Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/237

Rh like Gustavas Adolphus and Charles XII., and Sweden created for herself a place and a name in Europe. But Norway remained united to Denmark, and Norwegian heroism displayed itself repeatedly in defending the country against Swedish invaders. Charles XII., the most warlike king of Sweden, died in a vain attempt to take the Norwegian frontier town of Fredrikshald. It was only in the present century, in 1814, that Norway was separated from Denmark. The allied powers who conquered Napoleon coerced Norway into an union with Sweden in 1815. But Norway still has now a separate parliament, a separate language, and a separate administration of her own, and is in every respect a separate country except that Norway and Sweden are under the same king and form one military power in Europe. For the rest, nearly the whole area of the two countries is, as I have said before, one unending pine forest, and population, in spite of the fishing, is sparse. Only about 10,000 spuaresquare [sic] miles in Sweden, and only a thousand square miles in Norway are under cultivation, though the area of the two countries is nearly 300,000 square miles. And the population of the two countries does not much exceed five millions, i. e. a little over the population of London!

We saw the King's palace in Christiania, beautifully situated on the top of a hill rising by a gentle slope from the surrounding town, and surrounded by beautiful gardens. In front of the palace is an equestrian statue of Charles XIV., with his motto inscribed on it, meaning—"The people's love is my reward." We saw the