Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. Visit to Sweden in 1868–1869—The Object of my Journey—Experiences and Observations During the Same—Difference Between American and Swedish Customs—My Birth-place—Arrival and Visit There—Visit to Christianstad—Visit to Stockholm—The Swedish Parliament—My Return to America—Reflections on and Impressions of the Condition of the Bureaucracy of Sweden
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
ss Story of an Emigrant.
102
ground. It seemed very strange to us all, and he regarded
it as an ill-omen, sold the place shortly afterward, and went
with me to America the following spring.
At that time only a few Swedish emigrants had returned
from America, and to see a man who had been eighteen years
in America, and had been a cqjonel in the American army
must have been a great curiosity, especially to the country
people; for wherever it was known that 1 wrould pass,
people flocked from their houses to the roads and streets in
order to catch a glimpse of the returned traveler. So great
was their curiosity that 011 New Year’s eve the servant girls
of Nils Bengtson at Skoglosa, drew lots as to who should
carry in our coffee, and thereby get a chance to take the first
look at the American colonel. One of the ladies of the house
told me afterwards that when the girl returned to the
kitchen she put the tray down with great emphasis and
disappointment, exclaiming indignantly: "Oh, pshaw! He
looks just like any other man! "
Now followed a season of visits and entertainments in
Christianstad and the neighboring country, wrhich I shall
ever hold in grateful remembrance. I was received with
cordiality everywhere among the common people and the middle
classes, while the aristocratic classes looked on with distant
coldness, as they always do when a man of the people has
succeeded in getting beyond w^hat they would call his legitimate
station, and is what we would call, in other words, a
self-made man. My plain name and humble ancestry were in
their eyes a fault that never could be forgiven. This did not
trouble me, however, for I sought no favors, or even
recognition from the great, but found plenty of delight in the
cordial welcome of the middle classes.
In the month of February I visited Stockholm, in company
with my friend Nils Bengtson. It was the first time I had
been there, and, like all other travelers, I was charmed with
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
