New Sweden

“ Time has shewn that these reasons were the result of mature judgment, and that they laid the foundation to the rise of France. It were to be wished that we had been of the same opinion in Sweden, at a time when we were actually in possession of New Sweden, the finest and best province in all North America, or when we were yet in a condition to get the possession of it. Wisdom and foresight does not only look upon the present times, but even extends its views to futurity. ”

“ Sweden.The present power in Sweden is too new a system, and too green and too sore from its late Revolution, to be considered as perfectly assured. The king, by his astonishing activity, his boldness, his decision, his ready versatility, and by rousing and employing the old military spirit of Sweden, keeps up the top with continual agitation and lashing. The moment it ceases to spin, the royalty is a dead bit of box. ”

“ That which I seem to want here, if I think about a want at all, where so much new and affluent life presents itself, is that life of sagas and traditions which we possess everywhere in Sweden, and which converts it into a poetic soil full of symbolical runes, in forest, and mountain, and meadow, by the streams and the lakes, nay, which gives life to every stone, significance to every mound. In Sweden all these magnificent hills and mountains by the Hudson would have symbolical names and traditions. ”

“ He also supplies the Swedish version of the difficulties with the Dutch and English, and recites the several endeavors of Sweden either to recover possession of her colony or to obtain satisfactory compensation for her loss of it. In the Appendix are printed documents relating to purchases of land from the Indians, and the Report of Governor Rising, dated July 13, 1654. A map of New Sweden, which accompanies the dissertation, indicates the principal places and the boundaries of the settlement. ”

“ I have lived in the bosom of the White Mountains since I last wrote, heartily enjoying the companionship of the giants, the fantastic gambols of the clouds around them, the songs and the dances of the brooks in the deep glens, the whole of this bold and strong scenery, which made me feel as if at home in Sweden, amid the glorious river-valleys of Dalecarlia or Norrland. ”

“ In fact, pastors commissioned from Stockholm did not cease their ministrations until they came speaking in a tongue no longer known to the children of New Sweden.
This Swedish colony, planted thus in the midst of larger English settlements, continued for many generations to add its portion of good blood and good brains to a body of colonists in the New World, which too often needed sorely just these qualities. ”

“ Each of the hills is a little mountain, yet each was raised by human hands. Letters an ell long, and whole names, are cut deep in the thin greensward, which the new sprouting grass gradually fills up. The old housewife, from the peasant's cot close by the hill, brings the silver-bound horn, a gift of Charles John XIV., filled with mead. The wanderer empties the horn to the memory of the olden time, for Sweden, and for the heart's constant thoughts—young love!
Yes, thy toast is drunk here, and many a beauteous rose has been remembered here with a heartfelt hurra! ”

“ Her possessions made the Baltic almost an “inland lake of Sweden,” and efforts soon followed to make it completely so. Sweden exerted a beneficent influence throughout her large [Pg 230] possessions, which, from a cultural point of view, hardly can be overestimated. Her methods of planting the seeds of culture, by establishing Swedish and German universities, and by abolishing serfdom in the conquered lands, are worthy of the highest respect. But with her new political grandeur Sweden acquired formidable enemies ”

“ In the oldest times of Sweden, when the judge of each province appeared at the General Assembly and there, as the wisest and best of the land, conveyed the speech of the common people to the King of Sweden, the most ancient representation of our country, was in idea similar to that now existing in North America. ”

“ The tidings of the manner in which the new king of Sweden occupied himself spread to the neighboring monarchs, who, fancying that they had nothing to fear from a frivolous and pleasure-loving boy, deemed this a good opportunity to recover some of the lands conquered from them by the preceding Swedish kings. ”

“ It appears, from the many beautiful and artistic finds in Swedish soil, as if the inhabitants have benefited by their situation, aside and outside of the rest of the world. Continual migrations subjected the tribes of the continent to repeated changes and to a never-ceasing series of new and heterogeneous impressions. ”

“ During this day I put some questions to all the Swedes whom I met regarding the circumstances and the prospects of the Swedes in this new country, as compared with those of the old, and their answers were very nearly similar, and might be comprised in the following:
“If we were to work as hard in Sweden as we do here, we should be as well off there, and often better.
“None who are not accustomed to hard, agricultural labour ought to become farmers in this country. ”

“ But when these Russians had become the founders of a new empire, south of the Baltic, it became necessary to devise a new name for the inhabitants of Sweden. This name was found in Variagi. Only the Swedes seeking employment as sworn warriors in the service of the new Russian dynasty, or in the body-guard of the Byzantine emperors, were originally thus called. But when the name of the new nation of Swedes and Slavs became Russians, the Swedes, and the Scandinavians in general, became known as Variagi. ”

“ As early as the year 1624, the great Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, the hero of his age, and the champion of the Protestant faith in Europe, entertained a design of extended colonisation in the New World. A commercial company, under the patronage of the king, was incorporated in Sweden, the monarch himself pledging 400,000 dollars of the royal treasure for the purposes of its advancement. “Men of every rank were invited to engage in the enterprise, and colonists from all countries of Europe.” ”

“ The first duty of the new government was to make peace for the bleeding country. This was effected in 1660 through the treaties of Oliva and Copenhagen, and in a most satisfactory manner, speaking high for the diplomatic ability of the governing ones, but also of the ignorance of the powers of the utter helplessness of Sweden, in great contrast to her outward political grandeur. Poland ceded Livonia to Sweden, and Denmark all the territory gained by Charles X., except the district of Drontheim and the island of Bornholm, while Russia was satisfied with the boundaries set by Gustavus Adolphus. ”

“ Sweden never had a greater lover of law and order than Charles XI., and he used his absolute power in their interests, trying to remold the old laws to suit modern requirements, and having a new church law, a masterpiece in its line, introduced. The church itself and its men had in Charles XI. an interested friend. New catechism, hymn book and ritual were prepared, and a new translation of the Bible completed, being published after his death. Commerce and mining industries were encouraged, while agriculture improved with the improvement of the financial conditions of the peasants. ”

“ The heroism of the Swedish people during the preceding period of suffering and distress bore fruit in [Pg 321] men like Emanuel Swedenborg, the inventor, naturalist, philosopher and founder of a new religion; Charles Linnæus; the founder of modern botany; Andrew Celsius, Junior, the inventor of the centigrade thermometer; John Ahlstrœmer, the pioneer of industry; John Ihre, the able philologist, and Olof von Dalin, the poet, humorist, and, with Sven Lagerbring, the first modern historian of Sweden. ”

“ From writers thus eminent, the Swedish language may expect a new and glorious æra. The object which we have in view, is not unworthy the attention of those, who have sacrificed the whole of their time to the highest offices of the state. Nor am I destitute of other arguments, to justify an institution, which in itself possesses the utmost utility. ”

“ The instructer described the Wenern and Wettern Lakes, and the Göta Canal, which passes through them.
“Sweden is an agricultural country, and its principal manufactures are lumber and iron. It has six hundred and thirty-eight miles of railway, and the steamers which you see at the quay, mostly of iron, and built in Sweden, ply to all parts of the country.
“The average of the temperature in Stockholm is forty-two degrees, or twenty-five degrees for winter, and sixty-two degrees for summer. From what you [Pg 324] have already seen of Sweden, I think you will consider it very like New England. ”

“ They have here some large cotton mills, sugar refineries, and the largest porter brewery, for the supply of all Sweden, that I have seen on the continent, except in London, and which strangers are directed to as a curiosity. I saw here a full cargo of cotton just arrived from New Orleans, and also one hundred bales of American hops. Our treaty with Sweden is a bad one. They have all the advantages of the carrying trade, and in return they tax our products at a high rate. ”

“ Swedish tongue, and to exchange the indifference and reserve of Norway for the friendly, genial, courteous manner of Sweden. What I have said about the formality and affectation of manners, and the rigidity of social etiquette, in the chapters relating to Stockholm, was meant to apply especially to the capital. Far be it from me to censure that natural and spontaneous courtesy which is a characteristic of the whole people. The more I see of the Swedes, the more I am convinced that there is no kinder, simpler, and honester people in the world. ”

“ Henceforth till her collapse, seventy years later, she was the recognized leader of Continental Protestantism. A more questionable benefit was her rapid elevation to the rank of an imperial power, an elevation which imposed the duty of remaining a military monarchy, armed cap-à-pie for every possible emergency. Every one recognizes now that the poverty and sparse population of Sweden unfitted her for such a tremendous destiny. ”

“ Heartfelt kindness and hospitality, seriousness and mirth in pure family life; these characteristics of Swedish life, where it is good, should be transplanted into the Western wilderness by the Swedish colonists, as they are in this instance. That day among the Swedes by Pine Lake; that splendid old lady; those handsome, warm-hearted men; those lovely, modest, and kind young women; that affectionate domestic life; that rich hospitality in poor cottagers,—all are to me a pledge of it. The Swedes must continue to be Swedes, even in the New World ”

“ While on the steamer, I heard an interesting story of a Swedish nobleman, who is at present attempting a practical [Pg 226] protest against the absurd and fossilised ideas by which his class is governed. The nobility of Sweden are as proud as they are poor, and, as the father's title is inherited by each of his sons, the country is overrun with Counts and Barons, who, repudiating any means of support that is not somehow connected with the service of the government, live in a continual state of debt and dilapidation. ”

“ He shall sustain and strengthen it, (pointing to the man by the throne) , and after shall Sweden experience great prosperity and blessings, such as she has never enjoyed." Further particulars were explained to the king which I do not here give, but the above is the substance, and then the vision vanished, and the king and his men found themselves alone in the hall, with light in hand, and all appeared in its natural state. Whether true or false, the vision is not without its influence upon Sweden. ”

“ Sweden, which towards the west is separated from Denmark only by the Sound and Cattegat, is in like manner towards the east separated from the vast plains of northern Europe by a confined and narrow sea. When, therefore, the thirst of glory and conquest urged the Swedish warriors from their homes, it was only necessary for them to cross over to the opposite shores, or at most to sail along the coasts of the Baltic. In Sweden, forests, valleys, and rivers, are the most prominent natural features, whilst the sea is but a subordinate one. ”

“ With their many virtues, the Swedes are a most self-helping people. They are hard-working and honest, true and straightforward. In matters of commerce they are men of their word. They are clear-headed, honest-minded, and keen in their desire for knowledge. Their natural simple common sense enables them to clear away all parasitical and traditional rubbish from their minds, and to stand before us as men of the highest excellence. All happiness and prosperity to dear old Sweden! ”

“ No great character had arisen in Sweden of exalted fame, neither king nor poet, nor philosopher, nor even singer. The little kingdom, to all appearance, was rich only in mines of iron and hills of snow. It was not till the middle of the sixteenth century that Sweden was even delivered from base dependence on Denmark. ”

“ We know how Sweden was settled, not by various tribes, but by pioneers who, from the old home of culture, Scania, penetrated to the wilderness above, settling one district after the other, which, one by one, developed into provinces, little states by themselves, later united into one realm with a common king. One by one these provinces had taken the lead in the political and cultural development, often the youngest before the oldest. ”