Visit to Sweden in 1868-1869--The Object of my Journey--Experiences and
Observations During the Same--Difference Between American and Swedish
Customs--My Birth-place--Arrival and Visit There--Visit to
Christianstad--Visit to Stockholm--The Swedish Parliament--My Return
to America--Reflections on and Impressions of the Condition of the
Bureaucracy of Sweden.
For many years I had desired to revisit the home of my childhood, and in
December, 1868, saying good-bye to family and friends, I set out alone
on my first visit to Sweden, after an absence of nearly eighteen years.
The chief object of the journey was recreation and pleasure; the second
object to make the resources of Minnesota better known among the farming
and laboring classes, who had made up their minds to emigrate. This
visit to the fatherland marked an important era in my life. Being only
eighteen years old when I first left it, my impressions were vague and
imperfect. Nor had I seen much of that beautiful country until my return
in 1868. I shall now endeavor to relate some of those impressions and
experiences as faithfully as memory permits, and should I have to record
some things that will offend certain classes of my countrymen, I do it
with no unfriendliness or lack of kindly feeling, but simply in the
interest of truth; for after having been a true and loyal American
citizen for nearly forty years I still cling to Sweden, its people and
institutions, with the affection of a child toward its mother.
When I left Sweden in 1851 there were no railroads. On my return the 23d
day of December, 1868, via England, Germany and Copenhagen, I landed at
Malmoe just in time to walk to the railroad station and take the train
to Christianstad. The beautiful station with its surroundings, the
uniformed and courteous officials in attendance, the well-dressed and
comfortable-looking people in the first and second-class waiting room,
all made a pleasant impression upon me, which soon was to be disturbed,
however, by the following little incident: As I stepped up to the
ticket window to buy my ticket I observed a poor working woman at the
third-class window with a silver coin in her hand and with tears in her
eyes begging the clerk to give her the change and a ticket. I heard her
pleading that she had left three little children alone at home, that
this was the last train, and if she did not get home with it she would
have to walk in the mud after dark. The clerk insultingly refused her,
stating that he had no time to bother with her trifles unless she paid
the even change; she asked several gentlemen near by to change her money
for her, but they all turned away as if fearing contamination by coming
in contact with one so poor and lowly.[3] I had only a few large bills,
and as the woman was crowded away, the same clerk at the first-class
window took one of my bills, and, with a most polite bow, gave me a
handful of large and small change. Of course I got the woman her ticket
also. This was possibly an exceptional case, but to me it was a striking
example of the difference between Swedish and American ways and
courtesy. I venture to say that in no railway station or other public
place in the whole United States, north or south, east or west, would a
poor woman in her circumstances be left one minute without a friend and
protector. Men of all classes,--from the millionaire to the day-laborer,
or even street loafer,--would have vied with each other in trying to be
the first to render her assistance.
[Footnote 3: The rules in Sweden give the ticket clerks the right to
demand even change.]
I passed my old home at Oennestad station after dark, and soon arrived in
Christianstad, where four years of my youth had been spent. It was my
purpose this time only to pass through the city without looking up any
old acquaintances. This was my thirty-sixth birthday, and, thinking of
family and friends in my western home, I felt lonely, and repaired to my
room at the hotel. I was not left alone very long, however, for the news
of my arrival had preceded me by a telegram from Copenhagen, and soon an
old schoolmate called, and a few minutes later the editor of the leading
newspaper, Karl Moellersvaerd, who was exactly of my own age and had been
on a short visit to America, and with whom a warm and lasting friendship
was soon formed. The stroll through the little city the following
morning brought many tender recollections, and I should have enjoyed it
more had I not been such an object of attention and curiosity to
everybody there.
The advent of the railroad and the leveling of the old fortifications
had brought many improvements on the outskirts, but the interior of the
town with its little, narrow, but rectangular squares, streets and
alleys, and its little one and two-story houses had undergone no change.
And yet I could hardly realize that it was the same, because those
objects which, to my boyish fancy, had seemed grand and imposing now
appeared so diminutive that it was more like a dream than a living
reality. This was particularly the case when, at noon, I watched the
guard-mount of the artillery at the great square, and saw a large number
of finely-uniformed officers, many of them grey with age and service,
their breasts covered with decorations and crosses. With their sabres
dragging and clashing against the pavement, and their spurs rattling,
they walked up to the parade line from which they reviewed a couple of
dozen soldiers with an air of solemn dignity, which might have done
honor to a Grant, a Sherman, or a Sheridan, while reviewing our hundreds
of thousands of veterans of a hundred battlefields. Truly, if the army
of Sweden is defective in anything it is not in the dignity and style of
the officers of the Vendes artillery; but, joking aside, the splendid
bearing and discipline of the regiment made a good impression. This
regiment has in fact become noted as a training school for young men,
who are afterwards employed in the railroad service, and in large
establishments where ability, punctuality and practical knowledge are
necessary.
Christmas eve found me in Fjelkinge, at the old homestead where my
father was born, and where his people had lived for generations. The
place was now owned by a cousin of mine, an excellent and very prominent
man in his locality. The telegram had not reached this quiet, and, to
me, sacred, spot. The astonishment and surprise of my honored cousin and
my two aged uncles, who were still living, can more easily be imagined than
described, and I was received with cordiality and joy. That night, spent
under the roof of my forefathers, surrounded by the old people and the
many dear recollections, and by a new generation that had come into
being since my last visit there, stands vividly in my memory as one of
the most delightful of my life.
Another cousin of mine, a younger brother of Hans Larson, of Fjelkinge,
was rector at Trolle-Ljungby, not far from the old homestead. In his
church there was to be an early service Christmas morning. We
consequently left Fjelkinge very early, and arrived at Ljungby just as
the candles were lighted and the service commenced. We entered and sat
down in the sacristy just as my cousin had left it to enter the pulpit
in the church. He did not know that we were there, but we could see him,
and hear his words during the solemn "Otte song." On his return with his
family to the sacristy after the services, there was another surprise,
and such joy as we then experienced does not often fall to the lot of
mortal man. He told us that he had just had a dream about me that very
night, and his mind was full of anxiety about my safety; but he had not
expected to meet me so soon. Between him and me there had been a bond of
friendship and brotherhood, even from childhood, which was now renewed,
never to be broken again.
I had a third uncle, my father's youngest brother, who lived in Visloef,
three Swedish miles from Fjelkinge. The second day after my arrival he
sent his son asking me to come to him immediately, as he had been
waiting for me a long time, and I went to his house the same evening.
This uncle had been stricken with paralysis two or three years before,
and been a bed-ridden invalid ever since, unable to use his limbs,
and at times even to speak. His eldest son had gone to Minnesota
the previous summer. The evening which I spent at his bedside was a
remarkable one. As soon as I approached his bed he partly raised himself
to sitting posture and began to speak, which he had not been able to
do for a long time. His wife was sick abed in another room, but his
youngest son and two daughters were at his bedside with myself. He said
he had been wanting to die for a long time, but when he had heard that I
was to visit Sweden he wished to live until he could see me again. He
asked me to tell all about my father, our family and friends, and his
eldest son. Then he asked me to take his family with me to America
when he was dead. When he had no more questions to ask or anything to
communicate he sent his son for two of the neighbors, said good-bye to
all of us with the exclamation: "Thanks for all you have related and
promised! Now I am ready to die! Farewell! God bless you all!" after
which he breathed his last. The following spring his family accompanied
me to Minnesota.
I decided to spend New Year's eve with one of my most intimate boyhood
friends, Mr. Nils Bengtson, in the little village of Skogloesa, where I
was born. Some of the dearest friends of my parents and a number of my
childhood acquaintances were present there, and on New Year's day we
attended services together in the old church at Oennestad. My presence
was expected, and the church was crowded with people who had been
friends and neighbors of my parents, or school and playmates of myself.
Even the pastor had chosen a text applicable to me: "I think of the
bygone days, and of the time that is past." The solemn services made a
deep impression on all of us. A day or two later, in company with some
friends I visited the little cottage where I was born, and where a
number of the neighbors had now gathered to see me. One of my earliest
recollections from childhood was the spruce tree, which, as I mentioned
in the first chapter, was planted in the little garden by my parents. It
was the only tree of its kind for a great distance around. It had grown
to be a foot in diameter, was very beautiful, and was the pride not only
of the present owner of the little farm, but of the whole neighborhood.
After breaking off a sprig or two of the tree to carry back to my
parents, we left the place early in the evening for Nils Bengtson's
home, which was about half a mile distant, and where I was still a
guest.
Early the next morning my host awoke me with the news that the owner of
the cottage had arrived before daylight, anxious to communicate a
strange accident. Upon being admitted he stated that shortly after I
left his house in the evening, a single gust of wind swept by in great
force and broke the spruce tree off with a clean cut a few feet from
the ground. It seemed very strange to us all, and he regarded it as an
ill-omen, sold the place shortly afterward, and went with me to America
the following spring.
At that time only a few Swedish emigrants had returned from America, and
to see a man who had been eighteen years in America, and had been a
colonel in the American army must have been a great curiosity,
especially to the country people; for wherever it was known that I would
pass, people flocked from their houses to the roads and streets in order
to catch a glimpse of the returned traveler. So great was their
curiosity that on New Year's eve the servant girls of Nils Bengtson at
Skogloesa, drew lots as to who should carry in our coffee, and thereby
get a chance to take the first look at the American colonel. One of the
ladies of the house told me afterwards that when the girl returned to
the kitchen she put the tray down with great emphasis and
disappointment, exclaiming indignantly: "Oh, pshaw! He looks just like
any other man!"
Now followed a season of visits and entertainments in Christianstad and
the neighboring country, which I shall ever hold in grateful
remembrance. I was received with cordiality everywhere among the common
people and the middle classes, while the aristocratic classes looked on
with distant coldness, as they always do when a man of the people has
succeeded in getting beyond what they would call his legitimate station,
and is what we would call, in other words, a self-made man. My plain
name and humble ancestry were in their eyes a fault that never could be
forgiven. This did not trouble me, however, for I sought no favors, or
even recognition from the great, but found plenty of delight in the
cordial welcome of the middle classes.
In the month of February I visited Stockholm, in company with my friend
Nils Bengtson. It was the first time I had been there, and, like all
other travelers, I was charmed with the beautiful city, and its gay and
festive life. The parliament (Riksdag) was in session, and as a liberal
from America I was received with great cordiality by the liberal party.
One grand dinner and two evening parties were given by some of its
members in my honor, at which some of the most distinguished liberal
members of parliament were present. Of course numerous toasts were
proposed and speeches made, in one of which I was called upon for my
views on the Swedish militia as corresponding largely to the lately
disbanded volunteer army of the United States.
There was quite a famine in some of the Swedish provinces that winter,
and when the government asked the parliament for an appropriation of
several millions for carrying on field maneuvers of the army the coming
season, the liberals made a strong opposition, preferring to use the
money on some public improvement in the famished provinces. Of course I
expressed my sympathy strongly in favor of the volunteer organizations
and against the proposed maneuvers of the regulars. A few days afterward
my words were quoted in the parliament, and gave rise to a spirited
correspondence in one of the Stockholm conservative newspapers.
Returning to Skane I found myself besieged by people who wished to
accompany me back to America in the spring. Having visited my wife's
relatives at Ballingsloef, and enjoyed their hospitality, and made some
trips to Wermland, Gothenburg, Lund and Copenhagen, I spent the rest of
my time with friends in Christianstad, Ljungby and Oennestad.
Having been for many years a Free Mason in America, and advanced to the
highest degrees in that order, I was received in great state and full
ceremony into the provincial lodge at Christianstad, and on Good Friday,
if I remember right, I had the honor of marching in the Masonic
procession between the two highest Masons of the province, the aged
brothers, Barons Rolamb, wearing their gorgeous uniforms, while I was
dressed only in a plain black dress suit. The procession marched from
the lodge to the chapel, only half a block distant on the same street,
but a great crowd had gathered to see the mystic order, and I noticed
many manifestations of satisfaction among the masses at the honor
bestowed upon me, while I have reason to believe that some of the
uniformed brethren silently choked down a grudge over the plain citizen
whom the strict rules of the order, for that day at least, had placed in
a higher position than most of them could ever hope to attain.
Time passed swiftly, and, as the crowds of intending emigrants were
increasing daily, it was found that it would be impossible for one
steamer to carry them all, so I went early in April to Helsingborg,
where one shipload was started for Minnesota under the leadership of
Capt. Lindberg, a veteran from the Anglo-Russian and the American war. A
few weeks later I followed across the Atlantic with a party which
numbered eight hundred people, and in due time returned to my home in my
adopted country.
On the whole that first visit to Sweden was exceedingly pleasant,
although there would occasionally come up disagreeable incidents
whenever America was the subject of discussion. The laboring and middle
classes already at that time had a pretty correct idea of America, and
the fate that awaited emigrants there; but the ignorance, prejudice and
hatred toward America and everything pertaining to it among the
aristocracy, and especially the office holders, was as unpardonable as
it was ridiculous. It was claimed by them that all was humbug in
America, that it was the paradise of scoundrels, cheats and rascals, and
that nothing good could possibly come out of it. They looked upon
emigrants almost as criminals, and to contradict them was a sure means
of incurring their personal enmity and even insult.
I remember a conversation at an evening party in Naesby between a
learned doctor and myself. He started with a proposition that it was
wrong to leave one's native country, because God has placed us there,
and, although the lot of the majority might be very hard, it was still
their duty to remain to toil and pray, and even starve, if necessary,
because we owed it to the country which had given us birth. In reply I
referred to one of the first commandments of the Bible, that men should
multiply, go out and fill up the earth; that if it were wrong for Swedes
to emigrate, it was equally wrong for the English, the Germans, the
Spaniards and even our progenitors, the ancient Arians, and if so,
what would the result be? Portions of this bountiful earth would be
overcrowded, privation, crime, bloodshed and misery would follow, while
other continents would lie idle. If it had been wrong to emigrate,
America, which to-day is the larder and granary of the world, would have
remained in the possession of a few savages. My argument was of no
avail; the doctor, otherwise a kind and humane man, would rather see his
poor countrymen subsist on bread made partly out of bark, which hundreds
of them actually did at that very time in one of the Swedish provinces,
than have them go to America, where millions upon millions of acres of
fertile lands only awaited the labor of their strong arms to yield an
abundance, not only for themselves, but also for the poor millions of
Europe.
Hard as it is for the individual to change habits of long standing, it
is still harder for nations and races to free themselves from prejudices
centuries old, especially in a small country like Sweden, isolated from
the great nations and thoroughfares of the world. The importance of a
military officer in Sweden dates from an age when the common soldier was
simply an ignorant machine, and the difference between "a faithful
servant of the king" and a common mortal was immense. The common mortal
of to-day, however, is climbing bravely up towards the military
demi-god. To command a company, or even a regiment, in modern warfare,
especially in times of peace, requires but little tact and skill
compared with former times, when such commander often had to act
independently and at his own risk, whereas now there is scarcely any
branch of business which does not require more talent for its proper
management than the command of a company or a regiment. It is therefore
not on account of superior merits, but on account of old fogy notions
and prejudices that the bureaucracy, military and civil, consider
themselves to be of such immeasurable importance. My experience in life
has taught me that individually men do not count for much in the world;
that no man amounts to a great deal by himself; and that the highest as
well as the lowest is dependent largely upon his fellows.
What has been said about the military officers applies, in many cases,
equally well to the civil officers, or rather, to a class of men holding
life tenure offices in the civil service. Just now civil service reform
is the question in American politics, and it means that officers in the
civil service shall be appointed for life. I have always, for my part,
doubted the wisdom of this reform, because I have seen so much evil
growing out of that system in Sweden, England and India. To be sure,
there would be much good springing from it, but it is very questionable
whether the evil results would not be still greater.
We Americans hold that all power of government emanates from the people
(as it certainly does with us), and that the officers of the government,
from the president down to the village constable, are merely the
servants of the people, whose duty it is to enforce the laws and
preserve good order. In the other countries named it is still, to a
certain extent, supposed that God in his wisdom appoints the ruler, that
all power lies in him, and that whatever privileges the people receive
come as favors from the ruler. The influence and effect of these two
ideas are as different in all the ramifications of the system as the
ideas themselves are irreconcilable.
In America the humblest citizen goes to a local, state, or United States
official with head erect and demands that such and such things be done,
according to the law. In the other countries the lowly and even the
average individual comes before the magistrate cringing and supplicating
for his rights as for a favor. Of course such a false and absurd system,
practiced for hundreds of years, can not fail to leave a strong
impression both upon the seekers and the granters of such favors.
To me, brought up, ever since my boyhood, under the American system, the
importance of the civil officers in Sweden seemed to be greatly at
variance with the progress made in the elevation of the people in
general. I will only take one example: The provincial governor
(Landshoefding) and his immediate subordinates of a little province of
the size of half a dozen of our counties, appears with much more pomp
and style than any of the governors of our great states; and I have no
doubt that such a governor considers his office to be more important
than that of the governors of some of our states, each of which has a
population larger than that of the smaller kingdoms of Europe.