Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1857-09-19
From the New York Tribune.
Bay0rd Taylor In Northern Europe.
STOCKHOLM AND ITS ASPECTS.
STOCKHOLM, May l, 1867.

Speaking Of King Oscar reminds me
that should not fail to say a word in "a
vor of this liberal and enlightened mon
arch. There is probably no king in Eu-
rope at present, who possesses such ex-
tcnsive requirements, or is animated by a
more genuine desire for the good of his
kingdom. The slow progress which Swe-
den has made in introducing ncedful re-
forms is owing to the conservative spirit
Of the nobility and the priesthood, who
possess half the legislative power. / do
not believe there is greater enemy to
progress than an established church. Os-
car is deservcdly popular throughout Swe-
den, and wish could believe that his
successor will exhibit equal intelligence
and liberality. have seen all the men,
bers Of the royal family frequently, and
once had an informal sclf-prescntation to
the whole Of them. Twas descending tho
stairway Of Kahn's hotel one afternoon,
when tall, black-bcarded, Frcnchy gen.
tleman coming up. brushed so close to me
in the narrow passage that he received
the full benefit Of cloud Of smoke which
was ejecting. 1t was the crown prince,
as servant whispered to me, but as my
cigar was genuine Havana, and he is said
to be connOisscur Of the article, there
was no harm done. AS ! reached the
street door a dragon dashed up, prccc.
ding the carriages containing the royal
family, who were coming to view Prof.
Enslen's panoramas. First the crown
princess with her children; she bowed
gracefully in answer to my greeting. The
Princess Eugenia, lady Of twenty seven
or thcrcabouts, with thoroughly cheer
ful and amiablc face, came next and nod
dcd, smiling With her was the queen,
q daughter Of Eugene Bcauharnais, "a hand.
some woman for her years, with the dark
hair and eyes Of her grandmother, Joscp-
inc. King Oscar followed, at the head Of
n company Of officers and mobiles, among
whom was his second son, Prince Oscar,
the handsomcst young man in Stockholm.
lIc wore his admiral's uniform, and made
me naval salute as he passed. The king
is about medium height, with a sylnmct-
rical head, bold, finely cut nose, keen,
intelligent eyes, and heavy grey NOUS
tachc. There was something dashing,.
gallant and manly in his air, despite his
tifty-scvcn years. lie gave me the i'm
preston Of m honest, energetic and thor
Oughly accomplished man whereas the
face Of the crown prince, though good
natured, seemed to me weak and 'irrcsoIntc.
Prince Oscar, ] should say, possesses all
his fathers talent, and could not help
wishing that the order of his birth had
been otherwise. asked for permission
to visit the king the otlCT day, but nc X
at present too i'll to receive any one. lie
sent me, however, very kind message,
through Baron I.agerhcim and Mr.. SchrOc-
der.
| MANNERS Of STOCKHOLM
The manner ofliving here, nevertheless,
is not very agreeable to the stranger
There is no hotel, except Kahn's, where
one can obtain both beds and meals, The
practice is to hire rooms, generally with
the privilege Of having your coffee in the
morning, and to get your meals at res
taurant, Of which there arc many, tolera.
bly, cheap and not particularly good
Even DavitSon's, the best and most fash
ionablc, has but an ordinary cuisine.-
Rooms arc quito dcar-particularly, at
present, when the Dict is in session and
the city crowded with country visitors
and the inclusive expenses Of living arc
equal to Berlin and greater than in Paris.
find that it costs just about as much to
be stationary here, as to travel with post
horses in the Northern provinces The
Swcdcs generally have cup of coffee on
getting out Of bed, or before, n substan.
tial breakfast at 8 or 10, dinner at 3, and
tea in the evening. The wealthicr fami-
lies dine an hour or two later, but the
crowds at the restaurants indicate the
prevailing time. Dinner, and frequently
breakfast, is prefaccd with smorgaGs
(butter- goose) consisting of anchovies,
picked hcrrings, cheese and brandy
Soup, which is generally sweet, comes in
the middle and sometimes at tho end of
dinner, and the universal dessert is pre-
served fruit covered with whipped cream.
] have had occasion to notice the fondness
Of the Swedcs for sugar, which some per-
sons seem to apply to almost every dish,
except fish and oysters. / have often
seen them season crab.soup with powder
cd sugar. A favOritc dish is raw salmon,
very slightly saltcd-a great dcIicacy,
they say, but ] have not yet been hungry
enough to cat it. Meat, which is abun-
dant, is rarely properly cooked, and game,
of which Sweden has a great variety, is
injured by being swampcd in sauces. He
must be very fastidious, however, who
cannot live passably we'll in Stockholm,
especially ifhc has frequent invitation to
dine with private families, many of whom
have very excellent cooks.
AS a people the SwcdcS are vcrv hos
pitablc, and particularly 80 toward for
eigners. There is perhaps 10 country in
Europe where travellers are treated with
SO much kindness and allowed so many
social privileges. This is fortunate, 9s
the conventionalitics of the country are
more rigid than the laws of the Medcs and
Pcrsians. Nothing incites greater scan-
dal than an infraction Of the numberless
little formalities with which the descend.
ants Of the honest, spontaneous, impulsive
old Scandinavians have, SOMEHOW or 9TH
er, allowed themselves to be fettered, and
were not all possible allowance made for
the stranger, he would have but dismal
time Of it Notwithstanding these habits
have become second nature, they are
still false nature, and give painful stiff
and constrained mir to society. Tho
Swcdcs pride themselves on being the DO
litcst people in Europe. Voltairc called
them the "Frenchmen of the North" and
they arc greatly liattcrcd by the epithct.
But how much better to call themselves
SioedeS!-to- preserve the flne,- manly
characteristics Of their ancient stock ra-