feast may be bearable,
perhaps, when stern Winter frowns, shaking with chilling aspect his
hoary locks; but during a summer sweet as fleeting, let me, my kind
strangers, escape sometimes into your fir groves, wander on the
margin of your beautiful lakes, or climb your rocks to view still
others in endless perspective; which, piled by more than giant's
hand, scale the heavens to intercept its rays, or to receive the
parting tinge of lingering day,--day that, scarcely softened into
twilight, allows the freshening breeze to wake, and the moon to
burst forth in all her glory to glide with solemn elegance through
the azure expanse.

"The cow's bell has ceased to tinkle the herd to rest; they have all
paced across the heath. Is not this the witching time of night? The
waters murmur, and fall with more than mortal music, and spirits of
peace walk abroad to calm the agitated breast. Eternity is in these
moments; worldly cares melt into the airy stuff that dreams are made
of; and reveries, mild and enchanting as the first hopes of love, or
the recollection of lost enjoyment, carry the hapless wight into
futurity, who, in bustling life, has vainly strove to throw off the
grief which lies heavy at the heart. Good-night! A crescent hangs
out in the vault before, which wooes me to stray abroad: it is not a
silvery reflection of the sun, but glows with all its golden
splendor. Who fears the falling dew? It only makes the mown grass
smell more fragrant."

As might be expected, judging from Mary's natural benevolence, the
poverty and misery she saw during her journey awakened feelings of deep
compassion. She describes in tones of pity the wretched condition of the
lower classes in Sweden. Servants, she writes, are no better than slaves.
They are beaten and maltreated by their masters, and are paid so little
that they cannot afford to wear sufficient clothing or to eat decent
food. Laborers live in huts wretched beyond belief, and herd together
like animals. They have so accustomed themselves to a stifling
atmosphere, that fresh air is never let into their houses even in summer,
and the mere idea of cleanliness is beyond their comprehension. Indolence
is their failing as well as that of their superiors in rank. Many in
their brutishness refuse to exert themselves save to find the food
absolutely necessary to support life, and are too