Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1857-09-19

said one of them to me bitterly. Gusta-
tavus III. was wholly French in tastes,
but the ruin of Sweden nationality at
Stockholm was already commenced when
he ascended the throne.
Stockholm manners, at present curl
GUS mixture of English and French, the
latter element of course being predomi-
nant. In costume, the gentlemen are
English, without exaggeratiOn. Nowhere
are to be seen such tall and stiff black
chimney pots, (misnamed h0ts,) nowhere
such straight cut Overcoats, descending
to the very heels. You might stick all
the men you see into pastcboard cards,
like row of pins, 80 precisely arc they
clothed upon the same model. But when
you meet one of these grim, funeral fig
ures, he pulls off bis hat with politeness
which is more than French, you shake
hands and accept an invitation to enter
his house. After you are within, he
grects you the second time with the same
ceremonies, as if you had then first met
he says, "7dL for Sisi J" equivalent to
"thank you fo: the pleasure Of your COM
pany the last time We metz and after
your visit is over, you part with equal
formality. At dinner the guests stand
gravely around the table with claspcd
hands, before sitting down. This is re-
peatcd on rising, after which they bow
to each other, and shake hands with the
host and hostess. Formerly they used
to say, II thank for the meal" custom
still retained in Denmark and Norway.
Not long ago the guests were obliged to
make second visit Of ceremony to thank
the host for his entertainment, and he was
obliged to invite them all to second din
ner, in consequence thereof; so that Civ
ing one dinner always involved giving
two. Fortunately the obligation was can.
cellcd by the second, or the visits and din
ncrs might have gone on alternately, Gd
inJfnftum.
At dinners and evening parties, white
gloves and white cravats are invariably
worn, and generally white vests. The
same custom is observed at funerals, even
the drivers Of the hcarse and carriages
being furnished with rcsplcndcnt white
gloves for the occasion. have a horror
for white cravats, and take advantage Of
the travellers privilege to wear q black
one. could never understand why, in
England, where the boundaries of caste
are SO distinctly marked, gentlcman's
full dress is his servants livery. The
chimney pots are no protection to the
head in raw or very cold weather, and it
has required no little courage in me to
appear in fur or felt. For a week or two
the curious, surprised, scrutinizing looks
Of the multitude were rather annoying,
but they seem at last to have set it down
as an incurablc ccccntricity. 81 wish ]
could wear such comfortable hat" said
SMcde to me, "but | ddyp not you arc
q traveller, and it is permitted, but a
Swcde would lose his position in society
were he to do So" Another gentleman
informed me that his own sisters refused
to appear in the streets with him because
he wore cap. A former English consul
greatly shocked the people by carrying
home his own marketing. A few gentle
men have independence enough to set
aside, in their own houses, some of the
more disagreeable features Of this con-
ventionalism, and the success of two or
three, who have held weekly soirees thro'
thevwintcr on moro free and unrcstrain-
cd plan, may in the end restore some
what Of naturalness and spontancity to
/ the society of Stockholm.
The continual taking off your hat to
everybody you know, is great annoy
ancc to the English. A lift Of the hat as
in Germany, is not sufficient. You must
remove it entirely, and hold it in the air
a second or two, bcfrc you replace it.
King Oscar once said TO an acquaintance
Of mine, who was in comlniseration for
being obliged to keep his hat of, the
whole length of the Drottninggatan, in a
violent snow storm You are quite
right; it was exceedingly disagreeablc,
and could not help wishing that instead
Of being King Of Sweden, l were King Of
Thibct, where, according to Hue, the po-
lite salutation is simply to stick out your
tongue" The consideration extended to
foreigners is, / am told, quite withdrawn
after they become residents; 40 that, as
an Englishman informed me, Stockholm
is much moro pleasant the first year than
the second. The principle on the whole,
is abont the same which governs English,
and most American society, only in Swe-
den its tyranny is more severely felt, on
account of the French limitations which
have been cngraftcd upon it.
MORALS OF STOCKHOLM.
After speaking Of the manners of Stock.
holm, must not close this letter without
saying few words about its morals. 1t
has been called the most licentious city in
Europe, and / have no doubt, with the
most perfect justice Vienna may surpass
it in the amount Of coDiugal infidelity, but
certainly not in general incontinence.-
Very nearly half the registered births arc
illegitimate, to say nothing of the iIlegiti-
mate children born in wcdlOck. Of the
servant girls, shop.girls and seamstresSes
in the city, 1t is very safe to say that
scarcely one out Of a hundred is chastc,
while, as rakish young Swedcs have cool.
ly informed me, large proportion Of girls
Of respectable parentage, belonging to the
middle class, are not much better. The
men, Of course, are much worse than the
women, and even in Paris one sees fewer
physical signs Of excessive debauchery.
Here, the number Of broken down young
men, and blesr-eyed, hoary sinners, is as
tonishing: have never been in any place
where RIGHTEOUSNESS was SO open and
avowcd-and yet, where the slang Of
sham morality was so prevalent. There
are no houses Of prostitution in Stock
holm, and the city would be scandalizcd
at the idea Of allowing such thing. A
few years ago two were established, and
the fact was no sooner known than vir.