AND CHARACTERISTICS. 6 



has secured free dinners and suppers for the whole week 

 during the terra. No shame seems to be attached to this 



O 



free lunching ; and as a rule, each family tries to set a bet- 

 ter table on poor students' day than on any other, although 

 there are exceptional cases in which the reverse is done. 



Some of the shining lights among the Swedish pro- 

 fessional men have passed through college by the aid of 

 such charity meals, and are not ashamed to confess it. 



If there is one class of people that ought to be prosper- 

 ous in Sweden, it is the hatters, for owing to the Swedish 

 etiquette of uncovering your head in the street to mere 

 passing acquaintances, the brim of the hat soon wears out; 

 and an American gentleman, lately returned from Sweden, 

 told me that the next time he goes- over there, he surely 

 should get a silk hat made with a sheet iron brim, to en- 

 able it to stand the strain put upon it by the demands of 

 the prevailing etiquette. Even two brothers, and chums, 

 as we say here, when they meet in public, take off their 

 hats at meeting and parting with a great deal of reverence. 

 Your own servants meet you in the street, and as they 

 doff their hats or make a courtesy, you are expected to 

 raise your own in return. It is also the etiquette, if parties 

 pass each other on the left to raise their hats with their 

 right hands, and vice versa, so as not to obscure your face 

 from your friend in raising the hat. In going into offices, 

 stores, restaurants, bar-rooms or billiard saloons, the 

 Swede uncovers his head just as reverently as if going into 

 church. In the country the farmers and peasants generally 

 uncover their heads in going by churches or cemeteries, as 

 a mark of respect. 



Writers on Sweden have said that no real deep religious 

 sentiment exists in that country, and this is equally true, 

 I think, wherever state and religion are united, for in Swe- 

 den you must be baptized when two years old, whether 

 you want to or not. You may bawl and kick all you like 



