ols,
twelve teachers in secondary schools, one inspector of schools, and
one university professor. In the rural community, the school teacher
is something of an authority. Most of the members of the parish have
"sat under him" at school in their early life, and owe to him most of
what they know. For years he has been diffusing knowledge around him,
and has been looked up to as the fountain of book learning. He is the
local parson's great coadjutor in parish matters, and being a ready
speaker, is of no mean influence in the parish assemblies. The one
dark blot in the existence of the school teacher is the small salary
received. Few of them receive so much as $300 a year, the average
running from $225 to $275; even in Stockholm the figure going little
beyond $300. Living is, however, cheap in the rural districts, and
these teachers, who are drawn generally from the rural and indigent
classes, are accustomed to frugality and economy. They are lodged
free of rent in the schoolhouse or a cottage attached to it, and are
allowed firewood and other small prerequisites. They have generally a
small garden or potato patch to cultivate, and can keep a cow and a
few hens. They often add to their modest stipend by extra work, such
as teaching in the evening classes, playing the organ in church, and
writing, or some such work after school hours.

At fifteen, after seven years' assiduous attendance at the
_Folkskola_, the boy and girl have finished their education, so far as
compulsory instruction goes, and they are free to begin work on their
father's farm, in his shop or his trade, or take service anywhere and
shift for themselves. They may, however, if they like, pursue their
studies further in the continuation schools, or in the evening classes
provided in most parishes, or repair to a college or gymnasium town,
if they elect to enter the church, the liberal professions, or the
service of the state. But they have first to be confirmed, and it is
here that the definite religious instruction is given. The preparation
for confirmation, which entails a much longer and more advanced course
of religious instruction than is usual for confirmation in England,
is independent of the school and takes place in church, parents being
allowed every liberty in the choice of the clergyman who performs this
office for their children. English readers who are acquainted with
Longfellow's admirable translation of Tegner's beautiful poem, "The
Children