L ae 
415 
merifs, of loving faitery, and of being 
inclined to imbibe the fpirit of party and 
fastion. It were much to be wihhed, that 
they were Jefs prone to luxury, which their 
foi] and climate feem to have forbidden. 
Their faults, however, are compenfated by 
a ftrong fpirit of hoipitalityand beneficence, 
and by their zeal to fulfil all the duties 
of friendthip. They are endowed with a 
fingular aptnefs for the arts and {ciences. 
‘Their great reputation for valour has been 
fapported by their military and naval 
forces in the fight of all Europe, on a 
umber of important occafions. 
Tine women are elegant and flender, 
pofleffed of much tafte and vivacity, and 
are more fufceptible of tender impref- 
fions than could be expected in fo cold a 
climate. They are diligent in the manage- 
ment of their domeftic affairs, and always 
practice economy, without making an of- 
tentaticus difplay of that virtue. Though 
they cannot always be celebrated as fine 
ladies, it is certain that they pofiefs the art 
of pleafing infinitely by the natural graces 
of body and mind, as well as by the ac- 
complifhments which they owe to educa- 
tion. 
Thefé obfervations cn the Swedes 
would not hold equally good if applied to 
the Finslanders, who have not yet attain- 
ed the fame degree of civilization, though 
they are making a daily and very rapid 
progrefs. Hence their character is per- 
haps {till more. warlike than that of the 
Swedes. . 
The drefs worn at court, and in gene- 
ral on particular feftivals, is the national 
uniform prefcribed by the ordinance of . 
Guftavus If. This garb, which is teo 
richly decorated with filk, feems not to 
be very fuitable to the climate, or to the 
economical views which ought to direct 
the legiflature ; and, if it becomes fine 
gentlemen, by giving them an air of finery 
and elegance, it has the difadvantage of 
being unfavovrable to that manly, re- 
fpeStable, and martial appearance, which 
it would be defireable to fee charatterifed 
by the national diefs. 
The Swedifh language, which is a dialect 
of the low Saxon, is one of the moft agree- 
able in Europe, without being the moft 
difficult. If the inhabitants pronounced 
the words with a, tone fomewhat more 
firm, if their organs poffefled the fame 
force with thofe of the L[talians, which are 
formed by nature for all forts of melody, 
if their articulation were as accurate and 
diftingt, if they raifed the voice fuffici- 
ently when dwelling on the conifonants, of 
A Defeription of Modern Sweden. 
[Dec 1, 
which perhaps the. Swedifh contains too 
few, it would not be eafy to decide which 
of the two languages would be moft agree- 
able to the ear. We have elfewhere ob- 
ferved, that the Swedifh has fuch an afi- 
nity with the Danifh and Norwegian Jan- 
guages, that the natives of thofe three 
countries eafily underitand each others So 
many Latin, French, and German words 
were formerly blended with the Swedith, 
that Charles XI. thought himfelf oblized 
to prohibit, in a formal manner, the public 
officers from ufng foreign words ; a mea- 
{ure which was foon followed by an in- 
jun&ion to the clergy, requiring them to 
preach in their native idiom, with all the 
purity and correctne/s of which they were 
capable. In no country are there fo many 
family names ending in ws, which is a La- 
tin, and not a Swedifh, termination. Not 
only were Swedifh proper names, which 
happened to form words, tranflated into 
Latin, when this could be done; but 
when the proper names had no fignifica- 
tion, the Latin termimation ws was added, 
in conformity with this imperious ufage. 
And fuch is the empire cf fafhion on the 
mutation of language, that the Swedes, 
who have always been faithful admirers of 
the French, have, notwithfianding the or- 
dinances to the contrary, preferved a 
greater number of French words than the 
Danes, or even than the Germans, and 
they daily make ule of thoie words, efpe- 
cially in common converiation. It muft 
be obferved, however, that the praétice of 
terminating proper names of men in us 
becomes every day leis common. Scarce- 
ly any but aged minifters of the gofpel 
now willingly allow that addition to their 
names; for fuch of their fons as are not 
deftined for eccletaitical employments, re- 
fume their ancient names, and change, for 
example, Lalerus into Laler. In this 
place, it muft be oblerved, that, although 
Sweden has produced a greater number of 
orators than Denmark, whete indeed there 
are very few worthy of being named, the 
grammatical and philofophical parts of 
language have been lefs cultivated in the 
former country, which is almoft deftitute 
of di¢tionaries, while we find in Denmark 
feveral well-written grammars, more com- 
plete di€tionaries, and an excellent treatife 
of fynonimes. Of the Swedifh language, 
four diale&ts are to be diftinguifhed, name- 
ly, the Swedifh, properly fo called, the’ 
Dajecarlian, the Finlandifh, and the Lap- 
landifh, The two laft differ confiderably 
from the two firft; and it is remark- 
able, that the language of the Finlanders 
~ >, Ieems 
