in which the states
are misplaced, the names misspelled, and the most important points
omitted. I do not think there is a village press in California that
would not be ashamed to turn out such trashy little sheets as are
issued in Frankfort; and as for the matter of fairness and honesty, it
is rare to find an independent newspaper in any part of Europe. To
suppress truth and subserve some military or financial interest is the
business for which they are paid. Making due allowance for party
prejudices, you may guess at the truth in most of our American
journals, but it would be a waste of time to search for it in the
newspapers published on this side of the water. While they studiously
refrain from indecorous language, they are corrupt and unreliable
beyond any thing known in California, and have not even the merit of
being energetic and entertaining liars. This is the case in Russia and
Finland as well as in Germany. Where the press is subjected to a rigid
censorship, it is of course useless to look for reliable information,
and as for late intelligence, it does not travel through official
bureaus. Before leaving Frankfort I had news to the 28th of June. A
week after my arrival at St. Petersburg the same news was promulgated
in that city. On my return from Moscow I had the pleasure of reading
the details in an American newspaper. One or two mutilated telegraphic
dispatches seemed to sharpen my appetite during the trip to Revel,
Helsingfors, Abo, and Stockholm; and now, arrived at the head-quarters
of Swedish civilization, after searching in vain for a late English or
American newspaper at the principal cafes, I was compelled to make
application to our consul, in the faint hope that he might be an
occasional reader of that ephemeral species of literature.
Fortunately, Mr. Fristadius had spent some time in the United States,
and learned to appreciate the magnitude and importance of the struggle
in which we were engaged.

I had the pleasure, during my sojourn in Stockholm, of getting a
glimpse of Swedish social life in one of its most agreeable phases.
Mr. Fristadius, who is a Swede by birth and education, and occupies a
prominent position as one of the leading iron-merchants of Stockholm,
was kind enough to invite me to an entertainment at his villa,
situated about four miles from the city, on one of the prettiest
little islands in the Malar Lake.

At an early hour in the afternoon, the company, which consisted of
thi