rating line between Russia and Sweden. A chain of mountains forms a natural division between Norway and Sweden: the highest summits are the Syltop, 6079 feet high, and the Schneehättan, 8337 feet high, in Sweden; and the Folgesonde, 5432 feet high, in Norway. The northern part forms the Kjöl or Kiel mountains, and the southern, the Seve mountains. The former terminates in the North cape, the extreme northern point of Europe; the latter is nearer the western than the eastern shore, whence the main streams are on the eastern declivity, and flow partly into the gulf of Bothnia, and partly into the Cattegat. It divides into three branches; the Long Fjälls (Langfield and Dofrefield), extending to cape Lindesness (Lindenas), on the North sea; a second branch separating the Norwegian basin of the Glommen from the Swedish basin of the Götha-Elf, and sinking down to the Cattegat; and a third dividing the sources of the Clara, which, after flowing through lake Wener (1100 square miles in extent), in Sweden, takes the name of Götha-Elf, from those of the Dal-Elf, and stretching between lakes Wener and Wetter, to the sound. The summits of the Scandinavian mountains, from 67° to 70° N. lat, are masses of barren rocks (Fjälls), covered, at the height of from 3900 to 2700 feet, with perpetual snow, and abounding with steep precipices, frightful clefts, lakes, and rapid torrents. The declivity towards the North sea is extremely precipitous, and full of abrupt crags and awful chasms. Nearer the eastern coast lies lake Mälar, fifty-five miles long, and from twenty-three to twenty-seven miles broad, containing 1300 islands, whose waters are emptied into the Baltic lake Hielmar is connected with it. Lake Wetter receives forty rivers, and empties itself through the Motala into the Baltic. To Sweden belong Eland and Gothland, two fertile islands in the Baltic. The Aland group, at the mouth of the gulf of Bothnia, was ceded to Russia in 1809. The coast, broken by numerous indentures (Fiords), forms numerous holms or rocky islets (Stockholm, for instance), and safe harbors, especially on the shores of Norway; on which the Saltström, a dangerous strait, and the Maelström, a whirlpool, are particularly remarkable. The climate of Sweden and Norway, owing to the nature and elevation of the country, is, with the exception of the southern and western shores, dry and cold. Among the productions are orchard fruit, corn (in inadequate quantity, so that, in many places, the people

mix powdered fir-bark or moss with their corn meal; in the south of Sweden, however, the cultivation of corn is increasing), potatoes, flax, hemp, hops, and tobacco, which, however, thrive only in the southern regions. In the north, the country is an almost impenetrable forest of pines and firs, and dwarf-birches, and abounds in deer, hares, elk, bears, and wolves. Berries and reindeer moss only grow here. Gluttons, lynxes, foxes, marmots, tame and wild birds, are also found. The poverty of the pasturage renders the horned cattle, goats, swine and sheep small; though the breed of the latter has been improved, since 1715, by the introduction of English and Spanish rams. The reindeer is a native of the north. (See Deer, and Lapland.) The climate of Sweden is, on the whole, warmer than that of Norway. On the coast, particularly on the Cattegat, the herring fishery was, a short time ago, of considerable importance. Seals, dolphins, and other fishes, are taken in plenty. The mineral kingdom is rich. Gold occurs only in small quantities. Silver is more abundant. The silver mines of Sala have yielded, during the three last centuries, 1,640,000 marks of pure silver. The copper mines at Fahlun (a mining town, with 4200 inhabitants) produce, at present, 1,200,000 to 1,800,000 pounds, and all the Swedish copper mines, a total of 1500 tons annually. Excellent iron is obtained in large quantities: 120,000,000 pounds are smelted every year, constituting seven eighths of all the mining products. The richest iron mines are those of Danemora, in Upland. Lead, cobalt, vitriol, sulphur, alum, some salt, marble, porphyry, granite, grind-stones, mill-stones, and sandstone, asbestos, slate, talc, lime, &c. occur. There are many mineral springs in Sweden; in Norway, only one

The Swedes and Norwegians are of a middle stature, and compactly built The purity and coldness of the air, and the necessity of extorting every thing from the earth, gives them a hardness akin to their native iron, and a bold independent spirit. In the sciences, the Swede shows a sound and penetrating mind. Poetry and the fine arts have also put forth some fair blossoms in this rude climate. The language is of Teutonic origin. The Swedish and Norwegian dialects differ but little. The language of Lapland is a Finnish dialect. The two kingdoms, Norway and Sweden, had, in 1825, according to official documents, a population of 3,819,714-about thirteen to a square mile. But in the southern

there are

provinces of Sweden, there are 142 inhabitants to a square mile. The population, in 1828, was 3,878,700. Sweden alone contains 168,363 square miles, and 2,800,000 inhabitants. In all the cities, about 322,000 inhabitants. Stockholm, the capital of the kingdom, has a population of 79,526; Gottenburg (Gotaborg), the principal commercial city in Sweden, 24,000; Christiania, the capital of Norway, 20,600; and Bergen, the chief commercial city of Norway, 20,800. But few towns, however, number more than 4000 inhabitants, and many have scarcely 500. Out of Europe, Sweden possesses, since 1784, St. Bartholomew, one of the West India islands, containing fifty-three square miles and 18,000 inhabitants.-A. Sweden (Svea) comprehends four regions: 1. Sweden Proper, or Svealand, comprising eight provinces, among which are Upland, Südermannland, or Sudermania, Dalarne,or Dalecarlia(a poor, hilly country, in which there were 40,000 men, in 1819, destitute of the means of support), and Wermeland, now forming eight governments (läne); 2. Gothland, or Gothia, comprising thirteen governments (Schonen, or Scania, one of its provinces, contains Helsingborg, on the sound, the place of embarkation for Denmark, and Ystadt, the place of embarkation for Stralsund); 3. Norrland, containing five provinces (Herjedalen, Jämtland, We Vesterbottn, &c.); 4. Swedish Lapland, containing from 34,000 to 38,000 square miles. The whole number of Swedish Laplanders was estimated, in 1818, at only 3000 persons, of whom 669 were owners of reindeer. To these must be added about 2000 colonists. Several of the colonies in Lapland were founded by baron Hermelin, at his own expense. This region yields but a trifling revenue to the crown.-B. Norway. The southern part (Södenfield) comprehends Christiania and Christiansand; the northern (Nordenfield), the dioceses of Bergen, Drontheim and Nordland: to the latter belongs Finnmark, or Norwegian Lapland. (See Norway.)

The original inhabitants of Sweden were of Finnish descent-Finns and Laplanders, who were driven to the extreme north by Germanic tribes. Among the latter, the Goths and Swedes soon gained the ascendency, subjecting the other tribes. Their chief magistrates were judges of the fabulous family of the Ynglings, which claimed a descent from a son of Odin. In the fifth century, they assumed the title of kings of Upsala, and reigned in Swe

VOL. XII.

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In

den till 1068. A regular government was first established by Olof, or Olaf I, in 994, who was converted to Christianity. The Goths and Swedes still remained distinct, and their disputes distracted the kingdom for centuries. In 1250, when the powerful family of the Folkungs ascended the throne, the two hostile tribes became united into one nation; and, at the same time, the succession was settled. Sweden then extended only to Helsingland. In 1248, Eric XI conquered the interior of Finnland; and, in 1293, Torkel Knutsen, the guardian of Birger, conquered Carelia, the extreme province of that country; so that Sweden now became the immediate neighbor of Russia. 1332, Magnus Smek obtained possession, through Mats Kettilmundsen, of the provinces of Schonen, Bleckingen and Halland; but they were lost again in 1360. Tired of his oppression, the Swedes rebelled in 1363, and gave the crown to his sister's son, Albert of Mecklenburg. The Swedes soon became dissatisfied with their new king, who fell, in 1388, in the battle at Falköping, fighting against the Danes, whom his subjects had called in to their assistance. In 1389, Margaret, queen of Denmark and Norway, added Sweden to her other possessions; and the diet of Calmar (q. v.) ratified this union, 1397, each state retaining its own constitution. Troubles, rebellions, and, finally, complete anarchy, followed this measure; and, in 1448, the Swedes and Norwegians elected a separate king, Karl Knutsen. (i. e. Charles, the son of Canute), and formally renounced the union. After the death of Charles, several of the family of Sture reigned in succession, with the title of presidents, though with regal authority, until, in 1520, Christian II of Denmark was acknowledged king of Sweden. But his tyranny disgusted the people. Even during the ceremony of the coronation, notwithstanding his promises of amnesty, he ordered ninety-four Swedish noblemen to be beheaded in the market-place of Stockholm, and perpetrated similar acts of cruelty in the provinces. In 1521, Gustavus Wasa, or Vasa, who had escaped from the Danish prisons, put himself at the head of the malcontents, and, in 1523, after the expulsion of Christian, was elected to the crown. He introduced the reformation among his subjects, added the estates of the clergy and the monasteries to his own domains, promoted the trade and commerce of Sweden by treaties with England and Holland, and, in 1544, secured

to his family the succession to the throne. His son and successor, Eric XIV (reigned 1560-68), added Esthonia to Sweden, and, at his coronation, in 1561, introduced the titles of count and baron, before unknown in Sweden, which he bestowed upon several families. His suspicious disposition and tyrannical acts made him an object of popular hatred. He was deposed, and, after nine years' imprisonment, poisoned in a dungeon. He was succeeded (1568 to 1592) by his brother, John II, who, by the peace of Stettin, 1570, ceded to Denmark Schonen, Halland, Blekingen, Herjedalen and Gothland; and, in 1580, embraced the Catholic religion, in which he caused his son, Sigismund, to be educated. Sigismund, who received at the same time the Polish crown, was dethroned, in 1602, in Sweden, by his ambitious uncle, Charles, a zealous Lutheran, who was formally crowned, in 1604, as Charles IX. The wars, in which he became involved with Russia, Poland and Denmark, were happily concluded after his death, in 1611, by the great Gustavus Adolphus II (q. v.), who fell at Lützen, in 1632. (See Thirty Years' War.) In the reign of his daughter, Christina (q. v.), the war in Germany was honorably carried on and completed. During its progress, Sweden was menaced by Denmark; but the victories of Torstenson, and the mediation of France, led to the peace of Brömsebro (1645), by which Denmark gave up to Sweden Jemtland and Herjedalen, with the islands Gothland and Esel, agreed to surrender Halland for twenty-five years, and exempted Swedish vessels from the sound dues. By the peace of Westphalia, Sweden obtained the German duchies of Bremen, Verden, Hither Pomerania, a part of Further Pomerania, and Wismar, with a seat in the German diet. In 1654, Christina resigned her crown to Charles X, Gustavus of Deux-Ponts, the nephew of Gustavus Adolphus. This martial prince administered the government till 1660. He had to contend with the Poles, Russians and Danes, and astonished the world by his daring enterprises; but he was unable to procure permanent tranquillity for his nation. The guardians of his son, Charles XI, concluded the peace of Oliva (q. v.), with the Poles, in 1660, by which all Livonia to the Dwina was transferred to Sweden; the peace of Copenhagen, with Deninark, by which they restored Drontheim and Bornholm (gained by Charles Gustavus in the peace of Roschild with Den

mark (1658), together with Blekingen, Schonen and Halland), and came to a reconciliation with Russia, on the basis of the peace of Stolbow. Sweden became involved in an unsuccessful war against Brandenburg, Holland and Denmark; but, by the peace of St. Germain and Lund, in 1679, she lost only the part of Pomerania beyond the Oder. Charles XI entered upon the government in 1682, and admitted females to the succession. He improved the internal condition of his kingdom, revoked the grants of the crown lands, augmented the revenue, but made many enemies among the nobles, and left a full treasury to his son Charles XII (q. v.), who reigned from 1697 to 1718. But all his treasures were expended, together with the blood of his subjects, in protracted and useless wars. (See Gartz, and Northern War.) On the death of Charles, in 1718, Ulrica Eleanora, his youngest sister, the last of the house of Wasa, succeeded to the throne, less by hereditary right than by the voluntary choice of the states, who revived the ancient form of government, but with greater limitations of the royal power. The ruling party, by the peace of Stockholm, in 1719, ceded Bremen and Verden to the elector of Brunswick, and, in 1720, Stettin and Hither Pomerania, as far as the Peene, to Prussia; by the peace of Nystädt, in 1721, Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, Wiburg, and a part of Carelia, to Russia; and, by the peace of Fredericksborg, with Denmark, in 1720, renounced all claim to the exemption from sound dues. Frederic of Hesse, the husband of Ulrica Eleonora, who assumed the government, with the consent of the states, and administered it from 1720 to 1751, was a weak prince, ruled by his nobles; and the council of state made itself entirely independent. Instigated by France, he engaged in a new war with Russia (1741), for the recovery of the provinces that ha been ceded to Russia. By the peace of Abo (q. v.), which concluded the war, in 1743, he lost part of Finland, to the river Cymmene; and, as the queen was childless, the succession was settled on Adolphus Frederic, duke of Holstein and bishop of Lübeck. Adolphus Frederic, in whose person the house of Holstein ascended the Swedish throne, reigned from 1751 to 1771. He took part feebly in the seven years' war. (q. v.) The kingdom was distracted by the factions of the hats and caps, and the regal authority became a mere shadow. Gustavus III (q. v.) at length happily threw off the yoke of the

aristocracy. He restored to the kingdom its strength and its honor; but, in 1792, he fell a victim to a conspiracy. His son, Gustavus IV (q. v.), ascended the throne under the guardianship of his uncle, but lost it in 1809. His uncle, who assumed the government under the title of Charles XIII (q. v.), gave the kingdom a new constitution, and chose, for his successor, prince Christian Augustus of SleswicHolstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, who adopted the name of Charles Augustus. He concluded the war with Russia by the peace of Friedrichshamm, in 1809, by which he ceded all Finnland, and, in 1810, renewed the previous relations of the kingdom with France. The crown-prince, however, died suddenly; and the diet of Oerebro chose, for his successor, the French marshal Bernadotte, prince of Ponte Corvo, who was adopted by the king under the name of Charles John. (See Charles XIV.) Sweden now declared war against Great Britain; but the pressure of the war, and the increasing encroachments of France, produced a change of policy (1812), and she joined the allies against Napoleon. (See Charles XIV, and Russian-German War.) By the peace with Denmark, concluded at Kiel (Jan. 14, 1814), Sweden received Norway as an independent, free, indivisible and inalienable kingdom, in return for her possessions in Pomerania and the island of Rügen.

Since the union of Norway and Sweden, concluded by the storthing at Christiania, Oct. 18, 1814 (see Norway), this double kingdom has combined, under one king and two very different constitutions, two proud and free-spirited nations, each jealous of its peculiar privileges. The political condition of Sweden and Norway forms a permanent partition between them there, a jealous aristocracy is perpetually watching over its ancient privi

here, the democracy struggles to defend its new-born rights. In both kingdoms, the peasantry and the citizens hold a higher rank than in most European states. In Norway, there is no hereditary nobility, and the veto of the king is only conditional. These circumstances seem to separate the Scandinavian peninsula from the European system of politics, with which, however, it is closely connected. To the discrepancy of domestic and foreign relations is added an incessant struggle with the climate and soil, with obstructions in trade, depreciated paper money, and an oppressive public debt. Charles XIV is a sovereign suited to the

country and the age. Looking steadily to the future, he meets present difficulties with firmness and wisdom. He possesses the affections of the majority of the nation, and especially of the army; and has imbued his successor with his own principles. The crown-prince, Oscar, lives and thinks as a Swede. He met with a distinguished reception, at Verona, at the time of the congress, Oct. 26, 1822, where the visits of the two emperors seem to confirm the opinion that his succession to the throne was guarantied by Russia. Soon afterwards, the marriage of the prince with Josephine Maximiliana, daughter of Eugene Beauharnais, duke of Leuchtenberg (whose wife was Augusta Amelia, princess of Bavaria), took place at Stockholm, June 19, 1823. The first fruit of this marriage, Charles, born May 3, 1826, is styled duke of Schonen; the second, Francis, born July 9, 1827, duke of Upland; the third, born 1829, duke of Gothland. Some intrigues and conspiracies for the restoration of the family of Wasa have occurred in Sweden; but the estates took this opportunity (1823) to give the king and the crown-prince the strongest assurances of fidelity. The king and Swedish estates, in order to interrupt all communication with the exiled family, determined to transfer to it all its property remaining in the kingdom, and to extinguish its pension by the payment of a certain sum mutually agreed upon by the two parties, which was done in 1824. The personal character and constitutional principles of the king have secured him the love and fidelity of his subjects. He often visits the remote provinces of his two kingdoms, relieving distress wherever he finds it, usually from his private purse, and takes no important measures without being assured of the concurrence of the estates, which meet every six years, and of the majority of the nation.

It has been the object of the government in Sweden to give unity to the administration; and the minister at the head of each department is responsible for its measures. The constitutional committee of every diet has the right to examine the journals of the cabinet, to discover any violation of the constitution. Since 1821, the judicial power has been separated from the executive. The administration of justice has been essentially improved. The new Swedish constitution of June 7, 1809, is given in the second volume of Constitutions of the European States (in German, Leipsic, 1817). To separate the roy