THROUGH SWEDEN. 
65 
day and night. They exadt from their friends and favourites a de¬ 
gree of attention and refpedt even in public, that appears extraor¬ 
dinary to a foreigner. They would immediately difmifs a lover 
that would hcfitate to bow to them in public places, dr even to 
kifs their hands, as is the cuftom in Sweden for gentlemen to 
perform, in token of reflect to ladies of rank and character. I 
have often feen officers of diftindfcion fubmitting to thefe adts of 
humiliation toward women of the loofeft conduit, and fcarcely 
worthy to belong to the Balladiere cafte :* for the fame ladies, 
who are thus courted by their feveral lovers, and require fo 
much ceremony and attention in day-light, will fometimes pa¬ 
rade the ftreets when it is dark, and expofe themfelves to any ad¬ 
venture that may enable them to gain money. From the facility 
of keeping miftreffes by a fpecies of partnerffiip, it happens that 
the men in Sweden, efpecially in the capital, feel no jealouty ; 
they “ enjoy love,” as Helvetius expreffes it, “ but do not figh.” 
The Swedes, like the Englifh, are taken up with their bufinefs 
in the day time, and fpend their evenings at cards, or fometimes, 
though very rarely, in the company of the ladies. A Swediffi 
petit maitre is an animal that holds a middle Ration between 
beings of that kind in Germany and thofe in France. He is a 
fool, as in all countries. He fpends the whole day in changing his 
clothes, wears large whiikers reaching down the length of his 
* Balladieres are dancing girls in India, whofe favours are to be purchafed 
with money, but who are not on that account held as objects of fcorn or re¬ 
proach, becaufe it belongs to their cafte to be thus unfortunately circumftanced. 
K chin, 
