Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-13
IMPRESSIONS
OF SEWDEN.
Letter to An Unknown Publisher
by Sonya Kovalevsky.
Observations by Famous Russian Math-
ematician and Authoress Translated
from the Swedish by Selma Frotz,

paper, describe the impressions WHICH
this, our neighboring country, should
make upon me, Hitherto 1 have not
been able to comply with your wish for
it is by no means easy to form a clear
and correct idea of life jim Sweden or the
characteristic features Of the Swedish
national character
In outward respects the conditions of
life do not here offer any marked pecu-
liarities which necessarily attract the
attention of even a superficial observer.
But upon nearer acquaintance with
Swedish conditions, one soon notices
certain individual traits of character
which more or less distinguishes one
and all For example | think | can
safely say that with the exception or
England, there is no country where the
so-called public opinion" plays such an
important part as in Sweden. Not until
came to Stockholm has the existence
of this hitherto mythical divinity be-
come a reality to me,
Here one feels that there exists in
| life a certain connection between the
DRY and practice. AS a rule, 1t Is not
easy to convince a Swede Of the correct
ness Of theory, but has this once sue
jceeded he does not stop half way but
Immediately, as matter of course, ap-
plies his conviction in life, gives it prac-
| tfcaI form In this an inborn trait of
character is manifested, peculiar to the
whole Germanic race, but entirely for
/ eign to us Slavs, with whom l have
often noticed the opposite, II a truth
/ has once been proved, it is regarded by
us as commonly acknowledged, and it
is unnecessary to make any more ado
about it. To put it to practical use, is
a matter of far lesser importance which
the Slav often loses sight of entirely.
| This difference depends naturally in
! high degree upon the difference in out
ward circumstances. Politically and
socially, Sweden is unquestionably one
of the freest states in Europe. The
absence in it's history of all outward
oppression, surprises one. Sweden has
never been subject to any foreign ma
ton; it has never known Of serfdom,
and has never among it's kings had
| tyrant of the same kind as Ivan the Ter
rible or Louis XI. Not even the relig-
ious prosecutions have here had that
merciless character stamp as in the
other countries of western Europe. 1t
| is therefore not at all strange that the
! Swedes, influenced by so free and peace
full past, have become sensible and
| logical people who does not tolerate any
wide cleft between word and act, and
is not content with empty phrases
| alone.
On the other hand, Sweden may also
be considered fortunate in regard to Its
economy. 1t does not belong to the rich
countries. With the exception of iron,
forest and fish, it's natural resources are
quite scanty, but not counting the eX-
treme northern regions, no great deSti-
tuition prevails The worst conditioned
class of society consists of the so-called
"torparne" cottagers, who do not own
any land, but labor on owners estate,
| and in return are allowed a little cot
tage~ and certain amount of land to
cultivate for themselves. Between a poor
cottager and a well-to-do farmer, is a
vast cleft socially. No Swedish aristo-
crat treats a poor official with so much
condescension as a Swedish or Norwe-
gian peasant shows cottager. A mar.
riage between "a peasant daughter ant
cottager is a misalliance and it Is
said that it IS only in the Norwegian
writer .Bjornson's peasant tales tha
such love stories play an importan
part, but in real life are unusual an(
rare. However, all Swedish farmer.
with whom have had an opportunity t.
speak, have assured me that a Swedish
"torpare" is without comparison fal
better situated than-e. g., an Irisf
farmer or a tiller of the soil in one oi
our Baltic provinces.
y
hands, but manufacturing as a means
of livelihood is as yet so little developed
in Sweden that the Importance of this
element in the community cannot ever
approximately be compared with that
which it has gained in France, England
and some parts of Germany. Very great
estate owners are no longer to be found
in Sweden. In the commercial cities
there are q number of wealthy mer-
chant families, and the type of the
wealthy wholesale merchant is highly
characteristic for the Swedish commu-
nifty, but here one never hears of any
enormous fortunes such as in England
and America, and formerly in Russia.
In general it may be said that neither
the pursuit after office nor the struggle
for daily bread in Sweden has as yet
assumed that acute all-engulfing char
acter as i'm the greater civilized coun-
| tries Competition in the different de-
| partments is not yet so great that it
| gives rise to few brilliant exceptions
at the cost of mass of failures. A per-
son with ordinary gifts and common
education can easily attain a position
| in Sweden, the income of which is
amply sufficient to maintain himself and
| family without over-Straining. On the
| other hand the outward conditions Of
| life are comparatively simple. Even
| families with large fortunes generally
| live quite unpretending lives. Here ex-
! lists not that constant exhibition of lux
ury, the perpetual, seductive tempta-
| tions, which in so high degree are fos-
tered and developed by the influence
from without in the life of the capitals
| of Paris, London and Berlin, and which
| lead most people to concentrate all their
| strength and efforts round one point,
namely, to become rich at any cost
whatsoever, in order to be able to fully
| 81 IT,, 1I@.,
contrary, there are a great number of
people who support themselves by per-
sonal labor and still grant themselves
! sufficient leisure to enjoy life while it
| lasts. With such people there is gen
orally developed in a high degree faith
in the sacredness and true purpose Of
| life, and the so-called ideal questions,
questions Of moral truths and responsi-
bilities, preserve in their eyes real
| and living meaning.
A rich inner life and strongly de-
veloped imagination, together with a
calm, reserved, one may even say cold
and calculating temperament, are char
acteristic peculiarities of the Swede, and
still more Of the Norwegian. ''The need
of once for all creating oneself an ideal
and afterwards worShipping it ones
whole life is our national malady," says
one of the principal actors in Ibsen's
drama, 1.-THE Wild Duck"
Like all peoples with happy past the
| Swede is a born conservative He gen
orally meets every proposition with a
certain preconceived distrust; every
! thought of change excites almost in
stinctively opposition and ill-feeling
There are certain ideas, certain prejudi-
| ces which a Swede imbibes with the
mothers milk, and which are later nour-
/ ished and strengthened in the home and
| school, nowhere meeting either opposi-
| ton or resistance 1t is, therefore, clear