“there are no chairs round the dining-table, and no waiters. Ladies as well as gentlemen help themselves, and the hostess has little to do.”
She also describes, in Stockholm, the novel custom of smörgös, i.e. “eating a series of strange dishes as a relish before the dinner began.”
“On a small table, at the side, we found smoked reindeer flesh; smoked salmon with poached eggs; fresh, raw, sliced salmon (gravlaks); hard-boiled eggs; fried sausages; a kind of anchovy; raw herrings, etc.; white and brown bread; brandy, etc. The gentlemen drank one sort of spirit out of tiny glasses. Everything was tastefully arranged on a snowy cloth.”
But in this trip her chief interest was in her educational experiences—of which she took full notes—varied by pleasant social gatherings, to which she and her father and her uncle, Dr. Buss, were invited. In the only letter that can now be found relating to this tour she expresses herself very warmly—
“Aug. 17, 1871.
“We have been enjoying ourselves I can tell you! One of my introductions has led to an acquaintance with a Miss Hierta, a Högral borna, or nobly born lady, who is clever, handsome, rich, benevolent, and young. Her father is the oldest member of what we should call the House of Commons, but it is called the Lower Chamber. He is familiarly known as ‘Lars Hierta,’ the representative of the Liberal party, the friend of education and of women. He is a fine old man of seventy-four, tall, handsome, and, I hear, witty in the House, and always listened to with respect. He and his daughter have been here to-night to ‘soppor,’ a word which needs no translation.
“Through Miss Hierta I have been able to see nine of the great schools here. All I can say is that Sweden sets us a noble example. Education is practically compulsory, as no child can be confirmed till he can read, write, and cypher, and he cannot get employment without the certificate of confirmation. Of course such compulsion would not do in our country; but still it is something to be able to boast that no child can remain ignorant of the ‘three R’s.’...
“I feel that we English, who are so much richer than these Swedes, are yet in many respects far behind. Here the State considers that it is a duty to provide education for all. And all this has been done, in the last few years, mainly through one man, Professor Siljiström, who was sent to America, and who, on his return, was allowed to remodel the school system (of which a full account is given).”
Nor was there less attraction on Miss Hierta’s side. In the following year, she visited Miss Buss in London, and, written in 1873, I have a letter speaking of her sorrow in the illness of “our dear Miss Buss,” and she adds—
“I hope that she is recovered now; she is doing such a noble work, and she has such a wonderful combination of greatness of heart, of intelligence and energy, that a woman like this ought to live eternally even here on earth, where she is so much wanted. How I wish we had one like her here to establish a model school for young girls.”