No children are more fortunate than the Swedish in education. They have everything done to make their schooldays bright and happy, as well as useful. Their teachers are highly educated, and are very much respected, if they do not get large salaries. The school-house in every town is a very important and conspicuous building.

Unless a child is very well educated at home, he must go to the public school. He does not pay any fees. All education is free, even at the University, but not everyone can go there. Only those who can pass a very stiff examination are allowed to enter. The children go at the age of seven and remain at school until they are fourteen. They get a very thorough training in very much the same subjects as in our schools. There are no holidays on Saturdays for Swedish children. Thirty-six hours every week they must attend. When parents are found to be careless so that their children are suffering, the State sometimes takes the little ones to train and educate.

In the districts where the population is very scattered, a teacher comes for four months in the year, and then proceeds to another district. There is no district where education is not provided.

There are some features that may be of interest to a stranger. In many of the schools there are splendid libraries. No doubt most of the books are printed in Swedish, but there are also a large number in English, French, and German. They are not there for appearance, but are actually read, as the children begin at a very early age to learn these languages. The Swedes are splendid linguists, and are very proud of being able to speak English.

They are known all over the world as being very good gymnasts, and every school has a completely equipped gymnasium. Very often the instructor is a military officer. Their system is being universally adopted, and many readers of this book will have learned the same exercises as the Swedish boys and girls.

One of the most interesting features of school-life is the study of nature. No doubt this is because one of the greatest botanists that ever lived was a Swede—LinnÆus. He devised the system of botany, which is in use throughout the whole world. From a very early age the children go out into the woods and collect plants, flowers, and leaves of trees. They are taught not only the names of the different plants, but also the science of botany. The result is that from childhood they are taught to take an intelligent interest in nature, and learn to love what is beautiful in gardens, field, and forest.

The Swedes are also taught to be cleanly. Everywhere can be seen a great many lakes, and in the bright summer days the children bathe and learn to swim in them. In the winter this is impossible, as the cold is very great and the lakes are frozen over. In some schools a large room is set apart as a bathroom. There is no large bath or swimming pond, but a very simple arrangement of a number of tubs in a circle. A child goes into each. They wash and scrub one another. It is a method for securing cleanliness easily carried out, and does not cost much. The result is health. The children never look shabby. A Swedish mother may be poor, but she takes a pride in seeing her children neat and tidy.

Nor does she forget to teach them politeness. Every boy is taught to be very respectful to his elders. On the street he lifts his cap to anyone he knows, whether he be rich or poor.

When the boy is fifteen, he may choose to go to a trade, or to a higher school with a view to entering a learned profession.

At this age, if he intends to become a Government servant, lawyer, doctor, or minister, he must be confirmed. This is a very important step in his life. On the day of confirmation he is examined in the church, and has publicly to answer questions. It is a great day for him. He is now a man, and is very proud of being looked upon as such.

After he has been at the higher school for some years, and wishes to enter the University, he must pass a very hard examination, and when he learns that he has been successful, he is very happy and bright. He comes out of the school wearing the white cap which all students have, and decked with wreaths and flowers bestowed on him by doting parents and admiring friends.

There are large Universities in Sweden both at Upsala and Lund. The former is the larger and older of the two, but they are both well known. The student has the same long and hard course as at school. Very few students finish their course till they are between twenty-five and thirty years of age, and up to this time, if they wish to be successful, must be faithful to their study. There are no very young doctors in Sweden. They generally do not begin to practise till they are about twenty-eight years of age. Still, they find some time for social life at the University towns. They enter into the gaiety of the place, and are great favourites with the townspeople. The students from each district or nation have a club-room for social gatherings. They are very proud of their own district, and in processions march together with a banner in front. They are very fond of singing. The students of Upsala have a world-wide reputation, as at the Paris Exhibition of 1897 they took the first prize when choirs from every part of the world were competing.

The Swedes as a class are intelligent and polite, and are taking a prominent part in the world’s affairs. We should expect this when we know how well they are educated.