The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-10-10

NC4t ~ eoNSQCl dIlA d 4OllS, lIOlAlCoANh
glance for Finland. 1t is the one TO
nance of this antique Lutheran Cathe-
draL The other monuments and war
rior figures sing Of arms and men Of
action.
There is handsome park with stat
uary near the Cathedral. and the older
quarter Of the town shows indications
OF wealth and refinement. Nothing
however, is more characteristic Of Fin
nish life and progress than the con-
spicuous signboards at the street cor
ners. The names are printed in three
! languages at every street crossing. In
! some of the blocks there will not be a
single house, but at each corner the
name of the thoroughfare appears in
large letters in Finnish, Swedish and
Russian. A fellow traveller hazarded
the conjecture that the chief recreation
| of the population in the dull sleepy
town was found in reading street signs;
and certainly every man, woman and
child was able to decipher at least one
Of the triDlicate signs.
! There Is perhaps no other country in
Europe where primary education is con-
Quoted more Systematically than in Fin
land. The Lutheran clergy are said to
make a practice of refusing sacraments
to men and women who cannot read
and write AS children are taught to
read the Bible from their earliest years,
the chances of communication for IL
1 literacy cannot be alarming. Instruc-
ton in various handicrafts is also given
in public schools. and every adult not
only knows how to read and write, but
also how to earn living in one trade
or another. The market women have
dull, coarse faces, but they are not so
ignorant as they appear. Lutheranism
has opened the Bible for them, and
Scandinavian instinct has made them
keen and shrewd in bargaining.
HeIsinfors, the capital of Finland IS
city with a population OF tO,VVO' anu
is a center of wealth and refinement
The visitor, who is expecting few signs
of higher civilization in this quarter
of the Baltic, is amazed by the staten
ness of the public buildings and the
splendor of the churches. In the course
of a mornings stroll he finds an I'M
posing Parliament House, built from
the designs of a Finnish architect; a
Senate House filled with portraits OF
grand dukes; two Italian renaissance
buildings, admirable for their chaste
design, where the nobility meet ana
where the State archives are stored;
a spacious art gallery, stocked Wlth
paintings by Finnish artists; a large
group of university buildings, lnclud-
ing a fine library, wellrequipped lapo-
ratOries and museums and at least two
magnificent churches. One of these
churches is the Lutheran Cathedral, on
a massive platform of granite, with
handsome portico of Corinthian coll
umns on each side, and dome tower
ing above the roof, the ridge of which
is ornamented with statutes of the
twelve Apostles The interior is rich
and impressive, with fine altar paint
ing by a Russian artist, and large
statues of Luther Melancthon and
Agricola. the Finnish translator of the
New Testament. The other church is
the Russo Greek Cathedral of the AS
sumption, with q colossal dome and an
interior Of remarkable richness and
splendor.
The visitors amazement over the un-
expected glory Of Helsingfors increases
during every hour of his stay in this
remarkable city. There is good archi-
lecture on every side. There is a spa
cious esplanade filled with good stat
uary and fianked with handsome hotels
and business structures. There is an
imposing theaters modelled after the
Dresden Opera, House. There are large
hospitals equipped with the most sci
entific appliances for surgery. There
are polytechnic schools and educational
institutions without number. The pub
tic squares are worthy of a city of the
highest artistic taste, and the residen-
tiaI quarter shows every sign of refine
ment and taste. Helsingfors may be
one Of the smallest, but it is also one
of the handSomest of European capt.
tails.
Russia knows not only how to wait
generation after generation for the
accomplishment of her ambitious ends,
as Sveaborg on its seven fortified
islands can bear witness, but when the
conquest is once made she also has
the practical talent required for gov
ernihg subject races with tolerance
and wisdom, and for reconciling them
to foreign rule with the material adj
vantages of prosperity. Finland, with
its alien race and religion, has not been
converted into another Ireland seeth-
ing with agrarian discomfort and polit-
ical unrest. It's religion and local lib
critics have been respected and its pref
udices and susceptibilities have not
been wantonly excited. It's capital has
been rebuilt and new era of prosper
ity has opened. Finland is one of the
quietest and best-ordered provinces of
the Empire. Nihilist agitators have
been powerless there. The province has
been converted into a stronghold of
Russian power. with its naval arsenal
at Sveaborg, a second defense for St.
Petersburg, hardly inferior to Cron-
stadt where the mightiest fleet of bat
tleshi9s can be defed.-Helsingfor
Correspondence of New York Tribune.