SWEDEN. 789 



always been the abode of freedom and simplicity of chaiacler. The Swedes are gentle, though 

 brave and warlike ; and the peasants are uncommonly civil and obliging. The people are hos- 

 pitable to a great degree, and the character of a stranger is a ready passport to their houses. 

 When the richer families leave their country-houses, a room and attendance is still appropriated 

 to travelers, who receive as much care as though the master were present. The Swedes are 

 descended from the hordes that overran the Roman empire, and they are no less brave and ad- 

 venturous than their ancestors. In modern times, they have been the bulwark of the protestant 

 faith ; and one of their sovereigns has, with an inconsiderable army, conquered hcrdes as nu- 

 merous and brave as the north ever sent forth to pillage the fertile south. 



27. Jlinusements. The 1st of May and midsummer day are celebrated wiih general joy. 



On the latter occasion, the young men and wo- 

 men dance around a pole till morning. Dancing 

 is connnon, and all classes dance with great ani- 

 mation and agility. Cards are a geneial amuse- 

 ment, though the Swedes are not addicted to 

 gaming. All ranks play games at cards ; the 

 most common of which is that called Boston. 

 It is said (to illustrate the national fondness for 

 cards), that a nobleman, when his dinner-hour 

 had arrived without the dinner, went into the 

 kitchen to learn the reason of the delay ; when 

 he found all the domestics engrossed in a game. 

 He admitted the characteristic excuse, that the 

 game was at its most critical point, and could 

 not, therefore, be deferred, even for dinner; 

 but he took the cook's hand, and played it, while that domestic performed his duty. 



2S. Education. There are a good many elementary schools, and education is as generally 

 diffused as in Switzerland. There are few who cannot read and write. There are 2 univer- 

 sities, one at Upsala, and the other at Lund. 



29. State of the .Rrls, Science, and Literature. The Swedes, with some other northern 

 nations have an ancient literature, the Scandinavian, which has been noticed under the head of 

 Iceland. In modern times, they have done much for science, in which many branches have 

 been simplified and much advanced by Linnaeus. Works of merit are translated into the 

 Swedish language, in which the original works are chiefly scientific. There are several learned 

 societies in Sweden. Sergei, a sculptor of great merit, left many monuments of his art in 

 Sweden. He is one of the best of the northern sculptors. 



30. Religion. The religion is Lutheran, and the Swedes are generally a devout people. 



31. Government. This is a limited hereditary monarchy. The Diet has some resemblance 

 to the British Parliament, and it is composed of 4 bodies, which meet in different houses, viz. 

 the nobles, the clergy, the peasants, and the burghers or inhabitants of towns. 



32. History. Sweden and Norway seem originally to have been peopled by Finnic tribes. 

 The Gothic clilefs who conquered this country, assumed the title of Kings of Upsala, in the 

 5th century ; but the Goths and Swedes remained distinct tribes for some centuries afterward. 

 The whole peninsula was subject to Denmark in the 14th century, but in the 16lh Gustavus 

 Vasa delivered Sweden from the Danish yoke, and was elected king by his countrymen. The 

 Reformation was soon after introduced into the country, and in the religious wars of the J 7th 

 century, the Swedes, under their king Gustavus Adolphus, gained a brilliant military reputation. 

 Charles the Twelfth, in the beginning of the ISth century, after adding to this celebrity by a 

 series of victories, which exhausted the blood and treasures of his subjects, was defeated at 

 Pultowa by the Russians, and obliged to take refuge in the Ottoman dominions. Norway, 

 which had previously belonged to Denmark, was annexed to Sweden in 1814. 



Swedes cclehrating Midsummer Day. 



