of these there are four.

V.

Subordinate to the CHAP. Amtmanner, there are three or four Underwriters, according to the extent of the Division; who are the Judges, and before whom all causes come, in the first instance. In criminal cases,

the Jury consists of four persons; but at any time, when the criminal is not contented with the sentence, the case may be referred to the Superior Court; and this is done in all cases where the punishment exceeds two months' imprisonment. Every sentence must be confirmed by the Superior Court; although the cause, when the parties are satisfied with the sentence, be not pleaded a second time.' Capital punishments are extremely rare: an instance of the execution of a criminal had not occurred above once in ten years.

of the

Orders.

As a proof of the excellent manner in which Education the education of the common people is con- Lower ducted, it is enough to state, that they are all able to read, and most of them to write. In every parish there are two or three Schoolmasters, according to its size, selected, by the Clergyman, from the most learned of the peasants, and confirmed by the Bishop. The farmers read the Gazettes, and converse freely upon political subjects. They are at present contented; which was not quite the case at the

CHAP. commencement of the French Revolution. One

V.

Fair.

of the most powerful reasons of the present prosperity of the country is, that the people now depend less upon fishing than formerly, and more upon the produce of the earth. In Norland there is still little or no cultivation; and the people consequently forsake the interior of the country, and flock to the shores, during the fishing season. There are some but not many ragged people in the streets. Upon the ramparts we always saw slaves working in chains, who were in general wretchedly clothed. They are condemned to this species of slavery according to their crimes; some for a certain number of years, and others for life. Horsestealing is punished with slavery for life. For lesser thefts, it is seldom until after the second or third offence that they are condemned to work upon the ramparts. Persons who have deserted three or four times receive this species of punishment.'

We were present at the Fair, which begins on the first of October. Many of the Lapps come down from the mountains, and visit the city, upon this occasion: the Bay is seen covered with innumerable white sails of boats, bringing in the peasants from all parts of the country. During the course of the three days upon which

the fair continues, some of the shops engaged
in the sale of handkerchiefs, linen cloth, and
a few other trifling articles, sell goods to the
amount of five thousand dollars, a sum equal
to one thousand pounds sterling of English
money. Great numbers of the peasants, also,
(who have not the smallest resemblance or rela-
tionship to the Lapps, and hold them in the
utmost contempt and aversion,) arrive on horse-
back from the most distant villages and farms;
galloping through the streets, at full speed,
upon
the most beautiful steeds, unshod, without
either saddle or bridle, which they guide with a
cord fastened to a piece of wood, as a bit. In
the evenings, during the fair, there is, as may
be expected, a good deal of drinking, dancing,
and some fighting; but no lives are lost in these
broils. They dance the Polsk and the Halling,
which we have before described. When intoxi-
cated, a Lapp has been known to pass an entire
night in the streets of Trönijem, during the
utmost rigour of winter, sleeping in the open
air, without receiving any injury. It is true,
they are well wrapped in furs; but perhaps
this hardiness may be attributed to their habit
of constantly exposing their bodies, reeking
from their steam-baths and sudatories, to ex-
tremes of temperature, rolling about naked in

CHAP.
V.

CHAP. the ice and snow. We have seen them, in Lap

V.

Anecdotes

of Two

FinnLapps.

land, when the dews were falling copiously during the last nights of summer, issue from their hot baths, and squat down stark-naked upon the wet grass, to enjoy the luxury of cooling themselves in this manner in the open air. In Trönÿem, this people are not called Lapps, but Finns. The attachment they bear towards their savage mode of life upon the mountains, and the difficulty of civilizing them, are very remarkable: so universally applicable is that affecting sentiment of Euripides, to the inhabitants of all countries, " Home's home, be it never so homely'." An anecdote or two of the Finns near Trönÿjem, as given to us by an intelligent young man of the name of Horneman, with whom we contracted a friendship during our residence here, and to whom we were indebted for many acts of polite attention, will set this part of their character in a very striking point

of view.

Mr. Horneman's father, a wealthy merchant of Trönÿjem, educated a poor Finnish boy, treating

(1) Any person might believe that the antient English aphorism, above cited, was derived from the Greek Tragedian. The original passage is, · ἀνδρὶ γάρ τοι, κἂν ὑπερβάλλη κακοῖς,

Οὐκ ἔστι τοῦ θρέψαντος ἥδιον πίδον.

Euripidis Fragmenta Phan. iii. 2. tom. 2. p. 466. Ed. Beckii.

V.

him always with the greatest benevolence, and CHAP. finally taking him into his own family as a servant; where he was clothed in a fine livery, and remained faithful in the discharge of all his duties during twelve years. At the expiration of this time, a large party of Finns came accidentally, from the northern mountains, into Trönijem, for purposes of trade. Upon hearing this, the boy stole privately to his apartment, pulled off his fine clothes, putting on a few old rags, and, leaving all that he possessed, decamped with his countrymen, without carrying off a single stiver, either of his own or of his

master's money. Some years elapsed, and no intelligence was gained even of the route he had taken. At last, wrapped in his Finnish garb, he came to visit his old master; and being asked why he had deserted his service in such an abrupt and clandestine manner, "Sir !" said he, "what will you have? Finn is Finn!"

Another circumstance, of a similar nature, occurred a few years ago. A Finn boy was educated at the Latin School; and in process of time, being ordained by the Bishop, he became an officiating Clergyman in one of the parishes of Trönÿjem; but he was so passionately addicted to spirituous liquors, that it became necessary not only to dismiss him from his sacred office,