regarded as her calling from God. When not labouring abroad she continued her Pictures.'

During the winter of 1859 she had a fall on the ice, by which she was considerably hurt; nevertheless, though suffering great pain, she continued the journey she was then upon for eight days longer, preaching for many hours during the day, and sleeping at night in some humble homestead, forgetting, as she says, the pain and uneasiness she endured in the kindness of her sisters in the faith, and the praying, singing, reading, and conversation of her spiritual brothers.

Towards the end of February of the same winter, waiting one Sunday for some friend in a cold churchyard after service, she was chilled, and subsequently preaching in a small, over-heated cabin, she became seriously unwell. From this day her last illness dates, and on the 30th of the following month she departed this life, some of her last words being, My spirit is well--onwards!-onwards! Victory and light! I see now clearly-much more clearly!' From Miss Howitt's Twelve Months with Fredrika Bremer in Sweden.'

JEANETTE

There is in the Djurgard, near the shores of the Baltic, an immense institution for the blind, the deaf, and the dumb, called Manilla. Although it is quite a colony, yet so great, unfortunately, is the prevalence of the deaf and dumb in Sweden, that there are many who must remain neglected because there is no room for them in the asylum.

It is for some of these, and for other little pupils similarly afflicted, that the noble-hearted Jeanette Berglind, a poor cripple, born with deficient hearing herself, opened the minor institution to which we are now bound.

As we walked along Miss Bremer told me her history, in order that I might fully appreciate her when I saw her. I had also read an interesting memoir of her written by Fröken Esselde, and as her narrative gives the substance of Miss Bremer's, I will take the liberty of repeating, in some degree, her words:

Mamsell Berglind was an orphan, and being poor was obliged to work for her living. An insatiable desire, however, to help the deaf and dumb had always been strong within her, and she herself having in her early life been brought up at Manilla, had seen how inadequate was even that great institution to meet the needs of this unfortunate class. Besides, she longed to try the experiment of children being placed rather in a home than in a large educational factory. But she was so poor, that year after year went on without affording her the least chance of realising the day-dream. Spite of this she never lost hope, strengthening her

BERGLIND.

self with the thought, 'God will help me.'

She returned to Manilla, worked there altogether for fifteen years, with the never-abated desire of carrying out her scheme. In the meantime a little property, four hundred riksdalers, scarcely more than twenty pounds, came to her, and in order to become mistress of this inheritance, she demanded her majority, which, after a great opposition from her family, she obtained.

She lost no time in commencing her long-cherished plan, but having no means beyond her own, it seemed like madness to her friends, for what could four hundred riksdalers effect in such an undertaking? God will help!' she still said, and confidently hired a small house in Norrmalm. Her money was all expended in furniture and school materials, but nothing daunted, she announced that deaf and dumb children were taken in to board, the terms being moderate.

Various friends and relations of deaf and dumb children visited the school, but none, in spite of the warm testimonial she produced from the head of the Manilla asylum, were willing to make the first attempt. Again she was assailed by entreaties to give up her wild scheme rather than plunge herself in inextricable difficulties. It was all in vain. She knew that the school was needed, and felt positive that in the end it would succeed. Paying scholars, however, failing, she went out into the highways and hedges, and gathered together such numbers that the dwelling became too small to hold them, besides

besides which, the situation in the town was disadvantageous. She removed, therefore, with her children to her present domicile in the autumn of 1861. Here the most advantageous results followed; the poor, puny children throve wonderfully; they grew not only rosy and active under the motherly care of their protectress, but under the skilful instruction of an assistant, who gave his services for his board and lodging, were so eager to learn, and developed so much talent and general intelligence as would have been astonishing even amongst the more fortunate children of the higher classes.

A second deaf and dumb teacher was engaged, who willingly devoted himself, in the still struggling state of the school, on the same terms as the first, besides a young female assistant who had faithfully stood by Mamsell Berglind from the beginning, without the slightest remuneration. A young deaf and dumb girl from Manilla, who acted as servant, completed the interesting little establishment.

The house, standing on a little lawn, with farm buildings on one side, is, built of wood, and painted red. The front door stood wide open, and led into a passage or lobby, the walls of which were painted to represent the trees and shrubs of a conservatory, with surrounding landscape. We opened the door of one of the rooms, for Miss Bremer is evidently well acquainted with the topography of the house, and found ourselves in a warm, sunny school-room, looking into a wide field, which had probably grown potatoes, and to a pleasant country beyond. The cloth was laid for the dinner of about twelve children who were assembled there. They made many peculiar articulations of pleasure, whereupon poor, deformed Mamsell Berglind appeared from the inner room, her face radiant with joy and kindly benevolence. She seemed to me to have a halo of goodness around her.

After a very cordial welcome, she and Miss Bremer retired to the adjoining room which she had left, her sitting and bedroom combined, I preferring to

remain with the young teacher, the only assistant at this moment, and whom I knew to be kind-hearted, and warmly interested in the school. Born dumb,

he has now, in a measure, acquired the use of speech. He talks somewhat indistinctly, it is true, but still marvellously well for one in his condition, and we were quite able to carry on a conversation.

The young teacher assisted me in amusing the children; indeed, I should have managed very indifferently without him. I had brought with me some of Hulda's cuttings as a little present, and these gave infinite delight. They cackled and clapped their arms for wings as they saw one group, that of an old woman feeding poultry.

We had also brought a number of little coloured picture cards, which have been adopted here, together with many translations of English tracts, by the Swedish Tract Society, none being more popular than those of the Rev. Newman Hall.

The cards were distributed amongst the children, two boys, and the rest girls, all boarders, the day-pupils not attending on Sundays. It seemed a perfect insult to the children to call them deaf and dumb, for every action and movement spoke. I watched them conversing with each other on the various subjects of the little picture cards.

Miss Bremer now re-appeared, and, asking for a few empty plates, poured out from her wonderful bag a quantity of Danske karameller and gingerbread nuts, with which childish delights she is supplied by an old woman at the end of Drottninggatan. On this there was a very natural outburst of joy, which the children knew no better way of expressing than by spontaneously shaking hands.

It was, altogether, one of the happiest scenes I ever witnessed, and one of the most interesting. I shall anticipate going there again with much pleasure. From Miss Howitt's 'Twelve Months with Fredrika Bremer in Sweden.'

Twelve Months with Fredrika Bremer

in Sweden. By Margaret Howitt. Vols. 1 and 2. London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 27, Paternoster Row.

Who knows not, honours not, the name of Fredrika Bremer? The merits of her novels are manifold, but their crowning excellence is in this-that appealing with power to all that is morally best in the reader, they elevate whilst they charm, and make it seem better worth his while to live in this world for the sake of what he may yet become and accomplish. Delighting, then, in Fredrika Bremer's books, which the selecting judgment and the translating skill of Mary Howitt long since rendered accessible to the English reader, we turned with eager anticipation to the two volumes before us, in order to enlarge our acquaintance with the Swedish novelist. But it is not of a tale-writer alone that we read in these charming pages. Fredrika Bremer was much more than that; and whilst ranking very high as an author amongst her fellow-countrymen as amongst readers of good discrimination all the world over, she took still higher honours as a reformer and philanthropist, and was in Sweden a potent power for good apart altogether from her literary works. It is thus that we find Miss Howitt telling us that Miss Bremer was universally appealed to in every benevolent enterprise, originating many and aiding all.

She

was especially the helper of her own sex, and setting aside all questions of woman's rights, was the means of effecting a real emancipation of her countrywomen, by convincing wise, liberalminded, and powerful men of the necessity for the reforms which she advocated. For children, also, she was an indefatigable labourer, and was felt and acknowledged to be the centre around which moved every effort for their well-being, whether physical or

moral.'

But much more than this is set before us in Miss Howitt's interesting volumes. During a year's residence in or near Stockholm, in constant intercourse with Fredrika Bremer, Miss Howitt was able to look around her, with eyes of no mean intelligence, and to enjoy a

thousand opportunities which she knew how to use, of studying life as it is in Sweden. She tells us, therefore, not a little about Miss Bremer's habits of thought, feeling, and action, which it interests us much to be acquainted with; and beyond all this, she sets before us places, persons, and institutions, which add considerably to our means of knowing what manner of place Sweden is, and what kind of people are its people.

She tells us, for instance, that one of Miss Bremer's later stories, 'Hertha,' had for its purport to show the working of the Swedish law regarding women; that this story became the occasion of much excitement there; that so violent grew the public feeling, that the authoress was glad to retire into Switzerland, out of reach of the storm, so displeased were her countrymen with her then, though for the first time. But the storm blew over; a bright spring of promise succeeded those keen blasts, and Miss Bremer became a sun around whom revolved dozens of planets-young women who regarded her with reverential gratitude as their intellectual mother. For the justice of her protest in Hertha' against the oppressive nature of the old Swedish laws regarding women came to be acknowledged by liberal-minded and generous-hearted professors of various sciences, who opened the doors of learning which had been closed to women in that country, and were soon surrounded by willing pupils. After awhile the King and his ministers took up the matter, and supplied ample means for the establishment of a Female Educational Institution, or Seminarium, wherefrom have already gone forth enlightened women over the whole of Sweden. 'It is touching,' says Miss Howitt, 'to hear Jenny and her companions speaking of American and English women, especially the latter, as being models of all that is perfect in womanhood. They cannot conceive but that, with our free institutions and the unrestricted career that exists amongst us for female study, we must be all that God intended us to be. There are unquestionably thousands of highly cultivated, Christian women in England, nobly gifted and favoured by circumstances, yet I have never seen

brighter

as

brighter examples of clear intellect, and unswerving truth-loving minds, than amongst these my Swedish sisters. Young women, all of them, who will later, undoubtedly, shine forth bright and glorious stars in their northern firmament. These dear young students think that they may learn from us. In one point, at all events, we may learn from them, and this simply in paying more attention in our female colleges to the chemistry of common life, the laws of health, and other practical sciences. Latin and Greek are not, however, amongst their subjects of study, although the Swedes generally seem to have a facility in the acquirement of languages. This is a great boon to them, as their own language, being but little known to other nations, compels them to learn from childhood mostly three other tongues, French, German, and English. They have great partiality for foreigners, and have pleasure in conversing with them in their own tongue, which is a comfort to most strangers.'

Her

Of Miss Bremer, Miss Howitt tells us further that all the students knew her by sight, and all loved her. portrait, painted in oil, hangs in a place of honour in the small, comfortable library, to which she had contributed the greater number of volumes. In this Seminarium Miss Bremer beheld the realisation of all her hopes. It was good recompense to her for the sorrow of Hertha' to witness such noble results, 'far more momentous to the well-being of generations yet to come than even the most universally praised of all her literary works.' Amongst the other good results of 'Hertha' was a beneficial alteration of the law with regard to women.

On a subject especially interesting to 'Meliora,' Miss Howitt writes:

'One of my first sources of satisfaction in this city was, that as I did not see any flaring gin-palaces, there must be a greater degree of temperance amongst the people than with us; but this was a delusion. You need only cast your eye for a short time on one of those little doors by the side of which is fastened a long black board, with its list of temptations, bränvin, rom, punsch, cogniac, &c., and you will see the number of short, sturdily-built men, in their warm, thick garments, and big leathern aprons, that turn in. Bränvin, the white brandy distilled

from corn and potatoes, is the great temptation of this country. Good Swedes grieve over the immense consumption of this spirit, and the fearful ravages which it makes in what might otherwise be happy homes. Still, I must confess, that though this sorrowful fact remains, I have not seen in these streets so much evidence of drunkenness as one witnesses either in England or Germany.

'Brandy-drinking, nevertheless, and oaths are the besetting sins of the poor. Unfortunately, even their so-called betters set them a bad example as regards the latter, whatever they may do as to the former.'

One of the portraits Miss Howitt sketches for us is that of Fröken Esselde, a young lady descended from a noble, historical line. There is no family name more honoured in Swedish history than hers, but she, not contented with being alone an aristocrat, seeks to become truly great and noble in her life. Her grandeur consists in working out the question of woman's true sphere in Sweden, and seconding every effort which is made for her higher development. Like Miss Bremer herself, whilst her motto is ever onward and upward, she, instead of transforming, as so many jealously imagine must be the case, the retiring feminine character into something unnatural and repulsive, merely wishes to develop and expand it, so that it may harmoniously dovetail, as it were, into the masculine nature, and make even married life a still nobler condition of love and usefulness.

'Fröken Esselde has great respect for all efforts which have been made in this direction in England, upholds Bessie Parkes as one of our admirable women, and feels great sympathy with her. Sho is co-editress with a noble-hearted woman, the wife of a professor in Upsala, of a periodical "The Home Magazine," intended to promote those really noble purposes to which her life

is devoted.'