Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/228

Rh navigation practicable between several of the lakes. The telegraph, under Russian management, connects nearly all the towns of the country.

The education of Finland is carried on in one university (Helsingfors), 14 lyceums and realschulen, one polytechnic, two industrial, six navigation, one cadet, two superior and eight inferior agricultural, two trade schools, besides two schools for the blind, and four for deaf and dumb. These include both state and private schools. For popular instruction there are three normal seminaries and 448 primary schools, most of them Finnish, 67 being Swedish, 5 mixed Finnish and Swedish, and 2 Russian. Besides these there seem to be a number of peripatetic teachers who teach many that do not attend school. In 1875 24 publishers issued 154 books, which had a sale of a million and a quarter copies. There are 55 journals of various kinds, one-half being Finnish.

The czar of Russia is grand-duke of Finland, the external affairs of both countries being the same. So far as internal administration is concerned, Finland is an independent state. The constitution dates from 1772-1789, and is based besides upon the pledge of the czar Alexander I. in 1809 (when Swedish Finland was annexed), renewed by his successors, and upon the decree of the diet of date 1869. The czar decides as to war and peace, and as to treaties, has the right of pardon, appoints the officials of the country, who, however, must be natives, and is the last appeal in law. The government of the country and the administration of justice are carried on by the Imperial Senate for Finland, consisting of eighteen members appointed by the czar, under the presidency of the governor-general of Finland. The particular affairs on which the czar has to decree are laid before him by the state secretary for Finland. The legislative function is exercised by the czar and diet or landtag (Seim), without the consent of which no law can be either ordained or repealed, no new taxes imposed, or soldiers levied. The diet is called together every five years, and consists of the representatives of the nobility, clergy, citizens, and peasantry. The nobility are represented by the heads of the noble families admitted into the House of Nobles; the other deputies are elected, the bishops being admitted on account of their office. The official language is Swedish. For administrative purposes Finland is divided into eight låns or governments, the names of which are given above. An older division was the districts of Finland proper, Åland, Sata-Kunta, Nyland, Tavastland, Karelen, Savolaks, Osterbotten, and Lapland. The låns are divided into harads or districts, and these into parishes or communes, of which there are 480, and which have the management of their own internal affairs. The administration of the law lies in the first place with the senate, in the second place with the high courts established in Åbo, Nikolaistad, Wasa, and Wiborg, and finally with the district courts in the country and the municipal courts in the towns. The established religion is that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, under the archbishop of Åbo and the bishops of Borgå and Kuopio. There is an ecclesiastical assembly or convocation every ten years, with thirty-four clerical and fifty lay representatives. There is complete religious freedom for other bodies. The Greco-Russian parishes are under the metropolitan in St Petersburg.

The public income of the country in 1877 was £1,267,732, and the expenditure £1,267,738, while on January 1, 1878, the debt was £2,462,470. Besides the national bank of Finland, there are two private banks, thirty-nine savings banks, and three fire insurance establishments. The military force of Finland consists of one battalion of riflemen. The Finnish coinage consists of a markka or silver mark of 100 penni, equal to about 9½ d. In 1878 a new gold coinage was issued, consisting of two pieces of 20 and 10 francs or markka respectively. The Finnish mile is equal to 10 versts or 6.64 English miles. The fathom of 3 ells of 2 Finnish feet is equal to 1.9483 English yards. The tunland contains 1.21983 acres. The “ship-pound” contains 374.85 ℔ avoirdupois, the Finnish ℔ being equal to 0.93713 ℔ avoirdupois; the ton is equal to 4.5395 bushels, the last to 1.86 ton register, the “can” to .57645 imperial gallon.

History.—It was probably at end of the 7th or beginning of the 8th century that the Finns took possession of what is now Finland, though it was only when Christianity was introduced, about 1157, that they were brought into contact with civilized Europe. They probably found the Lapps in possession of the country. The early Finlanders do not seem to have had any governmental organization, but to have lived in separate communities and villages independent of each other. Their mythology consisted in the deification of the forces of nature, as “Ukko,” the god of the air, “Tapio,” god of the forests, “Ahti,” the god of water, &c. These early Finlanders seem to have been both brave and troublesome to their neighbours, and their repeated attacks on the coast of Sweden drew the attention of the kings of that country. King Eric IX. (St Eric), accompanied by the bishop of Upsala, Henry (an Englishman, it is said), and at the head of a considerable army, invaded the country in 1157, when the people were conquered and baptized. King Eric left Bishop Henry with his priests and some soldiers behind to confirm the conquest and complete the conversion. After a time he was killed, canonized, and as St Henry became the patron saint of Finland. As Sweden had to attend to her own affairs, Finland was gradually reverting to independence and paganism, when in 1209 another bishop and missionary, Thomas (also an Englishman), arrived, and recommenced the work of St Henry. Bishop Thomas nearly succeeded in detaching Finland from Sweden, and forming it into a province subject only to the pope. The famous Birger Jarl undertook a crusade in Finland in 1249, compelling the Tavastians, one of the subdivisions of the Finlanders proper, to accept Christianity, and building a castle at Tavastehus. It was Torkel Knutson who conquered and connected the Karelian Finlanders in 1293, and built the strong castle of Wiborg. Almost continuous wars between Russia and Sweden were the result of the conquest of Finland by the latter. In 1323 it was settled that the river Rajajoki should be the boundary between Russia and the Swedish province. After the final conquest of the country by the Swedes, they spread among the Finlanders their civilization, gave them laws, accorded them the same civil rights as belonged to themselves, and introduced agriculture and other beneficial arts. The Reformed religion was introduced into Finland by Gustavus Vasa about 1528, and King John III. raised it to the dignity of a grand-duchy. The country suffered, sometimes deplorably, in most of the wars waged by Sweden, especially with Russia and Denmark. His predecessor having created an order of nobility, counts, barons, and nobles, Gustavus Adolphus in the beginning of the 17th century established the diet of Finland, composed of the four orders of the nobility, clergy, bourgeois, and peasants. Gustavus and his successor did much for Finland by founding schools and gymnasia, building churches, encouraging learning, and introducing printing. During the reign of Charles XI. (1692-1696) the country suffered terribly from famine and pestilence; in the diocese of Åbo alone 60,000 persons died in less than nine months. Finland has been visited at different periods since by these scourges; so late as 1848 whole villages were starved during a dreadful famine. Peter the Great cast an envious eye on Finland and tried to wrest it from Sweden; in 1710 he managed to obtain