' SKETCHES FROM SZTERSDAL. pds 
not a little to the promotion of wedlock, and the pre- 
servation of morals, and to the destruction and discom- 
fiture of all bachelors and convents. More than one 
has obtained his bride in this way, “par droit de 
conquéte ;” and the custom prevails to this day. 
But, on the whole, one cannot deny that there is a 
noble pride, a deep feeling of independence, and love of 
liberty that hates constraint beyond everything, be- 
longing to their good qualities, and shining brightly 
through all their slothful habits and dirtiness. 
The Szetersdal peasant is bold, openhearted, straight- 
forward, and hospitable. With a brimming beaker he 
meets the guest who passes over his threshold, and 
drinks to him, and offers him the strong, foaming ale, 
which, however, it is not the mark of good breeding to 
quaff off till after repeated and pressing invitations on 
the side of the host, and continued protests on the part 
of the guest, in order that the former may have ample 
opportunities for displaying his persuasive powers. 
As regards enlightenment, the Sztersdal peasantry 
stand remarkably low. Very few of them can read, and 
still fewer write. Their ideas are, naturally, primitive 
toa degree. The rotundity of the earth they still look 
on as a most doubtful matter. 
Like our venerable forefathers, they believe the world 
to be flat, ike a pancake, in the middle of which the 
Almighty has placed Norway, and Szetersdal again in the 
Q 
