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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:57:33 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:57:33 -0700 |
| commit | 9420fdd355db78b91491f0fd04db72a35658155e (patch) | |
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diff --git a/32399-h/32399-h.htm b/32399-h/32399-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..693c0c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/32399-h/32399-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9687 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences: The Story of an Emigrant, by Hans Mattson + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + body{margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + } + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + text-align: center; + } + hr.hr2 {width: 5%;} + hr.hr3 {width: 60%;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + a:link {color: navy; text-decoration: none} /* unvisited link */ + a:visited {color: maroon; text-decoration: none} /* visited link */ + a:hover {text-decoration: underline} /* mouse over link */ + a:active {color: navy} /* selected link */ + + .starrow {text-align: center; letter-spacing: 5em;} + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + color: gray; + text-indent: 0; + } + + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; font-size: smaller;} + .blocktoc {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; font-size: smaller;} + .chaptdesc {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: smaller; + text-indent: -2em} + + .hoverbox {border-bottom: .07em dotted gray;} /* underlined typos */ + .hoverlink {border-style: none;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smfont {font-size: smaller;} + .lgfont {font-size: larger;} + .serfont {font-family: serif;} + + .caption {font-size: smaller;} + .clearlft {clear: left;} + .clearrt {clear: right;} + .nowrap {white-space: nowrap;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; + text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: .5em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; + } + + .figright {float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: .5em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center;} + + .figtb {margin: auto; + text-align: center; + padding-top: 2em; + padding-bottom: 2em;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 79%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: top; font-size: .7em; text-decoration: none;} + + .tranotes {border: solid 1px #8b4513; /* saddle brown */ + font-size: smaller; + width: 80%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; + padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; + background: #fff8dc;} /* cornsilk */ + + .poem {display: block; margin-left:20%; margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; font-size: smaller;} + .poem .line1 {margin-left: 0} + .poem .line2 {margin-left: 5px} /* move line right of quotes */ + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Reminiscences, by Hans Mattson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Reminiscences + The Story of an Emigrant + +Author: Hans Mattson + +Release Date: May 17, 2010 [EBook #32399] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REMINISCENCES *** + + + + +Produced by K Nordquist, René Anderson Benitz and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div> + +<br /><br /> +<div class="tranotes"> +<p><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Note</span>: Most variations in hyphenation, +capitalization, and spelling have been retained as in the original. +Spelling errors have been corrected when most occurrences of the word +in question are correct. Obvious typos have been amended. All +amendments are underlined in text; original text appears in a mouse +hoverbox over each amendment, like <span title=" thsi " class="hoverbox">this</span>. Minor printer errors +(quotation marks, punctuation, etc.) have been amended without note. +Mid-paragraph illustrations have been relocated between paragraphs for +easier reading, causing some page numbers to be removed. Table of +Contents has been added.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"><br /><br /> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="286" height="450" alt="Book Cover" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"><br /><br /> +<img src="images/author.jpg" height="450" width="319" alt="H. Mattson" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2><br /><br />REMINISCENCES</h2> +<h1><span class="smcap">The</span> STORY</h1> +<h4>OF AN</h4> +<h1>EMIGRANT</h1> +<h3><span class="smcap">By</span> HANS MATTSON,</h3> +<h6><span class="smcap">Late Consul General of the United States, in India</span></h6> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image001.jpg" height="20" width="121" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="smfont"> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">saint paul:</span><br /> +D. D. MERRILL COMPANY<br /> +1891.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<div class="smfont"> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyrighted</span> 1891<br /> +<span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +D. D. MERRILL COMPANY<br /> +<span class="smcap">st. paul, minn.</span></p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p class="smfont center"><i>All Rights Reserved</i></p> +<hr class="hr3" /> + +<h3 class="serfont">CONTENTS</h3> +<br /> +<h4><a name="TOC_1" id="TOC_1"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Ancestry and country home in Sweden—Home influences—My first +school years—Christmas—Military life—Departure for +America.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_2" id="TOC_2"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Arrival at Boston—Adventures between Boston and New +York—Buffalo—An Asylum—Return to New York—A +Voyage—On the Farm in New Hampshire.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_3" id="TOC_3"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>The Arrival of my Father and Brother—Journey to +Illinois—Work on a Railroad—The Ague—Doctor +Ober—Religious Impressions—The Arrival of my Mother, Sister +and her Husband—A Burning Railroad Train—We go to +Minnesota—Our Experience as Wood Choppers and Pioneers.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_4" id="TOC_4"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Future Hopes—Farm Life—Norwegian Pioneers—The +Condition of the Immigrant at the Beginning of the +Fifties—Religious Meetings—The Growth of the +Settlement—Vasa Township Organized—A Lutheran Church +Established—My Wedding—Speculation—The Crisis of +1857—Study of Law in Red Wing—I am admitted to the Bar and +elected County Auditor—Politics in 1860—War is Imminent.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_5" id="TOC_5"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>The Beginning of the Civil War—The Scandinavians taking part in +it—Appeal in <i>Hemlandet</i> to the Scandinavians of +Minnesota—Company D. Organized—The Expressions of the +Press—The Departure—The March over the Cumberland +Mountains—The Fate of the Third Regiment.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_6" id="TOC_6"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Events of 1863—The Siege of Vicksburg—Anecdotes about Gens. +Logan, Stevenson and Grant—Little Rock Captured—Recruiting +at Fort Snelling—The engagement at Fitzhugh’s Woods—Pine +Bluff—Winter Quarters at Duvall’s Bluff—Death of +Lincoln—Close of the War—The Third Regiment Disbanded.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_7" id="TOC_7"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Reconstruction in the South—Third Regiment Mustered Out—The +Farewell Order—Sacrifices and Costs of the War.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_8" id="TOC_8"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>My Reason for Taking Part in the Civil War—The Dignity of +Labor—The Firm Mattson & Webster—<i>Svenska Amerikanaren</i>, +its Program and Reception—The State Emigration Bureau of +Minnesota—Its Aim, Plan and Work.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_9" id="TOC_9"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>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.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_10" id="TOC_10"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>The Importance of the Scandinavian Element—A Swede Elected +Secretary of State in Minnesota—False Rumors of Indian +Depredations—The Northern Pacific Railroad is Built—Trip to +Philadelphia—The National Convention at +Indianapolis—Delegation to Washington—A Swedish Colony in +Mississippi Moved to Minnesota—The Second Voyage to Europe.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_11" id="TOC_11"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>In Sweden Again—Reception at My Old Home—Visit to Northern +Sweden—Field Maneuvers in Sweden—The Opening of +Parliament—In Norway—Visit in Stockholm—Royal +Palaces—The Göta Canal—A Trip to Finland and +Russia—King Oscar II.—A Trip to Dalarne in the Winter.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_12" id="TOC_12"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Visit in Minnesota and Philadelphia—Conversation with Jay +Cooke—The Crisis of 1873—Negotiations in +Holland—Draining of a Lake in Skåne—Icelandic Colony +in Manitoba—Return to America.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_13" id="TOC_13"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Grasshopper Ravages in Minnesota—The Presidential +Election—Chosen Presidential Elector—Minnesota <i>Stats +Tidning</i>—<i>Svenska Tribunen</i> in Chicago—Farm in Northwestern +Minnesota—Journalistic Work.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_14" id="TOC_14"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>I am Appointed Consul-General to India—Assassination of +Garfield—Departure for India—My Stay in Chicago and +Washington—Paris and +Versailles—Rome—Naples—Pompeii—From Naples to +Alexandria—Interesting Acquaintances on the Voyage—The First +Impressions in Egypt.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_15" id="TOC_15"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>CHAPTER XV.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Alexandria and its Monuments—The Egyptian +“Fellahs”—The Mohammedans and Their Religion—The +Voyage Through the Suez Canal—The Red Sea—The Indian +Ocean—The Arrival at Calcutta.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_16" id="TOC_16"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>India—Its People, Religion, Etc.—The Fertility of the +Country—The Climate—The +Dwellings—Punkah—Costumes—Calcutta—Dalhousie +Square—Life in the Streets.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_17" id="TOC_17"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>The Promenades of the Fashionable World—Maidan—The +Viceroy—British Dominions in India.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_18" id="TOC_18"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>An Indian Fête—The Prince of Burdwan—Indian +Luxury—The Riches and Romantic Life of an Indian +Prince—Poverty and Riches.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_19" id="TOC_19"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Allahabad—Sacred Places—Kumbh +Mela—Pilgrimages—Bathing in the Ganges—Fakirs and +Penitents—Sacred Rites—Superstitions.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_20" id="TOC_20"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>CHAPTER XX.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Benares, the Holy City of the Hindoos—Its Temples and +Worshipers—The Sacred Monkeys.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_21" id="TOC_21"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>CHAPTER XXI.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Nimtoolaghat—Cremation in India—Parsee Funeral Rites.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_22" id="TOC_22"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>CHAPTER XXII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Heathenism and Christianity—The Religion of the +Hindoos—Caste—The Brahmins—Their +Tyranny—Superstition—The Influence of +Christianity—Keshub-Chunder-Sen, the Indian Reformer—His +faith and Influence.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_23" id="TOC_23"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXIII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Steamboating On the Ganges—Life on the River—The Greatest +Business Firm in the +World—Sceneries—Temples—Serampoor—Boat +Races—An Excursion to the Himalayas—Darjieling and Himalaya +Railroad—Tea Plantations—Darjieling—Llamas—View +from the Mountains.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_24" id="TOC_24"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXIV.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Cholera and other Diseases—The Causes of Cholera—How the +Soldiers are Protected Against it—Sudden +Deaths—Fevers—The Teraj—Contempt for Death—The +Cholera Hospital—The Sisters of Mercy—The Princes +Tagore—Hindoo Family Customs—Hindoo Gallantry—A Hindoo +Fête.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_25" id="TOC_25"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b>CHAPTER XXV.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Agriculture, Manufacture and Architecture—Wheat Growing—The +Farm Laborer—His Condition, Implements, etc. The +Taj-Mahal—Jugglers—Snake Charmers—From My Journal.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_26" id="TOC_26"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXVI.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>The Women of India—The Widows—The American +Zenana—Prizes Awarded in a Girl’s School—Annandabai +Joshee—Her Visit to America—Reports to the +Government—Departure from +India—Burmah—Ceylon—Arabia—Cairo.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_27" id="TOC_27"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXVII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Cairo—Cheop’s Pyramid—Venice—The St. Gotthard +Tunnel—On the Rhine—Visit in Holland and +England—Father Nugent—Arrival at New York.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_28" id="TOC_28"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXVIII.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>Home from India—A Friendly Reception—Journey to New +Mexico—The Maxwell Land Grant Company—Renewed Visits to +England and Holland—Re-elected Secretary of State—Visit of +the Swedish Officers in Minneapolis and St. Paul—Two Hundred and +Fiftieth Anniversary of the Landing of the First Swedes in Delaware.</p></div> + +<h4><a name="TOC_29" id="TOC_29"></a> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXIX.</b></a></h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>The Causes of Immigration—American Influence on Europe, and +Especially on Sweden—The Condition of the Swedes in +America—American Characteristics—Antipathy against +Foreigners—The Swedish Press on America—American Heiresses.</p></div> + +<h4> +<a name="TOC_30" id="TOC_30"></a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><b>CHAPTER XXX.</b></a> +</h4> + +<div class="blocktoc"><p>REVIEW.</p></div> + +<hr /> +<p class="center lgfont serfont">NOTE.</p> + +<div class="smfont"> <p>These <i>reminiscences</i> were written from memory in such leisure moments +as the author could spare from a busy life, and published in the Swedish +language nearly a year ago. They were intended solely for Swedish +readers in the mother country and America, but since their publication +in that language it has been urged by many that they ought to be made +accessible to English readers also. And this, principally, in order that +the children of the old Swedish emigrants, who are more familiar with +the English than the Swedish language, may have an opportunity to learn +something of the early struggles of their fathers in this country.</p> + +<p>At the same time it was thought that the American reader in general +might take pleasure in following the fortunes of one of the many +emigrants who owes whatever he has accomplished in life to the +opportunities offered by the free institutions of this country, and that +it would especially interest him to read the account of oriental life, +religion and characteristics as seen by the author during his residence +in the wonderful land of the Hindoos.</p> + +<p>As to literary finish no claim is made. In a few instances of a +descriptive nature recourse has been had to the accounts of other +observers. In all other respects the story is a plain recital of the +personal experiences of the author, told without pretensions, as an +humble contribution by an emigrant to the history of the emigrants, and +of the settlement of the Great West.</p> + +<p class="right"> THE AUTHOR.</p><br /> +<p><span class="smcap">Minneapolis, Minn.</span>, October, 1891.<br /></p> +</div> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">- 1 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a><a href="#TOC_1"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER I.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Ancestry and country home in Sweden—Home influences—My first +school years—Christmas—Military life—Departure for +America.</p><br /></div> + +<p>My childhood passed so quietly and smoothly that it would be superfluous +to mention it at all, except for the fact that such omission would leave +a gap in these reminiscences. For this reason, and, also, in order that +the American reader may get some idea of a good country home in Sweden, +I shall relate very briefly some incidents from that time.</p> + +<p>My parents belonged to one of those old families of proprietary farmers, +whose spirit of independence and never failing love of liberty, have, +from time <span title=" immemmorial " class="hoverbox">immemorial</span>, placed Sweden, as a land of constitutional +liberty, in the front rank among all the countries of the Old World.</p> + +<p>Like the descendants of the old Scotch clans the ancestors of my father +were noted for certain physical and mental qualities, which made them +prominent among the inhabitants of the district of Villand, <span title=" Skane " class="hoverbox">Skåne</span>, +where most of them had their home. They were independent freeholders and +were generally reckoned among the leading men of their district. They +were large and strong with broad shoulders, high and broad foreheads and +other family characteristics. The christian names of the male members +were generally Bonde, Trued, Lars, Matts, and Hans, and the family can +be traced back in the parish records for more than two hundred +years.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">- 2 -</a></span> + +<p>My mother was born on the island of Ifö, my father’s family also +came from that island and were the owners of the estate described by Du +Chaillu in his “Land of the Midnight Sun” with the +remarkable crypt built by Bishop Andreas Suneson<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and the estate still +belongs to a second cousin of mine. My father inherited a small sum of +money for which, at the time of his marriage, he bought a land in the +parish of <span title=" Onnestad " class="hoverbox">Önnestad</span> near the city of Kristianstad. On this property +he built a small house, barn, etc., and on the south side of the former +a small flower garden was laid out at either end of which my father +planted a spruce tree, one of which grew up into a fine, big tree, the +only one of its kind in the whole neighborhood, and to which I shall +refer farther on. In this unpretending little cabin I was born Dec. 23d, +1832, and under its lowly but peaceful roof I spent the first years of +my childhood, together with an elder sister and a younger brother.</p> + +<p>I can yet distinctly remember many incidents from my childhood as far +back as my third and fourth year; all these memories are dear and +exceedingly pleasant to me. There was no discord, no cause for sorrow +and tears in my home during the time of my childhood. Everything bore +the stamp of peace and calm, emanating from that spirit of genuine old +Swedish honesty and sincere piety, which animated my parents. One of my +very first recollections is of my father reading aloud the beautiful +hymn:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p><span class="line1">“The morning light shall wake me</span><br /> +<span class="line2">To the strains of sacred song,” etc.</span></p> +</div> + +<p>At the age of six my schooling commenced under the guidance of an +itinerant schoolmaster by name of Bergdahl, who taught small children at +their homes, stopping one day for each child at every house and keeping +on in that way the whole term which lasted from three to four months. +Old Bergdahl was a good and sensible man, far superior to the<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_3" id="Page_3">- 3 -</a></span> average men of his class. He seldom +punished his pupils except by appealing to their better nature, and +still maintained the best discipline that I have ever seen in any school +of even greater pretensions.</p> + +<p>My parents were doing well on their little farm, which they sold about +this time, buying a larger one on the <span title=" Onnestad " class="hoverbox">Önnestad</span> Hills. Here they +erected larger and more commodious buildings.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 615px;"> +<img src="images/image002.jpg" width="615" height="324" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">OUR HOME.</span> +</div> + +<p>Near the house was a park, a creek, and some large rocks, all of which +afforded welcome play-ground, and soon made this place dearer to me than +the old home. We were followed by the school-master who also settled +down in our neighborhood. I continued reading another year under his +guidance, after which I attended a private school, and at the age of +eight was sent to the village school that was superintended by a lady +teacher, a normal school graduate, who was considered one of the best +teachers in that part of the country. My parents, desiring a more +extensive field for their activity, also rented a large farm, called +Kellsagard, near the village church, and we now moved into a still +larger and better house. Meanwhile I continued my attendance at<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_4" id="Page_4">- 4 -</a></span> the village school until I had learned +all that was taught there. During the vacations I worked on my father’s +farm at such light work as was suited to my age and strength. I had a +decided fancy for horses, of which my father raised a large number, and +was always happy for a chance to ride or drive in company with the hired +men, and after my twelfth year I used to break the young colts to the +saddle. At the same time I had a great taste for reading and never +intended to remain long on the farm, but was always meditating on +getting a higher education, which would prepare me for a larger field of +action than a country farm could offer. At the age of fourteen I was +sent to another school, located about three miles from my home. Here I +was instructed in the common branches, and in a short time passed +through the whole course of studies. I also received instruction from +Rev. T. N. Hasselquist, who has played such a prominent part in the +Swedish Lutheran Church of America, and took private lessons in +arithmetic and writing of Mr. S. J. Willard, a bright young teacher, who +afterwards married my only sister, and finally became my companion +during our pioneer life in Minnesota.</p> + +<p>Our last home offered many conveniences; the house was well furnished, +and so large that the second story could be rented most of the time, and +it was occupied alternately by a clergyman with his family, and a +captain of the army. These people, and our numerous city friends, +exerted a refining and elevating influence on the farm surroundings, and +our home was widely noted for its hospitality. My father was a +kind-hearted, noble-minded man, and was liked by all who knew him. My +mother was a woman of strong character, and wielded a great influence +over her surroundings. She managed a household of forty to fifty +persons, and on Sundays there was always an extra table set for friends +and visitors. Her good-will, however, extended not only to our<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_5" id="Page_5">- 5 -</a></span> pleasant associates, but also to the +poor, the suffering and the unfortunate. I cannot recall any period of +my childhood when we did not harbor some poor, forsaken pauper, waif, +orphan or cripple in my father’s house.</p> + +<p>Christmas has always been, and is yet, the greatest of all festivities +or holidays among all the Scandinavian peoples. It is not merely a +holiday like it is among Americans, but a festival lasting for many +days. While the people in the different localities of the Scandinavian +countries, at the time of my childhood, differed in many customs, they +were all alike in making this season one of joyous hospitality, blended +with religious worship. I shall endeavor to describe Christmas as +celebrated in my home in Southern Sweden 50 years ago, and I venture to +say that while matters of detail might differ in different parts of the +country, the descriptions as a whole will apply to them all. The +preparations for Christmas commenced in the beginning of December by +butchering, brewing and baking, so as to lay in large stores of the +essential elements for enjoyment and hospitality. The fattened animals +were slaughtered, the tallow made into candles, the meat salted, smoked, +and otherwise prepared for a whole year. The rich brown Yule-ale was +made in large quantities, and poured in kegs and barrels. Bread of many +varieties was baked for days and days, and stored away in proper places, +a large share of it being intended for the poor, who began their rounds +of calls a week before Christmas, receiving presents of brown and white +loaves, large cuts of meats and cheese, rolls of sausage, etc. The +school-master, the parish mid-wife, the village night watchman, and +other semi-public characters of small degree were carefully remembered +at this time. The village tailor with his journeymen and apprentices +appeared a few weeks before Christmas and made the wearing apparel for +the family and servants out of home-spun fabrics for the whole year. The +village shoemaker<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">- 6 -</a></span> with his crowd of workmen followed close upon +the former, and made up the boots and shoes out of leather which had +been prepared to order, finishing up by repairing the stable harnesses, +sometimes making new ones. It was a busy season; the house-wife was kept +astir early and late to give directions, and superintending all these +things.</p> + +<p>Finally the day of Christmas Eve came, on which everything must be in +readiness, pans and kettles be scoured, floors scrubbed and strewn with +white sand and fresh juniper twigs, even the stables for the cattle +receiving an extra scrubbing. The yard was swept and every nook and +corner of the premises put in holiday attire, and last of all, the hired +men and girls were expected to retire to their respective quarters for a +similar cleaning, and make their appearance about five o’clock in the +afternoon in clean linen and new clothes, ready for the great event, as +for a marriage feast. In the mean time pots and kettles were boiling on +the hearth in the great kitchen, baskets were being filled and sent off +to the poor who were too feeble to call for their gifts; the family and +servants contenting themselves that day with a lunch, well known all +over Sweden as dopparebröd. It being now dark, the long table was +set in the large common room. The whitest linen, the finest plate, +plenty of fresh white bread, and two or three home-made cheeses, baskets +of cake, and large decanters containing sweet ale, ornamented the table. +In front of the seats of husband and wife was placed a large home-made +tallow candle with as many branches as there were members of the family. +Other candles were placed in candle-sticks or chandeliers, so that there +was an abundance of light, in commemoration of the Great Light which +came into the world on that eve. There was also a Christmas tree +decorated with ribbons, flowers, confectionery and burning tapers. The +lighting of the candles was the signal for all to come to the feast. +That evening at least<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">- 7 -</a></span> there was no distinction as to persons. The +lowest servant-boy had his seat, and received the same attention as the +children or members of the family. When all were seated a Christmas +prayer was offered by the head of the family, after which a hymn was +sung, in which all joined; then were brought in from the kitchen great +dishes of “Lut Fisk,” served with drawn butter and mustard +sauce; after that a roast of beef or pork, and at last the Yule-mush. +About the time that this was finished, some one who had quietly stepped +outside returned in the disguise of Santa Claus, and threw baskets full +of Christmas presents on the floor. The children and younger servants +made a scramble for these, amid shouts of hilarious joy and distributed +them according to the directions written on each bundle. No one was +forgotten. Then at the table followed cakes with sweet wine or punch, +and nuts and apples, all of which was enjoyed hugely and deliberately, +so that it was often ten o’clock before the tables were cleared. The +remainder of the evening was spent in quiet <span title=" amusments " class="hoverbox">amusements</span>, such as telling +stories about princes and princesses, giants and trolls, conundrums, +tricks with cards, etc., and seldom did the happy circle break up until +nearly mid-night.</p> + +<p>Christmas day was considered a very holy day. There were no visits made, +no work done except of the greatest necessity, such as feeding the +animals and keeping up the fires; no cooking was done on that day, but +meals were served mostly cold from the delicious head cheese, pork roast +and other delicacies, which had been prepared beforehand. The greatest +event of all the season, and in fact of the whole year, was the early +service (ottesång) in the parish church, at five o’clock on +Christmas morning. Hundreds of candles were lighted in chandeliers and +candlesticks. The altar was covered with gold embroidered cloth; the +floor was strewn with fresh twigs of juniper, and soon the people began +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">- 8 -</a></span> assemble. They came from every house and hamlet, in sleighs +with tinkling bells, on horseback, and on foot along every road and +winding pathway, usually in groups, swelling as the parties and the +roads intersected, many carrying lanterns or burning pine-knots to light +the way. Everywhere the greeting, “Happy Christmas” was +heard, but all with joyful solemnity. Outside the church the burning +torches were thrown in a pile which formed a blaze that could be seen a +long distance off. The church was soon crowded; then the solemn tones of +the organ burst forth; the organist led in the beautiful hymn, +“Var hälsad sköna morgon stund” (Be greeted joyful +morning hour), in which every member of the congregation joined, until +the temple was filled with their united voices so that the walls almost +shook. And when the minister ascended the pulpit, clad in his surplice +and black cape, he had before him a most devout congregation. Of course +the sermon was about the Messiah, who was born in the stable, and placed +in the manger at Bethlehem. The next service was at ten o’clock, and the +rest of the day was spent quietly at home by everybody.</p> + +<p>On the next day, called Second Day Christmas, the previous solemnity was +discarded, and the time for visiting and social enjoyments commenced.</p> + +<p>The one permanent virtue most conspicuous during the whole Christmas +season, which in those days extended way into the month of January, was +hospitality, and next to that, or linked with it, charity. It seemed +that the heart of every one expanded until it took in every fellow +creature high and low, and even the brute animals. Many and many were +the loaves of bread, grain and meal thrown out purposely for the birds +or stray dogs that might be hungry, and many of the farmers followed the +beautiful Norwegian custom of placing sheaves of oats and barley on the +roof of their barns that the poor birds might also enjoy +Christmas.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">- 9 -</a></span> + +<p>But there were also other ennobling influences which surrounded and +emanated from our home, and I recollect most vividly those connected +with nature. The house was surrounded by a large beautiful garden, with +choice flowers and fruit, fine grass plats and luxuriant trees, the +branches of which were alive with singing birds, the most noted among +these being the nightingale, which every summer filled the garden with +sweet melody.</p> + +<p>Of the incidents of my childhood I will mention a few, which have left +the most vivid impression on my mind:</p> + +<p>Once my parents took me along to see the king, who was to pass by on the +highway a short distance from our home. The people from the country +around had congregated by thousands to see his majesty. Most of them, +however, did not get a chance to see anything but a large number of +carriages each of which was drawn by four or six horses, and postillions +and servants in splendid liveries. In the midst of this confusion I, +however, succeeded in catching a glimpse of King Oscar I, as he passed +by. In my childish mind I had fancied that the king and his family and +all others, in authority were the peculiar and elect people of the +Almighty, but after this event which produced a very decided impression +on me, I began to entertain serious doubts as to the correctness of my +views on this matter.</p> + +<p>At another time I went with my mother to the city of Kristianstad to +hear the Rev. Doctor P. Fjellstedt, who had just returned from a +missionary tour in India. I can never forget how eloquently he described +the Hindoos, and the Brahmin idolatry, all of which aroused in me an +eager longing to visit the wonderful country and learn to know its +peculiar people. But little did I then dream that I was to go there +thirty-six years later as the representative of the greatest country of +the world.</p> + +<p>At one time I went in company with my mother to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">- 10 -</a></span> Danish +capital, Copenhagen, we being among the first Swedish families that +traveled by rail, for we took the railroad from Copenhagen to Roskilde, +the same being finished several years before any railroads were built in +Sweden.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1847, shortly after my confirmation, I was properly +supplied with wardrobe and other necessaries, and saying good-bye to the +happy and peaceful home of my childhood, I left for the city of +Kristianstad to enter the Latin school. In kissing me good-bye my mother +urged on me the precious words, which she had inherited from her mother: +“Do right and fear nothing.”</p> + +<p>When I entered this school I was fourteen years and a-half old, tall of +stature and well developed for my age, and, like other country children, +somewhat awkward in dress and behavior.</p> + +<p>My schoolmates welcomed me by giving me a nick-name, and trying to pick +a quarrel with me, which they also succeeded in doing, and before the +end of the first day a drawn battle had been fought, after which they +never troubled me again. The principal study in this school was Latin, +early and late, to which was soon added German, and at the close of the +second year, Greek, French, history, geography, and other common +branches. I made rapid progress, was awarded a prize at my first +examination, and finished the work of two classes in two years, only +about half the usual time.</p> + +<p>During those two years, and even before that time, I had a peculiar +presentiment that I would have to make great mental and physical +exertions in the future, and that it was necessary for me to prepare for +whatever might happen. Therefore, I often chose the hard floor for my +bed and a book for a pillow. At times I would take long walks without +eating and drinking, and let my room-mates strike my chest with their +fists until it was swollen and inflamed. I even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">- 11 -</a></span> tried how long I +could go without food, and still not lose my mental and physical vigor.</p> + +<p>When I was sixteen years old, an event took place which had a decisive +influence on my whole life.</p> + +<p>A captain of the army boarded at my father’s home, and was regarded as a +member of the family. Among his acquaintances was a young man of my own +age, who also had the same christian name as I. One day this young man +came to see the captain, and as he approached the house my mother and +sister observing him, both exclaimed at the same time, “There is +Hans!” He heard this, and was greatly surprised that they knew +him, while the fact was that they mistook him for me. At that time I was +in the city, but the next day this second Hans visited me, and told me +of the incident. If there is such a thing as affinity between men, it +certainly existed between him and me; we felt ourselves irresistibly +drawn towards each other, and from that day we have been more than +brothers, and nothing but death can separate us. We are of the same +size, complexion and age. He had already served a short time as cadet in +the artillery, but had been compelled to resign on account of poor +health. Now he had recovered and entered service again as a volunteer in +the infantry. The events of my life are so closely interwoven with this +man and his life, that the reader will often hear of him in these pages. +Right here I wish to state, that a more faithful friend and a more noble +character cannot be found; he has always been a help and a comfort to me +in the many and strange vicissitudes which we have shared together. His +name is Hans Eustrom, better known in Minnesota as Captain Eustrom.</p> + +<p>The first Danish-German war broke out about this time, and I, with many +other youths, felt a hearty sympathy for the Danes. The Swedish +government resolved to send troops to help their neighbors, and a few +regiments marching through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">- 12 -</a></span> our city fanned our youthful +enthusiasm into flame. Finally, a detachment of the artillery, quartered +in the city, was ordered to leave for the seat of war, and now I could +no longer restrain myself, but besieged my parents to let me join that +part of the army which was going to the battlefield, and to clinch the +argument I was cruel enough to send word to my distressed mother that if +she would not consent I would run away from home and join the army +anyway. This last argument made her yield, and in the fall of 1849 I +became an artillery cadet, being then in my seventeenth year. But +although I won this victory over my mother, whose greatest desire was +that I should become a clergyman, she in turn gained a victory over me +by persuading the surgeon of the batallion, who was also our family +physician, to declare me sick and send me to the hospital, although I +had only a slight cold; thus my plan to go with the army to +Schleswig-Holstein was frustrated. This did not make much difference, +however, as the war was virtually closed before our troops arrived at +the place of destination, and my time could now be more profitably +employed in learning the duties of a soldier, and in taking a course of +mathematics and other practical branches at the regimental school.</p> + +<p>I remained in the army a year and a-half, during which time I received +excellent instruction in gymnastics, fencing and riding, besides the +regular military drill. Two winters were thus devoted to conscientious +and thorough work at the military school.</p> + +<p>Knowing that the chances for advancement in the Swedish army during +times of peace were at this time very slim for young men not favored +with titles of nobility, and being also tired of the monotonous garrison +life, my friend Eustrom and myself soon resolved to leave the service +and try our luck in a country where inherited names and titles were not +the necessary conditions of success.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">- 13 -</a></span> + +<p>At that time America was little known in our part of the country, only a +few persons having emigrated from the whole district. But we knew that +it was a new country, inhabited by a free and independent people, that it +had a liberal government and great natural resources, and these +inducements were sufficient for us. My parents readily consented to my +emigration, and, having made the necessary preparations, my father took +my friend Eustrom and myself down to the coast with his own horses, in +the first part of May, 1851. It was a memorable evening, and I shall +never forget the last farewell to my home, in driving out from the court +into the village street, how I stood up in the wagon, turned towards the +dear home and waved my hat with a hopeful hurrah to the “folks I +left behind.” A couple of days’ journey brought us to a little +seaport, where we took leave of my father and boarded a small schooner +for the city of Gothenburg.</p> + +<p>At that time there were no ocean steamers and no emigrant agents; but we +soon found a sailing vessel bound for America on which we embarked as +passengers, furnishing our own bedding, provisions and other +necessaries, which our mothers had supplied in great abundance. About +one hundred and fifty emigrants from different parts of Sweden were on +board the brig Ambrosius. In the middle of May she weighed anchor and +glided out of the harbor on her long voyage across the ocean to distant +Boston.</p> + +<p>We gazed back at the vanishing shores of the dear fatherland with +feelings of affection, but did not regret the step we had taken, and our +bosoms heaved with boundless hope. At the age of eighteen, the strong, +healthy youth takes a bright and hopeful view of life, and so did we. +Many and beautiful were the air-castles we built as we stood on deck, +with our eyes turned towards the promised land of the nineteenth +century. To some of these castles our lives have given reality, others +are still floating before us.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">- 14 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a><a href="#TOC_2"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER II.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Arrival at Boston—Adventures between Boston and New +York—Buffalo—An Asylum—Return to New York—A +Voyage—On the Farm in New Hampshire.</p><br /></div> + +<p>The good brig Ambrosius landed us in Boston on June 29, 1851, but during +the voyage about one-half of the passengers were attacked by small-pox +and had to be quarantined outside the harbor. My good friend and I were +fortunate enough to escape this plague; but instead of this I was taken +sick with the ague on our arrival at Boston.</p> + +<p>Now, then, we were in America! The new, unknown country lay before us, +and it seemed the more strange as we did not understand a word of the +English language. For at that time the schools of Sweden paid no +attention to English, so that although I had studied four languages, +English, the most important of all tongues, was entirely unknown to me.</p> + +<p>The first few weeks of our stay in Boston passed quietly and quickly, +but the ague grew worse and my purse was getting empty. My friend, +however, had more money than I, and as long as he had a <span title=" doller " class="hoverbox">dollar</span> left he +divided it equally between us. I cannot resist the temptation to relate +a serio-comical escapade of this period, one that to many will recall +similar occurences in their own experience as immigrants ignorant of the +language of the country.</p> + +<p>In Gothenburg we had become acquainted with a bright young man from +Vexiö, Janne Tenggren by name, who had also served in the army. +When we met him he had already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">- 15 -</a></span> bought a ticket on a sailing +vessel bound for New York, so that we could not make the voyage +together. But we agreed to hunt each other up after our arrival in +America. We left Sweden about the same time with the understanding that +if we arrived first we should meet him in New York, and if he arrived +first he should go to Boston to meet us there.</p> + +<p>About a week after our arrival in Boston, we heard that the vessel on +which he had embarked had arrived, and I immediately left for New York +to fulfill our promise. But, unfortunately, I found he had already gone +west, so I bought a return ticket to Boston the same day. The journey +was by steamboat to Fall River, thence by rail to Boston. We left New +York in the evening. I remained on the deck, and went to sleep about ten +o’clock on some wooden boxes. About eleven o’clock I awoke, saw the +steamer laying to and, supposing we were at Fall River, hurried off and +followed the largest crowd, expecting thus to get to the railroad depot. +Striking no depot, however, I returned to the harbor, only to find the +steamer gone, and everybody but myself had vanished from the pier.</p> + +<p>There I stood, in the middle of the night, without money, ignorant of +the language, and not even knowing where I was! Tired and discouraged I +finally threw myself down on a wooden box on the sidewalk, and went to +sleep. About five o’clock in the morning a big policeman aroused me by +poking at me with his club. This respectable incarnation of social order +evidently took me for a tramp or a madman, and as he could not obtain +any intelligible information from me in any language known to him, he +took me to a small shoe store kept by a German.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, my acquaintance with the German language was sufficient to +enable me to explain myself, and I soon found that I had left the +steamer several hours too early; that the name of this place was New +London, that another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">- 16 -</a></span> steamer would come past at the same time +the next night, so that all I had to do was to wait for that steamer and +go to Boston on the same ticket.</p> + +<p>I spent the day in seeing the city and chatting with my friend, the shoe +maker, and in the evening returned to the wharf to watch for the Boston +steamer.</p> + +<p>This being my ague day, I had violent attacks of ague and fever, so that +I was again forced to lie down to rest on the same wooden box, and again +went to sleep. After a while I was aroused by the noise of the +approaching steamer; rushed on board in company with some other +passengers, and considered myself very fortunate when reflecting that I +would surely be in Boston the next morning. I had made myself familiar +with the surroundings during the day, and when the steamer started, I +noticed that it directed its course towards New York, instead of Boston. +I had no money to pay my fare to New York, could neither borrow nor beg, +and so I crawled down in a little hole in the fore part of the steamer, +where the tackles and ropes were kept, thus, fortunately, escaping the +notice of the ticket collector.</p> + +<p>The next evening I again embarked for Boston and finally arrived safely +at my destination.</p> + +<p>We stayed in Boston several weeks, and during that time my ague caused a +heavy drain on our small treasury. We had no definite plan, did not know +what to do, and as we had never been used to any kind of hard work, +matters began to assume a serious aspect, especially in regard to +myself. But then, as now, the hope of many a young man was the Great +West which, at that time, was comparatively little known even in Boston. +Toward the close of the month of July we, therefore, went to Buffalo, +which was as far as our money would carry us. Here we put up at a cheap +boarding house kept by a Norwegian by name of Larson, with whom we +stopped while trying to get work. But having learned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">- 17 -</a></span> no trade +and being unused to manual labor, we soon found that it was impossible +to get a job in the city; so we left our baggage at the boarding house +and started on foot for a country place named Hamburg, some ten miles +distant, where we learned that two of our late companions across the +ocean had found employment. On the road to Hamburg, about dusk, we +reached a small house by the wayside, where we asked for food and +shelter. I was so exhausted that my friend had to support me in order to +reach the house. We found it occupied by a Swedish family, which had +just sat down to a bountiful supper. Telling them our condition, we were +roughly told to clear out; in Sweden, they said, they had had enough of +gentlemen and would have nothing to do with them here.</p> + +<p>We retraced our steps with sad hearts until a short distance beyond the +house we found an isolated barn partly filled with hay. <i>There</i> was no +one to object, so we took possession and made it our temporary home. I +am glad to say that during a long life among all classes of people, from +the rudest barbarians to the rulers of nations, that family of my own +countrymen were the only people who made me nearly lose faith in the +nobler attributes of man. I have an excuse, however, for this conduct in +the fact that in the mother-country, which they had left a year before, +they had probably been abused and exasperated on account of the foolish +class distinction then existing there. They evidently belonged to that +class of tenants who were treated almost like slaves. The following day +we found our late companions a mile from our barn, both working for a +farmer at $15.00 per month, which was then considered big wages. They +were older men and accustomed to hard labor, so that their situation was +comparatively easy. They received us kindly and procured work for +Eustrom with the same farmer, while I, still suffering with the ague, +could not then attempt to work,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">- 18 -</a></span> and therefore returned to my +castle in the meadow, (the hay-barn). There I remained about a week +living on berries which I found in the neighboring woods and a slice of +bread and butter, which Eustrom brought me in the evening, when with +blistered hands and sore back, he called to comfort me and help build +better air castles for the future.</p> + +<p>A council was finally held among us four, and it was decided to send me +back to Buffalo with a farmer who was going there the following morning. +One of the men Mr. Abraham Sandberg on parting gave me a silver dollar, +with the injunction to give it to someone who might need it worse than +I, whenever I could do so. I have never met Abraham since; but I have +regarded it as a sacred duty to comply with his request, and, in case +these lines should come before his eyes I wish to let him know that my +debt has been honestly paid.</p> + +<p>On reaching the old boarding house in Buffalo the landlord promised that +he would send me to a hospital where I could receive proper treatment +and care. I made up a little bundle of necessary underwear, and in an +hour a driver appeared at the door; I was lifted into the cart and off +we went through the muddy streets to the outskirts of the city, where I +was duly delivered at a large building which I supposed to be the +hospital. It was near evening, and I was brought into a large +dining-room, with a hundred others or more, served with supper, corn +mush and molasses water, after which I was shown to a bed in a large +room among many others. I suffered with fever, and for the first time in +my life with loneliness. Exhausted nature finally took out its due, and +I slept soundly until awakened in the morning by a loud sound of a gong. +As soon as dressed I walked out in the yard, or lawn, back of the +building. On one side was a high plank fence, behind which I heard some +strange sounds. I found a knot-hole, and, peeping through this, I +observed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">- 19 -</a></span> another lawn, on which were many people. They were +strange looking; I never saw any like them before. Some were swinging, +some dancing, others shouting, singing and weeping and behaving in a +most out-of-the-way manner. I wondered and wondered, and finally it +dawned upon me that it must be a lunatic asylum. It was, in fact, as I +since learned, the county poor farm, where one part was used for the +lunatics and the other for paupers like myself. Has it come to this? I +asked myself; is this the goal of all my ambition and hopes? Going back +to the room, where I had slept, I stealthily took my little bundle, +slipped out through a side door into a back yard, found a gate open and +was soon in the street. I started on a run with all the power in me, as +if pursued by all the furies of paupers and lunatics, never stopping +until I was near the old boarding house, where I was taken in exhausted +and in deep despair. I would have killed the landlord for deceiving me +if I had been able to do so. One good thing resulted from the sad +experience of that day: the mental shock on discovering where I was, +cured me for the time being of the ague.</p> + +<p>The next day my friend returned from Hamburg, where he could no longer +get any employment on account of his blistered hands, and poor health in +general. We now put our wise heads together and agreed that we had +already had enough of the West for the time being. Having plenty of good +clothes, bedding, revolvers and other knick-knacks, we sold to our +landlord whatever we could spare, in order to raise money enough to pay +our way back to Boston.</p> + +<p>During our stay in Buffalo, our renowned countrywoman, Jenny Lind, +happened to give a concert there. We were standing on the street where +we could see the people crowd into the theatre, but that was all we +could afford, and we never heard her sing. Our host advised us to go and +ask her for help; but our pride forbade it.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">- 20 -</a></span> + +<p>At this time the Swedes were so little known, and Jenny Lind, on the +other hand, so renowned in America, that the Swedes were frequently +called “Jenny Lind men,” this designation being often +applied to myself.</p> + +<p>Having purchased tickets for Albany, we returned East in the month of +August. I still remember how we rode all night in a crowded second-class +car, listening to the noisy merry-making of our fellow-passengers; but +we understood very little of it, for up to this time we had lived +exclusively among our own countrymen, and learned only a few English +words—a mistake, by the way, which thousands of immigrants have +made and are still making.</p> + +<p>Arriving at Albany, we sat down by an old stone wall near the railroad +depot, to talk over our affairs. Fate had been against us while we +remained together, and we probably depended too much upon each other. +Accordingly, we decided to part for some time and try our luck +separately; and if one of us met with success he would, of course, soon +be able to find a position for the other. We decided by drawing lots +that Eustrom should go to Boston and I to New York. When we had bought +our tickets there remained one dollar, which we divided, and we left for +our respective places of destination the same evening.</p> + +<p>Our landlord in Buffalo had given us the address of a sailors’ +boarding-house in New York, which was also kept by a Norwegian by the +same name of Larson. So when I left the Hudson River steamer early the +next morning, I paid my half-dollar to a drayman, who took me to said +boarding house. I found Mr. Larson to be a kind, good-natured man, told +him my difficulties right out, and asked him to let me stop at his house +until I could find something to do. He agreed to this, and for a week or +so I tried my best to get work. But, when asked what kind of work I +could do, I was compelled to answer that I had learned no trade, +but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">- 21 -</a></span> that I would gladly try to learn anything and do anything +whatever, even sweep the streets, if necessary. As a result of my +protracted sickness, I was so weak and exhausted that nobody thought I +would be able even to earn my bread. As to easy or intellectual work, I +had no earthly chance, as long as I did not know the English language. +Finally Mr. Larson took me to a ship-owner’s office. I still remember +that a Norwegian captain was cruel enough to remark in my hearing, that +he did not intend to take any half-dead corpses along with him to sea.</p> + +<p>After two weeks of fruitless efforts to get work for me, my host finally +declared that he could not very well keep me any longer, because his +accommodations were crowded with paying customers; nevertheless, he +allowed me to sleep in the attic free of charge, while I had to procure +my food as best I could, which I also did for another two weeks. Being a +convalescent, I had a ravenous appetite, and, indeed, I found how hard +it is to obtain food without having anything to pay for it. Of the few +articles of clothing which I brought with me from Buffalo, I had to +sacrifice one after another for subsistence. When all other means were +exhausted, I was compelled to go to the kitchen-doors and tell my +desperate and unfortunate condition by signs, and more than one +kind-hearted cook gave me a solid meal.</p> + +<p>Tramps! In our day there is a great deal of talk about tramps, and it +has become customary, to brand as a tramp, any poor wandering laborer +who seeks work. There are undoubtedly many who justly deserve this +title; but I think there are tramps who are not to blame for their +deplorable condition, and who deserve encouragement and friendly +assistance, for I have been one of them myself, without any fault or +neglect on my part. It always provokes me to hear a young or +inexperienced person use the expression “tramp” so +thoughtlessly, and in such a sweeping manner. Long ago<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">- 22 -</a></span> I made up +my mind that no tramp should ever leave my door without such aid as my +resources would allow. It is better to give to a thousand undeserving, +than to let one unfortunate but deserving suffer.</p> + +<p>My good host, like his Buffalo namesake, finally contrived to get rid of +me by representing me as a sailor, and hiring me to the captain of the +bark “Catherine,” a coasting vessel bound for Charleston, S. +C., telling me that I was to serve as cabin boy. My wages were to be +five dollars a month, of which he received seven dollars and a-half in +advance, so that I could pay my debts and buy a sailor’s suit of +clothes.</p> + +<p>On the second day of our voyage we encountered a storm. I was on deck +with the sailors and the captain stood on the quarter-deck. We were +coursing against the wind and were just going to turn when the captain +called on me to untie some ropes. Understanding very little English, and +being no sailor, I naturally knew nothing about the names of the +different ropes, and I grabbed one after another, but invariably missed +the right one. The captain was swearing with might and main in English. +Seeing that I did not understand him he suddenly roared out angrily the +name of the rope in good Swedish and added: “Do you understand me +now, you confounded blockhead!” Turning to him, cap in hand, I +answered: “No, captain, I do not know the name of a single +rope.” “And still,” he continued “you have +followed the sea three years, what a dunce you are.” I answered: +“Indeed Mr. Captain, I have never been a sailor, and will never be +worth anything at sea. But I am willing and anxious to do all you ask if +within my power.” The captain, whose name was Wilson, was a +Swedish American and, although somewhat gruff, he was in fact one of the +noblest men who ever commanded a ship. He immediately saw how the matter +stood; the boarding house man had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">- 23 -</a></span> cheated both him and me and +from that hour Captain Wilson became my friend and benefactor.</p> + +<p>Afterwards I found out of the whole crew, which numbered twenty-six men, +nine-tenths were Scandinavians, but they always used the English +language while on board the ship. Captain Wilson told me to see him in +his cabin as soon as the work was performed. Here he asked me about my +circumstances, and I told him the short story of my life, which elicited +his sympathy to such an extent that he even asked me to pardon his rude +behavior toward me. He assigned me to a place to sleep in the cabin; +told the officers not to give me any orders as he was going to do that +himself, and treated me with the utmost kindness and consideration in +every respect.</p> + +<p>After this I was excused from all work properly belonging to a sailor, +but kept the cabin in order, and helped the steward in waiting at the +table, and the officers with their calculations. During my spare hours I +read and conversed with the captain and his two mates, one of whom was a +Dane and the other an Irishman, both splendid fellows. The first mate +was preparing the second mate for a captain’s examination, and I, having +recently taken a course in mathematics, at a military school, was able +to assist them in their studies.</p> + +<p>On the table in the cabin was a large English Bible, with which I spent +many happy hours, and by which I learned the English language. At first +I used to pick out chapters of the New Testament, which I knew almost by +heart, so that I could understand them without a dictionary or an +interpreter. After my first conversation with the captain I did not +speak another word in the Swedish language during the voyage, and when I +returned to Boston, three months afterwards, it seemed to me that I +could talk and read English about as well as Swedish.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">- 24 -</a></span> + +<p>I made two trips with the captain from New York to Charleston and back +again. At the wharf of Charleston, I was, for the first time in my life, +brought face to face with American Negro slavery in its most odious +aspect. Crowds of Negroes were running along the pier pulling long +ropes, by means of which the ships were loaded and unloaded. Each gang +of Negroes was under the charge of a brutal overseer, riding on a mule, +and brandishing a long cowhide whip, which he applied vigorously to the +backs of the half-naked Negroes. During the night they were kept penned +up in sheds, which had been erected for that purpose near the wharf. +They were treated like cattle, in every respect. This sight influenced +me in later life to become a Republican in politics.</p> + +<p>After our second return to New York, Capt. Wilson assumed the command of +one of the first clipper ships which carried passengers to California in +those days. This was at the most stirring time of the gold fever, and +the captain kindly offered to take me along and let me stay out there, +an offer which thousands would have accepted. But I was never smitten +with the gold fever, and, having a distaste for the sea, I said good-bye +to the kind captain, never to see him again. My wages were to have been +only five dollars a month, but he generously paid me eight dollars, so +that I bad earned enough money to pay my way to Boston, whence my friend +Eustrom had written me and urged me to come.</p> + +<p>I arrived in Boston about the middle of December, and, when I returned +to the old boarding house, I spoke English so well that my <span title=" acquaintenances " class="hoverbox">acquaintances</span> +hardly believed it possible that I could be the same person. Mr. Eustrom +was now working as wood polisher. He had made many friends and lived +happily and contented on $4 a week. By strict economy these wages +sufficed for board, lodging, and clothes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">- 25 -</a></span> It happened to be an +unfavorable time of the year when I arrived, however, and many men who +had been employed during the summer were now discharged at the approach +of winter. Mr. Eustrom’s employer had a good friend in New Hampshire, an +old Swedish sailor, Anderson by name, who was farming up there. He +promised to let me come and live with him and do whatever chores I could +until something might turn up the next spring.</p> + +<p>A few days afterwards I went by rail to Contocook where I was met by Mr. +Anderson, who took me out to his hospitable home a couple of miles from +the town. This Anderson was a remarkable man. Having no education to +speak of, he was a better judge of human nature and practical affairs of +life than any other man I ever met. He was pleased with me, and said he +wished I would sit down in the evening and tell him about Sweden, and +explain to him what I had learned at school. Poor Anderson! He had one +fault, rum got the better of him, and it was cheap in New England at +that time, only sixteen cents a gallon. He bought a barrel of it at a +time, and did not taste water as long as the rum lasted.</p> + +<p>The day after my arrival he asked me if I would like to go with him into +the woods to help cut some logs. Of course I would, and we took our axes +and started off. It was a very cold December day, and I had thin clothes +and no mittens. Mr. Anderson went to cut down a tree, and I commenced to +work at one which was already felled. This was the first time I swung an +axe in earnest, and after a short while I felt that my hands were +getting cold. But I made up my mind not to stop until the log was +finished. By holding the axe handle very tight it stopped the +circulation of the blood through my fingers, and when I finally stopped +and dropped the axe I could not move my fingers, for eight of them were +frozen stiff. Mr. Anderson now took off his cap, filled it with snow, +put my hands into the snow, and thus we ran to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">- 26 -</a></span> house as fast +as our legs would carry us. The doctor tried his very best; but, +nevertheless, in a few days the flesh and the nails began to peel off, +and two doctors decided to amputate all the fingers on my right hand. +Fortunately I did not give my consent, but told them that I would rather +die of gangrene than live without hands, for my future depended +exclusively on them.</p> + +<p>My friend Eustrom, having heard of my misfortune, soon came to visit me, +and brought with him an old Irish woman who was something of a doctor, +and cured my hands by means of a very simple plaster which she prepared +herself. But I was forced into complete inactivity for more than three +months, during which time I was entirely helpless, and had to be washed, +dressed, and fed like an infant. But, as to me, the old proverb has +always proved true: “When things are at the worst they’ll +mend.” There were men and women in my accidental home who +willingly tended to me in my trouble. May God bless them for it! In the +latter part of March, Mr. Anderson, who had always treated me with the +greatest kindness, quite unexpectedly told me that I was now able to +work again and could try to get a place with some other family in the +neighborhood, because he could not keep me any longer.</p> + +<p>Our nearest neighbor was a genuine Yankee, Daniel Dustin by name. He was +very rich, well read, liberal minded, respectable and honest, but so +<i>close</i> that he would scarcely let his own family have enough food to +eat, and his wife was even more stingy. Mr. Dustin agreed to let me work +for my board until spring, and then he would give me five dollars a +month, which offer I cheerfully accepted. He immediately took me out +into the woods to chop wood for the summer, and he was to haul it home. +The new, tender muscles and nails on my fingers made wood chopping very +painful to me, and I could feel every blow of the axe through<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_27" id="Page_27">- 27 -</a></span> my entire body. Never has any man +worked so hard for me, when I afterwards hired help for good wages, as I +worked for my board here; and, by the way, this board consisted chiefly +of potatoes and corn meal cake. When the spring work commenced I got +five dollars a month, and had to get up at five o’clock in the morning +to do the chores, and then work in the field from seven in the morning +until dark.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of June I got a letter from my parents, stating that my +father and brother were going to leave for New York immediately, and +they asked me to meet them there and go West with them. I had never +complained in my letters to my parents, but, on the other hand, I had +not advised them to come to America, either. They had been advised to do +so by some of my fellow-passengers on the “Ambrosius,” who +went to Illinois, and were highly pleased with their prospects. So I +went to Boston again. My father’s voyage had been delayed, and I had to +wait for him over a month, during which time I got sick, and would have +been in a sorry plight, indeed, if it had not been for my friend +Eustrom, who now felt like a rich man, with his six dollars a week. A +couple of years later he became the partner of his employer.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">- 28 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a><a href="#TOC_3"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER III.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>The Arrival of my Father and Brother—Journey to +Illinois—Work on a Railroad—The Ague—Doctor +Ober—Religious Impressions—The Arrival of my Mother, Sister +and her Husband—A Burning Railroad Train—We go to +Minnesota—Our Experience as Wood Choppers and Pioneers.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Finally my father and brother arrived, and again I turned my course +westwards in company with them and their friends. We traveled by rail to +Buffalo and across the lake to Toledo, thence by rail again to Chicago. +In the summer of 1852 there were no railroads west of Chicago, and our +company had to take passage on a canal-boat drawn by horses to La Salle, +and from this place we rode in farmers wagons to Andover and Galesburg. +The country around there was as yet only in the first stages of +development; there was very little money in circulation, and no demand +for farm products. The immigrants suffered a great deal from fever and +other climatic diseases.</p> + +<p>My brother who was nearly sixteen years old soon obtained steady work +from an American farmer, while my father and I had to do different kinds +of work, such as building fences, stacking grain, etc. The only pay we +could get was checks on some store. I remember what an abundance of +provisions there was in that locality, and nobody seemed to be in need.</p> + +<p>A farmer near Galesburg, for whom I worked a week, had so many hens and +chickens and eggs, that when people came out from town to buy eggs, they +were told to pay ten cents,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">- 29 -</a></span> go out to the barn and fill their +baskets with freshly-laid eggs, no matter how big the basket. Beef and +pork had scarcely any value, and anybody could go into a cornfield that +fall and gather a crop on half shares.</p> + +<p>There was much religious interest among the Swedes in Illinois at that +time. The Methodists and Lutherans were already building churches, and +held services side by side in many of the towns and settlements, +although they numbered only a few families yet. I remember distinctly +one Sunday attending service in a Methodist church listening to an +eloquent preacher, taking for his text “The Broad and the Narrow +Ways.” He depicted both in glowing language, and wound up with the +following words, pronounced in a broad (Swedish) dialect: “My dear +brethren, I have now shown you the two ways, and you may take which ever +you like; that is all the same to me.”</p> + +<p>My father had taken with him only just enough money to pay his way, +although he had by no means exhausted his resources in Sweden, for he +had prudently decided to spend at least a year in seeing the country and +making himself familiar with its institutions, customs, manner of +tilling the soil, etc. At this time he was a strong man, at the age of +fifty. In order to obtain steady work, we two, and a few others of our +company, hired a man in Galesburg to take us to Rock River, where a +bridge for the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad was being built. We +all got work, and had to take hold of the spade and the shovel. The +wages in those days for railroad laborers were from seventy-five cents +to one dollar per day. I received only seventy-five cents, out of which +my board was to be paid, which, however, was very cheap, one dollar and +a half per week only. A Swede by the name of Hoffman kept a boarding +house for thirty-four of us, and all would have been well except for the +ague. No man remained there many days without getting the +“shakes;” I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">- 30 -</a></span> and my father got them the second day. +The lower part of the shanty in which we boarded was used for +dining-room and kitchen, the upper for sleeping on the floor. The shanty +was as shaky as the ague, which came regularly every other day. Fate had +so arranged it that seventeen of us had the chills one day, and +seventeen the next day. Hoffman and his wife fortunately also had the +chills alternate days, so that there was always one to attend to the +cooking.</p> + +<p>Some may doubt it, but it is a solemn fact, that when seventeen ate +dinner below, the shaking of those upstairs sometimes shook the house +until we could hear the plates rattling on the table.</p> + +<p>During my healthy days I stood on the bottom of Rock River from seven +o’clock in the morning until seven at night, throwing wet sand with a +shovel onto a platform above, from which it was again thrown to another, +and from there to terra firma. The most disagreeable part of the +business was that one-quarter of each shovel-full came back on the head +of the operator.</p> + +<p>After a couple of weeks the company’s paymaster came along, and upon +settling my board bill and deducting for the shaking days, I made the +discovery that I was able to earn only fifteen cents net per week in +building railroad bridges.</p> + +<p>Being half dead by this time from over work and sickness, we decided to +see if we could strike an easier job, and, if possible, a better +climate. We happened to meet a farmer by the name of Peterson, with whom +we rode to a place near Moline, where my father tended to me during my +illness. When he was not occupied with this he chopped cord wood from +dry old trees. I also tried to assist him in this, but found my strength +gone.</p> + +<p>Among the Swedes living in Moline at that time was a tailor, Johnson by +name, a good kind-hearted man who, together with his wife, was always +ready to aid his needy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">- 31 -</a></span> countrymen and get something to do for +such as could work. I went to him one day to ask for advice or +assistance, just as a great many had done before me. I was so weak and +sickly that they had to assist me in getting into the house, but they +received me as if I had been their own son, and, after a short rest, Mr. +Johnson took me to one Dr. Ober, who carefully investigated my mental as +well as my physical condition, and told me that such hard work as I had +been doing would kill me, and that I ought to rest and take it easy. He +was one of those magnanimous, noble men who are to be met with in all +climes and walks of life, but who are easily recognized because they are +so few. As I have said before, I have been very fortunate in getting +acquainted with the best men and women of different classes and nations +with which I have come in contact. While we were sitting in his +reception room the doctor suddenly left us and went into his private +room. In a short time he returned accompanied by his wife, a lady whose +silvery locks and benignantly sympathizing looks made her seem more +beautiful to me than a madonna. Having simply taken a hasty look at me, +the doctor and his wife again withdrew, and when they returned he +offered to let me stay with them like a member of the family in order +that he might try to restore my health; he also allowed me to avail +myself of his library and to attend school, the only condition being +that I should do chores around the house and take care of the horses.</p> + +<p>I moved the same day, got a pleasant room and a snug bed, good, +substantial food, and, above all, good and friendly treatment, so that +from the time I came there until the day I left, I felt as if I had been +a child of the house. Dr. Ober, who was a religious man, belonged to the +Baptist Church, and as I now lived under its beneficient influence, and +also became acquainted with the Swedish Baptist Pastor, Rev. G. +Palmquist, and a few others who constituted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">- 32 -</a></span> the nucleus of the +First Swedish Baptist Church of America. I became a member of their +society before spring and would probably have continued a member of this +denomination, if circumstances which were beyond my control, had not +brought me to other fields of action and other surroundings.</p> + +<p>This winter passed in a very pleasant manner. In the afternoon I +attended an English school, and in the evening I gave instructions in +English to other young men and women. The friendship of Dr. Ober and his +wife never failed, and many years afterwards I was a welcome guest at +their home in La Crosse, Wis., to which place they had moved from +Moline. Both of them now slumber under the sod, but their many good +deeds shall live for ever.</p> + +<p>My father was much pleased with the great west, and he wrote back to the +rest of our family in Sweden to come to this country the next summer, +and in May I started to meet them in Boston. As there were no railroads +to Moline, I took a steamboat to Galena, and thence the stage-coach to +Freeport, and from there to Chicago by rail.</p> + +<p>The vessel carrying my mother and the party with her was three months on +the ocean, and there was great scarcity of provisions on board. The ship +at last arrived, in the month of July, and a couple of days later the +whole party, consisting of about two hundred, took the train for the +west, I volunteering as their guide and interpreter. All went well until +about one hundred miles east of Chicago, when the baggage car attached +to our train in front caught fire. It was thought best to try to reach a +station, and the burning train sped on at the rate of sixty miles an +hour. The scene was a frightful one, the cars crammed full of frightened +emigrants, the flames hissing like serpents from car to car, windows +cracking, people screaming, and women fainting, all at the same time +looking to me, who was not yet twenty years of age, for protection and +deliverance.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">- 33 -</a></span> + +<p>As soon as possible I placed reliable men as guards at the doors to +prevent the people from rushing out and crowding each other off the +platform. The train did not reach the station but had to be stopped on +the open prairie, where we all were helped out of the cars with no +accident of any kind except every particle of baggage, saving only what +the passengers had in their seats with them, was burnt. In due time +another train brought us to Chicago, where the railroad company +immediately offered to pay all losses as soon as lists of the property +destroyed could be made out and properly verified. I undertook to do all +that work without the aid of consul, lawyer or clerk, collecting nearly +twenty thousand dollars, for old trunks, spinning-wheels, copper +kettles, etc. Having lost nothing myself, I of course received nothing, +and as the Company did not consider it their duty to pay me for my +trouble, one of the emigrants suggested that they should chip in to +compensate me for the valuable services I had rendered. Accordingly the +hat was passed, the collection realizing the magnificent sum of two +dollars and sixty cents, which was paid me for being their interpreter +during the long journey and for collecting that large sum of money +without litigation or delay. No lawyer, consul or agent would have been +satisfied with less than five hundred dollars, but I can truthfully say +that I never raised a word of complaint, but freely forgave the people +on account of their ignorance. Many of them I also served afterwards on +the way to Moline and Minnesota. In due time our party arrived in +Moline, where my parents bought a small piece of property with the money +brought from Sweden.</p> + +<p>Minnesota was then a territory but little known; yet we had heard of its +beautiful lakes, forests, prairies and salubrious climate. Quite a +number of our company had decided to hunt up a place for a Swedish +settlement where land could be had cheap. It was finally agreed that a +few of us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">- 34 -</a></span> should go to Minnesota and select a suitable place. +Being the only one of the party who could speak English, I was naturally +appointed its leader. My father also went with us, and so did Mr. +Willard and his wife, the whole party taking deck passage on a +Mississippi steamer, and arriving at St. Paul in the month of August.</p> + +<p>At that time St. Paul was an insignificant town of a few hundred +inhabitants. There we found Henry Russell, John Tidlund, and a few other +Swedish pioneers. Mr. Willard and I had very little money, and for the +few dollars which we did own we bought a little household furniture, and +some cooking utensils. We therefore at once sought employment for him, +while the rest of our party started off in search of a suitable location +for the proposed settlement.</p> + +<p>We had been told that there were a number of our countrymen at Chisago +Lake and a few near Carver, but that all had settled on timber lands. We +also learned that near Red Wing, in Goodhue county, places could be +found with both timber and prairie, and an abundance of good water. +Having looked over the different localities we finally decided on the +present town of Vasa, about twelve miles west of Red Wing. The first +claims were taken at Belle Creek, south of White Rock, and afterwards +others were taken at a spring now known as Willard Spring, near which +the large brick church now stands.</p> + +<p>After selecting this land my father returned to Illinois. In company +with the other explorers, I went to St. Paul, where a council was held +in which all participated, and at which it was decided that three of us, +Messrs. Roos, Kempe, and myself, should go to our claims that fall and +do as much work as possible, until the others could join us the +following spring.</p> + +<p>Having made the necessary preparations we three went to Red Wing by +steamboat and found a little town with half a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">- 35 -</a></span> dozen families, +among whom was the Rev. J. W. Hancock, who for several years had been a +missionary among the Indians. The other settlers were Wm. Freeborn, Dr. +Sweeney, H. L. Bevans, and John Day. Besides these we also met two +Swedes, Peter Green, and Nels Nelson, and a Norwegian by the name of +Peterson. On the bank of the river the Sioux Indians had a large camp. +The country west of Red Wing was then practically a wilderness, and our +little party was the first to start in to cultivate the soil and make a +permanent settlement.</p> + +<p>At Red Wing we supplied ourselves with a tent, a cook stove, a yoke of +oxen, carpenter’s tools, provisions and other necessaries. Having hired +a team of horses, we then packed our goods on a wagon, tied the cattle +behind, and started for the new settlement. The first four miles we +followed the territorial road; after that we had nothing but Indian +trails to guide us. Toward evening we arrived at a grove on Belle Creek, +now known as Jemtland. Here the tent was pitched and our evening meal +cooked, and only pioneers like ourselves can understand how we relished +it after our long day’s tramp. The team was taken back the next day, and +we were left alone in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>After a day’s exploration we moved our camp two miles further south, to +another point near Belle Creek, where Mr. Roos had taken his claim.</p> + +<p>It was now late in September, and our first care was to secure enough +hay for the cattle, and in a few days we had a big stack. Having read +about prairie fires, we decided to protect our stack by burning away the +short stubble around it. But a minute and a half was sufficient to +convince us that we had made wrong calculations, for within that time +the stack itself was burning with such fury that all the water in Belle +Creek could not have put it out. Still, this was not the worst of it. +Before we had time to recover from our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">- 36 -</a></span> astonishment the fire had +spread over the best part of the valley and consumed all the remaining +grass, which was pretty dry at that time of the year. Inexperienced as +we were, we commenced to run a race with the wind, and tried to stop the +fire before reaching another fine patch of grass about a mile to the +north; but this attempt was, of course, a complete failure, and we +returned to our cheerless tent mourning over this serious misfortune.</p> + +<p>The next morning we all started out in different directions to see if +any grass was left in Goodhue County, and fortunately we found plenty of +it near our first camping-ground. Having put up a second stack of very +poor hay, we proceeded to build a rude log house, and had just finished +it when my brother-in-law, Mr. Willard, surprised us by appearing in our +midst, having left in Red Wing his wife and baby, now Mrs. Zelma +Christensen of Rush City, who is, as far as I know, the first child born +of Swedish parents in St. Paul. Mr. Willard who was a scholarly +gentleman and not accustomed to manual labor, had found it rather hard +to work with shovel and pick on the hilly streets of St. Paul, and made +up his mind that he would better do that kind of work on a farm. +Messers. Roos and Kempe having furnished all the money for the outfit, I +really had no share in it, and as we could not expect Mr. Willard and +his family to pass the winter in that cabin, I immediately made up my +mind to return with him to Red Wing. In an hour we were ready and +without waiting for dinner we took the trail back to that place. I +remember distinctly how, near the head of the Spring Creek Valley, we +sat down in a little grove to rest and meditate on the future. We were +both very hungry, especially Mr. Willard, who had now walked over twenty +miles since breakfast. Then espying a tempting squirrel in a tree close +by, we tried to kill it with sticks and rocks; but we were poor +marksmen, and thus missed a fine squirrel roast.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">- 37 -</a></span> + +<p>Tired and very hungry we reached Red Wing late in the afternoon, and +soon found my sister, Mrs. Willard, comfortably housed with one of the +families there. Her cheerful and hopeful nature and the beautiful baby +on her arm gave us fresh joy and strength to battle with the hardships +that were in store for us. Mr. Willard and his wife had taken along what +furniture they owned, a few eatables and five dollars and fifty cents in +cash, which was all that we possessed of the goods of this world. But +who cares for money at that age? Mr. Willard was twenty-five years old, +my sister twenty-three, and I twenty, all hale and hearty, and never for +a moment doubting our success, no matter what we should undertake.</p> + +<p>Our first work was wood chopping, for which we were less fit than almost +anything else. We had to go to a place about three miles above Red Wing, +where a man had made a contract to bank up fifteen hundred cords of wood +for the Mississippi steamers. There was an old wood chopper’s cabin +which we repaired by thatching it with hay and earth, putting in a door, +a small window, and a few rough planks for a floor. In a few days we +were duly installed, baby and all, in the little hut which was only +twelve by sixteen feet, but to us as dear as a palace to a king.</p> + +<p>We began to chop wood at once. The trees were tall, soft maples and ash, +and our pay was fifty-five cents a cord for soft and sixty-five cents +for hard wood. At first both of us could not chop over a cord a day +together; but within a week we could chop a cord apiece, and before the +winter was over we often chopped three cords together in a day. After a +few days we were joined by four Norwegian wood choppers for whom we put +up a new cabin to sleep in; but my sister cooked for us all, and the +others paid for their board to Mr. Willard and myself, who had all +things in common. Those four men were better workmen than we, and one of +them, Albert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">- 38 -</a></span> Olson, often chopped three cords a day. They were +quiet, industrious, and generous fellows, so that we soon became +attached to each other, and we were all very fond of the little Zelma. +My sister managed our household affairs so well and kept the little +house so neat and tidy that when spring came we were all loth to leave.</p> + +<p>The weather being fine and the sleighing good in the <span title=" begining " class="hoverbox">beginning</span> of +January, we hired John Day to take us with his team to our claims while +there was yet snow, so that we might chop and haul out logs for the +house which Mr. Willard and I intended to put up in the spring. My +sister remained in the cabin, but Albert went with us for the sake of +company. We put some lumber on the sled, and provided ourselves with hay +and food enough to last a few days, and plenty of quilts and blankets +for our bedding. John Day, who was an old frontiersman with an instinct +almost like that of an Indian, guided us safely to Willard Spring. A few +hundred yards below this, in a deep ravine, we stopped near some +sheltering trees, built a roaring camp-fire, and made ourselves as +comfortable as possible. Having supped and smoked our evening pipe, we +made our beds by putting a few boards on the snow, and the hay and +blankets on top of those. Then all four of us nestled down under the +blankets and went to sleep.</p> + +<p>During the night the thermometer fell down to forty degrees below zero, +as we learned afterwards. If we had suspected this and kept our fire +burning there would, of course, have been no danger. But being very +comfortable early in the night and soon asleep, we were unconscious of +danger until aroused by an intense pain caused by the cold, and then we +were already so benumbed and chilled that we lacked energy to get up or +even move. We found, on comparing notes afterwards, that each one of us +had experienced the same sensations, namely, first an acute pain as if +pricked with needles in every fibre, then a deep mental tranquillity +which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">- 39 -</a></span> was only slightly disturbed by a faint conception of +something wrong, and by a desire to get up, but without sufficient +energy to do so. This feeling gradually subsided into one of quiet rest +and satisfaction, until consciousness ceased altogether, and, as far as +pain was concerned, all was over with us.</p> + +<p>At this stage an accident occurred which saved our lives. Mr. Day, who +lay on the outside to the right, had evidently held his arm up against +his breast to keep the blankets close to his body. His will-force being +gone, his arm relaxed and fell into the snow. As the bare hand came in +contact with the snow the circulation of the blood was accelerated, and +this was accompanied by such intense pain that he was aroused and jumped +to his feet.</p> + +<p>Thus we were saved. It took a good while before we could use our limbs +sufficiently to build a fire again, and during this time we suffered +much more than before. From that experience I am satisfied that those +who freeze to death do not suffer much, because they gradually sink into +a stupor which blunts the sensibilities long before life is extinct.</p> + +<p>It was about four o’clock when we got up. Of course we did not lie down +again that morning, nor did we attempt to haul any timber, but started +in a bee line across the prairie for the ravine where Mr. Willard and I +had seen the tempting squirrel a few months before. We soon found that +going over the wild, trackless prairie against the wind, with the +thermometer forty degrees below zero was a struggle for life, and in +order to keep warm we took turns to walk or run behind the sleigh. In +taking his turn Mr. Willard suddenly sat down in the snow and would not +stir. We returned to him, and it required all our power of persuasion to +make him take his seat in the sleigh again. He felt very comfortable he +said, and would soon catch up with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">- 40 -</a></span> us again if we only would let +him alone. If we had followed his advice, he would never have left his +cold seat again. After a drive of eight miles we arrived at a house on +Spring Creek, near Red Wing, where we found a warm room and a good shed +for the horses. After an hour’s rest we continued the journey, and +safely reached our little home in the woods before dark. I do not know +that I ever appreciated a home more than I did that rude cabin when +again comfortably seated by its warm and cheerful fire-place.</p> + +<p>A few weeks later I had an opportunity to visit St. Paul, and while +there attended the wedding of a young Norwegian farmer from Carver +County and a girl just arrived from Sweden. The ceremony was performed +by the Rev. Nilsson, a Baptist minister, who had been banished from +Sweden on account of proselyting. Among the guests was Mr. John +Swainsson, who since became well known among the Swedes of Minnesota, +and who died in St. Paul a short time ago. I also made the acquaintance +of one Jacob Falstrom, who had lived forty years among the Indians and +devoted most of that time to missionary work among them. He was a +remarkable man, and was well known among the Hudson Bay employees and +other early settlers of the Northwest. As a boy he had deserted from a +Swedish vessel in Quebec and made his way through the wilderness, +seeking shelter among the Indians; and, by marrying an Indian girl, he +had become almost identified with them. I think he told me that he had +not heard a word spoken in his native tongue in thirty-five years, and +that he had almost forgotten it when he met the first Swedish settlers +in the St. Croix valley. His children are now living there, while he has +passed away to the unknown land beyond, honored and respected by all who +knew him, Indians as well as white men.</p> + +<p>On my return from St. Paul I stopped at the cabin of Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_41" id="Page_41">- 41 -</a></span> Peter Green, at Spring Creek, near +Red Wing. The only domestic animals he had was a litter of pigs, and as +Mr. Willard and I intended to settle on our land in the spring I thought +it might be well to start in with a couple of pigs. Accordingly, I got +two pigs from Mr. Green, put them in a bag which I shouldered, and left +for our cabin in the woods. According to my calculations, the distance I +had to walk ought not to be over three miles, and in order to be sure of +not getting lost I followed the Cannon river at the mouth of which our +cabin stood. I walked on the ice where the snow was about a foot deep, +and, if I had known of the meandering course of the river, I would never +have undertaken to carry that burden such a distance. From nine in the +morning until it was almost dark I trudged along with my burden on my +back, prompted to the greatest exertion by the grunting of the pigs, and +feeling my back uncomfortably warm. These were the first domestic +animals I ever owned, and I think I well earned my title to them by +carrying them along the windings of the river at least ten miles. Both I +and the pigs were well received when we reached the cabin. We made a pig +pen by digging a hole in the ground and covering it with poles and +brush, and fed them on the refuse from the table. Before we were ready +to move one of them died, while the other, after being brought to our +new farm, ungratefully ran away, and was most likely eaten up by the +wolves, which perhaps was just as agreeable to him as to be eaten by us.</p> + +<p>While living in this camp we saw more Indians than white men. A band of +Sioux Indians camped near us for several weeks. They were very friendly, +and never molested us. The men brought us venison and fresh fish, which +they caught in great quantities by spearing them through the ice. We +gave them bread and coffee, and sometimes invited one or two to dinner +after we were through. Their women would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">- 42 -</a></span> stay for hours with my +sister and help her take care of the baby. Indeed they were so fond of +the white-haired child that they would sometimes run a race in vying +with each other to get the first chance to fondle her. Sometimes we +visited them in their tents in the evening and smoked Kinikinick with +them. Several of their dead reposed in the young trees near our cabin. +When somebody died it was their custom to stretch the dead body on poles +which were tied to young trees high enough to be out of the reach of +wild beasts, then cover it with blankets, and finally leave some corn +and venison and a jar of water close by. At some subsequent visit to the +neighborhood they would gather the bones and bury them at some regular +burial-ground, usually on a high hill or bluff.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 360px;"> +<img src="images/image003.jpg" width="360" height="432" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MOUNTAIN CHIEF.</span> +</div> + +<p>Once we saw a regular war dance in Red Wing. A few Sioux had killed two +Chippewas and brought back their scalps stretched on a frame of young +saplings. At a given<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">- 43 -</a></span> hour the whole band assembled, and, amid +the most fantastic gestures, jumping, singing, yelling, beating of +tom-toms and jingling of bells, gave a performance which in lurid +savageness excelled anything I ever saw. The same Indians again became +our neighbors for a short time on Belle Creek the following winter, and +we rather liked them, and they us. But eight years later they took part +in the terrible massacre of the white settlers in Western Minnesota, and +thirty-nine of their men were hanged on one gallows at Mankato in the +fall of 1862 and the rest transported beyond our borders.</p> + +<p>Thus our first winter in Minnesota passed without further incidents, +until the beginning of March, when the weather turned so mild that we +were afraid the ice on the Mississippi might break up, and we therefore +hurried back to Red Wing. By our wood chopping and Mrs. Willard’s +cooking enough money had been earned to buy the most necessary articles +for our new home. When we had procured everything and taken a few days’ +rest, we again hired Mr. John Day to take us out to our land with his +team. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants have had the same experience, +and can realize how we felt on that fine March morning, starting from +Red Wing with a wagon loaded with some boards on the bottom, a cook +stove and utensils, doors, windows, a keg of nails, saws, spades, a +small supply of provisions, a bedstead or two with bedding, a few +trunks, and a little box containing our spotted pig, Mrs. Willard in the +seat with the driver, her baby in her arms, her husband and myself +taking turns as guides, John Day shouting to his horses, laughing and +joking; all of us full of hope, strength and determination to overcome +all obstacles and conquer the wildness. The snow was now nearly gone, +and the air was spring-like.</p> + +<p>After a twelve miles’ heavy pull we arrived at our destination, and made +a temporary tent of sticks and blankets, very much after the Indian +fashion. Two of the Norwegians had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">- 44 -</a></span> accompanied us to help build +our cabin. Mr. Day stopped a couple of days hauling building material, +and before night the second day the rear part of our cabin was under +roof. After a few days the Norwegians left us, and Mr. Willard and +myself had to finish the main part of the building which was also made +of round logs. For many a year this rude log cabin was the centre of +attraction, and a hospitable stopping place for nearly all the settlers +of Vasa.</p> + +<p>In the month of April cold weather set in again, and it was very late in +the season when steamboat navigation was opened on the Mississippi. At +that time all provisions had to be shipped from Galena or Dubuque, and +it happened that the winter’s supplies in Red Wing were so nearly gone +that not a particle of flour or meat could be bought after the first of +April. Our supplies were soon exhausted, and for about two weeks our +little family had only a peck of potatoes, a small panful of flour, and +a gallon of beans to live on, part of which was a present from Messrs. +Roos and Kempe, who had remained all winter on their claims, three miles +south of us. They had been struggling against great odds, and had been +compelled to live on half rations for a considerable length of time. +Even their oxen had been reduced almost to the point of starvation, +their only feed being over-ripe hay in small quantities.</p> + +<p>We would certainly have starved if it had not been for my shot-gun, with +which I went down into the woods of Belle Creek every morning at +day-break, generally returning with pheasants, squirrels or other small +game. One Sunday the weather was so disagreeable and rough that I did +not succeed in my hunting, but in feeding the team back of the kitchen +some oats had been spilt, and a flock of blackbirds came and fed on +them. Through an opening between the logs of the kitchen I shot several +dozen of these birds, which, by the way, are not ordinarily very +toothsome. But, being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">- 45 -</a></span> a splendid cook, my sister made them into +a stew, thickened with a few mashed beans and a handful of +flour—in our estimation the mess turned out to be a dinner fit for +kings.</p> + +<p>Our supplies being nearly exhausted, I started for Red Wing the next +morning, partly to save the remaining handful of provisions for my +sister and her husband, partly in hopes of obtaining fresh supplies from +a steamboat which was expected about that time. Three days afterwards +the steamer arrived. As soon as practicable the boxes were brought to +the store of H. L. Bevans. I secured a smoked ham, thirty pounds of +flour, a gallon of molasses, some coffee, salt and sugar, strapped it +all (weighing almost seventy pounds) on my back, and started toward +evening for our cabin in the wilderness. I had to walk about fourteen +miles along the Indian trail, but in spite of the heavy burden I made +that distance in a short time, knowing that the dear ones at home were +threatened by hunger; perhaps the howling of the prairie wolves near my +path also had something to do with the speed. There are events in the +life of every person which stand out like mile-stones along the road, +and so attract the attention of the traveler on life’s journey that they +always remain vivid pictures in his memory. My arrival at our cabin that +evening was one of those events in our humble life. I will not attempt +to describe the joy which my burden brought to all of us, especially to +the young mother with the little babe at her breast.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">- 46 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a><a href="#TOC_4"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER IV.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Future Hopes—Farm Life—Norwegian Pioneers—The +Condition of the Immigrant at the Beginning of the +Fifties—Religious Meetings—The Growth of the +Settlement—Vasa Township Organized—A Lutheran Church +Established—My Wedding—Speculation—The Crisis of +1857—Study of Law in Red Wing—I am admitted to the Bar and +elected County Auditor—Politics in 1860—War is Imminent.</p><br /></div> + +<p>We had now commenced a new career, located on our farm claims in the +boundless West, with no end to the prospects and possibilities before +us. We felt that independence and freedom which are only attained and +appreciated in the western wilds of America.</p> + +<p>From the Mississippi river and almost to the Pacific Ocean, was a +verdant field for the industry, energy and enterprise of the settler. To +be sure, our means and resources were small, but somehow we felt that by +hard work and good conduct we would some day attain the comfort, +independence and position for which our souls thirsted. We did not sit +down and wait for gold mines to open up before us, or for roasted pigs +to come running by our cabin, but with axe and spade went quietly to +work, to do our little part in the building up of new empires.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 434px;"> +<img src="images/image004.jpg" width="434" height="188" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">OUR WAGON.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">In the beginning</span> of May, my father came from Illinois and brought us a +pair of steers and a milch cow; this made us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">- 47 -</a></span> rich. We made a +wagon with wheels of blocks sawed off an oak log; we also bought a plow, +and, joining with our neighbors of Belle Creek, had a breaking team of +two pair of oxen. That breaking team and that truck wagon, with myself +always as the chief ox driver, did all the breaking, and all the hauling +and carting of lumber, provisions, building-material and other goods, +for all the settlers in that <span title=" neigh-hood " class="hoverbox">neighborhood</span> during the first season.</p> + +<p>Soon others of our party from last year joined us. Some letters which I +wrote in <i>Hemlandet</i> describing the country around us, attracted much +attention and brought settlers from different parts of the west, and +while the Swedes were pouring into our place, then known as +“Mattson’s Settlement,” (now well known under the name of +Vasa), our friends, the Norwegians, had started a prosperous settlement +a few miles to the south, many of them coming overland from Wisconsin, +bringing cattle, implements and other valuables of which the Swedes, +being mostly poor new-comers, were destitute. Many immigrants of both +nationalities came as deck passengers on the Mississippi steamers to Red +Wing.</p> + +<p>There was cholera at St. Louis that summer, and I remember how a steamer +landed a large party of Norwegian immigrants, nearly all down with +cholera. Mr. Willard and myself happened to be in Red Wing at the time, +and the American families, considering these Norwegian cholera patients +our countrymen, hastily turned them over to our care. We nursed them as +best we could, but many died in spite of all our efforts, and as we +closed their eyes, and laid them in the silent grave under the bluffs, +it never occurred to us that they were anything but our countrymen and +brothers.</p> + +<p>From these small beginnings of the Swedish and Norwegian settlers in +Goodhue county, in the years of 1853 and 1854, have sprung results which +are not only grand but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">- 48 -</a></span> glorious to contemplate. Looking back to +those days I see the little cabin, often with a sod roof, single room +used for domestic purposes, sometimes crowded almost to suffocation by +hospitable entertainments to new-comers; or the poor immigrant on the +levee at Red Wing, just landed from a steamer, in his short jacket and +other outlandish costume, perhaps seated on a wooden box, with his wife +and a large group of children around him, and wondering how he shall be +able to raise enough means to get himself ten or twenty miles into the +country, or to redeem the bedding and other household goods which he has +perchance left in Milwaukee as a pledge for his railroad and steam-boat +ticket. And I see him trudging along over the trackless prairie, +searching for a piece of land containing if possible prairie, water and +a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">- 49 -</a></span> little timber, on which to build a home. Poor, bewildered, +ignorant, and odd looking, he had been an object of pity and derision +all the way from Gothenburg or Christiania to the little cabin of some +country-man of his, where he found rest and shelter until he could build +one of his own.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 605px;"> +<img src="images/image005.jpg" width="605" height="440" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">OUR FIRST HOME.</span> +</div> + +<p>Those who have not experienced frontier life, will naturally wonder how +it was possible for people so poor as a majority of the old settlers +were, to procure the necessaries of life, but they should remember that +our necessities were few, and our luxuries a great deal less. The +bountiful earth soon yielded bread and vegetables; the woods and streams +supplied game and fish; and as to shoes and clothing, I and many others +have used shoes made of untanned skins, and even of gunny-sacks and old +rags. Furthermore, the small merchants at the river or other points, +were always willing to supply the Scandinavian emigrants with necessary +goods on credit, until better times should come. Our people in this +country did certainly earn a name for integrity and honesty among their +American neighbors, which has been a greater help to them than money.</p> + +<p>Some of the men would go off in search of work, and in due time return +with means enough to help the balance of the family.</p> + +<p>Frontier settlers are always accommodating and generous. If one had more +than he needed, he would invariably share the surplus with his +neighbors. The neighbors would all turn in to help a +new-comer,—haul his logs, build his house, and do other little +services, for him.</p> + +<p>The isolated condition and mutual aims and aspirations of the settlers +brought them nearer together than in older communities. On Sunday +afternoons all would meet at some centrally located place, and spend the +day together. A cup of coffee with a couple of slices of bread and +butter, would furnish a royal entertainment, and when we got so +far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">- 50 -</a></span> along that we could afford some pie or cake for dessert, the +good house-wives were in a perfect ecstacy. The joys and sorrows of one, +were shared by the others, and nowhere in the wide world, except in a +military camp, have I witnessed so much genuine cordial friendship and +brotherhood as among the frontier settlers in the West.</p> + +<p>One fine Sunday morning that summer, all the settlers met under two oak +trees on the prairie, near where the present church stands, for the +first religious service in the settlement. It had been agreed that some +of the men should take turns to read one of Luther’s sermons at each of +these gatherings, and I was selected as reader the first day. Some +prayers were said and Swedish hymns sung, and seldom did a temple +contain more devout worshipers than did that little congregation on the +prairie.</p> + +<p>Before the winter of 1854-55 set in, we had quite a large community in +Vasa, and had raised considerable grain, potatoes and other provisions. +During that winter the Sioux Indians again became our neighbors, and +frequently supplied us with venison in exchange for bread and coffee. +The following spring and summer the settlers increased still faster, +several more oxen and other cattle, with a horse or two, were brought +in, and I had no longer the exclusive privilege of hauling goods on the +little truck wagon.</p> + +<p>That summer I again went to Illinois to meet a large party of +newly-arrived emigrants from Sweden, who formed a settlement in Vasa, +known as Skåne. The people from different provinces would group +themselves together in little neighborhoods, each assuming in common +parlance the name of their own province; thus we have Vasa, Skåne, +Småland and Jemtland.</p> + +<p>About this time a township was formally organized, and, at my +suggestion, given the name of Vasa, in commemoration of the great +Swedish king. Roads were also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">- 51 -</a></span> laid out legally, and a township +organization perfected. A school district was formed and soon after an +election precinct, and as I was the only person who was master of the +English language the duty of attending to all these things devolved upon +me. We were particularly fortunate in having many men, not only of good +education from the old country, but of excellent character, pluck and +energy, men who would have been leaders in their communities if they had +remained at home, and who became prominent as soon as they had mastered +the English language. This fact, perhaps, gave a higher tone and +character to our little community than is common in such cases, and Vasa +has since that time furnished many able men in the county offices, in +the legislative halls, and in business and educational circles. There +can be much refinement and grace even in a log cabin on the wild +prairie.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of the month of September, 1855, Rev. E. Norelius +visited the settlement and organized a Lutheran church.</p> + +<p>Thirty-five years have elapsed since that time, and many of those who +belonged to the first church at Vasa now rest in mother earth close by +the present stately church edifice, which still belongs to the same +congregation, and is situated only a short distance from the place where +the latter was organized. Rev. Norelius himself lives only a few hundred +yards from the church building. Thirty-five years have changed the then +cheerful, hopeful young man into a veteran, crowned with honor, and full +of wisdom and experience. His beneficent influence on the Swedes of +Goodhue county and of the whole Northwest will make his name dear to +coming generations of our people.</p> + +<p>On November 23d, in the same fall, the first wedding took place in our +settlement. The author of these memoirs was joined in matrimony to Miss +Cherstin Peterson, from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">- 52 -</a></span> Balingslöf, near Kristianstad, +whose family had just come to Vasa from Sweden. By this union I found +the best and most precious treasure a man can find—a good and dear +wife, who has, faithfully shared my fate to this day. Rev. J. W. +Hancock, of Red Wing, performed the marriage ceremony. Horses being very +scarce among us in those days, the minister had to borrow an Indian pony +and ride on horseback twelve miles—from Red Wing to Vasa. On the +evening of our wedding day there happened to be a severe snow-storm, +through which my young bride was taken from her parents’ home to our log +house, on a home-made wooden sled, drawn by a pair of oxen and escorted +by a number of our young friends, which made this trip of about a +quarter of a mile very pleasant, in spite of the oxen and the +snow-storm.</p> + +<p>The next winter was very severe, and many of our neighbors suffered +greatly from colds and even frozen limbs. But there was an abundance of +provisions, and, as far as I can remember, no one was in actual need +after the first winter.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1856 several new-comers arrived in our colony. That +year marked the climax of the mad land speculation in the Northwest. +Cities and towns were staked out and named, advertised and sold +everywhere in the state, and people seemed to be perfectly wild, +everybody expecting to get rich in a short time without working. The +value of real estate rose enormously, and money was loaned at three, +four, and even five per cent. a month. Fortunately, very few of the +settlers in our neighborhood were seized by this mad fury of +speculation. I, however, became a victim. I bought several pieces of +land, and sold some of them very profitably, and mortgaged others at an +impossible rate of interest. And, the world becoming too narrow for me +on the farm, I availed myself of the first opportunity to trade away my +land for some property in Red Wing, which was a booming little town at +that time. We moved from the plain log cabin on the old<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_53" id="Page_53">- 53 -</a></span> farm into a house in town, where I +engaged in a successful mercantile business. But speculation was in the +air, and before the spring of 1857 my entire stock of merchandize was +exchanged for town lots in Wasioja and Geneva, two paper cities further +west. Meanwhile my friend Mr. Eustrom, with his young wife and baby, had +arrived from Boston, and both of us, with our families and a few +friends, moved out to Geneva early in the summer, with the intention of +building up a city and acquiring riches in a hurry. But at that time the +waves of speculation began to subside, and nine-tenths of the cities and +towns which were mapped out, and the great enterprises which were +inaugurated by enthusiasts like myself suddenly collapsed into a mere +nothing. Among these was also Geneva, which is not larger to-day than +when we left it, and it was about all I could do to raise enough money +to get back to Vasa with my wife. My friend Eustrom pre-empted a claim +near Geneva and remained there.</p> + +<p>Making an inventory of my property after the return to Vasa in 1857, I +found that the principal thing I had was a debt of $2,000, bearing an +interest of five per cent. a month. In order to pay this debt we sold +everything we had, even our furniture and my wife’s gold watch. This was +the great crisis of 1857. It stirred up everybody and everything in the +country, and it was no wonder that I, being an inexperienced and +enthusiastic young man, had to suffer with so many others. But now the +question was, what should I do? I could not return to the farm, for I +had none; that is, it was encumbered for about twice its value.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these difficulties I went to Red Wing one day to consult +a prominent lawyer in regard to some business matters. During my +conversation with him he said: “You have nothing to do now, you +have had enough of speculation, you know the English language, you are +tolerably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">- 54 -</a></span> well acquainted with our laws, well educated, young +and ambitious, why not study law, then? This state and this county is +just the place for you to make a splendid beginning in that profession. +Come to me, and within a year you can be admitted to the bar, after +which you will find it easy to get along.”</p> + +<p>I returned to Vasa in the evening, and, having consulted my wife, who +was visiting her parents, I soon made up my mind. The next day both of +us were on the way to Red Wing supplied with clothes, bedding, a few +dishes and some provisions, which had been given us by my wife’s +parents, who also conveyed us to town. In Red Wing we rented a room +about sixteen feet square, got a cook stove and a few articles of +furniture on credit, and everything was in order for housekeeping and +the study of law. I immediately commenced my course of study with that +excellent lawyer, Mr. Warren Bristol, who afterwards for many years +served as United States Judge in New Mexico, where he recently died.</p> + +<p>This life was something new for my young wife, who had grown up in a +house of plenty. Now she had to try her hand at managing our household +affairs, with the greatest economy, and she accomplished her task so +well that no minister of finance could have done better. In fact we were +so poor that winter that we could not afford to buy the tallow candles +which were necessary for my night studies (kerosene was unknown at that +time). But every evening during this trying but happy winter my wife +made a lamp by pouring melted lard, which her parents sent us, into a +saucer, and putting in a cotton wick, and in my eyes this light was more +brilliant than the rays from the golden chandeliers in the palaces of +the rich. By this light I studied Blackstone, Kent, and other works on +law.</p> + +<p>Late in the spring of 1858 a place became vacant in the<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_55" id="Page_55">- 55 -</a></span> justice of the peace, and I +succeeded in getting the appointment to this position, which brought me +a couple of dollars now and then, thus improving our financial condition +considerably. Early in the summer I was appointed city clerk, with a +salary of $12.50 a month, which was quite a fortune for us at that time. +After one year’s hard study I was admitted to the bar, and my honored +teacher accepted me as his partner on good conditions. My profession +seemed to be well chosen; I had plenty to do, and met with all the +success I could expect.</p> + +<p>My first case in the district court was before Judge McMillan, who +afterwards became chief justice of our supreme court, and then United +States senator. In opening the case I became nervous and excited and +would have broken down entirely had it not been for the kindly manner in +which the judge overlooked my diffidence, and helped me out of the +embarrassment by leading me on and putting the very words in my mouth; +this was only natural to his kind heart, and he probably never +remembered it, but to me it was an act of great kindness, never to be +forgotten, especially not when more than twenty years after the little +incident he needed all his friends to rally for his return to the United +States senate, his most formidable opponent being the venerable and +beloved statesman, Alexander Ramsey.</p> + +<p>My law practice lasted only a few months, as I was appointed county +auditor to fill a vacancy, and soon afterwards elected to fill the +regular term of office, and again re-elected two years later. Before +that time no Swedish-American had occupied such responsible civil office +in the United States. But I probably made a mistake in accepting this +office and thereby turning my back on a profession at which I would +undoubtedly have made more easy and rapid progress than by anything +else. But for the time being it produced great economical improvements +in our private life. Our little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">- 56 -</a></span> home, the narrow room which +served as bedroom, study, kitchen and parlor, was soon exchanged for a +neat little house, and a year later we moved into a larger and more +comfortable building, which was our own property.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the settlement at Vasa had prospered, and the population had +materially increased. The Scandinavian settlers had scattered over the +neighboring towns and counties with marvelous rapidity. The crisis of +1857 had been an excellent lesson to us all, for, although the price of +real estate had fallen to about one-fourth of its former value, the +people were better off now than formerly, owing to better management and +more prudent economy.</p> + +<p>The Scandinavians had now commenced to take a lively interest in the +political discussions which were agitating the entire country at that +time. The all absorbing political question of the day was +“slavery” or “no slavery” in the new +territories. It is unnecessary to say that the Scandinavians were almost +to a man in favor of liberty to all men, and that they consequently +joined the Republican party, which had just been organized for the +purpose of restricting slavery.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1861, while I was holding the office of auditor the +second term, the legislature of Minnesota appointed a committee to +revise the tax laws. This committee invited five county auditors, of +which number I had the honor to be one, to assist in its work. The tax +laws which were formulated by this general committee were in force over +twenty years.</p> + +<p>It was about this time the great American statesman, W. H. Seward, +visited Minnesota. I heard him make his famous speech in St. Paul, in +which, with the gift of prophecy, he depicted the future grandeur of the +twin cities. I also heard Owen Lovejoy, a member of congress from +Illinois, and one of the leading anti-slavery agitators of the +times.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">- 57 -</a></span> + +<p>During the presidential election of 1860 the political excitement ran +very high in the whole country. The Southern states had assumed a +threatening position, and expressed their intention to secede from the +Union if Lincoln was elected president. Throughout the whole country +political clubs were organized. The Democrats formed companies which +they called “Little Giants,” which was the nickname given to +Stephen A. Douglas, their candidate for president.</p> + +<p>The Republicans also organized companies which they called “Wide +Awakes.” I was chosen leader of the Republican company in Red +Wing. Political meetings were very frequent during the last few weeks +before election, and among the most prominent features of those meetings +were processions and parades of the companies, which were uniformed, and +carried banners and torches. During the campaign C. C. Andrews and the +late Stephen Miller, respective candidates for presidential electors on +the Democratic and Republican tickets, held meetings together and +jointly debated the important questions of the day, taking of course +opposite sides, but within a year both were found as officers in the +Union army, gallantly fighting for the same cause.</p> + +<p>About this time a company of militia organized in Red Wing, and I was +one of the lieutenants, and took active part in its drill and maneuvers. +Although none of the men who took part in these movements could foresee +or suspect the approach of the awful struggle which was to plunge the +country into a deluge of fire and blood, still they all seemed to have a +presentiment that critical times were near at hand, and that it was the +duty of all true citizens to make ready for them. It is a significant +fact that fifty-four men out of our little company of only sixty, within +two years became officers or soldiers in the volunteer army of the +United States. Although the Scandinavian emigrants had been in the state +only a few years, they still seemed to take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">- 58 -</a></span> as great an interest +in the threatening political difficulties of the times, and were found +to be just as willing as their native fellow-citizens to sacrifice their +blood and lives for the Union.</p> + + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image007.jpg" width="200" height="56" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">- 59 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a><a href="#TOC_5"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER V.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>The Beginning of the Civil War—The Scandinavians taking part in +it—Appeal in <i>Hemlandet</i> to the Scandinavians of +Minnesota—Company D. Organized—The Expressions of the +Press—The Departure—The March over the Cumberland +Mountains—The Fate of the Third Regiment.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Going from the court house on the afternoon of April 12th, 1861, a +friend overtook me with the news that the rebels of the South had fired +on Fort Sumpter. The news spread rapidly, and caused surprise and +intense indignation. In a few days the governor issued a proclamation +that one thousand men should be ready to leave our young state for the +seat of war; more than a sufficient number of companies were already +organized to fill this regiment, and the only question was, who were to +have the first chance? This first excitement was so sudden that the +Scandinavians, who are more deliberate in such matters, scarcely knew +what was going on before the first enlistment was made.</p> + +<p>A few months passed, and the battle of Bull Run was fought. It was no +longer a mere momentary excitement; it was no longer expected that the +Rebellion could be subdued in a single battle or within a few months, +but it was generally understood that the war would be long and bitter. +Then the Scandinavians of Minnesota began to stir. We had heard that a +few Swedes in Illinois, especially Major—afterward +General—Stohlbrand and a few others, had entered the army. A few +Scandinavians had also enlisted in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">- 60 -</a></span> the First and Second +regiments; but there was no general rising among them in our state until +I published an appeal in the Swedish newspaper <i>Hemlandet</i> in Chicago. +The following is an extract from that paper:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><br /><p class="center">“<span class="smcap">To The Scandinavians of Minnesota</span>!</p> + +<p>“It is high time for us, as a people, to arise with sword in hand, +and fight for our adopted country and for liberty.</p> + +<p>“This country is in danger. A gigantic power has arisen against it +and at the same time against liberty and democracy, in order to crush +them.</p> + +<p>“Our state has already furnished two thousand men, and will soon +be called upon for as many more to engage in the war. Among the +population of the state the Scandinavians number about one-twelfth, a +part of its most hardy and enduring people, and ought to furnish at +least three or four hundred men for this army. This land which we, as +strangers, have made our home, has received us with friendship and +hospitality. We enjoy equal privileges with the native born. The path to +honor and fortune is alike open to us and them. The law protects and +befriends us all alike. We have also sworn allegiance to the same.</p> + +<p>“Countrymen, ‘Arise to arms; our adopted country +calls!’ Let us prove ourselves worthy of that land, and of those +heroes from whom we descend.</p> + +<p>“I hereby offer myself as one of that number, and I am confident +that many of you are ready and willing to do likewise. Let each +settlement send forth its little squad. Many in this neighborhood are +now ready to go. A third regiment will soon be called by the governor of +this state. Let us, then, have ready a number of men of the right kind, +and offer our services as a part of the same. Let us place ourselves on +the side of liberty and truth, not only with words but with strong +arms,—with our lives. Then shall our friends in the home of our +childhood rejoice over us. Our children and children’s children shall +hereafter pronounce our names with reverence. We shall ourselves be +happy in the consciousness of having performed our duty, and should +death on the field of battle be our lot, then shall our parents, wives, +children and friends find some consolation in their sorrow in the +conviction that they, also, by their noble sacrifices, have contributed +to the defense and victory of right, justice, and liberty. And a +grateful people shall not withhold from them its sympathy and +friendship.”</p><br /> +</div> + +<p>A few days later I left a dear wife, home, and two children, and started +for Fort Snelling, but not alone; about seventy Swedes and thirty +Norwegians from Red Wing, Vasa, Chisago Lake, Holden, Wanamingo, +Stillwater, Albert Lea and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">- 61 -</a></span> other places, went there with me, or +joined us in the course of a few days.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image006.jpg" width="620" height="407" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MUSTERING VOLUNTEERS.</span> +</div> + +<p>Meanwhile the third regiment had been called, and one hundred of my +companions were mustered in as Company D of that regiment, with myself +as their captain, a Norwegian friend, L. K. Aaker, formerly a member of +our legislature, as first lieutenant, and my old friend H. Eustrom as +second lieutenant. Although Company D was the only military organization +in our state consisting exclusively of Scandinavians, there were quite a +number of those nationalities in every regiment and company organized +afterwards.</p> + +<p>I may be excused for saying a few words concerning my old military +company. It consisted of the very flower of our young men. It was +regarded from the start as a model company, and maintained its rank as +such during the whole term of four years’ service. Always orderly, +sober, obedient and faithful to every duty, the men of Company D, though +foreigners by birth, won and always kept the affectionate regard<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_62" id="Page_62">- 62 -</a></span> and fullest confidence of their +native-born comrades. A large majority of them are resting in the last +grand bivouac, many under the genial Southern sun, but no word of +reproach or doubt of soldierly honor has ever been heard against any of +those living or dead.</p> + +<p>About this time a whole regiment of Scandinavians, mostly Norwegians, +was organized in Wisconsin,—the Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry +regiment,—which rose to great distinction during its long service. +Its brave colonel, Hans Hegg, fell mortally wounded while commanding a +brigade on the bloody field at Chickamauga. There were many partially or +wholly Swedish companies from Illinois, one of which belonged to the +Forty-third Illinois regiment, under the lamented Capt. Arosenius, and +came under my command a few years later in Arkansas. There were also +many prominent Swedish officers in other regiments, such as Gen. C. J. +Stohlbrand, Cols. Vegesack, Malmborg, Steelhammar, Broddy, Elfving, and +Brydolf, Capts. Stenbeck, Silversparre, Sparrstrom, Lempke, Chas. +Johnson, Erik Johnson, Vanstrum, Lindberg, etc., and Lieuts. Osborne, +Edgren, Liljengren, Johnson, Lindall, Olson, Gustafson, Lundberg, and +many others whose names I do not now recall.</p> + +<p>In the Goodhue county records for October 15, 1861, is a paragraph which +states that, as the county auditor, H. Mattson, has voluntarily gone to +the war with a company of soldiers to defend our country, it is resolved +that leave of absence shall be extended to him, and that the office of +county auditor shall not be declared vacant so long as the deputy +performs his duties properly.</p> + +<p>The St. Paul <i>Press</i> of the same date, has the following: “We +congratulate Capt. Mattson and his countrymen for the splendid company +of Swedes and Norwegians which he commands. Never was a better company +mustered in for service.”</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">- 63 -</a></span> + +<p>In the beginning of November two steamers arrived at Fort Snelling and +took the Third regiment on board. We were ordered to join Buell’s army +in Kentucky. Company E, of our regiment, was also mainly from Goodhue +county, and when the steamers arrived at Red Wing, they stopped half an +hour to let Companies D and E partake of a bountiful supper, to which +they had been invited by their city friends, and to say a last farewell +to their families and acquaintances. My wife, with the little children, +my sister, father, brother, and other relatives, were gathered in a +large room in the hotel opposite the landing. The half hour was soon +past, and the bugle sounded “fall in.” I pass over the +parting scene, leaving it to the imagination of the reader, for I cannot +find words to describe it myself. I will only relate one little episode. +When the bugle sounded for departure I held my little two-year-old +daughter in my arms; her arms were clasped around my neck, and, when I +endeavored to set her down, she closed her little fingers so hard +together that her uncle had to open them by force before he could take +her away from me. When a little child was capable of such feelings, it +may be surmised what those felt who were able to comprehend the +significance of that moment.</p> + +<p>In a few days we were camped on a muddy field in Kentucky, quickly +learning the duties of soldier-life, and familiarizing ourselves with +the daily routine of an army in the field.</p> + +<p>My military career of four years’ duration passed without any event of +particular interest or importance; it was like that of two million other +soldiers—to do their duty faithfully, whatever that duty might +be—that was all.</p> + +<p>After eight months’ service I was promoted to the rank of major in the +regiment. At that time we were serving in middle Tennessee. Shortly +afterward our regiment, with some three thousand men of the troops, made +a forced march across the Cumberland mountains. In order to give +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">- 64 -</a></span> reader an idea of the hardships which the soldiers +occasionally had to endure on a march, I shall give a short sketch of +this. The detachment broke camp in Murfreesboro in the forenoon of a +very hot day toward the close of May, and marched twenty miles before +night, which was considered a good distance for the first day. Most of +the men suffered from blistered feet, and they were all very tired. We +prepared our supper, and had just gone to rest in a large open field and +were beginning to fall asleep, when, at ten o’clock in the evening, the +signal was given to fall in. In a few minutes the whole force was in +line, and silently resumed the march forward. We marched the whole +night, the whole of the next day, the following night, and till noon the +day after, moving altogether a distance of over eighty miles, over a +difficult and partly mountainous country, and stopping only one hour +three times a day to cook our coffee and eat, while those who sank down +by the roadside entirely exhausted were left until the rear-guard came +and picked them up. When we finally arrived at our destination the enemy +that we were pursuing had already decamped, and we had to return by the +same route over which we had come, though more leisurely. Among the many +victims of this march was a bright Norwegian lieutenant of my old +company, Hans Johnson, who died shortly after our return to +Murfreesboro.</p> + +<p>A few days afterward the regiment started on an expedition to the South. +During this march I got sick with the fever, and would probably have +died at Columbia, Tenn., if my friend Eustrom, who at that time was +captain of Company D, had not succeeded in getting me into a rebel +family, where I was treated with the greatest care, so that in a few +days I was able to go by rail to Minnesota on a twenty days’ leave of +absence. This took place in the beginning of the month of July, +1862.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">- 65 -</a></span> + +<p>Having spent a fortnight in the bosom of my family I returned, with +improved health, to resume my command. I arrived at Chicago on a Sunday +morning, and, as I had to wait all day for my train, I went to the +Swedish church on Superior street. Leaving the church, I heard a +news-boy crying, “Extra number of the <i>Tribune</i>; great battle at +Murfreesboro; Third Minnesota regiment in hot fire!” I bought the +paper and hurried to the hotel, where another extra edition was handed +me. The Union troops had won a decisive victory at Murfreesboro, and +totally routed the forces of Forrest, consisting of eight thousand +cavalry. Later in the evening a third extra edition announced that +“The Third regiment has been captured by the enemy, and is on the +march to the prisons of the South.” Only a soldier can imagine my +feelings when I received this news. I arrived in Tennessee two days +later, only to meet the soldiers returning from the mountains where they +had been released on written parole by the enemy. They were sore-footed, +exhausted, hungry and wild with anger, and looked more like a lot of +ragged beggars than the well-disciplined soldiers they had been a few +days before. All the captured officers had been taken to the South, +where they were kept in prison several months. Only two of them +succeeded in making their escape. One of those was Capt. Eustrom, who, +in company with Lieut. Taylor, made his escape from a hospital building, +some negroes giving them clothes, and, through almost incredible +hardships and dangers, they succeeded in reaching our lines, and I met +them two days after my arrival at Nashville.</p> + +<p>The capitulation of our splendid regiment was one of the most deplorable +events of its kind during the whole war. It was regarded one of the best +regiments of volunteers of the Western army. It had defended itself with +great valor, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">- 66 -</a></span> in fact, defeated the enemy, when for some +unaccountable reason, Col. H. C. Lester decided to surrender, and he +exerted such a great influence over our officers that seven company +commanders went over to his side in the council of war, which he called, +while the remaining officers and the soldiers were strongly opposed to +the capitulation. When the men finally were ordered to stack arms they +did so with tears in their eyes, complaining bitterly because they were +not allowed to fight any longer. All the officers who had been in favor +of capitulation were afterward dismissed from service in disgrace.</p> + +<p>Arriving at Nashville I was immediately ordered to assume command of my +own scattered regiment, of the Ninth Michigan Infantry regiment, and of +a battery of artillery, which had also capitulated on that fatal Sunday. +Having supplied the men with clothing and other necessaries, I took them +by steamboats to a camp for prisoners in St. Louis, and returned to +Nashville to report the matter in person. On my return to Nashville I +was appointed member of a general court martial, and shortly afterwards +its president, which position I occupied from July till December, 1862. +The sufferings which my friend Captain Eustrom had endured during his +flight from the rebels shattered his health so that he was soon forced +to retire from service.</p> + +<p>About this time the well-known Indian massacre in the western +settlements of Minnesota took place. About eight hundred peaceable +citizens, mostly women and children, and among those many +Scandinavians—were cruelly butchered, and their houses and +property burnt and destroyed. The soldiers of the Third regiment had +given their parole not to take up arms against the enemy until they were +properly exchanged, but, as this did not have anything to do with the +Indian war, they were ordered from St. Louis to Minnesota<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_67" id="Page_67">- 67 -</a></span> and put under the command of Major +Welch, of the Fourth regiment, and soon distinguished themselves by +their fine maneuvers and valor in the struggle with the Indians.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image007.jpg" width="200" height="56" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">- 68 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a><a href="#TOC_6"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER VI.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Events of 1863—The Siege of Vicksburg—Anecdotes about Gens. +Logan, Stevenson and Grant—Little Rock Captured—Recruiting +at Fort Snelling—The engagement at Fitzhugh’s Woods—Pine +Bluff—Winter Quarters at Duvall’s Bluff—Death of +Lincoln—Close of the War—The Third Regiment Disbanded.</p><br /></div> + +<p>In the month of December the officers were exchanged and ordered back to +Fort Snelling, to where the enlisted men had also returned from the +Indian war. In January, 1863, we again left Minnesota for the South. The +whole of this winter and the beginning of spring were devoted to +expeditions against guerillas and Confederate recruiting camps in +southern Tennessee. Most of this time I commanded the regiment, four +companies of which were mounted. We had to procure horses as best we +could, here and there through the country. We had many skirmishes with +the enemy, and captured a number of prisoners.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of June we joined the forces that were besieging +Vicksburg under the command of Gen. Grant, and remained there until that +city had capitulated. The siege of Vicksburg is so well known from +history that I shall make no attempt to describe it here. For five +consecutive weeks the cannonading was so incessant that the soldiers +became as accustomed to it as the passengers on a steamer to the noise +of the propeller, and, when the capitulation finally put an end to all +this noise, we found it very difficult to sleep for several nights on +account of the unusual silence.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">- 69 -</a></span> + +<p>The July number of <i>Hemlandet</i>, contained a letter from me, dated +Vicksburg, June 24th, from which I make the following extract:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“The army of Gen. Grant is divided into two Grand Divisions, one +of which is arranged in a semi-circle toward Vicksburg, only a few +hundred yards from the intrenchments of the rebels, the other in a +semi-circle turned away from Vicksburg, and fronting the army of Gen. +Johnston. We are all protected by strong intrenchments, and always keep +over two thousand men as picket guards, and the same number are digging +rifle pits and building intrenchments.</p> + +<p>“Gen. Logan’s Division is close up to the intrenchments of the +rebels. The Swedish Maj. Stohlbrand is chief of artillery in Logan’s +Division, and, has, as such, under his special charge one of the most +important positions in the beleaguering army.</p> + +<p>“I visited Gen. Logan yesterday, and will relate a little episode +concerning this brave commander: When Gen. Logan heard that I was a +Swede, and wished to see Maj. Stohlbrand, who had just ridden out to +look after his batteries, the general, being always full of fun, assumed +a very solemn air, and said: ‘Too bad you did not come an hour +sooner, for then you could have seen Stohlbrand. There’—and he +went to the door of his tent and pointed across the camp +ground—‘there is the tent of Maj. Stohlbrand. Half an hour ago a +bomb exploded from the main fort yonder. Poor Stohlbrand! Only a few +remnants were left of the contents of his tent. Poor Stohlbrand! Perhaps +you would like to see the remains?’</p> + +<p>“Accompanied by Gens. Stevenson, Ransom, and several other +officers, I followed Gen. Logan to the tent of Stohlbrand. Then Logan +said: ‘Out of respect for poor Stohlbrand we have put everything +in order again. Here you see his camp stool, there his uniform, and +there is his little field cot.’ The bed looked as if a dead body +was lying on it, covered by a blanket. Logan walked solemnly up to the +head of the bed, lifted the blanket, and behold, there was only a bundle +of rags! The rest of us, of course, supposed that Stohlbrand was dead, +and that his corpse was lying on the bed. This little joke made the +humorous Logan laugh so that his whole body shook.</p> + +<p>“As to the Swedes in the army, I may mention that, besides our +Company D, there are in the same division the company of Capt. Arosenius +of the Forty-third Illinois regiment, and that of Capt. Corneliuson of +the Twenty-third Wisconsin regiment, and a number of Swedes of the other +regiments from Illinois and Wisconsin, and of the Fourth and Fifth +Minnesota regiments. Old Company D is a model, as usual,—the best +one I have seen yet. Both officers and men are quiet, orderly, cheerful +and obedient, always faithful at their post, and ready to go wherever +duty calls them. They are loved and respected by all who come in contact +with them. When<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">- 70 -</a></span> I feel sad or despondent, all I need do is to +walk along the camp street and take a look at some of my old +Scandinavians. Their calm and earnest demeanor always makes me glad and +proud. I ask for no greater honor than to point them out to some +stranger, saying: ‘This is my old company.’</p> + +<p>“Not these alone, however, but all of my countrymen whom I met in +the army have a good name, and are considered most reliable and able +soldiers.”</p> +</div> + +<p>I shall now relate a couple of anecdotes from the siege of Vicksburg, +which I did not mention in the letter to <i>Hemlandet</i>.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 580px;"> +<img src="images/image008.jpg" width="580" height="413" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">GRANT’S HEADQUARTERS.</span> +</div> + +<p>Outside Gen. Logan’s tent stood a big magnolia tree. While laughing at +Logan’s joke Gen. Stevenson picked up a little stick of wood and +whittled on it with his penknife, in genuine Yankee fashion. Accidently +he dropped his knife, and, while stooping down to pick it up, a fragment +of a shell from the rebel batteries came and went two inches deep into +the tree right where his head had been when he was whittling. He coolly +remarked, “That piece of iron was not made for me.”</p> + +<p>One day as I, in company with Lieut. Col. (afterward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">- 71 -</a></span> Gen.) C. C. +Andrews, was visiting Gen. Grant outside of Vicksburg, a wagon drawn by +six mules passed close by his headquarters. The driver, an old, +rough-looking soldier, stopped, and asked the way to a certain regiment. +Gen. Grant’s tent stood on a little elevation, at the foot of which were +several fresh wagon tracks. A number of officers, including myself, were +standing and sitting around the general outside the tent. Gen. Grant, +who was dressed in a fatigue suit and slouched hat, without other marks +of distinction than three small silver stars, which could scarcely be +distinguished on his dusty blouse, went toward the driver and, with the +most minute particulars, gave him directions how to drive. While he was +talking, we observed that the driver showed signs of deep emotion, and +finally he alighted from the mule, which he was riding, stretched out +his arms, and, with tears in his eyes, exclaimed: “My God! I +believe it is Gen. Grant! General, do you remember Tommy Donald? I was a +soldier in your company during the Mexican war!” With touching +kindness the great commander-in-chief now took both hands of the ragged +soldier in his, and, like old friends who had not met for a long time, +they rejoiced in remembering the companionship of fifteen years before.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image009.jpg" width="620" height="220" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">ARMY WAGON.</span> +</div> + +<p>When Gen. Grant returned to the tent the conversation turned to the +newspaper clamor and general discontent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">- 72 -</a></span> because Vicksburg was +not yet taken, upon which the general expressed himself in the following +words: “I could make another assault and hasten the capture a few +days, but will not do it because I <i>know</i> positively that within ten +days the garrison must surrender anyhow, for I have got them, and will +take them all. Let them howl. I don’t care. I have got Pemberton tight +as wax.” Saying which, he closed his right hand and laid it on the +little camp table with such force that I noticed the veins filling and +turning blue on the back of his hand. These two little incidents give a +key to Gen. Grant’s whole character, and the secret of his unparalleled +success, not only in winning battles, but in bagging the entire opposing +force.</p> + +<p>A week later Vicksburg fell into our hands. We took thirty-two thousand +prisoners, fifteen generals, two thousand other officers, and nearly two +hundred cannon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image010.jpg" width="620" height="395" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">GENERALS GRANT AND PEMBERTON.</span> +</div> + +<p>About a week after the surrender of Vicksburg the Third<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_73" id="Page_73">- 73 -</a></span> regiment was transferred to the +Seventh army corps, under the command of Gen. Fred. Steele, and took +part in the campaign against Little Rock. In the beginning of September, +when we were only ten miles from Little Rock, our regiment enjoyed the +distinction of marching at the head of the infantry column. We came upon +the Confederate batteries on the west bank of the Arkansas river, where +a brisk cannonade was opened. This combat afforded the most beautiful +sight imaginable, if carnage and slaughter may be called beautiful. We +stood on the east side of the river, the Confederates on the west. The +water being very low, a steamer had been grounded about an eighth of a +mile above us, and near the steamer the water was so shallow that the +cavalry could ford the river; but just in front of the Third regiment +the water was so deep that we had to throw a pontoon bridge for the +infantry.</p> + +<p>Our regiment was stationed in a cornfield near the river bank to cover +the march across the bridge, and the soldiers were ordered to lie down +on the ground. But we found it very difficult to make them obey, for, in +their eagerness to cross the river, they felt more like rushing ahead +and shouting for joy. Many shots from the Confederate batteries passed +over our heads, so low that the soldiers, in a sporting mood, jumped up +and grabbed with their hands in the air, as if trying to catch them. In +less than an hour the bridge across the deep channel was ready. A +cavalry brigade had meanwhile moved up to the ford above, and now the +signal for crossing was given. The Confederates set fire to the steamer, +which they were unable to save.</p> + +<p>It was about noon on one of those glorious autumn days peculiar to this +country, which greatly enhanced the impression of the sublime spectacle +then to be seen on the Arkansas river. The burning steamer reddening the +atmosphere with brilliant flames of fire, a long line of cavalry fording +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">- 74 -</a></span> shallow river in three files, the infantry marching by the +flank over the pontoon from which they jumped into the water, forming on +double-quick, first companies, then battalion, whereupon they marched +cheerily, in knee-deep water, under flying banners and to the beat of +regimental music, while the air was filled with shells and balls. Before +the infantry had reached the woods where the batteries of the enemy were +hidden, the latter was already in retreat, and Little Rock soon fell +into our hands.</p> + +<p>On our march into the captured city the next morning, the Third regiment +was again accorded the place of honor at the head of the army. It was +designated to act as provost-guard for the purpose of maintaining order, +and the whole regiment was soon quartered in the state capitol. Gen. C. +C. Andrews, who held the position of colonel at that time, was appointed +post commander at Little Rock, and I, who had been promoted to the rank +of lieutenant-colonel soon after the surrender of Vicksburg, took +command of the regiment, whereby it became my duty to maintain law and +order in the captured city. This was an onerous and difficult task, for +it must be remembered that the only executive authority in the southern +states during the war was vested in the army, and especially delegated +to the provost officers and guards. The third regiment was occupied with +this task until the following spring, and performed its duty so well +that the governor of Arkansas, in a message, expressed himself regarding +it, in the following language:</p> + +<p>“During the time of their service in our capital good order has +prevailed, and they have commanded the respect of our citizens. When +called upon to meet the enemy they have proven themselves equal to any +task, and reliable in the hour of imminent danger. Such men are an honor +to our government and the cause which they serve. Their state may +justly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">- 75 -</a></span> feel proud of them, and they will prove themselves to be +worthy sons of the same wherever duty calls them.”</p> + +<p>Toward Christmas I was ordered to Fort Snelling, with a detachment of +officers and non-commissioned officers, for the purpose of recruiting +our decimated ranks. I remained on this duty till the month of March, +and then returned with four hundred recruits. Shortly afterwards the +battle of Fitzhugh’s Woods, near Augusta, Arkansas, was fought, and the +regiment distinguished itself by very gallant conduct. During the stay +in Little Rock most of the soldiers had re-enlisted for three years, or +until the close of the war, whereby we acquired the title of +“Veteran Regiment.” But that was not the only distinction +which was conferred on our men. A large number of young soldiers had +been promoted from the ranks to be officers in several negro regiments, +which were organized in Tennessee and Arkansas, and some as officers of +new regiments of our own state. Col. Andrews had meanwhile been promoted +to the rank of brigadier-general, and, in April, 1864, I was promoted to +colonel of the regiment in his place, and was shortly afterward ordered +to march with its eight hundred men to Pine Bluff, on the Arkansas +river.</p> + +<p>From this time until the beginning of August the regiment experienced +such hardships and sufferings from diseases and hard service, that it +sustained far greater losses from these causes than any other regiment +from our state had met with in open battle. Pine Bluff was a veritable +pest-hole; the water was of a greenish color, the air full of germs of +disease and poisonous vapors. Continually surrounded and threatened by a +vigilant enemy, the exhausted and sickly soldiers had to get up at three +o’clock every morning for the purpose of working at the entrenchments +and strengthening and protecting our position in different ways. +Meanwhile the number of those fit for duty was daily decreasing at +an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">- 76 -</a></span> appalling rate. The hospitals were overcrowded with patients, +and the few men left for duty were continually occupied in caring for +the sick and burying the dead, until there were not men enough left to +bury their dead comrades, and I was obliged to ask a regiment, which had +recently arrived, to help us perform that sad duty.</p> + +<p>At this critical moment I received orders from Washington to take six +companies to Minnesota, on a six weeks’ veteran furlough, to which the +regiment was entitled. Those went who were able to. Many died on the +way, but those of us who survived until we reached Minnesota were soon +restored to usual health and strength, so that we could return in due +time and again take part in the campaign in Arkansas. The remaining four +companies, which had been furloughed the previous winter, were ordered +from Pine Bluff to Duvall’s Bluff, on White river, where the whole +regiment was reunited under my command in the beginning of October, and +remained in winter quarters until the spring of 1865.</p> + +<p>Shortly after our return to Arkansas I assumed command of the First +Brigade, First Division, Seventh army corps. This brigade consisted of +my own regiment, the Twelfth Michigan, the Sixty-first Illinois, and a +United States colored regiment. Our prospects for remaining in winter +quarters for several months being favorable, many of the higher officers +sent for their wives. I did the same, having first erected a comfortable +log house for us. My wife and two little children arrived a few days +before Christmas, and stayed in the camp the whole winter. No important +event took place during the winter, excepting that we were once ordered +to make an expedition up White river, with a considerable force of +cavalry and infantry, and, after a fatiguing march, succeeded in +breaking up a camp of irregular Confederate troops, and taking many +prisoners.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">- 77 -</a></span> + +<p>I will relate two incidents which took place near Duvall’s Bluff, one of +a serious, the other of a comic nature.</p> + +<p>The first was the shooting of a young soldier of the Twenty-second Ohio +regiment, who time and again had deserted his post, and finally joined a +band of rebel marauders. It became my sad duty to execute the sentence +of death. My brigade formed a hollow square, facing inward, and the +doomed man, a strong, handsome youth of twenty years, sat on a coffin in +an open ambulance, which was driven slowly along the inside of the +square, while a band marched in front of the wagon playing a funeral +march. After the completion of this sad march the deserter was placed in +the middle of the square, in front of the coffin, with his eyes +blind-folded. A detachment of twelve men under a sergeant now fired +simultaneously, upon the signal of the provost marshal. Eight rifles +were loaded with balls, and the unfortunate young man fell backwards +into his coffin and died without a struggle.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image011.jpg" width="620" height="372" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">SHOOTING A DESERTER.</span> +</div> + +<p>One day while taking a ride on horseback in company with<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_78" id="Page_78">- 78 -</a></span> my wife, who had a fine saddle +horse, and had become an expert rider during her long stay in the camp, +we galloped mile after mile along the fine plain, outside of the +picket-lines where men of my own brigade were on guard, till at last we +found ourselves several miles from the place where we had passed through +our lines. Returning toward camp, we struck the picket line at a point +where a recently arrived regiment was stationed, and where the ground +was soft and marshy. Being challenged by the guard I answered who I was, +but as he could not plainly distinguish my uniform in the twilight and +did not know me personally, he ordered us, with leveled gun, to stand +still until he could call the officer of the guard. It was no easy +matter to obey his orders, for the horses continually sank down in the +soft ground, but finally the officer arrived, and we succeeded in +getting to the camp without further trouble. I was not the first officer +who thus got into trouble by neglecting to write out a pass for himself.</p> + +<p>On a fine April day, which can never be forgotten, the news came that +our president, Abraham Lincoln, had been murdered. Stricken with +consternation I hurried down to the Third regiment in person to tell the +sad news. Never, either before or since, have I witnessed such a scene +as the one that followed. Some of the men went completely wild with +sorrow, weather-beaten veterans, embracing each other, wept aloud, +others swore and cursed. In the prison yard, which was guarded by men +belonging to my regiment, a rebel prisoner took off his cap, waived it +in the air and cried, “Hurrah for Booth!” A man by the name +of Stark immediately loaded his gun and shot the rebel dead on the spot. +Many others, both inside and outside the camp, were shot because they +expressed joy at the death of Lincoln. Passions were strong, and all +tolerance and patience exhausted among the Union soldiers on that +occasion. The main army of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">- 79 -</a></span> Confederates had already +surrendered when this calamity occurred, and the war was in fact over. A +few days afterward we sent our families home.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image041.jpg" width="200" height="43" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">- 80 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a><a href="#TOC_7"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER VII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Reconstruction in the South—Third Regiment Mustered Out—The +Farewell Order—Sacrifices and Costs of the War.</p><br /></div> + +<p>A very important work still remained to be accomplished by the union +army, namely, the restoration of law and order in the southern states. I +had the honor to be entrusted with a portion of that work, an account of +which was given in a paper prepared and read by me before the commandery +of the military order Loyal Legion, at one of its meetings in St. Paul, +in March, 1889, from which I quote as follows:</p> + +<p>“After listening to the many interesting addresses on battles and +campaigns that have been read before the commandery at our monthly +meetings, I fear that you will be disappointed, not only with the +subject of this paper, but also with the commonplace incidents which I +have to relate, and yet I think that the part taken by the Union army in +the so-called reconstruction of civil government in the rebellious +states immediately after the war deserves a place in the history of that +army and of the war. All the world knows how bravely our soldiers +fought, how willingly they endured hardships of the camp and of the +wearisome march, how patiently they bore sickness, wounds, and +sufferings of every kind, and how faithfully they obeyed the orders of +advance to danger and to death. But there is still another trait of +their character, perhaps the greatest of them all, that of the good +citizen, who was able, as soon as the last smoke of battle had cleared +away, to restrain all feelings of enmity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">- 81 -</a></span> and revenge, to take +the enemy by the hand, to guide, help, and protect him and his in all +the rights of citizenship, and it is of that I would relate some facts +that came under my own observation and experience.</p> + +<p>“Having been stationed at Duvall’s Bluff, Arkansas, in command of +a brigade, of which my own regiment, the Third Minnesota infantry, +formed a part, I received orders from Maj. Gen. J. J. Reynolds, +commanding the Department of Arkansas, on the 15th of May, 1865, to +establish a military post at Batesville, Arkansas, on the upper White +river, and to take command of a district comprising the north-eastern +portion of that state. The field organization of the Seventh army corps, +to which we belonged, was being broken up. Some of the regiments were +sent home to be mustered out of service; others were sent to different +points for purposes of occupation. My own regiment and two squadrons of +the Ninth Kansas Cavalry were detailed for the work given in my charge.</p> + +<p>“On the 18th of May we embarked on steam transports, and reached +Batesville on the 20th. A few days later my post headquarters was +established at Jacksonport, and the troops were distributed at different +points with one or two companies for each, at Batesville, Searcy, +Augusta, Powhatan; and the main force at Jacksonport, from which point +frequent cavalry patrols were sent to the outlying stations.</p> + +<p>“The topography of that country is very irregular and unique. The +eastern portion, bordering upon the Mississippi, is flat and marshy, +with many lakes and bayous, and has a rich, alluvial soil. The other +portion is very broken, with hills and mountain ridges, rocks, caves and +beautiful streams, but poor soil. The lowlands had been occupied by +wealthy slave owners, whose sympathies were strong for the Southern +cause. The highlands were occupied by the poorer class, only a few of +whom had owned slaves. Many of this class<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">- 82 -</a></span> were strong Union men, +and soldiers in the Union army. During the great struggle of four years +many bloody tragedies had been enacted between the loyal and the rebel +residents, and bitter feelings of revenge still rankled in the breasts +of the survivors. During the whole period of the war the country had +been swept clean, at rapid intervals, by both armies alternately, and +each time new atrocities had been perpetrated, and all the worst +passions of the people rekindled. It had also been a place of refuge for +the worst rebel elements in southern Missouri, when too hardly pressed +by our friend Gen. Sanborn<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> and other Union commanders. At the time of +our arrival the surviving soldiers from both armies were returning to +their homes, also many refugees,—rebels from Texas and Union men +from the North,—most of them to find their families destitute and +their property destroyed.</p> + +<p>“The irregular Confederate troops under Gen. Jeff. Thompson, +numbering some eight thousand men, had not yet surrendered, but were +scattered over the district in a thoroughly demoralized condition, so +that the whole situation was rather peculiar and very bad, and it was a +difficult task to prevent fresh outbreaks, and to restore order and get +the people started anew in the peaceful avocations of life.</p> + +<p>“My instructions were to preserve law and order, to organize and +arm companies of home colonists for self-protection, to encourage +agriculture and commerce, and to assist the citizens in restoring civil +government. The men under my command during the early reconstruction +period had certainly no reason to love Arkansas, because they had not +only buried their best friends and comrades within its borders, but had +themselves for months and months experienced there that dreadful +suffering most feared by all soldiers, and for which few receive any +credit,—namely, the inglorious privation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">- 83 -</a></span> of the silent +watch,—in the swamp, in the trenches, in the hospital, on the +camp-stretcher, and in the ambulance,—when tired, sore, sick, +thirsty, lonely, and seemingly forsaken by God and man, unknown and with +praise unsung, with no cheering sound of drum or bugle, no battle flag +or cheer in sight or hearing, no voice of comrades or of guns, and no +magic touch of elbows or shouts of victory. These men had experienced +all that, and had no special reason to sympathize with the inhabitants +who had done their full share to bring them into so much misery. And now +observe how they treated those inhabitants. Immediately on arriving at +Batesville the following order was promulgated, and, by the aid of an +old printing press and swift couriers, scattered all over the district:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="right"> +‘<span class="smcap">Headquarters U. S. Forces</span>, <br /> +‘<span class="smcap">Batesville, Ark.</span>, May 22, 1865.<br /> +</p> + +<p>‘General Order No. 1.</p> + +<p>‘I. It is hereby announced to the people of Batesville and +surrounding country that the chief object of the federal occupation of +this place is their protection against armed forces, of whatever kind, +to give encouragement to agriculture and other peaceful pursuits, and to +restore commercial intercourse.</p> + +<p>‘II. The public safety and mutual interests demand that all +persons living within our lines and enjoying the protection of the +nation’s forces shall declare their obedience to the government.</p> + +<p>‘III. It is ordered, therefore, that all persons now living or +hereafter coming within our picket-lines who have not taken but desire +to take the oath of allegiance, with the purpose of restoring and +establishing the national authority, shall register their names without +delay in the provost marshal’s office, where the oath will be +administered.</p> + +<p> ‘By order of</p> +<p class="right">‘<span class="smcap">Col. H. Mattson</span>, Commanding.</p> +<p>‘<span class="smcap">P. E. Folsom</span>, Lieutenant and Post Adjutant.’<br /></p> +</div> + +<p>“On the same day a beginning was made to organize companies of +home colonists among the great number of Union refugees who had followed +the troops to Batesville. Arms and ammunition were placed in their +hands, and the following instruction given:</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">- 84 -</a></span> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="right"> +‘<span class="smcap">Headquarters U. S. Forces</span>, <br /> +‘<span class="smcap">Batesville, Ark.</span>, May 22, 1865.<br /> +</p> + +<p>‘<i>To the members of Companies of Home Colonists:</i></p> + +<p>‘You will, as soon as practicable, depart with your families to +your several homes, and there proceed to cultivate the land and secure a +crop for the coming year.</p> + +<p>‘The arms and ammunition with which you have now been furnished by +the government of the United States are for the protection of yourselves +and families, and for no other purpose.</p> + +<p>‘The laws of your state guarantee you full redress for private +injuries; you will therefore leave all disputes and wrongs to be settled +by them and by the military authority of the United States, and it is +only against the armed force of marauders that you will resort to the +use of these arms; remember, always, that you are not soldiers, but +citizens.</p> + +<p>‘You will promptly report to your own officers and to the military +commander of this post any information you may obtain of armed forces of +marauders; and in case of emergency you are authorized to act as a +military body in pursuing them. The commanding officer will always +extend to you aid, both in men and subsistence, so far as lies in his +power, but you must, like free and independent citizens, place +yourselves, by industrious labor, as soon as possible, beyond the +necessity of federal support.</p> + +<p>‘Let your conduct among your late enemies be such as will elicit +their friendship.</p> + +<p>‘By assisting me to carry out the magnanimous policy of our +government you will soon have peace and security restored to your +community, and happiness and plenty to yourselves and your families.</p> + +<p> ‘By order of<br /></p> +<p class="right">‘<span class="smcap">Col. H. Mattson</span>, Commanding.<br /></p> + +<p>‘<span class="smcap">P. E. Folsom</span>, Lieutenant and Post Adjutant.’<br /></p> +</div> + +<p>“In a remarkably short time the news of the policy thus announced +spread to the most remote parts of the district, and had a very +beneficial effect. It inspired hope and confidence everywhere. The +disloyal people came out of their hiding places, and, with apparent +sincerity and gratitude, took the oath of allegiance, and went to work +as good citizens to perform their part in the work of reconstruction. +Union men and rebels shook hands over the bloody chasm, and agreed to +bury the past and work together for a better future.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">- 85 -</a></span> + +<p>“Soon another class of people came in large numbers to seek help +and protection from the Union forces. It was the poverty-stricken old +men, and the women and children who had lost their natural protectors. +It was a sight sad enough to move the stoutest hearts to look at their +helplessness and misery, and I never had a more pleasant duty to perform +than that of relieving their wants at the expense of our generous +government. The department commander had placed a steamboat at my +disposal, and given me unlimited power to draw on the commissary stores +at Duvall’s Bluff. That steamer made regular trips with supplies for all +who were actually in need, and most of the applicants returned to their +homes with plenty of flour, bacon, salt, seed, corn and other +necessaries, with a government mule sometimes thrown in to carry the +load home, and there was no distinction made between rebels and +Unionists, except that the former were placed on their good behavior as +to their future conduct. It was in this work that our +soldiers,—officers and men,—showed without exception, that +trait of character which entitles them to the name of exemplary citizens +as well as exemplary soldiers, which they had previously earned in a +service of four years. They never forgot that the conquered inhabitants +were our own people, and members of the same great republic.</p> + +<p>“After a while our picket lines were withdrawn, and only enough +guards posted to take care of the public property. Citizens and soldiers +mingled freely in social intercourse, not as conquerors and conquered, +but as friends and equals, our men interesting themselves in everything +that tended to the welfare of the citizens, often helping them in their +work and business, and always treating the helpless with gallantry and +tenderness. On the Fourth of July citizens and soldiers, ex-rebels and +Union men, to the number of many hundreds, met under the stars and +stripes, in a lovely grove, to celebrate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">- 86 -</a></span> the day around an +old-fashioned barbecue, and, for nearly two days and a night, enjoyed a +feast of brotherly love and good will, all proud of the old banner, and +happy to be again united as one people.</p> + +<p>“During the summer elections were held for town and county +officers, and as soon as such officers had qualified, the soldiers, even +more readily than the citizens themselves, did all in their power to +uphold their authority. In many instances good penmen and accountants +among the soldiers gave their services gratuitously to help the +newly-elected civil officers start their books and accounts. To the +honor of the rebels, especially the returned soldiers, I must say that +they behaved in a most exemplary manner, and accepted the situation with +good grace and acted most cordially and loyally toward us. The +Freedmen’s Bureau was not established in that district during my time of +command, but I was informed by a friend, Maj. J. M. Bowler, who had +command the following winter, that the planters generally yielded to the +requirements of that department as soon as it was established; that they +made fair contracts with the liberated slaves and strictly and carefully +observed them, and were in all respects considerate toward the freedmen +generally. Of course, I do not mean to say that all the citizens behaved +so well. There were exceptions, even in the first days of +reconstruction, and those exceptions were nearly all by the men who had +never faced the Union soldiers in open battle, but had either skulked or +resorted to guerilla warfare. But I do mean to say that in those early +days, before President Johnson had began to show his final hand, the +rebels were disposed to accept the situation in a manly and loyal way, +and that, if the policy inaugurated by the Union army had been adhered +to, the country would probably have been saved from the Ku-Klux and +other horrors of a later period.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">- 87 -</a></span> + +<p>“One strange fact was deeply impressed upon my mind during the +time of my command in Northeastern Arkansas, namely, the genuine regret +and sorrow among the returning rebel soldiers over President Lincoln’s +death. They not only respected him, but actually regarded him as a +friend, because they believed him to be kind and just; so that, whatever +measures he might have adopted, had he lived, they believed that they +could have submitted to them with full confidence that it would be for +the best. I can not better illustrate that feeling, as it was daily +manifested to me, than by comparing it to the faith and confidence of +erring children to an offended but loving father.</p> + +<p>“The most noted and influential rebel in the district at that time +was, undoubtedly, Gen. Jeff. Thompson. On the 3d of June this noted +general arrived at my headquarters at Jacksonport, pursuant to previous +arrangements, to surrender his command, consisting of eight thousand +officers and men, who began to crowd in on that and the following day in +great numbers. They were the hardest looking soldiers I have ever seen. +Jeff. Thompson himself was a man of commanding appearance, and a perfect +gentleman. In my journal of that day I have described him as follows: +‘He is a tall, sinewy, weather-beaten man, a queer looking genius, +dressed in a suit of snowy white, from the plume in his hat to the heel +of his boot, and with a white sword-belt and white gloves. He is a +clever chap, full of fun, telling great yarns, and an incessant +talker.’ I should judge he was about forty-five years old. On the +third day after his arrival the troops had all assembled, and the +surrender took place in due form. A staff officer from the Department of +Missouri and another from the Department of Arkansas witnessed the +proceedings and received the documents. When all was finished, Jeff. +Thompson had his men assemble on the levee in front of a steamboat, from +the cabin-deck of which he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">- 88 -</a></span> delivered his farewell address. I +stood by his side while he spoke, and expected every moment to see him +pierced by some well-directed bullet from the crowd on shore, but he was +allowed to finish his address without interruption, after which the men +slunk out of sight, and before evening the whole motley crowd had left +the town with the determination, as I verily believe, to follow the good +advice of their general. The address deserves a place among our papers, +and I will read it, as it appeared a few weeks later in Harper’s +Magazine, from a <i>verbatim</i> report made by one of my officers. He said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>‘Many of the eight thousand men I now see around me, very many of +you, have been skulking for the last three years in the swamps within a +few miles of your own homes,—skulking duty,—and during that +time have not seen your own children. I see many faces about me that +have not been seen by mortal man for the last three years; and what have +you been doing all that time? Why, you have been lying in the swamps +until the moss has grown six inches long on your backs, and such men +call themselves “chivalrous soldiers.” A few weeks ago Gen. +Reynolds sent a flag of truce to my headquarters, and I sent out to +gather a respectable force to meet those officers, and not one of you +responded. A few days later, when Col. Davis and Capt. Bennett, of Gen. +Dodge’s staff, bore dispatches to me from that general, I attempted +again to call about me enough of you to make a respectable show, and how +many of these brave men reported at the call? One sore-eyed man with +green goggles. But you rally like brave and gallant men around Uncle +Sam’s commissary stores, and I have now come to surrender you, and hope +that you will make better citizens than you have soldiers.</p> + +<p class="starrow"> ✻✻✻✻✻</p> + +<p>‘Those of you who had arms, with a few exceptions, have left them +at home, and those who had government horses have failed to report them +here. Now let me say to you, one and all, those of you who have retained +your arms, as soon as you get home take them to the nearest military +post and deliver them up, or burn them, or get rid of them in some +manner, for as sure as there is a God in heaven, if they are found in +your houses, just so sure will your houses be burned to the ground; and +I hope to God every one of you who keep good arms or military property +of any kind in your houses will be hanged; and you will, too.</p> + +<p class="starrow"> ✻✻✻✻✻</p> + +<p>‘But I want you to go home and work hard and take care of your +families.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">- 89 -</a></span> Work early and late, and get up at night and see if +your crops are growing. Above all things avoid political discussions. If +any man says “nigger” to you, swear that you never knew or +saw one in your life. We have talked about the niggers for forty years, +and have been out-talked. We have fought four years for the niggers, and +have been d——d badly whipped, and now it is not “your +put.” The Yankees have won the nigger and will do what they please +with him, and you have no say in the matter. If they want him they will +take him; and if they say that you must keep him, you have to do it, and +no mistake. I tell you that you have no say in the matter, and you +oughtn’t to have any. Go home and stay there. Don’t go anywhere but to +mill. Don’t go to church, for the minister will put knots and mischief +in your heads, and get you into trouble. Be good citizens, and then +those of you who have been good, honest and brave soldiers need have +nothing to fear; but I warn those of you who have been nothing but +sneaking, cowardly jayhawkers, cutthroats and thieves, that a just +retribution awaits you, and I hope to God that the federal authorities +will hang you, wherever and whenever they find you, and they will do it, +sure.</p> + +<p class="starrow"> ✻✻✻✻✻</p> + +<p>‘Do not complain if you are not permitted to have a voice in +elections and civil affairs. You have forfeited all such rights, and it +now becomes you to submit to such laws and regulations as the federal +authorities may deem proper to enact. I believe and know that they will +do the best they can for you, especially if you show henceforth that you +now desire to merit their confidence by strict obedience to the laws +where you may reside.</p> + +<p>‘We are conquered and subjected; we have no rights, but must +accept such privileges and favors as the government may see proper to +bestow upon us. Again I say, go home; attend to your business, and try +to raise a new generation of boys that shall become better men than you +have been.’</p> +</div> + +<p>“Jeff. Thompson lived many years after that day, a good and loyal +citizen. He was a brave and generous man, and had always treated our +prisoners with humanity whenever they had fallen into his hands. His +advice to his soldiers echoed the sentiments of the better class of the +rebels in the district at that time.</p> + +<p>“We remained there the whole summer, always impatient to be +mustered out and return to our own homes, but never deviating from the +orderly and friendly position first taken. Many of the men formed +friendships and other connections that have lasted ever since. Some of +them returned after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">- 90 -</a></span> their muster out, and are still counted +among the best citizens of that state; some formed engagements with the +country girls, and went back to marry them. One of my young captains, a +fine St. Paul boy, brought with the regiment to Minneapolis, as his +bride, the most beautiful woman, as well as the most bitter rebel, of +that portion of Arkansas, and I am glad to say that, although she soon +returned with her gallant husband to her native state, where they still +reside, she is now, and has been ever since, as true and loyal to our +banner and our cause as any of our Northern wives and mothers.</p> + +<p>“I would not have it understood that all our work was so pleasant +and peaceful. Sometimes we had to deal with tough cases of both sexes, +and then the iron hand of power was freely used to restrain, but seldom +to punish. As a relic of old slave times I will relate one incident of +many that came under my observation.</p> + +<p>“One day a very tidy negro woman came and reported that her late +master had recently killed her husband. I sent for the former master. He +was a leading physician, a man of fine address and culture, who lived in +an elegant mansion near the city. He sat down and told me the story, +nearly word for word as the woman did. It was substantially as follows: +Tom, the negro, had been his body-servant since both were children, and, +since his freedom, still remained in the same service. Tom had a boy +about eight years old. This boy had done some mischief, and I (said the +doctor) called him in and gave him a good flogging. Tom was outside and +heard the boy scream, and after a while he pushed open the door and took +the boy from me, telling me that I had whipped him enough. He brought +the boy into his own cabin, and then started for town. I took my gun and +ran after him. When he saw me coming he started on a run and I shot him, +of course. ‘Wouldn’t you have done the same?’<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_91" id="Page_91">- 91 -</a></span> he asked me with an injured look. +The killing of his negro for such an offence seemed so right and natural +to him that he was perfectly astonished when I informed him that he +would have to answer to the charge of murder before a military +commission at Little Rock, where he was at once sent for trial. What a +great change in sentiment a quarter of a century has produced! Our +children will never learn to realize what a curse slavery was, even +while some of them were in their cradles.</p> + +<p>“It has been said that the old soldiers occasionally did a little +foraging on their own hook, while in the enemy’s country, and I rather +think they did; but I wish to state most solemnly, that whatever bad +habits the boys might have had in that respect before the surrender of +the Confederate army, they reformed at once after that event, most +thoroughly and sincerely, and during the whole summer of 1865, although +scattered over a wide country, and almost free from military duty and +restraint, there was never a complaint made against a man in my command, +for depredation of any kind, and I verily believe that the rights of +property, even down to the beloved shoat and chicken, were held as +sacred by the Union soldiers in our district during that time as those +rights are ordinarily held in any well-governed country during times of +peace. All things considered I am fully convinced that the excellent +conduct of our soldiers in the South during the early days of +reconstruction, when the army took a prominent part in that work, did +more to establish law and order and to foster friendly and loyal +sentiments towards the Union, than all the laws and constitutional +amendments enacted for that purpose. Had the great and noble Lincoln +lived, or even if President Johnson had remained true to the principles +of his early life, and left the Union soldiers at liberty to carry out +the firm but humane policy of reconstruction which they inaugurated +under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">- 92 -</a></span> inspiration of Grant and Sherman, we would have had +not only a united country, but a loyal and law abiding people in the +South a quarter of a century ago, because the Union soldier was the best +citizen and the best teacher of good citizenship. Armies of other +nations have achieved victories as great as ours, other soldiers than +ours have been patient, obedient, enduring and brave, but none in the +world’s history have shown such greatness in civic virtues as the Union +soldiers of the war of the Rebellion.</p> + +<p>“In the beginning of September, 1865, the regiment was ordered +home, and on September 16th it was mustered out at Fort Snelling, +Minnesota, on which occasion the following general order was read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>‘General Order No. 16.</p> + +<p>‘<i>Officers and Men of the Third Minnesota Regiment:</i></p> + +<p>‘After four years of active service this regiment is about to be +disbanded. Before another day you will all have received your honorable +discharges and be on your way to your quiet, happy homes. The familiar +sound of the bugle and drum will no longer be heard among us. The +“Stars and Stripes,” which we have all learned to love, will +no longer wave over our ranks.</p> + +<p>‘You have toiled, struggled and suffered much during the last four +years, yet to those who are now here to enjoy the triumph over our +enemies and the peace and prosperity of our country, the reward is +ample. I know that we will all regard the acts of those years as the +noblest and proudest of our lives. For those, our noble comrades, who +have fallen victims in the struggle, let us always, with the most tender +affection, cherish their memory.</p> + +<p>‘You have served your country nobly and faithfully in every field +where duty called you, and I am proud to assert that on every occasion +and in every locality, from the northwestern frontier, against the +savage Indian foes, to the deathly swamps of the Yazoo and Arkansas +valleys, against the haughty Southern rebels,—wherever this +regiment has been, its rank and file, its bone and sinew, the true +representatives of our noble young state, have ever reflected honor and +credit on that state.</p> + +<p>‘As your commanding officer I am greatly indebted to you all, +officers and men, for your admirable conduct on all occasions, for your +ready obedience of orders, and for your fidelity, patriotism and +perseverance in the discharge of all your toilsome duties.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">- 93 -</a></span> + +<p>‘In bidding you farewell, I give you all my most hearty thanks. +May peace, prosperity and happiness ever be your reward.</p> + +<p>‘For me, the greatest honor,—greater far than I ever +expected to achieve,—is the fact of having so long commanded, and +at last led home in triumph and peace, the always dear and noble Third +Minnesota Regiment.</p> + +<p class="right"> +‘<span class="smcap">H. Mattson</span>, <br /> +‘Colonel Commanding Regiment.<br /> +</p> + +<p>‘<span class="smcap">P. E. Folsom</span>, Lieutenant and Adjutant.’”<br /> +</p></div> + +<p>During this war the Union army had mustered in 2,883,000 men, 400,000 of +whom had lost their lives. To this army Minnesota contributed 25,052, or +about one-seventh of her entire population. Of this number 2,500 were +killed or died of sickness during the war, and it is calculated that +5,000 died since the war on account of wounds and diseases contracted +during service. The Third regiment had, during four years’ service, a +total enrollment of 1,417, of which number there were left only 432 men +when we returned in September, 1865. The war cost the Union about two +billion, seven hundred million dollars. The sacrifice of gold and blood +was not too great. Not only America, but the whole human race has gained +more through the victories of our army than can be estimated in gold and +blood. And the Scandinavians of the West may justly feel proud of the +part they took in this struggle for liberty and human rights.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">- 94 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><a href="#TOC_8"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER VIII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>My Reason for Taking Part in the Civil War—The Dignity of +Labor—The Firm Mattson & Webster—<i>Svenska Amerikanaren</i>, +its Program and Reception—The State Emigration Bureau of +Minnesota—Its Aim, Plan and Work.</p><br /></div> + +<p>The war which closed with the events narrated in the last chapter was +one of the most important of modern times, and proved the greatness and +the resources of the American people never properly appreciated before. +But it revealed a still greater nobility of character when our immense +army, after four years’ service, suddenly disbanded, its soldiers +quietly and peacefully returning to their common daily toil without the +least disorder or disturbance of any kind. The swords were turned into +plowshares as quietly and naturally as if they never had been steeped in +blood.</p> + +<p>For my own part—and that was undoubtedly the case with most of our +volunteers—I entered the service because I considered it to be my +duty to do my little part in defending the country which had adopted me +as a citizen, and not, as many have supposed, on account of ambition or +for the sake of gain; in fact, as has been shown already, I resigned a +more important and remunerative position in the civil service than the +one I first accepted in the army; hence it was quite easy for me to +exchange the uniform for the plain garb of the citizen and hang my sword +among the reminiscences of the past.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">- 95 -</a></span> + +<p>One day shortly after my arrival home, while walking along a street in +Red Wing, I noticed a former professor of a university, who had been a +captain in the Sixth regiment working in his shirt sleeves with a plane +and helping to build a house. After saluting him I asked how he liked +this kind of work, to which he answered that another professor had been +appointed in his place while he was in the war, and being through with +the service, he neither liked nor could afford to be idle. Having +acquired some skill in handling carpenter’s tools in his youth, he said +he found it easy to get work at two dollars a day, and meanwhile he +could be on the look-out for a position as professor of mathematics at +some college or university.</p> + +<p>Here is the key to the greatness of this country: Labor is respected, +while in most other countries it is looked down upon with slight. The +former professor and Capt. Wilson was soon thereafter appointed state +superintendent of schools, while, if he had remained idle and dependent +upon his relatives and friends for assistance, too proud to work, he +would most likely have been looking around for something to turn up to +this day.</p> + +<p>Another little incident, which occurred about this time may interest the +Swedish reader. The great Gen. Sherman visited St. Paul, and a banquet +was given to him at which I was present. During the conversation I asked +about the Swedish Gen. Stohlbrand. “Do you know him?” Gen. +Sherman inquired. “Yes, sir; he is my countryman, and we served in +the same regiment in Sweden,” I said. “Then,” said he, +“you may be proud of your old comrade, for a braver man and a +better artillery officer than Gen. Stohlbrand could not be found in our +entire army.”</p> + +<p>At the same time the general told the following: Stohlbrand had served +in his corps for some time with the rank of major, and performed such +services as properly belong to a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">- 96 -</a></span> colonel or brigadier-general +without being promoted according to his merits, because there had been +no vacancy in the regiment to which he belonged. Displeased with this, +Stohlbrand sent in his resignation, which was accepted, but Sherman had +made up his mind not to let him leave the army, and asked him to go by +way of Washington on his return home, pretending that he wished to send +some important dispatches to President Lincoln. In due time Stohlbrand +arrived in Washington and handed a sealed package to President Lincoln +in person. Having looked the papers through the president extended his +hand exclaiming: “How do you do, General!” Stohlbrand, +correcting him, said; “I am no general, I am only a major.” +“You are mistaken,” said Lincoln, “you are a +general,”—and he was from that moment. In a few hours he +received his commission and returned to the army with a rank three +degrees higher than that he held a few days before.</p> + +<p>The subject of the conversation thus being Swedish officers, several +honorable deeds were told of some of them, among others, how Col. +Vegesack, his regiment making a charge with leveled bayonets, and his +color-bearer receiving a mortal wound, himself seized the colors and led +his regiment to victory.</p> + +<p>Soon after the close of the war a well-known lawyer and myself opened a +law office in Red Wing, the name of the new firm being Mattson & +Webster. I had successfully practiced law but a few months when it was +announced that a new Swedish newspaper, to be called <i>Svenska +Amerikanaren</i>, was to be established in Chicago. This enterprise was +backed by a number of prominent Swedes of Illinois, who appointed me +editor in chief without my knowledge or solicitation. At that time there +was only one Swedish newspaper in this country, viz., <i>Hemlandet</i>, which +was more of a church than a political paper, hence this was an open +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">- 97 -</a></span> large field for me. I accepted the appointment on condition +that I should not move to Chicago, but simply help to start the paper +and put it on a firm footing, and that I should be allowed to resign in +case I found this kind of work unfavorable to my health, which had been +very seriously affected by the hardships and sufferings of the war.</p> + +<p>On September 18, 1866, the first number of the <i>Svenska Amerikanaren</i> +was published. I quote from the article announcing my having assumed +editorial charge of the paper as follows: “It shall be my ambition +to so write as to advance the interest of the laboring people of our +nationality, and to guide them in becoming good American citizens. I am +one of that class myself, and during my residence in the settlements of +the West I have learned to know their wants.” The paper was very +favorably received both in this country and in Sweden, and, under the +name of <i>Svenska Tribunen</i>, is still exercising a great and good +influence among the Swedish Americans.</p> + +<p>The following winter (1867) the legislature of Minnesota established a +state bureau with the purpose of inducing immigrants to settle in the +state, and I was appointed by Gov. W. R. Marshall to be secretary of the +board of emigration, with the governor and secretary of state as +<i>ex-officio</i> members; the Rev. John Ireland, now Catholic Archbishop of +Minnesota, was also for a time a member of that board.</p> + +<p>The St. Paul <i>Press</i> for March 14, 1867, contained the following +concerning the new board:</p> + +<p>“The state board of emigration, composed of Gov. Marshall, Col. +Rogers and Col. Mattson, was organized yesterday, and a general plan of +operation agreed upon. We learn that the board concluded that, with the +limited means at their disposal, it was not advisable to employ agents +to work in Europe, but to use every practicable effort to turn<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_98" id="Page_98">- 98 -</a></span> immigrants to Minnesota, after their +arrival in this country. Efforts will be made to procure the publication +of facts in regard to the state, in eastern and European journals; to +make arrangements with railroads, more advantageous to emigrants than, +heretofore and to afford them through interpreters and otherwise +reliable information in regard to the best routes to the state from +eastern parts. To give the emigrant a general idea of the +characteristics of every locality in Minnesota, it is proposed to +procure a map or chart of the state, showing its boundaries, streams, +lakes, navigable rivers, timber and prairie sections, etc.”</p> + +<p>One of my first and most pleasant duties as secretary of the board was +to secure aid for the settlers along the Minnesota river. This locality +had suffered from drought the previous year, and the settlers, most of +whom were Swedes, Norwegians and Finlanders, were almost entirely +destitute, and had no grain left for seed. Having secured an order from +the government in Washington for provisions from the commissary +department at Fort Ridgely, and being furnished with a letter of credit +from our own state, I left for the stricken territory in the beginning +of April, passing through the counties of Redwood, Renville, Yellow +Medicine and Chippewa. At New Ulm several hundred sacks of flour were +purchased, and at Fort Ridgely large quantities of provisions were taken +out of the United States military stores. Agents were appointed to +distribute these among the people, seed wheat and corn were shipped +there from the South, and the settlers were thus relieved.</p> + +<p>Soon after my return to St. Paul the board of emigration was again +called together, and I was authorized to appoint Swedish, Norwegian and +German agents and interpreters to meet our emigrants in New York and +Quebec, and be their guides and protectors on the journey through the +country to our state. Temporary homes were also secured until the<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_99" id="Page_99">- 99 -</a></span> commissioners in the service of the +board could get work for those who wanted to work out, and direct the +rest to the interior of the state, where they could settle on government +land or buy cheap land from private parties.</p> + +<p>Arrangements were made with newspapers in different languages for +publishing articles written by myself and others, which contained +descriptions of Minnesota and its resources. Pamphlets and maps with +more detailed accounts, were printed in Swedish, Norwegian and German, +and distributed in the respective countries, on board the ocean +steamers, at the railroad stations and at other convenient places. I was +the author of nearly all of this literature, in which great pains were +taken to describe everything in detail; how the chests or boxes ought to +be made and marked before leaving the old country; what articles ought +to be taken along; what kind of provisions were most suitable; what +measures ought to be taken with reference to cleanliness and behavior +during the long and tedious journey, etc. On my visits among our western +farmers years afterwards I have often seen pamphlets in Swedish and +Norwegian with my name as author standing in the little bookshelf side +by side with the Bible, the prayer-book, the catechism, and a few other +reminiscences from the old country. I also spent some time attending to +the needs of the emigrants in the sea-ports and in Chicago, made +arrangements with railroad companies for securing better accommodations +and even free tickets for hundreds of emigrants, who would otherwise +have been compelled to part with their companions before reaching their +place of destination.</p> + +<p>While performing my duty as secretary of the board of emigration I also +acted as land agent for one of our greatest railroad companies, whose +line went through Wright, Meeker, Kandiyohi, Swift and Stevens counties, +and near Lake Ripley, in Meeker county. I purchased some eight<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_100" id="Page_100">- 100 -</a></span> hundred acres of land for myself, +on which I made extensive improvements and spent some time as a farmer.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 508px;"> +<img src="images/image012.jpg" width="508" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">LAKE RIPLEY.</span> +</div> + +<p>In the above-named localities there were only a few widely scattered +families when I went there in 1867, while it is now one continuous +Scandinavian settlement, extending over a territory more than a hundred +miles long and dotted over with cities and towns, largely the result of +the work of the board of emigration during the years 1867, 1868 and +1869.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">- 101 -</a></span> The board of emigration did not show partiality toward +any portion of the state, but did all its work with a view to the +interest of the whole community. Our efforts, however, in behalf of +Minnesota brought on a great deal of envy and ill-will from people in +other states who were interested in seeing the Scandinavian emigration +turned towards Kansas and other states, and this feeling went so far +that a prominent newspaper writer in Kansas accused me of selling my +countrymen to a life not much better than slavery in a land of ice, snow +and perpetual winter, where, if the poor emigrant did not soon starve to +death, he would surely perish with cold. Such was at that time the +opinion of many concerning Minnesota. I would be more than human if I +did not, in recalling these incidents, point with pride and satisfaction +to the condition of the Scandinavians in Minnesota to-day, but will +return to this further on.</p> + +<p>The position which I held enabled me to be of service to countrymen in +more ways than one. Thus the interests of the church were by no means +neglected, and I think my readers will excuse me for inserting the +following lines from the minutes of the eighth annual council of the +Swedish Augustana Synod, held in Berlin, Ill., June 13, 1867:</p> + +<p>“Whereas, The same conference reports that Col. Mattson has +offered to procure sites for churches, parsonages and burial grounds for +Lutheran churches in the new Scandinavian settlements in Western +Minnesota,</p> + +<p>“Therefore Resolved, That the synod express its thanks to Col. +Mattson, and request him to get deeds on said property to be given to +the different churches of the Augustana Synod, as soon as they are +organized at the different places.”</p> + +<p>It has always been admitted that during those years the emigrants +destined for Minnesota received better care, guidance and protection +than was ever accorded to a like class before or after that time. It is +also acknowledged that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">- 102 -</a></span> state received great benefits in +return by being settled by a superior class of emigrants from the +northern countries. As for my own share in that work, although my +efforts were sometimes misunderstood and I myself blamed, as any one +will be who has to deal with newly-arrived emigrants, I felt much pride +and satisfaction in the work, knowing that not only the state, but the +emigrants themselves, and even the serving and laboring classes +remaining in the old countries, were very greatly benefited thereby. +While laboring hard for immigration to Minnesota my chief object was to +get the emigrants away from the large cities and make them settle on the +unoccupied lands in the northwest, where the climate was suitable to +them, and where it was morally certain that every industrious man or +family would acquire independence sooner and better than in the crowded +cities of the east. I never attempted to induce anyone to immigrate, but +tried to reach those only who had already made up their minds to do so, +and the only people that I ever induced to leave their mother country +were a number of poor servants and tenants among my own or my parents’ +acquaintances for whom I myself paid partly or wholly the cost of the +journey.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">- 103 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a><a href="#TOC_9"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER IX.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>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.</p><br /></div> + +<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">- 104 -</a></span> Sweden, its +people and institutions, with the affection of a child toward its +mother.</p> + +<p>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 +Malmö 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.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> 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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">- 105 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>I passed my old home at Önnestad 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 Möllersvärd, 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_106" id="Page_106">- 106 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <span title=" {inserted} " class="hoverbox">be</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_107" id="Page_107">- 107 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>I had a third uncle, my father’s youngest brother, who lived in +Vislöf, 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!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">- 108 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>I decided to spend New Year’s eve with one of my most intimate boyhood +friends, Mr. Nils Bengtson, in the little village of Skoglösa, +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 Önnestad. 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">- 109 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +Skoglösa, 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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">- 110 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Returning to Skåne I found myself besieged by people who wished to +accompany me back to America in the spring. Having visited my wife’s +relatives at Ballingslöf, 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 +Önnestad.</p> + +<p>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,<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_111" id="Page_111">- 111 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I remember a conversation at an evening party in Näsby<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_112" id="Page_112">- 112 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_113" id="Page_113">- 113 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">- 114 -</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +(Landshöfding) 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.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">- 115 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a><a href="#TOC_10"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER X.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>The Importance of the Scandinavian Element—A Swede Elected +Secretary of State in Minnesota—False Rumors of Indian +Depredations—The Northern Pacific Railroad is Built—Trip to +Philadelphia—The National Convention at +Indianapolis—Delegation to Washington—A Swedish Colony in +Mississippi Moved to Minnesota—The Second Voyage to Europe.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Politically the Scandinavians in America had exerted no particular +influence beyond that they had generally been counted upon as loyal to +the Republican party, and a few of them had held county offices and been +members of the state legislatures in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The honor +of first bringing out a Scandinavian for a state office belongs to F. S. +Christensen, a young Dane, who, in the summer of 1869, was editor of +<i>Nordisk Folkeblad</i> in Rochester, Minn. One day he called on me and +asked if I would be candidate for secretary of state, providing the +Scandinavians of Minnesota should nominate me, to which I readily +assented. A few weeks later a Scandinavian convention was held in +Minneapolis and resulted in designating me as their choice for secretary +of state. At the Republican state convention held in St. Paul in +September that year, I was nominated almost unanimously by the whole +Republican party. Being called to the platform after the nomination, I +accepted the same in a brief speech, which at the time attracted much +attention as echoing the sentiments of our people in the west.<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_116" id="Page_116">- 116 -</a></span> I therefore regard it of +sufficient importance to quote it here:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“<i>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention:</i></p> + +<p>“Allow me to tender you my hearty thanks for the honor you have +conferred upon me by this nomination. I feel doubly gratified for the +very large majority you gave me. The time does not admit of any +extensive remarks upon my part, yet so much has been said lately +regarding the Scandinavian element, that the subject, perhaps, requires +an explanation from me; and, as the chosen representative of the +Scandinavian people of this state in the present campaign, I am +authorized to express their views, and I do so from a thorough knowledge +of them. It is true that we have left our beloved land; we have strewn +the last flowers upon the graves of our forefathers, and have come here +to stay, come here to live, and come here to die. We are not a clannish +people, nor do we desire to build up a Scandinavian nationality in your +midst. You have known us here for many years; you have seen us come +among you unacquainted with your language and your customs, and yet I +know that you will bear me witness how readily and fraternally we have +mingled with you, learned your language and adopted your ways, and how +naturally our children grow up as Americans, side by side with yours. We +have been cordially received in this great west by your own pioneers, +and have become prosperous and happy. Yes, we love this great country of +freedom, and we wish to be and remain Americans.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Being elected a few weeks later by a large majority, I assumed the +duties of secretary of state on the 1st of January, 1870. As secretary +of state I was still a member <i>ex-officio</i> of the board of emigration, +and had charge of all its work and correspondence, which amounted often +to a hundred letters a day.</p> + +<p>In the month of June following, rumor came to the capitol of a new +Indian outbreak on our western frontier. It was said that Indians had +come in the night and committed depredations, and quite an alarm was +caused all along the frontier; the bloody massacre of 1862 was still +fresh in the memories of our people, and while the state authorities did +not believe this rumor, we deemed it necessary to take measures at once +for pacifying the people by protecting the frontier. Therefore I started +out at once with several hundred stand of arms, with ammunition and +authority to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">- 117 -</a></span> organize the settlers into militia companies and +commission officers for the same. Selecting a few friends for company +and aids, we went by rail as far as Benson, Swift county, thence by ox +teams northward, following the frontier settlements to the northern +portion of Otter Tail county. Four companies of militia were organized +and officers duly appointed, the last being in Otter Tail county, with a +Swedish count, Ragnar Kalling, as captain. This prompt action stopped +the panic, and all has been quiet since that time. The rumor of the +Indian depredation proved to have originated with some settlers who, in +the disguise of Indians, had tried to scare away a Norwegian from a +claim which he had taken from another man.</p> + +<p>During this year one of the greatest railroad enterprises in the world +was commenced, namely, the building of the Northern Pacific, extending +from Lake Superior to the Pacific coast, a distance of over two thousand +miles. The celebrated financier Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia, who had +acquired a great reputation as the financial agent of President +Lincoln’s administration during the war, was at the head of the +enterprise. The Northern Pacific Company had received a government grant +of many millions of acres of land along the proposed railroad, and it +required millions upon millions of dollars to build the road. One of the +important financial questions with Jay Cooke was how to derive a revenue +from the sale of lands, and how to get settlers and communities started +along the line of the road. So ignorant were the people of this country +about the region lying within the limits of the Northern Pacific +railroad that it was generally supposed to be either barren or too far +north for successful agriculture; yet that very region has since proved +to be the greatest wheat producing country in the world. Mr. Cooke +himself had been all over it with a small party, under the escort of +United States cavalry, on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">- 118 -</a></span> an exploring tour, and he was perhaps +the only man of that day who foresaw the future greatness of the +Northern Pacific region.</p> + +<p>Late in the fall of 1870 I received a letter from Mr. Cooke, in +Philadelphia, inviting me to come and spend a week with him and talk +over the new Northwest. Upon the advice of ex-Gov. Marshall, who had +spoken of me to Mr. Cooke, the then Gov. Austin and other prominent men, +I repaired to Philadelphia, and spent some days at Mr. Cooke’s palatial +residence near that city. He had also for guests a delegation of French +and German bankers, who had just arrived from Europe. Mr. Cooke +impressed me as one of the greatest and noblest men I had ever met. His +enthusiasm and eloquent arguments carried everything before him. The +millions were raised, largely in Europe, and the road was built, as we +all know. The result of my conference with him was my permanent +engagement, at a salary more than twice as large as that I had from the +state, to repair to Europe in the spring as agent of his enterprise, +with headquarters in Sweden, my special duties being to make known in +the northern countries of continental Europe the resources of the +Northern Pacific, particularly the park region in Minnesota. I was also +requested by Mr. Cooke to draw up a general plan on my return home for +the disposal of the company’s lands, which I did, and that plan was +adopted for the guidance of its land and emigration officers and agents.</p> + +<p>In the month of December a national convention was held in the city of +Indianapolis, Ind., for the purpose of devising measures for the better +protection of emigrants on ocean steamers, and while in transit through +this country. All the states interested in emigration sent delegates to +that convention, and I was one of those representing our state; my +knowledge and experience of the subject at issue enabled me<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_119" id="Page_119">- 119 -</a></span> to take such a part in the +proceedings that at the close of the convention, I was appointed one of +a committee of five (Gov. McCook, of Colorado, State Treasurer Smith, of +Wisconsin, Banker Greenbaum, of Illinois, and a leading newspaper man of +Philadelphia, were the other members) to draft a law for the protection +of emigrants, and to proceed to Washington and lay the same before the +president and congress. There I had an opportunity for the second time +to meet Gen. Grant, who was then president. I spent much time with him, +and he took a lively interest in the emigration question. The result of +our work was the passage by the United States congress of the excellent +laws in relation to emigration which still remain in force.</p> + +<p>In January, 1871, the state legislature of Minnesota again assembled. +The senate then consisted of twenty-two members, and was opened and +organized by Lieut. Gov. Yale, and the house of representatives, with +forty-seven members by myself as secretary of state.</p> + +<p>During that winter I received several touching letters from Swedes +located in the state of Mississippi. They were part of a little colony +which had gone there the previous year, direct from Sweden. The climate +was unsuitable; one-fifth of the people had already died, nearly all the +rest were sick, and there was great distress and misery among them. They +asked me to get them away into the healthy climate of Minnesota. They +were entirely destitute of means, and had to be placed where the men +could obtain employment when they should have regained sufficient health +and strength.</p> + +<p>The Duluth & St. Paul Railroad Company, which was then a part of Jay +Cooke’s system, upon my request, furnished the necessary means, and sent +Mr. F. S. Christensen, heretofore mentioned, to Mississippi to bring the +party to St. Paul, which he did under many difficulties, in such +satisfactory manner that upon his return he received an +appointment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">- 120 -</a></span> by the company as local land agent at Rush City, in +which position he remained many years. He is now president of the bank +at that place, being married as before stated, to my niece, the little +Zelma, whom the Indian squaws were so fond of playing with in the old +log cabin. The little colony from Mississippi has certainly demonstrated +that the northern climate is by far the best for the northern people. +They had left Sweden strong, robust and hopeful men and women; after +having stayed one year in the South they arrived in Minnesota pale, poor +and broken down, lacking strength and energy, and almost without hope.</p> + +<p>The railroad company acted most generously towards them. It built them +comfortable houses, furnished an abundance of provisions, cooking +utensils and other necessaries; they gave the men employment at liberal +wages as soon as they were able to work, and yet many of those very +people growled and complained because we did not do more for them. I +remember distinctly how one of the women, when her share of groceries +and provisions arrived, was perfectly indignant because there was only +granulated sugar, and she had always been “used to drink coffee +with lump sugar in Sweden.” This bad trait among newly arrived +emigrants from any country is very common, gratitude and contentment +being exceptional the first year or two, as all will testify who have +had anything to do with them. It really seems that the more that is done +for them the less satisfied they are. I am glad to say, however, that +after a few years they get over this bad fault, and so did the little +party from Mississippi, most of whom have all of late years repented and +even apologized for their former folly and ingratitude. They formed the +nucleus of the large Swedish settlement west of Rush City, now one of +the most prosperous in the state.</p> + +<p>After the close of the legislature in the spring of 1871<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_121" id="Page_121">- 121 -</a></span> preparations were made for +carrying out my agreement with Jay Cooke to go to Europe for an +indefinite time. Having been criticised by some of my countrymen, for +resigning the office of secretary of state at that time, I owe them the +following explanation: First: Personally, I was comparatively poor, and +the salary which I received from the government, with the great +draw-backs for all sorts of charities and public enterprises, which an +official in that position has to meet, was insufficient to support me +and my family, and I considered that I had the same rights as any other +citizen to better my pecuniary condition, which I did by accepting the +offer of Jay Cooke. Secondly: It was of greater importance to the +public, and I could render better service to the state at this period of +its early development, as agent for a great railroad company, which fact +was fully recognized by our leading public men, and it was with their +advice and at their earnest request that I took the step. I accordingly +tendered my resignation to the governor of our state, but he, out of +polite consideration, preferred that I should take a leave of absence +until fall, when the people would have an opportunity at the political +convention, to designate my successor, and wrote me the following +letter:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="right"> +“<span class="smcap">State of Minnesota</span>, <br /> +“<span class="smcap">Executive Department</span>. <br /> +“St. Paul, May 25, 1871.<br /> +</p> + +<p>“<i>Col. H. Mattson, Secretary of State:</i></p> + +<p>“Dear Sir: Learning that it is your intention, on taking your +departure for Europe, to resign your office of secretary of state, allow +me to ask you to reconsider that resolution. You will leave a very +competent deputy, perfectly acquainted with all the duties of the +office, and in whose integrity, as well as in his honesty, the public +have unlimited confidence. Within a few months your successor will be +indicated by the delegates chosen by the people, comprising the dominant +party of the state, and then he may be appointed, if you are to resign +at all, with no uncertainty as to the popular choice of the individual +who should fill that important post. For these reasons I hope you will +conclude to withhold your resignation, at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">- 122 -</a></span> least for the +present. I most cordially wish you a pleasant journey to the field of +your new labors, great success there, and a safe return to the land you +have served and loved so well.</p> + +<p class="center">“Very truly yours,<br /></p> + +<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Horace Austin</span>, Governor.” <br /></p> +</div> + +<p>It is true that even after the state convention the governor did not +appoint my successor, but preferred to leave the office nominally in my +hands in charge of my very able assistant, the Hon. Pennock Pusey, until +the end of the term, so that in fact I did not resign, but kept my +office during the whole term for which I had been elected.</p> + +<p>In the last week of May I left for Sweden the second time, taking my +family with me. The journey passed very pleasantly over England, Germany +and Denmark. We arrived in Hamburg in the morning of the day when the +Hamburgian troops returned under Prince Carl from the Franco-Prussian +war, and made a triumphant entry into the city, being received with the +greatest enthusiasm by the whole populace. It was indeed a grand sight, +as all these troops marched by our hotel, men and horses literally +covered with wreaths, flowers and bouquets, thrown over them by the +grateful people. On this journey I carried important business letters +from leading railroad men in Minnesota to some capitalists in Holland, +who had advanced several million dollars for the construction of +railroads in our state. I mention this, because it paved my way to very +important business connections with prominent Hollanders a few years +afterward.</p> + +<p>Shortly before entering upon this journey, a private banking and foreign +exchange business was established in St. Paul under the firm name of H. +Mattson & Co. My partners were Consul H. Sahlgaard and A. T. +Lindholm, who successfully managed the business during my absence. A few +years later this affair was merged into the St. Paul Savings Bank, of +which Mr. Sahlgaard became the cashier, while Mr. Lindholm and myself +both withdrew. The banking firm H. Mattson<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">- 123 -</a></span> & Co. was one of +the first firms that, as agent for the Cunard Line, introduced the +system of prepaid steamship tickets from Europe to America, which has +gradually gained the confidence of the people, and developed into a very +extensive and important business.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image041.jpg" width="200" height="43" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">- 124 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a><a href="#TOC_11"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XI.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>In Sweden Again—Reception at My Old Home—Visit to Northern +Sweden—Field Maneuvers in Sweden—The Opening of +Parliament—In Norway—Visit in Stockholm—Royal +Palaces—The Göta Canal—A Trip to Finland and +Russia—King Oscar II.—A Trip to Dalarne in the Winter.</p><br /></div> + +<p>On June 21, 1871, I landed a second time in my native country at +Malmö. As already stated, I was this time accompanied by my wife +and children, and intended to remain in Europe several years, which we +also did.</p> + +<p>At Hessleholm we were met by relatives and friends who conducted us to +the old city of Christianstad, where we were to make our home. The early +part of the beautiful northern summer we spent in visiting friends and +kinsmen. Entertainments, excursions and festivities of all kinds +alternated continually. The kindness and hospitality of the people knew +no bounds, and no matter how defective some of the old institutions of +Sweden may be they are in my opinion more than counterbalanced by the +many beautiful and noble traits of character of the people, which we +observed everywhere, and which are faithfully stored up in our hearts +and minds, so that we always find a great delight in looking back to +those days.</p> + +<p>Having spent a large portion of the summer in this manner, I started in +the month of August on a tour to the northern part of the country, +visiting Stockholm, Upsala, Gefle, Hudiksvall, and several other places. +This was my first opportunity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">- 125 -</a></span> to see the beautiful scenery of +northern Sweden, the fine, quiet bays, the magnificent lakes, the +pleasant valleys, the green hills, the mountains dark with pine forests, +all of which contribute to make the scenery of Norrland so varied and +attractive.</p> + +<p>In the fall I returned to southern Sweden, and had an opportunity to +witness the field maneuvers of the largest portion of the Swedish army, +and also to meet the popular king Charles XV. The maneuvers were very +fine, but, in my opinion, the troops could not have endured a long +campaign, with its exhaustive marches and hardships. The soldiers +complained loudly of fatigue, and quite a number of them were taken sick +after the march of only fourteen to eighteen miles, although the weather +was fine, cool, and bracing. Compared with our American army during the +late war, when marches of twice that distance were quite frequent, the +Swedish army was inferior; but these weak points would probably soon be +remedied by practice in actual warfare.</p> + +<p>After having seen King Charles I was no longer astonished at his great +popularity among the people. There was something about him which seemed +to electrify and charm everyone who came within the circle of his +personal influence. I saw him again the following winter at the opening +of parliament in Stockholm. With all due respect for old Swedish customs +and manners, I cannot but compare this pageant to a great American +circus—minus the menagerie, of course. I would like to describe +this serio-comical demonstration for the benefit of my American readers; +but I am sorry to say that I can no longer remember the titles of the +different officers, heralds, guards, lackeys, pages, etc.,—all of +them dressed in the most gorgeous costumes, some of them preceding, +others following the king and the royal princes, who were adorned with +all the mediæval clap-trap insignia of royalty, and wrapped in +huge mantles of gay colors, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">- 126 -</a></span> with long trains borne by +courtiers or pages. We can comprehend the importance of a display of +this kind a couple of centuries ago, but it seems to me that the common +sense of our times demands its abolishment, and unless I am very much +mistaken King Charles himself, who was a practical and sensible man, was +of the same opinion.</p> + +<p>The same winter I made a visit to Norway, which was repeated the +following summer. The social and political conditions of the country +reminded me somewhat of America, Norway being ahead of Sweden in that +respect, and I am not surprised that the Norwegians are proud of their +beautiful country.</p> + +<p>One of my most pleasant journeys in Europe was a trip which I took in +company with wife and children in the early part of the summer of 1872. +On this trip we went through the lovely province of Södermanland, +and thence by rail to Stockholm, where we met many old friends and +acquaintances. Midsummerday was celebrated in the circle of a number of +happy friends at Hasselbakken, and on the following days we made +repeated visits to the enchanting surroundings of the capital. On one of +these outings to Drotningholm, a summer palace, we met other American +tourists, and I remember distinctly how we all agreed that this was just +the locality for some charitable institution, where the unfortunate poor +and suffering members of society could be taken care of, as, for +instance, a home for old widows, or orphans, or old men who have served +their country faithfully in peace or war, but have been reduced to +poverty in their old age. As a contrast to Drotningholm we pictured in +our minds the Soldiers’ Home near Washington, where Abraham Lincoln had +a few rooms, and found rest and recreation among trees and flowers, and +it seemed to us that some of the country palaces of Sweden might just as +well be used for a similar purpose.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">- 127 -</a></span> + +<p>Having remained in Stockholm for some time, we directed our course +southward, by way of the Göta canal, past Motala, Trollhättan, +and Gothenburg. How great, how delightful, how glorious! Dull and coarse +must that man or woman be who can make this trip without being proud of +the sons of Sweden and their peaceful avocations. In school I had read +the history of Sweden, but it treated chiefly of warfare and of the +exploits of the kings, only incidentally touching the achievements of +peaceful work and the development of social and moral culture, which, in +my opinion, are of supreme importance, and deserve the greatest honor. +But then, it must be remembered that Swedish history was at that time +written with the assumption that royalty and a few warriors are the sun +and the stars around which the whole people and the country revolve, and +from which they received their light and value. A better time has now +dawned on Sweden, and even common people are acknowledged to have a +certain inherent worth. Still I am afraid it will take some time before +old prejudices can be dispelled.</p> + +<p>In the fall of the same year I took a trip through Finland and Russia, +having secured a passport issued by Gen. C. C. Andrews, who was then +United States minister in Stockholm. I went with the steamer Aura from +Stockholm to Åbo, Helsingfors, and Cronstadt. The pine-clad +islands and shores of the Bay of Finland afforded a beautiful panorama +from the steamer. The sight of Sveaborg made me feel that I was still a +Swede in soul and heart, for I was overpowered by a deep sadness when I +thought of the heinous treason by which this impregnable fortress was +forced to surrender.</p> + +<p>I spent several days in St. Petersburg, during which I took in the chief +sights of this grand city, such as St. Isaac’s church, the monument to +Peter the Great, the winter palaces, etc. It happened to be the +anniversary of the coronation of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">- 128 -</a></span> Czar, and I had the +pleasure of seeing the magnificent military parade arrayed for the +occasion. My American passport opened all doors to me wherever I tried +to enter, and I was treated with the greatest politeness by military as +well as civil authorities. To an uninitiated eye my personal liberty and +independence seemed just as great here as in Washington; but that was +not the case, for I knew that my every step was being closely watched.</p> + +<p>One day my guide conducted me to a place in one of the suburbs, where +some hundred prisoners were starting on their long journey to Siberia. +He also conducted me to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, where the +Russian Czars are crowned and buried; and through the fortress and +prison, in whose moist, murky dungeons the political prisoners hear the +great bell in the steeple striking the hour, and the watchman crying his +monotonous, “God save the Czar,” while from year to year the +victims of despotism suffer and languish, often on a mere suspicion, and +without a fair trial, until death finally puts an end to their +sufferings. What is the reason that politically Russia has always been +on the most friendly terms with the United States? How can liberty and +the rankest tyranny have anything to do with each other? This has always +been a riddle to me. I despise the friendship of a despotism like that +of Russia, where the government orders innocent men and women to be +seized in the silence of the night, torn away from their homes and +families, incarcerated in dungeons, and subjected to bodily torture and +social disgrace simply because they are suspected of having expressed or +cherished liberal ideas.</p> + +<p>Returning to Sweden by way of Finland I remained a few days at +Helsingfors. Having presented my passport to the authorities of the +city, the commander of the garrison sent an officer inviting me to visit +the barracks and other places of interest. I accepted the invitation and +spent two days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">- 129 -</a></span> under the guidance of my cicerone. This was of +course a rare treat, and it brought me in contact with many prominent +citizens and officers. We also took a ride out in the country to see the +condition of the peasants. In common with all other Swedes I have always +sympathized with unfortunate Finland, in the belief that its people must +be very unhappy and yearn for a reunion with Sweden. This proved to be a +great misconception. What a peculiar contradiction! The Russian despots +treat the Fins with generosity and justice, and as far as I could +understand, the people were highly pleased with Russian supremacy, and +would not become subjects of Sweden again, even if they could.<a +name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>The following winter I had the honor of meeting King Oscar, of Sweden, +at the funeral solemnities arranged by the grand lodge of Free Masons on +the occasion of the death of King Charles XV. I have attended quite a +number of official gatherings of different kinds in different countries, +and seen persons vested with the highest authority conducting the same, +but as to true dignity and lofty majesty, King Oscar excelled them all. +When I compare him with the czar of all the Russias, or compare the +condition of the Swedes with that of their Russian neighbors, I thank +God for my old native land and its noble king.</p> + +<p>Of my numerous trips in Sweden I must mention one in particular,—a +journey by sleigh,—in company with my old friend Karl +Möllersvärd, from Upsala to Gefle, and from Falun south, +through Dalarne, past Smedjebacken, and the lakes below this to +Vesterås. The beauty of the country of a northern clime does not +show itself in its entire splendor until dressed in the garb of winter. +The branches of the mighty pines loaded down by the dazzling snow; +millions of snow crystals, more beautiful than diamonds, glittering +from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">- 130 -</a></span> every twig as the sun sends its first morning rays through +the forests; the picturesque costumes of the peasantry; the comfortable +inns with their fine dishes of northern game; the neat sleighs drawn by +small, swift, sure-footed horses; here and there a smelting furnace or a +country church,—all these things combined left on my mind a +picture of rural life more quiet, happy and beautiful than I had ever +seen before.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image013.jpg" width="200" height="33" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">- 131 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a><a href="#TOC_12"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Visit in Minnesota and Philadelphia—Conversation with Jay +Cooke—The Crisis of 1873—Negotiations in +Holland—Draining of a Lake in Skåne—Icelandic Colony +in Manitoba—Return to America.</p><br /></div> + +<p>In the spring of 1873 I returned to Minnesota in company with a large +number of immigrants. Being anxious to have my children learn the +Swedish language, I left my family in Sweden where the children attended +school. They spent this summer at Ronneby watering place, where the +surroundings are characteristic of the mild and pleasant scenery of +southern Sweden.</p> + +<p>In traveling from the Atlantic to Minnesota we came by way of the Great +Lakes and the Sault St. Marie canal. Having spent a couple of months in +Minnesota I returned to Europe again via Philadelphia, New York and +Quebec. The reader may remember that the Northern Pacific railroad was +building at that time, and that Jay Cooke, by means of his enthusiasm +and great popularity, had succeeded in raising large sums of money for +this stupendous enterprise. The Union Pacific railroad, south of us, was +already in operation, and its owners, fearing the competition of the new +road, had resorted to all conceivable schemes to undermine the +confidence of the public in the Northern Pacific road and its promoters. +Many of those who had furnished money began to feel uneasy, but Jay +Cooke went ahead, full of hope and confidence in its final success. Just +as I called at his private<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">- 132 -</a></span> office in Philadelphia in August, +one of his bookkeepers handed him a card from a prominent moneyed man in +Philadelphia who wished to see him, and the following conversation took +place between the two:</p> + +<p>“What can I do for you, my friend?” Jay Cooke said.</p> + +<p>“We begin,” said the capitalist, “to lose confidence +in your railroad schemes. I have bought $20,000 worth of bonds, but I am +getting a little afraid, and came to ask your advice.”</p> + +<p>“My dear sir, the Northern Pacific Railroad bonds are just as safe +as United States bonds.”</p> + +<p>“If this is your conviction, will you please exchange them for my +bonds?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly. Here; give this”—he handed him a slip of +paper with a few lines on it—“to my cashier, and he will +give you United States bonds in exchange.”</p> + +<p>The gentleman withdrew perfectly satisfied, and Jay Cooke turned to me +with the following explanation: “I have seen the Northern Pacific +country; that’s the reason I am so confident in the success of this +railroad enterprise. If we only succeed in accomplishing the work, I +shall certainly prove that I was right; but if we fail, our antagonists +will get a grist to their mill. But, whatever the result may be, no one +shall have a right to say that I did not stake my fortune on my +conviction.”</p> + +<p>The same day I left Philadelphia for Europe, but I had scarcely reached +Sweden when the great crisis came. Jay Cooke, whose fortune was +estimated at twenty million dollars, was a ruined man. The work on the +Northern Pacific railroad was suddenly stopped, and the obligations of +the company depreciated to almost nothing. We all remember the terrible +crisis that followed. Thousands of people were ruined, and the whole +country suffered one of the most disastrous financial crises of modern +times. My own loss was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">- 133 -</a></span> a very hard blow to me, not merely +because I lost my position, but because my property in Minnesota, which +consisted exclusively of real estate, stock and farm products, lost its +value. This catastrophe was chiefly due to business jealousy, and there +was no real cause for the panic, which was also clearly proven +afterward. The Northern Pacific railroad has now been completed, and has +proven to possess all the merits which Jay Cooke claimed for it. Its +obligations are again above par. Jay Cooke has paid every dollar of his +debt, with interest, and again lives in affluence and luxury, respected +and honored by the whole country.</p> + +<p>Returning to Sweden I passed through Holland, which country I had +visited a couple of times before, as already mentioned. I carried +important business letters from the leading men of the St. Paul & +Pacific Railroad Company, now known as the Great Northern Railroad +Company. Dutch capitalists had advanced the money—about twenty +million dollars—for building this road. The company had received +very extensive land grants from the United States government; but during +the first few years after the construction of the road to Breckenridge +the country through which it passed was so sparsely settled that the +traffic of the road was insufficient to pay its running expenses, hence +their stocks and obligations depreciated very much in value. But the +American railroad officials with whom I had been connected in the +capacity of land agent were firmly convinced that if this road could be +extended about thirty miles to the Northern Pacific railroad, and a +little more time allowed for the settlement of the country along the +line, the enterprise would pay a handsome dividend. It was my task to +explain this to the Dutch capitalists, and persuade them to advance +another $150,000—a mere trifle compared with what they had +invested already—to build said extension, which was to pass +through a perfectly level country. The president of the<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_134" id="Page_134">- 134 -</a></span> company, George L. Becker, and +its land commissioner, Herman E. Trott, had previously visited Holland +on the same business. But all our representations were in vain. The +Dutch were stubborn, and would not give out another dollar. “It is +of no use,” they said, “to throw away a small sum of good +money after a large sum of bad money, for it is all lost, anyway.” +The crisis of 1873 aggravated the situation still more, for this +company, and its bonds were continually depreciating. The St. Paul & +Pacific railroad had pledged itself to accept its own bonds at par in +payment for its land, and as I and others had sold hundreds of thousands +of acres of this land to new settlers on credit, I tried, and also +succeeded, in perfecting an arrangement with the Hollanders, by which +the new settlers who had purchased land on credit, were allowed to buy +on time the bonds of the company, at about twenty-five per cent. of +their face value, and apply the same, without discount, on their debts +for the land, a method of liquidation that was highly advantageous to +the settlers. As soon as this was found out in Minnesota, bankers and +other capitalists sent agents to Holland to make similar arrangements, +and, in the course of the next three years, a brisk business was done in +exchanging those bonds for land, by which thousands of settlers saved +large sums of money, and a number of bankers and agents made small +fortunes. If I had returned to Minnesota immediately I could have +realized a very handsome profit by this arrangement; but I had made +agreements which compelled me to stay in Sweden some length of time, and +I left this business in the hands of my former partner, Consul +Sahlgaard, and the St. Paul Savings Bank. But they did not grasp the +importance of this matter until it was too late, and the lion’s share of +the profits went to new parties; who thus reaped the benefit of my +plans, as is often the case under such circumstances.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">- 135 -</a></span> + +<p>As in the case of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the subsequent success +of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad proved that Messrs. Becker, +Trott, and myself were right, and if the Dutch bondholders had followed +our advice they would not only have saved their twenty million dollars, +but also made as much more. The bonds continued to depreciate to almost +nothing until the company was declared insolvent, a receiver appointed, +and very expensive legal measures were resorted to, until finally the +Dutch became disgusted with the whole matter and transferred all their +interests to an American syndicate headed by J. J. Hill, of St. Paul, at +present the well-known Minnesota railroad king. The sum paid was a mere +trifle. Hill’s syndicate procured money for building the connecting link +and completing the system. The syndicate made twenty million dollars by +this transaction, and, within five years after the Dutch had sold their +bonds for a mere bagatelle and the company had changed its name to the +St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba, practically the same bonds were +sold on the exchange in Amsterdam for one hundred and fifty cents on the +dollar.</p> + +<p>The only profit I derived from my connection with this business was that +I gained the respect and confidence of the Dutch capitalists, who very +soon understood that they would have been all right if they had followed +my advice. Therefore, when another Dutch company, known as the Minnesota +Land Company, shortly afterward was brought to the verge of ruin by +mismanagement, the affairs of this company were intrusted to my hands, +and when the Maxwell Land Grant Company of New Mexico, which also +consisted of Dutch capitalists, got into similar trouble they appointed +me American manager of the affairs of that company, to which I shall +refer further on.</p> + +<p>Soon after my return to Sweden in the fall of 1873 I became interested +in an important business enterprise near<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">- 136 -</a></span> my old home. A few +years before this a number of Englishmen had organized a stock company +for the purpose of draining a big swamp, and a lake called +Hammarsjö, in the vicinity of Christianstad. After expending a +large sum of money the company failed to accomplish the undertaking. An +officer in the Danish army, Captain M. Rovsing, who had had experience +in that kind of work, in company with myself bought all the privileges +and rights as well as the plant and material of the English company, and +the work was completed under the supervision of Captain Rovsing in the +latter part of 1875. This Captain Rovsing was not only a firstclass +engineer, but also an able and good man in other respects. I cannot tell +whether it is luck or something else, but it is certain that I have +always had the good fortune to enter into close business connections, +and to form ties of intimate friendship, with persons distinguished by +the highest sense of honor and integrity, and of those acquaintances +Captain Rovsing occupies one of the foremost places.</p> + +<p>During a part of this time I also contributed some time and work toward +colonizing the province of Manitoba, and thereby gave an impetus to the +establishment of the first Icelandic colony in the Northwest.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1874 we moved to Gothenburg, where we stayed until the +work at Hammersjö was completed, and in January, 1876, we said +good-bye to Sweden, and arrived in America after a stormy voyage of +nineteen days across the Atlantic. For sixteen days the storm was so +violent that the life-boats and everything which was loose on the deck +was swept away by the waves, and the officers serving during the night +had to lash themselves to the rigging by ropes, not daring to rely on +their hands and feet.</p> + +<p>It is strange how easily people in the course of time get used even to +the most unpleasant circumstances. This was illustrated in a striking +manner by the few cabin passengers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">- 137 -</a></span> who sat packed together in +the cabin during this storm. After a couple of weeks we got so used to +it that we finally found our voyage quite endurable. Still we were very +glad when the beautiful steamer Circassian of the Allan Line brought us +safely to shore in Portland, Me. A few days more on rail, and we were +again safe and sound in our dear Minnesota.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image014.jpg" width="200" height="24" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">- 138 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><a href="#TOC_13"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XIII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Grasshopper Ravages in Minnesota—The Presidential +Election—Chosen Presidential Elector—Minnesota <i>Stats +Tidning</i>—<i>Svenska Tribunen</i> in Chicago—Farm in Northwestern +Minnesota—Journalistic Work.</p><br /></div> + +<p>“The world do move” nowadays, and most emphatically so in +the great American Northwest. An absence of four years is almost enough +to bury one out of sight, at least that is what I found on returning to +Minnesota. The crisis of 1873 had left my finances in anything but a +flourishing condition, to which was added the ravages of the +grasshoppers, which caused considerable losses to me on my farm at +Litchfield, that being about the only property I then owned.</p> + +<p>My attention was soon drawn from these private reverses to public +affairs. The first steps toward re-entering the field of politics was my +nomination for presidential elector by the Republican state convention, +held at St. Paul in the summer of 1876. At the request of the Republican +state central committee, I took an active part in the campaign that +followed, as in fact I had done at every previous election since my +residence in this state, but this time I spent the whole autumn in +making a thorough political canvass through most of the Scandinavian +settlements in the state. During that canvass it was my good fortune for +a long time to be associated with the late William Windom, then a United +States senator, and afterward twice secretary of the treasury.</p> + +<p>Mr. Windom was at that time in the very prime of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">- 139 -</a></span> noble +manhood; his fine mental and physical endowments made him an object of +love and veneration among the people. Though a man of the purest +character and exemplary life, he was a pleasant, boon companion, fond of +a joke and a good story, liberal and charitable in his judgment of +others, easy and polite in his manners, open-hearted and kind toward +all. He was a large, broad-shouldered man, weighing over two hundred +pounds, with a high forehead, dark eyes, and smoothly shaved face. As a +speaker he was earnest, though quiet, fluent and humorous. He never used +tobacco or spirits in any form. We traveled together in all sorts of +conveyances, and held meetings in country stores and school houses; ate +and slept in the lowly cabins of the farmers, but everywhere Mr. Windom +felt at home, and made every body else feel at ease also. I was +afterward with him often and in many places,—from the executive +mansion in Washington to the frontier cabin in the west,—and for +the last time in New York city, when he went there in August, 1890, to +save the nation from a financial crisis, but never did I notice any +difference in his conduct toward the humblest laborer or the highest in +power. In sorrow and adversity he was a tender friend; in manners he was +a Chesterfield; in the senate a Roman, and in the treasury department a +Hamilton. By his death the nation, the state of Minnesota, and his +numerous friends, among whom for many years I had the honor to be +counted, sustained a heavy loss.</p> + +<p>Soon after the close of the campaign I commenced to publish a Swedish +weekly newspaper called <i>Minnesota Stats Tidning</i>, in Minneapolis, to +which place I had just removed with my family, and continued as its +chief editor until the summer of 1881.</p> + +<p>In 1877 friends in Chicago and myself started another Swedish weekly, +called <i>Svenska Tribunen</i>, in that city, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">- 140 -</a></span> for some time I +had the actual management of both papers, dividing my time between +Minneapolis and Chicago. My aim in this journalistic work was mainly to +instruct and educate my countrymen in such matters as might promote +their well-being and make them good <span title=" Amerian " class="hoverbox">American</span> citizens. The <i>Stats +Tidning</i>, or at least a part of it, gradually became a kind of catechism +on law and political economy, containing information under the heading +“Questions and Answers.” This was intended especially for +the Swedish farmers in the state. If a farmer was in doubt as to his +legal rights in the case of a road, a fence, the draining of a marsh, or +wished to know how to cure a sick horse or other animal, or how he could +get money sent from Sweden, or if he wished advice or information on any +other question relating to everyday life, especially if he got into +trouble of some kind, he would write to the <i>Stats Tidning</i> for the +desired information. Such letters were then printed in condensed form +and followed by short, clear, pointed answers, and, so far, I have not +heard of a single person being misled by those answers. On the other +hand, I know that the public, and more especially the newcomers, reaped +very great benefits from them. Few persons have any idea of how irksome +and laborious this kind of journalism is, and at times I was on the +point of giving it up in despair. As an example I will relate one little +incident connected with this work. A farmer in a neighboring county had, +through ignorance of the homestead law, met with difficulties in +securing title to his claim. As usual he wrote to the <i>Stats Tidning</i>, +and received the desired information just in time to save his property, +which was worth over $1,000. On a visit to Minneapolis a short time +afterward his feeling of gratitude directed him to the office of the +paper to express his thanks. In a conversation with him I found that he +had never subscribed for the paper himself, but was in the habit of +going to his neighbor every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">- 141 -</a></span> Saturday afternoon to read it. I +asked if it would not be well for <i>him</i> to subscribe for it also; it +might happen to contain useful information in the future, and he could +afford to pay for it. To this he answered: “No, I cannot do that, +for I have not much time to read, and if I want to read I have some back +numbers of a church paper, from Sweden, and should I want to read +answers to any questions I can borrow a copy of your paper from my +neighbor.” So highly did this good and pious farmer, from a +financial point of view, appreciate information which had saved him his +home. In my opinion such people do not deserve reproach, but sympathy on +account of their gross ignorance. It is also a fact, that, during all +this time, the income received from the paper did not cover its +expenses, and if it had not been for other resources the enterprise +would have failed even at the very climax of its popularity.</p> + +<p>After five years of untiring journalistic work I was only too glad of an +opportunity to sell the paper in the spring of 1881 to a publishing +company, which soon moved the plant to St. Paul. My former associates, +Messrs. Lunnow and Soderstrom, soon after commenced the publication of a +new Swedish weekly, called <i>Svenska Folkets Tidning</i>, which has now a +larger circulation than any other Swedish paper in our state. Having +sold my share in the <i>Svenska Tribunen</i> in Chicago a few years before, +and thus being no longer connected with any newspapers, I found more +time to devote to my wheat farm in the Red River valley.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">- 142 -</a></span> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image015.jpg" width="620" height="389" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">FARM IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY.</span> +</div> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">- 143 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><a href="#TOC_14"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XIV.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>I am Appointed Consul-General to India—Assassination of +Garfield—Departure for India—My Stay in Chicago and +Washington—Paris and +Versailles—Rome—Naples—Pompeii—From Naples to +Alexandria—Interesting Acquaintances on the Voyage—The First +Impressions in Egypt.</p><br /></div> + +<p>In the morning papers of July 2, 1881, a telegram from Washington +announced that President Garfield had appointed me consul-general to +India, in the cabinet meeting of the previous evening. The same telegram +also announced that the president had left Washington for New England, +where he intended to spend his summer vacation in the country. It was +with mingled feelings of satisfaction and misgiving that I faced the +opportunity to satisfy my longing to see the wonderful Orient, +especially India, in which country the missionary Dr. Fjellstedt had +aroused my childish interest, as stated in the beginning of these +reminiscences. After consulting wife and children concerning this, to +us, important news, I walked down town, receiving congratulations from +friends and acquaintances on the way, and, arriving at one of the +newspaper offices, I found a large crowd of people eagerly reading on a +bulletin-board a dispatch to the effect that President Garfield had been +shot by Guiteau. The news caused an excitement and consternation almost +as intense as that produced by the assassination of Lincoln. Telegrams +were received from Washington continually, and outside the newspaper +offices were placed bulletins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">- 144 -</a></span> describing the condition of the +wounded president, who was very popular with the American people. The +last telegram of that day announced that he was very low, and would +probably die before morning. The next morning the dispatches announced +that the president was still living, and that on the previous evening, +believing that he had only a few more hours to live, he had caused to be +made out my own and four other commissions and had signed them with his +dying hand. I feel justified in narrating this in detail, inasmuch as I +am in possession of the document which contains the last official +signature of our second martyred president, and which is a very dear +treasure to me. Believing that it will interest the reader to see the +last signature of President Garfield, I submit a photographic fac-simile +of the same.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image016.png" width="500" height="128" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">GARFIELD’S SIGNATURE.</span> +</div> + +<p>I had only one month to prepare for the journey, and on account of the +long and expensive voyage, it was decided, in family council, that I +should go alone, leaving wife and children in Minneapolis. It was also +understood that I would only be absent about one year, for it was hardly +to be expected that a person of my age could stand the dangerous climate +of India much longer.</p> + +<p>The 17th of August, 1881, was an important day for our little family, +for on that day I left my home for a journey of thirteen thousand +miles,—to distant Calcutta, the capital of India. Passing through +Chicago on the following day, a number of my Swedish friends at that +place had arranged a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">- 145 -</a></span> splendid banquet in my honor. About sixty +of us spent a most delightful evening around the bountiful table; but +what I prized more highly than anything else were the friendly and +cordial feelings which were expressed in speech and song.</p> + +<p>In Washington I spent a few days in order to receive the last +instructions from the state department. Hon. W. Windom, who was +secretary of the treasury under the administration of Garfield, +accompanied me to the White house, where the president was yet hovering +between life and death. We were not admitted to the inner room, which +was separated from the front room only by draperies. I can vividly +recall the picture of the president’s noble wife as she stepped out to +us, and, with an expression of the deepest suffering, affection and hope +in her face, told us that the patient had taken a few spoonfuls of +broth, and that he now felt much better, and would soon recover. Thus +life and hope often build air-castles which are destined to be torn down +again by the cruel hand of fate.</p> + +<p>When the steamer touched the coast of Ireland the first news which the +eager passengers received was that the president was still living and +had been taken to a place on the coast. The voyage across the Atlantic +from New York to Liverpool was a pleasure trip in every respect, and was +favored by the most delightful weather. On board the White Star Line +steamer Celtic,—a veritable palace of its kind,—the +passenger had all he could wish, as far as solidity, speed, reliability, +order, comfort, and good treatment are concerned. On September 9th I +arrived in Paris. It seemed to me as if it had been only a couple of +days since I was sitting in the midst of that happy company of friends +in Chicago, whose tender and cordial farewell still sounded as an echo +in my ears—or maybe in my heart. Nevertheless I was<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_146" id="Page_146">- 146 -</a></span> already in the grand and happy +capital of the third French republic.</p> + +<p>I had time and opportunity to stay a few days in the large cities +through which I passed, each one of which left a particular impression +on my mind, and, although they are similar in most respects, each of +them has its peculiarities, especially with regard to the character, +temperament and customs of the people. I cannot refrain from describing +a few of them. Washington did not seem to be itself when I passed +through it, a cloud of sadness and mourning brooding over it on account +of the critical condition of the president. Boston is prim and stiff, +and seems like a place of learning. New York is a turmoil of pleasure +and business. “Hurry up” seems to be written in every face; +“tumble harum-scarum in the ever-changing panorama of the +world!” Liverpool is a good deal like New York, but on a smaller +scale. London is the stiff colossus of Europe. Amsterdam and Rotterdam +bear the stamp of thrift, cleanliness, earnestness, and comfort. Antwerp +and Brussels that of joyous abandonment. Paris includes everything which +is worth seeing in the others, and shows everything in gayer colors and +to greater perfection.</p> + +<p>I remained only four days in the city on the Seine, and the impressions +of such a short stay are naturally fleeting and probably even +unreliable. Paris has its imposing monuments from the days of Louis XIV. +and the two Napoleons, which glorify the exploits of war; it has its +beautiful churches, palaces and museums like other great cities; but in +my eyes the greatness of Paris is to be found in her boulevards and +public promenades. I also made a visit to Versailles, the wonderful city +of palaces, and spent a day among the great monuments of grandeur and +royalty, misery and tyranny. As works of art they are grand and +beautiful, but their historical significance produce varied feelings. In +the French capital<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">- 147 -</a></span> +everything seemed to indicate comfort and +satisfaction. The workman of Paris is a gentleman in the best sense of +the word. He feels free, independent, and proud in the consciousness +that he is a part of the state. Soldiers were no longer to be seen in +the city; they being garrisoned at Versailles and other neighboring +cities; still there has never before been such a feeling of profound +peace and security in France. Liberty is a great educator. The style, +name, and other indications of the empire are passing away, and the +republic has put its stamp on Paris. The commune is no longer feared, +for the state is no longer an enemy of the people, but a protector of +its rights and liberty. Fortunate Paris! Happy France!</p> + +<p>But I must hurry on, in order to reach the end of my long journey. On +the 13th of September I saw the majestic Alps with their snow-clad +summits, which seemed to touch the very vault of heaven. The same day I +passed through the tunnel at Mont Cenis, and arrived the following day +at Rome, via Turin and Florence. And is this great and glorious Rome? +Yes! These walls, ruins, palaces, and Sabine hills,—aye, the very +air I breathe,—all this belongs to the eternal city. From the +window of my room in Hotel Malori I can read the signs,—“Via +di Capo le Care,” “Via Gregoriana,” etc., and among +these an index pointing to the Rome and Tivoli street-car line. Indeed, +I have seen the great city of Rome, with its churches, statues, +paintings, and ancient ruins and catacombs; the little monument to the +Swedish Queen Christina in the St. Peter’s church; the triumphal arch +which commemorates the destruction of Jerusalem, and the temple of Vesta +where the ancient vestal virgins guarded the sacred fire. Two thousand +years thus passed in review before my eyes in a few days.</p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">- 148 -</a></span> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image017.jpg" width="620" height="386" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">ROME.</span> +</div> + +<p>From Rome I proceeded to Naples. This city is built on the most +beautiful bay in the world, and has a population of six hundred thousand +inhabitants. It is built in the form<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">- 149 -</a></span> of an +amphitheatre, with a steep decline toward the water. In the south we see +the island of Capri, fifteen miles distant, and on the east coast the +volcano Vesuvius, which, by its threatening clouds of smoke, seems to +obscure the eastern part of beautiful Naples, although it lies fourteen +miles distant from the city. Long before the time of Christ the bay +looked about the same as it does now. The chief cities around it at that +time were Naples, Herculaneum and Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius, however, did +not look as it does now, but rose as a green hill, called “La +Somma,” and served as a summer resort for many wealthy Roman +patricians. The city of Pompeii had about forty thousand inhabitants. On +August 23, A.D. 79, terrific rumblings were heard from the interior of +La Somma, the summit of which suddenly burst open, and a pillar of +ashes, steam, and red-hot rocks shot up through the opening to a great +height, and fell, scattering itself over the surrounding country, while +streams of melted lava rolled down the hill-sides and buried Herculaneum +and everything in it under a layer of ashes and lava to the depth of +eighty feet. Toward night the eruptions increased in force, and before +morning Pompeii and some smaller towns were also buried under the +glowing rivers of volcanic rocks, ashes and mud.</p> + +<p>The remarkable history of this place absorbed my mind as I passed +through the two thousand years-old streets of Pompeii, which, in the +course of this century have again been brought to light by the removal +of the petrified ashes and other volcanic matter. The ancient city now +looks a good deal as it did eighteen hundred years ago. It is situated +on a round knoll, and measures three miles in circumference. The houses +are built of stone, and only one story high, with roofs of brick and +floors of cut stone, just as the modern houses in that vicinity are +built to-day. Every house has an open court in the center, and all +aisles and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">- 150 -</a></span> doors lead to this. Glass windows were not used, but +the rooms received light from the open court, which could be covered by +canvass as a protection against the sun and rain. I measured the +streets. They proved to be twelve feet wide, with a four-foot-wide +sidewalk on either side. The paving consisted of boulders, with a flat +surface about twenty inches in diameter, and contained deep grooves made +by the chariot wheels. The houses were standing in their original +condition, with fresco paintings on the walls and statues in their +proper niches. The temples with their sacrificial altars, the theatres, +the court, the council-house, and all other public buildings were +adorned with marble pillars and choice works of sculpture. I saw a +barber-shop with chairs, niches for the soap and mugs, and the waiting +sofa. In a baker’s house I saw the oven, the dough-trough, scales, and +petrified loaves of bread. In a butcher shop were a saw, a knife, and +other tools. There were also furniture, vessels for cooking, bowls, +grain, pieces of rope, and plaster of Paris casts of the human bodies +which had been found, generally prostrate, with the face pressed against +the ground. There lies a cast of a man with a pleasant smile on his +lips; he must have passed unconsciously from sleep to death. But it is +fruitless to try and describe this remarkable place which has no +parallel on the face of the earth. I heard the Swedish language spoken +in this city of the dead, and had the pleasure of making the +acquaintance of Alderman Törnquist and wife, from Wimmerby, and a +Doctor Viden and his daughter, from Hernösand. Thus the living meet +among the dead, representatives of the new times stand face to face with +the dead of antiquity, children of the cool North in the sunny South. +What a wonderful world this is, to be sure!</p> + +<p>The 17th of September I embarked on board the steamer La Seyne, destined +for Alexandria in Egypt. The warm,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">- 151 -</a></span> Italian noonday sun poured +down its dazzling rays; we were surrounded on all sides by ships and +steamers carrying the flags of all nations; hundreds of fishing crafts +were sailing out of the harbor, and in the distance the mighty volcano +Vesuvius towered in imposing majesty above the vine-clad hills. There +was a life and a traffic which it is difficult to describe. While La +Seyne was lying at anchor for several hours out in the bay, Italian +singers in their boats swarmed around the ship and entertained the +passengers with music. Other boats contained three or four men each, who +begged the passengers to throw coins into the water. As soon as a coin +was thrown, down dived one of the men to the bottom, and invariably +returned with the coin in his mouth although the water was very deep, +perhaps from seventy-five to one hundred feet. The voyage across the +Mediterranean was very pleasant, especially in the vicinity of the +island of Sicily. The deep blue sky, the orange groves and vineyards on +the island, and the neat, white cottages,—all gave an impression +of indescribable tranquility and happiness.</p> + +<p>On this voyage, which lasted three days, I became acquainted with +several interesting persons, among others with a Professor Santamaria, +professor in an university in Egypt, and his family, and with a Jesuit +priest, Miechen by name. By birth a French nobleman of a very old and +rich family, he had been educated for a military life, and had served in +the army with distinction, and in the late Franco-German war he had been +advanced to the rank of major, although he was only thirty years of age. +But suddenly he had been seized with religious enthusiasm, and had given +up his illustrious family name, renounced his fortune, his honors, and +the brilliant military career which lay open to him, in order to become +a priest. After two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">- 152 -</a></span> years of theological studies he was +ordained a priest, and admitted into the Jesuit order.</p> + +<p>He had now been ordered to supply himself with a full set of certain +scientific instruments, and with them to repair to Cairo, Egypt, where +he would receive further orders. I talked a great deal with this man. He +spoke English fluently, and was equally familiar with nearly all the +other European languages. He was no fanatic or religious crank, but a +polished, cultured gentleman, who had seen and learned to know the +world, reaped its honors and tasted its allurements, and he was +evidently as liberal and tolerant as myself. And this man went to a +field of action of which he had no knowledge whatsoever. Probably an +honorable position as professor in a university was awaiting him, or +perhaps he would have to go to some isolated mountain to observe a +phenomenon of nature in the interest of science, or penetrate a +malarious wilderness as missionary among savages, where he would be +debarred from all intercourse with civilized people, and deprived of all +the comforts and conveniences to which he had been used during his +previous life. Still he went willingly and joyfully to his work, +completely indifferent as to his fate, thoroughly convinced that he was +on the path of duty—to accomplish what God intended he should do. +I was on my way to a great country and a court as the representative of +one of the greatest nations on earth, but when I walked the deck arm in +arm with this humble priest, I felt my inferiority compared with him, +and I actually considered his position enviable. On the same voyage I +became acquainted with a Danish traveler,—A. +d’Irgens-Bergh,—who afterward met me in India, where we visited +many places of interest together, and established a friendship which +afforded both of us much pleasure.</p> + +<p>On the morning of September 21st the coast of Egypt appeared in sight. +There is Alexandria, founded by Alexander<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">- 153 -</a></span> the Great, and +formerly renowned for its commerce, and as the centre of learning and +culture of the then known world. Even now this city is grand and +beautiful, although its beauty and style are different from anything +else that I have seen. We often form conceptions of things which we have +not seen, but which are interesting to us, and when we afterward find +that those conceptions are wrong we feel disappointed. Thus I had always +thought of Egypt as a country of a dark tone of color, probably on +account of the fertility of the soil of the valley of the Nile, since we +Northerners find that fertile soil is dark and poor soil of a lighter +color. Therefore I could hardly believe my own eyes when everything I +saw on the shore looked white. Not only the houses, palaces, and huts, +but even the roads and the fields, all had a white color.</p> + +<p>As we neared the harbor, and even before the pilot came on board, we +noticed that all the flags were at half-mast. As soon as I landed and +had shown my passport to the customs officer an elegant equipage was +placed at my disposal under the charge of a dragoman, and we drove to +the office of the American consulate, where also the flag was at +half-mast. The sad occasion for this soon became apparent. President +Garfield had died during my voyage across the Mediterranean, and the +whole civilized world was in mourning.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">- 154 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a><a href="#TOC_15"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XV.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Alexandria and its Monuments—The Egyptian +“Fellahs”—The Mohammedans and Their Religion—The +Voyage Through the Suez Canal—The Red Sea—The Indian +Ocean—The Arrival at Calcutta.</p><br /></div> + +<p>I was now in Africa and Egypt, among the remnants of ancient glory of +which I had read so much, and which I so often had longed to see, in the +wonder-land of Egypt, with which every Christian child is made +acquainted through the first lessons in Bible history, the country to +which Joseph was carried as a slave, and whose actual ruler he finally +became by dint of his wisdom and virtue. I was in the Nile valley where +<span title=" Pharoah " class="hoverbox">Pharaoh</span> built his magazines and stored up grain for the seven years of +famine, and whence Moses conducted the children of Israel by means of +“a pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire.” In the land of +the pyramids everything seemed strange and wonderful, and different from +anything I had seen before. The streets crowded with people, the +bazaars, the oriental costumes, the Babylonian confusion of all the +tongues of the earth,—all this combined made on me an overwhelming +impression. Cleopatra’s needle; Pompey’s pillar; the caravans of camels +on their way into the desert; the old graves and catacombs; the palm +groves, the oxen turning the old-fashioned water-wheels which carry the +water from the Nile for irrigating the fields, just as in the days of +Moses,—all this was reproduced in actual, living pictures before +my wondering eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">- 155 -</a></span> Side by side with these remains of the past +we meet with the great European improvements of our days,—the +large ships in the harbor, the churches, the schools, the universities, +the modern markets for trade and commerce, the splendid hotels and +exchanges.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image018.jpg" width="620" height="408" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">ALEXANDRIA.</span> +</div> + +<p>I stopped two days in Alexandria. The second day I visited the summer +palace of the khedive, or vice-king, on which occasion a funny incident +took place. Like every other foreigner coming to Egypt I had bought a +sample of the head-gear generally used in that country, consisting of a +red cap called “fez,” which is made of very thick, soft +felt, and fits very closely to the head. With this cap on and wearing a +tightly buttoned black coat I rode in the equipage already mentioned to +the palace. Ishmael Pasha, the former khedive, who had just abdicated +and left the country, had been very popular among his servants and +adherents. I was of the same size and build as he, my beard was cut like +his, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">- 156 -</a></span> in my red fez I looked so much like him that when our +carriage passed through the gateway to the palace some of the servants +whispered to each other that Khedive Ishmael had returned, and when the +coachman stopped at the entrance I was surrounded by a number of +servants who greeted me and evinced the greatest joy. The poor creatures +soon discovered their mistake. Their good friend the khedive will never +return to Egypt, for England and France will not allow it. He was too +sincere a friend of his own people, and too independent in dealing with +the shareholders of the Suez canal built during his reign.</p> + +<p>Alexandria has a population of two-hundred-fifty thousand. It was +founded by Alexander the Great three hundred years before Christ, on +account of the great natural advantages of this place as a seaport. At +the time of Christ it had about half a million inhabitants. It was +repeatedly ravaged by destructive wars, and finally completely pillaged +by Caliph Omar, who is also said to have burnt its library, the largest +and most valuable collection of books of antiquity, an act by which +civilization suffered an irreparable loss, the library containing the +only copies of a number of ancient literary works. It is claimed that +the caliph gave his generals the following characteristic answer, when +asked what was to be done with the library: “If it contains +anything contrary to the Koran it is <i>wrong</i>; if it contains anything +that agrees with the Koran it is <i>superfluous</i>; therefore, at all +events, it ought to be burnt.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image019.jpg" width="620" height="432" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">PILLAR OF POMPEII.</span> +</div> + +<p>The most remarkable of the ancient monuments still remaining in +Alexandria is Pompey’s pillar, which is a monolithic shaft of polished +red granite, seventy-three feet high and twenty-nine feet eight inches +in circumference. One of the most interesting objects of a more recent +origin was the Café El Paradiso. It consists of an immense +restaurant and concert hall, or rather halls, for there are many of +them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">- 157 -</a></span> One of these extends over the water, so that when one +sits there drinking genuine Mocha coffee and smoking a Turkish +nargileh one can hear the beating of the waves and feel the +undulations of the azure Mediterranean. I drove out into the country +a few miles to see the Egyptian fellahs, or peasants. No—I +shall not disgrace the name “peasant” by using it here; +for the Egyptian fellah is an ignorant, superstitious, absolutely +destitute, and, in every respect, miserable wretch, and is worse off +than a slave. Four walls of stones or earth make one or two rooms, +with a floor of clay and a roof of straw or sod. A wooden box, a +couple of kettles, and some mats made of grass or palm canes, are the +only pieces of furniture. A couple of goats, an ass, or, at the very +best, a yoke of oxen, are all he possesses in this world. He works +hard, and his fare is exceedingly plain. He neither desires nor +expects anything better, nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">- 158 -</a></span> stimulates him to acquire +wealth; for that would only give the tax-gatherer a pretext for extra +extortions. Miserable Egypt! I have seen much poverty and much misery +among men; but of everything I have seen in that line nothing can be +compared with the wretched condition of the Egyptian fellah.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image020.jpg" width="620" height="432" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">FELLAH HUT.</span> +</div> + +<p>Still these unfortunate people seem to find happiness in their religion. +Here some one might object that this is a wretched happiness, because +their religion is Mohammedanism or Islamism. Man feels himself drawn to +a higher power. No matter what his condition, he longs for a life after +this, and searches after an object for his worship, and when he has +found this object he will give up his life rather than give up his +faith. And still that object for which a person or a nation is willing +to sacrifice even life itself is ridiculed and despised by another +person and another nation. If the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">- 159 -</a></span> ignorant were the only ones +who disagree in matters of faith, this condition might be easily +explained; but even the highest civilization has failed in its attempts +to harmonize the different religions, and, in my opinion, this fact +ought to make all thinking men tolerant and liberal toward those who +hold different religious views. The Mohammedan faith has made a deep and +lasting impression on a population scattered over a large part of the +surface of our earth, and no one dares deny that its adherents are much +more devoted to their religion and much more conscientious in observing +its rites than we as Christians are with reference to our religion.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 194px;"> +<img src="images/image021.jpg" width="194" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">FELLAH WOMAN.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">The adherents of</span> Mohammed now number one hundred and thirty millions, +and the number is constantly growing. Many believe that this religion +gains so many adherents because it is sensual, and allows all kinds of +debauchery. But this supposition runs counter to the facts. It is true, +that Mohammed allowed a man to have four wives; but it must be +remembered that he limited the number to four, and that the number had +been unlimited before. The life of an orthodox Musselman is an unbroken +chain of self-denial and self-sacrifice, and, in this respect, we must +<span title=" acknowlege " class="hoverbox">acknowledge</span> that he is superior to us Christians. His chief article of +faith is expressed in this dogma: “There is no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">- 160 -</a></span> god but +Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” The leading commandments +bearing on the practice of their religion are prayer, ablutions, +alms-giving, fasting, and a pilgrimage to Mecca. The use of intoxicating +drinks is strictly prohibited, hospitality is recommended, gambling and +usury are not allowed. Friday is the Mohammedan’s day of rest. Since my +first visit in Egypt I have been very closely connected with many +Mohammedans, several of whom have been members of my own household, and +it affords me great pleasure to testify that, as far as my observations +go, they have lived faithfully according to the precepts of their +religion. Nay, I am convinced that in most cases they would renounce +property, liberty, and even life itself, rather than violate any of the +cardinal precepts of the Koran. But as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">- 161 -</a></span> to the Egyptian fellah, +he has no comfort to renounce, his whole life being made up of continual +fasting and abstinence from sheer necessity, so that it is comparatively +easy for him to be a good Mohammedan.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 590px;"> +<img src="images/image022.jpg" width="590" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">IRRIGATION MILL.</span> +</div> + +<p>Having engaged a berth for the voyage from London to India on the +steamer City of Canterbury, which I was to take about this time at the +west end of the Suez canal, I could not remain any longer in Egypt, but +took the Austrian steamer Apollo to Port Said, at the entrance to the +Suez canal. On September 25th, in the evening, I embarked on the City of +Canterbury where I made myself comfortable in a fine state-room which +had been reserved for me. It takes two days to pass through the Suez +canal, which runs through a great sandy plain that was formerly covered +by the waters of the Red Sea. Among the many memorable places which were +pointed out to us during this passage was also the spot where Moses is +said to have conducted the Israelites across the Red Sea. The work on +the Suez canal was commenced in 1859 and completed in 1869, and it cost +about $95,000,000. The length of the canal is one hundred miles, its +width at the surface of the water is three hundred and twenty-eight +feet, at the bottom seventy-two feet, and its depth twenty-six feet. To +a ship sailing from Sweden or England to Bombay in India, the distance +by way of the Suez canal is five thousand miles shorter than by the +passage around the Cape of Good Hope.</p> + +<p>I recollect an anecdote which dates from the opening of the canal in +1869. On that occasion an irreverent speaker is claimed to have said in +toasting De Lesseps, the French engineer who planned and executed the +work, that the latter was the only man who had improved upon the work of +the creator: He had connected the waters of the Red Sea and those of the +Mediterranean. Thus the significance of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">- 162 -</a></span> a great work may also +find an expression in the garb of a bold joke.</p> + +<p>Having remained in Suez a short while, the steamer glided out on the Red +Sea, keeping close up to the naked coast of Africa. On the second day of +our Red Sea voyage we saw Mount Sinai looming up some distance from the +coast of Arabia. September is the hottest month of the year in that +region, and as we had the wind with us, the customary breeze caused by +the motion of the steamer was neutralized, and the heat was terrific. We +slept on the deck, and we hailed the morning hour with joy on account of +the shower-bath which was afforded when the sailors washed the deck. It +is a conundrum to me why this body of water is called the Red Sea, for +there is nothing whatever to suggest this color. One day we had a +miniature illustration of a sand storm. A strong wind carried the sand +from the coast of Africa several miles into the sea and covered the +steamer with a layer of fine, white sand, which looked like fresh snow. +We also had a chance to see flying fish which flew over the ship, and +occasionally fell down on the deck. These fish were small and +silver-colored, their fins looking a good deal like the wings of the +bat. They can not turn in their course, nor can they fly up and down at +pleasure, but only upward and forward in a straight line; and when they +fall down on the deck they are just as helpless as any other fish out of +water.</p> + +<p>Having reached the Indian ocean, the temperature became more pleasant, +so that we no longer suffered so much from the heat. At last our +splendid steamer plowed its course up the majestic Ganges, the sacred +river with its one hundred mouths, on whose peaceful bosom millions and +millions of human bodies have been carried to the ocean. For a distance +of eighty miles we sailed up this wonderful river,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">- 163 -</a></span> and on +either side we could see cities, temples, palm groves, and large crowds +of people. On October 15th we arrived at Calcutta, where I was received +by the American vice-consul, and comfortably quartered in the Great +Eastern hotel.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image041.jpg" width="200" height="43" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">- 164 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><a href="#TOC_16"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XVI.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>India—Its People, Religion, Etc.—The Fertility of the +Country—The Climate—The +Dwellings—Punkah—Costumes—Calcutta—Dalhousie +Square—Life in the Streets.</p><br /></div> + +<p>This is India, the wonderful land of the Hindoos. Africa had appeared +strange to us compared with Europe and America; Asia seemed still more +so. The Hindoos have a high and very old civilization, but entirely +different from that of Europe and America. The country is named after +the river Indus. It is hardly equal in area to one-half of the United +States, but contains a population of more than two hundred and +sixty-nine millions, eighty-one millions of whom are Mohammedans, one +hundred and ninety millions Brahmins, two millions Christians, three and +a half millions, Buddhists, Parsees or fire-worshipers, two millions +Sikhs, and the rest are Jews or adherents of unknown religions. Queen +Victoria of England is Empress of India, and the country is ruled in her +name by a viceroy. It is divided into three great presidencies, viz., +Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, and these are again divided into a number of +districts and native principalities. In order to maintain her supremacy +in India, England keeps an army of about two hundred thousand regulars, +of whom a little over one-third are English and the rest natives; and +beside these there is a large militia and police force. Most of the +native soldiers hail from the mountain districts. The most prominent +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">- 165 -</a></span> them belong to the Sikhs and Gourkas, two Indian nations. +The Sikhs are tall, stately fellows, in my opinion ideal soldiers for a +standing army. The Gourkas are smaller in stature, but very energetic +and hardy; and both are renowned for their courage and endurance. It is +said that a Gourka soldier would rather fight than eat, while a Sikh +takes the matter more philosophically, and eats first and then fights. +All native regiments are commanded by British officers, and<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_166" id="Page_166">- 166 -</a></span> a native seldom attains the rank +of a commanding officer,—not because he is incapable of performing +this duty, but rather because the English do not trust him implicitly.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 405px;"> +<img src="images/image023.jpg" width="405" height="498" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">SIKH CAVALRY MAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>The bulk of the people belong to the Arian race, as we do; with the +exception of the complexion, which is a little darker, their features +are the same as ours. Occasionally a Hindoo may have red hair, but never +blonde hair and blue eyes. Comparing the higher and the lower classes, +the complexion of the former is lighter, and their bodies are better +built and statelier than those of the lower or laboring classes, who +also have a darker skin. The English language is used at the court and +in all official circles, and the men of the higher classes among the +natives speak and read English.</p> + +<p>The plain of Bengal, in which Calcutta is situated, is triangular in +form, each side being about one thousand miles in length. It is bounded +by the Bay of Bengal, the Indian ocean, the Bay of Persia, and the +Himalaya mountains. The soil is very rich, and, having been cultivated +for thousands of years, it still produces two or three fair crops a year +without fertilization or proper cultivation. As the Nile in Egypt +deposits a rich sediment over its valley, so does the river Ganges carry +from the mountains a whitish, slimy silt, which it deposits during its +annual overflow in the plains of Bengal. This silt is a great +fertilizer, and thus nature supplies what poor husbandry fails to +provide.</p> + +<p>It is not my intention to give a description of India and its wonderful +people, but simply to give some pen pictures of scenes and incidents +which came within the range of my observation and experience during the +year and a half which I stayed there. I shall therefore ask the reader +to follow me on my daily walks of life as well as to some of the +<span title=" fetes " class="hoverbox">fêtes</span> and entertainments where I was a guest, and on my travels +through the wonderful country. I had a chance to come in contact with +all classes, as the rank to which my official +<!--[image024]<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">- 167 -</a></span>--> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">- 168 -</a></span> +position entitled me not only +opened the doors of the palaces and temples to me, but also paved my way +to the humblest houses.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image024.jpg" width="620" height="391" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">STREET IN CALCUTTA.</span> +</div> + +<p>India has over five hundred cities. Of these Calcutta is the largest, +and has a population of about eight hundred thousand. It is called +“the city of palaces,” but only certain portions of the city +deserve that name. Owing to the warm climate, the buildings in India, as +in all other warm countries, are low, seldom more than two stories high, +and the walls and roofs are very thick. The building material generally +consists of brick and cement, the roofs being mostly made of the latter. +There are verandas on the sides of the houses, and these, as well as the +windows, are protected by heavy Venetian blinds. In the evening the +doors and windows are thrown open so as to let in the cool night air, +but in the morning they are closely shut, so as to keep as much of it as +possible. Inside there are many contrivances for protecting the people +against the excessive heat. The most important of these is the punkah, +consisting of a wooden framework which is stretched with heavy canvass +and is about two and a half feet wide, and from ten to twenty feet long, +according to the size of the room. It is suspended from the ceiling, and +reaches down to the heads of people sitting on chairs. By means of +pulleys this punkah is kept in an oscillating motion by coolies +stationed in the back of the house or on the back porch, and it creates +such a pleasant breeze that one forgets all about the heat. Every room +or office in the houses of Europeans and Americans has its punkah, and +even the churches have a great number of them during the hot season. +From March till October the punkahs are kept in motion all night over +the beds of those who can afford the luxury of four “<span title=" punka " class="hoverbox">punkah</span> +walla” (pullers); for it always takes two pullers for each punkah +in the day-time, and two others at night to relieve each other every +hour or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">- 169 -</a></span> two. Servants’ wages are very low in India, and as the +punkah walla belongs to the lowest grade of servants his wages are only +five rupees ($2.50) a month, and he must board himself as do all other +servants.</p> + +<p>The clothing which people wear also adds largely to their comfort. The +cooley, or common laborer, wears a long piece of cloth wrapped around +his waist and tucked up so as to resemble a short pair of drawers, and a +head gear somewhat resembling a turban; the breast, back, and upper +limbs being entirely naked. Both men and women of the better class of +natives have loose falling robes of jute, silk or cotton. Europeans +generally dress in white linen trousers and jackets, and it is only +toward evening when taking a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">- 170 -</a></span> drive near the public parks, or at +night while attending parties and receptions, that etiquette compells +them to put on the black dress suit. What strikes the newcomer most on +his first arrival in India is perhaps the great number of people that he +meets and sees. The cities are veritable bee-hives of moving crowds of +people, and the bazaars, shops, and dwellings resemble honey-combs, with +their many subdivisions, giving each man or group of men the smallest +possible space.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image025.jpg" width="620" height="435" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">TYPES OF THE LOWEST CASTE.</span> +</div> + +<p>Sitting in my comfortable easy chair with my eyes closed, thinking of +the past, I now see a picture of a spot in Calcutta called +“Dalhousie Square,” where I loved to walk in the cool +evening shades. I wish I were an artist and could paint the picture on +canvas for my readers; but since I am not I will try to describe it with +the pen. Dalhousie square is about twice the size of our ordinary city +parks; it is laid out in walks, flower beds and grass plots, and planted +with flowers, shrubs and trees of almost every imaginable kind; it is a +perfect gem of a little park. It is surrounded by a high iron railing, +with gates at the four corners, which are open in the day time. On one +side of the park are the new government office buildings, while the +other sides are lined with ordinary business houses, separated from the +park by wide streets. The principal one of these streets leads from the +viceroy’s palace up to the native part of the city, and is generally +frequented by a great number of fine carriages, hacks, palanquin +bearers, horsemen, and thousands of pedestrians.</p> + +<p>At one corner is a hack stand, with hacks just like our own; but instead +of our American hackdriver we find the native Jehu, or coachman, who, +while waiting for a customer, sits perched on the seat with his feet +drawn up under his body, engaged with needle and thread in sewing a +garment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">- 171 -</a></span> for himself or his wife, perhaps, or occupying himself +with a piece of embroidery or fine crochet work.</p> + +<p>In front of yonder fine office building is seated a Durwan (doorkeeper), +who is a Brahmin or priest. He sits at that door or gate all day long, +and sleeps in front of it at night on his little bed, which resembles a +camp cot. Early in the morning he takes up his bed and walks with it to +the rear, where stands a little cookhouse in which he prepares his food +for the day, consisting chiefly of boiled rice and vegetables. Just now +he is reading aloud, and with a singing voice, from the Shastras (the +Hindoo Bible) to a crowd of listeners, who eagerly and reverently seize +on every word from the holy writings. Just behind me on a green spot in +the park a dozen or more Mohammedans lie prostrate, their foreheads +touching the ground, repeating their prayers; and if it happens to be at +the setting of the sun hundreds of people are seen in the streets, +shops, hotel corridors, or wherever they happen to be, turning their +faces toward the holy city Mecca, reverently kneeling and saying their +evening prayers.</p> + +<p>Here on the side-walk, close by me, sits a money-changer and broker. He +has a box filled with coins of almost every kind and description; he +buys and sells gold and silver of other countries, such as are not +current in Calcutta, loans money on jewelry and other valuables, and +does a general banking business on a very small scale. There comes a +peddler,—more of them. Now they are crowding in by the hundred, +selling canes, parasols, embroideries, watches, jewelry, and trinkets of +every description, following the foot passengers, running beside the +carriages going at full speed, sticking their goods through the windows +and imploring the occupants to buy.</p> + +<p>Going around to the more quiet side of the square, I find a professional +writer squatted on the side-walk. He has a bundle of dry palm leaves, +and a customer of the lowest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">- 172 -</a></span> Hindoo classes stands before him +stating what message he wishes to send to his wife and relatives in the +country. With a sharp steel instrument the writer inscribes some strange +Bengal letters on the palm leaf, folds it up into a little package which +is sent by a traveling neighbor, or, perhaps, by a swift messenger, to +the dear one in the humble cottage which stands somewhere out on the +plain among the rice fields.</p> + +<p>A little further on sits a native barber, also on the side-walk.<a +name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Instead of a barber’s chair he +has a common-sized brick. The man who is to be shaved squats down +opposite the barber; if the customer is the shorter of the two the brick +is put under his feet, but if he is taller the barber puts the brick +under his own feet, in order that they may be on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">- 173 -</a></span> perfect +level before the operation begins. A Hindoo barber not only shaves and +cuts the hair, but also cleans the nails and ears and does other toilet +work.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image026.jpg" width="620" height="439" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">HINDOO BARBER.</span> +</div> + +<p>There I see two stately men walking arm in arm; they have fine cut, very +regular features, and beautiful black hair and beard; their intelligent +looks and easy carriage command attention; they wear japanned shoes, +snow white trousers, long white linen coats buttoned close to the chin, +and high black hats without brim. They are Parsees, descendants of the +ancient Persians and fire-worshipers, and probably merchants and men of +wealth. And there again I see a group of Asiatic Jews in skull caps and +long gowns,—keen, thoughtful and intelligent, without the +slightest change in manners, costumes, or features since the days of the +Jews of nineteen hundred years ago.</p> + +<p>In the crowded street I suddenly hear a shout, and see two men running +with staffs in their hands, hallooing: “Stand aside, get out of +the way, you fellows! The Prince of Travancore is coming! Clear the +road, get out of the way!” Close on the heels of the runners is a +magnificent carriage drawn by four Arabian steeds. By the side of the +driver sits a trumpeter, who occasionally blows in a long horn to make +known that the great personage is coming. Inside is the prince, and +behind the carriage are four mounted soldiers, his body guard.</p> + +<p>Just coming in sight around a street corner, turning up one of the +native streets, is a long line of ox-carts. They are loaded with cotton, +jute, hides, indigo, or other native products. They are very light, and +are drawn by a pair of Hindoo oxen no larger than a two-year-old heifer +of our cattle, but with fine limbs and a high hump over the shoulders. +They are yoked far apart, about the same way as in Sweden; but the +coolie driver sits close behind them and guides them by a twist of the +tail with his hand. Several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">- 174 -</a></span> palanquin-bearers are passing the +square. The palanquin is a long covered box attached to a long pole and +carried by four men, two at each end of the pole, which rests on their +shoulders. Inside the palanquin is perhaps a Hindoo merchant going to a +bazaar, or a couple of students going to the university, or maybe the +wife of some well-to-do native merchant on the way to the home of her +parents.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image027.jpg" width="620" height="420" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">INDIGO CART.</span> +</div> + +<p>The trees in the park are all full of flowers, like the tulip tree and +the chestnut in bloom. Innumerable birds of gay colors flutter among the +branches of the trees, and on the roofs of the highest houses we +discover a couple of the so-called adjutant birds, a species of stork, +which stand like sentinels on guard watching the thousands of ravens +that hover over the city ready to dive for any garbage that may be +thrown out into the street or alley. Formerly, these were the only +scavengers in the cities of India. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">- 175 -</a></span> dozen coolies who are +almost naked are seen running among the carriages sprinkling water on +the streets from goat skins, to keep the dust down.</p> + +<p>There comes a family procession of the lower class with a basket of +bananas and wreaths of flowers going to the river Ganges to offer +sacrifices and enjoy an evening bath in the open river. Early every +morning thousands upon thousands may be seen in the streets bent on a +similar errand. Men from Cashmere, Afghanistan, China, Arabia, Thibet, +etc., are seen in the throng, dressed in their native costumes. It is a +strange and beautiful picture to look at for a little while. I have +described only a small portion of it, for fear of tiring the reader.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 524px;"> +<img src="images/image028.jpg" width="524" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">HINDOO MERCHANTS.</span> +</div> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">- 176 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><a href="#TOC_17"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XVII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>The Promenades of the Fashionable World—Maidan—The +Viceroy—British Dominions in India.</p><br /></div> + +<p>No European or American walks out doors in India, excepting a promenade +early in the morning or late in the evening. They are either carried in +palanquins, or, which is more common, they keep a horse and carriage. +Observing the good old rule of adopting the custom of the country, I +also procured a phaeton and a gray Arab as well as the indispensable +Hindoo driver and runner, and I now invite the reader to take a ride +with me late in the afternoon, when hundreds of equipages fill the +fashionable driveways.</p> + +<p>It is five o’clock in the afternoon, and the dim rays of the setting sun +allow us to lower the top of the carriage so that we may have an open +view all around. But before doing this, we must exchange the white +business suit and broad-brimmed Indian hat (which are made of the light +pith of an Indian shrub somewhat similar to our elder bush, and covered +with a thin layer of cotton) for the conventional black hat and coat, +for these people are dreadfully ceremonious. The <i>chandra</i> takes his +place in the driver’s seat, and the <i>badon</i> on the steps behind the +carriage. They are both dressed in snow-white outer garments, which look +a good deal like a common nightgown, and a head dress consisting of ten +yards of white muslin, wound several times around the head in the shape +of a round turban. The Mohammedan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">- 177 -</a></span> coachmen and runners +generally wear the colors of their masters in the same manner as other +native servants do. In my case, of course, it was the red, white and +blue sashes, belts and turbans. The runner has his place on a step +behind the carriage, and it is his duty to jump off and run in front to +clear the way whenever it may be necessary.</p> + +<p>We start from the Great Eastern hotel, where I first resided, down a +long street called Chowringhee road, which is two miles long and very +broad, and lined on the east side by English residences built of stone. +Every mansion stands in a large garden full of tropical trees and +plants, and surrounded by a stone wall five feet high. There are wide +double gates for carriage drives, and at these gates the durwan (gate or +doorkeeper) sits the whole day long. On the west side of the street runs +a double street-car track, and beyond this is an immense common parade +or pleasure ground, the Maidan, which extends to the Hoogley, a branch +of the Ganges. On the west side it is bounded by the Strand, and on all +other sides by a macadamized road about one hundred and fifty feet wide +and planted with large, shady trees on either side. The east side of +this road is already described. On the north side, from the river to +Chowringhee road, between Eden Garden and the palace, it is called the +Esplanade. Another hundred-foot-wide road runs south from the palace, +and divides the ground into halves. This is called the Red road because +it is macadamized with crushed red brick. From the Red road opposite +Fort William another great road runs to Chowringhee road. A great number +of foot-paths cross each other in all directions, and in the evening +these are crowded with people in oriental costumes going to their homes +in the suburbs.</p> + +<p>Here and there are statues erected to the honor of prominent English +generals and statesmen, and certain parts of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">- 178 -</a></span> grounds are +also dotted with small groups of palms and other tropical trees. All +these trees and plants are different from those growing in the North. +Most of them have very broad and thick leaves, nearly all of them bear +beautiful flowers, and many of them fruits. They are green the whole +year round. In the north-east corner of the grounds is a garden of about +forty acres which is called Eden. It is exceedingly beautiful and +contains a great variety of trees and flowers, an Indian pagoda, lakes, +canals and bridges, and thousands of birds enjoying an almost +undisturbed existence, and singing and twittering among the trees and +flowers. Eden Garden is surrounded by a low brick wall with several +gates, the widest of which is the one next to the Strand. Inside this +gate is a high orchestra stand, and below a square promenade on the fine +grass plat. From six to seven o’clock in the evening a military band +plays to the fashionable world which gathers here to take an evening +walk.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image029.jpg" width="620" height="361" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">GOVERNMENT HOUSE.</span> +</div> + +<p>A quarter of a mile below the Eden garden is the historical Fort +William, around which Lord Clive and other heroes struggled to found the +British Empire of India. Below the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">- 179 -</a></span> fort and next to the Strand +is the drill-ground, and below this again a large race course. South of +Maidan are several suburbs, and beyond these a zoological garden.</p> + +<p>Driving past the imposing orange-colored palace of the viceroy, called +the government house, which very much resembles our capitol at +Washington, but is neither so large nor so elegant, we finally strike +the Esplanade, where the Chowringhee road meets the Red road. We stop a +few minutes at the Esplanade to take a look at the gay picture. The +Esplanade is crowded with a surging mass of humanity, all going from the +river bank to their homes in the Eastern part of the city. It is the +sixth day of the new moon, and thousands of men, women and children have +been down to the river, washed themselves in its waters, and offered +sacrifices consisting of fruits and flowers. The women are dressed in +white, red, yellow, green, blue or violet garments. The smallest +children sit astride on the left hip of their mothers, the men carry +large baskets of fruit, mostly bananas, on their heads for the river-god +received only a small portion, and the rest is to be eaten at home. Here +and there among the pedestrians is a well-to-do Hindoo who takes his +family, consisting of two or three wives and a crowd of children, to the +river in an ox-cart. There are hundreds of musicians and peddlers in the +throng, and all are joyful and rejoicing. It must be observed that only +people of the lower classes take part in such public demonstrations in +company with women and children. Fashionable women would never walk +beyond the gardens around their own houses and do not appear in company.</p> + +<p>Soon carriages are seen passing by in long rows, either down the Red +road or to the right along the Esplanade toward the Strand. We follow +the latter and arrive at the river bank where thousands of people are +yet busy with their sacrifices or trading with peddlers for fancy goods +and dainties, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">- 180 -</a></span> others listen to the music from peculiarly +constructed flutes and drums, which vie with each other in producing the +most ear-rending discord. Elegantly covered carriages swarm in four +lines up and down the road. Most of the occupants are Englishmen with +their ladies; but you may also see quite a number of Hindoo princes or +noblemen with their ladies in oriental costumes, or Parsee merchants in +black silk coats and high caps. To the right there is a veritable forest +of ship’s masts extending along the beach for miles, and to the left +some native soldiers are being drilled. We drive down and have a chat +with the English officers and stop to see a game of polo played, the +native cavalry contesting with their English officers, all displaying a +wonderful skill. Every now and then a couple of young Englishmen or +officers on horseback meet each other, and yonder are two half-naked +Hindoos on a jog-trot carrying a load which looks like a big coffin, but +which turns out to be a palanquin occupied by a passenger who, in an +inclined position, smokes his cigar and takes as much comfort as he can +get in that primitive mode of traveling. But see there! At a given sign +hundreds of men arrange themselves in long rows with their faces turned +to the west, just as the sun sinks below the horizon; they prostrate +themselves with their faces turned toward Mecca, and say their evening +prayers. They are Mohammedans.</p> + +<p>Returning we stop at the gate to the Eden garden where a large number of +equipages have already arrived before us, compelling us to wait for our +turn to drive up and get out of the carriage. The garden is now +illuminated by thousands of gas and electric lights; men, women and +children walk forth and back on the soft grass plats; the military band +plays well-known tunes; Chinese, Parsees, Jews, Hindoos and Arabs, in +the most varied costumes, mingle with each other and with the Europeans. +There are plenty of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">- 181 -</a></span> seats for such as wish to sit down and +rest; but it is now time for exercise, and they walk in rows of ten or +more until the band winds up its program for the evening by playing +“God save the Queen.” In the midst of a general hurry and +confusion we hunt up our carriage which was to stop at a certain spot, +and return to the crossroad from which the roads of Maidan as well as +the streets in the city may be seen glimmering in the gaslight as far as +the eye can reach. When we reach home it is just time to dress for +dinner, which generally begins at eight o’clock, lasting two or three +hours. As to fashionable life, social pleasure, display of dress and +finery, etc., Calcutta excels every other place in the world.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 591px;"> +<img src="images/image030.jpg" width="591" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">PARSEE FAMILY.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">- 182 -</a></span> +My exequatur not having arrived from London, I had to obtain a special +recognition from the viceroy as American consul-general, after which my +formal presentation took place. The Marquis of Ripon was viceroy during +my stay in India. On presenting my credentials I had a lengthy +conversation with him, and learned to admire him from that moment. From +my memorandum book written on that day I quote the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Lord Ripon is a plain, manly man, whose character, head, and +heart would have made him a great man even if he had been born in +obscurity, but now he ranks as one of the highest, and is one of the +wealthiest of the English nobles. He said, among other things, to me: +‘I like America and her people very much. I was there on a +commission which tended to make America and England better friends, and +all such efforts are well worthy all men (he referred to the Alabama +treaty, in which as Earl de Gray he was one of the commissioners). With +American and English ideas of liberty it is hard to understand how to +rule India. I would educate the natives,’ said he, ‘even if I +believed that it would be dangerous to English power, because it would +be right to do so; but I don’t think it is dangerous. India has always +had a few very able and highly-educated men, while the millions have +been in utter ignorance and superstition, and such a condition is more +dangerous to English rule than if all are raised in the scale of +knowledge. My only object, and I think England’s, in India, is to +benefit India. Our schools and railroads are doing away with ignorance, +and are fast destroying the <i>caste</i> system. Considering the natives as +enemies, we must put on a bold front and fear no danger, but be always +on the guard.’”</p> +</div> + +<p>Afterward I became intimately acquainted with this truly noble man, and +was proud and happy to be counted by him as one of his very few friends +in India who stood by him when the powerful Anglo-Indian bureaucracy +turned against him on account of his humane efforts to raise the natives +socially and politically. Unfortunately for India, she has not had many +British rulers like Lord Ripon, but most of them, in conjunction with +the office-holding class, rule India, not for the good of India, but for +their own interests.</p> + +<p>Our British friends are certainly entitled to credit for the<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_183" id="Page_183">- 183 -</a></span> audacious pluck which they showed +when a handful of their soldiers and citizens conquered that great +country with its innumerable inhabitants. The only thing, however, that +made it possible to do so, and which makes it possible to hold India +to-day, is the internal strifes, the jealousies and the religious +intolerance among the natives themselves. If they were united they could +free the country from the foreigners in a month. But why should they? +The country is better governed than ever before, and it is gaining fast +in progress and prosperity. Still there is a deep hidden feeling of +ill-will toward the English, and the time will yet come when a terrible +struggle will be fought in India. Perhaps Russia will have a hand in the +fight. It will be a bloody, savage war, and will cause Great Britain +serious trouble. I said that India is better ruled now than ever before; +but that is not saying much, for it ought to be ruled still better and +more in the interest of the natives. India has civil service with a +vengeance, the office-holding class being even more arrogant, proud and +independent than the titled nobility. They rule the country with an iron +hand, regard it simply as a field for gathering in enormous salaries, +and after twenty-five years’ service they return to England with a grand +India pension. The English look down upon the lower classes with haughty +contempt, chiefly because the latter try to insinuate themselves into +favor with the former by means of all kinds of flattery. Nobody is of +any account in India unless he is an officer, either civil or military; +hence all the best talent is circumscribed within narrow office routine +limits, and nothing is left for the peaceful industrial pursuits except +what the government may undertake to do, and that is usually confined to +railroad and canal improvements. England wants India for a market, +therefore nothing is done to encourage manufactures, but rather to +cripple them. With the cheapest and most skilled labor in the world, +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">- 184 -</a></span> natives of India are compelled to buy even the cotton +garments they wear from England though they raise the cotton themselves, +and England is very careful not to establish a protective tariff in +India.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image041.jpg" width="200" height="43" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">- 185 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><a href="#TOC_18"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XVIII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>An Indian Fête—The Prince of Burdwan—Indian +Luxury—The Riches and Romantic Life of an Indian +Prince—Poverty and Riches.</p><br /></div> + +<p>I shall now invite my reader to accompany me to the city of Burdwan, +which is situated about seventy miles north of Calcutta, for the purpose +of attending an Indian fête to which I was invited shortly after +my arrival at Calcutta. Burdwan is the name of an old principality (as +well as of its capital) situated on the great Indian railway. The +principality of Burdwan is now under the English government, but it has +its own maharajah, or prince, to whom the English government grants +certain rights over the people and property of this principality. The +ruling prince during my stay in India was a young man of about +twenty-two years. He had a good European education, spoke English well, +and had, to a great extent, adopted European manners and customs. His +name was Aftab Chand Muhtab Bahadur. In the beginning of December, 1881, +he was installed as maharajah of Burdwan by Sir Ashley Eden, at which +time he came into actual possession of his inherited rights; and this +event was celebrated by great festivities in the palace and city of +Burdwan.</p> + +<p>The fête which commenced December fifth and closed December tenth +was celebrated according to a well-chosen program for each day. About +fifty English civil and military officers with their families were +invited as guests to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">- 186 -</a></span> palace. Some of them occupied rooms in +the palace, others lived in tents pitched in military order in the +palace garden, and about three hundred Indian guests were lodged in +private houses in the city. I was the only foreign guest, and was +assigned a neat pavilion, built partly over an artificial lake in the +garden, and the second place of honor at all ceremonies—an honor +which was, of course, due to the republic which I represented.</p> + +<p>The palace consisted of several large buildings two or three stories +high, and several small pavilions, all in Italian style, situated in a +park or garden of some forty acres, and surrounded by a stone wall +twelve feet high, with two beautiful porticos. The largest building +contained the private apartments of the prince, two large parlors, two +dining halls, a ball room, a billiard room, a library, several picture +galleries and a large armory,—all of them furnished in the most +expensive and magnificent style. The floors and stairways were of +Italian marble, and the walls of the large parlors adorned by huge +mirrors set in frames inlaid with emeralds, rubies, and other precious +stones. Sculptures of marble from Italy, of porphyry and alabaster from +Egypt, and porcelain vases from China, etc., adorned the corridors and +niches of the halls of the main building.</p> + +<p>Another large building was inhabited by the women, among whom the mother +of the prince is the mistress; but they themselves, as well as the +interior of their palace, remain concealed from the gaze of the guests. +Elegant carriages with drivers, servants and grooms in oriental livery, +caparisoned horses, saddles and bridles shining with gold and silver +trimmings, were day and night at the disposition of the guests, and at +his arrival every guest received a small blank book with fifty leaves on +which to write his name and the kind of refreshment he wished, and +hundreds of servants dressed in white were always ready to fetch it to +him in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">- 187 -</a></span> the palace garden, at the race courses, or in the summer +houses.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 238px;"> +<img src="images/image031.jpg" width="238" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">NAUTCH DANCER.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">The festivities</span> and merriments were arranged so that every guest had +perfect liberty and sufficient time to follow his own taste. The +following may serve as an illustration:</p> + +<p>On <span title=" Wesdnesday " class="hoverbox">Wednesday</span>, December 7th, at half-past seven o’clock, a high school +was inspected, and the governor of Bengal distributed prizes among the +scholars; at ten breakfast in the large dining hall; at twelve the +instalment of the young prince; at two luncheon; at three the opening of +the races; at half-past seven illumination and pyrotechnics; at eight +grand dinner; at ten a ball in the palace for the Europeans; and nautch +dancing and music by native women in a pavilion in the garden.</p> + +<p>One day a canal was opened and dedicated. It was twenty miles long, and +built for the purpose of supplying several cities and country districts +with an abundance of water. All the streets and roads in and around +Burdwan were in a splendid condition, wide and macadamized with crushed +brick. From the railroad station to the palace and two<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_188" id="Page_188">- 188 -</a></span> miles beyond to two villas, as +well as along the principal streets in the city, and along all paths and +roads in the palace garden, bamboo poles forty feet long were erected on +both sides, and about forty feet apart. These poles were all wrapped in +red and white glazed paper, and had flags at the top. The poles were +connected by lines along which colored glass lamps were suspended six +inches apart, and these were all lighted at six o’clock. I was told that +there were over forty thousand such lamps, and that it took five hundred +men to fill, light, and attend to them. From nine to twelve o’clock +every night an electric light was beaming from one of the palace towers, +and Wednesday evening there was a magnificent, display of pyrotechnics +around an artificial lake about a mile from the palace. The latter cost +about twenty-five thousand dollars. Its effect on men, animals, and +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">- 189 -</a></span> tropical plants was such that a man from the North found it +difficult to realize that he was still on this earth of ours, and not +far away in the fairy world of fiction.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image032.jpg" width="620" height="454" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">COLLEGE BUILDING.</span> +</div> + +<p>Reality is so wonderful in India that I have hardly dared to tell the +following without gradually preparing my reader for it. This young +prince, whose guest I was and with whom I talked a good deal, is a poor +foundling, having been adopted by the old prince, who died childless, +and by the consent of the English government he was made his sole heir. +His landed estates were so large that he paid two million two hundred +thousand dollars to the English government in annual taxes on the income +from his lands! How large his total income is, nobody knows. Inside the +palace walls, which were protected by a strong body-guard night and day, +were deep subterranean vaults with secret entrances, where gold and +jewels were concealed in such quantities as may be imagined only when it +is remembered that during a period of three hundred years the family has +been accustomed to accumulate these treasures by at least three +“lacs rupees,” or one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, a +year. But during the same time millions upon millions of people have +starved to death in the principality of Burdwan, and even now it is safe +to say that nine-tenths of the people who cultivate the soil and live on +the estates of the maharajah and pay him tribute are so poor that they +could scarcely sustain their life a single month in case of drought or +inundations.</p> + +<p>To describe the whole fête would require a whole book, and I +therefore select the installation ceremony, which, by the way, was the +most important of the festivities. It took place in a small mango +forest, about a mile from the palace. A pleasant country road, decorated +with banners and spanned by triumphal arches covered with flowers, led +to the place. A tent pavilion sixty feet long and forty feet wide<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_190" id="Page_190">- 190 -</a></span> was erected about a hundred yards +from the road. The tent was supported by forty pillars covered with +silver tinsel paper, and the canvas consisted of heavy linen woven in +many-colored squares, which were about three feet each way. The sides of +the tent were open, and between each of the outer pillars was stationed +a Hindoo soldier dressed in shoes, gray stockings, black knee breeches, +and a red coat, one half of which was embroidered with gold and silver, +while the head was covered by a red turban richly adorned with gold +ornaments. These soldiers were gigantic, dark figures, armed with curved +sabres and long lances. They stood immovable as statues, and only the +rolling of their flashing eye-balls showed that they were living men. At +the upper end of the tent was an elevated platform with a gilt chair for +the governor, and behind this, chairs for the European ladies. From the +platform to the entrance at the opposite end was an aisle, on each side +of which were four rows of chairs for the guests, all numbered and +placed according to their rank. The aisle and the walk to the country +road were covered with expensive Persian rugs, and chamberlains in +dazzling costumes conducted the guests from the carriages to the seats +assigned to them in the tent. The European officers were seated on the +first row to the right, and the Hindoo princes and noblemen on the first +row to the left, with the young maharajah next to the platform. The +other chairs were occupied by Hindoo and Mohammedan zemindars +(proprietors of landed estates), scholars, and dignitaries.</p> + +<p>A most splendid display of costumes in satin and velvet in all possible +colors and fashions, all of them richly adorned with gold and silver +trimming and embroideries, besides glittering necklaces and diamond +rings, added brilliantly to the scene. All the natives kept their +headdresses on,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">- 191 -</a></span> most of them wearing low turbans of colored or +white silk, ornamented with gold, pearls and gems.</p> + +<p>Only the prince of Burdwan and the young prince of Kutch Behar were +armed, and these only with Damascus cimeters. The prince of Burdwan wore +a purple satin garment, red silk shoes and a high cap in the shape of a +crown. His breast, neck, headdress and hands glittered with diamonds and +rubies. Over this garment he wore a mantle of dark yellow cloth, which +was very artistically woven, and cost about ten thousand dollars. Most +of the native nobles distinguished themselves by a stately, military +bearing, looking both handsome and intelligent. Some of them were very +dark, but most had about the same complexion as the Spaniards. Jet black +hair and black, flashing eyes were universal, only a single one having +dark red hair and beard.</p> + +<p>When all had been seated the governor, accompanied by two adjutants and +several servants, arrived. A guard of honor, consisting of one hundred +Sepoys, was stationed in front of the tent, and saluted the governor by +presenting arms, during which the military band played an English +national tune. Eight huge elephants were arranged in a row between the +road and the tent; these were covered by rich caparisons adorned with +heavy gold and silver embroideries, and carrying on their backs small +pavilions in which richly dressed drivers walked a few steps back and +forth. At the door of the tent the governor was received by eight +artistically uniformed aids-de-camp carrying marshal’s staffs, silver +horns, lances and perfumes.</p> + +<p>The act of installation was now in order, and was performed in the +following manner: The maharajah stepped up before the governor and +received from his hand a parchment roll, by which the queen conferred +authority. Having read this in a loud and solemn voice, the governor +hung a chain of diamonds and rubies around the neck of the<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_192" id="Page_192">- 192 -</a></span> prince, and made a short +congratulatory address to him. The minister of finance brought a silver +basin filled with Indian gold coins, which he handed to the governor as +an emblem of tribute to the English government. The prince now resumed +his seat, and two chamberlains brought gold vessels on silver trays +containing attar of roses, and two others brought spices in similar +receptacles. The attar of roses was sprinkled over the audience, and +each one of the native guests received a small quantity of spices +wrapped in a palm leaf. Finally the band struck up a march, and the +whole retinue returned to the carriages by the road side and drove back +to the palace. One of the carriages of the procession was loaded with +silver coins, which were thrown right and left to the thousands of poor +and beggars, who crowded the road on both sides. In the evening, again, +provisions and clothing were distributed to about fifteen thousand poor, +who had flocked in from all parts of Burdwan, but who had not been +allowed to enter the city.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">- 193 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><a href="#TOC_19"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XIX.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Allahabad—Sacred Places—Kumbh +Mela—Pilgrimages—Bathing in the Ganges—Fakirs and +Penitents—Sacred Rites—Superstitions.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Allahabad means the dwelling of God, and the Hindoos regard it as one of +the most sacred places of India. It is a city of one hundred and fifty +thousand inhabitants, and has a strong fortress with an English +garrison. It is the seat of the government of the north-western +provinces, and is situated on a point of land between the rivers Ganges +and Jumna, on the great Indian railroad, about five hundred and +sixty-five miles from Calcutta, and about the same distance from the Bay +of Persia.</p> + +<p>In a tropical climate where rain seldom falls during nine months of the +year, it is quite natural that the people regard streams and rivers as +their greatest benefactors, and by means of the vivid imagination of the +South this sentiment has occasionally been developed into religious +worship and idolatry. In this manner the great Ganges, which flows +nearly through the entire length of India, has, since time immemorial, +been regarded as sacred, as have also all places where three rivers +meet. At Allahabad the Jumna meets the sacred Ganges, thus affording two +of the necessary conditions to make the place sacred, and it was easy +for the fertile imagination of the Brahmins to create the third, which +is said to consist in a spiritual current from above, pouring down +continually at the point where the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">- 194 -</a></span> Jumna and the Ganges meet +and mingle. It is claimed that this invisible river is very abundant, +especially in the month of Magh, from the middle of January to the +middle of February, but the most favorable period in this respect is +under the <span title=" astromical " class="hoverbox">astronomical</span> cycle Yuga, which occurs every twelfth year in +the month of Magh, and is called “Kumbh.” This occurred in +1882, which was therefore a very important year for the Hindoos.</p> + +<p>To bathe in the Ganges always means a spiritual purification, and to +bathe there where the three rivers meet at Allahabad in the month of +Magh is a very sacred rite. Every good Hindoo endeavors, if possible, to +bathe at this place at least once during his lifetime; but to bathe +there during the Kumbh Mela, or the twelfth year’s cycle, is the most +sacred act a Hindoo can perform, and such a bath is said to atone for +the greatest sins both of the bather and his nearest relatives, be they +living or dead. Out of the immense population of India, one hundred and +ninety millions profess the above faith. Being a very religious people +in their way, and testifying to their faith by their works, it is no +great wonder that Allahabad in the course of four weeks was visited by +nearly two million pilgrims, who came there only for the purpose of +bathing in the sacred river. Partly from curiosity and partly in order +to obtain reliable information, I also made a short pilgrimage to this +place.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image033.jpg" width="620" height="393" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">INDIAN CART.</span> +</div> + +<p>I said that nearly two million people visited Allahabad during the Kumbh +Mela, which I attended. They came from all parts of India, men and +women, young and old, but especially the old, of all classes from the +beggar to the prince, of all castes from the despised coolie to the +haughty Brahmin. They came on crowded railroad trains, or on elephants, +camels, horses, asses, in ox-carts and in boats on the rivers, but most +of them on foot along roads and pathways, across fields and meadows, the +living ones carrying the ashes of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">- 195 -</a></span> the cremated bodies of their +dead relatives to throw them in the holy river. Many of them had +traveled great distances and been on the journey for months. Old men who +did not expect to return to their homes, but were in hopes of finding a +grave in the sacred waters, and had said good-bye to everything which +bound them to life; cripples and invalids expecting to be cured on the +banks of the Ganges, congregated in large numbers at this sacred place. +Fanatical penitents came crawling on hands and feet; holy Fakirs had +measured the way by the length of their own bodies for scores of miles. +The penitent Fakir who travels in this manner lies down on the ground +with his head toward the place of destination, makes a mark in the +ground in front of his head, and crawls forward the length of his body +and lies down again with the feet where he had his head before; a new +mark, another movement ahead, etc., and so he keeps on, one length of +his body at a time, until he reaches the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">- 196 -</a></span> holy river. During +this journey the Fakir is surrounded and followed by a large +concourse of people who furnish him with food and drink, and regard +him as a saint. There are instances of men having traveled over five +hundred miles in this manner. Every day and hour the crowd was +increased by new arrivals, until the river banks, the fields and +roads swarmed with countless masses,—a most wonderful +gathering. Thousands of Brahmins offered their services to guide and +bless the pilgrims, most always for a valuable consideration; +thousands of peddlers sold small idols, flower wreaths, rosaries, and +other sacred objects at high prices; others peddled rice, fruit, thin +bread and other provisions, and thousands of barbers cut the hair and +shaved the temples of the pilgrims. There, in the shade of some mango +trees a Hindoo prince had gone into camp with his elephants, horses, +soldiers and servants, the retinue consisting of about two hundred +people; and yonder in the shadeless valley is a camp of a thousand or +more Fakirs huddled together. Many are entirely naked, others are +protected by a few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">- 197 -</a></span> yards of dirty cotton cloth, most of them +sprinkled with ashes or dry clay, their faces streaked in gray, red +or yellow colors, and the hair done up in the shape of a chignon and +held together with wet clay; but although presenting a picture of +dire want in their persons they have in the camp a large herd of +costly elephants richly adorned with covers of satin and velvet <span +title=" embroideried " class="hoverbox">embroidered</span> in gold, silver, +precious stones and gems, proving that their begging has not been in +vain.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image034.jpg" width="620" height="356" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">FAKIRS.</span> +</div> + +<p>On the river bank is the headquarters of the pilgrims from one of the +Southern provinces, and over yonder that of those from the North or +East. Everywhere is heard the noise of trading and bargaining, of +greeting and ecstacy, of laughter and astonishment, and of the moaning +and cries of the sick and suffering—indeed a regular pandemonium.</p> + +<p>The February sun already shone scorchingly hot upon the low, shadeless +valley, the thermometer rising to 90°. In the night, however, it was +unusually cold for that country, and most of the pilgrims being poor and +their clothing and food wretched, dangerous diseases began to break out +among the weak and exhausted. The terrible cholera claimed numerous +victims every day, many died from weakness and negligence, others again +perished through accidents on land and water, for nobody seemed to be +very particular about human life, since death just there was considered +so very desirable. Along the shores of the river flickered hundreds of +fires, at which the remains of the dead are burned to ashes and +scattered into the river by the officiating Brahmins, to the infinite +edification of the relatives of the dead.</p> + +<p>The Hindoos are a very peaceful and loyal people, and willingly submit +to order and discipline. Thus designated groups were conducted to the +water at certain times and places, which was highly necessary, as +otherwise the strong would have trampled down and crushed the weak.</p> + +<p>The first ceremony consists in shaving the head, or at<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_198" id="Page_198">- 198 -</a></span> least the front part of it; the +hair which is cut off ought to be offered to the Ganges, but the barber +smuggles most of it out of the way, to be sold in more civilized +countries. From the barber the pilgrim is turned over to the care of the +Brahmin, who leads him down into the river, under the following +ceremonies: The Brahmin repeats a Sanscrit formula which is called +“Sankalpa,” and which states that “the pilgrim N. N. +on the day X. of the month Y., and in the year Z., takes his bath in the +sacred water for the purpose and intention of cleansing himself from all +sins and frailties,” after which the pilgrim immerses himself +several times under the water and rinses his mouth with a handful of it, +after a few minutes returning to the shore where he is at once +surrounded by peddlers who offer him flowers, milk and lean cows or +goats for sale at an exorbitant price. He always buys the flowers and +the milk and offers them to the river, and, if he has sufficient money, +he buys a cow or a goat and offers it to the Brahmin; but if his means +are too limited the latter must be content with the few coins the +pilgrim can spare. Most of them, however, have brought a handsome +offering to the Brahmin, because they regard the duty toward him just as +important as the duty toward the river god.</p> + +<p>Then follows the “Shiadda” ceremony, consisting of an +offering of cake, sugar, plums and dainties to the ghosts of their +deceased relatives; next a banquet is spread before the Brahmins, the +sacred places of the vicinity are visited, offerings are made at most of +these, and a present called “vidagi” is made to the Brahmin +who has attended to the spiritual wants of the giver.</p> + +<p>And now the object of the long and arduous journey is accomplished, the +pilgrimage, “tisthayatra,” is successfully performed, and +the cleansed sinner stands ready to begin a new record of sin. He has +been plundered of his last penny,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">- 199 -</a></span> and, if he succeeds in +reaching his distant home, his neighbors and friends will look up to him +as an exceptionally happy being, and his own soul is filled with the +hope of temporal and eternal bliss.</p> + +<p>Those who have reaped the pecuniary benefits of the pilgrimage are the +Brahmins and Fakirs, the former through offerings and the latter through +begging. They have filled their coffers and collected large herds of +cattle, and now they can lead a gay and happy life until the next Mela, +when they will again try to fan the dying embers of enthusiasm into a +flame by sending emissaries all over India for the purpose of convincing +the credulous populace that it is greatly to be feared that the Ganges +will soon lose its power of salvation, and that therefore as many as +possible ought to come next time, which may be the last chance.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">- 200 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a><a href="#TOC_20"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XX.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Benares, the Holy City of the Hindoos—Its Temples and +Worshipers—The Sacred Monkeys.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Returning from Allahabad I visited Benares, the holy city of India and +the centre of Hindooism or Brahminism, its religion, art and literature. +It is situated on an elevation on the east bank of the Ganges about four +hundred and seventy-six miles from Calcutta. Benares is to the Hindoos +what Jerusalem was to the Jews, Rome to the mediæval Christians, +and what Mecca is to the Mohammedans, and it is visited by thousands of +pilgrims and penitents every year. The learned men or Pundits of India +have their academies and gatherings there, and many of its princes and +nobles have their costly palaces in which they usually spend a few weeks +every year.</p> + +<p>The whole city seems abandoned to sacrificing priests and idolatry in +its most disgusting forms. There are one thousand four hundred temples +for idols, and nearly three hundred mosques, besides <span title=" hundred " class="hoverbox">hundreds</span> of +shrines, holy graves, wells, trees and other objects of Hindoo worship. +Benares is a very old city; great and renowned when Babylon and Nineveh +were competing with each other; when Tyre sent out her colonists; when +Athens was in her infancy; before Rome existed, and long before +Nebuchadnezzar had carried the Israelites into captivity.</p> + +<p>We are accustomed to look at hoary ruins with reverent<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_201" id="Page_201">- 201 -</a></span> interest, and it is no wonder +that the first sight of the historical monuments of Benares made a +profound impression on my mind. I felt almost as if transported to a +time far back in the misty past, and found it difficult to realize that +I walked the same streets, lanes and market places where the Babylonian +heralds of war and the ambassadors of Alexander the Great were received +by the same people whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">- 202 -</a></span> descendants still inhabit the same +city, and have retained the same civilization and the same institutions +through all the intervening centuries.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 388px;"> +<img src="images/image035.jpg" width="388" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">HINDOO TEMPLES.</span> +</div> + +<p>The sun cast its last rays over the memorable city when I had the +pleasure of seeing it for the first time. At a distance of two miles I +could see the palaces and temples with their domes, cupolas, and +minarets merged into a confused mass, and on the summit of the hill +towered the renowned mosque of Emperor Arungzebes with two minarets, the +spires of which rise two hundred and fifty feet above the level of the +Ganges. It was a beautiful oriental picture, the most beautiful I had +yet seen.</p> + +<p>The next morning at sunrise a Mohammedan dragoman or interpreter took me +down the river in a boat, and in the course of an hour we passed, +according to the estimate of the interpreter, over twenty thousand +bathing Hindoos. Every two miles are built ghats, or broad flights of +steps down to river, some of these being eighty feet high. Along the +edge of the water Brahmins are squatting about twenty feet apart under +large sun shades made of palm leaves in the form of an umbrella. These +Brahmins have a certain inherited right to these little spots where they +have thus raised their sun shades for the purpose of collecting an +offering from every bather. Men and women bathe side by side. They all +go into the water in their thin cotton suits, and everything is +conducted with order and decorum.</p> + +<p>After the bath flowers are offered to the river, and oils and fruits to +the Brahmin.</p> + +<p>A short distance above the edge of the water is an open place for the +cremation of the bodies of the dead, and on the river close by are +scores of boats and barges loaded with wood which is cut into small +sticks and is used for the funeral-pyres. We stopped a few minutes here +while three corpses were brought on biers. They were covered by a<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_203" id="Page_203">- 203 -</a></span> white cloth with a red dye-stuff +scattered over the chest. The body was first immersed in the river and +then placed on its pyre, which was kindled by the nearest relative of +the deceased. After the cremation the ashes were scattered on the river +by the Brahmin, who, of course, charged a round sum for these highly +important services.</p> + +<p>We next went up the high steps and visited several temples and other +objects of interest of which I shall give a brief description.</p> + +<p>The Hindoo temples are not so large as our churches, but only from +fifteen to forty feet square, and their style of architecture is +frequently very pleasing to the eye. They contain no seats or pulpits, +and the ceremonies consist exclusively of offerings, prayers, and signs. +People come and go incessantly, there is no silence or devotion, but all +is noise and turmoil. The Brahmins glide quietly around everywhere and +watch closely so that no one escapes until he or she has parted with as +much loose change as possible, and it frequently happens that the +Brahmin and the worshiper get into a loud quarrel about the fee which +the latter is to pay for the benediction.</p> + +<p>We ascended an eight-foot-wide street paved with large flag stones, +which were crowded with endless rows of people coming out or going into +the temples on either side. To some of these a few steps led downward, +to others upward.</p> + +<p>In some of the nooks and niches formed by the outer walls of the temple +sat peddlers selling ornaments, flowers, fruit, boiled rice, popcorn, +confectioneries, and small idols, of stone, porcelain, or metal.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 265px;"> +<img src="images/image036.jpg" width="265" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">DYING BRAHMIN.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">We stepped into</span> the so-called golden temple, dedicated to Bishashar, or +Shiva, the most prominent deity of Benares. Like most of the temples it +is built of brick, and has a gray coat of plastering on the outside. It +has three domes which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">- 204 -</a></span> are covered with colored metal, and the +interior is divided into three rooms, in each of which is a stone image +representing the creative principle. The worshipers throw rice and +flowers at these images, and officiating Brahmins continually pour over +them water from the Ganges. Within a separate inclosure is a sacred well +called “Gyan-Bapi,” or the well of knowledge, into which the +rice and the flowers from the images are washed by a continual stream of +water. Out of this well rises an intolerable stench from the putrefying +mass which poisons the air in and around the temple, for it is not +permitted to take these offerings out of the well. Around the well is a +colonnade of small beautiful pillars, back of which, on the east side, +is a seven-foot-high stone statue of a bull consecrated to the god of +Mahadeva.</p> + +<p>Another temple is divided into stalls which contain well-fed sacred +animals, such as bulls, cows, goats and birds, all of which are objects +of worship of the faithful. This temple was kept more clean than the +former, but the bellowing of the animals and the jostling and crowding +of the worshipers made the visit to those deities intolerable.</p> + +<p>One of the finest temples in Benares is called “Durga Kund,” +and is devoted to the goddess Durga. It is a large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">- 205 -</a></span> and +beautiful pyramidal structure with a number of towers and steeples of +different sizes, and the whole building is adorned with fine works of +sculpture, representing the sacred animals of Hindoo mythology. Inside +the temple, facing a wide entrance, stands a large stone statue of Durga +with the face of an ape, and in front of this is a well into which the +faithful throw flowers. But the most interesting feature about this +temple is the great number of monkeys which are kept there. A large, +square court surrounds the temple, and in this as well as on the steps, +floors, pillars, roof and walls, inside and outside of the temple itself +and in the neighboring houses, in the trees, on the streets, in the +gardens, in short, wherever they can find a footing, there are thousands +of gray, yellow, black, white and brown monkeys, with all possible +monkey physiognomies and monkey natures, sitting, lying, jumping, +hanging and climbing. They are considered sacred and must not be killed, +consequently they are increasing so fast that if no interdicts are +fulminated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">- 206 -</a></span> against them they will soon become the ruling +element in Benares. And so assiduously is this temple visited by +well-to-do and generous worshipers that both the Brahmins and the +monkeys live in affluence and luxury. Incredible as it may seem, I have +myself seen one crowd of people after another enter this temple and +prostrate themselves in worshiping the living monkeys as well as the +ape-faced stone image, and then return home rejoicing because the +Brahmins have assured them that their worship and offerings have opened +for them the gates of heaven.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"><br /> +<img src="images/image037.jpg" width="620" height="381" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MONKEY TEMPLE IN BENARES.</span> +</div> + +<p>In some temples domestic animals are sacrificed by the servants of the +priests, the blood and the meat being distributed among the priests, the +intestines and other offal among the poor. In others, butter, oils, +sweetmeats and rice are offered by first giving the idols a taste in the +same manner as our children feed their dolls, whereupon the rest is +consumed by the priests and the people. In several temples are Fakirs or +saints sitting in unnatural positions with lean limbs and vacant looks, +and these are also objects of the worship and offerings of the people. +In other temples are even lewd women, who, by their dancing and singing, +act as mediators between the people and their angry gods.</p> + +<p>As far as these descriptions go, they may be applied to all temples and +ceremonies, and the chief and absolute universal feature is the question +of money and other offerings to the Brahmins. All the temples are +surrounded with beggars who are as importunate as the Brahmins +themselves, and the whole of it makes the European wish to get away from +the sacred places of the Orient as soon as possible.</p> + +<p>Man Modir, is the name of a remarkable astronomical observatory which +towers above the temples on the Ganges, close to the place where the +dead bodies are cremated. It was built two hundred years ago by the +emperor, Jai Sing, and still remains in well-preserved condition as an +evidence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">- 207 -</a></span> of the deep astronomical knowledge of the Hindoos at +that period. It is a large stone building with a flat roof, on which are +constructed astronomical instruments and figures of brick and mortar of +gigantic proportions. As examples I shall mention a quadrant which is +eleven feet high and nine feet wide in the direction of the meridian, +and is made for calculating the altitude of the sun, and another +instrument, thirty-six feet long and four and one-half feet high which +is used in calculating the altitude and distance of a planet or a star +from the meridian.</p> + +<p>Descending from the observatory my attention was called to a large crowd +of people on a knoll near the river bank. Going over there I found what +might be called a religious circus attended by thousands of people, in +the midst of which was a group of Fakirs. Most of them were squatting +with crossed legs, one arm extended toward the river, and the eyes fixed +on a certain spot in the water or on the sky. One was squatting on a +plank through which long sharp nails were driven with their points +projecting upward over an inch. I counted eight such nails about an inch +long under each foot. The nails had not caused bleeding wounds, but +simply made deep indentures in the flesh which must have been very +painful, at least in the beginning. One Fakir had suspended himself on +an eight-foot-tall cross, with the head downward, by tieing one of his +feet to the top of the cross by a cord. Formerly they used to suspend +themselves by a big iron hook penetrating their muscles, thus swinging +their bodies back and forth for hours; but this practice is now +prohibited by the English government. An acrobatic Fakir was turning +sommersets on a grass mat, and was considered very holy because he could +twist his limbs as if they had been without bones. Another carried an +iron cage which was forged around his neck, and which he had carried +thus for years in order to mortify his flesh. A loathsome dwarf,<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_208" id="Page_208">- 208 -</a></span> kept in an iron cage, was +blessing the admiring crowd, several dancing girls gave animation to the +scene by singing and dancing, some Brahmins were exhibiting a sacred +bull, others sacred monkeys, and liberal offerings were made everywhere +by the enraptured pilgrims. Such are the religious ceremonies in the +sacred city of India.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 377px;"> +<img src="images/image038.jpg" width="377" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">FAKIR WITH IRON CAGE.</span> +</div> + +<p>During my stay in Benares I visited one of the most remarkable<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_209" id="Page_209">- 209 -</a></span> ruins in the world, situated six +miles from the sacred city. It is the remnants of two large and tall +towers built of brick and cut stone, about three thousand years ago. +These towers were closely connected with the history of Buddha, one of +them, according to tradition, being his dwelling and the other his place +of worship. This was formerly the site of a great city, called Sarnath.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;"> +<img src="images/image039.jpg" width="349" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">TOWER OF SARNATH.</span> +</div> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">- 210 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><a href="#TOC_21"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXI.</span></a></h2> + +<div><p class="center smfont">Nimtoolaghat—Cremation in India—Parsee Funeral Rites.</p><br /></div> + +<p>India is the only country in the world where the civilization of the +East and that of the West are found side by side with equal rights and +equal chances of a free and full development. For, although the English +have conquered, and at present rule the country, they have respected the +peculiar customs and manners of the Hindoos, and guaranteed them liberty +to practice the same and to develop their social and religious +institutions in so far as they do not conflict with the generally +<span title=" acknoweldged " class="hoverbox">acknowledged</span> principles of humanity.</p> + +<p>Accordingly in Calcutta and other cities in India we frequently find a +stately Christian church side by side with a Hindoo temple with its +officiating priests. On one side of the street we may see a fine +European residence filled with guests around the dinner-table, eating, +chatting, and toasting just as at home, and on the other a Hindoo villa, +where turbaned Brahmins, in a squatting posture, eat their rice or smoke +their hokah, while extolling the merits of their juggernaut. At popular +meetings and fêtes European lords, bishops, officials, and ladies +are often seen engaged in a friendly conversation with Hindoo princes, +or learned pundits, Mohammedan warriors, Persian, Armenian or Jewish +merchants. On the streets and promenades the European carriage and the +Hindoo palanquin are seen side by side; in Calcutta there are scores of +high schools and academies on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">- 211 -</a></span> the European plan, and close to +these again others where young students in oriental costumes and +turbaned heads, squat before a half-naked Brahmin, seeking wisdom and +knowledge from the works of the Vedas or Shastras.</p> + +<p>It is therefore not surprising that in the very harbor where American +and European flags are waving from hundreds of mast-heads lies +Nimtoolaghat, a Hindoo place of cremation, from which the whole day long +dense clouds of smoke arise, scattering the vapors of burning human +bodies. It is a large brick building which is divided into two +apartments by a brick wall. The apartment which is next to the street is +covered by a roof, but the one next to the harbor is open at the top. +The floor is made of clay, excepting the spots under the funeral pyres, +where it consists of large flagstones. I have often stood at this place, +and it always seemed to me that our cemeteries with their +monuments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">- 212 -</a></span> grass plots, trees, and flowers are dear places +which, to some extent, reconcile man to stern death, while here +everything seemed dead and hopeless. I will describe for the reader what +I saw at one of my visits to this place of desolation. On the flagstones +in the roofless apartment were six separate pyres, two of which were +already reduced to ashes when I entered, two others were about half +consumed by the fire, only a few bones being visible among the +fire-brands; but on each of the other two was a naked corpse, the +outside of which was scorched by the flames, while blood and water were +slowly oozing out of mouth and nostrils, while the burning flesh hissed +and sputtered where the heat was most intense, so that the whole +presented a shocking sight. A score of half-naked Brahmins were busy +around the pyres muttering prayers and making signs over the dead, while +the nearest relatives walked around the corpses uttering cries of +lamentation. Particularly violent was the grief of a young woman whose +mother had just been laid upon the pyre, deep sorrow and heart-rending +lamentations testifying to the love she had borne the deceased.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image040.jpg" width="620" height="401" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">NIMTOOLAGHAT—PLACE OF CREMATION.</span> +</div> + +<p>Now the fine-split wood is piled up into a new pyre about six feet long, +two feet wide, and two and one-half feet high, and four men bring the +corpse of a man on a bier. It is covered with a white sheet, which is +taken away, so as to leave only a small piece of cloth covering the +corpse. This is the body of a Fakir, a stately man with fine features, +and past the prime of life. As soon as the body is placed on the pyre, +two Brahmins pile fine-split wood around and over it so that only the +face is visible. Then comes the eldest son of the deceased and rubbing +the face with fresh butter lays several lumps of it on the pyre. He then +walks three times around the corpse and lights with a fire-brand a whisk +of straw in his father’s pyre. The fire spreads rapidly through<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_213" id="Page_213">- 213 -</a></span> the dry wood. The melting butter +flows through it, the flames roar and crackle, and the dead body makes +writhing muscular motions under the influence of the fire, the skin +bursting open in several places, and a thin fluid trickling out which +adds fuel to the flames. The face shrinks and vanishes under our eyes, +an unpleasant smell of burnt flesh permeates the air, and in a little +while all is over, and the Brahmins gather the ashes and scatter them on +the waters of the sacred Ganges.</p> + +<p>Who can wonder that a stranger, witnessing such a ceremony, experiences +in his own breast questions and surmises such as these: Is this, then, +all? Where is the Fakir who mortified his body by all kinds of torture, +who struggled and suffered in order to become acceptable to the gods? +Was there nothing more than that shell, consumed before our eyes? Is the +man who spent half of his life-time gazing into the boundless realm of +space and yearning and longing for the unknown, the infinite, no longer +in existence? Was his longing only a mockery, or was it a foreshadowing +of that which is to come? What would life be if all terminated in the +pyre or in the grave? To what purpose, then, all noble endeavors, whose +aim and object only relate to the uncertain future? The deepest +premonitions of the human soul, and the most beautiful hopes of the +heart, how far are these from the thought that all our feelings, our +loftiest ambitions,—in one word the best part of our +being,—can be annihilated in a crematory! The Fakir whose body was +now reduced to ashes had lived in the faith of his immortality, had +worshiped the deities of his people, because he knew no better, but was +he on that account less welcome in the everlasting mansions?</p> + +<p>Formerly the wife was burned alive on the pyre of her husband, but this +practice has been abolished by the English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">- 214 -</a></span> government, although +it is still said to be adhered to secretly in the interior of the +country. That woman is considered very fortunate who can enjoy the +privilege of “sati,” that is, be burned alive on the funeral +pyre of her husband, for thereby she secures unquestionable happiness in +the next world. So strongly can religious enthusiasm, even in our days, +influence a sensible and civilized people. We generally suppose +cremation in India to be an imposing ceremony, such as a great pyre, +intense heat, which keeps a devout congregation at a proper distance, +etc. Such is not the case, however; for, leaving out the mourning +relatives, it may better be compared with the hilarious soldiers around +the camp-fire roasting the booty of a nightly raid,—a shote or a +quarter of beef.</p> + +<p>An entirely different mode of burial is used among the Parsees, who are +descendants of the ancient Persians, and live in the western part of +India where they were driven from Iran by the Mohammedans. They profess +the religion of Zoroaster and are fire-worshipers. They regard the +earth, air, water and fire as sacred objects, but a corpse, on the +contrary, as something unclean, and therefore they would not pollute the +fire by burning the dead, nor soil the earth or the sea by burying them. +In place of this they expose the dead bodies in the open air to be +devoured by birds of prey. For this purpose are erected towers of stone, +on the top of which are iron grates to put the bodies on. In one of the +<span title=" surburbs " class="hoverbox">suburbs</span> of Bombay are three such towers on Malabar hill. They are called +“The Towers of Silence.” Each of them has only one entrance, +and they are about twenty feet high. Large flocks of ravens and vultures +surround them sitting on branches of the palm trees in the vicinity. As +soon as a corpse is exposed there is a fierce rush for it, and within an +hour the birds have consumed everything except, of course,<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_215" id="Page_215">- 215 -</a></span> the bones, which drop down into a +vault under the tower, or are thrown there by means of tongs held by +gloved servants, who afterward clean themselves by bathing and change of +clothing.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image041.jpg" width="200" height="43" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">- 216 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a><a href="#TOC_22"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Heathenism and Christianity—The Religion of the +Hindoos—Caste—The Brahmins—Their +Tyranny—Superstition—The Influence of +Christianity—Keshub-Chunder-Sen, the Indian Reformer—His +faith and Influence.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Having given a sketch of the divine worship, religious rites and +sacrificial feasts of the Hindoos, I shall now call the attention of the +reader to a brief description of their religion and spiritual culture in +general.</p> + +<p>“In the hoary past India had mighty religious leaders and authors +who laid claim to divine authority. Religious systems were announced, +and voluminous, erudite verses were published for the guidance of the +people, or rather the Brahmins or priests, which writings are still the +Bibles of the Hindoos. The most important of these books are called +‘Vedas,’ ‘Shastras,’ and ‘Puranas.’ +The lively imagination of the authors and the religious enthusiasm of +the people were not content with a few deities, therefore their number +has been increased from time to time, until they now amount to +thirty-three million gods and goddesses. The most important of the +former are Brahma, Visnu and Shiva, and of the latter Durga, Lakshmi and +Saraswati. The former are worshiped as the creating, preserving and +destroying powers, and from these three all the others have originated; +at first considered as representatives of certain attributes and +principals of the three chief deities, but later<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">- 217 -</a></span> as +independent, individual deities. Many of these gods are represented by +images and pictures, which originally the whole people, but at present +only the learned, regard merely as representations of certain divine +principals and attributes. Later on these were put in the place of the +things which they represented, so that the stone image, the river, the +tree, or the animal is regarded as the god himself by the ignorant +multitude.</p> + +<p>“According to the Hindoo doctrine of creation the earth rests on +the back of a tortoise, and the human race was originally created +members of four different classes or castes. Thus the class or caste +distinction of India is closely incorporated with its religion, and +shows that the priests have been very shrewd in founding a religious +system which secured for themselves not only salvation after death, but, +above all, an abundance of the good things of this world. Brahma was +from the beginning, and from him emanated Vishnu and Shiva. Thereafter +Brahma created first water, then the earth, then from out of his head a +man who was the <i>Brahmin</i>, and became the chief of the caste of priests, +or the highest class. After this he let a <i>Kshatriya</i> issue from out of +his arms, a <i>Vaisya</i> from his loins and a <i>Sudra</i> from his feet, and +which became respectively the progenitors of the three other castes, the +warriors, the craftsmen and merchants, and the common laborers. These +castes have gradually been divided into many subdivisions, but the four +principal ones still remain with all their rigid distinctions. Through +certain misdemeanors, which may be very insignificant, a person +belonging to a higher may be <span title=" degraged " class="hoverbox">degraded</span> to a lower caste, but one of a +lower caste can never rise to a higher, not even by the most meritorious +achievements.”</p> + +<p>Of all the cruel chains by which tyrants have fettered men, none has +been a more formidable enemy of liberty or a greater impediment to human +progress than this dreadful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">- 218 -</a></span> system of caste. It has stifled all +noble efforts, all brotherly love and humane feelings; it has plunged +the people into superstition, indifference and ignorance; it has doomed +ninety-nine hundredths of the myriads of India to the most cruel +slavery, in body and in soul; it has placed locks and fetters on the +human mind and branded the infant in its mother’s womb to infamy and +execration; and, the worst of all, it has stifled all incentive to +progress and development. It has smothered many noble feelings, and +taught men to hate and despise each other; and so strong is the class +distinction of this system that a good Hindoo of our day would a +thousand times rather die of thirst or hunger than take a glass of water +or a piece of bread from a person of a lower caste. Like other evils it +has also been a curse to its authors, the Brahmins themselves, by +lulling the great majority of them into ignorance and indifference. For +why should they take the trouble to study or work when the whole world +with its joys, pleasures and honors is open to them anyway? Space does +not allow discussing this matter more fully, hence I will simply cite +some of the doctrines which the Brahmins claim to have found in the +divine books, and which the people still regard as sacred:</p> + +<p>“Whoever disturbs a Brahmin during his religious contemplations +shall lose his life; if a person of a lower caste sits down on the mat +of a Brahmin, his back shall be burned with red-hot irons; if he touches +the hair, beard or neck of a Brahmin, the judge shall order both his +hands to be cut off; if he listens to evil reports about the Brahmins, +molten lead shall be poured into his ears; if he does not arise when a +Brahmin approaches, he will be changed into a tree after death; if he +casts an angry look at a Brahmin the god Yama shall pluck out his eyes. +The Shastras teach that a gift to a Brahmin is of incalculable value to +the giver. Whoever gives a Brahmin a cow shall gain a million years of +bliss in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">- 219 -</a></span> heaven, and whoever wishes success in anything must +fête the Brahmins and wash their feet. Whoever bequeathes land or +other valuable property to the Brahmins on his death-bed immediately +receives forgiveness of sins and the greatest bliss in heaven. To drink +the water in which a Brahmin has washed his feet and to lick the dust +from under a Brahmin’s feet are works of great merit for the life which +is to come. No one but a Brahmin is allowed to give religious +instruction, and all offerings to the gods must be brought to the +Brahmin, because no ceremony will avail anything unless it is +accompanied by an offering to them. Therefore a multitude of +ceremonies have been introduced by the Brahmins in order that their +coffers may be well filled. I will name a few of those ceremonies which +relate to everybody’s life and death, and which cannot, therefore, be +neglected.</p> + +<p>“As soon as a mother knows she has conceived, a Brahmin must be sent for +to read certain formulas; when the child is born a Brahmin must be +called for the same purpose, also when it is a week, six months, two +years and eight years old, and again when the young people are to be +married; in all cases of sickness, at the death-bed, at the cremation of +the body, and every month the first year after a person’s death; and at +each one of these visits the Brahmin is entitled to money or other +gifts. Also if a family is subject to any misfortune the Brahmin must be +called to conjure the evil powers; if a bird of prey alights on the +roof, the owner of the house must call a Brahmin to purify the house by +his blessing; when he moves into a new house the Brahmin must bless it +beforehand; when a man dies on an <i>unlucky day</i> his son must pay the +Brahmin money to ward off a similar calamity from him; when a well is +dug a Brahmin must bless it before its water can be used; during +eclipses of the sun and the moon everybody sends gifts to the Brahmins; +at every change of the moon the Brahmin is entitled to gifts as<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_220" id="Page_220">- 220 -</a></span> well as on forty regular holidays +every year; during small-pox or cholera ravages he is called to ward off +the plague; the farmer cannot reap his grain, the fisherman cannot go to +sea, the merchant cannot make a bargain unless he has bought the +blessing of the Brahmin and paid for the same.”</p> + +<p>And still the Hindoos possess a high culture, and their civilization is +one of the oldest in the world. They are endowed with a strong religious +feeling. They are profound, peaceful, diligent, economical and law +abiding; many of them have become distinguished in learning, art and +science; they have been the teachers of the philosophers and scholars of +other nations, and for thousands of years they have pondered deeply on +questions pertaining to the human soul, immortality and the life to +come, and endeavored to satisfy their craving and yearning for a closer +union with the infinite by a devotion and self sacrifices which can well +be compared with the sufferings of the Christian martyrs. Accordingly if +any people could attain a higher development and a happy condition by +other means than the influence of the Christian religion, that people +ought to be the Hindoos. Yet, after all their struggles, we now find +them on a lower level than they were thousands of years ago. What a +picture! All these millions of civilized, peaceful, diligent, sensible +people bend their knees before thirty-three millions of disgusting +images and pictures, and among all this people, in all their thirty +thousand cities there was not a hospital for the sick, not an asylum for +the blind or deaf, not a home for lepers or insane, not one voice saying +to the lowly and the poor: “Thou art my brother.”</p> + +<p>Then came Buddha, the great reformer, preaching the religion of self +denial and human love. The old petrified social fabric and religion were +shaken to their foundation, and the system of caste was on the verge of +dissolution. Under the first wave of enthusiasm caused by the teachings +of Buddha,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">- 221 -</a></span> hospitals for the sick and asylums for the poor were +established. Every fifth year the Buddhistic kings gave away their +riches, not only to the monks but also to the poor, to the orphans and +outcasts, and even asylums for sick animals were established. But +Brahminism soon avenged itself by bloody wars, Buddhism was to a large +extent driven out of India, and gradually its noble principles were +forgotten. Nearly the same condition as that which prevailed before the +Buddhistic reformation again prevailed, until the Christian civilization +quite recently began to make itself felt through the practical measures +introduced by the English government. Woman without liberty, without +human worth, and almost without virtue; the countless many oppressed and +despised by the privileged few, and not even allowed to read a religious +book at the risk of eternal damnation; one of the greatest and mightiest +nations on earth, discordant within itself, divided into different +hostile classes; the one suspicious, envious, and full of hate toward +the other, all of them humiliated, conquered, and ruled by a few +strangers,—the English,—whose forefathers were savages a +thousand years after the period when the Hindoos possessed the highest +civilization of antiquity.</p> + +<p>The cause of this deplorable condition is clear enough to those who have +grown up under the influence of Christian civilization. With all its +studies, all its wisdom, all its genius, and all its religious +contemplation, this people have neglected or spurned the simple truths +on which the Christian civilization is founded,—love and charity: +“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as +thyself.”—“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the +least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me,”—these +beautiful principles are not found in the Hindoo Bibles, and, +consequently, not in their acts and lives.</p> + +<p>But a happier day has dawned on India. The star of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">- 222 -</a></span> Bethlehem is +seen at the horizon. A new light is kindled which shall soon lead the +people out of the ancient darkness to a true and happy condition. And, +strange enough, the youngest of the nations,—America,—is +foremost in missionary work among the oldest, and next to the Americans +are the Scotch, the English, the French, the Germans, the Belgians; and +even good old Sweden has one or two mission fields there where the +results are as yet rather meager; but in the course of time this work, +too, will undoubtedly bear golden fruits, for just as surely as people +and races are to continue, just as surely shall the simple doctrine +which the great Master taught be spread and accepted among them all, +because it is the only one by which the nations can reach their true +destiny.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 245px;"> +<img src="images/image042.jpg" width="245" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">KESHUB-CHUNDER-SEN.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">A remarkable</span> attempt at reformation in the spirit of Christianity has +been made in our day by a native Hindoo, the late Keshub-Chunder-Sen, +the founder of the society, Brahmo Somaj in Calcutta, whose object was +to introduce the Christian civilization in all its better forms. One day +I went to hear a lecture by this renowned Hindoo prophet and teacher, +which afforded me one of the most pleasant and instructive hours in my +life. The great hall contained an audience of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">- 223 -</a></span> nearly three +thousand people, consisting chiefly of persons of influence and high +rank, among the cultured Hindoos of the capital. The speaker was +listened to with the greatest attention and respect, and the impression +he made could not but be beneficial and lasting. I sat very close to the +speaker, and took pains to notice his ways and manners while speaking to +the large audience. His bearing in the pulpit made a remarkable +impression, especially when, under the influence of some absorbing and +transporting thought, his body was stretched out to its full height, and +seemed to grow by the glow of inspiration. He was at that time a man of +about forty-five years of age, of robust health, of symmetrical +proportions, and with a face which beamed with intelligence and +enthusiasm. The fame of this man is not limited to his native land, for +even in Great Britain, where he spent several months a few years ago, he +is very highly respected by thinking men and women of all classes who +are devoted to the progress and improvement of mankind, and in his own +country he is almost idolized. His faith, as far as formulated in +definite language, coincides with that of the Unitarians of America, +although he called it unitrinitarian, <i>i.e.</i>, he believed in one God, +the Creator of the world and the father of all men; and also in Christ +and the Holy Spirit as revelations of the divine, which is one but not +as three different persons in the deity. He believed that the +propagation of true religion in the world has been greatly impeded by +what he called the idolatry which in Christian countries has grown up +around the human person of Jesus Christ, manifested as in the flesh, and +he begged the missionaries who came to India not to confuse the minds of +the Hindoos by any such idea as a deity consisting of three different +persons; polytheism had been the curse of India from time immemorial.</p> + +<p>Such are the main features of the teaching of this reformer<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_224" id="Page_224">- 224 -</a></span> which seem to promise a better +time for the oppressed people of India. Later I became more intimately +acquainted with him, and he had intended to visit America in my company, +but was taken sick shortly before I left India, and died a couple of +months thereafter.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image043.jpg" width="200" height="58" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">- 225 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a><a href="#TOC_23"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXIII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Steamboating On the Ganges—Life on the River—The Greatest +Business Firm in the +World—Sceneries—Temples—Serampoor—Boat +Races—An Excursion to the Himalayas—Darjieling and Himalaya +Railroad—Tea Plantations—Darjieling—Llamas—View +from the Mountains.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Having received all its tributaries on its course from the Himalaya +Mountains through Central Hindustan, the Ganges has now swelled to such +vast proportions that it cannot keep its volume of water within one +regular channel through the level, soft soil of the Hindoo Peninsula, +but flows into the ocean by several independent channels. One of these +which is called the Hoogley, and has been mentioned already, is at +Calcutta, about eighty miles from the sea, as broad as the united +Missouri and Mississippi at St. Louis, and still the eastern half of it, +close to the city, is so crowded with ships, barges and boats for a +distance of six miles that it requires great care and skill at the helm +to navigate safely.</p> + +<p>On Jan. 2, 1882, the Calcutta rowing club had arranged a race between +Barrackpoor and Serampoor, to which four hundred guests, including +myself had been invited. Two large and ten smaller river steamers, all +adorned with flowers and waving flags, lay around the pier between the +Hoogley and the Nimtoolaghat waiting for us. Other steamers packed with +natives, and Indian river boats with their half-naked rowers, crowded +around the little flotilla, partly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">- 226 -</a></span> from curiosity, partly in +order to sell flowers, garlands and fruits to the guests. On the river +bank were thousands of Hindoos and Mohammedans sitting or standing, in +white clothes. Here and there was a penitent Fakir, bareheaded, his +half-naked body partly covered with ashes, his eyes riveted on a point +at the horizon or on the water, without being in the least disturbed by +the noise and the festivity. From Nimtoolaghat a dozen small clouds of +smoke were seen ascending uniting into one column of smoke, above the +roofless building. A number of unkempt, half-naked Brahmins were +carrying ashes and bones of cremated bodies from the crematory down to +the river. Stately carriages with murky coachmen and fore-runners in +white garments arrived in long lines at the pier with the guests of the +day. When all were on board, the steamers whistled, the band struck up +“God save the Queen,” and the little flotilla steamed up the +river amid merry chatting and deafening hurrahs.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><br /> +<img src="images/image044.jpg" width="600" height="235" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">STEAMER ON THE GANGES.</span> +</div> + +<p>We first passed hundreds of Indian river boats from twenty-five to +seventy-five feet long, with roofs supported by bamboo poles and loaded +with grain, cotton, fruit, jute, goats, etc. The crews consisted of men, +women and children who live on these river boats for years. They take +advantage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">- 227 -</a></span> of the tides in going up or down the river, and also +use a broad oar in the prow of the boat.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 453px;"> +<img src="images/image045.jpg" width="453" height="325" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">RIVER BOAT.</span> +</div> + +<p>On the west side of the river lies the manufacturing city Howrah, with +the largest railroad depot in India, and dock-yards extending about two +miles. On the east bank, a short distance above Calcutta are immense +warehouses and hydraulic presses for preparing jute, a kind of hemp. The +largest of these employs three thousand workmen day and night, and +belongs to a Greek firm, Rally Brothers, who are said to have the +greatest mercantile establishment existing. They own branch houses in +thirty-six of the largest commercial cities of the world.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"><br /> +<img src="images/image046.jpg" width="620" height="403" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">TEMPLE ON THE RIVER BANK.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 220px;"> +<img src="images/image047.jpg" width="220" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">WATER CARRIER.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">Amid the happy</span> strains of music we passed up the river. Stately palm +trees in small groups rose above the surrounding groves, villages, +temples and houses, while the dense foliage of other kinds of trees hung +down the river banks wherever they were allowed to grow. Many of these +bore flowers resembling tulips, acacias, jasmines, etc. Birds of the +most gorgeous colors, but poor songsters, were flitting<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_228" id="Page_228">- 228 -</a></span> and hopping about among the +branches; vast numbers of small, white cows and oxen were being herded +by children on the meadows between the rice fields along the river, and +at intervals of about two miles were temples consecrated to Hindoo gods. +These temples were of a beautiful style and of perfect symmetry. Toward +the river was an open portico. From this a flight of steps led down to +the water. This was a Hindoo bathing place, where the holy water was +taken. Just then a number of women were seen on the steps fetching water +in clay jars, somewhat similar to the one Rebecca used at the well. +These jars are carried either on the head or on the left hip. On either +side of the portico, but from fifty to a hundred feet to the rear, stood +the temples proper, in rows, facing the river, generally six on either +side, with an eight to twelve-foot-wide path between each temple. The +temples are about sixteen feet square, with a pointed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">- 229 -</a></span> roof +surmounted by a round cupola. They are made of brick, with a coating of +white plaster on the outside; there are no windows, and only one door, +opening on the river side. Inside this door is a niche in which the idol +is placed. Only the Brahmins are allowed to enter these temples; +wherefore the common heathen has to content himself with simply looking +at the god from the outside; the Christians also are generally kept at a +respectful distance.</p> + +<p>Here and there along the banks of the river nestle rustic villages, the +houses of which are generally square, and from sixteen to twenty feet on +the sides, with pointed thatched roofs. The walls are of bamboo poles, +interwoven with grass mats or plastered with mortar. There are no +wooden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">- 230 -</a></span> floors, no furniture, and the only utensils are a few +bowls of clay for cooking, baking vessels of brass, some straw mats +spread on the clay floor to sleep on during the night. The country is +low and flat, and during the wet season, which lasts from July to +October, destructive inundations are quite frequent.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image048.jpg" width="620" height="420" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">NATIVE HOUSES.</span> +</div> + +<p>Our steamers soon approached Barrackpoor, a garrisoned city on the east +bank of the river. This place, which is one of the summer residences of +the viceroy, has a very beautiful park, where there are several samples +of the remarkable banyan or sacred fig-tree. From the branches of the +tree certain shoots grow downward, and when they reach the ground they +strike root and grow into new trunks, so that one and the same tree +finally covers a vast space of ground, and looks like a pillared hall. +In the park at Barrackpoor may be seen one of these trees, large enough +to cover one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">- 231 -</a></span> thousand men. On the west side of the river, +directly opposite, lies the old city of Serampoor, which formerly +belonged to Denmark, but was taken by the English in the beginning of +this century, and now has only a few inscriptions and documents which +remind us of the Danish period.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 607px;"> +<img src="images/image049.jpg" width="607" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">BANYAN TREE.</span> +</div> + +<p>In the river, midway between these cities, a gigantic government barge +was anchored. On this occasion it was covered with canvas, and served as +a dining room where a tiffin, or lunch, for four hundred persons was +served. Our steamers anchored, and we sat down at the sumptuous tables. +A band of forty pieces from a Sepoy regiment garrisoned at Barrackpoor +struck up an English march, the champagne bottles popped, and all was +life and joy. After lunch we witnessed six different boat races, all +between Englishmen, and, the prizes having been awarded, the whole +company walked on foot about a mile through a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">- 232 -</a></span> fine park to the +railway station, whence a special train carried the excursionists back +to Calcutta.</p> + +<p>After a summer of eight months in the Bengal lowlands with a constant +temperature of 90° to 100° Fahrenheit in the shade, fresh +breezes and cool air become luxuries more keenly enjoyed than those who +live in a more temperate climate can conceive. To benefit by both I made +a short journey in October, 1882, to the celebrated Himalaya mountains, +among which the city of Darjieling is situated. The train on the Bengal +railroad carried us about three hundred miles in a northerly direction +through a level lowland teeming with gardens, palm groves and rice +fields, to Siligori, at the foot of the mountains, where we arrived in +the morning at sunrise. Having enjoyed a good breakfast and a bottle of +Norwegian export beer at the railway eating house, we were transferred +to a train on the Darjieling & Himalaya railroad to be carried up +seven thousand feet high in a distance of forty-two miles.</p> + +<p>This mountain railroad is so different from all other railroads that it +deserves a special description. It is narrow gauged in the fullest sense +of the word, the distance between the rails being only two feet. The +cars are very small and low, and the wheels are about twelve inches in +diameter. The car is ten feet long and six feet wide, and contains four +seats, each of which accommodates four persons; it is open on the sides +so that passengers can get on and off easily and have an open view. The +locomotive is no larger than the cars, but powerful enough to pull ten +or twelve of them up the mountain at the rate of eight or ten miles an +hour. Nowhere is the track straight even for a distance of a couple of +hundred yards, but it winds right and left in the most fantastic manner, +and reminded me strikingly of the lines described in one of the old +country dances.</p> + +<p>The signal is given, the pigmy locomotive puffs and sputters,<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_233" id="Page_233">- 233 -</a></span> the train with its load of +humanity rolls away up hills and mountains and across awful chasms, up, +up, up; hour after hour, with a grade of one to eighteen and +twenty-eight, or on an average of twenty-three feet. It winds along the +rugged mountain side, over awful chasms, and with such short curves that +one’s hair stands on end when looking down or up the steep cliffs, the +summits of which tower above the clouds. A loose stone rolling down, a +broken rail, or a derailment would immediately hurl the iron horse with +its cars and human lives thousands of feet down to the bottom of the +abyss, and reduce the whole to an unrecognizable wreck. Beautiful trees, +grass, flowers, creeping plants adorn hills and vales except in the +ravines and cliffs, where foaming creeks and cataracts have torn away +the vegetation by tumultuously tossing themselves from rock to rock, +from cliff to cliff, from valley to valley, gradually uniting in the +rivers that continually feed the mighty Ganges.</p> + +<p>The track follows a twenty-five-foot-wide driveway, the most part of +which is hewn out of the solid rock, and on this highway may be seen the +mountaineers from Nepaul and Thibet driving large numbers of pack +animals (ponies and cattle) carrying products of Europe and America into +and beyond the mountains to the peoples of northern Asia. Here and there +on the green hills are the best tea plantations of India. These long, +low, white buildings are the residences and factories of the planters, +and close by are the dwellings of the native laborers, consisting of +long rows of thatched huts, and in terraces along the steep hills are +endless rows of tea bushes, among which laborers dressed in picturesque +costumes of gay colors are busy picking tea, advancing in irregular +lines—resembling the skirmish lines of an army. This picture is at +first seen against the horizon, so far up that the men can scarcely be +distinguished from the bushes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">- 234 -</a></span> and a couple of hours later the +same picture may be viewed far down in a deep valley.</p> + +<p>After awhile at the head of a long valley appear lofty, white objects +whose summits rise far up above the mist and the clouds; it is the +highest peaks of the Himalaya mountains, from sixty to one hundred miles +distant. Thus the journey is continued up the mountains until the train +finally stops at Darjieling, which is one of the most noteworthy places +in the world. It is a sanitarium, and the summer residence of the +government of Bengal, and during the hot season makes a favorite resort +for many of the Hindoo nobles and princes as well as Europeans. The city +has a few thousand inhabitants, the majority of whom are Thibetan and +Nepaul mountaineers. There we see the Christian church, the Mohammedan +mosque and the Hindoo temple in close proximity to each other, and on +the streets one may often meet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">- 235 -</a></span> Catholic monks carrying the +crucifix, and Llamas or Thibetan priests in long, brown felt mantles, +turning their praying-wheel, which consists of an artistically made +machine of silver, in which are engraved the following words: “Rum +mahnee padme hang,” which means, “Hail thee, jewel and lotus +flower,” or “Glory to God.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image050.jpg" width="620" height="386" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">PALACE AND TEMPLE IN THE HIMALAYAS.</span> +</div> + +<p>Residences, churches, hotels and all public and private buildings lie in +a semi-circle on the western slope of one of the mountains, offering a +very fine picture. Excellent roads are built in zigzag form up and down +over hills and mountains. There are scarcely any carriages but a kind of +palanquin called dandies, and small ponies which are so sure-footed that +they can climb up and down the mountains like goats. Both men and women +ride these or are carried by three strong bearers from Thibet. +Darjieling is elevated eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, +and at this place black clouds may often be seen sweeping along the +western side far below one’s feet. The air is so clear, fresh and +salubrious that it seems to infuse new strength, vitality and almost new +life. It impels either to activity or to sleep; it is impossible to sit +still or be mentally inactive. The view of the landscape below is +claimed to be the most beautiful in the whole world. Beneath the +terraces on which we walk are seen smiling valleys, one below another, +away down far into the plains of Bengal, variegated by rivers, forests, +cities and many-colored fields, and far away to the distant north +against the blue horizon, one great mountain rises above and beyond +another, capped with eternal crowns of snow high up among the restless +clouds—twenty thousand feet higher than Darjieling, and +twenty-nine thousand feet above the sea,—over five miles in +height.</p> + +<p>The loftiest peaks are Kinchinjunga forty-five miles, and Mount Everest, +sixty miles distant from Darjieling. It is claimed that these peaks can +be seen for a distance of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">- 236 -</a></span> three hundred miles in clear weather. +There these mighty giants stand clad in snowy garbs, like sentinels at +the portals of infinite space, seemingly belonging more to heaven than +to earth. No wonder that the Hindoos look at them with solemn awe, for +cold and insensible to beauty and grandeur must he be, who does not, at +this sight, feel his own littleness and the inconceivable greatness of +the creator.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image041.jpg" width="200" height="43" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">- 237 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><a href="#TOC_24"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXIV.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Cholera and other Diseases—The Causes of Cholera—How the +Soldiers are Protected Against it—Sudden +Deaths—Fevers—The Teraj—Contempt for Death—The +Cholera Hospital—The Sisters of Mercy—The Princes +Tagore—Hindoo Family Customs—Hindoo Gallantry—A Hindoo +<span title=" Fete " class="hoverbox">Fête</span>.</p><br /></div> + +<p>The cholera has its home proper in India, and breeds in the Bengal +lowlands after the rainy season, which closes in the fall. Its ravages +are most pronounced in the month of December, but cases are quite +frequent the whole year round. During my second year’s sojourn in India +it was very violent in December, but I would scarcely have known of it +at all if my official duties had not made it incumbent on me to report +from the board of health of India to that of the United States at +Washington. Now and then I was reminded of the existence of the malady +by the sudden deaths of my acquaintances. On three different occasions I +enjoyed a pleasant evening entertainment in company with a number of +friends, one of whom was not only dead, but even buried before the next +morning.</p> + +<p>Although India is ravaged by different deadly diseases, especially a +kind of fever of which people die after one or two days’ sickness; +still, disease and death are scarcely ever mentioned among +Anglo-Indians. They don’t like to talk about such unpleasant things. A +friend is suddenly and unexpectedly snatched away from social circles, +but his death<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">- 238 -</a></span> is seldom or never mentioned, just as if a secret +and united agreement of taciturnity had been entered into by the +survivors. Once I was invited to dine at the table d’hote of the +officers at the military station Dum-Dum, a few miles from Calcutta. I +drove out there in the evening, and at eight o’clock I had dinner in +company with about forty officers, the majority of whom belonged to the +Scotch frontier regiment. Col. Chapman, one of the party, was a jolly +old Scotch warrior and Lieut.-Col. Hill was my host. After a splendid +dinner such as India alone can offer, the company grouped themselves +around several whist-tables according to the custom in the higher +circles among the English. Col. Chapman was my partner, and we parted +company at one o’clock. I accompanied Lieut.-Col. Hill to his villa, and +retired for the night. At eight o’clock the next morning he entered my +room with the sad news that he was just returning from the funeral of +Col. Chapman. The stern old warrior who returned unscathed from twenty +battle-fields was attacked by the cholera at two o’clock, died at four +o’clock, and was buried at six o’clock. Such is life in India.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the Himalayas is a very extensive territory called Teraj. +Its soil is very fertile and adapted for tea culture. The whole +territory is covered with timber, bushes and other plants, which, with +the exception of certain cultivated portions, form an impenetrable +jungle, affording a natural resort for tigers, leopards, and other wild +beasts. The lofty mountains and the dense jungles shut out the sun, and +the whole region is full of poisonous vapors which are never dispelled. +It would be almost certain death for an European to live there for any +length of time, and it is customary even in passing through the country +on the railway train to take double doses of quinine as a precaution. +The fever and cholera which are thus generated in the jungles and spread +through the rice fields cause terrible ravages, not only among<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_239" id="Page_239">- 239 -</a></span> the Europeans, but also among the +natives. Medical science has done a great deal to mitigate this evil, +and the cholera, at least, has been carefully studied and controlled by +the medical department of the Anglo-Indian army, so at present the +malady is not feared so much as might be expected. The germs of the +disease consist of microbes, which are carried in swarms by the wind. If +such a pestiferous current of air strikes a place where soldiers are +stationed, they are immediately ordered to break camp, and in a few +hours the whole force is marching at a right angle with the wind, and +after a day’s march and a night’s bivouac the physicians are generally +able to tell whether the troops are out of the cholera district or not. +If not, the march is continued day after day, always at a right angle +with that of the preceding day, until the air contains no more cholera +microbes.</p> + +<p>Old officers of the army told me that they had seen the cholera pass +over one part of the camp attacking every fourth man on one side of the +camp street without touching a single one on the other. It is claimed +that the fear and anxiety caused by this dreadful malady are even more +dangerous than the disease itself.</p> + +<p>One day while sitting at my breakfast table I received a message from +the University hospital that an American sailor was very anxious to see +me before he died. I immediately drove over there and was met at the +entrance by the president, Dr. J. M. Coates, but when I arrived in the +cholera apartment the man had just died. A sister of mercy was present +at his death-bed, and had promised to carry his last message to me, +which consisted in a greeting of love and a few trinkets to be sent to +his mother in the state of Maine. There was a large apartment filled +with cholera patients. Many of the native patients were visited by their +friends and relatives; for the Hindoos do not entertain any fear of +death, but rather court it, believing that a death caused by a +contagious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">- 240 -</a></span> disease or a poisonous snake is simply a +dispensation of Providence by which they are called away to a better +life.</p> + +<p>As an illustration of this fact I mention the following incident: One +day while I was inspecting an American vessel a Hindoo laborer fell +overboard, and a Norwegian sailor plunged into the water and saved him. +After being brought safely on the deck the Hindoo became so angry at the +Norwegian that he could have killed him, simply because he had prevented +his entering paradise. Such occurrences are quite frequent.</p> + +<p>I mentioned that I met a sister of mercy at the death-bed of an American +cholera patient in the hospital. I cannot neglect this opportunity to +express my heartfelt gratitude to these noble women, the modern nuns of +the Catholic church. I have seen them in the dens of degradation and +wretchedness in the American cities, among the sick, wounded and dying +soldiers on the battle-fields of the South; I have seen them in an +Arabian sea-port, searching for poverty-stricken travelers, among the +cholera patients and among the unfortunate inmates of the prisons of +India, always performing the same angelic duty, helping the poor, +tending the sick, and comforting the despondent. Of course I am no +Catholic, nor is it my intention to defend the Catholic faith; but I +wish to acknowledge my appreciation of and pay my respect to the noble +work which the priests and nuns of that church are carrying on among the +lowly and erring members of our race.</p> + +<p>The Hindoos are the most polite and clever people I ever saw. Their +manners are exquisitely fine; no rudeness, no profanity, no intemperance +is to be found among them, not even among the lowest classes. As has +been said already, the higher classes are exceedingly polished and +cleanly; all treat their parents and old people with marked respect. I +shall narrate a few incidents to illustrate this: Shortly after<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_241" id="Page_241">- 241 -</a></span> my arrival in Calcutta I became +acquainted with the two Princes Tagore, especially the younger of them. +They are titled princes, and enormously rich. They have many palaces, +hundreds of secretaries, workingmen, servants, and pensioners, and, as +is the custom among the Hindoos, whose families are governed according +to the principles of patriarchal life, they all live together and get +their support from the common property. I visited them several times, +but mostly the younger prince who was at that time about forty-five +years old, and a great admirer of America. Although a man of that age +and rank he never talked in the presence of his elder brother until the +latter had by a word or a nod signified that he was allowed to speak. A +son is never allowed to talk in the presence of his father until the +latter has finished. The eldest member of the family is its highest +ruler, and even the Princes Tagore would never take any important steps +before obtaining the consent of their aged mother.</p> + +<p>Many prominent Hindoos and Mohammedans, some of whom were native rulers, +came and visited me, before they invited me to their great fêtes. +One of the frequent visitors was Dr. L. N. Maitra, a Brahmin of the +highest class, and one of the most intelligent and clever men I met in +India. He used to sit with me for hours, telling about the life, history +and religion of the Hindoos. Having become acquainted with each other by +several months’ intercourse, one day he sat a long while at my house as +if absorbed in deep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">- 242 -</a></span> thought, and when he was ready to leave he +asked if I would allow him to recite a Hindoo proverb in Sanskrit. In +doing this he proved himself to be a fine elocutionist, and it seemed to +me that I had never heard more music in prose, although I could not, of +course, understand a single word of it.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 194px;"> +<img src="images/image051.jpg" width="194" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">DR. MAITRA READING <br />SANSKRIT.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">I asked him</span> for a translation, and the next day he sent me one with the +assurance that he intended to apply the proverb to me. It reads thus: +“Do not enter into a very intimate acquaintance with anybody; but +if you do, see that your friend is not a stranger; but if he is a +stranger, see to it that he is not an educated man; but if he is +educated, never part from him; but if fate compels you to part from him, +then try to control that which we cannot control, that is, die, for +death alone can make up for the loss of such a good man.” I have +told this to show not only the Hindoo’s conception of the happiness of +death, but also his exquisite politeness and delicacy of feeling.</p> + +<p>When a Hindoo wishes to pay an elderly man or woman +his respect or in some manner honor them, he calls them father<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">- 243 -</a></span> +or mother, or, if they are his equals in age, brother or +sister. Even to-day, when my former clerks write to me +they call me father, and ask me to remember them to +their dear mother, that is, my wife.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 264px;"> +<img src="images/image052.jpg" width="264" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MY CHIEF CLERK.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">On a few</span> occasions some Hindoo princes and nobles would arrange special +entertainments and fêtes for me, or rather in honor of the country +represented by me, and on such occasions the invitation was not limited +to me, but was extended to my friends also, so that I could take with me +of these as many as I pleased.</p> + +<p>The Tagore family had a beautiful country house outside the city, where, +one day shortly after my arrival, a party was given in honor of myself +as representing the United States. Among the friends who accompanied me +on this occasion was the Danish traveler, D’Irgens-Bergh, whose +acquaintance I had made on my journey from Naples to Alexandria. The +villa might more correctly have been called a palace, for it was on a +grand scale and a perfect gem of architectural beauty. The floors and +walls of all apartments were of marble. A beautiful and finely kept park +surrounded the palace, and here, on the evening of our visit, hundreds +of Chinese lanterns illuminated the spacious grounds. The most brilliant +feature of the entertainment was music rendered by a complete orchestra +of native musicians who used Hindoo instruments entirely different from +ours; but pianos, guitars and other instruments with which we are +acquainted, were also used. The younger prince was a great lover of +music, and maintained, at his own expense, a conservatory of music and a +large orchestra, giving instruction in music free of charge to any young +man who was peculiarly gifted in that line. He is also well versed in +Sanskrit literature, and has written several scientific works in +Sanskrit. Before I left he presented me with one of these works +containing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">- 244 -</a></span> his autograph, which is reproduced here as a sample +of the hand-writing of an educated Hindoo:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 551px;"> +<img src="images/image053.png" width="551" height="450" alt="(dedication note.)" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Our refreshments at the fête consisted of dainties prepared by +native cooks. Cream, rice, sugar, eggs, fish, flour, and spices were the +chief ingredients of the different courses. Champagne and other European +drinks were served with the courses, and after the repast we were +offered coffee, and the servants brought wash basins and towels. Finally +the major domo passed an urn-shaped golden goblet, placed on a gold +tray. In this goblet was a fine sponge soaked with attar of roses, which +costs about a dollar a drop, and in which the guests dipped the tips of +their fingers and moistened their foreheads and clothes. The least +contact with this attar causes a fragrance which lasts for months.</p> + +<p>Neither on this occasion nor at any other festivity arranged<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_245" id="Page_245">- 245 -</a></span> by native Hindoos were any of the +women present or visible to us, although we knew they were close enough +to see us through windows or gratings. The men themselves assisted in +waiting on us, but tasted nothing in our presence. When finally the +carriages drove up and the guests parted each one of them received a +huge bouquet of beautiful, fragrant flowers.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 397px;"> +<img src="images/image054.jpg" width="397" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">RAJAH TAGORE.</span> +</div> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">- 246 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a><a href="#TOC_25"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXV.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Agriculture, Manufacture and Architecture—Wheat Growing—The +Farm Laborer—His Condition, Implements, etc. The +Taj-Mahal—Jugglers—Snake Charmers—From My Journal.</p><br /></div> + +<p>A large majority of the Hindoos are agriculturists. The staple crops are +wheat, rice, and different species of pease. The wheat production of +India exerts a great influence on the grain market of Europe, and is one +of the most dangerous competitors to our American wheat. Having been +ordered by the United States government to report on the wheat growing +of India, I made this a special object of investigation and study, and +in December, 1882, sent a report to the government in Washington which +is our first reliable information on that subject; it elicited a great +deal of attention, and was a source of genuine surprise in this country. +I submit a few extracts from this report:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The annual wheat production of India now reaches two hundred and forty +million bushels, of which two hundred million may be exported, while the +natives make their bread from other kinds of grain. The total area +devoted to wheat each year is now a little over twenty million acres, +and the best average yield is thirteen and one-half bushels per acre. +Wheat growing is now receiving the special attention of the general and +local governments, and important works are being made and projected for +an extensive system of canal irrigation. One of these, the Sirhind canal +in the Punjab, has just been completed; it was built mainly by prison +labor, is five hundred and two miles long, and will irrigate seven +hundred and eighty thousand acres through two thousand five hundred +miles of minor channels.</p> + +<p>The wheat is sown in the autumn and harvested in March or April; it +is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">- 247 -</a></span> usually sown in drills or rows, weeded like garden stuff, +and in quantities not much larger than garden patches in the United +States. The agricultural population numbers nearly two hundred millions; +it is the aggregate of innumerable little units which, in agriculture, +as in everything else in India, brings the country into importance; and +this fact is so closely interwoven with the whole social, industrial and +legal network of India, that it bears a strong influence even upon the +future question of Indian <i>versus</i> American wheat.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 463px;"> +<img src="images/image055.jpg" width="463" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">PLOWING IN INDIA.</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Indian agriculturist,—“Ryot,”—can in no +sense be compared to the American farmer, but rather to the late serf of +Russia. He is a tenant on hard conditions, and is by custom and bigotry +almost a fixture on the spot of land where he was born; his farming is +done on a very small scale and according to old methods, to which he +clings with religious veneration; his wants are very few, and he endures +poverty and even hunger with patience; he cultivates his patch of five +to fifteen acres on shares for the landed +proprietor,—“zemindar,”—who holds under rental +to the government, and the better half of his gross income generally +goes to the zemindar, the priest (Brahmin) and the usurer, in the form +of rent, presents, offerings and interest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">- 248 -</a></span> and if he can net +ten cents a day by his hard and hopeless labor, that will suffice for +the most pressing wants of his household. His home is a mud, or +bamboo-hut, his property a pair of small bullocks, a few cows, calves +and goats, a wooden cart, and a few brass and earthen pots, in all worth +about fifty dollars, and his implements and tools are of the rudest +kind, such as his ancestors used a thousand years ago; and yet he is +making some progress under British rule, and finds his wants increasing, +and at the same time better outlets for his produce and better +recompense for his labor, and on the whole, is so independent on ten +cents a day, that he will eat or store his wheat rather than sell it +below a certain price. Of course he does not employ machinery in +farming, but plows his land with a crooked piece of iron-pointed wood, +harrows it with an instrument resembling a common ladder laid flat on +the ground and dragged by little bullocks crossways over the field; he +sows by hand, reaps with a rude sickle, carries the sheaves home on his +back or in the bullock cart, threshes them with a wooden club, or lets +the cattle tramp out the grain, and cleans it by hand-winnowing.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image056.jpg" width="620" height="485" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">LABORERS AT THE INDIGO PRESS.</span> +</div> + +<p>India of course yields a great number of other kinds of agricultural +products, especially the indigo plant, from which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">- 249 -</a></span> the renowned +dye-stuff is made; rape, mustard and other species of seeds from which +oils are pressed, the opium plant, etc.</p> + +<p>In the cities and towns the people devote themselves to trades and +handicrafts, in some of which they attain greater perfection than any +other people. Their beautiful carvings in wood and ivory, their +exquisite embroideries, their textiles and yarns exceed everything in +that line. But their ability is not due to any genius or ingenuity, but +to close observation and patient application. According to their +religious tenets the sons must learn the trade of their father, and they +begin to work at his side as soon as they can handle a needle, chisel, +or other tool, and continue the practice day after day, year after year, +until they also in turn, have taught their children and grandchildren +the same trade. Certain places are noted for certain industries, as +Dakka for its fine muslin; Benares for its embroideries, etc. The muslin +weavers of Dakka can with their hands spin and weave fabrics which are +almost as fine as cobweb, and a person who is not accustomed to such +work would not be able to feel the thread between his fingers; but the +sensitiveness of the Hindoo spinner in Dakka has been developed to such +an extraordinary degree during a hundred generations that he is able to +perform works which would be perfectly impossible for others. I have +seen a garment presented to a Hindoo king which was so fine in texture +that, although it was a complete suit, it was folded up and safely +packed into a mango shell, which is only a little larger than an almond +shell, and thus presented. I have in my possession a little box two +inches wide and four inches long, made of sandal-wood and adorned with +fine carvings; all the edges are inlaid with pieces of ivory, in which +are again inlaid more than two thousand separate pieces of different +metals so skilfully put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">- 250 -</a></span> together that the joints can not be +detected even by using a magnifying glass.</p> + +<p>In architecture the Hindoos also distinguished themselves centuries ago +by the erection of buildings which are still objects of the admiration +of the world. One of these master works of architecture is regarded as +the most beautiful ever erected by the hands of men. It is the Taj-Mahal +at Agra, a mausoleum erected by emperor Shah Jehan over the remains of +his wife, Bengos Begum, who died in 1630. “During a period of +seventeen years after her death Shah Jehan collected building material +of marble and precious stones to be used in the construction of the +mausoleum. All parts of India contributed to this, as did the different +parts of the Holy Land to the temple of Solomon, and its estimated cost +is twenty-five million dollars. It is built in Moorish style, with +slender pillars, and its majesty and beauty profoundly impress the +beholder. Many buildings in the world excel this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">- 251 -</a></span> temple in +size, but none can rival it in ideal beauty and finish. It looks more +like a temple of thanksgiving and praise than an abode of sorrow, and +the spirit of love seems to fill its silent chambers, quickening and +warming the cold marble and transforming the whole building into a +dream, into a psalm in stone. It is rich in mosaics, and precious stones +of different colors assume the shape of fresh vines and living flowers. +There it stands in solemn silence on the banks of the Jumna, like an +enchanted vision. It seemed to grow in magnificent splendor before my +eyes as I approached it. The airy dome and the white marble pillars +glittered in fabulous, mystic beauty, and towered far above the gigantic +cypress trees, which stood in rows like sentinels around it. One enters +the park in front of the main building through a pillared archway of +colossal dimensions, built of red sand-stone and surmounted by +twenty-six white cupolas. The height of the arches is one hundred and +forty feet.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"><br /> +<img src="images/image057.jpg" width="620" height="425" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">TAJ-MAHAL.</span> +</div> + +<p>“Taj-Mahal is erected on a base of red sand-stone nine hundred and +sixty-four feet long and three hundred and twenty-nine feet wide, one +side of which is washed by the river Jumna, and on each of the four +corners is a tower of red sand-stone covered by a white marble kiosk. +Two mosques take up the east and west sides. From this ground rises a +fine terrace of white marble, three hundred and thirteen feet square, in +the center of which is the beautiful main building itself. At each angle +is an airy marble spire of exquisite style, surmounted by a noble cupola +resting on eight pillars. They are about one hundred and fifty feet +high, and a spiral stairway leads to the very top. The ground-plan of +Taj-Mahal forms a regular octangle. The four sides on which the +entrances are located are each about one hundred and thirty feet long, +and turn to the four cardinal points of the compass. The roof is seventy +feet above the base. Over each corner is a gorgeous spire, and over the +center towers a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">- 252 -</a></span> marble dome measuring seventy feet in diameter, +and rising to a height of one hundred and twenty feet. It is covered by +a gilt vault in the shape of a half-moon about two hundred and sixty +feet above the floor. All this is of the finest Jaypoor marble, +carefully polished, and still retaining its pure color.</p> + +<p>“Notwithstanding the colossal size of Taj-Mahal, every part of it, +from the foundation to the dome, is adorned with artistically executed +designs, and the whole is as carefully wrought as the finest ebony +ornament. Thus the entire Koran is inscribed on it. Even to-day the +burial vault of the beautiful queen is filled with the fragrance of +roses, jasmines and sandal-wood. The graves of the empress and emperor +constitute sarcophagi of the purest marble, covered with elegant inlays +of agate, carnelians, lapis lazuli and other precious stones, and +surrounded by a six-foot-high gallery in the open net-work of which +lilies, roses and other flowers of gems are inlaid. The dome in +Taj-Mahal produces an echo which is more pleasant, pure and lasting than +any other. A single musical sound produced by the human voice seems to +flow or soar up there like a prolonged, pleasant modulation, which dies +away so slowly that one seems to hear it after it is silent, just as one +seems to see a lark after following it with the eyes after it has +disappeared. Twenty thousand workmen were engaged for twenty-two years +in erecting this mausoleum.”</p> + +<p>These recollections from India would be incomplete if I should omit to +describe some of the wonderful tricks which I saw performed by Hindoo +jugglers. As I was sitting one day in an open place before the hotel in +Benares, together with some English army officers, an ordinary looking +Hindoo of the lower classes, accompanied by a small boy, appeared before +us, and asked permission to show the mango trick. This being granted, +the boy scraped up some earth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">- 253 -</a></span> on the road before our eyes, and +made a little mound of it on the floor of the open veranda in front of +the hotel. The magician, who had no other garment on than a loosely +wrapped cotton cloth, usually worn by the men, and in his hand a white +cloth and a little bag containing a few sticks and other small +implements, stooped down beside the little mound of earth, and, with his +eyes fixed on us, took a mango kernel about twice the size of a peach +stone, which he planted in the little mound. Having smoothed the mound +with his hands he recited several prayers and incantations, and made +some motions over the mound with a magic wand, carefully assuming an air +of expectancy. After a minute or two we saw the mound slowly opening at +the top and the tender shoot of a plant coming up through the crack. The +Hindoo sat with folded hands, occasionally breathing on the plant, and +every now and then he would invoke some invisible being. Meanwhile the +plant grew taller and more solid, until it finally assumed the shape of +a dwarf tree, which kept growing and sent out branches and leaves. This +development took place gradually and slowly, until finally a ripe mango +fruit was seen hanging down from one of the branches. During this +wonderful performance the magician had only now and then for a moment +covered the plant with the cloth in his hand.</p> + +<p>At another time, when I was on the deck of a large steamer, a Hindoo +accompanied by a little girl asked the passengers to permit him to +perform a trick. This being granted, he placed a round wicker basket, +resembling a paper wastebasket, on the deck, and the little girl sat +down in it so that her head and feet were flush with the edge of the +basket, which was thus fairly filled up by the girl. Thereupon the +Hindoo put the cover on and took a long, straight, double-edged sword +which he ran through the basket in all directions. It was a shocking +sight, some of the ladies screamed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">- 254 -</a></span> others fainted. But when he +removed the cover from the basket the girl came out alive and without +injury. The sword was handed to us for inspection, and I am perfectly +sure that it was a straight, solid, honest infantry weapon. During all +this time the basket stood on the deck of the ship so that no springs, +machinery or other contrivance could be concealed under it.</p> + +<p>Snake charmers are very common in India. “When one of these is to +perform a trick he asks for a piece of paper, which he puts in the +out-stretched hand of the spectator, and begins to play on his flute, +and stare with his eyes as if he sees something near the hand. His whole +body seems to be changed; writhing like a worm, he continually plays on +the instrument and keeps his eyes riveted on the hand. Suddenly he +rushes forward and points to the same. But the spectator sees nothing, +and the charmer again plays and contorts his body still more wildly. His +arms are bare up to the elbows, and he holds the flute with both hands. +Suddenly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">- 255 -</a></span> he throws his flute away, continues his motions and +repeats incantations. Again he points to the paper, and while the +observer turns his eyes in that direction without seeing anything +unusual, the charmer presses his folded hands down on it and pulls out +three large cobras, raising their heads and stretching out their +poisonous tongues in different directions while he holds them in his +hand.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"><br /> +<img src="images/image058.jpg" width="620" height="384" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">SNAKE CHARMERS.</span> +</div> + +<p>These and similar tricks are performed daily, yet no one has been able +to detect how they are done. The theory of hypnotism has recently been +advanced, and it does not seem improbable.</p> + +<p>The following extract from my journal may be of interest:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Oct. 8, 1882.—Yesterday I witnessed one of the most important +expressions of public opinion ever recorded in Asia, in favor of +religious liberty. Three thousand prominent persons, mostly Hindoos and +Mohammedans, and a few Christians and Parsees, assembled in the city +hall of Calcutta, and brilliant speeches were made eliciting most +animated applause from the native non-Christian inhabitants as a protest +against the police prosecuting the salvation army, lately arrived in +Bombay. What do the American and European Christians think of the +necessity for Brahmins, Mohammedans, and Parsees to protest against +prosecutions by Christians against Christians?</p> + +<p>Darjieling, Oct. 17, 1882.—Here dwells a tribe of mountaineers who +are polyandrists, the reverse of polygamists. Each woman has several +husbands, who are generally brothers or near relatives. This practice +has locally decreased the population, while in all other Hindoo sects it +is rapidly increasing.</p> + +<p>The English aristocracy is strongly represented here. The summer +residence of the Bengal government, which is located here, as well as +the excellent sanitarium, attract thousands of travelers. Excursions, +dinners, balls and other festivities follow each other in rapid +succession. This afternoon I was present at one of these gatherings, and +met the Greek merchant Patochi, and made other interesting +acquaintances. This evening shall attend a ball given by the governor of +Bengal. At all these parties “simkim,” or champagne, flows +in streams. Life is gay and luxurious among the aristocracy in India.</p> + +<p>Nov. 23, 1882.—Was present at a quiet and select entertainment +with the king of Kutch Behar, in his palace in Calcutta. His wife is a +daughter of the great Hindoo reformer Keshub-Chunder-Sen; she is a well +educated,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">- 256 -</a></span> beautiful woman, who, together with her husband, the +young and elegant king, defies the Hindoo caste restrictions, and +appears publicly in company with other ladies and gentlemen.</p> + +<p>Dec. 28, 1882.—Attended the decennial missionary conference; five +hundred missionaries from all parts of Asia, Africa and Australia were +present, and made it a most interesting religious convention. It was a +gathering of highly cultivated, intelligent, courageous men and women, +from the gray haired veteran to the young novice fresh from college. The +American missionaries took a most prominent part, notable among whom was +Dr. Thoburn, since made a bishop in the <span title=" methodist " class="hoverbox">Methodist</span> church. There were +also three Swedes, with whom I formed an acquaintance,—Ungert, +Edman and Erikson.</p> + +<p>Jan. 18, 1883.—Attended the great state ball in the palace of the +viceroy. Fifteen hundred guests were present, and the throng formed a +brilliant picture of beauty, fashion and royal splendor. There were many +native nobles, princes and rulers, the most prominent ones being the +gawkwar (king) of Baroda, and the Kahn of Khelat. Wherever the gawkwar +went he was closely followed by half a dozen turbaned attendants and +four body guards armed with daggers and cimeters, or Damascus blades. +His garment consisted of blue and green plush and satin, and the +many-colored turban was almost covered with diamonds. It was claimed +that the jewels he wore that evening on his breast and turban had a +value of two million dollars.</p> + +<p>Feb. 10, 1883.—In spite of all efforts to live quietly I am +incessantly drawn into the whirl of social life; yesterday I attended +one of the most pleasant festivities of the season. It was a <span title=" magnificient " class="hoverbox">magnificent</span> +<span title=" fete " class="hoverbox">fête</span> given by the Mohammedan prince Raja Rajendra Naryan Bahadur +in his gorgeous palace and parks in Shova Bazar in honor of the British +victory in Egypt. Three thousand guests were present. All kinds of +amusements were arranged, such as dancing, concerts, a circus with +uninterrupted performances, nautches or dances performed by native +dancing girls, etc. In different parts of the palace refreshments were +served, all in the same grand style as the rest of the entertainment. +The parks and gardens were illuminated by thousands of Chinese lanterns +and many electric lights.</p> +</div> + +<p>The following is also taken from my journal:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>* * * Received visits from the Reverend Phillips Brooks and Joseph Cook, +and from a young Swedish count, Wachtmeister by name, who was on his way +through Asia, and also from a young prince from Madagascar, a son of the +queen of that country, who, under the guidance of Ludvig Larson, a +Norwegian sea captain, made a voyage through the seas of Asia for the +purpose of learning practical navigation. The young prince spoke English +fluently, and was a very intelligent man.</p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">- 257 -</a></span> + +<p>Attended a great festival at a masonic lodge where about one hundred and +fifty members of the order were present, among whom were men of nearly +every nationality and religion. The Master’s degree was conferred on +three brothers who knelt before the same altar. One was a Christian, and +took his obligation with the hand on the <span title=" bible " class="hoverbox">Bible</span>; one was a Mohammedan, +who took it with the hand on the Koran; the third, a Hindoo, with his +hand on the Shastra. The obligation was dictated by an English lord, +judge of the supreme court, assisted by the secretary of the Grand +Lodge, my friend Rustomji, a Parsee and fire-worshiper. With the +religious intolerance in India, where all unite in hating the +Christians, it is only among the Free Masons, who know of no +nationality, race or other barrier, that such things are possible.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 273px;"> +<img src="images/image059.jpg" width="273" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE GODDESS KALI.</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="nowrap">Visited the temple</span> of the goddess Kali in a suburb of Calcutta. Kali is +the goddess of hate and vengence, and this temple is one of the most +celebrated in India. One hundred and fifty Brahmin priests officiate in +the same. The chief priest, Roonish-Chunder-Mokerje, was a young man +with liberal education. He had spent several years in American mission +schools. His office is held by inheritance. He was a most agreeable +companion, well versed in western as well as Sanskrit literature. Once +upon telling him that I had an intimate friend in Sweden who was a +Christian priest, he gave me some pictures of the goddess Kali and other +idols to send him with his compliments. In return, I had the pleasure a +few months later to present him with a Swedish Bible, with his name in +golden letters on the cover, from my friend, the Swedish minister, which +present he cherished very highly. This Bible is now kept in the temple +of Kali.</p> + +<p>At my request Mokerje prepared a brief extract of the religious doctrine +of the Hindoos, which reads as follows:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">- 258 -</a></span></p> + +<p>“We believe in heaven and hell as temporary abodes of reward and +punishment. When a man dies his good and evil deeds are weighed on the +scales. First he goes to heaven to receive his reward, then to hell to +suffer in proportion to his sins. When everything is squared up he again +returns to the world in the form of another being, the same process is +repeated again and again, and he can attain perfect bliss only after he +has reached such a stage of development that he can do neither good nor +evil deeds, but must lose himself in the contemplation of God until he +finally ceases to exist as an individual being, and is reunited with God +of whom he really constitutes a part.”</p></div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 244px;"> +<img src="images/image060.jpg" width="244" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">ABDUL, MY MOHAMMEDAN SERVANT.</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="nowrap">Was invited to</span> the home of Col. Gordon to see some proofs of +occultation, which is very wide-spread in India, and witnessed +phenomena, which were so strange, that I hesitate to write them down. I +saw heavy objects moving in the air through the room above our heads, +and a man with the chair on which he sat rising several feet from the +floor without the aid of any visible force whatever. I heard a slate +pencil, moved by an invisible power, writing on a slate, and read in +plain English what was written. I also saw in the same manner a pen +writing on paper with ink, and felt with my hand the moisture of the +ink. I know not wherein the invisible power consisted which caused these +phenomena, but that such a power does exist I know for certain, for in +this case, at least, there was no chance for deception.</p> + +<p>At the home of the prince Tagore I met the renowned Madame Blavatsky, +and many Hindoo theosophists. She is a large, corpulent woman, with +intelligent, though rather coarse, features. She believes that she is +attended by Kut-Humis-Lal-Sing, a Buddhistic hermit who is claimed to be +two thousand years old, and have the power of moving his “astral +body” as swiftly as thought to the most distant places. For my +part I saw nothing remarkable among the theosophists, but it is a common +belief among the +<!--[image061]<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">- 259 -</a></span>--> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">- 260 -</a></span> +Hindoos that certain pundits, or +learned men, who for years have lived in the mountains as hermits, +abstaining from food and all sensual pleasures, thereby attain such a +power of mind over matter as to be able to separate the former from the +body and let it, untrammeled by the laws of matter, move from place to +place, still retaining the same form and ability to speak and act. +Whether this is so or not I cannot say, but this I know, that +“there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in +our philosophy.”</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image061.jpg" width="620" height="392" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">TYPES OF MOHAMMEDAN SERVANTS.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="margin-left: 5em; width: 153px;"> +<img src="images/image062.jpg" width="153" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">SOBULLA, AN IDIOT.</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="nowrap">What luxuries</span> one may enjoy here in the most pleasant company,—a +glorious nature, palatial residences, choice fruits, dishes and wines, +pleasures of all kinds, surrounded by a host of servants, who, in +snow-white garments and with bare feet, noiselessly and swiftly move +about in order to gratify one’s desires upon the slightest +sign,—and still how I long for the home in the North, with the +cool winds and frost and snow which quicken the blood, give appetite, +and fill one with a feeling of surging vitality and energy, unknown in +the enervating climates of the South.</p> + +<p>From my veranda I see a crowd of people on the street who seem to pay +homage to some one. It proves to be an idiotic <span title=" begger " class="hoverbox">beggar</span>, Sobulla. The +Hindoos believe that when a person has lost his reason he is filled with +the spirit of God, and hence they always treat the insane with respect +and tender care.</p> + +<p>This April heat makes it easy to realize the Hindoo proverb, which says: +“Never run when you may walk, never walk when you may stand still, +never stand when you may sit, never sit when you may lie down.”</p> +</div> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">- 261 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a><a href="#TOC_26"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXVI.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>The Women of India—The Widows—The American +Zenana—Prizes Awarded in a Girl’s School—Annandabai +Joshee—Her Visit to America—Reports to the +Government—Departure from +India—Burmah—Ceylon—Arabia—Cairo.</p><br /></div> + +<p>From our point of view the social condition of women in India is highly +deplorable. The women are not regarded as the equals of men, but rather +as an appendix to them. Their religion teaches that they have no +acknowledged rights as individuals, and that the only happiness they can +attain in this world and in the world to come is to become wives and +mothers of men, and that the more a woman sacrifices herself for man the +greater will be her reward in the future. If the man to whom she is +married dies, the remainder of her life is full of sorrow and suffering, +and it is only in the life hereafter that she can expect any happiness, +and that by being reunited with him.</p> + +<p>This belief gave rise to the so-called “sati,” or the custom +to burn the wife on her deceased husband’s pyre in order that she might +<i>at once</i> be reunited with him and enjoy salvation through him. +“Sati” is now prohibited by the English government, but +every widow in India is still doomed to a life of misery and +degradation.</p> + +<p>When we consider that polygamy is practiced to a very large extent among +the rich so that a man is allowed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">- 262 -</a></span> have any number of wives, +and may keep on taking new wives as long as he lives, it may easily be +understood what a great number of widows there must be. There is an old +man, for example, who dies and leaves many widows of different ages, +some of them only ten or twelve years old, none of whom are allowed to +marry a second time. They are deprived of all ornaments, and compelled +to wear a very coarse, plain dress, to live on the plainest food, and +work hard for the man who inherits the property of the deceased husband, +and who is generally his brother or his son. This is the reason that +rich families have a large number of women in all ranks and conditions, +from the mistress of the house, which position is held by the husband’s +mother, to the humblest servant woman. The education of women is +prohibited; hence they are very much like children, playing with their +dolls, jewels and other toys, and having no higher idea of life in +general than what they have been taught in the nursery. It is rather +fortunate, therefore, that these lamentable victims of prejudice live in +ignorance, as long as the present<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">- 263 -</a></span> condition exists, for +otherwise their life would be still more miserable.</p> + +<p>In the course of the last few years missionaries from Europe and America +have opened schools for the education of girls. The most prominent of +these is located in Calcutta, and has many branches in other parts of +India. It is called “the American Zenana,” or ladies’ +mission, and during my stay in India it was managed by a Miss Hook, a +very estimable lady of Danish descent, the fruits of whose noble work +will be of incalculable value to future millions of Hindoo women.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image063.jpg" width="620" height="369" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MISSION HOME AND SCHOOL.</span> +</div> + +<p>At an examination in this school I had the honor of distributing the +prizes, consisting of five hundred American dolls sent by Cyrus Field of +New York. The recipients were the most dainty and pretty little girls +one could see. I wish I could describe this festivity. I sat on the +platform in the great hall with Miss Hook to the right, a pundit or +learned Brahmin to the left, and surrounded by the American and native +teachers and some American tourists. The immense hall might be compared +with a beautiful flower terrace alive with different colors, every +little girl shining like a pretty flower in her red, green, white, blue +or purple dress, her pretty black hair sparkling with gold and silver +ornaments or jewels. They were all listening with close attention until +their names were called, when they modestly, their faces beaming with +joy, stepped up to receive the pretty dolls sent by the generous +American.</p> + +<p>At first these schools met with bitter opposition on the part of the +better classes of natives, but these prejudices gradually died away, and +at present the mission schools are not subject to either persecution or +ill-will.</p> + +<p>One day in February, 1883, I received a visit at my home by a Brahmin of +the highest class, accompanied by his young wife and her little sister. +Her name was Annandabai Joshee. Her husband was postmaster in the old +Danish city<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">- 264 -</a></span> Serampoor. He was a highly educated man, about +forty years of age, with fine, affable manners. His wife was nineteen +years old, and they had been married nine years. With the exception of +the queen of Kutch Behar and a few in the Zenana mission, she was the +first educated Hindoo woman that I had met. Her husband had given her an +excellent education.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 228px;"> +<img src="images/image064.jpg" width="228" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<p class="caption"><span class="hoverbox" title=" ANNADABAI ">ANNANDABAI</span> JOSHEE.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">Their errand was</span> to consult me and, if possible, obtain my assistance in +a matter of the greatest importance to the women of India. The young +woman had reflected somewhat in this manner: “Since I have +acquired education, and the same amount of knowledge as a man, why may +not other women in India do the same? In America many women are renowned +for their great learning, and many of them are doctors of medicine. The +women of India are not allowed to be visited by any man except their +husband, and as all our physicians are men, who cannot see and carefully +examine their female patients, they cannot, of course, prescribe proper +treatment for them; hence many women in India must suffer and die +without a remedy, which often could be avoided if women studied +medicine. If American women can become physicians, then I can, and I +have decided to go to America and enter the female medical<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_265" id="Page_265">- 265 -</a></span> college in Philadelphia and study +for the degree of doctor of medicine, and then return to India and do +good among my countrywomen, and disprove the false doctrine which keeps +Hindoo women in ignorance and degradation.” Her husband was very +enthusiastic for her plan, and, being rich, was also able to assist her +in carrying it out if I would favor it and contribute toward its +realization by reason of the influence my official position gave.</p> + +<p>A few weeks later, the noble minded little Brahmin woman was on her way +across the great ocean to that country where not only man but also woman +enjoys a free existence. She carried official letters from me to all +American authorities with which she might come in contact, also to the +mayor of Philadelphia, and to the state department at Washington. Before +leaving Calcutta she delivered an extempore address before a large +audience at the University of Serampoor, of which address I have made +the following extracts:</p> + +<p>“I am asked hundreds of questions about my going to America. I +take this opportunity to answer some of them.</p> + +<p>“I go to America because I wish to study medicine. I now address +the ladies present here, who will be the better judges of the importance +of female medical assistance in India. I never consider this subject +without being impressed that none of those societies so laudably +established in India for the promotion of science and female education +have ever thought of sending one of their female members into the more +civilized parts of the world to procure thorough medical knowledge, in +order to open here a college for the instruction of women in medicine. +The want of female physicians in India is keenly felt in every quarter. +Ladies, both European and native, are naturally averse to expose +themselves in cases of emergency to treatment by doctors of the other +sex. There are some female doctors in India<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">- 266 -</a></span> from Europe and +America, who, being foreigners, and different in manners, customs and +language, have not been of such use to our women as they might. As it is +very natural that Hindoo ladies who love their own <span title=" conntry " class="hoverbox">country</span> and people +should not feel at home with the natives of the other countries, we +Indian women absolutely derive no benefit from these foreign ladies. +They indeed have the appearance of supplying our need, but the +appearance is delusive. In my humble opinion there is a growing need for +Hindoo lady doctors in India, and I volunteer to qualify myself for one.</p> + +<p>“Are there no means to study in India? I do not mean to say there +are <i>no</i> means, but the difficulties are many and great. There is one +college at Madras, and midwifery classes are open in all the +presidencies; but the education imparted is defective and insufficient, +as the instructors are conservative, and to some extent jealous. I do +not find fault with them. That is the character of the male sex. We must +put up with this inconvenience until we have a class of educated ladies +to relieve these men. I am neither a Christian nor a Brahmin. To +continue to live as a Hindoo, and go to school in any part of India, is +very difficult. A convert who wears an English dress is not so much +stared at. Native Christian ladies are free from the opposition or +public scandal which Hindoo ladies like myself have to meet within and +without the Zenana. If I go alone by train or in the street some people +come near to stare and ask impertinent questions to annoy me. Example is +better than precept. Some few years ago, when I was in Bombay, I used to +go to school. When people saw me going with my books in my hand they had +the goodness to put their heads out of the window just to have a look at +me. Some stopped their carriages for the purpose. Others walking in the +streets stood laughing, and crying out so that I could hear: ‘What is +this? Who is this lady who is going to school<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">- 267 -</a></span> with boots and +stockings on?’ Does not this show that the Kali Ugla has stamped its +character on the minds of the people? Ladies and gentlemen, you can +easily imagine what effect questions like this would have on your minds +if you had been in my place!</p> + +<p>“Once it happened that I was obliged to stay in school for some +time, and go twice a day for my meals to the house of a relative. +Passers-by, whenever they saw me going, gathered round me. Some of them +made fun and were convulsed with laughter. Others, sitting respectably +on their verandas, made ridiculous remarks, and did not feel ashamed to +throw pebbles at me. The shop-keepers and venders spit at the sight of +me, and made gestures too indecent to describe. I leave it to you to +imagine what was my condition at such time, and how I could gladly have +burst through the crowd to make my home nearer.</p> + +<p>“Yet the boldness of my Bengali brethren cannot be exceded, and is +still more serious to contemplate than the instances I have given from +Bombay. Surely it deserves pity. If I go to take a walk on the strand, +Englishmen are not so bold as to look at me. Even the soldiers are never +troublesome, but the Baboo boys<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> have their levity by making fun of +everything. ‘Who are you?’ ‘What caste do you belong +to?’ ‘Whence do you come?’ ‘Where do you go?’—are in my +opinion, questions that should not be asked by strangers. There are some +educated native Christians here in Serampoor who are suspicious; they +are still wondering whether I am married or a widow; a woman of bad +character or excommunicated. Dear audience, does it become my native and +Christian brethren to be so uncharitable? Certainly not. I place these +unpleasant things before you that those whom they concern most may +rectify them, and that those who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">- 268 -</a></span> have never thought of the +difficulties may see that I am not going to America through any whim or +caprice.</p> + +<p>“Shall I not be excommunicated when I return to India? Do you +think I should be filled with consternation at this threat? I do not +fear it in the least. Why should I be cast out, when I have determined +to live there exactly as I do here? I propose to myself to make no +change in my customs and manners, food or dress. I will go as a Hindoo +and come back here to live as a Hindoo. I will not increase my wants, +but be as plain and simple as my forefathers, and as I am now. If my +countrymen wish to excommunicate me, why do they not do it now? They are +at liberty to do so.”</p> + +<p>After my return to America I visited her twice at the medical college in +Philadelphia, where she became everybody’s favorite, being one of the +best students that ever crossed the threshhold of the institution. She +did not renounce her religion or her habits of life, but observed all of +these strictly. After three years of hard study she passed her +examination with high standing, and practiced a few months in American +hospitals, but she gradually succumbed to the dread disease, pulmonary +consumption, and returned to India after an absence of four years, only +to die in Poonah, the city where her ancestors had lived as highly +respectable people for two thousand years past. She left India with the +curse of the Brahmins on her head, but returned as the idol of her +people. Thousands upon thousands crowded around her home, almost +worshiping the frail, noble being whose youthful life was slowly ebbing +away.</p> + +<p>Strange are the ways of Providence. When Rev. Dr. Fjellstedt kindled a +desire to see India in the bosom of the young country boy, who could +then have guessed that this boy was to become a medium to assist that +Brahmin woman who was destined to be the first one of the millions of +India to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">- 269 -</a></span> clear the way to education and liberty for her +unfortunate sisters!</p> + +<p>Besides my report on wheat culture I sent numerous official reports to +our government on different industries, and other matters in India, such +as tea culture, the decline of American shipping in Asia, the railroads, +the population of India, our commercial relations with India, etc. These +reports attracted such attention in Washington that during the month of +February, 1883, I received orders from the state department to make a +tour of inspection to those provinces and cities which belonged to my +district and report to the government anything of national interest. +Shortly after receiving this order, which was accompanied by a leave of +absence for six months, I also received a cablegram from Holland +offering me the position of managing American director of the Maxwell +Land Grant Company in New Mexico, whereof more hereafter.</p> + +<p>On the 12th of April I turned over all my official affairs to the +vice-consul, Mr. C. C. Bancroft, and took the steamer Raipatoonah for +Burmah, where I visited the most important seaports, Rangoon, Mulmain, +and Akjab. Buddhism is there the prevailing religion, and the caste +system, such as is found among the Hindoos, is unknown. The people are +more prosperous. The city of Rangoon has, among other notable objects, a +celebrated Buddhist pagoda, the great dome of which is covered with +solid gold plate. The pagoda is situated on a high elevation above the +city, and the dome is one of the most notable and costly works of +architecture in the world. It is visible at a great distance out on the +ocean, and when the tropical sun throws its rays on it, it looks like a +flame of fire, whose splendor is too dazzling for the eyes to endure.</p> + +<p>At a dinner party arranged for me by the American consul at Rangoon, I +met many of the prominent men in this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">- 270 -</a></span> city. Among these a judge +of the supreme court, one Mr. Allen, who, late in the evening, at a game +of whist, informed me that he had on that day been engaged in the trial +of a Birmese prince accused of murder, and that he should pronounce +sentence the following day. I could see that he had already made up his +mind; still he politely asked me a few questions on international law +with reference to the trial. The next day the prince was sentenced to +death because he had violated the law of the land, which seems to prove +that the English administration of justice in Asia is no respecter of +persons.</p> + +<p>In Birmah elephants are used for loading and unloading goods in the +harbors. In the city of Mulmain I saw some of these wise animals piling +up heavy timber in a lumber yard. The elephant put his tusks under the +beam and his trunk over it and handled it with great ease. Having lifted +the beam on the pile, he looked at it carefully to see if it lay in +right shape, and if not, he would move it with his trunk. It was +wonderful to see how well these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">- 271 -</a></span> animals seemed to understand +what their drivers said. If a very big log could not be moved in the +usual manner he would roll it with his feet or shove it with his head, +or even put a chain around it and pull it along, and all this at the +command of the driver who remained sitting on the head of the animal.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image065.jpg" width="620" height="347" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">ELEPHANTS PILING TIMBER.</span> +</div> + +<p>On April 25 I again embarked, this time on the steamer Asia, sailing +across the Bay of Bengal, and arrived on the first day of May at the +seaport, Bimlipatam, on the Madras coast. It was a pleasant city of +white houses and situated at the foot of a high volcano. Here I saw for +the first time the notorious car of Juggernaut, in which the image of +the god is dragged through the streets. The car is of stupendous size, +and rests on sixteen wheels. Thousands of pilgrims followed the car, and +formerly many of the worshipers used to throw themselves under the +wheels in order to be crushed to death; but this barbaric custom has +been prohibited by the English government. The idol of Juggernaut is +regarded as very sacred, for according to tradition it contains a bone +of Krishna, the Hindoo Apollo, one of the ten incarnations or +manifestations of the god Vishnu. This relic worship, which is otherwise +unknown to the orthodox Hindoo faith, is a remnant of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">- 272 -</a></span> Buddhism, +which formerly prevailed throughout the whole province of Orisa.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 252px;"> +<img src="images/image066.jpg" width="252" height="375" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE CAR OF JUGGERNAUT.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="nowrap">On the second</span> day we arrived at Kokonada, where a flotilla of nearly one +hundred short-masted sailing vessels of native construction after having +received their cargoes lay waiting for us. Again we steamed away along +the coast, stopping at the seaports Kalingapatam, Vizagapatam, +Masulipatam, and finally arrived at Madras, on the fifth of May. This is +one of the handsomest cities in Asia. It is situated near the equator, +so that it is very hot there; but the fresh ocean breezes cool the air +in the afternoon, and make the temperature particularly delightful.</p> + +<p>On the 10th of May I left with the steamer Assam for Ceylon, and arrived +at Colombo, the principal city and harbor on this island, on the 13th. +Ceylon is called the pearl <span title=" of of " class="hoverbox">of</span> Asia, and justly so. I remained there +two days, in the company of the American consul, and visited the +cinnamon groves, the Buddhistic temples, and other objects of +interest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">- 273 -</a></span> Along the coast south of Colombo is a drive-way for +several miles, passing through groves of cinnamon and other spice trees +which fill the air with fragrance. There are also artificial lakes, +canals, parks and flower gardens in endless profusion; in a word, this +place is one of the most delightful spots I have ever seen.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image067.jpg" width="620" height="394" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">BUDDHA TEMPLE AT CEYLON.</span> +</div> + +<p>The Egyptian patriot Arabi Pasha was recently banished to this island on +account of his taking such a prominent part in the late rebellion in +Egypt. I drove out to his fine residence located near the sea, and found +him to be a very pleasant and highly educated man, who spoke English +fluently, and with whom I soon became on friendly terms on account of my +sympathy for the Egyptian people.</p> + +<p>Ceylon is the centre of modern Buddhism in India. The temples of the +Buddhists are very interesting to see. Many of their priests are men of +learning and culture. I spent a few hours with them, and received much +attention on their part on account of my being a representative of +America. There is an old tradition among the Hindoos that the garden of +Eden was situated on the island of Ceylon. The Hindoo narrative of the +fall of man has many features in common with the biblical narrative, but +with this difference: that Adam, being reproached for his sins, did not, +according to the Hindoo legend, put the blame on Eve, but took it all on +himself, and said that he alone was to blame, and that the woman should +not be cursed. It is further told that when they were expelled from +paradise they turned their course northward, and when they came to the +shallow water which separates Ceylon from the main land of Asia, Adam +took Eve in his arms and carried her across.</p> + +<p>Having remained two days at this delightful place we embarked again, and +on the 20th of May we were steaming along the coast of Arabia, being +within sight of land the whole morning. In my note-book I find the +following lines<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">- 274 -</a></span> for this day: “Under thick canvass there +is a strangely mixed crowd of people on the half-deck, gathered for +divine worship, and when they closed the same by singing:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p><span class="line1">‘O, hear us as we cry to Thee</span><br /> +<span class="line2">For those in peril on the sea,’</span></p> +</div> + +<p>the voices of Mohammedans, Jews, Buddhists and Brahmins from a dozen +different countries were blended with those of the Christians.”</p> + +<p>We spent the 22d of May in the city of Aden, in South Arabia. This place +is hot and dreary. Accompanied by one of my fellow-passengers I took a +ride on camel-back through the desert to the celebrated water +reservoirs. It seldom rains more than once in every three years at this +place. To preserve the water that falls on these occasions the Arabians +have built a series of cisterns, or large reservoirs, for the water +along the foot of a mountain. These cisterns are made with great +architectural skill; they are built of stone and cement, and are much +more compact and durable than similar works of modern times. Water is a +great luxury in Southern Arabia, and it is customary to offer the driver +a drink of water for his camel or horse as an encouragement to drive a +little faster or to show him a favor. At the same time the driver does +not object to a tip, which in oriental countries is called, as in Egypt, +“backshish,” an expression with which every traveler soon +becomes familiar.</p> + +<p>From Aden we had a pleasant voyage up the Red sea to Suez. The cholera +was, so to speak, in the air, and our steamer was the last one which +escaped quarantine. From Suez I traveled in company with some other +passengers by rail to Cairo. We stopped an hour at the little city +Ismailia, which is situated on the canal, and is a fine place, noted +especially for the great fête given by Count F. de Lesseps at the +opening of the Suez canal, for which occasion a fine palace was built +for the accommodation of Empress Eugenie of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">- 275 -</a></span> France. On the way +to Cairo we passed through the valley which in the <span title=" bible " class="hoverbox">Bible</span> is called +Goshen, and which Pharaoh gave to the brothers of Joseph to live in, and +where the brick yards are located in which the Israelites were compelled +to make brick without straw and oppressed in different ways by their +task-masters.</p> + +<p>During the day I had occasion to see a portion of the canal “Bahr +Jussuf,” or Joseph’s canal, a masterwork some four thousand years +old, which the legend ascribes to Joseph, and which still proves what a +blessing this man conferred upon the people of Egypt, not only by +warding off the dread famine, but also by executing many great and +useful works. The canal began at Siut, on the Nile, and meandered +through the valley on the west side of the river for a distance of +nearly two hundred and fifty miles, until its level was so far above +that of the river that its waters could be carried westward into the +province of Fajuin, and change its formerly sterile soil into the +richest and most fertile fields.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">- 276 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a><a href="#TOC_27"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXVII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Cairo—Cheop’s Pyramid—Venice—The St. Gotthard +Tunnel—On the Rhine—Visit in Holland and +England—Father Nugent—Arrival at New York.</p><br /></div> + +<p>The train has stopped, and we are in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. The +beautiful, the joyous, the memorable Cairo, with its gorgeous mosques, +its half mystic, half historical monuments, its narrow streets, and a +life, a commotion and an oriental splendor strongly reminding one of the +legends “One Thousand and One Nights.” In company with a +friend from America I visited the principal mosques, bazars, parks and +other places of interest, and the next day we drove out to the great +Cheop’s pyramid, which is located about eight miles from the city. Here +I again met with a monument of antiquity which filled me with wonder and +admiration. The pyramid of Cheops was built before the birth of +Moses,—yes, before Jacob came down with his sons to +Egypt,—and it is possible that Joseph pointed out the same to his +aged father as a proof of the greatness of the country and its +resources.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image068.jpg" width="620" height="363" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUE.</span> +</div> + +<p>According to Herodotus one hundred and twenty thousand men were occupied +twenty years in building it. Its base covers about eleven acres, and its +height is about four hundred and eighty feet. One can get an approximate +idea of the enormous mass of material in it, when it is calculated that +it contains stone enough to build a wall one and a-half feet thick and +ten feet high around all England,—a distance of nearly nine +hundred miles.</p> +<!--[image068]<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">- 277 -</a></span>--> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">- 278 -</a></span> + +<p>The renowned Sphinx is hewn out of the solid rock. It is in a reclining +position, and, although partly buried by sand, I could easily trace its +back for a distance of thirty paces.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the pyramid I met an Arabian chief, a gesture from whom +showed me that he belonged to the mystic brotherhood of Free Masons, +which gave rise to warm handshaking, and an interesting conversation +through the aid of my interpreter. In pressing the hand of this son of +the desert sighing under despotism, and reading the feelings of his +heart through the wrinkles of his face, while he talked of the great +country in the West, whence I came, and whose free institutions, +granting equal rights to all, were to him a heavenly light pointing +forward and upward, I felt more deeply than ever before what a blessing +it is to be a citizen of a commonwealth where a man is measured, not by +his birth or his wealth, but by his own personal merits.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image069.jpg" width="620" height="365" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE PYRAMIDS AND THE SPHINX.</span> +</div> + +<p>Returning to Cairo the remainder of the day was spent in the Boulak +museum, among the most wonderful antiquities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">- 279 -</a></span> of the world. +Shortly before there had been discovered in the Nubian hills, beneath +the temple Dayr-el-Baheree, a burial place containing the bodies of the +old Egyptian kings. These had been brought to Cairo, where a separate +wing <span title=" of of " class="hoverbox">of</span> the museum had been opened for their keeping, and there they +lay in their coffins in a fine state of preservation, owing to the +Egyptian method of embalming. There were the very men who built the +pyramids; there was Amases I., the founder of the new empire, Thotmes +III., the great Sethi I., and his famous son Ramses II., and that +Pharaoh who is supposed to have brought up Moses; there was also +his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">- 280 -</a></span> daughter Mirrhis, who afterward became his queen, the same +who found Moses as an infant floating in the Nile.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 329px;"> +<img src="images/image070.jpg" width="329" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">RAMSES II., WHEN YOUNG.</span> +</div> + +<p>Their bodies—yes, even their features—were well preserved. +They lie in coffins of wood, which show skilled workmanship, the corners +being carefully dovetailed together. Even their shrouds and ornaments of +flowers and herbs show plainly that the style of dressing the dead among +the Egyptians four thousand years ago was very much the same as it is +now with us.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 328px;"> +<img src="images/image071.jpg" width="328" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">RAMSES II.</span> +</div> + +<p>When I stood among the ruins of Pompeii or of the tower<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_281" id="Page_281">- 281 -</a></span> Sarnath, the home of Buddha, I +thought nothing could be more wonderful and awe-inspiring than those +hoary monuments; but here lay before my eyes the very man who for many +years was a friend and protector of Moses, with his wonderful, +commanding features and eagle nose, his long dark hair, which lay in +thick folds under his neck. The arms, rings, jewels and other ornaments +worn by those kings and their queens, formed part of this wonderful +collection, and, by their skillful workmanship, showed the high degree +of civilization of the ancient Egyptians.</p> + +<p>The following day I took the train for Alexandria. The railroad follows +the river Nile in its general course. The valley is densely populated, +and wretched mud houses and villages appear in every direction. The +cholera had now broken out in its most deadly form, and we saw many dead +and dying at the stations. The steamer Tanjore lay ready to sail for +Europe, and I was soon comfortably quartered in one of its spacious +cabins.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image072.jpg" width="620" height="355" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">NILE BOAT.</span> +</div> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">- 282 -</a></span> + +<p>On Sunday, June 3d, a beautiful Italian day, as we were rapidly steaming +north through the Adriatic sea, we could see the coast of Greece to the +right and that of Italy to the left. We arrived at Brindisi the same +afternoon, and at Venice two days later. Surely the beauties of nature +and of art that meet the eve in this lovely city seem to be the climax +of everything beautiful on earth, and, quietly gliding forward during +many hours through numerous canals in a half-dreamy, half-waking +condition, with two silent gondoliers at the oars, I could scarcely +realize whether this was a beautiful dream, an illusion, or reality.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image073.jpg" width="620" height="483" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">RIALTO BRIDGE IN VENICE.</span> +</div> + +<p>The next morning, accompanied by an interpreter, I walked through St. +Mark’s square, carefully studying its many wonderful attractions, its +splendid shops, the clock, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">- 283 -</a></span> thousands of tame doves, the +belfry of St. Mark’s, the palace of the Doges, the marble pillars of the +winged lions, and finally, the most remarkable of all, the wonderful +church with its irregular, yet harmonious, unique and impressive +architecture. In the church were seen ordinary visitors roaming about +under the domes, humble worshipers counting their beads and rosaries, +closely-shaved monks and royal officers with clanging sabres, and +artists busy with their studies.</p> + +<p>With a shudder I crossed the Bridge of Sighs, with its horrid +associations, and spent a quarter of an hour in the dark dungeons to +which it leads, and in which so many poor mortals, prisoners often +without accusers and guiltless of crime, had sighed and suffered through +the cruelties of man to man, well knowing that when they crossed that +bridge into the dungeon, they had left all earthly hope behind.</p> + +<p>In Venice I parted with my American companion, Mr. Robins, in whose +company I had traveled all the way from Madras.</p> + +<p>Having promised to be in Holland at an early day, I was compelled to +hurry, and left Venice on the evening of the second day. This time I +took the route through the St. Gotthard tunnel, which is nine and a half +miles long, and through which it takes nearly half an hour to pass. The +beautiful lake Como and the grand Alpine scenery have been so often +described, that I consider it superfluous to dwell on them in these +pages.</p> + +<p>In Mayennes I left the railroad and took the steamer down the beautiful +Rhine to Cologne, passing the vine-clad hills and the mediæval +castles, in delightful conversation with some American and Swedish +tourists just returning from the German watering places.</p> + +<p>From Cologne I traveled by rail to Rotterdam, where I arrived June 9th, +and met my old friend, G. P. Ittman, one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">- 284 -</a></span> of the men with whom I +formerly had business connections concerning railroad matters in +Minnesota. The following day he accompanied me to the Hague to see Baron +de Constant Rebeque, one of those European noblemen who would have been +a nobleman even if he had been born in a hut. He was then chamberlain of +the king, and one of the directors of the Maxwell Land Grant Company, +the management of which had been offered to me as already stated.</p> + +<p>The next day we all met at the office of the vice-president of the +company, the banker Mr. W. F. Ziegelar. The board of directors held a +meeting, at which I was elected business manager for America, and it was +decided that Messrs. Ziegelar and Rebeque should meet me in America a +month later, and that all of us should then proceed to New Mexico to +inspect the property and investigate the economical standing of the +company, after which I could decide whether I would accept the position +or not.</p> + +<p>A few days later Mr. Ziegelar accompanied me to London, where one of the +directors and many of the creditors of the Maxwell Company resided. Here +I also found some friends from India, and in their company spent a +couple of days at the beautiful country residence of an English +nobleman, Sir Balfour. Among the prominent and excellent men with whom I +formed an acquaintance at that place was Maj. Horace Durrant, formerly +of the queen’s hussars, who was also largely interested in the Maxwell +Company, and one of the men from different countries, nationalities and +creeds who will always live in my memory like beaming stars on life’s +varied journey.</p> + +<p>Soon afterward I renewed my acquaintance with John Ennis in Liverpool, +an Irishman, and a friend of mine for more than twenty years. He is a +man who is never happier than when he can do someone a favor, and he has +had occasion to do me many. In the evening he took me out to<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_285" id="Page_285">- 285 -</a></span> see a sight, as he called it, and +truly a wonderful sight it was. In a vacant space among the back streets +and alleys of Liverpool, near the shipping, stood erected an enormous +tent, containing seats for three thousand people. My friend Ennis led me +through the back entrance onto the platform, where a few ladies and +gentlemen were already seated. The tent was lighted with gas; the people +were crowding into it through half a dozen different entrances. I have +never seen such a crowd before or since. There were thieves, +pickpockets, beggars, prostitutes, drunkards and ragamuffins of both +sexes and of all ages, the very slums and filth of that great seaport, +laughing, shouting, cursing, weeping, and noisy in every way.</p> + +<p>Soon the great tent was filled, and could contain no more.</p> + +<p>Then a little man appeared on the platform, whom Mr. Ennis introduced to +me as the Rev. Father Nugent, an Irish Catholic priest, very small in +stature, but with a countenance beaming with intelligence and +benevolence. He stepped to the front, and the moment he was seen by the +vast audience order and perfect silence reigned.</p> + +<p>Here was another Keshub-Chunder-Sen, but with no new religion or +doctrine to advance, only re-echoing what the man of Nazareth had said +to the same class of people eighteen centuries ago. This priest has done +much noble work, rescued many from a life of degradation, brought up and +secured places in America for thousands of street gamins and orphans, +and his name is better known, especially among the English-speaking +Catholics, than that of any king or emperor. And who would not rather be +a Father Nugent than a king?</p> + +<p>In the morning of the fourth of July I arrived in New York city, and +soon found President Chester Arthur, Gen. Garfield’s successor, +occupying rooms near my own in the Fifth Avenue hotel. After breakfast I +was given an interview with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">- 286 -</a></span> him, and, of course, was pleased to +learn that he had followed my little work in India with interest, and +expressed much regret when I informed him of my intention to resign at +the expiration of my leave of absence.</p> + +<div class="figtb"> +<img src="images/image043.jpg" width="200" height="58" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">- 287 -</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a><a href="#TOC_28"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXVIII.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>Home from India—A Friendly Reception—Journey to New +Mexico—The Maxwell Land Grant Company—Renewed Visits to +England and Holland—Re-elected Secretary of State—Visit of +the Swedish Officers in Minneapolis and St. Paul—Two Hundred and +Fiftieth Anniversary of the Landing of the First Swedes in Delaware.</p><br /></div> + +<p>On the 8th of July I was again home with family and friends in +Minneapolis, and found everything pretty much as I had left it nearly +two years previously; except that my good old father had gone to his +final rest. A couple of days later I visited my farm, in the Red River +valley, and my old and faithful friend Capt. H. Eustrom, who lived close +by and was then holding an important office, and who had faithfully +attended to my interests at that place during my absence.</p> + +<p>My Scandinavian friends had meanwhile arranged a reception for me, and +on the 11th some eighty of them joined in a banquet at Lyndale Hotel, +then situated in the suburbs of Minneapolis at Lake Calhoun. The +afternoon was devoted to a steamboat tour around the beautiful lake, and +in the evening the party all sat down to a sumptuous banquet, where many +addresses of welcome and tokens of friendship were spoken, read and +sung. I had been absent nearly two years, seen and experienced much of +the world and enjoyed many pleasures, but I found the old saying true; +“There is no place like home.” These two years had been of +particular<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">- 288 -</a></span> importance in the history of the cities of +Minneapolis and St. Paul. The population had nearly trebled during that +time, and such improvements had been made that I could hardly recognize +them.</p> + +<p>A week after my return my friends from Holland arrived, and we proceeded +to New Mexico, where we found the great Maxwell estate, valued at ten +million dollars, and containing one and a half million acres of land, +consisting of coal fields, gold mines, timber and grazing lands, in a +deplorable condition caused by extravagance and mismanagement. We found +that there was nearly a million dollars of current debts, while the +income was not sufficient to buy postage stamps to carry on the +necessary business correspondence.</p> + +<p>An agreement was finally effected whereby the former president and +American manager relinquished his interest and resigned his position; +the Holland directors determined to raise the necessary funds in Europe, +and I agreed to undertake the liquidation of the affairs of the company.</p> + +<p>Shortly after I repaired to Washington to report my inspection tour in +India, and tender my resignation, which was accepted, an unusual +courtesy being shown me by extending my leave of absence to January the +next year. The following two years were devoted principally to business +journeys to New Mexico, England and Holland. I visited the latter +countries four times during that period. With the powerful aid of Baron +Rebeque, who had spent several months with me in this country in the +summer and fall of 1883, a syndicate, backed by several million dollars, +was at last formed in Holland, and the whole estate was turned over to +it. Having accomplished this, I voluntarily withdrew from the concern, +and returned to my own farm and home in Minnesota.</p> + +<p>The Maxwell estate is situated within the Rocky mountain region, on an +elevation of from six thousand to twelve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">- 289 -</a></span> thousand feet above +the sea. The climate is delightful and the scenery beautiful, but the +country is not fit for cultivation, except such parts as can be +irrigated. Hence most of it is devoted to stock raising, and herds of +countless cattle were roaming over the prairies, the Maxwell Company +alone owning at the time I left its service nearly twenty thousand head.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1886 I was for the second time elected secretary of state +by the citizens of Minnesota, re-elected in 1888, and thus made for the +third time the head of the state department.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1887 the citizens of Minneapolis were honored by a visit +from a large number of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish military officers, +non-commissioned officers and soldiers. They arrived by an express train +from Chicago, and were met at the union depot by thousands of people. +The Swedish Guard, Normanna Infantry, and the society Dania were paraded +outside the depot building. The guests were received by a committee, and +conducted in procession through the illuminated and crowded streets to +Dania hall, where a splendid banquet was enjoyed, while music was +discoursed by the Svea and Normanna bands. The city mayor, Dr. Ames, +made an address of welcome, after which several Scandinavians made +speeches. I had been elected as the spokesman for the Swedes, and +expressed myself as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“<i>Honored Guests from Sweden, Norway and Denmark:</i></p> + +<p>“From the place where we now stand the roar of the St. Anthony falls +may be heard through the still night. You are, therefore, far back in the +depths of the American West; and yet this is only the modern gate of entrance +to the great North-west.</p> + +<p>“A couple of hours ago a half dozen railway trains left our depot +over different roads and are now speeding on toward the setting sun, and +some of them do not cease their journey until they have passed distances +greater than that between London and Rome, through fertile, but, as yet, +mostly unsettled regions. Thirty-four years ago I, with a few other of +your countrymen, some of the earliest in Minnesota, gazed for the first +time at +<!--[image074]<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">- 290 -</a></span>--> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">- 291 -</a></span>the St. Anthony falls. There was no city, +not even a sign of a city, on this side of the river; the red man chased +his game in the woods where our churches and school-houses now stand; +the country west of us was an unknown wilderness, Minnesota did not +exist as a state, and many of our western states, which now contain +millions of happy inhabitants, were not even projected.</p> + +<p>“Now, on the contrary, our state alone is a mighty empire, with a +population of nearly a million and a half, and with an assessed +valuation of six hundred million dollars. Minnesota now produces a +hundred million bushels of grain annually on her fertile fields, six +hundred and fifty million feet of lumber from her forests, and her +infant iron mines already show an annual production of half a million +tons of rich ore. The Scandinavians constitute more than one-fourth of +the population of the state, and produce at least one-third of our +agricultural products on their own lands, as most of them are farmers. +The amount of grain which in Minnesota alone is annually produced, would +be more than sufficient to furnish the whole population of Sweden with +bread from the beginning to the end of each year.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image074.jpg" width="620" height="390" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">CAPITOL OF MINNESOTA.</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Our beautiful city of Minneapolis has already a population of one +hundred and sixty thousand, of which at least one-fourth, or forty +thousand, are Scandinavians or their descendants.</p> + +<p>“I hope you will all have an opportunity to see our city with your +own eyes before you leave us,—its mills, churches, schools and +happy homes,—and will therefore not consume the time by referring +to these.</p> + +<p>“As to yourselves, gentlemen, we have heard what has been said to +you so expressively in Chicago by our friends there, and we join them +heartily in their praise.</p> + +<p>“When we heard that the soldiers and representatives of Denmark, +Norway and Sweden would honor us with a visit we all rejoiced, and we +have come together this evening to express our joy in a cordial welcome.</p> + +<p>“We have intentionally conducted you to this hall where we may, +under our own roof, pay you our homage in the plain manner of our sturdy +Scandinavian forefathers, and give you an opportunity to see us as we +are in our daily life. We are men of the people; we have come here as +poor immigrants, ignorant of the language and of the customs of the +country. Our sole heritage was our strong arms and our good +cheer,—no, excuse me, another heritage of more worth than gold or +genius have we brought from our old homesteads,—our share of +Northern fidelity, strength, and virtue; and the talent confided to us +we have used in all branches of industry, science, fine arts, in the +service of the community, the state, and the Union, in peace and in war, +and we perform our share in the great national work, the result of which +is a new and powerful commonwealth, the foundation of which lies in the +individual worth and right of man.</p> + +<p>“I think I can see a Providential dispensation in this, that when +the time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">- 292 -</a></span> arrived for the new world to take its place among the +nations with a new and powerful cosmopolitan race, the Scandinavian +people were also chosen to contribute a part in that grand work, and +that it was especially reserved for the ‘men of the people’ +to receive in this country free and equal opportunity for their +development. Who can fail to see the stamp of the Scandinavian people on +the entire social fabric of the new world?</p> + +<p>“We would be forgetful if we did not gratefully remember the great +good which the fatherland has bestowed upon us from tender childhood to +the very hour when we bid it farewell; we would be unworthy of the name +and fame of our fathers if we did not honor and love as a dear mother +the ever memorable land of our birth, and you, its worthy +representatives, as our relatives and brothers.</p> + +<p>“Your presence among us is a proud event, and its remembrance +shall be cherished as one of the most pleasant. And when you return to +those dear places where we took the first steps on life’s eventful +journey, we wish you to take back cordial greetings from us all, and say +to our kindred that we teach our children to love and honor the people +and institutions in the Northern lands, although they have never seen +them; and say to them that, far out in the wide West by the laughing +water of Hiawatha, and hundreds of miles beyond, are friends and +brothers whose fidelity and affection neither time nor distance can +obliterate.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The address was responded to with much feeling by Col. Liljehök of +Sweden. The festivities continued amid addresses, music and song until +long past midnight. The following day the guests were shown around the +city, after which they visited St. Paul, where they also received a +cordial welcome, and were presented to the governor.</p> + +<p>The following year, on the 14th of September, an event took place which +deserves particular mention. It was the celebration of the two hundred +and fiftieth anniversary of the landing of the first Swedish settlers on +the Delaware. The Revs. J. Enstam and C. J. Petri, together with myself, +in the middle of the summer called a meeting of Swedish-American +citizens to prepare for such celebration. Committees were appointed and +elaborate preparations made, to which nearly all the Swedes lent a +willing and helping hand. The great exposition building was given up to +our use: bands of music were engaged, a choir of one hundred and<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_293" id="Page_293">- 293 -</a></span> fifty Swedish singers, mostly +from the different churches, was trained, and eminent orators, statesmen +and professors were invited. A souvenir badge was sold at the Swedish +business places in the city; the net proceeds,—amounting to about +eight hundred dollars,—were donated to the fund for the relief of +the sufferers by the great fires in Sundsvall, Umeå and Lilla Edet +in Sweden.</p> + +<p>The program of the day included a fine parade with bands of music and +banners; but a heavy rain came early in the day, and the parade had to +be abandoned, and the people instructed to assemble at the exposition +building at their own convenience, <i>which they also did</i>, in such great +numbers that before the hour of opening the exercises every seat and +standing place in the great auditorium were occupied. Many came from +distant towns, cities and states; a special train brought nearly one +thousand from St. Paul, with marshals, music and banners; the general +council of the Lutheran Church, then assembled in Minneapolis, came in a +body and occupied seats on the platform to the right of Cappa’s Seventh +New York Regiment Band, while the Swedish chorus of one hundred and +fifty voices, under Prof. Norman, occupied the platform to the left.</p> + +<p>The platforms were decorated with numerous society banners, and the +colors of Sweden were seen everywhere. The lofty pillars reaching to the +roof were wrapped in alternate stripes of blue and yellow, the national +colors of Sweden, and side by side and uppermost were the stars and +stripes. A large picture of the old Swedes Church in Wilmington, +Delaware, built in 1698, was hung in front of the speakers’ platform, +and attracted general attention.</p> + +<p>As chairman of the committee of arrangements I had the honor to act as +presiding officer of the day. The government of Sweden was represented +by Consul Sahlgaard, with other distinguished guests, and the historical +society of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">- 294 -</a></span> Delaware by Maj. Geo. Q. White. As near as can be +estimated there were fully fifteen thousand people present, and the +interest manifested by that vast audience can best be understood from +the fact that thousands stood upon their feet during the whole +proceedings, which lasted three hours.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image075.jpg" width="620" height="397" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">OLD SWEDES CHURCH AT WILMINGTON.</span> +</div> + +<p>The festivities commenced at two o’clock in the afternoon with a musical +selection by Cappa’s band, at the close of which the audience was +welcomed by myself in the following words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“The discovery of America was the greatest event which had taken +place from the days of Christ till it was made, but the settlement of +America by the right kind of people was, in its beneficial effects upon +the human race, a matter of still greater importance. It seems like an +order of Divine Providence that this new world was left in its natural +or savage state during all the dark centuries of schooling and +experiments in Asia, Africa and Europe, in order that it might remain a +virgin soil for the higher civilization which was to follow.</p> + +<p>“To establish this civilization, based upon true principles of +government<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">- 295 -</a></span> required not only wisdom and strength, but +toleration, brotherhood, justice and exalted virtue. The people chosen +for that great work came from different countries and different +conditions of life,—the English Pilgrims to New England, the +Dutch, the Swedes and the Quakers to the middle country, the English +Cavaliers, the Scotch Highlanders and the French Huguenots to the +South,—and in them all, combined and intermingled, were found the +elements of body and of mind, which have given to the world its best +government, its greatest nation, and its highest civilization.</p> + +<p>“Since the English were the largest in number their language +became the language of all, and for that reason, perhaps, history has +been partial to those who first spoke it. Memorials and anniversaries +have often been celebrated over the landing of the Pilgrims and the +valor of the knights; their just praise has been written and sung a +thousand times, so that their honored names have become precious +household words among the generations of our day, while the others have +often been forgotten or ignored.</p> + +<p>“Fully recognizing the merits of all, we have assembled here +to-day from many parts of the United States to commemorate a great +historical event,—in celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth +anniversary of the landing of the Swedes on the Delaware, and to do +honor to their memory in prayer, song and speech, and to this +intellectual feast I bid you all a hearty welcome.”</p> +</div> + +<p>This celebration was unquestionably the largest and most important +gathering that ever took place among the Swedes in America; great +attention was paid to it all over the country, and it contributed +greatly toward placing the Swedes rightly in the estimation of the +people, throwing a clearer light on the achievements of the past, and +emphasizing the importance of the Swedish-Americans of the +present.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">- 296 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a><a href="#TOC_29"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXIX.</span></a></h2> + +<div class="chaptdesc"><p>The Causes of Immigration—American Influence on Europe, and +Especially on Sweden—The Condition of the Swedes in +America—American Characteristics—Antipathy against +Foreigners—The Swedish Press on America—American Heiresses.</p><br /></div> + +<p>Much has been said on the causes of immigration. These are numerous, but +the chief cause I have found to be that the people of the old world are +now being aroused to the fact that the social conditions of Europe, with +its aristocracy and other inherited privileges, are not founded on just +principles, but that the way to success ought to be equally open for +all, and determined, not by privileges of birth, but by the inherent +worth of man. And here in America is found a civilization which is, to a +large extent, built on equality and the recognition of personal merit. +This and the great natural resources of the country, the prospects for +good wages which a new continent affords, and in many cases greater +religious liberty, draws the people of Europe, at any rate from Sweden, +to this country.</p> + +<p>Sweden is a very good country, but more especially so for those who are +fortunate enough to be born to title, honor or riches. To be sure, even +there instances are known of men from the ordinary walks of life making +their way to wealth and prominence; but those are exceptions, possible +only in cases of unusually great personal merit. Here, on the other +hand, the reverse is the rule; the self-made man accomplishes<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_297" id="Page_297">- 297 -</a></span> most, as instanced by the history +of our presidents, governors, financiers and other distinguished men. +And this is quite natural, for the prospects and possibilities which a +man sees before him in this country stimulate his ambition, and arouse +his energies to surmount the greatest difficulties.</p> + +<p>The new ideas now permeating society in Europe, and which will gradually +transform it, have, to a great extent, originated in America, more +particularly the idea of brotherhood, the sympathy with equals, the +conviction that it is our duty to better the condition of our +fellow-men, and not despise them, even if they are unfortunate. In this +respect, as well as in many others, America exerts a great influence +over Europe. To me the better situated classes of Sweden seem +short-sighted in their hostility to emigration, for a man of broad views +must admit that emigration has been beneficial even to Sweden herself. +It may not have benefited the higher classes directly, as they cannot +hire servants and laborers as cheaply as formerly; but the people have +benefited by it as a whole, their condition being now better than +formerly, when competition between the laborers was greater.</p> + +<p>America also exerts a great influence on the mental and moral +development of the people of Sweden, although this may not be so +apparent on the surface. The thousands and hundreds of thousands of +letters written every year by Swedish-Americans to the people of the +working classes of Sweden arouse the latter’s ambition, and develop +liberal, political and religious ideas among them. No one can calculate +the scope of this influence, to say nothing of the eloquent language +spoken by the millions of crowns which are annually sent home to poor +relatives and friends, and which either lighten the burden of poverty or +enable the recipients to prepare a brighter future for themselves in +this country, and how many a poor, down-trodden fellow, who could +expect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">- 298 -</a></span> nothing better than the poor-house in his old age in +Sweden has become an able and useful citizen in this country!</p> + +<p>When the poor young laboring man or woman, who in Sweden has felt the +oppression of poverty and looked forward to a life without hope, arrives +in this country, the timid, bashful looks give way to hopefulness and +self-reliance. It is true that this is often carried too far, especially +in the line of expensive and extravagant dress, which sometimes makes +the wearer appear ridiculous; but these are trifles, the main thing +being that those people learn to know their own worth, and are able to +create a brighter future for themselves.</p> + +<p>The tact and manner acquired within a short time by common laborers who +looked thoughtless and careless while at home, are simply astonishing. A +Swedish diplomat, who visited Minnesota twenty years ago, and, among +others, met one of his father’s former farm laborers, who was now in +good circumstances, in an official report to the government of Sweden +expressed his astonishment at the change which the Swedish people had +undergone in that respect.</p> + +<p>It cannot be denied that many among the higher classes in Sweden feel +very unfriendly toward the United States, and it was even not long ago a +common saying among them, “America is the paradise of all rogues +and rascals.”</p> + +<p>Many Americans suppose themselves to be better than all others, and +believe their country and institutions to be perfect. In this they are +mistaken, for in several respects this country is as yet in its infancy, +and has many defects which the countries in the north of Europe have +long since outgrown. As one instance I would mention that the school +system is altogether too dependent on local influences, so that while +the common schools in the northern cities and towns are very +fine,—in some instances perfect,—those in the country rate +very low compared with the same class in Sweden, Norway,<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_299" id="Page_299">- 299 -</a></span> Denmark, and Northern Germany. +Another case in point is the system of taxation which notably gives +unprincipled men of wealth opportunities for escape, while the poorer +classes are taxed for the full amount of their property, the burden thus +falling proportionately heaviest where it ought to be lightest, and +<i>vice versa</i>. Again, the laws which make possible rings, monopolies, and +trusts, to the great prejudice of the people, or permit gambling on the +produce of the country as carried on in the great commercial marts of +America, robbing the producer of the fair wages of his toil, and many +other things which would not be tolerated among the nations of Europe. +Thus it lies within the power of one man, in this our great state of +Minnesota and other states, to make or unmake cities, towns, and +communities, by a single edict locating a railroad, fixing a time-table, +and in many other ways exercising arbitrary power that no European ruler +would think of assuming. The execution of our laws, also, in many places +has proven highly unsatisfactory, often making our much-boasted jury +system, especially in criminal cases, a farce and a disgrace.</p> + +<p>The trouble is that political demagogues and Fourth of July orators +continually keep pointing out only the best sides of our institutions, +which undoubtedly are both many and great, while few have the courage to +speak of the defects and short-comings.</p> + +<p>As for the conduct of the native Americans toward the immigrants who +settle among them, I venture to say that although they consider +themselves very tolerant, and are so in a general way, they are in many +respects very intolerant and prejudiced; but this is owing to a lack of +knowledge concerning other nations. It is true that the immigrant, +especially from the north of Europe, is bidden welcome, and is generally +well received, but he is expected to be content with shoveling dirt, +chopping wood, carrying water, plowing the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">- 300 -</a></span> fields, and doing +other manual labor, no one disputing his right or his fitness for these +occupations. But when he begins to compete with the native American for +honor and emolument in the higher walks of life, he is often met with +coldness, mingled, perhaps, with a little envy, and although the adopted +citizen may, in many instances, start on an equal footing with the +natives in culture, intelligence, and business ability, it is only +exceptionally that he will be recognized as an equal socially; and there +is scarcely an adopted citizen of the non-English-speaking nationalities +who has not deeply realized the truth of this statement.</p> + +<p>It may be safely said that it will on an average take two generations +before the children of the non-English-speaking immigrants shall cease +to suffer more or less from these prejudices. Certainly the children of +immigrant parents, although born and brought up in this country, are +often subjected to sneers and taunts by their more fortunate +playfellows, even within the walls of the American public schools.</p> + +<p>This antipathy is most noticeable in places where the number of +foreigners is very great, but less where they are few, and may be +explained and partly excused by the fact that, when a great number of +foreigners live together they are more apt to maintain their customs, +language and amusements, which differ from those of the native-born. But +the chief reason is that when the immigrants, most of whom belong to the +hard-working classes, arrive directly from a long and exhausting +journey, they are often poorly dressed, awkward and ignorant of the +language and customs of the country, and look forlorn and crestfallen. +The first impression which the native American thus receives remains +with him, while he does not stop to consider that the same class of +people coming from America to Europe would not appear to better +advantage if they should go there as immigrants. Nor does he consider +the injustice of judging whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">- 301 -</a></span> nationalities by their less +favored representatives under such circumstances. There are, of course, +many noble exceptions among the native Americans; but as to genuine +tolerance between different nationalities, I have seen far more of it in +the great cosmopolitan cities of Europe, Asia and Africa, than in +America.</p> + +<p>But these shortcomings may be easily overlooked for the many noble +traits of character which all admit him to possess. And most striking and +beautiful of these is the honor and respect he shows to woman. There is +no other country in the world where woman is treated with such +consideration, and where she is as safe and honored as among Americans, +and if we judge nations by the way their women are treated, as I think +we should, the American nation has no peer in the world.</p> + +<p>But if the Americans have a one-sided and wrong conception of +foreigners, so have also many foreign people a wrong conception of +America, and we ought not to blame the former more than the latter. The +Swedish press, for instance,—with praise-worthy exceptions, of +course,—has always shown great prejudice or ignorance in its +treatment of America, and especially of the Swedish-Americans. Thus it +has always been ready to dwell on the dark sides and keep silent about +that which is praiseworthy in this country. If, for instance, a lawless +deed has been perpetrated on the frontier it is pointed to as a sample +of American civilization, without considering that such things take +place only in the western cow-boy or mining life, the days of which will +soon belong to the past. And if an immigrant, who, deservedly or +undeservedly, has been unsuccessful writes a letter to his old home and +slanders America, how eager the newspapers are to rush into print with +it. Even if the man has been here only a few months, and seen only a +small spot of the country, they are still ready to accept his story as +reliable testimony,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">- 302 -</a></span> and judge the whole country accordingly. +But this by no means applies to Sweden and the Swedish press alone; it +may with equal truth be said of the Europeans and the press of Europe +generally.</p> + +<p>There is no gainsaying the fact, however, that new-comers as a rule must +expect adversity and difficulty on account of being strangers, and +because of their unfamiliarity with the English language. And such as +are unaccustomed to manual labor and have not learned a trade stand a +poor chance, especially in the beginning. Book learning is of little use +at first, for there is no lack of educated people in America. Hence it +is a great mistake for young men with nothing but an education to depend +upon to come here with the expectation of making a fortune, for the only +way to success will at first generally be by taking hold of the spade or +the axe. Have they the courage to do this? Then let them come, for +opportunities will open after a while to those who shall deserve them. +Certificates of character and recommendation are here of little value; +titles and family connections of still less. One cares not much for what +you have been; but only for what you are.</p> + +<p>In the last civil war a young German officer came to President Lincoln +and offered his services as a volunteer in the army. The man had high +recommendations, and talked a great deal about his noble birth, and even +intimated that royal blood was flowing through his veins. Having +patiently listened to all this, Lincoln, putting his hand on the young +man’s shoulder, said, encouragingly: “Don’t let this trouble you, +my friend, for I assure you that if you only do your duty well and +faithfully, these things will be no impediment to your success. We are +not so unjust in America as to think less of a man on account of his +European titles. No, I can assure you that you have precisely the same +chance for advancement and success as if you had been a man of the +people,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">- 303 -</a></span> provided you prove as competent and meritorious as one +of them.”</p> + +<p>I have often heard Europeans wonder how it is that with such a +democratic spirit so many American heiresses seem anxious to marry +European noblemen. But it should be remembered in the first place that +there are not many, but comparatively only a few who manifest this +desire, and also that those few by no means represent public opinion +here. On the other hand, is it not quite natural that when European +gentlemen of the highest classes meet and get acquainted with American +girls, their social and intellectual equals, that a mutual attachment +may in most cases be the true motive for such alliances? For, as the +grand Lincoln remarked, when the European nobleman possesses all other +requisite qualifications his titles are no barrier to his success, +either in the army, in business affairs, or with the fair sex. Old names +and titles are usually a guaranty of good education, culture, and other +praiseworthy acquisitions.</p> + +<p>In my contact with the world and with men of different peoples and +races, I have found that it is unjust to judge them by nations or +classes, as if one nation or one class were necessarily better or worse +than others, for there are both good and bad characters among all, and a +good man is just as good, and a bad one just as bad, whether he be +Hindoo, Mohammedan, or Christian, American or Swede, nobleman or +peasant. Much good may be hidden under a coarse and common exterior, and +we must not search for virtue only among the accomplished, the rich, and +the fine-looking. Just as much, indeed, is found among the lowly and +unobserved; and in the quiet, humble daily walks of life are constantly +enacted deeds of heroism and virtue which are never known or applauded +by the world, though fully as deserving as many of those which are given +an honored place in the annals of history; yes, often much more +so.</p> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">- 304 -</a></span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a><a href="#TOC_30"> +<span title=" Return to CONTENTS. " class="hoverlink">CHAPTER XXX.</span></a></h2> + +<div><p class="center smfont">REVIEW.</p><br /></div> + +<p>A few weeks ago I made a short visit to Vasa, our first home in +Minnesota. The occasion was the eighty-seventh birthday of my mother, +who still lives near the old homestead.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> With spirited horses I drove +in company with a son and a grandson over the same road which was first +marked out by our simple ox wagon thirty-eight years before.</p> + +<p>What a change! The former wilderness changed into smiling fields dressed +in the purest green of early summer, and along the whole road are fine +homes, nearly all of which belong to Swedish-Americans, who commenced +their career as poor immigrants like myself, or to their children, most +of whom are to the manor-born.</p> + +<p>We stop twelve miles from Red Wing close to our old farm, at a little +cottage surrounded by tall trees. There, by the window, sits +greatgrandma, watching eagerly for someone whom she knows always spends +that day with her.</p> + +<p>Close to the quiet home stands the large Lutheran church, one of the +finest country churches in America, and to the peaceful cemetery +surrounding it we all soon make a pilgrimage to scatter flowers on the +graves where my good father and sister, my wife’s parents, sister, and +many other near relatives have found a resting place. The little +cemetery is clothed in a flowery carpet of nature’s own garb, and +studded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">- 305 -</a></span> with several hundred marble monuments with inscriptions +that testify to the Swedish ancestry of those who rest under them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;"> +<img src="images/image076.jpg" width="349" height="450" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">SWEDISH CHURCH IN VASA.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">- 306 -</a></span> +From this place, which is the most elevated point in Vasa, the +surrounding country affords a picture of such rural peace and beauty, +that even a stranger must involuntarily pause to wonder and admire; how +much more, then, I, who was the first white man that trod this ground! +Below, toward the south, we see the wooded valley, watered by a little +creek from Willard’s spring, where we came near perishing that cold +January night in 1854; at the head of the valley, the hill where we +built the first log cabin; immediately beyond this hill the hospitable +home of my wife’s parents, from which I brought my young bride to our +own happy little home, which stood on another hill near the same spring, +and of which a part still remains; here, just below the church, is the +field I first plowed; over there in the grove where we cut logs and +fencing material, stands now the orphan home, established by Rev. E. +Norelius; and on the other side the road is his handsome residence and +garden, but he himself sits inside, frail and suffering on account of +the hardships of the first few years.</p> + +<p>Close by are the post-office, two stores, a blacksmith shop, a +school-house, two smaller churches, one Methodist and one Baptist, and +several other public and private buildings, and a few miles farther +north, near the Cannon river, are two railroads, running from the +Mississippi westward, connecting with other roads which span the +continent, and only terminate on the shores of the Pacific ocean.</p> + +<p>All around, so far as the eye can see, are green fields, grazing herds +of cattle, planted and natural groves, comfortable buildings, and great +white-painted school-houses. Not a hill, not a valley or a grove but +they call forth touching recollections, some mingled with sorrow and +pain, but by far the most bright and cheerful; for here I spent the +first hopeful years of my manhood; here we lived, the first Swedes in +Minnesota, in a circle of innocent and faithful friends; here I<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_307" id="Page_307">- 307 -</a></span> won the wife who tenderly and +faithfully has shared the vicissitudes of life with me, in sorrow and in +joy ever the same; here those of my countrymen who followed me when I +was yet but a youth, have acquired independence, happiness, and such +esteem that the settlement of Vasa has a reputation among the +communities of the state which reflects honor upon the memory of the +great king whose name it bears.</p> + +<p>But this picture of development, culture and progress is not confined to +this settlement, for countless other Scandinavian, settlements in the +west and northwest have made as great progress within a comparatively +short time.</p> + +<p>On my arrival in 1852 the Mississippi river was the north-western +boundary line of civilization with the exception of the state of Iowa, +which then had only a small population. Since that time twelve new +states further west have been peopled and admitted into the Union. There +was no railroad west of Chicago; now the immense distance between the +Mississippi and the Pacific ocean is spanned by four giant railroads, +while more than a hundred trunk and branch lines intersect the country +in all directions, and lakes and rivers are navigated by hundreds of +steamers, which compete with the railroads in carrying the products of +the West to the Atlantic, whence they are distributed over the whole +civilized world.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of cities that did not exist, even by name, have since sprung +up as if by magic, and some of them have already become renowned +throughout the world for their industry, commerce and culture. Among +them are Minneapolis and St. Paul, already intertwining their arms +around each other in an embrace that will soon unite them into one. The +former did not exist when I first gazed on St. Anthony falls, which now +furnishes motive power for its magnificent mills and factories, and the +latter was a town of about two thousand inhabitants. +<!--[image077]<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">- 308 -</a></span>--> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">- 309 -</a></span> +Their combined population is now +one-third of a million. St. Paul contains a large number of +Scandinavians, but Minneapolis seems to be their favorite city, the +Swedes alone numbering over forty thousand. They have many churches, +private schools, academies and other institutions of learning.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 620px;"> +<img src="images/image077.jpg" width="620" height="367" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">FLOUR MILLS IN MINNEAPOLIS.</span> +</div> + +<p>The three Scandinavian nationalities agree pretty well in our good +state, and have united their efforts in several enterprises of some +magnitude. In Minneapolis there are several banks and other monetary +institutions owned and controlled by them, not to mention hundreds of +other important commercial and manufacturing establishments due to the +enterprise of our countrymen. Having gradually learned the language and +the ways of this country, a surprisingly large number of the +Scandinavians who began their career as common laborers have engaged +successfully in business on their own account, and many have devoted +themselves to professions demanding a higher education, which is greatly +facilitated by a number of excellent academies and colleges established +and supported by them in several of the western states. A great number +of county offices are filled by the Scandinavian-Americans; in our +legislature there are generally from thirty to forty members of that +nationality; many of them have occupied positions of the highest trust +and honor as officers of the state and of the United States, and no one +can deny the fact that they have universally proved themselves fully +equal in ability and trust-worthiness to the native born.</p> + +<p>But it is not only in Minneapolis or in Minnesota, but throughout the +whole country that the Scandinavians have gained such a good name, that +in all the recent agitation against foreign emigrants, not one voice has +been heard against them. They learn the English language well and +quickly, and assimilate readily with the native American element, which +is natural enough considering that they are to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">- 310 -</a></span> a very large +extent of the same blood and ancestry as the English people, and that +the English language is borrowed to no small extent from the +Scandinavian.</p> + +<p>Americans often express astonishment at the ease and correctness with +which the Scandinavian immigrants acquire the English language. A little +study of philology will readily account for it. If we take, for +instance, the names of household goods, domestic animals, and other +things appertaining to the common incidents of plain every-day life, we +find the English words almost identical with the Scandinavian terms, +only varying in the form of spelling or perhaps pronunciation, as those +are apt to change with time and locality. For example: English—ox, +cow, swine, cat, hound, rat, mouse, hen, goose, chicken; +Swedish—oxe, ko, svin, katt, hund, rotta, mus, höna, +gås, kyckling. Of implements: English—wagon, plow, harrow, +spade, axe, knife, kettle, pot, pan, cup; Swedish—wagn, plog, +harf, spada, yxa, knif, kittel, potta, panna, kopp. Or the part of our +own bodies, such as: English—hair, skin, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, +lips, teeth, shoulders, arm, hand, finger, nail, foot, toe, etc.; +Swedish—hår, skinn, ögon, näsa, öron, mun, +läpp, tand, skuldra, arm, hand, finger, nagel, fot, and tå. +Or of the occupations of the common people, such as: English—spin, +weave, cook, sow, sew; Swedish—spinna, väfva, koka, så, +sy, etc. In this connection it may not be out of place to quote one of +England’s most eminent authors and scholars, Edward Bulwer Lytton, who +says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“A magnificent race of men were those war sons of the old North, +whom our popular histories, so superficial in their accounts of this +age, include in the common name of the ‘Danes.’</p> + +<p>“They replunged into barbarism the nations over which they swept; +but from the barbarism they reproduced the noblest element of +civilization. Swede, Norwegian and Dane, differing in some minor points, +when closely examined, had yet one common character viewed at a +distance. They had the same prodigious energy, the same passion for +freedom, individual and civil, the same splendid errors in the thirst +for fame and the point of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">- 311 -</a></span> honor, and above all, as a main cause +of civilization, they were wonderfully pliant and malleable in their +adventures with the people they overran.</p> + +<p>“At that time, A.D. 1055, these Northmen, under the common name of +Danes, were peaceably settled in no less than fifteen counties in +England; their nobles abounded in towns and cities beyond the boundaries +of those counties, which bore the distinct appellation of Danelagh. They +were numerous in London, in the precincts of which they had their own +burial-place, to the chief municipal court of which they gave their own +appellation—the Husting.”</p> +</div> + +<p>It is, of course, impossible to ascertain the exact number of +Scandinavians and their descendants in this country, but we can come +very near it by studying the statistics of the United States treasury +department, a recent report from which gives the number of emigrants +during the last seventy years from Sweden and Norway as 943,330, and +from Denmark as 146,237, or a total since the year 1820 of 1,089,567; +while the same report gives the number during the same period from +Germany as 4,551,719; Ireland, 3,501,683; England, 1,460,054; English +Colonies, 1,029,083; Austria-Hungaria, 464,435; Italy, 414,513; France, +370,162; Russia, 356,353; Scotland, 329,192; Switzerland, 174,333.</p> + +<p>When we take into consideration the numerous Swedish colonies that +settled in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the seventeenth +century, and their descendants, together with the descendants of +Scandinavian emigrants of the last seventy years, I think it is safe to +estimate the total population of Scandinavian descent at over four +millions, or fully one-sixteenth of the entire population of the United +States. The very fact that the nationality assimilates so readily with +the native American element causes it to be lost sight of; and it should +be so, for the only desirable immigrants to this country are those who +cease to be foreigners, and merge right into the American nation. Such +are certainly the Scandinavians. They do not bring over any grievances +from the mother country to correct or avenge, and there are no +Clan-na-Gael, no Mafia societies among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">- 312 -</a></span> them, nor are there any +anarchists or revolutionists. They come here to build homes for +themselves and their children; they are contented and grateful for the +privileges of American citizenship, and make themselves worthy of it by +pushing into the front rank in the onward march of education, +philanthropy and religion, as well as in material progress.</p> + +<p>One illustration, among many that might be given, is found in the report +of a late conference of the Swedish Lutheran Church, from which it +appears that they have now in Minnesota alone two hundred and forty-five +parishes, with one hundred and seventy-nine churches, valued at over six +hundred thousand dollars, and all paid for. The Norwegian Lutheran +Church would undoubtedly show equal if not better results, though I +cannot give the exact figures.</p> + +<p>It is a great mistake which some make, to think that it is only for +their brawn and muscle that the Northmen have become a valuable +acquisition to the American population; on the contrary, they have done +and are doing as much as any other nationality within the domain of mind +and heart. Not to speak of the early discovery of America by the +Scandinavians five hundred years before the time of Columbus, they can +look back with proud satisfaction on the part they have taken in all +respects to make this great republic what it is to-day.</p> + +<p>The early Swedish colonists in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey +worked as hard for liberty and independence as the English did in New +England and in the South. There were no tories among them, and when the +continental congress stood wavering equal in the balance for and against +the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, it was a Swede, John +Morton (Mortenson), of the old Delaware stock, who gave the casting vote +of Pennsylvania in favor of the sacred document.</p> + +<p>When nearly a century later the great rebellion burst upon<span class='pagenum'><a +name="Page_313" id="Page_313">- 313 -</a></span> the land, a gallant descendant of +the Swedes, Gen. Robert Anderson, met its first shock at Fort Sumter, +and, during the bitter struggle of four years which followed, the +Scandinavian-Americans were as true and loyal to their adopted country +as their native-born neighbors, giving their unanimous support to the +cause of the Union and fighting valiantly for it; nor should it be +forgotten that it was the Swede John Ericson, who, by his inventive +genius, saved the navy and the great seaports of the United States, and +that it was another Swede by descent, Admiral Dahlgren, who furnished +the model for the finest guns of our artillery. Surely love of freedom, +valor, genius, patriotism and religious fervor was not planted in +America by the seeds brought over in the Mayflower alone.</p> + +<p>Yes, it is verily true that the Scandinavian immigrants, from the early +colonists of 1638 to the present time, have furnished strong hands, +clear heads and loyal hearts to the republic. They have caused the +wilderness to blossom like the rose; they have planted schools and +churches on the hills and in the valleys; they have honestly and ably +administered the public affairs of town, county and state; they have +helped to make wise laws for their respective commonwealths and in the +halls of congress; they have, with honor and ability, represented their +adopted country abroad; they have sanctified the American soil by their +blood, shed in freedom’s cause on the battle-fields of the revolution +and the civil war; and though proud of their Scandinavian ancestry, they +love America and American institutions as deeply and as truly as do the +descendants of the Pilgrims, the starry emblem of liberty meaning as +much to them as to any other citizen.</p> + +<p>Therefore, the Scandinavian-American feels a certain sense of ownership +in the glorious heritage of American soil, with its rivers, lakes, +mountains, valleys, woods and prairies, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">- 314 -</a></span> in all its noble +institutions; and he feels that the blessings which he enjoys are not +his by favor or sufferance, but by right; by moral as well as civil +right. For he took possession of the wilderness, endured the hardships +of the pioneer, contributed his full share toward the grand results +accomplished, and is in mind and heart a true and loyal American +citizen.</p> + +<br /><br /> + +<p class="center smfont">THE END.</p> +<br /><br /> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Note: Vol 2, page 448.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Gen. John B. Sanborn, who was present when this paper was read.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The rules in Sweden give the ticket clerks the right to demand even +change.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Since the above was written the Russian government has shown a +disposition to treat Finland in a way that will soon change the friendly +feelings of the Finnish people.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The Hindoos never sit as we do, but squat on the ground and rest the +weight of the body on the heels.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Educated Hindoo of the middle class.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Since dead.</p></div> </div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Reminiscences, by Hans Mattson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REMINISCENCES *** + +***** This file should be named 32399-h.htm or 32399-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/3/9/32399/ + +Produced by K Nordquist, René Anderson Benitz and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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