The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-08-20

cooQlta0n, tN1tn nsurr0onolnga0 0f q tnnft
less appearance. The natural features
Of the: country. are mainly such q L
train an industrious and frugal people
to Iye c,olntented With slender mne.ps:: !,
Most 9 evidently, the swedes, from
the throne tosthe peasant, are fully con:
scious that they.are not what they once
wore: = From tie fan Of Charles The
Twelfth, they havesi some respects,
been gradually on the decline. The
military dress which this warrior.kins
wore on the day he received his NOR.
taIwoupd, his hat perforated with the
bali which took his life, aud his gloves
stained With: heroic blood are still shown
in the Museum Il Stockholm ; but the
national *vigor aud the elastic sp,ipg
which animated tie people Of that day
are not there. With deprecated soil
which WAS scarcely second rate, at best,
the products Of agricultural labor: arc
| moderate in amount and. ordinary in
quality. Stockholm Il beautiful in its
harbor and situation, and Gottenburg
Goetheburg, the principal: city, has :
good degree Of commercial life, but: ev-
cry thing is done on . comparatively
small scale. Their INIT money, the
aRiks:daler," IS but little more than
one-fourth Of the Federal dollar, and to
thus standard measure the whole sys-
TEN. seems we'll to correspond. The
horses are of an inferior kind, the oxen,
SO far -: I saw them,9 looked like cows
kept on short feed. = hope they have
better ones somewhere for beef: With
honorable exceptions the general order
Of things is, evidently, small outlays,
and small income. -.
But tho people hsve not lost their
excellence Of character, though tho ma
ton may have passed the period of its
highest prosperity. They have good
manners, and -, uniformly civil to
strangers, - every traveller, viii expert
enoe. They seem TO- think almost ..
much Of other people as.they do Of
themselves, which is quite remarkable
for 1 national characteristic, but more
than all the religious sentiment,
with them seems especially deep snd
strong The cry rot Of rationalism has
not destroyed the elasticity and strength
Of Christian emotion, nor does the am.
bition Of military greatness make them
proud and aspiring after national pre-.
eminence. I passed Sabbath in Got
tenburg and attended service in a Lu-:
theran church with : a capacity to ac-
commodate at least thousand people :;
and not only the pews, but all the aisles
were full, though it was at four o'clock
P. M. Fiye-sixths Of the women wore
upon their heads, simply, . elk fringed
kerchief tied under the chin. So they
worshiped with their heads covered,
and, in this respect in a more Scriptu-
ral form than ladies who attend church
in fashionable hats. The preacher had
not the advantage of . beautiful head
Of hair, : fine set Of teotb, . we'll turn.
Cd personal figure, and rich, musical
voice, all which are vory desirable aids
in connection With higher qualities
but having attained, if I mistake not,
tho age when spectacles are needfur
supplement to natural vision; his form
VS. STOPPING, and his voice, pitched:
high, ~as shrill, 1t times almost squeak
ing. But he vas earnest and seemed
& one who has message to deliver,
md not simply : piece to 'tspeak." /"
The hearers, evidently, did not stick in
| the latter, but entered into the spirit
Of the occasion, for as soon a. the SER
mon commenced, many Of the young
people With pencil and paper prepared
| 10 take notes. As tho diseoune pro-
oeeded, one aud another Of both men
aud women roso up and leaned forward
toward the speaker, till At the close, ~
manysas fifty o. sixty held this posi-.
ton. There was considerable weeping
in different parts Of tho house, and 8
| I could not understand except BY nut
ural signs, I began to imagine that ]
had beon strangely carried back to the
time and place where President Ed
wards was preaching his memorable
sermon, "Sinncrs in the hands Of an
angry God" The Same indications in
the United States would have led "a
the conclusion that thorough revival
had already commenced, and yet, from
| I'll / learned, / had witnessed only a.
ordinary service. g
Tho Swedes are rapidly emigratioa
70 Amerioa, aud surely no better clasl
of fors,gnsrs can 80 g take possession
ot our Wild lands, 70 lend the bone and
muscle nesdful . rsducs and dsvslol
! new country, and b Tho moral stabil
III oi uniformed society. Their indus
trial habits and trained economy vii
help thsm q Sc afoothold With smal
means, and constitute safe basis 70
broader operation IL their new circum
stances. The moro wealthy Swsdes !
homo feel anxious for their poor brsth
!. ron ID tho United States, lest they )
IN = starye bsfors they ean &C bIsa