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FOREWORD ii
ii
died; and in his coffin were placed his little heart-treasures,
and a piece of money for his last journey. Babes that came
lifeless into the world were carried in the arms of
gray-haired old men to the only cradle they ever slept in; and
in the shroud of the dead mother were laid the little
garments of the child, that lived and died in her bosom. And
over this scene the village pastor looks from his window
in the stillness of midnight, and says in his heart, " How
quietly they rest, all the departed!"
Near the church-yard gate stands a poor-box, fastened
to a post by iron bands, and secured by a padlock, with a
sloping wooden roof to keep off the rain. If it be Sunday,
the peasants sit on the church steps and con their
psalm-books. Others are coming down the road with their beloved
pastor, who talks to them of holy things from beneath
his broad-brimmed hat. He speaks of fields and harvests,
and of the parable of the sower, that went forth to sow.
He leads them to the Good Shepherd, and to the pleasant
pastures of the spirit-land. He is their patriarch, and, like
Melchizedek, both priest and king, though he has no other
throne than the church pulpit. The women carry
psalm-books in their hands, wrapped in silk handkerchiefs, and
listen devoutly to the good man’s words. But the young
men, like Gallio, care for none of these things. They are
busy counting the plaits in the kirtles of the peasant girls,
their number being an indication of the wearer’s wealth.
It may end in a wedding.
I will endeavor to describe a village wedding in
Sweden. It shall be in summer time, that there may be flowers,
and in a southern province, that the bride may be fair.
The early song of the lark and of chanticleer are mingling
in the clear morning air, and the sun, the heavenly bride-
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