and Pomerania. The exhaustive wars in which the country had been engaged had drained her physical resources, and it is calculated that in the first decade of this century Sweden did not possess three millions of inhabitants, and in this estimate Finland was included. The present population is estimated at nearly four millions and a half.

The loss of Finland was a dreadful blow to Sweden, for it has left her capital peculiarly exposed to foreign invasion.

In a recent article* "On the Present Condition of Norway," Mr. Gosse says, "Christiania is destined to become the foremost city of Seandinavia. It possesses advantages that Stockholm has lost. When that city rose into influence it lay in the gulf of Bothnia, with its provinces before and behind it. But the seizure of Finland has left Stockholm at the mercy of a Russian fleet."

Crippled as Sweden was in the reign of Charles XIII., yet she was enabled to throw her weight into the scale at a very critical moment in the affairs of Europe.

Sweden had joined the coalition against Napoleon, and Marshal Bernadotte, who found himself in the opposition ranks to his former leader, has, by some, been accused of ingratitude; but considering that he had been elected Crown Prince of Sweden in 1810, his duty was clearly to his adopted country. He it was who led 60,000 men to the aid of Blucher on the eve of Leipsic, thereby greatly contributing to the success of the allies, and the subsequent emancipation of Germany.

This led to important results in Scandinavia. Denmark was obliged to concede to the Crown Prince, in the treaty of Kiel, 1814, all that she had hitherto refused. Sweden thereby received Norway as an independent free kingdom, in return for her possessions in Pomerania and for the island of Rügen. The Norwegians elected Charles XIII. as their king, and henceforth Norway and Sweden have been under one crown.

Notwithstanding the martial character of its founder, the dynasty of Bernadotte has happily given to Sweden half a century of peace, and in consequence her resources have been largely developed, and her material prosperity has steadily advanced. The country was formerly necessitated to import considerable quantities of corn and cattle;

* Fraser's Magazine, February 1874.

but so much has the system of agriculture improved, that both these articles now form important items in the yearly list of exports. Old chronicles record that in the thirteenth century Sweden exported corn and cattle to England, Holland, and other countries; but the vicissitudes of war had so decimated the population, that they were inadequate to the culture of the soil, and from 1650 till 1819 had to import annually great quantities of corn.

Out of the 3,000,000 people who are devoted to agriculture, about 250,000 are owners of the land they cultivate. This division of property has given rise to numerous credit associations of landholders to supply the loan of capital to small proprietors. The general credit bank for landholders, founded in 1861, and to which the Government has furnished a relief in money amounting to eight millions Rds., was created with the view of negotiating the loans requisite to the operations of the above-named associations. The annual production of all sorts of corn is 100,000,000 of cubic feet chiefly rye, barley, and oats, the wheat crops not exceeding 4 per cent. of the whole. Potatoes, beans, flax, hemp, hops, tobacco, rape, beetroot, &c., are cultivated to a limited extent.

The farms are generally small throughout Sweden; the average of arable land is about 28 acres to each holding. As the farmhouses and buildings are almost invariably of timber, they are very picturesque. The isolated position of these homesteads has made the people very skilful and independent. The farmer is often such a good mechanic that his house, mill, agricultural implements, and furniture, even including the primitive clock, is his own handiwork. In Dalecarlia the peasants rival the inhabitants of the Black Forest with their clock-making; in summer they migrate to Stockholm to sell their wares, which are sent all over the country. In the north the hay-fields have a curious appearance, for the mown hay, instead of being gathered into hay-cocks, is thrown across a sort of clothes-horse, where it is left to dry. Another thing that appears curious to the stranger is that up in the northern parts of Sweden every building, including the church, has two or more high ladders permanently attached to the roof; one on one side, one on the other. This is a custom legally enforced, for the greater facility of reaching the roof to extinguish fires. Disastrous fires are very frequent in these wooden villages. The town of Gefle the most

important port in the Gulf of Bothnia-was almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1869.

The breed of domestic cattle has been greatly improved in Sweden of late years, but this is owing to the enlightened conduct of the Government, for the Swedish peasant has an inveterate aversion to novelties. Upwards of 500 horses are bred annually in the studs belonging to Government, and there are fourteen model dairy farms under the same auspices.

A few years will probably make enormous changes in Sweden. Vast tracts of country are being opened up by railway and steamboat, and brought into direct communication with the ports of the Baltic and the North Sea.

There is a proverb which was supposed to have been prevalent in very early times in Asia, which says, "He who would grow rich must go to the North." Many English, and especially several Scotchmen, seem likely to realise the truth of this saying, for the indomitable Briton may be found in all parts of the country, as managers of the great saw mills, iron factories, and other works. In a recent number of the journal called Iron, this fact is mentioned, and in speaking of Swedish tar, the writer says:

"At the present time England is indebted to Sweden for many useful products which we cannot well do without. As the demand in this country has increase of late years for the articles in which Sweden, with its vast natural wealth, abounds, so the commerce of that nation has most materially expanded, and has indeed experienced a development which is alike a source of satisfaction and astonishment. One of the foremost products of Sweden which has given rise to a considerable trade in this country is tar. Comparatively speaking, this is quite a new branch of business-that is to say, it has only been carried to its present magnitude and extent during the past few years. The imports of tar into Hull and London from Stockholm and Gothenburg now amount to very large totals, the Stockholm tar, according to general opinion, being of the very best quality that can be procured.'

In fact it realises four shillings a barrel more than any other. The vast forests of fir and pine, unequalled by any other country, offer an incomparable opportunity for the supply of the product.

Hitherto they have had a most careless way of felling timber; they saw off the tree at about four feet from the ground, utterly regardless of the waste of two or three feet

of excellent timber. You may drive for miles through woods that have been treated in this way; but Government has begun to exercise a wise control in all matters referring to the management of the woods.

The forests of Sweden cover four-sevenths of the whole surface of the country. The fir and pine are the prevailing trees, but the birch is also largely present, forming a most beautiful variety, with its bright green leaves and silvery bark, to the masses of dark "needle wood" which fringe the lakes and cover the hill-sides. The birch is a most useful tree, not only for building purposes and for furniture, but the outer bark, which is easily stripped off in spring, is used for thatching houses, making baskets, and even soling shoes.

At the Scandinavian Exhibition in 1872, which took place at Copenhagen, we saw several specimens of the portable timber houses, which, it seems, are likely to be largely imported into England, now that the cost of building has so much increased with us. We understand that several gentlemen in Devonshire have tried these wooden structures, and have found them answer extremely well, both as regards comfort and economy. It is a well-known fact that timber houses are warmer in winter and cooler in summer than any other kind of dwelling. Possibly the time will come when houses are no longer the inevitable fixtures they are at present, but will be set up on the Welsh sands or Devonshire moors for the autumn, or even erected for a year or two in the neighbourhood of good schools, to suit the temporary requirements of the owner and his family.

Norway and Sweden send us ready-made window frames, doors, and joists; and the trade, which is largely increasing, is to our mutual advantage, for the labour-market is still much cheaper than with us. Great manufactories of lucifer matches have been established, especially at Jonkoping, where the refuse of the timber working is utilised for the matches and match-boxes. This industry, together with a large paper manufactory on the lake Munks, has so increased the town of Jonkoping of late years, that its sudden growth is almost parallel to some of the American towns that we hear of in the "far West."

It is hardly possible, without a personal knowledge of Sweden, to realise the "opening up" of the country which has resulted from the improvements in modern locomotion.

At present there is not much more than a thousand miles of railway completed; but the water commmunication is the great feature of Swedish travelling. Two-thirds of the mileage of railroad is under Government, the rest is in the hands of private companies. There has been some difficulty about the payment of dividends on the long lines, which have had great engineering expenses; but some of the short lines pay very well; the one between the port of Gefle and the mining town of Falun, in Dalecarlia, pays 18 per cent. to the original shareholders.

There are in Sweden no less than two hundred passenger steamers, which navigate the Baltic, or keep up the internal communication between different parts of the country.

The canalisation of the rivers has been carried out with singular boldness and ingenuity. The traveller may be fairly surprised to find that the plucky little steamer, in which he has taken his berth for a day and a night, is undaunted by up-hill or down-hill, and surmounts all difficulties of level by means of a series of locks.

We made our first experience of this system of travelling on our return journey from Dalecarlia. From Gustav, on the lake Runn, we had driven some eight hours across a wild but beautiful country. For the most part it was little more than a tract through forests, skirting innumerable lakes, and passing through a luxuriant wilderness of exquisite wild flowers, whose sweet scent made the air perfectly delicious. It was a drive never to be forgotten, affording such a variety of charming scenery and such quaint experiences of travel. At the post-houses (the only dwellings we saw) we had to wait for the horses to be caught, but they were law-respecting animals, and in all their actions showed a sense of the newly-enacted regulations which facilitate travelling in the remotest parts of Sweden. One of our companions had the honour and glory of driving himself and the luggage in a cariole; but part of the way the writer and another friend were in a sort of dilapidated drosky, and a pair of horses that had for driver a diminutive boy, apparently about six or seven years old; he climbed with some difficulty into his seat. His presence was, we imagine, rather a compliment to the travellers than a necessity to the horses, for they went their way with remarkable sagacity, and on arriving at Smedjebacken the vehicles returned home with their one driver, the second horse and carriage following behind.