66 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



old, and a sweeter or more cherub-looking face I 

 never set my eyes on, and tlie little blue-peaked 

 cap, braided with silver, perched jauntily on her 

 head, gave a lively kind of expression to perhaps 

 the sweetest face I ever saw in my life. I never 

 yet saw a child so beautiful as this wild Lap, and 

 a painter might have made his fortune if he could 

 only have transferred the expression of that coun- 

 tenance to his canvas. Certainly there can be 

 no truth in breeding if such a little angel came 

 from the rough stock that filled the body of this 

 church. The service passed off quietly enough — 

 the communion began, and a curious sight it was 

 to see these little vagabonds run along the tops of 

 the pews, like so many rats on a plank, in hot 

 haste to reach the altar ; and now commenced a 

 scene such as I never witnessed in the house of 

 God, and trust I shall never witness again. It 

 seems that within the last few years a kind of 

 fanaticism has crept in among these Laps, and 

 the word of God, instead of " pouring oil upon a 

 bruised spirit," as everyone is taught to believe 

 who will read the Scriptures aright, only fills 

 them with imaginary terrors, and, far different 

 from the creed of the real Christian, they seem to 

 think the best atonement they can make for their 

 sins lies in outward show. I have seen a little of 

 this kind of humbug in other churches in Sweden, 



