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138
II. TH B SWEDISH PEOPLE.
Those qualities which go to make an able warrior have always
been very prominently present in Swedes, and it may safely be affirmed,
without danger of overstepping the bounds of truth, that the history
of Sweden’s wars is one of great brilliance, which few other nations can
equal. That in spite of the eighty years of peace which the country
has now enjoyed, its inhabitants are still imbued with the same instincts
and virtues in this direction, is abundantly manifest. Scarcely a war is
waged in any part of the world, even in our own times, but that a
considerable number of Swedes volunteer of their own accord for service,
and seldom does it happen that these warriors do not do credit to the
national tradition for valour in arms.
Let the opinions as to war be what they will; it cannot be denied
that war entails a very great output of energy, and that every
people in this situation clearly bears witness of its real character. As
regards the Swedish people, it may be said that, when put to this
trying ordeal, they display very manifestly the more open, bright
and, so to say, luminous sides of their nature, such as: intrepid courage,
persistent bravery, disinterested self-sacrifice, and noble chivalry —
all qualities to excel and triumph preeminently on the actual field of
battle. Foreign to the Swedish temperament, on the other hand,
is that dark fanaticism, that induces the citizens of a Numantia or a
Zaragossa to bury themselves beneath the ruins of their homes.
Similarly, dismal hatred is not cherished by a Swede; towards a conquered
foe he is ever merciful and ready to conciliate him; indeed it not seldom
occurs that this phase is exaggerated to the detriment of his own real
interests.
"What has just been said proves indisputably that a pronounced
humanity is a main feature of the Swedish temper. The way in
which Swedes have treated other nations with whom they have
come into contact in the past, bears unimpeachable testimony to
this fact.
History has not many — perhaps indeed no — instances to present that
bear comparison with Sweden’s treatment of conquered Finland; how the former
moulded the latter into a sister people, with the grant of a full share in the
civilization to which she had herself attained; how the superior race literally
educated the inferior, in just the same manner as in private life the elders
educate their juniors, but in a manner that is not by any means regularly adopted
between nations. Wherever, moreover, Swedish rule has in the past prevailed, as for
instance in the Baltic Provinces, in Pomerania, and in other places, the memory of
it still lives as a righteous and humane rule, a rule which never sought to subdue
others in its own interests, but rather to elevate and to raise them as far as possible.
A characteristic example of this is afforded by the only colony that Swedes have
founded in foreign parts, viz.: the so-called New Sweden, in the present State of
Delaware. Alone of all European nations, the Swedes succeeded in living in
complete peace with the aboriginal Indians, being inspired in all their dealings
with them by sentiments of justice and humanity; wherefore the colonists in
New Sweden have been ever styled by the Indians: »Our White Brothers».
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