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The Swedes in general fhew much ge- 
nius fer manufactures; though it cannot 
be faid that they give great application 
to them, or that they excel in any par- 
ticular branch. If fome exceptions might 
be made, they would perhaps be in fa- 
wvour of cloths, hats, watches, gilded 
goods, and fome articles of hardware, 
fome of their inventions for manufac- 
turing which have been adopted by other 
nations. Net that they have been 
fparing of money to encourage mapu- 
factures, but it has too frequently been 
il!l-employed. It is indeed a truth which 
may be confidered as demonftrated, that 
the diftance of Sweden from the great 
markets of Europe, added to the length 
and feverity of the winters, fo expenfive 
to the inhabitants by increafing their 
wants, and fo very incommodious for 
navigation, will never permit manufac- 
tures to reach any great height in that 
kingdom. Their principal ones are 
thofe of iron and fteel, which- furnifh 
many important articles for exportation. 
‘The watches, efpecially, made in Swe- 
dien are in fome eitimation in other coun- 
tries. The fail-cloth fells well in the 
Wediterranean. In 1785, there were on- 
ly 14,000 hands employed in the manu- 
fzGures cf wool, filk, and cotton. In 
1787, about 439 perfons were kept at 
work in preparing fifh oil. Ship build- 
ing is by no means fo confiderable a 
branch as it ought to be. 
If the Swedes poffefs not fo inventive 
a genius as other nations, they require 
but the fight of a model, not eniy to 
imitate, but even to embellifh and per- 
fet it, efpecially in trinkets, fmall hard- 
ware, and articles of fteel, as is evi- 
dent from the late preductions of the ma- 
nufaGories at Efkilftuna and at Wede- 
wag, as well as from M. Apelquift’s 
works in brafs and other metals. 
For fome years the Swedes have la- 
boured earneftly to open a communi- 
cation between Stockholm and Gotten- 
burg, by means of a’canal. In digging 
the canal of Trolhattan, a work of im- 
menfe labour, they have tunnelled moun- 
tains, and have conftructed feveral locks, 
in order to avoid a cataract of more than 
fixty feet, called the Infernal Fall. All 
the bar-iron, which comes from the pro- 
vinces of Nericia, Weermeland, &c. will 
be conveyed in fmall veffels over the 
great lake Wennern, to the canal, and 
thence to the river Gotha, which will 
carry it dire&ly to Gottenburg. The 
utility of this canal, en which they 
have laboured above a century, has al- 
ways been acknowledged; but it is only 
of late that, by the aid of an aflociation, 
cf 
A Defcription of Modern Savedette 
[ Jan. ly 
they have fucceeded, after the labour of 
four or five years,’ in finifhing that part 
of ibe undertaking, where the navigation | 
of the canal will foon be opened*. ‘They 
have alfo begun this year (1800) to clear 
the rivers and the old canals cf Finland, 
2n operation which promifes much facility 
to the conveyance of commodities. 
The interior communication is gene- 
rally very eafy in fummer, the countr 
being interfected by lakes, rivers, and 
indentures of the coaft; and in winter, 
the conftant exiftence of ice finguiarly 
facilitates the carriage of merchandize, 
A ftranger travelling in Sweden, either 
in fummer or winter, rapidly paffes 
over a vaft fpace at a cheap rate, in 
comparifon with the expence of travel- 
ling poft in other countries. This ad- 
vantage is chiefiy owing to the natural 
quality of the roads, which are always 
carefully repaired, and which always pre- 
fent a firm furface. But there is no re- 
fource for a man who wifhes to make a 
journey in winter, and who has not the 
means of travelling poft. Neither is there 
any eftablifhment for the regular con~ 
veyance of goods during that long feafon; 
fo that Sweden, where other regulations 
are fo good, and which has a juft title to 
be contidered as one of the moft civilized 
countries in Europe, feems to be ifolated 
from the refit of the world for a great part 
of the’year. Letters, gazettes, and feme 
ftrangers whofe purfes enable them te 
trave! poit, are the only winter-vifitors of 
Sweden. That country may be faid to 
be connected with the reft of the continent 
only for the 4 or 5 fummer months. Thus 
the price of fome commodities frequently 
becomes exorbitant, efpecially towards the 
end of winter, and fometimes they are not 
to be procured though ever fo necefiary. 
Hence it happens that the beft political 
works, and other interefting objects, are 
for a long period unknown to the’pubiic, 
except by advertifements, and fhort, and 
too often unfatisfa@ery, extracts which 
appear inthe journals. Even thefe laff, as 
well as the news papers fent by poft, come 
toaconfiderable price. Hence the country 
is too little vifited by ftrangers, who cons 
fequently neither diffufe their money, nor 
communicate their induftry,norform many 
commercial relations. Hence, in a word, 

* The words in Italics feem to in- 
volve fome ambiguity. ‘Thofe of the 
original are, On a réuj?, apres quatre ou 
cing aunécs de travaux, @ achever cette 
partic de Venterprije, o& ta navigalion 
souvrira bientot.—Is the whole under- 
taking finifhed or not? 
it. 
