their eternal youth. Heimdal, the white god with teeth of
gold, was in the beginning of time born by nine Yotun maidens, all
sisters. He is the watchman of the gods. He is more wakeful than
birds. He can see a hundred miles off, and he can hear the grass grow.
His dwelling is Himinbjorg, which is situated where the Bifrost bridge
reaches heaven. When he blows his Gjallar-horn, it is heard throughout
the world. Among the other gods were Haad, son of Odin, blind but
strong; the silent and strong Vidar; Vale, the archer; Ull, the fast
ski-runner, and Forsete, the son of Balder, who settles disputes
between gods and men. Among the goddesses (or _asynier_), Frigg,
Odin's wife, is the foremost. She knows the fate of everybody and
shields many from danger. Her dwelling is Fensal. Next comes Freya,
the goddess of love. She is the daughter of Njord and sister of Frey.
She is also called Vanadis, or the goddess of the Vanir. She was
married to Odd, and by him had a daughter Noss. But Odd left her, and
Freya weeps in her longing for him, and her tears are red gold. When
she travels, her wagon is drawn by two cats. The name of her dwelling
is Folkvang. There were also a number of other goddesses, who were in
the service of either Frigg or Freya.

Aeger, the ruler of the turbulent and stormy sea, is a Yotun, but he
is a friend of the gods. When they visit him his hall is lighted with
shining gold. His wife is Ran, and their daughters are the waves.

In the beginning there was peace among gods and men. But the arrival
of the Yotun women in Asgard undermined the happiness of the gods, and
in heaven and on earth a struggle commenced which must last until
both are destroyed. The Yotuns continually attack the inhabitants of
Asgard, and it is only the mighty Thor who can hold them at bay. It is
the evil Loke, who is the worst enemy of gods and men. He belongs to
the Yotun race, but was early adopted among the gods. He was fair in
looks, but wily and evil in spirit. He had three evil children--the
Fenris-Wolf, the Midgard-Serpent, and Hel. The gods knew that this
offspring of Loke would cause trouble; therefore they tied the
Fenris-Wolf, threw the serpent into the sea, and hurled Hel down into
Niflheim, where she became the ruler of the dead. All who die from
sickness or age are sent to her awful dwelling, Helheim. This is the
origin of the saying, "Whom the gods love die young."

The greatest sorrow which Loke caused the whole world was that by
deceit he caused the death of the lovely god, Balder. Then the gods
took an awful revenge. They tied him to three stones, and over his
head they fastened a venomous serpent, whose poison was always to drip
upon his face. Loke's faithful wife, Sigyn, placed herself at his side
and held a cup under the poisonous drip; but whenever the cup is full
and she goes to empty it, the poison drips into Loke's face, and then
he writhes in agony so that the whole world trembles. This is the
cause of earthquakes.

There will come a time when these gods and the world shall perish in
_Ragnarokk_, which means the perdition of the gods. They will have
many warnings. Corruption and wickedness will be common in the world.
For three years there will be winter without sun. The sun and the moon
will be swallowed up by the wolves of the Yotuns, and the bright
stars will disappear. The earth will tremble and the mountains will
collapse, and all chains and ties are sundered. The Fenris-Wolf and
Loke get loose, and the Midgard-Serpent leaves the ocean. The ship
Naglfar carries the army of the Yotuns across the sea under the
leadership of the Yotun _Rym_, and Loke advances at the head of the
hosts from the abode of Hel. The heavens split, and the sons of Muspel
come riding ahead, led by their chief Surt. As the hosts are rushing
across the Bifrost, the bridge breaks with them. All are hastening
to the great battlefield, the plains of _Vigrid_, which is a hundred
miles wide. Now Heimdal arises and blows his Gjallar-horn, all the
gods are assembled, the ash Ygdrasil trembles, and everything in
heaven and on earth is filled with terror. Gods and Einherier (the
fallen heroes) arm themselves for battle. In the front rides Odin with
his golden helmet and beaming coat of mail and carrying his spear,
Gungner. He meets the Fenris-Wolf, who swallows him, but Vidar
avenges his father and kills the wolf. Thor crushes the head of the
Midgard-Serpent, but is stifled to death by its venom. Frey is felled
by Surt, and Loke and Heimdal kill each other. Finally Surt hurls his
fire over the world, gods and men die, and the shriveling earth sinks
into the abyss.

But the world shall rise again and the dead come to life. From above
comes the all-powerful one, he who rules everything, and whose name no
one dares utter. All those who were virtuous and pure of heart will
gather in _Gimle_ in everlasting happiness, while the evil ones will
go to Naastrand at the well Hvergelmer to be tortured by Nidhugger. A
new earth, green and beautiful, shall rise from the ocean. The gods
awake to new life and join _Vidar_ and _Vale_, and the sons of Thor,
Mode and Magne, who have survived the great destruction and who have
been given their father's hammer, because there is to be no more war.
All the gods assemble on the field of Ida, where Asgard was located.
And from _Liv_ and _Livthraser_, who hid themselves in Ygdrasil during
the burning of the world, a new human race shall descend.[d]




CHAPTER V

NORWEGIAN LITERATURE


The people who emigrated from Norway and settled in Iceland, after
Harald the Fairhaired had subdued the many independent chiefs and
established the monarchy (872), for the most part belonged to the
flower of the nation, and Iceland naturally became the home of the old
Norse literature. Among the oldest poetical works of this literature
is the so-called "Elder Edda," also called "Saemund's Edda," because
for a long time it was believed to be the work of the Icelander
Saemund. "The Younger Edda," also called "Snorre's Edda," because it
is supposed to have been written by Snorre Sturlason (born 1178, died
1241), contains a synopsis of the old Norse religion and a treatise on
the art of poetry. Fully as important as the numerous poetical works
of that period was the old Norse Saga-literature (the word saga means
a historical tale). The most prominent work in this field is Snorre
Sturlason's _Heimskringla_, which gives the sagas of the kings
of Norway from the beginning down to 1777. A continuation of the
_Heimskringla_, to which several authors have contributed, among them
Snorre Sturlason's relative, Sturla Thordson, contains the history of
the later kings down to Magnus Law-Mender.

The literary development above referred to ceased almost entirely
toward the end of the fourteenth century, and later, during the union
with Denmark, the Danish language gradually took the place of the
old Norse as a book-language, and the literature became essentially
Danish. Copenhagen, with its court and university, was the literary
and educational center, where the young men of Norway went to study,
and authors born in Norway became to all intents and purposes, Danish
writers. But Norway furnished some valuable contributors to this
common literature. One of the very first names on the records of the
Danish literature, Peder Claussön (1545-1614), is that of a Norwegian,
and the list further includes such illustrious names as Holberg,
Tullin, Wessel, Steffens, etc.

One of the most original writers whom Norway produced and kept at home
during the period of the union with Denmark was the preacher and poet,
Peder Dass (1647-1708). The best known among his secular songs is
_Nordlands Trompet_, a beautiful and patriotic description of the
northern part of Norway.

Ludvig Holberg was born in Bergen, Norway, Dec. 3, 1684. His father,
Colonel Holberg, had risen from the ranks and distinguished himself,
in 1660, at Halden. Shortly after his death the property of the family
was destroyed by fire, and at the age of ten years Ludvig lost his
mother. It was now decided to have him educated for the military
service; but he showed a great dislike for military life, and, at his
earnest request, he was sent to the Bergen Latin School. In 1702 he
entered the University of Copenhagen. Being destitute of means, he
took a position as private tutor. As soon as he had saved a small sum
he went abroad. He was first in Holland, and afterward studied for
a couple of years at Oxford, where he supported himself by giving
instruction in languages and music. Upon his return to Copenhagen
he again took a position as private tutor and had an opportunity to
travel as teacher for a young nobleman. In 1714 he received a stipend
from the king, which enabled him to go abroad for several years, which
he spent principally in France and Italy. In 1718 he became regular
professor at the Copenhagen University. Among Holberg's many works
the following are the most prominent: _Peder Paars_, a great comical
heroic poem, containing sharp attacks on many of the follies of his
time; about thirty comedies in Moliere's style, and a large number of
historical works. Holberg, who was ennobled in 1747, died in January,
1754, and was buried in Sorö Church. His influence on the literature
and on the whole intellectual life of Denmark was very great. He is
often called the creator of Danish literature.

Christian Baumann Tullin (1728-1765), a genuine poetical genius,
who has been called the father of Danish lyrical verse, was born in
Christiania, and his poetry, which was mainly written in his native
city, breathes a national spirit. From his day, for about thirty
years, Denmark obtained the majority of her poets from Norway. The
manager of the Danish National Theater, in 1771, was a Norwegian,
Niels Krog-Bredal (1733-1778), who was the first to write lyrical
dramas in Danish. A Norwegian, Johan Nordal Brun (1745-1816), a gifted
poet, wrote tragedy in the conventional French taste of the day. It
was a Norwegian, Johan Herman Wessel (1742-1785), who by his great
parody, _Kjaerlighed uden Strömper_, "Love without Stockings," laughed
the French taste out of fashion. Among the writers of this period are
also Claus Frimann (1746-1829), Peter Harboe Frimann (1752-1839),
Claus Fasting (1746-1791), John Wibe (1748-1782), Edward Storm
(1749-1794), C.H. Pram (1756-1821), Jonas Rein (1760-1821), and Jens
Zetlitz (1761-1821), all of them Norwegians by birth. Two notable
events led to the foundation of an independent Norwegian literature:
the one was the establishment of a Norwegian university at
Christiania, in 1811, and the other was the separation of Norway
from Denmark, in 1814. At first the independent Norwegian literature
appeared as immature as the conditions surrounding it. The majority of
the writers had received their education in old Copenhagen, and were
inclined to follow in the beaten track of the old literature,
although trying to introduce a more national spirit. All were greatly
influenced by the political feeling of the hour. There was a period
when all poetry had for its subject the beauties and strength of
Norway and its people, and _The Rocks of Norway, The Lion of Norway_,
etc., sounded everywhere. Three poets called _Trefoil_, were the
prominent writers of this period. Of these, Conrad Nicolai Schwach
(1793-1860) was the least remarkable. Henrik A. Bjerregaard
(1792-1842) was the author of _The Crowned National Song_, and of a
lyric drama, _Fjeldeventyret_, "The Adventures in the Mountains." The
third member of the _Trefoil_, Mauritz Christian Hansen (1794-1842),
wrote a large number of novels and national stories, which were quite
popular in their time. His poems were among the earliest publications
of independent Norway.

The time about the year 1820 is reckoned as the beginning of the new
Norwegian literature, and Henrik Wergeland is called its creator.
Henrik Arnold Wergeland was born in 1808. His father, Nicolai
Wergeland, a clergyman, was a member of the Constitutional Convention
at Eidsvold. Henrik studied theology, but did not care to become a
clergyman. In 1827, and the following years, he wrote a number of
satirical farces under the signature _Siful Sifadda_. In 1830 appeared
his lyric, dramatic poem, _Skabelsen, Mennesket og Messias_, (The
Creation, Man and Messiah), a voluminous piece 'of work, in which
he attempted to explain the historical life of the human race. As
a political writer he was editorial assistant on the _Folkebladet_
(1831-1833), and edited the opposition paper _Statsborgeren_
(1835-1837). He worked with great zeal for the education of the
laboring class, and from 1839 until his death edited a paper in the
interest of the laborer. The prominent features of his earliest
efforts in literature are an unbounded enthusiasm and a complete
disregard of the laws of poetry. At an early age he had become a power
in literature, and a political power as well. From 1831 to 1835 he
was subjected to severe satirical attacks by the author Welhaven and
others, and later his style became improved in every respect. His
popularity, however, decreased as his poetry improved, and in 1840
he had become a great poet but had no political influence. Among his
works may be named _Hasselnödder, Jöden_, "The Jew," _Jodinden_,
"The Jewess," _Jan van Huysum's Blomsterstykke_, "Jan van Huysum's
Flowerpiece," _Den Engleske Lods_, "The English Pilot," and a great
number of lyric poems. The poems of his last five years are as popular
to-day as ever. Wergeland died in 1845.

The enthusiastic nationalism of Henrik Wergeland and his young
following brought conflict with the conservative element, which
was not ready to accept everything as good simply because it was
Norwegian. This conservative element maintained that art and culture
must be developed on the basis of the old association with Denmark,
which had connected Norway with the great movement of civilization
throughout Europe. As the political leader of this "Intelligence"
party, as it was called, appeared J.S. Welhaven.

John Sebastian Cammermeyer Welhaven was born in Bergen in 1807,
entered the university in 1825, became a _Lector_ in 1840, and
afterward Professor of Philosophy. "His refined esthetic nature," says
Fr. Winkel Horn, "had been early developed, and when the war once
broke out between him and Wergeland, he had reached a high point
of intellectual culture, and thus was in every way a match for
his opponent." The fight was inaugurated by a preliminary literary
skirmish, which was, at the outset, limited to the university
students; but it gradually assumed an increasingly bitter character,
both parties growing more and more exasperated. Welhaven published a
pamphlet, _Om Henrik Wergelands Digtekunst og Poesie_, in which he
mercilessly exposed the weak sides of his adversary's poetry. Thereby
the minds became still more excited. The "Intelligence" party withdrew
from the students' union, founded a paper of their own, and thus
the movement began-to assume wider dimensions. In 1834, appeared
Welhaven's celebrated poem, _Norges Daemring_, a series of sonnets,
distinguished for their beauty of style. In them the poet scourges,
without mercy, the one-sided, narrow-minded patriotism of his time,
and exposes, in striking and unmistakable words, the hollowness
and shortcomings of the Wergeland party. Welhaven points out, with
emphasis, that he is not only going to espouse the cause of good
taste, which his adversary has outraged, but that he is also about
to discuss problems of general interest. He urges that a Norwegian
culture and literature can not be created out of nothing and to
promote their development it is absolutely necessary to continue
the associations which have hitherto been common to both Norway and
Denmark, and thus to keep in _rapport_ with the general literature
of Europe. When a solid foundation has in this manner been laid, the
necessary materials for a literature would surely not be wanting,
for they are found in abundance, both in the antiquities and in the
popular life of Norway. Welhaven continued his effective work as a
poet and critic. Through a series of romantic and lyrical poems, rich
in contents and highly finished in style, he developed a poetical
life, which had an important influence in the young Norwegian literary
circles. He died in 1873.

Andreas Munch (1811-1884), an able and industrious poetical writer,
took no part in the controversy between Wergeland and Welhaven, but
followed his Danish models independently of either. His _Poems, Old
and New_, published in 1848, were quite popular. His best work is
probably _Kongedatterens Brudefart_, "The Bridal Tour of the King's
Daughter," 1861.

In the period of about a dozen years following the death of Wergeland,
the life, manners, and characteristics of the Norwegian people were
given the especial attention of literary writers. Prominent in this
period was Peter Christian Ashbjornsen (1812-1885), who, partly
alone and partly in conjunction with Bishop Jorgen Moe (1813-1882),
published some valuable collections of Norwegian folk tales and
fairy tales. Moe also published three little volumes of graceful and
attractive poems. Among other writers of this period may be named
Hans H. Schultz, N. Ostgaard, Harald Meltzer, M.B. Landstad, and the
linguist Sophus Bugge.

The efforts to bring out the national life and characteristics of
the people in literature also led to an attempt to nationalize the
language in which the literature was written. The movement was the
so-called _Maalstraev_, and had in view the introduction of a pure
Norwegian book language, based upon the peasant dialects. The
prominent supporter of this movement was Ivar Aasen (1813-1898),
the author of an excellent dictionary of the Norwegian language. A
prominent poetical representative of this school was Aasmund Olafson
Vinje (1818-1870), while Kristofer Janson (born 1841) has also written
a number of stories and poems in the _Landsmaal_ (country tongue).

A new and grand period in Norwegian literature commenced about 1857,
and the two most conspicuous names in this period--and in the whole
Norwegian literature--are those of Henrik Ibsen and Björnstjerne
Björnson.

Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien, in 1828. He has written many beautiful
poems; but his special field is in the drama, where he is a master.
His first works were nearly all historical romantic dramas. His first
work, _Catilina_, printed in 1850, was scarcely noticed until years
afterward, when he had become famous. In 1856 appeared the romantic
drama, _Gildet paa Solhaug_, "The Feast at Solhaug," followed by _Fru
Inger til Oestraat_, 1857, and _Haermaedene paa Helgeland_, "The
Warriors on Helgeland," 1858. In 1863, he wrote the historical tragedy
_Kongsemnerne_, "The Pretenders," in which the author showed his great
literary power. Before this play was published, he had been drawn
into a new channel. In 1862, he began a series of satirical and
philosophical dramas with _Kjaerlighedens Komedie_, "Love's Comedy,"
which was succeeded by two masterpieces of a similar kind, _Brand_, in
1866, and _Peer Gynt_, in 1867. These two works were written in verse;
but in _De Unges Forbund_, "The Young Men's League," 1869, a political
satire, he abandoned verse, and all his subsequent dramas have been
written in prose. In 1873 came _Keiser og Galilaeer_, "Emperor and
Galilean." Since then he has published a number of social dramas which
have attracted world-wide attention. Among them are: _Samfundets
Stötter_, "The Pillars of Society," _Et Dukkehjem_, "A Doll's House,"
_Gengangere_, "Ghosts," _En Folkefiende_, "An Enemy of the People,"
_Rosmerholm, Fruenn fra Havet_, "The Lady from the Sea," _Little
Eyolf, Bymester Solnes_, "Masterbuilder Solnes," _John Gabriel
Borkman_, and the latest and most-talked-about, _Hedda Gabler_.

Björnstjerne Björnson (born in Osterdalen, in 1832) is the more
popular of the two giants of Norwegian literature of to-day. His works
are more national in tone. It has been said that to mention his name
is to raise the Norwegian flag. His first successes were made in the
field of the novel, and the first two, _Synnöve Solbakken_, 1857,
and _Arne_, 1858, made his name famous. These, and his other peasant
stories, will always retain their popularity. He soon, however,
entered the dramatic field, and has since published a great number of
dramas and novels.

In the field of belles-lettres there is at the present time a number
of other talented authors. Jonas Lie (born 1833) has produced a number
of excellent novels. Then there are Alexander Kielland (born 1849)
Magdalene Thoresen (born 1819), Arne Garborg, Gunnar Heiberg, and a
number of young authors.

In the field of science, also, modern Norway has a rich literature,
with many prominent names, such as the historian Peter Andreas Munch
(1810-1864), Johan Ernst Sars (born 1835), and O.A. Överland.[e]




CHAPTER VI

THE LITERATURE OF SWEDEN


Swedish literature is sublime and magnificent, like its history and
its scenery; it is simple and glad, as well as sad, like the lives of
its people. One of the great days in Sweden, or at least in Stockholm,
is the celebration, on the 26th of July, of the anniversary of the
birth, more than a century and a half ago, of the national poet
Bellman.

His songs are as household words throughout the land. To the Stockholm
born they speak of their daily life and surroundings, of the green
isles and shady banks of the Malar, the flowery woods of Haga, the
smiling park of Dijurgarden. Burlesque scenes of the life of the
people, street tragedies, drinking bouts, and country junketings;
broad humor and Nature's philosophy; lively fancies and exquisite
landscape painting--such are the themes of his song, which from one
generation to another has held the heart of the people spellbound.
Every man, woman, and child knows his favorite ditties by heart, has
sung or hummed them in moments of joy or sorrow. For his song is both
joyful and sad. His joy is the joy of the simple hearted, his gladness
a Dionysian gladness, the very enjoyment of existence; his sadness
that of sympathy with suffering humanity, of anguish at the
evanescence of life and happiness. His fancy oscillates between
constant extremes and ever-recurring contrasts. It makes of his song,
as Tegnér has so aptly defined it, "a sorrow decked in roses." Bright,
gay, enraptured, full of sunshine and glamour, like the summer day
around Stockholm, it is traversed by a strain of melancholy like
a smile through tears, the laugh which conceals a sob. There is
symbolism and there is parody in his rustic figures, but they are so
living, so real, they appeal so strongly to the innermost feelings,
that they seem the embodiment of one's thoughts. His pictures are like
those of the Dutch painters: every trait in the rustic scene tells the
life-story of some humble existence.

It is this characteristic which has made the poet appeal so powerfully
to the minds of the people. He seems to see with their eyes and feel
with their hearts, and to have experienced all the vicissitudes of
their own life. And yet he eminently reflects his own time, the gay,
the light-hearted Gustavian era, with its classical fancies and rococo
tastes. Venus and Bacchus, the Nymphs and the Dryads, Hebe and Amor
are mixed up incongruously with the homely scenes of Scandinavian
life. His Dutch pictures assume then a Watteau-like coloring of
extraordinary effect, as fancy and contrast enhance the sharp outlines
of his figures and give their vitality still greater relief. They are
so lifelike and so various that the whole of the every-day life of
Sweden, and more especially of Stockholm, of the eighteenth century,
is unrolled before our eyes. It is said that if every other book
descriptive of the period were to fail, his verses would suffice to
inform us how the middle classes then lived, thought, and felt.
Around the poet's monument--his bust in bronze on a white marble
column--there gather, on the anniversary of his birth, the crowds who
love him and love his song. Every heart beats high as the Bellman
choirs burst forth in turn into the well-known melodies, composed
or adapted by the poet himself to his words, and sung by him to the
accompaniment of his lute. And song alternates with enthusiastic
orations, addressed to the crowd by improvised orators, teeming with
quotations of well-known lines. It is an orgy of Bellman's verse, such
as the Stockholmer specially delights in. Bellman's songs generally
form a sequence, a continuous chain of lyrical romance. His _Fredman's
Epistles_ are a sort of epic cycle of lyrics. This is a form often
adopted by Swedish poets. We find it in Tegnér's _Frithiof's Saga_,
in Runeberg's _Sayings of Sergeant Stal_, and in the works of other
poets. It is a question, however, whether even by these Master
Singers, in their more elaborate conceptions and genial flights of
poetry, Bellman has ever been surpassed. In lyric power and vivid
realism, his popular ditties are unrivaled.

The next to incarnate the genius of the Scandinavian race was Tegnér.
His love of brave deeds and reckless adventure and his exaltation of
the man of action above the man of thought are typical. His heroes,
fair-haired and blue-eyed, stalwart and vigorous, relying on strength
and longing for adventure, tender-hearted and contemplative when not
aroused to violent action and bent on deeds of valor, personify the
national ideal. His whole vision of life is Scandinavian, bright and
vivid, with a tinge of melancholy. Tegnér was, with Geijer and Ling,
the first to adopt national subjects, to use the Scandinavian myths
and folk-lore in their poetry, in opposition to the classical themes
and the Hellenic mythology, until then exclusively in vogue in the
poetical field.

Geijer was a romantic by nature, in politics as well as in literature,
but he was above all an ardent Scandinavian, opposed to exotics,
and passionately devoted to the great traditions of the past, a
hero-worshiper, an enthusiast, and a _Goth_. The Goths were members of
a society formed to revive the old national manners and customs, the
freedom of the age of the Vikings, and the ardor of the heroes
of Walhalla. Their organ was the _Idun_, an exclusively literary
publication. In a letter written by Geijer from Stockholm to his
_fiancee_, then living in the country, dated March 7, 1811, he says:
"We have formed a society which meets nearly daily. We talk, smoke,
and read together about Gothic Viking deeds. We call each other by
Gothic names, and live in the past." And Anna-Lisa, his future wife,
writing to a friend, says: "My _fiancee_ has become a Goth; instead of
loving me, he is in love with Valkyries and shield-bearing maidens,
drinks out of Viking horns, and carries out Viking expeditions--to the
nearest tavern. He writes poems which must not be read in the dark,
they are so full of murders and deeds of slaughter." Ling, who also
belonged to this society, was a fervent admirer of the Eddas and
Sagas, of the Scandinavian myths and folk-lore. Tegnér, despite his
classical education and Hellenic turn of mind, was an ardent Norseman
in feeling and instinct. "Go to Greece for beauty of form," he would
say, "but to the North for depth of feeling and thought." He scorned
alike the metaphysical subtleties of French philosophy and the
moonshine heroics of German romanticism. But he was at one with Geijer
and Ling in the desire to make Scandinavian heroes and myths the
subjects of poetry.

The result of the movement was _Frithiof's Saga_, by Tegnér, Geiger's
_Viking_, and Ling's heavy epics of Walhalla warriors. But Geijer and
Ling alone had followed out the theory in all its consequences. Their
heroes were simply _Eddic_, of their time, in spirit and in thought.
Ling's realism went so far that his Northern gods and warriors,
"everlastingly killed but to revive again," were deemed "pork-eating
and mead-drinking yokels." They were soon forgotten, and Ling himself
is best known as the inventor of gymnastic exercises on scientific
principles, an art now practiced all the world over as "Swedish
gymnastics." Geijer, whose _Viking_ gave a pure and true picture
of Viking life seen in its own light, was himself disappointed. He
abandoned poetry and took to history, though Tegnér says of him that
if he had devoted himself to poetry, he would have surpassed all his
contemporaries. As historian he rose to the highest rank; and he is
perhaps the greatest historian Sweden has ever produced.

Tegnér had modernized his hero and heroine in _Frithiof's Saga_. He
gave them Viking garbs and surroundings, but modern thoughts and
sentiments. By the more copious development of the inner life, and
by placing woman on an equality with man, love had received a higher
meaning, and his poetry unfolded inspirations unknown to the ancient
world, such as melancholy and the love of nature. He did no more than
Tennyson did later in making of King Arthur the type of an English
gentleman. Frithiof and Ingeborg were representatives of the national
ideal. The success of his poem was immense. It had a lyrical
intensity which set the Scandinavian mind vibrating. Unmindful of the
anachronism, youth gloried in the noble disinterestedness of Frithiof,
in his generosity to his rival, his melancholy philosophising and his
high-minded love, as well as in his daring and his love of adventure.
Manly breasts heaved in sympathy with him, and women's tears flowed at
the story of Ingeborg's love. As the poet Snolisky has said--

  From the highest to the lowest throughout the land
  The poet had created a bond of union.
  In every home, within every school door,
  His verses were read and conned and loved,
  And Sweden's youth felt its cheek glow
  At Frithiof's courage and manly mood.
  While Ingeborg's love to the maiden's dream
  Gave life and thoughts to her weaving and sewing.

In his _Children of the Lord's Supper_, so beautifully translated for
us by Longfellow, Tegnér conveyed a true image of Sweden's religious
life. The scene in the country church, decked out with flowers and
evergreens for the solemn ceremony, the rustic boys and girls bowing
and curtseying as they make their responses before the assembled
congregation, and the attitude and words of the patriarchal pastor are
all true to life. The somewhat declamatory tone of the oration is not
less consistent with the character of the rural parson, the trend of
Swedish religious thought, and the solemnity associated with these
occasions.

It was in his patriotic war-songs, however, that Tegnér roused the
greatest enthusiasm. His _Svea_, his dithryambic declamation _King
Charles_, and his _Scanean Reserves_, sent a thrill through young and
old. When _Svea_ was read at the Swedish Academy, which awarded the
poem its gold medal, the friends and opponents of Tegnér alike were
moved to undisguised admiration. In breadth and intrinsic power, and
in the beauty of its rythm, which seems to echo the clash of arms and
the marching of masses, this poem is unequalled in Swedish literature.
Tegnér's name soon became known far beyond the limits of the lands
where his language is understood. His works were translated into
almost all modern tongues, so that some fifty different translations
of the whole or parts of his poems now exist in eleven European
languages.

A new feature was introduced into Swedish poetry by Runeberg. Although
born of Swedish parents, he was brought up in Finland, his mind being
nurtured in the traditions and the mixed racial influences of his new
fatherland. Thus he breathed a new spirit, and a new inspiration,
drawn from the realities of life, into poetical fiction. He was a
realist in the best sense of that much-misused word. He sought his
ideals _in_ life, instead of outside of it and above it in imaginary
creations. He saw nature such as it is, with all its faults and
sublimities, and, loving it with a true poet's devotion, he painted it
simply and faithfully, without aiming at ennobling it, but seeking and
finding what there is of native dignity in its humblest expressions.
In his lyrical poem, _The Sayings of Sergeant Stal_, he portrayed
incidents of the wars of Finland fighting by the side of Sweden in
1809, when the country was conquered by Russia. It was a series of war
pictures, a collection of hero types, painted in living colors, and
breathing the most ardent patriotism.--Simple tales told by a sergeant
of his recollections of the war, they deal with real personages, most
of them drawn from the humblest stations in life, described just as
they really lived and spoke and acted. Yet throughout the story of
their simple acts and thoughts there swept a breeze which kindled
the blood, roused the emotions; and fired the patriotic feeling of
Runeberg's contemporaries. In poetic depth and beauty of language,
as in style and conception, and in their departure from all the
prevailing ideas and methods of romanticism, these lyric tales were
a revelation. They classed their author at once as in the line of
true-born poets. The works of Runeberg, although properly belonging
to the literature of a country politically no longer one with Sweden,
have from the nature of their subjects and the identity of languages,
always been looked upon in Sweden as common property, and they have
certainly exercised a powerful influence on Swedish thought and
letters. Some of his songs, set to music, are to this day sung as
national anthems.

The last champion of dying romanticism was a sort of universal genius,
eccentric, _bizarre_, unequal, a spirit out of harmony with itself,
but gifted with the most wonderful imagination and power, K.J.L.
Almquist. His life was as checquered as his writings were various. In
turn a clergyman, a schoolmaster, a journalist, and an exile, he has
written volumes on almost every conceivable subject, from fiction,
poetry, and history, to lexicography, pedagogy, and mathematics. His
stories, published in two series, under the common title of _The
Book of the Hedgerose_, show powers of conception, imagination, and
description such as are only to be found in Edgar Allen Poe. His was
an essentially revolutionary temperament. He disdained all authority,
and cavilled at all moral restraints. He was in constant rebellion
against society, its accepted laws and precepts, and vented his moral
skepticism in bitter sarcasm and cutting paradoxes. "But two things
are white in this world," he would say, "innocence and arsenic." The
coupling of the two, however, nearly proved fatal to him. He was
involved in a mysterious affair of poisoning, in which the victim was
a dunning creditor. He was suspected of having given him arsenic by
way of ridding himself of the debt which he could not pay. No proof
of the fact could be adduced, and the crime was never brought home to
him; but public opinion was against him, and fearing or distrusting
the justice of his country, he fled from it ere the case was tried. He
wandered over Europe and America, trying his hand at everything, and
died, a literary wreck, in Germany, longing, and yet not daring, to
return to his country. Lately, the Society of Authors in Stockholm,
judging that his crime was "not proven," while his literary merits
were great beyond all doubt, undertook the rehabilitation of his
memory. His remains were brought back from Lubeck, and buried in
Stockholm with "literary" honors, among others a remarkable oration
delivered at his grave by Verner von Heidenstam, in which he was
styled a martyr in the great cause of the emancipation of thought.
Whatever may be thought of his moral character, Almquist was a great
thinker and a wonderfully versatile writer. The last of the romantics,
he has been called a realist, a psychologist, and a symbolist, and he
was certainly something of all these, half a century before the terms
became battle-cries in literature, and came to designate literary
schools. One critic has made him out to have been a sort of forerunner
of Ibsen, while another calls him the most modern of classics. His
genius placed him in advance of his age in most things. He was the
first in the list of those Scandinavian revolutionists who have laid
out new landmarks in the field of thought, and introduced new methods
in fiction and the drama.

Liberalism, which spread like wildfire over Europe after its outbreak
in the July Revolution in France, reached Sweden soon after. It was
represented in literature by such men as Sturzen-Becker, Wetterbergh,
and Strandberg, writing under the names of Orvar Odd, Uncle Adam,
and Talis-Qualis; Blanche, who wrote stirring novels in the style
of Eugene Sue; Hjerta, and the staff of the then newly founded
_Aftonbladet_, who were revolutionizing the press. The press was
beginning to enlist the highest literary capacities of the country,
gradually becoming what it now is, a purveyor not only of news but of
thought, and a leader of opinion in literature and art, in science
and philosophy. In poetry, liberalism found its echo in the verses
of Malmström, Nybom, Schlstedt. In fiction its banner was carried by
three women, two of whom--well known in England and America--Frederica
Bremer, whose novels portrayed the home life of the middle class,
Emelie Carlen, who idealized the fishermen and sea-faring folk of
the West Coast, and Sophie von Knorring, who gave rather stilted
descriptions of life in aristocratic circles. All three were very
productive, and their novels count by dozens. Yet they failed to
sustain the reputations their first works had won for them.

Verner von Heidenstam is now foremost among the writers of his
country. His early works, _Endymion, Hans Alienus_, and others, raised
him to this rank, and his last two productions, _The Carolines_
(the companions of Charles XII) and _Saint Brigitt_, have more than
confirmed it. _Hans Alienus_ was, like Goethe's _Faust_, a work of
deep philosophical research into the problems of existence, the
purpose and significance of life, set forth in symbolical images and
explained by allegory. In the _Carolines_, a series of short stories
connected by the red thread of history which runs through them, he
gives a new conception, but a wonderfully graphic and striking one,
of Charles XII and his times. It is an epic, and yet so living and so
human a picture of the wild, iron-souled, quick-tempered hero, whose
"eyes flew around like two searching bees," and whose will was like
the steel of his sword; who had the heart of a lion and a "woman's
hatred for women," but for whom men shed their blood freely; who
"never grieved over a misfortune longer than the darkness lasted,"
and was "best loved by those who tried to hate him." His pictures are
drawn by a master hand, and with the intuitive coloring of genius.
_Saint Brigitt_ carries us back to medieval Sweden. Here, too, the
picture is lifelike, centered round the struggle of a high-minded
woman, who makes everything bend to her stern rule of holiness, her
thirst for sanctity, as Charles XII did to his inexorable policy and
thirst for dominion.

The psychological and the historical novel, the latter, in its modern
conception, akin to the former, since it is a study of the psychology
of historical characters and a historical epoch, is the form of
fiction at present most in vogue. It is in this form that such writers
as Tor Hedberg, Per Hallström, and Axel Lundegard have made their
reputations. Tor Hedberg's romances embody profound analysis of the
inner workings of the soul, of the secret motives which, more or less
consciously, determine a man's acts. In this line he ventures on the
most difficult psychological problems. In his _Judas_, a scriptural
romance from which he has drawn a drama, he attempts to solve the
darkest psychological enigma that has puzzled humanity, viz., to
analyze the motives which led Judas to betray his Master and become
the typical traitor. The character he draws of him is original and
striking, and departs entirely from the accepted tradition. But bold
and subtle as the theory is, it is far from convincing. His Judas is
a dark, brooding spirit, fierce and inharmonious, divided between
extatic love and admiration of his Master and inward irresistible
forces of hatred and revolt: a double nature, thirsting for freedom
and love, yet predestined to evil, and led by fearful secret impulses
to the accomplishment of his destiny and the fulfilment of his
mission, necessary to the scheme of salvation. He rushes blindly to
his fate while struggling in vain to escape it. But in the very act of
betrayal, while obeying the command: "What thou doest, do quickly,"
his better nature triumphs for one instant and he falls on the neck of
his Master and embraces Him. It is the Judas kiss which betrays his
Lord. The last look of Jesus, however, showed him that he had been
understood and forgiven. The detestation of humanity to the end of the
world will be his expiation, but that look of Jesus has freed him.

Woman, represented by writers like Ellen Key, Selma Lagerlöf, Sophie
Elkau, Alfhild Agress, Hilma Stanberg, and others, holds a high
position in Swedish letters. Ellen Key is an essayist of virile
power and argumentative breadth, of superior intellect and unfailing
erudition. She is a fearless and unfailing champion of free thought,
individualism, and woman's emancipation. As was said of Madame de
Staël, her writings are "the most masculine productions of the
faculties of woman." Selma Lagerlöf occupies as a novelist a position
of her own. Her style and her manner in fiction are unique. Symbolism
and allegory are blended in it with the most realistic pictures of
everyday life. She thinks in parables, and describes realities, and
the realities convey the moral teachings of parables. With something
of the peculiar power of George Eliot in the delineation of character,
she makes each humble life preach some great moral truth. Her latest
book, _Jerusalem_, is one of extraordinary fascination, created quite
a sensation in Sweden, and places Selma Lagerlöf quite among the
foremost writers of the day.

It may in general be said of Swedish writers that they have a high
idea of their calling. Few, if any, have accepted as their sole
function the idealization of form. They hold mostly that the highest
aim of art should be to teach and elevate, to destroy prejudice and
conventionality, and indicate, in so far as it is possible, the
solution of moral problems through the creative faculty of inspired
productiveness. The wish to inculcate action, the energy that is
born of enthusiasm, the chivalry that is inspired by high ideals and
unselfish motives. Raised thus from the region of mere chronicles of
human passions, of woman's frailty and man's baseness, and exercising
themselves with the political, social, and religious problems of the
day, these works of imagination have become, alongside the Press, a
powerful factor in the development of modern thought.[f]




CHAPTER VII

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN


Only for the past three years has Norway had an independent political
life, and so few changes in local government have so far been made
under the new king that it will be profitable, in this chapter, to
take up the government and political life as it existed under the
united Constitutional Monarchy of Norway and Sweden. In fact, it is no
different than at that time, except that each has its separate king.
In internal rule, the two countries were always separate, except in
matters that pertained to the common weal of both. Thus, the Swedish
Minister of Foreign Affairs had charge of the United Kingdoms, and, as
previously stated, this was the rock on which the Union finally split.

The constitution of Norway, like that of the United States, invests
all power in the people, who are represented by their legislature and
their judiciary, with the king as an executive to administer the laws
passed by the one, and enforce the decrees of the other. When the
two houses of Parliament disagree upon a measure, they sit in joint
session, when it requires a vote of two-thirds to enact it, and the
approval of the king is necessary. He is also required to promulgate
all the acts of the legislature. Many Norwegian statesmen assert that
the king has no veto power, but merely temporary authority to
suspend a law pending the action of the people. If three successive
parliaments, after three successive elections, pass a bill in exactly
the same terms, it does not require the sanction of the king when
it is passed the fourth time. Thus the people may exercise their
sovereignty.

All edicts of the executive, all decisions of the court, and all
resolutions of the legislature are proclaimed in the king's name, but
the ministry is responsible to the legislature for the acts of the
king, and if they are not approved, as in England, the ministry must
resign and a new one be organized in sympathy with a majority of the
parliament. The king may choose his own ministers, but they must
represent the will of the people. They are called counsellors of
state, are eight in number. Before the disunion, two of these eight
counsellors were without portfolios, and resided alternately at
Stockholm, while the other members presided over six executive
departments in Christiania.

A record is kept of the meetings of the ministry by a permanent
secretary, and the constitution requires that each minister shall
express his opinion upon all questions brought up for consideration.
He who remains silent is counted in the affirmative. No matter of
business can be determined by the king without the advice of the
ministry, unless an emergency demands a prompt decision, when he must
take the responsibility of securing a ratification of his act. In the
same manner the king may issue edicts of a provisional character in
matters of commerce, finance, industrial activity, customs dues,
police and military affairs during a recess of the parliament, subject
to its approval within a limited time after reassembling.

The minister may act in the king's name in cases of emergency or
during his absence from the country, subject to his approval.
These conditions were adopted in earlier times, when the Norwegian
legislature sat only once in three years and some such power was
necessary, but now that there are annual and often semi-annual
sessions, and they have a king of their own residing always in Norway,
it is very seldom necessary for the executive power to exercise such
responsibility.

The king appoints all the officials of the executive part of the
government, all the officers of the army and navy, and all the
clergymen in the established church, but exercises this power through
his ministers. Dissenting congregations are not subject to government
control, and may choose their own clergymen, although the latter are
required to register an oath of allegiance and a pledge to obey
the laws of the nation and fulfill their duties with fidelity and
conscientiousness.

The king is the head of the established church, which is the Lutheran.
He is also commander-in-chief of the army and navy, but can not
increase or decrease the military establishment without the approval
of the parliament. He has the right to declare war and conclude peace,
but can not expend money for military purposes, not even for the
national defense, without the consent of the legislature. The
Norwegian constitution is silent concerning his authority to conclude
treaties with foreign powers, and the question has never been raised.
He conducts negotiations through his ministers and submits the result
of their labors for the approval of parliament. He has the power
to suspend the collection of customs duties temporarily until the
parliament can meet to consider the matter, but it has very rarely
been exercised.

The parliament is called the storthing, and is composed of one
hundred and fourteen representatives, thirty-eight from the towns
and seventy-six from the rural districts. It divides itself into two
sections, known as the odelsthing and the lagthing. The members are
elected for three years by an indirect and complicated system which is
nearly the reverse of our own. The voters of each parish, which forms
an election district, assemble at a given place and time and select
delegates to a convention which chooses their representatives in the
storthing, and, when the storthing meets, its one hundred and fourteen
members select one-fourth of their own members, generally the most
experienced and distinguished men, to constitute a senate, or upper
chamber, called the lagthing, which exercises a sort of supervisory
power over legislation.

The storthing sits for about six months every year. The members are
paid $3 a day during the session and their traveling expenses. The
presiding officer is chosen every four weeks, and can not succeed
himself without an interval. The committees are appointed by a
"selection committee" elected by ballot, and each committee chooses
his own chairman. There is a rather novel rule requiring bills
referred to committees to be assigned for consideration to the several
members in rotation. Any member may introduce a bill modifying the
constitution, but all other classes or measures must proceed from the
government and the members of the lower house. Members of the upper
house, or lagthing, are not permitted to propose ordinary legislation,
on the theory that they should remain unprejudiced so as to exercise
a judicial revision. Thus, bills must originate in the odelsthing,
which, having passed them, sends them to the lagthing for its
approval.

The financial officers of the government and the directors of the
national bank are elected by the storthing, which appoints a committee
every six months to revise and audit the accounts of officials who
have to do with the disbursement or collection of money. When an
irregularity or improper expenditure is discovered, the legislature is
asked to decide whether the minister in charge of the department shall
repay the sum from his own pocket and repair the damage that has been
caused by one of his subordinates.

In the same manner the storthing regulates all loans, on the theory
that the money belongs to the people. The members of the ministry may
be impeached by the odelsthing for a violation of the constitution and
tried before the lagthing and the supreme court.

The following eight executive departments are in charge of ministers:

1. For ecclesiastical matters and public instruction, which also has
charge of charities, insurance companies, and matters relating to the
relief of the people.

2. The department of justice.

3. The department of the interior, which has jurisdiction over
everything that is not under the other departments.

4. The department of agriculture.

5. The department of public works.

6. The department of finances and customs.

7. The department of defense.

8. The revision of public accounts department.

For administrative purposes, Norway is divided into twenty districts,
viz.: The cities of Christiania and Bergen and eighteen "Amts" or
provinces, which coinside with the diocese of the church, and there
is a very close relation between the ecclesiastical and the civil
authorities. The chief magistrate in each of the counties, nominated
by the king, is known as an "Amtmand." His duties are similar to
those of the French prefects, although the theory of home-rule and
self-government is carried into each county and each municipality and
parish, where every magistrate is responsible to a council elected by
the people from among their own number. They make the laws for the
magistrate to administer. There are few countries in which the theory
of self-government is carried to such an extent as in Norway. The
sovereignty of the people is absolute and their rights are jealously
guarded. Norway is divided into ecclesiastical parishes, which are the
voting districts, as in England, and are governed in a similar way.

The Norwegian constitution of 1814, based upon the principle of
popular self-government, declared these municipalities completely
independent in the management of their own affairs, placing the
administrative authority, with the power of taxation and the
disbursement of revenues in the hands of the taxpayers and
householders, so that they could not be coerced by the national
government, if there ever was any disposition in that direction.

This authority is exercised through a council called a "bystyre,"
composed of from twelve to forty-eight members, according to the
population of the parish, who are elected for terms of three years,
and serve gratuitously. The council elects from its own number a
chairman who is the head of the whole municipal organization, and is
known as an _ordförer_. He corresponds to the German burgomaster and
the mayor of the American city.

In addition to the popular council there is a magistrate representing
the royal government, who, with the consent of the council, may be
admitted to their deliberations, but is not allowed to vote. He
is also ex-officio a member and often chairman of the municipal
departments or commissions, such as the board of public works,
the school board, the harbor commission. In this way he becomes a
connecting link between the national authority at Christiania and the
municipal councils throughout the kingdom, because certain measures of
local interest are subject to restrictions by the national parliament,
particularly those involving finances.

Under the direction of the council are permanent executive departments
similar to those found in the United States, pertaining to public
highways, the public buildings, the public health, the relief of the
poor, the fire department, police department, etc. These in every case
are managed by permanent officials under the supervision of committees
of the council. Every year a budget is made up of the income and
expenditures expected; each department being permitted to submit its
own estimates, which are approved or amended by the council, and the
amount is raised by taxation of houses, lands, personal property,
and incomes, with fees for licenses to transact business. The entire
system of local taxation is similar to our own, and the methods of
assessment are the same. In order to meet the expense of unusual
undertakings for the benefit of the municipality, such as waterworks,
tramways, docks, etc., funds are raised in the usual manner by
the issue of interest bearing bonds, which are usually in small
denominations in order to permit people of limited means to invest in
them. They are redeemed, as a rule, in forty annual instalments, the
bonds to be canceled being selected by lot. In this system of local
government women now participate upon an equal basis with men.

With the exception of the British parliament, the Swedish riksdag is
the oldest legislative body in the world. The kingdom of Sweden has
maintained its integrity for not less than four thousand years. So far
back as the anthropologists can trace the history of Swedish people,
the boundaries of their land have remained the same. The Duchy of
Finland was subject to Swedish sovereignty at one time, and at
different times Sweden has been united with Norway and Denmark under
the same ruler, but Sweden has been Sweden ever since human beings
inhabited its territory, and it is the only nation in Europe that has
never been conquered or had its boundaries changed by foreign powers.
Since the beginning of history, home rule has prevailed among the
people and has been defended and recognized as their right. The
parishes have always controlled their own affairs, and since the
Reformation their government has been in the hands of a board or
council elected by the people, of which the pastor of the church is
chairman. Everybody who pays taxes, men and women alike, may vote at
the election of the council. The burgomaster serves for life, and is
usually required to abstain from all other business except that which
pertains to the public weal. The parishes are consolidated into
twenty-four provinces, similar to our states, each having a certain
independence and government of its own, although the governor-general,
who also serves for life on good behavior, is appointed by the king.
The city of Stockholm is an independent jurisdiction like the District
of Columbia, with a governor appointed by the king. The riksdag
was formerly composed of four distinct bodies,--nobles, clergymen,
burghers, peasants,--representing the different classes of the
community, and all laws required their approval. In 1866, however,
this clumsy arrangement was abolished and the national legislature was
consolidated into two bodies known as the first and second chamber,
similar to our Senate and House of Representatives. The two chambers
are equal in every respect, except that the second chamber, or lower
house, has the advantage of numbers when a deadlock arises and the
question in dispute is decided by a joint ballot. Then, unless there
should be an overwhelming difference of opinion, the second chamber
usually has its will, which is perfectly right, because it represents
the people. The king must approve all legislation to make it
effective, and his veto is final, except in matters concerning
taxation and the expenditure of public money. The diet has the sole
power to levy taxes and make appropriations with or without his
consent.

The first chamber, which corresponds to our Senate, is composed of
one hundred and fifty members, elected for terms of nine years by the
provincial councils and by the city councils in towns of more than
25,000 inhabitants. As the councils are elected by the taxpayers, both
men and women, the members of the first chamber may be regarded as the
representatives of the property-owning portion of the community. To be
eligible to the first chamber a candidate must be thirty-five years
old, own property assessed at $21,000, or pay taxes upon an income
of not less than $1,100. Rank does not count. The qualification is
pecuniary entirely, and so evenly is property distributed in Sweden
that only ten thousand people in the entire kingdom are eligible to
the first chamber of the diet.

The members of the second chamber, two hundred and thirty in number,
are elected for three years, of whom eighty are elected by the towns
and one hundred and fifty by the rural districts. Each must have
property worth $270, or have leased $1,600 worth of land for five
years, or pay taxes on an income of $214. These are also the
qualifications for voting for members of the parliament.

There is very little of politics in Sweden. There are three parties,
known as the conservatives, the liberals, and the socialists. The
conservative party is comprised of the aristocracy, the church, the
agricultural classes and people of conservative sentiment generally.
The liberal party is composed of progressive elements, the theorists,
the artisans, the machinists, and the thinking men among the
laboring element, who advocate a reduction of the tariff on imported
merchandise and free trade so far as possible; a separation of church
and state on the theory that no man should be taxed to support a
religious faith that he does not believe in; a reduction in the army
and navy and other official expenses; the modification of the election
laws as above stated; rotation in office, so that all shall have a
chance, and they oppose the general tendency to centralization in the
government.

The socialists go a little farther. They are not so radical as those
who go by the same name in Germany, France, and other European
countries. They are very moderate in their views. They favor most of
the planks in the liberal platform, and, in addition, advocate the
adoption of socialistic reforms, the loaning of public money without
interest to the poor, public pensions to the helpless, sweeping
reforms in the labor laws, and the purchase and maintenance by the
state of all public enterprises that affect public welfare, such as
the street-car lines, the insurance companies, the banks, etc.
The peasants in the country are protectionists and belong to the
conservative party. The mechanics in the cities are generally
socialists. Politics, however, is not very exciting. The tariff, labor
questions, and other propositions are always discussed, and of late
years the most interesting issues have been the appropriation of money
for national defense, the increase of the term of military service
from ninety to three hundred and sixty days for every citizen, the
modification of the electoral law, and the regulations of the forests.

Peasants have been members of parliament for more than five hundred
years, and now constitute more than half the membership of the second
chamber--intelligent, well-educated mechanics and farmers, who take a
deep interest in the affairs of the government and generally are
on the right side. The agricultural peasants are invariably loyal
supporters of the king. The mechanics from the city are usually
opposed to him.

The annual session of the riksdag opens immediately after the holidays
with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. It is one of the most imposing
functions in all Europe. The members of both houses meet at their
respective halls, attend divine service at the cathedral, where they
receive the sacrament and listen to a sermon of admonition. Then they
march in a body to the royal palace, where they are received by the
king's ministers with great formality, and escorted to what is known
as the throne room. As they enter, each man bows reverently to a
silver throne which stands upon a dais at the other end of the
apartment. The members of the first chamber are seated on the right
side of the great hall, and those of the second upon the left.

When the sound of trumpets is heard, all rise, and the master of
ceremonies enters in gorgeous apparel, followed by four pages in dress
of the sixteenth century. Behind them is a squad of trumpeters, then
the grand marshal of the court, preceded by four heralds and followed
by the assistant marshals, the grand chamberlain, the lord steward,
the master of the horse, and other officers of the royal household,
the eighteen judges of the supreme court, the archbishop and bishops,
and the members of the king's cabinet.

Then follows a guard of honor, composed of the highest nobles of the
kingdom in glittering uniforms and carrying old-fashioned weapons,
such as were once used in actual warfare. They surround the king, who
wears his royal robes, and, as he enters, the band plays the favorite
air of the people, "From the Depths of the Swedish Heart." He wears