other way, it can in fact be o f no service whatever to government.
These custom-house officers constitute one o f those useless nuisances
which exist in such numbers in almost every country. They are not
confined to Sweden; but abound in every country of Europe except
Great Britain. It was probably our happy freedom from this abuse
that made me sensible o f its impropriety. Had I been accustomed to
it from my infancy it might have escaped altogether without notice, as
it probably does with those Swedish travellers who have been all their
lives exposed to it.
We arrived at Örebro in the evening, and spent the greatest part of
the next day in taking a survey o f that town and its environs. There
is a pretty large tayern in the principal square o f the town; but upon
sending to inquire, we were informed that no lodgings were to. be had
in it, and were obliged in consequence to stop all night at the post-
house, a circumstance rather disagreeable, and never to be done in any
town in Sweden when it can be avoided. Our carriage wheel, which
was too weak at first, and which had begun to give way a few miles
before we reached Örebro, required to be mended. This . was an additional
reason for. stopping a day at Örebro. ;
Örebro is reckoned the fifth town in Sweden in point of size: Stockholm,
Gottenburg, Norkoping and Carlscrona being the four that are
before it in point o f population. But for my part, as far as I could
judge from walking through both, Westerns seemed of a greater size
than Örebro. But it is perhaps impossible to form an accurate judg-
ment o f the size o f two places by. merely walking through them. In
the year 1802 the number of inhabitants in Örebro was 3242, and the
number of houses 753. I was told that at present the number is some-,
what greater, amounting to nearly 4 0 0 0 ; but how far the accuracy of
this account can be relied on I do not know. Akrell states, the number
at 5483; but he obviously, includes more than the mere inhabitants;
o f the town. Örebro lies upon the Svartan (Black River) or the Niista,:
as the river is called at Örebro. This river is o f a considerable size,-
though quite unfit for the purposes of navigation. After entering the,
town it divides into two branches, which after surrounding a small island
unite again at the lower part of the town. The principal street called
Stora Gatan (great street) runs nearly north and south. There are two
squares. The streets are wide and regular, and paved with round
pieces of granite, The houses are all of wood, commonly painted red,
and two or three stories high, The Governor s house is situated in the
island. It is a very. large house with four round low turrets, one at
each corner. The south side of it is the prison. The river runs into
the lake Hjelmar, from which the town is not farther distant than two
English miles, This lake is united to the Malar, by the canal of Arboga,
which enables the inhabitants of Orebro to carry on a considerable
traffic with Stockholm.
Orebro is the place where the Swedish Diet occasionally meets; a
circumstance which gives it more importance than it otherwise would
be entitled to from its size. The Diet, as is well known, is the
supreme court in Sweden, and similar in many respects to the Parliament
of Great Britain. It consists o f four distinct bodies o f men, who
meet in separate houses. These are— the Nobles, the, Clergy, the
Peasants, and the Burghers or inhabitants of towns.
1. There are three orders of nobility in Sweden, Counts, Barons,
and Noblemen without any title. When a family is once, enobled, all
the descendants and collateral branches are noble. So that the number
of noblemen in Sweden must increase with the population of the
country. The number o f noble families in Sweden amounts to about
1200. In-the year 1802, before the separation of Finland, the number
of nobility in Sweden were as in the following table :*
Married. Widowers. Widows.
Do. under 15 years
Unmarried above
15 years of age.
of age. Total. •
Males. Females. Males. [Females. Males: Females:.
1716 1788 * 294 , 908 1795 | 2052 177.0 1734)^« i---12057
I do not know exactly what allowance to make for Finland. But
it is obvious that notwithstanding the great difference in point of
population the number of nobility in Sweden is nearly twelve times as
* This and the two following tables of a siitiilar nature are copied from the Memoirs of
the Swedish Academy^ for the year 1808.,