It's Southern extremity undoubtedly formed one of the islands called by them the Scandia Ins. Quatuor, the other three being represented by the Danish islands Laaland, Fyen, and Sieland, on which last is Copenhagen, the metropolis of Denmark. That they were acquainted with more of Scandinavia than it's Southern promontory, is amply testified by the names Bergi Bergen, and Nerigos Norway, from which last there was a passage to Thule, or the Shetland Isles; but it is extremely doubtful whether their knowledge of this vast peninsula extended to the North Cape, to which the Rubeas Pr. of the navigator Pytheas has, by many, been applied.

34. Pytheas was a Massilian, who, a few years prior to the time of Alexander the Great, sailed from Gades, Northward, and discovered in a peninsula there, the ancient Cimmerii. Continuing his course, he passed the mouth of a great river, which he supposed united with the Tanais or Don, where he observed quantities of amber, and proceeded along a half-drowned coast for 6,000 stadia. On this coast, called Mentonomon, dwelled the Guttones, and one (or according to others three) days' sail from it, was the great island Abalus. The sea here received the name Morimorusa, or the Dead Sea, from the Cimbri, as far as the promontory Rubeas; beyond which, it was called Mare Cronium, or Pigrum. The peninsula here mentioned, is, of course, Denmark; whilst, under the names of Cimmerii, and Cimbri, that of the ancient Germans lies concealed. The great river may be the Oder, or Vistula, Mentonomon, the low coast of Prussia, Abalus Oland, Gottland, or even Sweden, and Rubeas Pr. Domes Ness, the Northern extremity of Curland; Morimorusa might mean the Baltic, the continuation of which, the G. of Botnia, may answer to Mare Cronium. Others, however, arrange these names differently, and with less probability; with them, Mentonomon means the rugged coast of Norway, Rubeas Pr. the North Cape, and Morimorusa the sea to the Westward of the peninsula.

35. Codanus Sinus, washing the E. coast of Scandinavia, was also called Mare Suevicum, from the inhabitants of it's Southern shore, and Oceanus Sarmaticus, from it's being the Western limit of Sarmatia Europæa; it's modern name, Baltic, seems derived from Baltia, by which Scandinavia is sometimes mentioned amongst the ancients. The peninsula of Scandinavia is one of the largest in the world, and includes (keeping the limits of the present kingdom of Sweden) 220.800 square miles. It's Western part is traversed by the lofty and almost impenetrable range of Sevo, now known as Koelen, or Fiell, which once, in a general way, separated the two kingdoms of Norway and Sweden; the small district of Salbo, on the coast of Norway, seems to retain some trace of the old appellation.

36. The Hilleviones, a numerous nation, occupied the Southern part of the peninsula; above them, in Goteborg, were the Gutæ, and farther North, about Stockholm, the metropolis of Sweden, were the Suiones, in whose name that of the modern Swedes seems to lie concealed; their fleet was thought worthy of notice. To the East of these, towards Christiana, were the Sitones, only differing from their neighbours in their being governed by a woman; above them, in Dalens, was the district of Thule,

partly inhabited by the savage Scrito-Finni, so called from the rapidity with which they travelled over the snow and ice of their country.-Finland, bounded on the West by the G. of Botnia, and on the South by the G. of Finland, was supposed, by the ancients, who called it Finningia (or, by corruption, Eningia and Epigia), to have been an island; it's inhabitants were the Finni, or Fins.

37. SWEDEN AND NORWAY.

This vast peninsula comprehends 220,800 square miles, and is estimated to contain about 3,775,000 inhabitants. It is separated from Russia, on the N. E., by the two little rivers Tornea and Tana, the former of which runs into the Gulf of Botnia, and the latter into the Arctic Ocean. It's Eastern shores are washed by the Gulf of Botnia, and the Baltic Sea; it's Western, by the North Sea; and it's Southern, by a narrow Strait, separating the two last bodies of water, and dividing the Scandinavian peninsula from the kingdom of Denmark. The North Western part of this strait is called the Skager Rack, the central part, the Cattegat, and the Southern, the Sound : This last is by far the narrowest, being little more than three miles across, from Helsingborg, in Sweden, to Elsinore, in Denmark, between which places there is a common ferry. The greatest length of the Scandinavian peninsula is 1,020 miles, and it's average breadth about 300. The range of mountains already mentioned under the name of Sevo, as completely traversing the Western part of the country, runs from the promontory called The Naze, which is the Southernmost point of Norway, to the North Cape, which is it's Northern extremity. This range, the only one of any consequence in the whole peninsula, forms the natural division between Sweden and Norway, although two of the provinces belonging to the latter (Aggershuus and Christiansand), lie to the East of it. It likewise divides the rivers of the country into two classes, those which run Westward into the North Sea, and those which run Eastward and Southward into the Gulf of Botnia, the Baltic Sea, and The Straits: they are, however, all comparatively small and insignificant. There are two lakes in the Southern part of Sweden, called Wenern and Wettern, which may be ranked amongst the largest in Europe; besides these, there are very many others in the Northern and Western parts of the same country, caused by the melting of the snow, on the high land, during the heat of summer.

38. Since the year 1814, Sweden and Norway, though distinct kingdoms, have been governed by the same sovereign. Prior to the year 1809, Sweden possessed the valuable province of Finland (which now belongs to Russia), and, in 1814, received the accession of Norway, on ceding to Denmark the comparatively insignificant pro vince of Swedish Pomerania, situated on the mainland of Germany, to the West of the R. Oder, and including the I. of Rugen. The government of Sweden is a limited monarchy, a considerable share of power being vested in the nobility and the people. The Diet, which, however different in its formation, bears in it's object a resemblance to the British Parliament, consists of four orders, viz. the nobility, clergy, citizens, and peasants. The Swedes were formerly idolaters, and the city of Upsal was the seat of their superstitious worship. But the celebrated temple, in which their three principal deities were enshrined, was destroyed towards the close of the eleventh century, and on it's ruins a Christian church was founded. After various attempts to propagate the doctrines of the Gospel in this country, the reformed religion, in spite of great opposition, was established by the diet and synod held at Upsal, A. D. 1593; and the decree of uniformity of religion was passed 20 years afterwards, members of the Church of England, and Calvinists, being legally tolerated. According to the census taken in 1825, Sweden contained 2,724,778 inhabitants. The only foreign possession annexed to the crown of Sweden, is the I. of St. Bartholomew, in the West Indies, which was ceded to it, by France, in 1785; it is five leagues in circuit, and contains about 3,000 inhabitants.

39. Norway was divided into a number of petty principalities, until the ninth century, when these were all united under one head. It was little known to the rest of the world, except from it's piracies, till 1397, when it was incorporated with Denmark. At the termination of the hostilities, with which all Europe was convulsed, during the early part of the present century, and in consequence of the side taken by Denmark during their continuance, the various Powers concerned in the matter signed a treaty, by which it was stipulated, that Norway should be perma

nently governed by the same king as Sweden, but as an integral state, and with the preservation of it's constitution and laws. It was declared a free, independent, and inalienable kingdom, the succession to be in the male line, and the reigning prince a Lutheran: and, Sweden having assented to these preliminaries, the king of that country was unanimously elected to the throne of Norway, November the 4th, 1814, Norway is, therefore, now governed as a province of Sweden, exactly as it was when under the control of Denmark: it has a separate assembly, or diet, but no royal establishment. According to the census taken in 1826, Norway contained 1,050,132 inhabitants.

40. Sweden consisted originally of three kingdoms, viz. Gothland, Sweden Proper, and Norrland, each of which was subdivided into provinces. This distinction is now abolished, and the whole kingdom divided into 24 districts, or laens, as the Swedes call them. The names of these, and of the more ancient provinces, together with their chief cities and towns, and the estimated population of the latter, may be seen in the following table:

41. Stockholm, the metropolis of Sweden, is built on seven small rocky islands and peninsulas, formed by arms of the sea, at the junction of Lake Malar with the Baltic. About three centuries ago, it consisted of a few fishermen's huts, on a bare island; but when a castle was built to stop the inroads of the Russians, and the court was translated hither, the city gradually increased. There are many handsome buildings, and some very flourishing manufactories, in Stockholm. Upsal, anciently the residence of the Swedish Kings, and now the see of the Archbishop, is a tolerably well built, open town, about 40 miles to the N. of Stockholm. It is famous for it's university, which was founded A. D. 1591; and it's observatory is likewise remarkable, as the

meridian whence the Swedish geographers reckon their longitude. Old Upsal was formerly the capital of the North, and the principal place where the worshippers of Odin assembled. The famous temple, dedicated to the god of war, the god of thunder, and the goddess of regeneration, was stripped of it's idols about the end of the eleventh century, and converted into a Christian church. No vestige of the ancient town remains: it's site is now partly occupied by 30 peasants' houses, on an eminence, a league from Upsal, and environed by many tumuli, of different sizes, abounding in Runic monuments. (Runic, is a term applied to the language and letters of the ancient Goths, Danes, and other Northern nations; and is said to be derived from a word in the ancient Gothic language, signifying to cut, these characters having been first cut in wood, or stone. Many learned writers have imagined, that the Runic character was borrowed from the Roman, and that it was not known in the North before the introduction of Christianity; but, it appears to be as easily reducible to the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, as to the Roman. An evident proof that the Runic were not derived from the Roman letters, results not only from their form, which has scarcely any resemblance to these, but from their number, being but 16, and their order and names, which have nothing in common with the Roman, Greek, or Gothic characters. All the old chronicles and poems of the North, universally agree in assigning to the Runic characters a very remote antiquity, and in attributing the invention of them to Odin, or Woden himself.) To the West of Upsal, on the Northern shore of Lake Mælar, stands Wasteras, remarkable as the place where the government was changed from an elective to a hereditary monarchy, in 1544. Goteborg, or Gottenburg, founded by Charles the 9th, A. D. 1604, reduced to ashes by the Danes soon afterwards, and rebuilt by Gustavus Adolphus, on it's present site, is a considerable, tolerably well built, commercial town, about three miles in circuit; it stands on the shore of the Cattegat, opposite the Northern extremity of Denmark, and is famous as the principal landing place in all Sweden. As a commercial and manufacturing town, it ranks next to the metropolis. Carlskrona, situated near the S. Eastern point of the kingdom, is likewise celebrated for it's handsome and commodious harbour. A little to the North of it, is Calmar, a very ancient, though, by no means, a large town; it is famous as the place where the union of the three kingdoms was concluded, A. D. 1397. To the East of the province of Calmar, is the I. of Gottland, frequently called the Eye of the Baltic, from it's very advantageous situation; it lies about midway between the mainland of Sweden and the opposite coast of Russia, being about 70 miles from each.

42. NORWAY is divided into four governments or provinces, viz.

The metropolis of Norway is Christiania, so named after Christian the 4th, who built it, A. D. 1624, at the head of the gulf which partly divides Sweden from Norway, and is now called Christiania Ford. The annual sittings of the constitutional assembly, called the Storting, are held here: in it, likewise, is the great university of the country. To the S. of Christiania, and close upon the borders of Sweden, stands Friderickshald, where Charles the 12th met his death, in 1718. Lindesnes, commonly called by us The Naze, is a high, barren, and rocky promontory, and the Southern point of Norway: near it Harold assembled 200 vessels to invade England. The whole coast of Norway is covered with an innumerable multitude of islands and rocks, which render the navigation difficult and perilous. Those, which lie opposite the district of Nordland, extend the farthest into the sea, and are called the Lofoden Islands. Towards their Southern extremity is a dreadful vortex, called the Malstrom, the current of which runs in a direction contrary to the tides. It is hear at the distance of many leagues, and forms a whirlpool of great extent, and so violent, that if a ship comes near it, it is irresistibly drawn into the vortex, and dashed to pieces amongst the rocks at the bottom. This phænomenon is occasioned by the contraction of the stream in it's course amongst the rocks.

43. DENMARK.

The kingdom of Denmark is bounded on the W. by the German Ocean, on the N. by the Skager Rack, on the E. by the Cattegat, the Sound, the Baltic Sea, and by an imaginary line drawn from Travemunde, on this last, to Lauenburg, on the R. Elbe, which river forms, in a general way, the Southern boundary of the country, and nearly separates it from the mainland of Germany. Denmark touches to the S. E. upon the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin, to the S. and S. W. upon the kingdom of Hanover. It consists of the islands Sieland, Funen, Laaland, Falster, Bornholm, the Ferroe Islands, and some others of little consequence, and of an extensive chersonese, or peninsula, containing the provinces of Jutland, Sleswig (or Southern Jutland, as it is sometimes called), Holstein, and Lauenburg. This peninsula is about 260 miles long, and, on an average, about 60 broad; it has no mountains, and only one river of any note, the Eyder, which separates Sleswig from Holstein. It contains a superficial extent of 18.250 square miles; and, according to the census taken in 1828, 1,937,150 inhabitants.

44. Towards the end of the fourteenth century, the famous Margaret united the three great crowns of the North, having obtained Norway by inheritance, and Sweden by cession and conquest: Sweden separated itself in 1523, but Norway remained united with Denmark, first as a province, and afterwards as an independent kingdom. In the middle of the fifteenth century, the two important provinces of Sleswig and Holstein became annexed to the Crown of Denmark, from Count Christian, of Oldenburg, succeeding to the throne, in consequence of the reigning family having become extinct. At the close of the war, in 1814, Denmark lost the possession of Norway, for which country she received Swedish Pomerania as an ostensible equivalent; but she soon afterwards exchanged the latter with Prussia, for the province, or rather a part of the province of Lauenburg, together with a sum of money.

45. The Danish monarchy was originally elective, and great power was possessed by the nobility, till the year 1660, when the clergy and commons, disgusted with the tyrannical and oppressive behaviour of the latter estate, and discontented with an unfavourable treaty forced on them by Sweden, made an offer of their lives, liberties, and properties, to the king. The clergy, and commons, having thus surrendered their own rights to the crown, and conferred absolute power on the sovereign, the nobility were obliged to make a similar surrender, or to involve their country in a civil war. They chose the former alternative, so that Denmark is, in law, an absolute monarchy of the most unqualified kind; but the exercise of this power has been modified by the spirit of the age, the effect of the Protestant religion, and the progressive advance of improvement. In the times of heathenism, the Danes performed religious worship in honour of the idols Freyer, Thor, Thyr, Odin, and Freya, and four days in the week still retain the names of the four last mentioned; the chief of these deities was Odin. In the middle ages, several attempts were made, with little success, to convert the Dunes to Christianity; and churches were founded in several parts of the kingdom. Having patiently endured rigorous treatment and persecution, the clergy at length obtained a free toleration; and, in 1537, the doctrine of the gospel was decreed to be the established religion in Denmark. But, though the Lutheran doctrine, and mode of worship, have received the sanction of government, there exists, at present, complete toleration.

46. The provinces, which constitute the kingdom of Denmark, together with their chief cities and towns, and the estimated population of the latter, may be seen in the following table: