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72 THROUGH NORWAY WITII A KNAPSACK.
with round hats and the latest London—not Paris—
fashions. I have seen but one puppy in Norway,
and he was one of the passengers in the steam-packet
from Hull. lie affected aristocratic English airs,
and treated his modest fellow-countryman the
stonemason so rudely that the salmon-fisher and I cut him
altogether. We found on landing that he was a
commercial traveller.
The different classes of society in Norway are not
distinguishable by their conduct; for all are quiet,
courteous, unassuming, and dignified. An English puppy,
as we are all aware, is the most contemptible of the
brutes, and a true English gentleman the most dignified
of human beings. The Norwegians of all classes exhibit
the peculiar external attributes of high English
breeding in a very remarkable degree. They are, as far as
I have yet seen, the best behaved people in Europe:
haughtiness and cringing seem equally unknown among
them. It is often argued that an aristocracy is
necessary to give by example a high tune to society, but
Norway is almost the only country in Europe without
an aristocracy or any pretensions to such; unless it be
the aristocracy of timber-merchants and fish-salters.
In one sense, it is true, the great bulk of the
Norwegian people may be regarded as an aristocracy,
seeing that they are the owners by inheritance of the
land they live upon.* This, doubtless, contributes
* In Norway, according to Mr. Laing, there is one estate for every
twenty-two of the population; while in Scotland, there is hut one for
every seven hundred.
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