The population of Sweden has been estimated from two millions and a half
to three millions; a small number for such an immense tract of country, of which only so much is cultivated--and that in the simplest manner--as is absolutely requisite to supply the necessaries of life; and near the seashore, whence herrings are easily procured, there scarcely appears a vestige of cultivation. The scattered huts that stand shivering on the naked rocks, braving the pitiless elements, are formed of logs of wood rudely hewn; and so little pains are taken with the craggy foundation that nothing hike a pathway points out the door.
Gathered into himself by the cold, lowering his visage to avoid the
cutting blast, is it surprising that the churlish pleasure of drinking
drams takes place of social enjoyments amongst the poor, especially if we
take into the account that they mostly live on high-seasoned provision
and rye bread? Hard enough, you may imagine, as it is baked only once a
year. The servants also, in most families, eat this kind of bread, and
have a different kind of food from their masters, which, in spite of all
the arguments I have heard to vindicate the custom, appears to me a
remnant of barbarism.
In fact, the situation of the servants in every respect, particularly
that of the women, shows how far the Swedes are from having a just
conception of rational equality. They are not termed slaves; yet a man
may strike a man with impunity because he pays him wages, though these
wages are so low that necessity must teach them to pilfer, whilst
servility renders them false and boorish. Still the men stand up for the
dignity of man by oppressing the women. The most menial, and even
laborious offices, are therefore left to these poor drudges. Much of
this I have seen. In the winter, I am told, they take the linen down to
the river to wash it in the cold water, and though their hands, cut by
the ice, are cracked and bleeding, the men, their fellow-servants, will
not disgrace their manhood by carrying a tub to lighten their burden.
You will not be surprised to hear that they do not wear shoes or
stockings, when I inform you that their wages are seldom more than twenty
or thirty shillings per annum. It is the custom, I know, to give them a
new year's gift and a present at some other period, but can it all amount
to a just indemnity for their labour? The treatment of servants in most
countries, I grant, is very unjust, and in England, that boasted land of
freedom, it is often extremely tyrannical. I have frequently, with
indignation, heard gentlemen declare that they would never allow a
servant to answer them; and ladies of the most exquisite sensibility, who
were continually exclaiming against the cruelty of the vulgar to the
brute creation, have in my presence forgot that their attendants had
human feelings as well as forms. I do not know a more agreeable sight
than to see servants part of a family. By taking an interest, generally
speaking, in their concerns you inspire them with one for yours. We must
love our servants, or we shall never be sufficiently attentive to their
happiness; and how can those masters be attentive to their happiness who, living above their fortunes, are more anxious to outshine their neighbours than to allow their household the innocent enjoyments they earn?
It is, in fact, much more difficult for servants, who are tantalised by
seeing and preparing the dainties of which they are not to partake, to
remain honest, than the poor, whose thoughts are not led from their
homely fare; so that, though the servants here are commonly thieves, you
seldom hear of housebreaking, or robbery on the highway. The country is, perhaps, too thinly inhabited to produce many of that description of thieves termed footpads, or highwaymen. They are usually the spawn of great cities--the effect of the spurious desires generated by wealth, rather than the desperate struggles of poverty to escape from misery.
The enjoyment of the peasantry was drinking brandy and coffee, before the
latter was prohibited, and the former not allowed to be privately
distilled, the wars carried on by the late king rendering it necessary to
increase the revenue, and retain the specie in the country by every
possible means.