horses on certain days, by rotation, to be in waiting to convey travellers. For internal water communication Sweden has remarkable facilities in her lakes, as well as in her rivers and canals. The principal canal is that of Gotha, which connects the Wener and Wetter lakes with the Baltic, near Soderköping. The canal of Trollhatta was formed to avoid the falls of Gotha-elf, and consists principally of a series of locks rising above each other on the face of the declivity, over which the river falls. It is dug out of solid rock. These, with the Gotha river and intervening lakes, form a complete navigable communication across the middle of Sweden. The canal of Arboga connects the lake Hielmar with the Mälar, and the canal of Stromsholm forms a communication between the Hielmar lake and the lake of Barken. The canal of Sodertelge connects the Mälar with the Baltic, north of Stockholm. Several other canals for like purposes have been constructed, and a number of others are projected, which, when completed, will be of immeasurable advantage to the interests of the kingdom.

The administrative divisions of Sweden are 34 "lans" or governments, which are subdivided into "fogderier" or districts. Swedish geographers, however, divide the country into three large regions, namely, Norrland or the north country; Svealand, or Sweden Proper, and Gothaland or Gothia; each of these comprising several lans, as stated in the following table:

STOCKHOLM, the capital of the kingdom, is situated upon a strait, which connects the Malar Lake with an arm of the Baltic. Latitude 59° 20′ N., longitude 18° 13′ E. The principal public buildings are placed on three islands, named respectively Stockholm, (castle island,) Riddarholm, (knight's island,) and Helge-antsholm, (holy ghost island,) connected with each other and the mainland on both sides by several bridges. The greater part of the private houses are built on the mainland, which on the north side slopes gradually from the shore, but on the south side rises in bold abrupt cliffs, where the white houses nestle among shading trees. There are many public edifices, bridges, squares and monuments in good taste, and the fine churches, quays, and royal palace give the city an air of magnificence, but the private residences are generally of very ordinary appearance. In the centre of the city the streets are narrow, crooked and dirty; but elsewhere they are wide and regular. The palace is a modern building, in the Italian style, and for architectural beauty and effect surpasses all the other city palaces in Europe. It stands on the Stockholm. The city contains a great number of scientific and literary establishments, and the Royal Library is said to be one of the richest in the north of Europe. The population amounts to about 80,000, of which only about 11,000 are of the producing classes, and 31,500 only have other visible means of subsistence, leaving nearly the remaining half without capital, trade, or other fixed means of living. WAXHOLM, a small town with batteries and other military works, is the seaward key of Stockholm. UPSAL, built on a gentle height and part of an adjoining plain, in a very level and fertile country, is one of the most beautiful old-fashioned cities of Europe. The larger portion of its 15,000 inhabitants depend more or less. on the ancient and highly celebrated university which still flourishes among them. Only a few are engaged in manufactures and the little trade carried on by means of the Sala, a sluggish stream which runs through the city towards the Mälar, and affords the means of steam navigation to Stockholm. The new university is a handsome building in the simple Florentine style, built of freestone; the cathedral is a lofty building of brick, but the finest of all the ecclesiastical buildings of the kingdom. The university was founded in 1478, and is usually attended by 800 students. OLD UPSAL, (Gamla-Upsala,) consists chiefly of a few huts grouped round a set of tumuli or barrows, which are popularly considered to be the tombs of Oden, Thor and Freya; and on the top of a little mount beside them, stands a venerable church, said to be 1800 years old, and to have been a place of pagan worship during many centuries. DANEMORA is noted for its iron mines, which yield a more perfect metal than any others in Sweden. FAHLUN consists of long, silent, wide streets, with good houses and 4,000 inhabitants, in the midst of a region of copper mines, extending about 28 miles in length by seven in breadth. The wide space is enclosed and partly penetrated by rocks of reddish granite, which, towards the middle, gradually merge into a micaceous rock, the greater part of which is composed of iron and copper pyrites. For many centuries these mines were perhaps the most productive in the world, yielding annually 8,000,000 pounds of pure metal. Their present annual produce is thus estimated by Bremner: "copper 4,500 skip-pounds, (280 lbs.); gold 250 ducats; silver 500 marcs; lead 100 to 150 skippounds; vitriol 600 to 800 tons; ochre, generally 1,000 tons; brimstone 20 to 30 skip-pounds. The ore is not rich; the best is said to yield 20 per cent., but the poorer sort only 1 per cent." GEFLE is a seaport on the Gulf of Bothnia, with 8,000 inhabitants. Next to Stockholm and Gotheborg it is the most important trading town in the kingdom.

GOTHEBORG (Gottenburg,) is a large commercial town on the left bank of the Gotha-Elf, near the sea. It stands in a wide hollow surrounded by rocky heights, and consists of regular, wide and paved streets, with lofty flat-roofed houses, all built of stone or well stuccoed brick. It has 25,000 inhabitants, who carry on an active commerce. The Gotha-Elf is navigable from the sea to the falls of Trollhattan, where the navigation is continued by a series of locks, along side the river, which here rushes down a deep gorge, a height of 190 feet, and between the canal and the river is a range of saw-mills belonging to a Glasgow company. NORRKOPING is a flourishing commercial and manufacturing seaport town, on an arm of the Baltic, with 10,000 inhabitants. Its cloths are considered the best in Sweden. CALMAR, on the west side of the strait, formed by the island of Oeland, has a considerable maritime trade and 5,000 inhabitants. CARLSCRONA on the southeast coast, is a strong town built upon several islands, with a fine harbor, which is the usual rendezvous of the Swedish navy. It contains docks dug in the rock, building slips and formidable batteries, which render it almost impregnable towards the sea. Its citadel, upon an islet, is reckoned a masterpiece of military architecture; its granite walls are 20 feet high and mounted with 200 pieces of cannon. Population, 12,000. MALMO is a considerable trading and manufacturing town almost opposite to Copenhagen. Population, 8,000. Eleven miles further north is LUND, the seat of one of the two universities of Sweden. VANAS, at the entrance of the Gotha canal, is a strong fortress, and is intended to serve as a rallying point for the defence of the kingdom, in cases of foreign invasion. WISBY, on the west side of Gottland, and capital of the island, is a most remarkable place. It is a city of the middle ages, existing almost unchanged to the present day, yet so fallen in importance that though the space within its walls is capacious enough for 40,000 persons, it yet contains only 4,200, who are badly lodged in little tenements built under edifices of great cost and magnificence. During the 10th and 11th centuries Wisby was one of the richest commercial cities in Europe, and still contains the remains of 12 churches built at that period. The harbor is small and not very deep; but at SLITOHAMN, on the west side of the island, and CAPELSHAMN on the east, there are harbors with sufficient depth of water, it is said, for ships of war or steam war-vessels.

HERNOSAND, in Norrland, has a fine harbor with considerable trade. From its printing press most of the works for the use of the Laplanders has been produced. Population under 2,000. LULEA, near the head of he gulf of Bothnia, and UMEA further south, are two seaport towns, with some little trade. HUDDIKSVAL is chiefly engaged in the stromming fisheries. The trade of shipbuilding has started up in all these little towns within the last 20 years. The vessels are built entirely of fir, but are cheap, if not durable, and are purchased by Lubeck, Bremen and Hamburg merchants. They are all increasing in extent and population.

The early pages of Swedish history are obscure, and possess little interest. The Swedes being discontented with their king, Albert of Mechlenburg, who had been raised to the throne in 1365, Margaret, Queen of Denmark, styled the Semiramis of the north, a princess of extraordinary talent, availed herself of the opportunity to establish her authority over Sweden. She was successful, and by the treaty of Calmar in 1397, the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and Norway were united under her sway. But the Swedes became dissatisfied with the union, and the tyrannical proceedings of Christian II. excited a rebellion that terminated in the emancipation of the Swedes under the famous Gustavus Vasa in 1520. In 1523, this prince

was raised by the unanimous suffrages of the people to the throne. Gustavus, who subsequently introduced the Protestant religion, died in 1560. His son Eric, who succeeded him, was an imbecile, and Gustavus, the grandson of the great man, ascended the throne in 1611. This great prince acquired Ingria and Carelia from the Russians, Livonia from the Poles, with sundry valuable territories from the Danes. He was also the acknowledged leader of the Protestant party against the power and ambition of Austria; and though his glorious and successful career was prematurely terminated at the battle of Lutzen in 1632, his exertions were mainly instrumental in bringing about that freedom of religious worship, and that equal distribution of power, established by the treaty of Westphalia. No nation, indeed, occupied a more commanding position than Sweden in the thirty years' war; and the constant valor of her soldiers in that great struggle of liberty against despotism, was as remarkable as the success which so invariably followed the Swedish arms was glorious.

The success that had attended the arms of Sweden under Gustavus, continued to attend them under his daughter Christina, who abdicated the throne in 1564, and his other successors down to Charles XII., who became king in 1687. The excesses of this extraordinary man proved almost the ruin of his country, and gave Russia a lasting ascendency over Sweden. He was succeeded by his sister Ulrica Eleanora; but the people disgusted at the madness of the king had circumscribed materially the royal authority. It was, however, again enlarged in 1772. Gustavus IV. succeeded to the throne in 1792, embroiled himself with France, and engaged in a quixotic contest with Russia, which resulted in his dethronement in 1809, when his uncle, who took the title of Charles XIII., was raised to the throne, prince Christian of Holstein-Augustenberg being at the same time declared crown prince and successor. On the premature death of the latter, Bernadotte, prince of Ponte Corvo, was elected successor to the crown by a diet held at Oerebro in 1810, and having accepted the honor he soon after arrived in Sweden, of which he became king on the death of Charles XIII., in 1818. He has been a father to his country, and as such has lately died, esteemed and honored by the people over whom he was called to reign, and his dynasty, if faithful to the trust reposed in it, will long adorn the royal title. This celebrated man was once a hotel waiter in France, and having enlisted in the grand army soon distinguished himself, and was elevated to the highest dignities by the emperor. He was the only one of Napoleon's marshals who retained the kingdoms which they acquired in the last war. He is succeeded by his son.-(See Denmark, and Norway.)

THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY.

NORWAY (Norge Norw-Norvegen Germ,) occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian peninsula, and covers an area of 121,725 square miles, and has a population of about 1,400,000 inhabitants.

The Norwegians belong to the same family as the Danes, and speak a dialect of their language. They are, however, generally a smaller race than their confreres of Denmark and Sweden, but possess much spirit, and are lively, frank and undaunted. They are, in the same degree with other northern nations, grossly addicted to intoxication, and corn or potatoe brandy forms an indispensable beverage to old and young. The population in 1835 numbered 1,194,827, having increased from 1825, 143,509, or 13. 6 per cent. Should it have retained the same ratio of increase, it will, at the